Please welcome Taylor M. Fletcher to my blog. His book, Our Marriage Contract, a self-help book, was released last month.
Interview
Tell us a bit about yourself.
First and foremost, I’m happily married! And I’m not just saying that to be saying that. I’m a guy who feels incredibly blessed for all the little and wonderful things God has offered me in my lifetime. By trade I’m a Corporate Attorney who again has been blessed with the ability to help my clients prosper and stay out of trouble. I’m a dog parent to a Boxer Beagle mix, named Gemma and married to my best friend. I enjoy a good movie on the couch with my BFF (my wife) or jumping on the motorcycle and grabbing a bite to eat with my wife. My favorite thing besides flea marketing hopping is to get a pedicure alongside my wife, those chairs are Great! Other than that, if you strip away the titles, the degrees, the material possession, I’m just your average everyday guy except I found happiness through dealing with my expectations upfront.
Where were you born and where do you call home?
I was born in Flint, Michigan, and adopted at the age of 6 weeks old by an older white couple and raised in Grand Rapids Michigan; now my wife , and our Boxer-Beagle live and play in the wonderful city of Philadelphia.
What or who inspired you to start writing?
I think what really inspired me to write the book was first and foremost having a marriage contract in my own relationship work and is still working to this very day. So, thinking” I Finally Cracked the Code”, on what I refer to as the Miss”Education” of Romance and I coming to grips that as crude as it may sound; relationships are just like any other of life’s fragile unions and in order to be successful there needs to be rules both people must follow to make it work. I put my hypothesis or what I called “cracking the code” to the test, not only did I test and try it out on my then fiancée’ and now wife but I tested it on many of my friends who are in relationships or at the early stages of one. To my surprise it worked! Years later, Our Marriage Contract “the book” was born.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I really don’t consider myself a writer, I do think I have one more book in me but I consider myself to be an average guy who has a really great message told and narrated in a short book. An average guy with a message who’s trying to get that really message to the public in hope that it’ll help, save and even rescue people and their relationships. At best, if it message is received to late, it could at the very minimum help people have better romance in future relationships.
How much of yourself, your personality or your experiences, is in your books?
A lot! My mannerisms and southern speak and weird ways of talking or looking at life and how I view women wants and need based on my experiences, yeap, it’s all in there. My first time reading the manuscript once it was proofed and formatted, made me smile because, I finally saw why people always ask me “Where are you from” when they speak with me, the little speaking habits I picked up from the South when I was in school down there, readily spilled over in my writings. In fact in the introduction of the book I stated the word “Hitched” instead of saying getting married. And as far as my experiences, the book is full of them especially since I wrote the book from an what I call the average guy’s standpoint” me , who after years of darting and trying to figure why during most of my relationships I was either a hero at times or a big fat zero; even when I tried to do the right thing.
Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your next book?
The next project is going to be a book I’m affectionately titling the next book “Grand Opening, Grand Closing” The art of keeping the business lights on. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 1 “American Dream”
“GRAND OPENING – GRAND CLOSING” So you’re ready to start a new small business. You’ve looked around and looked around, and decided there was nothing close to what you need, so hey. Why not start a business, right? Sounds logical. People start a small business for several different reasons, of course. One of the most popular reasons, I believe, is financial freedom; they want to gain wealth. The second one is to fill a need. The third is that most small businesses happened to fall into the business itself purely by accident. Before we get ahead of ourselves about starting a business, let’s make sure we’re on the same page. If you are planning on starting a business, be prepared to do something you love while not getting paid for it for at least a year or more. Yes, you read correctly: I said expect not to get paid for a least a year! Be ready for that to last even longer, because most small businesses don’t make money or break even in the first 3-5 years of operations. If that’s going to be a problem, starting a business may be a huge issue for you. So let’s make sure that your new business hobby is going to be fruitful for you. Before we even think about organizing the business, make sure you have the following in order.
Do you write full-time? If so, what is your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
No, by trade I’m a Corporate Attorney, so I consider myself an “A Book Writer/Author”, meaning if there is an existing need and it’s a topic or issue I feel can help people with then I’m more likely to through my two cents in to see if I can make a difference, like my current book and my next project.
What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)
Best advice, Book marketing is a marathon and not a sprint, came in an email from one of my many emails from my Publisher’s marketing team. Worst advice, someone told me “you don’t need a Publisher, you can publish your book on your own”. While that was true, the Publisher I used even though I went through the self-publishing platform was invaluable AND did all the things I just didn’t have time nor did I want to do, particularly like listing my book with several of the major retail chains (Barns and Noble and Amazon).
What is the best thing about being a writer? The worst?
Since this is my first book, I can’t say but for me when I was writing the book, I’ll admit there was a little uncertainty on how the message in the book would be received beyond my friends and family. My personal experiences varied when I told people about my own marriage contract it was either the person were shocked to “oh yeah, you’re a lawyer big whop”. I figured the message in the book would be overlooked if people couldn’t or can’t got past the title. Honestly, at times I almost gave up, rationalizing to myself “normal people don’t want to use a contract for a better relationship” and when I say normal people I mean non-wealthy people. But, I thought…..I’m normal and I wanted something, heck anything that made sense and was going to help keep me happily married, so I continued to write on.
What fuels you as an author to continue to write?
In hope that my messages in the book(s) will be of some help to the readers and that ultimately it will make a difference in their lives.
Do you outline your books or just start writing?
I outlined the book as I wrote, it was tough organizing my many thoughts into an outline that made since to the message and the book intended purpose but finally it came together and I couldn’t be happier with the finished product, I hope the readers enjoy it.
If you could jump in to any book, and live in that world, which would it be?
Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, that guy rocks!
Do you have a specific snack that you have with you when you write?
I found myself eating grapes and drinking milk, not sure why but it was the food of choice.
Do you have an all time favorite book?
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R. Covey
What book are you reading right now?
We Got Fired! By Harvey Mackay.
If you could meet two authors, who would you pick and why?
Robert T. Kiyosaki, I love his book and his message of encouragement within it. And there’s Jessica Dorfman Jones, Oh, she is so interesting, and has such a unique way of telling her story in her books. I’m in love with her most controversial books.
Tell us a random fact about you that we never would have guessed.
I’m addicted to pedicures!
Book Blurb
NO JUDGES, NO LAWYERS, JUST GREAT COMMUNICATIONS…… Although titled Our Marriage Contract and written by a lawyer; I’m happy to say the book has absolutely nothing to do with the court or U.S. legal system. Instead the book actually explains and shows people how their relationship Expectations…Leads to Disappointment….Disappointments Leads to Resentment and Resentment Leads to Failure.
Author Bio
Taylor M. Fletcher is the Managing Partner at The Law Offices of Kawalski, Fletcher & Kirkpatrick, P.C. Mr. Fletcher has more than ten years’ experience as a corporate law attorney, an attorney consultant, and an expert legal volunteer for various public and private non-profit organizations throughout the Tri-State area.
You can find out more about Taylor and his book on his website or on Facebook.
You can purchase Our Marriage Contract on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Into Another World 