Tony B. Richard
(pen name)
Hi, my name is Tony. I am dyslexic… More on that later.
I never thought I would have a writing career, but when I look back, I have been writing most of my life. In high school, I learned to write code… as in computer code, not encrypted messages, which might have been cooler.
After post-secondary, I taught programming computers and wrote my own lessons, lots of course notes, several different classes. I got good at it.
Then I wrote a lot of emails, typically trying to change things without ruffling too many feathers. Yes, I was a rebel of sorts.
I certainly never thought I would write stories, maybe how-to guides, non-fiction, but never fiction. This is so far out of my comfort zone, but it somehow feels natural. Does that make any sense?
This story has been haunting me for about 10 years. I tried to write it before but with little success. In 2021 the words just flowed. I wrote my first novella in two weeks, published it, and thought I was done. But fate kicked in, and an editor helped me make the story’s first chapter more engaging, but it wasn’t her genre, and that’s as far as she went.
I read books on how-to-write, and then the real re-writing began. Other authors and editors were lecturing me on “write what you know,” and that’s not what I am writing. I don’t live in or near Roswell, I am not black, I am not in the army, and I have never met any aliens (that I am aware of). I tried to quit, but the stories haunted me more, so I had to continue.
The irony is that it sometimes takes me longer to read my stories than to write them. That’s when I considered the possibility that I might be dyslexic.
I started listening to audiobooks, and that’s great. My audiobook should be released any minute. So, I found the Open Dyslexic font and found it helped. But I wasn’t sure whether the font itself was helping or just the extra space. I am still testing to find the best to read. If you have any ideas, please let me know.
Anyway, as I mentioned, it takes me a long time to read, so I prefer watching TV and movies (I can hear most of you groan). Yes, I admit, I am the last person who should be writing. Anyway, my stories are what Amazon calls 1 to 2 hour reads, like TV episodes.
These shorter stories (novellas or novelettes) are good to read when you don’t have much time or don’t want a big reading commitment. So hopefully, you can read half riding transit on the way to work and the other half on the way home. I don’t know about you, but I’m often in a doctor’s office for almost an hour waiting, maybe it’s a good time to read my stories.
Thank you Carolin Petersen of Tigerpetal Press for amazing editing, and Alex Perkins of Perky Visuals for awesome book covers!
I hope you enjoy my stories! If you have comments, please email me: tony@tonybrichard.com