Awakening Book by Paul A Rice

Synopsis - Awakening

 

 

 

 

So, you think you know how things work do you. We all do I guess…

Kenneth Robinson is a soldier who, after leaving the Army, finds work in the Middle East and Central Asia. He smokes too much and he swears too much; but he has a pure heart. That particular attribute is going to get him into trouble. With the help of his friend and partner, Mike, he has set-up his own company located on Kandahar Air Field. They are doing quite nicely and things look set to become even rosier in the very near future. It’s looking pretty damn good for them, they’ve worked hard, taken risks, and now it looks like payback time.

Yeah, it was all going just fine until the Storm arrived. The howling beast transforms not only Ken’s day but his entire perception of how the world works. He is thrust into a reality that is beyond the edge of reason and shown the truth about what really lies behind the scenes. Ken sees those little things that wait in the darkness beyond the dim glow of our own perception. Whilst looking for Mike who, along with everybody else has disappeared, Ken finds himself taken to a place that would fracture most people’s minds. He becomes plagued by horrific dreams and is tipped toward insanity. Fortunately for him, and us, Ken is made of stronger stuff. His stoicism and dry-humour, when coupled with his experience, enable him to cope with the madness of the crazy things, which he is shown by George. The old man takes Ken and shows him a view of the universe he never even dreamed of. Events almost beyond comprehension have happened and are still happening, events that require their immediate intervention. Ken and Mike are told that the future for them, and all that remains of mankind, lies in their hands. 

From the madness of a storm, being trapped and escaping; through his search for Mike and to the shattering arrival of reality; we follow Ken on his discovery of the truth. He finds himself being shown ancient history and then a devastating possible future; both are inextricably linked and both need his help. George tells the tale of how the world was, how it is now and how it’s going to be in the future.

It’s not a happy ending either or at least it won’t be, unless they get to ‘Red’ first? The red-haired giant is going to have his say all right, he’s on a separate agenda and doesn’t care who gets in the way. Killing is a second-nature for this guy. Fortunately, Ken has done his own share of killing, and if it’s a fight you want, well…

From dreams to ‘slideshow’s, history to ‘Rip-Fixers’, the past and the present, this tale has them all. It also has the reality of a normal guy who just happens to be pretty handy when it comes to ‘sorting things out’. All Ken needs is Mike, some big guns and the ‘Spears’… Ken has the skills and Mike has the magic, together they ride into battle to stop the Demon and his plans. Ordinary men dealing with very extraordinary circumstances

But listen, be ready yeah? Nothing is ever as it seems in this book; everything is about perspective and relativity, it just depends on who you are and which way you’re looking. The shattering finale will blow you away. If you don’t puke or cry then perhaps you’re the one who George should be employing huh?

Take a ride with them, jump on-board and let’s find out; find out how much you actually know about things shall we? Let’s see just how awake you really are?

Paul A. Rice - Author

About Paul A. Rice as an Author

I was born in 1961 in Rhodesia (Now called Zimbabwe) to English parents. My father worked for Caltex Oils and my mother for the Rhodesian Government. I spent the majority of my early school days at boarding schools in Rhodesia before returning to the UK in 1975, where I attended school in Marlborough for about 18 months or so. In 1977 I joined the Army as a Junior Leader (Boy soldier) where I underwent 12 months rigorous training in a camp near Folkestone, Kent.

23 years and 109 days later... not that I was counting... and after having spent 8 years as a Serjeant Major, I was discharged at the end of my service.

During my time in the forces I was lucky enough to have served with some quite excellent people, also to visit, live and work in some brilliant places. Throughout my career I served with the Light Infantry who have since been renamed The Rifles. They were mostly a fine bunch of people if ever there was one. I still keep in touch with quite a few of them through the wonders of Facebook.

As a means of keeping in touch I find Facebook quite irreplaceable. We have two pages on Facebook: 'Awakening' and also:  www.riceauthor.co.uk

They are both open for anyone to join.

Since leaving the forces I have been divorced, remarried, run several businesses with my wife Jane, and had the opportunity to visit many different countries, including Afghanistan, Yemen and Pakistan.Me and my Wife Jane

I have three beautiful daughters from my first marriage and three lovely step-kids from my second.

I am currently living in North Yorkshire. It's a beautiful place.

I have a passion for motorcycles and in particular, motorcycle racing. It is about the only thing I will go out of my way to watch on TV.

My favourite people are those that make me laugh and who are interesting. People who have an opinion and who are always striving to have a go at the next mad idea.

I like seeing people just going for it - trying to be better, trying to get somewhere. I know it's crazy, but I like that; we only have one life so don't sit around waiting for things to come your way.Get out there and try and make them happen! Sometimes it won't work, but at least you've got the memories and there is always tomorrow when you can go and try something else? I think it may well have been Barry Sheene who said something like: "Don't wait for your ship to come ashore; swim out there and drag the bastard in..."

Help For Heroes: I believe this to be a very worthy cause and one that is making a difference to the lives of many people. We have set-up a donation option on our purchase page. If you like you can pay the little bit extra and we will send it straight to H4H. It would brilliant if you could make a donation to them. Check out their website via the link on my home page. Anything we can all do to help will be most welcome and will make a difference to someone who needs a helping hand.

The picture below is of a good friend of mine (Nick Ilic) and some of his troops - they are on top of a mountain in Afghanistan with some copies of my books - I think the picture was taken on Christmas day 2009.

The troops with some of my books on the top of a mountain in Afghansisatn on Christmas Day 2009

 

Writing: Many people ask me what made me write these books: the honest answer is that I'm not really sure. I've dabbled several times along the way, but never seriously. It just comes upon me, the need to write, and suddenly I find myself at the keypad again. I have never really applied myself before - it takes a lot of self-belief, which I didn't have.

I wrote Awakening whilst I was stuck down in Kandahar - it took about two months, mostly working late at night - and then I spent ages trying to get it right. I suppose a lot of the story was to do with the madness I had seen whilst I was in Afghanistan, and other equally crazy places - it just didn't make sense to me and I've always wondered if this was it: The sum-total of thousands of years, supposedly evolving, having culminated in the absolute chaos, poverty, and blood-letting, which can be witnessed in those bleeding lands. Obviously we all know about the 'Hyenas' and their greed, as true today as it always has been, and probably always will be. I  use the name as a similie for the men in grey suits - the ones behind all the big plays that change our world?

There was a different 'George' who wrote someting along the lines of: “He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.” I believe it was George Orwell.

Anyway - I got to thinking about what we must look like to an outsider, how crazy it must all seem? Imagine if you were someone from a different place, another time perhaps, and you happened to visit our world but, by pure chance, you ended-up in one of those crazy places I mentioned above. What would you think?

Then I thought about how someone normal, you know, an ordinary bloke like 'Ken', or someone similar, would cope with being shown things, insane things, which lay well outside his normal concept of how the world worked?

What would he do - would his head simply explode, or would he adapt to the situation?

With that in mind I thought I would give it a go.

The covers of my book show photographs taken from the Hubble Telescope. Apart from some formatting to make them fit, they are undoctored. Awakening shows a Nebula called 'Eskimo' and The Gift shows one called 'Hourglass'. A Nebula, for those that don't know, is usually the result of a star having expoded into supernova, the end of a world in many ways. The dust from the explosion is the cause of such wonderful pictures. If you visit the NASA website you can check out some truly awesone pictures. Then ask yourself the questions?

I don't think of my books as 'sci-fi' in the true sense, and as George says: "There are no little green men..." I tend to think of it as an action novel with a twist; suspense, mystery and a fair bit of the human story too? OK - they do get to use some amazing kit and there is the Angelica Star, but... well, you decide? I know the mere thought of sci-fi puts most people off immediately! You have to be into that genre?

However, if you think of a movie: Maybe something like 'Matrix' or 'Aliens' for example? What great films they were- but wasn't it sci-fi? I never thought of it as that; it was simply a good tale?

Hopefully you will give my books the same opportunity - see if you like the tale and forget the rest, I never wrote them with any genre in mind. They are just stories.

Whilst I was writing I joined the website YouWriteOn.com where you can upload chapters of your work and receive critiques from all manner of people. YWO are sponsored by the Arts Council of Great Britian and exist to find new writing talent. The critiques helped me tremendously; it's no use letting people you know give you advice on your book. It just doesn't work, and as one person from the website said: "You need to sharpen the blade of your writing scalpel in the fire of your peers’ criticism..." Very true, I also discovered that you cannot let your own ego blind you from the truth, some people will love your work and others will hate it. It's the way of all of the arts I suppose - try convincing someone that your favourite music CD, should be theirs?

After a while I received an email from the YWO offering to publish my book; it was an opportunity that I jumped at. YWO have been extremely helpful and I owe a debt of gratitude to Ted Smith, who runs the show. I couldn't have done this without his help and patience.

Then I started to get emails and messages from people who had read Awakening and they were all saying they liked the first book and how much they wanted the sequel. These comments were wonderful and, apart from making me feel good, they motivated me to get on with the sequel.

planet view courtesy of Nasa

Awakening 2 The Gift had been in my mind for a while, but I didn't really know where it was going to take me, that bothered me a whole lot; was just the one book all I had in me? Could I face the amount of work it takes, the frustration of knowing that my grammar and punctuation weren't up to scratch? Both of my books are soley the result of my own work, from the design of the front cover to the text on the back cover, and everything in between, it all has to be done by the author. It's so time-consuming and the one thing that I definitely lack in, amongst many others, is patience!

Anyone who has ever submitted a manuscript to a publisher or literary agent will know how brutal they can be.

I look upon it as part of the game, you have to accept  the set backs. A lot of my readers have told me they didn't notice any errors - they've said it was the story that they were interested in. In many ways I admire that; when you start getting all tied-up about a comma missing here or a misplaced hyphen there, then I find that the joy of reading is taken away, and you spend more time tutting and weilding a red pen in your mind?

To be honest, the second book daunted me, but I enjoy it so much, being immersed in writing, that in typical fasion I thought: 'What the hell - let's just do it!' So I sat down at my laptop and began to write again. It's weird because the story took my hand and off we went. I promise you that is what happened, I had no idea where I was going with it and can vividly remember being shocked when I looked down at the word count and saw I had passed the 100,000 mark. I felt as though I had only just begun. I stopped writing as - with my current publishers - I am restricted to a certain limit on words.

I hope you like the story - I had an absolute ball figuring it out and then writing it; I used to wake up in the early hours with ideas for the plot running through my head...

Anyway, I have finished the sequel and it too has been published by YouWriteOn.com

It's available now.

Right now the books are going to publishers and agents and I will have to take the set-backs on the chin - it's all part of the learning process. This has been the hardest thing I think I have ever done in my life? Also the most fulfilling, frustrating, and yet most enjoyable. I'm hooked by it now and hope that I can improve as I gain more experience.

I am currently 70,000 words into Awakening 3 Demon Hunters, and this time I have a fairly good idea where it's going to take us - I hope I can do you justice? If you go to the 'NEWS' page on this site you will be able to see a little preview from the new book?

My eternal thanks go to my wife Jane for her endless enthusiasm and encouragement. Her belief in me is humbling and I admire her deeply. Whenever I get down and lose the faith she picks me up and pushes me forward again. Having someone like that in your life is absolutely priceless.

I also owe a debt of thanks to the many people who have commented on the books; both good and bad are gladly received, and I always take time to think about what has been said. It's all good stuff - thank you!

Well, that’s more than enough waffle from me I guess. I hope you buy the books and, more importantly, that you enjoy them.

My one wish would be for them to take you away to that special place where only a good book can?

The first book, now re-titled Parallel - The Awakening is now available as an e-book from the following sites:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/19366

http://www.lulu.com/browse/search.php?fListingClass=5&fSearch=Paul+A.+Rice

You can download it in minutes and the price is good, really good!

Cheers

 

P A.R

PS: CHECK OUT THE 'NEWS' LINK FOR THE LATEST INFO ON THE BOOKS.

21st May 2010