Hard Boiled Detectives in London and advertising that works

The Vampire of Rome moves along a bit slowly this week as Brunette Sonya refuses to sleep which makes me groggy and thusly writing is not rapid and sometimes even cogent. However I have mapped out the rest of the story, and with some hard work, a probably a few naps, this weekend I should be able to finish it up and get it off to my editor.

I like to branch out every now and then when it comes to reading, looking for something new. I was intrigued by Dominic Piper's tweets, so I decided to give his book a shot, kinda hoping I might enjoy the story, but not really expecting much. I was wrong. He wrote a hard-boiled detective story that kept me glued to the pages. I plowed through Kiss Me When I Dead and then went straight to Death Is The New Black. I enjoyed both books so much I reached out to him and badgered him into this post.

Take it away Dominic.

https://goo.gl/xGxtNP

Kiss Me When I’m Dead

When private investigator Daniel Beckett is offered double his usual fee plus a large bonus to track down Viola Raleigh, the missing daughter of a billionaire arms dealer, he has no reason to believe that the assignment is not as it seems.

But soon after he starts work, he discovers he’s being stalked by a professional surveillance team.

And as he learns more about Viola’s life as a drug addict and high-class call girl, he realises that his wealthy client has not been telling him the whole story.

Before long, Beckett himself is in danger...

But his adversaries quickly discover that they are dealing with a resourceful and menacing individual with a far more sinister background than they might ever have imagined…

https://goo.gl/xGxtNP

Kiss Me When I’m Dead excerpt

I have a message for your Mr Raleigh.’ she says softly, closing the door behind us.

Before I can turn around to speak to her, my whole world explodes.

There’s a searing, astonishing pain which starts in my lower back and spreads up the whole right side of my body. It takes me one second to realise that I’ve been expertly and savagely punched in the kidney. My eyes are squeezed tightly shut and I concentrate on not falling to my knees in agony. Instantly, in a reflex action I can’t control, I twist my right hand behind my back to do what? Stop it happening again? Rub it better? This is a terrible mistake.

Mrs Bianchi grabs my wrist and pushes my arm up behind my back in a powerful hammerlock. I’m still reeling from the kidney punch as she grabs a handful of my hair, jerks my head back and then uses it to test the structural integrity of a very solid wall. I turn my head at the last second to avoid having my nose broken, but it doesn’t make much difference to the overall percussive effect. I’m now in considerable pain and probably slightly concussed.

The idea pops into my head that she’s trying to kill me. The how or why of it I can sort out later. For now, I’ve got to do something to neutralise this attach before it gets any worse. She’s still got my arm hoicked up hard behind my back. I have to get out of this lock before she dislocates my shoulder or slams me into the wall again. I spread the fingers of my right hand and push my arm right across my back, narrowing the gap between my bicep and ribs. This enables me to twist my arm out of the lock, and as she’s still holding on, do a fast three-sixty turn and throw her half way across the room.

I attempt to go down with her at the same speed and immobilise her in some way, but I’m slightly too slow and she’s up on her feet again. We’re standing about three feet away from each other and she’s taken a defensive stance, her centre of balance low. OK. I know where I stand now. This is karate. Judging from the power of that kidney blow, I really mustn’t let her land another one on me.

Her eyes are blank and unemotional and I can see she’s taking my whole body in while staring straight ahead. This is something that’s being done without any passion. It’s clinical and professional, which makes it very dangerous.

She moves in towards me and tries a straight punch aimed beneath my nose and designed to knock my front teeth out. I block this and try to grab her wrist, but she’s too fast and uses a middle finger knuckle strike against my temple. She didn’t get it quite right, so I’m still here, if a little dazed, and take two steps back to get out of her range for a second.

‘Why are you doing this? What the fuck’s wrong with you?’

‘She told me. She told me that one day he’d send his people here.’

‘What are you talking about?’

My back is killing me. She sidles slowly towards me. I can tell she’s going to attempt a kick next. I keep my eye on her whole body. Her gaze quickly flicks across my chest and then my groin area.

She’s so fast I barely saw the kick coming, even though I was expecting it. Just before it makes contact with my lower chest, I bat it away and try to grab her ankle, but fail. She fires off three more speedy punches aimed at my face and neck and as I block them I can see a faint look of concern flash across her face.

The towel she has wrapped around her body has become loose and I realise what she’s going to do before she does it. She grabs the towel and rips it off her body, twirling it like a lasso. There’s a half second delay while my dumb, male brain takes in the lithe, sweating body, the wide hips, the thin strip of pubic hair and the exquisite, ripe breasts. That half second delay is all it takes and she knows it.

I don’t know if you’ve ever had a heavy, damp towel thrown with considerable force wrap itself around your head, but it’s an extremely unpleasant sensation. The painful impact, the slap of the material in your face and eyes, the brief fear of suffocation; it’s shocking, painful and disorientating. To have this followed up by two skilled karate kicks to the stomach doesn’t improve things at all.

I’m down now, and for the first time I think I’m going to come second in this bout. As I scrabble to get the towel off my face and stand up again I feel a strong grip on my throat and start to feel my consciousness going. My assailant tears the towel off my head and for a second I think she’s going to use it to break my neck.

My eyes are stinging and watering and I feel like I’ve been run over by a bus. I look up through my tears to see Mrs Bianchi sitting astride me, her eyes full of hate and her grip on my throat unrelenting. This is the first time I’ve had the crap kicked out of me by a naked woman, so at least that’s something.

 

https://goo.gl/xGxtNP

 

Kiss Me When I’m Dead

This is the first novel to feature private investigator Daniel Beckett. Beckett is a unique character in the genre. He’s highly intelligent, cultured, relatively amoral and has a pretty advanced skill-set that points to a background in intelligence work or deniable ops. Something happened in his previous life that caused him to flee the country and return a few years later as a different person. He’s very cagey about himself and it’s second nature to him to lie continuously.

I saw a review of one of the Beckett novels which described him as ‘a modest babe-magnet’, which I thought was a pretty fair description. Attractive women, and his relationships with them, fill the novels. In fact, to call him a major womaniser would be a major understatement. It’s plain that he’s unable to live a conventional life for some reason, and this extends to his relationships with women.

Beckett also comes across as very worldly and non-judgemental, particularly when it comes to those who exist outside normal society like he does. This outlook is particularly applied to the variety of sex workers he encounters in Kiss Me When I’m Dead, as well as one character who is a drug dealer.

Kiss Me When I’m Dead explores the motivations and weaknesses of men who are so powerful and rich that they think they can get away with anything. People who are so corrupt that they make no apologies for it and even brag about it. People who think that money can buy anything and anyone. Beckett is their nemesis and sees through them instantly. He’s the sort of person they never want to come across and is actually a scary individual in many ways.

It’s clear in Kiss Me When I’m Dead that Beckett is doing detective work for the money and does not consider himself to be restrained by the law. His casual acts of theft and violence (and even murder) right at the very end of the novel demonstrate that he exists outside normal moral codes and has no interest in them or respect for them.

There’s a definite feeling that Beckett expects to be pursued, but we don’t know by whom. He lives in Covent Garden, a central, built-up area of London. His routine changes whenever he returns to his flat on foot. He’s constantly taking evasive action, utilising counter surveillance techniques and is plainly skilled in these things.

Lincoln has asked me why the stuffed dog belonging to Beckett’s client is called Lincoln. No clever backstory, I’m afraid. I just Googled ‘popular dog names’, Lincoln came up and I thought ‘Yes.’

I may never set foot in England again after hearing this.

 

https://goo.gl/mlmlKc

 

Death is the New Black

Beautiful, ambitious and talented, top fashion designer Sara Holt seems to have the world at her feet.

But recently, her life has been turned upside down. She’s been on the receiving end of a vicious and frightening campaign of harassment.

More sinister still, someone has been breaking into her flat, sometimes when she’s in bed asleep. Perversely, they don’t steal anything.

The police can find no evidence of any sort of break-in. No one witnesses the harassment. No one believes her. Is it all in her mind?

Then she hires enigmatic private investigator Daniel Beckett, and gradually the chilling truth begins to unfold.

https://goo.gl/mlmlKc

Death is the New Black excerpt

The words ‘holy’ and ‘shit’ are the first to invade my brain the moment Isolda Jennison oozes into Sara Holt’s office.

Sara’s MTA1 is a ravishingly beautiful woman of about twenty-five. She’s tall, extremely desirable, excessively voluptuous and for a moment I think she must be one of those plus size models that the fashion houses have been favouring for the last decade, except she’s not quite plus-sized enough. Pretty close, though. Then I decide she’s a little too carnal for modelling; maybe much too carnal.

She’s been poured into a black silk sleeveless dress that cuts off a little above the knee and flaunts delectably wide hips and a lethal cleavage. Both these attributes are accentuated by a wide, studded silver belt around her waist that just stops short of being fetish wear.

If all of this wasn’t bad enough, she has full, moist lips, exquisitely pretty dark brown eyes and a gorgeous mane of expensively coiffured black hair that seems to reach all the way down her back. I just hope Sara is going to say something, because I’ve temporarily lost the power of speech.

‘Oh. Hi, Isolda. This is Daniel Beckett. He’s the private detective. He’d like to have a talk with you about my itinerary. Daniel, this is Isolda Jennison, my MTA1. She’ll give you everything you need.’

A less sophisticated guy than me would be thinking ‘I should be so lucky’ at this point. It’s a good job I’m so smooth and urbane.

Isolda steps forward and shakes my hand. Now I can smell her perfume, which is heady, musky and catches at the back of my throat. I think I may need to sit down. I just hope my mouth isn’t hanging open; I wouldn’t want any flies to think they’d found a home.

‘Pleased to meet you.’ says Isolda. It’s a classless, Londony accent with a hint of Hertfordshire or maybe Essex. Her grip is firm and dry and lingers for a second too long. She’s very close; another foot and one of her breasts would be touching my forearm. My mouth dries up as I visualise this. ‘Shall we go into my office? Sara doesn’t have a computer in here.’

‘That’s fine by me.’ I say, as nonchalantly as possible. I turn to Sara. ‘I’ll come back and have a quick chat when we’ve finished.’

Sara nods and smiles, already engaged in something else that involves a pink fluorescent Magic Marker. Despite my efforts to suppress them, the contrasting physical beauty of both women is putting scenarios in my head that are best eradicated, and fast. I have to concentrate, not fantasise. As soon as I think that, the scenarios return with a brutish, salacious vengeance. I need therapy.

I follow Isolda down a corridor to her office and I can hear her nylons swish together as she walks. That sound: it’s a bastard. She knows my eyes are on her curves and I guess she’s probably used to it. I look at the zip on the back of her dress and imagine slowly pulling it down.

I try to imagine the sort of lingerie she favours and my imagination kindly supplies me with a few distracting adjectives – black, provocative, indecent, revealing, tight, evil. As if reading my thoughts, she turns and flashes me a knowing smile. ‘Come inside.’

We turn into her office. It’s smaller than Sara’s and less cluttered. There are three shelves of books and a couple of small tables groaning with magazines, but her desk is tidy, with only a computer, a notepad and some pens.

There are prints on the wall; something by Weguelin and Andromeda by Poynter. She picks up a spare swivel chair and places it next to hers. We both sit down. She crosses her legs, looks at me and smiles. Her eyes are a little red, like she’s been crying recently.

She runs a hand through her hair and shakes her head quickly from left to right. This releases more of her perfume into the atmosphere and, far worse, causes her breasts to wobble slightly. It’s the ‘slightly’ bit that causes me to swallow and lick my lips, like a schoolboy nervously flicking through his first girly magazine.

https://goo.gl/mlmlKc

Death is the New Black

Beckett’s second outing brings him into contact with the fashion industry. He’s hired by a top female fashion designer whose life is being made a misery by threatening, sinister street encounters. Apart from this, someone is breaking into her flat and moving things around, even while she’s actually there and is asleep. She contacts the police who tell her that there is no evidence whatsoever of any unwanted presence or break-in in her flat. The street hassle is just as unprovable. She starts to think that she maybe be going a little mad.

Then, on the recommendation of a friend, she hires Beckett. He realises immediately that there’s something not right about this situation and is able to demonstrate that her flat can be broken into without leaving a trace by doing it himself.

It becomes obvious in Death is the New Black, as it was in Kiss Me When I’m Dead, that Beckett abhors violence and disrespect when it’s aimed at women. His retaliation to acts of violence aimed at his client is swift, brutal and sadistic throughout the book. But he’s also capable of being distracted by women, as well, in this case by his client’s glamorous assistant. It’s a weakness that he is aware of, but seems to be difficult for him to do anything about it.

Beckett’s fighting skills once again point to a background in intelligence of some sort. His reaction to any attempted assault on his person is cold and calculating. He makes very speedy assessments about an opponent, which takes in their build, weight, intelligence, reaction times and how emotional they get during an altercation. Beckett does not get emotional at all during a fight. He seems to use a variety of techniques, including karate, aikido, krav maga, KFM and his own brutal version of street fighting. How he learned so many different styles of martial art and how long it took him is difficult to calculate. The fact that he’s in his early thirties makes his abilities even more staggering.

Although he is capable of ending fights efficiently and quickly, it sometimes seems as if he chooses not to, for his own gratification. This usually depends upon the opponent and how he feels about him. He’s not invulnerable, though, as demonstrated from the savage beating he took from Sakura Bianchi in Kiss Me When I’m Dead before finally neutralising her attack. He doesn’t seem keen on people who use knives or other weapons. The only weapon Beckett caries with him is a tactical pen, which is made out of aircraft grade aluminium, making it light but tough. This is a harmless-looking substitute for a Kubotan, a small martial arts weapon invented in the 1960s by karate master Takayuki Kubota. The pen version can also be used as a pen. To the untrained eye it seems innocuous, but can be used to effectively attack pressure points and soft parts of the body. It can also be used for hardening the fist for punching and for manipulating opponents using pain. It’s an unusual skill to be proficient in, and whatever Beckett’s level is, it’s unlikely he was taught it in the UK.

I like putting tricksy little references in these novels for readers to discover (or never discover in a million years) and here’s one of them. In Death is the New Black, fashion designer Sara Holt keeps a spare key for her flat taped to the inside of a book called The Makioka Sisters, which is by a Japanese author called Junichiro Tanizaki. One of his other famous books is called The Key. See? D’you see what I did there??

 

 

Bio

My name’s Dominic Piper. I’m a writer living in London, UK. This causes many people to assume I’m English, but I’m not. I was actually born in Wales and have a Welsh mother and a Scottish father, so I guess I’m a sort of Celtic hybrid.

Although I only started writing novels in 2014, I’ve been a television writer for many years and also work as a script doctor for film and television whenever anyone asks me. Being a script doctor means you sprinkle fairy dust on someone else’s work when that work has a certain spark missing. It’s done anonymously and often without the original writer’s knowledge (or consent!).

My first two novels, Kiss Me When I’m Dead and Death is the New Black both feature the enigmatic private investigator Daniel Beckett. I’m currently working on the third, which doesn’t have a title yet. These books have been described as Neo-Noir. There’s a tough, often savagely violent private investigator and a series of drop-dead gorgeous femme fatales, so I can see where they’re coming from. But I just view these books as modern crime fiction and have never intended to pigeonhole them in that way. I’ve read a few detective books in my time, but I can’t say any one them have really been an influence on the Beckett novels. My inspiration, if I can call it that, would come mainly from film and television.

 

Dominic Piper on social media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008092905482

Twitter: @DominicPiper1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8472688.Dominic_Piper

Beckett Number Three

I’m working on the third Daniel Beckett novel right now, but have no idea when it will be published as yet. Watch this space or watch my Amazon page.

 

Also feel free to bug him on twitter. Good authors like encouragement to write faster. And reviews, always leave a review.

 

I enjoyed both books so much, I provided a 5 star rating for each on Amazon.

https://goo.gl/VOsWW8

and

https://goo.gl/IN6ajN

 

If you like a good taught thriller, I whole-heartedly recommend Dominic's books, despite his faux-pas when it comes to names for dead stuffed dogs.

Speaking of five-star reads, perhaps you'd like to give my books a gander. They'll give you chills and help you beat the heat of summer.

Junior Inquisitor Book One  

Amazon - http://goo.gl/D6KrbX

Smashwords - http://goo.gl/XsGgAC

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

Smashwords - https://goo.gl/MokJnC 

 Inquisitor Series - http://goo.gl/mJtTf8

Skipping the hidden reference this week as Brunette Sonya is sleeping, so I shall do the same. 

Echo, little girl twofer, and The Vampire of Rome updates

It had been an interesting and difficult week for me. The Vampire of Rome continues to chug along towards the finale. I’m quite pleased with the writing, although the speed - well one day I’ll be a fast typist. One day. Sebastian has gotten to deal with betrayal, undead monkeys, and highly suspicious allies. I think you’ll like it. October is still the drop date, of course that depends upon edits (ugh).

Brunette Sonya continues her sleep denial ways, which makes mornings extra fun. Veronica is moving away from the “Kill it with fire,” attitude she had before when it comes to her little sister, and headed to “Yea! I can boss someone around and be a tyrant.”

You will call me Queen Veronica

Sibling rivalry only happens with girls it seems. As the oldest of three boys, I can tell you I was fair, just, and always concerned with the feelings of my little brothers. Ha Ha Ha

As I have so little time and no sleep, I once again give you another great Indie author, Kent Wayne, and his series of Science Fiction books about the humans on the planet Echo. Take it away Kent.

 



https://www.amazon.com//dp/B013NYPV94  

Blurb:  In the late 21st century, humanity left Earth due to multiple resource shortcomings aggravated by an acceleration in climate change. They settled Echo, a planet that was nearly a carbon copy of Earth except for being devoid of all but the most basic life forms. Fast forward 1200 years later. Echo has endured over a thousand years of dark age. Corporations and government merged early on, becoming the oppressive authority known as the Regime. Military and police merged into the Department of Enforcement, their only mission to crush the huge network of rebels known as the Dissidents. Over half the planet is covered by decaying cityscapes and the elite live high above, removed and remote from the greater populace on the moon-city of Ascension. Hope lies in one man, a former Enforcer named Atriya. But before he can break the cycle of darkness and ignorance on Echo, he has to do it within himself.

 



https://www.amazon.com//dp/B013NYPV94  



Excerpt:  Book 1, Chapter 8

A top-tier Crew guy would be capable of going into a heavily fortified, multilevel structure held by a company size element of Dissident fighters-or one to two hundred combatants-and clear it by himself.  Enforcers, by contrast, never entered so much as a single room without a minimum of two assaulters.

Atriya was nowhere close to that level.  He was skilled enough to where he could go into smaller buildings or houses as the sole assaulter, but not so good that he could take down a high rise sans backup.  Ultimately however, it wasn’t an issue.  Operating procedure called for Crew shooters to deploy in two-man teams. 

The most highly regarded and revered teams, though, were those that could task each shooter to clear their own piece of urban battlespace, regardless of whether it was a one bedroom flat or a warehouse filled with fortified shooting vantages.

As he ascended the sheer concrete face, Atriya resolutely tried not to think about his job related inadequacies or Verus’s words.  He concentrated on losing himself in the climb, obstinately focused on pulling and launching his weighted body with one arm, then the other. 


Author links:

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/kentwayne108

 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/KentWayne2

 

Blog:  www.Dirtyscifibuddha.com

 

https://www.amazon.com//dp/B013NYPV94  



Main Character's motivations?

Main character is motivated by becoming the best soldier he possibly can, but he is realizing that brute willpower does not cut it, and that he must look deeply into himself and confront his shortcomings to get to the next level.

 

What is their secret strengths/ weaknesses?  

My MC's strength is that he is disciplined to the point of being obsessive.  His weakness is that he doesn't have the talent to get as far as he wants, and (initially) he refuses to investigate his own shortcomings.

 

Any philosophical issues in this story? If so how do you address them, how does MC live and overcome them?

Philosophical:  Echo is a reference to humanity's dark age, and mirrors our world in that despite being 1200 years in the future, it still "echoes" our world in many areas.  The main theme of the story is the evolution of ignorance into awareness, and this will be reflected in the environment as well as within the main character.  I hint at the ignorance of the world through external setting, and the main character evolves—like many of us do—through the destruction of his ideals and is forced to either confront what is holding himself back or become more aware.  Unlike many of us, he will eventually choose not to wallow in his suffering (I actually think that's a little unfair, on a tangent:  I believe all of us—through the course of infinity—become fully actualized in the spiritual sense), and be more at peace/aware.  The way he does this is experiencing an incredible amount of suffering (once again, like us).

 

Any offbeat obscure or 80s references?

In book one I referenced Star Wars when MC's mentor mentions she almost wanted to call her magic kaia—my name for the subtle energy in this world—the Force.  A lot of my designs for the machinery are influenced by Robotech and other anime as well as the recent movie Pacific Rim.  The magical stuff is also influenced by anime effects; Naruto, Dragonball Z, Justice League Unlimited...the psychedelic art of Alex Grey as well.

 

When did you start to write this one and why?

I started writing Echo Vol.1 last February.  I wanted to make a statement that the world suffered not so much from blatant evil, but more from ignorance.  I saw a lot of this in the military; good intentions creating horrible results because of an unwillingness to investigate and let go of a clinging attachment to ideals.  I saw a lot of the same ignorance in the general populace; people who wanted infallible, idealistic heroes, and thus their perception of the military led to badly managed expectations or policies.

 

What's next in this series or in your next book?

The next in this series (Echo Vol. 2) is my MC getting betrayed by his version of the military (the Department of Enforcement); everything he lived for and loved is now trying to kill him because he's pissed off an ultra-fanatical branch of religious zealots within its ranks.

 

Preview of your next book?

Most of us change gradually-over the course of decades. For Crusader Atriya, it will happen in a single, agonizing day. On the edge of a decaying cityscape, Atriya struggles to hold onto his identity as he faces death from both enemies and allies alike. In the process, his old self is torn away, and he catches a glimpse of what he may one day become.

Twelve hundred years ago, humanity left Earth to settle on Echo. Despite hopes for a golden age, an era of darkness fell. Government and corporations merged into the Regime. The military and police merged into the Department of Enforcement. Over half the planet is covered by crumbling cityscapes and the elite live high above, removed and remote from the greater populace on the moon-city of Ascension. Hope lies in Atriya, but before he can break the cycle of darkness and ignorance on Echo, he has to do it within himself.

 

When will it be available?

Echo Vol.2 is currently available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.

https://www.amazon.com//dp/B01CH7ALS4 

Echo Volume 3 is currently being worked on.  I hope to have it out around October but we'll see; I've been slacking on the editing lately because of some personal issues but I'm always pretty religious about drafting, so it's been coming at 600 words a day.  I plan to have 4 in total (#3 is The Dialectic of Agony and #4 is the Alembic Eternal).

Like all good Science Fiction this series asks questions about humanity, the human condition, and the difference between ideals and pragmatism. I think you should check out what life is like on Echo, but do it now, after all tomorrow is another day.

Speaking of books that make any book shelf appear more substantive, take a look at my series of Dark Fiction almost horror novels and decide how many copies you’d like and how many you want to give to friends.

Junior Inquisitor Book One  

Amazon - http://goo.gl/D6KrbX

Smashwords - http://goo.gl/XsGgAC

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

Smashwords - https://goo.gl/MokJnC 

 Inquisitor Series - http://goo.gl/mJtTf8

Last week's hidden quote was from Blazing Saddles. This week's is a bit trickier, but I'll give an extra point to anyone who gets it.

The Uroboros Saga, Brunette Sonya likes to party, and Rick Astley is dissed once again.

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.



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014L5RCGY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00POEXRWA

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.



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014L5RCGY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00POEXRWA



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!



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014L5RCGY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00POEXRWA



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.



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014L5RCGY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00POEXRWA



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

 

 



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014L5RCGY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00POEXRWA



 

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 1^st 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 4^th and 5^th 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

Smashwords - http://goo.gl/XsGgAC

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

Smashwords - https://goo.gl/MokJnC 

 Inquisitor Series - http://goo.gl/mJtTf8

Last week's hidden quote was from Magnum Force. This week's is up and the usual points will be awarded for whomever gets it right first.