WILLIAM H COLLIER

STANLEY’S COMET - “IN EXTREMIS”

A giant comet is hurtling toward Earth, and the world learns that all life on the planet will be obliterated in just seven days. Stanleys Comet is a gallows humor view of the precipitous decline of civil society upon the news. Events unfold from the perspective of Stanley Caldwell, a thirty-five year old assistant copy shop manager who resides with his mother in Baton Rouge , Louisiana, and Dr. Herschel Stanley, an embittered junior grade NASA astronomer whose accidental discovery of the comet catapults him from obscurity to momentary notoriety.

THE THIRD LOVE - “"IN EXTREMIS”

In The Third Love, the followers of Smith, an executed convict who taught that good and evil are physical qualities controlled by the laws of the physik, acquire a nuclear weapon with the intent of putting Smiths teachings into practice. The novel is set in the near future at a time when computers and efficient economics have relieved the majority of the need or even the opportunity to work. Instead, most pass their days in meaningless isolation watching multivision, a form of three-dimensional television and internet with a picture more real than reality. The novel centers on the life of an ordinary guy in such a society, while following the Presidents political calculations that in the end coincide with the aims of the followers of Smith.

TWELVE COCKTAILS: TRIED AND TRUE

Writer/journalist Nigel Bob Collins explores twelve classic cocktail, all of which have been enjoyed for nearly or more than a century. The origins, history and mythology of each cocktail are investigated and the original recipes provided. The book includes all information necessary to prepare the drinks, along with a discussion of the ingredients of each. Also included are cocktail photos by the noted food photographer, Denny Culbert, and period photos of people and places associated with the cocktails. The book is intended for a lay audience but is an invaluable resource for the professional barman

IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?

Are we alone? Or is the universe teeming with intelligent life? Can we expect extraterrestrial civilizations to be common? Occasional? Rare?
In this wide-ranging Assessment, historian/writer W. H. Collier explores the probabilities of the existence of extraterrestrial, technological life based on the latest scientific findings. Not content with the well-worn assertion that life must be common because there are so many stars and planets, Collier undertakes a thorough analysis of just what it would take for technological societies to arise on other planets. From quantifying the number of habitable planets, to examining the genesis and development of life on this planet, to grappling with the emergence of intelligence in our own species, Collier leaves no stone unturned.
The number of scientific topics addressed may appear daunting, but the author’s non-technical style makes this work imminently readable.
Though written for the lay reader, the findings in this Assessment may well open the eyes of many in the scientific community.

WILLIAM H. COLLIER is an attorney, historian and columnist who resides with his wife, Nicole, in Lafayette, Louisiana. He is the author of numerous works of short fiction, and his columns appear in various newspapers and magazines under the pen name, Nigel Bob Collins.