THE BEAR WITH TWO SHADOWS by ROLAND YEOMANS ... THE MAN BEHIND THE PROSE...

 

Welcome everyone. Today it's my great pleasure to announce the debut novel by talented author Roland Yeomans.  I am also the host of the first stop on his amazing blog book tour! In the next few days I plan to uncover all. LOL.

We all know Roland from his awesome blog, Writing in the Crosshairs, where he teases us with incredible excerpts from his many exciting works.

The Bear with Two Shadows is Roland's debut novel and it can be yours by simply clicking on to this link. E-books are instant gratification and can be downloaded to your kindle or computer.


Now let's find out more about my guest author Roland Yeomans. This is a man who doesn't like to talk about himself, but he's a fountain of information.


Michael: Welcome Roland. I'm thrilled to have you stop my blog. It's great that I am in sunny Florida instead of the frozen tundra of Chicago. I hope you enjoy your visit for the next few days.


Roland: Thank you, Michael. It's nice to be here.


Michael: In todays interview I'd like to focus on you, the person, what influences your writing? What is your muse?


Roland: (A glimmer of light sparks in his soulful black eyes) My muse was my loneliness.  Mother had to work all day or all night, depending what job she could get to support the two of us.  A survivor of an abusive family and an orphanage not even Charles Dickens could imagine, her education was only high school. 

She educated herself much better with books, saying she had seen illiterates with college diplomas.  She'd tap my head, saying that what was in there was all that stood between me and the hungry darkness that lived in hidden hearts, waiting to snap me up if I could not spot them under their disguises.

Michael: It sounds like she was a very strong and wise woman ...  as if she had an old soul.

Roland: (His eyes grow sad.) Hardship, suffering, and terror ages a child. Her father was a madman of whom even the local authorities were terrified.  He terrorized the black hands who worked his tobacco farm, then sent her out to work alone among them. 

They could have taken out their anger against her, but instead were the only sources of affection mother had after her Grandmother died. It taught her to always side with the underdog.  She passed that on to me."

Michael: It sounds like you had a lot of alone time.

Roland: I was alone most of my life.  I developed friendships with heroes in books.  Ulysses was my first hero.  He contested with gods, monsters, and men, winning by his wits alone.

When my father, to hurt my divorcing mother, conned my babysitter to let him have six year old me, and he dumped me on the meanest street in Detroit -- I managed to keep my sanity and my life by telling myself if Ulysses could survive, then I could survive.  I did for six weeks.  But with the help of an old woman who lived on the streets, somewhat mad, afraid of those in uniform, but a good heart.

Old Suze was what she went by, and I immortalized her in THE LEGEND OF VICTOR STANDISH.

Old Suze finally overcame her irrational fear of uniforms and brought me to a Salvation Army center.  And thus was born the conviction that having a fictional hero was more important than you might think.

Michael: What a tragic experience for such a young boy. Thank God for your Earthly Angel who came to your rescue. 

Roland: I saw so many things on those streets that six year old me didn't understand.  Afterwards Mother brought me books from the library on whatever troubled me or interested me.  And we would read them together.

Michael: I could just imagine. I'd like to know a little about your education.

Roland: I wanted to teach kids the love of reading that had saved me on the streets and in my loneliness.  I got a secondary English degree with a major list of minors from microbiology, archeaology, history, and psychology. 

Sadly, in my area, the high schoolers are mostly lost causes.  The other teachers burned out, caught in a scholastic environment where too many students terrorize the teachers.  I studied and got my Master's degree in psychology to help hurting kids one-on-one. 

Michael: That is so admirable. Roland you are such a caring person. I am so impressed by your humility. I wish we had more time today. I hope you have some free time tomorrow for more questions.

Roland:(A happy smile turns up his lips) I find time for friends. And I consider you a very good one.

Michael: ( I blush) Thank you, Roland, likewise. And I'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Everyone, Roland is offering some AMAZING signed editions to all of you! So don't forget to leave you email in the comments section.

A comment offers one entry per host. Another two entries for linking the book to twitter or Facebook. Make sure to email Roland @ rxena77@yahoo.com And any blogger who posts a legitimate review on Amazon by March 31st will get three entries into the drawing. Believe me you don't want to miss out on any of these amazing signed books. Drawing will be on April 1st.