Sunday, February 24, 2013

THE CLIFFIES - An annual cli fi movie awards event set for February 2015

THE CLIFFIES - An annual cli fi movie awards event set for February 2015


Nominations for THE CLIFFIES, an online cli fi movie awards ''event'' in February 2015 for best cli fi movies released in 2014



[send nominations to danbloom@gmail.com with title of movie, name of actor etc and reasons why you are nominating them :]

THE LIST OF NOMINATIONS SO FAR

 BEST CLI FI MOVIE OF 2014

Noah, Godzilla, Into the Storm, Snowpiercer, Interstellar, The Rover (Australia)[ http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/why-david-michod-steered-clear-of-hollywood-to-shoot-the-rover-with-pearce-and-pattinson-video ]

BEST DIRECTORS: Darren Aronofsky, NOAH; Bong Joon-ho, SNOWPIERCER; Christopher Nolan, INTERSTELLAR; David Michod, THE ROVER; Gareth Edwards, GODZILLA; Steven Quale, INTO THE STORM; ETC...

 MOVIE WITH THE BEST MARKETING CAMPAIGN
INTO THE STORM, SNOWPIERCER, other nominations open

MOVIE WITH THE BEST TITLE: nominations open

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Noah; Into the Storm, Interstellar, The Rover,


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
SNOWPIERCER, adapted from La Transpiercage, French manga etc more noms open

BEST ACTORS and FILMS THEY APPEAR IN:

Kang-ho Song, SNOWPIERCER, Octavia Spencer, SNOWPIERCER; Ah-sung Ko, SNOWPIECER; Tilda Swinton, SNOWPIERCER, Ed Harris, Snowpiercer, Richard Armitage, Gary Sarah Wayne Callies, Allison Matt Walsh, Pete Max Deacon, Donnie Nathan Kress, Trey Alycia Debnam Carey, Kaitlyn Arlen Escarpeta, Daryl Jeremy Sumpter ,INTO THE STORM; Russell Crowe ... Noah Jennifer Connelly ... Naameh Ray Winstone ... Tubal-cain Anthony Hopkins ... Methuselah Emma Watson, NOAH: this list will not be for one actor or actress but for a list of actors that nominations feel are worthy of being in the BEST ACTORS LIST FOR A CLI FI MOVIE in 2014, lead actors or supporting actors

MOVIE WITH THE BEST CONNECTION TO CURRENT EVENTS:

MOVIE WITH THE BEST CONNECTION TO CLIMATE SCIENCE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

MOVIE WITH THE BEST LINE OF DIALOG IN A CLI FI MOVIE RELEASED IN 2014:
 among the noms are SNOWPIERCER, Tilda Swinton's character says "You suffer from the misplaced optimism of the doomed. 74 percent of you will die." MORE NOMS welcome

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

A dystopian view of polar city life in Alaska in 2075 AD

Cli fi novel displays dystopian view future of life in Alaska, come the Apocalypse, but ends on happy, positive note. Two sequels in the works: POLAR CITY BLUE and POLAR CITY GREEN. http://pcillu101.blogspot.com

 
Book reivew by Fairbanks Daily News-Miner book critic
 
FAIRBANKS, Feb. 17, 2075 AD —
 
Dystopian novels aren’t new. Writers have been imagining dark futures since we started drawing in caves. In current times, think Margaret Atwood, Bruce Sterling, David

And climate change and ecological disaster have long been the themes of dystopian despair; we’re a species quite capable of destroying ourselves and our planet. Laughter’s vision follows the format well: disaster destroys most of the world; humanity devolves back to savagery; some bright spots of civilization exist, albeit under constant attack from chaos; these bright spots all have dark secrets that threaten to destroy the “humanity” inside us; and some brave soul takes on those forces of evil to bring mankind back to the light

So weather you agree climate change in the early 2000s was caused by man or was naturally occurring, the fact that the climate is changing cannot be denied. Glaciers and ice at the poles continue to melt faster than ever; destructive species are moving up into latitudes that used to be too cold for them; and 100-year floods, droughts and superstorms are now almost yearly occurrences.

Back in 2013, long before millions of climate refugees from the Lower 48 flooded Alaska seeking refuge from the story -- the Climapocalypse -- Tulsa, Oklahoma sci fi author Jim Laughter, 59,  took taken the then current-event scenario and extrapolated into the future, -- where we are today in 2075 ! -- assuming we continue to ignore the evidence before our eyes and keep our heads in the sand while pulling fossil fuels from it.

 In his 2012 cli-fi novel “Polar City Red,” Laughter envisioned  a sad and tragic world a few decades into the future, where temperatures have risen to the point that “island nations that stood only a few feet above sea level were affected ... their coastlines disappearing under a surge of tidal encroachment, eventually to be buried beneath an infringing ocean.”
 
Superstorms pummeled the surviving coasts several to hundreds of times yearly, drowning those who could not evacuate. Starvation killed off more, as low-lying agricultural areas were destroyed by salt water, and drought parched those areas lucky enough not to be flooded.Entire ecosystems went extinct, and with them, their flora and fauna. People fell from civilization into barbarianism, with survival being the only goal.“Disease, pestilence and famine were the natural steps that followed the breakdown of human control. Hunger ruled the day; violence the night. Nature turned against man, and man turned against nature in a desperate attempt to survive ... ”But up in the North, in Canada and Alaska, the frozen wonderland had become tropical rainforest, and a few hardy survivors built cities; cities which, with clever prescience, were stocked with the most current technology and machinery, stockpiled with years of food and populated with the most brilliant minds available. These cities became the Shangri-la of the downtrodden, mirages of survival and peace, a nurturing oasis in the desert humanity had come to inhabit.One such city is Polar City Red.Carsen and Louellen Moore have taken a huge gamble; they left the overcrowded jungle the cities had become for one of the fabled tundra cities, bringing along their children, and having another on the way. The journey is fraught with danger, but staying in the city was no safer. The Moores wanted more for their kids.Carsen is a former college professor; Louellen a doctor. When they are found by a man called Jerky, Polar City Red’s resident big-game hunter, they are taken to one of the cities put up years before by perceptive scientists trying to save humanity from its own folly. Carsen and Louellen are welcomed warmly by Dr. Alexi Romanov, the director. Their daughter Sarah, although not even a teenager, is also very welcome, as the settlement has one woman for every six or seven men. She is promptly entered into the “Lottery,” though it takes her parents some time to understand what that actually means (the reader figures it out immediately).Living in the North, even though it is no longer frigid and populated with man-eating carnivores, is safer than the cities, though there are dangers. “Scavs,” scavengers and criminals who have been thrown out of the settlements, make constant sorties to raid food, equipment and women for their camps. The local militia, and eventually, an unknown federal presence, does its best to keep Polar City Red’s citizens safe, but it seems when civilization fell, the millions of weapons hoarded by countries big and small went AWOL, and RPGs can do severe damage to a storage shed — and anyone who happens to be in or near it at the time
.
It’s a struggle to survive. But Carsen and Louellen make the best of the situation, she taking on the role of medical doctor and he assisting with administration and teaching.
 
Dystopian novels aren’t new. Writers have been imagining dark futures since we started drawing in caves.

And climate change and ecological disaster have long been the themes of dystopian despair; we’re a species quite capable of destroying ourselves and our planet. Laughter’s vision follows the format well: disaster destroys most of the world; humanity devolves back to savagery; some bright spots of civilization exist, albeit under constant attack from chaos; these bright spots all have dark secrets that threaten to destroy the “humanity” inside us; and some brave soul takes on those forces of evil to bring mankind back to the light.....
.........

Libbie Martin was a freelance writer who lived in Fairbanks in 2013. Where she is in 2075 is anybody's guess. Is Alaska still Alaska, for that matter?

 
“Polar City RedBy Jim LaughterDeadly Niche Press$12.95

AskDavid website is a first-time writer's dream come true

 
 
AskDavid.com is a first-time or second-time writer's dream come true for PR and advertisting platforms

AND: it's very useful for public relatioms PR and getting the word out
about your new book


by ''Leinad Moolb'' for the book industry worldwide: site: www.askdavid.com

So who is David? Well, first of all, David is not his real name, and
that photo you see on his
website is not a picture of him. It's a model's face, not Ewald. But still,
it's a cool book website and very useful for independent self-published authors
who need a boost in PR and advertising. Depending on your needs and pocketbook,
the use of "David's site" can be either FREE, or it might cost you ten dollars to get ahead
of the line. In either case, "David" is an honest businessman in Ausrtia, in his mid 30s,
and he has created a very useful site for indie self-pubbed authors. Over 4000 people have]
used it so far, and no complaints. Here is how it works and how "David" works.

His real name is Ewald Kicker and his lives in Vienna, Austria, and
the website is his own brainchild.

How does he make money from his website?

"It's the visitors to my
sitethat I bring to Amazon (not the writers)) where I make
some money from Amazon, which pays me for bringing traffic to their
site," Mr Kicker tells a blogger who asks.

"I understand thatsome people are skeptical when something is offered for
free. In my case, however, I offer my book PR service for free for
first-time and second-time writers because someone else
(Amazon) pays for my work."


It's a labor of love and it's all been hard work to get the site up and running.

"I have worked on this site for about two years now. Up until about
first 18 months there was not ''donate'' button, not even a
"donate"-button. At first it was easy for me to keep up
with the submissions. Then authors who liked my service told their
author friends about my site which resulted in a snowball effect: in
the last few months the number of daily book submissions grew  and grew!"


"Most of the time, there were  more books submitted than I could publish.
That's when the backlog started to grow to the size it is now. I
decided that it's best to be transparent about this. That's why I tell
writers about the current size of the queue BEFORE they submit their
book - so they can change their mind if they want.

" If you go to
http://askdavid.com/free-book-promotion#submit_book and enter your
name (or any other name) in the yellow box and click OK then you can
see this. Some authors do want to speed things up. I offer the
premium-service for them. Also the premium service includes additional
features. Of course, I am also interested to make some "extra money".
I think it's a fair offer."

And IT IS A FAIR OFFER. "DAVID" provides a very useful service for first time authors
and indepedent authors.


"That's what I have now: "highest priority: we work on all books you
submit as soon as possible (usually within 48 hours)" - that's a
pretty good guarantee...''

And it is a good guarantee.

What's in the future for Ewald's popular website?\

"I have every honest intention to add all books which where submitted
for the free service to my site. It's just a matter of time. I publish
as many books which where submitted for the free service as I can.
Also the number of new submissions descreased because of the long
waiting list. Therefore I believe that over the time I will be able to
decrease the number of books in the waiting list again."


"After you enter your name in the yellow box, the site tells
every writer the current statistics: How many books of how many
authors where already added to the site and how long the waiting list
is. By displaying this information before authors submit their book I
am being honest and forthright".


AS few more things you might want to know about how Ewald Kicker's website works.
But as many writers who have used his site will vouch, it's a great site for first time and\even veteran writers who need a PR and advertising platform boost.

"David" tells this blog:

1.) My waiting list is real and not made up. The pages I create e.g.
http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/romance-novel/4086 require manuall
work by me. I don't just need to press the publish button. If that was
the case there would be not waiting list.

2.) I also work on the free submissions as best as I can.

3.) The "supporter pack" gives addtional features. Basically I have
what is called a "freemium" model
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium). Also it's called "supporter
pack" for a reason: financial support enables me to spend more time
working on my site.

THE NAME GAME EXPLAINED HERE:

Is my name really David? No. Let me explain: David is in the last
years amongst the most popular names for newborn babies in Austria &
Germany. Of course it is pronounced differently in the German
language.

My real name is Ewald Kicker. You can find everything about me here:
http://askdavid.com/contact-impressum-legal-notice#impressum
- including full name, address, phone number, vat registration
number, and more. Even my age.

QUESTION: ''So why do I call myself "David" then?''

ANSWER: ''When I started the site I had the idea of having a virtual character
on it. It was not meant to be a representation of me. I don't look
like the virtual character on my site. I started to look for a name
for my virtual character and wanted to use a name which was known
internationally and I wanted a domain name with this name. I ended up
with "David" and askDavid.com.

''So there was the virtual David on the
site and me using my real name for answering emails. However, I
noticed that this confused a lot of people. They addressed their
emails to David and they expected a reply by David. People expected a
"David" from askDavid.com and did not understand that David was just
the virtual character. That's why I started to use "David" for myself
when doing something related to askDavid.com



"There's no checkbox in the form which is used to submit books which
indicates if a writer wants the free or premium service. Writers
should be able to decide this whenever they want. That's why the email
which confirms that the submissions was successfull basically includes
the same information which is displayed in the yellow box right before
the submission form.

"For example some authors submit a book and then
watch the site for a few days to see if new books are added. Then, if
they like what they see, they might decide after a few days to go for
the paid service which costs a low fee of just ten dollars, US dollars, very
reasonable and an inexpensive way for writers to boost their PR appeal".

This blogger know a few people who have used the AskDavid site and they have
nothing but GOOD THINGS to say about the service, and the boost it gives to their
books. Another booik world star is born: Ewald Kicker!

His invention might even transform the independent and self-publishing book world
into something very very cool. Go, Ewald, go! You make Austria, and its creative energy,
proud.

Ewald has a degree in business informatics from the University of Vienna. When he lived in Vienna he used to work for one of the largest Austrian online newspapers (http://derstandard.at) as a  technical project manager.

"I live in the Austrian  countryside now," he tells this blog. " I am the father of two young kids and am currently a stay-at-home-dad".

He adds: "I'd certainly earn more money in an office job, but I like to work from home and be my own boss. And I like what I do now, which wasn't always true in my previous office job. I'd love to work on askDavid.com full-time (currently I work on it whenever I have time for it) but we'll just  have to see what the future brings ;-)."

This is a man -- and a website -- to watch! I hope Publishers Weekly in New York, and Publishers Lunch as well, are taking notice of Ewald Kicker's revolution in book marketing. Free! And for a small extra premium freemium charge of just ten dollars, peanuts, it can bring an author much needed PR and advertising eyeballs.