Ask the Author: T.R. Graves
Answered Questions (11)
T.R. Graves
Williaremkw, my books and I are still alive and kicking on Amazon.
(http://www.amazon.com/T.-R.-Graves/e/...)
Before you check, I can tell you that Dark Angels of the Cross is not yet available, but it will be soon. It is with the editor now. Once she returns it, I review it, and she makes one last pass, I'll have it formatted and released. I'm hoping that will happen within the next 30-60 days.
Also (and just informational), when I see a book I like on Goodreads, I look below the book's description where there is a 'Get a copy' section that lists links where you can download and/or purchase the book. It saves a lot of time because you can go to the link you want without doing a search.
I look forward to hearing your opinion on Dark Angels. Have a good weekend. ツ
(http://www.amazon.com/T.-R.-Graves/e/...)
Before you check, I can tell you that Dark Angels of the Cross is not yet available, but it will be soon. It is with the editor now. Once she returns it, I review it, and she makes one last pass, I'll have it formatted and released. I'm hoping that will happen within the next 30-60 days.
Also (and just informational), when I see a book I like on Goodreads, I look below the book's description where there is a 'Get a copy' section that lists links where you can download and/or purchase the book. It saves a lot of time because you can go to the link you want without doing a search.
I look forward to hearing your opinion on Dark Angels. Have a good weekend. ツ
T.R. Graves
Thanks so very much for reaching out. I expect book three of the Left Series to be finished later this year. I truly appreciate your interest in Ryker's and Baylee's story. I said before that I wrote the story for a reason. It was one that kept me up at night and wouldn't let go until it was on paper. Recently, those characters have been screaming for me to begin their next chapter so there really is no choice but to move forward. Because I really enjoyed writing Left and creating Left's characters, I'm confident writing There and creating new twists and turns for Ryker and Baylee will be as exciting and enjoyable (for me and the reader ツ ). Keep in mind that I'll make posts here, on my blog (www.trgraves.com), and my Facebook page when the book is finally released.
T.R. Graves
Please forgive the delay. I expect book three of the Left Series to be finished later this year. I truly appreciate your interest in Ryker's and Bailee's story. I said before that I wrote story for a reason. It was one that kept me up at night and wouldn't let go until it was on paper. Recently, those characters have been screaming for me to begin their next chapter so there is no choice but to move forward. Because I really enjoyed writing Left and creating Left's characters, I'm confident writing There and creating new twists and turns for Ryker and Bailee will be as exciting and enjoyable (for me and the reader ツ ). Keep in mind that I'll make posts here, on my blog (www.trgraves.com), and my Facebook page when the book is finally released.
T.R. Graves
Please forgive the delay. I expect book three of the Secrets Series to be finished early next year. I truly appreciate your interest in Tope's and Emily's story. Despite Emily's upbringing and the things she's been made to endure, I enjoy writing about her because she epitomizes hope for the future not matter how horrendous the past has been. Keep in mind that I'll make posts here, on my blog (www.trgraves.com), and my Facebook page when the book is finally released.
T.R. Graves
Thanks so much, Breana, for allowing me the opportunity to keep everyone informed.
I'm doing something different this year. Rather than release one book at a time throughout 2014, I decided that I would write as many 400'ish page books as I could this year and release them all during the month of December. As it stands, I'll be releasing Cheating Time (Longevity, #1) on December 1, 2014. It's a young adult dystopian novel unlike anything I've read so far. You can pre-order it on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N8F5MJ8). I'll be releasing Since Inception (Vanishing, #1) on December 8, 2014. It's an action packed paranormal (18+) with an unforgettable cast of characters. You can pre-order it on Barnes and Noble (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/since...). I'm 60-70% finished with Dark Angels of the Cross (Warriors, #4). It's a young adult paranormal that continues Allie and Brody's story in a way no one will see coming. It should be finished and ready to be released December 15, 2014. I don't have a pre-order link just yet. Finally, I may not be able to finish in time for December, but There (Still Standing, #2) is up next. It is a new adult (18+) that will be as disturbing as it will be endearing because we absolutely have not seen the last of Colt.
I'm doing something different this year. Rather than release one book at a time throughout 2014, I decided that I would write as many 400'ish page books as I could this year and release them all during the month of December. As it stands, I'll be releasing Cheating Time (Longevity, #1) on December 1, 2014. It's a young adult dystopian novel unlike anything I've read so far. You can pre-order it on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N8F5MJ8). I'll be releasing Since Inception (Vanishing, #1) on December 8, 2014. It's an action packed paranormal (18+) with an unforgettable cast of characters. You can pre-order it on Barnes and Noble (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/since...). I'm 60-70% finished with Dark Angels of the Cross (Warriors, #4). It's a young adult paranormal that continues Allie and Brody's story in a way no one will see coming. It should be finished and ready to be released December 15, 2014. I don't have a pre-order link just yet. Finally, I may not be able to finish in time for December, but There (Still Standing, #2) is up next. It is a new adult (18+) that will be as disturbing as it will be endearing because we absolutely have not seen the last of Colt.
T.R. Graves
Treat writing like it's a job even if you have a full-time job, an exhaustive commute, and a family who needs you. I'm clocking a solid 90-100 hours per week between working, commuting, and writing. I believe anyone interested in becoming an author should understand how much time it takes to achieve any amount of success.
T.R. Graves
There are those who believe that the 'eyes are the window to the soul'. As an author, I'm convinced that people's writings are truly 'the window to their souls'. I say this because creating characters and developing story-lines is personal. Every word written within a book is told from the author's perspective and is based on their life experiences, opinions, and assumptions. From it, you can usually catch a glimpse of the author's personality and/or their opinions of other people's characteristics. I know this to be true because I see it in my characters' mannerisms and the stories' progressions.
In fact, my writing is so personal that anyone who knows me - including myself - has a hard time believing that I write such intimate details... that I allow those intimate scenes to be released for the world to see. We all freely admit they happen. We all freely admit they are normal, natural, and necessary. Still, there's something about them being written out and written about that makes some uncomfortable.
Rather than being disconcerted with the scenes I write in order to progress the story, I take a page from my father's book and embrace anything and everything that will make the story better. He was a man who could tell a story that was so vivid and dramatic that people hung on his every word, flocking to our house morning, noon, and night just to hear them. A few months after he died, story plots and their characters began haunting me. They were so demanding that I had no choice but to write them down... to share them. Before his death, writing a book was not anything I'd ever imagined doing. Since his death, writing books is all I imagine doing.
I might use every tool necessary to tell the best story possible, but that doesn't mean there is not a purpose to my story. As a nurse and mother (and my father's daughter), I'm as committed to writing socially responsible stories as I am committed to writing stories that are suspenseful page-turners. I'll be the first to remind everyone that a socially responsible story does not lack exciting/passionate/heart-stopping moments. Instead, the morals are embedded so deep that they are inferred and not preached, a very, very difficult goal to achieve.
Left (Still Standing, #1) is the perfect example of a book that is filled with hot and sexy scenes between amazing characters, defeats that will have the readers mouths dropping open and asking 'What the heck?', AND suspense that will have people flipping the page and praying for an outcome that they can tolerate. By the end of the story, readers will understand 1) how fast a woman can get herself into an abusive relationship and 2) the ramifications when she doesn't begin her fight to get out right away. They will have water cooler talking points as determined by their personal (family's/friend's) experience, but they will not have me preaching to or judging of them. There are too many people that I respect who have found themselves in these positions for me to think that it happens because of their actions or that they deserve what they get. In fact, those types of assumptions are the very ones that led me to write Left.
No one will ever say Baylee deserves what she gets, and everyone will be disheartened by her situation.
Grave Bound (Secrets, #1) was written as a wake-up call to people who think that forced sex and/or women who are dominated is romantic (please note: I'm not referring to consensual situations as evidenced by my review of Fifty Shades). In this series, we have a woman who lives a life where women have no rights. Grave Bound is dark, sexy, frightening, and heartbreaking. I cry every time I read this book because I know there are women who live like this - with a lot more violence/fear than I could ever envision or write into a story. Anyone who pretends sex trafficking (any anything like it) is not a very real epidemic in this country is in denial.
Readers will root for Emily and demand that Lorenzo's head be served on platter.
Finally, Warriors (Warrior, #1) - the first book I ever wrote - was begun as a way for me to open the lines of communication with my teen-aged daughter. As she read the book, she and I debated the personal dilemmas of the characters in a way that felt safe because everything - characters and story lines - was fiction. My daughter was fifteen when I began writing that series and creating those characters. With it and our discussions, she quickly realized that she and I are more alike than we are different. After she read Warriors, she sent me a text that told me she loved the story and had no idea I was so creative. Today, she's one of my biggest fans and even narrated the Hidden Object - Enemies game for me.
Fans of this series will pull for Allison's and Brody's love while living through their every disappointment as their exciting paranormal/fantasy story plays out.
If I never sell another book, I'll consider this indie writing adventure successful. It brought my daughter and me together at a time when some mothers and teen-aged daughters go their separate ways for good. I've also had several people contact me and tell me they've used (themselves or sent to others) the information included at the end of Left detailing where to go and what to do if you are in a domestic violence situation.
In fact, my writing is so personal that anyone who knows me - including myself - has a hard time believing that I write such intimate details... that I allow those intimate scenes to be released for the world to see. We all freely admit they happen. We all freely admit they are normal, natural, and necessary. Still, there's something about them being written out and written about that makes some uncomfortable.
Rather than being disconcerted with the scenes I write in order to progress the story, I take a page from my father's book and embrace anything and everything that will make the story better. He was a man who could tell a story that was so vivid and dramatic that people hung on his every word, flocking to our house morning, noon, and night just to hear them. A few months after he died, story plots and their characters began haunting me. They were so demanding that I had no choice but to write them down... to share them. Before his death, writing a book was not anything I'd ever imagined doing. Since his death, writing books is all I imagine doing.
I might use every tool necessary to tell the best story possible, but that doesn't mean there is not a purpose to my story. As a nurse and mother (and my father's daughter), I'm as committed to writing socially responsible stories as I am committed to writing stories that are suspenseful page-turners. I'll be the first to remind everyone that a socially responsible story does not lack exciting/passionate/heart-stopping moments. Instead, the morals are embedded so deep that they are inferred and not preached, a very, very difficult goal to achieve.
Left (Still Standing, #1) is the perfect example of a book that is filled with hot and sexy scenes between amazing characters, defeats that will have the readers mouths dropping open and asking 'What the heck?', AND suspense that will have people flipping the page and praying for an outcome that they can tolerate. By the end of the story, readers will understand 1) how fast a woman can get herself into an abusive relationship and 2) the ramifications when she doesn't begin her fight to get out right away. They will have water cooler talking points as determined by their personal (family's/friend's) experience, but they will not have me preaching to or judging of them. There are too many people that I respect who have found themselves in these positions for me to think that it happens because of their actions or that they deserve what they get. In fact, those types of assumptions are the very ones that led me to write Left.
No one will ever say Baylee deserves what she gets, and everyone will be disheartened by her situation.
Grave Bound (Secrets, #1) was written as a wake-up call to people who think that forced sex and/or women who are dominated is romantic (please note: I'm not referring to consensual situations as evidenced by my review of Fifty Shades). In this series, we have a woman who lives a life where women have no rights. Grave Bound is dark, sexy, frightening, and heartbreaking. I cry every time I read this book because I know there are women who live like this - with a lot more violence/fear than I could ever envision or write into a story. Anyone who pretends sex trafficking (any anything like it) is not a very real epidemic in this country is in denial.
Readers will root for Emily and demand that Lorenzo's head be served on platter.
Finally, Warriors (Warrior, #1) - the first book I ever wrote - was begun as a way for me to open the lines of communication with my teen-aged daughter. As she read the book, she and I debated the personal dilemmas of the characters in a way that felt safe because everything - characters and story lines - was fiction. My daughter was fifteen when I began writing that series and creating those characters. With it and our discussions, she quickly realized that she and I are more alike than we are different. After she read Warriors, she sent me a text that told me she loved the story and had no idea I was so creative. Today, she's one of my biggest fans and even narrated the Hidden Object - Enemies game for me.
Fans of this series will pull for Allison's and Brody's love while living through their every disappointment as their exciting paranormal/fantasy story plays out.
If I never sell another book, I'll consider this indie writing adventure successful. It brought my daughter and me together at a time when some mothers and teen-aged daughters go their separate ways for good. I've also had several people contact me and tell me they've used (themselves or sent to others) the information included at the end of Left detailing where to go and what to do if you are in a domestic violence situation.
T.R. Graves
Interestingly enough, I never know what is going to inspire me or where it will come from. It could be a story from a work colleague (Left, Still Standing, #1, was born from one of domestic violence), a need to connect with my daughter in a way that exemplifies admirable morals and ethics without preaching (Warriors of the Cross, Warrior, #1, 2, 3, & 4), or a news article that makes me think about how today's decisions can impact tomorrow's world (Cheating Time, Longevity, #1).
T.R. Graves
Name: Cheating Time (Longevity, #1)
Genre: YA Dystopia
Age: 13+
Book cover Designer: Phatpuppy Art
Planned Release Date: 12/31/14
Summary:
Carles "Carlie" Enoch's world was one that could barely be imagined. In it, babies had micropharmeceutical devices inserted in their hearts within hours of birth. The MicroPharm implant held code that secretly counted down until the date of that baby's death (as determined by its genetic analysis) and contained drugs that were released in such a way that chemicals and hormones were in perfect balance at all times, making illness almost unheard of.
Theoretically, the known but unexposed date of the babies' deaths and the maintenance drugs geared toward giving the baby a long life had benign consequences. It was the unknown and unbelievable and unexpected way President John Barone gathered data about every child and the way he released contraceptives from the device in order to control the population and terminate pregnancies when embryos were identified as weak or mutated that made the device and its technology as dangerous as any malignancy.
For President Barone, seventeen-year-old Carlie was not just a MicroPharm first generation, she was the great granddaughter of the man who discovered the ability to determine life expectancy down to the day and the daughter of the woman who invented the MicroPharm chip. Carlie and her family were important to President Barone's political career and the plans he had of creating a nation of strong, healthy, and superior people, ones who gave more to their country than they took.
Jayden St. Romaine, one of the Facet's most loyal Surrogate Soldier, was ordered by President Barone himself to find the Enoche family and kidnap Carlie. Through blackmail, he planned to leverage control over the Enoche's scientific research and the ability to develop even more tools that could be used to genetically engineer a superior race.
When President Barone sent Jayden on his mission, he never expected his perfect soldier to develop a conscience... betray his trust... fall in love with Carlie, but he'd dispatched a back-up Surrogate Soldier just in case. With the ticking of the clock and the second Surrogate chasing them, Jayden's chances at redemption and Carlie's chances of living a life where she was free to make choices about her life and her body were in jeopardy of coming too late.
Name: Since Inception (Vanishing#1)
Age: +18 years of age and older (strong sexual situations/violence/profanity)
Book cover Designer: Phatpuppy Art
Planned Release Date: 12/31/14
Summary:
After discovering she has a problem worse than anything she could have ever imagined, Rainey Billows longs for the past—a time when she thought she was just a sadistic sleepwalker. Worse yet is the knowledge this problem has been with her since inception.
Rainey, a woman who's suffered an entire lifetime of pain and humiliation because of her sleepwalking, is financially desperate when she takes in Carter Dodson as a boarder. With his presence in her house and her attraction to him, her internal conflicts, ones she's usually able to ignore, swim to the surface and take control. Before she knows it, her sleepwalking moves to a completely new level, and she's doing things she'd never thought possible.
In fear for Carter's life and without options, Rainey sentences herself to a nighttime ritual that would appear barbaric to others. In her mind, it's essential because, unlike anyone else, she knows firsthand the types of atrocities she's capable of in her sleep.
Carter, a man branded as unconditionally loyal by his friends, knows very little about Rainey but decides early on that she's a woman who has no one… a woman who needs someone. He commits himself to being that person for her. As soon as she makes her first request of him—to ignore her and her nighttime rituals no matter what she says or does—he reconsiders his pledge before quickly reminding himself he can't abandon her. She's had enough of that.
Months later, study, research, and theories are not enough, and standing by is no longer an option. Carter suspects what's wrong with her. What she is. With his suspicions in tow, he searches out and enlists the help of Luke, a childhood friend who's fast-tracking his way to priesthood. After a series of unforeseen and life-threatening events, the two men learn that even the Almighty himself may not be able to help Rainey.
Genre: YA Dystopia
Age: 13+
Book cover Designer: Phatpuppy Art
Planned Release Date: 12/31/14
Summary:
Carles "Carlie" Enoch's world was one that could barely be imagined. In it, babies had micropharmeceutical devices inserted in their hearts within hours of birth. The MicroPharm implant held code that secretly counted down until the date of that baby's death (as determined by its genetic analysis) and contained drugs that were released in such a way that chemicals and hormones were in perfect balance at all times, making illness almost unheard of.
Theoretically, the known but unexposed date of the babies' deaths and the maintenance drugs geared toward giving the baby a long life had benign consequences. It was the unknown and unbelievable and unexpected way President John Barone gathered data about every child and the way he released contraceptives from the device in order to control the population and terminate pregnancies when embryos were identified as weak or mutated that made the device and its technology as dangerous as any malignancy.
For President Barone, seventeen-year-old Carlie was not just a MicroPharm first generation, she was the great granddaughter of the man who discovered the ability to determine life expectancy down to the day and the daughter of the woman who invented the MicroPharm chip. Carlie and her family were important to President Barone's political career and the plans he had of creating a nation of strong, healthy, and superior people, ones who gave more to their country than they took.
Jayden St. Romaine, one of the Facet's most loyal Surrogate Soldier, was ordered by President Barone himself to find the Enoche family and kidnap Carlie. Through blackmail, he planned to leverage control over the Enoche's scientific research and the ability to develop even more tools that could be used to genetically engineer a superior race.
When President Barone sent Jayden on his mission, he never expected his perfect soldier to develop a conscience... betray his trust... fall in love with Carlie, but he'd dispatched a back-up Surrogate Soldier just in case. With the ticking of the clock and the second Surrogate chasing them, Jayden's chances at redemption and Carlie's chances of living a life where she was free to make choices about her life and her body were in jeopardy of coming too late.
Name: Since Inception (Vanishing#1)
Age: +18 years of age and older (strong sexual situations/violence/profanity)
Book cover Designer: Phatpuppy Art
Planned Release Date: 12/31/14
Summary:
After discovering she has a problem worse than anything she could have ever imagined, Rainey Billows longs for the past—a time when she thought she was just a sadistic sleepwalker. Worse yet is the knowledge this problem has been with her since inception.
Rainey, a woman who's suffered an entire lifetime of pain and humiliation because of her sleepwalking, is financially desperate when she takes in Carter Dodson as a boarder. With his presence in her house and her attraction to him, her internal conflicts, ones she's usually able to ignore, swim to the surface and take control. Before she knows it, her sleepwalking moves to a completely new level, and she's doing things she'd never thought possible.
In fear for Carter's life and without options, Rainey sentences herself to a nighttime ritual that would appear barbaric to others. In her mind, it's essential because, unlike anyone else, she knows firsthand the types of atrocities she's capable of in her sleep.
Carter, a man branded as unconditionally loyal by his friends, knows very little about Rainey but decides early on that she's a woman who has no one… a woman who needs someone. He commits himself to being that person for her. As soon as she makes her first request of him—to ignore her and her nighttime rituals no matter what she says or does—he reconsiders his pledge before quickly reminding himself he can't abandon her. She's had enough of that.
Months later, study, research, and theories are not enough, and standing by is no longer an option. Carter suspects what's wrong with her. What she is. With his suspicions in tow, he searches out and enlists the help of Luke, a childhood friend who's fast-tracking his way to priesthood. After a series of unforeseen and life-threatening events, the two men learn that even the Almighty himself may not be able to help Rainey.
T.R. Graves
I love creating a world completely in my control. There are just too many things we can't prevent (accidents, illnesses, death,...). The world within books are mine to develop.
T.R. Graves
Keep writing. You can always delete the unnecessary excerpts later. You might even 'accidentally' write one of the best scenes of the book.
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