And The Walls Came Tumbling Down (2ed) - release day!

Today is release day for And The Walls Came Tumbling Down - second edition!

For those of you who read the first edition (thank you), the story is the same, but it's a much, much better read.

It's a funny thing, going back to an 'old' story. I wrote And The Walls Came Tumbling Down in 2009, so it's not that old. However, when technology or science is involved, a year (or less) is all it takes to date a story. So, there are no flip phones in the second edition, but the Tamagotchi got to stay.

Why did I release a second edition at all? Well, in part it's because - I think - I'm a more accomplished author now. I have more of an idea of what I'm doing, at least. I re-read my own stories, and I tweak and refine, but only if I'm not happy with them / I feel I've done a disservice to my readers. Of course, the best I can ever achieve is to be happy with the story at a specific moment in time, and my next revisit will undoubtedly include at least one shriek of 'What was I thinking?'

But the main reason I decided to re-release And The Walls Came Tumbling Down (and the earlier books in the Hiding Behind The Couch series) is this:

There was a time when the stories were predominantly written in passive voice... just like that! It's not my fault. Well, it is. I had difficulty switching from academic to creative writing. Now, that difficulty is reversed. The same thing happens when I'm grading students' assignments. I spot a missing hyphen, and I have to remind myself: grading, not editing. :D

Where did the inspiration for And The Walls Came Tumbling Down come from? A few places. First off, I'm a fan of Tom Holt, who writes light humorous sci-fi/fantasy, and in part, I wanted to try my hand at that. But then, as is always the way, the characters took over, although to a lesser extent than in my other stories. Thus, whilst I started out with the intention that Jack Davies would be a hapless hero who 'saves the world' by accident, he had other ideas.

Alongside the science fiction, there is some social science fact in the form of humankind's effect on the planet and the environment, which we tend to assume is a recent phenomenon, yet humans have been using rock to make tools for more than a million years (Ericson and Purdy, 2009), and those rocks had to come from somewhere.


Disused Sandstone Quarry in Ruff Wood, Ormskirk, Lancashire
The site provided sandstone to build houses in Ormskirk in the 19th century (WLDC, 2014).

As a species, we like to leave our mark, much like a dog cocking its leg, except humans (allegedly) have 'higher' cognitive functions, such as the ability to reason and consider consequence (don't pee on the electric fence). Alas, we also have the ability to ignore the consequences in favour of immediate gratification.

But anyway, And The Walls Came Tumbling Down isn't preachy, in spite of my almost constant horror at what we're doing to the planet.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Not shown in this photo: abandoned supercars, shipped-in marine life and a population five times larger than forty years ago.

Plus, there's also my usual exploration of the social bridges we build, break and attempt to repair.

And The Walls Came Tumbling Down ebook is available for a so-low-it's-almost-free price of 99c/75p.

The paperback will be available within the next few days.




Thanks for reading!
Deb x

---

References:
 
Cressey, D. (2011) 'Gulf ecology hit by coastal development: Dubai's artificial islands are affecting marine ecosystems.' Nature Vol 479: 7373. http://www.nature.com/news/gulf-ecology-hit-by-coastal-development-1.9374 [accessed 01/08/16]

Ericson, J.E. and Purdy, B.A. (eds)(2009) Prehistoric Quarries and Lithic Production. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

McElroy, R. (2016) 'The story behind Dubai's abandoned supercars.' https://www.carkeys.co.uk/news/the-story-behind-dubais-abandoned-supercars [accessed 01/08/16]

UAE Ministry of Environment and Water (2015) State of the environment report: United Arab Emirates 2015. UAE.

West Lancashire District Council (2014) 'Ruff Wood, Ormskirk' http://www.westlancs.gov.uk/leisure-recreation/parks-and-countryside/parks-and-countryside-sites/ruff-wood,-ormskirk.aspx [accessed 01/08/16]

Images:

'Disused Sandstone Quarry in Ruff Wood'
© Copyright Gary Rogers and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/131063

'Dubai, United Arab Emirates'
© Copyright Roman Logov and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
https://unsplash.com/@prostoroman

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LGBT Pride: A Roundtable Discussion

Image
This week on my blog, we're trying something a little different. In honor of LGBT Pride month, I am among a great group of panelists who will be hosting a month long discussion about Pride, LGBT Youth, Allies, and more. Our panelists are a diverse group of readers, writers, and supporters of gay fiction, including Larry Benjamin , Rick Bettencourt , Brandilyn Carpenter , Rob Colton , Andrew Q Gordon , Lane Hayes , Debbie McGowan , and Brandon Shire . Each week, two people will answer two questions related LGBT pride, rights, and related topics. We will also be giveaway free copies of eBooks by our participating authors and a Amazon gift card. You can enter on the RC below. There are special entries for each week of June, so don't miss out on those. Please join in the discussion in the comments. You can gain entries into the giveaway, but more importantly, you can be part of a important and fun discussion. Though only 2 panelists will be posting each week, we will all be j...
Read more

Ironing, lie-ins, Zion

Image
It's Sunday morning! That's excellent news if dull skies and musty churches are your idea of fun; I did find myself momentarily wishing for rain this morning, as it's also mid-October and the privet needs one last haircut. I won't be going to church either, but that's another story for another day. So there I was sitting in the thinking room, and it came to me that had I ever aspired to be a more domesticated type, I could spend today cooking meals to fill the freezer. Unfortunately I have never been that person and so the freezer is safe. However, it did get me thinking that I might share some recipe ideas with the world. I know it's perhaps not what any previous visitors to this weblog might expect, and I could no doubt produce an acidic and lengthy commentary on a bit of a battle Nige has had with the organisers of PodcastCon UK 2006 over the past couple of weeks. In brief, for the sake of consistency, I will say this: it has been apparent for quite some time...
Read more

Reunions - Josh and George: Stating the Obvious #RainbowSnippets #LGBTQ

Image
Brief explanation: This is another snippet from Reunions (Hiding Behind The Couch Season Seven), which continues to grow. And grow. Current word count: 209,000. I’m aiming to stay under the word count of Two by Two (Hiding Behind The Couch Season Seven) …now I’ve passed all the other limits I set at the start. ;) Here’s a little more of Josh and George, this time together. Here’s the snippet: Josh looked him up and down as he got in the car. “Whose clothes are they?” “Mine.” George was thrown by the question and forgot to deliver his customary kiss. He attempted to rectify that, but Josh dodged him. He was still eyeing George’s clothes. “Are they?” “Who else’s would they be?” “Well, Jake’s, or…I don’t know. It just dawned on me you came to work in overalls.” “Under which I wear clothes,” George said like he was stating the obvious, because he was, in fact, stating the obvious. Josh remained perplexed. “What’s up?” * * * * * Rainbow Snippets is a group for L...
Read more