Raymond Gaynor's Blog, page 2

THE EDGE OF MADNESS by Raymond Gaynor - Excerpt #2 (This Excerpt is PG-rated)

Clothes? Jackson, now there was an interesting anachronism. Until SweetSixteen, clothes were strongly frowned upon though in some distinctly retro circles still tolerated, but with general public disgust and distrust. Afterwards, adult clothing was even more strongly discouraged, being outright prohibited in all public and many private spaces. The contemporary drift was that the absence of clothing imparted a feeling of security to passersby, given that nakedness was a way of demonstrating that one was weaponless and need not be feared. It also allowed bodies to more clearly broadcast and receive emotional signals of interest and intent. Only Enforcers these days always wore clothes, and that was primarily to broadcast their authoritative status and, of course, to intimidate.
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Raymond Gaynor is the pen-name of the multi-award-winning, reclusive writer-artist-photographer-videographer, who, in his own words, "lives and breathes" San Francisco. He co-authored with William Maltese on the Tripler and Clarke gay political thriller, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) and with A. G. Hayes on the fifth Koski & Falk adventure, QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016). He is the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction works published under a number of different pseudonyms.

"If you've ever wondered what the world and relationships will be like in the future," says Gaynor, "this book is for you. Though set in the future, it is a plausible one, whether it ends up exciting or horrifying for you. Get hold of a copy of THE EDGE OF MADNESS, peer over the edge and see if I'm not right."

THE EDGE OF MADNESS
by Raymond Gaynor
257 pages - 5.25 x 8" B&W Pocket Book with Color Softcover
ISBN 978-0-9996938-5-8 Suggested retail price $16.95
Released by Aignos Publishing, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Amazon Genre Bestseller
San Francisco Book Festival Award
New York Book Festival Award

Available internationally from Amazon.com at
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
and
The Book Depository with free international shipping at
https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...

Aignos Publishing, an imprint of Savant Books and Publications, offers avant garde, experimental and innovative works that "push the leading edge" of publishing. Savant Books and Publications publishes enduring, transformative literary works with a twist.

Raymond Gaynor, Multi-award-winning Author of
THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020)
Author website and blog at https://garymartine.yolasite.com/raym...
YouTube Video Book Preview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...

#RaymondGaynor #TheEdgeOfMadness #excerpt #book #ebook #novel #ScienceFiction #SciFu #FutureStudies #bromance #LGBTQ #LoveTriangle #ComingOfAge #Wicca #clothes #Savant #Aignos #WilliamMaltese #AGHayes #TotalMeltdown #QuantumDeath

THE EDGE OF MADNESS by Raymond Gaynor - Excerpt #1 (This Excerpt is PG-rated)

Although he wouldn't completely understand it until much later, it began well before he was born a pudgy-looking, seven and a half pound naked ball of flesh, fat, gristle and bone, screaming its head off. And why shouldn't he have protested? Every trusted thing he'd known had been ripped from him: the constant warmth; the gentle, protective floating feeling; the ruddy aura that had always surrounded and protected him, the ever-present thump-hiss, thump-hiss, thump-hiss in the background that, like a metronome, established the meter of his universe. Even the occasional, distant, often perplexing background sounds, a kind of symphony inexplicably directed at him by some higher, beneficent power whose sole reason for being was to watch over and protect him. Moments ago he was as he knew and imagined himself: the center of all that was, is, and would ever be. Now he was…he really didn't have a clue, except that every second he was fighting for his life.

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Taking up where TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese left off, NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, provides a challenging and dangerous future place for three young firebrands to live.

THE EDGE OF MADNESS
(Aignos 2020)
by Raymond Gaynor
257 pp. - 5.25" x 8"
Softcover Pocket Book
ISBN 9780999693858
Suggested Retail Price (SRP) $16.95

Available directly from Savant Bookstores (Atlantic, Midwest, Pacific, Honolulu) at 10% off Suggested Retail Price with free shipping within the USA using discount code "ONLINE" at checkout or by direct purchase at https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...

Press Release at https://www.prlog.org/12825474

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B1663ZZ

Aignos Publishing, an imprint of Savant Books and Publications, offers avant garde, experimental and innovative works that "push the leading edge" of publishing. Savant Books and Publications publishes enduring, transformative literary works with a twist.

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FROM THE EDGE OF MADNESS

It is my pleasure to present the long awaited sequel to my and William Maltese's naughty pop sexual-political-thriller TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), entitled THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, is now leaner and meaner. Once again commanding wealth and power thanks to a series of sociopolitical advances and technical innovations like Eugitors, ShimmerSuits, ContraSpray, T-rips, CandyShades and CandyCable, NewAmerica a challenging and dangerous place for three young firebrands to live "on the edge of madness."

Set in the near future, THE EDGE OF MADNESS explores the evolving relationships between three friends, all of whom know little to nothing about their past and even less about their futures. What they do know is that each is unusually gifted: Rob, an uber-conscious male with an enhanced sense of smell; Frann, an ostentatious gay male with an Olympian physique; and Andry, a brilliant moon-child and professional acronymeur with a taste for Wicca...and her two male friends.

THE EDGE OF MADNESS is an exploration of a possible future, where every hedonistic pleasure is available -- if one can afford it. People work in order to purchase the newest technologies promising ultimate pleasure. But as in Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD and George Orwell's 1984, citizens are watched carefully by emotionless “Enforcers” who show up anytime unusual events occur. 
 
Like Huxley and Orwell's works, THE EDGE OF MADNESS has something to say about almost everything present and future. But it's also a love triangle and a coming-of-age story of three youths in a future where anything and everything goes. The ultimate question for them is: Can true love or sanity be found in such a world? 
 
This story will make some excited about what the future may hold while others may recoil at a world of such extremes. Either way, it's an engaging ride in a world where, for example, teachers and students appear holographically together in instructional classrooms while remaining safely at home, begging the question of what, if anything, in this future world is “real." Put on your CandyShades, breathe in a little ContraSpray and settle back for a T-rip like never before.

Sincerely,
Raymond Gaynor
Author of THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020)
Co-author with A. G. Hayes of QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) and with William Maltese of TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009)
Author website at https://garymartine.yolasite.com/raym...
Author Facebook site at https://www.facebook.com/raymond.gayn...
Author Twitter site at https://www.savantbooksandpublication...
Amazon author page at https://www.amazon.com/Raymond-Gaynor...
Amazon Goodreads author page at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Savant Books and Publications | Aignos Publishing author page at https://www.savantbooksandpublication...
Distributed by Savant Distribution at https://www.savantdistribution.com/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 -- An Audible audiobook read by the incomparable Peter Pollock; purchased by K. Simmons Productions for manga, animation and cinematic treatment

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THE “NEW” WAVE OF PROTESTS

SEVERAL have attempted to engage me in debate over the nature and effect(s) of the global wave of protests that seem to be attacking the heart of governance using chaos as it’s modus operandi. I say shades of Trotsky! This approach is neither new nor particularly effective, especially as it typically offers “down with the establishment” but nothing of value with which to replace other than money and/or power for the few: A story as old as humans attempting to govern — to control others. The contemporary question, it seems to me, at the heart of the matter is whether governance “for the many” or “for the few” is best, when neither is, in and of itself, better. Each works better in a different environment.

Then there’s the issue of money and power, the two great illusions; money the “Monopoly” game, quickly becoming a religion with all the usual trappings, created by humans, removing nature entirely from the human equation and elevating life itself to little more than a game with infinite “replays.” A super-natural game favoring the rich, powerful and clever in an “uber-verse,” over the reasonable and intelligent. But an even deeper question is why this “game” is so appealing to humans. I believe it has to do with our mortality. Go figure.

During the past few decades, I’ve watched another “new/old” phenomenon take root: The elevation of “business” at the expense of human service. Sadly, COVID-19 — a proverbial “shot across the bow” — didn’t wisen us, though it did continue to drive a wedge between group sales/reliance on increasing profit as the main sign of success, rather than individual service and human happiness. Does business really create happiness? Go figure, again.

In fact, I’ve recently taken to wondering if what we’re struggling with is actually shift from an unconscious baseline belief in the power of genetics to epigenetics (thank you Dr. Michael Davis, editor, colleague and friend for that insight). Call it the old fate verses freewill, though with ejpigenetics, the latter, freewill, becomes something more like a shift from individual fate to politico-social-governance fate as professed in my latest Science Futuring (SciFu) novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. Read it, you’ll like it. Or you may not. Either way, I predict it’ll tickle your brain into thinking some interesting thoughts or perhaps even driving you towards some otherwise unusual actions. Who knows, really? And watch out for the “enforcers.” Are they helpful or harmful “bots” in the process of life? You tell me. As for the “new” wave of protests, new, smoo — they’re only as new as history. Or prophesy It’s increasingly difficult these days to know which is which.

The Edge of Madness

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INTRODUCING AUTHOR RAYMOND GAYNOR

Raymond Gaynor is the pen name of reclusive, multi-award-winning thriller author and actor-artist-photographer-videographer, Daniel S. Janik. Under this pen name, Janik most recently authored the Amazon-genre-bestseller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 -- currently available in printed, digital and audiobook formats, the latter read by renown voice actor Peter Pollock. He has previously co-authored with William Maltese the naughty Tripler and Clarke gay political thriller and prequel to THE EDGE OF MADNESS, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/1434403556 -- and with the late, pre-eminent thriller writer A. G. Hayes on the fifth Koski & Falk’s adventure, QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996325530. Janik is the author of numerous other fiction and non-fiction works published under a variety of different pseudonyms, including the non-fiction classic UNLOCK THE GENIUS WITHIN (R&L Education 2000) -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/1578862914 -- about the neurobiology of effective transformative learning.



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A WILD LITERARY RIDE!

THE EDGE OF MADNESS — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 — is an exploration of a possible (nay, freakishly probable) future, where every hedonistic pleasure is available to anyone…if they can but afford it. Every person works in order to purchase the newest technology that promises to provide the next ultimate pleasure. But as in Aldous Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD and George Orwell’s 1984, citizens are under constant surveillance by emotionless observers called “The Enforcers” who show up anytime an unusual event occurs.

Like Huxley and Orwell’s works, Gaynor’s is destined to become a classic, having something to say about almost everything present and future. At it’s heart, THE EDGE OF MADNESS is a love triangle and coming-of-age story of three youths and their perceptions of a coming-of-future constantly enfolding about them, where anything and everything goes. The ultimate question is, can true love be found in such a world, or are there just too many choices for true love to be an option?

The story will make some excited about the possibilities the future might hold; others will recoil at a world of such extreme contradictions. However readers may feel, it’s at the least an intriguing future full of novel technology, like interactive holography where, for example, teachers and students appear together in instructional classrooms while remaining safely at home, begging the question of what, if anything, in this brave new world is “real.”

Raymond Gaynor taps into future possibilities already present today in primordial form, and the story of the adolescent love triangle set in such a future makes for a thoroughly engaging though sometimes discomforting ride. – Michael Davis, Editor.

THE EDGE OF MADNESS has been purchased by KS Media Group Inc for manga, animation and/or cinematic production.

Video Book Preview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...

#RaymondGaynor #MichaelDavis #book #ebook #audiobook #bestseller #ScienceFiction #Sci-Fi #SciFi #future #technology #Sci-Fu #SciFu #love #triangle #Coming-Of-Age #Huxley #BraveNewWorld #Orwell #1984 #pleasure #hedonist

SOCIO-POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION

In THE EDGE OF MADNESS, author Raymond Gaynor touches on many sensitive issues in our current world. From this perspective, the book is thought-provoking and invites us to see things in a different light. For example, NewAmericans promote an education system based on cooperation and critical thinking rather than individualism and competitiveness...fascinated by the unique worldbuilding, I often...re-read some of the explanations about the technological wonders of the new world (“ContraSpray,” “Eugitors,” “CandyShades,” “CandyCable,” “Forty-Seven Suits,” or “T-rips”)...relationships often display an inherent eroticism. All in all...[a] novel for fans of post-apocalyptic fiction interested in social and political transformations, technological change, sexual awakening, and spiritual development. -- Online Book Club Review

I personally feel that of my three socio-political novels (TOTAL MELTDOWN by Raymond Gaynor/William Maltese; QUANTUM DEATH by A. G. Hayes/Raymond Gaynor; and the multi-award-winning THE EDGE OF MADNESS by Raymond Gaynor), THE EDGE OF MADNESS -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 -- is perhaps the most plausibly compelling, second only to the as yet unpublished sequel tentatively entitled PROPHECY. In these days of wildly speculative science fiction, I find plausibility the necessary factor to turn sci-fi into much more interesting sci-fu, literally science-based futuring. What is theoretically possible (fantasy sci-fi) never holds a candle against what is plausible, even likely reality (sci-fu).

But I also believe it isn't sufficient to simply be plausible. Really good sci-fu, like THE EDGE OF MADNESS, has to take sci-fu one step further, exploring the equally plausible social-political outcomes -- in other words, resulting beliefs, which these days seem to strongly drive reality as we come to know it. I sincerely hope my readers will find THE EDGE OF MADNESS as enthralling as I have writing it.



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HOT, HOT, HOT

"THE EDGE OF MADNESS is a science fiction book written by Raymond Gaynor. It’s a sequel to another novel that was co-written by the author. The events in the book take place in the future. In the novel, the United States of America was forced into dissolution and has been resurrected into a smaller new country called “NewAmerica.” The main character in the story is Draff Rob Brie Septican-Smite. Rob is first shown in the book when he’s still in his mother’s womb, which is an event that he can recall. We are slowly introduced to Rob’s world and follow him until he is 20 years old. This future world is radically different from the one we know. Children in this world are...raised by individuals that [sic - who] are unrelated to them, and most people don’t wear clothes. There are also numerous technological advances. When he is around 2 years old, Rob is introduced to a boy named Billie and a girl named Andry. Both children become Rob’s lifelong friends. Rob always felt very different from other people because of his extraordinary sense of smell, [with] which he was born with [sic]. His sense of smell is so powerful that he knows the places people visited and can tell if they’re lying to him because of the way they smell. He also has an eidetic memory and even remembers his birth. Rob gets romantically involved with Billie when they are both teenagers, but Andry also has strong feelings for Rob. Can Rob and Billie’s relationship last, or is it destined to fail because of Andry? What dark secret is Andry hiding from her friends? Can Rob’s powers actually hurt the people that are close to him? Find out in this futuristic and mysterious story.

"I really enjoyed the premise of the book and how the story was told. The way Rob was introduced was very intriguing because he was still in the womb but already had his heightened sense of smell, feelings, and thoughts. The fact that the book was set in the future was also entertaining, and it was interesting finding out about the way people lived and hearing about all of the technological advances. Some aspects of the future seemed implausible, and other aspects seemed realistic and very possible based on our current reality. The way the author told the story was very straightforward, but the gradual building of suspense could be felt. The pacing flowed together naturally.

"I also liked the air of mystery that was always surrounding Rob and Andry. Rob had his extreme intelligence, remarkable memory, and an extraordinary sense of smell. The latter was sort of a superpower, and it helped him determine who he could be friends with and trust based on their smell. There was also an intriguing question of whether people around Rob got hurt because of his power, and I was very curious about that. Andry was a mysterious character from the beginning, but something about her was revealed toward the end of the novel, and it was very surprising. It was great that the characters were so unpredictable.

"One issue that I had with the book was that it ended so abruptly that it didn’t give answers to the questions that I was looking for. I was expecting to see another chapter on the next page and was very surprised that this was the conclusion of the novel...another problem I had was that the novel was almost entirely from Rob’s perspective, and we don’t see things from Billie and Andry’s points of view until the end.

"I’m rating this book 3 out of 4 stars . I found the premise of the novel very interesting and entertaining. The book starting with Rob being in his mother’s womb was also exciting and different. I enjoyed the fact that there was an air of mystery around the main characters, and I was always trying to figure out what Andry was hiding. Another plus was that the editing was very professional. I’m taking a star away because the book ended so suddenly and abruptly. The novel seemed unfinished and incomplete, and it felt like more answers were needed. It would have also been nice if the book included the points of view of the other characters throughout. I would recommend this book to adults and younger adults who like science fiction and mystery books about the future. There were some sexual situations and scenes between two male characters and between male and female characters, but they weren’t graphic or extreme in any way." - Online Book Club Review NOTE: This work is now an Amazon-genre bestseller available in printed, digital and/or audiobook format.

The Edge of Madness

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AND FILMING RESUMES…

Received notice yesterday that my part in the filming of the K. Simmons Production of the 6-part, made-for-television series FINDING KATE — https://ksmediagroupinc.com/finding-kate — will begin tomorrow WITH A FUNERAL. Go Figure! I’ll be playing myself as the star who played Will Gardner in the K. Simmons Production of the multi-award-winning movie, STATIC — https://ksmediagroupinc.com/the-stati.... Based on the multi-award-winning book — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997247215 — by the late A. G. Hayes, FINDING KATE is non-stop action and adventure: Kate Keenan (played by Karizma Rose) develops a scriptwriting software that threatens to make Hollywood, Bollywood and Hawaii-wood passé. Everyone seems to want her program, which, it turns out, in the wrong hands could be a threat to national security… and could be the reason she abruptly ends up missing. With family, studio moguls, terrorists and secret agents interested, the hunt to find Kate and her computer software begins.

A. G. Hayes was a personal friend as well as co-author of QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996325530, the sequel to FINDING KATE. Everyone, studio, crew and cast alike are busy bringing FINDING KATE to the silver screen as a tribute to A. G., me included. And in an interesting twist of fate, A. G. will appear in the film posthumously, the first of seven Koski and Falk films he so keenly wished to see for himself.

I have several more appearances in FINDING KATE yet to film including the “honor dance” scene in which actress/dance partner Setsuko Tsuchiya and I are scheduled to appear. Having had the opportunity of dancing on film in FANTASY ISLAND (“Dying to dance”) — https://janik.yolasite.com/fantasy-is..., we look forward to being featured dancers in FINDING KATE.



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AND A BIT FROM MY AUTHOR COLLEAGUE, JIM CURRIE…

THE EDGE OF MADNESS by Raymond Gaynor: “Radically original while chilling and shocking. A dark vision of the future reminiscent of BRAVE NEW WORLD but on steroids. The title page should be plastered with a warning: “Not for the sentimental or faint of heart. This is not a game. Enter…at your own peril and keep a defibrillator handy. Medical power of attorney should be assigned to someone you know very, very well.

“Right away the reader becomes observer of the pulsing, sensate world of the fetus, yet with dawning awareness [even within] the warm and comforting nurture of the amniotic sea. Somehow the newborn survives, only to proceed to the insults of a soulless education system and carefully calibrated culture vacant of significant choice or opportunity for deep human connection.

“THE EDGE OF MADNESS by Raymond Gaynor is one those realities that makes you instantly appreciative of nature walks, the aroma of good coffee and the cheer of a crackling fire. At the same time you aren’t sure that it’s a good idea to doze off and take the chance of a techno-nightmare that reprises the madness but without hope of return. Be very afraid.” — Jim Currie, Author of IN DIRE STRAITS and SADDAM’S PARROT and screenwriter extraordinaire.

The Edge of Madness



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