Tyson Adams

Book Reviews – Peace Warrior by Steven L Hawk

I have mentioned before how I am a chronic procrastinator. As part of my procrastination I frequent various forums that discuss topics of interest. Whether it be weightlifting, woodworking, reading or writing, I’ll be there ready to pwn some newb (really I’m a nice guy). Anyway, over at Kindle Forums I stumbled across Steven’s book and was inspired to read it. Basically the cover interested me enough to inspire a download of the sample. It was a lunch time and I wanted something to read, this book fit the bill nicely.

I can’t remember how far I was through the sample before I was convinced to purchase the entire book, but it was within a few pages. This book was reminiscent of my favourite science fiction novels and had me hooked. Not bad for the first book by a self published author.

Steven has done a great job with the book and this is a very entertaining read. It is clear that he has drawn on his military background, whilst not boring the reader with it. I can recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sci-fi or thrillers. Imagine a Buck Rogers type scenario with aliens and you are most of the way to understanding this book. Steve has set up good pacing, an interesting take on the themes, and makes it an enjoyable journey for the reader.

So if you get the chance, look up the indie authors like Steven, they are giving readers something more than just another James Paterson release.

Book Reviews – The Doomsday Key by James Rollins

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/147693104

Have you ever finished a book and felt like there was meant to be another chapter? Or is it that there was a chapter too many that makes you think there is more to the book? Either way, this is my second Rollins book and I have felt the same way after both. I’m unsure if this is a deliberate move by Rollins to make me want to read another of his books, or if it is just that I’m somehow unfulfilled by the end of his novels.

Guess I need to read another of his books to find out. Fortunately I have one on hand.

I’m giving this 3 stars, but it is really a 3.5 stars book. It was well written, intriguing enough, and moved at a brisk pace. So I really enjoyed reading this and would recommend it to anyone who likes the adventure/thriller style of novel.

Also with my background in agricultural science I was interested in the central themes. While most of the book was accurate I’d just like people to know not to think any of the GM things mentioned were plausible. I should also point out that imidacloprid has been implicated as one of many causes in CCD (bee colony decline). Yes it can have an effect a low concentrations on bees ability to forage, but it is one of many things impacting upon bees, and most research indicates that it is a combination of factors that is behind CCD.

More on Imi and bees.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4968342-tyson-adams

Uncategorized

E-book: A New Hope

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }h2 { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }h2.western { font-family: “Arial”,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; }h2.cjk { font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; }h2.ctl { font-family: “Lohit Hindi”; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; }

A long time ago, in a publishing house far far away, the novel was created. It was a time of unrest for the publishing empire as they sought to grow their industry, promote authors, create an audience and inspire the world. The empire grew and prospered and many got rich, some of them authors.

The empire changed though; the e-book arrived, promising a new age in the empire. Rather than embrace the e-book, the empire struck out and became recalcitrant. A small band of mid-listers and indie authors formed a rebellion embracing the ways of the e-book.

Honestly who can understand major entertainment companies? The music industry, the movie industry, the publishing industry, they are all guilty of resistance to change. A new way to deliver their products to their clients, while cutting out costs and intermediaries, is handed to them on a platter and what do they do? Embrace it or demonise it?

Sure, the music industry took a hit on sales because they no longer controlled the medium of consumption. But does anyone remember what was topping the charts the year after mp3s hit it big in 1999? The answer is ‘N Sync, Madonna, Celine Dion and Britney Spears. Definitely worth buying their albums. The point being that the music industry was late to the party and they combined it with generic pop music releases. That’s like mixing prescription drugs with alcohol only to realise that it doesn’t actually get you wasted.

When you actually take a look at the music industry you don’t see the new market as being plagued by downloads, but rather enhanced by them. Aside from that initial euphoric rush on downloads the music market eventually woke up next to Britney Spears and realised what a big mistake that last few years had been. They alighted that train wreck and downloads are now not really impacting upon real sales. Sure the music industry will point out that downloads are still high, but who would honestly pay for a Britney Spears album? I’m surprised anyone downloads her music. Maybe they have the Chinese firewall technicians downloading terrible western music to keep them focused on not allowing the west in.

The people who download music these days were either going to browse and buy or never buy (studies are showing this more and more in the past 3 to 5 years), so e-media is a good thing for sales now. I can confirm that downloads have actually increased my buying habits. It has also given me easy access to a much larger market of music. My local music store never used to stock much in the way of Pirate Death Metal (yes that is a real genre), but now I can download an album, see if the Arrr’s are rocking and then buy the album to support the artists and their scurvy mates. With all the options now with e-books, free samples, cheap prices, access virtually anywhere, and the fact that you can find something other than James Paterson’s latest, makes e-books a great new market.

So e-books are the New Hope. Then can boldly go…….. sorry wrong Star Something.

Right now the e-book is booming at a whopping ~10% of the market, definitely time for publishers to worry. They have a Death Star, a fleet of Imperial Cruisers and the e-books have Harrison Ford. Great things are coming, even if it is ruined eventually by a crystal skull.

Fun Articles

The book to movie process

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

When I am not busy writing or researching I like to stretch out on the couch and revel in abject mindless entertainment. The problem is that even a Hollywood blockbuster can make me think, even it is just thinking of derisive comments.

Recently I finished reading a thriller that had been adapted into a movie. The book was ok, as was the movie, but aside from some character names there was very little resemblance between the two. Having experienced both within a short time period, and despite Hollywood’s efforts to stop me thinking too much, I was left with a nagging question.

Why did they bother?

How many times have we seen a film that is supposedly based upon a book (or a play, or a short story, or a comic book) , yet if you were to compare the two you would be hard pressed to draw any similarities? In some instances the lack of resemblance is a blessing and gives people on the Internet something to complain about. In other instances it stops the movie adaptation from being a 10 hour long exercise in boredom.

The average book reader usually has an advantage over the average movie goer, in that they are intelligent and educated enough to be able to read. So obviously any movie has to be simplified, say by removing plot, characters and adding in more explosions, although in fairness on this last point I do think that the odd explosion could add an interesting twist to something like Wuthering Heights. But when does the adaptation go too far and waste the links to the source material?

I’m sure that there is a good reason to pay lots of money to an author for the rights to a book and subsequently ignore completely when making the film of it. I know that 80% of our movies have come from another medium, the popular source at the moment being comic books. Sorry, that should be ‘graphic novels’ because adults don’t read comics because [insert lame justification here]. Do screenwriters really lack imagination and need to have the title of the book and main characters names before than can begin writing? Given how different the films end up being they certainly don’t lack for imagination.

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that because movie studios go out on a limb and option every single book (etc) that sells more than 2 copies, they need to make a movie of some sort using the titles they have paid for. There would be nothing worse than admitting that they had spent lots of money obtaining the rights to a book that could never be made into a film. So they take this approach to most things they have optioned, as it saves them reading time, time that could be better employed making something up.

Here’s to the pile of money for movie rights for authors! May Hollywood never realise that they should read the source material.

Uncategorized

Write what you know

Who hasn’t received this sage advice?

What a fantastic way to make a new author feel comfortable writing a story. So in the interests of writing my first thriller I decided I needed to experience a few things.

In any thriller you have to have a hero. So my first stop was Man-Ville. For those unaware what Man-Ville is, basically it is a chain store catering to people who look like they just stepped in from the great outdoors and shave to leave a days worth of stubble. At this store I picked up several necessary supplies: boots, because no man wears anything but; pants that can actually hold a wallet, a pristine condition, SharpenedKnife brand pocket knife and a set of keys that would undoubtedly unlock every door ever made; and a button up shirt that can have the sleeves rolled up. Clothes maketh the man, so now I was a hero. Of course I could have waited to be rescued from a natural disaster and have the media bestow the title of hero upon me for surviving, but I felt it was easier to shop.

With my new attire I am now ready to go to a bar. It is very important to know the ins and outs of every single bar, pub, drinking spot and speak-easy around the area in which your novel is set. It is also a very good chance to pick up some valuable research in one of the key aspects of any thriller, physical violence. I wanted to start out easy and only take on two guys in a pub brawl before working myself up to the impossible odds scenarios expected in fiction.

The next part of my experience necessary for thriller writing came very quickly. Pain in the form of broken bones, bruising and a nasty knife wound were all particularly good experiences. Now when my hero gets hurt I can actually tell that tale from first hand experience. I tried to get someone to shoot me as well, but apparently most people seem more content kicking you repeatedly whilst you are laying unconscious on the ground.

The next step is to be in a car chase, preferably at ridiculous speeds whilst being pursued by ‘bad guys’. Unfortunately I don’t know any people likely to chase me, short of stealing a police car and taunting some traffic police I can’t see a genuine chase ensuing. So I decided to do some high speed driving along the city streets in my Toyota Prius. I really enjoyed taking corners as quickly as possible, driving through intersections with narrow misses all around, and out running an elderly gentleman on his bike.

Now my thriller is partly set in a neighboring galaxy where my hero’s knowledge and skills of current society proves invaluable in a far more advanced alien culture. Obviously space travel is inordinately expensive and time consuming for a first time author, this leaves very few options to suitably experience alien cultures. So in order for me to fully appreciate space adventures, other worlds and live amongst an alien culture, I moved to Siberia. This was a great break from sunny Australia. Siberia also proved a suitable chance for me to tread in the footsteps, or thrust in the manner, of Captain Kirk. Any space hero is required to emulate the ultimate in masculine space heroes. Admittedly Siberian women are not green, more a pale white to light blue.

So now I’m ready to write what I know. Much better idea than doing research.

Uncategorized

A bit about me.

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog.

I suppose I should start off with a little background about myself.

I was born in a small town in rural Western Australia. After spending my formative years growing up on the family farm I was abruptly packed off to boarding school to learn about why the city doesn’t like to spend money on rural schools.

Once at boarding school I discovered my love of being hung from balconies by my feet and being tormented for having an IQ in excess of 100. It was also here that I picked up the invaluable life long habit of procrastination.

After deciding that I didn’t have enough education I gave university a go and diligently proved that you can graduate from a science degree whilst either drunk or hungover. It was during a sober moment at university that I met my future wife and editor when she inexplicably didn’t run away when I introduced myself.

Not satisfied with punishing my liver with a mere Bachelors degree I signed on for a PhD before realising all too late that a PhD wouldn’t grant me the power to write prescriptions. Now highly over-educated and in need of a job I proceeded to move out of the city in order to lower my chances of employment. But, as fate would have it, a job in the government sector hunted me down and has since trapped me in paper work.

It was only then after crawling out from under a very important piece of triplicate I was burying for the requisite ‘filing time’ that I decided to turn one of my hobbies into a career. Since Metallica didn’t need a lead guitarist, and at 1.82m I’m too tall to be an Olympic weightlifter, I decided upon writing.

My first story was written at the age of 9 after discovering Douglas Adams. Like any other preteen, my writings reflected the last thing I had seen on TV. It was in year 7 that my teacher, Mr Melhuish, would encourage my writing further by actually praising it. It only took 22 years for this praise to overcome my diligent procrastination efforts.

I hope this blog will be of interest to some as I journey towards my first novel and beyond. Subscribe, comment and generally tell me how wonderful I am. I’ll try to return the favour.