S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 84

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Robert S. Hoyle and Sommer Nectarhoff

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are please to welcome writers Robert S. Hoyle and Sommer Nectarhoff.
Robert S. Hoyle and OllieRobert S. Hoyle

Then was hired by UNIVAC the 2nd biggest computer company in the world which, by accident, involved me with the USSR buying organization who were sold some computer which were becoming obsolete.

Went to the Univac training collage in Ilion NY where another accident after 5 months resulted in me
Going to the US Air Force in Germany where I installed the first two overseas online computers. Then 3 years in Libya, during King Idris’s reign based at Wheelus Air Base outside Tripoli. The wonderful Roman cities of Sabratha and Leptis Magna were visited and my wife and I discovered a new small Roman site nearby with great mosaics and many coins lying around.

A year after the Arab/sraeli 1967 War I went to IBM Tripoli and one year later to Beruit ,Lebanon leaving Tripoli 2 days before Ghaddafi took power. I moved to the Arabian Gulf, based in Kuwait and 3 years later was hired by OECD {Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development} as a Visiting Assistant Professor to teach MBA and MSc students at a Turkish University in Ankara.

Five years later I moved to alluvial diamond mine in South West Africa {now Namibia} but disliked the Afrikaaner attitudes [this was under apartheid] and was glad to get out after only 15 months.
I then went to Saudi Arabia working for Ralph M. Parsons, supervising the first days of the building [to take 27 years] of a brand new city at Yanbu on the Red Sea. We had first to build a town for the 27,000 workers from all over the world with a floating desalinization plant and all supporting services.

My wife, together with the majority of foreign females in Saudi Arabia, was less enthused with the life there although a long holiday in Hawaii, Hong Kong, USA and Crete helped.

We moved to Sri Lanka, which my wife considered her favorite country and I gave management advice to tea planters and other businesses. We also visited many areas in India [my favorite country], the Maldives and Kashmir.

I was planning to go to a S. American country but after receiving letter of welcome addressed to Comrade Robert and signed by xxxxx. Comrade President took a job in Scotland for 7 years before retiring to Spain 25 years ago,

Robert's Book:

The Winners? COCANZ v. The Group

Sommer NectarhoffSommer Nectarhoff

Sommer Nectarhoff is a writer from Chicago. He's always loved to read and write both fiction and poetry. His shorter pieces have been published in a variety of literary journals, and he is the author of numerous books to date, including the fantasy series The Book of Lokk. Also I’ll be attending an MFA program next fall.

Sommer's Books:

The Death of Ydain

Death’s Keep

Sommer's Links:

Twitter

From today's show: The floating hills of Pluto.

Listen to today's show at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

Netflix Streaming Trauma

It's been a traumatic few weeks. In the past month I have:
Watched the last Mad Men episodeWatched the last Parks and Recreation episodeWatched the last How I Met Your Mother episodeParks and Recreation's last episode was cute and sweet and didn't tug at the heart much. Maybe because of the format of the show you're not as invested in the characters as you are in other television shows. Parks and Recreation was funny and I loved the character of Ron Swanson.
Mad Men ended nearly perfectly. Of course, the entire show was done nearly perfectly. It was interesting how it wrapped up the stories of the six main characters. Each one sort of ended up where they belonged, and most with a happy ending (except Betty Draper/Francis). And Don Draper's smile said it all. Small spoiler: it ends, appropriately enough, with a commercial.
Now How I Met Your Mother was sort of a guilty pleasure. I enjoyed the show because it made me laugh. But the last two episodes really worked hard at pulling the heartstrings. Small spoiler: the blue french horn makes an appearance. 
With all the many actors who, over the years, appeared in that show, I only spotted two instances where they didn't get the same actor to appear as the same character. First, Robin's father was originally played by So, I'm looking for new things to watch. I've started watching Better Call Saul which is a spin-off from Breaking Bad and is nearly as good. And I started watching Luther, a BBC production that is interesting. I've only seen two episodes, so far.
But I need a comedy. Something to make me laugh. Any suggestions?

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Hank Brown and Bruno De Marques

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers Hank Brown and Bruno De Marques.
Hank BrownHank Brown

I've always been an action-adventure guy. My own real-life adventure began as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division, at 18 years old. I've wanted to write for a long time, and I never stopped dabbling in it, even when I was too busy (and immature) to take it as seriously as I should have. After accumulating some life experiences, I matured enough to produce work that readers enjoy. I hope to continue for as long as I'm able.

Hank's Books:

False Flag

The Greater Good

Tier Zero

Hank's Links:

Website
Blog
Twitter



Bruno De MarquesBruno De Marques

Bruno De Marques was a consultant for Accenture and a marketing professional for a large bank (BPI) before becoming a writer. He lives in Portugal with his wife, Rita, and his two daughters.

Bruno's Book:

Future Man

Bruno's Links:

Website
Facebook
Twitter

From Today's Show: Luxembourg aims to jump-start asteroid mining.


Listen to this show live at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

Update on Works in Progress

I currently have seven published novels:


Hammer of Thor (fantasy, Adept Series book one) Agent of Artifice  (fantasy, Adept Series book two) Book of Death  (fantasy, Adept Series book three) Gods of Strife  (fantasy, Adept Series book four) The Terror of Tombstone  (fantasy/western, Adept Series prequel) Rock Killer (science fiction) Treasure of the Black Hole (science fiction, Treasures of Space series book one)
But, I also have four novels at various stages from writing "Chapter One" to publishing.  They are:Forces (science fiction) which is at my publisher waiting for editing. Treasure of the Pirate Planet (science fiction, Treasures of Space series book two) which is almost ready to be self-published. It was my 2014 NaNoWriMo novel (which goes to show how much work goes into polishing a manuscript). Treasure of the Rogue Moon  (science fiction, Treasures of Space series book three) which was my 2015 NaNoWriMo novel that I haven't looked at since finishing the first draft. GIGO : (science fiction) which is maybe about one-half finished with the first draft. Title subject to change.You'll note that all my works in progress (WIPs) are science fiction. I've always considered myself primarily a science fiction writer, but then I got off on the Adept Series of fantasies. I currently have zero plans to write another fantasy.
I might even write that Rock Killer prequel and sequel I've been thinking about for years.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with M.H. Goyet and Anthony B Cummins

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome M.H. Goyet and Anthony B Cummins.
M.H. GoyetM.H. Goyet

I am originally from Westbrook, Maine, but have lived in Saco Maine for the past 20 years. I am 59 years old, married to my wife Karen for over 33 years. We have three adult boys 30, 27 & 23. (Youngest in the US Navy).

I am self-employed and have own the Design Center Llc a Commercial and Hospitality design firm in Saco for nine years.

Besides writing which is a new hobby, I enjoy painting, golf, cooking and traveling. I am a big fan of Sci Fi movies and of the Dune series of novels.

M.H.'s Book:
Messiah: The Quest To Save Humanity
M.H.'s Link:
Facebook
Anthony B Cummins A/K/A Capt Tonz
Ran away to sea at the age of 14, became a pirate at 17 and retired last year at 70. 
Done all the things pirates are supposed to do, public domain stories published on my website. However there are very many other stories and knowledge that I'm prepared to give out.
I've worked and known a vast array of people, Elton John, Saudi princes and sheiks, Politicians and even the Philippine president.
Pirates and piracy have little or nothing to do with Johnny Depp and how Hollywood projects us to be. Completely the opposite.
Since I have retired I do many radio shows and interviews and give lectures in the UK on piracy true history and future predictions, in short my book the 13th Day is just that, what is happening and what is about to happen.
So i'm being patient waiting an agent or co-writer 
Anthony's Book:
The 13th Day
Anthony's Links:
Website Facebook Twitter
From Today's Show: Nitrogen may be a sign of habitability 
Listen to today's show at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

Crisis of Confidence

It was bound to happen. After seven published novels (and two on the way) I have suddenly decided I'm a hack writer. My current WIP is awful and my NaNoWriMo novel, which needs revising/editing is probably even worse.

Not sure how to get out this slump. It started in September and I pushed my way through NaNoWriMo but that might have been a mistake.

I've gotten some good reviews for Treasure of the Black Hole (my last novel) but I don't feel anything I've written since is that good.

And I've written two books since then that are ready to be published. One is at my publisher waiting for editing and one I'm self-published (the sequel to Treasure of the Black Hole called Treasure of the Pirate Planet).

It's probably fine, I'm probably writing as well as I always have. I just don't feel it.  I have no idea why.

So how's your writing going?

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Trip Elix and D. Allen Rutherford

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers Trip Elix and D. Allen Rutherford.
Trip ElixTrip Elix

Trip Elix is a former hacker and published author. Like most advanced computer programmers he started coding computers when he was 12 years old.   His articles have appeared in daily and weekly publications in the United States. He writes both novels and books. He also writes a blog that focuses on security and privacy issues at http://tripelix.com.

In the past he has been a forensic computer technician who has used or owned almost every version of every operating system used since the 1980’s. He regularly attends security conferences held by the computer underground.

Trip's Book:
Extortionware 
Trip's Links:
Website/Blog Facebook Twitter Vimeo YouTube Tumblr Blog Flickr LinkedIn Google+ Tumblr Pinterest Ask About-me
D. Allen RutherfordD. Allen Rutherford
I’m 56 years old and semi-retired. I served 12 years as an Officer in the US Army (Infantry & Military Intelligence) before I got out of the service after serving 13+ months in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, & Iraq during the 1990/91 Gulf War. Subsequently, I returned to the Middle East to pursue a career as an international consultant facilitating technology transfer and industrial development projects (lived and worked out of the Middle East for 6+ years). After returning to the states I obtained my Masters Degree and taught college as an adjunct professor.  Eventually, I decided to teach secondary education where I taught 8th grade science for several years before deciding to semi-retire from the bump & grind to pursue a life as a speculative fiction writer.  Allen's Books:
Wargs: Curse of Misty Hollow
Wargs: Dominion (Kindle or Paperback)
Allen's Links:
Website Blog Facebook Twitter
From today's show: Most houses teeming with insects.
Listen to today's show at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

I was Hacked!

I was hacked.

My website, www.sevantownsend.com was hacked sometime last week. I found out because Google AdWords emailed me and said my website "violates our advertising policies." I once got a coupon for $100 worth of free advertising on Google AdWords and so I set up an AdWords account and advertised until the $100 was gone. So I'm, luckily, still in the AdWords system, apparently.

So the first thing I did was go to my website and look at it. It looked fine. So now I was skeptical.

So the email contained a link for more information. According to the link, Google believed there was malware on my website and they wanted me to go to the Search Console and sign in and look at my sight there. So I did. It didn't find anything.  This was Sunday morning.

But I went to Google and did a search on myself, which always brings up my website, and I saw this:

(I have a Norton plugin that supposed to check websites. As you can see, it gave my site the a-okay.)

Well, that wasn't good that it said "This site may be hacked." But I was a con, and didn't have the time nor the energy to look into it. I figured I'd have to call Google and find out what was going on.

Then Monday morning, at home from con, I checked the Search Console again out of curiosity. And it said I had malware on my site. Following the instructions in the Console, I "rendered" my site and it showed me what the Google bot saw and what people who go to my site would see. The later looked fine. But the Google bot saw nasty, awful stuff I won't relate here. Let's just say it was sexual.

My site had been hacked.

First thing I did was change the password to access my site.

Then I wondered what to do. I went to the interface where you can manipulate the files in my site (sort of a browser-based FTP). And I noticed three files that had been uploaded the last week. I didn't upload anything last week.

I spent a few minutes looking at the files on my computer and making sure those files weren't modified versions of those. They weren't. So I deleted them. (If they were modified, I would have uploaded the "clean" version from my computer backup of my website). I then "rendered" the website again and the Google bot saw what I saw. In other words, it appeared those three files I deleted were the problem and my site was now "clean."

Then I had to go back to the security issues page of the Search Console and request a review. They said it could take "several weeks" to take that hacked warning off my search results.

The same day I cleaned it up I got an email from AdWords saying my site "complies with our Advertising Policies" as it is now clean. Then, despite the "several weeks" warning, the "hacked" label came off my website sometime later that evening and is gone now.

Lesson learned; my password probably wasn't strong enough.

Podcast Interview

Listen to me ramble on about writing, speculative fiction, book promotion, and other stuff at the Wordslinger Podcast. You might learn something. Maybe.

Speculative Fiction Replay from January 1st, with Gordon Bonnet and Patrick Elliott

Today of the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are playing a "best of show" with authors Gordon Bonnet and Patrick Elliott.
Gordon BonnetGordon Bonnet

Gordon Bonnet has been writing fiction for decades. Encouraged when his story "Crazy Bird Bends His Beak" won critical acclaim in Mrs. Moore’s 1st grade class at Central Elementary School in St. Albans, West Virginia, he embarked on a long love affair with the written word. His interest in the paranormal goes back almost that far. Introduced to speculative, fantasy, and science fiction by such giants in the tradition as Madeleine L’Engle, Lloyd Alexander, Isaac Asimov, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien, he was captivated by those writers’ abilities to take the reader to a fictional world and make it seem tangible, to breathe life and passion and personality into characters who were (sometimes) not even human. He made journeys into darker realms upon meeting the works of Edgar Allen Poe and H. P. Lovecraft during his teenage years, and those authors still influence his imagination and his writing to this day.

Gordon's Books:

Kill Switch

Past Imperfect

Lock & Key

Gordon's Links:

Website
Fiction Blog
Science Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Patrick ElliotPatrick Elliott

Patrick has been writing for years while surviving in the corporate world. After hearing multiple versions of "Why aren't you published yet?" along with threats of bodily, possibly permanent harm, from friends and family, if forced to read one more novel before he was published he relented. He lives in the Seattle area.

Patrick's Works:


A Brief and Literal History of the World

Greycoat Blueback

"The Lamb's Gift" in an anthology.

Patrick's Links:

Website/Amazon Page
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Ello
Goodreads

From Today's Show: Robots Spying on Black Holes.

Listen to this replay live at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.