Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
The Braselton News
Page 3B
Feature
Life experiences leads to Hoard’s career in writing
BY ANGELA GARY
It was the image of a murky lake that
sparked Richard Hoard’s imagination
for a plot for his latest book.
He had already published three books
when he started the fourth one after
that first idea came to him of making a
lake the centerpiece of a novel set in a
small town in Georgia. “The Missing
Boys” is that novel and it has now been
published.
“The thing that started it all was an
image.” Hoard said of “The Missing
Boys.” “I don’t often know what these
books are going to be about. They start
with an image. This image came from
the idea of walking into a lake, a murky
lake, and stepping on something that
was dead. How freaked out you would
be if you were walking through a pond
and that happened?”
Being an author is not a path he origi
nally saw for himself but it started with
that first book, “Alone Among the Liv
ing,” which he wrote about the murder
of his father, solicitor Floyd Hoard in
Jackson County when he was 14-years-
old.
In the latest novel, “The Missing
Boys,” the characters are not based
on individuals he knows, although he
admits they are compilations of many
people that he knows. There are some
similarities between his father and the
solicitor in the novel. Monty Floyd, but
there are also many differences.
“He’s not my Dad,” Hoard said of the
character. “I didn’t see him completely
as my Dad but he has some of his char
acteristics. They are composites. He is
a little bit Floyd Hoard and he is a little
The Missing Boys
bit of other men I know who were father
figures to me. It comes into play and he
becomes this character.”
Hoard said the idea for the plot first
came to him almost 10 years ago.
“It actually came when I was doodling
during a meeting,” he said. “I was wait
ing for the next important thing to be
said and I started writing this scene. I
didn’t do anything with it for years. It
was 2008 or 2009 when I wrote that
scene. It stayed with me and was such a
strong image for me.
“The second thing that came to me
was what if I had known a family and
not been in the family of a man who
was murdered. Those were the things
that I began exploring. I began to think
of characters and was inspired. I’ve
always been inspired by people I know
and taken certain traits of people. It’s
not that my characters are these people.
The characters then propel the thought.
Sometimes they take over. You start out
and then you find out that they were not
who you thought they were. That’s the
fun of writing the novel is piecing the
things together and get to know these
people. Now long ago. I had a dream
about one of my characters. It was just so
Curtis that I woke up laughing.”
After he came up with the plot, “The
Missing Boys” came together with rich
characters on a journey to find out what is
happening to teenagers who are missing
from Tyson County.
“There are some things that form your
life,” he said. “That’s why you write. You
are trying to understand your own story.
If you put it at a distance, you can figure
out what happened to you and how you
wanted to react.”
He said the main character, Ryan, han
dles a situation that really made him think
of his own reactions.
“Ryan’s response is probably how I
really wanted to respond on the morning
of my own dad’s death,” he said. “You
don’t know how to act when this hap
pens.”
The friendship between Ryan and Cur
tis is another one that Hoard used life
experiences to create.
“They were some friendships that I
had,” he said. “It came out of a character
that when I first met them in real life
I thought we might be enemies but we
became very good friends. That was the
kind of friendship I wanted.”
Hoard read from his book at the Jackson
County Courthouse Monday evening, as
well as being at a book signing at Barnes
and Noble in Athens this past Saturday.
He will be at his sister’s business, Our
Town Antiques in downtown Commerce,
at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12 for a book
signing. He is also available to speak at
civic groups and other area meetings.
Hoard is a pastor at Oconee River
Methodist Church, and broadcasts foot
ball games. In the past, his career includ
ed teaching in Jackson, Banks, Madison
and Clarke counties.
His first novel, “Alone Among the Liv
ing,” was originally published in 1994. It
will be reprinted and featured as the fall
“Georgia Reads” selection from the UGA
Press in the fall.
“’Alone Among the Living’ was a tale
I had to tell,” he said. “I started writing
that book when I was in college and I
published it when I was in college. I
had to write that. I had no idea what I
was doing. It became something very
personal that got out in print. You keep
writing and hoping that it connects with
somebody.”
Are there more books to come from
Hoard? He says it’s a possibility.
“If I talk about what I’m writing, I
don’t have to write it. I’m trying to have
discipline. I don’t even know if it’s a
book but I am writing a little every day
and trying to discover if it’s a story. If
it’s there, it will come. I don’t know
what it’s about now. I’m just starting to
write scenes.”
“The Missing Boys” is available from
Amazon.com.
Opinion
‘The Missing Boys’ tackles murder in small town in Ga.
By Angela Gary
Tyson County is not Jackson County and solicitor
Monty Floyd is not Floyd Hoard. However, when read
ing Richard Hoard’s latest novel, “The Missing Boys,”
locals will certainly get glimpses of Jefferson and
Floyd Hoard as they read the fictional tale of murder
in a small town in Georgia.
Hoard has a gift of describing characters that really
do come to life. Like Mark Twain, whose Huckleberry
Finn and Tom Sawyer characters seem so real, Hoard
also brings to life his characters, including Ryan,
Benny and Curtis, three young men growing up in a
small Southern town.
I could actually visualize these young men as I read
about their camping trips and swimming in a lake.
Readers will meet Benny, with his Beatles-inspired
hair and habit of trying to speak with an English
accent, and Ryan, the handsome young man with a
kind, compassionate heart that impresses everyone.
Then, there is Curtis, who is a faithful friend to Ryan.
I feel as if I know the three young men.
“The Missing Boys” opens when Steve Delaney is the
latest teenager to “go missing” in Tyson County. When
Ryan’s brother, Phil, also disappears without a trace,
the teenager goes on a quest to find out what happened
to these boys. Ryan shows bravery in the face of danger
and doesn’t back down.
The book is 206 pages and I read it in one evening,
mainly because each chapter left me wanting to know
more. The author said a lady once told him that what
makes a great book is one that makes you laugh, makes
you cry and makes you think. “The Missing Boys”
does all three.
I first met Richard Hoard in 1994. A young reporter
then, I drove to his home and sat with him in his office
as he told me the story of the murder of his father,
Floyd Hoard. His first novel. “Alone Among the Liv
ing” tells of his journey after the murder of his father.
The murder of Floyd Hoard is a tragic event that is
a legend in Jackson County. To him, though it was the
story of his life. The story of a 14-year-old boy whose
father is murdered in his front yard in a car bomb that
could have also taken his life.
This event, and this first book that he started while
in college but didn’t finish until he was 40, defined the
man he would become and kicked off a writing career
Trace David Knight
Construction Solutions
• Roof Leaks Repairs
• Screen Porches
• Kitchen Remodeling
• Bathroom Remodeling
• Basement Finishing
• Room Additions
• Tile Installation
• Plumbing (Full Service)
• Ceiling Fans Installed
• Electrical (Full Service)
24 Hour Response on All Emergency Services
404.424.1115*FREE ESTIMATES
Serving Metro Atlanta since 1989!
STAY INFORMED
THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, VISIT
BRASELTONNEWSTODAY.COM.
that he might not have otherwise had.
“The Missing Boys” is Hoard’s fourth novel and it’s
an intense look at life in a small Southern town. Be
sure and get a copy and, if you haven’t read Hoard’s
earlier works, they are also worth your time. His writ
ing will make you think and inspire you.
Angela Gary is an editor with MainStreet Newspa
pers Inc. She can be reached at AngieEditor@aol.com.
Cardio-Oncology Services are Available at:
Gainesville J Braselton
200 S. Enota Drive! 1404 River Place
! Suite 101
Cumming
900 Sanders Road
Suite A
Heart Center
uf Northeast Georgia Medical Center
Experts have discovered some of the therapies used to destroy
cancer cells can also damage the heart. The Cardio-Oncology
team at Northeast Georgia Medical Center helps patients beat
cancer while maintaining a healthy heart by providing special
ized care before, during and after cancer treatment.
Learn more or request an appointment at The Heart
Center of NGMC by calling 770-629-9436 or
visiting heartngmc.org/cardio-oncology.