Friday Night Reads: R.E. Dean

This Friday I'll be hosting my third #FriNightReads starting at 7p MST on my author Facebook featuring long-time friend and tome master, R.E. Dean, with his historical fiction epic, Blood for Glory. It's amazing to be able to remember when a fellow creative was still working on this one idea I had - and take it from scribblings late at night and turn it into a late-night page-turner. Blood for Glory follows the real-life journey of Crusader Godfrey de Boullion as he marches from his home in northern Europe all the way to Jerusalem. But more importantly, it explores the raw reality of what it takes internally to accomplish such a task and at what personal price. R.E. Dean's Blood for Glory is a personal epic perfect for psychological history buffs and I can't wait to read the first chapter to you soon!

Robert and I were roommates back in college. One of the reasons I'm especially excited to read from his book is because his writing is the origin story for my own writing. If not for his late-night research and writing sessions - desk piled high with medieval history books - I probably wouldn't have ever begun writing my own first book, Rienspel.

I can still remember coming into the dorm after class and seeing Robert hunched over his desk in the corner, barely visible from all the stacks of notes, coffee in hand, typing away. It was my first exposure to a writer in his natural habitat. So often, we just assume books arrive in their final form, where they sit like Christmas presents on store bookshelves, waiting to be opened. But to get to this point, books need years of blood, sweat, and tears. They need endless nights hunched over desks, as their creators type on through the long nights. They take rounds of editing and beta readers. Someone has to figure out the publishing path. Someone else has to create and size the cover...

I didn't know any of that process way back when. All I knew was that my friend really cared about writing this book. Understanding an event and characters who lived a thousand years ago on another continent. Slowly, with the utmost care, I watched as Robert breathed life into legends. Finally, the idea dawned on me that if he could write a book... well... why couldn't I write one too? Thus began what would later become Rienspel and The Grey Isle Tale and their whole encompassing fantastical world that I still write in to this very day. If not for Robert and Blood for Glory, an entire part of my life probably wouldn't exist. These words you're reading now wouldn't exist for you to read now. - That's why a single story matters.

More on the author:

R.E. Dean lives in Huntsville with his wife and family. You can learn more about his book and order a copy for yourself HERE.

#FriNightReads is a collaborative live-read author Ryan P Freeman hosts each Friday at Titlewave Books. The goal is to help bring talented indie authors into the spotlight where they can enjoy the exposure and delight they deserve. To watch this celebration of talented indie authors, simply pop over to Ryan's author Facebook, Friday nights at 7p MST.