Goddess Fish Promotions is organizing a Virtual Book Tour for An Absent
Mind by Eric Rill, a Mainstream Fiction book available now from Avante
Press.
The tour will run May 5 - 30, 2014. Eric will be giving away a $50
Amazon/B&N gift certificate to one randomly drawn commenter, so please
don’t forget to leave your comments. You are requested to use this Rafflecopter
code to leave your comment:
Blurb
A riveting new novel from Eric Rill, author of Pinnacle of Deceit and
The Innocent Traitor, is about a race against time. The ticking time bomb is
Saul Reimer’s sanity. His Alzheimer’s is going to be the catalyst that will
either bring his family together or tear it apart.
Excerpt
Saul: The Façade
It’s been almost two years since they told me how sick
and useless I was. I am able to keep it more or less together most days. And I
stress days, because by dinnertime my mind is exhausted. I never knew you could
have an exhausted mind, but I do now. The sheer weight of having to pretend I
am normal all day for my friends, or the store clerks, feels like a boulder
around my neck. What happens toward sundown is like when you hear the snap,
crackle, and pop when the transistors in your old television go bad. Everything
numbs and becomes foggy. Sights, sounds, and smells meld into a ball and
explode toward the sky. It’s as if I’m not the same person I was when I got up.
As of now anyway, I can see everything I want to say
as clear as ice. It’s right there on a blackboard in front of me, spelled out
perfectly. But then to actually say what’s written on the blackboard isn’t
always a piece of cake. Sometimes it’s easy, like it is right now. I know what
I’m saying to you is coherent and that my vocabulary is correct—but that could
suddenly change and become difficult, sometimes impossible.
In the morning, I can be happy—well, maybe not happy,
but not feeling sorry for myself. It’s different by lunch—if I remember to eat,
and I generally do because it’s on my list, although I have been known to leave
my pad somewhere and not be able to find it; if that happens, Monique usually
reminds me. At least I think she does. Regardless, by lunchtime things
generally start to go downhill.
Today, while I was sitting in my easy chair, she bent
down to kiss me and brought her hand quickly to her mouth.
“Whew,” she said, or something like that. “You didn’t
brush your teeth. Why did you check it off?”
I didn’t bother answering, not because she was
interrupting my soap opera—I really wasn’t focusing anyway—but because I didn’t
know the answer. Maybe I didn’t check the toothbrush to see if it was wet or
dry, like I’ve been doing. Then she scolded me, like it was my fault. First
they tell you you’re sick because you can’t remember anything and then they
give you hell for not remembering.
The doorbell rang, and Monique disappeared for a
minute, reappearing with Arthur Winslow in tow. I was standing there with the
telephone receiver in my hand. Monique took it from me and put it back in the
cradle.
Arthur was in high school with me and was actually the
one who squealed to the principal that I was the one who decked Ian Coulter.
Coulter, even though one of the great anti-Semites of all time, lived by a code
of honor and wouldn’t have
turned me in, but Arthur did, and I understand why. You see, Arthur was the
goody-goody of the class. He would have turned in his own mother if she had
done something wrong. But other than squealing on me, he was a true and trusted
friend.
Arthur lives down the street—at least I think he still
does—and faithfully drops in to see me. Sometimes I think he has nothing else
to do. I can’t tell if he has missed any days visiting, or, if so, how many,
but that doesn’t matter now. What I do know is he cares, and I hope he keeps coming,
even if I don’t recognize him one day.
I already know that there will come a time when I
won’t know him, or people like Bernie. Frankly, I don’t give a damn if I don’t
recognize Bernie—in fact, that could be the Lord’s gift to me, something to
make up for what lies ahead. What does bother me—in fact, scares the hell out
of me—is not recognizing the kids. As inconceivable as that seems, they say it
will happen as sure as night follows day. Who, you may ask, are they? I remember when I was a kid, my
grandmother would always quote the almighty they.
I would ask her, “Who are they,
Granny?” She would always answer, “You know, they.” I think maybe she had Alzheimer’s!
Author bio and links
Eric Rill was born in Montreal and graduated from
Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts, and from UCLA with an MBA. He held
several executive positions in the hospitality industry, including president of
a global hotel group. His hobbies include trekking, scuba diving, and collecting
antique carpets. Eric has two sons and
divides his time between his residence in Panama and international travel. You
can reach him at his website at: www.ericrill.com
Buy Links:
Barnes & Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-absent-mind-eric-rill/1118627870?ean=9780991014408
Some questions to Eric
Tell us about your latest release.
An Absent Mind is a story about a fictional family where the patriarch develops
Alzheimer’s. It is about the family dynamics and struggles as this crippling
disease advances. I wrote it to show in a work of fiction what Alzheimer’s
really is and how it affects those close to the patient.
What have you got coming soon for us to look out for?
I was halfway
through another thriller, when I stopped to write this book. It may have
changed my direction in writing. It’s a difficult
subject, but rewarding if it helps people realize they are not alone and
educates those who have not been affected as to what Alzheimer’s really is.
If we were to come to your house for a meal, what
would you give us to eat?
Gluten free,
dairy free, sugar free…you may not want to come.
First book you remember making an indelible impression
on you?
Encyclopedia
Britannica…they were damn heavy and I was selling them door-to-door.
Any weird things you do when you’re alone?
It’s on a need
to know basis.
This is a very interesting sounding story.
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