Monday, April 5, 2021

10 Things You Might Not Know About ORANGE CITY @leematthewg #10things

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of the novels THE ANCESTOR, THE MENTOR, THE DESIRE CARD and SLOW DOWN. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the Prix du Polar. His first YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN is forthcoming in 2021 along with a sci-fi novel ORANGE CITY. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in The Millions, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, LitReactor, Monkeybicycle, Fiction Writers Review, Cagibi, Necessary Fiction, the anthology Dirty Boulevard, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Underwood Press and others. He is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Fringe, dedicated to publishing fiction that’s outside-of-the-box. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: http://www.leematthewgoldberg.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/LeeMatthewG

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leemgol/

10 Things You Might Not Know About Orange City

By Lee Matthew Goldberg

1) It is my first Science Fiction book, since I have only written thrillers before.

2) I started it as a short story way back in college in the year 2000.

3) It was influenced by Philip K. Dick but also great dystopian books like Brave New World, 1984, and We.

4) The character of The Man was influenced by Francis Bacon paintings.

5) It didn’t start as Sci-Fi, but with each draft became more and more science fiction.

6) There will be a sequel called Lemonworld and possibly a third book if there is enough interest.

7) The cover design was always in my mind but the designers did a magnificent job.

8) The idea came to me when I was watching TV and saw an ad for sodas, and immediately wanted a soda.

9) The book is an allegory and a take down of capitalistic society and the power of advertising.

10) Like all my work, it’s heavily influenced by David Lynch’s movies as well.

Title: ORANGE CITY
Author: Lee Matthew Goldberg
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Pages: 259
Genre: Sci-fi / Dystopian

BOOK BLURB:

Imagine a secret, hidden City that gives a second chance at life for those selected to come: felons, deformed outcasts, those on the fringe of the Outside World. Everyone gets a job, a place to live; but you are bound to the City forever. You can never leave.

Its citizens are ruled by a monstrous figure called the “Man” who resembles a giant demented spider from the lifelike robotic limbs attached to his body. Everyone follows the Man blindly, working hard to make their Promised Land stronger, too scared to defy him and be discarded to the Empty Zones.

After ten years as an advertising executive, Graham Weatherend receives an order to test a new client, Pow Sodas. After one sip of the orange flavor, he becomes addicted, the sodas causing wild mood swings that finally wake him up to the prison he calls reality.

A dynamic mash-up of 1984 meets LOST, Orange City is a lurid, dystopian first book in a series that will continue with the explosive sequel Lemonworld.

PRAISE:

“In his compelling novel, ORANGE CITY, novelist LEE MATTHEW GOLDBERG, has crafted a unique dystopian thriller that manages to reveal our greatest fears about emerging technology and our anxieties at what the future holds.” – Raymond A. Villareal, Author of A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising.

“Lee Matthew Goldberg’s brutal, fast-paced thriller is a compelling reminder of how our society is always a few small steps away from a dystopia.” — Robert Repino, Author of Mort(e) and the “War with No Name” series.

“An ambitious dystopian series debut, this hair-raising science fiction novel is perfect for fans of layered conspiracies, altered realities, and eerie dystopias.”– Publishers Weekly, BookLife.

“Imagine Man in the High Tower (with a Stalin slant) mixed with Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and Max Barry’s Syrup. That’s pretty much what Mr. Goldberg deftly delivers in Orange City.” — 23rd Legion