Mystery author Richard Lynn Minnich joins me to chat about his new suspenseful adventure, The Parachutists.
Welcome, Richard, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m 37 years old, born July 31st, 1985 in West Plains, Missouri. I live and work on a small farm outside of Birch Tree, Missouri. I enjoy reading, my favorites include The Hobbit, The Walking Drum, and To Kill a Mockingbird. I enjoy the classics. I’m heavily into almost anything Star Wars if it has a good storyline, not just maiming each other with laser swords and chopping off limbs at random. (Yes, that was me adding levity to my bio)
Please tell us about your current release.
The Parachutists is a story set 27 years after the events of a near-tragic accident during the Gulf War. Two men, whose military helicopter was shot down by order of their own General, have made it a point to set out and destroy this man who turned their lives upside down, one has amnesia and the other has nothing but revenge on his mind.
What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve always heard that the “good guy” always comes out on top. What if the “good guy” doesn’t always win? What if the “good guy” isn’t always the good guy? He turns out to be the monster of the story. Between that question and God giving me the help to write this.
What exciting project are you working on next?
I have three different projects that I’m working on currently. The first is a sequel to The Parachutists, the working title right now is The Parachutists: Leaving Paradise.
Another project I’m working on is titled God’s not a Monster. it’s about an aging bank robber who never got caught in any of his exploits through the years of committing his various crimes, near his final score, he encounters God, turns out God has been using this man to right a few wrongs that these various banks that he’s robbed have committed against their own clients. A modern-day Robin Hood.
And finally, the third project I’m on is a western set shortly after the civil war about a man named Rogue who has turned bounty hunter and has been tracking down former member of his military unit that betrayed him and left him for dead, killing his wife and son and betraying other members of his unit to the confederacy. It’s titled, The Rogue Traveler.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Honestly, I don’t really consider myself a writer, I just love a good story and I have a few of my own to tell. I love being able to pluck at people’s heartstrings, emotions are very powerful after all.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
Yes, I write full time.
For me, my workday usually consists of me getting up around 7 in the a.m., feeding my chickens, and then heading up to my office.
My wifey is good enough to bring me my breakfast while I’m working, I help my children get their lessons planned out for the day (we homeschool). Then I sit and sometimes stare at a blank screen for, maybe thirty minutes to an hour, trying to find my muse for what I’m working on, sometimes I’ll even get in my 1928 Ford and head to town for a spell, especially if I need to clear my head if I’m trying to figure out how to phrase my next sentence or a follow up paragraph.
It can be mind bending, it can be frustrating, it can even make me think that what I’m doing is foolish and stupid and then regret ever thinking it once the project is complete. It can be a very volatile work environment when you’re stuck inside your own head. But there are days when it just comes to me about what to put down, like right now, at first when just thinking about how to fill out this questionnaire I was afraid, afraid that I might put down the wrong thing, afraid that people aren’t going to like what I have to say, afraid of judgment from others as if they’ve never done anything wrong. Then I finally decided to just go for it and here we are.
And then there are days where I can’t think of a single thing to put to paper so I go out to my sawmill, crank it up and run a line or two, sometimes an idea will hit me for a story or for a paragraph in a story I’m already working on and I get it down on paper as quick as I can before it leaves and I forget it.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I don’t know if I’d call this an interesting quirk or not, but when I first start on a story, I like to do it with a pen and paper, I feel more connected with the story, it feels more personal, like shaking hands with someone, it’s a connection.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I am into classic cars, fact is, that’s about all I drive anymore. Way too much of the same old boring stuff out on the road anymore, I prefer something with its own personality.
