Pageonelit.com: Where did you grow
up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were
your earliest influences and why?
D. Patrick Georges: I was born in
Athens, Greece. When I was in fifth grade I won a scholarship
at the local American School for Boys and so from the sixth grade
on I followed the American educational system. After finishing
high school there I came to the States where I studied at Ripon
College in Wisconsin and the University of Kentucky. Reading
was part of my life but writing was not. In fact, I was-so to
speak-dragged to writing kicking and screaming. My earliest influences
came from my late godfather--whose otherworldly experience I
described in the book Another Planet?-and from teachers and professors.
They instilled principles in me that proved invaluable in real
life. After I began writing, I was blessed with the guidance
and encouragement of my invaluable editor and dear friend Kathleen
Marusak. I must also admit that I learned a lot about writing
from Writer's Digest.
Pageonelit.com:Why did you write
The Synolic Manager. Tell us about this book.
D. Patrick Georges: During my career
with Mobil Oil Corporation I was intensely involved in the development
of corporate and subsidiary staff. I worked closely with a group
of colleagues stationed in several countries headed by British
consultant and Professor Alan Barratt. In our day-to-day operations
we found that managers and Human Resources professionals in general
often encountered difficulties in efforts to critically examine
performance improvement opportunities and in exploring the ingredients
of individual performance.
Facing questions such as "why do competent
and motivated managers sometimes fail to achieve certain realistic
and well-planned objectives?" Alan and I felt the need for
a more comprehensive approach to human resource development.
Such an approach would include a set of factors that, seen as
related to spirituality in the 
workplace, traditionally were
largely ignored. These were personal factors, such as beliefs,
expectations, habits and self-image, which did not allow some
people to utilize new skills taught at traditional training courses.
Following academic and field research we developed
a model for which we coined the term Synolic from the Greek "synolos,"
meaning complete or all together. The new model was presented
in an article entitled "The Synolic Approach to Human Resource
Development," published in the British management journal
Executive Development (Vol. 8, No. 2, 1995).
In response to requests for how-to techniques for
utilizing the Synolic model, Alan and I decided to expand the
article into a book, The Synolic Manager. We opted to write it
in allegory form to make it easier to read after a hard day at
work. It tells the story of a promising and ambitious young Human
Resources professional who is frustrated by the reluctance of
a crusty marketing manager to utilize her impeccable services.
In search of answers, our heroine travels from New Jersey to
London and returns ready to abandon her traditional role and
instead serve as performance consultant to the business units.
As a narrative nonfiction book The Synolic Manager
may be read as an introduction to the concept of a comprehensive
approach to the development of self or others. The Appendix may
be used as a workbook for specific performance improvement and
for career or retirement planning.
Pageonelit.com: Why did you write
The Train of the Fifth Era? Tell us about this book.
D. Patrick Georges: Until 1994 the
last thing on my mind was writing. Then one brilliant June morning
all that changed over café au lait and croissants. Returning
to California from Saudi Arabia, I was having breakfast on an
airy terrace with my good friend Dimitri Tsitos and his business
partner Alexandra Efthimiadou. The terrace overlooks a pine-clad
murmuring stream just outside Athens in Greece, with historic
Mount Penteli as a backdrop. Like a bolt from the blue they asked
me to write a book introducing advanced communication and self-development
practices such as Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), timeline,
hypnotherapy, Huna, Reiki and so forth.
"We'll publish the book as a private edition
and give away copies to CEO's of actual and prospective clients
of our consulting firm," Dimitri said. To my protests that
I knew nothing about writing they turned a deaf ear. "You
have so much experience," he argued, "just put a hodge-podge
together and we'll have it edited by professionals. But write
it in the form of a novel; who wants to read dry manuals after
a hard day at the office?" "And spice it with some
romance and adventure," Alexandra chimed in. "We need
to appeal to diverse tastes."
As if prompted by what is known in esoteric terminology
as "automatic writing," on the endless TWA flight 881
to New York I scratched a few words on the back of my boarding
pass that became the chapter titles of the book. And Helen Dee's
poem, "The Last Train," urging readers to savor the
scenic beauties of California before the greedy human hand despoils
that beautiful state, inspired me to concoct a title: The Train
of the Fifth Era. This is a "two-sided" book that may
satisfy both those readers who do not want to search for possible
"hidden meanings" and those who want more solid reading.
One side can be read as casual entertainment; the other transforms
the book into a camouflaged management manual for the initiation
of professionals who want to improve their batting average.
The book tells the story of a group of Western
knowledge seekers who, disappointed by the lack of direction
plaguing our times, attend a cultural event in Bangkok. In a
climate of good mood and six-star comfort, a seminar is interpolated,
marked by a vacation attitude and a sense of adventure for a
group of intelligent people who also want to have a good time
in an exotic country. A 
seemingly wise Asian conducts
the seminar. For seven days they hang on his every word while
learning the "Seven Secrets of the Lotus," with romantic
and exotic experiences in a colorful Thai tapestry as background.
This Asian does not teach, he simply holds discussions. He engages
the audience in conversations on "problems" that he
poses, which have allegorical form and thus are neither boring
nor tiring. Using the Socratic method he makes his "students"
participate actively and impulsively. Elegant dinners, field
trips, tours of the city's sites and outings to enchanting Thai
locations follow the sessions.
Readers are introduced to some little known concepts
and topics such as "mindbody," myth of failure, Mystery
Spot, Neuro-linguistic Programming, Timeline, Reiki, choice of
poverty, "soulsmiths," spirit of Omega. Although they
may be unknown to the uninitiated they are intelligible. For
the initiates, however, they are analyzed and so become clearly
understood, consolidated and energized. The seekers leave Bangkok
convinced they are ready to meet the challenges and opportunities
of the 21st Century. But are they? In a symbolic manner, the
return flight becomes a turnaround flight and crash-lands at
a train station at the moment of the departure of the last train,
the "train of the fifth era."
Pageonelit.com: What has been your
feedback from readers and book reviewers? What do they say to
you about their interpretations of The Synolic Manager and The
Train of the Fifth Era? What do they like about the books?
D. Patrick Georges: The Synolic Manager
has been largely used as a workshop manual by Human Resources
consultants and by individuals interested in crafting a life
goal plan. User response has been that the book was found useful.
Reviewers have noted that the book sketches a new type of manager,
a Synolic manager. And they pointed out the fact that it places
emphasis not only on those factors that are subject to conscious
control, but also on ways and criteria that lie beyond conscious
control, such as unconscious decision making, which to a great
extent accounts for human behavior, including buying decisions.
Many readers of The Train of the Fifth Era found
it intriguing and relaxing, but also informative. A frequent
comment was that it was not easy to put down the book. Some even
wrote that they stayed up all night to finish it. I've posted
some of these comments on my web site (www.dpgeorges.org). A
reviewer called the book an unconventional mix of fiction and
philosophy. Another likened it to a Japanese form of literature:
essays hidden in genuine novels.
Pageonelit.com: Tell me about your
publishing experience ...
D. Patrick Georges: Like so many
modern-day socio-economic institutions, publishing seems to be
governed by the "whom you know" law. Although Alan
Barratt was a published author in the U. K. and the manuscript
of The Synolic Manager was an expansion of an article published
in a somber British management journal, we received enough American
rejection slips to plaster a bungalow. In response to consultants'
requests for the book, as it is quite useful in seminars and
workshops, we resorted to an unorthodox recent innovation: The
Publish-On-Demand (POD) solution, a lifesaver if your name does
not happen to be John Grisham or Ken Blanchard. You submit the
manuscript in computer file format and in a few weeks the publisher
is in a position to produce trade paperbacks, even hardbacks,
on demand, that is, anywhere from one to 1,000 copies at a time.
Inexpensive electronic versions are also available. The books
can be ordered directly from the publisher, in our case Xlibris
of Philadelphia, or through the main online booksellers such
as Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble. That is how I had the
other three books go to print also.
On the other hand, one of my Greek business associates
gave a copy of The Executive Guru to his buddy, the CEO of the
second largest publishing house of Greece, a subsidiary of Greece's
answer to AOL-Time Warner, an 800-lb gorilla called DOL, with
the request that it be put at the top of the pile. Two months
later the publisher bought the Greek language rights and the
book stayed on Greece's nonfiction bestseller list for a few
months. The publisher then came out with a 
Greek edition of The Synolic
Manager that was launched with a gala cocktail reception overlooking
the lighted Acropolis. Alan and I flew to Athens for the occasion
and we enjoyed the evening very much. Thanks to the publisher's
coordinated promotion, the book stayed on the bestseller list
even longer than the first.
The discouraging effect of the slow-going sales
of the American original editions is tempered by the wide acceptance
of the Greek translations and the appreciative comments of those
determined souls who track down and order the books in the States.
Pageonelit.com: Are you working on
a follow up? Or something totally different?
D. Patrick Georges: Many readers
of The Train of the Fifth Era wrote that they found the concepts
and practices described in the book useful, but they couldn't
put them to good use, because beliefs and habits are all but
impossible to change. But can we change habits and, if so, how?
I thought I could provide some answers in a sort of a sequel
entitled Smarter than Snakes. I did extensive research--all my
books, even those that look like novels, are supported by extensive
bibliography-and I have finished the first draft. I am now polishing
the manuscript and hope the book will be out in the fall of 2002.
While researching Another Planet? I became more aware of the
need for independent writers to address socio-political issues.
Thus, beyond dealing with non-psychoanalytic approaches to changing
beliefs, habits and expectations, Smarter than Snakes also deals
with contemporary issues such as the deep roots of the Enron
scandal.
Pageonelit.com: What was the last
book you read?
D. Patrick Georges: The Essential
Lippmann, a voluminous anthology of the prolific writings and
speeches of one of America's most profound thinkers. I was particularly
interested in his ideas on political leadership vis-à-vis
public opinion.
Pageonelit.com: Do you have any hobbies?
What are they? How do they enhance your writing.
D. Patrick Georges: I have always
found sailing very relaxing. Especially on a Capri 22 with no
engine. That surely keeps you on your toes. To accommodate friends
I also go out on a Catalina 27. Business reasons have sent me
around the world several times. Interacting in business and social
settings with diverse cultures in out-of-the-way places gave
me ideas that enriched my perspective. To share my experiences
of places closed to the general traveling public--like Saudi
Arabia for instance-I use unusual and exotic locales as background
in business fiction books such as The Train of the Fifth Era
and Smarter than Snakes.
self-improvement
books and one "improbably" classified under the metaphysics
and futurology labels. Two more self-improvement books are in
the works. Patrick says these two will be his last. A graduate
of Ripon College of Wisconsin and the University of Kentucky,
after a series of trial-and-error jobs he ended up in the now-defunct
Mobil Oil Corporation, where he served in several marketing and
human resource development positions for twenty-some years. Nowadays,
if he isn't roaming over the Arabian peninsula or about the South
Seas and other assorted offbeat locales, he sort of works as
Chairman of La Costa Consultants, Inc., of Rancho Santa Fe, California,
and occasionally conducts graduate seminars in human resource
development at National University in San Diego, where sailing
tops his fun list. Visit Patrick online at