Michael Selden's Blog, page 2
April 7, 2021
Kindle Edition of Bosworth Free for 5 days
Bosworth was a finalist in the annual Colorado Author's League book awards.
Bosworth
February 22, 2021
Evolution of a Book Cover
I’ve published 4 books, which means I’ve struggled with 4 book covers, My first book (published, and second written) was The Boy Who Ran. Thus far, I’ve decided that I like to tell a story with he cover, even if that story isn’t clear.
The image below shows the gradual solidification of the cover for The Boy Who Ran. I had a number of discussions with Paola first, and it was she who drew the cover—I think very well.
There is a reason why the two characters in the image face the way they do and look out as they must—more on this later
June 4, 2020
Radio Show Interview
Radio Show Interview
The Authors Show (see linked in) will be broadcasting an interview about one of my books :The Boy Who Ran (Middle Grade novel set in the mid-archaic period in N. America—4000BC) on June 9th, all day.
“The Boy Who Ran” won the IPPY gold medal for juvenile fiction in 2014, and a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award (Bronze Medal) that same year.
It’s the story of the lone survivor of a massacre—a very young boy—who fled into the forest and was found and taken in by another village, but the trauma of the event strongly affected him, making him a near outcast among the People.
Late one summer, around the time of the boy’s 12th year, he realizes that something needs to change. He spends most of his time in the forest, feeling more of a kinship with the animals than with the People. This is the story of how he strives to overcome his own issues and the perceptions of the other people in the village, to find his place among the People.
This book was also made into an audiobook, narrated by Lyssa Browne (the voice of Slippery Toad in a popular game)
I normally post 3 chapters from each of my books on my own web site: michaelselden.com.
An interview I did with The Authors Show will be broadcast on June 9, all day on channel 7 https://wnbnetworkwest.com
Radio Show Interview Jun 9
https://wnbnetworkwest.com
May 8, 2020
Current Giveaway In Progress
Amazon is running a giveaway of the Kindle edition of my middle grade book right now
https://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Ran-Mi...
July 22, 2019
Book Publishing
How much does it cost to publish a book?
I’ve heard this question a number of times, and my answer—”It depends”—rarely satisfies the person asking. I can’t help it. Yes, you can probably publish something for practically nothing, but it may not be your best work.
What does it cost depends on the team helping you. I personally don’t get squeamish when spending on talent because good talent is wort it.
After I’m satisfied with my draft work, including having sent copies to several people I trust to give me an honest opinion on the work, with suggestions on weak plot elements or weak characters—that I correct, I send the book to my editor.
I’ve been working with John Hudspith, an author / editor, who lives in England. I’m comfortable working with him and his suggestions on both content and things like grammar are welcome. Once we’ve been through the entire book and I’ve adopted changes he suggests, then I read through the book again to look for anything that I may still not like. Once I’ve done this, I’ve been sending my word documents to Jamie at Belle Etoile studios for design—interior and cover layout, including potentially a custom font.
Jamie put together a proof copy of what the book will look like in print form. After my own review and updates, I normally then ask for the help of a proof reader. A proof reader looks primarily at the technical aspects of the print edition, although often also being an editor, will look at other matters.
Once the proof reader’s comments are adopted by Jamie, I take one last look at it and then begin the process of uploading the manuscript (and covers) to my print and distribution agent: Lightning Source (a subsidiary of Ingram). Meanwhile, we format the Kindle edition for uploading to Amazon.
After going through the Lightning Source and Amazon feedback to correct any remaining errors, the edition goes live.
In parallel with this, I file for copyright with the US government and assign the ISBNs through Bowkers—one for each edition.
The total cost—soup to nuts—varies, based on the book length, but is usually in the 3000 to 4000 dollar range (and well worth it). That does not include marketing, which has normally been about 60% of my cost—marketing has not been my strong suit..
July 1, 2019
A Universe of Chaos and Violence
The universe began with an explosion that still reverberates after around 15 billion years—called the Big Bang. Since that time, stars and come and gone in bursts of energy and if we were to sample space outside our little bubble of atmosphere, both in the solar system and in interstellar space, we’d experience massive radiation.
The sun, in some way, protects us from cosmic particles of very high energy—the solar wind and the sun’s magnetic field acts as a shield with a kind of barrier called the heliopause, well past the orbits of the ordinary planets. Of course the sun also produces outbursts of radiation—solar wind is an example of this.
In addition to this normal, everyday threat, we also have black holes, supernovas, and something called a hyper-nova (or collapsar), where a rotating star of 30 solar masses (or larger) exhausts its normal fuel and produces a truly massive outburst of gamma radiation along two cone angles alined with the axis of rotation, producing blasts of energy second only to the big bang itself. If the Earth were to be within this cone angle of a start within a thousand light years of Earth, all (or most) life on our home world would be fried.
To this, add the strange nature of our solar system, and the asteroids, comets, and even potentially rogue super planets wandering thorough the galaxy, any of which could, and eventually will, impact the earth. Other forces, like super volcano eruptions, don’t even register on these scales of energy—although if Yellowstone volcano were to erupt, it would mean an end to the United States.
While we ponder expending all of our human energies to combat what may be a phantom threat like global warming, remember that humans have survived, thus far, by adapting to changes, not trying to control what cannot be controlled. If all of our own energies are expended on such futile attempts, we will have nothing with which to respond to real threats.
Ponder this as people tell us that we must all sacrifice everything we have and give control of our resources (and surrender our liberties) to these doomsayers—only the latest in a series of doomsayers demanding absolute power over us all, from witch doctors who warned about how angry the spirits would be if we didn’t obey them, to those predicting mass global starvation in the 20th century from overpopulation, to predictions of the coming ice age in the 1970’s. There are always those who demand tribute and absolute obedience from everyone, but in the grand scheme of things these charlatans come and go with regularity, just as eventually we will all depart this violent, chaotic universe.
April 22, 2019
We’re All Stardust
What are we made of? And where did it come from?
Do you ever ask yourself questions like this?
Our bodies contain Carbon, certainly, with oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, sodium, sulphur, and chlorine, and traces of other things.
With the exception of the hydrogen—which was created after the big bang—pretty much everything else was forged in the nuclear fusion furnace at the core of a star. Yes, we’re made of “stardust” in a sense. In fact, most of what we see was at some point forged in the core of a star. Stars fuse hydrogen to helium and helium to carbon and so forth, as they age.
Some fusion reactions (the heavier elements especially) don’t produce much energy, or even absorb energy. As this happens to a larger extent (based on the fuel available to the star), we see the stars aging, going from a blue or white or yellow color to red and, growing in size. Eventually, they collapse, and either become a white dwarf—for a while, then fade to a brown dwarf—or they explode, spreading stardust across the galaxy, which is eventually reformed into planets and stars and moons and people. We’re a part of the cycle of life for energy and matter.
Really large stars can become neutron stars or black holes.
We’re all also energy, since matter and energy are different forms of the same thing. In another perspective we’re a kind of wave in the energy, a part of time-space. Why and how is a question for philosophers, but the universe is certainly interesting.
Things to think about while you’re trying to sleep . . .
April 13, 2019
The Wastelands and the Wilderness (Part 2 of The Balance trilogy)—Anticipated release, late 2019
I’m working on this second volume, a bit every day now. The plot for all three volumes (one story) has been in my head since 2012, when I first wrote the draft of Volume 1: The Balance.
Part 2 picks up the saga about 5 years after the end of volume 1. The is set in a post apocalyptic, dystopian world. Prior to a nuclear war that killed almost the entire global population, two organizations—one an ecumenical council formed when three monotheistic religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) created a hierarchy called The Council of God, intent on trying to stop the war that everyone saw coming.
The second group (The Order) was created when the head of a global multinational corporation, based in science and engineering, decided to embark on a dual path to preserve humanity. This leader created living time capsules, called sanctuaries, and distributed these underground facilities globally, hoping some would survive. The Order also began a set of genetic engineering programs with the objective of improving the human design, such that war would eventually be deemed impossible. These programs hoped to develop characteristics in foresight, empathy, longevity and health along three base programs, ultimately these would be combined and then injected back into the general population. The overall project was called: ‘Future Man’.
The Balance volume 1 begins about 200 years after the nuclear war and 17 years after a natural catastrophe almost destroyed what remained of the survivors of the war. The Order has been driven out by the Council, which has banned most technology, and the remnants of the Order, including one of the products of the ‘Sensitives’ program is surviving in a Council city by hiding her true nature.
February 28, 2019
Electric Bike for Knee Therapy Part 2
First, let me say that I receive and have received no consideration for my comments on the things I review. I do this because I want to.
I received my electric bicycle from the Electric Bike Company (Newport CA) about a week ago. I set it up quickly (it was already assembled) and have been out on a few test rides since.
My objective here is to use a bicycle as a part of my knee exercise. Unfortunately, the condition of my worst knee and the steepness of the hills near my house make it difficult to do with a traditional bike. An electric bicycle provides assistance as you pedal, and in the case of the model I have also allows for the bike to move with the motor only (if needed).
I’ve been playing with the setting (from 1 to 5) under different conditions. Of course downhill requires no pedaling and no motor, but uphill varies. Right now, I’m using 4 or 5 for all uphills (I re-injured my knee in October, while boarding a train in Paris bound for Provence). I was in Provence to research a book I plan to publish in 2020.
The motor provides an excellent boost (as needed) and saves my knee from being over-stressed. The hand throttle is very useful to get going if the bike (which weighs over 70 pounds) when I’m facing uphill. It takes a crank or two of the pedal for the assist to kick in.
I bought THIS bike based on the design and the quality of the parts. I added the extra large battery and plan to test its capacity this coming summer. The battery has a built in charger with a plug that can be extended to plug in anywhere with 110V AC power. This is convenient if you’re out and your battery runs low. On flat ground (something we don’t have) and with pedaling the battery I have should be able to get 100 miles from the battery (of course how you use it affects this). I should add that my testing to date has been limited by snow and ice. One thing I’ve found is that the company has been willing to reach out and help me through their chat system and have been very patient, even when I made an obvious mistake. I chatted mostly with Sean.
The bike has a basket to carry things and is configured as a beach cruiser, with wide handlebars (needed in the mountains). I bought the step-through model (again to save stress for my knees).
Overall, thus far, I’m very pleased with the bike.
I’ll update this ongoing review as I put the bike to use more.
