Dark
Nights
By
Christopher Gray
BLURB:
The machine believed it knew best how to save
humanity... even if doing so meant destroying half the population. Astrophysicist Doug Lockwood's unusual discovery during his observation of the sun kicks off a chain of events that nobody could have foreseen. The powerful political and military influences that compete to deal with his discovery set Lockwood on a course which will carry him across worlds, and into the grasp of a formidable new intelligence bent on accomplishing its goal at any cost. With Earth itself at stake and time running out, Lockwood and his team must find a way to counter this unprecedented threat before the powerful new enemy completes its plan. Two civilizations are pitted against each other in a desperate struggle for survival.
EXCERPT
Meyer shut the door
after the last person left and sat down in the nearest chair, directly across
from Doug, rather than his usual spot at the head of the table. Doug waited for
him to speak.
“It’s a planet,” Meyer
said finally. “And it’s in an orbit directly opposite ours, at a distance of
approximately one AU.”
Doug didn’t reply. The
implications were massive, as were the questions. After a few seconds, Meyer
rose from his seat and walked to the window, looking outside at the sloping
volcanic Hawaiian landscape as he talked.
“Nobody knows where it
came from, but it’s there, verified by NASA.”
“Using their STEREO
satellites?”
“Yes, a few hours ago.
But you and Foley at Atacama saw it first. STEREO was trained on another star
when you logged the object. It took some time to reposition STEREO’s lenses.
Because of their orbital distance ahead and behind us, together they will be
able to keep tabs on the object at all times. We’re expecting some images soon,
which will be free of the sun’s coronal interference.”
“So we’ll have a better
view and can determine if its orbit is stable.”
“Correct.”
“But that doesn’t
explain how it got there.”
“Correct again. But
thanks to your discovery, and your reputation, you’ve been invited to an
emergency conference in Washington Pearl Harbor
in two hours. Don’t bother to pack, there’s a helicopter on its way here,
courtesy of the White House Chief Science Advisor.”
***
HOW TO HANDLE NEGATIVE CRITICISM
Even if you write a terrific book with wide appeal, you’re not going to please everyone. Negative reviews are sure to come eventually. The most perplexing reviews might contain admissions such as “I don’t like this type/category/genre of book.” This begs the question, if the reader doesn’t like a particular genre, why did they purchase a book belonging to that genre? All you can do is shrug your shoulders.
Even if you write a terrific book with wide appeal, you’re not going to please everyone. Negative reviews are sure to come eventually. The most perplexing reviews might contain admissions such as “I don’t like this type/category/genre of book.” This begs the question, if the reader doesn’t like a particular genre, why did they purchase a book belonging to that genre? All you can do is shrug your shoulders.
If you receive a negative review that raised some
points you disagree with, you might be tempted to comment on the review to set
the record straight. Depending on the temperment of the reviewer, this can be
risky. If you feel you can present a reasoned rebuttal to a reviewer that made
an incorrect assumption, and you feel a reasonable dialog can follow, then by
all means go for it. I always strive to remain courteous and professional.
On the other hand, some reviewers seem to enjoy
giving negative reviews, and will pounce on an author that contradicts them.
Nothing good can come of an online shouting match, so it’s better to ignore
them and move on.
Even professional reviewers can sometimes make
errors. Some reviewers have dozens of books in their review pile, and so they
may not always be able to devote as much time to a book as they’d like. If a
professional reviewer makes a factual error, I email them with the corrections.
They actually appreciate the opportunity to correct an error, since they don’t
want to appear unprofessional. Again, always remain courteous when conversing.
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
Christopher A. Gray is a professional freelance writer living in Toronto. He has been a sales agent, project manager, actor, filmmaker, comedy writer & performer and world traveler.
