Alan Cook's Blog - Posts Tagged "suspense"
Editing for Dollars
In the third Carol Golden novel, Dangerous Wind (available on Amazon Kindle) http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Wind-...)
Carol has to find an old boyfriend she doesn’t remember (because of her amnesia) who is supposedly plotting the downfall of the Western World. This life-or-death adventure will take Carol to all 7 continents, with shocking results.
Here is a challenge for those of you who like this kind of book. I believe it has been well edited. However, no matter how carefully a book is edited, errors slip through. I’ve seen errors in best-sellers. With that in mind, and because it’s easier to fix any errors on the Kindle version than a print version, I’m offering to pay any person who is the first to find a particular error in the book the sum of $5.00.
Fair warning: I may blog some more about this topic. If you contact me I may use your comments in my blog.
Since this challenge is fraught with financial and legal implications, I had to make up rules. Here they are:
1. Deadline for reporting errors: April 30, 2013.
2. Maximum payout: $200; limit for one person: $25
3. Send notice of errors to alcook@sprintmail.com
4. Payment will be made by check or through Paypal.
5. I will pay the first person to find each error of the following type: misspelling, grammar (except in dialog and cases where bad grammar may be intentional), typos, punctuation and formatting (unless altered by Amazon).
6. I will not pay for commas (in or out). Everybody has different rules for commas.
Happy hunting.
Carol has to find an old boyfriend she doesn’t remember (because of her amnesia) who is supposedly plotting the downfall of the Western World. This life-or-death adventure will take Carol to all 7 continents, with shocking results.
Here is a challenge for those of you who like this kind of book. I believe it has been well edited. However, no matter how carefully a book is edited, errors slip through. I’ve seen errors in best-sellers. With that in mind, and because it’s easier to fix any errors on the Kindle version than a print version, I’m offering to pay any person who is the first to find a particular error in the book the sum of $5.00.
Fair warning: I may blog some more about this topic. If you contact me I may use your comments in my blog.
Since this challenge is fraught with financial and legal implications, I had to make up rules. Here they are:
1. Deadline for reporting errors: April 30, 2013.
2. Maximum payout: $200; limit for one person: $25
3. Send notice of errors to alcook@sprintmail.com
4. Payment will be made by check or through Paypal.
5. I will pay the first person to find each error of the following type: misspelling, grammar (except in dialog and cases where bad grammar may be intentional), typos, punctuation and formatting (unless altered by Amazon).
6. I will not pay for commas (in or out). Everybody has different rules for commas.
Happy hunting.
Circling the Globe--Travel in a Suspense Novel
While my wife and I were planning our cruise around South America that would give us a total of six continents visited, we were wondering whether we should select an expensive option—a day flight to Antarctica. Our geographer grandson, who was eight at the time, said we should go. Then he could say he knew people who had been to all seven continents.
While envisioning my third Carol Golden novel, "Dangerous Wind," I could picture Carol circling the globe in pursuit of freedom—or perhaps more correctly, in pursuit of whatever people were trying to take away our freedom. At the moment, the earth is all the territory we have to live on, work on, play on. We can’t yet move to the moon or to Mars. If we can’t find freedom here we can’t find it anywhere.
Writing about travel has been popular ever since people started writing books. Homer did it in "The Odyssey," Marco Polo wrote about his travels to Asia, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes."
"Dangerous Wind" is not just a travelogue, however, although Carol gets to visit some of the most famous places in the world, natural and manmade. It has action, adventure, suspense and mystery. Carol is abducted from her home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by a mysterious group apparently with the government (remember Reagan’s sarcastic phrase, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help…”) and immediately flown to London.
Here she learns that her mission (which she did not choose to accept) is to find an old boyfriend she doesn’t remember because of her amnesia (her memory was lost in "Forget to Remember"). Then it’s on to Switzerland and the Matterhorn, a mountain every schoolchild can recognize.
The plot thickens as Carol uses her mathematical skills to decode a message that will take her to Cairo and the pyramids. From here she will travel to China (the Great Wall), Australia (Ayers Rock aka Uluru) and various places in South America including Ipanema Beach in Rio (are you old enough to remember “The Girl from Ipanema”?). She also goes to Tahiti and Bora Bora.
"Dangerous Wind" climaxes on the Greek island of Santorini, one of the most beautiful and fragile dots in the world. Santorini, you see, is a live volcano. Originally known as Thera, it blew up around 1600 BCE, sending tsunamis throughout the Mediterranean Sea and leaving the crescent that is Santorini today. A devastating earthquake in 1956 reminded us mortals that the volcano could erupt again at any time.
Oh yes, Carol also gets to visit Antarctica, land of snow, ice and penguins, as my wife and I did, so that she can tell her grandchildren she’s been to all seven continents.
While envisioning my third Carol Golden novel, "Dangerous Wind," I could picture Carol circling the globe in pursuit of freedom—or perhaps more correctly, in pursuit of whatever people were trying to take away our freedom. At the moment, the earth is all the territory we have to live on, work on, play on. We can’t yet move to the moon or to Mars. If we can’t find freedom here we can’t find it anywhere.
Writing about travel has been popular ever since people started writing books. Homer did it in "The Odyssey," Marco Polo wrote about his travels to Asia, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes."
"Dangerous Wind" is not just a travelogue, however, although Carol gets to visit some of the most famous places in the world, natural and manmade. It has action, adventure, suspense and mystery. Carol is abducted from her home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by a mysterious group apparently with the government (remember Reagan’s sarcastic phrase, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help…”) and immediately flown to London.
Here she learns that her mission (which she did not choose to accept) is to find an old boyfriend she doesn’t remember because of her amnesia (her memory was lost in "Forget to Remember"). Then it’s on to Switzerland and the Matterhorn, a mountain every schoolchild can recognize.
The plot thickens as Carol uses her mathematical skills to decode a message that will take her to Cairo and the pyramids. From here she will travel to China (the Great Wall), Australia (Ayers Rock aka Uluru) and various places in South America including Ipanema Beach in Rio (are you old enough to remember “The Girl from Ipanema”?). She also goes to Tahiti and Bora Bora.
"Dangerous Wind" climaxes on the Greek island of Santorini, one of the most beautiful and fragile dots in the world. Santorini, you see, is a live volcano. Originally known as Thera, it blew up around 1600 BCE, sending tsunamis throughout the Mediterranean Sea and leaving the crescent that is Santorini today. A devastating earthquake in 1956 reminded us mortals that the volcano could erupt again at any time.
Oh yes, Carol also gets to visit Antarctica, land of snow, ice and penguins, as my wife and I did, so that she can tell her grandchildren she’s been to all seven continents.
Blog on a Blot: Backgammon Anyone?
My new mystery/suspense novel, HIT THAT BLOT, has a backgammon theme, but since there don’t seem to be many backgammon players around I’m glad people are telling me it’s a good read even for those poor souls who don’t play the game.
Backgammon is a game of chance (using dice) with a strong element of skill. People who know the odds of certain events happening have a big advantage. My understanding is that it used to be much more popular in many places, such as the US, than it is currently.
I, myself, learned to play backgammon many years ago. I even read a book on backgammon and learned good opening moves and the chances of hitting my opponent’s checkers or getting hit. At that point I figured I was ready for a tournament being held nearby. I entered the advanced category instead of novice because the prizes were better. Of course, I was quickly handed my head by a bunch of Armenians who were born playing backgammon, but in spite of that I’ve been playing on and off ever since.
Not long ago I started playing backgammon on the Internet, using a Microsoft app that hooks up players from all over the world, and did quite well. This led me to the idea for a new Carol Golden novel, since Carol is a mathematician and likes to play games. In doing research for the book I discovered that the backgammon guru (or MFIC—don’t ask what that means) for the Los Angeles area is Patrick Gibson, a man I used to work with in a previous millennium.
I entered one of Patrick’s tournaments and got handed my head again, but I also found that I’m not that bad. I had some good games, although I lost the matches. So I wrote the book, making Carol a better player than I am. Then I had the hubris to add a series of appendices giving backgammon tips and a glossary of terms. The feedback has been positive, I’m happy to say.
Whether or not people play backgammon I hope they enjoy the book. But deep down inside I’m hoping to start a backgammon revival.
Backgammon is a game of chance (using dice) with a strong element of skill. People who know the odds of certain events happening have a big advantage. My understanding is that it used to be much more popular in many places, such as the US, than it is currently.
I, myself, learned to play backgammon many years ago. I even read a book on backgammon and learned good opening moves and the chances of hitting my opponent’s checkers or getting hit. At that point I figured I was ready for a tournament being held nearby. I entered the advanced category instead of novice because the prizes were better. Of course, I was quickly handed my head by a bunch of Armenians who were born playing backgammon, but in spite of that I’ve been playing on and off ever since.
Not long ago I started playing backgammon on the Internet, using a Microsoft app that hooks up players from all over the world, and did quite well. This led me to the idea for a new Carol Golden novel, since Carol is a mathematician and likes to play games. In doing research for the book I discovered that the backgammon guru (or MFIC—don’t ask what that means) for the Los Angeles area is Patrick Gibson, a man I used to work with in a previous millennium.
I entered one of Patrick’s tournaments and got handed my head again, but I also found that I’m not that bad. I had some good games, although I lost the matches. So I wrote the book, making Carol a better player than I am. Then I had the hubris to add a series of appendices giving backgammon tips and a glossary of terms. The feedback has been positive, I’m happy to say.
Whether or not people play backgammon I hope they enjoy the book. But deep down inside I’m hoping to start a backgammon revival.
Free Kindle Mystery-Suspense Novel
I'm feeling kind-hearted and am giving away Kindle copies of my 7th Carol Golden novel, "Your Move." If you have an Amazon Kindle account you can have one if you send me your Amazon Kindle email address: alcook@sprintmail.com Of course, I would appreciate reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Limited time offer (whatever that means).
Somebody is killing people who work for subsidiaries of conglomerate Ault Enterprises and playing some kind of game while doing it. Carol Golden is called on to help identify the killer because she has experience in breaking codes and playing games. Amy O’Connor, a former scam artist and long-distance hiker with an eye for men, becomes her partner by accident, and together they search for clues in interesting places. The hunt takes them to the tops of significant mountain peaks in the United States, including Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental U.S., and to other unusual locales such as the thinly populated Lost Coast region of northern California. Carol finds that incidents in her past that are lost to her because of her amnesia may come back to haunt her before she can win this deadly game.
Somebody is killing people who work for subsidiaries of conglomerate Ault Enterprises and playing some kind of game while doing it. Carol Golden is called on to help identify the killer because she has experience in breaking codes and playing games. Amy O’Connor, a former scam artist and long-distance hiker with an eye for men, becomes her partner by accident, and together they search for clues in interesting places. The hunt takes them to the tops of significant mountain peaks in the United States, including Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental U.S., and to other unusual locales such as the thinly populated Lost Coast region of northern California. Carol finds that incidents in her past that are lost to her because of her amnesia may come back to haunt her before she can win this deadly game.
