Saturday, September 27, 2014

RRW's Top 10 Books

Recently I was tagged on Facebook to list my top 10 books that have influenced my life in some way.

Considering I was spending more personal time offline than than on Facebook, I didn't get the chance to tack away. But now I'm able, and since then have decided that the list was important enough to me to put on my blog, with a few additional details that weren't on my original post.

That said, here they are!

1. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
There's something about Vonnegut's style that just jives with me. I also have very fond memories of this book from my days in high school, more specifically my classes with my English teacher. In fact, I still have that gut reaction to think or blurt "So it goes" when something/someone dies.
In which case, so it goes.


2. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
This book made me cry. It made me cry a lot.
I didn't care that much for "journal-styled" novels even back then, but Flowers for Algernon struck a cord in me that I can't ever quite describe. So much so that I wound up naming a character after the titular lab rat, Algernon.


3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I know I'm naming a lot of old books that many of us were assigned to read in high school English, and there's a good reason for that: They're just downright damned good books. And I think a lot of kids can benefit reading them and, better yet, learn to enjoy them.
Fahrenheit 451 was different, though - I didn't read it because of a class assignment. I actually read it out of spite over not getting into the advanced English class in my freshman year, though I believed I deserved to. After all, I liked the required reading for the advanced classes better than the standard class that I was assigned to.
I read Fahrenheit 451 not out of necessity because my teacher told me to, but because I wanted to. And it inspired me to seek out more books - by Ray Bradbury included - outside of the classroom. Since then he's become one of my favorite writers.
Rest in peace, Ray.

Monday, September 22, 2014

SERAPHIM ASCENT is Now Available!

release1


SERAPHIM ASCENT: Book One of a new
post-apocalyptic sci-fi/horror series
by R. R. Washburn



PaperbackAmazon ↔ SmashwordsBarnes & Noble ↔ Kobo ↔ Apple

 




Well, it’s finally here. It’s been several years in the making, has gone through various drafts, edits, and rewrites. But now I’m slapping it up and marching onwards to the completion of Book Two.


Seraphim Ascent has gone through a variety of transformations over the years. It once started off as a very video game-inspired novel back when I first wrote it in high school. In college it shifted from an action/shooter-esque style to a tale of what has become to be about conspiracies, mind control, mutations, plagues, war, and ultimately about identity. Not just for Rey, but for a bunch of characters trying to find their place.


Originally this series was intended to be a standalone novel, with the first two drafts capped at about 360,000 words. I like big books so at the time I didn’t see anything amiss until people pointed out to me just how insane that would be to print for a first novel. By the second and third drafts I’d planned to write a duology, but by the time I was writing what has now become Seraphim Storm, I felt like I was cheating a lot of the characters’ out of their full potential. Storylines I wanted to explore were constrained by the idea that I probably shouldn’t write about 360,000 word novel, which risked a lot of character arcs I wanted to explore.


But I’m the boss. It’s my story, and I can make it go however the hell I want.


So it became a trilogy, and then a series when I started planning out plotlines for a fourth novel.


At this point, I make no such commitments to numbers to say how long this crazy story will go on. It’s a start, and that’s all I care about.


As Rey would put it, “The only certainty is going forward.”

Saturday, September 13, 2014

SERAPHIM ASCENT Book Teaser


With the release day of SERAPHIM ASCENT drawing even nearer and nearer and the cover being officially complete, I decided to throw together a little teaser trailer for the upcoming event. It's short and sweet and I wanted to keep it a little vague... But I'm pretty happy with it!

Also, my official website is LIVE, where you can find more updates in regards to releases and upcoming projects and all that other fun writer stuff.

http://rrwashburn.com/