This tour is all about featuring this fantastic anthology all about a booty kicking detective! I'm gonna highlight one of the stories, because ya'll couldn't handle the whole thing in one blog post. ;)
Jonathon Alvey is a hardcore dude, literally taking a part the world of the White Dragon Black.
Today's Featured Story is:
Sins of the Father
A pawn shop owner risks it all by asking
Alvey to recover property that is more than meets the eye.
R.M. Ridley lives with his wife on a small homestead in Canada, raising chickens and sheep. He has been writing stories, both long and short, for three decades, the themes of which range from the gruesome to the fantastical.
As an individual who suffers from severe bipolar disorder, Ridley is a strong believer in being open about mental health issues and uses his writing to escape when his thoughts become too wild.
BOOKS:
WHITE DRAGON BLACK
Tomorrow
Wendell (Book 1, 2014)
Blondes, Books, and Bourbon (anthology,
2015)
Bindings and Spines (Book 2, 2015)
Ridley's work has appeared in two Xchyler
anthologies: "The Case for Custody" in Shades and
Shadows: a Paranormal Anthology, and
"Charon's Obol" in Legends and
Lore: An Anthology of Mythic Proportions.
Q&A WITH THE AUTHOR:
Please share how you came up with the
concept for your short stories? Which of the stories was the easiest to write
and which was the most difficult?
All of my
writing comes from my Muse, I can’t construct a story myself. From my
perspective, I don’t create my tales - I just record them. Now doesn’t that make me sound crazy? But it’s true
– the majority of the stories I write, are idea’s that come to me as snippets
of conversations, or little scenes that play out in my head as images. My
challenge is to turn those into words that capture what I ‘see’.
In many ways,
‘The Ties that Bind’ was the hardest story to write, as I wanted a thread that
connected it to the next novel, ’Bindings & Spines’ and yet allowed the
story to stand all its own. That made for a challenge that I truly enjoyed.
The easiest one
to write was probably, ‘Sins of the Father’. Being the first story written in
that world, I had no restrictions, no rules, and no history. I didn’t have to
keep anything straight, remember details, or worry about contradicting myself.
Of course, when I wrote it, I had no idea that it would spawn so many other
short stories, and novels.
Please name some of your other published works?
Tomorrow
Wendell - first White Dragon Black novel
Legends and Lore: An Anthology of Mythic Proportions –
‘Charon’s Obol’
Mental Wellness: Real Stories From Survivors – ‘Ceaseless Cycles’
Horror Library, Volume Three – ‘Blink the Blood Away’
Mental Wellness: Real Stories From Survivors – ‘Ceaseless Cycles’
Horror Library, Volume Three – ‘Blink the Blood Away’
Tales of the
Talisman Magazine, Volume 1 Issue 4 – ‘Pigeon Pete’
What is your preferred writing genre?
I’m a
paranormal / urban fantasy author mainly, but I cut my teeth with horror, and
that will always have a dark spot in my heart. I’m sure my mind will churn out
some further grisly morsels yet.
And preferred reading genre?
When it comes
to reading, I’ll take just about any sort of spec-fic, as long as it’s well
written. Sci-fi, horror, fantasy, alt-history – give me a well told story, and
I’m yours for the duration.
What are your top 3 favorite books?
Ignoring how
awful question that is to ask of any book lover, these are three I certainly
always come back to, both physically, and in my mind:
‘The Dark is Rising’ by Susan Cooper was my favourite book as a child, and it still ranks in the top three.
‘Snow Crash’ by Neal Stephenson was an amazing journey meshing cyber-punk, ancient myth, and philosophy and thus must have a place here.
‘The Dark is Rising’ by Susan Cooper was my favourite book as a child, and it still ranks in the top three.
‘Snow Crash’ by Neal Stephenson was an amazing journey meshing cyber-punk, ancient myth, and philosophy and thus must have a place here.
‘Someplace to
be Flying’ by Charles de Lint, in many ways is one of my favourites of his
works. There is a darkness to it that really appealed to me and it stepped away
from some of the better known characters and giving a fresh view into an odd
world.
Do you have any particular writing habits?
You mean good
ones? I try to get my writing done at the beginning of the day. After enough
coffee to find words, I sit down and write what my Muse deigns to share with
me. That way, no matter what else the day throws at me, I have got the
important part completed.
Do you have a playlist that you created while writing your story?
Yes,
definitely. It grows and shrinks every so often, as songs no longer seem
pertinent to the world, or I find new meaning in songs that inspire me. I also
have subsets for the different moods Jonathan goes through and, of course, one
for fight scenes.
Panster or plotter?
Panster –
Absolutely Panster! If I even try to
plan a chapter ahead, the entire train of thought comes to a painful screeching
halt and I’m left, chin in hand, staring at a black page, listening to the
sheep Baa.
Advice for writers?
I think there
are two things that I would recommend, one is easy and the other sounds hard,
but is actually just a change of mindset. First advice is a standard – Just
Write. Get it down, and don’t look back until you’ve told the story. The second
thing is - Learn to Love Edits. It sounds impossible, but editing is just
writing from a different angle. It is the same process, same creativity, same
weaving of words but you are doing it from outside the box instead of inside.
What's up next for you?
Any moment
now, my editor, McKenna Gardner, who worked wonders with my first novel,
‘Tomorrow Wendell’ and acts of magic to get, ‘Blondes, Books & Bourbon’
together, is going to show up with a red pen, and a cattle prod. This will be my cue that she intends to help
me get the second White Dragon Black novel, ‘Bindings & Spines’, ready for
publishing. Everyone should take a minute and thank McKenna for making these
works exist, by the way.
Wow!
Does that explain it well enough? It's going to be really hard to write this review properly, without giving away any spoilers. I do have to note that there was a sprinkling of swear words, but they were as tastefully done as adding unnecessary cussing to a book is possible. (My personal opinion, sorry!)
Let me put it this way, this little story is so well put together, I had no way of knowing what the ending would be, though the author set it up perfectly for several endings to be possible.
FIRST, you are introduced into a total alcoholic of a detective, I mean the poor guy should seriously be in AA regardless of the "things he has seen", but there is something about his clever ways of deciding if his client is an actual human endears him to the reader. Very much the way we fell in love with Sherlock, way back in the day. In fact Sherlock and Jonathon have a lot in common, especially if you take a look at the modern day Sherlock movies and shows, where Sherlock is both annoying and endearing at the same time. You want to fix his ridiculous habits, all the while you have to see just what he is going to do next. He reveals just enough for you to know that he is definitely on to something, while NEVER giving away the ending. I totally give 'Sins of the Father' 5 stars, and I look forward to reading the rest of Riddley's stories. I'm excited to see what Jonathon will be up to in his next book!
(BTW, I vote Riddley takes a look into screen writing, this would be an excellent series!!! Leave a comment below if you agree with me!)
Character Casting: Who would you cast for your main
characters and why? Pictures would be great.
When I first
started writing Jonathan I had an idea of him, his looks and manners, but no
real face I could say ‘Like him’, that changed when I watched an episode of
‘Sanctuary’. There was a guest actor, who I knew well from watching SG-1 but
who looked much different as this character. When I saw Michael Shanks, as he
appeared in this role, I suddenly had a face for Jonathan.
March 22:
The Play's the Thing
The Play's the Thing
March 23:
Cost of Custody
Cost of Custody
March 24:
Sins of the Father
Sins of the Father
March 25:
Legerdelivre
Legerdelivre
March 26:
Do as I Say Not as I Do
Do as I Say Not as I Do
March 27:
What a Nightmare
What a Nightmare
March 28:
The Ties that Bind
The Ties that Bind
March 28:
Bindings and Spines
Bindings and Spines
