Characters come first
Bounty hunter turned author publishes 12th novel
DANBURY — Edwin Rivera scribbled on a notepad. The bounty hunter was on a stakeout with his partner, who had been a Green Beret in the military. Rivera was inspired by his partner and wrote a character based on him in his manuscript.
That was in 1996.
Twenty-five years later, Rivera has selfpublished his fantasy novel, “The Kingdom of Galbothia: Vengeance of the King.” It’s the Danbury resident’s 12th novel, although he has 16 other manuscripts he says will be published over the next few years.
For Rivera, characters come first, and many of his characters were inspired by people he met in his nearly 30 years as a bounty hunter.
“They kind of give me ideas,” he said. “Their personality is just amazing. I put it onto paper.”
His work includes the “Silencers of the Code” series. Rivera said he has developed a “following” of readers across the globe, particularly in Europe and the West Coast. He’s connected with readers who review his books and developed a fan base of about 13,000 people through email and social media who he said are eager for his next stories. He used to sent\d out weekly “spoilers” through email.
“Readers keep telling me that they love the originality of the characters,” Rivera said. “They love how I connect the fiction, science fiction to almost a real world. It's almost like I’m sending out message through my writing, which I am, to be honest.”
The theme of the latest novel is “freedom” and that “our world is so precious and we need to take care of it and take care of each other,” he said.
His late father served in World War II and the Korean War, which inspired this theme.
“As you’re reading it, you can tell I’m talking about a lot of the issues we’re having in this country, around the world,” Rivera said.
Bounty hunting
Rivera was born in the Bronx, N.Y., but he and his family moved to Danbury when he was 12. He attended Rogers Park Middle School and Danbury High School. He wrote as a kid and when working as a corrections officer after high school. He took many writing and literature classes at Western Connecticut State University, although he studied criminal justice, thinking he wanted to become a lawyer.
Instead, he served as a bounty hunter for 29 years. It’s a career he enjoyed, but would discourage young people from pursuing because it’s a “very dangerous job,” he said.
“You have to use your head a lot and be smart and have the proper people working with you,” Rivera said.
He worked in 32 states, but mainly in Connecticut, taking on a variety of cases — from bringing someone to court to the “big ones.” He said all his cases were important because he helped to keep the community safer by putting someone away.
“I’m proud of all the cases,” he said.
He’s still credentialed, but retired about four years ago.
“I do get called by certain friends and certain people out there who are still working, but I’m like ‘No, not for me. I’m too old now,’” said Rivera, who turned 53 this month.
He works as a realtor, in addition to writing.
Escaping into fantasy
His first book was published in 2008, “a little bit ahead of its time” because he wanted his sister, who was battling cancer, to read it before she died. His two other sisters have since died, and he dedicated the most recent novel to all three of them.
“I needed to do that,” Rivera said.
For each of his books, he writes separate manuscripts with different scenes or places. In the editing process, he decides what to keep.
He wrote the original 390-page manuscript of “The Kingdom of Galbothia” over nine years, but didn’t return to it until relatively recently. He has struggled with attention deficit disorder, so he now writes shorter books, he said.
“I shrunk this down to no more than 200,” Rivera said.
He self publishes through companies like Outskirts Press or E-Book LLC, which published the latest book. He aims to put physical copies in local book stores. Route 6 Mail Room in Danbury has them in stock.
“I went the traditional way for a while and that was a nightmare,” Rivera said.
He writes poetry too, but the “Lord of the Rings” fan’s novels are in the fantasy and science fiction realm.
The latest novel is about a young prince who “inherits, not a blessed Kingdom, but a broken lineage of his bloodline,” the book summary states. The new king must protect Galbothia from “tyranny and oppression” as an enemy tries to “end Galbothia’s way of life.”
He writes mostly between the hours of 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. He puts on music and free writes for hours without stopping.
“My wife thinks I’m crazy,” he said. “I find it peaceful at that time. My mind is relaxed.”