Bob Mayer – How Did I Become A Published Author?

Monday, June 24, 2013

Bob Mayer – How Did I Become A Published Author?

How Did I Become A Published Author

by Bob Mayer

Thanks for having me guest post on your blog. I appreciate the opportunity as my 51^st title, The Green Berets: Chasing the Lost is now out and #1 in Men’s Adventure, even though a woman is at the core of the story. Aren’t they always?

The question is: How did I become a published author?

The answer is, of course, convoluted. I grew up in ‘da Bronx and to be able to afford college decided to attend this place that actually paid you to go there, called the United States Military Academy at West Point. Hmm. Let me tell you, you might not pay in money, but you pay.

My first tour in the Army was as a platoon leader in the First Cavalry Division. Then I volunteered for Special Forces, went through training and became a Green Beret A-Team leader. Eventually I got married and my wife was also military and we had to make a choice, so I resigned my active duty commission and followed her to her command in South Korea. Besides studying martial arts six hours a day, I had a lot of time on my hands. So I had the original 512k Mac, and since there wasn’t much to read, decided I’d write my own stories. I wrote three manuscripts before someone read them and said “This is like a real book.” Well, hmm. Duh. So it took three years from them to get my first agent and my first book published. My 51^st just came out, The Green Berets: Chasing the Lost.

Let me back up. As a kid in ‘da Bronx, I was always reading. I think it was a form of escapism. If I wasn’t reading, I was on my bike tooling around, inventing stories in my head. I think the best preparation for becoming a writer is to read A LOT. That’s why I’m a big fan of libraries. My company, Cool Gus Publishing will actually give free eBooks to any library that asks.

I had 42 books published by New York, hit the NY Times and all the other bestseller lists, but in 2009 I went out on my own with my company. The publishing world is changing so fast, large corporations really can’t keep up with the changes. Because of my Special Forces background, I was trained to thrive in Chaos, so things have gone really well.

I use also my Special Forces background in my writing. The two lead characters in Chasing the Lost both have Spec Ops histories. One is a retired Green Beret, and the other served in Special Forces, Delta Force and some other covert units. While they might be well trained in the dark arts, that doesn’t mean they can understand the heart and mind of a woman and that’s what the book is about. The feedback I’ve been getting from readers is that the ending really blows them away. And it blew me away, because I what I considered a great ending and was talking to my wife, who is a story whisperer, about it, and she came up with a twist I wouldn’t have thought of in a hundred years. It is very, very wicked.

Hope you enjoy and feel free to visit us at CoolGus.com