Michael Patrick Hicks's Blog, page 79
July 4, 2014
Celebrating Indiependence Day
Happy July 4th, USA. While I’m celebrating Independence Day stateside, I thought it’d be a great time to highlight some independent authors and have a little Indiependence Day.
Take a moment and sound off below. Recommend some indie books or self-published authors you’ve enjoyed in the comments below. If you have a fresh work of your own to promote, go right ahead.
In fact, I’ll start you off. My own book, Convergence, can currently be had for only $1 on Smashwords with the coupon code SSW75.
Or you can find it on Amazon, Nook, Kobo, and more for the regular price of only $3.99.
I’d also heartily recommend Eleanor by Jason Gurley. It has over 100 5-star reviews, and let me tell, it is very well deserved. Fantastic read and emotionally powerful. Check out some his short stories, too!
Also available now, Therin Knite‘s Othella. This one can be bought for only $0.99 and it’s a no-brainer purchase, as far as I’m concerned. Go do it!
And up for pre-order, through the crowdfunding campaign put on by her indie publishing house, Dagda Publishing, is J.S. Collyer‘s Zero. I’m almost finished with this one, and it’s killer. Hit up her IndieGoGo page for some exclusive merch and lock-in your order for her debut sci-fi book. Zero releases August 16, so be sure to keep an eye out for it!
July 2, 2014
10 Breakthrough Innovations That Will Shape The World In 2025 | Co.Exist | ideas + impact
Co.Exist predicts that by 2025 the Internet of Things will be a full-fledged reality, with the entire world, and all the things in it, connected.
Co.Exist published a bit of future forecasting recently that I thought was pretty interesting. At the link below, you’ll see their ten innovations that will shape the world over the next ten years.
What world-changing scientific discoveries might we see by 2025? Will we have more energy technologies that move us away from fossil fuels? Will there be cures for cancer and other diseases? How will we get around and communicate?
To make some predictions, the Thomson Reuters IP & Science unit looked at two sorts of data: current scientific journal literature and patent applications. Counting citations and other measures of buzz, they identified 10 hot fields, then made specific forecasts for each.
“A powerful outcome of studying scientific literature and patent data is that it gives you a window into the future–insight that isn’t always found in the public domain,” says Basil Moftah, president of the IP & Science business, which sells scientific database products. “We estimate that these will be in effect in another 11 years.”
Read more at:
10 Breakthrough Innovations That Will Shape The World In 2025 | Co.Exist | ideas + impact.
Bonus – check out their report on this cool concept for skyscraper farming.
Jim Cogan – Author: Interview #5 Michael Patrick Hicks
Not too long ago, UK author Jim Cogan contacted me for an interview for his series of Writer Wednesday posts. I was happy to oblige, and had a terrific bit of fun with this one!
You can check out Jim’s interview with me at his site. We talk about technology, misuse of technology, my influences, and more. Go check it out!
Jim’s debut novel, a paranormal noir titled The Dirty City, releases near the end of the month, so keep an eye out for that one in the coming weeks.
You can find my sci-fi thriller, Convergence, at Amazon, Kobo, Nook, iBookstore, and Google Play. And, until July 31, you can buy the book on Smashwords for only $1 with the coupon code SSW75.
Jim Cogan – Author: Interview #5 Michael Patrick Hicks.
July 1, 2014
Smashwords Summer Sale
Just a quick update to let you know that you can save 75% when purchasing Convergence through Smashwords starting today! This offer is valid through July 31, and only on Smashwords.
Go buy Convergence for only $1 using the coupon code SSW75.
Note, the file offered on Smashwords is in .epub format, which is readable on the Nook and Kobo tablets, as well as several others.
If you want the .mobi file for your Kindle there are a few options at your disposal. You can download Calibre and convert the .epub to .mobi for easy reading on your Amazon Kindle. Read more about this here. Or, do an online conversion, no software required, at the EPUB2Mobi website.
Or, if you want to avoid the extra legwork and don’t mind missing out on the Smashwords sale, you can always buy the Amazon eBook direct through that retailer for the standard $3.99.
Science Round-Ups!
I can’t believe it’s already July… Time is flying, but at least the year has brought some interesting developments and great scientific breakthroughs. As such, I thought it might be fun to round-up some of the latest science news I’ve stumbled across on them there internets and share here. So, here goes!
ReWalk was recently cleared for approval by the FDA, allowing those with spinal cord injuries across the US to wear this robotic exoskeleton to help them walk, sit, and stand. Check out their press release! Named one of TIME Magazine’s best 25 inventions of 2013, this exciting breakthrough has so many tremendous benefits for the wearers, both physically and psychologically. Very exciting stuff. Couple this with the recent breakthroughs at The Ohio State University and their Neurobridge project, and you’ve got a few truly exciting breakthroughs to assist the disabled.
As part of their water issue, Popular Science reported on the SeaOrbiter, a proposal by French architect Jacques Rougerie. Think of it as the Star Trek of the sea. It has a hefty price-tag ($48 million), but the research capabilities are pretty amazing, and it’s a damn fine looking ship to boot. I have no idea how feasible this really is, but given the cost, I suspect it is not very, unfortunately. Still, it is an amazing bit of speculation and forward thinking on oceanic research, and I’d love to see it come to fruition. Check out PopSci’s full water issue here, and read some of their other pieces on the blue revolution.
How would you like your internet beamed into your home by a balloon? Google’s got you covered with Project Loon. So, what is it? Well, according to Google:
Many of us think of the Internet as a global community. But two-thirds of the world’s population does not yet have Internet access. Project Loon is a network of balloons traveling on the edge of space, designed to connect people in rural and remote areas, help fill coverage gaps, and bring people back online after disasters.
And of particular interest to me, and my DRMR stories, UC San Diego has confirmed what has been long suspected regarding cellular memory formation in the hippocampus. Scientists there also recently released their finding regarding the selective erasure and restoration of memories in rats genetically engineering to have light sensitivity.
Over on the electric vehicle front, Tesla opened its patents to the world last month. Hopefully this will be a clarion call to the Big 3 to really make some breakthroughs in electric vehicle tech and help reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, and make a more concerted effort to offer consumers a decent range of choices in their future vehicle options. However, it’s worth noting that other automakers have significantly more patents under their belt in similar research areas, so who knows how much attention they’ll actually pay to Tesla’s efforts. The key will be getting auto companies to recognize and commit to a sustainable future in the same way Elon Musk has, which is probably easier said than done. Maybe Harley-Davidson will be the one to lead the charge? Recently unveiled was the LiveWire, their first electric motorcycle. Sadly, it’s not a huge breakthrough on the electric vehicle front, only getting about fifty miles per charge. Though, I expect LiveWire will draw a lot of attention next summer under the helm of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ulton.
On a side note – not really groundbreaking scientific work, but an interesting question nonetheless – comes this BBC Future article questioning what our descendants will deplore about us. It’s worth a read, and well-worth considering. As a speculative fiction writer, I try to forecast a bit about where technology and society are heading, and how the two will interact to wreak havoc. Off-page, though, we have been through a lot as a society, from 9/11 and the changing winds of politics and security, problems of scarcity on a global scale in our present day and age and how consumption feeds into climate change and dependency, to the civil rights campaigns in America for blacks, homosexuals, and women. This question of what’s deplorable is at the forefront of my mind as I’m still reeling from yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case that puts religious liberty of privately owned corporations squarely above and beyond the individual rights and welfare of women. So, go read what Tom Chatfield and some our current big-brains think about what our future kin will hate about us, and continue the conversation below if you wish.
That’s it for now, but check back for more links in the future. I’m hoping to make round-ups like this a more regular (or semi-regular) feature of the site. What are your thoughts on this? And, feel free to share any science news that’s of interest to you down below.
June 30, 2014
Book Spotlight: “Convergence” by Michael Patrick Hicks
Convergence is featured on Therin Knite’s blog today, so do go check that out! If you read my book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, etc. And be sure to check out Therin’s latest, Othella, available on Amazon for the unbeatable price of $0.99. It’s a terrific read!
Originally posted on Knite Writes:
Buy It On:
Title:Convergence
Genre: Sci-Fi / Thriller
Author: Michael Patrick Hicks
Website:
http://michaelpatrickhicks.com/
Synopsis
Jonah Everitt is a killer, an addict, and a memory thief.
After being hired to kill a ranking officer of the Pacific Rim Coalition and download his memories, Everitt finds himself caught in the crosshairs of a terror cell, a rogue military squadron, and a Chinese gangster named Alice Xie. Xie is a profiteer of street drugs, primarily DRMR, a powerful narcotic made from the memories of the dead. With his daughter, Mesa, missing in post-war Los Angeles, Everitt is forced into an uneasy alliance with Alice to find her.
Mesa’s abduction is wrapped up in the secrets of a brutal murder during the war’s early days, a murder that Alice Xie wants revenged. In order to find her, Jonah will have to sift through the memories of dead men that could destroy…
View original 99 more words
June 27, 2014
REBLOG: “We Have Always Fought”: Essays on Craft, Fiction & Fandom | Kameron Hurley
“We Have Always Fought”: Essays on Craft, Fiction & Fandom | Kameron Hurley.
OK, adding another book to the TBR pile!
Kameron Hurley is another one of those authors I always intend on getting around to reading, and with her upcoming release of The Mirror Empire I may finally make good on that promise.
She also runs a smart blog with a solid collection of essays, which she is compiling into an eBook. We Have Always Fought is free until August 17, except for Kindle and Nook. However, she has links to a free PDF, Kobo download, or Smashwords, which has all three formats available.
The Mirror Empire releases August 26 from Angry Robot Books.
2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge – Six Months In
Hard to believe we’re already halfway through the year, but here we are. Figured it’s a good time to check-in with my stats on this year’s Goodreads reading challenge and take stock of how well I’ve been satisfying this year’s resolutions and aspirations.
As with 2013, I’ve challenged myself to read 45 novels this year. I beat out my expectations last year, and look to be on track to do the same again. So far, I’ve read 29 books, and am reading my thirtieth at the moment. This puts me, at the moment, eight books ahead of schedule. You can check out the full rundown of this year’s titles here.
So far, the biggest highlight has been Jason Gurley’s Eleanor (review), with Daniel Price’s The Flight of the Silvers running a very close second.
When I started the challenge, I resolved to get caught up the authors that I had a significant backlog on in my TBR pile: James S.A. Corey, Lee Child, Brad Thor, Preston & Child, and Jonathan Maberry. This hasn’t worked out too well, or at all really…
Another weak spot has been in pursuing non-fiction reads. Last year, I only read three, which felt like a significant weak spot in my reading habits. And even though I’ve accumulated several non-fiction titles over the last six months, I’ve only had a slight improvement with five read, two of them being self-publishing advice books as I prepped for the launch of Convergence. There were a number of non-fic titles I wanted to get to, but haven’t been able to muster up the desire for just yet.
One thing that’s a bit interesting to note, particularly in comparison to last year’s stats, is that all of my reading has been done entirely on my Kindle. Last year, dead trees edged out over eBooks, and I divvied up my reading habits between physical copies and my wife’s iPad. For Christmas, I bought myself a Kindle and haven’t touched a physical book since, despite having a pretty significant pile of to-be-read books in print.
If last year was my year of horror, then so far, 2014 feels very sci-fi. Horror has still been a large part of my reading, and will continue to be, but the titles I’ve been picking seem to be a bit more diverse, or at least broader, genre-wise.
I think the second half of 2014 will need to be a bit more focused on non-fiction titles. Some of this should be easy enough, since I recently bought three books on climate change and its effects for researching a future novel I’ve been pondering over. I also bought Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, and Glenn Greenwald’s No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State. There are plenty of other titles for me to pick from, obviously…
Honestly, trying to predict my reading trends is a huge challenge on its own, as I ultimately tend to go with whatever particular mood hits. What the next six months worth of titles will be is anyone’s guess. That’s the great thing about books, though – there’s just so many opportunities for discovery and new tastes for familiar cravings. While they’re a nice idea in theory, I’m certainly not going to stress too much on my resolutions or goals, outside of my sure-to-reach target number, and am more than comfortable with letting my fickle whims decide the way (or, at least, within reason…I still have a good number of titles to review thanks to Netgalley and the generosity of some terrific new writers, so are those are top priority right now).
What about you? Are you doing a reading challenge, and how is it coming along? Any great discoveries or recommendations?
June 26, 2014
Barnes & Noble to Spin Off Nook Unit as Sales Continue to Fall – NYTimes.com
I’m sure smarter people than me will be sounding off on this soon, but I will say that I am not terribly surprised by the latest Nook news coming out Barnes & Noble’s corporate headquarters.
I don’t think it’s been much of a secret that Barnes & Noble has been struggling to define its Nook brand, particularly against strong competition from Amazon and Apple’s iPad tablets. Beyond that, I don’t have much to offer at the moment.
While I would certainly prefer to have several large bookseller brands competing over customers, rather than falling one by one like dominoes in the wake of one particular brand that has won out to become the dominating force in the market, that competition should must spur creative decisions and innovations. With Nook being spun off into its own entity, separate from Barnes & Noble, it, maybe, has a chance to stand on its own and try new things.
The blunt truth of it all, at least in my opinion, is that Amazon has been innovative and led the charge in the digital book world, and everyone else has been struggling to catch up and too heavily focused on playing copy-cat on the things that have worked so well for Amazon. Barnes & Noble just doesn’t have the same measure of customer reach, nor does it carry the same weight of innovation and consumer interest as Apple and Amazon. Kobo has been a strong contender in areas outside the US, whereas B&N has virtually no reach overseas, aside from their Windows 8 app, leaving an entire global market untapped.
Again, just my opinion, but I think the odds are stacked quite a bit against them and they have their work cut out for them if they hope to be around for another year or two. As Matt Krantz said (linked below from USA Today), what Nook really needs at this moment is a miracle.
Barnes & Noble to Spin Off Nook Unit as Sales Continue to Fall – NYTimes.com.
Also worth reading:
USA Today: http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2014/06/26/ask-matt-should-i-buy-the-nook-spin-off/
http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2014/06/25/barnes-noble-closes-the-book-on-nook/
The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/25/barnes_and_noble_to_jettison_nook/
June 25, 2014
Review: OTHELLA
About OTHELLA
Welcome to Arcadian Heights,
where the world’s brightest minds go in…and don’t come out.
___
Georgette
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Georgette McClain can’t resist a juicy tip. So when a rumored crazy ex-CEO gifts her evidence of a vast conspiracy involving the world’s premier scientific community, Arcadian Heights, she sets her sights on the story of a lifetime. And all she has to do to grab it by the reins is sneak into the most secure facility in the world—and expose it for the slaughter house it is.
Marco
Tech company CEO Marco Salt has it all. Fame. Fortune. Family. But not long after Marco’s beloved genius daughter is invited to join Arcadian Heights, a rogue agent reveals to him the horrifying truth about the revered scientific community. Forced to flee for his life, Marco finds himself on the run with a deadly secret in his grasp and a single goal in mind: destroy Arcadian Heights.
Quentin
Quentin Belmont has been the Arcadian Heights spokesman for the better part of two decades, and his singular motivation is to keep the community safe at all costs. So when an internal incursion leaks vital information to an outside party, Quentin preps a “cleanup” without a second thought. But what at first appears to be a simple task turns out to be anything but, and Quentin comes face to face with the unthinkable—a threat that could annihilate the community.
About Therin Knite
Therin Knite: n. speculative fiction writer, college student, and master of snark.
Or at least that’s what I’d like to believe.
If you’re reading this, then I’m assuming you’re wondering who the hell Therin Knite is, and the answer is nobody. Yet. I like to think I’m an up-and-coming author or sorts, but you know how those things tend to work out. In case you’re still interested, however, let’s put me through my paces.
I’m a Senior in college, majoring in Finance and English (which makes me about 22). I write every length of literary work known to man, from flash fiction to epic-length novels, but my genres are a bit more limited. My short stories and flash pieces tend to be any genre I’m in the mood for that day, while anything longer is pretty much limited to some variant of sci-fi or fantasy. Mostly sci-fi, though.
Website: http://www.therinknite.com/
Blog: http://knitewrites.com/
My Thoughts
The end of the world is drawing near. Set toward the end of the twenty-first century, climate change is wreaking havoc, riots are common place, and nations are collapsing. Behind the walls of Arcadia Heights, scientists are working to save what’s left of mankind and prepare the next society for their place in the world.
Or are they?
Funny thing about those scientists, as Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Georgette McClain discovers, is that they have a nasty habit of dying. And she’s damned determined to figure out why.
Although I haven’t found time to dig into Echoes, I have been following Therin Knite’s blog for a while now and was looking forward to reading Othella. We’ll be providing a little bit more information on her latest release soon, as this site will be playing host to one of her blog tour stops July 7, so be sure to check back for more goodies! As a tour host, though, Therin was gracious enough to provide me with an advanced reader’s copy of Othella, and I happily devoured it.
The plot unfolds across three different first-person accounts, time-hopping among them from five years back and progressing toward the story’s present, in the year 2085. The pacing is spot-on, and I found myself wrapped up in the story from page one, constantly yearning to get back to the story during those too-long periods I was forced to set the book down (thanks a lot day job….). More importantly, I was genuinely curious as to how the disparate threads would merge and just could not wait to dive back into the story. The material is fast-paced and action-packed, but the story develops with a deliberate thoughtfulness, and it’s apparent that the author devoted a lot of attention toward carefully planning the execution of her story. There’s a lot happening between the covers, but Othella never feels bloated or overly stuffed. Stories with shifting viewpoints and time jumps, particularly in less experienced hands, risk becoming muddled or confusing. Thankfully, Knite has a deft touch and everything is evenly measured and developed with precision.
Therin does a beautiful job of shading in the world building and character development with her strong narrative chops, nicely constructing a bleak, dystopic future scenario in which mankind’s days are numbered. Each of her leads have their own unique set of strengths, weaknesses, and emotionally festering open wounds, but Georgette was by far my favorite. I kept waiting for the story to turn back to this vain, bratty, sharp-tongued gonzo journalist, curious to see how those past events and conflicts between Marco Salt and Quentin “Q” Belmont would impact or unravel her undercover infiltration of Arcadia Heights. But, even in that arena, Knite manages to stack on some very important and surprising reversals and revelations.
As the first in a new series, Othella succeeds in its primary goals of establishing a realistic, too-close-for-comfort dystopian future, and setting the stage for future installments while still being a wholly satisfying read all on its own. The story will continue in Apollo, and regardless of when that book releases, it will be much too long of a wait. I want it now!
Buy OTHELLA at Amazon
For a limited time, to celebrate her new release, Othella is only $0.99.
It’s a no-brainer purchase. Do it!
