Chatting with the Amazing, Jim Reilly - Author Of Seaville (#vbtcafetours & #giveaway)

Happy Halloween!!!

Welcome to BK Walker Books Etc. I'm so happy you could join me today in West Sayville NY. I'm a NY veteran and it's nice to be back.

BK: Looking out the nearest window, describe the scene you see.

I see a quiet suburban neighborhood outside my bay window. The street is littered on each side with distinctly colored split-level homes while showing various degrees of manicured lawns and shrubbery. Though my wife would tell you, mine lacked “keeping up with the Joneses.” Also visible, a splash of autumn colors creeping into the tree line. As I continued to look out the window, a yellow school bus drops off a half-dozen elementary school children happy the day is over. But the thing that intrigues me the most was seeing my neighbor from a few doors down as she walked her dog. She seems to think the neighborhood is her personal dog park. So I knocked on the window and waved hello as a message to stay clear from my lawn.

BK: Tell us about your office. Is it a mess like mine, or is everything in its place?

I think it’s something in between. It seems like I am always cleaning by the end of the day. Most of the mess is from my day job as a salesman. However, once I start writing I’m constantly looking through my notes. It consists of random thoughts written on scraps of paper scattered on my desk. Part of my cleanup is organizing my notes so not to lose any great idea I might have had.

BK: What is a must-have, such as coffee or a favorite pen, that you need to write?

The only thing I can think of besides my computer is my wireless mouse. I’m constantly looking up information on the web or searching through my manuscript to make sure I am not changing the story incorrectly. It would drive me nuts if I couldn’t just click through multiple websites and manuscript pages with my mouse.

BK: Do you like to write in silence, or do you need music or background noise?

Silence is best for me because I’m easily distracted. My mind can go in a totally different direction if something catches my attention. So being in a quiet place keeps me focused.

BK: Tell us a bit about your hero/heroine, and their development.

The main character is Michael Wells, and the story is told through his eyes. He is well-meaning but he does have his flaws. His main flaw is that he is cheap, and this may come back to bite him in the ass (hint).

He is the one who discovers the secret that his new neighbors are hosting alien visitors. He’s then confronted by the neighbors / aliens who make him a deal that is appetizing to his fondness for money. However, during the ordeal he eventually becomes more sympathetic toward his new friends and helps them more than he would have imagined.

BK: As a writer myself, I'm always curious how other writers get through stumble blocks. When you find a story not flowing, or a character trying to fight you, how do you correct it?

Whenever I find myself with a blank imagination, I go do a running workout on the local high school track. I’m not sure what it is, but when I am out there running all alone it clears my mind, and I’m able to reset my train of thought. About an hour of it does the trick.

BK: Using the letters of your first name as an acronym, describe your book...

Judicious

Imaginative

Mystery

BK: How did your writing journey begin?

I’ve always had a wild imagination, and to tell you the truth, I had always thought it was a detriment. I always felt I was just a dreamer. However, after continuing my education later in life, some of the professors complimented me on my writing. After getting encouragement from my wife, I decided to put that imagination on paper. That combined with my love of science fiction; I set out to write about many of the stories I have bouncing around in my head.

BK: Using the letters from the word, Summer, how would friends and family describe you?

Steady

Unique

Mindful

Modest

Energetic

Runner

BK: What is the craziest thing you've ever written about, whether it got published or not?

The wife of the main character without his knowledge hosts an alien who feeds off him. The name and description of the wife are the same as my wife. She was my inspiration for the character. It was, although, difficult to write about a love scene between her and the main character. Not to give too much away, it wasn’t quite a ‘love scene.’

BK: Tell us one thing you've done in life that readers would be most surprised to know.

I have been a runner who participates in Masters Track meets. In 2004, I took 4^th place in my age group at the World Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

BK: What can we expect from you in the future?

I love to mix the conflict between science and religion, two polar-opposites in philosophy within a story. My next project will show the consequences of an apocalyptic aftermath due to extremes of both science and religion while attempting to show the resilience of people’s resolve to survive and make sacrifices to make things right.

This or That...

Coke or Pepsi?

Coke

Night Owl or Early Bird?

Night Owl

Fantasy or Mystery?

Fantasy

Pen/Paper or Computer?

Computer

Pizza or Burger?

Burger

Rock or Country?

Rock

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Chocolate

Beach or Mountains?

Mountains

Thank you so much for having us as one of your stops today. It has been great getting to know more about you and your book, and wish you the best of success!

BK Walker

Book Genre: Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Publisher: Sayville Books
Release Date: September 30th
Buy Links: TBA

Description:

When new neighbors, Mike and Ann Wells along with their children CJ and Patricia, move into the southern part of town along the Great South Bay of Long Island, they discover the true identity of their neighbors.

Each of their new neighbors hosts a being from an alien race hiding from the cruelty of enslavement. This mysterious race needs the Wells family to help them navigate the complicated human experience while being concealed from a nosy but well-meaning old priest. But most of all, they must help them from being captured by a corrupt individual looking to make a profit off a race hoping to peacefully secure fuel to stay one step ahead of their former masters.

As the town of Seaville erupts into chaos, Mike and Ann try to keep their new friends concealed and safe. However, time is running out as their former masters search the universe for their lost property and inch closer to Earth.

---

Author Bio:

Jim Reilly is a new science fiction / fantasy novelist. He is a married father of four, born and raised in Long Island. After going back to college and finishing with an MBA, some of his professors gave accolades to his writing prowess. With that and encouragement from his wife, he wrote his first novel, Evolution.

The success of Evolution has inspired Jim to continue his writing efforts and finish his next science fiction / fantasy novel, Seaville.

From an early age, Jim always had a fascination with science, science fiction, and fantasy to a point that it became a passion of his. Now he enjoys putting that passion to paper. He has already penned his next book and is working on another.


Author Links -

sayvillebooks.com
jimreillyscifi.wordpress.com
https://twitter.com/JimReilly98
www.linkedin.com/in/jimreilly98
www.goodreads.com/author/show/6591359.Jim_Reilly

---

Scheduling Now (20 Stops)

September 30 - Release Day Party & Giveaway at VBT Café Blog
October 2 - Spotlight at 3 Partners In Shopping - Nana, Mommy & Sissy Too!
October 7 - Guest Blogging at Mythical Books
October 9 -
October 14 - Spotlight at Deal Sharing Aunt
October 16 - Spotlight at Urania's Distractions
October 18 -
October 21 -
October 23 -
October 27 -
October 29 -
October 31 -
November 3 - Review & Interview at My Life, Loves and Passions
November 5 -
November 7 -
November 10 - Reviewed at The Book Lover's Lounge
November 12 -
November 14 - Spotlight at A Cup of Tea & A Big Book
November 14 - Guest Blogging at Lori's Reading Corner
November 17 - Reviewed at Reading To Distraction
November 21 - Guest Blogging at Dalene's Book Reviews
November 21 - Reviewed at Paranormal Romance & Authors That Rock

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read More

Dominant Species Volume One: Natural Selection by David Coy (Book Tour & Huge Giveaway)

Dominant Species Volume One – Natural Selection

by David Coy

Walking the Edge of Plausibility

To my way of thinking, stories that walk too safely within the lines of believability eventually fall into a chasm of predictability from which there is no escape. In Dominant Species – Natural Selection, I try to move the narrative along just at the edge where the suspension of belief around key events or themes is an easy and pleasurable tradeoff between the plausible and the impossible. Luckily, most readers have no trouble following along and seem to enjoy the journey so close to the edge. Others, not so much. I often think that predictability is the least loved of all fiction’s attributes, at least for those readers who have read broadly. Film is even more susceptible to the disease of IKWN (I Know What’s Next). Films, horror in particular, with a “twist” or even several of them strategically placed seem to do better nowadays, and though not a substitute for good dramatic fundamentals, at least provide a satisfying respite in the form of a surprise or two along the way. Stanley Kubrick has said that it isn’t enough for a scene to be real or believable. It has to be interesting. I couldn’t agree more. I’d give up easy believability for fascination any day.

Enough preaching. Where do you like to walk? Inside or outside the lines?

About The Author:

I’ve had a lifetime love of science fiction and horror. I suspect it started in puberty since most obsessions do. My passion for it was so strong as a penniless youth, I resorted to boosting copies of my favorite authors’ works off the shelves of the book section of the local Federal’s department store. My friends and I soon had a collection of great sci-fi at discounted prices to read and read again. But I’m not wholly without conscience about those shifty activities as a scrawny youth. I’ll shake my head from side to side and mumble “Crap, that was stupid” once ever decade or so. But that’s about it.

I consider myself a sci-fi film Nazi. I’m sure I’ve seen every sci-fi movie ever made – certainly the vast majority of them. I can’t pass up even the worst of it. All those god-awful, black and white B flicks of the 40’s onward, with their outrageous and ham-handed themes of science vs. ignorance and good vs. evil, wrapped in whatever pseudo-scientific covering was popular that year, transfixed me, entertained me, and like the works pinched then stashed in my friend’s basement, made me think. When pivotal films like “Alien” and John Carpenter’s “The Thing” elevated sci-fi film up out of the gutter with all those glorious and expensive production values, I was im himmel.

I attended Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Like so many of my peers at the time, I left Wayne State with an utterly useless BA with a major in psychology. I’ve cleaned tractor cranes for money and worked as a steel mill laborer when the last one of those plants in Michigan still existed. I’ve worked as a night janitor. I moved to southern California when I was 30 years old and sold cars for a while. Shortly thereafter I worked for what used to be called the Hughes Aircraft Company as an in-house photographer. For the last 10 years of my work-a-day life I worked as a senior project manager for Computer Sciences Corporation. I now live in Oregon where I started and recently sold a fitness gym. I relate this choppy history to drive home my favorite maxim relating to life and the living of it: you never know where in the fuck you’ll end up. You’ll find my books laced through with that persistent theme. I hope you find the journey of reading them, should you attempt it, if not straight and linear, at least interesting.

Website | Goodreads |Twitter| Facebook

Book Genre

Science Fiction / Sci-Fi Horror

Publisher

David Coy

Publication Date

Digital editions – June 2012

Purchase At Amazon:

Dominant Species Volume One – Natural Selection

Dominant Species Volume Two – Edge Effects

Dominant Species Volume Three – Acquired Traits

Book Description:

Imagine an alien science where tissue, bone, nerves, and muscle are used like we use iron, wood, rubber and wire. Now imagine yourself held captive with hundreds of others by beings who wield this grisly technology as easily as we do hammer and saw; beings whose lineage can be traced through the morally hollow, parasitic branches of nature's evolutionary tree. What would you do to survive? Would you re-draw the boundaries of your own morality to stay alive? What would you compromise? How might you escape? This is the context of NaturalSelection, the first of three volumes of the Dominant Species series of books. What distinguishes Dominant Species from other stories in its genre is its visceral imagery and more importantly, its rich subtext. The story can appeal to those fascinated and drawn to horror and strong drama, and at the same time will fascinate those who can tune into its broader message about our relationship to the natural world. Taken as a whole, the series is a puzzle linked together with genetic threads that unravel like a double helix. Viewers intrigued by mystery and dramatic puzzles will find a fascinating playground for guesswork, thought and discussion.

The first volume sets the stage for the ongoing conflict between Homo sapiens and a visiting alien race. Like all successful serial drama, the story poses many questions to be answered, each one carefully laced into a central theme about human survival, the action driven by antagonists both alien and human.

The story is character driven, each character fully developed and rich, providing the colorful characterization required by serial drama. Central to the first volume is teacher Phil Lynch.

The story starts as a peaceful visit to his weekend getaway in the Sierra foothills. Hours later he finds himself living an unthinkable nightmare. Paralyzed and taken prisoner, his body is used as an unwilling host in a bizarre and grisly series of parasitic infections. On board the alien vessel within which he is imprisoned are more than a hundred other humans – and like Phil – just as confused and terrified – their bodies subject to unfathomable violence for a dark and malevolent purpose. As the terrible truth about the alien visitation unfolds, a small group of captives must first understand – and then fight for escape from the terror that holds them captive. That struggle will stretch razor-thin the limits of the human will to survive.

There is strong language in the story because humans under stress often use such language. There are no puppy love or adolescent motifs of intimacy in the story. Instead there are very many mature, psychosexual themes that run through all three books. Some are represented symbolically, others described explicitly. There is violence. The story is not PG-13.

The story is a human drama that will be appreciated by most adult demographics. It is strong, unflinching theater played through characters who repulse us, fascinate us, and often, appeal to our better natures; ones who continually remind us of our human strengths—and weaknesses.

Excerpt

Mary listened to the droning sound that came to her through the wet air and thought of her mother’s soft humming. She wanted her mother to be there now, to hold her and hum softly to her, to soothe her. She drifted toward her mother’s round arms and warm smile on the ghostly crest of that ugly sound.

Then the dread came. It crashed over her like a cold, brown wave and the memories of her mother’s soft touch were washed away. She was in the big chamber. The big chamber was where the droning sound was. The droning was the collective sound from others just like her, others not asleep yet not awake; others unable to move their limbs.

She could turn and lift her head and see and hear and smell. She could not talk, but she could make a deep sound, a groan, if she tried. When the pain came, the groan would be its outlet. The groan would be the dull steam her violated body would vent in its outrage.

She prayed for a miracle. She prayed that when she opened her eyes she would see big, blue sky and bright light. She pressed her eyes closed and prayed hard but when she looked, only the chamber’s ceiling filled her vision. Its black, bubbly surface gave substance to the dread and when the cutting began, the ceiling’s gloom would stamp its dark print on her soul once more.

Mary turned her head slowly and saw the naked body of a young woman. Then she breathed the warm scent of perfume. The woman was new and a splash of luscious scent had been captured with her. The woman looked at Mary, her face slack with paralysis. Mary could not speak, but if she could have spo#ken the result would have been the same. There was nothing to say to this newcomer, no consolation to be offered. There was no comfort where none could exist.

Then her surgeon witch was there, its long head hovering, twisting and looking. Its thin, quick hands moved like rats over her body, feeling here and there with spiderlike squeezes. For the moment, her body was numb to the creature’s touch and she was thankful for it.

There was a motion under her skin, in her neck, deep in the muscles. It was a roiling little pressure she’d grown to know quite well. A grub was moving, and from the feel of it she thought it was moving upwards. As the larvae fed on her tissues, it caused a single sharp note of pain that grew in volume second by unmerciful second. She heard the high-pitched hiss of the witch’s cutter and was relieved that the cutting was starting.

Mary began her retreat from the sound and the growing bite of the cutter and of the pain of the worm and joined her voice with the others.

Follow The Tour Here

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read More

Promotional Tour & Giveaway: Demon Inhibitions by Gary Starta

Demon Inhibitions

by Gary Starta

About The Author:

Gary Starta is a former journalist who began writing multi-genre fiction in 2004. He likes to include science theory in his stories as well as elements of paranormal, fantasy, mystery and romance. 

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Science-Fiction

Publisher: Self-Published at Amazon Kindle
Release Date: March 15, 2013
Amazon

Book Description:

Most people don't travel to another universe to get a new job, house and boyfriend but psychic investigator Caitlin Diggs did. Now she's living the life of her alternate self, working for the FBI's Preternatural Division where her first case just happens to include chasing a genetically engineered man hell bent on stealing souls. Well, there had to be consequences. 

Demon Inhibitions Excerpt

When she found I had visited Manners, Briana began scurrying about her house, scooping up a pair of scissors and a red candle. Before I could speak further, she came at me. I backed away from her in fright. Her placid face revealed nothing malevolent. But the shears were headed right for me. I tried to dive away from the contradiction. Who was the real Briana? The sweet woman who made cookies for me--or her shears wielding maniac counterpart now standing before me? She screamed not to worry. I heard a snip. I felt a strange sensation. Not pain. But something was no longer attached to me. It was a piece of my hair. She caught the floating lock in her hands as if it were a runaway feather.

“It is very important we get to work, Caitlin.” Too stunned to process the weird moment, I could barely utter a groan.

Then she explained how she must protect me. “He’ll surely make a visitation now that he has met you.”

I tried to explain it was a good thing. I would probably get a vision of him and then I could determine his part in the slayings.

She interrupted. “A visitation is what he’ll do to you. I don’t know how to break this to you but the cat judge is an incubus. He’ll surely come to you in your dreams. And in case he is our murderer, you’ll need a protection spell, pronto.”

I reminded her I carried a firearm. I had worked in the FBI.

“No earthbound weapons can harm the judge once he joins with you. An incubus enters your dream world.”

'How do you know this?” My tone grew edgy. She had obviously withheld knowledge of Manners. Maybe the two were friends or even lovers. And she just admitted an incubus could have committed these crimes without fear of being harmed or caught.

“I know things because I’m a witch, Caitlin. That explanation will have to suffice for now.”

If you’re truly a witch, Briana, you must know he’s our best suspect.”<br<

“I do not wish to make sentence of him, yet. He could very well be innocent, even though he is not human. You must not be quick to judge. Don’t forget you now have paranormal abilities. You wouldn’t want to be labeled guilty just because of who you are.”

She had me there.

I settled in for the spell.

“I will create a mind shield for you, Caitlin Diggs.”

She began to chant, inviting me to join her.

“I call upon the helpful powers of my ancestors. Please protect and shield me from harm. By the ancient ancestral power, blessed be!”

Briana played soft Celtic music for me as we waited for the spell to take effect. I tried to distract myself with the lovely dulcet tones of harps and violins. It almost worked until my stomach rumbled--again. We never had supper. Briana was too intent on saving my ass. For what seemed hours we held hands waiting for the candle to burn down. I had plenty of time to drink in the ambience of the McFadden household. Floral print furniture and lacy doilies surrounded me. But most disturbing, a poster of Cher is depicting the actress as a witch in the film Witches of Eastwick, hung right before my eyes. When the candle finally expired I yawned and thanked Briana.

“Don’t thank me yet. The night is now upon us. We must return to your house if we hope to engage the judge.”

“Won’t your presence discourage Manners from coming?”

“No.” She paused to smile. “You could have twenty police armed to the hilt and he’d still come. Nothing from the waking world can harm him.”

muttered something unintelligible even to me.

“I’ll be in the next room to supervise so to speak. When he comes I’ll sense it. I will then cast a binding spell so he can’t attack you – or worse, drain you. Now the spell won’t last indefinitely so you won’t want to waste time with small talk. Hopefully you’ll be able to determine his innocence or guilt in your dream.”

had once interrogated an evil man named Crowley in a dream state. It didn’t go so well. But at least he didn’t threaten to harm me. Maybe he couldn’t. I still don’t know; but I was sure of one thing if the judge threatened me in anyway I would defend myself. I didn’t care what Briana said about the dream and waking worlds. I went to bed packing a handgun.

Follow The Tour Here

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read More