Do I Bother You At Night is Celebrating It's One Year Anniversary On October 4th! To thank all his loyal readers Troy is giving away a
Caseable Kindle Folio from his new online store Tribal Style Design to one reader during the blast! Book Blurb: They say nothing ever happens in Kansas. Sylvester Petersen used to think so too. That is, until a mysterious new neighbor moves in next door, seemingly out of nowhere. His handful of friends – people who tried to help him cope with the sudden death of his wife – think that it might be an opportunity for him to get reacquainted with the world outside his farmhouse and to build a new relationship with his neighbor. But that idea is soon snuffed out as strange events begin to happen around him. None of them wrong. Just strange: driving in the middle of the night, the sulfur-like odor coming off of him, the fact he doesn’t talk to anyone in the area. And what about that dog? Sylvester chooses the logical explanation and ignores the peculiar behavior. But when other oddities start to happen – the kind that affects Sylvester directly – he begins to worry. His reasoning dwindles and his growing fear points to his neighbor. Where is that stray dog going? After enough time, Sylvester starts to see and hear what the people of the area have been muttering about: Unexplainable blue light, corn crops moving on their own…the slaughtered cattle entirely too close to home. And that stray dog that keeps getting fatter and fatter… At the peak of summer, and with the walls closing in, Sylvester experiences something that will take him to the brink and haunt you forever. Bathed in loss, terror and human spirit, Do I Bother You at Night? will be a story you won’t forget and one that will give you a few restless evenings of your own. Love thy neighbor. "Do I Bother You At Night? by Troy Aaron Ratliff not only can be put on a list of one of my favorite frightening stories, it climbs near the peak of the mountain. Things happen in this story that made even a reader as jaded and hard to impress as me jump in my seat." -
Alex Kimmell, author of The Key To Everything "As we know from his short fiction, Troy Aaron Ratliff revels - to our colorful benefit - in turning the ordinary on its head, often in terrifyingly plausible ways. In this, his first novel, he stretches into the realm of the supernatural, but of course, it continues to feel just as plausible because of the vivid characters at the heart of the story. Do I Bother You at Night? will stay with you for many nights."
Mike Robinson, Author of The Prince of Earth and The Green-Eyed Monster
Troy's Book Little Bernie's Map Will be FREE on Amazon October 4th - 8th! The world is a funny place with funny people and some things just happen for no reason at all. Still, every family deserves a vacation, a break, even when times are tough and backs are against the wall. Daniel, a recently out-of-work family man, is returning home with his wife and child from a lovely prescheduled vacation before they must face the harsh reality back home. What they would never have expected was the surreal nightmare they would experience on their journey back.
Buy on Amazon
About the author:
Troy Aaron Ratliff was born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio and self educated in writing, art, photography, and voice impersonations. When he's not reading, writing, sketching, or cooking up his next monstrosity, you can generally find him defending the galaxy from the forces of evil, feeding hippopotamuses, dining with foreign dignitaries and Zen masters, waking up to his supermodel wife, altering the space-time inter-dimensional warp or, more than likely, stuck in traffic somewhere in Southern California on his magic carpet.
Interview with Troy:
1. When did you start writing?
I didn't really have a magical moment where I decided to sit down and start writing. I started reading adult novels when I was about 11, and they immediately spoke to me, challenging me, "You can do this too! Just try it!” I can point the finger to King and Crichton as the two sparks, but the real fire was the building emotions of growing up and them wanting to get out, wanting to express myself creatively. I don’t come from the richest family in the world with a father who worked in a paper mill, but I recognized very early the elegant poetry in a paper mill worker having a published writer for a son. After that, I never really stopped.
2. Do you have a favorite fictional character? (from your book or not)
It would have to be Sylvester, though I loved writing Dustin, the comic relief of the story. It was a fun exercise, and - not to wander off topic - I could let people know that even though I’m a horror writer, I have a pulse, a personality, and a sense of humor. You’d be surprised how many people I’ve met - even at writing conferences - who have told me “they’ve always wondered what a horror writer looks like”, but I digress.
Plus, I wanted Sylvester to be the everyman going through something very real and relatable to the reader. Sylvester isn’t gifted with a special ability, or lives in a penthouse off of Park Ave. and worth millions. He’s a regular Midwestern American man trying to cope with life and what is thrown at him. I believe that in writing, and particularly with writing of the fantastical - like horror and dark fiction - the best way the reader accepts the writer’s looming supernatural reality as true is to write a convincing and real story. In turn, this makes the boogieman all the more blood-chilling and terrifying when they come around. In order to accept the impossible, the possible must be undeniable.
3. Favorite writing snack?
I’m a big eater, but I actually don’t like eating when I write. I barely like to drink anything either. I usually like to focus entirely on the story and where I’m at in my head when I’m writing. With that said, the magic elixir of coffee is a pretty solid go-to for a favorite writing drink. Unless I’m feeling a little Bukowski, then it’s straight to the rum!
4. If you could sit down with any author living or dead and have a chat who would it be and why?
Living: Keith Richards, because...well, he's Keith Richards. Do I really need to explain how unbelievable that convo would be?
Dead: I would have to say Michael Crichton. I've looked up to him and his intellect for years. I don't even think I would ask him so much about his writing, but his other experiences, if he ever thought about writing a sequel to his magnificently exotic bio Travels, or where he sees our world going in the next 75 to 100 years, and what he wishes he could have written about before he died. And, if I'm speaking to a dead person in the present sense, what would pique his interest now, going into 2015.
5. Shameless plug time, what's next for you?
I recently took a break from writing and opened an online store called Tribal Style Design (
www.tribalstyledesign.com) that features my floral, mandala, and tribal themed artwork on a variety of products ranging from skateboards and keychains to throw pillows and iPhone pouches. It's all very colorful and fun. I’ve been so writing focus over the past few years that I felt my art skills were going to waste. I just recently announced it but I've been working on it for most of 2014 and am excited to see its growth. And not to worry my writing fans, I hope to publish two, possibility three more short stories in the coming year. And I have a series idea that I’m working on too that I want to start finalizing.
Find Troy on:
Website |
Google+ |
Literary Addicts |
Goodreads |
Twitter |
Instagram |
Facebook
Check out the Book Trailer
Author Interview with Troy
Troy is giving away any choice from the following link of Caseable Kindle Folio from his new online store Tribal Style Design to one reader during the blast.http://www.zazzle.com/tribalstyledesign/gifts?cg=196323575084723072 
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scenes and just enough conflict to make it interesting. Her books run from YA paranormal romance (THE KING SERIES), through NA paranormal and contemporary romance (THE SERENDIPITY DUET, PERFECT DISH DUO, THE ONE TRILOGY) to adult contemporary and paramystery romance (CRYSTAL COVE BOOKS and RECIPE FOR DEATH SERIES). She lives in central Florida with a husband, kids, sweet pup and too many cats. And yeah, she rocks purple hair.
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