Thursday 2 May 2013

Blog Tour - daynight

On Tour with Prism Book Tours...


It's time to leave Earth and cross over to the other side... it's not as far away as you think!!




Guest Post 
Continued from Submit or Fight: Dystopian Survival 101 at Paulette's Papers

I’ve included some basic qualities that would help in any dystopian survival scenario and examples of use in common dystopias.

Obedience

Generally, to stay alive, one must be at least outwardly obedient in the dystopian society. We, too, have societal constraints and rules that we are expected to follow to stay out of jail, avoid fines, and so forth.

- Disobedience always has consequences. Kira in daynight directly disobeys orders to return to Thera, with terrible consequences. 

- Katniss in The Hunger Games disobeys the rules by pulling out the berries. Her example of defiance inspires the districts to riot and results in President Snow’s determination to punish her. 

- Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale, while appearing outwardly obedient (especially when out in society), breaks small rules. She searches her room for signs of her predecessor. She agrees to meet with the Commander outside the official ceremony. She illicitly carries on an affair with Nick.

Adaptation

Whether born into a dystopia or thrust into a new situation, adaptability is paramount. In our own lives, we are each born into different circumstances (humble means or wealth; happy or broken families; safety or threat) and forced to adapt to survive.

- Katniss in Hunger Games first had to adapt to her father’s death by using the hunting skills he had taught her, and then had to adapt to the extremism of the Capitol followed by the arena of the games.

- Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale, has to adapt to the extreme situation of being ripped away from her family, then trained to be a handmaid where she is used by men for procreation purposes. Even Offred’s trainer refers to her situation as transitional, since the next generations of handmaids won’t know what they never had.

- Beatrice in Divergent, having spent 16 years learning to be utterly selfless as part of Abnegation, decides to join Dauntless and has to adapt quickly to a completely different way of thinking and living.

- Kira in daynight has to adapt to the extreme weather on Thera, continual medical testing, strict rules regarding her role with regards to “Second Chancers”, and other edicts set by The Second Chance Institute (dystopian leader) in their canon.

- John, the Savage, in Brave New World couldn’t adapt (and when he tried it overwhelmed him so much that he took extreme measures to remove himself from the dystopia)

Awareness

Being continually aware of the dystopian government, rules and “how to work the system” is critical. As we go throughout life, we have to be constantly aware of our surroundings, people’s motivations, governmental influence, and learn how to work the system.

- Katniss sold her hunting spoils to the Peacemakers, despite it being illegal. She knew their desire for fresh meat would outweigh their desire to follow the rules. 

- Bernard in Brave New World is aware his need for solitude is against the norm and when ostracized, uses John the Savage to regain his standing. 

- Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale is exceptionally observant of expected behavior and even the slightest deviations. 

- Beatrice (Tris) in Divergent is well educated about the various factions, so when she has to choose (because her aptitude test shows that she is “divergent” and shows dominant traits of three factions instead of the normal one), she can make an educated (if not unexpected and unpopular) decision.

Survival skills & basic resourcefulness

Knowing how to defend ourselves, survive on the bare minimum, know what is edible/not edible in the wild, how to make fires, purify water, find shelter, and other basic survival skills will well prepare us for times of scarcity. Certainly for anyone who plans to fight the SCI on Thera in daynight, these skills (in addition to pirating and fighting) would be important as if you aren’t killed for your actions, you’ll surely be Exiled. We (in reality) can prepare for natural disaster (earthquake, tornado, hurricane, fire) or a difficult stretch (job loss, accident) by saving, having seventy-two hour kits and food storage.

Good examples: Katniss uses archery skills and what her dad taught her about plants to her advantage in the games; in many post apocalyptic dystopias, scrounging, scrapping and trade skills are critical.

Bad example: Winston and Julia think they are being resourceful by renting a room to have their affair, but the guy they rent from is a spy for the government and turns them in.

Create alliances and find distractions

Friend or love interest, everyone needs to have a good distraction. Katniss had Peeta; Kira has Blake and Ethan in daynight; Offred has the Commander, Nick, and her memories of her time with Luke in The Handmaid’s Tale; Winston had Julia in 1984; and even John the Savage and Bernard had Lenina in Brave New World. 

Alliances can also prove useful—whether for pulling off a full-scale rebellion, pooling resources, or simple survival. Offred in her very finite world as a handmaid in The Handmaid’s Tale creates a number of alliances to improve her situation. From Ofglen, she gets word of a revolution in the works; from the Commander’s wife, she gets information about her daughter and access to Nick the driver; from the Commander, she gets lotion, access to banned reading materials and games, as well as open and frank conversation. Katniss and Peeta in Catching Fire create an alliance in the Quarter Quell games to survive. In 1984, Winston and Julia pair up to share their thoughtcrimes. 

Willpower

Sheer will and desire to live can give the ultimate edge. Even though Tris chooses the Dauntless faction Divergent, she must compete for one of ten spots. She has the brute willpower to succeed. Katniss feels the need to fulfill her promise to her sister and win the Games in The Hunger Games.

Only thing certain in life is death and taxes

Good news! We’ll likely die before being forced to live in a dystopian society. Our only exposure will be through fiction. And thank goodness. Because realistically, none of us would have much of a chance of making it in a dystopia without meeting an early demise or becoming one of the brain-dead masses. Perhaps our grandkids or great-great-great grandkids will have to deal with real-life versions of these extremes (which would really suck for them), but for us, we’ll have to be content with dealing with our own less-than-perfect circumstances and enduring to the end. But along the way we’ll surely come across circumstances where we need to decide: do we submit or do we fight?

Know when to use these qualities by reading Part I - Submit or Fight: Dystopian Survival 101 at Paulette's Papers




Megan Thomason

Megan Thomason lives in paradise aka San Diego, CA with her husband and five children. A former software manager, Megan vastly prefers writing twisted tales to business, product, and marketing plans. When she isn't typing away on her laptop, she's reading books on her phone—over 600 in the last year—or attending to the needs of her family. Megan’s fluent in sarcasm, could potentially benefit from a 12-step program for road rage, struggles with a Hot Tamales addiction, loves world travel & fast cars and hates paperwork & being an insomniac. Daynight is Megan's first published novel, but fourth written one.



Find & Follow:



DaynightDaynight

by Megan Thomason

Paperback, 324 pages

Published November 26th 2012 by Creatspace



Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Earth’s benevolent non-profit by day, Thera’s totalitarian regime by night. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance™. Reality: the SCI subjects Second Chancers to strict controls and politically motivated science experiments like Cleaving—forced lifetime union between two people who have sex. Punishment for disobeying SCI edicts? Immediate Exile or death.



Meet Kira Donovan. Fiercely loyal, overly optimistic, and ensnared by the promise of a full-ride college scholarship, Kira signs the SCI Recruit contract to escape memories of a tragedy that left her boyfriend and friends dead.



Meet Blake Sundry. Bitter about being raised in Exile and his mother’s death, Blake’s been trained to infiltrate and destroy the SCI. Current barrier to success? His Recruit partner—Miss Goody Two Shoes Kira Donovan.



Meet Ethan Darcton. Born with a defective heart and resulting inferiority complex, Ethan’s forced to do his SCI elite family’s bidding. Cleave-worthy Kira Donovan catches his eye, but the presiding powers give defect-free Blake Sundry first dibs.








Introducing...  the new Novella:  FREE for the Tour!

On Smashwords!


clean slate complex

by Megan Thomason



Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Worldwide non-profit and do-gooder organization. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Life(TM). Reality: hidden behind every kind act is a dark agenda designed to gain control and force societal and moral extremes. Currently, the SCI’s pushing Project Liberate, a program to woo the poor and downtrodden into their Clean Slate Complexes—where “everything is provided” from jobs to food, shelter, clothing, and education. Unfortunately, as with all things that sound too good to be true, there’s a catch…

Meet Alexa Knight. Feisty, tough and currently homeless in Los Angeles, Alexa agrees to help the SCI in return for medical care for her sick mother. When she starts to suspect there’s more to the SCI than meets the eye will she believe Adam—the boy who saved her life and the SCI’s biggest champion, or Joshua—the attractive enigma who sings about conspiracy theories and pretends to be someone he’s not?

Full of action, humor, romance, twists and turns, clean slate complex is a companion story to the highly-praised dystopian novel, daynight. It can be enjoyed before or after readingdaynight.





daynight Second Chances Giveaway:


Choose what you enter to win wisely. Your stay on Thera may be extended indefinitely.






Highlighting a different giveaway every daynight of the Tour... International Winners will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate and US Winners may choose $25 GC in lieu of Prize Package.


US only. International winners will receive $25 Amazon gift certificate. US winners can opt to receive $25 Amazon gift certificate in lieu of any prize package.Open only to those who can legally enter. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced on Rafflecopter and Grand Finale posts as well as emailed and the winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Burgandy Ice @ Colorimetry and Prism Book Tours and sponsored by Megan Thomason. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.



a Rafflecopter giveaway







Become an SCI Recruit

The Second Chance Institute (daynight's Dystopia)
April   22 - Launch!

                - My Seryniti - Review

                - Little Library Muse

           23 - Tressa's Wishful Endings

                - Buckeye Girl Reads - Teaser

                - Marked by Books Review

                - Red Headed Bookworm

Welcome to Thera!

Building Thera
           24 - Coffee Books and Me

                  Stressed Rach

                  Snuggling on the Sofa - Review

           25 - Christy's Cozy Corner - Teaser

                - All Fantasy Words - Review

Kira * Blake * Ethan

Character Backgrounds & Posters
           26 - Susie Q-Pons and Giveaways - Review

                - My Passion for Books - Review; Ethan

                - Paranormal opinion - Blake

                - The Cozy Reading Corner - Kira

                - Book, Books, the Magical Fruit - Teaser

                - Bookaroo-Ju - Teaser

           27 - Bookworm Lisa - The Characters

                - Getting Your Read On - Review

Cleaving

daynight's Controversy of "Cleaving"
           28 - Fantastical World of Wonders - Review

                - Pause Time

                - A Backwards Story

                - Beck Valley Books

           29 - I Am a Reader, Not a Writer - Teaser

                - Books Mystify - Review

                - Mel's Shelves - Review

Vacation on Earth!

Escapism
           30 - The Broke Book Bank - Review
                - Letters to the Cosmos - Review
                - Arriane Cruz 
                - Candace's Book Blog
May      1 - Life of a YA Girl - Review
                - Fuonlyknew - Teaser
                - Jack's Junk Drawer - Review
Risking Exile

Dystopian Survival 101
             2 - A Tiffyfit's Reading Corner - Review

                - Lovin' Los Libros - Review

                - Paulette's Papers

                - Becky's Barmy Book Blog 

             3 - Backing Books - Teaser

                - Book Snob - Review

             4 - Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks

                - Living a Goddess Life - Review; Recipe

Clean Slate Complex
             5 - Mortality Bites

                - The Book Eater

                - Deco My Heart - Review

             6 - Passion and Life - Teaser

                - The Reading Diaries - Review

             7 - Grand Finale Blast!!






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