Cover Reveal and Guest Post by Liesel K Hill.
Persistence of Vision Book 1 of Interchron Will be released Winter-2012
Below is a summary of Liesel's new book, and you will find her Guest post called
The Importance of Escapism
Check it out, its very interesting, and I think you will like it.
Summary in Scrollbox
In a world where collective hives are enslaving the population and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper, and independent 21st Century woman, must find the strength to preserve the freedom of the future, but without the aid of her memories.
After experiencing a traumatic time loss, Maggie is plagued by a barrage of images she can't explain. When she's attacked by a creep with a spider's web tattoo, she is saved by Marcus, a man she's never met, but somehow remembers. He tells her that both he and her creepy attacker are from a future in which individuals are being murdered by collectives, and Marcus is part of the rebellion. The collectives have acquired time travel and they plan to enslave the human race throughout all of history. The flashes Maggie has been seeing are echoes of lost memories, and the information buried deep within them is instrumental in defeating the collective hives.
In order to preserve the individuality of mankind, Maggie must try to re-discover stolen memories, re-kindle friendships she has no recollection of, and wade through her feelings for the mysterious Marcus, all while dodging the tattooed assassins the collectives keep sending her way.
If Maggie can't fill the holes in her memory and find the answers to stop the collectives, the world both in her time and in all ages past and future will be doomed to enslavement in the grey, mediocre collectives. As the danger swirls around her and the collectives close in, Maggie realizes she must make a choice: stand out or fade away...
*New Adult-futuristic dystopian fantasy
The Importance of Escapism
Why do we love books so much? Or TV or movies or videogames for that matter? The answer is Escapism. We all like to escape into parallel worlds (or perhaps not so parallel) and learn about other people’s problems, while heartily avoiding our own.
I’m not suggesting avoiding reality. Of course there is real life to consider. Children have to be cared for, dinner prepared, monetary issues dealt with, terrorists voted against, etc., and these are the most important issues in our lives. Yet, when we have a few minutes to ourselves, why not escape?
I have a pet peeve about people bashing escapism, and not just because I’m an author. I’ve come to believe that escapism through stories is not only important but imperative to our growth and development as human beings.
I used to watch the TV show, 24 when it was on. There were plenty of people who hated the show. They had various reasons for hating it—hated the acting, hated the pacing, hated the subject matter, etc.—but the most common reason I heard was that it was pure escapism and therefore not realistic.
My answer to this: Yeah, what’s your point?
Did anyone think 24 was all kinds of realistic? Probably not. Was it pure escapism? Sure. But it was also fun escapism. And what of it? What’s so wrong with escaping from time to time? What does escapism do for us?
On word: EMPOWERMENT.
Escapism empowers us as human beings in many ways.
1. It gets us away from our daily problems. Let’s face it, everyone needs a break sometimes. We are more willing to deal with someone else’s problems, because they aren’t so close to us, so personal. We can learn strength from those problems, step back and analyze them objectively in a way we can’t do with our own. Perhaps thes we can apply them to our own lives and receive some benefit.
2. It helps us deal. Not only does it take us away so we come back refreshed, but by reading about other people and how they dealt well (or not) with their problems, we help arm ourselves against those same problems in our future.
Haven’t you ever been reading and asked yourself, What would I do in that situation? Of course you have! Whether consciously or not, we all do it. Maybe I’ll never be in an abusive relationship, but when I read about one, I resolve to never put up with that. I think about what I would do if someone I loved were in one, how I would help them, etc.
If I’d never read that book, I wouldn’t have ever thought about it, and I might not have been as prepared if such a trial ever came my way.
3. It instills faith. Or hope, if you’d rather. There are certain beliefs, or a propensity for them, that are wired into us as human beings, and can only be taken out forcibly. We need to believe that everything will be okay. We need to believe that right will win out over wrong. We need to believe in true love. (Even men need believe this, whether they’ll admit it or not.) Books give us hope and teach us to believe in happiness. Even if you aren’t a particularly optimistic or religious person, any therapist worth their salt will tell you that this is the healthiest psychological belief we can cultivate.
4. For people who are unhappy in their lives, or living in less-than-desirable circumstances, escapism can help them through hard times, and sometimes even give them strength to change their world.
This may seem over the top, but consider this example. In the documentary, Waiting for Superman, Geoffrey Canada talks about reading Superman comic books as a child and believing that Superman was a real person. When he said something to that affect to his mother, she had to explain that Superman wasn’t real—just a story. He broke down crying, saying, “But then who will save us?”
Saddest thing ever, right? He was a poor boy from the projects, and reading those comic books gave him hope. So much so that today he is a great educator and “president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone in Harlem, New York, an organization which states its goal is to increase high school and college graduation rates among students in Harlem.” (Wikipedia, “Geoffrey Canada”) Where would he be today if he’d never had the hope of Superman?
So why not escape? Why not kick terrorist butt with Jack Bower or win the Hunger Games with Katniss Everdeen? Of course there’s reality to be considered, and it’s generally not as fun as escapism, but so what? As long as reality is taken care of, escapism can only make us stronger. :D
I hope you enjoyed Liesel's guest post. I will have another post for when the book comes out as well and my review once I get a copy to read. Soon will have an expert posted as well for you guys!
Thanks for stopping by, leave a comment, let us know what you think. If your a new follower, let me know that too, so I can follow back.
0 comments:
Post a Comment