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Reid Lance Rosenthal
Reid is fourth generation land and
cattle. His cowboy heart and poet’s pen captures the spirit
of the western landscape and its influence on generations of its
settlers. His long-standing devotion to wild and remote places, and
to the people—both past and present—who leave their legend and
footprint upon America and the American West is the inspiration and
descriptive underpinning of all of his writing.
“If your mind and spirit are seduced by images of windswept ridge
tops, flutters of aspen leaves caressed by a canyon breeze, and the
crimson tendrils of dying sun…if your fingers feel the silken pulse
of a lover and your lips taste the deep kisses of building
passion…if nostrils flare with the conjured scents of gunpowder and
perfume, sage brush and pine, and your ears delight in the murmur of
river current…if your heart pounds at the clash of good and evil and
with each twist and turn of interwoven lives you feel a primal
throb, then I have accomplished my mission.”
http://www.threadswestamericansaga.com
"The last time I fell madly in love with a
Western historical saga, the title was Lonesome Dove by
Larry McMurtry; it won a Pulitzer in 1986. The splendor and
adventure of Threads West, An American Saga, Novel One, has
now surpassed my long-ago love affair with McMurtry's
Western saga. Reid L. Rosenthal, cowboy and rancher, has
written a novel that spirited me away to the 1850s-1860s era
and provided me with gripping hours of authentic Western
history, action, drama, heartfelt romance and something
extra special and seldom seen in literature of this caliber:
well-written, sizzling sensuality. What separates a good
novel from a great one? I close a good novel and feel
satisfied. When I close a great novel, like this one, I feel
sad that there are no more pages to read. From the first
time each character appears in the book to the last time
they fade from the pages, I was immersed in the personal
stories of the heroes, the heroines, the bad guys, the
powerful, the vulnerable, and the brave. I cared about their
lives and loves, strengths and weaknesses, and their strife
and successes. As they head for their compelling shared and
undiscovered destinies, their paths unfurl like a Western
sunrise in this new saga of the American West. The Threads
West series opens with a bang and closes with a promise of
more excitement to come. The story of these enduring
characters is destined to stamp its imprint on the spirit
and heritage of readers' hearts. The writing is incredible.
I'll leave you with this small taste from Reid L.
Rosenthal's pen: Dawn on the day of departure was a
brilliant palette of indigo in retreat to the west and
blossoming fire orange to the east. The Mississippi had a
slight chop from the morning wind, the surface ripples
reflecting the burgeoning day in a shimmer of color. Five
stars are not enough. One book is not enough. Let there be
more Threads West. Soon!" --Eve Paludan, editor,
publisher, No Tree Publishing, and
Twice
#1 writers digest national best selling author
of The Romance Writer's Pink Pages, Letters
from David, and (Pending) The Man Who Fell from the Sky.
"The book is riveting and the story line captivating. I
didn't want to put the book down once I was started. I have
never read Romance or Western novels and I thought this read
would be a stretch for me but as I got into the story I
immediately became engaged and found myself immersed in each
word as the tale, the characters and their lives unfolded."
--Karen Mayfield, Msc.CC, National bestselling author of
Wake Up Women BE Happy Healthy & Wealthy, and co-creator for
Wake up Women book series
"Diverse characters interwoven with
highly visual prose flow into a journey of gathering
suspense. One senses the tightening thread that binds them
will unravel with both delicious and devastating results.
Rosenthal delivers!" JOSEPHINE ELLERSHAW, -#1
International Best Selling Author - UK/US/CN
PageOneLit.com: Where did you grow up and who were
your influences?
Reid Lance Rosenthal: The energy of land inspires my
writing. The land is an integral part of my soul, and the foundation
of virtually all of my passions. My primary genre, though, will be
romance. Why? Romance is of passion and personal interaction;
constants which wind throughout all our lives. The weave of western
relationships is always the land. The intertwined twists of ranch
and romance are fascinating threads which define the men and women
of the West. The foundation of my stories is such reality. There is
intrigue, adversity, vicious duplicity and triumph that few know of,
but which are always at play beneath the idyllic mosaics of inviting
canyons and sun drenched plains., I was a voracious reader as a
youngster. Flashlights under the covers at three am, and that whole
scene.
I have been influenced by many great authors, Crane,
Hemingway, Uris (whose brilliant themes of converging threads of
lives have had major affect on my presentation in my novels)
McMurtry, L'Amour and Max McCoy, particularly as to his dazzling,
principled dedication to historical context. Along the way I have
been blessed to have great teachers and mentors, too many to mention
here, save one. Thank you to Mrs Jane Karsten, my independent study
creative writing teacher in my junior and senior high school years.
It is she who whispered incessantly in my ear, sometimes kindly, at
others more cajoling..."you can do this...you must do this.. it is
your calling."
PageOneLit.com: Why do you write?
Reid Lance Rosenthal: I write to share my mind's
image and my love of and respect for the land, my heart convictions,
and my sense of passion and principle with others. I first wrote
creatively when I was nine, at thirty thousand feet. The family was
winging its way to the National Park on St. Johns, U.S. Virgin
Islands, for a week of camping, exploring, and snorkeling to
celebrate my sister's fourth birthday. A mongoose ate my sister’s
cake, but that is yet another tale. That morning, overwhelmed with
the excitement of my first ride on silver wings, I made my first
entry. I gazed in awe out the plane window, and wrote madly with
one of those old style bic pens, the ones with the very thick dark
blue ink lines. Cotton ball clouds cast flitting shadows on the
emerald corduroy of sea far below., Later, I read my thoughts to the
class. I could feel the words transport my audience. Their rapt
attention startled me. It was my epiphany. The penning of
descriptive scenes and feelings was not an assignment, or work. It
was a release for me and a sharing with others. The story, the
telling of the tale caught my heart, captured my imagination, and
gave me a sense of satisfaction different than any other.
It was at that moment, in fourth grade one sunny
winter day many years ago, I made myself a promise. I am not much
for breaking promises, and though many years past when I originally
intended, I am finally fulfilling that oath a young boy, wide eyed
with realization, made to himself so long ago.
PageoneLit.com: Briefly discuss your new book
THREADS WEST, AN AMERICAN SAGA .
Reid Lance Rosenthal: This first book and namesake
of the six-novel series is being compared by reviewers and authors
to Lonesome Dove and Centennial. I am very flattered! The tale is
filled with the adventure, romance and promise of historical America
and the West.
The epic saga of Threads West begins in 1855 with
the first of four richly-textured, complex generations of
unforgettable characters. The separate lives of these driven men
and independent women are drawn to a common destiny that beckons
seductively from the wild and remote flanks of the American West.
They are swept into the dangerous currents of the far-distant
frontier by the mysterious rivers of fate, the power of the land and
the American spirit. Threads West is of adventure, romance and the
West wrapped in a silver bolo of the promise of America. This is our
story.
PageoneLit.com: You are a rancher and cowboy so I
won't ask "why do you like the western/romance/historical genre" but
I will ask you what MAKES the THREADS WEST series different from
other's in the same genre?
Reid Lance Rosenthal: There are many fine westerns,
western romances and historical westerns out there. I am incredibly
flattered that reviewers, best selling authors, and readers alike
are comparing the book to Lonesome Dove and Centennial, and that it
has even been referred to as the Gone With The Wind of the West. In
fact I am pleasantly stunned.
Threads West is perhaps different from all those
classic works in several respects. Its first generation of
characters are of uncommon origin, all but one being from Europe.
This vanguard of brave souls is truly the foundation of this tale
of the West and a nation on the cusp of greatness. The first novel
begins a saga that will span almost 170 years from the rough and
tumble of the 1850's frontier to the complex ranch and agrarian
society of the Contemporary West. There is, again in the words of
reviewers and readers, an "exquisite sensuality" not found often, or
at all in most western genre in my humble opinion.
Finally, I believe folks are being swept away by
this book because its characters are real, far from the
stereotypical personalities many expect in a "western". They have
both strength and weakness, they wrestle with complex inner
conflicts, and they interrelate with one another with the same
believable realism, at times less than pleasant--as we all find in
life outside fiction.
PageoneLit.com: THREADS WEST begins in 1855 - Did you research for
this historical setting and time? If so, How?
Reid Lance Rosenthal: Wow! Did I research this. It
was bigger task than I anticipated. Though I thought I was familiar
with this magical moment in American history, I was mistaken. 1855
may be one of the most difficult single years to write of in the
history of this country and the West that I have experienced. The
great westward migration was in its infancy. The later turmoil
between the Northern and Southern states was just beginning to
darken the whispered rhetoric of both sides. Native Americans had
rightfully lost trust in the promises of the white men. The Indian
Treaties of the years prior, and indeed the compacts between the
states as to abolition, had all been broken by one or the other
party just within the previous twelve to twenty-four months. This
was the year just prior to the discovery of gold in Colorado, the
real precipitator of the tidal wave of westward migration that began
in 1858. The Singer sewing machine had just been invented, revolvers
were only years old, and the repeating rifle was still just a few
years out. It was the year the world, and America breathed in, held
their collective breath and readied to exhale with a rush towards
the great plains and Rockies.
I was assisted by several researchers to whom I gave
very specific tasks. They are acknowledged as to their
contributions in the enhanced Ebook form under Additional
Acknowledgements. In addition, I drew on scores of printed and web
sources, and several great non fiction and memoir historical works
of that very specific time period., It was fascinating, immensely
rewarding, and I hope affords historical texture of a macro depth,
detail and scope not typically found in historical western novels.
It was a time of both promise and fear, and the beginnings of the
second great European immigration, a critical frame just prior to
the switch of reels in the living movie of American history; Reel
one, the East. Reel two, the West.
PageOneLit.com: Who is Johannes Svenson? Sarah
Bonney? Zebbariah Taylor ?
Reid Lance Rosenthal: Johannes Svenson was tall,
lean and blonde. He was both irreverent and charming, and his
military service in the Danish Heavy Calvary instilled in him a
worldly, quiet but mischievous confidence. Roguish, adventurous,
restless, he and his life are adrift. But Johannes, in his search to
find himself, was about to be swept into the swift unknown currents
of a rugged foreign landscape by the mysterious cascade of destiny.
Sarah had made her choice. Following the death of
her mother the old world held little promise. The glowing letters
from her aunt already in America, an ambition and wonder that could
be satiated only by exploration, and a strange pull which flowed
from the unknown continent across the sea was about to collide with
the realities of life, and personalities more experienced and far
less innocent than hers.
Zebbariah Taylor was weathered, wiry and wily in the
ways of the wilderness. His solitude was of stands of quaking
aspens, sun drenched canyons, gurgles of rushing high country creeks
and the still waters of beaver ponds which provided the pelts that
kept him in supplies. Zeb was not much partial to people, intensely
disliked settlements and towns and distrusted most who shared his
skin color. His few friends were some of the Arapahoe and Shawnee
with whom he traded. Unknown to him the path of tough leathery loner
would inexplicably intersect with the life journeys of others,
resulting in generational influences far more broad and long term
than his lone wolf nature could have ever foreseen.
PageOneLit.com: THREADS WEST, AN AMERICAN SAGA BOOK
ONE looks to be a successful series/franchise for you - If Hollywood
called today and asked you to cast the film version who would you
cast and WHY?
Reid Lance Rosenthal: Frankly, I would be thrilled
to see this epic saga portrayed in the stunning audio and visual of
a great film or series. But one step at a time. First, the book just
now coming out in print on October 12 (http://www.threadswestamericansaga.com),
and then the next steps.
PageOneLit.com: Plot or Character? Which do you
feel is more important and why?
Reid Lance Rosenthal: The over arcing essence of the
plot is consistent, and will flow through to successive generations
of characters, more than thirty eight in all, over the course of the
series. This is the tale of personalities of uncommon origins,
disparate motivations, their life threads none-the-less destined to
weave into the tapestry of an emerging nation, and an untamed West.
I cannot identify a single character that is more or less important
than another. All have their roles in the story, each has his or her
contribution to the tale, the conflict, the triumph, and the romance
of their interactions. Together they constitute the foundation of
the entire series, their progeny destined, like their predecessors
to fight, love, cry, fail and succeed inextricably intertwined with
one another and the energy of the vast lands of the Rockies.
PageOneLit.com: THREADS WEST is already generating
major comparison's to the iconic best selling Larry McMurtry's
Lonesome Dove series - How do you feel about that?
Reid Lance Rosenthal: I discuss this a bit above. I
am both gratified and extremely flattered (not to mention a bit in
delighted shock) to have my work, much lest my debut novel compared
to any great book by any standout author, much less those like
Lonesome Dove, Gone with the Wind and Centennial, which in my mind
comprise the very top of the bar of this literary genre. I find the
whole surprise inspirational. It makes me want to write, to tell the
rest of this story, and to do it in a way that reaches out and
touches readers, makes them care for these characters, tingle at the
passion of the plot, palpably sense the power and energy of the
land, and feel a beat of pride as they recall through the tale our
roots as a people, a country, and the unique spirit of America that
is the glue that binds us all.
PageOneLit.com:
When can readers
expect Book Two?,
Reid Lance Rosenthal: Book Two, Maps
of Fate is
already in the writing and I, and my publisher, Rockin''' SR
Publishing are shooting to deliver the enhanced Ebook to all my
great readers and Threads West fans in January 2011, the print
copy coming soon thereafter. Excerpts and overview of the second
novel of the series in fact follow the end of Book One in the
Threads West paperback and Ebook. It will be action packed,
passion and romance filled but with scenes that will
undoubtedly bring tears to readers, as they do me when I simply
pen the story the characters are whispering to me as I write. It
will span an approximate twenty year period, to about 1875. It's
ending will, as does Book One, leave the readers, and the
characters (who will include both new personalities from
uncommon origins, and some of the next generation) at a point in
the saga which is simultaneously conclusion and suspension that
segues into Book Three, North
to Wyoming anticipated in late spring/early summer 2011.
PageOneLit.com: What was the last book you read?
Reid Lance Rosenthal: I must admit, Threads West!
:-)
PageOneLit.com: What's next?
Reid Lance Rosenthal: Along with Threads West, An
American Saga, Books Two and Three over the next six months, I will
be completing my narrative non fiction book, Land for Love and
Money, an entertaining anecdotal instruction for owners and wannabe
owners of all types, sizes and facets of land in North America. The
work is based on my long time ownership and career in lands in
numerous states, three countries and two continents over the past
forty years.
PageOneLit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are
they? How do they enhance your writing?
Reid Lance Rosenthal: My hobbies, like my writing
are more than hobbies, they are passions, a heat that flows from my
soul...and all find their source in the land. Hunting, fly fishing,
river floating, horse back riding, and skiing the steep deep and
extreme terrain of the Rockies are among a few. It is this perpetual
dance with the land that indelibly prints mind scenes which later
find their way to paper, remembered strokes of a natural brush to
share with my readers transporting them to a moment. I sincerely
hope they enjoy it thoroughly!
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