I
am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE PSYCHIC'S MEMOIRS by Ryan Hyatt Blog
Tour hosted by Rockstar Book
Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About
The Book:
Author: Ryan Hyatt
Pub.
Date: July 30, 2020
Publisher: Ryan Hyatt
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 252
Find
it: Goodreads,
Amazon, Kindle
Read
for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited Membership!
In The
Psychic’s Memoirs, a hot-tempered Los Angeles detective and his distracted
partner are assigned to find an alleged teenage psychic whose capture might
determine the outcome of a looming civil war and humanity’s relationship with a
misleading alien force. The standalone novel is part of Ryan Hyatt’s Terrafide
series, techie tales of woe and hope in which characters grapple with a world
falling apart. The Terrafide universe, which also includes Rise of the
Liberators and Stay Younger Longer, takes place on an alternate timeline that
mirrors and mimics present-day events.
Praise for The Psychic’s Memoirs:
“The Best
Cyberpunk Novels of 2020 and 2021” --Joel Stafford, Joel’s
Books
"A
mind-warping journey through an all-too-plausible near-future America where
sociopolitical revolution and advanced technology represent the promise and
peril of human evolution."--Jake Anderson, author of Gone at
Midnight: The Mysterious Death of Elisa Lam
“Hyatt's superior ability to build a convincing lived-in world just over the horizon is on display page after page. This is not another orgy of post-apocalyptic horrors, but an opportunity to see every calamity as a possible stepping stone toward utopia.”--A.L. Lorentz, author of The Filter Trap and Dead Monkeys
Check out the other books in the Terrafide series!
Interview:
Hey Ryan!
First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books I’m glad you could stop by
for a chat! THE PSYCHIC’S MEMOIRS sounds AWESOME and I can’t wait for everyone
to read it!
For the readers: can you tell us a
little bit about the THE PSYCHIC’S MEMOIRS and the characters?
Sure, thank
you. This is a story inspired in many ways from years I’ve spent working with students
with learning disabilities. While many of these students often struggle with
everyday tasks others take for granted, sometimes these students also have talents
that are notable, even extraordinary. I’ve had students for example, who
couldn’t read well, but they wrote, made and edited amazing movies. I’ve had
students who couldn’t remember what happened yesterday, but they wrote and sang
songs that made me well up with tears. The list goes on and on.
There’s a
lot to the human mind, and people exhibit their challenges and abilities in
unique ways.
One of the
characters in THE PSYCHIC’S MEMOIRS, Alice Walker, is like some of the students
I’ve worked with who have autism. Mysterious, awkward, but as you get to know
them and peel the layers, they often turn out to be a richer and more endearing
person than you initially expected. In Alice’s case, her extraordinary talent
is that she can see the future, which makes her critical to the human race and not
to be taken lightly.
What are you working on now?
I have an
idea for a young adult novel that’s an offshoot from my adult Terrafide series.
I’ve written about forty pages of the manuscript, and I like it, but I’m still
not committed. The idea is to write a tale that wins over the youth so they
might get interested in reading the Terrafide series as they grow into adults. Or,
I might explore another genre and come back to sci-fi later. Not sure.
As I weigh
my next project, I’m enjoying a break from novel writing and spending more time
reading for pleasure. It’s a nice change.
Were any of the characters in the
book inspired by people from your real life?
Most of my
novels have characters that are parodies of people I know in real life, and TPM
is no different.
Who was your favorite character to
write? What about your least favorite?
I loved writing
Mr. Y, a sentient bobble head created in the likeness of Mr. T of 1980s fame. Bringing
Mr. Y to life was a blast. I also had fun writing the dismissive conservative
character, James Elroy. Lydia Jackson, the lesbian, and the mundane
relationship she’s muddling through with her lover were fun to write, too,
mostly because I felt like the world’s love advice columnists were channeling themselves
through me as Lydia weighed whether or not she was ready to get married…
Hardest
writing was the main character, Ted Kaza, an anti-hero with anger issues, a
loyal dog, and a colorful past who I tried to make just likeable and
interesting enough to keep readers vested in him. I look forward to what
readers think about him by the end of the story. Did Kaza turn out cool? The
jury’s out.
What is your favorite passages/scenes
in THE PSYCHIC’S MEMOIRS?
The dialogue
between Mr. Y and James Elroy might set a new bar for weird robot-human
relationships. And, of course, it’s always interesting when a mecha shows up on
your doorstep…
What kind of research did you have to
do for the story?
As part of
my training as a special education teacher, I was introduced to the sad,
strange history of California’s eugenics program, of which many people are not
familiar, but I explore in the novel.
Who is your ultimate book villain?
The multiple
personalities of The Horde from Split and
Mr. Glass from Glass, part of M. Night
Shyamalan’s superhero movies, I feel are definitely under-appreciated. Dark but
brilliant. Female villains that are equally depraved that I definitely would think
twice about inviting over for dinner: Nurse Ratched from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Annie Wilkes from Misery, and the Wicked Witch of the West
from The Wizard of Oz.
What inspired you to write Cyberpunk?
I like
exploring the interface of society and technology in a world slipping out of
control, no matter how much we tout its ‘progress.’ I hope my novels reflect
the good, bad, and ugly of our world while offering some ideas how to make it better.
Lightning Round Questions
What are you reading right now? Or
what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral
History of Punk.
It’s like I’m in my twenties again hanging out with my buddies at a bar after
the show.
Instagram, Twitter or Facebook?
Facebook
allows me to write anecdotes about life in L.A. or tales about playing Barbies
with my daughter without worrying about a word count. Some people who friend me
I sometimes find worrisome, especially when I take a gamble on them and they
start spewing ideas I don’t support on my timeline. I often have to purge my
‘friends’ list. On the other hand, FB is less pretentious and/or presumptuous
than Twitter, which seems based around followers, celebrity culture and the
latest craze, which doesn’t always matter to me. Instagram is cool if you’re
visual and like to enjoy the arts, nature and beer, which I do.
Favorite Superhero?
Growing up,
Spider-Man and Captain America. Now, Wolverine.
Favorite TV show?
So many,
please don’t make me choose … Deadwood, Vikings, Westworld, Watchmen…
Sweet or Salty?
Salted
caramel
Any Phobias?
Raccoons
Song you can’t get enough of right
now?
The Clash, “Train
in Vain”
Fall 2020 Movie you’re most looking
forward to?
The Matrix 4 in 2022
Thanks so
much Ryan for answering my questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read THE
PSYCHIC’S MEMOIRS!
About Ryan:
Ryan Hyatt was born in Tucson in 1976.
He was raised in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Chicago and Copenhagen before returning
to his hometown and graduating from the University of Arizona in 1999 with a
bachelor’s degree in history, psychology and creative writing. Hyatt spent much
of his twenties working as a reporter and columnist for newspapers such as the
Apache Junction Independent and Santa Monica Daily Press. In addition to the
Terrafide series, he is author of the modern western, The Death of Rock ‘n’
Roll, and editor of the satirical sci-fi news site, The La-La Lander, as well
as Not Your Father’s Bedtime Stories, children’s tales he creates with his
daughter. He holds a master’s degree in education from California State
University Northridge and develops and manages literacy intervention programs
for Los Angeles schools. For updates on the state of the future, visit
thelalalander.com.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads |
Amazon
Giveaway Details:
3 lucky winners will receive a finished copy
of THE PSYCHIC'S MEMOIRS, US Only.
3 lucky winners will receive an eBook of
THE PSYCHIC'S MEMOIRS, International.
Tour
Schedule:
Week
One:
|
10/19/2020 |
Guest Post |
|
|
10/19/2020 |
Guest Post |
|
|
10/20/2020 |
Interview |
|
|
10/20/2020 |
Instagram Stop |
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|
10/21/2020 |
Interview |
|
|
10/21/2020 |
Instagram Stop |
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|
10/22/2020 |
Guest Post |
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|
10/22/2020 |
Instagram Stop |
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10/23/2020 |
Guest Post |
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|
10/23/2020 |
Review |
Week
Two:
|
10/26/2020 |
Excerpt |
|
|
10/26/2020 |
Instagram Stop |
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10/27/2020 |
Review |
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10/27/2020 |
Instagram Stop |
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|
10/28/2020 |
Review |
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|
10/28/2020 |
Instagram Stop |
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|
10/29/2020 |
Review |
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10/29/2020 |
Review |
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|
10/30/2020 |
Review |
|
|
10/30/2020 |
Guest Post |
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