Writing Wisdom with Mark Newhouse

Supporter Page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1974255/support

Exploring Community Insights and Author Experiences in The Villages

In this episode of the 'Open Forum in the Villages, Florida' podcast, host Mike Roth introduces the Season 6 premiere by discussing the show's focus on community leaders and events in The Villages, Florida. Mike interviews Mark Newhouse, a seasoned writer, and coach, discussing his journey from a classroom teacher to a successful author and founder of the Writers League and the Book Expo. They talk about the upcoming Book Expo scheduled for January 26 at the Eisenhower Recreation Center, featuring around 100 authors. Mark shares personal anecdotes about his Holocaust survivor parents, the inspiration behind his prize-winning trilogy 'The Devil's Bookkeepers,' which has sold thousands of copies and has been turned into an audiobook. Mark emphasizes the importance of leaving a legacy and inspiring future generations through writing. The episode concludes with a reminder for listeners to support the podcast and contact information for potential major supporters.

00:00 Welcome to the Open Forum in the Villages, Florida

01:07 Support the Podcast

01:56 Introducing Mark Newhouse

02:12 The Book Expo and Writing in The Villages

05:21 Mark's Journey and Inspirations

09:46 Creating a Legacy Through Writing

14:14 The Devil's Bookkeepers: A Love Story

16:25 Alzheimer's Tips with Dr. Craig Curtis

17:48 Publishing and Promoting the Book

24:10 Conclusion and Listener Shout Outs

Transcript

Mark Newhouse on Writing Books

[00:00:08] Donna: Welcome to the Open Forum in The Villages, Florida podcast. In this show, we talk to leaders in the community, leaders of clubs, and interesting folks who live here in The Villages to get perspectives of what is happening here in The Villages, Florida. We are a listener supported podcast. There will be shout outs for supporters in episodes.

[00:00:29] Mike Roth: This is Mike Roth. And listeners, I'm thrilled to share with you this podcast, which is my passion project for you. This podcast brings me joy, brings you knowledge, inspiration, and a lot of things that people need to know about The Villages and the people living here.

Be sure to hit the follow button to get the newest episode each week. Creating this podcast is a labor of love, even though it demands more time. That I can easily spare. Now, here's where you come in. You can help us keep the podcast alive and thriving. How? By becoming a supporter. The easy way for you to support us is to visit our podcast webpage.

Open forum in thevillagesflorida. com and click on the supporter button at the top of the page or the purple supporter box on the right side of the page. Even a small donation of three to ten dollars a month makes a big difference. And guess what? You can cancel your subscription at any time. No strings attached.

Your support means the world to us. Stay curious, stay inspired, and keep those headphones on. I hope everyone enjoys today's show.

[00:01:47] Mike Roth AI 9-11-24: This is Mike Roth on Open Forum in The Villages, Florida. I'm here today with Mark Newhouse. Thanks for joining me, Mark. 

[00:01:55] Mark Newhouse AI: My pleasure. I'm honored to be here with you.

[00:01:58] Mike Roth: Mark is a writer and a writer's coach. He is also the past founding president of the Writers League. He was the founder of the Book Expo.

What is the Book Expo? 

[00:02:09] Mark Newhouse: The Book Expo features a hundred of our local authors. Once a year being able to talk to visitors and sign their books and inspire writers. It'll be at the Eisenhower Recreation Center this year, I believe on January 26. And it's very exciting. It's a wonderful time for parents to bring their children and for residents to be inspired by our writers.

I love it.

[00:02:40] Mike Roth: So that's open to the public.

[00:02:41] Mark Newhouse: It's open to the public and it's free. How many writers are going to be 

[00:02:45] Mike Roth: There to sign autographs? 

[00:02:46] Mark Newhouse: This year we're going to have about a hundred. And we also have two presenters that are going to be wonderful. I don't know who they are yet.

It's amazing to me the variety of books Villagers have created. And we also have authors who are not from The Villages who have heard about the Expo and love to share their books with people in The Villages. the Eisenhower Recreation Center is an amazingly inspiring recreation center.

[00:03:14] Mike Roth: It's almost a museum.

[00:03:16] Mark Newhouse: It's beautiful. there's nothing like it anywhere else. this is about, the 18th year since I started this, and it's just grown and it's wonderful.

[00:03:25] Mike Roth: How many people came last year? 

[00:03:27] Mark Newhouse: . About 3, 000.You can spend a whole day there because If you have the dream of writing a book talking to our authors is going to help you. It's going to inspire you and joining our writing groups is just such a helpful thing.

[00:03:43] Mike Roth: Okay. Again, what was the date? Of the expo.

[00:03:46] Mark Newhouse: It's a Sunday this year. 

[00:03:48] Mike Roth: Okay, good. And what time does this start in the morning? 

[00:03:52] Mark Newhouse: I think probably around 10 o'clock and goes to about 2 o'clock.

[00:03:57] Mike Roth: And anyone hearing this podcast. Can actually go out, meet new authors, buy the books, and signatures in the books. 

[00:04:05] Mark Newhouse: Signed books make wonderful gifts. It's a great way to promote writing to your children and grandchildren. it's just so easy to mail a book. 

[00:04:15] Mike Roth: Now, does a writer have to be a resident of The Villages?

[00:04:18] Mark Newhouse: No, not at all. Most of the writers are from The Villages, but we also have people who come as far as Orlando and the East Coast, It's gotten a wonderful reputation. It's one of the largest book and author expos anywhere in Florida. I'm very proud of it.

It started out as a small project, part of my insanity, and then it just grew and grew. what's nice about it is that I'm no longer running it. 

[00:04:46] Mike Roth: That's an old story here on The Villagers. The only way you get out of running something is by dying. 

[00:04:52] Mark Newhouse: That's true, Writers League, I started Writers League years ago, and we had about 30 members.

We're up to about 300 members now, and we only had one writing club. When I first moved here and now I believe we're up to about 15 official writing clubs sponsored by the recreation and parks department. So it's grown tremendously. Financially successful from writing. That's a great question. when you start writing books, especially in retirement, I'm not sure that financial gain is your most important objective. When I see a grandparent finishing their book and holding saying to me, now I have something to give children, grandchildren.

I think that's really the main objective. And when one does become financially viable, I think that's a plus. I have made money on my books. I know other authors who have also made money on their books, but I don't think that's the main motivation. When I speak to potential writers I tell them they may not make money, but the idea that they're creating a legacy their children and grandchildren is something unmatchable.

That legacy idea is a fantastic idea. I suggest to people that they create a podcast series for their grandchildren. And great grandchildren who aren't even conceived yet. Mike, you're absolutely right. I never thought that my retirement would be like this.

I was a classroom teacher on Long Island. I was honored by a number of awards for my creativity. And dedication when I retired, I was looking forward to playing golf, sitting by the pool, having dinners with my wonderful wife. And I got wrapped up in this cyclone of wonderful activities in The Villages.

And one of the things that I never thought I would do is create a podcast. the podcast I created began As a play that I wrote for my underachieving sixth grade students to perform at the senior center. It was a kind of Perry Mason built around the Jack and the Beanstalk story.

It was called the case of the Jack and the Beanstalk and it was a mock trial. I took that idea and when I retired, I wrote. A book called Welcome to Monstrovia. as I said, I never thought that it would become a podcast, but that's what actually happened. We've created a series of podcasts, which you can listen to for free.

[00:07:34] Mike Roth: How do they listen to it for free? 

[00:07:35] Mark Newhouse: You can listen to it on Amazon. Spotify, I believe has it and Apple podcasts, Amazon music. nb Google podcast, iHeartRadio, and

[00:07:46] Mark Newhouse AI: Go Kid Go. They

[00:07:48] Mark Newhouse: all are featuring it. And I'm amazed because I was told yesterday that we've had 96, 000 downloads in its first year.

[00:07:59] Mike Roth: That's a very big number. 

[00:08:01] Mark Newhouse: I think it's amazing. And they've actually started monetizing it. Which totally amazes me. But what I really love about it is that the main character I was able to name after my granddaughter. 

[00:08:15] Mike Roth: And what did you call her?

[00:08:17] Mark Newhouse: Her name is Kara. she is11 years old now, but in my podcast, she's 10 years old and her uncle, who is the famous lawyer for monsters and fictional characters in Monstrovia.

Has been kidnapped in a nefarious plot that extends for 10 episodes and she is left to defend monsters, accused of all kinds of crazy crimes and I just love this series because when I was a little boy. I was inspired by Perry Mason, and I wanted to be a lawyer because of Perry Mason, and they gave me a goal, which kept me on the right side of the law when many of my friends who didn't have goals ended up getting into trouble and some dying because of drugs I think it's so important for kids to have goals. when I proposed my podcast series, I made very clear that not only was it supposed to be fast moving and exciting, but I also wanted to be educational and provide the inspiration so children today would have goals. I call it a Perry Mason for kids today.

[00:09:31] Mike Roth: That's great. You've written several other books. Why don't you tell our listeners, about your favorite book that you've written? 

[00:09:38] Mark Newhouse: I love all my books, but my absolute favorite, was, to leave a legacy for my grandchildren. I accidentally discovered that we have a secret in my family that I didn't really know about, that I was born two years and one day after my mother was freed from Auschwitz.

I was actually born in a displaced persons camp in Germany, and I knew my parents were Holocaust survivors. But I knew almost nothing about their past and how they survived. And one of the things that really was a concern to me, that they had lived in a place called Lodz, which is actually pronounced Vudge, and it was a ghetto.

But most of my life, I thought it was like Anatevka in Fiddler on the Roof. after my mother passed away I learned that she had given me a book, the chronicle of the Lodz ghetto. This book was written in secret in the same building where the Nazi ghetto administrators had their offices.

The people who wrote this were risking their lives. They just put down the bare facts. For example, they would have an entry about shipping 20 bags of laundry out of the ghetto was really a euphemism, For sending people out of the ghetto.

[00:10:59] Mike Roth: How did you get the book?

[00:11:00] Mark Newhouse: My mother gave it to me, but it was so big and thick that I put it in my thrift store pile. I'm really embarrassed to admit that I didn't read it. my wife, who is four foot 11 inches tall and English. She wanted me to clean up some of my books. I'm a book lover. So I put the book in the thrift store pile and it opened and I saw it was signed to my mother. My stepfather was also a Holocaust survivor. I began to read it. And I sat on the floor, literally for three days, reading this huge book.

As I was reading it, I said to myself, I finally understand what people went through during the holocaust, not in gas chambers, but in ghettoed areas, separated by barbed wire and rifle toting sentries with orders to shoot anyone who got near the fence.

I kept arguing with myself. That I have to do something to share this with my grandchildren and children. 

[00:12:12] Mike Roth: This book you inherited was written more like a ship's log as opposed to a novel. 

[00:12:18] Mark Newhouse: It was just a series of unemotional, flat, boring entries. But I had to read them.

as I read them, I realized what suspense people lived under, how their lives had been totally uprooted. It was as if they had a sword hanging over them that any day could separate their families and destroy them. what amazed me was that the leader of the ghetto was a man with a fifth grade education that the Germans picked for no known reason.

He was trying to govern More than 200, 000 human beings in this terrible place where conditions were so dire that people were fighting over potato skins. It was a terrible revelation to me. It wasn't like Anatevka and Fiddler on the Roof. It was a holding tank created by the Nazis as the first, impersonal means to kill Jews, to kill my family.

It was where I lost most of my relatives. I didn't know my mother had six brothers and sisters and that my grandparents on both sides and my relatives did not survive as I was sitting there reading this. I kept thinking about one of my favorite movies, 12 Angry Men, the original one with Henry Fonda, where you have 12 men locked in a room together, and so much of their personalities are revealed in this claustrophobic environment.

And as the idea circled in my head, I said, If I was really a good writer, and not just a children's writer, I would be writing this book down right now. 

[00:14:12] Mike Roth: So how did you turn Chronicle into a love story? 

[00:14:17] Mark Newhouse: It was very difficult, what happened? The first thing I did was I created a plan. Okay.

Usually, I'm what they call a fly by the seat of your pants writer. And there have been times where I'll get to the end of the story or the middle of the story and I'll say, I can't finish this. It doesn't work. Very frustrating this time. I planned it I created the characters 

and what I decided to do was recreate as closely as possible the day by day. events that happened in the ghetto and what the controversial leader of the ghetto did in his effort to save more than 200, 000 people. then I sat down at the computer and a very strange thing happened.

I typed 700 pages in about 30 days. I was absolutely exhausted. I was emotionally drained. And then I was almost embarrassed because I had never heard anything like this before. I've written short stories that won awards. I've written children's books that won awards. But to write something like this, I didn't think I could do it.

So I asked a friend of mine, who was a retired professor of literature, who happened to be a staunch Catholic, because I didn't want a yes person. I wanted an honest appraisal of the book. And I gave it to him, and I asked him, do me a favor, would you read this for me?

And he called me three days later, and he said, Mark, this is an amazing accomplishment. You've got to publish this. But I wasn't convinced. So I gave it to other people to read, which is what I always advise other writers to do. I read it to a wonderful writing group in The Villages.

their response was almost always the same. They all said, Mark, this is a love story. We couldn't put it down. It was so suspenseful that we had to finish it. 

[00:16:24] Mike Roth: This is Mike Roth and Dr. Craig Curtis. We're talking about Alzheimer's disease. 

Dr. Curtis, can you talk about alcohol use and Alzheimer's? 

[00:16:38] Dr.Craig Curtis: Yes, Mike. They have had studies out for years that show those , that have one to two drinks a day actually have a lower risk of heart attack or stroke. And in a study published, 

[00:16:49] Mike Roth: That's interesting.

That means that people who totally abstain from alcohol Have a higher risk? 

[00:16:55] Dr.Craig Curtis: That's a, that's a difficult question, Mike. It's yes, those that abstain from alcohol, not with Alzheimer's disease, but actually had a slightly higher risk of heart attack and stroke. However, so this was a study published in June of 2023 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiologies in stress signaling in the brain.

So essentially they had less stress, which we've always known. is a risk factor for a heart attack or stroke, but the American College of Cardiology currently is not advocating for the use of alcohol to reduce your risk of heart attack or strokes because of other concerning effects of alcohol on health.

[00:17:35] Warren: With over 20 years of experience studying brain health, Dr. Curtis's goal is to educate the village's community on how to live a longer, healthier life. To learn more, visit his website, craig curtis md.com, or call 3 5 2 5 0 0 5 2 5 2 to attend a free seminar.

[00:17:51] Mike Roth: Okay, so you finished the book. And why don't you tell our listeners what you've done to get the book published, and perhaps produced into a TV series or a movie?

[00:18:02] Mark Newhouse: Getting a book published can be quite an experience. I have had two agents, and both turned out to be disasters. One involving a legal lawsuit to extricate myself from a contract. my choice was To self publish or go through the rigmarole of getting another agent and going to a major publisher.

I decided to self publish this book. One reasons was I wasn't that confident in the book. was another reason. My son had taken over my publishing company. done an amazing job. He has helped hundreds of Villagers get their books published and now specializing in helping authors all over the country market their books.

[00:18:51] Mike Roth: What is your son's publishing company's name? 

[00:18:55] Mark Newhouse: Newhouse Creative Group. .

[00:18:57] Mike Roth: And is there a website and phone number that people can

[00:18:59] Mark Newhouse: There certainly is. You can go to Newhouse Creative Group author services. he treats everybody like family 

In fact, he calls them family members and he has helped so many people and I'm very proud of him. 

[00:19:12] Mike Roth: How many books does he help publish?

[00:19:14] Mark Newhouse: Oh, I'd say several hundred at this point. And what he's done is he's really made my book successful. one of the things I've done with the books is because I had so little confidence, I entered them in contests because I wanted the validation.

And kind of a funny story because the first year I entered the Florida Writers Association competition, Everybody said, Oh, Mark, You're going to win. I did not. one of the judges wrote that the book sagged in the middle. I always believe in taking criticism and working with it rather than getting upset or angry.

so I read the book again. And said, That judge is right. It does sag in the middle. I cut the book in half. added a tale chapter and a new chapter to book two then I entered the same contest with book one and I was shocked that it won the gold medal in historical fiction.

And then I was called up as one of the finalists. For the top honor, which is book of the year.

[00:20:20] Mike Roth: So if our listeners want to read a copy of the book, how is it available today?

[00:20:25] Mark Newhouse: It's available on Amazon. It's available on Kindle. And it's also available as an amazing audio book 

, 

[00:20:33] Mike Roth: I listened to it as an audible book. And it is just phenomenal. You couldn't stop listening to it. 

[00:20:40] Mark Newhouse: Would you agree with me that's an amazing love story? It's an amazing love story. 

[00:20:45] Mike Roth: I really felt that the actor 

read the book, all three volumes of the book, just did a phenomenal job.

And it made a book that I felt was hard to read. Easy to listen to. And that was a tremendous difference of context that the actor provided and made it a really phenomenal listen.

[00:21:08] Mark Newhouse: When I heard him audition, I just knew that he was right. 

[00:21:13] Mike Roth: The actor did a great job. Mark. About how many copies of the book is sold. 

[00:21:18] Mark Newhouse AI: That's a great question. We've had over 2000 reviews, which for an independently published book is incredible. And when I read them, I get very emotional. I would say at least 10, 000 copies of the Kindle edition and I don't know exactly how many hard copies, but I will tell you the fact that if anyone reads the book and learns a true story and is emotionally moved by it, that to me makes it all worthwhile.

And with the audio book, the reason I did that, because I knew it was going to be an expensive proposition, was I had been doing a presentation for a group and I had about 200 people there. one person came up to me and said, Mark, a lot of the people who survived the Holocaust and the soldiers who went into the concentration camps, they can't read anymore.

And I said, You're right. And that's why I decided to do the audio book. I never thought that I myself would be so moved by hearing this wonderful actor pronouncing my words, it wasn't easy because he had to capture the Polish accents and the female voices and the many voices in the book.

[00:22:37] Mike Roth: That's why you use a professional actor or reader to get the characters right in the book so that the listener can identify. I could capture the emotions and the suspense, but to actually do a professional job was beyond my ability, and I knew it. Yes, I'm very proud of it.

[00:23:00] Mike Roth AI 9-11-24: The book is available on Audible. Amazon and 

[00:23:05] Mark Newhouse: wherever you can get audio books. 

[00:23:06] Mike Roth AI 9-11-24: Good. Yeah. And the name of the book is The Devil's Bookkeepers three volumes a lot of people say it's very difficult to read a book about the Holocaust.

But it's a love story that transcends the Holocaust.

[00:23:21] Mike Roth: It's a love story with a background of the Holocaust.

[00:23:24] Mark Newhouse: And I also feel it's not just about the Holocaust, but it's about humanity today and what we're facing in the world today. the suspense just keeps people reading. The other important thing I think that people should know is, It's not about the gas chambers.

It is not about the horrors. It's about people like you and me forming friendships, finding love, and trying to survive. a key word.

[00:23:54] Mike Roth: Survive and trust other people. 

[00:23:56] Mark Newhouse: Survive and find hope. Find hope even in the most dire conditions, which we see emulated all over the world today.

[00:24:05] Mike Roth: Thanks for being on the podcast, with me today.

 One of your other projects. 

[00:24:09] Mark Newhouse: I'll be honored to be here anytime Mike. Thank you so much.

[00:24:13] Donna: Remember, our next episode will be released next Friday at 9 a. m. Should you want to become a major supporter of the show or have questions, please contact us at mike at rothvoice dot com. This is a shout out for supporters Tweet Coleman, Ed Williams, Duane Roemmich, Paul Sorgin, Kathy Loving, and Dr. Craig Curtis at K2 in The Villages.

We will be hearing more from Dr. Curtis with short Alzheimer's tips each week. If you know someone who should be on the show, contact us at mike@rothvoice.com. The way our show grows is with your help. Text your friends about this show if you enjoyed listening, or just tell your friends about the show.

We thank everyone for listening to the show. The content of the show is copyrighted by Rothvoice 2024. All rights reserved.