Look and Listen

Biography

Pete Klein was born in Detroit, Mich. in 1942 but has been living in the Adirondacks for the past 19 years. He is married with three children and two granddaughters. Klein has been a reporter for the Hamilton County News for the past six years. He was a Hospital Corpsman in the US Navy after graduating from high school. After the Navy, he moved to NY to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and likes to say, "I lived in NYC at the right time, in the 60's, where I had a $45 mo. apartment in the East Village." My job resume is extensive. I have built church bulletin boards, been an automotive parts salesman, a helper for a blacksmith and have had numerous other jobs. WHO is Pete Klein? - Who am I? I am who I am, whomever that might be. I prefer to think of myself as a writer, rather than an author, because author is past tense and writer is current tense. As far as the term "artist" goes, I believe all artists, including me, are blue-collar workers manufacture something using both their physical and mental selves. WHAT does Pete Klein write? - Words. I work with words because I can't sing. I hate the phrase, "You know what I mean," because if you don't tell me what you mean, I don't know what you mean. If you want me to guess, I might guess wrong. WHEN did you become interested in writing? - I think I was destined to work with words the first year I was in the 1st Grade. I did 1st Grade twice because I was sick with just about every childhood disease (plus pneumonia) and didn't have enough days at school to meet the minimum requirement. This resulted in countless hours either trying to learn how to read or listening to radio programs. We did not own a TV until later. Remember, I was born in 1942. It was then my imagination began to develop and I fell in love with words. WHERE are you now? - Where is here. I feel at home any place. I live where I live because I like living where it is cold. I like living with the natural world close to me. In terms of writing, I'm now about 40,000 words into the sequel to the vampire book. WHY do you write? - I write because I like words. I like words because I like to think and I have come to believe it is impossible to think without using words. Words give me a way to play with images and feelings. You could say words are water-wings or life preservers that allow you to swim in the bottomless seas of emotion far longer than you could without them. What's in it for the reader? Why would the reader buy the your books? Something. Maybe nothing. It all depends upon what the reader is looking for. In the case of "Adirondack Hikes in Hamilton County," the book should appeal to those interested in the outdoors, be they someone who plans to visit the Adirondacks or just wants to learn something about a wilderness surrounded by millions of people. In the case of "The Dancing Valkyrie," the book could appeal to those who like either horror or fantasy, as long as they have no objection to reading a book with four letter words and explicit sex, mostly lesbian. And for those who like to think "outside the box," it should be an interesting as well as fun read. Passion. Why did author write the book? What possessed him/her to do the project? The hiking book I wrote as a keepsake to remember the times I've enjoyed being in the woods and sharing my love for the wilderness with my twin granddaughters - to whom the book was dedicated. The vampire book I wrote for the fun of it, and to play with some philosophical and theological ideas. I might add here that when I write, especially fiction, I function very much like a reporter explaining what is being seen at the scene. It is very much like watching a movie for me. I see the characters doing whatever they are doing, saying whatever they are saying.

Inspiration

Imagination. The world is seen through imagination. What we see is what we get. For me, it was the natural world, especially the wind and the moon that birthed my imagination, made me feel the flesh and spirit are one, and led me to the power of words. As it says in the Bible: "And the word was made flesh." Pneumonia was an early influence because it and many childhood diseases, plus scarlet fever resulted in me spending much time at home and in bed during my first year in First Grade. All that illness resulted in me being held back a year because I didn't have the required time in school, even though I passed all my subjects. How was that an influence? All that time at home made me develop my imagination from listening to the radio (no TV back in those days) and teaching myself how to read. The second major influence was the death of my mother when I was 12. I was sad. I was angry and I was imbarrassed. I mean, Everyone else had a mother but I didn't. I learned that no one knows what you really think of feel. I knew what it means to be alone. And I learned that no matter how hard you pray, not all your prayers will be answered the way you would like.