Places to find your own book

I like an occasional trip to Goodwill. Sometimes you can find real gems on their bookshelves. I can't tell you how many out of print books I've purchased from Goodwill over the years, but the line up is long and often fascinating.

So imagine my surprise when I walked in today and the first book that caught my eye was my own. Yep, my first novel (published 2004) finally made it to Goodwill.  Of course I've seen my books in many different places such as grocery stores, airports, pharmacies, hotels, bookstores and libraries but Goodwill is definitely the first find for me.

Not sure what it means for me as a writer, particularly that the book seems as crisp as new, never read, but I can definitely boast of being one of those writers whose books end up at Goodwill.
Oh, and by the way: I bought it.

Inside Job

This morning our neighborhood woke up to find these signs painted on the street:

CIA Family Jewels for Download

Download Here, in .pdf (23.7 MB)

Don't expect to find out just who killed JFK.

How I quit coffee

From addiction to freedom.

If you quit ingesting coffee 'cold turkey', your brain begins to reduce the number of receptors right away. But the process takes about two weeks, and during that time your body sends out mild 'distress signals' in the form of headaches, lethargy, fatigue, muscle pain, nausea, and sometimes even stiffness and flu-like symptoms. As a result most doctors recommend cutting out caffeine gradually.

Well, gradual attempts at quitting coffee did not work for me. Each time I tried - I suffered the horrors described above.

I used to drink 10+ cups a day (no sugar or milk). The more I drank the more I needed to drink. I reached the stage where it would no longer work: more coffee meant more down times. I'd drink a cup, feel the rush for half an hour and I'd hit a mental fog, and need another one. It really was a vicious circle.

I tried to quit. I tried not to drink any coffee but it just would not do. I tried reducing the amount, but it would not do. Like a smoker I tried for years to quit.

In vain I struggled. It would not do.

Until pure chance came to the rescue.

I was traveling in remote areas of Central America, with no access to reliable drinking water. I could not trust bars, I certainly could not trust tap water to boil my own...

The first few days were terrible, the rejection process was really hard.

By the end of the 3 week trip I forgot what coffee was. I never looked back. It's been over 2 years and I don't care for coffee. My head works clearly without it. I do not suffer from the afternoon downtime. I do not need the caffeine boost. I'm free.

Who killed JFK

In today's Washington Post:

The "evidence used to rule out a second assassin is fundamentally flawed," concludes a new article in the Annals of Applied Statistics written by former FBI lab metallurgist William A. Tobin and Texas A&M University researchers Cliff Spiegelman and William D. James.

You know the day is coming when the file on JFK assassination is supposed to be open?

You know what's in it?

I quote what I've been told by an old-timer from the spy world, an intel officer from the WWII and beyond:

"You know what they will find when they open the file on JFK? Nothing. There will be nothing in it."

Remember this.

Frightening facts about GM foods

Remember when the European Union put up a fight against Canadian genetically modified canola exports but lost its case with the WTO and was ordered to accept the frankencrops anyway?

Well, it seems Euro governments are more frank about the dangers of GM foods than their North American counterparts.

Read about the dangers of GM crops from Responsible Technology:

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showArticle/?objectID=212

Sample quote:

"Foreign genes jumped to human gut bacteria in just one meal of a GM soy burger and soy milkshake."

Visit also: SEEDS OF DECEPTION

Instant Novelist

A small software company CreativeVein has released un updated version of its flagship package: "PoeticVein", version 2.01.

The software allows would be novelists to instantly create novel-length stories of publishable quality.

How does the software work?

Simply ingenious.

The user fills out a form that is as detailed as one wants it to be and may take several days to go through. It is possible to complete the form over a weekend! Imagine this: write a novel in a single weekend.

Questions range from choice of genre, goriness, and pace to locales, names, and language intricacy... and thousands more.

The more details the user provides the more detailed and rich the final output.

For example, under Mystery as the chosen genre one can choose the number of characters, how detailed should their bios be (and what should be included), how many murder victims, how many twists in the story, how long the story needs to be (differs from publisher to publisher) etc. Admittedly, the more you enter the more background you may need to provide, and you may spend a week filling the form. But, you can choose the Simplify or Random function.

Does it work?

Well, if you keep in mind that all Mystery / Suspense / Thriller books are stereotypical to some degree (and they are) then the output is extremely gratifying. You will not be able to distinguishe a generated novel from that written by a writer.

A 95,000 word novel takes only minutes to generate, but as said before it does take several days to fill out the particulars. Would be novelists are encouraged to read through the generated work before submitting to publishers in order to ensure satisfaction. I second that: some editing will be required. But, hey, it is nothing compared with 2 years you'd spend writing a novel by yourself.

Then, you may want to consider this: Love to read books but are tired of books you don't enjoy? Fill out the form and one will be created for you. You can have as many alternative endings as you wish. You can have as many stories in all imaginable genres as you wish.

Now, the software isn't cheap at $899.00 US, but think how many novels you can create. Novels for life.

My first novel was generated by the "PoeticVein" version 1.01 and was snatched by the publisher. Can you tell it was generated?