Apocalypse Gene Blog Tour & Guest Post

I am delighted to be the host for another Blog Tour. This one is for 'The Apocalypse Gene' by Suki Michelle & Carlyle Clark.

In this post you will find a guest post from the authors, my review and a link to a special Giveaway.

First let me introduce you to the authors:

-Suki Michelle is a lifelong Chicagoan who lives with her paramour, Carlyle Clark. Together they wrote The Apocalypse Gene, a YA urban fantasy. Suki owns a medical transcription company and is the proud mommy of one human girl, a dog and two cats. She had a horse for many years named Make A Wish, but he passed on to the great green meadow beyond. After earning a BFA from Kansas City Art Institute, Suki spent several years studying and teaching meditation. Her training took her to France and Israel, places she yearns to go back to some day. When Suki isn't writing or working, chances are she'll be searching for chocolate and dreaming up horrid things to scare you with

-Carlyle is a burly dude from San Diego. He can look menacing at a glance, but as soon as he opens his mouth – pure GEEK! Brilliant and always kind, Suki is eternally grateful for the day they met at an on-line writer’s workshop. They’ve been together for three years.

Guest Post

BOOKS VERSUS MOVIES – WHICH IS IT?

Harry Potter, Twilight, Lord of the Rings. It’s a matter of opinion but most agree, generally speaking, “the books were better than the movies”. Why is that?

Movies and books have something in common – both offer a place to go, a world where it’s not only satisfying but safe to experience the full range of emotion from annoyance to rage, sadness to grief, ouchies to full-on torture (I’m still not over that scene in Braveheart). You’re transported to a different reality, an experience treasured by every culture since the beginning of history. This is powered by creative magic, that uniquely human phenomenon called STORY.

With movies, the creative process takes place before it reaches the audience. Screenplay writers interpret a novel’s characters or designs them from scratch. Casting directors select human canvases upon which the characters will be painted. Actors breathe life into them, give them body language, vibes, and voice. Once on screen, characters look the way they look, move the way they move, sound the way they sound, and the setting is what it is. All you need to do is sit back, grab a fistful of popcorn (or M&Ms or both), and let the sensory input flow into your eyes and ears. This is a passive process on your part.

With books, the creative process is shared between you and the writer. The writer creates a world, characters, and conflict. Everything is vivid in the writer’s mind and with skill and dogged persistence (and hair-gripping, teeth-gnashing anxiety), a good book is produced. The big difference is that with books, the new reality is subject to your imagination too. This shared creativity is an intimate thing. When you finish a book, you’ve participated in the entire creative process. The story could not have been brought to life without you. This is an active process on your part.

When an author sends a character out into the big scary world, it’s like the first day of Kindergarten where parents gather at the bus stop to wipe away tears and snot (theirs, not the kids’) and watch their overdressed bundles clamber onto that big yellow monster never to be seen or heard from again (until later that afternoon). Similarly, writers trust that their babies will be in good hands with their readers, that they’ll be interpreted as intended and given three-dimensional life and a real world.

Also, it takes far longer to follow characters through a novel than it does to watch a movie (unless you’re a vampire. They read really fast). You must trust that you’ll be in good hands, that the storyteller will take you on a satisfying journey. By contrast, if a movie gets horrible reviews, you might still go and see it. If it blows, you’ve only wasted two hours . . . and there were treats (though you’ll need a bank loan to afford them).

To put your mind at ease before you buy The Apocalypse Gene, go ahead and poke around our website www.theapocalypsegene.com.  Check out the excerpt, read the reviews. Everything you need to know is up there so you can trust us to take you safely through our weird, conflicted world.

I wonder, when the movie version of The Apocalypse Gene comes out (when, not if - I’m an optimist), will it be as good as the novel? We shall see . . . 

Publisher: Parker Publishing 

Release Date: July 2011

ISBN-13: 978-1600431029

Synopsis

With Pandemic ravaging the globe, Olivya's psychic Sight compels her to see auras riddled with the colors of despair, and now her mother is infected.
Olivya’s only hope is the mysterious Mikah, a powerful Empath who claims the Pandemic is linked to his clan, the Kindred, and their brooding, monstrous, Immortal Lord. But can she trust this boy who can manipulate her very emotions?
With Mikah's aid, Olivya races to unearth Kindred secrets, desperate to find a cure, only to discover the Pandemic is far, far more than a mere disease . . .

My Review

I was contacted by the author and offered a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I wasn’t sure what I expected from this book, but was surprised by what I got. This was a good surprise though.

Olivya lives with her mum in Chicago, but life has shut down as a disease like cancer has taken over. Medicine doesn’t work and people tend to just shut down.  Olivya’s mum has converted their house into a makeshift hospital.

Her only escape is Cy-Chi a virtual Chicago. She has created a ‘sim’ of herself and using that she explores Chicago, takes lessons and meets new people. There she meets Mikah, and they hit it off.

Olivya has a psychic power – she can read peoples auras, but is it a gift or curse.

Once she meets up with Mikah in the real world she realises everything is more complicated than she first thought. Together they must work together to rid the world of the disease before it takes over and there’s no one left.

I like Olivya, she’s feisty, spirited and has a good sense of right and wrong. She is a strong heroin and can kick some b**t. MIkah is a bit of a mystery, but comes across quite sweet and caring and also knows what he needs to do. He’s willing to sacrifice everything he knows to save others. Together they make a great team.

Olivya’s mum is Fantastic, I laughed out loud many a time to something she said or did, she has a sensible head on her shoulders but also shows her softer side. You can tell she thinks the world of Olivya but is torn between doing what is best for her and what is best for everyone else.

This book is a bit of a Dystopian Fantasy, as there is some ‘magic’ and dragons involved but it’s more ‘ancient lore’ than pure imagination. The book seems really well researched and the writing flows well, pulling you in.

It’s not my usual sort of read and is a bit morbid in places, but I still found myself hooked to the page.

Overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it. It will definitely get you thinking.

The Apocalypse Gene at Goodreads, Apocalypse Gene Website, Book Trailer, Facebook.

The next stop on the tour is 'Frenzy Of Noise' be sure to check there tomorrow.

 

Now for the Giveaway News:

To got to the post with all the information on entering the giveaway. Click Here