Interview With Neill McKee
Jill: Tell us about yourself?How did you get
your start writing?
Neill:I started my career as a volunteer teacher in Sabah, Malaysia
(North Borneo) during 1968-70. There, I became an international filmmaker and
later a multimedia producer, working for development agencies and living in or
traveling to countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Russia
until 2013. I had written three technical books and many journal articles
during my career, for example on the role of communication in defeating the
HIV/AIDS epidemic. But I never had time to write creatively until I retired. I
started by taking an evening course and drafting stories at St. John’s College,
Annapolis, Maryland. After my wife and I moved to Albuquerque in 2015, I attended
Master’s-level workshops in creative nonfiction and poetry at the University of
New Mexico. That’s when I started writing stories for my Borneo travel memoir, one
on my ancestors (these two mentioned below) and Kid on the Go!
Jill: Tell us about
your new book Kid on the Go! Memoir of My Childhood and Youth.
Neill:Many
best-selling childhood memoirs are by people who struggled against physical or
mental abuse, poverty, racial or cultural discrimination, or dogmatic parents
and guardians, but somehow overcame such oppression to get a good education and
succeed in life. I experienced none of those conditions, so what could I write
about that would tell an entertaining, captivating story? I have clear memories
of the adventures I enjoyed in my formative years in my small hometown, Elmira,
Ontario, Canada, and always wanted to find time to write about them. I had
loving parents and they gave me and my siblings a great deal of freedom. Like
many in the 1940s and 1950s, they rose from relative poverty to financial
security through their determination and hard work. Nevertheless, I felt that I
could translate my memories into a set of universally-appealing stories that
would bring back similar memories in the minds of many readers.
However, I had to have
something to struggle against to add conflict and drama to the narrative, and
in my case, it was the industrial and environmental pollution I experienced in
my hometown. The stinks from chemical and fertilizer factories, the slaughter
house, and unpleasant manure smells radiating from Old Order Mennonite farmers’
fields provide the setting for the overall theme of “escape.” But I tried to
carry this main theme humorously or poignantly by exploring subthemes such as
learning how to reduce the impact of the odors, going on vacations, going
fishing and hunting, coping with death in the family, building and renovating
“escape” vehicles, learning the value of hard work, dealing with hormonal
changes and bullying, fantasizing about girls and sex, fighting the dictates of
authorities, joining the rebellious 1960s “rock n’ roll” culture, awakening
intellectually and becoming a youth leader, and then when I finally leave to
attend university, taking “existential leaps” that eventually lead to me to the
verdant Island of Borneo in Southeast Asia, as told in my first memoir Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah, which has many 5-star reviews and has won
three awards. Kid on the Go! is a standalone prequel to that memoir.
Jill: Tell us a little
bit about your other books?
Neill: Besides my
Borneo memoir, mentioned above, I have published another award-winning
travel memoir on my ancestors, Guns and Gods
in My Genes:A 15,000-mile North
American search throughfour centuries of history, to the Mayflower. This one is a deep-dive into North American history on the
themes of guns and wars, and the evolution of Christianity, as well as our
mistreatment and near-genocide of Native Americans, starting with the actions
of the Puritans and Pilgrims in New England. Through following female ancestral
lines, I find I had a 9th Great-Grandfather on the Mayflower—quite a surprise
for a Canadian. I also uncover many other ancestors in New England—some heroes
and some rascals. In the book, I uncover many of the myths about the
foundations of America.
Jill: What is your
writing style? Do you outline or just start to write?
Neill: I do a lot of
reading and research and start writing to a basic outline—nothing very detailed
for I like to let the words flow onto the page. But the shape of the book
changes a lot as I move through the chapters. I keep listening to memoirs and
other source books while writing, and order hard copies if I want to reference
them.
Jill: What are you
currently working on? Do you have any plains for writing more books?
Neill:I have completed
over half of the first draft of my next manuscript on my career as an
international filmmaker and multimedia producer, working for two Canadian
development agencies, UNICEF, Johns Hopkins University, and an agency called
FHI360 in Washington, D.C., where I was director of a communication project
with 150 staff and a large budget. During my career, I lived for four years in
Malaysia, four years in Bangladesh, seven years in Kenya and Uganda (East
Africa), and my last overseas posting was in Moscow, Russia during 2004-2007.
Besides that, I traveled to about 80 countries on short-term assignments. All
this has given me significant experience in learning about the issues within so
many fields of endeavor to improve human life in the developing world:
volunteering during your youth; the role of science and technology in
agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture; finding solutions for
delivering health care, clean water, sanitation and hygiene; empowering girls,
women, and young people to take charge of the their lives, while attempting to
change the behaviors and social norms that restrict them from reaching their
full potential. I think there’s a good story here. I’ve set up a website on my main projects, which is linked to my YouTube Channel. It includes most of the videos, comic books, and other media
products that I have been able to retrieve, so far.
My challenge is to
write about my career creatively and coherently in a way that will entertain
and educate—that is, make readers smile, wonder, and think about the present
state of our planet. I am also including thoughts on what was achieved or
wasn’t achieved in the projects I documented or created, my advancement in
skills, personal development, marriage and family life, and memories of many of
the people I met in my travels and those who influenced me and propelled my way
forward.
I hope to complete
this book by the end of 2022. In the meantime, I also want to begin a new
writing project, probably involving travel through New Mexico and America’s
Southwest. That project is gradually taking shape through reading and thinking
about the history, ethnicities, and cultures I have encountered here.
In
this new book, McKee takes readers on a journey through his childhood,
adolescence, and teenage years from the mid-40s to the mid-60s, in the small,
then industrially-polluted town of Elmira, Ontario, Canada—one of the centers
of production for Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
McKee’s
vivid descriptions, dialog, and self-drawn illustrations are a study of how a
young boy learned to play and work, fish and hunt, avoid dangers, cope with
death, deal with bullies, and to build or restore “escape” vehicles. You may
laugh out loud as the author recalls his exploding hormones, attraction to
girls, rebellion against authority, and survival of 1960s’ “rock & roll”
culture—emerging on the other side as a youth leader.
After
leaving Elmira, McKee describes his intensely searching university years,
trying to decide which career path to follow. Except for a revealing
postscript, the story ends when he accepts a volunteer teaching position on the
island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia.
Purchase your copy now available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Bookshop.org. Make
sure to add it to your GoodReads reading list too.
About the Author
Neill
McKee is a creative nonfiction writer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has
written and published three books in this genre since 2015. His latest work is Kid on the Go! Memoir of My Childhood and Youth, a humorous and poignant account of
his growing up in an industrially-polluted town in Ontario, Canada, and his
university years. This memoir is a stand-alone prequel to his first travel
memoir Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah (2019) on his first overseas adventures in
Sabah, Malaysia (North Borneo), where he served as a Canadian volunteer teacher
and program administrator during 1968-70 and 1973-74. This book won the 2019
New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for Biography–(other than a New Mexico/Arizona
subject) and a Bronze Medal in the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards (Ippy
Awards).
In
late 2020, McKee also released Guns and Gods in my Genes: A 15,000-mile North American search
through four centuries of history, to the Mayflower—an entertaining account of how he
searched for his roots in Canada and the US, in which he employs vivid
descriptions, dialog, poetic prose, analytical opinion, photos and
illustrations. In this work, McKee slowly uncovers his American grandmother’s
lineage—ancestors who were involved in almost every major war on North American
soil and others, including a passenger on the Mayflower, as well as heroes,
villains, rascals, and ordinary godly folk. Through his search, McKee exposes
myths and uncovers facts about the true founding of America.
McKee,
who holds a B.A. Degree from the University of Calgary and a Masters in
Communication from Florida State University, lived and worked in Asia, Africa,
Russia and traveled to over 80 countries on assignments during his 45-year
international career. He became an expert in communication and
directed/produced a number of award-winning documentary films/videos, and wrote
a many articles and books in the field. McKee is now busy writing another
travel memoir on his career. He does readings/book signings and presentations
with or without photos. He prefers lively interactive sessions.
Follow the author online at:
Author’s
website: www.neillmckeeauthor.com
Kid on the Go! book page: www.neillmckeeauthor.com/kid-on-the-go
Kid on the go! buy page: www.neillmckeeauthor.com/buy-3
Author's
digital library: www.neillmckeevideos.com/
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/neill-mckee-b9971b65/
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/McKeeNeill/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MckeeNeill
NBFS:
www.northborneofrodotolkien.org
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