The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
VVS grad pens first novel after cancer fight
Bill Brewer: After cancer diagnoses, 1980 grad turns to love of creative writing
ROCHESTER >> Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central School class of 1980 graduate Bill Brewer has turned a potentially devastating medical diagnosis into an opportunity for a positive achievement, as he took advantage of some downtime following surgery to craft his first book, “Tears of the Assassin.”
“I have always enjoyed creative writing, but decided to take it seriously about five years ago,” Brewer recalled. “In 2013, I had a bout with cancer with required abdominal surgery. During my recovery, I realized that time may not always be available to me and if I wanted to do this I had better get to it.”
He wrote the rough manuscript during his recovery, and then for the next two years revised the work until it was presentable to a publisher. Inkshares is the company whop ended up publishing the book, an action/adventure novel that explores the conflict between being a cold-hearted killer and a man with a conscience. The book is intended for a mature audience.
Brewer, the director of exercise science at the Rochester Institute of Technology where he teaches human anatomy and physiology, published the book under the name William Schiele, using his own first and middle names as an homage to two of the strongest figures of his life.
“It’s a family name, and it’s my name, and I thought it would be a great way to acknowledge those two people,” Brewer said.
First was his paternal grandmother Katherine (Schiele) Brewer, who he described as a “very strong woman with clear convictions about the way things should be.” Family was very important to her, Brewer said, and she taught himand his siblings that anything was possible, while being a living example of that herself. Brewer said his grandma was one of only a handful of female lawyers in the state in her time, and the first woman lawyer to graduate from Fordham University School of Law in Manhattan.
“She was a powerful influence on me,” Brewer said. “She imbued in me that you can do anything you want to do, just don’t be satisfied with less than what you think is the best.”
The second was his father, Dr. Schiele “Bill” Brewer, who he described as a strong and quiet man but one who believed in setting goals and then going out to achieve them. Brewer admitted neither one of them might really enjoy the subject matter of “Tears of the Assassin,” but he felt both would appreciate he made a goal for himself and achieved it.
Brewer said Ink shares is a reader-selected, crowd funding publisher that requires authors to generate 250 preorders to create a minimum threshold for a publishing contract. He began his campaign with Inkshares on Feb. 14, 2016 and reached his goal by April 14. The book is now available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble online, as well as at his book signing events at Barnes & Noble locations across the state of New York.
Locally, he is scheduled to be a part of the Meet New Authors event at the New Hartford Barnes & Noble store, located at 4811 Commercial Drive, on May 20.
Brewer will visit with students at VVS for their Literacy Day event on March 10, sharing with them his message of the importance of communication through the written word. It’s a world of texting and emails, Brewer explained, where often the shorthand abbreviations of the modern day reveal a rushed approach to writing and lead to a lack of understanding. Too many people seem to find it a bother, or are in too much of a hurry, to write out full words and full sentences these days,
and he wants the students to know communicating through the full written word is still worth the effort
He will also discuss storytelling, revealing its power to take a reader into the character’s own experiences. This gives the reader the chance to live vicariously through the character and be able to consider the moral issues involved in the adventure in the book, Brewer said. This also gives the reader a chance to be a part of an action story without having to actually put your own life on the line, he explained.
Brewer said he is looking forward to workingwith the students at VVS, but one subject he refuses to present to themis his own book.
“When I was asked to do this, I said I would on one condition -- I wasn’t going to use it as an opportunity to promote my own book,” Bill Brewer used the name William Schiele — actually his first and middle names — on his novel “Tears of the Assassin” in tribute to two of his biggest influences, his grandmother and father. Brewer said. “The book is intended for a mature audience, yet I will be able to share lessons I learned while writing it.”
But although his book is not for the students, his own accomplishments in writing it and publishing it will be a good starting point for discussing literary endeavors, Brewer said.
For the younger readers, Brewer is in the planning stages of a young adult book telling a supernatural tale of Halloween. But he expects his next book to be a sequel to “Tears of the Assassin.” He has the next book outlined and he’s making progress on the chapters, but working full-time at RIT makes it a challenge to find the time to actually write it, he said. In the meantime, he will visit with fans at his book signings and build up his own readership.
Brewer and his wife Leah have three grown children, Brandon, Korina, and Talia. He said he looks back on his campaignwith Inkshares as both an enlightening and enjoyable time, made even more special thanks to the support of friends and family who decided to give his first book a try.
“The Inkshares publishing experience was tremendous, largely because of people who knew me who stepped up to help me with the campaign,” Brewer said. “Having never published anything before, they really had to have faith, and I amvery indebted and grateful to them all. It’s for them that I am going to write a sequel.”
For more information on Brewer’s books and upcoming book signings, visit: www.williamschiele.com write is one of our tunes nominated in the Best Polka Song category. Writing songs with him was always special, and I continue to miss him dearly.”
Fritz’s Polka Band has been performing for 38 years. In 2010, FPB was inducted into the Syracuse Area Music Hall of Fame.
All nominations are posted at www. JPFolks. com. For more information on FPB, visit www. fritzspolkaband.com.