About Me
My Work
The image to the left is of Gladys and Lester Woltz and Blanche. I am now compiling data about my Great Aunt Blanche of Ohio. I am working with a cousin in California who acquired a manuscript of stories from Aunt Blanche. These are stories about her life in New Mexico from 1940 to 1945. She and her husband at the time, had various adventures while working as a team in the border patrol
world.
Mean while the rest of the world was more worried about the effects of WW II; either within their country or what it was doing to other countries.
My story will parallel WW II, but be local to the southwestern United States. I will augment it with maps, various captioned pictures and descriptions for clarity and context. Our goal is finishing in 2024.
My Community
If it wasn't for my observation of others and my interaction with them in everyday life, I would have few resources. I do volunteer at races, when I can. It is amazing how people react to the same situation in various ways. Community involvement is the way to do it.
Through my life as an athlete/runner and beyond, I have gathered many traits from the people I meet. I've become a keen observer of the public and store those images for future use. I do run the occasional local races, usually the 5k associated with our Houston Marathon, the Bayou City Classic 5k/10k, the Bellaire Trolley Run and various relay races related to the beginning or end of HARRA's season series.
My Journey
One step at a time, I started my writing and journeying twenty three years ago. I have been at it for a while. It was hit or miss for the first few years. I have several short stories stored up and many more poets, yet unpublished, but I am here to stay. I plan on sticking with it. Guess that's why I chose middle and long distance running in the first place.
I find it enriches my memory with past races, relationships developed and places i have trained and raced. I have lots of memories to draw on and write about. Discipline is all that is needed to the mix. You might have similar experiences. You can make comments to me if you like. I will respond and we an make a conversation of it.
More About My Process
Writer Development
On August 19th, 2023, I had the opportunity to listen to Joe R. Lansdale as he discussed his latest book, "More, Better Deals". As well, Murder By the Book simultaneously was entertained Reavis Wortham. His latest is "Moon Lake". Both books were discuss and they shared many ideas and how they go about choosing the topics and story lines. It was interesting to here their perspectives on how the worked their story lines into a plot with various characters. Each one had similar ways of getting started. They were both entertaining and informative, sharing their skills. Joe has had more over all success because he started earlier, late 1960's to early 1970's, Reavis, to his credit, has created his own following and developed his unique reputation in the field of crime novels and westerns with a twisted Texas flavor. I bought one of another series of Joe's books and plan to see how far it takes me.
In the recent past, I have edited "Raymond Carver, a biography" by Carol Sklenicka. He was a short story writer from the 1950's. I find lots of references on writing skill in these pages and chapters. With Carol's assistance, I have developed a great admiration for all of Raymond's work and encourage everyone explore his work and make your own decision.
Ongoing Research & More Reading
I'm seriously trying to polish my writing skills, especially creating fiction. Therefore, having stimulating characters is most important.
I am always looking for the next new character name or quirk to add to their personality . It is a never ending search that keeps me hungry for putting just the right characters together. Whether it is within a poem, short story, novella or maybe a novel!
As far as reading is concerned, I just finished a huge book on Albert Einstein. It is quite lengthy, four hundred plus pages. I'm learning lots of details about him. This is something I have started to look for in quality biographies. What can the author tell me new, Famous subjects of many different author's biographies cover the same old facts, often just rearranging them differently. I look for personality quirks, things no one else has written about! Since I finished "Einstein" I've turned to "Grant". Now this is an undertaking only a really serious reader would tackle. It, from what I've read about is "the" definitive book about Ulysses S. Grant. What a challenge! After that mammoth, I will settle down with a Joe Lansdale or Richard Russo's latest.
Runner Related Activities
I am a Certified Runner Coach per Road
Runner Club of America. So, I do coach
local Greater Houston competitive runners from time to time.
I use the Jack Daniels Running Formula, no, not the booze, the training formula. I have used it in my own training so I know it works. It takes motivation and concentration. Natural skill helps, but what we are born with can be further developed. I look forward to taking your situation, whatever it is, and pointing you in the right direction to reach all your goal. And, yes it has been around for a while, but some runner coaches are still going back to it!
In The Community
Latest with Ino Cantu
Ino Cantu lives in San Marcus, Texas. He is still running races at 89 (almost 90 years of age). He recently appeared in the HARRA news in Houston. He was one of several HARRA members who competed in the USATF Southwest Masters Track & Field Championship held on Feb. 12, 2022.
2023 at University of Houston's indoor track. Ino finished the 800m in 4:15:30, just 49 seconds off his own American record of 3:36:42 set in 2020. He should have no problem in December when he turns 90, in capturing new age bracket first's. Not to rest on his laurels, but he still holds the American record in the outdoor 1500m for M85-89.
Generate excitement
Running isn't just good for the body. It's also an exercise for the mind and soul, said Thomas Woltz, a Houston running coach and 76-year-old-life-long runner. " You just should feel better. You should feel mentally satisfied,"
Woltz said, adding this activity or some other repetitive one can improve a person's ability to set and
reach goals in their everyday lives. Woltz is coauthor of
Finding My Road.
Now you can buy my eBook
Well, I hope most of you are sitting down. I finally created an eBook to go along with my paperback. It is available at:
AMAZON.COM/AUTHOR/THOMASWOLTZ.
It's at a reduced price ($3.99) so its easy on the budget. I had been wanting to do this for a long time, but things, life kept getting in my way. Oh, you don't have to use upper case on entering it in your browser. Send me a note if you buy a copy and give me a review.
Thoughts & Suggestions
Journaling
One should get a journal, Why, you say? Well, I have found it quite helpful to gather my thoughts together in one place. Put them down on paper, in a soft or hard back book. At 76, or any age, anyone can get a little scatter brained. I know I can. Why miss out on some great idea(s) just because you didn't take the time to write them down.
Further use of journals: Sometimes, they can serve as a foundation for
a novella or short story. Journals can serve as a series of similar experiences or events, seen over an extended period of time. A series
of concerts, performances, child or children's growing up years, or a series of sporting events, viewed over time. You just never know! With more and more sophisticated camara equipment attached to our cell phones, who knows.
Site Content
Detail your services
1. Fitness Consultant: Advise on injuries, first aid, other runner related.
2. Runner Coach: I am certified by RRCA (Road Runner Company of America) to coach individuals or groups to reach their short or long term goals.
3. Expert advise on Harris County (Texas) residents protesting their taxes.
4. Writer: collaborate with other writers on anthologies, short story compilations and books of poetry.
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LATEST: Future, what, there is one?
UNCERTAIN FUTURE?
Here is another area of uncertainty, confusion as to where we are going? Now, I took another jump into new electronics and upgraded to an iPhone 12, my technical life has taken another turn upward. But, yes, I did take a tutorial, live, at the Geek Squad/Best Buy store. Appears they have an agreement with Apple Stores to also provide support.
So, I went in at the appointed time and received a very cordial greeting from the "Man".
He was a millennial, no offense to those in my daughter's generation. Lev, I'll call him, was exceptionally pleasant, even when he discovered I was, let's say, not quite savvy.
"Savvy"! Any who, he was very understanding about my lack of those skills necessary to handle this new product. We went through as many features as I could handle, then he left me to do some practice. He was multitasking, also waiting on ongoing customers at the Geek Squad booth while helping me. We eventually set another appointment.
Long story short, we ended up with about three appointments and an assurance from him (he gave me his private cell number) I could just call and then drop by almost any time he was working. What a nice guy. My image of "that" generation is some what restored.
So now we have to deal with AI, Oh, gosh, not that landmine. God help us!