Friday, March 24, 2017

Booklist Review for THE ARGUS DECEIT: "Literary surrealism at its finest..."

Well, this is another first for me...a review from Booklist:




The Argus Deceit
Booklist
Carrie Rasak
March 24, 2017

"Literary surrealism at its finest, Grossart’s latest genre bender explores a life led under many identities. Brody Quail is a 10-year-old boy, a teenager, an embittered twentysomething Vietnam veteran, and a 52-year-old widower, all at the same time, living the same day again and again. Each time the events repeat themselves, there is something slightly different about his interactions with his family and friends. They behave strangely. Brody begins to remember things that he knows never happened to him. He questions his sanity as one world melts into the next. And through it all, a mysterious presence lurks in the shadows. The Argus Deceit is a wild ride as readers become absorbed in Brody’s different realities. Fans of The X-Files and The Twilight Zone will love the subtle reminders that nothing is what it appears to be in Brody’s day-to-day life, and will enjoy feeling a creeping dread as the novel progresses—until the truth of Brody’s fractured reality is revealed."


Monday, March 13, 2017

2016 Silver Falchion Award Winner

I'm happy to announce that yesterday I learned The Gemini Effect won the 2016 Silver Falchion Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.


So...the next obvious question is, "What the heck is a 'Falchion?'" Um, it's a sword, so now that we've taken care of that, we'll continue on to the next obvious question...which is...

"What the heck is a Silver Falchion Award?" Hah! Thanks for asking! This might shed some light:

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"The Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award™ is committed to discovering new writers, as well as superlative books by established authors and, upon discovery, sharing those writers and their works with new readers.

This year, the awards were announced at the 2016 Silver Falchion Award Ceremony on August 20, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee, as part of the Killer Nashville Writers Conference.

The Conference was founded in 2006 by writer and filmmaker Clay Stafford as a trademarked charitable production of American Blackguard, Inc.  Since then, it has developed a reputation as a leading advocate for writers and readers of all genres.  Media analysis conducted by a third party in the fall of 2012 found that Killer Nashville was the most written about writers conference on the web..."
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So there you have it! This link shows all the 2016 finalists and award winners.

"But wait," you ask, "if the awards were announced in August, why are you telling us now?" Well, to make a short story long, I'd asked my publisher, 47North, if they'd be willing to enter The Gemini Effect in the competition...and then I promptly forgot about it. I'm 52. It's a common theme these days. For example, I have no idea why I'm writing this right now, and I think I'll go downstairs and--OH YEAH! Now I remember! So, I was Google'ing myself last night (get your mind out of the gutter, Francis), looking to see if there might be any hidden early reviews for The Argus Deceit lurking out there, and I saw an entry for the Silver Falchion Award. "Why the heck would that be coming up?" I wondered, then after I clicked on it, I saw why. "I'll be darned," I said, then promptly forgot about it. Again. Until now.

I was certainly surprised, and happy. I'm honored that my crazy novel won the award, and very honored to join such past winners as Dean Koontz, Lisa Jackson, and John Sanford.

Thank you Killer Nashville, and to all the people who voted for The Gemini Effect. Way friggin' cool.