Raymond Gaynor's Blog, page 41

SAY … WHAT … ?

        Author Raymond Gaynor, in this sequel, to his novel TOTAL MELTDOWN, manages a successful tear in the time-space continuum that provides his readers with an insightful glimpse of society’s future. It’s not always a pleasant picture. In fact, it’s sometimes bordering on the truly shocking. That said … all of his prophetical premises seem to have logical underpinnings based upon historical facts, including what’s obviously at play within our own Twenty-First Century. It’s a fascinating read, experienced through the eyes of three protagonists from birth, through adolescence, and into maturity. Their journey is often difficult and often dangerous. Never, though, is it boring.
William Maltese, co-author on the prequel, TOTAL MELTDOWN

The Edge of Madness

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

Available in printed form from Savant (Online) Bookstores with free shipping within USA at
Savant Bookstore Atlantic at https://www.savantbookstoreatlantic.com/
Savant Bookstore MidWest at https://savantbookstoremidwest.com/
Savant Bookstore Pacific at https://www.savantbookstorepacific.com/
Savant Bookstore Honolulu at https://www.savantbookstorehonolulu.com/

in eBook form from GooglePlay at https://play.google.com/store/books/d...

in printed format from the Book Depository with free shipping worldwide at
https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859

AUTHOR RAYMOND GAYNOR

Raymond Gaynor is the multi-award-winning thriller pen name of reclusive author-artist-photographer-videographer, Daniel S. Janik. Gaynor, in his own words, “lives and breathes” San Francisco. Under the pen name Raymond Gaynor, Janik co-authored with William Maltese on the naughty Tripler and Clarke gay political thriller, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) and with pre-eminent thriller writer A. G. Hayes on Koski & Falk’s fifth adventure, QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016). Janik is the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction works published under a variety of different pseudonyms, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) being his latest politico-socio-technical thriller, erotic, coming-of-age romance SciFu (science-based futuring) novel.

Raymond Gaynor

Author of THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020)
- press release at https://www.prlog.org/12825474
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://ibb.co/Yjrbh7Q

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."

The Edge of Madness

Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure

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/

BOOK OF THE DAY

HAVING recently witnessed the ever-increasing number of Books of the Day got my intellect engaged, prompting me to think about THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. It may not yet be on anyone’s Book of the Day list, but it’s definitely a Book of [To]day as well as a Study of Tomorrow. A SciFu (Science-based futuring) work, as distinguished from science fiction or fantasy, it posits one plausible future based on today’s emerging socio-political-sexual-technological issues.

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 the Wiccan…and both of 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 sans clothes 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.

The Edge of Madness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...

Soon to be an Audible audiobook read by the incomparable Peter Pollock; purchased by K. Simmons Productions for manga, animation and cinematic treatment.

TRANSPARENT TALKING CLOTHES?

TODAY’s BBC included an interesting news article entitled “Facebook VR Wristband Powered Via ‘Brain Signals‘,” (https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-5...) representing two topics I directly address in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. And they span across the thrilling, adventurous, societal, political, technological, romantic, erotic, HLGBTQ (that’s heterosexual as well as LGBTQ) genre attributes of this work. But I digress.

It’s often said that “clothes maketh the [hu]man,” but in a world of typically concealed, increasingly dangerous weaponry, the only reasonable way to bring back some semblance of balance in the future is to leave clothes behind. No clothes, no venue to conceal. And not just weapons, but also feelings. Complete “transparency.” For the three young protagonists in my Sci-Fu (Science-based futuring) novel, two males and a female, friends from childhood, NewAmerica with it’s burgeoning technologies and rapid acceptance of social change, provides a challenging place to live.

But it’s not a world completely sans clothes. For enough money, celebrities can indulge in two monomolecular, fully transparent forms of “clothing” that look as if nothing were being worn.

First, there’s a “flack” suit that instantly congeals to deflect fast moving objects like bullets or knives but not very slow moving objects like a lover’s caress or kiss. Unfortunately that would include a very slow moving blade, making the world less dangerous, but still, for example during trysts, so.

Second, an Eugitor suit that is typically worn over a flack suit (if one is being worn), that changes delicate, transparent color and tactile “feel,” with regional body blood flow and resulting temperature. More expensive versions can be pre-programmed to broadcast any color or tactile or combination paired or unpaired to one’s regional or global emotions.

But whether one opts for a flack and/or Eugitor suit, their monomolecular nature always gives the impression of wearing no clothes. Unimaginable? Hey, contemporary clothiers already offer “adaptive” and color-changing clothes, the latter famously called “hypercolor” clothing. And that’s just the beginning…

The Edge of Madness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...

Soon to become an audiobook read by Peter Pollock; purchased for manga, animatic and cinematic treatment by K. Simmons Productions

PREDICTIONS, PREDICATIONS OR PROGNOSTICATIONS

EVER since I wrote and had THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor released, I’ve been mulling over whether the actions inherent are predictions, predications or prognostications. It might not make much difference to most — “splitting hairs” — but there is an aspect of each of the above that makes it unique and singular, especially regarding the book.

For example, if the work contains many predictions (which it does), then, like Nostradamus’ Les Prophéties, the work is a mystical, spiritual, even occult religious work. Which it admittedly is. What’s surprising is that many of the predictions regarding education, work and morality have already come true. Go figure.

On the other hand, if it contains many predications (which it also does), then, like Einstein’s Entwurf einer verallgemeinerten Relativitätstheorie und eine Theorie der Gravitation, the work is a science-based, futures study (Sci-Fu). Which it admittedly also is. What’s unsettling is that many of the predications, while decidedly probable, have yet to come true. Don’t go figure. Just hold your breath.

Still, if the work contains many prognostications (which it does), then like Aldous Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD or H. G. Wells’ THE TIME MACHINE, the work is one of science fiction/fantasy. Which it admittedly is. What’s downright spooky is that, acting as a mirror into various possible fantastic futures, contemporary readers can take action to sculpt the kind of future desired.

Finally, the work is multi-topical and mult-layered. That is, it’s a thrillingly adventurous, social, political, romantic, erotic, multi-gender (LGBTQ+ as well as “straight”) work that can be enjoyed from any perspective or combination of perspectives that demonstrates diversity, tolerance, and cooperation in thought as well as action.

Then again, there’s my friend, author Jim Currie’s review:

“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.”

Go figure.

The Edge of Madness

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859


Soon to be an audiobook read by the incomparable Peter Pollock. Purchased by K. Simmons Productions for manga, animation and cinematic treatments.

AND LAMBS LIE WITH WOLVES

THIS is not about lamb lies. It’s in response to an article I just read by John Hamilton entitled “Some Generous Apes May Help Explain The Evolution Of Human Kindness” at https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsand.... I have always been fascinated by the two faces of humans: the cruel and the kind. Violence is so much a part of life that cruelty, or at least the capacity for cruelty, is often what one sees when confronting another human. But it’s not all we are. We have a capacity for empathy — being “wired” to “walk in another’s moccasins” — when our suspicion and viciousness don’t overpower, that can more than offset our tendency to cruelty. And of all other animals, bonobos — an endangered great ape — demonstrate our empathic side in the extreme.

While chimps — a different species — tend, like our darker side, to rely on cunning and competition, bonobos emphasize cooperation and sharing in almost all of their social interactions, including even sex. While chimps tend to be patriarchal, bonobos are matriarchal. I think of the two like the god Janus, typically portrayed with two faces—one facing the past, and one facing the future, holding a key in his right hand. I look forward to the time when humans can seize control of our violent history long enough to move on to cooperation. Read carefully, you will see this theme running throughout THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. It culminates in a return to spiritual pantheism with Wicca as the representative religion.

I often wonder what Homo sapiens sapiens will eventually succumb to in the relentless evolutionary struggle. Me, I’d be happy if we could simply catch up with the bonobos.

The Edge of Madness

Soon to be an audiobook read by the incomparable Peter Pollock. Purchased by K. Simmons Productions for manga, animation and cinematic treatments.

WHERE TIGERS ROAM FREELY

OKAY, yes, I’m an environmentalist. Have to be. Without us there’d be an oil wells everywhere, and no animals other than those bred and domesticated for food. So where do tigers and other wild animals still roam freely? In books. In our minds. In our genes.

Whenever I write, I try to include some little tidbit about animals or plants, as without plants we’d quickly have no breathable air or potable water, and without animals, we’d have no baseline to remind us that we, too, are first and foremost animals. With plants it’s about surviving. With animals, it’s about unbridled hubris. Both are equally dangerous.

In my Sci-Fu, socio-political, sometimes adventure, sometimes erotic sex thriller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, I don’t forget either:

“Naming the animals and plants after themselves…?

“The idea was to inspire feelings of environmental stewardship through government established and funded official Naming Ceremonies—N-Cares—whereby human caretakers and the animal or plant names of their now ‘cultivated natural’ darlings would be publicly announced, ceremoniously celebrated, then recorded digitally in ever-expanding governmental N-Cares information vaults called I-Cares.

“The honor caught on and the practical result was immediate: I-Cares, in essence governmental genetic diversity repositories, sprang up everywhere, and awardees gladly paid for public recognition, contractually committing themselves to husbanding the animals or plants which they had name-recognized for the duration of the human’s life. As a further honorific, caretakers were permitted to wear a light blue colored armband. At the same time, the government inserted a tiny, inert, bioluminescent DNA tag into the now protected entity, identifying it as under the care and protection of the government by way of that particular human caretaker.

“This program singularly changed the surface of NewAmerica into one citizen-tended, cultivated-natural paradise.

“To this, Brie’s now lolling mind added, and many were becoming so enamored with the program, it began taking on the attributes of a ‘culturally natural’ religion. This was, of course, much to the chagrin of youth who, like Brie’s mob, often joked about it as being a personal challenge to ‘Keep ON the Grass’…”

“Inside his head, Brie could sense the abstract litany of instruction in the voices of his holo-instructors replaying: “NewAmericans’ physical condition, nutrition and general health have become nearly ideal, leaving biodiversity to whims of individual desire, epigenes and occasional serendipitously acquired thought-treasures—threasures. ‘Poor’ no longer related solely to money, but became based on one’s unique combination of TARS-AID, sally, contro, education, threasures, curiosity, social effectiveness in work and overall consciousness.

“Brie smiled. He preferred to think in terms of each person’s “Designer Jeans”—DigJees he referred to them one day to Simi’s delight and profit—the acronym under her expert hand immediately spreading like wildfire throughout their community and NewAmerica.”

Where tigers roam freely, humans enjoy adventure, romance and live to the fullest. It’s only natural.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859

Soon to be an audiobook read by the incomparable Peter Pollock; purchased for manga, animation and cinematic treatments by K. Simmons Productions.

A BIT OF HEDONISM, ANYONE?

IF there’s one common predictive thread in my recently released romantic (sometimes erotic), SciFu (Science-based futuring) thriller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, it’s that the future won’t lack for hedonism. While everything else seems to be waffling back and forth between extremes, interest and pursuit of hedonism, in my opinion, has only continued to increase and will continue to do so. Of all the pleasures of the flesh, pleasure — enjoyment, joi de vivre, happiness, delight — remains one unswerving pursuit for most people I know.

I’m not talking naked, sexual Roman orgy here, though some may believe that’s the end-game of hedonism, but rather gratification of a sort. It’s been a long plague year, and an even longer period of stressful challenges redefining democracy, conflict, economy, nationalism and socialization. Delayed — nay, LONG delayed — gratification, something humans with disability and death always looming don’t generally tolerate putting off for very long. I’ve heard it said humans have a short attention span, growing shorter with each passing day, but I believe that’s just another way of describing the increasing chronic stress surrounding delayed gratification.

Of all lifestyle components, I think chronic stress may be the most debilitating: depression, anxiety, personality disorders, decreased effective immunity, cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, and stroke, as well as a propensity to PTSD and all its effects including increased impulsivity, intolerance, xenophobia, poor judgement, affinity to emotional appeals, conspiracy theories and propaganda.

What society needs just now is a peek over The Edge of Madness, in the process experiencing at the least literary gratification. I know I do. That’s why I’m actively writing the sequel, “Prophecy.”

Available now domestically and internationally from the Publisher’s Store, all four Savant Bookstores (Atlantic, Midwest, Pacific and Honolulu), Amazon.com, The Book Depository (free shipping internationally), GooglePlay.

The Edge of Madness

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859

HELP! I NEED SOMEBODY!

MY newly released SciFu (science-based futuring) novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor just received a fourth (and extended) review. I’m curious what potential readers think of this “extended review” format, and if anyone agrees with me that TEOM would make a great book-of-the-year?

Extended Online Book Club review at https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/vie....

Vote for TEOM Book-Of-The-Month at https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/she....

Or just grab a printed or eBook copy from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...

Soon to be an audiobook read by Peter Pollock; awaiting manga, anime and cinematic treatment by K. Simmons Productions.