I was doing a little reading and concluded that my next books and revisions of my older books need to have print on demand (POD) and ebook availability. I've included some of the articles on the web I was reading for research.
Peter Lok
Author's site for science fiction, military SF reviews, and technology posts. I also blog about Japanese pop culture at http://www.tokyoexcess.blogspot.com
Friday 5 February 2021
2020 Sales of Ebooks and Print Books and Your Book Selling Strategy
Friday 4 December 2020
My Writing Group Has Just Published All Mapped Out - A New Anthology
Hi everybody! Two years ago I joined up with the Edmonton Writers' Group and have been attending the meetings regularly. The group is a loose affiliation of writers who just get together every two weeks to critique one or two short stories or pieces of writing from a member(s). It's all done in good fun and the group has been running for fourteen years.
The group had previously published some anthologies and late last year, people started wondering if they should do another anthology. Well, it is a year later and I contributed a story to All Mapped Out, the fourth collection that has just been published.
All
Mapped Out is a set of stories based on the theme of MAPS. Many kinds
of maps are involved that range from actual paper maps to abstract
concepts of a path or even a journey. There are fifteen stories in this
collection with no two stories being alike. Some are mysteries, others
are emotional journeys, and there are fantasy and science fiction
stories too. They’re all pretty enjoyable reads too (a good thing as
this volume went through a number of editing passes within the group).
The volume has been in the works for over a year and it is the fourth
anthology published by the group, and it is the first one for me to be
involved in. All Mapped Out is available online as an ebook or in
print. All profits from this anthology are donated to the Edmonton Public Library which also hosts our meet ups when we meet in person.
It is a whole bunch of work to get out a printed book and ebook, but the Edmonton Writers' Group is a good bunch of folks who apparently love a good challenge and writing of all kinds. Membership isn’t
all that exclusive as there are no fees and you just have to attend
three meetings to be considered a member, but we have people who come
regularly and people who only drop in a few times a year. The group has
a pretty diverse membership with dozens of members and meets every two
weeks to do friendly reviews of one or two stories. Even with the
pandemic this year, we went online to hold our meetings by video (and
didn’t miss a single meeting), and I think everyone is glad to have some
social contact with their fellow writers. Personally, I’ve found that
everyone is pretty supportive of each others writing and the commentary
is always interesting as it brings up things that I never thought about
or missed.
I contributed the story “Green Day” to the anthology.
My story is set in a future Edmonton which has undergone immense change
due to climate change. It is a story about competitors running a foot
race around the core of the city while racking up scores on an overlayed
virtual map. The prize is luxury food privileges in a future that
provides for all, but things we take for granted are now expensive
luxuries.
It was really interesting to see the diversity of
stories in this anthology and it really shows the different
personalities and interests of the people in the group. If you pick up a
copy of the book, I hope you have a good read.
A big thanks also goes out to our editor, Howard, and Robin for facilitating the online meetings.
Where To Get All Mapped Out
All Mapped Out at Amazon.ca - Canadian Kindle ebook
All Mapped Out at Amazon.ca - Canadian trade paperback
All Mapped Out at Amazon.com - USA Kindle ebook
Older Works by the Writing Group
Between the Shelves at Amazon.ca - Canadian Kindle ebook
Edmonton Unbound at Amazon.ca - Canadian Kindle ebook
The Edmonton Writers' Group Blog and Website
http://edmontonwritersgroup.blogspot.com
https://sites.google.com/view/edmontonwritersgroup
My Writing
Tokyo Intro - a storytelling guidebook to the city
My science fiction books and stories
Sunday 31 May 2020
Food Preservation with MREs and Combat Rations in General
Food preservation technology via canning took a big advance in the 18th century if I recall from watching the show Connections. Napoleon was concerned about feeding his army and a man named Nicolas Appert figured out that he could preserve food in bottles if the food was cooked and sealed in an airtight container. Canned rations followed later in the 19th century. Military needs basically produced an innovation in food preservation. On an interesting side note, this also means that making jam and other fruit preserves didn't exist until after these innovations, so the techniques are only a few centuries old. Before canning, you had drying, smoking, salting, and pickling as methods of preserving meat and vegetables.
Skipping ahead a couple of hundred years, past WWII K-Rations, then C-Rations, you now have MREs or meals ready to eat. So rations were bottled, then canned, and now they are stored in retort pouches made out of laminated foil and plastic. MREs were a big improvement on previous types of military field rations that existed even in the 1970s. These days, they would be compared against other types of dehydrated or retort packaged foods and they hold up pretty good against the competition.
It turns out there is a community of military ration enthusiasts and I watched bunch of unpackaging videos on Youtube. You could spend hours viewing a variety of military rations from different countries and be impressed.
Gundam Cup Noodle |
Cup Noodle cutaway |
- Nissin Pop Culture (The Fame of Cup Noodles)
- The Original Chicken Ramen - A Taste of History
- Nissin Big Cup Noodle Extravaganza
- Nissin Kitsune and Tempura Instant Ramen + King Chicken Cup Ramen
- Tasty Nissin Instant Ramen - Deluxe Versions
- Nissin Cup Noodle Shio Ramen and Big Cup Chicken Ramen with Summer Curry Tomato
- Nissin Cup Noodles for 7-11, Italian Curry, and Kalbi Garlic Flavours!
- Donbe Big Tempura Udon and Nissin Instant Chicken Ramen Bowl
- My Travelogue Post To The Yokohama Nissin and Ramen Museums. DIY cup of noodle!
- Menraku Instant Bowl Ramen
- Brazilian Cup Noodle and the World Cup
- Nissin Deluxe Instant Ramen Bowls
- Nissin Craftsmen Instant Ramen Bowls
- Nissin Curry Meshi (Instant Rice Bowls)
- Japanese Emergency Rations
- Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Potatoes au gratin
- Chili with Beans, Fried rice
- Vegetarian Ratatouille, Potatoes au gratin
- Chicken with Noodles, Fried rice
- Beef Ravioli, Potato cheddar soup
- Chicken Fajita, Fried rice
- Meatballs in Marinara Sauce, Potato cheddar soup
- Vegetable Lasagna, Zapplesauce
- 2 Apple Maple Oatmeal, Brown sugar toaster pastry
- 2 Sausage Patty with Hash Browns, Hash brown with bacon
I've only tried one MRE so far, a Meatballs in Marinara Sauce and a Potato Cheddar Soup with Bacon meal. It was actually pretty good overall and I'll comment about the meal in the pictures below. A meal works out to cost less than $10 Canadian if you take out the shipping cost. They last a long time too, up to five years with regular cool storage.
The MREs come in tough plastic packages within a sturdy cardboard box and are tightly fitted inside. You'll need a lot of muscle or a cutter to open the tough bags. |
The meatballs in a tomato sauce. The small meatballs were quite firm, but I enjoyed it. It is probably better to have a firmer meatball than a squished on in my opinion. |
Chedder and potato soup. This was pretty good too and it went down real easy. |
I was quite impressed by these crackers as they were crisp, had a good texture, and were fresh. Went real good with the peanut butter. |
As a parting shot, here is a picture of space instant noodles (ramen) that I shot when I was in Tokyo. It was developed by Nissin for the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA).
More Scifi Topics
Thursday 22 November 2018
Public Domain / Open Access Image Libraries
From NASA / Flicker. No known copyright restrictions (no need for attribution either). |
Here is a short list of amazing resource sites. Beware the Internet rabbit hole!
- The Library of Congress digital Free to Use and Reuse Sets. I like the Japanese fine prints collection, and you could definitely do a lot of creating with the other historical collections.
Their main digital collections page with millions of items that are not just images, but you need to be more careful about copyrights and usage. - The British Library released over a million images on Flickr that are in the public domain. There are lots of old maps and other images. Search or browse for hours.
- NASA and it many projects and divisions have piles of space images. Not all are public domain, so do read the usage policies and restrictions.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Images and usage policies.
ASTER Satellite Images that require credit.
NASA on The Commons are images that are in the public domain on Flickr. - Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access has 400,000 images online
Japanese Illustrated books in the public domain - check policies. - Getty Open Content Images, check their usage policies.
- National Gallery of Art Open Images, check their usage policies.
- Art Institute of Chicago, under Creative Commons License, make sure the Open Access Checkbox is on for the search.
Friday 28 September 2018
My Tokyo Introductory Guide Book Is Now Available!
Tokyo Stories provides an introduction to the city by using storytelling and Japanese pop culture in a unique format. Learn about Japanese food, key experiences, sights to see, districts to visit, anime, and why the country’s pop culture is so popular worldwide. Japan has a rich culture and history and is still creating more of it in the 21st century.
Learn About Tokyo
This book provides a comprehensive background for any visit on its own and easily complements other guides to the city. Over fifty experiences to have in Tokyo are detailed to allow the visitor to pick what they think is important to them.
Key sections in the book are:
- Japanese Pop Culture - Anime and Manga, Idols, Kawaii, Cyberpunk, and Videogames
- Japanese Food - Eating Out In Japan, Casual Restaurants, B-Kyu Food Of Japan, and more
- Tokyo Trip Tips – Planning, Booking, Transportation, Monetary, and Personal
- Core Districts To Visit - Shinjuku, Harajuku, Omotesando, Shibuya, Ginza, and more
- Great Views - Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo Tower, Mori Tower, Ginza Six, and more
- Top Tokyo Experiences – Modern Tokyo, Historic Tokyo, Seasonal Events, and Anime Culture
- Descriptions of more than 50 Tokyo Experiences – 100 Yen Store, Akihabara, Depachika, Gardens, Kappabashi Street, Konbini, Meiji Jingu, Odaiba High Tech, Ramen Museums, and more.
The four short stories in the book gently introduce what it is like to ride the trains, eat a meal, explore some must-visit districts, and have a pop culture adventure at the same time. Stories are remembered, so this is a great way to learn more about the fantastic city of Tokyo. One early reviewer remarked that they felt like they experienced the city through them, and that they loved the introductions to each story.
The stories are:
- Neko Astray – you help a lost cat get home with some unexpected help provided.
- Animated in Akiba – you assist a magical girl in Akihabara, the heart of anime culture.
- Print in Time – you meet an ukiyo-e artist who has accidently travelled in time to modern Tokyo.
- Kaiju Knocking – you are a tourist in Tokyo when it is attacked by a giant monster.
By the time you finish this book you will have an idea about how much there is to see in Tokyo, and what you would like to see and do. However, this book is not a guide to Japanese etiquette, hotels, the restaurants, nightlife, shopping, or things that more typical guide books cover. Knowledge from this book supports planning with other resources, as it is intended to introduce and entertain only. Online sources of information for travel to Tokyo are excellent. You can use Google Maps and reviews, blogs, Youtube, Tripadvisor, Yelp, etc. They will provide you with addresses, exact map locations, and any other details you can think up. This book is like having someone tell you about Tokyo over a coffee with some tall tales sprinkled on top.
The author, Peter Lok, has written the novel Neo Ace, and has been blogging about Japanese pop culture and Tokyo since 2009.
The e-book is now available on Amazon Canada and USA.
https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Stories-Visitors-Introduction-Culture-ebook/dp/B07HR3YZ8N
https://www.amazon.ca/Tokyo-Stories-Visitors-Introduction-Culture-ebook/dp/B07HR3YZ8N
For more information on Tokyo, visit my travelogue page with this link.
Friday 20 April 2018
Writing Mecha Science Fiction and Exocrisis Blue
So, how could I write a more realistic SF story with big combat robots inspired by anime roots? I would have to avoid trying to do something only a Japanese writer would do well, do some creative thinking about the robots, integrate what I knew about modern military systems and tactics, and have a great story with great characters.
1) I didn't pretend to be a Japanese writer.
- I grew up on reading western SF and literature, so that is what I know and will write. I'm not Japanese, but I have a few insights into their mindset, after years of exposure to history books, translated novels, travelogues, anime, movies, and manga. This is enough to write about the Japanese, but not as a Japanese. I do like their creative work and pop culture in general so whatever I write is a tribute to this.
- The stories so far are not set in Japan, but in Canada, America, or in Africa.
- They have primary characters that are not Japanese, but there are Japanese characters.
- My main alliance in the stories is about CAJUN, or the Canada Japan Union that arose after the Alien War.
- Anime fans will recognize certain tropes, but it is all written from a western science fiction perspective (think Bolo or Starship Troopers) for a western audience. This means no shouting out attacks as you enter battle like in a Shonen anime or a Hong Kong Kung Fu movie.
- Robots are built using reverse-engineered alien technology to leap us ahead.
- They are powered by chemical fusion, a technology that allows massive power generation and blows up real good if ruptured. The power is needed to power weapon systems and defences.
- Survivable, so I equipped them, and their alien counterparts with active molecular armour. This was a lightweight armour plating that has incredible tensile strength and hardness, when it was powered up. This expensive composite also has incredible heat dissipation protperties against lasers.
- Large, as in 2 or 3 stories high, to carry the chemical fusion plants and be giant robotish, but not too big as to be a big target. Basically they mass like a modern main battle tank.
- Nimble, run quickly, to dodge incoming fire, react quickly, and allow the pilots to use their skills.
- Deadly, by firing hypersonic projectiles from coilguns (similar to railguns).
- Advanced AI and neural syncing control technology to move a robots like a human. The AI also acts like a weapons operator and copilot.
- I also added point defences, and complimentary weapons systems like missiles to the robots to make them more lethal.
- They are expensive and regular military units such as tanks, powered infantry, and artillery still comprise the bulk of the army.
- A HARM mecha is the equivalent of a tank platoon in firepower, but more deadly due to its mobility, agility, and firepower.
If I've perked your interest, head over to my publications page for links to Amazon ebooks here. Thanks for dropping by.
Wednesday 4 April 2018
Favourite Japanese Dining Experiences in Edmonton
First up is breakfast. I actually don't know any Japanese places that serve Japanese breakfast in Edmonton, but I ran into a hybrid the other day at Tasty Tom's down on Whyte Avenue. I ordered their breakfast snitzel which turned out to be a fried pork cutlet with panko breading. So western breakfast of fried eggs meets a very well made Japanese tonkatsu. The pan fried potatos were also done with curry powder giving it a bit of a Japanese flair. This was a great meal that was quite filling.
Breakfast Snitzel. |
Katsudon |
Tonkotsu Ramen |
Izakaya Lanterns out front. |
Great display at the front. |
A really tasty beef rib. |
Another Japanese pub type restaurant is Izakaya Tomo. This is another favourite place. They have more of a variety of small dishes that are more izakaya-ish. Dishes like their daikon salad and kinpura (burdock root) are not very common. They also do a really good takoyaki that isn't deep fried as far as I can tell. I'm mainly eating their cooked dishes here like their Udon Aglio Olio E Peperoncino, gyoza, and karaage, but their sushi is good too. Best of all, it all washes down with a beer.
Their cool looking upside down gyoza. |
Finally, my favourite sushi place is Sushi Wasabi. I've been eating here for a decade and their sushi doesn't disappoint. Nice large pieces of niguri sushi and good looking tamago. The Japanese family who runs it used to even have a booth at the spring festival down at the Devonian Gardens.
Finally, coming in 2018 to Edmonton is Gyu-Kaku, a Japanese BBQ chain from Japan. I've eaten several times down at their Calgary restaurant and they're expanding up here. You grill all of your own meat at a table top grill in front of you and it is really tasty and again, it goes well with beer.
Tuesday 6 September 2016
Great Locations To Play Pokemon Go In Edmonton and Calgary
Poke-Grafitti seen on a wall in downtown Edmonton |
I started playing it too and it has been a blast, but after a month of it, my enthusiasm along with that of many others has died down from a fierce bonfire to a nice toasty camp fire. It is a pretty fun game as everyone loves wandering around and capturing pokemon in the real world environment. There is always that thrill of capturing a rare pokemon or desired pokemon with a pokeball, but the trade-off is that there is a massive time investment required to get the full enjoyment out of the game (even if you are getting fit by walking around). It takes a huge amount of time to complete a pokedex or to level up so you can both capture higher-level pokemon and be able to level up your pokemon for gym battles. There is also the monetization aspect of the game which could cost you more than paying for a full Nintendo DS game and you don't get a storyline. Purchased coins can be used to expand your inventory, store more pokemon, obtain lures to draw more pokemon in, and purchase incubators to hatch more eggs (eggs give you stardust, more pokemon, and candies to evolve and level them up).
For most people it is next to impossible to complete a pokedex anyhow due to region specific rares. I'm at the point where I've completed about 85% of my pokedex by capturing or evolving pokemon but it isn't much fun to complete the rest as it is freaking hard to find some of these pokemon unless you live in some really big cities where it is a happy pokemon hunting ground. I've never seen a snorlax either (it has appeared on my radar once and I couldn't find it) and the randomness in the game for encountering rares actually kind of sucks as some people are lucky (they literally stumble over snorlaxes) and others just aren't (the game also doesn't work too well in rural or small town areas). Still, I'll keep playing for now and Niantic is improving the game by changing spawns, fixing the busted poke-radar at some point, etc.
To get to the point I'm at, I've been fortunate to be able to hunt in both Calgary and in Edmonton without going out of my way for an out of town poke-expedition. Here are some great hunting grounds in the two cities. When you hunt you need to spend at least a couple of hours looping around, but some lucky people have spent 4 to 6 hours just to get a rare or two. I'm never there when they spawn so my timing is bad. Both Edmonton and Calgary have lots of drowsies, but I have never seen a tauros which is the North American only pokemon.
Edmonton Legislature
The area around the Provincial Legislature building, especially the south grounds is a really good hunting ground as there are numerous pokestops to replenish supplies at and there are four pokestops by the lawn bowling green that are often lured. As of mid-August/early Sept, this place is currently crawling with clefairy and ponyta, the odd water pokemon (like squirtles, horseas, staryu) as of August/early Sept. It was a geodude nest with some growliths (they still show every so often) in early August that switched mainly to Ponyta, and I'm sure it'll switch again in September. There is plenty here that isn't ratatas or pidgeys.
All the lured pokestops south of the legislature. |
University of Alberta (Edmonton)
This place is packed full of pokestops, with a very busy set of four by the University Museum's house in the NW corner of the campus. The main quad which is anchored by the Science building to the north and Student's Union Building (SUB) on the south end is a good hunting ground. You could do a massive loop from the NW corner, head south through the main quad to end up at the south side of SUB then head back north again. The set of four stops by the NW corner are often lured and it was busy in July, but I found it wasn't so busy in August or early Sept. This set of four stops doesn't produce many water/grass/fire pokemon, but there are a ton of pidgeys, bugs, and a scattering of other types. It is a good place for leveling if you don't want to move too much as you can reach all four stops from a stationary position.
The NW set of four pokestops on Campus. |
Update: I played here for 2.5 hours on the morning of Sept. 7 after the students were back for university. There were people playing and some pokestops were lured, but it was mainly busy with students getting educations. In the 2.5 hours, the more significant pokemon I managed to bag were six squirtles, a staryu, an abra, a 1200 CP cloyster, a 800 CP omanyte, a mankey, four evee, a couple of ghastly, a lickitung, a magikarp, three meowth, and a poliwag. A 1400 CP dewgong ran on me and I missed out on another lickitung and an omanyte from what some other players said. So there is plenty of pokemon here as I caught over a hundred without being at active lures most of the time. I also managed to hatch a 5 km egg for an ekans.
Princes Island Park in Calgary
This is probably the best place to hunt pokemon that I have been to. You can actually do a loop around the lagoon here for variety and there are many amenities nearby (bars / restaurants) to help keep you going. The couple of weekend evenings I was here in August were amazing as there were 500 to 600 people playing the game (more than I have ever seen at the legislature). There were also 5 to 6 million mosquitoes at the time to make things more interesting.
The ring of pokestops around the Princes Island lagoon. |
Calgary also has good pokemon spots at Central Memorial Park, and SAIT where there are many pokestops on campus. I'm sure there will be plenty of pokemon when school is back in like at the U of A.
That's all for now, so happy pokemon hunting. May your pokedex be complete.
Sunday 19 June 2016
Future Battlefield, Tanks Versus Aliens, Excerpt From HARM
Photo by kanegen. Used under the Creative Commons Attribution License. |