Monday, March 14, 2011

A Tale About Electricity


Last week I published another novel on Kindle Books called Electric Highway.  It's the story of a woman who finds out that her brother's "accidental" death by drowning was actually murder.  He was trying to expose a conspiracy to keep an electricity price fraud scheme from becoming public.  I had fun with this because I once worked in the gas & power utility industry, and know just enough about the technical aspects of the business to make the story credible.  I write under the name of Robert Ryland.


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

North Carolina is Fertile Ground for Writers

North Carolina is a state rich in history.  Many writers have delved into the state's role in the Civil War (or as some would describe it, The War Between the States), its coastal development, and the colonial past.  In recent years, writers like Robert Morgan and Charles Frazier have focused on western North Carolina, not only during the Civil War but before and after that period.  Morgan's Gap Creek and This Rock, Frazier's Cold Mountain and Thirteen Moons immerse the reader into different periods of history in the state, mining real events and places to create compelling and beautifully written fiction.  I have not used North Carolina as a setting for my books so far, but living here is pulling me inexorably in that direction.

Transylvania County, where I live, was the last county formed in the state in 1861, and this year is celebrating its 150th birthday - its Sesquicentennial Anniversary.  A local Genealogy group has been busy pulling together histories of some of the oldest families in the area.  The third volume of their book dealing with the heritage of Transylania County is now under way, and will contain as many photos as possible for inclusion.  Like other writers living in the area, I look forward to reading the results.  I'm thinking it might inspire me to consider a local setting for my next project.  Only time and inspiration will tell.