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On Friday August 14, 2015, author R.J. Huneke will be on a special LI Con panel discussing the NSA Revelations and Privacy and Security in the digital era, and he will also be at the Rune Works booth.
Do not miss out on this panel where experts will discuss, in-depth, security and the cyber state in the wake of the NSA Revelations prompted by former NSA operative Edward Snowden. R.J. Huneke has spent years researching for his latest sci-fi thriller Cyberwar. A longtime writer and columnist, Huneke has interviewed cyber security professionals, carefully examined advances in science (including robotics and artificial intelligence) and compiled modern day speculations on technology and spun them into an electrifying journey into a dystopian society dominated by cybernetic hackers. His extensive knowledge on cyber warfare, robotics, and political protest, as well as his strong female protagonist are what set the riveting story apart. Rune Works Productions will also have a booth at LI Con 2, from August 14-16, 2015, and you can meet R.J. Huneke as he signs copies of his novel Cyberwar, and comic book creator Ivan O'Neill signing the very first issue of Blackwood State from POWkabam Comics! Head down to the 2nd Annual LI Con at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center 3845 Veterans Memorial Hwy, Ronkonkoma, New York 11779 to see the Rune Works Productions booth where artist and Blackwood State creator Ivan O'Neill will be joining author R.J. Huneke to sign books! Find Tickets LI-Con 2 : August 14 – 16, 2015 Long Island's Convention for movies, games, dealers, science, technology, anime, fantasy, sci-fi and more! LI-Con is brought to you by the same volunteers who brought you the I-CON Convention for over 30 years. LI-Con is NOT a replacement for I-CON; it is a condensed version designed to take place in a hotel setting. Though smaller in size, we still strive to bring you the same quality programming and events throughout LI-Con.
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This article was originally posted on Examiner.com. Gwenda Bond's new YA novel Lois Lane: Fallout is an incredibly innovative look into the heroine from Metropolis, and I was fortunate to get an exclusive and very insightful interview with Ms. Bond who was in the Javits Center for theBook Expo America 2015 in New York City for a book signing. A review of the Lois Lane: Fallout story can be summed up in one word: intriguing! But elaborating more on that point, the young Lois Lane, who has moved around the world with her father's military headquarters is an enlightening look into the character's backstory - that fans have yearned for over 80 years - and adds a realistic contemporary, twist on the atypical Superman trope that is very refreshing. The writing here is top-notch, the characters are well fleshed out and very human (Ms. Bond has a great way of reinventing the characters and has no stereotypical views for Lois and her cohorts). From Perry White's kind encouragement and his knock-off suit to a certain overtly honest online friend that Lois knows only as Smallville Guy, the relationships are paramount to the book. The story itself is an exciting look into a young detective turned junior reporter who is defiant and fighting for those in need out of instinct. The personality of Lois is vivid and engaging, as is evident in the relationships she has with those that make fun at her expense - namely Clark Kent - or those that see her as an immediate threat to their heinous mind controlling abilities through a virtual reality video game holo-set, like the student pack of dangerous bullies dubbed the Warheads. For those who need a female superhero, look no further than young Ms. Lane, who has no super powers but is a great addition to the superhero genre all the same! Gwenda Bond was very forthcoming about her writing and the creation process for her newest work. The Lois Lane: Fallout novel has a distinct opening that immediately pulls the reader in, and I asked Ms. Bond about this. RJH: The importance of impactful first lines cannot be understated, can you speak to your first line: ‘“Remember the plan,” I muttered,”’ from Lois Lane: Fallout? GB: There were several first lines along the way—beginnings are always the hardest part for me—but eventually my editor and I arrived at this one. For me, the important thing about this line and the ones right afterward are that they establish that Lois wants something as she’s entering this new situation. And the “muttered” tells us that this is the Lois we know and love who can sometimes be a little cranky and has trouble following the plan. That she says it aloud to herself also underscores her loneliness when the story starts. She wants to make a life in Metropolis and connect with people. RJH: As a followup: your words invoke a strong sense of intrigue and intellectual traits of the character who is shaped as one who thinks for herself, what is your process for writing line one of a piece? Does it come naturally to you? GW: Ha! No, beginnings are always the hardest. That said, Lois’s voice came to me relatively easily—compared to some of my other characters—and so it was more about trying to stay true to that throughout the whole book. RJH: Were you familiar with Superman comics before you began to write Lois Lane Fallout? How about Lois Lane’s DC Comics solo series? GW: I’m a long time comics reader, and that includes dipping in and out of various Superman stories over the years. I fell in love with the character of Lois Lane as a kid watching Margot Kidder in the role, and always kept one eye on her progress. Superman’s Girlfriend is a comic I’m more familiar with now than I was before; I read some issues as part of my research when I started this project. RJH: What inspired you to come up with such an innovative premise of a young Lane landing in Metropolis in the modern day, while simultaneously filling in backstory of Lane’s past that fans have been craving for over 80 years? GW: I was approached with the general concept of doing a Lois Lane young adult novel, where she’d be working as a reporter. When I was thinking about how that would look, it seemed such a natural fit to me to show her moving to Metropolis and working for a publication connected to the Daily Planet—just as when we get the origin story for heroes, we usually see the moment they become heroes early on, it felt right to do that here. And just as with heroes in general, the qualities that make Lois one are intrinsic to her personality and reporting is the perfect calling to go along with them. I definitely felt a great sense of responsibility to her fans who have been waiting for a showcase like this to give them a book about this character that would feel like a gift, like what they’d been waiting for. RJH: Do you feel Lois Lane is an important female character in the superhero genre that plays a vital role in balancing what was in the past a male-skewed arena? GW: I am encouraged that we’re seeing such a movement toward more of this now, and it seems fitting to me that Lois Lane would be a part of that. She’s been there since the beginning, Action Comics #1, and has tended to be ahead of her time. The thing that sets Lois apart in many ways is that she’s excellent at her job and her heroism is the completely unsuperpowered, achievable-for-anyone variety. So I definitely think that fills an important place, a model of heroism that girls, boys, all of us, can all aspire to. RJH: Gaming is a crux of your plot, as Lane finds a young lady despairing as a high school gang of gamers seem to be using a new virtual reality-based holo-set game to force her to do things she does not want to do, do you feel gaming has a negative effect on young people in society? Or do you feel gaming is just another medium for the age-old act of bullying? GW: Bullying is obviously very much still with us, and the online world and video gaming are just a newer venue for it. I don’t feel any medium is inherently negative. And there will be people who use anything in less than positive ways. I stink at gaming, but I find it an exciting field to watch—I read several essays about storytelling possibilities and the new frontiers of gaming when I was designing the game in the book (which also has the pleasant side effect of allowing me to have two characters separated in geography in the same “place” together). Certainly, we all know that parts of the gaming world can be unwelcoming to women and girls. I actually wanted to set that aside since the world of Fallout is our world but not quite, so in my game, "Worlds War Three," the gender dynamic is somewhat irrelevant to the bullying. She’s being targeted because she’s so smart and such a good player, and we see both girls and boys playing, just as we do now. RJH: Can you describe the importance of the “suits” description in chapter one when Lois first meets Perry White and the school principal? You establish an early relationship between Lois and Perry, who seems to be a good man wearing an faux expensive suit, and Lois and the principal who is not very kind and is wearing a very expensive suit; this makes for great character foils and for an interesting twist, a reversing, of the fake part being tied to a good man and the real prop being tied to a character devoid of sympathy. GW: These are great questions! I believe that much of the hardest work in writing is done by the subconscious. Part of the fun and difficulty of writing is that you don’t always know why you’re doing something a certain way, and often it’s those details that your subconscious fills in that are the most telling. I think that’s the case here. Lois instinctively sizes up people when she meets them (for better or worse!). Perry is an up and coming young editor, so he’s on a budget but he’s dressing for the job he has as best he can afford it. He’s checking off a box on something the outside world expects but he doesn’t put too much more meaning on it than that. Principal Butler, by contrast, desperately wants to be more important than he feels he is, even while he’s neglecting the job he has. Going back to the authority figure thing—here’s a guy putting on airs, and Lois isn’t buying it whatsoever, pricey suit or no pricey suit. RJH: At one point, you introduce comedy as Lane’s online pen pal, Clark Kent, gets criticized for writing a paper on Macbeth where he criticizes its lack of good characters, even saying, “witches” are the most sympathetic characters in the play, and Lois teases him for it, as they go back and forth. How does this comedic relationship echo the future Clark Lois relationship to be in their adult future? Do you question Clark’s teacher’s subjective critique of the work? Does the look at Shakespeare reveal your own opinion of the play, or is it just a thought of how young readers in the modern age, like Lois and Clark, might relate to the work? GW: I polled twitter about which Shakespeare play people tend to read at this age—since that’s still a prevalent assignment—and Macbeth was an answer that came up frequently. I wanted this exchange to show Lois and Clark talking about their days, and reacting to the play in ways we’d believe those characters would. Of course, Clark is frustrated by all the scheming people and dithering about standing up to corrupt leaders in the play; their motivations are so foreign to his nature. So his paper reflects that. The teacher’s probably right about him letting his own taste influence his paperwriting. I cannot understate the truly great find that Lois Lane: Fallout is - a 5 out of 5 star work for sure - and fans everywhere should be delighted to revel in Lois Lane outside of a comic book in this young adult book series. Gwenda Bond is currently penning Lois Lane: Cloudy with a Chance of Destruction and is busy signing myriad copies of Fallout on her book tour.
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At Eternal Con on June 13-14, 2015, Rune Works is proud to present their publishing division POWkabam's inaugural title, Blackwood State by Artist/Writer Ivan O'Neill, colorist Kara Zisa, and editor R.J. Huneke alongside Mr. Huneke's newly released science fiction novel, Cyberwar.
POWkabam and Rune Works are working to publish the graphic novel in 2015 with Pentian, an imprint of Lantia, and the artist and editor will both be on hand at the Rune Works booth at Eternal Con sketching, signing, and meeting fans. For Blackwood State, O'Neill calls on a notorious state college and the life of a young lady struggling to live in a world that has no idea how not to crap on those that value the study of English writing. Alongside her fellow literary comrades, Guinevere Katz must attempt to keep her sanity and her grade as she survives one of the most obnoxious experiences of her academic career . . . and her professional career . . . and her life as a sentient being. Calling on father Bill Shakespeare, as her god, and Falstaff as her inner muse and bartender, Gwen's deteriorative, drunken English career is a journey that seems perennially poised on the brink of disaster. Just how the hell does one make a living with a degree in English anyway? You can help crowdfund the hilarious comic's book tour and grab some really exclusive variant covers, tee's, mugs, and more at www.Pentian.com here, but act now before these items sell out forever. Cyberwar came out last month to rave reviews and author R.J. Huneke will be on hand at the Rune Works booth to sign a heap of hardcovers. When hackers seize the world governments everything changed for all of humanity. A new sense of hope arrived in the streets and young people everywhere embraced the new world order. However, what appeared to be a new found freedom soon turned out to be a new tyranny far worse than anything they imagined. William Waltz formed part of the new elite that guarded the regime, that is, until the regime turned on him. Read more about it here! You will not want to miss out on Long Island, New York's classic comic and pop culture convention taking place at Garden City's own Cradle of Aviation Museum, and there are really COOL planes there too! Eternal Con is Long Island, NY's large scale multi media pop culture convention. Held annually at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, Eternal Con brings together the best in Comic Books, Collectibles, Gaming, Sci-Fi, Cosplay, Horror, and all things pop culture. We would like to thank you all for making the 2014 event a HUGE success with over 7000 attendees!
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Well the Cyberwar Book Tour 2015 is off to a great start, both with the Cinco De Mayo Launch Event at the Book Revue on May 5 and the upcoming Port Jefferson Library Author Fair on May 30! The book release reading and signing on the day the book was released at the Book Revue in Huntington (the author's favorite bookstore) was an unparalleled look into the story, as R.J. Huneke read from two passages of Cyberwar that had never been read together in public before. The patrons filled the seats, met the author, expressed immense enthusiasm after hearing parts of the book to start reading, and then the store nearly sold out of copies! If you are in the Long Island, New York area be sure to check out the Book Revue, the island's richest bookstore, and yes they will have copies of Cyberwar back in stock next week. For those of you in lower New York looking to meet authors, read their books, and get signed copies, the 1st Annual Port Jefferson Free Library Author Fair is taking place at 2 pm on Saturday May 30, 2015. Head down Port to the small town on the Sound that is featured prevalently in parts of Cyberwar. R.J. Huneke will be there signing copies and reading upon request! There will also be illustrators present and admittance is free for attendees; head to 100 Thompson Street, Port Jefferson NY 11777. If you have read Cyberwar, or wish to purchase a copy, please chime in on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple. Reviews are greatly appreciated. For anyone wishing to learn about the craft of writing and editing with style, R.J. Huneke will be giving the second part in a three part seminar series on June 10, 2015 at 7 pm at the Port Jefferson Library. When hackers seize the world governments everything changed for all of humanity. A new sense of hope arrived in the streets and young people everywhere embraced the new world order. However, what appeared to be a new found freedom soon turned out to be a new tyranny far worse than anything they imagined. William Waltz formed part of the new elite that guarded the regime, that is, until the regime turned on him. The research on cyber warfare and political protest, as well as a strong female protagonist set this riveting story apart. The book will be released to bookstores from Pentian, an imprint of Lantia, on May 5, 2015. Get it in hardcover, paperback and eBook. Read more about this thriller on www.CyberwarSeries.com.
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Head to the Port Jefferson Free Library at 100 Thompson St., Port Jefferson, NY 11777 ~ portjefflibrary.org ~ for the first annual Port Jefferson Free Library Local Author Fair. R.J. Huneke will be one of many authors and publishers on hand to read and sign books ~ including hie new thriller CYBERWAR ~ for patrons at the Long Island library event. Come and greet local-based authors and illustrators! Speak to the author directly and learn about their books and what they are currently working on. Readers of all ages can meet the authors of thrillers, short stories, poetry, photography, nonfiction and children’s books and more! CYBERWAR is out May 5, 2015 and Author R.J. Huneke will be reading and signing to mark that day's release of the thriller CYBERWAR at the Book Revue in New York. The Book Revue is located at 313 New York Avenue, Huntington, NY 11743 and is often voted Long Island's best bookstore, is the author's favorite local shop, and is full of treasures. Sign up on the Facebook Event page by clicking here.* After the event, R.J. Huneke will be hitting the town for a memorable Cyberwar Cinco de Mayo After Party and all are welcome to join him. *Patrons who desire a personalized, signed book or merchandise at the event must purchase them onsite from the Book Revue.
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Be sure to head down to Huntington, New York on May 5, 2015 at 7 PM EST for the CYBERWAR CINCO DE MAYO BOOK LAUNCH EVENT AT THE BOOK REVUE!
Author R.J. Huneke will be reading and signing to mark that day's release of the thriller CYBERWAR. The Book Revue is located at 313 New York Avenue, Huntington, NY 11743 on the day Cyberwar is officially released. The Book Revue is often voted Long Island's best bookstore, is the author's favorite local shop, and is full of treasures. Sign up on the Facebook Event page by clicking here.* After the event, R.J. Huneke will be hitting the town for a memorable Cyberwar Cinco de Mayo After Party and all are welcome to join him. *Patrons who desire a personalized, signed book or merchandise at the event must purchase them onsite from the Book Revue.
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This article was originally posted on Examiner.com: Insurgent combines a grim world, gripping action, and fierce pain to carve new paths in the dystopian genre. Insurgent is the second film in the Divergent trilogy, based on the books written by Veronica Roth, and though the world building has unmistakable similarities to dystopian flicks (also based on novels), like The Hunger Games and The Giver,Insurgent offers many wholly unexpected turns and paths that set it on its own. In the wake of genocide from the last film, the dark world comes under the assault of the power hungry from the Erudite and Dauntless factions and the underbelly of the quaint faction-based society is revealed to be hungry and teeming with anger. The scenes depicting the concrete rubble and steel skeletons of the city resonate the state of this world after the last time war erupted, two hundred years prior. Tris and her brother Caleb, her love, Four, and her Loki-like nemesis Peter have very little respite before their quartet is under attack just as the factions system itself is threatened by an impending war deemed necessary to procure peace. The main character is nearly destroyed, as Tris is put to the breaking point. Very rarely can a film depict just how close someone comes to the edge before losing their sanity, yet still retaining sympathy and a painful amount of empathy for the character. Insurgent does this in a manner that tests the audience and Tris again and again in surprising, twisted, dark, and terrible ways. This film is a dystopic force. It plays on the audience’s emotions and rivets viewers with numerous tightrope action sequences, and *Spoiler Warning* the prolific Sims from the previous film return to threaten to undo Divergents’ sanity while breaking their soul and ultimately the physical body. The ruthless Jeanine orchestrates this, as she seeks the means to take over the Chicago city and its ruins while hunting down all Divergents. This proves to be far more than the protagonist and Divergent Tris can handle as the film measures out a tremendous amount of guilt, self-loathing, and fear in her. The gritty thrill ride has some shocking and thought provoking actions at its ending as well that leaves the audience hungry for more!
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Author R.J. Huneke has been invited down to "The Writer's Corner" Radio Show on 90.1 FM WUSB Friday March 27, 2015 from 10 am to 12 pm! He will be discussing his upcoming science fiction thriller Cyberwar with the host, as well as reading an excerpt, and having a discussion, including critiques, with other New York authors. You will not want to miss this lively discussion! If you do not have a radio handy, listen to it live online here: http://www.wusb.fm/ The book launches May 5, 2015. Be sure to join the author for a reading and signing at the Book Revue at 7 pm: Cyberwar Cinco de Mayo Reading and Signing at the Book Revue at 313 New York Avenue, Huntington, NY 11743 on the day Cyberwar is officially released. The Book Revue is often voted Long Island's best bookstore, is the author's favorite local shop, and is full of treasures. Sign up on the Facebook Event page by clicking here.* *Patrons who desire a personalized, signed book or merchandise at the event must purchase them onsite from the Book Revue. When hackers seize the world governments everything changed for all of humanity. A new sense of hope arrived in the streets and young people everywhere embraced the new world order. However, what appeared to be a new found freedom soon turned out to be a new tyranny far worse than anything they imagined. William Waltz formed part of the new elite that guarded the regime, that is, until the regime turned on him. The research on cyber warfare and political protest, as well as a strong female protagonist set this riveting story apart.
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Be sure to sign up for the newest Giveaway of R.J. Huneke's Science-Thriller CYBERWAR, and you could win one of the three signed hardcovers that will be selected at random by the good Eager Readers over at Goodreads!
Read the details below: Win a Signed Hardcover Copy of R.J. Huneke's Thriller Cyberwar! When hackers seize the world governments everything changed for all of humanity. A new sense of hope arrived in the streets and young people everywhere embraced the new world order. However, what appeared to be a new found freedom soon turned out to be a new tyranny far worse than anything they imagined. William Waltz formed part of the new elite that guarded the regime, that is, until the regime turned on him. The research on cyber warfare and political protest, as well as a strong female protagonist set this riveting story apart. The book will be released to bookstores from Pentian, an imprint of Lantia, on May 5, 2015. Get it in hardcover, paperback and eBook. The book is being released on May 5, 2015, but you can start reading it before then!
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We are proud to announce the first date on the Cyberwar Book Launch Tour 2015 with R.J. Huneke doing a reading and signing at Long Island's number one bookstore, the Book Revue, on the book's release date of May 5, 2015, Cinco de Mayo! Come down to Huntington, New York (it's not far from Manhattan), and hear an exciting reading from the author. You can get your books the day Cyberwar comes out, as they will be on hand at the Book Revue, in hardcover or paperback, and R.J. Huneke will be signing copies of the thriller immediately after the reading. There will be other tour dates around the country following this one, but be sure to see Mr. Huneke at his favorite local bookstore in New York on the day Cyberwar hits shelves! A Cyberwar Cinco de Mayo After-party will take place in town afterward as well...details to follow. The Cyberwar reading and signing will start at 7pm on May 5, 2015, and take place at the Book Revue at 313 New York Avenue, Huntington, NY 11743. Sign up for the Facebook Event page by clicking here.
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This month, Lantia adds a world renowned author to its roster, with the publication of two print titles for Paulo Coelho. The English versions of the titles The Supreme Gift and Like the Flowing River will be released by Valentine's Day, February 14, 2015. Lantia has provided the platform for dozens of publishers, and its Pentian imprint has caused a stir in the US and abroad, as authors and agents can submit their book for crowdfunding to cover the cost of its creation by the publisher. The Pentian model pays backers with a return on investment (in a percentage of royalties), and garner an unprecedented forty percent of all royalties for the author, while the topmost quality of printing and distribution is taken care of by the revolutionary publisher. It seems that having Paulo Coelho's novellas in the Kindle Store, alone, was not fulfilling the author's wishes, so he took action, and his literary agency reached out to Lantia to create beautiful copies of the books in print and in an incredibly short turn around time, bypassing the years of red tape that tend to be a part of the bigger, more traditional publishers. The following article was first published by Publishing Perspectives earlier today: Speed, Flexibility Wins Spain’s Lantia Two Coelho Titles By Edward Nawotka, Editor-in-Chief POD publisher and digital distributor Lantia, with offices in Seville and Houston, already manages the catalogs of some fifty publishers and self-publishers, who largely take advantage of the company’s “set it and forget it” model of publishing which covers everything from cover design to POD distribution, sales reporting to royalty management. This month, the company about is about to add a global superstar to its roster, with the publication of two short print titles for Paulo Coelho. Coelho’s literary agency, Satn Jordi Asociados, approached Lantia six weeks ago with a pair of novellas that had previously only been available as Kindle downloads: The Supreme Gift and Like the Flowing River. The books were successful, but perhaps not long enough to merit the attention of Coelho’s global network of publishers. Accordingly, Lantia and its hybrid self-publishing and management model came into the picture. What sealed the deal for them? Being nimble and prepared. “As we prepared the meeting, we realized that it was very important to make a sizable display of our capabilities,” says Lantia’s Enrique Parrilla (who is also the founder of an affiliated crowdfunding publishing platform, Pentian). “We were meeting with Mr. Coelho’s agency on a Wednesday, and the prior Friday, we decided that we had to come to the meeting with both their online sales and title management interface fully ready and an actual hard copy of the books that right now existed only in EPUB format. “We worked over the weekend to achieve both a custom-made website and the print-ready PDFs. On Monday we loaded two versions of the book that was going to be used as a sample (The Supreme Gift) to our system, and pushed the POD button that makes the books. Like clockwork, the order arrived at our production center outside of Seville, and the books were made. We physically picked them up on Tuesday and took a flight to Barcelona on Wednesday.” Having these books in hand made all the difference, says Parrilla. “We were not just talking about producing great books. We actually had done it, and just like [the books] were created on the fly for them, they would be created on the fly for any reader. We also showed them Lantia’s interface with the books already loaded. They saw the sales interface with their corporate look and feel in a website that was ready to interact with them. I a firm believer in letting our actions speak for ourselves, and I think they did.” Time and time again, Coelho has shown a capacity to experiment with his own rights strategies, at one time offering much of his backlist for free online and then offering exclusive ebook deals to a variety of retailers. In addition, he has advocated, most recently at the 2014 Frankfurt Book Fair, for the lowering the price of ebooks books in order to make them accessible to a wider audience and thwart piracy. These new editions of The Supreme Gift and Like the Flowing River will be produced and distributed globally, using Lantia’s own infrastructure as well as Amazon’s POD services. The English-languages editions will go on sale in time for Valentine’s Day with further translations rolling out in the future.
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It is official, the release date is May 5, 2015 for every format of author R.J. Huneke's Cyberwar from Pentian, including hardcover, softcover, and e-book. This is the first time renowned European publisher Pentian, an imprint of Lantia LLC, is releasing a book in the United States in English and also the first time that a novel is being released in every available format at once so readers can choose how to enjoy the work. Pentian hopes this new method of delivering books will revolutionize the way people read, like the way Netflix has changed the way we watch TV. Be sure to inquire wherever you purchase your books (visit your local brick and mortar bookstore if you are getting paper, as there are a lot of good people working at bookstores that make it their mission to inform eager readers of some pretty amazing pieces of literature). The author is happily agreeing to sign any books bought before the book LAUNCH TOUR 2015 that will be announced in upcoming days. All you have to do is sign up for the email list below and request a signature. We'll work it out from there. The book is now available in some stores for preorder ahead of schedule, including Apple, Kindle, and paperback.
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There is a saying that lightning never strikes twice, but in reality certain people are struck multiple times, just as Stephen King is able to write numerous top notch novels, like the powerful Revival. Sai King’s newest work calls upon the electricity of life. Life can be bright and blinding and dark and scorched, and the protagonist Jamie Morton learns this painfully. Jamie pieces together a story spanning across his life: as a young boy enamored when he first met the Reverend Charles Jacobs as he leaned over a dirt hill with a large shadow that descended upon a battle of plastic army men. Jamie remembers his first meeting vividly and this effect, the imprint, lasted, despite his not seeing Jacobs until two decades later when Jamie’s life as a successful rhythm guitarist was about to be erased by heroin. The obsessive nature of the junkie pales in comparison to the Reverend Jacobs’s mind rattling addiction to learning more and more from “the hidden electricity” of the universe. The writing is concise, sharp, and poignant. King is truly at his best in terms of prose, where the effect of each paragraph carries with it a weight and a beautiful take on language. The characters in the book are very different from King’s past works, and they are every bit as deep, interesting, and enticing as some of his most realistic individuals. All religion aside, there is a soul to each of Revival’s people. The reader learns to fear for a spectral event of incredible magnitude that happened in Jamie’s life, and the suspense and curiosity that accompanies this leads to an eye-opening ending that does not disappoint. The fifth business that juggernauts Jamie’s life time and again is fascinated and consumed by the forces of electricity and his knowledge, miraculous tent revival healings, and experiments grow in a multitude of ways that leaves the reader stricken. This R.J. Huneke article was originally published on Examiner.com.
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This article was originally published for Examiner.com. The Nolan brothers have done the impossible with Interstellar: they have created their own innovative glimpse into the future of space exploration that is starkly different but still akin and on par with Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick’s vision in 2001: A Space Odyssey. This movie is not 2001; it is its own animal. And rarely has physics, time, and space been so gritty or intense. At some point Christopher and Jonathan Nolan will go down as two of the greatest writers of the twenty-first century, and Interstellar is an awe-inspiring and stunningly real tribute to creative story telling, science fiction, and humanity’s responsibility to pioneer the universe. What will Stephen Hawking say? The visuals, plates kept turned over to prevent dust from covering their eating surfaces on our own planet to the black hole Gargantua, are some of the most powerful cinematography and special effects to ever grace the screen. But is it realistic? It certainly invokes such stomach clenching fits and such poignantly sad emotional journeys through the main characters’ lives that it could be. And there are scenes of flying in Interstellar that put flight and space simulators to shame. The artistic feel and trauma surrounding the unknown reaches of space, wormholes, black holes, and foreign galaxies leave an everlasting impression. This film is deep, impactful, and transcendent in every sense of the word, and it is very moving. Philosophy is evident in nearly every scene, but the genius of director Nolan is in bringing forth so much feeling along with the messages and thought-provoking themes. Emerson, Omar Khayyam, and Joseph Campbell would surely have loved the sense of one-ness and existentialism that the wormhole and later on the black hole invoke in Interstellar; it is hard not to. Notions of carpe diem, what it means to be conscious in the universe at large, and glimpses into the inner being that can at times go beyond the three dimensions we know and force the laws of time and gravity to bend to a human will pervades the film. Spoiler warning And there is nothing quite as grim as an earth where over-use of the land and frequent storms make farming a battle with blight and dust, where over-use of harmful carbon emissions has made such drastically extreme weather – and that is really what global warming and climate change does: alter the currents and bring about more extreme weather than anyone has ever seen – that the world’s people are starving irrevocably as the levels of oxygen fall to threaten the starving generation's ability to breathe. It is in this dark scenario that philosophy blossoms and takes shape in myriad forms throughout this picture. From the brilliant performance of Matthew McConaughey, playing Cooper, and his heart-wrenching relationship with his children in a broken world that is failing him and forcing him to leave them behind in the hope of saving earth’s people and meeting them again beyond all hope to the epic designs of salvation via the hands of science in Michael Caine’s great portrayal of Professor Brand, whose dilemma regarding a dying world versus the fate of the species, philosophy delves deeply and painfully. The thought of loneliness overcoming all sense of damning and possibly murdering one’s entire planet wreaks havoc on the mind of Dr. Mann, played by Matt Damon, and his own philosophical mind is overrun in an attempt to justify his bleak decisions. Spoiler warning over There is the strongest display of humanity here, in all of its beauty and bruises amidst utterly surreal landscapes of planetary and interstellar space. Interstellar as a film is a timeless work of art that will continue to change people’s lives for a long time to come.
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We have to thank Dustin Cabeal, writer for ComicBastards.com, for this amazing review:
One gem that I picked up at New York Comic Con was Blackwood State – Tales of Englishness. There was something about the clean linework on the cover and the angry-looking female protagonist that caught my eye. After creator Ivan O’Neill was done hitting on beard, and yes I do mean just my beard he seemed to care very little for the man it was attached to, I took my bounty and moved on. I wish I hadn’t because I had a question upon finishing the issue… when will there be more? This zero issue is very short, clocking in at just four pages, but in those four pages it does a lot of things right. It introduces us to the main character and establishes her personality and unique voice. It introduces the supporting cast and does much the same for them as well. It also begins to set up our setting within just four pages. What it does really well, and I mean really well, is make you laugh. If the term “Lady Boner” doesn’t at least make you crack a smile then frankly I just feel sorry for you. How is up there in too good to laugh at “Lady Boner” land? Is it nice? I wouldn’t know because us normal people down here we laugh at shit like that. The story is straight forward, we meet Gwen and her two friends enjoying their last night before college classes begin. Gwen is telling a story about how her lady boner was totally killed and that eventually leads to the setup of what she’s expecting for the school year… which is pretty obviously not going to happen because then we wouldn’t read the story. I’m not going to tell you any more than that since you can read the issue online for free and I don’t want to spoil any more jokes. The story while simple does everything it needs to. According to the site this is being made for a graphic novel in mind and then broken up into issues. Frankly I have more interest in reading the complete project, but I’ll take it either way. O’Neill has shown that he knows what he’s doing and has structured the story to proceed from these four pages. Plainly put this zero issue has substance relevant towards the story. The art is wonderful. It was honestly the thing that drew me. The style has a familiar or at least similar look to something I’ve seen before, but I can’t place it. All I know is that I like it. Some of the art is covered by the word bubbles, but I really didn’t mind since I was having a good time reading it, but that would be my only feedback, thinner word bubbles so that the art can breathe more. Otherwise the style has a great over the top cartoon look to it and would be right at home on something like FX or Adult Swim. Again you can read this issue for free online. I would say that it’s worth it and really are you going to tell me you don’t have five minutes to spare? I’m being generous I don’t know how fast you read so five minutes. I’m looking forward to the next issue or the graphic novel. Whichever it is, I want it. Score: 4/5 Writer/Artist/Creator: Ivan O’Neill Colorist: Kara Zisa Publisher: POWkabam Comics Price: Free Online Website
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The New York Comic Con 2014 broke the record for show attendees going over 151,000, and Rune Works Productions was on hand with its first booth, 1061, to report on all of the show floor’s incredulous action! Where else does a life-size Smaug head loom with his dragon eye seeking out lunchmeat? New York Comic Con is the place! If you were in the vicinity of the Javit’s Center during October 9-12, or in Manhattan at large, you almost assuredly witnessed the pop culture invasion of the city with all of the artists, entertainers, and inspired cosplay Comic Con goers gracing the city streets. The art, film, toys, anime, comics (of course), video games, and books bring beloved works to the masses. This year's New York Comic Con broke the all time attendance record with [an] estimated 151,000 attendees surpassing San Diego Comic Con by 21,000 [and] . . . thus, becoming the largest comic book convention in North America. From an artistic standpoint, one can easily be overrun with inspiration and the myriad innovative productions that come to make up the panels, screenings, and booths of the show. And that is not even including the amazing fans, the kings of fandom, that dress up in the most intriguing and epic fashions to mimic their beloved characters from all lines of fiction. Even George Clooney ended his hiding from nerd-dom, for the abysmal Batman and Robin, as he surprised tens of thousands of people walking the floor and plugging his newest movie. "It is not lost on me that I'm spending my honeymoon at Comic Con," joked George Clooney, star of the upcoming Tomorrowland, once he sat down at the event. At Booth 1061 in the center of the show floor, two of the major upcoming publications from Pentian were announced: the thriller Cyberwar, slated for a December 1st release this year, by Rune Works founder R.J. Huneke; and the limited release preview Issue # 0 of Blackwood State, the graphic novel that will be a forthcoming three issue run, by Ivan O’Neill. Things . . . fun things were promoted by the author and artist who were present to meet, sign, and talk-up fans with their new works, as amazing bits of mayhem waged war around them from the throngs of super-happy con goers. Let’s Get It On! Street Fighter throwbacks found the Rune Works corner, as two different Cammy’s met and squared off in an epic battle between two stunningly realistic depictions of the fighting game’s heroines (see the pictures!) vying for victory. Artist and writer Ivan O’Neill had difficulty in restraining the two braided babes as they looked to finish each other off. Similar meetings between damn near identical twin Mia’s – just in time for the anniversary of Tarantino’s masterpiece Pulp Fiction – occurred, though one was in dancing form and the other in post-overdoes form. No leaf was left unturned as Groot made an appearance and even posed with a miniature dancing potted version of himself before Breaking Bad’s Gus – half blown up – wheeled with his nemesis in a wheelchair. Nothing was taboo! From the mobs of walking Game of Thrones cosplay cast to the endless rows of vintage, modern, and bound comic books, art was in abundance whether via the artists, their distributers, or the readers themselves. Gandalf was wizarding as various different doctors were Who’ing. To sum up the New York Comic Con 2014 experience into one word, it was . . . magic! [This article was first published on Examiner.com: http://www.examiner.com/article/new-york-comic-con-breaks-151000-attendees-rune-works-highlights-from-the-floor]
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Well it's nearly here, the New York Comic Con is just 3 days away, and Rune Works will be there at their Booth # 1061! Rune Works is the media production end of CMO Sync and will proudly be representing itself at the NYCC with both author R.J. Huneke and comic creator Ivan O'Neill on hand. Will they be signing anything? YES! Author R.J. Huneke will be touting his newly released novel CYBERWAR and Rune Works comics division, POWkabam, is also showing up with its first release of Ivan O'Neill's BLACKWOOD STATE Issue # 0, a preview comic of the upcoming mini-series from Pentian Publishing. What are they giving away? Well bookmarks, posters, signed copies of EVERYTHING, FREE Tee's and of course copies of their works will be available to buy as well as t-shirts. PRIZES, booth babes, and more unforgettable things are in store for any fan dropping bye the Rune Works Booth # 1061! Check out our official page on the New York Comic Con web site here and add it to the SHOW FLOOR MAP. Look for the GIANT temple backdrop! And follow our Twitter thread for giveaways! We'll see you in 3 DAYS!!!!!!
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A slight hummmmmm sounded. The air behind Joshua trembled. “What the?” A blue glow dropped in front of his face. He jumped in fright. No one should have been able to get near him down there. Audio white noise played from the speaker that was duct-taped to the circular drone’s belly. “How’s that possible?” “I worked as a spy for Cyber,” said Waltz. “You might think your computers are locked down, but you seem to have forgotten who I used to be and what I used to do. What do you think a cyber warrior is anyway? Do you think it was hard to hack your security’s little air force?” asked Waltz with scorn. The bolt struck Joshua in the chest and sent excruciating pain through his torso that spread out to the tips of his fingers and toes. Such totalic agony was wholly unknown to him. “Fuck you!” he said. “No you won’t,” said the loud voice of Waltz. “And just so you know: that little guy I sent down to you . . . let’s call ‘em Hulk . . . Hulk won’t stop until you’re dead . . . and I am free.” “STOP!” squealed Joshua. He swung clenched fists into the air, but his feeble attempts fell far short of the bobbing drone. His t-shirt burned. “STOPPPPPP!” “This whole place will blow up,” he gasped, “and gas everyone with Ebola for twenty miles!” “What did you say?” asked Waltz. READ THE REST HERE: http://www.cyberwarseries.com/news-blog/ebola-attack-a-part-of-cyberwar-an-excerpt
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Come hear a live reading of excerpts from the upcoming Sci-Fi thriller Cyberwar by writer R.J. Huneke at Stony Brook University! Never before heard or seen material will be read aloud at the event hosted by the Stony Brook Sci-fi Forum at 7 pm on September 24, 2014. R.J. will be signing posters, accepting pre-orders, and offering entry into exciting Cyberwar contests. Those interested in attending can do so at the Stony Brook University Forum Union Building Basement, Room 047. Feel free to sign up on the Facebook Event Page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/368341743343255/
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In a world far grittier and dangerous than our own, Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame To Kill For breathes new life into the force of reckoning that is Miller’s graphic novel of the same name. This is not a sequel in the traditional movie sequel sense. And that is a great thing. Like The Godfather Part II, one of the greatest films ever made, the second installment in the Sin City series from directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller is an innovative and independent masterpiece all its own. Roughly two thirds of A Dame To Kill For goes back in time to events before the storylines in Sin City and depicts, often panel for panel, one of Frank Miller’s legendary graphic novel stories, as it was written and drawn by himself. Each story taking place in and around Sin City’s shadowy towns are Frank Miller’s babies, his love. Often considered one of Sin City’s deepest storylines, A Dame To Kill For depicts Ava, played perfectly by Eva Green, one of the all-time earth-shatteringly brilliant, ruthless, transcendent heroines ever crafted as a character in a fictitious work, and it also has a fierce monster of an anti-hero in Dwight McCarthy (played by Josh Brolin). Make no mistake this is one of Miller’s best stories and that is saying something. It is no wonder that many critics have glossed over this movie without praising it, because what goes on between Dwight and Ava alone is far beyond the normal cookie-cutter stereotypes that Hollywood revels in understanding in just two minutes of seeing them on-screen. This is a smart movie with depth, fun, and gore. Some reviewers have even commented that the flick might have been great if the overwhelming violence toward women did not completely turn them off. The violence of striking women is actually far less than it was in the first movie (that the same critics loved once flocks of readers brought millions into the box office). Domestic violence is nothing to consider lightly, but the world in which Sin City resides is a magnified look into our world’s ugliest and most beautiful intricacies, and with that, in Sin City women are treated more equally than they are in the misogynistic western society of the real world, and so they are actually kicking ass themselves, as strong people. In Sin City, strife seems to find everyone, just as it does in the books. Though the hooker with the heart of gold, Gail (reprised by Rosario Dawson), comes from a long line of western movie character types, in Sin City she is a smart, active leader that thoroughly fights for what she believes in, decimating those standing in her way. Gail blows the mold to smithereens. For those that loved the first movie and wanted new material to follow-up certain events, Miller and Rodriguez intertwine a new storyline of “the lucky guy” Johnny, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and this crosses back and forth between Katie’s Bar where Nancy Callahan, depicted by the stunning Jessica Alba, is seeing Hartigan’s ghost after his untimely death in the first film. What happens to the girl who only ever loved one man and lost him abruptly? HINT: It is not good. The remaining Roarke is at the heart of her troubles and after losing big poker hands to Johnny, the good senator is his thorn as well. The new writing from Miller is every bit of Sin City that any of the graphic novels or the first movie was, and it does not disappoint. Many great new characters are brought to the screen, such as a demented Dr. Kroenig played aptly by Christopher Lloyd and crime boss/living rock formation Wallenquist played by Stacy Keach. But often stealing the show is one of Miller’s favorites, Marv! The character Marv, reprised by the living embodiment of the graphic novel drawing Mickey Rourke, is back in all of his short quips, coat-wearing do-good-through-bashing-badguys glory. How is this possible? Well if the storyline of Marv in the first film took place after all of the others, than he would still be cracking heads and helping out his pals, as he does so damn well. Impulsive Review Grade: A+ By R.J. Huneke |