Click Here To Purchase Meant to Be: a novel

Author: Richard Alan

ISBN: 9780983695301

Publisher: Village Drummer Fiction

Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest Richard Alan author of Meant to Be: A Novel.

Richard lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with his wife, Carolynn.  They are the proud parents of three wonderful adult sons.  After careers in manufacturing management and firmware development, this Vietnam combat and 101st Airborne Division veteran has started a career as an author.  His interests range from mathematical analysis and photography to anything with an engine.  His current projects include writing the second book in the "Meant to Be" series, completing a potting bench for his Bashert, Carolynn, and discovering the properties of functions of p-adic numbers.

Norm:

Good day Richard and thanks for participating in our interview

What motivated you to write Meant to Be: A Novel? Could you tell our readers what was your creative process like and what happened before sitting down to write the novel?

Richard:

After careers in extremely technical areas of electronics, I decided to try a career that was completely non-technical. My creative process consists of writing a careful description of a character. When I start writing a character, they start telling me their story.  I'm just the one who happens to be writing down what they tell me. After I've written a few paragraphs about them they develop a unique voice that I can hear in my mind. 

As I was finishing my first book, I had a dream one night that I was arriving at a surprise party. Everyone there was a character in my first book and they were thanking me for bringing them to life for my readers. This certainly sounds strange; but I remember waking up the next day and my first thought was that it was nice of them to throw me a party. 

I'd love to say that I love writing ... but it’s more than that.  When I get an idea for a character, I feel compelled to start writing.  For example, I was on vacation touring the National Parks here in the northwest.  While at Yellowstone, one of my favorite characters from my first book told me a story that will be the beginning of my third book.  I am only half way through my second book, but I had to get back to our hotel room to write down the story that will certainly be the beginning of the third book. 

Norm:

Are you equally good at narrating stories orally?

Richard:

Certainly. I love telling stories, particularly stories that deal with people and relationships. I started writing down the oral stories in short story format. Several people suggested to me that I should write a novel.

Norm:

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life? Is there much of you and your wife in the book?

Richard:

The book is very loosely based on people and experiences in my life. Life in the Pacific Northwest has provided a diversity of locations for my characters to live in and experience. Knowing what a great relationship is (Bashert) which stems from the relationship I have with Carolynn, is reflected in the book.

Norm:

Did you share your drafts of your book with someone whose opinion you trust and who has some experience in writing novels?

Richard:

No.

Norm:

What has been the best part about being published?

Richard:

That other people will get joy from the characters I write about.

Norm:

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it? As a follow up, what did you enjoy most about writing this book?

Richard:

I learned how much fun it is to write.

I enjoy that someone will have a good time from reading the stories. I also enjoy the challenge of describing people, places and events in a way that allows the reader to see and feel in vivid fashion what the characters in the book experience.

Norm:

Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?

Richard:

Bashert really exists for some people and finding the one we are meant to be with, our soul mate, should be the goal for everyone.

Norm:

What do you think makes a good story?

Richard:

Believable characters and events. Characters that people can relate to.

Norm:

Do you feel that writers, regardless of genre owe something to readers, if not, why not, if so, why and what would that be?

Richard:

We owe them a trip into our mind to see and feel and hear the thoughts and emotions of the characters we paint.

Norm:

What are your upcoming projects?

Richard:

I have almost completed the second book in the Meant to Be series, The Couples. It will be published shortly. The third book of the series has been briefly outlined. I will return to it when The Couples is complete. A fourth book of the series is in the planning stages.

Norm:

Where can our readers find out more about you and Meant to Be: A Novel?

Richard:

www.villagedrummerfiction.com and they can visit Village Drummer Fiction on Facebook

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

Richard:

I hope that readers will get as much joy reading the book as I had writing it.

Norm:

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors

CLICK HERE TO READ NORM'S REVIEW OF MEANT TO BE: A NOVEL

Click Here To Purchase Meant to Be: a novel