Perfect Flaw Anthology Tour: Guest Post and Giveaway

{June 6, 2013} Perfect Flaw Anthology Tour: Guest Post and Giveaway

The Perfect Flaw Anthonlogy Tour!

Genre: Dystopian

Perfect Flaw (editor Robin Blankenship): Readers everywhere are invited to experience adventures of a dystopian nature in the anthology Perfect Flaw, from editor Robin Blankenship! Featuring seventeen speculative fiction tales, spanning many genres, Perfect Flaw explores the subject of societies gone wrong.

From “utopian” societies masking an underlying controlled state, to stories of people fighting back against repression, in hopes of a better world, the flaws that create a dystopian atmosphere are brought to light. Thought-provoking and entertaining, Perfect Flaw will be a welcome addition to any reader’s collection of dystopian literature.

Leslie J Anderson – “Michael’s Gate”
Jason Campagna – “Hope Unknown”
Frank Roger – “Cracks in the Concrete”
Mandi M. Lynch “Under a Pomegranate Sky”
Shaun Avery – “The Job Hunter”
Cathy Bryant – “Cost Benefit Analysis”
Carolyn M. Chang – “Smilers”
SC Langgle – “The Bird Below Ground”
Delphine Boswell – “Tomorrow’s Children”
Tanith Korravai – “Your Comfort is Important to Us”
DeeDee Davies – “The Ultimate Sale”
Ellen Brock – “Useless”
Herika R. Raymer – “Seventh Degree”
H David Blalock – “Guardian”
H.S. Donnelly – “First Head”
Jay Faulkner – “System Error”
Michael O’Connor – “The Choosing”

But it on Amazon:

Paperback | Kindle

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Guest Post: Top 5 Ways a Dystopian Society Might be Brought About

By Ellen Brock

Dystopian societies suck. They are these strange fictional places that (unlike Narnia and Hogwarts and the firefly-class spaceship Serenity) we don’t want to live in. We’d probably be too scared to even visit. So naturally we love them, in a morbid sort of way.

There are almost an infinite number of ways in which one of these sucky dystopian societies could be brought about. To put it simply, they happen when emotions are overruled by logic, when practicality trumps empathy, when efficiency is valued over passion, when uniformity is more important than uniqueness, or when mother nature is having a really, really bad day.

So here are my top 5 reasons (in no particular order) a dystopia might be brought about (plus a bonus reason, because I couldn’t choose):

1. Robots

Yes, robots always seem like a good idea, for about five minutes. Then they get super powerful and take over the world and we humans get screwed. Usually we become slaves. Sometimes we just become unnecessary burdens to our mechanical overlords.

Also, sometimes humans create dystopias for robots, but that’s a whole different story.

2. Genetic Testing

What could be better than knowing what you will probably die from? With genetic testing, you can take some pills or get a surgery and your life will be long and happy. But then some government somebody decides genetics are a good way to determine who gets which occupations and you’ve got yourself a caste system based on genetics. Then suddenly you can’t become an astronaut because you’re nearsighted and will probably have a heart attack some day.

3. Viruses

Whether it’s an accidental pandemic or biological warfare, killing most of the population (and/or turning them into zombies) is a pretty good way to create a dystopia. People get quarantined (which never works) and all the important people get flown away in helicopters. Then you either accidentally get quarantined when you’re actually totally healthy or you’ve got to travel around looking for other uninfected survivors to repopulate the planet.

4. Totalitarian Leadership

Those totalitarians, they always think they can make these crazy societies where everyone is repressed and nobody has any rights. The next thing you know you’ve got to send your kids off to kill each other or you’re not allowed to read books. But the good news is that totalitarian leaders are (usually) only human, and you can always overthrow (or kill) a human being.

5. The Eradication of Emotions

Humans have a lot of feelings, and sometimes these feelings are very inconvenient, especially when you want to make a lot of money or take away people’s freedoms. So what’s a fictional leader to do? Take the emotions away of course! This is the happiest of dystopias because unless you forget to take your pills, you won’t know what you’re missing.

6. (Bonus!) Natural Disasters

This is one type of dystopia that doesn’t have all that much to do with humans. Maybe the sun blows up or a giant meteor destroys 80% of the earth or maybe the ice caps melt and everything is sucked underwater. Whatever the cause, fighting against nature itself can create a pretty frightening dystopia. You can’t just find a cure for the virus or unplug the robots or overthrow your totalitarian leader, you’ve got to dig deeper than that, you’ve got to rebuild with whatever the earth has left for you.

Check out 17 different views of dystopia in the Perfect Flaw (http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Flaw-Robin-Blankenship/dp/1937929116/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368812883&sr=1-1&keywords=perfect+flaw) anthology. My story “Useless” is at the very end.

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About the Author

Ellen Brock has loved books since the day she learned to read. She also loves animals (especially dogs and rats), hot sauce, paper crafts, and geocaching. She owns an editing company called Keytop, Inc. (www.keytopservices.com), where she edits manuscripts for established and aspiring authors.

Ellen enjoys sharing writing and editing advice on her blog (https://thewriteditor.wordpress.com) and is currently finishing a novel.

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Editor Bio

Robin Blankenship

Robin Blankenship, a freelance editor and book reviewer, has a background in teaching and social work.

When not working, or reading, or editing, she can be found at home in Kentucky with her husband, Andrew, and two children, Christian and Beatrix.

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AND, you can enter the tour wide giveaway for the Seventh Star Press Anthology Extravaganza below! Prizes include:

2 Grand Prizes: Each winner gets a hardcover copy of Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy (never sold ANYWHERE, a true, rare collectible book, only 100 exist!) and $25 Amazon Gift Card (this prize limited to US/Canada residents)
5 Winners get to pick whichever new anthology they would like in softcover! Choose from All 5 books featured on this tour! (this prize limited to US/Canada residents)
10 Winners will get to pick whichever of the five anthologies featured on this tour they would like in eBook format (International)
15 Winners get 2 eBooks of their choice from the SSP Catalog! Any book or anthology! (International)