This month’s author interview features a writer who certainly qualifies for the category of intriguing person due to the sheer variety of interests he actively pursues. Not to mention, W.A. Rusho shares a wealth of medieval historical information on his blog as well as details of all the fairs and comic-cons he’s attended to get word out about his novel.
Official Bio: Many people have a day when they come into their own. Sometimes it was when they first played a sport, others when they found a calling. For W.A. Rusho, it was when he was in the military, where he discovered the dedication and commitment that he lacked earlier in life. Through dedication he found confidence. This sense of commitment and confidence he applied to everything.
Following his military career, he pursued degrees in Criminal Justice and Communication Arts and became a private investigator. W.A. Rusho is also a professional wrestler and a three-time inductee into the United States Martial Arts Association Hall of Fame
1. Please provide a brief synopsis of your book.
Legend of the Mystic Knights is a fantasy novel that falls under alternative history. In the book an evil was released over 1,000 years ago. As a result technology has been stuck in the middle ages. An order of knights has been established to combat the evil. The novel describes a page training to be a knight, but also reflects what would the world look like technology stagnated that long. Basically, what would the world look like today if the Middle Ages never ended?
2. Tell us a little bit about what motivates or inspires your writing.
Imagine if you took a dozen painters, artists like Picasso, Rembrandt, and van Gogh and ask them to paint the same sunset. Imagine the different results you would get from each.
This is the same with authors; we create a world when we write. This world is seen by our own eyes and perceptions. I guess when I write, I am compelled to create that world.
3. Writing aside, what passions drive your life?
I am an amateur historian; the past has always fascinated me. I am not only talking about historical dates, or events, such as major battles, etc.; I am talking about how people lived during a specific time, their everyday chores, or entertainment. I implement this knowledge of their everyday life into my writings.
I am a part-time pro wrestler and martial artist. I also am a collector of weapons, particularly medieval or Asian weapons. My understanding of how these weapons work, and their purpose in combat, and also being trained in hand to hand combat, has allowed me to write more realistic fight scenes.
4. It’s hard to pick just one, but what do you consider your favorite novel and why?
Moby Dick by Herman Melville is on my life. I like how the story includes not just a story of revenge against a giant whale, but also the details in the daily life of sailors on a whaling vessel. Like in Moby Dick, I try to add specific details of everyday life in my stories as well.
Another aspect I like in this novel is that each character’s motives are spelled out. It is the motives of each of these characters that is the true conflict of the story; not the pursuit of the white whale.
What is the name of your blog and what can readers expect to find there?
At W.A. Rusho Author I write about my books, and sometimes I will add something about medieval history. You can also learn about medieval fairs I have attended. I periodically throw in something about pro-wrestling or acting in there too. Since Halloween is my favorite holiday, I dedicate October to describe traditions associated with it, or even do reviews of my favorite scary movies.
6. What does your drafting and/or editing process entail?
I always say, “Writing is easy; getting the words in the right order is the hard part.” I like to ramble on when I write, completing the entire story from beginning to end. I then go into the story and find sections where I can logically add some facts. Example would be, if a knight went to get shoeing done for his horse, I might explain the process of how the farrier did his job.
After all of this, I then leave it alone. This gives me time to get the novel out of my head. After a period of time, I then read my novel again, and take care of the major spelling or editing mistakes that appear. After this process is over, I go back and see if scenes need to be expanded, or shortened. Once I do that, I might leave it alone again, then go re-read it with fresh eyes.
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7. Are you traditionally published or self-published?
Both, or soon will be both. My novel is currently available for the Kindle through Safkhet Publishing. My paperback version will be self-published.
8. Can you offer one or two helpful tips for fellow writers when it comes to marketing and publicity?
Start early. Things today are different than in the past. Many publishers expect the author to handle much of the marketing of their books. Before your book is even published, get noticed. Start an author’s website, blog, etc., and reach out to other authors on social media sites and gain as much knowledge as you can from them.
If you have a publisher, discuss your strategy with them. Safkhet Publishing had even sent me a list of “Do’s and Do Not’s” for us authors.
9. What future projects can we look forward to?
Sequels to the Mystic Knights series of novels to begin with. I also am working on some horror novels; one being set in a zombie apocalypse, but looks at how the military will handle the zombie outbreak. I am seeking a publisher now to handle this book.
The other is a typical monster in the sewer story, but it also has some environmental implications. This is in a rough stage right now, so I would not expect it anytime soon.
10. Is there anything else you want your potential readers to know?
If you have read, or going to read, some of the Mystic Knights novels, I would suggest you pay attention to some references I added into them. Famous people are mentioned in my novels, of course since history has been changed, they do not appear in there as they did in real life.
A good example is Leonardo da Vinci; of course, he is the definition of the Renaissance man, a painter, sculptor, and scientist. In the alternate history of my novel, he is a famous werewolf hunter.
You can connect with W.A. and his social media sites via his blog.
Is there anything else you would like to know about W.A. Rusho?
Permission must be granted by W.A. Rusho to use the author images in this post.
Another interesting interview Jeri! Always interesting to know a little bit more about authors that I interact with weekly. I am, without exception, drawn to the historical detail that you add to your blogs and readings, William, and never fail to learn something new from all of your posts. Now I know something about your writing process as well, which is also very interesting. Good luck with the self-pub and I hope you’ll keep us posted.
Very interesting interview with William. Thx, Jeri!
Also interesting that I know a former wrestler in my area who has also become a writer. Surprising evolution!
You certainly know how to get the best out of your interviewees!
I like William’s statement on writing;
“Writing is easy, placing the words in the right order is hard”.
How interesting that you interviewed William, a fellow blogger on ‘Bloggers helping Bloggers’.
Good interview, and interesting to follow your process. Also interesting that you have done both trad. & self publishing. Good luck with Mystic Knights- I really like the fact you’ve interwoven true history with fiction.
I was excited to read this interview with William since I have followed him on BHB since his very first post. Great to learn more about him.
Thanks,
I really appreciate it. and I know you were one of the first to follow my blog.
Thnaks so much for this post… I enjoyed the interview and particularly like the synopsis of W.A. Rusho’s book “Mystic Knights”. I am wishing you a great week, dear Jeri. All the best to you. Aquileana ??
Interesting! W.A. seems to be such a multifaceted personality! I agree with him so much when he says that writers ‘create a world when we write.’ The syllables may be the same but imagination drives us towards that world…which is undoubtedly our own!
Thanks for a wonderful interview Jeri.
I wish W.A. all the success for his novel.
Thanks everyone for the wishes on my book being self-published in paperback. I will notify everyone when it is completed.
Jeri, great interview and well thought out questions. William, I love scary movies and thrillers to! Is the renaissance era the same as the Game of Thrones show? I think that is cool you put history facts in your book because I always like learning new things in books that I did not know before. Good luck on your next book!
Good question,
It is hard to describe “Game of Thrones” in terms of history, because it is a created world, but I would not classify it as renaissance era as I would Medieval.
The medieval period, was between the dark ages and the renaissance era, hence its name.
The dark ages was after the fall of Rome, where culture and knowledge became extinct for several hundred years.
Medieval times was a time of wars and power struggles, but culture was beginning to expand, so I would put Game of Thrones in that medieval times.
The medieval ages, which caused the crusades, allowed the exchange of ideas from one country to another, and was the foundation of the rebirth of knowledge, the renaissance.
Wonderful interview Jeri and as a follower of William’s blog this has been a great opportunity to get to know him a little better. Thanks!
Loved this interview, as always Jeri! It’s so fun to get to know the person behind the book a little better, especially when that person is as interesting as William.
Nice. You are definitely focused. This is a great interview. I like how he has applied his discipline to everything he does, maybe because I could use some discipline when it comes to certain areas in my life. Congrats on your Hall of Fame for Martial Arts. That’s very cool. I wish you the best with his writings.
Jeri, I loved getting to know William better through this interview. I read his posts every week on BHB and though I’m not into fantasy novels, the way he writes his posts always keep me reading to the end.
Good luck with your future books, William. I don’t know what they say to authors but we’ll use the movie version “break a leg”.
Jeri, suggestion – how about doing a series of interviews with all the BHB authors. It’s a great way for us to connect even more with you and the authors we read every week.
Thanks for a terrific read.
Great interview as always, Jeri, and William, I wish you the best success with your novels. I do love it when authors include historical details in their novels. It’s the best way to help readers immerse themselves in your world.
Interesting to find our more about William. That he started out as a private investigator and is interested in history is obvious when you read his blog. And William definitely focus on different aspects of history than I do which is what makes life interesting. Imagine if we were all interested in the same things. How boring life would be.
What a great interview. I loved hearing about William’s process. I love the multiple times he has to step away to he can come back with a fresh perspective. I also love how little tidbits of history get added after the first draft. I think it is a great technique when stories blend real facst and fiction.
Jeri, always interesting. All the time I’ve been reading William’s blog I never saw him in his wrestling garb.
I had actually written some earlier posts which included some of my pics.
http://warusho-author.blogspot.com/2014/12/wrestling-and-writing-round-ii.html
http://warusho-author.blogspot.com/2014/12/wrestling-and-writing.html
The posts dealt with how being a wrestler, and an author is similar.
Jeri, Thank you for this article about an author whom we read every week in BHB. It is fun to learn about people that we only know from here. His weaving in of history into his books makes them so interesting and imaginative.
Great interview Jeri! Thanks for sharing your experiences and tips, William.
Thank you everyone who left comments and well-wishes. I truly appreciate them.
Great interview. I will be interested to see how the story line is for your horror novel that sets place after the zombie apocalypse. That could be very good.
Jerri- Great interview for someone I have been following on Linkedin blogging great. You did such an awesome service to Bill as it helps the reader to understand the person behind the writing.
Congrats to William for getting a publisher for his novel. I read his blog and he always has interesting historical posts. I had a house in upstate New York for quite a few years,so I also enjoy his stories about the fairs and events he attends.
I’m fascinated with the history of everyday life. However, I haven’t been able to get into Moby Dick.
I will admit it is long, not something you are going to knock out in a weekend.
For me, I liked the symbolism of the whale. Also, the drive of Ahab, when it comes down to it, he is the evil not the whale.
Bang on about the marketing! These days, publishers want to know that you have a substantial following before they’ll even consider your manuscript. You have to get out there and flog your book shamelessly, at every opportunity. It’s not a vocation for the shrinking violet, that’s for sure. Luckily, the internet has made it a little easier to get out there – but also more competitive. A double-edged sword, for sure!
Trust me, I am doing everything I can think of. Still not having a lot of luck.
Fantasy, eh? I admit I was a bit surprised to see this one roll up, because I know you like the literary works, Jeri. Good interview. 🙂
Grats on the recent release, W.A.!
I again have to take this time to thank Jeri for letting me be October’s feature author. It was a pleasure, and a huge privilege to be part of her website. Thank you everyone who took the time to leave to read my interview, and to those who left a comment.