Play ball with my latest short story collection

Jun 26, 2021 9:03 pm

Raymund Eich

Science fiction and fantasy - from Middle America to the ends of the Universe

Play ball!

Hi ,

Raymund Eich here. Summer has arrived in post-pandemic Houston. The Astros are playing to sizable crowds. The crack of the bat, the smack of the ball into the glove, and "Deep in the Heart of Texas" in the seventh inning stretch. And $9 hot dogs and $12 beers. Baseball's not perfect.

In other sports news, the NHL playoffs are ongoing as I write. Sadly, without the St. Louis Blues (ousted in the first round). The NBA playoffs are happening too, though I don't follow the sport that closely. Apparently the Hawks are the cinderella story there.

Publishing News

If you're wondering about the sports focus in this Readers Club, my latest short story collection is out now! The Galactolympiad: Five Science Fiction Sports Stories.

Play ball! In space!

Want to learn where to buy it? Keep reading and scroll down for bookstore links.

Ebook $2.99 (or comparable outside the US)

Trade paperback $12.99.

Available at these and more booksellers worldwide.

Other Stores

Prefer to order the trade paperback from your local bookstore? Tell them ISBN 9798525347724.

I also have the first novel in a space opera series in the works. More details next time.

Patently Curious

I've read thousands of patents in my career. Some are more memorable than others.

With gasoline prices creeping up for the summer driving season, this one comes to mind. We've all heard about the guy who invented a super-efficient gasoline engine in his garage, only to have Big Oil come in and suppress the invention to keep up demand for their products. These are great stories, appealing to our fondness for the little guy and underdog, and our dislike for giant, impersonal entities that do bad things out of monstrous greed.

In the '70s, that guy was Thomas Ogle, inventor of the 100+ MPG carburetor. Not only did he invent it, he patented it. US 4,177,779. Then, the story goes, Big Oil bought the patent from him to bury the invention forever.

While I love the idea of the lone genius inventor taking on big business, there is a huge problem with the narrative about Thomas Ogle's carburetor you might have seen from your conspiracy-minded friends on social media.

Maybe Big Oil bought the patent from him and buried it. I can't confirm or deny it: the US Patent Office's public records of patent ownership don't go back to 1979. (Cue conspiracy theory that Big Oil is responsible, in a bid to hide its ownership of Ogle's invention).

But here's the thing about patents: they're time-limited. The inventor or whoever acquires the patent from the inventor gets a monopoly on the invention for a limited time. That limited time was 17 years, back in the '70s. After that, the invention enters the public domain. Anyone can make it, use it, and sell it without paying anyone a penny in royalties.

Tom Ogle's fuel vapor carburetor has been in the public domain since December 12, 1996. Almost 25 years. If your conspiracy-minded friends want to strike a blow against Big Oil, they don't have to like and retweet social media posts about Tom Ogle. They can follow the instructions in Ogle's patent and make the 100+ MPG carburetor themselves.

Other books you might like

Because you can read them faster than I can write them.

The Chronicles of Theren (Trilogy Box Set)

by C.D. Tavenor

If you're looking for a space adventure with human/AI conflicts, check this one out. My only complaint is that the ebook edition is exclusive to Kindle. $6.99, free if Kindle Unlimited is your thing.

The Chronicles of Theren

If you want to try before you buy, you can read the prequel story Before Inferno for free. Just click the link and sign up for C. D. Tavenor's mailing list.

Before I go, one last thing: are my emails giving you what you want? If they aren't, email me at newsletter@raymundeich.com or take a short online survey to tell me what you'd like to hear more about.

No longer want to be part of my Readers Club? No worries. There's an unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email.

I'll be back in a couple of months with more news. And I'll bring you a special bulletin when publishing news breaks.

Happy reading!

Raymund Eich

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