Category: Personal History
-
Life Without Electricity: Insights from the Backcountry and Beyond
Have you ever wondered what your daily life would look like if the power grid suddenly failed? In my novel, The Long Walk Home: When the Power Dies, I explore a world plunged into darkness. Recently, I was challenged to describe my own life without electricity—and surprisingly, I have some firsthand experience from my college…
-
Spoilers Ahead: Charley’s Unexpected Redemption in The Long Walk Home
Irredeemable evil has long been a staple of fiction, but in recent years, we’ve seen a shift toward more nuanced villains—from subverting expectations to exploring stories from the antagonist’s point of view. In contrast to contemporary writing tropes, in creating Charley in The Long Walk Home: When the Power Dies, I originally intended him to…
-
Unraveling the Cult at Heavenly Ranch:
How Fiction Mirrors Real Manipulation Spoilers ahead! Content Warning: This blog post contains sensitive content, such as psychological abuse, manipulation and cult indoctrination. Reader discretion is advised. By continuing to read, you acknowledge that Michael H. Ritterhouse is not responsible for your individual emotional response to the content. I am not an expert in this…
-
Living the Adventure: Tales of Mountains, Seas, and a Boy’s Dream
Recently, I picked up Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalayas by Greg Child, a climber and mountaineer I’d heard of only in passing. I wish I’d discovered his writing sooner. His beautifully descriptive language evokes the siren call of the Himalayas. Published nine years before Jon Krakauer’s 1997 bestseller Into Thin Air: A Personal Account…
-
Rainy Camps and Post-Apocalyptic Journeys: The Books That Inspired The Long Walk Home
What sparks the creation of a new story? For me, writing The Long Walk Home: When the Power Dies was a journey shaped by the books that left an indelible mark on my imagination. From tales of survival to stories of youthful courage, these works inspired the themes of hope, resilience, and discovery in my…
-
Chasing Words: Building a Writing Life Amid New Stories and New Orleans Streets
I’ve never been one for journals or diaries—writing regularly just wasn’t my thing growing up. This blog, though, is changing that. It’s the closest I’ve come to capturing my thoughts consistently, and it’s part of a bigger shift: building a writing life. For me, habits have always been about showing up—whether for a workout, a…
-
Meet the Mind Behind the Words: My Journey as an Author Begins
In a following post I will explore the writing process of The Long Walk Home: When the Power Dies, but here I want to explain who I am and how I came to write a novel. Ever since I read The High King by Lloyd Alexander, The White Mountains by John Christopher, and Over Sea,…
Michael H. Ritterhouse 