Synopsis:
Beautiful women are dying in Fort Lauderdale from the bite of a black mamba, the deadliest snake in Africa. Then, during the feast of Saturnalia, a serial killer targets prostitutes during a cold winter in New York City.
Join Detective Jack Stenhouse, a seasoned professional with the fort Lauderdale P.D., as he cruises the hot asphalt in his ‘68 Hemi Road Runner. Follow Jack with his girlfriend Didi, a women with a name to match her attributes, as he moves to the Big Apple and joins the First Precinct as the new recruit on duty.
Learn how the Shadow of Death accompanies Jack like an albatross around his neck. Find out if the Saturnalian Affect will cloud his judgement.
Now, enter the mysterious world of Jack Stenhouse. If you dare…
Bio:
My name is Frank A. Ruffolo and I am a storyteller. I am married to my bride of 40 years and have two grown children and one grandson. I started writing in 2006 while I was still employed in the private sector as a Purchasing manager. I literally woke up one morning with an idea in my head that I thought would make a great movie. I have been listening to the voices ever since. I am a multi genre author in mystery crime fiction, sci fi and action adventure. My first two novels were self-published. Gabriel’s Chalice a sci fi thriller and The Trihedral of Chaos and action love story. The Jack Stenhouse Mysteries is my first with a legacy publisher Linkville Press. I am currently editing a sequel To Gabriel’s Chalice titled Tres Archangelis and actively writing two more. One is a sequel to my current murder mystery titled Blue Falcon. Here Jack Stenhouse is recruited into a federal task force investigating the murder of several key witnesses scheduled to testify before congress against a corrupt president. Jack follows the trail of blood to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The other takes place over 1300 years in the future on a colonized and terraformed Mars, where the population there is being exterminated and eaten by an unknown beast of evil. I am also researching and outlining two more story-lines. I am very active on twitter and facebook and interact with friends and fans on a daily basis. You can access links to my books on my websitewww.frankaruffolo.com . You can catch me on twitter @ruffoloauthor. I have two sites on facebook. My author page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Frank-A-Ruffolo-author/188729521194331 and my regular sitehttps://www.facebook.com/frankaruffolo
Interview:
Where are you from?
My name is Frank A. Ruffolo I was born in Manhattan New York. My family eventually moved to Long Island. I met my future wife Christine in 1973. We got married in 1975 and with our infant son moved to South Florida where we had a daughter. WE are empty nesters now my Daughter Alicia lives in Largo FL with her boyfriend Scott and my son lives in Maryland with his wife Jeannie and our grandson Anthony. I am semi-retired from the private sector as a purchasing manager and started writing in 2006.
Tell us about your book? How did you get started?
My new book is The Jack Stenhouse Mysteries. Jack Stenhouse the seasoned homicide detective in Fort Lauderdale is my flawed hero. Jack was divorced more than once, due to his one and only vice hookers and strippers. Never had kids cause he had a vasectomy while in college because he didn’t want to have kids or be bothered in buying condoms. His current main squeeze is Diedre Lee a woman who works the pole aka Didi a nickname to match her attributes. Jack like Buxom women and fast cars. He cruises the streets of Fort Lauderdale in his 68 Hemi Road Runner. Jack hates the weather in Florida, hates his boss and wants the excitement of the big city. We follow Jack on the first case THE SHADOW OF DEATH as he must determine how beautiful women are being killed by the bite of a black mamba a venomous snake only found in Africa. As his job search realizes his dream as we follow Jack and Didi to New York City as the “rookie” detective in the first precinct. In the second case The Saturnalian Affect .Jack and his partner must stop a serial killer who targets its victim only during the feast of Saturnalia. Jack, a Florida boy, must endure a cold New York winter and stop the random killings.
How I got started writing was I call a miracle. I woke up one morning in 2006 and said to myself I have a great idea for a movie. It would be a love story for the baby boomer generation that morphed into and action thriller involving terror attacks and plots against the United States. That turned into my second book which I released The Trihedral of Chaos. While I was writing that book during my daily routine of saying my morning prayers when I am done I open my bible to read the first passage my fogging eyes can focus on early in the morning for my daily inspiration. One morning back in 2007 I opened the bible to passage Luke 21:11. That passage pertains to how the apostles will realize the return of Christ. There will be earthquakes and plagues. There will be great signs and terrors in the sky. I finished my prayers and went to work. Well three mornings in a row I opened to the same page and same passage. Shocked I realized that I should right about this. I stopped writing my action adventure and proceeded to write and release by first book a sci fi thriller Gabriel’s Chalice. I wrote that book in about a month. I never had a thought about being a writer but I did read a lot. So I just listen to the voices in my head and here I am.
How do you create your characters?
My characters are a meld of people I have met, traits from myself and the voices in my head. Once I have established a character as I write that character takes on a life of its own an actually guide the plot and storyline. I create alternate universes.
What inspires me?
Good writing inspires me and current events. I take current events and expand them into storylines. I saw a documentary about the Black Mamba, which is the most venomous snake in Africa and developed a murder mystery. I was always fascinated with Roman and Greek mythology so I had that influence my serial killer who kills during the feast of Saturnalia. To be a successful writer you must be read.
Where do you write?
Usually I write on my laptop at the kitchen table. I have a desk top computer that my wife and I use for family stuff and I do some writing and most of my editing there. I am currently editing one novel and writing and researching four more. I carry a small journal with me so if I get inspiration when I am away from my keyboard I jot it down. We sit at our keyboards and bleed through our fingertips to quiet the voices in our heads.
How do you get your ideas?
I briefly hit on that earlier. From current events and news stories and I expand them. I am currently writing and researching an action thriller where the Caliphate in the Middle East wants to assassinate the Pope. The book I am editing is a sci fi adventure based on a failed mining operation on an Asteroid. That was inspired by NASA wanting to mine Asteroids. I am writing a sequel to Stenhouse where Jack is recruited into a federal task force investigating the deaths of witnesses that were scheduled to testify before Congress about a corrupt President.
What do I like to read?
Wow just about anything from sci fi , Heinlein, Sagan, Clarke to Baldacchi, Cussler, Clancy to Indie authors like Paduano, Spyke, and back to Gore Vidal and the Classics like Hemmingway.
What would your advice be to authors.
Read, read, read and write, write, write. Then be prepared to rewrite and rewrite and edit, edit, edit. It takes longer to edit than to write a storyline. Start an Outline and develop character. Some authors like to build bios on their character s. Mine sort of grow on their own. A new author must be prepared for rejection. I sent own over 150 inquiries before I was accepted by Linkville Press. Lastly if you have a budget that you want to spend on the release of your book you must include publicizing your work. You must go on Facebook and Twitter and get a website and make it professional looking. If possible go with a legacy publisher first then If you want self-publish. I did it the opposite way and I think I would have more success if I went legacy first. There are too many self-published authors out there that list their books for free and there are self-published authors that: how can I say this politically correct, skimped on editing. In my opinion that poisoned the well for the rest of us.
I want to thank you for this opportunity to speak of myself and my work.