THE GAIAD (The LOGOS Series #1) by William Burcher-Review and Interview

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 19, 2016

In a society increasingly buried under the weight of its own insularity, an ancient and shadowy group selfishly guards a secret with the power to change everything. Tonight, on a stage in front of thousands, one of their members commits a horrible, shocking act. In the audience is Detective Fleur Romano. Bitter and world-weary, she vows to uncover the reasons behind the horror she just witnessed. In the process, she’ll discover that she’s led her lonely life ignorant a fundamental truth, a truth first discovered by a man who walked the earth millennia ago, a man mysteriously familiar

In this powerful debut, William Burcher is willing to explore unique and fantastic themes with realism and grit. The GAIAD boldly poses big questions. What do we lose, as we separate ourselves from the earth and each other? What would the future hold, if suddenly something changed with that most fundamental of relationships—the one we have with our own planet?

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REVIEW: THE GAIAD is the first installment in William Burcher’s science fiction series THE LOGOS.

Told from several third person points of view, flashing (in three parts) between the past, the present and the future, THE GAIAD is a story line based in Greek mythology founding on the belief in Gaia-the personification of Earth-and the separation of Earth and sky.

The story line follows our heroine Detective Fleur Romano as she is ‘blessed’ with the ability to hear Gaia’s song-a song that few have ever been able to hear, and fewer that have known of its existence. From a ‘society’ that acknowledges Earth’s past, and its connections to space, time, and thousands of years of history, Fleur finds herself at the center of an organization that is at war with itself when one of its own wants to reveal their existence to the world.

From the past, we are witness to the anthropological development of mankind as he desecrates the planet -the mother-upon which we live and survive; from the present we watch as mankind continues to search for the truth; and the future, where one small child may be the answer to life’s question.

The perception that humankind has potentially caused Gaia too much pain and suffering-wherein the ’mother’ must separate herself from the children that wrought heartache and misery- reaches beneath the story line content into something more philosophical and spiritual.

THE GAIAD looks at society; at the sociological implications of mankind’s struggle to survive; of man’s dark and dangerous predilection to seize power and control; of a belief system that wants a return to the ‘mother’ who continues to sing a song no one can hear.

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Sandy

TRC: Hi William and welcome to The Reading Café. Congratulations on the release of THE GAIAD.

William: Thank you!

TRC: We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

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William: My background’s kind of unique, I think. And it influences my writing. A year and a half ago I was working outside of Denver as a police officer. Believe it or not, I got into law enforcement with writing in mind. I wanted to see things that most people don’t normally see—life and humanity in its most raw. I saw it as an education, really. I subscribe to the belief that a writer needs a certain level of unique experience in order to write well and truly. Being a cop served me well here.

TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?

William: Many things, many people. Eastern philosophy. Seeing people at their worst (and also, frequently, at their best) everyday “on the job.” Being exposed intimately to death. And also growing up in Colorado—where natural beauty is so abundant, and all you have to do (if you feel that you need a little adjustment to your perspective) is step outside on a clear night and LOOK UP. The natural world is my ultimate influence. My ultimate muse.

TRC: What challenges or difficulties have you encountered writing and publishing your story?

William: The GAIAD is my first full length novel. Though I’ve always been a writer, sitting down and working on the same project for nearly a year is a different experience. I got to some places within that were uncomfortable, at times, to deal with and also to write from. There were times when I didn’t want to go any further, or continue down a certain path with the story because it was difficult, emotionally. But I knew that if I was encountering that kind of internal resistance, it was probably the path that I should, in fact, be on.

TRC: Would you please tell us something about the premise of THE GAIAD?

William: The Earth is not what we think it is. Millennia ago this was discovered by an earlier race of people, a people more in-touch with the “stuff of life” than we are today. A group was formed out of that first discovery, and that group has protected it as a secret ever since. The main character, Fleur Romano, discovers both the secret and its history and knows that it has the power to change so much. The message and premise of the story is ultimately a positive one.

TRC: From where did you develop the concept of THE GAIAD?

William: This is kind of a good story, actually. So, after I left police work, I felt that I needed some time to decompress, to think, to emote, to digest. I sold my house and bought an RV and outfitted it with this wicked solar power system. I was able to spend weeks in beautiful, pristine places, mostly in the Western US. There’s a special place in my heart for Southern Utah, the country around Moab. There’s literally no other place like it in the rest of the World; though images of Mars provided by Curiosity and the other rover missions remind me of it. I was staying in this area called the San Rafael Swell, west of Moab a bit. One afternoon I climbed this pretty substantial slope leading up to the base of a cliff—part of a system of canyons known as the “Little Grand Canyon.” The sun was low in the sky, the light was gorgeous and golden, and in the middle of nowhere, literally, away from all trails or landmarks or anything, I came upon a stack of rocks. A “cairn” had been placed there some time ago. It could have been there for a year, or a few thousand. It got me thinking. What did it mean? What was it really communicating? These thoughts kind of came like a cascade and at the end of it I had the basic storyline of The GAIAD.

TRC: Are any of the characters or scenarios based in reality e.g. through your work in law enforcement?

William: Yeah, definitely. Many of my characters are comprised of elements of real people that I’ve known. My main character, Fleur, is based on a good friend of mine who’s still working as a Crimes Against Children detective. She’s this kind of super-human figure in real life. She trains and coaches CrossFit in her off-time, raises two kids, changes the oil in her car, makes a mean butterscotch cupcake and is, incidentally, a really good cop.

Although the book isn’t dominated by violence, and is certainly not about violence for the sake of itself only; there are some graphic scenes there. These, unfortunately, were flavored by real experiences of mine. I probably don’t need to go into that any further.

TRC: How many books do you have planned for the THE LOGOS series?

William: Three. Unless there’s more there to be explored. I promise, though, that I will NOT take my cues here from George R.R. Martin, or Dan Simmons, or other writers of endless, incessant, frustratingly-long series!

TRC: What message would you like your readers to come away with after reading THE GAIAD?

William: That life is a gift. And inherently good. And that we’re connected to so much more than we normally think. I mention this frequently, but the thought is a powerful one, and the sentiment it expresses is ultimately what The GAIAD is about: Our bodies are literally formed from the dust of stars, heavier elements born in the cores of collapsing, dying stars. We’re connected on a fundamental level to everything in creation. That fact puts things into perspective for me.

TRC: Do you believe your story line follows a philosophical, sociological or spiritual line of thinking, or a combination of all three –or something else?

William: Absolutely. I feel that in many ways we (especially my generation, in the United States) have lost our sense of wonder about the world around us. In The GAIAD I try and speak of this, and provide, maybe, a solution to that.

TRC: How do you keep the plot(s) unpredictable without sacrificing content and believability?

William: I think that life is inherently unpredictable. Events occur, which at the time, seem completely without foreshadowing, without meaning or cause. I think that if a writer is being true to his or her life experience, to their objective perceptions about “the way things are,” this isn’t really a problem. If I were writing a story about a dinosaur named “Bill” who stalked apatosauruses 65 million years ago, there would be no foreshadowing, no warning before the comet fell from the sky at 50,000 miles an hour, hitting the coast off the Yucatan and changing Bill’s life and the entire world forever.

TRC: Who or what influenced your interest in science fiction? Do you have a favorite Sci-Fi author?

William: SciFi is the genre of big ideas, though it can forget this itself, sometimes. It’s the genre of the BIGGEST ideas, ideas that can touch on the sublime. This has always been extraordinarily attractive to me. Many of my favorites are the greats of times past, Arthur C Clarke being chief among them. His mind was amazing. It pleases me that folks today can still appreciate the broadness, the expansiveness of his ideas. I need to start watching “Childhood’s End.” The book is a favorite.

TRC: Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?

William: Yes, of course. I find myself doing it all the time, browsing book titles. Though a solid review or a recommendation from someone I respect can immediately trump all other factors, positive or negative.

TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

William: Science fiction, by its nature, is driven more by the premise, or the world, or the problem being solved. But, good SciFi obviously honors its characters too. One cannot tell a good story without the perceptions, the emotions of the people experiencing the story “firsthand.” I think that there’s a balance to be struck here. In The GAIAD, the Earth itself becomes a character with angst and longing, both explored further in the subsequent books.

TRC: Many writers bounce ideas with friends or other authors. With whom do you bounce ideas?

William: I have a core group of good friends that I discuss my ideas with. Some of these people you wouldn’t expect, really, to be capable of valuable insight. I have a friend, a cop I used to work with, a SWAT guy actually, who’s always up for a serious, literary discussion.

TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writer’s fail in this endeavor?

William: This question is certainly related to the previous, and is, of course, very applicable to science fiction. I recently finished reading a very popular, classic SciFi book in which the premise of the story dominated, but the actions of many of the characters seemed not quite right to me, not quite realistic. Their emotional experiences, also, seemed contrived and unimportant. Even in a genre where the story might be about a greater reality than that of the characters’, this reality is seen and experienced by them. It’s like the old aphorism, “if a tree falls in the woods and no is there to see it…” The characters have to be present, there, living it, to see the tree fall.

TRC: Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the story line direction? Characters?

William: No. I specifically don’t for this reason—that it does influence my writing. For this same reason, I avoid other books and film when I’m really focusing on a story, especially in the early, formative stages.

TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?

William: That we’re somewhat strange, incompetent dreamers without practical abilities. Or that we drink heavily. Or here in Colorado, liberally partake in other recently legalized substances.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

William: The sequel to The GAIAD. Stay tuned!

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

William: Writers, I think, have a pretty important responsibility—to lead the minds of their readers to better places, “fields both green and golden.” I take this responsibility seriously, and my greatest hope is that I’ve succeeded, if in a small way. Thank your for allowing me the opportunity to speak a little about The GAIAD. It was great fun.

TRC: Thank you William for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the release of THE GAIAD.