I’m always interested in being introduced to new authors. There is so much choice out there sometimes authors can be overlooked.
I was very kindly asked to take part in the Clink Street Blogival 2016 and i jumped at the chance to help showcase 4 authors whose books stood out for me.
One thing a book needs to do for me is hook me in from the synopsis alone. If you don’t get that right then you’ve missed out on a sale.
My first spotlight will be on author A.L. Patterson whose book Solipsism caught my eye. Andre has very kindly wrote a piece about how the book came about. Let me know what you think 🙂
Synopsis:
Cosden Ke’s life has long been ordinary. But soon it becomes anything but ordinary when a charismatic professor takes him on a journey through time and space as they travel through the enigma of the only mind in existence. Just as one understanding of life ends, another begins… through unfathomable dimensions. But they soon face an ominous threat to universal actuality— faceless shadowy figures known only as the “Dark Men” who seek to suppress the truth of the universe— both its beginning and its end.
Unfortunately, Solipsism cannot be explained. It can only be experienced.
Book avilable on Amazon – https://t.co/9rRnEbMVCu
Bio:
Andre L. Patterson is a writer and educator based in Georgia. He currently attends Georgia Regents University as a graduate student of education. His interests range from esoteric philosophy to presidential history to solving Moscow Math Puzzles. “Solipsism” is his debut novel.
Website:
Book & Author Spotlight:
Several years ago, my brother, a USC doctoral student who enjoys puzzles, proposed an idea to me. “What if I’m not real? What if nothing in the physical world is real? How can you be sure that anything exists outside of your own mind? Maybe everything else is a projection. That’s a real philosophy, y’know?” So powerful was this notion that it remained with me, even if I didn’t fully believe it. But there it was, always niggling and philosophically gnawing at me. Then I read about this theory again and found a name for it—Solipsism—espoused by the great philosopher René Descartes and even mentioned briefly by Sigmund Freud himself (thus the opening quote of my book). This philosophy is also commonly referred to as “Brain-in-a-vat theory.” It configures that “in the beginning” (my words) our brains lie in a jar and electrical impulses send signals to the mind that forge the illusion, perception, and projections that make up our reality— the entire physical world is a mental projection. This was the sort of stardust that gave breath to The Matrix and The 13th Floor.
Over a year before beginning the manuscript, I came up with a funny idea. Why not turn solipsism into a book? I jotted down the mere idea in a notebook and assumed such an undertaking, with its philosophical and theoretical underpinning, would be too daunting. But a year later, I woke up one morning and realized that it had to be done. While my writing process is generally to plan in great detail, chapter-by-chapter, that was not done with this book. Perhaps because there are no chapters in this novel! That was quite purposeful. I want this novel to be read and experienced in one fell swoop. No breaks, no stops, no distractions to put it down. I almost see this book as one long chapter. But it remains purposefully short in comparison to other 21st century novels, where 600-page tomes have become the norm. I did not want to do that with this story. I prefer to exert the notion that 200 pages of my short novel, an exercise in esoterica— tinged with action and delightful surprises, will be just as worthwhile as any longer manuscript. I have admittedly packed a great deal of material into this book. And I hope, dear reader, you will enjoy experiencing this book as I enjoyed writing it. Who knows? If sales are ripe, we may get to join Cosden and The Professor once more. I will simply leave you with the tagline that I conjured up for this story.
Solipsism cannot be explained. It can only be experienced.
Book available on Amazon – https://t.co/9rRnEbMVCu
David's Book Blurg 