What if all you had to do to make your dreams come true was violate the laws of the universe?
That’s not just a philosophical question Eddie Royce has to answer. It’s a choice he has to make when the most famous science fiction writer of the 1930s goes missing and his unscrupulous publisher becomes convinced that Eddie knows all of the older writer’s secrets—not just the secret of where he’s gone, but the secret of how he’s traveled in time.
Until now, Eddie’s fooled himself into thinking he’s got the system figured out, “borrowing” plots from Shakespeare and rewriting them as space operas to make a name for himself in the pulps. But when he finds out that Chester Blackwood—his idol and inspiration—has been cheating the system in ways Eddie could never have dreamed of, the hack science fiction writer finds himself in the middle of a plot that his pulp readers would never have imagined.
Now he has to do all he can to save himself—and Blackwood’s beautiful daughter—from the powerful figures who all want Blackwood’s secret. And violating the laws of the universe might just be the least of Eddie’s problems.
Purchase Link: Amazon
Synopsis:
What’s a private detective to do in a future where nothing is private? That’s Ted Lomax’s problem. In the new California, a corporation runs the government, electric cars have drive tones, and a new technology keeps everyone constantly connected to the Internet. Almost everyone.
Disabled in California’s war for independence, Ted is locked out of the new tech. Living on the fringes of society for years, he’s found a way to turn his disability into cash: finding clients who need their info kept off the grid.
But when his daughter is accused of murdering her boyfriend–an agent in California’s Secret Police–Ted has to dig himself out of the hole he’s been in. To save his daughter, he ventures into a shadow world of underground hackers, high-end programmers, and renegade gear-heads, all of whom seem to have a stake in California’s
future.
It soon becomes clear it’s about more than one dead agent. Solving the case might save his daughter. And it might get him killed. And it just might open the door to secrets surrounding the attack that almost killed him eighteen years before.One thing’s certain, though. Ted Lomax will never be the same.
Purchase Link: Amazon
Synopsis:
Zombies, werewolves, vampires, rival Bowie tribute bands, and conjoined twin mobsters…it’s all in a day’s work for Ace Stubble, a gritty lawyer whose clients are the undead and paranormal.
Ace should have learned a long time ago that “easy” jobs are never that easy, but how could this one go wrong? All he needs to do is find the right re-animator to put some life back into the dead man’s hand that his friend Pixel Patterson has acquired. There could be a good deal of money in it–and it doesn’t hurt that Pixel is easy on the eyes.
Unfortunately, re-animators aren’t all that cooperative in this city, and before long Ace is calling in favors that lead to other favors. When a van-load of zombies goes missing, Ace realizes there’s more to the dead man’s hand than he’d thought, and there are people far more dangerous than Pixel Patterson trying to unlock the hand’s secrets. But now it’s too late for Ace to back out of the deal, and he has to rely on more than favors if he’s going to come out of this one still in one piece.
Purchase Link: Amazon
Synopsis:
It’s another open and shut case for Ace Stubble, lawyer for the undead and disembodied.
At least that’s what he thinks.
When Cordelia Dearborn—a ghost with a shady past—hires Ace to rid her home of pesky, freeloading descendants, Ace figures he’ll have no problem collecting his fee. But there’s more to this case than a cranky old ghost and a houseful of unwanted people. Everyone in the Dearborn family—the living, the dead, and the mentally ill—has a secret or two, and Ace can’t avoid getting caught up in all of them. It doesn’t help that Cordelia’s beautiful granddaughter seems willing to do anything to keep from being evicted.
It’s all such a mess that no one—neither the living nor the dead—seems aware that there’s bigger trouble brewing in the house. Ace Stubble has faced danger before, but is he ready for what’s living in the basement of the Dearborn estate?
Purchase Link: Amazon
About the Author:
Bio:
Richard Levesque has spent most of his life in Southern California and has been a professor in Fullerton College’s English Department since 1999. He has been writing for as long as he can remember, blending his interest in science fiction with his love for 1930s and 40s Los Angeles and Hollywood culture. He joined the ranks of indie authors in 2012 with his first novel, Take Back Tomorrow, and followed it with Strictly Analog and his Ace Stubble series about a lawyer who specializes in helping the undead and paranormal. He is currently at work on a YA post-apocalyptic novel. When not writing or grading papers, he spends time with his wife and daughter and works at being better than a mediocre guitar player.
Where can we find you?
Interview with Richard Levesque
Question: What have you published recently?
My most recent publication was Unfinished Business, the second novella in my Ace Stubble series about a lawyer who specializes in helping the undead and paranormal with their legal problems.
Question: How, and when, did you decide to become a writer?
I think I’ve known I was going to be a writer since I was about 13 when I spent a summer devouring Edgar Rice Burroughs novels and decided that writing books would be a pretty good way to live. I worked at building up my writing muscles for quite a while after that with a lot of false starts and novels that never really got past the first draft phase. I got more serious about writing in 2005 when I started working on Take Back Tomorrow and then made the leap into self-publishing in 2012 after a couple of years working of working with an agent to try and go the traditional route.
Question: Where can we find your published writing?
My novels are all available on Amazon. They are Take Back Tomorrow, Strictly Analog, Dead Man’s Hand, and Unfinished Business. I have also published short stories in The Colored Lens (online SF magazine at thecoloredlens.com) and Lissette’s Tales of the Imagination (print magazine).
Question: What is a typical day like for you as a writer?
These days, I get up at about 5:30 in the morning and write before anyone else in the house is up–just me and the dog. I write for an hour, getting in around 1000 words. Then I get on with other things. Some days I can sneak back and write a little more, taking the laptop when I’m going to be in waiting rooms or other places where I’d otherwise be idle. I also try to budget time throughout the day to work on marketing in various ways.
Question: What are your favorite characters that you have created? Tell us about them
I really like Andy, the girl in Unfinished Business. She’s a tough kid, not afraid to deal with grown-ups, ghosts and monsters. I imagine my daughter growing into a kid like her–without the monsters and ghosts, of course. I also really like Roxanne Blackwood from Take Back Tomorrow. She, too, is tough–a woman who knows what she wants but who has become stuck in a situation of her own making after some youthful indiscretions come back to haunt her. She’s smart, beautiful, resourceful, and she never gives up. A lot of readers think she’s the real hero of Take Back Tomorrow even though Eddie Royce seems to be the main character. I think they may be right.
Question: do you find you “mentally edit” other writers’ works as you read them? Does doing this help you or bother you?
Not really. I’m a college English professor by day, so I spend a LOT of time editing and correcting other people’s writing. When I read for enjoyment, I turn that part off–unless the errors are glaring, at which point I’m no longer enjoying what I read.
Question: What music do you listen to, while writing?
I don’t seek out music when I write, but I have no problem writing when other things are going on–music, TV, etc. I’m pretty good at tuning it out.
Question: What do you eat while writing?
I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that question. I tend not to eat when I write.
Five for Fun:
What is your favourite non-alcoholic drink?
Lemonade
What is your favourite cartoon character?
I’d probably have to go with Bugs Bunny. More recent ones are awfully good, but Bugs has been with me for an awfully long time.
What is your favourite movie of all time?
Sunset Boulevard
What do you like to do for fun or just to relax?
I play guitar (not very well) and spend time with my family. I also collect books but have to reign myself in so I don’t break the bank.
Question: Where can we find you on the web?
The best place to start is http://www.richardlevesqueauthor.wordpress.com
Author Aoife Marie Sheridan 