Caitlin Lynagh's Blog
June 28, 2021
Could NFTs be the New Way of Selling Ebooks?
In 2019, artist Maurizio Cattlelan created a stir in the artworld when his art piece Comedian – a banana duct-taped to the wall – was sold for $120,000 and was subsequently eaten by performance artist David Datuna. The international press that the stunt gathered played into the hands of both the artist and investor, and Cattlelan milked up the irony as the artworld slow-clapped in disbelief – or envy.
Probably envy. Over time especially, as the investor’s proof of authenticity is now probably worth seven or eight figures.
The value was not in the art, but the idea or story. Effectively the receipt being more valuable than the purchase. Influencers can do this. Fame – even in your field of creativity gives credibility to all your work, as long as you present it in the right way. A message Cattlelan was sending out to the stubbornly elitist artworld.
In March this year, artist Mike Winkelmann – also known as Beeple – sold a JPEG of his Everydays Project artwork for over $69 million. Every day, for 5000 days, beginning in 2007, Winkelmann created a piece of art. These pieces were digitised to form a one-off collage. Art auction house Christies sold the artwork. The first time they had ever sold a nonphysical art piece.
Winkelmann’s work is what is known as a non-fungible token or NFT. These have become increasingly popular in recent months. Jack Dorsey, owner of Twitter, sold the first ever tweet on the platform for $2.9 million, recording artist Grimes has sold a string of NFTs raising $6 million.
The digital art for sale is a one off, but it doesn’t mean they cannot be enjoyed on the internet by others. It simply means that there is an owner of a unique copy of that artwork. NFTs are certificates of authenticity and listed as part of a crypto storage facility called Blockchain.
I’ve always been interested in created one-off projects. My own art doesn’t specialise in any specific areas. I write fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction and urban fiction. I paint with acrylic and watercolour, I draw in pencil and pen, I quill, collage and mould. I use clay, paper, resin – even chocolate. Every project, even if connected by theme – such as The Soul Prophecies series – is unique in its own way. The appeal of creating special edition works has attracted me to the idea of creating NFTs of my books.
This week, I sold a special edition NFT eBook of my latest book Quantum Messenger for $100. The special edition had its own ISBN, a new cover – from a painting I made myself, a special foreword and the book included the link and lyrics to the song Who Am I? written by my main character Apollo, which is added at the point when the scenes in the book are in sync with the viewpoint of Apollo at that point.
I plan make Apollo himself available as an NFT later this year.
Independent publisher services platform BooksGoSocial have set up an NFT Book Shop. These NFT are collectors’ special-editions – usually minted as 1 of 100 (though I chose to sell mine as a one-off unique copy). This idea will open up avenues for revenue for all authors – as authors can offer eBook collections that include things that can’t be sold on Amazon and other such platforms. Some include videos of authors reading passages from their books, or special messages for the buyers.
What’s more, the author gets a cut from any re-sale of the NFT. So, as an author or book becomes more popular, the value of the NFT potentially rises too.
In a world where we are overwhelmed by a gluttony of access to art, design, technology, music, books and video, we often fail to see value in anything other than being entertained for a few moments or hours. To own something, to know that this art belongs to you, allows you to enjoy it from a different perspective. It allows you to appreciate the art and help nurture it, knowing its value to you goes beyond the entertainment and allows for sentiment and the personal experience of investing your soul into that work of art. Something you, and only you can experience.
As an artist, it’s what we strive for, to know what our soul creates now has value and meaning for someone else. A subconscious means of communication between the creator and consumer.
NFTs maybe the future of art, cementing that connection and communication.
What do you feel about collecting NFT editions of your favourite books?
Probably envy. Over time especially, as the investor’s proof of authenticity is now probably worth seven or eight figures.
The value was not in the art, but the idea or story. Effectively the receipt being more valuable than the purchase. Influencers can do this. Fame – even in your field of creativity gives credibility to all your work, as long as you present it in the right way. A message Cattlelan was sending out to the stubbornly elitist artworld.
In March this year, artist Mike Winkelmann – also known as Beeple – sold a JPEG of his Everydays Project artwork for over $69 million. Every day, for 5000 days, beginning in 2007, Winkelmann created a piece of art. These pieces were digitised to form a one-off collage. Art auction house Christies sold the artwork. The first time they had ever sold a nonphysical art piece.
Winkelmann’s work is what is known as a non-fungible token or NFT. These have become increasingly popular in recent months. Jack Dorsey, owner of Twitter, sold the first ever tweet on the platform for $2.9 million, recording artist Grimes has sold a string of NFTs raising $6 million.
The digital art for sale is a one off, but it doesn’t mean they cannot be enjoyed on the internet by others. It simply means that there is an owner of a unique copy of that artwork. NFTs are certificates of authenticity and listed as part of a crypto storage facility called Blockchain.
I’ve always been interested in created one-off projects. My own art doesn’t specialise in any specific areas. I write fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction and urban fiction. I paint with acrylic and watercolour, I draw in pencil and pen, I quill, collage and mould. I use clay, paper, resin – even chocolate. Every project, even if connected by theme – such as The Soul Prophecies series – is unique in its own way. The appeal of creating special edition works has attracted me to the idea of creating NFTs of my books.
This week, I sold a special edition NFT eBook of my latest book Quantum Messenger for $100. The special edition had its own ISBN, a new cover – from a painting I made myself, a special foreword and the book included the link and lyrics to the song Who Am I? written by my main character Apollo, which is added at the point when the scenes in the book are in sync with the viewpoint of Apollo at that point.
I plan make Apollo himself available as an NFT later this year.
Independent publisher services platform BooksGoSocial have set up an NFT Book Shop. These NFT are collectors’ special-editions – usually minted as 1 of 100 (though I chose to sell mine as a one-off unique copy). This idea will open up avenues for revenue for all authors – as authors can offer eBook collections that include things that can’t be sold on Amazon and other such platforms. Some include videos of authors reading passages from their books, or special messages for the buyers.
What’s more, the author gets a cut from any re-sale of the NFT. So, as an author or book becomes more popular, the value of the NFT potentially rises too.
In a world where we are overwhelmed by a gluttony of access to art, design, technology, music, books and video, we often fail to see value in anything other than being entertained for a few moments or hours. To own something, to know that this art belongs to you, allows you to enjoy it from a different perspective. It allows you to appreciate the art and help nurture it, knowing its value to you goes beyond the entertainment and allows for sentiment and the personal experience of investing your soul into that work of art. Something you, and only you can experience.
As an artist, it’s what we strive for, to know what our soul creates now has value and meaning for someone else. A subconscious means of communication between the creator and consumer.
NFTs maybe the future of art, cementing that connection and communication.
What do you feel about collecting NFT editions of your favourite books?
February 25, 2021
New Website for The Soul Prophecies
With The Soul Prophecies now completed, there is a dedicated web page for the series. I plan to add to it over the coming months.
Thesoulprophecies.com
Don’t forget to check out my blog too for updates (Apollo has also been contributing to it).
I’m looking forward to revealing my latest work with you. It’s still in progress for now but getting closer to the dreaded editing phase!
Keep watching this space – or better still, join my mailing list – and get exclusive free teasers!
Thesoulprophecies.com
Don’t forget to check out my blog too for updates (Apollo has also been contributing to it).
I’m looking forward to revealing my latest work with you. It’s still in progress for now but getting closer to the dreaded editing phase!
Keep watching this space – or better still, join my mailing list – and get exclusive free teasers!
October 21, 2020
The Song Written in a Dream
In February 2020, having finished the final edits to Quantum Messenger, I drifted off to sleep thinking about the character Apollo. I awoke in the middle of the night with a song in my head that Apollo had sang in my dream!
There’s a scene in the book where Apollo, a robot, has been tested by the US military, having ‘malfunctioned’ a number of times. At this point, Apollo is disillusioned with humans and wants to cease to exist.
In my dream, he was singing, “Don’t wake me up, I’m not going back, I can’t take this life so don’t send me back. I don’t know how to live, I don’t know how to love.” I could remember the lyrics and tune vividly. I got up, looked for a virtual piano online and found the tune.
The next day, with the tune still in my mind, I wrote the rest of the song. I’ve never written a song before, it flowed as if Apollo himself was writing it. I found the full melody for it.
Unsure of what to do with it, I sent it to my publisher and they happened to know the perfect artist to record it. Since then, both Apollo and the song have taken on a life of their own. The single, entitled Who Am I? has been recorded by industrial/cyber-punk artist OUR EYES and will be released to coincide with the book on November 3rd.
Quantum Messenger
There’s a scene in the book where Apollo, a robot, has been tested by the US military, having ‘malfunctioned’ a number of times. At this point, Apollo is disillusioned with humans and wants to cease to exist.
In my dream, he was singing, “Don’t wake me up, I’m not going back, I can’t take this life so don’t send me back. I don’t know how to live, I don’t know how to love.” I could remember the lyrics and tune vividly. I got up, looked for a virtual piano online and found the tune.
The next day, with the tune still in my mind, I wrote the rest of the song. I’ve never written a song before, it flowed as if Apollo himself was writing it. I found the full melody for it.
Unsure of what to do with it, I sent it to my publisher and they happened to know the perfect artist to record it. Since then, both Apollo and the song have taken on a life of their own. The single, entitled Who Am I? has been recorded by industrial/cyber-punk artist OUR EYES and will be released to coincide with the book on November 3rd.
Quantum Messenger
July 10, 2020
New Book Quantum Messenger
The fourth and final book in The Soul Prophecies series, QUANTUM MESSENGER, will be released on November 3rd 2020. Available on hardback and eBook and will be available for pre-order soon.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
If Artificial Intelligence developed a soul, what would it do? Where would it go?
And after life, could it help the dead guide the living?
Apollo is the first of its kind - an AI Assistant who, along with millions of other robots, will help transform workplaces and households. Over a few short years, Apollo learns the wonders and cruelties of mankind. He rewrites his internal programming so that his responses and personal thoughts can be independent. He befriends, then betrays a child and has to learn about love in its purest sense. Apollo cultivates passions, pride, anger, sadness and ultimately forgiveness, all under the watchful eye of a being he can't quite fathom out.
Is it something beyond his very being, or could it be his own conscience?
QUANTUM MESSENGER explores the birth of the AI soul and though part of the series, reads as a stand-alone novel. Indeed is the best book to read to start the series as it loops to ANOTHER PATH.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
If Artificial Intelligence developed a soul, what would it do? Where would it go?
And after life, could it help the dead guide the living?
Apollo is the first of its kind - an AI Assistant who, along with millions of other robots, will help transform workplaces and households. Over a few short years, Apollo learns the wonders and cruelties of mankind. He rewrites his internal programming so that his responses and personal thoughts can be independent. He befriends, then betrays a child and has to learn about love in its purest sense. Apollo cultivates passions, pride, anger, sadness and ultimately forgiveness, all under the watchful eye of a being he can't quite fathom out.
Is it something beyond his very being, or could it be his own conscience?
QUANTUM MESSENGER explores the birth of the AI soul and though part of the series, reads as a stand-alone novel. Indeed is the best book to read to start the series as it loops to ANOTHER PATH.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
August 3, 2019
Lost Frequencies Update
My next book LOST FREQUENCIES will be released on Nov 19th. It's already available to pre-order on Amazon and other book stores.
Lost Frequencies began as an accumulation of two big ideas, one being the idea of another planet with conscious life and two being the idea of an existence after death.
The universe is an unfathomably large place and as humans we are obsessed with the idea of extra-terrestrial lifeforms and what they might look like. There have been many wild, strange, and terrifying depictions of extra-terrestrial life written in fiction. However, considering humanity beat the odds and evolved on planet Earth, I don’t think it is too outrageous to suggest that other lifeforms could evolve in a similar way on a similar type of planet. Why complicate things? The evolutionary patterns which worked here on Earth could work on another planet too.
Iyeeka is a large planet inhabited by Iyeekans, a species which look almost exactly like humans, with some minor differences. The majority of Iyeekans are incredibly pale with pointed ears and stand over six feet tall. Their continents are much larger than the continents on Earth, their seas and oceans are acidic and toxic, some of their animals are more dangerous, and their skies are pink instead of blue. Iyeeka have Eyeleetansy and Laluta plants whereas Earth have Bumblebees and flowers. There are many sharp contrasts between humans and Iyeekans, but there are three major differences:
Iyeekans did not evolve in a violent manner. They did not have wars or battles, and they didn’t have kings, queens, emperors or religion. There was always plenty of land and Iyeekans realised that it was better to work together than to fight.
Iyeeka had a biological metal called lif which Iyeekans could control and direct with their consciousness. In this way they had a better understanding of the consciousness because they had something physical and direct that they could see and measure it by.
Iyeekans evolved at a much slower pace than humans. What has taken humans a few centuries and decades to achieve, it took Iyeekans tens of thousands of years.
When I started thinking about how humans could potentially exist beyond death. It led me to the things that science can’t fully explain; emotions and the consciousness. Religion has tried over the centuries to explain life and death in its own way, but I’m not a religious person, and I believe a lot of religion has been corrupted and lost in translation. I came up with the idea of Nowtime and the Creative Field based on ideas and phenomena known within Quantum Physics. This for me was a place outside but also linked to the physical realm and living world. A place where a consciousness or spiritual emanation of a human could exist, effectively the human soul. In the Creative Field time behaves differently to how we humans experience time today. Due to Nowtime, the past collapses, the present is always now and the future is an ever-expanding tangle of possibilities.
The series centres around Nowtime and the idea that the future is constantly changing and that some outcomes are more likely than others. It focusses on individual decisions and how even the smallest decisions can have a massive impact on the future. The books follow individuals who either know too much or are the unfortunate victims of the remote possibilities.
Lost Frequencies is set billions of years before the evolution of mankind. Certain Iyeenkans are able to see into the future whilst they sleep, and as a result they are able to predict the downfall of their world. However, convincing others that their world is going to end and finding solutions to stop it from happening isn’t easy. Thirteen Iyeekans are singled out, but not for the reasons they hoped for. Their world is dying, the Eyeleetansy numbers are dwindling and some Iyeekans are turning to violence. It is a race against time to save their species, but is there enough time left?
The series follows on with ‘Another Path’. After the final destruction of Iyeeka the story jumps forwards to Earth at the beginning of the 21st Century. The Thirteen are now souls and they have been watching the evolution of mankind. They are aware of the many possibilities for the future of Earth, but they are concerned that humanity may destroy their planet. The Thirteen have a greater understanding of the afterlife and the forces which govern everything, and they hope to bring certain humans together in order to propel humanity into a positive future. Unfortunately, not everything goes to plan and certain decisions, along with the unpredictable forces of nature, could cause major problems for mankind.
Lost Frequencies began as an accumulation of two big ideas, one being the idea of another planet with conscious life and two being the idea of an existence after death.
The universe is an unfathomably large place and as humans we are obsessed with the idea of extra-terrestrial lifeforms and what they might look like. There have been many wild, strange, and terrifying depictions of extra-terrestrial life written in fiction. However, considering humanity beat the odds and evolved on planet Earth, I don’t think it is too outrageous to suggest that other lifeforms could evolve in a similar way on a similar type of planet. Why complicate things? The evolutionary patterns which worked here on Earth could work on another planet too.
Iyeeka is a large planet inhabited by Iyeekans, a species which look almost exactly like humans, with some minor differences. The majority of Iyeekans are incredibly pale with pointed ears and stand over six feet tall. Their continents are much larger than the continents on Earth, their seas and oceans are acidic and toxic, some of their animals are more dangerous, and their skies are pink instead of blue. Iyeeka have Eyeleetansy and Laluta plants whereas Earth have Bumblebees and flowers. There are many sharp contrasts between humans and Iyeekans, but there are three major differences:
Iyeekans did not evolve in a violent manner. They did not have wars or battles, and they didn’t have kings, queens, emperors or religion. There was always plenty of land and Iyeekans realised that it was better to work together than to fight.
Iyeeka had a biological metal called lif which Iyeekans could control and direct with their consciousness. In this way they had a better understanding of the consciousness because they had something physical and direct that they could see and measure it by.
Iyeekans evolved at a much slower pace than humans. What has taken humans a few centuries and decades to achieve, it took Iyeekans tens of thousands of years.
When I started thinking about how humans could potentially exist beyond death. It led me to the things that science can’t fully explain; emotions and the consciousness. Religion has tried over the centuries to explain life and death in its own way, but I’m not a religious person, and I believe a lot of religion has been corrupted and lost in translation. I came up with the idea of Nowtime and the Creative Field based on ideas and phenomena known within Quantum Physics. This for me was a place outside but also linked to the physical realm and living world. A place where a consciousness or spiritual emanation of a human could exist, effectively the human soul. In the Creative Field time behaves differently to how we humans experience time today. Due to Nowtime, the past collapses, the present is always now and the future is an ever-expanding tangle of possibilities.
The series centres around Nowtime and the idea that the future is constantly changing and that some outcomes are more likely than others. It focusses on individual decisions and how even the smallest decisions can have a massive impact on the future. The books follow individuals who either know too much or are the unfortunate victims of the remote possibilities.
Lost Frequencies is set billions of years before the evolution of mankind. Certain Iyeenkans are able to see into the future whilst they sleep, and as a result they are able to predict the downfall of their world. However, convincing others that their world is going to end and finding solutions to stop it from happening isn’t easy. Thirteen Iyeekans are singled out, but not for the reasons they hoped for. Their world is dying, the Eyeleetansy numbers are dwindling and some Iyeekans are turning to violence. It is a race against time to save their species, but is there enough time left?
The series follows on with ‘Another Path’. After the final destruction of Iyeeka the story jumps forwards to Earth at the beginning of the 21st Century. The Thirteen are now souls and they have been watching the evolution of mankind. They are aware of the many possibilities for the future of Earth, but they are concerned that humanity may destroy their planet. The Thirteen have a greater understanding of the afterlife and the forces which govern everything, and they hope to bring certain humans together in order to propel humanity into a positive future. Unfortunately, not everything goes to plan and certain decisions, along with the unpredictable forces of nature, could cause major problems for mankind.
January 4, 2019
ANOTHER PATH
**NEW BOOK ** - ish
When I started writing Anomaly in 2014 I had an idea of where I wanted The Soul Prophecies series to go. I wanted to write about Arhl’s world and I had a vision for how the series would end. The series was always going to be a trilogy but half way through Anomaly I realised that I needed to explain Sophia’s story too. I wrote Hidden Variables as a prequel to Anomaly for that purpose.
Four years later and I have finished writing the series; I know where the story travels and its ultimate destination. Outlet Publishing offered me the release of a deluxe edition of Hidden Variables/Anomaly to include my science notes (Sophia’s journal) and suggested editorial changes to tie in with the rest of the series.
This was the perfect opportunity for me to make some changes to the original books and simplify the story. Thus Another Path was born.
The basic stories behind the original Anomaly and Hidden Variables are unchanged but read better and will lead in well for the rest of the series. For those of you who have already read Anomaly and Hidden Variables I hope you will also enjoy reading Another Path. We plan to release the next books in the series all within a year of this one. The original Anomaly and Hidden Variables books will be discontinued after the current press run ends, so I guess that makes them collectable in the future.
Another Path will be released on April 23rd 2019.
Thank you all for your patience and for your continued support as well as all the kind reviews. I’m always overwhelmed, and motivated, by the positive feedback for my books and I’m looking forward to sharing with you my new work.
CAITLIN.
When I started writing Anomaly in 2014 I had an idea of where I wanted The Soul Prophecies series to go. I wanted to write about Arhl’s world and I had a vision for how the series would end. The series was always going to be a trilogy but half way through Anomaly I realised that I needed to explain Sophia’s story too. I wrote Hidden Variables as a prequel to Anomaly for that purpose.
Four years later and I have finished writing the series; I know where the story travels and its ultimate destination. Outlet Publishing offered me the release of a deluxe edition of Hidden Variables/Anomaly to include my science notes (Sophia’s journal) and suggested editorial changes to tie in with the rest of the series.
This was the perfect opportunity for me to make some changes to the original books and simplify the story. Thus Another Path was born.
The basic stories behind the original Anomaly and Hidden Variables are unchanged but read better and will lead in well for the rest of the series. For those of you who have already read Anomaly and Hidden Variables I hope you will also enjoy reading Another Path. We plan to release the next books in the series all within a year of this one. The original Anomaly and Hidden Variables books will be discontinued after the current press run ends, so I guess that makes them collectable in the future.
Another Path will be released on April 23rd 2019.
Thank you all for your patience and for your continued support as well as all the kind reviews. I’m always overwhelmed, and motivated, by the positive feedback for my books and I’m looking forward to sharing with you my new work.
CAITLIN.
April 27, 2018
NEW BOOK - Hidden Variables
My new book, Hidden Variables, is out this week. I hope you like it.
Hidden Variables is the prequel to my book, Anomaly. The book follows the family and the younger years of a character from Anomaly, Sophia Leto. The Leto family have unique gifts, they can see visions of the future and the souls of the living and the dead. Sometimes they choose to alter the future if they see a terrible event, but the decision is not made lightly. The Letos understand that altering one event, often alters other future events and it can have disastrous consequences.
Sophia Leto finds herself in a predicament when she discovers that a murderer is still on the loose and has a vision depicting the death of one of her classmates. Sophia has to decide how she is going to help her classmate and how she can put the real killer behind bars.
However, what she doesn’t realise is that her family have seen a terrible future involving Sophia, and they are keeping their own secrets...
HIDDEN VARIABLES is available in print and eBook (not sure if Amazon linking is allowed so won't).
If you enjoy the book, please leave a review, it's appreciated and helps the book reach a larger readership Thank You, Caitlin.
Hidden Variables is the prequel to my book, Anomaly. The book follows the family and the younger years of a character from Anomaly, Sophia Leto. The Leto family have unique gifts, they can see visions of the future and the souls of the living and the dead. Sometimes they choose to alter the future if they see a terrible event, but the decision is not made lightly. The Letos understand that altering one event, often alters other future events and it can have disastrous consequences.
Sophia Leto finds herself in a predicament when she discovers that a murderer is still on the loose and has a vision depicting the death of one of her classmates. Sophia has to decide how she is going to help her classmate and how she can put the real killer behind bars.
However, what she doesn’t realise is that her family have seen a terrible future involving Sophia, and they are keeping their own secrets...
HIDDEN VARIABLES is available in print and eBook (not sure if Amazon linking is allowed so won't).
If you enjoy the book, please leave a review, it's appreciated and helps the book reach a larger readership Thank You, Caitlin.
June 24, 2017
Update on New Works
The second book in The Soul Prophecies series is called "Hidden Variables" and will be released in March 2018.
I have been commissioned to write four books in the series. Anomaly was released last year and has gained excellent reviews (thank you!) and interest from several science blogs about the ideas discussed in it - and will continue to use throughout the series.
I wrote a blog/essay about the science ideas on my Book Igloo/> blog: https://thebookigloo.wordpress.com/20...
If you have any questions feel free to ask me here on Goodreads. I will answer as many as I can.
I have been commissioned to write four books in the series. Anomaly was released last year and has gained excellent reviews (thank you!) and interest from several science blogs about the ideas discussed in it - and will continue to use throughout the series.
I wrote a blog/essay about the science ideas on my Book Igloo/> blog: https://thebookigloo.wordpress.com/20...
If you have any questions feel free to ask me here on Goodreads. I will answer as many as I can.
April 1, 2016
Blog for New Writers!
Calling all aspiring and current writers and authors!
Are you struggling to create a character? Wondering what to write? Or are you finding it difficult to be inspired?
Interested in finding out about the publishing industry? Or how to cope as a writer? Or how to avoid mistakes that will turnoff your readers and publishers?
Check out the Diary Of A Young Writer , hosted by the Outlet Publishing Group (A UK based platform which aims to support new writers) http://blog.outletpublishinggroup.com/. Here you will find all sorts of advice and information, typed from the fingertips of a young and new author (ME), who is experiencing the trials and tribulations of writing and publishing a book right now!
Click on the link if you're interested in finding out more!
Happy writing and reading!
Are you struggling to create a character? Wondering what to write? Or are you finding it difficult to be inspired?
Interested in finding out about the publishing industry? Or how to cope as a writer? Or how to avoid mistakes that will turnoff your readers and publishers?
Check out the Diary Of A Young Writer , hosted by the Outlet Publishing Group (A UK based platform which aims to support new writers) http://blog.outletpublishinggroup.com/. Here you will find all sorts of advice and information, typed from the fingertips of a young and new author (ME), who is experiencing the trials and tribulations of writing and publishing a book right now!
Click on the link if you're interested in finding out more!
Happy writing and reading!
