Time Travel discussion

The Dinosaur Four by Geoff Jones

Are you ready for some DINOSAURS?

They came for the coffee and wound up in the Cretaceous.

A ticking sound fills the air as Tim MacGregor enters The Daily Edition Café, hoping to meet his new girlfriend for coffee. Moments later, the café is transported 67 million years back in time, along with everyone inside.

Ten unlikely companions find themselves in a world of dinosaurs and prehistoric reptiles. Several survivors compete for leadership as they search for a way home, and one member of the group plots to keep them all trapped in the past...


September is going to sweet with a HUGE giveaway. Four will be selected at random to win the Kindle format of the book, but a 5th will be selected by Geoff Jones based on merit of answers to the following question:

If you suddenly found yourself in the late Cretaceous with nine strangers, what species would frighten you the most, and why?

I don't know if this is a valid answer or not, but I think the most frightening species involved in this scenario is Homo Sapiens. Sure, getting stepped on by an absentminded Iguanacolossus would ruin your day, but those pesky humans have had a lot more practice at being sneaky... I'd watch my back. Then I'd learn to ride a megaraptor and teach everyone not to mess with me.

I've got to agree with Nathan - I'd really be leery of the strangers who came with me. Especially if I knew that a book's plot was dependent on our behaviors.

Velociraptor. I think I could manage to avoid the bigger monsters, but this guy could find me if he was looking, and catch me if he tried.

http://www.joetucciarone.com/velocira...
"Velociraptor was a small, slender dinosaur that stood just three feet tall and weighed as much as an average dog. However, it had lethal claws and one of the highest brain-to-body weight ratios of any dinosaur. These and other features of its skeletal remains show it was an agile and aggressive predator."

CHOMP, CHOMP, BURP chewed Cynthia


Cynthia (The Garrett half ofGarrett Smith)

Awesome pic!
But no feathers?

I would have to agree with velociraptors. They are some scary animals!

Besides the other animals though, I think that I'd be terrified about what I could and couldn't eat.

Geoff wrote: "Awesome pic!
But no feathers?"

Geoff, I understand the confusion over the absence of feathers in our fearsome velociraptor. Raptors are birds, right?

According to wikipedia, they are birds of prey, and also the Dromaeosaurida, the family of dinosaurs that includes Velociraptor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor

Lesson taken from this: The whole family is mean as snot, so keep low and try to smell like a plant.

Kathryn wrote: "I would have to agree with velociraptors. They are some scary animals!

Besides the other animals though, I think that I'd be terrified about what I could and couldn't eat."

Hadn't thought of that. Guess that's why you want to be generous and let the other three people eat first.

Garrett wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "I would have to agree with velociraptors. They are some scary animals!

Besides the other animals though, I think that I'd be terrified about what I could and couldn't eat."

Hadn'..."


If you read the blurb it says 10 people are time traveled, yet the book is entitled the dinosaur four. 6 of them taste tester, trial and error?

That or hungry dino's

Geoff wrote: "Awesome pic!
But no feathers?"

I take it all back. Nix what I said above.
I actually read, okay scanned, the wikipedia article on velociraptor, and they had feathers. So, of course, Geoff was right, the picture should have shown feathers.

I now imagine a really mean flightless bird/lizard/hunting-dog-smart sort of thing.

So, Geoff, what does the Four in the title refer to?

I'd rather not go into it here because it's a little spoiler-y, but I explain the title in this interview if you really want to know:

http://theblackcathorrorblog.com/2014...

Okay, (view spoiler)[I read the interview and won't tell a soul. (hide spoiler)].

The book sounds like a lot of fun. I see its really picking up momentum. Have you considered making it available for the Nook, or in softcover?

Garrett said: the wikipedia article

I always take information off wikipedia with a grain of salt. I had a friend who attended the University of Utah and it is the rival school to BYU. BYU's mascot is Cosmo the Cougar. As a joke my friend accessed the Wikipedia article explaining the origin of the mascot and told an outrageous story about cougar kittens that got loose from the zoo in Provo in like 1908...The entire story was fabricated but the article remained unchanged for almost 2 years...It was hilarious.

Funny story! Makes one think of possible stories one might...no, of course not, one would never do that.

Still, I'm putting feathers on my imaginary velociraptor.

Even vegan dinosaurs could be dangerous. When I was a teen, I helped out in my uncle's dairy farm. Some of those cows loved to kick and head butt. We took the risks very seriously.

Ankylosaurus Everyone is always a fan of T-Rex but I was always more defensively minded. I don't think anyone would bother with this guy.

I suppose that does not answer the question, except to say, I would probably do well to find some ankylosaurus armor...a dead one I guess and wear it?

Hey Garrett,

The Dinosaur Four is only available on Kindle for now, but you can read it on almost any computer, tablet, or phone using the free Kindle Reading App.

As a new author, I like being exclusive to Amazon because it means that Amazon Prime and Kindle Unlimited members can "borrow" the book for free. I feel like that makes it easy for readers to take a chance on new authors without any financial risk. And if they make it past the 10% mark, I get a payment from Amazon, so it's a win-win situation.

I'm hoping to get a paperback edition out later in the year, in time for Christmas.

And yes, the veggie dinos are just as dangerous as the meat-eaters in The Dinosaur Four. ;)

Geoff

Perfect!

Did anyone watch the new Cosmos on Fox? They had a bit in there explaining the size of insects given the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere allowing them to grow large. I wanted to post the clip here but I have not been able to find it, goes along with Paul's comment about large butterflies...Large everything. My fear would be of Mosquitoes!

Paul wrote: "They're not as toothy as the traditional dinosaur, but I'm voting for butterflies being the most frightening species.

They enter the world through metamorphosis which is admittedly remarkable, but..."


Paul,

I will never again be able to look at or think of butterflies without envisioning the scenario you suggested in your comments. If you don't write a short story based on that idea and submit it to a quarterly journal or writing contest, it would be a pity.

Cynthia (The Garrett half of Garrett Smith)

Yikes Paul. Write the story, but don't make me read it as I'm squeamish.

If you guys can't wait to possibly win this book, I got a BookBub notice in my email this morning that listed it as being on temporary 99¢ special on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KK1SU9W?_...

I LOVE DINOSAUR BOOKS! Especially the Kindle variety, so yes please, put me in for one.

Geoff: I was going to say I'd be most scared of the popular inhabitants of the time (T-Rex, Velociraptor etc), but I strongly suspect it would be the "little things" that we should fear. The mossies would still, even then, most likely, carry payloads of infectious bugs that would see us die a painful death long before we became strands of gristle caught in a T-Rex's teeth. We would be in a world full of microbes that we had no resistance to - and no doctor nearby. Pretty boring end but who knows; maybe we'd be knocked off by some of the vicious botanicals before infection set in?

I count 10 answers so far.
Here's a scorecard:

(2) Homo Sapiens
(2) Velociraptor
(2) Insects (Butterflies & Mosquitoes)
(2) Illness (Microbes & Food poisoning)
(1) Ankylosaurus
(1) Pterosaurs

The giveaway is not about guessing which species are in the book, but I found it interesting that pretty much* everything on the list is at least mentioned in The Dinosaur Four. Also of note: only one species here is actually responsible for the death of a survivor.

*(Velociraptor’s “cousin” appears in the book.)

The Dinosaur Four is having a great month. It now has more than 100 reviews at Amazon and is currently #4 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Time Travel.

Just over a week remains to get in on the giveaway! Reminder: I’ll give an ebook of The Dinosaur Four to four randomly selected participants who answer the questions, and one ebook to the person who submits my favorite answer.

If you suddenly found yourself in the late Cretaceous with nine strangers, what species would frighten you the most, and why?

....don't forget to add "vicious botanicals" to your list Geoff! I reckon with so many huge plant-eaters around in those times, the plants would have evolved some potent methods of protection i.e. poisons, barbs and bad smells!

Nathan wrote: "I don't know if this is a valid answer or not, but I think the most frightening species involved in this scenario is Homo Sapiens. Sure, getting stepped on by an absentminded Iguanacolossus would ruin your day, but those pesky humans have had a lot more practice at being sneaky... I'd watch my back. Then I'd learn to ride a megaraptor and teach everyone not to mess with me."

Ha! That'd be my answer as well :)

September’s Giveaway Question:

If you suddenly found yourself in the late Cretaceous with nine strangers, what species would frighten you the most, and why?

For my favorite answer, I chose the following response from Garrett:

Even vegan dinosaurs could be dangerous. When I was a teen, I helped out in my uncle's dairy farm. Some of those cows loved to kick and head butt. We took the risks very seriously.

This mirrors a sentiment from The Dinosaur Four. Plant eaters can be just as dangerous as meat eaters. They aren’t likely to cuddle up and feed from your hands.

The other four winners, selected randomly (using a spreadsheet with a “random” function) are Elena, Kathryn, Lincoln, and Michele.

I have sent each winner a personal message to arrange delivery of the prize. I hope you enjoy reading The Dinosaur Four and would love to hear any feedback you might have. Congrats and thanks to everyone for playing along!

Geoff

Edit: The winner list has been updated - at least one of the "contestants" had already purchased the book!

Thank you! We were hoping we would win. Thank you, Geoff.

All the best,
Cynthia Garrett and Michael Smith (Garrett Smith)

Thanks Geoff for putting your book up for a giveaway. Thank you to all that participated. I am glad I won this book, it looks like a fun romp. Those that do read it please take the time to leave feedback and honest reviews to help promote good books.

Well I didn't win - so I bought it anyway. I love dinosaur books so I'm happy to contribute a little money (no matter how small) to your retirement fund Geoff. :)

Thanks Paul - I appreciate it and I hope you have fun with the book!

If anyone is interested, The Dinosaur Four is now available in paperback and I'm giving away four copies to celebrate.

Click on the book's page, scroll down, and click the "Enter to Win" button.