Welcome friends! I have been thinking a lot about ways in which I can support indie authors. A review and interview on my book blog is limited to what I would prefer to read and when I get around to reading. However, you might enjoy books that I might not pick up right away! Keeping that in mind, today is the launch of a new section on the blog – Book Excerpts. I have done book excerpts before as part of blog tours and during momentous events in author friends lives but starting today, book excerpts can also come directly from authors! This new format of posts includes a get-to-know-the-author section as well as the excerpt. I hope this will give you a more thorough idea about the book and also a chance to the author to share some details about it that excerpts do not cover. It is my pleasure to host Rizwan Asad for the very first one. He will be sharing about his book, Dio in the Dark. Without further ado, let’s begin with the first feature! 🙂
Get to know the author: Riz
Welcome to Armed with A Book, Riz! Tell me and my readers a bit about yourself!
Hi! My name is Rizwan, but everyone calls me Riz. I’m usually writing about life and food on my blog, Chocolates & Chai. I’ve always loved telling stories, and I’ve even had a few short stories and poems published in the past. Dio in the Dark is my very first novella, and I’m really excited to be able to share it with everyone!
What inspired you to write this book?
Dio in the Dark started off as a short story several years ago. I didn’t write it with any specific goal in mind, I just wanted to explore where the Greek gods would be, and what they’d be doing if they had continued to live through the ages.
How long did it take you to write this book, from the first idea to the last edit?
I started it several years ago…I think it was back in 2016! I wrote it as a short story with a bit of a dramatic cliffhanger ending, but it was always felt incomplete to me. I reworked that story into the first two chapters of the book in 2019, and continued writing until it felt complete. The whole process (including editing!) took about one and a half years.
What makes your story unique?
I feel like Greek myth retellings are in vogue at the moment. But what makes this different to me is that it is set in the modern day, and is more a continuation of Greek mythology. Dio in the Dark explores the consequences of some of those ancient tales through a slightly more modern lens.
I also loved following Dionysus. He’s one of the Olympians that just doesn’t get his due, in my opinion.
Who would enjoy reading your book?
Fans of Greek mythology that are looking for something a little different or for something more contemporary!
Do you have a favourite quote or scene in the book that you find yourself going back to?
My favorite scene is Dio’s descent into the Underworld!
Dio in the Dark
“Be young tonight, if you must. For tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow you will grow old, and the night will no longer be your lover.”
The powers of the pantheon have faded. The gods live amongst the mortals, grasping for what little of their divinity remains.
When Zeus – King of the Gods – goes missing in modern-day Toronto, it is up to his estranged son, Dio, to find him.
And with rumours of The Darkness coming, Dio will have to race to find his father, and uncover the truth before it’s too late!
Content Notes: Murder of family member mentioned, Alcoholism, Death
Book Excerpt: Chapter 1
Steel crashed against steel and reverberated between the buildings and down the pre-dawn street. The mechanical steed tossed back and swallowed the contents of a dumpster before lurching and heaving the box back onto the pavement.
“Excellent!” said Zeus. “My pet feeds well today!”
Zeus, god of thunder, overseer of the universe, the lightning hurling King of the Gods himself, sprang easily to grab the handle and land on the running board of the garbage truck. He wore dirty blue overalls and work boots. The back of his overalls read, “Barker Sanitation,” and the front, over his immortal heart, had a patch that said “Zed.”
Zed didn’t command the type of respect afforded to ZEUS: KING OF THE GODS, but it raised fewer questions and eyebrows. Zed had an easier time dealing with the mailman or signing up for a mobile phone contract. Zed blended in; Zeus stuck out like a volcano.
Sacrifices had been made in the name of subtlety. Zeus, for example, had set aside more than his name. While Zeus was a proud and powerful deity, Zed was a humble sanitation worker with little say in the workings of the world around him. He had even shaved his epic beard so that he might lay a little lower. Where there was once a thick and majestic mane impervious to all harm, he now wore a slight, ill-conceived goatee, greying unevenly on the left side.
“Yo, Zed!” called a voice from within the rumbling diesel truck. It was Jack, the truck’s driver, and Zeus’ early-morning colleague. “It’s quittin’ time, Big Poppa.”
Zeus (which we may as well call him here, for what is a god without his immortal moniker?) had worked hard to blend in, but there were some aspects of his demeanor and personality that could not go unnoticed. It was not just his massive bulk and peculiar accent, but his pride and virility that made him conspicuous. One might be able to miss the six-foot-seven hulk in the room, until he gets a little too inebriated and yanks a stubborn door off its hinges, a scenario Zeus had found himself in far too often.
“Yes,” he replied. “It is indeed time to give our earthly bodies some much needed rest.” He spoke with easy gravity, in the manner of a man who has some deep understanding of eternity. “The day is at hand and soon my city will awaken—”
“Cool, Big Poppa,” came the unenthusiastic reply from the cab of the truck.
“—and night will fall. The Darkness will return. Have I told you about The Darkness, young one?”
“I know, I know,” replied the driver. “You tell me about The Darkness every freakin’ Friday. And this ‘young one’ business? Man, I’m sixty-two years old! Only thing young about me is my teeth, and even them is gettin’ to be teenagers!”
“The Darkness,” Zeus went on, undeterred. “Not merely the absence of light, but a wicked foe, an evil, visceral being from beyond the realm of time…”
“Please, Zed. You gotta knock that noise off man. I’m tired and I wanna go home…” The driver paused, thinking, then continued in a sly tone. “You should hurry along, too, y’know, what with The Darkness coming and all.”
Yet, while the old man joked and chided, there was truth in his warning. There was a Darkness that was so much more than the absence of light. It was an evil untold, and Zeus had felt it growing, coming in like the tide, in a way he had not felt in millennia. Each evening, with the dying of the sun, the cold presence of The Darkness cascaded through the city in waves. Mortals were unaware of this presence, but Zeus was not fooled, he knew this Darkness was not merely night.
For nine months, he had experienced a growing and unsettling presence in the hours between dusk and dawn. It was something substantial, tangible. It enveloped him like a snake devouring its prey and played about the edges of his consciousness like a waking dream. It watched him from the blackest shadows, hooded eyes calculating, measuring, waiting. He knew it had a name, and he sensed that he had once spoken that cursed word, though it was lost to him now. He was too proud to admit it, but he was afraid. He knew that this Darkness, whatever it was, would consume him.
Interested?
Find Dio in the Dark on Goodreads, Storygraph and IndieStoryGeek. You can also purchase a copy on Amazon. This one is on my TBR and I look forward to brining you the review.
Many thanks to Riz for sharing about his book. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Learn about upcoming books on his Website and Goodreads and Amazon pages.
If you are an indie author and would like to do a book excerpt, check out my work with me page for details. I will be back tomorrow with an indie book review! Until then, happy reading!
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