Steve Alten Newsletter
August Update
August 1, 2006
In This Issue
RESURRECTION in paperback!
DOMAIN 2012 Doomsday Prophecy Special:
MEG Movie Update
SHELL GAME – Character Contest FINAL Update:
Check new website updates at www.SteveAlten.com
Check the night skies in August!
A movie I’d like everyone to see
This month’s LIVING TIPS from 2 readers:
IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT AREA CODES
A Soldier’s Letter
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Dear Leisa,
Some important info & updates this month: New additions to the website, a reader poll, the DOMAIN 2012 History Channel debuts on August 3rd, a letter from a soldier in Iraq, and several very important LIVING TIPS that could make an impact in your lives
RESURRECTION in paperback!
DOMAIN was the first in the series, a fictional thriller about the Mayan Calendar’s
2012 doomsday prophecy and the efforts of one man (diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic)
who must save humanity from destruction.
RESURRECTION is part two of the trilogy, delving into the mysteries of what happens to us when we die? Is there really an afterlife? Do we possess a soul? Does God exist?
For Michael Gabriel, the answers to these questions lie in another dimension, a realm of eternity where there is no concept of time, only pure life force, pure existence and pure evil.
RESURRECTION – Now in bookstores in mass market paperback! But read DOMAIN
first!
DOMAIN 2012 Doomsday Prophecy Special:
Airs: August 3rd - Thursday Night 9 PM Eastern & Pacific on THE HISTORY
CHANNEL.
Set the TIVO and VCRs! You won’t want to miss this one, it features some of the best footage, special effects, and complete explanation of the Mayan prophecy that I have ever seen. . .which is pretty scary stuff.
MEG Movie Update
Hopefully something positive soon, hang in there!
SHELL GAME – Character Contest FINAL Update:
The SHELL GAME is about the end of oil, and the next 9-11 that is being manipulated
to bring us into a war that will lead to the darkest days in civilization’s
history. I’ve been working on the book for 2 years now and everything I
am writing seems to be happening. I am pushing to release The SHELL GAME in
Spring 2007.
The following readers made it into the novel! Congratulations. In no particular order:
Rebecca St. Croix, Larry and Sean Kelly, Scott Swan, Jim Miller, Lynn McDonald, Rudi Anger, Marc McDuff, Kevin Graham, Caleb Kennedy Smith, Tony Ordonez, Ben Serviss, Mike Tristano, Brandon Herbert, Cynthia Zizzi, Scott Fisher, Ian Primosch, John Rogers, Bill West, Teri Smith, Holy Owen, Sharon Harris-Hill, P.J. Walther, Robert Slack, Theron Turman, Dexter & Brenda Khan, Cleve Wilson, Armond “Dale” Proctor, JC Rodriguez,, Ryan Gessaman, Kelly Brewer, Steve Murphy, Colin Bradley, Betti Fortier, Charles Wallace, Mitchell Wagner, Kris Hamilton, Brian Dean Westly, Patrick Blanchard, Dick Lawrence, Frank Nasuti, Silas Whitener, Cesar Diaz, Susie Perlman, Aaron Combs, Vanessa Shannen-Anderson, Denice (Daisy) Webb, Ken Keene, Keith Allan, Mike (the TURK) Turzman, Suzie Perlman, Cesar Diaz, Silas T. Whitener, Aaron Coombs, Roxanne Dunlap, Christina Jordan, Mario Childress, Jerry Bobo, Beth Newman, Gary Groves, Shane Torrance, Marco Fatiga, Shawn Eastburn, Jeff Anders, Ramzi Karim, Howard Steven Lowe, D.L. Garst, Jim Leary, Scott Santa, Susan Campbell, Jessica Turner, Garret Matsuura, Kira Nicole Gillean, Gary Lee Schafer, Eric Bi, Mark Tetreault, Elliot Green, Joseph Kendle, Patricia Moreau, Richard Cacciato, Benjamin Simon, Dave Schall, Richard Weldon Small, Michael Bach-Marklund, Adrian Paul Neary, Steven Alan Klemz, Dawn Darconte, Ray Henry, Doug Dvorak, Geordie McGillivray, Brian Doyle, Kelli Doyle (and Grandpa, too), Joseph Poschner, David Ashton, Jennifer Wienner, Christian Felter, Laura Whisenant, Stephen Patrick Murphy, Danelle Henk, Christopher Santoro, Bob Prichard, Robert Thornton, Rodney Lemeni, Ellen Wulf, David Keller, Ace Futrell, Garry Archer.
* An UPDATED sneak peek of The SHELL GAME will appear soon on SteveAlten.com.
Click on the SHELL GAME book cover to access the file.
Check new website updates at www.SteveAlten.com
The updates include a READER POLL (upper right corner on home page) FUTURE BOOK
Blurbs, more MILITARY TRIBUTE photos sent in from soldiers, and a MOVIE update.
Go to website now...
Check the night skies in August!
The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! Earth and Mars will reach their closest
encounter in recorded history, and it may be 60,000 years before it happens
again. The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within
34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object
in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc
seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as
the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning
of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about
3 a.m. By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise
at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m.
A movie I’d like everyone to see
No, it’s not MEG, it’s something far more important, I don’t
care who you are or your political affiliation. I saw the movie and it is a
MUST-SEE. Here’s a review:
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
Review by Roger Ebert
Dailykos.com - June 2, 2006
I want to write this review so every reader will begin it and finish it. I am a liberal, but I do not intend this as a review reflecting any kind of politics. It reflects the truth as I understand it, and it represents, I believe, agreement among the world's experts.
Global warming is real. It is caused by human activity. Mankind and its governments must begin immediate action to halt and reverse it.
If we do nothing, in about 10 years the planet may reach a "tipping point" and begin a slide toward destruction of our civilization and most of the other species on this planet. After that point is reached, it would be too late for any action.
These facts are stated by Al Gore in the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." Forget he ever ran for office. Consider him a concerned man speaking out on the approaching crisis. "There is no controversy about these facts," he says in the film. "Out of 925 recent articles in peer-review scientific journals about global warming, there was no disagreement. Zero."
He stands on a stage before a vast screen, in front of an audience. The documentary is based on a speech he has been developing for six years, and is supported by dramatic visuals. He shows the famous photograph "Earthrise," taken from space by the first American astronauts. Then he shows a series of later space photographs, clearly indicating that glaciers and lakes are shrinking, snows are melting, shorelines are retreating.
He provides statistics: The 10 warmest years in history were in the last 14 years. Last year South America experienced its first hurricane. Japan and the Pacific are setting records for typhoons. Hurricane Katrina passed over Florida, doubled back over the Gulf, picked up strength from unusually warm Gulf waters, and went from Category 3 to Category 5. There are changes in the Gulf Stream and the jet stream. Cores of polar ice show that carbon dioxide is much, much higher than ever before in a quarter of a million years. It was once thought that such things went in cycles. Gore stands in front of a graph showing the ups and downs of carbon dioxide over the centuries. Yes, there is a cyclical pattern. Then, in recent years, the graph turns up and keeps going up, higher and higher, off the chart.
The primary man-made cause of global warming is the burning of fossil fuels. We are taking energy stored over hundreds of millions of years in the form of coal, gas and oil, and releasing it suddenly. This causes global warming, and there is a pass-along effect. Since glaciers and snow reflect sunlight but sea water absorbs it, the more the ice melts, the more of the sun's energy is retained by the sea.
Gore says that although there is "100 percent agreement" among scientists, a database search of newspaper and magazine articles shows that 57 percent question the fact of global warming, while 43 percent support it. These figures are the result, he says, of a disinformation campaign started in the 1990s by the energy industries to "reposition global warming as a debate." It is the same strategy used for years by the defenders of tobacco. My father was a Lucky smoker who died of lung cancer in 1960, and 20 years later it was still "debatable" that there was a link between smoking and lung cancer. Now we are talking about the death of the future, starting in the lives of those now living.
"The world won't 'end' overnight in 10 years," Gore says. "But a point will have been p assed, and there will be an irreversible slide into destruction."
In England, Sir James Lovelock, the scientist who proposed the Gaia hypothesis (that the planet functions like a living organism), has published a new book saying that in 100 years mankind will be reduced to "a few breeding couples at the Poles." Gore thinks, "that's too pessimistic. We can turn this around just as we reversed the hole in the ozone layer. But it takes action right now, and politicians in every nation must have the courage to do what is necessary. It is not a political issue. It is a moral issue."
When I said I was going to a press screening of "An Inconvenient Truth," a friend said, "Al Gore talking about the environment! Bor...ing!" This is not a boring film. The director, Davis Guggenheim, uses words, images and Gore's concise litany of facts to build a film that is fascinating and relentless. In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.
Am I acting as an advocate in this review? Yes, I am. I believe that to be "impartial" and "balanced" on global warming means one must take a position like Gore's. There is no other view that can be defended. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Environment Committee, has said, "Global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." I hope he takes his job seriously enough to see this film. I think he has a responsibility to do that.
What can we do? Switch to and encourage the development of alternative energy sources: Solar, wind, tidal, and, yes, nuclear. Move quickly toward hybrid and electric cars. Pour money into public transit, and subsidize the fares. Save energy in our houses.
I did a funny thing when I came home after seeing "An Inconvenient Truth." I went around the house turning off the lights.
Please share this message with your friends. Let's raise awareness.
This month’s LIVING TIPS from 2 readers:
Sudden Cardiac Death
Each year over 400,000 people die in the United States from Sudden Cardiac Death. Nearly 1 out of every 200,000 high school athletes dies in this manner. Although some people may have a warning of lightheadedness or prior passing out spells or palpitation (the sensation of their heart pounding in their chest), most have no warning, simply collapse and never regain consciousness. A small percentage of these episodes are caused by the heart stopping but the majority are caused by abnormally fast, sometimes chaotic arrhythmias generated from the bottom chambers of the heart (known as the ventricles).
Even though most episodes of Sudden Death occur without warning, there are identifiable risk factors that can identify a significant number of these people. With proper education patients and their physicians can identify whether or not they are at risk for this problem and be appropriately treated.
Perhaps the most important risk predisposing someone to suffer this fate is having a weakened heart muscle (cardiomyopathy). The ejection fraction (EF) is the percentage of blood that enters the heart while the heart is resting that is then pumped out with the next heart beat. A normal ejection fraction is 55-80%. An ejection fraction below 35% places a person at high risk for the heart rhythm problems that cause sudden death. Causes of a weakened heart include, heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes, certain viruses, prolonged alcohol abuse, certain drugs (such a certain chemotherapy drugs). Sometimes people may be at risk because of certain structural or electrical abnormalities of their heart (these being more likely to cause sudden death in younger people).
In recent years a number of large studies have been performed comparing medical therapy vs. implantation of a defibrillator (a pacemaker like device implanted to quickly deliver a shock to a persons heart to stop life threatening arrhythmias). All of these studies have shown that defibrillator therapy is superior to medications in patients who have cardiomyopathy. In fact, having a defibrillator reduces the risk of sudden cardiac death in patients at risk by 20-30 %.
Unfortunately, it is estimated that only about 25% of the people who need a defibrillator are actually getting them. In addition to educating doctors on the indications and usefulness of these devices, a large-scale public awareness campaign is needed to inform and educate people who might be at risk for life threatening heart rhythm problems. Those most at risk are people who have a history of a heart attack (myocardial infarction) and those with a cardiomyopathy (EF < 35%). Also at risk are people with certain structural or electrical problems of their heart.
How can one tell if they are at risk for sudden cardiac death? A thorough history and physical examination by a doctor is a good place to start. If someone has a history of palpitation, light headed or dizzy spells, passing out, chest pain, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing when lying flat, congestive heart failure, history of a heart attack or a family history of sudden death they should be evaluated to assess their risk. This evaluation can usually be accomplished by some simple testing such as an EKG and an ultrasound of the heart (known as an echocardiogram). Occasionally a doctor may need more tests to fully evaluate a person for their risk.
John D. Rogers, MD, FACC
jdrheartmd@aol.com
IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT AREA CODES
We received a call last week from the 809 area code. The woman said "Hey,
this is Karen. Sorry I missed you--get back to us quickly. I have something
important to tell you." Then she repeated a phone number beginning with
809. "We didn't respond".
Then this week, we received the following e-mail: Subject: DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809 , 284 AND 876. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION PROVIDED TO US BY AT&T. DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809
This one is being distributed all over the US . This is pretty scary, especially given the way they try to get you to call. Be sure you read this and pass it on. They get you to call by telling you that it is information about a family member who has been ill or to tell you someone has-been arrested, died, or to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc. In each case, you are told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls. If you call from the US , you will apparently be charged $2425 per-minute. Or, you'll get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you'll often be charged more than $24, 100.00.
WHY IT WORKS:
The 809 area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (The Bahamas). The
charges afterwards can become a real nightmare. That's because you did actually
make the call. If you complain, both your local phone company and your long
distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you
that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You'll end
up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong.
Please forward this entire message to your friends, family and colleagues to
help them become aware of this scam
Sandi Van Handel AT&T Field Service Manager
IF YOU HAVE A LIVING TIP YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH OTHERS, SEND IT TO ME AT Meg82159@aol.co
m
A Soldier’s Letter
I receive a lot of fan e-mail from Iraq and Afghanistan. I wanted to share this
one with you, not to sing praises for my books, but to invite you to send books
overseas. If you send them to the APO below, the National Guardsman will disseminate
them to his fellow soldiers.
Dear Steve,
I'm a deployed National Guard Soldier currently stationed in Iraq. As you're
my favorite author I want to express to you how much your work means to me.
I'm half way around the world, my family and home feels like light-years away
and I'm sure you have some idea of the kind of things I have to deal with there.
Your work is a portal that takes me away from the constant pressure that I'm under here. After a rough day I return to my bunk and follow Jonas Taylor into the trench or I get to help save the world from destruction with Michael Gabriel. I know that may sound kinda silly but me and a friend of mine I'm stationed here with spend hours talking about your books, characters, and forthcoming movie. Your work brings us happiness when we're far from home.
I'm so excited to hear about the movie. You can be sure that me and my buddy will be at the front of the ticket line when it releases as we should be finished with our deployment by then. I think Domain would make a fantastic movie as well. Has there been any talk to that end? I was telling my buddy that I thought Terry (Hulk) Hogan would be great as Dominique's Intern Director. The way you described him Hogan just seemed to pop in there. He's the right age and has the right build. And you may laugh but I've always thought there was a good actor in there that was always confined by bad movie scripts. And of course Dominique would have to be played by the lovely Katherine Zeta-Jones.
But by far my most favorite book by you would have to be "The Loch". I've been completely fascinated by the nessie legend ever since I was a kid. It never occurred to me what you suggested about how Nessie hunters have a pre-conceived idea of what the monster is and they look for that instead of letting the clues lead them to what the truth is. I guess even the greatest of minds can be fairly dense from time to time, huh? But that's what you get from closed mindedness and not thinking for yourself.
Well I could go on and on forever, but I'll knock it all down to this...you say on your website that you want to "make me a life-long fan". Well brother you've done exactly that, and more. Keep pounding out the good work and remember that there are a lot of tough guys here that are layin it on the line so that our great nation and others can be free.
Thanks, Hu-ahh, and Rock On
Spc. Scottie R. Yarmon
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Steve Alten Newsletter August 2006
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Dear Leisa,
Two retractions on the August Newsletter Living Tips section, as pointed out by readers (and my website Queen).
Mars Story While the story, sent in by several fans, remains true, it isn't happening this year! It happened 3 years ago in 2003.
809 Area Code Scam This story is also true, however the usage is rare and the victims suffer far smaller damages.
-Steve Alten
Contact Information
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email: meg82159@aol.com
web: http://www.stevealten.com
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