{"id":11,"date":"2024-06-07T05:46:03","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T05:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2024-07-05T18:17:37","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T18:17:37","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sometime in junior high school I discovered the Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure novels, Tarzan, Pellucidar, John Carter of Mars.<\/em> I would devour them late into the night in my room.<\/p>\n

And dream of someday becoming \u201ca real writer,\u201d which to me at the time meant writing novels, being able to tell the kind of stories a reader could get completely lost in \u2013 like Burroughs.<\/p>\n

By eighth grade, I was experimenting with short stories, poetry, even a screenplay \u2013 none of them very good.<\/p>\n

I am now dating myself\u2026 That was the early 1950s. A lot of years have passed since then \u2013 it\u2019s scary to think how many. Throughout those years I pretty much made my living as a writer, but it was always in the non-fiction realm, newspaper reporter and editor, public relations, and marketing stuff. In fact, in the 90s, under my given name, Dave Ramacitti, I published several books on marketing and public relations for the small business market.<\/p>\n

From time-to-time over those years I would also take a whack at writing a novel, maybe get a dozen or so chapters done, only to have life intrude and those nascent tomes be put up on a shelf and forgotten.<\/p>\n

Yet there was always that eighth grader lurking at the back of my mind, never letting go of the hope of someday being \u201ca real writer\u201d \u2013 of writing a novel.<\/p>\n

It was when I retired from full-time employment about a dozen years ago, I decided to get serious about actually finishing a novel. It took two-plus years to get Ro\u2019s Handle<\/em> completed and published.<\/p>\n

But then something weird happened. I stopped being the \u201cwriter\u201d and turned into the guy who was just taking dictation as Ro related to me her exploits, both as a cop and as a woman. In fact, she was often so inconsiderate as to wake me up in the middle of the night with some new escapade to share.<\/p>\n

Hear Evil,\u00a0<\/em>book two; Loses<\/em>, book three;\u00a0Secrets Never End<\/em>\u00a0book four;<\/em>\u00a0Sniper\u2019s Day,<\/em>\u00a0book five; and\u00a0Revelations,\u00a0<\/em>book six, came in quick succession, roughly every two years.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1718406040166{border-bottom-width: 80px !important;}” woodmart_css_id=”666ccb8de0604″ responsive_spacing=”eyJwYXJhbV90eXBlIjoid29vZG1hcnRfcmVzcG9uc2l2ZV9zcGFjaW5nIiwic2VsZWN0b3JfaWQiOiI2NjZjY2I4ZGUwNjA0Iiwic2hvcnRjb2RlIjoidmNfcm93IiwiZGF0YSI6eyJ0YWJsZXQiOnt9LCJtb2JpbGUiOnt9fX0=” mobile_bg_img_hidden=”no” tablet_bg_img_hidden=”no” woodmart_parallax=”0″ woodmart_gradient_switch=”no” woodmart_box_shadow=”no” wd_z_index=”no” woodmart_disable_overflow=”0″ row_reverse_mobile=”0″ row_reverse_tablet=”0″][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1718406073312{padding-top: 0px !important;}” woodmart_css_id=”666ccbb210eca” parallax_scroll=”no” woodmart_sticky_column=”false” wd_collapsible_content_switcher=”no” wd_column_role_offcanvas_desktop=”no” wd_column_role_offcanvas_tablet=”no” wd_column_role_offcanvas_mobile=”no” wd_column_role_content_desktop=”no” wd_column_role_content_tablet=”no” wd_column_role_content_mobile=”no” mobile_bg_img_hidden=”no” tablet_bg_img_hidden=”no” woodmart_parallax=”0″ woodmart_box_shadow=”no” responsive_spacing=”eyJwYXJhbV90eXBlIjoid29vZG1hcnRfcmVzcG9uc2l2ZV9zcGFjaW5nIiwic2VsZWN0b3JfaWQiOiI2NjZjY2JiMjEwZWNhIiwic2hvcnRjb2RlIjoidmNfY29sdW1uIiwiZGF0YSI6eyJ0YWJsZXQiOnt9LCJtb2JpbGUiOnt9fX0=” mobile_reset_margin=”no” tablet_reset_margin=”no” wd_z_index=”no”]\t\t

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I am currently writing Mourning Dove<\/em>, book seven in the series, with a projected 2025 publication. It is shaping up to be the most gripping book of the series so far, with some startling twists.<\/p>\n

And I have a chapter outline mostly done for book eight, with the working title of Collapse<\/em>, and have ideas for book nine. As I suggested, Ro won\u2019t leave me alone.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve done the math, you\u2019ve figured out I am now in my eighth decade, although I don\u2019t feel like it.<\/p>\n

A quick CV: I grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, although have spent most of my adult life in the Quad-Cities region of western Illinois. I received my bachelor\u2019s in English and journalism from Western Illinois University and my master\u2019s in communication from the University of Northern Iowa. My career has included newspaper reporter, weekly newspaper editor, monthly magazine editor, freelance public relations and marketing consultant, and adjunct college instructor in speech, entrepreneurship, and marketing.<\/p>\n

I have been married to Nancy, my best friend, for more than thirty years and have three grown stepchildren and seven step-grandchildren. We live next to the Mississippi River in Rock Island, Illinois, along with a grumpy cat named Mr. Squeeks, because he doesn\u2019t know how to meow, and a sassy Yorkie \/ Shiatzu mix named Sofie, who is 80% cute \u2013 and knows it! \u2013 and 20% brat.<\/p>\n

And just in case it hasn\u2019t come through, I will say it explicitly: I\u2019m having the time of my life!<\/p>\n

The Origins of a Pen Name<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are a pair of reasons I chose to write the Ro Delahanty novels under the pen name Dave Lager, instead of my real-life name, Dave Ramacitti.<\/p>\n

For one, as I said, I have previously published several non-fiction books for the small business market under my own name, so wanted to avoid any confusion.<\/p>\n

But the second reason is very personal. My central character, Ro Delahanty, as a toddler had trouble pronouncing her older brother\u2019s name, Partrick. It came out as \u201cTuck\u201d. The brother and sister are close throughout the books. \u201cTuck\u201d became Ro\u2019s special name for her brother; no one else calls him that.<\/p>\n

Now the personal connection\u2026 For as long as we can remember, my sister has called me \u201cLager,\u201d rather than Dave or David \u2013 only she calls me that. We have laughed many times over the fact neither of us can recall when or why that nickname got started. But when I was contemplating adopting a pseudonym for my novels, well, Dave Lager was pretty much the logical choice.<\/p>\n

A Note About Rick Turylo, My Book Cover Designer<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Finally, I need to acknowledge and thank the gentleman who has done all my book covers \u2013 Rick Turylo. He lives in Harrison Township, northeast of Detroit, Michigan. We have never met; all our communication is online, yet he sure seems to know me, and more importantly, my character. His capturing of Ro\u2019s \u201ccop face,\u201d the picture on my home page, was nothing short of extraordinary, and his ability to visually tease a potential reader with suggestions of what\u2019s going on inside the book is awesome.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t[\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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