Topics of conversation:

• Rickey tells the story of the tragic auto accident that completely changed his life.
• Prison life, and the emotional journey of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and then acceptance.
• How Rickey and his "cellie" (cell mate) supported each other's artistic pursuits.
• Storyline of Rendezvous Rock, and it's interesting supernatural twist.
• Publishing, manuscripts, persistence, and the challenges of promoting a book.

Listen to interview

Occasionally, we come across an author whose own life story is as interesting as the stories they create.  Rickey Bray, the author of the Rendezvous Rock, is such an example.  His writing actually evolved as a result of the tragedies in his life.

Growing up in rural Oklahoma, his life was happily normal with his wife and three young children.  All of that changed abruptly in 1978 when he and his family were involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver resulting in the death of his wife and two of his three children.  His children killed in the accident were 4 years old and 4 months only.  The child who survived was 6 years old.  Sadly after the accident, Bray, only in his early twenties, was unable to cope with the loss, fell into a depression haze, and turned to drugs for consolation.

Rendezvous Rock
Rickey Bray
Robert D. Reed Publishers (2009)
ISBN 9781934759257

Synopsis: While vacationing in the mountains, Eric meets an unusual girl, Susan, who has sparkling, emerald eyes that are so strangely captivating. They are a unique, singular shade of green and seem to be imbued with an ancient fire that even a spoiled, youthfully unperceptive Eric could easily feel. He senses a strange maturity about this mysterious girl and is drawn to her like a magnet.

"When I said we would never be married, I meant in your way," Susan said. "Will you marry me in my way? Right now?"

Even though numerous questions clamored in his head, Eric easily replied, "Of Course."

Eric's answer was far too easy in Susan's opinion. As she mused over his quick reply, she speculated on how to best explain their strange situation in terms that he could understand, an impossibility to do beforehand. He would have to commit himself, then learn the truth. It was unfair to the extreme, yet unavoidable under these very peculiar circumstances, and thus Eric is drawn into a mysterious world.

All of this came to an abrupt halt fourteen years later when he sent to prison on drug charges, and it was here that he began his writing career.