Archipelago Atascadero Discovered By Kepler Space Telescope November 3, 2015
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From an article in USA Today:
“Strange light emitting from a distant star has astronomers and people in the scientific community scratching their heads.
Is a megastructure created by an alien civilization diverting the light to create energy? Or is it just leftover particles from an asteroid belt? Maybe, a technical glitch?
The only sure thing about the star, called KIC 8462852, seems to be uncertainty.
Spotted by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope in 2009, the strange light pattern emitted from the star has puzzled many over the years, The Atlantic reported.”
Another explanation I am choosing to believe is that NASA has discovered the Archipelago Atascadero from my stories, Spacewalk and Son of a Sun. The archipelago from my stories is the holy grail of habitable systems with a grouping of thirty nine small planets that orbit together at the same distance from their common sun on opposing planes like multiple electrons orbiting an atom’s nucleolus.
I’ve always thought this kind of solar system is a fun new idea that I haven’t seen before in science fiction. Apparently, there is at least some possibility it is more than just an idea.
Help Someone in Need: A Book Bomb for Ben April 8, 2013
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Ben Wolverton Pictured Here with his sister.
Help Someone in Need: A Book Bomb for Ben
Ben Wolverton, age 16, was in a serious long-boarding accident on Wednesday the 4th, 2013. He suffers from severe brain trauma, a cracked skull, broken pelvis and tail bone, burnt knees, bruised lungs, broken ear drum, road rash, and is currently in a coma. His family has no insurance.
We are having a book bomb on Wednesday, April 10th, on behalf of Ben Wolverton, who is the son of the New York Times bestselling author David Farland (http://www.davidfarland.com/).
You can learn more about Ben’s condition, or simply donate to the Wolverton family here: http://www.gofundme.com/BensRecovery
What is a Book Bomb?
For those that don’t know, a Book Bomb is an event where participants purchase a book on a specific day to support the author, or, in this case, a young person in serious need: Ben Wolverton.
David Farland’s young adult fantasy thriller Nightingale has won seven awards, including the Grand Prize at the Hollywood Book Festival—beating out ALL books in ALL categories. It has been praised by authors such as James Dashner (The Maze Runner), Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn), and Paul Genesse (Iron Dragon series), and has received four and a half starts on Amazon. You can read reviews here: http://www.amazon.com/Nightingale-ebook/dp/B006P7SEBY/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1365432857&sr=8-2
Some people sing at night to drive back the darkness. Others sing to summon it. . . .
Bron Jones was abandoned at birth. Thrown into foster care, he was rejected by one family after another, until he met Olivia, a gifted and devoted high-school teacher who recognized him for what he really was—what her people call a “nightingale.”
But Bron isn’t ready to learn the truth. There are secrets that have been hidden from mankind for hundreds of thousands of years, secrets that should remain hidden. Some things are too dangerous to know. Bron’s secret may be the most dangerous of all.
Nightingale is available as a hardcover, ebook, audio book, and enhanced novel for the iPad.
You can purchase it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nightingale-ebook/dp/B006P7SEBY/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1365432857&sr=8-2
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nightingale-david-farland/1107084747?ean=2940016100463
on the Nightingale website: http://www.nightingalenovel.com/
or, you can get the enhanced version, complete with illustrations, interviews, animations, and its own soundtrack through iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/nightingale/id560309064?mt=11
If you are a writer, you may want to consider purchasing David Farland’s Million Dollar Outlines instead. Both books are part of the book bomb. Million Dollar Outlines has been a bestseller on Amazon for over a month and is only $6.99.
As a bestselling author David Farland has taught dozens of writers who have gone on to staggering literary success, including such #1 New York Times Bestsellers as Brandon Mull (Fablehaven), Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time), James Dashner (The Maze Runner) and Stephenie Meyer (Twilight).
In Million Dollar Outlines, Dave teaches how to analyze an audience and outline a novel so that it can appeal to a wide readership, giving it the potential to become a bestseller. The secrets found in his unconventional approach will help you understand why so many of his authors go on to prominence.
Get it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-Outlines-ebook/dp/B00B9JYJ6W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365434120&sr=8-1&keywords=Million+Dollar+Outlines
Or on Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/million-dollar-outlines-david-farland/1114285069?ean=2940015965148
Read one of the 26 reviews here: http://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-Outlines-ebook/dp/B00B9JYJ6W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365434120&sr=8-1&keywords=Million+Dollar+Outlines
Would you like to just donate money? You can do that here: http://www.gofundme.com/BensRecovery
If you can’t spare any money, but would still like to help, you can do so by telling others about Ben’s donation page, and/or this Book Bomb. Share it on facebook, twitter, pinterest, your blog—anywhere you can. We have an event page set up on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/453677124707603/
Thank you!
Ben and his family greatly appreciate your support, and so do all who love and care about them.
Preserving Humanity Now Available On Smashwords February 23, 2013
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Preserving Humanity is now available at Smashwords.com It is offered there for $1.49, but for anyone who reads this blog, please use the coupon code WD29U when purchasing the book and you will get it for free.
I’m waiting now for Smashwords premium category acceptance to then get a ISBN number for the book before taking it to the Kindle market too. Smashwords does offer a kindle version, they are a great site for books. But Amazon has been a pioneer in the e-book business starting with creating their own device, so having a book up live there is a huge market that can’t be ignored.
So if you have been wondering what happens after Mother, go to Smashwords now and get your free version of Preserving Humanity.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/288667
The Cover for my next e-book
Comming Very Soon February 20, 2013
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Two years ago I set out to write a story about how people could be sent out to explore the stars and how the ones they left behind on Earth could forget or not know they left. The working titles for the book were, “Discoveries” and “The Way of the Leaving” and “Leaving Sol.” But that how was a big story. 99.9% of my next book is about the how and only 00.1% is about the leaving. So I decided a new title was in order and here it is, coming as soon as I can get Smashwords to accept my format and give me an ISBN number for the novel:
The Cover for my next e-book
Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest Entered January 20, 2013
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I have now officially entered the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. The first round of judging happens with my 300 word pitch. There seems to be an air of anominity required for the entry so I don’t know how much to talk about the entry yet. Let’s just say that it is the novel version of the two short stories that I have talked about expanding upon before. I will know by mid-Febuary if the pitch has been good enough to get the novel into the second round. If it hasn’t, I will then be publishing the novel on Amazon and Smashwords by March. If the pitch has been strong enough, I will be elated at the ride the story then takes.
Here’s hoping for that next round.
My First Review On Amazon January 16, 2013
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Since offering my short story, Mother, is available for free on Amazon downloads from kindle are high (at least their high for a new author publishing for myself). There has been over 150 free purchases in the month of December alone. Mother is a short story written a couple of years ago and after it was completed, I wrote a follow along novel that incorporates Mother as the second chapter. So I am hoping that people who have read my short story will be interested in the full length novel where the story of what happens next is explored in detail. I could have solicited my friends and family to log onto Amazon and review my story, but I have stayed silent and waited to see if I have caught the attention of people who have probably come across my story by chance and read it out of curiosity.
And now someone has, giving the story a five-star rating and making me feel like it was enjoyed. Hopefully I’ll get more like this. I am encouraged as I take one last weekend this week to final edit my follow along novel to Mother and submit it for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. Entry for this year opened on January 14th and I hope they have not topped out on their maximum 10,000 entries by the time I finish my edits a few days from now. Maybe the first judges will like my pitch enough to send me on to the next level, maybe the next line of judges will send me into the semi-finals, and getting even that far would be amazing. Yet even if I do not place at all, I still have my first five-star review and that is a winner for me.
Of Course, A Rejection Can Be Just That December 12, 2012
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“Your story has been judged and did not place in the 4th quarter of the Writers of the Future contest.”
That’s when a rejection is just a rejection. It can be disappointing, but I have to remind myself that I am not writing to win a contest. I’m writing to tell stories.
To get better at telling those stories, I have signed up for a workshop in Provo UT next year. It is being put on by author David Farland who just happens to be the current judge for the Writers of the Future contest and the same guy that has rejected my most recent entry. I figure who better to learn more about story telling from than the man who has been judging my work.
When is a rejection not so much of a rejection November 22, 2012
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I recently heard back on a story I had sent in knowing it had one fatal flaw for the publication, length.
“I must apologize for having held onto this story for such a long time. It truly tempted me, but, although I’ve kept fiddling with the idea of running it, the story is just too long (over double our maximum length) for use in Spaceports & Spidersilk. If you ever write anything shorter that might work for us, I’d very much like to read it.”
The story is Saturn Station Remote. It’s a story about what happens to magicians when our technology has taken us well beyond the point when magic seems special. I’m going to have to do some searching for the right publication to send this story to next. I appreciate the nod from SPACEPORTS & SPIDERSILK
however. It has been good to hear a positive reading of my writing.
One Small Step For Architect November 2, 2012
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Today I’ve taken one small step in my architecture career and one giant leap in the State bureaucracy. Three months ago I was asked to become a Supervising Architect (see, The Plan Is There Is No Plan). Since then there have been two exams taken, paper trails laid down, interviews, and yet more paper filed on my behalf. In the end, I can now remove the caveat, “Acting” from my title and consider myself a Supervising Architect in charge of a small unit of 8 professionals, 5 of whom are fellow licensed architects. We design buildings for schools, the DMV, our Highway Patrol, our Department of Transportation and more.
New Pre-School Building In Southern California
I get to write more now than I did before the promotion, unfortunately, most of that writing is in memo form. And the meetings I have to go to, oh my gosh some of this stuff has to stop so people can get their work done. However I am also not bringing home drafting work for the nights and weekends so my creative writing is also picking back up. I’d like to talk about the stories I’ve been typing up, but I can’t enter them into the some contests if I have given away a clue of who wrote them publicly. My next step is to start marketing other short stories again.
Story In For The Fourth Quarter. September 30, 2012
Posted by Tom Wells in News, Submissions, Tom's Posts.2 comments
Well, I did it. I was able to submit a story to the Writers of the Future Contest. It is my first entry in six months and a relief to have made it. At work, I have completed my deadlines and I continue to move through the maze of bureaucracy that comes with my management’s desire to promote me. I have taken a promotional exam and have been ranked one, which is just a first step to completing my promotion. Next will come interviews with all of the Rank One applicants. In the mean time, I am finding more time to write as is evidenced by my ability to enter this quarter. I have a book that needs final editing. That will be my next focus along with finding out which of my recently started short story ideas rises to the top for submission in the next contest quarter. It will be interesting to find out which one takes shape first. That is part of the fun of writing fiction for me. There are adventures that have been molded in my head for years, and there are adventures that just unfold as they are typed, almost as if they are stories I am reading that were written by others.
wellswriting 