Biola Olatunde‘s review

Dec 30, 10

recommended for: anyone above 21

status: Read from December 19 to 28, 2010 — I own a copy, read count: 1

Onet’s tale is a chilling warning of what real evil could be. I never was into sci-fi and definitely this one held me by my short hairs. It grabbed from the first page and refused to let go until the very last. I found the interesting twist at the end more frightening. For I felt Onet was the absolute evil itself. I would not deign to classify it as even near human. I found the way women were portrayed a bit of a hard chew, which being female I guess is understandable. I would like to congratulate Jack for this brilliant work and can only say, in obedience to his statement from the beginning, mankind sows seeds in words, actions and in thoughts and the consequences of such sowing lies at their feet. I would sincerely hope the world will be spared the thoughts of the Khaz.

Off On a Tangent

The musings and mewlings of Sarah Weinman, freelance adventurer.

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I have a lot to say that doesn’t always fit in specific niches. This is the place to say them. When I’m not here, I write with some regularity for a whole lot of print and online publications and spend far too much time on Twitter.

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December 27, 2010

The E-Publishing Success Narrative Will Have to Change

With days to a new year and a big Christmas for e-book sales and devices, naturally all sorts of mainstream outlets are piling on looking for what they view as the Holy Grail of the Future of Publishing. And here’s the Los Angeles Times (for whom, I must disclose, I write for regularly as their crime fiction columnist and occasionally on other bookish topics) continuing their “Future of Reading” series with one of everybody’s favorite canards: “book publishers see their role as gatekeepers shrink.” And our old favorites — Konrath! Godin! Covey! – are invoked as leading the way to a new revolution.
That makes for shiny headlines and easy traps. Hey, I’ve fallen into that same trap, sort of. But Jason Pinter is absolutely correct when he said on Twitter Sunday night that “I want an article on epublishing to focus on an author with no platform who made it big self-pubbing. Stop regurgitating the same names.” And I think, and hope, that will be the case. But part of the issue is that media narratives prefer there to be a change from one state to another. It’s far sexier to write about Konrath and Godin leaving their print publishers behind for the world of e, or for the reverse to happen, as with the case of Boyd Morrison, who published various novels on Kindle first, did well with them, and then got picked up by a major publisher. Even if, in all of those instances, the core story subsumes seemingly incidental details that actually prove they are exceptions to rules instead of being (god, I hate this term so, so much) game-changers.
To wit: did Konrath’s relentless marketing efforts on behalf of a book published by Hyperion – not a Big Six publisher, technically, but one backed by Disney/ABC, distributed by the Murdoch-owned HarperCollins and whose books are available, widely and often, in almost all major retail outlets, online and off – aid the discovery process of his ebooks? He’d say no, but I’m on the record as thinking otherwise. (There’s also the issue of his “high six figure deal” to co-write novels for an unnamed brand name novelist, though Konrath hasn’t mentioned that in several months.) Would Boyd Morrison have gotten his deals with Touchstone if he wasn’t already agented, even before he started e-publishing? It’s hard to say, but I’m fairly positive that book deal would have required an agent at some stage or another.
Would Amazon have trumpeted an exclusive Kindle-only deal by newer e-publishing stars like Karen McQuestion and Amanda Hocking in the same way they did for Konrath, David Morrell, and of course, select clients of Andrew Wylie? I doubt it. And for that matter, if a publisher does come calling to bring out future works by McQuestion and Hocking, would they say no because they’re earning plenty of money on their own? I don’t think that answer would automatically be in the negative, especially if the pot was sufficiently sweetened.
Playing the either/or game is dangerous and misses the point of the whole discussion. So let’s repeat some more platitudes: e-books taking 10% of total trade market share is still 90% accounted for by print. E-publishing, at least for now, favors writers who generate or have generated a sizable backlist, ergo favoring genre fiction.
But would a book like Kathryn Stockett’s THE HELP have sold a million-plus copies had it solely been published through e-tailers? Or, looking to non-fiction, Rebecca Skloot’s THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, which took 10 years, several publishers and a couple of agents to bring to publishing life? In 5, 10, 20 years, perhaps the answer would be yes. Right now, and certainly through 2011, it would not. And until the seismic event of a serious brand name – James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Stephen King – disconnecting from a Big Sixer occurs, we’re nowhere near to the switch-flipping the common media narrative would love to see happen, earnestly or cynically.

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The Best Science Fiction Releases of 2010

The Best Science Fiction Releases of 2010

Truth still out there

By NICK POPE, UFO expert

Published: Today

WHEN I worked as an MoD investigator looking into UFOs it was our most mysterious real-life X File. Nothing has changed.

I travelled to Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk yesterday to reopen the investigation into Britain’s most famous UFO sighting – with the men who saw it 30 years ago.

Former US airmen John Burroughs and Jim Penniston are still angry about what they believe was a cover-up of the most compelling evidence yet of extraterrestrial visitors.
In the early hours of Boxing Day, 1980, the pair were on guard when they spotted strange lights in the forest, between US air bases Bentwaters and Woodbridge.

Sighting … sketched impression of UFO at time

Thinking an aircraft might have crashed, they went to investigate. In a small clearing they encountered a triangular-shaped UFO. Jim, who got close enough to touch it, described weird symbols like Egyptian hieroglyphs on the craft’s side.
As they watched, the UFO started to rise before shooting off at an incredible rate. Jim wrote in his notebook: “Speed: Impossible.”
It was to be the first of a series of sightings.

Hotspot … forest is home to a number of UFO encounters

Two nights later Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt, deputy base commander at Bentwaters, was at an awards ceremony when a young officer burst in and told him “It’s back”. He quickly gathered a team and retraced John and Jim’s path to the clearing. There his men used a Geiger counter to take radiation readings. The levels were eight times higher than normal.
As the team continued into the forest, their radios malfunctioned and their powerful searchlights cut out.
Then they saw it. The UFO was back. Lt Col Halt later said: “Here I am, a senior official who routinely denies and debunks this sort of thing, in the middle of something I can’t explain.” He was carrying a hand-held tape player and you can hear the men’s fear: “It’s coming this way… it looks like an eye winking, it almost burns your eyes… he’s coming… ”

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At this point the UFO fired a beam of light just feet from the group before firing more beams across the air bases.
Sceptics have since blamed a burning truck of manure, flashing lights of a police car and even a beam from a lighthouse at nearby Orford Ness.
But witnesses insist the claims are part of a government whitewash. There have been allegations of attempts at brainwashing, hypnosis and even “truth serums”.
For John and Jim, the search for evidence continues – but they vow they will uncover the truth.
Jim said: “Thirty years of misinformation must end.”

Experts to probe famous UFO tale

By Craig Robinson, craig.robinson@eadt.co.uk
Monday, 27 December, 2010
9:00 AM

IT’S known as Britain’s very own Roswell – a story that has left many scratching their head and searching for answers in the night sky.

In December 1980 strange lights were seen by US Air Force personnel posted to the twin bases of RAF Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
To this day they have never been explained – although it has spawned a variety of theories and attracted worldwide interest.
Tomorrow a selection of leading experts will be on hand at Woodbridge Community Hall for a 30th Anniversary Conference.
It starts at 6pm and speakers will include eye-witnesses John Burroughs and Jim Penniston, who will talk for the very first time about what they saw, former Ministry of Defence employee Nick Pope and Emmy award winning documentary maker Linda Moulton-Howe.
Also on the bill is US based investigative writer Peter Robbins, whose book, Left at East Gate, which he co-wrote with eye witness Larry Warren, is a best seller.
Mr Robbins, 64, who has been staying with friends in Knodishall, near Leiston, spent almost a decade researching the incident, pouring over military reports and collating eye witness accounts.
He said: “I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. Initially Larry had given me a challenge – prove me wrong. “My starting agenda was the truth and wherever it took me. I didn’t care if it embarrassed me or him. It became an obsession.”
He said he is convinced the sightings were something out of this world and not a number of other theories such as lights from a police car, a meteor shower, a piece from an American space capsule or a physiological operation to test how military personnel would respond when 
confronted with something unexplained.
“It does seem to be something genuinely unusual,” he said. “When you hear audio from that night the fear in those men’s voices, that can’t be replicated by even the most gifted actor.
“I followed strict reasoning and research and in my opinion is was intelligence from parts unknown.
“But to claim to know why they were here is the height of intellectual arrogance. How can one truly know?”
Mr Robbins said he was looking forward to speaking at the conference, which is raising money for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice’s Treehouse Appeal.
“It is very exciting,” he said. “We are all very proud we have been asked to attend and to help raise money for this worthy cause.”
To mark the 30th anniversary 
the East Anglian Daily Times has teamed up with BBC Radio Suffolk to try to explain the incident in an
investigation called Rendlesham Revealed.

Ready for Contact | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine

Ready for Contact | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine

Guardian of the Sky Realms by Gerry Huntman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had the privilege of reading an advanced copy of Gerry Huntman’s YA novel “Guardian of the Sky Realms” earlier this month. Gerry is not only my good friend but also my editor at IFWG Publishing. Despite the fact that fantasy is not normally my preferred reading, with the exception of J.R.R Tolkien’s timeless tales, I loved reading this wonderfully crafted tale. Well done my friend and congratulations. Sky Realms has been a long time coming… 

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A Simples Life: The Life and Times of Aleksandr Orlov by Aleksandr Orlov

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you love the Aleksander Orlov Meerkat commercials (Compare the Meerkat.com), you’ll love this book written by Aleksander himself – simples 🙂

I’ve just finished reading this delightful book. I absolutely loved the adverts featuring Aleksandr and his sidekick. This book puts down in print their adventures. This is a refreshingly gentle escapist story. Even if you have never seen the adverts, like me, I’m sure Aleksandr will steal your heart. 🙂

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Back to my latest novel

Now that I have at last managed to update the software for my IP connection, I can now get back to writing the first draft of my new Science Fiction mystery ”The Seventh Age”. I’m approximately half way at 50,000 words and my hero and his friends are about to cross Turkey by night and by goat trail to avoid attention heading for an archaeological site at Gobelki Tepe in southern Turkey. Wish me luck – and them, they’re going to need it.

My Daily Internet Fix

Since approximately 10am last Friday, I suddenly lost my usual internet connection. The only thing I was able to do up until yesterday was to send the odd email. Due to the version of IP software I was using at the time, I lost all connection to the super-fast 3G network from my provider.

Each day I tried unsuccessfully to log on to try and download the latest software version, but because of its slow speed, time after time I lost the connection.

In my desperation I tried contacting my IP through the retail outlet where I purchased my package and was told that there was little they could do. They gave me the phone number of the “Technical Support” section of my provider, suggesting that there was possibly something wrong with my connection – Duh!

Of course there was something wrong, they hadn’t bothered to tell me that the package I was using had reached its sell by date and that I needed to download the latest software package!

Internet providers are more than happy to take your money. But when it comes to customer relations, they are sadly lacking.

I have now saved the specific page for software downloads to my list of “Favourites” on my computer. If they can’t be bothered to tell me when the latest version of the software is available, at least now I can check for myself from time to time…