Global Warming? No, Global Freezing, as an Ice Age Invades a Small Maine Town

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Many of us today are worried about global warming. In Richard Smith's new novel, Freezer Burn, ice is the problem; in fact, an entire Ice Age—men and beasts included—as two down-and-out Maine hunting guides find a portal to the Ice Age and inadvertently let several arks' worth of ferocious predators loose in their town.

The story begins when two brothers, Ernie and Floyd, find a vintage icebox deep in the Maine woods. It's strange enough to find a fridge in the woods, but what they find inside is even stranger. The fridge is literally a door to the Ice Age of 22,000 years ago, when Paleo-Indians and ferocious megafauna roamed the frozen turf.

Through the fridge, Ernie and Floyd not only see strange animals like glyptodons, giant sloths and sabertooth cats, they see big dollar signs and hatch a plan to lead Ice Age Safaris for well-heeled hunters.

At first it goes well. Their clients are thrilled, and the brothers have real money in their pockets for the first time. Then, inexorably, their plans go awry. One of their clients get eaten by a giant bear. In their panic, Ernie and Floyd leave the fridge door open, and soon curious Paleo-Indians, and hungry Paleo-predators slip into their small town, and begin to wreak havoc. As they try to put the genie back in the bottle, Ernie and Floyd find the situation escalating rapidly, and comically, out of control.

Richard Smith grew up in New England in and around the kinds of towns where Freezer Burn takes place. He has a BA in History from Wesleyan University and an MFA in Cinema from the University of Southern California. He is a former screenwriter, having written the movie Lockup, and worked on the James Bond series, among other projects.

He is also a creative director for interactive and immersive experiences for corporations and museums. It was while working on an exhibit for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science that he first encountered the fantastic world of Ice Age super predators, and the idea for Freezer Burn was born.

Freezer Burn is Richard's first novel. It is also the first novel to use QR codes embedded in the manuscript. Scanned with a smartphone, these checkerboard-like codes trigger a wide variety of interactive experiences—including video, audio and more—and enrich the reader's experience.

"The world of book publishing is changing rapidly," says Smith. "New technologies, new channels are changing how books are printed and marketed. Freezer Burn is already innovative in terms of its plot and print-on-demand publishing model, it only made sense to take it to the next level."

Richard Smith lives with his family and fridge in San Francisco. Freezer Burn is available in paperback and kindle formats on Amazon. Review copies are available: [email protected]

SOURCE Richard Smith