Can you tell us a little bit about your book? When did it come out? Where can we get it?
Billy Kidman: The Shooting Star was released March 1, 2014 by Palm Tree Books. It’s
available on Amazon in both ebook and paperback formats, and in paperback on
Barnes and Noble. The book basically traces his career from early days
wrestling for East Coast independent wrestling promotions, his stints with the
late World Championship Wrestling (WCW), a four-year run with World Wrestling
Entertainment (WWE) and subsequent years leading to the present day.
I didn’t initially expect Billy
Kidman: The Shooting Star to take off well as it has, assuming a few fans
from the WCW days may order copies out of curiosity, so you can almost imagine
my reaction when the book made US Amazon’s Hot New Releases in Wrestling three
times and once Canadian Amazon’s Hot New Releases in Wrestling in March alone
in addition to making the top 15 books on Amazon’s best seller lists in
wrestling and nonfiction. It’s also referenced on Billy’s Internet Movie
Database and Wikipedia entries and received extensive coverage by several
notable wrestling media web sites.
Is there anything specific that
inspired you to write your book?
I participate in some sports
entertainment-themed message boards and am an administrator on Billy’s Facebook
fan page. I remember seeing the question raised by a few old-school fans along
the lines of “Whatever happened to that guy?” I found an earlier book about him
last summer, but it only detailed his career up to late 2000-early 2001. The
thought then crossed my mind to do a more updated version, because he’d
accomplished a great deal since 2001. Between working on other projects at the
time, I conducted some research for this book, discovering lesser-known
information I included with material in which fans are already familiar.
If this book was made into a film, who would you cast in it?
I’d more than likely would aim to
have it done as a documentary of sorts, with as many people mentioned in the
book as possible, along with any needed updates.
Now for some general questions.
When reading, do you prefer traditional printed books or ebooks? And why?
When reading, do you prefer traditional printed books or ebooks? And why?
It doesn’t matter to me, but I can
say there’s no better feeling than holding actual paperback or hardcover books
in your hands. Ebooks are somewhat more portable, but they don’t have the feel,
smell, or other attributes of print editions.
I agree.
So, what are you reading now?
It changes from week to week. I like
reading a lot of classics and also support my fellow independent authors. I go
through several books in a period of time, mostly those I think would make
great features for my book blog, The Book Shelf.
When
you get an idea for a book, what comes first usually? Dialogue, the
characters, a specific scene? Or do you plot it out before you write?
Real life events and actual people
have inspired my past books, but I do plot out general ideas of how I want my
story to unfold before I write. In the case of nonfiction, extensive research
was involved, since much accuracy as possible and being unbiased were critical
points. Speaking from personal experience, it’s somewhat easier putting
together everything to write fiction!
What do you have planned next? Or is that a secret?
While my last two books were of the
nonfiction genre, I’m returning to fiction for my next project. Okay, it’s
based on actual events, but written as a fiction account. Names changed to
protect the innocent (and sometimes the guilty), and other such things.
Great! Is there anything you'd like to add? Any advice for new writers?
Great! Is there anything you'd like to add? Any advice for new writers?
Never, ever give up. If I’d taken to
heart the naysayers who said my latest book could’ve been written on a Post-It
note and probably fail, I doubt it would’ve ever been written, let alone
published. Work hard, step out of your comfort zone once in a while, and
remember that among that stack of rejection slips is someone waiting to
take a chance on your work.
That is so true.
Readers, here is the blurb for Billy Kidman: The Shooting Star.
Billy Kidman carved out a career as
one of World Championship Wrestling’s and World Wrestling Entertainment’s most
exciting cruiserweights. A solid in-ring worker for little over a decade, he
enjoyed success as a multiple-time cruiserweight and tag team champion during
the 1990s and early 2000s.
Kidman wrestled for several American
and overseas independent promotions after being released from WWE and then
became a trainer and occasional wrestler for Florida Championship Wrestling
(now NXT). Now retired from the ring, he works as a producer at WWE events in
the Gorilla Position.
Billy Kidman: The Shooting Star contains updated and some never before revealed information
behind the story of an underrated and under-appreciated talent who achieved
success in several aspects of the wrestling business before age 40.
DISCLAIMER: This book was not prepared, approved, licensed or endorsed
by Peter Gruner, Jr., World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), members of WWE, or
any other wrestling organization.
And here is an excerpt from the book.
Pete
Gruner
Allentown is the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania’s third most populous municipality behind Philadelphia and
Pittsburgh, with a population of approximately 118,000 people. Allentown
emerged over the years as the state’s fastest growing municipality and America’s
222nd largest city. As the seat of Lehigh County, Allentown is perhaps best
known for Billy Joel’s 1982 hit song bearing the same name.
Many print and online wrestling publications
often state the man born Peter Alan Gruner, Jr. on May 11, 1974 as an Allentown
native, but his actual birthplace is New Haven, Connecticut. He once lived in
Orefield, Pennsylvania, a small unincorporated community located only a few
miles from Allentown.
Pete Gruner attended Kernsville
Elementary in Orefield and Troxell Junior High School in South Whitehall
Township before graduating from Parkland High School in 1992.
The extremely athletic Gruner played
sports throughout his teen years, excelling in baseball and track, but
wrestling remained his first love from age six.
“I still remember when my dad took
me to my first live wrestling match,” he reflected in a 1997 interview with
Ross Foreman. “It was in the mid-1980s at the New Haven Coliseum and Hulk Hogan
was there. It was just amazing.”
Hogan’s 6'8 frame and mammoth sizes
of other wrestlers appearing in that show couldn’t have gone unnoticed by
Gruner. Other stars of the WWF era such as Andre the Giant, Jake “The Snake”
Roberts, Big Boss Man, and Randy “Macho Man” Savage all exceeded six feet in
height and had billed weights well over 230 pounds.
Gruner stopped growing at 5‘10 and 195
pounds by adulthood.
The first step to achieving his
dream was literally nearby: Allentown became the home of Afa’s Wild Samoan
Training Center during the late 1980‘s.
Afa AnoaÊ»i is a member of WWE’s Hall
of Fame and a former three-time tag team champion as one half of the legendary
Wild Samoans. Michael Hayes and Yokozuna are just two names among a list of
wrestling luminaries whom Afa previously trained.
Sixteen-year-old Pete Gruner was a
regular visitor at the Wild Samoan Training Center. He made an early attempt to
inquire about training, but Afa remained adamant that he wouldn’t work with the
youth until he turned eighteen.
Gruner returned to the Wild Samoan
Training Center three years later, borrowing money from his college fund in
addition to working as a bank teller and lifeguard to cover tuition.
“I thought I needed to go to school
to have something to fall back on, but I just couldn't stick it out. I had to
go for my dream and go for a shot at wrestling,” he explained in an August 1999
WOW Magazine feature.
“After a while, he [Gruner] spent so
much time here that I figured I might as well train him,” Afa told The
Wrestler magazine. “He always had a lot of heart and natural ability, even
though he isn’t big. But heart and ability can make up for that.”
The majority of Gruner’s Wild Samoan
classmates were considerably larger in size, but none had as much determination
or athletic ability. He was often thrown around in the ring and took several
bumps, both which inspired him to become smarter, quicker, and more athletic.
Wrestling training isn’t simple or
painless as many tend to think, facets for which Gruner was grateful.
“The hard part about training was
getting the guts to get in the ring and take the bumps and learn the falls and
things like that,” he elaborated in WOW Magazine. “Afa made sure you did
your stuff right, which is good. You are not allowed to move in what you've
learned until you get what you’re working on right. You can't advance until you
have your stuff down pat. You look back on that and you are thankful for it
because that's what makes you good.”
He also shared a common trait with
Afa: being a perfectionist. “I like to do my best in everything. I like to give
it my all. If you're not going to give your all, it's not even worth doing. I'm
my worst critic far as when I watch my matches, seeing things I could have done
better or want to do different next time. When it comes to wrestling, I am
self-motivated. When it comes to wrestling, since that's my love and my dream, I
always motivate myself to do what I have to do.”
Gruner spent most of his training
sharpening aerial skills by developing sublime drop kicks from the ropes and a
breathtaking moonsault variation based on the style originated by Jushin “Thunder”
Liger in Japan that would become Gruner’s most famous move - The Shooting Star
Press.
His version involved standing on the
ropes, jumping, performing a back flip, and landing on his downed opponent. It’s
not easy to execute, requiring jumping forward and doing back flips at the same
time.
Gruner graduated from the Wild
Samoan’s six-month program in November 1994 - completing initial training in
record time of three months - but continued working with Afa to further
strengthen his skills.
But one question remained
unanswered: would the skinny yet highly athletic kid from Eastern Pennsylvania
ever make it in a profession usually reserved for men of colossal proportions?
Pete Gruner believed he could, and
set out to prove his early detractors wrong.
Author Bio
L. Anne Carrington is an Amazon
bestselling author, freelance writer/journalist, and radio show host whose
previous work covered topics from fiction to news stories, human interest
features, and entertainment reviews. She wrote The Wrestling Babe
Internet column for seven years, a former music reviewer for Indie Music
Stop, former book reviewer for Free Press (an imprint of Simon and
Schuster), and pens several other works which appears in both print and Web
media.
One of her freelance articles, An
Overview of Causes of Hearing Loss and Deafness, was bought by Internet
Broadcasting Systems, a company that co-produced NBCOlympics.com for the 2004
Summer Olympics in Athens and the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics in addition to
being the leading provider of Web sites, content and advertising revenue
solutions to the largest and most successful media companies.
In addition to her acclaimed novels
in The Cruiserweight Series and nonfiction wrestling bestseller Billy
Kidman: The Shooting Star among works of both fiction and nonfiction, Ms.
Carrington hosts The L. Anne Carrington Show on Spreaker Radio.
She spends time between Pittsburgh,
PA and Tampa, FL, continuing to write.
ALL BOOKS BY L. ANNE CARRINGTON:
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