Ronald S. Barak at ThrillerFest 2011

Two years ago, 40 years into the practice of law, I decided to see if I could write a novel. Why?

Because my wife and I love reading books, and I wanted to see if I could write one. Oh yeah, and maybe also because a "friend" dared me to do it, implying that I couldn't.

Did I think I could? Well, let's put it this way: I didn't quit my day job, in spite of the fact that a busy law practice didn't exactly make the task any easier. Nor did the fact that as a physics major before going to law school, I never took an English class, let alone a creative writing class.

One year later, I had a few copies of a "finished" political/legal mystery thriller that we shared with some friends, including the one who issued the original challenge. I had loved the journey, but figured that was it, I was done. I had done my best to meet the challenge. What more was there to do? Until friends said they liked the book and wanted to know where they could get copies for Cousin Sally and Uncle Joe.

But there weren't any more copies. So, I sent out some "query letters" to literary agents, you know, to see if one might get me a deal with some big publishing house and put copies out there for Sally and Joe.

Feedback on my novel had been great. Feedback on my query letters was...hmm, right, there was (almost) no feedback on the query letters. And what little there was was hardly encouraging. It hadn’t occurred to me that there was more to writing an effective query letter than I had done.

What did I do next, in the face of this next challenge, to satisfy those “legions” wanting to buy a copy of the book? I self-published, both in print and in digital.

Surprise, surprise. I've received 30+ flattering reviews. More amazing still, just this past week my novel reached a #1 bestseller ranking in Kindle Store's hard boiled mysteries! And it’s still there. Better still, I've started my second mystery thriller novel!

So, I figured I needed to do some homework and find a writing conference or two--where I could go and actually learn something about my new passion. And there it was, sitting right there in front of my eyes, on Google, just waiting for me. ThrillerFest, an annual four day conference sponsored by the International Thriller Writers. Held in New York every July. It was time for me to step out of my cave.

ThrillerFest turned out to be the bees knees, the cat's whiskers. If you're a thriller writer wannabe like me (and I'm guessing the other genres have their counterparts), then Thriller Fest may be just the ticket for you, just as it turned out to be for me. Here's why:

1. The first day and a half of the conference, CraftFest, is a series of interactive “how to” seminars on various elements of writing: Plot development, character development, point of view, setting, pace, rhythm, psychic distance, and more, actually much more, all taught by an absolute who's who of New York Times bestseller authors. Insightful, friendly, entirely and tirelessly giving of themselves, in the classes and after. Each one nicer and friendlier than the next, fully accessible. By the way, we’re not just talking about the art of writing, but the business of writing as well, and where's it's headed in the opinion of the top literary agents and publishers of the day, as well as the folks who run Amazon and Kindle.

2. The afternoon of the second day, AgentFest, is speed dating on steroids to try to find an agent. Three to four minutes per agent, among 65 to choose from. Enough time to work your way through the lines, first come, first served, and see maybe ten to fifteen before the session ended. A year ago, no reactions to my query letters. Here, twelve out of twelve agents either asked for several chapters of my book, or for the full book itself. Several also asked for the beginning of the manuscript of my second novel even though it’s just under way. Hitting #1 on Amazon certainly helped, but live access is night and day better than just a query letter.

3. The next two days is back to CraftFest, but now with superstar panels interacting first with one another, and then the audience.

4. The final night is the awards dinner, really hitting home the sense of community and camaraderie that pervaded the entire four days. 850 people in a grand ballroom setting like one of the televised film awards dinner, wannabe writers like me rubbing elbows with the creme de la creme of the writing community at intimate, friendly tables of eight. Not a case of the superstars gathered together in one part of the room and all of the others off to the side by themselves, left to gawk, and dream. At my table, for example, was a perennial New York Times bestseller, who won one of the major awards that night. Prizes for best debut novelist, best veteran in each of several formats, best in service to the writing community.

If you get a chance to attend ThrillerFest in 2012, or whatever and wherever the conference is that may be best for you, don't hesitate. Writing can be a very lonely profession or avocation, especially for the novice trying to make it mostly on his or her own. Participation in online groups help immeasurably, but for four days at ThrillerFest, the superstars of the writing community, made me, and others like me, feel as if I was part of the club. ITW makes this happen, not only for the four days of ThrillerFest each year, but also in committee activities and other programs and opportunities offered throughout the year.

Try it, you'll like it. I sure did. http://www.thrillerfest.com

Ronald S. Barak is the author of "A Season for Redemption" the #1 Best Selling Hard Boiled Thriller in Print and Kindle at Amazon

Thomas Drinkard Interviews IAN Member Ronald S. Barak

This interview was previously published at Thomas Drinkard's bloghttp://brinson1.wordpress.com/

I’m pleased to introduce you, today, to Ronald S. Barak a member of the Independent Author Network (IAN). His page on the network is http://bit.ly/e0AVhG I’ll let him tell you more about himself and his new book.

T: Hello Ronald, please give us a bit of biography to start.

R: I graduated from the University of Southern California Law School with honors and have practiced commercial law, mediation and arbitration for some 40 plus years. I reside in Pacific Palisades, California with my wife, Barbie, our cat, Maccabee, our dog, Ryder, and my golf clubs, where I’m hard at work on my law practice, my next novel and my golf game, although not necessarily in that order. For anyone who would like to know more, please visit http://ronaldsbarak.com.

T: When did you start writing?

R: Hmm, it must have been around the first or second grade. Actually, I was a little slow; it could have been the third grade. Oh, Tom, did you mean when did I start writing…books? Ignoring several professional treatises that I penned in the 1980s and 1990s, I started on my first novel, a season for redemption, at the beginning of 2009. This was not planned. I was dared by a “friend” in front of several other friends to show what I could do. I couldn’t back down, although, truth be told, there was probably an underlying itch to do it. I “finished” a first draft in October, 2009, which I thoroughly enjoyed doing, shared it with those friends in on the dare, and more, for holiday gifts at the end of 2009. I really thought I was done. However, I received a lot of very positive feedback (albeit it some of it fairly critical too), I did one rewrite and the book was published/released in August, 2010.

T: Was there a favorite writing teacher or mentor?

R: I was a physics major and an athlete in college. I didn’t write, unless you called the formulas I had to learn writing. I then went to law school and practiced law. I did lots of writing as a lawyer, but that was “just” that kind of “legalese” stuff. However, it was hard to stray very far from that kind of language. It was not uncommon for someone meeting me for the first time to say, after exchanging a few words, “Oh, you sound like a lawyer.” When I accepted the dare to write a novel, I just started writing. No teachers. No mentors. Just a one page outline of where I was starting and where I thought I was going to finish. When I finished my first draft of a season for redemption, a couple of golfing buddies who happen to be very successful professional writers, Michael Brandt and James Hirsch, were kind enough to read my first draft and to offer me some very helpful suggestions that I incorporated into my published rewrite. In terms of writing experience, I was so “green” that when Michael graciously sat down with me for several hours to go through a notepad he had filled (and I mean filled) while reading my first draft, I turned “green” when he referred to my nine months of writing as a “vomit” draft—until he explained that’s just what the writing profession calls a first draft, and not what he thought of the draft. Since then, I have had the privilege of meeting and becoming acquainted with Joseph Finder, whose books I have been reading for years. Joe has been very generous with his time in mentoring me a bit on the business side of the writing profession.

T: Please tell us about your current book, A Season for Redemption.

R: A Season for Redemption takes place in current Washington, D.C. A serial killer on the loose is murdering prominent politicians for abandoning their public trust and bringing the country to its economic knees. Someone is arrested and tried for the murders in a courtroom drama that takes the country by storm. Was the accused guilty? The trial plays out; the jury deliberates the guilt and innocence of the accused—and our political system. Across the country, “we the people” and the media do the same. As matters turn out…we’ll, you’ll have to read the book, or at least the ending, to get the finish of that sentence:) Oh yeah, the killer left a homemade DVD video at the scene of one of his—or her—murders as a clue to what was behind the murders. Someone leaked the video to YouTube. You can see it for yourself, if you visit http://aseasonforredemption.com and click on the “killer video” link in the lower right of the home page.

T: Do you have a sequel in mind or in progress?

R: The answer is yes…and yes. In a season for redemption, there are brief appearances of “The National Organization for Political Integrity,” NoPoli for short (which also happens to stand for “no politicians”), a fictitious organization committed to rooting out “deserving” corrupt politicians. Blurring the lines of fantasy and reality—and perhaps one kind of sequel, although probably not what you had in mind—your readers can now visit http://NoPoli.org for a daily dose of real time, real world political misdeeds in need of attention. As for what you no doubt meant, yes I am writing as we “speak” a partial sequel to a season for redemption. I say “partial” because this pending new novel is both a sequel of a season for redemption and also a new headline grabbing political thriller storyline as well. I’d tell you and your readers what the title is except…I don’t yet have a title.

T: What are your ideas about the future of digital publishing?

A: To me, that’s pretty simple. The future of publishing is…digital publishing. Gone will be traditional print on paper books. Gone will be traditional print on paper book publishers. Gone will be traditional print on paper brick and mortar bookstores. Think I haven’t got it write…oh, I meant right? If you had your last hundred dollars to invest, would you invest it in the bookstore down there on the corner…or would you invest it in Amazon.com? If you need more proof, take my wife, Barbie (not really, she’s a keeper): An avid reader (like two or three books a week), I could never get her to read digital. Try my Kindle? Pshaw! Barbie had to touch and feel and smell the pages. Finally, I got her to try one book on Kindle. She and Kindle—her Kindle—are now connected at the hip. She nurtures it. She cradles it in her arms. It’s almost as precious as our cat and dog. Not at all far behind. If I wasn’t happy to read on my iPad and my iPhone, I’d have to go out and buy another Kindle. So, I’m a writer, a mystery writer. (Has a much nicer sound than saying I’m a lawyer, doesn’t it?) The only mystery here is when, not if. Traditional print on paper is not yet dead, just terminal. Digital sales are dramatically increasing. Print sales are dramatically declining. In another couple of years, those lines will cross. The only mystery here is not “if,” but “when.”

T: Anything else you’d like to share, Ron?

R: For me, starting down the path of being a…writer…was a happenstance, not a plan. Having one novel under my belt, and the next on the way, I can only say that…I just love writing. What fun! The only thing better than writing is the thought that there are those out there who are…reading what I write. How exciting is that! What is not fun is having to market what you write. However, until you have landed—perhaps I should more accurately say branded—anyone thinking about being a writer, better think about having to market. And market. And market. Marketing is the underbelly of the writing profession. No fun, but no one out there is going to do it for us, not any more. But it’s worth it.

Book Review: a season for redemption by Ronald S. Barak

2010
http://aseasonforredemption.com
509 pages
Gander House Publishers
ISBN# 978-0-9827590-0-4

a season for redemption – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh,

Repeat

Thwap. Thwap. Mmm, the silencer worked great. In one clean move, he pocketed his gun and caught her before she fell to the ground. He also managed to get her keys, open the door, and quickly get the two of them inside the townhouse. He set he down. No pulse. He went back outside, turning on a flashlight he extracted from his pocket. No blood that he could see anywhere. He picked up her briefcase, went back inside, closed the door and confirmed that it was locked. He put the briefcase on the entry table. He then picked Alistair up, carried her into the bedroom and set her down on the bed. Now I know where they got the expression dead weight. He undressed her, scattered her clothes about the room and went about his business. Twenty minutes later, satisfied with the way things looked, and how smoothly this had gone, he quietly took his leave. Perfect. If I don't dawdle, I can still catch the second half of the Lakers-Wizards game. And it would have been "perfect," too. If not for the one slight drop of blood on the front porch he had missed - and the pair of eyes that peered out at him from the nearby shadows as he departed.'

It's early 2009. DC Detective Frank Lotello has just been informed that U.S. Senator Jane Alistair has been murdered and raped, in that order. Within just a few short days he will learn of the murder and rape of Dr. Jody DiMarco, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, and the murder of Derrick Johnson, Chairman of the Securities Exchange Commission. As the task force is formed and proceeds to put the evidence together, one person speaks out, giving the force and the DA the perfect person to pin the murders on. That person is Cliff Norman.

Norman built his small electronic business from just he and his wife into a company employing around 100. He bought his wife a beautiful home and the two decided to start a family, their first child being a baby boy they named Ryan. Then the recession hit. Norman lost his business, his home and due to an illness whose treatment was not covered by his insurance, he lost his son. This literally drove Norman into an apparent state of off-balance. He took his frustrations outside Capitol Hill, yelling to anyone and everyone who would listen, exactly what the corrupt politicians had done to him - and what he has now done to them. This is what the DA perceived as Norman's admission to the murders giving him what he believed would be an open and shut case. Public Defender Leah Klein believes different and with the help of Lotello she hopes to prove Norman either innocent or guilty of justifiable homicide.

As I read a season for redemption I found myself actually picturing some of the characters as real people. Ronald S. Barak has given them the personalities that even seem familiar opening my eyes to the real possibility that the events that take place in this story are not only possible but also probable (sadly, Gabby Giffords and Jared Loughner). And I loved his honesty in his "Author's Note" which says "While to some extent derived from real-world facts, events, conditions and principles of law, as to which the author has taken certain liberties, this is strictly a work of fiction - more or less. Except of course if the satirical shoe fits, resemblance to any real persons is purely coincidental. The names of characters have been changed to protect the innocent - and the guilty." As you read a season for redemption, I feel sure you too will be able to relate to the characters.

This is also a very educational book. I've never been a juror for a murder trial and pray I never have to be, but if that situation ever comes up, I want to re-read a season for redemption in hopes of understanding the true meaning of `beyond a shadow of doubt' and even possibly `justifiable homicide.' This is a book that I feel everyone who is being affected by the recession - and feels any disdain for our political representatives - should read. Just maybe it will help us all pull together to make a difference and have some of the corruption removed from our government.

by Martha S. Cheves

Meet IAN Member Ronald S. Barak

Ronald S. Barak is the author of several prior legal publications and is a University of Southern California Law School Order of the Coif Law Review Editor. He graduated from USC Law School and has practiced commercial law, mediation and arbitration for some 40 plus years. Ron resides in Pacific Palisades, California with his wife, Barbie, their cat, Maccabee, their dog, Ryder, and his golf clubs, where he is hard at work on his law practice, his next novel and his golf game, not necessarily in that order.

Check out Ronald's book a season for redemption



Ronald S. Barak - The Independent Author Network