Life's a Wild Ride

Life is definitely a wild ride

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:32:28 GMT

Makes you revisit the term "pet."

Twitter updates

Sat, 30 May 2009 10:41:37 GMT

I have disabled the Twitter updates in my LiveJournal blog. Even I found them extremely annoying, not only as entries, but also to read. It felt just too self-indulgent.

I have fallen in love with Twitter. It's a cool tool, I've already met a lot of people I wouldn't have met otherwise -- people from my home town, people from around the world, and I like that it can become a conversation rather than just blog posts. I also like that you can meet in a group and exchange ideas, either in an ad hoc manner, or like #litchat, for instance, in a planned session (every MWF). The ideas are stimulating, the people focused.

There are a lot of applications to follow and exchange with fellow Twitterers, and LiveJournal isn't one. So the Twitter entries are out of here. For those who want to follow me on Twitter, you can do so @mdbenoit.

We've come a long way...

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:29:52 GMT

Okay, I'm old. I actually remember those. They said they'd never take. Too clunky. Sigh.

Music Discovery -- Sean Fournier

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:30:40 GMT

While looking through Jamendo's free and legal music (based on the Creative Commons principle) I found Sean Fournier. I'm hooked, absolutely hooked.

Are the US teaching enough about whales

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:00:58 GMT

Into every Thursday a little humour must fall...

I'm not Cory Doctorow...

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:57:36 GMT

...but I've always admired him and his philosophy of giving away all his books as ebooks. I've been talking about it with my publisher for a long time (certainly all this year) and I'm happy to say that finally Zumaya has agreed to offer Metered Space as a free download at Scribd. Zumaya also offers the first chapter of Synergy, my novel about genetic warfare.

Interestingly, or maybe ironically, I found an ebook at Scribd that was uploaded by someone else but bears my name (I was the editor and a contributor). Now We're Cooking was a project a bunch of eauthors (we called ourselves that. We were all authors published electronically in the medieval times of ebooks) put together to encourage people in getting to know us. I'm not sure how successful it was in terms of sales, but it was wildly popular as a cookbook. To wit, it now shows up at Scribd, eight years later. I guess we did something right, although unfortunately most of the info on the authors is now out of date. Sadly, even one author has died. Life goes on. Words endure.

Sony-Google E-book Deal A Win for ePub, Openness

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:18:41 GMT

Since my intention is to buy a Sony eReader this month (I'm getting it for my b-day, yay!), this is really good news:

http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/03/sony-google-e-b.html

There's art...

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:03:36 GMT

...and then there's baaart. Cool, but somewhat pointless:

http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/152506/detail/

Happy St Pat's day...

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:06:39 GMT

To all those Irish people, those who like green, or simply green beer. Have a great day!

Writer's Block: Really, Truly

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:52:36 GMT

Do you believe in true love? What about love at first sight?

View 501 Answers

Yep. To both.

I think, deep down, everyone needs a connection of the soul, which is what true love is for me.

Free books

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:28:13 GMT

During Read an eBook Week, March 8-14, 2009, you can get two of my novels for free.

You can download as an ebook, completely free, along with seventeen other novels published by Zumaya Publications, my SF Mystery Metered Space, the first of the Jack Meter Case Files. Then buy the third one in the series, Meter Destiny, and my publisher will send you the second one, Meter Made, free!

You can also buy Meter Destiny at any other vendors such as amazon.com (Kindle store), Fictionwise.com or eReader.com. Simply email me proof of purchase and you'll get sent the first two Jack Meter Case Files, Metered Space and Meter Made, completely free.

Zumaya ebooks are compatible with all readers and phones such as the Kindle, Sony Reader, Bookeen CyGen3, Treo, and iPhone!

Note: The free ebooks can be read with eReader (.pdb extension), which you can find for your Treo, iPhone, Pocket PC, SmartPhone, or computer, as a free download, here.

The eBook Reader; what's new?

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:42:41 GMT

You're going on a two-week holiday near the lake. You're flying to Watertown for a three day business trip. You're going to the park with the kids for the entire afternoon and are loaded down with their stuff. You'll go out of your mind if you don't have books, but you don't have the room or they're too heavy to carry.

No need to fret. All you have to do is buy ebooks and download them in you handy-dandy ebook reader. An ebook reader, as a rule, can contain hundreds of books, and they weigh only a fraction of a paperback.

Nowadays you can read ebooks on a variety of multi-purpose devices like the iPhone, the Mobile Pocket PC, Treo, or Smartphone. The sharpness of the image compensates adequately for the size of the screen. (BTW, allof Zumaya Publications books can be read on these devices.

There are also dedicated readers, such as the Sony Reader or the Kindle (http://www.ebookweek.com/ebook_gallery.html#8). Most of these readers use electronic ink, or e-ink, which basically uses very small charged particles sandwiched between two films. A current passing through changes them from white, black or grey, providing an image as sharp as high-end printed paper. Once charged, they don't require power until you “turn the page,” so battery life is extended considerably. These readers are relatively expensive at the outset, but if you're an avid reader, you'll eventually save since eBooks are a lot cheaper than print books-and they take considerably less space on your shelf!

As I mentioned above, the two best known readers are the Sony Reader and the Kindle. The latter was lauded by Oprah, which resulted in a phenomenal amount of sales: the original Kindle sold well over a million units (it was sold out in the first week). They are now selling an estimated 48,000 units a month. Between 2006 and 2008, Sony reported it sold over 300,000 readers.

Clearly, eBook readers are no passing fad. While they're not for everyone or every wallet, they serve a useful function for those who lack space, who travel, who read everywhere. And while eBooks may never replace print, they're definitely here to stay.

Note to ebook Reader owners: I'd love to hear about your experiences with your reader (what kind, why you love/hate it, etc.) I'll post your comments on my alternate blog during Read an eBook Week.

Read an eBook Week: What's it about?

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:49:45 GMT

Every year for the past five years, around the beginning of March, eBooks are celebrated and promoted through Read an eBook Week. This year it is from March 8th to 14th. But what is it about?

Read an eBook week was first registered with Chase's Calendar of events in 2004. “Read an EBook Week is a not-for-profit week set aside to inform the public about the pleasures and advantages of reading electronically. Authors, publishers, vendors, the media and readers world-wide […] join in the effort.” (http://ebookweek.com). During that week, publishers and authors offer specials (such as free eBooks) to entice the readers to try them. If you've never tried an eBook and have been intrigued by them, be sure to check the Read an eBook Week partners' page (http://ebookweek.com/partners.html) for some good deals.

EBooks have been around for a long time but readers have been slow in accepting this medium, especially in North America. “There's nothing like a feel of a book in my hand,” readers say. What proponents of eBooks reply to that is that the eBook is not meant to replace paper books; it is another medium for books, in the same way as audio books are. EBooks are cheaper, they reduce our carbon footprint by minimizing the use of paper, glues, etc., and take very little space. Greg Kozak “found that a paper book created 4 times the greenhouse gas emissions of an e-book reader and several times more ozone-depleting substances and chemicals associated with acid rain. Print books needed 3 times more raw materials and 78 times more water consumption than e-books.” (http://ebookweek.com/environment.html). One of the most important features of eBooks is that, because they are in electronic format, they never go out of print. And now with the new reading devices available on the market, the reading experience is as satisfying as reading on paper.

In great part because of those improved reading devices, big publishers have begun offering their new titles as eBooks at the same time as the paper book, and in some cases, before the print version comes out.

The Read an eBook Week website (http://ebookweek.com) also contains information about the history of eBooks, descriptions and reviews of various reading devices, as well as links to various eBook sellers. Even if eBooks are not for you, don't you want to know what all the buzz is about?

Backstory

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:10:00 GMT

I always enjoy finding out how authors have started writing, or what prompted them to start on this life of strange rewards. Well now it's my turn. ambasadora gave me a nice spot on her Paths to Publication feature. Thanks Heidi!

Writer's Block: Daily Grind

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:55:15 GMT

Describe your morning routine.

Submitted By its_miley

View 501 Answers

Get up around 5:30am, not because I want to, but because my husband, the noisy one, gets up to go to work. Blearily make coffee and read until about 7:30am. Go for exercise, either treadmill or swimming, come back around 9am, have breakfast and check email. Answer the most pressing, then settle to work after brewing a pot of maté tea.

My Harlequin Romance

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:56:54 GMT

Harlequin has a feature on its website that allows you to put yourself into the blurb of a Harlequin Romance. It's iterative, so that even with the same info, the story changes. Here's what I got the first time:

Glamorous Socialite Dominique has no intention of buying into Paris, the City of Lights's absurd werewolf legends. Until she rescues an ordinary dog shot with a silver bullet, and meets his military man owner, Marcus.

A founding member of the Alpha Force on a nearby military base, Marcus has developed an elixir that helps werewolves control their shape-shifting abilities. Marcus has always tried to keep his distance from the civilian population, but Dominique's fiery nature soon wears down his defenses. With attacks on people and animals in the area mounting, can their feisty attraction withstand their toughest challenge?

And a second time:

Military Man Marcus is more comfortable with wild things than people. But his secret pain won't stop him from returning to Paris, the City of Lights to uncover the mystery behind his best friend's fiery death. Even if it means dealing with the fiery woman carrying his friend's baby....

Glamorous Socialite Dominique has her own reason for coming to town—Marcus. The feisty beauty wants her unborn child to know the truth about its father's death, and only Marcus can help her learn it. But their investigation is stoking some dangerous embers—and igniting a firestorm of desire that not even the darkest of secrets can put out.

It kind of confirms that (some) romance novels are pretty formulaic, but it's kinda fun. A guilty pleasure, like eating cold leftovers at three in the morning.

Valentine's Day Trivia

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:27:49 GMT

* 73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine's Day are men, while only 27 percent are women.

* 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion next to Christmas.

* About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets.

* There are 119 single men (i.e., never married, widowed or divorced) who are in their 20s for every 100 single women of the same ages.

* There are 34 single men (i.e., never married, widowed or divorced) age 65 or older for every 100 single women of the same ages.

* Alexander Graham Bell applied for his patent on the telephone, an "Improvement in Telegraphy", on Valentine's Day, 1876.

* 2.2 million marriages take place in the United States annually. That breaks down to more than 6,000 a day.

* California produces 60 percent of American roses, but the vast number sold on Valentine's Day in the United States are imported, mostly from South America. Approximately 110 million roses, the majority red, will be sold and delivered within a three-day time period.

* While 75% of chocolate purchases are made by women all year long, during the days and minutes before Valentine's Day, 75% of the chocolate purchases are made by men. Over $1billion of chocolate is purchased for Valentine's Day.

* Cupid, another symbol of Valentines Day, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards holding a bow and arrows because he is believed to use magical arrows to inspire feelings of love.

* February 14th was formerly thought to be the first day of bird's mating for the season. This sparked the custom of sending valentines to each other.

* In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

From Ruth White's blog

Damned with faint praise

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:35:30 GMT

I'm not really a positive person --are any writers?-- but I try to see the positive side of things as much as I can. Unfortunately, I often put myself in the (mental) position of the mother who buys two shirts to his son. When he comes down to show one off to her, she says: "What, you didn't like the other one?"

So here goes. Yesterday, I met someone who told me she loved my first book, Metered Space. She said she was astonished at how my brain worked and liked the book so much she passed it on to her son, who also is liking it. She added that she was going to present it to her book club.

So far so good. I was ecstatic.

Then the kicker.

She asked me if she could borrow the next one.

What, you liked the book but not enough to buy the next one? What gives?

Sigh.

Winter blues

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:56:05 GMT

Living in Ottawa, Canada, is a pretty good deal, most of the time. It's a relatively quiet town, with lots of green spaces, the Rideau Canal (largest skating rink in the world and a World Heritage site), hundreds of ethnic restaurants, a Chinese quarter, an Italian quarter, a spate of world-class museums, a symphony orchestra, theaters, etc.

Best of all, it has no earthquakes (to speak of), no droughts, to tornadoes or hurricanes, no floods, no epidemics, no riots, no rockets falling out of the sky, etc.

What he have, though, is freaking cold waves. No, let me rephrase that: what we have is fucking cold waves. Here's the forecast for the next week (note that this is in degrees Celsius)

Current Conditions

Observed at: Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier Int'l Airport 7:00 AM EST Wednesday 14 January 2009

Condition:: Drifting Snow
Temperature:: -25.6°C
Pressure / Tendency:: 102.0 kPa / rising
Visibility:: 24 km
Humidity:: 59%
Wind Chill:: -39
Dew Point:: -31.2°C
Wind Speed:: WNW 22 km/h
Air Quality Health Index:: 2

Forecast

Issued: 5.00 AM EST Wednesday 14 January 2009

Wind chill warning in effect.

Today:: Sunny. Wind west 20 km/h gusting to 40 becoming light this afternoon. High minus 19. Wind chill minus 36.
Tonight:: Increasing cloudiness early this evening. Clearing overnight. Low minus 29.
Thursday:: Sunny. High minus 20.
Friday:: Sunny. Low minus 32. High minus 19.
Saturday:: A mix of sun and cloud with 60 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 21. High minus 11.
Sunday:: Sunny. Low minus 29. High minus 12.

That minus 36C? Today? That's minus 33 FARENHEIT. Welcome to winter in Ottawa, the city colder than Moscow where it's now -2C.

Serialized Books at Zumaya Publications: R. J. Leahy's Tigra

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:09:19 GMT

Sign in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Zumaya Publications for a serial presentation of R.J. Leahy's bestselling, award-nominated SF novel TIGRA. This is the first in a regular schedule of serializations of both their best-selling backlist books and some of their planned new releases for this year.

Zumaya selected TIGRA as their first offering because the sequel, THE OBSIDIAN SEED, is scheduled for release January 2009.

In the desert wastes of Ararat, Jeena Garza stumbles on the greatest secret in the universe. Marooned after escaping a hellish prison, Jeena--soldier, pilot, genetic experiment--wants only to rest and to heal, to forget and be forgotten.

But on Ararat she will be forced to fight yet again. To save a lost and dying race, she will set into motion events destined to change the galaxy forever.

Join Zumaya in the farthest reaches of space, where mankind confronts for the first time the realization we are not alone.

Eric Clapton & TChapman - Give me one reason - live 1998

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:09:46 GMT

Give me one reason is one my favourite songs from one of my favourite singer, Tracy Chapman. I found this YouTube video where she sings it with Eric Clapton. Fantastic.

'Tis the Season...

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:02:14 GMT

A word from my publisher:

TIS THE SEASON! And with books being one of the greatest gift ideas anywhere, anytime, there's plenty of reason to be jolly.

Books, compared to other forms of entertainment, are relatively inexpensive. They last a long time, and you can enjoy them more than once. You can trade them for other books, or share them with friends. Most important, they take you to places you might never have been before, where you'll meet fascinating people and enjoy fabulous adventures on this world and others far more economically than a Prius.

We're delighted you've stopped by Novel Ideas from Zumaya. We're celebrating, despite the state of the economy, and you're invited to join us. For the next three weeks, beginning Friday, November 21, our best-selling books will be on sale for 30% off, and shipping is absolutely free in the US. Want to ship overseas? Drop us a line at our customer service address and we'll see what we can arrange.

Don't see anything appealing? Stop back next week and see what new titles are listed.

We Zumayans believe we have some of the finest reading material available anywhere. We hope you'll agree--and come back again if you don't see anything that appeals this visit.

My own Synergy is up there for now so go right now and buy it for someone you love, or for yourself. And if you don't fancy an SF Thriller there are plenty of good books to be had at 30% off.

NaNoWriMo almost halfway point

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:26:44 GMT

I didn't think I'd get this far but as usual, I get excited at seeing the word count building up. Even though I started five days late, I think I'm doing pretty well, and I might get another Jack Meter Case File out of it. Last year I wrote Meter Parents, which will probably come out in 2010.

Book Trailer for Meter Destiny

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:59:52 GMT

Thought I'd have a bit of fun. Let me know what you think:

P-Day is near...

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:54:00 GMT

Another step towards publication. Meter Destiny has its cover! In fact, all three in the series will have a new cover and I'll post the other two when I get them. I'll hopefully have some copies for sale at the World Fantasy Convention in Calgary next week, so it'll be a mini-launch. When I come back I'll do a better job at getting everything together.

For those interested in a teaser, here's an idea of the story:

"Having saved the universe twice in less than a year, Jack Meter is looking forward to moving into his new downtown apartment and settling back into routine. Instead, he is hurled into his weirdest case yet: one of the Three Fates from Greek mythology has been kidnapped. Although the claim stretches his credulity to the breaking point, he soon must wade through a series of riddles and lies that threaten the life of his closest friends. Along the way, despite his attempts at staying aloof, he acquires a new neighbor, a quirky housekeeper and a mysterious cat.
As the case becomes more complex Jack is embroiled in a world of deities, daemons and djinn, and he must use all his wit, humour and courage to free his friends and save the world…yet again.