Phil Giunta's Blog, page 99

Book Review: The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

Frederick Hallam, a radiochemist of average intellect and fresh out of university, suddenly finds himself in communication with beings from a parallel Universe who had contacted him by locating a nearly forgotten bottle of Tungsten metal on Hallam's desk.  Through his communication with these "para-Men", Hallam learns how to build an Electron Pump that allows energy to be transferred between the two universes cleanly and with no pollution. 

Hallam is hailed a hero and named Father of the Electron Pump, but his partner, Ben Denison knows otherwise.  Denison is well aware that the design of the pump originated from the beings in the parallel Universe.  However, when Denison tries to speak out, he is silenced and blackballed by the scientific community.

Years, later, a physicist named Frank Lamont uncovers dangerous information about the Pump, that it's very existence could destroy our galaxy, and interviews Hallam about it.  Hallam is naturally outraged and moves against Lamont, pulling strings that nearly crush Lamont's career.  As a last resort, Lamont approaches Senator Burt, head of the Committee on Technology and Environment, to discuss his evidence.   Burt explains that if Lamont can prove his theories with unimpeachable math, the senator will do his best to take Hallam down.   Returning to his laboratory, Lamont finds another message from the para-Universe:  PUMP BAD PUMP BAD STOP STOP STOP PUMP!!!!

Meanwhile, on a planet in the parallel universe, beings known as Soft Ones, mutable sentient creatures capable of shape shifting, work together with Hard Ones, solid bi-pedal beings that cannot touch the Soft Ones without enduring pain.  Within the culture of the Soft Ones, there are three types, Emotional, Parental, and Rational.  Together, they make a triad, what we might consider a family.   Only the Rationals ever speak to the Hard Ones, as the Hard Ones are the most intelligent of all beings and only the Rationals can understand them. 

In one unusual triad, Odeen the Rational works closely with the Hard Ones on the Electron Pump while explaining his work to Dua, his Emotional mate. Breaking tradition and stereotype, Dua takes a deep interest in science.  Meanwhile, their Parental mate, Tritt, is only concerned with taking care of the triad's children and becomes jealous of Odeen's attention to Dua.

However, Dua defies all and makes her way into the caverns where the Pump is being constructed.  Armed with scientific knowledge beyond that of any Emotional, she learns of the dangers of the Pump and sends a message of warning to our universe...

Back in our universe, Denison arrives on the Moon (now populated for generations) in an attempt to rehabilitate his scientific career.  He works with a device called the Pionizer, partly designed by Lunar scientists, that he hopes will compensate for the dangerous levels of energy being pulled into our Universe by the Electron Pump.  In doing so, he encounters friction from the existing lead physicist, Barron Neville who sends his girlfriend, Selene, to spy on Denison.

Can Denison finally disprove Hallam?  What is Neville's true agenda on the Moon?  With whom does Selene's loyalty actually lie?

Asimov breaks the story into three parts, each containing several chapters. 

Part One: "against stupidity..."
Part Two: "...the gods themselves..."
Part Three: "...contend in vain?"  

("Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.")

While the entire book is a fine example of hard SF, it is truly the final section that is most laden with scientific discourse between the characters of Denison and Selene and finally, Lunar administrator Gottstein, Denison, and Neville.  In that way, the story turns dry at times, but it was actually a pleasure to read an "old school hard SF novel" by one of the masters.  The Gods Themselves is a well paced, intelligent story with imaginative development of the aliens in the para-Universe.  It's no surprise that it took the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972 and the Hugo Award the following year.

ARGO

I went into ARGO with high expectations and I was not disappointed.  The pacing, editing, direction, acting, everything about this film was superbly done.   I'd never been a fan of Ben Affleck previous to this film, but now I have total respect for him as an actor and director.   He has truly made his mark.

In excellent storytelling fashion, the tension in this film never once let up and the main cast of Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman and Alan Arkin delivered wonderful, emotional performances.  Beyond that, hats off to Tate Donovan, Clea Duvall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, and Kerry Bishe, the actors who portrayed the six escaped Americans.   Their shining performance drew you into their characters' fear and anxiety.  

The old cliche that truth is stranger than fiction applies to the events recounted in ARGO. To enter a hostile nation posing as an associate producer of a Canadian sci-fi movie and training six frightened embassy employees to become a film crew practically overnight was a brash, brazen plan straight out of, well, a movie.  :-)

On a side note, fellow collectors of vintage SF memorabilia will enjoy the scenes just prior to the credits.  There is also a closing narration by Jimmy Carter that adds a perfect touch to this gem.    In conclusion, Argo see this film!

Images copyright 2012 Warner Bros Films, Smokehouse Films, and GK Films.

Now and Then, I Do a Book Signing...

I'm pleased to announce that my publisher, Steven H. Wilson, and I will be signing books from 11AM to 2PM on Saturday, November 10 at Now and Then Books in Emmaus, PA!

A major thank you to shop owner Thom Christian.  I paid a visit to his new location on Saturday and it's a wonderful spot, easily accessible just off Main Street in Emmaus on 4th.

Steve and I will have copies of all Firebringer Press titles as well as ReDeus: Divine Tales , the latest anthology from Crazy 8 Press featuring stories from 11 writers including Steve and me.  What if the ancient gods from every culture on Earth returned today? Find out in this bold new anthology, the first in a series.

Firebringer Press titles currently available include:


Taken Liberty by Steven H. Wilson

Bred to serve as a pleasure slave, she escaped and masqueraded as a human. Now, Aer’La’s secret has been discovered, and she learns that even a free society isn’t willing to grant freedom - or justice - to all. Based on Steven's long running podcast audio drama, The Arbiter Chronicles, winner of the Mark Time and Parsec Awards!

Unfriendly Persuasion by Steven H. Wilson

Lieutenant Terry Metcalfe saved human civilization from the warlike Qraitian Empire, but all he wants is to find God. On the planet Eleusis, he may have. Or is he just under the spell of a malevolent new enemy? Based on Steven's long running podcast audio drama, The Arbiter Chronicles, winner of the Mark Time and Parsec Awards!

Peace Lord of the Red Planet by Steven H. Wilson

A Quaker physician in the War Between the States who runs afoul of a Confederate mob and is hanged. He awakens on an alien world, where he is hailed by bloodthirsty killers as the bravest man alive.

Testing the Prisoner by Phil Giunta

After the death of his estranged mother, Daniel is thrown between two ghostly entities at war with one another. Forced to relive moments from his violent youth, he finds himself in battle for the soul of someone he left behind.

Heroic Park: A SuperHuman Times Novel by Lance Woods

Thanks to cutting-edge science and old-fashioned showmanship, visitors can speed, soar, and more at the revolutionary Heroic Park! But when a park employee suffers a bizarre death days before the opening of the park's new expansion, Kevin Dunbar, correspondent for the The Superhuman Times, wants to find out why. Based on Lance's podcast audio drama, Superhuman Times.

Now and Then, I Do a Booksigning...

I'm pleased to announce that my publisher, Steven H. Wilson, and I will be signing books from 11AM to 2PM on Saturday, November 10 at Now and Then Books in Emmaus, PA!

A major thank you to shop owner Thom Christian.  I paid a visit to his new location on Saturday and it's a wonderful spot, easily accessible just off Main Street in Emmaus on 4th.

Steve and I will have copies of all Firebringer Press titles as well as ReDeus: Divine Tales , the latest anthology from Crazy 8 Press featuring stories from 11 writers including Steve and me.  What if the ancient gods from every culture on Earth returned today? Find out in this bold new anthology, the first in a series.

Firebringer Press titles currently available include:


Taken Liberty by Steven H. Wilson

Bred to serve as a pleasure slave, she escaped and masqueraded as a human. Now, Aer’La’s secret has been discovered, and she learns that even a free society isn’t willing to grant freedom - or justice - to all. Based on Steven's long running podcast audio drama, The Arbiter Chronicles, winner of the Mark Time and Parsec Awards!

Unfriendly Persuasion by Steven H. Wilson

Lieutenant Terry Metcalfe saved human civilization from the warlike Qraitian Empire, but all he wants is to find God. On the planet Eleusis, he may have. Or is he just under the spell of a malevolent new enemy? Based on Steven's long running podcast audio drama, The Arbiter Chronicles, winner of the Mark Time and Parsec Awards!

Peace Lord of the Red Planet by Steven H. Wilson

A Quaker physician in the War Between the States who runs afoul of a Confederate mob and is hanged. He awakens on an alien world, where he is hailed by bloodthirsty killers as the bravest man alive.

Testing the Prisoner by Phil Giunta

After the death of his estranged mother, Daniel is thrown between two ghostly entities at war with one another. Forced to relive moments from his violent youth, he finds himself in battle for the soul of someone he left behind.

Heroic Park: A SuperHuman Times Novel by Lance Woods

Thanks to cutting-edge science and old-fashioned showmanship, visitors can speed, soar, and more at the revolutionary Heroic Park! But when a park employee suffers a bizarre death days before the opening of the park's new expansion, Kevin Dunbar, correspondent for the The Superhuman Times, wants to find out why. Based on Lance's podcast audio drama, Superhuman Times.

About This Writing Stuff...

This week, we congratulate two writers: Michael Jan Friedman on the upcoming release of Aztlan: The Courts of Heaven , a sequel to his novella, Aztlan: The Last Sun and also Shelli Johnson for recently winning a silver medal from the Military Writers Society of America for her novel, Small as a Mustard Seed!  Then Shelli tells us to write like a mother*****!  David Gaughran reports on a new effort to fill bookshelves in school libraries.  From Kristen Lamb, we get parts 6 and 7 of her lesson on Structure while Kristine Kathryn Rusch concludes her dissertation on why writers sometimes pop off.  

Veronica Sicoe doesn't think much of Amazon's new author rankings, Dean Wesley Smith tells us that good storytelling sells perhaps better than all the promotion in the world and Writer Unboxed provides excellent advice on writing dialogue, villains and henchmen, platform building and new ways to find publishing success.


Fill the Shelves - A Great New Initiative to Help Underfunded School Libraries by David Gaughran

Maybe You Wrote a Good Book by Dean Wesley Smith

Structure Part 6 - Getting Primal and Staying Simple   and Part 7 - Genre Matters by Kristen Lamb

Why Writers Disappear (Part Three) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Small as a Mustard Seed Wins MWSA Silver Medal for Literary Fiction by Shelli Johnson

Write Like a Mother******* by Shelli Johnson

Amazon's Author Ranking and Why It Means So Little by Veronica Sicoe

10 Tips for Writing Impactful Dialogue by Catherine McKenzie

Sidekicks and Henchmen by Sophie Masson

The New Path to Writing Success by Jon Bard

Building Your Platform--How Much is Enough? by Chuck Sambuchino

Aztlan: The Courts of Heaven to be Released in November by Michael Jan Friedman

About This Writing Stuff...

This week, Dean Wesley Smith touches on promotion--and why it can be a waste of time for new writers.  Kristine Kathryn Rusch continues to explain why some writers vanish. Jody Hedlund talks sense(s) while Kristen Lamb gives a lesson on log lines.  Veronica Sicoe encourages us to understand the purpose in our blogging while Robin LeFevers gives us grief.   NaNoWriMo is coming and Writer Unboxed dishes out some advice to help us prepare.

James Scott Bell gives us some tips on revision (I was fortunate to meet Mr. Bell and attend a session he gave on revision at last year's Write Stuff Conference in Allentown, PA).

And much more...enjoy!


New World of Publishing: Promotion by Dean Wesley Smith

Why Writers Disappear: Part Two by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Using the 5 Senses to Make Our Stories Jump Off the Page by Jody Hedlund

CreateSpace: Unwelcome at Bookstores?  by Jennie Coughlin

Structure Part 5-Keeping Focused and Nailing the Pitch-Understand Your Seed Idea by Kristen Lamb

What Are You Blogging For?   by Veronica Sicoe

Blurb Wants to Bring Illustrated E-Books Up To Speed for Publishers and Consumers by Jeremy Greenfield

The Seven Stages of Publishing Grief by Robin LeFevers

Pre-Plot for NaNoWriMo by Martha Alderson

NaNoWriMo - The Pitfalls and How To Deftly Avoid Them by Lisa Cron

4 Ways to Revise as You Write by James Scott Bell

How to Write a Script: Push Your Protagonist to the Edge by Neil Landau

About This Writing Stuff...

This week it's an abbreviated version of About This Writing Stuff as I'm a bit overwhelmed. Steven H. Wilson encourages all of us to support our local bookstores.   Cherie Marks shares her experiences from self-publishing.   Kristen Lamb continues her lesson on Structure while Veronica Sicoe imparts what she learned while drafting her novel.  Kristine Kathryn Rusch explains why some writers fall off the face of the Earth.  Who knows how planning a party could be compared to world building? Diane Peterfreund does!

All that and more...enjoy!


Support Your Local Bookstore by Steven H. Wilson

Self-Publishing: Second Class No More?  by Terri Giuliano Long 

Ebooks in Libraries: They Still Don't Get It by Joe Konrath

What I Learned from Self-Publishing by Cherie Marks

Structure Part 4- Testing Your Idea - Is it Strong Enough to Make an Interesting Novel? by Kristen Lamb

Why Writers Disappear by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Things I Learned While Drafting by Veronica Sicoe

How Party Planning is Like World Building by Diana Peterfreund

Author Interview: Chris Redding

Recently, Chris Redding re-released her thriller novel, Incendiary, with a new publisher.  Back in May 2010, I answered a post from Chris on the Writers Coffehouse Yahoo group inviting authors to provide a blurb about their books for one of her weekly blog posts.  Chris was kind enough to host me on her blog and I am happy to be able to return the favor!

 

First, tell us where we can find you online.

http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/chrisreddingauthor

www.twitter.com/chrisredding

At what age did you realize your talent for writing and storytelling?  What was the first story you ever wrote, published or not? 

I was ten. The assignment  was to write a short story. I wrote about an old lady who had a bunch of cats. I received an “A” and was allowed to read it in front of the class.  Before I read I was the geeky, four-eyed know it all.  The class had a new respect for me after I read my story.  I don’t remember the name of it.

My current novels (both published and forthcoming) are both in the paranormal genre.  As such, I was curious as to what inspired one of your early novels, Corpse Whisperer (Enspiren Press, October 2007 now self-published).

There used to be a show called Tru Calling. Tru worked in the morgue and when she touched certain people, she would rewind back in time to prevent their deaths. I took it one step further to only murder victims and made my heroine a paramedic.

Two of your novels, Blonde Demolition (Imajin Books, November 2011) and The Drinking Game (CreateSpace, June 2011) deal with characters in law enforcement (cops, the FBI and Homeland Security, for example).   What attracts you to crime/mystery/action adventure as a backdrop for romance?

I love men in uniform? I have worked in EMS in some form for almost 20 years. The last few only tangentially, but it has brought me in contact with law enforcement. I am fascinated by their mentality. Also, when I was a kid I read 3 grades ahead of the one I was in so at a young age I was reading adult novels. Agatha Christie was something my mom felt comfortable letting me read so I kind of grew up on crime novels.

Gotta love a title like A View to a Kilt (Echelon Press, November 2011)!   Can you give us a blurb on the story?

She’s an interior decorator with a secret. He’s a former FBI agent who needs to know her secret to solve his wife’s murder. Mayhem ensues!

You’ve recently re-released Incendiary (Imajin Press, September 2012), a crime drama dealing with arson.   I recently had a long discussion with a few other authors about the value of a cover that really ‘pops’.    What was the catalyst behind your decision to change the cover on Incendiary?

That’s easy. I changed publishers.

What can readers expect next from you?

That I will try many new things. I have the attention span of –oh look, a squirrel- lol. I don’t like to be bored. Right now I am dabbling in romantic comedy. I seem to have a sense of humor in my writing (as in life) so I am going with it. And the romantic comedies will involve dogs.

  

What does Chris Redding do when she isn’t writing?

I wish I had some witty answer, but I spend so much time on my writing career that I don’t have a fascinating hobby. I do like to cook and am thinking about writing a cook book. I also cart my younger son to and from cross country meets and 4-H rabbit shows.  I used to cross stitch.

Tea with Heroic Park author, Lance Woods!

Friend and fellow Firebringer Press author Lance Woods will be signing copies of his debut novel, Heroic Park (and sipping tea!) at Constellation Books, 303 Main St. in Reisterstown, Maryland on Saturday, 06 October from 3PM to 5PM.  If you are in the area, stop on by!!

Tea with Lance Woods

About This Writing Stuff...

This week, Fred Rosen enlightens us on selling TV and film rights for our books and Kristen Lamb further educates us on structure.  Jami Gold is concerned about the damage caused by fake reviews while Konrath takes the opposite approach.   Kristine Kathryn Rusch encourages to stop thinking small and adopt a long term perspective for our writing careers. The ALA is at wits end with traditional publishing over book lending while James Scott Bell talks book discovery.

Bob Greenberger salutes Star Trek: The Next Generation and talks up the After Earth media tie-in novels and comics leading up to the film to be released in 2013 starring and co-produced by Will Smith.   Earlier this year, Bob--along with NYT bestselling authors Peter David and Michael Jan Friedman--met with Will Smith in person to discuss the media tie-in projects.  Exciting stuff! 

And more....enjoy!


Selling Your Book's Movie and TV Rights - What You Need to Know by Fred Rosen

Structure Part 2 - Plot Problems and Part 3 - Introducing the Opposition by Kristen Lamb
 
Watching the Numbers by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

How Fake Reviews Hurt Everyone by Jami Gold

Konrath Posts Fake Amazon Reviews by Joe Konrath

How Will Your Book Get Discovered in the Rolling Sea of Digital Publishing? by James Scott Bell

OverDrive Now Available on Nook via Digital Book Wire

Are Publishers Making a Killing on eBooks? - Part 1 by Richard Curtis

Librarian Patience Has Run Out on E-Book Lending Issues, ALA Says by Jeremy Greenfield

After Earth Novels now Available for Pre-Order by Bob Greenberger

Saluting Star Trek: The Next Generation by Bob Greenberger