Terry Persun's Blog, page 10
March 11, 2013
[Happy Monday] Start Your Week with Sci-Fi Goodies
March 11 through March 13th Revision 7: DNA will be FREE for the Kindle.
Description: Revision 7: DNA
Time traveling robots, a walking medical experiment turned detective genius, and a kidnapped psychic combine in a story that will tear at your heart and get your adrenaline pumping.
the problem…
When it comes to investigating missing objects, Neil Altman stands out. After all, his parents severed the two halves of his brain when he was a child and then trained him to use each half independently. The problem is that he doesn’t believe in time machines, so Dr. Eric Steffenbraun’s project, stolen or not, already sounds far-fetched.
the proof…
Video is hard to deny, but Neil isn’t sure if the beings coming through the time machine are humans with masks or illegal humanoid robots. Besides, Dr. Steffenbraun could have faked the video if he feared the project was about to be cancelled.
the complication…
Neil’s wife, Mavra, is a well-known psychic in the area, and believes that Neil could be in danger. Knowing how she can get involved even when asked not to, he includes her in on the investigation. His plan is to keep her out of harm’s way. That is until she’s kidnapped.
the wildcard…
Miles away from Neil and the time machine, Fenny is trained to think on his own. He’s a utility robot with little understanding of what’s going on around him except what Dr. Smedley Klein has taught him—for now. Things are about to change for Fenny once Revision 7 is installed.
--- March 11 through March 13th Cathedral of Dreams will be 99 cents. (FREE for the Amazon Prime members!)
Description: Cathedral of Dreams
In Newcity, everyone is content. Bad feelings are not allowed, because your monitoring chip will alert the police to bring you in for treatment. Getting better is mandatory. Unchecked emotions made the world outside Newcity dangerous, unruly, and violent. At least that’s the official story in Newcity.
Keith knows something is wrong. Strange visions lead him to become one of the few who escapes Newcity. He finds freedom and companionship outside, but pressure building to revolt against the city’s insidious regime of social control. Leadership is thrust upon him, with only his visions for guidance, only a small band of friends for support—and the fates of both Newcity and the outside world at stake.
Cathedral of Dreams is a compelling tale of a dystopian future and personal heroism.
--- Pick up your Kindle editions of Revision 7: DNA: http://www.amazon.com/Revision-7-DNA-ebook/dp/B009AHUELE and Cathedral of Dreams : http://www.amazon.com/Cathedral-of-Dreams-ebook/dp/B005F7ENVU/
TODAY!
Don't have a Kindle? The Kindle app is supported on iPhones, iPads, PC's and most smart phones: http://amzn.to/aUZMHP
###
Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. His novel, Cathedral of Dreams is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the science fiction category. His novel Sweet Song just won a Silver IPPY Award, too. His latest novel is, Revision 7: DNA , a sci-fi thriller. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon HERE.
March 6, 2013
LibraryThing Giveaway
Attention Fantasy and Science Fiction Fans!
I am holding an exclusive giveaway for my new fantasy title, Doublesight , as well as my science fiction novel, Revision 7: DNA on LibraryThing.
Enter to for a chance to receive your very own FREE copy of Doublesight here and Revision 7: DNA here.
Need some more convincing? Learn more about these titles below:
Description: Doublesight
(LibraryThing Link)
After the Doublesight Wars, dangerous and mean-spirited shape shifters were killed off, causing other doublesight to hide their gifts, congregate into their own villages or clans, and avoid most humans.
Zimp and Zora are the twin granddaughters of the crow clan’s sage. The reticent Zimp is relieved that she has not been chosen to take her grandmother’s position, but after Zora is murdered after an attack on the clan, Zimp is forced into her obligations.
Rumors, stemming from Castle Weilk, suggest that dangerous throwbacks have been born—gryphons, harpys, dragons—and, once again the humans decide to hunt them down. Fear leads to mistrust, and mistrust to murder, all seemingly.
The doublesight council assembles to assess the situation and sends five doublesight to investigate the rumors, placing Zimp in charge of four men. Struggling with her own intuitive abilities, and trying to hold a stable position as leader, Zimp finds herself in the center of a changing world and must decide on her real place within it.
---
Description: Revision 7: DNA
(LibraryThing Link)
Time traveling robots, a walking medical experiment turned detective genius, and a kidnapped psychic combine in a story that will tear at your heart and get your adrenaline pumping.
the problem…
When it comes to investigating missing objects, Neil Altman stands out. After all, his parents severed the two halves of his brain when he was a child and then trained him to use each half independently. The problem is that he doesn’t believe in time machines, so Dr. Eric Steffenbraun’s project, stolen or not, already sounds far-fetched.
the proof…
Video is hard to deny, but Neil isn’t sure if the beings coming through the time machine are humans with masks or illegal humanoid robots. Besides, Dr. Steffenbraun could have faked the video if he feared the project was about to be cancelled.
the complication…
Neil’s wife, Mavra, is a well-known psychic in the area, and believes that Neil could be in danger. Knowing how she can get involved even when asked not to, he includes her in on the investigation. His plan is to keep her out of harm’s way. That is until she’s kidnapped.
the wildcard… Miles away from Neil and the time machine, Fenny is trained to think on his own. He’s a utility robot with little understanding of what’s going on around him except what Dr. Smedley Klein has taught him—for now. Things are about to change for Fenny once Revision 7 is installed.
Don't have an e-reader? The Kindle app is supported on iPhones, iPads, PC's and most smart phones: http://amzn.to/aUZMHP
###
Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. His novel, Cathedral of Dreams is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the science fiction category. His novel Sweet Song just won a Silver IPPY Award, too. His latest novel is, Revision 7: DNA , a sci-fi thriller. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon HERE.
February 8, 2013
[Video Interview] Discussing 'Cathedral of Dreams' and Science Fiction Writing
Sitting down to discuss creative processes, the fun of science fiction writing and my award-winning novel, Cathedral of Dreams, with a few members of the Booktrope Editions brain trust.
Appearing in the video (from left to right on the screen capture above):
* Christina Esdon, author of the upcoming romantic novel Work in Progress.
* Elise Stephens, author of the methodologically-inspired romance, Moonlight and Oranges .
* Jesse James Freeman, Booktrope Community Manager and author of the highly-rated, comic book-ish adventure series Billy Purgatory: I Am the Devil Bird and Billy Purgatory and the Curse of the Satanic Five .
Are you unfamiliar with Cathedral of Dreams? Read more:
In Newcity, everyone is content. Bad feelings are not allowed, because your monitoring chip will alert the police to bring you in for treatment. Getting better is mandatory. Unchecked emotions made the world outside Newcity dangerous, unruly, and violent. At least that’s the official story in Newcity.
Keith knows something is wrong. Strange visions lead him to become one of the few who escapes Newcity. He finds freedom and companionship outside, but pressure building to revolt against the city’s insidious regime of social control. Leadership is thrust upon him, with only his visions for guidance, only a small band of friends for support—and the fates of both Newcity and the outside world at stake.
Cathedral of Dreams is a compelling tale of a dystopian future and personal heroism.
Interested? You can pick up a copy at your favorite online bookseller, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Don't have a Kindle? The Kindle app is supported on iPhones, iPads, PC's
and most smart phones: http://amzn.to/aUZMHP
###
Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. His novel, Cathedral of Dreams is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the science fiction category. His novel Sweet Song just won a Silver IPPY Award, too. His latest novel is, Revision 7: DNA , a sci-fi thriller. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon HERE.
February 5, 2013
[Limited Time Only] 'Deception Creek' Available for FREE!
February 5th and February 6th Deception Creek will be FREE for the Kindle.
Description: Deception Creek
Secrets from the past overtake a man who never knew his father. Will old wrongs destroy him or will he rebuild his life?
Billy Maynard, raised by his mother and grandparents, comes home from college for the summer and meets Jack, an ex-con. When Billy’s mother forbids him to speak with Jack, Billy wants to know why. The answers he unravels lead from deception to deception leading back to a terrible incident at the creek bend one spring night long ago. The truth about what happened, once uncovered, still has toxic effect on everything that Billy cares about. He will lose everything unless he can find the strength to transform a malignant past into a future of reconciliation and hope.
Author Terry Persun shows his mastery of character and natural setting in this coming of age story about a young man's struggle to transcend a past tainted by lies, violence, and despair.--- Pick up your Kindle editions of Deception Creek: http://www.amazon.com/Deception-Creek-ebook/dp/B004YKT5K8 TODAY!
Don't have a Kindle? The Kindle app is supported on iPhones, iPads, PC's and most smart phones: http://amzn.to/aUZMHP
###
Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. His novel, Cathedral of Dreams is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the science fiction category. His novel Sweet Song just won a Silver IPPY Award, too. His latest novel is, Revision 7: DNA , a sci-fi thriller. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon HERE.
January 7, 2013
The Connection Between Man and Nature
January 7th and January 8th Giver of Gifts will be FREE for the Kindle.
Description: Giver of Gifts
Dying of cancer, lost in a snowy forest, Jim mysteriously connects with a deer and rediscovers love and nature’s grace.
A lyrical and insightful meditation on mortality and spiritual life, Giver of Gifts tells the story of a schoolteacher who has lost his daughter and becomes estranged from his family and his life. Now, facing untreatable cancer, he needs to rediscover how to give of himself. Alone in the forest on a winter’s day, Jim has a mysterious encounter with a deer that gives him the key to reopen his heart to his wife and son, to reconnect with his own feelings and to share his deepened appreciation of nature and life.
---
The Witness Tree is 99 cents through January 10th! A troubled, brilliant artist's story, told in the voice of a magnificent tree that becomes his inspiration and guardian.
This fascinating tale relates the passions and sacrifices that make up an artist's life. A boy's self-developed talent grows into an artistic genius with a very special connection to nature. But touching nature so deeply leads to intensity of feeling and vision that unsettles his life. His twin brother becomes his manager and an anchor of stability in the human world Failed relationships mar artistic success. All this is witnessed by the tree, which narrates the story with an understanding that is beyond human yet linked deeply to the artist’s vision.
This exceptional novel tells a compelling story of personal growth, while also exploring the connections between creativity, love, madness, beauty and man’s relation to nature, Its unusual narrator tells a gripping story while at the same time giving us a new perspective on the place of humans in a larger natural reality.
"Persun ...weaves an imaginative tale exploring the complex relationship between art and madness." —Tim W. Brown, Small Press Review
“ The Witness Tree is a unique and engaging novel about the relationship between the creative and the practical sides of human beings and their spiritual and psychic connection with nature, so necessary to being balanced and whole in an increasingly complex world.” —James A. Cox, The Bookwatch --- Pick up your Kindle editions of Giver of Gifts: http://www.amazon.com/Giver-of-Gifts-ebook/dp/B004WDYFWK/ and The Witness Tree : http://www.amazon.com/The-Witness-Tree-ebook/dp/B006QP5BIO/ TODAY!
Don't have a Kindle? The Kindle app is supported on iPhones, iPads, PC's and most smart phones: http://amzn.to/aUZMHP
###
Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. His novel, Cathedral of Dreams is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the science fiction category. His novel Sweet Song just won a Silver IPPY Award, too. His latest novel is, Revision 7: DNA , a sci-fi thriller. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon HERE.
December 30, 2012
At the Year's End: Considering Journeys and Self-Discovery
December 31 and January 1st Sweet Song will be FREE for the Kindle.
Description: Sweet Song
An archetypal American story of self-discovery, set against the turmoil of post – Civil War America, Sweet Song tells the story of the mixed race son of a white landowner and a black house servant. Leon, raised black but an outcast from both cultures, finds himself suddenly on his own — and passing for white.
Wrestling with a divided heritage in a world where honesty, even with friends, might prove fatal, he falls in with dispossessed thieves, mill workers, saloonkeepers, musicians, businessmen, thugs, freedom loving idealists and malevolent racists — a vivid panorama from America’s past. This tender, raw, provocative novel speaks from the heart about where we’ve come from and who we are.
---
Wolf's Rite is 99 cents through January 3rd. (FREE for the Amazon Prime members!) An ad exec, led to spiritual awakening by mystical Native Americans, discovers love and violence at the edges of sanity. Wolf, a predatory New York ad man on a mid-life path to self destruction, meets with a mysterious band of Native Americans who send him on a spiritual journey in the New Mexico desert. There's no turning back, as his life falls apart around him. Accused of murder, implicated in his friend's suicide, his marriage irrevocably broken, Wolf's sanity and very survival are at stake in his profound personal struggle to banish his own aggressive egotism, to connect with people and nature and to rebuild his life. Wolf 's Rite was nominated as the fiction book of the year by ForeWord magazine and won the POW! Book of the Year Award and a Star of Washington Award. "Persun is adept at conveying the complexities of human inner struggle."- Today's Librarian "This is well worth reading. Not only is it a very good Native American story, it also shows how even the most incorrigible person can change. Two thumbs up." - BookLore Review --- Pick up your Kindle editions of Sweet Song: http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Song-ebook/dp/B004SRC4YG/ and Wolf's Rite : http://www.amazon.com/Wolfs-Rite-ebook/dp/B0052TMRWI/ TODAY!
Don't have a Kindle? The Kindle app is supported on iPhones, iPads, PC's and most smart phones: http://amzn.to/aUZMHP
###
Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. His novel, Cathedral of Dreams is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the science fiction category. His novel Sweet Song just won a Silver IPPY Award, too. His latest novel is, Revision 7: DNA , a sci-fi thriller. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon HERE.
December 28, 2012
Year End Sci-Fi Double Feature
December 29 and December 30th Revision 7: DNA will be FREE for the Kindle.
Description: Revision 7: DNA
Time traveling robots, a walking medical experiment turned detective genius, and a kidnapped psychic combine in a story that will tear at your heart and get your adrenaline pumping.
the problem…
When it comes to investigating missing objects, Neil Altman stands out. After all, his parents severed the two halves of his brain when he was a child and then trained him to use each half independently. The problem is that he doesn’t believe in time machines, so Dr. Eric Steffenbraun’s project, stolen or not, already sounds far-fetched.
the proof…
Video is hard to deny, but Neil isn’t sure if the beings coming through the time machine are humans with masks or illegal humanoid robots. Besides, Dr. Steffenbraun could have faked the video if he feared the project was about to be cancelled.
the complication…
Neil’s wife, Mavra, is a well-known psychic in the area, and believes that Neil could be in danger. Knowing how she can get involved even when asked not to, he includes her in on the investigation. His plan is to keep her out of harm’s way. That is until she’s kidnapped.
the wildcard…
Miles away from Neil and the time machine, Fenny is trained to think on his own. He’s a utility robot with little understanding of what’s going on around him except what Dr. Smedley Klein has taught him—for now. Things are about to change for Fenny once Revision 7 is installed.
---
December 28 through December 31st Cathedral of Dreams will be 99 cents.
(FREE for the Amazon Prime members!)
Description: Cathedral of Dreams
In Newcity, everyone is content. Bad feelings are not allowed, because your monitoring chip will alert the police to bring you in for treatment. Getting better is mandatory. Unchecked emotions made the world outside Newcity dangerous, unruly, and violent. At least that’s the official story in Newcity.
Keith knows something is wrong. Strange visions lead him to become one of the few who escapes Newcity. He finds freedom and companionship outside, but pressure building to revolt against the city’s insidious regime of social control. Leadership is thrust upon him, with only his visions for guidance, only a small band of friends for support—and the fates of both Newcity and the outside world at stake.
Cathedral of Dreams is a compelling tale of a dystopian future and personal heroism.
--- Pick up your Kindle editions of Revision 7: DNA: http://www.amazon.com/Revision-7-DNA-ebook/dp/B009AHUELE
and Cathedral of Dreams : http://www.amazon.com/Cathedral-of-Dreams-ebook/dp/B005F7ENVU/
TODAY!
Don't have a Kindle? The Kindle app is supported on iPhones, iPads, PC's and most smart phones: http://amzn.to/aUZMHP
###
Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. His novel, Cathedral of Dreams is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the science fiction category. His novel Sweet Song just won a Silver IPPY Award, too. His latest novel is, Revision 7: DNA , a sci-fi thriller. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon HERE.
November 19, 2012
Being Alone
I am alone…when I work, my real work—writing—that’s when I’m completely alone. Sometimes I sit before a computer, sometimes on the couch with a notebook opened across my lap, and sometimes in the dark, in a corner of the bedroom at night. Alone, no matter who’s in the room with me.You can’t escape yourself when it’s dark. Or early in the morning before the rough day scratches over your life like a rake. It’s like there’s no one to depend on, and there isn’t.
The abstractness of life is chaos trained on one soul, yours, mine. The gears turn, the chemicals churn, and we believe we’re in some kind of control, but we’re not, we never have been, and can’t be.
The only control we really have is to open or close the door. That’s it. Open the door often enough and wonderful, wild, exciting things happen. Close it, and, well…
From this crazy place in the dark, with the door wide open, there’s no telling what will happen next. I’ve been through marriages, moves, wars, births, jobs, and all sorts of other things. I’ve been lost in the wilderness literally and figuratively. I’ve almost died more than once, and I’ve lived, I’ve lived, I’ve lived.
From my miniscule place on this huge planet in this enormous universe, I often wonder what matters. I wonder whether I’m better off alone or with others. Whether anything matters or not. I think about everything. Recently, I wrote this in my notebook: “When you question life, you gravitate toward the person who will give you the answer you want, not the answer you need; the answer you desire, not the one that is true.”
Where does this stuff come from? Do we care? Do I care? When I share my lonely space with the open door, there is no telling what’s going to enter. I tell myself all the time to just write it down, just write it all down. And I do.
###
Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. His novel, Cathedral of Dreams is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the science fiction category. His novel Sweet Song just won a Silver IPPY Award, too. His latest novel is, Revision 7: DNA , a sci-fi thriller. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon HERE.
October 17, 2012
Man with Two Brains – and Some Sci-Fi Fun
Of all the novels I’ve written, Revision 7: DNA is the one that recalls moments of my past. I don’t know how people spend 20 years writing one novel, but now I know how an idea might need 20 years to come alive. It was more than 20 years ago when I read that if one hemisphere of the brain was damages, the synapses between hemispheres could be severed and the un-damaged hemisphere would take over for both.
I wondered, if the two hemispheres were severed purposefully, and neither side damages, could both sides be trained…you know where this is leading, I’m sure—that’s exactly where the idea for Neil Altman came from. (So, let’s be clear here, he doesn’t really have two brains.) I could have made him a bit more like someone with multiple personality disorder, but chose not to. Had I done that, the novel would have been about the disorder more than about the science. Science rocks.
But so does magic. So, I chose to make Neil’s wife, Mavra, psychic. I used to read Tarot cards (still do, really), work with numerology, and am really into a lot of occult stuff. I probably know more about Native American magic and shamanism than I should. I know more about the activities and abilities of psychics than most people, not just because I’ve talked with them, but because I run in the same circles sometimes. So, throwing in a spouse that’s diametrically opposite of the scientific main character was going to be fun.
Throw in a few rampant robots. I had read once that there had been so many stories about time machines and time travel that most sci-fi magazines didn’t want to see any more of them unless they offered “something completely different” (Monty Python quote intended). The same went for robots at one time. Anyway, I thought that if inanimate objects could disappear into a time machine, but people couldn’t, perhaps a robot could go through. Yeah, tried that and it didn’t come back. Plus, there’s no communications link between the past and future – not yet. I may invent that later.
Anyhow, if robots can travel through time and we can’t then the robots get this idea that they are actually further along on the evolutionary path than we are. Which means that robots are closer to God than man is. Yeah, I said it. This posed some interesting questions and the potential for having a megalomaniacal robot as an antagonist.
My sci-fi novel couldn’t be complete without a few mad scientists, the FBI, the military, and all the conflict and tension and science that goes with that. Hey, I left out the kitchen sink. Bottom line is that I loved writing this book, for me it was fun and challenging. I got to use some real science, bend a few scientific rules, and add a bit of my own made-up science so that I could push the envelope a little. For a guy like me, that was fun.
Remember, if you read Revision 7: DNA , please, oh please, review it online, tweet about it, and let me know what you thought. Seriously, folks, I want to know that things are working for you.
Have a blast.-Terry
###
Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. His novel, Cathedral of Dreams is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the science fiction category. His novel Sweet Song just won a Silver IPPY Award, too. His latest novel is, Revision 7: DNA , a sci-fi thriller. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon HERE.
October 3, 2012
Real Writers…
I write for a living. These days it’s so easy to get published that literally thousands of people are now saying that they’re writers because they have learned how to upload a document onto the Internet. When there is no gatekeeper, is it really published, or is it merely uploaded. I get it, these people do write, then they upload, and then (thanks to the Internet and electronic books) they’re published. But, let’s face it, just because I talk doesn’t mean I’m a speaker. And just because I can upload a photo taken on my cell phone doesn’t mean I’m a photographer.
Like any other industry that goes through changes, the market is getting stuffed with, shall we say, less professional products. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great writers who have found it difficult, if not outright impossible, to get published through the old system. And, we’ve all heard about how often a best selling author’s first book was rejected twenty or more times. That doesn’t change the fact that there’re a lot of bad books being “published.” So, I talked with a few of my writer friends and we came up with a list of things that “real” writers either have done, or know something about. You don’t have to agree with all of these, of course. And some are put in here just for fun, but this list is worth thinking about. Here goes:
Real Writers… • have read over five books on the craft of writing.• have taken courses on how to write.• have attended multiple writers’ conferences. • write every day, “every” damned day.• never get writer’s block.• have had a manuscript edited by a professional to see just how well they really write.• have accumulated over 50 rejections from magazines and publishers. • read without the television on in the background (because they love words).• study the books they read, the movies they watch, television shows, etc. • have seen their work in print (remember print?).• never go out without a notebook and pen, or an electronic device they can take notes on.
Feel free to add your own thoughts to this list. Have a little fun with it. What’s happened to you along the way?
###
Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. His novel, Cathedral of Dreams is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the science fiction category. His novel Sweet Song just won a Silver IPPY Award, too. His latest novel is, Revision 7: DNA , a sci-fi thriller. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon HERE.
