Well there’s this talking monkey who won me in a game of Othello in a
coffee shop in Amsterdam. He came back to Cornwall with me and has become a
prolific reader and dabbler in magic. He also has past life flash backs –
the most prominent of which are the Nam special forces ones. We have
partially deceased girlfriends who apparently eat dead bodies. The Monkey
created a sort of black hole in the spare bedroom and now we have a team of
nerds investigating it and trying to stop ‘things’ coming out of it. A bunch
of Oriental hit men who appear to believe he is a god attempted to steal The
Monkey’s magic lolly pop sticks, but he managed to blow them up in their
caravan. We are off to Cambodia in search of a temple from which came a
monkey faced pendant with glowing eyes and we seem to have upset an
international cabal who are out to get us. Oh, and did I mention that The
Monkey likes a cigar and we regularly get very drunk on Jack Daniels…
Purchase Link –
http://getbook.at/MeandTheMonkey
The
Monkey on my back…
Why
Me and The Monkey you ask? Well, I had always been fascinated by the way, as
humans, we have different aspects of ourselves that come to the fore depending
upon the circumstances. The monkey brain is that part of us which takes over
when we feel threatened or insulted and is always that part of us which causes those
bad decisions. The monkey brain seeks instant gratification, regardless of what
that might be, and is often on show late at night when the pubs close and
shirtless men square up to each other in the street over some imagined insult,
or women (not usually shirtless) shout abuse and pull hair over the attention
or lack of, of a prospective mate. So, The Monkey is that part of all of us
that we would rather deny. I just made him a physical entity with all the
uncontrolled madness that entails, but I didn’t want The Monkey to remain just
crazy as that can get boring very quickly, I wanted The Monkey to evolve. And
so, The Monkey becomes self-aware as the story progresses and he discovers more
about himself, his past, and the world in which he finds himself. This applies
equally to the long-suffering narrator, the ‘Me’ of Me and The Monkey who finds
himself, not totally unwillingly, along for the ride.
Because
I wrote the book originally in a blog format the first the posts were of a
random comedic nature that fitted in with whatever popped into my mind or was
happening in the world, so when it was Christmas they did Christmas type things,
but after a while I realised that a sort of narrative was beginning to form beyond
that and that I would have to give that narrative some consideration if I was
going to be able to find something interesting to write about (yes, I really
did begin this with no plan!). As the weeks progressed, I began to develop a
plot and supporting characters along with a back story for or heroes, and then
I would find myself mentioning something in the story that required research to
pad it out and the plot really began to thicken and get more bizarre, along
with the Google searches (must remember to leave instructions in my will for my
search history to be deleted!). I drew more and more upon situations I have
been in and people I have known and their experiences (that might seem kind of
worrying when you read the blogs but the Vietnam section particularly I owe in
large part to a friend and martial arts master who served in the war in Vietnam),
along with the vast amount of reading material I have in my library, that sounds
very grand but there is at least one full bookcase in every room of the house.
I also wove in world mythology, the occult, global conspiracy, good and bad TV
and movies, music, games, drink, drugs, guns, and Cornwall where I live. Into
this mix I then introduced an alternative world history that begins to leak out
as the story progresses.
When
I finished writing I decided to put all the posts into one document as they had
all been written individually, and it was at that point that I realised I had a
books worth of words – good or bad – and so I self-published and sold a few
copies. Then I just forgot about it… Until a global pandemic left me with a
huge amount of time on my hands (the live events industry in which I work was
the first to close and will be the last to open when we finally get back to
some normality), and after a reread I decided it was time for a rewrite and to
try and get Me and The Monkey published. The lovely people at Bad Press Ink
took me and on and it was decided to release the book as a series of blog posts
as it had originally been put out (ah, the joys of episodic writing), and then
the physical book launch, but this time with illustrations! It is great seeing
my twisted thoughts coming to life in picture form and I think they complete
volume one of the chronicles rather nicely!
The
Monkey would approve…
Author Bio –
Andy Darby, would-be Viking, and lover of the bizarre.
Mission – infest the world with his strange creations. He is the
author of Me and The Monkey.
Son of a WW2 Commando, growing up in 1970s Birmingham, as a teenager Andy
became a fan of heavy metal, fronting several metal bands over the years.
His passion for martial arts also began in the 70s and has continued to the
present. Competing as a bodybuilder and playing American Football for the
Birmingham Bulls took up much of his 20s.
Following a mixed career involving working in a jewellery factory, spraying
cars, and office work, he finally managed to follow his other passion, art,
and began a career as a designer. A marketing department honed his skills,
and he became aware of the world of designing for live events, joining a
small production company, and eventually becoming creative director of their
larger parent company. Moving to Cornwall he decided it was time to go
freelance setting up his own business focusing on motion graphic design.
In the late 1990s he began to get the urge to write and his laptop drive is
littered with the unformed creations that have popped into his head.
Me and The Monkey is his first novel, coming to life as an experiment
in having the discipline to write something every day during a period when
he was travelling extensively for work. The story was written during train
journeys, flights, backstage at events, 2am in hotel rooms, even during
stops at motorway service stations, and was often written on his phone or
iPad.
Andy lives on the north coast of Cornwall with his artist wife, teenage
daughter, cat, two ponies, and constantly growing library. He still secretly
thinks he could be a big wave surfer regardless of what reality tells
him.
Social Media Links –
https://www.meandthemonkey.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/MeandTheMonkey0
https://www.facebook.com/WhatWouldTheMonkeyDo
Giveaway to Win a signed Hardback of Me and the Monkey, limited edition
print and more (Open INT)
1st Prize
1 x Hardback book – author signed and numbered (out of 250)
1 x spliff bookmark – author signed
1 x promotional limited edition print – author and illustrator signed (out
of 250)
1 x Monkey death from above T-shirt
9 x Runners up prize.
1 x signed and numbered promo print
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter
box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from
all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no
response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves
the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or
over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used
for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the
exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway
organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time
Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not
responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
0 Comments
Please try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.