Ask the Author: Paul F. Murray
Answered Questions (12)
Paul F. Murray
Why I am 68 years old and still unmarried after relentless failures to attract romantic attention from women, despite my respect for women as individuals with values, beliefs, and opinions, not sex objects, while men who seem to do the exact opposite are never without a girlfriend or wife.
Paul F. Murray
Hi Linda,
Thank you for your question. Sometimes a person simply grabs my attention because they are at the head of the line. It helps. That's why I like to post something new every now and then, otherwise my own posts simply get buried in the mass of authors competing for attention. I was standing in front of Fremont Lake in western Wyoming, in the Wind River Mountains, at the time of the picture.
Thank you for your question. Sometimes a person simply grabs my attention because they are at the head of the line. It helps. That's why I like to post something new every now and then, otherwise my own posts simply get buried in the mass of authors competing for attention. I was standing in front of Fremont Lake in western Wyoming, in the Wind River Mountains, at the time of the picture.
Paul F. Murray
Hello David, Thank you for your question. I think Readers' Favorite Reviews is probably one of the best platforms for reviews because you can get a review for free, although it may take awhile, perhaps a few months before it's finished. (You can get a book reviewed there within 2-3 weeks for paying a small fee.) But it will be an honest review, based on how well the plot and description of events were constructed, how good the cover art is, and how good the grammar is. Plus they only publish the review if it was four- or five-stars. Books that receive a five-star review can put the five-star seal on their covers. I recommend staying away from reviewers who routinely charge money for reviews. Experienced readers can tell when a book has been reviewed by a "service" and therefore the review, glowing or otherwise, may not genuinely reflect the quality of the novel. I can also recommend checking out free reviews on Amazon. (Do a google search to get to their website) Amazon reviews carry weight with readers because they are free, thus not subject to manipulation, and can put books directly in front of interested readers. I guess it goes without saying that it would not be the best use of your time to try to get reviewed by major sources (e.g. the New York Times, etc.) unless your name is James Patterson, Clive Cussler, Nora Roberts--that crowd. As for the scammers, I have had a few people contact me offering to review my novels, but when I try to send them an email or respond to their emails just to find out if they are legit, I have so far gotten nothing but "Your message could not be delivered" responses from yahoo.com. Right away my suspicions are up. An honest review, done for free, is worth far more than any number of quickie reviews that have been paid for.
Paul F. Murray
I think a two sentence horror story would be reading some of Stephen King's posts on Twitter. He has immunized himself from any different opinions but his.
Paul F. Murray
I think the world of "Chronicles of Narnia" would be an interesting place to visit. I would interact with the characters as we together discover what "the other side" holds for us, particularly the good.
Paul F. Murray
Among others, "Trouble Shooter" by Ernest Haycox,
Signet, copyright 1937; "The Roman" by Mika Waltari; "The Way West" by A.B. Guthrie, Jr., Bantam, copyright 1949; and "Wyoming" by Zane Grey, Pocket Books, copyright 1932.
Signet, copyright 1937; "The Roman" by Mika Waltari; "The Way West" by A.B. Guthrie, Jr., Bantam, copyright 1949; and "Wyoming" by Zane Grey, Pocket Books, copyright 1932.
Paul F. Murray
Sometimes I just have to keep typing at the keyboard and an idea for the next scene or scenes will simply come to me. Sometimes I just have to think, and think, and think, and think, or pray, that some scene or plot outline will come to my brain. I did have a strong writer's block in the first draft of the novel I'm currently working on, tentatively titled "A War Not Over", described above, about post civil war tensions among former Union and former Confederate soldiers working together, now, to build the transcontinental railroad. I couldn't think of a good ending, so I had to throw the first draft completely out, and start from scratch with a completely new plot line. If you're writing a novel, and you're seeing that a plot is simply not going to develop or work out, you may have to simply go back to the drawing board.
Paul F. Murray
The characters and the dialogue you create. You can fashion any character, man or woman, young or old, to be any kind of person you want. However, be advised, I have learned that sometimes a character will develop a mind of his or her own, and will take an author in a direction that is different from what was planned.
Paul F. Murray
You have to start out in your spare time with your writing. Please don't make the mistake of thinking that all you have to do is write a novel and immediately you're the next James Patterson, Norah Roberts, or whoever the latest millionaire author is. It takes time to build up an audience. Get a business degree, engineering degree, healthcare, or what suits you, and write in your spare time, and then work at becoming the next "big-time" author. It will take time and effort.
Paul F. Murray
I'm currently working on four novels, another Western about a young lady, a marshal, and the construction of the transcontinental railroad, another (modern) Western about the rodeo, and two sequels to the "Freedom Series".
Paul F. Murray
Sometimes I have a clear idea of how to proceed, as in "The Gifts and the Fruits". At other times, I may have only a notion for a couple of key scenes, and I have to build a story out of those key scene ideas, as in "Freedom's Long March". In my Westerns, "Against the Wild Green Range" about a 22-year-old young woman who inherits a troubled cattle ranch in 1873 Wyoming Territory, "West of the Sunset" about a group journeying on the Oregon Trail in 1852 and one young man's quest for the "right" love, his distraction by a femme fatale, and the young lady who keeps trying to get his attention, and "The One Who Loves You", described above, I had a pretty clear idea of how to proceed with the plot.
Paul F. Murray
I remembered an old black-and-white Western TV show--I can't remember which one--in which an unfortunate mute young woman was trying to communicate with a group of ruffians by sign language, and they were making fun of her. I thought it would be an intriguing competition between two young women for the same young man who was trying to stick with his original goal of starting a cattle ranch, with one of the young women wanting him to abandon his goal of cattle ranching and to find gold for her, and the other supporting his idea of cattle ranching.
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