| Max McCoy's Links (Updated & checked 9 Nov 2004) | ||
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NOVELS
MAX
MCCOY
COLUMNS
OTHER
STUFF
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Indiana Jones
Lucasfilm Ltd. The center of the Indy universe.
Interview with Max McCoy on The Raider.Net.
The Indy Experience. I was recently interviewed for this great site, but it has not yet been posted. While purusing the site I was surprised to find an article about Indiana Jones and his relationships with women. The following discusses Indy's significant others in my cycle of books (SPOILER ALERT!)::
In early 1933, Indy is in British Honduras and discovers a Crystal Skull, which carries a curse – ‘You will kill what you love’. Some time later, Indy is in London looking for the missing Voynich manuscript, and the fabled Philosopher’s Stone. Whilst in the British Library, he meets and instantly falls for Alecia Dunstin. At first, it would seem that Alicia likes Indy but does not yet view him in a romantic light, and by the end of the this adventure, she changes her mind and warms to his charming and lovable personality! (What woman wouldn’t?) Later this same year, during an adventure in France, Alicia tells Indy that she wants to call off the relationship as she cannot deal with the emotional stress and the risk of losing him. Indy and Alica’s predicament has to be one of the saddest love stores that I have ever read. Writing Organizations & Workshops
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. A good source for aspiring writers. Don’t email me questions about getting published or finding an agent, because SFWA has already provided the answers.
Western Writers of America. Yes, I’m a member of this organization as well. The national convention is held every June in a different city west of the Mississippi. This year, it’s Mesquite, Nevada.
Ozark Creative Writers Okay, I’m vice-president of this one. But really, we have a great (and affordable) convention every October in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
The Tallgrass Writing Workshop Often a faculty member, depending on my schedule. Another great and affordable workshop, this one is held in mid-June every year at Emporia (Kansas) State University. This link is old, but it should give you a contact for more information. Publishers
Penguin Group USA. Publisher for my novelization of the Dreamworks/Steven Spielberg miniseries, Into the West. Publication June 2005.
Dorchester Publishing. Publisher of my new thriller, Hinterland, which will be released in February 2005.
Bantam Dell. Doubleday and Bantam published my first novels, including the Indiana Jones series. The Indy stuff is still in print, but you’ll have to find used copies of the westerns and historicals. Try searching Amazon for used books. Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists.The FAS Project on Government Secrecy works to challenge unwarranted secrecy and to promote reform of national security information policy and practice. For a quick update, see current news. To subscribe to our email newsletter Secrecy News, click here. The Unexplained
Coast to Coast The radio show begun by Art Bell and now hosted by George Noory. It has its share of kooks (such as the regular guest who claims to have invented his own time machine), but it can be a lot of fun to listen in. Tune in via internet radio at Starbase 479 or on XM Radio Channel 165. The Coast to Coast site also has a list of affiliates if you want to tune in the old-fashioned way.
Fortean Times The British magazine of high strangeness. Despite its subject matter, this is a serious magazine, with serious reportage. And, it is damned entertaining. It might even be the best magazine in the world, and I’ve even been published in Fortean Times. See FT 127 (Oct. 1999) for my story on Lloyd Pye’s “Starchild” skull. No, I don’t believe Pyle has the smoking gun of alien-human intercourse, but he does have something very strange. Also, I wrote a story for FT 189 (Nov 2004) on a group of bank robbers bent on financing a race war in the USA.
Here's what Clive Barker recently said to FT editor David Sutton: "No magazine has been so committed, for so long, to the notion that the world is not only stranger than we know, but stranger than we can know... I find it a hugely reassuring magazine -- not just because of the humour and uncertainty, but because it knows when to drop the jokes and become deadly serious."
The
Mutual UFO Nework, Inc. Founded
in 1969, the Mutual UFO Network, Inc. (MUFON) is a nonprofit corporation
dedicated, through its volunteers, to resolving the scientific enigma
known collectively as unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Unfotunately,
most MUFON investigators – with notable exceptions -
tend to gullible and lack the critical thinking skills for this
important task.
Paul
Devereaux. The foremost researcher in strange
earth phenomena, including earth lights such as the Tri
State Spook Light which is located just a few miles away from my
hometown of Baxter Springs, Kansas. The
Explained (mostly) The
James Randi Educational Foundation
James Randi is a professional magician and his foundation offers a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper
observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or
occult power or event. The prize is in the form of negotiable bonds held
in a special investment account. The JREF does not involve itself in the
testing procedure, other than helping to design the protocol and
approving the conditions under which a test will take place. All tests
are designed with the participation and approval of the applicant. In
most cases, the applicant will be asked to perform a relatively simple
preliminary test of the claim, which if successful, will be followed by
the formal test. So far, nobody has claimed the prize. Preliminary tests
are usually conducted by associates of the JREF at the site where the
applicant lives. Upon success in the preliminary testing process, the
"applicant" becomes a "claimant." To date, no one
has ever passed the preliminary tests, according to the foundation. I
wish, however, that Randi would move faith healers to the top of his hit
list. Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. CSICOP encourages the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific point of view and disseminates factual information about the results of such inquiries to the scientific community and the public, according to its website. I generally applaud the work of CSICOP, but it annoys me that they are much prisoners of the own dogma (i.e., the academy) as are our friends of the space brothers. “There is more in heaven and earth, Horatio, than is dreamt of your philosophy” -- Hamlet. Dr. Susan Blackmore Blackmore, who teaches psychology at Bristol, England, has become one of the leading critics of paranormal research. First attracted to parapsychology by an out of body experience (OBE) after smoking some weed, she has become the science poster child for explaining away such “supernatural” events as originating organically in the human brain. Susan is obviously a smart cookie, but she needs to loosen up. Michael Persinger Professor Persinger teaches psychology at Laurentian University at Tornonto, and has done ground-breaking research in explaining paranormal experiences through magnetic and electric fields generatedi in the earth, especially during tectonic events (like earthquakes). It seems that the movements of granite within the earth generate electrical/magnetic fields that interact with our temporal lobes in such a way that induces visions and feelings of religiosity. Diving & Related Topics Professional Association of Diving Instructors Want to learn how to scuba dive? Start here. Cave Diving Section of the National Speleological Society Don’t even think about going into a cave without the proper training and equipment. Navy Experimental Dive Unit A very good site for the U.S. Navy’s experimental diving research facility in Panama City, Florida. The Naval Undersea Museum This Keyport, Washington, museum has the largest collection of naval undersea artifacts in the United States. The Nautilus and Submarine Force Museum Home page of the historic submarine USS Nautilus and related museum at Groton, Connecticut. The Central Naval Museum. Curious about Russian subs? Check out this St. Petersburg museum. Kayaking
Team Tarkio Tarkio Kayak Adventures, founded by world-renowned paddler Brennan Guth, is a family of professional kayakers whose goal is to share their knowledge of whitewater by providing unparalleled kayaking opportunities. Their clients range from the novices to seasoned paddlers wanting to improve their skills. Their stunningly beautiful lodge is on the Alberton Gorge of the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, and I can personally attest to their excellent instruction. You’re guaranteed to get wet, but if you want to learn how to kayak, this is the best place to do it. Amateur Radio
KCØMAX My QRP-oriented page.
Weird Radio My collection of radio mysteries.
Assorted
Science & Technology Links
The Engines of Our Ingenuity The University of Houston’s public radio spots that “tells the story of how our culture is formed by human creativity.” Go directly to the archive and read the full-text versions. My favorite? The striking cultural and technological parallels between the Old West and Medieval Europe. Thinking
of buying a star name? Don’t! Only
the International Astronomical Union has the authority to officially
name stars. From the IAU website: As an international scientific
organization, the IAU dissociates itself entirely from the commercial
practice of "selling" fictitious star names or "real
estate" on other planets or moons in the Solar System. Accordingly,
the IAU maintains no list of the (several competing) enterprises in this
business in individual countries of the world. Readers wanting to
contact such enterprises despite the explanations given below should
search commercial directories in their country of origin. Bad Astronomy. "We learn a lot from school and our parents, but a lot of what fills our brain is `common knowledge,' things we seem to accumulate out of thin air,” astronomer Phil Plait says. “Everyone knows that you can stand an egg on end on the first day of spring... or can you? Of course toilets flush the other way in the southern hemisphere... don't they?”
Atmospheric Optics. Light playing on water drops, dust or ice crystals in the atmosphere produces a host of visual spectacles - rainbows, halos, glories, coronas and many more. Some can be seen almost every day or so, some are once in a lifetime sights. Find out where to see them and how they form. Then seek and enjoy them outdoors.
Daily Aurora Forecast. The Geophysical Institute provides the Aurora Alert mailing list and forums. The low volume announcement-only mailing list is designed to alert people living in southern Canada and mainland United States when solar conditions are such that an aurora may be viewable in their area. Slacker Astronomy. A great podcast (.mp3) astronomy program.
Earth & Sky. A terrific astronomy/science radio program.
The Urban Underground
Cataphiles. ET HOP, DANS L'TROU ! FOLLOW ME IF YOU DARE ! SEGUITEMI! Satan's Laundromat. A photolog of New York, with an emphasis on urban decay, strange signage, and general weirdness.
Infiltration. Infiltration offers a mix of the practice and theory of urban exploration in areas not designed for public usage. This site is the online companion of the paper zine about going places you're not supposed to go. Reference
& Research
Bartelby Classic books on-line – free. Joseph Campbell Foundation "Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human manifestation..." Joseph Campbell. CIA World Factbook Concise information for countries around the globe. Pulitzer Prize winners Full text, photographs, and cartoons of winners from 1995 to 2003. U.S. Naval Observatory “The preeminent authority in the areas of and, and distributes parameters and other required for accurate navigation and fundamental astronomy,” the website says. The best source for sunrise and sunset tables for your area. Distance and Bearings This FCC site provides distance and azimuths between any two coordinates on earth. A
Walk Through Time. This
internet exhibit on the history of timekeeping and related topics is
provided by the two time agencies of United States: a Department of
Commerce agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
and its military counterpart, the Universal Coordinated Time Clock. A UTC clock that displays the current U.S. Time zone, the areas of the world in light and darkness, and UTC (also called Zulu or Greenwich Mean) time. Another service provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observartory. The Doomsday Clock. We are only seven minutes to nucelar Doomsday, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Friends Johnny D. Boggs. An incredibly talented writer and one of the nicest guys you'll ever want to meet. But ask him about the nickname I gave him at the 2004 Western Writers of America Convention at Mesquite, Nevada.
Mike
Blakely Singer, songwriter, and novelist. Give a listen to
“Last Commanche Moon” and you’ll
want to hear (and read) everything else Mike has done.
Jon
Chandler Songwriter, author, and all-around good guy.
He provided the narration for my modest independent film, Spoils of
War.
Connie
Dover The best folk and Celtic singer, period. She also
allowed us to use some of her music for Spoils of War, based on
my Civil War short story.
W.C.
Jameson Singer, songwriter, author, treasure hunter, actor...
and outlaw. He portrayed the villian in Spoils of War.
Jory Sherman. Home page of prolific Texas author and friend Jory Sherman.
David Marion Wilkinson Award-winning author of Oblivion’s Altar.
Some
Favorite Columnists & Contemporary Writers
Journalism
Investigative Reporters and Editors The Freedom of Information Center. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Bill of Rights Defense Committee |