Herbert L. Smith has lived and taught in many different countries of the world, from Africa to South America, and has written about some of his posts in three books published since 2008: Cairo: The Mother Of The World, Crossing Borders, and his most recent, The Great Sphinx Of Amun-Ra. All these books are based in Egypt, where he lived in the 1990’s, and he has followed the evolution of Egypt continually since that time.
The first two books are travel memoirs, and The Great Sphinx Of Amun-Ra is a novel set in ancient as well as modern Egypt. It is a time-travel kind of experience, placing readers in pre-history as well as Cairo in 2012, which he knows well.
Smith has been a teacher since 1968, working in the U.S. as well as abroad. His subject as well as his interest is English Language, and he has taught primarily in Colleges and Universities preparing international students for academic work in English.
Other disciplines that attract his attention are music and history. He is a pianist, organist, and choirmaster, and a reader of history. He now lives in Eugene, Oregon where his writing and music continue. A biographical novel that will eventually follow (in about two years) is titled David, The King.

I like readers to find any interpretation they think of, although I probably lead them to some of my own ideas.  ‘Universality’ is probably the overall message I thought about as I wrote.  Throughout human history people have craved some form of worship of a divine being: some mighty god or goddess, or a plethora of them, who controlled human destiny. Most people do not want to believe that there is no ‘grand scheme’ or plan that they should try to find and fit into. 

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

 

I am completely spell-bound when I read Kathleen Norris’ books about her resurgence into spiritual life after many years of doubt and neglect.  Her way with words keeps me always interested and also satisfied.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

 

Imaginative or creative thinking has always been an interest.  As a child I invented elaborate ongoing stories and at times nearly lived in them.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

 

I am preparing a new book, David, a historical novel about the ancient King of Judea and Israel.  I am still working on the outline, which is the most detailed I have ever done, although the first chapter is starting to take shape.  It’s pushing me to get it onto the page.

Have you ever had writer’s block?  If so, what do you do about it?

Writer’s block has never yet been a problem.  I always have a strong plan, a map, for the book, and if something doesn’t go right, I move to the next step and then go back to the unfinished part.  I do that all the time.

How did you develop your plot and characters?

 

I followed the historic time-line, choosing those places along the line that I could envision a set of characters and describe their actions within the events that happened then.  I studied the characters I created, finally seeing them in the setting as whole people – at least I attempted to do that.  Many of the characters are memories of people I have seen or known.

What are your goals as a writer?

To keep writing.  A simple goal, but at age 74, a very realistic one.

What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing?

 The dream of completing a book; of knowing when it is finished (although the editing is forever ongoing if I allow it to be).  Sometimes that’s hard to determine.

If you could leave readers with one bit of wisdom, what would you want it to be?

Wisdom is probably not the best word for this, but I can say that I need to be satisfied with what I’ve done.  I don’t want a word or an idea to remain in the story if it isn’t strong enough to pass my own scrutiny.  As I say that, I know that I miss the goal at times, mostly because I haven’t really looked at it as searchingly as I should have.