Calling the Reaper

CALLING THE REAPER

by Jason Pere

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BLURB:

The time of the Unity has ended. Now, the realm of man is stranded between Paradise and Purgatory. The Valkyrie and Reaper battle over the fate of all who pass from the land of the living and into the afterlife.

Eight mortal spirits from vastly different worlds tread the same, inevitable path toward their last, crucial decision. Within them all exists the defining conflict every man must face—to look upon the end of their life with glory and honor, or to give credence to their baser longings, calling the Reaper to their own demise.

In this rich, harrowing tale of pride, deceit, honor, vengeance, and redemption, each individual must battle their inner turmoil, facing the sacrifices they have made before their unavoidable end in the land of the living.

But their last day in life is also their first day of death amidst the terrors of the underworld. Lord Master Death wants them all…and the real battle has only just begun.

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EXCERPT:

“In the beginning. In the time before. When the Unity sat atop the throne in Paradise and reigned over the world of man below, all was good and fruitful. There was life without end for every spirit drawing breath within the embrace of the Unity. Things were as such for a time longer than memory itself. But such things end. The day of the Shattering came upon us all. Paradise above and the realm of man below were forever changed. The Unity became no more, and from it was born both Life and Death. On that day, it was decreed that all who lived must one day die. And we the Valkyrie, the children of Paradise, became its warriors. Our robes were replaced with armor, and hands once empty now grasp sword and shield. Our charge is to watch over those who dwell below in the realm of man. We are tasked with the guardianship of every spirit that yet holds life. We shall protect them until that life is at an end. Then it must leave the realm of man. For each spirit that meets its end with virtue and courage, we the Valkyrie shall fly to them and bid them welcome into the warmth of Paradise. For each spirit that meets its end with fear and wickedness, they shall call the Reaper, and I shall mourn them as they are cast into the cold realm filled with weeping and the gnashing of teeth.”

—Laurel, ArchValkyrie of the Thorn Crown

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

What Kind of Writer am I

I have been asked to describe my writing style before and I never have an easy time doing so. I would love to say that I am a unique literary talent but then is there such a thing as a typical breed of writer? At the very least I can safely say that while my material may not be entirely original it is absolutely unforgettable.

When it comes to content I favor the dark, edgy and twisted sort story telling. If you are looking for someone who is going to write tales about fluffy white bunny rabbits, eating lollypops and riding rainbow colored unicorns thru a sunflower field then I am probably not the author for you. While I can appreciate sunshine and happy-faces written in the clouds I prefer to work in shades of bittersweet. If you like to read stories that are unconventional, rife with angst gloom and doom but have an ever so slight twinkling of hope in the distance then I thing you will be quite satisfied reading my work.

When it comes to how I actually like to tell a story, I have a pretty standard formula that I naturally seem to follow. Conventional literary doctrine says “show don’t tell”. I respond with “The title is story-teller not story-shower”. I will unapologetically put some exposition into my text. I think more writers can afford to be similarly unapologetic. I feel it is easy to get caught up on including profuse details and crafting ambiance for the sake of concealing expository information. I say that a writer never wants to feel like they have to convince their reader to accept their premise. I do not want to spend the better part of a chapter setting a scene and expanding on how green the grass is or how the moonlight is glinting off of shards of broken glass so I can subtlety reveal some story point. I will just go ahead and flat out write what I want the reader to know so the plot can move along. I work from the assumption that my reader wants to believe what I am telling them.

My scenes tend to open with a strong charter driven narrative element. By that I mean that I like to put my readers inside my characters head and present them with my heros, heroines and villains during some quiet moments of introspection and reflection. A lot of work goes into crafting an unforgettable character and one of the biggest assets that a character brings to a story is a lifetimes worth of memories and experiences. Having a character visit a thought or dive into a flashback is part of my way of world building and feeding needed information to my reader. My scenes tend to end in some brief moments of dialog after the focal character leaves the comforts of their mind and starts to interact with the other members of my cast.

When I first started sharing my work with others I was nervous about its reception. I was concerned that my work would not be popular because it was far too deviant from the established styles of big name authors. To my good fortune I was wrong. It seems to be that readers have taken a liking to my style of writing. I am happy to say that in the end it seems that while my literary technique may be an acquired tasted it is highly addictive.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Jason Pere is a born-and-raised New Englander. He always had a passion for the arts and creative storytelling. At the age of thirteen, Jason took up the craft of acting for film and theater. He pursued that interest for over a decade until refocusing his medium of expression into writing.

At first, Jason took a causal interest in writing, starting with poetry and journaling. Over time, he honed his direction and finally began writing larger works. In November of 2012, Jason self-published his first book, Modern Knighthood: Diary of a Warrior Poet.

Since then, Jason has continued writing on his own, mostly short stories and poetry. Calling the Reaper was his first experience committing to a full-length Fiction title.

In early 2015, Jason became affiliated with Collaborative Writing Challenge (CWC). Since then, he has joined many other writers on numerous collaborative projects. Jason is a regular contributor to CWC and is scheduled to have multiple pieces of his work appear in their publications throughout 2016.

You can find out more about Jason Pere’s involvement and publications in collaborative fiction at: http://www.collaborativewritingchallenge.com

To connect with Jason, check him out at: http://www.facebook.com/jason.pere.7

Jason also writes fanfiction for Team Covenant on their Blog of the Pheonixborn, dedicated to the new game by Plaid Hat Games, ‘Ashes’. Go to http://teamcovenant.com/ashesonline/ to read Jason’s flash fiction work.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29099920-calling-the-reaper

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6648189.Jason_Pere

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HRCG75U/

NOTE: The book will be $0.99 during the tour

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

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