Stanley Riiks Interview Part 2

What does rich mean to you?

I think being rich is being financially independent. Not many people are. Financial independence means not being dependent on anyone, not a company for your wages, not your boss for a job. Having your own income outside of work, having a passive income, having time and money, and not having to choose between one or the other. Be able to live the life you want, to me that’s rich.

 

Is this a get rich quick scheme?

It’s not a get rich quick scheme. Nor it is a network marketing scheme, and it’s not an advert for a game or a course. A lot of the financial books I’ve read are just sales tools. I’m not upselling anything, I’ve just sharing hard-won knowledge.

 

Why do you feel now is the right time to launch a book like Think Rich, Get Rich: 5 Steps to Financial Independence?

The likelihood is we are going into one of the worse recessions on record. Now is the best time for people to be gaining knowledge about finance. This isn’t a book for rich people, they already know the secrets to wealth, this is a book for anyone who wants to know some of those secrets and set themselves up to be wealthy.

 

You’ve been writing for a while now. What inspired you to start writing?

I loved reading when I was young. And then I just kind of lost interest for a few years, but as a teenager I rediscovered books when I bought one of the Conan novels on my way home from school. I took it home, read the first chapter, then went straight out and bought a couple more books. It was my first fantasy novel and I was hooked. After that I borrowed my dad’s Stephen King novels and read those, and then SF, and everything else. I joined multiple book clubs, I visited the school and local libraries, and loved being in worlds not my own.

I started writing in my mid-teens, and enjoyed the feeling of being god, being in total and utter control of my characters’ lives and the worlds they lived in.

 

Why the switch to non-fiction after many years of writing fiction?

I started writing fiction, but I also had a diary, so my connection with non-fiction is long. I’ve written book reviews for as long as I can remember, and I don’t restrict myself to any one genre. I just write. Sometimes that’s stories, sometimes those stories are real and sometimes they aren’t. I don’t pick categories to write in, it just depends what I’m interested in at the time.

Stanley Riiks Interview Part 1

Stanley Riiks Interview Part 1

Your latest book is Think Rich, Get Rich: 5 Steps to Financial Independence, is out now. Tell us about the book.

Think Rich, Get Richis a simple, step by step guide to money: saving it, investing it, and building your wealth so that you can live your best life. It’s concise and easy to follow. There are only 5 steps, which are broken down into easy bite-sized chunks. This is basically a financial bible.

 

You usually write horror, fantasy and SF. Why write a book about finance?

I’ve always been interested in finance, since about the age of 8 when I had to sell my Star Wars figures to buy Transformers (big mistake!). That’s when I realised I needed to save money, so I could buy the toys I wanted to. I started selling toys at school. I got my first job, a paper round, at 13. I bought my first shares when I was 15, too young to own them so they were in my mum’s name. I got a job as a cleaner at age 25, started my first business as 17. I feel like I’ve been preparing to write this book most of my life. During the last recession, after the housing market crashed in 2008, I wrote a series of blogs about finance. Now I know a lot more, so I decided to write a book.

 

What’s the one financial regret you have?

I’m only allowed one? Not buying enough shares during the 2008 recession. I did buy some Disney, but I wish I’ve bought Amazon, Nike, and Apple too. I also probably should have bought my first property sooner. Regrets aren’t helpful though, learn from your mistakes and move forward. I did get Apple shares a few years later, and I bought Nike shares during lockdown this year. If I had more money I’d buy Amazon too, but I’ve bought four property in the last year instead.

 

Biggest financial success?

My flat in Charlton, south east London. I bought it in 2013 and rented it for two years. It’s now worth nearly double what I paid for it. I think that’s pretty good!

 

Biggest financial mistakes?

Actually, it was one I narrowly escaped. We had been searching for properties for a few months and we found this perfect 3-bedroom house in Canterbury, ideal for a student let. We put in an offer and it was accepted, everything was going through fine, and then we get the survey back. The house had previously been bought at auctioned and had basically been bodged together to look good, but the ceiling was barely held up (the wrong nails had been used), the windows were dodgy and the roof was in serious danger of collapsing. There was nearly £30,000 of work that needed doing before it was even safe. We tried to negotiate the price down sufficiently to cover the costs, but the seller wouldn’t budge so we pulled out. That’s why I’ll never buy a house without a survey.

 

5 Steps doesn’t sound like much. Is wealth really achievable in just 5 steps?

The 5 steps in the book are not particularly difficult, but it does take discipline, it does take sacrifice. And it’s not going to happen overnight. If it was that easy, everyone would do it. Having said that, this is not rocket science, you don’t need to be super intelligent, you don’t need anything other than determination. And is it achievable? Yes, it most definitely is. I’ll be retiring next year at the age of 45, so it is perfectly achievable.

Morpheus Tales Supplement Out Now!

The latest issue of the FREE Morpheus Tales Supplement is out now! It’s got an exclusive interview with Dan Abnett (Horus Heresy and 40K Legend!) and Nik Vincent, loads of articles and columns from the usual crew (marvellous!), and a load of book and film reviews including some from me (which are fabulous, obviously!).

http://issuu.com/morpheustales/docs/mt25reviews

Sneak Peak – Contents Page – Morpheus Tales Supplement October

Just a quick look at where we are so far with the next issue of the FREE Morpheus Tales Supplement. There’s still plenty to come in, but this will give you some idea of what you can enjoy in October!

Reviews:

THREE By Jay Posey

BOX OF DELIGHTS By John Kenny

OF BLOOD AND LIONS By Karen Ann

THE SLEEP ROOM By F. R. Tallis

THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF PULP HEROES Edited By Mike Chinn

LIFE ON THE PRESERVATON By Jack Skillingtead

THE EXPRESS DIARIES By Nick Marsh

CRUX By Ramez Naam

WHITSTABLE By Stephen Volk

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL

JACK THE GIANT SLAYER

SEVEN FORGES By James A. Moore

HOUSE OF SMALL SHADOWS By Adam Nevill

SOUL MASQUE By Terry Grimwood

Articles:

Edward Drake: The Warrior’s Journey & His Own

Interviews

James A. Moore

Jay Posey

Check out the current issue and past issues on the Morpheus Tales website:  http://www.morpheustales.com/#!supplement/c14cx

Morpheus Tales Supplement July – Coming Soon!

Want to know what’s coming up in the July issue of the Morpheus Tales Supplement? There might be a little bit more coming, and this is not the final order, but this will give you a good idea of what’s coming!

Author and artist interviews, regular columns and loads of reviews! And it’s all free!

Coming in July!

THE DEPARTURE By Neal Asher

ZERO POINT By Neal Asher

GREAT NORTH ROAD By Peter F. Hamilton

CREAKERS By Paul Kane

THE FICTIONAL MAN By Al Ewing

Interview with David Lear of Firestone Books

MISSPENT YOUTH By Peter F. Hamilton

RAILSEA By China Mieville

VURT and POLLEN By Jeff Noon

BETWEEN TWO THORNS By Emma Newman

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

REVIVER By Seth Patrick

THE SERENE INVASION By Eric Brown

THE BLOODLINE FEUD By Charles Stross

Juliet E. McKenna Interview

Duane Myers Interview

GENERATION LOSS By Elizabeth Hand

Ramblings of a Tattooed Head By Simon Marshall-Jones

GRIMM AND GRIMMER: VOLUME TWO Edited By Theresa Derwin

STARING INTO THE ABYSS By Richard Thomas

MONSTERS ANONYMOUS By Theresa Derwin

UNCLEAN SPIRITS By Chuck Wendig

Jack Skillingstead Interview

AGE OF SATAN by James Lovegrove

TELLING TALES OF HORROR

11/22/63 By Stephen King

BLACK RAIN By Joshua Caine

RISE OF THE ZOMBIES

THE BARRENS

REC 3: GENESIS

THE BAY

Karen DiStasio Interview

Morpheus Tales #19 Supplement Out Now!

Hope you had a nice Christmas and New Year! I’m still recovering!

If you’re still in the mood for some Christmas Spirit (the snow’s in London is certainly helping me!) go read the Morpheus Tales Christmas Horror Special:

http://issuu.com/morpheustales/docs/christmashorrorspecial

It’s free, and it’s bloody good, and it’s got one of my stories in it!

BTW, have you got it yet? The Morpheus Tales #19 Supplement is out now, filled with reviews, interviews, articles and loads more!  It also includes a massive preview of Ripped Genes: The Biopunk Special Issue!

You can view and download is here:

http://issuu.com/morpheustales/docs/mt19reviews

Or get the pdf version from the Morpheus Tales website: www.morpheustales.com/reviews.htm

More reviews coming soon, just as soon as I

Morpheus Tales #18 Supplement – Free Magazine Coming Soon!

It’s going to be bloody huge! The biggest FREE magazine we have ever produced! 8o pages of genre non-fiction, including author interviews, a sneak peak at Women in Horror and a massive preview of The Function Room: The Kollection by Matt Leyshon, the usual excellent columns by Simon Marshall-Jones, Jim Lesniak, and Trevor Wright, plus articles from authors Craig Hallam and Nathaniel Connors.

It’s going to be massive!  As always it’s complete free to view or download and the contents page is going to look a bit like this:

RIPPED GENES: THE BIOPUNK SPECIAL ISSUE Edited By Samuel Diamond
APOCALYPSE ISLAND By Mark Edward Hall
THE CORPSE-RAT KING By Lee Battersby
RACHEL RISING
B-MOVIE ATTACK By Alan Spencer
GREAT NORTH ROAD By Peter F. Hamilton
FADING LIGHT: AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE MONSTROUS Edited by Tim Marquitz
EYES OF WATER By Alison Littlewood
Matt Leyshon Interview
Ramblings of a Tattooed Head By Simon Marshall
LAST DAYS By Adam Nevill
THIRTEEN – VOLUMES 1 AND 2 Edited By Andrew Hannon
RESET
BESIGNED: BOOK ONE OF THE OUTCAST CHRONICLES By Rowena Cory Daniells
Violence as Entertainment By Tommy B. Smith
STORMDANCER By Jay Kristoff
MIND MGMT
Ripped Genes Preview By Samuel Diamond
ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE! FIGHTBACK Created By Stephen Jones
SURVIVAL HORROR: A ZOMBIE STORY By Paul Johnson
THEY’RE BACK!!… By Trevor Wright
MONSTERS ANONYMOUS By Theresa Derwin
Greaveburn Comes to life By Craig Hallam
EVIL STALKS THE NIGHT By Katherine Meyer Griffith
THE HUNGER GAMES
From the Catacombs 11: Periodic Horror By Jim Lesniak
DON’T STAND SO CLOSE By Eric Red
Simon Bestwick Interview
A Journey to Publication By Nathaniel Connors
WINDIGO SOUL By Robert Brumm Jr
Alan Spencer Interview
SURVIVAL HORROR: A ZOMBIE STORY By Paul Johnson
HOFFMAN’S CREEPER & OTHER DISTURBING TALES By Cameron Trost
ASH By James Herbert
Brittney Scalf Interview From Women in Horror
The Function Room: The Kollection By Matt Leyshon
The Rape Waved Yellow
Who Begat Crow Man
The Function Room
The Butcher’s Confirmation
The Butcher’s Progress
Sac
The Butcher’s Scat
The Blood Promise
A Worrying of Sheep
The Earth is a Drinker of Blood
Leech
A Development
The Estate of Things
Disc Eyes
Zombie Ho!
GODsWILL

I told you, didn’t I? HUGE! The new issue of the MT Supplement will launch early October!

Get your free copy from:

http://issuu.com/morpheustales

Or here:

www.morpheustales.com/reviews.htm

 

 

Morpheus Tales July Supplement – Coming Soon!

Right now I’m working hard on the July issue of the FREE MT Supplement! It’s gonna be another big one at around 40 pages! We’ve got the usual excellent reviews and columns, also a slew of new comic reviews, and loads more. The MT Supplement can be downloaded or read on the website:

www.morpheustales.com/reviews.htm

Here’s a preview of the almost finish table of contents:

SILENT VOICES By Gary McMahon
DON’T PET THE SWEATY THINGS By K. J. Hannah Greenberg
HUNTER’S MOON: VISCERAL TALES OF TERROR By R Scott McCoy
DARK NORTH By Paul Finch
ORC STAIN
THE DEVIL’S NEBULA By Eric Brown
A JAR OF WASPS By Luis Villazon
Horror’s New Chopping Block By Alan Spencer
SINFUL By Yolanda Sfetsos
TOXICITY By Andy Remic
SAUCER COUNTRY
THE LEGEND OF RACHEL PETERSEN By J.T. Baroni
How to Write a Book at Gunpoint By Luis Villazon
REVELATION: CREATURES RULE THE NIGHT By Nathaniel Connors
Ramblings of a Tattooed Head By Simon Marshall-Jones
NAZI ZOMBIES
PAX OMEGA By Al Ewing
STRANGENESS AND CHARM By Mike Shevdon
GHOST WRITER (Kindle edition) By Tom C. Underhill
RASL
RAILSEA By China Mieville
DARK ECLIPSE #9 (the Dark Moon e-zine)
EDGE OF DARK WATER By Joe R. Lansdale
vN By Madeline Ashby
DEADLINE: THE HORRIFYING ADVENTURES OF HARVEY BANKS, TABLOID REPORTER By Jochem Van der Steen
THE HAMMER AND THE BLADE By Paul S. Kemp
THE RESPECTABLE FACE OF TYRANNY By Gary Fry
SUSTENANCE By Nate D. Burleigh
From the Catacombs: Graphic Lovecraft By Jim Lesniak
BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON By Larry C. Kerr
HUNTER’S MOON By Charlotte Bond
THE LAST REEF AND OTHER STORIES By Gareth L. Powell
Matt Leyshon Interview
NEW YORK BLUES By Eric Brown
EVA – A GHOST STORY By Mike Emmett
Shaun Jeffrey Interview

See, I told you! Loads of stuff!This might not be the final order, but everything listed above will be appearing in the July issue.

Might even be able to squeeze in a mini scream queen interview. That should probably read scream queen mini interview, not mini scream queen!

 

Free April MT Supplement – Coming Soon!

The April issue of the MT Supplement is well under way! Although less underway than we normally are with only a few days till the 1st of launch month! Due to circumstances beyond our control (or me being a lazy slacker) the issue is not ready yet, there’s still plenty of work to do, but it will definitely be ready by Easter weekend!

Here’s a preview of the contents. This is going to be the biggest ever issue of the MT Supplement as it will include a massive preview of 13: Tales of Dark Fiction preview and review section, plus the usual host of reviews, articles, interviews and columns. I can guarantee this is not the final order of contents, I need to do a lot more work before this weekend.

It will be out in early April, although possibly not the first.

Go check out the website for past issues if you can’t wait: www.morpheustales.com

VIVISEPLTURE Edited By Andy Remic and Wayne Simmons
DEAD HARVEST By Chris F. Holm
THE FACELESS By Simon Bestwick
LEST YOU SHOULD SUFFER NIGHTMARES: A BIOGRAPHY OF HERBERT VAN THAL By Johnny Mains
GREATSHADOW: BOOK ONE OF THE DRAGON APOCALYPSE By James Maxey
The Involuntary Spasm of Writing By Alan Spencer
BABYLON STEEL By Gaie Sebold
ROUGH MUSIC By Simon Kurt Unsworth
GIANT THIEF By David Tallerman
THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BODY HORROR Edited By Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan
FEARFUL FESTIVITIES By Gary Fry
Ramblings of a Tattooed Head By Simon Marshall-Jones
THE NOCTUARY By Greg Chapman
NEW DAWN FADES
DESOLATE (Kindle edition) By Robert Brumm Jr.
THE MUTILATION MACHINATION By Shaun Jeffrey
MILE 81 (Kindle edition) By Stephen King
VAMPIRE’S BLOOD (AUTHOR’S REVISED EDITION) By Katherine Meyer Griffith
SCREAM OF THE BANSHEE
DEADFALL HOTEL By Steve Rasnic Tem
DARKENING SKIES By Juliet E. McKenna
THE SEA OF FLESH AND ASH By Jeffrey Thomas and Scott Thomas
13:  Tales of Dark Fiction
Introduction to 13: Tales of Dark Fiction
Civil Beasts By Eric S Brown
Dirty Story By Gary McMahon
If You Lay Here Quiet Next to Me By Alan Spencer
Desperate Measures By Stanley Riiks
The Tax Collector By Tommy B. Smith
Organ Grinder By William R.D. Wood
The Machine By Fred Venturini
To Hear a New World By Matt Leyshon
Whatever it takes By Joseph D’Lacey
Wounder By Andrew Hook
Mongrel Days By Andy Remic
103 By Shaun Jeffrey
The Watchers at Work By Gary Fry
13: TALES OF DARK FICTION Edited By Adam Bradley
13: TALES OF DARK FICTION Edited by Adam Bradley
13: TALES OF DARK FICTION Edited by Adam Bradley

 

Morpheus Tales Supplement – January

Have you bought a copy of 13: Tales of Dark Fiction yet? If not go now, get it! You got it? No? Go on!

Available from lulu.com and all good booksellers

 www.lulu.com/product/paperback/13-tales-of-dark-fiction/18720432

 Available as an ebooks in many formats:

 http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/110688

 Available on Amazon Kindle:

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/13-Tales-Dark-Fiction-ebook/dp/B006J6QV4I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323345709&sr=8-1

  http://www.amazon.com/13-Tales-Dark-Fiction-ebook/dp/B006J6QV4I/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1323353440&sr=8-4

  Soon available elsewhere!

Anyway, I’ve been real busy with the MT Supplement that’s coming out in January to accompany Morpheus Tales #15 which will launch on 1st of January.

The good news is that it’s going to be huge! 41 pages at the moment!

Three author interviews (Andy Remic, Mark Morris and Bruce Bethke), another gorgeous scream queen mini interview with Kachina Dechert, and Eric S Brown interviews Lyle Blackburn lead singer from Ghoultown.

New columns from Trevor Wright,  Simon Marshall-Jones, Jim Lesniak and Alan Spencer.

Loads of reviews! Pages of them!

And you finally you get to read my review of the year annual column, including the winners of the Stanley Riiks awards for brilliance! Drum roll please… Sorry, I’m not allowed to say. You’ll just have to read it!

The current table of contents looks like this:

Introduction to 13: Tales of Dark Fiction (excerpt from the book) 3

THEME PLANET By Andy Remic. 3

BLOODRUSH By Bryan Smith. 4

THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW HORROR Edited By Stephen Jones. 4

DEAD TOWN By K.C. Elliot 4

Kachina Dechert Interview By Trevor Wright 6

ANNO FRANKENSTEIN By Jonathan Green. 7

HOW I SOLD 1 MILLION E BOOKS IN 5 MONTHS! By John Locke. 7

MANHATTAN IN RESERVE By Peter F. Hamilton. 8

From the Catacombs: Series or Serial By Jim Lesniak. 8

ROCK N’ ROLL IS DEAD: TALES INSPIRED BY MUSIC.. 10

STUPEFYING TALES (Volume 1, Number 1) 11

KATJA FROM THE PUNK BAND By Simon Logan. 11

ETHEREAL TALES #12. 11

Andy Remic Interview.. 13

THE SHADOW OF THE UNKNOWN Edited By A. J. French. 15

Ramblings of a Tattooed Head By Simon Marshall-Jones. 15

SOLARIS RISING Edited By Ian Whates. 16

STRICKEN By Sean A. Lusher 17

KULTUS By Richard Ford. 17

RED STATE. 17

Coping with Obscurity in the Horror Market By Alan Spencer 18

REDLAW By James Lovegrove. 20

HEIRS OF THE BLADE By Adrian Tchaikovsky. 20

Interview with Lyle Blackburn lead singer for Ghoultown By Eris S Brown. 20

REALITY 36 By Guy Haley. 24

KING DEATH By Paul Finch. 24

THE SAVAGE KNIGHT By Paul Lewis. 24

SKULL FEEDER By Pamela Chillemi-Yeager and Dana Joseph Schaff 24

DARK WATERS By Peter Mark May. 24

Interview with Bruce Bethke by C.M. Saunders. 25

HOUSE OF FEAR Edited By Jonathan Oliver 29

DOUBLE DEAD By Chuck Wendig. 29

My Scariest Scary Movie By Trevor Wright 31

DANGEROUS WATERS By Juliet E. McKenna. 32

GIANT THIEF By David Tallerman. 32

Mark Morris Interview.. 32

THE HOWLING REBORN.. 37

MERKABAH RIDER 2: THE MENSCH WITH NO NAME By Edward M. Erdelac. 39

2011: A year in reviews By Stanley Riiks. 39

Might change a little, but might not change much because I’ve been working on it all morning instead of doing what I’m paid for which is much less fun!

Check out the website, and go and download your copy in January!

www.morpheustales.com