Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Don Miles Virtual Book Tour *Book Giveaway* ONE day only!


Don Miles Virtual Book Tour
*Book Giveaway*

To win a copy of one of Don’s books, just tell me what his title means in English * Cinco De Mayo* …seriously guys this is soooo easy! Leave a comment to win! The winner will be chosen on Friday, don’t forget to leave an email address so that I can contact the winner!

Author Pen Name: Donald W. Miles

Crystal: What genre(s) do you write?

Don: So far, “how to” textbooks on news gathering and news writing for radio and TV, and a nonfiction history book on Mexico in the 1860’s.

I’ve also written a novel – historical fiction – which awaits a publisher.

Crystal: Why do you write what you write?

Don: I have always written to fill a gap. In the late 1960’s and early 70’s, there still were very few – if any – good textbooks on the gathering and reporting of radio and TV news. I finally wrote one after I had to explain to an arbitrator exactly why I wanted to fire a newscaster in New York City. There were no established standards for measuring the competence of on-air news people. Even Walter Cronkite – the leading newscaster at the time – did not have a college degree.

Later, at the University of Florida, the 65 students in my newsroom had no stylebook for writing their stories. I wrote one for them.

Finally, about Mexican history, various teachers and principals in Texas were telling the kids that May fifth is Mexican Independence Day. It’s not, but one principal warned me not to make trouble because, “We’ve always taught it that way.” There were 56 children’s books on the market that mostly told you how to make a piñata for your classroom party, but nothing for adults. I decided to write one. If there’s anything else on the market about this, I have yet to hear about it.

Crystal: When did you first realize that you wanted to be a writer?

Don: I was very proud of the one-and-only copy of a little booklet that I wrote with some help from my parents at the age of 6 in 1942. It was entitled, The Little King. An uncle who worked for Disney at the time illustrated it. It was not until the late 1960’s when – after several years as a radio news director – I had been writing far too many memos about situations as they arose, and thought “somebody needs to write a book about all of this.”

Crystal: Who or what was your inspiration for writing?

Don: The inspiration for my latest book – Cinco de Mayo – was my wife. She arrived as a foreign student from Mexico City and asked if she could sit at my table in the cafeteria at college. We were married for 44 years before she died in 2006. During that time, she achieved U.S. citizenship, a Bachelors, a Masters and a Ph.D. degree, and taught at several universities. We traveled all over Mexico as family, not as tourists, and we raised two bilingual, happily-married college graduates who now have families of their own. The book is dedicated to my wife’s memory.

Crystal: Don that is wonderful that you dedicated the book to your wife, it sounds like you all enjoyed each other very much, and you’ve come to accomplish one of your greatest goals!

Crystal: What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

Don: It has been extremely varied. I wrote my Broadcast News Handbook during a summer vacation while I was teaching elementary school between radio news jobs. We were in Mexico for the summer of 1972. I sat with my manual typewriter at a card table with a bottle of tequila nearby. Maybe I was imagining that I was Ernest Hemingway or somebody – who knows – and I wrote while my wife was teaching Spanish courses to visiting gringos.

For the Cinco de Mayo books, I have been retired. I approached them more as a hobby than as a profession. There were no deadlines, so I wrote whenever I felt like it – morning, noon or night. It was like that old advertisement we used to see for steamship and cruise lines: “Getting there is half the fun.” A number of reviewers have mentioned that my enjoyment was reflected in the writing.

Crystal: Your book is about to be sent into the reader world.
What is one word that describes how you feel?

Don: Relieved.

Crystal: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Don: I like to travel and to go hiking.

Crystal: How many books have you written, and which is your favorite?

Don: Counting the Spanish translations and the earlier radio-TV news books, I have written seven. My favorite one is the novel, based on a fictional family who owns a stagecoach line between the port of Veracruz and Mexico City in the 1860’s. Other than my little effort at the age of four, it’s my first venture into fiction. It’s called Cinco de Mayo: A Saga of Courage and Defiance.
It should come out by 2010, and I can’t wait to see it in print.

Crystal: How can a reader contact you or purchase your books?

Don: My latest book, Cinco de Mayo: What is Everybody Celebrating, [hyperlink to
http://www.blogger.com/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/2ZW32XUH/www.donmiles.com] can be ordered in-house at http://www.donmiles.com/ or online from any bookstore.

Crystal: Don, thank you for stopping by my blog on your virtual tour, you do lead a very exciting life, and it is always great to hear that a writer that has the passion to write prevails!

To win a copy of one of Don’s books , just tell me what his title means in English *Cinco De Mayo* …seriously guys this is soooo easy! Leave a comment to win! The winner will be chosen on Friday, don’t forget to leave an email address so that I can contact the winner!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cindy sent me the message, but here it is... MAY 5th....I just posted the answer for her.

Asylumgirl said...

Fifth of May, LOL, definitely easy since everyone is going to see the answer.

Deidre

Anonymous said...

Cinco De Mayo=A Mexican holiday celebrated every May 5th in commemoration of the Mexican victory over the French at Puebla in 1862! Right? LOL! Congats on your success...

Anonymous said...

LOL yeah I told you it would be easy!! The commenters really don't have to do much work :)

Anonymous said...

Cinco de Mayo - the fifth of May which is observed in Mexico and Mexican-American communities in the United States to commemorate the Mexican victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862
OOPS POSTED IN THE WRONG PLACE AT FIRST PLEASE DELETE FOR ME... SORRY
I REALLY ENJOYED THE INTERVIEW WITH DON MILES... I LOVE READING WHY AUTORS WRITE AND WHAT INSPIRES THEM. THANK YOU FOR WAHT YOU DO; KATHY
KEYA5555@AOL.COM

Dawné Dominique said...

It means the 5th day in Mayi and it is a national holiday in Mexico and widely celebrated in the US. It commemorates the victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza over the French occupational forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

Aha...the internet is wonderful, isn't it?

Another fantastic interview, and what an interesting life!

*smiles*
Dawné

Anonymous said...

The winner of the Cinco De Mayo book is KATHY!! YAY!! Congrats!

Cheryl said...

Deidre and/or Crystal,

In addition to the free book giveaway that is done here, Pump Up Your Book Promotion also has a free book giveaway for one lucky person who comments during each author's tour.

Deidre won a free copy of Don's book, "Cinco de Mayo". Please send me your mailing address to
cg20pm00(at)gmail(dot)com.

Congratulations! And thanks to all who commented about Don's book.

Cheryl