Friday, March 29, 2013

Latest Release by Laura DeLuca



Now Available on Amazon! Book Two in the Dark Musicals Trilogy, inspired by Sweeney Todd.

http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Dark-Musicals-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00C32YAKY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364527596&sr=1-1&keywords=demon+laura+deluca

When Justyn and Rebecca set off for the New York School of Performing Arts, they think their dreams are about to come true. To their dismay, they aren’t in high... school anymore, and the competition is steep. Rebecca must compete against accomplished singers for a role in the production of Demon Barber, including a stunning Gothic diva with her sights set on Justyn.

It doesn't help that things keep disappearing from their apartment or that Rebecca's father refuses to accept that Justyn is an essential part of her life. Yet, all this seems minimal in comparison to the serial rapist terrorizing the campus.

Consumed by fear and obsessed with revenge, Rebecca and Justyn start living the story of Sweeney Todd—both on and off the stage.
Please stop by and enjoy! And make use of the giveaway feature above :)

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Beam Me Up Scotty!


 


I don’t know about you, but I’ve always loved sci-fi. As a kid, I was fascinated by all the futuristic Tec and gadgets they would use. Especially on shows like “Doctor Who” & “Star Trek”. I grew up with such shows, and often wondered if the science fiction of the past would ever become the science fact of today.
Looking back, I can see how we’re gradually creeping closer to the sci-tec of "Star Trek" every day. Think about it. We now have things like ‘swishy doors’ and hypo sprays. If you think that’s great, Scientists are now announcing they've been able to teleport special bits of light from one place to another, in a "Beam me up, Scotty" fashion.
Now, don’t get me wrong. We’re not talking about zapping people around the world...yet. But we might be starting to dip our toes in the pond! While I’ve been fortunate enough to gain some pretty decent qualifications in physics and astronomy myself, I’m not into big words. They send me to sleep! So, I’ll try to put this in a way that prevents an involuntary coma.

 


The scientist I referred to above were able to make use of some pretty quirky aspects of physics. The teleportation they’re referring to takes advantage of an oddity of quantum physics called ‘entanglement’. Basically, two particles can be bonded so that even when separated by large distances, they continue to communicate instantly. Thus–because of this quirky link–what happens to one particle, affects the other, despite the distance!
Cool!
To teleport the light, researchers led by Noriyuki Lee of the University of Tokyo had to destroy it in one place, and re-create it in another. This mirrors the teleportation process employed on "Star Trek". Eg, where their futuristic transporters scan a person atom by atom, dismantle him, store his pattern in a buffer and then rebuild the person by configuring a different set of atoms in exactly the same pattern in another place.

 


Lee and his team accomplished this by linking a packet of light to one half of a pair of entangled particles mentioned above. They then destroyed the light packet and the particle it was linked to, leaving only the other half of the entangled pair. The remaining ‘half’ retained the link with its entangled partner, and ‘gained’ information about the light packet to which its partner had been linked. That enabled the researchers to rebuild the light in the exact configuration at the other location.
Super cool!
But it’s still a long way off “Star Trek”, because remember, quantum teleportation is not the same as the teleportation most of us know from science fiction, where a person in one place is “beamed up” to another place where a perfect copy is then replicated. In quantum teleportation two photons or ions (for example) are entangled in such a way that when the quantum state of one is changed the state of the other also changes, as if the two were still connected.
In effect, we’re still playing or learning to manage the quantum world. Transporting people is a long, long way off. BUT – it’s a step in the right direction. Only a few years ago these ‘new facts’ were just ideas! Now they are turning into experimental realities where other applications are helping physicists make the science fiction of today, the science fact of tomorrow.
Thankfully, we still have time, which is perhaps just as well. Why?
Consider the wider implications, or as I like to call them, the ‘what ifs’.
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As technology advances, what might happen if continued experimentation raises philisophical issues as to whether destroying a person in one place and recreating a copy elsewhere provides sufficient 'experience of continuity' to class them as the same person.
What if society comes to view that reassembled human as a different entity entirely?
Okay, they have the same memories, characteristics and traits. But would they seek to place restrictions upon such an individual?
Would they class such a person as a clone, especially if an adaptation of the procedure might result in the constructing of, not just one, but several copies of the original? Would certain parties seek to look on a 'reproduction' as a source for spare parts?
How unique would each copy be, especially as current experiments use 'new' matter/atoms to reconstruct the pattern of the original.
Hurts the mind doesn't it? I'm glad I wouldn't be involved in having to work things out.
"It wasn't me, officer...it was him!"
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Yes, I’ve always loved sci-fi. But, as our ever evolving world turns more and more fiction into fact, we’re going to have to tread carefully...and be careful not to do this...

 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Something For The Weekend?

 


In a series of terrifying events, otherworldly beings intervene to save innocent lives. The world community reacts with relief as they realize that guardian angels may in fact exist, and they are diligently protecting us.
But there are those who would seek to stop what they feel is a threat against their livelihoods. How far will some go to battle the Guardians? Is the fairy tale over before it even begins?
Guardian Angels is a powerful and compelling story about the catalyst that has the power to unite society in the hope for a better future.
The spark of hope is fragile—can it last?
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Once every few hundred years, the Blood-Moon rises on an unsuspecting world. When it does—the very stuff of myth and legend comes to life. He was sixth generation military, his path laid before him by his family. To secure his spot in the elite British Special Forces he found himself up against one of the harshest environments known to man.

It is here that he will face an ancient horror.
What do you think might happen when nightmare becomes reality?
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For the third year running a ritualistic serial killer has struck in the week leadingup to Halloween, leaving a gruesome and bloody trail in his wake.
It’s thesame every year. One murder a day, every day, until his quotient of seven hasbeen reached. Butchery just does not describe what happens to those unfortunate enough to fall into his clutches. Then he vanishes – only to return twelvemonths later as merciless as ever.
The killer appears to strike randomly and at will. As such, the detective leading the case is no closer to discovering the identity of the ruthless predator than he was when the slayings began.
Neither can it be established exactly how the killer selects his victims, or indeed why.
It’s only when the detective gets an unexpected break that things get interesting…

 

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Karma

“What goes around comes around.”
I’m sure we’ve all heard that saying. Others may refer to it as Karma, a transcendent form of ‘cause & effect’.
The way you treat others will eventually come back and reflect on you.
As authors, it’s a good idea to remember that.
Yes, we put a great deal of work into our projects. It takes time and effort to produce something worthy of being published. We obviously want it to do well, and are keen to establish the contacts that will get our stories out there and into readers’ hands...
...But, do we sometimes forget our fellow authors? In the sense of helping them promote their books? I know some might feel reticent about ‘pushing sales’ the way of another author. After all, aren’t they on the other side? A competitor? An opponent?
Well, in a sense...yes they are. But thankfully, this isn’t the Hunger Games with just one winner. The odds are definitely in our favour. How can we be so sure? Just look at the thousands, upon thousands of stories on the shelves out there...and all so refreshingly different!
Variety certainly is the spice of life.
Sometimes we forget that!
Think of it like food.
I’ve got to say, my favourite food is chicken. But, if I only ate chicken, all day and every day, I’d soon get sick of it. So, I vary my diet. That diet includes other preference foods...fish, salads, vegetables, and so on.
Now apply that to the food for our souls. The nourishment we feed and stimulate our minds with. Our imagination needs a healthy variety too!
When we offer to promote our friends and fellow authors book...what goes around, comes around.
Your ‘competitor’s’ reader isn’t just going to buy one book. They’ll want more! Yes, they may have their favourite, ‘flavour’, but they’ll enjoy variety too. When they’ve finished a good story, they’ll simply go and find another to read...and this time, it might be one of yours!
I regularly tweet/advertise for other authors. True, most write in much the same genre as I do. However, that doesn't scare me at all, because I know that once the reader has finished their book they might go looking for recommendations from that author, and that leads them to me.  
Tastes vary from time to time. Who knows, doing this more regularly may help us become someone else’s favourite for a while. As the years pass, we may even stay on their list of preference foods.
I can only speak from personal experience. As a youngster, I was an avid sci-fi fan. Everything else was boring. But, as time passed, my tastes widened. I grew to love fantasy, paranormal, action adventure, thrillers, and biographies. Some of those genres were actually recommended by the authors I read.
 
So, back to ‘Cause and effect’. It is said, “Your actions determine your karma.”
If it’s not something you do, try it. Cast your efforts ‘out there’ and see what comes back. No, most of the time it won’t return as fast as we would like, or perhaps in the specific way we would prefer. But...return it will.
 
...And who knows what a right word, at the right time, in the right place might accomplish?