Summertime Publications Inc

What's the Story? Chip Kidd on designing book covers at Ted Talks

Next month, Summertime Publications will be launching a book cover design contest for Couch To Couch: Spiritual Travels on the French Huguenot Trail the funny, touching, wise and superbly unique memoir by Rhea Atwood.

Before you enter the graphic design contest, however, we urge to check out Chip Kidd's Ted Talk on how he designed iconic book covers like Jurassic Park.

The key to a great book cover, he says, is the story.

Full details about the book cover design contest will be available in June 2013.

Eden's Revenge hits bestseller charts for space opera in France

NEW RELEASE Eden's Revenge reaches top twenty for space opera in France

New Science Fiction: Eden's Revenge, the third book in The Eden Paradox Series, now an Amazon Kindle ebook

Eden's Revenge by Barry Kirwan (Author)

Amazon Kindle Digital List Price: $8.99

Publication date: April 26, 2013

EDEN'S REVENGE

After eighteen years, the quarantine that has protected humanity’s survivors on the planet Esperia is about to end. Mankind won't stand a chance without external help. Yet in the middle of a galactic war, who is concerned about one small planet when worlds fall every day? Eden's Revenge is the heart-stopping third episode in the Eden Saga. From the bestselling author of The Eden Paradox and Eden's Trial.

 “Awe-inspiring aliens are swept up in an epic narrative.” Sophia McDougall, best-selling SF author of Savage City

“Brilliant plotting, sizzling action, the tension and pull of the story keep it steamrollering along.” Gideon Roberton, screenwriter and author.

“...an outstanding finale. Seriously, the best one of the three, I read the last half straight through--couldn't put it down.” Jacob Millican, reviewer, USA.

EDEN'S REVENGE is available on Amazon Kindle ebook worldwide.

Categories: Science Fiction, Space Opera, World Fantasies, Mystery and Adventure, Hugo Award

 

New Yorks Times to launch a series of short e-books in new business model

Will major major newspapers like the New York Times move to paid content in the form of short ebooks that readers purchase, instead of on-line advertising?

Joseph Esposito blogging on The Scholarly Kitchen explores the question in a fascinating article on new trends in publishing entitled: The Slow But Steady March to Paid Content.

"Publishers Weekly is reporting that the New York Times will be launching a series of short e-books. This is significant in a lot of ways, not the least being the attention being lavished upon the Times’s partners Byliner and Vook."

Apparently, says Esposito, media companies are having trouble building online advertising businesses. Online paywalls like the Times and  the Wall Street Journal is only a first step in the direction toward paid content over advertising. Short e-books or e-articles are another step.There will, he predicts, be more.

This will have important consequences for content.

"Over time the dream of online advertising will fade for content companies, replaced by paid content and content that directly supports transactions (called “advertorials” in the Print Era, but now called “native advertising”). This in turn will morph the nature of the content itself, as it will have a new kind of customer to please. Content — journals, books, newspapers, sporting events — is shaped by the market if faces. We should contemplate this with the emergence of Gold OA, which faces a new market, the author — or the funding agency. What shape will it ultimately take? Only the market knows."

via scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org

Give the gift that keeps on giving this Christmas: books!

What to give?

Here's a sampling of book gift lists for all ages and enthusiasms:

New Yorker's Best Books of 2012

Best Science Books of 2012 selected by John Dupuis

Best Non-Fiction selection by The Washington Post

Publisher's Weekly Best Books of 2012

Best Books of 2012 : NPR

Wall Street Journal's list of Best Fiction of 2012

The Best Biographies of 2012 from Kathryn Hughes of The Gardian

Editor's Choice from Amazon.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eden's Revenge, the new space opera thriller from Barry Kirwan, coming in 2013

Coming Soon; Eden's Revenge

The third novel in the Eden Saga space opera series

From bestselling author Barry Kirwan

After the gripping sci-fi thrillers The Eden Paradox and Eden's Trial, Summertime Publications is pleased to announce the upcoming release of EDEN'S REVENGE.

Watch for it in 2013!

Galaxy bending sci-fi! Amazon Kindle Ebook: EDEN'S TRIAL

Eden's Trial, the acclaimed sci-fi thriller by Barry Kirwan is now available in the USA, UK, France, Italy, Germany,  India  and other countries worldwide.

Eden's Trial: book two in The Eden Saga

FIRST CONTACT DID NOT GO WELL. Survivors are fleeing Earth, into a hostile galaxy where alien intelligence and weaponry rule. Can a deserted planet offer refuge? Or will the genetically engineered Alicians finish the job started on Eden. While Blake fends off attacks, Micah seeks allies, but his plan backfires, and humanity finds itself on trial for its very right to exist.

This stunning sequel to The Eden Paradox launches us into alien political intrigue and intergalactic war of survival. 

Lydia Manx, Piker Press: It's hard to put down Mr. Kirwan's book, but at the same time you don't want to race ahead but savor the complexities of personalities and the well crafted story line. There are new worlds and new enemies entwined with the main characters nearly as closely as their lovers. I can't wait for the next journey...

See five star reviews on Amazon...

 A Captivating Continuation of the Eden Series, April 21, 2012

By  

MarkD 

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Eden's Trial (The Eden Trilogy) (Kindle Edition)

Eden's Trial is an exciting ride into an expanded universe, the foundation of which is established in The Eden Paradox. Kirwan strikes a great balance of keeping the story riveting while also delving deeper into character development. Eden's Trial would work well as a standalone read but like any trilogy it work's better to start at the beginning, so I strongly suggest reading The Eden Paradox first. I really enjoyed both books. The only problem with finishing Trial is Now I have to wait for the final book to find out what happens!

  Galaxy-bending sci fi, April 30, 2012

By Gidlabu - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eden's Trial (The Eden Trilogy) (Kindle Edition)

When humanity's survivors escape earth's devastation, it's out of the frying pan and into the solar flare... What I love about the second part of this trilogy is that whereas The Eden Paradox focuses on Earth and a quest to 'nearby' Eden, in this book the scale explodes to include - in a way that Iain Banks also does very well - multifareous alien races and civilisations with ancient scores to settle, making humanity appear very small and frail indeed. Favourite moment: an ancient, and supposedly dormant, enemy starfleet bursting through the skin of the galaxy to unleash hell... But who are they looking for, and why? We won't find out until the last part of the trilogy, dammit.

    A Captivating Continuation of the Eden Series, April 21, 2012

By MarkD - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Eden's Trial (The Eden Trilogy) (Kindle Edition)

Eden's Trial is an exciting ride into an expanded universe, the foundation of which is established in The Eden Paradox. Kirwan strikes a great balance of keeping the story riveting while also delving deeper into character development. Eden's Trial would work well as a standalone read but like any trilogy it work's better to start at the beginning, so I strongly suggest reading The Eden Paradox first. I really enjoyed both books. The only problem with finishing Trial is Now I have to wait for the final book to find out what happens!

 

  Paradise Re-Lost, February 21, 2012 

By 

D. Keramidas - See all my reviews 

(REAL NAME)   

 

 

This review is from: Eden's Trial (The Eden Trilogy) (Kindle Edition)

 

Barry Kirwan convincingly depicts the new world mankind finds after destroying Earth (a bit too plausibly for comfort). Humans being what they are, and other creatures being not much better,Eden proves as problematic as the world left behind. It's nice to get re-acquainted with the characters from Book One, who have developed consistently, but always interestingly. It's hard to decide which is Kirwan's greatest strength, developing these futuristic but somehow familiair individuals, or creating planetscapes with vivid, painstaking detail. Either way, I look forward to the last book of the trilogy!

 

The Eden Saga

The Eden Paradox

Eden's Trial

Eden's Revenge (coming in 2012)

Why are we so awful in English? a special report from France's leading TV News Station

Last month, France's TF1 TV networkscreened a short report on the state of English teaching in France which is worth watching.

"Pourquoi est-on aussi nuls en anglais?" the TF1 report on English learning in France, asks the perenial question: Why are the French so terrible in English? Some answers can be glimpsed in the interviews... The French primary school teacher who says she doesn't know how to speak English but does her best.  The young man who says he had a job waiting for him if he can finally pass the English test...The high school (lycée) teacher who demonstrates methods to encourage the class to participate - which looks great until the journalist informs us that the French education ministry would allow reporters to film only this class and no other.

***

Five years after the publication of Sorbonne Confidential, what has changed? According to the news report broadcast on France's leading television station TF1, not much. As of this year, children will be tested in their oral English skills, but teachers in the primary schools are still thrown into classrooms without adequate knowledge of English and the competitve exams have not fundamentally changed.

And, just in case we needed a reminder of the French problem with English, President François Hollande volunteered to offer an example. He signed his letter to Barack Obama not "Sincerely Yours" or "Best Wishes" but an innovative "Friendly, Hollande". 

Here is the TF1 video entitled "Pourquoi est-on aussi nuls en anglais" (Why are we so awful in English)

 

 

Laurel Zuckerman's inside look at English teaching in France (Sorbonne Confidential) first appeared in French to rave reviews and heated debate in 2007. The book, based on Zuckerman's personal experience and extensive research, describes in disconcertingly hilarious detail how English teachers in France train for an arduous competitive exam that tests their ability to write Cartesian dissertations (in French) and to distinguish between pig's feet (what the animals walk on) and pig's trotters (what you eat). It examines France's teacher training system and the impact that poor training of English teachers has on the learning of English in France. It also looks at the private industry that has sprung up around teaching English as a Second Language, as worried parents look for solutions outside the public schools.

Education Book Review: Wonderland in the Academy by Bill G

 Wonderland in the Academy,

By bill-g Amazon Verified Purchase

REVIEW Sorbonne Confidential (Mass Market Paperback)

Laurel Zuckerman's excellent "Sorbonne Confidential" is a lightly fictionalized account of her preparation for the French competitive examination that opens the door to teaching English at the best pay and in the best schools. Although that is fascinating in itself, the book also touches on questions with implications beyond the educational system.

American by birth, upbringing and education, Ms. Zuckerman's heroine, Alice Wunderland, is French by choice -- a naturalized citizen with fluent French who has also studied, lived and worked in France for most of her adult life. Nevertheless in the Wonderland of French public education, the exam to select English teachers places greater weight on competence in formal French than the ability to communicate in English. For example, a major component of the exam is a seven-hour essay to be written about English literature -- but in French and in the very specific style of a French dissertation. While Americans can learn to do it, because the exam is competitive, they need to do it better than the native speakers.

This practice does retain the best jobs for the French, but at whose expense? Make no mistake. Because it is the international language of business, the importance of learning English is essentially uncontroversial. Still, the French rank last among European students in English language skills. Those with money can send their children to classes out of the public school system and provide them with summers in English speaking countries. What about those without the means?

More generally, the book asks what integration into another culture means. Even as we see the system excluding the British and Americans, rather like antibodies rejecting a foreign body, we can also see Alice's own antibodies at work when she resists becoming facile with what she judges of little value or positively detests (e.g., French dissertation style, currently fashionable modes of literary criticism.) Can integration require sacrificing one's integrity?

And then, what comes into play in our views of another culture? Alice finds the French view of America distorted both in her daughter's English class and in her own classes at the Sorbonne. Intriguingly, she suggests that the negatives the French see in America are what they can't look at in their own history or culture. That is one of several topics that I would have loved to have seen explored in greater detail, but it might have required doubling the length.

The book is alternately amusing, sad and thought-provoking. Ms. Zuckerman is always intelligent -- even if you are at times tempted to ask for more argument or information in support of the insights she offers. One never questions the fundamental absurdity of an exam which distinguishes among those best qualified to teach English on the basis of their ability to communicate in formal French.

Sci-fi readers praise The Eden Paradox with top five star reviews

*****    Praise for Barry Kirwan's The Eden Paradox      *****

“This is a spectacularly well-written novel, massively gripping and with a depth of sophistication to the potential future world described that makes it all the more compelling. You don’t need to be a SciFi fan to enjoy this book, but if you are you’re going to love it! I found myself making excuses during the day to sneak in a few more pages’ reading – it’s been a long time since a novel made me do that!”

Guy Loft, Ashgate Publishers

 

“From the first paragraph, Barry Kirwan takes the reader on a journey spanning space and time in a fluid, action-packed flow of images, thoughts and words. His cast of characters ring true, pulling the reader into all too real future, where Mr Kirwan gives mankind hope while preying on our fears. An excellent story leaving the reader craving more.”

Lydia Manx, Piker Press

 

“Barry is a great story teller. He has woven a vast array of ideas and themes into a coherent, credible tale, stitched together with no apparent seams while remaining very readable and accessible, and it has a strong ending.”

Author Julie-Ann Corrigan.

 

“I was surprised by how exciting this book is. It’s a real page-turner from start to finish. I loved how the plot starts small and then scales up to the global, and then interstellar level. The beginning is tight and unexpected, and the ending is truly spectacular!”

Author and Screenwriter Gideon Roberton

 

“Kirwan carves out a tale of diabolic intent and our desperate struggle against both ourselves and an implacable enemy. His characters are instantly involving, and his ability to merge poetic prose with technical knowledge and amazing descriptions kept me clicking the forward button on my Kindle in every moment I had. Truly, if yo don’t read this book you are missing out!”

Scifi Author Mike Formechelli

 

“The Eden Paradox is a well-written science fiction thriller, with the plot grabbing the reader from page to page so fast that my Kindle had to work to catch up!”

Author Chris Vanier

 

“This is Orson Scott Card material at half the cost and double the words. Hard to beat that. The action was well-paced and the plot moves fluidly from beginning to end.”

Jacob Millican, USA 

 

“The Eden Paradox is a well-written, action-packed, suspenseful novel. I felt as if I was watching a movie.

Mayra Calvani, professional book reviewer

 

“Like Solaris and 2001, The Eden Paradox deals with cosmic issues, without stinting on action and plot. As I followed the fully-fleshed characters in the near-future setting, I wondered where our own universe and the author Kirwan’s begins.”

Author Dimitri Keramitas.

The Eden Paradox is the first novel in the stunning science fiction space opera, The Eden Series.