Description:An epic, thought-provoking tale of reincarnation, love, and the struggle of good against evil.
As the world descends from a Golden Age into darkness and brutality, Marcus has been reincarnated an exhausting number of times. Selected to become an Emissary, it is his duty to protect the ancient secrets. His adventure is heightened because he secretly consumes a serum that allows him to have memory from one lifetime to the next. In doing so, he sets himself up for thousands of years of torment, loneliness, and searching.
Desperate to never forget his soulmate, Theron, and never sure if he was truly meant to be an Emissary, Marcus struggles through lifetimes to overcome his cruel and powerful nemesis, Helghul.
Fusing the adventure of Indiana Jones with the introspection and wisdom of Eckhart Tolle, One Great Year takes readers on an epic journey through history, following characters who are born and reborn as they struggle to triumph over evil.
MB's INTERVIEW
1. What are the characteristics of “your” reincarnation and which religion was the source of inspiration for it?
We didn’t actually use any one religion as a source for the reincarnation experience descriptions in One Great Year. We looked at all philosophies around the world that include the phenomenon and saw comprehensive similarities in them. We used a broad base of historical, philosophical, metaphysical and scientific writings from the ancient Vedic texts to the descriptions of the hereafter, described by Plato and including the 20th century works of Sri Yuketswar, Delores Cannon and Edgar Cayce, among many others. The science of reincarnation continues to be important to us when writing Book II and we are studying Dr. Ian Stevenson and and Dr. Michael Newton’s case studies as well as other first person accounts of past life and near death experiences to gain an accurate view on how reincarnation might look.
2. How important is the visual in One Great Year and/or in any story? What are the challenges for a writer who is also a screenwriter or a mural painter?
Like many artists we wear many hats to pay the bills in pursuit of our dreams. The true challenge was never giving up!
The visual challenge was an absolute treat for us. The reader must see what the writer sees for a book to truly make sense and resonate with them so we always imagined that we were writing an epic film. Frame by frame and chapter by chapter, we took the extensive research that we did over 3.5 years and sought to paint a compelling, visual tale. Because we chose such dramatic time periods and locations (Egypt, Mongolia, Bolivia), and Rene and I have visited most of the locations in the book personally, the images were very clear to us. We always hoped that One Great Year would someday become a movie and we are happy to report that it has been optioned for Hollywood development.
3. One Great Year is classified in so many sub-genres. What were your initial intentions and how different is the “final product”?
Our original intention was to write a thoroughly entertaining adventure love story that truly reflected the human experience. We didn’t actually have a sub-genre in mind. It took a very long time to try to place One Great Year in a genre and we are actually thrilled to report that it still hasn’t happened. We think the reason it is resonating so well with people is that it reflects the complexity and variety of real life. We are pretty sure that if anyone tried to describe their life as one genre: romance, new age, historical, sci-fi, they couldn’t. Marcus and Theron live through 5 lifetimes in One Great Year; impossible to pigeon hole! Our favourite description so far has been “a modern classic.”
4. Because One Great Year is also categorized as philosophical fiction, what do you think about the opinion that a good book, even one created for entertaining purposes, should send a message to its readers?
We don’t necessarily agree that as a rule fiction novel should send a message, however we are happy if it does or does not. There has to be freedom in creativity and fiction. Ultimately, it is far more important that a book have a well thought out theme and that the characters have a well-developed arc. It was important to us as writers to entertain, and stay true to our characters and their story rather than putting forth an agenda or message. Non-fiction is ideal for sending messages but good fiction should definitely make you think! Truly great art transcends the simple story told and takes the reader beyond the place from whence they began. That was our goal with One Great Year.
5. What is the secret of a great ... year... story?
If we understand the question, the answer is twofold:
The secret of a great year is the Great Year cycle which has been written about in 31 ancient civilizations around the world. It is a natural occurrence that happens as the Earth makes one full rotation on its wobble, also known as the precession of the equinoxes. This is where the twelve fixed zodiac star constellations make a full rotation in our night sky. This takes approximately 25, 920 years and it is believed that within this galactic rotation there is a rise and fall in human consciousness. Our adventure story takes place within that paradigm.
The secret of a great story is that readers identify with the characters and want to remain in their world. Our readers have been amazing and have been clamouring for Book II that will be released later this year!
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About the authors:
What happens when two passionate writer-artists fall in love and decide to make an uncommon life together? The award-winning novel One Great Year and its forthcoming sequels are just a few of the awesome possibilities!
What happens when two passionate writer-artists fall in love and decide to make an uncommon life together? The award-winning novel One Great Year and its forthcoming sequels are just a few of the awesome possibilities!
Born and raised in the Vancouver area, Rene DeFazio is an actor, screenwriter and producer with numerous film and television roles to his credit, as well as countless commercials and print ads. After spending many years backpacking and filming, Rene drew upon an abundance of unusual and exciting experiences to create One Great Year. His tireless research and firsthand knowledge of exotic locations, customs, sights and smells helped to bring this epic story to life.
Tamara Veitch is a writer, artist and mother. She also grew up in the Vancouver area, and attended Simon Fraser University to study English and psychology. Tamara worked as a special education assistant for the Vancouver School Board, and later opened her own mural painting business.
One Great Year took three painstaking years to complete. Within months of its independent release, One Great Year was optioned to become a Hollywood blockbuster film trilogy. Rene and Tamara have also partnered with Greenleaf Book Group for their literary debut and U.S. release, in October 2013.
The authors are currently writing the second and third books in the One Great Year series, filming a documentary, embarking on a book tour, and offering free seminars called POD Parties (Plain ol’ Discussion about monumental topics), where they discuss the ancient history, modern science, and inspirations layered throughout One Great Year.
1 comment:
I really, really enjoyed this interview. I think anyone who reads would likely get very interested in the book. So much of this story captivated me and I personally really loved it.
Thank you so much for hosting a tour stop and asking such fantastic questions!
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