Interview With Author R.B. Batson

 

1.) What inspired you to write this book? My battle every day with a "thought disorder" led me to write a story about disorderly thoughts in a most well-ordered way. I don't consider it to be a disorder at this point. It is more of a spiritual journey. 

2.) What exactly is it about and who was it written for? Travis Marx was just like any other teenager. He was experiencing angst caused by the fundamentalists in the community where he lived - - that was until one evening when a visiting alien promised him telepathy in exchange for what could be his doom or his deliverance. In conflict with the values of his family, he took an adult adventure across the nation and across religions. He pursued Islam, the New Age and Buddhism before the select Christians experiencing clairvoyance found themselves at cross purposes with him and determined that he could be none other than the Antichrist. Will he be delivered from them, and all the heartache they had caused him or will he become yet another of their victims?  

The novel itself is a blend of Horror, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Supernatural and Social Commentary prose. If you do not like fundamentalism in all the world's religions, if you are tired of your religious leaders telling you who to vote for, and would like more choices for your political representatives or even if you find consciousness expanding media like Gaia network to be helpful, you will find the information I share in the novel to be useful. 

3.) What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? You will probably put your very life at risk being as liberal as you can be, and if you are inclined to be as liberal as you can be, you need to think about authenticity. Authenticity is not a license to show a lack of compassion or a lack of restraint. That is a lesson everyone in my protagonist's home community could benefit from. 

4.) How did you decide on your book's title and cover design? When I came up with the title, I was thinking, is this a teaching that I take seriously? If it falls outside of the views I associate with fundamentalism, I didn't want to appear flippant, but if it is common among fundamentalists, then I did not mind. As far as the front cover goes, the ravens as carrion eaters are traditionally associated with the occult and they make an appearance in the novel when flying into the protagonist twice during alien-induced hallucinations. The little blue monster is a child version of one of the characters I named the Big Blue Guy. They come from an alien race that bears an uncanny resemblance to the Big Blue Guy in Monsters, Inc. He, the adult, is the visiting alien that promises telepathy. On the back cover are gnomes of an alien race surrounding a hospital providing some foreshadowing of where I take the reader for the end of the novel.  

I wrote about aliens that my protagonist confuses sometimes with demons because he has been given a mental health diagnosis. I covered and filled my novel with aliens and their apparitions that appear harmless instead of as fearsome demons, because I wanted my protagonist to lapse out of Christian thinking throughout the novel. Something that appears harmless will be more effective at that as opposed to something that appears to be a fierce demon 

5.) What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers - other than run!? Sign a contract, at least with your first novel, that includes a promotional campaign and pay extra for a combined book exhibit display. Someone will notice if you are doing all that to call attention to your work. It may be worth it to self-publish if you are allowed to retain all rights.  

6.) What trends in the book world do you see - - and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?  More and more people are publishing books and they are not by and large self-publishers. The book publishing industry will sell paperback or hardback copies of a book and the return on it for the author is lower than with an e-book, but I believe people still like buying a physical copy just from speaking with them.  

7.) Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? I was a delegate to the Green Party Convention in 2020 and worked to pass the 2020 Platform, which I borrowed from for useful ideas in my novel. I also subscribed to Gaia network for a while and borrowed Kundalini Yoga and was inspired by Juliette of the Herbs, the Beautiful Truth, and Gentle Birth Choices in my writing. I traveled to New England and then to Seattle on a Greyhound, and from there on an Amtrak to Oakland. I used my impression of the New England states as well as Portland, which I traveled not only through but to with my family after staying in Oakland a while.  

8.) How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? I would describe my style as telepathic travel and religious narrative for this first book and synthetic biology - infused reality for the second novel I am currently working on. I identify with Fred from my second novel more closely than I do Travis from my first. As for my writing style, I have to admit that it is actually inspired by a TV show - - The X-Files. The gnome aliens and the shapeshifter protagonist in my second novel both were conceived by X-Files writers before me.  

9.) What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? Naysayers telling me it was not worth it to get a novel published that could be controversial and that I should get a regular job instead.  

10.) If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? I included a lot of educational material, from political propaganda to religious teachings to even including info from The Great Courses Plus programming I was into to try to give the reader a lot of hidden knowledge they may not stumble across without reading it, even with it being set in a parallel world. 

About The Author: R. B. Batson currently resides in the Deep South with his beloved family. He has a master of ministry in ministerial counseling and history of biblical interpretation and theology, which he received with honors; a master of professional studies in community development; and a bachelor of arts in geography. He is an Eagle Scout and in his spare time, he likes to backpack, sing, and draw. He is currently writing another novel and owns a handmade, sustainably produced, and organic soap-making business.

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.