The Phoenix Project by D.M. Cain

The Phoenix Project by D.M. Cain

The brand new edition of dystopian, psychological thriller The Phoenix Project by D.M. Cain will be re-released on December 11th. Originally published in May 2014, this new Booktrope edition has had a complete editing overhaul plus a stunning new cover design.

The book will be available to buy from a wide range of digital and paperback distributors, including Amazon:

Nook:

http://www.nook.com/gb/ebooks/the-phoenix-project-by-dm-cain/2940157645656

Amazon:

US http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0195A6AYK
UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0195A6AYK

Author: D.M. Cain

Title: The Phoenix Project

Genre: Psychological thriller/Dark thriller/Dystopian

Book Content: Occasional adult language, graphic violence, and mild sexual content.

Original Cover Design from the first edition: 

Synopsis:

How can you fight to the death, when you’ve given up on life?

A thought provoking and compelling dystopian world that will change the way you view justice...

A man fights for life—and redemption—in D. M. Cain’s riveting re-released novel, The Phoenix Project.

Britain has descended into chaos as violence and terrorist attacks seethe across this once-peaceful country. Outraged by the steady stream of lawlessness, citizens demand a harsher penal system, and the Phoenix Project is born.

In prisons across the country, inmates fight to the death in a weekly bloodbath while the nation cheers them on.

Raven Kennedy, a prisoner who has never forgiven himself for his unspeakable crime, struggles against his own guilt and self-loathing. But even as the real war wages on within himself, Raven is forced to battle some of the prison’s most ruthless killing machines. Can he survive long enough to unravel the anger and regret that shackle him—and one day find the forgiveness he seeks?

‘The Phoenix Project by D.M. Cain is a superbly written debut, soaked in tension and intrigue,’ Jack Croxall, author of the ‘Tethers’ trilogy.

An interesting fact about The Phoenix Project: The horrifying ‘dark room’ in The Phoenix Project (a pitch-black sensory deprivation cell) was inspired by D.M. Cain’s visit to the Terror Haza in Budapest—a museum dedicated to the fascistic and communistic regimes that operated from the building. In the cellar of the Terror Haza are the old cells used to imprison and torture inmates. D.M. crawled inside a very low cell and shut the door, casting herself into total darkness. It was terrifying and claustrophobic, and she only lasted five minutes in there!

D.M. Cain Biography

D.M. Cain is a dystopian and fantasy author working for US publisher Booktrope. She has released three novels: The Phoenix Project - a psychological thriller set in a dystopian future, Soren – a middle-grade fantasy, and A Chronicle of Chaos – the first in a dark fantasy series. She is currently working on the next novel in the series, 'The Shield of Soren', and a novella to accompany it.

D.M. Cain is also a member of the International Thriller Writers and is one of the creators and administrators of the online author group #Awethors. Her short story ‘The End’ was published in Awethology Dark – an anthology by the #Awethors.

Cain lives in Leicestershire, UK, with her husband and young son, and spends her time reading, writing and reviewing books, playing RPGs and listening to symphonic metal.

Links:

Website: www.dmcain84.com

Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/XevZH

Amazon: www.amazon.com/D.M.-Cain/e/B00LTTX3PA/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DMCainauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DMCain84

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DMCain/posts

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7888430.D_M_Cain

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzt_E8st1pyfkoTiA4E5jNg

 

Example tweets – These can be copied and pasted straight into Twitter, or you can make changes and personalize them:

#Regret, #revenge and #fightstothedeath by @dmcain84 at http://amzn.to/1QrVODA #ThePhoenixProject

A thought-provoking exploration of #depression and #self-harm by @dmcain84: #Booktrope #Edge http://amzn.to/1QrVODA

Anger, regret and despair #ThePhoenixProject One man’s journey on the road towards #redemption #Booktrope #Edge http://amzn.to/1QrVODA 

When you’ve lost everything, all that’s left is to #fight #ThePhoenixProject - on Amazon now! #Booktrope #Edge http://amzn.to/1QrVODA 

How would you survive in a #fighttothedeath? Cover reveal for #ThePhoenixProject by @dmcain84 #Booktrope #Edge http://amzn.to/1QrVODA

The riveting and thought-provoking   #ThePhoenixProject by @DMCain84 is available now! #Booktrope #Edge http://amzn.to/1QrVODA

 

Hello writers and readers,

Enter for a chance to win signed Paperback copy of Hyperearth by Marco Marek!

The Giveaway will end a couple of days before Christmas, so this is my gift to the winner!

Mary and Martina are two young girls that discover in the castle of their city a portal called Khenon, that it will bring to another dimension Hyperearth, the girls while they discover this new world they will make new friends with the locals that are still fighting with a evil sorcerer.

Amazon 4.4 stars average
Goodreads 4.7 stars average

Good luck! 

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/164264-hyperearth 

Hyperearth giveaway

Enter to win a signed copy of Hyperearth !

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Hyperearth

by Marco Marek

Giveaway ends September 04, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Iperterra 

 In un castello abbandonato della città di Lubena, Maria e Martina trovano un portale per un'altra dimensione chiamata Iperterra. Da quel momento vivranno una serie di incredibili avventure, tra curiose scoperte, nuove amicizie e un'importante missione: sconfiggere il malefico mago Sathon.



è  su Amazon  e Smashwords  sempre a €0.99 

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/555548

http://www.amazon.com/Iperterra-Italian-Marco-Marek-ebook/dp/B01181MBLA

Indie Pride Day !!

 Join us for one of the great events the #IBBS group is putting together. July 1st has been designated as Indie Pride Day, a day where we lift our voices and share our stories with the world.

Some of the best stories are written by independent and small press story tellers. Join us for a day of author take-overs and convo's on books!!

Who's the event for? Anyone who loves to read a good story and those of us who love to write them.

#IBBS - Indie Books Be Seen

AUTHORS - Interested in a take-over or giving away some ebooks/swag? Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1c2Y6oe3caSNw8fEMjVr-8qFPaIsVNlbWNvt6Pko0zjE/viewform



This is our second year of INDIE PRIDE DAY.
Join in and show your love for Indie Books and Indie Authors. 

• Lift the Indie Author Industry as a whole and bring awareness to Indies
• Build readership and become competitive with the mainstream market
• Make indie trendy!

Just tweet a pic with you and your favorite Indie Book - or Books with the hashtag #IndieBooksBeSeen

Join in the fun on the day!!
****   FACEBOOK PARTY   ****
https://www.facebook.com/events/414925672037350/
Join us for one of the great events the #IBBS group is putting together. July 1st has been designated as Indie Pride Day, a day where we lift our voices and share our stories with the world.
Some of the best stories are written by independent and small press story tellers. Join us for a day of author take-overs and convo's on books!!
Who's the event for? Anyone who loves to read a good story and those of us who love to write them. 


#IndieBooksBeSeen  @IndieBookNews

 

Lake Mead Drought

Federal water managers released a report Monday projecting that Lake Mead's water levels will fall below a point in January 2017 that would force supply cuts to Arizona and Nevada.
The effects could be serious. Arizona's allocation of Colorado River water could be cut 11.4 percent, or by an amount normally used by more than 600,000 homes. Nevada's share could be reduced 4.3 percent. Think 26,000 homes.

But officials heading water agencies in the two states and California took a wait-and-see approach to the projections posted by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
They pointed to fluctuations in precipitation levels just since January. They added that more will be known in August when the bureau knows how much runoff in the upper-basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming reaches the Lake Powell reservoir.
That will determine how much water the agency controlling a Colorado River water system crucial to about 40 million residents in seven Southwest U.S. states will release from Lake Powell through the Grand Canyon to Lake Mead near Las Vegas.

"A lot is going to depend on precipitation and flows from the tributaries," said David Modeer, general manager of the Central Arizona Project, the main water agency in the lower-basin state that would be affected the most.
"We don't think it means a whole lot right now because we have another couple of months to determine the release out of Lake Powell," he said.
The so-called interim guidelines issued Monday by the Bureau of Reclamation predict water levels will be just 2 feet above a key trigger point next January on Lake Mead, the reservoir behind Hoover Dam.

The lake was 37 percent full on Monday, said Dan Bunk, the Bureau of Reclamation's water operations manager. Its water surface level of 1,077 above sea level was 2 feet above the crucial 1,075-foot line.
The so-called interim guidelines chart a wobbly series of historically low water levels at Lake Mead — dropping to as much as 1,054 feet next summer and 1,052 feet in April 2017. But it would be about 1,077 this coming January, the point in time when a declaration of water shortage for 2016 would be made.
Lake Powell, behind the Glen Canyon Dam straddling the Utah-Arizona border, was 45 percent full on Monday. Bunk said that if Powell remains above its own trigger point, water releases to Lake Mead could remain robust and Lake Mead could remain above 1,070 feet through 2016.

"We haven't made any shortage projection. That would be done in August 2016," Bunk said.
Lake Mead reached its high-water capacity in 1983 at 1,225 feet. It reaches so-called "dead pool" at just under 900 feet, meaning nothing would flow downstream from Hoover Dam.
Las Vegas and its 2 million residents and 40 million tourists a year get almost all their drinking water from Lake Mead.
John Entsminger, general manager of the regional Southern Nevada Water Authority, said he believed conservation efforts like those now being adopted in California have put Las Vegas in a position to handle any initial shortage reductions "without significant impact."
"There is no doubt that this drought is serious," he said, "and the projections from the Bureau of Reclamation continue to reaffirm that reality."

William Hasencamp, Colorado River resources chief for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said he saw reason to prepare, not panic.
Drought-stricken California will continue to be able to draw its 4.4 million acre-foot allocation of Colorado River water even if Arizona and Nevada are affected.
"But we lose flexibility, which is a pretty big deal because we serve just under 19 million people," Hasencamp said. "We know a shortage is coming at some point."

 By Ken Ritter, Associated Press

Smashwords discount 50% Off

Hello writers and readers, 

Wishing a new great week, i would like to remind that Hyperearth is with 50% off
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The best gift to give to an author is the review, because over than know the opinion of the reader we can interact with them and also improve to know what are the suggest for the next book/sequel. 
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Time Travel: Theories, Paradoxes & Possibilities

by Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor    

 

Time travel — moving between different points in time — has been a popular topic for science fiction for decades. Franchises ranging from "Doctor Who" to "Star Trek" to "Back to the Future" have seen humans get in a vehicle of some sort and arrive in the past or future, ready to take on new adventures.
The reality, however, is more muddled. Not all scientists believe that time travel is possible. Some even say that an attempt would be fatal to any human who chooses to undertake it.

Understanding time

What is time? While most people think of time as a constant, physicist Albert Einstein showed that time is an illusion; it is relative — it can vary for different observers depending on your speed through space. To Einstein, time is the "fourth dimension." Space is described as a three-dimensional arena, which provides a traveler with coordinates — such as length, width and height —showing location. Time provides another coordinate — direction — although conventionally, it only moves forward. (Conversely, a new theory asserts that time is "real.")

Einstein's theory of special relativity says that time slows down or speeds up depending on how fast you move relative to something else. Approaching the speed of light, a person inside a spaceship would age much slower than his twin at home. Also, under Einstein's theory of general relativity, gravity can bend time.
 Einstein's theory of special relativity says that time slows down or speeds up depending on how fast you move relative to something else. Approaching the speed of light, a person inside a spaceship would age much slower than his twin at home. Also, under Einstein's theory of general relativity, gravity can bend time.


Picture a four-dimensional fabric called space-time. When anything that has mass sits on that piece of fabric, it causes a dimple or a bending of space-time. The bending of space-time causes objects to move on a curved path and that curvature of space is what we know as gravity.
Both the general and special relativity theories have been proven with GPS satellite technology that has very accurate timepieces on board. The effects of gravity, as well as the satellites' increased speed above the Earth relative to observers on the ground, make the unadjusted clocks gain 38 microseconds a day. (Engineers make calibrations to account for the difference.)
In a sense, this effect, called time dilation, means astronauts are time travelers, as they return to Earth very, very slightly younger than their identical twins that remain on the planet.

Through the wormhole

General relativity also provides scenarios that could allow travelers to go back in time, according to NASA. The equations, however, might be difficult to physically achieve.
One possibility could be to go faster than light, which travels at 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second) in a vacuum. Einstein's equations, though, show that an object at the speed of light would have both infinite mass and a length of 0. This appears to be physically impossible, although some scientists have extended his equations and said it might be done.
A linked possibility, NASA stated, would be to create "wormholes" between points in space-time. While Einstein's equations provide for them, they would collapse very quickly and would only be suitable for very small particles. Also, scientists haven't actually observed these wormholes yet. Also, the technology needed to create a wormhole is far beyond anything we have today.

Alternate time travel theories

While Einstein's theories appear to make time travel difficult, some groups have proposed alternate solutions to jump back and forth in time.
Infinite cylinder
Astronomer Frank Tipler proposed a mechanism (sometimes known as a Tipler Cylinder) where one would take matter that is 10 times the sun's mass, then roll it into very long but very dense cylinder.
After spinning this up a few billion revolutions per minute, a spaceship nearby — following a very precise spiral around this cylinder — could get itself on a "closed, time-like curve", according to the Anderson Institute. There are limitations with this method, however, including the fact that the cylinder needs to be infinitely long for this to work.

 Black holes

Another possibility would be to move a ship rapidly around a black hole, or to artificially create that condition with a huge, rotating structure.
"Around and around they'd go, experiencing just half the time of everyone far away from the black hole. The ship and its crew would be traveling through time," physicist Stephen Hawking wrote in the Daily Mail in 2010.

"Imagine they circled the black hole for five of their years. Ten years would pass elsewhere. When they got home, everyone on Earth would have aged five years more than they had."
However, he added, the crew would need to travel around the speed of light for this to work. Physicist Amos Iron at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel pointed out another limitation if one used a machine: it might fall apart before being able to rotate that quickly.


Cosmic strings
Another theory for potential time travelers involves something called cosmic strings — narrow tubes of energy stretched across the entire length of the ever-expanding universe. These thin regions, left over from the early cosmos, are predicted to contain huge amounts of mass and therefore could warp the space-time around them.
Cosmic strings are either infinite or they’re in loops, with no ends, scientists say. The approach of two such strings parallel to each other would bend space-time so vigorously and in such a particular configuration that might make time travel possible, in theory.

Time machines

It is generally understood that traveling forward or back in time would require a device — a time machine — to take you there. Time machine research often involves bending space-time so far that time lines turn back on themselves to form a loop, technically known as a "closed time-like curve."
 To accomplish this, time machines often are thought to need an exotic form of matter with so-called "negative energy density." Such exotic matter has bizarre properties, including moving in the opposite direction of normal matter when pushed. Such matter could theoretically exist, but if it did, it might be present only in quantities too small for the construction of a time machine.
 However, time-travel research suggests time machines are possible without exotic matter. The work begins with a doughnut-shaped hole enveloped within a sphere of normal matter. Inside this doughnut-shaped vacuum, space-time could get bent upon itself using focused gravitational fields to form a closed time-like curve. To go back in time, a traveler would race around inside the doughnut, going further back into the past with each lap. This theory has a number of obstacles, however. The gravitational fields required to make such a closed time-like curve would have to be very strong, and manipulating them would have to be very precise.

Grandfather paradox

Besides the physics problems, time travel may also come with some unique situations. A classic example is the grandfather paradox, in which a time traveler goes back and kills his parents or his grandfather — the major plot line in the "Terminator" movies — or otherwise interferes in their relationship — think "Back to the Future" — so that he is never born or his life is forever altered.
If that were to happen, some physicists say, you would be not be born in one parallel universe but still born in another. Others say that the photons that make up light prefer self-consistency in timelines, which would interfere with your evil, suicidal plan.
Some scientists disagree with the options mentioned above and say time travel is impossible no matter what your method. The faster-than-light one in particular drew derision from American Museum of Natural History astrophysicist Charles Lu.
That "simply, mathematically, doesn't work," he said in a past interview with sister site LiveScience.
Also, humans may not be able to withstand time travel at all. Traveling nearly the speed of light would only take a centrifuge, but that would be lethal, said Jeff Tollaksen, a professor of physics at Chapman University, in 2012.
Using gravity would also be deadly. To experience time dilation, one could stand on a neutron star, but the forces a person would experience would rip you apart first.

 

So is time travel possible?

While time travel does not appear possible — at least, possible in the sense that the humans would survive it — with the physics that we use today, the field is constantly changing. Advances in quantum theories could perhaps provide some understanding of how to overcome time travel paradoxes.
One possibility, although it would not necessarily lead to time travel, is solving the mystery of how certain particles can communicate instantaneously with each other faster than the speed of light.
In the meantime, however, interested time travelers can at least experience it vicariously through movies, television and books.

7 lessons you need to learn when writing your book

Ever wanted to write a book? Do you have an unfinished opus about your expertise sitting on your laptop? How about the next Harry Potter or crime thriller?
When I was six, I wrote an elaborate children's story about a family of mice who vacation at Disneyworld. I detailed their quaint village, their quirky personalities and every road trip adventure they encountered along the way. I never quite finished the tale, but I relished the creative writing process. Explains all the poems, unpublished essays, and Chapter One's sitting on my laptop, gathering dust.
Fast forward to now: I have now authored two books and published several print and online articles. I learned a lot along the way, whether from doing things the wrong way, shattering long-held myths or getting blindsided by things I never expected.
Here are seven valuable lessons from my journey to help you with your future screenplay, non-fiction best-seller or literary novel.

1. 1. Discipline your muse:

Sorry, folks. Inspiration doesn't always just "strike" especially when you're on deadline. I used to write only when I literally couldn't stop the ideas from tumbling out of my head. That doesn't work well when you have a launch date or an expectant publisher. I thought the muse would simply strike at her own whim and I could just lazily wait for her arrival -- when, really, she often comes when you discipline yourself and consistently sit down to write. Make your writing schedule realistic like I did and break it up into doable chunks (i.e., This week, I'll complete the outline. Next week, I'll focus on chapter one.) If you sit down and start writing, just like showing up to a job, you'll produce brilliance on some days and crap on others. And if you need to take a break one day, take it. Ditch the guilt and then get back to the work tomorrow. The more you produce, the more you'll finesse, tweak, explore, hammer out, invent, -- and the more likely those "A-Ha!" moments will come. It's a probability game. The more you do, the more chances you'll find gems in the work.

1. 2. Commit out loud:

If you're working on a book, you're working on a book. That means people need to understand your schedule may be different. You might not be at your spouse's beck and call and you may have to pass up on certain activities. How do you make this happen? Not by hiding your writing in the dark of night, but by sharing your goal with the people in your life. State your intentions out loud so you not only force yourself to commit but you set others' expectations of your time and attention. If you treat your writing as a hobby, to be done only "when you have time" or "feel like it" (see #1) it will never get done. Added bonus? You will find support, cheerleading and maybe even a few proofreaders along the way.

1. 3. Get comfortable with feedback:

If you wither and die when someone gives you constructive criticism, get over it or go home. No one is perfect and every writer will tell you that good writing is re-writing. You need objective outsiders to review your work, especially from professional editors and proofreaders. What may make sense in your own head could leave readers scratching theirs. My editors (rightly) questioned my story structure, plainly told me if a specific story made sense of not, and highlighted where I was repeating myself. But make sure you are seeking out feedback from trusted experts (professional developmental editors, etc.) or readers in your target audience and not merely changing course according to the whim on any old critic who comes your way...which brings me to #4...

1. 4. Picture your reader:

Just like I advise clients with their business brand strategy, it helps to identify your audience as a real person: picture an actual reader. Not only will this help you effectively market the book, it prevents the writing from becoming a tangled mess. You absolutely need to be clear about for whom you are writing and what they will get. My business book, Branding Basics for Small Business, was written with small business owners, non-profit leaders and entrepreneurs in mind. I had a very clear picture of these people and what made them tick. This "persona" guided the wording, explanations and analogies that I used. On a completely different note, I wrote my personal memoir, Rebooting My Brain, for both women struggling to overcome a life crisis, as well as brain injury caregivers and survivors. I pictured them in my mind as I typed. What questions might they have? What information would they want to know? What would move, delight or inspire them? This ensured my memoir became something universal, useful and valuable for others.

1. 5. Prepare for diverse reactions:

This one was a shocker. Turns out, the people I thought would be most excited by my book writing efforts expressed passing interest (if that) and others who I thought wouldn't give a damn became my best cheerleaders. At first, it really irritated me and, honestly, made chipped away at my confidence. Here I was, doing something that absolutely petrified me, and it was like certain people close to me were not even acknowledging it. Recognize that writing a book is an art form and not everyone "gets" artists. Some don't know how to respond, some may think you're nuts, others will drool with envy and still others will admire you beyond belief and support you full throttle. And by support, I mean even just simply remembering that you're holed up writing and asking you how it's going from time to time. But I finally learned that my big dream was big to me and people are usually just doing the best they know how. They have their own lives to live and dreams to pursue and may not even realize how deeply their reactions (or non-reactions) are hurting you. If certain people in your life don't engage for whatever reason, that's kind of not any of your business -- you have work to do. Throw expectations of other people's reactions out the door, write the book because your soul has to, needs to, and be humble and grateful to those who openly support your dream.

1. 6. Prepare for self-doubt....often:

At every single point in my book writing process, for both books, I doubted myself. My expertise, my knowledge, my ability to tell a good story, whether people would care, whether they would judge me, whether some crazy person from my past would see my book on the shelf, become a stalker and haunt me for the rest of my life. You name it, I thought it. This is natural when you follow a dream. Someone once said that if you're scared, then you know you're doing the right thing. Every writer has at one point during the writing process thought, "What the hell am I doing?" But if you believe in yourself, your knowledge, and your story -- and never lose sight of the value it will provide -- that will help you stay the course. Post up inspirational note around your laptop, seek advice from other writers, find an online writing community and surround yourself with people who will prop you up (or take you out for vodka tonics) when the doubt attacks.

1. 7. It's your story...TELL IT!

One day while writing Rebooting My Brain, my heart sank as I scrolled through title after title of forgotten "aneurysm survivor" books on Amazon. I thought, "What can I possibly add to this conversation? Some of these people are overcoming way worse long-term disabilities than I am. Plus, I'm not famous or anything so who will care about my story?" One of my dearest friends emailed me, "Maria, Eat, Pray, Love was just about a regular woman who got divorced and took a trip. How many books have been written about that? It's all in how you tell it, in your voice, which makes it a story people will want -- and need to -- read." Bless her wise perspective. And the countless emails and reviews I've received thanking me for all my books have done for readers is all the proof I need that my lovely friend was right. No one can tell a story or share wisdom the way you can and you just may touch someone in a way no other book or story can. Don't think your story isn't valuable because the plotline has been done. If that were true, people would never write another book again. Put your unique spin on it and just believe.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-ross/7-lessons-you-need-to-learn-when-writing-your-book- _b_7295210.html

Follow Maria Ross on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@redslice

Hyperearth Smashwords discount

Hello writers and readers, 

Summers is near, so what's the best of having relax near the pool or beach reading a good book ! 
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How to write with Substance

Nothing drags down writing more than spreading good ideas over too many words.
Making keystrokes matter has only grown in importance as communication and the text that powers it become increasingly inseparable. Many tools we rely on each day--Gmail, Slack, Asana--would be empty shells without the words.
Since everyone in the company is responsible for communicating well, everyone is also responsible for writing well. The importance of this is multiplied when working in a remote culture.
For essays, updates, announcements, emails, and more, here's an abridged guide to writing with clarity and substance.

Write to express, not to impress
Communication is a mix of vision and conversation. Having noticed something interesting, you now seek to direct the attention of the reader so that they might see it with their own eyes. What you choose to write is for the use of someone else. Always choose selflessly.
The bloated prose found in academia and "legalese" is a reminder of what's at stake. In The Sense of Style, Harvard linguist Steven Pinker points out that smart people sour their thoughts through attempts to impress others. They spurn simplicity from a desire to prove that they are not bad scientists, lawyers, or academics--in doing so, they unwittingly prove they are bad communicators.
Half the battle with writing is resisting this temptation of the ego. Stick to being straightforward, trust in plain language, and don't use vocabulary to inflate weak ideas.

Brainstorm horizontally, revise vertically
What makes for a boring novel is the same as what makes for boring non-fiction: the story grows horizontally instead of vertically.
Writing that is "too wide" tries to explain everything but ends up saying nothing. Part of writing well is deciding where one piece ends and another begins. If you don't hold the line, you'll be dragged around by it.
The happy medium? Temporarily lower your standards for the approach. Since expressing ideas helps to form them, you'll find sitting down to write creates perspectives you never saw coming. That's a good thing.
From there you'll have enough to make the hard but necessary decisions about which points to expand and which to save for another day. Your process will begin to resemble the following:

People mistakenly expect to hit the bulls-eye on the first pass. Abandon the idea that your first draft should be anything but exploration.
If you don't subsequently cut out 5, 10, or even 20% of your work in revision, have you really refined anything? Sculptors have marble and writers have ideas; it's best to start with a block of material and whittle away to what's needed.

Write for an audience of one
Second to his investing talents, Warren Buffet is known for having a deep-rooted respect for clear communication within companies. His own shareholder letters are so well written that they are often considered the gold standard for the medium.
When introducing the SEC's official Plain English Handbook, Buffet chose to offer up his "unoriginal but useful tip" to act as if you are communicating to a single person.
Buffet usually writes with one of his sisters in mind, noting that while highly intelligent, she has little experience with investing. If he sees a passage that will confuse her, he knows he hasn't written it properly.


Stephen King suggests the same approach in his book On Writing. Picturing his wife combing through each line, he found himself able to create around reactions. Where would she become bored, laugh, be surprised, or skim until the story picked up? He knew the answer because he knew the reader.
Writing to delight a single person whose tastes you understand is practical; writing to appease a faceless audience whose tastes you will never know is impossible.
No need to worry. Picking the right person and conveying your message with care will make what is fascinating to one enjoyable for many.
Relentlessly re-earn attention
David Ogilvy famously said that once the advertising headline is written, you've spent eighty cents of your dollar. You must open with gusto. Captivating titles and hooks won't soon lose their ability to move mountains (and millions).
But great writing doesn't just earn attention; it continually re-earns it. Lose people in the middle and the complete story won't be told. No matter how grand a first impression you make, if it doesn't sustain, that counts as a loss.

Here are a few ways to catch and keep readers until the final line:
Never bury the lede. Make the value proposition clear from the outset in everything you write. If your objective and the reader's incentive are not obvious within the first few paragraphs, re-write them.
Dress your thoughts well. One of my dad's favorite expressions is, "Exercise improves everything." It captures the life-changing transformation that occurred when he took up bodybuilding. "Working out is good for you" imitates the brevity but loses the punch. Often a re-framing is all that's needed to make an accurate statement a timeless one.
Avoid circular and repeated points. "In other words," you should just use those other words. Insight is memorable when it can be embraced directly--don't pad it with "essentially," "basically," or "in other words." Use the right words the first time.
Structure cannot be an afterthought. The best writing is that which pleases at a glance but further rewards careful study. How you structure a piece matters, as do the words that create the structure. You've made a mistake when you start using sub-headings like "In Conclusion." There are far more compelling ways to communicate.
Meandering endings will dilute your message. It's best to approach them quickly. Paul Graham handles this one with grace, so I'll let him bring it home: "Learn to recognize the approach of an ending, and when one appears, grab it."

Gregory Ciotti on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GregoryCiotti

Pacal the Maya astronaut

THE ASTRONAUT OF THE TEMPLE OF PALENQUE.

In the year 1952, the Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz discovered the tomb of King Pacal inside the Temple of Inscriptions of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico. This region was once protected by a number of logs placed in a defensive and fortified way around the temples of Palenque. At the entrance of the temple there were a total of 620 inscriptions near the tomb of King Pacal who, according to the symbols, was born in Palenque, started ruling over the Mayan empire when he was 12 years old and remained in power for a total of 65 years before his death at the age of 80. One of the curiosities is that the Temple of Pacal is the only pyramid in the new world where a crypt was found, defining the pyramid as a burial place just like the ancient Egyptians. 
The tomb weight reached the 20 tons and it was build better than the entrance stone that was removed before the findings, which make archeologist believes that the temple was constructed after the crypt was put in place.
One of the most important aspects of the crypt was the cover stone. It weighted 5 tons and it have an inscription on top that, according to the first archeologist who studied, show the representation of the decent of King Pacal to the underworld and the Mayan believe of the three worlds: the heavens or world above, the world of the living and the world of the dead. Other archeologist interpreted the hieroglyphics as describing the presence of the monster from the deeps of the earth, the Mayan sacred tree and the hairs of the god of rain, but it was the third interpretation and the study of the remains that caused one of the greatest controversies on the world of archeology.

What it appeared to be to others… The controversy of the findings came years after the discovery when another group that studied the stone interpreted the hieroglyphics as what it appears to be some kind of propulsion machinery and a Mayan operating at the controls. From this theory and descriptions came the given name of "The Astronaut of Palenque". Also, and to add to the controversy, the results of the scientific research from the studies of the remains shows that the body is not from one of the Mayan descendants or is even close to the age described in the inscriptions. The body is more of like a full ground man of big stature and not similar at all to any of the Mayan body characteristics of any age. The remains appeared to be of a 40 to 50 year old man and not of an 80-year- old Mayan, matching the legends of the one of the Mayan gods "Votan", a white man of long stature and beard who came from "the other side", as it is described by the legend.

Apart from the inscriptions at the head stone of the crypt, there were other stones and inscriptions found in the Mayan city that showed similarities to, what it looks to some at first instance, as some type of human in front of controls while inside a capsule or enclosure.

In reality, there are more mysteries than answers surrounding the Mayan empire. They are the only civilization of the new world that vanished with very little evidence of what really happened to them or what was the cause of their disappearance. Some of today's archeologists are having conflicting theories explaining the disappearance of the Mayan people or understanding the Mayan number system or hieroglyphics without returning with different interpretations.

The Theories There are many people today who believe that the drawings on the stone are in fact the representation of some kind of ship with the operator inside and that the body found is non other than the pilot itself. Others believe that the remains belong to a European that, somehow, reached the new world before the Spanish colonist discovered America. They also believe that the drawings are misinterpreted when called "The Astronaut". Others, looking for explanations, go as far as including in their theories the ancient legend of "Erik the Red", who in the other side of the sea from the American continent, went in search of the earthly paradise toward "Wotan" or "Odin" which was in the same direction toward the Americas. Other group jumps to the conclusion to believe that the Mayan people were victims of a planetary ascension or abduction, therefore explaining how they acquired the knowledge of the advance architecture, astronomy and numeric system that the empire possessed.

The only current facts is that there are many books with theories regarding the Mayan empire and each lacks concrete evidence explaining the disappearance of these people or who is the tall man found in the tomb of King Pacal. As of now, the archeologist's discoveries on the Mayan Temples keep raising more questions than answers and keep adding wood to the fire of controversy. 

 

Hyperearth Excerpt

Hello writers and readers,

I would like to post another excerpt of Hyperearth, and have good reading! 

Martina unrolled a yellowed map, elaborately detailed with mountains, grassland, lakes, and rivers, but she noticed the northern coast of Antarctica was without a trace of ice or snow. “I’ve read about this,” she commented. “But the language on this map is incomprehensible.”

Danni hesitated, not knowing what to say. “All I know is that this language is not from anywhere close to where we live. The map must have been inherited. There are many objects that Loken can’t even tell the origin of, nor who made them. Some of them are many centuries old.”

“I see what you mean,” Martina replied. “But I do know that the admiral Piri Reis drew maps of Antarctica in 1513, before it had been discovered.”

“Interesting,” Danni remarked.

“What if I told you the last time that Antarctica was without ice was in 4000 BC?” Martina further explained. “It’s incredible. A real mystery.”

Suddenly, Mary barged in between the two girls, holding a wooden box in the shape of a cube. “Look!” she exclaimed, rotating the box to show that each side was different but contained a concentric star-shaped design made of metal. “I passed my finger across it in a clockwise circle, trying to clean off the dust, and a side opened!”

“Let’s try it again,” Danni suggested. “I don’t remember this cube.” She moved her hand around the top of the cube, and it suddenly opened, revealing a golden powder. The cube quickly closed again, and the girls looked at each other, puzzled. “Aha,” Danni remarked. “Now I remember. It’s the cube of desires.”

“A magic box?” Mary asked.

“No,” Danni replied. “It’s more complicated than that. First of all, it can only accept desires that come from the heart. Second of all, it won’t accept greedy wishes, like wealth or anything like that.”

“Sounds great!” Martina exclaimed, smiling.

“It also won’t accept desires to hurt people,” Danni continued.

“I could ask for a boyfriend!” Martina said, beaming.

“But it’s not as simple as you might think. There are many factors and rules that have to be followed, and it takes time,” Danni explained.

“Well, we have time,” Mary said. “We’ll be on this island until tomorrow, won’t we?”

“Then you could try later, if your intentions are good,” Danni replied.

“Mine?” Martina asked. “I think so, but I’ll leave it up to others to judge that.”

Meanwhile, they curiously explored the many objects around them. Mary discovered a mirror with a beautiful gilt frame, but when she tried to behold herself in the glass, she didn’t see her reflection. She set it down and at first said nothing, apprehensively trying to figure out an explanation.

“Well, I’ve become invisible.” She finally exclaimed. “Come look at this, Martina!” Martina approached her friend and took a look into the mirror, but also couldn’t see herself. They called over Danni.

“You can’t see yourselves because you come from Earth,” Danni explained. “Look, I can see myself in the mirror.” She demonstrated, smiling, leaving Martina and Mary shocked by this fact. But it was only the beginning of many more surprises to come in this mysterious land.

 

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http://www.amazon.com/Hyperearth-Marco-Marek-ebook/dp/B00R9NRX4M