This website is devoted to Author/Novelist/Screenwriter/Artist
Erik Feldmanis
Erik's Autobiography
I was born in St. Louis, Missouri. My parents however were both born and raised in Latvia and as such, I was raised as aa American-Latvian in New Carlisle, Ohio where I lived from the age of two until the age of 18.
I began my writing career by writing and contributing technical articles for the U.S. Army's Aviation Digest Magazine while serving as a UH-1H helicopter pilot and the unit's Aviation Life Support Systems Officer. I had always contemplated the idea of writing a fictional story, although to this point my experience was limited to detailed technical writing which later on proved to be invaluable. Interestingly I was never a reader of fiction, however, I had a story in mind and eventually decided to write it. The story ultimately titled as “The Jungle" dealt with an archeological discovery deep in the jungles of Brazil and involved the KGB, CIA, and Brazilian Drug Cartel and was eventually published but as I'll explain, that came years later.
As I began writing this story, the urge to continue writing became rather overwhelming and I found I could do nothing else but write. Everything about me revolved around this story as did an indescribable urge to write. It was as though I was somehow trying to make up for lost time. However, as soon as I completed it, I simply put it away in a box and never thought about it again. That overwhelming urge to write simply disappeared as quickly as it began. After my active-duty time, I entered the field of Law Enforcement where I was assigned as the Chief Pilot of the flight department - in addition to serving as a road supervisor Sergeant and certified hostage negotiator.
During this period, I began to write articles for Air Beat magazine, a law enforcement periodical dedicated to law enforcement aviation. Before long, as I did for the U.S. Army, I was contributing articles on a monthly basis. This is the time that my desire to write fiction once again surfaced, and with a fury! To this day I cannot explain why that feeling again overcame me, but it did, and there was no suppressing it! I knew I wanted to write but I didn’t know what to write about. Then one day in early 1995, I was in my basement looking for something. As I moved a box out of my way, it fell on its side. What fell out was that manuscript that I had written years earlier. With a sense of detached curiosity, I took the now stained and worn manuscript upstairs to my den and read it. The story itself wasn't bad but there were gaps and details missing. "I should rewrite this" I thought and re-write it I did. I worked on that story both day and night, many nights waking up with a new idea and rather than wait until morning, found myself behind my keyboard, converting ideas into words at all hours of the night, writing page after page. This is where the technical writing and attention to detail came into play. I now knew how to fill in gaps and details. As soon as I completed it, I asked some close friends to read it. The response was “You have got to get this published!” So, I did. The story was quickly accepted and published by Commonwealth Publications based in Edmonton, Alberta Canada - a separate story in itself. This led to multiple book signings, T.V., radio and newspaper interviews. How could it not? The books were beginning to draw attention with endorsements from the late General Chuck Yeager, WWII Triple Ace, Colonel Bud Anderson, and Prelude Pictures, who optioned Part I and asked me to write the screenplay. A review from a California periodical simply stated "Look out Tom Clancy".
During this time I began working on the sequels to “The Jungle”- “The Jungle Part II” and “The Jungle Part III”. Before the two sequels could be published however, Commonwealth Publications ran into financial troubles and filed for bankruptcy. In a twist of fate, a new fledgling publisher, Picasso Publications bought Commonwealth's inventory and I was contacted by them asking if I would sign on with them, as they wanted to publish my two sequels. The Jungle Part II and The Jungle Part III were then both published in 1997. But once again, as others in the industry often do, Picasso Publications struggled with the industry, and I found myself in a difficult position. Do I continue with this struggling publisher, or do I cut the ties now and attack the industry from a different angle? I cut the ties and regained full rights to my works.
In mid 1997 I was offered a pilot position for a charter company in Indianapolis where I flew King Air turbo-props as well as Lear Jets. I continued my writing, working on another action/adventure fictional story titled, The Lost But Not Forgotten - a story about an airliner that crashes deep in the Canadian wilderness where the survivors not only defy the odds by surviving, but by building their town - one which is still in existence today. I completed the story toward the end of 1999 and placed it in my “For later file”. I knew someday it would be published but when or with whom remained a mystery. I then formulated a plan. Let “The Jungle” trilogy die for about one to two years, publish “The Lost But Not Forgotten”, and follow that with the re-publication of “The Jungle” trilogy. That planned two-year goal of re-publishing "The Jungle" turned into ten. “The Lost But Not Forgotten” - according to plan, was released in mid to late March of 2002. Finally, after the re-release of "The Jungle" - 2nd Edition - I published another unrelated action/adventure novel in 2003 titled "Freedom of Choice", which I originally wrote as a screenplay and is registered with the Writer's Guild West in Hollywood, California. The problem this time was that I wasn't getting the support that I wanted or needed from the publisher so I again cut the ties and re-released my works as a self-published author in 2020. Yep! Tough business! Outside the novel writing arena, I've also written a few screenplays to include a dialogue punch-up for a John Candy script for Prelude Picture who purchased the rights to the work after his passing but has yet to go into production.
I'm asked many times where my imaginative stories come from, and I can honestly say I really don't know! I can't explain my story ideas other than I write about things that I have both experienced and things that intrigue me. Couple that with fictional add-ins and there it is. With a long twenty-eight year military career, an aviation - both fixed wing and helicopter career, coupled with my law enforcement background, my stories naturally revolve around things of adventure. I am often asked about my influences, which I reply with “I don’t really have a definable influence”. I write because that is what I truly enjoy, and if others want to share in my imagination, I certainly invite them to read my stories. This is the only reason that I publish my works. I am currently working on my next project.