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Embraced In His Nature
Charles Sims Author Interview
Into The Liquor Store follows Bink, a graffiti artist and connoisseur of cannabis, through a series of life events set against a dystopian future. What was your inspiration for this creative novel?
When I started writing the novel, it was supposed to be an autobiographical movie. Then I decided to have the events take place in the future; mostly so that I wouldn’t get in trouble with my family. With hesitation I let my mother read the first chapter, and she suggested I write it as a book instead. I even reached out to an Iranian graffiti artist who goes by A1one (Alone) and he gave me some encouraging words. Bink makes a reference about him in the novel as well.
Bink’s character slowly builds throughout the novel and ends up being a fairly deep person. What were the themes you used when creating his character?
I focused on Bink’s trajectory and growth. The last thing I wanted was a one dimensional character. He relies heavily on his connections, he has flaws, and towards the end he’s redeemed to an extent. I didn’t want Bink to be Mr. Perfect, and I wanted the people who interact with him to hold him accountable.
The novel is set in a dystopian future earth where graffiti is a regulated art form and taggers are well respected. Where did this idea start for you and how did it develop as you wrote?
In the prologue we start to see Bink’s love for the 21st century, 2010 through 2019 to be exact, embraced in his nature. He refers to it as a classic era. So I imagine there must be galleries that depict street art in the same light as the Renaissance. Art and specifically painting, I feel will be around forever.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be published?
The next book is still being developed. I can’t say much about it, but it will take place in the same universe as Into The Liquor Store. It will focus on the behind the scenes work of the government. The movie adaptation, of the same name, is being completed and soon my collaborator and I will send it to contests.
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The worst has yet to happen to Le’roy, of Egyptian and Russian decent, when his girlfriend of three years breaks up with him; dealing with the conflicting societies of a 23rd century Iran, he often feels nostalgia for a century to which he was not born.
Le’roy, an artist who abstains from tobacco and alcohol, bombards his mind with vices such as: lust, marijuana, and psychedelics. He must come to terms with his heightened status of celebrity and the fact that a lottery can enhance his lifestyle, but a vision transcends a lifetime.
Lord Athina
Danny C. Estes’ first installment to his saga, Lord Athina, is quite unlike anything else you might read today. We start our journey in ‘our’ world with forty-one-year-old Jim Sanders. Jim is a bit down on his luck, stuck in traffic and grumbling about all the things that are pushing his buttons lately. That doesn’t last long, however, as Jim soon finds himself staring down death via metal piercing his minivan. In a sense, Jim does die and he finds himself wandering a plane of nothingness only to be pulled into a strange reality. He’s confused, he doesn’t know what’s going on and all he knows is that everything about him feels different somehow. His body hurts, but not where the metal pierced him and not in a way he’s ever experienced before. That’s because Jim’s soul has been pulled into an alternate reality and promptly plunked into the body of a young woman who is giving birth.
Estes does a great job showing Jim’s confusion towards his new situation. He very much thinks and feels like a man, however his body is completely changed. He’s also been transported to a seemingly alternate world where the people are living in an age of renaissance or medieval time. Not only does Jim struggle to understand what has happened to him he’s in a panic and completely out of his element. For six agonizing days as Jim’s body recovers from the trauma of childbirth his soul approaches recovery of his situation. On the final day he is greeted by a wizard who explains what has happened. The world Jim is now in has magic and this wizard had very much wanted to bring a soul back to the body of Lady Athina, however he wasn’t bargaining on Jim’s soul being the one he grabbed.
Jim is confused and you can feel his anger, confusion, frustration and helplessness oozing through every page. For a first volume in a saga Lord Athina does a fantastic job setting the scene. We learn about the world our protagonist has found himself in and we get a grasp on how the politics and monetary transactions work. Estes sets up a great story line with enough intrigue and betrayal to keep any reader happy. Nothing feels over the top and where some authors can spoil the whole idea of magic, Estes peppers it into his story just right.
Jim must get accustomed not only to this strange world where he’s found himself in a precarious position but he must also become accustomed to the body of a young girl. His male ego and libido do nothing to help his plight which can be a bit cumbersome to read. Jim finds almost all the women we meet in the story attractive and wants nothing more than to have his way with them.
Aside from minor grammatical issues and the extensive obsession Jim has with breasts, Lord Athina crosses boundaries and perspectives unlike other tales in the fantasy realm. It’s definitely a treat to read.
Pages: 226 | ASIN: B00DT0C1DC
LITERARY TITAN 