Picture yourself as a novelist, with a great story just waiting to be written. You know you can write, but you need to know what it takes to get that book written, then published, and then in the hands of readers, right?
Take a listen to this week's episode of our Tempo and the Times podcast with novelist Rick Pullen, author of three political thrillers including "NAKED AMBITION," which topped Amazon's best seller list in 2016. It's now streaming on Spreaker and other major podcast channels.
Before 2011, Rick Pullen's career was all journalism: investigative reporter for different newspapers and later inventive magazine editor. The two roles in the same business exposed his two sides: he thrives on the thrill of an investigation, and he has a creative curiosity for design and writing he has never tamed.
In 2011 he merged the two and started writing fiction. In 2016 he published his bestselling political thriller, NAKED AMBITION.
THE APPRENTICE, a serial with novice reporter Tish Woodward, was published in December 2017, then NAKED TRUTH, a sequel to NAKED AMBITION, followed in September 2018. NAKED TRUTH is another thriller with newspaper reporter Beck Rikki again on the trail.
In this episode of Tempo and the Times, Rick shares insight into what it took to produce and successfully publish those novels and many of the challenges that he confronted and successfully managed along the way.
He talks about hiring an agent, handling rejection, getting books written and effectively edited, and the absolute necessity of commitment and perseverance. He's working on a fourth novel now, another political thriller, and so he continues to pound away on the keyboard.
"Keep your butt in the chair and write," Pullen advises, adding that if you're not willing to do that, don't bother.
This episode is all about writing, achieving success, and making a few bucks in the process. It's great stuff, and my co-host, Scott Ramminger, asks some great questions.
Take a listen.