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Thursday, May 9, 2019

The Hierophant’s Daughter by M. F. Sullivan - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


Hey lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host fellow Oregonian M. F. Sullivan and her new book, “The Hierophant’s Daughter”!  For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!!  Also, come back daily to interact with M. F. and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!


The Hierophant’s Daughter
(Disgraced Martyr Trilogy #1)
by M. F. Sullivan

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GENRE: Sci-fi, Horror, LGBTQ

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BLURB:

By 4042 CE, the Hierophant and his Church have risen to political dominance with his cannibalistic army of genetically modified humans: martyrs. In an era when mankind's intergenerational cold wars against their long-lived predators seem close to running hot, the Holy Family is poised on the verge of complete planetary control. It will take a miracle to save humanity from extinction.

It will also take a miracle to resurrect the wife of 331-year-old General Dominia di Mephitoli, who defects during martyr year 1997 AL in search of Lazarus, the one man rumored to bring life to the dead. With the Hierophant's Project Black Sun looming over her head, she has little choice but to believe this Lazarus is really all her new friends say he is--assuming he exists at all--and that these companions of hers are really able to help her. From the foulmouthed Japanese prostitute with a few secrets of her own to the outright sapient dog who seems to judge every move, they don't inspire a lot of confidence, but the General has to take the help she can get.

After all, Dominia is no ordinary martyr. She is THE HIEROPHANT'S DAUGHTER, and her Father won't let her switch sides without a fight. Not when she still has so much to learn.

The dystopic first entry of an epic cyberpunk trilogy, THE HIEROPHANT’S DAUGHTER is a horror/sci-fi adventure sure to delight and inspire adult readers of all stripes.

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EXCERPT TWO:

VII

The Light Rail

Cassandra’s absence was not her first discovery. That was her (officially) broken watch, whose blank face reflected her own bleary one. Then came the porter’s uniform, folded beside her unconscious body with such tight creases it looked as if it had been ironed: it smelled like the lavender of the woman who had pinned her against the cool metal of the train car to multiply the current’s kick. That, plus the ache in her stiff muscles, meant the woman was no hallucination. Dominia had escaped Japan, and now had a whole new level of problems. Who was she? Miki Soto. A card sat atop the uniform, its front embossed with a black-petaled, red-outlined lotus. Familiar symbol, but one she couldn’t place in her post-electric haze. She sat up to rub her head and neck with a pained sigh that turned into suffocation as her hand found the necklace gone from her throat.

Her palms were wet with sweat beneath her gloves. She stripped them off to feel around on her chest, then cried out to confirm Cassandra gone. Up the General sprang, then back down on hands and knees in search of her beloved’s remains. No trace.

Dominia knew where she was: with that same woman who had left the uniform. A disguise for the train, in exchange for her wife’s body. Cassandra! Oh, poor Cassandra, forever dying in Dominia’s mind, much as she forever stood in her flowing black dress, whose lace she smoothed while they waited outside the throne room of the Hierophant. Telling her, “You look beautiful, don’t worry; you’re so smart and funny, everyone will love you.”

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GUEST POST:

Secrets About My Favorite Genre

Science fiction is all about research. That’s it. It’s a little about imagination, of course—all writing is—but if you pay attention, do your research and connect the dots between mankind’s latest technological developments and their logical conclusions, science fiction is not only hilariously easy to write, but outrageously fun.

Actually—I’ve been talking about Philip K. Dick on this blog tour a lot, because I’ve been studying his work very closely since May of 2018 (about the time I wrapped up draft three of Book II, The General’s Bride). I hadn’t read much of him before because I wasn’t ready to read him, but in that month I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Ubik back-to-back, then followed that up with the VALIS trilogy…I’ve been doing a lot of research about him for a series of essays on the blog at www.paintedblindpublishing.com, but I’ve also been doing it for personal reasons, because his work really resonates with me.

What I find most inspiring about PKD is his ability to invent devices off-the-cuff, extrapolating, say, military technology of his day into things we find now. In The Divine Invasion, he seems to predict not only the Internet, but Google—the world in that book is basically controlled by a nefarious AI called “Big Noodle”, which is meant to be a sort of gnostic demiurge in the story. His use of symbolism is very interesting—I think a lot of Blade Runner fans would be surprised to discover just how religious Do Androids Dream really is, especially with the concept of ‘empathy boxes’.

That’s what’s so wonderful about PKD’s stories and the inventions within. When he needs a plot device, he really invents a plot device! I find that inspiring. You have to get your mind very loose to do it, but it’s not unlike being an inventor—you see a need and you dream up a solution for it. The benefit to being a writer, however, is you don’t have to put your money where your mouth is! When Philip K. Dick, in the amazing universe of Ubik, is describing these people in the post-death suspended animation of ‘half-life’, we just accept it, because he speaks about it so naturally. It’s all just a part of the world—including the cartoonish costumes the characters wear, and all their incredible names. That man was working from a deep state of flow to which I aspire.

Throughout drafts four, five and six of the Trilogy, much changed, but I think the greatest change was that Philip K. Dick encouraged me to be more courageous—and detailed—in my use of technology. That is the key in science fiction: those little details. The Martian is great because of its scientific validity; but Philip K. Dick, Gene Wolfe, Ray Bradbury, these are all writers whose works are great because they are far-flung journeys through futures less improbable than we’d guess.

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AUTHOR BIO:


M. F. Sullivan is the author of Delilah, My Woman, The Lightning Stenography Device, and a slew of plays in addition to the Trilogy. She lives in Ashland, Oregon with her boyfriend and her cat, where she attends the local Shakespeare Festival and experiments with the occult. Find more information about her work (and plenty of free essays) at https://www.paintedblindpublishing.com!

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CONNECT WITH M. F.:

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle eBook:

Amazon Paperback:

Amazon Hardcover:

Barnes and Noble Paperback:

Barnes and Noble Hardcover:

The Book Depository Paperback:

The Book Depository Hardcover:

BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:

BAM! Books-A-Million Hardcover:

NetGalley eBook:

IndieBound Paperback:

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

M. F. will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.


**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.

9 comments:

  1. M. F. ~ Good morning! Welcome to FAB! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)

    P.S. ~ I used to live in Ashland as well... Wayyyy back when there was the HUGE flood of '97 that destroyed all of downtown and the National Guard had to come save us lol - you've probably seen the pics in the restaurants if you weren't there for it... And I went to SOU... So missing the food down there lol!!! Please have a burrito from Senor Sams, a slice from Giuseppe's, and a scone from the Black Sheep Pub for me LOL!!! Definitely need to plan a trip back to visit...

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    1. Hi Ally! Thank you so much for supporting the tour by hosting! I am really excited about this book and happy to see it getting such a warm reception.

      Did you really! How funny! Yes, I've heard about that flood, I think it was the one where they didn't put down sandbags in time and one of plaza shops had its basement flooded. If you want to plan a visit back, now is a good year~. Don't know how you feel about Macbeth but I for one am very excited to see it on the outdoor stage!

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  2. Are any of the characters in the book inspired by people you know?

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    1. That's always a complicated question to answer. Every character starts with a seed, a grain of someone real--but the characters who grow up around that seed are always their own individuals.

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  3. Great cover and awesome giveaway! Thanks for sharing :)

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  4. Hello! Thanks so much for sharing your book with us. Always fun reading about another book to enjoy.

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