Mark Aberdeen is the author of Knight and Dex (The Dex Territory Series). On today’s Rave Reviews Book Club “Spotlight Author” tour stop at 4writersandreaders.com , we’ll not only have the pleasure of meeting the author, we’ll get a peek inside Book 2 of the series. Welcome Mark, it’s great to have you with us today—I can’t wait to find out more about the authors you wish you could be. ~ Bette A. Stevens

Authors I Wish I Could Be

By Mark Aberdeen

Mark Aberdeen, author of KNIGHT AND DEX Territory (Superheroes/Detective) Series

Over the years and the course of many books consisting of many words of fantastic, interesting characters I’ve found a few stories that have really stuck with me. As a kid I gravitated pretty quickly to science fiction and fantasy. It was mostly due to my dad who was an avid reader and introduced me to the likes of Isaac Asimov, Victor Appleton’s Tom Swift series, Edgar Allan Poe, The Hardy Boys, Edgar Rice Burroughs both John Carter and Tarzan, I read the Time Machine, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and the rest of the works of H.G. Wells. Later on my attention would turn to Robert. E Howard, Robert Heinlein, Philip K. Dick. These books as well as TV shows like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, every 70’s and 80’s Saturday morning cartoon, a host of comic books and movies like Star Wars, Logan’s Run we’re all consumed with the voracious mind of a young boy and teenager. This set the foundation of my love of reading and writing. I wanted to create worlds like these. I wanted daring characters, dire situations and places that not only dove into the unimaginable but where six impossible things were done before breakfast.

As an adult I found my way over to new authors and some of them are so good that one can help but have physical reaction to it. For instance, when I read American Gods by Neil Gaiman it changed my world. Here was not just a book, but a piece of literature that was either something loved, or hated, but had a prose so beautiful it was painful. I would go on to read Stardust, Neverwhere and Sandman and everything Gaiman put to paper.

Stephen King is a grandmaster. While he has a difficult time sticking an ending, his use of description is unequalled. He can create paintings in my mind with just a few words. The man absolutely objects to adverbs of any kind. When a writer kill adverbs, it forces the author to use description. It’s the difference between a good writer and a great writer.

J.K. Rawling created a world like no other in her Harry Potter series. Here is world building at its finest. Even as fantastic and magical as her world is; it has rules. When those rules are broken there are consequences. She also filled her world with characters that one can’t help but love, or despise and she even created a character in Severus Snape was so utterly tragic that once his secret was revealed one couldn’t look at him the same way again. It was so elegant.

One hundred years from now when a future English literature class talks about books from this era; Gaiman, King and Rowling are the three who are going to be remembered. I’d love to see if this prediction holds true. I wonder if I combined their styles, would I be able to create a world that would have that answer?

Knight and Dex by Mark Aberdeen

Excerpt

Snow settled over New London and covered the alley with a chilly blanket, which normally gave me a moment’s pause to reflect. I might have thought about tranquility, but there was nothing tranquil in the roundhouse kick I took to the face. Steam rose from crimson splatter as my blood hit the freshly fallen snow.

Minx’s claws flashed. I jumped back and narrowly avoided being torn open at the belly.

It was difficult to wax poetic while someone was doing their best to kill me.

Welcome to my life.

I swung my left fist. My intention wasn’t to connect with Minx’s jaw but to buy a precious second. The parry worked well enough and gave me the moment I needed to draw the pulse pistol from under my coat. I bellowed a triumphant, “Ha!”

My moment of glory was short-lived. Another kick connected with my right hand. The blow jarred the weapon loose and it sailed into a snow bank. Powdery snow swallowed it whole. The thing about being unarmed, it felt a bit like being naked in a crowd. No way to cover my ass.

I gripped my stinging hand. “Shit.”

A powerful arm, furry and itchy and stiff as a crowbar, hooked me around the neck. Minx had gotten behind me, and the momentum of her attack tore my feet from the ground. I cartwheeled, forcing her to detach and spring back, but I landed face-down in a heap. The snow with all its apparent fluffiness did nothing to cushion my fall. The impact rattled my bones and lights danced across my vision, swirling in loopy rings.

All I needed was another concussion.

Strong hands grabbed me by the collar and belt. My stomach lurched as I was torn from the relative comfort of the ground and flipped onto my back like a flapjack. Minx pounced on top of me and pinned my arms to my sides with her powerful thighs. Normally, I approved of such positions, but she wasn’t Pink Panther and this wasn’t foreplay. I feared she would crunch me like a walnut in a nutcracker. I gasped for precious air.

To any observer it would appear as if I were unprepared for this fight. That observer would have been correct. I’d seen her running down the sidewalk and duck into this alley. She was up to something and I’d interrupted her. Evidence suggested it was something she didn’t want the cops to know about. While my intent was to have a friendly chat with her, she’d decided to take our exchange in a different direction.

Minx had a reputation in underworld circles as an effective messenger. Our not-so-cozy encounter fell within the realm of her typical delivery method. While I didn’t feel like she took sadistic glee in her work, I thought she took pride in a job well done. I, on the other hand, found the work environment hostile, and already I was drawing up a complaint to her HR department.

Purchase Mark Aberdeen’s  Knight and Dex (The Dex Territory Series Book 2) here:

• TWB Press: http://www.twbpress.com/knightanddex.html
• Amazon Link: http://amzn.com/B014X8SVR8
• Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/knight-and-dex-mark-aberdeen/1122656538?ean=9781936991983
• Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/knight-and-dex

Follow Mark Aberdeen

• Website: http://www.markaberdeen.blogspot.com/
• Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Aberdeen
• Twitter handle: @Mark_Aberdeen
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/dexterritorybook

Readers, thanks for joining Mark’s Rave Reviews Book Club AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT TOUR today. Mark and I would love to hear from you (comments below): and if you enjoyed the post, I invite you to share it with your friends. ~ Bette A. Stevens

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