Emerge Beyond Circles
by John
Geers
GENRE: Fantasy
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BLURB:
Two couples from Madison, with entwined destinies, both seeking
love, are connected by a single element: the ancient Siberian witch,
Thuban-Pol. Her magic will either be their savior or their ruin.
Thuban-Pol is the latest in a lineage of Siberian witches. Their eternal aim is to guide humanity to true love. Their guiding tenet, “For love to bloom, these three endure: sacrifice, perseverance and suffering. But the greatest of these is suffering.”
Since the dawn of humanity, they have summoned countless couples, inflicting suffering with the intention to grow true love. They have never succeeded…but now they have their best opportunity in two couples from Wisconsin.
If they succeed, love will finally bloom for all of humanity, if the suffering inflicted on these couples doesn't kill them first.
Thuban-Pol is the latest in a lineage of Siberian witches. Their eternal aim is to guide humanity to true love. Their guiding tenet, “For love to bloom, these three endure: sacrifice, perseverance and suffering. But the greatest of these is suffering.”
Since the dawn of humanity, they have summoned countless couples, inflicting suffering with the intention to grow true love. They have never succeeded…but now they have their best opportunity in two couples from Wisconsin.
If they succeed, love will finally bloom for all of humanity, if the suffering inflicted on these couples doesn't kill them first.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
Slivered gray wood covered the outside.
Macabre scenes carved like tattoos stretched from ground to gutter and marched
around each corner in a black parade.
Clint stepped close to the dark images
and put a finger to one. "It's soft and squishy, like driveway tar in
summer, but it doesn't stick to my skin. Weird." His finger went to his
nose, and he said, "Interesting. Hey, sniff this stuff."
Lucy pushed her nose forward and
sniffed the carving. "Yum, smells like…" she let the scent tumble
around her brain, "like peppermint and something else I can't place, but
definitely peppermint."
"Check out these carvings of
animals," he said.
Real and imagined creatures prowled
midst the gray slivers. Indigenous animals were well represented; the snowy
owl, Arctic fox, caribou and ermine. Along with these were animals too strange
to be from this age. Some warned. Others offered a wry smile of welcome. A
serpent barred vicious fangs stained crimson, dripping pregnant bulbs of creamy
poison. A grizzly bear smothered the head of a besieged she-wolf with one
massive paw while tonguing the cheek of its pup. Wild caribou ran in stampede
along the edge of a deep ravine, flirting with the abyss.
Woven among the animals were humans.
Black eyes. Black bodies. Black forms. Black illuminated. A child held the face
of its mother. A man raised a silver sword over the broken body of his slain
foe. A son leaped into the arms of his father, reminiscent of the Prodigal Son,
but on this wall, soaked in black, the anguish and joy were fresh. Sex was here
too. Bodies engaged in all variety of forbidden acts, twisted and beautiful.
As the black parade marched on, frozen
poses of pain pinched Lucy, forcing her tight against his chest once more.
A man groped the ground with orange
coals where eyes once took in the world. A woman with a flapping tongue, split
like the Serpent, hissed a song to the full blood moon. A young man pled for
mercy, torn fingers lost in the gnashing teeth of his lover. A man pounded the
ice above his head. A child wailed in the jaws of a terrible beast, eyes
begging for a hero, a call for rescue swallowed by winter. A family huddled
tight, defying flames that, in real life, would be their end. A woman slumped
with blood and afterbirth at her feet, her ashen eyes stone, silence of mother
and child scattered across eternity. A wrinkled face echoed hope, sealed behind
tortured lips.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Talking with author John Geers!
What is
your writing environment?
I write in local coffeehouses. It is the hustle and bustle of life that keeps
my words flowing.
What is your writing process? Plan thoroughly, first and foremost. Everything else falls into place after that. I also write my chapters sequentially.
What was your inspiration for this particular novel? Life inspires me. I love to travel and meet as many types of people as possible. I look for acts of love and kindness around me and they drive my ideas for writing,
What is your favorite scene in your new release? I love the gut wrenching scene in chapter 11. It is worth the price of admission.
What are you working on now and when can we expect it to be available? Book two is being written now and will be out in 2018.
What do you like to do when you are not writing? I love to hike, bike, kayak, and read. Those are my go-to activities.
What is one interesting fact about you that readers don’t know? The characters in the novel are collectively…me as a whole.
Top 3 things on your bucket list? Lunch with Alanis Morrissette. Ascending Mount McKinley. Trekking across Tibet.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
John
Geers drew inspiration to begin his debut novel from a dream he
experienced.
Hours spent in the caffeinated air of his
favorite coffeehouse proved to be the perfect place to complete Emerge
Beyond Circles.
John is a middle school literacy educator,
where he inspires and is inspired by the writers of tomorrow. He is the
founder and facilitator of his school’s Creative Writing Club. He is also
a columnist for the online magazine Elephant Journal.
He loves a good story, being on the water, and
witty puns. He can be found hiking the wilderness, biking big hills, sipping
dark coffee, and looking for a chair in the mall.
LINKS:
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AMAZON: http://amzn.to/2qjzsvj
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GIVEAWAY:
John Geers will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC, a signed copy of the
book, and a stuffed tiger (US only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter
during the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting read. Enjoyed the excerpt and interview. Thanks for the giveaway chance.
ReplyDelete