I Met the Owner of the Bridge to Nowhere

Last weekend I hiked up to the Bridge to Nowhere. It’s not a fictional bridge created for my book. It’s a real place! The Bridge to Nowhere was built in 1936 and spans the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. It was meant to be part of a road connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the town of Wrightwood. The road was under construction when it was washed out during the great flood of March 1st, 1938. The road project was abandoned due to the floods leaving the completed bridge stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Reaching the bridge these days requires a five-mile hike on a rugged trail climbing over rockslides, granite boulders, darting past prickly Yucca plants, and crossing the San Gabriel River several times.

Once you reach the bridge you might be surprised to find a very active Bungee Jumping operation. This was my third time visiting the bridge but the first time meeting the current owner of the bridge and surrounding area, Dr. Ron Jones.

Ron has operated Bungee America since 1989 which is the only government certified bungee jumping company in California and counts more than 162,000 successful jumps.

I brought a copy of ASTEROIDS – Bridge to Nowhere with me on the hike to take some photos. When I met Ron and learned that he owns the bridge, I joked that I might owe him royalties for using an image of the bridge on the book cover.

He responded that if I gave him a copy of the book, he would call it even! I was happy to give him the copy I’d brought on the hike.

Ron also confirmed there are several old gold mines in the canyon, just as I described in the book, but I doubt any have been converted into something quite like Munday’s Hide-a-way!

If you’d like to schedule a bungee jump visit www.BungeeAmerica.com

3 Asteroids are Zipping Past Earth Today

Is this the start of something?

Is Earth at Risk?

Almost every week there is news of a new, undiscovered asteroid flying past Earth.

How long until one comes too close?

If a meteor struck Earth, how would it be portrayed in the media?

Would the government invoke the Bliss Protocol like in the book ASTEROIDS to keep the public calm and ignorant?

 

Three asteroids are expected to hurtle past Earth today (Sept. 9). One will pass as near as 310,000 miles (500,000 kilometers) — closer than any potential asteroid near-miss for the next three months.

Asteroid 2019 QZ3 flew by at 6:49 a.m. ET; asteroid 2019 RG2 follows at around 3:13 p.m. ET, and the third, asteroid 2019 QY4, flashes past at 9:10 p.m. ET, the International Business Times reported.

QZ3 is the biggest of the trio, with a diameter of 220 feet (67 meters), while RG2 and QY4, respectively measure approximately 66 feet (20 m) and 52 feet (16 m) in length, according to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).

 

Space rocks such as these, known as near-Earth objects (NEOS), are nudged by the gravity of neighboring planets into orbital paths that carry them fairly close to our cosmic address. But “close” in space is a relative term: At the closest point in their passage, all three of today’s asteroid visitors will be farther from Earth than the moon is, according to CNEOS.

RG2 is the fastest asteroid, speeding by at a velocity of nearly 50,000 miles per hour (80,000 kilometers/hour), while QY4 is moving at just over 17,000 mph (27,000 km/h). QZ3 is the slowpoke of the group, at 16,700 mph (26,800 km/h), according to IBT. Though QZ3 is the biggest asteroid, it is also the furthest from Earth, at a distance of approximately 2.3 million miles from our planet, CNEOS reported.

Another asteroid — 2006 QV89 — was previously thought to potentially follow a trajectory that could slam into Earth, with a 1-in-7,299 chance of an impact on Sept. 9. But experts announced in July that the asteroid did not appear in the area of the sky where it would have shown up if it were on a collision course with our planet, representatives with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) said in a statement

CNEOS representatives confirmed on Aug. 15 that QV89 was no threat to Earth, and that the asteroid would instead rocket past our planet on Sept. 27 “at a comfortable distance of 4.3 million miles (6.9 million km), about 18 times the distance of the Moon.”

Currently, there are 878 NEOs that demonstrate some risk — however small it might be — of colliding with Earth, according to a list maintained by the European Space Agency (ESA). Of these, the biggest (and second on the list) is asteroid 1979 XB. Measuring about 2,300 feet (700 m) in length and traveling at more than 58,000 mph (93,300 km/h), the massive space rock is expected to come calling on Dec. 14, 2113, ESA reported.

 

https://www.livescience.com/three-asteroid-flyby.html


 

Quarter Finalist – BookLife Prize

ASTEROIDS-Bridge to Nowhere has been selected as a quarter finalist for the BookLife Prize in the Science Fiction category.

Wow. I’m really pleased and humbled that ASTEROIDS got this far.

Hopefully ASTEROIDS will make it to the next round and be named a semi-finalist.

Maybe you should read this book!

Astrophysicists: There May Be Black Holes Orbiting Our Sun

Scientists have long speculated that a “planet 9,” in orbit very far from the Sun, could explain why other bodies in our solar system have strange, hard-to-explain orbits.

Now, a pair of astrophysicists are suggesting a strange twist on that idea: that a black hole — or even a number of them — could be orbiting our Sun right now, way beyond Neptune.

This week, a pair of researchers from Durham University and the University of Illinois at Chicago published a paper outlining their theory on the pre-print server arXiv. In it, they suggest that the Sun’s orbit might have captured a free-floating “primordial black hole” — and it, or they, are still out there, circling the solar system.

In ASTEROIDS Bridge to Nowhere an asteroid storm destroys everything that has man built, forcing humankind to move below the surface to survive.

But how is it feasible or believable that an asteroid storm could occur? In writing the book, I had the help of Dr. Joe Nuth of the Goddard Space Flight Center. I sent him the draft of my concept for the cause of an asteroid storm. He told me my idea was completely wrong but was quick to suggest a legitimate cause. The result is what is written in ASTEROIDS.

So, when you read ASTEROIDS Bridge to Nowhere, I hope you find comfort in the knowledge that the asteroid storm destroying life as we know it has a scientific basis. Hint; see news story above.


 

Relaunching ASTEROIDS

I am relaunching ASTEROIDS.

Same story – but with a new subtitle; “Bridge to Nowhere” and new cover art.

ASTEROIDS was originally published in April 2019 with the subtitle, “Escape from the Arcadians.” The book garnered good reviews and I invested in several advertising and promotional activities, but sales did not gain any traction.

For example, ads on Goodreads had over 45,000 views but attracted only 5 clicks after four months.  Luckily, I paid only for the clicks. The advertisements feature the cover artwork and a few words.  It’s unfortunate, but the old cliché; people judge a book by its cover, seems to be true.

The old cover featured a guy on a motorcycle getting chased and the subtitle was, Escape from the Arcadians. This cover told potential readers all they needed to know.  A guy gets chased and he escapes. No need to know more.

I felt the cover and subtitle needed to build curiosity and so the reader would want to know more. I decided to use Bridge to Nowhere because the bridge plays a big part in the story.  The new cover features a bridge and some asteroids, but doesn’t say anything more.  

I tested the new artwork on Goodreads and received 5 clicks in a few days, so it appears this new cover art will get more attention.

Am I doing this just because I want more sale? Yes, of course! I spent five years working on this book. I can’t give up so easily. I know I shouldn’t expect too much from my first effort, but I want to give the book another chance to reach readers.

To me, this is all part of my learning process. I am learning how to write novels and hopefully, how to market them.

ASTEROIDS will be at BookExpo and BookCon!

 

Part of my efforts to generate awareness, interest and sales for ASTEROIDS is to promote the book at this years New York Book Expo and BookCon May 29- June 3.

Below is a quarter page advertisement in Publishers Weekly Book Expo Edition. The Book Expo edition will be given to 40,000 Book Expo attendees in addition to Publishers Weekly normal circulation.

ASTEROIDS will also be displayed in the BookLife section on the show floor.

Hopefully this will help generate sales to bookstores, libraries, and consumers.

 

BookLife Display at BookExpo and BookCon

People around the world are getting their copies

From Anaheim, California all the way to Singapore, people are excited to get their copies of ASTEROIDS!

I read on the sales report that a paperback was sold in Italy. Not bad for the first week of publication.

Thanks to everyone for their support. I hope everyone enjoys reading ASTEROIDS.

9.5 out of 10 from BookLife


I entered ASTEROIDS in the Publishers Weekly – BookLife Prize.Below is the critic’s report.

Publishers Weekly – BookLife Prize 2019 – Critic’s Report

Plot/Idea: 9 out of 10
Originality: 9 out of 10
Prose: 10 out of 10
Character/Execution: 10 out of 10
Overall: 9.50 out of 10

Assessment:

Plot: “Asteroids: Escape from the Arcadians” is a well-plotted, fast-paced book. McCoy’s narrative style flows well between the various characters’ stories and holds the reader’s attention with dramatic tension and enough twists to keep one eagerly turning the pages.

Prose/Style: McCoy’s combination of everyday language and scientific jargon is extremely well-balanced. There isn’t a boring passage in the book. McCoy has a gift for creating images using minimal words.

Originality: Although asteroids hitting Earth is not a new story idea, McCoy manages to bring a fresh approach to his apocalyptic plot. From the futuristic weapons to the artificial atmosphere of New Arcadia to the vampire-like antagonist who gains immortality from the blood of children, to two characters’ use of Klingon as code, this story is full of unique ideas.

Character Development: The characters are realistic and believable in their actions and reactions. The hero, Rick, is a very likable and unlikely hero, an arc which McCoy carefully develops. The main villain, Colonel Cruikshank, is a dead-on representation of a sociopath bent on ruling the world at any cost. The supporting cast of characters is very diverse with little or no overlaps in either behavior or traits.

ASTEROID ‘to fly past Earth closer than the moon tomorrow,’ scientists warn

An asteroid discovered just eight days ago, the size of a double decker bus will give our planet a close shave tomorrow, astronomers have warned.

Only Eight days warning? What if the asteroid was not going to miss? What if it was a bit bigger and was going to wipe out your city? What would you do?

Earth will be entirely safe: the asteroid will fly past at a distance of 0.57 lunar distances, or 136,000 miles.

The asteroid was spotted by the Catalina Sky Survey, Arizona, on April 9, and is thought to be between 42-92 feet.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/asteroid-fly-past-earth-closer-moon-tomorrow-scientists-warn-184533339.html

How I created HARPOON in ASTEROIDS

NASA is planning an Asteroid Defense project called DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) – this is the closet device NASA has that is like the HARPOON device depicted in ASTEROIDS.

When I needed a device to destroy an asteroid in the story, I searched the web and found a 160-page NASA research paper written by Dr. Bong Wie of the Asteroid Deflection Research Center at Iowa State, University. I read the entire paper and used what I learned to create the HARPOON. When I contacted Dr. Wie and asked him to review what I had written he was very helpful.

Here is a link to the research paper: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/Bong_Wi_Final_Report.pdf

Here is a link to a news story about DART:                                                      https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/blogs/nasa-test-new-asteroid-deflection-weapon