David S. Grant's Bleach/Blackout

We welcome back David S. Grant to talk about his double novel Bleach/Blackout.

About the book: Fans of fluffy romance novels and that all-too-familiar, over-hyped, edge-of-the-seat crap should steer clear. This is life at its most jaded. Offense Mechanisms is proud to present Bleach | Blackout by David S. Grant, two novels about drugs, sex, revenge, the corporate crunch, and the inevitable unpleasantness of life and death.

About the author: David S. Grant is the author of Corporate Porn, published by Silverthought Press in 2006. David's first novel Bleach and its sequel titled Blackout are now available through Offense Mechanisms, an imprint of Silverthought Press in 2008. Also, newly published in 2008 the novel The Last Breakfast and short story collection Emotionless Souls through Brown Paper Publishing. David lives and works in New York City.


I asked David to share a bit more about this double novel with us today and to add some of his reflections. Here's what he had to say:

Bleach tells the tale of coming back home for the holidays to find decadence that forces a look inside. Blackout is a dark comedy with the theme of living moment to moment. A story about living.

Bleach, written in 2002 was my first novel. In late 2006 I wrote the sequel named Blackout. When I asked Silverthought Press (publisher of Corporate Porn) if interested in both we agreed a double novel with a topsy-turvy cover for each was the only way to do it.

Bleach opens during the last 60 seconds of 2003 in a bathroom where a girl lay dying and a jaded 30-year-old named Jeremy, who navigates the reader through the endless repulsiveness of the world, watches. Before diving into an explanation of what is going on, Jeremy doubles back eight days where you find him in the office ready to embark on a vacation back home to the Midwest. The question is whether Jeremy makes it back to New York.

I believe the first novel is the most personal and that is certainly the case with Bleach. Having made the move myself there are relatable sequences and feelings “coming home” and what it means to pick up relationships right where left off.

The entire story builds up to the climax of the "The Party" on New Year's Eve where all the men are dressed as prostitutes, all the women look like pimps and decadence and debauchery dictate the rules. Everything seems to be spiraling out of control, and Jeremy realizes there are no guarantees for him or anyone else.

Blackout picks up two years after Bleach in Las Vegas where Stoner and friends are celebrating his bachelor party complete with strippers and crack cocaine. The ride home is blurry and the next morning in Los Angeles brings a surprise when Stoner’s friends, Chip and Jeremy, wake to find police officers and a dead body they are allegedly responsible for, but neither can recall.

When writing Blackout I wanted to go in a different direction, having the story two years later allows the characters to develop without a lot of back story. Also, moving to the West Coast allowed me to move forward with a new story and not worry about tying up loose ends from Bleach.

Underneath the stories of hangovers and death, Blackout is a story about living. Living for the moment and having a story to tell.

Both stories move quickly through decadence and addiction, but you won’t notice…before you know it you will be partying in your head with Jeremy, Sharon, Chip, and Stoner. For excerpts, reviews, and more information please go to: http://www.davidsgrant.com.

Bleach/Blackout is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Booksamillion.com.

The BLEACH / BLACKOUT VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on August 4, 2008 and continue all month long. You can visit David's tour stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in August to find out more about him and his book!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $25 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops during the tour. More prizes will be announced as they become available. One winner will be announced at our tour blog on August 31!

This virtual book tour has been brought to you by: