Yea, ok, that was a long time ago now, but I’ve been WAAAAAY too busy to come in here and mention it. Here below is the link to the feature article that was done on me and appeared in a couple of the local papers. Below the link is the full text to the article.
http://www.holmencourier.com/articles/2007/04/19/features/01author.txt
Holmen author A.R. Horvath Tony to his friends found inspiration for his debut novel on the road. by Adam Bissen
There is plenty of precedent for that in the American literary tradition, but Horvath didn’t look to racing speeds, madcap adventures or the freedom of the highway when he plotted out his story.
No, when Horvath conceived the trajectory of a planned seven-novel series, he was a professional truck driver, kept away from his family for 10 days at a time as he drove across the country.
After half a year as a truck driver Horvath came off the road, returned to Holmen and wrote Fidelis, book one in his Birth Pangs series, in just four months. Fittingly, it is about one man’s struggle to return to his family after being stranded halfway across the country with obstacles in his path.
When I sat down to write it, I already knew how it was going to go,Horvath said in an interview at a Holmen coffee shop. A lot of places that are described in the book, they are places that I saw with my own eyes.
But, as Horvath found out, writing a novel is only a small part of the battle when it comes to getting it read. It can be a lot more difficult getting it printed and on people’s bookshelves.
Even if an author is talented, lucky and has a well-connected agent, it can take years to break into a major publishing house. Those publishing companies have the clout and advertising budgets to make an author famous, but Horvath didn’t have the time to sit on a second book. He wanted to write, and most every author wants to be read, so Horvath mastered modern printing technology and threw himself into the business: He formed his own publishing company.
Today Fidelis, all 297 pages of it, sheathed in a glossy paperback binding can be purchased on Horvath’s Web site, birthpangs.com. Internet retailer Amazon.com carries the book, and it can be ordered from any Barnes & Noble.
Coulee Region readers can also pick up a copy from Horvath in person when he gives a reading April 20 at Barnes & Noble in Valley View Mall.
I’ve already got seven reviews (on amazon.com) that are all good, that are all great. Who are these people? I don’t know, but it doesn’t necessarily matter, Horvath said. The thing is I’m generating the interest already through my own channels. If that big publisher wanted to offer me that multi-thousand dollar advance, that’s fine. I’d be their huckleberry. But in the meantime I am going to develop that fan base.
Horvath grew up in Detroit but moved to Holmen in 2001 with his wife, who is from the area. The pair met at Concordia University in Mequon, Wis., where Horvath earned degrees in pastoral ministry and theological languages.
He originally intended to be a minister but he decided he didn’t like that field. Horvath then worked as a teacher for a few years, decided he didn’t like that either, did the truck driving thing and now he stays home full-time to watch his three children.
With young kids around, Horvath said it can be difficult to find a few hours of solitude to work on his books, but he makes the time, writing four to five pages at a sitting. It’s a life that suits him well enough, but it’s a long way from the writing technique favored by one of Horvath’s friends, an author who is currently putting together a book in the mountains of Argentina.
That’s exactly the way I would expect a literary person to write a book,Horvath said. I would be more of the working class style of writing a book, where I just fit it in when I have the time. I don’t have the luxuries of anyone saying ˜Oh, wow, he’s a writer so we’ll give him a little bit of latitude.
The plot of Fidelis and the whole Birth Pangs series follows one man’s struggle to cross a post-apocalyptic America and return to his family in the Midwest. The book is set in the future with the United States beset by disease, invading armies and small-scale nuclear warfare. The main character, Fides, lands in an airplane in Las Cruces, N.M., and must return to his family while crossing gangs and idealogues who stand in his way.
True to his background, Horvath hints at a lot of religious imagery in recalling the plot of Fidelis. For starters there’s the book’s title (Latin for faithfulness) and the city of Las Cruces (Spanish for the crosses). A major theme in the book is Fides learning what’s important in life and whom to trust as he makes his way through a society with no order. Like other seven-book series The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter Horvath expects Birth Pangs to climax in one final battle in which there can be only one winner.
In addition to writing, editing, publishing and distributing Fidelis, Horvath also is organizing his own promotional campaign. He said he sold 15 copies of the book last weekend at his first-ever book signing in Michigan. In addition to the Barnes & Noble reading, Horvath will lead a discussion May 17 at the Blue Cup Cafe in Holmen. He’s also booked a booth at a large Christian music festival in Illinois in June to get the word out.
But Horvath thinks the most effective vehicle for promoting his book is through Internet advertising. He bought ads on Yahoo.com with the hope that people who type in the search terms fantasy fiction,Harry Potter,Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia will be directed to his Web site.
Although he only picked up the published copies of Fidelis in December, Horvath thinks he is doing fairly well as an independent publisher, having already sold 200 copies in his 1,000-book run.
He’s also gotten a start on book two.
The Internet has really opened the way for small publishers and authors on their own, Horvath said, especially those who have been thrown up against the wall over and over and just can’t get in. They’ve come out, and now they’re getting through.
Tags: Harry Potter, imagery, struggle