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HAPPY NEW YEAR! My apologies on the delay of this newsletter, but we have ben working very hard to develop a special marketing campaign for The SHELL GAME and a character contest that anyone can participate in.

First, I want to again thank all of you for your well wishes, stories, and prayers regarding my announcement in November that I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. How could I not stay positive with so many positive thoughts. In truth, Parkinson's Disease does not scare me as much as the implications of The SHELL GAME scares me! It took 30 months to write The SHELL GAME. Thirty months of excruciating research. Thirty months of nerve-wracking info that gave me worse nightmares than any Megalodon could ever induce. The REAL BATTLE is about to begin. NOW I NEED YOUR HELP!

The book MUST HIT BEST-SELLER STATUS!

The SHELL GAME's release has been timed to affect the most important election in our nation's history its success can shine a light on the TRUTH. This is a cautionary tale about the effects of FASCISM. Most of all, the book's message is about CHANGE:

CHANGE in the way our public officials are elected.

CHANGE in replacing fossil fuels with green renewable energy.

CHANGE in ending the war in Iraq and preventing an invasion in Iran.

CHANGE in demanding a new 9/11 Commission and Criminal Investigation.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

I've taken the ball down to the one yard line I need YOU to carry it over for me. And I'll reward you for your efforts.

1. Buy the book. I promise it will keep you turning pages. (SEE REVIEWS BELOW)
2. Spread the word. BEST-SELLER STATUS pushes the topic into the mainstream media.
3. Spread the 2 book trailers and you may be rewarded as a character in a future book of YOUR CHOICE!

CHARACTER CONTEST: JANUARY 1, 2008 - MARCH 31, 2008
The TOP 60 readers who spread THE SHELL GAME book trailers around the internet (cumulative views) will be characters in a future Alten novel of their choice:

1. Grim Reaper (up next)
2. Phobos (part 3 of the Domain trilogy)
3. Sorceress (Goliath sequel)
4. MEG 5: Night Stalkers

CONTEST RULES:

There are 2 book trailers. The top people responsible for spreading them around the internet (30 winners for the oil trailer, 30 winners for the 9/11 trailer) will be characters. (Yes, you can win two places and add a friend or relative).

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut and paste the video link anywhere and everywhere. Blogs, websites, newsgroups, book clubs, anywhere that allows video embed codes! When you Embed the video code into your webpage The Shell Game videos will play on your site. (The videos are hosted on another server so they will NOT bog down your server.) People can tell friends about the video from your site and an email goes out telling them to come to your site to view the video. So while you are helping us "Spread the Word" you are also bringing traffic to your website! Get the embed code to the videos by clicking on the link below.

2. If you have a YouTube account you will find our book trailers at http://www.youtube.com/theshellgame add us to your playlist. We want to get as many views as possible on YouTube!

3. Send your list of links and efforts to shellgame36@yahoo.com a running tally of all of your efforts will be recorded.

Strategy

Working together we CAN affect positive change!

View the NEW "The Shell Game" Website and see the 911 and Oil Book Trailers

Get the embed code here

LIVING TIPS: SWEET POISON - A MUST READ
(from a reader, authenticated by SNOOPS)
In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick. She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain. By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick. On March 19 I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS. I recalled an article a friend of mine e-mailed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda? She told me that she did. As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment. I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking the diet soda! I e-mailed her the article my friend, a lawyer, had sent. My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but she sure felt a lot better. She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home. Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed! He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind. In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda...and literally dying a slow and miserable death. When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life.

If it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on "ASPARTAME," marketed as 'NutraSweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.' In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's and Systemic Lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, Multiple Sclerosis and Systemic Lupus. Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although Multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is! Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit.

He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition. We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas. In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly. This also applies to cases of Parkinson's, Tinnitus and Fibromyalgia. During a lecture, I said, "If you are using ASPARTAME (NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!"

People were jumping up during the lecture saying, "I have some of these symptoms. Is it reversible?" Yes! Yes! Yes! STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels! Many products are fortified with it! This is a serious problem. Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice, a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence! Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight! These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve "tissue specimens." Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body! Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the "diet products" and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period. Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance.

Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, seizures, depression, manic depression, panic attacks, uncontrollable anger and rage. Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non- diabetics as well. Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet. So called "behavior modification prescription drugs" (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place! Most of these children were being "poisoned" on a daily basis with the very foods that were "better for them than sugar." It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome. Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners. There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison."

Herein lies the problem: There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED! There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced. Everybody wants a "piece of the Aspartame pie." I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is. Isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians? This has been recently exposed in the New York Times. These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products. Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants. The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioral symptoms. The bill was killed.

It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you're Informed now! YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW! Please, print this out and/or e-mail to your family and friends.

MEG Movie
I am in the process of writing a NEW script, one that more closely follows the MEG novel (Shane Salerno's scripts were more of a Moby Dick tale for sharks). We are forming a new MEG team of producers who will take this script to studios. Fingers crossed!

DOMAIN a best-seller in Spain!
A Spanish publisher recently optioned DOMAIN and it soared to the top. DOMAIN has now sold over 100,000 copies in Spain, making it my biggest seller since MEG. The publisher optioned RESURRECTION could PHOBOS be far behind???

Steve Alten Book Tour
To download my book tour schedule for "The Shell Game" click the link below. Hope to see you at one of the events! Bring any books you want signed, it's an honor to be asked.

That's all for now. Stay well, stay safe, PLEASE DRIVE CAREFULLy and know this author appreciates you very much.

-Steve Alten, Ed.D.

Download Book Tour...

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SHELL GAME: REVIEWS

"Steve Alten proves his versatility in his latest thriller THE SHELL GAME, a tour-de-force thriller tackling oil, politics, and the state of the world. Controversial, shocking, meticulously researched, and sure to raise many eyebrows in Washington, Alten has produced both a dazzling political thriller and a cautionary tale for our times. Anyone interested in the labyrinthine world of politics, international gamesmanship, and the control of oil in society needs to read this book."
--James Rollins, New York Times bestseller of The Judas Strain

"A nerve-wracking thriller about America's addiction to Middle-Eastern sweet crude and the network of enablers who keep our dependent nation away from detox."
--Kirkus Review

"Whether you embrace it or refute it, 'The Shell Game' cannot, and should not, be easily dismissed. This is Steve Alten's boldest, bravest book to date. He's fearless, in fact, and his skills as a storyteller have not dulled. 'The Shell Game' leaves you shattered, angry and demanding change."
--Andrew Tallackson, Michigan City (Ind.) News- Dispatch entertainment editor

"Action packed, intense and politically probing, "The Shell Game" is an intriguing blend of fiction and non- fiction that will most certainly disturb the practitioners of the game, because it will make readers stop and think about American foreign policy in the oil-rich Middle East."
--Richard Folsom, Washington Daily News

"What if, the oil reserves we thought were so plentiful, were on the verge of running dry? What if, a secret group of government officials formed a plan to allow terrorists to detonate a w.m.d. on American soil, giving us a reason to launch a full scale invasion of the middle east (under the guise of retaliation) to secure the last remaining oil fields and end the threat of radical Islam once and for all? What if, the salvation of America and possibly much of the civilized world lay in the hands of one man, whose life has suddenly been turned upside down with this devastating knowledge? All this sounds like a great conspiracy thriller, something that was dreamed up by people who see secrets and shadows where none exist, where paranoia reigns and no one can be trusted, least of all the government. In fact, Steve Alten's "The Shell Game" is a superb thriller that does indeed ring of all these elements, but the thing that sets this book apart from similar works is this story is actually very believable. Which is what makes is so frightening.

Many of Steve sources hinted that some of the information provided for this book were not that far away from reality. Look at our current situation; we live in a day and age where madmen strap on bombs and sacrifice their own lives and the lives of thousands of innocents to martyr themselves for their beliefs. Oil itself is the lifeblood to everything in our society, from our transportation, to the machines that harvest our crops and the factories that make all our goods. It is something we cannot possibly do without at this juncture in our history. We have not invested enough time or money in alternative energy sources and thus our dependence on fossil fuels has forced us into a corner, dealing with foreign oil sources such as Saudi Arabia (who we know secretly fund terrorist organizations) but it seems we have no choice. Or do we? "The Shell Game's" message is all to clear: we must purge ourselves from fossil fuels if we want to prevent the fall of civilization as we know it.

Do we really trust our leaders on how much oil actually remains untapped? Do we want to leave our future, much less our children's future in the hands of power hungry government officials and greedy corporations who care little or nothing about the common individual? We all fear the threat of a suitcase nuke or dirty bomb being detonated in one of our cities, but we go about our day trying to push these thoughts in the back of our minds, hoping that people higher up than ourselves have control over these problems. With the passing of the Patriot Act, the constitution has pretty much been trampled. Freedom and privacy have all been just an illusion anyway. The government taps our phones, our emails, and their spy satellites can see into homes. We all know this, but we justify it with the idea that it keeps us safe. It's just another ruse, another sleight of hand to avert our eyes to the real situation. "The Shell Game" quickly opens your eyes to the fact that no one is safe, that our lives are at the mercy of those in power. I am not going to give much away regarding the plot other than the basic information I gave earlier on, as I don't want to spoil anything for the reader. However, after reading this book I think that you will agree that fiction or not; "The Shell Game" is one of the most prolific and important books of our time. Highly recommended.
Craig Harvey - MOVEMENT MAGAZINE

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Email: meg82159@aol.com
Web: http://www.theshellgame.net