Interview with Dr. Joe Wenke, author of "You Got to be Kidding!"

Today's interview is with Dr. Joe Wenke, who wrote a satire on the Bible, "You Got To Be Kidding Me!" It's in my TBR and sooner or later I'll get it read and reviewed. I was a philosophy and religion major at college and I'm a religious liberal so this book calls to me.

JOE WENKE is an outspoken and articulate LGBTQ rights activist. He is the founder and publisher of Trans Über, a publishing company with a focus on LBGTQ rights, free thought and promoting equality for all people.  Wenke is the author of Mailer’s America and You Got to be Kidding! The Cultural Arsonist's Satirical Reading of the Bible. His next book, Papal Bull: An Ex-Catholic Calls Out the Catholic Church, will be published this fall along with his first novel, The Talk Show.

Spotlight: The Breeders by Matthew J. Beier

Matthew J. Beier’s new novel "The Breeders", set in a dystopian future where homosexuals run the world and heterosexuals are being set on a path to extinction, is available now from Epicality Books. Beier, an openly gay Minnesota native, hopes the political satire will add fuel to the nation’s debate over gay marriage, coming just in time to dovetail with Minnesota’s proposed amendment to ban it.

 Beier knows something most heterosexual people don’t: what it’s like to be perceived as a threat—or even hated—due to his sexual orientation. In a unique reflection of his own life experience, "The Breeders" flips social norms upside down and imagines a future where homosexuals have figured out how to reproduce via genetic engineering, and heterosexuals are the disdained minority—kept around only as a backup plan for human survival. Inspiration for the novel came from the National Organization for Marriage, whose 2008 ad campaign equating gay marriage to “a coming storm” was both humorous and frustrating for the author.

“Despite the fact that I’ve been very fortunate in avoiding any life-altering instances of prejudice, I’m often on the outside, looking in,” he says of his experience living on the homosexual fringe. “When I see political agendas, news stories, or online news comments conveying fear or disgust over the GLBT community, I can’t help but think that most of the people behind them haven’t even bothered to put themselves in the place of those they are speaking out against. In developing The Breeders, I asked myself, ‘What would happen if I imagined it for them?’” 

What drew Beier’s attention was the idea of two heterosexuals conceiving a child in a future where reckless, unplanned reproduction is the most hated of human flaws. The book draws on current political, media, and scientific trends to make the dystopian future feel as realistic as possible.

“The Breeders takes this scenario to the extreme, but at its core is a story about two human beings trying to find their own worth in a society that drags them down,” Beier says. “I think the book is hitting at just the right time due to the public attention focused on gay marriage issues, bullying, and anti-gay prejudice. I’m often surprised to see just how diverse people’s beliefs and feelings are on these subjects, especially when hatred and violence are involved. One of the key problems is that there are so few conversation starters out there that encourage the differing camps to understand each other.” 

While Beier hopes "The Breeders" will be entertaining for people of all political persuasions, he also hopes it will foster dialogue between people of differing opinions on human rights and social progress. “My dream,” he says, “is to help people to see that humanity is—to quote Albus Dumbledore—only as strong as it is united and as weak as it is divided. But if this novel simply makes anybody’s list of top books to read, that would be a thrill, too.”

I like the cover of this book, though why it has icebergs I have no idea. I guess I'll have to read it to find out. It's an intriguing premise with a dynamite plot. If you read it before I do, let me know what you think.

 The Breeders

Author: Matthew Beier 

ISBN: 978-0983859406 

Publisher: Epicality Books 

Genre: Fiction, Dystopian, Speculative

Release Date: January 2012 

Formats: paperback, ebook

Length: 426 pages, 708 KB

Price: $14.99US 

Buying Links:  The Book Depository   Amazon   Barnes & Noble

Website  Twitter

Interested? Check out the book trailer.

Tribute Books Blog Tour Review of The Kingdom on the Edge of Reality by Gahan Hanmer

 

Publisher: TwoHarbors

Release Date: April 2, 2012

Buying Links: Barnes & Noble     My Book Orders      Amazon

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Sometimes it's funny how fast things can change, and sometimes it's not... 

Welcome to Albert Keane's beautifully designed medieval kingdom nestled in a completely isolated river valley in the Canadian wilderness. Peaceful, happy, and prosperous, it takes nothing from the modern world, not so much as a single clock.

There is a castle, of course, and a monastery. There is even a pitch dark, rat-infested dungeon - because you simply have to have one if you are trying to rule a feudal kingdom!

Farmers work the land, artisans ply their trades, monks keep school and visit the sick, and nobody (well, almost nobody) misses the modern world at all.

So why has Jack Darcey - actor, wanderer, ex-competitive fencer - been tricked and seduced into paying a visit? And why hasn't anyone told him that the only way to leave is a perilous trek across hundreds of miles of trackless wilderness without a compass or a map?

Because a tide of fear and violence is rising from the twisted ambitions of one of King Albert's nobles, and Albert's fortune teller believes that Jack could turn the tide - if he lives long enough.

Teaser: 

She let me go then; and if you don't think I felt totally crazy, you have to remember that I was dressed fro head to foot as a medieval warrior, and with what I had on my horse thrown in, I was carrying about two hundred pounds of armor and weapons and standing in the middle of some impossible kingdom on the farthest edge of reality. I wasn't in any state to make a rational decision about anything, but in my gut I knew that going back to Marysville wasn't an option, whether or not that could be accomplished anyway. The life I had left behind didn't seem attractive or even real anymore. It was more like a half-remembered dream. The only solid ground I had in the world was right under my feet, I couldn't say that I was actually in love with Albert's kingdom, but I was certainly intrigued and amazed by what I had already seen, and I had been anxious to begin my quest because I wanted to see more. So I knew in my gut that my course was set, dangerous as it obviously now appeared to be.

Reviewed By: Bea

My Thoughts:

At times this book, it reminded me of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" - the modern man (modern for when the book was published) who finds himself in a medieval kingdom and has to adapt, that same character becoming enmeshed in political intrigues, and the choices that a moral adult has to make. Of course, in ACYIKAC, the main character travels back in time whereas in The Kingdom on the Edge of Reality takes place in one time period but two very different cultures.

Jack Darcey is down on his luck, not sure where his life is going or what he is doing, when an employee of an old prep school friend shows up and drags him to his friend, Albert Keane's, house. Albert spins him a story of his new kingdom up in Canada and sells Jack on joining him there. Of course, the situation isn't quite what Albert, King Albert actually, presented it, but Jack, now Sir Jack, a knight of the realm, finds that he likes life in King Albert's Kingdom - it reminds him in some ways of camping but minus any of the modern accouterments. It's a simpler way of life and one that lets him, in his role of knight, to indulge his protective streak and play hero. But soon, it's not just playing; life in the kingdom has it's violent side and people, regardless of lifestyle, are still capable of greed, jealousy, cruelty and violence. As Jack is still learning how things work in the kingdom, he becomes embroiled in politics and what seemed an idyllic paradise turns into a nightmare.

Hanmer presents a clear look at ideals, dreams and reality and how the choices we make define us. At times, the characters are a little too good to be real and the commoners seem a little too happy with their, admittedly chosen, rural lifestyle. But overall, Hanmer writes real, believable, engaging characters and I was drawn into the story fairly quickly. Events played out realistically in my opinion and his depiction of prison life in the dungeon and the lasting effects it has on a person were chilling while not graphic.

"The Kingdom on the Edge of Reality" is an engrossing, quick read that blends politics, action, romance, a hint of religion, with some psychological insight into modern life. It's a serious book but not heavy, an enjoyable afternoon's read.

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I received a print ARC for review as part of a blog tour.

Review: Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson & Sam Stall

Book Blurb:  Journey to the Final Frontier of Sci-Fi Zombie Horror!

Jim Pike was the world's biggest Star Trek fan—until two tours of duty in Afghanistan destroyed his faith in the human race. Now he sleepwalks through life as the assistant manager of a small hotel in downtown Houston.

But when hundreds of Trekkies arrive in his lobby for a science-fiction convention, Jim finds himself surrounded by costumed Klingons, Vulcans, and Ferengi—plus a strange virus that transforms its carriers into savage, flesh-eating zombies!

As bloody corpses stumble to life and the planet teeters on the brink of total apocalypse, Jim must deliver a ragtag crew of fanboys and fangirls to safety. Dressed in homemade uniforms and armed with prop phasers, their prime directive is to survive. But how long can they last in the ultimate no-win scenario?

*This is an original work of fiction, horror, and parody, and is not officially sponsored by, affiliated with, or endorsed by the owners of the Star Trek® brand. 

My Thoughts: I'm not generally a zombie fan but I AM a Trekkie. I've loved it since I was a little kid. One of my very best friends, I met over 20 years ago in college because of Star Trek. We had a class together but hadn't talked until she spotted me reading a Star Trek comic book (yes, this was back before they were graphic novels) as I waited for class to start. We've been good friends ever since. I spotted this book over the summer at my local independent book store, picked it up and skimmed through it. I've been to some ST conventions and the authors seemed to know what they were talking about plus it didn't seem campy despite the cover art so I decided to give it a try.

     The book moves quickly and contains some twists and turns, though a few parts were predictable. There are a few small plot holes, but the book is written in good fun. It's funny but not sarcastic or biting, the convention parts felt real, and the characters were likable. I did want to slap Jim a time or two, he was exceedingly self-absorbed, but he's written that way and some of the other characters did it for me. :D

     There's a running gag concerning the friendly rivalry between Trek fans and Star Wars fans which was fun but not overly done. There are some puns (hello, the name Jim Pike? Awesome)  but the book never becomes childish or crosses the line into ridiculous. I didn't completely buy into the explanation for where the zombies came from or how they developed but but it didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the book. It was fun, had lots of neat little ST references, and I read it in one sitting.


Publisher: Quirk Books

Release Date: July 28, 2010



I borrowed this paperback from my local library.