Y.S. Pascal's Blog, page 4

Congratulations to Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid! " Devil...

Congratulations to Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid! " Devil Wind" has been named a Finalist in the Suspense/Thriller category of the 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards!

Check out the complete list of winners and finalists at www.IndieBookAwards.com

Devil Wind will also be listed as a Finalist in the 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards catalog to be distributed at Book Expo America in New York later this month to thousands of attendees including book buyers, library representatives, media, industry professionals, and others.  Glad to hear more readers will be able to learn about my latest adventure.

SUSPENSE/THRILLER

WINNER:

Skip, by Stan Meihaus (Stan Meihaus) (ISBN 978-0578074092)

FINALISTS:

Devil Wind, by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid (Oceanview Publishing) (ISBN 978-1933515892)

Shadow Cay, by Leona Bodie (WRB Publishing) (ISBN 978-0984419814)

Shedrow, by Dean M. DeLuke (Grey Swan Press) (ISBN 978-0980037760)

Unfinished Business, by William G. Byrnes (Durban House Press) (978-0981848693)

Audiobook version of Rabbit in the Moon by Deborah & Joel Shlian a winner!

Just announced: the Audiobook version of "Rabbit in the Moon" produced by Spoken Word Inc and narrated by nationally honored radio talk show host, Barbara Whitesides, won Honorable Mention at this year's SF Book Festival.  Congrats to them all!! This just adds to the many awards the international thriller has already won including the Gold Medal for the Florida Book Award. Barbara Whitesides is also the voice for both Sammy Greene thrillers: "Dead Air" and "Devil Wind".

SF Book Festival

Efharisto to Mavis Manus and the Hellenic Journal

Check out the May Issue of the Hellenic Journal at www.HellenicJournal.org, available online.  Southern California commentator Mavis Manus has highlighted "Devil Wind" and its Greek-American co-author Linda Reid.

Mavis, please accept a warm thank you for your outstanding column from Linda Reid and Sammy Greene!

www.hellenicjournal.org

May news from Sammy Greene

Check out this May newsletter and the terrific Kindle deal for "Dead Air" (only $1.99 through May). Read some of the great reviews for "Devil Wind", my latest adventure. Learn about Spokenwordinc, the company that produced the Audiobook versions of "Dead Air" and "Devil Wind." Please sign the mailing list for future news from me!! Thanks to everyone who has already made "Devil Wind" so successful.

Devil Wind gets great review from Big Thrill

I am so excited!! Author Derek Gunn gave Devil Wind by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid a big thumbs up in the May issue of the Big Thrill, the International Thriller Writers' magazine. And don't forget, for this month only, Dead Air, the first in the series starring me (Sammy Greene) is available on Kindle for only $1.99. How can you beat that? And please, let me know how you like my adventures. I love hearing from you!!!

Devil Wind by Deborah Shlian & Linda Reid

Resonating with You

A couple of my "Devil Wind" readers have asked me about the resonator and how it worked.  I'm not an engineer, but I put in a call to Gus' buddy Keith McKay, CEO of Pueblo Technologies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he was happy to talk about the science of resonation and earthquake safety.

Sammy:  Thanks, Keith, for helping us out with resonator science.

Keith:  Sure.  Happy to help.  I know it sounds like science fiction, but base isolation and seismic control systems have been around for a long time.  Your very own City Hall building in Los Angeles has been retrofitted with such a system.

Sammy:  Didn't know that.  What does the system do?

Keith:  It keeps buildings from falling down in case of an earthquake.

Sammy:  That's a real good thing.  How does it do that?   We get some strong quakes in LA.

Keith:  Well, did you ever see that video of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge?

Sammy:  The one that fell in the 1940's?  They called it Galloping Gertie?

Keith:  Yes, you can see a video of the bridge online.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw )  The winds made the bridge buckle and sway like a wave.  Suspension bridges hang, they're suspended.  Usually, you can't tell they're flexible, and that they move.

Sammy:  Works for me.  I like to drive on solid ground.

Keith:  In most cases, wind doesn't move bridges much.  But with Tacoma Narrows, wind moved the bridge a lot.   The wind often  synchronized with the bridge's natural swaying, making the swaying stronger and stronger.  The wave built up more and more, and eventually became so big that the bridge collapsed.

Sammy:  Wow.  That is one impressive video.  Was anyone killed—I hope not…

Keith:  No people, thank heavens.  The owner of the car couldn't get his dog, and…

Sammy:  Oh, that's sad…    But buildings aren't bridges.  They're built on solid ground.

Keith:  Yes, but they actually  sway, not only with earthquakes but with wind, too.  If you've ever been on a top floor of the Sears Tower in Chicago—it rocks, literally.  That flexibility actually makes the building less likely to fall.

Sammy:  Good to know.  So a flexible building can ride out an earthquake?

Keith:  Sometimes.  But if it's a real strong earthquake, the forces might overcome the building's ability to stay up—that's where base isolation and control systems can help.

Sammy:  How so?

Keith:  Well, imagine earthquake or wind forces rocking a building.  Now what if you place a giant pillow between the building and the ground—the pillow would cushion and dampen the forces and make the building sway less.

Sammy:  Sure…

Keith:  Then, you add a computer control system that measures the earthquake forces and actually adjusts the pillow to counter the forces.  simply put, the earthquake pushes 3 feet one way, the control system adjusts the base, the pillow, to push back 3 feet.

Sammy:  Um…

Keith:  Here, stack 5 blocks on a plate.  Pick up the right rim of the plate and the blocks fall to the left.

Sammy:  Yes.

Keith:  Now, try it again.  This time, when you pick up the plate from the right side, take your left hand and push on the blocks towards the right—pushing back.

Sammy:  I can keep the blocks up.  I see.  But in "Devil Wind", the buildings fell down.

Keith:  Well, there're a lot more blocks making up a multi-story building, of course.  But the principle is the same.  Measure the quake with the control system and instruct the system to act like your left hand and oppose the quake forces.  If, however, you break into the system and cause it to work in the same direction as the quake forces, the building will fall down even faster.

Sammy:  Scary.  But in "Devil Wind", we didn't have an earthquake.

Keith:  No, but you had Devil Winds.  And explosions.  They'd make buildings sway like the Tacoma Narrows bridge, then, the bad guys could sneak into the control system,  and, rather than counter the swaying, synch up the system to magnify the swaying.  The building reaches a point where the resonating wave is so strong, it overcomes the ability of the building to flex.  Like the Tacoma Narrows bridge, it falls down.

Sammy:  Awful.   I'm so glad 'the bad guys' haven't dared try this again.  I hope people are protecting their control systems so they can't be manipulated.

Keith:  Don't worry, they are.  That's a big part of the work our company does.  Firewalls, encryption, IT security.

Sammy:  That's reassuring.  Thanks, Keith, for taking the time to enlighten us today.  Stay warm in New England!

Keith:  Spring's finally here—we will.  Wishing you and all of California a quiet seismic year.

Devil Wind book signing at Vero Beach Bookstore

Last weekend Deborah did an informal book signing at one of her favorite independent bookstores: The Vero Beach Book Center. Located at 2145 Indian River Blvd in Vero Beach, it is a wonderful store with terrific staff who love books! If you missed the signing, stop in for a copy of Devil Wind. Here's Deb in front of the store:

California Dreamin'

Just got off the phone with Linda Reid who's returned from two exciting book signings for Devil Wind.  She joined Ed Kaufman and his team at the wonderful M is for Mystery Bookstore in charming San Mateo, CA, after navigating the almost 8 mile San Mateo Bridge across the San Francisco Bay.  "It was very windy, and the water seemed to lap at the edge of the road.  Scary."  M is for Mystery is a wonderful bookstore in a cozy shopping outdoor promenade.  She and Deborah (on Skype) filled in folks on my adventures in Devil Wind and Dead Air.  Then, Ed introduced her to Sam's Sushi down the street.  SRO and the best sushi ever!  Thanks, Ed.

And then, just 30 miles from the border with TJ, Mexico, Linda was joined by fellow broadcaster Barbara Whitesides for a live interview at Mysterious Galaxy, where Patrick and his team provided a warm San Diego welcome.  Linda and Thomas Matthews, author of the new mystery, Rejection, spoke to Barbara about their books and the challenges and joys of being a writer today.  Judging from the photo below, it looks like the joys win.

Thomas Matthews and Linda Reid at Mysterious Galaxy

Thanks for spreading the word about Devil Wind, Linda

Dead Air by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid book review by Fran Lewis

Hi guys! Read this wonderful review of "Dead Air" - the first of my adventures. You can read it in hardback, on eBooks and you can now hear it on CD or download MP3!

Dead Air, winner of Royal Palm Literary Award for best thriller 2010

Devil Wind book review

Read this wonderful review of Devil Wind here! If you're looking for a fast-paced, exciting thriller, this is it. A great summer read (if I do say so myself).

Best to all,

Sammy!