Ancient Rising – Exclusive Interview with Book Of THoTH

Despite being a month away from the official release date of the book, demand for JC De La Torre’s Ancient Rising has been so great that Luna Brillante Publishing has decided to give an exclusive release through the writer’s website http://www.delatorrewriting.com and their partner site http://www.lulu.com on September 1st.

Author JC De La Torre’s new book, Ancient Rising, follows the adventures of widower Dan Ryan, an author who lost his wife and daughter to a tragic car accident. While grieving, Ryan is approached by a strange character claiming to be the Greek God Hermes.

Hermes tells Ryan that the widower is the key to finding the lost continent of Atlantis and releasing the Gods from an ancient curse. What follows is an adventurous trek through Greece, Egypt, Spain, and eventually Atlantis itself looking for clues to the discovery of the mythical land.

Reviews:

Baryon Magazine’s review by Barry Hunter:
De la Torre has presented a well-written, fast moving adventure that fits into the Clive Cussler/Dan Brown mode. I enjoyed this one immensely and am sure that you will also. More will be explained in the second volume, ANCIENT DESTRUCTION, which hopefully will be available soon. Be on the lookout for this one.

And IBList.com’s Connor Duncan:
I personally loved this book. De La Torre has a tremendous descriptive style that put me right into the middle of the search for Atlantis. Through the search for clues to the ultimate battle of survival for the human race, De La Torre’s fast paced style reminded me of a Dan Brown or Clive Cussler. I particularly found the part where he found out his wife and daughter were killed riveting. The emotion seemed to pour from the pages. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys adventure Sci-Fi or Fantasy. This one is the first part of a trilogy, I can tell you I’ll be the first in line waiting for the next one, Ancient Destruction.

About The Author:
SciFi/Fantasy/Horror/Adventure writer Jason Christopher De La Torre was born on September 4th, 1973 in Tampa, Florida. He has been writing for 17 years for personal enjoyment but decided to get serious and publish his work for the world to see in the early month of 2005. He still resides in Tampa with his beloved wife and two cats. He is currently employed as a Computer Support Specialist for a Tampa Healthcare company.




JC De La Torre




The Book Of THoTH Interview:

THoTH: JC, Thank you for taking the time to visit with us at http://www.book-of-thoth.com, what would you consider to be the inspiration for your writing?

JC: Ah, the tough one right off the bat. My inspiration would be my desire to create new worlds, imagine new and interesting characters – to tell a great story. My desire is to have a book that you remember and that you want to read again and again. I use that as motivation and inspiration to continue to press the edges of my imagination and wonder – what if? It’s my hope that after I have left this Earth, Ancient Rising will have me live on forever.

As for influences, I’d have to say two horror authors that I’ve tried to pattern myself after are Stephen King and Anne Rice – even though more often that not, my work has been compared to Dan Brown. Funny enough, I may be the only person in America never to have read The DaVinci Code.

THoTH: Have you delved into the world of mythical Gods and lore? And if so, what area of this fascinating topic intrigues you most?

JC: Oh yes, I am fascinated by ancient cultures, religions and myths. I am a Discovery Channel geek. I’d take a documentary on the worshipping practices of the Romans over watching Seinfeld any day of the week. I did a lot of research on Atlantis and the Gods for Ancient Rising. I think as the stories continue you will begin to see more of that come to the forefront.

THoTH: When writing "Ancient Rising", did you use any real life occurrences from your own life?

JC: Death. The last couple years have been tragic for my wife. Two years ago she lost her father to a heart attack, and then last year she lost her Grandmother. It was very emotional. I tried to simulate that emotion within Ancient Rising. I tried to give someone who has never lost anyone close to them a chance to know the pain, the loss, the feeling of helplessness you get when something like that happens.

THoTH: Can you tell us how the book came about?

JC: As I said earlier, I’ve always been fascinated by ancient myths and lore. One of the greatest myths of our time is Atlantis. You’d be amazed at how much corroborating evidence there is out there to support that it did exist. That’s what truly intrigued me about it.

THoTH: Although the book is fiction, do you think that Atlantis was a real place, and if so why?

JC: Yes, I believe both Atlantis and Lemuria existed with very advanced societies. Now by advances I mean relative to the other examples of the human species. Let’s face it; twelve-thousand years ago humans were simply hunters and gatherers trying to survive the end of the Ice Age. Atlantis and Lemuria were an advancement in that I believe their skills as architects, seafarers and builders rivaled the Egyptians, Macedonians, even the Greeks. I truly believe the biblical story of Eden was in reference to Atlantis – and the "being cast out by God" was the destruction of Atlantis. Every culture and religion has an Eden. If every culture says something existed, it’s the ultimate hypocrisy of science to simply disregard it as storytelling.

THoTH: Can you tell us any more about the sequel?

JC: The second of the trilogy is going to have two story tracks. One track is Dan and the crew’s battle against the elements as Poseidon tries to prevent them from getting to a "holy place" that could lead to the ultimate destruction of the Gods. The second track is a flashback of how the Gods came to our world, how Atlantis evolved, and what ultimately led to its demise. They’ll be a lot development of new Atlantean characters and how they coped with their world.

THoTH: How did you come to find 'The Book Of THoTH' and any comments about the site?

JC: I was looking for a good "alternate realities" website, as well as Science Fiction and fantasy. I am very hands on type of author. I don’t cast stones down from my ivory tower. I want to be totally accessible to the fans of my work, interact with them, discuss what they liked and didn’t like. That kind of thing. I enjoy talking to people and your website’s forums gave me an opportunity to do that. You have great variety on your forums – conspiracy talk, sci-fi, you guys have a lot of the subjects I love to talk about so it was a natural fit for me!

THoTH: Thank you JC for sharing this information with us all, we wish you all the very best for your book.

JC: Thank you for having me. You guys do a great job. I whole heartedly believe in what the slogan on THoTH says, "The truth that sets us free is the truth which some prefer not to hear." Isn’t that telling? Who knows, maybe The Book of THoTH could be a major plot point in the next book!

Hmmmm. Thanks again, guys!