Monday, January 11, 2016

#GiveAway #Q&A - Cubeball by Michael Leon

Cubeball
by Michael Leon


Prize for the tour are as follows: One randomly chosen winner will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card during the tour. Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. Remember you may increase your chances of winning by visiting the other tour stops. You May find those locations here

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Q&A with Michael Leon

Q: Any weird things you do when you’re alone?
A: I’m not sure if you’d call this weird, but I spend time every day learning the French language. I decided to drop my daily habit of reading the morning newspaper over a coffee and replace it with reading French! Surprisingly, I am enjoying the process, thanks mainly to a nifty app called Duolingo. It uses gamer technology to make learning a language addictive and almost enjoyable! 

Q: What is your favourite quote and why?
A: I noted Albert Einstein’s quote on my Goodreads site. “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” I always laugh at the irony of his words. His words illustrate the  extreme variation in human capabilities. Einstein is arguably the greatest genius of all time, capable of explaining the cosmos. Yet he is powerless to influence the darker side of human nature. I actually met him in Lucerne! Don't believe me? Contact me and I'll show you where we met!

Q:  Who is your favourite author and why?
A: I like so many authors. It's hard to choose. One of my favourite Australian authors is Tim Winton. I wish I could with his unlimited style. His novels feel like poetry and they portray the Australian landscape like no other. In terms of science fiction/fantasy - equally hard to choose. But I admire JK Rawling's Harry Potter series. Her world building skills are imaginary and vivid.

Q: What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?
A: First and foremost, write a story that is important to you. Writing a book to publisher stage is a long and exhaustive process, sometimes taking years! So make sure you believe in the project. Then you will be more likely to succeed.

Q:  Where did you get the idea for this book?
A: The ideas formed in my earlier years.  So for that reason, I found Cubeball the most fun to write. As a typical young boy growing up in outer Melbourne, I loved nothing more than to kick a football outside with my friends and pretend to emulate my football hero's feats. In the evenings I would enjoy competing with my brothers at a game of snooker on our family billiard table. Writing Cubeball allowed me to re-live some of those boyhood dreams. It also made me realise that whilst I had some natural talent at sport, I had a more fertile imagination! I feel fortunate that now I can spend a great deal of my time imagining stories to tell. I particularly enjoy imagining the future. It has been a fascination that has endured throughout my life.


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BLURB:

A naturally gifted ex-national champion and a savant with a computer-like mind compete against the world's best in the 22nd century's most popular sport - CUBEBALL - the chess-like, technology-enhanced, snooker of the future where the world stage is dominated by gambling, drugs and massive audiences.


GENRE:  Sci-fi

Amazon Buy Link

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EXCERPT:

Unlike the real Mars settlement, Mons City was surrounded by a vertical city. Skyscrapers impossible to build on Earth or Mars dwarfed the largest mountain in the solar system. Mons City consisted of two cities, the Left Bank and Right Bank. Each city was built at the base of Olympus Mons, forming the largest boulevard ever digitally designed. Two parallel lines of skyscrapers extended thirty kilometres out from the Martian mountain and five kilometres apart. There was only one way in to Mons City and that was through the boulevard. Hover lines crisscrossed between the two cities making a Tokyo train station look like a country town. Twenty two million gamers (most online from their home) competed in this game. Around fifty thousand actually entered the game from Velvet Underground. Most of them were there to hide from the real world or rest and recover from the demands of the game. About another thousand were like Mickey, looking for someone. It was a melting pot of technology, human energy, drugs and dreams. So much had been won, lost or wasted in this boulevard of broken dreams. Mickey slowed as he entered Mons City.


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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

I worked with national and international organisations as a business analyst in Australia and overseas. I authored many business books analysing the foodservice and food retail industry in Australia, Europe and Asia, as well as agribusiness global trends.  I also ran a consultancy business that assisted Australian enterprises to develop new markets in Australia and overseas.

I commenced writing science fiction novels full time in 2009. It was a life-long interest of mine. I have written five novels - all exploring contemporary social issues in future speculative worlds. They are: Shadow Dance; Extinction; Cubeball; Titan Sages and Alive. My novels blend speculative science, new age and poetry. Readers of novels such as Carl Sagan’s Contact would enjoy my novels.

Links:  

Blog: http://odyssey2k1.blogspot.com/
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5369984.Michael_Leon
Website: http://www.michaelleon.com.au/
iBooks:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/cubeball/id1050883428?mt=11

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

43 comments:

  1. Thank you for hosting this stop today, Crystal! And thanks too to Goddess Fish. Wishing everyone good luck in the giveaway!

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  2. Thank you for the chance to win :)

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  3. Thank you for the opportunity to win and to discover more about your book!

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    1. Hi Helen - thank you! And thanks for visiting today! Best of luck!

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  4. loved the excerpt, thanks for sharing

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    1. Hi DanieX. It was my pleasure! So glad you liked the excerpt and thanks for visiting!

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  5. I love reading books about savants real or novels - this sounds interesting!!!

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  6. I love reading books about savants real or novels - this sounds interesting!!!

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  7. Hi Rose-Marie, thanks so much! I spent a good deal of time researching my savant character, Ludwig. I grew very fond of him as I wrote this novel. I hope my readers do, too. Thank you for stopping by!

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  8. Hi Patrick, that's great! Thanks for visiting and best of luck with the giveaway!

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  9. Great excerpt, sounds like an exciting read, thanks for sharing and good luck with the tour, Michael!

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  10. Thank you again Eva! I appreciate your thoughts and thanks for visiting!

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  11. Thanks for the giveaway!

    rounder9834 @yahoo.com

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    1. Hi Thomas, thanks for visiting and best of luck with the giveaway!

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    2. Where do you get the inspiration to write your books?

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    3. Hi Steve thanks for visiting! Some of my best ideas come from science fact. I've always enjoyed reading popular science, as some of the work carried out by scientists have been awe-inspiring. The inspiration for Cubeball came more from my love for sport, but it does explore the development of new digital technologies and its impact on the way we watch and participate in sport. Again, thanks so much for taking the time to visit my tour!

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  12. Hi Micahel, I really enjoyed the interview! I had never heard of Duolingo--sounds interesting! Your book sounds great, Thank you for sharing!

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  13. Thanks for taking an interest, Betty! Glad that you learnt about a new app! Duolingo is free and it is particularly good at helping you 'read' a foreign language. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me, too!

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  14. Really great Q&A!!Thanks for sharing :)

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  15. Thanks so much, Victoria! Glad you found my Q&A interesting and thanks for visiting!

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  16. Who is your favourite book character?

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    1. Hi Mai! That's a hard question as there are so many wonderful characters to choose from. My mind turns to Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. He was a larger than life character, powerful but not infallible. He had a strangely comforting presence, no matter the situation. Thanks for following my tour and best of luck with the giveaway!

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  17. If you could be any character in a book, who would it be?

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    1. Hi Helen! Hmm... a tough question. I might cheat and pick a movie, for I would choose Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I so enjoyed the character and his nemesis, Saleirie. I watched the movie, Amadeus, a dozen times. It actually changed my life, for it made me think more about leading a creative life, rather than the business life I had been living up until then.

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    2. Thank you! I've never seen Amadeus. Just googled it - it sounds great! I'll have to watch it at some point.

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    3. Is your favourite film Amadeus then? Or do you have others?

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    4. It is one of many favourites! An enjoyable week for me consists of a mix of film, reading, writing, research and travel. Another movie that changed me was 2001 A Space Odyssey. I watched it when I was a young boy and fell in love with science fiction!

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    5. Stanley Kubrik was one of the great directors! I was saddened by his death.

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  18. If you weren't an author, what would you be?

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    1. Hi Helen! I am very happy to say that there is nothing else I want to be! It is a challenging but wonderful career, blending research, creativity and travel.

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  19. What was the first book that you remember reading?

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    1. Voyage to Venus by C.S Lewis. A school friend gave it to me, starting my lifelong interest in science fiction and travel!

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  20. Great interview and sounds like an awesome read. Thanks!

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  21. Thanks so much, Natasha! I hope you get the chance to read it. Thanks for visiting and good luck with the giveaway!

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  22. Fun interview!

    --Trix

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  23. I really enjoyed the interview. Thank you for sharing.

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  24. Thanks for your positive feedback, Ree!

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