VBT – Vengeance of Grimbald

Vengeance of Grimbald

by Richard Hacker

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GENRE: Fantasy Thriller

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BLURB:

Addison and Jules, members of the League, a secret alchemist society of Inkers who protect the time continuum, believe they defeated their enemy, Cuthbert Grimwald, known to them as Kairos. When he resurfaces filled with vengeance, intent on destroying the League, and acquiring the Alchimeia, a book of such power the League has hidden it for millennia, Grimwald leaves a path of destruction across centuries. As he quests for absolute control of reality, Addison and Jules pursue him through time and death in a desperate struggle to save the world from his vengeance.

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EXCERPT

“You’ve done well my friends. A bit of a shaky start, but in the end, I am pleased with the result.”

Jules glanced to Addison, who was also pulling himself up to stand. “What are you talking about? You could have killed us.”

“If I wanted you dead, we wouldn’t be talking.” Boggy raised his hands as if to parry their blows. “Today’s lesson is partnership. Do you see?”

Addison slowly rotated an arm with a grimace. “Keep talking.”

“Inking is a dangerous enterprise. You find yourself in a foreign world in an earlier time, often fighting to survive long enough to complete your mission. But the physical dangers of inking do not hold a candle to the emotional and psychological dangers. Your consciousness, the essence of your being, occupies the mind of another. With each passing moment, a small part of who you are slips out of your grasp unless you master the relationship between Inker and host. You must die to live, right? But all living creatures naturally gravitate toward life and away from death. The world of an Inker is therefore a paradox of conflicting realities. Without a partner, you struggle alone against insurmountable odds. Partners have each other’s backs, keeping the hosts alive and the mission viable. And upon completion, partners ensure their hosts die. Because we never leave an Inker behind. Never.”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links

Richard Hacker, lives and writes in Seattle, Washington after living many years in Austin, Texas. In addition to the science fiction/fantasy novels of The Alchimeía Series, his crime novels ride the thin line between fact and fiction in Texas. Along the way, his writing has been recognized by the Writer’s League of Texas and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. As a judge in literary contests shuch as PNWA and ChicLit, and as a freelance development editor, he enjoys the opportunity to work with other writers. In addition, he is the Sci-Fi/Fantasy editor for the Del Sol Review. DIE BACK was his first novel in the Alchimeia series.

Del Sol Press books by Richard Hacker are available at Amazon

The Alchimeía Series

DIEBACK: Book One

VENGEANCE OF GRIMBALD: Book Two

Other books by Richard Hacker:

Nick Sibelius Crime Series

KILL’T DEAD OR WORSE

BUZZARD BAIT

ALL HAT AND NO CATTLE

Follow the author at www.richardhacker.com

Or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RWHacker

Amazon buy link:

https://www.amazon.com/Vengeance-Grimbald-Alchime%C3%ADa-Richard-Hacker/dp/0999842595/

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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY

Richard Hacker will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Enter to win a $25 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Richard, thanks for being my guest. Tell us about you as a person.

I’d say people who know me well, know me as creative and willing to fall flat on my face. So I took up drawing last year after not drawing anything but stick figures since childhood. I kept a sketch journal on a recent trip to Europe. Urban sketching is the sort of thing where you’re putting yourself out in the world. You’re standing on a busy street drawing the scene. People come by to chat, to see what I’m up to. It’s still a bit scary, but I keep on doing it. And what a great way to see the world with new eyes! Another thing that takes me out of my comfort zone is singing in a vocal jazz ensemble. I’ve always enjoyed singing—choral music & singer-songwriter music with a guitar, but doing a scat solo in a performance is pretty challenging (to me, least). One other thing most people don’t know about me is that was an instrument rated private pilot. I’m not active anymore, but flying is a peak experience in my life.

If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?

Barak Obama. Have a beer, shoot some hoops, talk about the world. What a day that would be.

What’s the story behind your latest book?

Six hundred years after a fifteenth century scryer gains the alchemical knowledge to create a dark future in his own image, Addison Shaw inherits a destiny: to fight this ancient war that threatens all he loves with extinction. Using an alchemical pen, he writes himself into past lives, leaving his body in the present. Upon completion of his mission, he must die in order to break the link and return home. Addison, and his inking partner, Jules, are members of the League, a secret alchemist society of Inkers who protect the time continuum. They believe they defeated their enemy, Cuthbert Grimwald, known to them as Kairos. When he resurfaces filled with vengeance, intent on destroying the League, and acquiring the Alchimeia, a book of such power the League has hidden it for millennia, Grimwald leaves a path of destruction across centuries. As he quests for absolute control of reality, Addison and Jules pursue him through time and death in a desperate struggle to save the world from his vengeance.

What is your writing process?

My writing process is intentionally unstructured. I’ve got lots of colleagues who like to have a certain environment, like yourself, certain music, a specific location. I know one writer who has to have a latte and chocolate or it’s just not going to happen. LOL. Each of us has to find our own path. Mine is to ready to write anywhere, anytime, under any circumstance. I’ve written on planes, trains, buses and cars; in coffee shops, studies, offices, park benches; morning, day, and night; in silence or with music. I will say, while I do try to be flexible, some situations provide more challenge than others. I was on a plane with a small extremely unhappy child (and a parent with weary survivor eyes) screaming. Yeah, it was a bit difficult to concentrate.

Tell us about your main character.

Addison Shaw is a twenty-something young man whose father was brutally murdered. He walks with a cane because of a leg injury he received in a car accident as a teenager. Addison is emotionally fragile, especially in light of the loss of his father, but he also has an deep inner strength that enables him to persist even when his world appears to be falling apart.

If your book was to be turned into a movie, who would play the lead role and why.

I think I’d go with either John Krasinkski (The Office, Jack Ryan) or Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker, Altered Carbon). Both of those actors do a great job of projecting their humanity and internal pain while having the ability to be pretty kick ass.

What are you working on next?

I’m currently working on the third book in the Alchimeia series—untitled at this point. And I’ve got another project I’ve worked on and off over several years, a humorous science fiction story along the lines of Tom Holt’s novels, called THE BIFURCATION OF DUNGSTEN CREASE. Hopefully, Book 3 of the Alchimeia will be out in 2021.

What advice do you have for other writers who want to get the word out about their book?

I’ve done a lot of different things from book tours to release parties to email campaigns. I can’t say I’ve found any one thing that is the silver bullet. The book business is very crowded these days, so I think you just have to be persistent. Keep putting yourself out there.

What is your favorite book on your shelf right now?

If you by shelf you mean what I’m reading right now, well I got inspired by the HBO version of His Dark Materials to read Pullman’s trilogy again. I’m currently on the last book and it still reads well. If you mean my fav from anything on my bookshelf—way harder question! Books that come to mind: Ian Tregillis, The Mechanicals; Iain Pears, The Instance at the Fingerpost; William Gibson, Neuromancer; China Miéville, The City In The City. But I could go on and on.

Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?

Not sure how special they are. I draw, I write, I sing, and I cook. Occasionally I do one of those in an extraordinary way—I hope.

You are given the choice of one super power. What super power would you have and why?

Mind control. We’d always go to the restaurant of my choice and I’d guest post on your blog. (Dammit! Didn’t mean to say that. (I’m gazing at you with my super-power mind control eyes). You have just forgotten what I said about guest posting…

List 5 things on your bucket list:

• Tour Japan
• Tour Australia
• See the Northern Lights
• Speak a second language fluently –I’m going for Spanish
• Stand on the site of first powered flight at Kitty Hawk.

Where can readers find you on the web?

Thanks for having me on the blog and thanks readers for dropping in today. Please check out DIE BACK and VENGEANCE OF GRIMBALD. Both are available on Amazon. And I’d love to hear from you. Visit my website, www.richardhacker.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RWHacker and drop me a line.

I don’t have a trailer for Vengeance of Grimbald, but I do for Die Back and it’s a good visual introduction to the series. You can find it here.

Any final thoughts?

Two things I’d like to add. First, the underlying message of the Alchimeia series is about courage and perseverance. When life looks hopeless, when everything seems to be turned upside-down, the people who make a difference are not superheroes, but people like you and me, who persevere in spite of the odds. And second, readers are the reason for the season. Without you, writers would be lonely people sitting in coffee shops pounding on laptops. With you, we become the tellers of fantastical stories, entertainers, philosophers, and poets. And together, a writer and a reader, we make magic. Thank you for sharing some of your life with me.