Hi, I'm Author F.R. Rivers and this is my family
Hello reader, thank you for dropping by. Reading has always been an interest of mine. I have loved all books on history, from true crime to any type of world history as told by Ann Rule or Bill Michener. Before you say, “Hey Frank, true crime stories aren’t history!” I’d say, “True crime books are a history of what a killer or killers have done and why they’ve done it.”
My Gathering series takes place in a bar and attempts to explain killers and their actions through fiction.
The story came to me during a long return trip from Rhode Island during a brutal snowstorm. As I drove my vehicle along a long stretch of road, I spotted a bar that had all its lights on and seemed to be hopping with activity. I contemplated several questions, “Who on earth would be in there during such a storm? What could be so interesting in that place?” But the question that got my brain going was, “What kind of lunatics would be out in this kind of weather?” Immediately, the details and characters struck me like lightening and the concept of the entire book about a tavern was in my brain before I arrived home that evening. I began writing the next morning and the book “The Gathering” was published a year or so later. “The Gathering II” has been a lot of fun to write as well. Bringing the characters in both books to life has been extremely rewarding.
In addition to the authors I referenced above, there have been countless others that I’ve enjoyed and many of them had a fictional twist to it. Fiction can enhance the reader’s understanding of the motive of a seemingly nonsensical act. Furthermore, It’s my belief that the fictional perspective creates a window into the mind of a killer. This window allows the reader into their soul, assuming they have one.
As I stated earlier, the next morning after my harrowing drive home I began writing. The first book flew out of me in no time as the details were fresh in my brain. It didn’t hurt that I had a job that allowed me ample time to write. It was only a few months for the book to be written (Draft one that is). The Gathering II required two drafts and multiple edits by the publisher taking several months. The Gathering II was a longer time period to write as my day job was different at this time and extra writing time was harder to come by.
The Gathering II in my opinion is the better of the two books simply because I’d learned some valuable lessons from the first book. What it lacked for in inspiration, it made up for it in the characters (both main characters and minor characters). One touch of inspiration that flew to life on my keyboard was a character named Lenny the Lid. He is a great character that I had so much fun writing about and his chapter was written in one night. A true favorite of mine.
Another delay in this book was a change in publishers. OMG, don’t let me get started on that nightmare. Maybe someday but not now.
Oddly enough, Covid 19 really put a delay in my writing while I initially thought it would help me gain time to write being home all the time. That theory proved incorrect. An active young son that was home and needing the computer or his father’s attention was more time consuming than I expected.
Trust me, being home with him was cool and we bonded more than ever, however it was tough to write.
Late in 2022 was when I finished The Gathering II and had a very successful book launch at the Berlin Peck Library and the Berlin Fair. Completing my first and second book was going to bring an end to the series as I’d wrapped it up nicely. But I’m sure you know, we plan and God laughs. My plan was derailed by my son when he said to me, “Hey Dad, the first book subtitle is “The Tavern where evil gathers for a cold beer” and the second subtitle is “Another round of evil”. If you do a third book the subtitle should be “Last Call”. The kid was a genius and now I had to figure out a story line. It was difficult as the story had been neatly wrapped up in book to as I stated previously. I ruminated on it and came up with the idea of ideas. I must say this last installment of this series is gonna be “Off the hook”.
I’m actively writing “The Gathering III” and it’s coming along slowly but it’s gonna be my best book to date. It’s my goal to make each book better than the previous one. All I need to do now is win power-ball so I can have more time to write. I’m not holding my breath on that happening.
When I’m not writing, I’m watching history shows and programs on serial killers. I’m also studying ASPD at length because many killers have Antisocial Personality Disorders and this helps me understand their skewed motivations to commit their acts. I have had many readers of my books contact me to discuss my books or about serial killers in general.
Finding out I have a follower of my website from Saudi Arabia was incredible.
Selling books has been a blast, creating two books for those that find these people strangely interesting has been rewarding.
However, talking to people directly about my books or the killers within them is my favorite thing to do.
Feel free to reach out and I’ll make every effort to respond. Please feel free to check in to my website for updates on my book writing status, blogs or information on my venture into audio books and possibly a podcast.
Cheers!
FR Rivers
My Gathering series takes place in a bar and attempts to explain killers and their actions through fiction.
The story came to me during a long return trip from Rhode Island during a brutal snowstorm. As I drove my vehicle along a long stretch of road, I spotted a bar that had all its lights on and seemed to be hopping with activity. I contemplated several questions, “Who on earth would be in there during such a storm? What could be so interesting in that place?” But the question that got my brain going was, “What kind of lunatics would be out in this kind of weather?” Immediately, the details and characters struck me like lightening and the concept of the entire book about a tavern was in my brain before I arrived home that evening. I began writing the next morning and the book “The Gathering” was published a year or so later. “The Gathering II” has been a lot of fun to write as well. Bringing the characters in both books to life has been extremely rewarding.
In addition to the authors I referenced above, there have been countless others that I’ve enjoyed and many of them had a fictional twist to it. Fiction can enhance the reader’s understanding of the motive of a seemingly nonsensical act. Furthermore, It’s my belief that the fictional perspective creates a window into the mind of a killer. This window allows the reader into their soul, assuming they have one.
As I stated earlier, the next morning after my harrowing drive home I began writing. The first book flew out of me in no time as the details were fresh in my brain. It didn’t hurt that I had a job that allowed me ample time to write. It was only a few months for the book to be written (Draft one that is). The Gathering II required two drafts and multiple edits by the publisher taking several months. The Gathering II was a longer time period to write as my day job was different at this time and extra writing time was harder to come by.
The Gathering II in my opinion is the better of the two books simply because I’d learned some valuable lessons from the first book. What it lacked for in inspiration, it made up for it in the characters (both main characters and minor characters). One touch of inspiration that flew to life on my keyboard was a character named Lenny the Lid. He is a great character that I had so much fun writing about and his chapter was written in one night. A true favorite of mine.
Another delay in this book was a change in publishers. OMG, don’t let me get started on that nightmare. Maybe someday but not now.
Oddly enough, Covid 19 really put a delay in my writing while I initially thought it would help me gain time to write being home all the time. That theory proved incorrect. An active young son that was home and needing the computer or his father’s attention was more time consuming than I expected.
Trust me, being home with him was cool and we bonded more than ever, however it was tough to write.
Late in 2022 was when I finished The Gathering II and had a very successful book launch at the Berlin Peck Library and the Berlin Fair. Completing my first and second book was going to bring an end to the series as I’d wrapped it up nicely. But I’m sure you know, we plan and God laughs. My plan was derailed by my son when he said to me, “Hey Dad, the first book subtitle is “The Tavern where evil gathers for a cold beer” and the second subtitle is “Another round of evil”. If you do a third book the subtitle should be “Last Call”. The kid was a genius and now I had to figure out a story line. It was difficult as the story had been neatly wrapped up in book to as I stated previously. I ruminated on it and came up with the idea of ideas. I must say this last installment of this series is gonna be “Off the hook”.
I’m actively writing “The Gathering III” and it’s coming along slowly but it’s gonna be my best book to date. It’s my goal to make each book better than the previous one. All I need to do now is win power-ball so I can have more time to write. I’m not holding my breath on that happening.
When I’m not writing, I’m watching history shows and programs on serial killers. I’m also studying ASPD at length because many killers have Antisocial Personality Disorders and this helps me understand their skewed motivations to commit their acts. I have had many readers of my books contact me to discuss my books or about serial killers in general.
Finding out I have a follower of my website from Saudi Arabia was incredible.
Selling books has been a blast, creating two books for those that find these people strangely interesting has been rewarding.
However, talking to people directly about my books or the killers within them is my favorite thing to do.
Feel free to reach out and I’ll make every effort to respond. Please feel free to check in to my website for updates on my book writing status, blogs or information on my venture into audio books and possibly a podcast.
Cheers!
FR Rivers
