Tag Archives: Lawrence Shimkets

Meet Lawrence Shimkets

This week I would like to introduce adventure author and my guest blogger, Lawrence Shimkets. I know you will enjoy his post, and I highly recommend his novel, Malice in the Palace.

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I would like to thank Robin for giving me this opportunity to tell you about my unusual career path as a novelist. I began my first career as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the University of Georgia and won a prestigious award from U. S. President Ronald Reagan in 1984. I’ve had a 35-year career with international acclaim and fellowship in two prestigious scientific societies. I (semi)-retired in 2017, though I can’t seem to let go of my science fix entirely. So why would someone abandon a successful career as a research scientist and teacher for a second career as an unknown and fledgling fiction writer? In my case, there are two reasons. First, going back to my teenage years, I wanted to write fiction. In my youth, I went to the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh every Saturday to check out books. Reading was a lifelong gift from my dear Mother. Today I read a lot and at the end of a book often say to myself, ‘I can do that even better’, with perfect (and sometimes misplaced) confidence. So, I stepped outside the ‘box’ of scientific academics to challenge myself to write fiction. I like thrillers and, inspired by David Baldacci’s Camel Club series, decided to try my hand at something similar. Beyond the challenge of creating something uniquely yours, I love those books that end with me wanting more from certain characters knowing I will never read about those characters again. Sweet sadness. My goal was to create characters who others feel the same about. With Malice in the Palace, I believe I have created compelling characters who bare their vices and virtues. Readers have asked for a sequel, and there will be at least two.

Larry, Anna, Diane, and Tony

The second reason for my career shift is that I wanted to support causes in a way I never could as an academic. I love the sentence in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” I feel passionate about social justice and wanted to champion people whose voices are ignored. Like most writers, I was strongly influenced by personal circumstances. Diane and I adopted two beautiful children from New Mexico who are predominately Native American. This pointed me in the direction of modern western themes. In addition, in my role as mentor and teacher, I was disappointed to see that women of extraordinary talent have glass ceilings, which are higher than those of comparably talented men. I wanted to develop an enviable female character who would gracefully showcase ingenuity and accomplishment. I received daily inspiration from five sisters, five sister-in-laws, mother and mother-in-law, wife, and daughter. At the same time, I understood that most men can’t write remarkable female characters. Though I fall short of the way Shakespeare’s Juliet pushed past social norms or Henrik Ibsen’s Nora discarded her ‘dollhouses’, I do hope that my female readers will be inspired to push through their personal glass ceilings.

I began working on Malice in the Palace in my spare time about 6 years ago, but I did not have much time to spend on it. I began by inventing characters on a dusty ranch just north of the Mexican border in my head as I fell asleep or on the drive to work (not both at the same time, fortunately). I found it rewarding to develop my imagination in a different way than a scientist, though it was a lengthy process for me that crystallized in fits and starts. Another roadblock was writing dialog-driven prose, which is entirely foreign to a narrative-driven science writer. It took me years to develop unique voices for the different characters and to embed them into a compelling, 21st-century plot. In 2017, serendipity played a role in the final development of Malice in the Palace as you might be able to tell from the title. Trump became president and I leveraged his regrettable words against women and military heroes, his desire to end health care for those with the greatest need, and his disdain for refugees, immigrants, and minorities. I was pleased to publish ‘Malice in the Palace’ on Martin Luther King Day in January 2018 with Outskirts Press.

Many people have offered praise for the fast-paced plot either personally or on websites such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or Facebook where it is averaging close to 5 stars. I invite you to evaluate it and offer your perspective, which can only help me become a more compelling author. If you want to offer comments or criticism, let me suggest two venues. First, my Goodreads author page has a Malice in the Palace discussion section and I welcome you to be the first to post there. Second, I started a Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/myberthonearth/. I welcome you to post there.

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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. If you like audiobooks, check out her audiobook version of Murder Over Kodiak. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

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Dreamers

Fiction authors are dreamers. Dreaming is essential to what we do. We dream up characters, we dream up settings, and we dream up stories to tell about our characters in these settings. We also dream people will read and enjoy our books. I dream of someday selling thousands of copies of my books and becoming a successful author, but even if I don’t, I will never stop writing the stories I have in my head. When I meet other authors, I realize most are like me. No matter what line of work they are in, they dream up stories they not only want but feel they must tell. As Maya Angelou said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

I’m taking a break for the next two weeks from writing about fish, but for those of you who enjoy my wildlife posts, I‘ll continue my fish profiles soon.

Next week, I am thrilled to welcome author Lawrence Shimkets who has agreed to write a guest post for my blog. Lawrence is an acclaimed microbiology professor and researcher from the University of Georgia, and he will explain how an award-winning microbiologist became an action-adventure author.

I met Lawrence (Larry) Shimkets on LinkedIn, and we’ve corresponded about storytelling, writing, and promotion. I’ve met several other authors on LinkedIn, and while most of us have “day jobs,’ we feel driven to write and a need to tell the next story formulating in our minds. We are dreamers.

Larry is currently in Costa Rica teaching genetics in a classroom in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Last month, he attended a microbiology conference in London, and a few weeks earlier, he and his wife spent time kayaking through the Florida Everglades. Larry travels the world and collects a rich array of settings he can use for his adventure novels.

I am reading Larry’s novel, Malice in the Palace, and it is a fun ride. I highly recommend it. Larry tells an exciting story, and I can only guess at the next dream burbling in his mind, waiting to be told.

I am in the process of writing my next novel, and I think about it constantly. Storytelling doesn’t follow a linear path for me. I write an outline, but part way through the manuscript, when my characters do something I don’t expect, I throw away the outline, and my dreams follow the twists and turns of my characters’ actions. Dreams are good. I’d be lost if I couldn’t tell my stories.

Please visit my blog next week and help me welcome Larry Shimkets as we get to know him better and learn what drove a world-renowned microbiologist to step away from the microscope, sit down at the computer, and dream up a thrilling adventure tale.

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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. If you like audiobooks, check out her audiobook version of Murder Over Kodiak. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

Mystery Newsletter

Sign Up for my free, monthly Mystery Newsletter about true crime in Alaska.