Interview & Giveaway with Ron C Nieto, Author of Silent Song

The Interview:

·         When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

As soon as I realized that I couldn’t be Batman.

Okay, seriously now: I can still remember when I wrote my first “novel”. I was nine. I never finished it (thank God!). If the files hadn’t been eaten by virtual moths, I’d probably gag and die of shame. But the funny thing is that back then, I didn’t think I wanted to be a writer. Neither did I think I’d be a writer when I actually finished my first story, when I was fifteen, and neither did it cross my mind when I started writing fanfiction, when I was eighteen. You know why? Because I didn’t think it could be my job. It was like being Batman: a nice dream, but something that couldn’t happen.

Then, in University, I ran into some people who believed in me and told me that, yes, it was possible; that the whole point of dreams is to chase after them. That I should strap on the heavy writing gear and get started if I wanted to get anywhere.

I did. It turned out they were right. As soon as I allowed myself to think that I wanted to be a writer, it started happening (it took a lot more time and effort to get to a publishable point, but that’s another story, isn’t it?).

·         Do you have a routine that you use to get into the right frame of mind to write?

This answer is going to be embarrassing, but... I buy a metaphorical pot of glue.

No, really. If left to my own devices, I’d stall and stall forever, find a ton of things to do, decide that inspiration isn’t hitting... So what I do is the following:

I sit down in front of my computer (preferably while it’s on). I select the music track that suits better the story, characters or scene I want to tackle. I check my e-mail and such while waiting for the music to take effect. Then, I fire up writeordie software and start typing away.

You might have heard about the little nifty program. You know, it’s the one where your words get deleted if you so much as stop typing to scratch your nose.

The result is that, no matter how stuck I felt in the beginning, I end up flying. True, the characters tend to commandeer the story and later I have to do damage control, but usually the whole thing looks better if I let them do as they please anyway (and yes, this is just a figure of speech. I don’t think my characters are alive inside my head. The voices told me it was just my mind...).

·         What books have most influenced your life?

This is not an easy one, because I’m bound to leave out books that have made me feel strongly and that have influenced me, but I’m going to go with four: two from my teen years, two from recent years.

Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card: all sci-fi lovers have heard of this one. It was earth-shattering for the genre. It was earth-shattering for me, too. It made me think a lot, and there’s this paraphrased quote... “To destroy something, you must understand it first. And when you understand it, you won’t want to destroy it anymore.” It changed me, and I’ve been fighting haters armed with nothing but that knowledge ever since.

Dune, by Frank Herbert: when I was younger (as if I wasn’t young anymore...) I used to say that it had been that famous sentence, “Fear is the mind killer”. It was, especially coupled with the quote from above (my tenets in my rebellious years) but it was so much more. This book is just too deep and powerful to pinpoint one single aspect.

The Sundering, by Jacqueline Carey: you’ll say that I cheat, because that’s a duology. Well, I’ll just feel petulant and point at the omnibus edition. This book is a lot like The Lord of the Rings... from the Nazgul captain point of view. It made me cry like a baby, and it has its own quote to ponder over: “When everything that is good calls you evil, are you?”

Froi of the Exiles, by Melina Marchetta: as you can see, this one is an extremely recent addition. Again, it’s a book that made me cry and feel things I didn’t know I could feel. It’s about being human and being oneself, whoever one might be. I don’t have a quote, but it really marked me.

·         What do you like to do when you are not writing?

Actually, I’d love to be able to say that I do nothing but writing, that it’s my all-consuming passion and only purpose in life...

It’d be such a fat lie! For starters, I have my day job. It’s closely linked to books and reading, but it’s not writing my own stuff. Since I’m a procrastinator monster, I also love gaming whenever I have the chance! My favorites include Final Fantasy XII and Neverwinter Nights. And soon, oh soon, I shall buy a computer where I can play thee, Dragon Age II!

Finally, you guessed it: I also spend inordinate amounts of time torturing people around me by playing guitar. Keith’s not based off me, though: oh no, he actually can play. I just make a lot of noise and put in plenty of enthusiasm.

·         What do you think makes a good story?

I think there are whole books out there trying to define the elements of a good story. I’m pretty sure I could whip together a new one if I got started, so I’m going to try and keep it as short as I can.

In theory, there’s the pace and world building and inner logic... and yes, I value those aspects. But ultimately, what makes a book stay with me is the relationship I establish with the characters. I don’t need them to be good or evil or troubled heroes, either. I just ask that they are real and genuine. I want to be able to feel what they are feeling and to understand why they change and evolve; being told that some character ends up redeemed just because that’s the plot is not particularly memorable. I don’t want them to make excuses. I don’t want them to move in a certain direction because that’s where they should be headed. I just want them to be them. If a story has that single aspect covered, I’ll probably like it.

And, if you think about it (and look at it under the right light while squinting your eyes just so) you’ll see that the other aspects of a good story are related to being able to relate to the characters as well. Example: world building. A person (or should I say sentient being?) is the result of their culture, their education, their social environment... if that background is not well thought out, then we won’t be able to truly understand the character because he’s been shaped by a world we can’t possibly understand (on account of it not being explained at all).

Inner logic: if we want our world and characters to be real, they have to be consistent. Our whole lives are based on knowing what to expect (drop off a cliff and you’ll fall kind of thing), so when we find a hole in a fictional book, we pull out of the story because we can no longer follow the developments.

And so on and so forth... I did say I’d try to keep it short, didn’t I? Ahem. Sorry. In short, for a good story, worry about the characters first, and then about what makes them be themselves. The rest should come later. 

The Book:

The princess of the school, Alice, is keeping a secret that could strip her of her high school fame. She is obsessed with the school’s outcast, Keith, but not just him – his music. 


Since the inspiration for the song hit, Keith can’t get it out of his mind. The song must be played; it demands to be played. He knows the music is changing him, but he is unable to stop it. 


Music has the ability to move you, enlighten you, and take you to places you have never dreamed of. And this particular piece? It has a life of its own and makes you forget who you really are. 


As Keith and Alice learn of one another to the notes of that one perfect tune, they can overlook their roles and discover who they could be together. But they also discover someone else is listening and intends on keeping Keith to herself, possibly for an eternity. 

Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon

The Author:

Ron C. Nieto is a fantasy and romance author who has been writing in her secluded fortress for the longest time. Recently, she had a talk with her cat and decided that she should share her creations, because it was selfish to hoard them all for herself, and so Silent Song was born as her debut novel.

Connect with Ron:  Website  | Twitter

The Giveaway:

There will be 12 ebooks given away on the tour plus one signed print copy. All are open Internationally.

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