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Kings Of A Dead World

6/25/2021

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​A new book has arrived on my bookshelf - one which I've moved to the top of my To Be Read list: Kings Of A Dead World, by Jamie Mollart.

This looks to be an absolute corker of a read, so I invited Jamie to tell us all about it. But first, a little but about Jamie himself.

Jamie Mollart runs his own advertising company, and has won awards for marketing. He has taught novel writing for Writing East Midlands and is a long standing guest on the influential writers podcast Litopia. He's a member of the Climate Fiction Writers League, a group of global authors raising awareness about climate change through writing.

His debut novel, The Zoo, was on the Amazon Rising Stars 2015 list and Kings of a Dead World has some excellent early reviews:
‘Mollart’s intriguing and timely premise is executed with verve – Kings of a Dead World is filmic in its scope.’
Alison Moore, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize

‘A haunting vision of the near-future with expert world-building and rich complex characters, Kings of a Dead World kept me gripped from beginning to end.’
Temi Oh, winner of the Alex Award

‘This is a frightening, thoughtful vision exploring where power lies when even the act of being awake is revolutionary.’
Aliya Whiteley, shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award

‘Kings of a Dead World intrigued me with its title and had me on page one. Mollart’s dystopian vision is as disturbing as it is brilliant.’
Giles Kristian, Sunday Times Bestselling author of Lancelot
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by Jamie Mollart

​My latest novel, Kings of a Dead World, is set in a near-future world where the resources have run dry and the governments have adopted an extreme solution - The Sleep. Under The Sleep, the majority of the population is placed into an enforced hibernation for three months then woken for one month to live their lives. While they Sleep a single person, the Janitor, is kept awake to look over them. 

Elderly Ben is a Sleeper, struggling to survive and look after his wife, Rose, and to try and use the month Awake to experience their limited time together the best they can.

Janitor Peruzzi, on the other hand, has nothing but time, and doesn’t know what to do with it, so he spends his time frivolously, suffering from loneliness and a loss of purpose

As Rose deteriorates and the Creds that they rely on to survive reduce, Ben is forced to resort to extreme measures to keep Rose alive. 

At the same time Peruzzi and his fellow Janitor, Slattery, find themselves out in the Sleeping world and are faced with the temptations of people with no-one to answer to.

Put down like that Kings of a Dead World seems very much a novel of the zeitgeist, discussing as it does the effects of climate change, and during the editing process throughout 2020 it felt worryingly prescient at times, but the novel was born from a number of things that have been bubbling in my mind for a long time. 
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What prompted me to write it?
I wanted to write a post-apocalyptic novel that seemed both plausible and not too far into the future, so that it could allow readers to face the end of the world as something urgent.

The problem with Climate Change is that it is too big a problem for us to imagine, I wanted to bring it right down to the immediate, personal level. 

The book explores the idea of personal culpability; on an individual micro level, but also how they have an impact on the larger world.

One of the aims was to play with the idea of time, how we use it, and the idea that if you have too much of anything then you struggle to appreciate it. Human beings are extreme creatures and it’s always the ends of the spectrum that are interesting, so I deliberately placed Ben and Peruzzi in opposing positions.
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How did I research it?
​Research for the novel was a lot of fun - I spent a lot of time reading classic sci-fi and watching sci-fi films. I tend to read around a subject rather than do intense specific research, so I watched Planet of the Apes, Omega Man and a lot of 70’s and 80’s sci fi, I read a lot of Ballard and Vonneghut. I’m not going to lie, I had an absolute blast, and as a result there’s a lot of easter eggs in there.

Keen eyed readers might spot American Werewolf in London, The Shining, Alien, 2001, Escape from New York and others which I’ve forgotten. 

During the research phase I was sitting in a cafe with a friend (remember that?) and riffing around what human beings are capable of if there are no checks and balances.

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This is where the cult leader Andreas and the unstable Janitor, Slattery, were born from. A recurring theme in all my writing is toxic masculinity and male friendships - I find that dynamic really interesting - and Andreas and Slattery fall in that camp.

My previous novel, The Zoo, was set in the world of advertising, which I know really well, so this time I had the added challenge of world building. This is the trick to a good novel - you need to know the world inside out and backwards, but only show enough to allow the reader to do the heavy lifting with their imagination. 

I ended up using Pinterest to build a visual guide for me to work with, I’m a visual person so found this really useful, and looking back on it now it’s surprising how close the Pinterest board is to the actual world of the book. You can find it here if you’re interested:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jamiemollart/kings-of-a-dead-world/

Equally music is a really important part of my creative process and I like to build a soundscape that I write to, so Kings of a Dead World has got a whole Spotify soundtrack that includes the music that I was listening to as I wrote and edited the novel, along with songs that appear in the book. If you want to have a listen to my weirdly eclectic playlist it’s here:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0DDJppJ6FzwnOX9Ro8Z6js?si=f1746d03595049a0

While Kings of a Dead World was born out of some very serious concerns about the world and our place in it I set out to write a book which was pacy, fun and exciting to read. If it stays with people after they finish it as well then I will consider that a job well done.
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A Rogue Demon Fighting Fallen Angels

6/18/2021

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My guest blogger today is fellow author Carl Novakovich, who tells us that a COVID-19-related personal tragedy led to him writing his debut novel. The Watchers: The Tomb.

This is the first book in a supernatural fantasy series. 
by  Carl Novakovich
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Although I have always been a writer, this is the first story that I've published.

When I was in high school I started writing for fun. taking a few classes – theater, creative writing, and journalism. I am a musician as well, playing in a few bands while at  school and writing songs. 

I write both scripts (movies and TV series) and novels. I currently have a few finished scripts that I have been trying to sell, but there hasn’t been any luck there.

It wasn’t until this past year that I really begin pushing my work to the next level.

I spent my time during COVID-19 quarantine writing, and, I self-published the first book in January.

Book two in the series is now finshed, and will be ready for release shortly. 
 
The Watchers: The Tomb” is the first book in The Watchers series. It’s a story that follows Beth May, a rogue demon who has found a way to regain her free-will and break free from Hell’s clutches; and John Gideon, a former Chicago Homicide Detective turned P.I. after his father-figure, Walter, goes missing. 

While searching for Walter, John comes face-to-face with a terrible truth of the world. Things aren’t always as they seem. 

With the help of Beth, working as his new partner, and saviour, they work to stop a collective of Fallen Angels known as The Watchers from breaking The Seven Seals of Revelations and unleashing Hell on Earth. 

I wrote this book after I lost my grandfather last year to COVID-19. I wanted to write something to help me get through it. It was a way to make sense of a crazy world. He and I were very close, and I dedicated the first book to him, and everyone else that has lost someone from this virus. 

I’m not a religious person, but when it comes to fantasy stories, it’s easy to wrap up the religious texts in the genre. So, I took The Seven Seals, and intertwined what we see in our everyday lives to tell a story. This is what the entire series will tell. 


The Seven Seals tells a story of sickness, war, death, devastation – but it ends for well for the faithful. However, in real-life, things do not always workout well. So, I wanted to write a post-apocalyptic story, starting with the pre-apocalypse. Of course, that meant changing some minor details in the Revelation story. 

Our world lately, has seen quite a lot of devastation. The pandemic has destroyed economies and lives, we see social injustice, wars raging in nations, and in streets throughout protests when people are only asking for equality. 

Last year, there was a two-week period where the only remaining business that were still allowed to be open, were forced to close because of a military presence due to counter-protesters refusing to allow a Black Lives Matter rally protests after a man was killed by a police officer.

I think you said you’re in the UK, so I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the George Floyd case. However, it was just an unspeakable thing that happened. The counter-protests happened all over the country, and some of them took place where I live. For two weeks, my neighborhood was patrolled by our state national troops to ensure citizens weren’t harmed. 

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So, I decided to write a story that spoke to everyone. And I mean everyone. Of course, my perspective is slightly skewed from my political ideals, but that doesn’t change the fact that I wrote it for a reason. 

This series is not just a fantasy series. It’s a story that is currently and will eventually lay out through a wild and epic tale, something everyone is, or has, faced throughout the past year. Hopefully, allowing them to see someone else’s side of the story. My goal by the end of this series is to have at least one person read this and agree with someone they didn’t previously agree with. 


The Watchers: The Tomb  (Amazon UK)
The Watchers: The Tomb  (Amazon USA)

Carl Novakovich, Twitter

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Negativity and Fear Disturb the Balance of our Peace of Mind

6/11/2021

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My guest blogger today is computer science engineer Harish Rajora, writing about his personal take on mental health. As he says, this post isn't about suicide or negativity - it's simply about finding happiness.
by Harish Rajora
On a Sunday morning, a very famous Indian actor, Sushant Singh Rajput, committed suicide in his flat in Bandra, Mumbai. Although there was no suicide note, a lot of theories have emerged regarding his attempt to end his life. I am tired of a new theory coming every day and reading them does not bring us to any conclusion. But the main essence of every theory is, "Sushan Singh Rajpur was lonely and under depression."  
Depression: a word that has taken a toll on a number of patients in the last decades. Except for the pockets of psychiatrists and hospital fund, depression is harmful. Loneliness and depression are often constituted together because of the relationship as the more lonely you are, the more you think and the more you get frustrated.

During our evolution as human beings, we discovered that one man is easy prey, but ten men are predators. This evolutionary process made us what we are today:  
i.e. social animals. We are so social that the hardest punishment of all in prison is considered solitary imprisonment. I remember reading an account when Nelson Mandela protested to the prison authorities about not giving them full pants to wear, he was sentenced to two days of solitary confinement. A very dim bulb lighted in his cell with a window on the top through which the sun would make him feel its presence. He recalled how difficult it is for a man to just be within himself for one single day without any source of positive energy. Two days felt like a week to him. An example of how social we are. 
 
On one side we have done the materialistic development of our society. Buildings are taller than ever and products have flooded the market in every city of this country except maybe Bhutan. Remember my mention of Bhutan here though. But does it really makes sense to be happy with this development?

Happiness comes from within. A very popular Buddhist and Hindu belief that you all must have heard at least once in a lifetime. The only contradiction to loneliness is happiness. Happiness comes from satisfaction. 
But, satisfaction has changed its meaning over the years in our society. For you, satisfaction might be earning a lot of money but keeping this attitude towards satisfaction disturbs the peace of mind. So can we conclude that peace of mind is the power source for satisfaction? 
 
Peace of mind can easily be disturbed by anyone. Friends and family being a few of the factors. Is there a way to maintain this peace of mind? The balance of our peace of mind is disturbed by two things. Negativity and Fear. What happened to Sushant Singh Rajput is yet to be found. But the main reason that I believe is the negativity that people create.

There are a lot of bad things going on at every place like Bollywood, but there are a lot and a lot of good things going on there too. But the competitive environment in which we live today isolates every one of us at many points in our life. This fear contradicts friendship and the brain says "NO!" to such feelings. This competitive fear brings jealousy in each one of us, jealousy gives birth to distrust, distrust brings frustration and frustration leads to loneliness which ultimately leads to suicidal thoughts.

This post is not about Sushant, but about decoding the manner in which we find satisfaction today. The 
self-centred attitude of many people leads to destruction, like in Bollywood. If a producer is so self-centred that he thinks he is the mafia in the game, it brings destruction. 
 
This post is not about suicide and definitely not about negativity.

This post is just about happiness and finding the meaning of it through many readings and books. As I said, remember the account of Bhutan at the beginning? It is the happiest country on earth. Maybe because it lacks infrastructure and development and just focuses on personal development. Loneliness is very common today.

But it disappears when we are happy. At last, I just can say that loneliness is not the creation of our environment, but the creation of our own mental attitude.  
 
Harish Rajora loves to read, and says he's a writer "by luck."

 www.themeaninglesslife.com.
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    Author

    Stewart Bint is a novelist, magazine columnist and PR writer. 

    He lives with his wife, Sue, in Leicestershire in the UK, and has two children, Christopher and Charlotte, and a budgie called Bertie.

    Usually goes barefoot.

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