Gondwanaland by Arvis Tatom

An entertaining video from youtube.

Readers and Writers Web Site

As all of you aspiring authors know, few publishers accept direct submissions from authors anymore. Such direct submissions used to go to a place that editors called the “slush pile.” Readers “mined” these slush piles, hoping to find the next great author. A talent-spotting reader discovered author Philip Roth this way when part of his slush pile submission grew into Goodbye, Columbus.

Because of copyright infringement fears, slush piles are largely gone. Publishers now rely on agents to act as go-betweens. As every author that has ever tried to secure an agent knows, it is all but impossible to do so and the lack of an agent prevents many wonderful writers from ever being published. A new website founded by editors from the publisher Harper Collins seeks to remedy this industry shortcoming.

The new site is Authonomy and it brings together talented, undiscovered writers and avid readers. Authors upload entire books that are free to read and comment on. Harper Collins has even published some of the books discovered in the site’s “slush pile."

I uploaded my novel Prairie Sunset to the site. If you are either writer, reader or - like me - both, I urge you to check out the site. While you are there, please take a look at Prairie Sunset.

Eric'sWeb

The Blizzard is Over - Win in Ten

Yesterday’s Christmas Eve blizzard dropped more snow (14.1”) on Oklahoma City than any storm since 1890 when record keeping began. Hundreds of car accidents occurred, including a fifty-five car pile-up on one of the interstate highways. High snow drifts stranded many motorists for hours.

This morning, gloomy skies have passed. Even though temperatures are still in the twenties, the sun is shining brightly and melting, hopefully, will begin in earnest. The blizzard is a reminder of the disastrous economic year the State has experienced. Maybe the sunny skies are an omen that the economic storm has passed and the sun is beginning to shine on us again.

Times were financially tough in the oil patch during the early nineties and prompted a slogan often repeated wherever oilies congregated. It was “survive till ’95.” My partner Ray has coined a new slogan, “win in ’10.” The wonderful sunshine this morning gives me hope that we will.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Eric'sWeb

Earthly Complexities

Fresh from the war, I started graduate school at the University of Arkansas. Separated from polite society for almost two years, I was trying desperately to regain some of its social graces. My new thesis advisor, Dr. K, reminded me as much every day.

Dr. K had an idea for a thesis project in the Ouachita Mountains. Arkansas is one of the most geologically diverse areas on earth. Many minerals occur there, some found nowhere else. Dr. K, a brilliant man and a graduate of Cornell University intimidated me at least a little.

I was not the only person returning from Vietnam. There were half a dozen of us, including an ex-Green Beret. Dr. K and I were walking down the hall one day when we came upon Mr. GB, his back to us and obviously in deep thought. When Dr. K tapped him on the shoulder, he wheeled around, coming up with a vicious blow to the good Dr's groin and laying him out on the hallway floor. When Dr. K regained his senses, and his breath, he dragged himself off the floor.

I understood GB's motivation. It took me months to keep from hitting the ground whenever a car backfired near me. Still, I fully expected Dr. K, the chairman of the department of geology, to lower the proverbial boom on the ex-green beret. Instead, he began speaking in a soft, friendly tone.

"I realize where you just came from and how horrible it must have been, but you're back in the States now. I'm going to let what you just did pass this time, but sometime in the future I'm going to tap you on the shoulder. If you ever lay a hand on anyone ever again, for any reason, you will be dismissed from the Arkansas geology department and you won't be welcomed back.

I was with Dr. K the next time he came up on Mr. GB from behind and believe me, I wouldn't have done what he did. He tapped Mr. GB's shoulder and stood there, waiting for the inevitable reaction. As if in slow motion, Mr. GB bent forward, almost touching the floor, and then began his karate twirl. This time he stopped abruptly before he ever made his turn, his deadly blow pulled before ever making contact. When he saw Dr. K, he began to shake uncontrollably.

Dr. K nodded, smiled slightly and said, "Welcome back to the world."

In southwest Arkansas, just south of the Ouachita Overthrust, is a geologically complex area known only to a few lucky people. Before I ever set foot on the terrain, I got a lesson in life from an amazingly complex person that understood the human heart as well as he knew the heart of the earth.

Eric'sWeb

Persistant Earthquakes Worry Residents of Small Oklahoma Community

A rash of unexplained earthquakes plague a central Oklahoma town.

http://newsok.com/quakes-still-shaking-jones/article/3426115

Eric'sWeb