Life at Open Heart Publishing

Hello Readers!

Our featured author for this post is Eric Trant.  Enjoy!

Classy! (Get it? School picture...class...classy...ok never mind.

What was your favorite book as a child and why?

Where the Red Fern Grows.  That was one of the first books I read, and  I was in the 3rd grade when I read it.  My mom is a librarian and she always encouraged us to read above our level, and so my brother and I checked out books from the high school library. Where the Red Fern Grows was the first book we checked, and the story was spot on with country kids — and that’s what we were.  When you find a book that you can relate to, you latch on, and you never forget it.

Who or what inspired you to become a writer?

The biggest inspiration I have is my family.  I come from a family of storytellers.  You get this storytelling bone in you and you just want to tell. I don’t think of myself as a writer at all — I’m a storyteller, and I tell stories that I think are fun and inspiring and thought-provoking. I tell stories I think are interesting.

Why do you believe people should read “The Apple Tree”?

People should read Apple Tree if they want to enjoy an ironic, spirited story of two young country boys making a monumental discovery.  I don’t create stories with the sole goal of being marketed or published — I’m not a writer, remember, I’m a storyteller. This means Apple Tree is written for one reason: to be savored by the reader. I write things ~I~  like reading. I write things ~I~ think are fun to read. I write things ~I~ would remember reading. I’m the fat cook who loves his own food, and I love sharing my goodies with anyone who’s brave enough to sip my creations.

Tell us about some other things you are involved in besides writing.

I’m an engineer, and so I spend a lot of time working.  At home, I spend time with my family, hiking and collecting lizards and frogs and exploring the outdoors.  My kids are involved in things like soccer and basketball and sometimes I get to step in as coach — I’m a good soccer coach, and a horrible basketball coach. For my alone-time,  I enjoy woodworking, programming, and of course reading and writing.

Tell us an embarrassing or funny childhood story.

I proved to my brother that gasoline and water do not mix. Actually, he proved it to me — I thought they’d mix. I lost my eyebrows, and quite a bit of my dignity. I have no idea how I survived my childhood.

If someone were to write a story about you, what would the title be?

Almost Right.  I seem to have all these brilliant plans but they never work out right because of some small detail.  For example, when I was a kid, I had this idea that I was going to build an airplane out of bricks. For example, see prior question. Almost Right, that’s me.

Have you ever had a pet that has held you in contempt?

I had a dog once that used to poop in my shoes…maybe he was trying to tell me something.

Eric Trant earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1994, and is the son of a librarian and English teacher, who shared with him her love of reading, writing, and above all, storytelling. Each morning he rises well before the Texas dawn, and in the quiet writes thousands of words. He is self-taught.
Raised during his formative years in the East Texas Piney Woods, and then later in a small town on the Texas Gulf Coast, Eric maintains an avid fascination with outdoor living. Eric’s blended perspective of rural, small-town, and city lifestyles is at the heart of his stories, often leading the reader deep into the woods where as a child, he and his brother discovered so many wonders. He now lives near Dallas, Texas, where he continues to explore the world around him.
He holds a U.S. patent for a statistical outlier algorithm, and has received numerous technical recognitions as a semiconductor engineer. His most-prized award is a simple plaque reading Anyone can be a Father, but it takes someone special to be a Daddy. This plaque sits on his desk, in front of the embossed US patent.

Wanna read more of Eric’s writings and musings?  Visit http://diggingwiththeworms.blogspot.com/

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