When I wrote my first book, I had two women read it. First was a very good high school English teacher, she was also my cousin. I printed out and submitted my manuscript. When I got it back it was graded like a homework assignment. For me it killed the voice of the story. I wrote it as if a reporter or director from the future had a microphone and was recording what they saw.
The second person that read my story was a sex therapist. She really enjoyed the story and said I don’t know how to use a comma and there wasn’t enough sex in it for her. She sent me one of her stories and it was about a space alien with an extraordinary man part. For me it was a script for a porno movie.
I sat on my first book for a while. There was a guy at work that wrote books on the side and he said he was self-published. He wrote science fiction and after reading one of his stories I felt like he should have gotten together with the sex therapist and collaborated on a story together. He was pretty far out there too. However, I did go online and I think I filled out a questionnaire and submitted it and I left it at that.
One day I got a call from a man that published books and wanted to know what my story was about. I told him the jest of the story and that I was writing a Trilogy much like the “Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” series. He asked how many books I’ve written and I told him the first one is done and working on the second one.
A year goes by my phone rings it’s the same guy from a year ago. “How are the books coming along?”
I said the second one is done and working on the third book. Life happens and several things started to come to play. First, my wife retired, second, I retired and we decided to move from New Mexico to North East Ohio. Then a lady by the name of Ruth started calling me from Writers Republic. I think that’s the company that guy who called me before was from. So I listen to her and I tell her I’m still writing the third book but we have moved and blah, blah, blah...
She calls again and again and again and finally after about three years I asked “How much does it cost?” Ruth emailed me all the information pertaining to getting a book published. So, I signed the contract and set up my payment plan. Wasn’t much time after that I get a call from marketing. The man on the other end was excited about the book and felt like it might have a shot at making it. What set him apart was he had read the story and we talked about it. I have received many calls after my book was published from other marketers and they did not read my story. Writers Republic impressed me. How can you publish and sell a book that you’ve never read?
Michael N. Riley
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Writers Republic
Date of Publication: June 24, 2022
ISBN: 9798885364409
Number of pages: 190
Tagline: Some men are just to mean to die!
Book Description:
The book is set around 1900, when New Mexico was still a territory.
Doc Strafford has bought a small mercantile in Portales, New Mexico Territory, to start a new life. Over the years, Doc has become more involved in the growth of Portales. He eventually sells his interest in a saloon to two seedy characters, Jewels Davis and his albino son, Jefferson.
When Doc invites his old friend from the Civil War to visit Portales and the surrounding territory, it draws suspicions from the Davises to the point that they torture Doc's hired hand, Gustavo, just to find out what Doc is up to.
Michael N. Riley was born in Grants, New Mexico, in 1960, the second generation born in New Mexico from either of his parents’ families. Like most, they homesteaded from other states. His father’s side was from Texas and his mother’s family was from Alabama. When he was three, they moved from Grants to Clovis, New Mexico. He went to school and graduated high school and eventually moved to Portales, New Mexico, to attend Eastern New Mexico University. He ended up getting married and working for an electric cooperative reading electric meters. During that time, he had several old timers tell him stories about coming to New Mexico when it was a territory. Most of them were old ranch hands and farmers. Their eyes would light up when they told stories about the real Wild West and some of the shenanigans they would get into. This is how he came up with this story.
3 comments:
Thank you for sharing your guest post, bio and book details, Arch sounds like an interesting story and I am looking forward to reading it
This sounds like a book that I would enjoy reading
Michael, Thanks for sharing Arch with me, your book sounds like a fascinating and brilliant read to enjoy! Good luck with your book!
Have a terrific day!
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