This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by
Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding $20 Amazon/BN gift cards to two randomly drawn winners. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?
Funny question for the books that I write. They are not written to genre. Quite the opposite. Specific genre craft are deployed to tell different parts of the storyline to best engage the reader’s emotions and visualizations. So why is The Matriarch Messiah listed as science fiction as the primary genre? The beauty of generative AI is that it can analyse 190,000 words and give a comprehensive answer.
So what does Gemini AI say?
The novel “The Matriarch Messiah” appears to be a blend of genres, primarily:
• Science Fiction: It features futuristic technology like MoxWraps, MoxMovers, and advanced AI.
• Fantasy: It includes mythical elements like the “black object,” the “cavern of blue light,” and a prophecy about women returning to save humanity.
• Romance: There are multiple love stories and romantic relationships.
• Adventure: It features an epic quest to find the mythical object.
• Thriller: It includes espionage, danger, and action-packed scenes.
The novel also incorporates historical elements and themes, giving it a complex and layered narrative.
But when I “beat” on the AI and force a choice, science fiction comes to forefront. But it is a truly multi-genre piece of literature. So why is there enough science fiction elements in the book to pull into that genre? Science and technology innovations allow one to imagine what ifs and open up possibilities to help us better understand who are now.
What world-building is required?
Reviews of both books in the Mystery of the Matriarchs series get high marks for the world-building. In studying how to write, I learned two “isms”. In historical fiction, you need to get history correct. Research, research, research. Thus, the historical parts of my books are heavily and deeply anchored in research. Both book and live person sources. What I learned about science fiction is you need to get the science right or reviewers will flag your error. I was fascinated in fan dialogue about the technologies features in the fictional MoxWorld corporation. Got imaginations going.
Here’s an example. Years before Amazon shut down the Kindle from you owning the file, I wrote in The Matriarch Messiah MoxWorld’s launch of the MoxBook where you owned the book, could sell the book, could outline and draw and take notes in your book. All virtually. That was a piece of prophesy about how consumers would five years later want the ownership of their e-books.
Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.
I’ll take the liberty to name one thing about the two main characters.
With Peter Gollinger in The Matriarch Matrix, I wrote him as an anti-hero like Malcolm ‘Mal’ Reynolds in the TV series Firefly. Wow. That bombed hugely so in numerous rounds of beta reads. Women did not want to spend their time with a loser. Well, romance readers certainly didn’t. So, Peter, as he exists in the published books, is making the cut as a romance partner.
The main protagonist in both books is Zara Khatum, a fierce former Kurdish soldier, whose fictional life was carved from real life biographies, articles, and shaping from a Kurdish editor. The darkness of the violence committed against Kurdish women recently and over the centuries was vividly and realistically embodied into Zara’s history and her current plight. My alpha readers all had family who either had been in occupied countries or had been victims of oppression. They did not “blink an eye” at the early drafts. But once the final manuscript went to the masses in USA, there were some negative visceral reactions. So, a second edition of The Matriarch Matrix was released that toned done the reality of what really does happen outside the safe haven of modern North American countries. The sequel, The Matriarch Messiah, reflects some of the same real-world brutality the Kurds faced, but is toned down. The reviews so far have not reflected any negative sentiment.
Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?
I write to musical that reflects the emotions, the pace, the timbre of what I need to be writing for that specific section of a book. The saddest sections, I will write when the family is sleeping or in the solitude of a writing room so they don’t have to wonder why I am crying.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
I am a corporate strategist. So, I thought I was a plotter, which I do as I plan out a book. But once the prose creation time hits, my fingers just go where the “waves” take them like an expert surfer. At the end of the day, my books emotional reach comes from a pantser hiding in a plotter’s clothing.
Look to your right – what’s sitting there?
Alexander Murometz, megalomaniac world puppet master, head of MoxWorld Holdings. He’s tapping his fingers on the table wondering where are the book sales. Ouf. What a horrible monstrous task master.
Anything new coming up from you? What?
The Matriarch Mission is a new work with development editor and beta readers. It is a novella length prequel to the two published books in the series. Set during the Russian Civil War, the roots of the black object and the cavern of the blue light are explored.
Questions that will be answered in this prequel:
Where did Rachel Capsali, in The Matriarch Messiah, find her all consuming passion to find the truth about Asherah?
Where did Alexander Murometz get the funding to create his all powerful MoxWorld Empire so he could solve the mystery of the ancients and find the legendary black object?
Who said Zara Khatun will end the world as we know it [plot spoiler] in the final book of the series, The Matriarch Mandate?
That said, I will outline the Matriarch Mandate during April on the shores of Mallorca.
Do you have a question for our readers?
Given the multi-genre, multiple plot lines, multiple timelines of The Matriarch Messiah, how does one target the readers of such a work of literature? Certainly, Kindle has the most genre and sub-genre choices and this novel as with its predecessor fits none of the usual suspect descriptions. In the reviews so far, those who are brave enough to take the “risk” reading it find the experience favorable.
Zara Khatum, a woman haunted by ancient visions, finds herself drawn deeper into the heart of a perilous quest. Guided by a mysterious voice, she seeks to fulfill an ancient prophecy and find the cavern of blue light - a sanctuary rumored to hold the key to saving humanity. But the path to salvation is fraught with danger, and Zara is torn between her destiny and her heart.
A shadowy organization, known as NiQihs, seeks to exploit the power of the legendary black object, the source of Zara's visions, for their own sinister ends. They are not alone. The world's superpowers, driven by greed and ambition, race to control the artifact, threatening to unleash unimaginable devastation.
Joining Zara in this dangerous pursuit is Rachel Capsali, a brilliant Israeli archaeologist driven by a personal quest to uncover evidence of Asherah, a forgotten goddess who held a pivotal place in ancient Israelite faith. Unbeknownst to them, both women are bound by a shared destiny - a prophecy foretelling the cavern of blue light and a final, heartbreaking truth: two women will fight to the death, and only one will save us all.
Adding to the complexity, a passionate triangle forms as Rachel vies for Peter Gollinger's affection, a man deeply entangled in the ancient mystery. Zara, torn between fulfilling her destiny and her own feelings for Peter, finds herself caught in a web of conflicting desires.
As Zara and Rachel navigate a treacherous landscape of hidden agendas, betrayal, and relentless pursuit, their rivalry for Peter's affections intensifies. Can love survive the forces that threaten to tear them apart? Will the quest for salvation lead to a heart-wrenching sacrifice?
Read an Excerpt:
"So, what's so special about some random legend?" says Rachel. "My safta raba Ariella said, 'She said one day Nearat and her daughter will return. Humanity will wane and wobble. And the woman who will save humanity will bring peace from the blue light. But to return, one must overcome one's fear of death. Two women will fight so that one will die. For only in the death of life as one knows it can she be in the light. Until then, Inanna awaits.'""
With a light chuckle, Mei combs through ground-penetrating radiation scans as she says, "Be thankful you only had to memorize seven sentences. That guy from California with the Kurdish woman had to memorize four times that much. His grandfather made him say it backwards, even. As random as your safta raba's saying may seem, it isn't to Murometz, and even Jean-Paul, who's aggregating oral traditions like yours with thousands of others he's collected, including those from the Vatican archives. They are far from random now."
Slowly walking in concentric circles from the black box MoxWorld loaned her, Rachel views the real-time scan images as she says, "I wish I could have met Mr. Murometz when you and Jean-Paul screened me. Not that I didn't relish our time together."
"Come on, Rach. You wouldn't wear that dress I made for you, much less the vamp shoes and makeup we designed," says Mei.
"I didn't mean to meet him in 'that' way," says Rachel as she runs her hand along her braids. "If I'm not worthy enough minus my lady bits, then he isn't worthy enough for my time, I say."
"I never said you had to wear those simply ravishing clothes for him," says Mei.
"Well, certainly it wasn't for Father Sobiros, I assumed. And you said Murometz was fascinated that my safta raba's words included a reference to a Sumerian goddess whose priestesses were known for prostitution. I only assumed he was hinting he wanted the same out of me, as all the rumors would suggest," jests Rachel. "Wait. Do you see what I see?"
"Hold on, Rach. I have an incoming call from the president of China."
About the Author: Maxime has been scribbling stories since grade school, from adventure epics to morality plays. Blessed with living in multicultural pluralistic settings and having earned degrees in science and marketing, Maxime has worked in business and sports, traveling to countries across five continents and learning about cultures, traditions, and the importance of tolerance and understanding. Maxime's second novel, The Matriarch Messiah, was conceived, outlined, written, and edited in different locations in Belgium, including the Turkish and Kurdish neighborhoods of Brussels, in various islands of the Caribbean, in Colombia, in Madrid, Malaga, Mallorca, Spain, London, UK, and on the two coasts of the United States.
Book and author website:
https://tailofthebird.com/
Author Blog:
https://tailofthebird.com/blog
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MaximeTrencavel
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/maximetrencavel/
Amazon:
https://amzn.to/4bubPb8 $0.99 on Amazon
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/mystery-of-the-matriarchs
iBooks:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-matriarch-messiah/id6742783963 $0.99 on iBooks
Google Books:
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Matriarch_Messiah.html?id=I_9LEQAAQBAJ $0.99 on Google Books
