RIPTIDE’S 4th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION – GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: GB Gordon
Thank you for joining Riptide on our 4th Anniversary blog tour! We are excited to bring you new guest posts from our authors and behind the scenes insights from Riptide. The full tour schedule can be found HERE. Don’t miss the limited time discounts and Free Books for a Year giveaway at the end of this post!
Please welcome G.B. Gordon to the tour:
“Let’s Get This Settled”
By G.B. Gordon
I’m supposed to write something about Santuario. The problem with that is, where it concerns the book or the series, I’ve either said it already, or I can’t say it yet without spoilers for future books. (I mean, you already know there are two more on my immediate ‘to write’ list, right?) So, in order not to spoil, but still tell you something new, I decided to cast my net a little wider.
You see, I have a ‘but’ mind.–
Shut up, muse. I’m talking about the one with one ‘t’, okay?
…
Well, fine, so in *this* case I’m talking about the ‘but’ with one ‘t’. Will you let me get to the friggin’ point?
So, anyway, having a ‘but’ mind *glares muse into silence* means, I can’t simply come up with a story like Santuario and have it sit in a vacuum. My mind won’t silently accept the premise of human civilizations so very similar to existing ones, on a planet far far away, in the far distant future. It’ll bug me with ‘but’s.
–But where did they come from?
-But how did they get there?
-But why did they leave? Why in that cultural composition? Is this the only world they settled? How did they manage? … You get the idea.
It can be a bit annoying. And it blows any single story way out of the water.
The muse, helpful as she always is (insert more glaring here), has a solution for that. She neatly trims off all the plot squiggles that don’t have anything to do with the story at hand, collects them in a basket lined with pillows, and carries them off. Very carefully. (I’ve heard her whisper to them.)
You can see where this is going? I bet you’re right. Plot bunnies. Bevvies of plot bunnies. The muse? She breeds them, pets them, and feeds them until they’re big and strong enough for their own story.
All those ‘but’ questions up there? Plot bunnies. Every single one of them. Fully grown by now. (Nibbling on my brain when I should really finish something else first.) A whole universe of stories about humans needing to leave a planet they used up; planning, researching, and, finally, executing those plans to settle other worlds. All with their own agendas, their own destinies. Every one of them with their own needs and wants and loves. All waiting in my head, more or less patiently, to be written into books.
The young guard whose dream comes true when he gets a job on that space ship construction. Or does it?
The farmer who starts a war and falls for the enemy.
The soldier whose military objective suddenly turns decidedly personal.
…
Because they’re all set in the same universe, their stories are loosely connected to each other and to Santuario by cause and effect–sometimes across centuries and millennia.
You heard it here first: There’s a Settlement Universe. I’d love for you all to come and explore it with me.
About Santuario
Two cultures . . .
Both settled the same world, but the nations of Santuario and Jarðvegur are literally poles apart. The people of Santuario are refugees, struggling to survive on a resource-scarce tropical island under a backwater totalitarian regime. The far northern people of Jarðvegur might have wealth and democracy on their side, but they lost the moral high ground centuries ago to fear and isolationism, and are discovering now just how difficult it is to claw their way back up.
Two men . . .
Santuarian cop Alex Rukow has learned the hard way to keep his head down. He’s perfected the moves, but he doesn’t actually ever yield. Though one man may be able to change his mind on that.
Jarðvegur homicide investigator Bengt believes that everyone deserves a chance and a choice. But in Santuario, Bengt learns that life is never clear-cut, and the choices he and Alex make have consequences Bengt could never have imagined in his earlier life.
One shared passion . . .
Bengt and Alex must dig deep for the trust and courage to bridge their differences. Because if they can’t make it work between the two of them, how will they ever manage to bridge their two cultures?
http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/series/santuario
About G.B. Gordon
G.B.Gordon worked as a packer, landscaper, waiter, and coach before going back to school to major in linguistics and, at 35, switch to less backbreaking monetary pursuits like translating, editing, and writing.
Having lived in various parts of the world, Gordon is now happily ensconced in suburban Ontario with the best of all husbands. Santuario is G.B. Gordon’s first published work, but many more stories are just waiting to hit the keyboard.
Connect with Gordon:
- Website and blog: kontext.ca
- Twitter: @gb_gordon
- Goodreads: com/gbgordon
Anniversary Sale
The Santuario series is being sold in a special discounted bundle by Riptide this week only. Check out the sale on this series and other bundles at http://www.riptidepublishing.com/anniversary-sale
Giveaway
To celebrate our anniversary, Riptide Publishing is giving away free books for a year! Your first comment at each blog stop on the Anniversary Tour will count as an entry and give you a chance to win this great prize. Giveaway ends at midnight, October 31, 2015, and is not restricted to US entries.
Rafflecopter code:
RIPTIDE ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY
Rafflecopter link:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/YzFlZTIyZDliMTliMjUxZmI5YzVkZTRlOTUzZjliOjE=/?
Thanks for the post. It made me smile. All the “But…” questions remind me of my daughter.
I bought Santuario a while ago – now I wish I could buy more time to read. :-)
Happy Anniversary, Riptide!
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Wish I could hand out time like cookies. I might steal some for myself, too. ;)
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Same here, I bought Santiario right when it was published, but hadn’t time to read it yet.😞 But I swear, it’s really high on my TBR pile 😋
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I like the idea of the muse nurturing all the plot bunnies!
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Happy 4th Anniversary Riptide and I enjoyed the unusual post!
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I need to read this one!
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How has this not crossed my radar? I’m adding it to my wishlist right now. Thanks!
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Pssst, half price for the duo atm on the Riptide page.
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Happy Anniversary! Thanks for the chance!
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I’m very intrigued by this. Might have to go check out the bundle.
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Great post. I’ve got it and I’m going to read it =)
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Thanks for stopping by and commenting, everyone, It’s always much appreciated. :)
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Much love to Boys in Our Books for letting me guest post.
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All those plot bunnies need to be fed!!
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I’m trying. So many stories, so little time. ;)
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