"Mr. Porteous manages to blend science ficiton with a dose of sharp humor and pokes at some of the other areas of the science fiction world. The book is a nice blend of both the real and the surreal world"
    Read Rick's full review on his website. (He'll also be giving a copy away at some point).

The most recent stop on the blog tour - Writing Magic.

"At about nine I sat down to write a book and got as far as numbering and naming each of the chapters, having no idea how to do anything else. The story I’d wanted to write was somewhere between the Elizabeth Shue film Adventures in Babysitting and Harry Potter. I think somebody still needs to write that story".

Read the rest of my interview here: http://tinyurl.com/5u64ch4

"I’m Scottish, six foot two inches tall and in my very, very late twenties. (This year I’ll be 31). By day I’m a social research consultant. By night I use those same skills to fight crime – with limited success. And at the weekends I’m a writer".

Read the rest of my interview with BK Walker here: http://tinyurl.com/6bh4q2c

Stop two on Singular's virtual tour - guest blogging at Been There, Read That.
    "I never give advice. Or at least I never give advice I don’t regret later, when an older, wiser me looks at my advice, shakes his head and chuckles. But I’m going to opine in this case and with the full knowledge that I’ll regret it later..."
    Continue reading here: http://bit.ly/meItLD

There’s a quote – there’s always a quote. “Every author portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will”.
    When I gave a draft of Singular to my beta readers, the most common feedback I received was that the main character was obviously me. It was feedback I’d been expecting. The initial events in Singular are based substantially on my own experience surrounding misdiagnosis and treatment for cancer in late 2009. I started writing the book while I was in the examination room waiting to speak to the consultant for the first time.
    If Patrick Clark is anyone, he is me.
    What surprised me was nobody said that any of the other characters reminded them of me. After all, they are. Greg Calame, the embittered and hard-bitten journalist. Katherine Valentine, the vain and ambitious systems engineer. The unnamed ‘it’: the creature within the machine struggling to connect with the real world. If these characters – all of whom are fairly unpleasant – are anyone, they are me.
    I’ve never heard a writer say otherwise.
    To make a character credible, you have to understand them. Every good and noble act, every wicked and perverse deed comes from the writer’s mind. 
     There was, in Bram Stoker, a few drops of vampire blood. There was, in Victor Hugo, the seed frustration of the martinet. There is, in Thomas Harris, a little bit of a cannibal – no more than a mouthful, I expect.
    The great villains of fiction have a capacity to make us love them because they reflect the dark thoughts we never voice; not because they are different to us, because they are, in aspect, the same as we are. I believe the most desirably quality of the monster is freedom – and this is a theme I’m exploring in the novel I’m writing at the moment.
    It’s not necessary to like all of our characters, as we recognise that there are many aspects to our nature, some of which we value and others we wish we could change. If a writer is to produce the being we call a character, that facsimile of life will always be traced in some faint way from the writer.
    When I reflect now, some eight months after my first feedback on Singular, I think the reason why Patrick was seen as being me and the other characters weren’t is an issue of relatability. Within pages of meeting them we learn that Greg wants revenge, Katherine wants power, ‘it’ wants the most ephemeral concept of all: freedom. What Patrick wants is to live.
    Those other struggles, which we may find difficult to articulate in our own lives, are less visceral than the first, primal want. And rather than saying “Patrick Clark is you”, I think the identification was deeper; that what people felt was closer to “Patrick Clark is me”.

You can follow the tour’s progress on my website www.dfpiii.com or follow me on Twitter @dfpiii or using the hashtag #SVBT. Also, at the end of the book tour, one lucky person who “likes” Singular on Facebook will receive the signed proof copy of the US print edition of Singular – a one-of-a-kind, never-be-another prize.

The full details of the Singular Virtual Book Tour have been posted online - along with my bio and the book's summary - at the Virtual Book Tour Cafe.

http://www.vbtcafe.com/2011/05/meet-greet-david-porteous-author-of.html

    Links to all the events will be posted on this blog and in oodles of other places.
    How can you get involved? I'm glad you asked. Well if you want to drop by any of the participating websites, read the posts and ask some questions that would be great.
    There's also going to be a giveaway at the end of the tour: the proof copy of the US print edition of Singular, signed and with a special message from me inside. It's the only copy there will ever be - I couldn't give this prize again even if I wanted to.
    How can you win this prize (whose value is $7.95 + postage + priceless)? I'm glad you asked that too. All you need to do is go to the Facebook page of Singular and click "like". That's it. If it could be simpler I don't know how.
    At the end of the tour I'll randomly select one person from all the "like"rs and I'll contact them to let them know.
    Hope to see you out on the tour.

The virtual book tour for Singular has been arranged. Twenty dates from 16 May to 30 June 2011 including 7 interviews with me, 8 guest blogs, 3 reviews and at least 5 prize giveaways (including a one-of-a-kind prize to be announced on the 16th). I'm very excited to be working with the Virtual Book Tour Cafe and with all the other bloggers and reviewers involved.
    I'll be using the Twitter hashtag #svbt (Singular Virtual Book Tour) and I'll use the SVBT tag on my blog so you can keep track of all the latest posts and updating the Singular's page on Facebook.