Absolution Tour: Guest Post & Giveaway!

Posted July 3, 2012 by Silvia in Uncategorized / 2 Comments

Welcome to my second stop for Absolution Tour
and the last one for this great tour 
(by Dark Mind Book Tours)!!

(Absolution)
(Louis Corsair)

A dead private eye is brought back to life for one day to solve the supernatural murder of an Adult film star. For Hollywood Private Investigator Raymond Adams, life ended in 1947 when a gangster killed him. But the afterlife isn’t what he expected. In the Abstract Realm, he continuously snaps out of fabricated scenarios meant to rid his soul of impurities. Worse, he’s not even sure of the type of man he was in life. So he accepts an offer from the celestial beings in charge. The son of a Pit Lord was murdered in Hollywood and his soul was taken. If he finds the culprit and the missing soul, they’ll grant him eternal peace. But there are complications: They can only bring him back to life for 24 hours; this is not the Hollywood he remembers–It’s the year 2011; and the victim was an Adult film actor whose private life was…exotic. With only the help of a possessed cop and a medium, Adams must trek through a Hollywood underground filled with prostitutes, the homeless, and sadists, along with supernatural monsters. But can he solve the case when his own haunting memories keep surfacing, telling him exactly what kind of man he was?

Amazon UK (paperback) – Amazon UK (ebook) – Amazon US (paperback) – Amazon US (ebook)
You can purchase Absolution on Amazon for only $0.99/£0.77 for the whole tour!!
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GUEST POST BY LOUIS CORSAIR


Circumstances beyond my control are the reason for this new guest post. That makes it almost fifteen I’ve done in one month and I promise you I will die before I ever agree to do that many again in the same amount of time in the future. But this is the last one. The very last one. One thing I’ve learned thus far is that when the world spins left, you have no choice but to spin with it–unless you are a titan and can force it to stop. Such is the tragedy of this place; its turbulence is beyond your control. But look at me. I almost sound like a writer!

Writers are a unique brand of artist. They say one thing that doesn’t make sense, but somehow it does in their fiction. What does that mean? Lately, I’ve been working on a blog post for something called “show, don’t tell.” It’s advice that some writers have turned into a mantra. It’s the kind of silliness you would expect from someone who approaches writing like a hobby. That’s mean spirited. Or not. Maybe. Who knows?


I don’t. I never claim to know anything about writing when I have to explain it. It seems that my hands know more about it while I’m doing it, but this is a subconscious process. But here I’m droning on about things that have nothing to do with the topic of my guest post. I wanted to talk about how little I know as a writer. 


1) What are the elements of fiction?

I don’t know what they are. And apparently, neither do other writers. I tried to use google to find a definitive list of them, but no dice. Every list I came across was different than the others. How can that be? These are the very basics of the fiction we write and yet we can’t agree on a list of these elements? It stunned me to realize that I didn’t know what the elements of fiction are. I can tell you which elements are popular amongst writers, but this seems a little macabre. Are the elements of fiction just something we writers vote on? I don’t think writing fiction is like American Idol where you get to vote on your favorites. Correct me if I’m wrong, please!

2) What makes a novel successful?

I have no idea. Consider this: The Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy suddenly exploded, going so far as to top the New York Times Best Sellers list (ebook and paperback). Is it the curiosity factor that made this so successful? Not likely. This was not the first novel of its kind and now that this trilogy was so popular you can expect its clones in the future. Maybe there was something about the story that captured the imagination of its readers? Not likely. Most people who have reviewed these novels agree they aren’t exactly the stuff of legend. 
And so there is some x-factor that was the key to its success. Was it the same x-factor that made the Harry Potter books so successful? I like to think not. Maybe it was the same x-factor that made the Twilight books so successful? The two series are in different parts of the ball park, so no, not likely. What do the “experts” say made the Fifty Shades trilogy so popular? They have guesses like I do. Guesses? Guesses! No one knows with 100% certainty what it was about these books that set them on fire. Especially not me.

3) What makes writing great?

I mean the physical stuff, the words on paper. I tried to google this too and couldn’t get a definitive answer. By now you’re saying, you should try to pick up a book too you sap, but it’s the same thing in the onslaught of books on writing that exist. Every writer has their own opinion about what makes the writing in a story great. Is it the way that the writer phrases things? Is it their use of literary tropes? Is it how poetic the words sound or how NOT poetic they sound? 
You likely have your own answers, some y-factor that makes the writing great, but here is something to consider: Why isn’t every novel that has writing that uses your y-factor called great writing? There are a hundred thousand and one clones of Hemingway and just as many clones of Faulkner and Woolf. Is it that Hemingway was the first to write the way that he did? If that’s the case then these writers were innovators. Is that what makes writing great? That you were the first one to pioneer this method or approach? This seems unlikely. 

4) What makes a novel great? Brilliant?

This one really confused me. I have no idea how to approach the question! I recently read a novel I thought both great and brilliant, Night by Elie Wiesel. I cannot tell you why it is. The language is simplistic, but I found more power in each word than in any of Faulkner’s novels. The depictions of concentration camp violence were distanced and yet they were more brutal than anything in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. The main character, the author, declares himself a coward in the story. But it was the lack of comic courage in most characters in literature that made Elie Wiesel seem the most humane, a true sample of our species. For better or worse, the depiction lacks the gloss of most literary novels. And this, above all, was why I thought it brilliant. And yet, these things do not make all novels brilliant. Have you ever read a Patterson book in which the main character is like this? 

And now I will tell you the little that I do know about writing. It is a subjective craft; there is nothing objective about it. There are no rules to it. Whenever I come with a rule of writing, I quickly come up with an exception to the rule and then another, and then another, until the exceptions seem to be the rule! Even the most fundamental rule, that you use the language of the nation you are in, seems flimsy. For stylistic reasons, a writer can bend these rules. Like so. 

I also know this: There is no correct way to write fiction, regardless of what other writers say. And this is the reason why I continue to write. It doesn’t discourage me that I know so little about it. It gives me strength to know that other writers are in the exact same position as I am. So, snicker a little whenever you hear a writer tell you that they know what makes good writing. I always do.


Where you can find Louis: 
Blog – Facebook – Goodreads
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And now it’s time for an International giveaway!
Would you like an eBook copy of “Absolution”?

Well, here’s your big chance!
a Rafflecopter giveaway


*Don’t forget this is the last day to join the special giveaway for this tour running only on Dark Mind Book Tours! Louis is offering a huge, fantastic, unmissable swag composed by: 1 paperback of Absolution, 1 keychain, 1 bookmark, 1 magnet, 1 hat, 1 magnifying glass and 1 pair of shades INTERNATIONAL.

Silvia

About Silvia

Through her creativity and blogging, Silvia has met people from different industries and collaborated with them on various projects over the years. Her strong passion for reading and her fascination for different cultures and languages have led her to develop a keen interest in the East-Asian continent. Off to see her? Follow the colourful book road . . . ♡

2 responses to “Absolution Tour: Guest Post & Giveaway!

  1. Tom

    One of the most honest posts I've ever read on the subject(s), Louis–although I'm sure "experts" would be up in arms.

    And I agree that guest posts are a bear. They're fun and creative, but a bear, nevertheless. Anyway, congrats on a successful tour. Now get to book two.

    No rest for the wicked.

  2. I'm glad you feel that way, Tom. Sometimes it's the truth that hurts the most. I hope Sylvia is doing well. This tour was a wild ride! I'm as curious as anyone to find out who the winner of all that swag is.

    I am wicked. Thanks, Franny.

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