Richard Schiver

Author: RichardSchiver

  • Navigating Life’s Paths: From Military to Author

    I grew up during the space race of the sixties. While the war in Vietnam raged my eyes turned to what waited for us beyond the earth’s atmosphere. I was a big fan of Star Trek, catching every new episode when it aired. I followed the moon landing like a religious zealot updating their progress daily as the they traveled to our closest neighbor. My father understood my obsession and on the night the video feed was broadcast live of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the surface of the moon, my father woke me up so we could watch it together.

    My goal in life was to work for NASA, to be involved in some way with the space program. I had the smarts, but for me school was boring. I had been offered a four-year scholarship to the University of Maryland, that I turned down. I wanted to see the world so I joined the military with the intention of learning how to work on missiles, a skill set I believed would put me on a path to NASA.

    Unfortunately, between the moon walk and my graduation from high school, my father became quite ill. He had type 1 diabetes. He always tried taking better care of himself but as was the case with this disease, no matter how hard you tried, it eventually got you. I had spoken to the recruiter about working on missiles, and was scheduled to report to basic in Fort Bliss, Texas for my training. With my dad not working because of his health I chose to go into combat arms, armor to be exact, for the enlistment bonus that would help save our home. Sadly, my dad passed eight months after I joined, and we lost our home a year later.

    While serving I had plenty of time to read, my tastes running to the more macabre as I devoured works by authors like Lovecraft, Richard Matheson, Graham Masterton, William Peter Blatty, to name a few.

    Would I do it differently if I had the chance. I doubt it. I enjoyed my time in the military, the friends I made, the places I saw, the brotherhood I became a part of. It became a big part of who I grew up to become. Who I am now. I know there are many different paths I could have taken to follow my dream, but a new dream emerged for me, one I played around with when I was in high school, and that is to write about the things I love.

    I still dream of going into space. I’ve watched all the movies, good, bad, indifferent. Alien, Start Wars, War of the Worlds, Interstellar, The Right Stuff, Armageddon. You name it, I’ve probably watched it. I also play a game called No Man’s Sky on my xbox. It gives me a chance to pretend, if only for a little while, that I’m exploring space. Here’s a little clip from gameplay.

    I’ve had many false starts with my writing, but now, at 66, I’m fully committed to finishing what I started to do. You may have noticed I’m now sharing a new sentence every day from my WIP I’ve titled Bitter Hollow. I do hope you’ll follow along. Here’s the link.

    https://richardschiver.com/my-journey-with-bitter-hollow-a-work-in-progress/

    Thanks for stopping by and listening to me rambling. I hope I haven’t bored you too much. Drop a comment below if your so inclined, I’d love to hear from you. I’d also appreciate a like, or a follow on social media.

    Thanks,

    Richard Schiver

  • Progress Report 01/30/2025

    Once again I’ve failed at keeping everyone up to date on my progress. In my effort to provide the best story I can for my readers I’ve taken the time to make sure everything is as right as I can possibly make it. What follows are the updates for each of my projects.

    Zomething Dead This Way Comes is back from the editor and I’m going through the manuscript addressing the issues noted. I’m shooting to have everything in place in February. I’ve also received four possible covers from my designer and I’m considering which one to go with. I’ll have more info soon on that.

    Over the past two years I have put down nearly 200,000 words as I’ve completed the first draft for Assimilation, book three of my Shadows of the Past trilogy. The trilogy is currently in rewrites then it will be off to my editor. I’m shooting for a late spring release for this.

    I’ve also completed the first draft of Faces of Our Fathers, book five of This Lawless Land, and have about another 30,000 words to go in Lair of the Broken Queen, which may, or may not be the final book in the series. I’ve been considering a seventh book I will title To Tame This Lawless Land, but I want to see how Lair of the Broken Queen shakes out first. I’m shooting for near the end of the year to have books five and six released. We’ll see then about book seven.

    I’ve also begun work on The Bad Place (not the final title, just a placeholder,) and I’m closing in on 30,000 words for that. I’ve been thinking along the lines of Nightwalker in some form or another as the title for this. This will likely be a 2026 title, released in mid winter/early spring.

    I’ve really been buckling down on my daily word counts. Shooting for an average of at least 1000 words a day. Some days I’ve hit more when the story really grips me, but I no longer allow myself to settle for only 500 words a day.

    I’m hopeful that by late summer I can bring back my weekly writing challenge with a minimum of 500 words every Wednesday until the story is done, then moving on to the next story.

    There’s a good bit going on behind the scenes right now. We lost our boy Max last year, we had a good fourteen years with him and that really hurt. A couple of knuckleheads moved in with us late in 2023. Mylo and Garfield are brothers from the same litter, and they get into everything. But we love them.

    Brothers Mylo & Garfield
    Garfield with big brother Max

    Until next time. Here’s the opening I’m considering for The Bad Place. What do you think? I know it needs a little tweaking.

    They lied to us, our parents, when they said there was nothing to be afraid of in the dark. They had outgrown their fear, replacing it with the reasoning of an adult who excused the cause for every bump and creak throughout the night. Attributing those errant sounds to the house settling or a rodent seeking shelter for the coming winter. It was in the dark where our greatest fears live. Hiding the monster under the bed, the creature in the closet, or the ghost at the window.

    When you’re eleven you don’t worry about making the house payment, or if Mr. Whetstone, your boss, is going to lay you off. You don’t worry about whether your wife still loves you, or if she’s banging the bag boy at the local Sav-A-Lot behind your back.

    When you’re eleven your fear lives much closer to your heart, in your nightmares, and the shadows crowding the corners of a darkened bedroom where the weak light of the nightlight dare not go. When you’re eleven the world is filled with equal measures of wonder and terror.

    Doug’s greatest fear at eleven was the walking dude. A character from one of the books his older brother once read, a being of unimaginable evil that came to their sleepy little town one night after a heavy storm. Doug had witnessed the walking dude’s arrival. The measured, steady, clip clop of his footsteps on the street in front of the house pulled him from a deep sleep. Slipping out of bed he shook his brother to wake him and crossed to the window so he could see who was walking down the street. Outside, the world was cloaked in darkness, low clouds obscuring the face of the moon that might have offered a degree of solace to a child coming face to face with his greatest fear.

  • Exploring Time Travel in 11/22/63 by Stephen King

    In 11/22/63, written by Stephen King, the hero of the tale, Jake, is shown a portal to the past. It’s where Al, the proprietor of the small diner where it was located, has been buying his hamburger, taking advantage of the price. Offering a much better reason for his lower prices than was generally believed by those who thought he was using stray cats and dogs. It’s here we get to the gist of the story. Al enlists Jake’s help to save President Kennedy from his assassin. Those who have read the story know what happened. I don’t want to post any spoilers, so I’ll leave it at that. If you’re wondering what happened, go grab the book, it’s worth the read.

    It’s a pretty good tale that grows into your typical King story that he is well known for. It also serves to make one wonder about alternate realities and the multiverse. Theoretical physicists have proven, via math, that alternate realities do indeed exist. Not every physicist subscribes to the theory, but it’s out there. Some believe every event, or decision, creates a new branch in the timeline.

    It’s here where things really start to get muddled. I’m sure there’s not a  limit to the number of timelines branching from each of the others, creating a swarm of timelines traveling in multitudes of directions.

    Could you imagine the headache that would cause to whoever had to keep these things straight.

    One of the first things you come up against is what triggers the timeline to branch off? Is it major events, such as the aforementioned assassination of a sitting president, or does the timeline branch based on either/or decisions? If so, is it a worldwide phenomenon, or say a collective decision? Or is it a more personal one.

    On the one hand you have a solitary timeline with other timelines branching off of it with every major event in the world. If it’s a more individual level, does the branching occur at major intersections in one’s life, or does the branching occur based on everyday decisions and changes in our routine.

    Like something as simple as forgetting to turn off a light causes you to leave the house thirty seconds later than you normally would. Now we have dual timelines for your departure where in one you arrive safely to your destination, while in the other you’re delayed by an accident, or possibly involved in one yourself.

    It starts to get really confusing when you consider all the possibilities occurring at every juncture in your life.

    The biggest question of all is what forces are at play to create the branch? Is it a mechanical process that requires extreme amounts of power, or does it use a type of power that for a lack of a better word we might call magic?

    Say these portals do exist. Are they visible? Are they permanent? Do they move? What would happen if somebody accidentally walked into one? Would that explain some of the assorted mysterious disappearances that have occurred over the years? Maybe it’s an explanation for the assorted mysterious strangers that have appeared throughout history.

    You would think these portals would have to be in remote locations to prevent major problems. Could you imagine one appearing in the middle of New York City during rush hour. That would be one hell of an excuse for missing work. Sorry I couldn’t make it in today. I fell into the stone age and couldn’t find my way back right away.

    It’s all just more fodder for the what if machine operating at the center of every writer’s mind. Of course it’s not really restricted to writers, as most people run into situations and events that prompt them to wonder, what if?

    But it’s usually the writer who takes that idea, throws a few characters into the mix, and hits the blend button. As a writer myself I’m always running into these what if moments. They fuel my fiction and inspire me to try harder.

    One such event occurred recently when my wife and I were visiting our grandson, he has two children of his own, a little boy, and a little girl. The boy is four, and his little sister is nine months old. I caught him looking at her, and the expression on his face was one of pure love. In my mind I saw them fifty years from now having to say goodbye to one another. It hit me pretty hard on the emotional level.. It’s one of those moments that will remain with me as my subconscious comes up with a vehicle to carry it properly.

    I’m sure everybody else experiences this. If you’d like to share, I’d love to hear it, put it in the comments below.

    New Update: Zomething Dead This Way Comes will be off to the editor at the end of this month. Had to find another one as my former editor is no longer taking work. It is what it is. See you next time. Be safe.  

  • Our Subconscious at Work.

    It’s amazing how the subconscious works.

    I wrote All Roads Lead to Terror, the first book in my post-apocalyptic series, This Lawless Land, way back in 2013. The story focused on four teenage boys exploring a world that had moved on. At the time it was only going to be a one off, then I’d move on to other projects.

    In All Roads Lead to Terror, one of the characters grabbed a bundle of hundred-dollar bills from a bank. Which on the surface made no sense. I mean in the world I’d built, who would want to be weighed down by such a useless object? But the character wanted it, so who am I to stand in the way? Right.

    One book became two, then grew into three. In 2018 I wrote book four of my supposed stand alone. I’m not as fast as many other writers out there, I usually only get about an hour a day to do what I love. But through all four books my character insisted on carrying that damn bundle of money no matter what. He’d been through a great deal by this time. He’d grown up a good bit, but a small voice in his head kept telling him to keep the money. Yet I still did not understand why he was being so particular.

    Book four burned me out on their story so I moved on to other things for a bit. But I never strayed far from the characters. My thoughts usually returning to them as I wondered what they were up to. During my break I wrote Not of Us, Cursed, and the third installment of a trilogy I started in 2012, I know another project I need to clear up.

    I returned to the story last year and recently completed the first draft of book five. Whereupon I turned my attention to book six, which I felt would be the last chapter in their story. But at this stage, twenty thousand words into the first draft, I believe there will be a seventh and final book in the series. One I hoped to dive into once I have finished the first draft of book six. Of course there will be the rewrites and editing and all that before my creation can finally see the light of a new day.

    In 2013 I never imagined that ten years later I would be writing book six. What’s more amazing, is that in book six I finally figured out why this young boy insisted on carrying all that useless money around with him. If you want to know as well, you’ll have to wait until I get the series done. Sorry.

    Update: I’ve found a new editor and will be sending him Zomething Dead This Way Comes, when his schedule clears up at the end of October. I’m also shopping for a good cover for it. If all goes well it will be available by the end of this year. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available. Things are finally starting to jell on the writing front, and I’ll be posting more often as more news becomes available.

  • Are We First?

    For years it’s been accepted that the universe is 13.7 billion years old, but lately there has been speculation it might be twice as old as we believe. Last year the James Webb telescope focused on several distant galaxies that appear early but look more grown up. More details about this development can be found at Big Think .

    But what does that have to do with your creative process? You might be wondering.

    A lot, and we’ll get to that shortly. I’ve always had an interest in space and space travel, so I find myself drawn to articles of that nature. I uncovered something called the Silurian hypothesis. A thought experiment which assesses modern science’s ability to uncover evidence of a prior civilization. More information about the Silurian hypothesis can be found on the Discovery website.

    For those of you who are fans of Doctor Who, yes the hypothesis was named after the Silurian race featured on the show. Put forth by physicist Adam Frank and Climatologist Gavin Schmidt its purpose is to try to pinpoint the methods of spotting deep time civilizations in other planets. Every civilization leaves a mark after it’s passed. Be it an increase in carbon emissions from an industrial revolution, or the microplastics that will remain long after we’re gone. But these traces will be so small as to be missed unless we’re specifically looking for them.

    As a writer my mind is always working in “what if” mode.

    The Silurian hypothesis first came to my attention when I was working on the final book in my Shadows of the Past trilogy. I thought what if the creature threatening our future was an indigenous inhabitant of earth and we were the invaders, having come from the stars ourselves. The more I dug into the hypothesis, the more I came to understand their method might be a little short sighted. Using the effects of our current civilization would only locate those civilizations that mirrored our own historic timeline. How would you look for signs of a say silicon-based life form? What if the barren planet we ignore once carried life that was wiped out by a bomb we have no knowledge of? What if the emerging civilization took a path entirely different from our own because they viewed the world differently than we did? What if they discovered fission power early in the process and their industrial revolution did not leave the same traces as our own.

    I’m not saying I’m an expert at any of this, nor do I have a thorough understanding of how they go about searching for the clues they seek. But it’s something that sparked my interest, and my mind tends to wander in those directions when I’m confronted with new knowledge.

    What do you think?

    Are we indigenous to this planet?

    Or did we come from the stars?