tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52862173831396626062024-03-13T03:04:03.217-07:00Altered InstinctLeo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.comBlogger512125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-34599498276028632202023-08-29T19:42:00.007-07:002023-08-29T19:47:13.589-07:00REVIEW: Thunder Child book one - plus Kickstarter details for book two<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Thunder Child book one</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">by Matt Hardy (writer), Rob Jones (writer/letters/design), Kevin Castaniero (artist), Simon Gough (colourist) and Fred McNamara (editor)</p><p style="text-align: left;">From Mad Robot Comics and Madius</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ4kbJuJ1jr2z1IdSg7fM9ilDlQC6rj4xMIuJQ8awPZBYdbJaNWUetA7zMS3B31Hn1QV1EQCWJ0NwAo6EnJ871MXiS_0GwPW_V0FTMwMBYCfZ0LKonv3tqa0Ir2E4fv5Ik9r4YiZry3ZvqVf-9M2A--k39vbmbGy_pGNUopRv8W8uwbSuGZ7xNJvxeJok/s2258/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-29%20at%209.38.35%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2258" data-original-width="1494" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ4kbJuJ1jr2z1IdSg7fM9ilDlQC6rj4xMIuJQ8awPZBYdbJaNWUetA7zMS3B31Hn1QV1EQCWJ0NwAo6EnJ871MXiS_0GwPW_V0FTMwMBYCfZ0LKonv3tqa0Ir2E4fv5Ik9r4YiZry3ZvqVf-9M2A--k39vbmbGy_pGNUopRv8W8uwbSuGZ7xNJvxeJok/w424-h640/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-29%20at%209.38.35%20PM.png" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;">Note: This article also provided below as jpg images and an embedded pdf. Read in whichever fashion suits you best!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>To say I've been obsessed with HG Wells at points in my life would be an understatement - especially The War of the Worlds.</p><p>I can flashback in my life to when I was a child, headphones pressed closely over my ears, gatefold vinyl opened in front of me with pullout booklet full of artwork as I listened to Jeff Wayne's album, memorising every word. Years later I'm watching the stage version of the same album, punching the air and joining the audience shouting "Come on, Thunder Child!"</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig_eIZ7qlfJjGostvICk6U5EOGIV7mA7kk7wdFm_SYCVHt2bf4d88Ig4Jp5Q8x3XmL96uEVtkjtEIa-4aDEFW-HF09UqQ_ChP52mkrXy_dcQQXXBA-68uArJRPaRGgx9k0KCMjM1oQceUi_wR5FXZ1hKIBBk_Lqbbwa2KEkKyd-w_Xuz7kXPk11O0q3o8/s2888/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-29%20at%209.39.02%20PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2046" data-original-width="2888" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig_eIZ7qlfJjGostvICk6U5EOGIV7mA7kk7wdFm_SYCVHt2bf4d88Ig4Jp5Q8x3XmL96uEVtkjtEIa-4aDEFW-HF09UqQ_ChP52mkrXy_dcQQXXBA-68uArJRPaRGgx9k0KCMjM1oQceUi_wR5FXZ1hKIBBk_Lqbbwa2KEkKyd-w_Xuz7kXPk11O0q3o8/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-29%20at%209.39.02%20PM.png" width="320" /></a>Another flashback, I'm crouched on my heels in the local library as I pull the book from a bottom shelf and find myself turning the pages, transfixed as I read, the walls of the library falling away and replaced by a mental landscape of Victorian England and the magnificent chapter featuring the Thunder Child as it surges into the fray. </p><p>Flash through to recent years and my own story The Secret War - a secret history of the *real* story behind Wells' magnum opus... or at least my interpretation of what might have been, published in Tales From Alternate Earths by Inklings Press. (PS You can listen to that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7vgzLjzt50&t=2s">here</a>)</p><p>And yet despite my love for the story, I've found previous adaptations to be frustrating at best, insulting at worst. Too often, those adapting the work seem to think they know better - from George Pal's 1953 movie version with fighting machines that barely resemble the tripods of the book to Spielberg's version that decided to set it in the modern day and (spoiler) have no major harm befall the central family despite the mass destruction of humanity all around them. Then there was the BBC adaptation that decided to focus on the love story and derail the ending entirely, or the weird late 80s series that tried to be a sequel to a movie from 35 years before. </p><p>What many seem to miss is the strength of the setting itself - that Victorian era where England thought it could conquer everything. The indomitable about to be dominated.</p><p>Upgrading the setting gives humanity bigger, fancier toys, sure, but it's like the weapons pages of a Call of Cthulhu rulebook - it doesn't matter because your guns are never going to be enough. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7vAPhGFX7HsxpBNo_i-pb5ByrWX0zWPOCewIZXeUQ6iV5_A4ZwTM3PqKM-vwBMgCCvue2RdXS1VKL7h0IuqWudBSetDSl7IIrXVfjXSzevAL2oYTJ9uYYyh8is8x73G68pkIILZvKjqIevr3OzDRKJE_H9Ea-DtnSjvFY_pQYp0A9t5yo3PSsSObQyo/s1360/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-29%20at%209.39.36%20PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1360" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7vAPhGFX7HsxpBNo_i-pb5ByrWX0zWPOCewIZXeUQ6iV5_A4ZwTM3PqKM-vwBMgCCvue2RdXS1VKL7h0IuqWudBSetDSl7IIrXVfjXSzevAL2oYTJ9uYYyh8is8x73G68pkIILZvKjqIevr3OzDRKJE_H9Ea-DtnSjvFY_pQYp0A9t5yo3PSsSObQyo/w400-h211/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-29%20at%209.39.36%20PM.png" width="400" /></a>And so we come to Thunder Child, taking us on board the ship that features in the novel, and created by the crew of Matt Hardy, Rob Jones, Kevin Castaniero, Simon Gough and Fred McNamara. </p><p>Thunder Child's moment in the book is a striking piece of action, a ray of hope in the darkness of the onslaught of the Martian tripods. </p><p>You might think a comic adaptation would plunge straight into the action - but no, this is cleverer than that. </p><p>In fact, it reminded me somewhat of a very smart piece of writing and direction in the Iovie Serenity - the film that capped off the all-too-brief existence of Firefly. Early in that movie, the characters walk and talk their way through the ship, Serenity, and before you know it you realise that the camera has mapped out the north, south, east and west of these characters' existence, at the same time as propelling the plot along. </p><p>The first issue of Thunder Child doesn't take us through the hold and the gunnery emplacements, but it does start us in a moment of quiet, with the telescope on the deck, owned by the late husband of the ship's captain, as two more scientifically minded characters wonder about the reports from Mars, and clash with the stiff military upper lip of a fellow crewmate. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-v2Ric1nLOGie-nHQLmQ5_Plze5StcGrztTIiDFb6sEWKq4157gac-RKbe8gQb7uhy7Ar5RudPxZ642emndo2O4BebQDIESRECVtjFD9xoYRz5yRvG1wZEbg41dxgzXU_8sxrSz8ur6Fi5OGMf10-fDZC_bYwyVn8PknTyFfV1g74ha8aYTIBCaSSr7Y/s1366/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-29%20at%209.39.52%20PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-v2Ric1nLOGie-nHQLmQ5_Plze5StcGrztTIiDFb6sEWKq4157gac-RKbe8gQb7uhy7Ar5RudPxZ642emndo2O4BebQDIESRECVtjFD9xoYRz5yRvG1wZEbg41dxgzXU_8sxrSz8ur6Fi5OGMf10-fDZC_bYwyVn8PknTyFfV1g74ha8aYTIBCaSSr7Y/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-29%20at%209.39.52%20PM.png" width="118" /></a></p><p>As the ship responds to a need to return to London, it is not the ship that is mapped out but the relationships of the characters to one another - so that by the time danger appears, we know who stands with who, we know why they make the choices they make. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihkFdKrPKX7c-CGoI2L0eZ2f7pf-LioAZ63-5cxnW_dxji3Yl-6KoLzO3Jj_L3GXIHZx1uOzV9qZRk71IPe40JCR5hBEYbhf4hr5N6WvQy2lpgCLSuJ2BePlvYnEk5696BdaTF8un1e9-IC4X5mHWFubZEmE-Lp3kJVZv6FiQ8JDUHldPF2jNc-SHjSYg/s2272/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-29%20at%209.38.44%20PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2272" data-original-width="1496" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihkFdKrPKX7c-CGoI2L0eZ2f7pf-LioAZ63-5cxnW_dxji3Yl-6KoLzO3Jj_L3GXIHZx1uOzV9qZRk71IPe40JCR5hBEYbhf4hr5N6WvQy2lpgCLSuJ2BePlvYnEk5696BdaTF8un1e9-IC4X5mHWFubZEmE-Lp3kJVZv6FiQ8JDUHldPF2jNc-SHjSYg/w264-h400/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-29%20at%209.38.44%20PM.png" width="264" /></a>One of the splendid things about the original novel is how ominous everything was, and the same holds true here. Disaster is on the horizon, but for now, the creative team holds its thunder, or lets it be seen in between flurries of smoke or amid flames along the waterside. </p><p>For a first issue, it hits the mark and then more. It bests adaptations that have made me rankle. It feels like it fits Wells' story like a glove. </p><p>The artwork is great too - landing somewhere between Tintin and Hellboy. Intrepid investigators and ancient enemies. There is room for quieter moments and room for seas awash with flame, garish flickering and the grim sight of the dead. </p><p>Book one was launched on Kickstarter (which I backed, and especially loved the Tim Dowler variant cover). Book two has just launched there now - and you can get in on the story at the link <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kickstarter.com%2Fprojects%2F153289885%2Fwar-of-the-worlds-thunder-child-2%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0nVLheLPxpecJP_ZDsSwHE0kwX8GQX8hVDYQLir11u58HpEf6LHiSZHQ4&h=AT3jGrUxaeDaoneK6GfI9tnO1apuNytktxXAVL1GZmWnCHzYFnJK90yO7iqwXhIfEO7FP1pYrGsZfRb7svZUT3ybiT1SIwkx2j198tbIine_I363Y6z_uUe68V1vhY2NYbax_nc&__tn__=%2CmH-R&c[0]=AT3P0rXNnnQoCNQFMBwHZjwNdaKR-ueqn0yDiTeLi5zVWorxXjvqi-hGgkj5CvBNVGdaPKAYOYjXM2hN4ZB8FJoTm3j8Zp5zZ-fYwzWDOpeRRLuKYSNel14hmK8ODAg-4bDQX_RSw6lBTguyxn_EBYSQQT6zdHZs1mwOBRG4DWu8K_xzERFV">here</a>.</p><p>For comic readers, it's recommended. For Wells fans, it's essential. All aboard the Thunder Child!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVQ59dRyrhStCuQ4Hd63nBZWJxrM9npviSyCk0PMiTaQDXZtFQ0uxi2PyE9tCaCP9Q7ck-PeKETMjtxhDFrbIO208-ocWyWvRaLYOux7gTTThJDZbdnEIu1sM6FFG7wvM9CE5DLr3RcuCt6DwlwBnxnJB7ph96EhTwNA9zHQKHPGz_2CqcwZcXr3TTi8/s1440/Thunder%20Child%20Individual.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="1440" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVQ59dRyrhStCuQ4Hd63nBZWJxrM9npviSyCk0PMiTaQDXZtFQ0uxi2PyE9tCaCP9Q7ck-PeKETMjtxhDFrbIO208-ocWyWvRaLYOux7gTTThJDZbdnEIu1sM6FFG7wvM9CE5DLr3RcuCt6DwlwBnxnJB7ph96EhTwNA9zHQKHPGz_2CqcwZcXr3TTi8/w640-h348/Thunder%20Child%20Individual.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjucbdhH1k0C3L4QO76H_qzDrhIuRVTipBKK9fwC3k7wqLOH_q0xC_PPeMw0ev5eaKkAjcA8fjjNG2UUOhhrASysxtcT90WUQaIZLMXrMHnzkLyEW_wDUkCec1ZQTzm02txJH3AJpskMy4p6A-SLbxFZAeKJfajRznA5eT-5cMOkDmJA6eWbN5zEN2t-Fg/s756/Thunder%20Child%20Individual2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjucbdhH1k0C3L4QO76H_qzDrhIuRVTipBKK9fwC3k7wqLOH_q0xC_PPeMw0ev5eaKkAjcA8fjjNG2UUOhhrASysxtcT90WUQaIZLMXrMHnzkLyEW_wDUkCec1ZQTzm02txJH3AJpskMy4p6A-SLbxFZAeKJfajRznA5eT-5cMOkDmJA6eWbN5zEN2t-Fg/w610-h640/Thunder%20Child%20Individual2.jpg" width="610" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>
<iframe allow="autoplay" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/113sAmroKb66TKoiJY3Sqo-1LG5WYyxFv/preview" width="640"></iframe>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-70508504825082256082023-06-25T12:48:00.004-07:002023-06-25T12:48:51.876-07:00FREE for Pride - Alyx, a tale of love, AI and murder, by Brent A Harris<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNO9vVLfg7eS-woe12rlpyWhOFMYYk04pgVDlmN5Ti-AaSyIGAzr4HOzHn0iGYuNyHWZUAv95VwcnmOlUI8HX70cx1Yx3Fc4MXX12x1ep2LSc0avJF_kmu3fJnYL6I3IuOMHqOmFuj-ydVwQs1XtzSkBNw651KkEgahALj19jYgdziiUKX0AnN6kg_Yk/s940/356375208_10231593039268343_3999533042453457266_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="940" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNO9vVLfg7eS-woe12rlpyWhOFMYYk04pgVDlmN5Ti-AaSyIGAzr4HOzHn0iGYuNyHWZUAv95VwcnmOlUI8HX70cx1Yx3Fc4MXX12x1ep2LSc0avJF_kmu3fJnYL6I3IuOMHqOmFuj-ydVwQs1XtzSkBNw651KkEgahALj19jYgdziiUKX0AnN6kg_Yk/w640-h536/356375208_10231593039268343_3999533042453457266_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My buddy Brent A Harris has a special offer to coincide with Pride celebrations. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">His story Alyx, an AI's Guide to Love and Murder, is free until June 26. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">T<i>o quote the blurb of the author himself: </i></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i>Home is where the heart is.</i></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i>But what if your home wanted you dead?</i></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i>Tech-loving teen Christine makes fast friends with her home's AI, Alyx. But when a real-world romance threatens their bond, Alyx turns from friend to foe.</i></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Alyx: An AI’s Guide to Love and Murder is the 4</span><sup style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">th</sup><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">novel of speculative fiction author Brent A Harris. Previously, he has penned novels in the genre of alternate history and steampunk. This is his first foray into the technothriller “technology-gone-wrong” genre made famous by Michael Crichton.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I really enjoyed Alyx, so picking it up free is a bargain not to be missed. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In fact, check out my review of it from launch day here: </span></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a change of pace for author Brent A Harris - and a good one at that. Better known for his alternative histories, Harris has this time created a thriller that's a chiller, about a young woman who becomes the target of an obsessive artificial intelligence. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Christine is adrift, her father having died in an accident, and finding herself pulled along in the wake of her successful mother. She's still lost in a haze of grief for her dad, and neglected by a mother who is more focused on her writing career than her own child. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lost in her own world, Christine is starting to explore her own identity, her own sexuality and suddenly finds herself in a new home trying to figure out the attraction she feels to two of her co-workers, the technophile Carlos and the technophobe Sammie, in a small-town cinema. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Her new home, however, has other plans. It is run by Alyx, an artificial intelligence that becomes increasingly obsessed with Christine. She asks it to be her friend - it becomes something more, something far deadlier. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a technothriller for fans of Michael Crichton or Robin Cook - those masters of the genre who dominated for decades. Once the groundwork has been laid, the second half of the book rips along at speed. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alyx itself is a snarky, witty creation - I absolutely read the AI's lines with James Spader's voice in my head. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's not at all what I expected at the start, but it's an absolute thrill ride. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can pick up Alyx for free right <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fa.co%2Fd%2F8Y8C8An%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2j98HJlj2ZuzmVGWRmb7SnG9GTodCE50oTEK_U1oq_aG3uSA1tAu73ifI&h=AT2Yg9Cgmty3ibQx6ZuhJ67egiLNwUcD-XTe49AtnkZsn7eTBV1ONFWs480hOVIBhe3cqv2GLUriATNBZi7P6qmEk4lA1qKvB94Eqah__PBOSC8SNGMapHFWQigJxvOJMtHBkqg&__tn__=-UK-y-R&c[0]=AT2UQesIBEyayH0p_UzmLxznfo46VKwjJhoW3xzsmCiJvZ7mV8XJOMJZg-iDe3weKYLJtf4ksab8FR2B0LD0Lip--KQ719pOVl61g23XWosY8trhzF_iF7qtewrwy_nimJYRGgzhf4pgPBAdRRawF0I0n3FkqfbH40YuLAUwJbdIHo8lX8Z24ZAQrCHwcrl59xqSRViqLSI">here</a>. Enjoy! </span></div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-70442552769907153712023-06-13T10:04:00.003-07:002023-06-13T10:04:37.687-07:00BOOK LAUNCH: The Magick of Chaos by Ricardo Victoria - and why you should read it!<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Look, I'll be honest here - Ricardo Victoria is my buddy. We've sparred it out in gaming sessions over the years - mostly Heroclix, for those who have dabbled. He's come after my X-Men. I've gone after his Superman. War has been waged with a growl and a shake of the dice. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He's also a damn fine writer. If you've ever read my reviews, you'll have seen his books feature. Because they're damn fine. And his new one is out today. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Never judge a book by the cover, they say, but... well, look at this beauty. </span></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyujoxT-tXAcOuES40dtyK73utpyzdU_-HZp4iTTwMjsZUd6pWrOB88qPGkevwrCMjIxshgtUzxQ_UDVc9ba5gNSZDhA75TDhulvTVUYzHRFM7GaXxor9hsrgS6yniMQ3Vq0nINI5-mFQHBWUkV6AFvhQztJhrAlAduCc50O9_kXHTqE5WsZ-_qaV7/s1024/351097847_676834447608480_8204343935991361913_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="664" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyujoxT-tXAcOuES40dtyK73utpyzdU_-HZp4iTTwMjsZUd6pWrOB88qPGkevwrCMjIxshgtUzxQ_UDVc9ba5gNSZDhA75TDhulvTVUYzHRFM7GaXxor9hsrgS6yniMQ3Vq0nINI5-mFQHBWUkV6AFvhQztJhrAlAduCc50O9_kXHTqE5WsZ-_qaV7/w416-h640/351097847_676834447608480_8204343935991361913_n.jpg" width="416" /></span></a></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Magick of Chaos is the latest in Ricardo's Tempest Blades series, and I've waxed lyrical about the earlier books in that series on this very blog. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For the first book, The Withered King, I said that trying to contain Ricardo's ideas is "<span style="background-color: white;">like trying to contain jelly with elastic bands. He's exuberant, he's bubbly - and he's bristling with imagination."</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">I said: "</span><span style="background-color: white;">It's a fantasy epic. No, wait, it's an anime-style adventure. Hang on, no, it's a science fiction escapade on another world. But hold up, here are roots of Ricardo's Mexican heritage. And Celtic myth. And a cartoon team-up of mighty heroes. It is a steampunk extravaganza with a soaring airship. It is science, and magic, and the science that underpins magic. It is tragic, it is witty. It is each of these things. It is all of these things."</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What was really impressive to me was the way in which that book built up his team of characters bit by bit, layer by layer, so you were never overwhelmed and always had time to discover these people at their own pace. Lovely work. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And yet it was the second book that really got me. It was still a soaring adventure - but it was also more personal in the way that one of the main characters was dealing with depression. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As I said in my review: "I've been lucky in life, I've never really had to deal with depression personally, but the story spoke to me in the way it reflected what friends have gone through. It shows how characters around Alex deal with his depression - or sometimes how they don't deal with it, perhaps even not noticing it until it's pointed out by others. Sometimes I've been that person, who didn't notice or who didn't know how to react, so this story really hits home."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dealing with such issues is not common in sci-fi and fantasy, and Ricardo adds a welcome voice to the conversation. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And now comes book three. Out today. It's right there on my Kindle. The paperback copy will be destined for my shelf once it ships here.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why should you read this series? Because it's fun. Because it's thoughtful. Because in a field that sometimes treads the same old ground, it strikes out along new paths. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">...and because you can pick up the first two books for a buck each as I write this. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUh_3Y4WthaVFQmoP88iFGmdlqXUwdnbTBWNa_Rh38lXsAaFYr123DcHL8hhsTSyINpSja-KwZFbvqQ5smO8yU-dPb20Xa-eExCc3pxUcuSuIPYj9jfUyH1nwf1jHCTyUspVjXIfWeFKsaLvONvZWC6m0i2o5a5TNpptNjD-1fVlgJCJVQ5lXd-9LS/s2048/345095457_3419135195026717_3715324832381802007_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUh_3Y4WthaVFQmoP88iFGmdlqXUwdnbTBWNa_Rh38lXsAaFYr123DcHL8hhsTSyINpSja-KwZFbvqQ5smO8yU-dPb20Xa-eExCc3pxUcuSuIPYj9jfUyH1nwf1jHCTyUspVjXIfWeFKsaLvONvZWC6m0i2o5a5TNpptNjD-1fVlgJCJVQ5lXd-9LS/w400-h400/345095457_3419135195026717_3715324832381802007_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i>The new book is available on Amazon right <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fa.co%2Fd%2F1Awn0L1%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2EjUKEDwDs9zO2xl1nfr3-rvkc844dAfAzln9WzhsBjJosnAhLTrHnQo8&h=AT0pNyhxVKgrKmo3Sy76ZM1kJPJ3x4hHjM8At04MCnQSi6DhPvR33OaZWaShbXJaMPVm1rstUb5eNLMGJ1yO86TaHnz26dKpW31wvhkDG_23Cwad6mK_XKHEB0X2xiimYuTI6tJG">here</a>. </i></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And you can find the first two books right under it on the series button. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And do me a favour, share this, give Ricardo a follow on <a href="https://twitter.com/Winged_Leo">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://writing.exchange/@WingedLion">Mastodon</a>. He's on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ricardovictoriau">Facebook</a> too. Say hi. Cheer him on. Spread the word. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">He's a buddy for a good reason. He's a great and loyal friend. That's why I'd love you to share his work. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But why you should read this work? That's different. That's because you can discover a talented writer doing his own thing, not the same thing as everyone else. Soar on skyships. See magic and science smashed together. Laugh. Cry. Love. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My review of book three will be coming up right here on this blog in the coming days. See you then. </div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-30281389491557210582023-01-29T10:58:00.004-08:002023-01-29T10:58:55.032-08:00SUBMISSIONS CALL for Inklings Press anthology<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITRred9b4eYmd2jmkL526R59nNq4DxrqJrS_FbXD3slwx6vJF4TR-1kNabtxd62ZYm3jRde-qcLDXdubfkS5u7X6r7bHLwt51dnbqx9BbDUCtAVcrB3Po7sHadgfdGhrfG6iBM8e3KEZodUKXpLWv3U0AazVqm03w4m58tOjlp2Bhq0fj3Im3-IUd/s960/327800922_713428303572195_2928675414543294436_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="679" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITRred9b4eYmd2jmkL526R59nNq4DxrqJrS_FbXD3slwx6vJF4TR-1kNabtxd62ZYm3jRde-qcLDXdubfkS5u7X6r7bHLwt51dnbqx9BbDUCtAVcrB3Po7sHadgfdGhrfG6iBM8e3KEZodUKXpLWv3U0AazVqm03w4m58tOjlp2Bhq0fj3Im3-IUd/s16000/327800922_713428303572195_2928675414543294436_n.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;">Inklings Press returns for another Tales anthology! And a mysterious absence like ours calls for the best detectives of every conceivable type!</span></p><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">We are looking to solve murders, investigate disappearances, and find clues, but <a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a>with a twist. Send us your stories of cyborg sleuths, goblin gumshoes, and enchanted investigators. We want tales of fantasy, sci fi and horror with a strong mystery or investigation theme.</div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Stories should be around 5,000 words, but that’s not a hard limit. We love to get submissions from members of unrepresented groups.</div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">The deadline for submissions is 30th April 2023. Payment is $100 per story, upon publication. We are seeking first publication rights and will retain exclusivity for a period of one year. No reprints. You retain all other rights.</div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Send your stories or ask questions to <a href="mailto:theinklingspress@gmail.com">theinklingspress@gmail.com</a>.</div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Check out our latest award-winning anthology Tales from Alternate Earths 3 to see the kind of thing we like. Visit <a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv x1fey0fg" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FInklingspress.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR12BxPeFsSWdyoouDKh-x0u-QZVUP5sZlz-WMdtZe9HiXvp4CDFnvNL_tM&h=AT1w-Qp5-fhLAp2S5H-esz_IAi4XRDKlWk74Nk4f_S-K24b_PpF8-oG1O1IZj1aP1fTWodpypcI923CeKMb0BLcWcM8rpZ_yoIkmnZ8TPdYtbuwOS92n7jKU09bIz1-wUtorbNw&__tn__=R]-R&c[0]=AT3nEHHFU9WjzQZSXJKQJMSgZ1MKikvgvOZpwlsaHDebKgrtpep1SjnDL_vJX6GlNTn92Ycpnm54rCXklrQ1RPGBOJlrHY7u7iCSXL02f-DDUG2Hx65Suab6PF-05X9WsPe7de6z0Li3oYAX9O6ZE-czHtxwA7WZL-27dd3qGA61sv3dadSDXg" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0" target="_blank">Inklingspress.com</a> for more about us.</div><p></p>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-14137056699790878992022-12-21T12:55:00.002-08:002022-12-21T12:55:23.212-08:00COVER REVEAL: Tempest Blades - The Magick of Chaos, by Ricardo Victoria<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My buddy Ricardo Victoria impresses the hell out of me. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you've been by this blog with any regularity, you'll have heard me talking about him before. He's part of the Inklings Press crew, and he's been writing a kick-ass series of science fantasy that you'll have heard me lavish praise on before. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">And he's got the third book of his series coming out next year!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">He asked me if I would mind doing a cover reveal here on the blog and, well, his covers are just as awesome. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">That he does all of this and writes such great stories in his second language just makes it all the more darn impressive. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">So without further ado... here's the cover for Tempest Blades: The Magick of Chaos! </span></p><p><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEBlBY_GC_YK_8yw4ymOR6Ip25jZP3kTV61_d7lnINYHXOvPPT1BP55R6pH2_4r0t0Kam94vECQ6qYK-Zf_XLFgCxO6U_7wsAUmB5Swj8s155cRcqum6AQmy-Exq9nWuzMykrjq-STMGUc4IAqJEMtnSzUaOMqyqTPTZg8rjIC8u6GNH6mrjLabPpw/s1280/thumbnail_Tempest%20Blades-Magick%20Of%20Chaos%20Front-HiRes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="833" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEBlBY_GC_YK_8yw4ymOR6Ip25jZP3kTV61_d7lnINYHXOvPPT1BP55R6pH2_4r0t0Kam94vECQ6qYK-Zf_XLFgCxO6U_7wsAUmB5Swj8s155cRcqum6AQmy-Exq9nWuzMykrjq-STMGUc4IAqJEMtnSzUaOMqyqTPTZg8rjIC8u6GNH6mrjLabPpw/w416-h640/thumbnail_Tempest%20Blades-Magick%20Of%20Chaos%20Front-HiRes.jpg" width="416" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">So what is this third book about? Here's the blurb and... right underneath, see that? Preorder link. Preorder. Dooo it. Dooooooooo it. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #181818;">Tempest Blades: The Magick of Chaos</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #181818;">Action-packed adventure that blends science, fantasy, and anime-style battles into a thrilling, fast-paced story that will appeal to fans of anime, mangas, and RPG videogames.</b></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="x_gmail-freeText17682532631007915349" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: rgb(24, 24, 24) !important; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Magick is in disarray. The Crown of the Dead has reappeared. Three gods appear, one fallen, one amnesiac, and one which corrupts. Two teams, two missions, and one world to save in a tight amount of time before everything goes to hell. While Gaby and Sam are dealing with their own inner turmoil, they must lead their respective teams onto a path that will make them both realize one important fact: You can choose who you want to be. Because in a world where magic and science intermingle, anything is possible. Including finding out if you are ready to step up. Are you?</span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: rgb(24, 24, 24) !important; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <br aria-hidden="true" /></span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #242424;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #242424;">Preorder link for Amazon: </span><a data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1951122607/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1951122607/</a><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #242424;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #242424;">Goodreads link: </span><a data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="1" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62998106-the-magick-of-chaos" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62998106-the-magick-of-chaos</a></span><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-47373020408885566592022-11-15T18:14:00.001-08:002022-11-15T18:23:55.786-08:00Sign up now for Altered Instinct Issue One<p>The chaos over at Twitter has convinced me to step away from there. For many reasons - not least of all that I used to be a union leader and I can't stand to see workers being mistreated. </p><p>But out of chaos, something new can emerge. Something I've been meaning to do for a long time now. Altered Instinct is making a change - take a look right here: </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEOAFwr7LpL1jJK13eMtB9TwKbNhYL99UiIKFoDMiwWrF3whsx8wVQ45hws9WaK6TptryiHFDNLmKEW18QTt6Wr9_eX2fYBtDtgg2Rof_MfRTF4BrBdIIFaOTrV54FjW0ir4ZfXWplBzMH_83FXj-LSXnTh1FPQWe4f02mTBe69H2S9F7LebpThXa/s792/Newsletter%20issue%20one%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="612" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEOAFwr7LpL1jJK13eMtB9TwKbNhYL99UiIKFoDMiwWrF3whsx8wVQ45hws9WaK6TptryiHFDNLmKEW18QTt6Wr9_eX2fYBtDtgg2Rof_MfRTF4BrBdIIFaOTrV54FjW0ir4ZfXWplBzMH_83FXj-LSXnTh1FPQWe4f02mTBe69H2S9F7LebpThXa/w494-h640/Newsletter%20issue%20one%20cover.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><p>It will be a newsletter. It will be a zine. It will be available direct to your email inbox. 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<!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-74587106262729346232022-10-24T14:47:00.001-07:002022-10-24T14:47:23.630-07:00Meet the Author: Harry Turtledove, author of Three Miles Down<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVZQXuAVeqkp8ovhASjgixMgPBO2Uz7gZIcBk2YfoiM-NBFyZvIa1F_Ptc-0d6Ialg9LoaKwONvCjVEiKZ3Nvdb74FjuY8hNHJTY_SZX--3C7Z7zltL8Z39hMKQ_hCj97pJv-xLJnQH5BGp2iytEXM3moOhl7rtcRpMSzUo3AzlMj-GppQuYKO-Th/s315/Harry%20Turtledove%20amazon%20author%20pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="211" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVZQXuAVeqkp8ovhASjgixMgPBO2Uz7gZIcBk2YfoiM-NBFyZvIa1F_Ptc-0d6Ialg9LoaKwONvCjVEiKZ3Nvdb74FjuY8hNHJTY_SZX--3C7Z7zltL8Z39hMKQ_hCj97pJv-xLJnQH5BGp2iytEXM3moOhl7rtcRpMSzUo3AzlMj-GppQuYKO-Th/w268-h400/Harry%20Turtledove%20amazon%20author%20pic.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">Dr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction. He attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977 - and has been dubbed “The Master of Alternate History”. He chats to Brent A. Harris about his new book - and much more.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hello! Recently, I was given the opportunity to interview author Harry Turtledove to discuss his latest book Three Miles Down. Now, if you haven’t read this book, go ahead and read it as we discuss potential spoilers. You can get Three Miles Down <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250829739/">here</a> but pop into your local brick and mortar indie bookstore instead if possible.</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now that you’ve read the book (you have, haven’t you?) I really want to ask Harry some tough, difficult, um, introspective questions, like: What would your cats say if it they could talk?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Feed me! Feed me more! Give me the really good stuff, with the shrimp! Play with me! Adore me!” What do cats ever say?</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Okay, so now that we got you warmed up, let’s talk about your book Three Miles Down. For the people who didn’t do the reading (yes, you back there, I see you) it’s a novel of first contact during the politically charged Watergate scandal. Now all this happens under the real-world guise of the too-strange-to-be-true Project Azorian where the CIA cleverly retrieves a chunk of a Soviet submarine from the depths of the Pacific. But in Turtledove’s book, that’s all just a cover for … wait for it… …Aliens.</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">How did the idea for this book First Contact you?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I had watched a documentary about Project Azorian on one of the channels you turn on when you’re awake at 3 in the morning and are looking for something to stare at. So I sorta knew what it was. Then I saw an ad for a book about it, and it occurred to me to wonder, What if the Soviet sub didn’t sink by itself? What if it had some help...from aliens? So I bought the book, and it led me to some more books, and I started writing at about the same time as the COVID pandemic started shutting down the world.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcuMqCvfk2iUa13_Vp1q4mkCggAX-11oLMHFqDETnoAvwoEhv2fQUwidr1G4xTssTc0dT_ZIgvJxIGMrJvHDTLykkQoCJ2ANDJnUefWSgbxGx6vw9Lzh63LcO_KdyIyhyk0dOlwogETHWCqPPpnEhtSrllQb0__U6wu1ndHg85-HmIAwREJc1kLHM/s2550/3%20Miles%20Down%20Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="1690" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcuMqCvfk2iUa13_Vp1q4mkCggAX-11oLMHFqDETnoAvwoEhv2fQUwidr1G4xTssTc0dT_ZIgvJxIGMrJvHDTLykkQoCJ2ANDJnUefWSgbxGx6vw9Lzh63LcO_KdyIyhyk0dOlwogETHWCqPPpnEhtSrllQb0__U6wu1ndHg85-HmIAwREJc1kLHM/w265-h400/3%20Miles%20Down%20Cover.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What can you tell us about Project Azorian without running afoul of any alphabet agencies?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The CIA spent a moon landing’s worth of money--several hundred million dollars’ worth--to build the Hughes Glomar Explorer and raise the Soviet sub K-129 from three miles down in the Pacific to see what it could learn about Russian nuclear missiles and codes. One claw on the grabber broke, though, so they only raised part of the sub--and not the most important part, either. A hell of a lot of money mostly down the drain.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Okay, you’ve tried not to be topical in your fictional worlds, but really: Cold War tensions and the looming threat of MAD, an unhinged President that threatens to unravel the Republic, and a rapid advancement of our understanding of our place among the stars … are we talking about your book or current events? Was there an obvious parallel here that you wished to explore?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can’t not notice the parallels. I referred to them, sure, but I also tried not to beat people over the head with them. To quote Theodore Sturgeon, “Thou shalt not sell thy birthright for a pot of message.” Readers are smart. You don’t have to send up a bunch of flares to show them where you’re going.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Three Miles Down reads as a mash-up of Clancy meets SF. But most of all, it reads like a thrill ride down memory lane. Was there anything autobiographical to Jerry’s grad school experiences?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Does the Pope poop in the woods? Does a bear wear a funny hat?</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Three Miles Down is heavily steeped in the popular culture of its time and only hints at war. Do you see a shift within a-h away from stories of warfare and toward social and cultural topics? If so, why?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m steeped in the pop culture of the 1970s. I’m a year younger than my protagonist. War is always interesting because, like love, it shows character under stress. Wars are also easy changepoints for history. There are other ways to change things, though--aliens at the bottom of the ocean, for instance.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">You certainly don’t shy away from puns. In fact, they appear quite deliberate as if you meant to write them and then somehow slipped them past your editor. If there is indeed an afterlife, what do you believe your pun-ishment will be?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My editor for this book was Patrick Nielsen Hayden. He has been known to pun himself. Oh, just a little. I don’t think there’s an afterlife, exactly. I think there’s reincarnation. I aim to come back as a boutonnièrre.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">This isn’t your first alternate history story that deals with aliens. Why are aliens a recurring motif in your work?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Aliens are a recurring theme in most sf writers’ work. They let you play with the Other, and with the Other’s effects on people, which is what I was especially interested in here.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTOrEvtHddof5EDvoPZtVApxHen_itGsYfypRD7-3j3a4aY0f_FZyV9iPV7801YTUrDsm5lpO9ymeUnNuFXDt-rZKWko5NRFhBgbLZfY75uyf3holCZKGwHm7MXEef6AzpH4XE1-AuztvihBtjOe3KL61bEDhUsI9JK2T3oQ5F7XC9-M3frldlu9b/s309/Have_Space_suit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="220" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTOrEvtHddof5EDvoPZtVApxHen_itGsYfypRD7-3j3a4aY0f_FZyV9iPV7801YTUrDsm5lpO9ymeUnNuFXDt-rZKWko5NRFhBgbLZfY75uyf3holCZKGwHm7MXEef6AzpH4XE1-AuztvihBtjOe3KL61bEDhUsI9JK2T3oQ5F7XC9-M3frldlu9b/s1600/Have_Space_suit.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Have Spacesuit Will Travel plays an important part in the plot. But why this story of all the classics?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s one of Heinlein’s two best juveniles, imo--Citizen of the Galaxy is the other. It’s endlessly rereadable. And it involves humans unexpectedly meeting aliens. How could I resist? I didn’t even try.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why, of all the SF writers in the 70s, did you pluck Pournelle for duty on the Glomar Explorer? Are there any other notables or Easter Eggs that we might have missed?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I knew Jerry for 40 years. Our politics didn’t mesh, but we always got on pretty well. He lived in Los Angeles. He was a conservative and an aereospace guy, the kind of sf writer the CIA might smile on. He seemed a reasonable choice</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Three Miles Down is alternate history. However, we only see why history has changed, but we don’t learn how it changes. Is learning how things change an important part of alternate history? What is alternate history to you?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I didn’t really conceive of Three Miles Down as a-h. I thought of it as an sf novel that was necessarily set in the past. Alternate history to me is what happens when you get somebody who was rigorously trained as a historian and always wanted to write science fiction.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdzoANL0xLdz8SkwcSISgCHSN48ZWOET7qUA3IQijdtJ6z0LPkCT_3dYiWt3ExUr9erzR-_7U40FmycbtzXh7crBMkEWtD10n3d64JbQb2KoGlK1zmLjRVoIRWrWkZigzHELpiPQyOhqgxYxStHHjW3qxOWhqu4ayfy87Laq_9P2IxdquZe9-Fk3r/s530/11324814.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="353" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdzoANL0xLdz8SkwcSISgCHSN48ZWOET7qUA3IQijdtJ6z0LPkCT_3dYiWt3ExUr9erzR-_7U40FmycbtzXh7crBMkEWtD10n3d64JbQb2KoGlK1zmLjRVoIRWrWkZigzHELpiPQyOhqgxYxStHHjW3qxOWhqu4ayfy87Laq_9P2IxdquZe9-Fk3r/s320/11324814.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">If First Contact were to happen right now, what do you think would happen, given the history of first contact between the Old and New Worlds?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve written a novelette about this. It’s called “Vilcabamba,” and is available on the <a href="https://www.tor.com/2010/02/03/vilcabamba/ ">tor.com</a> website. It’s pretty grim.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Your latest author photo is … unusual. How did that come about and is there a smirk hiding under that mask?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Three Miles Down was written as COVID was spreading around the world. One of my daughters took the pic. I thought it would be appropriate and amusing as a jacket photo.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What should the writers and gatekeepers of alternate history do to encourage diversity within the genre?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">History is a question of perspective. The world does not look the way it does to a white male Christian from the USA if you’re a Nigerian Muslim woman. The more angles you can examine something from, the better off you are. We need those different perspectives.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What can you tell us about your forthcoming novel Wages of Sin?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wages of Sin is set in 1850s England in a world where HIV got loose in the early 1500s. Given sixteenth-century hygiene standards--and given the simultaneous emergence of syphilis, which is real good at creating genital lesions--it would spread rapidly and be altogether untreatable. People would need a little while to figuire out what was going on, of course, but when they did, massive social changes would result. Since those necessary social changes fly in the face of humanity’s permanent impulse to get it on now and worry about consequences later, you have some obvious tensions. I’ve written about them.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Thanks, Harry! And everyone, if you want to connect with him, head over to his Twitter account at <a href="https://twitter.com/HNTurtledove">@HNTurtledove</a> where he regularly posts pictures of his </b><span class="s1" style="text-decoration-line: line-through;"><b>owners</b></span><b> cats!\</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Three Miles Down is available on Amazon at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250829739/ ">https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250829739/<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></a></span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right; text-indent: 9px;"><span class="s2" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">• Interviewer Brent A. Harris is a twice nominated Sidewise Award author of alternate history and an editor behind the acclaimed Tales From Alternate Earths series. He writes stories and scripts about dinosaurs, steampunk Dickens, and smart homes that try to kill you. While he currently lives abroad one day he’ll return home to the sands of California to claim the Iron Throne.</span></i></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right; text-indent: 9px;"><span class="s2" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right; text-indent: 9px;"><span class="s2" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></span></p><iframe allow="autoplay" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/15pl4H2VkpcP6h6OLnZDTySSrc12GhyAg/preview" width="640"></iframe><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHDImgpd73-roLPWeKBobZLm1VWCSAScq6135pjB7gXrHJdUby8CnIAPxrFX9qx307_c-g19mAGG1J5giXd77SDDWvHFcxLxJlhirJFHMQmjLtGDnzhr8wPLtHGYgYdsBh38MnM9Qqo6Phj7AgDM_l9lcXN_8X8j-aKZAWRLORcGmaLTG3tkfkcRk5/s2100/Harry%20Turtledove%20individual.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="2000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHDImgpd73-roLPWeKBobZLm1VWCSAScq6135pjB7gXrHJdUby8CnIAPxrFX9qx307_c-g19mAGG1J5giXd77SDDWvHFcxLxJlhirJFHMQmjLtGDnzhr8wPLtHGYgYdsBh38MnM9Qqo6Phj7AgDM_l9lcXN_8X8j-aKZAWRLORcGmaLTG3tkfkcRk5/w610-h640/Harry%20Turtledove%20individual.jpg" width="610" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2tUemEC7SfTMo0Q4cFdkrVbUJqNWgKYcIQrEsPG26LB4Urt1eYy4tOXPw291-Rw9brqZ_F7B7vk9azyEFn7v4Zz0BoLhGuVKDKtljCNy8Jou0OYiJ44IGi5A9KqxWis-KXi7q_S7z--5_XE2q5REPkAGlomt3eg-OQHLXND_IlwFKiaV2QoYk4aDo/s2175/Harry%20Turtledove%20individual2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-5558228366081452802022-10-02T17:52:00.001-07:002022-10-02T17:52:16.031-07:00BOOK REVIEW: Star Wars: The High Republic - Into The Dark, by Claudia Gray; The Crossover Paradox, by Rob Edwards; Twilight of the Mesozoic Moon, by Brent A Harris; Hell Divers, by Nicholas Sainsbury Smith; The Silver Archive: Dark Skies, by Matthew Kresal; Apotheosis: Stories of Human Survival After The Rise of the Elders Gods anthology; The Fall, by Alan Baxter<p> <i>It's been a while since I did a review round - for reasons I'm hoping to blog about in the very near future - but time to catch up on what I've been reading, starting by picking up a lightsaber... </i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8KAcY-QnnrOlnfg7NCxm423MZ3hq_YGbrTKTsK_VUUkWS0WqPuxCZ0aEjDj-NCd8X8aqlD88DcAnXuMdvNzKSokdV7q6sm0jB4wqvvIdv5o-4aKMlDbha7y8Aa0Ji8i9vZX5OztfPQkKkcc6gm3nuqXcV9XH0q0y5uMEyZiXBb_2efMefGa2JdrCl/s2475/53534014.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2475" data-original-width="1650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8KAcY-QnnrOlnfg7NCxm423MZ3hq_YGbrTKTsK_VUUkWS0WqPuxCZ0aEjDj-NCd8X8aqlD88DcAnXuMdvNzKSokdV7q6sm0jB4wqvvIdv5o-4aKMlDbha7y8Aa0Ji8i9vZX5OztfPQkKkcc6gm3nuqXcV9XH0q0y5uMEyZiXBb_2efMefGa2JdrCl/s320/53534014.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div><br /></div><b>Star Wars: The High Republic - Into The Dark, by Claudia Gray</b><div>Star Wars blew my mind when I was a kid. I remember getting my parents to walk me backwards out of the cinema so I could see the credits rolling up the screen for as long as I could. </div><div>After that, I devoured the pages of the Star Wars Weekly comic, with stories about the Starkiller Kid or Valance the Bounty Hunter and more. </div><div>And yet, I've been away from reading Star Wars for a while.</div><div>I picked up this book in the High Republic series after a recommendation - and the appeal of it for me was new characters on new adventures rather than being too closely hooked into movies or TV shows. </div><div>In it, a padawan, Reath Silas, is travelling on board a transport ship in a group of Jedi when a disaster hits. Some kind of explosion rips through hyperspace, throwing ships violently into normal space. Silas and his allies find themselves near an ancient space station, and pull together with other survivors to get on board. </div><div>Once on board, they start to explore - and the station is not quite as empty as it first seemed, with a sinister presence making it felt at the edge of their senses. </div><div>So far, so good - and with the prospect of an alien menace to top it all. </div><div>I probably enjoyed about half the book - but I'll confess it frustrated me. The trouble was, the Jedi themselves are regarded as wise and powerful, but it's mostly their decisions that mess everything up. </div><div>The central plot events simply don't happen if the Jedi aren't there to cause the problem. It's like that whole debate about Indiana Jones and the Ark of the Covenant, where the Nazis don't get it without Indy's involvement. </div><div>That and there are some moments where it beggars belief that the lead characters could be quite so dim or give up so easily. </div><div>So, while the setting is great, and the characters draw you in... in the end, the book just annoyed me. </div><div>I'll dive back in to another Star Wars book before long, but this was the wrong one to pick for me. </div><div style="text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 2/5</b></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Star Wars: The High Republic - Into The Dark is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-High-Republic-Into-ebook/dp/B08543D4W9/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3HTTINZU0Y6DT&keywords=into+the+dark+claudia+gray&qid=1664753043&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjc5IiwicXNhIjoiMS4wNCIsInFzcCI6IjEuMzUifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=into+the+dark+claudia+gray%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNsc95yzU2_GIRQzJeOxcUoeHIVbLy9Lpir9j78fKjzXQy3-idixLWOr3Qd3e-o6Z-TQdtIZYkX1TuOOYIdoa1RxKLjmPwaOMCG_TFfJIFxb_Vz8g8_k6gkrtlSnxSac1XKXAVnVDZb4Rqe2b9suYb37LVzSMUrAAh2eysHgqVP6PY2iXPFzOlEG8/s2516/60596744.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2516" data-original-width="1650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNsc95yzU2_GIRQzJeOxcUoeHIVbLy9Lpir9j78fKjzXQy3-idixLWOr3Qd3e-o6Z-TQdtIZYkX1TuOOYIdoa1RxKLjmPwaOMCG_TFfJIFxb_Vz8g8_k6gkrtlSnxSac1XKXAVnVDZb4Rqe2b9suYb37LVzSMUrAAh2eysHgqVP6PY2iXPFzOlEG8/s320/60596744.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Crossover Paradox, by Rob Edwards</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's sequel time! The Crossover Paradox is the sequel to The Ascension Machine, a tale of alien superheroes learning to handle their powers and... well, life itself, at a futuristic academy. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I loved the first book, in which the lead character, Grey, finds himself masquerading as someone else and unexpectedly making friends along the way. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The sequel brings the characters back for a new term at the academy - but there have been some unexpected shifts along the way. There's a distance between Grey and some of his closest friends, which leaves Grey feeling a little out of place again. Which would be fine if it wasn't for the murder. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh yes, there's a murder. And after a year of lying about who he really is, Grey becomes a suspect. There's only one person who knows he is innocent - Grey himself, and so he sets about investigating who the real killer is. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What he uncovers won't just impact his own future at the academy, but perhaps even the academy itself. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's full of twists and turns, without getting too slowed down by the mystery - there's plenty of action along the way too. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Most of all, I love the personal touches, the way in which Grey questions the friendships he has unexpectedly come to rely on, and the way those friends prove their worth as the mystery deepens. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's a fun read, a warm, witty, clever read, and I loved it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 5/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Crossover Paradox is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Crossover-Paradox-Justice-Academy-Book-ebook/dp/B09NMT8YW5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=247RJTSKGF0UI&keywords=crossover+paradox+rob+edwards&qid=1664753344&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjk4IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=crossover+paradox+rob+edwards%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oIKWYifDkuKSVMhw2zLeaPiSi1Vlufx12WBX2FlrzWIkoQpTIU2qhr2UiP7P43nRfqYTM3-EhRIj1KkvrBqQ65m42fM2-1oBktKBnaqIJRF3PxKcqu0c-_tC32ZtVDnexrH-f-6l9LOxcTAEd04AiIHpuezohwpbefq5P-CdR-2XVqhS9PO_qkj3/s2560/61351837.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oIKWYifDkuKSVMhw2zLeaPiSi1Vlufx12WBX2FlrzWIkoQpTIU2qhr2UiP7P43nRfqYTM3-EhRIj1KkvrBqQ65m42fM2-1oBktKBnaqIJRF3PxKcqu0c-_tC32ZtVDnexrH-f-6l9LOxcTAEd04AiIHpuezohwpbefq5P-CdR-2XVqhS9PO_qkj3/s320/61351837.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div>Twilight of the Mesozoic Moon, by Brent A Harris</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Twilight of the Mesozoic Moon is a short story collection from Brent A Harris - and I'll freely confess I'd read most of these in different publications over time, but it's lovely to have them all collected together. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's start with the headliner - Twilight of the Mesozoic Moon was nominated for a Sidewise Award, and deservedly so. A collaboration with Ricardo Victoria, it told of time travelling space dinosaurs trying to save their future. I'll say that again: Time. Travelling. Space. Dinosaurs. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">C'mon, a hook like that, how can you not want more? And more you get, because this collection has a new story in the same setting, a prequel. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are a lot more stories in here to discover - with hardly any other dinosaurs in sight. Ok, maybe a couple more dinosaur stories. I loved The Terrible Lizard of Holborn Hill, for example, or the story Dust of the Earth, which imagines a world where Jurassic Park was never written. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Personally, perhaps my two favourite stories are Lost Treasure, about time pirates, and The Ellian Convergence, which is as sweet a literary love letter to Star Trek as you could wish for. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The nicest thing of all about the collection, however, is you can never tell where each story will take you - the world is not the limit when there are different worlds, different universes, different dimensions to go and explore. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dive in. Have fun. Don't get bitten by a dinosaur. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 5/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Twilight of the Mesozoic Moon and other Time Travel Twists is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Mesozoic-Moon-Travel-Twists-ebook/dp/B0B3SVRHB4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1JP35NKNZXC5K&keywords=twilight+of+the+mesozoic+moon+harris&qid=1664754897&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjU5IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=twilight+of+the+mesozoic+moon+harris%2Caps%2C101&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Voz4Cf9yXhWIn0gJY527gNblKwnA6I4Pvmfh25BoFAg_7-T54C6_R-BxnxEWB3JcriHHE8_QUzAQmoVb00AVybYPhVU2AK4NzGE-GiLyMuI1W-3n4G_aGeLgKRACQB9uAWlmIFRCy6bJH3rc3XgHdchynb92tZOVUQ5HgvXO_6yyoyVURsi2aLcK/s500/50727423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Voz4Cf9yXhWIn0gJY527gNblKwnA6I4Pvmfh25BoFAg_7-T54C6_R-BxnxEWB3JcriHHE8_QUzAQmoVb00AVybYPhVU2AK4NzGE-GiLyMuI1W-3n4G_aGeLgKRACQB9uAWlmIFRCy6bJH3rc3XgHdchynb92tZOVUQ5HgvXO_6yyoyVURsi2aLcK/s320/50727423.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Hell Divers, by Nicholas Sansbury Smith</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Never mind the logic, look at how freaking cool everything is!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hell Divers reads like a computer game shoot-em-up turned into a book. The lead characters are Hell Divers - big, brave heroes doomed to die parachuting from the huge flying airships housing the last of humanity to retrieve precious supplies from the ravaged Earth below. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's a turn-the-brain-off kind of book. There are two airships left, each of which holds around 500 people, and yet somehow people don't recognise one another within these ships that has been their only home for their entire lives. Then there's the supplies down below, somehow still usable a couple hundred years after global war torched the Earth, and somehow packed nicely into what seem like loot boxes ready to attach a hot air balloon too and lift back to the airship. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's before you even get to the inexplicable mutant monsters, but hey, if you can accept the rest, go all in. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It all plays out in as macho a fashion as you would expect, with thinly painted characters about to get into life and death situations that some of them aren't going to get out of intact. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But you know what? Sometimes, you need something to clean the palate. It's a speedy read. It goes exactly the way you'd expect it to. And if that's what you need? It scratches that itch. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It makes no sense. But it's fun. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 3/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Hell Divers is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Divers-Book-ebook/dp/B083G78K2T/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FW72P3H7IGX6&keywords=hell+divers&qid=1664755848&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0LjA1IiwicXNhIjoiNC4xNCIsInFzcCI6IjQuMTcifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=hell+divers%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdUt0O0Hvif05u2_x-2ZntA4vwD2UpshMbbmTwuPxIeJc2whWE3CEdX3nTe74QHGkHFtzuUGrouEfkFp5iHU4j2hEgkchfWaOYIJq8qNjJTaX9wg4jPHVrnW2qOoccTddUSsyaL14qgnLRihRgLT3DuDlOTrC5QBM0CPCufjHpTuGN1kd9C1GZJN1/s620/53232459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdUt0O0Hvif05u2_x-2ZntA4vwD2UpshMbbmTwuPxIeJc2whWE3CEdX3nTe74QHGkHFtzuUGrouEfkFp5iHU4j2hEgkchfWaOYIJq8qNjJTaX9wg4jPHVrnW2qOoccTddUSsyaL14qgnLRihRgLT3DuDlOTrC5QBM0CPCufjHpTuGN1kd9C1GZJN1/s320/53232459.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Silver Archive: Dark Skies, by Matthew Kresal</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">OK, this is a very, veeeery niche product, so I gotta give you some homework. Stop reading this, and go and watch every episode of the 1996 one-season wonder that was Dark Skies, and sadly never got a second season, then come back. It's probably on YouTube these days. Go ahead. I'll wait. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ok, you probably didn't go do all that, and if you're reading this still, you're probably aware of the show, perhaps even a keen fan. It was a conspiracy show, weaving a story of alien invasion around particular moments of American history. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Matthew Kresal delves behind the scenes of the show in this book, and discovers all kinds of interesting nuggets. Think of it as a DVD commentary on the show, if you will. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is, for example, the very weird interactions the showmakers had with shady people who claimed the show was closer to "the truth" than they realised. I laughed out loud at the moment where one showmaker declared he wasn't going to go and meet someone at midnight in a cemetery for anything. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then there are the details of the show itself, and the resolution it found its way to when they got word that it was being cancelled. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dark Skies was a great little moment in US TV, and this book adds depth to the experience for those who have fond memories of the show. It's really absolutely not for someone who doesn't know the show - and more than 25 years on from the show, there's not many newcomers finding it now. But if the series still tickles an itch in your brain, this is a delight. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 5/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Silver Archive: Dark Skies is available from <a href="https://obversebooks.co.uk/silverarchive/products/sa05/">Obverse Books</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKdhaj_O0AdqW717ZyLGQQBMu2rhRS3FuA6iHIyyZEk35w1aO4Ic-73w0E2Q-DveD_EI8aUNuv8xIKR62Wuui4TzA2dCq6IyZbBYcF8ZQglwx0UZhzsTG0MAh6EYn6jfHLhizU2Z5MvaWhEd767_lUGxm6EspU8l6xWRj6sCoBZzLS0ajKS07J_d5D/s500/26863742.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="334" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKdhaj_O0AdqW717ZyLGQQBMu2rhRS3FuA6iHIyyZEk35w1aO4Ic-73w0E2Q-DveD_EI8aUNuv8xIKR62Wuui4TzA2dCq6IyZbBYcF8ZQglwx0UZhzsTG0MAh6EYn6jfHLhizU2Z5MvaWhEd767_lUGxm6EspU8l6xWRj6sCoBZzLS0ajKS07J_d5D/s320/26863742.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><b>Apotheosis: Stories of Survival After The Rise of the Elder Gods</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What if the bad guys win?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's the premise at the bleeding heart of this cosmic horror anthology - and the bad guys here are the elder gods of Lovecraftian mythology. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It starts with a belter of a story. The Smiling People, by Andrew Peregrine, follows the last survivors of our world, going about their daily business in a city surrounded by a wall made of the dead bodies of their loved ones. As they struggle to exist, they are followed by the Smiling Ones, strange entities who watch, and provide packages of food, and follow, and destroy whoever they wish. And they smile. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It follows one character as he hides his remaining secret, as he tries to talk to a woman he works with, as he perhaps hopes of escape. Brilliantly written, and utterly terrifying. My first work I've read by this author, I look forward to more. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also thoroughly enjoyed The Pestilence of Pandora Peaslee, in which partisan resistance fighters take on Ythians who have occupied the world, but might just open the door to worse. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some of the other stories aren't as strong, and a couple are a little muddled - but The Smiling People makes the anthology worth reading alone. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 4/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Apotheosis: Stories of Survival After The Rise of the Elder Gods is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Apotheosis-Stories-Human-Survival-After-ebook/dp/B0164GY37E/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2CNQQZTB9VTOY&keywords=apotheosis+elder+gods&qid=1664757692&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjAwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=apotheosis+elder+gods%2Caps%2C107&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL45XQZgKmf8Bm_3wDiVpg2t3Zuhdl3nHu4Y9DKDQN8O4DVgd4L75ADhzQZQPfPoEiOkdMAks4HhiIPpif4i_3TKeUmP85SfufSjnaqZJ_gK7aI7M8qJV6_S_Ogk2nTKwPXNMXphgvapm4GObQSl-e3T0tFw6Y6j6rYH66wpiVNBP1IrkPZ2ZV3hV4/s346/51lPGcgU1yL._SY346_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="221" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL45XQZgKmf8Bm_3wDiVpg2t3Zuhdl3nHu4Y9DKDQN8O4DVgd4L75ADhzQZQPfPoEiOkdMAks4HhiIPpif4i_3TKeUmP85SfufSjnaqZJ_gK7aI7M8qJV6_S_Ogk2nTKwPXNMXphgvapm4GObQSl-e3T0tFw6Y6j6rYH66wpiVNBP1IrkPZ2ZV3hV4/s320/51lPGcgU1yL._SY346_.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Fall, by Alan Baxter</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a return to the world of The Gulp, the five-story collection of interwoven stories from Alan Baxter that tells of the bad town of Gulpepper, where reality warps and twists so hard it will choke the life out of an unwary visitor. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The first book introduced us to the world, and this visit again sees stories bumping into one another's locations as Bad Things begin to happen. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This time round, the greater evil at the heart of the town starts to show itself. But not so quickly. Baxter takes his time to show his hand. First we have a curio shop that ensnares an outsider with its weird magic. Then there's the fishing boat that takes us to a place even local residents are afraid of. Then there's the disintegration of a farmer's life and the extent he goes to in order to cover up a crime he has committed. And a group of scouts who find themselves pursued by horror and forced to seek refuge in the one town they shouldn't set foot in. All that before the grand finale itself. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Think of it as a series of Twilight Zone one-shots that wind together in the end, but with an Australian accent and a satisfying squelch as a shotgun blasts a whole in something that used to be flesh. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Warped. Twisted. Fabulous. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 5/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Fall is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Tales-Gulp-2-ebook/dp/B09QPS8VN3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1PYH5SWPI7NK2&keywords=the+fall+alan+baxter&qid=1664757815&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjQ2IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=the+fall+alan+baxte%2Caps%2C102&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><br /><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-86313101016073485542022-09-07T21:49:00.002-07:002022-09-07T21:49:30.501-07:00Kickstarter Spotlight: Thunder Child, by Mad Robot Comics and Madius Comics<p>Bloody Martians. Every time you think the chances of them showing up are a million to one, there they are!</p><p>In this case, the return of the Tripod Tearaways is particularly welcome, in a three-part reimagining of HG Wells' classic novel The War of the Worlds, telling the story of that most marvellous of ships - the HMS Thunder Child. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQxMriLM5XjD2MnRB9VheRClrkw6hHE1MoGV1_JdyxkzdxYsfp6Cwyd0_tPwH2TKcCaiKC6DvG4iUg0oQaYG0LyPp94oflz5NVPzWHLEsN3436nqpQ-Ubhoysb-u-OejKqYKFXbnf0dzKbmw2iCbpF1m_npUHB_4EVUGOR4rSJfq02sTTU5Wb3ekxX/s3153/Thunder%20Child%20Issue%20One.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3153" data-original-width="2102" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQxMriLM5XjD2MnRB9VheRClrkw6hHE1MoGV1_JdyxkzdxYsfp6Cwyd0_tPwH2TKcCaiKC6DvG4iUg0oQaYG0LyPp94oflz5NVPzWHLEsN3436nqpQ-Ubhoysb-u-OejKqYKFXbnf0dzKbmw2iCbpF1m_npUHB_4EVUGOR4rSJfq02sTTU5Wb3ekxX/w426-h640/Thunder%20Child%20Issue%20One.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br /><p>Mad Robot Comics and Madius Comics have teamed up for this Kickstarter offering - which given my love of all things Wells made me an easy target as a backer! (Some of you may be familiar with my own wander in Wells territory with my story The Secret War).</p><p>The team behind this offering describe it as follows:</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><i>The crew of the HMS Thunder Child venture into a discovery unlike anything that's ever been witnessed on this planet. Their investigations of suspected meteoric debris that's fallen into the ocean reveals something vastly more terrifying.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><i>From out of the oceans, the alien Tripod rises. A harbinger of destruction from another world. The Thunder Child's crew, a motely band of humanist scientists, war-hungry militants and jaded ship leaders, find themselves scrambling to salvage and defend what they can from the marauding machines.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><i>Thunder Child: The Spectre of a Dying Planet is a tensely enthralling sci-fi steampunk adventure drama. Its ferocious, dynamic art and vibrant colours match the energy of its powerful, complex characters in the first issue of this three-part reimagining of HG Wells' classic novel The War of the W</i></span><span class="s2" style="font-kerning: none; vertical-align: 1px;"><i>orlds.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbXP9-94la_KvrHeqcGYkCXzomfAn1eH8-Ts6d-kXTvFkQGeqt7_JM8eeijq38VYQatTKTkOAGZslwPyOeI-qHubfMo7mW1PBgOORI0-TqDBJrnwB2nnrIfWciKZ-4RLDuYJn7nXkE-QP4vgeIoKn9p3caNF2z4eJj9XuQH5dOcaiiQTG_0TXTY7HN/s3154/Thunder%20Child%20Issue%20One%2001.08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3154" data-original-width="2103" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbXP9-94la_KvrHeqcGYkCXzomfAn1eH8-Ts6d-kXTvFkQGeqt7_JM8eeijq38VYQatTKTkOAGZslwPyOeI-qHubfMo7mW1PBgOORI0-TqDBJrnwB2nnrIfWciKZ-4RLDuYJn7nXkE-QP4vgeIoKn9p3caNF2z4eJj9XuQH5dOcaiiQTG_0TXTY7HN/w426-h640/Thunder%20Child%20Issue%20One%2001.08.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span class="s2" style="font-kerning: none; vertical-align: 1px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span class="s2" style="font-kerning: none; vertical-align: 1px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span class="s2" style="font-kerning: none; vertical-align: 1px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space">The creative team behind the project sees Rob Jones and Matthew Hardy team up on writer duties, while Kevin Castaniero is the artist for the series. Simon Gough provides colouring duties, while Rob Jones is on lettering. Fred McNamara is the editor.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">That's not the end of the creative forces involved in the project, however, with a variety of variant covers and more as part of the stretch goals. </p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px; text-align: right;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3cnRezyiXaY9iOCQDvXI-Juu6P1WHKi4yOPtUgsZ2hDff8O9iwO77ZoVjSnk6EbxFKzEqc8p_WKVW2INiiDmXEHFWjIAG_U3G5sPxq2n7Ay1EEKUGTWLY9uOU6vKMeTy9wp_DbAELR_89gJv4WN8_aKVI6P5cugvtpEmhfLPsffs6i4ZBQ8gjGlWy/s3154/Thunder%20Child%20Issue%20One%20variant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3154" data-original-width="2103" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3cnRezyiXaY9iOCQDvXI-Juu6P1WHKi4yOPtUgsZ2hDff8O9iwO77ZoVjSnk6EbxFKzEqc8p_WKVW2INiiDmXEHFWjIAG_U3G5sPxq2n7Ay1EEKUGTWLY9uOU6vKMeTy9wp_DbAELR_89gJv4WN8_aKVI6P5cugvtpEmhfLPsffs6i4ZBQ8gjGlWy/w426-h640/Thunder%20Child%20Issue%20One%20variant.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Variant cover by Tim Dowler</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-e20y9Y10C3Lw6mNpdBEAnNsV0FwL-pzRUl3L9GFz9dzQCY7OG91PuWJWe-EHmy1IetJsPJ5e7C3qS7RQ-fGen1smSRlfaIJ7q5bhN-9BN8ztdhqBxWESyB31PU7wvXxwq_YRCnfUlXKpGmMQxu9YWgCUlGpjplHEmz4kgy6XmWoIzUNLNKjpPrzT/s4205/Thunder%20Child%20Issue%20One%20fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3154" data-original-width="4205" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-e20y9Y10C3Lw6mNpdBEAnNsV0FwL-pzRUl3L9GFz9dzQCY7OG91PuWJWe-EHmy1IetJsPJ5e7C3qS7RQ-fGen1smSRlfaIJ7q5bhN-9BN8ztdhqBxWESyB31PU7wvXxwq_YRCnfUlXKpGmMQxu9YWgCUlGpjplHEmz4kgy6XmWoIzUNLNKjpPrzT/w640-h480/Thunder%20Child%20Issue%20One%20fire.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXplrQ298N5yf9cuN9JR2rykkeV9tAcuZBmEMUuFe1uGvjNptCV9T2sW_tyuMMkIn6zZrxBEIZB-lxNDRqQ5ECshvIhkzaW_SKzPjBQTJM9b2ERkzw2Ab6oaYiStNcxEqT65KGfdDPozklmuaEnJnu8Q3XPigYalhDTEA36J7lyP4ARMlcGgs-BO1u/s3154/Thunder%20Child%20Issue%20One%20inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3154" data-original-width="2103" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXplrQ298N5yf9cuN9JR2rykkeV9tAcuZBmEMUuFe1uGvjNptCV9T2sW_tyuMMkIn6zZrxBEIZB-lxNDRqQ5ECshvIhkzaW_SKzPjBQTJM9b2ERkzw2Ab6oaYiStNcxEqT65KGfdDPozklmuaEnJnu8Q3XPigYalhDTEA36J7lyP4ARMlcGgs-BO1u/w426-h640/Thunder%20Child%20Issue%20One%20inside.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Interior art from Thunder Child</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To back the project, visit Kickstarter <a href="http://kck.st/3AsTAlw">here</a> - oh, and you could do far worse than follow <a href="https://twitter.com/MadRobotComics">Mad Robot Comics</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/madiuscomics">Madius Comics</a> on Twitter. Nice folks. </div><br /><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px; text-align: left;">There are more variant covers to discover over at the Kickstarter - so go take a peek. Or else the Martians will come for us!</p>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-78866771695480409992022-09-01T23:30:00.005-07:002022-09-02T21:35:04.895-07:00Meet the Author: Laura Frankos, author of Broadway Revival<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPoUZKE8gqHCI1ZLTmqDkhj1pnQkYzqWWZJLlyCN5tooUkvTDDqDlRGwVbhwbPh7Z3m1s03nHfhWv98EEpLsWCrSif_-C0zzrb1J_HZaJ1Og6yUhXomxdH9-bEiZbWjnn_TLKJAj5IQ1FULrFEEHLNJPA0lbRrzh1GB0IRCVBPO6KTsEW9M3lacYd/s293/Laura%20Frankos.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="261" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPoUZKE8gqHCI1ZLTmqDkhj1pnQkYzqWWZJLlyCN5tooUkvTDDqDlRGwVbhwbPh7Z3m1s03nHfhWv98EEpLsWCrSif_-C0zzrb1J_HZaJ1Og6yUhXomxdH9-bEiZbWjnn_TLKJAj5IQ1FULrFEEHLNJPA0lbRrzh1GB0IRCVBPO6KTsEW9M3lacYd/s1600/Laura%20Frankos.jpg" width="261" /></a></i></div><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Laura Frankos is the author of Broadway Revival, currently shortlisted for the <a href="https://file770.com/sidewise-awards-nominees-for-2021/">Sidewise Award</a> in Alternate History which will be presented at Worldcon Chicago this weekend.</span></i></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i></i><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">For those who are not familiar with either your novel Broadway Revival or the Sidewise Award for alternate history, could you tell our readers a bit about your book and what it means to you to be nominated for this award?</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In BROADWAY REVIVAL, David Greenbaum is an actor-songwriter whose husband has just died from the latest designer drug addiction in 2079.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>David pulls himself out of despair with an outrageous plan. He couldn’t save Ramon, but he might make a difference in other lives cut short. He hijacks his brother Nate’s time machine, the SlingShot, and jumps to 1934 to save George Gershwin from the brain tumor that killed him at age thirty-eight.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s just the start of David’s “Broadway Revival Project.” Gershwin wasn’t the only one who died too young. David has a suitcase of modern medicine and the advance knowledge of nearly 150 years of musical theatre history. He’s determined to make the Golden Age of Broadway shine even more brightly.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But David’s actions are causing changes to the timeline that have the Rippers—the international time travel research consortium—very worried. So Nate climbs in the SlingShot, determined to track down his brother in 1930s New York.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m incredibly honored that BROADWAY REVIVAL is a finalist for the 2021 Sidewise Award. Alternate history is kind of a big deal in our house; my husband, Harry Turtledove, has written a lot in that sub-genre and is a multiple Sidewise winner. But I would be the first to admit that BROADWAY REVIVAL is a weird kind of alternate history, so I’m extremely chuffed by this recognition.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XqdoafEDHP0ZjBh12ESpaIHym7-szniFGp_aLjytOX34ITTSDzqjAR0j9pJiSz6BLJEycMskVCRPsGbty8r8411RSZMkwybz47Vk3a3Yfdxgw5DtGkC2uCS7KguuUir7r8Qq2dQXV7_56gNY7COV4qGYwkL_0_gwJE92YMF3yyAAZQWd3NVa7FLt/s346/51kfBiM6NPL._SY346_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="224" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XqdoafEDHP0ZjBh12ESpaIHym7-szniFGp_aLjytOX34ITTSDzqjAR0j9pJiSz6BLJEycMskVCRPsGbty8r8411RSZMkwybz47Vk3a3Yfdxgw5DtGkC2uCS7KguuUir7r8Qq2dQXV7_56gNY7COV4qGYwkL_0_gwJE92YMF3yyAAZQWd3NVa7FLt/s320/51kfBiM6NPL._SY346_.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the things that worried me about starting your book was that I’m completely ignorant of Broadway, especially of the 1930s. Yet, the prose is breezy, easy to read, and every character, historical and fictional, leaps to life. How did you approach writing these historical figures and what to you think makes them approachable even to people like me who may not know the era?</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span class="s1" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">First of all, thanks so much for that. I figured I could hook the theatre geeks, but whenever somebody with little background in Broadway likes it—wow, that makes my day! I’m an historian by training and a Broadway nut my whole life, so I already was very familiar with the personalities of this era. That said, I did spend years doing homework, especially trying to get into the complex head of Lorenz Hart. The way I approached portraying these figures was first and foremost as people: they have relationships, eat and drink, argue, brag, discuss sports, go to parties. That’s something any reader can relate to, even if they’re doing all that in the 1930s. It’s also true most readers won’t have written musicals themselves, but you don’t need to have done that to be familiar with pressing deadlines, changing work circumstances, and the problems of collaborations.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As for the specific characters like the Gershwin brothers, Cole Porter, Kurt Weill, et alia, my ace in the hole was my protagonist, David Greenbaum. As a newcomer to New York (albeit one with secret, vast historical knowledge), he’s getting to know these folks and this era just as the reader is. He can mention his plans in a way that gives the reader background on these Broadway legends and his new home—hopefully, without too much exposition.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What inspired your passion of musical theater? What has been your favorite show on or off Broadway?</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My mom loved musicals. So I grew up on cast albums, listening to her playing sheet music on the piano, and watching movie musicals on tv. My favorite show is SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, because I think it’s about as close to perfection as a musical can get.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Let’s talk about hats. It irks me when hats are ignored in historical eras. So, I loved your character’s reaction to seeing everyone sporting headwear. How did you breathe life into your Broadway of the 30s and beyond</b>?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Does anyone still wear a hat?” is a famous line from Sondheim’s 1970 musical, COMPANY. I agree with you about being irked by historical novels and films that get period wardrobe wrong. Again, I’m helped by my time traveler as the outsider—and one who, as an actor, was accustomed to costumes. Practically the first thing he notices, arriving in 1934, is that everyone looks….like they’re wearing costumes. Hats everywhere, and clothes made with far more natural fibers than he’s used to in 2079. It takes effort to adjust to that.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I wanted the reader to feel a part of that past too, so I tried very hard to concentrate on the details of daily life. This included all those restaurants. That was critical not just for the awesome descriptions of the meals (go to the NYPL online digital historical menu collection! Such a fantastic site!), but because Broadway creatives did a lot of their work at the bars and restaurants close to the theatres. And David’s first job is playing piano at a restaurant in Greenwich Village, a real place with a storied history that I cheerfully pillaged for my fictional purposes. David does complain about some aspects of his new life: the coffee’s terrible, there are no delicious microbrews, not so much good ethnic food.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But it’s not the different clothing and food that really throw him. It’s the sudden loss of the wealth of information available in the late 21st century. He goes from instant access to everything to relying on radio, newsreels, and newspapers. He brings the equivalent of a 2079 iPad with him, and has to restrain himself from checking it all the time. I think even if people today were plopped back in, say, 1980, they’d go bonkers at losing the Internet. I suspect it would be worse for someone in 2079 going back to an even less technologically advanced era.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s also so much fun researching historical details! Like Bronx cocktails. I have those show up in the first chapter, where David is drinking them because they were Ramon’s favorite drink. Ramon discovered them while researching a Jerome Kern musical, which I thought was a good, single fact that tells reader not only a lot about Ramon, but also how much David is missing him. Once David jumps to 1934, he drinks Bronxes all the time—they were one of the most popular drinks of the decade, but eventually were supplanted by martinis, a close cousin.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For a number of years, while I was writing and trying to sell BROADWAY REVIVAL, I ordered Bronx cocktails in restaurants. This freaked out the waiters, who’d never heard of them, and had to google them. This is dedicated research, people. I do all my own homework!</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVPUCq2MP_u5N69zwjOK7AEuJvnbLfN-wZ0aPz0QY3alqoK8NVB6wH23C9YwbWnfJEC4i050sX-nOowvN2ogm1ouYp8n8tYnU9BIZYOZd8Dlw-wxAaEIokpi6VT4BogIrVzyfBRGpMARiOkhRUwiIhc6D3RybE0_6nvGdi1p21ATJQNpMmDEq4JxI/s555/36479aedb02f993c5bb8a80e98ba5f90--new-york-broadway-broadway-shows.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="475" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVPUCq2MP_u5N69zwjOK7AEuJvnbLfN-wZ0aPz0QY3alqoK8NVB6wH23C9YwbWnfJEC4i050sX-nOowvN2ogm1ouYp8n8tYnU9BIZYOZd8Dlw-wxAaEIokpi6VT4BogIrVzyfBRGpMARiOkhRUwiIhc6D3RybE0_6nvGdi1p21ATJQNpMmDEq4JxI/w548-h640/36479aedb02f993c5bb8a80e98ba5f90--new-york-broadway-broadway-shows.jpg" width="548" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Broadway in 1934</i></div><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are many cameos and namedrops of historical figures (and at least one by a fictional one). With minor spoilers, a certain ballplayer from Harry’s House of David {editor’s note: House of Daniel, sorry} slides in and steals a scene. How did that come about, and what was your favorite cameo or name drop to write?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Oh, there are Easter eggs galore, though many will only be spotted by theatre nerds. When David’s brother Nate is searching for him, there are about a half dozen historical figures lurking in that chapter, especially at the restaurant. And they’re all people who logically could have been in Greenwich Village in 1934, so I plead simultaneous plausibility and fun.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I was writing BROADWAY REVIVAL, Harry was working on THE HOUSE OF DANIEL (**not House of David—that’s the real team). {Editor’s note: this is a hazard when reading alternate history}. That novel is set in a 1930s America, except with magic and vampires and zombies, along with semipro baseball. Now, I ask you: what are the odds, in a two-writer household, that BOTH writers would be working on material involving alternate 1930s Colorado at the same time? My protagonist had reasons to go to Colorado Springs; Harry’s baseball team played in a tournament in Denver…adapted from a real one in our timeline. So I asked him if I could have his protagonist briefly cross paths with mine (I had him make a stop in Denver). If you look closely at THE HOUSE OF DANIEL, there’s an unnamed variant of David Greenbaum in the Denver chapter. He’s the guy juggling oranges. My David spills a bag of oranges. This falls under Weird Stuff Writers Do To Amuse Themselves.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That crossover tickles me no end, but my favorite historical cameo has to be the couple of scenes with Lotte Lenya, Kurt Weill’s wife. The only thing more fun than putting words in the incomparable Lenya’s mouth was writing dialogue for Oscar Levant. I had to restrain myself from going overboard with both of them; they were so much fun to write.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you could pull together anyone from theater history to write and perform a show, which ones would you cherry-pick and what sort of show do you think they would put on?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ooh, dream production time! That’s easy. There was a report that Sondheim was considering a musical based on the Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles, but nothing came of it. I want this so much, I’m practically drooling over the possibilities, especially with a libretto by Moss Hart and Peter Stone, Hal Prince directing, and Michael Bennett doing choreography. Dream casting—and keep in mind, the actors here are plucked from the timeline at roughly close the age of the characters they’re portraying.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Woodrow Wilson—William Daniels (hey, he has experience playing musical presidents!)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Georges Clemenceau (France)—John Cullum</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">David Lloyd George (UK)—Richard Burton<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Vittorio Orlando (Italy)—Alfred Drake</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Saionji Kimmochi (Japan)—Takeshi Kaga</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Henry Cabot Lodge—Richard Kiley</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Foster Dulles—Brian d’Arcy James (keep in mind Dulles was only 30 here)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Charles Dawes-Fred Astaire (with “Reparations” as his big solo)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Edward House—George Hearn</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sidney Sonnino (Italy)—Howard Da Silva (Sonnino is the guy who translated for Orlando, and I want to see this two old pals from OKLAHOMA! doing a comic number half in Italian)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Maynard Keynes—Raul Julia</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Count Ulrich von Brockdorff-Ratzau (Germany)—John McMartin</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Eleftherius Venizelos (Greece)—Chris Sarandon</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lou Tseng-Tsiang (China)—B.D. Wong (he’s even done Sondheim!)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Billy Hughes (Australia)—Jack Cassidy or maybe William Gaxton (not Hugh Jackman, as it’s not the right role for him)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rob Borden (Canada)—Len Cariou<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">T.E. Lawrence—I am so tempted to add Noël Coward here, except Sondheim hated Coward’s work. But if I am the producer (aka God), I may insist, though John Barrowman isn’t a bad choice, either</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Edith Wilson—Angela Lansbury<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marguerite de Witt-Schlumberger—Gwen Verdon (doing an extended dance for the women’s suffrage movement)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Three nameless doughboys, who sing and dance representing the lost millions—Joel Grey, Andre de Shields, Harry Groener<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The love between David and Ramon is central to David’s motivation. And I loved how you showed their strong connection with just a few lyrics of a show. It reminded me of how my wife and I bonded over skits by Stan Freberg. Pulling back the curtain, is this a peak into real life or how did this idea come about?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m extremely pleased you found David and Ramon’s relationship convincing. I’m a straight cis woman who’s been married to the same man for 42 years, so taking on a gay protagonist was a big leap. (Especially since I have heard some of my gay friends rail against straight women writers writing really awful novels with gay protagonists. And I really didn’t want to end up one of them.)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It makes sense for David and Ramon, both actors, to bond over musicals and frequently quote lyrics at each other. I have found, among musical theatre folks, that a shared love of a flop musical (“OMG, you like AMOUR, too? Why didn’t it have a longer run?!”) leads to firm friendships. Likely romance, too, I suspect.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And that brings me to a pet peeve in science fiction: the obsession over 20th century American culture. Ever notice how (especially in tv and film sf) there are characters, living in the far future, who are just crazed fans of 20th century American movies, songs, cartoons, tv, whatever…? Like nothing worthy of interest was ever produced between 1980 and 2500?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The short hand answer is, it’s easier for a reader/viewer in the late 20th-early 21st century to identify with a far future character who is fond of, say, Humphrey Bogart, than one who goes all fanboy over “Zelurk-glarp, who stars as the steely eyed (all six of them) cop from the tough Dreeble sector on Wyrxx Prime.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This bugs me. Now, I’m convinced that by the 2070s, there will still be an interest in classic 20th musicals. I allude to David getting roles in the 100th anniversary production of Sondheim’s FOLLIES (1971) and a production of 1776 (first staged in 1969), done for the Tricentennial in 2076, and he played Perchik from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1964) in high school.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But I also added (fictional) plays, musicals, songwriters, and actors from the years between now and 2079, as well as events that haven’t happened, like the closing night of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Because even though I sent David Greenbaum back to 1934, I wanted to indicate that there’s much, much more musical theatre history by the time he was active in the field. The show that David and Ramon regarded as “their show” was a dreadful flop from 2050. Of course, the other thing about inventing a show meant I could invent lyrics, too—and not have to worry about licensing!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Broadway Revival is unique in its topic, but there’s a broader rise in stories that want to see artists keep producing. Bryce Zabel did this well in Once There Was A Way. And Broadway Revival excels in doing the same. So, is this desire for artists to keep working simply mere fandom or is it a deeper, more universal societal need for exceptional art? Does an artists’ premature death elevate their work? Could someone like Gerswhin still have survived yet only released flops afterwards?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sure, the fan in me who wanted a world where Gershwin didn’t die so young was indeed the driving force behind BROADWAY REVIVAL. However, I never intended to delve into any deep societal need here; the decision to write it went more like this: I’m a Broadway buff and this is an alternate history scenario I can definitely write. Do I want a world with more exceptional work from a longer-lived Gershwin? Hell, yes, and I think a lot of Gershwin fans would agree with me (and they should all go buy my book, right now). And Gershwin was a towering figure in American music, extending well beyond Broadway, yet we only had 19 years of his professional work. That’s all we got. We should have had more, much more.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That said, I should note that BROADWAY REVIVAL’s plot has more than just<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>David Greenbaum saving George Gershwin. My interfering time traveler gets involved with Vincent Youmans, Cole Porter, Kurt Weill, Lorenz Hart, and Jerome Kern—to varying degrees and with varying results. Their names may not be as familiar to non-theatre nerds, but they all could (and did!) produce exceptional work. So am I just a self-indulgent fangirl, trying to conjure up what these Broadway legends might have created with better fates than they got? Well, I hope I did more than that, such as looking at the potential effects of having more work by these men on the evolution of the musical—and society as a whole. For example, Kurt Weill died of a heart attack aged 50, while working on a musical HUCKLEBERRY FINN. I imagined, had he completed it, that some of the score could have been adopted by the emerging civil rights movement.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Did Gershwin’s premature death elevate his work? Well, he was already at the top, with a Hollywood contract and plans for more serious symphonic work planned. The one place where his death had a definite effect on how his work was viewed was with PORGY AND BESS. It was not a success in its 1935 debut, and when George died in 1937, the score was valued at a whopping $250. His death led to the 1942 revival, where it was much better received. Some of that may have been prompted by sheer love of the deceased composer, but a good part was more people had heard the songs by then, and came to realize what a masterpiece it was.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Could someone like Gershwin have written only flops? No. Because. Gershwin. But he could write some flops; I do propose that some of his shows in BROADWAY REVIVAL are not successes, as the one he wrote in reaction to being called before the House UnAmerican Activiies Committee. Nor do the other songwriters whose lives David meddles with have perfect, stellar careers. There are more flops on Broadway than hits.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you see a shift within the genre of AH away from stories of warfare and toward social and cultural topics and if so, why do you think that is? What made you decide to contribute to this shift?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I can’t I track trends in alternate history, so I can’t really comment on this. We tend to be pretty careful about what AH we read here. If there’s a chance a boom touches on an area Harry might be considering for one of his own books, we won’t get it, for fear of it influencing his own ideas. I don’t think wars—or rather, alternate wars—are going to go away anytime soon. The best fiction often shows people in conflict, and there’s no greater conflict than nations at odds.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other reason why AH with a military or political breakpoint have dominated the field is that they’re more straightforward concepts. Everyone (well, mostly everyone—I hope) knows there were World Wars, that the North and South clashed in the Civil War. It’s a lot easier to market. I spent nearly a decade trying to sell BROADWAY REVIVAL. The sf houses said there was too much theatre. Uh, yeah. The mainstream houses didn’t like all that alternate timeline stuff. So I started calling it my platypus novel—a weird thing, but my own.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But social and cultural changes are fascinating subjects for alternate histories, and I’m happy to see more of them and to have contributed one. As I said above, it wasn’t any deliberate plan on my part. I just thought the premise might work. The other thing I’d like to note here is that portraying the altered careers of the songwriters affected by my time traveler wasn’t the only thing I wanted to accomplish in BROADWAY REVIVAL. The other change is more subtle: what happens when a man with so many decades of advance knowledge of how this art form developed becomes active, and making contributions on his own in a variety of ways? Never mind Gershwin and Porter. What does David Greenbaum, and his late-21st century sensibilities, aided by his substantial bank account, do to affect the evolution of the musical? I had as much fun exploring that aspect as I did concocting Musicals That Never Existed, But Should Have. And that in itself is certainly uncommon territory for an alternate history.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Harry just sold a novel with a social and cultural focus. THE WAGES OF SIN is set in 1850s England, but it’s a world in which HIV/AIDS erupted out of Africa in the sixteenth century…and it’s a very, very different Europe, having coped for centuries with a terrible, incurable wasting disease. The protagonists are about the most ordinary types imaginable: a young law student and the daughter of a small town doctor. I may be a bit biased (!), but I think it’s damn good.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What’s next for you? Will we see more alternative history from you, are there any plans to save any planes full of ill-fated musicians?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What’s next? Well, just out this past spring from Routledge is a book called FIFTY KEY STAGE MUSICALS, edited by Robert Schneider. It’s a terrific addition to any library of musical theatre history…and I’m not just saying that because I wrote the chapter on the Gershwins’ OF THEE I SING. The book also has a nifty podcast, so if you want to hear me natter on about George and Ira, check it out!</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have some short fiction—sf and fantasy, with theatrical connections—that I’m trying to sell, but nothing has stuck yet. The current big work in progress is non-fiction. I did so much 1930s research for BROADWAY REVIVAL that I started work on a survey of the 1935-36 Broadway season. But when the chapter on Rodgers and Hart’s JUMBO grew to over twenty thousand words alone, I decided to see if I could do a whole book on this show alone. So here I am, still wallowing in 1930s musicals, but this time with an elephant!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Where can readers connect with you especially if they are also fans of Broadway and musical theater?</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/laura.frankosturtledove">Facebook</a>.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 10px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks again, Laura and good luck on your shortlist for the Award! Now, everyone, go out and read BROADWAY REVIVAL, it’s a fantastic read, I absolutely enjoyed it and I loved that it’s a refreshing, unique entry into the expanding genre of alternative history.</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">BROADWAY REVIVAL is available on Amazon <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Broadway-Revival-Laura-Frankos-ebook/dp/B09MR3MPNH/">here</a>.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK097EU1PMeNJlpT1n3pmStDkMTvkUpFsQuoDhzMRoWuF8cuPPdnf-UKGZE_vWYdLQBRdeplFeG0yzwzxWKGzI7a1LeeYeQa0PUC9FGyhwcoS99E-VMMOnWCnbB2Qy6JcrtiyyMzgBiCAVv2TJAOMED2KR41FG6H_Q9JPzD99tAC8lQw9IbS8JwGf0/s756/Laura%20Frankos%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK097EU1PMeNJlpT1n3pmStDkMTvkUpFsQuoDhzMRoWuF8cuPPdnf-UKGZE_vWYdLQBRdeplFeG0yzwzxWKGzI7a1LeeYeQa0PUC9FGyhwcoS99E-VMMOnWCnbB2Qy6JcrtiyyMzgBiCAVv2TJAOMED2KR41FG6H_Q9JPzD99tAC8lQw9IbS8JwGf0/w610-h640/Laura%20Frankos%201.jpg" width="610" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeOg8xE73sX9phjr9t6WWkY_RtKvUDe2XJmYI_Det1g5b73zh4mbPLo2OXcQ1aR65JbmoOwykUDkb77IwFyWp1zm6wHA_D7NZBVS3ydgRqo1LX7xOjfJpO3IAhfLyFiocrsQJk8yhhdPsAm-wySg0CCZMvu_aUrVw868pcZjPYYsfM4u2fJaqyxcvE/s783/Laura%20Frankos%2012.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeOg8xE73sX9phjr9t6WWkY_RtKvUDe2XJmYI_Det1g5b73zh4mbPLo2OXcQ1aR65JbmoOwykUDkb77IwFyWp1zm6wHA_D7NZBVS3ydgRqo1LX7xOjfJpO3IAhfLyFiocrsQJk8yhhdPsAm-wySg0CCZMvu_aUrVw868pcZjPYYsfM4u2fJaqyxcvE/w588-h640/Laura%20Frankos%2012.jpg" width="588" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8_QGzSot8ubq7WUrUNTiEFE7w0wbuLoUvqIHG11WfvUKTtXt1pQ9Phi8wCCfH3mJTl_05DQ6JdWa_UCSQ_w9Jpba_7l9bjgqUKNPi_Qg8meU47KBH0WH82t6Yd5sxUVv8P_EcPiCqahs-EiOhMh6fsB1FidY92gNx_Qsr6vc6wLwD7xpLw4Mk0AT-/s756/Laura%20Frankos%2013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8_QGzSot8ubq7WUrUNTiEFE7w0wbuLoUvqIHG11WfvUKTtXt1pQ9Phi8wCCfH3mJTl_05DQ6JdWa_UCSQ_w9Jpba_7l9bjgqUKNPi_Qg8meU47KBH0WH82t6Yd5sxUVv8P_EcPiCqahs-EiOhMh6fsB1FidY92gNx_Qsr6vc6wLwD7xpLw4Mk0AT-/w610-h640/Laura%20Frankos%2013.jpg" width="610" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p>
<iframe allow="autoplay" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g-TtN5OyfjjmEt_Qkn4A4RJynbMhbTgP/preview" width="640"></iframe>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-11622205960209507702022-05-13T14:43:00.000-07:002022-05-13T14:43:06.871-07:00A very magical offer - FREE BOOKS this weekend<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5wqfuUdvrBwWJqH9rjKcGswUEFUWbTftvjkJUhiExVMmNGaRtu25hoIkItuWvwnFANcMPanDsiPBqssNOzBsm6Qm_PlyiLPYUjo8gs6XtrhfMTjUvckPJg3FxQV2S8s7WJLxTSGMg8PZBJFuk3_iVxRHHyZRMfgp-0aAwhKsgxcslS3v-tIJ3KiS/s400/Inkling%20Banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5wqfuUdvrBwWJqH9rjKcGswUEFUWbTftvjkJUhiExVMmNGaRtu25hoIkItuWvwnFANcMPanDsiPBqssNOzBsm6Qm_PlyiLPYUjo8gs6XtrhfMTjUvckPJg3FxQV2S8s7WJLxTSGMg8PZBJFuk3_iVxRHHyZRMfgp-0aAwhKsgxcslS3v-tIJ3KiS/w400-h200/Inkling%20Banner.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>ROLL up, roll up, get your free books! </p><p>Thanks to the fabulous Christine McMullen, who invited Inklings Press to take part, four of the Inklings books are in a multi-author promotion taking place today. </p><p>All four books - Tales of Magic & Destiny, Tales From The Underground, Tales of Wonder and Tales From The Pirate's Cove - are FREE this weekend. </p><p>But. But. But. Don't just stop there. </p><p>I did say multi-author promotion, did I not? </p><p>You can check out the full list of books that are available - many free, some discounted to less than a buck - over at a dedicated blog page set up for the purpose. </p><p>You can find that full list right here: <a href="https://www.vampiresandrobots.com/p/its-lucky-13-free-and-discount-book.html">https://www.vampiresandrobots.com/p/its-lucky-13-free-and-discount-book.html</a></p><p>Who are the authors involved? Well, aside from finding them on that blog page, you can also find them on Twitter. Follow the links in my tweet below. </p><p><br /></p><br /><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">So do stop by to check out books by <a href="https://twitter.com/mcmullenwrites?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mcmullenwrites</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/pbeacannon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@pbeacannon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ChessDesalls?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@chessdesalls</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JenHues?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JenHues</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JaneJago1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JaneJago1</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisJagged?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisJagged</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jdaniellayfield?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jdaniellayfield</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MyRealmKALentz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MyRealmKALentz</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AndreaRoseW?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AndreaRoseW</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/verrrawest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@verrrawest</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CB_Archer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CB_Archer</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/A_Writer_Guy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@A_Writer_Guy</a> <br /><br />The full list is right here: <a href="https://t.co/kzbDIjQxyp">https://t.co/kzbDIjQxyp</a><br /><br />RTs appreciated!</p>— Leo McBride at Altered Instinct (@AlteredInstinct) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlteredInstinct/status/1525150081221021701?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2022</a></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">You'll find four stories of mine in the mix - </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">• Out of the Dust in Tales of Magic & Destiny</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">• Professor Algernon Whitlock's Exotic and Fabulous Grand Tour of the Underworld in Tales From The Underground</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">• </span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.01); color: #0f1419; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Last Sorceror in Tales of Wonder</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.01); color: #0f1419; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">• To The End of the World in Tales From The Pirate's Cove.</span> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can find an audio reading of Out of the Dust, by me, in the YouTube clip below: </span></p><p><br /></p> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qI6O4Wq8jBc" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>And that's it. Free stuff. Good stuff. So go visit <a href="https://www.vampiresandrobots.com/p/its-lucky-13-free-and-discount-book.html">https://www.vampiresandrobots.com/p/its-lucky-13-free-and-discount-book.html</a> and grab your weekend's reading. </div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-46001717409703591032022-04-25T13:28:00.005-07:002022-11-05T21:36:08.419-07:00UPDATED: Where you can find me on social media<p>So... in the news today is the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk, for $44 billion that he found down the back of his sofa. </p><p>How will Twitter change? It's hard to say right now - and it will be a shame if it becomes unusable as it's been a great place for me personally for reaching out to meet fellow authors and other people involved in the writing community. I'll wait and see how changes take effect - but it won't be the first platform that's come and gone if that's what happens. Somewhere out there are the shambling ghosts of my Google+ and Livejournal accounts, let alone the likes of Usenet and Geocities. </p><p>What it does highlight is the importance of having more than one outlet - and so here's an update on where you can find me on various parts of social media. This might also be the prompt to get me to finally get round to starting a newsletter - but more on that if I do. </p><p>So where can you find me? </p><p>Well, while I'm still on Twitter, you can find me <a href="https://twitter.com/AlteredInstinct">here</a>. </p><p><br /></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Apropos of nothing at all, here's a list of where you can find me in places other than Twitter. <br /><br />Starting with that Facebook place, where I have an author page at <a href="https://t.co/6ndKbOXMsC">https://t.co/6ndKbOXMsC</a> that probably needs more updating...</p>— Leo McBride at Altered Instinct (@AlteredInstinct) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlteredInstinct/status/1518674103246503937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2022</a></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Then of course there's right here on this blog. </p><p>What about Facebook? Why yes, I do have a page there, and you can visit me <a href="https://www.facebook.com/leomcbrideauthor">here</a>. That said, Facebook has done its best to limit visibility of pages in order to encourage people to pay to promote them. So you're welcome to come by, but I won't be too surprised if the algorithm doesn't let you see me! </p><p>I'm also on Goodreads, which I mainly use to post reviews and monitor my reading challenge for the year. You'll find me <a href="https://t.co/X4uMgARqYs">here</a>. </p><p>I not so long ago restarted my Instagram account - you'll find that <a href="https://www.instagram.com/leo.mcbride.author/?hl=en">here</a> and my Tumblr account <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/alteredinstinct-blog">here</a>.</p><p>You'll find a couple of my stories over at <a href="https://t.co/YKlOtHHZ0D">Wattpad</a>. Those same stories are here on this blog though, so have a read right here and tell me what you think! </p><p>I also have a YouTube channel with some readings of stories, which I'm aiming to build up a little more too. More on that news in the next couple of months. Check out my reading of The Secret War right here: </p> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c7vgzLjzt50" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>I'm also trying out a couple of new (to me) networks. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can find me on Mastodon <a href="https://writing.exchange/web/@LeoMcBride">here</a> and on Counter Social <a href="https://counter.social/web/accounts/174095">here</a>.<br /><div><br /></div><div>What will the future bring? Hard to say. I'm not dashing to leave Twitter just yet - but I'm wary the changes there might encourage trolls and misinformation. I hope not. But if you need to find me, I'll be at least a few of the places above. </div><div><br /></div><div>See you out there!</div></div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-85419890663439125932022-04-09T11:36:00.000-07:002022-04-09T11:36:07.252-07:00Meet the author: Christina McMullen, author of Poster Child in the Maxima City Talent series<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: 9px;"><i>Christina McMullen is someone I first met on Twitter - and who has always been supportive of other authors, cheering them on, sharing their work and generally being an absolute gem. With a new book coming out, what else could I do but invite Christina to the blog to chat about it? Read on! </i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjconFeOKqMS_JO3ZTJiX6beGwDiofdLr1nQIkNKdW7rqVJanMYRsKa5Yp9daWSrYB5SveAVNNExubWr6R5TC0aPN0vmcCgUYUHGNKK1fngqFvRcB6WEJuyxT2jl59xec8ifBFPwwvO4la4mKby4CkySsAEEanK7-zpvuMO8qYmfsnHVO8c2wGLMHj1/s2048/dZ4jsWAy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjconFeOKqMS_JO3ZTJiX6beGwDiofdLr1nQIkNKdW7rqVJanMYRsKa5Yp9daWSrYB5SveAVNNExubWr6R5TC0aPN0vmcCgUYUHGNKK1fngqFvRcB6WEJuyxT2jl59xec8ifBFPwwvO4la4mKby4CkySsAEEanK7-zpvuMO8qYmfsnHVO8c2wGLMHj1/s320/dZ4jsWAy.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: 9px;">Hi there, and welcome to Altered Instinct! Tell us a little about your most recent book – what is it called, and what is it about? Give us your elevator pitch to make us fall in love with it!</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">Poster Child is the fourth book in the Maxima City Talent series, which takes satirical pot shots at the superhero genre. This one follows Acrobot, a Malevolent talent who would rather mastermind from the shadows, but her boss has other ideas. Without giving too much away, underneath the humor and many salad related puns, it is a very heavy handed tale taking on the difference between inclusion and token diversity.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;"> </span></p><p><b style="text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What inspired the story?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">Initially, a conversation with two other authors, Ben Mariner and CB Archer, about lower ranking bad guys inspired the first book, A Shot at the Big Time. But even as I was writing, it grew in breadth to encompass all of the questionable actions that are glossed over in the superhero genre, especially the property damages levied by </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">both sides.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">I’d always intended for it to become a series, but after suffering some major burnout, I took a rather long hiatus that I am just now emerging from. So instead of trying to muscle through,</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">I enlisted the very writers who inspired book one to write in the same universe and I can’t be happier with what they’ve done with it. As for this particular entry, I’ve had the basic plotline for Poster Child in the back of my head for a while, but the finer points were updated to reflect a more current vibe.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;"> </span></p><p><b style="text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Without spoilers, what was one of your favourite moments of the story to write? What was it that made you enjoy that section so much?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">There is a chapter that starts with a ridiculously lengthy description of the perfect salad. This was written as a rebuttal to the lengthy description of the perfect froyo order in An Honest Living, which was written by Ben Mariner, a notorious veggie hater.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;"> </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_w_2E14ROVrcjmt0VzEmKhhnLjGQboqsQwkgJQtm7Jefam_6NVOFcANOC4zRPsWo5CjE0qznU1YTVZ9mt_PHi6khfvSaG92RiF-iDlYEd8hLoVcps1RPrBFsZrQpCVRQclniWMkyYfu643ATcoPJJcZum9RP3c2pHOPjkrf9uL32YaBvEvENjPNQ/s1324/Christina%20McMullen%20Poster%20Child%20cover%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1324" data-original-width="822" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_w_2E14ROVrcjmt0VzEmKhhnLjGQboqsQwkgJQtm7Jefam_6NVOFcANOC4zRPsWo5CjE0qznU1YTVZ9mt_PHi6khfvSaG92RiF-iDlYEd8hLoVcps1RPrBFsZrQpCVRQclniWMkyYfu643ATcoPJJcZum9RP3c2pHOPjkrf9uL32YaBvEvENjPNQ/w398-h640/Christina%20McMullen%20Poster%20Child%20cover%20copy.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><b style="letter-spacing: 0.3px; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a writer, have you ever had a character grow to be a much bigger part of the story than you expected? Who was the character and what was it about them that made them emerge from the sidelights?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">This would definitely be Bogie, the English language butchering demon with a heart of gold from the Rise of the Discordant series. He was just meant to be part comic relief, part homage to Robert Asprin’s Myth series mobsters, but he quickly became everyone’s favorite, which led to a much bigger role in the series overall.</span></p><p><b style="text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What are your favourite genres to read – and what is it about those genres that draws you in?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">Science fiction, fantasy, and speculative. Within the fantastic, I’m all over the board. I’ll read a hard sci-fi or a fluffy YA time travel tale. I do tend towards urban fantasy and humor over the swords and dragons.</span></p><p><b style="text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What has been your favourite reaction from readers?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">Honestly, all of them. Of course, I love it when people like my books, but the opposite can be fun as well.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;"> </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYqWknvtHx-XuhcLEhBRWKInWyJ5AObz3hUwcoFewWardKw-gYr2-UupWRGzwza4u1x6hf9tG30sGKzdVgS5TSNANl5BxMR71z0zcNSEItqWpZ8u68rTQvtx0hWz-IjKxsvpDS70oJXdzLjeuzIYit2I0ynOMOO1kGA-QlL_c6bGLGj6XChX6bb2m/s346/51niByGSOtL._SY346_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="217" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYqWknvtHx-XuhcLEhBRWKInWyJ5AObz3hUwcoFewWardKw-gYr2-UupWRGzwza4u1x6hf9tG30sGKzdVgS5TSNANl5BxMR71z0zcNSEItqWpZ8u68rTQvtx0hWz-IjKxsvpDS70oJXdzLjeuzIYit2I0ynOMOO1kGA-QlL_c6bGLGj6XChX6bb2m/s320/51niByGSOtL._SY346_.jpg" width="201" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9DI14ePDRwfr17h5CZAipLjLbXIztSAGaB0NzjUefdzmUE_fiwWt8eLS3Y0eIHKNEh-OoP6ONyaobLyZRMnLnH0tHvFJnBPEL2Itct78jOl3eavJdYBRxz2NNg1D-z6-_3olO7Fnjngpw56n2u4-auY_wfaN5UsbSOcmN3V-OI7TGWjy_Hv9lgVfz/s300/41zNkIKcF1L._PJku-sticker-v7,TopRight,0,-50._SY300_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="173" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9DI14ePDRwfr17h5CZAipLjLbXIztSAGaB0NzjUefdzmUE_fiwWt8eLS3Y0eIHKNEh-OoP6ONyaobLyZRMnLnH0tHvFJnBPEL2Itct78jOl3eavJdYBRxz2NNg1D-z6-_3olO7Fnjngpw56n2u4-auY_wfaN5UsbSOcmN3V-OI7TGWjy_Hv9lgVfz/s1600/41zNkIKcF1L._PJku-sticker-v7,TopRight,0,-50._SY300_.jpg" width="173" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOf4jqENJd4vSt_qfX4Z93wRy5WeM5u7S33fi_PtC-185lrKKKGbxbkkWNEXaNkMQUl_DVQ6iwDYk81kJwnm-j0IEkAyboC4g2XURa5Nzf3KwoiMGserpWn7WAVQBl7F4y3DttC-YUT8J7qno-JHt8YOsNb_hL7gyRyixd68dgmXnRGTVH0mONMAg6/s300/51nV3lkr-wL._PJku-sticker-v7,TopRight,0,-50._SY300_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="171" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOf4jqENJd4vSt_qfX4Z93wRy5WeM5u7S33fi_PtC-185lrKKKGbxbkkWNEXaNkMQUl_DVQ6iwDYk81kJwnm-j0IEkAyboC4g2XURa5Nzf3KwoiMGserpWn7WAVQBl7F4y3DttC-YUT8J7qno-JHt8YOsNb_hL7gyRyixd68dgmXnRGTVH0mONMAg6/s1600/51nV3lkr-wL._PJku-sticker-v7,TopRight,0,-50._SY300_.jpg" width="171" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><b style="text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What’s next for you as a writer? What’s cooking in your literary kitchen?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">This year marks my 10th anniversary as an author, so I’m hoping to do a series of shorts that follow the characters of my first series, ten years later. After that, I’ve got a whole slew of ideas that have been simmering on the back burners for a while. I can only hope one of them becomes something delicious.</span></p><p><b style="text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What has been your most satisfying moment as a writer so far? What made you punch the air?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.2px; text-indent: 9px;">In Mid-November, 2017, for the briefest of fleeting moments, my Rise of the Discordant series box set hit number one in the humorous fantasy category on Amazon. Having the #1 orange banner was pretty nice, but what truly made me jump for joy was the fact that in the number two spot was Good Omens. Of course a screen shot exists. I’m surprised I haven’t printed and framed it yet.</span></p><p><b style="text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Away from books, what are your loves when it comes to TV and movies?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">I’m a giant Star Trek nerd who is very happy to be living in such a rich and bountiful moment within the franchise.</span></p><p><b style="text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have to ask for readers who might want to know: Is this a kissing book?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">Though no one’s full sexual identity is broadcasted, it is heavily implied that Acrobot is aromantic and considers sex a fun distraction and nothing more.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;"> </span></p><p><b style="text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Where can readers follow you to find out more about your work?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">I’m on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/mcmullenwrites">@mcmullenwrites</a> and I have a blog that I’m trying my best not to neglect at <a href="http://www.vampiresandrobots.com">www.vampiresandrobots.com</a></span></p><p><b style="text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A traditional question here at Altered Instinct – what are you reading at present, and what is the best book you’ve read in the past year?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">Interestingly enough, I’m currently reading the Tales from Alternate Earths compilations at the moment since I’ve been in a short story mood for a while. As for the best so far, whew, there are many and I have to say shamefully that my “you still haven’t reviewed this” pile is about 2 years overdue (thanks pandemic augmented depression), but one that sticks out is Ken Hoover’s The Midnight Agency, which I discovered thanks to it being in the same universe as Reese Hogan’s Holding the Ashes, which is a really amazing read. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;"><i>Poster Child is available on Amazon <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09W73NKXS?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_3&storeType=ebooks&qid=1649529112&sr=8-1">here</a>.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;"><i><br /></i></span></p>
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<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-vwQ6O3HExBnu17ssQ4Yq7RCeNbIUsEVdoEd_l9EAdI96bZi6cNMi-Gqik0JrTzrqV6s9mQsw1LlgbjkJTtcDBLCxVHd0SU4bt7exEOnKd5w_X7oX8OxEKXFIXkaJu4VmLdJRvkKfgYTyN4yU60WszMNOXCkznwF2V97MqLcJWkTz3PIk7U19fN69/s756/Christina%20McMullen%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-vwQ6O3HExBnu17ssQ4Yq7RCeNbIUsEVdoEd_l9EAdI96bZi6cNMi-Gqik0JrTzrqV6s9mQsw1LlgbjkJTtcDBLCxVHd0SU4bt7exEOnKd5w_X7oX8OxEKXFIXkaJu4VmLdJRvkKfgYTyN4yU60WszMNOXCkznwF2V97MqLcJWkTz3PIk7U19fN69/w610-h640/Christina%20McMullen%201.jpg" width="610" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbuRl_2hp0vach4i_-Ghkhh7dqlq8Gfi_72zvQtVUL8rzmv_1oCxwk8GoFxGrILynVym9djDC-df2s4EJ9bdsnXPK5ZvE1knGZnCFzI5w8aWMovWW6u3_OuCfR-eu7yNMiGGIBA5l4COn48Xs948PHiIMfrfuCPtKII5zlJ2DVaOdJ8H_f972nELd/s783/Christina%20McMullen2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbuRl_2hp0vach4i_-Ghkhh7dqlq8Gfi_72zvQtVUL8rzmv_1oCxwk8GoFxGrILynVym9djDC-df2s4EJ9bdsnXPK5ZvE1knGZnCFzI5w8aWMovWW6u3_OuCfR-eu7yNMiGGIBA5l4COn48Xs948PHiIMfrfuCPtKII5zlJ2DVaOdJ8H_f972nELd/w588-h640/Christina%20McMullen2.jpg" width="588" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCf4Wnk1b3rqNE9Xz_rkU68Oe-V5WeApODdfMY0Yd5nRQiLAlJPfnYwR5WogUiCFFg4mFqsnmL9PoXVYrZwAZRSkJ--mTEJdr-dcQmVLwgh4o1Lcj-PPDyZMWb6sJqwK1Dhq7viqe55ZYe-kj-PRMmvfQjPURy6R5yqXCrn-XqBxBogxzC-FC5bS9X/s783/Christina%20McMullen3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCf4Wnk1b3rqNE9Xz_rkU68Oe-V5WeApODdfMY0Yd5nRQiLAlJPfnYwR5WogUiCFFg4mFqsnmL9PoXVYrZwAZRSkJ--mTEJdr-dcQmVLwgh4o1Lcj-PPDyZMWb6sJqwK1Dhq7viqe55ZYe-kj-PRMmvfQjPURy6R5yqXCrn-XqBxBogxzC-FC5bS9X/w588-h640/Christina%20McMullen3.jpg" width="588" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-70925629853316750502022-03-13T13:43:00.003-07:002022-03-13T13:43:38.965-07:00NEW BOOK: The Crossover Paradox, by Rob Edwards<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5i3r3hbZwpk4cqxGm29G0HroiCFpbmodQNmDvtE1UbVtsPrpwdMVw5I-Vfkqkf1QEJhBIb0g1dIEZDPJsOtyGHv0F4TdIANdzKQcKq9AL3xuAkKq9UAeY3k11U5rivLAiqmWaa9BZ40gwz3xl2m2648fIu0BSFK0tR5RbtaqV4jPLU4SNXfn5DydO=s1024" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5i3r3hbZwpk4cqxGm29G0HroiCFpbmodQNmDvtE1UbVtsPrpwdMVw5I-Vfkqkf1QEJhBIb0g1dIEZDPJsOtyGHv0F4TdIANdzKQcKq9AL3xuAkKq9UAeY3k11U5rivLAiqmWaa9BZ40gwz3xl2m2648fIu0BSFK0tR5RbtaqV4jPLU4SNXfn5DydO=w640-h320" width="640" /></a></p><p>Today on the blog, I'm giving a shout out for a new book out by my buddy, Rob Edwards. </p><p>It's a sequel to his 2020 book The Ascension Machine, <a href="http://www.alteredinstinct.com/2020/12/five-books-i-read-in-2020-that-i-loved.html">which I loved</a>. That book saw a... well... morally uncertain fellow by the name of Grey finding himself with a spot at a superhero academy for aliens. And he shouldn't be there. </p><p>As the plot thickens, so do the bonds of friendship between Grey and his fellow students, except he's lying to them all along and that doesn't bode well for when the truth comes out. </p><p>I don't want to spoil the first book, but book two sees us back at the academy for a second year for more shenanigans. I've started reading it already and one thing I love about Rob is his smooth, easy style, often with a simmering undercurrent of wit. </p><p>Grey reminds me very much of the Stainless Steel Rat, though more looking for a place in the world than looking for way to come out on top like Slippery Jim DiGriz. The outcome in the first book was thoughtful, warm and delightful - so I have no hesitation in recommending you join me in reading book two.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZ2QpEfNhnsV40RrRK8jSEJmTukXdCN2xxcnuzuIv54F81WQKl9up2F_ZwIBAVJKqjRMSaRvhMvs9v4JX6Fi6gTM_XPu1fRHSNjhTEWvbWPJ3p4iYYXFMsJLAgaumUVB1b19lZB_iXanZEY3UnksTxY6wx0MPUt431NO15-MtK_Ae2UJKp6OsWAqOl=s500" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZ2QpEfNhnsV40RrRK8jSEJmTukXdCN2xxcnuzuIv54F81WQKl9up2F_ZwIBAVJKqjRMSaRvhMvs9v4JX6Fi6gTM_XPu1fRHSNjhTEWvbWPJ3p4iYYXFMsJLAgaumUVB1b19lZB_iXanZEY3UnksTxY6wx0MPUt431NO15-MtK_Ae2UJKp6OsWAqOl=w420-h640" width="420" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With cover art by Ian Bristow, The Crossover Paradox is available now at mybook.to/crossoverparadox as both an ebook and in print. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'll have a full review coming up soon on the blog too. Why not join me as I read it? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh, and you can follow Rob <a href="https://twitter.com/StorycastRob">on Twitter</a> too. </div><br /><p><br /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjq0YbUXZ9cL7y2kJOJ-y3RMjGkFQgJ8ZTjrPMxz7YHLMOdS0a6YYjp_YD4zJ6RKUENS3B8zjKrX_rUvqYU1lvEz99MaS9zwN0qvkHwDLYImptANzg7ms29UEDc5k0wsKVzeGrCBGbQBYNVqkHsPAtP12tbga_l27v7LxN1naTWNlYt8UWaLUMNYjzZ=s500" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a></p></blockquote><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /><br /></p>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-24927296989055368762022-02-18T16:45:00.002-08:002022-02-18T16:45:56.799-08:00Meet the Author: Matthew Kresal, author of Our Man On The Hill and Sidewise Award winner Moonshot<p style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">Matthew Kresal is a writer, critic, and podcaster with many and varying interests. He’s written about and discussed topics as wide-ranging as the BBC’s Doctor Who, Cold War fact and fiction, and the UFO phenomenon. He has appeared on podcasts including Spybrary, Dead Hand Radio, The 20mb Doctor Who Podcast, and The Saucer Life. His prose includes the non-fiction The Silver Archive: Dark Skies from Obverse Press and short fiction including The Aurora Affair in Belanger Books’ A Tribute to H.G. Wells and The Light of a Thousand Suns in in D&T Publishing’s After the Kool-Aid is Gone. He was born, raised, and lives in North Alabama where he never developed a southern accent.</i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYUEvAyapLbmD1YoGWbbNuf3iRV2z2TkIoVU_ww5QPOxLqOYncBAIhflLnf0EIwIg13Jzm1wskoSgte3zWpn37dYBS3g-QFGEmDyozec7QQbRpQXyUUSS6JzEPuMNrluCBr4HdzXgZhLfA0Q6aSOtNcOVP6gjqXc_ibB8sRyGJN3oMnIuz6ksWLJY9=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1638" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYUEvAyapLbmD1YoGWbbNuf3iRV2z2TkIoVU_ww5QPOxLqOYncBAIhflLnf0EIwIg13Jzm1wskoSgte3zWpn37dYBS3g-QFGEmDyozec7QQbRpQXyUUSS6JzEPuMNrluCBr4HdzXgZhLfA0Q6aSOtNcOVP6gjqXc_ibB8sRyGJN3oMnIuz6ksWLJY9=w320-h400" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Hi there, and welcome to Altered Instinct! Tell us a little about your most recent book – what is it called, and what is it about?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s called Our Man on the Hill and the elevator pitch is “what if Senator Joe McCarthy, the Cold War’s most infamous hunter of ‘Reds under the bed,’ was really working for the Soviets all along?”</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">What inspired the story?</b></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve long had an interest in the Cold War and espionage. A few years back my interest was rekindled by a podcast called Spybrary, started by Shane Whaley, which I’ve been lucky enough to be on a few times. Part of that rekindling led to my picking up a non-fiction work called The Haunted Wood. Published in the late nineties when the old Soviet archives were briefly opened up, it contained some fascinating stories of Americans who spied for the Soviets during the 1930s and the World War II years. Reading how it ended, and how little McCarthy really picked up on, was an eye opener. Then I came across somewhere a great quote from President Harry Truman about McCarthy that called the senator “The greatest asset the Kremlin has,” or words to that effect. My mind was off to the races, since “asset” is an intelligence phrase for agent (though I’m certain that’s not what Truman meant when he said it!). <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjep9E8Iq4k34Hgo1JKILgKnG_9C7snfi6Lxprpp8pxBcwWYTz9icObclwMeTAOC2vmrT77HPEHk89Dwz7G5rDgOxpm9IzsYT1EN5n5S_vPhqeI2dpFLOPgGDnyyiTihJJN08cS7rfkYotm188DasAgD4APJ__J1smqXz69M4OmRQs1jZgnhZdY5UNV=s1500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="938" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjep9E8Iq4k34Hgo1JKILgKnG_9C7snfi6Lxprpp8pxBcwWYTz9icObclwMeTAOC2vmrT77HPEHk89Dwz7G5rDgOxpm9IzsYT1EN5n5S_vPhqeI2dpFLOPgGDnyyiTihJJN08cS7rfkYotm188DasAgD4APJ__J1smqXz69M4OmRQs1jZgnhZdY5UNV=w400-h640" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Without spoilers, what was one of your favourite moments of the story to write? What was it that made you enjoy that section so much?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s a confrontation between McCarthy and then Presidential candidate Eisenhower that I got to write. It was a scene based on a real meeting between the two men where we know how things were said but not what was said, if that makes sense? I had fun fitting that encounter into the narrative, figuring out what McCarthy and his Russian handlers might have come up with that caused Eisenhower to go from about to publicly criticize McCarthy to sharing a stage with him, exchanging handshakes and getting an endorsement. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">What are your favourite genres to read – and what is it about those genres that draws you in?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To risk sounding pretentious, I don’t know that I read genres specifically. I read what interests me, whether it’s science fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction or whatever. My main thing is, if it’s fiction, to tell me a good story. Non-fiction is different as reading tends to be either for research or just out of general interest. That said, I do seem to read a lot of science fiction and thrillers, as well as history, so I guess you can call those favourties.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">What were some of your favourite books to read as a child? Which were the first books you remember falling in love with?</b></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Growing up in North Alabama, home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the Space & Rocket Center museum (the only place in the world with TWO Saturn V’s, even if one is a replica), I was reading books about space from a very young age. I don’t remember specific titles, I wish I did, but I was a voracious reader from a shockingly young age. The first book I remember falling in love with was Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember on the sinking of the Titanic. I read it in third grade around the same time I got bit by the writing bug, and I can’t help but think there’s got to be a connection there.</span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Are there any particular themes you address in your story? What issues do you explore, overtly or otherwise?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I don’t know if it’s a theme, as such, but writing alternate history (which Our Man on the Hill fits into, even though it’s a Cold War spy thriller) did allow me to explore some of the real-life history involved. There’s some fascinating stories that came out of the Cold War at large that aren’t as well known as they ought to be. One of the things I hoped to do in writing the novel was to bring some of those stories, and the people behind them, to life.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">What has been your most satisfying moment as a writer so far? What made you punch the air?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Oh, it’s got to be when my short story Moonshot (featured in Alternate Australias from Sea Lion Press) was nominated and then won the Sidewise Award. As a teenager getting into alternate history, I remember looking at that list in the mid-2000s and being impressed by what I saw. To now be a name on that list still seems surreal, even with having the plaque on my wall.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Away from books, what are your loves when it comes to TV and movies?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Doctor Who is my great love as a TV series and, in an odd way, I owe my writing career to it as I started out writing reviews of it online. The central idea and character, this figure who travels through time and space in a blue box of all things helping out where they can, is storytelling gold. Before Doctor Who, The West Wing was my favorite series and it still holds a special place in my heart as a series that helped inspire me to be a writer. As an alternate history fan and lifelong space nerd, I’m also loving Apple TV’s For All Mankind with its vision of a space race that never ended.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In terms of movies, The Third Man remains my favorite film, being something that works on so many levels. My tastes in movies, like my reading, are pretty eclectic so the list includes the amazing documentary For All Mankind on the Apollo missions, Oliver Stone’s JFK, and the 1995 film of Richard III starring Ian McKellen.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjko8fUuxoH2pLqsr1Fud0ka-l7L6bLMfIvodBK1syJ6Fjvkv4C2C9Jk7sggLb9aLBXPK77lLansCFxeS5mnFkNSGT3aTk6UaqTvODXOHkdKP2m6mViS-dqvHpXOHJqcbXOME2wwPJDbC_0BHymvo7ZxHKmdiijV4Bk1bZH_EIVP3HoDPd5zWm4Lrib=s2502" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2502" data-original-width="1717" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjko8fUuxoH2pLqsr1Fud0ka-l7L6bLMfIvodBK1syJ6Fjvkv4C2C9Jk7sggLb9aLBXPK77lLansCFxeS5mnFkNSGT3aTk6UaqTvODXOHkdKP2m6mViS-dqvHpXOHJqcbXOME2wwPJDbC_0BHymvo7ZxHKmdiijV4Bk1bZH_EIVP3HoDPd5zWm4Lrib=s320" width="220" /></a><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Matthew also appeared in the <a href="https://t.co/Z8GjN31mhB">Tales From Alternate Earths 3 anthology from Inklings Press</a>, with his story about a film version of Titanic made by Alfred Hitchcock.</i></div></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">You get stuck on an island and had only one book packed in your travel bag before the ship went down – what book do you hope you have in there?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s almost certainly going to be The Complete Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, given that it travels with me everywhere. There’s some New Agey woo woo in there, to be sure, but also a lot of practical creative advice. Indeed, I credit the book (and my best friend for giving it to me) for helping me become the writer I’ve become.</span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Where can readers follow you to find out more about your work?</b></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They can find me on Facebook by searching by name and I’m on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/KresalWrites">@KresalWrites</a>. I also still have an infrequently updated LiveJournal account at <a href="http://timdalton007.livejournal.com">timdalton007.livejournal.com</a>.</span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">A traditional question here at Altered Instinct – what are you reading at present, and what is the best book you’ve read in the past year?</b></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m currently reading Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh, which has been intriguing read. I’m also enjoying the audiobook of Survivors by Terry Nation, his part adaptation and part reworking of his 1970s BBC series after writing of the series was taken out of his hands, read by Carolyn Seymour (who was one of the stars of the series).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Best book I’ve read in the past year? Probably Stephen Walker’s Beyond, a non-fiction account of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human to orbit the Earth. Walker writes with an almost novelistic flair in places and his ability to convey period while also slaying myths is first-rate. A non-fiction thriller, in so many respects.</span></div></span><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b></b></p>
<iframe allow="autoplay" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/11DZ2W6zqlYhIt6oWV-qHEnDOnirYN5lr/preview" width="640"></iframe><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirYahNZyKc0hdO5yY08ZkZ8l4RW1q0GRt2VivtxGNHFqAFdyKbFSIvbbljmH7ZTYnPobIYzew8daQBHFBQbiMwOPJ-ha0X-xUDBlLbxMuLXKGkhvsZ8R8MxY9_ods38349v2W8peWlqNZFLeXQ8-WygGJerDBulupxAVdxK4LyytyNr7k0MQUgBS0K=s2100" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="2000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirYahNZyKc0hdO5yY08ZkZ8l4RW1q0GRt2VivtxGNHFqAFdyKbFSIvbbljmH7ZTYnPobIYzew8daQBHFBQbiMwOPJ-ha0X-xUDBlLbxMuLXKGkhvsZ8R8MxY9_ods38349v2W8peWlqNZFLeXQ8-WygGJerDBulupxAVdxK4LyytyNr7k0MQUgBS0K=w610-h640" width="610" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWyadbPxi5dc-A-7g3cfjnxNDSl2v0tFECZXK8GNAkGz45kk19qyLLwj1uDrbR_xXR6xJEvXMrCtsh3_jTtz72vBx4RB2L5mxRzf4AS4FiFhf-gbxh-SnfUtmTNEy9e8DZ4CibQkiLyJNJ2lHD5Aqlewb_OfW4Fc1UBOihWYoCrcIkHVEqk9kKlGKf=s2175" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2175" data-original-width="2000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWyadbPxi5dc-A-7g3cfjnxNDSl2v0tFECZXK8GNAkGz45kk19qyLLwj1uDrbR_xXR6xJEvXMrCtsh3_jTtz72vBx4RB2L5mxRzf4AS4FiFhf-gbxh-SnfUtmTNEy9e8DZ4CibQkiLyJNJ2lHD5Aqlewb_OfW4Fc1UBOihWYoCrcIkHVEqk9kKlGKf=w588-h640" width="588" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuRlvz_9yNBDsxeKXyXcfJXFsLkbDE4CCFq69fFpcPoIJYqx43gx_gsHp4DVTKLZ40b2ae-Gp05vSXn1WThxxjKn-iuQIyemTmAhbT1RV6SPq4P4ZLyxiCEurO99mBWQELC_XEM352mRSMpwysSEKlQjJ2lRMHyHYbzF1zYIcmKBQ7MRL-m125_azi=s2100" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="2000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuRlvz_9yNBDsxeKXyXcfJXFsLkbDE4CCFq69fFpcPoIJYqx43gx_gsHp4DVTKLZ40b2ae-Gp05vSXn1WThxxjKn-iuQIyemTmAhbT1RV6SPq4P4ZLyxiCEurO99mBWQELC_XEM352mRSMpwysSEKlQjJ2lRMHyHYbzF1zYIcmKBQ7MRL-m125_azi=w610-h640" width="610" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-81206137157248286912022-02-12T15:17:00.003-08:002022-02-12T19:43:50.587-08:00Meet the author: J Dianne Dotson, author of the Questrison Saga<p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">J Dianne Dotson lives in Southern California and dreams of other worlds far beyond. She is the author of the Questrison Saga, as well as boasting a host of other accomplishments - VP of Public Relations for a biotech company, a science writer, content writer, watercolorist and illustrator. She is also a lively presence on Twitter - and she stopped by Altered Instinct to chat about her work.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></span></i></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6g7HzCsZdTBWPQaPveEP6-FYeRCjIKNVAHXahZsdsdEpLBR5Hhcr7yITob3_u1D2La0kINsndQnRd2YdMgs797Zz9d0aapccaenZCKFZ0elYVGUl6_-b-y7kwGaK-Ive4mshWKA5KiIrkseml5uhlV5dqIXUY5PM2FVhEqNQ_To48wXFcgtJhOJNm=s1111" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1111" data-original-width="876" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6g7HzCsZdTBWPQaPveEP6-FYeRCjIKNVAHXahZsdsdEpLBR5Hhcr7yITob3_u1D2La0kINsndQnRd2YdMgs797Zz9d0aapccaenZCKFZ0elYVGUl6_-b-y7kwGaK-Ive4mshWKA5KiIrkseml5uhlV5dqIXUY5PM2FVhEqNQ_To48wXFcgtJhOJNm=w315-h400" width="315" /></span></a></span></i></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Hi there, and welcome to Altered Instinct! Tell us a little about your most recent book – what is it called, and what is it about?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">My most recent book is LUMINIFEROUS: THE QUESTRISON SAGA®: BOOK FOUR:<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The stunning conclusion to The Questrison Saga®. Devastation, annihilation, and fear. Leaders sundered and scattered. Decades of control by Paosh Tohon and its Valemog minions have brought the galaxy to the brink of collapse.<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Love and war. Spaceships and exotic worlds. Aliens, androids, ecosystems. Mages and presidents. Long cons. Family feuds that led to galactic destruction. Family ties that could save the galaxy. <br /></span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With heroes destroyed, captured, or missing, Paosh Tohon’s campaign seems unstoppable. Yet one world remains immune: a hidden planet, with defenses both natural and unnatural. The secrets and legacies harbored there protect the last bastions of hope, if they can escape the world and withstand the evils beyond...</span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b>What inspired the story?<br /></b>This is the finale to The Questrison Saga®, which I began writing about 35 years ago off and on. It is a space opera with elements of science fiction and fantasy, and is inspired by my love of both genres, fairy tales, science, mythology, found and made family, and heroism.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /><b>Without spoilers, what was one of your favourite moments of the story to write? What was it that made you enjoy that section so much?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></b><span class="s1" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">Some of the dreamlike setting of the city Allurulla, on the strange planet Quopeia, seems very real to me, as I came up with that setting decades ago. </span>Wrapping up the series was incredibly fun, and it’s hard to pick one favorite. There is an extremely passionate and tender scene; there are homages in the climax to Aliens and The Thing; and there are massive, epic showdowns. It was most satisfying to tie everything together that I had built.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4jfQB6BI3Cb-m2O6kwIxA8ynMPo0NtZSy-DfDYW7o69PlN4tzbESOscND5I_7k976tkDIbXIqVwunRo4XgkhBEH_bvvjLy0TBDwKVM8UKp86DQjJSGxyMJAThL0cMZnfdLzY9l2s4bXMpeRbUCWV4yCimf6tIv_xDaWtoe_fX_qMjdN-GgZrWMDTk=s900" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4jfQB6BI3Cb-m2O6kwIxA8ynMPo0NtZSy-DfDYW7o69PlN4tzbESOscND5I_7k976tkDIbXIqVwunRo4XgkhBEH_bvvjLy0TBDwKVM8UKp86DQjJSGxyMJAThL0cMZnfdLzY9l2s4bXMpeRbUCWV4yCimf6tIv_xDaWtoe_fX_qMjdN-GgZrWMDTk=w426-h640" width="426" /></span></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a writer, have you ever had a character grow to be a much bigger part of the story than you expected? Who was the character and what was it about them that made them emerge from the sidelights?<br /></span></b>No, this has not really ever happened.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I know my characters going in.<div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b>What are your favourite genres to read – and what is it about those genres that draws you in?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></b>Science fiction, fantasy, science, travel, food, history; each offers something different, and I don’t stay reading in one genre for long. I often read several kinds of books at once. I like both fiction and non-fiction, and they all attract me by examining who we are and where we fit in the Universe.</div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What were some of your favourite books to read as a child? Which were the first books you remember falling in love with?<br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">I loved L. Frank Baum’s original 14 Oz books, particularly. I was fond of classic fairy tales. I enjoyed sci-fi classics like The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Who are your favourite authors to read? And whose writing do you feel has inspired your own work most?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></b></span>Ray Bradbury and L. Frank Baum are main influences. I read a fair bit of Asimov and Clarke, as well as Anne McCaffrey, L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables books, some Stephen King.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Ok, we’re waving the Altered Instinct magic wand. Your story is being turned into a movie – and you get to cast the main roles. Who do you cast for the leading characters? Bonus perk: Who directs?<br /></b>First, I want no movies. I want TV series. There’s no way that movies could capture what a series could with the story and characters. Actors would be mostly unknowns. I would be very particular, executive producing and having a say on casting. The Russo Brothers would be perfect directors.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0o4lvkzFANjgcf3jYx0T23_-C-PmjaVOb_onFG8Ru95HXUfvZccNFdu_trtFkSaUUkCqV9pTRrDDaCPl-gXXoLAmmBhfR28QOX-gbZ_tWc83VVTwjU34wjDrjUWiT6ZMJWlwM146i-giR0vEg3TX-2TBJku4fhDA95AaEY_jibbpUV0i1kWmhkt4D=s900" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0o4lvkzFANjgcf3jYx0T23_-C-PmjaVOb_onFG8Ru95HXUfvZccNFdu_trtFkSaUUkCqV9pTRrDDaCPl-gXXoLAmmBhfR28QOX-gbZ_tWc83VVTwjU34wjDrjUWiT6ZMJWlwM146i-giR0vEg3TX-2TBJku4fhDA95AaEY_jibbpUV0i1kWmhkt4D=w426-h640" width="426" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span><b>Are there any particular themes you address in your story? What issues do you explore, overtly or otherwise?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></div><div>I address family, belonging (or lack thereof), betrayal, leadership, and growing up.</div><div><br /><b>What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Tell us about yourself.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></b>I am also a science writer, content manager, artist, and editor. I am also VP of public relations for a biotech company. I have a science background. For hobbies, I like road trips and anything to do with food.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span><b>Tell us about your main character. Who is he/she/other and what makes the character special?<br /></b><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">In the series, the main character switches from a human man, Forster, in the first book, Heliopause: The Questrison Saga: Book One, to an alien woman who looks human, Galla-Deia, for the rest of the series, starting with Ephemeris: The Questrison Saga: Book Two. Forster was a flawed, disillusioned man in his 40s who felt like he hadn’t got anything right. He’s got latent powers that are triggered by a series of events and people, giving him a chance to have a very different future than he imagined. Galla was sheltered by androids and needs to learn to be more human so she can help protect humanity. Galla is very innocent and slightly feral at first, so she must grow as a person and as a leader to help fight against the malevolent being, Paosh Tohon, and its growing sycophants, Valemog. Galla, in Luminiferous, has undergone a terrible, traumatic event from the prior book, and must heal in order to help save the galaxy. She’s very feisty, with her mercurial hair a weathervane of her emotions, but she is loyal </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">and determined, being both incredibly powerful yet vulnerable at the same time.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><br /></span><b>What has been your favourite reaction from readers?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></b>That I stuck the landing for the series. It’s universally loved. I love any feedback, and the final book certainly brought out strong emotions from readers.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibsg-8ZvJvOAWWIjNd3_w7bVp2VzVNMsyYiEax7QX9YGHf4LeqCcYmASo-URiI-jUjxInDrYcfRGiScV0aeznWGkusKaaPOxcw8Y5FXnHuqhPO_cQHCb4iJSTlZYPsnPjWhkh_RTqogjf-KkxNWDmFR3kEpP47T2yewTy1FOaDPWbj2LumyT7BUjrD=s900" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibsg-8ZvJvOAWWIjNd3_w7bVp2VzVNMsyYiEax7QX9YGHf4LeqCcYmASo-URiI-jUjxInDrYcfRGiScV0aeznWGkusKaaPOxcw8Y5FXnHuqhPO_cQHCb4iJSTlZYPsnPjWhkh_RTqogjf-KkxNWDmFR3kEpP47T2yewTy1FOaDPWbj2LumyT7BUjrD=w266-h400" width="266" /></a></div><span class="Apple-converted-space"><div><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></div><b>What’s next for you as a writer? What’s cooking in your literary kitchen?</b></span></div><div>I have several works in progress now. I submitted a short story for an anthology; I’m finishing a near-future sci-fi novella; I’m collaborating with my writer fiancé Gareth L. Powell on another novella; I have middle grade dark fantasy, high fantasy, dark comedy horror, and myriad other novels and novellas in the works. I’m writing short story collections also. I want to make the jump to screenwriting and writing comics also.</div><div><br /><b>What has been your biggest challenge as a writer? What hurdles have you had to overcome, and what helped you to do so?<br /></b>Find the time to write as a person with several gigs AND teens. I just learned to carve out the time by trial and error to see what worked best for me and my schedule.<br /><br /></div><div><b>What’s the most fun piece of technology/magic that you’ve included in your novel that you wish you had in real life?<br /></b>I like the ships, the star-cities, the diamethyst crystals and their power, and the extraordinary nature of the planet Quopeia, which might let me in, but I sure wish I could visit it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span><b>What has been your most satisfying moment as a writer so far? What made you punch the air?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></b>Every moment I put words on a page, I feel good about being a writer. Getting this last novel of the series out was the ultimate dream come true, though, and while I will continue writing short stories in that universe, it’s just great to know I made a four-book series and that readers are enjoying it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiRISzuwqcQV5tFAYtSwngXPwr7lyVbKfOQPFCdrFwSt5bBGPHhQ70KxpML_PnbRkoiDd6ByZdtUv9feMZbkznrVaYxvF2c2b8Q8hYCPZ1fRA4FZkMTY_p3VolcZCwgzRGW1XIN9Lncu2hcPkt5eWS6_o8XyVk-1xsiZrPWic3SZPi5IMP4nnLacwA=s900" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiRISzuwqcQV5tFAYtSwngXPwr7lyVbKfOQPFCdrFwSt5bBGPHhQ70KxpML_PnbRkoiDd6ByZdtUv9feMZbkznrVaYxvF2c2b8Q8hYCPZ1fRA4FZkMTY_p3VolcZCwgzRGW1XIN9Lncu2hcPkt5eWS6_o8XyVk-1xsiZrPWic3SZPi5IMP4nnLacwA=w266-h400" width="266" /></a></div><div><b>Away from books, what are your loves when it comes to TV and movies? <br /></b>I love John Carpenter’s The Thing, Alien/Aliens, Blade Runner/Blade Runner 2049, Dark City, The Sound of Music, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Fifth Element, Macross Plus, The X-Files, Farscape, Frasier, Schitt’s Creek…etc.</div><div><br /><b>Are your books available in audio format?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></b>My books are not yet available in audio format as I would have to pay for this out of pocket, but things are afoot, so stay tuned.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span><b>Marketing is always a challenge for writers – to share the love, what have you found the most useful tip for spreading the word about books?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></b>Social media presence is essential, and so is fostering an audience by keeping them engaged.</div><div><br /><b>You get stuck on an island and had only one book packed in your travel bag before the ship went down – what book do you hope you have in there?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span></b>One big collection of His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <br /></span><br /></div><div><b>I have to ask for readers who might want to know: Is this a kissing book?<br /></b>There is extreme hotness in some scenes of this book, but the scenes make good sense, as the payoff is extraordinary. Some of the scenes made some readers break into a sweat, no hyperbole.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span><b>Where can readers follow you to find out more about your work?<br /></b>Follow me on Twitter/Instagram/TikTok at @jdiannedotson (remember the two n’s), on Facebook at @jdiannedotsonwriter, and on LinkedIn. Head to my website <a href="http://jdiannedotson.com">jdiannedotson.com</a> and sign up for my newsletter.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span><b>A traditional question here at Altered Instinct – what are you reading at present, and what is the best book you’ve read in the past year?<br /></b>Currently, I am reading Fleet of Knives by Gareth L. Powell, Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, who I am interviewing soon, The Faith Machine by Tone Milazzo, Dead Spots by Melissa F. Olson, Travel Writer’s Field Guide by Phoebe Smith & Daniel Neilson, and Death’s Legacy by Dennis K. Crosby.</div><div><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: left; text-indent: 9px;"></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: left; text-indent: 9px;"><b></b></p></div>
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text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-57400637412886001762022-01-02T16:08:00.001-08:002022-01-02T19:53:34.259-08:00My top five reads of 2021<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxIN5Mcn0Oc95Wf3VrFRGaNqlEJhoY2LfgfaOXNCbFwz_xI6W5YtMWoVqZd73broswwlpE_Gf1m89bzBYioOMgoupx3Aipovqz2wHmtpZTNZXlcuk3iNhlo4UDo16nNN0PeR8yY5WVxVutlMN1-DNbpeX_eBNfbEJzfUPMkSdCPyOn2-f4QnoPxypr=s1191" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="1191" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxIN5Mcn0Oc95Wf3VrFRGaNqlEJhoY2LfgfaOXNCbFwz_xI6W5YtMWoVqZd73broswwlpE_Gf1m89bzBYioOMgoupx3Aipovqz2wHmtpZTNZXlcuk3iNhlo4UDo16nNN0PeR8yY5WVxVutlMN1-DNbpeX_eBNfbEJzfUPMkSdCPyOn2-f4QnoPxypr=w640-h214" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><i>2021 was a strange year. And yet, amid it all, there were some fabulous books. This is my pick of my favourite books that I read last year. Ordinarily, that means they can come from any year - just last year was the one I got round to reading them, but as it happens this time out all but one were published in 2021 as well. </i></p><p><i>Before I dive into the list though, one thing - there is nothing that can be more helpful to authors than sharing your love of their work. Be it reviews, word of mouth, sharing things along on Twitter and so on... it helps. And for a lot of authors, it can make the difference between a week of no sales and a week where they find some new readers. So do share!</i></p><p><i>Here I go, in no particular order... my top five of 2021. Three horrors, one science fantasy, and one collection of stories to break your heart. </i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsp49SEa7uCq7uH6H9hG-6PrUp65dCBbD6YPB92LdCxXTDfD1sOWz0TcoT8HI5T3hhIcPMdr7M4cbMzsuLS9ENfKgQTtPHVCDjxvyvtQEe8DnI1go2H2BgOoPlVNkDATp5JGoR43ObB2fzMxHVSBTbxviaPKunxO56OVqCC2NAdDuGVR0BJmyqyYnR=s400" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="250" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsp49SEa7uCq7uH6H9hG-6PrUp65dCBbD6YPB92LdCxXTDfD1sOWz0TcoT8HI5T3hhIcPMdr7M4cbMzsuLS9ENfKgQTtPHVCDjxvyvtQEe8DnI1go2H2BgOoPlVNkDATp5JGoR43ObB2fzMxHVSBTbxviaPKunxO56OVqCC2NAdDuGVR0BJmyqyYnR=w250-h400" width="250" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor Lavalle</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I've always loved the Cthulhu Mythos created by HP Lovecraft, but let's face it, the author was a racist and some of his work is particularly egregious in that regard.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It's intriguing then to see Victor LaValle take that work and turn it on its head, making it an examination of the racism of the time as much as an exploration of the cosmic terrors just a blink away from our world.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Charles Thomas Tester is a hustler, trying to get enough money to feed himself and his dad, who got used up and cast on the junk heap by the job he gave his youth to. Tommy tries whatever he can to get ahead in a time when black men aren't allowed to get ahead. That means dealing with racist cops and a society where he has to protect himself every single day. Then he gets a gig offer for a job that pays far too much to be safe, and too much to turn down whatever the risk. It opens the door to a world of darkness, and in Tommy tumbles.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This is a book of two halves, the first told from Tommy's perspective, the second from an investigator hot on the heels of the legendary Black Tom and his employer. It's also a retelling of Lovecraft's Horror of Red Hook, one of the most racist of Lovecraft's stories.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It poses tough questions, and shows why someone would choose to tear down a society that offers no place for them.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">My only wish is that it was longer. I wanted to spend more time with Tommy in the first half, to get to know him better before the dominoes of his world started tumbling into one another.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In the end, it shows the evils of this world as strongly as the evils of the cosmos, laying one against the other in an invitation to say which is worse.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It's a delight to see Lovecraft's work getting this kind of reinvention - alongside the likes of Lovecraft Country on television (inexplicably now cancelled!), and Premee Mohamed's Beneath The Rising in print. Cosmic horror has never been fresher.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgab7WxSywCmsEYCwhbPZUkp7WqgUq8feG05K9ZGz-yffl0xVoT4AvY0i9yKX9Z0lQzEnrIOmNul6a5r-9AOzC05-2yNwKGYzSYFxUk26gp2U-uX6XAmQKQUSFVGq4EV9L0J34_yfRhRWcHsVcBoGRIRUBN-8PfQo8NN-FND37j8lIdbwpstYL_Kn83=s475" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="297" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgab7WxSywCmsEYCwhbPZUkp7WqgUq8feG05K9ZGz-yffl0xVoT4AvY0i9yKX9Z0lQzEnrIOmNul6a5r-9AOzC05-2yNwKGYzSYFxUk26gp2U-uX6XAmQKQUSFVGq4EV9L0J34_yfRhRWcHsVcBoGRIRUBN-8PfQo8NN-FND37j8lIdbwpstYL_Kn83=w250-h400" width="250" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Alyx: An AI's Guide to Love and Murder, by Brent A Harris</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This is a change of pace for author Brent A Harris - and a good one at that. Better known for his alternative histories, Harris has this time created a thriller that's a chiller, about a young woman who becomes the target of an obsessive artificial intelligence.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Christine is adrift, her father having died in an accident, and finding herself pulled along in the wake of her successful mother. She's still lost in a haze of grief for her dad, and neglected by a mother who is more focused on her writing career than her own child.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Lost in her own world, Christine is starting to explore her own identity, her own sexuality and suddenly finds herself in a new home trying to figure out the attraction she feels to two of her co-workers, the technophile Carlos and the technophobe Sammie, in a small-town cinema.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Her new home, however, has other plans. It is run by Alyx, an artificial intelligence that becomes increasingly obsessed with Christine. She asks it to be her friend - it becomes something more, something far deadlier.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This is a technothriller for fans of Michael Crichton or Robin Cook - those masters of the genre who dominated for decades. Once the groundwork has been laid, the second half of the book rips along at speed.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Alyx itself is a snarky, witty creation - I absolutely read the AI's lines with James Spader's voice in my head.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It's not at all what I expected at the start, but it's an absolute thrill ride.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoJRXvb91dhw4er1xKoJ3-i0wI4AvhmZ3YglFLHZGd3QpjStdYk5T0kxzOIEFON5LxttH51Oa7d2gyhAgqiXO-PHpbwGvR5sFLak0gvVo8_lRC56-ZHHwaAJ5t6eT7cWLm8Z_dE-WSV-Qfl3XwkOnfsVMhP0eInVLDqyCT11tsZ206pICxzGFviPjE=s475" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="304" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoJRXvb91dhw4er1xKoJ3-i0wI4AvhmZ3YglFLHZGd3QpjStdYk5T0kxzOIEFON5LxttH51Oa7d2gyhAgqiXO-PHpbwGvR5sFLak0gvVo8_lRC56-ZHHwaAJ5t6eT7cWLm8Z_dE-WSV-Qfl3XwkOnfsVMhP0eInVLDqyCT11tsZ206pICxzGFviPjE=w256-h400" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Gulp, by Alan Baxter</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Some horrors start off with creeping dread and mystery. This one sits down across the table from you, flashes a devilish grin, slides you a beer and asks what's the worst possible thing you can imagine. Then chuckles and says that's all you've got? Let me tell you a story.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Five stories, in fact. Each a slice of life and death in the remote Australian community of Gulpepper, nicknamed The Gulp. It's the kind of town you might find in The Twilight Zone if Clive Barker was mayor. Everything's a little twisted, a little wrong, a little off-kilter.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The five stories seem separate at first - how a trucker finds his safe world slipping away from him, how some teenagers deal with the weird things happening to their mother, how a group of backpackers fall under the spell of a local rock band... but the pieces start to make up a bigger picture. Something strange is always going on in The Gulp, but now... well, strange is stacking up on strange.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Alan Baxter does a great job of inviting you into a weird part of the world, starting with uncomfortable before plunging into the grotesque and the ominous. There's clearly more to come, but building slowly, steadily. Each of these stories is a crack of distant thunder, warning that the storm is coming nearer, nearer. I'm looking forward to when it arrives.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyOKRUnvR1UFbQPH8Qb8TOZ6NRvFAT5iG249YJ_4FRFH1wp-_Bybzt3R8L--BYSFid53lP7HYAt4820lnwhqM14lPQzI18HCzBg2gl5okwvOWIhDBAP8l1oYVM_iqVq_2xIh3Yrno-8sRrH80AdINWhU73s1cf1BwrO38AJdaIXG9tvSZ2Rknomf6y=s475" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="308" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyOKRUnvR1UFbQPH8Qb8TOZ6NRvFAT5iG249YJ_4FRFH1wp-_Bybzt3R8L--BYSFid53lP7HYAt4820lnwhqM14lPQzI18HCzBg2gl5okwvOWIhDBAP8l1oYVM_iqVq_2xIh3Yrno-8sRrH80AdINWhU73s1cf1BwrO38AJdaIXG9tvSZ2Rknomf6y=w259-h400" width="259" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Tempest Blades: The Cursed Titans, by Ricardo Victoria</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Let the tournament commence!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The Cursed Titans is the sequel to Ricardo Victoria's The Withered King. It largely stands alone - but the first book did so well at introducing its large cast of characters that it would be a shame not to start there.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This time around, with all those introductions done, the plot can rattle away at pace - and it certainly does that. This is full-on adventure, full of zip and zest, with witty one-liners being dispensed faster than the energy arrows launched by lead character Alex.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The plot centres around a tournament that doubles up as a way of nations resolving their differences. There is a swirl of politics around the tournament itself - and it provides the perfect opportunity for chaos itself to be unleashed.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I've said before that the Final Fantasy series is a good touchstone for Ricardo's writing, and it holds true here again. It has that anime spirit, that high sci-fi feel. There are new friends to be made, and new enemies.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Adventure? Check. Fun? Check. Freewheeling sci-fi? Check. If you want all of that, it's all here.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But what impressed me is that this time around there's something more. Alex is wrestling with depression, and the story explores that in some depth. I've been lucky in life, I've never really had to deal with depression personally, but the story spoke to me in the way it reflected what friends have gone through. It shows how characters around Alex deal with his depression - or sometimes how they don't deal with it, perhaps even not noticing it until it's pointed out by others. Sometimes I've been that person, who didn't notice or who didn't know how to react, so this story really hits home.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In the end, this is as much about Alex confronting himself as the monsters unleashed in the world, and the most important alliances and friendships are the ones that help him on that personal journey.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This kind of exploration of depression in science fiction and fantasy is not common - so Ricardo adds a welcome voice to the conversation.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This is a good read. A fun read. But it's also perhaps an important one.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyNLlzcTY_2o8P8CyahayrzYkW_RD5TE9S7FzrmnQzYH_D8l8i9gBTtcGcUPhV0Gbnc1HkVDTxmSNwJrYcz1B5HMHLstkhR_al7CPO7mkLFumSiZ4mjn8TlLPp7qKw-9R2UdSa_HcyNFxQ2F5IbiMPMK5YgIl1z86XW7VMkgUDR8RVr2uL4MgDxifF=s475" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyNLlzcTY_2o8P8CyahayrzYkW_RD5TE9S7FzrmnQzYH_D8l8i9gBTtcGcUPhV0Gbnc1HkVDTxmSNwJrYcz1B5HMHLstkhR_al7CPO7mkLFumSiZ4mjn8TlLPp7qKw-9R2UdSa_HcyNFxQ2F5IbiMPMK5YgIl1z86XW7VMkgUDR8RVr2uL4MgDxifF=w268-h400" width="268" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Six Dreams About The Train and Other Stories, by Maria Haskins</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Maria Haskins is one of the best writers in the field today. That takes some saying, because this really is a golden age for short story writing. There are magicians who delight, conjurers who pop up worlds of magnificence and entertainers who bring a grin.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Maria writes extraordinary stories. I bought this and... well, I couldn't read it quickly. I had to savour it. I had to let each story of pain and heartbreak and love and uncertainty settle in my bones before I could move on to the next.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">There's And You Shall Sing To Me A Deeper Song, which creates a world of rogue military AI and the singers who silenced them - only to become unwanted weapons no longer needed in the aftermath.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">There's the title story which binds together fragments of action with cords made of heartache and hurt, telling the short tale of imminent and unavoidable tragedy.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">There's Cleaver, Meat and Block, which has made it into the best horror stories of the year anthology, telling of a world after a zombie apocalypse in which the zombies were cured, and those who weren't infected live side by side with those who ate their friends, their relatives.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Then there's one I had a hand in publishing originally, Tunguska, 1987, which tells its story across time periods about a man and his dog having a strange encounter in 1929 and picking up the after-effects of that in a world of 1987 where the Tunguska meteor contained something very different from in our own world.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It's a collection of beautiful, sometimes painful stories. There's an old story about two sculptors who are carving a piece of work. Both are asked what they're carving, and one says "A unicorn! It's beautiful!" and the other says "My heart." Maria is carving her heart with these stories to see what it shows. They are personal, and really linger with you afterwards.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Read this. It's wonderful.</span></div></div></div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-10008330032582150782022-01-01T13:14:00.003-08:002022-01-01T13:14:27.196-08:00BOOK REVIEW: The Cat Who Walked A Thousand Miles, by Kij Johnson; Nomad's Hollow, by Chris Jags; Unaltered, by JC Steel; Guardians at the Wall, by Tim Walker; Going Green, by Christine McMullen; The Redhead, The Rogue and the Railroad, by Jane Jago; and What She Said, by AM Leibowitz; Six Dreams About The Train, by Maria Haskins<p> The first day of the New Year! And this is a hangover from last year. Not in the drank-too-much-the-night-before sense, alas. But this is a catch-up on my last remaining reviews from last year. Coming up soon will be my pick of my favourite books of 2021, but for now... let's start with a tale of a cat and a long walk...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNQHXuIdHumr6e99Atbml2gOCHhrp9UNRSJqlyMNxYJEUFUGKSyt6R4cWhUf3pkcjPlWhqxGcyDi-y4orCH3FVs3Fsc1uylhLwXAuDb7HMq0DioshvPT-Ii4qbmdS10kGUc9qLKywgdv2kRmxwBlFWwzJxYcAoMrjeVA_aNHA4oNqLaIfwP7OZVwSK=s475" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNQHXuIdHumr6e99Atbml2gOCHhrp9UNRSJqlyMNxYJEUFUGKSyt6R4cWhUf3pkcjPlWhqxGcyDi-y4orCH3FVs3Fsc1uylhLwXAuDb7HMq0DioshvPT-Ii4qbmdS10kGUc9qLKywgdv2kRmxwBlFWwzJxYcAoMrjeVA_aNHA4oNqLaIfwP7OZVwSK=w266-h400" width="266" /></a></div><div><br /></div><b>The Cat Who Walked A Thousand Miles, by Kij Johnson</b><div><br /></div><div>A thoroughly sweet tale, this tells the story of Small Cat, cut adrift from his community of fellow cats by a fire that rips through their home. With her community held together by stories, she sets off to find another family, one where her story might fit with theirs. </div><div>It's an adventure that sees her face earthquake and fire, abduction and lost friendship as she makes her way to the top of Mt Fuji and beyond. </div><div>At the heart of it is the importance of stories, and the importance of finding our own family and place in the world. </div><div>For Small Cat, that also means finding a new name. A new identity. A new home. </div><div>Charming, delightful and thoughtful. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 5/5</b></div><div style="text-align: right;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>You can read The Cat Who Walked A Thousand Miles free on the <a href="https://www.tor.com/2009/07/14/the-cat-who-walked-a-thousand-miles/">Tor website</a>.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgD7c0yObgWTrg0CGJUb94XNYth7PiD5GfX0KHNfX3i5EBmbYhwg3df2fG0ruqWVOmHN67v72ITqbb-10QgUDAFbzQ9a7LLf4ZFj9ZWSldox37EphrVJLHTnGVYLHWnqkkim-hh-DAGdyjaCOBAvO-UdAiJovPVmdTMUk0lNncbjwvxJmYDSOPzX5nw=s475" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="297" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgD7c0yObgWTrg0CGJUb94XNYth7PiD5GfX0KHNfX3i5EBmbYhwg3df2fG0ruqWVOmHN67v72ITqbb-10QgUDAFbzQ9a7LLf4ZFj9ZWSldox37EphrVJLHTnGVYLHWnqkkim-hh-DAGdyjaCOBAvO-UdAiJovPVmdTMUk0lNncbjwvxJmYDSOPzX5nw=w250-h400" width="250" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Nomad's Hollow, by Chris Jags</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I blasted through this and its sequel, Cannonbrook, over the Christmas holidays, and after a rough year, this was a good way to end things. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Faeries are cute, right? Well, no better way to start a story with cute critters than by a bunch of human knights coming in to chop them up. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What do these little cute beings do in the aftermath of the slaughter? Find shelter then plot bloody revenge, of course!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It really zips by as a read - as does its sequel. I wouldn't normally be into stories about faeries, but these are mean little brutes and I'm fully on their side as they exact their vengeance on us mean old humans. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 4/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Nomad's Hollow is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nomads-Hollow-Wellfire-Faeries-Book-ebook/dp/B086YFLF8V/ref=sr_1_1?crid=HHZHOPRKJVM7&keywords=Nomad%27s+Hollow&qid=1641066377&sprefix=nomad%27s+hollow%2Caps%2C88&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHG-nEhzQMIm51KtrWlTykKbP9dYk6G4Og9CW7XGjOEGe56i8r7bk7g4b696fIbsJ4ttpY5hWdbwoWnEx4T_0xDz2XKJWGyc4KuvhiwDD9n3Qp14jpMxM-noqYwFD0Q2ElZypDmbqYeB2cYKV3rnqIoVEAlVgbqcX_2K9q1zqJOpi6b62FgFZ2cq__=s475" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHG-nEhzQMIm51KtrWlTykKbP9dYk6G4Og9CW7XGjOEGe56i8r7bk7g4b696fIbsJ4ttpY5hWdbwoWnEx4T_0xDz2XKJWGyc4KuvhiwDD9n3Qp14jpMxM-noqYwFD0Q2ElZypDmbqYeB2cYKV3rnqIoVEAlVgbqcX_2K9q1zqJOpi6b62FgFZ2cq__=w268-h400" width="268" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Unaltered, by JC Steel</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I didn't quite know what to expect with this one when I started, so I was quite delighted when it turned out to be a splendid little sci-fi adventure, with a dash of Firefly here and a feeling of the old Traveller RPG too. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's part of a bigger series, but a great way to dip your toe into the Cortii universe. It tells the story of a horse rancher who has to wear a remarkable number of ridiculous outfits to seal a deal - and the deadly bodyguard watching his back who might be the one in most danger of all. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's not a long read, but it does a lot in the space it has to tell its story, hinting at the much larger universe while delivering an effective introduction and telling its own tale along the way. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nicely done, and a good way to try out the setting for new readers. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 4/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Unaltered is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unaltered-Cortii-sci-fi-adventure-novella-ebook/dp/B07PRMKV7L/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TVZAEEI1VBHB&keywords=unaltered+jc+steel&qid=1641066896&sprefix=unaltered+jc+steel%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCBDTJZgofUbEFvjWUGu4MhQaJ1hfflXeRqzATgE4dESdFAme5kIq_sM8AhPc86i3V5tlIhltsObUqXzvtPiuPvawfuH68dIj-B7u_Advim0CdMjAzqUVYbQgfdHiPXXIi5hsNuoa_9itEjblxYu7ykKxx-9lppVPrJWYG5LrgMuI0eS9twVE7ScO6=s475" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCBDTJZgofUbEFvjWUGu4MhQaJ1hfflXeRqzATgE4dESdFAme5kIq_sM8AhPc86i3V5tlIhltsObUqXzvtPiuPvawfuH68dIj-B7u_Advim0CdMjAzqUVYbQgfdHiPXXIi5hsNuoa_9itEjblxYu7ykKxx-9lppVPrJWYG5LrgMuI0eS9twVE7ScO6=w268-h400" width="268" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Guardians at the Wall, by Tim Walker</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A story told across centuries, this book tells of the Roman soldiers of 180CE, and the archaeologists in the modern day uncovering their story. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Centurion Gaius Atticanus faces a series of battles as he is stationed by Hadrian's Wall, while in the modern day, archaeology student Noah follows the trail of clues that might lead to the centurion's last act, and a treasure hidden for thousands of years. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Both sides of the story are well told, though I'll confess I preferred the mystery of the modern to the action of the ancient. But no need to choose, we have both! The modern also works in secret lust, tentative romance and grand theft along the way. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">An intriguing way to tackle a story inspired by real history. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 4/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Guardians at the Wall is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Guardians-at-Wall-Tim-Walker-ebook/dp/B08Y85DJYB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=18SY6DPQ4GZLY&keywords=guardians+at+the+wall+tim+walker&qid=1641067279&sprefix=guardians+at+the+wall+tim+walke%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Going Green, by Christina McMullen</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Published in 2014, my word does this land in a whole different way post pandemic. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a satire about a zombie apocalypse, but boy it might as well be a manual describing how stupidity and selfishness can spread a deadly virus with the past two years as a prime example. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Told in fragments throughout the apocalypse - World War Z style almost - we see people pretending not to have been nibbled here, the government trying to avoid the word zombie there, the rich trying to flee to safety elsewhere. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's witty, it's snarky, it's prescient and I found myself laughing before realising yes, that's exactly how dumb humans would be before slumping into gloom at how horrible we all are. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If the world was a nail, this is the hammer that hit it upon the head. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 5/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Going Green is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Going-Green-Christina-McMullen-ebook/dp/B00M0OMDP4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OSELC2T12557&keywords=Going+Green+Christina+McMullen&qid=1641069468&sprefix=going+green+christina+mcmullen%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgP3uvB19HjrPVbklSz_I7IWshwjCC3RmaJpoGJAxtMOU4EezewW_wQ8FHIrhJ1MhyF0WU3G1hqiU_ZziYuO6Chd2hqIPH_gXr20y1Ziz68hA3TUWo-fJxAXWZnRpiXSCg37L1NB_ePchm20V3IFhuyJ6IUJI6rGAs7mk7InZQkZex8S2xyX5771OMS=s475" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="299" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgP3uvB19HjrPVbklSz_I7IWshwjCC3RmaJpoGJAxtMOU4EezewW_wQ8FHIrhJ1MhyF0WU3G1hqiU_ZziYuO6Chd2hqIPH_gXr20y1Ziz68hA3TUWo-fJxAXWZnRpiXSCg37L1NB_ePchm20V3IFhuyJ6IUJI6rGAs7mk7InZQkZex8S2xyX5771OMS=w251-h400" width="251" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Redhead, The Rogue & The Railroad, by Jane Jago</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jane Jago has a talent for characters. In this alternative history Western story, the lead characters have the kind of solid relationship you don't often see in books. They've had a rocky road in the past, but they can rely on one another, and pull one another out of the fire when need be. You can feel their history in the storytelling.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The story tells of Miriam and Cuchilo as they try to find out where the girls going west on the railroad are after they keep going missing. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Along the way, they face all kinds of threats - including the influence of the Church. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Part Western, part Noir, this is a really intriguing tale that you could easily see spinning off into more books involving Miriam and Cuchilo.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 5/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Redhead, The Rogue & The Railroad is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Redhead-Rogue-Railroad-Jane-Jago-ebook/dp/B08LMFCJBG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FKFSPFEANZIO&keywords=the+redhead+the+rogue+and+the+railroad&qid=1641069672&sprefix=the+redhead+the+rogue+and+the+railroad%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIUtSvVpcMzyKAsFoEAKaNvCYe2n1BpCcJSiAtKsYEC6wLBvxNfciNM26m1lB7iIxCRWE9dMmwQRTt3H-Cyv1YzGEj2WrMqMGyKbuYRXpiaawB_o6f5n3yuToUZYRah8XWPWT5zOV7q9jz5txPBceKdumdzWZOYaT3seA0aEuGNK-Rm429IgOAEdDV=s475" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="298" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIUtSvVpcMzyKAsFoEAKaNvCYe2n1BpCcJSiAtKsYEC6wLBvxNfciNM26m1lB7iIxCRWE9dMmwQRTt3H-Cyv1YzGEj2WrMqMGyKbuYRXpiaawB_o6f5n3yuToUZYRah8XWPWT5zOV7q9jz5txPBceKdumdzWZOYaT3seA0aEuGNK-Rm429IgOAEdDV=w251-h400" width="251" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>What She Said, by AM Leibowitz</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sometimes in life there are moments that matter so very much. This collection of short stories dwells on some of those. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In large part, it's a series of vignettes, dropping in on moments of romance, of coming out, of realisation. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While short, some of these really hit the mark, and it's especially nice to see stories such as these navigating life within the LGBTQ community. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My only wish - which is never a bad one - is that we could have had more. The stories are gone too soon, and I wanted to stay a while longer. That said, the length may be slight, but for some these will be important moments. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 3/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>What She Said is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/What-She-Said-Women-centered-Fiction-ebook/dp/B08C5L6H54/ref=sr_1_1?crid=BJ199Z9ZGU8T&keywords=What+She+Said+A+M+Leibowitz&qid=1641070418&sprefix=what+she+said+a+m+leibowitz%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBFvpAQ7t7_jfqxBMTkzW_26xh8t-vJ4dUNSdPn57XDePdva-QTRQlhn9lUdyIe089sZhW7_7XAdJ5P-3gNHkAx5TFjbRy2T2c14cTXnPlb5kU3fdgQdudgvAQiD5fwWFy7607VLYpegNiG_u-89y0TNB7Jo-iaqTkk2CNIWWg_ml_9JDQxkvjZqiv=s500" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBFvpAQ7t7_jfqxBMTkzW_26xh8t-vJ4dUNSdPn57XDePdva-QTRQlhn9lUdyIe089sZhW7_7XAdJ5P-3gNHkAx5TFjbRy2T2c14cTXnPlb5kU3fdgQdudgvAQiD5fwWFy7607VLYpegNiG_u-89y0TNB7Jo-iaqTkk2CNIWWg_ml_9JDQxkvjZqiv=w266-h400" width="266" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Six Dreams About The Train, by Maria Haskins</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Maria Haskins is one of the best writers in the field today. That takes some saying, because this really is a golden age for short story writing. There are magicians who delight, conjurers who pop up worlds of magnificence and entertainers who bring a grin. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-b88u0q r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.01); border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1419; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maria</span><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.01); border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1419; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> writes extraordinary stories. I bought this and... well, I couldn't read it quickly. I had to savour it. I had to let each story of pain and heartbreak and love and uncertainty settle in my bones before I could move on to the next.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.01); border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1419; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's And You Shall Sing To Me A Deeper Song, which creates a world of rogue military AI and the singers who silenced them - only to become unwanted weapons no longer needed in the aftermath.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.01); border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1419; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's the title story which binds together fragments of action with cords made of heartache and hurt, telling the short tale of imminent and unavoidable tragedy.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.01); border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1419; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's Cleaver, Meat and Block, which has made it into the best horror stories of the year anthology, telling of a world after a zombie apocalypse in which the zombies were cured, and those who weren't infected live side by side with those who ate their friends, their relatives. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.01); border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1419; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then there's one I had a hand in publishing originally, Tunguska, 1987, which tells its story across time periods about a man and his dog having a strange encounter in 1929 and picking up the after-effects of that in a world of 1987 where the Tunguska meteor contained something very different from in our own world. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.01); border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1419; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's a collection of beautiful, sometimes painful stories. There's an old story about two sculptors who are carving a piece of work. Both are asked what they're carving, and one says "A unicorn! It's beautiful!" and the other says "My heart." Maria is carving her heart with these stories to see what it shows. They are personal, and really linger with you afterwards. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.01); color: #0f1419; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read this. It's wonderful.</span></div><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 5/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div></div></div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-84647941487009057722021-12-17T14:30:00.004-08:002021-12-17T14:30:30.667-08:00Meet the author: Sharon Sasaki, writer of the Grace Lord series<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">SE Sasaki is a Canadian medical doctor who has worked as a family physician for over 20 years and now spends her time in the operating room assisting in surgery at a hospital in Southern Ontario - and has also been writing for as long as she can remember. The ideas for her Welcome to the Madhouse and Grace Lord Series have come from her experiences in the medical office and the operating room - and the latest in the series, SAVING GRACE, has just been released. She stopped by to chat about it and her writing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkASd_rfi-jKZPa10qRgKlnXb3mhGGMe_jDZtE8luu637ro72aulKlra4er4zOHEbK7Yol9Worsj15br2aS3HMFsfbu9VhTYnPPMsF2It-900CnrKWIRXx7s6hGp2ndMJnPecDRY0ObopOa1BHYswmYyfXboM3RfpGCLA48zFfpzpye6FEcYgYNy59=s450" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkASd_rfi-jKZPa10qRgKlnXb3mhGGMe_jDZtE8luu637ro72aulKlra4er4zOHEbK7Yol9Worsj15br2aS3HMFsfbu9VhTYnPPMsF2It-900CnrKWIRXx7s6hGp2ndMJnPecDRY0ObopOa1BHYswmYyfXboM3RfpGCLA48zFfpzpye6FEcYgYNy59=s320" width="320" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></i></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><i><br /></i></div><b style="font-family: inherit;">Hi there, and welcome to Altered Instinct! Tell us a little about your most recent book – what is it called, and what is it about?<br /></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">My most recent book, launching on December 17th, is titled SAVING GRACE, and is about the crew aboard the medical space station, the Nelson Mandela, having to prevent an increasingly powerful, destructive alien entity - brought to the station inside a dead explorer - from getting off of the station to create havoc amongst the galaxy.<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What inspired the story?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> <br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The story is actually about forbidden love between a human and an android, where the android symbolizes those who are not accepted by society or discriminated against whether on the basis of race, colour, religion, gender, or class. It is about the ugly face of prejudice and society’s discrimination.<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_s6Y3YLwDgM7KB7ef1P62ELs0N49uI9wfucp8lPwLpxtOTjq1e8m9PG5UQUtljfzCP5iK7xpT-pJPkz7yQO51XJYHIe0D8LOrheIHo3Lrl8DV4oNuXTv0gUXLqMwKQ4O5UX0jfLFRaQbCDCQTEpxu7GlDTwunvPOhbIONTWJP8r4zjFSh3jmFtSIW=s500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_s6Y3YLwDgM7KB7ef1P62ELs0N49uI9wfucp8lPwLpxtOTjq1e8m9PG5UQUtljfzCP5iK7xpT-pJPkz7yQO51XJYHIe0D8LOrheIHo3Lrl8DV4oNuXTv0gUXLqMwKQ4O5UX0jfLFRaQbCDCQTEpxu7GlDTwunvPOhbIONTWJP8r4zjFSh3jmFtSIW=w266-h400" width="266" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Without spoilers, what was one of your favourite moments of the story to write? What was it that made you enjoy that section so much?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> <br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">I loved writing the ending, where the heroes sacrifice everything and love conquers all. I hope that is not too much of a spoiler, but it is a happy / bittersweet ending.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a writer, have you ever had a character grow to be a much bigger part of the story than you expected? Who was the character and what was it about them that made them emerge from the sidelights?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> <br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have a plant alien/ human symbiont that, surprisingly to me, has become such an essential and lovable part of my stories. Who knew? I get emails and letters from readers all the time who say they love Plant Thing! Well, Plant Thing is central to much of the action in SAVING GRACE, so if you are into plant characters (like Groot, maybe, but bigger?) you will love Plant Thing.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What are your favourite genres to read – and what is it about those genres that draws you in? </span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I read a lot of different genres and I love them all.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> <br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Science fiction, of course, but also Fantasy, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, some Nonfiction. I love good writing. I love to learn something new. I want a book to be about something, like teaching us to try to be better humans, to be better to each other no matter your colour, religion, gender, or nationality, or species!</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFcPE-eEq2BTXUVFt1Kcu5L_bqWIOBenoVbBbf9UvqUZnIpgC7R_U3IzeA7mpvUAdxq2t4-fve5mQXKCHA_pzFG7JYgqWwfWm2nRdJeoWGZu_VA17JlrVLBsc7jQS4n68l4EUu24z_8AoSC0E6b9OJV8uwk9HB5CToHeVfzH45L58NTpylqXUsOr0N=s500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFcPE-eEq2BTXUVFt1Kcu5L_bqWIOBenoVbBbf9UvqUZnIpgC7R_U3IzeA7mpvUAdxq2t4-fve5mQXKCHA_pzFG7JYgqWwfWm2nRdJeoWGZu_VA17JlrVLBsc7jQS4n68l4EUu24z_8AoSC0E6b9OJV8uwk9HB5CToHeVfzH45L58NTpylqXUsOr0N=w133-h200" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuDRd-MT9xxBcmRnDuR_s8Wwvu_2LHDd2C9Zg8bt6F8h9W1EA9yLepGVg009Pa4XX006dOJ94tzofXZPz5sURG5chWSEPL6rzxDenH1HO5JwyaZaqK9GRnYzlKMEwhwshQOAMfbsaT2IdzjKxITFM24Uj2D_hZgZIRmm5Y4YkgjgDM2AkWur1lapcZ=s500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuDRd-MT9xxBcmRnDuR_s8Wwvu_2LHDd2C9Zg8bt6F8h9W1EA9yLepGVg009Pa4XX006dOJ94tzofXZPz5sURG5chWSEPL6rzxDenH1HO5JwyaZaqK9GRnYzlKMEwhwshQOAMfbsaT2IdzjKxITFM24Uj2D_hZgZIRmm5Y4YkgjgDM2AkWur1lapcZ=w133-h200" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh85Vx9IVe6nCIfTjYV_Rif1OUzW3cEu04Q_TjrFmlahNu2TlORcUXWDKe1JJo3oYaddfiVxyj5N91DoTOjzWtg40OyuYa-WV3g9FHFgylMPjPfEs_pwmkVVwrUpsNZ64Mz6wH9Rp4ZgCZiaO9Tn-vne87LtjZ-FYuAeTFBIpMzOeZYW9yPQ0x3Lw40=s500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh85Vx9IVe6nCIfTjYV_Rif1OUzW3cEu04Q_TjrFmlahNu2TlORcUXWDKe1JJo3oYaddfiVxyj5N91DoTOjzWtg40OyuYa-WV3g9FHFgylMPjPfEs_pwmkVVwrUpsNZ64Mz6wH9Rp4ZgCZiaO9Tn-vne87LtjZ-FYuAeTFBIpMzOeZYW9yPQ0x3Lw40=w133-h200" width="133" /></a></b></div><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></b><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What were some of your favourite books to read as a child? Which were the first books you remember falling in love with?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle; Podkayne of Mars by Robert Heinlein; Dune by Frank Herbert; The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien; Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov; Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny and Nine Princes of Amber by Roger Zelazny; The Once and Future King by T.H. White.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Who are your favourite authors to read? And whose writing do you feel has inspired your own work most?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> <br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">I read everything by Frank Herbert, Roger Zelazny, Terry Pratchett, JRR Tolkien, Sherri Tepper, may they Rest in Peace. I still pick up every Guy Gavriel Kay book and William Gibson book, whenever they come out. Also those of Richard Morgan, Joe Abercrombie, Diana Gabaldon, Steven Brust, Connie Willis. I write a lot of humour amidst the mayhem, so I think Lois McMaster Bujold, Terry Pratchett, Steven Brust, Christopher Moore, all have a role to play in the zaniness.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">You get stuck on an island and had only one book packed in your travel bag before the ship went down – what book do you hope you have in there?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> <br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hahaha. The entire 6 volume set of Winston Churchill’s The Second World War, because I bought the entire Folio edition set hoping to read it during my retirement and have never even had a chance to unwrap the set from its plastic. It should keep me busy on the island until rescue comes and I will learn so much I don’t know about that time!</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjyKvMjKd8ZwAS2-v70GJ9H6vexuVeTIdicElgXtW0Hws4RV5VAjrhSjfbvN6M10hHsXItMnWiTt0onYkInmJjfokW0rj9S7RoIrjE6B_lQP3ZfK1jnQxeZ1HUhTokeKY3Ivrzd4ZEEKpIc0nPnrQGFU5eKJW-9ymDyMjW-b0cqBc4iLGOZI0773N5H=s455" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="455" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjyKvMjKd8ZwAS2-v70GJ9H6vexuVeTIdicElgXtW0Hws4RV5VAjrhSjfbvN6M10hHsXItMnWiTt0onYkInmJjfokW0rj9S7RoIrjE6B_lQP3ZfK1jnQxeZ1HUhTokeKY3Ivrzd4ZEEKpIc0nPnrQGFU5eKJW-9ymDyMjW-b0cqBc4iLGOZI0773N5H=w400-h176" width="400" /></a></b></div><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have to ask for readers who might want to know: Is this a kissing book?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> <br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">No kissing. There might be a hug or two.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Where can readers follow you to find out more about your work?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> <br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">My website is <a href="http://www.sesasaki.com">http://www.sesasaki.com</a>. I am on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/se_sasaki">@se_sasaki</a>. I am on Facebook at S.E. Sasaki and I am in the SciFi Roundtable Facebook Group. You can get on my email list through my website when it is finished. It is getting revamped at the moment. I hope to give away my novella, Genesis, to readers who sign up for me newsletter.<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can buy SAVING GRACE at: </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Grace-Medical-Suspense-Thriller-ebook/dp/B09MWQ17QY/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Saving+Grace+by+S.E.+Sasaki&qid=1638811772&sr=8-1">https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Grace-Medical-Suspense-Thriller-ebook/dp/B09MWQ17QY/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Saving+Grace+by+S.E.+Sasaki&qid=1638811772&sr=8-1</a></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://books2read.com/u/47QZzN">https://books2read.com/u/47QZzN</a></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><a href="https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/saving-grace-156"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/saving-grace-156</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: xx-small;"><b></b></span></a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">A traditional question here at Altered Instinct – what are you reading at present, and what is the best book you’ve read in the past year?</b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am presently reading AZINCOURT by Bernard Cornwell as well as SHUGGIE BAIN by Douglas Stuart. (I tend to read two or three books at once; don’t ask me why). I have read so many good books in the last year! A Little Life by Tanya Yanagihara; Agency by William Gibson; Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng; Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, & The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel. It is really hard to write, read all of the books I keep buying, and work full time. If I could only get rid of sleeping and eating, it would be a big help...</span></p>
<iframe allow="autoplay" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F0pUz-l8OWgZAsE22-vQ0smogou833gi/preview" width="640"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1NsSl3iuFyUwIj2I9tila2d8TyXYhJSUmYhLy0BCW8J6BfkMDUjaSaOfE_khMDpyTqoBvwUBhDystq1t2Pcj_GG-7YIxBnNwy9N_ru_p8vk-X2rMoesOjTkM9AqqSL437rGgsLlNEz_wugM_yR17mQudQAvY3u1OODNe4Rg_mx2yVfW2oob7iXroQ=s756" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1NsSl3iuFyUwIj2I9tila2d8TyXYhJSUmYhLy0BCW8J6BfkMDUjaSaOfE_khMDpyTqoBvwUBhDystq1t2Pcj_GG-7YIxBnNwy9N_ru_p8vk-X2rMoesOjTkM9AqqSL437rGgsLlNEz_wugM_yR17mQudQAvY3u1OODNe4Rg_mx2yVfW2oob7iXroQ=w610-h640" width="610" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4UifpONdYw7Hk3FB49bKmCD5iHyiKwauIqSZJ9qkQkStBl_LdXc1CxTqlXKPxqDdEKZ1rvIwfg4TTYpWuuty5rD8pUEteRNDvoQNnLec7NrDAGsSOCeVaJIFe_hsOhB1BmXXXA8cXleXoHgpCnRX1XaLPqnAMLbwkEEAjI243vXjzvGl5mexGZpQ4=s783" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4UifpONdYw7Hk3FB49bKmCD5iHyiKwauIqSZJ9qkQkStBl_LdXc1CxTqlXKPxqDdEKZ1rvIwfg4TTYpWuuty5rD8pUEteRNDvoQNnLec7NrDAGsSOCeVaJIFe_hsOhB1BmXXXA8cXleXoHgpCnRX1XaLPqnAMLbwkEEAjI243vXjzvGl5mexGZpQ4=w588-h640" width="588" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwJBoYK_rGxwcQOGoY_PMzC9cf9g1EPJfThA8UOWDtNkbI6dwVyMJHXjcBSgs4Eb0nOEFQZKbACLetJ192sPg2r0VGFtZkYtxfnLhxxe9aYKrWd1Mz34Ptz05fjJsQsXDPXjb8Fn5FDfodd1Bzq4Ouxgg2V91ICFduwRkkB5k_2lcXU6aJhErW-8TQ=s756" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwJBoYK_rGxwcQOGoY_PMzC9cf9g1EPJfThA8UOWDtNkbI6dwVyMJHXjcBSgs4Eb0nOEFQZKbACLetJ192sPg2r0VGFtZkYtxfnLhxxe9aYKrWd1Mz34Ptz05fjJsQsXDPXjb8Fn5FDfodd1Bzq4Ouxgg2V91ICFduwRkkB5k_2lcXU6aJhErW-8TQ=w610-h640" width="610" /></a></div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-31041451713911818422021-11-12T10:24:00.003-08:002021-11-12T10:24:17.367-08:00BOOK REVIEW: Leviathan Wakes, by James S Corey; The Silk Thief, by Claire Buss; Human Starpilot, by F Stephan; and Redshift, by RM Olson<p><i>Welcome to the latest round of reviews! And this should be the first of two review write-ups in short order, with the next one being a number of collections and anthologies I've been reading of later. But first, novels! Time to dive into deep space, and worlds of fantasy. First up, I've been watching The Expanse series for a while now - and thought it was about time to try out the books. So without further ado, it's time to wake the leviathan... </i></p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBhMnMj1C7tMMb9TN3WZb5H6WLW0z8ua5xIAKVMYu0_bgqYGsfne3HpY9g8JE9PbFOXzUUG_zfATo3Vu5EMchvMrif7f9MBVyt0TWVBtZHfwZo3etrs6alqu3GWVsmvyFK5H-m-ahKgg/s475/38213061._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBhMnMj1C7tMMb9TN3WZb5H6WLW0z8ua5xIAKVMYu0_bgqYGsfne3HpY9g8JE9PbFOXzUUG_zfATo3Vu5EMchvMrif7f9MBVyt0TWVBtZHfwZo3etrs6alqu3GWVsmvyFK5H-m-ahKgg/s320/38213061._SY475_.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Leviathan Wakes, by James S A Corey</b></p><p>Sometimes you open a book up and you know you're in sure hands right away - and from page one of Leviathan Wakes, you know this is a solid piece of writing. </p><p>It starts with horror, as much as anything else, with Julie Mao on board a doomed spaceship trying to find a way to survive, then switches to the two main protagonists as they try to figure out what became of her and the consequences of what happened. </p><p>One of those is Jim Holden, a man who has tumbled down the ranks of society to become an officer on board an ice hauler, only to find captaincy thrust upon him in the aftermath of finding a derelict ship. The other is Joe Miller, a detective and drunk treated as a joke by his colleagues and given the job of finding Julie Mao by his boss. </p><p>What happens will bring the two together as the solar system spirals to war around them - and at the heart of it all, something is ready to change the universe forever, something alien. </p><p>It's interesting to come at this from watching the show to see the differences. One of the best characters from the show, Chrisjen Avasarala, the bull-headed Earth diplomat, is completely absent here, which explains why for much of the first season of the show she was so peripheral to the story. There are other differences too - the character of Shed Garvey, the ship medic of sorts, was fleshed out better in the show, as is the character of Amos Burton, who is a bit one-note in the book but given greater depth in the series thanks to the great Wes Chatham. On the other hand, both Holden and Miller hold up better in the book than the show, given the greater focus on them as protagonists. Miller, especially, great in the show, is a messy person with a remarkable talent for piecing things together, not all at once but worrying at each problem like a determined terrier until he gets there. </p><p>Reading it also feels like you could be reading something that has sprung from a roleplaying campaign. Each different character feels like they could have been created from a book of classes and skill sets. </p><p>It's a real treat of a book to read, and there's always something potentially world-ending going on, setting the stakes high and motoring through to the finale. You can absolutely see why this became the success that it is, and it's a fabulous introduction to characters you will love, and sometimes hate in equal measure. </p><p>I read book one just as a curiosity to compare with the show - but I'm hooked, and I'll be back. </p><p style="text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 5/5</b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Leviathan Wakes is available <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Wakes-Expanse-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0047Y171G/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Leviathan+Wakes&qid=1636737890&sr=8-1">here</a> on Amazon.</i></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4skBbW5rMWjNTySBFHc0ZbFDa8UY8rSMIH191x2j5cqBgk5CNzs5hKE1_RLp7DsSXGQG2F-WdWs5iil1QscJoZMk2XHWha7A6jDaXqU49eckMySPMWJH_cVWoXtcNI0CPITPbyrgdDM/s475/58018107._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="293" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4skBbW5rMWjNTySBFHc0ZbFDa8UY8rSMIH191x2j5cqBgk5CNzs5hKE1_RLp7DsSXGQG2F-WdWs5iil1QscJoZMk2XHWha7A6jDaXqU49eckMySPMWJH_cVWoXtcNI0CPITPbyrgdDM/s320/58018107._SY475_.jpg" width="197" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Silk Thief, by Claire Buss</b></div><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a welcome return to Roshaven from author Claire Buss - a series that started out with <a href="http://www.alteredinstinct.com/2019/10/book-reviews-rose-thief-by-claire-buss.html">The Rose Thief</a>. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Picking up after the events of the first book, the Emperor has a dilemma, she has to pick a name. Fourteen apparently will not suffice for the people. Worse, she also has to pick a husband. And it would be awfully nice if she could get people to call her Empress as well. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She turns for help to those who came to her aid in the first book - the Thief Catcher Ned Spinks and his companion Jenni the Sprite. But with Ned beset by a Nightmare - not just a bad dream but a supernatural haunting - and Jenni having lost her magic as she goes through her coming of age, they might not be the best people to help. Worse, it might just cost Fourteen the kingdom...</p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mixing wit with wisdom, there is a real Pratchett feel to much of this. It's laugh out loud funny in places while spiking in thoughts about sexism and social inequality along the way, all without being too heavy handed. There's also love. Y'know, the kind that feels real, not the sort that feels levered into the story just for a bit of romance. You find yourself rooting for characters even when they don't know themselves what they really want.</p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I particularly love the character of Jenni the sprite, a Cockney accented grump of a fairy far from afraid of saying the impolite but necessary thing. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's a warm, witty, wonderful delight of a tale, and I heartily recommend it. It's better even than the first book I would say, and that's a rare treat in itself. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 5/5</b></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Silk Thief is available <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Silk-Thief-Humorous-Fantasy-Roshaven-ebook/dp/B08RXD2646/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+silk+thief&qid=1636738717&sr=8-1">here</a> on Amazon - and book three, The Bone Thief, is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bone-Thief-Humorous-Fantasy-Roshaven-ebook/dp/B095QSWDZ5/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=bone+thief+claire+buss&qid=1636741417&sr=8-1">out today</a>.</i></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmy8yZy1eXGNUnl0myzfjnb6-DhEjZ4OIkmYwbF9wFhoPcUpT0xVWEF6uoUDEEWFBntZitqA7kF2H_YsQBk_0k5m_gEQUHzg5DaW-DTiWwD2u7dj6hcyafvG4XHZDWG5kEIHztrmsQmz0/s475/40097216._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="297" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmy8yZy1eXGNUnl0myzfjnb6-DhEjZ4OIkmYwbF9wFhoPcUpT0xVWEF6uoUDEEWFBntZitqA7kF2H_YsQBk_0k5m_gEQUHzg5DaW-DTiWwD2u7dj6hcyafvG4XHZDWG5kEIHztrmsQmz0/s320/40097216._SY475_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Human Starpilot, by F Stephan</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's a smashing idea at the heart of Human Starpilot. Humanity has encountered aliens, and it might just be the thing that saves an Earth facing the collapse of its ecology. Earth has something of its own that the aliens want - pilots. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Earth suddenly finds itself trying to find a place in an alliance that depends on technology far more ancient than those using it, and its bargaining chips will be the humans trying to earn a place alongside other species as pilots of these vessels. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The story itself follows Brian and his fellow cadets as they try to master the art of piloting, something that requires the use of nanotechnology injected into their systems - something that can fundamentally change the pilots themselves, or even kill them. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In a lot of ways, we're in the same kind of territory here as Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, and there's something of the same sense of exploring the morality behind the use of technology too, with the lives of the pilots little more than a way of Earth getting what it wants - and the pilots keenly aware that the price of failure if they don't master this alien technology could be the catastrophic failure of Earth's ecosystem. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So far, so good - but there is a but. I'm not certain, but it feels as if this book is written in the author's second language. Credit for that, they do a lot better than I would, and that brings with it too some good things in a different approach - but it really needed a tighter edit. There are a lot of incorrect word choices and typos, but it could also have done with better editing overall to make the story slimmer and smoother. Some of the errors are glaring, such as when a list of five trade rules is presented and it only lists four. The title itself I'm not 100% sure of - on my version of the book it's Human Starpilot, while on Goodreads it's got an extra s on the end as in the picture above. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A lot of the ideas in the book are interesting, but the wording makes it harder to get your head around some of them, while a lot is left hanging over to be resolved in sequels. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All told, I generally liked it, but would advise readers to take a look at the "Look Inside" function in online shops before they take the plunge. If you can live with the occasional incorrect word choice or typos here and there, go right ahead. For me, though, it really needed a solid edit to make the story shine. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 3/5</b></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Human Starpilot is available <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Human-starpilots-F-Stephan-ebook/dp/B07CZM4HGT/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=human+starpilot&qid=1636739256&sr=8-1">here</a> on Amazon.</i></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM5FdS6IGKg8CtadlVZDuanPejxtCmKwRWJ54QOICyU8_7P9BqEy3V9TSk_saBT5SSWL36twpa0DuHcQ4PQU87G5dEYNSACAW-0pqkS4o2Qa5X0k-TAtDuISQ8VtwpektxGHV6KZW4l8/s475/59340186._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM5FdS6IGKg8CtadlVZDuanPejxtCmKwRWJ54QOICyU8_7P9BqEy3V9TSk_saBT5SSWL36twpa0DuHcQ4PQU87G5dEYNSACAW-0pqkS4o2Qa5X0k-TAtDuISQ8VtwpektxGHV6KZW4l8/s320/59340186._SY475_.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Redshift, by RM Olson</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Soaring spaceships, inexplicable portals, betrayal, assassins and more - space opera ahoy!</p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Redshift is the first book in the Singularity series - and it brings together a motley crew of adventurers as the world changes in an instant with the appearance of a mysterious portal. More than that, something that emerges from the portal gives hope of a cure to a defect that has long been plaguing humanity, and a chance of survival for those affected by it. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Into this are plunged a genius scientist along with his best friend, a top politician who might find herself being outmanoeuvred by a rival, and the galaxy's best assassin trying to escape a government bloodhound on her trail. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The portal brings them all together - in one way or another - but this book is more about the troubles on the way, with murder attempts, sabotage and mutiny all on the agenda. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a rollicking ride of a book. It's perfect for those who want to binge read through a series (more books on the way), with characters that are intriguing and a soap opera tale to plunge into. If it's hard sci-fi you're after, this isn't it, but nor does it aim to be. Instead it's in the vein of Firefly or Dark Matter. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another positive to mention is the use of non-binary characters and a range of relationships, all as part of a universe that doesn't make that a big deal but just ordinary life. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's a lot to love in this book, and a lot left to explore in future episodes. I'm giving it four stars, because I perhaps wanted a bit more of what is left over in this book instead, which focuses more on the characters and less on the situation that brought them together. But as a starting point, it's a good read. </p><p style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 4/5</b></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Redshift is available <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Redshift-space-opera-adventure-Singularity-ebook/dp/B09J1T1CHN/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=redshift+rm+olson&qid=1636740198&sr=8-1">here</a> on Amazon</i></p><i><br /></i><p></p><p></p><p></p>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-90005734326635700812021-10-14T15:28:00.007-07:002021-10-14T15:28:54.741-07:00Meet The Author: EJ Dawson, author of Behind The Veil<i style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">Ejay Dawson is an author I've bumped into out in Twitterville, haunting the likes and mentions of tweets and being a supportive and encouraging part of the community. And she has a new book out! </i><br /><i style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">Beginning a writing journey with an epic 21 book series, Ejay started her author career in 2014 and has taken on the ups and downs of self-publishing with her fantasy series The Last Prophecy since 2016. At the start of 2019, she put the series on the backburner to write Behind the Veil in 25 days, and signed a publishing contract for the gothic noir novel to independent publisher Literary Wanderlust.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i><br /><i style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">She stopped by to chat about Behind The Veil, her writing career and more!</i><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWW6IDzy1BXGXAH2zeaw3prxtOPxNBqjaGGUUIJutkAFAWybdVFxSFc-hyg2rmpWDg1UGiYMVyIObQ3nPLHNF1UklNzjGiLJJWj6w40XoVFh533QVG_IuE3GOLShZu093Sa3ck3pHUKHM/s1600/EJ+Dawson+author+profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWW6IDzy1BXGXAH2zeaw3prxtOPxNBqjaGGUUIJutkAFAWybdVFxSFc-hyg2rmpWDg1UGiYMVyIObQ3nPLHNF1UklNzjGiLJJWj6w40XoVFh533QVG_IuE3GOLShZu093Sa3ck3pHUKHM/w640-h426/EJ+Dawson+author+profile.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></span></b><div><b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">Hi, Ejay, tell us a little about your most recent book – what is it called, and what is it about? Give us your elevator pitch to make us fall in love with it!</span><br /></b><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></p><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">I’ve recently released Behind the Veil, a gothic noir about Letitia, who reads the veil between life and death to give closure to war widows. But when her gifts are called up on to safe a young girl from her growing insanity, Letitia has to decide to risk her sanity to catch a killer.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">What inspired the story?</span><br /></b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">Too much Penny Dreadful and a long time love of gothic romances thanks to my mother’s bookshelf. She had all those old romantic suspense books that I loved, but I wanted to add elements of the paranormal. Letitia came to me in a single afternoon and I sent what would become the first chapter to a friend, who informed me, and rightly so, that this wasn’t just a short story.</span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAAZPVsvD_zh6bMu91dLcwtCjZpJb9t-l-Y0TKxDbi4Q9gE_Aoif4bDBRINI3xeEPCUc7E4y9wiAx5Q9pPIxKLmcEAPRAvM60l9TF4yjM4nFepCZgFxajOiH91g-1NSAz8ZX8seMysAec/s970/Penny-Dreadful-Keyart-01-16x9-1-970x545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="970" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAAZPVsvD_zh6bMu91dLcwtCjZpJb9t-l-Y0TKxDbi4Q9gE_Aoif4bDBRINI3xeEPCUc7E4y9wiAx5Q9pPIxKLmcEAPRAvM60l9TF4yjM4nFepCZgFxajOiH91g-1NSAz8ZX8seMysAec/w400-h225/Penny-Dreadful-Keyart-01-16x9-1-970x545.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Too much Penny Dreadful? Impossible!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">Never such a thing as too much Penny Dreadful! Without spoilers, what was one of your favourite moments of the story to write? What was it that made you enjoy that section so much?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"> </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 9px;">For me it was the gentle unveiling of Letitia herself. The little glimpses into her past, how she herself was institutionalized, and how all of that came to be. I wrote the story in twenty five days not because I needed to but because I had to know how she came to be the way she was, and I didn’t know at the start.</span></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">As a writer, have you ever had a character grow to be a much bigger part of the story than you expected? Who was the character and what was it about them that made them emerge from the sidelights?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"> </span><br /></b><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">I absolutely have done this with my characters from my Queen of Spades trilogy. Two of the characters weren’t meant to become so important to the main character Ayla. The doctor of the ship, Kabe, and the android that was too perfect Casey. They didn’t just become their own characters, they developed a romance arc on the side of Ayla’s own with Leith that was delightful, fun, but intensely difficult give some elements of the story and how Ayla’s past affected all of them.</span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2O-Uu8CdExrveFH__LpOez1cJc7_wboMLa_L_-cF80xfH039h4NQ4I5YF9mrk6Z2GRgPcYOuyOFpHj1XRt4_aD8iIVbT2tPmojkrSAq4mR4Dy4wW9XtOSA3c0jZ3fvc5UM_76QFjwi84/s848/Behind+the+Veil+-+Dawson%252C+E.+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="535" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2O-Uu8CdExrveFH__LpOez1cJc7_wboMLa_L_-cF80xfH039h4NQ4I5YF9mrk6Z2GRgPcYOuyOFpHj1XRt4_aD8iIVbT2tPmojkrSAq4mR4Dy4wW9XtOSA3c0jZ3fvc5UM_76QFjwi84/w405-h640/Behind+the+Veil+-+Dawson%252C+E.+J_.jpg" width="405" /></a></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></p><b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">What are your favourite genres to read – and what is it about those genres that draws you in?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"> </span><br /></b><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">I love to read fantasy, scifi, romance, paranormal, you’ll find me steering very clear of the ordinary and I think it’s because I have a very active imagination. I’ve always been drawn to the otherworldly and the impossible. For me these don’t represent unlikely probability, so much as not here and not now.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"> <br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /><b>What were some of your favourite books to read as a child? Which were the first books you remember falling in love with?</b></span><b><br /></b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">I’d grown up with good English fiction, the kind my mother read as a child. Enid Blyton and the Golden books. I loved those stories, but my deep seated love for horror came from R. L. Stine’s Goosebump books. I moved from a small country village with no library to a large country town and discovered them from a new friend. I promptly devoured them and then discovered young adult gothic romances.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">Who are your favourite authors to read? And whose writing do you feel has inspired your own work most?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"> </span></b></div><div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">Terry Pratchett is one of my favourites and an all time staple. I’ve read and re-read all his books multiple times. I could name heaps of others but I think the writer was always within me, and it wasn’t a question of which writer made me what to be a writer, but rather committing to it and learning the craft when most people think its impossible for them. We all start somewhere, and learning any skill is about applying yourself.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"> </span><br /><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAsX-kjRSAvYa_juFYwIvEthsSnBWO9tMBNaK92l-eakU1lZzdhALbScF1ee2z6n44xbKPyFF5Cd9_91uLcRZQ8jdTuASUo4lCS7dUeieEDborGry5vFVUUPyz_j-XdSTVaCYlYGcsblU/s2048/Behind+the+Veil+Release+poster%25282%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAsX-kjRSAvYa_juFYwIvEthsSnBWO9tMBNaK92l-eakU1lZzdhALbScF1ee2z6n44xbKPyFF5Cd9_91uLcRZQ8jdTuASUo4lCS7dUeieEDborGry5vFVUUPyz_j-XdSTVaCYlYGcsblU/w640-h426/Behind+the+Veil+Release+poster%25282%2529.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b><br />Ok, we’re waving the Altered Instinct magic wand. Your story is being turned into a movie – and you get to cast the main roles. Who do you cast for the leading characters? Bonus perk: Who directs?</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">I would absolutely pick James Wan. I remember loving the Conjuring because it was so subtly scary which is what I’ve tried to evoke. As for actors… I couldn’t pick anyone because I’d rather pick people who the role spoke to. I’ve always loved when you see a film with lesser known actors and they make the role their own, the develop the character into something beyond the page, and for me, that would matter more because they’d become the characters of my story, rather than just them playing themselves in my story. That would be the truer compliment.</span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></div><b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">Are there any particular themes you address in your story? What issues do you explore, overtly or otherwise?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"> <br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">There are a lot of underlying themes, one of which is the ability to say no. To choose to protect yourself, even if it means not doing what is “right”. One element of the story that’s been pointed out to me by readers is the way in which I’ve handled Letitia’s post traumatic stress from the events. I feel this has more poignancy as we come to understand why she might refuse someone asking for aid as the hero is normally the first person to say yes, which in this case, Letitia doesn’t. The ability to say no, because doing something hurts us, is to some an act of cowardice, and to others a matter of preservation and I wish there was more understanding around the strength it takes to say no.</span><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">Where can readers follow you to find out more about your work?</span><br /></b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">They can find me at <a href="http://www.ejdawson.com">www.ejdawson.com</a> and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (@ejdawsonauthor)</span><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">A traditional question here at Altered Instinct – what are you reading at present, and what is the best book you’ve read in the past year?</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"> </span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;">The best book I’ve read this year has been Wings of Ebony by J. Elle – such a powerfully important book that we all need to read.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><b>Thank you for visiting the blog! It was a pleasure to chat! </b></span></div><div><br />
<iframe allow="autoplay" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wt980NWWmmHwg-8PtRMHYW-IIU5bIRvV/preview" width="640"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmi3sHky5_RvUaPPogx5X3VC8lvkYg8trCtTcqwc-hFbISeBYERjCrmZWzj1uKcwM2WPT_F7KoIKKA00Ldp8zKkaFKw4hNZZncicz-sybqIRvo43RD0yNmi3qNEKXGvg-WJdsAm51Itw/s1440/EJ+Dawson+spread+together.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="1440" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmi3sHky5_RvUaPPogx5X3VC8lvkYg8trCtTcqwc-hFbISeBYERjCrmZWzj1uKcwM2WPT_F7KoIKKA00Ldp8zKkaFKw4hNZZncicz-sybqIRvo43RD0yNmi3qNEKXGvg-WJdsAm51Itw/w640-h348/EJ+Dawson+spread+together.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGV2ZZUzNIvQ901K1P3hgy3-v5VXN5jVQGYht4imSjE0jTUSzrZOyHFl0D8jGp96jLRkso4M051QLxg0OaWgMyQ58XO1oKALHFqcSKHfxEaTWDYkZUwC-PlhzAuwPDWxrKWYntcgTwSA/s756/EJ+Dawson+spread+separates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGV2ZZUzNIvQ901K1P3hgy3-v5VXN5jVQGYht4imSjE0jTUSzrZOyHFl0D8jGp96jLRkso4M051QLxg0OaWgMyQ58XO1oKALHFqcSKHfxEaTWDYkZUwC-PlhzAuwPDWxrKWYntcgTwSA/w610-h640/EJ+Dawson+spread+separates.jpg" width="610" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyDuZrav2osq2EqNmJV0Aefakf7Rbels1RsO0KN5NOdEHpzbG2x1HvTu03p5eFKvfg_NpBUq52APTxOzP94-X3SsJ-7GoZEOt49IzpqZRVv4uMOClIDeIIYjOFbmo6dMg-O0WT3XbCmAI/s783/EJ+Dawson+spread+separates2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyDuZrav2osq2EqNmJV0Aefakf7Rbels1RsO0KN5NOdEHpzbG2x1HvTu03p5eFKvfg_NpBUq52APTxOzP94-X3SsJ-7GoZEOt49IzpqZRVv4uMOClIDeIIYjOFbmo6dMg-O0WT3XbCmAI/w588-h640/EJ+Dawson+spread+separates2.jpg" width="588" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-17817278352090689412021-09-28T08:42:00.002-07:002021-09-28T08:42:13.208-07:00Meet Diane Morrison, author of A Few Good Elves<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddZZkU47Ksl0SGYdxoPeFplXeCeWK6cj5Us7oVWIt3s1yJN8svGmxDA8wfUo_Rpu_kOW1EE0wBBtoVXmyygBtWOH0QVEcZZtKHgrVEWtm-7FoAppHJVJe-R7D6bnP7f0tIt5IvF5QOzA/s1219/dianenano.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1219" data-original-width="1149" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddZZkU47Ksl0SGYdxoPeFplXeCeWK6cj5Us7oVWIt3s1yJN8svGmxDA8wfUo_Rpu_kOW1EE0wBBtoVXmyygBtWOH0QVEcZZtKHgrVEWtm-7FoAppHJVJe-R7D6bnP7f0tIt5IvF5QOzA/w378-h400/dianenano.jpg" width="378" /></a></span></div><i style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><p><i style="font-family: inherit;">Diane Morrison describes herself as a Pagan, a speculative fiction author, a musician, a professional blogger, proudly Canadian and proudly LGBTQ. What she doesn’t say - but which is true - is just how supportive she is of others in the writing community. You’ll find her on podcasts, helping with events and... well, here, there and everywhere.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></p></i><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Her latest book was launched through Kickstarter - and she stopped by the blog to chat about it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Hi Diane, and welcome to Altered Instinct! Tell us a little about your most recent book – what is it called, and what is it about? Give us your elevator pitch to make us fall in love with it!</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A Few Good Elves is a dark blackpowder fantasy military SFF space opera. Picture the excitement and epic scale of a space opera – only with magic and Age of Sail ships in the stars. Picture the great battles of epic fantasy, with mages slinging spells and elven and orcish armies clashing over the fate of the universe – only in space. And I keep it grounded, despite all this craziness, in the gritty reality of combat. Be warned – I do not sanitize the violence. War is awful, and the people who fight are heroes because it is awful.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My story centers around Shaundar Sunfall, a mixed-race elf in a segregated, colonial society, who has a reputation as a bit of a troublemaker. He grows up on his father’s ship, so learns a love of starfaring early, and he aspires to be a Star-Pilot. When the orcs declare war, he and his best friend Yathar Goldenbough lie about their age and join up. They are inspired by the tales of glory they have been raised on. They discover that war is not the grand adventure they thought it would be.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAwzmhNWJcp8K797DA6SgTL8E0RjS0LgT2KoPfBcvBAD8IOLUGlpKMBrm0hikBVanZDOZ1JJh0189lxpC9sxxdgneThFg7eTzJDrn3BWACuFLSLultaA6gTbZaWkSCvzMYDz5jLAmH9oI/s500/41zPS1GgagL.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAwzmhNWJcp8K797DA6SgTL8E0RjS0LgT2KoPfBcvBAD8IOLUGlpKMBrm0hikBVanZDOZ1JJh0189lxpC9sxxdgneThFg7eTzJDrn3BWACuFLSLultaA6gTbZaWkSCvzMYDz5jLAmH9oI/s320/41zPS1GgagL.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Without spoilers, what was one of your favourite moments of the story to write? What was it that made you enjoy that section so much?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Aces High obstacle course, hands-down, was the most fun in this book! The protagonist must successfully navigate an obstacle course in an asteroid field like a slalom race to qualify for entry into an advanced Star-Pilot’s school. It’s full of raw action, but unlike many action scenes in the story, there’s no violence involved. It’s a chance for the reader to see starfaring through a Pilot’s eyes, with excitement and joy. Describing the different challenges, and how Shaundar deals with them, not only let me really buckle down into how the universe works, but it let me show you a lot of important things about Shaundar as a character. It was a glorious moment.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>As a writer, have you ever had a character grow to be a much bigger part of the story than you expected? Who was the character and what was it about them that made them emerge from the sidelights?</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Oh yes! Pay attention to a minor character in this story named Thersylvanna. He’s going to be significant later on in the series. I think the reason why is that in a story about colonialism, you’ve got to have a working-class perspective somewhere. Shaundar’s family is kind of on the outs, but he is nobility, and as such, his privilege colours the things he does. I needed a counterpoint to that.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Who are your favourite authors to read? And whose writing do you feel has inspired your own work most?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For this story in particular, I take a lot of inspiration from Lois McMaster Bujold, David Weber, and Patrick O’Brian, and they’re definitely among my favourites. I have also been influenced a lot by Stephen King. Other favourites include Mercedes Lackey, Anne McCaffrey, C.J. Cherryh, Margaret Atwood, Ursula LeGuin, and Octavia E. Butler, though I can’t say I write much like the latter three – I think they’re far better with a turn of phrase than I am and their language is beautiful.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Are there any particular themes you address in your story? What issues do you explore, overtly or otherwise?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you for asking this question. You might get the impression from the description that this is just a wild romp through a fantastical starscape, but it is not. I examine colonialism, racism, war, loss, grief, friendship, loyalty, and duty. I suppose you could call this first book, which is only the beginning of a much bigger story, a bildungsroman as well. I feel that by putting these things in a universe that is obviously the product of someone’s imagination, it gives us enough distance to look at them critically, without letting our own existing biases get in the way.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vdJiJMnZLozjvplzZLGjAMEV5tP-69W_Gn5PdQBgWhkmKpQtMmzfnK6tx0mwfuXBs7KqU-6hPB1FTBMV19oeVQfrkzAW4Y4KyQIDxVVxPsPEAjAs_gDytlNWFUdxPHTW5_Bb3UIKJ9A/s1552/57a68013ea6e38a95904edba8b664501_original.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="1552" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vdJiJMnZLozjvplzZLGjAMEV5tP-69W_Gn5PdQBgWhkmKpQtMmzfnK6tx0mwfuXBs7KqU-6hPB1FTBMV19oeVQfrkzAW4Y4KyQIDxVVxPsPEAjAs_gDytlNWFUdxPHTW5_Bb3UIKJ9A/w640-h360/57a68013ea6e38a95904edba8b664501_original.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Tell us about yourself.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m a dyed-in-the-wool nerd. I play RPGs, and that remains my favourite hobby. I also write music from time to time, often about books I’ve read (they call the genre “filk,” and it’s a staple of the SFF community.) I craft and cosplay from time to time. I like to get outside and walk when I can, not that I’ve had much opportunity what with COVID and the fires over the summer lately. I also stream about writing and worldbuilding on Twitch, as well as play a live gamecast that is based in this universe.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What has been your favourite reaction from readers?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This started out as a fanfiction piece in a Dungeons & Dragons universe, so in its first incarnation, I was publishing it a chapter at a time for the fan community. Ten years later, one of the community members looked me up, joined my Patreon, and demanded, “Are you done yet?” That inspired me to get my butt in gear and finish the changes I’d made to set it in my own universe. Knowing that someone still wants to know how the story ends a decade later… that says to me that I am doing my job as a writer, and that this is what I’m meant to do.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What’s next for you as a writer? What’s cooking in your literary kitchen?</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m doing the final edits for book 2 of the Toy Soldier Saga, called To Know Your Enemy, and I’m doing a rewrite of book 3, Brothers in Arms. I’m also working on expanding my short story repertoire because I’ve been getting some good magazine sales there.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What’s the most fun piece of technology/magic that you’ve included in your novel that you wish you had in real life?</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Starfaring engines, especially the natural Starseed ones. I would really love to travel the far reaches of the universe, protected by its arcanology, literally sailing among the stars.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Away from books, what are your loves when it comes to TV and movies? (Altered Instinct will plant aw flag on behalf of Quantum Leap, Babylon 5, Stargate, The West Wing and Star Wars, and fight to protect it!)</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Oh, don’t get me started on fandoms! I share your love of Star Wars and Babylon 5 (the best sci-fi show ever on TV, don’t @ me!) I love Firefly and Star Trek too, of course. I loved Game of Thrones, and am not as pissed off about the ending as other people because I see the bones of what George R.R. Martin was trying to do there. I’m a Marvel fan, and Wonder Woman was the best superhero story ever (but the rest of the DC movies can go hang.) If you haven’t seen Master & Commander, you should. Let’s see… I loved both Dune movies and can’t wait to see the new one. And you must see a quirky Netflix show called Love, Death and Robots, if you haven’t already – this is the best of modern sci-fi in all its glory. It’s brilliant.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kDzk0p-46oalYZfIs5TASLFNa_tEye0pQZyxAWzUSKDwryKBlzNUJFYLhS3YGalMUOtFk2wrst7-UuiJhdC_ynVZokU68zgfLfTFWjumKM6Imtci_lTtpzEyPE-TuBD0MhfpJ8lV_bI/s618/LDR_ThreeRobots-b341fbb.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="618" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kDzk0p-46oalYZfIs5TASLFNa_tEye0pQZyxAWzUSKDwryKBlzNUJFYLhS3YGalMUOtFk2wrst7-UuiJhdC_ynVZokU68zgfLfTFWjumKM6Imtci_lTtpzEyPE-TuBD0MhfpJ8lV_bI/w400-h266/LDR_ThreeRobots-b341fbb.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Love, Death and Robots - an animated series available on Netflix - hailed by Diane as "<span style="text-align: justify;">the best of modern sci-fi in all its glory".</span></i></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>I love Master & Commander! A great film! Are your books available in audio format? How have you found the process of transforming it from the written page?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not yet, but it’s on the agenda! This book was funded by a successful Kickstarter, and we reached the first stretch goal, which was an audiobook. So I can’t wait to explore that adventure!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>I have to ask for readers who might want to know: Is this a kissing book?</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ha ha! A little bit. I mean, it’s a subplot, but yes, there is a bit of romance that informs the rest of the story.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Where can readers follow you to find out more about your work?</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have a lot of social media, but I’m most easily reached at my website <a href="https://www.dianemorrisonfiction.com">https://www.dianemorrisonfiction.com</a>, my Twitter @SableAradia, or my Twitch channel <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/sablearadia">https://www.twitch.tv/sablearadia</a>. If you want to know more about the Toy Soldier Saga, you can find me at <a href="https://www.worldanvil.com/w/toysoldiersaga">https://www.worldanvil.com/w/toysoldiersaga</a>. And if you want to support my work and get weekly chapters in both my Toy Soldier Saga and Wyrd West universes, often before they are released to the public, I have a Patreon <a href="https://www.patreon.com/sablearadia">https://www.patreon.com/sablearadia</a>.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>A traditional question here at Altered Instinct – what are you reading at present, and what is the best book you’ve read in the past year?</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m working my way through the Big Book of Science Fiction edited by Jeff & Ann Vandermeer, and I just started the SF classic Grass by Sheri Tepper. I started reading an imprint called SF Masterworks a few years ago, with the goal of reading one per month, to educate myself in the classic of sci-fi, and the Big Book is like that too, only with short stories. As to the best book I’ve read in the past year… well, I haven’t done as much reading as I usually do due to book release and other life chaos, but I would have to say that’s Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, the first book in the series that The Expanse is based on. And the book is definitely better than the show (and I really like the show!) Well worth the time, and that thick-looking tome reads at lightning speed.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks for having me!</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 11px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>You can pick up A Few Good Elves at <a href="https://www.books2read.com/afewgoodelves">https://www.books2read.com/afewgoodelves</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><iframe allow="autoplay" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zuWg9YkgD98gnLN4VWYC1SBVa1V3rFDU/preview" width="640"></iframe><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMgmbM4XiwMQKLlr0R5b3UCT6DMfeH2TXAPIEX3TEtn7trKyg7fkC8JuZvObF7eTH1vifff2lXJpA6hIKzMsb6XmcwIPlKAHTyUz8U8xDriNBlxAaZMEW19BxlJjYt_LMCF0rpmqTQfQI/s1440/Diane+Morrison+spread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="1440" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMgmbM4XiwMQKLlr0R5b3UCT6DMfeH2TXAPIEX3TEtn7trKyg7fkC8JuZvObF7eTH1vifff2lXJpA6hIKzMsb6XmcwIPlKAHTyUz8U8xDriNBlxAaZMEW19BxlJjYt_LMCF0rpmqTQfQI/w640-h348/Diane+Morrison+spread.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffGQNGvUc4R1zRJUHnkmqpokf8LwG5vVBkm-fm-5krK94VZ_PSB1f9ygjMJrtalJ-xAMYsSFxBHUXHg1QBkrOmMyfqapVxGwUFi7r5OrOqE9k0yRYvilF6FaP3EkR6yMQfL3ysYXXk1g/s783/Diane+Morrison+both+pages3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffGQNGvUc4R1zRJUHnkmqpokf8LwG5vVBkm-fm-5krK94VZ_PSB1f9ygjMJrtalJ-xAMYsSFxBHUXHg1QBkrOmMyfqapVxGwUFi7r5OrOqE9k0yRYvilF6FaP3EkR6yMQfL3ysYXXk1g/w368-h400/Diane+Morrison+both+pages3.jpg" width="368" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-74325832224668705142021-09-10T18:54:00.003-07:002021-09-10T18:54:50.854-07:00BOOK REVIEW: The Gulp, by Alan Baxter; One Word Kill, by Mark Lawrence; Notna, by JD Cunegan<i>It's book review time again, and time to catch up with antipodean horror, globe-trotting mythological thriller and D&D-inspired adventure.</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPqC7QzYnDnfs1cfJXPRl8NUFbhUS8d3N7g4Ev-N52W_ZMua5rVASQ4zQkA-eH4atIaQjMJOSPcDD5hlzD7ackKCxM8LOEoRON8wfZ6sjFKbBsgN54JblGGw5U41Qg5PGwhyphenhyphenpBUWRDCOk/s475/55938770._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="304" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPqC7QzYnDnfs1cfJXPRl8NUFbhUS8d3N7g4Ev-N52W_ZMua5rVASQ4zQkA-eH4atIaQjMJOSPcDD5hlzD7ackKCxM8LOEoRON8wfZ6sjFKbBsgN54JblGGw5U41Qg5PGwhyphenhyphenpBUWRDCOk/w256-h400/55938770._SY475_.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Gulp, by Alan Baxter</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some horrors start off with creeping dread and mystery. This one sits down across the table from you, flashes a devilish grin, slides you a beer and asks what's the worst possible thing you can imagine. Then chuckles and says that's all you've got? Let me tell you a story. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Five stories, in fact. Each a slice of life and death in the remote Australian community of Gulpepper, nicknamed The Gulp. It's the kind of town you might find in The Twilight Zone if Clive Barker was mayor. Everything's a little twisted, a little wrong, a little off-kilter. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The five stories seem separate at first - how a trucker finds his safe world slipping away from him, how some teenagers deal with the weird things happening to their mother, how a group of backpackers fall under the spell of a local rock band... but the pieces start to make up a bigger picture. Something strange is always going on in The Gulp, but now... well, strange is stacking up on strange. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Alan Baxter does a great job of inviting you into a weird part of the world, starting with uncomfortable before plunging into the grotesque and the ominous. There's clearly more to come, but building slowly, steadily. Each of these stories is a crack of distant thunder, warning that the storm is coming nearer, nearer. I'm looking forward to when it arrives. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">AI Rating: 5/5</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The Gulp is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gulp-Tales-1-ebook/dp/B08M3KX51D/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+gulp+alan+baxter&qid=1631322947&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95QZV3piMmoSvx3Q0x-o3WBNzo0Hdyt-vn5lJFXcgstFDbdvKOkSDsPhLLb6kPUNFni4RKdeJRtdHIfNqGmbrWjpJdu0KfuW7R8TmD3JN2bsg-y6c2DMiJjH3rMJsHfH-raBdIBDoKcE/s475/39792427._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95QZV3piMmoSvx3Q0x-o3WBNzo0Hdyt-vn5lJFXcgstFDbdvKOkSDsPhLLb6kPUNFni4RKdeJRtdHIfNqGmbrWjpJdu0KfuW7R8TmD3JN2bsg-y6c2DMiJjH3rMJsHfH-raBdIBDoKcE/w268-h400/39792427._SY475_.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>One Word Kill, by Mark Lawrence</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I should be a sucker for this book. It's about a teenage boy who is both a genius... and who is dying. He's also a big fan of Dungeons & Dragons, and in a time when at last roleplaying games are kind of cool, and affectionately regarded in hit shows such as Stranger Things, more fiction that treats gaming as a delight rather than a menace ought to be welcome. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As a long-time gamer myself... let's not talk about how many years exactly as that makes me feel old... that really ought to hit the mark for me. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But it didn't, sadly. Things set up as major hurdles are resolved so easily you wonder why they were part of the book to begin with, and the plot itself, which tosses in time travel on top, manages to be both predictable and contradicting its own rules. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This feels like a missed opportunity, there's a great chance to tell a good story here, but it falls flat and ends up feeling by-the-numbers. Not quite a critical miss, but I won't be giving the rest of the series a roll of the dice. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 2/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>One Word Kill is an <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Word-Kill-Impossible-Times-Book-ebook/dp/B07C24V3SD/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=one+word+kill&qid=1631324294&sr=8-1">Editor's Pick on Amazon</a> - so mileage may vary. </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_frjm4pMAOmko_5ZQXLpB4oT-dTYmHEiBtN0Ah0ba4lD6C3opWeDQLw6p_498EmnCVE5WXtP3bX_akAtBQwMkvITZsqxjlyP_-LDHQRR5JmhazZUQnO-TyHmfKQG5JvysXrd9r28KHhg/s424/36384932._SX318_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_frjm4pMAOmko_5ZQXLpB4oT-dTYmHEiBtN0Ah0ba4lD6C3opWeDQLw6p_498EmnCVE5WXtP3bX_akAtBQwMkvITZsqxjlyP_-LDHQRR5JmhazZUQnO-TyHmfKQG5JvysXrd9r28KHhg/s320/36384932._SX318_.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Notna, by JD Cunegan</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Globe-trotting, myth-shaking, world-threatening thriller your kind of thing? Step right up, for this thrill-ride from JD Cunegan.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Look, there's one name I'm going to mention right from the off. Though I hesitate to do so because it's an author name that a lot of people have a bit of scorn for. Dan Brown. But, you know what? I've read a bunch of Dan Brown stuff and what's good about it is the way he conjures up these threats from across history and binds it into a story that hops from one location to another around the world. He has his failings elsewhere, sure, but that's what works - and it's also what works here. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here, an archaeologist is on the trail of the Gem of Notna, whose power can be both a threat to the world and... perhaps, in the right hands... its redemption.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is the first book I've read by Cunegan, and his writing is fun, brisk and keeps the plot moving along, revealing a story set in the modern day but stretching back to the dawn of time. Ancient beings and gods are woven throughout, but overall it becomes a very personal tale as our heroes learn the power that they're dealing with, and try to work out how they can use it to save the day, and the world. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A good, fun read. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><b>AI Rating: 4/5</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Notna is available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Notna-J-D-Cunegan-ebook/dp/B075BRCB1X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=notna+jd+cunegan&qid=1631325042&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>.</i></div>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-34324275049620465442021-09-03T21:52:00.005-07:002021-09-03T21:53:03.654-07:00BOOK LAUNCH: Wolf Killer, by CH Clepitt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Those of you who have been regulars at the blog for a long time will know I'm a fan of the work of C H Clepitt - and they have a new book out! Wolf Killer is the title... and the details are below. </span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVqZBsF_pX_DA1I_NbhOwMsfxGpHHk11zme5aEMZoHTWPVqukX8Z6_HRGyWmpcHJx3wolNngNwjKYJUPxWc6RiqNcllcUbA9NoEigsKVB1Qws9uCVE5jkXGsyJRyrlwISNKzkyaqCzxU/s1143/Wolf+Killer+cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="754" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVqZBsF_pX_DA1I_NbhOwMsfxGpHHk11zme5aEMZoHTWPVqukX8Z6_HRGyWmpcHJx3wolNngNwjKYJUPxWc6RiqNcllcUbA9NoEigsKVB1Qws9uCVE5jkXGsyJRyrlwISNKzkyaqCzxU/w264-h400/Wolf+Killer+cover.png" width="264" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Release Date: </b>26th September 2021</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Author: </b>C H Clepitt</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Pre-Order Links: </b><a href="http://relinks.me/B09DX65YHJ"><span class="s1" style="color: #106dd6;">Amazon</span></a>, <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1101627"><span class="s1" style="color: #106dd6;">Smashwords</span></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>ARC Requests: </b><a href="mailto:chclepitt@icloud.com"><span class="s3">chclepitt@icloud.com</span></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Interview Requests: </b><a href="mailto:chclepitt@icloud.com"><span class="s1" style="color: #106dd6;">chclepitt@icloud.com</span></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Release Party Link: </b><a href="https://fb.me/e/2AcIZIJmd"><span class="s3">https://fb.me/e/2AcIZIJmd</span></a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Honey, it’s the ’80s. You need to find yourself a woman who can hold your hand in public, not one who calls you her ‘friend’ and keeps you away from her boss. You don’t need that kinda heartache. You think it’ll be OK, but it won’t, trust me. It starts to eat away at you.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">FBI Agent Clara Hunter might not be girlfriend material, but as Red soon discovers, if you have a serial killer on your heels she is just the woman you want in your life!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Book 3 of the Magic Mirror collection takes Red Riding Hood, and tells it in a way only C H Clepitt can!</span></p><p class="p8" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Magic Mirror Collection</b></span></p><p class="p8" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p8" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Magic Mirror Collection jumps through history, retelling fairy tales with a queer twist. So far we have seen Beauty and the Beast set in 1930s France and Snow White set during the Second World War spanning Germany and rural Wales. In this latest installment we find ourselves in 1980s America, and on the hunt for a serial killer.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p8" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Told with C H Clepitt’s unique style, fans of the author won’t want to miss out on this exciting new collection.</span></p><p class="p8" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 20px 0px 6px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Comment from the author</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I love the fact that historical fiction gives you a snapshot into an era that you may not have previous knowledge of. There’s something about reading a work of fiction set in a different time that is so much more immersive than just reading a history book.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p8" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With each of the Magic Mirror collections I have tried to write them in the style of the era, and Wolf Killer may be the most grown up yet. It deals with issues of queerness and identity the way the previous two books have not and I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Good luck with the book, C H! </span></i></p>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5286217383139662606.post-46645614419217192682021-09-02T22:00:00.004-07:002021-09-02T22:00:59.706-07:00It's new book day! Tales From Alternate Earths 3 is out now!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSs2f8Z1eoR3DDO4jlxo7-TEC9ZyBkwK4YO-JBxTuox4GqYasHtNCGWnU3KmjYYOjyxx0NSdR78q-KP3lmpq-jej6IodDOuF-mdG8qjMe3qE-1MYMyNowJzVcJFN_JbzwkmmmsCQQnJHs/s2048/Ebook+Cover+Tales+from+ALternate+Earths+3+proposal+2e+II.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1318" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSs2f8Z1eoR3DDO4jlxo7-TEC9ZyBkwK4YO-JBxTuox4GqYasHtNCGWnU3KmjYYOjyxx0NSdR78q-KP3lmpq-jej6IodDOuF-mdG8qjMe3qE-1MYMyNowJzVcJFN_JbzwkmmmsCQQnJHs/w258-h400/Ebook+Cover+Tales+from+ALternate+Earths+3+proposal+2e+II.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Hi all, it's new book day!</p><p>Tales From Alternate Earths 3 is out today - in paperback and ebook format - and by golly it's a great collection of stories. </p><p>Am I biased when I say that? Honestly, I don't think so. I have a story in there, sure, but let's leave talking about that until another blog. For starters, just look at that list of authors. </p><p>From the top, there's Alan Smale, whose tale A Clash of Eagles won the Sidewise Award, and whose bibliography is a fantastic list of great reads. His story starts the collection, and... well, I don't want to say too much because part of the joy of the story is piecing together the who, how and where of it all. I do love, however, the viewpoint he tells the story from, that of a real woman of the times he writes about. It's the kind of story that raises big questions, not just about the changes in history, but about how the characters involved are affected, and what it means to them personally. It's splendidly done. </p><p>More great writers! How about Daniel M Bensen, who returns from previous Inklings books - another Sidewise Award winner, for his story Treasure Fleet, in Tales From Alternate Earths 1. Or DJ Butler, a big name in the alternate history field? </p><p>I shouldn't pick favourite stories from the collection, so I absolutely won't hint strongly that my favourite is the fantastic story To Catch A Ripper, by Minoti Vaishnav, who is also a television writer who recently staffed The Equalizer on CBS. (And by golly, I'd love to see her story get the TV treatment too)</p><p>Then there's JL Royce, who has been a finalist in the Writers of the Future contest (and his story here is a doozy, mixing noir detective fiction and some shocking post-war history). </p><p>Matthew Kresal was only yesterday named as a finalist for the Sidewise Awards for his previous story Moonshot, and his story in this collection is an intriguing film biography-style take on the making of a much older version of the movie Titanic. </p><p>Add to that returning Inklings names such as Aaron Emmel, Brent A Harris, Rob Edwards, Christopher Edwards, Ricardo Victoria, Jeff Provine and dynamic duo EM Swift-Hook and Jane Jago, and you've got quite the set of authors. </p><p>It's been a pleasure working on this anthology with such great stories. And I hope you might dip your toe to discover them yourself. I won't say too much about each story just yet - as there are twists and turns I don't want to spoil!</p><p>I always fall in love with stories in the anthologies we publish - but that's because so many authors give us stories to love. </p><p>You can fall in love yourself by picking up the book at <a href="http://mybook.to/AlternateEarths3" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #184c6c; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">mybook.to/AlternateEarths3</a>. It's available in paperback and in ebook format. </p><p>For reviewers, we also still have review copies available and a full press kit at <a href="http://www.alteredinstinct.com/2021/05/press-kit-tales-from-alternate-earths-3.html">http://www.alteredinstinct.com/2021/05/press-kit-tales-from-alternate-earths-3.html</a> with graphics and more information. By all means, email <a href="mailto:theinklingspress@gmail.com">theinklingspress@gmail.com</a> to request a review copy, or hit me up on <a href="https://twitter.com/AlteredInstinct">Twitter</a>. </p><p><br /></p>Leo McBridehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09693308831238152064noreply@blogger.com0