Ten Facts About Purpose:
1)
All
of the places mentioned in the book are real.
Neighborhoods, towns, street locations, even the buildings that were
named.
2)
The
first line of the book is the first words I wrote. Through all the revisions
and edits, the first line: "[S]omeone died tonight. An innocent. Someone
who should have lived" has never changed.
3)
I originally envisioned this as a series of
short stories. My thought had been that each book would have a different love
interest who would either die or leave by the end of the book. In the end that
seemed too depressing.
4)
I
took pictures for most of the places in and around the D.C. so I could have a
better mental picture of the scenes. Toward the end of the book there is a
scene at a building site. At the time I wrote the book that was how the
building looked.
5)
The
writing of Purpose was halted around
chapter 20 due to the birth of my daughter. Once I get into a better routine I
finished it before my paternity leave ran out.
6)
The
D.C. Metro system has some of the longest escalators in the world. In fact the Wheaton station escalator is the longest in the
western hemisphere at 230 feet. The Metro escalator mentioned in the beginning
of the book–Dupont Circle–is almost 189 and is the sixth longest in the system
7)
I
originally meant to write the entire book in first person present tense. After
the first 'chapter' was written, I decided to try something different. There
were times I had problem's switching from first to third and back. Thank god for good editors.
8)
The
legal/police lingo was kept as true to how it would be in D.C. as I could make
it. The command structure of MPD is what it would have been in 2010. The
exception being the FBI – I have no idea if that is accurate or not – my guess
is not.
9)
Purpose is the shortest book I've
written alone. Anyta Sunday is a great influence and has been pushing me to say
more in fewer pages. I hope this is the start of a good trend.
10)
There
are no sequels, spin offs or plans to turn this into a series in the works.
This was Will's story about reclaiming his humanity and how it took someone
like Ryan to bring Will back. I don't see anything worthy of another book at
this point.
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.
Excerpt:
“Ryan!”
The scream was blocked by the doors. The entire car turned, stared, then went
back to what they were doing. Another raving idiot on the Metro.
Last
time he felt this, felt it this intense, someone was about to die. Now, after decades, he understood. It was not a call
for vengeance. It was a warning.
When
the train lurched forward, panic gripped him. He needed to get off the train. Now! Pressed against the window, he saw
four thugs walking behind an oblivious Ryan.
What
the hell was wrong with him? He was such an idiot! Ryan had let his guard down
because Gar gave him that money.
The
train started to pick up speed, forcing him to focus. By now, most everyone was
ignoring him. Some watched, but he “suggested” they look away, and they did.
Using the moment of pseudo-invisibility, Gar ran to the door between cars. Two
from the end. Damn!
Forming
a mental image of a Metro Transit cop, he touched the small box on his belt.
When he emerged into the next car, he could tell from the reaction on people’s
faces, they saw an officer, not him.
Thankfully,
this car was nearly empty, so no one stood in the aisles. Running as fast as he
could, weaving around the poles, he quickly covered the seventy-five feet to
the back door. Watching the platform disappear, he tried the door. Locked!
Of
course it was locked. What had he expected? Too bad. His need was too great.
Gar bunched his muscles, yanked with all his strength, and tore the door from
its hinges.
Tossing
the twisted metal aside, he ignored the screams of shock from those watching.
The clarion ring of the alarm sounded throughout the car as the smell of brake
pads filled the air. Not waiting for the train to stop, he leapt down, rolling
once to break his momentum.
Behind
him, he heard the car grind to a halt. Had he stuck around, he would have heard
the angry shouts of people who realized their trip home had just gotten
complicated. He didn’t care. Something bad was about to happen to an innocent
kid. A little discomfort on their part was acceptable.
Sprinting,
he covered the distance to the platform in less time than the train took to
leave. Still too long. Ryan and the others were gone. He startled the few people
milling about when he ran the length of the tracks, back to the escalator Ryan
had used. The press of bodies was too thick. Too many would get hurt if he
forced his way past them.
He
leaped up from the tracks and ran faster toward the moving stairs. Bypassing
the crowd, he used his momentum to leap toward the railing, fifteen feet above.
Clutching the black metal tube, he swung himself over, nearly knocking over a
half dozen people.
“Police,
move aside!” His shout took a moment to register, but people quickly moved from
his path. After vaulting the fare gates, he made for the escalators leading
out. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be too late. These were among the longest in the
system, and if Ryan hadn’t walked up, he just might catch up.
Two
escalators went up, one down. Both were packed.
“Fuck!”
Moving toward the center stairs, he decided on his plan. “Police! Out of the
way!”
As
people answered his command, he spared a second to scan the two up escalators.
If Ryan was on one of them, he couldn’t see him.
People
quickly moved to the right. Most were already there, preferring not to make the
overly long walk. Running up the stairs, the muted voices commenting on his
burst of speed washed away against the only thought he gave attention to: find
Ryan before they do.
Twice
more, he shouted for people to move right before he made it to the top. Dozens,
even hundreds of people milled about the entrance. He cursed himself for not
trying to read Ryan’s thoughts. He didn’t know what his mind felt like and
couldn’t use them to locate the kid.
Drawing
a deep breath to settle himself, he extended his senses. Maybe he could find
his scent, hear his voice, something. Another new emotion struck him: fear. He
found nothing. Not possible. How could he lose that ability now?
Nothing
made sense. A night that had started out so simple was now turning his world
inside out.
For a
chance to win a free eBook copy of Purpose
leave a comment answering the following question:
Do you
prefer stand alone books, a series or related story lines?
Please include your email address so we can notify you if you win. A winner will be chosen from the valid entries on June 16th, 2013 using Randomizer.org.
In addition, all comments from all guest blog posts between June 10, 2013 and June 21, 2013 release date will also be entered to win a $15.00 Dreamspinner Press credit. The winner will be chosen using Randomizer.org and each person who comments on any of the Purpose guest blog posts during the book giveaway time will be entered. The drawing for the pre-release gift card will be on June 25, 2013. One entry per blog but you can enter on each participating blog for more chances to win a copy of the eBook or the Dreamspiner Press credit. 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.
On
Twitter: @andrewqgordon,
Or just
email him: andrewqgordon@gmail.com
