Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Lyntton

Hi Richard, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

As a child, I was very optimistic – so much so, that some used to think I was being sarcastic when I was just being cheerful and adventurous. Raised by a single mother and being an only child allowed me to use my imagination and sense of optimism and adventure to believe that anything was possible.

Learning foreign languages (French, German, Russian, Bosnian) helped me to develop my sense of optimism and adventure and gave me self-confidence in my formative years. I studied French and German in high-school and “beginners Russian” at Exeter University, UK, during which I was awarded a scholarship to spend ten months in Moscow during the perestroika and glasnost years of Presidents Gorbachev and Reagan. It was fascinating to be emersed in the world (Soviet Russia) which was so different to my own background and culture. I fell in love with Russians and their language and culture and no one on either side of the Iron curtain ever dreamed that war in Europe would break out in our lifetime. Sadly, we were wrong. During a student visit to Odessa, I was robbed at knifepoint on the famous Potemkin (Ptemkinskaya) Stairs featured in the John Buchan novel The Thirty-Nine Steps. In those days there was virtually no difference between Russians and Ukrainians—for a foreigner like me at least—and certainly no sign of all-out war. Russian/Ukrainian police investigated and caught the culprit who, it turned out, had been released from prison a few days earlier. I mention the story simply to illustrate how utterly inconceivable a war between Russians and Ukrainians was at that time.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

I graduated (or “passed out” we say) of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and served as a Captain and tank commander in The Life Guards, Household Cavalry (Prince Harry’s regiment) in Gulf War 1; also European Community Task Force Humanitarian Liaison in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Saratov, Russia; UNHCR Liaison Officer and UN Military Observer (UNMO) in Sarajevo, Bosnia; and UNTV Producer in Former Yugoslavia. I was called to testify at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague after witnessing, filming, and airing on BBC and CNN human rights atrocities and abuses in Bosnia. Somehow, my optimism and sense of adventure neutralized the fear and danger of rolling across the Kuwait desert in a Challenger I tank in Gulf War 1 Operation Desert Storm, or dodging sniper fire and the 1500 shells a day landing in Sarajevo as a UN peacekeeper. As a naïve, young man, I was happy to serve my country, and remained optimistic that the world was becoming a better more peaceful place—that my service and potential sacrifice had meaning and purpose. Perversely, serving as a United Nations Military Observer who speaks Bosnian, gave me a sense of optimism about humanity and human nature. Even though the civilians of besieged Sarajevo, had very little food and were trapped/imprisoned in their own city with friends and family being shelled every day, they were friendly, welcoming, and generous. Given, for example, the scarcity and lack of sugar, I was always dumbfounded how Bosnians from all sides—Bosnian, Serb, Croat—would gladly give visitors literally their last spoonful of sugar if we were invited into their homes for tea. Even under the appalling conditions, they continued to display a generous nature in kind and in spirit. War, I discovered, brings out extremes of both good and evil. Hyde Park Deception, Book 2 in The Deception Series, is set in London, Paris, Split, Croatia, Sarajevo, and is based on events and personal experiences during the Bosnia war.

BUT, at the end of my army service, I had had enough of the death, destruction, and war crimes in Bosnia, and was ready to do things that I really wanted to do. What, I asked myself after some life-threatening close calls during two tours of the Bosnia war, would I most like to do with my life? After working on a movie in post-war Bosnia called “Welcome to Sarajevo” staring Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei, I decided to pursue my life-long love of acting. (I did not yet have the confidence to start writing). In 1998, I attended Mountview Theater School (now Mountview Academy of Theater Arts) and became a professional actor and many years later and more recently, a published author.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I am a full-time actor, independent author, and publisher.
It is a privileged and an honor to pursue an artistic pathway. Yes, it’s a “life gamble” and no, there are no guarantees you will succeed, let alone make money or earn a living from your art. But in just three years, I have sold thousands of copies of my thriller series in USA, UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and Spain. (The Deception Series has not yet been translated, but many readers in France, Germany and Spain like to read in English thrillers). My first two novels took ten years to write, and if it were not for the pandemic, I might never have published them. The COVID years gave me the opportunity to finish two novels, learn how to publish and, more importantly, how to market them. The time we all had to do new things, and think about what we wanted to do, gave me the time and inclination to write a third novel (Leningrad Deception), and so The Deception Series was born, is published, alive, well and selling on the Amazon and Audible platforms and elsewhere.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?

Luck, or fate, or destiny may or may not be a huge factor in life. I prefer to believe in myself, believe in the Almighty, and if you put the work in, good things will happen. You DO have to be realistic (and honest with yourself) about your abilities and talents.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.richardlynttonbooks.com
• Instagram: @richardlyntton AND @richardlynttonbooks
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RichardLynttonActor/ AND https://www.facebook.com/richardlynttonbooks/
• Twitter: @richardlyntton
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqJlS-vy2JNC4zd_tPxppNA