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.
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.
NOTE: The book will be $0.99 during the tour
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Use the link below to enter.
