Fred Erick Shelton
About Freddy
Fred Erick Shelton (1958-2021) was my Uncle, my Friend, and my Inspiration for writing. He was the Author of "Mysteries of the Heart," a romance mystery, and "The Minibike Conspiracy," a collection of short humorous stories based on his childhood.
How Did He Get Started?
Freddy was the sort of fellow that makes every day at work much more enjoyable. Once while working at a refinery he was given the job of Hole Watch, that is, he sat in a chair in the hot sun listening to his co-workers pressure-blast the tank beneath him. Never one to let a moment go to waste, he began writing silly stories about the people he worked around. They caught on and began to be requested. Soon, he wrote a number of stories about his childhood and made small booklets to share. He didn't care about selling them because he wanted people to enjoy his stories. That's when he came to me, asking for help putting them in a collection. The few months we worked on them correcting spelling, rearranging sentences, arguing about word choices, and laughing our heads off produced "The Minibike Conspiracy." Before long, he brought me a new project, "Mysteries of the Heart," a love story and mystery rolled into one. This one was his passion project and it had a lot of potential, so much that I thought it should be a series, but he said that he told the story he wanted to tell. He even tried for my sake to create a second part, but his heart wasn't in it.
Why Did He Write?
There are so many ways to describe Freddy. Imaginative. Creative. Funny. Caring. But Freddy was a creator. He wrote songs, poetry, stories. He painted and sketched. He designed and built.
So, why did he write? He wanted to share his stories with the world. He would regularly say that he didn't care if he made a million dollars off of book sales as long as people enjoyed them. All he really wanted was that personal connection. "What did they enjoy? What did they hate? Did they pick up this small detail mentioned earlier?" And so on...
Freddy will be missed by his friends and family, but we can all connect with him through his books. His humor and his amazingly big heart are evident on each page of his stories.
Both "The Minibike Conspiracy" and "Mysteries of the Heart" are available in e-book and paperback editions on Amazon.