Rachel, of Rachel’s Random Resources, has organised four cover reveal tours for the next week, and I’m glad to help her out. Come back during the week for more on each book.
Monthly Archives: September 2018
Blog Tour Calendar: ‘Survive’, by Stephen Llewelyn
This should be fun. The book arrived a week or so ago, but I haven’t started it yet. Looking forward to it though, the blurb sounds …interesting.
Blurb
A young man and his mother fight to leave tragedy behind. Striving for a new life on Mars has cost Tim and Patricia everything, but as even their future is taken from them, their past is just beginning.
Earth: population 50 billion. Pollution, crime and scarcity are out of our control. Instantaneous travel provides hope for the terraforming of another world.
A terrorist attack. An explosion at the event horizon of a wormhole. A murder. A trail of clues, misinformation and sabotage. Nothing is as it seems as an old enemy returns from the shadows. 100 years from now, the 100 souls aboard the USS New World are thrown back 100 million years to the deadly Cretaceous Period. From there, an epic fight to save humanity begins; but first, they must survive.
A multi-national, eclectic crew; among them the good, the not so good and the no damned good at all. Loss, courage, genius and sheer bloody-mindedness bind them. NASA Captain, James Douglas, and his first officer, Jill Baines, expected a taxi run to Mars. Now they must escape a fearsome Mapusaurus pack, survive natural disasters, brutal discoveries and treachery.
Bonus Review #2: ‘Kitchen Witchcraft: Spells & Charms’, by Rachel Patterson
Published By: Moon Books
Publication Date: 27th July 2018
I.S.B.N.: 978-1-78535-768-8
Format: Paperback
Price: £6.99
Available here
Blurb
There are a lot of things in the universe that we don’t understand. When something is meant to happen, it will whether you cast a spell or not. But you can help it on its way by guiding and encouraging it and maybe even tweaking events a little too. A spell can be worked in many ways, from a simple pointing of the finger to a complicated ritual involving lots of herbs and crystals and, of course, any variation in between. What will happen for sure is the boost of confidence and happy buzz you will receive as you cast the spell, as well as the positive vibe you get from putting something into action.
Kitchen Witchcraft: Spells & Charms is a the first in a series of books which delves into the world of the Kitchen Witch. Each book breaks down the whys and wherefores of the subject and includes practical guides and exercises. Other titles include Garden Magic, Altars & Rituals and The Elements.
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I have questions…
Specifically, questions about the universe.
Right, so the universe is expanding. Current theory and available data suggests this.
My question, a question I’ve had for about 20 years, is, what is the universe expanding in to?
This is another of my ‘brain won’t shut off’ thoughts.
I was trying to visualise it all last night but I struggled with something. When people refer to ‘the universe’ do they mean the mass and energy created in the Big Bang, that now forms the galaxies of the universe? Or are they referring to everything, all that is?
I tried to come up with a way to visualise what I mean and I’m struggling. The best I’ve got so far is a balloon. At Big Bang, the singularity of energy that ‘exploded’ to produce all the energy and matter in the universe, is represented by a flaccid balloon. It starts to inflate and expands as air is forced into it, representing the expansion of the universe. There’s lots of energy produced, formation of stars, dark energy etc.
Now, what is that balloon expanding into?
Is there a reality outside of the universe, a box the balloon is expanding into? If there is, does the ‘box’ grow to fit the ever expanding balloon, or is there a limit that the balloon will reach? And what is the nature of that box? And, if we continue the analogy, will the balloon burst at some point in time, stretched to breaking point by the mass and energy that makes it?
Say there isn’t a ‘box’, what is there? Does something come into being with the expansion of the universe into that space? What is the nature of that space?
It’s all so confusing!
My confusion was added to when I read an article in New Scientist a few years ago about bubble universes. What’s in the space between?
See, this is why I never got anywhere as a scientist, my brain gets distracted by probably pointless questions that others have probably already answered. In the other hand, it does provide me with inspiration for writing. Got something bubbling away.
I am almost definitely not a great loss to science
I was having one of my ‘can’t turn brain off’ nights last night. I had a few thoughts, like autistics are about 1% of the population, add the other neurodivergents and that probably comes to 5 – 10% of the human population. Maybe there was a evolutionary advantage to having a small number of people in a group that thought and processed the world differently.
And then I got up this morning, did my usual Twitter, Facebook and WordPress gander and realised, it’s all been thought before and articulated better, by people much more intelligent than I am.
So I think I’ll go back to writing stories.
Bonus Review #1: ‘Elysium’s Shadow’, by Matthew Munson
Published By: Inspired Quill
Publication Date: October 2015?
Format: Paperback
Price: £9.99
I.S.B.N.: 978190860069
Bought from here
Blurb
“It’s been a hell of a first day.”
Jon May has been the Governor of Elysium for a few hours, and he’s already facing a belligerent Chief of Security, an ex-Operations Manager imprisoned for killing the previous Governor, and an amorphous energy mass that has its own agenda.
So now Jon has to decide who to trust; his Security Chief will barely talk to him, and his only allies people who are, according to the Republic, dangerous criminals.
With less than 48 hours to delve into the shadows surrounding Elysium’s recent but tumultuous past, May is about to uncover more about this job than he bargained for.
Continue reading “Bonus Review #1: ‘Elysium’s Shadow’, by Matthew Munson”
Everything Is Better With Dragons 