New Murder Mystery Introduces a Paranormal Mansion, Psychic and Detectives
Via PR.com
Mysteerie Manor, a new murder mystery by Sharon Hays, is the first in a series that tells the story of a historical mansion and its connection to paranormal and criminal activity.
Mysteerie Manor follows Maryanne O’Donnell, a young entrepreneur in Colorado on the lookout for investment properties. When she finally gets a chance to purchase a historic property she’s had her eye on for years, Maryanne’s excitement is quickly stifled when mysterious activities are discovered at Valencia Manor. Assembling an unexpected group of detectives, Maryanne and a collection of police officers, a psychic, priest and more set out to discover the dangerous, supernatural mysteries of the mansion.
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‘I Shall Wear Midnight’ not a typical fantasy novel
Annie J. Kelley at The Battlecreek Enquirer
The first lines in “I Shall Wear Midnight” by Terry Pratchett are: “Why is it, Tiffany Aching wondered, that people liked noise so much? Why was noise so important?”
The last line is: “And Tiffany said, ‘Listen.'”
Between those two lines is a story full of sound and fury and laugh-out-loud moments, in true Terry Pratchett fashion.
Tiffany is not your typical fantasy heroine, but then this is not your typical fantasy series. There is magic, but witches prefer to use thinking, pride and a pair of well-used boots. There are faeries, but the Wee Free Men are described as “a bunch of thieving drunken reprobates and scofflaws with no respect for the law whatsoever!” And that is what they call their good points.
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The ACLU is studying science fiction to find the next threats to your liberty
By Charlie Jane Anders at io9
Some of today’s biggest legal debates (genetic discrimination, patents for human genes) might have seemed far-fetched not so long ago. So the American Civil Liberties Union is looking to science fiction to figure out tomorrow’s biggest challenges to personal liberty.
According to a fascinating article in the American Prospect, a policy analyst named Jay Stanley prepared a report for the ACLU in 2002 called Technology, Liberties, and The Future, which addresses the ACLU’s possible response to “everything from cloning to artificial intelligence to genetic splicing to nanotechnology.” The report has never been released to the public, but apparently it draws on opinions from legal scholars — and on sources as diverse as 1984, Brave New World, Blade Runner, Terminator and Aliens. In Stanley’s report:
he carefully imagines what could happen when human reproductive cloning is perfected — “what enforcement action would be taken when, say, a sixth-grader is discovered to be an unauthorized clone of Jennifer Lopez?” Could genetic enhancement inspire a kind of neo-eugenicist society where social classes are determined by access to the kind of wealth one needs to take advantage of such technologies?
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Chat with Becca Fitzpatrick October 13th
via Barnes and Noble’s Facebook
Becca Fitzpatrick is the bestselling author of Hush, Hush, the dark, dangerous, and dreamy story of your average teenage girl—who finds herself falling for a fallen angel. Becca is back with Crescendo, the sequel to Hush, Hush, on sale October 19th! Becca will be here on Wednesday, October 13th, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET, so be sure to stop by and join the conversation!
Follow Barnes and Noble on facebook and RSVP for the conversation to talk to Becca Fitzpatrick on October 13th.
RSVP here
I think using Sci Fi to look for future human rights issues is a great idea. So many science fiction writers use their genre to examine modern problems by using potential problems from the future as contrast. When the Human Genome project was collecting DNA, they faced a lot of people who refused to give sample because they feared it would be used against them. And since there are no laws on the books (there are some in progress) that protect from, say, insurance companies refusing coverage because of high risk patients, it’s a legitimate fear.
What do you think of the paranormal mystery series? What do you think of the ACLU using Sci Fi? Are you going to join the chat with Becca Fitzpatrick?
