Paul Sturm

At recess in the 3rd grade, I kicked a ball in a kickball game far over the fence for a home run, leading my team to victory. An adorable young lady on my team came bounding up to me and gave me a hug I have not forgotten, even to this day. She yelled into my ear, "Oh, Paul, you are so wonderful!" No girl, who was not a relative, had ever hugged me, let alone called me wonderful. It truly made me smile from ear to ear.

When I was growing up, my grandmother impressed upon me that she expected me to become a doctor. She did this by strongly suggesting that any other career choice for me would be unacceptable, leading to untoward consequences. My grandmother could be somewhat intimidating at times. At any rate, despite my grandmother's scowl, I chose another path and became a CPA/finance guy instead. I often think that the medical world is a much safer and better place not having me as a doctor. I would have had a wonderful bedside manner, but being around coughing, sick patients would not have been my cup of tea.

Unfortunately, I did not excel at reading in my childhood, though I have improved immeasurably as an adult. As I kid, however, I really enjoyed reading books related to sports and especially sports' figures. I read about the famous basketball player Bob Cousy in his book, Basketball is My Life, and baseball players such as Roy Campanella, by Gene Schoor, Ty Cobb, by Gene Schoor, Babe Ruth, by Tom Meany, and I Never Had It Made, by Jackie Robinson to name a few. After his baseball career, Jackie Robinson would occasionally come to play golf at the River Vale Country Club golf course in River Vale, New Jersey near my home in Park Ridge, New Jersey. I caddied for Jackie Robinson many times there and admired his excellent golf prowess. I also tried to make him laugh with my burgeoning sense of humor, and, sometimes, he would chuckle quite a bit at my offbeat thoughts and musings. He was a very quiet man, very serious about his golf game, and never really warmed up to me in the manner I would have desired. I wanted to be pals, which never really happened, but he did seem to appreciate me, pleasing me very much.

My wife, Marti, is a bibliophile and encouraged me to read more. My career was a wonderful experience, but it was fraught with high tension such that I began to escape by reading fiction and nonfiction books incessantly as well as writing witty stories for the fun of it. So, I owe it all to my wife for establishing a path for me to attain an amazing outlet to reduce the stress of my career. In addition, she has always been very supportive of my writing career once I retired, and is the best and least expensive editor of my books, too.

Writing my second published book, My Favorite Girlfriend, was a delightful, nostalgic form of reminiscence, allowing me to revisit my wonderful, exciting and amusing youthful experiences in romance and sports. The joy of writing, however, was soon eclipsed by the cumbersome editing process which was difficult for me despite having a very helpful editor from Waldorf Publishing, the publisher of my 3 books. After many, many changes, adjustments, corrections, and late nights, I finally approved the final draft. My Favorite Girlfriend was published on January 5, 2021.

I thoroughly enjoyed writing my two books in a series, Golfing Adventures with Frankie, the Witty Caddie and More Golfing Adventures with Frankie, the Witty Caddie. I prefer writing a series because it allows me to quickly conjure up amusing scenarios involving Frankie, along with his caddying partner, Ozzie, and some unusual, somewhat bizarre golfers. It is simply joyful to write these stories, knowing their humorous message will create some fun for readers both young and old.

When I finished my first book, my publisher wrote to me that the easy part was completed, that is, writing the book. The publisher told me that the hard part, editing the book and marketing the book, was about to begin. As a novice writer, I assumed the hard part was this wonderful feeling of accomplishment of actually writing a book. I was wrong! My publisher was right, and everything I have experienced and read since has reinforced the concept that writing a book is surprisingly the easy part of getting published and marketed.

After I wrote my first 2 books, I contacted a number of published authors who happened to live in the neighborhood and asked their advice regarding conventional publishing or self-publishing. I also contacted my lawyer who initiated phone calls with several published authors. The consensus advice to me was to pursue conventional publishing, if possible, given the editing and marketing expertise of a conventional publisher, which would be invaluable to me. However, if I continued to get rejected by publishers, which occurred for many months, they recommended self-publishing which could be very successful as well. I finally found Waldorf Publishing, a conventional publisher, who agreed to publish my first 2 books, and then, eventually, my third book.

My writing has always been simply for fun and enjoyment and not to achieve financial success! My financial support comes solely from my financial career. My goal in writing is to achieve a level of accomplishment, and entertain readers, who might just need a bit of humor in their life.

I enjoyed 37 adventurous, exciting, tension-filled, and fun-filled years at Computer Sciences Corporation, CSC, which was eventually split into CSRA Corporation, purchased by General Dynamics, and DXC Corporation. My assignments varied from financially fixing problem contracts in the United States, Malaysia, and Belgium to being responsible for the finances of major organizations within the company. I spent a good deal of my career traveling to many parts of the world including Europe, Malaysia and India as well as extensive travel in the United States. Regardless of the circumstances, I always treated my employees and customers with joyful humor, attempting to improve relationships in order to have all enjoy their experience with CSC and me.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing golf as a kid. In addition to caddying at River Vale Country Club, I also caddied at a private golf course called Edgewood Country Club in River Vale, New Jersey. Edgewood allowed caddies to play for free on Monday, and I took advantage of this offer by playing with a fellow caddie and friend, Tom Boron. We would play 27 holes, never tire, and we were both really excellent golfers, shooting in the 80s consistently as I recall. I still enjoy playing golf on occasion, though my game is not up to par these days, so to speak. The impetus for my first book, Golfing Adventures with Frankie, the Witty Caddie, was attributable to my caddying experiences as a youth at River Vale Country Club in River Vale, New Jersey. Each of my "Frankie" books are based on real events, real people, and unusual, if not hilarious, circumstances that I encountered on the golf course with rather unique golfers, and Ozzie, my caddying partner. It was joyful, and I translated that joy into the books Golfing Adventures with Frankie, the Witty Caddie, and More Golfing Adventures with Frankie, the Witty Caddie. By the way, a bit of a secret is that I am really Frankie in the books.

My stories come from actual experiences and real people which keeps each tale fresh, new, and, hopefully interesting with an amusing twist. I relish writing fun-loving stories that will resonate with the reader, hoping that I can create a bit of entertainment, laughter, and enjoyment.

I have travelled the world and enjoyed wonderful trips sometimes with my wife and family to amazing cities such as London, Paris, Sydney, Melbourne, Rome, Istanbul, New Delhi, Chennai, Amsterdam, Prague and many more. However, the best place and most beautiful place I have ever been would be my hometown of Park Ridge, New Jersey, where the people are kind, the ambience is welcoming, and my cherished memories always make me happy.

I am currently writing a new novel tentatively titled The End. It is a fictional, lighthearted story about unusual friendships, and it involves sports, as well as amusing romantic relationships, including many missteps.

As a novice author, I was searching for information about publishing and marketing my books. I was fortunate to come across AllAuthor's website, for it has provided me excellent information, primarily about marketing, which has been invaluable. I have appreciated AllAuthor's mockups of my books and their distribution of these mockups to various social platforms, leading to increased sales of all of my books. It has also allowed me to interface with other authors, which has been invaluable for me.