Steve Alten December Newsletter |
|
MEGheads, Cove Dwellers, and the rest of my wonderful readers:
HAPPY HOLIDAYS.
As you know, MEG: PURGATORY will be the last MEG novel in the series. My team and I are working on a really special package of extras (see www.SteveAlten.com and scroll down the home page). As part of this special edition package, we are also reaching out to some of the best graphic artists, painters, and shark photographers in the world to create a gallery of iconic scenes from each of the novels. This week we had a zoom call with Euan Rannachan, an amazing shark photographer and Francois Vaillancourt, a fantastic graphic artist who has done many of Stephen King's covers. |
|
Meanwhile, I’ve been working 12 hours a day, seven days a week on The LOCH: Heaven’s Lake – the third book in The Loch Ness Monster series. The first third of the novel establishes the three lead characters and their stories which will be woven together. Zachary Wallace is the A story. The B plot involves his father, Angus who has a new hotel being constructed on the shores of Loch Ness but needs a monster…
“Gentlemen, allow me to explain. We’re not going tae replace the beast with another Guivre. We’re going tae create our own custom-made version of Nessie, a family-oriented aquatic anomaly more Disney than Anguilla…a creature we can control or kill off if need be.”
“And where does one purchase these custom-made beasties?” True asked. “Amazon.com?”
And then there is our antagonist – Ho-Sook An, a mentally disturbed savant – a geneticist who was physically and sexually abused as a child and has five different dissociated identities… and they all play a part in the story.
My goal is to finish the first draft in 2-3 months and start printing pre-sold copies a month later but release dates are secondary to the story which I want to be the best of the series… and one of my best – you deserve that. Books must be pre-ordered at www.SteveAlten.com (scroll down the welcome page) as these signed limited edition hardbacks (all will be signed) will not be sold in stores or on amazon.
Enjoy the rest of your newsletter… and have a safe and wonderful holiday.
--Steve Alten, Ed. D.
|
|
Great White Sharks amassing on East Coast… |
|
Maybe they’re auditioning for the MEG-2: The TRENCH movie?
|
|
SEA MONSTER COVE Updates: |
|
SeaMonsterCove.com is a groundbreaking multi-media entertainment experience where members can interact with the most terrifying sea monsters and prehistoric sharks in history.
- Over a dozen 360 Virtual Aquarium Experiences!
- Video games - compete for MEG teeth & other prizes!
- Two episodic TV series in development, written by Steve Alten (creator of the MEG).
- Download enhanced novels from the Steve Alten library, packed with hundreds of graphic images...and much more!
Holiday membership gift certificates are available now!
The perfect stocking stuffer: A membership for a virtual aquarium theme park where you can experience the most terrifying sharks and sea creatures ever to have existed in our planet’s history – all for less than $5 a month!
What do we offer? Check it out:
|
|
Sunday December 12, 2021 at 3pm:
Zoom with Steve Alten.
|
|
COMING SOON: WHERE SEA MONSTERS ROAM: THE VIDEO GAME!
I know… I know, I’ve been promising this amazing video game for months. Unfortunately, our programming genius, Paul had to have serious eye surgery. Thankfully he’s back and recovering and we’re hoping for a late 2021 debut.
Coming in early 2022: The next wave of cage dives and thrills, plus updates on our original TV series Where Sea Monsters Roam. It will be bloody good fun.
|
|
ATTENTION TEACHERS grades 8-12:
Last month, Adopt-An-Author and www.SeaMonsterCove.comlaunched our long awaited Enhanced Visual Education program pioneered by Barbara Becker, myself, and teachers and educators in the Adopt-An-Author teen reading program. After more than twenty years of success, we have discovered that the more visual the assigned reading material, the more positive the reading experience – especially among reluctant readers. E.V.E. has been designed to be used in both Virtual settings and real classrooms. Each E.V.E. novel is a self-contained downloadable PDF file of a Steve Alten original thriller, with these added features:
- Each E.V.E novel contains dozens of graphic color images and maps intended to enhance the visual reading experience.
- Each E.V.E. novel features vocabulary word links throughout each chapter, giving the student immediate access to the definitions within the framework of the story.
- Each E.V.E. novel features additional curriculum materials located at the end of each chapter. These exercises are intended to reinforce the vocabulary words with the color visuals so they are stored in the student’s long-term memory. Additional materials include fill-in-the-blank, true-false, and/or multiple choice questions, along with additional questions that can be used as “extra credit.”
If you are a high school English, Reading, or Science teacher interested in Beta testing the program, contact Barbara Becker at barbara@seamonstercove.com
|
|
Music Video of the Month:
Get Back (The Beatles)
|
|
The featured track in the amazing 6 hour special by director Peter Jackson. |
|
Recipe of the Month:
Buche de Noel
|
|
Buche de Noel is the French name for a Christmas cake shaped like a log. This one is a heavenly flourless chocolate cake rolled with chocolate whipped cream. Traditionally, Buche de Noel is decorated with confectioners' sugar to resemble snow on a Yule log.
Ingredients:
Chocolate Genoise
Chocolate Moose
Chocolate Genache Icing
Meringue Mushrooms
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions:
Step 1: Make chocolate genoise and mousse, ganache icing, and meringue mushrooms.
Step 2: To assemble cake, carefully unroll genoise on the back side of a baking sheet (discard the plastic wrap and waxed paper but keep the towel). Spread chocolate mousse evenly on cake to within 1 to 2 inches of one long end. Reroll cake, starting from other long end, using towel to help roll it. Cover with plastic wrap; chill until firm, about 1 hour.
Step 3: Place cake, seam side down, on a serving platter; tuck parchment around it to keep platter clean while decorating.
Step 4: Whip ganache at medium speed until it has the consistency of soft butter. Cut two wedges off ends of cake at a 45-degree angle; set aside. Ice log with a thin layer of ganache. Attach wedges on diagonally opposite sides of log. Spread ganache all over log, using a small spatula to form barklike ridges. Chill until ganache is firm, about 30 minutes.
Step 5: In the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt chocolate until smooth. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Spread melted chocolate 1/8 inch thick over parchment. Refrigerate until cold, 10 to 15 minutes. Roll paper back and forth until chocolate splinters; sprinkle over cake. Chill cake until ready to serve.
Step 6: When ready to serve, arrange meringue mushrooms around and on cake, and dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.
Copyright 2021 Martha Stewart.
|
|
*IF YOU HAVE A RECIPE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE, please e-mail to me at MEG82159@aol.com Put RECIPE in the subject line. |
|
Living Tips
10 Steps to Improve your Kidneys!
|
|
Improving Your Kidney Function Can Be Simple
So you see for many, improving kidney function doesn’t need to be difficult. In most cases, simply by stepping to the side and getting out of your own way, checking your thoughts, fears, and excuses at the door, you can catalyse massive changes in your health, by simply allowing the healing to take place.
|
|
If you’ve never watched John Cleese’s masterpiece of comedy, Fawlty Towers, here’s a baptism by fire. |
|
IF YOU HAVE A JOKE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE, please e-mail to me at MEG82159@aol.com Put JOKE in the subject line. |
|
Finally…
Your monthly dose of the Three Stooges. In this 3 minute excerpt, Dr.s Howard, Fine, and Howard complete their medical training.
|
|
Stay safe… and please get vaccinated with the REAL COVID vaccines and get a booster shot as well. This is not a political issue; it is a matter of life and death… although at times it looks like a competition for the Darwin Awards. Laugh at the Stooges, don’t take advice from them. Remember… if something sounds incredibly stupid – it probably is!
Steve Alten, Ed.D.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
