Jim Hamilton's Blog: My Jibber-Jabber
December 4, 2019
Black Friday / Cyber Monday Giveaway
I write because I enjoy it and have not been particularly concerned with the sales of my books. However, it's always rewarding if someone reads them and gets some modicum of enjoyment. All of my works, except one, are available as Kindle Unlimited editions, and, over the past weekend, all were available for free under the Kindle Unlimited promotion that is available.
Over five days, I gave away 820 copies. This may not be a lot to most folks, but it's a lot by my standards. Inasmuch as I was promoting 10 books in my Chaos Series, the 820 copies is realistically about 80 people downloading the entire set.
To anyone that downloaded my books this past weekend, thank you for your interest. I hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.
Happy landings!
Over five days, I gave away 820 copies. This may not be a lot to most folks, but it's a lot by my standards. Inasmuch as I was promoting 10 books in my Chaos Series, the 820 copies is realistically about 80 people downloading the entire set.
To anyone that downloaded my books this past weekend, thank you for your interest. I hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.
Happy landings!
October 25, 2019
The Chaos Series
After some considerable thought, I've decided to bring my Chaos Series to an end. My last book, After the Fall, brings everything full circle to where it all began some four million years ago. The entire series of ten works is available to Kindle Unlimited readers for FREE as well as reasonably priced for everyone else.
Find more at Amazon.
Find more at Amazon.
August 27, 2019
Free Kindle Book: The Chaos Machine
Starting today, the first novel of my Chaos Trilogy will be available for FREE through Saturday in Kindle format.
In 5342 BC, an alien freighter crashes on Earth, stranding the seven crew members that are on board. With the aid of a device that can predict the future, they learn that the native bipedal species will die out in less than a thousand years. Unable to idly stand by and watch this happen, they decide to secretly help the human race to survive by interfering in the natural order of events from time to time.
After nearly 7,400 years, however, their predictions show a cataclysmic event that will ultimately destroy the solar system only one year from now. In desperation, they kidnap the world's leading technical genius in the hopes that he can help them solve the problem and save everyone from certain extinction.
But will their combined efforts be enough to find a solution in time?
In 5342 BC, an alien freighter crashes on Earth, stranding the seven crew members that are on board. With the aid of a device that can predict the future, they learn that the native bipedal species will die out in less than a thousand years. Unable to idly stand by and watch this happen, they decide to secretly help the human race to survive by interfering in the natural order of events from time to time.
After nearly 7,400 years, however, their predictions show a cataclysmic event that will ultimately destroy the solar system only one year from now. In desperation, they kidnap the world's leading technical genius in the hopes that he can help them solve the problem and save everyone from certain extinction.
But will their combined efforts be enough to find a solution in time?
August 22, 2019
Before the Fall: A Prequel to The Chaos Series
I wanted to enter Amazon's storyteller contest, but I needed a new book to qualify. Not only that, I only had a few weeks in which to write one. As a result, I ended up writing a short (25,000 word) prequel to my other seven novels that fills in some previously unknown details.
This was a challenging book to write since it had to fit into the storylines of my previous works. Many of the characters had already been described, so the plot had to incorporate them somehow. Out of this evolved the character of Herreld Vale, a polymath equivalent to Leonardo da Vinci, but one that lived for 575 years. Imagine what Leo could have accomplished if he had lived that long, as he would still be alive today. In the past 500 years, we've gone from learning that the Earth is round to preparing to colonize Mars. And what if Leo wasn't entirely altruistic, but a ruthless psychopath bent on world domination?
The story is also a prelude as to what might eventually happen on Earth if we don't get our population growth under control. Set in a parallel galaxy on the other side of the Universe, the story of Shoomar four million years ago was easy to write since I only had to look around the world today.
I don't expect to actually win anything in the contest, but it was a nice incentive to publish another work. I expect to follow it someday with another prequel titled After the Fall.
Available on Amazon
This was a challenging book to write since it had to fit into the storylines of my previous works. Many of the characters had already been described, so the plot had to incorporate them somehow. Out of this evolved the character of Herreld Vale, a polymath equivalent to Leonardo da Vinci, but one that lived for 575 years. Imagine what Leo could have accomplished if he had lived that long, as he would still be alive today. In the past 500 years, we've gone from learning that the Earth is round to preparing to colonize Mars. And what if Leo wasn't entirely altruistic, but a ruthless psychopath bent on world domination?
The story is also a prelude as to what might eventually happen on Earth if we don't get our population growth under control. Set in a parallel galaxy on the other side of the Universe, the story of Shoomar four million years ago was easy to write since I only had to look around the world today.
I don't expect to actually win anything in the contest, but it was a nice incentive to publish another work. I expect to follow it someday with another prequel titled After the Fall.
Available on Amazon
August 6, 2019
The Taj Mahal in LEGOs
One of my hobbies is 3D modeling. I recently created the Taj Mahal using LEGOs modeled with SketchUp and rendered with KerkyThea:
Modeling Software: $0
Rendering Software: $0
Cost of Labor: $0
Five-Star Fun: Priceless!
Modeling Software: $0
Rendering Software: $0
Cost of Labor: $0
Five-Star Fun: Priceless!
June 27, 2019
Free E-Book from June 28th to July 2nd
The Chaos Trilogy is available for FREE for five days starting tomorrow!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076RNTWTF
Three stories about the past, present, and future of humanity that are interwoven into the chronicle of the struggle to rise above our natural proclivity for self-destruction.
If you like pulse-pounding carnage, sex, and gore, then this is definitely not for you.
On the other hand, if you like light-hearted Sci-Fi that resolves conflict and political situations with ingenuity instead of violence, you will like The Chaos Trilogy and its related works.
Download a copy and read it now ... or save it on your bookshelf for later.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076RNTWTF
Three stories about the past, present, and future of humanity that are interwoven into the chronicle of the struggle to rise above our natural proclivity for self-destruction.
If you like pulse-pounding carnage, sex, and gore, then this is definitely not for you.
On the other hand, if you like light-hearted Sci-Fi that resolves conflict and political situations with ingenuity instead of violence, you will like The Chaos Trilogy and its related works.
Download a copy and read it now ... or save it on your bookshelf for later.
April 29, 2019
Time for a Change
I've decided to replace the 25-year-old photo of myself with a new one that I took today. For the most part, I've managed to keep my ugly face from the Internet, but I think that it's high time for a change.
April 22, 2019
FREE Kindle Short Story (4/22-4/23)
Little is known about Leonardo da Vinci's early childhood, but he described how he once discovered a cave while exploring in the mountains. He was terrified that some great monster might lurk there but was driven by curiosity to find out what was inside. Until now, no one has ever known what he might have encountered.
The da Vinci Butterfly (an orphan chapter of The Chaos Trilogy) tells the true story behind da Vinci's discovery of the cave and how the experience forever changed his life (and that of mankind as well).
At 2,500 words, it's a short read. For today (Monday 4/22) and tomorrow (Tuesday 4/23), it's FREE in Kindle format. Take advantage of this offer to learn how Leonardo da Vinci became a true Renaissance Man and forever changed the course of history.
The da Vinci Butterfly (an orphan chapter of The Chaos Trilogy) tells the true story behind da Vinci's discovery of the cave and how the experience forever changed his life (and that of mankind as well).
At 2,500 words, it's a short read. For today (Monday 4/22) and tomorrow (Tuesday 4/23), it's FREE in Kindle format. Take advantage of this offer to learn how Leonardo da Vinci became a true Renaissance Man and forever changed the course of history.
April 15, 2019
Sufficiently Advanced Technology
One of my favorite quotes is by Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Often referred to as "Clarke's Third Law," it states: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. This is a common thread that runs through many of my novels as a fictional device, but it has its non-fictional equivalent in today's society.
Anyone reading this has access to the Internet using some sort of electronic device. We all know it's not magic, of course, but how many of us really understand how it works? And if we don't understand how it works, how can we objectively see where it's leading us as a society? As Google and Apple and others pull one rabbit out of a hat after another, we begin to believe that the rabbits we can only dream about will eventually appear as well. That technology will somehow solve all of the World's problems. Problems that have been caused by advancements in technology in the first place, not by some imaginary magic trick.
The World's population is sustained by a balancing act between the ability of technology to supply food and water and the number of people being born. When one exceeds the other, either starvation results or more people survive to reproduce. Or, as Thomas Malthus observed 200 years ago, "The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man."
However, there is hope in Clarke's First Law: When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. Just because we are stretching the limits of today's technology, it doesn't mean that we can't achieve the impossible. Or as Clarke noted in his Second Law, The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
Thanks to social media, the Wisdom of the Crowd says that it's only a matter of time before the next major breakthrough occurs ... that a new rabbit will be pulled from a hat that will solve everything. Something truly magical, of course, since no one really understands any of it anymore. And if no one understands it, maybe it really is magic, after all.
When the distinction between magic and technology blurs sufficiently, however, society begins to believe whatever it wants to believe and that anything is possible. Isaac Asimov wrote a corollary to Clarke's First Law: When, however, the lay public rallies round an idea that is denounced by distinguished but elderly scientists and supports that idea with great fervor and emotion -- the distinguished but elderly scientists are then, after all, probably right.
Houdini would have been amazed if he had lived to see our technology ... none of his magic tricks could hold a candle to the everyday magic we have today.
Anyone reading this has access to the Internet using some sort of electronic device. We all know it's not magic, of course, but how many of us really understand how it works? And if we don't understand how it works, how can we objectively see where it's leading us as a society? As Google and Apple and others pull one rabbit out of a hat after another, we begin to believe that the rabbits we can only dream about will eventually appear as well. That technology will somehow solve all of the World's problems. Problems that have been caused by advancements in technology in the first place, not by some imaginary magic trick.
The World's population is sustained by a balancing act between the ability of technology to supply food and water and the number of people being born. When one exceeds the other, either starvation results or more people survive to reproduce. Or, as Thomas Malthus observed 200 years ago, "The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man."
However, there is hope in Clarke's First Law: When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. Just because we are stretching the limits of today's technology, it doesn't mean that we can't achieve the impossible. Or as Clarke noted in his Second Law, The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
Thanks to social media, the Wisdom of the Crowd says that it's only a matter of time before the next major breakthrough occurs ... that a new rabbit will be pulled from a hat that will solve everything. Something truly magical, of course, since no one really understands any of it anymore. And if no one understands it, maybe it really is magic, after all.
When the distinction between magic and technology blurs sufficiently, however, society begins to believe whatever it wants to believe and that anything is possible. Isaac Asimov wrote a corollary to Clarke's First Law: When, however, the lay public rallies round an idea that is denounced by distinguished but elderly scientists and supports that idea with great fervor and emotion -- the distinguished but elderly scientists are then, after all, probably right.
Houdini would have been amazed if he had lived to see our technology ... none of his magic tricks could hold a candle to the everyday magic we have today.
March 25, 2019
The Chaos Trilogy: FREE for 5 Days!
I've enrolled The Chaos Trilogy in the Kindle Unlimited program on Amazon. Starting today (Monday, March 25), the Kindle version is FREE for the next five days.
"A trilogy of exuberant and lucid tales ..." — Kirkus Reviews.
It's three stories about the past, present, and future of humanity as it struggles to rise above its natural proclivity for self-destruction. From the dawn of the Sumerian Empire to the sunset of the Shoomaran Empire, this is the chronicle of how it finally succeeds.
If you like pulse-pounding carnage, sex, and gore, then this is definitely not for you.
On the other hand, if you like light-hearted Sci-Fi that resolves conflict and political situations with ingenuity instead of violence, you will like The Chaos Trilogy and its related works.
Download a copy and read it now ... or save it on your bookshelf for later.
"A trilogy of exuberant and lucid tales ..." — Kirkus Reviews.
It's three stories about the past, present, and future of humanity as it struggles to rise above its natural proclivity for self-destruction. From the dawn of the Sumerian Empire to the sunset of the Shoomaran Empire, this is the chronicle of how it finally succeeds.
If you like pulse-pounding carnage, sex, and gore, then this is definitely not for you.
On the other hand, if you like light-hearted Sci-Fi that resolves conflict and political situations with ingenuity instead of violence, you will like The Chaos Trilogy and its related works.
Download a copy and read it now ... or save it on your bookshelf for later.
