Robert Netkin

I've been a "writer" all my life, starting early-on with diaries. And in adolescence I used writing to begin developing what I saw as my appropriate questions - about who I was, and where I was taking myself; and really set out on my path of trying to find my appropriate and doable answers. It wasn't until middle age that I finally began working on assembling all my writings and some of my collected artwork into a more organized book-form "Assemblage". Most of the artwork consisted of my photographic work, largely of landscapes, seascapes, model and dance work; and the writings came together primarily in a prose-in-poetic-form styling. And these writings were generally of a self-instructive, self-motivational, inspirational, spiritual nature.

Also included in this assemblage of material was my early visualization of what I saw as internal "companions" - "co-travelers", which became the subject of my first serious and organized multi-book project, "The Magic Basket" - the format under which I produced a series of books/episodes for a decade and a half, that now number 48 separate works (in 21 volumes), in addition to a stage-performance version of the first book.

With "The Magic Basket" series well underway, I also began another series of inward-focused books - less fantasy-oriented than "The Magic Basket", and more psychological, self-analytical; the long-running "The Odd Man Out" format - starting with Tomo, the persona The Odd Man Out took as his face and attitude to the world; followed by the story of Smiley Bob, the anti-Tomo; and the series continued on in additional volumes.

In the course of these explorations, my interest in history and recorded music joined with my writing explorations in the two early books under the Who's Doing What format, "Immersed In The Blues - Exploring Blues Music And Its Meaning"; and "The Tracks Of Those Years: The Unforgettable Music Of 1955-65". And my self-analytical, spiritual, motivational and inspirational prose-in-poetic-form stylings became more organized in the long-running Pursuing Beauty format, of which the book "Happiness Pizazz - The Collected Best Of The Brightest" is the most optimistic, upraising, elevating selection of writings.

Having developed a clear preference for organized series of writings under developed formats, I then took up the following more anthropomorphic-based fictional series: Artfully Animated; and The League Of Neighborly Mountain Lions; the more mystical-based series, The Shamaness Of Etescu; the future fiction action series Peacemakers And Peacekeepers; the fictional business-focused Mittler series; the stories of the fictional popular-media-based team of Blizzard And Lightning; the fictional newspaper reporting team of Oil And Gas; character-based single volume stories of Enos-sense; and Shorthaul Sam; as well as the single volume future fiction action/adventure story "Radeeks And Eerads".

And there is the paean to creative writing, "Creative Writing: P-U-M-P It Up! - With Purpose, Meaning And Passion", evangelizing about what an important and highly beneficial endeavor it is for everyone to be participating in; as well as the calendar-based "Celebrating Time: Day-By-Day - Power Words, Stimulating Music & Color-Filled Photographic Images". Yes, it has kept me plenty busy, getting all this to publication!

A more recent endeavor has involved organizing my personal collection of photographs into books. This has resulted in five books filled with original color photos, the new Pursuing Beauty: Places series of 8x10 formatted offerings, focused on: #1 Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico; #2: The great Southwest, featuring a large collection of photographs of Arizona, New Mexico and Southern Colorado; #3: a very large collection of photographs of amazing California; #4: A brief, but dramatic collection of color photos of the Chicago and New York City area; and finally, the culmination: #5 - 99 pages of color-filled photos, highlighting the best and the biggest from #1-4! Another volume - featuring a special collection of photos of Autumn Color in the Toronto Area, and a collection of philosophical, psychological and spiritually-based writings is "Short Takes On Some Big Thoughts".

But now, on the matter of these photo offerings, I have to provide this author's note: the photographs in these books have been digitally optimized for a glossier, bolder presentation with more "pop". But Amazon print-on-demand does not guarantee this particular presentation for delivery. The other presentation that could be supplied comes with a significantly toned-down "matte"-looking, quieter finish. If you feel that either presentation would be acceptable, please order and enjoy whichever presentation you happen to receive!

And finally, the most recent work focuses on political commentary, and includes "Looking To Take The High Road Or The Low Road? - America Doing Heart-And-Soul Searching!", "Organizing Around Shared Best Interests", "Powering Our Way Forward: Standing Up For The Best Of America!", "Voicing Reason" and most recently: "Amassed Power". During times of political turmoil, it is likely the writer who is the one best equipped to try to bring greater clarity to the turmoil and trouble!