Kent Bishop's Writing Career

Writing Philosophy

Below I set forth my writing career. I suggest that one who wants to write consider following these suggestions derived from my career:

Live broadly; read widely; study diligently in school, college, and university.
Read newspapers, books, and magazines. Watch the news.
Listen closely to conversations; observe people.
a) Examine and evaluate character; keep your conclusions to yourself.
b) Look for biases; ask where the money is coming from.
Seek advice from others knowledgeable about a subject of interest to you.
a) In your writings, acknowledge their assistance.
Travel domestically and overseas.
a) Talk to foreigners.
b) Learn a foreign language.
Learn different political opinions.

My Goals in Writing Books

Gain the trust of the reader and maintain it throughout the piece.
All facts stated in your work and recognized in encyclopedias must be accurate. No coloring hard fact, but you can explain them to assist your story.
a) Do extensive research.
b) Take good notes.
c) Cite your sources; don't plagiarize.
Be organized by preparing an outline which becomes a table of contents.
a) Use tables to summarize information where possible and practicable.
Think through conversations in a quiet place and time.
Write up a conversation as if you were having it with a character.
a) Hazard: You may dream about having conversations with your characters.
Write in the active voice. Avoid passive voice where possible.
Write short sentences with no more than one dependent clause.
a) Imitate Hemingway and Fitzgerald.
Make chapters short devoted to one principal topic – a conversation.
a) See Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (2003).
Identify the issues that are raised by a set of facts, analyze those issues.
Regarding invention:
a) Make invention reasonable.
b) Lay a proper foundation first.
Listen to intelligent criticism.
Be confident in your writing. Revision is good. Re-revision can be a waste of time and snuff out originality.

Early Writing Years

I began to read the Atlanta Journal newspaper in June 1950 to follow the Korean War. I was 10½ years old. I continued to read the paper throughout high school and even had a paper route.

In May 1954, while delivering newspapers, I read of the decision of the US Supreme Court holding that school desegregation was unconstitutional.

In June 1953, the local Metropolitan Herald published an article:

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kent Bishop, 13, son of Mr. and Mrs. W.R. Bishop, Darlington Circle, got an "A" at North Fulton High School on his Atlanta History paper. It is so informative and concise that we print it here for your reading pleasure.

See Blog, 05/23/19, Short History of Atlanta to 1953, DoomsdayRevenge.com.

At Garden Hills Elementary School, I assembled photographs and copy to produce a booklet entitled, "Philadelphia, PA," my dad's hometown.

Like all students, I wrote term papers in high school.

Duke University and Academic Writing

In English Composition class at Duke University in Durham, NC, during my freshman year, Dr. Louis Budd patiently helped me improve a writing assignment about how to pole vault. It was a question of thinking through the athletic event, breaking down the movements into their component parts, and writing about them in simple sentences.

During my senior year, I was Sports Editor of the Duke Chronicle. In my column entitled, "An Ear to the Ground," I wrote "What Value Intercollegiate Athletics to a Duke Sports Editor." See Blog, 08/29/25, DoomsdayRevenge.com.

My Economics Honors Paper was entitled, "Industrial Attractiveness of Two Counties' Rural Labor Supply." It required research into U.S, Ohio and North Carolina governmental statistical records and extrapolations therefrom.

Harvard Law School

To graduate from Harvard Law School, a third-year student had to write a thesis called "Third-Year Written Work."

My 105-page "French Petroleum Regulation and Oil-Company Activity in France as Violation of [the Common Market] Treaty," received a numerical grade equivalent to a high "A" grade and is shelved in the Law School Library, Level 1, Row 29.

Legal Career

I served as a law clerk for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the formerly comprised Fifth Circuit.

My duties were to:

Read and analyze legal appellate briefs.
Determine the real issues before the court.
Write memoranda analyzing the legal arguments of both sides.
Draft opinions for the three-judge panel after oral arguments when requested.

I learned to be concise but thorough and pinpoint the issues to decide the appeals.

During the practice of law in New York and Georgia, and in the federal courts in both states and the U.S. Supreme Court, I learned to spot and analyze facts, engage in problem solving, and formulate a conclusion and recommendation.

Those efforts are embodied in numerous memoranda of law, now buried in legal archives.

While in New York, I wrote "Dual Admissions Policy – Society's Easy Way Out?", but an associate editor at Commentary wrote:

"I have read it with interest, but it is not, unfortunately, quite suitable for us."

Family History and Genealogical Research

I developed an interest in family history and contributed information to Harold Travis Parker for a section about my maternal Spears/Speer family in his 1982 book, Pioneers of Hart County, Georgia.

I furnished information to my fourth cousin, Malcolm Crawford, RIP, about my paternal Bishop family in his 2014 book, Yeoman Chronicles of Asfordby and Frisby-on-the-Wreake.

I became intrigued by DNA testing in 2007 and have pursued it to the present. It helps with genealogical research. Companies in the field differ about one's results. It is an imperfect science, but improving.

Research and Travel

As I wrote in my first book, Doomsday Revenge:

"After second year of law school he was employed by Shell International Petroleum Co., Ltd. in London. His time abroad peaked his initial interest in researching his family's descent from Domesday ancestors. In 2014, he spent two months in the English East Midlands, home of his ancestors, visiting friends, relatives, historians, former business associates, and historical sites. He returned to England in 2018, and traveled to Ireland and Scotland."

Published Books

My published books now include:

Doomsday Revenge (2016)
Doomsday Redux (2017)
Doomsday Resolved (2020)
China Checked (2022) For this book I read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974) by John le Carré and The Da Vinci Code (2003) by Dan Brown; both were great primers for writing a spy novel.
Princess-Saint Werburh as Honoree of the Harpole Treasure (2025) For this book I did extensive research into Early English Medieval [Anglo-Saxon] History, much of it online.

Work in Progress

Love Refreshed: A Senior Love Story (possibly 2026/2027)

This book is based on personal recollections and online sources.

Bede, Biscop & Wilfrid in Seventh Century Northumbria (in formulation)

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