Interview and Giveaway with Marcher Lord Press Author Kirk Outerbridge

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kirk Outerbridge developed a passion for storytelling at an early age. Through years of reading Fantasy and Science Fiction novels, comics, table top gaming and watching endless hours Japanese anime, he developed a keen sense for what made stories enjoyable and more importantly—what didn’t.

While pursuing an engineering degree in college, Kirk endeavored to tell his own stories, choosing writing as the easiest and cheapest medium to master—or so he thought. Several years and several hundred thousand words later, he produced a Sci-fi trilogy that shall never (God willing) see the light of day, but that did teach him much needed lessons about the craft of writing fiction.

After college Kirk returned to his homeland of Bermuda where he reunited with his childhood friend and future wife, Ria. But before marrying his lovely wife, Kirk entered an even greater marriage and devoted his life to Christ in 2002.

With a new found direction in life, writing fell by the wayside but the urge to tell futuristic stories never left. After much prayer and contemplation, Kirk purposed his writing for God’s Will, seeking to draw to Christ those who shared his passions for all things futuristic and Sci-fi.

Kirk currently lives with his wife Ria and 18 month old son Miles in beautiful Bermuda. He is a faithful member of the Church of Christ and is a professional engineer employed by the government

THE INTERVIEW

JA: Congratulations on your debut novel, Eternity Falls. What’s the book about?
KO: The book is about a genetic breakthrough called “the Miracle Treatment” which grants eternal life—that is, until one of the earliest clients of the Treatment suddenly dies of natural causes.

The company’s Marketing VP, Sheila Dunn, is convinced there is some religious sabotage at work and hires religious counter-terrorism expert, Rick Macey, to uncover a religious conspiracy plot that may not even exist.

With only days before the media blows the story wide open, Rick and Sheila must work together to solve the case. If they fail the lives of millions of clients and the Miracle Treatment itself could be destroyed forever.

JA: I’d love to know about the moment you found out your book was going to be published.
KO: It was a very exciting moment, but it happened quite simply. I saw an email pop up that said. “Hey Kirk. Want to be a Marcher Lord?”

To understand what it means to be a Marcher Lord, you’d have to visit my publisher’s website over at Marcher Lord Press. I’d been working with Jeff Gerke, the publisher, on various other projects so we had a relationship prior too, but still it was an unexpected and exciting message to get.

JA: You’ve said that you write Christian cyber-punk. For those who might not be familiar with the concept, how would you define it?
KO: It’s probably easier to describe the cyberpunk first. Cyberpunk is a subgenre where the embracing of technology (usually through the direct interfacing of man and machine) has in someway caused great social imbalance and the fringes of that society rebel against the masses to try and restore order. Although my work has the technology portion, my society has moved beyond the angst and found balance. Some call this cyberpunk 2.0.

The religious aspect is something I always found missing in cyberpunk and Sci-fi in general. The belief in “something”, rather Christian or not, is a big part of who we are as human beings. To portray realistic characters and problems I just had to include it, and as a Christian it provided the perfect avenue to tell people about God.

JA: What do you hope people take away when they finish reading Eternity Falls?
KO: Foremost I hope they will come away feeling they were entertained. Secondly, I hope they would have had an opportunity to reflect on the big questions in life and hopefully make some decisions to answer those questions.

JA: What’s next for you in the writing arena?
KO: I’m currently working on the next book in the Rick Macey series, tentatively title The Tenth Crusader.

JA: What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?
KO: I burn trash for a living.

JA: What’s the one far out sci-fi technology you’d most like to see become a household item?
KO: It would have to be the direct brain to computer interface. Amazing possibilities there.

JA: The current theme of my blog is "The Year of Dreams." If you could realize one life-long dream right now, what would it be?
KO: Well I can honestly say that I already have realized a life long dream in the publication of my first novel. I guess the next dream would be to write full time. We’ll see what God has to say about that though.

JA: Last but not least, how can people keep up with your latest publishing news?
KO: You can sign up for my publisher’s newsletter here. Or catch the blog updates on my website here.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the future, death is only a problem if you can’t afford the price. Such is the promise of Gentec Corporation’s “Miracle Treatment”, a genetic anti-aging elixir that grants eternal life—or does it?

When a Gentec client suddenly dies of natural causes, the powers that be will stop at nothing to ensure their version of eternity remains unchallenged; even if it means concocting a religious sabotage conspiracy to cover a lie.

With the media about to blow the story wide open, the credibility of Gentec and the lives of millions of clients rest on one man’s ability to uncover the truth. Enter detective Rick Macey, religious counterterrorist expert and Gentec executive Sheila Dunn’s last hope for salvation. Now with the clock ticking and the corporate brass seeking their own solution at any cost, Macey must track down a religious zealot out to destroy the Miracle Treatment for good.

But when Macey finds himself not only falling for his client, but confronted with the possibility that the culprit could hold a connection to his shaded past, the truth suddenly becomes a dangerous thing. Only through a test of faith can he stop the crisis before it’s all too late and eternity falls.


WIN THE BOOK

If you’d like to be entered to win a copy of Eternity Falls, just leave a reply to this blog. I’ll pick a winner at random on October 14th. Please leave an email address so I can contact you if you're the winner. (To prevent spammers from trolling for your email, please use this format with the brackets--you [at] yourmail [dot] com--or something similar.) Good luck!