LOST AND FORGOTTEN: Book One - Discovery by Maurice Barkley

5/13/2023

Multi-volume, multi-genre author, Maurice Barkley introduces us to the first volume in the “Lost and Forgotten” series, “Discovery”:
THE PAST IS NEVER DEAD, IT ONLY HIDES
Where did it begin?
Could it have been just days ago when a piece of advanced electronic equipment disappeared?
Or was it in 1945 when a huge aircraft vanished, somewhere in Egypt?
Or maybe the start was five thousand years ago when a great flood altered the future of an ancient society?
Or possibly an event so far in the past that the only witness would have been something not quite man?
And how do you pick up a trail not known to exist? Things do change quite a bit every thousand years or so. You may carefully mark a path through the deep woods, but if one of the marks disappears, as in time this surely must happen, you are in trouble.
And how do you decide to set aside your daily affairs to follow you know not what to you know not where? A faint shadow that at any moment may dissolve and leave you alone in an extremely distant place.

The FBI came looking, but the electronic device had vanished without a trace. Luckily someone high up remembered a man with unusual talents.
Retired Army Ranger JIM CAGNEY feels stranded on the beach of retirement after his exciting career as an Army Ranger, but everything changes when two young FBI agents come looking for him. The memory and talents of this older man prove to be of great value in their search for the missing piece of sophisticated electronics. The will-o-the-wisp they chase is more the age of Mr. Cagney and is employing methods and devices of a bygone era to function and cover his tracks. For Jim it is simply a matter of perspective, experience and a penchant for puzzles. He did not hesitate and started a journey beyond his wildest dreams.

I was unsure what to expect, it seemed like a time-travel story, my favorite sub-genre in science fiction. I looked forward to reading the story. I missed the hints about all of the cloak-and-dagger stuff because I was caught up in the time-travel aspects.
I loved the story completely!
I loved the thoughtful attitude of Jim Cagney, his words were few most of the time but very impactful. He had some decent jokes also. All of the main characters were pretty real and added a lot to my enjoyment.
The foreign settings brought a nice texture to the story also.
I can't say more without revealing any spoilers.
I would love to see a series about Jim when he was still an Army Ranger.
All in all a fun and exciting read. 4.8 stars from me!

You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/LOST-FORGOTTEN-Book-One-Discovery-ebook
https://www.goodreads.com/-discovery-lost-and-forgotten
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/lost-and-forgotten-discovery-maurice-barkley

You can follow the author:
https://twitter.com/MauriceBarkley
https://www.facebook.com/Maurice Barkley

The author has many other books in multiple series.

My review of the second book in the series: www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/the-secret-path
My review of the third book: www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/enigma
My review of the fourth book: www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/toward-the-unknown-region

teleportation, galaxies, Nazis, aliens, quest, adventure, AI, artificial intelligence

Copyright @ 2023 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction.

20 Comments

Maurice Barkley link

5/15/2023 08:29:12 pm

OK.

Mark

5/15/2023 08:42:43 pm

Thanks for joining me in the interview, Maurice. I have a particular fondness for that name that goes back to when I took two years of French in high school. That was the name chosen for me by my French teacher to use in class.

First question.

Please, tell us more about yourself. Perhaps something a little bit beyond your biography on Amazon.

5/15/2023 09:57:51 pm

Small town New York State. Worked on a dairy farm before I had to shave. Drafted during the Korean emergency, but after basic was posted to Puerto Rico.
Used GI Bill for College - U of Louisville. Did not work out and quit after Freshman year. Met and married a southern belle. Returned to NY to work in a bank and joined the National Guard. Eventually discovered commercial art and made it a career. Retired, but grandkids insisted on a tree house – I built 7 with bridged in my yard. They lasted 14 years. Wrote and sold two treehouse how to books. (Available on Amazon, etc.) Wrote a memoir that no one wanted. After some soul searching decided to write only what I loved to read and phooey on the world. No one wanted my effort, but I liked it and wrote a series (Lost and Forgotten) and a bunch of Sherlock Holmes. I self-published and every month Amazon sends me money. Not a huge amount mind you, but adequate.

5/16/2023 07:58:58 am

Very good! The treehouses sound amazing! Every kid's dream!

I grew up on a non-working farm also. My dad had dreams of being a farmer he came from a big family of farmers. Now. it's a rental.

Next question.

Did your work as a commercial artist have any influence on your writing?

5/16/2023 03:03:02 pm

I forgot to mention that I was named Maurice after a relative in the French Canadian branch of the family—up around Avonmore. I was there once long ago and I still remember the cucumber sandwiches.
Okay, here we go. Back in the day (pre-computer) when I began as a novice artist, I had to do a lot of pre-press, paste-up work. This involves work with type (faces, size and styles). Soon I began to create and do layouts for advertisements. All of this gave me an appreciation the importance and power of the written word. For a time, before I went freelance, I worked for a large company. My department had artists and copy writers. Hmmmmm, here are guys and gals who make a living writing. I was intrigued. I started to understand the significance of the dependent relationship between the artist and the writer. Eventually I realized that the writers were also artists.
The years passed. I did rather well as a commercial artist and did not seriously attempt any writing. Along the way I did write five Sherlock Holmes stories (on a Royal typewriter), but the originals and carbon copies went to the shelf for a long time.
The start of serious writing came after I retired. I had built several tree houses and since I had the design and pre-press skills, I put together a tree house book and had the good fortune to sell it to Sterling Publishing; you can imagine what a large advance check can do for one’s confidence. The final push was when the Editor at Sterling called me a lyrical writer. The first thing I did was to look up the meaning of lyrical. That did it and here I am.

5/16/2023 04:58:47 pm

That is a great story! I love it.

When I was still attending high school in our very small town, I got a job working for the publisher of the local paper. I learned how to manually set type and stuff like that. It was fun.

New questions.

What inspired you to write this book?

Why did you choose this genre, or do you feel the genre chose you?

5/17/2023 04:06:08 pm

I recall my editor at Sterling Publishing telling me that I was a lyrical writer and I should consider writing a memoir. I did, and after some unsuccessful marketing, I self-published it with no success. I was discouraged—the reaction “bummed out” did not exist at that time. Fortunately Skyhorse Publishing came to me and requested a new tree house book. This made me feel better and occupied my time for a while. When finished I wanted to write something, but the big question was WHAT to write.
Eventually I decided to write something for myself—something that I would like to read.
I have read many SF novels and everything Sherlock Holmes, I decided (flipped a coin) to go SF. I think the genre and I chose each other—it was a mutual decision.
Deciding the plot was something else, Buy me a glass of merlot and I might tell all.

5/17/2023 04:21:56 pm

I think writing a memoir is pretty hard unless you have already written a novel or two. An entertaining memoir needs to flow like a novel in my opinion, with situations that cause problems and requires creativity and grit to get through. Smooth sailing, while comfortable, can also be boring.

Writing for yourself is advice that has been shared in many ways and stands the test of time in my mind. I have read a lot of SF and SH also.

Plotting can be difficult without a doubt, but unlike brain surgery you don't have to get it right the first time. You must get the story out of your head, or it will never be published.

I would love to sit down and chat over a nice red wine.

New questions.

Is this series the only science fiction you have written?

What other books have you written?

5/19/2023 02:37:36 pm

Having started my serious writing rather late in life, my inventory is modest. (I say modest because I like the word and don’t have a chance to use it as often as I like.) Lost and Forgotten is my only effort other than a couple of very short stories. A while back I wrote a Star Trek episode using the original cast. I didn’t bother sending it anywhere. The four L&F books have become fairly real to me. At the end of the last one I left the reader, not a cliff hanger, but some possibilities (without committing to any).
I wrote (assembled) two tree house books which were fun and profitable, but once done there is nowhere to go. My memoir is slightly fictional in that I packed everything I wanted to say into a single twenty-four hour day in 1941. It too was fun, but once was enough. My Sherlock Holmes stories are the most profitable. I have five that I wrote back in the last century and a series of three Called Adventure in Casablanca. I hope to write at least two more in the series. Mother’s Recipe Box is a small book I put together for a friend who has no computer.
What’s next? Your guess is as good as mine. It’s rather late in the day and I’m tired, and so please forgive any errors.

5/19/2023 05:43:38 pm

As a fairly recent author you have done well. You have a good list of books in multiple genres. Series are favored by a lot of readers, if they like the first book they want more.

New questions.

How many drafts did your book go through before publishing?

How has writing changed your life?

5/19/2023 07:47:50 pm

I’m tempted to tell a few fibs to make me look better, but this is not the place. There is a right and proper way to accomplish certain tasks (drafts) and then there is my way. I have tried to do it right and proper, but I can’t—the old brain is hard wired I guess. So, I edit as I write. It slows everything down. When finished I send the manuscript to my editor. When it’s returned I fix things and send it back. There are always a few final tweaks. A good editor is vital.
How has writing changed my life, you ask? Nothing profound, but every now and then I go to my author page on Amazon to look at the books that have my name on the covers. Imagine how a person feels knowing his or her descendants admire and are proud of and brag about their relationship. It is such a good feeling to create something totally original—something that never existed until I imagined it. When writing I am King of the universe, I have absolute control over all that appears in the manuscript. Most of all for me it’s knowing that in some measure the King will be remembered.

5/19/2023 08:23:49 pm

You are not alone in editing while writing, quite a few authors do that. They keep massaging the same draft until it's good enough. I think every writer has to write in the way that works best for them. I do encourage newer writers to experiment with different styles of writing to broaden their experience.

I do agree with you about a good editor, they are essential. I encourage all of my clients to engage an editor before sending their manuscript to me. I am a nitpicker and polisher when it comes to a manuscript. I am not an editor though.

That has to be a good feeling to look at all of those books with your name on them. We all want to be remembered by those who come after us.

New questions.

At first glance, the cover seems obvious, but I frequently miss a detail or two. What do the elements on the cover represent?

Was it hard to come up with the title? What was the process?

5/20/2023 02:16:28 pm

Ahh, the agony of the cover, it and the title were resolved after the manuscript was complete. At the beginning I searched on line for a good cover at a reasonable price, but I was searching before I knew the complete story. (I don’t plot --- pantser supreme) It was my editor who found the image and suggested it to me. It was a pre-made from bookcoversart.com. There are no hidden secrets there, just the Nazi connection and the train that is a significant part of the continuing story.
I can’t say the same tor the title because from the start my characters were looking for something lost and all but forgotten. At first however I wasted time trying to create a title. How does YOU DIRTY RAT sound? Then I asked myself what it has to do with the story. How does YOU DIRTY SPACE RAT sound? Then it was GATEWAY TO SPACE. Have I embarrassed myself enough? So I wisely set the problem aside until the story was complete. Only then could I sit back and look at the total picture. I’m not sure exactly when or how it came to me, but when I thought of it I knew my search was finished.
In conclusion I must say that my process for cover and title leaves a lot to be desired, but there it is and here I am. Just dive in and do it.

5/20/2023 02:26:44 pm

That is a great story. Like so many other pansters, you write the story to learn how it will turn out. Leaving the title and over until the writing was done makes a lot of sense. I will admit to being a little surprised that you didn't design the cover yourself as a commercial artist. Perhaps I don't have a complete picture of what a commercial artist does.

Some authors change the cover every year or two if they feel like a new cover will help the book sell better.

New questions.

Were the character names difficult to develop?

How did you choose them?

5/20/2023 08:58:45 pm

This is one thing I think I do rather well. I keep track and I have 83 names in this series—I can show you the list. Other than incidental persons, as I introduce a character I base her or him on someone I know, have known or know something about. (James Cagney) At times I will even us that person’s first name and rarely use the whole name. (James Cagney)
For My female MC I wanted a very strong but likeable character. There was this woman I’ve known since childhood who fit the bill perfectly. Her first name was Alice and once long ago I saw her dance on a table at our local tavern. (Alice Dance) She was delighted when I showed her the book. Then there are the easy character types like the kid from Brooklyn, the nasty boss, the friendly bar tender, etc. If I need a name for a foreigner I consult Google and pick whatever strikes my fancy. Since it’s easy for me, I enjoy the task. If ever I need a character who is a Walter Mitty type introvert, his name will be Maurice.
By the way, as a commercial artist I mostly manipulated art created by fine artists. I could not create the cover you see on L&F. I did however design the Sherlock Holmes and my Memoir covers. The tree house books were done by the publisher although I did the vector art for the building plans.

5/21/2023 07:20:36 am

Those are a lot of names! You must use a spreadsheet or special writing software such as Scrivener to keep track of all of them. Maybe you have a character bible to avoid changing minor details such as eye color.

Names are particularly crucial for many writers. They consult websites that have the 10 most popular names for each year or decade. Those records can go back for hundreds of years as they can be drawn from church records or tax rolls.

Thanks for clarifying about the covers and your role as a commercial artist.

New questions.

Have you done any public speaking?

If so, will you be doing more in the future?

5/21/2023 09:07:12 pm

Simple answer==no. I mentioned before that I am an introvert and am also shy. While not fast on my feet mentally I am an excellent day dreamer. When there is no pressure to perform my eloquence shines. For the same reason I am OK at the keyboard as there is no immediate audience waiting for my words. It’s interesting (to me) that most of my best friends past and present have been extroverts. Perhaps it’s because being a quiet introvert automatically makes me a good listener and extroverts like that.
Should I have a best seller in the future, that might give me the confidence to speak in public, but until then I will listen carefully to what you have to say and applaud from my seat in the audience.

5/22/2023 07:42:35 am

I am an introvert also. I have little interest in sports and many other activities. Much of the time I would rather read a good book or watch TV.

Public speaking is one of the top fears for most people. I understand that well because I had a serious stammer during my school years. I learned a valuable secret when I took a Dale Carnegie course in public speaking as part of professional development for a management career in retail. We are all experts in one or more things and if we speak publicly about those areas of expertise we will shine because we are the expert. People want to learn more from an expert. For example, no one knows more about your books than you. You are the sole expert when it comes to what you have written. Readers will come to an event where you are signing your books and speaking about them. It's a pretty good way to sell more books.

I am not saying that you won't be nervous, you will be excited and nervous but that can provide you more energy and animation to share with your audience.

I am going to a book event in west Central Florida next month, I love to talk books with authors. When I spoke to the organizer, she said she didn't need me to speak. I was invited by an author local to that area. She sent me an email about the event and I am now on the list of events. I am speaking about proofreading, book marketing and Twitter. Fortunately, I know a fair amount about all three topics, so I can speak off the cuff. It will be fun.

Last questions.

Have you entered any writing contests?

Have you won awards of any kind for your writing?

5/22/2023 04:07:57 pm

I don’t enter contests. Early on I checked several and found that they all wanted a fee to enter. My unsupported opinion is that their primary purpose is to make money. Based on my personal experience I think my best chance is with Lady Luck and word of mouth. I get my stories out there as much as possible via Twitter, etc. and this has proved positive in that two very influential women liked my Sherlock Holmes stories and with their likes my sales went up. My hope is that the right person at the right time reads the L&F book and reacts to my benefit. So far I am on good terms with Lady Luck.
I have won no awards nor will I until the good Lady Luck smiles.

5/22/2023 04:30:03 pm

Many contests do have a fee. I guess that at least a portion of the fee goes to a prize or prizes for the winners. Some contests provide a critique of each entry thus helping authors improve their writing craft. Some contests provide increased exposure for authors. Other contests seek to extract as much money from your wallet as possible and some also seek to steal an author's intellectual property rights. It behooves an author to read every contract carefully before signing. If they don't understand, engaging a lawyer familiar with IP rights will be worthwhile.

I have another promotion starting tomorrow so this one must come to an end. I want to thank you for being a fabulous guest, I have enjoyed our conversation immensely. Until next time, keep on writing, Maurice.

LOST AND FORGOTTEN: Book One - Discovery by Maurice Barkley

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