Today, we’d like to introduce you to Edmond Frank. Edmond was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Joylynn Ross.
Edmond, thank you so much for joining us today. We’d love for you to bring our readers up to speed – can you introduce yourself and share your story?
JOYLYNN ROSS asked me to submit an interview to you. By Edmond E Frank also writing under the name E. Egorhh Frank
For me, this life started in an ICU at the age of forty-five, which naturally calls for an explanation.
You see, before that, I thought my life was full. I came from a working-class family—rednecks, you might say—but my life was not full. Lying there with a massive blood clot in my lungs waiting, fully expecting to die, I could no longer lie to myself. I realized that I’d never really lived.
My early years were spent as the good Mormon son of whom my parents could be proud. Being adopted, it was important to me. But the teachings of the Mormon faith . . . well, I just never swallowed. Later it was as the limp-dick controllable husband my wife demanded. But letting her carry my cojones in her pocket? That was something hard to swallow. Then there was being that dependable employee my bosses expected while earning my living as a mechanic—a common fender lizard—doing a job I hated. All that time I spent being who others wanted. But as for me? I never lived the life I wanted.
Hell, I didn’t have a clue as to what that life would be like, or in fact what life, in general, was about. I lived that façade society demands of all of us, the person we pretend to be in order to be acceptable in the lives of others. Bottom line, I was not someone I could like and respect—or accept. In essence, the phony I was back then, did indeed, die that day.
There is nothing like facing the Angel of Death to make a person get honest. Facing the truth about myself I began to see the lies I’d always believed about life. The ones adults tell us as children in order to control our lives. Coming as it does from our parents, teachers, religious leaders—everyone in authority—we believed them. We base what we think life is all about, upon those lies.
The person I became had vastly different priorities. Most of all, I wanted to become someone I could respect. Facing my fears seemed the place to start. Afraid of heights all my life, I‘d always regarded myself as a coward. So, I went skydiving.
I also wanted to leave something positive in this world. I wanted my life to have mattered.
In facing it, I began seeing the lies and realizing that I didn’t know shit about the truth of life. But I wanted to know. Yes, I then took that “road less traveled” and just naturally fell in beside others, also on that inner journey—the waccos and weirdos—all busy plumbing the depths of the New Age.
It wasn’t until I discovered “experiential seminars” that I truly dumpster-dived the depths of time and space and learned about New Thought. By “dumpster,” I mean the place where normal folks dump the truth in favor of the lies. And “New Thought?” It’s always been around.
You see, New Thought is based on the Spiritual Laws, which are simply what always holds true about life. Ah but, New Thought demands responsibility. You can no longer blame others for anything in your life—especially for your choice in how you feel about it.
For several years I hung out on the support teams for the seminars. Meanwhile, I took training from WeCoach and Coach University. Upon graduating, I then hung up my wrenches and started a Personal Life Coaching practice. That only lasted a few years. While I loved coaching, the hunt for clients was something to be detested. That part seemed to negate the fact that I wanted to be of service to people.
I took a job driving paratransit busses, taking disabled people wherever they needed to go. Seeing what they dealt with in their lives was quite a humbling experience. That job satisfied my needs and lasted until I retired.
While I’ve been writing during all those twenty-five years since the ICU, I didn’t start putting it all together and publishing until after I retired.
Please talk to us about your creative work and career. What should we know?
This second life has been great. Writing about all the wonders I was discovering., seeing life in the light of the spiritual laws—life’s great truths—it’s given me a different perspective. One from which few ever get to look.. In attending Community College and hanging out in writer critique groups, I learned the craft of writing. That gave purpose to all I’d learned about life. Instead of coaching one person at a time, my readers have become my clients. I now write books that coach many people at a time. My first book, a novel titled The Courage of a Butterfly won a gold literary award. It looked at my earlier life in the light of those truths and showed me quite a different picture. Hopefully, it will for others as well. There is now a sequel outlining my progress through life after that ICU. In addition, I’ve published two books of poems that were taken out of the original manuscripts of those novels. For more direct coaching, there is a series of four workbooks titled Redneck Spirituality. It’s an in-your-face, irreverent, look at the Spiritual Laws—redneck style. Rednecks like me seldom ever look at their spirituality. But then, most authors writing about Spirituality want their readers to experience the taste of honey and buttercups—to be uplifted and inspired. That seldom fits into a redneck’s lifestyle. Rednecks live a basic rough, even crude, sort of life. It’s not that some don’t want to self-help themselves into a better place, but few ever do. You’ve got to look at everything you have spent your lifetime ignoring. Oh, but if you do, it will uplift you, although likely, it won’t feel good in the doing. That road less traveled can be one bitch of a ride, but the destination is worth every mile.
So, as we mentioned to our audience earlier, you were introduced to us by Joylynn Ross and Path To Publishing and we really admire them and what they’ve built. For folks who might not be as familiar, can you tell them a bit about your experience with Path To Publishing.
Joylynn came into my life at the perfect time. I spent twenty-five years writing and only recently began publishing. My first book, a novel titled The Courage of a Butterfly, won an eLit gold literary award. It was published in October of 2018. Since then, I’ve written eight more books. All that time I was very busy with putting it all together and publishing, leaving promotion completely out of the picture.
Then I met Joylynn. She has been one hell of a motivating force for me in that way. Her support is invaluable to me. And her conference? EXCELLENT!
Joylynn, with her vast knowledge of the industry and what it takes to be a successful author . . . yes, INVALUABLE is the only word to describe her. Of course, you could add supportive, understanding, loving—all those other words I could use to infinitelum in crafting a picture of her.
Yeah, that’s not even a real word. Still, she’s all that.
Website: edmondefrankauthor.com (Website is not up at this time..)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ed.frank.5/ (please understand that I spend a lot of time incarcerated in FB jail).
Image Credits:
The cover shots are by Bobby Daniels Graphics