Emerge Beyond Circles
by John
Geers
GENRE: Fantasy
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.
Interview
with John Geers
What inspired you to write Emerge Beyond Circles?
I
was inspired by other authors. We used to have a great locally owned book chain
here in the Milwaukee area. They regularly had authors of all kinds do author
talks. I went to dozens of them. Hearing the story of how a book was written
was as fascinating to me as the book itself. It wasn’t long before I wanted to
be part of that process.
The
original nugget came in a dream. The other 98% came from careful consideration
of what I wanted to include in my novel. It contains themes of love and loss
from my own life. Then I included the elements of story that I love most. I
constructed it in a way that I would love and I feel like I succeeded.
Can you tell us a little bit about the next books in The Eternal Coven Series or what you have planned for the future?
They
continue the story of eternal love. The story grows bigger and more intense and
becomes a story that will inspire all who read them.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Emerge Beyond Circles?
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Emerge Beyond Circles?
The
characters are extremely well developed and relatable. They are normal people
thrust into extraordinary circumstances, my favorite type of character.
You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?
You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?
My
favorite authors are Patrick Suskind, James Crace, and Tolkien. Each creates
stories without bounds, they are fearless and unconcerned with offending
people. I love that.
If you could time-travel would you travel to the future or the past? Where would you like to go and why would you like to visit this particular time period?
If you could time-travel would you travel to the future or the past? Where would you like to go and why would you like to visit this particular time period?
I
would love to travel to the distant past, to the beginnings of the human
species. I would love to watch us emerge as a complex creature capable of art
and language and culture.
Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?
Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?
I have none although my daughter and I talk about adding a fuzzy friend
to our family often. There are two felines in my book however!
AUTHOR BIO:
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.
AUTHOR LINKS:
BUY LINK:
Giveaway:
$25 Amazon GC, a signed copy of the book, and a stuffed tiger (US only)
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1 comments:
Great post - thanks for sharing!
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