Raymond Gaynor's Blog, page 45
February 11, 2021
AS YET UNTITLED?
WHEW! At least we’re approaching the end of the end of the Capital violence and insurrection. A page in our history book of democracy that some would like to tear out, and some would like re-written while others murmur that it is only just the beginning. I came across two items this week challenging the idea that we’re finally approaching the end of this spate of political violence. Both articles leave me perplexed and concerned.
First is the supposedly QAnon conspiracy theory about the 4 March 2021 re-inauguration of former president Donald Trump (https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-...). And the second is a recent poll by the American Enterprise Institute published by NPR on 11 Feb 2021 entitled “A ‘Scary’ Survey Finding: 4 In 10 Republicans Say Political Violence May Be Necessary.” Huh?
Both appear to be, to some extent at least, based on the belief that United States citizens “don’t have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement.” The details of the former seem to bend history, being convoluted and frankly psychotic to me. The latter is frankly appalling, with “two out of three Republicans saying President Biden was not legitimately elected” and that 30% of Americans polled, including 39% of Republicans, agreed that if elected leaders are not perceived to protect America, the people must do it themselves, even if it requires violent action. Huh? Huh?
But more disturbing, the poll reported that “white evangelicals” were especially prone to QAnon conspiracy theories, with twenty-seven percent agreeing it was “mostly” or “completely” accurate to say Trump “has been secretly fighting a group of child sex traffickers that include prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites.” Huh? Huh? Huh?
In my and William Maltese’s TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), we envisioned the “total meltdown” of the the United States in a manner not unlike the total meltdown of the former USSR, but caused by an imagined president abdicating during the presidential transition, taking with him and him minions trillions of petrodollars of securities, a far cry from what we’re experiencing today, but with plausible similar effects: the loss of American prestige and power, followed by aggression by foreign powers fueled by longstanding rivalries; the mobilization of the military to defend the nation on its own territory; financial chaos; near civil war, averted through the heroic efforts of a visionary president-elect and his two most trusted political aides, Adlephous Tripler and Shawn Clarke. Committed lovers, Tripler and Clarke reluctantly separate to carry out a series of challenging tasks for their leader that takes them around the globe. With murder and mayhem facing them every step of the way, the question is, will they manage to get back to each other alive?
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
Taking up where TOTAL MELTDOWN leaves off, in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, 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
I think of these two book as Sci-Fu (science-based future studies) — mirrors if you will, citizens can look into and decide if this is the direction they want the United States to go. Like it or not, this book duo affords the reader a peek into a future not unlike where today’s events seem to be actively propelling us. The third and final book, like our future currently in writing entitled PROPHESY will delve deeper into the course of not only NewAmerica, but NewTerra and the very nature of humanity as it sits poised to explode into space.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
First is the supposedly QAnon conspiracy theory about the 4 March 2021 re-inauguration of former president Donald Trump (https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-...). And the second is a recent poll by the American Enterprise Institute published by NPR on 11 Feb 2021 entitled “A ‘Scary’ Survey Finding: 4 In 10 Republicans Say Political Violence May Be Necessary.” Huh?
Both appear to be, to some extent at least, based on the belief that United States citizens “don’t have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement.” The details of the former seem to bend history, being convoluted and frankly psychotic to me. The latter is frankly appalling, with “two out of three Republicans saying President Biden was not legitimately elected” and that 30% of Americans polled, including 39% of Republicans, agreed that if elected leaders are not perceived to protect America, the people must do it themselves, even if it requires violent action. Huh? Huh?
But more disturbing, the poll reported that “white evangelicals” were especially prone to QAnon conspiracy theories, with twenty-seven percent agreeing it was “mostly” or “completely” accurate to say Trump “has been secretly fighting a group of child sex traffickers that include prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites.” Huh? Huh? Huh?
In my and William Maltese’s TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), we envisioned the “total meltdown” of the the United States in a manner not unlike the total meltdown of the former USSR, but caused by an imagined president abdicating during the presidential transition, taking with him and him minions trillions of petrodollars of securities, a far cry from what we’re experiencing today, but with plausible similar effects: the loss of American prestige and power, followed by aggression by foreign powers fueled by longstanding rivalries; the mobilization of the military to defend the nation on its own territory; financial chaos; near civil war, averted through the heroic efforts of a visionary president-elect and his two most trusted political aides, Adlephous Tripler and Shawn Clarke. Committed lovers, Tripler and Clarke reluctantly separate to carry out a series of challenging tasks for their leader that takes them around the globe. With murder and mayhem facing them every step of the way, the question is, will they manage to get back to each other alive?
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
Taking up where TOTAL MELTDOWN leaves off, in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, 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
I think of these two book as Sci-Fu (science-based future studies) — mirrors if you will, citizens can look into and decide if this is the direction they want the United States to go. Like it or not, this book duo affords the reader a peek into a future not unlike where today’s events seem to be actively propelling us. The third and final book, like our future currently in writing entitled PROPHESY will delve deeper into the course of not only NewAmerica, but NewTerra and the very nature of humanity as it sits poised to explode into space.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
February 10, 2021
SEX IS TAKING IT PRETTY HARD THESE DAYS
I can vividly recall the days of “free love” and “flower children” in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. Call me a senior Hippie, but there was a feel in the air of new found freedom like no other time I remember. Since then, sex has been taking it pretty hard “in the shorts” so to speak. It all began as I remember it in SF with the appearance of post-Vietnam antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, followed by HIV and AIDS, these days followed by COVID-19, masks and distancing. I guess some risk has always been associated with sex, though I’m definitely too young to have experienced the Spanish Flu, or syphilis in the pre-penicillin days, or the Black Plague. So it’s a good thing that sex is typically preceded by something as pleasant as romantic love and affection.
I attended a lecture at Stanford once about romantic attraction, focusing mainly on kissing. My question, sitting there patiently while the professor spoke, was why is kissing so romantic? Why is it so important to “get kissing right?”
The lecture began with a review of Noble Laureate Adolf Butenandt’s discovery in 1939 of human sex pheromones. Without generating a noticeable “smell,” when a woman’s nose is placed close to a prospective partner’s cheek, she can unconsciously gauge a whole slew of information like the general health of the partner, genetic compatibility and sexual readiness. I’ve been told since the lecture that men can garner similar, though slightly different information, through nose-to-cheek kissing, though I suspect its even more unconscious than for women. From there, anything goes, though whatever turns on the parasympathetic (“rest and relax”) autonomic nervous system, especially if accompanied by an outpouring of oxytocin (the “love” hormone), will definitely advance things in the right direction.
Me, I’m an inveterate romantic. I’m all for all those pheromones, parasympathetic tingles and hormone outpourings. Call me a romantic chemist if you like, but the effects are the same, and knowing a bit about how it all comes about isn’t at all off-putting, but rather intriguing to be honest. And I’m all for it being largely unconscious during the actual happening. Just so it happens. Like I said, one end-result, sex, is taking it pretty hard these days.
I visit a number of these issues, though less chemically speaking, in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, exploring with the reader the nature of romance, love, affection and sex in a plausible future world where technology, which already plays an important role in our lives, will, I believe, play an increasing role in the dance of love and its ultimate expression. Looking for something warm to cuddle up with during these cold pandemic days and nights? Why not try peering into a future looking glass and settling back for the ride? Remember “free love” and “flower children!”
The Edge of Madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, now optioned for cinematic treatment!
I attended a lecture at Stanford once about romantic attraction, focusing mainly on kissing. My question, sitting there patiently while the professor spoke, was why is kissing so romantic? Why is it so important to “get kissing right?”
The lecture began with a review of Noble Laureate Adolf Butenandt’s discovery in 1939 of human sex pheromones. Without generating a noticeable “smell,” when a woman’s nose is placed close to a prospective partner’s cheek, she can unconsciously gauge a whole slew of information like the general health of the partner, genetic compatibility and sexual readiness. I’ve been told since the lecture that men can garner similar, though slightly different information, through nose-to-cheek kissing, though I suspect its even more unconscious than for women. From there, anything goes, though whatever turns on the parasympathetic (“rest and relax”) autonomic nervous system, especially if accompanied by an outpouring of oxytocin (the “love” hormone), will definitely advance things in the right direction.
Me, I’m an inveterate romantic. I’m all for all those pheromones, parasympathetic tingles and hormone outpourings. Call me a romantic chemist if you like, but the effects are the same, and knowing a bit about how it all comes about isn’t at all off-putting, but rather intriguing to be honest. And I’m all for it being largely unconscious during the actual happening. Just so it happens. Like I said, one end-result, sex, is taking it pretty hard these days.
I visit a number of these issues, though less chemically speaking, in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, exploring with the reader the nature of romance, love, affection and sex in a plausible future world where technology, which already plays an important role in our lives, will, I believe, play an increasing role in the dance of love and its ultimate expression. Looking for something warm to cuddle up with during these cold pandemic days and nights? Why not try peering into a future looking glass and settling back for the ride? Remember “free love” and “flower children!”
The Edge of Madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, now optioned for cinematic treatment!
February 9, 2021
POLAR EXPRESS, BARE OR VORTEX?
OKAY, so it’s no longer the Holiday Season, so we can write off the Polar Express. Old hat. Polar bare? No hat, like in Sweden, Finland and Russia, a mid-winter dip into polar temperature water after “breaking the ice.” Brrr — https://visitsweden.com/what-to-do/na.... Polar Vortex? Now there’s something to sink one’s chattering teeth into, as it’s already here and will probably remain such for the near future.
There’s always been a Polar Vortex, but usually it keeps spinning in a tight circle above the Arctic (I don’t know if there’s one at the Antarctic but for all my reader fans in Australia there certainly should be six months from now). Occasionally, like a spinning top, it can begin to wobble, assumedly due to a solar event, space weather, local atmospheric instabilities or even that dastardly feared entity, climate change. Whichever, when it wobbles, it can dip as far south as the Tropic of Cancer causing subzero (Centigrade and even Fahrenheit) temperatures over vast swatches of continental land. The 2021 Polar Vortex promises to wobble strongly over North America introducing Texas to Arctic weather and making refrigerator freezers temporarily obsolete in northcentral USA and central Canada.
Worried about the thermometer freezing? If that happens, pour out two jiggers of straight whiskey. Toss one outside via a briefly open window. If it freezes before it hits the ground, you can assume it’s at least -20 degrees Fahrenheit (-29 degrees Centigrade) outside, and, if you enjoy alcohol, down the second and wrap yourself in a faux Neanderthalean bearskin rug for the rest of the day. Alternatively, if you prefer dogs, you can do like some Alaskan’s do and prepare for a three dog night: one dog in bed in front, one in back and one curled about the toes. So, if you’re in the eye of Polar Vortex 2021 or just feeling emotionally frozen over the results of the second Trump impeachment trial, turn up the heat, stoke the fire in the fireplace, surround yourself with blankets and read THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. What better way to fight a Polar Whatever than to warm body and mind at the same time?
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
There’s always been a Polar Vortex, but usually it keeps spinning in a tight circle above the Arctic (I don’t know if there’s one at the Antarctic but for all my reader fans in Australia there certainly should be six months from now). Occasionally, like a spinning top, it can begin to wobble, assumedly due to a solar event, space weather, local atmospheric instabilities or even that dastardly feared entity, climate change. Whichever, when it wobbles, it can dip as far south as the Tropic of Cancer causing subzero (Centigrade and even Fahrenheit) temperatures over vast swatches of continental land. The 2021 Polar Vortex promises to wobble strongly over North America introducing Texas to Arctic weather and making refrigerator freezers temporarily obsolete in northcentral USA and central Canada.
Worried about the thermometer freezing? If that happens, pour out two jiggers of straight whiskey. Toss one outside via a briefly open window. If it freezes before it hits the ground, you can assume it’s at least -20 degrees Fahrenheit (-29 degrees Centigrade) outside, and, if you enjoy alcohol, down the second and wrap yourself in a faux Neanderthalean bearskin rug for the rest of the day. Alternatively, if you prefer dogs, you can do like some Alaskan’s do and prepare for a three dog night: one dog in bed in front, one in back and one curled about the toes. So, if you’re in the eye of Polar Vortex 2021 or just feeling emotionally frozen over the results of the second Trump impeachment trial, turn up the heat, stoke the fire in the fireplace, surround yourself with blankets and read THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. What better way to fight a Polar Whatever than to warm body and mind at the same time?
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
February 8, 2021
WANTING IT ALL AND GETTING A BOOK
THESE days, aspirations, resolves and resolutions are quite different from the past. Common 2021 New Years resolutions are (1) make money; (2) start a business; (3) get rid of stress and get in better shape. Focusing on the middle age, it’s (1) make [more] money; (2) start a[nother] business; (3) get rid of stress and get in better shape. Shifting to young adults, it seems to be (1) make [a million dollars of] money [quick]; (2) start [and sell a techy or game] business [for a million dollars or more]. Okay, so forget about the money; money is an illusion (you can quote me on that) and will come on its own when you’re busy doing what you love and do best. As far as starting one or more businesses, business isn’t really my thing (been there, done that; same old, same old; besides giving everyone the business is so trite these days, it’s not even funny anymore).
That leaves getting rid of stress and getting in better shape. I’ll take on both at one time, as getting rid of stress naturally leads, in my humble opinion, to getting into better shape. To begin, I recommend grabbing an outstanding book and reading! Can’t think of a better way to get rid of stress. Certainly not as easily or cheaply. And why not begin with THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. It’s maximally stress free, being set in the future and all. 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.
Wanting it all is fine and dandy, but you have to start somewhere, and a great book is exactly where I recommend starting. So, don’t keep reading this, begin by exercising your fingers and getting a copy of my book before the sequel, PROPHESY comes out in 2021.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
That leaves getting rid of stress and getting in better shape. I’ll take on both at one time, as getting rid of stress naturally leads, in my humble opinion, to getting into better shape. To begin, I recommend grabbing an outstanding book and reading! Can’t think of a better way to get rid of stress. Certainly not as easily or cheaply. And why not begin with THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. It’s maximally stress free, being set in the future and all. 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.
Wanting it all is fine and dandy, but you have to start somewhere, and a great book is exactly where I recommend starting. So, don’t keep reading this, begin by exercising your fingers and getting a copy of my book before the sequel, PROPHESY comes out in 2021.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
February 7, 2021
ALT/NAULT-HISTORY
YOU know, I used to regard that new novel genre, alt-history, with keen interest. After all, what can be more creative and imaginative than history (or her-story) that never actually happened? Recently, however, I’ve come to view alt-history with stultifying fatigue. I think it’s having lived as an actor for four-plus years in a ongoing political alt-history “reality” show. Worn out. And what’s left, too thin to fantasize. Me, I just want out. Or, more accurately, back in — to reality.
Which begs an interesting question: Why am I writing SciFu — that new genre I characterize as “science-based and driven futuring?” Touching directly on “future studies,” that newest of academic fields that is proving increasingly useful in future planning, locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Is THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, my SciFu novel, really any different than, ho-hum, more alt-history?
I believe so. Alt-history is about alternatives to what has already happened. It’s a regression into past reality, presenting a re-write if you will, that provides a comparative perspective on what happened, and, in the process hopefully provides some insight into ourselves, the history makers. SciFu is a progression into the future, projecting actual past applied and theoretical scientific (i.e. “repeatable”) advances in all areas of science and the humanities into the future, providing insight into a plausible, likely future, should we, the history makers, continue in our present beliefs and endeavors. One is a mirror into the past; the other is a mirror into the future. SciFu, is neither alt-history, science fiction nor science fantasy. It is, I strongly hold, a new literary genre with its own considerable assets, not the least being an intoxicatingly invigorating read.
I think (hope) readers of TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, and the third in the series, now being written, tentatively entitled PROPHESY by Raymond Gaynor, will find even more than the gripping adventure, romance, eroticism, thrills and chills, a practical guide as to how to act in the present, whether you look forward to or want to protect against a tenable, credible, likely future.
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
The Edge of Madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
Which begs an interesting question: Why am I writing SciFu — that new genre I characterize as “science-based and driven futuring?” Touching directly on “future studies,” that newest of academic fields that is proving increasingly useful in future planning, locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Is THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, my SciFu novel, really any different than, ho-hum, more alt-history?
I believe so. Alt-history is about alternatives to what has already happened. It’s a regression into past reality, presenting a re-write if you will, that provides a comparative perspective on what happened, and, in the process hopefully provides some insight into ourselves, the history makers. SciFu is a progression into the future, projecting actual past applied and theoretical scientific (i.e. “repeatable”) advances in all areas of science and the humanities into the future, providing insight into a plausible, likely future, should we, the history makers, continue in our present beliefs and endeavors. One is a mirror into the past; the other is a mirror into the future. SciFu, is neither alt-history, science fiction nor science fantasy. It is, I strongly hold, a new literary genre with its own considerable assets, not the least being an intoxicatingly invigorating read.
I think (hope) readers of TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, and the third in the series, now being written, tentatively entitled PROPHESY by Raymond Gaynor, will find even more than the gripping adventure, romance, eroticism, thrills and chills, a practical guide as to how to act in the present, whether you look forward to or want to protect against a tenable, credible, likely future.
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
The Edge of Madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
February 6, 2021
THE TRIAL OF A CENTURY, AND I’M WORRIED ABOUT MY CUCUMBERS
ALERT! ACTUNG! ATTENTION! The world is prepping for the media event of the century: the trial of former President and wannabe King, Donald “Duck!” Trump! Of course it’s going to be the number one “unreality” show for the week. It stars Mr. Trump and could possibly include a literal dark-star studded cast of characters, including former National Security Advisor, and convicted, Trump-pardoned criminal Michael Flynn; American conservative political consultant and lobbyist, longtime Trump confident, commuted and then Trump-pardoned felon, Mr. Roger Stone; Trump’s political guru and onetime chief strategist, Mr. Steve Bannon, indicted in federal court for fraud and, again, presidentially pardoned; Trump’s onetime lawyer, fixer, and Trump-pardoned felon Michael Cohen; Trump’s onetime campaign chairman and Trump-pardoned, convicted felon, Mr. Paul Manafort; and onetime deputy campaign chairman for Trump, political analyst, lobbyist, convicted felon and not-at-all-Trump-pardoned Mr. Rick Gates. Couldn’t create a list of “bad guy” characters for a book as stellar as this bunch.
Yeah, it’s going to happen next week. Yeah, it’s going to be BIG. Yeah, no one expects “King” Trump to be held accountable for these rogues and the capital insurrection he supposedly fomented. Me, I’m more concerned for my cucumbers. I grew them from seed, and, like Trump, an unstable Polar Vortex sent a gush of freezing air my way, and I’ve six small cuc’s that want to grow up and be guests at my table. Yeah, it’s the trial of a century, but neither my cucs nor I really care, and I’m more likely to see something good come of the cuc-babies’ survival and growth than next week’s media extravaganza. Besides, I’ve no doubt someone will write a book all about it. My cucumbers, I mean.
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/
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/099969385
Yeah, it’s going to happen next week. Yeah, it’s going to be BIG. Yeah, no one expects “King” Trump to be held accountable for these rogues and the capital insurrection he supposedly fomented. Me, I’m more concerned for my cucumbers. I grew them from seed, and, like Trump, an unstable Polar Vortex sent a gush of freezing air my way, and I’ve six small cuc’s that want to grow up and be guests at my table. Yeah, it’s the trial of a century, but neither my cucs nor I really care, and I’m more likely to see something good come of the cuc-babies’ survival and growth than next week’s media extravaganza. Besides, I’ve no doubt someone will write a book all about it. My cucumbers, I mean.
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/
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/099969385
February 4, 2021
ONE FLIC HERE, ANOTHER THERE
Another brief and racier excerpt from THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020 by Raymond Gaynor:
“For modern lovers, SweetSixteenSalsaSex, when it really clicked, especially when virginal and alternative as in the case of Draff and Billie, offered the enactors a further reward: that all-time most sought-after prize of publiczed intimacy, the exceptional, elusive, once-in-a-lifetime “FirstLoveIConsumated” pop emotag, FLIC. While the best in human literature for the last 2,000 years was replete with tales of persistent love, affection and romance—with only occasional consummation, and even rarer ribald sex—it was only during the last decade that transitioning NewAmerica, unquestionably in the throes of the greatest socio-technological changes of any time in history that sex became acknowledged for its own, as both the reason for and outcome of affection and romance. In the process, the public came to know and passionately embrace FLICs as a new interplanetary obsession. The pre-Jacksonian equivalent of a FLIC—unrequited first love—had, for centuries, besotted the written annals of common, everyday romance books with a typically unsavory outcome. Only recently had NewAmericans elevated such stories above romance to an entirely new plane, and, more recently, a new art form. In spite of what people might say in front of one another or in a familiar crowd, it was the opportunity to see and experience a FLIC first hand that drew everyone irresistibly to the various seemingly spontaneous SweetSixteenSalsaSex exhibitions that popped up in the streets, and, as in the case of Draff and Billie, attended by the participants’ entire social group.“
FLIC, anyone? Only one per person; only once in a lifetime; only during SweetSixteen; only in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor!
Printed book at 10% off Suggested Retail Price with free shipping domestically using "ONLINE" discount code at checkout from the Publisher's Shop and any Savant Boosktore (Hawaii, Pacific, Midwest or Atlantic):
https://checkout.square.site/buy/4MI5...
Printed book from the Book Depository with free shipping internationally: https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...
Android digital version available from GooglePlay at https://play.google.com/store/books/d...
Printed and Kindle versions available from Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
The Edge of Madness
“For modern lovers, SweetSixteenSalsaSex, when it really clicked, especially when virginal and alternative as in the case of Draff and Billie, offered the enactors a further reward: that all-time most sought-after prize of publiczed intimacy, the exceptional, elusive, once-in-a-lifetime “FirstLoveIConsumated” pop emotag, FLIC. While the best in human literature for the last 2,000 years was replete with tales of persistent love, affection and romance—with only occasional consummation, and even rarer ribald sex—it was only during the last decade that transitioning NewAmerica, unquestionably in the throes of the greatest socio-technological changes of any time in history that sex became acknowledged for its own, as both the reason for and outcome of affection and romance. In the process, the public came to know and passionately embrace FLICs as a new interplanetary obsession. The pre-Jacksonian equivalent of a FLIC—unrequited first love—had, for centuries, besotted the written annals of common, everyday romance books with a typically unsavory outcome. Only recently had NewAmericans elevated such stories above romance to an entirely new plane, and, more recently, a new art form. In spite of what people might say in front of one another or in a familiar crowd, it was the opportunity to see and experience a FLIC first hand that drew everyone irresistibly to the various seemingly spontaneous SweetSixteenSalsaSex exhibitions that popped up in the streets, and, as in the case of Draff and Billie, attended by the participants’ entire social group.“
FLIC, anyone? Only one per person; only once in a lifetime; only during SweetSixteen; only in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor!
Printed book at 10% off Suggested Retail Price with free shipping domestically using "ONLINE" discount code at checkout from the Publisher's Shop and any Savant Boosktore (Hawaii, Pacific, Midwest or Atlantic):
https://checkout.square.site/buy/4MI5...
Printed book from the Book Depository with free shipping internationally: https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...
Android digital version available from GooglePlay at https://play.google.com/store/books/d...
Printed and Kindle versions available from Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
The Edge of Madness
February 3, 2021
ROMANCE, LOVE AND A BIT OF THE EROTIC
Romance is a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love, accompanied by a feeling of remoteness from everyday life. Love on the other hand Is an intense feeling of deep affection, generating both interest and pleasure, often surrounding potential sexual attachment. Erotic refers to arousal of actual sexual desire. It is easy to say that humans typically follow romance with love and finally eroticism, but we’re also stimulated by the unusual so any progression through or simple appearance of any of the Magical Three, written well, can more than suffice.
By these definitions, THE EDGE OF MADNESS is a romance, a love story and an erotic escapade. Set in the future, it affords the reader the opportunity to experience, enjoy and reflect on romance, love and eroticism as they might exist in the future. Or, equally, as exists in present avant garde society through a “mirror to the future.” Are love, romance and eroticism subject to time and cultural change? I think…yes! And this is why, collectively, I personally think of THE EDGE OF MADNESS a relationship rather than a love, romance and/or erotic novel per se, though strong elements of each appear in plenty.
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.
By far the most profound and dangerous challenges are those surrounding relationships, romance, love, eroticism and sex. And explore, they do, sometimes even holographically, begging the question of what, if anything, now or in the plausible future is “real.” Put on your CandyShades, breathe in a little ContraSpray, open a copy of THE EDGE OF MADNESS and settle back for a T-rip like never before.
The Edge of Madness
By these definitions, THE EDGE OF MADNESS is a romance, a love story and an erotic escapade. Set in the future, it affords the reader the opportunity to experience, enjoy and reflect on romance, love and eroticism as they might exist in the future. Or, equally, as exists in present avant garde society through a “mirror to the future.” Are love, romance and eroticism subject to time and cultural change? I think…yes! And this is why, collectively, I personally think of THE EDGE OF MADNESS a relationship rather than a love, romance and/or erotic novel per se, though strong elements of each appear in plenty.
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.
By far the most profound and dangerous challenges are those surrounding relationships, romance, love, eroticism and sex. And explore, they do, sometimes even holographically, begging the question of what, if anything, now or in the plausible future is “real.” Put on your CandyShades, breathe in a little ContraSpray, open a copy of THE EDGE OF MADNESS and settle back for a T-rip like never before.
The Edge of Madness
February 2, 2021
CRAZY DIMENSIONS
CRAZY times, crazy folks? I’ve never seen or heard of so many crazies happening in so short a time. For weeks, President Trump had been urging his supporters to go to Washington to stop the certification of the election results on 6 January 2021. The day began with several simultaneous rallies planned. According to an 8 January editorial, “I’m perfectly prepared to believe there were several thousand people there, even 10,000 maybe.”
Subtract 50% of attendees as being mentally sane but swept up in the all-encompassing excitement that can result from a large, surging crowd, and that leaves 5,000 or so attendees. Maybe, maybe not mentally sane. Certainly looking back, the insurrection event was an insane thing in and of itself, whether the insanity was pre-existent, fomented or spontaneous.
As a follower of M-Superstring Theory, I have always wondered about the implied connection, if any, between multiverses. If there is any connection(s), I’ve wondered if it/they might explain mental illness. Okay, call me crazy if you like. But is it conceivable that psychosis (a disorder in which thoughts and emotions become so impaired that contact is lost with this reality) might indicate, if only momentarily, that the subject has, so to speak, “a foot in two different realities.” That’s not to say, one real and one unreal, but rather both equally real but subtly (or in the worst cases, substantially) different. Maybe there are conditions under which the barriers that separate the many universes break down. I’m not proposing a new theory, but simply pondering implied possibilities.
Which is one of several topics I explore in infinitely more detail in my upcoming work tentatively entitled PROPHESY. During the capitol riots could some people indeed have had a foot, if only for the shortest moment, in two universes? Enter rogue quantum physicist G., vilified by his university research colleagues, now a street person suffering from “absence seizures.” Crazy? Or one of many possible “travellers?” And what of the universe(s) he encounters, if only for a split second, afterwards unable to recall anything but wild delusions of what he’d “seen?” Is it treatable or could he possibly learn to control the events, moving between universes without needing to construct and believe in the wild delusions resulting from denial? PROPHESY is in construction as I write this, and I hope will be available in early 2022. Can’t wait? Be ready by reading the first two books, the sexually ribald TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese, and the multi-provocative THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor!
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Subtract 50% of attendees as being mentally sane but swept up in the all-encompassing excitement that can result from a large, surging crowd, and that leaves 5,000 or so attendees. Maybe, maybe not mentally sane. Certainly looking back, the insurrection event was an insane thing in and of itself, whether the insanity was pre-existent, fomented or spontaneous.
As a follower of M-Superstring Theory, I have always wondered about the implied connection, if any, between multiverses. If there is any connection(s), I’ve wondered if it/they might explain mental illness. Okay, call me crazy if you like. But is it conceivable that psychosis (a disorder in which thoughts and emotions become so impaired that contact is lost with this reality) might indicate, if only momentarily, that the subject has, so to speak, “a foot in two different realities.” That’s not to say, one real and one unreal, but rather both equally real but subtly (or in the worst cases, substantially) different. Maybe there are conditions under which the barriers that separate the many universes break down. I’m not proposing a new theory, but simply pondering implied possibilities.
Which is one of several topics I explore in infinitely more detail in my upcoming work tentatively entitled PROPHESY. During the capitol riots could some people indeed have had a foot, if only for the shortest moment, in two universes? Enter rogue quantum physicist G., vilified by his university research colleagues, now a street person suffering from “absence seizures.” Crazy? Or one of many possible “travellers?” And what of the universe(s) he encounters, if only for a split second, afterwards unable to recall anything but wild delusions of what he’d “seen?” Is it treatable or could he possibly learn to control the events, moving between universes without needing to construct and believe in the wild delusions resulting from denial? PROPHESY is in construction as I write this, and I hope will be available in early 2022. Can’t wait? Be ready by reading the first two books, the sexually ribald TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese, and the multi-provocative THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor!
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
February 1, 2021
THE IMPOSTER SYNDROME
JUST when I thought after all these years as an author I “had my act together” at last, along comes public recognition of The Imposter Syndrome, that supposedly little voice in the back of the head constantly questioning everything. Think of anything that matters, and that otherwise shy, retiring voice immediately chimes up, “Wait! Is it perfect?” “Agh! It’s nm
ever going to be good enough!” and these days, “Ah, but does it make money?” The idea is that all these constant assaults accumulate making one actually feel like an imposter. How nouveau sounding! How Ego-Id-Superego Freudian! How…ever, it reminds me of William Shakespeare’s famous lines from “As You Like It,” spoken by Jaques: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts…”
Perhaps we’re all actors, players, imposters, and, well, i’s okay. The more important issue is what is done with incessant self-criticism; God(dess) knows, I’ve had more than my own share. It can defeat the spirt or lead to incredible achievements well beyond anything thought possible.
As an author, I find it absolutely imperative to listen to my “innerness.” And, to avoid, at all costs, “criticizing the critic,” as it’s from this very inner voice that my best ideas, plots and characters come. My “secret” derived from years of authoring? Making friends with the inner critic. Allowing the vilified imposter, if that’s what it takes, and, when in the thick of it, simply putting on a mental armadillo author coat that causes all negativeness to bounce off, but everything else in.
Writing has never been “easy. But it’s not for lack of discipline or devotion to the craft. It’s a bit about experience (my mentors often said there’s a million mile chasm between writing and authoring). It’s mostly about that Imposter Syndrome thing. It never really “goes away” entirely. So after a usual divisive period of self criticism, I make it a point to listen patiently to my reclusive inner voice, always without criticizing. Eventually we make friends, and a fountain of ideas, story plots and characters spouts forth. And most recently, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor is the result.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
ever going to be good enough!” and these days, “Ah, but does it make money?” The idea is that all these constant assaults accumulate making one actually feel like an imposter. How nouveau sounding! How Ego-Id-Superego Freudian! How…ever, it reminds me of William Shakespeare’s famous lines from “As You Like It,” spoken by Jaques: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts…”
Perhaps we’re all actors, players, imposters, and, well, i’s okay. The more important issue is what is done with incessant self-criticism; God(dess) knows, I’ve had more than my own share. It can defeat the spirt or lead to incredible achievements well beyond anything thought possible.
As an author, I find it absolutely imperative to listen to my “innerness.” And, to avoid, at all costs, “criticizing the critic,” as it’s from this very inner voice that my best ideas, plots and characters come. My “secret” derived from years of authoring? Making friends with the inner critic. Allowing the vilified imposter, if that’s what it takes, and, when in the thick of it, simply putting on a mental armadillo author coat that causes all negativeness to bounce off, but everything else in.
Writing has never been “easy. But it’s not for lack of discipline or devotion to the craft. It’s a bit about experience (my mentors often said there’s a million mile chasm between writing and authoring). It’s mostly about that Imposter Syndrome thing. It never really “goes away” entirely. So after a usual divisive period of self criticism, I make it a point to listen patiently to my reclusive inner voice, always without criticizing. Eventually we make friends, and a fountain of ideas, story plots and characters spouts forth. And most recently, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor is the result.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
