Jeff Danelek

"Psychic Viewpoint" September 12th, 2013 Listen (left click)      Download (right click/save)

A native of Minnesota but a resident of Colorado since 1969, my life has been a journey that has taken me down many different paths—some good and some not so good—but all of them useful in my journey. After a stint in the Navy (as a navigator and, briefly, an air traffic controller) I attended the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, specializing in illustration and graphic design. Since then, I have worked for a wide array of employers, from the public school system to the aerospace industry. I even worked for a couple of years laying out an international magazine for a local televangelist (who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty). After doing a gig as a part-time driving instructor (lotsa fun and a very educational experience) I'm back in the graphics industry once again while I wait for my "ship to come in"—whenever that might be. In the meantime, I continue to maintain this and several other websites, keep my hand in free-lance graphic work, continue to write for both myself and several other websites, teach classes at Colorado Free University and Front Range Community College here in Denver, and work on my tennis game (with little success). I currently live in Lakewood, Colorado (a suburb of Denver) with my wife, Carol.

Besides writing, my hobbies include—but are not necessarily limited to—art, politics and political history (I can name all 44 presidents along with the years they were president and what party they were, none of which has proven useful to date), world and military history, religion and spirituality, numismatics (coin collecting) paleontology, astronomy (and science in general) and Fortean subjects such as Bigfoot, UFO's and things that go bump in the night. I enjoy writing both fiction and non-fiction, much of it with decidedly spiritual, religious, cryptozoological, historical and/or paranormal overtones, and consider writing to be my life's passion.

I'm ashamed to admit I didn't pursue my writing career with the prerequisite determination until fairly recently (I like to think of it as a progressive learning thing) with my first published feature article appearing in the March, 2002 issue of Fate magazine. Striking up a good relationship with Fate's parent publisher, Galde Press, I decided to submit an entire manuscript for consideration and in September of 2003, I was blessed with my first book, Reconsidering Atlantis: A New Look at a Prehistoric Civilization (now out of print). Later I was able to get a larger publisher (and one known for its paranormal-theme clientele), Llewellyn International, out of St. Paul, Minnesota, to look at some of my ideas, the result being that I have since managed to add six more titles to my repertoire. As for the future, I am currently working on several not-yet-but-hopefully-soon-to-be-published novels with spiritual themes that I hope to see in print soon, bringing my writing career full circle from paranormal non-fiction to aviation history to inspirational fiction; quite a ride, don't you think?

All in all, things seem to be moving along pretty well, making me enthusiastic about the coming years and providing me the impetus to keep pecking away at my keyboard. Perhaps the best part of being a writer has been the opportunities it has afforded me to meet a host of interesting people in the literary and paranormal community, among them real life ghost-hunters, past life regression hypnotists, Wiccans, and everything in between. It has also provided me the chance to do lots of radio (I'm told I have the face for it); over the last few years. I've repeatedly been a guest on Coast to Coast with George Noury and have appeared on Whitley Strieber's Dreamland Radio Show, the x-zone with Rob McConnell, EUP Radio with Scott Colborn, Erskine Overnight, Para-X Radio with Rusty O'Nhail, and lots of others. I've also had the opportunity to speak at several seminars, most recently at a paranormal conference at the haunted Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado as well as onboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach). All-in-all, a lot of fun.

My personal philosophy is that life is about learning and growing, both intellectually and spiritually, and that is the perspective from which I approach each project I undertake. As for writing, fame and wealth are not the goals (though they are acceptable consolation prizes); the point of the exercise is to give others a piece of yourself in the hopes that in your words they'll find something that speaks to their needs, answers their questions, or even touches their heart. To have a stranger come up to you and thank you for expanding their awareness or giving them an answer to a question they have been pondering is what writing is all about, and if you can happen to make a living doing that in the process, then it's worth all the effort. At least, that's how I see it.

For more information about Jeff, please visit his website at http://www.OurCuriousWorld.com.