AUTHOR INTERVIEW: R.W. RIDLEY

Move over Stephen King, we have on the couch, the new master of horror, R. W. Ridley, the author of a wonderful new young adult horror series: THE OZ CHRONICLES. With book one, The Takers, and book two, Delon City, Mr. Ridley has transported eager readers to a transdimensional horror-scape you'll just have to experience for yourself.

Mr. Ridley agreed to sit down with us and allow us a tour of his experiences and a little of what it took to bring us this excellent story and what the future holds.

---------------------------------------------

1.) Having reviewed both The Takers and Delon City, let me say at the outset: WELL DONE! This series is addicting in a good way. I noticed that within the story you reveal that there are seven storytellers and seven races of beings associated with them. Does this mean we can expect seven books total for the OZ CHRONICLES?

Between seven and nine. I know how the series ends, but I don't know exactly how I'm going to get there. I'm not even sure if it's going to be a completely linear story. Making Oz a 40-year-old man locked up in a psychiatric hospital has opened up some possibilities to me that I didn't know existed before. That's the beauty of creating a series. You can develop the characters and story way beyond the constraints of a one-and-done novel.

2.) Assuming you've already begun the third installment for the series, do you have a title yet and are there any juicy tidbits you would share with us to whett our appetites?

The third book is called The Pure. I can tell you that we'll get a little deeper into Lou's character, and I've introduced a new character called "Scoop-face." I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on him from early readers.

3.) Your first novel, The Takers, was compared a great deal with Stephen King's "The Stand." However, I noticed this book seems even darker than the first...what influenced your direction for Delon City?

I don't really know. There are some similarities to Aliens with the shunters and solifipods, but I think it got darker because it's told from Oz' point of view, and he's older and battle-tested. My intention from the beginning was for the tone of the books to grow as Oz grows. In Book One, he was a boy who became a warrior, and in Book Two, he's a warrior fighting for a unique identity.

4.) Knowing that you work for the subsidy publisher, BOOKSURGE, recently acquired by Amazon, it seems logical for you to publish with them. However, what process if any did you go through to submit the OZ Chronicles to large trade publishers or agents and what types of response did you receive?

I made a few half-hearted attempts with Book One, but I gave up early in the process because I had been through it before. Besides, I had one agent tell me she loved the book, but she didn't think kids today could relate to having mono. It's actually one of my favorite rejections because it helped me realize that self-publishing was right for me. I've got 4 manuscripts in a drawer that have been through the submission-rejection tango. It's a process I recommend everyone go through because you learn a lot about the publishing industry by doing it. I've gotten close. I had a non-fee charging agent at one time, but I elected to not resign with her when our contract expired. I just didn't think we were on the same page. When I decided to go the POD route, I found BookSurge in my backyard, and as luck would have it, they were hiring. I got the job and took a few months to learn the business, and then I uploaded my book. It has been the best thing I've ever done as a writer. I actually earned enough money in royalties to buy my wife a nice gift for our tenth anniversary.

5.) What would you say has been your most successful marketing effort for the series?

Giving books away. It's generated a word-of-mouth campaign that I couldn't have done any other way. As you know, we PODers live and die by word-of-mouth.

6.) How would you sum up the key message you hope to deliver with this series?

I think the overall message is it's never too late to make up for past mistakes. Most of the people who are left to save the world are "bad" kids. That's not a mistake. They have to atone for the way they treated people like Stevie Dayton.

7.) Would you call yourself a disciplined writer or a spur of the moment writer?

Do I write everyday? No, not at the computer. I'm constantly turning stories over in my head. I begin the writing process when I get a solid first line. That sets the tone for the whole story. When I have that, I'm very disciplined. I'd love to write everyday, but like everyone else, I'm pulled in a lot of different directions.

8.) How much of the two books production: interior, exterior, editing and so forth did you do yourself or have done by others and have you been pleased with the results?

I did the cover for both books. I did the interior for the second just because I wanted to learn how to do it.

9.) Have you enjoyed self publishing or do you have hopes of publishing with a large trade publisher someday?

I have really enjoyed self-publishing, but I still dream of that contract with a big publishing house. I can't shake the desire. The good thing is I'm not in a hurry anymore. The way I look at it, I'm test marketing this series for a traditional publisher.

10.) Do you have any other novels in planning besides the OZ Chronicles?

Yes. A couple of those manuscripts sitting in my drawer will be rewritten soon, and I'm working on a brand new one that will be for an older audience.