But Trevae wasn’t always an author of international intrigue.
He started his career with a degree in chemical engineering from Michigan State University and moved toward business while working on his MBA at WMU. It all seemed to add up; he loved the courses and had great professors; he enjoyed the program and breezed through.
“It was just what I needed,” he said as his career grew.
After leaving WMU, Trevae enjoyed a successful, expanding career within the first few years of completing his MBA. However, he then changed his course again. In his late 20s, Trevae made the decision to leave a ‘perfectly good paying job’ to start his own business. This next chapter in his life involved establishing, growing, leading, and maturing a technically diversified design/construction/development firm which would eventually go public on the American Stock Exchange. It was later merged into a parent NYSE company with $4 billion in annual revenues.
As Trevae and his senior partners eventually divested the firm between 2001 and 2003, he began to use his merger, acquisition, and divestiture experience to deal in commercial real estate. His emphasis centered on business valuations and consulting for small to medium sized firms. While a consultant, Trevae began writing articles on valuations and business practices for trade publications and business newspapers.
“I’ve always had a desire to write fiction,” Trevae said. It was about mid-way through his business career when he thought about writing a book. He had several ideas, and several failed attempts.
In 2008, Trevae got serious about his writing and decided to attend a writing seminar through Writer’s Digest. It was then that he began to learn about writing and the publishing process, and sat down to write his first novel.
He revisited some of his earlier ideas and developed the character Dalton Crusoe. Drawing on years of extensive travel, Trevae began to weave together a story about the discovery of a unique weapons-grade ore in Montana. As Crusoe tries to keep the discovery a secret from other governments, he finds himself wrapped in a race to stop shadow governments from triggering a world destruction. He titled the book “The Israeli Betrayal.”
“I thought it was a wonderful masterpiece,” Trevae said. “I sent it to 30 publishers and agents and got 30 rejections.”
He notes, as most authors do, that it’s highly unusual to have instant success with your first book. Out of the 30 rejections, a few offered some constructive criticism and several months later Trevae started writing again. Six months later he created a prequel and “The Tarasov Solution” was born. This time Trevae sent the manuscript to a few of the publishers who had some interest with his first novel.
That’s when he got the break. A small press in Boston, Charles River Press, was looking to expand their author pool, and they jumped all over “The Tarasov Solution” which was published in 2009. About a year later, Trevae decided to revisit “The Israeli Betrayal.” It was published as the second book in the Dalton Crusoe series in early 2011 and a revised edition was published in 2013. In years 2012 and 2014 “The Secret Templar Alliance” and then “The Rising Sedition” were published.
In October 2016, Trevae published his fifth book in the series, “The Causanya Proposal.” He’s also published two novellas in the historical fiction/lifestyle theme that depicts Northern Lower Michigan.
Over the years, Trevae has enjoyed his new career as a writer. He’s had interest from film production companies to take his work from book-to-film and has developed a network of copy editors to help with the wording, grammar-accuracy, locations, and technical details. At times, specific information critical to the novel comes from his editing team; such as the name of a city park, or how to properly use an AK-47 was provided by his network of supporters. At other times, Trevae does his own research.
“I studied British nuclear submarines for a month for my latest book,” Trevae stated.
He’s also lectured writing groups and is currently assisting new writers become new authors. His advice is to focus on the reader.
“I really don’t do it for the money,” offered Trevae, “We all do it for the joy from the readers.”
Another change could be on the horizon for Trevae, who is playing with the idea of writing something other than reality inspired fiction. Just what exactly, he’s not sure, but perhaps a murder mystery or another historical fiction novella is in the works.
He’s letting his fans help him decide the issue on Facebook.
Learn more about Richard Trevae and his books at Trevae.com or Trevae.net.