The Neutrino Effect E-book, 552 pages 13 figures $6.95 ABOUT THE BOOK Told from Vlad’s perspective, the story unfolds as a first-person account of the great events shaping man’s first encounter with extraterrestrials. This exciting narrative brings us right into the character of Ustinov, as we learn of his childhood and his fascination with NEUTRINOS, the sub-atomic particles that give shape to the universe. His theory is that the constant flow of neutrinos in the universe can be tapped to create a transmission frequency capable of reaching billions of miles into outer space. His theory gains him early admission to a prestigious science institution in Russia, and he graduates with honors, going to work on a top-secret weapons project for the New Soviet Union. After a terrible accident that costs the lives of many friends and co-workers, Vlad defects to the States, where he takes a teaching position and begins New World Science Industries with a small group of like-minded colleagues. Fifteen years later, Vlad is older and somewhat wiser, a rich and respected research specialist whose company has contributed to the betterment of all mankind through advances in power generation and quantum light physics. His core team of eccentric scientists and philosophers include the brilliant Xan Huxley, a half-Asian physicist with a mind towards understanding “the beauty of the equation.” Herbert Eastman, Xan’s partner from a long-abandoned Neutrino research effort in the Antarcticas, is a nerdy young man whose passion in life is for speculative science and digital perfection. David and Lindsay Romano are the lovers of the group—David, a raging ego and outrageous joker with a lust for life, Lindsay the mother hen of New World. They are each brilliant mathematicians and hard workers, while they keep everyone grounded in a family atmosphere. Rounding out the core group is Harry Northrop, an aged former engineer, now head business administrator for the company. An ex-alcoholic and chronic womanizer, Harry is about to go through an ugly divorce and is battling the temptation to give in to his old youthful ways. This is Vlad’s family. On Christmas Eve 2076, a practical joke gone awry at an office party ironically leads to the discovery that allows Vlad Ustinov’s team to build the first-ever Neutrino-based transmitter. Shortly thereafter, they beam their first message into space, under the watchful eye of General Jake Vicobs, a robust middle-aged go-getter in the new American government who has championed the various reforms that have helped humanity pull back from the brink of self-destruction. The transmission is a success . . .but our transmissions quickly attract another watchful eye. The eye of the Ign’takk. In their own language, they refer to themselves as The World Builders—a highly-telepathic race of aliens whose technology and wisdom is millions of years in advance of ours. In an attempt to prevent us from utilizing the limited Neutrino bandwidth as a transmission frequency, thereby exposing ourselves to potentially hostile invasions by other civilizations, The World Builders quickly journey to our planet and initiate an explosive confrontation. In the fiery aftermath, thousands of their crewmembers end up scattered across the continental united states—a photosynthetic race of subservient creatures called the Truh’ll’zst, which in the language of The World Builders means ‘from the light.’ A conference with the president is quickly organized to discuss the crisis. Vlad Ustinov and his team are invited by the aliens to attend and are given carte’ blanche at the White House as negotiations for peace and plans for the capture and removal of the Truh’ll’szt from earth are discussed. After an exciting series of encounters and confrontations, including the invasion of our world by a war-loving race of feudal barbarians known as the Shkk Renn, a deal is struck with the World Builders in which they are allowed room on our world to conduct research and create outposts. In exchange, they will protect the Earth from further invasions and allow us to become students of their science. Speaking for the World Builders is a headstrong female ambassador, whose name—Or’hikk—literally means Wise Light. It is her fascination with the enigmatic Xan Huxley that brings her to the decision to unite her people with those of earth. Though her feelings of love are cloaked in denial, she cannot slight her bond with Xan, and the two become close friends and liaisons. Various intriguing subplots regarding the supporting characters develop as the story progresses, each building to a climax. Amidst all this intrigue and action, Vlad Ustinov becomes ambassador to the World Builders, and he shares many adventures with them as they fight to protect our planet and battle the invaders who set upon us. As these adventures mount, an intriguing dynamic develops between humans and aliens, one in which the World Builders must learn to overcome their self-righteous position as a superior race, and accept humankind as the unique and fascinating species we truly are. Along the way, Huxley and Vicobs conspire against the powers of our government to execute a radical new experiment in organic matter transportation that will lead to an unprecedented leap forward for our people—and the universe. This bold action on our part also helps to decide our nobility in the eyes of The World Builders. In this way, the title of the book now refers to both humans and aliens, as we each struggle in our own way to build the future. In the end, Vlad must deal with the tragic death of his comrade Harry Northrop at the moment of humanity’s most selfless collective act—when we, as a species, decide to give up our newly-claimed relocation planet to a race of nomad aliens who are left without a home when their star system goes supernova. Filled with nonstop action and intrigue, and written in a quick and friendly prose style sure to attract readership of all ages, THE NEUTRINO EFFECT is thoughtful, character-driven science fiction recalling elements of Heinlein and Asimov, while possessing a powerful voice all its own. The story threads weave together to create an allegorical fable tinged with reality, and finally topped by a super surprise ending. In a literary universe of stock pulp serial characters, Vlad Ustinov is an offbeat and refreshing change of pace. A chronicler of history to come, and a hero for the future. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Raised in Cincinnati and educated in public schools, he eventually found his way to the University of Cincinnati and, over the protests of the school administration, managed to annex a series of degrees in Mathematics, Computer Science and Computer Engineering, up to and including a Ph.D. He infiltrated a series of companies and climbed the corporate ladder, ignoring all cries of outrage, until he found himself hitting the glass ceiling. He is married to Vlada Berman, a business analyst with whom he shares two children. The Kirshteyns live in Cincinnati, Ohio.

By: Douglas Diesenhaus Photography by: Lindy Settevendemie “The shuttle bus to the Park Avenue Armory will be leaving in five minutes!” That was one of the first things I heard when I ducked in from the rain through the 15 foot-high mahogany and glass doors of the Altman building, the site of the Carriage House Antiquarian Book Fair on Friday, April 11, 2003 in New York City. The show was held simultaneously with the ABAA show at the Armory, and the free shuttle service, rather than detracting from the Carriage House fair, provided a convenient and efficient mode of transport allowing visitors and dealers to move between the two shows. “We arranged the shuttle and underwrote a 32 passenger motor coach,” said Gary Austin, co-organizer of the show. “We did this to simplify the logistics for patrons who wanted to visit both shows, but had concerns about getting across town and parking.” Planning the Carriage House fair to overlap with the ABAA show is a concept the organizers call a “shadow show,” and it’s a strategy that gives non-ABAA collectors and dealers a chance to participate. “It’s a smaller show that tries to create a synergy with the larger, more prominent event,” said Austin, owner of Austin’s Antiquarian Books in Wilmington, Vermont. “Our goal was to provide an atmosphere where the ABAA dealer gets to buy from an enlarged market. Our business is defined as selling books, but the life-blood of the business is buying books.” Comparing the energy of the two shows to similar multiple-venue fairs in Boston and the UK, John D. Spencer, of Riverow Books in Oswego, New York, saw value in the idea. “I like to see something like the London Book fair week, where there’s a lot of shows and activity and a lot of interest in books developed.” Spencer’s display ranged from huge movie posters from the infancy of talking movies ($3,500), to Arthur Conan Doyle’s own edition of his book Uncle Bernac: A Memory of the Empire, complemented with nine corrections in the author’s hand ($5,000). “I felt this was a good idea, just one-day in and out of the city.” Sue Gryzb, of On The Road Bookshop in Canton, Connecticut, another of the 37 vendors, was particular happy with the ease of the show. “The booth rent was very reasonable ($375 for two tables, among other sizes) and Bruce and Gary were very helpful and nice.” In addition, Gryzb, who featured an exhibition catalogue of original lithographs by artists connected to Ediciones Polígrafa, including Henry Moore and Joan Miró ($250), commented on the convenience of the porters, who helped with loading, and the cost efficiency of a one-day fair. A quick show reduced hotel, dining, and booth costs, an important factor for smaller dealers. In addition, Gryzb spoke about selling some books that she had listed on the Internet for quite some time, indicating that some dealers and collectors prefer to hold a book in their hands before they buy. Other dealers were not originally as certain about the concept, as James Goldwasser, of Locus Solus Rare Books, Ltd. in New York City, spoke about bringing some of his higher-end books to the ABAA show. “It’s a bit of an experiment to see whether a one-day fair simultaneous with the ABAA fair can draw enough people,” he said. He featured In the Future, a series of limited edition, handmade collage books made by the French book artist Bertrand Dorny in collaboration with the poet Ron Pageant. Each wildly illustrated book, filled with bright colors and reflective materials, is priced at $1,800. Goldwasser remained optimistic, however. “It’s too bad it’s a rainy day. It certainly is a nice room to have it in, and it’s fun and inexpensive to do. Let’s see what happens.”

By: Ken Fermoyle Photo Credits: Liz Fermoyle The verdict was unanimous. A jury of some 600 mystery aficionados, including 300 authors, voted in favor of the Left Coast Crime 2003 convention in Pasadena, CA from Feb. 27 to Mar. 3. “Anyone who thought otherwise could have copped an insanity plea!” quipped one of the attendees as LCC2003 drew to a close Sunday afternoon. And in truth it was among the best all-volunteer-organized affairs this writer has attended over the years. Organizers kept the many events moving along on schedule. The program was studded with interesting activities, aside from the many panels that were frequent and fascinating. Two offbeat presentations opened festivities on Thursday evening. One featured an old-time radio presentation of “Sorry, Wrong Number” performed by a popular group, 30 Minutes to Curtain, devoted to the preservation of radio drama. The other (“When the Fuzz Really Are Fuzzy”) was a demonstration of how the Pasadena PD uses trained police dogs as fuzzy crime-fighters. Four 50-minute panels per hour crammed the Friday and Saturday schedules, each with a moderator and panelists selected for their knowledge of and involvement in the subject at hand. Subjects ranged from “Off the Beaten Path: Exotic Locales,” “Fangs a Lot: All Creatures Bite & Maul,” and the very popular “L.A. Beyond the Sunshine & Oranges: A Paradise of Darkness” (with panelists including Jan Burke, Robert Crais, T. Jefferson Parker & April Smith) to “Black and White and Dead All Over: Reporter Sleuths,” “Cops vs. Coppers: Yanks & Brits Duke It Out” and “Small Presses: Does Size Really Matter?” That just scratched the surface, of course. “The worst feature of LCC2003 was having to make a choice between the four hourly panels,” bemoaned one fan, who had two favorite authors on competing panels several times during the convention. “I’ve been reduced to flipping a coin to decide which panel I’ll attend.” Toastmaster Jerrilyn Farmer presided over festivities, including awards presentation at the Friday dinner. The Lefty Award is a tradition at Left Coast Crime. At LCC 2003, the Lefty was awarded to the most humorous mystery novel published in the U.S. during the previous year. Hardbacks, paperbacks, and trade paperbacks were all eligible. Nominees for 2002 were: Buck Fever – Ben Rehder; Hard Eight– Janet Evanovich; The Hearse Case Scenario – Tim Cockey; This Pen for Hire – Laura Levine; Pipsqueak – Brian Wiprud; The Rival Queens – Fidelis Morgan. Co-winners were Brian Wiprud and Tim Cockey. The Arty (for best cover art) went to Ben Rehder’s book Buck Fever. Maryelizabeth Hart, director of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association (IMBA) presented the IMBA’s 2003 Dily award to Julia Spencer-Fleming for her bookIn the Bleak Midwinter. Ms. Spencer-Fleming received a specially made glass art sculpture in recognition of this achievement. Bob Crais, LCC2003 Guest of Honor, enlivened the Saturday evening dinner (Mexican food, buffet style) with a virtual time and crime tour of the Los Angeles area, ranging from the Black Dahlia murder in 1958 to the homes of Harry Bosch (“16 miles dead west of us…”) and Elvis Cole (“…on the south side of that same mountain…”) You can read the full text athttp://leftcoastcrime2003.com/craisinfo.htm#Crais%20remarks Sisters in Crime sponsored a Movie Lounge in a separate suite on Friday and Saturday, with an impressive array of movies screened each day. Titles included L.A. Confidential, Sunset Boulevard and Chinatown, The Thin Man, Hitchcock’sNotorious and The Big Fix, treats for any cinema fan. Videotaped interviews with authors Earlene Fowler, Rhys Bowen and Cynthia Harrod-Eagles were interspersed among the movies. Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFBD), Los Angeles Unit, benefited from proceeds of silent auctions held Friday and Saturday evenings. These events and others raised nearly $14,000 for RFBD. There was more but this reporter staggered home Sunday afternoon, loaded with notebook, camera gear and newly signed books, too pooped to pound the keyboard at any greater length. Suffice it to say that I willattend Left Coast Crime 2004 – and recommend that you do likewise!  #####

(James Musgrave, Author of Sins of Darkness) Programmed assassins attacked America on 9/11/01. Sins of Darkness shows how programmed terrorists were being created in the United States. Long before the training camps of Osama bin Laden, there was the programming of Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, a Palestinian refugee, who was ripe for the powers of the Sins of Darkness. In 1968, the murder of Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy by Palestinian-American Sirhan B. Sirhan shocked the world. A swift trial led to Sirhan’s conviction for murder, and was hailed as a triumph for American justice. But was everything really as straightforward as it seemed? Dr. Abigail Soloman, a Jewish prison psychiatrist, is plunged into a murderous conspiracy when she begins to examine Sirhan and discovers to her horror that he is the victim of a brainwashing group called the Lord’s Avengers. But, as she unravels the mystery surrounding Kennedy’s murder, she begins to question whether she has also fallen victim to mind control. Who is behind this sinister group, and why are they determined to wreak havoc around the world? What impresses me most about SINS OF DARKNESS is its remarkably seamless blend of fact and fiction. Via Dr. Solomon, I learned a great deal about Sirhan Sirhan’s side of things, and there’s enough research layered on top of the crackshot suspense thriller plot to keep conspiracy experts pleased indeed. This one should find a large and enthusiastic audience. —Editor, Writer’s Digest Books James Musgrave is a published author and educator in San Diego, California. His recent non-fiction title, The Digital Scribe: A Writer’s Guide to Electronic Media (AP Professional, ISBN 0-12-512255-1) has been internationally published. He has a M.A. degree in Creative Writing from San Diego State University. He was awarded the “Ebook of the Year Award, 2001-2002” fromBookbooters.com for his thriller, Russian Wolves. He has also been published at Bookbooters.com with three novels: Sins of Darkness, Russian Wolves, and Lucifer’s Wedding. The first two novels were nominated for the $160,000 Frankfurt E-book Awards for the years 2000 and 2001. Mr. Musgrave has appeared on national radio and television promoting his work and the publication of e-books in general. Russian Wolves: This riveting story traces the creation of a serial killer and how one man’s desire to get his family to America causes him to use this killer as a paid assassin for the Russian Mafia. Can CIA agent Dr. Abigail Soloman convince her country of her discovery? A CIA serial killer thriller based on real-life mass murderer, Andrei Chikatilo. Lucifer’s Wedding: Miriam Weinstein and James Duvalier are cops with a difference. As psychic investigators for the San Diego Police Department’s Paranormal Psychology Unit, they are acutely familiar with the underworld of the occult. But nothing can prepare them for the unimaginable forces about to confront them. Satan’s time is at hand, and Miriam Weinstein bears the pentangle mark of his chosen bride. As the dead begin to rise, and the forces of good and evil rise up in anticipation of the final battle, the union known as the Black Wedding must be stopped at all costs.

Just when one questions how many people read anything but TV listings for so-called “reality shows” or local “newscasts” (30% commercials, 65% trivia, gore, sports or weather reports, only about 5% hard news), along comes something to remind you that there are still pockets of human intelligence out there. For me, that is the annual Los Angeles Festival of Books, held every spring on the beautiful University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Some 150,000 book lovers swarmed over the sprawling UCLA campus on the last weekend of April this year in a powerful testimonial to the power of the printed page. They ranged in age from toddlers and tots in prams and strollers to teens, twenty-somethings, plus middle-age boomers and gray-haired seniors, some obviously in their 70s or even 80s. There were scholarly types, but many more who didn’t fit the stereotype of “book people.” Some wore heavy metal T-shirts, others clung to styles reminiscent of the ’60s and 70s. Footwear ranged from cowboy boots and Doc Martens to sandals, sneakers and suede Hush Puppies. In short, it was a diverse crowd, but with one over-riding thing in common: a genuine love of books and reading. Saturday’s featured authors included Daniel Ellsberg, Mark Bowden, Po Bronson, Pete Hamill, Richard Rodriguez, Joyce Appleby, Philip Dray, Mary Norton, Samantha Power, Timothy Ferris, and others. Many other distinguished names dotted the lists of panelists and authors who signed books for long lines of faithful readers. Among them were: Mitch Albom, Dave Barry, Peter Bart, A. Scott Berg, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Ray Bradbury, Sandra Cisneros, Mary Higgins Clark, Frank Deford, Michael Eric Dyson, Stuart Eizenstat, Lillian Faderman, David Halberstam, Christopher Hitchens, Arianna Huffington, James Ivory, Brian Jacques, Maxine Hong Kingston, Elmore Leonard, Alice McDermott, Terry McMillan, Greg Palast, T. Jefferson Parker, George Plimpton, Carl Reiner, Jane Smiley, Aaron Sorkin, Scott Turow and Stuart Woods. In short, there was something, or somebody, for every reader present. And that’s without even considering the winners and finalists for the L.A. Times Book Prizes, which are a centerpiece of the Festival of Books every year. The Los Angeles Times honors the printed word in books with an extensive set of formal awards. Presented annually since 1980, the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes now have nine subject categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award), history, mystery/thriller, poetry, science and technology, and young adult fiction. In addition to these nine prizes for single titles, the Robert Kirsch Award recognizes the body of work by a meritorious writer living in and/or writing on the American West. The 23rd Book Prize Awards Ceremony featured A. Scott Berg as Master of Ceremonies and a distinguished list of Book Prize Presenters: Gayle Anderson (Young Adult Fiction), Jonathan Kirsch (Robert Kirsch Award), Eric Lax (Biography), T. Jefferson Parker (Mystery/Thriller), George Plimpton (Current Interest), John Rechy (Fiction), Dava Sobel (Science and Technology), Ronald Steel (History), Susan Straight (Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction), and Quincy Troupe (Poetry). BIOGRAPHY Winner: Robert A. Caro, Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Vol. 3 (Alfred A. Knopf) Finalists: Gioconda Belli, The Country under My Skin: A Memoir of Love and War (Alfred A. Knopf) Daniel Ellsberg, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers (Viking) T.J. Stiles, Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War (Alfred A. Knopf) Claire Tomalin, Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self (Alfred A. Knopf) CURRENT INTEREST Winner: Judith Levine, Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex (University of Minnesota Press) Finalists: Timothy Ferris, Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril (Simon & Schuster) Nicolaus Mills and Kira Brunner (editors), The New Killing Fields: Massacre and the Politics of Intervention (Basic Books) Kevin Phillips, Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich (Broadway Books) Samantha Power, “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide (Basic Books) FICTION Winner; Ian McEwan, Atonement: A Novel (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday) Finalists: Peter Cameron, The City of Your Final Destination (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Aleksandar Hemon, Nowhere Man (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday) Kate Jennings, Moral Hazard: A Novel (Fourth Estate/HarperCollins) Joanna Scott, Tourmaline: A Novel (Little, Brown and Company) HISTORY Winner: Michael B. Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East (Oxford University Press) Finalists: Philip Dray, At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America (Random House) Robert Harms, The Diligent: A Voyage through the Worlds of the Slave Trade (Basic Books) Gregg Herken, Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller (A John Macrae Book/Henry Holt) Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 (Alfred A. Knopf) MYSTERY/THRILLER Winner: George P. Pelecanos, Hell to Pay: A Novel (Little, Brown and Company) Finalists: Stephen L. Carter, The Emperor of Ocean Park (Alfred A. Knopf) Tod Goldberg, Living Dead Girl: A Novel (Soho Press) Henning Mankell, One Step Behind [translated from the Swedish by Ebba Segerberg] (The New Press) Scott Turow, Reversible Errors (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) POETRY Winner: Cynthia Zarin, The Watercourse: Poems (Alfred A. Knopf) Finalists: Terrance Hayes, Hip Logic (Penguin Books) John Koethe, North Point North: New and Selected Poems (HarperCollins Publishers) J.D. McClatchy, Hazmat: Poems (Alfred A. Knopf) Harryette Mullen, Sleeping with the Dictionary (University of California Press) SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Winner: Brenda Maddox, Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA (HarperCollins Publishers) Finalists: Deborah Blum, Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection (Perseus Publishing) Judith Hooper, Of Moths and Men: An Evolutionary Tale, the Untold Story of Science and the Peppered Moth (W.W. Norton) Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History (Walker and Company) Richard Preston, The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story (Random House) YOUNG ADULT FICTION Winner: M.T. Anderson, Feed (Candlewick Press) Finalists: Kate Banks, Dillon Dillon (Frances Foster Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Sarah Dessen, This Lullaby: A Novel (Viking/Penguin Young Readers Group) E.R. Frank, America: A Novel (A Richard Jackson Book/Atheneum Books for Young Readers) Joyce Carol Oates, Big Mouth & Ugly Girl (HarperTempest/HarperCollins) THE ART SEIDENBAUM AWARD FOR FIRST FICTION Winner: Arthur Phillips, Prague: A Novel (Random House) Finalists: Jay Basu, The Stars Can Wait: A Novel (Henry Holt and Company) Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel (Houghton Mifflin Company) Nicole Krauss, Man Walks into a Room (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday) Hari Kunzru, The Impressionist (Dutton/Penguin Group (USA))

Dear Fellow Booksellers, The Out-of-Print & Antiquarian Book Market Seminar—the intensive one-week program for booksellers and collectors at all levels of experience—is accepting registrants for this year’s session, which will be held August 3 through 8 at Colorado College in beautiful Colorado Springs.  Now in its 25th year, the seminar has graduated more than 2,000 participants, many of whom have become prominent figures in the antiquarian book world. Graduates have described the seminar experience as one of the most important professional career steps they could have taken.  The curriculum has been constantly updated to reflect the important changes that have taken place in the antiquarian and out-of-print world in the past decade. An all-star faculty with a combined experience of many years in all phases of book selling will preside over sessions covering such topics as pricing and description of antiquarian books and manuscripts, the auction process, Internet book selling, book scouting, ethics of the book trade, book repairs and restoration, operating a used book store, book fairs, the economics of the book trade, and more.  This year’s keynote speaker will be Daniel De Simone, Curator for the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection of the Library of Congress.  With over 25 years in the book trade he has significant experience in building rare book collections for private collectors and libraries. For more information, please contact Kathy Lindeman, Coordinator, at (719) 473-6634, or visit the seminar’s web site at http://www.bookseminars.com where on-line applications can be quickly completed.  Don’t be shut out—-enrollment is limited to ensure a strong faculty to student ratio. Regards, The Faculty of Book Seminars

I started writing this book in the early part of January 2002 and finished it about 10 weeks later. I wanted to make it an educational book that everyone could enjoy, having no violence or swearing, yet intense enough to intrigue one’s mind. In addition to it being educational, I also wanted the story to have a lot of science in it, something I feel that I did accomplish while also having a lot of fun in the process. During the completion phase of the book, I found that the hardest part of all was keeping my elapsed times correct in relation to midnight, as time kept getting reset for Jack Jacobs while inside his time tunnel, essentially keeping him in the year 2199. Since the cosmological time in the universe was going backwards 100 years every 24 hours, I actually had to create a table to keep track of the time and year of the universe in relation to different events that were happening for Jack throughout the book. Figuring up the actual times for traveling from galaxy to galaxy, for instance, was easy. As far as picking the title, well, the words “Doomsday Time Machine” came to mind. After having picked this to be in the title, I then brainstormed for the perfect male character’s name to go along with it. I thought of the children’s story Jack and Jill, a book everyone should know about, and the name Jack jumped out. Jack is also a name that both children and grownups alike can relate to. As far as a female organic supercomputer name, no, “Jill” was never considered. You’d have to admit, it would have been a little corny with Jack and his computer Jill. I always knew I wanted a female’s name that started with a J, and Jennifer was the name that came to mind. Jack’s last name, Jacobs, was used because it had a ring to it when used with the first name. Jack Jacobs is also a science fiction character’s name that has never been used before, as well as the words “Doomsday Time Machine” in any published literary work. At least I didn’t find any during my research prior to writing my book. I do have to mention Larry Fredrick who played a part of my book. I met him for the first time in Charlottesville, Virginia at Virginia University two summers ago. I actually traveled to Charlottesville while doing historical research on my large novel. He was extremely nice and showed me around the McCormick Observatory near the Virginia University campus. He took me down to the basement and showed me all the old equipment, while also giving me a little history about the observatory. He even showed me the optical telescope and the hand-built wooden platform used for looking through the telescope. I had an enjoyable time then and also just last summer, when I met him again. He read the galley proofs of my book late in 2002, and gave me some great comments, not to mention some editing. His review and what he said about my book, is of course, shown on the back cover. Anyway, I submitted my manuscript to Rutledge in March of 2002 and it was accepted a few weeks later. About ten days later I received a contract in the mail and was surprised that it was about $5000 higher than what I was verbally told over the phone to have it published. Well, knowing what I’ve written and “revealed” in my book, I decided to go ahead and have it self-published. This was also due in part to many literary agents and a small number of publishers not showing any interest in my large novel, a book that is currently finished, I might add. So, I paid the money and had a signed contract in my hands in the later part of May 2002. My Jack Jacobs novel was finally on its way to becoming a reality. That summer that I had much anticipation waiting for the first editing of my manuscript from Rutledge and to seeing the first galley proof. I was surprised that it took Rutledge almost four months just to get me the first edited draft of my novel, a novel that was only about 25,000 words in length, and given to them in Word document format on a floppy disk. I did finally receive the first draft and upon reading their edited version, realized they didn’t understand Jennifer’s character much at all, as I had a high amount of re-editing on the first go-around. It appeared that no one with any technical background actually had a go at any editing. I actually had to go back and add words back into the galley proof to retain meaning in the book. When I sent the galleys back to the publisher by overnight UPS, it took them over three weeks to get my changes back to me for the second draft. Not only that but they started sending them back to me by UPS ground track, taking five to seven working days. The galleys went back and forth a few more times with additional changes each time. By this time I was sending all my changes to them by UPS next day air and enclosing a pre-paid pre-addressed UPS second day air envelope inside the next day air UPS package, to save time. Had I not done this, I’m sure my hardback books would not have been printed. I figured it up and found that I saved almost three to four weeks off the flow time for my hardback book, hardback copies that I also finally received from the publisher on January 23rd of 2003. I could tell Rutledge Books was dragging their feet from about November 2002 on, but didn’t know the reason. Well, that reason was answered in February 2003 when they closed their doors and went out of business. They also closed their doors before accomplishing any news releases on my book, something that is now my responsibility. Now that I’ve seen the full process of having a book printed from beginning to end, I’ve learned a lot. I have to take everything that has happened with a grain of salt and keep a positive attitude, as I know the book is a fun book to read if you like science. There is one positive thing I can say about Rutledge, and that is the excellent job they did with the cover on my book. Thomas Morlock, the cover illustrator, was very professional and was prompt in all my contacts with him. He also did an excellent job on the changes to the front cover, just as I had requested, changes such as the elliptical shape of the ship, for one. Something that isn’t common knowledge to most people is that I mailed almost 200 signed copies of my first edition hardback book to university astronomy departments all over the United States and to the world on February 01, 2003. The reasons for me doing this everyone will, in time, find out. Out of all of the universities that were sent a copy, I received only one acknowledgement and a thank you for the book, an acknowledgement that was sent back through the defunct publisher, Rutledge, who forwarded it to me. I have the utmost respect for Cornell University for taking the time to send that “thank you.” I did have a lot of fun taking pictures with my digital camera at the Post Office that Saturday when I mailed off the almost 200 copies. Guess the name of the lady at the Post Office counter who accepted all of my priority and airmail packages? It was Jennifer, coincidentally, the same as my organic supercomputer character. I got a kick out of that. The day of February 01, 2003 will always be a day to be remembered for me and turned out truly to be a day to be remembered by everyone, as this was also the same day that the space shuttle Columbia and her crew were lost. As a result, I signed a book to NASA in memory of the seven astronauts who lost their lives. It was inscribed: “February 01, 2003, A Memory and Reflection”, followed by many words of encouragement and wisdom to the families and friends of the astronauts who lost their lives. This copy is safely put away until it is finally presented to NASA. Anyway, as far as finding one of the 1000 first edition hardback copies that were printed, they may eventually be hard to find, because in addition to all the extra copies I purchased at a discount, I liquidated the entire inventory as soon as I found out Rutledge was closing their doors. Very few copies made it to the open retail market. Nowadays I occasionally sign one of my first editions of my book over to someone I meet on the street, someone of my choosing, and I’m having much fun in the process. At some point that will stop though, as the number of copies I have dwindle down. Science is a fascinating world and there is much to be discovered, but we must all start with our young kids and their imaginations. Just as Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Well, how very true and correct he was…but to understand your imagination, well, that is another story yet to be revealed. Albert S. Abraham, Author Editor’s Note: I was one of the people Albert very kindly sent a couple of signed 1st editions to. Thank you, Albert—I enjoyed the book! :>)

By: Kate Lindemann ChooseBooks.com focuses on creating “added value”. The company provides extra services while their listing book sellers offer inventory at the same competitive prices as on other sites. The site’s added value focus is attracting both buyers and sellers. Hundreds of booksellers have registered and uploaded inventory. Orders are increasing and more buyers are registering accounts. In December, ChooseBooks.com announced preferred customer status and a frequent buyer program for any buyer who registers “so we have a place to put their book buying points.” Last month we began giving away free bookmarks through our Resources page. Now Choosebooks.com announces a joint venture with IOBA. A search engine on IOBA’s web site will search the inventory of all IOBA members who list with ChooseBooks.com. Deanna Ramsay is integrating the ChooseBooks.com search engine form with the IOBA site. Ramsay said, “ChooseBooks has been, as usual, a pleasure to work with. They’ve provided every option we’ve asked for, suggested a few extras, and have really bent over backwards to set up this search option for IOBA members.” Ramsay hopes to have the search working in a few weeks but said that unforeseen technical problems could make it as much as eight weeks before everything is running smoothly. ChooseBooks.com has created an “added value” niche. Their theme of “many extra services for the same competitive book prices as other sites” offers a real choice in the on-line book market. To check out ChooseBooks.com, go to: http://www.choosebooks.com . Buyers who register will automatically be enrolled in the site’s frequent buyer program and will earn points for every dollar spent on books. #choosebookscom

By: Jack Benson URL: http://www.ammonet-services.com First, many thanks to IOBA and IOBA Standard editor Shirley Bryant for the opportunity to describe some of our current book-related development projects here at ammonet in Zurich. The new http://www.bibliophile.net web site and database is currently in beta test phase. The features likely to interest dealers most are the custom search page facility, and the improved search and display. We have always offered a custom search script to bibliophile.net dealers, and this will now be much easier to configure to match our dealers’ own sites, and for those dealers with no web site of their own, it will be possible to host a customised page on our servers. All the search options of the main site will be available in the custom search but without bibliophile.net logos or links. This is thus a genuinely individualised search page, backed by a powerful database, that returns the buyer to the dealer’s own site at the completion of a purchase. In addition to custom searches for individual dealers, groups of dealers such as cooperatives and societies can have a multi-dealer search page that sends orders to their individual dealers. You can view a version of this under development for the International Antiquarian Mapsellers Association (IAMA) by following the links on their site at www.antiquemapdealers.com. Don’t place any “test” orders – the site is live! There you can see a completely customised search and ordering system that integrates nicely into the IAMA web site. Administration of the membership and database can be carried out independently of bibliophile.net administration. We see this as an inexpensive alternative to independent development and maintenance of a web site/database system that might be beyond the means of groups who would nonetheless like to have their own collective bookselling site. The search facility of the new site is much improved. An “any word” search plus sorting by price, author and title have been added, and in addition we have developed a sophisticated “sort by relevance” feature designed to yield search results sorted to reflect the buyers’ search criteria very closely. The “date loaded” search option will take account of purge files that reload books displayed previously. In addition to our shopping basket, there will be a direct inquiry short-cut for use by shopping basket-shy book buyers. Many other improvements have been made, especially with regard to image display and image management. For those dealers who have to enter the URLs of their images by hand, a purge file will preserve the URLs of images linked to book records that were previously listed, obviating the need to re-enter image URL data. We will offer the option to house images on our server, using our server-side image manager. Dealers who chose to do this will be pleased to know that our new system will generate thumbnails from their images on the fly. Of course, image URLs can be uploaded in data formats that contain the appropriate field, including the non-canonical IM field in UIEE. Our popular “ammonet Secure” credit card data transmission system has just been updated (http://www.ammonet-services.com/ammonet-com/ammonet-card-system-eng.htm). This is a secure system designed to pick up credit card data for processing (or not processing) later by dealers who already process cards and see no need to subscribe to real-time processing systems. It can be linked to the bibliophile.net shopping cart and any other system that accepts a simple link. A link can be sent by e-mail so that a customer is directed to the dealer’s secure card data upload page. It is browser-based, easy to use and heavily encrypted. This system sidesteps problems that plague automatic-charge e-commerce – book already sold, chargebacks, dubious cards, known miscreants etc. We have added an option for receiving cheque data for those who process cheques electronically. Last but not least, I’m pleased to announce that ammonet has been selected to develop a web site/database for the UK-based Provincial Book Fairs Association (PBFA). In keeping with the long-established function of this Association, their site will present members’ stock organised around real and virtual book fairs, as well as a comprehensive search and order system. There will be strong emphasis on image display since there’s no doubt that pictures sell books. Completion of this project will bring onto the internet market a significant number of dealers who currently have no internet presence. #bibliophilenet

A personal note to my friend, Alyce Cresap A dear friend—one I’ve never met face to face but have grown to love and trust—will be leaving us soon, as she is in the final stages of an incurable disease. I do not want to wait and do an obituary for Alyce—I want to tell her how I feel about her now, while she is still able to read my words. I first met Alyce when we were both involved in starting IOBA. But I really started to get to know her when we both were new board members at Book CoOp. Our friendship has grown through emails and the occasional phone call over all the years since to the point where she is one of the few completely trusted and most loved best-friends that I have. Alyce is my hero. She has fought overwhelming odds health-wise to remain a good and active bookseller, and she has given unselfishly and very generously of her time— to her family where she has served as historian and put out a newsletter , to IOBA where she is on her second term as a hard-working board member, to Book CoOp in its formative period, to the IOBA newsletter where she has contributed many articles and much good advice to its editor, and to the bookseller community at large, where she’s never too busy to answer newbies or book buyer questions on email lists, and where she also brings us back down to earth occasionally with her droll wit and clear thinking. She also always makes time to listen to and help with personal problems. Alyce has truly given her all for books; she has been on oxygen for several years thanks to a water leak near her book storage area and the mold that got into her lungs from it. It never stopped her, though. She has found ways to continue selling and cataloging books, promoting ethics and education for booksellers, and leading an active and full life as a mother to twin sons, a friend to many, and a caretaker for various dogs in her life. All I can finally say is that our world will be much poorer when Alyce is not with us. I will miss you, Alyce. Shirley Bryant P.S. Alyce died on May 8th, in the company of her son, Jeff. The above note to her and that from Julie Fauble were sent to her son to read to her, earlier. We have a great hole in our midst. To Alyce, from Julie I’ve procrastinated writing this. Alyce won’t be surprised by this confession. Alyce knows well this particular foible of mine. In fact, she’s on a first-name basis with several of my foibles, and the great thing about Alyce is that she has never made me feel bad about them. She just patiently and persistently – VERY persistently – pushed me to keep going, finish what I needed to finish, and address what needed to be addressed. I’m supposed to be writing about all the things Alyce has done for IOBA, but it’s not working. Not that there isn’t plenty of material there. Alyce has been involved since the earliest days, contributing her ideas and energy and time. She’s served on the board and as chair of the Internet Operations committee, and I don’t know how anything could have gotten accomplished without her. No, the problem is that when I think of Alyce, I don’t first think of IOBA. I think of the dozens and dozens of times when she’s made me fall out of my chair laughing. Alyce has a wonderful, wicked sense of humo(u)r. I’ve been searching through hundreds of e-mails, trying to find an example that would serve, but everything either requires too much context to understand or is a shade too blue. All the best ones are short and subtle, wry observations or the written equivalent of a raised eyebrow. Another thing about Alyce, she can use that sense of humor to cut through crap better than anybody I’ve ever seen. Specious arguments, weasel words, and lame excuses don’t carry any weight with her. And believe me, I’ve tried my share of lame excuses. And here’s the main thing about Alyce. Despite all the lame excuses and whining e-mails and complaints, she’s always been gentle with me, whether I deserved it or not. If she ever lost her temper or got irritated with me, she never showed it. She never passed judgment. She just kept gently pushing me to do whatever I needed to do. For that, I will always be grateful, and for that, I will always call Alyce friend. H.O. Ethel, you’re the greatest. Thinking of Alyce It’s taken me a few days to finally decide to send this post. Like many of you, I have been thinking of Alyce and catching myself getting ready to send an email or give a phone call. My first meeting in the flesh occurred several years back when she and I were volunteering toward getting the “first printing” of Tomfolio tee shirts distributed. As David, I, too, met a tall thin woman in coveralls, with a long braid. She was already tethered to supplementary oxygen at the time. I met her Dalmatians and was given their approval. Over ensuing years, we discovered mutual interests in chocolate and cheese, in gardening (she was a master gardener) and in sharing observations of the antics of our indoor and outdoor animal friends. I did not realize, until recent weeks, how much I had grown to look forward to her emails and rely on her ever-presence. As I live about 1.5 hours to the southeast of Germantown, I was lucky to be able to visit Alyce several times in the past few months. Although she was getting very weak, and growing frustrated with the increasing limitations of her body, she was taking it in stride, still retaining her “Alyce-ness”. I admired her strength and bravery. On one visit, she brought me to her kitchen door to look out over her garden and watch the newcomers at the bird feeder. She grumbled about not being able to reach something in the kitchen any more. “I’m short now.” Looking up at her (I am 5’1″), I said “If you are short, than what am I?” She snorted. A few days before her 70th birthday, at the end of April, we had a nice long telephone chat. At this point, sitting at the computer was too difficult for her. She gave me some input on a beaded lampshade I was completing. We discussed her sons and she reminisced about their birth (they were surprise twins). I updated her on the progress of my tomato seedlings. It was the last real conversation we were to have, and I think we both sensed it. I saw her again briefly a few days before she died. “I’m dying,” she said. “I know,” I said, as I rubbed her arms a little. She still had that darn twinkle in her eyes. And her long braid. I like to think that she is still keeping an eye on my garden. Susan Pav Ravenrooost Books ravenbks@optonline.net Alyce Cresap – Comments Invited I’d like to invite each of you who loved Alyce to add comments to this issue of the newsletter. Even though the newsletter will have already gone live, it will be a continuing project that will honor her and allow us to express our feelings for her and our sense of loss. Just send whatever you’d like to say to me at editor@ioba.org or aaabooks@azalea.net, and Deanna and I will get it into the newsletter. Shirley Bryant I didn’t know Alyce as well as some of you did, but that did not matter as far as she was concerned. I can’t remember how many times she e-mailed me directly when I had a small problem or felt put-upon for some reason or other. She was always there to help. When I needed volunteers for Education Committee, and no one came forward, Alyce did. I did not know then how sick she was, but I will always remember her kindness to me, and her willingness to help. Jean S. McKenna Jean S. McKenna – Books #memorial

By: J. R. McWilliams http://www.abooksearch.com/ Abooksearch.com, an on-line community of old, rare and out-of-print booksellers, announces three free months for new sign-ups. There is no obligation. You do not pay a cent if you do not wish to continue beyond the first three months. When we made this offer of three free months to new members, we gave three free months to those booksellers who were already members. We felt it only fitting and proper, and part of our commitment to our dealers. We certainly have a great deal of gratitude for those who took a chance with us in our first formative months, and especially to those who have been with us through our first year. ABooksearch.com’s order inquiries have increased dramatically in the last three months. The traffic to the site has gone from 663,818 hits in February to 1,604,499 in March to 1,820,904 hits in April. ABooksearch.com’s promotional budget increases proportionally as its membership grows. ABooksearch.com was founded in response to the expressed desire of many booksellers for an alternative to corporate, impersonal listing services. We have intentionally kept our site lean and clean. No banner ads; no bells and whistles. Just a direct search engine that takes the customer straight to the bookseller’s information. All sales transactions are handled directly between customer and seller; ABooksearch.com does not take a percentage of the sale nor even engage in card processing. And we feel our monthly and yearly rates are among the lowest and best of the on-line search services. ABooksearch.com LLC was re-launched as an on-line old, rare and out-of-print book listing service with a searchable database of its members’ inventories on the Fourth of July 2002. The ensuing months have seen increasing improvement in the site’s search capabilities as well as its customer outreach. At the beginning of this year, a new Xeon multi-threading server was installed, greatly improving functionality. Moreover, ABooksearch.com has a longer history. The name ABooksearch.com has been on-line since 1995, ancient times in terms of the Internet. We have a long history in bookselling, teaching and museum curating. Our plan is to bring customers to the dealer and for the dealer to make the sale. We feel that this is what booksellers want, and we supply it in the most direct and straightforward way we can. I encourage all to take advantage of our three free months and try us out. #ABooksearchcom

It really is an exciting time to be a bookseller. Some may say the golden years are gone, sentimental feelings now setting in for the slow-paced past of primarily brick and mortar (B&M) businesses. But like other points in history, bookselling is simply undergoing its latest transformation. Let us not look at it as a bad thing. For starters, the advent of online bookselling opened opportunities for sellers to actually interact with customers in parts of the world most have only read about. I can’t say I ever expected to spend much time conversing with a citizen of Brazil or Yugoslavia. I never even considered either location as a vacation destination. Instead, the common interest of books has brought me into contact with citizens of approximately 20 different nations on our ever-shrinking planet. Dealing through the digital world has also allowed us to find books we may never have been able to, and obviously to sell to customers we most likely never would have. More obvious benefits are quicker response through email, often-quicker payments, better communication, and less expensive communication. Plus, we pay less postage and have less paper waste in mailing post card quotes to other sellers! But what one benefit did I not mention? Interaction with our peers. Not only are we able to have more chance to correspond with colleagues and to discover new colleagues, but we are able to interact on a more frequent basis. As well, “support groups” like email lists allow for the cultivation of budding sellers who may otherwise never have been inspired or able to learn as quickly on their own. It is necessary for most hard copy publications to adapt to the above changes to stay relevant. Book wants, for sale, news, book-related questions (only to have answers published next issue) are no longer viable for print–kept only for mostly sentimental reasons or to satisfy the last remaining bit of non-technically savvy sellers. The idea of publishing “news” and “books wanted” on a monthly, bimonthly or quarterly basis in the face of instant digital chatter seems mostly pointless. The only real alternative is either to report the news in greater detail (similarly how newspapers have responded to cable news) or to offer a more fundamentally different service altogether. My tenure overseeing Bookseller Monthly began after many of these industry changes already took place. As a result, I don’t look at the publication as a cutting edge source for news. It is provided for sellers and collectors alike to enjoy interest stories at their leisure, when their eyes become strained from the phosphorescent glow of their computer monitors. A format of collective, basic news that might only be found through multiple or obscure online sources. A chance to allow individuals to participate by sending along local news, respond with letters, or enjoy on their schedule, eliminating the artificial rush created by online life. So, no, I don’t think of hard copy as a thing of the past. Just as books will be around forever, so will publications about our passion for books. Discouragingly though, I noticed that advertising has become the primary function over content for many of our so-called primary book-related publications. It seems rather than adapt, many are conceding to the ‘net advantage. Not wanting to mention particular names, they seem more like a “yellow pages” than anything of reading interest. Ironically, it seems many non book-related publications continue to have some type of book review or book-related section, sometimes with more content on books than our own industry publications. As well, more and more book-related newsletters are popping up online. A “hats off” to Joyce Godsey for creating Sic. And we see that most, if not all, hard copy publications have web content now. I am always trying to improve features and to keep Bookseller Monthly from becoming outdated, or at the very least a redundancy to what we can learn instantly online, or from being another “yellow pages.” Granted, advertising pays the bills. But I try to keep a good balance of content versus advertising. One thing that I realize though is that the transformation to the new technology is not yet complete. I have never researched the ratio of booksellers that interact online, but from those I have dealt with over the past two years I would have to guess that approximately 60-70% do not deal with online bookselling beyond listing on a paid-for service. A good majority, if asked, would not know what the Bookfinder Insider list is, or the IOBA, or the Bibliophile group. They may list on the Advanced Book Exchange, but often that is where it ends. Therefore, they often do not receive the information regarding current online issues so many ‘net savvy sellers do. But is that a bad thing? Does the new wave of bookselling have to include complete online interaction? Or can the above benefits primarily be achieved simply by listing online and then going back to dusting shelves of paperbacks? Additionally, will we ever see a complete transformation to the ‘net for booksellers so that most do get their news online? It is wonderful to see how things are unfolding. So many times with the growth of technology we hear the doom and gloom of losing tradition and appreciation. I think we are seeing that the worthwhile and good things about this trade continue, and will continue, to advance, prosper and be handed down to future sellers. I still print “book wants” in Bookseller Monthly, a long time tradition still keeping some post card suppliers in business. To some this is an insane effort considering the efficiency of the Internet as I alluded to above. And I freely advertise monthly book shows to remind everyone that browsing for titles and personal interaction are still enjoyable experiences, even though there are numerous places online to find the same data. But I do feel I publish good enough feature articles worthy of a read in the tub! Now THAT can’t be attempted with a computer. Change keeps us on our toes, having to continually improve what we do. Unless one’s desire for sentimentalism helps keep an inefficient system alive out of a sense for history, it will either disappear or stay alive because it serves a useful purpose. I always have to try to think of better ways to keep reader interest, to find unique services to offer. I believe most would never honestly expect to lose hard copy entirely. I, for one, hope to continue to adapt and provide something worthwhile in Bookseller Monthly, if only to serve a small group (even if it is just for those who read in the tub). #brickandmortar