Rafael Amadeus Hines's Blog, page 3

Book Reviewers Cafe Author of the Month

I’m very thankful and honored to be named the Book Reviewers Cafe Author of the Month. Check out my interview with them here.

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Veterans Day: A Call To Action

At the IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) Heroes Gala at Cipriani’s last night I sat and listened to the incredible speeches and testimonials from IAVA president and founder Paul Rieckhoff, General David Petraeus, the reigning Miss USA (and Army captain!) Deshauna Barber, and the gold star wife who brought everyone to tears when she described the day she was making care packages with friends to send to soldiers in Iraq when she was notified that her husband had been killed in combat that morning. Throughout it all the common theme was that veterans and their families need our help. 
It’s great to honor our soldiers and thank them for their service and sacrifice, but it’s simply not enough. As IAVA board member Leslie Gelb stated, “With the exception of a brief period after World War II, American veterans have been consistently mistreated and neglected for 240 years!” 
Every politician, Democrat and Republican, wants a photo op with a hero in uniform, but then they resist making the policy changes needed to give our veterans what they need and deserve.
So as we honor and thank the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces, think about the 150,000 troops currently deployed overseas, think about the 6 soldiers who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan this past week… and then pause and think about the 20 veterans who will commit suicide today because they couldn’t get the proper help and treatment that might have saved their lives.
There are a lot people fighting to change our policy of neglect towards our veterans and the IAVA is one of them. Paul Rieckhoff and everyone at the IAVA are on the front lines making a difference and ultimately saving lives.
You can too! Get informed. Get involved. Find out more here. 
#VeteransDay #UnitedStatesArmedForces #IAVA #Service #Sacrifice #Honor #Support

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Martin Sierra

I’ve been blessed to have shared so many incredible moments with friends and family throughout my life, but last Saturday will always stand out as one of those unforgettable nights that I wish was recorded from start to finish so I could replay it over and over again. Here’s what happened:

Martin Sierra, a great friend and my personal hero, invited me to his house for drinks. (For those of you who don’t know, Martin is a fellow NYC LES native who joined the Army with his son in 2001. Since 9/11 he’s had multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and was awarded the Bonze Star as well as numerous other medals.) So I’m expecting a few beers and a couple of rounds of pool in his man cave, but when I walk into his house it’s packed with friends, family and Special Ops soldiers he’s served with and they’re all standing, clapping and cheering. When I realized that the applause was for me and they were all there to celebrate the success of my novel Bishop’s War, I literally stood there frozen. The moment was overwhelming and as I realized what Martin and his beautiful and amazing wife Pepsi had done for me, I had one immediate goal: Don’t Cry! Not only did they invite everyone there, they made poster-sized blow ups of the book cover (and my author pic!), they set up a table with microphones where Martin interviewed me and had me do my first book signing! Pepsi even hired a pianist and a bartender, and cooked up a spectacular feast.

No one has ever done anything like this for me before and my description doesn’t come close to capturing how special it was. It’s also very humbling to receive praise from these true heroes who selflessly serve our country and will soon be leaving home for another year.

Thank you Martin and Pepsi Sierra for giving me a night that I will never forget.

God bless you and may he protect you all while you’re gone and bring you home safe and sound.

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The Reading Wolf’s Review

Content courtesy of The Reading Wolf

I could not put this book down! The further I read the more I raced to finish it! As most people know I love all books John Grisham and nobody has ever compared to his greatness. However in this book I found that the author Rafael Hines did so well, I almost preferred his writing over Grishams!!. Political Corruption? Check! Family crime syndicate? Check! Fast paced read with lots of twists and turns? Check! The plot was so intriguing and unlike most books I’ve read before. In this book we follow Special Forces Sergeant John Bishop, who is a decorated war hero retuning home. John comes back hoping for a quiet life, but gets thrown into battling against Afghan warlords, terrorist operatives, and someone who has powerful connections in the White House. Life is anything but quiet for this hero (oh and did i mention his uncle is a major crime boss?). The scenes in this book are so vivid and so detailed that you feel as though you are there. Hines knows hows to write! This book will have you gripping the edge of your seat with suspense and staying up late at night to continue reading just to figure out what happens to John. Although i must note that before i read this book i checked out other reviewers singing his praises and comparing him to Clancy, Patterson, and Grisham, and with Grisham being one of my favorite authors I was super hesitant of me liking it, but Hines really pulls it off!!! So, throw in a reminiscent dash of John Grisham, a dash of Tom Clancy and a sprinkle of James Patterson and you have Hines’s book. This man far surpasses some of the greats and I cant wait to see what happens next! Thank you Rafael for letting me read this masterpiece! 5 out of 5 stars.

You can buy this book on
Amazon (free for Kindle Unlimited)
B&N

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Interview on Indie Author News

Indie Author Interview with Rafael Amadeus Hines – Author of the Suspense Thriller Bishop’s War.

Rafael Amadeus Hines is a native New Yorker with Panamanian, Jamaican, and Irish roots, who was born and raised on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Dipping into his early Alphabet City memories, he loosely based many of the characters in his first novel, Bishop’s War, on the people he grew up with, and adapted many of his own experiences into the book as well.

Alan Kealey (Indie Author News): What is your (writing) background?

Rafael Amadeus Hines: I’ve always wanted to write, but didn’t actually start typing on my laptop until about six years ago. It began slowly for me. Writing at night after my kids went to sleep, I often struggled to complete a few paragraphs in two or three hours sessions, but late one night something clicked and the words came pouring out. Once the flood gates were opened I couldn’t stop and there were many sleepless nights where chapter after chapter have seemed to magically appear on paper.

Who are your favorite writers, your favorite books, and who or what are your writing influences?

I’ve been an insatiable reader all my life, but in my late twenties I gravitated towards suspense-thrillers with interesting characters and great dialogue. One of my all time favorites is Elmore Leonard. From his early westerns to his edgy crime thrillers, Dutch was and always will be a true artist who let his characters tell the story. John Sandford is another influential author for me and very few can match his seemingly effortless writing style in his phenomenal Prey series about Lucas Davenport. A few others that strongly impacted me are James Lee Burke, Tom Clancy and Stephen Hunter. I also recently discovered the Julius Ceasar and Genghis Khan historical fiction series by Conn Igguilden and the man is a true master.

When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

I grew up in neighborhood where everyone was a story teller. Vietnam combat vets, cops, gangsters, and dope fiends would congregate day and night on my block on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and listening to their stories was way better than watching TV or going to the movies. I soaked it all in and in my teens I dreamed of someday becoming a writer, but that dream lay dormant for many years. The real catalyst for me was 9/11. After watching my office in the south tower come down, like most New Yorkers, I anticipated more attacks to take place throughout the city. Thank God that never happened, but years later the hero of my military thrillers, John Bishop appeared on paper to stop those attacks and I’ve been writing ever since.

Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?

Bishop’s War is actually the first story I’ve ever written, but it has evolved and grown from initially being a short story into a full length 445 page thriller over time.

“[…] a somewhat quirky nightly routine.”

Tell us about your writing process. Do you have a writing routine?

Yes, and it’s a somewhat quirky nightly routine. Lights go out at 10 or 11PM and I lay in the dark for thirty to forty-five minutes visualizing scenes and hearing the dialogue in my head. It’s kind of like watching a movie with your eyes closed and when I can see it all clearly I jump up, hit the lights, and rush over to my laptop to get it all down on paper before I fades away. I’ve tried daytime writing, but so far I haven’t been able to get in the zone the way I can with my “lights out” writing approach.

Please, describe your desk/workplace.

Very basic. Square three by three foot desk with a laptop attached to a monitor to help me see better.

What do you find easiest about writing? What the hardest?

I definitely wouldn’t say that writing is easy for me, but no matter how hard or frustrating it can be at times I always enjoy it and that’s been one of my main drivers. If it wasn’t so much fun I probably wouldn’t bother doing it.

“Scenes, characters, and dialogue just appear out of nowhere […]”

What is the greatest joy of writing for you?

The greatest joy of writing for me is when I become the funnel and have an almost out of body experience. When that happens I’m not the one writing anymore. Scenes, characters, and dialogue just appear out of nowhere and I just sit back and enjoy the ride. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does it’s pure magic.

Rafael, please tell us a little about your Suspense Thriller Bishop’s War.

Bishop’s War is a fast-paced and action-packed suspense thriller that introduces readers to Special Forces Sergeant John Bishop, decorated war hero, and nephew of crime boss, Gonzalo Valdez. After returning home from Afghanistan John’s hopes for a peaceful future are quickly shattered when he is catapulted back into the global war on terror through a succession of life-threatening events and corrupt intrigue. He battles against terrorist operatives in New York, a powerful Afghan warlord, and a psychopathic billionaire with powerful White House connections. When John’s uncle gets involved, he proceeds to treat John’s enemies to a bitter taste of mob vengeance. From that point on the ride speeds up and the reader will have to hold on for dear life. This is a thriller not to be matched for intensity and breathless excitement—not for the faint-hearted.

What inspired you to write the book?

As I mentioned earlier, the impact of 9/11 and the anticipation of follow up attacks eventually led me to imagining a lone citizen-soldier who could battle the terrorists in NYC and then take the war back to their home turf in Afghanistan.

“[…] anyone who loves military-action-thrillers with strong characters”

Who do you see as your target audience?

I think my target audience is anyone who loves military-action-thrillers with strong characters that you both love and hate. Many of the characters in Bishop’s War are based on the cops, gangsters and combat vets that I grew up with so I had a lot to work with.

What makes your book special?

As an author of military-thrillers, despite having never served in the United States Armed Forces, I feel extremely fortunate to have been surrounded by combat veterans for most of my life. Over the years I’ve had the privilege of hearing their jaw dropping firsthand accounts of battles and tactics, of belly laughing at their tales of the often hilarious and improbable moments that happen in war and shedding tears when they occasionally talk about the men and women they’ve served with who never made it home. I recognize what an honor it is to have these friendships and personal access to living legends who were actually reading my draft chapters while serving in Combat Outposts in Afghanistan. That said, Bishop’s War is very special to me because I know and love so many of the people in it and I laughed and cried as I wrote it.

“[…] sales have skyrocketed and people from all over the world…”

How would you describe the success of your self-published books so far?

So far the global response to Bishop’s War has been phenomenal and I actually wrote it just to see if I could write a novel and had no real intentions of ever publishing. It was just my fun late night hobby that I shared with friends who were kind enough to read it, but before my mother passed away a year ago she made me promise to self-publish. Early sales of 4 to 6 a day were exactly what I expected them to be for any unknown author and I anticipated it would dwindle down to nothing after my circle of 300+ friends, family and associates hit the buy it now button on Amazon. To my surprise sales have skyrocketed and people from all over the world are writing reviews, emailing me, and posting on my Facebook author page. It’s been quite a ride and I feel so blessed and honored to know that there are thousands of people out there who have enjoyed reading Bishop’s War as much I did writing it. All I can say is thanks Mom and thank you to all the Bishop fans out there.

“[…] you really have no idea where your writing will take you.”

Can you give some advice for other Authors regarding the writing process?

The old adage, just keep writing. The more you write the better it gets and unless you’re a polished professional who’s super organized with a structured and detailed outline you really have no idea where your writing will take you. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Are you working on another book project? Can you tell us a little about it?

Yes, I’m currently writing the next action-packed Bishop novel and it’s really starting to come together. No ETA yet, but I’ll post some preliminary chapters on my website when it’s near completion.

Where do you see the book market in 5 or 10 years? Will there be only eBooks and will book stores disappear like record stores disappeared?

I sure hope not. Although 90% of my sales are from eBooks I still love holding a paperback or hard cover in my hand and I love going to book stores and roaming the isles for a new adventure.

What is your e-reading device of choice?

I tend to e-read on the go so most of the time I read eBooks on my iPhone.

Do you write full-time or do you have a day job? When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?

Yes, I have a full time day job as the Director of Business Development for a global public company in the energy sector. Another reason why I write at night!

Memorial Day 2016

As an author of military-thrillers, despite having never served in the United States Armed Forces, I feel extremely fortunate to have been surrounded by combat veterans for most of my life. Over the years I’ve had the privilege of hearing their jaw dropping firsthand accounts of battles and tactics, of belly laughing at their tales of the often hilarious and improbable moments that happen in war, and shedding tears when they occasionally talk about the men and women they’ve served with who never made it home.

I recognize what an honor it is to have these friendships and personal access to living legends who were actually reading my draft chapters while serving in Combat Outposts in Afghanistan. It has also made me keenly aware of the personal side of military life, and how many sacrifices these brave men and women make when they volunteer to serve in our Armed Forces.

My belief is that we enrich our own lives by giving to others (discussed in more detail on the Giving Page of my website and this is especially true when it comes to those who are serving, or who have served. Supporting our troops is something we should all try to do on a daily basis, not just on Memorial Day.

Every year on the last Monday in May we honor the men and women of our armed forces who have made the ultimate sacrifice and given their lives in service to our great nation. So many have fallen and the numbers are staggering. More than 1,300,000 of our citizens have died in battle over the last 240 years, and sadly, many more names will be added to the rolls. On Memorial Day we honor these sons and daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers who have died too young, and died violently protecting our freedoms.

How do you thank someone for putting themselves in harm’s way and being laid to rest with an American flag draped over their coffin? Each of us must decide that for ourselves, but whether it’s through prayer, a donation, cooking and personally delivering a meal to a grieving family, silent reflection, or committing simple acts of kindness, every American should feel compelled to take some form of action. This year on Monday May 30th the IAVA (Iraq Afghanistan Veterans Association) is calling for a pledge to Go Silent at 12:01PM EDT for 1 minute to honor the fallen and you can sign up at www.iava.org as I have if you want to participate.

It is also important to remember that although Memorial Day is a tribute to those who have died in combat, the ravages of war continue for so many who have actually survived it. More than 22 veterans commit suicide every single day! So on your day off on Monday May 30th think about the fallen as well as the still suffering men and women who will end their lives within those 24 hours. It’s a sobering thought on a day known for heavy drinking and barbecues, but we can all make a difference by raising awareness, and by helping those who really need it.

Make this Memorial Day special. Take action and get involved… And remember, honoring and helping others through simple acts of kindness will make you feel really good.

Thank you and may God bless and protect our troops.

Rafael Amadeus Hines

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Rafael Hines interview and blog by Emily Lawrence

Indie Authors-The Small Project
https://buildyourbookshelf.wordpress....

I was given the great privilege of speaking to Rafael Amadeus Hines and an even greater privilege to read his book Bishops War. Bishops War isn’t what I normally read, yet I loved it. The first thing that I noticed when I read the first chapter was that this author did a SUPERB job on the descriptions and the wording literally made the story flawlessly play in my head. The phrases he used were articulately very well with describing everything that needs to be sensed in order to best understand the circumstances. I’m a pretty big fan of shocking stories or things that would make other people gasp, and this exceeded my expectations. The way Rafael went into detail about the torture of the murderers. Loved every bit of it. I would recommend anyone with a sense of intelligent humor to read this, if you don't mind the occasional curse word, which I didn't mind at all. I also want to add that I found it hilarious that he put ‘Big Frank’ in this book because I have a cop in my town that fits his description and I about died laughing. The way this book was written feels so personal, like your being told this story and every bit of it is happening right in front of you. I loved it. The best thing about this book was that it brought out a patriotism in me that I didn't know I had. Of course I love my country but reading this just put it in a whole different perspective. I’m excited for the second book, Bishops Law, and will definitely read it!

Interview Questions:
Who are some of your favorite authors?

Rafael: Elmore Leonard, John Sandford, Tom Clancy, James Lee Burke, Stephen Hunter

When did you know you wanted to sit down and write a book?

Rafael: I was constantly flying for work and I would always grab a best selling suspense-action-thriller at the airport. Some were amazing, but many were mediocre, and others were extremely disappointing and actually unreadable. I kept saying to myself that I could write in this genre and then one night after my kids were asleep in 2011 I decided to give it a go. Being a chronic insomniac has been a definite plus for me because once I got started I couldn’t stop and I’ve been writing at night ever since.

What made you decide to write about what you did?

Rafael: I watched my office in Tower 2 come down with all the others on 9/11 so terrorism was definitely going to be an integral part of my first novel, but I also wanted the backdrop of Bishop’s War to take place on New York’s Lower East Side where I was born and raised. I grew up in Alphabet City, a very poor and very rough neighborhood that was dominated by the drug trade, yet despite all the crime and violence it was still a really strong and vibrant community. Many of the characters in Bishop’s War are loosely based on the gangsters, cops, and Vietnam combat veterans that I grew up with.

What are some of your hobbies besides reading and writing?

Rafael: Basketball has always been an integral part of my life and although I don’t play in the top NYC tournaments anymore I still play full court two or three times a week. I’m also actively involved in my community, and a board member of my local Y.

What is your favorite type of music?

Rafael: I’m still a big R&B and Hip Hop fan although nothing tops the 1990’s for cool/smooth dance music:-).

Thanks so much for reading and thank you for this amazing experience!

Rafael Hines interviewed by James Maher

I based many of the characters in Bishop's War on the gangsters, cops, and combat veterans I grew up with and most of the action takes place in the neighborhood where I've lived my whole life- Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Part 1 of my interview on www.evgrieve.com about growing up on New York's East Village/Lower East Side:

"I moved here with my mom in 1961, to 3rd St and Avenue D. My mom is Irish Catholic from North Carolina. Her grandfather was born on a ship coming over from Ireland. Back then, 3rd and D was kind of a no-fly zone, but she was like, ‘Hey, we’re here.’ We had a big apartment. It was great and there were a lot of kids coming in and out all the time.

We were there until 1968. Our upstairs neighbor was trying to date my mom. She said no, so he set our apartment on fire. Everything we had was up in flames. We were coming back from Delancey Street and we saw the fire trucks outside our house and everything was gone. I was 6 years old at the time. The whole neighborhood kind of galvanized. They got us toys, clothes, and someone actually found us this apartment on St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Avenue A, where she lived until she passed away last year.

My mom and my stepfather were part of that hippie generation. They had a VW painted with mountains and clouds, and she made jewelry and clothes. He painted and made furniture. They had a hand in that whole hippie community. My father is a first generation immigrant from Panama and was raised in Jamaica. For my mom and her friends, they were always self-employed. I remember my mom would make necklaces and beads and sell them in Washington Square Park, and then she was making dresses. My stepfather was a painter and a cabinet maker, so he was always painting canvases and all these things. It was amazing to see all this life.

My experience was a little different. The cops would beat you up all the time and slap you around. You didn’t think anything of it. We would play hide and go seek and if they saw you hiding behind something, they would just smack you and say, ‘What are you doing,’ or hit you with the night stick. I think about my childhood and there was violence and a lot of other things like that, but the Lower East Side was an amazing place to grow up.

When we first moved to St. Mark's Place in 1968, there were the Ukrainian families that had been there. One of the guys had been born in the building in 1910. He told me these stories about when the apartments didn't have bathrooms and everyone used the outhouse in the backyard of the 5 story walkup. There was a Ukrainian deli on the block. We had no money back then. My mother would get less than a quarter-pound of liverwurst, because we couldn’t get a full quarter. You’d get just a couple slices and they’d give us the rest on credit. We always had a running tab with the local deli.

It was just such a community and everyone knew everybody. I feel blessed that I’ve been on this block and in this neighborhood for so long. Even though it was always rough, and still is in some areas, for me it was fantastic. The economy was rough, some of my best friends’ families were involved in street business, but there were no cookie-cutter bad guys and good guys. People are complex and they have a lot of different motivations. That’s just how life is.

So many of my memories were tied to… the groups that I really knew were the gangsters, the cops, and the combat veterans coming back from Vietnam. They all went to the same bar. The bar on the corner was Naja's and everyone would go there, shoot pool, and they had dice games in the back. It was just this congregation where they went, ‘All right, time out, we’re going to have drinks now. We’ll chase you later,’ and us kids would go in and they would have us running errands. Gamblers would come from different cities and different states to play dice and shoot pool there. I remember when I was 8, 9 years old, counting $75,000 in cash in 5, 10s, and 1s. They put it out on this huge craps table and all of us kids were like, ‘I’ll count this stack, you count that stack.’ The world was incredible for us as spectators.

For us it was normal, but for me, those guys they always said, ‘Listen, this is not for you.’ They would always tell me that, and they would look out for me. ‘Have fun, do your thing, but this is not your life.’ It was a mentoring thing.

This block was also not like the low-level dealer's block. It was the guys who were running things. When I was a kid, you would see a green Rolls-Royce with the guy’s name in foam in the back window. The best way to describe it was that everyone was such great a storyteller. There were all these characters who were crazy on one side, but they were just so colorful and so full of life. There was always something happening — lots of action.

Then over the years, the sad and the dark side of that is that they were all destroyed, either by prison or by getting high on their own supply. They all became dope fiends and just destroyed themselves. There were really no survivors. It decimated an entire generation. A lot of friends I grew up with have been incarcerated their whole lives.

In the 1970s, heroin hit full blast and I just remember the abandoned buildings were where we would play hide and go seek. We always had a joke, running around with 50-pound junkies and 100-pound rats. But we never felt in danger, at least for us, even though there were always people nodding out and there were so many killings on this block in the 1970s.

Then in the 1980s, crack hit, but I think gentrification had started. There was a little bit of a change just in the dynamic of the neighborhood. Even though crack was prevalent, and there was a lot of stuff still going on. I don’t know if it was because I was a little bit older, or I wasn’t so much in that circle, but I didn’t see the level of violence that I saw in the 1970s. That’s my experience. The 1980s were no joke, but the 1970s from my experience was the roughest stretch of road."

Part 2 on EV Grieve

I was just profiles by James Maher on the neighborhood blog EV Grieve. Here’s part 2. Read part 1 here.

photo by James Maher

The post Part 2 on EV Grieve appeared first on rafaelhines.com.

Part 1 on EV Grieve

I was just profiles by James Maher on the neighborhood blog EV Grieve. Read part 1 here.

photo by James Maher

The post Part 1 on EV Grieve appeared first on rafaelhines.com.