INTERVIEW: R.D.RONALD,AUTHOR OF THE ELEPHANT TREE AND THE ZOMBIE ROOM

February 19, 2015

When I start my first blog Books Advisor I was pretty excited about the idea of having a contact with the authors and provide my readers with the best I can offer. Unfortunately, my experience showed that inviting writers to present their work and share their personal stories with us, book lovers, is not that easy. I have to confess that I was on the edge to give up after posting tons of discussions in social networks,inviting authors to support my blog and be my guests.

Then I received a message from author R.D. Ronald suggesting that he could be my guest author. I remember that I jumped from surprise back then. I was both excited and worried about the interview that I thought: What I would do now? This is what I have ever wanted and now when this is happening I do not know what to ask?How to ask? However, I gained some confidence and this Interview is the result of all my desire and fear to offer my readers the best! This is also a result from the good will of R.D. Ronald to support my blog because if I have to be honest, there are not so many authors out there who are willing to give interviews. Not for unknown bloggers and infamous blogs.

I would like to thank R.D.Ronald for the amazing interview! Hope you enjoy it,too!


Books Advisor: How would you describe The Elephant Tree and The Zombie Room to someone who has not read any of your previous books?

R.D.Ronald: The genre I’m generally crowbarred into is called Transgressive-Crime. A quote from the Transgressive Fiction Wiki sums this up quite nicely

“Characters who feel confined by the norms and expectations of society and who break free of those confines in unusual or illicit ways.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgre...

I think my books do fall nicely into this category, but with something of a crossover into more familiar mainstream crime fiction.

Books Advisor: Did your personal experience influence your writing? Every one of us go through a lot in their lives. Some people turn their back on their past, others just benefit from it?

R.D.Ronald: I would never turn my back on my past, in fact I’m quite proud of it, even the parts people may not expect. Some of the readers may already be familiar with my journey to writing via time serving a prison sentence for cannabis cultivation, but this provided me with a wealth of experience that I continue to draw on for my writing and also decisions I make in life. It’s easy to benefit from advantages handed to us by someone else, but I don’t think we can really learn from those in the same way we can from our own decision making, whether the results end up good or bad.

Books Advisor: Why fiction? Why did you choose this genre?

R.D. Ronald: Fiction is what I’ve always read and always loved. I do dip my toe into specific non-fiction from time to time, but there is always a part-read fiction book close to hand. As for genre, it wasn’t a conscious decision I made, I just picked up the pen and that is what spilled out. I think my life, up to a certain point, was just a dress rehearsal for my future books anyway, I just didn’t know it back then.

Books Advisor: Your latest project is Manuscript Consultancy. You have considered starting it for a while now so probably you would like to unveil some details?

R.D.Ronald: I’ve amassed something of a following on Twitter, which I’m extremely grateful for and proud of, and one of the results of this is that I get a lot of messages on a daily basis. Lot’s of these messages come from fledgling writers wanting advice about breaking into the industry and what they should do about this or that. I read, and continue to read, lots of books about various aspects of the industry and through my own experiences I believe I’ve learned a thing or two over the last six years. I would like to give something back and to do this I thought manuscript consultancy might be the way to do it. It’s only something I will do part time, so I’ll be selective over whom to work with, but if there is a connection then working with a newbie writer and helping them towards getting a foot on the ladder should be a lot of fun.

Books Advisor: Now when you are famous tell me how did fame change you?

R.D.Ronald: I don’t think I’m famous. In fact I suspect very few authors outside of the big household names ever suffer/enjoy the trappings, slings and arrows that go along with being a modern day celebrity. I’m certainly never recognized in the street, which for someone who does their best to stay out of the spotlight is a real blessing.

Books Advisor: You write books but I bet you also read some. So I suppose it would be interested for my readers to know which are R.D.Ronald’s favourite bedtime readings?

R.D.Ronald: I’m a big re-reader. A book I love is something I’ll return to again and again over the years, and find myself rebuying on a regular basis as well as I’m always gifting them to friends urging them to sample the magic for themselves. Some of my favourite authors that stand the test of time are: Martin Amis, Kurt Vonnegut, Paul Auster, Rupert Thomson, Jeanette Winterson Bret Easton Ellis, Irvine Welsh, Haruki Murakami, Italo Calvino, Iain Banks and Albert Camus. I could go on but these are the ones that immediately come to mind.

Books Advisor: Give us three “Good to Know” facts about you. Be creative. Tell us about your first job, the inspiration for your writing, any fun details that would enliven your page.

R.D.Ronald: Yikes. I think many of the “Good to Know” facts I’ll have to hold off on for fear of incriminating myself, haha. I think one thing that everyone who knows me in regular life (a very small circle) would say, that those who only know me through my writing don’t know, is that I’m very hard to get to know, and even harder to keep knowing. I’m definitely not a people person, and except on rare occasions only really come alive through my writing. Most of my days are spent alone, hunched over my laptop, muttering at the world passing by outside of the window. Maybe not the fun fact that you were after but the more I learn about some of the writers themselves whose work has always inspired me, the more I find that my life has mirrored their own. So if anyone out their finds this familiar behaviour, then maybe we aren’t the lost causes that we sometimes tend to think of ourselves after all.

Books Advisor: How can readers contact you or find out more about your books?

R.D.Ronald: I used to keep a website but accidentally let the domain lapse and it got nabbed by some strange Chinese company before I could get it going again, haha. Nowadays I tend to connect with readers via my Twitter page and also on Goodreads, which I find to be a great resource for authors and readers alike. I’m grateful and humbled by everyone who decides to read one of my books, so I always try to answer all messages.

@RDRonaldauthor

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Books Advisor: And now, before you go how about a snippet from your book that is meant to intrigue and tantalise us?

R.D.Ronald: This is from a section of The Elephant Tree heralded by readers as their favourite quote on Goodreads, so I guess that would be the obvious choice to share.

‘Why did you come and do the job for me then?’
‘Money, what else?’
‘Fair enough, that’s what most people look for to begin with, but money can be a sliding scale, the more you have, the more you want, the more you need,’ McBlane said as he sharpened the ash on the tip of his cigar into a point against the rim of the ashtray. It gave him the appearance of wielding a dagger as he gestured with his cigar-holding hand.

‘Not for me, I just want enough to make a fresh start and then I’m gone.’
‘That’s a shame. So our working relationship will only be short term. Fair enough though, I respect a man who knows what he wants. So is it something you’re getting away to or from then, may I ask?’
Scott shrugged. ‘Maybe a bit of both.’ He didn’t want McBlane knowing anything more about him than he’d obviously already found out, but the man had an easy-going almost coaxing tone to his voice, which made it hard to evade his subtle questioning.

‘Sometimes truths are what we run from, and sometimes they are what we seek. Sometime maybe we don’t know which the fuck it is,’ McBlane said and laughed again. ‘For me, I like to know the truth. To be in possession of all the facts.’

I would like to thank R.D.Ronald once again for the amazing interview and wish him all the good luck ! We are waiting for his next book soon!