BLOGS

Hey fam!!

My first novel and the first of the Mountairy Rock City Chronicles is out right now the BARNES & NOBLE website as an E-book.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-serpent-cult-howard-night/1110320101?ean=2940014563567

The SERPENT CULT is a fantasy piece set in a modern urban setting featuring Max Madigan, a late twenties African Amaerican research assistant as the protagonist.

Mountairy Rock…
 …a modern city with an ancient soul. A city where goliath trees dwarf the skyscrapers, hidden packs of werewolves roam the rooftops, present day witches practice covertly and a leviathan of a Demon secretly builds its own army of crazed worshipers.
            Life had finally started to come together for Max Madigan. This was going to be the year that would see him finally earn his Doctorate, start his career and hopefully kick his long dormant love life back into gear.
            But just as the New Year starts there’s a grisly massacre at Haley University Museum. In the after math Max unknowingly stumbles across the Stone
                        At first glance the small engraved stone seemed to be nothing more than a bit of debris from the violence of the attack. So insignificant that he doesn’t notice it pulses warmly with mystical power. Now the path that his life had been traveling down has been irrevocably changed just by picking it up.
            The cult responsible for the murders now knows that he is in possession of the Stone and begins launching attacks at him. Their members are crazed, maniacal and in some cases; serpent eyed and fang toothed.
            Fortunately the mysterious and powerful Stone seems to be in tune with his peril and begins to fill him with its power granting him the incredible strength, speed, and heightened senses of a feral animal. It is a mystical power and it is just enough to keep Max half a step ahead of the cult and just out of arms reach of being cuffed and imprisoned by the law. But there are others who can sense and want the power that emanates from the Stone.
            Prya, a flame haired vixen from an isolated section of Mountairy Rock, has taken a keen interest in both the Stone and Max himself. That interest isn’t looked upon lightly by her self proclaimed fiancé, Lotarre who, along with his brothers begin a relentless pursuit of Max all over Mountairy Rock.
            Beset on all sides by danger and a mounting foray of enemies, Max’s luck turns and he is given aid by a modern day witch, Rasheeda Landry. Rasheeda serves as a guide to the side of Mountairy Rock that he’s never seen. She warns him of the dangers of Mountairy Rock, of the wickedness of the Serpent Cult…
            …and she warns him of the Demon. Though it’s the members of the Cult that will fight, kill, and die if necessary in their worship, Max must eventually deal with the Demon that is intent on possessing the Stone.
            When wave after wave of crazed maniacs and wicked serpent-men fail to capture it, the stage is set for the ultimate face-off between the Demon and an exhausted, beaten and spent Max in the back alleys of Mountairy Rock.


If this sounds like your kind of adventure I hope you'll give it a look.

BSFS forever, Nightmanager

This section is to provide info on various learning opportunities that are available of various topics.

http://www.blacksciencefictionsociety.com/forum/categories/education-learning/listForCategory

CNN Light Years: NASA: Meteor over California and Nevada was size of minivan

30,000,000 years of Tritium!

Good Day, Everyone!

I’m excited to announce that my debut novel, Trash, is available for your reading pleasure! If you would like a hard copy of my debut novel, you must purchase it from Lulu.com. If you would like Trash as an e-book,  Amazon Kindle is the place to go. 

Here are the links!

For E-Books: Amazon Kindle

For H-Books: Lulu.com

Not sure, you’re even interested in my debut novel? Check out the free previews chapters at the following websites!

Choice #1: Author’s Den

Choice #2: Fictionpress.com

I’m really excited that my long-held goal has finally been completed! However, this adventurous trip has just begun!

I am working on an ongoing art project in circular forms. Reminds me of diviners and tea leaf readers. A collage of paper shapes on a plate. I stumbled upon some curious configurations, one lights the whole room, one whirls like a tempest in a tea cup. Each form destructs or constructs or transtructs. Been getting strange emails of late asking me to sale the forms for 10 qzots and 50 quantizims. I was worried about alien abduction er thugs but one email had a disclaimer about the rite of passing permissions and unlawful energy flow access strictly enforced. Am I legit after all I stumbled upon this thing, this phenomenon, energy wells and shafts. I glanced in the mirror and saw a glowing mark on my right ear. I touched the mark while gazing in the mirror, a heads-up display appeared with records of procedure, sales and of course my diploma from Megagalactic Tech where I majored in multi polar quansits and quantim metacircular transforms. Sales have been down and I am spending time in my transient impersonation on vacation. I guess I like it too much and forgot myself. On this side of the galaxy I'm called "eBe", the energy bender. Anyway circular transforns are all the rage. Next year we are venturing into squares, yeah it's old school but folks like that edge of the universe feeling they get whizzing through the quantimhood. Qzots, you know the exchange rate into dollars is insane. Better off insisting on Quantizims, as they can be transduced into any currency in this universe. Did you note anything starting with a "q" sounds quosmic?

...minus Chili Palmer!

LASplashdotcom

The battle flag ship Righteous Staff moved into the planet’s higher orbit to join the five hundred Varient Class assault cruisers present.
Cleric Ovisl of the Order of the Cleansed stepped onto the bridge’s visual interface plate, activating a holographic image that pieced together like a photonic jigsaw puzzle.
A face and a background formed before the cleric. A scene of fire, smoke and red-tinged devastation framed the visage.
“Cleric Ovisl,” the image uttered with a justified mix of fear and reverence.
Ovisl was one of those rare clerics who enjoyed venturing beyond the cloistered confines of the Yarilian Temple.
“Your presence is a most unexpected pleasure.” The image’s features broadened to a welcoming smile.
“I congratulate you on your victory over the heretics, General Pirqai,” Ovisl offered graciously.
The flag ship’s captain, Uriss, and Ovisl’s prime aid, Ipsol, flanked the cleric.
“Your praise is worth more than a mountain of treasure,” General Pirqai gushed. “Over thirty million heretics we have erased from this existence. Millions more await punishment for their crimes against the Bringers and those who uphold the Precepts.”
“I am pleased with the vigor of your efforts to crush dissenters and preserve the Precepts.”
Pirqai’s preening blinded him to the creeping coldness encrusting the cleric’s expression.
“Of course,” Ovisl continued. “Putting down uprisings have been something of a regularity for you from the day you assumed power. It is an endeavor that you have been exceptionally good at. Unfortunately, you govern a population that chooses willful disobedience over the wisdom of the Bringers. And your population has made that atrocious choice repeatedly enough as to have exhausted the patience the Bringers have for so long harbored toward the wayward.”
“I need more mediators,” Pirqai eagerly requested. “So that the wisdom of the Bringers can be reinforced. Plus, I need additional funding to construct new temples. I have had to raze thousands of temples that were used as bases for heretic activity. These measures in addition to my purges will decrease the likelihood of future revolts.”
“We have sent you enough mediators to fill all the temples in a dozen star systems,” Ovisl emphasized, glancing at his prime aid, who lifted a hand in agreement. “You have been provided with enough funding to purchase the Compact five times over. All to little avail. General, your world has become a hotbed of heresy and while you have managed to stamp out its activity in one area, in another it arises anew like a regenerating head on a multiheaded headed serpent.”
The gloss of accomplishment on the general’s face paled to a look of dire concern. “Blessed Cleric…I can assure you that after this day, there will be no more trouble from heretics…”
“I do not doubt that you sincerely believe that.” Ovisl turned away from the general’s image. “I do not doubt your loyalty or your faith. You are a true Child of the Bringers. What I do doubt is your ability to eliminate heresy permanently. Your world has become hopelessly contaminated. There is only one cure for what ails your population. Because your world is not essential to the existence of the Compact, this is a cure I can well afford to implement.”
Ovisl stepped off the plate and the general’s image disassembled amid a flurry of desperate pleas.
“You may begin decontamination, Captain.” Almost as an after thought, Ovisl added: “I am not nearly as patient as the Bringers.”
Captain Uriss briskly acknowledged the cleric’s command and snapped orders to Weapons Control, orders that reached the orbiting assault cruisers.”
A single object, shaped like an octagon and approaching the size of a large satellite, launched from each cruiser and the flag ship.
The objects burned through the planet’s atmosphere on guided trajectories. Most soared toward the planet’s five continental land masses. The remainder zeroed in on the planet’s largest oceans and seas.
The objects shattered in synchronized detonations less than a fourth of a mile above the surface. Purple clouds were released by the airbursts. The artificial cumulus billowed across the surface with a ravenous swiftness no natural storm system could hope to match. Chemical agents suffused the rapidly coalescing clouds; agents that paralyzed, asphyxiated, then burned its victims, not with fire but with acid.
Ovisl observed monitor footage from a hundred different angles of mass death below. The millions General Pirqai proudly proclaimed to have slaughtered became a pitifully faint tally in comparison to the five and a half billion claimed by expanding chemical clouds.
A sickly purplish shroud coated the atmosphere, displacing ecosystems, choking the planet in a worldwide grip of death.
Bridge monitors flashed grim images of charred corpses layering city streets, and rural lands. The chemical clouds even penetrated the waters, summoning sea creatures from murky depths where they floated lifeless atop acid-churned waves. Vegetation wilted and died. Mountains and buildings and other features constructed by sentient hands or molded by nature appeared unscathed by the chemical catastrophe. They were not. The chemical was persistent and in time, its lingering, corrosive effect would grind the staunchest structures to powder. Who knew when this planet would be livable again? A decade? Centuries? The creators of the chemical did not concern themselves with such a matter. Their only focus was the level of its lethality.
Ovisl lowered his head, muttering a solemn prayer, not for those among the deceased who had denied the truth of the Precepts, but for the many more billions of innocents who suffered the lamentable fate of being collateral damage.
“The Bringers will know their own and reward them for their faith and devotion.” Buoyant with the fervor of the righteous, Ovisl exited the bridge, followed by his prime aid.

Dirac Cones - PhysicsWorld

Physics World: Dirac cones could exist in bismuth–antimony films

ATTN: Sci-fi and Fantasy authors, here is a free course given by the University of Michigan: Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World https://www.coursera.org/#course/fantasysf

The Hierophants is back up for sale at these fine retailers

The Hierophants @ ComicsMonkey

The Hierophants @ Indy Planet

Nabbed. This oddball transistor with a normal metal electrode (N) and a superconducting electrode (S) registered signs of Majorana fermions at the two ends of a nanowire spanning the electrodes. Credit: V. Mourik et al

Science Mag: Physicists Discover New Type of Particle--Sort Of

My writing is taking a back seat as I prepare for the first of two solar eclipses this year. On May 20th there will be an annular eclipse of the Sun. During an annular eclipse the moon moves in front of the Sun, but part of the Sun remains visible. It is necessary to wear protective eyewear at all times. Here is a short video showing the January 6, 2011 annular eclipse as recorded by the Hinode Satellite. 

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=49165671

For the annular eclipse I will be in Tokyo, Japan, making a documentary film. The documentary titled "Black Sun" is about two African American astrophysicists and their upcoming observations of the solar eclipses in 2012. We are raising funds for the filming in Tokyo via a Kickstarter Campaign. 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/677592353/black-sun-documentary-film-about-the-2012-solar-ec

I am passionate about this project because it shows a different part of the African American community, a part normally not seen. We made a short five-minute promotional film of our two stars: Alphonse Sterling and Hakeem Oluseyi. 

http://blackcommunityentertainment.com/videos/1345/black-sun-five-minute-short

The annular eclipse will be visible from the western United States. Remember to protect your eyes.

Wish me luck on the campaign!

...a fictional one, a dear literary memory so we will not become "smooth dinosaurs" (Octavia Butler, "Parable of the Sower"; "Parable of the Talents").

Web site: The B612 Foundation
The Little Prince: Asteroid B-612

There are three extremely important elements of story creation. Therefore, it is  highly important that all aspiring writers hone their skills in these three areas of fictional writing.  These three elements are important for any type of story regardless of the story’s length be it a short story, novella, or novel.  This three elements are: the beginning, the point-of-no-return, and the climax. Each of these elements has an important function in crafting a story and can either make or break it. If either of these story elements are lacking, nonsensical, or not present, the audience/reader of that story will either quickly forget it or worst – feel like they have wasted their time!

What is the story’s beginning?

There are numerous and varied definitions for a story’s ‘beginning’. However, I think the most helpful of ways an author can think of a beginning is this - the establishment of the promise of your story. Every story makes a promise to its reader, and that promise can be anything! (This is why there are so many different genres of fiction!) Depending on the type of fictional story you are writing (for example: a romance promises a love story or a thriller promises excitement), your promise will vary. However, in the end, that’s really what a beginning of the story is: crafting and setting up a promise to your readers.

What is the point-of-no-return? 

The point-of-no-return is the scene, act, or chapter of a story that ‘seals the character(s) fate’. This is generally were the middle of a novel starts. It’s the scene were the audience/reader realizes that the characters can’t go back and must face whatever trials and problems that await them during the tale.

What is the climax?

Most aspiring writers mistakenly believe that the climax is the end of the tale. Wrong! The climax is where the beginning’s promise is fulfilled. If you are a romance’s writer – that character must find love, or you’ve failed your readers. If you’re a mystery writer – the main character must solve the crime. Failure to fulfill those initial promises in your stories will only make your readers feel disgusted or cheated.  Therefore, your story has reached its climax when the story’s beginning promise is fulfilled.

So remember – whenever writing a fictional story, make sure that these three elements, the beginning’s promise, the point-of-no-return, and the climax,  are well established because these three elements will determine if your story becomes a classic or is tossed into the trash!