Wednesday, March 9, 2011

ROLAND YEOMANS ... THE MAN BEHIND THE PROSE- PART II



I hope you enjoyed my guest, Roland Yeomans, author of The Bear with Two Shadows. Roland is kind enough to forgo the beach today to visit my blog for another segment of his blog book tour.

Michael: Hi, Roland. Thank you for coming back. There are few things that I can't wait to ask you about.

Roland: Hi, Michael. It is always a pleasure to meet with you.(He nods and flashes a smile.)

Michael: I remember reading that you once owned a book store. How intriguing. Could you tell us about it?

Roland: Mother had contracted cancer, and so, with the help of two good friends, and emptying my life savings -- I started a bookstore in the local Mall. 

I could then go with Mother on her trips to out of state hospitals.  The rest of the time I became a bartender without the booze.  All were welcome at my store.

With my extensive knowledge of literature and psychology, I could point out the books I knew would really appeal to my customers who I thought of as friends.  I could be there for them when the world became dark ... as it always becomes for every teen sooner or later.


Michael: I remember you mentioning in one of your posts that you wrote a series of stories for an ill child. Tell us more about that.  

Roland: It was the time when the first two Harry Potter books were out.  The ill girl wanted so badly to read them.  But they contained the Dark Arts (cue the spooky music) without mention of God.  The conservative mother said no.  But she was not a heartless orge.

She had talked to me, seen me write pseudo-XENA scripts for three close friends who were battling memories of sexual abuse.  She even read them as I wrote them on the showcase next to my cash register.  She asked me to write of fairies, Avalon, monsters, magic ... but God had to be in the mix.

Michael: Isn’t that the prelude of your character Fallen’s birth?     
Roland: Yes, Fallen was born. That was the catalyst of her birth.  Her and her teenage love, Blake Adamson, the clone grown from the tissue sample taken from the tip of the Spear of Destiny.  Yes, that spear.  But what did that make Blake?  I never answered completely.  My laptop would be considered an antique I guess.  I wrote the two novels (big enough to be split into 4 smaller books) on floppy disks.

Michael: Floppy disks?

Roland: Yes, floppy disks.  Am I old school or what?!

The girl loved them.  The mother would read and re-read chapters the mother had printed out night after night in the hospitals.  I don't have any hard copies.  The mother buried the chapters with her daughter.  A part of my heart was buried with her.
Michael: Wow, Roland. (A tear rolls down my eye.) I-I don’t know what to say. But there are so many more questions that I would like to ask. (Roland nods.) Have you been writing for most of your life? 

Roland: Yes, I have been writing since I was little.  I guess one of the fortunate things about my house burning to the ground was the loss of my early novels and short stories.  I cringe even thinking of the names of my heroes : Wolf McMourn ... Silver Ambrose Hart (who survived the explosion of his ship which sailed the Time Stream, washing up on the time shores in only his longjohns ... and so ... I cringe to write this ... and so was born LongJohn Silver.  He was my first hero -- that is my only excuse!)


Michael: What else have you written?
Roland: I've written science fiction of the near future, far future, and distant past, Noir crime mysteries, Old West/horror, historical fantasies, urban fantasies, and YA urban fantasies.  I wrote a Sherlock Holmes novel about the Ripper murders that went up in smoke.  If it made me smile or teased my imagination, I have written it.
Michael: Now most of us know about you and your teenage buddies had a special relationship. Could you tell more about that?
Roland: As for the League of Five : I've reprinted that post so often I fear my blog friends are getting bored with five young friends and the Lakota mother who held them spellbound into the late hours of the morning with the tales of Dr. Fu Manchu, Sherlock Holmes, and John Carter of Mars.

For someone who loathes to talk about himself, I sure have gone on, haven't I?  And I haven't even talked about my love of poetry, spawned from Mother reading aloud in her rich voice, rolling the sounds of the words into the darkness.


Michael: Maybe just a tad, but we love it! Roland, thank you so much for sharing your life with us. It has been wonderful to have this personal chat with you, and I know it will make our friendship stronger. Who will be your next stop of your blog tour?


Roland: Becky (Words Crafter) @ The Rainy Day Wanderer.


Michael: I can't wait to drop in on Becky tomorrow. Safe travels Roland.


Roland: My St. Christopher statue jumped off the dashboard during the last hurricane! But so far the Father rides in the passenger seat.


I'd like to leave you all with a synopsis of The Bear with Two Shadows...




To this day the Lakota still whisper an ancient legend around the campfire.  They whisper lest Estanatlehi, The Turquoise Woman, overhears and visits her sorrow and her wrath upon the talebearer for speaking words long, long forbidden.
          Then why speak them at all?
          Why? 
          Listen to the sigh of the world in the winter winds.  It is the sad nature of all Two-Leggeds that the forbidden tale is the very one most hard not to hear -- or to pass on. 
          And it begins, as most forbidden tales do, with a woman. 
          The Turquoise Woman. 
          She whose cold and remote thoughts some see in the sky as the Northern Lights.  Not that she cannot love.
          But her love is both haunting and terrible beyond any singing of it, as Hibbs, the Bear with Two Shadows, discovers.


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

















Cover of "Odd Thomas"

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. 

21 comments:

Denise Covey said...

Hi Michael and Roland. My eyes are on matchsticks and I'm just about to 'hit the hay' as we say in Oz. I loved reading Part 2 of the interview and looking forward to Becky's tomorrow and the next day. Excellent interview Michael.

Denise<3

Unknown said...

Great second interview. Love the story about the League of Five.
Question: do you have any mysteries out in print or online? I would love to read that Sherlock novel you wrote. Or did it literally go up in smoke? ;) Have a great day, everyone!

Angela said...

You are so great to do all these in-depth interviews. Interesting stuff.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Downloaded the book, so don't need to enter. Be curious to read your science fiction, Roland!

Lisa Potts said...

I'm all caught up on both interview parts now, and I'm glad I didn't miss it entirely.

The book sounds lovely and I was glad to hear Roland mention the stories his mother read aloud to him. Sometimes we forget how important the little things can be.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Thanks Denise,

Glad you liked the second interview...get some sleep!

Clarissa,

I'll have Roland answer that one. I believe not. This is his first published work.

Thanks Angela,

Roland is an amazing person and friend.

Alex,

Glad you downloaded the book, but the prizes are signed editions of other writers.

Lisa,

Thanks for dropping by. I'm glad you got to read them.

Don't forget to leave email addresses for everyone who wants to enter the giveaway. Scroll down to see the awesome books Roland is giving away.

Margo Benson said...

Thank you for another wonderful interview. I never tire of hearing about Roland and his work.

N. R. Williams said...

Roland, you are a talented man with a big heart. I wish all the best for you and I hope you have great success.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium, Special .99 through April 30

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Oh the joys of working with conservative people who live by the word of the Bible... /sigh. I really like this author. After i slog through the "Hunger Games" I'm gonna read one of his books. And yes, I said "slog" to all you ppl out there that think the "Hunger Games" is the absolute bestestestestestest thing to ever be printed. All I gotta say is I'm gonna finish it and then I won't be left out of conversations anymore.

PK HREZO said...

Oh how nice to get to know Roland better. Gee, what a wonderful combination--Michael and Roland. Both such positive and creative internet forces. Glad to know you both!

Roland, I love your writing style and would love to win a copy.

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Michael, you're the best for being there for me with this entire blog tour.

This is Michael's home, and I want to be a good guest and not hog up too much space in his cyber front room. But I want to say "Thanks" to all who have written and to answer particular questions that came up :

PK - thanks for the kind words but, like Michael said, the autographs are those of Neil Gaiman, Dean Koontz, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Jim Butcher.

Alex : I am thinking of perhaps publishing BLOOD WILL TELL (a 18,000 word science fiction novella)as a Kindle single. But that would take Michael's formatting skills, and I'm loathe to ask such a thing of him twice. Good friends treat each other kindly.

Michael Offutt : Thanks for the kind words about me. I haven't read Talli's book yet with so many irons in the fire, though I have bought it. Each of us have different taste in what we like -- at least that's what Hannibal Lector has been known to say!

Clarissa : Would you believe that I was scrounging around looking at odd stuff I had saved from the fire, and I found the middle section of my Sherlock Holmes novel. It had my ... shudder ... character, Wolf McMourn as the narrator though. I may one day re-write it as a Samuel McCord novel and publish it on Kindle.

e said...

Interesting interview. Great questions Michael, and what a great way to get to know the both of you better. Two wonderful creative forces coming together.

As a side note, I loved Odd Thomas, I think for me it's probably my favourite book by Koontz.

Summer Ross said...

Michael- wonderful questions! Roland- I had fun learning more about you!

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

You know...one of the best things about coming to this blog is that my name is also Michael. I come here and everyone is saying how wonderful a person Michael is and I agree...cause Michael is fantabulous :) /see what I did thar?

VR Barkowski said...

Great interview, gentlemen! What impresses me is not just how talented you are Roland, but your prolificacy. Something I aspire to—in vain, I'm afraid.

Best of luck on your tour! Michael, you are a kind gracious host.

dolorah said...

Nice Michael. You did well with this series of questions and answers.

Thanks Roland for participating. You did well to answers all questions concisely and completely.

I look forward to Becky's posts.

.........dhole

dolorah said...

BTW: I gave you the Journey Support Award on my blog. I hope you like it.

......dhole

Roland D. Yeomans said...

VR : thanks for the kind words. I love to write and the keyboard is my friend.

Donna : Both Michael and I tried not to bore our friends! Thanks for giving Michael the award!

Deniz Bevan said...

Such a great interview you guys!
Owning a bookstore sounds like lots of fun.
Such a sad story, the one about the ill child. Lovely that you were able to bring a little reading pleasure to her.

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Deniz : Owning a bookstore was a two-edged sword. I love my friends, my books, but the Mall gave me only 3 days off a year! Ouch! And writing those two huge books for my young friend was an enriching and precious experience. Thanks for dropping by and paying Michael and me a visit.

Anonymous said...

I've reached chapter five in the book. I keep writing down amazing passages. The poetic prose is incredible. Haunting. This book is one in a million. I give five stars sparingly. This one is five plus plus!! I'll be doing a review of it on Amazon as soon as I've finished reading it, which should be by the weekend.