July News: The Immortality Virus
The Trouble With Immortality
People are fascinated with immortality, and lately I find myself fascinated with that fascination. It’s no secret that I tend to view the idea of eternal life as a dystopian concept; I presented such a story in The Immortality Virus, which was first published in 2011 (but, as is often the case, written in 2008). And as far back as the sixth grade, when I first read Tuck Everlasting, I knew living forever would be a bad idea.
One of the things that is increasingly apparent to me the older I get is how incomprehensible the notion of living for centuries, let alone millennia, truly is. Or even the notion of living for a single century, but doing so with a twenty-something body. I’m already starting to deal with the slow, steady degradation of my body. How much of that is caught up in the “wisdom” of middle age? How much more will the two be intertwined when I turn sixty? Or eighty?
When I look at representations of immortality, I see an attempt, not to hold onto life forever, but to hold onto youth forever. This is consistent with all the ancient men falling for hot twenty-something women. The partying. The drinking. Fast cars, sharp dress, fabulous wealth, and ultimately, an ironic degree of immaturity.
I suppose that’s the fantasy. Calling it out may be a bit like calling out genre romance for its love of reforming rakes. Of course it’s a fantasy. People know it’s a fantasy. They don’t care. They want to escape. :)
But I do invite you to consider the dark side of immortality in my stand-alone science fiction novel, The Immortality Virus. Which, not coincidentally, is this month’s freebie.
Giveaway
This month, I’m giving away free copies of The Immortality Virus as part of a group scifi giveaway. If you haven’t read the book, check it out. If you like scifi, check out the other freebies while you’re at it.
Reviews are never required, but always appreciated. The Immortality Virus could use a few new reviews, if anyone is so inclined. Short and sweet always works.
Author’s Corner
Summer tends to be a slower time for me, writing-wise. For a few more years, at least, I still have kids at home and therefore run on the school schedule. I don’t mind; this is my chance to spend time with them before they head off to live their own lives. It’s truly more important than writing a book.
I am writing. Just slowly. I do prioritize writing above business and marketing tasks, just not above the kids. This is why I didn’t put out a newsletter in June, and why I might not put out another one until September.
My current novel draft is rounding the midpoint, and so far I’m still liking it, though it has inevitably drifted from my original idea. This project is a story for adults, a magic system for grown ups, and a lot of age-related concepts are at the forefront of my mind. Which is also why immortality is fascinating me once more.
- This mailing list is a public mailing list - anyone may join or leave, at any time.
-
This mailing list is announce-only.
Announcements and news about Christine Amsden.
Privacy Policy:
Privacy Policy
Effective date: January 16, 2019
Christine Amsden ("us", "we", or "our") operates the lists.christineamsden.com website (the "Service").
This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use our Service and the choices you have associated with that data. Our Privacy Policy for Christine Amsden is based on the Free Privacy Policy Template Website.
We use your data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms and Conditions, accessible from lists.christineamsden.com
Information Collection And Use
We collect several different types of information for various purposes to provide and improve our Service to you.
Types of Data Collected
Personal Data
While using our Service, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you ("Personal Data"). Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:
- Email address
- First name and last name
- Cookies and Usage Data
Usage Data
We may also collect information how the Service is accessed and used ("Usage Data"). This Usage Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.
Tracking & Cookies Data
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Service and hold certain information.
Cookies are files with small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device. Tracking technologies also used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze our Service.
You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.
Examples of Cookies we use:
- Session Cookies. We use Session Cookies to operate our Service.
- Preference Cookies. We use Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.
- Security Cookies. We use Security Cookies for security purposes.
Use of Data
Christine Amsden uses the collected data for various purposes:
- To provide and maintain the Service
- To notify you about changes to our Service
- To allow you to participate in interactive features of our Service when you choose to do so
- To provide customer care and support
- To provide analysis or valuable information so that we can improve the Service
- To monitor the usage of the Service
- To detect, prevent and address technical issues
Transfer Of Data
Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction.
If you are located outside United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to United States and process it there.
Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.
Christine Amsden will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.
Disclosure Of Data
Legal Requirements
Christine Amsden may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:
- To comply with a legal obligation
- To protect and defend the rights or property of Christine Amsden
- To prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service
- To protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public
- To protect against legal liability
Security Of Data
The security of your data is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
Service Providers
We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service ("Service Providers"), to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform Service-related services or to assist us in analyzing how our Service is used.
These third parties have access to your Personal Data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.
Analytics
We may use third-party Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service.
-
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Service. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.
You can opt-out of having made your activity on the Service available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visits activity.
For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy & Terms web page: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
Links To Other Sites
Our Service may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.
We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.
Children's Privacy
Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 18 ("Children").
We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your Children has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.
Changes To This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.
We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the "effective date" at the top of this Privacy Policy.
You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:
- By email: christine.amsden@yahoo.com