News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #172…
Weather forecast…past, present, and near future. Steam baths and lots of rain. It’s a great time to stay in the AC and read a book…or under an umbrella on the beach (just not in the thunderstorms). After three recent novel-writing marathons, I’m doing a bit of R&R&R. Some readers don’t realize that writing requires a lot of commitment, but authors are happy to do it to entertain and inform their readers. And we can read other authors’ books too! That’s why that last &R is not a typo—it’s Rest & Relaxation & Reading for me. What about you?
That strange Twitterverse. It’s not just the tweets from you-know-who. A challenge for math nerds was posted recently: what’s 8 / 2(2+2) ? The poser of the puzzle used a division sign instead of a slash. But the division sign is equivalent to a slash, as written here, which means the expression is equivalent to a fractional one, 8 over 2(2+2), which, of course, is 1.
Don’t feel bad if you got it wrong. The NY Times did too! They argued that you do the operation in parentheses first (correct!) and then work from left to right (no, because the division sign is equivalent to a slash). Left-to-right is a cultural bias (shame on you, NY Times!), and math is culturally independent. Many people read from right to left in this world. Admittedly the expression is ambiguous, but not to most mathematicians, where the division sign is rarely used.
More fun was had by seeing all the people on Twitter arguing about this. I didn’t, by the way…maybe because I’m more careful about how I spend my time there. Maybe other people have too much time on their hands? (Including you-know-who?) Twitter is a special culture, of course, and it’s fun to observe its idiosyncrasies.
Official reviewing. Some of you might be familiar with my book reviews on Amazon or my blog (archived in the “Book Reviews” and “Mini-Reviews of Books” categories), but I do my “official reviewing” at bookpleasures.com.
I’ve been associated with them for 10+ years and have reviewed all kinds of books—over a hundred reviews so far, from non-fiction to fiction and even a graphics novel. Unlike Amazon reviews, the ones on bookpleasures aren’t short two- or three-liners and are completely honest—reviewers’ opinions are their own, of course, and they can be acerbic as well as glowing (sometimes in the same review!) as they discuss the merits of each book. Recommended as an alternative to Amazon and Kirkus and other sites that are more associated with New York publishing conglomerates.
Recent and current reads. I read non-fiction as well as fiction. Recently I read Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing, an amazing history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland (my review can be found on Bookpleasures). I’m currently reading Putin’s World: Russia against the West and with the Rest, by Angela Stent. (We have to understand our enemies.)
Kudos to two colleagues. Most of you probably remember that my latest novel The Last Humans was published by Black Opal Books. Two fellow authors associated with this great small press we call BOB are finalists in the Killer Nashville conference’s contests: Saralyn Richard’s Murder in the One Percent takes place in the tri-state’s neighboring Brandywine Valley, and P.D. Halt’s When Death Imitates Art takes place in Germany. You guessed it: they’re mystery/crime stories, and two great reads that are certainly deserving of this recognition. While the books are available on many online retail sites, please support and patronize your local indie bookstore. (If they don’t have these books, please ask them to order them for you).
Son of Thunder. The sequel to Rembrandt’s Angel is coming real soon. This novel required a lot of research compared to the other books in my oeuvre, although they all require some. It features the main characters from the first book, ex-Scotland Yard Inspector Esther Brookstone, now retired, and paramour Interpol Agent Bastiann van Coevorden, but the disciple St. John the Divine and the Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli also play important roles. Don’t worry. There’s no time travel, even though the book covers three different eras. And you’ll see how Esther and Bastiann’s romance progresses.
The new look. My website gurus at Monkey C Media have made upgrades and updates on my website—probably transparent to you for the most part when you visit. The URL has changed, though. It’s now https://stevenmmoore.com (that pesky extra m is still essential)…just a wee bit of added security for you if you’re web surfing. (Don’t worry. I’m not going to be selling things and sending you off to PayPal. And I still don’t accept ads from internet vendors.)
More glitzy are the graphics capabilities I now have for my blog articles (author interviews, book and movie reviews, and posts about reading, writing, and the publishing business). That mostly involves covers of authors’ books, including my own, but I throw in some scenes now and then (just recently some pics from Spring Lake, one of our favorite spots on the Jersey shore).
Smashwords sale. This month’s is for sci-fi thriller readers. The Chaos Chronicles Trilogy Collection is a bundle of three complete novels. It features a second edition of Survivors of the Chaos and two more novels, Sing a Zamba Galactica and Come Dance a Cumbia…with Stars in Your Hand! The reader will travel from a dystopian Earth where multinational corporations keep the peace with their mercenaries to the first human star colony and our first encounter with ETs, and then farther into the future.
Even though the retail price of $5.99 for these three novels is a bargain, you could have this collection for $1.99 during the month of August if you were a subscriber to my email newsletter. And it’s easy to join Smashwords, and also free to join. While visiting Smashwords, you can peruse my other evergreen books listed there (these are novels that will never grow old). Use my contact page or steve@stevenmmoore.com to subscribe.
Other sales? I don’t do them. With my email newsletter, you’ll have the inside information on all my Smashwords sales. They correspond to my books published by Carrick Publishing. For my Black Opal Books and Penmore Publishing books, sales can appear on the publisher’s website or on Amazon (these basically amount to changes in retail pricing)—I don’t control these. Rest assured that all my books are reasonably priced, though–hours of reading pleasure for a reasonable price.
Social media. You can follow me here at this website https://stevenmmoore.com; on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorStevenMMoore; and on Twitter: @StevenMMoore4. Please “like” wherever you can. And you can always email me using the contact page at this website, or steve@stevenmmoore.com.
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Comments are always welcome.
Rembrandt’s Angel. “She learned the Titus in the painting was Rembrandt’s only surviving son. I can see where a father might think his son is a good model for an angel.” Ex-MI6 agent and current Scotland Yard Inspector Esther Brookstone becomes obsessed with recovering a Rembrandt painting stolen by the Nazis in World War II. Interpol agent and paramour Bastiann van Coevorden tries to control her obsession and keep her safe. Their quest to recover the painting leads them to an international conspiracy that threatens Europe. Published by Penmore Press, this mystery/thriller is available in ebook and print format from Amazon and as an ebook version from Smashwords and its affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.) Also available from the publisher or your local bookstore (if they don’t have it, ask for it). Look for the sequel, Son of Thunder (see above).
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
