Monday, August 31, 2015

PRESS RELEASE: Columbia Memorial Space Center will be at the 2015 Long Beach Comic Con!



August 31, 2015) The Columbia Memorial Space Center is partnering with Long Beach Comic Con for Space Expo 2015, an innovative and one-of-a-kind program that will connect comic book convention attendees directly with the world of scientific discovery. Space Expo 2015 will be held at the Long Beach Convention Center as part of Long Beach Comic Con on September 12 and 13, 2015 with panels featuring top aerospace industry notables discussing hot button scientific topics. As part of Space Expo 2015, there will be interactive exhibits featuring robotics, 3D printing, and even a spacesuit – all curated by Columbia Memorial Space Center, the prestigious CA-based learning center dedicated to bringing the wonder and excitement of science to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

“Space, the space program and science are all a part of the same pop culture dialogue as comic books and science fiction,” said Columbia Memorial Space Center President Ben Dickow. "We want to create a fandom for science that will grow and support the next wave of space explorers and scientific progress--and there’s no better place to do that than at a comic convention.”

Panels at Space Expo 2015 at Long Beach Comic Con will include:
  • Sci-Fi Space vs. Reality. Andre Bormanis, the director of scientific research for Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and the science consultant for Star Trek shows, discusses the age-old topic of just how much Science Fiction is based on actual Science.
  • Planning a Martian Roadtrip with Engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. What does it take to plan a 'road trip' on Mars? Experts will discuss driving from Acidalia Planitia to Schiaparelli crater, as astronaut Mark Watney does in the book The Martian.
  • The Dawn Mission.  Engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will analyze the Mars Dawn mission, discuss Ceres, the dwarf planet and the asteroid Vesta.
  • New Horizons and Pluto. Discovered in 1930, Pluto remained a tiny burry point of light until the arrival of the New Horizons spacecraft.  With this history making flyby of this dwarf planet and its moons, humans have for the first time seen their surfaces and detected their tenuous atmospheres. After a short history of Pluto observations, the latest information from this mission will be presented.
  • “Crazy Engineering.” From supersonic parachutes to electric propulsion, the engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are coming up with innovative ideas to explore our solar system and beyond. This panel will discuss current and next-generation space missions, and the technology that makes it all possible. It only looks crazy, but it's result of reasoned engineering...Missions on the panel include: Dawn mission at Ceres, Juno mission to Jupiter, Europa mission, InSight and Mars Cube One (MarCO). Based on JPL’s web series Crazy Engineering.

“We’re incredibly excited about bringing the worlds of comics and space together in one fantastic event,” said Martha Donato, Long Beach Comic Con Executive Director and Co-Founder. “A ticket to Long Beach Comic Con admits fans to over 100 panels, including both the Space Expo programming and a wide array of pop culture programming focused on comics, video games, animation, cosplay and collectibles.”

Follow Long Beach Comic Con on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and information on Space Expo 2015 and all LBCC events.

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About the Columbia Memorial Space Center
The Columbia Memorial Space Center, located in Downey, California, is a hands-on learning center dedicated to bringing the wonder and excitement of science and innovation to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.  Through world-class programs and engaging exhibits, the Space Center strives to ignite a community of critical and creative thinkers.  

About Long Beach Comic Con
Long Beach Comic Con is an annual event held at the Long Beach Convention Center that celebrates comic books and pop culture and showcases the exceptional works of talented writers, artists, illustrators and creators of all types of pop culture. At Long Beach Comic Con, you’ll find exhibitors promoting and selling all types of related products, as well as entertaining and educational programs for all ages, guest signings and meet & greet sessions with celebrities. Long Beach Comic Con is a MAD Event Management, LLC production. To learn more and purchase tickets, please visit www.longbeachcomiccon.com.

For all press inquires, contact:

David Hyde
Superfan Promotions LLC
1332 Manzanita Street
Los Angeles, CA  90027
917-803-6684
@superfanpr

Sarah Medina
Columbia Memorial Space Center

Panelists include:

Keri Bean is a Mission Operations Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. She currently works on the Dawn mission in the asteroid belt as a science planning & sequencing engineer. Before starting at JPL in 2013, she completed her B.S and M.S degrees in meteorology at Texas A&M University in 2010 and 2013. While at Texas A&M, she worked on several NASA missions including the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the Phoenix Mars Lander, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Curiosity Mars Rover. She is also a member of the R2-D2 Builder’s Club. You can find her on Twitter as @PlanetaryKeri.

Andre Bormanis was the director of scientific research for Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. He is perhaps best known for his involvement in the long-running Star Trek franchise, and was the science consultant on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise. He also wrote a number of episodes of the Star Trek : Voyager series and was the science/technical advisor on two of the Next Generation films. In addition to his television work, he has worked as a consultant to the San Juan Institute and the Planetary Society in Pasadena, California

Dr. Fred Calef III is a planetary geologist and mapping specialist working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA. He works for the Curiosity Rover science team as the 'Keeper of the Maps' and for the Opportunity rover as an engineering camera uplink lead (i.e. takes pictures of Mars' surface). When not working on the rovers, he helps find safe landing sites on Mars for future mission like InSight and Mars2020.

Kristina Larson is a Flight Systems Engineer on JPL's Dawn spacecraft.  She builds, tests, reviews, and uplinks commands to control the spacecraft, as well as investigates any issues and finds ways to solve them. She has been part of the Dawn team since interning in 2008 and received her B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California in 2010 and 2011.  She enjoys playing flute, climbing, and spoiling her cat. You can find her on Twitter as @ kristeenies.

Dr. Serina Diniega is a mathematical planetary geomorphologist -- what that means is that she figures out why landforms (such as sand dunes, lava flows, and gullies) look the way they do on different planets, and she approaches these problems by viewing them within a mathematical framework that captures the physical processes acting on the landscape. Serina received her PhD in Applied Math (minor: Planetary Science) from the University of Arizona in 2010, where she also joined the HiRISE Science Team.

Mike Seibert is a Rover Driver and the Lead Flight Director for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. As a Rover Driver he plans Opportunity's route for a sol (Mars day). Rover Drivers also create the commands that are used to move Opportunity's robotic arm to directly investigate the Martian surface. As a Flight Director, Mike assesses the health of the rover and is the engineering team representative during daily activity planning. Mike received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2005 and a M.Eng. in Space Operations from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2011.

NEW RELEASE: "Chastity Falls Series" by L.A. Cotton Now Available on Kindle Unlimited!


New from author L.A. Cotton...



All three books from the Chastity Falls series is now available on 

Kindle Unlimited.



Loyalty and Lies (book #1) 




Salvation and Secrets (book #2) 




Tribulation and Truths (book #3) 




Join the group discussion: 



















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NEW RELEASE: "You're It" by Shari J. Ryan





Our little family has been together for four years, and life has been good, considering my track record. But In the blink of an eye, my ease was suddenly gone when I heard his terrifying words. I knew from the look on Tango’s face and the way he avoided my gaze—all hell was about to break loose. Now it seems like the dangers I spent years desperately avoiding are starting to threaten my happily ever after.

Maybe it’s because I let my guard down. Or maybe it’s because I was starting to trust again. But I can’t even trust the people closest to me, and now I remember why.

Screw with me, that’s one thing. Screw with my family, and we’ve got a problem…





Shari J. Ryan is an Amazon Top 100 Bestselling author, a Barnes & Noble Top 10 Bestselling author, and an iBookstore #1 Bestselling author. She hails from Central Massachusetts where she lives with her husband and two lively little boys. Shari has always had an active imagination and enjoys losing herself in the fictional worlds she creates.

When Shari isn’t writing, she can usually be found cleaning toys up off the floor.

To learn more, visit her at, www.sharijryan.com.

RELEASE BLITZ: "August (Calendar Girl #8)" by Audrey Carlan




Title: August
Series: Calendar Girl #8
Author: Audrey Carlan
Publisher: Waterhouse Press
 Release Date: August 31, 2015



Blurb

Pretending. I’ve always been good at pretending.

Being someone else is easy, and that ability has served me well these last seven months.

This time, I’ve been hired to be the long lost sister of oil tycoon, and down to earth cowboy, Maxwell Cunningham. Recently, Maxwell’s father passed away and in his last Will and Testament he dropped a bomb no one saw coming.

One of the richest men in the world, left forty-nine percent of his company to a sister my client never knew he had. A woman named Mia Saunders.

Maxwell has a year to find this sister or he loses almost half of his empire to a greedy board of investors. Somehow, he found me and here I am.

Sharing in family dinners, pretending to be someone I’m not and fooling bigwigs left and right. Only I’m finding myself falling in love with a family I can never have. One that will hurt to leave.

Stetsons, soul-searching, and sisterly duty all come into a sharp tangle with twists and turns I never saw coming.
***

In the eighth book of the Calendar Girl serial, Mia is sent to Dallas, Texas. Still on her mission to save her father, she is hired to be the long lost sister of Maxwell Cunningham, one of the newly richest men in America.

Each installment in the Calendar Girl Serial will release every month throughout 2015. The stories will feature Mia’s journey as an escort to twelve clients in twelve different locations.

Warning: This book is designed for audiences 18+ due to language and graphic sexual content.







Links to Buy

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Also Available

COVER REVEAL: "Sentenced" by L.L. Collins




Title: Sentenced
Author: L.L. Collins
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Erotic Romance
Cover Design: Marisa-Rose Shor with Cover Me, Darling
 Release Date: October/November 2015 (TBD)



Blurb

THE BAD BOY: I’m Johnny. An ex-con with a bad attitude and a controlling demeanor that somehow made the women flock to my bed but never my heart. It was unavailable for possession.

THE TEMPTATION: She was just supposed to be a two day hookup. But one taste of her and I knew I was in danger of never getting enough. She has her own demons to contend with, and dealing with my own was hard enough. I won’t allow temptation to take control of me.


THE SENTENCE: I'd given myself a life sentence a long time ago, and she made me want things I wouldn't allow myself to have. Giving into it just might destroy us both.







Author Bio

L.L. Collins loves spending her days in the Florida sun with her husband and two boys, reading, and writing. LL has been writing since she was old enough to write. Always a story in her head, she finally decided to let the characters out made her lifelong dream of becoming an author come true in the self-publishing world. She's the author of the Living Again Series and the Twisted Series, plus a new standalone, Back to the Drawing Board. Visit LL on her website, www.llcollinsauthor.com and on all social media. Look for more of her emotionally charged novels soon!



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RELEASE BLITZ: "Degrade" by T.L. Smith




Title: Degrade
Series: Flawed
Author: T.L. Smith
 Release Date: August 31, 2015



Blurb

Zeke

One rule, only one rule women need to follow when they're with me.

Don’t ask for more.

This rule is in place for a reason, you won't get more of what’s not there to give.

Bexley

He is striking, and he's all man. He is also the devil, or so I believe him to be. I gave him my heart, not realizing I was doing so. He likes to break me down, so I'm a shell of the person I once was. He's chipping away at me, bit by bit. Though I’m not as weak as he thinks, and when I can’t handle it anymore, I will come back swinging.








Purchase Links

AMAZON TO BE ADDED



Excerpt

I’m an idiot, I know this. I just can’t help myself. When it comes to him, I do as he says, do as he pleases. Even if it’s against everything, I believe in. He has a hold on me, which no other person has ever held. I don’t believe he loves me, but I love him. So that has to count for something? Right? My love is big enough. I believe it can hold onto both of us and wrap us up in a vice grip. See, I did tell you, I’m an idiot.






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Giveaway

RELEASE BLITZ: "Breaking Ryann" by Alyssa Rae Taylor




Title: Breaking Ryann
Series: Bad Boy Reformed #3
Author: Alyssa Rae Taylor
 Release Date: August 31, 2015



Blurb

He promised to leave me alone, but that was a lie. I should have known he’d have this pull on me—seeping through my skin and into my bones, burning me from the outside in. It’s just like when we were kids, and I can no longer avoid him. I’ve accepted it, but what will it take to convince him that I am no longer his? Is that really what I want?

I told her I’d leave her alone. But who was I kidding? I’ve never been one to back away from a challenge. He stole my girl—my future—from me. I’m coming back with a vengeance. I’m taking back what he took from me. After all the secrets and lies, can we come back from this? Even if it breaks me, I’ll stop at nothing to protect what’s always been mine.








Purchase Links

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Available Now


On sale for 99c

AMAZON US / UK



On sale for 99c

AMAZON US / UK







Author Bio


USA Today Bestselling author Alyssa Rae Taylor lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, their three daughters, two English bulldogs and a miniature pig. Her hobbies include reading, writing, watching Sam & Dean Winchester, fight off scary creatures on the WB, Sons of Anarchy and reality television. She enjoys stories that tug at her emotions and include lots of sexual tension. Her dream is to travel the world with her husband and children beside her. The first time she started writing, she couldn’t stop, which leads to the publishing of the Bad Boy Reformed Series.




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