Questions & Answers¹
¹ Over the years I've received positive comments about the style and content of my Playful Q&A. If you're seeking the bawdier and more rage-embracing version, then you can find it here. If not, read on.
Why do you occasionally choose to share rough drafts?
Because the starting point is important, and nothing to be ashamed about. Also, for all its talk about embracing and accepting it, Western culture punishes & hides from failure and the unpolished, uncouth, and unrefined. The entrepreneur who has "made it" is placed on a pedestal and is not only stroked but stroked hard. The business owner who lost everything and became homeless is mostly ignored & forgotten, often mocked. I'm challenging the lies and bullshit. The culture I was born into markets aspiration — "success" & "achievement" — harder than a street corner dealer pushes heroin.
What's your elevator pitch that describes you?
A pitch implies branding, and the question reeks of personal branding. I have no pitch; however, I'll share with you a phrase describing me with a certain accuracy: A silhouette reminiscent of SHAW's unreasonable man admiring TWAIN's acerbic wit.
Did you bail on social media (again?)
Yes. On 20-Dec-2022 I decided to take a gap year with the exception of specific social media duties I perform for podcasts & the charity I co-founded with my wife. However, on Marh 1, 2023 I decided to delete my SIXSTRINGcpa account. I may be back in late Dec '23 or not. If so, I don't think I'll return to the SIXSTRINGcpa handle.
Why do you occasionally spell words differently?
Short answer: I am playing and having fun.
Long answer: My grandparents wrote and spoke their English words differently than we do in the States. That fact made an impression on me. Also, have you ever listened to William F. Buckley Jr. speak? I once read or heard his voice described as pan-Atlantic. I grooved on that. It made a kind of sense to me, given the peculiar sounds and spellings swirling around my family when I was a boy. Anyway, I decided I'd create my own little mashup and merge aspects of language from both sides of the pond. You know, I am playing and having fun.
Didn't you once describe yourself as a recovering accountant?
Yes, I did. However, I have fallen off the wagon and am using (capitalism) again because the world I live in forces me to do so to stay alive.
Can you provide guidance or assistance with writing query or submission letters?
No, aspiring writers focused on traditional publishing, I can't! Why? Because I have zero experience with such things. I've never pursued traditional publishing. So, I've never written a query letter. Not once. And I'm not ashamed of that, although some so-called "pros" in the leech-filled Land of Letters believe I'm less than—or not serious about the craft—because of it.