For those who hopped over for the apoc-hop, scroll down to the awesome prizes and the Rafflecopter!!!
Science fiction stories of time and space...
The future of humanity must be decided in Next Phase. Winning the Planetary Lottery is not as lucky as it first seems in Schrodinger's Gamble. An apocalypse and its aftermath threaten to tear one couple apart in Daiker's Children. In Life As I Know It a reclusive man finds both his heart and home invaded during an alien harvest. In Taking Time a demon seeking shelter on a distant planet finds himself facing a very different kind of demon, after answering a frontier settlement's plea for help. Stories range from flash fiction to novelette in length.
Amazon, Amazon UK, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Ellie's website
About Ellie:
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As far as apocalypse goes, one of my favorite writers, Don DeLillo posits in his novel, Point Omega, we have an irrepressible urge to become “dumb as stones”, to unburden ourselves of our consciousness in one great, cataclysmic endgame explosion? What happens after the Omega Point—the rising timeline that rushes to the point of maximum complexity, after which the universe will become unrecognizable due to its enormous changes?
Or is it more an urge to reconstruction and reinvention—to a re-virgined world, fresh and exciting in its newness? Why else would we keep creating these explosive “ends”?
In DeLillo’s Point Omega, his characters who discuss the state of the world, have a very personal omega point after a shocking turn of events.
In Ruby’s Fire, my post-apoc fantasy, the world has already experienced a fiery sort of death, and is in the infant stages of reforming—that perilous place that could tip to metamorphosis or final death.
In Jonathan Maberry’s Rot and Ruin, the world is being overrun by Zombies.
In this blog hop, I'm giving away a copy of each of these books (and more), to the person who leaves the most insightful and creative comment about their take on apocalypse. That and entering the Rafflecopter suggestions. Get your apocalypse on, and after you’re done here, visit other great sites in the apoc-hop.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I think people are fascinated by an apocalypse because it's the highest stakes possible. It's bigger than one person being chased by a serial killer, several people being terrorized in a haunted house, or thousands dying in a war. An apocalypse would kill billions.
ReplyDeleteGreat giveaway, Catherine!
Reformation is good. Much more nuanced than apocalypse. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome giveaway! BTW - I received your book, today. YAY!!!
ReplyDeleteI think part of the fascination with the end of the world is the idea of hitting the "reset" button. Whether we consciously acknowledge it or not, I think on an intuitive level we, as humans, know that we're living an unsustainable lifestyle of resource consumption and overpopulation. The inevitable consequence is "die back" of the species.
ReplyDeleteFor myself, I write about a post-apocalyptic world because, as a plot device, it's a way of putting society through a strainer and then seeing what comes out the other side. I like to consider what would survive and what would be destroyed as far as politics, religion, and stereotypes goes. It's creative thinking at it's best. :)
I think the fascination with "apocalypse and the end of the world" is because people know...deep down that it is SO POSSIBLE and could happen with very little notice. I think it could happen at any time, without warning and there would just be chaos, no matter what. It could be something viral, chemical, zombies...it could happen. Maybe not like in the movies, but something similar. I'm just waiting for the day...but not looking forward to it.
ReplyDeletecassandra
Perhaps it is in hope that we are drawn to those stories. Because although the world has fallen apart, it is our chance to hit restart and begin again.
ReplyDeleteAlex, I'm with you on that, though Cassandra, I agree the world could so easily go kerfloo
DeleteI think the true reason apocalyptic books are so popular is because of the fantasy: if it came down to this, I could be a super hero. I would be the leader. I would protect my loved ones. And the fantasy of: all this ess aytch eye tee that the governments have imposed on us, credit reporting, etc., if it were all gone we could go back to a simpler time! It's a chance at a do-over. I think it's more about the super-hero fantasy, though. :)
ReplyDeleteTiffany, ah yes, we'd all like to be superheroes. Keep these great answers coming!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the fabulous giveaway. I would love to read these books!
ReplyDeleteI think people are so amazed by the apocalypse because people want the chance to prove that they can survive in difficult situations. Life has become so crazy now that the reset button appeals to people because they think what would my life be like if everything was taken away and things went back to basics. I think many people have the fantasy that they would prevail in a post apocalypse world and they could take on the planet like their long ago ancestors did. Of course- most people think they could do it all with one or two of the important people in their lives and they could do away with all the things about their life they don't like. :)
~Jess
Haha, Jess, I h think it'd be hard to take on the world with only two sidekicks, buy yeah, it's a great fantasy! Keep up the great hypotheses!!!
ReplyDeleteLovely giveaway! And I also adore the names you've chosen for your characters. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking part in our W4W's, I hope being a guest author helps to expand your fan base! Thanks for the great giveaway opportunity, it is a lovely touch to your post.
ReplyDeleteIt's W4WS day! Yay! Good luck and have fun. Great tweets. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christine!!!
ReplyDeletegosh, you're busy! good luck with everything!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jessie, you too.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with everything! I'm off to do some Tweeting now.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steve!
ReplyDeleteGood luck! Sending Tweets and FB posts. :)
ReplyDeleteLove all these different takes on the apocalypse. Sometimes I wonder if people are so obsessed with the idea because they hope something will come along and wipe out all the people they don't like :) (I'm just kidding...well, kinda)
ReplyDeleteCool beans! I'm just recovering from my ginormous road trip, but what a fun idea! I have an apocalyptic story that takes place under water. Yup. Won't elaborate on details because I really do plan on penning out the whole book one day. I read one though--a piece of flash fiction by David Dunwoody that took my breath away: Zombie invasion, where the zombies consume paper--the narrator penning out his story, and lamenting that no one will ever get to read it as he tears off corners to feed the massing mindless creatures crowded below his roof.
ReplyDeleteCherie, thanks. Meradeth, wicked yet creative take on apoc. crystal, I'd love to read an underwater apoc.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading White Noise by Delillo. He's a wonderful writer.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your famedom :D I hope it makes you a big star. I don't know how many ways to say I loved your book, but I did.
Who wouldn't want to read Rot and Ruin?
ReplyDeleteCongrats on Ruby's Fire! Posted and tweeted about you and Brinda today.
ReplyDeleteAwesome giveaway.. and Congrats!! Site is awesome!
ReplyDeletevals_hemi at yahoo dot com
Ruby's Fire has a great cover! Love it! Good luck and have fun. I'm off to do some tweeting.
ReplyDeleteWriter In Transit
I'm a day late, but I Fb'd and Tweeted - new follower, too. Hope you're getting lots of coverage!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gwen!
ReplyDeleteOh, and thanks to Michelle too!
ReplyDeleteGreat giveaway! Got to love a good apocalypse. ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat giveaway for sure. Happy to see Ellie doing the rounds here!
ReplyDeleteNutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
I truly believe in the Bible when it talks about the Rapture and The Tribulations. I had nightmares for a long time when we read Tribulations about the fact that God will unleash everything in Hell and the only rule is that they can torture us all they want but they are not allowed to kill us. We will NOT be allowed to kill ourselves. To me, that is the worst scenario of all. No matter what happens, you cannot die, you will relive each and every moment until God decided enough is enough. But then, the real nightmare begins when you are cast into Hell for eternity. So, no matter what you do, it will be pretty gruesome. They talked about creatures that were half human, half scorpion stinging you over and over again but not killing you. I don't know about anyone else and that is each person's decision, but I believe in the Bible and God and don't want to be here when all that happens so I pray every day I go when the Rapture happens so I can escape all of this.
ReplyDeleteMary B, yes, that would a terrifying type of apoc.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteYay to the lucky winners, and BIG congrats to Ellie for her exciting new book! :-)
ReplyDelete(Yes, I know I already commented. I just wanted to do it again! lol)
Congrats to the winners! Very awesome :) and thank you again, Catherine (GAH! I swear each and every time I type out your name I want to type Cathering... why?! Makes no sense lol) for hosting another blog hop/giveaway!
ReplyDeleteTaking Time (both book and story) sounds pretty sweet. I really like short story/anthology compilations.
I never knew what to answer about the apocalyptic appeal people have. This may be odd, considering I am dabbling in writing Sci-Fi/Post-Apocalyptic now. I will try to ponder what attracted me to it (though a specific ending is what spawned my original inspiration).
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I guess for me it partially comes down to the whole normal individuals placed in extraordinary situations. I know that may be cliche, but there aren't many extraordinary events that tops everything you've ever known worldwide coming to an end. Who will join together for the betterment of mankind? Who will take advantage of the situation and all those broken hopeless survivors?
And depending on the events taking place leading up to the "end", what caused it to happen and/or why? Then naturally, what comes next?
Sometimes I drive around and think about all the roles people play in life, and I just wonder what it would be like if they all no longer existed. I can't build computer parts, or know engineering, or farming. Hell I don't know if I could feasibly change my tire as I've never had to before! I'd be screwed!
So yeah... ;-) I like all the questions surrounding it all.
Jak at The Cryton Chronicles & Dreams in the Shade of Ink