George Tackes: Instinct and Feel Take Over

Tell us a bit about your most recent work. 

My most recent published work: CNI Classified Vol. 2 short story “Hatchet Job” Oct 2025. Blue Planet Press. Robert Mendenhall created a fun group of military adventurers to write about. Masked Rider #4 – “A World Aflame” short story for Airship 27 – Western featuring Wyatt Earp fighting a fire rampaging through a small town. Secret Agent X Vol. 7 another short story for Airship 27 American Operation Hummingbird. Secret Agent X takes on a Nazi killer – always a great villain, 

My most recent unpublished work: In Search of the Cinnamon Bear, a novel – sequel to 1938 radio serial The Cinnamon Bear.

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work? 

Currently adventure/action pulp stories with historical basis. Overall, I have to say the subjects are a wide range. I’ve written articles, plays, novels, short stories. My themes center around good versus evil, justice prevails.

What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer? 

I remember as a child seeing a typewriter for the first time. I was fascinated by it. My mother gave me something to type but I didn’t want to copy something. Instead I wrote a story.

What inspires you to write? 

A lot of things. Most commonly something historical I’ve read but it could be a comment by someone that sparks an idea. On a trip to Springfield, IL, my daughter made a comment about iron bars were only on the bottom windows of the Old State House. That was the impetus for my first published novel, “The Great Chicago Fire Conspiracy.” For my short stories in Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. 17, it was another writer, Mike Black. He said Airship 27 needs a Sherlock Holmes story, so I wrote two.

What of your works has meant the most to you? 

It has to be “The Accidental Death of Henry Lindfield” and “The Case of No Interest” from Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. 17. They were my first published fiction.

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do? 

Most of the time, when I finish a story I don’t look back. I move on to the next project. The exception might be The Great Chicago Fire Conspiracy. After it was accepted and being published, I learned of James Shelton, the first African-American police officer in Chicago who was hired in 1871 – the same year as the fire. He would have been an interesting choice as the lead character. But I plan on using him in another novel.

What writers have influenced your style and technique? 

Dashiell Hammett, Sax Rohmer, Washington Irving, and a local writer, Michael A. Black.

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why? 

Definitely art. No matter how I plan, what details I meticulously lay out, once I start writing instinct and feel take over. I get in “the zone.” A few times, I even get surprised what I’ve written afterward. Sometimes good. Sometimes awful. But it cannot be replicated which is why I can’t view it as science.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? 

Balancing writing with reading. I love to read but it can interfere with my writing. I do draw some inspiration from reading as well. I don’t find marketing as difficult because I do enjoy meeting and talking with other readers. But exercising the marketing muscle is necessary and may prove difficult at times.

How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not? 

The writers I’ve met – I’m thrilled to consider them as friends - are the best thing about writing. Besides advice and support, they can relate to what it’s like to be a writer. The discussions we’ve have leave me spellbound. 

I have some wonderful lifelong friends and a wife and daughter, but they sometimes just don’t get it. It’s like if you work in IT. Other IT professionals understand. If you work in sales, other salesmen talk your lingo. If you’re a nurse, only other nurses can truly comprehend what it’s like to be a nurse. 

I’ve been at book signings where we promote each others’ books. The camaraderie among these writers is inspiring. The advice and insight that other writers freely offer push me to be a better writer and a better person.

What does literary success look like to you?

Getting published. Having someone consider your work is good enough to be published and to actually pay you for it. Awards are nice rewards but I get a bigger kick when my friends and family introduce me as a writer.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?

Masked Rider #4 – “A World Aflame” short story for Airship 27 – Western featuring Wyatt Earp due to be out any month. Secret Agent X Vol. 7 another short story for Airship 27 American Operation Hummingbird, in production now.