Raymond Gaynor's Blog, page 69

DESPOTS, BREAD AND CIRCUSES

In the past, antagonists in thrillers typically wore black hats and shot everyone, while protagonists wore white (or at least not-black) hats and, when pressured, shot reluctantly back. For many years this demarcation seemed inviolate. Why? The world up to the recent has been one of guns and bullets, where the white hats in one clever way or another stopped the bullets and saved the day. 

Today, neither antagonists nor protagonists even wear hats, making them initially indecipherable from each other. Instead of shooting bullets, the antagonists project terror by assaulting and battering groups of nameless victims with drugs, famine, disease, or weapons of mass destruction. More interestingly, both antagonists and protagonists hide light and dark sides, and have a secret Achilles' heel. It seems like thriller readers nowadays seem to harbor a secret wish to mentally dive beneath the underbelly of our increasingly dangerous, gruesome, "in-you-face" world with impunity, and resurface feeling "outside" of it all.  If the world up to now has been one of guns and bullets, then it appears to be becoming one of despots, bread and circuses. It's about being one of the "privileged victims" watching others being victimized by seemingly untouchable political "kings of crime." Move over ancient Romans, it's bread and circuses again!

But is it really? To the fearful or weary observer, perhaps. But careful observation reveals that It's not really about guns, bullets, despots, bread or circuses, but a subliminal societal fear of crumbling infrastructure. I hear it mentioned as a byline in an increasingly number of political speeches. In our contemporary world, we are all viewers from the outside, in fact, having a legitimate but unstated reason for the omnipresent, floating anxiety that accompanies our times. It's really all about the fear of losing one's society: safe and abundant food, water, medical facilities, and that ease of safe travel, the loss of any of which is a blatant invitation for a visit from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. We see it everyday on television and read about it in the daily newspapers. I sense that people know this, but don't speak of it for fear that in the speaking, they might see that it's already happening. No one seems to have much room for thriller scenarios about individual ennui anymore. After all, what could ever be more "thrilling" than the collapse of the infrastructure a reader holds for granted? Think fall of the Roman empire and its affect on individual Roman lives. If there are to be future villains and heroes, then I submit they will intimately involved in the destruction or restoration of societal infrastructure, and what will be the topic of many contemporary and future thrillers like QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) and TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2011). 

DESPOTS, BREAD AND CIRCUSES

In the past, antagonists in thrillers typically wore black hats and shot everyone, while protagonists wore white (or at least not-black) hats and, when pressured, shot reluctantly back. For many years this demarcation seemed inviolate. Why? The world up to the recent has been one of guns and bullets, where the white hats in one clever way or another stopped the bullets and saved the day.

Today, neither antagonists nor protagonists even wear hats, making them initially indecipherable from each other. Instead of shooting bullets, the antagonists project terror by assaulting and battering groups of nameless victims with drugs, famine, disease, or weapons of mass destruction. More interestingly, both antagonists and protagonists hide light and dark sides, and have a secret Achilles' heel. It seems like thriller readers nowadays seem to harbor a secret wish to mentally dive beneath the underbelly of our increasingly dangerous, gruesome, "in-you-face" world with impunity, and resurface feeling "outside" of it all. If the world up to now has been one of guns and bullets, then it appears to be becoming one of despots, bread and circuses. It's about being one of the "privileged victims" watching others being victimized by seemingly untouchable political "kings of crime." Move over ancient Romans, it's bread and circuses again!

But is it really? To the fearful or weary observer, perhaps. But careful observation reveals that It's not really about guns, bullets, despots, bread or circuses, but a subliminal societal fear of crumbling infrastructure. I hear it mentioned as a byline in an increasingly number of political speeches. In our contemporary world, we are all viewers from the outside, in fact, having a legitimate but unstated reason for the omnipresent, floating anxiety that accompanies our times. It's really all about the fear of losing one's society: safe and abundant food, water, medical facilities, and that ease of safe travel, the loss of any of which is a blatant invitation for a visit from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. We see it everyday on television and read about it in the daily newspapers. I sense that people know this, but don't speak of it for fear that in the speaking, they might see that it's already happening. No one seems to have much room for thriller scenarios about individual ennui anymore. After all, what could ever be more "thrilling" than the collapse of the infrastructure a reader holds for granted? Think fall of the Roman empire and its affect on individual Roman lives. If there are to be future villains and heroes, then I submit they will intimately involved in the destruction or restoration of societal infrastructure, and what will be the topic of many contemporary and future thrillers like QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) and TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2011) - https://www.amazon.com/raymondgaynore...Raymond Gaynor

DESPOTS, BREAD AND CIRCUSE

In the past, antagonists in thrillers typically wore black hats and shot everyone, while protagonists wore white (or at least not-black) hats and, when pressured, shot reluctantly back. For many years this demarcation seemed inviolate. Why? The world up to the recent has been one of guns and bullets, where the white hats in one clever way or another stopped the bullets and saved the day. 

Today, neither antagonists nor protagonists even wear hats, making them initially indecipherable from each other. Instead of shooting bullets, the antagonists project terror by assaulting and battering groups of nameless victims with drugs, famine, disease, or weapons of mass destruction. More interestingly, both antagonists and protagonists hide light and dark sides, and have a secret Achilles' heel. It seems like thriller readers nowadays seem to harbor a secret wish to mentally dive beneath the underbelly of our increasingly dangerous, gruesome, "in-you-face" world with impunity, and resurface feeling "outside" of it all.  If the world up to now has been one of guns and bullets, then it appears to be becoming one of despots, bread and circuses. It's about being one of the "privileged victims" watching others being victimized by seemingly untouchable political "kings of crime." Move over ancient Romans, it's bread and circuses again!

But is it really? To the fearful or weary observer, perhaps. But careful observation reveals that It's not really about guns, bullets, despots, bread or circuses, but a subliminal societal fear of crumbling infrastructure. I hear it mentioned as a byline in an increasingly number of political speeches. In our contemporary world, we are all viewers from the outside, in fact, having a legitimate but unstated reason for the omnipresent, floating anxiety that accompanies our times. It's really all about the fear of losing one's society: safe and abundant food, water, medical facilities, and that ease of safe travel, the loss of any of which is a blatant invitation for a visit from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. We see it everyday on television and read about it in the daily newspapers. I sense that people know this, but don't speak of it for fear that in the speaking, they might see that it's already happening. No one seems to have much room for thriller scenarios about individual ennui anymore. After all, what could ever be more "thrilling" than the collapse of the infrastructure a reader holds for granted? Think fall of the Roman empire and its affect on individual Roman lives. If there are to be future villains and heroes, then I submit they will intimately involved in the destruction or restoration of societal infrastructure, and what will be the topic of many contemporary and future thrillers like QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) and TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2011). 

WHERE IN THE WORLD...?

The new breed of dictatorial politicians represent more than another adventure for special agents Tripler and Clarke — TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2005) — or Koski and Falk — QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016). They represent what's going awry in a world that is increasingly losing its core humanity. In a phrase, that's what's at the very heart of many contemporary thrillers. Not dystopia. Not violence. Not abuse. Not sex, money, power or arrogance. Without what makes humans human -- joy, musicality, dance, and happiness -- it isn't freedom. 

Tripler and Clarke, Koski and Falk (and, yes, even Kate Keenan) aren't just imaginary protagonists, they represent these qualities that make freedom not worth dying for, but worth living for. They're not super-heroes. They're people who want to live fully and freely, but most importantly, as "real," complete human beings. 

Antagonists are often presented as "animals," but from where I'm seated, I have to disagree. Most if not all animals possess not only an innate innocence, but a natural sense of ethics, politics, society, joy, musicality, dance and, yes, happiness, making them more "human" than many of today's humans. And what is their fate at our hands, I ask? 

In this day and age, I feel it necessary to write thrillers, if for no other reason to remind us of our own innate sense of innocence, ethics, politics, society, joy, musicality, dance, and most of all mutually shared happiness. That's me, being a thriller author is all about. 

BITCOINS AND THE THE DARK UNDERBELLY OF GLOBAL FINANCING

While scoping out thriller QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) with A. G. Hayes, it became clear that, in this increasingly explicit, business-oriented world, for plausibility's sake I would need to include something most thriller's don't: The dark world of international financing. Big, dark money, since we were talking regional, possibly even global cyberwarfare. Big, dark, laundered money that couldn't be traced, all of which brought me to Bitcoins.

Not that Bitcoins are inherently nefarious, but, upon close examination, they fit the bill. Too perfectly by my reckoning. What ensued was a several-month journey into what I can honestly say is one of the most dangerous and likely future forms of international financing. First it was barter, then money, then credit, and now Bitcoins. If you've ever wondered about Bitcoins, how they started, how they can be used, what effect they could have on our future global economy, journey with Koski and Falk into their fifth and most dystopian adventure yet. So, in regard to Bitcoin use in QUANTUM DEATH, is it science fiction or reality? Is there a new genre for thrilling "plausible near-reality?" If so, that would be QUANTUM DEATH. Oh, and be sure to let A. G. Hayes and me know if you buy our work using Bitcoins!

15 October to 15 November 2016 PRE-HOLIDAY SALE

I just wanted you to know that my thriller, QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) co-authored by A. G. Hayes, and most other Savant Books and Publications will be going on PRE-HOLIDAY SALE starting 15 October 2016 (details in press release at
https://www.prlog.org/12592572) in both softcover and eBook formats! 

Sincerely,

Raymond Gaynor

Award-winning co-author of QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016)

THE WORLD IN TWO APPLE PIES AND A BEACH PHOTO

In physics (there's that "P" word that often causes young students to shudder), the unending search continues for the "fundamental building blocks" of everything that exists. At present, there are twelve such building blocks called quarks. In an "aha" moment, I experienced the world in two apple pies I handmade last night and a beach photo sitting not far from them. 

 

Quarks come in six "flavors," up, down, top, bottom, strange and charmed. These come in two forms referred to as matter and antimatter. When the two pies came out of the oven, their appearance and flavor struck me like a brick through a plate glass window: Both pies have an up/top and a down/bottom. They would smell and appear strange to someone who'd never experienced a homemade apple pie direct from the oven, and the crumble top rather than the usual heavy criss-cross crust top was completely charming. All in a pie. 

The two pies looked almost but not exactly the same, which is where the beach photo came in. The photo was of a ghost crab's home carved in the sandy beach, the denizen having piled up his or her diggings next to its entrance — like the pies, similar, but different, and in the case of the crab's house, oddly opposite. Matter and antimatter!  Voila! The world in an apple pie and a beach photo!

Interestingly, it was a property of quantum mechanics, call it "flavor entanglement" if you like, that was built upon in A. G. Hayes and my recently released thriller QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996325530. Ever read a thriller with a steaming cuppa and slice of warm, homemade apple pie? 

THRILLERS: PIECE-BY-PIECE OR THE WHOLE MONTY?

Writing a thriller is equal parts conscious and unconscious work. At least, it is for me. And the conscious part, in fact, is often more in retrospect than the writing moment. One of those crossover parts is whether to reveal the plot piece-by-piece or all at once, in either case, relying heavily on invoking the reader's curiosity. 

In the classic mystery thriller, the plot is revealed gradually piece-by-piece with the final piece that brings meaning to everything typically withheld to the last. In many a good techno-thriller, on the other hand, the plot is basically revealed early on, but the meaning of it all is withheld to the last. What makes QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996325530) a uniquely complex work with a surprisingly "real" feel to it is that the plot is revealed both ways simultaneously, like so many richly thrilling situations in our mundane everyday life. In fact, several plots, one the "action" and the other about a developing relationship, the "feeling" plot, evolve side-by-side in both ways. To me, it's not only what makes a thriller rich, realistic and compelling, but a satisfyingly "adult" read. 

So how conscious was all this when writing QUANTUM DEATH with A. G. Hayes? I'm going to guess maybe 40% at the time, and 60% in retrospect, leaving 40-60% up to the characters and my own "gut" feelings. Oh, yes, I let my characters speak, plot, intrigue and act quite on their own within the plot limitations, and sometimes even beyond. And what do I do when finished with a manuscript? I like to go to JJ's in Honolulu and have celebratory tea and a sweet. 

FIRST AMAZON REVIEW OF QUANTUM DEATH

First Amazon review for QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) posted at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996325530: 

4/5 Stars - "Quantum Death left me on the edge of my seat beginning to end. I was so afraid for Koski and Falk and for the USA! Quantum physics comes in to play with new technology, and the Cerebus team for the US springs into action to save our country even as it was being destroyed and simultaneously, sold out from under us. Who was cyber attacking us? How? How could we defend ourselves? This thriller thrills!" 

TIME FOR SOME CELEBRATORY MUSIC AND DANCE

Having successfully begun the launch of QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016), I decided it was time to celebrate, and what better way to do so than with music and dance. 

The "Fab Four" were visiting Waikiki, and my partner and I decided it was time to meet the Beetles in person (a la live avatars) and re-experience the 60's to present with those iconic musicians, often alluded to as the outstanding musicians of our century. The Fab Four didn't disappoint. It proved more than a stroll down Memory (Penny) Lane. It was a continued, evolving call for personal and world peace. An infinitely old and yet surprisingly new human spirituality at its highest level. Isn't it time we took up the torch and evolved?


I also had the privilege of attending the 2016 Hawaii Star Ball held yearly at the Sheraton Waikiki. Four days and nights of the finest professional and amateur DanceSport in the world (a sort of live "Dancing with the Stars" on adrenaline). 

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I know of no better way to celebrate than with the two oldest and perhaps deepest forms of human celebration, music and dance. I know of no better way to celebrate my own humanness, and clear my mental mind in preparation for my next authored work.