Sitting down with children’s author, actor and TV & Radio personality Tom Clark, aka Major Tom
How did you get the inkling to write a children’s book?
When the kids were in school, the teacher would ask the parents to pick a book and come in and read to them. I came up with the idea to do a script since I was an actor and gave each of the kids a part, making it more interactive. I was the narrator and they were the players. It went over gangbusters and my wife Donna said I should turn it into a children’s book.
But why “The Pirates of Bathtub Bay?”
Well, Pirates was actually the 2nd book I wrote, the first one that the kids started I’ve been rewriting for years. It’s coming out this Fall and I’m excited, but I can’t give away the title just yet. That one is all about teamwork with a side of science and will be for older kids, where Pirates starts at about age 4.
The theme of Pirates is all about imagination and adventure. Does this have anything to do with your kids? Oh yeah. I’ve got 4 of the most creative and imaginative kids on the planet. I am totally blessed. My son Thomas would spend so much time in the tub playing with small toys and as a parent, I would listen in on his adventures with those toys and even though it was mostly the same toys every time, it was always a different story. I feel like today kids have things already done for them with video games available so the scripts are already written. I wanted to get back to letting your mind wander and make it up.
So take us on this journey but don’t give away too much.
Thomas has a small ship in the tub, the Old Wooden Walrus and with just his imagination and a couple of other toys, he sets out on an adventure to Bathtub Bay Falls. It’s very dangerous, but he and his crew are searching for a special treasure. He encounters sea creatures, rough seas and more. When I was a kid, it was like being outside and all you had was a stick, box, maybe a pillowcase for a cape, the woods and that was it. Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge and that imagination is the language of the soul.
The Children’s Book Review said, “The Pirates of Bathtub Bay is not just a fun and funny read, but a source of inspiration for readers to embark on their own imaginative adventures.
I was blown away by those words getting a nice review out of the gate and that’s given me a lot of confidence to finish book #2. I really tried to just write what was inside of me and put myself on the boat to see what kind of adventure I could have.
Talk about your kids and how you balanced life on the Radio, you were also an actor and you had time for writing.
To be honest, starting in radio was a fluke. I was finishing college studying Hotel Management, my dad was a Chef and I had a lot of experience in that industry. A contest came up in Atlanta about someone winning a job on the radio on Power 99. I won the contest to become their traffic reporter and Vikki Locke named me Major Tom. From there, a demo tape from radio got me an agent and I started doing some part time acting. Now, all the time I was writing here and there, no books or anything, I would write songs. I started writing comedy for Steve McCoy and Vikki and that’s when things took off. I also did impressions on the radio and even wrote parody songs. I then become Sports director because of my background almost making it to the major leagues and professional bowling. From there, I also helped produced the show when Rick Stacy took over for Steve so I was writing every day, all day. As for my kids Heather, Courtney, Drew and Thomas, being on the radio made me the cool dad and we got to do a lot of radio station promotions and fun things. I also got to meet a lot of celebs and almost had a date with Julia Roberts but that’s another story.
And what about the acting. Was it always part time and have you been in any movies that we’ve seen?
Radio eventually went away and I honestly had no choice. My wife encouraged me to go full time with the acting and the timing couldn’t have been better. I was blessed with a ton of roles in TV, Film, Corporate video, Voice-over and print. The kids became actors and made enough money to buy their own first cars and more. My grandson Ben, my son Thomas and I appeared together in a Fathers Day ad for the PGA Superstore a couple of years ago. It was very special. As for movies, just to name a couple, Secretariat, Iron Man 3, Anchorman 2 and Ray with Jamie Foxx. I did get some small roles in TV on shows like Nashville, Council of Dads, Army Wives and others, but my bread and butter was commercial and corporate.
So, book #2 is coming out in the fall. Are there any more after that or anything else that you are writing?
Yes. I’ve got 4 books total in mind, one for each kid. My daughter Courtney is book #2, Drew will be book #3, a coming of age theme and then book #4 for Heather will probably be finished late next year. As for other things I’m writing, a script for a movie I’m working on, and I’m doing my best to get it done by next year. I like the way it’s started, but I feel I’ve been doing only rewrites of scenes for the last 6 months. I’m not giving up, it’s a great challenge and I love it.
Anything else you want to add before we wrap this up?
Go have an adventure and use your imagination. Get with your kids, put down the devices and go wild. Our minds are starving for stuff like this but I hope that the Pirates of Bathtub Bay will stimulate the synapses. It’s a great book to read to your kids and do voices and stuff for them. They will get a kick out it. Once you become a sea monster or the captain, you’ll be on the adventure with them and it becomes even more special.
"Go have an adventure and use your imagination," says Tom Clark