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Interview – T. Lucas Earle
The Monster has been on a rampage with all these interviews. Here is another one with T. Lucas Earle, author of The 13th Prophet and Monkey Talk.
Your short story, Monkey Talks, is about an intelligent monkey that struggles with his species new place in the world. In the synopsis of the book you mention that your story is derived from the story, Journey to the West, and the main character, Sun Wukong (Monkey King). Can you tell us a little bit about how that 16th century novel inspired your work?
The thing that I found so interesting about Sun Wukong was that he bested all the gods in the heavens. He proved that he was the greatest fighter of all time, and yet he never really won, because they still looked down on him for being a monkey. It’s interesting to me, because what was being discussed in China in the 16th century is what we now call the “glass ceiling.”
The 13th Prophet is about people’s fixation on self improvement through personality upgrades. The story reminds me of people’s fanatical devotion to Apple products and the way you tell the story gives it a religious undertone. Why ‘Prophets’, why ‘personalities’, and why ‘upgrades’?
Our current view of celebrities is akin to idolatry. We worship them, in our own strange ways. But our celebrities are generated by powerful media conglomerates. They are chosen, and then presented to us for worship. The world of the 13th Prophet is not all that different from the one we inhabit now. I’ve just called a spade a spade.
So far, or at least as far as I know, you have only written short stories, do you plan on writing anything more substantial in the future?
I’ve also written a short film, called Abduction, which is on the festival circuit right now. (It was premiered at the LA Shorts Fest, and will be shown at the LA New Filmmakers Fest on January 11th.) I am working on a novel about the relationship between a disabled young woman and a giant. And I’m in the process of revising the first book of a science fiction trilogy about space and robots and all that fun sci-fi stuff.
Find out more about T. Lucas Earle at http://www.tlucasearle.com/
Review: The 13th Prophet By T. Lucas Earle
The 13th Prophet is noir science fiction done with perfection. Mulligan Burke is a private investigator hired to solve a murder. The victim is one of twelve prophets that people around the world hold up as gods. These people are the human embodiment of the emotions they represent. Desire, Defiance, Grace, Satisfaction, Solitude, Strength, Clarity, Courage, Care, Passion, Control, and Bliss. They’re personalities are copied and uploaded into other people so they too can become gods, for a price, without any effort or justification for their ennoblement. But Defiance is dead, and people are panicked and unruly; unsure of where they’re going to get their next personality upgrade. Mulligan is beyond his prime, but even with bad knees, fake teeth and a receding hairline he’s still more than a match for most people and the last crime he solves will be the one that changes the world.
This is a short story and I’m happy to see that no time is wasted. Every sentence in the story offers something that paints the picture of the overall world, develops the characters, or moves the story along. The language is crisp, clean and easy flowing and in that lays the enjoyment as provocative ideas or staple detective mystery devices unravel before you with little effort. What I liked most about the story was that the reader has equal opportunity to solve the crime along with the detective and the conclusion of the story comes about logically. Aside from a few grammatical errors this was a near perfect execution of a short story.
E-Book: 23 page
Published July 8th 2013 by T. Lucas Earle
ASIN: B00DU2IQGU
Review: Monkey Talk By T. Lucas Earle
The first paragraph of this short story is pretty startling. It’s starts very basic with someone giving a speech, some internal dialogue of the speaker and he seems… human. There was no indication to suspect otherwise, but the realization is so sudden and jarring and is a great setup for the rest of the story which is about the emergence of intelligent apes and their struggle to integrate into human society. The prose is the main accomplishment in this short and the character interactions are very natural which lends to the acceptance of the ape as an intelligent being. While the ending of the story is not overly ambitious Monkey Talk is definitely thought provoking.
Print Length: 16 pages
ASIN: B00DSVUIT6
LITERARY TITAN 