September 12, 2016
As promised, I turned my compact little Celestron 114 with Baader Planetarium Hyperion Mark III Zoom 24-8 mm lens on the half-moon over Waikiki and handheld my little Leica DM6 over the 18 mm sized lens opening, and here's what I got: 
I'm happy. It's the first time I've mooned Waikiki. Saturn was visible, too, but was unable to resolve the optical disparity between the high power 8mm telescope lens opening and my handheld camera. I'll try again tonight, though clouds appear to be moving in.
Actually, Honolulu is a tough night view from my picture window, as there's the constant bright lights of Waikiki and Honolulu and a lot of hot moisture in the air (making the image optically shimmer).
Like I said in yesterday's blog, I'd like to write a thriller about or on the moon. Why not? It would be one heck-of-a-trip for Susan Koski and Joseph Falk or my own protagonists from TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2011), Adelphous Tripler and Shawn Clark. Thinking of the moon as potential real estate. Big money, if people are tired of a polluted Earth.
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Total Meltdown
September 11, 2016
Sorry not to post for awhile, but the two hurricanes, Madeline and Lester, soaked the mountains and stirred up the pollen, giving me allergic asthma. Every year this time like clockwork, but this time with serious asthma. A consummate author, I took this time to review and give A. G. Hayes new thriller, FINDING KATE (Savant, in production), a final proofreading. Whew! It's a true A. G. Hayes thriller, introducing Kate Keenan, who also appears in QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016).
Just heard from a ... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
September 4, 2016
I'm often asked to explain the details of how the kvantovaya mashina smerti, the Quantum Death Machine, in QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) worked. While all of what was disclosed in the book is true, at least to a lesser scale, I must admit to using it as a MacGuffin. For those who haven't heard that term before, a MacGuffin, is some goal, object, or other motivator that the protagonist pursues, usually with little or no narrative explanation, often that is actually not central to the overall act... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
September 3, 2016
In today's Honolulu Star-Advertiser (our one and only traditional newspaper left) there was an article entitled, "Paper books still in style, survey finds." The article goes on to state that "Adult readers in the U.S. still strongly favor paper over e-books, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. [In fact,] Around 65 percent of those surveyed had read a paperback or hardcover over the past year, compared with 28 percent who had read an e-book, Pew reported Thursday. Around 40 ... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
September 1, 2016
I'm often asked what I think makes up a good thriller. There are lots of ways of approaching that question, but, to me they all seem to boil down to the human or inhumane? That is, conveying the very essence of being human -- emotions -- or the very essence of being not human -- inhumane? I'd like to start with the latter.
You might think the opposite of humanness would be inhumanness, but that's more the purview of fantasy, namely horror or terror. In the world of thrillers it isn't what's i... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 31, 2016
The Russian submarine I chose to capture Falk is a Severodvinsk/Yassin-class beauty, the newest fourth generation, nuclear-powered, multipurpose attack submarine. Taking literary license, I called it a Yasmin-Class submarine and named it "Severodvinsk."
When Koski's hover-jet is detected by the submarine, the only thing they could do was run away as fast as possible, as this class is said to be armed with a total of 32 or more sea to air/ground cruise missiles, as well as an array of anti-shi... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 31, 2016
It's said that powering every thriller is "tension" that typically comes from the existence of a protagonist and antagonist. I was taught this by the best, but I've always wondered if an antagonist-villain was really necessary to power a thriller. One thing about QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) that's different than many other thrillers, is that there is no personification of evil, no antagonist-villain per se. In that sense, perhaps, QUANTUM DEATH is more of a mystery by definition. And yet...
Ok... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 30, 2016
A lot of research went into the writing of QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) by A. G. Hayes and, yours truly, Raymond Gaynor. In fact, over two years of in-depth research went into just getting a grasp on what is often called #Quantum Strangeness. In particle physics, "strangeness" is a property of very small particles like quarks and is expressed as a quantum number. These numbers have names as well, like strangeness, charm, topness and bottomness. In a more general sense, however, the physics of ... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 28, 2016
True, a thriller need be no more than a work that thrills readers -- a sort of wild carnival ride -- spanning every possible genre. I, however, have always felt that action needs a counterpoint in order to keep the action new and exciting. My favorite counterpoint is romance, and QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) is a good example of this. While the action takes unfolds, so does the growing relationship between Koski and Falk, begun in the first of the Koski and Falk Series, WHO'S KILLING ALL THE L... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 28, 2016
While it's absolutely true that I "live and breath San Francisco," I've a penchant for paradise, and spend a good portion of my life writing on Oahu. Just ask A. G. Hayes or William Maltese, my co-authors on QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) and TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2011) respectively. Living in Hawaii is sort of a Michener tradition, I guess. Michener was an author I "teethed" on, and though he lived for five years on the Northshore Oahu while writing HAWAII, I personally prefer the more... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 28, 2016
In co-authoring QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016), A. G. Hayes and I created a United States reeling from a series of #quantum 'events' and #Bitcoin 'auctions' so opaque that it was impossible for the government, military and civilian agencies to determine with reasonable certainty who was behind them in order to construct a defense. At first, this posed a plot problem. How would multiple interacting agencies come to consensus when no consensus was likely to be forthcoming? It was then that it occu... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 27, 2016
I'm often asked from where my inspirations for thriller books come. You might think because I like to write political-techno-thrillers, that it would come from the news, social media (political), my associations with technologically innovative groups (techno), or TV (thrillers). Nope. I'm also a sky-watcher. Call me an occultist, astrologist, alchemist, even an illusionist or 
magus if you like, but every clear night I retire after writing to my makeshift living room observatory, where I parse... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 25, 2016
Having joined A. G. Hayes in this fifth Koski & Falk thriller, I have several times been asked if one has to read the others in the series in order to take full pleasure from QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016). I'm pleased to say, no. Mr. Hayes' style is such that one can begin with any one adventure and then expand before or after without loss. Still, there is the detail of their "growing" relationship, beginning with WHO'S KILLING ALL THE LAWYERS? (Savant 2011) through QUANTUM DEATH and, I daresay... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 21, 2016
Koski and Falk, two outstanding agents of the ultra-secret Cerebrus agency, first appeared in print in multi-award-winning author, A. G. Hayes' WHO'S KILLING ALL THE LAWYERS? (Savant 2011). Since then Koski and Falk have appeared in four additional adventures, THE JUDAS LIST (Savant 2012), IMMINENT DANGER (Savant 2013), THE CHEMICAL FACTOR (Savant 2015) and now QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016). And their adventures have just begun. Already Savant Books and Publications is preparing to release FIND... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 18, 2016
Yes, well, the title of a movie and an these days old cliche at best. Everyone knows Russia (the former USSR) has it out for the USA, or at least so it seems, even in QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016). Having had the unique opportunity of visiting the former USSR several times as a visiting scientist and naval officer pre- and immediately post-perestroika/glasnost, I can say in all honesty that, at least back then, even if they wanted to, they still couldn't have come. Wreak havoc in Eastern Europe... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 14, 2016
Everyone want to feel secure, but is that even possible in the 21st Century? It's barely 2016 and already nations are accusing other nations of digitally interfering with their national affairs including directing elections (see
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/us/politics/democratic-party-russia-hack-cyberattack.html?_r=0
for details). It's wise to remember that "feeling" secure is exactly that: a feeling. Reality is a totally different matter. In QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) the conflicting i... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 14, 2016
Ever wonder what happens to the protagonist-hero's after their book is published? I have. A. G. Hayes and I have been talking about writing a sequel to QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) dealing with what happens to Koski and Falk immediately after the adventure. They are, after all, closer than ever before. Both at the same time are concerned that their work could rob them of their partner at any time, and Falk is still recovering from a gunshot wound. Time, perhaps, for a "vacation." A little time... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : New Books
August 12, 2016
Russia these days is getting bad publicity, perhaps deservedly, but in QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016), a politico-techno-thriller, Raymond Gaynor (that's me) and my colleague, multi-award-winning author A. G. Hayes, paint Russia, or at least Russians, in a different light.
Post perestroika, post glasnost, while the USA bristles with frustration over a massive and crippling cyber-attack and looks menacingly towards Russia as the source, in a twist of fate, our "enemy" becomes a much needed "frien... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 12, 2016
What can I say? I've now written two thrillers, each toying with the idea of the United States experiencing a kind of perestroika and glasnost not unlike the former USSR experienced under Gorbachov. In my latest novel, a politico-techno-thriller entitled QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) co-written with the incomparable A. G. Hayes, the United States faces just such a scenario. In my previous work, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2011), it actually happens, with what can only be called astounding re... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
August 10, 2016
Okay, so one of the premises of QUANTUM DEATH by A. G. Hayes with Raymond Gaynor (Savant 2016) is that the quantum entanglement phenomenon recently reported in the scientific literature will slowly be expanded to include larger and larger objects, despite my life partner's emphatic reiteration that, "I CAN'T BE IN TWO PLACES AT THE SAME TIME!" To this I agree, tempering my agreement with the words, "for now."
But in QUANTUM DEATH, protagonist Kate Keenan, a brilliant computer scientist worki... Continue reading...
Posted by Gary Martine. Posted In : Quantum Death
