Time Marches On

This Monday Terry and I celebrated our 35th anniversary. We have had a wonderful life.

What is funny about being married so long is that it is almost like several life times.

At first, it was just the 2 of us and we were putting our lives together.
Then came our 3 boys and watching them grow into wonderful men.
Now we are in the empty nest and enjoying grandchildren...but there is something else...
We are working on our dreams. I am working on writing and Terry is looking forward to doing many projects when he has time.
Terry has taught me to enjoy what ever stage of life I am in. He is the best in making the most of all situations. I do love that man.

We are back to author interviews again. This week we have another soldier. You will want to read his interview. Get some of his books too.

1. What is your name and the title of your book(s)?
My name is Mark Lanton my book title is "The Fight Is Already Fixed"

2. What is one thing you think your readers would like to know about you?
I am a born again Christian. I served two tours in Iraq with the Air Force as a combat medic. I wrote this book during my second tour in Iraq. I am a former Army, Armed Forces, and European boxing champion. I am also a former professional boxer.

3. When did you know that you wanted to become a writer?
I never planned on writing a book, and I do not consider myself a writer. The Holy Spirit gave me the vision to write this book while in the war. To give a brief story on how I wrote this book; I was unable to sleep one night while in Iraq, and the Holy Spirit had me awake and reading the book of Revelation. Revelation 20:10 says, "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever". I immediately related that verse to the sport of boxing, that as Christians, our fight is already fixed. If you know what it means when you "fix" a fight, that means that you know who the winner is before the fight begins. It doesn't matter what we suffer in this life. It doesn't matter what hardships we experience. It doesn't matter how many times we (Christians) get knocked down, we always get up, and we know that we have the victory in the end. And so my spirit led me to the idea to write a book that glorifies God through the sport of boxing.

4. What are your strong points in your writing style or methods?
I feel that my strong points is the simplistic and direct method of my writing. I like to keep it simple so that anyone can understand my message. I do not "dumb" down my writing, I use a writing style that can appeal to most any reading level.

5. Are you a reader?
Yes I enjoy reading. I like to read biographical literature. I am interested in reading the true life stories of perople who overcame challenges in their lives. I enjoy reading about the perseverence and fighting spirit of certain people, and how they overcame dismal odds.

6. What are you reading right now?
I am reading a book titled, "Blood Covenant" written by Michael Franzese. This book is about a former high ranking organized crime figure who became a Christian and turned away from his multi-million dollar criminal lifestyle to serve the Lord. This book is fascinating because no one ever turns away from this lifestyle and lives to tell about it. His book is an awesome read and it is hard to stop reading it.

7. Do you have another book that you are working on and hasn't been submitted for publication? Tell about it.
Yes I do. I am currently working on a second book that glorifies God from the analogies of corporate America. I am excited about this book because I use the business practices of big industry and lift up the Lord in this manner. This book title is, "The Executive Meeting, Jesus Christ, Chairman of the board"

8. What are your biggest obstacles to writing and how do you overcome them?
My biggest obstacles are not knowing about the issue I would like to write about. I can have the idea in my mind, but I do not have the knowledge and verbage about a particular topic. I overcome these obstacles by doing extensive research on the issue that I would like to write about.

9. Please put a description of each of your books here. (back matter is ok)
"The Fight Is Already Fixed" is a powerhouse of scriptural encouragement for Christians who may be dealing with struggles and wonder how they can be victorious in their spiritual lives. "The Fight Is Already Fixed" clearly pictures the reality about our actual combat against our adversary (satan). This book is a personal portrait of the Author's life laid out there to be an encouragement for others. You will not be sorry that you have taken the time to read this book.


10. How can readers contact you or purchase your books? Please put your website or blog here.

The author contact email is: TheFightIsAlreadyFixed@gmail.com and the book is currently in all bookstores nationwide (Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Amazon, All Christian bookstores, etc...), and the book can be purchased from the book website at http://thefight.tatepublishing . The book website has a blog and a message board. The book website also talks about how I came to write a book while in a war zone. The book can be purchased from the website and there are pictures of me from over in Iraq.