Special Saturday Bulletin: SPYDOG is Published!

Escape to the Stars...SPYDOG is OUT! 

I’m offering this NEW RELEASE to readers of Spacefreighters Lounge at 99 cents through TODAY ONLY! (This book is an expanded version of my USA Today Bestselling Pets in Space® 4 story.)

Grab it on Kindle by clicking here! 

When his transport is destroyed before his eyes, agent Rigel Blackline and his bio-engineered StarDog partner wind up marooned on a planet buzzing with enemy patrols. Worse, they carry time-sensitive intel that must be delivered to their contacts on a distant space station—data that could defeat their ruthless enemies. 

Rigel’s only hope is to reach another Network ship before they’re captured, but things get complicated when they cross paths with Sona, a savvy warrior-class Rathskian female. She claims to be a friendly, but he suspects the vixen is a dangerous counter-spy sent to intercept him and his StarDog. His intuitive sidekick’s immediate bond with Sona is even more baffling. 

Rigel decides “capturing” Sona as an enemy asset and delivering her to his superiors may be his best option, but Sona has secrets that threaten more than just Rigel’s self-control. Her knowledge of Network dealings are on a level even he isn’t privy to. Is she truly an ally, or is he playing directly into the hands of a dangerous double-agent…in more ways than one? 

SpyDog is an Inherited Stars Series companion story to Inherit the Stars and StarDog.

It's also a companion to Juggernaut, available for pre-order now and releases on October 6th as part of Pets in Space 5. Read an early review of Juggernaut here: Juggernaut-A Pets in Space 5 Story

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SEARCHING FOR THE OPTIMAL WORD

As authors, we all know by now how to work the “search engine optimization” game. That is, we’ve learned how to ensure that when someone searches for us or our books on Google (or some other Internet search engine), they find our websites and titles first, and not some random schmoe with a similar sounding name or domain. As I explained in a recent post, keywords work the same way to direct searches for our books on Amazon. Assign the right keywords to your titles and readers find your books a lot faster.

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have discovered in a new study that our minds search for words in a way that is very similar to SEO, giving preference to words with similar meanings to create a kind of linguistic network. Some words are easier to remember because they are semantically linked, leading to areas of high traffic in the network, while others are harder to remember because they have fewer meaningful links, leaving them on the “outskirts.” It’s as if some words show up first in the Google search and others show up on page five—or 100.

The right words are easy to remember--apparently.

"We found that some words are much more memorable than others. Our results support the idea that our memories are wired into neural networks and that our brains search for these memories, just the way search engines track down information on the internet," said Weizhen (Zane) Xie, Ph.D., a cognitive psychologist and post-doctoral fellow at NINDS, who led the study published in Nature Human Behaviour. "We hope that these results can be used as a roadmap to evaluate the health of a person's memory and brain."

The study focused on common words like “pig,” “tank,” and “door,” which turned out to be much more memorable than other common words like “cat,” “street” and “stair.” The researchers used brain wave recordings, memory tests and surveys of billions of words from a variety of sources for their work, the idea for which arose out of small study of epilepsy patients with intractable seizures. In that study, a team of scientists led by Dr. Kareem Zaghloul at NINDS used a simple test for recalling pairs of words to observe how neural circuits in the brain record and replay memories. They saw that some of the 300 pairs of words they used were easier for their subjects to recall than others.

At first, the team dismissed the results. Yet when researchers tried again with the same words in different pairs, they discovered the same words gave their subjects trouble no matter how they were paired. The scientists remained skeptical, hypothesizing that differences in the subjects’ backgrounds might yield a different “relationship” to the words, giving them more or less “weight.”

But a larger study of 2623 healthy volunteers on an online crowdsourcing site yielded similar results, proving that the small, epilepsy study was no fluke.  

Then in a moment of serendipity at a Christmas party, Xie met Wilma Bainbridge, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of psychology at the University of Chicago, who, at the time was working as a post-doctoral fellow at the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Bainbridge had written a paper on the theory that some faces are inherently more memorable than others.  

"Our exciting finding is that there are some images of people or places that are inherently memorable for all people, even though we have each seen different things in our lives," said Bainbridge. "And if image memorability is so powerful, this means we can know in advance what people are likely to remember or forget."

Even though Bainbridge’s theory—the Search for Associative Memory model—had only been applied to images, Xie thought it could be applied to the work he and Zaghloul had been doing with words. “We thought one way to understand the results of the word pair tests was to apply network theories for how the brain remembers past experiences," said Xie. “In this case, memories of the words we used look like internet or airport terminal maps, with the more memorable words appearing as big, highly trafficked spots connected to smaller spots representing the less memorable words. The key to fully understanding this was to figure out what connects the words."

The researchers had to write a new computer model to do this, and, in doing so, found some of their simplest explanations for why certain words were more memorable didn’t account for their results. It wasn’t the number of times the words appeared in sentences that made them memorable, for example, or the “concreteness” of their definitions. It was, in fact, the semantic links—that is, the meaningful connections—attributed to the words that made them more memorable. (Though—to pause for an editorial comment here—how “pig” could have more semantic impact than “cat” is a mystery to me.) The more semantic links, the heavier the network “traffic” through the word in the brain.

To the scientists this is vital to the understanding of how the brain works and can lead to better medical intervention in the future. For me as a writer, though, not only am I picking up all kinds of plot bunnies for my telepathic Thrane aliens, but I’m also working overtime to figure out which words might have the best neural connections for my next best-selling title. Without somehow resorting to the use of “pig.”

Cheers, Donna

*Information for this post provided from: "Why some words may be more memorable than others," NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, as reported in Science Daily.com, June 29, 2020. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200629120204.htm

Juggernaut - a Pets in Space 5 story

 

If Juggernaut, Laurie Green's contribution to the Pets in Space anthology, is anything to judge by, readers are in for another ripper read-fest. There's a whole lot of story in this novella parcel.

Dek Garr is a lieutenant commander, second in command of the security team for a top secret facility located in lava tunnels on the planet called La Guardia – or is it Draxis?

There's plenty of conflict in the story. Dek and her commanding officer don't get along and some of the team resent her because she's a woman but Dek does her job to the best of her ability. Then suddenly, she's left in charge as acting commander when her boss is pulled off world for… something. That's when Telon and his partner, stardog Cassie, arrive on a secret mission.

The relationship between Telon, Dek, and Cassie develops from a rocky start as they get to know more about each other – and we readers find out more about them. The lava tubes which form the setting for much of the story are well described and they also make sense as a location for the secrets they hide.

Stardog Cassie is cute as a button and I'm sure Laurie took some of her inspiration for the creature from her own miniature dachshunds. I confess, I wouldn't mind having a smart little stardog. She becomes the star of the show (as she should) when she uncovers a stunning secret that had gone undetected until she finds it. It's something that gives one to think.

Reading Juggernaut I was reminded of things happening in our real world – changing history, cancel culture, the comings and goings of Empire. And I liked the believable future technology. The main characters are sympathetic and well-rounded, with interesting back stories that give the story depth.

I specially like the ending, where Dek has an epiphany.

Yes, of course there's a HEA. It's a romance.

Have you pre-ordered your copy yet? You really should. 

Nook  Amazon Kobo Google  iBooks

Improvised Weapons For Your Characters

In a fight, anything can be used as a weapon. If you've seen a Jackie Chan movie, you've seen many unique improvised weapons from ladders to bicycles to jacket sleeves. Why not make your fight scene unique too?  Adding a little razzle-dazzle with an improvised weapon can make an ordinary fight scene exciting and memorable.

First, think about the setting of your fight scene. Make a list of what might be available in the scene to use as a weapon and then choose something interesting, something that hasn’t been done a hundred times before. If your scene is in someone’s yard, rocks and sticks can be easily found. But why not make it more interesting by having your character defend herself by smashing a clay garden gnome over the bad guy’s head?

Let’s use the standard bar brawl as an example. What's available to use as a weapon in a bar? You've got all the old standbys: bottles, stools, chairs, tables, and pool cues. Maybe a pinball machine or a jukebox or a window someone can get thrown into. These have all been done before. Now, think of some unique bar items a character can use as a weapon. A fist with a roll of coins taken from cash register. A glass jar of pickled eggs. The cord of a Neon beer light to strangle someone. Think outside the box to make your scene stand out.

What if you're not writing a bar brawl? You're writing a middle grade or a young adult novel. What could kids use in a fight in the schoolyard? Depending on the their ages, the characters could make use of a jungle gym by grabbing the high bar and swinging both feet into their opponent's chest. They could use a jump rope to strike or whip or even strangle. They could throw dirt or a clump of wood chips into the opponent's eyes to blind them. How about hitting someone with a book-filled backpack, a tennis racket, or any kind of sports ball lying around? If they’re in the band, they could use their musical instrument to whack someone.

A weapon doesn’t have to be small enough to hold. You characters can throw each other into something large, like the side of the house, a tree, a car parked in the driveway, the rose bushes, a swing set. This is your chance to create an exciting and unique fight scene. Have fun with it!

Here is a short excerpt from RENEGADE (Survival Race #3) with an example of an improvised weapon. Griffin is a scientist. Katana is a gladiator.

Griffin raced toward the screams on Pele cliffs. He careened to a halt at the sight of the new refugee, Katana—her nose bloodied, mouth bloodied, thermal suit bloodied—backing away from the biggest gladiator he’d ever seen. The hulk must have been at least six-foot-eight with a shoulder span that tripled his own. 

Had the gladiator hunter come for the woman? Had he come to reclaim the recent escapees? Had he come to capture all the refugees? 

Witty remarks and his usual charm wouldn’t stop a brute. He should leave right now, race to the nearest sentry, and make them ring the warning bell, but he couldn’t leave the woman in the hands of a damn gladiator.

How would he save her without getting himself killed in the process? He hadn’t raised a fist since the day he vowed nonviolence, an oath he refused to break. 

The hulk punched Katana’s face. Her head snapped back, and for a suspended moment Griffin was a child again, paralyzed, clinging to Father’s bookcase, too scared to help Mother.

Katana stumbled backward and landed on her butt in the weeds. She scrambled to her feet and grabbed—

No! Not the telescope! 

The hulk leaned away. The weapon flew past and the gladiator rushed her. In a quick movement, he had her disarmed, spun around with her back pinned against his chest, and a fist yanking her hair back exposing her neck, the tender white flesh streaked with crimson.

Weaponless, and without a plan, Griffin sprang forward. “Let her go!”

Renegade is available in print and ebook.

The last man alive wins! But what if your competitor is the woman you love? 

A Survival Race Championship victory will award scientist Griffin the spaceship he needs to deliver his people to freedom. But when raiders attack his refuge and capture his appointed champion, Griffin’s last hope is to recruit the tough yet tempting female warrior they left for dead.

Injured and abandoned, genetically engineered superhealer Katana is rescued by a gallant scientist with an enticing proposition and an entry into the gladiator race of her dreams. A victory would free her from destitution. But how can loner Katana win an elite world championship when she’s never competed at the professional level?

As brain and brawn team-up in the arena, desires ignite and passions soar…and a game-changing secret is revealed. But the race masters demand a single champion in this blood sport, and the rivals-turned-lovers must choose between winning their freedom and losing each other.

**This enemies-to-lovers science fiction romance is a stand-alone book in a series, in which each book's couple finds their happily ever after. No cliff hangers. No cheating.

 

Try this fun brainstorming exercise. If you were attacked where you are right now, what three things could you use as an improvised weapon? Bonus points for creativity. Leave your answers in the comments section.

Stay safe out there!

K.M. Fawcett

Author & martial arts instructor

Romance for the Rebel Heart

www.kmfawcett.com