A.R. Simmons
210 ratings | 18 reviews | avg rating:3.66

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A.R. Simmons

Goodreads Author


Born
in Chicago, IL, The United States
Website

Twitter
@arsimmons_rcn

Genre
Mystery, Suspense, Crime

Influences
I am inspired by a host of wonderful authors, Mark Twain, Francis Park ...more

Member Since
July 2013

URL


AR Simmons grew up in the Missouri Ozarks. He walked a gravel road to a rural school evocative of “Walton’s Mountain.” His parents did factory work to buy things not provided by their subsistence farm which was passed down from his grandfather who cleared the land from the native forest. He and his wife (beta reader, illustrator, and muse) still live on that farm. So his roots run deep in the Ozark soil. Using the culture, language, and mores of this "Bible Belt" region, he writes culturally immersive stories of obsession set amidst the small-town and rural life that he knows and loves.

He began writing seriously with a suspense novel which he serialized around the turn of the millennium on his website www.bluecreeknovels. It took until 2013 ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?
A.R. Simmons I’ve read lots of horror, dystopian, and true-crime stories. Having a vivid imagination, I wouldn’t visit any of those worlds willingly. Instead, I’ll…moreI’ve read lots of horror, dystopian, and true-crime stories. Having a vivid imagination, I wouldn’t visit any of those worlds willingly. Instead, I’ll travel back to the London of 1898 and seek out a certain mahogany table that reflects the faces of five men sharing claret and listening as Charles Marlow spins tales of the sea, youth and life itself. I’ll sit quietly and listen as that master story-teller (surely he’s Joseph Conrad’s alter ego) transports us aboard a square-rigged mail packet on his first voyage to the East. I anticipate hearing more of his stories.

I’ll sit there silently as befits one whose closest brush with the perils and wonders of the wide sea is through vicarious adventure aboard the Pequod with Ishmael and with Richard Henry Dana as he rounds the horn on the brig Pilgrim.
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Thank you; after an initial revelation of backstory, I try to add further only gradually - as you say, just like you learn about people in real life. I also try to give each character a distinctly recognizable voice, so that I may avoid those, "she said/they answered" repetitions (re the old "Dick and Jane" primers!). Any thoughts on 'preparing' your readers...helping them to engage more fully?
A.R. Simmons I try to give the reader a vivid setting, an interesting situation, and someone to identify with. It is also important to have strong female character…moreI try to give the reader a vivid setting, an interesting situation, and someone to identify with. It is also important to have strong female characters. I think there is no better hook than to give readers someone precious and then put them at risk. (By the way for POV tags I totally ignore Leonard's "rule" that we shouldn't use anything but "said.")
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Combine Editions

Average rating: 4.11 · 144 ratings · 44 reviews · 16 distinct works
The Daughter (The Richard C...
4.32 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions
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Devil's Run (The Richard Ca...
4.11 avg rating — 19 ratings
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Bonne Femme (The Richard Ca...
4.18 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions
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Journey Man (The Richard Ca...
4.18 avg rating — 17 ratings — 2 editions
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Road Shrines (The Richard C...
4.18 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions
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Cold Tears (The Richard Car...
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2007 — 5 editions
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Canaan Camp (The Richard Ca...
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2013 — 4 editions
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Call Her Sabine (The Richar...
4.29 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions
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Secret Song (The Richard Ca...
3.63 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions
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Cold Fury (The Richard Cart...
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions
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More books by A.R. Simmons…

150 posts
A.R. Simmons's Blog: Musings and Mutterings

I'm Back

After a period of flagging energy via Covid, (I am and have kept up with my vaccines) I am writing regularly again. I urge all my fellow authors and readers to take advantage of the availability of both the corona virus and flu vaccines.

For the information of those interested in the Richard Carter series, I am 150 or so pages into the latest novel MISSING PAGES. Like all the latest books, it featu Read more of this blog post »
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Published on October 18, 2022 07:34 • Tags: mystery, new-novel, series, suspense
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Series by A.R. Simmons

Bonne Femme Cold Tears Canaan Camp Secret Song The King Snake Call Her Sabine Devilry
(13 books)
by
4.10 avg rating — 143 ratings

A.R. is Currently Reading

SHATTERED JUSTICE...
A.R. Simmons is currently reading
by Paul Levine (Goodreads Author)
bookshelves: currently-reading
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Jul 11, 2020 03:30PM
The Poison Garden
A.R. Simmons is currently reading
by A.J. Banner (Goodreads Author)
bookshelves: currently-reading
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Jun 18, 2020 02:53PM
Woman in the Water
A.R. Simmons is currently reading
by Katerina Diamond (Goodreads Author)
bookshelves: currently-reading
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Jun 17, 2020 10:01PM

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A.R.’s Recent Updates

A.R. Simmons is now friends with Anne Carpenter
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Mar 13, 2024 03:45PM  · 
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Quotes by A.R. Simmons  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Only an egotist thinks that he deserves the blessings that come his way.”
Jill Carter, (character in The Playpretty)”
― AR Simmons
tags: philosophy-of-life
0 likes
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“Worrying about the past is tending the ashes instead of the fire.”
― A.R. Simmons, Bonne Femme
0 likes
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A.R.’s Quotes

“There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears a Human soul.”
― Emily Dickinson, Selected Poems
tags: literature, poetry, words
514 likes
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“All a man can betray is his conscience.”
― Joseph Conrad
tags: betrayal, ethics, honesty, truth
1 likes
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“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”
― Edgar Allan Poe, Eleonora
8631 likes
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“There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.”
― Maya Angelou
tags: truth
1419 likes
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“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
tags: 1970, inspirational, stories, writing
31512 likes
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