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He’s Risking His Life
Ken Cressman Author Interview
Intrepid continues to follow Justin Thorn as he struggles to make his way back to Earth on a damaged ship while fighting many of space’s deadly hazards. What were some themes you felt you had to carry over from Pegasus and what were some things you wanted to do differently in this book?
I wanted to expand the universe in which the story takes place by sending the crew to Mars this time instead of the moon. In Pegasus they could at least see Earth, but now they’re millions of miles from home in a crippled ship, so the perils are much greater. It increases the level of danger and makes the stakes so much higher. We’d already established in the first book that there is a scientific outpost on Mars and that Thorn’s former girlfriend is a scientist there. What would he do if he found out that she was in danger? How far would he go to try and save her? Not only is she in danger, he’s risking his life and his beloved ship to try and rescue her.
There is a rich backstory in this book, wars and dissolution have rearranged much of old Earth. How did you set about developing the backstory for this book?
Many stories set in the future feature a world that’s bleak and depressing, with people struggling to survive in a world that’s falling apart. Often the world has become a kind of a junkyard. I wanted to create a future that’s more hopeful. Even though there have been series of conflicts that brought us to this point, it’s a world where life has become much simpler. With large cities gone and the population significantly smaller, Earth has begun to repair itself, and the air and water have become less polluted. I feel it’s a more hopeful vision of the future, but not because technology has saved us, but because we’ve let nature take its course.
When developing a series, readers often know that the main character is immune from deadly danger. How did you solve this problem in your book to keep the tension high?
I knew that in order to make the danger feel real, some of the characters had to perish. I didn’t want the reader to get too comfortable with anyone because at any moment any character could be gone. Thorn himself is put in real danger several times, and I think there’s always the possibility that he could die as well, and someone else could take over as pilot and captain of his ship.
Will you continue the Justin Thorn series with a third and possibly fourth book? If so where do you want those books to take Justin?
This book was originally intended to be the third in the series. In the second one, Thorn was to come into possession of something that a lot of people want and are trying to acquire. It was supposed to be one long chase as Thorn tries to figure out why these people want this thing and how to stop them. Unfortunately, I didn’t what that thing was, so I decided to do the third book instead. It wasn’t until I was halfway through Intrepid that I realized what the object was that everyone was after, so the next book continues the story that’s set up in this one. And the third book then sets up a fourth.
Author Links: Amazon | Twitter | GoodReads
![Intrepid (Justin Thorn Book 2) by [Cressman, Ken]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51KmvYzrgCL._SY346_.jpg)
All contact with the scientific outpost on Mars has been lost. The Federal Space Administration is sending the spaceship Intrepid on a desperate rescue mission, and they’ve commandeered Captain Justin Thorn’s ship Pegasus to use as a shuttle to the surface. But when they arrive on Mars, things go horribly wrong and the ship is severly damaged. Now millions of miles from home, the survivors must find a way to get themselves and their crippled ship back to Earth before their food and time run out.
Penchant Revealed
![Penchant Revealed by [Elizaga, J.]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51gWZE0R6UL.jpg)
Presented with a science-based and fantastical plot line, fascinating characters, and a world of artificial intelligence, J Elizaga does a wonderful job in writing about science entities in this riveting book Penchant Revealed.
As a spellbinding sci-fi, Elizaga stuns readers with creative writing and an imaginative story line in the recent eBook Penchant Revealed. A book full of secrecy, discovery, and supernatural ability, this book is ideal for anyone who loves a good sci-fi! As a reader, we see how the author intertwines artificial intelligence with humans and other worldly beings that captivates readers and keeps them hooked right to the end.
Right from the very beginning, we say hello to Miles Penchant, the protagonist of the book. From then, we are constantly questioning Miles’ character. “What is Miles Penchant’s secret, and why is the devil pursuing his wife?” The reader is left hooked by these secrets and will read on to find out the truth before Miles, his wife, and what is going on in the world around them. Secrecy and discovery are two key themes that are paramount throughout the book. Without giving too much away, worlds far from ours are constantly in battle to unravel the truths. Hell’s mastermind, Lucifer, also referred to as the devil plays a vital role in obtaining the reader’s attention, as well as keeping the plot line strong until the end of the book.
Elizaga’s attempt at intertwining a world of humans and AI is ideal for any sci-fi fans that enjoys a book that is unlike any other. J Elizaga demonstrates a clear focus and powerful imagination in this creation of fictional fantasy.
I can appreciate the author’s creativity, and I believe that the author has created a strong narrative, and provides the reader with intriguing characters and a good plot line.
“We advise you to take extra care of her [your wife]. She will be haunted by what she experienced. But she will be less fearful knowing she is not alone.” This eerie excerpt from the book clearly highlights key themes such as isolation, marriage, experiences, discovery, and fear. What more could you possibly want in a good book?
A triumphant, intelligent and artistic piece of writing brought to you by the author, J Elizaga. A noble attempt at intertwining the real world with multiple dimensions including hell, ancient aliens, and archangels. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who takes an interest in artificial intelligence, secrecy, and a longing for discovery and resolution.
Pages: 73 | ASIN: B07452QYJZ
Eternal Bloodlines
![Eternal Bloodlines by [Brennan, J.C.]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/510kYCvbutL.jpg)
In Eternal Bloodlines by J.C. Brennan, Amanda Rain Holston is a young woman living a very boring life. Her parents have been dead for five years and lives completely alone. She works as a waitress and finds it hard to even get up in the morning because of her tedious existence. A point that is captured perfectly by the picture frames she has with stock images of people in them. The one thing she does that she actually enjoys is going on long walks. It is on one of these walks that she discovers a ghastly sight: a dead body in the snow. This discovery changes everything and Amanda’s life will never be the same.
The book is set in Skidway, Michigan. Amanda has spent her life in the town and expects to grow old and die there, probably from boredom. She longs to escape the confines of the small town. The only good thing she has there is her best friend, Jessica.
The paranormal plot of this book has promise. It starts as a standard tale of a fantasy come true but with some quirky additions that turn this piece into a unique supernatural thriller. It definitely gets interesting when Amanda meets Mihnea. They bond immediately and their love story is sweet. The story loses me a bit with the attempts at making the dialogue fit a different time. It does not always work, and sometimes seems stilted, but it’s saved by the intriguing relationship that develops between Amanda and Mihnea.
I really enjoyed this book, but I found that there were some editing mistakes, to the point where I was a bit distracted; having to go back and reread some sections to make sure I understood them correctly. The book did pick up toward the end. The story became so interesting that I was able to overlook the mistakes a bit more easily. In my opinion, all the book needs is a good editor and I’ll be begging for more. I wanted so badly to focus on the unique and suspenseful story, because under the typos is a fresh take on the vampire genre, one that puts its methodically developed characters into a deadly and captivating world.
Pages: 177 | ASIN: B075G1GK4F
Love is Dynamic
Steven Gillis Author Interview
Liars follows Eric, a writer, who is struggling to write, when he becomes convinced that happy relationships are unsustainable. What was the inspiration that made you want to write this novel?
It seems at times we all feel this way, the ebb and flow of all relationships. The wondering of why we are with a certain person, or how to conduct ourselves in a relationship. Are we in the right place, is our definition of love correct or even sustainable? I wanted to explore this at the surface and work it from every angle. I began with the idea as laid out in the early pages of the novel that love is a dynamic that changes over time, for better or worse, and our perception of love, our understanding or lack thereof, is also a variable that messes with our relationships. I wanted to write of relationships from the perspective of love being fragile, mostly because we all have a tendency of fucking things up when the best thing to do is just let love and relationships evolve and carry on – or end – organically. In LIARS there is really only one character who gets this, and yet, whether or not she ends up happy, whether any of the characters end up happy or more attuned, is up to the reader to decide.
Eric is a fascinating character that only gets deeper as the novel progresses. What themes did you want to capture while writing his character?
That Eric is human and he is trying to figure things out, that his starting point is a bit skewed, he is flawed , that even his best intentions come from a confused place, that he, like everyone else, is scrambling to sustain and discover love only he is ultimately clueless as to what he is actually after. Until the very end, when you think maybe…. But with Eric that may as easily be a momentary place as well. I wanted him to be restless and not always wise in his questioning, but searching nonetheless.
Eric becomes fixated on a happy couple he meets in the market and is determined to tear them apart to prove that love isn’t real. Did you intend to explore love and relationships in this novel or did that happen organically as you were writing?
Indeed, as noted, the idea to explore love from different angles and perspectives was my intent going in. How does love sustain itself? What is love? Is it a form of freedom in which case to what extent is freedom offered, or is it a form of compromise to achieve something greater than the individual self? Is such a goal even possible? What of monogamy? Is it a social contrivance? What of open relationships? I had a lot of ideas in my head and then honestly one day at my market here in Ann Arbor I saw a couple that intrigued me for a dozen different reasons and I began to see the possibility of playing with many ideas about love through the lens of someone who views this couple and wants to test them.
What is the next book that you are writing and when will it be available?
I am writing a new novel now that is already under contract to my publisher. I hope to be done in the next year or so. Its a big sweeping look at our world through the prism of a single city.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Eric McCanus is a novelist with the misfortune of having written his one great book when he was young. Struggling to write more, recently divorced, while still missing his ex-wife, Eric becomes convinced that happy relationships are unsustainable. Determined to prove the accuracy of his theory, Eric stumbles upon a seemingly perfect couple at the market. Convinced the marriage of Cara and Matt can’t be as successful as it appears, Eric does what he can to break them apart. What follows is a psychological and philosophical comedy of errors. Liars is an exploration of love, relationships, and human interaction, a madcap romp through the vestiges of modern affairs, revolving around five characters, each spun drunk on the batterings of love while attempting to sustain themselves in a false world.
Project Bodi: Awaken the Power of Insight
Project Bodi: Awaken the Power of Insight by Hosein Kouros-Mehr is a sci-fi fiction book that goes into an alternate world of Google and its reign in 2030 and beyond. Although it’s a fictitious book, there are so many parts of it that relate to the world that we currently live in so reading this book was like looking into the future. A scary and not so distant future. The book focuses on Google Health and the impact that artificial intelligence has on the future of work.
This book took a bit for me to get my head around, but once I did, I devoured it. I love reading about alternate worlds and dystopian futures and although this book was a somewhat dystopian future, the similarities between what’s happening in our world are obvious. Artificial Intelligence is scary because we don’t know much about it as a species and yet continue to use it with reckless abandon and for me, messing with things that we don’t fully understand can only lead to trouble.
How much of a role should artificial intelligence have within society? This book suggests that the way things are going, artificial intelligence should not only be expected but welcomed with open arms. However, as the story goes on, I felt more linked with Austin than I did with Beth. As much as I want to be hardworking and driven, my smartphone and social media is a constant and easy to access distraction from my work. Although I might have talent, it’s surely being squandered by my lack of dedication and focus to the task. It was refreshing to see this written in a non-condescending way as that is so often the case when people write about younger generations.
I found myself reading this book with ease. Although the book switches between three different characters, including the CEO of Google, the language is easy to understand and easy to follow. As we are dealing with some interesting concepts throughout this book, it’s a huge bonus that the perspectives that are shown in the book are easy to understand and easy to read and are delivered with relaxed and concise language.
I really liked the different perspectives that were shown throughout the book. It varies from the younger guy whose distracted yet shows promise, the senior worker whose given a mountain of a task with little room to fail and the CEO of the company that’s taking over the world. Despite these differences, the perspectives between them all show that there’s similarities there as well. The pressure to stay on top of your game in a world of never ending challenges and pressures. I liked the passages about subconscious. We often forget that our strongest tool is our mind and once we sharpen it, we can be unstoppable.
I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy and eye opening read that showed me what the future will possibly look like.
Pages: 219 | ASIN: B072QX9YZX
God’s Phonetics: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe’s Origins
God’s Phonetics: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe’s Origins, written by Balaji Mohan, follows a teenage boy, Bavyesh, who has dreams of becoming a scientist and discovering a theory that will unlock the mystery of the universe’s origins. Mr. Kamal, Bavyesh’s teacher, is determined to help Bavyesh on his endeavors as they work together to uncover the secrets of the world. Through the linguistics of language, the duo will join forces on a mission that will have them flying through space and time.
Will Bavyesh be able to uncover the secrets of the universe and pull off the experiment of the century?
God’s Phonetics: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe’s Origins kick-starts the story with simple lessons between a student and teacher. It then quickly becomes a thrilling action novel with adventures into space and discoveries that could end mankind forever. We are also treated with tastes of Indian culture sprinkled throughout the story as traditional Indian meals and cultural practices are weaved into the plot.
The essence of philosophy and spirituality is prominent throughout the book as Bavyesh reveals a deeper level of thinking regarding his ideas about life and the world. This is unlike other novels I’ve read about the beginning of the universe with its innovative ideologies that include phonetics as a major clue to the universe. At times the story almost felt non-fiction as it went to great lengths to describe galaxies and religion.
God’s Phonetics: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe’s Originsis no ordinary story. It’s unpredictable, filled with twists and turns that you would least expect. At first, I thought the story was going to follow a traditional storyline, however, I was drawn in by its unusual events punctuated by a shocking ending. There is also a technology element to the novel with machines and inventions that are described so accurately that you could believe that they were real.
There is a beautiful friendship between Mr. Kamal and Bavyesh as they bond together over their mutual interest in the wonders of the universe. I enjoyed learning about the two friends; watching the dynamic between them switch as the teacher becomes the student. It’s a reminder that we can learn from youth and their curious minds. Bavyesh’s parents, Neha and Kumar also have a relationship to be admired, beginning the novel with a family relationship that will put a smile on your face.
The way the novel is written is almost poetic, as the author describes each moment with a beautiful simplicity. There are hints of symbolism trickled throughout the story, including theories on the number seven and Bavyesh’s name which means “Lord of the Worlds, Lord Shiva, Intelligent, and All-Knowing”. The plot pushes the reader to consider the universe and what other life may exist in the world beyond our own.
I would rate this novel a 5/5 and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a story that explores the philosophy of the universe whilst dabbling in a dash of action, friendship, and spirituality.
Pages: 112 | ISBN: 1948032414
Infidelity
There is no greater test of love than that which Chadwick and JaLana faced 11 years into their marriage. JaLana thought her marriage and life would be like any other couple attempting to live a life of faith in God. While they had met their fair share of troubles and setbacks in life, they were always united together. All of that was suddenly wiped away the morning JaLana saw her husband exiting the garage with another woman that had been living with them. The next day, Chadwick came forth about the affair he had been having for the past six months with the sister of a friend they both had allowed in their home. Stunned and shocked, JaLana had a choice to make. Her husband had made it clear that he didn’t want to be in a relationship with her anymore. He wanted a divorce.
Twelve years later, the couple remains together. How did they do it? Why didn’t JaLana give up and give her husband the divorce he wanted? Learn how the love of Christ was able to touch both JaLana and her husband Chadwick Walsh. Discover how God’s truth came into the marriage, moving them both to humility enough to feel the burning love He had, and will always have for each and every one of His children.
Chadwick and his wife have now teamed together to retell the story of one of the most vulnerable moments they have shared as a couple. They explain the steps they took to regain their marriage completely without any remaining residue. They have laid everything bare to bring the world their personal experience of adultery and how God led them through the fire to a marriage completely healed.
In a completely new take on a book about adultery, you will read from both perspectives of husband and wife, how adultery had broken them both. They discuss the common pitfalls man and wife can face on the road to recovery and offer practical guidance for grieving couples who might know the same pain they have faced.
LITERARY TITAN 