The Philadelphia Free Library Book Festival

Last Saturday I attended an outdoor event where the entertainers were jugglers, singers, story tellers and magicians, there was even face painting for the children and the best part was that it was free. Now if you guessed that I went to a carnival or circus then you would be wrong, it was the Free Library Book Festival, that's right a book festival. Thousands of people from all over the area flocked to the two day event. Mixed throughout the crowds were families pushing baby stroller's, couples walking their dogs and a few bicyclist. Everyone had a great time, well almost everyone, did I mention that this was a book festival?




In spite of the top notch organizational skills of the Free Library the over whelming majority of the attendees seemed content to browse rather than buy. Anyone who still believes that we are not in a recession should have been there on Saturday, people seemed genuinely interested in the books but did not have the money to purchase them. A few creative authors even offered cookies or candy as an enticement to lure would be buyers over to their booths, (we always pass out free bookmarks) but it didn't seem to matter. As an author I have attended several book fairs and book festivals over the years so I have to thank the Free Library for the professional way that the authors were taken care of from start to finish. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would have to give them a 9.


I believe that my book sales did well despite where my booth was and the status of the economy, but it was hard to watch the other book exhibitors spend time explaining what their book was about and not make many sales. They spent a lot of time giving their spiel only to have the potential buyer tell them they didn't have any money.If I could offer just one suggestion for next years book festival it would be to ramp up the star power. A couple of nationally known writers with TV show or film credentials could only make a good fair even better and maybe bring in more festival goers that can actually afford to buy a book or two. Or to even heavily promote the authors who've already signed on to attend.

Escape 2 Earth News

I'll be at the Free Library of Philadelphia Festival on Saturday April 18, and Saturday only.

Please stop by and buy a copy of my novel Escape 2 Earth.

I always enjoy chances to meet fans and to meet new fans.

I have a new interview out: 1st Angel was kind enough to interview me: 1st Angel Interview

Thanks all.

The Philly Connection: Where in the world is Will Smith?

The Philly Connection or Where in the world is Will Smith

I have been a fan of Will Smith every since The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In the beginning I guess you could say that in part it stemmed from pride, you know hometown boy hits the big time but after a string of impressive hit movies (many of them science fiction) it would be hard to deny that the man has talent. Independence Day is on my top 20 list of best science fiction movies ever. It seems clear that Mr. Smith is drawn to the realm of science fiction. In the last twelve years he has starred in Men in Black, Men in Black #2, I, Robot, I Am Legend, and Hancock. All though I thought that both of the Men in Black movies were hilarious, I did have a few problems with I Am Legend and Hancock. The best of the bunch not including Independence Day was I, Robot, it was creative and his character was believable, it held my interest for the entire film.



Every now and then you hear that the ever elusive Mr. Smith has dropped into town to visit friends and family but you usually don’t know that he’s been here until after he has gone. I read somewhere that next year he will be making a movie called Monster Hunter, good for him but bad for me. It’s no secret that I believe one of the main characters in Escape 2 Earth would be perfect for him to play however getting the book into his hands has become more difficult than getting a seat on the space shuttle. The story is about 2012, the character in the story is named Will, he was raised in Philadelphia, age around 40, African American, a self made man who with his two friends are trying to save the people of Earth from total extinction. 2012 is less than four years away so to borrow the tag line from the novel, time is running out.


Hopefully Will Smith will make a suprise visit to the Free Library of Philadelphia Festival on Saturday April 18, and buy a copy of Escape 2 Earth.

Hopefully.

Misdirection of the Humans

For years maybe even centuries we have looked to the heavens for sky ships or in today’s terms UFO’s, but could it be that we have been looking in the wrong direction? As a sci fi writer I have the luxury to indulge myself when it comes to speculating about the unknown.

The topic of USO’s happens to be one topic that I have taken my theories and interwoven them into my novel Escape 2 Earth. For those of you who are not familiar with the acronym, USO stands for Unidentified Submerged Object. When you stop and think about how many sightings we have on a monthly basis it causes me to wonder why more of these vessels have not been picked up in the upper outer reaches of our planet by long range telescopes. I think that it’s safe to say that with all of the exploration going on in our solar system that our mysterious visitors are not from around this galaxy.

Why would they come all this way just to turn around and go home again I asked? Well maybe they don’t. Our oceans are vast and deep, very deep. There are at least 22 trenches in the world eighteen are in the Pacific Ocean. The Mariana Trench is 36,201 feet deep. Located in the Pacific it is the deepest part of all Earth’s oceans.

In recent years, stories have begun to surface (pun intended) about underwater bases off the coast of California in the Santa Catalina channel, the Puerto Rico Trench, and several trench locations around the world. If true this would be a smart move on the aliens part because it would give them a great place to hide since we do not have the capability to follow them.

Today’s blog is not about some great revelation, nor is it about me making an important point about a specific topic, it’s just something that I wanted to pass on to those who are interested in the possibility that maybe we are not alone.