Lisbon Portugal - Travel Photography, Art and Book Talk

Lisbon Portugal is enjoying a moment as the talk of the town and it’s long overdue. While we’re not so thrilled about one of favorite coastal idylls becoming a hotpot for remote workers and tourists, we are ready to share some of its secrets.

People often think of Lisbon as a port city in Portugal and an ocean beach destination, though the city itself is not actually on the ocean at all or even a direct beach destination. For starters, the coastal areas of Lisbon are on the banks of a river, the Tagus River. The Torre de Belem, the famous tower near the city limits that you see in photographs is ten kilometers from where the mouth of the Tagus River meets the Atlantic Ocean.

An enormous natural bay formed by the river around its delta contains a mix of salt and fresh water, and is home to expansive wetlands where thousands of bird species migrate through every year, making it one of the richest and most biodiverse places on the planet. This alone should make Lisbon a nature tourism destination, but the city is better known for nightlife, gastronomy (food) and beaches. The nightlife is good and often even great, as are the wealth of restaurants that range from inexpensive dives to fine dining. 

Portuguese cuisine like the language itself is unique. Heavily influenced by its proximity to the ocean, Portuguese food features a lot of fish and seafood, but also beef and pork. The most famous dish is bacalhau; a salted, seasoned cod, that is best in a stew or casserole. A close second may be the sweet, Portuguese egg tart. Some other great dishes...

As we said earlier, Lisbon itself isn’t really a beach or swimming destination at all. Those famous beaches people talk about in the same breath as Lisbon? They’re known as the Beaches of Almada and there are twenty eight of them. Yes, 28, from Praia Trafaria to Praia da Adiça. All fairly easy to access.

To get to the Almada beaches, you’ll have to get out of the city and across the stunningly beautiful 2KM suspension bridge known as Ponte 25 de Abril, where you’ll then find the closest beach is about a half hour’s drive away and some of the others are up to an hour’s drive away. The best of them include Praia da Cova, Praia de São João, Praia do Tarquínio-Paraíso, Praia Nova, Praia da Saúde, Praia da Cornélia, Praia da Mata, Praia da Riviera, Praia do Castelo, and Praia da Morena.

Pick one or several to visit. Your favorites will depend on whether you like to be with others or more isolated by yourself.

Another reason we love Lisbon because it is literally the beating heart of Portugal. Within an hour of the city, you have nature reserves, preserves, and national parks. All spectacular and stunning in their own way. Costa de Caparica is a nature preserve of protected coastal plains. Estuário do Tejo is a wetland estuary. Pena, Monserrate and Sintra are national parks within a forested mountain range, featuring mountain-side palaces and cliff-top castles.

One of these cliff-top castles is Castle of the Moors, shown below in a fine art photograph by William. Our photoshoot of the Castle of the Moors was incredibly challenging due to the mountainous terrain.

Most photos of Castle of the Moors are on the approach or close up, but William wanted to photograph the castle in a way that was different. As a result, we didn’t get the shots we wanted on our first visit to the castle. Instead, it was an exploration of approaches, light and terrain.

Getting around the mountainous terrain proved to be the biggest impediment. The narrow roads wind through the nearby village and up the steep mountain side. If you lose your way or miss a turn, you have to go around and around to get back to where you lost your way. On the mountain side, car parking ranges from difficult to near impossible. Hop on the shuttle or wander too far and you can easily lose where you parked, then hike the steep terrain for hours looking for your car.

After seven days of trekking up and down and all around, we came away with six photos of Castle of the Moors that William knew were keepers. Six of hundreds that were discarded. Still, those days weren’t all about a castle, they were also about a palace that looked like it was pulled straight from a fairytale. The Palace of Pena at Sintra.

If Castle of the Moors was William’s white whale that week, the Palace of Pena at Sintra was a dream through fog. The Palace is notoriously crowded from the time the park it lies within opens to the time the park closes. The Palace also has been photographed and photographed.

William took shots from many different angles and approaches. In different light. Early morning, full sun, late in the day. Day after day, he wasn’t happy with any of them. None of them were what he was looking for. Then on the fifth day as it rained on and off, William snapped two photographs of the palace emerging into the light from behind the shadows of clouds and knew they were the ones he’d been waiting for. Michelangelo of sunsets indeed. William works with light and shadow like few others.

One other photograph from the series of photoshoots made the cut. It was a photograph that also showcased shadow and light, taken from within the palace itself, on one of the many self-guided walking tours of the interior we took. Some photographs speak to you. Some loudly. Others in unassuming tenors, with simple splendor.

For fellow writers out there, it is true that one can write from anywhere, but it took a lot of special considerations to ship the crates of servers that William needed for technical how-to writing for Microsoft from one place to the next. But he never missed a deadline, and never told where he was writing from :)

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Hui Cha Stanek and William Stanek

About Hui Cha Stanek & William Robert Stanek

Erstwhile Photographer and Long-time Publisher Hui Cha Stanek has always been the woman behind the scenes. She has managed the day-to-day operations of Stanek Media for the past three decades. Her work has been featured in a number of gallery shows and recently in a career retrospective with her husband. She prefers candid street photography and photography of people (though not traditional portrait work). Some of her most famous works, including Tip Toe I See You and Salt Water Taffy, shown in Hui Cha William's career retrospective in Vienna can be found at https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/360.Studios?cat=10605&iframe=1.

Hui Cha's most recent project is writing the text for William R. Stanek: The Black & White Collection #1 Rare Masters. @ Amazon - BN - Walmart - HPB

Seattle-based Photographer and Artist, William Robert Stanek, is a combat veteran who supports other veterans, is also a vocal champion of books and libraries. Not only an artist, he wrote nonfiction for over three decades as William Stanek and fiction as Robert Stanek. Find his fine art photography and prints from his original oil paintings in his online studios:

360 Studios - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/360.Studios

1North Studios - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/1north

Studio 24 - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/24

Robert Stanek Studios - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/robert.stanek

Connecting to his roots in his work is important to William Robert. The beautiful fine art print that follows is a view from within Mont St. Michel in Normandy France, part of his popular A Day at Mont St. Michel photo series. Special to William Robert as this is the region where his French ancestors are from--an ancestry William Robert has traced back from Quebec Canada to its origins in France.




Find William Robert's books at

Walmart https://walmart.com/c/brand/robert-stanek

BN https://barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Robert%20Stanek%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall

Play https://play.google.com/store/search?q=robert%20stanek&c=books

iTunes https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-stanek/id55535880

Amazon https://amazon.com/gp/product/B0841YDHSH

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/search/"robert%20stanek"/audiobooks 

eStories https://www.estories.com/author/654/Robert-Stanek

Chirp https://www.chirpbooks.com/authors/robert-stanek-audiobooks

Thanks for reading!

Finding the Armchair Traveler in All of Us

Hope you had wonderful holidays! As much as I enjoy traveling, I also enjoy reading about traveling. I think there’s a secret armchair traveler in all of us. Some know me as Katie/Kate from William Robert’s combat memoir, Air War: The Incredible True Story of the Combat Flyers, which was recently released in a 20th Anniversary edition. William Robert and I started our path together over 30 years ago, as husband and wife and as business partners. He has always been the creative, the writer and artist, but for just as long, I’ve been his arts & press publisher and the woman behind the scenes of our gallery partnerships, such as those with World Galleries. While I handled his small press work and art/photography, large multinational publishers handled his other work, including IDG, Prentice Hall, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, Hachette, HarperCollins, Pearson Education, Cengage Learning, Microsoft, Wiley, TimeWarner, O'Reilly, HMH, and over 100 other publishers globally.

Whenever I tell people my husband is the William Stanek/Robert Stanek, writer and photographer, I’m often asked what it’s like to live with someone so creative, so driven. Well, that’s kind of a difficult question to answer. But I will say, for all those curious, that William Robert’s been my best friend in life for as long as we’ve been partners, both in a romantic and a business sense. He’s the best husband, the best father to our children.

There’s a reason those who truly know William Robert, especially other writers and artists, think of him as a gentle giant, a warrior poet and a beautiful person. He’s not only one of the most kind and thoughtful, he’s also one of the most artistic, creative and inspiring people around. He’s overcome so much in his life to get where he is today—poverty, violence, neglect, death, homelessness, combat, health issues, more. It’s a wonder he got here at all, and yet he did.

William Robert and I have lived a wonderful and eventful life, a full life, due in large part to his creative eye and dedication to purpose, to craft, to the people around him. He expresses himself in his words and art, using the pain and the tremendous obstacles he faced in his childhood and early life as a source of inspiration, rather than despair, while striving for heights he would not have reached otherwise.

I may be biased, but I think his work is incredibly special. His photographs capture something very raw, real and beautiful about life, whether his subject is a medieval cathedral, a sky-filling sunset after a storm or a mountain half seen in the distance.

With this in mind, I want to invite you to visit the world with us and dream through our new premium large-format photography book: William R. Stanek. The Black and White Collection #1: Fine Art Photography Rare Masters.

@ Barnes & Noble

@ Amazon.com

@ Bookshop.org

@ HPB

Meant for discerning collectors and special collections, this premium, oversized book works wonderfully to display on a coffee or cocktail table to inspire conversation when you are entertaining and to simply pass the time. Inside, you’ll find more than 100 fine art photographs from the Rare Master series by William, photographs from throughout his 30+-year career.

Producing a premium fine art photography book is expensive. Individual photographs featured in this book sell for hundreds of dollars in William’s studios. It was a challenge to find the right balance, to ensure not to devalue the work to which William has dedicated his life while delivering value in book form to you as the reader. For this reason, we are delivering William’s Rare Masters as a series of volumes that can be collected individually at a lower price point, and as books that combine multiple volumes into a single volume at a higher price point. We hope you agree this balanced approach works well.

Throughout this book, I discuss the story behind the work when possible to give you insider insights and to inspire conversation and, perhaps, to inspire your own adventures too.

Full page photographs, with extras. Photoshoot locations:

1. Newport Beach, California, USA

2. Lucerne, Switzerland

3. Ghent, Belgium

4. Vienna, Austria

5. Paris, France

6. Lucerne, Switzerland

7. Paris, France

8. Costa del Sol, Andalusia, Spain

9. The Bernese Highlands, Switzerland

10. Bavaria, Germany

11. Vienna, Austria

12. Oa’hu, Hawaii, USA 

13. Orléans, France

14. Kauai, Hawaii, USA

15. Florida, USA

16. Kauai, Hawaii, USA

17. Zermatt, Switzerland

18. Ghent, Belgium

19. Kauai, Hawaii, USA

20. Ghent, Belgium

21. O’ahu, Hawaii

22. O’ahu, Hawaii

23. Hallstatt, Austria

24. Kinderdijk, Netherlands

25. Orléans, France

26. Washington state, USA

27. Colorado, USA

28. Lake Hallstatt, Austria

29. Oregon, USA

30. Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany

31. Kinderdijk, Netherlands

32. Bavaria, Germany

33. Colorado, USA

34. Kauai, Hawaii, USA

35. Oregon, USA

36. Adelboden, Switzerland

37. Oregon, USA

38. Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

39. Vienna, Austria

40. South Carolina, USA

41. Vienna, Austria

42. Maui, Hawaii, USA

43. Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA

44. Hawaii, USA

45. Hawaii, USA

46. Florence, Italy

47. London, Great Britain, UK

48. Bavaria, Germany

49. Hawaii, USA

50. Hawaii, USA

51. Hawaii, USA

52. Lake Tahoe, California, USA

53. Berchtesgaden, Germany

54. Paris, France

55. Vienna, Austria

56. Rome, Italy

57. Rome, Italy

58. Salisbury, United Kingdom

59. Lucerne, Switzerland

60. Sintra, Portugal

61. … 81 The Netherlands, for the Art in Flowers special collection

82. Vienna, Austria

83. Maui, Hawaii, USA

84. Vienna, Austria

85. Vienna, Austria

86. Blois, France

87. Fontainebleau, France

88. Lucerne, Switzerland

89. Obertraun, Austria

90. O’ahu, Hawaii, USA

91. Rome, Italy

92. Salzburger Land, Austria

93. Delft, Netherlands

94. Rome, Italy

95. Kauai, Hawaii, USA

96. Gstaad, Switzerland

97. London, Great Britain, UK

98. Lake Walen, Switzerland

99. Hallstatt, Austria

100. Paris, France

101. Washington state, USA

102. The Bernese Highlands, Switzerland

103. Normandy, France

104. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

105. Stirling, Scotland, UK

106. Loire Valley, France

107. Windsor, Great Britain, UK

108. Rome, Italy

109. Bavaria, Germany

110. Zermatt, Switzerland

111. Volendam, Netherlands

112. Vienna, Austria

113. Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy

114. San Francisco, California, USA

115. Auxerre, France

116. Bay of Naples, Italy

117. Florence, Italy

118. Washington state, USA

119. Vienna, Austria

120. Lazio Italy

About Hui Cha Stanek

Erstwhile Photographer and Long-time Publisher Hui Cha Stanek has always been the woman behind the scenes. She has managed the day-to-day operations of Stanek Media for the past three decades. Her work has been featured in a number of gallery shows and recently in a career retrospective with her husband. She prefers candid street photography and photography of people (though not traditional portrait work). One of her most famous works, Tip Toe I See You, is shown below.

Others, not to be missed:

Salt Water Taffy

Let Me See Too

My Hair Day Too Mom

Where Did it Go

You'll find these fine art photography works and more at:

https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/360.Studios?cat=10605&iframe=1

About William Robert Stanek

Seattle-based Photographer and Artist, William Robert Stanek, is a combat veteran who supports other veterans, is also a vocal champion of books and libraries. Not only an artist, he wrote nonfiction for over three decades as William Stanek and fiction as Robert Stanek. Find his fine art photography and prints from his original oil paintings in his online studios:

360 Studios - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/360.Studios

1North Studios - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/1north

Studio 24 - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/24

Robert Stanek Studios - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/robert.stanek

Connecting to his roots in his work is important to Robert. The beautiful fine art print that follows is a view of Mont St. Michel in Normandy France, part of Robert's popular, limited A Day at Mont St. Michel photo series. Special to Robert as this is the region where his French ancestors are from--an ancestry Robert has traced back from Quebec Canada to its origins in France.

Find William Robert's books at

Walmart https://walmart.com/c/brand/robert-stanek

Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Robert%20Stanek%22

Google Play https://play.google.com/store/search?q=robert%20stanek&c=books

Apple iTunes https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-stanek/id55535880

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/stores/Robert-Stanek/author/B001K8IESG

Flying the (Un)Friendly Skies (Just In Time for the Holidays)

Thanks for joining us for Issue #3 of our Luxury Travel, FineArt & Books newsletter. Talk, tips and advice go hand in hand with a travel photo blog. Robert and I have not only travelled the world but lived all over the world. When you travel to a place often enough you learn a lot about it, but when you live in a place you learn a great deal more. Home for us these days is the Pacific Northwest in the United States, but we’ve also lived in Asia, Europe, many states in the continental US and the Hawaiian islands. This experience informs our travels and we hope, through this blog, yours.

For this issue, we wanted to give you some useful tips for making your holiday travel easier. If you're an experienced globetrotting international traveler, we hope you'll still skim through... Happy Holidays!

From William Robert Stanek's Art in Flowers Rare Masters Collection

Checklists…

These days when traveling internationally you may need a driver’s license, international driver’s license, passport, global entry card and more just for starters. Robert and I use a travel checklist. We literally print it out and check off the boxes for every trip. Sounds silly but it helps cut down on the oops I forgot this or that incidences.

International driver’s license? Yes, really, even in this modern age, especially in Asian countries, if not necessarily in Europe. AAA is the only company recognized and licensed appropriately for issuing one to US drivers for worldwide use, and you need to get it before you leave the US. 

$20 @ https://www.aaa.com/vacation/idpf.html. You need two passport photos as well.

Airport…

For us, a drive to the airport is always an event. We live a good distance from the nearest airport, traffic is almost always a nightmare. Accidents, slow downs for no apparent reason, construction. It’s always something, so we always plan to get to the airport early. 

Bing Maps and Google Maps both do a good job of estimating drive time but only if you get directions for your drive according to the approximate time of day and day of the week you plan to travel. On a computer use the Options to change Leave Now to Depart At or Arrive By to set a date and time of travel. On a phone, after you specify where you want to go and get directions, click the Options button to the right of Your Location and then select Set Depart Or Arrive Time to set a date and time of travel. 

For a weekday drive in the morning or afternoon rush hour, we still add an hour to Google’s estimated drive time. Airlines say to arrive at least 2 hours ahead of time, 3 hours for international travel. We prefer to arrive even earlier.

Airport Shuttles…

We don’t always drive to the airport. Often, we take Airport Shuttles. Airport Shuttles are convenient but sometimes also very frustrating. Airport Shuttles ask for your flight number, flight time and desired arrival time separately for a reason. When push comes to shove, and it often does, most Airport Shuttles will try to get you to the airport to meet your flight, while completely ignoring your desired arrival time. Worse, if you forgot to check the little box that said you were on an international flight or the shuttle service completely misses that you are catching an international flight? This can lead to big headaches.

Booking a private shuttle? Don’t count on it. Your private, direct to the airport shuttle also may get cancelled and replaced with a shared shuttle with no or little notice. When this happens, and it does, the pickup time for the shuttle will likely change as well—by up to two hours to accommodate extra stops and traffic. Watch your text messages and voicemail.

Ticket Counters…

Your airline may not have a ticket counter open when you arrive. If the airport is not a main hub for the airline, you may find that no one is at the ticket counter until 3 - 4 hours before the flight, even for an international flight. Robert and I got stuck in Madrid airport for several hours one time because our US airline didn’t have anyone behind the counter until 3 hours before the flight. Even though a major airline in the US, our flight back to the US was that airline’s only flight of the day.

Bags…

Each airline has its own baggage policy for carry-ons and checked baggage. To find your airline’s policy, type the name of the airline followed baggage policy in a Bing or Google search.

Generally, you are allowed one small carry on and one even smaller personal item, and should check in the rest. Please don’t be the people who try to get all their bags onto the airplane as carry-ons. You know the ones who show up lugging 3 bags each and then take all the overhead bin space from everyone else.

Don’t bother buying expensive luggage. It likely will get beaten up and look very used by the end of your very first trip. Airlines throw bags around and they arrive in baggage claim scratched, dented, with wheels missing and worse. Long gone are the days when you can get reimbursed reliably by an airline (and you may have better luck if you have travel/purchase protection on your credit card). 

For checked baggage, make sure every bag has a tag with your name, address and phone number. Ideally, this personal information should be hidden from view.

When checking bags, make sure baggage stickers are put on correctly and confirm the final destination. Watch your bags every step of the way. Make sure they have baggage stickers on them from the airlines and are headed somewhere on the right conveyor belt before you walk away.

For carry-ons, be sure to check the size rules for the airline before you pack, especially if you are traveling on a non-US airline. Rules in Europe are much stricter than in the US and the allowed carry on sizes are much smaller. The airline staff really will measure and weigh your carry-ons. 

We found it almost impossible at times to buy a carry-on in the US that met the strict European requirements while being big enough to be useful. Sure you can find a tiny little bag anywhere, but finding a bag in the US that is exactly or near European airline requirements so it’s actually useful? Good luck.

Also important to point out that if your trip has stops in Europe and you change planes, a carry-on that was okay in the US may not be okay in Europe.

Security…

Within the US, you will have to go through TSA security checkpoints. Outside the US, you will have to go through security checkpoints that are equally, and possibly significantly more, strict.

With TSA, there are many rules. None more important that the rules about liquids. You really do need to ensure you have no more than the 3.4-ounces (100 ml) of liquid in a single container and you really do need fit all your containers in 1 quart-sized resealable bag.

Anything that can be smeared or spread is considered a liquid. This includes your holiday pudding, cranberries, turkey gravy and any other wet food. Any questions can be answered here:

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all

To speed your way through security, Robert and I definitely recommend you use either TSA Precheck or Global Entry. You don’t need both. TSA Precheck is a US-based program. Global Entry includes all the benefits of TSA Precheck within the US as well as expedited service through US Customs on the way back to the US from other countries. Many good travel credit cards will include a free membership to TSA Precheck or Global Entry every few years.

Get TSA Precheck…

https://govplus.com/start/precheck

Apply for Global Entry…

 https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/how-apply

Lounges…

Airport lounges can be oases inside the airport. Although most are not high class or high standard these days, they usually are quiet and clean. You’ll also find free food and beverages, perhaps also snacks to take with you on the plane.

Many good travel credit cards will include a free membership to Priority Pass, a membership service for airport lounges. Robert and I have used our lounge pass all over the world. We’ve found the experience internationally can be much better than the experience within the US.

Not a member: https://www.prioritypass.com/en/airport-lounges

Already a member: Install the Priority Pass app on your phone.

Boarding…

Boarding is almost always a mess. Your ticket class can get you priority boarding, as can your airline loyalty program membership. In the US, those needing special assistance, those with small children and others needing extra time also can board early. Part of this is courtesy, part of this is due to laws for those with disabilities. Flight attendants may or may not make a related announcement. Often, if they don’t see anyone in a wheelchair or anyone with small children, they won’t make the announcement. You still have the right to board early whether they make an announcement or not. The same is not necessarily true outside the US, where laws for those with disabilities may or may not offer the same protections.

When I travel with my daughter who has Down Syndrome, we don’t have a problem boarding early. Everyone seems to understand whether she is using a wheelchair at that moment or not. However, when Robert and I travel, even if he is in a wheelchair, we often have trouble. People don’t use wheelchairs because they want to get on airplanes early. They use them because they need to at that moment in time, even if they later don’t need to use a wheelchair. 

And if they’re not in a wheelchair, it doesn’t mean they are perfectly abled either. Disabled don’t need to wear stickers that label them or explain their disabilities. What they need is courtesy, understanding and for people to mind their own business. This doesn’t always happen.

Bins…

In overhead bins on the same side as the plane’s windows, carry-ons go wheels in, on their side. This helps to fit the maximum amount of carry-ons in those bins.

In interior overhead bins (those facing away from the windows), your carry-on is likely to waste a lot of space as you have to put it in lengthwise. It may not even fit in the first place.

Don't worry 2/3 of those boarding planes don’t understand this either. It works though...

Reclining…

The era of friendly skies is long gone. Now you have the dilemma of whether you dare use the armrest at all, if someone you don’t know is sitting next to you, and the dilemma of whether you dare recline at all, if someone is behind you.

True story, on an 8-hour flight into Seattle recently, the people in front of Robert and I put their seats all the way back as soon as they were permitted to adjust their seats. One of these people, then moved seats for almost the entire flight and never put the seat upright, though they came back to the seat multiple times for a few minutes.

Robert is 6’ 2” so the seat in front of him literally touched his nose if he moved at all, so he put his seat back slightly to avoid this, about ¼ of the way and I did the same. The woman behind Robert immediately called the flight attendant to complain. The flight attendant stated there was nothing they could do, the seat wasn’t even back a few inches. This happened three more times during the flight.

About an hour before we landed in Seattle, the woman started punching the seatback over and over. When the pilot later announced that everyone should put up their seatbacks and tray tables, Robert and I did immediately. The woman behind Robert didn’t see this and called a flight attendant over again, stating loudly that Robert hadn’t put up his seat. The flight attendant replied the seat was fully upright, to which the woman screamed “no it’s not, look how close this is,” as she slapped the seatback. The flight attendant responded by telling the woman, “it’s time for you to put your seat up” and walked away.

And yes, the woman who was complaining and complaining and complaining about reclining was reclining… Unfriendly skies abound. Stay safe.

Passport control…

When you are leaving the US or entering the US from another country, you must pass through customs and passport control after landing. This can take a long time. You likely will be asked questions about your stay, be prepared to answer.

If you have Global Entry and are returning to the US, look for the Global Entry kiosks before you get to passport control. Use the kiosks even if no one else is.

Baggage Claim…

Most airports don’t have anyone checking to make sure people who pick up bags own the bags. Get to baggage claim as soon as possible and watch for your bag.

What's Next...

Next up we have a feature on Portugal that we think you're really going to love. As most know, Robert is not writing technical books anymore. Robert's does have a new release for the holidays though... We hope you'll check it out...

https://www.amazon.com/After-Machines-Episodes-This-Mortal-ebook/dp/B0BJCBDSFV/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=after+the+machines+robert+stanek

About Hui Cha Stanek

Erstwhile Photographer and Long-time Publisher Hui Cha Stanek has always been the woman behind the scenes. She has managed the day-to-day operations of Stanek Media for the past three decades. Her work has been featured in a number of gallery shows and recently in a career retrospective with her husband. She prefers candid street photography and photography of people (though not traditional portrait work). One of her most famous works, Tip Toe I See You, is shown below.

Others, not to be missed:

Salt Water Taffy

Let Me See Too

My Hair Day Too Mom

Where Did it Go

You'll find these fine art photography works and more at:

https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/360.Studios?cat=10605&iframe=1

About William Robert Stanek

Seattle-based Photographer and Artist, William Robert Stanek, is a combat veteran who supports other veterans, is also a vocal champion of books and libraries. Not only an artist, he wrote nonfiction for over three decades as William Stanek and fiction as Robert Stanek. Find his fine art photography and prints from his original oil paintings in his online studios:

360 Studios - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/360.Studios

1North Studios - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/1north

Studio 24 - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/24

Robert Stanek Studios - https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/robert.stanek

Connecting to his roots in his work is important to Robert. The beautiful fine art print that follows is a view of Mont St. Michel in Normandy France, part of Robert's popular, limited A Day at Mont St. Michel photo series. Special to Robert as this is the region where his French ancestors are from--an ancestry Robert has traced back from Quebec Canada to its origins in France.

Find William Robert's books at

Walmart https://walmart.com/c/brand/robert-stanek

Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Robert%20Stanek%22

Google Play https://play.google.com/store/search?q=robert%20stanek&c=books

Apple iTunes https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-stanek/id55535880

Amazon https://amazon.com/gp/product/B0841YDHSH

Justice Department Identifies Ten Amazon Staff Accepting Bribes, Writing Fake Negative Reviews, Targeting Products for Take Downs

When the malicious targeting of my books stopped suddenly, I thought someone must have finally caught the Amazon insiders responsible, and someone had, the Justice Department. A grand jury in Washington indicted six of those involved in a $100M fraud scheme, involving at least 10 Amazon staff who were being bribed. In exchange for bribes, corrupted Amazon staff facilitated attacks against competitors of those paying the bribes, using their inside access to Amazon's network to suspend competitors' accounts and product listings, remove favorable reviews and commentary, write fictitious negative product reviews designed to hurt sales, post spurious comments to intimidate victims and drive away customers, and much more.

Department of Justice U.S. Attorney's Office Western District of Washington issued a press release on September 18, 2020 naming the individuals who had been indicted. EPHRAIM ROSENBERG, 45, of Brooklyn, New York; JOSEPH NILSEN, 31, and KRISTEN LECCESE, 32, of New York, New York; HADIS NUHANOVIC, 30, of Acworth, Georgia; ROHIT KADIMISETTY, 27, of Northridge, California; and NISHAD KUNJU, 31, of Hyderabad, India, who are charged with conspiracy to use a communication facility to commit commercial bribery, conspiracy to access a protected computer without authorization, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud.

The names of the Amazon employees being bribed haven't been released yet. The defendants will make their initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Seattle on October 15, 2020. The case is being investigated by the FBI, the IRS-Criminal Investigations, and the Department of Justice Office of International Affairs. The Grand Jury Charges are detailed in a 38-page indictment:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/press-release/file/1317986/download

Being on the receiving end of these self-styled "takedowns" for two decades, I recognized every tactic outlined by the prosecution in the charging document. These are the very tactics my competitors had been using to target my books on Amazon with the assistance of Amazon insiders, and as I've been blogging about just as long. My posts about the same are here:

The Devil Writes Romance Novels

https://readindies.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-devil-writes-heart-warming-romance.html

Speaking Out About Ugliness in the Publishing Industry
http://readindies.blogspot.com/2014/09/speaking-out-robert-stanek.html

Unethical Competitors
http://readindies.blogspot.com/2013/01/unethical-competitors.html

Authors who Trash Competitors
http://readindies.blogspot.com/2013/03/authors-who-trash-competitors.html

Authors who are Trolls
http://readindies.blogspot.com/2013/09/authors-who-are-trolls.html

Speaking out About Haters
http://readindies.blogspot.com/2013/06/haters.html

The Internet Isn't the New West
http://www.williamrstanek.com/internet-new-west.htm

My original blog at RobertStanek.com has posts about the same that go back to 2003:

http://www.robertstanek.com/rsblog1.htm

http://www.robertstanek.com/rsblog2.htm

http://www.robertstanek.com/rsblog3.htm

For years now, my every complaint about the targeting of my books was answered with retaliation, whether I wrote Amazon support or the Amazon executive team, and I finally have the definitive answer as to why. 

Despite these indictments Amazon is and remains the most corrupt marketplace on Earth, and this corruption goes from the bottom to the very top of the company, as evidenced by what has happened to my books for the past twenty years whenever I filed official complaints. Hundreds of billions of dollars of commerce flow through Amazon every year, and I'm certain many more former and current Amazon staff will be identified as part of similar schemes.

Thanks for reading, I’m William Robert Stanek, Microsoft’s #1 author for nearly 20 years, and author of over 250 topselling books.

Connecting with My Friend Walter Dean Myers, Talking Dysfunction & Diversity in America

The first time I met, Walter, aka Walter Dean Myers, we connected, and this led to an odd friendship of a sorts. The thing that bonded us was our similar childhoods, though decades apart. Walter was born in August 1937, my mamma was born in April 1937. Walter lost his mother when he was 2, and my mamma and her sister Dolores lost their daddy even earlier. Walter was given to Florence and Herbert Dean after his mother’s death, my mother, her sister and her mamma moved in with their gramma who raised them for the next few years until their mamma married again.

Walter saw me and knew who I was the moment he laid eyes upon me, never asked why I had a copy of Hoops in my hand. He just understood. As a child, I grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Racine, Wisconsin, which I write about here. It was rough and tumble, which I also write about, and that was something Walter understood too as he and I both had to use our fists to defend ourselves at an early age.

His family became dysfunctional with alcohol and grief when his uncle was killed, mine when my step-father and sister died because of an explosion. The library and its books became my refuge, as books were a refuge and a solace for Walter.

Reading pushed us both to discover new worlds. For me, the classics. Treasure Island. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Robinson Crusoe. The Time Machine. The Invisible Man. Journey to the Center of the Earth. The Last of the Mohicans. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Around the World in Eighty Days. A Christmas Carol. Frankenstein. Dracula. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Lost World. And on and on.

Though never an apt pupil, Walter wrote well in high school and his English teacher recognized this, encouraging him to never stop writing no matter what happened to him. My English teacher in the 4^th grade recognized my writing skill and encouraged me to write for and edit the school newspaper, as did my Uncle Wally and both of whom told me to never stop writing, never stop challenging myself.

Walter dropped out of high school and joined the army at 17. I joined the air force at 17 after finishing high school because I was homeless and had no other options.

Walter was one of the most prolific writers, with more than 110 books to his credit, and is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award in writing for young adults, as well as many other awards. I also became one of the most prolific writers, with more than 250 books to my credit and counting, and have been nominated several times for lifetime achievement awards in writing.

After Walter passed away in 2014, I blogged about one of his last essays decrying a lack of diversity in writing, saying that diversity existed in writing it just wasn’t always plain to see. Diversity in my books has led to controversy. I haven’t let controversy change my views or my writing, nor have I kowtowed to White publishing, nor to the conscientious objectors who worship at the altar of George RR Martin and abhor veterans.

How odd that even after decades and decades, books must still be thought of as white or black, or for whites or for blacks. It was, after all, an interracial award for children’s books that put my friend Walter Dean Myers in the spotlight in 1969. We humans excel at putting up fences, we just don’t know how to take them down.

Thanks for reading, I’m William Robert Stanek, Microsoft’s #1 author for nearly 20 years, and author of over 250 topselling books.

Dream Job... Writer, Not Marvel Superhero.

Honored to have been nominated once again for an award for Distinguished Contributions in Writing & American Letters for my body of work encompassing more than 20 million words spread across tens of thousands of pages in the 250 full-length works I've written. Since my breakout bestseller in 1995, my work has been published and/or distributed by every major publishing house in the U.S. from Time Warner to Simon & Schuster to Random House as well as Hachette, Pearson, Macmillan, McGraw Hill, and Microsoft--not to mention more than 100 other publishers globally.

I've said it before and I'll say it again the success I've had is the stuff of Willy Wonka's wildest dreams. Still, as I wrote about in “How I Made This Crazy Thing Called Writing a Career”, wild success doesn’t necessarily mean riches for the writer. For sure, me and "80's" Stan Lee could stand in line next to each other and trade stories. Bookstores, publishers, agents, publicists, Uncle Sam and many others got the Lion’s share of the wealth, but I got to live the dream and living the dream was as good as being Spider Man.

I will forever remain grateful to my publishers and everyone else in the business who made the dream possible. In my career one of the things I’m most proud of is my work to give back, to support my fellow writers, to support veterans, to support the disabled--and especially disabled veterans. I've fought the good fight for disabled veterans for many years, but if I had to pick one achievement I'm most proud of, it is this: Giving away the millionth-dollar book to schools, libraries and communities in 2015, after 20 years of working toward the goal. Nothing ever felt so right. Schools and libraries are after all where I developed a lifelong passion for the written word.

My books often ended up in places where schools and communities had no other books. In classrooms in Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. In libraries in rural India, Spain and Portugal. In communities throughout South Africa, Brazil and Argentina.

As I look back at my career, I’m also very glad that from the beginning I did something for myself by starting a publishing company. That company began operations in 1995 and I used it to learn about the publishing side of the industry, which is very different from the writing side. By 2004, I knew enough about the industry and was ready to spread my wings and go into publishing on my own. I hired a great team and put them to work running my business.

In the beginning, we had quite a large team, that team has whittled down to a few core members, but remains in the business of bringing my works, and the works of a select group of other writers, to the world. They've helped get hundreds of translations for my works, which are now available in nearly every country around the globe. Over the coming years, this publishing company will transition to the William Robert Stanek Foundation. For readers this means that although William Stanek the writer put away his pen and paper, my work will continue to be available long into the future.

Capes and costumes for superheroes come in all sizes and colors except for writers. If you're a writer, the best you can hope for is to be acknowledged by those in your field and I am sincerely honored to have been nominated once again for an award for Distinguished Contributions in Writing & American Letters for my body of work.

Thanks for reading,

William Robert Stanek

Adieu Pocket Consultant: A Tribute to the Books, the People & the Readers

 I’ve been a writer for 30 years, having finished my first novel in 1986, and I’m no stranger to the ups and downs that come with the business. Heck, even though my work won awards in the interim, I didn’t truly break into publishing until 1995 when my first full-length work of nonfiction catapulted its way onto bestseller lists. That work was followed by a dozen other bestsellers, nearly all of which were published by Macmillan and distributed to the world by Simon & Schuster, that is until the business turned and I found myself at a crossroads.

The year was 1998 and I turned away from full-time writing for a short while to work for a Seattle-based startup. Around the same time, I jumped ship from Macmillan and an opportunity to write for Microsoft arose. Microsoft was working on a new series of books called Pocket Consultants. They needed writers who could write fast, clearly, concisely, authoritatively and just as important meet crazy timelines not just once or a few times but always. Surprisingly, always hitting timelines isn’t something many writers can do.

I went over to Microsoft without any hesitation. They loved my writing so much that my style became the Pocket Consultant style and soon I had not just one contract with them but three, then four. I not only hit my timelines while writing clearly, concisely and authoritatively, I consistently walloped them.

Microsoft loved this. Soon the Pocket Consultants and I were synonymous. In the years that followed, I wrote dozens. Not only were the books read in print by millions (thank you, readers!), articles and extracts from the books were posted on Microsoft websites and read by millions more.

Pocket Consultant was in fact a $100-million+ brand in its nearly 20-year run. Peanuts to Microsoft where only the word that starts with b (billions) matters, but an amazing success story nonetheless. And it all started with a few people working behind the scenes who believed in me, my writing style and my unique approach to the various subjects I write about.

The people working quietly behind the scenes know who they are. If you have any of my Pocket Consultants you know who they are too—they’re listed on the copyright page. They include Anne Hamilton, Lucinda Rowley, Karen Szall, Juliana Aldous, Martin DelRe, Maureen Zimmerman, Jeff Koch, Valerie Woolley, Julie Miller, Denise Bankaitis, Maria Gargiulo, Rosemary Caperton, Melissa von Tschudi-Sutton, Carol Vu, Chris Nelson, Jean Trenary, Devon Musgrave, and many others (apologies for any misspellings or omissions).

What readers may not know, however, is just how important those working behind the scenes are to writers. Some who read my work may think that Microsoft’s #1 author for the past twenty years lived at the Redmond Campus. The truth is much different, especially as I’m a very independent cuss. I didn’t write dozens of books by being a social butterfly either. I met my schedules, by putting my head down, blocking out the distractions, and working. That meant the social butterfly stuff was done for me by others, who acted in my best interest around Redmond campus even though I was never there.

In those two decades of work for Microsoft, five people in particular were my biggest champions and spokespersons:

Anne Hamilton

Lucinda Rowley

Karen Szall

Juliana Aldous

Martin DelRe

All of them were there at the beginning pulling for me and a few of them were still there nearly two decades later at the end doing the same. So while I was breaking new ground, setting the pace for the publishing world with the revolutionary series called Pocket Consultants, these were the people who had my back and best interests at heart. In life and publishing, that’s not just rare, that’s otherwise unheard of.

So today as Pocket Consultant sunsets, I look back and smile. All the years, all the words, all the books were worth all the time, all the effort, all the sacrifice.

To all the readers out there, great things are still happening. I hope you’ll hang in there with me as I blaze new trails with Stanek & Associates.

Thank you for reading,

William Robert Stanek

williamstanek at aol.com

PS

If you’re using Office 365 and Exchange Online, I hope you’ll buy my books on these subjects. Good starting points? Sure...

Office 365 & Exchange Online: Essentials forAdministration, 2nd Edition

Exchange Server 2016 & Exchange Online: Essentials forAdministration, 2nd Edition

Still got Exchange Servers? Add this one...

Exchange Server 2016: Server Infrastructure

Need the most comprehensive resource available on Earth? This one...

Exchange Server 2016: IT Pro Library

Administrator's Reference + IT Pro Library Better Together. 2 Great Resources.

 Recently, a reader asked a good question: How do Windows Server 2016: The Administrator's Reference and Windows Server 2016: IT Pro Library differ? 

The short answer is that they are completely different texts, written separately from start to finish, while both covering Windows Server 2016. An IT Pro could own both sets, or the individual books in each set, to round out and complete their library.

More specifically, Windows Server 2016: The Administrator’s Reference provides over 250,000 words covering Microsoft's latest server operating system and includes the two IT Pro Solutions books I've written for Windows Server 2016:

1. Windows Server 2016: Essentials for Administration

2. Windows Server 2016: Server Infrastructure

The IT Pro Solutions books are practical and precise hands-on guides with ready answers for IT professionals. You get fast answers and quick instruction.

Windows Server 2016: IT Pro Library provides over 500,000 words covering Microsoft’s latest server operating system and includes the four Tech Artisans books I've written for Windows Server 2016:

1. Windows Server 2016: Installing & Configuring

2. Windows Server 2016: Storage Solutions

3. Windows Server 2016: Essential Services

4. Windows Server 2016: Domain Infrastructure

The Tech Artisans books are in-depth, authoritative references that are meant to be comprehensive. You get expert-level guidance, deep technical advice, timely solutions, and insightful workarounds.

As when I wrote both Pocket Consultants and Inside Outs on topics for Microsoft, the materials in the Administrator's Reference and the IT Pro Library are completely separate from each other. Although coverage of topics do overlap, the materials in each resource is meant to be unique and stand on its own. Frequently, the materials are written to complement each other. A good example of this? Compare the coverage of accounts in the Administrator’s Reference with the coverage of accounts in the IT Pro Library.

In Windows Server 2016: Essentials for Administration, which is part of the Administrator’s Reference, you’ll find

Chapter 7. Accounts: The Essentials

Chapter 8. Managing Account Policies

Chapter 9. Creating Accounts

Chapter 10. Working with Managed Accounts

Chapter 11. Managing Computers, Users and Groups

In Book 4 of the IT Pro Library, you’ll find

Chapter 1. Working with Domain User Accounts

Chapter 2. Managing User and Service Accounts

Chapter 3. Managing Groups and Computers

Both resources provide about 100 pages on accounts. However, the focus and coverage is completely different. Although you could read either set of chapters on its own and gain a wealth of knowledge on the subject, reading both sets of chapters provides a broader, more detailed picture of account management. This is because the two sets of chapters were written to complement, inform and enrich each other while also allowing for the sets to stand on their own.

Throughout the books, you’ll find many more topics that are written in this way. Many more areas where the two sets of books complement, inform and enrich each other. This is as designed.

Thanks for reading. You'll find my books at all major retailers and online, including:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Google

I'm on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/WilliamStanek and facebook at http://www.facebook.com/William.Stanek.Author. Sometimes instagram too at https://www.instagram.com/williamstanek/.

Sincerely,

William R. Stanek

Cloud Matters: Got Cloud, Will Travel

This is the fourth in a series of articles based on the popular Cloud Matters lecture series I’ve been giving to executives and their top staff at global Fortune 100, 500 and 1000 companies since 2012. These articles are for working pros at all levels and are delivered without icing and sprinkles. 

Cloud Matters lunches happen, so do Cloud Matters lectures. Before a lunch or lecture with management and their teams, someone usually introduces me to everyone. I’ve only been introduced one time as “that guy that wrote all them books that are sitting on your desks,” but I kind of liked it. Much better than the usual about how I was Microsoft’s top author for nearly twenty years, wrote a hundred plus authoritative books, or how I’m one of the world’s leading authorities on Microsoft enterprise and cloud technologies.

The numbers aren’t why I write or lecture, but people really seems to like the numbers.

Ten million "William Stanek" readers. Check.

Twenty years of "William Stanek" books. Check.

$100 million in top-line sales for my Microsoft books. Check.

It’s important to realize that I don’t write the hyperbole. Those are all things the marketers, publishers, press etc wrote about me—and none of it is why I do what I do. I do what I do because I love sharing what I know and helping others succeed. If I can enhance careers and save companies money while I’m doing it, even better.

At the end of the day, what Cloud Matters is all about depends on the needs of the company and their teams. For $XYZ an hour plus expenses some expect earth-shattering revelations and may not even realize until they send the inevitable “Thank You” note how valuable the advice offered was or how much money they saved by getting an additional opinion before committing to this or that cloud project.

Sure, there are plenty of management consulting companies in the cloud space but they’re not necessarily independent authorities, and they’re not necessarily selling the cow, the milk and the farm at the same time. The truly shrewd ones though they recognize the value of independent opinion, independent review, independent oversight and everything else Cloud Matters offers. They’re the ones filling my calendar.

So where is Cloud Matters going this year? This year it’s going to Japan, China, Korea, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Great Britain, Scotland, Canada, and around the USA. If your company is in any of these locations and wants a Cloud Matters lunch or lecture, now’s the time.

This is cloud matters, part 4. If this strikes a chord with you, I hope you’ll follow, share and sign your company up for Cloud Matters.



Thanks for reading,



William Robert Stanek

williamstanek at aol.com



PS

AND YES, I WOULD rather be home writing than lecturing. Help me stay home and write by supporting my books. My upcoming books include: