authonomy Showcase: Paul Dayton

Name Paul Dayton

Location Panama

Occupation Retired early, previously a Tool and Die Maker

How long have you been on authonomy?
9 months approximately.

How do you use the site – are you a reader or a writer?
Although I’m a writer, I love reading other people’s work. Stuff like The Lighthousers, A Shirtfull of Frogs, Stonefish or Notes on an Orange Burial are inspirational to me, and their works have taught me that you can and should go beyond the borders of long accepted writing standards. I’ve also come to see that great writing shines no matter what the genre. Subjects I would normally ignore like a plague have been thoroughly enjoyable.

authonomy has been great at providing an innovative community who are eager to help, and because of this my MS has improved immensely (thankfully!), as has my attitude concerning writing. I have no writer’s workshops here in Panama, no how to books I can purchase and any books mailed generally get stolen before they arrive at my door, so getting online help like I have here is invaluable. Autho authors have made themselves available both online and through emails, spending long hours correcting my mistakes and giving me tips. On top of that, I’ve made many friends – people with like-minded interests. The proof is right there on my Eye of the Idol comment page – look at Cherry’s comments, Charles Utley and others who have given honest and helpful critique.

When you have a group of people willing to give for no other reason than the love of writing and helping others write, you have a truly outstanding community.

What are you working on at the moment?
My first non-fiction book is in the works – Titled Dying the American Dream, a realist’s guide to an early retirement. We have a large crowd of expats here from many nations, and their experiences at retiring early are illuminating. Successes and failures are entertaining to hear, as are their tips on what to do if you want to escape the clutches of a difficult economy. The interesting part of it is that most are in no way rich. By far the majority are regular Joe’s, which means the subject should be interesting to most of those out there squeaking by as they struggle to make a living. In my case, I’m not in any way rich either but we managed to retire at 45 after deciding that we wanted to follow our own dreams, not the textbook goals society imposes on us.

The book is displayed on my webpage, but I’ll likely list it on authonomy once the MS is as ready as I can make it. I’m also editing the Eye of the Idol and implementing the helpful advice I’ve received to date as I translate it into Spanish and Portuguese.

How does writing fit into your life? When do you make time for it?
We originally came here to volunteer (entirely self supported). I love biking and mountain bike the hills around my home early morning for about 2 hours. It’s helped keep me in shape. At the moment, we’re babysitting two yellow headed parrots that became orphaned in a windstorm, so this is interfering, but in a good way. I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus to write my 6 books, and now that I’m on my sixth, full time volunteering will be back in full swing soon.

Describe to us where you write…
Hmmm. That’s a good one. Most of my best dialogue and specific plot lines come from my bike rides. However, 2 hours of biking means I forget half of what I cooked up. After having cut short a number of rides so I could get home and scribble, I decided to get a digital recorder. VERY useful. I have written on long trips, pulling over to get the contents down, written in view of Volcán Báru when I needed inspiration, written with my parrot nibbling at my ear as she tried to seduce me, written in the bathroom (not sure if I should say that) and so on. Pretty much everywhere.

What are your ambitions as an author, what would you like to achieve?
I would like to have people enjoy my books. My And You Thought Your Family was Dysfunctional” book has been enjoyed by people, though I never intended to have it published as an ebook. Whenever I get an email from someone who has spent the night ROFL, I smile.

Truth is not stranger than fiction, it’s far greater. I tell real stories here and hope people will react by saying, “Can this be true? I have to check it out...”

Making tons of money has no place in my goals, and this has helped me to stay positive and happy as I write.

Which book on authonomy should we all be reading?
Notes on an Orange Burial!!! Trainspotter’s books are hugely entertaining too, and if you want a lesson on how to use clichés often in a hilarious way, check out chapter 6 of Stonefish.