Guest Post: 5 Things You Should Know About Ten Thousand Days
It's a busy week in the blogging world. Today I'm welcoming C.D. Gallant, who is telling us five things we should know about his new book, Ten Thousand Days. Check out this beautiful cover:
Here's his post. Be sure to read all about him below his guest post and order a copy today!
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My debut novella Ten Thousand Days is now available as an eBook on Amazon sites worldwide. A contemporary fantasy, it's the story of Isaac, a young Everyman and regular guy who just seems to stumble through life and is somehow married to the most beautiful girl in the world. He doesn't appreciate what he has until everything is taken away and he's thrust into a weird and horrific otherworld as he desperately tries to regain his lost love.
You can read the blurb anywhere, but I'm here today to give you a bit more detail and insight on what the book really is and what you can expect for taking the chance with me.
1. It is probably not what you're expecting
The biggest feedback I've gotten about Ten Thousand Days so far is "That's not what I was expecting at all." The blurb and the first few chapters seem to set something up, but the story skews in a drastically different direction in the second act. Part of the surprise is because I've been purposefully vague about plot details hoping to avoid revealing too many spoilers. Another part of it may be because I just didn't write a very good blurb.
Either way, hopefully the rest of this list will better prepare your expectations.
Do away with your preconceptions. Be open-minded. And be ready for a crazy ride...
2. It is funny
I have a weird sense of humour. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut, plus I hold a special place for Douglas Adams and Christopher Moore. That's the style of humour I aim for. Do I hit it? Maybe not on their illustrious level, but I've been told there's a chuckle or two.
That being said, Ten Thousand Days is not a comedy. It has equal parts heartbreak and melancholy. I tried to balance the comedy and the tragedy because I think that's the way both work best - humour in sadness, sorrow in joy, hand in hand, together always. Much like Isaac and his wife Clementine are *supposed* to be.
3. It is a fantasy
Not "Lord of the Rings" fantasy, more of a Neil Gaiman style modern-fantasy. I really tried to go for an “American Gods” or “Neverwhere” type of vibe.
Those of you who pick this up expecting fantasy shouldn’t be surprised if you don't see any magic and wonder right away. It starts pretty mundane, but trust me, it gets fantastical as the story progresses. There will be wizards and monsters and time travel and probably a dragon. But that's how fantasy works right? By contrasting the weird against the normal? Ten Thousand Days certainly strives to do that. Things get extra weird and surreal when juxtaposed against the normalcy of every day...
4. It is a fairy tale
It's certainly based on a fairy tale, anyway. While not an exact re-telling of the story of Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty), I do borrow liberally from that tale. There's a quest and battle between good and evil and it contains many of the same tropes like dragons and magic swords. There's even one scene toward the middle that wouldn't be out of place in the Disney version (well, except for the swearing... and the blood). At its heart it's the story of a young man going on an adventure, but it's also a lot more than that.
5. It is a love story
Ten Thousand Days is listed under several categories on Amazon, "romance" being one of them. Which it is technically a love story, the categorization is also a little misleading. It's not a "Romance" in the traditional sense of the genre. Maybe it's just my own perception, but when I think of a "Romance Novel," I picture stuff like Harlequin, "bodice rippers" and erotica, which Ten Thousand Days is certainly not. If anything, my book is more of a Romance in the sense that Wuthering Heights in a romance - not that I'm comparing my book to Wuthering Heights, because my wife would slap me if I did - it's more about passion and death and longing and desperation. It's no English literary classic, but it definitely has more in common with gothic romanticism than "Hired by the Cowboy" or "Waking Up Married."
Bio:
Writer, gamer, pro-wrestling aficionado. Dad.
I claim to write stories, but really I just find them in The Closet, dust them off, add a few commas and send them out into the world.
Proudly Canadian, born and raised in Newfoundland, fine-tuned and educated in Toronto and currently residing in Ottawa with a beautiful wife, two wonderful children and various furry four-legged companions.
Contact info:
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Google+ | Goodreads
Here's his post. Be sure to read all about him below his guest post and order a copy today!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My debut novella Ten Thousand Days is now available as an eBook on Amazon sites worldwide. A contemporary fantasy, it's the story of Isaac, a young Everyman and regular guy who just seems to stumble through life and is somehow married to the most beautiful girl in the world. He doesn't appreciate what he has until everything is taken away and he's thrust into a weird and horrific otherworld as he desperately tries to regain his lost love.
You can read the blurb anywhere, but I'm here today to give you a bit more detail and insight on what the book really is and what you can expect for taking the chance with me.
1. It is probably not what you're expecting
The biggest feedback I've gotten about Ten Thousand Days so far is "That's not what I was expecting at all." The blurb and the first few chapters seem to set something up, but the story skews in a drastically different direction in the second act. Part of the surprise is because I've been purposefully vague about plot details hoping to avoid revealing too many spoilers. Another part of it may be because I just didn't write a very good blurb.
Either way, hopefully the rest of this list will better prepare your expectations.
Do away with your preconceptions. Be open-minded. And be ready for a crazy ride...
2. It is funny
I have a weird sense of humour. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut, plus I hold a special place for Douglas Adams and Christopher Moore. That's the style of humour I aim for. Do I hit it? Maybe not on their illustrious level, but I've been told there's a chuckle or two.
That being said, Ten Thousand Days is not a comedy. It has equal parts heartbreak and melancholy. I tried to balance the comedy and the tragedy because I think that's the way both work best - humour in sadness, sorrow in joy, hand in hand, together always. Much like Isaac and his wife Clementine are *supposed* to be.
3. It is a fantasy
Not "Lord of the Rings" fantasy, more of a Neil Gaiman style modern-fantasy. I really tried to go for an “American Gods” or “Neverwhere” type of vibe.
Those of you who pick this up expecting fantasy shouldn’t be surprised if you don't see any magic and wonder right away. It starts pretty mundane, but trust me, it gets fantastical as the story progresses. There will be wizards and monsters and time travel and probably a dragon. But that's how fantasy works right? By contrasting the weird against the normal? Ten Thousand Days certainly strives to do that. Things get extra weird and surreal when juxtaposed against the normalcy of every day...
4. It is a fairy tale
It's certainly based on a fairy tale, anyway. While not an exact re-telling of the story of Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty), I do borrow liberally from that tale. There's a quest and battle between good and evil and it contains many of the same tropes like dragons and magic swords. There's even one scene toward the middle that wouldn't be out of place in the Disney version (well, except for the swearing... and the blood). At its heart it's the story of a young man going on an adventure, but it's also a lot more than that.
5. It is a love story
Ten Thousand Days is listed under several categories on Amazon, "romance" being one of them. Which it is technically a love story, the categorization is also a little misleading. It's not a "Romance" in the traditional sense of the genre. Maybe it's just my own perception, but when I think of a "Romance Novel," I picture stuff like Harlequin, "bodice rippers" and erotica, which Ten Thousand Days is certainly not. If anything, my book is more of a Romance in the sense that Wuthering Heights in a romance - not that I'm comparing my book to Wuthering Heights, because my wife would slap me if I did - it's more about passion and death and longing and desperation. It's no English literary classic, but it definitely has more in common with gothic romanticism than "Hired by the Cowboy" or "Waking Up Married."
Bio:Writer, gamer, pro-wrestling aficionado. Dad.
I claim to write stories, but really I just find them in The Closet, dust them off, add a few commas and send them out into the world.
Proudly Canadian, born and raised in Newfoundland, fine-tuned and educated in Toronto and currently residing in Ottawa with a beautiful wife, two wonderful children and various furry four-legged companions.
Contact info:
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Google+ | Goodreads
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