School’s In: EC Myers & Nathan Mackenzie (Contest)

It’s that time of year again. Everyone is going back to school and so is EC Myers’s Nathan Mackenzie from Fair Coin and Quantum Coin.

Ephraim thought his universe-hopping days were over. He’s done wishing for magic solutions to his problems; his quantum coin has been powerless for almost a year, and he’s settled into a normal life with his girlfriend, Jena. But then an old friend crashes their senior prom: Jena’s identical twin from a parallel world, Zoe.

Zoe’s timing couldn’t be worse. It turns out that Ephraim’s problems have just begun, and they’re much more complicated than his love life: The multiverse is at stake—and it might just be Ephraim’s fault.

Ephraim, Jena, and Zoe embark on a mission across multiple worlds to learn what’s going wrong and how to stop it. They will have to draw on every resource available and trust in alternate versions of themselves and their friends, before it’s too late for all of them.

If Ephraim and his companions can put their many differences aside and learn to work together, they might have a chance to save the multiverse. But ultimately, the solution may depend on how much they’re willing to sacrifice for the sake of humanity…and each other.

Make sure you stick around to the end. We’ll be giving away a copy of Fair Coin and Quantum Coin.

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Nathan’s World Video Blog

[Begin video transcript]

SUN 09.02.12 18:12
[Screen shows a mirror reflecting a blonde-haired boy with glasses holding up a small video camera to his right eye. He waves with his left hand.]

Testing… 1, 2, 3. Hi! Welcome to Nathan’s World. I’m Nathan Mackenzie, your host. Oh, I probably shouldn’t give my full name, since there are a lot of creeps out there on the Internet. I’ll just edit that out in post production.

This is my first video blog, or “vlog,” if you will. I don’t know how you pronounce that. Is it vlog or v-log? Heh. I kind of like that. V-log. V, as in… you know.

You have a dirty mind, my friends. I was thinking “v” as in viral. Jeez.

This is my new-to-me camcorder, which I’ve named “Camera Crowe,” after one of my favorite directors. The RCA Small Wonder model EZ5100R was top of the line a couple of years ago. Okay, maybe not top of the line, but it was pretty good. Good enough. I did a lot of research online to find the cheapest camera that didn’t completely suck, and this is the only one I wasn’t outbid on. It records in 1080p HD and has a 5X optical zoom.

[Image zooms in on a framed photo of Nathan and a brown-haired boy then pans over to a photo of identical twin girls in blue dresses, centering on their chests.]

Nice, right? (clears throat) Where was I? Oh yeah, it also has a 2.4-inch rotating LCD video display, HDMI and USB outputs, and weighs less than a pound. And from now on, this baby is going to be with me at all times. I’m going to take you into the life of an average high school student through a series of short videos. I have a feeling this is going to be a memorable year.

TUE 09.04.12 08:16
Good morning, everyone! Welcome to Summerside High.

[Pans across the front of a building with wide steps and columns flanking the entrance. Students mill around.]

This is the first day of school. And this year, I’m a senior, which means I’m finally at the top of the food chain.

[The image shakes. The camera whips around to show the broad back of a student in a football jacket walking away.]

(whispers) And here we have our first confirmed sighting of Bigfoot in his natural habitat.

[The lumbering figure half-turns and shoots a menacing look at the camera.]

Oh, crap.

TUE 09.04.12 08:22
[Cut to a noisy hallway showing students slamming lockers and strolling to their classrooms.]

Summerside High is a great center of learning where I have whiled away many hours of my life in pursuit of girls. I mean, knowledge.

[The camera whips around to follow a tall woman in a business skirt and high heels walking past. Image zooms and pans down her legs, but then quickly lowers and points at the floor.]

Hi, Ms. Kelly! Did you have a nice summer? Yes, I have permission to film in school. No, of course this isn’t going online.

TUE 09.04.12 08:25
[A brown-haired boy and a black-haired girl in glasses are standing in front of an open locker, deep in conversation.]

(whispers) We’re in luck. I just spotted my best friend, Ephraim, and his new girlfriend, Jena. Let us observe a typical high school courtship ritual, already in progress.

Ephraim was kind of a jerk to me over summer vacation. Must’ve been hormones or something. We usually hang together but I haven’t seen him much since he started dating Jena; if I didn’t know better, I’d suspect he was avoiding me. I have no idea how he and she got together, but I’m proud of him. And he’d better give me some pointers.

(sounds of throats clearing)

[Camera turns to reveak twin girls with their arms crossed and stern expressions.]

NATHAN: Hi! Mary, Shelley. This, uh, isn’t what it looks like.
SHELLEY (left): You aren’t spying on Ephraim and Jena?
NATHAN: Okay, maybe it’s exactly what it looks like, but it’s totally harmless!
MARY (right): It’s totally creepy. What are you up to now?
NATHAN: I’m just helping my friends become as internet famous as I’m going to be.
MARY: Could you turn that off, please?
SHELLEY: I’m going to be on the internet?

[Mary rolls her eyes]

TUE 09.03.12 08:28
[Camera records from inside a locker with Ephraim and Nathan framed in the open door.]

EPHRAIM: Do you really think the school is going to let you carry that thing around all year?
NATHAN: They can’t stop me.
EPHRAIM: Yeah, they can. It’s a disruption to classes. It’s a violation of student and teacher privacy.
NATHAN: Freedom of speech! Oppression!
EPHRAIM: It’s more than a little weird, too.
NATHAN: It’s not weird. It’s journalism.
EPHRAIM: You’re a journalist? With what credentials?
NATHAN: I have a blog. And a camera.
EPHRAIM: Nathan, aren’t you worried that if you’re busy recording everything, you won’t be appreciating life as you live it?
NATHAN: Screw that! I can relive the best experiences later, as many times as I want.
EPHRAIM: You’d really prefer a heavily-edited version of reality to the real thing?
NATHAN: If anything, the camera shows things as they really are. We all have selective memories — remembering only pieces of the truth, hearing whatever we want to, or just plain lying to ourselves. Like how you don’t remember ignoring me all last month. Someone has to keep people accountable.
EPHRAIM: Okay, but why here? Why now?
NATHAN: This is our last year at Summerside, Eph. After we graduate, we say good-bye to all of this. The place we grew up in, our friends—
EPHRAIM: I’m not going anywhere.
NATHAN: Fine. The people we know. We might not see them ever again.
EPHRAIM: We don’t even like most of our class.
NATHAN: That’s beside the point. You like Jena. I like Shelley.
EPHRAIM: We’ll always have Facebook?
NATHAN: I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that. (sighs) I just want… I don’t want to forget what it was like to be this age, you know? We will never have this again.
EPHRAIM: High school? I can live with that.
NATHAN: Not just high school. As we speak, everything is slipping away from us, the whole world that we know, and I don’t want to lose a single second of it.
EPHRAIM: I can relate to that. Hold on… (peers inside the locker, straight at the camera) Are you recording right now?
NATHAN: Er… No?
EPHRAIM: You were right about one thing: People lie, the camera doesn’t. I can see the red light is on, Nathan.
NATHAN: You’re close to me. Naturally I’m going to share this opportunity with you. You’re one of the stars of my documentary, Eph.
EPHRAIM: How generous. Or are you just hoping I’ll do something embarrassing so you can share it on YouTube?
NATHAN: Would I do that to my best friend?

[Ephraim slams the locker door shut. Three lines of light glow on the screen from the slats in the door. The class bell rings.]

TUE 09.03.12 12:05
[The locker door opens and Nathan looks straight at the camera.]

It turns out the school can deny me permission to record everything. And they have. Apparently they gave us some kind of “manual of conduct” they expected us to read. I might be able to get away with it if I blur people’s faces or get them to fill out release forms, or maybe I can get a petition going. But for now, I guess I have to sign off.

[Nathan reaches in and switches off the camera.]

TUE 09.03.12 02:35
[Nathan looks at the camera, still in his locker.]

Ha! I signed up for a filmmaking class with Mr. Jefferson. He only let me in because I own a camera, but whatever. Plus part of the class includes learning to edit video with professional equipment, so that’s awesome. He’s even going to count this vlog toward my grade.

Actually, I don’t know if that’s such a great idea.

TUE 09.03.12 02:45
Principal Crawford didn’t buy my documentary pitch, but he says if I get permission from the people I record, and if I help cover school events and sports and plays and things like that for the county cable access channel from time to time, he’ll allow me to carry my camera around in school.

I’m also not allowed to record in classrooms without advance permission from teachers. And I’m supposed to turn all this footage into a video yearbook for my class at the end of the year. But anyway, it looks like Nathan’s World: Year One is a go.

Graduating class of 2013, the best is yet to come! And I’m going to capture every moment of it. Stay tuned, true believer…

[End transcript]

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Meet EC Myers!

E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised in Yonkers, NY by his mother and the public library. He is a graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop and a member of the prolific NYC writing group Altered Fluid. In the rare moments when he isn’t writing, he blogs about Star Trek at The Viewscreen, reads constantly, plays video games, watches films and television, sleeps as little as possible, and spends far too much time on the internet. FAIR COIN is his first novel.

Contact Info
Website: website
Blog: Blog
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Want to purchase EC Myers’s novels?
Fair Coin at Amazon | Book Depository
Quantum Coin at Amazon

Please help spread the word: Tweet: Go back to school with 30 authors while #giveaways ensue during #SchoolsIn (Sept 1-30) http://tinyurl.com/LESchoolsIn – #paranormal #contests #UF

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Contest Time!

Thank you EC for taking part in Literary Escapism’s School’s in!

EC Myer is giving away a copy of Fair Coin and Quantum Coin. To enter, all you have to do is answer this one question: What do you think is the cause of the light that glows from Ephraim’s locker?  Remember, you must answer the question in order to be entered. (US/CA only)

Even though I’m not giving the additional entries any more, you can still help support the author by sharing their article, and this contest, on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere you can. After all, the more people who are aware of this fabulous author ensures we get more fabulous stories.

The winner must post a review of the novel someplace. Whether it is on their own blog, Amazon, GoodReads, LibraryThing or wherever, it doesn’t matter. Just help get the word out.

All School’s In contests will remain open until October 7th at which time I’ll determine the winner with help from the snazzy new plug-in I have. Have you checked out the other Black Friday contests yet? Check out the Master List to see all the Black Friday giveaways

I have not been contacting winners, so you will need to check back to see if you’ve won.