Welcome to “Let’s Get Lit!” on PureFandom.com, where we will chat with an author about their work and their favorite fandoms! This week’s edition will feature the crazy cool, Deek Rhew! 
Deek’s new book 122 RULES is climbing the kindle charts! Read on to find out more about his new series, his thoughts on Spock and his writing rituals!
Meg Bonney: Your novel 122 Rules was just released! What can you tell us about it?
Deek Rhew: Woop! That’s totally exciting! We were doing the math the other day, and I have been working on 122 for six years. SIX! That’s completely crazy. Hopefully the next installment will go a little faster.
122 Rules is about a federal assassin who grows a conscience mid-assignment. His latest target is a SoCal girl that appears innocent, and he doesn’t understand why she was made a target. The deeper he digs into her case, the more he suspects corruption in the agency where he works. He also discovers that he’s not the only one hired to eliminate her. This leaves him with the dilemma of following orders or breaking ranks and saving her life. Car chases, unlikely heroes, really awesome bad guys, explosions, gun fights, and humor. If that’s your bag, I think you’ll enjoy 122.
MB: Where can we find it?
DR: It is available on Amazon! Go to the 122 Rules web page and get all the links and all the deets.
MB: Tell me about Rhewination! What is that all about?
DR: Oh, man. Rhewination is all about fun! My beautiful, brilliant bride, Erin Rhew, and I were trying to come up with a way to give back to our fans. We’d been playing around with our last name–which is pronounced “rue,” as in you will Rhew the day you met us—and we thought how fun it would be to start our own country.
“FYI, Erin and I do NOT dream small.” – Deek Rhew
As ideas percolated, we realized that if we were going to have a nation of our own, we needed a leader. Who’s got an ego that rivals Donald Trump’s only with way better hair? Cats. And what better cat than our own fat tabby, Trinna?
Now Trinna has created two videos. Her welcome speech starts off with crowds gathering and a huge, lit-up stage. She informs her Rhewvian people of their cog purpose in the giant machine. In the second video, posted just last night, she’s discovered a threat to the Rhewination. Trinna, being the warrior cat that she is, hunts it down and eliminates it, thus making life safe for her people once again.
To join the Rhewination, go to www.Rhewination.com. Trinna will review your application and, if deemed worthy, you will be allowed in. Rhewvians get insider’s scoop on Deek and Erin, have access to Trinna’s special messages, and can participate in Rhewvian-only contests.
MB: Cool! We geek out pretty hard here at PureFandom. What fandom do you love the most and just can’t live without? (A book, movie or TV show)
DR: Oh, wow. Now that’s tough! I’m a major geek and have spent vast quantities of time watching both Star Trek and Star Wars. If you pulled the rug out from under me and suddenly either of these franchises no longer existed, I think my entire universe would collapse. I used to watch reruns of the original Star Trek series at 5 PM, channel 12, every week day with my dad. The show was campy and the storylines ranged between really great and utterly ridiculous, but it was something my pop and I shared. He and I even went to a live showing of one of the episodes! A local theatre company would pick one of the original episodes and act it out live. It was called “Trek in the Park” because their stage was in a park. The audience, comprised of nerds such as myself, all but recited the lines with the cast. It was pretty amazing.
Erin and I have watched the new movies I don’t even know how many times. She’s probably a bigger geek than me if you can imagine. She and I have evaluated the new timelines, old Spock vs new Spock, motivations, music, best scenes, on and on. I’ve also watched the Star Wars movies about a million times. Seeing the new trailers for the new movies and hearing that music brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart. Without Kirk, Spock, Bones, Luke, Darth, and OB1 my world would be its own kind of dystopia.
MB: Agreed! The main characters in the book is Sam Bradford. If you could dream cast anyone to play him in a movie version of your book, who would it be?
DR: Sam – Erin and I recently watched Under the Dome, the TV version of the Stephen King novel by the same name. I think that the male lead, Mike Vogel, who played Dale “Barbie” Barbara would be the perfect Sam.
MB: What about Monica, the woman who turns his life upside down?
DR: Monica – There isn’t anyone more perfect for her than Anna Paquin. Erin will tell you that I picked her because she’s my TV crush, but really she has the right brooding mix with kick-ass tendencies.
Since we are creating the cast for the big budget, major motion picture, I’m going to give you more than you asked for! Here’s Angel and Erebus too.
Angel – I love Angel. She’s spunky, dark, resourceful, and willing to do anything–even die–for her friend. What better person to play her on the silver screen than Emma Watson!
And Erebus – There is nothing better than a good bad guy, and there’s no one else I could see playing Erebus better than Walton Goggins. This actor has it all, charisma, mood, and a dark and brooding lunacy that makes him the perfect villain.
MB: I love it! If Sam Bradford were on Game of Thrones, which family/house would he be in?
DR: I’d have to say that Sam would be part of House Stark. He’s trying to do the right thing, but is constantly getting his butt kicked. He’s deep feeling though buries his feelings because the world he lives in is cold and bleak.
MB: What house would YOU be in?
DR: Oh man, I’d have to be in House Lannister! There’s ALWAYS something going on. Evil doers dwell in the da house, and no one is what they seem. They look like they are in control, they act like everything’s cool and calm, but I think they are white knuckling it most of the time trying to keep from getting overthrown. Let’s face it, Joffrey was an incredible bad guy. His grandfather was awful. The queen is a terror and Jamie is, well Jamie, born to be bad but with streaks of good. Their chair is the frigging iron throne, how sweet is that? There’s simply nothing uninteresting—except for king Tommen—going on in House Lannister!
MB: Speaking of GoT, who is your favorite character?
DR: It goes back and forth between between Jon (you know nothing, Jon Snow) and Tyrion. For a while I REALLY liked Daenerys (she ate a danged horse’s heart!), but her story line has gone flat. Though you’ve got to admit riding around on a dragon is pretty bad arse. Jon is my brotha from a different motha. You’ve absolutely got to cheer for him. Tyrion is snarky and smart. He’s managed to talk his way out of situations that almost no one would survive. I really want Jon to be king, and for him and Tyrion and Daenerys to go riding off into the sunset on her dragons together.
MB: We are always on the hunt for a good book. What are you loving right now?
DR: I’m reading Jess Calla’s She Laughs in Pink and The Passage by Justin Cronin. I was totally lucky to get a score an ARC of Jess’ book and am absolutely loving it.
MB: Captain America: Civil War puts Iron Man against Captain America. Tony Stark thinks super heroes should have to register with the government and Captain America thinks that it should up to the person to decide. What side would Sam Bradford be on?
DR: Sam is an absolute by the rules kind of guy. If his government told him that superheroes had to register, he’d be first in line to make sure that happened. This is part of the problem that he has in 122. He’s suspects that the government has been infiltrated, and he’s not actually working for his country but rather some third party. Since he doesn’t have proof, he’s stuck with the choice of going with his gut or following the rules.
MB: What side are you on?
DR: It should absolutely be up to the person. I quake at the thought of our government running anything more complicated than a lemonade stand, I can’t imagine them in control of the most powerful people on Earth.
MB: Well said! Time to play KISS, MARRY, KILL (PureFandom Edition) Who would you kiss, who would you marry and who would you kill out of Rey (Star Wars), Storm (X-Men) and Lagertha (Vikings)?
DR: Rey (Star Wars) – I’d kiss Rey…like a daughter. Yes, yes I’m showing my age, but she’s really young. But what parent wouldn’t be proud of someone so brave and spunky who flies around in the Millennium Falcon.
Storm (X-Men) – Sorry, Storm, but you have serious temper tantrum issues and your tendency to destroy like a constipated Megatron leads me to have to kill you. It hurts because you’re an awesome bad girl, but buh-bye.
Lagertha (Vikings) – MARRY!!! Lagertha is awesome! She’s a super strong woman with amazing leadership abilities.
MB: Aw, Storm! Tell me about your writing ritual.
DR: I like to listen to music when I’m writing the raw content of a story, though I need it quiet when I’m editing. What I listen to depends on what I’m writing. Usually I’ll put on something hard with a driving beat. Nickelback, AD/DC, Apocalyptica, Metallica to name a few, though I have very eclectic taste in music and will listen to most anything. Now that the first big push for the marketing for 122 and Birth is done, we’ll go back to something called “writing.” LOL! When Erin and I are not adventuring, we spend the weekends and a lot of the evenings at home writing and editing. Usually my best writing times are the early mornings when I’m fresh, have my coffee, and have Fat Cat Trinna helping me. When I’m struggling with a scene or a development in the story, Erin is the absolute best person in the world to talk to. She is willing to work through ad nauseum story points and characters. I’m beyond lucky to have such an amazing partner in life and in writing.
MB: OMG, you two are adorable! What are you working on now?
DR: Right now, nothing! LOL! Well, it kinda feels like that. I finished my edits for 122 in October then immediately began working on edits for Birth. Erin and I pushed that out in January, and we just wrapped up the non-stop marketing we’ve been doing since December. Now that 122 is out and the first marketing push is done, I got to edit Erin’s new historical fiction, Restore to Me. I absolutely love this new book, and I think it’ll make a huge splash. This book is now in the very capable hands of Anya Kagan, the same person who edited both 122 and Birth.
122 Rules – Redemption the next book in the 122 Series, is 2/3 the way done, and I know how it ends but haven’t gotten to work on it in months. I’m a little sad about that. I want to draw this to a conclusion, and I really really miss writing. But it’s the life of a working-full-time-to-pay-the-bills-unheard-of-author and all.
MB: I hear that. So, Monica isn’t just your average victim. She takes charge of the situation and fights back. What else can you tell us about her?
DR: Nobody would fault Monica for curling up into the fetal position and whine about her life. But she doesn’t. She takes the crap that’s thrown at her, chews it up, and spits it back into life’s face. It’s an amazing testament to the strength of the human spirit. But over the course of growing up, I think that she learned to sustain herself on pain and hardship. Without it, I think she’d be lost.
After her father dies her mother falls apart, drinking and sleeping around—which leads to the dream scene from Monica’s childhood—most kids, most adults, in that situation would be terrified into inaction. Monica’s scared, but refuses to go down without a fight and ultimately becomes the victor. But there was a price for that win. She already had built up this protective wall around herself and I think that it really solidified in that moment. This wall shields her but it also keeps her isolated.
The only person that ever seems to slip past this shell is her friend Angel. We get clues throughout the book that Angel is kind of a deadbeat, yet when she’s with Monica, Angel transforms into this strong take-no-crap person. When Monica has her crisis and is simply at a loss for what to do, she calls her friend and together they come up with a plan.
I don’t think that the FBI, Sam, Laven, or Erebus count on is the fearlessness these two women. Several times they have to band together to defeat someone intent on taking them down. Erebus in the park and then again in the restaurant, Jon from the FBI, even the simpleton from the hardware store, the two of them work together to defeat their enemies. Together they are unstoppable and their foes would do well to step aside.
MB: I love that! We need more characters like them! Thank you so much for chatting!
DR: Thank YOU, Meg! This has been a total blast!
Want more Deek? Of course you do!
You can keep up with him here: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Google+ | Blog
And don’t forget to get your copy of 122 RULES right here: Amazon
Need more Let’s Get Lit! in your life? Check out my interview with Brenda Drake, author of THIEF OF LIES. And don’t forget to hit me up on twitter if you’d like to be featured on Let’s Get Lit! Thanks for reading!
