PRESS KIT OF THE MONTH: "APOCALYPSE TV:"

The press kits (aka "media kits") that I design and send out with media/agent queries also appear as Electronic Press Kits (EPKs) as a separate website or embedded on an author's website. Here's the One Sheet for author Thomas Allbaugh and his seriously hilarious pre-Apocalyptic Christian novel, Apocalypse TV. See it as an EPK at This Link:

Title: Apocalypse TV

Author: Thomas Allbaugh

Publisher: eLectio Publishing (Sept. 12, 2017) Website: www.electiopubishing.com

Genres: Christian Literary Fiction | Dark Humor
Paperback: $17.99  Pages: 277  Words: 80,610
In Stock: Barnes & Noble (Rancho Cucamonga & Glendora, CA)
Available on Amazon and Kindle
ISBN: 978-1632134288      ASIN: B075JQVNXF
Facebook: @ApocalypseTVBOOK
Electronic Press Kit: http://apocalypsetvepk
Publicist: Marlan Warren   Website: bookpublicitybymarlan.blogspot.com
Contact: (323) 347-6762  MarlanWarren@outlook.com Author: tallbaugh@apu.edu

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Thomas Allbaugh welcomes media interviews, opportunities to read/sign his novel, Apocalypse TV, and lively discussions re religion and spirituality in the 21st Century.

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His whole life has been a sham because he can’t accept responsibility
 for his failure to live by his own convictions.—Apocalypse TV

SUMMARY:

Mild-mannered Walter Terry, a beleaguered Christian intellectual professor struggles with reality, religion, and his own authenticity in Race to the Apocalypse, a Reality TV Game Show that brings together religious fanatics, atheists, zombies, the FBI, and “Elvis” as essential players in Thomas Allbaugh’s tightly wound, seriously hilarious novel, Apocalypse TV. Will Walter take up arms against the troubles unleashed upon him by unseen production forces or end up slaughtered as the show’s designated “sacrificial lamb”?

REVIEWS:

Apocalypse TV argues against the extreme notion that only members of a certain faith are favored by God, while making a case for spiritual salvation through love, faith, hope, service…
and the willingness to persevere.—Midwest Book Review

I was caught up from the opening pages to the end of this entertaining novel.

Allbaugh has created a story to savor, and one that readers will not soon forget.

—Joseph Bentz, author of A Son Comes Home and Nothing is Wasted

Allbaugh challenges readers to consider conflicting perspectives related to social issues and faith . . .
leaves an impression that lingers long after the last page is read. —OnlineBookClub

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Thomas Allbaugh’s short stories, poems, and essays have appeared in numerous literary journals, including Writing on the Edge, In Touch Magazine, Relief, and Broken Skyline: An Anthology from 67 Press. His poetry chapbook, The View from January, will be published by Alabaster Leaves Press in Fall 2019, and he is working on a second novel, Radio Eden (working title). He is an associate professor of English at Azusa Pacific University, where he has taught for 18 years.

My newest Midwest Book Review! (Coming up in May 2019 Issue)

“His whole life has been a sham because he can’t accept responsibility for his failure to live by his own convictions.”—APOCALYPSE TV

What do reality TV game show contestants, religious fanatics, true believers, atheists, zombies, quarreling siblings, an FBI agent, Elvis impersonator, and an almost-fired English professor at a Christian college have in common? They all come together to interlock as essential players in Thomas Allbaugh’s tightly wound, often hilarious, debut novel, APOCALYPSE TV.

Shakespeare today might muse that “All the world’s a reality TV game show, and all the men and women merely players in their quest for prizes amid layers of illusions and media hype.” It is upon this slippery platform that Allbaugh has built a metaphor for our contentious world as viewed through the lenses of good vs. evil, secular religion vs. spirituality, and love vs. indifference.

The story kicks off when Christian intellectual, Walter Terry, takes a leave of absence from his conservative college in California to visit his dying father in Michigan. Walter has just been put on notice for allowing students to express non-conservative viewpoints, and fears his job is on thin ice.

Walter and his sister are approached in a Midwestern diner by a talent scout for a new reality TV show that claims to be “an investigation into American religious ideas.” He describes himself to the pretty interviewer as an “outsider in terms of religion,” but sees her write down “soft and vulnerable.” This pigeon-holing is exactly what makes these shows maddening, but also makes them fun for the fans.

Seduced by the promise of money and his own rationalization that perhaps a show like this could use an educated analytical thinker, Walter embarks on what will turn out to be a character-building odyssey. After he is entrenched in “Race for the Apocalypse,” Walter hears the producer refer to him as the show’s “sacrificial lamb.” And after that…all bets are off.

APOCALYPSE TV gradually amps up its madness, expanding reality until it pops with an outrageousness that is not quite Marx Brothers, but a fun romp nonetheless.

Allbaugh treads a fine line between crafting a thoughtful, moving plot with three-dimensional characters and satire. He keeps the humor subtle and deadpan, in the vein of Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22,” while never straying far from the book’s serious themes which examine secular religion vs. spirituality, truth vs. fiction, loyalty vs. betrayal.

Nothing turns out to be what it seems, the innocent must suffer, guilty baggage must be unloaded, and once a gun is introduced, it must eventually be used in the finale (with a nod to Chekhov). It is Allbaugh’s incredible juggling act that keeps the comedy, drama, and religious debates lightly airborne until they come back down to Earth, not with a bang or a whimper, but with the hard truths of Life and what it means to slog willingly through it.

APOCALYPSE TV will appeal to open-minded faith-based readers, as well as those who have no affiliation with a religion or belief. It argues against the extreme notion that only members of a certain faith are favored by God, while making a case for spiritual salvation through love, faith, hope, service…and the willingness to persevere.

Even when the chips are down.

Apocalypse TV

Thomas Allbaugh

eLectio Publishing (Sept. 12, 2017)

www.electiopublishing.com

www.amazon.com/Apocalypse-TV-Thomas-Allbaugh/dp/1632134284

978-1632134288  Paperback, $17.99

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Marlan Warren, Reviewer


#ChristianFiction #ThomasAllbaugh #ApocalypseTV #TVApocalypse #ChristianHumor #LiberalChristianity #Apocalypse #RealityTVSatire

I'll be on this Expert Panel Sat. 4/27 @2:30pm #GreaterLos AngelesWritersSociety (Palms Library)

My First West Coast Genre-LA Creative Writing Conference Experience

Yes, this happened! At the end of last month, I spoke on two panels at the West Coast Genre-LA Creative Writing Conference, and interviewed on video by Keith Ogorek for his Author Learning Center.  The amazing organizer, Tony Todaro, who helms the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society (GLAWS)--where I'm now a faculty member--always thinks up such terrific writer-friendly topics. Here are the ones that I was honored to speak about (there was a third slated for Sunday, but I was unfortunately sick after the 2-day marathon and had to skip it):

How to Develop Your Memoir with Appeal to the Widest Possible Audience
What makes “Eat, Pray, Love,” “The Liar’s Club” or “Angela’s Ashes” garner dazzling reviews or make readers weep or howl with laughter? How do you impose order on a thousand memories? Why is it important to resist the temptation to summarize your life?