With over half a dozen books now in print, Ralph L. Angelo Jr. has already surpassed his earthly goal of reaching for the stars, which is a far cry from the origin of the very first book he published in 2005.
“
Help! They’re All Out To Get Me! The Motorcyclists Guide to Surviving the Everyday World came about because I am an avid rider. I had been submitting articles for a number of motorcycle publications at the time and was always seeing other cyclists taking chances that could end up with deadly consequences. The book was born to help people become better, safer riders. Of course the other side effect was that it eventually unleashed the true writer in me and opened up the world of writing that I am doing now.”
Angelo admits that the interest in writing began in elementary school where his inspiration ran as deep as the well from which the passion emerged.
“I started reading comic books at an early age and was introduced to the pulps via the Bantam reprints of
Doc Savage in the late 60s. I became a voracious reader and immersed myself in the genres. When I was in college I took some creative writing courses and studied journalism, but most of the concepts I write about now however, were firmly in place decades ago.”
Years of pent up enthusiasm and dreams became reality when in January of 2013, Angelo released
Redemption of the Sorcerer, the first of two books thus far in a series called
The Crystalon Saga. The tale spans thousands of years and follows the journey of a flawed sorcerer obsessed with power and exiled to a world void of magic where he learns of a diabolical villain intent on the annihilation of two worlds in separate universes.
“I always wanted to write a fantasy novel in the vein of a more adult like
Harry Potter. My thinking was; what would the kids who grew up on Potter want to read now?”
Eight long years passed before the novel became ready for public consumption, but not before the author found some redemption of his own and learned firsthand a little bit about the tangled web of the publishing industry.
“You have to walk away from a lot of those people. I went to one company with the book and it was an awful experience because all they did after taking my money was print my raw manuscript. Now, I’m no editor, I’m a writer. Editing is not my bag. They just plopped this mess of a book down on paper and expected to sell it that way for thirty bucks. It was an absolute embarrassment in that form. I had to buy the rights back from them and begin the task of finding an editor. During that time I looked into self-publishing as an option and subsequently created Cosmic Comet Publishing. It is still an ongoing learning process, but under that name I have currently published six novels and one short story with some success.”
That success came relatively quickly when only a few months ago Angelo received the 2014
New Pulp Award for
Best New Author, an accolade he does not take lightly.
“That meant more than anything I could ever have imagined. It meant people were watching me, paying attention to what I was doing and really enjoying it.”
Covering several genres including Horror, Sword & Sorcery, Fantasy and Super Heroes, it appears that fans are most enthralled with
The Cagliostro Chronicles, an epic Space Opera taking place in a not too distant future wherein mankind has just developed the ability to travel through space exceeding light speed. Part
Star Wars, part
Star Trek and with a nod to the
Fantastic Four, the untested crew of the mighty
Cagliostro embarks on a dangerous mission reaching further into space than any human being has ever traversed before. The second volume in the series hit shelves last July. Sharing the same enthusiasm, Angelo is ecstatic to indulge fans. He is currently hard at work on the third book and harbors an ambitious plan to release a minimum of two
Cagliostro novels a year.
“The writing comes fast and furious now. Sometimes I’ll write a thousand words in the afternoon and then break for a few hours before going back to it when the house is good and quiet again. I do my best writing at night. I don’t know why, but I’m definitely a night creature. Once I’m in the groove, it’s just like anything else and it becomes a routine, which is what you want.”
If 2014 proved a banner year for this up and coming author, then fans and new readers alike will be thrilled with what the future holds.
“I have a new series planned featuring a real pulp style character called
The Grim Spectre, which is set in 1937. I’m also revisiting
Torahg, The Warrior, who was a character I created well over twenty years ago.
Sword of Vengeance was the second novel I published and it originally started out as a
Conan thing. I had planned to pitch the idea to TOR books back then when they were turning out new
Conan tales monthly, but I chickened out. Now,
Torahg is thoroughly mine and I am hard at work on his second book tentatively titled,
Torahg the Warrior – Weapon of the Gods.”
In the meantime the author remains poised to conquer new dreams, goals and challenges on the horizon.
“Sure, I’d love to reach the big time. Who wouldn’t? On a more earthbound scale though, I would love to see one of my stories become a screenplay. Otherwise, I would be totally content just being able to write until I’m very old and very grey, and hope that people will want more of my books every time they put one down.”
Books are available at Amazon and for further information, Ralph L. Angelo, Jr. can be found at his
website.
