I have read the new Nero Wolfe novels, which continued the story after Rex Stout passed away. They are interesting stories, and anyone who loves Wolfe wants him to continue having adventures, but it's just not quite the same.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote Sherlock Holmes, and he was brilliant. Millions of others have borrowed him since Sir Arthur made him public domain, and he remains brilliant. I believe this is because as smart as Holmes was, he was not smart about people. Writing a character that understands humanity and chooses to keep himself insulated through staff, blubber and scheduling requires a passionate love for not only the character but his fellow man as well.
Wolfe is not thorny because he hates, he is thorny because he loves. He often comments that his pounds are insulation against feelings. He must remain aloof because his romantic nature would drive him to ruin, and likely has in the past.
The newer books lack this heart. They are pastiches, wonderful pastiches, and credit is due to anyone who takes up the mantle of a character they did not create, and therefore cannot know intimately. I often think that is why Sherlock is so easy to scribe for. We did know know him well, and thus, he can be the shell for a variety of fillings.
Wolfe does not share that expansiveness. We know him. But we do not know him as well as Rex Stout did. The same problem applies to Archie. New efforts have made Archie sound false. In reading the prequel story, all I could think the entire time was, "No. This is not Archie." I just feel that the Wolfe we read in the new novels is a zombie. The body is there, the actions correct, the schedule maintained, but the heart, the life, is missing.
I hesitate to mention brains so closely after a zombie comment, but I think that's the other problem. Rex Stout was a genius and a chameleon, living many lives during his time on this planet. He could write Wolfe because he knew, intimately, how Wolfe, a difficult genius, would behave. Writing the life of a genius is a difficult task, but writing for a genius that is not your own creation may be impossible. I believe that is why the newer novels focus so heavily on Archie Goodwin, the 'every-man' character. And while Archie is a great foil and narrator, respectfully, he is not why I read Nero Wolfe.
Author's Note: I want to end with a statement that this is in no way a criticism of the new author that took over the Nero Wolfe novels. I applaud the effort and I am thankful Wolfe is allowed to live on, regardless of how. Please, read these books if you get a chance, they are definitely worth your time. This post was merely trying to explain a certain sadness I felt recently when reading the newer work.
I'm sure everyone who participated in Black Friday and survived is proud of themselves. For those of you who had a rough day yesterday, and probably slept most of the evening last night after getting up at 2 or 3 AM, you may feel a bit rough today as well. #Caturday is here to help. This week I give you...
Black Friday
Emergency Rescue Kitties
of Extreme Cuteness
This will strip away the gloom of Black Fridays past and prepare you for next year's battle. Or Christmas shopping or maybe just Monday... Either way, this should help.
First, our kitties wanted to go shopping. So they asked nicely, left the house and then there was a bit of a pile up. Luckily no one was hurt and everyone got to take home a bag or three!
The kitties played and played and shopped and shopped and there was a bit of a problem. They had tired themselves out! So they called in the Police, the Fire Department and the Doctors and Nurses! Everyone was given a clean bill of health, and sent home to rest with their purchases.
Finally, our kitties made it safely home! They were all sleepy. They put away their bags, cuddled up with each other and fell asleep. They had lovely dreams about next year's adventures!
You should also pass this book along as a gift to anyone in your life who has an addiction to Pinterest or Instagram or any sort of visual discovery website. Or if they have a love one who is afflicted. Laughter is the best solution to stress, and the holidays can always use a few more giggles.
This is the most important day in all of November. I know some of you are wondering what happened to that other famous holiday, something with turkey, and I have no idea. From here on out, November shall always be known as my birthday. I don’t mean one specific day.
No, like the old, forgotten holiday this day shall be flexible. If your family and friends are available on a Tuesday, celebrate it then! The first Saturday of the month is open? Perfect! The best part is that there are already greeting cards, wrapping paper and other celebratory items like plates and cups and napkins imprinted for this holiday. When everyone else is trying to find old-holiday-themed nonsense, you will make out like a bandit with plenty of Birthday Loot ready to go for your autumnal celebration of my birthday!
Now some of you may think I have selfish reasons for doing this, but I actually have a perfectly legitimate excu- I mean reason! The former holiday from this month was the most egregious offender of all the holidays.
Not only were we bombarded with recipe suggestions and tips, but it really seemed to be the most perfectly crafted homesteader holiday. I mean, it was a day memorializing the very way of lifestyle choices and behavior that the homesteaders are trying to bring back. Since I honestly find the whole thing to be a scary waste of time and money, I protest by removing that holiday from the calendar, and replacing it with my birthday.
We Non-Steaders will, from this day forth, continue the great traditions of eating too much and watching some sporting event no one cares about after watching a parade* we can’t remember the reason for watching –if we happen to celebrate on that day - and then we will all pass out before 6 pm!
We will not give those homesteaders the satisfaction of allowing them to sully this great day with color-coordinated table laying events and jars of something with cranberry in it (Seriously? Again with the mason jars?). Or way too many pictures of food and food accessories on InstaHam! This is a day to be thankful that someone worked enough to buy whatever we are lucky enough to eat, and we shall remember that every November. On a day of our choosing.
*My Birthday is actually the second if you want to be specific about it, but there isn’t a parade that day usually.
As in all things, I am incredibly picky about what I want in a laptop. Yes, I know my desktop is for processing power and has a bigger screen, etc. But lately I've been toying around with a kids book idea and a few other things that require long hours. I don't like sitting at the computer for that length of time and it's actually quite a poor angle for drawing.
With that in mind, I went searching for a replacement laptop. Mine recently had an accident with a cat that left the fan broken and the hard drive disconnected. Luckily the cat was completely fine, which is really what matters. But I was out a laptop and I thought now would be the perfect time to start looking! Black Friday, Cyber Monday, plenty of other oddly expanding sale days, how hard can it be, right?
It's a miasma of despair and hopelessness. I don't want Windows 8 or Windows 10. We all know they are awful and I hate them. I want my old reliable Windows 7, because I'm a bit of a gamer sometimes and I like my OS to not fight with my gaming choices, or worse deem them "unsafe". For anyone who is about to list a laptop on eBay or a similar site, leave the OS alone! If the customer wants to upgrade they can do that when they get it, you are losing customers who are specifically looking for a machine that hasn't crossed over to the dark side!
I want at least 6 or 8 GB of RAM, but would prefer 12 or 16, because I'm using several graphics programs that require being able to do lots of things at once. Plus, the aforementioned gaming.
I know the AMD A-Series processors are slightly better than the Intel i7, if you have dedicated graphics, which I would also like! I'm fine with accepting a hybrid graphic build, if that's the only option, as I'm not doing any 3D gaming or hooking up an Oculus Rift. I promise to supply extra cooling power to compensate for the potential heat-sink issues.
I do not need a huge hard-drive! I don't plan to really save anywhere but the thumb drive I'm working on, so no, I don't need a terabyte, not even for extra storage, I have a secure external storage drive for that, and it's already got more TB than I could ever need! Honestly, I could live with 250 GB or less and no, it doesn't have to be a solid state drive, I promise not to handle it roughly or let it leave the house and ride on mass transit.
Everyone talks about how size is the most important thing. I don't care! It can have a 17 inch screen. It could have a tiny 13 inch screen because I just need the general concepts. It could have a 7 inch screen and it would still be better than trying to do everything on my cell phone, which is where I'm at now. Don't even get me started on that. I don't care if it's big or small or heavy or light, none of that really matters. It will be set on a mobile computer stand that I'll be dragging around from room to room when I feel like
moving around a bit or need to be somewhere to supervise something like heating repair or whatever.
I would like it to have a CPU speed of 2.3 ghz or better because again, program switching and various browser tabs and such, I need it to be zippy! I would obviously prefer something over 3 ghz, but I don't think it's entirely necessary.
Given my criteria, my wholly unreasonable list of wants, you would think it might make sense for me to just
build it myself. I tried that. They were so unbelievably expensive that it was immediately out of range. I'm not spending two grand on a laptop. I didn't even spend that on my desktop! I don't think I've even spent that on a car! Cannibalizing the parts doesn't work either, as very little is cross-compatible. Plus, we've discussed my inability to "make" things. No one wants to repeat the great Toaster Fire of '02! So, I pretty much have to buy a used laptop, which is fine. If I could just find one. I'm starting to feel a bit like Prince Charming.
I guess what this really boils down to is a plea for help. If anyone knows someone, anyone, who has a computer that fits this description, please let me know. I will travel the breadth of my kingdom, speak with all in the land, or even pay reasonable shipping and handling charges.
Maybe there's someone out there who sees this blog who knows how to upgrade laptops and could help me form a plan of attack, or even just build one. I'm really pretty desperate. I'd take something close. The evil sisters would probably be close enough at this point.
This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from me, since I didn't get a submission this week. As a result, we get a fun two-fer! The Wabash Blues is a particular favorite of mine for Chicago commutes! Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!
Every now and then, I like to force my opinions on you. It's just a thing that makes me happy. So, let's all just try to get through this one together and it will be over before you know it!
Do you like fun? Do you enjoy giggling? Do you think British accents are better? Do you enjoy watching American TV? Well, if you said no, you're wrong, and if you said yes, have I got a list for you! If it's been on in the US, chances are good we stole it from the UK. There are a million examples I could give, but I'll confine myself to three:
Do you like The Office? That syrupy Jan/Fred (I don't actually know names here, I hated that show) romance thing that sustained an ungodly number of seasons? Yep, Britain did it better.
Do you like Veep? You're missing out on it's far-superior Anglo-original, which I've helpfully included here.
Do you like The Daily Show? I suppose this should say, "Did you used to like it" because let's be honest, it's awful and un-watchable without Jon Stewart. Either way, the limey geniuses had it first (the concept anyway) with Not the Nine O'Clock News. In 1979! I personally had a slight aversion to Brit-Com for the longest time. I had family and friends who repeatedly gushed about things and I was rebellious and wanted to find things that no one else liked. That didn't end very well, and I've come back to the "fold", as it were. These gems are found on Netflix, but some are only on DVD or Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime Instant Video. There's also always piracy I guess, but I can't condone that. For legal reasons. I now realize the genius behind some of these shows and while there are some bad episodes, for the most part, they are superb. I now find myself compelled to share these with everyone, spread the word, you know... for the greater good.
So, in no particular order, I give you:
Top 10 British Comedy Television Shows That You Should Be Watching
Get in there, I mean right now!
But before we begin... (grumble-grumble-grumble)
Honorable Mentions
(Historic, Honourable Mentions, in this case I guess?)
These are shows that everyone watches. The grande dames, they have movies and millions and they don't need my help. You already love them!
Black Adder / Mr. Bean, The Inbetweeners, Red Dwarf, Absolutely Fabulous, Fawlty Towers...
And master of them all, Monty Python's Flying Circus.
But this isn't about what you are already watching, this is about those few hidden gems you may not have seen, but you should! Let's do this!
10. Black Books / Father Ted / The IT Crowd
Or as I like to
call it, the “Graham Linehan Trilogy”. These are primarily shows about three or
four people in an unusual situation. An unusual, hilarious situation. From a quiet bookshop to a small parish to the
bustling world of Internet Things, these sitcoms bring the funny. They all
feature brilliant performances and talented casts. The quirky, idiosyncratic,
manic storylines are wonderful and funny. If you haven’t seen these, give them
a try. Black Books is my personal
favorite, followed by The IT Crowd
and finishing with Father Ted.
9 ¾ : The Good Life
I wasn’t going to include
this one. But a wise person told me not to discriminate against things I don’t
understand. This is a quaint story about a husband and wife who want to unplug
and homestead in their very suburban
home outside London. It’s the 70’s. That’s the only explanation I’ve got here.
This show had comedy and wit and fun, and I loved Paul Eddington as the posh
neighbor. However, this show is part of the tapestry that lead to me write Non-Steading. So, while I despise
everything they try to do in this show, and cheered a bit when they failed at
things, it is genuinely funny and you may want to check it out. Ahem.
9. The Vicar of Dibley
This is one that
most people have at least heard of. Geraldine is a force to be reckoned with,
and so is her boss. This series was always being heralded as the second coming
and it took me a while to get on board. But after seeing Alice how could anyone
turn away? The actors on this show tackle real world problems, bringing levity
and sanity to anyone who needs it. Make sure to watch the Blessing of the
Animals episode, and tell me your heart doesn’t melt. I was smiling so hard I
may have cried a little. Or a lot. But it’s not all heart-warming, there’s a
great bit of comedy in there as well. Plus a very, very young Peter Capaldi if
you watch closely! Plus Sean Bean doesn't die!
8. As Time Goes By
This is the show I
think really made me admire Dame Judi. Not only was she off playing M, winning
awards, being an over-all badass, but she was making this quietly wonderful
revelation on television. This is what it really looks like to be good at your
job all of the time. Between her and Geoffrey Palmer, it’s impossible not to
giggle! It made me wish I had a coffee plantation in Kenya that I could lose
and then find the love of my life a second time around!
7. Spaced
Ah, a love letter
to my childhood. I almost wish I could have appreciated this gem way back when
it first aired! This tiny confection only lasted two seasons, but those were
all it needed. Of course, we all would have loved more, but Simon Pegg and
Edgar Wright had other things they needed to bring us like Shaun of the Dead
and Hot Fuzz! (We don’t talk about The
World’s End around these parts.) This show also introduced me to Jessica
Hynes, who aged nicely, as we will see. From Resident Evil to aliens to comics
and more, this show is a perfect capsule that you can swallow any time to help
with Anger… Pain… Fear... Agression.
6. The Last of the Summer Wine
This one has always
held a special place in my head. It was the first show I remember watching that
had British characters. It was also the first time I got to see the creations
of Roy Clarke, and that is always fortuitous. Like most British shows, this one
just keeps recasting people as they leave, so it’s a little confusing at first.
Once you look past any small inconsistencies, you are free to sit back and
enjoy this madcap romp. Generally focusing on older men who still think they
are quite young, it gives you hope that you’ll be that active in your golden
years!
5. W1A
This is the only
show (I think!) that I’m listing that is still on the air. My favorite thing to
say about this is, “Hollywood created a show named after a zip code and we got 90210. The BBC does it and we get W1A.” Finally a chance to see Hugh
Bonneville outside the walls of Downton, and we get more Jessica Hynes as the
PR maven slash nightmare. Everything about this production is dazzling. They
are dealing with the charter renewal, poking fun at themselves and the BBC, and
slaying all the sacred cows they can find. Their meeting on BAME/LGBT numbers
is on-point for how most offices sound these days when trying to “hit their
numbers” and it is comical. Plus I love Will and I don’t even know what’s wrong
with him yet. Seriously, check this show out and be vocal if you like it, maybe
it won’t get cancelled!
4. Yes, Minister / Yes, Prime Minister
This is another
classic example of British television being awesome. When America does politics
we get The West Wing. It’s a great show, but it’s not exactly light. When they
make a show about politics across the pond, we get House of Cards. Oh that’s
right we stole that too! Don’t get me wrong, Spacey is amazing, and I binge
that show with everyone else. But back to Yes,
Minister and its fabulous follow-up Yes,
Prime Minister! These are the shows that other shows try to be. From the
delightfully smarmy Sir Humphrey Appleby to the return of Paul Eddington as Jim
Hacker, MP, this show contains more laughs than you realize. I’ve had to watch
it dozens of times to mine new jokes, and they just keep appearing. Everything from
multiple meanings and witty double entendres to insider humor can be found in
this wealth of material. My personal favorite quote explained everything I ever
needed to know about the newspapers in Britain.
Asked about the press
Hacker responds, “The Daily Mirror is read by the people who think they run the
country. The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country. The Times is read by the people who
actually do run the country. The
Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country. The Financial
Times is read by people who own the
country. The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be
run by another country. The Daily
Telegraph is read by the people who think it is.”
Woolley, his
secretary, asks about people who read the Sun. Hacker replies with, “Sun
readers don't care who runs the
country - as long as she's got big tits.”
3. Keeping Up Appearances
This is the pinnacle
of Roy Clarke’s creations in my book. If you’ve never seen Hyacinth Bucket
(that’s pronounced Bouquet, dear.) then you are missing something in your life.
You will also never feel as sorry for a man as you do for Richard, but that’s fine.
This show is basically Married with
Children, but heaps better. It has a whole mad crowd: Daisy and Onslow,
Rose and whoever she’s on top of that week and their batty father, Elizabeth
the neighbor and Emmet her poor divorced brother, the scruffy Dog, absent
Sheridan. Every single episode of this series is a standalone masterpiece. From
what I understand, it’s still in syndication in the UK out of sheer popularity.
If you only watch one thing from this list, make it Keeping Up Appearances. You
won’t regret it.
2. My Hero
Never has one show
caused so much love and then so much hatred. I hesitated here. I love this show
beyond all reason. Seasons 1 through 5 will determine whether I can be friends
with a person. Season 6 is even worse than The World’s End. We don’t just avoid
talking about it, we actively forget it exists. So, please go and watch this
amazing show right up until the end of Season 5. Then follow the lead actor
over to Father Ted. Do not watch past the end of Season 5 and you will love
this show more than you thought possible. You can watch Season Six Episode One
if you want to see what happens to George, but I… I don’t recommend it,
honestly. Basically just assume everything is fine and the end of Season 5 is
the end of the show.
1. The Thick of It
Malcolm Tucker.
Love him, hate him,
fear him.
If you don’t know
who Malcolm Tucker is, allow me to introduce you. I can’t possible write a
better review of this show than to just show you this clip.
It does contain #NSFW language. Be prepared!
This is Peter
Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker. I know he’s the new Doctor, but I will always love
him for this role. This is my favorite show, and it should be yours, too. Yes, there
are a lot of sweary words and this is definitely #NSFW, but it is just
sidesplitting hilarity. Once you get past the language, which let’s be honest,
is a bit like naughty poetry in the hands of a master-dramatist like Capaldi,
it’s just all wonderful. And just remember it's NMFP.
It's the best Death Glare I've ever seen.
So, there's my list of suggestions. If you think there is a conspicuous absence of crime-solving comedy (Waiting for God, etc) or WWII era fun (Like Dad's Army?), you are correct, as those need their very own lists! 'Til Next Time! Is there anything you would add? What's your favorite, unsung Brit-Com?
That is the question, Twitter. I've had my account for a few months now, and I've come to a better understanding of the Twitterverse. I also ran across a few different people who had posted "Rules" and things regarding who they would or would not follow, who they would block, etc. It seemed like a weird way to make connections, new friends, whoever. Then I started to see it. Occasionally on my Notifications page, I'll get a follower who has no picture, no bio, a weird user name, and their only tweet is a link. They also follow 1900 people and only 34 followers. The first few of these, I actually went ahead and followed, thinking perhaps it was just someone getting started on the site. I'm a pretty nice person. Or at least I think I am? Anyway, I attempted to converse with these "Egg" accounts, welcoming them, thanking them for the follow, the usual. That's when the spam started. I have since learned my lesson and I now try to only connect with real people. I avoid p0rn bots and weird accounts. But I occasionally still get a follower who seems somehow... iffy. So with that in mind, I give you my personal:
Twitter Standards and Practices Doctrine
1. I will follow anyone who follows me and is a real person, company or interest. I like lots of things and people and places and I'm all for making new friends! /big welcoming smile
2. I will not follow any account that is spam, p-rn, bigoted, violent, abusive, etc. If you have to ask if your account falls under these no-no's, you're probably fine. It's like being crazy: the ones who are never ask. /suspicious glare
3. If you unfollow me, I may unfollow you back. There are a few accounts I follow without any reciprocity, but that's usually limited to businesses, i.e. HyVee. If you don't want to follow me anymore, that's ok, but don't follow, inflate your numbers from people following back, and then drop everyone you follow to look cool. I don't understand and I don't approve. /stern look
4. Languages are funny things. If you tweet in a language other than English, I may not follow you back because I can't understand what you're saying. If Twitter can't translate, neither can I. Thank you for following me, and thank you for understanding. /apologetic grimace
5. Retweets and Favorites are just my own personal taste. I never expect anything in return. If I favorite something you did, it's because I genuinely like it. If I retweet something it's because I think people would like to know. I hope you'll like some things I post, but I understand not everyone can like everything. /big hugs
Thanks for reading, and thanks for being good Tweeps!
Has anyone else noticed that getting followers on Twitter is getting more expensive every day? Every other thing I see is how to gain followers fast, buy followers, automatic tweets and follows and unfollows and promoted tweets and... I just don't know.
Back in my day...
When I first found Twitter, back in mid-2009, everything was so pure and honest. No one "bought followers", you just made friends, connections. If people liked your content, you had lots of followers. If you were just so-so, you didn't have as many. I see accounts that have thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of followers. How many of those accounts are bots? Do the people with those follower numbers even care? Is their brand or message even reaching real people? Does that eve matter - if you have enough followers to start a small city? These are questions I care about! I didn't really have anyone on separate lists, beyond maybe really funny people getting their own list, or really scary Tweeps, or pretty or cool, etc. But those were mostly lists that other people followed. Those lists were curated to direct attention to people based on their strengths or personalities. When I logged in last week, I saw someone had added me to a list. Well, that's nice, I thought! I noticed the list had several thousand members and was followed by maybe 12. I'm extremely grateful, obviously. I love when people interact, however they choose to do so. I began to think about the point of the list. Was it just to organize and collect names? Were people actually seriously interested in whatever the list was for and it was just a small group? I still don't know what I did to earn my place. On Twitter, I even asked "is putting me on a list but not following me" was some sort of commitment phobia. I still don't know. But I care about the answer. How would you feel if you found out you were Muted or on a list people never checked? I would think, probably weird right? Shouldn't the goal be to write things that people ultimately want to read? Or at least to find the people who want to read what you write?
This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from Twitter.
Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for! You can submit them:
A.J. Trevors is an up and coming author from Melbourne, who has be gracious enough to grant an interview. We American girls are suckers for an accent, and even more for a good book! Read on to learn about this writer and his newest creation The Gaia Chronicles: Birth of Hope!
Hope: I always like to ease in, so are you a night owl or an early bird when it comes to writing?
Actually, I’m both! When I first started writing this book, I woke up at 7am and wrote until 9.30am before I left my home for uni. However, I realised that this tired me out quickly and was a detriment to my studies. So I switched to writing at night during my second and third year of writing, usually writing from 8pm to 10pm before knocking out at night.
Next up, top three favorite movies or tv shows?
Oh there are too many. Let’s see…
Game of Thrones (duh!)
Batman: The Dark Knight
Dead Poets Society (R.I.P Robin Williams!)
How about your top three authors and why?
Brent Weeks (Author of the Night Angel Trilogy) = The first author that eased me into dark fantasy. Despite the fact that his books draw on fantasy aspects, the situation surrounding his characters reflect the malaise of real life e.g. prostitution, child beggars, politics, war etc. whilst you can’t help but fall in love with his characters and the relationship they share with each other.
George RR. Martin (Author of the Game of Thrones Series) = What is there not to like about this gregarious old man and his awesome writing? The epitome of how a fantasy epic should be written, with lots of twists, complicated character relationships, politics, awesome battles and a storyline that kills off it’s main characters, with equally able support characters then taking the limelight. The suspense of wanting to know which character is going to die next and growth of existing characters serves the series well.
Daniel Silva (Author of the Gabriel Allon series) = The undisputed star of the new wave of action thriller novels, with a mysterious main protagonist backed by an able support crew consisting of some of the most shadiest organisations in the world. Daniel Silva has a direct and curt style of writing, focusing more on delivering a story than building the world that is presented in the book. What happens is that you get a fast-paced novel that keeps your heart beating wildly all the way to the end.
What was the first book you really loved reading and what did you love about it?
I can barely remember what it was! I think it was Huckleberry Fin. I can’t really recall what it was about but the book was my ‘baptism’, so to speak, into a higher category of novels that were more complex in storyline, with more depth and substance, definitely different from the Jane and Peter kid stories I read when I was younger.
Are your stories written for mature readers, young adults, both? Would it be ok to hand this book to a 12 year old?
Most of my stories so far have been written for a general audience. I have two novellas that had been published before Gaia, which are “Stab in the Back”, an action thriller, and “Phae and the Sun Chariot”, a fantasy themed novel. They both contain content that is appropriate for all ages.
I know you're at university, what are you studying? Is it a challenge finding time to write?
I’m currently doing a commerce degree, majoring in accounting and finance (I know it’s weird!) but my passion has always been writing and telling stories. It is sometimes a challenge to find the time to write but I believe that if you passionate at something, there is always time to explore your interests and try to make a career out of it. You are only happy if you do something you love. We live life only once. We might as well live it happy, you know?
What would you say The Gaia Chronicles: Birth of Hope is about?
If you can look past all the cool summoning of monsters, the battles and the strange new world built into the novel, I would say that Gaia is a novel about people. It’s about relationships and the struggle that brings between two people. It’s about hate and how that can bring down even the most righteous of people. Above all, it’s about Damien and how he copes with the responsibility of being the ‘hero’ when he knows that he is just a simple boy at heart yearning to live a simple live devoid of war.
Do you plan on this being a trilogy? If so, how long will your readers have to wait to find out what happens next?
Yes! It will be a trilogy. The next book is already in the works and I am hoping to release it by the end of 2017.
Have you written anything else, and where can we find it?
I have written two novellas. One is an action thriller entitled Stab in the Back and the other is a fantasy entitled Phae and the Sun Chariot. Both can be found in the iBookstore and on Smashwords.
Will you be participating in any promotional deals, such as Kindle Unlimited or free chapters?
Throughout the month of November, I will be providing teasers in the form of excerpts from the novel. Kindle Unlimited is an interesting deal I would love to explore in the future. Also, the novel will be cheaper if you pre-order the book in November.
Do you have a newsletter, website, Facebook, Twitter, smoke signals, psychic morse code transmitter? What is the best way for your fans to stay informed?
To stay informed, please do follow my Facebook page (facebook.com/andyjamestrevors). I also have Twitter feeds as an author (twitter.com/andyjamestrevor) and for the novel (twitter.com/gaiascifi). These feeds will provide my future readers immediate information on book promos, preorder and release dates!
When and where will The Gaia Chronicles be available?
The Gaia Chronicles will be available for pre order the 15th of January 2016.
Pre-order price is at $2.99 whilst the price after release on 1st of February 2016 is $4.99.
Do make sure to preorder early to obtain the discount! :D
