Lois H. Gresh's Blog, page 14
September 28, 2011
The Hunger Games Companion - REAL table of contents
Apparently, the incorrect first two chapters of my book are on the internet. Um... this book will be released on November 8, 2011 -- yes, more than a month from now. And yet unproofed chapters -- and the wrong chapters! -- are posted in various places on the internet. Without further ado, this is THE REAL TABLE OF CONTENTS of The Hunger Games Companion:
Chapter 1. The Hunger Games Trilogy:
Surviving the End of the World
Chapter 2. Repressive Regimes and Rebellions:
Could The Hunger Games Really Happen?
Chapter 3. Hunger: Starving in the Districts
Chapter 4. Tributes: Gladiators in the Arena
Chapter 5. Weapons: How Tributes Survive
Chapter 6. Torture and Execution: What a Way to Go
Chapter 7. The Nature of Evil: President Snow and His Cronies
Chapter 8. Killer Kids: How Responsible are They?
Chapter 9. Hype Over Substance: A Mirror of Modern Times
Chapter 10. Theseus and the Minotaur: Parallels
Chapter 11. Survival Instincts and Strategies:
Does Katniss Know What She's Doing?
Chapter 12. Medicines and Poisons: Simple and Complex
Chapter 13. Muttations and Other Hybrids:
Birds, Beasts, and Roses
Chapter 14. More Weird Science: A Brief Roundup
Appendix A End-of-the-World Scenarios
Appendix B Apocalyptic and Dystoptian Post-Apocalyptic Fiction:
Further Reading
September 25, 2011
Roc-Con Guest of Honor Report
Hundreds of fans showed up for a fun day with JG Hertzler, Eileen Stevens, Steve Skeates, Stephen Lindsay, moi, and many others. I met a lot of students from RIT, MCC, UR, and various Rochester area high schools, and people showed up from NYC, Albany, Syracuse, and other far-off places.
My thanks also goes to all the wonderful people who stopped by to talk to me and/or buy my books. I was bowled over by the friendliness, overall good will, and positive vibes at Roc-Con.
Here I am with JG Hertzler, famous actor of 6 different characters on Star Trek, most notably Klingon General & Chancellor Martok. He's also has appeared on many other TV shows and movies. He's incredibly entertaining and an all-around nice guy!
And oh what a thrill it was to sit next to Steve Skeates, who wrote AQUAMAN for 3 years in the era when Jim Aparo did the art! Steve was also co-creator of The Hawk and The Dove - and lots more, and he won 4 Shazam Awards for comics writing. We talked for hours. I gave him a copy of ELDRITCH EVOLUTIONS, and he gave me some goodies, too.
Steve signed a copy of THE SCIENCE OF SUPERHEROES, which I co-authored with Bob Weinberg in 2002. Specifically, he signed the AQUAMAN chapter. Did I mention sufficiently how thrilling it was for me to meet this man?
Here we are posing with the signed copy of SUPERHEROES. I also took a photo of Steve while he was signing an original AQUAMAN comic for a couple of guys who bought copies of ELDRITCH EVOLUTIONS, too.
Steve gave me a signed copy of Alter Ego, Roy Thomas' Sub-Aqueous Comics Fanzine featuring fascinating interviews with Steve along with comics snippets. I read about half of the book late last night.
I was also the lucky recipient of a signed copy of AQUAMAN DEATH OF A PRINCE, which is a whopping big full-color book. He signed his stories, too: As the Undersea City Sleeps; The King is Dead, Long Live the King; The Menace of the Marine Marauder.
The next photo shows me with the lovely and very talented Eileen Stevens, voiceover actress in Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and many other anime shows. She did a few of her anime voiceovers for me, which was a lot of fun.
And here I am with Stephen Lindsay, who writes comic scripts and is actively involved in some projects at the SF TV channel, as well.
The Rochester Fantasy Fans had a table at Roc-Con, represented here by Wayne Brown and Frank Glover. Folks from Eeriecon were on hand, as well. Wayne mentioned that he's hoping to run another Astronomicon in 2012. This long-running Rochester con is a much-loved and long-running event in the area. A lot of the Eeriecon guys and gals will be happy to see another Astro, too.
Scott David Aniolowski and his brother, Steve Aniolowski, were on site during the morning. Although Scott has a complementary copy of ELDRITCH EVOLUTIONS, Steve bought a copy for himself. (Hey, thanks, man!) This was Steve's first convention, so I hope he had some fun.
As I was leaving the con for the day, I saw this guy, who just screams ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. He's an RIT student and told me that RIT will present a (probably at midnight) theatrical rendition of ROCKY HORROR on Halloween this year. I WILL DEFINITELY BE THERE.
Finally, I must show you a necklace I nabbed from Sweet Poisons Cupcake Designs - a black skull on a purple and black background with a black chain -- oh, yes baby!
August 18, 2011
Sherlock Holmes Cover
Arrived today - latest Sherlock Holmes anthology. Love this cover! I've been on a Sherlock Holmes kick lately, watching a bunch of the old movies. And voila, this lovely new antho shows up in the mail! (Yes, I have a story in it.)
Human Brain Computers? Coming Soon from IBM
The human brain has 80-100 billion neurons and approximately 100 trillion synapses. Kudos to IBM for pushing the boundaries of AI (see below)! But we still have a way to go before the digital human brain equates to the flesh-and-blood human brain.
IBM announces experimental cognitive chips that emulate the human brain's ability to sense, perceive, & interact. Each brain-like "unit" has 256 neurons, "an array of 256 by 256 (or a total of 262,144) synapses, and 256 axons."
August 15, 2011
E-publishing tsunami about to hit!
I used to own a bunch of those O'Reilly books. Java in a NutshellSQL in a NutshellJavascript in a Nutshelletc etc etcMaybe I just liked the cute animals on the covers.
I still see the books on the shelves of programmers and IT guys -- not that I often see the insides of offices anymore. My days are spent in the Dungeon, where I write books and stories.
I recently came across a post, in which Tim O'Reilly, the nutshell media mogul, talks about the rise of e-books as if we should all expect an e-publishing tsunami. The interview with O'Reilly is by Harvard Library Innovation Lab's David Weinberger. Here's the link.
August 7, 2011
Eeriecon 2012 Program Book - author's photo dilemma
With the amazing and talented Catherine Asaro, I'll be a Guest of Honor at 2012 Eeriecon, and I have to supply an author's photo for their program book. I'm leaning toward the photo to the left.
I love this photo. It's so insane!
It was shot in Milan, Italy when I was in a lot of pain. In fact, I could barely stand, and perhaps if I had indeed keeled over, I was in a good spot for it.
On the other hand, the photo below is my standard author's headshot. In this photo, I look a lot better than I do in real life (as anyone who knows me can attest). Behind me are some of the books I've written. Yes, it's a standard, boring author's photo.
I'm going with the crazy candle-church photo, yes!
The Hunger Games Companion - Advanced Reading Copies
I recently received a few of the Advanced Reading Copies (otherwise known as ARCs) of THE HUNGER GAMES COMPANION: THE UNAUTHORIZED GUIDE TO THE SERIES. I want to share the beautiful cover with you!
Gorgeous! St. Martin's Press does a magnificent job with my books, and it's always a pleasure to work with them. I've had the same editor at St. Martin's since 2000, when he published DRAGONBALL Z, which I wrote with my 10-year-old son.
So what is an Advanced Reading Copy? Simply put, it's a bound copy of the real book -- as it will be appear in bookstores -- except that it omits my proofreading corrections.
Behind the scenes, I have indeed proofread what's called the "galleys" -- the typeset book as it appears in the ARC -- and submitted my corrections. At this stage of the game, the corrections typically are confined to catching typos and other small errors. While I was proofreading THE HUNGER GAMES COMPANION, the publisher was printing the ARCs.
When St. Martin's publishes THE HUNGER GAMES COMPANION, my corrections will be in the book.
I can't wait for you guys to read THE HUNGER GAMES COMPANION! Then we can start talking about Katniss, Peeta, the Games themselves, and everything else related to Suzanne Collins' magnificent series!
NOVEMBER 8, 2011 RELEASE!
Coming soon... in this space... the table of contents and excerpts!
July 16, 2011
The Hunger Games Companion - everything from muttations to the APOCALYPSE!
Given that pre-sales are already trickling in for THE HUNGER GAMES COMPANION: The Unauthorized Guide to the Series , I might as well post the cover.
(drum roll)
This is one of my best speculative books. I analyze everything related to THE HUNGER GAMES, a series I truly enjoyed reading, and offer theories about everything from muttations to the apocalypse. NOVEMBER 8, 2011 RELEASE!
Coming soon... in this space... the table of contents and excerpts!
E-worms & Biblioworms
I'm currently writing a guest article about my book collection for another blog. I've always described myself as a bookophile, although I've never heard anyone else use the word. Before writing the article, I figured it might make sense to look up the definition.
Lo and behold, I could only find one definition of bookophile -- someone who has sex with books!
The word, bibliophile, is more accurate, but it feels too stuffy.
The word, bookworm, is also more accurate, but it feels too 1950s nerdy, as if I should don thick black-plastic glasses with duct tape holding them together.
Perhaps those of us who love to collect and read books are a combination of bibliophile and bookworm. Biblioworm? Bibliobookwormphile?
It occurs to me that with the rise of e-books, we may soon be called e-worms.
I read a wide variety of books and magazines: thrillers, weird fiction, hard science fiction, dark fantasy, horror, literary fiction, mysteries, poetry, sword & sorcery, comics, and nonfiction leaning towards science, art, and history. I read several books simultaneously, supplemented by news and magazines of all kinds.
What you see in the above photo is just a tiny sample of my thriller novels.
Does this mean I'm a thriller bookophile?
Heck, no!
I'm a thriller biblioworm, who is evolving into a thriller e-worm.
History Channel Ancient Aliens - Herbert Nitsch
I recently flew into New York City to appear on the History Channel's Ancient Aliens program. It was a fun day, full of adventure and interesting conversation.
Some of the most fascinating questions surrounded the feats of Herbert Nitsch. The director asked me to explain how Nitsch freedives down to 702 feet and returns to the surface so quickly without an oxygen tank.
She also asked me if Nitsch's abilities offer evidence of the Aquatic Ape Theory.
Fun questions!
I hope my discussion about Nitsch's technique and the Aquatic Ape Theory make it onto the program -- I think this guy is really cool, and the whole bit about the Aquatic Ape Theory has intrigued me for ten years or more.
Compared to Nitsch, I am no fish; I just flop around in the water.
