Raymond Gaynor's Blog, page 62
July 23, 2020
THE EDGE OF MADNESS TO BECOME MULTI-MEDIA HIT
I was so pleased last week to receive an option for purchase of THE EDGE OF MADNESS from K. Simmons Productions LLC for manga, animated and cinematic treatment. Despite my reservations regarding incorporation of some of the elements (characters are largely unclothed in the work), I was assured that production plans were already underway. To the point that yesterday, the option was exercised and now THE EDGE OF MADNESS has moved over the edge into the multi-media world.
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/
Purchased by K. Simmons Productions LLCfor manga, animated and cinematic development
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/
Purchased by K. Simmons Productions LLCfor manga, animated and cinematic development
July 22, 2020
SPEEDING PAST…WHAT?
I recently took a day road trip and was astounded when I drove the speed limit and everyone passed me like I was standing still. The “norm” was speeding, likely 20-30 miles an hour above the speed limit, creating a palpable risk of being killed for obeying the law. What goes? Is it another aspect of deliberate American lawlessness? Is it an indirect way of “protesting” whatever issue one believes isn’t being adequately addressed? Is it another expression of “individual rights?” Is everyone acting like a Trumpian businessperson trying to get somewhere faster than everyone else? Is there something perversely self-edifying to simply pass others as fast as possible? Me, I think it’s all part of the difficulty we humans have dealing with our own mortality. In an age where “everyone’s bad” just because bad is the new good, the path to hell may indeed be paved with good intentions, but today it’s simply paved with asphalt and concrete. Add to that one of the most destructive dinosaurs ever created by humans, cars, and people seem to believe they possess a “license to kill.” Hmmm.
When I visited Hawaii pre-COVID-19, I thought it might be different in paradise, only to be almost run off the freeway when entering or exiting by bullying drivers. And this in the face of several elderly pedestrian deaths there during my short sojourn by speeding, typically drunk, uninsured or unlicensed individuals. Paradise, really? Is this what Heaven will be like? On the other hand, perhaps it’s a secret conspiracy of road warriors to help keep the population down.
You might be thinking, okay, now he’s going to talk about his newly released sci-fu (science fiction/futuring) novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). Ah, well, if you insist! In the work, cars become antiquated curiosities, and roadways…heck, what am I doing? Writing a spoiler? No, you’ll have to grab a copy to see what a future world might look like without cars. How can anyone (you might be asking)…you’ll be surprised! Personally, I can’t think of anywhere on this planet during these times that I need to get to so fast that it justifies the risk to others by consciously driving well over the speed limit. Pedal to metal? Faster than a speeding bullet? The need for speed? Really?
Available NOW from Amazon, and with free shipping from the Publisher’s Store, Savant Bookstores nationwide and the Book Depository internationally.
When I visited Hawaii pre-COVID-19, I thought it might be different in paradise, only to be almost run off the freeway when entering or exiting by bullying drivers. And this in the face of several elderly pedestrian deaths there during my short sojourn by speeding, typically drunk, uninsured or unlicensed individuals. Paradise, really? Is this what Heaven will be like? On the other hand, perhaps it’s a secret conspiracy of road warriors to help keep the population down.
You might be thinking, okay, now he’s going to talk about his newly released sci-fu (science fiction/futuring) novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). Ah, well, if you insist! In the work, cars become antiquated curiosities, and roadways…heck, what am I doing? Writing a spoiler? No, you’ll have to grab a copy to see what a future world might look like without cars. How can anyone (you might be asking)…you’ll be surprised! Personally, I can’t think of anywhere on this planet during these times that I need to get to so fast that it justifies the risk to others by consciously driving well over the speed limit. Pedal to metal? Faster than a speeding bullet? The need for speed? Really?
Available NOW from Amazon, and with free shipping from the Publisher’s Store, Savant Bookstores nationwide and the Book Depository internationally.
July 20, 2020
IF YOU CAN’T GET RID OF GUNS, GET RID OF CLOTHES…
According to a 2018 National Public Radio article reporting on the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, based solely on its socioeconomic status, the U.S. should be seeing 0.46 deaths per 100,000 people. Instead, its actual rate was almost 10 times higher. According to Wikipedia in a 2017 Small Arms Survey, the U.S. ranked number one for civilian-held firearms at 120.7 per 100 population. According 2019 PEW Research Center article, while a majority of Americans say gun laws should be stricter, most gun owners say the right to own firearms is essential to their own personal sense of freedom and are not inclined to give them up. In addition, according to a 2017 article in the Washington Post reporting on an analysis of a national survey of gun owners published in the American Journal of Public Health at least 3 million Americans carry loaded handguns with them every single day.
What do you do with a population wedded to its own demise by weaponry, that weaponry often being concealed? If you can’t get rid of guns, get rid of clothes. It’s not easy to conceal weaponry unclothed, and when carried, people can choose to avoid such individuals. It’s all about transparency. Personally, I doubt many people would carry guns if they had to be transparent about it. If it didn’t eliminate gun violence, it would, I believe, at least reduce it greatly and, perhaps help make better know how “average” Americans feel about people toting guns. It might help with sexual violence, too.
A little too much to imagine? In my newly released book, THE EDGE OF MADNESS by Raymond Gaynor (my thriller pen name), NewAmerica for various reasons has, at least to great extent, socially embraced nudism, and the repercussions are, well…you’ll have to read it to find out. What makes this work so powerful a read, is that while sometimes just common sense and other times outrageous, everything presented is plausible. That’s what makes it a scary read for some and a great thriller to other readers. My friend and colleague, author William Maltese said after reading it, that it’s “an insightful glimpse of society’s future. It’s not always a pleasant picture. In fact, it’s sometimes bordering on the truly shocking. That said … all of his prophetical premises seem to have logical underpinnings based upon historical facts, including what’s obviously at play within our own Twenty-First Century. It’s a fascinating read, experienced through the eyes of three protagonists from birth, through adolescence, and into maturity. Their journey is often difficult and often dangerous. Never, though, is it boring.” (5/5 Stars).
Are you ready to go to THE EDGE OF MADNESS and peer naked into the future? I dare you — available now in either paperback or Kindle eBook format. And while you’re at it, why not write your own Amazon review?
What do you do with a population wedded to its own demise by weaponry, that weaponry often being concealed? If you can’t get rid of guns, get rid of clothes. It’s not easy to conceal weaponry unclothed, and when carried, people can choose to avoid such individuals. It’s all about transparency. Personally, I doubt many people would carry guns if they had to be transparent about it. If it didn’t eliminate gun violence, it would, I believe, at least reduce it greatly and, perhaps help make better know how “average” Americans feel about people toting guns. It might help with sexual violence, too.
A little too much to imagine? In my newly released book, THE EDGE OF MADNESS by Raymond Gaynor (my thriller pen name), NewAmerica for various reasons has, at least to great extent, socially embraced nudism, and the repercussions are, well…you’ll have to read it to find out. What makes this work so powerful a read, is that while sometimes just common sense and other times outrageous, everything presented is plausible. That’s what makes it a scary read for some and a great thriller to other readers. My friend and colleague, author William Maltese said after reading it, that it’s “an insightful glimpse of society’s future. It’s not always a pleasant picture. In fact, it’s sometimes bordering on the truly shocking. That said … all of his prophetical premises seem to have logical underpinnings based upon historical facts, including what’s obviously at play within our own Twenty-First Century. It’s a fascinating read, experienced through the eyes of three protagonists from birth, through adolescence, and into maturity. Their journey is often difficult and often dangerous. Never, though, is it boring.” (5/5 Stars).
Are you ready to go to THE EDGE OF MADNESS and peer naked into the future? I dare you — available now in either paperback or Kindle eBook format. And while you’re at it, why not write your own Amazon review?
July 18, 2020
THE ERA OF NEW GENRES
For many years now, most successful authors have written within established genres. Without an established genre — a “handle” that encapsulates the gist or slant of a work — it can be difficult for readers to locate works they want to know more about and potentially read. Today’s genre’s have become so established that authors often “write for a genre,” for example, a thriller or romance author. Cinematic productions tend to follow these genre’s, and, in a similar manner, popular authors, actors and actresses are commonly “type-cast.” In the entertainment business, I often hear publishers and movie producers speak of Westerns or strong male antagonists. The result is that publishing houses and movie studios tend to also be genre- or type-cast. However, genre and type-casting has a major drawback: It inhibits creativity outside established categories and diversity, mainly the appearance of more complex, multi-genre works.
One thing I especially like about Savant Books and Publications (“enduring literary works ‘with a twist’ that broaden the reader’s world point-of-view”) is its imprint, Aignos Publishing (“avant garde, experimental and innovative works that ‘push the leading edge’ of all genres of fiction and non-fiction”). Aignos Publishing, for example, is one of the first publishers to aggressively promote the screenplay-novel. It was for this reason that I submitted THE EDGE OF MADNESS to Aignos Publishing. You see, THE EDGE OF MADNESS is both a work that exists primarily outside of established genres and incorporates a variety of genres. I purposefully wrote it that way; the story, setting, accoutrements and MacGuffins are traditional science fiction. But much of these are heavily grounded in today’s evolving socio-techno-political events, making it a work of “futuring” (a second and entirely new genre). I like to call it sci-fu. And, in addition, the action surrounds the attempts of three youngsters to form a meaningful relationship in this “brave new future,” adding a romance aspect or genre. In this sense, the work is truly “novel” and I recommend it to interested readers in search of something more intellectually challenging.
THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, available now from Amazon, The Book Depository, Savant Bookstores (Honolulu, Pacific, Midwest and Atlantic) and fine bookstores everywhere. Distributed internationally by Savant Distribution.
Amazon 5/5 Star Review: “…a successful tear in the time-space continuum that provides his readers with an insightful glimpse of society’s future. It’s not always a pleasant picture. In fact, it’s sometimes bordering on the truly shocking. That said … all of his prophetical premises seem to have logical underpinnings based upon historical facts, including what’s obviously at play within our own Twenty-First Century. It’s a fascinating read, experienced through the eyes of three protagonists from birth, through adolescence, and into maturity. Their journey is often difficult and often dangerous. Never, though, is it boring.”
One thing I especially like about Savant Books and Publications (“enduring literary works ‘with a twist’ that broaden the reader’s world point-of-view”) is its imprint, Aignos Publishing (“avant garde, experimental and innovative works that ‘push the leading edge’ of all genres of fiction and non-fiction”). Aignos Publishing, for example, is one of the first publishers to aggressively promote the screenplay-novel. It was for this reason that I submitted THE EDGE OF MADNESS to Aignos Publishing. You see, THE EDGE OF MADNESS is both a work that exists primarily outside of established genres and incorporates a variety of genres. I purposefully wrote it that way; the story, setting, accoutrements and MacGuffins are traditional science fiction. But much of these are heavily grounded in today’s evolving socio-techno-political events, making it a work of “futuring” (a second and entirely new genre). I like to call it sci-fu. And, in addition, the action surrounds the attempts of three youngsters to form a meaningful relationship in this “brave new future,” adding a romance aspect or genre. In this sense, the work is truly “novel” and I recommend it to interested readers in search of something more intellectually challenging.
THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, available now from Amazon, The Book Depository, Savant Bookstores (Honolulu, Pacific, Midwest and Atlantic) and fine bookstores everywhere. Distributed internationally by Savant Distribution.
Amazon 5/5 Star Review: “…a successful tear in the time-space continuum that provides his readers with an insightful glimpse of society’s future. It’s not always a pleasant picture. In fact, it’s sometimes bordering on the truly shocking. That said … all of his prophetical premises seem to have logical underpinnings based upon historical facts, including what’s obviously at play within our own Twenty-First Century. It’s a fascinating read, experienced through the eyes of three protagonists from birth, through adolescence, and into maturity. Their journey is often difficult and often dangerous. Never, though, is it boring.”
July 16, 2020
AN HEA (HAPPILY-EVER-AFTER) STORY
Yesterday, having returned from food shopping, while taking off my mask, my Apple AirPods got caught in the elastic bands and flew off. One arced across the room and fell loudly on my (thankfully) wooden floor. Stunned, I picked it up, and, after a quick inspection, popped it back in my ear, pleased to hear it’s happy gong. The other one, however, was nowhere to be found. After a thorough but fruitless search, I reinserted my one AirPod to my ear (one never knows when an important call might happen), put my coat and mask back on and retraced my steps during the last half hour, assuming that the recalcitrant one had perhaps quietly and unknowingly dropped out of my ear (I mean, they’re that comfortable. Really!). I know. Pretty far stretch. But I like them and they’re not inexpensive.
Forty-five minutes later I returned home, CAREFULLY removed my mask to avoid a repeat event, and once again searched everywhere. I hadn’t heard it fall, so, rethinking the situation, I reasoned it might have fallen on something soft, like in a filled trash can, or onto a cloth-covered surface. No luck. Frustrated, I decided to turn to high technology.
Apple is supposed to have a “Find my iPhone” app and I thought, perhaps I could use it to find the little lost soul. A quick search of my iPhone 8 revealed no such app. When I tried to download it from the Apple App Store, I found tens of such proprietary apps but nothing clearly from Apple. In this day of spoofing, I wasn’t about to download a non-Apple app onto my scared iPhone, so, I decided to search the Apple site from my MacBook Pro computer. Yep, there the app was, but without any way I could find to download it, except through what sounded to me like some shady third parties. Ugh.
Then I ran across an Apple technical note that implied that I could use my computer (connected as it supposedly was to ALL my Apple devices) to locate the missing AirPod. Indeed, a quick search of the standard apps on my computer revealed a “FindMy” app. From there it was like magic.
The App sent out a signal to the lost AirPod, that responded with a plaintive chirping sound. It had fallen between two close pieces of furniture and slipped underneath where no light could go. The lost AirPod, desperately calling to be found, was soon happily rejoined with its partner. It’s nice to be able to rely on a product and company, and experience a happy ending in these otherwise morbidly pandemic days.
My two Apple AirPods are once again nestled happily back together in their charger.
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/
Forty-five minutes later I returned home, CAREFULLY removed my mask to avoid a repeat event, and once again searched everywhere. I hadn’t heard it fall, so, rethinking the situation, I reasoned it might have fallen on something soft, like in a filled trash can, or onto a cloth-covered surface. No luck. Frustrated, I decided to turn to high technology.
Apple is supposed to have a “Find my iPhone” app and I thought, perhaps I could use it to find the little lost soul. A quick search of my iPhone 8 revealed no such app. When I tried to download it from the Apple App Store, I found tens of such proprietary apps but nothing clearly from Apple. In this day of spoofing, I wasn’t about to download a non-Apple app onto my scared iPhone, so, I decided to search the Apple site from my MacBook Pro computer. Yep, there the app was, but without any way I could find to download it, except through what sounded to me like some shady third parties. Ugh.
Then I ran across an Apple technical note that implied that I could use my computer (connected as it supposedly was to ALL my Apple devices) to locate the missing AirPod. Indeed, a quick search of the standard apps on my computer revealed a “FindMy” app. From there it was like magic.
The App sent out a signal to the lost AirPod, that responded with a plaintive chirping sound. It had fallen between two close pieces of furniture and slipped underneath where no light could go. The lost AirPod, desperately calling to be found, was soon happily rejoined with its partner. It’s nice to be able to rely on a product and company, and experience a happy ending in these otherwise morbidly pandemic days.
My two Apple AirPods are once again nestled happily back together in their charger.
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/
July 15, 2020
WHAT? ME WORRY?
Feeling unusually anxious, depressed, sleepless, overweight, feeling helpless and can’t get the weight off, having trouble with concentration and memory? Stomach upset, higher blood pressure? More frequent and harder to shake off illness? According to the Mayo Clinic’s Healthy Lifestyle webpage entitled “Chronic stress puts your health at risk: Chronic stress can wreak havoc on your mind and body,” these frequent signs of the times may be related to chronic stress. Acute stress is a hormonal reaction to an immediate danger and lasts up to 15-20 minutes after the danger is perceived to have passed. It’s all part of the body’s evolutionary “Flight or Flight” protection system. Chronic stress is an altogether different animal. If the perceived stress continues, for weeks to months for example, the “protective” effects of acute stress are replaced by the potentially debilitating effects of chronic stress.
Signs of the times? I don’t know about you, but after months of COVID-19 alongside increasing political, social and economic unrest, I sure feel under the heavy hand of chronic stress, and I wonder how many others are feeling similar. In fact, I wonder how much of the events of today are the product of people acting impulsively under the influence of chronic stress to unconsciously try to aggravate the situation and bring it to an end.
This was an issue I struggled with in all three of my thrillers, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) being the newest and most recent. In fact, I tried to weave into the storyline various feelings of chronic stress, that three young firebrands might experience while trying to find their place in NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, and a challenging and dangerous future place to live. If it all sounds a lot like today, then I invite you to take a peek into what might be our own post-COVID future might hold.
Chronic stress wasn’t so much a plot consideration when I wrote the ribald, sexual-political thriller TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) with William Maltese, or the more serious political thriller QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) with A. G. Hayes. Everything was happening so fast, the two situations would have triggered acute than chronic stress, and trigger acute stress they did. Both in the characters, and, who know, possibly even readers totally immersed in the stories. Maybe that’s what makes a thriller a thriller. In THE EDGE OF MADNESS, while the characters’ thoughts and actions may (and definitely should) reflect the presence of chronic stress, readers, I sincerely hope, will experience their chronic stress as acute “thriller” stress. Just for the moment. Just enough to enjoy the thrill of the read.
Signs of the times? I don’t know about you, but after months of COVID-19 alongside increasing political, social and economic unrest, I sure feel under the heavy hand of chronic stress, and I wonder how many others are feeling similar. In fact, I wonder how much of the events of today are the product of people acting impulsively under the influence of chronic stress to unconsciously try to aggravate the situation and bring it to an end.
This was an issue I struggled with in all three of my thrillers, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) being the newest and most recent. In fact, I tried to weave into the storyline various feelings of chronic stress, that three young firebrands might experience while trying to find their place in NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, and a challenging and dangerous future place to live. If it all sounds a lot like today, then I invite you to take a peek into what might be our own post-COVID future might hold.
Chronic stress wasn’t so much a plot consideration when I wrote the ribald, sexual-political thriller TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) with William Maltese, or the more serious political thriller QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) with A. G. Hayes. Everything was happening so fast, the two situations would have triggered acute than chronic stress, and trigger acute stress they did. Both in the characters, and, who know, possibly even readers totally immersed in the stories. Maybe that’s what makes a thriller a thriller. In THE EDGE OF MADNESS, while the characters’ thoughts and actions may (and definitely should) reflect the presence of chronic stress, readers, I sincerely hope, will experience their chronic stress as acute “thriller” stress. Just for the moment. Just enough to enjoy the thrill of the read.
July 14, 2020
ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT COVID-19
If there has been one event that has thus far overshadowed all others this year, it has to be the COVID-19 pandemic. With the loss of human life, the amount of personal anguish and suffering, the economic repercussions, the social upheaval it’s caused, and the relative newness to our generation of a pandemic and all it ensues, it well deserves the dark image it conjures.
But it also has another side. First, COVID-19, in my opinion wasn’t the “cause” of many of the horrid events we’re seeing. It is, again in my opinion, more like a match that lit the fuses of a number of waiting powder kegs, the biggest of which is the antiquated infrastructure of our government, politics, social media, internet, business, transportation, education, health care…in that sense, it can be regarded as a welcome wake up call — a shot across the bow so to speak — alerting us as a nation and world to the need to examine, update and replace the infrastructures we rely on every day.
It’s also the first in what many think will prove numerous waves of epidemics and pandemics. We are lucky this one wasn’t more lethal. Again, it’s a wake up call to all peoples and governments to think carefully about their public health infrastructures and fix them now.
In my previous man-love book, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) with William Maltese, U.S. President Brown flees the country with a trillion dollars in his back pocket, leaving America leaderless and facing an unprecendented economic crisis. President-Elect Jackson has no other choice but to turn to his trusty aides and lovers, Adelphous Tripler and Shawn Clarke, to save the day. No COVID-19 needed. Just pure human political hubris and greed. The results, however, are almost prophetic.
In the socio-political thriller sequel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020), NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, provides a challenging and dangerous future place for three young firebrands to live. A look at a possible post-COVID-19 world? Perhaps, though imagined in response to needed infrastructure change, the results of which are staggering. Check out a possible tomorrow’s world. If you dare.
Oh, and while you’re at it, consider my other thriller, QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) written with multi-award-winning thriller writer A. G. Hayes in which Koski and Falk come up against what very well may prove to be their most complex and dangerous case yet: The Quantum Death Machine. For the first time, Koski and Falk must separate during a mission. Each faces mortal peril, while, at the same time, their smoldering relationship begins to heat up. The fifth in the riveting Koski and Falk Series and a peek at what could very well be tomorrow’s frontline news! So to become available as an audiobook read by Peter Pollock.
But it also has another side. First, COVID-19, in my opinion wasn’t the “cause” of many of the horrid events we’re seeing. It is, again in my opinion, more like a match that lit the fuses of a number of waiting powder kegs, the biggest of which is the antiquated infrastructure of our government, politics, social media, internet, business, transportation, education, health care…in that sense, it can be regarded as a welcome wake up call — a shot across the bow so to speak — alerting us as a nation and world to the need to examine, update and replace the infrastructures we rely on every day.
It’s also the first in what many think will prove numerous waves of epidemics and pandemics. We are lucky this one wasn’t more lethal. Again, it’s a wake up call to all peoples and governments to think carefully about their public health infrastructures and fix them now.
In my previous man-love book, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) with William Maltese, U.S. President Brown flees the country with a trillion dollars in his back pocket, leaving America leaderless and facing an unprecendented economic crisis. President-Elect Jackson has no other choice but to turn to his trusty aides and lovers, Adelphous Tripler and Shawn Clarke, to save the day. No COVID-19 needed. Just pure human political hubris and greed. The results, however, are almost prophetic.
In the socio-political thriller sequel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020), NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, provides a challenging and dangerous future place for three young firebrands to live. A look at a possible post-COVID-19 world? Perhaps, though imagined in response to needed infrastructure change, the results of which are staggering. Check out a possible tomorrow’s world. If you dare.
Oh, and while you’re at it, consider my other thriller, QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) written with multi-award-winning thriller writer A. G. Hayes in which Koski and Falk come up against what very well may prove to be their most complex and dangerous case yet: The Quantum Death Machine. For the first time, Koski and Falk must separate during a mission. Each faces mortal peril, while, at the same time, their smoldering relationship begins to heat up. The fifth in the riveting Koski and Falk Series and a peek at what could very well be tomorrow’s frontline news! So to become available as an audiobook read by Peter Pollock.
July 13, 2020
SO THIS WORLD ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH…
Well, try the world of NewAmerica, in my recently released book, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Je6CCCI...
Just type in “The Edge of Madness Gaynor” in the Amazon.com search bar! Or, if you live outside the USA, consider buying it from The Book Depository at https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed... with free shipping anywhere in the world!
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Je6CCCI...
Just type in “The Edge of Madness Gaynor” in the Amazon.com search bar! Or, if you live outside the USA, consider buying it from The Book Depository at https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed... with free shipping anywhere in the world!
July 12, 2020
…IT TOLLS FOR THEE
What Hemingway began, John Donne completed, for, the bell tolls for each of us when our time comes. And while it may toll, I think only the elderly (and by Hemingway’s reckoning, the cowards — by my reckoning, those who’ve looked death in the face at one time or another in their lifetime) hear it. Youth seems tone deaf, being totally absorbed in finding a mate, in most instances, propagating the species. In THE EDGE OF MADNESS, 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, all three of whom are deaf to death’s bell as they search for their “right” relationship in an complex world.
And search and choose they do, as all youth must, and then watch as their fates slowly unfold based on the consequences of those choices. With each choice their range of choices narrows and their personal death bell slowly materializes…except that one of the three possesses two unique “gifts:” a sensory savant’s sense of smell that can provide a glimpse into the thoughts, emotions and desires of those about him, and a growing uber-consciousness that began in utero and promises to afford an entirely new lens through which to view the world. Can such an individual pre-know his “time” and skirt his fate and those dear to him? The answer awaits at THE EDGE OF MADNESS.
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 pseudonyms.
And search and choose they do, as all youth must, and then watch as their fates slowly unfold based on the consequences of those choices. With each choice their range of choices narrows and their personal death bell slowly materializes…except that one of the three possesses two unique “gifts:” a sensory savant’s sense of smell that can provide a glimpse into the thoughts, emotions and desires of those about him, and a growing uber-consciousness that began in utero and promises to afford an entirely new lens through which to view the world. Can such an individual pre-know his “time” and skirt his fate and those dear to him? The answer awaits at THE EDGE OF MADNESS.
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 pseudonyms.
July 11, 2020
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS…
Just listened to Bob Dylan’s “Key West (Philosopher Pirate)” from his Rough and Rowdy Ways album on advice from a dear, dear person. Reminds me of Honolulu with a bit of Waikiki in the 90’s, and, “How come you didn’t fight to stay there with me…?” I need someone to fight for me. Want me that bad. It’s hard to find a Hemingway man. Like a misty dream. Dylan’s coarse voice reminds me of the end of a hard life. His words seem obtuse, as if he’s slowly giving up this world, and hoping the next will be better. I want to cry, but the tears don’t come. Reminds me of Hawaii when I first visited in the ’90s. So many hopes…It’s an evocative song. Haunting even.
It is reminiscent to me of the world in which my three firebrands in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor struggle to find a place — any place — to simply live. Not live simply, but simply live. Survive. No, more than survive, but less than thrive. Enjoy. Drink to the dregs. Consume completely while realizing there’s always infinitely more. Ever more rough, rowdy uncouth ways…
It is reminiscent to me of the world in which my three firebrands in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor struggle to find a place — any place — to simply live. Not live simply, but simply live. Survive. No, more than survive, but less than thrive. Enjoy. Drink to the dregs. Consume completely while realizing there’s always infinitely more. Ever more rough, rowdy uncouth ways…
