His writing has been
recognized by the Writer’s League of Texas and the Pacific Northwest Writers
Association. In addition to his writing, he provides editing services to other
writers and is the editor of an online science fiction and fantasy journal, Del
Sol Review. His three published humorous crime novels ride the sometimes thin
line between fact and fiction in Texas. DIE
BACK, his first fantasy thriller novel, has been published by Del Sol
Press.
When not writing he’s singing
in a vocal jazz ensemble, cooking with a sous vide and a blow torch, or
exploring the Pacific Northwest with his wife and his springer spaniel, Jazz.
Website Link: http://www.richardhacker.com
Twitter Link: @Richard_Hacker
Facebook Link: http://www.facebook.com/RWHacker
Title: DIE BACK (Book One of the Alchimeia)
Author: Richard Hacker
Publisher: Del Sol Press
Pages: 332
Genre: Fantasy/Thriller
Author: Richard Hacker
Publisher: Del Sol Press
Pages: 332
Genre: Fantasy/Thriller
BOOK BLURB:
In 272 AD Egypt, an enemy thwarts an attempt by League Inkers, Thomas Shaw
and Nikki Babineaux, to obtain the Alchįmeia, a document holding
alchemical secrets. Sensing his impending death, Thomas secures Nikki’s promise
to keep his son, Addison, from the League, an organization defending the time
continuum. After his father’s death, Addison inherits a mysterious pen,
accidentally inking himself into the consciousness of a man who dies on a muddy
WWI battlefield in France. Hoping to make sense of his experience, he confides
in Nikki, his best friend and unknown to Addison, an Inker. Keeping her promise
to Thomas, she discounts Addison’s experience.
Fixated on the pen, Addison inks into a B-17 bombardier in 1943. The pilot,
whose consciousness has been taken over by someone calling himself Kairos,
gloats over killing Addison’s father and boasts of plans to destroy the League.
As Kairos attempts to wrest Addison’s consciousness, Nikki shocks Addison out
of the Inking. She confesses her knowledge of
the League. When Kairos threatens to steal aviation technology, she she
sends Addison and his partner, Jules, to an Army test of the Wright Flyer in
1908. Believing they have succeeded, they return to find the continuum shifted
and Nikki knowing nothing about the League.
Inking back to his father’s mission in Alexandria, Addison and Jules hope
to get his help in returning the time continuum to its original state. Instead,
Addison’s father gives him the Alchįmeia to hide in a crypt at the Great
Lighthouse on Phalos. On their return to the present a Kairos agent murders
Jules, her consciousness Inked into the past. Addison follows the clues, Inking
into Pizarro in 16th century Peru. He finds Jules in the child bride of the
Inca emperor. His plan to find the technology and save Jules without destroying
the Inca civilization is thwarted by a fleet of Inca airships. Captured, he is
taken to Machu Picchu. With Jules help, they find the stolen schematics, but
are confronted by Kairos. He stabs Addison, forcing Addison’s consciousness
back to the present and traps Jules in the 16th Century. Addison returns to
another altered world. Nikki no longer exists, the world is at war with the
Inca, and Manhattan lay in ruins.
Addison
Inks his father, learning the origins of the League. Thomas urges Addison to
uncover their enemy with the help of his colleague, Maya. Putting suspicion on
another inker, Cameron, she insists he
must be killing Inkers and acquiring Pens. In a final attempt to stop him, they
entrap Cameron, only for Addison to discover Maya is Kairos, his enemy. She kills Cameron, also wounding
Addison. He chases Maya, who intimates
that she holds his mother’s, Rebecca’s, consciousness. Confused he delays,
giving her time to scrawl a name with her pen before shooting her dead.
Inked away when Maya died,
Kairos finds himself, not in his intended host, Hitler, but in a German infantry
soldier POW in the Ardenne during the Battle of the Bulge, WWII. Hoping to
repair the shift in the time continuum, Addison brings the League Pens together
with the fate of the world and everyone he loves at stake. He awakens to a
dissimilar world, but Jules and Nikki exist. And with life there is always
hope.
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Thank you for this interview! I’d like to know more about you as a person
first. What do you do when you’re not
writing?
Thanks for having me on your blog. I like your color coordinated bookshelf, by the way. A palette of books. Very cool. So, what do I do when not writing? I sing with a jazz vocal ensemble, so I usually spend a bit of time rehearsing music each day. And I like to draw—although I’ve only been at it for about a year. I’ve been honing my drawing skills so I can do quick sketches in a travel journal. And these days I’m learning French. I’ll be going to France next year and thought it would be best to be a bit more conversant than I’ve been in the past. I also love to cook. I recently picked of a sous vide. You essentially cook the food in a bath of water at a regulated temperature. It does amazing things to meats. I even sous vide hard boiled eggs! LOL And I’m a runner and hiker, so you’ll find me out with my springer spaniel, Jazz, running through the neighborhood or out on a trail either on an urban walk or in the Cascades.
When did you start writing?
When I was in the third-grade I started writing short stories which I read to the class for show and tell. Why I did that, I’m not so sure. My squirrel skeleton in a shoebox had been a hit, but I think having the class respond to my stories got me hooked on writing.
As a published author, what would you say was the most
pivotal point of your writing life?
There was a time when I got all wrapped up in the idea that success as a writer was about a big audience and lots of money, awaiting my Stephen King moment. Then I stepped back to acknowledge that writing is an art form. And like all art, its value is in its expression. There are many artists from writers to painters to sculptors to musicians whose work is never recognized on a large scale. Would a Picasso painting or a Hemingway short story be of less intrinsic value if it hadn’t been placed on a world stage and purchased by a wealthy art collector? I don’t think so. Guernica or A Clean, Well-Lighted Place would be great works of art whether they sold for millions or were in a small studio apartment. Art is art. And once I got that, it freed me up to be an artist. Not a purveyor of books. Not a market-focused writer. An artist who writes.
If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing
your next book, where would that be and why?
Florence, Italy. It’s a beautiful place with fabulous food and wonderful architecture. And walking the cobbled streets, you get the sense of a fifteenth century Florence. The Leonardo da Vinci and the Galileo museums have some wonderful artifacts, the magnificent Duomo, and the stunning David at the Accademia Gallery, just to name a few.
For the second book in the Alchimeia series I went to Washington DC in the dead of winter to spend time in the Washington Monument. There’s a pivotal scene and by taking detailed notes and photographs I was able to accurately describe the setting, including the views from the monument.
If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you
do?
Certainly more time with my wife, with family, with friends. But if it’s what I would do, I’d say more writing, more singing, more drawing, more exploring the Pacific Northwest.
Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done
yet?
As you might have guessed from an earlier question, Florence. There’s such a since of time in the place. I can see the characters walking the streets.
Back to your present book, Dieback, how did you publish it?
My publisher is Del Sol Press. I attended a workshop lead by the publisher, Michael Neff, a few years ago. In fact, he heard an early pitch for the book. He liked the story idea, but wasn’t enamored with the title at the time. The Geneologist. He was right, by the way. Dieback is a much better title. I had several crime novels published by a small press a few years ago and after the contract expired, I decided to get the rights back and self-publish those, just to keep them out in the wild. So, I’ve gotten to go both ways. Del Sol Press is committed to putting out top notch fantasy novels, so I’m very pleased to be working with them.
In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for
research?
The story goes all over the world. Ancient Alexandria, Egypt; modern Tokyo, WWI France, fifteenth century England, an altered present Austin and Seattle; WWII Guadalcanal; and fifteenth century Peru to name a few. I did visit Austin (I lived there for many years) and I currently live in Seattle. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time in England, so I had memories and photos of my times there. For Peru, I had a writer friend who just happened to be going to Machu Picchu and she provided some wonderful details about things you just can’t Google. How does the air feel, smell? What insects, birds and other fauna did you see? What is the vegetation lie? The ground at your feet? And for some of the places I just couldn’t get to, I traveled virtually. It’s amazing these days how you can get on Google maps and walk the streets of a city.
Why was writing Dieback
so important to you?
Oh my. When I have a story idea it’s burning a hole in my head. I’ve got to get it out, got to share it. I can’t put it down and walk away. So, I guess you could say it was so important to me because if I didn’t write the story my head would explode. LOL.
Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think
that is?
I get my best ideas where and when I’m not trying to get my best ideas. I think it’s something like that thing when you can’t remember a name and more the try to remember the further the memory seems to be. And then a few hours later, when it’s not even on your mind, suddenly the name pops right up. I think when I get out of the way, I let my imagination run free. And it comes up with some crazy stuff!
Any final words?
Thanks so much for providing this opportunity to share my work with your readers. I hope they enjoy reading Dieback as much as I enjoyed writing it. For fun, go check out the trailer for the book. https://youtu.be/qesyHscyzNM And I’d love to hear from you. Visit my website, www.richardhacker.com and drop me a line.