From the Booking Desk:

Richard Ryan has been a fan and supporter of BOLO Books for a number of years now. He often reaches out to tell me how much he enjoyed a review or a recommendation from the blog. I have covered his series of Sherlock Holmes pastiches here on the blog on a number of occasions and encourage you all to check them out if you haven’t already. It was only a matter of time before Richard appeared as a Composite Sketch profile subject and today is that day. I think you all will enjoy his thoughtful responses to our weekly questions.

Name: Richard T. Ryan
Location: Staten Island, New York

This person from my personal life is such an inspiration:

Without a doubt, I would have to say my wife, Grace. She has supported and encouraged my writing throughout our marriage. She is also a brutally honest critic, but although we sometimes disagree, she turns out to be right far more often than I do. I am computer illiterate, so she has also proven invaluable in retrieving lost work and in other instances too numerous to count. In short, I’d be lost without her. I also have serious doubts as to whether I would have finished any of my books without her insights and assistance.

One of the people I admire most in the crime fiction community is:

Lee Child. I say this because he has created a true one-of-a-kind character in Jack Reacher, and he has written several of the finest stories I have ever read. I am particularly fond of Tripwire, which contains, in my opinion, one of the great villains of all time. On a more personal level, Lee was kind enough to endorse my first novel, The Vatican Cameos, and you can see him regularly trying to give struggling writers a lift.

STALKER ALERT! If this fictional character were real, they would likely need to get a restraining order against me:

This is so difficult for me to answer because there are a number of authors whose works I wait anxiously for each year. Among those who can count me as loyal fans are Stephen Hunter, Daniel Silva, Lee Child, Ben Coes and Vince Flynn. That said, I suppose I’d have to pick Gabriel Allon, Silva’s art restorer cum secret agent. Art has played a key role in all of my works, and the idea of discussing Renaissance art with Allon would be too tempting to pass up.

People are always surprised that I am a fan of this individual (singer, actor, or artist):

I have eclectic tastes in music; as a result, I can listen to both Pachelbel and Chuck Berry. However, the artist that has always impressed me is the Canadian folksinger, Gordon Lightfoot. So many of his songs – “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” “10 Degrees and Getting Colder,” “If You Could Read my Mind” – strike me as short stories set to music. He is, I think, a modern-day troubadour, in the truest sense of the word.

My personal catch phrase is (or should be):

“Life isn’t fair. It’s just fairer than death that’s all.” Fans will know that line comes from William Goldman’s The Princess Bride. I actually incorporated the work into my curriculum in my past life as a high school English teacher. Taking that as a jumping off point, it can be applied to so many great pieces of literature. It’s a truism, but it is one that I think we need to be reminded of occasionally.