The Sasquatch Chronicles by Scott Patterson

9/3/2025

Multi-volume, multi-genre author Scott Patterson introduces us to “The Sasquatch Chronicles”:
John sets out for a quiet hunting trip, expecting cold air, open sky, a few beers with a friend, and maybe a good story to tell. It’s a trip they’ve taken many times before. It was meant to be a simple escape. Time in the wilderness, familiar ground, and a chance to fill the freezer with meat. But deep in the forest, something ancient is watching. Something that has survived in secret and hidden from the world.
A violent encounter leaves him bloodied and shaken. When John regains consciousness, he’s no longer in the world he knows. He’s being held in a secret mountain stronghold by a tribe of beings more intelligent and far more terrifying than legend ever claimed. As fear begins to shift, he questions everything he thought he knew about myth, survival, and the boundaries of his own mind.
Caught between two worlds, John must walk the narrow path between survival and trust. With each day that passes, he faces a decision that could cost him his life. Fight for freedom, or become part of something far older and more powerful than he ever imagined.

Such an interesting book! I loved it. I am committed to not revealing spoilers! There is so much I want to say and can't without breaking my own rule.
This is not your average cryptid story. This is in a field by itself. There are monsters in the story, but I won't be the one to tell you who they are.
This book is written quite well. There is a good balance among action, dialogue and description.
Read the book, you won't be sorry.
I give 4.7 stars because I am picky about certain things.

You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Sasquatch-Chronicles-Scott-Patterson-ebook
https://www.goodreads.com/-the-sasquatch-chronicles
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/the-sasquatch-chronicles-scott-patterson

You can connect with the author:
https://x.com/PattersonAuth
https://scottpatterson-author.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-patterson-91879931

Tags: action and adventure, cryptids, fantasy, mythical animals, Bigfoot
Copyright © 2025 Mark L. Schultz, except for the author’s introduction.

58 Comments

Scott Patterson

9/8/2025 08:18:25 am

Good Morning, Mark, and thank you for the wonderful review of my book. Your service and attention to detail are undoubtedly the best I have experienced. Your customer care and service is outstanding and something I believe our country is missing today. Thank you for all you do.

Amanda Nelson link

9/13/2025 07:58:46 pm

Mark is great! I agree with everything you said!

Mark

9/13/2025 08:11:29 pm

Thank you, Amanda, that is kind of you to say. I am grateful.

Mark

9/8/2025 09:32:53 am

Thank you for the kind words.
Your book was a pleasure to read and the ending was quite interesting.

First question.

Please, tell us more about yourself. Perhaps something a little bit beyond your bio.

Scott Patterson

9/8/2025 10:06:53 am

I was born and raised in a small town in the mountains of Colorado, and I will always consider Colorado my home. I have four children and am currently married. I am very thankful for the unique life I’ve had the pleasure and good fortune of living. I traveled the world for my previous career and was an expat for nearly 20 years. I lived in Mexico, Thailand, China, and Australia. I’ve ridden Harleys around the Baja Peninsula and studied Buddhism in Thailand. I walked the Great Wall, mingled with the Terracotta Warriors, wandered the grounds of the panda reserve, and explored the streets of many cities in China. Shanghai and Hong Kong are my favorite large cities in the world, though I didn’t get to Tokyo, and I hear it’s amazing as well. I also have a 12-year-old daughter who was born in Australia.

Mark

9/8/2025 12:18:59 pm

Traveling and living abroad is a life-enriching experience without a doubt. I traveled in Europe for a little over two months during my college years. That doesn't compare to living in major foreign cities!

New questions.

Are you a full-time or part-time writer?

What kind of work do you do if you are a part-time writer?

Scott Patterson link

9/8/2025 12:54:17 pm

I'm not sure I would call myself a part-time writer, as I spend most of my free time writing, but I do have a day job. Well, I’m actually between jobs now and waiting for a new one to start on the 22nd of this month. When I was younger, and before I left for overseas, I played guitar in a band called “Bad Karma” in California. It’s the basis of my second book, Chasing Riffs: A Guitarist's Journey through the 1980s and 1990s Rock Scene.
So, when I returned from overseas, I knew I had reached the peak of my Timeshare career and considered going back to the bars and playing, but simply couldn’t picture enduring that lifestyle at my age. If I could find a young person who was dedicated to playing and wanted all my knowledge, I would happily take the time to teach them, but I couldn’t go back to teaching kids who only want to learn Van Halen licks and then quit after they can’t play them after a week. Instead, I have written some guitar instruction books and plan on writing more.
When COVID-19 hit, I started working from home and have worked for several companies, handling sales over the phone. I hope I have finally found a job that fits me as I will be working for Viking Cruises, booking and designing cruises for people. It might slow down my writing a little, but I can’t imagine anything ever being able to stop it. Maybe someday I won’t have to work a day job, but for now it’s a necessity.

Mark

9/8/2025 02:13:46 pm

Congratulations on the new job.

Being in a rock band is the dream of millions! As you have learned, most are not willing to pay the price for greatness. For example, world-famous pianists still practice daily. They practice the basics as well as their next concert for hours everyday. That is what it takes to reach the top and stay there.

The instruction books are a great idea and can bolster the income from your novels. The more you write the more you will sell.

New questions.

What are your three favorite genres to read for pleasure?

Has writing changed the pleasure of reading for you?

Scott Patterson link

9/8/2025 04:10:09 pm

This is my favorite question so far. I am a classics junkie. I believe that classic novels are to authors what the blues is to guitar players. You have to go back to the roots to truly understand where we've been and where we're headed.
Science fiction has always been my favorite genre to read. George Orwell has been one of the most remarkable authors for me. 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 by George Orwell are probably my favorites in the classic realm, but Arthur C. Clarke’s A Childhood's End and Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles also rank high on that list. Robert Heinlein’s Have Space Suit, Will Travel and Starship Troopers is one of my favorite series. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, is, of course, amazing, and a little-known non-fiction book by him called A Grief Observed is worth reading. Philip K. Dick is probably one of the lesser-known of the greats, but his book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, as well as his short stories, have inspired many theatrical releases.
My second favorite would be horror. When I was a kid, I discovered Edgar Allan Poe and had to read everything he wrote. Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House is an inspiration, as is Richard Matheson’s Hell House, as it shows how a storyline can be “borrowed” and turned into something amazing.
My third, and some people might find this interesting, is non-fiction spiritual or self-help books. When I was in high school, I read my first book by Deepak Chopra. I think I read every book by him I could find, including "The Third Jesus," which offered a different perspective on Christianity. Neale Donald Walsch’s "Conversations with God" grabbed my attention, and I have probably read Eckhart Tolle’s "A New Earth" ten times.
Fictional spiritual books like "The Celestine Prophecy" and "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" stand out. These are by no means the definitive list, but the ones that really stand out to me and that I have remembered even after all the years of reading them. Oh, and I can’t leave out The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
To me, reading for enjoyment is simply that. I don’t listen to a song and think, “Wow, did you hear that amazing flat-five substitution he used to break up the arrangement?” And when I read, I don’t think, “Wow, did you catch that simile they used?” I love music and reading, and the happiness they bring. Overthinking the technical details instead of appreciating the beauty that lies inside turns enjoyment into work, and no one likes to work. I try to quiet my mind and stay in the moment of what I am doing, whether it’s reading, listening to music, writing books, or composing music. I believe in working on calming the mind and enjoying what’s happening now, at this moment in time.

Mark

9/9/2025 10:14:23 am

You covered a lot of ground there! Sci-fi is my top favorite genre to read also. I read most of those, if not all, that you mentioned. I think I was in the eighth grade when I was given a set of The Lord of The Rings by JRR Tolkien. Fantasy became my second favorite genre. Incidentally, did you know that Lewis and Tolkien were close friends?
Lewis wrote a lot of books besides the two you mentioned: Surprised By Joy, Till We Have Faces, and many more; including a science fiction series Out of the Silent Planet. Fabulous story! He patterned the protagonist after his BFF, Tolkien.

New questions.

Why do you write?

Do you also journal?

Scott Patterson link

9/9/2025 11:56:26 am

I forgot to mention J.R.R. Tolkien when I answered. I think I was in eighth grade when I read The Hobbit. From there, I jumped straight into The Lord of the Rings. Honestly, I didn’t know that C. S. Lewis was friends with Tolkien and based a protagonist on him. I love learning new things about the people I admire. I should also mention that I forgot about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In my opinion, those are two more must-reads.
Why do I write? That’s a great question. The first draft of The Sasquatch Chronicles was written when I was in my late 20s. I would go back every few years and rewrite it. I couldn’t get it out of my head, and I just knew it wasn’t finished. When I ask myself why I write, I think of the old saying about the “Tortured Artist.” These ideas flood my mind, and if I don’t get them out, I fear I’ll go insane.
My second book, Chasing Riffs: A Guitarist's Journey Through the 1980s and 1990s Rock Scene, I had written in my mind before I ever set pen to paper. The idea always comes first, then the plot, then the climax, or whether there will be a twist at the end. The characters, though I have an idea of who they are, always evolve on their own, and I try not to get in their way.
Whether I am playing music or writing, something else seems to take over, and it feels like it writes itself. This is hard to explain, but I think many artists will say the same, and we can all agree that we’re grateful when it happens. To answer your second question, I don’t journal by writing it down, though I wish I were disciplined enough to journal daily. Instead, I keep things in my head, sometimes for years.

Mark

9/9/2025 01:35:44 pm

Lewis and Tolkien were classmates at Oxford and part of a writers' group called The Inklings, if I remember correctly. I have not read very many of the classics, but I have read Mary Shelley's book and Abraham Stoker's book. I loved the former and was bored by the second. I think Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein is the best adaptation of her book. Brooks' movie focuses on the unnamed creature's desire to connect with his father. I couldn't believe how stupid and weak-minded everyone was in Stoker's novel. There I said it.

So many authors have expressed a similar need to quiet the voices by getting the book written. I am different, I don't need to write a book I merely want to read books.

Your fans are grateful that you can remember your stories long enough to write them down.

New questions.

How has writing changed your life?

Does your work, past or present, have any influence on your writing?

Scott Patterson link

9/9/2025 07:05:21 pm

That was funny, and you made me laugh. Thank you; I love to laugh. I have to agree with the Young Frankenstein adaptation. I enjoy comedies, and turning Frankenstein into a comedy was genius. I’ve never thought about the Dracula analogy, but I agree. Maybe he was just commenting on how humans are like sheep that love having a shepherd to lead them.
I believe that, for most, writing offers hope. It's the same reason people play the lottery. When you take hope away from someone, they have nothing left to live for, and we all dream of a better life. We dream of having riches and fame by being a best-selling author. For me, writing as much as I have has shown me that writing alone isn’t enough.
I have ten books on Amazon. Four are China travel books with pictures, words, and videos; I don’t think anyone has ever read any of them. The other six include two novels, two guitar books, an activity book, and a book of fairy tales I wrote years ago. I’m not good at marketing, and it seems I spend more on advertising than I make in sales. I used to hope that the right person would read one of my books, and everything would be wonderful, and I would be on the Tonight Show, but time has taught me that unless I learn marketing or team up with someone who knows marketing, that vision will never be seen.
But let’s face it, I’m not the type of person to sit around and do nothing. Idle hands are the devil’s playground, after all. So if I weren’t writing, I would be composing music. I have the same problem with my music, though, no one ever listens to it. So I really write and compose for the love of it and to keep myself sane.
I have three different books in my head right now. One of them, I’ve written a hundred pages of, and every night, I look at my guitar and think I need to start playing again. To answer the question, no, I don’t think writing has changed my life much, although I do love seeing a positive review on Amazon and feel the pain when a negative one appears. Additionally, the book I am currently working on is non-fiction, and I enjoy the knowledge I gain through my research. Learning is always positive, and without writing, I wouldn’t be learning what I am now.
For the second question, all of my writings are based on personal experiences and work. As I mentioned earlier, I have had incredible opportunities to travel, and when I share my stories about those travels, people always tell me I should write a book about them. That idea has been in my mind for a few years now and will come out after I’ve published other books.

Oh and good news, My website if finally up and running and can be seen at:
https://www.scottpatterson-author.com.

Mark

9/10/2025 11:25:48 am

Glad I could make you laugh. You might be right about Stoker's interpretation of human gullibility. I quite agree with that. Nowadays, many do not think beyond their personal comfort and happiness. Francis Schaeffer predicted that very thing in his book, How Should We Then Live. He said most will trade their freedoms away for comfort and security. Or maybe a bowl of stew, like Esau.

Yes, hope is very important.

Writing is not enough. Amazon now publishes around two million books a year. An author must keep writing, the more books published leads to more sales. Time must be allotted for marketing and promotion. Craig Crawford has been experimenting with marketing and we talked a little about that in my promotion of Operation Rogue Weather, a nice mashup of sci-fi and horror.

I love research; I have no problem diving into a rabbit hole to see where it leads.

Congratulations on your website completion. Visitors can click on the arrow beside your name in the bar and will be transported to your website.

New questions.

Who was the first person to inspire you to write something to publish?

What inspired you to write this book?

Scott Patterson link

9/10/2025 12:07:46 pm

Even though The Sasquatch Chronicles was written when I was in my twenties, real life, raising a family, and supporting everyone got in the way of pursuing my dreams. I always held onto the hope that maybe someday I could follow my dream and write. As I got older and more mature, I realized that someday never comes. Then one night I was watching the movie The Hustler with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. In the film, one of the characters said to Paul Newman, “Winners win, and losers look for reasons to lose.” I started rewriting The Sasquatch Chronicles that night, and haven’t stopped writing since.
When I was learning to play guitar, I would sit in my room for hours at a time trying to learn songs. When I went to the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, I played all day, every day. I have never felt more fulfilled. I don’t have the time to do that now, but I spend at least 2 hours a day writing and researching. So, there wasn’t ever one person that inspired me, I just knew in my heart that this was what I wanted to do.
As we discussed earlier, I got into personal growth at a young age. I believed with all my heart that our society was heading for a spiritual awakening the likes of which would never be rivaled. I was so wrong. I wrote this book to celebrate this awakening and to point out that even though we all have differences, the monsters are never who we thought they were, and that sometimes, even the monsters turn out to be the good guys.
I think that message needs to be shared more today than it did then. I just never believed it would have to be shared in a society full of hate, division, and you don’t look like us, and you don't believe what we believe, so we want to kill you and cut you open to see what makes you different. Throughout my travels, I have learned that we are all in this together and that we should be here to help one another and be kind to each other. Sometimes, the ones you least expect have the most to give and offer.

mark

9/10/2025 01:40:08 pm

The Hustler was quite a movie. I recall seeing it a long time ago. That line is great and so true. So many celebrate their inabilties rather than their successes. That is very sad, like giving up before you start.

That awakening might still come about. But we all have the potential to be a monster at times, as you ably pointed out. If you don't strive to better and kinder then you are going in the wrong direction by default and inaction.

New questions.

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

Will you keep writing in the genre or will you branch out?

Scott Patterson link

9/10/2025 02:19:11 pm

I believe the genre always chooses me. I’m the kind of person who gets an idea and then acts on it. That’s why I’ve explored and experimented with so many genres. Fiction/fantasy and sci-fi have always been my favorites, and I plan to return to them. I’ve even seriously considered writing a sequel to The Sasquatch Chronicles. Developing John’s children as adults would be like watching grandchildren grow up. It excites me to think about it, but that’s way off in the future. I have also flirted with the idea of writing a horror novel. But that one would take some time, as if it didn’t scare me and make the hair stand on the back of my neck, in my mind, it would never be complete. To me, having an unfinished novel lying around would feel like playing the five-chord of a song progression and never resolving it. To me that would be hell. Songs ending on the five chord and unfinished manuscripts scattered about. Just thinking about it makes my blood pressure and anxiety levels rise.

Mark

9/10/2025 05:23:44 pm

Many authors have said they felt the genre chose them.
I like the idea of a sequel to this book. John's children could have an interesting impact on the story.
Not finishing a story seems pretty unsettling to me. I have no idea what a five-chord is.

New question.

Have you ever seen a UFO or UAP, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena?

Scott Patterson link

9/10/2025 06:45:19 pm

I was raised in the mountains of Colorado, west of Colorado Springs, at the base of Pikes Peak. Colorado Springs is home to Fort Carson, the Air Force Academy, and NORAD, which is buried deep inside Cheyenne Mountain.When you get out of the cities and high in the mountains, you lose all light pollution, and the nights are black, except for the billions of stars you can clearly see sparkling and lighting up their small part of the sky. These include the Milky Way, which has so many layers of stars it's easy to get lost just looking at it. It’s one thing I miss most about living there.
When I was in high school, we would go up Rampart Range Road, where there were amazing and unobstructed views of Pikes Peak. We would go there to drink beer and do what teens do. On more than one occasion, we would see strange lights above Pikes Peak moving erratically. With all the military bases in the area, we always wrote it off as experimental aircraft coming from the bases.
However, one of the strangest things I ever saw in the sky was a fast-moving cloud with lightning and lights only occurring within the cloud. It was so unusual that I pulled over and got out of my car to watch it until it disappeared in the distance. We didn’t have cell phones back then, so there was no way to record it, and I have often wondered what it was.

Mark

9/10/2025 07:19:47 pm

You have seen a lot of those things. I have never seen one, though my sisters claim we saw one when we were children. I have no memory of that event.

Continuing the X-Files theme.

Have you ever seen a cryptid, an animal unknown to modern zoologists, or found evidence of one?

Scott Patterson link

9/10/2025 09:21:15 pm

We used to go camping in the mountains, and there were always strange sounds and rustling going on outside our tent. I have never actually seen any type of cryptid, but being a kid with a wild imagination, I imagined I heard many. I almost got eaten by a mountain lion one night, but that story is in The Sasquatch Chronicles, so you will have to read it there.

Mark

9/11/2025 10:02:43 am

I did a lot of camping when I was a boy scout growing up in a tiny town in SW Washington. I had very similar experiences regarding the noises. Many of my friends had an uncle that had seen Bigfoot. I never saw a cryptid either.

New questions.

How many drafts did your book go through before publishing?

Is there anything unconventional about your writing technique?

Scott Patterson link

9/11/2025 10:54:19 am

The Sasquatch Chronicles was written in my late twenties. I rewrote and changed it too many times to count. I used to say that it’s not about the story. It's about the rewriting and editing. I still believe that. Unfortunately, as I read through things I have already published, I realize I’m going too fast and need to learn to slow down again.
This is where your services come into play. There’s no sense in trying to be an island when others love the editing aspect as much as I love the writing. Funny how, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to worry about the amount of time I have left and how much there still is to do.

I’ve never studied how others write or learned the “proper” way of being a writer, so I don’t know if there is anything unconventional about my writing technique. I think most people make an outline and plot out exactly how each chapter is going to go before they begin writing.
I’m not a good planner and have learned that when I plan, things rarely go as planned. So, I get a rough idea of the plot or what I want it to convey. I figure out the ending and who the main character or characters will be, and I write, letting the story unfold.
When you read The Sasquatch Chronicles, there is a part in there after John’s disappearance where there are two police officers sitting in their car watching the interaction between Phil and John’s wife. Their back-and-forth banter was supposed to be funny (in a dark humor kind of way) and a commentary on our judicial system.
I don’t think I could have planned that. It just came into my head, and I wrote it. I love dark humor and try to put it in my writings. I understand that most people won’t get it, but I giggle when I’m writing it, and that’s part of what makes writing fun.

Mark

9/11/2025 11:28:29 am

A lot of people do write an outline, chapter by chapter, at a minimum, and others scene by scene. They are known as plotters. Often, the story takes an unexpected turn and most report they are happier with the story when it does. Those who don't use an outline and write by the seat of their pants are known as pantsers. Many confess to being a hybrid of both. I heard from one pantser that he outlined each chapter after it was written because it was easier to find certain passages. I think you are a definite hybrid writer.

Here is a copy-and-paste link written by a client, Rick Hall, that you may find useful at some point: http://www.wordrefiner.com/guest-blogs/non-linear-writing or you can use the search box below to look for non-linear writing.

New questions.

Who designed the cover of your book? Feel free to drop a copy-and-paste link if appropriate.

How many drafts did the cover go through?

Scott Patterson link

9/11/2025 12:08:05 pm

Book covers as well as the name are such an integral part of sales and marketing that it can mean the difference between zero sales and a bestseller. The Sasquatch Chronicles original name was Keeper of the Forest, and it had at least two separate covers but no sales. The new name of The Sasquatch Chronicles has had three different covers.
I think that for most writers, we get to a point where we feel we have gotten ourselves into a money pit, and that the sales of our book don’t even cover the costs of advertising, let alone hiring people to help. For this reason, we all try to become a rock, an island, to quote a Simon and Garfunkel song, and we want to do it all ourselves.
All the covers have been designed by me, using PhotoscapeX on my Mac. All the marketing videos have been designed by me using iMusic or a service called Viddyoze, which is actually a pretty cool do-it-yourself site that’s not too expensive. Finally, and as much as I hate to admit this, I resorted to ChatGPT. I provided all the information about my book, and it assigned me a new name, designed the cover you see (with some editing on my part), and wrote the description on the back and for Amazon.
I know it’s better to use a real artist, and I support the arts. I really do. It’s just that when money's tight, we have to figure out other ways. Can you tell that I feel guilty about this one?

Mark

9/11/2025 01:26:51 pm

Titles and covers are incredibly important. The old adage of not judging a book by its cover is appropriate for so many things except books. The flood of books available to buy is the reason for that. There has to be a hook for a potential buyer to stop and actually look at the cover and the blurb. That is only ten to twenty seconds for most shoppers.

I know of at least one author who changes the covers of the books that aren't selling well. If you can do the graphics yourself it is a good idea.

Some writers have great books, but the lack of sales sours them on writing more books. The more books you write the more you will sell. Few writers see any real profit from their books. One of my clients has told me she makes enough money to pay her electric bill. She has multiple books and multiple series.

AI has its uses and I think you found a good one.

New questions.

Were the character names difficult to develop?

How did you choose them?

Scott Patterson link

9/11/2025 03:18:25 pm

Thinking of human names for characters is never a problem, but thinking of non-human names for an unknown ancient species is a bit more difficult. Think about it. How do you develop a name that is elegant but still ancient? Something that can be perceived as feminine or masculine? Something that can represent beauty or brawn? That can prove to be a little more time-consuming. And here’s the funniest part of making up names. After you make one up, you suddenly start seeing people with that name. I think it's like when you buy a specific car, you start seeing that car everywhere.
Sometimes I will model a character after someone I know, and I will use that person's name. It’s never an exact rendition of that person, so I don’t feel comfortable leaving the original name. We all model characters after someone, but they are never totally that person. I mean, a narcissist is a narcissist, so to model a narcissistic character after a narcissist, you know, doesn’t mean that the person in your book is the person you modeled the character after.

Mark

9/11/2025 04:49:24 pm

Choosing names for an unknown species would be a difficult task. I like the names you came up with, the fit quiote well.

Some authors learned the hard way about naming characters after friends or family. One guy named the characters in his novel after family members, with their permission. He shared updates at frequent family events. All was peachy keen until an aunt told him that the character named after her would never do such a thing. She resented what the character did for several years.

You are right about the car thing. After buying my white Ford, I saw them everywhere. I still do and I have owned the car for about 7 years.

New questions.

Not counting your guitar books.

Had you written and published any short stories before writing this book?

Which did you publish first, short stories or novels?

Scott Patterson link

9/11/2025 08:21:41 pm

When I was in high school, I enjoyed writing short stories. They must not have been very good, as I submitted them to a few publications and got the dreaded rejection letters that we all have a collection of. I stopped writing for a few years, concentrating on my guitar and music instead. When I joined my first cover band and started playing the bar scene, it was then that I decided I wanted to move into longer and more detailed stories and write books. It wasn’t easy, as I was working in a retail store during the day, learning new songs, and playing the clubs on the weekends. The only free time I had was on weeknights, and even then, I was so tired sometimes that I only wanted to relax and veg in front of the television. It took a while to get the first draft completed. I got married soon after, and the manuscript sat untouched for years. I would look at it and rewrite here and there, and then after I got back from living abroad, I got serious about writing again.

Mark

9/11/2025 09:12:35 pm

Some authors have collected many rejection letters. You have good company.

My short stories in high school were terrible. I wrote them as fast as I could because I was allowed free reading time after the assignment was completed. No one ever suggested I should submit them for publication.

Retail is not easy but I love helping people. My first career was in retail, a little over 20 years.

Setting a manuscript aside for a period of time is one of the suggestions in my latest blog elsewhere on my website, Words for Thought. The post is about how to proofread your writing. I don't think I ever suggested setting a story aside for several years. You might find it useful.

New question.

How long had you been writing before first publishing something?

Scott Patterson link

9/12/2025 10:28:55 am

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I’ve always loved writing and being able to paint a picture with words. One challenge I face in playing music is writing lyrics. I can come up with hooks all day, but weaving lyrics into a short two or three-minute blurb is a skill I don’t possess. I am much better at being wordy, as you have seen from my answers during this interview. I tried writing poetry in middle and high school, but they were usually for a girl I had a crush on. I never had the courage to actually read it to her or stand outside her window serenading her, like Christian did in Cyrano de Bergerac. I wish I had kept some because I bet they were hilarious.

Mark

9/12/2025 10:45:05 am

Many authors struggle with writing a blurb. When you are so close to the material, it probably all seems important.

Try writing a two-page blurb and then whittle it down. This might be a spot where AI could be useful, give it your long blurb and ask it to reduce it to whatever length is needed.

Another idea is to do the opposite. Write a ten-word blurb and add more to it.

You have given me many long answers and I have enjoyed them.

New question.

What marketing strategy, if any, has had an immediate impact on your daily sales?

Scott Patterson link

9/12/2025 11:14:09 am

I consider myself the worst marketer of all time. The only marketing effort that has actually yielded results is Amazon ads. The issue with Amazon ads is that I end up spending more on ads than my books make in sales. I personally dislike social media. When I first joined X, formerly known as Twitter, I would go there to try to connect with other authors and post some ads I had created. That’s also how I found you, so something good did come of it.
I found myself endlessly scrolling and watching all the fights and hate rhetoric found there. I believe our country is in trouble, as witnessing this makes me angry and prompts intrusive thoughts. Then there are all the scammers who want me to give them money. It’s quite a circus, so I don’t spend a lot of time on social media and try to limit myself to brief sessions.
I can only imagine how the people who consume this material all day feel. I believe it fuels much of the hate and violence that can be found in our country today. I have never tried paid advertising on social media, but I can honestly say that not a single page of any of my books has been read as a result of posting. Maybe that’s because I’m the worst marketer of all time. : )

Mark

9/12/2025 01:53:27 pm

Marketing is hard! Much harder than writing, I have been told, because you never get to put 'the end' on it. Each salse platform has it's own requirements for listing and ads. The learning curve is steep unless you want to hire someone to manage all of that for you and then it's more money out. There is no easy answer. But there is one guarantee, if you do nothing then book sales will be little of nothing. You have to play the long game. I have recommended to many authors to dedicate an hour or two every week or two to marketing and promotion.

Feeding the Amazon ad machine or any other platform requires constant monitoring. They are always tinkering with the algorithms and just like gambling, the house always wins. Look up Dave Chesson, he has a lot of information about the Amazon platform. Huis advice seems sound to me.

I tell people who are not on X to stay away from it unless they have a specific interest they want to pursue. It is full of poison around every corner as well as many spots of beauty and kindness, but that is the price we pay for free speech.

New questions.

Have you ever written any fan fiction?

If so, what storyline were you mimicking or following?

Scott Patterson link

9/12/2025 03:04:47 pm

I have never written fan fiction, and honestly didn’t know it had a term. I’m old-school. I do this to feed the creativity within me. Fan fiction to me is plagiarism. More of what our world is coming to. We are seeing the effects of children born in the 1970s who had no winners or losers, only participation trophies in sports. We are seeing the results of not wanting to bruise anyone's ego and then letting them get into the real world, where their egos are bruised every day.
We have school shootings daily. We have people openly celebrating someone's death because they belong to a different political group than they do. We have kids killing each other and taking what they want, and everyone stands around and says, “I just don’t understand what’s happening to our society and children today.”
Bill Gates is about my age. I believe he had a very hard time in school. He wasn’t an athlete, and he wasn’t the most popular kid in school, yet look what he did. Sometimes, the more you struggle and overcome, the more determined you are to be successful.
I’ve probably overstepped my bounds on this one, and I have rewritten this many times to tone it down, but this is a soft spot with me. Seriously, if you can’t write something original, don't write anything at all.

Mark

9/12/2025 04:20:22 pm

Fan fiction should never be published without a doubt.

Participation trophies are terrible, and I think those fake trophies and similar lies have hampered a lot of people. Some have anxiety attacks and pay too much attention to the voices in their head. Everyone I know has inner voices, I do also. Some of the voices are benign and others are quite malevolent, evil. It's important to choose wisely. The school shootings are a good example of listening to the wrong voices.

New questions.

Have you encountered a troll reviewing one of your books?

How did you handle it?

Scott Patterson link

9/12/2025 05:08:17 pm

Thankfully. I have never had a troll reviewing one of my books, and I’m not sure what I would do if it ever happens. I’ve experienced it with videos on YouTube, and that’s easy. I just disabled the comments. I’m sure the initial shock of reading such a review would be hard, but beyond that, I don’t know of a way to fix it. There’s no option to disable comments or delete anything, so I guess I would just have to learn how to live with it. Now I’m curious about the other answers you’ve received on this question.

Mark

9/12/2025 06:44:37 pm

I have seen more than one author flip out and engage the troll in a verbal battle. That is exasctly what the troll wants, to create havoc and great discomfort for their target. I have heard about other authors begging Amazon to remove the offensive review which the 'Zon never did. Those wicked and pointless reviews may be part of the reason Amazon changed their policy about reviews. Now a person is not allowed to review a product unless they have spent at least $50.00 a year.

Don't feed the trolls. ignore them. Most of their reviews make it obvious that the book was not even read and people of sound mine recognize foolishness for what it is worth. I used to tell those authors that a bad review should be celebrated because it proves the good reviews were not left by the author's mother and her bridge club. ;-)

I think that policy change has worked, as I have not heard anyone complain about trolls for quite some time.

New question.

What was the first paying job you worked as a kid and how old were you?

Scott Patterson link

9/12/2025 07:19:41 pm

I will remember your advice if a troll ever leaves a rude comment. I'm not sure about Amazon’s $50 policy. Reviews should only be allowed if someone buys the book. That would be fair, wouldn't it?

My hometown had a rodeo grounds in the middle of town, and every year, there was a rodeo. It only lasted about a week. When I was eleven or twelve, I got a job walking around the stands selling Pepsi and popcorn. It was funny. I had this big drink holder strapped around my neck that carried about ten large cups of Pepsi and the same amount of bags of popcorn. I would walk up and down the small indoor stands yelling, "Popcorn! Pepsi! Get your ice-cold Pepsi!" The carrier was heavy, and all the walking tiring. I only did that for one year, and my next job was working at a Sonic drive-in. I lived in a very small town, and the Sonic Drive-in was built when I was 16.

Mark

9/12/2025 08:16:14 pm

Amazon marks reviews as "verified purchase" if the reviewer has bought the book. This gives potential readers a measure of confidence in the review.

I lived in a town too small for a rodeo. But we traveled to several rodeos or fairs every year. They were great fun.

Hawking Pepsi and popcorn had to be quite tiring.

Besides babysitting for a neighbor, one of my earliest jobs was picking strawberries and beans on large farms for commercial packing houses. I ate so many strawberries and still love them to this day.

New questions.

Have you done any public speaking?

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

Scott Patterson link

9/12/2025 08:44:40 pm

When I was very young, about five years old, we lived next to a strawberry patch. I don’t remember exactly which state we were in, but my father and I went fishing one day and we bought a bucket of catfish. We gave them to the owner of the patch, and after, he allowed my sister and me to go into the patch and eat as many strawberries as we wanted. I only remember this because I would sit and eat strawberries until I couldn’t eat anymore. I still love strawberries to this day.

I love public speaking and have done it quite a bit. I was involved in speech and debate in high shool and loved being in front of people. When I was in China, we were doing timeshare sales. We would invite 10-15 couples every night and repeat the experience three times on Saturday and Sunday. One of my jobs was to give three talks to each group. I had a translater so I would talk and then she would translate. I loved giving the talks. I had a group sing me Happy Birthday one year. I taught another group to sing Deck the Halls in English. Of course, I played guitar on stage for years, so I have no fear of speaking in front of groups. Not sure I will ever get the chance to speak before large crowds again, but if someone offered, I would do it without hesitation.

Mark

9/13/2025 09:51:48 am

We share the love of strawberries! Wonderful.

The love of public speaking puts you into a rare group. Most authors are scared spitless even thinking about standing up in front of a group of people to speak. What most authors don't realize is that public speaking is pretty easy if you are an expert on any given topic. With that in mind, the nervous energy can help an author bring passion to their topic. The best topic for most authors to talk about is their book. Nobody knows more about their book than the author.

Your career as a salesman prepared you well for speaking in public.

New questions.

Have you entered any writing contests?

Have you won awards of any kind for your writing?

Scott Patterson link

9/13/2025 11:10:39 am

I've never entered or won any kind of writing contest. I occasionally see writing contests on Amazon, but they have rules. It has to be published and submitted within a certain time frame. I've either published something a few months before or I'm so far outside that deadline that I can't qualify. So, the next question is, if I were within that time frame, would I actually enter? I think I, like many other writers, struggle with the “I’m not good enough” syndrome.
When I was younger, the big reason I wanted to be a rock star was because I believed they had a greater insight into life and existence than the people I knew. Their songs and lyrics put them into another dimension for me, and I felt like they understood me and the world I was in. I wanted to be one of the extraordinary who knew the inside secret I believed they possessed. It's a major reason I studied religions and searched for the truth and meaning of life my entire life.
Now that I’m older, world-traveled, and have watched hundreds of documentaries made about them, I realize that their songs didn’t even mean what I thought they did. They wrote them for some other reason, or about an off-the-wall topic like a chess game. I’ve realized that the presence that sometimes takes over our writing takes over their writings as well. They just stepped aside and allowed it in. Sometimes synergy between people can build bridges we don’t understand.
I sometimes feel that way about writing. Like they know more about the English language than I do. Like their writing skills are superior to mine, or that they know more about life and the world than I do. I also wonder if people will understand what I am trying to say.
However, I think the biggest fear is that I will be misunderstood, rejected, subjected to critical reviews, and left feeling like I had no business trying in the first place. So for any other authors out there that are feeling the same way, you’re not alone.

Mark

9/13/2025 12:52:22 pm

Short story contests are wonderful much of the time. Though it depends on why a person is entering a contest. If the writer is looking for fame, then winning can be a big boost for the ego. Many prestigious contests can be expensive and some award cash or other prizes.If the writer is seeking to improve their craft, reputable contests can be useful, especially those that provide feedback but there is frequently an entry fee involved.

I do have a warning: there are a lot of shady contests out there. Some want to extract as much as they can from your wallet, others want to steal your intellectual property. Here is a copy-and-paste link about those things: Beware Bogus Writing Contests! Look for These 8 Red Flags. https://annerallen.com/2019/05/beware-bogus-writing-contests. You can also use the search box below to find the link. There are other blogs I have links to on my Highly Regarded Blogs page.

I think every person struggles with the same issues of worth. I will tell you what I tell the other writers who were brave enough to admit those feelings. Ignore the inner liar. It seeks to destroy rather than build up. Keep writing.

New question.

Among present or past family members and friends, how many are or have been writers or authors?

Scott Patterson link

9/13/2025 01:23:25 pm

Thanks for the advice. I think there are so many scams out there that it pays to be cautious and to shy away from any situation where they are looking for money. I am planning on going back and reading all of the links you have left during the conversation and I hope all writers will do the same.

No one in my family writes, and none of them are musical. I am the anomaly. My father, who turns 89 this year, had no idea how to handle my desire to pursue the arts. He was very successful in real estate and wanted me to follow the same path. It was a requirement in my household to get a real estate license after graduating from high school. That’s why I was involved in selling Timeshare. It’s truly a lazy man’s real estate. I think he believed that writing and playing music were just a phase I was going through and that I would eventually grow out of them.
When I told him I was going to California to play music, I thought he was going to disown me forever. He did everything he could to stop me from going. It wasn’t done out of malice. He was just looking out for what he believed were my best interests. Plus, he had no idea how to help in those fields, should I need it. In the end, I succumbed and didn’t make it to California until 1991, but I did continue to play in bands and write.
When I was in California, the same “I’m not good enough” demons surfaced, and I went back home after about five years. In the end, it all worked out for the best, because if I had stayed in California, I would never have had the chance to travel and see the world.

Mark

9/13/2025 03:22:46 pm

Some are worth the entry fee, especially if feedback from one or more judges is included. You can save yourself a lot of grief and possibly a lighter wallet through careful research.

Your father loved you, no question, and was acting in your best interest, from his perspective.

I did move to California, instead of entering college. My biological father lived there and I was desperte to know him. In retrospect, I should have stayed in Oregon and gone to college.

New question.

Is there anyone you know who might claim you as their inspiration for writing?

Scott Patterson

9/13/2025 07:15:02 pm

I didn’t finish college either, and now that I am older, I understand the importance of it and how my life would have been different. I was fortunate in the fact that my parents will celebrate their 68th wedding anniversary this year. I can only imagine the wondering and desire to meet and get to know your biological parent. I’m sorry that it didn’t go well

I hope I have inspired someone to write and put their thoughts and feelings on paper, but if I did, I don’t know who they are. I always hoped I would inspire my children to write, but none of them do either. Honestly, the thing I hope the most is that I have inspired those I’ve come into contact with to be better people. I have trained salespeople around the world. I have given guitar lessons, still teach Chinese kids how to pass an English proficiency test called the IELTS test, and I had three translators in the 10 years I was in China that I loved as if they were my own children.
I pray I inspired them to laugh, to treat people with kindness, to travel, to find God, and to be the best people they can be. I understand that life is struggling and painful. I understand that all emotions can cause pain because they are temporary, and to experience the good, you must also experience the bad. However, I also believe that with the right attitude and by creating the right karma, we can transform that pain into pleasure. We can become enlightened and enjoy all this life has to offer.

Mark

9/13/2025 08:06:59 pm

A few authors have reported that a family member was inspired to write. Others who are teachers mentioned that one or two students got the writing bug. Most have no knowledge of inspiring anyone to become a writer.

You have helped many to improve their lives. That is wonderful.

New questions.

I noticed that your book is in Kindle Unlimited. How is that working out for you?

Why did you choose that exclusive venue?

How many books have you put in KU?

Scott Patterson link

9/14/2025 11:59:18 am

I thought putting my books into Kindle Unlimited would give more readers access to my books, and I was hoping it would generate more income. It makes sense that people who read a lot tend to have a subscription so they can read unlimited books. From what I understand of the program, I only need to keep the ebook exclusive, but I can still distribute the paperback through other channels.
Kindle Unlimited doesn’t pay much per page read, but The Sasquatch Chronicles received quite a few reads when it was first published. My goal was to let as many people read it as I could. I have a total of four books in their Kindle Unlimited program, and I believe three of them are on extended distribution. As I mentioned earlier, I just don’t have the time to explore all the available options, and since Amazon sells more books annually than anyone else, it made sense to go with them exclusively.
The Sasquatch Chronicles is the only book on Kindle Unlimited that gets reads, and that's when I advertise. I might need to change the covers for more exposure, and I will work on that as well. As for marketing and selling books, I am at a loss. This is where an agent would come into play, but who has the time to spend endless hours looking for them?
When I was at the Guitar Institute of Technology, a guy from a record company gave us a talk about getting a recording contract. He said, “If Van Halen had been in a small country with a small population, a record company would have discovered them. I’m not sure they would have been as big if they hadn’t had English lyrics, but I understood what he was trying to say. If it’s good enough, people will read it, and a publishing company will follow. I just haven’t written anything good enough for word of mouth to make it a hit. This is why I choose to spend my time writing as many books as I can in the hope that one of them takes off.

Mark

9/14/2025 01:28:05 pm

A lot of readers subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, and this is a limited example of how a free-market economy works. If a reader is not enjoying the book they have no incentive to finish. The big concern is that a reader has to see your book first and then decide whether it looks interesting enough to read. With that in mind, the waters are less than clear. We do know that if a person is truly wowed by a certain book then word of mouth advertising can kick in and really boost a book!

Agents are another area full of scammers. Know this, a real agent never asks for any money upfront. Agents do not get paid until a contract is signed. Victoria Strauss on the writer beware blog has the scoop on scammy publishers and agents.

That guy from a record company was right. The size of the pond is critical to "discovery" and success.

New question.

What is your favorite food and beverage?

Scott Patterson link

9/14/2025 02:39:52 pm

My favorite food and beverage? Haha, I will eat just about anything, but I have never been a big alcohol drinker. I can do a few beers every once in a while, but I’m not a daily drinker. I love Thai food and Chinese food, but nothing beats a steak or a big, greasy burger and fries. If I had only one meal left to enjoy, I would pick lobster or king crab, but those are so expensive these days. When I was out of the country, I would mainly eat the local food, but McDonald's and Subway were always there as a backup in case I started craving unhealthy American food.

Mark

9/14/2025 03:36:06 pm

You and I are much alike when it comes to food. I am quite omnivorous. I like to try interesting foods also. I love oriental food, including Thai. Curry is a favorite also. I don't know what I would pick for a last meal. I like craft brews also. Rarely do I have more than two in a sitting.

Let's flip the question.

What is your least favorite food and beverage?

Scott Patterson link

9/15/2025 11:40:35 am

Hard to believe after all the years I lived in Asia, but I don’t like rice. I can eat it, but as an American, I prefer bread. Asians eat rice like we eat bread. I just don’t like the texture or the lack of flavor. Suffice it to say, I ate a lot of noodles while I was there. The drink I don’t like, and this surprises many I talk to, is coffee. I don’t drink coffee and haven't developed a taste for it. The caffeine makes me way too jittery, and since I don’t like sugary drinks, I would either have to pour large amounts of milk in it or drink it black. I would rather just drink milk.

Mark

9/15/2025 01:27:48 pm

Our culinary differences are stark. I love rice, particularly the sticky rice found in almost every oriental restaurant. I taught myself how to make it in the early 70s. I like noodles also.

Coffee is my second-favorite beverage after water. I coldbrew my coffee at room pemperature at home for the last 40 years or so. I drink it hot and black. The cold-brewing process eliminates most of the oils and acids found in hot-brewed coffee making it easier on the tongue and the stomach. Alas, for you, cold-brewed coffee has a higher amount of caffeine. If I am breakfasting out I add cream and sugar to my cup.

I grew up on whole raw milk during my teen years and loved it. Now I avoid milk and most dairy products because I struggle with lactose issues or something similar.

New questions.

Have you ever gone through the query process?

Were you seeking an agent or submitting directly to publishers and why did you choose that path?

Scott Patterson link

9/15/2025 06:53:26 pm

I have never gone through the query process. I just don’t have enough time, and Amazon seemed to offer a good option for self-publishing. I format all my books for Amazon and am basically a one-man show. I would love to learn how to start the query process when I have more time. But as crazy as life is right now, that could be years away. In the meantime, I will keep writing and hoping for a word-of-mouth book that takes off.
I started submitting short stories to publications when I was in my early twenties, collected a stack of rejection letters, and decided I needed to go back to what I know to make some money.

Mark

9/15/2025 08:57:25 pm

There are so many stories about writers collecting dozens of rejection letters. Some persist into more than a hundred letters of "thenks, but no thanks." That kind of constant rebuff has to take an emotional toll on a person.

The traditional method of publishing with a company other than a vanity press has been turned upsidedown by Amazon. Amazon allowed anyone to publish a book.

The large traditional publishing houses are down to 5. The entire publishing industry has been undergoing a contraction that has left most publishers struggling to keep the lights on. Publishers are afraid to take chances anymore. Unless you have a big name you will be lucky to see an advance from a publisher. Don't forget that the advance must be repaid through book sales.

Once you sign a contract, you are at the mercy of the publisher. The publisher will do everything in their power to maximize the profit from selling your book. They may ask you to rewrite your book, change the plot or get rid of a character or two. They might delay publishing for months or years if they think they can make more money. For the publisher, your beloved book means about as much as a box of cereal on a store shelf.

Last question.

Is there a book that causes strong emotions to come up no matter how many times you read it?

Scott Patterson link

9/16/2025 01:41:43 pm

I think Amazon has revolutionized the book industry, affecting not only big publishers but also small authors. With thousands of books published annually on Amazon and over 30 million different titles available for customers to choose from, it seems the only entity making money from authors today is Amazon.
Now, with AI in its early stages, thousands more books each year will be written by AI. I read somewhere about the dead internet theory and how scientists speculate that within the next five to ten years, there will be no live creators online. The news will be written and read by AI, and videos on YouTube will all be created by AI. It could eventually eliminate human authors altogether.

The book I have read the most, even though I am known to read a book two or three times, is A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. When I’m feeling down or hopeless, that book always seems to lift my spirits. It talks a lot about how to silence the voice in your head that we have discussed. It explores the concept of letting go of your ego and living in the present moment. I believe it’s a guide on how to live your best, positive life, and not let negativity control you.
He mentions taking the last money he had to market the book and about how he used to sit on a park bench after he released the voice in his head, staring at the world with new eyes. Unfortunately, with his success and the money he made, it seems his ego has returned, as in one of his recent works, he rings a bell like a Buddhist master before speaking. To me, this shows how his mind has adopted a new identity, which he talks so much about removing.

Mark

9/16/2025 02:26:58 pm

Amazon is the 8,000-pound gorilla in the publishing world, no doubt about that. The last figure I read said that Amazon is publishing nearly 2,000,000 books a year now. Earlier this year, Amazon had to restrict authors to uploading only three books a day. Amazon also requires authors to disclose if they used AI to write a book. Having looked only briefly, I couldn't find any novels disclosed to be written by AI. I want to read one or two so I can see if my theory is correct. Since AI has been trained on everything that could be scraped from the internet, there should be many spelling errors, because I have found spelling errors in 95% of published books for more than ten years.

I recall Tolle's name from the 1970s or 1980s. He was one of many new age thinkers and started a religion or some kind of group. I could have at least one wire crossed there.

Thank you, Scott, for hiring me to help promote your book. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Your fans look forward to a sequel or something new from your pen. This has been a wonderful chat. I hope we get to do it again.

Until next time, keep on writing.

The Sasquatch Chronicles by Scott Patterson

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