—William Gartner author of BIOTOXIN.
Mad Cow Disease, that prion based, irreversible brain disease has struck again in the United States, so says a CNN report. Mad Cow disease, otherwise known as vCJD (variant Creutzfeld-Jacob disease) is believed to be transmitted by eating meat from an infected cow. This bovine spongiform encephalopathy (called that because the brain looks like a sponge under a microscope) causes a progressive loss of coordination, strength, and mentation ultimately leading to dementia and death.
There is no treatment and no spontaneous remissions. In fact it is nearly impossible to diagnose during life.
Read more here.
Some fast facts here.
This chilling disease has a long latency during which the disease may be active before there are any outward manifestations. It might even become the basis for a prophetic novel called Shadow of Eden….
Read MoreDirk Cussler who has taken over writing for his father Clive’s Dirk Pitt franchise read Shadow of Eden and enjoyed it enough to write a comment about it.
Shadow of Eden is an irresistible thriller that exposes the frightening power of the drug industry against a tense race to save lives. Read it before you take your next prescription!
By the way, I’m a big fan of Dirk’s writing. He has taken on a tough task stepping up to write for an immensely popular series with millions of fans around the world. He has succeeded fabulously, with gripping plots, impossible situations and sky-high stakes that make reading each one an irresistible compulsion until you finish it. (missing meals, sleep, work…)
Read MoreNovel beats out Dan Brown, Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy for Top Spot
My novel, Shadow of Eden, jumps ahead of perennial bestselling authors with his medical and political thriller.
I can honestly say, I never thought I’d ever be in such August company. I’m enjoying the moment.
In the meantime, I’m working hard on my next novel about a scientific expedition to find the Garden of Eden.
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On Friday, I gave a talk about weight loss, obesity and the science on why it is so hard to lose weight. I have uploaded it here because of the references and comments on the slides I wanted to make available. There is so much bad information posted even by physicians that I wanted anyone who was interested to be able to look up the scientific articles I read in preparation for the talk. See below for a quick summary of the talk.
Author Patricia Zick interviewed me in December but just posted it yesterday on her popular blog site called Writing Whims. In it she asks me such questions about Shadow of Eden such as did my subject choose me?, What author influenced me the most? (you may be surprised), and who is my favorite character?
We spend some time talking about the antagonists in the book, a particular topic about which I am passionate. It takes a really good villain to make a great hero. Think Harry Potter’s Voldemort, Sherlock’s Moriority, and Skywalker’s Darth Vader.
We talked about characterization and what it takes to make a book come alive.
Through this whole time, I got to know and appreciate Patricia’s work and her care in putting out a substantial product day after day. I know that carries itself over into her novels as well. She has well regarded nonfiction and fiction books. You can read about them on her website.
I hope you enjoy the interview and as always, feel free to contact me at lk@louiskirby.com.
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Shadow of Eden starts out by a doctor called to the cockpit of a 747 in flight to tend to the incoherent pilot. Farfetched? Not! See the real life replay of a nearly identical situation. Only this time, the pilot didn’t savage the plane like in the book…
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/01/13/dnt-nurse-saves-pilot-mid-flight.ktla.html
Shadow has also foretold the deteriorating relations with Taiwan, the plane crashing into the pentagon (that part written before 9/11), the advent of several diet medications, and several others.
Read MoreMy recent interview by acclaimed writer Seeley James, author of the Pia Sabel series. In it, Seeley opens with this question, “Your thriller Shadow of Eden has one of the most exciting beginnings of the year. How did that come about?” Cool. How can you beat that?
He goes on to ask about writing realistic dialogue, my favorite authors (some you won’t expect), how I keep it real, and the latest book to blow me away (this one is really from left field).
Excerpt:
Read MoreAmazing. The Grand Canyon National Geographic Visitor’s Center picked up the photos from my last hike to post them on their website. They found them on my Facebook page and tweeted me asking if I would give them permission to repost. They went live today. How cool to be recognized for your photography. I must say, one of my favorites was taken by Chris Weber (the one in the narrow Canyon). They posted three from the hike.
So I attached the link and you can see for yourselves.
The National Geographic page: https://www.facebook.com/grandcanyonngvc
If you are interested to see more, click https://www.facebook.com/LouisKirbyAuthor
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AnnaMaria writes books and also interviews authors that interest her. She and I sat down over coffee and scones (blueberry) and had a nice chat about my writing, my book, Shadow of Eden and quite a few other things. She is a very intuitive interviewer, which says a lot about her approach to her own writing. She asked about my interest in writing, some of the nuts and bolts about my plot, and slipped in a question or two about my family. Read it by clicking here.
Also, check out her web site describing her books by clicking here.
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Darth Vader, Hanibal Lector, Lord Voldemort, The Joker. Villains we love to hate. They are so good, we remember their names. Importantly, they make the hero for without a great opponent, we’ll never know how good the protagonist is.
So I created two scary villains. One the mastermind, the other, the muscle. Morloch and Mallis. Both smart, cunning and supremely good at what they do.
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