I'm
cranky, maybe even more than that I'm might even be rancorous or even
prickly. “Why?” you might ask, and mostly it's my own damn fault.
To get Brunette Sonya used to all the strange and wondrous sounds
outside of the womb I played music for her. I guess I must have
included Eddie Murphy's 80s hit “My Girl Likes to Party all the
Time,” because Brunette Sonya has taken to staying up until the
wee hours of the morning drinking and carrying on, and sleeping all
day. I'd do the same but my boss is a bit of a hard ass when it comes
to me napping on the job. I'm not a rabbit, I need some rest, I'm tired.
 |
| Play "Never gonna give you up" one more time and I will cut you. |
The
Vampire of Rome has not moved much between long work days, Reserve
Weekends and Sonya jamming to “London Burning,” at two in the
morning, but I'll be all over it this weekend and with some luck I
will be close to wrapping it up. As far as I can tell, I'm still on
track for the October release.
Lynn
Lamb's post went so well I thought I'd continue with apocalyptic
fiction, and toss in some genetic manipulation, and there's only one
author who can do that, Arthur H. Walker. He's stopped by to talk
about the latest in his Uroboros Saga.
 |
Book
Series Blurb:
The
Uroboros Saga is character driven science fiction, published three
times per year. Each book continues the story with an array of
colorful characters and environments. It is written to address and
explore the idea of technology that extends and expands the modern
notion of identity, and the sort of dystopia that such technology
could create. The global fiscal apocalypse that occurs in the midst
of that exploration is just there to be charming window dressing.
|
Uroboros
Saga Book 6:
Book
six marks the conclusion of the second story arc in the Saga. In this
installment Silverstein and his allies make a last stand against the
militant arm of the Cabal across the solar system. There will be lots
of big reveals and secrets exposed from even the first three-book
arc. Expected release is sometime late July or early August!
|
Excerpt:
I
followed along, watching Perfidy clear side rooms and crew
compartments, winding his way toward the cargo bay where Kaspersky
was supposed to be locked into a medical gurney. I was about ten feet
from him when he cleared the threshold into the cargo hold.
Kaspersky, bloody from the skin on his arms and legs being stripped
away, leapt on him. I rushed forward but the compartment lost
pressure suddenly, dropping a thick airlock door between me and the
compartment.
“PERFIDY!”
I screamed, banging a fist on the door.
I
watched helplessly as the outer wall of the cargo compartment blew
open. The sudden pressure loss ripped Kaspersky and Perfidy out of
the hold, along with anything else that wasn’t secured. I sank down
to my knees feeling the craft begin to shake violently, alarms
sounding all around me as air masks dropped from the ceiling at
intervals. We were at more than thirty eight thousand feet, no
chance Perfidy or Kaspersky would survive that fall.
I
wept, uncontrollably for my lost friend. I gripped the hammer he’d
given me only minutes before, but there was no one to take vengeance
on. The world fell away for a moment. Heavy Dub grabbed my shoulder,
pushing past me as he donned a grav-chute.
“What
are you doing?” I asked, wiping tears from the face.
“I’m
going out to get our boy. Take the wheel. Just try to set down
anywhere safe. Now, hold onto something solid,” Heavy Dub said,
punching in the override code for the airlock door.
|
Arthur
H. Walker is an American writer, artist, and game designer. He spent
his childhood wandering the wilds of his home State of Idaho.
Encouraged to be creative by mentors and circumstance, he filled many
composition books with stories and doodles. After college, he took a
job at a glass company to help his wife attend college, acquire an
advanced degree, and chase her dreams. Task complete, he reconnected
with childhood friends to produce games and novels.
FaceBook:
https://www.facebook.com/arthur.h.walker
Good
Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6071363.Arthur_Walker
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/arthurhwalker/
Tumblr:
http://arthurhwalker.tumblr.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ArthurHWalker
Vine:
https://vine.co/u/1258949016796962816
|
Main
Character’s Motivations?
There’s
a trio of main characters that share the story the way Flash, Dale
Arden, and Doctor Zarkov often do in Flash Gordon stories and comics.
If
you’re reading Books 4, 5, and 6 (coming soon!) the character to
watch is Brook. She appears in the first story arc in books 1-3, and
is the “sleeper” in the story that eventually awakens. The point
of view follows her around quite a bit and she’s motivated by a
desire to belong, find love, and discover things about herself.
Kale,
the nanotechnological replica of the main character from the 1st
book probably feels like the primary protagonist given his
connections. I’ll let the readers draw their own conclusions there.
Perfidy
is a cyborg soldier and mentor for them both, safeguarding them on
their adventures. Like Kale, he’s been a constant through all the
books, but he really steps into the spotlight in the 4th
and 5th installments.
What
is their secret strength/weakness?
Brook
knows things. She has special knowledge that was given to her from
the moment she began her journey. Her weakness is that she doesn’t
realize that she has that knowledge, or how critically important it
will become later.
Kale
has an immense intellect and has great compassion for all sentient
creatures. However, he is ruthless, and tends to employ the most
extreme measures when dealing with rivals and adversaries.
Perfidy
is an old man by Book 4 and weary of the world. His experience and
emotional resilience are double edged swords as they guide him
through complex problems, but haunt him in quieter moments.
Any
philosophical issues in this story? If so, how do you address them?
How does the MC live and overcome them?
Book
6 was hard to write. There was some debate among my proofers as to
whether it required a trigger warning for a particular scene. Mental
illness and social equality factor heavily as there are many
artificial intelligences, genetically-tailored creatures, and similar
with sapience equal to human beings. I chose to address them in
portions of the book that are told from a third-person perspective in
a clinical and dispassionate way so the reader could draw their own
conclusions about what happened. The main characters are
hardcore altruists, and they’ve grown to value one another greatly,
but you can’t have freedom or equality without sacrifice.
Any
offbeat or obscure 80s references?
I
loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back in their original comic
book form. All the Metasapient characters are a subtle tribute to
Erick Wujcik’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other
Strangeness” tabletop role-playing game via Palladium Books. I have
all the game supplements and loved the way animals were personified
to tell stories. How’s that for obscure?
The
“Rats of Nimh” movie had a profound effect on me, and I tried to
give the Drone characters that live underground a similar vibe.
When
did you start to write this one and why?
I
started in December of last year. It’s my intention to continue to
write the Uroboros Saga as long as I have stories to tell in that
universe.
Uroboros
Saga started out as test material to see how self-publishing worked.
It garnered a small following and I’ve been writing for those folks
since 2013.
What’s
next in this series or in your next book?
Book
Six is coming up next. 7-9 should follow over the next eighteen
months or so. I’m pulling together everything that hit the cutting
room floor from the last six books and writing new novels that will
showcase what happened at the street level. If Books 1-6 constitute
something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then Books 7-9 will be
like the stuff Marvel Studios is releasing through Netflix.
Smaller
scale, pulpier, but hopefully every bit as good and interesting to
readers.
Preview
of your next book?
I
tried really hard to keep Book 6 from feeling like a series of boss
fights, and if that was going to happen, that there be tremendous
payoff. I think I struck a good balance between settling all the
business from the last five books, and letting the characters grow
and do things. There is some real-deal reveal when it comes to the
Cabal, Vance Uroboros, and all the high level intrigue. Questions
people have had since the beginning of Book 1 will get answered.
When
will it be available?
My
editors, proofers, and designer are all working on it right now and
have had the principal components for a few weeks. I’m expecting
late July or August depending on how quickly everything gets approved
and so forth.
Sounds
like a series worth reading again and again. Speaking of series and
authors who have mean “no sleeping on the job,” bosses, how
about buying my stuff so I can become a full time author, and take a
nap as needed?
Junior Inquisitor Book One
 |
Amazon - http://goo.gl/D6KrbX
Inquisitor Series - http://goo.gl/mJtTf8
|
Soulless Monk Book Two
 |
Smashwords - https://goo.gl/NXw3Gr
Amazon - http://goo.gl/p9fBn0
Inquisitor Series - http://goo.gl/5lCyaX
|
The Witch’s Lair Book Three
 |
Amazon - http://goo.gl/ZRO6Jw
Inquisitor Series - http://goo.gl/mJtTf8
|
No comments:
Post a Comment