Interview with Karl Mecklenburg

www.studentathlete.us

Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

Being a writer was not part of my plan as a young person. I have dyslexia so writing has always been a challenge for me. There are good parts about having this issue even though it made school a challenge. Having dyslexia means you think differently. Coming up with different ideas and solutions is a great advantage once you get out of school. Dyslexia also means that I have very little feel for left and right, I’m ambidextrous. This allowed my NFL coaches to move me around in order to put me at the point of attack. There were games when I played all 7 defensive front positions because of this “learning disability”.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

I have been a motivational speaker for many years with a desire to inspire long term positive change in teams and individuals. There are a limited number of people who will hear me speak so the book allows me to inspire a much larger audience. The long term piece of my desire has always been a challenge to me. When I give a speech the audience leaves with great ideas and inspired to change but I didn’t have a way to follow up. With the release of my book months or even years later an audience member can read my stories and be reminded of the concepts that will lead to success.

One of my keys to success is having the courage to try new things. Writing Heart of a Student Athlete was a five year process full of starts and restarts but I stuck with it and am very proud of the result. Success is overcoming obstacles on the way to your dreams and now I have a way to reach more people in a new and lasting way.

Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?

If you look at the areas of your life where you have been successful, and at the successes in the lives of those you respect, you will find six universal unchanging keys to success. You decide the direction and the depth of your life experience. In a series of interesting and sometimes humorous stories about my life both in and out of sports, Heart of a Student Athlete gives you these keys and teaches you their value.

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

My experience has been the driving force behind telling these stories. So many people don’t believe that they can accomplish the improbable. I am a professional speaker who spent years in speech therapy for a lisp. I am a published author with dyslexia. I am a slow white kid from the suburbs who had a twelve year NFL career including 3 Super Bowl and 6 Pro Bowl appearances. Dream extravagant dreams and pursue them relentlessly. The NFL is full of men who came from desperate backgrounds but something in their character allowed them to persevere and overcome.

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

My dad is a doctor and my mother was Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Reagan administration. I was raised with the understanding that I would do something socially significant with my life but I ended up playing a game for a living. Heart of a Student Athlete, the Karl Mecklenburg’s REACH Foundation, and my speaking business are my ways of being socially significant.

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

I love fruit. We have a peach tree in our back yard and in the odd year when late Colorado frosts don’t freeze the blossoms those peaches are heaven on earth.

What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

My schedule is crazy so I don’t have a regular pattern but when I’m home and there is time I let the dog out, eat breakfast, and do my Bible study.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

You would be surprised by all the hunting and fishing stuff I have collected through the years. I am a fly tier and I’ve got all kinds of crazy stuff in the basement for that: Australian opossum skin, guinea fowl feathers, the pelt of a shrew, moose mane, feathers from the foot of a prairie chicken, it’s kind of like witch craft.

Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?

I would be white. White is all the colors of light put together. I believe that God has given us all more talent than we can possibly use in a lifetime but along with that talent he has given us free will. That means it is up to us to go out and have the courage to try new things and then work hard and develop those talents. I decide what color I want. I decide what I do with my life.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

My eleven year old son Jeff says I’m like Schnitzel on Chowder. He is grumpy, grumbles Radda, Radda, Radda, and lifts everything up.

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?

I would be beamed to Colorado back in the mountain man days. The mountains here are still pretty wild but I would like to have seen the Buffalo herds, the plains Indians, and the foothills where I live in their natural state.

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

I like old country music. Don Williams, George Strait, Chris LeDoux. No, I don’t listen to music while writing.

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows?

I like watching sports on TV. I’m interested in seeing how players react in pressure situations. One thing that surprises me is when announcers glorify players who play at a higher level in the big games or playoffs. If the players have that capacity where was it the rest of the year? If you want to know what you’re capable of you need to give full effort, not some of the time, all of the time.

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

I would encourage your readers to be honest and forgiving with themselves. This is the most difficult key to success. Some people won’t be accountable while others blame themselves for bad weather. We all make mistakes but the successful learn from those mistakes, forgive themselves and move on. If you can’t be honest in self evaluation it is impossible to be an effective leader, to be decisive, to be dedicated, or to set goals that will move you toward your desires.

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

I think my next book will be a series or stories about leadership.

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!