Helping some friends move today

Other than that, spending time revising like a fiend, getting a few flaws massaged out of one of my stories, thanks to feedback from OWW.

What's up with your hot and sunny weekend?


I see that smile.

I never knew what I was missing in my life...

Apparently the Holy Spirit decided the Bible wasn't enough, so it has now started selling some new texts on Amazon...

So there's a tactic some of us might take in marketing our books...claiming divine inspiration. Any way we can get God to do some blurbs for the front cover? That'd sell pretty well, methinks. Oh, hey look...thunderclouds gathering above my head. Time to duck and cover.


I see that smile.

Some scary-cute art

Rare that you see those two terms lumped together. But artist Ryan Jones manages to synthesize the two, as seen in these two examples of his work:
(click through to see a larger image version)






Check out more of his work on his blog, which hosts a bit of the twisted and weird, and scarily cute.


I see that smile.

Which FTL drive is your favorite?

Check out the link to see a list of famous methods of getting around the galaxy or universe at large. Would you have a preferred way? Something that doesn't involved portals to Hell, perhaps, or drug addiction? Of course, if you want to be turned into a whale or perhaps a pot of petunias, the Infinite Improbability Drive is a prime choice.

http://io9.com/382662/forget-warp-speed-try-one-of-these-alternative-ftl-ideas

Is there a method they haven't listed here that you think deserves a mention?


I see that smile.

Don't forget about this guy

I've pointed out projects by Alex CF in the past, with his creation of various kits and scientific modules that touch on the edge of human imagination. The more this guy does, the better he gets.

His most recent project appears to be a lycanthropy kit, filled with blood and skin samples, and the tracings of an 11,000 year-old civilization that has lurked in the shadows along humankind.



Check out his website for a video blog on this set's construction as well.


I see that smile.

Weird News Weekend

Which is worse? Selling your soul on Ebay, or selling your child?


Gas prices are ridiculous, but $175 for a burger?


And I bet you can't train your dog to do this...

That's all for this holiday weekend, everyone. I hope you all are enjoying the extra day off work, having a BBQ and seeing friends or family. See you once the week kicks in.


I see that smile.

This...is...awesome

They've created what some might call a brass and mirrors webcam. New York and London are now linked through a giant telescope, one that lets denizens of either city see each other in real time.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/05/22/scope.project/index.html

Spearheaded by British artist, Alexander St. George, a transatlantic tunnel, which was originally drilled for for broadband network connection, was setup on either end with HD cameras. The cameras and their projector screens were converted into 37 feet long, 11 feet tall displays that connect the two cities.

The telectroscope, or whatever you want to call it, does not allow for vocal communication, but already the people responsible for its construction are arranging for across-the-pond family reunions, and even some marriage proposals. The display should be up until June 15.


I see that smile.

Pitfalls of Writing Sci-fi/Fantasy

For some reason, this link refuses to link up directly to this article, but if you scroll down towards the bottom of the page, you'll see "Pitfalls of Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy."

http://www.sff.net/people/Vonda/

Here are twelve big issues that can cripple any author or any story. We start off with the Expository Lump, or the "As you know" paragraph:

"As you know, the evil king has kept us imprisoned for hundreds of years and we really don't like him, kay?"

Then we get introduced to weasel words such as "almost," "seems," "somehow," and more.

This article is one I like to refer to when in edit or revision mode, as it keeps these sneaky flaws fresh in my mind, so, hopefully, I'm able to spot them sooner when they show up in one of my stories.

Some of these issues can be across the board for any genre, but some do apply specifically to works of speculative fiction, such as:

"Calling a rabbit a smeerp," in which you create a fantasy world by going to the zoo and making up silly names for animals that already exist.

or...

Making up names or titles that are incredibly difficult to pronounce unless you have five tongues and a second mouth. Plus, it might be a warning sign if you have two characters born in the same town, one named Bob the Blacksmith, and the other X'lgarl"smagermelt.

So, read, be forewarned, or hindwarned, or wherever you are in the writing process. Make sure none of this pitfalls lame your story, or at the very least, give yourself a rope to climb back out again.


I see that smile.

Odd Hours on sale now

If you don't receive the newsletter from Dean Koontz, there are two announcements you might be interested in hearing.

First, all four Odd Passenger webisodes are now available. Check them out on youtube for an interesting sidetrack to Odd's story, and a leadup to where, I'm guessing, his next book is heading.



And Koontz's next book, Odd Hours, is also now available. For some reason, this feels like it came out rather quickly after the last one, but I'm certainly not complaining. Apparently this story not only involves him seeing the dead and other supernatural occurances, but now he's even had a vision of the apocalypse.

I'll be snagging it soon and should hopefully find the time to provide a review. Until then, if anyone gets their hands on it, let me know what you think (without spoilers, of course!).


I see that smile.

Watch and learn

I see that smile.

Online Writing Workshop

I've been taking part in http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com/ for a couple weeks now, and, even though my free membership period isn't quite up yet, I'm certain I'll be taking out a subscription. It has been a great experience so far, on many different levels. Obviously, one takes part in a workshop in the hope that it improves your writing and story. Well, the feedback I've been receiving on some chapters and short stories has proven immensely helpful. Enough so that I spent most of this weekend doing major surgery on the first five chapters of a manuscript, and despite some scarring, it came through much improved. I've also got a short story under editorial consideration after revising it, so fingers crossed there.

But at the same time, I feel I learn just as much about good and bad writing by taking part in reviewing other people's work. I've come across some great stories and enjoy telling the authors how much I loved the read. Then there are those that obviously need some more work, (mine included) and it's a challenge to critique and point out the flaws while remaining diplomatic and encouraging.

So if you are looking for a way to get some great, objective feedback on your work, or find a community of writers who care about improving their craft, then I highly recommend you check this workshop out. A lot of professional sales, both short stories and novels, have resulted from people taking part in this system, and it is very rigorous in protecting its participants and fostering a constructive atmosphere where everyone benefits. There is a free first month of participation, and then after that, you can choose various levels of payment, either doing 6$ a month, for instance, or $49 for a year.

Hope to see you on there sometime.


I see that smile.

Weird News Weekend

So we have a real Girl Scout who is an over-achiever.

A fake Cub Scout who's momma is in big trouble.

And this discovery about a 9-year-old girl...which is just rather disturbing.

Enjoy the weekend. I hope your weather is as good as ours.


I see that smile.

City of Ember trailer

This looks like it could actually be a really cool movie. I hope they don't screw it up.

Premise: After 200 years of living in a contained,underground city, the citizens of Ember must find a way out once the generator that powers their lights starts to fail.



A mix of steampunk/electropunk, maybe? Could be good. Interesting to see Bill Murray in this kind of role. I wonder if it's played serious, or if he has to do the goofball leader of the city. Let's hope they do this right, and we might have another decent science fiction movie worth seeing.


I see that smile.

Remember...no hooptedoodle

This is a great article to scan over, especially if you are in the revision phase of your work. It lists ten big rules to consider when approaching a story.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE3DD103BF935A25754C0A9679C8B63

Some of these rules obviously bend and break at one time or another. Some writers don't care about any of them, and do just fine. But for those of us on the learning curve, it likely won't hurt to at least try and apply these and see if it doesn't make the manuscript stronger. Then, once we're rich and famous bestsellers, we can choose a few to forget about and go our own way...right?

My favorites:

5. Keep your exclamation points under control.

You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.


And remember...don't let any hooptedoodle get in the way of the story.


I see that smile.

Workshop resource for Colorado writers

Not sure how many of you out there live in Colorado (and if you do, we should definitely say hello sometime) but here is a local workshop for all literary types...whether writing fiction, nonfiction, trying to make a living with freelancing, or wanting to work on a specific element of your craft.

http://www.lighthousewriters.com/

Lighthouse Writers has quite a range of studies and exercises to take part in, all for pretty decent prices too. Here's how they describe themselves:

Lighthouse Writers Workshop is an independent creative writing program in Denver, Colorado, founded and operated by working writers and university-level teachers of writing. Since 1997, Lighthouse has enabled writers to explore their craft in a supportive yet challenging environment.

It might be worthwhile to invest in one or two of these, especially if you find yourself lagging in inspiration, or wanting some solid feedback on where your manuscript is. Oh, and anyone ever taken a course like this (or this one in particular)? Let me know if it benefited you, or any other opinions you had of it.


I see that smile.

Writing Utilities for Microsoft Word

With the post yesterday on a few mental tools, I thought I'd balance it out today with some more technical items to add to your writing workshop.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11521

These are programs written by a fellow writer who wanted to boost the capabilities of Microsoft Word to be a little more writer friendly and help analyze manuscripts for various flaws. He's got three of them so far:

Word Frequency Counter:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11152

This program counts all instances of each word in a document. This can be useful to determine if you are using some words too frequently. In addition, it also tracks the shortest distance (in words) between any two instances of a word. (For instance, "I said that he said" would return 3. This can help determine if you are using words in too close proximity.

Phrase Frequency Counter:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11380

This program is similar to the Word Frequency Counter, but it counts only those phrases you specify. If you have a tendency to use cliches or over-worked phrases, this can help identify them.

Passive Word Highlighter:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11330

This program goes through an entire document and changes the color of passive, boring, or cliche words and phrases. For instance, it will replace every instance of "was" with "was" (formatted in red). You control which words it checks for and the color it assigns.

I think these are some great tools, and will be running them on a few of my own stories to see what pops out at me. You can get them through the individual links, or download them all direct from his site: http://www.rogerjcarlson.com/WritingHelp/TechTips.html


I see that smile.

Mind-mapping software

Mind mapping is an interesting phenomenon. I think there are a few books covering it out on the market, and I think it can be a great tool for breaking through some mental barriers and teaching yourself to make some imaginative connections--especially if you are a more visually oriented learner and thinker.

It's pretty much what the name says--you map out, or diagram your thoughts and concepts, attaching them to a core idea in an almost train-of-thought manner that allows you to see numerous sub-thoughts or tangents all feeding off from the main theme or inspiration.

So say your main idea is "A fantasy story." You draw that in a circle in the middle of a page, and then draw two more circles feeding off from it, one that says "dragons" (because you dig dragons) and the other that says "God decides to restart the universe" (because that is one of the big fears you live with every day, for some weird reason).

How would you link those very different elements? Do they even belong together in the first place? Who knows? But it's our job as writers to find out, right?

If you decided to give mind-mapping a try, here's some free software that helps lay out the process for you:

http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Holly Lisle also gives an example of how she does some of this to flesh out a new story idea and give it some initial structure.

Maybe you already use a process like this. I feel like I do, except I tend to write it out, instead of drawing it. But it could be a useful tool to kick you through a mental wall during some writing, or give you some new perspective on an old idea.


I see that smile.

Happy Mother's Day!

And that's who we're spending it with. Hope you are too.


I see that smile.

Weird News Weekend

This guy has a no-good, very bad, car-crashed, house-burned-down, got-a-ticket kind of day...


I think they've found a good candidate for Daredevil, in this blind gentleman who bowled a perfect game the other night.


And lastly...oh, the irony...A police chief shoots himself while running a gun safety and instruction class.


Enjoy the weekend, and make sure you don't forget Mother's Day!


I see that smile.

6 pocket-sized sci-fi gadgets

For the fun of it, and the fact that I love toys that bleep and have lights that flash on and off for no known reason, here's a great list of six awesome gadgets that fit in your pocket. Not surprisingly, Dr. Who's sonic screwdriver tops the list, being able to do everything from unlock doors, rewire complex computers, and generally cause things to fall apart, explode, or malfunction. What manner of havoc could you wreak with such a gizmo? Or, better put, what havoc wouldn't you wreak?

Star Trek and Star Wars have their share of shiny items too...though I'd say Star Trek uses the shiny items much more often as plot solutions than they should be allowed. Let's not talk about reversing the polarity here, shall we?

Are there any devices you think should be listed here? Ones you've coveted ever since you saw them bleeping and flashing away on the screen? For some reason, I keep thinking back to Calvin and Hobbes, and his cardboard box that could double as a time travel machine or a transmorgifyer device. Guess that's not technically pocket-sized, but it could be folded up...


I see that smile.

How much detail do you go into?

I don't mean in your writing, but in your head, when you're developing the story. How much do you grind down your thoughts into fine bits of sand so you can understand the minutest aspect of the plot or character you're working on? Or do you start out a story with broad sweeps of thought and image, letting the details emerge as you go?

For me, I tend to spend a good bit of time building the world, its environment and even its mythology. It is much easier for me if I do this at the beginning then to make it up as I go through the writing process. Otherwise I keep hitting spots where I think, "I need something culturally or magically significant to happen here, but I have no idea what their culture involves." Then I have to pull away from the story and think through it, losing the momentum of the prose in the process. I'd rather have the setting at hand when I begin, and then if I need to dicker around with it, shift a few timelines or language

There is a point where things gel. Where I can step back and say, okay, I could keep going, but this is all I really need to know for now. If I were to compare it to drawing a portrait of someone, I'd say I need the outline of their face, the arranged features (though subject to rearranging if necessary), some hair and eye color, and brushstrokes of their clothes. I don't need all the shades and wrinkles and freckles dotted in. I don't need everything...just enough so when I put this character into a scene, I see them right away.

Where do you begin? Do you get down into the grammar structure of your fantasy kingdom? Do you know their monetary conversion rates between neighboring lands and mapped out merchant trade routes? Draw maps? (I do)


I see that smile.

A monstrous correlation

I think it is generally known that writers...or any artists, really...are affected by the times they grow up on and the "big issues" that shape their culture. Politics, racial issues, the economy, religion, terrorism. Characters, plots and themes all tend to be driven by these overt or subconscious influences on an author's psyche.

To prove the point, the folks over it io9 have put together a graph that correlates the various monster movies and novels that have come out with the natural disasters, plagues, wars, etc. of the century. Atom bombs create humongous critters. HIV/AIDS may have sparked the fascination with vampires and zombies. And how many big destructo films have been placed in NYC so far, with an obvious hat tip to the 9/11 event? Can you look at your own writing and see an event or theme that inspired you to create a monster, villain, or otherwise deadly premise?

http://io9.com/384871/do-giant-disasters-provide-inspiration-for-giant-monster-movies

The graph is probably a bit small in the post, but you can click through to see the full size blowup and article.



I see that smile.

20 science fiction books everyone should read

Hooray. Reading homework! This isn't a list of fiction, but a list of books that touch on a variety of topics, from cloning to universal physics to How-To guides for surviving a robotic uprising. Everything any science fiction author (and fan) might find enlightening.

http://io9.com/384242/20-science-books-every-scifi-fan-and-writer-should-read

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography especially caught my eye, as a fascination with cryptography and its close cousins has fascinated since forever, probably once I started reading through the whole Sherlock Holmes collection.

Any of these look particularly interesting? How many are you already able to check off the list? These might even be great idea fodder for fantasy writers as well, since we tend to take the laws of physics and give them big nasty tweaks on the nose, just for spite. The more you know, the more you can jumble it all up beyond all recognition.


I see that smile.

A fun contest (that I forgot to mention...)

JJ (aka Goblin, aka...how many nicknames does she have, anyways?) did a blog contest last week to commemorate her 100th blog post.

The goal was to write a story exactly 100 words long, no more, no less. It could be about anything, and I'm not sure what genre or atmosphere went untouched in the end.

After tallying those who voted in the comments and judging them for herself,she was kind enough to award me first place, which was a wonderful surprise.

http://jjdebenedictis.blogspot.com/2008/05/you-are-all-so-frighteningly-talented.html

Here is my entry:

The necromancer wanders the world in torn jeans and an ill-fitting leather jacket. He walks empty streets, picks up dangling phones to listen for whispers on the other end. He shuffles through graveyard skyscrapers and drives any car he finds with the keys still in the ignition. Every city he visits is the same. The bombings left no bodies behind.

He would’ve been destroyed as well, had he been in the physical realm when someone pushed the big red button. Sheer dumb luck.

He refuses to look over his shoulder. Refuses to acknowledge the six billion ghosts following his footsteps.

------

Be sure to run over to her blog to check out the rest of the stories which are posted in the comments of her original announcement. And if you haven't yet, be sure to congratulate her on getting an agent!

I see that smile.

Steampunk Jewelry

Look! Shiny things! Ones I would actually consider wearing, even though some look like they'd slice your finger off if pinched the wrong way.
Here's a quick article detailing the artist's work, and here is the guy's actual shop, with loads of cool pieces to browse through, from brooches to pendants, rings, and cufflinks. Pretty decent prices too.

And yes, I am posting shiny things to distract folks from the fact there won't be any posts this weekend, as my wife and I are eloping a few days early to celebrate the first year anniversary of our marriage.

I would usually say that this past year seemed to go by too quickly...but we packed so much into it that I'm not sure what more we could've done while retaining our sanity.

Talk amongst yourselves until then.


I see that smile.

Crash course on Alternate History Novels

I'm usually not one for history novels, unless it involves time travel or other such alterations of the physical constants of the universe. Well, here is a handy list of some of the better-known alternate history novels available to you.

http://io9.com/384951/a-crash-course-in-alternate-history-novels

You've got everything from "the Nazis won the war" stories to one of my favorites with Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which looks at a Victorian England where magic is a scholarly pursuit. I have been meaning to get around to Her Majesty's Dragon series. Anyone recommend that?


I see that smile.