THE METHUSELAH PROJECT - Rick Barry - One Free Book

Welcome back, Rick. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

I write the kind of books I would like to read if someone else had written them. Or, in the case of my two YA novels, the kind of books I would have enjoyed reading as a young adult. My most recent suspense novel for adults, The Methuselah Project, stars a P-47 pilot who gets shot down in World War II (a time period I find fascinating) and used as a guinea pig. I wanted to create an intriguing “What if?” story that combines history, suspense, and romance.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

This is a dangerous question for me. I’d better answer the day my wife Pam said, “I do” at our wedding. But a close runner-up is the day I was blessed to lead no fewer than 25 campers to the Lord in the East European country of Belarus in 2014. Both were thrilling—but in different ways.

Yes, they were. How has being published changed your life?

Well, it certainly has not made me rich or famous. Yet, there was a time a restaurant employee approached me and said, “Excuse me; aren’t you Rick Barry, the author?” That caught me by surprise. (She asked for an autograph.) A fun result has been receiving encouraging notes from readers as far away as South Africa saying how much they enjoyed my books. Less enjoyable is when I hear from complete strangers who want me to help them get their collection of poems or other material published.

I understand that. What are you reading right now?

It’s a contemporary military thriller titled Firestorm by the accomplished author Ronie Kendig.

Ronie is a very good suspense author. What is your current work in progress?

Actually, my current WIP isn’t a novel at all. This morning I finished copyediting all the articles for the next issue of Answers magazine (I do this on a freelance basis). Also, I still write short fiction for Focus on the Family and accepted an assignment for a 2,000-word story. Short stories are fun and provide a creative change of pace. But after that, I plan to develop another suspense novel I have in mind.

What would be your dream vacation?

I like to travel to unusual places. I’ve been to Eastern Europe and Russia over 50 times, plus a number of other nations in Europe and Argentina in South America. But ever since seventh grade I’ve wanted to travel in Mongolia. I speak Russian, so I should be able to communicate with many people there. But so far, Mongolia hasn’t fit into my plans!

How do you choose your settings for each book?

For me, the nature of the stories provides the settings. My first novel was actually a YA fantasy, so for that setting I had to create a whole new world. For my WW II story, Gunner’s Run, the hero ends up trapped behind German lines and tries to make a run across Europe in order to get back to England. In The Methuselah Project, the hero is from Indiana (my home state), so the action takes place in Indiana, Germany (while he’s a prisoner), and also Georgia, the home state of his romantic interest, Katherine.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

Possibly the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. Regardless of whether you like his politics, he strikes me as an interesting man of principle and integrity. It would be fascinating to sit down to dinner with him and probe his thoughts on a various topics.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

Physical fitness has always been important to me, so I run and lift weights. I also like antiques, which are tangible ties to yesteryear. After my WW II story Gunner’s Run was published, I decorated one guest room all in antiques and memorabilia from the 1940s. It’s been a fun project!

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Procrastination. Even when I have a block of time available for writing (which doesn’t always happen), I find myself “prepping” by dusting my desk and the monitor, or vacuuming the floor… The only good cure I’ve found is to simply tell myself “Enough!” and force myself to sit and start typing whether I feel inspired or not. If I force myself to start, that primes the pump, and then the words start to flow.

That sounds familiar. What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Several things: First, develop a rhinoceros hide. Your work won’t be perfect, especially in the beginning; so don’t take offense when friends or colleagues suggest ways you could improve it. Next, keep learning. Regularly read magazines for writers or blogs by successful writers and literary agents (not zillions of them, just a pick a few that seem especially helpful, or else reading will siphon away your writing time). Next, although you must keep in mind the question “Will readers want to buy this kind of story?” you don’t want to chase the fads and try to write what’s currently selling. That tide will have gone out by the time your novel is done and revised. Dig into your own soul and write the story that really wants to come out of you.

Tell us about the featured book.

Shot down over Nazi Germany in1943, Captain Roger Greene becomes a guinea pig in a hush-hush German experiment to create fast-healing, long-living soldiers for the Third Reich. When Allied bombs destroy the facility and kill the genius running it, only Roger survives. Within hours, his wounds miraculously heal. The Methuselah Project worked—but how? As the war winds down, a league of SS officers create “the Organization” and an underground laboratory to rediscover the secret process that has enhanced Roger’s physiology. There, a POW for 70 years, Roger doesn’t age, but he nearly goes insane. Not until he reads a Bible does he find an anchor for his sanity and his soul.

When youthful-looking Roger finally escapes the present-day version of the covert Organization, the world has become a place he no longer understands. Katherine Mueller offers to help him, but can he convince her he’s really a fleeing WW II pilot? Can they dodge Organization bullets long enough to fall in love?

Sounds really interesting. I can’t wait until my copy arrives. Please give us the first page of the book.

Sitting in his cockpit, Captain Roger Greene scanned the heavens. He searched left to right, overhead, below, and behind. No sign of enemy aircraft. Just formation after formation of B-17s droning along below, plus his own umbrella of Thunderbolts providing escort cover.

Come on, you cowards. Come and defend your precious Fatherland. I dare you.

He glanced into the sun, then jerked his eyes from the blinding glare. When searching for enemy planes, he preferred his naked eyes, but his eyesight would surely suffer if he kept doing that. He probed the pocket of his flight jacket for his green aviators. Instead of sunglasses, his gloved thumb and forefinger fished up a ten-dollar bill.

Ten bucks? How the . . .

Then he noticed the message printed along the edge in blue ink: To my good buddy, Roger Greene. On loan until I bag the next German fighter! Walt.

Roger laughed and glanced to his right, where Walt Crippen piloted his own Thunderbolt in the wingman position. Walt, too, was performing visual sweeps.

Good old Walt. He’d have to do some fancy flying if he hoped to score another kill before Roger. He found his sunglasses, then slid the ten-spot back into the pocket.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

I’m currently tweaking a brand-new website. Readers can find me at rickcbarry.com. My Facebook page is www.facebook.com/AuthorRickBarry. I tweet at @WriterRickBarry.

Thank you, Rick, for sharing this new book with us. I know my readers will love it.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

The Methuselah Project - Chritianbook.com
The Methuselah Project: A Novel - Amazon
The Methuselah Project - Kindle

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Author Rick Barry - GUNNER'S RUN - Free Book

Rick Barry writes Young Adult novels aimed at young men.

Welcome, Rick. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

Just as with actors on stage or on screen, I think various aspects of myself emerge and help to flesh out the primary characters that I create for my stories. When I write about a child, I recall back to when I was a child. What interested me then? What was I afraid of? And with adult characters, I don’t recreate myself on paper, but I notice that some degree of my own emotions, interests or personality usually overflows into the protagonist that I’ve created. That might include my interest in foreign languages and international travel. Or it might be an interest in history. But as a Christian writer, I always include my Biblical worldview there somewhere.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

Well, it may not be quirky, but in my novel Gunner’s Run, the main character tumbles through the open bomb bay doors of a B-24 over Nazi Germany. I suppose I could have used my imagination, but I decided it would be more fun to experience the sensation. I signed up for a sky-diving class and jumped out of a perfectly good plane—twice!

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

In high school I noticed that writing assignments never sparked in me the moans and agony that they generated in my classmates. But not until I entered a writing contest in my sophomore year of college and had my first article printed did I stop and realize, “Hey, I can write. People will actually give me money for stuff I make up!”

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

The kind books I enjoy is probably a bizarre spectrum. Depending on my mood at the moment I can enjoy biographies of famous figures from history, or a non-fiction WW II story as told through the eyes of a man who was in the thick of the action. In fiction, I can pick up children’s novels, works by John Steinbeck, Robin Cook, Edgar Allen Poe, John Grisham, Edgar Rice Burroughs, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Brandt Dodson… I can chuckle through Nancy McArthur’s The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks or read a thriller by John Clancy or something by Michael Crichton. Just for fun, I read a woman’s novel, Sophie’s Heart by Lori Wick, to get a feel for her style. Occasionally I might leaf through a book of poems by Robert Frost and reread selected ones.

What other books have you written, whether published or not?

Besides my World War II story Gunner’s Run, I’ve written a fantasy novel for young adults. Just today my editor informed me that a contract for that manuscript is in the mail. Besides those, I’ve written over a couple hundred articles and short stories for magazines, newspapers, etc. Right now I’m working on a third novel that begins in WW II but then comes down to our own time.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

The best anchor for maintaining sanity is a healthy relationship with God through Jesus Christ. When that relationship is Number One in your life, other priorities fall into proper sequence more often than not. A favorite verse is Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness….”

How do you choose your characters’ names?

For Gunner’s Run, I wanted the main character to come from northern Indiana. One of the most typical names there is Yoder, so I named my hero Jim Yoder. He was meant to be a normal, guy-next-door type, and I believe that name helps to capture that image.

For a series of short science fiction stories that I’m writing for Focus on the Family’s teen magazine Breakaway, the main character is Rankin Fithian. In that case, I had the name long before I ever imagined the story. It comes from a sign I once saw on an interstate highway in Illinois. One exit was the way to two local towns—Rankin and Fithian, but without “and” in the middle. As soon as I saw that sign I thought, “What a cool name for a character!” I wrote it down while I was driving but didn’t have a story to go with it until over a year later.

For my current novel, I chose to call my protagonist Roger Greene, because I wanted a name that implies life, vibrancy, and green is traditionally a word that suggests biological life and nature. So I tacked on an “e” and got Greene. But I’ll admit that once in a while I have thumbed through a phone book looking for inspiration!

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

Interesting question. They ask the same thing on the application for the reality show Survivor on TV. (I’ve applied multiple times, and so far no one at CBS realizes I’m perfect for the show!) I guess my answer would be learning to read and write and speak Russian even though I have no Russian roots in my family. I’ve traveled there over 25 times.

I'll be looking for you on the show someday. If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

Pegasus—a flying horse. I saw a statue of Pegasus once, and it evoked feelings of strength and grace, plus adventure.

What is your favorite food?

Almost anything Chinese, but especially General Tso’s chicken. The spicier, the better.

I like Chinese food, too, but keep mine mild. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

For me, the time crunch is the major impediment. I’m not a full-time writer. My full-time position is with a Christian ministry that plants churches in Russia and Eastern Europe. So all my writing is done is little blocks of 20 minutes here and half a lunch hour there. Sometimes I write while at an airport waiting for an airplane, or with the last remaining brain cells before I conk out before bed. How do I deal with the time shortage? Simply by NOT succumbing to the paralyzing notion, “I don’t have time to write.” Just one paragraph a day will eventually add up to a short story or, in time, a whole novel. You just have set your sights on the long haul and keep plugging away, day after day.

What advice would you give to an author just starting out?

Learn the craft. Study how good, published authors use dialogue and transitions, and how they describe (or don’t describe) their characters. Know the proper use of all punctuation, and when you’re not sure, find out how to do it. Above all else, use proper spelling and don’t trust your computer’s spell-checker program. It will lead you astray. If you do all of the above, even your first manuscript can look like a decent, polished submission when the editor receives it. Fail to do any of the above, and the editor will say, “Oh. Another amateur wannabe,” before rejecting your story.

What would you like to tell us about the featured book?

Although Gunner’s Run takes place in WW II, it’s not really a story about battles and bloodshed. Rather, it’s two journeys in one: a physical journey as my escaped hero tries to get out of Hitler’s Europe and back to England, and a spiritual journey as he learns to trust in God, from whom he had been running for a long time.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Although you can Google my name, you might have to wade through a page or so of sites about the famous Rick Barry who played basketball for the Golden State Warriors in the 1970s. To save time, go straight to http://www.rick-barry.com/

Thank you for spending this time with us, Rick.

Readers, leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of the book.