The Lost Years Of Billy Battles
(Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 3) by Ronald E. Yates
(Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 3) by Ronald E. Yates
Where in the world is Billy Battles?
As Book Three of the Finding Billy Battles
trilogy begins we know where Billy is. He is in Chicago with his wife, the
former Baroness Katharina von Schreiber living a sedate and comfortable life
after years of adventure and tragedy. That changes with a single telephone call
that yanks Billy and Katharina back into a life of havoc and peril.
Persuaded by a powerful old friend to go undercover
for the U.S. government the two find themselves in Mexico during the height of
the violent 1910-1920 revolution. There they encounter assorted German spies,
Mexican revolutionaries, devious political operatives, and other malefactors.
Caught in the middle of the 1914 American invasion of Veracruz, they must find
a way out while keeping their real identities secret.
Later on, disaster strikes. It is a
tragedy Billy is all too familiar with and one that will send him plummeting
into a chasm of despair and agony. Then, Billy vanishes leaving family and
friends to wonder what happened to him. Where is he? Is he dead or alive? What
provoked his disappearance?
In Book 3 of the Finding Billy Battles
Trilogy, those questions are answered, and the mystery behind Billy’s
disappearance is ultimately revealed.
Cold
Coffee Review: Saying
goodbye to an old friend is always hard and that is how I feel as the “Finding
Billy Battles Trilogy” comes to a close with book three titled “The Lost Years
of Billy Battles”. The fictional Ted
Sayles has done a remarkable job reading and producing this trilogy from more
than a dozen journals written by his great grandfather Billy Battles. It is the
historical significance woven skillfully within the element of fiction that makes
this trilogy a must read for history buffs and fans of action and adventure
novels.
After years of travel,
relationships with foreign governments, wars of American making and wars forced
upon us, not to mention the Chinese and Malay pirates; Billy and Katharina
finally enjoy a few peaceful years where Billy is an editor for the Chicago
Record-Herald and Katharina a successful author. It is inevitable that this
serene period wouldn’t last forever. One phone call to go undercover will find
them “caught in the middle of the 1914
American invasion of Veracruz”.
Just when danger subsides, I
found myself holding my breath when the unthinkable happens. “Katharina wasn’t the one the five men were
after. It was me. But when they couldn’t find me, they decided to take
Katharina to use as bait. That was the first revelation. Next was who the men
were. The man who had dragged Katharina out of the house was Mason Bledsoe, son
of Nate Bledsoe, the man I had killed in 1889 on my family’s homestead in
Western Kansas. When I heard the name, my knees buckled and my heart raced for
a moment.” It was the ransom note that made Billy’s heart sink.
Of all the dangers Billy and
Katharina had been exposed to in their life together, how will this one match
up? When Billy is nowhere to be found, what reason will be uncovered? How will
Billy Battle close the final chapter in his journal? Will Ted Sayles effort to
canonize the legacy of his Great Grandfather Billy Battle live on for future
generations?
There is no doubt in my mind
that Author Ronald E. Yates’ extensive historical research, skilled character
development and impeccable story telling has brought the reader to a successful
conclusion in this thought provoking trilogy. I invite you to read the entire
“Finding Billy Battles Trilogy” as it portrays, as much a glimpse into history,
as it does into one man’s life.
I, Theodocia McLean, endorse
The Lost Years Of Billy Battles (Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 3) by
Ronald Yates as a final testimony to the life and times of Billy Battle. I
purchased this book in Kindle format. This review was completed on June 26,
2018.
Genre:
Historical Fiction, French, Action & Adventure
Amazon
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The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles
(Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 2) by Ronald E. Yates
(Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 2) by Ronald E. Yates
Billy
Battles is definitely not in Kansas anymore.
As
Book 2 of the Finding Billy Battles trilogy opens, Billy is far from his Kansas
roots and his improbable journeys are just starting.
The
year is 1894 and Billy is aboard the S S China sailing to the inscrutable Far
East. Trouble is not far behind. He has met a mysterious and possibly dangerous
German Baroness. He has locked horns with malevolent agents of the German
government and battled ferocious Chinese and Malay pirates in the South China
Sea.
Later,
he is embroiled in the bloody anti-French insurgency in Indochina–which quite
possibly makes him the first American combatant in a country that eventually
will become Vietnam. Then, in the Philippines, he is thrust into the Spanish-American
War and the brutal anti-American insurgency that follows. But Billy’s troubles
are only beginning.
As
the 19th century ends and the 20th century begins, he finds himself entangled
with political opportunists, spies, revolutionaries, and an assortment of
vindictive and dubious characters of both sexes. How will Billy handle those
people and the challenges they present? The answers are just ahead.
One Special Book Review: You can't help but be intrigued and
fascinated by the intrepid, larger-than-life protagonist in Ronald Yates'
entertaining and thoughtful second book of his Finding Billy Battles trilogy.
This time, you see how Billy's tumultuous life begins to impact him in middle
age as he seeks his next adventures to distract him from past grief and guilt.
Yates has an effective way of revealing interesting details of exotic places
during historic periods--this time primarily in the Orient of the late 19th and
early 20th centuries--while weaving in a fascinating tale of a man in perpetual
motion. One can't help but find interesting parallels at Yates' deft hand
between Billy's unrest and that of French Indochina and the Philippines during
a time of conflict and pushback over European colonization. Ray Elliott, Author
of, With the Silent Knowledge, Iwo Blasted Again, and Wild Hands Toward the Sky
Awards:
Three Pulitzer Prize nominations by the Chicago Tribune
The Peter Lisagor Award from the Society of Professional Journalists
The Inter-American Press Association Tom Wallace Award for coverage of South America
Three Edward Scott Beck Awards for international reporting.
Three Pulitzer Prize nominations by the Chicago Tribune
The Peter Lisagor Award from the Society of Professional Journalists
The Inter-American Press Association Tom Wallace Award for coverage of South America
Three Edward Scott Beck Awards for international reporting.
Genre: historical
fiction, action and adventure
Cold Coffee Review: The Improbable Journeys of Billy
Battles is the sequel to Finding Billy Battles. I jumped right into this book
without reading the first in this trilogy and found it to be a compelling story
based on fact and expanded by narrative fiction.
Ted
Sayles who is the great-grandson of Billy Battles inherits Billy’s journals and
while writing this trilogy he stays very true to the language of the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century. While this book opens in 1894 with
William (Billy) Battles heading for the Orient aboard the SS China it covers
his time in the Far East, Latin America, and Europe.
It
is aboard the SS China that Billy meets German
Baroness Katharina von Schreiber. She is gorgeous and regal, far
out of reach of a Kansas
scribbler (journalist). Since you have probably read the book’s description I
wrestle with what to share with you from this amazing story and journey that
Billy Battles is about to embark on. So I have decided to quote this passage to
whet your appetite. I quote:
“Katharina’s
cabin was a bit larger than mine was, and like mine, its walls were covered
with dark mahogany panels. In addition to the two overstuffed chairs and
writing table, she also had a small dining table. That is where we settled, she
on one side and me on the other.
“I’m
sorry, I have nothing to offer you to drink.” Then she paused, stood up, and
walked to her wardrobe where she produced a tear-shaped bottle of Glenglassaugh
single malt Scotch whiskey and two heavy cut crystal glasses. “Except for
this.”
She
returned and placed the glasses on the table in front of us. “May I?” she
asked, and then uncorking the bottle, she poured two fingers in each glass.
“This was my late husband’s favorite.”
I
shuddered imperceptibly at that remark but pulled the glass toward me anyway.
Images of Katharina pushing Baron von Schreiber over a cliff or poisoning him
with arsenic-laced Wiener schnitzel flooded my mind.
I
forced those macabre thoughts out of my mind by focusing on the rich amber hue
of the whiskey as I uneasily swirled the glass around and around in front of
me.
What
was I doing? I found myself thinking. Why was I in Katharina Schreiber’s cabin
about to drink expensive single malt Scotch whiskey with a woman who had just
admitted she had killed, but not murdered, her husband?”
Murder,
mystery, intrigue, people, places and events that were intended to divert
Billy’s attention from his past soon gets him embroiled in Katharina’s past,
with the German government, not to mention Chinese and Malay pirates. Later on
he finds himself perhaps the first
American to be involved in the Anti-French insurgency in Indochina which
will later be called Vietnam and involve America. War will not end there as he
is forced into the Spanish-American War while in the Philippines.
Just
as life takes many unexpected turns for Billy Battles so will your desire to
keep turning the pages of this book to find out what is it about Billy Battles
that causes him to try to escape his past, endure his new reality and find
measured peace as he heads into the twilight of his life.
I
invite you to read The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles as it is a journey
worth your time. Be sure to read Finding Billy Battles (book one in this
trilogy) while waiting for the author to write the final book in this amazing
trilogy.
Author
Ronald E. Yates life experience as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago
Tribune in Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America gives
him the authority with which he writes. It is important to point out he won
“three Pulitzer Prize nominations and several other awards, including the Peter
Lisagor Award from the Society of Professional Journalists; The Inter-American
Press Association Award for coverage of South America; and three Edward Scott
Beck Awards for international reporting. He is a graduate of the William Allen White School of Journalism at the
University of Kansas. He lives in Murrieta, California.”
I,
Theodocia McLean, endorse The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles (Trilogy
Book Two) by Ronald E. Yates. Ronald E. Yates is the author of the Finding
Billy Battles (book one in this trilogy) and The Kikkoman Chronicles: A Global
Company with A Japanese Soul, Aboard The Tokyo Express: A Foreign
Correspondent's Journey Through Japan as well as three journalism textbooks:
The Journalist's Handbook, International Reporting and Foreign Correspondents,
and Business and Financial Reporting in a global Economy. I purchased this book
from Kindle. This review was completed on June 17, 2016.
Amazon Hard Cover Purchase Link
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Finding Billy Battles
(Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 1) by Ronald E. Yates
(Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 1) by Ronald E. Yates
When
a great-grandson inherits two aging trunks and a stack of meticulously detailed
journals penned by his great-grandfather, he sets out to fulfill his
great-grandfather's last request: to tell the story of an incredible life
replete with adventure, violence, and tragedy. The great-grandfather's name is
Billy Battles--a man often trapped and overwhelmed by circumstances beyond his
control.
For
much of his 100-year-long life Billy is a man missing and largely unknown to
his descendants. His great-grandson is about to change that. As he works his
way through the aging journals and the other possessions he finds in the
battered trunks he uncovers the truth about his mysterious great-grandfather--a
man whose deeds and misdeeds propelled him on an extraordinary and perilous
journey from the untamed American West to the inscrutable Far East, Latin
America and Europe.
As
he flips through the pages of the handwritten journals he learns of Billy's
surprising connections to the Spanish-American War, French Indochina, and
revolutions in Mexico and other Latin American countries. But most of all he
learns that in finding Billy Battles he has also found a long lost and
astonishing link to the past.
One Special Book Review:
5.0 out of 5
stars Fantastic Historical Fiction Amazon Verified Purchase Review
Most
of my relatives are normal, boring people. They have interesting anecdotes and
some cool experiences, but overall there is nothing that will make me sit back
and listen to them for hours on end. Billy Battles is nothing like these
people.
Apparently
taken partially from a real-life person, this tale is told through the great
grandson of Billy Battles reading through the personal journals of his life as
a young man, exploring the world and discovering himself.
Having
studied history, the research involved in this book is striking and very
thorough. The language, the details, the people and cultures, are very true to
life, and I have to take my hat off to Ronald Yates. Yet the book doesn’t just
rest on being factual. Through the journals, I got a very close look at Billy,
and the people he met, which humanized several actual historical characters,
without taking any undue liberties to make them fit a certain mold.
I read this book
in a day and half the night, and I don’t regret the lost sleep.
Reviewed by Dan
Clarke
Genre: historical
fiction, action and adventure
Amazon Customer Reviews
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************************
Enjoy The Trilogy Kindle Gift Set
- Finding Billy Battles (Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 1) by Ronald E. Yates
- The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles (Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 2) by Ronald E. Yates
- The Lost Years Of Billy Battles (Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 3) by Ronald Yates
************************
The Kikkoman Chronicles by Ronald E. Yates
Genre: Business, Marketing,
Amazon Hard Cover Print Purchase Link http://www.amazon.com/Kikkoman-Chronicles-Global-Company-Japanese/dp/0071347364/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=colcofpre-20&linkId=023c21f75695afa335c6965dbb2687f4
************************
Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author Ronald E. Yates
Ronald E. Yates is an award-winning author of historical fiction and action/adventure novels, including the popular and highly-acclaimed Finding Billy Battles trilogy. His extraordinarily accurate books have captivated fans around the world who applaud his ability to blend fact and fiction.
Ron is a former foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and Professor Emeritus of Journalism at the University of Illinois where he was also the Dean of the College of Media.
His award-winning book, "The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles," is the second in his Finding Billy Battles trilogy of novels and was published in June 2016. The first book in the trilogy, "Finding Billy Battles," was published in 2014. His latest book is entitled The Lost Years of Billy Battles. It is book #3 of the trilogy and will be released in May 2018.
Ron has been a presenting author at the Kansas Book Festival and the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, among other venues. He is also the author of The Kikkoman Chronicles: A Global Company with A Japanese Soul, published by McGraw-Hill. Other books include Aboard the Tokyo Express: A Foreign Correspondent's Journey through Japan, a collection of columns translated into Japanese, as well as three journalism textbooks: The Journalist's Handbook, International Reporting and Foreign Correspondents, and Business and Financial Reporting in a Global Economy.
Before leaving the world of professional journalism where he toiled 27 years, Ron lived and worked in Japan, Southeast Asia, and both Central and South America where he covered several history-making events including the fall of South Vietnam and Cambodia; the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing; and wars and revolutions in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, among other places.
His work as a war correspondent resulted in several awards, including the Inter-American Press Association's Tom Wallace Award for coverage of Central and South America; the Peter Lisagor Award from the Society of Professional Journalists; three Edward Scott Beck Awards for International Reporting, and three Pulitzer nominations.
Ron is a proud graduate of the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas and a veteran of the U.S. Army where he served in the Army Security Agency.
Interview:
What makes you proud to be a writer from Kansas? I grew up in Kansas and graduated from the University of Kansas. I set the first book of my Finding Billy Battles trilogy in Kansas—a state steeped in old west history, where the “buffalo roam and the sky is not cloudy all day.”
What or who inspired you to become a writer? When I was in the fifth or sixth grade I had a teacher (Mrs. Gooch) who encouraged me to write. She insisted I had the gift of the storyteller. My mother also bought me books and took me often to the library--a place that I found magical and magnetic. She often read to me and I could "see" the story unfolding before me. When I could read myself, I began to devour everything I could get my hands on. Reading took me places I could not, as a boy, otherwise go. As I used to tell my journalism students at the University of Illinois, if you want to write well, read well.
Did your environment or upbringing play a major role in your writing and did you use it to your advantage? I certainly used my upbringing on a Kansas farm to my advantage in Book 1 of my trilogy. I used to listen to my relatives talk—they used some wonderful Kansas vernacular that I have incorporated in my books. I also have used the Kansas terrain and environment in Book 1.
When did you begin writing with the intention of becoming published? Of course, as a journalist, I wrote thousands of stories from all over the world and reached an audience of millions. I wrote magazine stories, editorials, opinion pieces and news stories. So, I guess that means I was published some 30 years ago. I did a corporate profile of the Japanese company, Kikkoman in 1998. That book (The Kikkoman Chronicles) was published by McGraw-Hill. I also wrote three journalism textbooks in the late 1990s and early 2000s. My trilogy of novels (Finding Billy Battles) had been bubbling up inside me since the late 1990s. When I left the University of Illinois and moved to southern California I suddenly had time to devote to putting the trilogy together.
What has been your most rewarding experience with your writing process? Writing, whether fiction or non-fiction is storytelling. I love telling stories. The difference with fiction is that I am not limited only by facts. I can take the story and my characters anywhere I want to and in so doing, I can take readers with me on those journeys. However, the books in this series rely heavily on real events and are, therefore, meticulously researched.
What has been your most rewarding experience in your publishing journey? I have enjoyed meeting readers at book festivals and fairs and talking to them about writing, a subject I taught at the University of Illinois. Reaching a broad array of readers, connecting with other published authors, and listening to people comment and critique my work has been very rewarding also. As a writer you should never stop listening or learning.
How many published books do you have? Currently, I have eight published books, three of which are journalism textbooks, two are fiction and one is non-fiction. I also have published a book of my translated newspaper and magazine columns in Japan.
Please list the titles of all your books: Finding Billy Battles: An Account of Peril, Transgression and Redemption The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles (Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 2) The Lost Years Of Billy Battles (Finding Billy Battles Trilogy Book 1) The Kikkoman Chronicles The Reporter’s Handbook International Reporting and Foreign Correspondents Business & Financial Reporting in a Global Economy Aboard the Tokyo Express (a collection of columns translated into Japanese)
Do you come up with your title(s) before or after you write the manuscript? In almost every case, the titles simmer and stew while I am writing the book. Then, when I am almost finished, I usually “see” the title.
Please introduce your genre and why you prefer to write in that genre? The books of the Finding Billy Battles trilogy belong to a couple of genres. The most dominant one is probably historical fiction, but both contain action and adventure. I love recreating the past for my readers—either through descriptive scenes or via language. The trilogy begins in the 19th century when our language, the vernacular, and expressions used were quite different from the English we use today. Being true to the language of the time is just as important in creating an authentic setting of a book or story as the architecture, technology or modes of transportation. Taking your readers on a journey to the past with your characters is one of the great joys of storytelling.
What was your inspiration, spark or light bulb moment that inspired you to write the book (one book) that you are seeking promotion for? Because my second book is part of a trilogy, I would have to say I got the idea for this story a long time ago when I was interviewing a 98-year-old Spanish-American War veteran on the veranda of the Wadsworth Old Soldiers home in Leavenworth, Kansas. I was a summer intern from the University of Kansas working for the Kansas City Star and I was given the assignment to talk to this man. He regaled me with some of the most amazing stories I had ever heard about his time in the Philippines as part of the 20th Kansas Volunteer infantry. I never forgot that interview and, if you read Book 1 of the trilogy, you can see how I used that experience to get my trilogy started.
What one positive piece of advice would you give to other authors? Try to write as much as you can from your own experiences. They are real and uncontrived and if you incorporate those experiences in your fiction, your work will have a truthful ring to it. Beyond that, KEEP AT IT! Don't let anybody (editors, agents, etc.) discourage you. At the same time, be willing to accept constructive criticism from those who have experience as authors, editors, agents, etc. Notice I said CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Some people criticize just to be criticizing--or to be malicious. You must believe in yourself, your work, your vision, and your story. If you don't, who will?
Who is your favorite author and why? It is really difficult to point to just one favorite author. As a journalist, I really liked Hemingway. I also really enjoyed Evelyn Waugh. So those two are at the top, as is John Steinbeck, Mark Twain.
Additional Q and A’s provided by Ron Yates: What do you think makes a good story? A good story needs a strong plot and even stronger characters. Otherwise, it falls flat. The writer needs to be above all, a good storyteller. If you build a good story, THEY WILL COME, to paraphrase “Field of Dreams.” Make readers care about your protagonist. Make readers empathize, cry, and laugh with them. At the same time, keep them off balance. Don't be predictable and don't be afraid to do terrible things to your favorite characters. Have you ever known anybody who has sailed through life without some turmoil, some pain, some suffering? I haven't.
If your book became a movie, who would be your first choice to play the lead roles? Clint Eastwood as the elderly Billy Battles; Clive Owen as the middle-aged Billy Battles and Ashton Kutcher as the young Billy Battles. I would pick Saffron Burrows for Billy's first love, Mallie McNab and Famke Janssen for the widow Katharina Schreiber who Billy meets on the boat to the Far East. (Why these choices? These folks are all tall, like me. Billy is 6'3" and Mallie is about 5'10," as is the statuesque widow Schreiber).
Do any of your characters have qualities/characteristics that are similar to yourself? I think Billy Battles and I are a lot alike. I mean, aren't most novels a bit autobiographical? He is a restless sort. He enjoys traveling, going to new places and experiencing new things. Like Billy, I couldn't wait to get away from Kansas (though I love the place dearly). And, like Billy, I am a happy wanderer. How else could I have survived and thrived as a foreign correspondent for 25 years? We are both journalists. At the same time, he is a dependable guy who is loyal to his friends and to those he chooses to keep close to him. Above all, Billy respects two traits in people: Honesty and Kindness. We are alike in that way.
How do you develop your plots and your characters? Do you use any set formula? I write from the seat of my pants. I don't outline my books and I don't write down plot scenarios. I just start writing and see where the story and my characters lead me. It's a lot like life itself. We may have a goal in mind, but the route to it is often strewn with obstacles, surprises, and sometimes tragedy. I usually write 3,000 or 4,000 words a day and I edit as I go. In other words, I may write a few paragraphs and then rewrite them within a few minutes of creating them. I don't really write what I would call a “First Draft.” When I finish writing a book it is finished. I may go back and make a few tweaks with the plot here and there or alter a little dialogue or some action by a character, but there is no second or third draft. I know some authors who will write a first draft and put it away for weeks or months and then go back and look at it with fresh eyes. Alternatively, they may send it out to professional "beta readers" or "critiquers." Those strategies may work for some people. They don't work for me. I guess it's my journalistic training: see it, report it, organize it, write it and then move on to the next story.
If your publisher offered to fly you anywhere in the world to do research on an upcoming book, where would you most likely want to go? Back to Vietnam, Cambodia and The Philippines--three countries I worked in as correspondent in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and three countries where Billy Battles is going to wind up living during the 1890s. While I know a lot about those places, having lived and worked in them, I would love to dig deeper into their colonial periods and learn more about life during that era.
Is being a writer a curse or a gift? It is a wonderful gift if you allow the process to come to you and don't force it. However, don't let anybody tell you it is not damned hard work. It is. The joy of writing for me is telling a good story. I don't care about imparting a "message." Nor do I care about creating any hidden "meanings" that some literature professor will hold forth about in a writing class when I am no longer around to rebut him/her. I just want to tell a good story. That, to me, is the ultimate goal of writing. The curse is that writing can take over your life, isolate you from family and friends, and turn you into a kind of sophistic recluse if you are not careful. Writers need to take breaks from working. If they don't I believe they run the risk of becoming stale, self-absorbed, and misanthropic.
What challenges have you had in regards to your writing life? When I was a working journalist for the Chicago Tribune and then a Dean and Professor of journalism at the University of Illinois, I could never find large enough blocks of time to write consistently. Writing requires HUGE amounts of time and long periods of seclusion--things most of us don't have. Therefore, time to write was always my greatest challenge. Now that I am no longer administering a college, teaching or working full-time as a journalist I am blessed to have a lot more time to write than I ever thought I would have.
When did you first start and when did you finish your book? I started the first book in the Finding Billy Battles trilogy in 2010, but I wasn't consistent in working on it. I really buckled down in the spring of 2013 and probably wrote 60% of it in about five months. I started Book #2 in the trilogy in December 2014 and finished in May 2016. What does your protagonist think of you?
Would he/she want to hang out with you? I think Billy Battles and I would be good friends. We are both journalists and we both like going to new places and experiencing new challenges. In addition, we both enjoy a good cold beer after a long hard day.
How do you market your book? What avenues work best? I am still learning how to use the vast universe of social media to market my book. In addition to Amazon and Barnes & Noble, of course, my book is on Goodreads, Smashwords, Google Books, Createspace, NetGalley, Independent Book Publishers Association, as well as the Historical Novel Society, my blog, my author page on Facebook and http://www.ronaldyatesbooks.com/
What has been the toughest criticism of your book so far? Most of the critical comments have been minor. A few people found the 19th Century Kansas vernacular my characters use in Book #1 an annoyance. Book #2 has very little of that because Billy Battles is now in Asia and Europe. A handful of people said they didn't like the fact that the book is part of a trilogy because now they have to wait for Book #2. I like THAT kind of criticism.
What has been the best compliment? There have been several, but I will list just four here. You can find these and other reviews on the book's Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KHDVZI/-/e/B00KQAYMA8/ "This is easily the best work of fiction I have read in some time." "There is something about this book that is almost impossible to explain, but it takes it from being a *good* book to a GREAT one." "Move over Elmore Leonard and Pete Dexter--there's a new deputy sheriff in town." "Ever have a book that takes over your days and nights - that's what Finding Billy Battles did for me."
Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination? That's tricky. I call my work "Faction," because it is both fact and fiction. Some of the events in the book--especially those dealing with real people, did happen. Was my character directly involved in them? No. However, members of my family were native Kansans and some of the experiences I write about did happen. Of course, I have woven some of my own experiences into the story line also.
What was the scariest moment of your life? There have been several. One was during the evacuation of Saigon in 1975. The last day was chaos incarnate. Russian made 122mm rockets were slamming into buildings, 130mm mortars were hitting Tan Son Nhut airport, and the U.S. Embassy was surrounded by frantic South Vietnamese desperate to get out of the country because they had worked for the American military or some U.S. agency. The city was in full panic mode. Several of us made our way to the sprawling Defense Attaché Office building at Tan Son Nhut and we were finally evacuated by a U.S. Marine CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter. It was a relief until the door gunner told me later aboard the U.S.S. Okinawa that the pilot apparently had to drop a flare to misdirect a SAM-7 (surface to air missile). Another was during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre when several Chinese students and I were pinned down near the square for 30 minutes or so by Chinese soldiers shooting in our direction. Several students near me were wounded and we were helping them get to a doctor's house nearby so he could treat them. I was convinced I was going to wind up dead in the square. Then suddenly the shooting stopped and I was able to get my Red and White bicycle that I had chained to a lamppost and peddle like crazy for the Jinhua Hotel where I was staying and from where I was filing my stories to the Tribune. Yet another memorable moment was during the revolution in El Salvador when two German correspondents and I were stopped in our car near the town of Suchitoto by Communist guerillas. They put cloth bags put over our heads and forced us to kneel alongside the road. We were sure we were going to be executed. However, suddenly the "jefe" (leader) showed up and set us free. "Don't kill journalists--unless they are armed," he yelled at his troops. I was greatly relieved that I had left the Model 1911 Colt.45 pistol I had purchased a few days earlier back in the hotel in San Salvador. I believe it is still there. Ahhh yes, the life of a foreign correspondent...never a dull moment. Nevertheless, I still believe I had the best job in the world and I wouldn't trade my career for anything.
What books have most influenced your life? Scoop, by Evelyn Waugh; The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck; The Quiet American, Graham Greene; The Jewel in the Crown, Paul Scott; Kim, Rudyard Kipling; Huckleberry Finn, Samuel Clemons (Mark Twain); A Passage to India, E.M. Forster; Sister Carrie, Theodore Dreiser; The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer.
What do you do to unwind and relax? What else? I read. I find reading a good book helps me escape from my own writing, which I need to do on occasion.
What is your favorite line from a book? I have a couple and they are both from Evelyn Waugh: “Feather-footed through the plashy fen passes the questing vole." It is a line from Waugh's book Scoop written by nature writer William Boot for the London Daily Beast just before he is mistaken for a famous foreign correspondent and sent off to the fictional African country of Ishmaelia to cover a war. AND from Waugh's book, Vile Bodies comes this great line: “I know very few young people, but it seems to me that they are all possessed with an almost fatal hunger for permanence.”
If it were mandatory for everyone to read three books, what books would you suggest? Huckleberry Finn; Grapes of Wrath; Sister Carrie. Not only are these classics, they are wonderful stories about the human spirit, its resiliency and strength, and its deficiencies and weaknesses.
Amazon Author’s Page http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KHDVZI/-/e/B00KQAYMA8/
Professional Website http://ronaldyatesbooks.com/
Professional Blog http://ronaldyatesbooks.com/category/foreign-correspondent/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Ronald-E-Yates-Books-688075584557417/
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Cold Coffee Press http://www.coldcoffeepress.com/ronald-e-yates/
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