Author Cliff Ratza has written nineteen novels in the last seven years. Each is standalone,

but the combination forms a chronological sequence from number one to nineteen and

explores this overarching theme: No matter how extraordinary the person, anyone can be a

victim in a world that can’t handle the truth, and must deal with the complexities of being

“merely human,” best handled with an optimistic and pragmatic philosophy.

Cliff grew up in Chicago, and after graduating from the top schools in Illinois, launched his

sales and marketing business career that took him into a variety of jobs at many companies

located in the Southwest, Midwest, and East Coast. He subsequently returned to Chicago to

reactivate his teaching and computer programming careers. Seven years ago, he made time to

begin writing novels. Currently, in additional to being an author, he teaches at universities in

Chicago, has a sales and marketing consulting business, and is also a Writing Coach for the

Lightning Brain Press and the Quippy Quill.

When we asked Cliff how he managed to write so many novels in such a short period of time, here is

what he said:

“Most people have either read or watched the movie that dramatized William Golding’s first novel,

The Lord of the Flies, which shows how the society of adolescent boys stranded on an island in World

War II degenerates. My high school class read it, and we also read his second novel, The Inheritors,

which shows the clash of prehistoric civilizations between the powerful, kind, and gentle but not terribly

bright Neanderthal and the not-so-strong, ruthless, and devious Homo Sapiens. The book fascinated me,

and I thought that someday I would like to write a novel that shows how Homo Sapiens deal with a

worldwide crisis. But I had careers other than writing waiting for me, so I postponed it. However, during

the last thirty years, I have subconsciously written an entire series of novels that explore how humans

handle the threat of extinction. So, when I started writing, I simply sat down and let the stories

cinematically stream through my brain.

“The first novel, The Girl With the Lightning Brain, starts in the year 2187, when our protagonist,

Electra Kittner, is about eighteen years of age. At the instant of her birth, her mother is struck and killed

by a lightning bolt. The energy from the strike surges into the infant and rewires her neural network

(brain), thus making her the girl with the lightning brain. But, the world she is born into is in the throes

of a perfect storm: a viral pandemic raging globally from the Techno-Plague, Middle-East terrorists who

have turned it into a weapon of mass destruction, and a new political party (The Guardian Party with the

slogan “make America great again”) led by an authoritarian president who doesn’t like democracy. And

that’s my story.”

Sandra Cruz of Foxpress Media heard about Cliff’s novels while working on another project. When

finished, she called him to discuss her ideas for increasing the AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, and

Action) on the part of readers. She impressed Cliff with her grasp of marketing in the pubishing industry

and had several marketing programs in mind, such as: book club meetings for Cliff to join online, and

Times Square electronic billboard advertising. And from there, she took over managing Cliff’s Facebook

page of podcasts. The results speak for themselves: more online visits resulting in more sales.

When we asked Cliff how he compares to other writing coaches, here is what he said:

“I attend many writing seminars, so I can keep abreast of what other writing coaches are saying. Just

about all of them say too many words without saying very much other than to hype how much they

know and how a beginning author must have a coach, because writing is so hard. My approach is the

opposite: I use fewer words and say beginning writers need just a little coaching by remembering this:

Practice doesn’t make Perfect. Perfect Practice does!”