To Be Men: Stories Celebrating Masculinity

As most anthologies, this one started with an idea, or more precisely in this case, some "what if" thinking.

With endless submission calls for stories written by [insert an identity group of your choice], one category of authors has never been singled out for a special opportunity: Men.

A few of us were hanging around in the virtual space of social media, discussing this curious phenomenon, when someone came up with a question.

 Could we create a collection of stories written only by men?

The thought was amusing for a while, as we considered the reactions that would inevitably come from certain circles: the accusations, the outrage, the lectures as to how such things just "weren't done." All, of course, would ignore the fact that the exclusionary submission calls were very much done because, well, the fairness standards just aren't the same across the board.

But then, after we've indulged in our daydreaming and considered some of the possibilities, we realized something.

Trolling the hypocrites would've been fun.

But we were not trolls. We were authors.

Our readers deserved something special, something better than a joke, something that truly met their needs and left them satisfied.

We were going to give them good stories.

Stories about men as heroes and role models, fathers and mentors, hardened warriors and even fantastic creatures. Men who are interesting, capable and worthy. Characters whom you'd want to meet, to spend time with, to learn from, and whose stories will stay with you after the reading is over.

And just like that, the authors' gender became irrelevant.

The project went from a semi-joking discussion to a serious endeavor. A female editor stepped in to take charge, and Superversive Press picked it up for publishing.

In the end, the anthology brought together authors from different backgrounds, writing in a variety of genres, and of course both men and women.

As it should be. After all, the focus on quality is not exclusionary. It is, in fact, the most even playing field that could possibly exist.

Personally, although I tend to gravitate towards reading male authors, two of my favorite entries in this collection came from women (Monalisa Foster's Cooper and Julie Frost's Man-Made Hell).

I was delighted when my story Picture Imperfect, set in the world of my dystopian novel Chasing Freedom, made the cut. Now, having seen the full project come to fruition, and having read the stories from my fellow contributors, I am honored to be in their company.

If the concept of celebrating masculinity appeals to you, or if you are simply looking for something exciting and fresh to read, give this new offering from Superversive Press a try.

Happy reading!


The paperback edition is ready to ship, just in time for Fathers' Day.

The E-book is available for pre-order and will be officially published on June 16.

Papa Pat Rambles: "MAGA 2020 & Beyond," by the Usual Suspects

This substantial and highly complimentary review of MAGA 2020 & Beyond is especially gratifying because the reviewer, whose political affiliation is hard to pin down, understands exactly what we set out to accomplish. This anthology is meant as a celebration, both of the unlikely political victory and of all the possibilities that come as a result.

I appreciated the reviewer's kind words about my two contributions to the anthology. Of course, I am in very good company since every other story and essay has something to offer, as you will see in the mini-reviews Mr. Patterson provides.

In addition, his personal commentary on the current state of our great country is worth reading in tis own right even if you're not (or maybe especially if you're not) a fan of the President.

Papa Pat Rambles: "MAGA 2020 & Beyond," by the Usual Suspects:     My Amazon review, which needs votes, has yet to be released by the Amazon crew, after 22 hours. Coincidence, or conspiracy? You dec...

The Writer's Block Radio Show Interview

On December 7th, I had the privilege of being interviewed on The Writer's Block Radio Show. The show is unique in that the hosts take time to read the books and so are able to discuss them in depth. In my case, Jim chose to read The Product and Bobbi took Chasing Freedom. We talked about my choice of dystopia as a preferred writing genre, the different characters and concepts in my books and of course the ups and downs of the creative process.

It was my first time being interviewed by hosts I didn't know personally through online interaction, and it was a pleasure meeting both Jim Christina and Bobbi Bell. It was an all-around fun experience, even though we spent a while discussing some rather heavy topics. Those who heard my interviews in other venues will still hear plenty of new material because many of the questions were really interesting and different. I hope my answers would prove interesting as well. Enjoy!

Listen to the podcast here

Oh and of course: BUY MY BOOKS :) 

Chasing Freedom

The Product

New Release and a Giveaway: MAGA 2020 is Live; Chasing Freedom Free with Purchase

After many months on hard work, the much-anticipated anthology MAGA 2020 and Beyond is available in e-book and paperback versions. This is truly a one-of-a-kind anthology, full of optimistic stories of the future as well as essays by some of the more intriguing thinkers of our day.

Much as I love reading (and creating) dystopian stories, perhaps the time has come to switch gears. Cautionary tales serve their purpose, but if all you are is scared of the future, it's not by itself enough as a motivation to make it better. Occasionally, inspiration is required. I think one of the drawbacks of  a conservative cultural movement is that we, as a rule, are good at pointing out all that is wrong, but not so good at offering a compelling, exciting alternative.

MAGA 2020 and Beyond offers a solid sampling of positive speculative fiction themed around the consequences of Donald Trump's Presidency. I hope it inspires many more works that show us optimistic visions of the future, not only in terms of technological progress but in the way we organize our society and live our day-to-day lives.

That having been said, not every dystopian tale is meant to only scare and depress. My Dragon Awards-nominated dystopian novel Chasing Freedom is a good example of a dystopia that is more uplifting and optimistic than is the norm for the genre. And for a limited time, you can grab an e-copy for free by taking advantage of this promotional deal from Superversive Press.

Purchase MAGA2020 and Beyond on Amazon

Coming Nov. 8 in MAGA 2020 and Beyond: Exile, a Short Story

When I first heard of a pro-Trump anthology intended to show the bright side of Trump’s election, I was curious about the concept, but had no thought of contributing. For one, stories of a great future are hard to write. There is less conflict in a utopia. Typically, positive future stories tend to be science fiction, with Star Trek being probably the prime example. The appeal of Star Trek at its best comes from the sense of wonder and adventure, and the conflict, when it happens, is usually external in nature, be it hostile aliens or technical difficulties.The Federation is essentially a utopia, but the show doesn't linger on the details. If someone decided to tell a story of the greatness of life in The Federation, it would likely be a snooze fest.

Add to it the fact that I am a dystopian author, and you can see why I initially scrolled on by when the submission call came across my Facebook feed.

But then, as I suppose is the case with many speculative fiction writers, I started thinking of the “what if.”

What if a group of hardcore Trump opponents decided to separate themselves from the society, not through a secession that created two side-by-side states, but by entirely cutting themselves off? (Think the Galt’s Gulch, but populated by… let’s just say they’re not the Randian hero types). No flow of information. No knowledge whether Trump’s policies succeeded. As the first generation dies off, even stories of the past are fading. The outside might be great, or it might be an Apocalyptic wasteland where people starve in the streets. The only way to know is to leave, but there is no coming back.

What would you do?

Sure, your life isn’t great. Work is hard. Food is limited. There is no privacy. Government officials watch your every move.

So leaving is a no-brainer, then?

Well…

You have a job. A place to live. Food. Friendship. Respect. It’s not much, but it’s a life.

Do you throw it all away and venture into the unknown?

And just like that, it’s not so simple, is it?

As an immigrant whose family waited for permission to leave the Soviet Union for ten years, let me tell you: it’s really not. When that final moment comes, when you realize all you’re giving up, when you suddenly remember the little things about your life that you do like… No matter how motivated you are, the doubt will be there.

Conversely, what if you were content to stay? How would you react to someone who wanted to leave? Would you feel worried, angry, betrayed, or some combination of both? Would you try to stop them?

And so, I had enough questions in my mind to write a story of almost 6,000 words called Exile. I hope you enjoy the result.

Read the full Press Release and Pre-Order MAGA2020 Here

The Right Geek Chat: Dystopia, Darkness and the Real World

It was my privilege to be the very first guest on the newly launched The Right Geek show hosted by my friend, blogger and all around great gal Stephanie Souders. We discussed my novel Chasing Freedom and other related topics, including but not limited to:

- World-building through the eyes of the characters vs. the narrative style
- Creating realistic "bad guys"
- Using one's life experiences add realism to a dystopian world (OK, coming from the former USSR, I have an advantage on that one, but other authors can apply the concept in their own way)
- Classic vs modern dystopias
- Can A Handmaid's Tale happen here?
- How did "dark" come to equal "deep" and can anything be done to change this perception?

All of the above is covered in the first forty minutes or so, at which time the technology gremlins attacked and my side of the conversation became very difficult to hear. You can still figure out most of what I said from Stephanie's follow-up and responses. We were talking mostly of the current college campus environment and whether or not it indicates a fundamental shift in the mood of the country.

I want to thank Stephanie for having me over and making for a very intellectually stimulating conversation. I hope everyone tunes in for her future live broadcasts to make her new show a success.

Youtube video of the full interview is below.

Chasing Freedom is available on Amazon.

Make sure to check out Stephanie's blog for reviews and commentary.

Speculative Fiction Cantina: Writing, Dystopia and Making Friends

On January 6, I had appeared once again on a Speculative Fiction Cantina podcast with host S. Evan Townsend. Evan was nice enough to book my friend and fellow dystopian writer Daniella Bova for the same show. This resulted in a very productive discussion since we're both indie writers specializing in a dystopian genre. We talk writing (of course!), the difficulty of crafting a dystopia in a world that unfortunately keeps outpacing some of our imaginary setups, and being a conservative pro-freedom author in an environment still dominated by the left. Dramatic readings from our works are included!

You can listen to the archived podcast here.

The interview included various mentions and shout-outs, which I will link below for the curious:

Goodreads Small Government Book Fan Club
Conservative-Libertarian Fiction Alliance on Facebook group and website
Superversive Press website/blog

Foundation for Individual Right in Education (FIRE)

And last but not least, book links:

My Amazon Author Page

Daniella's Storms of Transformation Trilogy on Amazon

Freedom's Light Anthology

Many thanks to Evan for having me over and for Daniella for agreeing to appear with me to make the show even more fun!

#GabWriters Interview with Everitt Foster

For those who haven't heard, Gab is the new and exciting alternative to Twitter that offers those of us who believe in free speech an opportunity to meet and socialize with the like-minded. Naturally, the site is fairly heavy on creative types, and a Everitt Foster was nice enough to include me in his series of #GabWriters interviews. Unlike most blog interviews, this one has personalized questions based on my biography and other internet data. Topics cover growing up in the Soviet Russia, politics, religion, writing, my newly released novella and I don't quite remember what else.

Please note that I wrote most of the answers while watching the Presidential Election, so emotions were running high and the brain-to-fingers filter was only marginally functional. Thus you get to see as close to real me as you'll probably ever get, and also, unfortunately, wild typos abound. Apologies in advance, and enter at your own risk!

Gab Interview with Marina Fontaine

Marina Fontaine is… not a French tennis player. So let’s not make that mistake, (Thanks Google and FaceBook for your screw-ups). She’s a writer, and Gabber and all around interesting person! Check our her books here on GoodReads, and here on Amazon, and she gabs at gab.ai/mashak99

1. You grew up in Russia, what was it like for you and your family? What types of struggles did you endure?

I would hesitate to use the word “struggles” because the hardships of everyday life were so completely internalized. It only became obvious in retrospect, and by comparison with what is considered normal in the West, just how wrong the system was. I’m talking of the little things, like being able to get decent quality food, or reliable transportation to and from work, or hot water from the tap any time you turn it on, or medicine when you are sick. When you can’t rely on the basics always being there, it adds up, it takes up the mental and physical energy that could be spent elsewhere. Mind you, we were an equivalent of a middle-class family, living in one of the better-supplied cities. It wasn’t temporary. It wasn’t poverty. It was normal.

So you take people who already have trouble just getting to a physical comfort level, and then you add what most of us commonly think of as oppression. By the time I was growing up, the mass arrests and purges were already over. So pretty much keeping one’s head down was good enough. But what comes under that umbrella? Not asking questions. Not speaking your mind outside a very narrow circle of friends. Having very limited access to news and entertainment. There were ways around the last one (Voice of America was huge at the time, and samizdat books, and “unapproved” music), but again, that’s a lot of energy spent on something that should be taken for granted.

Also, just to get through life, more or less everyone had to break the law. The reason the country held as long as it did was from underground economy. So in theory, anyone could be jailed and any time. What better way to keep citizens in check?

I heard someone say not long ago that Americans move like free people, and it’s probably hard to understand unless you’ve seen how non-free people move. The day-to-day drudgery, the constant looking over one’s shoulder, being suspicious of strangers—it all adds up, and it does feel like physical weight. Or at least once it’s gone you realize it was there. I liken it to having a chronic health condition, being adjusted to it, and then having it fixed.

I suppose you can in fact calling this experience a struggle, just not the way people think of the word. It’s not glamorous or heroic or particularly interesting (unless you distill into a fictional story, and then it could be made interesting, in the right hands).

Read the rest of the interview here.

And as a bonus to my blog readers, since we're getting personal today, here's my favorite Russian song of all time. The fact that the first boy I ever kissed sang it to me might have something to do with it, but I also love the not-quite-Russian theme of holding on to light and hope no matter how dark it gets.

The Catholic Geek Interview: Superversive Press and The Product

Below is the link to my appearance on The Catholic Geek radio show, originally aired on October 30th. Jason Rennie gives the background on the Superversive Press and why he chose to publish my novella. We also talk dystopian novels, the joys of living under Communism and the difficulty of creating fiction that makes sense when so much of reality doesn't. Enjoy!

Listen to the full podcast here.

The Product is Published by Superversive Press

I am very excited to announce that my new dystopian novella The Product has been chosen as the first work to be published by Superversive Press. As a co-founder of Conservative-Libertarian Fiction Alliance, I spent several years working to discover and promote high-quality, freedom-friendly fiction. While the Superversive movement has a somewhat different focus, I have been watching and admiring it from the sidelines for some time and am now honored to become a participant.

About the Publisher:

Superversive Press is a new small press that aims to publish

Superversive Fiction and is an outgrowth of the Superversive

Fiction movement that aims to tell stories that are uplifting

and enobling. Heroes that are heroic, beauty that is beautiful,

the transcendent that is transcending, stories that say virtue

is real and Civilization triumphs over barbarism.

All of the goings on with Superversive Fiction can be found at

http://superversiveSF.com. 

Join us for a brighter, superversive future for story telling.

I can only hope that my novella comes close to meeting those expectations. And that, of course, is for my readers to decide. Many thanks to Jason Rennie for giving me this opportunity, Ben Zwycky for editing and help with revisions, and Cat Leonard for somehow guessing the cover concept I had in mind and bringing it to life.

And now, without further delay...

The Product will change your life. It will give you joy and confidence, make you more aware of the world around you. You will find new friends. You might even fall in love.

Few people know its name. Fewer still dare say it. It is, after all, illegal. Users are jailed. Dealers meet an ugly death. Yet the temptation is irresistible.Kevin is a dealer. And he is about to get caught.

Now available on Amazon in e-book and paperback.

Calliope Writers' Workshop: Turning Wishing Into Doing

Last week, I came across a post lamenting the state of conservative/pro-freedom storytelling in general and cinema in particular. Machine Trooper writes:

How is it that smart, hardworking, independent thinkers are consistently outperformed at cinematic storytelling by the left-wing hive mind? Why do our movies always suffer poor story telling, cheesy dialog and generally inept suspension of disbelief?

How, indeed. There are, after all, plenty of talented writers who share our views (even if many of them are still hiding their opinions in order to develop and/or preserve their careers). And there are certainly wealthy individuals out there willing to contribute money to what we loosely call pro-freedom causes. So if it's not the talent, and not the money, what then? If you scroll down in the comments, you will see my answer: lack of networking. The full solution is a bit more complicated because there is work still to be done on the writing side as well if we are to keep going long-term. We need to nurture pro-freedom writing talent, and then to connect our storytellers with those who can help them make the stories more accessible to the masses. And much as I love the written word, nowadays it also means the movies.

As luck would have it, only two days later after making that comment, I attended a kickoff party for Calliope Writers' Worksop, co-sponsored by Taliesin Nexus and Liberty Island. I am happy to report that an effort so many of us have wished for does already exist, and picking up steam.

From Taliesin Nexus website:In order to encourage the creation of great stories, we serve as a nexus between up-and-coming filmmakers and experienced industry professionals who share a passion for a free society.

It was truly great to see that Liberty Island, an online magazine (and now a book publisher) that gave me a start and an inspiration for writing fiction, is also a part of this exciting venture.

And exciting really is the word. As I stood in that room at Crowne Plaza Hotel in NYC, surrounded by a buzzing crowd of creatives of all ages and those with vision to give them voice, I realized a few things. The time for complaining and wishing has passed. The time for stifling our creativity for the sake of acceptance has passed. We have the talent, the drive, and the energy to succeed. Combined with the infrastructure that is even now being built, piece by piece, one dedicated mentor, one generous investor, one contrarian marketing professional at a time, we will get there. Our voices will be heard, our stories read, our vision shared. Let's get to work, people. We have a culture to build.


Now, for the fun part. The pictures!!!!

With my friend, co-conspirator and fellow author Kia Heavey

Kia and I with Liberty Island honcho David Bernstein

Kia with Robert Bidinotto, author of the Dylan Hunter thriller series

With sci-fi/fantasy author, blogger, and mentor to indie authors (did I forget anything?) Sarah A. Hoyt, who was very gracious about my fangirl behavior.

And last but not least, with Karina Fabian, a multi-genre author and writing mentor. Watch out for Karina's guest blog post right here on September 20th.

Sarah and Karina deserve special thanks for flying out all the way to New York City to mentor the workshop participants. Hats off to you, ladies!

Special shout-out to fellow CLFA members Adam Bellow (who led the main presentation of the evening), Keith Korman, Curtis Edmonds, and Richard Walch, as well as long-time online friend Matthew Souders, all of whom I met at the party but was unable to capture on camera.

Thanks to everyone who made this possible, and hope to see even more familiar faces, at a much bigger event, next year!

Youtube Interview: Story Time with Megan Fox

Here is my first ever live appearance on Youtube. For those burning with curiosity as to what I look like, here is your chance. For the rest, check it out anyway for an in-depth conversation about culture, SJW takeover of the arts, Hollywood's Epic Fail at accurately portraying both male and female characters, and the reason why both creatives and minorities should get off the Progressive train while the going's still good.

Oh yes, we're also discussing my book, Chasing Freedom. Believe it or not, all of the topics above are relevant. Enjoy!

The link to the interview is here. Shares and likes are appreciated. 

For those who don't know Megan herself is a writer. You can check out her (non-fiction) book here.

Chasing Freedom Rates 7 of 10 Fell Deeds: The Injustice Gamer Review

The Injustice Gamer was nice enough to give my novel a proper condemnation.

Cower not, fierce reader! Today, we have a new book to review: Chasing Freedom by Marina Fontaine.  This is a fine work exemplifying the lengths that Social Justice should be striving for. But that is the setting, and not our story. Our story indeed commits many sins against Social Justice. Let the darkness of Injustice come forth!

To begin with, our story is one of rebellion against oppressive government. Cities in the United States have been abandoned to the Earth, in favor of Megalopolis living. Government determines your fitness for college, and assigns most jobs. Simple protesting is illegal. Mexico has walled off the border, and Canada is willing to take those that can make the trip.

Read the rest of the denouncement here while I hang my head in shame and suffer through the latest post from The Guardian as penance.

Oh, who am I kidding? I'm half-way through replaying GamerGate Sings. Talk to you later!

Random Thoughts on Freedom (Speculative Fiction Cantina Interview)

On May 6th, I had a great time talking to S. Evan Townsend of Speculative Fiction Cantina online radio show. You can check out the podcast here. Sadly, Ms. Pembroke Sinclair, whose photo appears in the slider, had an abrupt change of plans, so my intrepid host was stuck with yours truly for the full hour.

I have done several online radio appearances, but the flow of this one surprised me. We ended up speaking less of my novel, specifically, than of the general theme of freedom and how some people appreciate it more than others. While "don't know what you got till it's gone" is a cliche, like most cliches it became so for a reason, and it applies to freedom perhaps more than to other values.

During the interview, the closest analogy that popped into my head is that healthy individuals don't truly know what it's like to be chronically sick. They can understand it through research or being around the sick, but they never quite appreciate what a gift it is to be healthy, free of pain, with all of one's organs functioning as intended. I did touch on this in one of my earlier posts when I spoke of gratitude. We don't tend to be grateful for what we don't notice on a daily basis. Health is a given. As a cancer survivor, I can confirm that once recovery is complete, the temporary gratitude wears off and the little annoyances of life very quickly outweigh the simple joy of being alive, mobile and relatively whole.

So it is for Americans with freedom. I know we're all aware that our country has major issues on that front. But not only are we more free than nearly every other nation, we have inside us an ingrained assumption that this is a natural state of human existence. Even those eager to trade some of their freedom away in exchange for either tangible rewards or a promise of security come from the knowledge that freedom is theirs, something that belongs to them at the outset and something they can choose to diminish, as foolhardy as it might be.

As I pointed out to my host during our discussion, most of the world does not have that assumption. On the contrary, it is entirely foreign to them. Immigrants who come to this country, even those who seek not the promise of economic advancement but specifically an escape from oppression, have a hard time adjusting to the concept. A more common premise throughout the world, whether civilized or less so, is that freedom is something granted to you by the government (or your friendly warlord, as the case may be). You don't even have a chance to trade your freedom away. It is doled out in small pieces to those deemed deserving. There's a quote from V. I. Lenin somewhere on the 'net precisely to that effect. Which, of course, makes it something entirely different from freedom as we understand it.

I think the reason for the current proliferation of dystopian novels is that time is right for us to once again to start appreciating the baseline of what we have. Just as zombie and vampire novels allow us to work out our anxieties as to our safety and lack of trust in our fellow human beings (hey, that's a whole 'nother blog post right there, isn't it?), politically themed dystopias show us a "what if" of freedom lost so we can vicariously put ourselves into that situation and then come back to our normal life with a new appreciation of what we still have.

Since this was originally meant to be a self-promotional post (yeah, I'm not great at those), what I tried to do with my particular take on the genre is to not only scare us to the possibilities, for I believe the real world had already scared us enough. My main goal was to show that lost freedom can in fact come back, if sometimes at a terrible cost.

The problem freedom fighters across all times and societies face is that the more entrenched the forces of oppression, the less natural the instinct for freedom becomes. We as Americans are not yet at that point, but should keep that lesson in mind as we watch the world around us and make decisions, whether it's to choose a political leader or to speak up against censorship (looking at you, Facebook!). We should respond to any threat and refuse to give ground so that we, or our children, would never have to find out the cost of bringing back something that we had no business losing in the first place.

Interview by Mercedes Fox

Mercedes Fox, a fellow Goodreads author and lover of all things werewolf, was nice enough to interview me on her blog (even though my novel is remarkably werewolf-free). I talk writing process, indie publishing and, oh yes, more about my novel. This is probably the longest blog interview I have done, so it definitely has some information I haven't covered before.

_________________________________________________

Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured? 

Generally speaking, my ideas and even specific scenes come to me early in the morning. Since I have a day job and family obligations, I usually don’t get to actually sit down and write until about 10 PM or so. It’s not necessarily a bad thing because often my subconscious will work the idea over all day, and by the time I’m at my computer it has evolved into something different. This can be either very frustrating of a lot of fun (usually both!), but I think in the end it makes for a more interesting result.

How do you think you’ve evolved creatively? 

The biggest challenge for me has been to learn to accept that no matter how well I might have planned the scene or a whole chapter, my characters might decide to do something different, and I will have to adjust my plotlines accordingly. I am generally a very controlling person and like everything to be predictable, but when it comes down to writing, I now realize that I need to go with the flow.

Read the rest of the interview here.

________________________________________________

Superversive Blog Interview and Reactions

L. Jagi Lamplighter Wright is an author, blogger and one of the prime forces in the Superversive literary movement. Last week, she was gracious enough to interview me about my novel.

How did you come to write this book?

It all began with a flash fiction contest at Liberty Island, an online fiction magazine. A New York Times columnist, Maureen Dowd, had written a fictional piece sometime in late 2013 that had future U.S. over-run by zombies because the politicians defunded CDC (or something like that, anyway). Liberty Island challenged its members to “write better.” I had a good chuckle, wished my writer friends good luck and went to bed.

Overnight, I had a “vision,” if you will, of an American family packing up to move to Canada. Also, they would be transported by a horse-and-buggy arrangement. That was all I knew. Mind you, before this happened, I had never written fiction in my life, but I got curious as to how this setup might happen. Why are they leaving? Why Canada? Why horse and buggy and not a car or bus or plane?

You can probably tell where this is going. I wrote out the full flash fiction piece, and Liberty Island published it along with other entries. But I kept wanting to know more about the world. I started getting more characters, more stories, and it just kept growing until at some point I realized this could be a full novel. And so here I am, much to my surprise, being told I can no longer call myself an “aspiring” author because my book is actually out there.  

Read the full interview here.

The interview was then re-posted by John C. Wright on his blog, collecting some very interesting comments. In particular, the discussion of how physical ugliness of a society relates to the oppression and whether one causes the other is fascinating. Would any society attempting to crush the human spirit also work at devaluing beauty? Or would beauty naturally disappear as a result of oppression?

Are we, in the United States falling victim to the same process, considering the trends in modern art?

My novel does not address these issues directly, although in my dystopian world art is both censored and discouraged. However, I am pleased that my interview had somehow sparked this discussion among Mr. Wright's commenters. You can check out the comments here.

Many thanks to L. Jagi Lamplighter Wright and John C. Wright for sharing my work with their followers. 

Blog Talk Radio Interviews

Life of a new author being what it is, it seems I have completely neglected to share my author interviews on my own blog. Fortunately, this is easily remedied.

First, an interview by an ever-gracious Dara Anne Giovanni on her Writestream network. Whether you are an author trying to become better known or a reader looking to discover new writers, both fiction and non-fiction, you need to check out this website and sign up for updates. In the meantime, here is me chatting with Daria about my novel. 

Second, a fellow author Declan Finn interviewed me on his radio show Catholic Geek. As the name of the show promises, this chat has gone some truly geeky places. We just might have spent more time talking Joss Whedon and making fun of Stephen King than actually discussing my novel, but that's what you get when you turn over the show to two geeks with no adult supervision. We did, however, have a blast. Enjoy!

My Novel Is Now Live!

Yes, friends and readers, now it's for real. After two years of equal parts fun and author angst, my creation has now gone into the world. A couple of advance reviews are already up. If you were one of the brave souls who pre-ordered on the strength of the synopsis and my allegedly charming personality, you should have the e-copy available to you shortly. Otherwise, feel free to click the link below and check out what came out of my brain when I let it loose on virtual paper.

Once again, many thanks to all who have supported this effort.

Chasing Freedom on Amazon

Novel Status Update

For those of you wondering about the book cover on the right sidebar, this is indeed my first novel. One side effect of years of reading and reviewing books, combined with hanging around talented creative individuals, is that sooner or later, you catch the writing bug. As it turned out, I was not immune.

The e-book version is currently available for pre-order, and I am happy to report that I have met the submission deadline. Therefore, the January 15th publication date is now officially set. Hard copy is also ready to go, but I am trying to time it so that both versions are available at about the same time.

Many thanks to my friends and followers who have encouraged me along the way, and I hope you enjoy the final product.

Synopsis:

Freedom is lost, but not forgotten. 

In 2040s America, civility is prized above truth, conformity above free expression, and “green” living above basic human needs. Most have given up, too busy trying to survive in a country where life is cheap and necessities are scarce. Yet even in the midst of drudgery and despair, unbroken spirits remain. 

Julie is a girl who has everything, including a plan to ignite the spark of resistance. 

Randy dreams of winning Julie’s love and escaping the emptiness of over-regulated life. 

Joseph seeks revenge on the system for a family tragedy.
 
Daniel is a young artist, who can’t seem to stay out of trouble.
 
Chris is an orphan prepared to do the unthinkable to protect his younger sister. 

Whether by choice or by accident, each will take a path on a collision course with the oppressive regime. Will they find the freedom they desire? Or will the cost of defiance prove too high to bear? 

Marina Fontaine is an immigrant from the former Soviet Union. She uses personal experience to craft a novel that takes an intimate look at life in a totalitarian society and the role that individual choices play in advancing the cause of liberty. 

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