An Interview with Author Raymond Benson

Raymond Benson

I first met author Raymond Benson while working on a series of articles about famous people from the Permian Basin of West Texas. Raymond has the distinction of being, up to that time, the only American to pen James Bond novels for Ian Fleming Publications, Ltd. He also authored the first two Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell books under the pseudonym David Michaels.

In addition, Raymond has designed video games, produced plays, written novelizations of numerous Bond films, and currently has his own series of suspense novels (Check out the Black Stiletto series available from Amazon and B&N.com). As if all that weren't enough, he is one of the world’s foremost experts on Ian Fleming and James Bond, as well as an accomplished pianist.

I have to start with a Bond question: You know the franchise intimately. When Daniel Craig took over as Bond, it was a highly controversial decision. You've seen your own share of Bond controversy, being an American who carried on the franchise. What is your take on the current state of Bondage?

   Bond is in a good place.  Daniel Craig is doing very well in the role and the last film was the most successful one in the franchise, which is the longest and most successful franchise produced by a single production company in cinema history.  The literary side is still prolific with new authors appearing to write the adult Bond books, as well as the young adult “Young Bond” books.

The last few Bond books have featured different authors each time out. Any idea why they aren't going with one author? Any desire on your part to take another turn at Bond? As Bond (Sean Connery) says in “Dr. No” when he’s about to shoot Professor Dent—“You’ve had your six.”  I had my six.  They don’t go backwards and re-hire authors, just like they don’t go back and re-hire actors to play the role (except in the case of Connery in 1971).  Since my tenure as Bond author, the publishing landscape has changed and the copyright holders changed their publishing philosophy... by hiring a big name author to do one book every three years or so, the publication becomes more of an event.

I’m thrilled to see your Bond books are back in print after a hiatus of several years.  As you reflect on that period, what are your takeaways? It’s been 13 years since my last Bond novel, so it’s been a while.  I remember those seven years (1996-2002) as Bond author as being on a roller-coaster.  A lot of work, a lot of angst, a lot of pleasure.  The biggest perks were traveling the world and meeting cool people.  Now I feel as if I’ve moved on; that was a part of my life and career that was important, but now... I’m on to other things.

My favorite Bond book of yours is The Facts of Death. Which one of your Bond books gets the most continued praise from fans and why? Everyone has an opinion, but I think “High Time to Kill” might be the one most fans mention.  It’s my favorite.  For one thing, it takes place in the Himalayas, which is a location never used in any of the films or other books.  It’s a mountain climbing adventure, and that made it unique, I guess.

Having the weight of the Bond franchise’s success on your shoulders was quite a responsibility. You also carried the Tom Clancy Splinter Cell series. Take us behind the scenes on what’s involved. Also, how much freedom did you have to take characters where you would verses following a prescribed formula? I wrote only the first two Splinter Cell books.  The videogame was already established with, I think, two titles.  So the character was pretty much set by games, but I had full freedom to create the stories.  For the first book I was told I could create new characters for Sam Fisher’s team, which I did. Fans preferred the team from the games, so in my second book, Fisher meets and hooks up with the familiar characters.  There are several authors who do this kind of “media tie-in” work.  It’s good bread-and-butter work.  They can be original novels tied to a specific, already-created universe, or they can be strict adaptations of an existing storyline.  My Bond film novelizations followed the screenplays.  My “Metal Gear Solid” books followed the plots of the two videogames.  On the other hand, the Splinter Cell books and other media tie-in novels have all been original stories.  It depends on what the licensor wants.  It’s work for hire. 

When a character like M is killed off in Skyfall, it has a seismic affect on the franchise. I'm assuming that currently, the screenwriters are the engine pulling the train. Take us behind the scenes on how those changes affect things like novels written for Ian Fleming Publications. The film series does not affect the literary series.  Two separate entities.  The only time they intentionally connected was when in 1996 I was told by the Fleming people to “make M a woman” in my books to mirror the Brosnan-era films, when Judi Dench was cast as M.  Otherwise, there is no attempt to create canonical universes between the literary Bond and cinematic Bond.

Tell us about your Black Stiletto series. It’s my magnum opus, so far.  It’s a five-book serial, one big story told in five parts.  The Black Stiletto was a feminist before that word was in our vernacular.  In the late 1950s, she puts on a mask and costume, calls herself the Black Stiletto, and becomes a vigilante for social justice.  She’s active for five years (each book is one year in her career) and becomes world-famous—but no one knows her identity.  Then she mysteriously disappears and over the years becomes a legend.  Cut to the present—a grown man is taking care of his mother, who has Alzheimer’s and is in a nursing home.  He discovers that *she* was the Black Stiletto, and has to deal with that burden of knowledge, as well as protect her from elements of the past that she was hiding from.  So it’s two parallel stories, one in the past, one in the present.  It’s not only action/adventure, but it’s a family story, too.

What gave you the idea to write about a retired superhero with Alzheimer’s? My mother-in-law died of Alzheimer’s.  My wife and I went through around twelve years dealing with it.  I had in my mind to write some kind of story about a son who finds out a dark secret about his mother with Alzheimer’s—but I didn’t know what that was.  Then, one day, I was having lunch with my literary manager, Peter Miller, and he suggested that I need to write something the female readers would like because women buy the most books.  I facetiously said, “Well, with all the superhero movies out now, why not a female superhero?”  We laughed and then he got serious and said, “You know, that’s not a bad idea.”  So I went home, thought about it, and voila!—I combined that idea with the other one about the son... the dark secret he discovers is that his mother was once a superhero.  Well, no super powers, but a masked vigilante.  Same thing.

Though Alzheimer’s is involved, there’s nothing slow or infirmed about your series. Talk about the use of flashbacks and parallel story lines. It was a challenging thing to do, because I knew it was five books from the beginning.  When I started, I knew what the first book was, and I knew how the serial would end in book five.  I *didn’t* know what took place in-between!  It was also fun to research the time period of 1958-1962.  Bringing in all the references to the pop culture at the time was a blast and, I think, helps the believability of the story.

The series moves along at a great clip. Library Journal said Black Stiletto is Ian Fleming meets Stan Lee. That’s pretty high praise. Actually Library Journal said it was a “mashup of the work of Gloria Steinem, Ian Fleming, and Mario Puzo, all under the editorship of Stan Lee.”  That’s a pretty apt description!  They nailed it.  The series is done.  The books come to a very satisfying conclusion.  As for the future of the books?—they've been optioned in Hollywood for a possible movie or TV series.  I can only keep the fingers crossed and hope that something happens.

Who were your literary role models? How did they influence your writing? Ian Fleming was obviously an influence.  I started reading Fleming when I was nine years old in the sixties.  Growing up I liked Alistair MacLean and some science fiction.  As an adult I started to read Stephen King and John Irving and Larry McMurtry and Richard Adams and all sorts of folks.  My favorite living writer is Ruth Rendell.  These days I read a lot of thrillers because that’s what I write. 

People imagine the life of an author as glamorous. For me, just starting out, ninety-nine percent of it is sitting hunched over a keyboard. Not much glamorous about that. As a very accomplished author, what’s your take on the literary life? Glamorous?  Are you kidding?  There’s nothing glamorous about it.  It’s a lonely profession, but you’re usually your own boss.  With the advent of the Internet and social media, the writer’s job is now not only to write but to market oneself.  I spend a good part of the day doing the Facebook and Twitter thing because it’s expected.  Agents and publishers today won’t bother with an author unless they have a social media presence.  But now there’s also the e-book and self-publishing model that is changing the face of publishing, and with that the job is even more do-it-yourself, including the publicity.  Like with any of the arts, making a living as a writer is elusive.  You simply have to love it and be convinced there is nothing else you could do.

Currently, you live in the Chicago area. You've also resided in New York and also know London well. What influence did Midland/Odessa (born in Midland, raised in Odessa) have on you? How does it continue to affect you? Never lived in London, but I made frequent trips there during the Bond years.  The New York years were important, I spent a good eleven years there.  Austin, Texas, was also a major memory-builder, as I went to college there in the seventies.  But West Texas?  Oddly, I've often used it as a setting in my original novels.  Odessa figures prominently in the Black Stiletto books.  A fictional town not unlike Odessa appears in a few of my other books, including one I just completed that is a stand-alone drama dealing with the death penalty.

Who are some authors and/or musicians to whom you’d like to give props for either influencing your work or simply entertaining you between projects?

That list could fill pages.  You know, I’m also a film historian and I teach Film History at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, so the movies do influence me.  I’m also a musician and lover of music of all types.  But to just name a few “heroes”---   Authors:  Ian Fleming, Ruth Rendell, Jim Thompson, Richard Adams.  Film:  Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Ingmar Bergman, David Lynch, Woody Allen.  Music:  The Beatles, Ennio Morricone, Jethro Tull, Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield, Frank Zappa, and many purveyors of “progressive rock.”

To learn more about  this talented author, visit his webpage: www.raymondbenson.com.

Behind The Scenes at "Death Knocking, Life Calling"

The question was an extremely fair one: If Death Knocking, Life Calling is Randy Gallaway's life story, what is it that you did? Why is your name on the book? The person had read The Ecuadorian Deception and was surprised to see that Death Knocking was written in the first person, but that person wasn't me. So I was asked about it.

Since you might be wondering, too, here's the back story:

1. Memoirs written by a third party are not uncommon. Most "ghost writers" are now "co-writers." Leon Panetta, Art Briles, "The American Sniper," Jimmy Fallon, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, and countless others used a co-writer. Just because someone has an incredible story doesn't mean they know how to translate it into print.

2. To maintain the power of the story, it was highly effective to leave Randy's life
 in first person.

3. It was also important to me that Randy and Mary Ann be able to use the book to raise money for their worldwide efforts to help others. Randy has dedicated his entire life to selflessness. If I could help him to increase the amount he's able to raise to help others, all the better. Writing the book in the third person would have made that awkward.

4. However, as a regular speaker at churches, civic clubs, and special events, I also wanted to make sure my name was on the book. Having a book (or books) in print is the coin of the realm when it comes to getting speaking engagements.

Randy and Mary Ann

The process for writing the book was the same as is used for standard biographies of living individuals. First, I spent months, even years, interviewing Randy and Mary Ann. Like everyone, they remembered things in snippets, not whole cloth. We might be talking about Randy's college days and he'd recall something about the amputation of his arms. I couldn't very well say, "Let's save that for another day." So any rabbit trail or unscheduled excursion they wanted to go on was fine by me.

At the end of our interviewing period, I was left with the literary equivalent of a five thousand piece jigsaw puzzle that someone dumped in the middle of my office floor. So my wife Caryl and I began putting the pieces together to reconstruct Randy's life in a way he would recognize.

The process was maddening, since I am not the most patient person in the world. But my wife's keen gift for organization was an incredible blessing. So we'd put chapters together, edit them, and then make sure it carried Randy's and Mary Ann's voices. To help with that, we incorporated our daughter, Sarah. She worked for Randy and Mary Ann while at Texas Tech. She was the one who introduced us. She knew when something sounded like them and when it sounded like me.

Chinese students listen to Randy

Finally, once the book was done, we fact-checked it with Randy and Mary Ann. That task completed, the book went through another several months of editing and refining. The finished product is one of which we are all very proud.


When my daughter introduced me to Randy, she said, "His story's going to be made into a movie one day. Don't you want to be the person who wrote the book?" I am more convinced than ever that the right person will come along one day and Randy's story will be headed to the big screen.

Henry and Marilyn Blackaby. Henry wrote
"Experiencing God," He and son Richard
graciously endorsed "Death Knocking." 

But more important than that is the fact that his story is full of incredible pearls of wisdom that people need to hear. It is also a story of hope. Regardless of the circumstances, if you are still breathing, God hasn't given up on you. Don't give up on yourself.

I'm excited people want to read the book. We are having trouble keeping up with the demand, and that's a very good thing. I'm excited people want to know how the book came to be. That indicates an even deeper level of interest similar to those who not only enjoy a movie, but want to watch a documentary of how the movie was made.

This summer we begin work on a sequel of sorts. So it's back to the puzzle factory. And clear a space on the floor. It's about to get messy again.

Rosa Latimer and The Harvey Girls

1. Your new book is "Harvey Houses of Texas." For the uninitiated, what were Harvey Houses?  

Harvey Houses were restaurants built along the Santa Fe Railroad. Founded by Fred Harvey and established with a hand-shake agreement with the railroad, the lunch counters and dining rooms served railroad passengers, railroad employees as well as residents of the community from the late 19th century until the 1940s.

 

2. What got you interested in Harvey Houses?  

As I learned my family history, I noticed a great deal of family pride in the fact that my grandmother was a Harvey Girl in New Mexico. I didn't know what a Harvey Girl was and as I began to learn more I realized this was a little-told story about a significant part of women's history in our country.

 

3. In 1946, Judy Garland starred in a movie called "The Harvey Girls." Besides providing us with the classic song "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe," what were the movie's other contributions to Harvey House history? 

Actually, the story in this movie is the only Harvey House history that many people know. 

 

4. You interviewed a number of former Harvey Girls for the book. What was that experience like? Did they see their time at Harvey Houses as particularly noteworthy or was it just another food service job?  

Meeting former Harvey Girls and hearing their stories was the best part of writing this book. Most of these women still exhibit the energetic, adventuresome spirit that led them to become Harvey Girls and their Harvey Girl experiences were a very important part of their lives.  I didn't find one who considered it "just another job" - the women (and their families) are eager to share their stories.  Preserving these personal stories and paying tribute to these women is the focus of Harvey Houses of Texas and will continue to be my focus as I write the Harvey Girl/Harvey House history of other states.

 

5. How long have you been researching Harvey Houses and their originator, Fred Harvey?  

I took several years to research the Texas Harvey House book and then it took several more years to find a publisher - at least ten years altogether.

 

6. You've owned Ruby Lane Books, the bookstore in Post, for eleven years. What is it like going from bookseller to author?  

The two fit together quite nicely. I was a free-lance writer long before I opened the book store and it was a challenge to separate work time and space from my personal life. Because it is a small store in a small town, I have plenty of time to write during business hours and the store provides a great work environment apart from my personal space.

 

7. There were sixteen Harvey Houses in Texas. Which ones stand out as the most interesting?  

The history of the Gainesville Harvey House is probably the most interesting to me because...well...I suppose you'll need to read the book to learn why.  The Slaton Harvey House is interesting because it has been beautifully preserved and is the only Harvey House in Texas that is still used for its original purpose.

 

8. I've heard it said that Harvey Houses were ahead of their time. What do people mean by that?  

Mr. Harvey's vision for fine dining regardless of how remote the location along with his use of the railroad to ship fresh food and supplies to all of the Harvey Houses was extremely innovative for the late-19th, early 20th centuries. Certainly his understanding of the importance of "branding" his product was unusual for the time.

 

9. Besides the Harvey Houses in Texas, where else were they located?  

California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Illinois.

 

 

10. So are there plans for more Harvey House books from Rosa Latimer?  

Thank you for asking!  "Harvey Houses of New Mexico" will be released May, 2015, and "Harvey Houses of Kansas" is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2015. Both are published by The History Press.  We have discussed books about the Harvey Houses in Arizona and Oklahoma, but no contract on those yet.

11. What's been the most rewarding part of writing this book? 

I loved, loved, loved the time I was actually writing the final manuscript for the publisher - so I'd say that was the most personally rewarding. However, now on the other end of the process, I have met many fun, interesting people (known as Fred Heads) who share my enthusiasm for Harvey Girl and Fred Harvey stories and preserving this history and that, too, is a rewarding experience.

 

12. You've told us about the future Harvey House books. What other subjects interest you that might one day make it into print?  

 I have begun preliminary research for a book about women ranchers in the Panhandle and counties south of Lubbock and would love to create a fiction series on Harvey Girls. I am also developing a play about the real "Rosie the Riveters" based on the true story of four sisters who grew up on a farm near Plainview, TX and all went to California to work in the airplane factories.  Actually, the list of possible projects is long, but finding the time to complete them is limited! 

My Life With Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney’s Lubbock concert is less than a week away. In honor of that historic event (he’s appearing for the first time in the hometown of his musical hero, Buddy Holly), I’ve been reflecting on my favorite McCartney moments.

Mind you, these aren't about his life and achievements, but about times when his iconic presence and music played into my life in some form or fashion:

1966 (first grade at Greenbriar Elementary in Fort Worth) – Robbie Tarvin came to school with a Beatles lunchbox, which was about the coolest thing a six year old could do. As he pulled out his baloney sandwich with way too much mayo and began adding Fritos , he made the ridiculous suggestion that John Lennon was the leader of the Beatles. I pointed out that McCartney was not only the best looking Beatle, but also clearly the leader, since he sang lead on the two greatest Beatles songs, “I Saw Her Standing There,” and “Michelle.” Before long, classmates Regina, Jess, Kent, and Charlie had joined the discussion and the whole table was involved in a Beatles debate. The worst part was the silly six-year-old who couldn’t keep straight the difference between The Monkees, Beatles, and Herman’s Hermits. Miss Hunt, the incredibly attractive fourth-grade teacher who had lunch room duty that day came over to see what the fuss was about. After hearing the crux of the matter, she quickly sided with me, noting it was also McCartney who sang lead on “Nowhere Man.” Turns out she was wrong about that, but nobody in first grade knew it. Robbie and I were never close after that (which was fine, because his breath smelled like mayonnaise). For the rest of the year, every time Miss Hunt saw me in the hall, she would engage in a short but sweet bit of Beatles conversation. That’s heady stuff for a first grader.

1973 – Ellen Jobe, the blonde who lived across the street from my grandparents in Fort Worth, apologized for saying Paul McCartney wasn’t a real rocker. This came after he and Wings released the regrettable “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and many rock fans cashed in their chips and moved on. While I still can’t figure out what he was thinking, I chose to focus on “My Love” as a rock ballad for the ages, rather than the goofy “Mary.” When “Live and Let Die” came out, McCartney got his “cred” back with Ellen and gave us an excuse to strike up a conversation. Thanks, Paul. Ellen Jobe was a cutey. 

1974 – At church youth camp, the always cool Steve Marsh brought his guitar. He knew how to play “Rocky Raccoon,” but mangled the lyrics a bit. When he reverted to la-la-la-something-or-other, I jumped in and helped him out. Since I was only a freshman and he was a senior, that was either a heroic move or a huge faux pas.  As Rocky rode off into the North Dakota sunset, Steve said, “You’ve got a nice voice. What else you want to sing?” Cha-ching!

1978 – A sad moment which still embarrasses me. I went to see Peter Frampton, The Bee Gees, Alice Cooper, and Aerosmith in the movie version of Sgt. Pepper’s. I enjoyed it and said so to anyone who would listen. Then Rolling Stone magazine declared it the worst rock music movie of all time. Whatever cred I got back in 1974 was now pretty much gone. Looking back, Rolling Stone was right and I was clearly an idiot.

Early- to Mid-1990s – Singing my daughter to sleep each night with a medley of songs that started with “I Love You” from Barney the Dinosaur and ended with “Blackbird,” by McCartney. Maybe that’s a connection he was hinting at way back in ’73 with “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” 

1976 – Winning a KZEW t-shirt for being the first caller to correctly identify the snippet of a “new” song they played and name the band. It was “Got to Get You Into My Life,” which was originally recorded in 1966 but not released as a single until a decade later to promote the “Rock ‘n’ Roll Music” Beatles compilation album. Always one of the Beatles most underrated songs and a key reason why Revolver is the second best Beatles album of all time.

1971 – The TCU Theatre in Fort Worth was running a Sunday afternoon double feature: Yellow Submarine and Let It Be. It was my father’s weekend to see us, but he was a no-show on both Friday night (we were supposed to go camping) and Saturday (“Got held up at work. We will go camping tonight.”) He showed up Sunday afternoon as my little brother and I were walking out of church and about to get on the “blue goose” church bus to be driven home. He told us to come with him and he would take us to do whatever we wanted. Knowing how much he hated anything even remotely tied to rock music (he never forgave Buck Owens for “letting” the Beatles do a cover of “Act Naturally), I said I wanted to go to the movies. My mother had refused to take me to see the Beatles double-feature for fear there would be “hippies with drugs” lurking about. Turns out, she was right. I got my first whiff of marijuana sitting in that theater. My father, who couldn’t backtrack after promising to take us anywhere we wanted, sat and stewed for four hours while I rocked to the Beatles and my brother (nine years old at the time) curled up and took a nap.

1965-69 – Sunday mornings meant two things: getting ready for church and watching the Rankin Bass Beatles cartoon, followed by Bullwinkle. Both of them remain two of the wittiest, best-written cartoons of all time.

1965 – Music has always played an important role in my life. In 1965 my grandparents asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told them I wanted a new record player and a Beatles record. I got both. Score!

1997 – Going through security at the Tokyo airport and seeing a large picture of McCartney in handcuffs following his 1980 arrest for marijuana.

 The caption, in multiple languages, read, “If we will arrest him, we will most certainly arrest you. Please follow the rules.” I pulled out a camera to take a picture of it and was quickly reminded by a man in a uniform that one of the rules was NO CAMERAS IN THE SECURITY AREA.

See you Saturday, Paul.

The Bird's Eye View on Moving to South America: David Sasaki

David Sasaki's contributions are found on two of my favorite Facebook sites: What's Happening in Cotacachi Ecuador and Ecuador Expats. You can also find him by simply searching David Sasaki. All sites are extremely informative with a good mix of news about Ecuador and networking between current and prospective expats.

For anyone who has considered relocating to another country, or wonders what makes someone else do it, I thought I'd share some of David's thoughts on living in Ecuador. As his FB site explains, he lives in a small town, Cotachi, north of Quito. The photos he shares of the mountains around his home are nothing less than stunning.

So my first question for David was how did you go from 'I could move to South America' to 'let's do it?'

David explained, "My wife and I came to Ecuador for a short visit to see if we liked it. We did. We went back home, sold our house, and came to Ecuador with just suitcases." He said both he and his wife lean toward the adventurous side of life, so the idea of moving was appealing to both of them.

Having said that, he also "needs stability" and doesn't like to constantly be on the go. Therefore, Cotacachi provided a good mix of exotic locale, but with small town roots.

I asked David what surprised him most about moving to Ecuador. His answer is a cautionary tale for those of you considering the move. "There are some expats who try to take financial advantage of new arrivals," he said. Therefore, if you are considering moving, be very cautious about trusting other people simply because they also come from the USA.

On the other hand, David noted, "The people of Ecuador have been very welcoming. Some are cautious around foreigners which is understandable." We also found that to be true. Once again, you have to be careful not to trust people too much until they earn that trust. Caution is a good by-word.

I asked David about all the news media hype regarding Americans moving to Ecuador and how that has affected things there. He said, "The cost of living has been going up. While it's still cheaper to live in Ecuador than in the US, it's not as cheap as it was a few years ago. And the cost of living depends on your lifestyle."

That's an excellent point. When you read that a meal in Ecuador costs around two dollars, keep in mind the writer is probably referring to rice and beans. If you want to eat like a king, you will pay considerably more.

While some commentators report that the average stay by Americans in Ecuador is less than three years, David tends to dispute that number. "I think people are just making guesses," he said. "There are no official figures."

David would know. He is as well informed as anyone I have run across about the country. His FB sites offer what most Ecuadorian sites do not, a great number of news articles on the country.

I asked him what he missed most about living in the US. His answer was short and sweet: "Not much really except maybe family and a few good friends." What does he most appreciate about Ecuador, besides the great beauty? He is glad to be out of the "rat race mentality." Tranquilo, which means to be tranquil or to chill out is a popular word in South America.

He suggested if someone is interested in investigating a new culture, rather than trying to impose their culture on others, they would enjoy Ecuador. But that's an important point. Those who hear life in Ecuador is dirt cheap and who see the people as their personal servants give Americans a bad name and sour Ecuadorians on all of us.

Ecuador is not the southern wing of the United States. The culture is different, the people are different. If you are considering moving, that's important to realize. Also, English is not the official or unofficial language. At least trying to learn Spanish is important.

David's advice: Find an area that suits your lifestyle. "I'm not a beach person. I love the mountains. My wife and I made a decision early on that we did not want to live in a city. We prefer small town life. I think if their financial resources allow it, people should visit first to see if they like Ecuador. The country is not for everyone."

Wise words from someone I admire. If you are considering Ecuador and want to learn more about it, I believe you will enjoy David's sites.

Welcome to the Paper Tree Forest

Most people have a Bucket List of places they very much want to visit before the one-way trip to the next plain of existence. Tops on mine is Turkey.

One place that wasn't on my Bucket List, because I didn't know it existed, was the Paper Tree Forest in Cajas National Park outside Cuenca, Ecuador. However, it was such a magical experience, I would urge you to put it on yours.

Stepping into the Paper Tree Forest was like instantly being transported to a magical, enchanted land. The trees are so different from anything I'd ever seen before, and so different from the surrounding bogs and mountains of the Cajas, that it very nearly took my breath away...or was that the elevation?

 The official name of Paper Trees is polylepis, which is Latin for "many layers." That's because the trees don't have rings like other types of trees, but more resemble onions. They can literally be peeled apart and the layers used for writing paper or to roll cigarettes. As you can see from these pictures, the lack of a strong inner core causes the trees to grow in some fascinating ways, winding, bending, and turning like a hermit's fingernails.

In Australia the trees tend to look more like scrubs. However, in the rain forests/cloud forests of the Cajas, the trees grow much taller and wind in fascinating ways.

When llamas munch on them, they also tend to fall over, but can continue growing. Therefore, you might see one growing along the ground or winding in a circle. (Having said that, I am anything but an expert on Paper Trees. My only experience was hiking the Cajas and stumbling across this magical kingdom.)

Our guide said many of the native peoples of the region saw/see the forest as enchanted. Not hard to see why. If you have ever wondered what it would feel like to step inside a fairy land, visit the Paper Tree Forest.

Our guide said there are actually a number of tales from the native peoples that happen in the polylepis forests. As I began writing The Ecuadorian Deception, my intention was that much of the book, especially the chase scenes.

If you have read the novel, you know that while the Paper Tree Forest is certainly there, it has a much more minor roll...more of a backdrop scene than a centerpiece.

In spite of that, or maybe because of it, I wanted to take time to encourage you that if/when you visit Ecuador, make time to visit the Cajas (pronounced Cah-haas). When you first begin your hike, you will go through a rain forest, move into bogs, and then eventually make the Paper Tree Forest. Having said that, you don't have to be in top shape to make the hike, but you do need to be able to trudge at least 10 miles in high altitudes.

It's not recommended to do this on your own, either. If you get lost in the Cajas, it can be very dangerous. That's probably not so different from national parks in the United States, where getting lost is also not a great idea.

The bogs along the Inca Trail.

For those of you who have hiked the Inca Trail or visited the Paper Tree Forest, I'd love for you to share with us in the comments section. Further, if you have other "magical" destinations, feel free to recommend them.

Books, Hotels, Restaurants, and a Favor to Ask

When Caryl and I began traveling twenty-plus years ago, we had very few options when it came to planning. Life is too short and money too tight to eat bad food or stay in crappy hotels. So about December of each year we would begin shopping, first for vacation spots and then for books about that spot.

The right travel guide (Mobil used to publish our favorite) could steer us toward fantastic restaurants, attractions, and hotels that fit our budget and our demographics. But today, fortunately, something far better than the Mobil Guide exists.

It's you. And you. And you. And you. All of you joining together through a variety of Internet sites and applications to express your opinions about everything from books to restaurants to doctors to handymen. Once our best option was looking at the opinions and evaluations of a few "experts" who wrote for Fodders and Consumer Reports and newspapers.

Now I can ask you - thousands and thousands of you - what you think of a certain book, travel destination, or restaurant. And, like the Olympics, I can throw out the high and low scores and come up with a pretty decent picture of what I'm going to get if I spend my money on this attraction or that hotel.

ReviewPush published an article in 2012 explaining point by point how and why online reviews are so important. You can read it here: http://www.reviewpush.com/blog/how-online-reviews-impact-your-business/.

As the article points out, we are now blessed with the opportunity to hear from dozens, hundreds, or thousands of like-minded people on a variety of subjects for which we share a common interest. As we read the reviews, it is even possible to say, "Wow, this person was having a really bad day. I'm not sure I trust their opinion on that particular restaurant." On TripAdvisor, we can even read multiple reviews by the same person to see if they are easy or hard graders. (Since TripAdvisor almost always sends me to great restaurants, hotels, and attractions, I very seldom need to write bad reviews.)

The moral of the story is this: If you like (or dislike) something, your opinion matters. Those who have read The Ecuadorian Deception are probably tired of me asking them to post reviews on amazon.com. However, I know - and research validates - that book buyers are fiercely reliant on those reviews to help them make their purchases. I even heard one person, in discussing books, say he chose a particular novel because some of the reviewers claimed it had large amounts of gratuitous violence, sex, and bad language. This person, a doctor, said he liked that in a novel. (He may not enjoy The Ecuadorian Deception, by the way.)

That's not how I pick my books, but hey, it works for him. And it shows that even people with very different points of view can do you a great service in helping you make your next purchase. If you're not on sites like www.tripadvisor.com, you're missing out on a wonderful resource.

And, if you haven't written your review yet of the latest book you've read, it's time to get cracking at www.amazon.com. Enough said.