Day 4: Earth 8-8-2 Blog Tour Week

Honestly, I just love what Y. Correa does with her science fiction. If you're anything like me, you probably loathe exposition dumps in many sci-fi stories. Hence, the reason why I tend to stay away from them. The same can't be said about Y. Correa's approach to Sci-Fi. I actually compare her science fiction approach the the likes of Marvel (the comic books and movies) in that she reveals pertinent information throughout the story in the form of story telling. It's great. Anywho ... that's enough of the gushing. Let me give Y. the floor. 

Y, take it away.

Nature VS Nurture

And Revised Cover Reveal

It’s the age-old psychological question … 

What makes a person evil, is it nature or nurture?

For many years psychologists, psychiatrists, scientists of all kinds and the like have been trying to answer this question without a definitive consensus. Some say it’s nature, others argue that it’s nurture. Then there are those who blur the lines and say that perhaps it’s both. So, is the answer black, white or grey?

Genesis, the main character of the Earth 8-8-2 saga also blurs the lines. You see, due to her makeup it’s nearly impossible to know if she was created that way, or if her upbringing turned the tide.

In my eyes this debate boils down to science versus tenet.

Let’s take a look-see and see what you think.

First, The Facts

1. Genesis was made, not born.
2. Genesis shares DNA from 4 different entities which makes up her own unique DNA.
3. Genesis has feelings but can also be emotionless.
4. Genesis was raised by a scientist, a soldier and 2 women (1 old, 1 young).
5. Genesis had never really experienced heartbreak until she did.
6. The 4 beings that makeup Genesis’ DNA have their own independent characteristics and in many ways those traits contradict one another.
7. Genesis is all-powerful and singularly so.

What does all of this mean? Let’s see if we can figure it out.

Second, Pros VS Cons

Bullet Number	Pro	Con
1 (Nature)	Can enhance the negatives and reduce the positives by bioengineering.	Cannot guarantee that all negative traits have been removed.
2 (Nature)	This can make the being incredibly powerful because knowing from what something is made of, one can predict the overall outcome..	However, it can also make the being unpredictable because when mixing things that were never meant to be unified, the risk is run that it can fail horribly.
3 (Nature)	Being human, we use feeling to help make moralistic and/or intrapersonal decisions.	Being emotionless equals being sociopathic, which can lead to violent behavior by choice.
4 (Nurture)	Having had different human influences in her life growing up could have taught her about the complexities of the human condition. Having been given love could have softened a potentially eroded heart.	Being that she is only ¼ human it may be hard for her to understand and properly process these complexities.
5 (Nurture)	Heartbreak is a common and natural part of being human but the way you are raised can greatly affect the manner in which you deal with heartache. A good upbringing means better coping skills.	If not given the proper tools for emotional stability then when heartache comes, instability can rule your emotional response.
6 (Nature)	Think about attempting to mix the DNA of a bird, a fish, an insect and a flower. This is how contradictory Genesis’ double helix is. These elements were never meant to be intertwined by nature. However, the successful combination of such makes Genesis’ nature extremely volatile.	If effectively combined, the mixture of these sources can make for an incredible creation that could launch humanity into an even grander evolution.
7 (Nature)	Being all powerful can be a great benefit to mankind if the individual is emotionally well prepared for the complications of life.	Being all powerful can be a curse if the individual is ill prepared for the intricacies of the human condition.

Third, Conjectures

In Genesis’ case, Nature weighs a far greater amount in the makeup of her person. The only counterbalance to her Nature are the binary elements of Nurture (Bullets #s 4 & 5). She carries within her a whopping 72% Nature against a miniscule 28% Nurture.

Which one can win the battle of her mind? Is the greatness of her Nature unremarkable against the strength of Nurturing? Or is it the other way round?

You know what? I’ll let you decide. 😉

Now, without further ado, I will present to you the revamped cover of “Earth 8-8-2: Genesis’ Rebellion”. Before I can do that, however, let’s take a quick look at the old cover.

BLURB:

What happens when Science’s Instrument of Salvation blazes her own path?

In the second installment of the Earth 8-8-2 saga, Genesis is heartbroken, disillusioned, but most of all … angry: angry that she has no say-so in the narrative of her own purpose. In the absence of choice, the only response that makes sense is rebellion.

As Genesis elicits the intensity of her powers, General Townsen must act quickly to develop a counterbalance to this previous experiment gone askew. Will the General’s army rise effectively against this unlikely nemesis, or will all see the literal overtures of what occurs when powers that be attempt to regulate true evolution?

This is NOT a standalone book, but the 2nd installment in a continuing saga.

Alrighty, y’all! Welp, tomorrow is the big day! Stay tuned for the “Earth 8-8-2: Armageddon’s Rise” book release post. You’re gonna love all the surprises I have for you!

Toodles,

Day 3: Earth 8-8-2 Blog Tour Week

Hi, guys!

We're on day 3 of the Y. Correa Earth 8-8-2 Book 3 Blog Tour Week! This has been so much fun! Here we go with one more great topic.

The Science Behind Genesis

And Revised Cover Reveal

If you’re an Earth 8-8-2 Saga fan, you already know the gist of the science behind Genesis, the main character. But today I’d like to go into a bit more detail.

To do this we have to start with the 4 main elements; human, vampire, goddess and superhuman.

However, before I get into that, let me go back and share an excerpt from “Earth 8-8-2: The Genesis Project” just to help you catch up a bit if you’re not familiar.

Tyranny and malice swept through Earth 8-8-2 and people like Dr. Scott—or maybe not exactly like him—were looking for the means of freeing themselves from the brutality. Unbeknownst to their oppressors, several of The Rebellion had embarked on a mission to visit other earths in order to collect DNA. Many of the earths that had been visited had various types of living beings. All with their weaknesses, but a vast amount with breathtaking strengths. Capabilities far beyond that which 8-8-2 Earthlings, and any like them, could ever imagine.

Earth 7-0-1 was the residential abyss of vampires. These beings lived on a dark earth, and fed on animals—beasts that were a hybrid of human and ape, although actual humans did not exist there. Dr. Scott surmised that if they had, they'd never survive. No blood on any earth was as good or as nutritious as human blood.

Earth 2-5-4 was the home to superhumans. Everyone was extraordinary, bestowed with supreme gifts therefore everyone was the same. It was an average day on Earth 2-5-4 when someone used their laser vision, or atomic breath.

Earth 9-9-1 was the dwelling of the Gods. It was Mount Olympus and Asgard all rolled up into one. Yet no one had an appreciation for one another's gifts as they were all the same.

Earth 8-8-2's Rebellion shipped scientists specializing in intragalactic travels to as many alternate earths as they could. The mission was to obtain DNA from all of the earths that were inhabited by supreme beings. As such, DNA was eventually gathered from Earths 7-0-1, 2-5-4 and 9-9-1. Albeit an extremely difficult mission, it was in the end, successful.

Now that you have a little bit of backstory, we can move forward.

Why, you may ask, these 4 strands of DNA specifically?

Today I will give you the answer.

The answer, as you could imagine, is derived from yesterday’s blog post, “All About Earth 8-8-2, The Planet”.

Let’s take a deeper look, shall we?

If you were a human with abundant knowledge who’d been besieged by other humans with extreme knowledge then you would perhaps look for a way to outsmart your fo. At the end it would be the proverbial “battle of the fittest”.

Who could outsmart whom?

Now, given the technology at hand it would be wise to use what is at your disposal, right? Right.

What did Dr. Scott and The Rebellion have at their fingertips? Intragalactic travel.

This job wouldn’t be the easiest to execute, of course. I mean, think about it … regular humans having to gather DNA from the likes of vampires, superhumans and gods …? It’s damn right ludicrous. But, in the end, worth the trouble. Especially if you could use that DNA to create a being that would vanquish the tyranny and free your planet.

In my mind’s eye I imagine that the soldier-slash-chrononauts that went on this mission perhaps came to the conclusion that if they could garner DNA from children and babies, they may have some chance of executing their mission successfully. I envision them going on some sort of top secret, super spy, resurgence mission to break into the homes of the hosts and swab the mouths of the tots. Then, DNA in hand, they go zooming back to Earth 8-8-2 and hand the treasures over to the right parties.

SIDE NOTE: Honestly, what I just wrote above (↑↑↑) is giving me a huge spin-off story idea.

Wait for it y’all … it may just happen. LOL

Anyways, before I interrupted myself so rudely ... 

So the question remains, why these 4 strands specifically? Well, the answer is simple …

THEY NEEDED SOMETHING THAT COULD NOT BE DESTROYED!

All right, now that I’ve made you wait long enough it’s time to show you the revised cover to “Earth 8-8-2: The Genesis Project”, the Earth 8-8-2 Saga’s first book.

I wouldn’t do the new book cover justice unless I first shared the old cover. So, here is it:

Blurb:

Could Science Serve as Salvation?

One-fourth Human.

One-fourth God.

One-fourth Superhuman.

One-fourth Vampire.

For Dr. Scott, the combined strengths of each life form represent the answer to the onslaught of malice and tyranny plaguing his Earth. When his creation—Genesis—begins developing, the lines between scientist and father become blurred. Soon the time approaches where Genesis is expected to fulfill her purpose. Does she go along willingly, or will her rapid evolution obliterate everyone’s best-laid plans?

Presenting the new cover to “Earth 8-8-2: The Genesis Project”!

Okie dokie, smokie … Hasta la mañana! 😉

Day 1: Earth 8-8-2 Blog Tour Week

Hiya, everyone!

I am so excited about this week. I get to host author Y. Correa on my blog for the next 5 days. She's releasing the next installment of The Earth 8-8-2 Saga.
Frankly, my excitement comes from the fact that she is my all time favorite Science Fiction author. Grind your gears, guys ... this is gonna be fun!

Alrighty, I am not saying anything else. Enjoy!

I know I’ve talked about this before. But honestly, it never gets old. Now I love talking about this. In the past, not so much. That’s mostly because of how much I disliked the story after I first finished writing it.

I’m reminded of this meme …

Me in a picture. At least at the time I first wrote Earth 8-8-2: The Genesis Project.

Follow me on a trip through the creation of the Earth 8-8-2 Saga.

The first story in the Earth 8-8-2 Saga started off as a potential short story idea for the very first “Concordant Vibrancy” anthology. Since the theme was unity, I thought to myself, how cool would it be to create a science fiction story that unified science fiction with dark drama and fantasy? Perhaps taking elements of both and intertwining them into one creation …? Thus, “The Genesis Project” was born.

Immediately the story took shape in my head. I saw the scientist, Dr. Scott, in his laboratory getting busy with his experiment. But, since Dr. Scott was not from this earth, rather from a parallel earth, he didn’t look like us. At least not completely. That was when the concept of the multiverse theory was incorporated into the story. Soon there was this entire universe of meshed theories and ideas compacted into a novelette sized story. Like a whirlwind, “Earth 8-8-2: The Genesis Project” was written. I finished the whole thing in a day because the idea was burning in my cerebra like a soldering iron.

Here is the funny part.

We’ll call is “#TheWritingRollercoaster”.

At first I was super excited about the Earth 8-8-2. I mean, it fit the subject matter, was a cool idea, had some powerful characters and some awesome diction. I was honestly all in.

↓↓ My Face.

Then I read it. I don’t know what happened but after I read the whole thing I suddenly hated the entire story. I was unimpressed with my own writing, couldn’t stand the characters, hated the whole notion. I felt crushed and defeated. The words that reverberated in my mind were, “This is utter shit!”

↓↓ My Face.

I was a hop, skip and a jump away from trashing the whole thing. Then my best friend and I talked about it. She was all, “Y, I think you’re being too hard on yourself. I am sure it’s a great story. Send it to me. Let me read it.” My reply was cut and dry, “Okay, fine. But you’re gonna hate it too. It’s a piece of shit.”

↓↓ My Face.

In less than an hour she was done reading the story so she calls me. She’s all, “It’s great. I loved it.” My immediate thought was that she was just being nice. I wasn’t all too convinced and told her so. She was like, “Look, just give it a day or two and re-read it. In the meantime, just write a different story for the anthology. Besides, this one is too rich a story to be in an anthology anyway. I can see this being something extensive.”

“Sure, if you say so.” I replied, not completely convinced.

↓↓ My Face.

Regardless, I took her advice. I wrote the other story, which I did actually really like for the anthology and submitted it, then went back to “Earth 8-8-2” to re-read it.

New day, fresh perspective, I guess. Because when I was done reading the story I was suddenly shocked at how good it was.

↓↓ My Face.

Just like that the fervor was reignited and I was like, “Hooooly shit! This could really BE SOMETHING!” In that moment everything changed. I was overcome with enthusiasm for the story and how great it could be. Just like that I planned out the entire saga, the titles, the content, the outlines, the whole bit.

↓↓ My Face.

Several years later I am now about to release the 3rd book in the saga and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

I’m all like, “3 down and 4 to go!”

↓↓ My Face.

Okie dokie, smokie … I’ll catch up with you all again tomorrow.