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| Tony Riches, Author QUEEN SACRIFICE, THE SHELL, ATLANTIS--THE FINAL SPACE SHUTTLE, TERRA NOVA: ANTARCTIC NOVA, PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY FOR BUSY MANAGERS |
British Author Tony Riches has written an eclectic group of fiction and
non-fiction books—each unique in its story-telling. His first book QUEEN SACRIFICE is an historical novel about the queens, knights and pawns in 10th
century Wales. His most recent novel THE SHELL describes the kidnapping of a couple
in Kenya. Early interest in space exploration led him to write ATLANTIS—THE FINAL SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION. He drew on his experience as Head of Cardiff
Harbour Authority to write TERRA NOVA: ANTARCTIC VOYAGER about Captain Scott's exploits
in the early 20th century. Riches also shared the benefit of his
management experience in PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY FOR BUSY MANAGERS.
His personal life is as eclectic as his writing. He plays both the flute
and the saxophone, and likes to listen to music from Pink Floyd to Corelli. He
enjoys sea kayaking and riding his Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle. He currently lives with his wife in
Q: You are a cross-genre writer – and beyond. You have written an
eclectic group of books. What
inspired you to write your first book? How did you go from your first book to
the next?
Tony Riches: Charles Dodgson aka Lewis Carroll
memorably brought chess pieces to life in his sequel Through the Looking-Glass.
I was fascinated by the idea as a child but when I started researching
the early history of my native Wales I was inspired to write my first novel, QUEEN SACRIFICE. I was learning about
the 10th Century kings and queens, supported by knights and bishops,
with the ordinary people becoming pawns in their civil wars, so it was fun to
make the whole country a chess board – with a castle at each corner! Authors will understand how much I
missed writing it once it was finished, so I went straight on to writing my
second novel, THE SHELL.
Q: You write both fiction and non-fiction. How different are they to write? Do you still need to “tell
a story” in your non-fiction books? What inspired you to write Personal Productivity for Busy
Managers and Agile: Project Management for Busy Managers?
Tony Riches: The ‘for Busy Managers’ series resulted from my long career in project management
and change management consultancy.
I saw many good managers overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work and the
alarming pace of change, so decided to keep each book in the series as short as
possible. Personal Productivity is
simply a collection of 100 useful tips, gathered from friends and colleagues –
and yes I do tell ‘stories’ from my own experience. The main point of my Agile
Project Management book is that we should really welcome changing
requirements and ‘coach’ flexible, self-directing teams. I’ve used all these
ideas very successfully and was really pleased when the Agile book became a US Amazon
best seller. (I am currently
working on the third in the series, Transformational
Change for Busy Managers, which is proving very topical!)
Q: How important is the setting for your recently-published book THE SHELL? Could you have created a similar story in a different setting?
Tony Riches: That’s an interesting question - the
real story is about what happens when the protective ‘shell’ of the modern
world is suddenly stripped away. I
could have set it in almost any time and place but lived in Nairobi as a child
and went on holiday in Mombasa, so it is a very real place for me with powerful
memories. The idea for the book
was inspired by warnings given to my wife and me when we returned recently to
Mombasa for a holiday. I was about
a third of the way through writing it when it actually came true and a couple
were attacked on a beach just north of Mombasa.
Q: Even your fiction books are rooted in real events. How important to
telling your fictional stories are back story and facts?
Tony Riches: I enjoy finding out the secret
histories we were never taught at school – which are often more amazing than
any fiction. My third novel The Secret Diary of Eleanor Cobham is
about a distant relative of my wife who was charged with using witchcraft
against the king. I’ve been lucky to
find a wealth of information about her and what it must have been like to live
in the England of 1450 – but almost nothing is known about Eleanor after she
was imprisoned for life in Beaumaris Castle on the Isle of Anglesey in
Wales. I am therefore writing it
as her recently discovered ‘secret diary,’ with the self-imposed rule that any
events outside the castle must be as accurately researched as possible.
Q: In QUEEN SACRIFICE you tie the events to a
famous chess game (Bobby Fischer 1956). What led to this ploy? How did it
enhance your story? Do you play chess?
Tony Riches: Yes QUEEN SACRIFICE is based
on what is arguably the most famous chess game of all time - and I set myself
the challenge of making the narrative follow every move. It wasn’t easy when,
for example, a bishop takes a pawn and I had to find a compelling reason within
the story. Thirty-two characters are quite a crowd for the reader to cope with
but the two queens were the only female roles, so I created a handmaiden for
the white queen and a sister for the black queen, as well as a ‘housekeeper’
for one of the bishops. I also
realised that readers would possibly know how it all ends, so I had some fun ‘breaking
the rules’ of normal fiction writing by having some of my best characters suddenly killed off – as they could well have been in 10th century
Wales.
Q: Of all the books you’ve written, which one did you enjoy writing the
most? Why?
Tony Riches: I really enjoyed writing THE SHELL as I had learned a lot about
the technique of writing a novel by then and could just immerse myself in what
is happening in present day Kenya.
Each chapter switches between Lucy’s kidnapping and her husband Steve’s
desperate attempts to rescue her, which really kept up the pace – at one point
I was writing nearly a chapter a day. There are some amazing contrasts and
tensions between the old and new Kenya - enough for a whole series of novels,
so I may well return for a sequel. It also helped to know I had an excellent
editor (UK Author Judith Barrow)
to keep me on the right track.
Q: How do you create engaging characters for your readers?
Tony Riches: It helps if you really care about your
characters and try to make them likeable and flawed at the same time. I carefully work out their back stories
and enjoy putting in a few surprises, even for minor characters such as the
pawns in QUEEN SACRIFICE. (I read some useful advice once, which
was to work out how your character would react in a given situation - then
occasionally make them do the exact opposite and eventually explain to the
reader why they acted so ‘out of character.’) The names are also really
important. I spent ages choosing authentic Welsh names for every character in QUEEN SACRIFICE and checking the
meanings to make sure they were a good ‘fit’.
Q: How do you conduct research? Do you start to form your story as you’re
researching? Or do you research to support your story?
Tony Riches: I like to do my research as I am
writing, so the smallest details are fresh and clear in my mind. Sometimes this
can lead to lucky discoveries. I live close to Pembroke Castle, birthplace of
King Henry VIII and visited the castle with I was writing QUEEN SACRIFICE. I was amazed to find a detailed scale model of how
the castle would have looked in the 10th century, so I took photos
and was able to look at them as I was describing it! Research for The Shell
was easy as all I had to do was keep an eye on Kenyan Television news, which
you can watch online.
Q: Tell us something about you.
What kind of music do you like?
What’s your favorite place to visit? What’s your favorite movie? What do you like doing when you’re not
writing?
Tony Riches: I have two grown up children and a
grandson who loves to come and stay with us in Wales. I play the saxophone and flute
and would have liked to become a full-time musician but am really just a
busker, as I play by ear rather than read the music. My musical tastes are very varied, ranging from Pink Floyd to
Corelli and my latest discovery, the new singer songwriter Beck Goldsmith. My favorite places to visit have to be Hampton Court and
the Lake District, where I am trying to kayak on as many of the lakes as I can
(there are 14 and I’ve done 6 so far). My all-time favorite movie is Groundhog
Day – for its life-affirming message and when not writing I enjoy sea kayaking
and riding my Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle.
About Tony Riches
Tony Riches lives with his wife in Pembrokeshire,
one of the most unspoilt areas of the UK.
Like many authors, he began writing short stories and contributing to a
range of magazines. His first novel, QUEEN SACRIFICE was written after looking into the early history of Wales, and an
interest in space exploration going back to witnessing the Apollo landings as a
child led to the writing of ATLANTIS--THE FINAL SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION.
Before becoming a writer he was Head of Cardiff Harbour
Authority and supported the Captain Scott Society with exhibitions on the
departure of Scott's ship the Terra Nova from Cardiff Docks in 1910. He has since
researched and written TERRA NOVA: ANTARCTIC VOYAGER with support from the Glamorgan Archives and Captain
Scott's granddaughter, Dafila Scott.
About QUEEN SACRIFICE
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10th Century Wales is a country divided, with the kingdom of the south becoming Saxon and the north violently defending the old ways. The inevitable civil war is brutal and savage in this tale of divided loyalty and revenge, treachery and love.
Kings and queens battle for control of the country, with wealth and glory for the victor and death and ruin for the loser. The bishops of Wales struggle to keep the faith while knights and war lords turn events to advantage and the lives of ordinary people are changed forever by the conflict.
Queen Sacrifice is also a legendary tactic in the ancient game of chess. Russian chess grand master Lakov Neishtadt describes the sacrifice of the queen for higher interests as “a source of continuing fascination for the chess novice and master alike.”
The narrative faithfully follows EVERY move in the queen sacrifice game, known as "The Game of the Century" between Donald Byrne and 13-year-old Bobby Fischer in New York City on October 17th, 1956.
About THE SHELL
Mombasa beach: The dream holiday of a lifetime turns into a nightmare for a young couple. Brutally attacked and kidnapped, she has to battle for survival in one of the
remotest and most dangerous areas of north east Kenya. He has to find and
rescue her - before it is too late.
Palm trees line
an idyllic beach of white coral sand. An Arabian dhow sails on the clear blue
waters of the Indian Ocean. Two lovers are ruthlessly torn apart, perhaps
forever. Lucy is bound and helpless, taken far from the safety of the world she
knows. Unconscious and bleeding, nothing has prepared Steve for what he needs
to do.
The inability of
the authorities to help means Steve has to find the strength and courage to
risk his own life in the desperate search for Lucy and fight back against the
kidnappers. His journey takes him deep into the African wilderness, where death
and danger wait for the unwary.
Lucy’s journey
is mental as well as physical as she discovers how easily the protective shell
of her old world has been stripped away. Everything she took for granted is
gone and she has to fight to survive, one day at a time. Whatever happens, she
knows her life will never be the same again.
Based on actual
events and current news reports, this fast-paced action and adventure novel
explores the reality of the tensions between the old tribal ways and life in
the new, rapidly developing country of Kenya.
Personal productivity is under scrutiny as never before. In every sector global recession means continued pressure to reduce costs and increase productivity.
All organizations are now driven to shine a spotlight closely at the
contribution from every manager. A brilliant track record is no longer any
guarantee of future job security. What matters is how much value you are adding
now.
So how do we
really do more with less? There are plenty of books with tips on how to manage
your time - but although time management is likely to be part of the solution,
it will not be enough on its own. The answer is to take control of your own
productivity and lead by example, drawing on practical experience and develop
innovative approaches that will really make a difference.
Keynote speaker
and productivity specialist Neen James says, “In today’s hectic workplace, it’s
not just time management that you have to master, it’s super-productivity that
gets the results. The secrets of super-productivity are not about working more;
they’re about focusing your time, effort and energy on the things that will
deliver the best results for you. It doesn’t mean ‘work longer’, ‘invest more
money’, ‘create more lists or put your lists in a certain order’. It means: do
less of the things that have no significance and more of the things that create
an impact.”
You may be a top
executive in an international corporation or responsible only for yourself.
There are one hundred tips here, based on the experience of many managers in
every type of organization - so the challenge is to pick just ten that seem to
fit with how YOU would like to work and see what you can do to increase your
personal productivity.
Links
Find Tony on twitter @tonyriches and visit his blog The Writing Desk
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