On the Threshold Guest Post #GoddessFish

 

On the Threshold

by M. Laszlo

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GENRE: Historical Science Fiction

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BLURB:

Obsessed with learning the origins of the cosmos, the actual meaning of life, and the true purpose of civilization, a fine Scotsman named Fingal T. Smyth dedicates himself to the study of Plato’s most extraordinary ideas. Convinced of Plato’s belief that humankind possesses any and all innate knowledge deep within the collective unconscious mind, Fingal soon conducts a series of bold, pioneering occult-science experiments by which to resolve the riddle of the universe once and for all. However, Fingal forgets how violent and perilous the animal impulses that reside in the deepest recesses of the unconscious mind. And when Fingal unleashes a mysterious avatar of his innate knowledge, the entity appears as a burning man and immediately seeks to manipulate innocent and unsuspecting people everywhere into immolating themselves. Now, with little hope of returning the fiery figure into his being, Fingal must capture his nemesis before it destroys the world.

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Excerpt 

Autumn, 1907: late one morning, some kind of torrid, invisible beast seemed to wrap itself all around Fingal T. Smyth’s body. Each one of his toes twitching fiercely, he exited the castle and scanned the distant, Scottish Highlands. Go back where you came from. As the entity wrapped itself tighter all about his person, Fingal blinked back his tears. I’m melting, I am. Aye, it’s the heat of fusion.

Gradually, the beast’s heartbeat became audible—each pulsation. At the same time, too, the illusory heat of transformation emitted an odor as of oven-roasted peppercorns dissolving in a cup of burnt coffee.

Over by the gatehouse, Fräulein Wunderwaffe appeared—the little German girl wearing a plain-sewn robe and square-crown bowler. In that moment, she no longer seemed to be a sickly child of seven years: her inscrutable expression resembled that of a wise, indifferent cat.

Perhaps even some kind of lioness. Fingal cringed, and he recalled a fragment of conversation from three weeks earlier.

“She suffers from a most unnatural pathology, an anguished, maniacal obsession with cats,” Doktor Hubertus Pflug had explained. “Ever since the poor girl was a baby, she has always regarded it her fate to one day metamorphose into a glorious panther, for she believes herself to be ein Gestaltwandler. Do you know this word? It means shapeshifter and refers to someone who possesses the power to take the form of anything in nature.”

The heat radiated up and down Fingal’s spine now, and his thoughts turned back to the present. Aye, it’s a change of phase. I’m melting into a chemical compound. Despite all, he greeted the girl and willed himself to flash a grin.

Guest Post

5-10 Musts That Every Story in My Trans-Genre Must Have

On the Threshold is a trans-genre work that seeks to truly help people to grasp and to face very real and very difficult aspects of life. This metaphysical kind of trans-genre writing is not complicated at all, though. In fact, this kind of writing is quite simple and has only seven musts.

First: the protagonist or point-of-view character must be able to teach the reader something.

Second: this kind of metaphysical, trans-genre work must have a moral center. It must be abundantly clear that the point-of-view character does not wish to harm anyone.

Third: both the story and the well-intentioned characters within said tale must be honest or sincere. If the protagonist fails to live up to this ideal, nevertheless, the character should at least realize that he or she ought to make a change.

Fourth: the writer must market a metaphysical trans-genre work to adults only. At the very least, the reader must be exceedingly mature. Remember, as simple as my novels tend to be, all metaphysical fiction traffics in profound ideas.

Five: no matter how pernicious the stakes, the protagonist must strive to make intelligent decisions. Even if the point-of-view character is too afraid to make an intelligent or wise decision, nevertheless, the character must be aware of that fact. At the very least, when the character’s poor decisions unleash a series of unintended consequences, the point-of-view character or protagonist ought to readily recognize the problem. That kind of awareness should make the character relatable to the reader because every reader has made decisions that he or she regrets. Moreover, every reader has experienced a scenario in which he or she had to make amends for a bad decision.

Six: even if the main character has specific beliefs and political aspirations, the main character must be aware of how crucially important it is to be at least a little bit objective. Even better, the protagonist ought to realize that peace of mind comes from the psyche or intellect itself. In other words, if the protagonist understands that politics cannot solve the problems of the world, the reader’s relationship with that protagonist becomes that much more personal or immediate.

Seven: even if the main character is prone to stress, confusion, and mental illness, said character must at least value the kind of lucidity that comes with having an analytical mind and a good memory. Why? It comes down to the fact that a clear-thinking character is a character that a reader can trust.

M. Laszlo lives in Bath Township, Ohio. He is an aging recluse, rarely seen nor heard. On the Threshold is his second release and first with Tahlia Newland’s Awesome Independent Authors.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

M. Laszlo is an aging recluse who lives in Bath, Ohio. Rumor holds that his pseudonym is a reference to Victor Laszlo, a character in the classic film Casablanca. On the Threshold is his first release with the acclaimed, Australian hybrid house AIA Publishing. Oddly, M. Laszlo insists that his latest work, On the Threshold, does in fact provide the correct answer to the riddle of the universe.

Buy link: https://aiapublishing.com/product/on-the-threshold-m-laszlo/

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