What's the 'A Vested Interest' series about?

People ask us "What are your books about?" often. It's a little difficult to explain because we cover multiple genres. One of our reviewers wrote:

"It is a story of corporate jealousy at the highest levels, greed, spite, vengence, advanced techonology, medicine, love and betrayal, and the very essence of life itself.

WOW - that is a lot to cover in one book! Read this book - you will be glad you did."

Thank you Ancient Warlock. That pretty well sums it up. But that only refers to the first book... so here's a list of things we cover in the series in the 12 books so far (some not yet published).

• Through genetic therapy, immortality may be possible and real for 98%.
• Through nanotechnology, force fields could be created.
• For each of us, there is a partner who is a perfect match and several near matches. You'll know when you find your perfect match, and think ou'll know when you find a near match.

• Ancient documents indicate the Earth has been visited by benign aliens who helped Man and left, because they were not gods, after setting up markers.
• 
  
  Forget governments, there is a secret organisation which is the real directing power on Earth. Politicians take the blame when things go wrong and make good targets to shoot at. There is always someone unhappy at the 'leaders.'
• With the right triggers, weather could be controlled, but that control would be tenuous.
• The Earth is doomed - but not yet.

• Faster than light travel is possible.
• Teleportation exists. For the moment, Man can't control it, but we have some ideas.
• Telepathy exists, and we know how it works.
• Psychics may not, after all, be entirely fake.
• It's possible to totally, and safely convert matter to energy but to do it, a catalyst is needed. Man can't create the catalyst yet. It doesn't occur naturally. There are at least 27 samples of it on Earth 20 of which are lost.
• Just as there are benign aliens, there are hostile aliens happy to be 'gods'. They would take advantage of man.
• Three days after death stem cells become active again. Under the right conditions a corpse could re-animate. Zombies?

Finally, here's a complete list of the series in order (because Amazon isn't very good at putting things in chronological order). It includes some books not yet available.

1. Blood of the Rainbow- Raging Storm - a prequel written by Shelia
2. Blood of the Rainbow II - Roses and Regret - the second of the prequel trilogy.
3. Blood of the Rainbow III - Choice and Change - the final book in the prequel trilogy
4. A Vested Interest - The original book 1, and a good place to start. It's free everywhere! (occasionally not free at Amazon UK/Ca)
5. Dark Secrets
6. No secrets
7. 
   Stones, Stars and Solutions - Another possible starting point - especially if you like puzzles
8. Leap of Faith
9. Regret and Retribution
10. Consequences
11. Ashes to Ashes 
12. Dust to Dust 
13. String to the Stars (in development)

Of the currently available books we suggest you read them in order 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11,12

The first book is FREE at Amazon.com, Smashwords, Sony, Barnes & Noble and iBooks.  Click the book thumbnails to find them at Amazon.

Getting the best from your Kindle

I recently read a letter from someone in the UK who moaned that he couldn't get library books in ebook format suitable for his kindle. If he had bought a reader such as the Kobo which uses epub format he would have been able to do so. The writer went on to complain he couldn't afford to keep buying ebooks from Amazon.

It struck me that this was a reader who wasn't using his Kindle to best effect. He may not be able to borrow Kindle library books in the UK (That service is available in the US) but there are a huge number of free ebooks available on the Kindle, some from Amazon, but many more from other sites. With the addition of the free Calibre e-book management software you can install these books on your kindle, convert them from other formats and even make your own books from a word processed file or web page. Email the file to your Kindle e-mail address or use your Kindle power lead to connect it to your computer and use Calibre's Send to device button. Not know your Kindle e-mail address? You can find it from  the Home screen using menu > Settings > Send-to-Kindle E-mail (2nd page).

So where do you get all these free e-books? Let's start with an easy one - Amazon itself. Amazingly many people can't find the freebies because Amazon don't make the links obvious. Here's a start:

• Amazon UK -  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bestsellers-Kindle-Store-eBooks/zgbs/digital-text/341689031/ref=zg_bs_nav_kinc_1_kinc
• Amazon US -  http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-eBooks/zgbs/digital-text/154606011/ref=zg_bs_nav_kstore_1_kstore

Notice the 'Top 100 Free' at the right? Check also the links at the left which allow to refine your search for free ebooks.

If you want an older 'classic' book there's no need to buy it. Look for it at Project Gutenberg. This site aims to make electronic copies of all out of copyright books. For most countries that means more than 70 years old books. Their books are available in multiple formats including the Kindle .mobi format. If you find a book not available in .mobi format get it in another format (though preferably not as a .pdf) and use Calibre to convert it to Kindle format.

Smashwords is another source of free e-books. Look for the 'Free' link at the top of the page in the Price row. Again at the left you'll find a menu allowing you to select the genre and there's a search box to find a specific book or author. Once you've found a book you'll need to register at the site but Smashwords won't ask for payment details if the book is free.

Is that enough? No? Try http://feedbooks.com/help/kindle This site allows you to download free ebooks direct to your Kindle - no sending by wire from your computer needed

Still not enough? Then do a search for 'free kindle ebooks' and find more sources.

Now for some things you may not know about the original Kindles.

• They work on a limited version of the Linux operating system and some of the original Linux items are still there. On a Kindle Keyboard, press Alt Shift M on the home screen and you'll get a game of Minesweeper; If you are in Minesweeper press G and the game will change to GoMoku; In the search box you can get the Kindle to act as a calculator. Just type in what you want it to evaluate; 
• Want to read in the bath, on the beach or at a pool? Put your Kindle in a ziplock plastic bag. In the UK Tesco sell a small bag pack of 25 which are perfect. If you are concerned about the zip leaking, use two bags, one inside the other with a bit of kitchen towel between them at the back. Your standard Kindle or Kindle keyboard and Kindle Fire will work just fine but to get the Touch to work you'll need to blow in a bit of air to keep the bag away from the screen. No more soggy paperback books!

If humans were immortal...

Suppose you became aware that through genetic therapy almost all humans were now immortal (but not vampires). Not only that but disease virtually disappeared and tissue regenerated so that, over time, everyone appeared about age 25. We suggested this in our book series 'A Vested Interest '. What would be the effect?

• The book suggests a lifetime of 1729 years. That's not immortal but assumes a human will stay healthy until killed by an accident, starvation, war, an 'Extinction Level Event' (ELE) or some other overwhelming event. According to insurance tables that would happen on average in 1729 years.
• Damaged tissue would be regenerated. An amputee would re-grow a limb, hair would re-grow on the bald, lost teeth would be replaced and body parts lost through surgery would be replaced. That includes contraceptive surgery! Cosmetic surgery would be stable if it was to repair physical or age damage but would reverse if it were done to change appearance.
• What would happen to the population of the world? The population could be expected to soar initially putting a huge strain on the food supply and the demand for resources and energy. Many millions would starve. However, gradually the desperate 'urge' driving us to reproduce and replace ourselves would be brought under control - we would, after all, have plenty of time for that 'later' when we felt more secure. Eventually the population would be brought under control at a level a great deal higher than it is now.
• Food would be scarce initially but again this would be resolved as more areas became cultivated including sea farms, 'arid' areas and underground. It's likely that new food sources would be developed including bacterial cultures, fungal sources and direct synthesis. Cellulose from plants. Wheat straw, bamboo, kelp and grasses would be converted to edible food. Cultured meat would be produced on a large scale - that's real meat grown in a lab without killing the animal it was sourced from.
• Water would be scarce in many areas for some time. A grid taking water from where it is plentiful to other areas would eventually be created.
• The natural inclination would be to fight for food, land and resources. Initially that's exactly what would happen but we would eventually learn that cooperation produces better results.
• Soldiers would think twice before fighting for any other principles - it is one thing to give up 30-40 years of life but an entirely different thing to give up 1000+ years. Those who didn't see things this way would probably not be missed!
• A career would probably not be a lifetime decision. It would be changed many times. You would not want to stay in a hated job and would have plenty of time to learn new skills. The demand for education would be high as older generations go back to school to learn new skills. As far as normal K12 education was concerned the pressure would be off and there would be more time for 'fun' in school with lessons being devoted to leisure activities. K12 would become K15 or maybe even more?
• Politicians would want to remain in power for much longer, the climb up the political ladder would be much harder. Maybe we would someday elect 'reluctant politicians' who would see it as their civic duty to serve for a time rather than out of a desire for power. After all; anyone who wants to lead a country is probably the last person you should give the job to!
• Premeditated crimes of violence would eventually decrease. Those inclined to violence would, over time, be eliminated from the gene pool by that very violence. Crimes of passion would no doubt continue!
• The urge to move to a better place would be overwhelming - even if that meant transforming a harsh environment to make it liveable.
• Undersea and underground communities would be set up - anywhere there is space available. The Earth's surface might eventually become a park for leisure.
• Space would be colonised; the Moon and asteroids first, followed by Mars, the satellites of other planets and finally other solar systems.
• Raw materials and energy would be at a premium. Both will cause problems initially but will be solved as nuclear fusion, deep robotic mining and resources from space become available.
• Waste heat would become a major problem. Much of it will be recycled though.
• Recycling of waste would be a major industry.
• Concerns about global warming would soar for a while then prove unfounded as people realise that sea levels just are not rising. and the temperature starts to fall around 2040 as we enter the next ice age. (Try reading Michael Crichton's 'State of Fear'). The drive to reduce carbon emissions would continue though since we wouldn't be able to burn fossil fuels needed as raw materials.
• Technology will continue to develop at an ever faster rate. Computers and nanotechnology especially. Look forward to a personal computer you can talk to, carry with you, display within your eyes and hear through your teeth!
• The average intelligence of the population would increase slowly. A surprising number of 'Darwin Award' candidates would fail to breed.
• Most medical staff apart from those dealing with accidents and research would be out of a job. An end perhaps to the ridiculous hours they work?
• Retirement and pensions would be a thing of the past. The working week would be shorter and holidays longer.
• There would be less 'haste' in everyday life. You now have 'plenty of time'.
• Leisure demand would soar.
• Drug companies would mostly convert to biotechnology, go out of business or convert to supplying chemical resources and producing food.
• People would have an increased awareness of natural disasters and put more energy into averting them.
• Languages would be less of a problem, people would have the time to learn them and eventually we could see a common language developing from bits of all.
• Euthanasia centres would be accepted. Who wants to live a long and unhappy life?
• We would run out of fossil fuels and resort to biotechnology, nanotechnology and asteroid mining to replace them. Biofuels from products such as corn would prove to be a dead end since the raw materials would be needed to produce food. Algae farming would become important.
• What about religion? Do you think it would last through 1729 years of life?

Is it possible? According to Aubrey de Grey the first person to live to 1,000 is probably alive now. How would this come about? Well reading my earlier blog post Bio-terrorism and the cure for the common cold might give you a clue but if you want the details, you'll have to read our books.

Did I just get conned by Vista-Print?

This post is aimed mostly at writers and artists of all sorts.

VistaPrint's Website advert.

I'm sure you've seen the adverts from VistaPrint - '250 cards for £2.00'. Doesn't seem a bad deal does it? It got me thinking - I could use something like that to design small promotional cards to help promote the 'A Vested Interest' books.

Well I bit and followed through to the design stage.

A few minutes work produced a design for the card. We decided to use the book cover image from book 4 of the A Vested Interest series - Stones, Stars and Solutions. On it we would put the introduction text from our book website and the website URL. Here's the result:

Not bad for £2.00 we thought. We'll be able to give them out and leave them strategically around Hexham, where I live in England. Then we discovered we could print on the other side and a new design was produced with book names, the DNA image from out original A Vested Interest cover and website and contact information. Here's the reverse side:

Of course there was an extra charge for printing the reverse, £9.99 and that made it seem silly to just order 250 cards. I ordered 1,500 which increased the original £2.00 to £11.00. Still seemed reasonable - £21 for 1,500 cards to my own personal design.

Happy with my work I went on to the next step and at that point found I would be paying a little more.

• 1,500 cards                             £11.00
• Printing the rear                       £ 9.99
• Personalised image (front)        £ 3.49
• personalised image (back)       £ 3.49

The total was now £27.97 a bit more than £2.00 but I was buying 1,500 not 250.

Hey- there was a special offer on available to me. I could get an extra 500 cards for just £2.24 extra with standard shipping. I got the extra 500 cards but shipping? You mean that's NOT included? On to the next step.

• Shipping offered several options. I chose the slowest 21 day shipping £6.07
• Tax was added at this point £7.26

My bill was now £43.54 

Whatever happened to that £2.00? Did I just get hustled?

Moreover, could I have gone to my local print shop with my design and got my 2,000 cards a lot quicker for less?

Update 23 Feb 2012

Well the cards finally arrived today. Pretty mediocre quality. You'd need a great deal of imagination to see the stars on the background. I think too that if I was designing them again I'd leave a plain white area big enough to write a brief note or telephone number.

Blog Hop Contest!

So what is a Blog hop contest?
It's a competition amongst writers to write a short section of prose using the picture below as inspiration. You can write a poem, a song or flash fiction but must keep it to 300 words or less. More details at http://anonymouslegacy.blogspot.com/2012/01/blog-hop-contest.html

So here's my entry:

It was deathly quiet. Wein woke suddenly finding himself lying on his back in a forest. He hadn’t a clue how he’d got there. The last thing he remembered was drinking with Gary.


 Wait – maybe that was it? He examined his surroundings carefully. The woodland was quite open with tall straight trees. He couldn't see far though the mist though. The ground was covered with small white flowers; he didn't recognise them but his nose told him ‘wild garlic’.

It was probably early morning since there was a chill in the air. There was nothing really odd except for that complete silence and the single light bulb hanging high amongst the trees.

A light bulb? In the middle of woodland? What was it hanging from? He could only make out a cable disappearing in the mist. He dusted off the forest detritus from his jeans. He was wearing the same T-shirt as he wore last night. He shivered, goosebumps on his arms. He wanted to examine the flowers and trees to see if they were real but needed warmth. Time to find a way out.

He started walking away from the light, since he assumed that would be in the middle – if that’s where he was.

After walking about fifty paces he stopped and looked back. No tracks through the flowers and that light bulb was still in the same position relative to him. If it wasn’t for the trees changing positions slightly, he didn’t seem to have moved.

He dropped to his knees and examined the flowers. They seemed real, the ground wasn’t damp though. He examined a tree and broke off some bark. It crumbled to dust in his fingers. He smiled.

“OK Gary. You win. You can let me out the virtual reality room now.”

---

In case you're interested Wein and Gary are characters who I borrowed from our 'A Vested Interest' series. 
Wein is an electronics technician with an interest in nanotechnology. Gary is a doctor at the cutting edge of medical research. 

Twenty ways to get an instant agent rejection

1.      Send a three or more page query letter.

2.      Start your book with a flashback.

3.      Start with a prologue (Yes - some experienced authors getting away with it).

4.      Get someone to write the query letter on your behalf.

5.      Confuse some common words - of/off, to/too, there/their/they're, past/passed, allay/ally, cash/cache, accept/except, bate/bait, sight/cite/site.

6.      Make lots of spelling mistakes and typos.

7.      Handwrite your query.

8.      Use lots of redundant expressions like. 'dark black', 'fiction novel', 'loud shriek' (quiet shriek anyone?)

9.      Send your query as an email attachment.

10.  Beg an agent to accept your work.

11.  Mention how many times you’ve been rejected by agents.

12.  Tell the agent how much your grandmother/aunt loves your book.

13.  Start by moaning about the quality of other books being written.

14.  Submit work which isn't finished.

15.  Lie to an agent. E.g. "Enclosed is the work you requested...."

16.  Don't include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the reply.

17.  Use another author's well known character or plot.

18.  Include lots of profanity on the first pages.

19.  Submit work less than 40,000 words long.

20.  Submit a first novel of more than 120,000 words.

From my e-book "An illustrated guide to getting published" Get it free at http://www.jaydax.co.uk/downloads.htm or read the updated version free online at https://publishingguide.uk

Write and publish a book in a week?

You can download the second edition of this book for free at  http://www.jaydax.co.uk/ downloads.htm or get it at Amazon for 77p / $0.99
UK link | US link

A few months ago I set myself the task of writing and publishing a book in just one week. I completed it within seven days and made the book available at Amazon. Free at the time!  The print version is in full colour but has been withdrawn until edition 3 is available.

So what did I write about? Simple. I put together an illustrated guide to getting published both in print and in e-book format. It wasn't a huge work so I added notes on editing your book, getting an agent, cover creation and promoting the finished work.

Now I'm getting quite familiar with this process, after all I have produced ten books in the 'A Vested Interest' series. I did make some new discoveries along the way though which naturally - I included in the book.

The major difference I found was, because this is a non-fiction book, that I had to include lots of screenshot graphics. Getting them right to display on the 600 x 800, 16 shades of grey screen of a Kindle took quite a bit of work because I also wanted them to display in colour on Android readers. The result was a compromise.

Here's the new things I found out:

• It's quite easy to put links to a different area of a book.
• Click a hyper-link in an e-book on the Kindle and it will open that page in the Kindle browser.
• You can't really do a satisfactory drop capital on a basic Kindle although it's a lot easier now that 'styles' are recognised.
• You can't left or right align a graphic other than on the current line.
• MS Word has an absolute limit of 220dpi (dots per inch). Book publishers recommend 300 dpi. You can tell MS Word not to compress graphics but if you output the file as pdf it forgets what you told it.
• You can print from Word to a pdf file where graphics are NOT compressed. 
• If you put a screen capture from OneNote into Word it gets saved as 199dpi. The answer is to replace these with hi-resolution graphics later.
• If you save a bulleted list from Word as a 'Web page, Filtered' file Word will not use the correct HTML but will use a bullet character (Alt 0149) and spacing. This looks stupid on a Kindle. I find the answer is to use the 'calibre' ebook management program to create an epub file and submit that to Amazon.
• The Create Space Cover Designer looks very basic at first but is surprisingly versatile.
• Mobi (Kindle) files are almost twice the size of epub (Sony/Nook) files.
• Calibre makes the job of creating a multi-level contents page very easy.

Want free author help items? Try http://www.jaydax.co.uk/downloads.htm There are other freebies there too.