Monday, September 18, 2017

A Disease Free Society - Real Vs. Fiction

Hi, Diane. Thanks for having me over on the release day for my book. It's about a disease-free society, and I'd like to share with your readers a post about what that might look like in reality.
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My book, Black & White, looks at a society in which all disease has been eradicated. Of course, the caveat to this is that all dirt and illness has been transferred to a neighbouring country, whose residents exist in a primitive state with none of the refined privileges enjoyed by the citizens of Harmonia. But let’s pull it back for a minute and imagine a world in which all disease really had been eliminated. What would that look like and is it really something we would want?

Well, on the surface this looks like a no-brainer. Of course we’d love to banish cancer, dementia, AIDS and all the other pernicious conditions that steal our loved ones from us. On the other hand, there’s something to the idea that we need to get a little bit ill to stay healthy.

What? Well, we’ve all heard that we shouldn’t bombard our children with medications for a common cold every time they get a bit of a sniffle. It stops them from building up an immune system that would help them deal with anything more serious. OK, so those more serious things may have been eliminated, but imagine if some hitherto unknown, devastating disease was unleashed – perhaps as a weapon of war, developed and stockpiled by an unscrupulous government, or even carried here on a meteorite from outer space. We’d be utterly defenceless and the population would be decimated.
There’s also the question of the social impact and the resources available to go around. People are already living longer, and in our ideal world, everyone would live to a ripe old age, usually into their nineties or over a hundred. How to keep these old timers sustained without draining the Earth’s resources?

Here’s where things could get interesting. With the entire medical profession becoming something of a redundancy, those who previously worked in healthcare could channel their energies into other areas of science, and we could see sweeping changes and innovations brought by the availability of so much manpower. In Harmonia, all food is artificially produced and dispensed at the touch of a button. That means we wouldn’t be worrying about resources, but on the other hand the entire service sector – grocers, restaurants – would find itself out of business.

Of course, there are other types of resources to worry about as well, including fuel. It’s likely we would become entirely reliant on sustainable forms of energy, or we could see a return to smaller families of just one or two children. In Harmonia, the government has officially sanctioned only one child per family. It would be impossible to have more – the sexual act has been erased from our biology and this one government-approved child is created in a lab. Probably not an outcome anyone wants to see. It was claimed that this would make things fairer by discouraging competitiveness at an early age, but actually caused many of these children to become overly selfish and entitled.

So there’s lots of possibilities and outcomes to think about here, not all of them entirely positive. What about you? Would you want a world that was completely free of germs and disease?

Title: Black & White
Author: Nick Wilford
Genre: YA dystopian Series #: 1 of 3
Release date: 18th September 2017
Publisher: Superstar Peanut Publishing
Blurb:
What is the price paid for the creation of a perfect society?

In Whitopolis, a gleamingly white city of the future where illness has been eradicated, shock waves run through the populace when a bedraggled, dirt-stricken boy materialises in the main street. Led by government propaganda, most citizens shun him as a demon, except for Wellesbury Noon – a high school student the same age as the boy.

Upon befriending the boy, Wellesbury feels a connection that he can’t explain – as well as discovering that his new friend comes from a land that is stricken by disease and only has two weeks to live. Why do he and a girl named Ezmerelda Dontible appear to be the only ones who want to help?

As they dig deeper, everything they know is turned on its head – and a race to save one boy becomes a struggle to redeem humanity.
Purchase Links:
Buy links: Amazon US / Amazon UK / Smashwords / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iBooks
Add it on Goodreads
Meet the author:
Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those early morning times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. Visit him at his blog or connect with him on Twitter, GoodreadsFacebook or Amazon.
Enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of my collection A Change of Mind and Other Stories or a $10 giftcard! a Rafflecopter giveaway


I’d like to mention two other giveaways:

The Kindle Book Review Meet & Greet, featuring Dragon of the Stars by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Prizes include a Kindle Fire.
Tweet:
Dragon of the Stars by @alexjcavanaugh featured in @Kindlbookreview’s massive #giveaway https://www.thekindlebookreview.net/september-meet-greet/ Win a Kindle Fire




Goodreads Book Giveaway

Corners by Corrina Austin

Corners

by Corrina Austin

Giveaway ends September 25, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway

Wednesday, September 06, 2017

The Insecure Writer's Support Group Anthology Contest

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.


September’s optional question - Have you ever surprised yourself with your writing? For example, by trying a new genre you didn't think you'd be comfortable in?

I actually started writing my YA/NA series, The Circle of Friends, first, but from writing my two non-fiction books, I’ve discovered I’m better with non-fiction. (Must be the professional speaker in me!)


The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology Contest

Eligibility: Any member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is encouraged to enter – blogging or Facebook member. The story must be previously unpublished. Entry is free.

Word count: 3500-6000

Genre: Mystery/Crime/Thriller

Theme: Tick Tock. The story revolves around a clock, is time sensitive, or has something about a specific time. This theme has plenty of scope and we’re open to pretty much anything along these lines. No erotica, R-rated language, or graphic violence.

Story deadline: November 1st 2017

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted, previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging or Facebook IWSG group.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges:

Elizabeth S. Craig writes cozy mystery series for Penguin Random House, Midnight Ink, and independently. She curates links on Twitter as @elizabethscraig that are later shared in the free search engine Writers Knowledge Base.

Anne Hawkins is a partner in John Hawkins & Associates, Inc., New York. Founded in 1893 by Paul R. Reynolds, it is the oldest literary agency in the country. She works with mainstream literary and commercial fiction, including mystery, suspense, and thrillers and a wide variety of serious non-fiction, particularly history, politics, biography, science, and natural history. A number of her books have gained distinction through award nominations, book-to-film contracts, significant foreign rights sales, major book club selections, or placement on the New York Times bestseller list. Anne Hawkins is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives.

Candace Havens is the Editorial Director of Covet has written multiple novels for Berkley, Entangled and Harlequin. Her books have received nominations for the RITA’s, Holt Medallion and Write Touch Reader Awards. She is one of the nation’s leading entertainment journalists, runs a free online writing workshop, and teaches comprehensive writing class.

Author, Public Speaker, and Executive Producer, Lynn Tincher was born just outside of Louisville, Kentucky in the beautiful city of La Grange. She has written four books, with the fifth one currently in the making. Her first book, Afterthoughts was optioned for movie production by Kilted Pictures and Dancing Forward Productions in Los Angeles. It is currently in pre-production with plans to shoot in Louisville, Kentucky very soon.

Ion Newcombe is the editor and publisher of AntipodeanSF, Australia's longest running online speculative fiction magazine, regularly issued since January 1998. His qualifications and employment range from horticulture through electronics into literature and communications.

Patricia (Pat) Stoltey is the author of four crime fiction novels published by Five Star/Cengage including a historical mystery called Wishing Caswell Dead (https://www.amazon.com/Wishing-Caswell-Dead-Patricia-Stoltey/dp/1432834401/) (December 2017). She lives in Northern Colorado with her husband Bill, Sassy Dog, and Katie Cat. To learn more about Patricia and her books, visit her website/blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

Mason Canyon had a love of books since childhood encouraged by a mother who loved to read. A 30+year career in journalism fueled her desire to know what a story is all about. Blogging at Thoughts in Progress since 2009 and operating MC Book Tours for over a year. Loves to read and share great stories with others. MC Book Tours

Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.

We’re excited to see the creativity and enthusiasm that’s such a part of this group put into action. So don your creative caps and start writing. And spread the word!


For those of you on NetGalley, Dancing Lemur Press’ March 2018 release, Corners by Corrina Austin, is now available for review.
If you’re not on NetGalley and are interested in reviewing this middle grade/adult-coming of age fiction story, please leave a comment or send an email to inquiries AT dancinglemurpressllc.com. There are still print copies available, too.


Plus October 4 is the Show Us Your Writer Insecurity contest.


Will you be participating in either contest? What surprised you as a writer? Want to review Corners?





Those of you who follow me on Facebook saw the new additions to our home:

This is Star and he's all boy. And a bit of a dork. His full name is Star Lord, but he's already been dubbed Star Dork.

This is Rocket and she's a sweetie who loves her furry mice. (They aren't related and she's 6 weeks younger than him)

I'd petitioned to name them Rocket and Groot (our other cats were Calvin & Hobbes and Rocko & Spunky) but my husband couldn't see himself calling for Groot. Now that we've had them over a week, I can safely say Groot would've really fit.