Ask the Author: Richard R. Rose
Answered Questions (7)
Richard R. Rose
I came up with the idea for Wild-Eyed Southern Boyz about 20 years ago. The story I wrote is not the story I originally had in mind. The original story involved the main character with a Sasquatch as his childhood friend but it didn't have the depth as what you see in the book. Since my early childhood, I've been fascinated with Bigfoot. Even when I was a child, I thought it would be cool to have a bigfoot portrayed as a superhero, battling evil. I also developed a love of the zombie genre in my early thirties. I wanted to write a zombie story, but I didn't want to write just another tired old story where there is a zombie outbreak and a group of survivors struggles to survive, moving from one place to another. That story has been told millions of times. I wanted to write something unique that readers don't see every day. I decided to take some of my original ideas for Wild-Eyed Southern Boyz and throw in some zombies. I grew up in East Tennessee in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, which I thought would be a great setting for the story. I originally intended to make this book more of a campy comedy, but that changed as the story developed. There are still plenty of comedic elements in the story, but I decided to take it more seriously. I ended up writing a complex story with endearing characters. The story is a blend of horror, comedy, science fiction, romance, and fantasy that certainly stands out from your run-of-the-mill Walking Dead ripoff.
Richard R. Rose
I've wanted to write a book since I was a child. I made a couple of half-hearted attempts to get started, but life always managed to get in the way. I would share ideas with my wife off and on. She kept telling me to stop talking about it and start writing. After losing my father a couple of years ago, I needed an outlet to help deal with the grief, so I presented some of my book ideas to my family and friends. I finally started writing and created characters based on my incredible friends and family. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Writing is my new passion and I look forward to sharing more of my stories for others to enjoy.
Richard R. Rose
The Wild-Eyed Southern Boyz series is my main focus right now. The audiobook is currently in production and should be ready for an October release. I'm also working on Book 2 in the series and plan to have it published by early spring of next year. There is still plenty of story to tell. The world is still in great peril. We still need heroes like Buford and Rue more than ever!
Richard R. Rose
Just write the book. Stop putting it off or waiting for a full story to formulate in your mind. You will be surprised at the epiphanies that will present themselves as you progress in your story. Get people to read your draft as you write it. Anyone with a creative writing background would be beneficial. Getting their feedback helped me develop the story through the first draft and rewrites. Once you have a polished product, its best to hire a professional editor to provide developmental and copy editing to fine-tune a professional manuscript before you publish. It's worth the cost if you can afford it. Above all, write a story that draws the readers' attention with characters they will care about. If you are passionate about the story and characters, it will show in your writing.
Richard R. Rose
Writing for me is fun and therapeutic. It was like taking part of my soul and putting it on paper for everyone to read. As a writer, I get to create my own world and breathe life into characters I've grown to love. The story I am writing is very near and dear to me. I want to share my story for others to enjoy. It is very rewarding when people reach out to me just to say how much they love my book and its characters. It motivates me to keep going on this journey.
Richard R. Rose
When I began writing my first book, I had a beginning, an ending, but only so much storyline in between floating in my head. What worked best for me was to simply start writing. Ideas just started coming to me as I was writing my first draft. As I was doing my research on how to write a book, I learned that you may have ideas subconsciously that you don't even realize until you start writing. When I started my first draft, I was worried that I didn't have enough ideas to write a full book. By the time I published Wild-Eyed Southern Boyz, it was almost 170,000 words,
Richard R. Rose
Anywhere within the zombie genre. I could use some target practice!
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