INN AT STONE MILL SCHEDULES WEEKEND WITH AUTHOR NEIL PERRY GORDON
INTERVIEW WITH MY LITTLE FALLS
By Dave Warner
This weekend, March 25th and 26th, The Inn at Stone Mill has a special workshop, Q&A, book signing, and dinner at Canal Side Inn with author Neil Perry Gordon for those who make reservations.
Gordon is familiar with Little Falls as he has occasionally come up here and stayed at the Inn. He said, “Neil Rosenbaum read one of my books, and that’s how we connected.”
He was born in New York City and attended a school focused on the arts, drama, music, and painting. Gordon attended college at Potsdam. After school, he spent ten years in Florida but moved back north in 1990.
Gordon said that writing was something that happened late in life. “I didn’t write my first book until 2018, and that was ‘A Cobbler’s Tale.’ I didn’t know if I could be a writer or not. It was like, OK, let’s see if this is going to work. But, it was well-received and had lots of great reviews.”
The initial success of his first book gave him the courage to continue writing.
Gordon’s books are heavily into historical fiction, with a healthy dose of metaphysical fiction. “There’s always some spiritual element to my stories. That really appeals to me,” he stated.
When speaking about his new book, ‘ Thunder Falls,’ he says that the main character gets involved with the Lakota Indians and the sacred pipe and meets Black Elk. “He goes on this quest to find this lost sacred pipe in the Black Hills and has some real spiritual experiences searching for it.”
Gordon says that his audience is growing, but it’s very competitive to be a writer. “There are lots of choices in books to read. If you’re looking for a book to read, you could be between Neil Perry Gordon and Ernest Hemingway. Ernest has a pretty good track record, so you might pick him over me.”
“I do want to be well-known for my writing because that appeals to me, but I do love the process of writing and putting it out there. It’s an enjoyable process. Otherwise, I wouldn’t do it,” Gordon said.
He also mentioned that if he had to make a living doing it, he wouldn’t because it’s very hard. “You need great musicians, painters, and writers. How many become successful based on their art? It’s a challenge.”
Gordon says that he’s fortunate enough to be able to do it, just for his own pleasure, if nothing else. “I make art for myself, and that’s what I enjoy. If people take the time to read my book, then that’s a great honor.”
He said that you could listen to a song, which takes two or three minutes and spend a couple of hours in a museum looking at art, but if you want to read a book, you have to invest a lot of time, and he appreciates that.
Writing is always challenging, he said, because you’re creating something out of nothing. “Every time I write a story, I get to a point where I say, OK, where is this going, or am I going in the right direction?”
“You just have to address all the challenges and not quit.” Moving forward, he says that he’d rather be a writer than anything else.
Gordon will present an overview of his books when he comes to Little Falls. “I’m going to read a couple of evocative passages. “I want to have a give and take with people. ‘A Cobbler’s Tale’ is about immigration, and lots of people have immigration stories and can relate to it.”
He said that he also wants to interact with those that attend and will have his books available for sale.
Gordon said that he loves the area and owns land in Herkimer. “It’s not far from Little Falls, and that’s how we found the City. “We’ve never built on it, but we come up occasionally to ‘look’ at the land. Maybe one day, we’ll build.”
He said that Canal Place is such a picturesque spot, being right on the Erie Canal. “We really like it up there, and we feel good when we’re there. Besides, my favorite thing to do is talk about my books.”
To reserve a spot, call 315-823-0208
