September Newsletter
We're sending this month's newsletter out a few days early to give you ample notice to watch JURASSIC FIGHT CLUB: Megalodon vs ancient sperm whales on THE HISTORY CHANNEL Wednesday night (8/27) at 10 PM EST. Yours truly will be on the show, attempting to sound semi-intelligent. I've also included the first list of winners in the GRIM REAPER character contest. With that, here's your September update:
Yet another Alten novel plot point comes true!
As I mentioned last month, we are making one last "surge" to promote
THE SHELL GAME in September through to the November Presidential election. One
reason is that many of the threads running through the novel are quite factual,
or (God help us) may soon come true. Although the book was completed in late
2005, the novel correctly predicted John McCain (Joel McKuin) as the GOP candidate,
the steep rise in oil, some serious 9/11 reveals and now Joe Biden has been
named to the Democratic ticket. In THE SHELL GAME, the character of Senator
Joe Mulligan from Delaware was based on Biden, who is a terrific choice for
VP. Let's just pray the "October surprise" in THE SHELL GAME does
NOT come true!
MEG vs T-REX: Whose bite was more powerful?
The most powerful bite of all time has been found - that of the prehistoric
giant shark Megalodon, which makes that of T. Rex look puny. The giant shark
Megalodon, which means "Big Tooth" in Greek, may have grown to more
than 50 feet long and weighed up to 110 tons (100 metric tons), at least 30
times as heavy as the largest of its living relatives, the great white shark.
Fossil evidence suggests Megalodon "made a living hunting and killing large
whales by biting off their tails and flippers," said researcher Stephen
Wroe, a biomechanist and paleontologist at the University of New South Wales
in Sydney, Australia. The researchers used sophisticated computational techniques
to analyze the bites of the great white shark and Megalodon, using the kind
of software that engineers use to simulate "everything from wingnuts to
bridges to space shuttles," Wroe explained. As powerful as great whites
are, it turns out their giant extinct cousins greatly surpassed them, generating
six to 10 times more bite force, arguably making them the most fearsome predators
to ever have lived. In comparison, their estimates for a Tyrannosaurus rex suggest
this great "tyrant lizard" was no match for the extinct shark. The
dinosaur had a maximum bite force of some 3.1 metric tons, "greater than
for a living white shark, but puny compared to 'Big Tooth,'" Wroe said.
The fearsome power these hunters could bring to bear makes perfect sense given
their lifestyles. "These sharks go after large prey that can hurt them,
and they'd rather not get hurt, so they attack with a single horrendously traumatizing
bite and then swim back and wait for their prey to die of blood loss,"
Wroe explained.
JURASSIC FIGHT CLUB: MEG vs Ancient Biting Sperm Whales
The fossilized remains of an ancient whale known as Brygmophyseter were discovered
and named in 1992 in Japan by Dr. Lawrence G. Barnes. This ancient whale was
estimated to be some 35-40 feet long, which is medium-sized, compared to modern
day whales, but was enormous for the time. These ancient whales lived and hunted
in pods and would help defend each other if they were attacked. The whale had
blunt, deeply rooted teeth that were designed to lock and hold on to slippery
scale- covered prey. It also had a highly developed sonar system that allowed
it to find prey in any type of water; it could also concentrate its sonar into
a beam of sound energy Set your VCRs: Wednesday night, August 27th at 10 PM
EST on THE HISTORY CHANNEL. Steve Alten will appear as "bait."
Living Tips: Return Those Overdue Library Books!
The next time you forget to return a couple of library books (and ignore those
annoying letters about the overdue status of said volumes), think of Heidi Dalibor.
The Wisconsin woman, 20, was arrested earlier this month in connection with
a pair of books overdue for several months. Dalibor, who made the mistake of
ignoring a court citation issued after she failed to respond to letters and
phone calls from the Grafton library, was busted August 6 for failing to return
copies of Janet Fitch's best-seller "White Oleander" (a 1999 Oprah
Book Club selection) and "Angels & Demons," author Dan Brown's
precursor to "The Da Vinci Code." According to a police report, Dalibor
was apprehended at her family's home, cuffed and stuffed in a cruiser, and booked
for violating the "overdue library materials" ordinance. She also
had to pose for the below mug shot at the Grafton Police Department. Dalibor
subsequently settled with the library by paying her overdue fines and reimbursing
it for the cost of the two novels, which totaled around $180.
ARE YOU AN INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER?
A new web business just made its debut, PitchThePros.com is now available. Those
with film and/or tv ideas can go and upload video's showcasing your ideas to
the pros.
Filmmakers with completed films can also showcase their films. It's FREE till November. Go check out the site. It's a great opportunity to get your film, tv or even a whacky idea discovered. You'll see a list of the pros that are kept updated on the site.
Go to PitchThePros.com
ATTENTION HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS: New edition of MEG:
The new publisher is APELLES, the new ISBN is 978- 1-59955-169-2. Teachers can
order quantities at discounts by calling 800-SKY-BOOK or contacting their local
book stores.
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That's all for now. Stay well, stay safe and have a safe rest of the summer and know this author appreciates you very much.
Sincerely,
Steve Alten
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Email: meg82159@aol.com
Web: http://www.stevealten.com