Scott Semegran's Blog, page 11

Austin Liti Limits Episode 25 with Johnnie Bernhard is Out Now

Austin Liti Limits Episode 25 with award-winning author Johnnie Bernhard is now available! Watch my interview with Johnnie that we conducted remotely via Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Check it out now over at the Austin Liti Limits website. Or watch right here:

Johnnie Bernhard on Austin Liti Limits from Larry Brill on Vimeo.

Austin Liti Limits Episode 24 with Brian Kindall is Out Now

Austin Liti Limits Episode 24 with fiercely independent author Brian Kindall is now available! Watch my interview with Brian that we conducted remotely via Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Check it out now over at the Austin Liti Limits website. Or watch right here:

Brian Kindall on Austin Liti Limits from Larry Brill on Vimeo.

Austin Liti Limits Episode 23 with Joe R. Lansdale is Out Now

Austin Liti Limits Episode 23 with Texas legendary author Joe R. Lansdale is now available! Watch my interview with Joe that we conducted remotely via Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Check it out now over at the Austin Liti Limits website. Or watch right here:

Joe R. Lansdale on Austin Liti Limits from Larry Brill on Vimeo.

Prolific and IR Approved Author SCOTT SEMEGRAN on His Latest Book

What’s the book’s first line?

The first time I experienced real, life-threatening danger was in the seventh grade.

What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.

The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island is about four middle school boys who get stranded on a desolate lake island in the middle of Texas during the summer of 1986. It is Lord of the Flies meets The Body by Stephen King. A gripping suspense story with adventure and danger, tinged with humorous banter between the four friends, the middle schoolers face certain death without adults to protect them from the unrelenting natural elements, as well as the wild creatures that lurk in the wilderness around the lake. With a backpack filled with money and marijuana they stole from a merciless high school gang leader, it’s only a matter of time before the high schoolers come looking for them, too.

What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?

I was inspired after listening to an audiobook of Lord of the Flies narrated by William Golding. In it, he explains that the boys in his story represent scaled-down society, and I thought that very strange because the boys in his story are all white boys from a private school in England, which is the farthest thing from real society as we know it. Where are all the different races and creeds and genders and everybody else in this scaled-down society? Also, the boys I knew when I was 12 or 13 wouldn’t have done what the boys in Lord of the Flies did to each other. The boys I knew would have helped and supported each other.

So, after ruminating about this for quite some time, I decided to write my response to Lord of the Flies, which actually was William Golding’s response to The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne, an adventure novel from 1858. I felt the boys in my story should be of different races and backgrounds, and they should care for each other just as the friends I had did when I was 12 or 13.

What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?

The main reason someone should read my novel is to be transported to a time in the 1980s when kids weren’t monitored by technology and they could have their own adventures without being under the watchful eyes of their parents. And if readers are familiar with Lord of the Flies, then they can ruminate about the fate of those boys in that story and the fate of the friends in my story and decide for themselves which story has the more honest and accurate portrayal of adolescence.

What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character?  Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?

The main character, William Flynn, is adventurous and mischievous, but also has a tender heart. He deeply cares for his friends, although he makes some impetuous decisions in the story which put his friends in a very dangerous situation. I would say William reminds me of several fictional characters, like an amalgam of Gordie from The Body, Peter Parker from The Amazing Spider-Man, and so many others. To be honest, he also has a bit of my 13-year old self, too, in his DNA.

What other books have you written?

To Squeeze a Prairie Dog: An American Novel, Sammie & Budgie, Boys: Stories about Bullies, Jobs, and Other Unpleasant Rites of Passage from Boyhood to Manhood (the IndieReader Discovery Awards winner in 2018 for Short Stories), The Spectacular Simon Burchwood, The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood, Modicum and Mr. Grieves.

Originally appeared at IndieReader.com on 3/22/2021.

Escape from Oblivia by Brian Kindall

Escape from Oblivia is Brian Kindall's latest novel, part adventure story, part midlife crisis, and part allegory. Unlike his previous works, this book is set decidedly in modern times, giving Kindall the opportunity to examine masculinity and the tropes of manliness in literature. If you were born any time during the 20th century, then you would be aware of these tropes from macho adventure books, comic books, action movies, and the like; they were prevalent across all media. These tropes have been long overdue for a reckoning and Kindall is the man up for the task.

Sisters of the Undertow by Johnnie Bernhard

Kim and Kathy Hodges are sisters placed on seemingly different life paths. From the start, Kim is beautiful and smart; Kathy is plain and beset with disabilities. But these convenient characteristics don’t show the whole story—what is in someone’s heart and what makes someone a good person. As they grow up in their middle-class family, Kim resents the extra attention her sister receives from her parents and declares that her sister chokes the life out of her. It’s a cruel observation and one that doesn’t change for Kim, even as she grows into an adult. Her feelings for her sister calcify, even after her own traumas with sexual assault leave her unwilling to give or accept love in a healthy way. Both sisters have their own baggage to carry, but Kathy moves through life undeterred by the disabilities God gave her, or road blocks put in her way by life.

Austin Liti Limits Episode 22 with Simon Han is Out Now

Austin Liti Limits Episode 22 with award-winning Texas author Simon Han is now available! Watch my interview with Simon that we conducted remotely via Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Check it out now over at the Austin Liti Limits website. Or watch right here:

Author Simon Han on Austin Liti Limits from Larry Brill on Vimeo.

AUDIOBOOK DEAL ALERT!

DEAL ALERT! Get two of my audiobooks at the super-low price of $1.99 each over on CHIRP. That's 87% off retail price. 15 hours of audiobook goodness for less than $5? YES! Buy them both now before this stellar deal ends.

https://www.chirpbooks.com/authors/Scott-Semegran-audiobooks

Part Two of Austin Liti Limits Episode 21: More with Kevin Wilson

Part 2 of my Austin Liti Limits interview with New York Times bestselling author Kevin Wilson is now available! Watch my interview with Kevin that we conducted remotely via Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Check it out now over at the Austin Liti Limits website. Or watch right here:

Kevin Wilson on Austin Liti Limits from Larry Brill on Vimeo.

Austin Liti Limits Episode 21 with Kevin Wilson is Out Now

Austin Liti Limits Episode 21 with New York Times bestselling author Kevin Wilson is now available! Watch my interview with Kevin that we conducted remotely via Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Check it out now over at the Austin Liti Limits website. Or watch right here:

Kevin Wilson on Austin Liti Limits from Larry Brill on Vimeo.