Take Home Tuesday Hosted by Author David Mack!
UPDATE: The winner of an autographed copy of THE CALLING by David Mack is heidi2524! Please send your physical addy to contests @ knightagency.net (remove spaces). Big thanks to everyone who participated and especially David for writing such a fabulous post!
At first glance, my new urban fantasy THE CALLING might look like yet another "good vs. evil" showdown of super-powered people. I don't deny it has those elements, but this isn't merely a book (and, I hope, a series) about mystical heroes and villains who face off just to put the hurt on each other. THE CALLING is about a need I think many of us share: a desire to find something good in ourselves and in other people.
Several years ago when I first began working on THE CALLING, I knew I wanted to write a supernatural thriller about a protagonist whose "job" involves helping people in dire need. The challenge I faced was how to involve my main character in people's lives. I thought about some mainstream TV series that had solved this problem in simple ways. Should my hero, Tom Nash, place classified ads as on The A-Team or The Equalizer? Should he wander from place to place getting into adventures, as on The Incredible Hulk or Kung Fu? How was my hero to know who really needed his assistance? Then the answer came to me: he hears them pray for help. Once that "hook" was in place, I realized this needed to be the story of people who are called to take action in the world, to get involved when others turn away.
At first glance, my new urban fantasy THE CALLING might look like yet another "good vs. evil" showdown of super-powered people. I don't deny it has those elements, but this isn't merely a book (and, I hope, a series) about mystical heroes and villains who face off just to put the hurt on each other. THE CALLING is about a need I think many of us share: a desire to find something good in ourselves and in other people. 
Several years ago when I first began working on THE CALLING, I knew I wanted to write a supernatural thriller about a protagonist whose "job" involves helping people in dire need. The challenge I faced was how to involve my main character in people's lives. I thought about some mainstream TV series that had solved this problem in simple ways. Should my hero, Tom Nash, place classified ads as on The A-Team or The Equalizer? Should he wander from place to place getting into adventures, as on The Incredible Hulk or Kung Fu? How was my hero to know who really needed his assistance? Then the answer came to me: he hears them pray for help. Once that "hook" was in place, I realized this needed to be the story of people who are called to take action in the world, to get involved when others turn away.As peculiar a notion as my hero's "calling" might have seemed at first, I soon saw it as not all that different from the way some people feel their purpose in life is to put themselves at risk for others by serving as police officers, firefighters, or soldiers; or the way some people are drawn to professions in which they care for others, such as doctors, nurses, paramedics, psychologists, or the clergy. That became my touchstone as I considered my tale's "big picture." Behind its action, grit, and mystery, THE CALLING is about people struggling to bring out the best in each other as well as in themselves. So how about it, readers? Do you feel your profession is your calling? Or is your calling one you have yet to answer? Share your thoughts in the comments and leave your name for a chance to win a free copy of THE CALLING, personalized and autographed by yours truly! (U.S. and Canada residents only) Thanks for reading!
-- David Mack (Want a sneak peek at THE CALLING? Read Chapter One and Chapters Two & Three on my official site!)
Labels: contest, david mack, guest blog, take home tuesday, the calling
posted by Jia Gayles at 9:33 AM
22 Comments:
Hello :)
Thanks for sharing this great blog post. The book THE CALLING sounds intriguing and is my kind of book.
My Calling is to be a published author, as I am already a writer. I desire to make this my Profession.
:)
From Canada
twitter.com/RKCharron
:)
The Calling certainly has an engaging premise. I look forward to seeing what you do with it. I haven't found my calling yet, but I do believe that there is something of that sort for everyone. Hopefully I'll find it soon!
celialarsen(at)gmail(dot)com
Wow. This sounds like a great book. Count me in for the drawing (sheriboeyink [at] cox [dot] net)
As for calling....hmmm, right now it's to be the best wife I can be for my hubby of 13 years and to keep writing the stories that come to me.
Have a great day!!
Sounds like an interesting premise and an intriguing read!
By day I work as an executive asst/office manager, by night I write about Chicago hot dogs for www.examiner.com, and somewhere in between I'm working on my first novel. My calling is to be a writer, and here's hoping to one day becoming a published author.
LizsInk.Blogspot.com
The Calling sounds great! Thanks for sharing!
I don't believe I've answered my calling yet though I'd like to think that I have an inkling as to what it is. I hope I'm not wrong. :)
un_pissenlit (at) hotmail (dot) com
So far, it seems like many of us share a calling... ;-)
I love that idea! Whether people believe in the supernatural or not, the world would be a better place if people at least tried to see the good in others- it would rise above race, culture etc. And "the story of people who are called to take action in the world, to get involved when others turn away" -what a wonderful place the world would be. A survivor of one of the World Wars said the world was a better place then than now- because at least then, people would help each other. Well, I have hopes for this book! =)
^ Lyzer_S fr. Twitter
(not sure why it posted anon)
This was an easy question for me to answer. I would have to say that literature is my calling. It permeates every aspect of my life. I teach English to high school students, so am able to share my love of literature that way, but I also love to write, which satisfies my creative side. When I teach or write, I am fulfilled AND I can fulfill a need in others.
I had other jobs before I began teaching, so there is no question in my mind that it is my calling.
Thanks for the post and the link to your website. I'm looking forward to The Calling, and your 4400 novel. :)
I'm coming back to my calling of being a novelist. Part of this writing my own stories, but also helping the writing and promotion of other people's books. Because even when I can't find the right words to write, I can tell someone else of a friend's well-written words.
Keep flying,
Heidi
Enjoyed the post today and The Calling sounds interesting. This would be something I'd like to read! tWarner419@aol.com
My calling is to love - my lover, my family, my friends and others - and to communicate love, which includes writing it.
This sounds like a fantastic read and a refreshing change from what I have been reading. I am adding it to my tbr list.
Dave, I read the parts of the first 3 chapters on your website. I can't wait until it comes out.
Congrats on the 2 Star trek books in 2010. More books to add to my David Mack collection
History is my calling. I hope to become a history teacher and share my love of it with my students.
3milesup3milesdown.blogspot.com
I'm intrigued now by your book and it is definitely one I have to read! I love the hook!
My calling ... other than to find a way to consume chocolate while not gain the weight (ya right) ... is to help other Christians be real in their walk. I am, what I consider, an ex-pastors wife (still married to the ex-pastor)who is all about being real with my walk - in every aspect!
Sounds like an interesting book. I'll be looking for it. Always looking fot more urban fantasy to read.
Don't believe I've found my calling yet. Would like to find it soon.
tarma(at)rogers(dot)com
My profession is not my calling, but I am a Dad. That is the best calling I know.
I'm very excited to hear that the book's concept seems to resonate with readers. I hope it lives up to your expectations.
In other fun news, the book picked up a couple of favorable reviews today -- one from FantasyLiterature.net, and the other from Library Journal.
Here's a link for those who are interested: http://tiny.cc/5OSJY
The Calling sounds like a very interesting read. I've read some of David Mack's Star Trek books and they were great so I expect that The Calling would be good too.
Although I am unsure of my calling as of yet, I know that I have one that God will reveal to me when the time is right.
sounds like an interesting book!
The Calling looks like an interesting read. Thanks for the interview.
I go back and forth on whether I've found my calling, I'm a web developer with a degree in Psychology. Go figure, right? I guess it depends on what day you asked me. :D Today, I would say, yes.
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