Carnival of Cryptids Day 2: The Jungles Are Not a Place For the Arrogant: Introducing Jeff Provine

The Kindle All-Stars Carnival of Cryptids interview week continues! I originally said it would be out on the 1st yesterday, but I've heard it may be available for sale as soon as later today. Again, a reminder:

The Kindle All-Stars are a select group of authors from around the world who donate their work in the name of charity. All profits from Kindle All-Stars anthology are donated to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

I'm only interviewing four of the authors, so there's even more cool experiments in style and cryptids from a variety of authors in anthology (which, I'll be reviewing this weekend).

Today, I'mm talking with Jeff Provine, who contributed the story "Where is Captain Rook?" to the anthology, a slightly subversive take on the great jungle adventurer genre of old.

Jeff Provine was born May 2, 1984 (thus sharing a birthday with Catherine the Great and The Red Baron), in the wide, open plains of Oklahoma. He grew up a Country Boy on the old family farm, running barefoot through creeks and climbing trees. All the while he seemed to like best making up stories, writing them down as soon as he learned to hold a pencil. Carefree childhood days gave way to education, and Jeff graduated high school with two diplomas: one from the Oklahoma Bible Academy and the other from Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. In his senior year, he began writing Celestial Voyages: The Moon, which would be published as his first novel at the tender age of 18. Jeff attended the University of Oklahoma, getting a Professional Writing degree (He was going to write anyway, so he might as well study it). Jeff spent a year abroad at the University of Hertfordshire, just north of London, England, and spent several months traveling and writing. He is currently a lecturer in Composition and Mythology and works remodeling his home and writing in every spare moment.

1) Please give a brief blurb for your story.

River-guide Joao Paulo Nativo recalls the story of famed Amazon explorer Captain Rook's final adventure, hunting the elusive giant ground sloth, believed to have been extinct for thousands of years but known to tribes as Mapinguari, the fetid beast.

2) While far from an expert on all legendary beasts, I am genuinely surprised when I run into one I'd never heard anything about before, such as the creature in your story. Why did you decide to feature this creature, and how did you come across the legends concerning it?

I've been fascinated by the mylodon, and its bigger brother the megatherium, ever since first seeing them in the back of one of my dinosaur atlases as a kid. Then I heard a little blurb on the History Channel about a band of conquistadors supposedly fighting one (the natives said arrows just bounce off it; the Spaniards laughed until their own musketballs bounced, too), which pretty much sealed the "awesome cryptid" deal for me. When I heard of a cryptid anthology for charity, I knew exactly which cryptid to feature. Most of my research was online, digging through various cryptid websites, an old Brazilian newspaper article about a rash of Mapinguari attacks on cattle in 1937 (coinciding with a drought), and an online copy of the 1896 Orchid Review that gave descriptions of real-life adventurer and orchid-hunter Charles Fosterman to provide a feel of exploring the Amazon.

3) You've gone for a very classic jungle horror/mystery approach to your creature here. What attracted you about that particular style of engaging with your creature?

What interested me most about the pulpy classic jungle story was that there were actual explorers like Fosterman and Percy Fawcett who saw strange things no one has been able to prove. I was expecting to set my story earlier in the '20s, but once the legend popped up about Mapinguari hating water alongside the drought and the attacks in the 1930s, I had to make it closer to WWII. Why I wanted this time period overall was to give a hint of historical while fairly modern (we still use many of the same handguns developed even before then). The arrows of the natives and the musketballs of the Spaniards supposedly bounced off the creature's hide, which fits the "dermal ossicles" of the mylodon, bits of protective bone grown like armor plates inside the skin. The question I wanted to ask was, what if someone shot it with a .45?

4) Should we parse any of this story with a socio-political subtext, or is that just reaching on my part?

My story's definitely got its share of socio-politics. Originally, I was just going to have leather-jacketed Indiana-Jones types shoot the mylodon and then find out it had magic powers. As the story was rewritten, though, it became clear that it wasn't interesting enough. Instead, I wanted to look at the socio-political situation of Brazil and changed the protagonist to the mixed-race guide who saw the best and worst of living on the edge of civilization. It discussed a good deal of imperialism with the Great White Hunter getting in over his head and then losing it. Perhaps my favorite line in the story is about Mapinguari's powers over the rain to end the drought as well as potentially reaching to Europe to cause a war to bring back the Rubber Boom. Who's really controlling the world then?

5) Please give us a brief overview of some of your other works.

My first major project was Celestial Voyages, a trilogy of steampunk about interplanetary expeditions in 1900 with ant-men dwelling in caverns in the Moon, treelike Venusians who take "knowledge is power" literally, and Martian greys living on a world that has long past its prime. Currently, I'm at work on my webcomic about a magnet school, The Academy, and This Day in Alternate History, a blog taking events of a particular date and twisting them, such as "What if Will Rogers had survived his plane crash?" I've also released an ebook, Dawn on the Infinity, about a fourteen-year-old girl kidnapped by inter-reality pirates with zombies, hackers, vampires, robots, fairies, spaceship battles, and trolls, oh my!

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Thanks, Jeff.

If you would like to learn more about Jeff, please check him out http://www.jeffprovine.com/.

The Carnival of Cryptids is now available at Amazon.

Nazis, Love, and World-wide Magical Adventure: An interview with young adult contemporary fantasy author Matt Posner

Today I'm talking with author Matt Posner about the latest in his School of the Ages series, a young adult contemporary fantasy series.

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1) Please tell us about your book.

The War Against Love continues the story of teen magicians attending a magic school in New York. In this adventure, the heroes gets into a life-and-death struggle with a gang of Nazi wizards from Europe who have a long-standing grudge against the school and are willing to make it very personal. They attack Simon's house in the first chapter and they attack his partner Goldberry in the street shortly thereafter. From this point, the conflict is all-out, and only blood can follow. But in the middle of this, Simon falls in love with the Arch-Mage's daughter, whom he feels is so perfect for him that it hurts to be near her. And she's not the easiest person in the world to deal with, and he doesn't know if he can win her heart, and even if he can, there's still the magical war going on in the background. 

It's the darkest book of the series, in the way the middle of any series must be. The closest parallel I would say is The Empire Strikes Back, the middle movie of the first Star Wars trilogy. The enemies do damage that maybe can't be healed.

2) This is the third in your School of the Ages series. You're working on  a fourth. That's certainty a lot of writing time invested. What inspired you to start on this particular series?

I've been writing about magic and coming of age since I began my first fantasy novel at age 14. In this case, my original idea was to write about one wizard and about three teen apprentices travelling the world, but at the time I was working in a yeshiva high school, and I decided it would be more cool to use what I was learning there, so I switched to a magic school concept. I also got the villain of The Ghost in the Crystal from something I read in the yeshiva. With this basis, I began to draw in other elements of my life and knowledge. My wife is Hindu Indian, so I added in this cultural background, and I was then new to New York and wanted to use the city also. And I have a lot of knowledge of the paranormal and Hermetic magic. So it all came together well.

I started this series in early 2002. So I've been working on it for ten years, and it will be a total of twelve years by the time it's done. I'm writing other things also, but honestly, I'd like to get it over with, and start something else. However, the story isn't done yet, and I don't have any choice now -- I have a traditional publisher who is expecting five books. And there is so much cool stuff still coming that writing the rest will still be fun.

3) Please tell us a bit about the cultural background underlying your story.

The magic system in this series is an eclectic combination of paranormal studies (like you can see on TV ghost shows); and Hermetic occultism, the European magical tradition with its methods of divination and astrology and mainstream magic theory; and Asian traditions such as meditation and mantras; and Cabala, Jewish mysticism and magic.  I combine these with a variety of histories and cultures, adding new ones with each book. In book 3, I used my knowledge of learning disability to create a teen magician with Asperger's syndrome. In the present book, I use my travels in Europe to provide some intriguing settings for the kids to adventure in. So they are meeting and dealing with their allies and enemies in real places in Europe, just as I used real places in New York for The Ghost in the Crystal.

4) What sort of challenges does Simon face in this book that he hasn't faced before?

He faces adult magicians who want to kill him, including one who is a serial killer, and there are also really deadly spirit opponents. He has to face down an arch-mage, and he has to deal with wild, passionate love for a girl he's not sure likes him. But worst is really the challenge of dealing with his own rage and corresponding potential for violence. In book one, Simon was an innocent child. In book two, he was a wounded child. In book three, he learns that he has the power and the capacity to kill. In book four, he will deal with remorse.

5) A lot of people die in this book. Do you have any concerns that readers will be off-put by some of their favorite characters dying?

Well, I didn't like it when Ben Kenobi died in the original Star Wars. I was only seven when I saw that in 1977. I guess it had a strong effect on me to see a character die that I liked so very much. For most contemporary readers, it's the death of Sirius or of Dumbledore that hurts the most. However, if it makes you feel any better, remember that my books are full of ghosts. Being dead doesn't mean the characters won't appear anymore.

6) With all the darkness in this book, did you find it difficult to integrate the romantic elements?

I think I had a sense fairly early on that the story arc of the book was going to damage Simon, Goldberry, and the rest of the cast on the emotional level, showing the cost of war. It is the war against love -- which Simon describes early on as the conflict that would deny him peace. So the whole shape, including the romance, was in my mind throughout the writing process.

One event that made a difference is worth reporting. I work two jobs on most days. Back in 2009, I drove to my second job and had 45 minutes to unwind before beginning work, so I lay down on the sofa and listened to my iPod. The song "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica came on just as I was starting to fall asleep, and in my half-asleep state, the emotional impact of the song triggered my creative process, and I realized the climax of this novel for the first time.  So music helped me a little with the integration, I must say. But music always helps.

7) You've engaged in a bit more stylistic experimentation in this book. What motivated those writing choices?

I suppose you mean the scene that is told as a screenplay. I wrote it that way because I conceived the events of the story as the sequence of a film, and I just wanted to put them on paper that way. Those events can be told best in montage form not as a straight narrative. Also, because this book is heavily designed around dramatic irony, I intend for the readers to know things Simon doesn't know, and accordingly to feel sorry for him as he makes mistakes.  It's a tragedy, really. I love tragedy as a literary form. I have since reading Oedipus Rex back in middle school.

I also have an extended sequence in which the Jonathan twins beat up Simon by throwing at him fantasy novels that were popular in the 1980s. They make a variety of remarks about the books and the authors, some complimentary, some not.  (I'll bet my publisher in India takes this part out…)  This is based on Chapter VI of Don Quixote, in which a priest and a barber go through Quixote's library of romances and judge them one by one as either good, or suitable only for burning. I'll leave it to the reader to decide which of the Jonathans' opinions are mine.

8) How many more books are planned for this series?

There are two more books planned. Book IV has had a name change and is now called Simon Myth. It brings back time travel and has a heavy focus on India and Indian mythology. It also has a lot more of Goldberry, who gets entire chapters on her own. I have written more than half of this book, but my progress is very slow. Book V, which has not been written but is just partly planned, is called The Wonderful Carol and will employ Arabian and Persian mythology as well as some cool popular culture tropes.

Jeremy, I appreciate the chance to appear on your blog to talk about The War Against Love. My next book, possibly for the end of September, will be How to Write Dialogue, to which you are also contributing. So I'm going to get to work on that, and please, more of your series too, ASAP!

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Thanks, Matt. If you'd like to see more from Matt please check out his site at http://schooloftheages.webs.com/.

The War Against Love can be purchased at:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/School-Ages-Against-Series-ebook/dp/B008VXUI0K/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1344683973&sr=8-26&keywords=matt+posner
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/​School-Ages-Against-Series-eboo​k/dp/B008VXUI0K/​ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=13446841​50&sr=8-8
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/school-of-the-ages-matt-posner/1112451675?ean=2940014860512

Trouble In Tropical Paradise: An interview with adventure author J.D. Gordon

Today, I'm talking with action adventure author J.D. Gordon about Dartboard, his latest novel of tropical adventure.

1) Please tell us about your book.

One of my favorite authors recently offered up a blurb for the story. The fellow's name is Paul Kemprecos. Paul is wonderful author in his own right but he's also the bestselling author of Clive Cussler's NUMA Files. Paul summed it up best when he said "Dartboard is a rollicking adventure by any measure. Writing with amazing energy and wild imagination, J. D. Gordon has churned out a tale that’s a cross between Carl Hiassen and Treasure Island. It's loaded with zany and deadly characters. Exotic locales. And pure fun!"

The story starts out with a historical sequence set in the Caribbean during the late 1700s which tells of the sinking of the Lorraine, a British treasure ship. The story moves to the present day where Jimmy Quigley, a small town cop inherits a boat from his Uncle Jackson, a reclusive Museum man for the Field Museum in Chicago. On the boat he finds a treasure map. Hot on his tail is another nutty museum man, Jackson's old assistant, the Ratman. Ratman has hooked up with a pair PIs and some displaced candy queens from Wisconsin. There are pirates too. Its the Caribbean, there has to be pirates right? Everyone of them has their sights set on this lost loot buried on a remote island in the Caribbean.

2) What inspired this book?

Prior to Dartboard, I had written three books centered around a protagonist named Eddie Gilbert. Eddie is a firefighter from the Midwest. He's a reluctant hero as well, caught up in deadly sparring matches with the Crows, a family crime syndicate operating in the Caribbean. So, we see a Caribbean theme here. I love the islands, a mysterious and exciting location for sure, anything can happen down there making it really easy to fiction. Well, it was time to set Eddie aside. I wanted to see if I could write a new character so I came up with Jimmy Quigley. I did want to keep it in the Caribbean, I'm kind of big Jimmy Buffett fan, you see my stuff is littered with quite a bit of booze and other such intoxicating substances. I'm also a big fan of action adventure, a big fan of Clive Cussler, that being the case, I do like to keep the bullets flying and the bombs blowing up, say a fluffy boat drink in one hand, an assault rifle in the other. I think it works. I like to add humor to my stories, nothing too serious or difficult to read. Its great beach reading or by the pool or on the plane.

3) Boats are a major aspect of your stories. Can you tell us about your own sailing experience?

Well, I've been on few in my time, pleasure boating mostly but honestly, growing up in Chicago I have to admit I haven't much practical experience. I do love boats though, especially old classics like the yacht featured in the story, and sail boats rock too. There's one of those in the story as well. That's one of nice things about writing fiction, if you don't know something, look it up, if that doesn't work, make it up. I'd like to say that one day, or someday, I'll live that old school, life long dream many have and sail around the world. Unfortunately, my wife gets sea sick just looking at a boat. I'll think I'll be stuck with my feet in the sand just writing about the stuff and not actually getting out there for any real time under sail.

4) What is it that continues to appeal to people over the decades and centuries so much about treasure hunt stories?

Who doesn't want to strike it rich? Beyond that, I think many people just like the idea of getting away from their desk, leaving all that stuff behind, getting out on the ocean and just seeing where the tides take them. Its something very few people will ever have a chance to do in real life, but at least we can read about folks who do, whether they're real or not.

5) Many of your previous books, such as Island Bound, were also tropical adventure stories. Why do you find such settings so intriguing? Will Eddie Gilbert or Jimmy Quigley end up in the Bering Sea and a heavy coat in a future book?

Wow, Island Bound, someone has done their homework! My first book ever! I've recently opened that book up just to take a look at it. I hadn't done so in years. I was amazed to see the difference in the writing and embarrassed that I ever tossed that one out there. But we all have to start somewhere right? I'm thinking Island Bound needs a rewrite and then another toss out, we'll see. Anyway, to answer your question, No freakin' way will any of my writing end up in the Bering Sea, at least I hope not. It's too damn cold up there. I am considering a Chicago-based story that would include some time out on the freshwater. But you can be sure it will be summer time and that Caribbean feel will somehow be stuck in there.

6) Your protagonists are firefighters and police officers. How did your own background as a firefighter influence your writing? 

Well, when I first decided to try my hand at writing I recalled reading somewhere that one should write what they know. So what did we get? A firefighter protagonist, Caribbean locations, a few cocktails and plenty of guns, bullets and bombs. I spent fourteen years as a professional firefighter/paramedic. I left that gig after an injury ended my career. That's when I tried to get more serious about writing. Anyway, so a main character with a similar background just seemed natural to me, that, and no one else had done it. It seems like every adventure hero is some sort of secret agent or with some government in someway. They are always larger than life. I kind of wanted to write about a regular guy who really just got caught up in the role of being the hero. I switched over to a cop in Dartboard just because I was ready to give Eddie a break and try something new. A cop isn't quite like a secret agent so I figured it still fit in with that regular guy thing.

7) You've been compared to Clive Cussler. Was his work an influence at all? If not, is there any other author who influenced your writing?

Wow, compared to Clive Cussler, what an honor!!!!! His work was and still is a huge influence. I love the action adventure stuff. I feel my stuff is really much different than Clive's. Clive is a master at writing those intricate plots. He goes with the whole government agent deal and the future of the world is always hanging in the balance. I go for writing the adventure stuff but that's about as far as the comparison goes. We already know I steer clear of the government agent deal. My stories are not very complicated and rarely affect anyone beyond the main characters. I'm ust looking to entertain with some stuff that just fun to read. So I do look to Clive where the combat is concerned. I do look elsewhere for some of the other aspects in my stories. I love to add humor along with colorful characters and nutty locations. For that I look to folks like Carl Hiaasen and Christopher Moore. There are others of course but those are the big ones.

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Thanks, J.D.

If you'd like to see more from J.D., please check out his website at  www.jimmygwrites.com.

Dartboard is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.