Let's Discuss: Authenticity of Narrative

This topic, along with power scaling, intentional design, interactive dynamics and a few others is something of an obsession of mine. It’s a topic that I’m very passionate about that I’ve held off on writing a piece on because in all honestly, my life is stressful enough without inviting needless animosity, but, let it never be said that Eugene the Author shies away from risk and discourse.

Authenticity of narrative, if I’m being completely honest, is something I feel is lacking in much of the global landscape. To tell that story, I’ll begin with another.

In my time as an independent author, I’ve had the pleasure of being told by Christian publishers that I’m entirely too worldly and something of a disgrace to the faith, and by secular publishers that I’m entirely too Christian and need to shut up about all this God stuff and cater to more easily monetized views of the world.

Personally, I find both perspectives amusing, truly. One of my personal mantras is “authenticity over everything”, which is to say that I will always pass no matter how big the potential payday if I have to compromise the authenticity of my narrative, my characters and my values to get there.

When demoing upcoming paranormal horror mystery Wired for Ruin, I was told by Christians that the story was antagonistic and pandered to modernity. There are sections of the narrative that deal strongly with some of the harm a few of the protagonists suffered at the hands of Christians, and aspects of the narrative that highlight ways that we can, while still holding our values, do a far better job of outreach, empathy and loving one another regardless of views, background, orientation, etcetera.

I also was told “how dare you depict an openly gay couple and not once have a scene where the protagonist tells them it’s wrong to be what they are!”

Now, on the flip side, whether subscribing to a different theism, agnosticism, or atheism, I had secular people tell me “Yeah I’m not reading a book by a Christian/with a Christian lead/that has positive Christian values/that depicts Christianity in a positive light”, and was told the narrative was distracting, weak, divisive, phobic for having Christianity portrayed positively.

Hey, look at that, I’m uniting people!

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Book Previews Episode 2: Nora and the Eternal Waterwheel

This hiatus was longer than intended...

Welcome back everybody! Eugene The Author here is some great new content for you! This week get a sneak peak at my all ages novel Nora and the Eternal Waterwheel.

Nora Book 1 follows the exploits of Tanielle Travers as she endures the difficulties that come with high school life. There's school bullies, pressures to fit in, staff that don't understand her blended household, visions of a far off kingdom under siege by demons far and wide, nightmares of a knight in flames pursuing her across dimensional rifts, warlocks attacking her home, spider demons, etcetera.

Y'know, just another day in school!

Tanielle must awaken to the truth that she is in fact Princess Nora Ivandrea, stranded on Earth with her memories fractured after a horrific attack by the emissary of darkness, The Tall Man, who seeks to drag her back to his dark master. To make matters worse, her mother the queen is missing beyond the veil of The Creeping Darkness and her only guardian in a strange new world is the very sorcerer turned magus responsible for the fall of the royal household!

Will Tanielle prove equal to the task, or will the darkness have its day?

If you enjoy the novel, head on over to the Store section for links to my Amazon page where you can order paperbacks, eBooks and soon audio books as well!

This is Eugene the Author saying be blessed, be amazing, you already are!

Let's Talk More About Nora and the Eternal Waterwheel!

Nora and the Eternal Waterwheel was something of a jumping off point crafted from the idea of wanting to see something more different, perhaps more pure, than current narrative exposure in all ages writing. In writing what was affectionately been dubbed “The Nora Chronicles” by fans, I worked to create a world that was as intelligent as it was innocent.

My bread and butter, or biscuits and bacon, is dark fantasy. I’m not a writer confined to a single genre; that would bore me to something ten steps beyond tears, nor do I confine myself to a single series, but if you ask me “Eugene, what do you prefer to write?” dark fantasy is quite probably the highest on my list. I was challenged by my editor and by members of my church to write something for younger readers, and the challenge was fun and humorous for me because my perspective on appropriate reading materials for youths is rather obscured. It’s easy enough to say “Most kids shouldn’t watch Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira or Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s Ninja Scroll”, though I saw both in single digits. It’s a bit harder with literature.

I was reading Poe and Hitchcock in Kindergarten; See Spot Run made me want to contemplate my first book burning. For loads of kids, See Spot Run is an appropriate threshold. For many, it’s insulting. I was reading titles like The Wuthering Heights, The Picture of Dorian Grey, Great Expectations, Kilobyte, A Matter of Taste and more in the first grade. So, my perspective on media for younglings is rather different. That being said, I also don’t believe every young person ought to embark on a journey with Saberhagen, and that’s pretty clear in my all ages writing.

How many of you are still reading? Felicitations; I do so love and adore individuals who don’t knee jerk and fly into rage. Let’s go on, shall we?

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Hope in Hopelessness

A lot of my narratives deal with protagonists in extreme or seemingly hopeless situations. I’ve been told by some that my narratives have perhaps dour sensibilities, and lean towards darker adventures and struggles for their heroes. The thing about the thing, as I like to say, is that while some of my narratives for older readers certainly fall into the “dark fantasy” genre, I prefer to view them as “Psalm 23 narratives”.

Psalm 23’s arguably most famous line comes from verse 4; “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” I really like how verse 5 goes on to say “thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

The purpose of narratives like “Kill All Christians” and “Tribus Dulce” as well as several completed but not yet released novels is to take heroes who are in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death, or as John 1:23 says, “John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'"

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Rejoicing is Hard...

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious for anything, but in all things by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me (God) or seen in me—put it to practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Sometimes, a lot of times, that’s easier said than done though. I’m a minister of the gospel, a knight of divinity, sixteen years a believer and nearly three years a minister and yet I still struggle with the peace that surpasses all understanding. More and more the world we live in is one in which I wonder, is there no love for, and of, Christ left? But I’m not here this Sunday to drive you into existential depression, no. I’m here this Sunday to give you the Jeremiah 29:11 promise.

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Arctic Comic Con!!!

I'm so excited to see you all at the Arctic Comic Con in Anchorage, Alaska tomorrow and Sunday! I've been hard at work here in the lab getting ready, and I've got 15% off discount cards for everyone who stops by! The discount cards will be usable for any order made from my website here.

Due to a glitch in the warehouse, I'll be going digital this time around. Let me break down what this means for you:

Kindle eBook versions of Dark Fantasy epic Kill All Christians: In the Village of the Devil's Daughters and Low Key Super Hero Drama Tribus Dulce will be available for $7.50 each from Amazon for the duration of this event. After the con is over, the eBooks will go back to full price!

The 15% off discount cards can be applied to orders made on my website for paperback versions of Kill All Christians and Tribus Dulce.

If you make your order with me directly at the convention, I'll discount your order even further!

What's more, these 15% off codes will be good from now through the end of May, and All Ages High Fantasy Epic Nora and the Eternal Waterwheel will be launching early May! 

So the best bang for your buck would be to pick up your books from me directly at the Arctic Comic Con in the Dena'ina center and consider saving your codes for Nora's release in the next few weeks!

But of course, go forth and buy as you please! And above all else, be blessed, and happy reading!

-Eugene the Author
a.k.a. Xeawn Cross
a.k.a. Gentleman Raptor

Big Words for Small People ~A Nora and the Eternal Waterwheel Spotlight~

Eugene the Author a.k.a. Gentleman Raptor a.k.a. Xeawn Cross here to talk about my upcoming All Ages fantasy epic novel Nora and the Eternal Waterwheel.

This novel follows the exploits of a young girl by the name of Tanielle Travers as she finds her ordinary, if difficult, high school life interrupted by a league of shadow monsters and a quest that flings her not only to a different world, but a whole other dimension!

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The Three Categories of My Novels

Salutations! Today I'd like to talk about the three levels of content/maturity that each of my novels fall under.

One of the things I'm a firm believer of, is being open and honest with my fan base. To me, to create a series and draw people in, having every aspect of it appear to represent a certain set of purpose, morality and narrative flow, only to at the last minute once you've gained a following and a steady stream of cash throw in something that completely changes and turns on its head everything I told you I was about is the height of cowardice and sneaky marketing. Consider that harsh, and a run on sentence. I'll accept that it's one of those things.

I have no desire to draw you in, make my money in a safe way, then flip the script and exclaim "JUST KIDDING, YOU THOUGHT THIS STORY AND THESE CHARACTERS WERE LIKE THIS BUT I CAN MAKE MORE MONEY LIKE THIS!"

I also would never want a young reader who enjoys, say upcoming all ages novel Nora and the Eternal Waterwheel to see my name on Murder the Citizens, think the novel is safe for them to read and suddenly be thrust into a far more maturely written world. To that end, I established three levels to my novels:

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