Glitch: A Precarious Duo is a fun and thrilling ride from author S. A. Hicklen. It follows a young model who is kidnapped and rescued by someone fleeing from a jewel heist. As her life is turned upside down, Sandra must encounter things she never expected to become part of her life.
Sandra feels trapped in her life, completely out of control. Then, she gets kidnapped. Things don’t really improve.
Sandra Verhoeven is the protagonist, a 15-year-old model who is trying to make it big, even as she faces a lot of doubts about where she is and where she is going. While her mother, Midori, is constantly pushing her towards modeling, Sandra herself is not particularly keen. But then Sandra is kidnapped by a stalker.
Fortunately for her, the young model is able to escape with the help of Ike Dreyer, a Gulf War veteran. Ike is in a situation of his own. He is the last one remaining after a deadly jewel heist.
“From there, the tale follows this unexpected pair as they embark on a perilous journey across America. And all roads lead to Vincent Dupree, a dubious Vegas operator who orchestrated the criminal scheme that brought these two individuals together.
The book is a thrilling ride from start to finish, with a lot of exciting twists and turns, an adventurous plot, and compelling main characters who are sure to keep the reader turning pages late into the night. The book weaves an expert web of conspiracy, darkness, and excitement with a lot of flavor and emotion.
S. A. Hicklen is an author who draws inspiration from the classics, such as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Tennessee Williams, Evelyn Waugh, and Kurt Vonnegut, hoping to follow in their footsteps and pick up the torch. His stories distinguish themselves for the adventure, humor, and romance characteristic of each tale that is sure to engage readers fully.
Glitch: A Precarious Duo is a thrilling story. It offers a plot full of twists that take the reader to unexpected places. The characters are fun to follow and endearing, as they face wild situations and unusual mysteries to solve. The unlikely duo is likely to interest readers, who might want to explore their further adventures and see what else happens to a former teen model and a Gulf War vet traveling across the country.
The book is also the companion to Glitch: The Future is Unwritten, which sees Sandra and Ike continue their adventures and adds a few more thrills for the reader to enjoy. You can learn more about this on Barnes & Noble.
You can find Glitch: A Precarious Duo available on Amazon, where it has become quite popular with readers. Discover this wild ride across the American Southwest and is sure to please and excite fans of adventurous stories full of mystery, crime, romance, and drama. Stay tuned for future releases from S. A. Hicklen, who is certain to create many interesting stories that have all the elements to provide an exciting and fun ride.
We had the pleasure of interviewing S. A. Hicklen. Here are the excerpts from the interview.
Hi, Great to have you with us today! Please share with our readers about yourself.
Hi, I’m a long-time writer but a first-time author. In fact, I’ve been writing since the 20th century.
Please tell us about your book series, Glitch.
As for my novel, it’s not my first rodeo. Indeed, I have written half a dozen books before this one. But Glitch, a two-part story, is the first I decided to publish. The first part is called Glitch: a Precarious Duo. And the second part is called Glitch: The Future is Unwritten.
And the main characters are Sandra Verhoeven and Ike Dreyer. She is a teenage fashion model. And he is a bouncer at a Vegas nightclub and a Gulf War veteran. And through a series of circumstances involving a jewel heist and a kidnapping, Ike and Sandra end up together.
And while these two characters are on a road trip across the American Southwest, the principal focus of the story is the nature of these characters. The circumstances that brought them to this place and time. Or in other words, despite the dark comic elements, it’s a character study of this 15-year-old girl who is a closet drunk with family issues. And this middle-aged man has had a hard life involving injuries, heartbreak, homelessness, and making bad life choices. And yet, the story is also about redemption. If we give a person the stark choice of the Abyss or a better life, they will likely choose the latter.
Please share with our readers about your journey.
As a little pup, I always enjoyed good storytelling but never thought I could do it myself. And yet, despite being exposed to the classics by Conan Doyle, Wells, Dickens, or contemporaries like Norman Mailer, Philip Roth, and Vonnegut, George Lucas finally pushed me over the top.
Once I saw his film THX 1138, followed by the first Star Wars film, I decided that if he could do it, I could do it too. And although I was still in grade school, I was undeterred.
And despite my disadvantaged upbringing, living in the poor ghettos of Los Angeles, I never gave up. And while my family didn’t encourage my writing, they didn’t impede me either.
Indeed, someone a lot smarter than me once said, “If you want to learn how to write, you have to read.” And I abide by that opinion. Thus I read voraciously; whether newspapers or magazines, I read Everything. And over time, I taught myself how to write. No English literature or writing courses at some Junior College for me.
I went to the University of Hard Knocks and graduated with a master’s degree in perseverance. I had a lot of drama in my life and a few scrapes with John Law. And yet, despite that, I never gave up writing.
Indeed, another brilliant fella once said, “Show me a failed writer, and I’ll show you someone who gave up writing.” And I abide by that statement.
And despite writing being a struggle for me, I never once thought of giving up. Instead, I leapfrogged over every obstacle that was thrown in my path. Whether it be financial setbacks, technical issues, family drama, and a few deaths, I kept going.
And after almost 40 years, I finally became a published author.
And I would be the first to say I do have regrets. But usually of a personal nature, not professional.
But as someone a lot smarter than me once said,
“As long as you’re a part of the living world, it’s never too late to fulfill your dreams. It’s only when you’re dead that it’s too late.”
What are the strategies that helped you become successful in your journey?
Anyone who is out there struggling with their writing, just don’t give up.
A long time ago, I met this screenwriter at a baseball game, and we got to talking. And he told me that there were people that had known in the business who had long ago walked away because they just didn’t have it in them to make it a career.
And then he told me that every day he writes something. It doesn’t matter if it’s part of a project or not. And then he told me why. He said that the more you write, the better you get at it. And you’ll become more skillful over time. And I took that advice to heart.
And one more thing. A few short years ago, I met former literary agent Mark Malatesta, now an author coach. And we had a great conversation. And he told me a dirty little secret about the book business. When he was an agent, the agencies he worked for would only consider books from first-time authors if they were between 60 and 80,000 words. And then he told me why. The belief was that if a book was less than 60,000 words, not much was happening; thus, it was dull and won’t sell. But if a book was longer than 80,000 words, then these agents thought that the book was likely meandering and thus would be boring and won’t sell.
Therefore anything between 60 and 80,000 words was considered the sweet spot, or the Goldilocks length. Not too long, not too short, just right.
Any message for our readers?
A long time ago, Anthony Quinn once said,
“Who is the bigger fool? The fool, or the fool who follows him.”
And I abide by that statement.
Thus, always try to be a leader, never a follower. Following someone else’s lead is easy. Being a true Pathfinder is hard. And it doesn’t have to be something on a macroscale, such as the leader of a Nation or a corporate boss. It could be as minute as following your heart and not getting involved in sketchy things.
And avoid getting caught up in fads. Or, as my mom once told me, “Do you want to jump off the cliff just because the cool kids are doing it?”
Or in other words, if you’re involved in something outside your wheelhouse, your gut tells you you shouldn’t be doing this. Then you should listen to your gut.
Fantastic! So tell us, how can people find out more about you?
You can go to my books2read page, where you can find links to where my book is being sold. And stay tuned to this page because if I don’t get hit by a bus, I’ll have more books coming out next year that will appear on this page below.
Thank you so much for giving us your precious time! We wish you all the best for your journey ahead!
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