Monday, January 21, 2019

Interview with John R. Beyer, Author of 'Iquitos: The Past Will Kill' l Book Tour l @drjohnrbeyer





John R. Beyer spent nearly ten years in law enforcement in Southern California as a street cop, a training officer and a member of the elite SWAT team. After leaving the force, he continued in public service entering the field of education. During his tenure, he served as classroom teacher, school administrator and district administrator, and was an integral part of the gang and drug force in San Bernardino. While in both worlds he earned a Doctorate in School Administration and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.

During all those years, he never gave up the passion for writing – both fiction and nonfiction. He has been published in numerous magazines, newspapers and the like for decades, writing on a variety of topics. His latest short stories in the past year can be found in Foliate Oak Literary Magazine (2016) and GNU Journal (2017). He is also the author of three highly praised internationally known novels – Hunted (2013), Soft Target (2014) and Operation Scorpion (2017).

He won the 'Write Well Award' in October of 2018 from the Silver Pen Writer's Association for a fictional short story.

His newest novel, ‘Iquitos – the Past Will Kill’, was released in November of 2018 by Black Opal Books bringing two of his protagonists together for their first investigation. Jonas Peters and Frank Sanders will work hand in hand with an international incident which left undetected could cause a catastrophic issue for the United States. They are friends and they are good at they do. Catching the bad guys.

Website Address:    http://johnrobertbeyer.weebly.com/
Twitter Address: @Drjohnrbeyer



Jonas Peters and Frank Sanders team up to solve a string of murders, starting with the intentional and fatal bombing of a local coffee shop in downtown Riverside—a usually calm city in Southern California. Dozens are dead after an explosion rips apart the Coffee Grind, leaving dozens of others gravely wounded. Frank soon finds himself up to his elbows assisting the bombing victims, especially when he discovers that Jonas was walking to the Coffee Grind to meet up with his fiancĂ©e, but he never made it. In an instant, all their lives are thrust into a trail of death and destruction carried out by an unknown psychopath.

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Thank you for this interview!  I’d like to know more about you as a person first.  What do you do when you’re not writing?

My lovely spouse, Laureen, and I love to travel. We have a blog, J and L Research and Exploration that deals with naturally, research and exploration which is a great way for us to travel the globe. In the real world though I am in education – teaching English and World History to 7th graders – yes, my halo is bright but tilted at times dealing with these lovely youngsters. But to their credit they are full of energy and the desire to investigate their creative writing skills is right up my alley.

When did you start writing?

I started writing when I was in middle school with a passion. Short fictional stories dealing with strong protagonists and simple plots. That evolved into non-fictional pieces for newspapers and magazines. After meeting Ray Bradbury I really got into writing fiction again and have numerous short stories as well as novels published. It’s always been a passion for me and hopefully always will.

As a published author, what would you say was the most pivotal point of your writing life?

There were so many pivotal points after being published but I remember one from years ago. I has a small story published in a history magazine and one day at a local book store I saw a gentleman reading the magazine and as I walked by I snuck a peek (I know – I know) and he was reading my article. A moment later I heard him say to a lady who had walked up to him, “That was a really good story.” It was such a humbling but wonderful moment.

If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing your next book, where would that be and why?

In fact, I am writing a historical fiction novel on Vlad Dracula – and would love to return to Romania while I finish the work. We spent a month there a couple of years ago conducting research, and the country is so beautiful. It would be the perfect setting to actually sit and write the novel while staring out over the river Danube.

If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you do?

Four extra hours a day would be great, but again after a while the same thought would invade my brain, ‘there aren’t enough hours in a day.’ But, if that were the case, I would write more and exercise more – the writing for keeping the brain active and the physical exercise for the health of the body. What an awesome way to spend an additional four hours.

Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

I think on the east coast of the United States. Perhaps somewhere in the wood of New Hampshire, with a small lob cabin as the main homestead. No idea what the story line would be, but I’m sure one would pop into my head while having a cup of coffee on the front porch watching deer dance across the front yard.

Back to your present book, Iquitos, The Past Will Kill, how did you publish it?

My publisher is Black Opal Books out of Oregon. They are a traditional publishing house and chose to publish my first novel, Hunted, and I have stuck with them for the following three novels.

In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for research?

We traveled to Peru for the research into the Peruvian rain forest near the rather large village of Iquitos on the Amazon River. It is the largest city in the world where the only way to arrive there is either by boat or by air. No roads lead to Iquitos. There is no way to get there by car. Spending a month getting to know the layout of life in the Amazon was amazing.

Why was writing, Iquitos, The Past Will Kill, so important to you?

Jonas Peters is my protagonist along with his friend Frank Sanders. Both former cops turned private detectives in Southern California, and the thought of writing about an alien landscape such as the Amazon had always been of interest to me. I just needed a plot line to follow and after asking myself ‘What if something had happened in Peru in Jonas’s past life that came back to haunt him?’ The story worked its way out after that. There was a story to be told and a great location for it to happen.

Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think that is?

Characters and situations occur in my head on a daily basis. I have never suffered through writer’s block and the tapping of the keyboard comes easy for me. Of course, not everything is written wonderfully – I have thrown away or deleted many chapters over the years knowing the words and effort were not going where I wanted them to travel. It’s part of the game – a good idea and write about it. If it works it works and if it doesn’t – then chuck it and start afresh.

Any final words?

I want to thank you for this opportunity telling your readers a little more about me and the craft I love. If anyone would like to follow our real life adventures then please visit us at jandlresearchandexploration.blogspot.com.

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