TITLE: The
Vilcabamba Prophecy
RELEASE DATE:
April 10, 2016
AUTHOR: Robert
Rapoza
PAGE COUNT: 409
ISBN: 978-0692646335
IMPRINT: Devil’s Tower
KEYWORDS:
Thriller, Adventure Action, Mystery Suspense, Alien,
Jungle Ruins, Secret Code, Mercenary
ONE LINER:
A beautiful archeologist must find her estranged
father, prove his controversial theories and prevent a madman from unleashing a
deadly weapon on the world.
SYNOPSIS:
NICK RANDALL is an archeologist who believes mankind
isn’t alone on Earth. When a mysterious benefactor funds his research, he
departs to find the lost city of Vilcabamba. Hidden deep in the Amazon, Randall
believes the city holds proof that his contentious theory is true. Upon arriving at the ruins, he mysteriously
disappears.
Randall’s beautiful daughter SAMANTHA learns of her
father’s disappearance from his mentor FRANCISCO ANDRADE who pleads for her
help. An accomplished archeologist herself, Sam must decide if she will set
aside her career and search for the man she blames for her mother’s death.
But someone else is looking for her father as well.
FRANCIS DUMOND, a shadowy man with unlimited resources, will stop at nothing to
find Vilcabamba and use its technology to control the world. It’s a race against time to see if Sam can
find her father, prove his theories and stop Dumond.
Guest Post:
The
first thing I realized when I decided to write my first book was how little I
knew about the process. I knew people who wanted to write a book, but finding
someone to teach me wasn’t easy. My first break came when I discovered the book
‘Writing Popular Fiction’ by Dean Koontz after searching online. Unfortunately,
it wasn’t cheap. The book was out of print and copies were hard to come by. I
had to make a decision. Was I willing to invest in becoming a writer? I clicked
the order button, spent $92 and my writing career began.
The
book was a revelation. Mr. Koontz was careful not to call his book a template
for writing fiction; it was simply a collection of observations made over a
long and successful career. I loved his direct writing style and no nonsense
approach to the subject. When he spoke of selling books as being the goal of a
writer, I had to smile. His point was simple. Your goal is to entertain as many
people as possible.
He
wisely pointed out that the best way to learn to write is by writing and
reading. Sage advice that was repeated by another successful writer, Stephen
King. His book On Writing became my second resource on the subject and his
conversational style didn’t disappoint. As I look back, I would be hard pressed
to identify two better teachers than these two giants of fiction.
Armed
with my newfound knowledge, I got started cranking out the pages, but soon
realized I wasn’t sure where the story was going. It was time to talk to the
teachers again. I reread sections of my books and realized an outline was
needed. Starting with a fresh sheet of paper I started sketching idea notes.
These bulleted concepts morphed into the central themes of each chapter. I put
them in the order I thought worked best went back to writing.
After
typing 500-1,000 words a day for a few weeks, I reached the 10,000 word mark.
That was a turning point in my young career. It was the most I had ever written
and I still had more story to tell. It’s also when I realized I could actually
write a book. It might not be a great work of fiction and would probably never
be published, but I was going to finish this little project.
As
my story grew, I needed to get some feedback. I emailed an old friend of mine
and he agreed to read it. A former musician, he was the creative type who could
encourage me while also providing feedback on the story. Jim was my first
editor and story coach. With his help and the encouragement of my wife Holly
and my children Heather and Ryan, I was able to push through the rough spots
and keep working. And there were plenty of them. I quickly discovered that
writing a novel was a marathon. A marathon through plague infested swamps with
sharp fanged monsters trying to rip my ankles off.
There
were times I stopped working on my book for days and even weeks at a time, but
the pull to finish wouldn’t let me quit. It also helped that Holly and the kids
asked how the book was going when my enthusiasm flagged. They were eager for me
to finish because they knew it was important to me. After eight months, I
finally finished my first draft. It was April 2013 and I was feeling pretty
darn good about myself. I didn’t realize at the time that the real work was
about to begin.
I
knew it was time to get feedback from a larger audience and my first targets
were my sister Mary and her husband Ken. They were both very supportive, saying
they liked the story and found it entertaining. Ken pointed out that the story
slowed in the middle and encouraged me to reread that part of the manuscript. I
did and he was right. It was time to start editing my novel. Yes, I had spell
checked and even fixed a few punctuation errors, but it was time for a thorough
review.
I
turned to an online critique group for input, joining ‘You Write On’ and
submitted the first 7,000 words of my story. In return for reviewing other
writers’ work, I received critique credits. It was an eye opening experience.
My story had its supporters, but I soon learned I had a lot to learn about
writing. While it was tough to hear the critical feedback, it was a necessary
part of the education process.
By
now, nearly two years had passed since I started my first book and I had
learned a great deal about the writing process. I sought resources on editing
and gave my story a complete overhaul. Next, I sought a professional editor who
provided incredible insight into my writing. He also provided more rewrites. I
printed my manuscript with his notes in the margin, and edited my entire story
with pen and paper again. Feeling my work was polished, I queried agents,
drawing the interest of Mark Gottlieb of the Trident Media Group. He was
interested in reading my work, but only if I could get the word count to
80,000.
I
had edited my story down to 63,000 words, removing excessive backstory. After
reviewing my manuscript again, I realized my characters needed greater depth
and I needed to create a better sense of imagery to draw the reader in. I
reworked my story and reached my goal. After another round of self-editing, my
manuscript was finally done.
Nearly
a month after starting my last round of rewrites, I sent the finished story to
Mark who agreed to represent my work. After several months of shopping it to
publishers, I am thrilled to have landed a deal with Ravenswood Publishing.
Here’s what they are
saying:
The
Visitors had me on the edge of my seat! This is a very action packed read; it’s
full of plot twist and turns that keep you guessing the outcome. The writer
doesn’t make you feel that this could be a HEA ending. The lead characters are
in peril and the reader has no idea if any of them will make it out alive.
Mr.
Rapoza’s writing style is clear and concise, yet descriptive enough to put the
reader right in the middle of the action. He brings out the reader emotions by
making you love the characters. You want the good guys to win, but you’re never
sure that they will.
While
reading the book, I was excited, sad, laughed, and got pretty upset and angry
at a couple of spots. THAT is writing at its finest.
Congratulations
to Mr. Rapoza for writing an excellent story. One I would recommend to anyone
that enjoys thrills, adventure and “edge of your seat” reading. I am looking
forward to reading more books from this very talented author.
Superbly
done!
Jill
Corley
This
is a roller coaster ride of a read! Exciting, thrilling, and a definite page
turner. I loved it and you will too!
Wil
Scott
AUTHOR BIO:
Born and raised in Southern California, Robert Rapoza began writing his first novel in 2012. The result of these early efforts is his first story THE VISITORS, a novel about Nick Randall, an archeologist on the fringes of the scientific community. Since that time, he has written a second thriller ARCTIC INCURSION, which continues to follow Nick Randall’s exploits. When not writing full length fiction novels, he also enjoys writing short fiction following the characters from his novels along with other original concepts. He is a member of the Southern California Writers Association and the International Thriller Writers Association and enjoys interacting with other local writers. Bob is also actively involved with the online writing critique group ‘YouWriteOn’ where he receives and provides feedback with other authors.
The ideas for his stories are drawn from his interest in archeology and science and his love of adventure stories. Bob has always been drawn to these topics and is fascinated by the technology utilized by ancient civilizations. This interest has provided fertile ground for entertaining stories. History is rich with mysteries waiting to be solved and Bob enjoys asking questions about these mysteries and offering ideas about what they might mean.
Bob is represented by Mark Gottlieb of the Trident Media Group and is actively seeking to have his first works of fiction published.
More about me:
I’m
a big baseball fan and, aside from writing, it’s one of my favorite things. My
family is from the Boston area and we’re big Red Sox fans. I’m also a Dodgers
fan from childhood and my favorite players were Ron Cey and Don Sutton. At some
point, could play into a storyline for either a novel or work of short fiction.
AUTHOR LINKS:
http://www.robertrapoza.com/ https://twitter.com/RobertRapoza
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Robert-Rapoza/648806568481517
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/21429567-robert-rapoza
AMAZON US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D659Z42
AMAZON UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01D659Z42
AMAZON CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01D659Z42
CREATESPACE: https://www.createspace.com/6077690
A
reminder to the reader ~ before you leave be sure to take a look at the
Come
back and visit again.
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