I am currently working on the query letter for A Circus of Cuckoos, a process that is like trying to pull out all of your own teeth without the help of painkillers or strong drink. In between attempts at crafting the query letter I have been doing bits and pieces of work on the sequel. During the sequel the Cuckoos move from La Rochelle, France to Toulouse, France. No big deal, right? Well, while doing some research I came across the fact that plague broke out in Toulouse in 1629, the year that the Cuckoos arrive at their new home city. I came across this little historical fact mostly by accident. Had I not, anyone reading who knew their history would shake their heads and throw the book away (as I do when I come across a book that is historically really wrong or goes above and beyond my abilities at suspension of disbelief). This opens new possibilities for this part of the novel and also some new complications. We’ll see what happens. The moral of this post, though, is that if you are writing anything with a historical, real world basis, you have to do your historical research!!
I could have sworn that when I decided to be a fantasy writer I would be able to make stuff up. Yet, I find that most of my time is spent in research, research, research! I really should have gone for that doctorate in history.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,100 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 10 years to get that many views.
Well, NaNoWriMo 2012 has come and gone and it has been a rather crazy month of writing this year. I only just scraped out the 50k words on the last day to get the win. Part of the problem is that after the first week of writing on the new Blackstone novel, Masquerade of the Midnight Sun, I found that the Blackstone novel was not going as planned. As it was, the first part of the book that was supposed to be part filler/part travel log, grew in size and importance and will now be its own stand-alone novel, The Wolves of Lenkara. The research material that I had originally gathered was returned the library until further need…
But, that was not the only problem I ran into. You remember those Vampire Daycare stories I posted in October? The one with the modern day tow headed teen, Eric? And his ‘adopted’ brother, Michel, who just happens to be a 400 year old vampire? Well, the two of them didn’t like seeing me giving attention to anyone else and decided to crash the party…repeatedly. I would go to bed thinking about plot points for the Blackstone novel, then wake up to Eric and Michel plotting new mischief and Michel feeding me more of his past life, going all the way back to the Siege of La Rochelle, which was so prominent in Dumas’s The Three Musketeers. Before I knew it, I was checking out books on the history of France, biographies on Cardinal Richelieu and even searching for the first-hand account of the siege by Peter Mervault. The account proved to be a pain to get ahold of, but thankfully there was a microfiche copy of it at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a mere hour’s drive away in Lincoln, NE.
So far I am up to 120+ pages of A Circus of Cuckoos. The amount of research that will be needed for this and the expected sequels is going to be a real pain and I should be ready to submit a thesis for a Masters of Arts in History when I am through o_O The character sketches are actually holding me up more than anything else. When you have a group of youths who are each 400 years old they need to have some depth to them.
Among others, I am thankful to Alexadre Dumas for his works. While he took some definite liberties with the timelines of real life events for his D’Artagnon Romances it is a good reminder that accuracy to historic details do not make a good piece of fiction, it is in the ability to make it interesting, fascinating, and keeping enough of the original world events in the narrative so that most people will be willing to engage their suspension of disbelief.
A Circus of Cuckoos
Eric Bloch is a 15 year old boy who is living a wonderful life. He has successful parents who are attentive and loving; two older sisters who are annoying but willing to beat the snot out of anyone who messes with their younger brother. And then there is Eric’s adopted French brother, Michel. One day, however, Eric wakes to find Michel missing and no one but himself seems to remember the boy. His parents, his sisters, his schoolteachers and classmates all refuse to acknowledge that Michel even existed. Michel’s bedroom is once again the rarely used spare bedroom of the house with no signs of recent habitation. Thinking he might be going mad, Eric desperately searches for clues that Michel existed and what might have happened to him.
Finding Michel again is the easy part.
Reconciling himself to what Michel is and what Michel’s past involves are entirely different matters. Michel is but one of a group who call themselves the Cuckoos, flitting from one nest to another to live a few years and then moving on again, wiping the memories of those they have nested with, all as a means of continued survival. The time, though, has come for them to come back together and face a threat from their past. A threat that has already claimed more than half their number. Returning to France to set up the battleground of old, a circus will rise. It will be filled with wonders and awe for the spectators as well as danger and terrors for Eric and the Cuckoos. Even as Eric’s parents desperately search for their child, Eric’s new family and friends are searching for survival and Eric is caught in the thick of things.
Mike Mullin’s Ashen Winter stars with a bang and ends with a sense of dread foreboding. In between, the reader is taken on a non-stop action ride that spans two weeks of time and covers western Illinois and eastern Iowa. So far, I have been warning people getting ready to start the book that they should be ready to invest time and energy because this novel is not going to let them go until they reach the end.
It has been some months since young Alex and his girlfriend, Darla, arrived at the farmstead of Alex’s uncle and his family. Those who read the previous book, Ashfall, know that upon arrival, Alex discovered that his parents were gone, having gone in search for him. The safest thing to do in such a situation is to wait for them to return. This changes when a group of bandits assault the farm, shooting Alex’s cousin, Max, and threatening to kidnap the girls and make them into sex slaves.
Here, as we saw in the previous book, we see that Alex often has a lot more bravery than smarts as he puts himself on the wrong end of the bandits’ guns. Still, the family survives and the girls are saved and Max will live. What comes out of the assault, though, is knowledge of Alex’s parents as an item that belonged to them was found to be in the hands of the bandits. This impels Alex upon a desperate search for the whereabouts of his parents. Knowing better than to try and stop Alex, his uncle helps the teen prepare. Darla, who is probably the most knowledgeable and resourceful of anyone in the novel, insists on accompanying him.
This begins a hunt through two states, across the Mississippi and brings Alex and Darla into contact with despicable government contractors, cannibals, slave traders and those townsfolk who have barricaded themselves into the shelters of their town in a desperate attempt to survive a world gone post-apocalyptic.
During their journey the two must survive against a world plunged into a nuclear winter brought on by the massive amounts of ash and particulate in the atmosphere. Scurvy is rampant, meat is mostly non-existent and what meat that can be found is usually referred to by the appellate “long pork.”
The worst possible thing happens to Alex during the early stages of this novel, Darla is taken captive by a band of cannibals. Fearing for her life, Alex will do anything to get back the woman that he loves. If anything proves that he has matured past being a sullen, self-centered teen, it is single-minded determination to save and protect those whom he loves. This is easier said than done, Darla really was the accomplished survivor of the two and had been doing her best to keep Alex safe.
Alex is joined in his quest to rescue his beloved by a sex slave and her autistic brother. As annoying as they can be at times, Alex refuses to allow them to come to harm even as he finds himself battered and exhausted time and again.
What is important for the young reader is that this novel is a powerful sociological study regarding humanity in times of extreme duress. The things that makes a person a human is stripped away by the layer as they struggle to survive in a world that has betrayed them. Neighbor turns against neighbor and even reduces himself to eating those whom he once knew. Even Alex’s family members engage in revolting acts of torture. When called upon it by Alex, their response is succinct, We do this to protect those who depend on us for their survival.
The post supervolcano winter is a bleak and horrid place and those parts of the country that were mostly unscathed by the destruction are counting on the government and the government’s mercenary agents to make sure that the refugees do not inundate them and divide their supplies and food stocks. Through all of this one could be excused for giving in to despair, anarchy and losing their will to live. Alex, and those around him, show the power of the human spirit to keep the flame of the heart burning and looking forward to a better day.
People who have read Cormac McCarthy’s The Road will find many parallels in this novel, but I personally felt that there was a great deal more emotion and character depth in Ashen Winter. If you have not gotten yourself a copy of this book or have not read the prequel, Ashfall, I highly recommend you jump into this series.
To celebrate the Halloween season, I will be doing free giveaways of “Night of the Tower” and Butcher’s Winter at Amazon.com. First up will be “Night of the Tower” on the dates of October 15th through October 19th.
“For the young boy, Ali, growing up in Iram, the City of Pillars, one of the most important cities on the Incense Route, life is filled with both wonder and pain. His mother died when he was a babe, protecting him from the ravages of a desert haboob. His brother, Hassan, has been his guardian and guide during his childhood. Saad, his best friend, has been his fellow when it comes to getting into trouble.
Now, this one night will bring about an incredible miracle as the legendary Tower rises from the depths of Iram’s oasis and opens its gates, spilling wonders and treasures. The tower comes only once a century and all the people of the known world anxiously await its arrival.
It is said that wishes might well come true on the Night of the Tower. What is never said is that horrors may be born from the heights of the tower as well. Chasing his elder brother, Hassan, into the tower, Ali and his friend, Saad, climb to heights they were never meant to see and uncover things they were never meant to know.”
Butcher’s Winter will go free the week thereafter, so keep the calendar marked!
Also forthcoming will be the next installment of the Vampire Daycare series of vampire short stories
If not, now is your chance to read the book for free! I have enrolled Blackstone in the KDP Select program, which means that if you are an Amazon Prime member you may use the Kindle lending program to check out the book, the same as if you had gone to the local library and checked it out. So please go check it out, enjoy and be caught up and ready for the sequel, Butcher’s Winter!
I am a rather quiet member of the Orangeberry Book Collective run by Niamh Clune. Today, the interview she did with me (it also reads as a bio) was posted at the Orangeberry Blog. Go check it out!
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,500 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 42 trips to carry that many people.
A cute Christmas elf for you! Dude, that's Link! Shush your mouth and play along! Thanks to Neophyte's Serendipity for the great image!
It is Christmas Eve and I have just finished a pan of blue cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon for the family get-together tomorrow. I will also be making some simple sopapillas rolled in cinnamon sugar. Omnomnomnom!!! (Also had a cheesesteak earlier today at PepperJax’s here in Omaha, purrrrr!)
Last night I finished up the editing of what I have written so far in my NaNoWriMo project, Sylvan, and sent it off to Shana B. of Books: The Cheapest Vacation You Can Buy. I am hoping that she likes it!
So what is it about? Six Sylvan youths strike out on their coming of age ceremony which entails their making a ritual sacrifice of each other to the Green Man, whom they revere as their patron deity. Some of the youths get hurt when they do this as they take on their totem animals and hunt each other down. The man protagonist has the hare as his totem, so he gets the stuffing knocked out of him.
Some taboos get crossed on this particular ceremony that causes strife in the group. To make things worse, when they go to a neighboring Sylvan village they discover that all the elves there have been killed or enslaved! They make rescue of their fellow elves, but put themselves into a lot of danger.
Click on image for animation.
I left off where the assassin, Sybila Half-Tamed, sets out after the escaping elves. I have already had a good bit of fun with Sybila and her special brand of madness. She was inspired by some pics I found while wading through the Tumblr-verse.
Even if the elves survive Sybila Half-Tamed, there are more mercenaries on the way as they make their way to their home village, the freed slaves in tow and slowing them down. Another surprise will be waiting for the survivors when they return home. One of them must consent to be fostered in the underground city of Mekubar with the dark elves. Can you imagine what it would be like for a wood elf to be forcibly taken to an underground city bereft of trees and sunlight??? o_O
Also running through this novel are the creation mythos of the world, starting with the creator deity and then moving down a couple of generations. The majority of the focus is on Kurtmalik, the God of Discord. He is the trickster god of the world. Every tune he plays upon his lute is jangled and discordant, his hair is a motley of colors and his skin is ash grey. His favorite sayings are, “I
This isn't Kurtmalik, but is cool nonetheless and will do for now!
merely sow, I never reap,” and “I throw the bones, but I do not influence how they land.” Unfortunately for our elven heroes, he has blessed them. Many say that being blessed by Kurtmalik is a fate worse than death
Just a week left of this year, which has been turning into another annus horriblus. I’ll be glad to have a fresh start in 2012. I have two novels finished, half another done and about 50 more in my head beating at the doors. Time to lasso me a good agent who can get me some good book deals!
First off, I am way behind on updating the blog and letting everyone know how NaNoWriMo went. I’m sure you’re all breathless to hear, heh. For now, let me say that I hit 50k words on November 21st, and have been out of steam ever since, ugh. The book itself is half done, but it is now the first of what is probably going to be five books o_O Anyways, more later!
Today is Pearl Harbor Day and it is also the day that I host the Noah Zark: Mammoth Trouble Blog Tour!
Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, by D. Robert Pease, proved to be a delightful read overall. The main character, Noah Zarc, is a twelve year old struggling to survive against the oppression of his older siblings. The eldest is his sister, Sam, a gear head who is filling in as the caretaker of her two younger brothers while the Zarc parents are off collecting animals for their modern space arc. Next, is Hamilton, a total egg head who seems to understand physics much better than social interaction. Rounding out the children in the family, Noah is the adventurous type who starts off the book with a daring rescue of a pair of marmosets from modern day earth, having stolen his brother’s experimental thermal suit to make the rescue. On his way back to the arc ship he has to dodge assassin bots sent after him by his family’s sworn enemy Haon.
Oh, and by the way, young Noah is a cripple, having been born a paraplegic. I am rather glad that Mr. Pease gave Noah this disadvantage. He also did it without foisting on the reader any political correctness. Noah is crippled and he has managed to find ways to deal with his physical shortcomings and still have a much more adventurous and thrilling life than most any other boy his age in his time period is able. The one time he tries to use his disability as a cry fro sympathy Sam immediately shuts him down, reminding him that he gets along just fine.
The Zarc children receive a distress signal from their father, who is tracking down Irish Deer in 8,500 BCE. (The Irish Deer, or Irish Elk, is a now extinct species of deer that was the largest physical species of deer to have ever lived). The family’s archenemy, Haon, kidnapped the children’s mother and stole the space/time ship that the elder Zarcs had taken to pre-historic Earth.
The youths launch a rescue mission, moving their massive arc ship through time and space to reunite with their father and begin the quest to save their mother from the clutches of Haon. At the point of reuniting with their father, their flyer is attacked by an angry mammoth. Noah, being the pilot of the family, manages to save the flyer, but kills the mammoth in the process. He is heartbroken at the incident, feeling grief for the majestic animal. However, the primitives that Father Zarc has become friendly with hail Noah as a hero. The dead mammoth will be feeding the local tribe for months to come!
Cue the female puppy love interest! Adina, an orphan child among the tribe takes an instant liking to Noah and shows him all about her life with the tribe and some of the sights of the area where she lives. Sadly, though, she is an orphan and as such has no family to directly care for her or protect her. In the past she has just scraped by and during a bad hunting season she might well be cast off from the tribe and left to starve. She takes the risk of stowing away onto the Zarc’s flyer and returns with the family to space and the future.
With their father with them once again, the Zarcs set out to rescue Mrs. Zarc. This proves more dangerous and complicated than expected and the family must travel to late medieval Scotland to Haon’s castle, then to the 31st Century to confront the villain at his Mars based lair.
The boys in the Zarc family prove themselves to be bull headed youths as both Noah and his older brother, Hamilton, make desperate bids to save their mother, neither one asking their father’s permission before heading out. Hamilton fails but learns important information about what Haon is up to. Noah and Adina arrive to the Mars base just as Haon is leaving, on his way to enact his diabolical plan.
Having rescued Mother Zarc the children give direct chase to Haon as Mrs. Zarc explains some of the things that are going on. At some point in the past the Earth suffered a cataclysm, some of which is described as having been human caused, some naturally caused. Humanity fled the world and took up places on the Earth’s moon, Mars and Venus. The political body, the Poligarchy, has arisen to rule over the remnants of humanity. Haon was raised on Venus, a very inhospitable planet filled with human misery and suffering.
The Zarc family has been given permission to go back in time and rescue animals in a replication of the Noah’s Arc story and return them to the arc ship in hopes of breeding them and later reintroducing their offspring to the Earth. Haon is convinced that this is a foolish idea as Earth is being quarantined against any humans returning while those on Venus are suffering daily. He concocts a deadly nano-bot virus that will destroy any life on Earth other than humans and plants, demanding that the rescued animals be simply put in a zoo and the Earth turned over to the people of Venus so that they might have a better life.
Racing to stop Haon, the Zarcs find themselves in harrowing aerial dogfights and face to face with a man convinced of his cause and ready to kill them and all the animals they have saved to see his cause brought to completion. He is even willing to sacrifice himself for his convictions, making him extremely dangerous!
The book is a nice, light read that I am sure will gain the interest of middle grade readers, for whom the book is intended. While there is dalliance with time travel, space flight and neural transmitter inserts (which allows Noah to control is mag chair and the flyers), the science is not confusing and does not distract from the reading. We get to see how Noah deals with his disability (having to use a magnetic levitation chair and servo enhanced extravehicular suits to get around), his relations with his siblings, his parents, the young Adina and even with the big bad of the book.
The emotional content is rather light as well, which I feel is fitting for its intended audience. While there are some reveals in the book that have serious impact on Noah’s world view and his view of himself and some of the things that he has grown up believing, it is not too major nor distracting.
There were a few things that I nitpicked at during the reading of the book. Mostly, MG readers are not going to notice these things, but I will give a little disclosure on them nonetheless. The cavemen that Noah and his father interact with are way too accepting of spaceships, magnetic levitation chairs and have a vocabulary that is much too large for primitives living in the 86th century BCE. Father Zarc created a translator with which they can communicate with the cavemen, but then says that the cavemen’s language is a derivative of Hebrew. The cavemen are placed in Europe, which is outside of the historical zone for Semitic languages (being the Arabian peninsula and the Levant). The oldest known Semitic civilization was from the 23rd Century BCE.
Adina makes a reference to a singular god at one point, though the earliest known remains of worship, Gobekli Tepe (from southern Turkey), dates from approximately the same time period as the cavemen, the remains show an animistic religious culture. I found it hard to believe that cavemen would have a sense of monotheism, especially as they predate antediluvian civilization.
Mr. Pease did remember that ship acceleration in deep space does result in g-force and physical stress, which I give him high points for. I did have a problem seeing how the wild animals in the arc ship were able to handle zero-g environment, though he did point out that the larger animals would have had a harder time dealing with zero-g than smaller ones.
I give Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble 3.5 stars. I would have given it more had there been more care given to the language and concepts barriers between the Zarc family of the 31st century and the primitives of 86th century BCE. I feel that it might have been more enriching to the story, overall.
Today I have an excerpt from the kids science fiction novel, Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble. It makes a great read for kids who have loved books such as the Percy Jackson or Artemis Fowl series. And stay tuned after the excerpt to see how you could win a $50 Amazon Gift card.
Without further ado, an exciting, aerial dog-fight from Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble.
Mammoth Trouble
D. Robert Pease
California sped by in a blur below. I hugged the terrain as closely as I dared. A line of mountains in front of us made me smile.
“Computer, keep track of Haon’s location.” I slowed the ship slightly. “We want to make sure he keeps following.”
“XB Class is two-point-seven kilometers behind and closing,” the computer said. “Altitude five hundred meters.”
“Perfect,” I said.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Mom looked a little pale. Adina on the other hand seemed to be enjoying the excitement.
The mountain range soared in front of us. I pulled back and skimmed along the peaks.
“Missile lock confirmed.”
I accelerated over a ridge of granite.
“Two Mark 7 missiles fired.”
After we crested the ridge I plunged back down. The DUV III streaked toward a green valley below. I heard an explosion as one of the rockets clipped a peak behind us. I banked left and climbed up over another ridge. The second rocket didn’t make the turn and smashed into a granite wall.
“That was close!” Adina yelled.
Once more I hugged the terrain. The ground below was broken up by never-ending rows of sharp granite peaks.
“XB Class is still within missile range.”
“Good.” Finally the terrain below smoothed out. We sped over brown desert. I pushed the DUV III faster and pulled away from Haon.
“Just a little further.” Finally I saw what I was looking for. The desert gave way to rocky terrain again and a huge chasm came into view.
“The Grand Canyon?” Mom said.
I grinned. “I always wanted to try this.” I banked right and dropped into the canyon. Even after I lowered our speed, the canyon walls still sped by in a blur.
“XB Class closing. One kilometer.”
“Seven hundred fifty meters.”
“Missile lock confirmed.”
The DUV III screamed around a column of red rock.
“Four Mark 7 missiles fired.”
“He can’t have too many missiles left.” I skimmed over a flat butte, then dropped down toward the green Colorado River. Rockets exploded around us, smashing into ancient stone.
“One Mark 7 missile remains. Impact in five-seconds.”
I spotted the perfect outcropping of stone. I skimmed the surface of the river, mashed the yoke left, and whizzed behind it. The rocket blew a hole through the shale. Fragments of stone pinged all over the DUV III.
“Those are getting too close for comfort.” Mom dug her fingernails into her armrests.
“I need the right spot.” I banked, turned, rose, and fell while we rocketed through the canyon. Just ahead, the canyon walls came together. “That should do.”
I slowed and let Haon close in. I dropped toward the river. He followed.
“XB Class is two hundred meters back. Missile lock confirmed.”
A few more heartbeats, then I yanked back on the yoke. The DUV III groaned, but her wings caught the air and lifted her up. I kept pulling back as the ship strained toward the blue sky above, then curved back around to the canyon floor. I’d done a complete loop.
Haon’s ship was now in front of us. I dove forward. He couldn’t turn—he was surrounded by stone walls left and right. He couldn’t climb out of the canyon—I moved in to block his ship.
Just ahead, the canyon took a sharp turn left.
The DUV III skimmed above the XB Class, Haon hurtling toward the rock. We were maybe ten meters away from the canyon wall when he managed to pull up high enough to scrape over the cliff’s edge.
He smashed against our underside—and flew out from beneath us with a wrenching tear. The vertical stabilizers on his ship dangled.
I clipped an outcropping of stone and the DUV III spun left. I used up every trick I knew to straighten her out, but the ship continued to spin.
We dropped toward a plateau of rock below.
“Landing thrusters!” I yelled. The DUV III continued to twirl like a top. A loud grinding noise rent the cabin.
We hit the ground.
Dust and debris filled the air while I fought with the controls. For several long heartbeats, the ship rumbled and shook. Finally everything went quiet.
We’d crashed.
And Haon’s ship was gone.
Blog Tour Notes
OVERVIEW
Noah lives for piloting spaceships through time, dodging killer robots and saving Earth’s animals from extinction.
Life couldn’t be better.
But the twelve-year-old time traveler learns it could be a whole lot worse. His mom is kidnapped and taken to Mars; his dad is stranded in the Ice Age; and Noah is attacked at every turn by a foe bent on destroying Earth… for the second time.
Get your copy today by visiting Amazon.com (available in paperback or as an eBook) or the online retailer of your choice (more links below).
CASH PRIZES
Guess what? You could win a $50 Amazon gift card as part of this special blog tour. That’s right! Just leave a comment below saying something about the post you just read, and you’ll be entered into the raffle. I could win $50 too by having the most comments. So tell your friends to stop by and comment on this post too!
GIVEAWAY
Win 1 of 5 copies of the paperback version of Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble by entering the giveaway on GoodReads.
THE AUTHOR
D. Robert Pease has been interested in creating worlds since childhood. From building in the sandbox behind his house, to drawing fantastical worlds with paper and pencil, there has hardly been a time he hasn’t been off on some adventure in his mind, to the dismay of parents and teachers alike. Also, since the moment he could read, books have consumed vast swaths of his life. From The Mouse and the Motorcycle, to The Lord of the Rings, worlds just beyond reality have called to him like Homer’s Sirens. It’s not surprising then he chose to write stories of his own. Each filled with worlds just beyond reach, but close enough we can all catch a glimpse of ourselves in the characters.
Discover ways to connect with the author by visiting his site at www.drobertpease.com
BOOK TRAILER
THANK YOU! for visiting. And don’t forget to comment below for that chance to win the $50 Amazon gift card. And of course head on over to your favorite online book store and buy a copy of Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, for you or for the kids in your life.
I could have sworn that when I decided to be a fantasy writer I would be able to make stuff up. Yet, I find that most of my time is spent in research, research, research! I really should have gone for that doctorate in history.
Today I have an excerpt from the kids science fiction novel, Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble. It makes a great read for kids who have loved books such as the Percy Jackson or Artemis Fowl series. And stay tuned after the excerpt to see how you could win a $50 Amazon Gift card.
THE AUTHOR
