Tour Stop, Guest Post & Giveaway: Down by Ally Blue

Hello to everyone here at Book Reviews and More by Kathy! I’m Ally Blue, and I’m very pleased to be here as part of my blog tour for my first horror novel, Down. Thank you to my host for having me!

Down is set at the bottom of the Peru-Chile trench, off the western coast of South America. I picked that one because I felt like maybe the Mariana Trench was a little played out, ha. Anyway, I thought it might be fun to tell y’all some of the things I learned about the Peru-Chile Trench and deep sea trenches in general during my research for this book. The trenches are pretty interesting places!

• The deepest part of the Peru-Chile Trench is 8065 meters (about 26,460 feet) in a portion of the trench called Richard’s Deep. This bit of the trench plays a significant part in Down. Very interesting things happen there. Interesting, creepy, scary things!
• Until relatively recently, the Peru-Chile Trench was thought to have no fish living in it. Other deep-sea creatures, but no fish. Then in 2010 a multi-national expedition found a new species of snailfish there, living at seven thousand meters. That finding—along with similar findings in other trenches—completely changed how science views life in the trenches.
• We all love to call the deepest ocean the Abyss. Like the movie. (I love that movie, it’s awesome). But technically, the abyssal zone (4000 to 6000 meters) doesn’t include the trenches. When you’re in the trenches, you’re in the hadal (or hadopelagic) zone, 6000 to 11,000 meters deep. The hadal zone is specifically the “trench” zone.
• If you want a mind-boggling illustration of how deep the Mariana Trench (the deepest part of the world’s oceans) is, check this out. Crazy, huh?
• There is a thing called a Goblin Shark and it is a real thing. That doesn’t have anything to do with trenches since Goblin Sharks don’t live there, but I found them doing my research and thought they were super cool.
• The pressure in the deep sea trenches is so great that it doesn’t simply crush everything. It affects life and non-life at a chemical level. Cell membranes lose their integrity. Bones and other organic and organic/inorganic complexes can literally dissolve, which is one reason scientists believed fishes couldn’t live at such extreme depths. Toxic substances (such as urea) can actually become more toxic. The effects on the human body are far worse than the effects of the vacuum of space, because the pressure differential is far greater.

Most of Down is made up—and you’re glad, trust me—but some of it’s either real or built on real-ness. The deepest depths of the seas are wonderful, fascinating places, the last true frontiers on this planet. I just gave you a few little tidbits here. There’s so much else to learn! I actually have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to research for Down, if you want to check it out. Some of it is related in a sideways way rather than directly, but there’s some pretty interesting things to see and read. Thanks for sticking with me everyone! Happy reading!

Title: Down by Ally Blue
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, M/M, Romance, Suspense/Thriller
Length: 375 pages/Word Count: 102,800

Summary:

Seven thousand meters below the ocean’s surface, the crew of the BathyTech 3 mineral mining facility has found something remarkable: a rock-like sphere of unknown material and origin.

For Mo Rees, the discovery calls to his inner explorer and adds color to his dull miner’s life. Even better than the promise of new knowledge is the unexpected connection he forges with Dr. Armin Savage-Hall, leader of the team brought down to study the thing.

For Armin, the object is the find of a lifetime. It could prove his controversial theories and secure his scientific reputation. And Mo is a fascinating bonus.

Then crew members start behaving strangely. Worse, they start to change: their eyes glow purple, their teeth sharpen. Then the violence begins, the brutal deaths. As BathyTech descends deeper into chaos, the surviving crew works desperately to find the cause of the horrors around them. What they uncover could annihilate the human race. And they can’t stop it.

Purchase Link: Riptide Publishing

Author Bio

Ally Blue is acknowledged by the world at large (or at least by her heroes, who tend to suffer a lot) as the Popess of Gay Angst.

She has a great big suggestively-shaped hat and rides in a bullet-proof Plexiglas bubble in Christmas parades. Her harem of manwhores does double duty as bodyguards and inspirational entertainment. Her favorite band is Radiohead, her favorite color is lime green and her favorite way to waste a perfectly good Saturday is to watch all three extended version LOTR movies in a row.
Her ultimate dream is to one day ditch the evil day job and support the family on manlove alone. She is not a hippie or a brain surgeon, no matter what her kids’ friends say.

Author Links: Website * Facebook * Facebook Fan Page * Twitter * Tumblr * Group Blog * Goodreads

Giveaway

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing a $15 Riptide store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on April 25. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Don’t forget to add your email so we can contact you if you win!

Follow the rest of the tour HERE.