Crimson Son
by Russ
Linton
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
His
mother kidnapped, his superhero father absent, powerless Spencer Harrington
faces a world of weaponized humans to prove himself and find the truth.
Nineteen-year-old
Spencer is the son of the Crimson Mask, the world's most powerful Augment.
Since witnessing his mother's abduction by a psychotic super villain two years
ago, he's been confined to his father's arctic bunker. When the
"Icehole" comes under attack from a rampaging robot, Spencer launches
into his father's dangerous world of weaponized human beings known as Augments.
With
no superpowers of his own save a multi-tool, a quick wit and a boatload of
emotional trauma, Spencer seeks to uncover his mother's fate and confront his
absentee superhero father. As he stumbles through a web of conspiracies and top
secret facilities, he rallies a team of everyday people and cast-off Augments.
But Spencer soon discovers that the Black Beetle isn't his only enemy, nor his
worst.
Excerpt
This part always comes so fast.
I hand the phone back to Mom. “You’ll need to send later, I
guess. The signal dropped. Should be in your outbox ready to go.”
As she takes the phone, the wall of the room explodes.
Here. Dream becomes nightmare. For a moment, I feel I can
make it stand still, but why would I? Events unfold with the emptiness of the
bunker gnawing at my insides. I can identify every stray chunk of plaster and
splinter of wood in this time-robbed moment.
Fragments of home spray like a swarm of locusts. Mom screams
and the world spins under her protective dive. I struggle to see through a haze
of dust. Glimpses of the valley filter past a humanoid silhouette. A long,
pincered arm lashes out. The arm clamps tightly around Mom’s waist and
retracts, drawing us closer.
“Release the boy and he will live,” the Black Beetle speaks
with an unnatural vibration. “He can relay a message for your husband.”
Mom squeezes tighter but her screaming stops.
I search her face, knowing what I’ll find, all the while
scrambling to find an anchor as we slide across the room. She’s bleeding from a
gash on her forehead and the pincer cinches tighter. Her eyes are full of fear,
but focused. She’s calculating, deliberating. A hundred times? A thousand? It
always hurts.
“No, Mom, please!” I throw my hands around the leg of a toppled
chair which drags uselessly behind us. Countless trips through this nightmare,
I know I can’t keep us here, but I reach out anyway. And always, she lets go.
I grab her arm, trying to pull her back, cursing my stunted
size, my weak limbs, my feeble grip. Sweaty hands slip as the pincer continues
to retract. Her trembling lips form a final smile and she watches me with a sad
but determined expression.
She mouths the words, “I love you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
In the fourth
grade, Russ Linton wrote down the vague goal of becoming a “writer and an
artist” when he grew up. After a journey that led him from philosopher to
graphic designer to stay at home parent and even a stint as an Investigative
Specialist with the FBI, he finally got around to that “writing” part which he
now pursues full time.
Russ creates
character-driven speculative fiction. His stories drip with blood, magic, and
radioactive bugs. He writes for adults who are young at heart and youngsters
who are old souls.
Local /
Personal Bio
Russ lives in
Denton, Texas where he writes beside an unnervingly quiet dog with the support
of his history-obsessed son and his extremely patient wife. He regularly
pursues community service and is currently scoutmaster for his son’s Boy Scout
troop. He is a regular at the North Branch Writers’ Critique Group and has
honed his craft through creative writing courses with Stanford University’s
continuing studies program as well as writing workshops at local conventions.
Russ holds a
black belt in Tae Kwon Do which was marginally more useful in a former life not
making his living from behind a desk. He enjoys the outdoors and when he isn’t
leading his scouts on virtual campouts in Minecraft, he’s making them haul
their gear across state parks in the North Texas area.
Interview:
Where are you from?
I have vague memories of a
magical pool in a dense wood. Of course, that might have been a pond on a golf
course on the edge of suburban mundanity. (Yes spell-check, I made up that
word, the corrective shaming isn't helping.)
The story goes that the
phrase "Broken Arrow
Now it means something
like "people that don't want to live in Tulsa
Currently, I live in Denton , Texas Dallas
Tell us your latest news?
Do I have to?
As a self pub probably the
strangest thing is writing press releases about myself and writing as though
I've taken part in a fascinating, prime-time interview. Take this gem:
Crimson
Son is a coming of age story which focuses on the relationship between a young
man and his absentee superhero father as he stumbles through his father's
dangerous world. The nature of the story and the fact that the protagonist,
Spencer, is a bit of a tech-head made this the perfect project for the
father-son team.
"Team?
To be clear, I'm the sidekick here," says Russ. "Bryce did a
fantastic job and I'll definitely use his
services
in the future. Five star, A plus, Highly Recommend."
See what I mean?
"Says Russ." I wrote that. That's just weird.
But this does bring up a
good point - there IS an awesome book trailer that my son created. You can
check it out on my website: http://russlinton.com/2014/09/09/behold-michael-bay-schooled-by-a-14-year-old/
When and why did you begin
writing?
I've always been a plotter
and occasional writer but didn't own up to the title until recently. Most often
these skills would get put to use in pen and paper role playing games. RPGs are
a fiction collaboration where one player has the role of story
"referee". Often, that player would be me. I would concoct plots on
the fly, create interesting worlds for the other players to explore and provide
the personality and motivations for all the secondary characters.
Turns out, this kind of
improvisation happens to be great training for writing.
But it was in the fourth
grade that I wrote my first book. Yes, the book was an assignment for English
class. What makes it stand out is that I actually completed it and got an
"A". Elementary school for me was a wasteland of paddlings, noses to
the wall and skating on the edge of academic disaster.
Fast forward a few
decades. My parents sent a box of crap from their attic of
infinite-box-of-crap-holding which included a note along with my report cards,
faded construction paper and a bunch of loose macaroni. Scrawled in a
desperate, hurried script was a teacher's note that said "Shows talent for
creative writing."
When did you first
consider yourself a writer?
I've always been a writer
but didn't want to lay claim to the title until recently. In school, writing
stood alongside endless math problems as boring, hand-cramping, busy work. But
even though I excelled at it, I didn't want to do it only because someone else
told me I had to.
Even after I decided to
write a story which was published in our high school lit mag and had students
quoting it in the hallway, I didn't see myself as a writer. I took a creative
writing class in junior college, but only because it sounded "easy".
I sought out classes that depended on essay tests at the university (who in
their right mind does that?) because I knew writing was how I survived in
school.
I only briefly considered
a career in journalism. Afterwards, writing didn't feel like a real career
choice (sort of like philosophy isn't a "real" degree...) Then it was
on to graphic design, law enforcement, parenting - anything but writing.
One day, after leaving all
the fruitless career searching behind and setting off on a path toward self
employment, I found my sales drying up and a phone bill due in a few weeks. I
found a freelancing website and started writing articles in direct competition
with other writers. Nearly everything I wrote that weekend sold.
I paid my phone bill and
STILL didn't accept the title.
Then, my graphic design
business started to slide toward a "working for someone else" status.
The entire process of creating art for someone else to their specifications had
always been frustrating for me. With the loss of self determination, the whole
enterprise started losing it's luster.
I needed a change and I
remembered those articles I sold. I remembered the creative writing class in
college. The story I'd written. Even the book I wrote as a kid and the hours
and hours of plotting and world building I still did as a grown ass adult for
Role Playing Games. That's when it finally hit me.
What inspired you to write
your first book?
I was busy cranking out
short stories and had a notepad full of ideas. One I'd jotted down said
"son of a superhero locked in the fortress of solitude." That idea
stared back at me while I continued to tweak other stories.
My initial inspiration was
the time I spent away from my son and family when I worked for the government.
Watching others in my job, living that lifestyle myself, and finding out how
normal lives became impossible to maintain, I was later drawn to write about
those we left at home.
I drafted a story which
ended with this depressed kid wandering out into the blinding snow. My critique
group thankfully set me straight and let me know that the story could not end
there.
For the next year, I
brought in a new scene each week and before I knew it, I had the first draft of
my first novel, Crimson Son.
So the inspiration was
twofold - first my family and next my extended writing family who encouraged me
to expand my vision.
What would you like my
readers to know?
That I appreciate the time
they took to read my ramblings. That I'm very grateful if they even consider
adding my book to their shelf. As a self published author and a relative
unknown, I'm at their mercy whether this venture succeeds or not.
I really do think they'll
like Crimson Son. Sure, it's a superhero novel, which is a bit of a narrow
market, but it has so much more. It's a coming of age story with messages about
family and learning what's important in life. It's an action adventure narrated
by a snarky kid with a dark sense of humor that's guaranteed to entertain.
Most of all, I want to
thank them for helping writers like myself share their crazy imaginings. The
success I mentioned isn't simply financial - there are much easier ways to make
money than selling a book. It's about connecting with people and giving them
stories that might just change their perspective or enhance their lives, even
perhaps inspire them to write their own.
Social Media
Website -
www.russlinton.com
Facebook -
facebook.com/RussLinton
Twitter -
twitter.com/Russ_Linton
Google Plus -
https://plus.google.com/+RussLinton
Purchase
Links
Amazon
Amazon UK
Create Space
Paperback
Barnes and
Noble
Smashwords
Apple
Powell's
Books
txtr
Abe
Alibris
Kobo
Russ will be awarding a $10 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner and another winner will receive a signed copy of Crimson Son (US ONLY), both prizes via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
A great interview.
ReplyDeleteThanks, glad you liked it!
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for your interest in Crimson Son! I'll be checking in throughout the day to answer questions from readers. And a question for them: Who is your favorite superhero?
ReplyDeleteLol...I can just picture you sitting there...writing out interview/press releases and being like...."We have with us today...Russ Linton!"
ReplyDeletemust be a bit surreal!
I think surreal is a good way to put it. I'm debating taking to the next level and making demands of myself for the privilege of interviewing me...
Delete