The "Voyage to Xanadu" Page

New Work

2008-05-14T13:10:00.002-04:00

I've been recently inspired to re-do a lot of Book One. A lot of stuff I'll keep, a lot of stuff I'll just ditch outright, and a lot of stuff I'll add...especially back-story (which Book One was lacking).

Here's a sample of what I've recently done:

It seemed like it had only been yesterday that he drove up this winding dirt road with his father. But that had been many years ago. He looked up the slope of the hill, through the trees, to the log building in the distance. A chill crept down his spine. Could this be the first real sign of progress? Would he get lucky today?

He drove up to the diminutive parking lot and stopped his car. As he got out, he looked around. There was a booth nearby that wasn't there when he visited in the 80's. The sign posted on it indicated that he was to pay his entry fee there. He walked up to the booth and looked through the open window. An older lady sat inside. She looked up.

"Welcome to Orgonon. Are you here to just visit, or did you want the tour?"

"Um…just visit for now," Henry replied. "I might get the tour later."

"All right. Have you ever been here before?"

"Ages ago. I was just a kid."

"Oh," she said with a smile. "Well, then, welcome back." She grabbed a brochure off of a stack and handed it to Henry. "There's a list of tour times in there…" She pointed to a schedule in the upper right corner. "and a map of the premises. You can pretty much go wherever you want, but don't disturb Patrick."

"Huh?" Henry looked at the lady with some confusion.

"He used to work with William Washington, ages ago. Mr. Washington passed on some time ago, but old Pat, for some reason, won't quit. He's easily over a hundred, and he's been here all summer, for the most part. He just sits over there…" She gestured towards a path. "…And does nothing. I swear, I don't know why. Walks up the road in the morning…walks down the road at night. Strangest damn thing. Never talks to anyone, either. Don't think he has, really, for twenty years."

"Twenty years? He's been doing this for twenty years?"

"Nah, darlin'. He's only been making this daily trek this summer. Started doing it around the end of May, not too long after we opened up for the season."

Henry had the oddest sensation at the back of his mind. "Maybe he's waiting for someone."

The woman shrugged. "Maybe. Don't know who. His family's either dead or moved away. None of his old colleagues are still alive."

"And he talks to nobody?"

"Nope. People have tried. He just sits on the bench, looking out over the mountains. You're welcome to try, but don't expect much of a response."

Henry nodded to the older lady, paid the fee and thanked her. He then walked straightaway to the path.

The footpath was just wide enough for a person to walk down, and still be brushed upon by the fir fronds. The air was cool and quiet. It was already mid-afternoon. The trip from Orton to Rangeley took longer than he had remembered. It had been about twenty years, so time must have skewed his recollection.

After walking through the thicket for a few minutes, it opened up to a small clearing. The clearing overlooked the mountains to the west. In the clearing was a huge old device that Henry remembered from his childhood. It supposedly controlled the weather once. Henry could see why the government would want to suppress that kind of technology. They probably figured real havoc could be wreaked with that kind of device. Supposedly, it once worked, but the government forced the institute to dismantle part of it and fill it with grout.

Next to the weather device was a bench, and on the bench sat a very old man. He sat, hunched over, and stared blankly into the distance. He wore brown pants and a tan shirt, as wrinkled as his skin. A few wisps of white hair floated in the breeze. His glasses were thick-rimmed and black. The man never so much as acknowledged Henry's arrival.

Henry stood there, fixated on the elderly man, for a good half-minute. Then, to not appear rude, Henry walked up and introduced himself. "Hello, sir…my name is Henry Gusman."

The old man didn't even so much as give Henry a glance.

"Uhm…" Henry dug a toe in the dirt and looked around. "…Beautiful afternoon, eh?"

Nothing.

Henry cleared his throat. This was getting uncomfortable. "I hear you come here often? I used to visit here…many years ago."

The man said nothing. The man didn't even twitch in acknowledgment. For all Henry knew, this could be a very life-like statue. Only the shallow breathing gave away that the man was even alive.

"Uh…I'm really sorry to have bothered you. I'm not sure why I did. Please excuse me." Feeling disappointed, he turned to head back down the path. Perhaps there would be more clues within the institute? But if all the knowledge of the technology he was seeking was long ago confiscated, he wouldn't find too much within the building.

"Wait…" A voice croaked from behind him. Henry stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned around. The old man was now looking intently at Henry.

"Sir?"

"Call me Pat," he replied. His voice was barely more than a hoarse whisper.

"Nice to meet you, Pat," Henry said as he walked back up to the old man.

"Likewise." Pat grunted. "I suspect the lady in the booth told you quite a yarn about me."

"A bit. Said you've been visiting the institute all summer."

"Yup. Felt compelled. Guess it's coz I'm on my way out. Gonna be pushin' up daisies soon." Pat grunted again. "One hundred four years old, this past July."

"Wow. Congratulations. May I?" Henry gestured at an empty spot on the bench.

"Sure."

Henry took a seat next to Pat.

"Sorry if I was so aloof…never really felt the need to talk much, I guess."

"It's all right," Henry responded.

"Every day I've come up here, unless the weather was really bad. Bring my lunch. Sat and ate and looked out over the valley. It's quite beautiful here. Nothing like New Jersey…"

Henry nodded. "Born and raised in Maine. I've only left the state for work or for the military."

Pat shifted his posture, and for a moment, Henry thought he saw a look of disgust on his face. "Sorry, don't mind me. Not much of one for government types. If you've been here before, I'm sure you know why."

"I do. And I find it unfair what the government did to Mr. Reich and his work."

"Mmm." Pat grunted again. The two sat in silence for a while. The silence was on the verge of becoming uncomfortable when Pat said, "I guess you're as good a guy as any. And I am on my way out as it is…" He turned slowly to the brown bag next to him. Henry figured he was going to share his lunch with him, until Pat pulled out a neatly folded bundle of papers. With a shaking arm, he handed them to Henry.

Henry swallowed and took the papers from him. He opened them up.

"There's some newer stuff in there…after everything happened," Pat explained.

I guess, Henry thought to himself. The diagrams and text were remarkably familiar. One part caught his eye almost immediately: small version of the AG synchrotron generator will reverse polarity of normal helium electrons. The one to one ratio of normal helium electrons to the antimatter form of helium electrons (positrons) will cause a high-powered explosion resulting in vast amounts of energy…

Henry swallowed again. Hard. He looked at the old man, who was staring right back at him. "I hope you can use it," Pat said with a little more timbre in his voice. Pat then sighed and turned back to the view of the mountains.

"Th..th..ank you," Henry managed to stammer out.

Pat shrugged, and sighed again.

The two sat in silence for a little while, then Henry asked, "Do you mind if I stay here for a little while longer?"

Pat shrugged again. "It's good to have the company," he croaked.

They sat and watched the sun sink ever lower in the sky in silence for what seemed like hours. Henry's mind was reeling. After three months of fret and worry, he finally had the technology in his hands. He thought about the papers in his hands briefly, and noticed he was clutching the papers very tightly. Henry glanced at his watch, and saw that it was getting close to six in the evening.

"Well, Pat…I should get going. Thank you again. You have no idea what this means to me."

Pat remained silent. Henry looked at the old man, figuring he must have gone back into his silent vigil, but then noticed his eyes were closed. Feeling a bit of a creep going up his spine, he then noticed that the man wasn't even breathing. Henry quickly checked Pat for a pulse, and slowly withdrew when he felt none.

I guess he was waiting for me, Henry thought, as his body suddenly became covered in goose bumps. "I don't know if you can really hear me or not," Henry said lowly, "but I really am thankful for this. Bless you, sir."

With that, Henry turned to head down the path and tell the booth attendant that Pat needed attention.

Download the Book

2006-07-04T17:01:00.001-04:00

Voyage to Xanadu: The whole shebang

A while back I set it up so that people can just download all of Book 1 instead of waiting for me to post the next installment. So, this is here just as a reminder. Book 2 is also available for download.

Pay no attention to the above lines. Links go nowhere, for the following reasons:

1. The files no longer exist on Savefile.com
2. I'm rewriting everything anyway

So...just sit tight and I'll get new material out soon enough (probably in another 14 years at this rate, LOL).

New listing

2006-02-04T14:48:00.000-05:00

I just added my site to scifimatter.com. As a courtesy, I'm linking back to them. They seem to be a very comprehensive site on various sci-fi and fantasy topics (books, publishers, fan fiction, etc), so it's worth a look.

FAQ

2006-01-22T17:37:00.000-05:00

I realized I never put up a FAQ for this page. So here it is. It may not be complete, but I'll endeavor to put your questions on this list if they become ... well, frequently asked.

What is the purpose of this page?

This page's purpose is to publicize my relatively recently published book. I also throw in news relating to my book.

What is your book about?

It is a science fiction novel of 313 pages, paperback. It is the first part of a series--or, at least, intended to be the first part of a series. The story is about a man named Henry who has always had an inexplicable desire to go into space. He is eventually given the technology to build a space vessel that can travel faster than light. He gathers together some friends (and their families) to make this journey; but, due to an accident during an experiment, attracts the attention of the government. He and his people now have to avoid capture and make it off of Earth.

Just how far-fetched are the concepts in your book?

The actual interstellar drive is loosely based off of a theory of Alcubierre. It is very similar to the famous "warp drive" from Star Trek (tm). When I came upon some papers done on Alcubierre, I scrapped a previous idea for an interstellar drive in favor of this one, as it was the easiest to explain.

The GEOCOM might actually be more far-fetched than the interstellar drive. There are theories for faster-than-light (FTL) travel. I don't personally know of any way to make a hologram in thin air, without the aid of some other medium. However, its abilities to scan for life and necessary elements to support life are not so far-fetched. Many of these abilites are used by NASA right now; for example, the ability to detect methane on Mars, which made NASA physicists suspect microbial life might still exist on Mars.

Outside of that, everything else is made out of either existing or legacy technology.

UPDATE: About the GEOCOM being far-fetched? Apparently, I was wrong.

Do you really expect to make any money off of this book?

Yes.

Oh, really?

Yes, really. I don't expect to make a fortune. I personally won't be heartbroken if I don't make loads of money from my book. My biggest desire is to have as many people share this vision as possible. Hence, why I also created this web page.

But seriously. This book apparently costs $25, and I don't know you. Why should I buy it?

Well, that is up to you. There are excerpts on this blog; and there is also the work-in-progress found here. I am slowly but surely putting the entire book here so you can read it and decide for yourself. I've had a lot of people read my personal copy and they all loved it, for what that's worth.

How many books do you plan on having in this "series?"

This, believe it or not, is going to be a somewhat complicated answer. There is one book, complete and available for purchase (of course). There are also three other books in the series, plus another book that breaks from the main timeline, that I am done writing and are in different stages of touching-up. A fifth book in the series is about 10% completed. And, there are approximately two prequels (maybe only one...maybe as many as three...) planned that have nothing to do with Henry ...well, initially.

The "parallel" book, tentatively named Altair, breaks from the main Voyage timeline near the end of the first book, and rejoins the timeline in the third book. The prequels start around 1890 or so (yes, 1890) and join the timeline in book two.

Like I said, "complicated" answer.

What is the inspiration behind this book?

I give some detail behind the inspiration here, near the bottom of the page. I will quote it here for you:

The "dream" in the Prologue is based loosely on a dream I actually had when I was about four years old. I personally don't remember much of the dream, but my father does. It does involve a glowing being, outside our old house in Hancock, ME; and it involves the world being engulfed in flames. Please note that I was not brought up in a religious household, nor had ever been to church or Sunday school at this point. However, all of this information is second-hand through my father. I did, however, have two dreams that I can remember that involved said "glowing being": it was twilight and I was by a stream when the being came through the woods. However, all I remember was the being telling me to not be afraid. That's it. Finis. No flying off into space, no flaming Earth, nothing. So make of it what you will.

Are you crazy??

No.

Yes, you are.

No, I'm not.

Yes! You are!

No! I'm not!

Are, too!

Not!

Are!

You shut up.

No, you shut up!

No, YOU shut up!!

...

But seriously. I'm as sane as the next guy.

Not.

Shut UP!!!

Dude! Sweet! (Voyage to Xanadu - Solar Flare: Science Fiction News)

2006-01-22T13:52:00.000-05:00

Voyage to Xanadu - Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Solar Flare, in direct response to approving and posting my ad, did a quick little blurb on this site and my book. Way cool! Check out the link; and check out the rest of the site. Happy, happy!

This is some strange kind of advertisin'...

2006-01-19T13:04:00.000-05:00

Some people may be asking, "well, you put up an ad for your book...why didn't this lead to where you sell your book?" I feel that you should be given the opportunity to see some history, and maybe read some excerpts, before you go and buy the book. If you want to buy it RIGHT NOW, there's a link on the right side of the screen.

===>

I definitely encourage it. However, you can also read this page and see some of my own "press releases" (as it were) about the book, or follow the *other* link on the left to a free version of my book (still a work in progress).

So I hope that answers at least some of your questions.

Selling out

2006-01-17T11:06:00.000-05:00

AdBrite - The Internet's Ad Marketplace

Waiter Rant started using AdBrite so he could make a few extra bucks on the side for all his blogging work. It got me to thinking.

I took out some ad space using AdBrite, purchasing it on Waiter Rant (just because I love his writing so much). With that being said, and if you've found this place by clicking through the ad there (if he accepted the ad, I don't know as of the time I'm writing this), there are four things you can choose to do now that you're here.

As you read through this blog, you'll realize this is my feeble attempt at publicizing my recently "published" novel (the "quotes" are there for a reason...read some articles below). Therefore you can:

1. Purchase a copy of my book. I've linked to Barnes and Noble, as they have a discount club card that can save you 10% from the cover price. Since PublishAmerica (which has received a large amount of bad press, most of it--as I've discovered--unwarranted) in their infinite wisdom charges $25 for the book, and I (as a couple other respondents) don't see the logic in a person paying that much for an unknown author's first work, I figured $2.50 off would make the buy more enticing. PLEASE NOTE that, as I've said (read the articles below for more), PA has received a lot of bad press, you may decide you don't want to give your money to PA by buying my book. That's fine. You can do the next suggestion:

2. Get it for free. I'll admit, I've been slacking on putting my book on this separate blog; but it will get done in time. Maybe. In addition to this suggestion, you can also do the next suggestion:

3. Donate some cash. On the "freexanadu" blog (link above), there's a "PayPal Donate" button. Send me some dough$$! If you give me your email with the donation, I'll send you a complete copy of my book (non-published, in Microsoft Word format). I don't know how much of a demand I'll get via email, so if you don't get anything after a while, just know I'm working on it. Or, you can just contact me and get it cheap as free, but I'd prefer a little $$ for all my hard work. *wink*

4. Move on. Maybe sci-fi doesn't interest you. Maybe you HAVE heard of me before and know what a big jerk I am. I don't know. But you can always not read my work. That's fine with me. ... NO IT'S NOT! WAAAH! Ahem. Anyway.

Those are your four options. I also linked to AdBrite, just because.

Happy reading!

Politically colored blog entries

2006-01-13T19:46:00.000-05:00

Ok, the past 3 or 4 blog entries on this page have been moved to Why Is The Sky Chartreuse. I have no idea why I kept on doing this. I need to pay more attention to the quick edit/Blog This! feature of Blogger. So if you're looking for my rants on various political topics, go here.

I found that "infamous" Washington Post article...

2006-01-11T11:08:00.000-05:00

Making Books (washingtonpost.com)

Here it is: the WP article that examines PublishAmerica. Here's an interesting quote: "What happens if the author wants out of the contract? Some authors have been asked to sign a confidential release, agreeing to say only that the relationship 'dissolved amicably' and not to disparage PublishAmerica."

Not all about PA is a nightmare, apparently. There are several satisfied authors. It really DOES seem to me that the largest group of dissenters are authors who never bothered to read ANY of the contract.

And, from that, PublishAmerica got some bad press. I'm sure there are things PA did in the past that were unethical. Or maybe not. But I can see that at the very least, the largest reason for their bad reputation is from people who deluded themselves in thinking that PA is something that it isn't.

And, because of people like me who DO know what PA is, I have less of a chance to sell my book, on my own volition. All because of a bunch of lazy fucks who felt like blaming someone else instead of taking RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS. Rrrgh.

So I no longer fully blame PA for my predicament. Part of the blame goes to these dissenters.

But wait! There's more!

Mainstream publishers approach editing more broadly and take a more deliberate pace. And while PublishAmerica editors communicate with authors by e-mail -- some authors say they never even learned their editors' last names -- traditional editors not only pick up the phone, but frequently meet their authors in the flesh and have even been known to take them to lunch.

Emphasis was added. I know *my* editor's last name. Why didn't these other guys know? My book was published (or in the process of publishing) around the time of this article. So, what's going on here? Is it in fact that PA's editors aren't all doing their job in the same manner? I wonder if that is the case.

As for distribution, books are one of the few commodities retailers can return if they don't sell -- except for print-on-demand books, which aren't returnable and therefore don't get stocked by national chains.

This is true. PA books were non-returnable. As of a couple months ago, they are now. Hmmmm............

And here's a quote I LOVE:

"Sour grapes," says humorist H.B. Marcus of his fellow authors' complaints. "Their books didn't go anywhere . . . and they can't face it. It's easier to say, 'PublishAmerica ripped me off.' "

Couldn't have said it better myself. Also, this quote: "The Better Business Bureau is "conducting further research" on the 25 complaints it's received..." 25? Out of how many authors that PA has done business with? We're looking at a fraction of a percent.

Long story short, these "easier to say" people are the number one reason for PA's bad rep. I admit, it's very unlikely--even if PA had a spectacular reputation--that I'd ever make the bestseller's list (or even close to it). But that's okay. It's too bad, though, that my book will have LESS circulation because of bad press from confused people. Too bad.

NOTE: I found the following text right from PA's website: "FACT #5: PublishAmerica is NOT in any way a POD, vanity press, or subsidy publisher, and has nothing in common with them. Obviously, our authors are also not being self-published. In the most commonly used context, POD indicates "Publish On Demand", or vanity publishing. Vanity publishers charge for their "services". Some charge a few hundred dollars, others a thousand or more. We are not in that league, in any way, shape or fashion." This, as everyone knows, is untrue. They ARE POD. The only difference is that they don't charge to print your book, which is TRUE. Because they don't charge does not ensure that they are not POD.

Additionally: "FACT #10: As for the production time of our books, we put the author in full control. If an author wants us to release his or her book fast, we can do that. Authors who feel that their manuscript is already edited to perfection may opt to have no additional editing done, provided that we agree. Depending on how fast they submit all necessary information and materials, they may see their book go to the printer within as little as 6 weeks. If time is of no primary concern, or if we decide that additional editing is required, we assign an editor who goes through the text line by line. We don't touch style issues, we don't edit the author's voice, tone, or delivery. We edit for spelling, mechanics, grammar, and typos. In all situations, before it goes to print we send a book back to the author at least twice, to ensure that it looks exactly as the author wants it to look." People who had their books done in as little as 6 weeks will OF COURSE have an assload of errors in their manuscript.

I took ONE YEAR to get it printed. Therefore, it was done right. I found NO errors (other than my own, which were stylistic in nature) in the final manuscript. In fact, PA FOUND several grammatical and punctuation errors and fixed them. So I find it unfair that dissenters say that their editors don't pay attention to their manuscripts. They pay as much attention as the author allows.

Another spot to find my book: Forbes

2006-01-11T10:50:00.000-05:00

About the Forbes.com Book Club

Yup. My book is on a bookselling website owned by Forbes.com. You know...those dudes who write about money all the time? Well, anyway, I took a look at the "about" page for the Forbes.com Book Club. This is what it says:

The Forbes.com Book Club was designed to provide you with an easy way to order the best business and general interest books available.

The best?? Hmm. Well, my book has absolutely nothing at all to do with business; and it most certaintly isn't a "general interest" book, as far as I know. Strange to find it here, though. My book seems to be popping up in a lot of places now.

An unexpected jump in sales

2006-01-11T10:21:00.000-05:00

Amazon.com: Voyage to Xanadu : Book One: Books: Andrew Magnus

Just this weekend, the sales ranking for my book was around #1,700,000. Yesterday, its sales ranking was #332,309.

Someone bought a few of my books. I don't know who it would be, as everyone I personally know who wanted a copy had bought one before Christmas. Interesting.

PS: The highest rating my book ever received was #212,007. The worst was near #2,000,000. Something's going on here. I also looked over at Barnes and Noble... you know... the company that won't stock PublishAmerica books because they think the publisher is a bunch of crooks? Well, apparently people have been buying there as well; and have bought such titles as Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, to name a few.

VERY interesting.

PS2: You can save $2.50 if you buy from Barnes & Noble with your membership card. So you'd be paying $22.45 instead of almost $25. Not TOO bad.

OCD in overdrive

2005-10-06T13:13:00.000-04:00

Yes. I'm still obsessing over that Google Groups/USENET post by fluffybrain--er, I mean, fluffydog. I essentially whined about how people can't offer constructive criticism or advice. Well, here's an example of someone who DID:

Excuse me, but $24.95 for a 316 paged paperback from an unknown author is about $19 more than I would possibly willing to pay. That and it's a PublishAmerica book, and from my research into that company, I couldn't purchase that book and still feel morally sound.

Good luck selling your book. I certainly hope you have many friends willing to part with $25 for your average length paperback.

Seems pretty harsh on a first read, right? Especially when he talks about "average length." Man, was my ego bruised. Oh, wait. He was talking about the paperback.

Ahem.

Anyway. Read into it a little further. It was because of this post that I went and did more research on PA (which I should've done from day one--duh!) and found all that juicy information. "Juicy," as in what came up the last time I had intestinal flu, but juicy nonetheless. Then there are additional posts referring to links on PA. Hell, there is even a new thread (still referring to Voyage) discussing self-publishing alternatives.

Constructive? Hell, yes. While fluffydog had to go on a ridiculous tirade about nudists (which I am one), with the occasional reference to former authors (etc); Michael and company decided to actually talk about something pertinent. I mean, geesh, fluffy, was it that fucking hard to actually use your brain properly?

Update: I think this guy likes to argue with himself or something. See Exhibit A. In this thread alone, he takes on the personas of: fluffydog, Robbie, Shamus O'Flaherty (I can assume this to be an accurate guess, because the name on the post says "Robbie" further on in the thread, but he SIGNS it "SO" like Shamus did)...and that's it for that thread. Three personas. Eek. Even scarier is when he insults Shamus as Robbie and signs it "SO" (Shamus).

Sooo... I'm dropping this thread. No futher posts will "discuss" fluffy/Robbie/Shamus/whatever, and I'm backing slowly away...

Read the book for FREE

2005-10-05T14:46:00.000-04:00

You can now find Voyage to Xanadu, in its entirety (eventually, bit by bit), at http://freexanadu.blogspot.com/ It's called "free Xanadu"...not like some kind of mob chant outside a prison, but because the reading of the book is free. Read it as you like. I also will throw in bits of trivia and history, as well.

You can still buy the book if you so choose. Yes. I will allow you. ;-) PA has, so far, held up its end of the bargain (that I know of), so I'm giving them SOME benefit of the doubt. Why? Coz I'm such a sweet guy. (hack barf gag)

There's constructive criticism, and then there's this.

2005-10-05T08:36:00.000-04:00

Now, if someone were to come along, read some of my book, and say, "your book sucks, and here's why: the character Henry has no depth, etc, etc," that would be OK. I wouldn't be happy, but there would be some substance to the comment.

And then there's this:

ANDREW MAGBALLS went

<< who cares, not me >>

Ahhh, nostalgia. It's like being back in fourth grade with all the prepubescent brats screaming purple-faced on the playground. Except they called me "Magnet" (did they think I was attractive or something? Too disturbing) or "Maggots". "Magballs" is a new one on me.

Here's the rest of this guy's post:

welcome to the machine
the dark side of the moon
animals prowl
relics can be found
see emily play

when you get past ee doc smith territory, lensman, go straight to the
white zone.

Uh, okay. Pink Floyd quotes. Been there, done that. Does this bear any relevance to the topic at hand? No. I'm surprised the guy didn't end his post with, "wah wah wah and I want my cookie too! " No, that wasn't a Pink Floyd quote. Although it does remind me of the song "Money" for some reason.

There's more the same on this post. And to make sure nobody can outdo him before he can, he goes on a rant about nudists, pedophiles and Nixon in a later post.

What...

The...

Fuck.

Apparently, this guy didn't pay much attention in his D.A.R.E. class. DON'T DO DRUGS! I mean, is this the best this guy can do? He spouts irrelevant and worthless drivel, expecting to come off witty. Didn't happen. Sorry. No cookie for you. You weren't witty, you weren't clever...hell, you were barely even coherent! Maybe I would've "got it" if I were tripping on acid or had done some whip-its, but such is not the case.

Now, if this guy had read some of the excerpts posted (WAY) below on this site and pointed out flaws with logically thought-out arguments, that would've been fine. But I think this guy must be off his meds (or on too many of the wrong kind). That's fine. Because as long as I entertain one person with my work, social degenerates like this can lick my asscrack. How's that for witty?

PS: For those not familiar with Usenet terminology (or internet terminology in general), what this guy did was write a "flame" post.

PS2: They (adults when I was a kid) told me to ignore bullying tactics because they (the bullies) were just spoiled (or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, neglected) children who were looking for attention. So maybe I should be feeling sorry for this guy and just simply leave the thread alone. But I'm afraid I'm just too outspoken to not lash out and verbally bitchslap this loser. At least I'm only going to rant here. I'm so tempted to respond to the usenet thread, but that would be giving the mental ward patient what he wants: attention.

I'm done now.

More news. No film at 11, though.

2005-10-04T17:59:00.000-04:00

Here is the most recent response I received from my friend (I emailed her back consoling her on her misfortune). It's here word-for-word. Only the names have changed to help project the innocent. Yes, project. Not as in PRAH-ject, but proh-JECT. Whee!

First, the email I sent:

Uh, this is Andrew, by the way. Sorry.

Yes, I've been recently discovering new and interesting tidbits on PA. I already knew about self-promotion, as you told me such. That you were cheated out of royalties is shocking; but goes in line with what I've read on the various groups (Google and Usenet, so far). As far as I know, I've only "sold" maybe 10 books. I've told everyone from this point on to NOT buy the book. I'm just going to print it freely online I guess. Sad. And, like you, I intended PA to be a stepping stone to other mainstream avenues. Don't know how that's going to pan out.

Good thing is, I have a completely different series in the works. So if it has any value, maybe that will be published by a reputable publishing house. We'll see.

Anyway, sorry to hear you had such a raw deal from PA.

Andrew

[Side note: "reputable" as in has a better reputation, which PA apparently does not have]

This is her response:

Hi Andrew,
Sorry 'bout that!!! Thought you were @#$()&*%. Anyway, yes PA isn't a good place to go. !$*(_)?? had his published through there as well but just so it was published. The editing was so bad that he just sells it online and does get some takers. He bought 50 of them when they had a special for authors. Actually mine would make a great movie and I am thinking of doing a screenplay, but also am sending it to Sandra Bullock who does read books sent to her, as I thought of her all through the writing of it as I could see her as my protagonist.

Do hope your new project pans out for you. And don't go near them again.

I was not the only one that was screwed, blued and tattooed from them. Many people have had the identical problems. However, they are very rude when called and also online, so it's hard to deal with them.

Best of luck, and hi to your father for me.

The last part of her email also supports what I've been reading lately.

I'd like to put some kind of witty and/or sage editorial-style comment here at the end, but words fail me as of late. I'm still baffled not by the fact that they apparently suckered my friend, or me for that matter. Or the rest of the authors allegedly victimized by PA. I'm baffled by the fact that if they don't get their act together, they're going under. Maybe they don't care. They made their money, right?

Everything above (my comments anyway) are all tempered with an "allegedly." A. because I haven't witnessed personally the rudeness, swindling and everything else reported on the 'net, and B. as a standard disclaimer in case some of these allegations ARE false. I am not a libellous person, and would like to avoid spreading unfounded rumors (albeit there seems to be a lot of them that corroborate one another).

I wonder, outside of PA's own website, where I can find stories of people who feel they were treated properly by PA. This is one side of the story I have NOT heard.

The thing I don't understand...

2005-10-04T13:14:00.000-04:00

The thing I don't understand is this: why would anyone do something if they know it's going to come back to haunt them? If all these allegations are true (against PA), you would think that the leadership of PA would've realized that, sooner or later, they were going to be called out. I don't care how iron-clad of a contract they have. I don't care if they never did anything "illegal." The fact of the matter is, once they get enough bad press, they'll never do business again.

What if PA realizes/realized this? What if they did change their ways? What if they made these catalogs, paid their authors properly, didn't intimidate, didn't misrepresent themselves or falsely advertise? The damage is already done. Anyone who goes into this business thinking, "let's make all the money we can right now," is going to learn that in a few short years, they'll be making SQUAT.

It's just an indication of how much people have to live for the now...how impatient they can be to have everything they want handed to them NOW. So few think of the future. That's what makes this whole scenario really sad.

This just in...

2005-10-04T12:05:00.000-04:00

I told everyone that I asked my friend about how satisfied/unsatisfied she was working with PA. Here's that response (apparently, she thought she was talking to my father):

How satisfied was I? Very dissatisfied to be honest. They cheated me out of many royalties and gave me no help at all as far as promoting the book. I told Andrew to beware when I told him about the company. I also told him that I used it as a stepping stone only to other publications where I would go elsewhere. If you go online and put in their name, you will find different websites for complaints, which are many. They have suits against them and all that good stuff. If Andrew wants his book sold, he's got to do all the work. He has to get on radio shows, call and get them interested enough to have him on, go to book stores with his own books that he gets from the company and arrange for book signings in the area, etc. Get hold of the newspapers in the area and have an article about local author. I have done all of this, but the book didn't do a whole lot because it isn't put out there like most are with other publishers. They are a POD (print on demand) company so they only print a book if it's ordered. Therefore book stores and companies don't want to work with them. I was going to write a sequel, but have yet to do so as I've gotten tied up writing a non fiction book on medical issues and do have an agent for that one, so I'm never going near PA again. They are really something, but if Andrew can find something in the contract, which he should have read carefully, that is against what they are actually doing, have him go after them. There are Yahoo groups out there that are just for this purpose regarding this company.

I don't recall my friend telling me to "beware," but she DID tell me everything else I already knew (or thought I knew): you publicize yourself, etc. That she was also cheated out of royalties (as mentioned in the below links) is additionally troubling.

This is gonna sound really, REALLY wierd coming from me, but DON'T BUY MY BOOK. Not until I get all the facts.

More news in a bit as I decide what course of action I will take.

The more I think about it...

2005-10-04T09:11:00.000-04:00

...the more I wonder if all of the complaints from PA authors are due to their inability to TRY to push their own book. How many of these PA authors bothered to actually READ the contract? I read it. I understood that I had to do my own marketing, and that it was going to be overpriced (with the hope that someone in the mainstream industry would see it and buy the rights from PA--which was probably a fool's hope). There were some things I read on the below links that made me shudder, no doubt. But I haven't had trouble with their editing. In fact, they FOUND grammatical errors I missed that I'm sure a regular spell-checker would not have found. The print wasn't all crammed into 300 pages. The book is actually very nice to look at, and VERY easy to read--better than those $10 trade paperbacks in my opinion. I have NOT, that I have seen, been mistreated by PA.

I also haven't had a lot of experience with dealing with the final product that is my book--namely, trying to publicize it. I've done my own press releases to local papers, including the Portland Phoenix. Nothing either negative or positive has come of it. And I emailed my friend who steered me towards PA to see what kind of success or failure she's had. No response yet.

The jury's still out.

The fact of the matter is this: I knew at least most of the implications of having PA print my work. There were things I didn't know. And I wonder how much of the bad press PA received was because of authors who did NOT read their contracts and just "assumed" everything would be handed to them on a silver platter.

Did PA's advertising mislead authors? That's a distinct possibility. They threw numbers at potential authors (see the below links for examples) making authors think that they'd sell tons of books, which is apparently not true.

What worries me the most when it comes to pushing my book is that, because of previous authors voicing discontent and the media giving PA bad press, nobody will WANT to stock my book due to all the bad press that PA received. If PA's bad press and the prevailing price for my book becomes such a touchy issue with people, I may (or may not, depending on how much legal grief I get into due to my contract) release the book chapter by chapter on a separate website. The money isn't the biggest deal when it comes to getting my book out there. I just want people to share my vision. I should've just done like I did in the old days and leave it out in the open (i.e. on the web for download) for people to peruse at their leisure.

Regardless, I have a ton of other manuscripts at different stages of completion that I can share with you all. Voyage to Xanadu, Book Two would've normally been the next release. It can be (and I've been rewriting it to be so) a standalone novel, not relying on people to have ever read its prequel.

So, today I'm feeling a little more optimistic. I think I just needed to get hammered, then pick up the next day and carry on. Stay tuned here for anything new.

Going from disturbed to irate

2005-10-03T18:43:00.000-04:00

When I signed the contract, I went through it with a fine-tooth comb (or thought I did). I knew I'd have hurdles I'd have to face. I knew I'd be my own publicist, and I knew the price had the chance (apparently more than a chance) of being too high.

This, though, I did NOT know:

The main reason I recommend against signing with PublishAmerica is that PA's contract is specifically written for the purpose of deceiving authors who don't know what to watch out for before signing with them.

The infamous Paragraph 24, which on the surface refers to buying back materials supposedly needed for printing copies of one's book -- never mind the fact PA doesn't use the technologies mentioned in the said Paragraph -- also insinuates that the author must buy back the copyrights for their own book, which they have paid for themselves already to the Copyright office in Washington D.C., according to PublishAmerica policy.

This is done by surgically inserting the word 'Copyrights' into a list of materials 'needed' to print the book. According to Paragraph 24, if the author does not buy back the materials and the copyright, the Publisher may dispose of said materials and copyright however they wish.

This is deceptive language at best, because the contract signer -- even if they read it thoroughly -- will many times not see the word 'Copyrights' inserted with materials needed to print their books. This is just one of several deceptively written paragraphs within the PublishAmerica contract, and again the main reason I recommend against signing with PublishAmerica.

If I go and find my contract, somehow I won't be surprised to find that Paragraph 24 says exactly such. Clever wording.

I'm finding the truth to be a bitter pill. On the other hand, though, there are several manuscripts (mostly done) that they have NO control over. Mua ha ha.

Honestly, I do not want to start a smear campaign against PA. I'm still in a "wait and see" mode; but if PA has such a terrible reputation, even if PA did straighten up their act, there's still a snowball's chance in hell the book will sell. I, however, am very interested in seeing what DOES happen. If I find PA has been less than honest with me, they're going to learn a very powerful truth about me:

When it comes to something near and dear to my heart, I have NO FEAR. Fuck with my kid (especially my kid)? Your ass is mine. Fuck with my family? Your ass is mine. Fuck with my life's work?

What's the worst they can do, anyway? Here's how I see it, if all the bad press is true: I find out I've been Royally Fucked (tm). I then post my entire book for free on the Internet (and rest assured I will). PA comes along and says, "uh, uh, you can't do that." I tell them to get bent. They threaten me with jail, fines, etc. I tell them to STILL get bent. So they throw me into prison.

What a story THAT would make. NATIONAL MEDIA ATTENTION! 20/20, Dateline, you name it. Let the Media Ass Fucking commence! Everybody would know them for who they are (assuming they ARE this way).

Like I said... fuck with my life's work? YOUR ASS IS MINE!

For now, though, I'll play the game and see what happens. Rest assured, I'll keep everyone posted.

NOTE: Now that I've calmed down a bit, I'd like to emphasize that all the stuff I read online was essentially he-said-she-said stuff. But there was a LOT of it. I have a friend (one of the people who introduced me to PublishAmerica) who I will contact and see how SHE feels she has been treated. I'll post her response here. So stay tuned! Film at 11! That kind of thing.

Poor Delilah...

2005-10-03T14:46:00.000-04:00

Guess I'm eating that bird!

At least I still have my sense of humor, right?

Deeply disturbing

2005-10-03T14:11:00.000-04:00

For those who have been following this blog, you are probably well aware that I've published a book (duh). It was published through PublishAmerica. I posted announcements on Usenet and Google Groups. One person responded thusly:

Excuse me, but $24.95 for a 316 paged paperback from an unknown author
is about $19 more than I would possibly willing to pay. That and it's
a PublishAmerica book, and from my research into that company, I
couldn't purchase that book and still feel morally sound.

Good luck selling your book. I certainly hope you have many friends
willing to part with $25 for your average length paperback.

If you click on the title to this entry, it will take you to one such website that decries the scandal that is PublishAmerica (PA). However, interestingly enough, it seems that authors fail when they aren't aggressive enough pushing their own book. At the very end of the post (linked above), it seems that there is one person who DID push their book and "got the three-star treatment" through Amazon, etc. They seemed quite pleased with PA.

Here is another link warning people away from PA. The first item on the list is also decried in the linked post above: authors are misled into believing that their book will be put into bookstores. This is not true. Any author who believed that did NOT read the contract or the FAQ. I already KNEW it wasn't going to be in bookstores. Do I feel victimized? Not yet, anyway.

Here's how I see it: PA removed one hurdle...getting your book published. Now, if I had my book published through a mainstream publishing house (i.e. Bantam), it would be very likely to be stocked in SOME bookstores somewhere, because the book had already gone through a "screening process" as it were. However, PA doesn't use that process; so the book gets published. Now, with hardcopy in hand, the author not only has a book but a marketing tool to sell to bookstores.

Yes, it's extra work. I guess anyone interested enough in their own work would do this extra work to see some success.

Now the price, on the other hand, may be a touchy issue with bookstore managers. $25 per book is cheap...if it is an O'Reilly technical book or something like that (Voyage to Xanadu is as big as a typical O'Reilly technical/computer book). For a paperback, it is about $5 over what one would expect in a bookstore for something of similar quality...it is $15 to $20 more than a "trade paperback" (the books where the ink always comes off on your hands).

Finally, something that has been mentioned is that bookstores are reluctant to buy these titles because they are nonreturnable. PA claims that their books are NOW returnable (bookstores can sell unsold copies back). What this entails, I don't know.

Ultimately, I've seen some good press but a hell of a lot of bad press in regards to PA. What I'd like to know is, why didn't I find all this out sooner? The more I read, the more disturbed I am. It took fourteen years to refine this book to the state it is in now. I went with PA from what I had heard from friends who claimed they had a good relationship with PA. Now, I'm concerned.

Voyage to Xanadu also available on bn.com!

2005-10-02T11:52:00.000-04:00

Barnes and Noble also have it on *their* website. I don't know if there would be any of my book actually IN the Barnes and Noble stores, though. But you can also save 10% if you buy at bn.com (if you're a Barnes and Noble member).

Finding a new sales pitch...

2005-10-01T05:00:00.000-04:00

Sales have fallen on my recent release, Voyage to Xanadu...not like many have sold anyway. I know why it’s not selling like hotcakes: there’s no publicity. I’m not sure what’s the best way to properly get people to notice my book…

Well, as I think about it, there is a way…

Okay. In the same vein as Save Toby, I hereby announce that if I don’t sell 1,000 books by the end of the year, I will eat… I … will eat…

THIS BIRD!

I don’t want to eat this bird (her name is Delilah by the way). She has been my companion for over eight years. She’s sweet and funny, and I love to hear her whistle and chirp in the morning. But as God is my witness, I will pluck, stuff and roast her if I don’t have 1,000 books sold before December 31, 2005. I’ll have to use the little forks, though. … And eat very, very slowly. She’s small.

Rescue Delilah! Buy my book!

#212,007

2005-09-28T10:42:00.000-04:00

Apparently, Amazon.com has ranked my book as #212,007 in sales. That means there are #212,006 books doing better than this one. #1 on the list is from Oprah's book club. Imagine that.

Just thought I'd share that little bit of trivia for everyone.

What It's All About

2005-09-23T12:38:00.000-04:00

For everyone's benefit, I'm going to give you all a brief synopsis of the book that has just been released into the literary jungle:

As a child, Henry (the main character) had always dreamed of being an astronaut. As time passed and circumstances developed, he found his dream frustrated; and ended up a civil engineer instead. He found himself never satisfied with what he was doing, and the frustration grew over the years, until he finally quit his job and moved back home to start a business with his father and another party.

And then he had a dream.

The dream turned his life upside-down, and gave him a glimmer of hope that his dream would be fulfilled. But not as an astronaut, per se: in the dream--the vision, if you will--he learns of a way to build a faster-than-light starship; and he is urged to complete this ship or else all of humanity may perish.

The remainder of the book has Henry and a small group of people dodging the government, trying to get their hands on the new technology; among other things I care not to divulge here lest I give away the plot of the book.

The underlying theme behind the book is the constant improvement of a person, as well as of humanity and society in general. I hope I sufficiently convey this theme to my readers.

I hope you take the time to read this work. It is, to date, my magnum opus; and I hope everyone who reads this book can share in the dream of Henry.

HOLY CRAP!!!!

2005-09-23T12:11:00.000-04:00

Amazon.com: Books: Voyage to Xanadu: Book One

Screw official release date. THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE NOW!

Happy birthday to me... happy birthday to me...

2005-09-23T12:02:00.000-04:00

I just received, this very morning, the first two copies of Voyage to Xanadu. That's right. I have them here on my desk. And within a week or so of my birthday. Hee hee.

The official release date is still October 31, but I wager you should be able to get them on Amazon.com (or similar) very soon.

The downside: they are $25 a pop. Well, that's not too bad, but it's priced higher than average. They're not trade paperback. They're a bit bigger, so it would explain the higher price. They are cheaper than technical books of the same size if that means anything; and mainstream books are around $19 for this size. So it's not too bad.

Anyway, there you go. The book has been printed. Woohoo!!

Savetoby.com | Only YOU have the power to Save Toby!

2005-09-06T14:36:00.000-04:00

Savetoby.com | Only YOU have the power to Save Toby!

Okay, I know this has absolutely nothing to do with the release of my novel (on Halloween 2005). But this still blows my mind.

I don’t want to eat Toby, he is my friend, and he has always been the most loving, adorable pet. However, God as my witness, I will devour this little guy unless I sell 100,00 copies of my book, Save Toby: ...

And I don't have a rabbit. Damn it!

Official Release Date Announced!

2005-08-22T14:17:00.000-04:00

The official release date is October 31, 2005. The publisher has told me the book will actually be available before then, but it may be hard to obtain on the market. Apparently places like Amazon and Barnes and Noble have a backlog, so it could take several weeks for the book to be posted on their websites. However, you can preorder within 6 weeks from now directly from PublishAmerica.com.

Yay!

The cover art is here!

2005-08-19T20:15:00.000-04:00

I just received and approved the cover art for the book. This means that as of Monday, it will be going to the printing department. This also means it's almost time to open your hearts and your wallets. ;-)

Final Corrections Sent!

2005-07-18T21:55:00.000-04:00

I have sent out the final corrections as of 9:52 PM EDT today. I misread the email telling me when to expect publication of the book. The cover design will be sent to me for final approval in 4 to 8 weeks, then I can expect the book to be in print in one more month. So the estimated publishing date can be expected to be somewhere between mid-September and mid-October, 2005.

Another teaser: part of Chapter 11 from Voyage to Xanadu

2005-07-14T21:31:00.000-04:00

As promised, here's the other teaser. It takes place as four of our heroes have to get into Area 51 for some reason. Can't tell you why, because that would give too much away. But I thought you might enjoy to see more of the action.

Midnight.

The four stood in the shadow of one of the trailers in the trailer park, hiding from the light of a mercury vapor lamp. Henry peeked around the corner to see if the coast was clear. It being so, he waved his friends forward. They quietly trotted up to the tour guide’s trailer. The lights inside were out.
"Maybe he decided against it," Scott whispered.
"I’m right here," the man’s hushed voice came from somewhere. Henry looked around, but only saw darkness. "Let’s go," the man quietly beckoned. "Go to the next trailer behind mine. I’ve got my car there."
Scott looked at Henry, and Henry shrugged. The four cautiously made their way to the next trailer and met the man in front of an old station wagon. The man grinned at them.
"Nobody knows it, but I’ve souped this bad boy up so that it has four wheel drive and can go almost one hundred twenty miles per hour. It looks like shit, but it’ll get us there."
Henry raised a hand to tell the man to wait. "Scott..."
"Right." Scott pulled out a small wand from his pocket and handed it to Henry.
"What’s that?" the man asked.
"We could tell you, but then we’d have to kill you," Basil joked.
"Ohhh! I see," the man replied, his eyes flashing.
Henry adjusted the backpack he was carrying, turned on the device and walked around the car.
"What's in the backpack?" the man asked.
"Photography equipment," Henry lied. He worked his way to the rear of the vehicle. A light began to flash on the device when he got to the rear bumper. He crouched down, felt under the bumper, and pulled something off. He held it up for everyone to see that he had found a tracking device. He put it underneath the trailer next to him. Finishing his circuit around the car and finding no more bugs, he nodded his approval and everyone jumped into the car.
Basil asked a question. "Do you think they’re watching here right now?"
"Possible," the man said. "But if they have a bug on me... or rather, had a bug, they may just be somewhere cozy watching its signal. I didn’t see any activity out there earlier, so we should be fine. If not, I can lose a tail. Remember, this baby can cook!"
"As long as it isn’t our gooses that get cooked, I’ll be happy," Scott snapped.
"Relax!" the man replied. "I’ve done this before and have had no problems. Believe me, you're not the first photographers I've taken out there."
Henry and Basil, who were in the back seat with Travis, looked at each other knowingly and smirked.
"Ready?" the man asked.
"Go ahead," Henry answered. He took his backpack and put it in the back of the car.
The man started the car. It started very quietly. He grinned, and Henry could see his grin in the rear view mirror. He turned on the headlights, put the car in drive and quietly pulled out onto the highway.
They traveled down the dark road for a long time in silence, nobody speaking to anyone. The tension was too high. Finally, the man spoke. "Would one of you reach into the back and find a small black bag?"
Henry frowned and turned around, looking. "Everything’s black here." He fumbled around. "I found a bag."
"Does it have two straps on the front, snapped closed?"
Henry felt the bag for its straps. "Yes."
"That’s it. Hand it here."
Henry did as he was asked. The man pulled over and opened the case to remove something that looked like a cross between diving goggles and binoculars.
"Clever," Scott said. "Night vision goggles."
"Yep. Sure you know all about them." He put them on and turned out the headlights. "Our turn is just ahead." He put the car back in gear and lurched forward into the darkness.
Henry’s heart started pounding in his chest, while one hand gripped the nearby door handle and the other one squeezed Basil’s shoulder. Basil made an ouch of protest.
The car went careening through the night, the sound of gravel crunching beneath them. The rollercoaster ride continued for what seemed to be hours until the car lurched to a stop.
"We’re here," the man dryly said.
Henry whipped the car door open and stumbled out into the night air, breathing heavily. "God!" he yelled.
"Shhh!" the man warned. "You never know who might be out here!" He pointed off to the distance. " This spot is as close as you can get to the base without crossing the perimeter. Should get some good shots of UFOs visiting—if any show up, that is." There was a fence there, at least ten feet tall, covered in razor wire. A path fifty feet wide on either side of the fence had been cleared of scrub trees and bushes.
Travis got out of the car next, followed by Basil. "Think they have motion detectors?" Travis asked.
The man stared at Travis. "You’re not actually thinking about going in there, are you? You’d be crazy! You'll get plenty good pictures right here. And yes, they have motion detectors." He pointed out into the darkness. "They’re placed two hundred feet apart in all directions."
Henry smirked as he grabbed his backpack out of the back of the station wagon. "Well, we got gadgets, too. We’ll manage."
"Ohhh, no!" The man waved his hands at the foursome. "You are crazy! Count me out! I’m outta here! Find your own way back!"
"That’s fine. We’ll manage," Henry said.
"Gee, do we get our money back?" Scott gibed.
The man backed away and leaped into his car. He started it and sped out into the darkness.
The four stood there in the blackness of night, watching the skies above them. Large clouds were beginning to move in and blot out what stars there were. Scott saw a shooting star blaze a trail across the sky. It disappeared behind one of the large rainclouds. He pointed up. "Look! Aliens!"
The four laughed heartily.
Henry shook his head, laughing, and opened up the backpack. He took out what looked like a telescope and looked through it towards the fence. Through it he could see the infrared beams forming a barrier within the fence. He reported his findings. "We’ve got one foot of room to crawl under, more or less. We’ll have to find a wash or riverbed."
Scott nodded as he pulled out a set of wire clippers from the bag. He also pulled out what looked like four pistols. "Come and get ‘em," he announced.
The four took their weapons. Travis turned his over in his hand. "We’re gonna kill people?"
"Only if they try killing us," Scott explained. "Something I cooked up from surfing the ‘net. Well, actually, I modified it with some of the technology our shuttles are based on. At its lowest setting, it’ll just stun them. At its highest setting... it turns their brains into goo. It’s a disruptor."
Travis made a face, signifying disgust. "Yecch. I don’t want to go around killing people."
"Think about this," Scott continued. "We’ve got fifty people in there we need to rescue. The com system has pinpointed the Pioneer's tracking beacon, so the people must be close by. If not, well, we’ll just have to take the Pioneer out and fly it ourselves to safety. And those fifty people in there, if they’re still alive, we have an obligation to help them out. Especially your brother. Understand?"
Travis nodded glumly. "Okay. I’ll do it, but I won’t like it." He holstered the gun.
"One last thing," Henry said. "Get into these." He pulled out several black pieces of clothing.
"Oh, aren’t we just playing the part," Scott dryly remarked. He held up his set of clothing and scrutinized it. "Ninja outfits. You forgot the nunchakus, Henry."
"Get into them, Scott. That’s all I’m asking. It’ll make us harder to see. And the fibers are supposed to hold in our body heat so we’re less easily detectable. The clothes are designed to allow heat escape from only certain places so we end up looking like some kind of animal, not humans."
"Cunning. I’ve read about these," Travis stated. "Chameleon clothes, I believe they’re called. The military was flirting with this technology about three years ago. They cost a bundle. I take it you used some of my brother’s money to get them?"
"Yep. It’s your brother we’re saving, after all."
"Oh, I’m not complaining!" Travis grinned.
"Come on, people!" Scott urged. He was all dressed up from head to toe in what looked like black pajamas. He sighed. "God. Why is it every time I end up in Nevada, I have to play dress-up?"
Henry chuckled. "Because Travis is new at this, and we have to indoctrinate him."
"Yay," Scott rolled his eyes. "And here I forgot my fraternity paddle."
The four people crept up to the fence. Scott readied the clippers. "Think the fence is set up to detect us cutting through it?"
Henry pulled out his infrared long-glass and looked around. "Can’t see any boxes on the fence. Doesn’t mean they haven’t electrified it, though."
Scott shook his head and started cutting a small slit. "No... it’d kill the wild animals around here. Guess just an infrared barrier is enough. The one-foot high gap allows small animals through but makes it difficult for humans. Fewer false alarms. And I’m sure animals bang into this fence all the time." He continued cutting link after link until he reached the bottom of the fence. He peeled the fence back. "Let’s hurry." They passed through the breach in the fence and huddled on the other side. Scott took a small torch out of the backpack and began to weld the links back together. After about ten minutes, he turned the welding torch off and looked to the other three. "Well... we’re in it now. Let’s hurry up and find that riverbed."
Henry nodded. He waved to the other three to follow him.
The four ran as quickly and quietly as they could along the inside edge of the fence, making sure they did not get too close to the beam. Suddenly, it started to rain lightly. Henry hoped that the rain that was coming would help wipe out their tracks. The stretch of land was flat for a very long way. Henry kept the eyepiece to his face to watch for obstacles and, of course, a riverbed.
"See anything yet?" Basil asked, huffing.
"No, just jeep tracks," Henry replied. "Wait... slow down!"
The four slowed their run to a walk.
"What do you see?" Scott asked.
"There. Fifty feet ahead."
The four walked to the riverbed and looked around. Underneath where the beam was supposed to be there was a small concrete berm, fitted with a grate, preventing anyone from simply crawling underneath the beam.
"Shit," Scott stated. He looked around to make sure nobody was coming. "What do we do now?"
Henry shrugged. He knelt down into a puddle and pushed on the block. It budged a little. "I think it’s loose. Help me push it over. It’ll give us an extra six inches to use to crawl under the barrier."
The other three looked at each other and shrugged. They knelt down and start pushing. Gradually, the concrete slab leaned over and fell to the ground, giving the quartet about eighteen inches of clearance.
"Come on," Henry urged. He crawled over the block and managed not to touch the beam. He pulled out his eyepiece again to help the others make it through. Scott and Travis managed to get through just fine, only getting a little muddy, but when Basil’s turn came, there was a not-so-small problem.
"Basil," Henry stated, looking through the eyepiece, "your butt is one inch too high."
"Great," Scott sighed. "You just had to eat all those burgers. Now look at the mess you got us into!"
"Scott, chill!" Basil growled. He laid on the concrete slab, his rear end sticking up too high. Rain pelted him and splashed everywhere.
Travis turned to Henry. "Maybe if we just get him through real quick, they’ll just think it’s an animal passing underneath? Maybe the rain will help mask his butt crossing the barrier?"
Henry shrugged. "Worth a shot." Travis and Henry grabbed Basil’s arms.
"Hey! What’re you doing?"
They pulled hard and Basil slid through real quick. They all fell backwards and landed in a large puddle. A red warning light started flashing about ten feet away, then immediately went off again.
"Whew," Henry sighed. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now comes the fun part," Scott stated. "Finding these people of ours. And the Pioneer."
Henry nodded. "First, help me get this slab back up."

The woes of a mostly good book

2005-07-14T21:23:00.000-04:00

I have gone through about three quarters of the proof. There is some amazing stuff in there! I realize people might be saying, "well, of COURSE he's gonna say there's good stuff in his book! It's his book!" But I am my own worst critic.

Eighty percent of the book is excellent, then another ten percent is just good. Lines like, "Look! Aliens!" are classic (you'd have to read it in context). Then there's the general, giving a pep talk to his soldiers, and he throws in, "But we have a tank." Eurgh. Bleagh. Wurf! No.

My fear is that last ten percent that is really nothing more than cornball. There's more corn in some of this book than in the whole state of Iowa! And not in a good way. And I'm afraid that this ten percent (or less, perhaps) will drag the book down and it will never reach the audience I'd like for it to reach. Not so that I get rich. I'm a very simplistic person. A comfortable living wage is all I want. There are too many complications when you have too much money, and I don't want to become one of those people always worrying about my millions of dollars (I met a couple of them once). My big thing is that as many people as possible read this book and become inspired. That's what I want. To create inspiration.

And I fear this ten percent could kill that dream.

Well, anyway, I guess we'll know for sure sometime in September. Happy reading! Oh, and I figured I'd throw in another teaser for you all to read. It's the very next post. Enjoy!

Status as of July 11, 2005: The proof is here!

2005-07-11T15:01:00.000-04:00

As of 12:30 PM EDT today, I received the final proof of my book. I now have until July 25th to review it and submit changes. Then, it will be another 4 to 8 weeks until the final phase is complete. I can therefore say that this book should be on the market by the end of September or beginning of October.

I hope.

Yes, I am still alive...

2005-06-30T10:20:00.000-04:00

No new news yet. Odds are there won't be much of anything until October, as they had written in the contract that they are obligated to have the book published one year after submission of the manuscript. I submitted it in late October of 2004; therefore, this webpage may remain relatively inactive until October 2005.

Sigh.

Status as of March 10, 2005

2005-03-10T20:10:00.000-05:00

I sent an email to my publisher, trying to find out where in the publishing process my book was being held up. Here's the response I received:

You are now with the text production department, and your book will follow the schedule outlined on the AQ web page.

I'm sorry I can't give you a date of any kind at this time, and your proofer might be several months more before they contact you, but after that the pace will pick up.

Thank you and gook luck!

So that's that. The manuscript officially went to the publisher on November 4, 2004, so it has been just over 4 months. I'm hoping some progress is made soon.

Excerpt from Voyage to Xanadu

2005-03-01T02:59:00.000-05:00

(Warning: Strong language used)

V

    The truck bounced over the knoll, hurtling towards where Scott and Basil were standing. An electromagnetic shield, coupled with monitoring equipment, had been placed facing out towards where the truck just came from. The truck skidded to a stop behind where the shield had been set up. Henry and Ted stepped out.
    Basil peered through a set of binoculars, looking from where the truck came. "Where in hell did you set up the particle splitter/collector?" he asked, looking a bit puzzled.
    "Out there, about 20 miles from here," answered Henry. He gestured out towards the arid plain, scattered with dry shrubbery.
    "Is that going to be far enough?"
    "Yep."
    Ted grabbed a soda and opened it to drink. He spoke. "We hope."
    "How much antimatter did the cyclonic generator give us again?" Scott asked.
    "0.1 picograms. More than enough." Henry reached over to the control panel and positioned his finger above a red button. "Ready?"
    "As much as we’re going to be," Scott said.
    Basil and Ted nodded.
    Henry pushed the button.
    The four crowded around the readout display to see what was going on. The readout began to show a chart, depicting how much force the mini-engine is releasing.
    "Pretty good. At this rate, we could fuel the ship for quite a while. Scott, monitoring any unusual radiation?"
    Scott peered at some monitors. "No. It's perfectly calm. And I’m registering an increasing amount of gravitons. The collector seems to be doing its job."
    The test continued on, uneventful, for another hour.
    "Henry," Basil asked, "how much now?"
    "Enough to propel an airplane around the world at top speed. It's rather amazing, the amount of energy within the particles of an atom..."
    An alarm sounded on one of the panels.
    Ted gingerly raised his hand. "Uh, folks, I don't want to spoil the fun, but what does that alarm mean?"
    Henry leaned over one of the consoles and looked at the readout. "Uh oh."
    Basil put his empty can next to a nearby boulder and sighed. "Why don't I like the sound of that?"
    Henry explained the alarm. "For some reason, the gravitons being created by the reaction are accumulating around the device instead of dissipating like I had hoped. I believe a combination of the atmosphere and the electromagnetic controls of the device itself is creating a pocket - similar to the pocket used by the warp drive. So it’s causing a warping effect, and the device isn’t handling it well."
    Scott screamed, "Isn’t handling it well?!? What the fuck does that mean?"
    "Well, there is speculation that it was a mini black hole that caused the Tonguska explosion in the Siberian forest at the turn of the century..."
    "Black hole?" Scott almost screeched. "You mean…"
    Basil put his hand over his eyes. "He means it’s going to blow up."
    Scott ducked below the makeshift shield and glared at Henry, horrified. "Damn it, I just knew it! How big of an explosion will it be?"
    Henry scratched his head. "As big as the Tonguska blast, probably."
    "Ugh." Scott shifted around in discomfort. "So... how long until it goes off?"
    "It looks like it could go any moment... Everyone, just keep down! The shield will protect us."
    "We hope." Basil said.
    Just as everyone took cover, there was a bright flash of light and an incredible explosion. After the noise and rumbling had subsided, the four looked out into the desert. A huge mushroom-shaped cloud rose into the sky.
    Scott shook in barely controlled terror. "Oh, God, we’re in for it now."
    Henry cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, we’ll manage somehow."
    Scott stared at Henry, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. "Ookaaay..." He turned back to the mushroom cloud.
    Henry looked down at the monitor. "Wow. That’s a lot of energy."
    "No shit," noted Scott, still transfixed by the mushroom cloud.
    "We'll need to have Judy work on the flow control design some more, I fear," Ted interjected. "Those gravitons, as she explained it, should've vented away from the device."
    Basil asked, "Uh, how much energy did that thing create?"
    "Plenty. We could run the ship for about a year with how much fuel we have back at home."
    "That's enough for us, isn't it?" Ted asked.
    "Yes. Scott, what did you pick up on the radiation scanner?"
    Scott swallowed, pried himself away from the telltale sign of their disaster, then peered at the screens on some of the equipment nearby. "A lot of infrared... not much in the way of gamma, which is interesting."
    Ted reached around for his cola, finding the can crushed. "Hey, what the..." He held up his soda can, almost perfectly flattened lengthwise.
    Scott peered at the oddity. "Looks like someone laid the can on its side and stepped on it."
    Basil glanced skeptically at Henry. "The explosion?" Basil asked.
    "Yes. In the explosion, the gravitons must have been released in a great quantity."
    "Why didn’t we get smashed?"
    Henry scratched his head. "I guess the radiation shield protected us. It does have an electromagnetic shield on it."
    "Based on your containment design?"
    "Yeah."
    "Well," Scott said, leaning back on the shield, "at least you prepared for every possible outcome. Almost."
    There was a moment of silence, as the quartet sat in the dusty air, staring at each other. Finally, Basil finally looked towards Henry and spoke.
    "I hope you did cover our tracks really good."
    Henry nodded. "Come on, let’s get moving. I’m sure someone will come and investigate soon. Basil, help me get this shield on the truck. Scott, open the tailgate!"
    Basil scurried and grabbed the other end of the large device. Scott pulled on the lever on the tailgate, but it wouldn't budge. Looking at the rear of the truck, it looked like it had been rammed into, just slightly. "Those gravitons of yours fucked up the rear of the truck, Henry. You'll have to heave it over."
    "Damn." Basil and Henry strained and pushed the shield over the tailgate. It slid into the back and landed with a thud. Ted and Scott then grabbed the monitoring equipment and threw it in behind. Scott and Ted jumped in the back of the truck. Scott yelled, " Go! Go!"
    Henry jumped in the driver’s seat, slammed the door, started the truck and gunned it down the dirt road. In a couple minutes, they were on the highway, heading east into the darkening horizon.
    "Good thing we set up camp so close to the highway," Basil noted.
    "Good thing it’s almost sunset," Scott yelled from the back.
    Henry nodded. "Hey, Scott," he yelled back, "do you see anything?"
    Scott surveyed the horizon. "No. Not yet, anyway."
    Henry sighed, his hands fidgeting on the steering wheel.
    "Why don’t you go faster?" Basil inquired.
    "Because we’d end up looking suspicious. Someone speeding down the highway away from the explosion site? How do you think that would look?"
    "Like someone scared shitless."
    "Henry!" Scott yelled. "I see two helicopters coming over the horizon from the south!"
    "Shit," mumbled Henry.
    The sun started going down behind the mountains.
    "Henry..." Scott hollered.
    "Where are they now, Scott?"
    "Moving towards our observation point, I guess. Jesus, Henry, can’t this thing go any faster?"
    "What are they doing?"
    "Damn it, I can’t tell! Just hovering there, I guess."
    "Basil," Henry requested, "grab the binoculars from under the seat and pass it through the rear window."
    Basil unbuckled his seat belt and fished around beneath the seat. "Got it." He clambered around and held them out the window. "Scott!"
    Scott turned around and grabbed the binoculars. He then turned back and propped himself on the covered shield. "Looks like they’re over where we were located. One of them is landing nearby, while the other is up in the air, observing. I don’t think they can see us."
    "Good," answered Henry. "Hold on." He punched the accelerator. The tires squealed loudly on the pavement as the truck lurched forward.
    "Shit!" Scott fumbled the binoculars. They fell on the other side of the shield and came to a clattering halt by the tailgate. Scott climbed over the shield and reached for the binoculars. He picked them up and inspected them. "Damn it! Good thing they aren’t broken."
    "Sorry," Henry called back.
    Scott got back in position and put the binoculars back up to his eyes. "Fuck!!"
    Henry pushed the accelerator harder, and the truck sped up. "What? What?"
    "One of the helicopters is coming this way!"
    "And the other one?"
    "Going the other way."
    Ted made an observation. "The highway. They’re searching the highway. They're thinking it's the only way we could’ve gone from where we were. If we took a dirt road, there'd be some dust left in the air."
    Henry nodded nervously. "How far from the hotel?"
    "Only a few more miles."
    Henry yelled, "Hey, everyone, get your disguises on! We haven’t got much time!"
    Scott jumped to the rear window and reached behind the seat, grabbing a long-haired wig and a mustache. "I’m gonna look like a freaking hippie."
    "We’re rock musicians, Scott. Get into the part," ordered Henry.
    Scott mumbled obscenities under his breath and put spirit gum on his upper lip.
    Basil grabbed his wig and a leather jacket with spikes on it. "Really, though, Henry, couldn’t we have selected better disguises? I feel like a dork."
    "Well," Henry noted, "considering that many rockers come this way on their way to California, this was probably the most mundane disguise. Better than the idea of bankers. Bankers? In the middle of the desert? Without a bank for miles?"
    "Well... we're just on our way to California." Basil shook his head and reached for the leather pants. "Besides, I look terrible in leather."
    "Bankers take planes, Basil. They can afford it. Besides," Henry continued, "I did research. Lots of weirdoes travel through here, so we really shouldn't stand out." He quickly added, "Too much."
    The truck neared a small community. Partially rusted roofs stuck out of the occasional group of desert vegetation.
    "We’re almost there, guys," Henry announced. He pulled off the side of the road.
    "What are you doing?" Scott screamed.
    "Putting on my disguise." He grabbed a large ten-gallon hat and a baby-blue western jacket from behind the seat..
    "Oh, Christ," Scott sighed.
    Henry jumped out of the truck and put his new clothes on. He reached back into his sack and produced a prosthetic nose. He mashed it onto his face and smoothed it on. He turned to the crowd in the back of the truck. "How do I look?"
    Ted shook his head. "Like a cowboy version of W. C. Fields with a bad case of leprosy."
    "Oh." Henry looked in the mirror and saw the nose was half off of his face. "Damn." He grabbed some spirit gum and pasted it around his nose. He then smoothed it back on and grabbed a little makeup. He turned back. "Better?"
    "As good as it’s going to get," Scott said. He turned back to the west and watched through the binoculars. The sun had almost completely set, and a cool breeze picked up from the south. "Henry, they’re probably fifteen miles away. Let’s get OUT of here!"
    Henry leaped back into the truck and gunned it into the small village. He slowed down and gingerly pulled into the parking lot of an old beat-up hotel. "Come on, let’s go in. And act casual."
    "Casual. Sure. In this get-up?" Scott retorted. He and Ted leaped out of the back.
    Basil squirmed out of the passenger seat and adjusted his leather pants. "God, I hate leather!"
    "Relax, Basil. Okay, everyone, deep breath."
    The four breathed deeply.
    "Okay. Rock musicians. On a mystical desert journey. That’s what we are. Act the part. But don’t overdo it."
    "Rock musicians always overdo it, Henry," Scott commented.
    "That’s just a stereotype, Scott."
    Scott gestured to his outfit. "And this isn’t?"
    Henry shrugged and walked into the lobby. The old wooden floors creaked under everyone's weight. A woman sat at the counter, pouring over a large book. The four walked past her towards the stairs. The woman never looked up. The four proceeded up the stairs, turned the corner, and opened up their rooms.
    "Whew," breathed Basil. He walked into the east-facing room with Henry.
    Scott and Ted went into the room on the other side of the hallway. Scott immediately stripped off his wig, locked the door behind him, turned off the lights and peered out the window.
    Ted made a remark as he climbed onto the bed, covered with moth-eaten blankets. "Gee, you like this cloak and dagger stuff, eh?"
    "Shh!" Scott put the binoculars back up to his face and watched. "Jesus! They’re almost on top of us!"
    There was a knock on the door. Ted and Scott jumped and stared at the door.
    Silence.
    "It’s me, Henry."
    Ted went over and unlocked the door. Henry walked in.
    "What’s going on?" Henry asked.
    "Shh!" Scott chided. They listened.
    Basil walked in, listening, peering at the ceiling.
    The sound of whirling propeller blades grew louder as the helicopter approached. Scott watched out the window as the helicopter, with its searchlight blazing, passed overhead. He watched it go by in the binoculars.
    "Getting a good view, Scott?" Henry joked.
    Scott ran past Henry and shot him a baleful glare. Scott went into the room across the hall and turned out the light. The other three followed him.
    Outside, the helicopter landed on the edge of the street in the middle of the town, about five hundred feet from the hotel. About eight soldiers jumped out and dispersed in different directions, remaining in pairs. Two guards remained by the helicopter.
    "Oh, fuck," Scott exclaimed. "They know we’re here!"
    "Not so," Ted explained. "If they knew exactly where we were, they’d all be coming towards the hotel. I only see two coming this way."
    "But they know we’re in this town!"
    "Shh!" Basil warned. "They’re getting closer."
    The four watched below as the two soldiers came toward the building. They started peering in the vehicles parked outside.
    "Oh, we’re screwed," worried Scott.
    "Shh!" the other three warned.
    The soldiers came up to the pickup and looked around it. One of them peeked under the tarp covering the radiation shield, then put it back down. The soldiers continued down the line of cars.
    Scott stood bolt upright. "Christ, are they dense?" he exclaimed.
    Henry and Basil grabbed Scott and pulled him back down. "Shh!!"
    The two soldiers below finished the line of cars. They nodded at each other, and one talked into a headset.
    "Looks like we’re okay," Henry commented.
    "Oh, really?" Scott responded. He pointed below.
    The two soldiers walked into the lobby below.
    The four men retreated from the window and sat up against the wall, in panic. They exchanged glances for a few seconds, then darted out of the room and clambered towards the corner of the hallway. They watched down the stairway and listened.
    "Excuse me, ma’am," someone said, "have you seen any suspicious characters come in within the past half hour?"
    Silence.
    "Who owns that blue pickup outside?"
    Henry and Scott stared at each other in terror.
    "Just a few rock musicians. They arrived just this morning. I guess they’re going to Hollywood or something," replied a female voice.
    "Did they ever tell you what that device is underneath the tarp?"
    "Some kind of amplifier. They say it’s part of their show."
    Another female voice chimed in, this one deeper. "Where are they staying?"
    "Rooms 11 and 12, upstairs."
    The sound of approaching footsteps could be heard.
    The four ducked back around the corner and looked at each other, horrified.
    "Quick," Henry whispered, "go back to your rooms and ... do something musical."
    "Like scream?" Scott asked.
    "Grimace musically. Strum your guitars. Whatever. Don’t let on. Tell them we heard something, and it kind of spooked us, because we didn’t know what it was." He motioned towards the rooms.
    The four split up and went to their rooms, shutting the doors as quietly as possible.
    Scott put his wig back on, then grabbed a guitar and fiddled with it. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. We’re dead."
    Ted shot Scott a reproachful look. "Henry said, ‘keep cool.’"
    Scott shook his head and fidgeted some more.
    The sound of footfall could be heard outside, coming down the hallway. They stopped, right outside the door.
    A knock.
    Ted steadied himself, grabbed a nearby bottle of scotch, took a large gulp, splashed a little liquor on himself for good measure, and swaggered over to the door. He opened it. "Yeah, what’s up?"
    Scott strummed his guitar. A rather cacophonous sound emanated from it.
    The male soldier outside grimaced notably, from a combination of the smell and Scott’s lack of musical talent. "Uh, yeah. You are musicians?"
    "Yeah, man," Scott said.
    "Uh huh. Did you arrive here within the past half hour?"
    "Yeah, man."
    "Okay. Where were you and what were you doing?"
    "Hey, man, we were out having a joy ride, you know, out in the desert. We were going to hook up our wires and jam and groove with the animals but some weird thing happened and it kinda spooked us, man. I mean, it just wasn’t groooovy, ma-a-an..."
    "Ah, I see." The soldier looked around. He looked at Ted, still standing by the door, who had his eyes half-closed, looking like he was stoned. The soldier took a whiff and immediately cringed. "Uh, yeah. Well, have a nice night."
    "Hey, man, you wanna dig my strings?" Scott got up, leaped around and started banging on the guitar. "GreeeEEEAAAAGGGHHHH!"
    "No, no, that’s quite alright," said the soldier, backing away. He turned to the woman behind him, who just finished talking to the Henry and Basil in the other room. They talked to each other quietly for a moment, then walked back down the hall. The voice of the man could be heard. "Captain, nothing here. We thought we had something, but it turned out to just be a group of punks..."
    Ted rolled his eyes. "Jeez, if only the members of the board of directors could see this, I’d never live it down." He looked at Scott, inquisitively. "’Groooooovy, ma-a-an’? What kind of shit was that?"
    Scott shrugged. "Hey. Henry said to act the part."
    Henry stepped out of his room. "Yeah, but I also said, ‘don’t overdo it.’ Christ, I thought they were torturing you in there. What in hell was that noise?"
    Ted stayed Henry. "Don’t ask. It’s better if you don’t know."
    The four stood in the hallway for a minute, looking at each other. Then, in unison, they scrambled back into Henry’s room and peered out the window again.
    All they could see were the two guards next to the helicopter, its rotor still turning.
    "I wonder where all the other soldiers are," Basil said.
    Henry shrugged. "Don’t think it matters. So far, we escaped with our skins still attached."
    "So far," reminded Ted.
    The four sat in silence and watched out the window. After a moment, Ted tapped Henry on the shoulder and motioned to him that he wanted to speak privately with him. Henry followed to the far corner of the room, while Scott and Basil continued to observe the activity outside.
    The sky had turned a dark shade of blue, and stars started appearing in the sky. The searchlight on the helicopter reflected diffused light off the ground, casting an eerie glow around the area. After about fifteen more minutes of silence, eight soldiers seemingly came out of nowhere and converged on the helicopter. All ten climbed back into the helicopter, and the helicopter’s rotors started spinning with more speed. Soon, it lifted off the ground and headed further down the highway, its searchlight scanning the ground below.
    Scott and Basil breathed a sigh of relief.
    "Gods," exclaimed Scott, "I thought they had us there."
    Ted nodded from across the room. "Did you notice they were taking down license numbers off of the vehicles earlier, before they entered the hotel?"
    Scott nodded.
    "We’re going to have to ditch the truck," noted Basil.