Friday, July 30, 2021
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Interview: Laurie McAndish King NFT Author of An Elephant Ate My Arm
Hello, everyone! Today we have another in our series of interviews with NFT authors taking part in a historic first drop. I'm excited to chat to Laurie, who seems to have a truly interesting (crazy? lol) life, as she reveals in An Elephant Ate My Arm: More true stories from a curious traveler, which is now available as an NFT collectible.
Laurie McAndish
King writes about encountering the Minotaur in Greece, coming eye-to-eye with 20-foot-long
Australian earthworms, and an Ivy League astrophysicist’s explanation of how
flying saucers are powered—not your typical travel writing. That’s probably why
Kirkus Reviews hails her as “an
author with an eye for the quirky.” Her stories—insightful, inspiring, and
often quite funny—are always entertaining.
Laurie’s award-winning essays and photography have appeared in Smithsonian magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, Travelers’ Tales’ The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Lonely Planet’s The Kindness of Strangers, and other magazines and literary anthologies. Her work earned a Lowell Thomas Gold Award, the international travel industry’s highest literary award. Laurie’s first two books are Lost, Kidnapped, Eaten Alive: True stories from a curious traveler and Your Crocodile has Arrived: More true stories from a curious traveler.
As an author of
humorous travel books, why did you select An
Elephant Ate My Arm: More true stories from a curious traveler for this
historic NFT offer?
First, because it’s so timely: We’ve been starved for travel—and the fun and
adventure that come along with it—during the pandemic. This collection provides
welcome relief with twenty-one true stories from around the world: You can pass
through the portal to the Uncanny Valley, visit the room that served as the
inspiration for the magic shop where Harry Potter bought his sorcery supplies,
search for the world’s first labyrinth, learn to tell a counterfeit shrunken
head from a real one, and plenty more…
Also, I got excited about the opportunity to offer readers extra content—in this case, a slideshow of beautiful and exotic butterfly photos from when I visited a “butterfly farm” in Costa Rica. I love that NFTs let me deliver a multimedia experience for readers. And An Elephant Ate My Arm is a new release, so the timing to make it available for this offer worked perfectly.
NFTs are relatively new and many don’t yet understand how they work. Why, therefore, enter what is essentially uncharted territory?
I’m an adventurer—at
least in my own mind. (You can tell that as soon as you read these stories
about searching for a three-eyed cannibal, tracking down a witch who is
sequestered in a glass bottle, walking on a man-eating lake, and taking some
photos I really shouldn’t have taken in
Libya.)
So participating in NFT books was an easy “Why not?” for me—another adventure! After doing a little research—including learning that Italy is now using NFTs to manage copyrights—I’m convinced that blockchain-based platforms are the wave of the future. No one knows quite where this technology will lead, but I do know that I want to be along for the ride.
These offerings are among the very first book NFTs—they’re leading the way for the industry—and therefore have the potential to appreciate significantly in value. So they’re a win-win-win-win: Great stories, bonus content, ability to resell, and potential to appreciate.
What’s next for you?
I have a day job
in the book publishing industry; also, I’ve already started my next book, the
fourth in the “Curious Traveler” series. It includes stories about swimming
with crocodiles in Australia, an unfortunate encounter with Kobe beef in Japan,
and tracking down remnants of the mysterious Pictish civilization in Scotland.
EJD: By the way, here’s a 2-minute video of Laurie reading an excerpt from one of her stories, “The Curious Case of the Witch in a Bottle and Other Illuminating Oddities”: https://youtu.be/Hjgl4nNFFHE
Thanks, Laurie, and may you go from strength to strength!
Laurie McAndish
King’s links:
·
NFT link
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Monday, July 26, 2021
African Moon and Feast Night updated
Tomorrow she will go on with her life …
It’s a hot day in Cape Town but a woman holds the vigil at a
window overlooking the beach. She has repeatedly dreamed of a sailing boat, a
lost soul perhaps, entering upon silver streaks on the water. Is this merely
dreaming or, as she believes, a vision?
She will watch, she will give it this one day and night, and then go
on with her life, and waiting with her is Barney, her beloved dog, and Fantasy,
her snooty cat. Man, a girl and her fur babies get hungry while waiting for
something to happen, and yet her instincts keep her there … watching … waiting
…
Lattice 3 from Latticework: 14 Lattices from Space and Time
The town of Flarant is abandoned to its fate, year after
year.
Year after year the people of Flarant lose their children to
the ghosts and ghouls on All Hallows Eve. They cannot flee. They are beyond all
hope.
And then a stranger enters the town in the days leading up
to the event. This year, there is difference in the air. This year, the
children are not alone.
Lattice 11 from Latticework: 14 Lattices from Space and Time
Both reads coming in audio also
Thursday, July 22, 2021
The Student's Spanish translation now available
Links are still coming as it reaches retailers, but meanwhile, here's where you can find it on
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Monday, July 19, 2021
Interview: Tahlia Newland NFT Author of Journey to Diamond Peak
Today we have the pleasure of chatting to Tahlia Newland all the way from Oz. Over to you, Thalia!
Tahlia Newland has written eight novels (magical realism & inspirational fantasy) and two non-fiction books (a narrative memoir and a book on writing). She is an editor for AIA Publishing, and in her spare time, she makes masquerade masks and works in her permaculture garden. Four of her novels have won multiple awards - B.R.A.G. Medallions for Outstanding Fiction and the Awesome Indies Book Awards Seal of Excellence in Fiction. She has had extensive experience in the study and practice of meditation and lives in an Australian rainforest with a lovely husband and two cheeky Burmese cats.
As an author of multiple books why did you
select Journey to Diamond Peak for this historic NFT offer?
The first four novels I wrote – plus some added extras -
make up my NFT, Journey to Diamond Peak, and they are dear to my heart
not only because they were my first works but also because the story they tell
has the same kind of significance as A Pilgrims Progress, but in a
Buddhist context, and they haven’t yet been widely recognised as that. Once that’s
recognised, this NFT will be quite a good investment. I haven’t released the
series in one bundle before and I liked the idea of limiting the number.
The story is a sweeping analogy of the path to enlightenment
as seen by the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It’s a contemporary fantasy that has
all the elements of adventure, romance and quirky characters that make any
story entertaining, and it doesn’t use a single Buddhist term. So as well as
being significant in terms of the translation of Tibetan Buddhism into the
Western world, it’s just a jolly good read. I’ve included a section on the
symbolism in the story as well as the story behind the story, about my personal
journey into and out of Tibetan Buddhism.
NFTs are relatively new and many don’t yet understand how
it works. Why, therefore, enter what is essentially unchartered territory?
I find that it’s best to get into new things quickly before
everyone else is doing it. Also I had something that I could put together quite
quickly, and I was thinking of ways to raise money to take a couple of months
off to write another novel in my Prunella Smith Series. The book I have
in my head will explore how beliefs distort one's perception of reality,
specifically religious beliefs (in the context of Buddhist clerical abuse),
conspiracy theories and climate change denial. It’s not a book I can write in
my spare time.
So when the offer came, I thought it was perfect. All I need
now is to sell them all so I can write Alternate Worlds.
What’s next for you?
I’d like to write that book over Christmas, but until then,
I’m busy editing and publishing books for other authors under AIA Publishing
and Editing.
Thanks so much, Tahlia, and loads of luck!
Btw, Tahlia tells us more about why she chose Journey to Diamond Peak in this video: https://youtu.be/KqVjxOyLTxc
Tahlia Newland's links:
https://booksgosocial.com/journey-to-diamond-peak-information/https://www.amazon.com/Tahlia-Newland/e/B0063WTC8U
https://www.facebook.com/TahliaNewland.author.editor.artist
https://www.instagram.com/aia_publishing/
https://twitter.com/tahlianewland
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB7JME-_SsWmAxRaJEzQ1Hw
https://www.pinterest.com/tahlianewland/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahlia-newland-2b909a72
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