Mom With A Kindle: Blog Tour & [Interview] The Darkening Dream by Andy Gavin

Welcome Author Andy Gavin

Andy Gavin is a serial creative, polymath, novelist, entrepreneur, computer programmer, author, foodie, and video game creator. He co-founded video game developer Naughty Dog and co-created Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter. He started numerous companies, has been lead programmer on video games that have sold more than forty million copies, and has written two novels including The Darkening Dream, a dark historical fantasy that puts the bite back in vampires.

If you could live in any book “world” which book would it be?

Some “Culture” novel like Consider Phlebas, that way I could use the advanced technology to download myself into an AI and become immortal.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I expected to be EMPEROR OF THE KNOWN UNIVERSE, or perhaps the architect of a new revised humanity 2.0. I’m not really kidding. Still, I turned out pretty well .

What was your favorite book as a child/teen?

I used to love the Alexander Key novels like The Forgotten Door, Escape from Witch Mountain, and The Case of the Vanishing Boy. They combined kids with cool powers with really excellent writing and characterization. As an early teen, some of my favorite authors were Piers Anthony, Jack Chalker, and Orson Scott Card. Later, I added in more sophisticated stuff like Gene Wolfe.

You are stranded on a deserted island, what 3 things would you want?

My laptop, a coconut powered generator, and a satellite modem.

M&M’s or Skittles?

Skittles. It isn’t even close, they’re my favorite candy.

Favorite icecream?

Really good Gelato (which means Italy) in complex dessert flavors like tiramisu or cassata. For example: http://all-things-andy-gavin.com/2011/07/21/eating-florence-gelateria-santa-trinita/

What’s your favorite season/weather?

I like those Los Angeles days when the air is perhaps 78, breezy and warm with just a touch of cool. I’m also very partial to balmy nights like they get in coastal Florida.

Beach or pool?

Pool. I’m a neat freak and don’t like getting too sandy.

If you had a time machine where would you go back in time or ahead? And who would you like to visit.

I’d go forward and have myself upgraded into an indestructible cyborg, then I’d go back and explore the past, particularly the ancient Mediterranean. In Untimed, poor Charlie is so busy putting history back together, he doesn’t have a chance to sightsee.

Any advice for writer’s just starting out?

Read, read, write, write, edit, edit, edit. And hire good professional help too. Friends and family can give you a sense of how the book reads, but they can't usually tell you how to fix anything serious. I've read a lot of half-decent Indie books on my Kindle that are at their core good, but just need some serious tightening and polish. Hell, I've read plenty of big-six bestsellers you can say this about.

Any pet peeves?

Phone support people where they make you repeat all your basic info every time even if they have the case ID.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

Untimed dares to imagine a world where not even history can be taken for granted.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.

I love when people tell me it’s the best book they’ve read in the last couple of years. What author wouldn’t?

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?

Yep. Right now, I’m writing two more novels and adapting Untimed into a screenplay. The new books are the Untimed sequel and a totally separate short novel that involves old school fairies and iambic pentameter.

The Darkening Dream

by Andy Gavin
Paperback, 382 pages

Published January 10th 2012

by Mascherato Publishing (first published December 22nd 2011)

The Darkening Dream is the chilling new dark fantasy novel by Andy Gavin, creator of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter.

Even as the modern world pushes the supernatural aside in favor of science and steel, the old ways remain. God, demon, monster, and sorcerer alike plot to regain what was theirs.

1913, Salem, Massachusetts - Sarah Engelmann's life is full of friends, books, and avoiding the pressure to choose a husband, until an ominous vision and the haunting call of an otherworldly trumpet shake her. When she stumbles across a gruesome corpse, she fears that her vision was more of a premonition. And when she sees the murdered boy moving through the crowd at an amusement park, Sarah is thrust into a dark battle she does not understand.

With the help of Alex, a Greek immigrant who knows a startling amount about the undead, Sarah sets out to uncover the truth. Their quest takes them to the factory mills of Salem, on a midnight boat ride to spy on an eerie coastal lair, and back, unexpectedly, to their own homes. What can Alex's elderly, vampire-hunting grandfather and Sarah's own rabbi father tell them? And what do Sarah's continuing visions reveal?

No less than Gabriel's Trumpet, the tool that will announce the End of Days, is at stake, and the forces that have banded to recover it include a 900 year-old vampire, a trio of disgruntled Egyptian gods, and a demon-loving Puritan minister. At the center of this swirling cast is Sarah, who must fight a millennia-old battle against unspeakable forces, knowing the ultimate prize might be herself.

Online Reviews

"Wonderfully twisted sense of humor" and "A vampire novel with actual bite" -- Kirkus Reviews

"Inventive, unexpected, and more than a little bit creepy!" -- R.J. Cavender, editor of the Bram Stoker nominated Horror Library anthology series

"This book will satisfy any fan of the vampire genre and then some!" -- Must Read Faster

"In a similar vein to George R.R. Martin's writing style, Gavin often dangles his characters in the maws of danger and doesn't shy away from ... their blood being spilled." -- Andrew Reiner, executive editor of Game Informer magazine

"Now this is a vampire novel! It flows so perfectly between character point of views, it's a great blend of historical fiction, mythology and paranormal." -- Little Miss Drama Queen Reviews

"Action-packed and suspenseful, and there were twists all over the place." -- Les Livres

"Andy Gavin has taken a bevy of supernatural elements, compelling characters, and an intricate and superbly developed storyline, and expertly weaved them together to create an original and enthralling book." -- Word Spelunking