Raymond Gaynor's Blog, page 65
June 18, 2020
FUTURE PANDEMICS?
The third point I promised to reveal in the sequel to THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by…well…me!…surrounds pandemics in the not-so-distant future I have created.
Let’s start with today and the basics: COVID-19 is unusual, but not that unusual. It’s said to be a rather large-sized virus whose “family tree” includes variants present in many animals. What makes it “pandemic” is (a) its reported high infectivity and (b) its general novelty to contemporary humans who seem to have little experience with it (see “Profile of a killer: the complex biology powering the coronavirus pandemic” in Nature 4 May 2020 at https://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...). Viruses are not uncommon — think of “colds” and “flu” — and can be quite nasty. Viruses, however, while not “alive” are complex genetic “packages” that are generally easily “dis-infected.” That is, they can be made less or even non-infective often with exposure to air, sunlight, soap and a variety of chemicals, and their spread inhibited by barriers.
More interesting in terms of future pandemic opportunists, I think, are prions. Prions are orders of magnitude smaller than viruses and contain no genetic material. They are very tiny chemicals that can flip from on configuration to another, one typically being destructive to human cells, the other the opposite. They are so tiny and inert biologically that exposure to air, sunlight, intense heat (e.g. boiling and open flame), soap and most dis-infectants have limited effect. Furthermore, they are so tiny they can pass through most filters and masks. They are thought to cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy (“mad cow” disease) in cattle, scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer, elk, moose and reindeer, and Kuru-Kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) as well as possibly Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease in humans. Like COVID-19, there is currently no definitive treatment (see “Prion Diseases” at https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-co...). In a heavily populated, tightly globalized world as in THE EDGE OF MADNESS, I believe that prions, viroids (commonly called “plant viruses”) and viruses will all pose interesting pandemic threats to on- and off-worlders like our three protagonists. Did I say “off-worlders” and “like our three protagonists” together?
Let’s start with today and the basics: COVID-19 is unusual, but not that unusual. It’s said to be a rather large-sized virus whose “family tree” includes variants present in many animals. What makes it “pandemic” is (a) its reported high infectivity and (b) its general novelty to contemporary humans who seem to have little experience with it (see “Profile of a killer: the complex biology powering the coronavirus pandemic” in Nature 4 May 2020 at https://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...). Viruses are not uncommon — think of “colds” and “flu” — and can be quite nasty. Viruses, however, while not “alive” are complex genetic “packages” that are generally easily “dis-infected.” That is, they can be made less or even non-infective often with exposure to air, sunlight, soap and a variety of chemicals, and their spread inhibited by barriers.
More interesting in terms of future pandemic opportunists, I think, are prions. Prions are orders of magnitude smaller than viruses and contain no genetic material. They are very tiny chemicals that can flip from on configuration to another, one typically being destructive to human cells, the other the opposite. They are so tiny and inert biologically that exposure to air, sunlight, intense heat (e.g. boiling and open flame), soap and most dis-infectants have limited effect. Furthermore, they are so tiny they can pass through most filters and masks. They are thought to cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy (“mad cow” disease) in cattle, scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer, elk, moose and reindeer, and Kuru-Kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) as well as possibly Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease in humans. Like COVID-19, there is currently no definitive treatment (see “Prion Diseases” at https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-co...). In a heavily populated, tightly globalized world as in THE EDGE OF MADNESS, I believe that prions, viroids (commonly called “plant viruses”) and viruses will all pose interesting pandemic threats to on- and off-worlders like our three protagonists. Did I say “off-worlders” and “like our three protagonists” together?
June 16, 2020
THE "ENFORCERS"
Okay, yesterday I promised to post on three key issues for the sequel to THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020), the second being the Enforcers. In THE EDGE OF MADNESS, the enforcers are the only people in NewAmerica (and maybe even NewTerra) who are perpetually clothed. Their faces are hidden behind a black mask, they are shrouded in black, they wear black hob-nailed boots, and…THEY HAVE NO SMELL. To Draff Rob Brie [Septican-Smite], an uber-conscious olfactory savant, everyone has a smell that’s always in-his-face…everyone except the Enforcers. Why? This is a clue as to who they are. At any rate, they’ve noticed Draff Rob Brie and his two compatriots. And being noticed by an Enforcer is definitely not good.
On the other hand, the Enforcer that takes a primary interest in Rob and Billie Frann Frunk, his partner in their highly anticipated and universally broadcast SweetSixteenSalsaSexcapade, doesn’t seem to do much other than assist when their debut is over. Friendly? Condescending? Watching and waiting? Or just plain interested? Who knows? But I can assure you that the Enforcers will play a particularly important role in the sequel. What role exactly? Well, that would be a spoiler I’m afraid. Suffice it to mention that a computer chip smaller than a micron in diameter will, in this future world, be modified — weaponized, if you prefer — by someone important to infect Artificially Intelligent (AI) systems, and, having entered the system, cause it to make infective copies until the host runs out of processing memory or energy.
Unbelievable? How about this 2016 article from Popular Mechanics “Scientists Have Made Transistors Small Than We Thought Possible”? Remember that infective bacteria are typically 1 to 10 microns in size, viruses are typically 0.2 to 1 micron in size, and prions may be 0.01 to 0.2 microns in size (really, no one seems to know exactly), but all are infective. Imagine an entire computer the size of a virus or bacteria, and you have an idea of the mayhem it could cause in AI systems.
Mayhem. Donald Trump style and with a vengeance. Throughout NewAmerica, already a challenging and dangerous future place for three young firebrands to live.
On the other hand, the Enforcer that takes a primary interest in Rob and Billie Frann Frunk, his partner in their highly anticipated and universally broadcast SweetSixteenSalsaSexcapade, doesn’t seem to do much other than assist when their debut is over. Friendly? Condescending? Watching and waiting? Or just plain interested? Who knows? But I can assure you that the Enforcers will play a particularly important role in the sequel. What role exactly? Well, that would be a spoiler I’m afraid. Suffice it to mention that a computer chip smaller than a micron in diameter will, in this future world, be modified — weaponized, if you prefer — by someone important to infect Artificially Intelligent (AI) systems, and, having entered the system, cause it to make infective copies until the host runs out of processing memory or energy.
Unbelievable? How about this 2016 article from Popular Mechanics “Scientists Have Made Transistors Small Than We Thought Possible”? Remember that infective bacteria are typically 1 to 10 microns in size, viruses are typically 0.2 to 1 micron in size, and prions may be 0.01 to 0.2 microns in size (really, no one seems to know exactly), but all are infective. Imagine an entire computer the size of a virus or bacteria, and you have an idea of the mayhem it could cause in AI systems.
Mayhem. Donald Trump style and with a vengeance. Throughout NewAmerica, already a challenging and dangerous future place for three young firebrands to live.
June 15, 2020
YES! YES! YES!
I am already scoping out a sequel in the TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside)/THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos) series. Several questions are central to the next book: 1) What will happen to our three protagonists now that they’ve all entered technical adulthood in NewAmerica? 2) What are the Enforcers? 3) Will NewAmerica experience anything like the prophesied waves of pandemics after COVID-19?
Let’s tackle the problems one-by-one: First, Andry — let’s call her by her “friendly” rather than her intimate or public names — is the only one of the three amigos who knows her family lineage, something generally illegal for people in NewAmerica, and they are national treasures, worshipped by many, reviled by an important few. A noted professional acronymeur, how will the public react towards her and her infamous public consort and uber-conscious uni-sensory savant, Draff/Rob/Brie — Rob — Rob with the sexually provocative simian tail. And what about Billie/Frann/Frunk — Frann to his adoring public — publicly au pair to Rob? Is there somewhere in the universe that the three complex firebrands can find where they can together thrive? Not everyone can emigrate off-NewTerra. To do so requires a major choice just prior to formal adolescence. One must decide whether to receive treatment to remain a child in physique and relinquish any future family, or to decline treatment and develop into a fecund adult, as have our three. Due to size and weight restrictions, only those who remain a child can travel in a spaceship off world. Already noticed by the Enforcers, trapped on NewTerra with little assurance of their future safety, what will our protagonists do?
Tune in to the third book in this series imagining a future world where pre-adolescents make decisions that unwaveringly determine the course of their lives. How different from our current world, really? I’ll address the second and third questions in subsequent posts, giving everyone time to read and take in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020):
From the Savant Online Bookstore in printed format at 10% off Suggested Retail Price using “ONLINE” discount code at checkout and free shipping within the USA including Alaska and Hawaii: https://www.savantbookstorehonolulu.com/
or from Amazon in printed or eBook format at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Video Book Preview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
Let’s tackle the problems one-by-one: First, Andry — let’s call her by her “friendly” rather than her intimate or public names — is the only one of the three amigos who knows her family lineage, something generally illegal for people in NewAmerica, and they are national treasures, worshipped by many, reviled by an important few. A noted professional acronymeur, how will the public react towards her and her infamous public consort and uber-conscious uni-sensory savant, Draff/Rob/Brie — Rob — Rob with the sexually provocative simian tail. And what about Billie/Frann/Frunk — Frann to his adoring public — publicly au pair to Rob? Is there somewhere in the universe that the three complex firebrands can find where they can together thrive? Not everyone can emigrate off-NewTerra. To do so requires a major choice just prior to formal adolescence. One must decide whether to receive treatment to remain a child in physique and relinquish any future family, or to decline treatment and develop into a fecund adult, as have our three. Due to size and weight restrictions, only those who remain a child can travel in a spaceship off world. Already noticed by the Enforcers, trapped on NewTerra with little assurance of their future safety, what will our protagonists do?
Tune in to the third book in this series imagining a future world where pre-adolescents make decisions that unwaveringly determine the course of their lives. How different from our current world, really? I’ll address the second and third questions in subsequent posts, giving everyone time to read and take in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020):
From the Savant Online Bookstore in printed format at 10% off Suggested Retail Price using “ONLINE” discount code at checkout and free shipping within the USA including Alaska and Hawaii: https://www.savantbookstorehonolulu.com/
or from Amazon in printed or eBook format at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Video Book Preview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
June 14, 2020
TASTE, SMELL AND COVID-19
I don’t know about you, but I’m old enough to remember how food should taste. Real food. For example, fruit like peaches, apricots, plums, avocados (yes, they’re a fruit, actually a berry), cantaloupe and honeydew (though when hybridized with squashes and pumpkins — which are in the same family — they might be at least flavor-wise considered more of a vegetable); veggies like tomatoes (actually a fruit, but legally a vegetable), lettuce, celery, potatoes; meat, mainly beef; and seafood, especially fish and fish products actually tasted different “back when” or, for all you newbies, pre-COVID-19 especially.
I’ve had the distinct opportunity of traveling numerous times to other countries, including Japan, where fruits still taste like fruit, vegetables still taste like vegetables, beef definitely tastes like beef, and fish like, well, different distinct kinds of fish. But that’s only the start: all these have a distinctive smell and texture-satisfaction (“umami” the Japanese call it). And the Japanese, I’m happy to say, haven’t yet abandoned smell (which is 90% of taste) and texture-satisfaction for purely visual appeal like we seem to have done in USA. In Japan, I saw farmers actually “love” their products, treating them like valued neighbors, rather than mass-produced agricultural products of purely monetary market value. Since in the USA, customers aren’t generally able to taste displayed grocery products, visual appeal is everything. Oh, yes, my eyes have been deceived, but, as they say, “the nose knows,” a central topic, by the way, in my newly release book, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020), where the central protagonist is a “smell savant” if you can imagine that.
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
In this period of COVID-19 “societal rethinking,” I for one would like to see safety, quality (taste and smell especially) and customer service rethought with the “want-to-be-informed” consumer — me — in mind. I’d like to see information on all specific additives and chemicals used in producing each food offered at my grocery store. And as for GMO products, they should include specific information as to what specific chemicals food has been made to produce on its own. That way, I don’t need to shop “organic” (after all, some things “organic” like snake venom are “naturally” poisonous), I only need to read the labels to decide if I want what was used to grow it in my food.
FYI, like all consumers, I have a “quick index” as to the food quality: If it tastes bitter, it probably contains substances, natural or added, that may not be good for my health. But that only works after I’ve bought the food and brought it home, and then, only after I’ve been exposed. Perhaps we need a handy device not only to measure sugar content (sweetness) but also bitterness?
I’ve had the distinct opportunity of traveling numerous times to other countries, including Japan, where fruits still taste like fruit, vegetables still taste like vegetables, beef definitely tastes like beef, and fish like, well, different distinct kinds of fish. But that’s only the start: all these have a distinctive smell and texture-satisfaction (“umami” the Japanese call it). And the Japanese, I’m happy to say, haven’t yet abandoned smell (which is 90% of taste) and texture-satisfaction for purely visual appeal like we seem to have done in USA. In Japan, I saw farmers actually “love” their products, treating them like valued neighbors, rather than mass-produced agricultural products of purely monetary market value. Since in the USA, customers aren’t generally able to taste displayed grocery products, visual appeal is everything. Oh, yes, my eyes have been deceived, but, as they say, “the nose knows,” a central topic, by the way, in my newly release book, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020), where the central protagonist is a “smell savant” if you can imagine that.
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
In this period of COVID-19 “societal rethinking,” I for one would like to see safety, quality (taste and smell especially) and customer service rethought with the “want-to-be-informed” consumer — me — in mind. I’d like to see information on all specific additives and chemicals used in producing each food offered at my grocery store. And as for GMO products, they should include specific information as to what specific chemicals food has been made to produce on its own. That way, I don’t need to shop “organic” (after all, some things “organic” like snake venom are “naturally” poisonous), I only need to read the labels to decide if I want what was used to grow it in my food.
FYI, like all consumers, I have a “quick index” as to the food quality: If it tastes bitter, it probably contains substances, natural or added, that may not be good for my health. But that only works after I’ve bought the food and brought it home, and then, only after I’ve been exposed. Perhaps we need a handy device not only to measure sugar content (sweetness) but also bitterness?
June 13, 2020
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 pop sexual-political-thriller TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), entitled THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, is now leaner and meaner. Once again commanding wealth and power thanks to a series of sociopolitical advances and technical innovations like Eugitors, ShimmerSuits, ContraSpray, T-rips, CandyShades and CandyCable, NewAmerica a challenging and dangerous place for three young firebrands to live "on the edge of madness."
Set in the near future, THE EDGE OF MADNESS explores the evolving relationships between three friends, all of whom know little to nothing about their past and even less about their futures. What they do know is that each is unusually gifted: Rob, an uber-conscious male with an enhanced sense of smell; Frann, an ostentatious gay male with an Olympian physique; and Andry, a brilliant moon-child and professional acronymeur with a taste for Wicca...and her two male friends.
THE EDGE OF MADNESS is an exploration of a possible future, where every hedonistic pleasure is available -- if one can afford it. People work in order to purchase the newest technologies promising ultimate pleasure. But as in Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD and George Orwell's 1984, citizens are watched carefully by emotionless “Enforcers” who show up anytime unusual events occur.
Like Huxley and Orwell's works, THE EDGE OF MADNESS has something to say about almost everything present and future. But it's also a love triangle and a coming-of-age story of three youths in a future where anything and everything goes. The ultimate question for them is: Can true love or sanity be found in such a world?
This story will make some excited about what the future may hold while others may recoil at a world of such extremes. Either way, it's an engaging ride in a world where, for example, teachers and students appear holographically together in instructional classrooms while remaining safely at home, begging the question of what, if anything, in this future world is “real." Put on your CandyShades, breathe in a little ContraSpray and settle back for a T-rip like never before.
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" Pocket Book with Color Softcover
ISBN 978-0-9996938-5-8
Suggested retail price $16.95
Released by Aignos Publishing, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Available directly from the publisher via the Publisher's Store with FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE WITHIN THE USA INCLUDING ALASKA AND HAWAII at
https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
Also available from Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859, Amazon affiliate sites worldwide, Savant Bookstore Honolulu, Google Play and other fine online sites worldwide.
This work is distributed by Savant Distribution (http://www.savantdistribution.com) but is also available at a lesser wholesale discount from Ingram Book Content and other distributors.
Aignos Publishing, an imprint of Savant Books and Publications, offers avant garde, experimental and innovative works that "push the leading edge" of publishing. Savant Books and Publications publishes enduring, transformative literary works with a twist
Raymond Gaynor,
Multi-award-winning Author of
THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020)
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...
"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 pop sexual-political-thriller TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), entitled THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, is now leaner and meaner. Once again commanding wealth and power thanks to a series of sociopolitical advances and technical innovations like Eugitors, ShimmerSuits, ContraSpray, T-rips, CandyShades and CandyCable, NewAmerica a challenging and dangerous place for three young firebrands to live "on the edge of madness."
Set in the near future, THE EDGE OF MADNESS explores the evolving relationships between three friends, all of whom know little to nothing about their past and even less about their futures. What they do know is that each is unusually gifted: Rob, an uber-conscious male with an enhanced sense of smell; Frann, an ostentatious gay male with an Olympian physique; and Andry, a brilliant moon-child and professional acronymeur with a taste for Wicca...and her two male friends.
THE EDGE OF MADNESS is an exploration of a possible future, where every hedonistic pleasure is available -- if one can afford it. People work in order to purchase the newest technologies promising ultimate pleasure. But as in Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD and George Orwell's 1984, citizens are watched carefully by emotionless “Enforcers” who show up anytime unusual events occur.
Like Huxley and Orwell's works, THE EDGE OF MADNESS has something to say about almost everything present and future. But it's also a love triangle and a coming-of-age story of three youths in a future where anything and everything goes. The ultimate question for them is: Can true love or sanity be found in such a world?
This story will make some excited about what the future may hold while others may recoil at a world of such extremes. Either way, it's an engaging ride in a world where, for example, teachers and students appear holographically together in instructional classrooms while remaining safely at home, begging the question of what, if anything, in this future world is “real." Put on your CandyShades, breathe in a little ContraSpray and settle back for a T-rip like never before.
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" Pocket Book with Color Softcover
ISBN 978-0-9996938-5-8
Suggested retail price $16.95
Released by Aignos Publishing, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Available directly from the publisher via the Publisher's Store with FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE WITHIN THE USA INCLUDING ALASKA AND HAWAII at
https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
Also available from Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859, Amazon affiliate sites worldwide, Savant Bookstore Honolulu, Google Play and other fine online sites worldwide.
This work is distributed by Savant Distribution (http://www.savantdistribution.com) but is also available at a lesser wholesale discount from Ingram Book Content and other distributors.
Aignos Publishing, an imprint of Savant Books and Publications, offers avant garde, experimental and innovative works that "push the leading edge" of publishing. Savant Books and Publications publishes enduring, transformative literary works with a twist
Raymond Gaynor,
Multi-award-winning Author of
THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020)
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...
June 12, 2020
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 including, with internationally-known thriller author A. G. Hayes THE COMPLETE KOSKI & FALK (Savant 2020).
“If you’ve ever wondered what the world and relationships will be like in the future,” says Gaynor, “this book is for you. Thought-set in the future, it is totally plausible. Whether it ends up exciting or horrifying for you, get hold of a copy of THE EDGE OF MADNESS, peer over the edge and see if I’m not right.”
TEOM-FrontCover3-Med
THE EDGE OF MADNESS
by Raymond Gaynor
257 pages – 5.25 x 8″ Pocket Book
ISBN 978-0-9996938-5-8
Suggested retail price $16.95
Released by Aignos Publishing, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Available internationally from Amazon.com at
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Aignos Publishing, an imprint of Savant Books and Publications, offers avant garde, experimental and innovative works that “push the leading edge” of publishing. Savant Books and Publications publishes enduring, transformative literary works with a twist.
Raymond Gaynor, Multi-award-winning Author of THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020)
Author website at https://garymartine.yolasite.com/raym...
Author blog at https://raymondgaynor.wordpress.com/
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 including, with internationally-known thriller author A. G. Hayes THE COMPLETE KOSKI & FALK (Savant 2020).
“If you’ve ever wondered what the world and relationships will be like in the future,” says Gaynor, “this book is for you. Thought-set in the future, it is totally plausible. Whether it ends up exciting or horrifying for you, get hold of a copy of THE EDGE OF MADNESS, peer over the edge and see if I’m not right.”
TEOM-FrontCover3-Med
THE EDGE OF MADNESS
by Raymond Gaynor
257 pages – 5.25 x 8″ Pocket Book
ISBN 978-0-9996938-5-8
Suggested retail price $16.95
Released by Aignos Publishing, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Available internationally from Amazon.com at
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Aignos Publishing, an imprint of Savant Books and Publications, offers avant garde, experimental and innovative works that “push the leading edge” of publishing. Savant Books and Publications publishes enduring, transformative literary works with a twist.
Raymond Gaynor, Multi-award-winning Author of THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020)
Author website at https://garymartine.yolasite.com/raym...
Author blog at https://raymondgaynor.wordpress.com/
June 11, 2020
THE EDGE OF MADNESS by Raymond Gaynor - Excerpt #1 (This Excerpt is PG-rated)
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 the publisher via the Publisher's Store with FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE WITHIN THE USA INCLUDING ALASKA AND HAWAII at
https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
Also available from Amazon sites worldwide, Savant Bookstore Honolulu, and other fine online and "brick and mortar" bookstores everywhere.
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.
Press Release at https://www.prlog.org/12825474
"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 the publisher via the Publisher's Store with FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE WITHIN THE USA INCLUDING ALASKA AND HAWAII at
https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
Also available from Amazon sites worldwide, Savant Bookstore Honolulu, and other fine online and "brick and mortar" bookstores everywhere.
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.
Press Release at https://www.prlog.org/12825474
June 10, 2020
WHO THE HECK IS RAYMOND GAYNOR?
LOVE that title, yes? Well, 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.
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...
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...
June 9, 2020
Go to "The Edge of Madness" and Jump!
It is my pleasure to present the long awaited sequel to my and William Maltese’s pop sexual-political-thriller TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), entitled THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, is now leaner and meaner. Once again commanding wealth and power thanks to a series of sociopolitical advances and technical innovations like Eugitors, ShimmerSuits, ContraSpray, T-rips, CandyShades and CandyCable, NewAmerica a challenging and dangerous place for three young firebrands to live “on the edge of madness.”
Set in the near future, THE EDGE OF MADNESS explores the evolving relationships between three friends, all of whom know little to nothing about their past and even less about their futures. What they do know is that each is unusually gifted: Rob, an uber-conscious male with an enhanced sense of smell; Frann, an ostentatious gay male with an Olympian physique; and Andry, a brilliant moon-child and professional acronymeur with a taste for Wicca…and her two male friends.
THE EDGE OF MADNESS is an exploration of a possible future, where every hedonistic pleasure is available — if one can afford it. People work in order to purchase the newest technologies promising ultimate pleasure. But as in Aldous Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD and George Orwell’s 1984, citizens are watched carefully by emotionless “Enforcers” who show up anytime unusual events occur.
Like Huxley and Orwell’s works, THE EDGE OF MADNESS has something to say about almost everything present and future. But it’s also a love triangle and a coming-of-age story of three youths in a future where anything and everything goes. The ultimate question for them is: Can true love or sanity be found in such a world?
This story will make some excited about what the future may hold while others may recoil at a world of such extremes. Either way, it’s an engaging ride in a world where, for example, teachers and students appear holographically together in instructional classrooms while remaining safely at home, begging the question of what, if anything, in this future world is “real.” Put on your CandyShades, breathe in a little ContraSpray and settle back for a T-rip like never before.
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.
April 20, 2020
Chicken or Egg?
Which came first, lack of infrastructure to handle a pandemic like COVID-19, or the COVID-19 pandemic? I can't think of a more cogent question today. Virtually everything today that isn't "working" well is being blamed on COVID-19, and, well, maybe to some extent that's true. COVID-19 is the spark that ignited interest in all the failings of our current infrastructures from politics, to government, economics, transportation, education, social services (my furloughed partner has been waiting for over a month for any federal or state unemployment assistance), agriculture, petroleum industries, small businesses, retailers...need I go on? But I believe COVID-19 is only the spark. The infrastructure problems existed long before COVID-19, and, sadly, during this opportunity to explore, identify and "fix" our broken infrastructure, we aren't doing this. Not as a nation. Not in cooperation.
Is the answer to ignore COVID-19 protection, and just "get on with business?" Is it really business and money that is the answer? Again, I don't think so. First we need to address those broken infrastructures, something that will pay off in the future, and eventually bring business and money back, this time, in correct relationship to the myriad facets of activity our nation engages in.
Is it about federal verses states' rights? Immigration? Gun rights? Again, I don't think so. These are smoke veiling the real, and decidedly difficult, issues. So how can I as an author help address these underlying problems? I'm busy working my way through the third, and I hope, final edit of my new Savant Books and Publications' novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos, in preparation) in which I address many of these infrastructure issues including some truly novel fixes.
Is the answer to ignore COVID-19 protection, and just "get on with business?" Is it really business and money that is the answer? Again, I don't think so. First we need to address those broken infrastructures, something that will pay off in the future, and eventually bring business and money back, this time, in correct relationship to the myriad facets of activity our nation engages in.
Is it about federal verses states' rights? Immigration? Gun rights? Again, I don't think so. These are smoke veiling the real, and decidedly difficult, issues. So how can I as an author help address these underlying problems? I'm busy working my way through the third, and I hope, final edit of my new Savant Books and Publications' novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos, in preparation) in which I address many of these infrastructure issues including some truly novel fixes.
