Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

Helen Keller

With the success of Raw Man exceeding my wildest expectations, I thought I was written out. I never studied writing and what I wrote was from the heart. Then the great songwriter Peter Himmelman said this:

“I’m thirty pages from the end of this thing and I’ve got to say, it’s one hell of a piece of writing. Not only is the story incredible, I knew it would be. But the gift Fred Rivera has for words was. …well, it was a bit of a shock. It’s beyond rare to find someone who’s never toiled in the world of letters, taking endless writing courses and so on, to be this naturally gifted. My sense is that Fred’s musicianship, his ability to hear and to give over what he’s heard, is at the root of it all. There’s a rhythm to all good music – as we know – and the same thing goes with good writing. Fred’s the Buddy Rich of the printed page. Raw Man The Book will hypnotize you and put you in the places Fred’s been. Prepare yourselves. He’s seen a lot. Maybe too much. My blessings to him and his family.

After the thrill and the shot of adrenaline I felt after winning the two important awards in San Francisco, I met a successful author at the San Francisco airport. I asked him when I should start writing my next novel. He said, “You write it, promote it for a year, and then start your next book. No sooner and certainly no later.”

Well it has been a year.

This and the reviews on Amazon, and of course the constant encouragement of my publisher Thornton Sully, have given me the confidence to start my new novel. Working title: The Road to Que. Experience has taught me that this will by a Working Title only. Raw Man war written over eight years with the title of Youth In Asia I have started writing and I have every one of you to thank for setting me on this course in this stage of my life. Namaste

rm