S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 134

Rock Killer for Free!

Coming up this weekend, the 1st and the 2nd, my highly reviewed novel Rock Killer will be free on the Kindle.  If you don't have a Kindle there are free Kindle apps for all sorts of devices.  This is your chance to read this book that's been called "as if Tom Clancy wrote science fiction."

(Almost) No Snow

(Anyone who knows me knows I'm a bit of a weather geek.  So that will probably come through on this blog from time to time.  Sorry.)

Here it is November 28th and we've had nearly no snow.  We got just a light dusting yesterday morning but it quickly melted under the dual assault of rain and temperature.  Now the forecast for the rest of the week is for rain.  Lots of rain.  This is very unusual for this part of Washington State.  What is more typical is some snow, then days of overcast during which the snow slowly melts, then another dump of snow which then slowly melts.  And that continues until March.  Oh we might have a big bunch of snow that'll last a week or three.  But this year it's been rain and fog.  I hate fog.

How's the weather where you are?

Adepts Series Trailer

I've yet to embed a video in this blog because, well, I don't know how.  So I decided it was time to learn.  So, here is the book trailer for the three Adept Series books:
Wow, that was easy!  I have to admit, for a free service, Blogger is pretty good.  Only thing I don't like is the shape of the window which I don't seem able to change.

Sunday Six: The Suit of Armor

Today's Sunday Six from Chapter Eight of Book of Death :

The woman who had initially screamed did so again and jumped out of the way as a third suit of armor came in the back door, swinging its flail over its head.  Wynter couldn't stop in time and the ball hit him right in the temple with a sick, moist crunching sound.  Blood jetted in all directions from the impact, hitting me in the face and chest.  Wynter made a sound of anguish that I hoped I never heard again as he was knocked against a wall, his skull caved in, and I didn't want to imagine what was gushing from the wound.

I ducked and shot an airbolt at the suit.  That knocked it back a bit and dented the supposedly priceless metal, but it still kept coming.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

You know, the internet is an interesting thing.  You might be reading this in Kazakhstan in which case it's probably tomorrow and you don't have Thanksgiving anyway.  But that's okay, you can still be thankful for all that you have.  And eat turkey.  So happy thanksgiving!

Oh, don't forget the stuffing!

BCS Playoff System

I hate (hate hate) the BCS college football system for choosing a national championship.  And I think a lot of other folks do to.  And in response, the BCS is talking about going to a limited BCS playoff system but it's still going to be based on BCS rankings which, frankly I don't understand (e.g., how can Boise State be undefeated yet not in contention for a national championship?).

So I'd like to see a full blown playoff.  There are eleven conferences in BCS football.  (I guess the independents would have to join a conference to participate, sorry BYU).  Take the winning team from each conference and the two highest BCS ranked teams that are not conference champions as "wildcards."  You now have 13 teams.  Give the #1 ranked team a bye, play six games, and you have six winners.  Play three games and you have three winners.  Plug in the #1 team (against the lowest ranked team still standing), and you have four teams.  Two more games and you have your BCS championship match.

That's twelve total games (and there's 35 bowl games right now).  If we can't fit 12 playoff games into 35 bowl games, we've got a problem.

This would make bowl games mean something other than bagging rights.  This would up the excitement level for BCS football.  This would make winning a conference more important than ever.  And this would mean a team like Boise State could prove themselves outside their weak conference.  The only downside is that could mean a lot of games for some teams, potentially four post-season games for a 16-game season which is a lot for college ball.

It also means we'll probably have to tighten up bowl eligibility beyond a .500 season.  Which isn't a bad thing.

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Alma Calihan on winning the quarterly book drawing at my website www.sevantownsend.com.  You, too, could win the paperback or eBook of your choice.  Sign up today.  Next drawing is in February.

Sunday Six: Undercover

Today's Sunday Six from Chapter Seven of Book of Death :

Unfortunately, one couldn't just hop in a car and drive to a city seventy-five miles away.  Maybe Romanians could but not foreigners.  The Romanian government had to be informed and permission obtained.  I wasn't too happy about informing the Romanian government that I was traveling to Pitesti.  But since I was officially a diplomat, an excuse had already been fabricated for me to go there.  Apparently I was to study the puppet theater at the County Theater for its cultural significance, and to determine if the performers could travel to the U.S. in a "cultural exchange." 

Review of Book of Death

Check out this great review of Book of Death at Beauty in Ruins blog!  An excerpt:

I was hoping for something different with Book of Death, and I'm pleased to say it delivered.

More MarbleCam Madness

My friend, Sare, introduced me through her blog to MarbleCam, an iPhone app (free) that manipulates photographs.  So she and I have been having fun texting each other our latest MarbleCam creations.  See if you can figure out what all of these are (they are all mine):