Ask the Author: Gary Val Tenuta
Answered Questions (8)
Gary Val Tenuta
In 1993, Seattle, I saw a huge black triangle-shaped craft cruise directly over head, very slowly, in total silence. It had one large red light at each corner on the underside of the craft. The object was heading west having passed above the I-5 freeway, then over Boeing field and continued on until I could no longer see it. The following week I told my ex-wife about it and she told me that just recently a Boeing employee mentioned to her that there was an underground facility at the Seattle Boeing plant where they were working on a top secret triangular aircraft of some sort. A few years earlier an article had appeared in the newspaper about Boeing working on developing some sort of an anti-gravity propulsion system. Then, as I recall, Boeing said that wasn't true and I never heard anything more about it. But if there was indeed a connection between Boeing and the craft that I saw then the anti-gravity system would explain two things; 1: why that huge craft was able to move so slowly without just falling to the ground and 2: why it was able to move through the air in total silence. A couple years after this event, my affidavit attesting to the details of the sighting was entered, with several others, into a law suit brought against the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) by attorney Peter Gersten in an effort to get the Government to release any and all information it had with regard to these specific types of crafts. The judge ordered the DoD to comply. Sometime later the DoD came back and claimed they had no such information in their files. Gersten later discovered that the DoD didn't adhere to the specific search parameters as they were instructed to do. The judge would not grant an appeal on the case so that's where it ended. There's some intriguing grist in these events for a good conspiracy story.
Gary Val Tenuta
Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from The X-Files. I can easily relate to both of them. The truth is out there!
Gary Val Tenuta
In my own books? I'd have to say the qualities possessed by FBI Special Agent, Rowena Ravenwood, in my novel, Ash: Return of the Beast. She's sexy, smart, passionate, caring, intuitive, tough, willing to take risks and ultimately willing to risk her life for the greater good of humanity when the odds of survival are not in her favor. With that combination of qualities I have to confess I fell in love with her. ;-)
Gary Val Tenuta
Without a doubt, the biggest challenge is finding a way to get my work noticed amongst the gazillion other works all ready out there.
Gary Val Tenuta
If you can't afford a professional editor, then do your absolute best to do the editing on your own. I always highly recommend investing a couple dollars in the purchase of a book called "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" by Browne and King. There are other similar books available but I just happen to really like this one. It's very readable, has a "friendly" feel about it and is loaded with information every writer needs to know.
Also, if your story takes place in a specific time and place in history (or even in the present) make sure to do your research. Get your facts right. Readers who happen to know something about that time and place will know if you've gotten something wrong and they're very likely to let you (and everyone else) know it in a review that could end up here on Goodreads or amazon or where ever the review might be posted.
If you get some negative reviews, lick your wounds, sulk for a while, and then go back and see if just maybe those reviews contain something of value that you can learn from and then apply what you've learned to the writing of your next book.
Also, if your story takes place in a specific time and place in history (or even in the present) make sure to do your research. Get your facts right. Readers who happen to know something about that time and place will know if you've gotten something wrong and they're very likely to let you (and everyone else) know it in a review that could end up here on Goodreads or amazon or where ever the review might be posted.
If you get some negative reviews, lick your wounds, sulk for a while, and then go back and see if just maybe those reviews contain something of value that you can learn from and then apply what you've learned to the writing of your next book.
Gary Val Tenuta
As of July 2014, I'm working on the 6th novelette (or novella, which ever it turns out to be) in my series of "Twisted Tales from the Files of the Second Chance Limousine Service" on Kindle.
They're available individually (99¢) although the first 4 are also available in a single volume called "Wanna Take a Ride?" also on Kindle ($2.99) http://amzn.com/B00F07YZQS
Individually, the 5 titles presently available are:
A BITE OUT OF TIME - http://amzn.com/B002OHD2CK
1ST AVENUE ANNIE - http://amzn.com/B00CCC2MHI
ATONEMENT - http://amzn.com/B00AZISY14
THE GOOD LIBRARIAN - http://amzn.com/B00EYH1FEU
THE PRANK - http://amzn.com/B00KY514HO
They're available individually (99¢) although the first 4 are also available in a single volume called "Wanna Take a Ride?" also on Kindle ($2.99) http://amzn.com/B00F07YZQS
Individually, the 5 titles presently available are:
A BITE OUT OF TIME - http://amzn.com/B002OHD2CK
1ST AVENUE ANNIE - http://amzn.com/B00CCC2MHI
ATONEMENT - http://amzn.com/B00AZISY14
THE GOOD LIBRARIAN - http://amzn.com/B00EYH1FEU
THE PRANK - http://amzn.com/B00KY514HO
Gary Val Tenuta
Being a book cover designer, I usually create the cover for whatever book I'm going to write even before I begin writing it. Having the cover to look at inspires me to get started and to keep going until it's finished. No point having a book cover if I don't have a book! :-)
Movies also seem to inspire me.
Movies also seem to inspire me.
Gary Val Tenuta
I was browsing through a second-hand bookstore one day and came across a biography of the notorious British occultist, Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), the man the British press once labeled as “The Wickedest Man In The World”.
Having had a long time interest in all facets of the supernatural, paranormal, and generally anything that resonated with those topics, I was familiar with who Crowley was. I knew he identified with the number 666 and often referred to himself as “The Beast”. But I’d never read a full biography about him.
I paged through the book and, toward the end, my speed-reading eyes almost passed over a remarkable little factoid that I’d never heard about before. I did a double-take to see if it said what I thought it said. It did.
According to the biography (and I’ve since found the same information elsewhere), Crowley’s body was cremated upon his death. Curiously, however, the urn containing his ashes mysteriously disappeared. Its disappearance has remained a mystery to this day.
When I read that I thought, wow, if that isn’t a great set-up for a supernatural tale, I don’t know what is.
This idea wouldn’t leave me alone. I mulled it over in my head for days, maybe weeks, trying to come up with a good story based around this intriguing little bit of Crowley trivia. Eventually, it came to me and I couldn’t wait to get started.
Three years in the works, it finally emerged as Ash: Return Of The Beast, a supernatural serial killer chiller steeped in the occult and drenched in esoteric lore. I knew I had something here, something even better than I imagined it would be.
So, is it a horror story? Well, yes, but not in the gory slasher manner that we’ve seen so much of over the past couple decades. It's more the quiet, subtle sort of horror that creeps up on you, gaining momentum, pushing you further and further into the darkness until you have nowhere to run. As one reviewer put it:
“I was reminded of Dennis Lehane. Very different from other horror fiction stories... even gave the whole Necronomicon tale a new spin." - Cyma R. Kahn, goodreads.com reviewer
As many novelists will tell you, sometimes the author thinks he knows how the story will end. But, as the characters begin to take on a life of their own, the story can evolve in directions the author never anticipated and the ending can turn out to be something quite different from what was originally planned. Such was the case with Ash. Another reviewer said:
"An ending you will never see coming. Highly recommended." - Lila L. Pinord
Believe me, as the author, no one was more surprised by the ending than I was.
The story begins with the death of Crowley in 1947 and provides a surprising answer to the disappearance of the urn. Then the timeline shifts to the 1990s and the emergence of a death-metal musician, with the unlikely name of Rodney Duckworth, whose path to fame and fortune is curiously linked to the mystery of the missing urn.
Finally the story shifts to the present day where Brian Kane, a gruff and gritty street-worn Seattle Police Detective, reluctantly teams up with the mysterious Rowena Ravenwood, an attractive and rather unconventional female FBI agent assigned to a most unusual investigative unit. Their task is to figure out why good, healthy, God-fearing preachers in their fair city are suddenly dropping dead... one at a time... nine days apart.
As the intense and baffling investigation continues, Ravenwood cannot help but suspect Detective Kane is holding something back from her. What is the disturbing secret that he’s holding so close to his chest?
The investigation catapults Kane and Ravenwood headlong into life-threatening situations as they feel their way through the strange, dark labyrinth of the world of the occult and find themselves battling for their lives against the powerful forces of ritual magick.
A bloody carnage of an unimaginable horror is about to be unleashed upon the world as the offspring of the fabled “Old Ones” are awakened from their ancient slumber.
The survival of the entire human race hangs in the balance and the clues to help solve the case are in desperately short supply. Worse yet, so is the amount of time left to stop the mysterious killer's reign of terror before all Hell breaks loose.
And – according to Special Agent Ravenwood – that’s not just a figure of speech.
Having had a long time interest in all facets of the supernatural, paranormal, and generally anything that resonated with those topics, I was familiar with who Crowley was. I knew he identified with the number 666 and often referred to himself as “The Beast”. But I’d never read a full biography about him.
I paged through the book and, toward the end, my speed-reading eyes almost passed over a remarkable little factoid that I’d never heard about before. I did a double-take to see if it said what I thought it said. It did.
According to the biography (and I’ve since found the same information elsewhere), Crowley’s body was cremated upon his death. Curiously, however, the urn containing his ashes mysteriously disappeared. Its disappearance has remained a mystery to this day.
When I read that I thought, wow, if that isn’t a great set-up for a supernatural tale, I don’t know what is.
This idea wouldn’t leave me alone. I mulled it over in my head for days, maybe weeks, trying to come up with a good story based around this intriguing little bit of Crowley trivia. Eventually, it came to me and I couldn’t wait to get started.
Three years in the works, it finally emerged as Ash: Return Of The Beast, a supernatural serial killer chiller steeped in the occult and drenched in esoteric lore. I knew I had something here, something even better than I imagined it would be.
So, is it a horror story? Well, yes, but not in the gory slasher manner that we’ve seen so much of over the past couple decades. It's more the quiet, subtle sort of horror that creeps up on you, gaining momentum, pushing you further and further into the darkness until you have nowhere to run. As one reviewer put it:
“I was reminded of Dennis Lehane. Very different from other horror fiction stories... even gave the whole Necronomicon tale a new spin." - Cyma R. Kahn, goodreads.com reviewer
As many novelists will tell you, sometimes the author thinks he knows how the story will end. But, as the characters begin to take on a life of their own, the story can evolve in directions the author never anticipated and the ending can turn out to be something quite different from what was originally planned. Such was the case with Ash. Another reviewer said:
"An ending you will never see coming. Highly recommended." - Lila L. Pinord
Believe me, as the author, no one was more surprised by the ending than I was.
The story begins with the death of Crowley in 1947 and provides a surprising answer to the disappearance of the urn. Then the timeline shifts to the 1990s and the emergence of a death-metal musician, with the unlikely name of Rodney Duckworth, whose path to fame and fortune is curiously linked to the mystery of the missing urn.
Finally the story shifts to the present day where Brian Kane, a gruff and gritty street-worn Seattle Police Detective, reluctantly teams up with the mysterious Rowena Ravenwood, an attractive and rather unconventional female FBI agent assigned to a most unusual investigative unit. Their task is to figure out why good, healthy, God-fearing preachers in their fair city are suddenly dropping dead... one at a time... nine days apart.
As the intense and baffling investigation continues, Ravenwood cannot help but suspect Detective Kane is holding something back from her. What is the disturbing secret that he’s holding so close to his chest?
The investigation catapults Kane and Ravenwood headlong into life-threatening situations as they feel their way through the strange, dark labyrinth of the world of the occult and find themselves battling for their lives against the powerful forces of ritual magick.
A bloody carnage of an unimaginable horror is about to be unleashed upon the world as the offspring of the fabled “Old Ones” are awakened from their ancient slumber.
The survival of the entire human race hangs in the balance and the clues to help solve the case are in desperately short supply. Worse yet, so is the amount of time left to stop the mysterious killer's reign of terror before all Hell breaks loose.
And – according to Special Agent Ravenwood – that’s not just a figure of speech.
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