Hi guys! Today I am really pleased to welcome the fabulous Andrew Q. Gordon to Joyfully Jay. Â Andrew is here to talk to us more about his latest release, Purpose, from Dreamspinner Press. He has brought a prequel to the story to give us some more details about the book. Â Andrew is also offering up a $25 Dreamspinner Press gift card to one lucky winner out of his tour stops! Â So be sure to leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. Â And please join me in giving him a big welcome!
First, thanks to Joyfully Jay for hosting me and being part of the Purpose blog tour. Anyone who comments will be eligible for the drawing of a $25.00 Dreamspinner Press gift card.
For those following the Purpose blog tour, this is the third of three prequels to the book. Like the two others (Goodbye and Journal Entry), Wake, deals with something mentioned in the book. Purpose takes place about fifteen years in the future from the time of Wake.
In Wake, we find Will at his father’s wake. He’s in full ‘Gar’ mode, but for reason’s he can’t explain, he finds himself interested in attending his father’s funeral. There is no direct explanation for why he felt compelled and I don’t go back in the book and address it, but if you read the entire book you should be able to figure out what happened. At least it’s clear to me, but I have you all at a disadvantage.
The goal of these prequel shorts is to show a bit more about the main character and to get you interested in the book itself. Taken alone, much like an excerpt, the short may or may not make total sense. It should make sense after you read the book, however. If you like the short, you should like the book.
Blurb
Forty years ago the Spirit of Vengeance—a Purpose—took William Morgan as its host, demanding he avenge the innocent by killing the guilty. Since then, Will has retreated behind Gar, a façade he uses to avoid dealing with what he’s become. Cold, impassive, and devoid of emotion, Gar goes about his life alone—until his tidy, orderly world is upended when he meets Ryan, a broken young man cast out by his family. Spurred to action for reasons he can’t understand, Gar saves Ryan from death and finds himself confronted by his humanity.
Spending time with Ryan helps Will claw out from under Gar’s shadow. He recognizes Ryan is the key to his reclaiming his humanity and facing his past. As Will struggles to control the Purpose, Ryan challenges him to rethink everything he knew about himself and the spirit that possesses him. In the process, he pushes Will to do something he hasn’t done in decades: care.
Buy Links:
- Dreamspinner Press
- ARe
- Barnes & Noble
- Amazon
Excerpt: Prequel #3: Wake
Journal Entry: 25-14
Someone died. An innocent. Someone whose time had come.
I mingle among the family and friends. He had a lot of both. Most wear their sorrow on their sleeve, but a few go a different way. He lived a good life and they try to remember the good times.
No one sees me. It would raise too many questions. Cause too much commotion. I’m not here for that. This isn’t about me. It never is.
I’m not sure why I came. Funerals aren’t my thing. But this one I felt I needed to attend. More than just felt, impelled really. It wanted to come. Morbid spirit.
The room is crowded, but most ignore the reason they are here. Alone at the front of the room, the deceased lies quietly, hands holding a rosary. A small chuckle escapes. It’s a somber day, but the beads must have been someone’s idea of joke. He was an atheist.
Most of the family gathers around the widow. No one mentions who’s missing. To lose someone after fifty-nine years is hard. Talking about the son who disappeared, but isn’t dead, is harder.
Still confused, I make my way to pay my respects. He died in his sleep of natural causes. There’s nothing to avenge. So why do I feel him?
“Hello, Dad.” It’s been twenty-five years since I’ve said that. Twenty-five years since I’ve seen him. Unlike me, his appearance changed, but not the man. The opposite of me.
He might recognize me, but he wouldn’t know me. When I left, I wasn’t the son he raised. Now? I’m not even that person anymore.
I shouldn’t feel his soul. Only those killed by the guilty call out to me. He’s not calling for vengeance. I don’t like what I don’t understand.
A small part of me wonders if I should apologize for leaving, but I quickly dismiss the thought. I’m not sorry. Seeing me now would only have been–be-worse. I’m not Will anymore. What good would have come of watching me change into what I am today?
The guests huddle in the back. A few at a time they break away and come to the front. Before they go pay their respects to my father, they stop and say something meant to comfort my family.
My family. Do I even have a right to call them that anymore? Even if I didn’t mean to be cruel when I abandoned them, the result is the same. I don’t have to read my mother’s thoughts to know how my vanishing affected her. Family doesn’t do that to each other.
When I think about going, It lets me know I should stay. I don’t fight it. Finding an out of the way place, I make sure no one sees me and I watch. I won’t do this forever, but for now I’ll do what It wants.
Soon it’s time. My brother Tom walks to the front. His grief is clear as he struggles for words. I notice it, but I’m not part of that.
I watch my mother. She’s held up so well, but the walls are cracking. Until now it might not have been real, but now? She has to say goodbye. I prefer detached.
Her tears break the resolve of those around her. Margret, my sister, Abbey, Tom’s wife, even Aunt Irene, who didn’t cry when her own father died, start to cry. Somewhere deep inside I remember grandpa’s funeral, but it’s just an image. Just like now.
Tom has told everyone to come pay their last respects and asks people to sign the guest book on the way out. Maybe that is what It wants. I’ll get in line when the crowd has thinned out. My mother is watching the line, looking for something, someone. Her son, Will.
That’s unfortunate. Will is gone. There is only Gar. And she wouldn’t want Gar at her husband’s wake.
She watches until the end, but when the last person walks away, the disappointment I expected never appears. My brother scans the room with a scowl, and then takes her hand. He knows what she was looking for. If he knew what his brother had become, he’d be glad I don’t show myself.
For an instant I consider walking up and standing beside them. Sentimental is a foolish emotional state. People pay their last respects for themselves, not the dead.
My mother lingers, telling my brother and sister to go on. For a while she stares at the peaceful look on her husband’s face. He was a good man, good husband and father. They captured his whole life in that expression.
Finally she nods then slowly turns toward where I’m standing. There’s no doubt she’s staring at me. I can feel something from my father’s soul. A sigh? No, it feels like a smile.
My mother smiles and nods once. The soul is gone and It relaxes.
It takes me a while to process what happened. I’ve no experience to compare this to. There was no vengeance to be had, no guilty to punish. And yet.
The sound of the casket closing brings me from my thoughts. The room is empty and the staff is preparing to move the casket to the hearse. One of them is by the book. I tell him to go check on something.
Holding the pen, I wonder why I want to do this. The need to stay is gone. Whatever reason It had for bringing me here is over, so why sign the book?
An emotion slips through my walls. I expect sorrow, but instead I feel regret. He was a good man who didn’t deserve to die without knowing why I left. For all they did for me, I owed it to him, to my parents, to let them know it wasn’t their fault.
Somehow she knew I’d come. Maybe this would be enough to tell her.
Someone died. A loved one. Someone who deserved better. The guilty must live with what they’d done.
Giveaway
Enter for a chance to win a $25.00 Dreamspinner Press credit. To be entered, you can leave a comment here, on any of the other post release blog stops, or on the Purpose page on my site. For those who don’t know what to write – you can ask me a question about the book – I can’t promise to answer them all – don’t want to give away things – but I will respond to them all.
Please leave an email so you can be notified if you win. All comments from all guest blog posts between the June 21, 2013 release date and July 1, 2013 will also be entered to win. The winner will be chosen using Randomizer.org on July 2. One entry per blog, but you can enter on each participating blog for more chances to win. For a complete list of eligible blogs, please see the Purpose book page on my blog:
About the Author
Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high tech. Adapting with technology, he now takes his MacBook somewhere quiet when he wants to write.
He currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his partner of eighteen years, their young daughter and dog. In addition to dodging some very self-important D.C. ‘insiders’, Andrew uses his commute to catch up on his reading. When not working or writing, he enjoys soccer, high fantasy, baseball and seeing how much coffee he can drink in a day and not get the shakes.
Follow Andrew on his website: www.andrewqgordon.com
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/andrewqugordon
On Twitter: @andrewqgordon
Or just email him:Â andrewqgordon@gmail.com
It sounds like a good book. Â Count me in.
Kim –Â
Done – and thanks for reading. Â I hope you get a chance to read it.
-AQG
Thanks for the prequel excerpt. The book sounds good. Please count me in. Thanks!
Antonia –
Thanks for reading, I hope this and the others were helpful to explaining the book a bit more. Â Good luck in the drawing.
-AQG
JJ –
Thanks for hosting and for the great lay out – I think I need lessons for posting my own stuff. 🙂
I appreciate you letting me use your site to talk about the book a bit and to debut this ‘prequel.’ Â I hope it proves helpful to folks. Â
-AQG
Thanks for the giveaway. I look forward to reading your works.Â
Thanks Cynthia – I hope you like the book. Â Good luck with the drawing. Â
-AQG
Sounds like a great story. Isn’t it wonderful how love can redeem a character?
The idea that Ryan was his way back was something i tried to explore. Â Did it work – I guess I’ll need to wait and see what people think. Â Thanks for coming by and commenting – good luck with in the drawing. Â
-AQG
Really intriguing, I look forward to reading more. Â Count me in please. Â Now I’m off to get more coffee.
Hmmm More coffee – I like how you think 🙂  You’re in.  Good luck
-AQG
Beautifully evocative writing – Purpose is now top of the July buy list!
Thanks Suze – I hope you like it.Â
-AQG
This looks very intriguing! Now I have to check out the other two prequels 🙂 Thank you for the generous giveaway! Please count me in!
Thank you. Â You’re in and thank you for coming by and reading the post.
-AQG
Can’t wait to read this book!
Thanks Gigi – I hope you like it. Â
-AQG
Interesting, and very different from what I’ve been reading lately. Would love to check this out.
Issa –Â
 I hope that different is good when you read it and that I did it well.  Thanks for coming by and good luck with the drawing.
-AQG
Wow count me in. This looks like a fun read for sure.
Thanks Emily. Â I hope you get a chance to read it and that you like it.
Andy
Thanks for sharing an excerpt from the book. with us. Thank you for the generous giveaway =)
You’re welcome HB and thank you for coming by. Â Good luck in the drawing.
-AQG
Sounds very intense emotionally, but that can be a good thing…
Trix,Â
Thanks for coming by – yes, intense can be good, if done well – I just hope it was done well in Purpose. Â
Good luck with the drawing.
-AQG
This sounds like a very interesting book! Thank you for the excerpt and the opportunity to win.
You’re welcome Marie – thank you for coming by and good luck in the drawing.Â
-AQG
What drew you to write a story about a Spirit of Vengeance?
Kassandra
sionedkla@gmail.com
Kassandra,
I’m not exactly sure what was the impetus for it, but its a cross between the ghost rider and Rorschach from Watchmen. A vigilante like Rorschach, but reluctant one, like Ghost Rider. Â The rest just sort of grew as I started to write. Â
Thanks for the question and good luck with the drawing.
-AQG
Some interesting food for thought in this prequel. I’m a fan of the “extras” that authors sometimes provide for their books. So, I’ve really enjoyed all the prequels and look forward even more to reading Purpose. It’s on my nook, just waiting for me to click it open. As many readers can attest, sometimes a book pulls at you as much as a Purpose does to its host! Thank you for sharing with us.
Carolyn
Thanks for all those things, and I especially like how you worked in the bit from the first Prequel 😉
Thanks for stopping by all the tour stops and good lock with the drawing.
-AQG
Oh man this looks so good! Count me in;)
Thanks Amy – you’re in
-AQG
Oh! Please count me in. 😀
Judi P
arella3173_loveless@yahoo(dot)com
Done – Thanks for coming by and reading the post.
-AQG
Looks good! Count me in please!
J.K.
Thanks and you’re in. 🙂
-AQG
This prequel is very special! I liked it a lot. Please count me in. And Thanks!
THanks glad you liked it.  You’ve been counted 🙂
Thanks for coming along to the tour stops.Â
Andy
Andy, I’ve really enjoyed the prequels. Thank you for writing them. I love that a character in a book can have a past and what brought him to the present. These stories just bring the characters more to life.
JJ, thanks for hosting. These book tours allow me to find new authors like yourself. Just ask Andy. I’ve been stalking him since Lily Velden came to his!
Skylar,Â
I prefer to think of it as showing me the love and not stalking, 🙂
I’m glad you found the prequel’s useful. I had hoped they’d be a good way to show more of the background for the story and specifically will.Â
Thanks for the stalking.
-AQG
Thanks to JJ for hosting me and this part of the tour. I appreciate her letting me borrow the space for a time. And I’d really like to thank everyone who read and commented, I really appreciate the support. Â A winner was selected and has been notified. I’ll send along the winner’s info once they’ve confirmed. Â
-AQG
Congratulations to Carolyn for winning the giveaway! And thanks to everyone who stopped by and entered!
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