Raymond Gaynor's Blog, page 46
January 31, 2021
THE EDGE OF MADNESS by Raymond Gaynor- Excerpt #3 (This Excerpt is PG-rated)
“The entire foray celebrated his continued ascent into adulthood. Billie smelled and looked unfazed. Andry smelled and looked stunned, then incredulous, then annoyed, aggravated and finally disgusted. What is with Simi? Draff wondered, raising his eyebrows at the staccato olfactory slaps he sensed coming from her, all seeming aimed directly at him. Why did he feel so hurt? More important, why should her reactions bother him so deeply, or at all for that matter?
“Draff noticed Billie staring at Simi. And what’s with those two? he thought before his better judgment kicked in and he dismissed his conflicting thoughts, reburying himself in the tsunami of forearm-clasps, hugs and well-wishes.
“Everything is going so well, he reflected happily.
“Everything isn’t quite coming together as I’d hoped, Simi reflected with concern.
“Everything is going to hell, Billie reflected angrily.”
About this Book:
It is my pleasure to present the long awaited sequel to my and William Maltese’s naughty pop gay 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 not just a possible future (science fiction) but a plausible future (science futuring), 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 the immediate future world is “real.” Put on your CandyShades, breathe in a little ContraSpray and settle back for a T-rip like never before.
About the Author:
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 variety of different pseudonyms. THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) is his first wholly authored work.
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, an avant garde imprint of Savant Books and Publications, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Available directly from the publisher via the Publisher’s Store and all four Savant online bookstores with FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE WITHIN THE USA INCLUDING ALASKA AND HAWAII at https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
Also available from Amazon, Amazon affiliate sites worldwide, GooglePlay at https://play.google.com/store/books/d..., and with free worldwide shipping from the Book Depository at https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...
Raymond Gaynor, Multi-award-winning Author of THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020)
Co-Author with A. G. Hayes of QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016)
Co-Author with William Maltese of TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 209)
Amazon Author Central Site at https://www.amazon.com/Raymond-Gaynor...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
“Draff noticed Billie staring at Simi. And what’s with those two? he thought before his better judgment kicked in and he dismissed his conflicting thoughts, reburying himself in the tsunami of forearm-clasps, hugs and well-wishes.
“Everything is going so well, he reflected happily.
“Everything isn’t quite coming together as I’d hoped, Simi reflected with concern.
“Everything is going to hell, Billie reflected angrily.”
About this Book:
It is my pleasure to present the long awaited sequel to my and William Maltese’s naughty pop gay 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 not just a possible future (science fiction) but a plausible future (science futuring), 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 the immediate future world is “real.” Put on your CandyShades, breathe in a little ContraSpray and settle back for a T-rip like never before.
About the Author:
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 variety of different pseudonyms. THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) is his first wholly authored work.
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, an avant garde imprint of Savant Books and Publications, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Available directly from the publisher via the Publisher’s Store and all four Savant online bookstores with FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE WITHIN THE USA INCLUDING ALASKA AND HAWAII at https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
Also available from Amazon, Amazon affiliate sites worldwide, GooglePlay at https://play.google.com/store/books/d..., and with free worldwide shipping from the Book Depository at https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...
Raymond Gaynor, Multi-award-winning Author of THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020)
Co-Author with A. G. Hayes of QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016)
Co-Author with William Maltese of TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 209)
Amazon Author Central Site at https://www.amazon.com/Raymond-Gaynor...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
January 30, 2021
THE STUFF DREAMS ARE MADE OF
WHO hasn’t heard of “The Maltese Falcon” with Humphrey Bogart (if you haven’t then you should have)? There’s only one. Except there isn’t. The movie and Malta are real, and indeed it is one of the all-time great movies, which some claim established the book and film “noir” genre, including frequent betrayal and double-dealings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8_hG...
The book, written in 1929 by Dashiell Hammett, follows the life of private detective Sam Spade who appears in four Hammett novels and countless others. While originally a symbol of loyalty, the black falcon statue becomes a symbol of a corruption, futility, and greed that makes people betray their loyalties. It also represents the eternal, serpentine search for truth. But for me, it symbolizes a friendship developed over the years with multi-award-winning author William Maltese.
According to Amazon Author Central Page at https://www.amazon.com/William-Maltes...), “I’ve been in the business of writing books for a very long time, and I derive particular enjoyment from visiting different places and then trying to relay the ‘essence’ of those places to my readers. Likewise, I’m very adventuresome as regards trying new things, whether it be exotic and strange foods and/or other more personal ‘things’.”
With over 120 books to his credit, William is the quintessential author’s author, and a true gentleman as well. I’ve greatly enjoyed our correspondence, William opening new vistas for me as a co-author, author and friend. Knowing him from our times together at MLR Press, and having written TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) together — which I’ve been sorely tempted to retitle “Total Madness” — I can say with authority, there’s not a man I respect and value a friendship with more. William’s two newest, totally delightful, supernatural, semi-noir works WILLIAM MALTESE’S FLICKER: #1 BOOK OF ANSWERS (Savant 2010) and WILLIAM MALTESE’S FLICKER: #2 BOOK OF ASCENDANCY (Savant 2020) as well as his ARDENNIAN BOY (MLR Press 2007) with Wayne Gunn, 2008 Lambda Finalist in the GLBT Erotica category, claim special places on my personal bookshelf.
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
William Maltese's Flicker: #1 Book of Answers
William Maltese's Flicker: #2 Book of Ascendancy
Ardennian Boy
My newest work, a Sci-Fu (science-based future) novel entitled THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) continues our naughty saga, taking up where TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese left off, where 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
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8_hG...
The book, written in 1929 by Dashiell Hammett, follows the life of private detective Sam Spade who appears in four Hammett novels and countless others. While originally a symbol of loyalty, the black falcon statue becomes a symbol of a corruption, futility, and greed that makes people betray their loyalties. It also represents the eternal, serpentine search for truth. But for me, it symbolizes a friendship developed over the years with multi-award-winning author William Maltese.
According to Amazon Author Central Page at https://www.amazon.com/William-Maltes...), “I’ve been in the business of writing books for a very long time, and I derive particular enjoyment from visiting different places and then trying to relay the ‘essence’ of those places to my readers. Likewise, I’m very adventuresome as regards trying new things, whether it be exotic and strange foods and/or other more personal ‘things’.”
With over 120 books to his credit, William is the quintessential author’s author, and a true gentleman as well. I’ve greatly enjoyed our correspondence, William opening new vistas for me as a co-author, author and friend. Knowing him from our times together at MLR Press, and having written TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) together — which I’ve been sorely tempted to retitle “Total Madness” — I can say with authority, there’s not a man I respect and value a friendship with more. William’s two newest, totally delightful, supernatural, semi-noir works WILLIAM MALTESE’S FLICKER: #1 BOOK OF ANSWERS (Savant 2010) and WILLIAM MALTESE’S FLICKER: #2 BOOK OF ASCENDANCY (Savant 2020) as well as his ARDENNIAN BOY (MLR Press 2007) with Wayne Gunn, 2008 Lambda Finalist in the GLBT Erotica category, claim special places on my personal bookshelf.
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
William Maltese's Flicker: #1 Book of Answers
William Maltese's Flicker: #2 Book of Ascendancy
Ardennian Boy
My newest work, a Sci-Fu (science-based future) novel entitled THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) continues our naughty saga, taking up where TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese left off, where 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
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
January 29, 2021
ANOTHER QUANTUM SUPREMACY?
NOT so long ago, Google announced quantum supremacy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZNEz...) using a state-of-the-art 53-qubit electronic quantum processing chip called “Sycamore” with 500 kilobytes of RAM and 233 megabytes of hard disk space. Quantum supremacy is a benchmark that was set in 2012 by physicist John Preskill at Caltech, meaning a quantum computer can do something that no non-quantum computer can match. Google’s Sycamore processor performed a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken the world’s most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years to perform.
Recently, however, researchers in China announced quantum supremacy using a photonic array “computer” named “Jiuzhang” that had 76 photons of light traversing a network of 100 channels to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that is estimated to take a non-quantum computer half a billion years to perform. And they did this without sub-zero superconductors (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/n...).
Technically, neither announcement is completely “true,” as a non-quantum computer could have done the calculation. True quantum superiority, according to Preskill’s definition, requires that a non-quantum computer can’t do the calculation irrespective of time. But the take-away point is that the world is fact approaching true quantum superiority while rapidly advancing the technology. In my book, QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016), written with A. G. Hayes, the sixth in his pre-eminent Koski & Falk Thriller series, a quantum computer is necessary to precisely calculate two position in the space-time continuum in order to use the “spooky” effect of quantum simultaneity to instantaneously transfer a small non-living object from one place to another. In the story, the protagonist-scientist Kate Keenan, does China’s quantum computer in the hands of the North Koreans one better, preventing the destruction of the Western and possibly the entire world. With Russia’s help, mind you! Quantum superiority is linked with the Bitcoin sale of large swaths of the USA to the highest criminal bidders. It’s an adventure into a plausible science future (Sci-Fu) that will leave your heart thumping and your hackles rising. Available now as a printed, electronic or audio book!
Quantum Death
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996325530
“…provide[d] a very unique premise in a genre that, these days, is hard-pressed to come up with anything original.” (Amazon reader review).
Recently, however, researchers in China announced quantum supremacy using a photonic array “computer” named “Jiuzhang” that had 76 photons of light traversing a network of 100 channels to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that is estimated to take a non-quantum computer half a billion years to perform. And they did this without sub-zero superconductors (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/n...).
Technically, neither announcement is completely “true,” as a non-quantum computer could have done the calculation. True quantum superiority, according to Preskill’s definition, requires that a non-quantum computer can’t do the calculation irrespective of time. But the take-away point is that the world is fact approaching true quantum superiority while rapidly advancing the technology. In my book, QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016), written with A. G. Hayes, the sixth in his pre-eminent Koski & Falk Thriller series, a quantum computer is necessary to precisely calculate two position in the space-time continuum in order to use the “spooky” effect of quantum simultaneity to instantaneously transfer a small non-living object from one place to another. In the story, the protagonist-scientist Kate Keenan, does China’s quantum computer in the hands of the North Koreans one better, preventing the destruction of the Western and possibly the entire world. With Russia’s help, mind you! Quantum superiority is linked with the Bitcoin sale of large swaths of the USA to the highest criminal bidders. It’s an adventure into a plausible science future (Sci-Fu) that will leave your heart thumping and your hackles rising. Available now as a printed, electronic or audio book!
Quantum Death
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996325530
“…provide[d] a very unique premise in a genre that, these days, is hard-pressed to come up with anything original.” (Amazon reader review).
January 28, 2021
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."
—–
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 sounding exciting or horrifying to you. Get hold of a copy of THE EDGE OF MADNESS, peer over the edge and see if I’m not right.”
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
The Edge of Madness
Quantum Death
—–
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 sounding exciting or horrifying to you. Get hold of a copy of THE EDGE OF MADNESS, peer over the edge and see if I’m not right.”
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
The Edge of Madness
Quantum Death
January 27, 2021
THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE A HOT BROMANCE ON A COLD WINTER EVENING
NEXT cold winter evening, lay down that steaming cuppa coffee or hot chocolate, and take up a good bromance. Male, female, straight, LGBT or Q doesn’t matter. There’s simply nothing as safe and erotic as a good bromance.
Wikipedia says that a bromance (brotheer + romance) is a very close, non-sexual relationship between two or more men. It is said to be a exceptionally tight, affectional, homosocial male bonding relationship, distinguished from a usual friendship by a particularly high level of emotional intimacy. If it’s a book, you can’t get any safer even if the passion spills over into something more. It’s erotic because, I believe, it’s pretty much the same process, irrespective of gender or orientation. It’s the stuff of which all shared human hopes and dreams are made.
According to https://year13.com.au/articles/5-sign..., a bromance is a special connection that transcends the boundaries of a regular friendship in which you aren’t scared to talk about feelings with each other; you’re finishing each other’s sentences; you know maybe too much about each other; you know you’re in for the long haul. Others suggest that in a bromance, there is more use of body language; members (there can be more than two in a bromance) seek each other out in group situations; members share common interests; friends and other may joke about members being a couple or “in love;” members let their guard down and can affectionately touch, hold hands and kiss. The bottomline is they don’t engage in physical sex. BL (Boys Love or Yaoi) on the other hand is said to be a relationship between two men — heterosexual, bisexual, gay and/or transexual — which, from a strictly female perspective, is romantic, brotherly and sometimes sexual.
In a Psychology Today article, researchers concluded that a good bromance releases oxytocin (referred to by some as the “love hormone”) in the human brain—and increased oxytocin can help men, women, and I assume readers of bromance, live longer, healthier lives. While not specifically mentioned, I have personally observed sromances (also called wromances) that pretty much fit the same bill.
I personally enjoy bromances. I like the warm, fuzzy, sometimes wriggly feelings that can accompany a good bromance. In my newest novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, the two principal male protagonists actively explore the boundries of bromance when they plan and publicly execute their own public SweetSixteen Sexcapade that goes viral and elevates them to celebrities. But what exactly does being a bromance celebrity mean, and how does intentionally demonstrating it publicly affect their treasured bromance? The cold winter evening, lay down that steaming cuppa coffee or hot chocolate, and take up THE EDGE OF MADNESS. Or, hey, why wait for a cold winter evening?
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Wikipedia says that a bromance (brotheer + romance) is a very close, non-sexual relationship between two or more men. It is said to be a exceptionally tight, affectional, homosocial male bonding relationship, distinguished from a usual friendship by a particularly high level of emotional intimacy. If it’s a book, you can’t get any safer even if the passion spills over into something more. It’s erotic because, I believe, it’s pretty much the same process, irrespective of gender or orientation. It’s the stuff of which all shared human hopes and dreams are made.
According to https://year13.com.au/articles/5-sign..., a bromance is a special connection that transcends the boundaries of a regular friendship in which you aren’t scared to talk about feelings with each other; you’re finishing each other’s sentences; you know maybe too much about each other; you know you’re in for the long haul. Others suggest that in a bromance, there is more use of body language; members (there can be more than two in a bromance) seek each other out in group situations; members share common interests; friends and other may joke about members being a couple or “in love;” members let their guard down and can affectionately touch, hold hands and kiss. The bottomline is they don’t engage in physical sex. BL (Boys Love or Yaoi) on the other hand is said to be a relationship between two men — heterosexual, bisexual, gay and/or transexual — which, from a strictly female perspective, is romantic, brotherly and sometimes sexual.
In a Psychology Today article, researchers concluded that a good bromance releases oxytocin (referred to by some as the “love hormone”) in the human brain—and increased oxytocin can help men, women, and I assume readers of bromance, live longer, healthier lives. While not specifically mentioned, I have personally observed sromances (also called wromances) that pretty much fit the same bill.
I personally enjoy bromances. I like the warm, fuzzy, sometimes wriggly feelings that can accompany a good bromance. In my newest novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, the two principal male protagonists actively explore the boundries of bromance when they plan and publicly execute their own public SweetSixteen Sexcapade that goes viral and elevates them to celebrities. But what exactly does being a bromance celebrity mean, and how does intentionally demonstrating it publicly affect their treasured bromance? The cold winter evening, lay down that steaming cuppa coffee or hot chocolate, and take up THE EDGE OF MADNESS. Or, hey, why wait for a cold winter evening?
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
January 26, 2021
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.
-----
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...
Also available from Amazon in printed and eBook format at
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.
The Edge of Madness
Press Release at https://www.prlog.org/12825474
-----
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...
Also available from Amazon in printed and eBook format at
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.
The Edge of Madness
Press Release at https://www.prlog.org/12825474
January 25, 2021
AND THEY SAY CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN…
HOWEVER, in my newly release sci-fu (science-based future) novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, sans clothes is distinctly de rigueur, and if they don’t make the man, humans must make themselves what they are. Nothing to hide behind, except if you’re filthy rich in NewAmerica where every hedonistic pleasure is available if one can but afford it, including clothes.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
The concept of nudity aside, the current clothing industry is said to be valued at $US 1.5 trillion meaning that is clothing is no longer “in,” nations would take a big economic retail hit. Covering oneself in animal skins, faux fur, sheep’s wool, cotton, or the millions of different synthetic fabrics and devices emerging everyday, is far more an issue than protecting one’s privates from the cold and curious. While clothes don’t make anyone, in NewAmerica they can provide some protection from physical violation using a coating of clear, monomolecular “flack” or even create an aura of sexual tension and romance using a shimmer-suit, that changes color with either one’s interests or is pre-programmed to appear as such. More correctly, clothes in this future world have been replaced entirely by technology. And no more tats — instead it’s all about ARS or Adaptive Reconstructive Surgery, like our main protagonist’s fully functional simian tail. Difficult to believe? Just take a moment and try to see in your mind’s eye the direction where today’s youth are leading tomorrow’s social mores. Not so implausible, yes?
Then there’s the whole topic of eroticism, which, at best is relative to the mores of society and often simply represents its extremes. How about adding a simian tail to a roll in the hay. While some may be jarred by the various imaginary ways one could use such a device for pleasure, others, especially denizens of the future NewAmerica might find it intriguing, arousing or even an outright wonderful addition to lovemaking. Don’t discount it until you’ve tried it, at least that’s what our main male protagonist and his woman-friend would say.
Romance, on the other hand is all about feeling safe enough to allow oneself to get physically close to (substitute intimate with) another. It’s about candlelight, soothing music, a comforting meal, wine, a cozy environment — relaxation of the barriers we carry with us necessary for our continued survival. In NewAmerica, that hasn’t changed. Only the way people go about it. There, it’s all about contraspray (a blend that, sprayed and breathed in, encourages love and sex without conception), Candy Shades (CableCandy that subtly alters one’s perceptions and memories), and best of all, those incredible T-rips (pre-programmed interactive holographic “vacations” one can take alone or with realtime, distance or virtual partner(s).
The only question is, are people mentally strong enough, grounded enough in body, and rich enough to enjoy partaking all the new technology surrounding affection, romance, love and sex. And, during one’s singular Sweet Sixteen Sexcapade enact it out publicly?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
The concept of nudity aside, the current clothing industry is said to be valued at $US 1.5 trillion meaning that is clothing is no longer “in,” nations would take a big economic retail hit. Covering oneself in animal skins, faux fur, sheep’s wool, cotton, or the millions of different synthetic fabrics and devices emerging everyday, is far more an issue than protecting one’s privates from the cold and curious. While clothes don’t make anyone, in NewAmerica they can provide some protection from physical violation using a coating of clear, monomolecular “flack” or even create an aura of sexual tension and romance using a shimmer-suit, that changes color with either one’s interests or is pre-programmed to appear as such. More correctly, clothes in this future world have been replaced entirely by technology. And no more tats — instead it’s all about ARS or Adaptive Reconstructive Surgery, like our main protagonist’s fully functional simian tail. Difficult to believe? Just take a moment and try to see in your mind’s eye the direction where today’s youth are leading tomorrow’s social mores. Not so implausible, yes?
Then there’s the whole topic of eroticism, which, at best is relative to the mores of society and often simply represents its extremes. How about adding a simian tail to a roll in the hay. While some may be jarred by the various imaginary ways one could use such a device for pleasure, others, especially denizens of the future NewAmerica might find it intriguing, arousing or even an outright wonderful addition to lovemaking. Don’t discount it until you’ve tried it, at least that’s what our main male protagonist and his woman-friend would say.
Romance, on the other hand is all about feeling safe enough to allow oneself to get physically close to (substitute intimate with) another. It’s about candlelight, soothing music, a comforting meal, wine, a cozy environment — relaxation of the barriers we carry with us necessary for our continued survival. In NewAmerica, that hasn’t changed. Only the way people go about it. There, it’s all about contraspray (a blend that, sprayed and breathed in, encourages love and sex without conception), Candy Shades (CableCandy that subtly alters one’s perceptions and memories), and best of all, those incredible T-rips (pre-programmed interactive holographic “vacations” one can take alone or with realtime, distance or virtual partner(s).
The only question is, are people mentally strong enough, grounded enough in body, and rich enough to enjoy partaking all the new technology surrounding affection, romance, love and sex. And, during one’s singular Sweet Sixteen Sexcapade enact it out publicly?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
January 24, 2021
STANDING AT THE EDGE OF MADNESS
IT is my pleasure to present the long awaited sequel to my and William Maltese's naughty pop LGBT 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...
The Edge of Madness
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
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...
The Edge of Madness
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
January 23, 2021
THE WORLD IN A GRAIN OF SAND
WILLIAM BLAKE once uber-cogently wrote, “To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour…” and I, for one, have never forgotten it nor its myriad possible meanings as I pass through life. As one who savors quantum physics and all that it implies, I find Blake’s verse not only memorable and pregnant with meaning, but also prophetic. It has always been, after all is said and done, the primary task of my generation to uncover the elusive Unified Field Theory that unites the large and small. That brings order to what, like politics today, seems an irresolute radical duality. I have always held that M-Superstring Theory (where “M” stands for the multiverse) was the crux of the issue. And that’s what I’m writing about in the sequel to THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. I believe it to be the key to resolving many dualities and paradoxes, opening the way to understanding the nature of birth, life, death and humanity’s seemingly key yet transient position and role in it all.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Call me future-crazy if you like, but I see humanity — no, all of life — at a critical moment in space-time, that, when resolved (and I firmly believe humanity up to the task) will open a whole new world of knowledge and choices, many essential to the continuation of our form of life. Yes, I said, “our form of life,” acknowledging my belief that while we are not alone in the multiverse; however, we may be unique as a particular lifeform. It’s all part of what the future beckons and, awaiting, holds for us. In this, I’ve been strongly advocating for a new literary genre, that of Sci-Fu, or science-based futuring (substitute future studies if you are more academically inclined). I believe Sci-Fu to be one of the tools that will help us to resolve that apparently rigorous duality within which we think and exist. Sci-Fu is that important, in my opinion.
And this is, as I mentioned above, at the very heart of the trilogy that has evolved starting with TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese, continuing with THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Savant 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, ending (or if you prefer, re-beginning) with what I’m at least for the moment calling PROPHESY, fully realizing that nothing ever really ends with a prophesy, it only begins.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Call me future-crazy if you like, but I see humanity — no, all of life — at a critical moment in space-time, that, when resolved (and I firmly believe humanity up to the task) will open a whole new world of knowledge and choices, many essential to the continuation of our form of life. Yes, I said, “our form of life,” acknowledging my belief that while we are not alone in the multiverse; however, we may be unique as a particular lifeform. It’s all part of what the future beckons and, awaiting, holds for us. In this, I’ve been strongly advocating for a new literary genre, that of Sci-Fu, or science-based futuring (substitute future studies if you are more academically inclined). I believe Sci-Fu to be one of the tools that will help us to resolve that apparently rigorous duality within which we think and exist. Sci-Fu is that important, in my opinion.
And this is, as I mentioned above, at the very heart of the trilogy that has evolved starting with TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese, continuing with THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Savant 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, ending (or if you prefer, re-beginning) with what I’m at least for the moment calling PROPHESY, fully realizing that nothing ever really ends with a prophesy, it only begins.
January 22, 2021
THE NEVER-ENDING REALITY SHOW
MAYBE you, like I, naively assumed that with the new administration, the seemingly never-ending Trump reality show would finally end, creating, for the first time in years, some space in social media for authors to be heard. Okay, that isn’t entirely correct, given that he was also an author, and maybe, just maybe, there’s an edge of jealousy in what I’m saying. But in the end, the never-ending reality show that began four years ago hasn’t ended. It’s simply gone into another season replete with daily plot twists and conspiracies galore. And that’s not surprising, given that fantasy works often do just that.
I usually mention at this point my newest book, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, and point out that the issue I’ve chosen for today’s blog also pops up in my Sci-Fu (science-based future study verses Science Fiction or Fantasy) story. In fact, it doesn’t, other than as stated in a new review that the work is “unpredictable…exciting and different…[and] more answers…[are] needed.” Leading me to state that in the sequel, tentatively called “Prophesy” which I’m currently writing, my “reality show” will therefore “go into another season” where, yes, a lot has yet to be revealed.
So, maybe it’s true that art typically reflects reality, whether that reality is fiction, fantasy or a plausible, science-based future study. If so, I think you’ll find TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, and the soon to come PROPHESY by Raymond Gaynor a great “reality show” read with a storyline that you’ll want to never end.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
I usually mention at this point my newest book, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, and point out that the issue I’ve chosen for today’s blog also pops up in my Sci-Fu (science-based future study verses Science Fiction or Fantasy) story. In fact, it doesn’t, other than as stated in a new review that the work is “unpredictable…exciting and different…[and] more answers…[are] needed.” Leading me to state that in the sequel, tentatively called “Prophesy” which I’m currently writing, my “reality show” will therefore “go into another season” where, yes, a lot has yet to be revealed.
So, maybe it’s true that art typically reflects reality, whether that reality is fiction, fantasy or a plausible, science-based future study. If so, I think you’ll find TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, and the soon to come PROPHESY by Raymond Gaynor a great “reality show” read with a storyline that you’ll want to never end.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
