Welcome to Day 9 - The Second Leg of The Immortal Blog Tour! I was thrilled to be among one of the first to read and review Gene Doucette's first person narrative Immortal. You can find my blurb on the first page of the book:
"Part science fiction fantasy, part action adventure and thriller, Gene Doucette creates the perfect balance of humor and edge-of-your-seat anticipation in this genre-defying story of an immortal man named Adam, who finds himself battling demons and bounty hunters in his eternal search for Eve, the red haired mystery woman of his dreams. Witty and wonderful, with a bite of sarcasm, Immortal is a five star read for any fiction lover. "
The novel is a first person narrative where we are introduced to Adam, our immortal but not invincible quazi-hero. With his witty sarcasm, quick quips, and an uncanny knack to self-preserve at all costs, he quickly endears himself to you. Let's have a quick chat with Adam to dig a little deeper and discover what makes him tick...
If you mean biologically, I don’t know the answer. My body just doesn’t age, and I can’t seem to get sick. I have had people go out of their way to make me sick, too. I don’t mean like sneezing on your hand and then shaking mine, I mean like injecting me with concentrated doses of lethal viruses. Nothing seems to take.
In every other sense, I guess I have a talent for figuring out what can get me killed and then not doing that, which is not as easy as it sounds. Every society has some sort of fundamental dysfunction, and most of them are difficult to guess. I remember a tribe—this was… well, it was a really long time ago—that thought a particular rock was sacred. In every other sense the people of this tribe were the happiest, friendliest bunch you could imagine just as long as you never touched the rock. So I never touched the rock.
It may seem stupid, but you’d be amazed how many cultures can be boiled down to that one rule: don’t touch the rock.
I was expecting alcohol to come up in that response.
So was I.
Alcohol didn’t enable me to survive, it just made portions of that survival more bearable. And I’ve gotten a lot of less-than-positive feedback about saying things like that, which I understand. I just don’t think my perspective has been fully appreciated. For one thing, it’s the only thing I’d call a “drug” that actually works on me. For the same reason I can’t be poisoned or infected, I also don’t enjoy the more beneficial aspects of other recreational drugs. (Also, and this is just karma, aspirin does nothing for my hangovers.) So if the question is why alcohol instead of some sort of opiate, that’s why.
Two other points: one, you have no idea how dull history has been. I mean it. Pick any point in history, and unless there is a volcanic eruption or something equally catastrophic going on at that exact moment there is a very good chance everyone is either mind-numbingly bored, or having sex. The second point is that alcohol has been more important to humankind than anyone from this age can imagine. Compared to most of humanity for most of history, I am a lightweight.
Speaking of sex…
Uh-oh.
…you’re not shy about your interest in young women. Some might even use words like “lecherous” or “misogynistic” to describe you.
Might they? I don’t know; I think I’m fairly advanced, all things considered. I grew up at a time when clubbing a woman until they were semi-conscious was foreplay. And I’m really not joking.
I will concede a degree of boorishness, but only because I’m in the United States, and this country is outrageously uptight. I have never seen a more advanced country that was more terrified of its own genitalia than this one. Seriously. I knew an Anglican bishop who kept regular company with a succubus. He’d spend a night with her and then six nights flagellating himself. Every week. America is like that bishop, except you all seem to enjoy the self-flagellation more than the succubus.
And you’ve had relationships. Do you keep in touch with Clara?
I have had plenty of relationships, and I suppose many of them were “long-term” by the standards of a normal human lifespan. And no, I’m not currently in touch with Clara, but I’m sure we’ll come across one another again eventually. The world is too small not to.
(end of interview)
I want to thank Adam for stopping by the blog and be sure to stop by Feeding My Book Addiction tomorrow for more of the Immortal Blog Tour!
No comments:
Post a Comment