GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY
The Well
(Passing Strange Book 1)
(Passing Strange Book 1)
by P. W. Creighton
The Well, the first book in the new Passing Strange series by P. W. Creighton, is currently on tour with Bewitching Book Tours. The tour stops here today for a guest post by the author, an excerpt, and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
For Fourteen-year-old Aidan Reynolds, the archaeological dig at the Parrish Cove historical society is the only thing making the summer interesting.
That is until he meets Maddie, an unusual girl who has just moved to town and is convinced that there is more to the local legends surrounding the historical society than even he knows.
While Aidan may not believe her, the strange artifacts that are recovered from the dig force them into exploring the dark, twisted history of Parrish Cove and its strange doctor ... a man who vanished over a century ago.
Together, they uncover a town secret that has been forgotten for centuries, and discover that there are some things that should stay buried.
Excerpt
The officer started us back into the plaza at a rapid walk. His clomping steps on the brick walkway, and the heavy jingling of his belt gave an air of strength. Although Maddie was glued to my side, I could feel her gaining confidence with each step. We were probably running from a dog again.
“Here,” I said, and started us back down the alley past the Custom House.
“Did you see the animal?” The officer asked.
“Yeah,” Maddie responded.
“No,” I corrected with glance at her. “It was fast.”
The officer clicked on his huge flashlight, casting a blinding light down the alley ahead of us. He quickly turned the light down the side alleys as we passed them to check for motion. It only lasted a moment before he swept the back ahead of us over the dumpsters and piles of cardboard lining the alley. The beam was so bright that it was possible to illuminate the brick walls on both sides.
Everything changed the moment we emerged into the park.
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Guest Post by the Author
Finding the Perceived Reality in Mythology
Perception is a very curious thing. I’ve always found it fascinating, both from a psychological standpoint and from just being a casual observer. Yeah, philosophy class was always one of my favorites. Perception impacts everything we do both on an individual level and a cultural level.
The most entertaining aspects of perception are what continue to hold on for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, permeating everything that we do and everything that we create. Sure, many look at "ancient cultures" in some form of reverence or astonishment, but that influence is still felt today. It is our perception of those myths that gives them such power and such weight.
Taking a quick glimpse at any "ancient" culture whether it be Egyptian, Haitian, Slavic, Celtic, or so forth. We spend countless hours theorizing what the origins of these cultural myths could be. We wonder how the artifacts that we’ve found show that influence, creating a reverence for these same myths. And then based on our own current perception of these myths, we impose what we believe these myths mean and how they may have originated. All while being conscious of the fact that we are viewing these myths through our own perception.
Let’s take a modern urban legend, a modern myth: Slenderman. Slenderman is a contemporary urban legend, a creepypasta that originated in 2009. It is a faceless tall-man in black suit that abducts kids. A forum author wrote a story and created a photograph of the character in 2009. After the story was passed around the depths of the Internet for a while, it began to take on a life of its own, well beyond that of the creator.
It was the uninformed individual’s perception of the character that allowed the story to become a contemporary myth with countless stories attributed to the legend, and ultimately resulting in a string of violent acts in 2014 and a near fatal stabbing of a 12-year-old girl in Wisconsin after they perceived this myth as reality.
The most frightening aspect of our world isn’t the origins of the cultural myths that we create or study. It is that our own reality, our own perception, is completely subjective. It is only through a large consensus that we agree on what reality is.
What you see is not what someone else sees nor how it is perceived.
About the Author
Born in California, P. W. Creighton has spent most of his life traveling throughout the US, drawing inspiration from his many adventures and turning that strange reality into fiction.
Over the years, he has found himself in many unusual situations, ranging from hanging off an 80 foot cliff-face in New York, to sailing off the coast of Salem, Massachusetts. He has hosted archaeological excavations and even reported from the middle of a police stand-off.
When a teacher asked him in the second grade what he wanted to be when he grew up, he didn't have an answer. To be honest, he still doesn't know. He just lets his characters make that decision.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win one of three signed print copies of The Well by P. W. Creighton (US only).
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