Mental percolations on “The League of Scientists”

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By Andy Kaiser
Article ID: 144

As some of you know, I’m writing the first book in what will hopefully be a young adult mystery series called “The League of Scientists“. It takes place in the “real world” – it’s not fantasy or science fiction. It’s about the adventures of friends who use critical thinking and applied science to solve seemingly-supernatural mysteries.

It’s already been accepted by “Science, Naturally!“, a traditional book publisher, but it’s not yet available in stores. It should be available in late 2010 or early 2011.

Here’s the latest:

Things have gone very well with the book, of which the full title is “The League of Scientists and the Ghost in the Water”. While I’m sure future efforts will be faster, it took me quite a while to write it, even when I don’t have the length of a standard adult book. My comparatively short 35,000 words still took a lot of keypresses.

I’ve been meeting with the cover artist on a weekly basis to design and approve the artwork. After more than 70 hours of work (which includes conceptual designs as well as the actual final oil paining), we’re pretty much done.

The book itself has its own website at LeagueOfScientists.com, but some of you may have seen it elsewhere. You can follow it on Facebook and Twitter, and of course here on Digital Bits Skeptic. I’ve also had it mentioned and introduced on the “Swift Blog” of the James Randi Educational Foundation. I’m very lucky to have the JREF’s continued interest and promotion. Special thanks to outgoing President Phil Plait and the Randi.org editor Brandon Thorp.

I also have a surprise. You know how some books have a “famous person’s quote” on the book jacket? Mine will have one of these, too. And the person I’ve got to do the promotion… well, let’s just say that most everyone in the skeptical community – and many outside of it – have heard of him.

This skeptical celebrity is…

…going to remain a surprise for just a little longer.

I can’t say who it is right now. While he’s already committed to getting me a review and a quote, I don’t yet have it in my greedy electronic hands. Heck, worst case is that he may not actually like the book! So, I’ll let you know after I have the review. Believe me, the Digital Bits Skeptic audience will be the first to know. Your only hint is that this person is not female. That cuts the field by quite a bit. Record your guesses, good luck, and I’ll let you know later if you guessed right.

What’s next? If there’s anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of the publishing process, speak up and I’ll give some detail. But to keep things simple, I’ll just say that, for the most part, the book is completely done, and what’s next is the actual draft revision, proofing, and then publicity and publication.

And, yes, I’ve already started writing The League of Scientists #2. That’s right – you heard it here first! The current beta title for this work in progress is “The League of Scientists and the Magician’s War”.

I’m still in the outlining stage right now – because these books are mysteries, I can’t just start writing them without a general direction of where I’m going. I, just like you, have to figure out the mystery, only I have to know “whodunnit” a little bit sooner than you.

So, the first book – “The Ghost in the Water” – is pretty much done and will hopefully be available within a year, assuming the publisher keeps to their schedule. Book #2 – who knows?

Depending on how life’s treating me, I can be a really pessimistic guy. In this case, I think my personality flaw is appropriate: if I keep my expectations low, no matter what happens with the book, I’ll be happy with the results. Hopefully you will be, too.

Other articles related to this topic:

• Trading my fingers for aliens
• The big list of critical thinking and skeptical resources
• What it means to be “Scientifically Proven”
• Book review of “The Flight of Dragons” by Peter Dickinson: How dragons could have evolved and existed
• Skeptics, atheists and meme theory