An Interview with Gary Rivera: Author of The Reluctant Bully

Gary was born in Brooklyn, New York, and currently resides in Orlando, Florida. A widower with two grown children, loves going to theme parks, playing pickleball, watching movies, and reading. He enjoys traveling and hopes to visit every major league baseball stadium to watch a game.

Tell us about your book.

The Reluctant Bully is the second book in the Lunch Money Trilogy. I wanted to tell a different story from The Lunch Money Treasure, while further advancing the narrative of the first book, and I wanted to provide additional backstory for several characters, who will be featured in book three. My focus for TRB was telling a story about childhood bullying from several different perspectives. Bullying was a subtopic in my first book, but in TRB I wrote about how children and their parents deal with the issue. Many children suffer in silence, and I hope they read my book and discover that they do not have to.

Why did you want to write a book?

I have always enjoyed writing and wanted to write a book, but life took me in a different direction. I have many ideas percolating in my head, and when I finally decided to write my first book, it was pretty easy for me to choose where to start. My kids were the inspiration for my first book, and I have them to thank for finally getting it done.

Why did you choose to self-publish?

I am an avid reader of books, magazines, and online articles, and I discovered how timely and/or difficult it is to find a publisher/agent to get your book to print. My characters mean a lot to me, and I wanted to give them life–even if my family and I are the only ones who ever get to know them.

What do you think are the main pitfalls for indie writers?

Mine was that I believed I did not need any help–that was naive. Also, the number of companies that start contacting you and telling you how they will help you become a best-selling author is overwhelming. Watch out for the sharks.

What tips can you give other authors looking to self-publish?

Write about what you love, at least at first, and find chat groups that will encourage and support you while you get started.

Tell us about the genre you wrote in, and why you chose to write this sort of book.

During a pizza dinner with my kids, I started telling them a story that I never finished. That was the genesis for The Lunch Money Treasure. I wanted to put that story on paper because I always knew how it would end, but I did not know if it would be interesting enough that anyone would want to read it.

As someone who got picked on a great deal in school, I wanted to address bullying, but decided to wait until my second book to make it the central focus of the story. I wanted the main characters to be children because I feel they are much smarter than adults think they are, and growing up in a house with four sisters, with no brothers, I felt comfortable in making my main protagonist a girl.

How do your friends and family get involved with your writing? What do they think of your book?

A couple of close friends and family members are my beta readers. When I published The Lunch Money Treasure, I was happy to have reached my objective, and would have accepted if my friends and family told me they were proud of me, but they recommended that I not write another book. However, their glowing reviews of my first book inspired me to get “blind reviews,” which were also extremely positive. That motivated me to want to finish the trilogy, and, so far, the reviews for The Reluctant Bully have been rewarding.

Why did you write about this particular subject?

I attended a Catholic School, and was bullied a lot. Even though I was often miserable as a youth, and I never shared how bad things sometimes were, I always hoped for better days. In high school, things changed for the better. However, though I was never the bully that I dealt with in Catholic School, I now realize I partially became the person I disliked. I want my readers to consider their actions, and young readers to seek help if they are being bullied.

What did you learn on your journey as an author?

For years, I worried that I would write my book and never see it in print because I could not get a publisher, but self-publishing can make your writing goals attainable. I still do not know if my writing is good, but so far, I have not received any negative feedback and I would like to think that I am doing something right.

What’s next for you as an author?

I will start the third book, Cupid’s Conundrum, next year. For now, to keep active, I am writing four one-act plays. I may never publish them, but I will finish it.