Book Review: Crossline

Crossline

By:  Russ Colchamiro

Publisher:  Crazy 8 Press

Publish Date:  March 2013

Format:  Trade 315pgs, 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"

Genre:  Science Fiction

Series:  Stand-alone

Recommendation:  For space travel fans with a twist to it.

Synopsis:
How does a poor, uneducated gas station attendant from nowhere USA transform himself into the world's richest oil tycoon, and then revolutionize the space program?

And when an American test pilot is thrust into a familiar yet mysterious world millions of miles from home, what must he risk to make it back alive?

How did the lives of these two men intersect?  How do their worlds overlap?

And what do their fates mean for us all?

Filled with mystery, suspense, and unforgettable characters, CROSSLINE is the exciting tale of two parallel worlds, and of two ambitious men whose incredible daring - and remarkable destiny - reveal the question: once you've crossed the line, can you ever really go back?

First Sentence:
Marcus Powell felt like the most powerful man in the world - and in a way, he was.

Purchase At:
Amazon

**I read this book for an honest review from the author.

My Thoughts and Summary:
Marcus Powell, aboard Crossline - a one man spacecraft, thrusts into space with the warp drives that could bring space travel to a new age. Powell understands what the maker of the warp drives talked him about nights before launch. When in outer space, to keep going. Marcus jumps an unexpected second time, and another. Six jumps later Marcus takes in the sight of Saturn. Powell is readying to return to Earth when he sees another ship mixed between Saturn's rings. A ship that looks identical to his. Secretively, they thought something was out here and if Powell saw it, he was to destroy it. Marcus isn't a man of killing without being attacked. When he is attacked and pursues the ship, what Marcus finds on the other side of the flash is...mind numbing.

Keela is looking for her husband, missing two years now in a ship like Marcus's. A world at war and prophecy's. They want to get away from their war and find another habitable planet to live on in peace.

There is a mix of American Indian heritage and believe here. It is the connection between the parallel worlds. Or helps keep things at our attention we might be missing. Yet there is a small bit of misunderstanding as the one relating the tiny bits of information is a little girl, and pronunciation is a little off.

I really liked Powell's thoughts on Earth and life on page 8:

The Earth was an elegant marble, cool and slick, glossed with a sheen of perfection. Continents set against the deep blue oceans. Immense white weather swirls. Never before did he truly consider just how magnificent the planet was. How the atmosphere around it had just the right mixture of gases to sustain life. How the Sun kept it warm. How the Moon influenced the tides. How stars inspired dreams. How our place in the Universe - our very origin - was still unknown to us.

The worlds are parallel to each other. People aren't all that you think they are. There is a twist to it all.

We have a few characters here. There is Marcus Powell, his wife and child. They are an interesting family. Not the combination you would expect, but that is life through and through. I really enjoyed his wife's spunk and the connection his daughter has. You have to read to understand. There is Dale Aranuke who works in charge at the space center. Dale is...a jerk for lack of a better word. But there are reasons why. Then we have Buddy Rheams Jr. Interesting fella here. He seems to be the one pulling all the strings for his desired end.

Russ starts us right into space, quickly. This is great. Russ uses memories of the preparation period to explain things as we are going. I like this as we don't get bored with life before we get to the story. We get the back stories as we go. We do take a step back in time with Buddy Rheams Jr. to learn his motives. All is easy to follow as you read through, knowing when and where you are each step along the way.

I knew going in what the book was about. I thought I'd enjoy it a but more. But, the story is calmer than what I usually read, and found it's not quite for me.  Not that it's not well done, it is. But I needed more...fight. After reading Finders Keepers, I thought this book would have more humor in it than it did. It had funny spots, but I was expecting more.

This book is a great read for those who travel space and alternate worlds. A science fiction fan through and through would enjoy it.

Who? What? Where? (127)

Who are you with? Where are you at? What's happening?

Share with us just a little bit of what is happening in the book you are reading, right where you are now.

Just a tiny taste of what's happening, remember try to not give spoilers of the book.

his is a new meme I'm going to try and will tweak as I go. And please don't laugh at my lame attempt at drawing. ;D )

This Week:

Jesse, daughter Marcus Powell the astronaut trying out warp speed at the moment, has a connection with the world through her American Indian heritage and just told her mommy her daddy is hurt. Then that he's a funny man, and healing.  Chandra has decided it's time to go to headquarters and find out what's going on with her husband.


Crossline
By:  Russ Colchamiro

Others have shown interest in joining in this post, and linking up.  So I've created a linky for that.
My only requests; copy the picture to use, and link back to My World...in words and pages.
Please visit any joining in.
Thank you!

Teaser Tuesday (176)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

This Week:

Melissa's Read:

Powell didn't know if it was the ripple effect or his death, but the dense blue light before him gave way to a gleaming center, unfolding, revealing itself.  Followed by a great white flash.

Crossline
By:  Russ Colchamiro
37 pg

Pearl Jam's Buffalonian Lesson Plan

I have a guest post for you today by Russ Colchamiro, author of Finders Keepers.  He is sharing a lesson he learned while teaching and using Pearl Jam as a prop.  A nice lesson in interpretation.  Please warmly welcome Russ back to the blog...

~~~~~~~~~~

My story begins on a rainy day in Buffalo, NY, February 1994, when I was a student teacher at Lafayette High School — 11th grade English.

Pearl Jam had already broken through with the Seattle grunge scene, and though I didn't know it then, in a very real way — just seconds before I opened my mouth and said something incredibly stupid — that enduring rock band wound up playing a significant role in the way I talk about my new novel, Finders Keepers.

For the uninitiated, Finders Keepers is a character-driven buddy story — a backpacking comedy — with a little light fantasy mixed in. It's loosely based on a series of trips I took through Europe and New Zealand, set against a quest for a jar that contains the Universe's DNA. Reviewers tend to describe Finders Keepers as a travel book meets Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Given the nature of Finders Keepers' narrative, I am often asked how much of the novel is based on my actual experiences in Europe and New Zealand, and how much is purely fictional. I often say that the backpacking sequences are made up, and all the galactic mayhem is real. Ha-ha.

But let's return to Buffalo, to that classroom. To Pearl Jam.

At the time, I was giving a lesson in which my students and I listened to — and then analyzed the lyrics for — Pearl Jam's "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town."

In my fourth period class, one of my students, whose name I've since forgotten, was very excited to explain what the lyrics meant. He was a big Pearl Jam fan and was, in his words, "stoked" to talk about the song. He shared his theories and insights, and seemed rather proud of them.

I was only 23 then, just a few years removed from high school myself and only six or seven years older than my students.

And yet in that moment, showing my students just how smart I thought I was — and that I was the more insightful Pearl Jam fan; I mean, please, come on, now — I corrected my student. Serving my own ego, I noted that I had read an article in a music magazine in which Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder discussed what the song really meant to him ... thus contradicting my student.

Man, I was so good. I was the man. A teacher with wisdom, with insight. A guy who knew his material. Knew the lingo.

I was ... a bonehead.

The look on my student's face, on all their faces, told me instantly that I should have kept my mouth shut. Did it really matter if my student was accurate or not? Did I really need to correct him? Song lyrics are their own form of poetry, of creativity. As the listener, the reader, we get to personalize their meaning. It's special. It's one of the true joys we have, to experience art in our own unique way.

And I took that away from him. As my student's teacher, I failed him. As a person, too.

Fast forward to today. Any time I'm asked about the basis of Finders Keepers, I smile. I may confirm or correct a detail or two, but mostly I just let the readers decide for themselves which parts of the novel were based in fact, which were pure fiction, and what it all means.

Maybe their interpretations are what I intended, perhaps not. And sometimes they bring to my attention ideas I hadn't even considered before, but were in the narrative all along.

Doesn't matter. I want each reader to have their own, unique experience. I did the writing. That's mine. I get to keep that. But the reading? That belongs to you. How you personalize the narrative is yours and yours alone.

I am extremely grateful to anyone who takes the time to read my novel. No one owes it to me to do so. And if they can walk away from Finders Keepers taking a character, an event ... even just a turn of phrase ... that stays with them, then all the better.

What does Finders Keepers mean? What's the subtext? I know what I meant to write, and hopefully I did that well. What you take away from the experience? That's yours.

Almost two decades ago, during a rainy day in Buffalo, I was supposed to be the teacher of young minds. And yet it was my students — whether they realized it or not — who wound up schooling me.

Russ Colchamiro is the author of the critically acclaimed sci-fi backpacking comedy Finders Keepers (published 3 Finger Prints; ISBN 9780979480140). To read reviews and Q&As about the novel, or order a signed copy, visit www.russcolchamiro.com.

You can follow Russ on Facebook, GoodReads and Twitter @FindKeepNovel. He is now completing his second novel, the Flash Gordon/Firefly-style space adventure Crossline, and is set to begin the next installment in his Finders Keepers adventure.

To watch Russ’ video interview at the NY Comic-Con, visit:
http://russcolchamiro.com/interviews/

And to view Finders Keepers character illustrations, visit: http://bit.ly/nMkWiG

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you Russ! 
I have read and reviewed Finders Keepers here on the blog if you would like to read the review.

Now, since Russ mentioned this great band and awesome song I think we need to hear it. :)  Hope you enjoy!



Giveaway Winner of Finders Keepers

Thank you for stopping by to read the interview with Russ, the author of Finders Keepers.

Remember, Russ was giving away 2 copies of the book and we have our winners!

Congrats to:

Melissa (Books and Things)

and

Rissatoo

The winners have been emailed and have 48 hours to respond with their addy information ~ 6/1/11 3:00pm

Interview & Giveaway!

***GIVEAWAY CLOSED***
Hi Russ! Thank you for taking time out of you busy day to do the interview.

M:  Now, I’ve read and reviewed your debut novel, Finders Keepers (HERE if you haven’t read it). But can you tell us a quick glimpse of what the book is about, for those who haven’t read my review?

RC:  Finders Keepers is loosely based on backpacking trips I took through Europe and New Zealand, set against a quest for a jar that contains the Universe's DNA. ... Yep. That's right. I said it. The Universe's DNA. Ha!


But theatrics aside, at it's heart, Finders Keepers is a character-driven buddy story about two very distinct, but decent guys in their early twenties -- Jason Medley, a sheltered worrier from the New York Suburbs; Theo Barnes, an adventurous risk-taker from Auckland, New Zealand -- trying to figure themselves out. In their distinct ways they're both caught in that netherworld between college and a career -- too old to be a student, but not ready to be a "grown up." So for different reasons they backpack across Europe. Of course, all sorts of mayhem ensues -- girls, hash bars, hangovers, train rides, bizarre strangers coming and going -- with what I call some "cosmic lunacy" mixed in for good measure.

M:  I have to say I love the cover! It is a wrap around from the front to the back. It has a great comic feel to it. Which for me the story had a comical feel as well.

RC:  Thanks! The cover was a blast to create. The artist is Rich Koslowski (www.richkoslowski.com), an award-winning comic book writer and artist -- and the publisher of Finders Keepers. He produces his own line of comic books, plus he is a licensed artist for The Family Guy and The Simpsons, and has done a lot of work for Archie Comics and Marvel. We worked on the cover for several months to ensure that the visuals captured the adventurous spirit of the novel. The basic cover concept -- and that great wrap around -- was all Rich's idea. It came out great.

M:  Where did the idea for the story come from?

RC:  I KNEW you were going to ask me that! It's actually a long story with several layers to it, but the short version is ... for my last semester of college I studied abroad, in England, at Manchester Metropolitan University. The month prior to that, I backpacked across Europe. My college career was coming to an end, so it was sort of a last hurrah for that period in my life. I'd really not been anywhere of note until then ... but whoa! I caught the travel bug! After that trip, I traveled across the U.S. a few times, moved to Tempe, Arizona for a short stint, and spent a few weeks in New Zealand (plus a few return trips to Europe). I wanted to capture those experiences -- or at least their essence -- in a narrative.


Separately, I was tinkering with a light-hearted sci-fi/fantasy concept, just for giggles, and the pieces -- the backpacking trips and the "cosmic lunacy" -- came together quite nicely.

M:  The story is told from a fun side and a sense of humor. But I get the feel there are a few morals here to be passed on. Did you use that idea in writing the story?

RC:  Well, I wouldn't say "morals," per se, but there is a lot of philosophy, mythology and spirituality embedded within the narrative. On the surface, Finders Keepers is a popcorn book. Adventure, travel, sex, love, humor. It's meant to be fun and funny. A beach book. Just a good time romp. But there's subtext. About loyalty, about friendship. I also like to ask the big questions. Is there a god? Is it all random? Or is there a grand design to the Universe? Plus, you know ... what REALLY happened to the dinosaurs?!


Whether from modern day Earth or the galactic realm of Eternity, I like characters to have their beliefs challenged, confronted and tested, and then put those characters in a position to make difficult choices -- yet in many absurd situations. I spent quite a bit of time arguing -- with myself! -- about what I wanted the characters to think, do and say in regard to how they viewed their place in Universe and whether their beliefs matched their realities. But I don't like to preach. I find that the grandiose questions are more fun to play around with when they're wrapped up with comedy.

M:  Do you have any favorite characters in here?

RC:  Ooh, that's always a tough one. I relate to elements of every character, and I don't know that I have a favorite, but Lex was really fun to write, both as a person and a dog! I get a lot of compliments about Lex. And I'm a big fan of Danielle. She's outspoken and sassy, but also fiercely loyal to her husband. I also have a soft spot for Theo's mother. She's the rock of that family. Very quiet, very patient. If not for her, I'm not sure her husband or sons would have had the freedom to find their way. I admire her resiliency. Plus Ira (the dolphin) and Howard (the whale). They crack me up!

M:  I enjoyed Hank and Brigsby. I even get the idea that they might be related some how… ;)

RC:  I'll let that comment just hang out there!

M:  And you have Character Illustrations! This really has brought the characters to life for me. You really seem to have fun with this cast of characters. Did you do these yourself?

RC:  Oh, lord no! I am probably the worst. Artist. Ever. Seriously. Can't draw a straight line with a ruler. I'm that bad. I do words.


But I'm glad you responded so positively to the character illustrations. That's always nice to hear. Though the illustrations are separate from the novel itself, I was looking for another way to promote Finders Keepers, so I placed an ad on Craigslist for artists. I had many responses, and ultimately selected Michael Lunsford, who at the time had recently graduated from the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. He did a terrific job with them. When you see them on my Web site (http://bit.ly/dLp4Ok), we included the character image on the front, and then their key "stats" on the back, kind of like the back of a baseball card. I'm hoping to do a bit more with them soon.

M:  I think a little birdie told me you are working on another book set with this same world. Is that so? Can you share any tidbits on that book with us?

RC:  Oh, the little birdies do like to chirp! Finders Keepers is a stand alone novel, so it holds up as a singular adventure. But my plan is to write two more novels in the series. I have the sequel mapped out, and a nice outline for the third book. After that, the adventure with the core characters -- particularly Jason Medley and Theo Barnes -- will be resolved. After that, if there's enough demand, I may give some of the secondary characters their own spin-off adventures. If all goes well, I'll be writing Finders Keepers novels for a long, long time.

M:  You have two settings here in the book. There is here on Earth and then there’s Eternity. I enjoyed the magical feel of Eternity. Could we possibly see more of Eternity?

RC:  That's a very distinct possibility!

M:  You have to have crazy days! Two dogs to walk, work, a home life (wife & TWINS - congrats by the way) and you still find time to write and do conventions. What do you dream about when you finally fall asleep? Baseball? Talking dogs? …

RC:  I actually only have one dog -- Simon -- and 9 month-old twins, Nate and Abby. I love being a Dad. It's amazing. They crack me up. Abby is pretty much set on ruling all of Metropolis with wide-eyed enthusiasm, and Nate is just naturally funny. He likes to chill out -- and giggle. As for my dreams, I don't remember them too often, but when I do, it's usually several days in a row, and they're pretty strange. And I often have different sets of recurring dreams. It's been said that every character in your dream is actually you in different forms. I believe very strongly that we are connected both to ourselves and to the fabric of the Universe, and that everything we need to know is in the either. We just need to find ways to relax, and connect with it. Our dreams are one way to do that. Carl Jung talks about this quite a bit. He's one of my heroes. His works continue to have a tremendous influence on me, both personally and in my writing.

M:  Are there any questions out there that you wanted to be asked and never was? If so, would you like to answer it today?

RC:  Wow. Awesome question. Let's see ... um ... if your super villain foe wanted to completely disable you, what would be the most effective tactic? Complete this sentence. _____ is to you what Kryptonite is to Superman?

My friends all think I'm a wackadoodle on this one -- they LOVE to bust my balls about it -- but force me to eat liver, tomatoes and cooked mushrooms, and you'd have a very good chance of driving me clinically insane! It's not that I hate tomatoes. I HAAAAAAATE tomatoes. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em. George Carlin used to do this great bit on tomatoes, about how on the outside they are so round and smooth and look gorgeous (and they do!), but on the inside it's like the stringy goo from the end of an egg! Totally! The texture and flavor skeeve me out. But grind them down to a paste, add some garlic, salt and oregano, and it's delicious. I love pasta sauce. I love pizza. I love ketchup. But raw tomatoes or cooked tomato chunks? Ahhhh!

I'm also skeeved out by cooked mushrooms, which to me are the cooked vegetable version of liver. Uuhhhhhhhhh (that's me shuddering, Homer Simpson style)

M:  Do you have a favorite line in the book?

RC:  You really like to make a guy play favorites, don't you?! Hmm ... well, there are a few passages I connect with in particular, so I'll share one. It's toward the earlier part of the novel, when Jason Medley is just getting started in Europe, and he meets Lilly, in Rome, and he's hooked. Big time. But he's not quite the ladies man, either. Not a dunce, but not a closer. So they have dinner, share a bottle of wine, and then head back to the hostel, where they're both staying in the same communal room, but in separate bunks. Here's how Jason handles it:

Yet in his wine haze, on his back, Jason stared only at Lilly. And in a flash, in a blast of utter genius, it came to him. He had a plan. A wonderful drunken plan.
As part of this plan, he would wander down to the Termini train station, find a florist and buy Lilly roses—big, red roses. Then, under the cover of night, he would slip back into the hostel undetected, tiptoe into the room and leave the flowers on her pillow, his heart detonating against his chest.

As part of the plan, Lilly would awaken the next morning with the roses by her side, the sun beaming in through the balcony window. And with the sun on her face she would smell the roses and know they were from Jason. That he had thought of her. That his desire was pure. And her heart would swell, watching him sleep, touched by his romantic spontaneity. And when he woke they would embrace, the beginning of their glorious new beginning together.

Jason loved this plan. He really did. He loved it so much, in fact, that just before passing out, he almost ran out and did it.

M:  One question I like to ask on my interviews… If you could travel any where in the world, where would you like to go?

RC:  That's easy. Antarctica. I'm not sure if I'll ever get to do it, but I'm totally serious about it. I can't imagine that any experience could equal going there. I want to get me some frozen tundra! Hookah Chockah! I actually have another favorite destination ... but I can't share. It just might end up in the next Finders Keepers sequel, and I don't want to spoil the surprise. ...

M:  Thank you for the interview Russ! I do appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day for us here at My World…in words and pages. I wish you all the best in words and pages.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Russ has be kind enough to offer 2, yes 2 copies of Finders Keepers to two lucky commenters!

What do you have to do?

~~ +2 Comment!  Say Hello.  Comment on the character illustrations, anything here in the interview.
~~ +3 Share this Interview & Giveaway with others.  MUST leave a link here for me to verify.
~~ +2 Follow My World...in words and pages through Google Connect, but not necessary to enter.
~~ Leave a way to contact you if you should win. If you don't feel comfortable leaving here in comments, you can email me.  My email can be found in my profile.
~~ US & Canada addresses only
~~ Giveaway ends Monday May 30, 2011 at 12:00 pm EST

Book Review: Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers

By:  Russ Colchamiro

Publisher:  3 Fingers Prints

Publish Date:  October 2010

Format:  Paperback 298pgs

Genre:  Fantasy

Series:  Stand-alone, yet 1st in 3-part series.

Recommendation:  If you like some fun fantasy that has an enjoyable folly of men journeying through Europe and a farce on beings who create.

Book Synopsis:
On a backpacking trip through Europe, Jason Medley and Theo Barnes stumble through hash bars and hangovers; religious zealots and stalkers; food poisoning and thunderstorms; cute girls; overnight trains; fever-pitch hallucinations - and the spectre of adult responsibility!

But when a jar containing the Universe's DNA falls from Eternity, these new friends find their loyalties put to the test... unaware that a motley crew from another realm is chasing them across the globe, with the fate of the Milky Way hanging in the balance.

Traversing Europe, New Zealand and the backbone of Eternity, Finders Keepers is a buddy story that not only tackles friendship, sex, commitment and desire, but also God, reincarnation - and what really happened to the dinosaurs!

First Sentence:
The last thing Donald and Danielle ever wanted was to wreck their marriage, lose their jobs, get banished from Eternity and jeopardize the Milky Way galaxy.

My Review and Summary:
Newlyweds, Donald and Danielle, make an unexpected stop in the Milky Way Galaxy on Earth - out and away from Eternity, their home.  Not knowing this fun stop could be disastrous for them and the whole Milky Way Galaxy.  They accidentally knocked their assigned jar of CBM (the Universes DNA) off a ledge into a cooling frozen humongous glacier during their hanky panky moment.  Lost.  Now the warehouses the jars are stored in the off hours are being inventoried and their lost jar will be caught missing, leaving them in serious trouble with consequences.

Jason, an English teacher looking for work in New York, agreed to drop everything and go on a backpacking adventure in Europe.  Something completely out of his character.  Not knowing what he was going to do or where to visit Jason finds himself in Europe.  What could go wrong?  The one question you shouldn't ask yourself...  Jason finds another gentleman, Theo, who is on a mission to find a person he was sent to find that can tell him about the strange jar he found.  These two pair up for their adventures.

This book can't be anything but fun.  Look at that cover.  If you could see the back of the cover too you would see that.  This story reminded me of a farce on a fantasy of gods and creators and a folly of men out for fun and adventure.  I loved it.

I enjoyed the way the characters all ended up intermingled with each other.  Even when one sent another to meet someone and they all linked through a line of connections.  Great work here with the character relations.  As I enjoyed the follies of the boys day out, I also enjoyed the Eternitarians.  They were the brief fun release for me with the "punishments" that where given to them for their wrong doings.  Great lessons to be learned here.

In the end the book had touched on many subjects; friendships between different people male and female, love, sex, and touring the country side in Europe.

The journey these men take struck me as a great mans day out... without woman.  The characters learn much about themselves and relationships with others, new and old, in this journey.


I received this book for review from the author.

This book qualifies for my Speculative Fiction Challenge of 2011, Hosted by Floor to Ceiling Books.

Teaser Tuesday (53)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

This Week:

Boiling grease splattered on her housedress as Emma thought back to the day in Eternity, at the gates of Titan Hall, the media capital of the Southern Sphere.  She was there to announce her landmark deal - three new galaxies of her design - but also to unveil her recently completed Milky Way galaxy.

Finders Keepers
By:  Russ Colchamiro
33 pg