There are times an author needs to give potential readers, libraries, websites, or publishers a description that excites readers enough to choose their book(s) over other possible reads. The back of the book descriptions are vital and many authors enlist help to make that description successful enough to attract readers. Luckily there are reviewers out there that are able to express your work in a way an author cannot.
You see authors explain their work from within their deep understanding of what they want you to know about their story and characters. However, reviewers and book review bloggers deliver a new dimension when they tell your story from their experience as a reader. Their descriptions make an author swell with pride knowing that the reviewer/reader “got it”! They didn’t just read your story, they experienced it on a deep level they want to share with others. A raving review is an author’s dream having sometimes laboring for years to publish their story.
One such reviewer recently reviewed, Earth’s Ultimate Conflict! I have been a fan of the Red Headed Book Lover Blog and the in-depth reviews and wonderful variety it presents to potential book readers. It is a great place for readers to find the genre and book for their next experience. I highly recommend this Blog for readers of all genres.
I am thrilled to share the wonderful review, Aimee Ann of the Red Headed Book Lover Blog, bestowed upon Earth’s Ultimate Conflict!
If you haven’t read the first two books in the Gray Guardians Series here’s what Readers’ Favorite Reviewers say about them:
“Kathy Porter’s debut series, “Earth’s Ultimate Conflict”, introduces us to the existence of alien life forms from other solar systems. Humanity’s worst nightmare is coming true! The planet is stricken by natural disasters; thousand of people become ill; Earth’s crust shakes with seismic activity and the swirling currents in the atmosphere reach hurricane force.
Humor, romance, intrigue, suspense, fear, and confusion abound within the humans and this makes for a scintillating read! A great idea, a novel approach, and some interesting theories.”
~ Carol Coetzee
Readers’ Favorite Reviewer
““Escape From Nuur” is a first-rate story, bursting with inter-galactic action, plausible anxiety, budding romance, and subtle humor. The characters develop realistic and believable inter-species relationships while working together. Porter has painstakingly crafted an easily visualized setting for the story, making the ‘mental movie’ quite detailed and entertaining.
Although fictional, at times the events and situations in this book are so vividly portrayed it is easy to forget they truly are a figment of Porter’s brilliant imagination. Sequel to book one, “Earth’s Ultimate Conflict”, “Escape From Nuur” will soon be followed by book three in the series, “The Journey”, will be available soon. Fans of Sci-Fi will not want to miss this series.
~ Lee Ashford
Readers’ Favorite Reviewer
For more information and to order visit:
amazon.com/author/kathyporter
Readers will never feel the same about that occasional ringing in their ears!
Consider this excerpt of our future President Barbara Unger from Earth’s Ultimate Conflict the first novel in the eight book Gray Guardians Series. President Unger is about to face one of mankind’s worst fears:
The staff ushered Morgan to the Oval Office where President Unger was awaiting him. She stood at the window with her back to him when he entered. As she turned and walked the short distance from the window toward Morgan, he noticed she had lost weight and looked drawn.
“Good morning, Madam President.”
“That’s what you’re here for, Dr. Prins; to tell me if it is a good morning. Are the reports of the destabilization of Earth’s crust and the demise of the human race just scare tactics? Are the scientists trying to frighten the big polluters into submission?” She asked hopefully.
“I’m sorry to say that Earth is not going to survive this round, Madam President.” He felt his inability to prevent what was about to happen was his personal failure. He failed the president, and he failed his country. He was ready to face her, exposing the remorse eating away at his soul. He couldn’t contain the gruesome facts any longer.
Apologetically he went on. “You have made significant progress in your effort to stop the greenhouse effect. Unfortunately, it was too little too late. The atmosphere has been compromised for decades and has altered the weather, the tides, and the normal atmospheric pressures on Earth’s crust. Earth is heading for a catastrophic end, and there is nothing that I know of that we can do fast enough to stop it. I’m sorry, Madam President; I know this isn’t what you needed to hear in light of what is going on out there.”
President Unger stood quietly for a moment while Dr. Prins anticipated her response, which surprised him. “Actually this epidemic has kept the media busy enough to divert their attentions from harping on the environmental changes.” She walked over to the Oval Office window looking out thoughtfully. “I guess my job from here will be to prevent chaos until the end. How long do you think we have?” Her calm exterior kept secret the cold grip Dr. Prins’ words had on her soul.
“From the latest reports, it is imminent, a few weeks or months at the most, judging from the seismic activity.” Morgan’s voice trembled slightly. He was awestruck by her ability to handle such devastating news as if she was prepared for his disclosure.
The president took her seat and motioned for Morgan to do the same. He couldn’t imagine what else they could talk about, but she obviously thought otherwise. The door opened, and the coffee he had ordered earlier was brought in, along with a tray of fruit. They sat silently for a moment sipping their coffee. She stared past her coffee cup still lingering close to her lips and seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.
“Dr. Prins, it’s hard for me to grasp what I’m about to tell you, so please bear with me.” She took another sip of coffee, wishing it were something stronger. Setting the cup on her desk, she sat back in her chair and drew in a deep breath. “I have a very unusual meeting to attend in a few hours, and I need you with me. The Secretary of Defense is on his way to the Italian conference, so I have asked General Holston to accompany us.”
This was the last thing Morgan wanted to do. He had spent months going back and forth to Europe with other scientists, only to finally decide that this was it. Morgan certainly did not want to attend yet another doomsday meeting. “Madam President, I don’t think that—”
“Your presence is essential.” President Unger insisted. Then in a decidedly apprehensive tone added, “We are meeting at Area 51.”
The room fell unnaturally silent. Morgan eyed President Unger. “Why Area 51? Is this meeting about the UFO sightings?”
“No, Dr. Prins. This meeting is with the aliens.” She took another deep breath and with renewed strength in her voice she continued. “We have been contacted by aliens. They admit to having something to do with the epidemic and want to meet with us regarding Earth’s changes. We can only hope they are here to help save it. That’s why I need you. If they have some way to save the Earth, I need your guidance. You are my science advisor. I need you now more than ever.”
Morgan set his coffee down for fear he couldn’t hold it. He sat back in his seat and let President Unger’s words sink in.
Could the aliens have a way to save Earth? He inhaled deeply; his eyes gazed upward as if seeking divine intervention. Morgan’s voice was weak as he struggled to grasp what was about to happen. “Madam President, when do we leave?”
Barbara introduced me to her husband, Virgil Casey, one evening at a dance recital. There was no doubt he was a special man. Virg and Barbara were an obvious match made in heaven; a wonderful example of what a marriage is supposed to be.
Virg had one of those tomato-face smiles that remind me of my dad, and a captivating, engaging personality. A group of us struck up a fun conversation that prevented the usual boredom of waiting for the show to begin.
I remember we talked about some old TV shows. One ancient but great show called “My Living Doll” came to mind. We were all struggling to remember who the main character was. We all recalled that the robot was played by Julie Newmar, but drew a blank on the male lead, who Virg finally remembered was Robert Cummings. I don’t know why that conversation still lingers in my mind after all these years.
Virg was interested in learning about my book. He came to a book signing at Los Alamitos High School and purchased one. He loved my book and wrote a great review for me when it was under the original title, “Gray/Guardians” (no longer in print), but was revised and is now published as “Earth’s Ultimate Conflict.” The thing that made Virg’s review so special was that it wasn’t asked for… it was from his heart. He made me feel so special when he spoke of my work.
One Fourth of July evening, I was walking my dog and saw Virg. He and Barbara were visiting their daughter Becci and her girls. They planned to watch the fireworks from across the street at the Joint Forces Training Base. He asked about my writing. Then Virg brought some kids over and introduced me to them as an author! An author!! He made me finally feel that the title of “author” belonged to me.
Virg told me he couldn’t wait for my first book to become a movie and that he intended to work on it. Besides my family, he was the one person who made me realize people believe in my work.
There was a pride in my writing Virg gave me, along with the inspiration to continue when things kept falling apart. During gloomy times when my book marketing failed, distribution was a struggle, not receiving my royalties, etc., one person would come to mind—Virgil Casey. He was waiting for the next book. I needed to press forward and make it happen. Of all my readers, Virg was the one who inspired me to create another book despite all odds. I didn’t want to let him down because he believed in me.
Virg had this sort of exuberance. He had the special ability to pass it on to others. It never failed; when you saw Virg he glowed from within; a love of life, a love of family, a love of God…. wherever it came from, he had a magnificent radiance. He was a beacon in the fog of life. Virg had IT.
It is with great joy I have added Virgil Casey as a character in my second book, Escape From Nuur. He comes with his own set of rules and sometimes we spar when it comes to what he is going to do next in the chapter. You see, Virg is still full of life and has his own personality. If I’m going in one direction with another character and Virg see him differently and has other ideas, well let’s just say Virg has crashed more than one chapter with his inspiration and insight into the character that I didn’t realize was there. Virg sees the complexities of their situation far sooner than I do sometimes.
Virg owns Casey’s Pub and Café on the planet Nuur. In one chapter he made it clear he wanted his “Vanilla Vodka” Babs, as he called her, with him—he won, because he’s Virg. I have learned to let Virg tell me his part of the story and go from there.
As in life, Virg continues to be the guiding star, the seeker of truth, and the messenger of God in the Gray Guardians Series. He continues to amaze me with his awareness and clarity.
I imagine Virg in all the other books in my series. He has brought such humanity to an alien planet, but there are no guarantees because Virg is Virg and he does things his way.
Rest in peace, Virgil Casey, you are a man of inspiration!
Zombies, Vampires, over-reaching governments and corporations, wars, cheating, espionage, and of course many alien based movies where we ultimately conquer the alien hordes trying to take over our planet. What do aliens think about our TV and movie entertainment?
Are alien minds so advanced they not only don’t enjoy, but cannot grasp the our simple entertainment? Perhaps they look and wonder why humans continue to play, and watch pretend episodes of another person’s life?
What about our portrayal of Aliens? Think of them watching one of our alien invasion movies like Independence Day, where powerful aliens invaded Earth and we ultimately defeated them. Or perhaps watching a classic like War of the Worlds, would they fear of our viruses and bacteria’s, or our cinematic ability to conquer them? Could what they see on TV and movies cause aliens to fear making contact? Do they have the physical stamina to fight off human illnesses?
I recall a Twilight Zone episode where aliens mistook comic books they found in a young boys tree house as historical documents. Based on the super powers used in the comic books they believe Earthlings were too powerful for them and departed cautiously.
Compare aliens to our human geniuses – they are able to create things as well as decipher formulas far beyond our limited imaginations. Yet, they are often unable to handle or grasp the complex storyline of a movie, assimilate easily into normal everyday life situations, or understand human relationships. These issues are used for comedic as well as dramatic observations in TV shows like The Big Bang Theory, and Scorpion, a new very popular show. On the show Scorpion they actually hire a “normal” person to help explain the world to them. The geniuses inability to relate is very intriguing and often painful to watch.
Based on the lack of our own genius scientists to understand us it is believable that aliens will think of us as nothing more than ants. But will they? I think not. I imagine even aliens went through a documented growth history of their own. Although they are of advanced intellect now, I believe they are still extremely conscious of their own evolution socially, politically, and technologically.
If you subscribe to the Ancient Astronaut theory, aliens have studied us long enough to understand fact from fiction. Perhaps some day soon we will find out what they think about our infatuation with Zombies and Vampires. Do they watch them with as much concern as we do? Do they scoff at our alien movies? After all sometimes our authors and writers predict our creations and futures. Our history has many instances where warriors won what should have been lost. The human spirit and desire to win freedom is a powerful tool.
Let’s consider that not all aliens will be entertained by our TV shows, movies and games. What would they learn about humans from our forms of entertain? Do you believe they will consider us friendly and worth making contact, or do you believe they will think of us as too lowly a life form to care what happens to us?
While I was talking with a friend she told me about her insect phobia. We humans have an intense aversion to certain crawling or flying creatures, as well as to spiders. Spiders and insects invoke such fear they cause panic and can reduce many of us to tears.
Speaking about creepy bugs reminded of my childhood and how I used to collect insects. I hunted them in trees, bushes, under rocks or crawling on the ground, and studied them with interest, and yes some of them frightened me deeply. Perhaps it was a subconscious attempt to waylay my fears. It didn’t work. To this day a spider or crawling insects sudden appearance can paralyze me with fear.
In 1961 I saw what was possibly the first pictures of the Gray aliens, as drawn by Betty and Barney Hill after their well publicize alien abduction. The aliens they drew looked familiar. My first thought was that they were insects except for the lack of antennae. To me they most resembled the grasshopper, however the praying mantis shares some of the same facial qualities.
The Grays facial structure and large slanted black eyes certainly do resemble insects. Could this be the reason they incite such dread? Imagine waking and discovering the Grays have abducted you. Could you look into their insect-like face without feeling sheer terror?
In the Gray Guardians Series, I depict the Grays’ physical appearance as insect-like caused by a mutation brought on by their own scientists.
Today many believe that the Grays are here abducting us and using human DNA to reverse their mutation or create a hybrid race. Is human DNA the solution for the Grays salvation?
Do you think the Grays are possibly all or part insect?
Is the possibility the Grays being insects make them more frightening?
When I write and create new worlds and invent new structures, modes of travel and other inventions I vividly see them, know them, and understand them nearly instantly. I can give other planets wonderful useful fantastic creations because I make them up as I write ~ or do I?
From the beginning of the Gray Guardians Series I felt compelled to tell my stories and I created different very unusual beings, objects, and worlds in my mind. I often speak about how my stories, new worlds, and inventions download into my mind. It has me thinking about all our wonderful science fiction writers of the past whose books placed us on the moon, in orbit, sent us to Mars, gave us robots, wormholes, warp speed, flying cars, communicators, etc. Many of their written creations are now part of our life today. If they hadn’t first been created in the mind of an author would they have happened? Is the creation of a science fiction novel, jam-packed with new ideas and human abilities the catalyst for actual creation? Seems that way. Would the scientists, or inventors have thought of these things themselves? Or was it an unexpected creative collaboration of one minds idea and another’s ability to make it so ?
I ask all you inventors and scientist out there, if you could please find a way to create the Biotent brought to Earth by the Grays, in my novel Earth’s Ultimate Conflict? The applications for its use and ability to save lives are boundless. A Biotent would be the ultimate Prepper necessity for a future apocalypse.
What is a Biotent? Here is a description:
A dome shaped organic covering which creates its own environment, isolating humans or other entities within its protection from external threats. Biotents regulate their own growth (expansion and contraction) and internal environment depending on the needs of the life forms within its shelter.
And, by the way if you do invent a way to make Biotents ~ please don’t forget to give one to me!
Kathy Porter 