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Three Questions with Van Heerling.       My Guest Today is Michael Lorde. @BlindVeil

7/26/2012

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Welcome to Three Questions with Van Heerling. This is where you get to meet authors, actors, painters and anyone else that is bent toward the arts, but on a more personal level.
Today I welcome Michael Lorde author of Blind Veil.

VH: If you could change one thing about our world, what would it be and why?

ML: 
I’m sure this answer will get me into trouble with a few folks I know. If I could change a design of humanity, it would be that people's motives and intentions would be as clear to others as window glass. I think those are the two things that lead to most folk’s sorrow, distrust of others and to the destruction in this world…the manipulation of one, by another without their knowledge or consent. Thankfully I can usually see trouble coming so can often times avert that damage, but some folks can’t see it. I wish they could. I’m a person who tends to root for the underdog.


VH: For what are you grateful? 

ML: Well, I’m pretty grateful every day when I wake up in the morning and I’m here.  And my kids have been the motivating factors that have kept my feet on the ground most of my adult life.  They encourage and inspire me like no others can.  I’m also grateful to my mother, who was the one responsible for my stubbornness, and for the great lesson that there is no limit to what one can do; except for the limits that a person puts on themselves, in their own mind.   Thanks mom!   I’m also grateful for my friends, my dogs, my health, and that I had the great fortune of being born in this country.    

VH: When was the last time you helped someone? I mean really helped someone. What did you do for this person? Were they grateful or did they resent it?

ML: I like to think I help people every day.  I’m one of those people who talk to total strangers.  Yep… one of ‘those’.  I tend to think it’s the small things that matter each day; the often forgotten ‘golden rule’.  In this stressful world, so many folks seem to be in a rush, constantly stressed and feeling lost; no matter how many people are around them.  Many people don’t know how to look a person in the eyes.  If you do that, you can see if somebody is feeling less than good about their day.  Sometimes a few words to them is all it takes for that person’s whole day to change (and in turn it changes the days of those around that person to some degree).  Just like a few harsh and asinine words to a person can ruin their mood, a few well chosen ones can brighten their day.  I try to choose words that reflect a positive outcome.  For a more specific response to your question, for the past few days I’ve helped a friend of mine who’s writing her first book.  We’ve been tackling the subject of social media and advertising.  I’m hoping my help will in some small way help her to change her future, so she can find the one she’s seeking.   

To ‘help’ someone, you need to give them the help they are asking for, NOT the help you think they need.  The latter of the two, is no real help at all if you think about it.  I’ve never had someone resent any help I’ve offered; or if they did, they didn’t tell me about it.  I find out specifically what it is that they need, rather than what I think they might need.  As I’ve been told by some folks, there is a huge difference between the two.

VH: If more people adopted your outlook on life, the world really would change for the better. A few kind words truly can go further than we think. 


Thank you Michael it was great to get to know you better.

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Blind Veil 

Blind Veil begins as a story about a mild mannered rancher in the West, in the 1960’s.  While the plot of this story is not about civil rights, the turmoil of the times is mentioned in the first few set-up chapters.  The social stress that occurred in those times is the reason why this man decides NOT to report a violent rape and murder that occur on his land… but that’s just the beginning.  The murder ultimately affects the rancher’s nephew forty years in the future. We fast track to the present, where we find his nephew Simms (now a grown man in his forties working as an Officer for the New York City Police Department).  Simms is a Patrol officer and very well respected.  He works hard; cares about people; protects the citizens of the city; brings home a paycheck.  All of that, changes in one day when he takes his new boat onto the water for a well deserved break.  He ends up on board two other boats, and neither by his choice.  As Simms world spins on its end and out of control, the reader is dragged through every crazy event right along with him.  This officer of the law breaks many rules as he tries to keep alive, in an effort to make sense of things that his mind cannot believe.  This psychological thriller is the first in a series.  The second book is due out in December.   


About Michael Lorde

Michael  was raised in a rural town in upstate New York and has two sons and two daughters.  After living in a warmer climate for nearly thirty years, Michael has since moved back north with the youngest daughter of the four.  They are dog lovers and have two.  Blind Veil is Michael’s debut novel.
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5 Comments
Michael Lorde link
7/26/2012 11:31:08 pm

Thanks for the interview, Van. Great questions! Hope you thoroughly enjoy your day.

Reply
Van Heerling
7/27/2012 04:05:39 pm

Michael you are welcome. Happy to oblige.

Reply
ann swann link
7/27/2012 01:19:01 am

Great interview. It made me think about how I would answer those questions...it made me think.

Reply
Van Heerling
7/27/2012 04:15:06 pm

Thank you for stopping by Ann. Let me know if you ever want to do "Three questions with Van Heerling."

Reply
flirtynadine link
10/27/2013 05:08:16 am

First time here at your blog and wanted to say hi.

Reply



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    ​"For me, writing is a joyful torture or sorts." ~vh~
    “In this life, seek your own answers, and quote yourself for a change.” ~vh~
    The muse has tapped my shoulder and my ear is turned toward her lips. I am waiting for her whisper. ~vh~
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