August 19, 2022

BLOG TOUR The Genes of Isis by Justin Newland

Hi friends! I'm excited to be a part of the tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions for The Genes of Isis by Justin Newland. The author will be awarding one signed copy of the paperback (US or International) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Make sure you follow the tour and show the other hosts some love as well - the more you comment, the more chances you have to win!

The Genes of Isis by Justin Newland Tour Schedule (Goddess Fish Promotions)

About the Book

Akasha is a precocious young woman who lives in a world where oceans circulate in the aquamarine sky waters.


Before she was born, the Helios, a tribe of angels from the sun, came to Earth to deliver the Surge, the next step in the evolution of an embryonic human race. Instead, they left humanity on the brink of extinction and spawned a race of monstrous hybrids. 


Horque is a Solarii, another tribe of angels, sent to Earth to rescue the genetic mix-up and release the Surge. 


When Akasha has a premonition that a great flood is imminent and falls in love with Horque, her life becomes an instrument for apocalyptic change. But will it save the three races - humans, hybrids and Solarii – from the killing waters?

Excerpt 

The moonlight flooded through the window but Issa was still awake. Once the street cats grew tired of fighting and the hyenas and foxes stopped scavenging, she roused herself and began her descent. Clutching a glow lamp in one hand and Fryme's package in the other, she crept downstairs and stopped in the middle of a corridor, beside a section of wall that would have appeared unremarkable to anyone else. She knew otherwise. 

A few words, an arcane utterance, followed by a shimmer of light and the astral curtain disappeared, revealing the secret door. She stepped through it, into the corridor beyond. She was going to the God Crucible, an occult chamber beneath her house. Its astral protections were such that no one, not even Cheiron, suspected its existence. Her breathing was shallow. This was the first point of no return. 

Her glow-lamp threw long shadows down the narrow, sloping tunnel. Divided in two, it had steps on one side and a slanting ramp on the other. In front of her on the ground was a piece of white bandage, accidentally torn off the mummified body of her son, which she'd dragged down the ramp before Cheiron had arrived. How heavy he had been. They didn't call it a dead weight for nothing. She could still smell the musty odour of the dust particles she'd dislodged.

At the bottom of the ramp, the tunnel gave way to a dome-shaped chamber, the God Crucible. Her son’s cadaver lay on a bench, and she ran her hand over the embalming bandages. Beside it was a second, vacant bench. There, she would lie during the ritual she was about to perform. 

The Anubis embalmers had washed Horque’s body, encased it in natron salt, and mummified it according to all but one of the traditions of the Jackal-headed God - the exception being that they had not removed any of his organs. On his chest, she laid out a scarab pectoral and into his mouth, she placed a length of straw. 

Q&A with the Author

Hi Dusty, thanks for hosting this stop on the Goddess Fish promotional tour of my novel, The Genes of Isis.

Where do you get your inspiration, information, and ideas for books?

 

Everywhere and anywhere is the short answer. I’m an avid researcher and eclectic reader. I’ve read and studied all my life; philosophy, literature, history, science, plays, art and the whole kaboodle. 

 

One massive source for plot threads and characters comes from history. The saying ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ really does ring true where history is concerned.

 

And ideas come from my own experience of life, which is now quite considerable. They say the older you get, the more you have something to write about, which is true too.

 

And alongside history and experience, inspiration and ideas seep into the semi-conscious. I read somewhere that everything has come to us through the imagination, through the semi-conscious, and that’s true too.

 

And especially when you’re stuck for ideas and inspiration. When that happens, I follow Stephen King’s advice in his book ‘On Writing’ in which he suggested consulting, if not relying on, ‘the boys in the basement,’ aka your unconscious. They know everything. We tend to confine it to our mental arrangements, only allowing ourselves a limited view where there’s a panorama out there. 

 

One way I’ve found to allow that inspiration to seep through from the unconscious is to remind yourself, just before going to sleep, of where you have got to with the plot and what issues you want to resolve. Then usually, by the morning, the boys (and girls) in the basement have got to work on the issue and come up with an imaginative solution.

 

What was your hardest scene to write and why?

 

I think the last chapter is the most complex scene to write.

That’s because the balances in the ending are difficult to juggle and are often complicated.

Here’s how I think about endings…  

Imagine the structure of a novel as an upward-pointing triangle. The base represents the beginning, the triangle gets thinner in the middle, and reaches the apex at the top - that’s the ending. 

Like the base of the triangle, the novel’s beginning is a broad base and light on tension.  The characters and settings are introduced. As the novel proceeds, the tension thickens as the characters interact and their arcs develop, and the threads are grown.

As the story culminates, there are many plot threads to resolve. There are the main character arcs to fulfil. But just as the tension at the beginning is broad, the tension at the end, where the triangle reaches the apex, is thick. The plot threads are pulled taut. Any wrong move dissipates the tension, lowers expectancy. So, at the end of the novel, at the narrow apex, every word, every gesture, every dialogue counts. 

That’s why endings are difficult. 

The ending of The Genes of Isis was no different.

 

What exciting projects do you have coming up next?

 

I’m working on a two-book series set in Elizabethan times, 16th century England in the Tudor era.

It was only supposed to be one novel, but my muse had other ideas, and I’ve ended up with two. 

The hero is Nelan, a young Flemish-Dutch émigré who flees to England to escape Spanish persecution of his Protestant family in the Netherlands.

Nelan then participates in two of the most formative events in English history: Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the world and the repulse of the Spanish Armada. Those stories form the basis for the two books.

The series is called The Shoes That Don’t Wear Out, and the enigmatic title alludes to my penchant for writing secret history thrillers. 

The questions I wanted to explore in these novels are: What is the nature of (the land of) England? Why were these two events turning points in the development of England as a nation?

About the Author

Justin Newland is an author of historical fantasy and secret history thrillers - that’s history with a supernatural twist. His stories feature known events and real people from history which are re-told and examined through the lens of the supernatural. He gives author talks and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio Bristol’s Thought for the Day. He lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. 

His Books

The Genes of Isis is a tale of love, destruction and ephemeral power set under the skies of Ancient Egypt. A re-telling of the Biblical story of the flood, it reveals the mystery of the genes of Isis – or genesis – of mankind. ISBN 9781789014860.

The novel is creative, sophisticated, and downright brilliant! I couldn’t ask more of an Egyptian-esque book!” – Lauren, Books Beyond the Story.

The Old Dragon’s Head is a historical fantasy and supernatural thriller set during the Ming Dynasty and played out in the shadows the Great Wall of China. It explores the secret history of the influences that shaped the beginnings of modern times.  ISBN 9781789015829.

The author is an excellent storyteller.” – British Fantasy Society. 

Set during the Great Enlightenment, The Coronation reveals the secret history of the Industrial Revolution. ISBN 9781838591885.

“The novel explores the themes of belonging, outsiders… religion and war…  filtered through the lens of the other-worldly.” – A. Deane, Page Farer Book Blog.

His latest, The Abdication (July, 2021), is a suspense thriller, a journey of destiny, wisdom and self-discovery. ISBN 9781800463950.  

“In Topeth, Tula confronts the truth, her faith in herself, faith in a higher purpose, and ultimately, what it means to abdicate that faith.” 

http://www.justinnewland.com/ https://www.facebook.com/justin.newland.author/

Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Genes-Isis-Justin-Newland-ebook/dp/B07D7FMDZG/

Question of the Day: What is your favorite god from Egyptian mythology?
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