Book Tour ~ The Big Empty by Ritch Gaiti - Guest Post + Giveaway

The Big Empty

by Ritch Gaiti

Publisher: Sedona Editions

Published: May 2013

ISBN (ebook): 978-0-9833837-3-4

Reviews

“…masterfully conceived, exquisitely written, dramatically atmospheric…Highly recommended.” Grady Harp, Literary Aficionado/Amazon Hall of Fame Reviewer

“…a home run with fiction lovers, conspiracy theorists and anyone who likes a fast-paced mystery that keeps the reader guessing until the very end.” Pacific Book Review

“…characters are detailed, realistic, and incredibly three dimensional…you are never exactly sure who is trustworthy.” Laurie Love, AGoddessofLiterature.com

“…a great slow-burning mystery thriller.” James Goulding

The Big Empty -summary

A gritty lawyer uncovers an ancient conspiracy and the betrayal of a man and a nation. A thriller mystery of treachery, trust and redemption.

Every instinct I had told me to get out but I couldn’t, not now. This simple case would trigger repercussions that would unnerve the city, maybe the country. I was about to open doors that had been
nailed shut for a lifetime. And the only path to the truth was through a labyrinth of deceit. I trusted no one, not even myself. My stomach tightened.

The ten years had slipped by like a century. I never thought I’d see New York again and now I find myself buried in its bowels, unsure of what I was after—but I knew I had to find it. I snaked through the city bureaucracy, historical landmarks and some of the most prominent properties in the city, all intricately linked. Nothing fit, yet everything connected and answers only bred more questions. Somehow it had all been mysteriously tied back to me.

I ventured into the darkest tunnel of all, my own. I realized then why I was chosen—why I had been the only one that could find this elusive document. Deep within a maze of deceptions and betrayals,
I uncovered a massive conspiracy among the most esteemed organizations in the world—and the truth that had sent my life into a tailspin ten years ago was far from true. Suddenly, this seemingly routine assignment suddenly had enormous stakes and consequences. Now it was up to me to mend an ancient injustice and the fate of an entire culture.

Guest Post ~ Motivation and inspiration 

I have many books in my creative pipeline – all in some stage of development – from idea scratchings to almost-completed, ready-to-go-except-for-one-more-thing, tomes. Sometimes I start a book because I have an idea, a beginning, or a character or a particular voice – quite often I have no clue where the story is going or how it will get there. Quite often, the storyline and plot have not been fully thought out and are in a constant state of flux. That is the adventure of writing – you can change your fictional reality.

But there are two aspects that distinguish my completed books from the rest - the characters and the message. 

I know my characters well - who they are, how they will react, what they will say and do in any circumstance. In fact, as I write, it’s as if the character’s hands are on my keyboard and I am just 
witnessing the birth of dialogue. I am not inside the character’s heads; I AM the character.  I love strong characters that are elegantly flawed. And I love to experience them as they succeed and fail and change and grow.

So the character is my vehicle and my message is my goal. How the character gets from here to there evolves through the story. Every book I have written has had a strong message – not a moralistic one, rather something I want to bring into the reader’s awareness. In TWEET, it was a humorous account about consumerism and how we have become an impersonal society where the individual has no say. I chose Glebe, quirky and very funny, as my lead character. 

In DUTCHING THE BOOK, my message was to depict the mini society of horse playing and gambling in 1960’s Brooklyn, which was based on real people and events. In this case, I actually knew the characters well in real life, so writing about them was like reliving moments that I had never been part of.  

THE BIG EMPTY, my latest book, presented a different challenge because I wanted to deliver the story on several different levels. My goal was to convey a socially significant narrative through the gritty first-person voice of gritty Rick Wallace, a washed up Native American lawyer with a buried past.  As gritty as he was, I wanted to convey the thought of destiny and some external influence on our actions. Simultaneously, I had a personal mission to reveal and remedy past historical injustices.  

THE BIG EMPTY started with a character and a message and, after years of writes, re-writes and re-writes, everything came together in a multi-layered, slow burning, gritty mystery. I had three layers of storyline that I had to weave together – that’s the fun, frustration and challenge of writing. So the constants are the same – characters and a message – the rest is the journey of the creative process.

Ritch Gaiti

Ritch Gaiti is an author, an artist and a former Wall Street Executive. He focuses on a wide range of subjects and genres: from drama to suspense to humor; from fiction to non-fiction. His first book, Points, Women Have Them, Men Need Them, was a humorous relationship book. Afterwards, sticking with humor, he wrote Tweet, a fictional satire on consumerism and the advertising industry. Recently, Tweet has been optioned for a feature film. His last book, Dutching the Book, a fictional drama based on real people and events, delivers an absorbing story about horse racing and gambling in 1960’s Brooklyn.

Ritch has also written articles for magazines, including Private Wealth, Tango and Balance magazines and has been featured on national TV and radio, including a guest appearance on the Today Show, opposite Joan Rivers.

In addition to writing, Ritch is a recognized artist who exhibits regularly in galleries and museums across the country. His portfolio can be viewed on: www.Gaiti.com. He is also recreational pilot and enjoys tennis and skiing. a Rafflecopter giveaway