This is just a quick note to let everyone know that I have returned safe and sound from cloudy old England. All went well and there will be a more adequate recap later on in the week. Right now I’m unpacking, putting all the stuff I acquired away, etc. For now, I’m just back and alive. Thanks to all the guest bloggers who managed to keep the activity alive around here. I appreciate it you guys! (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
Firstly, I’m honoured to guest post here, while, ahem, some people get to go away on holiday! 😉 I struggled to think what to post about, and then I saw a film trailer… When does fiction become unbelievable? I haven’t seen 10,000 BC yet, but I gather that the mammoths play a large part in the creation of the Ancient Egyptians’ pyramids. Fine, I’ll accept that: it’s fiction, a ridiculous premise, but it sounds quite fun. A strange alternate history. What still bugs me is that the mammoths gallop at speeds of upwards of 60 kilometres per hour. What?! I can accept that they hung around several tens of thousands longer than in actual reality, but during that time, they also devised some way to motorise themselves?! Perhaps in hundreds of thousands of years worth of evolution, they developed little natural rubber wheels? Nooo. But in SFF, a certain suspension of disbelief is often required. In all imagination, really. We are quite prepared to accept the Chosen One, spoken of in prophecies written on napkins by the Ancient People, but I’ve friends who throw books across the room if a cave is described inadequately. “Hewn from the living rock,” just won’t cut it. It’s often the mundane done wrong that annoys people. Have magic coming from a nameless source, but woe betide you if the smell of a trench (or goblin faeces, etc) isn’t up to scratch. A lot of authors talk of a good story being combined of one element of the mundane, and one element of the fantastical. Brandon Sanderson’s YA novel, Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians or something, has librarians in it — this is obviously quite ordinary. The fantastical element: they’re an evil librarian cult which sacrifices small boys. So, there I was, tied to an alter made from outdated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians. As you might imagine, that sort of situation can be quite disturbing. It does funny things to the brain to be in such danger — in fact, it often makes a person pause and reflect upon his life. If you’ve never faced such a situation, then you’ll simply have to take my word. If, on the other hand, you have faced such a situation, then you are probably dead and aren’t likely to be reading this. And it’s a book I really want to read! 🙂 I’m off now; thanks. And yes, Mr. Sanderson, deliver the pimpage-cheque soon 😉 ~ChrisThe Book Swede
I used to think of myself as a writer, but not so much anymore. I don’t know when this shift occurred, but I think it’s when I left a career that had “writer” in the title. I graduated from college, more years ago than I’d like to admit, with a degree in Journalism. With that handy-dandy piece of paper I called myself a writer and proceeded to tell anyone who would listen that I was a writer in pursuit of a writing career. And for awhile that worked. I worked at a newspaper as a freelance writer for awhile. But since that was such a poor paying job I ended up in the advertising department selling space to anyone who’d pay our meagre fee. That got old fast and it wasn’t long before I was on the job hunt again. Luckily I landed a job on a TV show as an Associate Producer. Now that was a job with a title that made it sound far grander than it was. Mostly I was a glorified assistant who very occasionally got to write script for some of the on-air segments. For the most part I really liked that job, but I’m afraid I wasn’t good at handling the office politics that cropped up in the Hollywood shark bowl, so I washed out of that job before too long. I could have stayed in Hollywood and continued to give it a go, I even had job offers, but my brief stint convinced me that I wasn’t cut out for that world. As you can see, the further along I got in my career path, the further away I got from my earlier intentions to be a writer. After I returned to Northern California from Hollywood I got a teaching credential because the I needed to do something and without more experience, it was virtually impossible to get work at any of the local TV stations. And as you might expect, teaching elementary school isn’t a career in writing. I’ve since had kids and done the stay-at-home mom thing, which really put the final nails in the coffin of my dead writing career. For years I really didn’t put pen-to-paper (or fingers on a keyboard). I did the job of raising my kids, with hobbies like crochet thrown in for good measure. And then I discovered blogging. Oddly it was the California housing market that opened my eyes to the world of blogging. My husband and I had been wanting to buy a house for what seemed like forever, but housing prices just got crazier and crazier. In my search for information that would explain the insanity I stumbled across a blog about the San Francisco housing market (Patrick.net if you’re interested) and before long I realized what a little community develops among certain blogs. I blogged on that site for about a year before finally thinking, hey, maybe I can do this too… The first blog I set up was very journalistic in nature and I had all kinds of notions that I would rekindle my journalism career through blogging. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time for the type of blog I set up. It was way too time intensive for something that didn’t pay. So then I set up my little sci-fi/fantasy blog and lo-and-behold, a small community developed. What was really surprising to me was how many writers I ended up meeting through my blog. I suppose many of us blog because we do have a connection to the written word. I bet there are more aspiring writers among the blogging community than many other cross-sections of society. Or maybe we just like the idea that someone out there might be interested in what we have to say. So a strange thing happened while I was creating a blog. I started to write again. Stewart Sternberg, who authors the blog House of Sternberg, has, in the past, put up “writing assignments” for anyone who chooses to participate. They were usually flash fiction, usually about 1000 words, that could be on any topic. Some would have a suspense theme while others would require us to write from the perspective of an animal. And in a small way, this was a real eye opener for me. I had never really given myself the chance to write that much fiction; I didn’t think I would be that good at it. But a strange thing happened, people told me I wasn’t half bad. Imagine that. But I still hesitate to call myself a writer. I haven’t written the great-American-novel yet and I’m not sure I ever will. I write on my blog(s) mostly and I dabble in fiction when I have the time. A lot of people say that “writers write” and if you’re not writing all the time you can’t consider yourself a proper writer. There should be this overwhelming drive, they say, to write anything, to call yourself a writer. Is this true? Are most writers driven my a uncontrollable urge to write? Is it like the stereotype of the near-crazy writer hunched over his keyboard, tortured over every word, yet still driven to to write? I kind of hope not. I prefer to write in a sane state of mind. Anyway. Maybe I won’t consider myself a proper writer until I write something with some heft to it. But knowing me, I still won’t think it counts until I actually sell it for publication. So what about the other writers out there? Do you have any special criteria for considering yourself a writer?
It amazes me how many fantasy worlds have ancient civilizations with far better technology, magic, what-have-you. The Ancient Civilization is a common idea, but it’s not one that always has a lot of logic behind it. Science fiction also has similar ideas (Stargate is a great example, but there are many others). And it’s not just discovering Ancient Civilizations per se; sometimes it’s discovering forgotten technology. Anne McCaffrey’s Pern is a classic example. Many other authors tie their fantasy worlds into something that is actually based in science, where “magic” is old technology that no one understands anymore, and that extra bright star in the sky is actually an old satellite or space ship. Let me ask you something: how many ancient civilizations have we actually discovered remains from who have had technology beyond what we had when we found it? And then what are the odds it would still work? So far, we haven’t seen anything beyond what we already had—at least, that worked. Stonehenge and other mysterious artifacts and structures are around, but we don’t know what they were meant for and we certainly don’t know how to work them as they were intended. You can try and debate tall tales of magical things from the past, but until I see hard proof, I’m going to keep my healthy dose of cynicism. I’m not talking about grading technologies as superior or inferior; I’m looking more at the knowledge base required to provide an artifact that we can discover and use today that supplies something we don’t already know or have the capability to do. On a logical level, people come across major artifacts before they’re ancient, and cultural groups rarely just up and disappear from their homes. If there’s something “cool” around, it’s rare that other people don’t adopt it in some way. Look at all the changes in battle and warfare via weapons and metallurgy in the Mediterranean and Northern Africa way back when. People are inquisitive, and want the advantages that something new can give them. On top of all that, it takes luck and a lot of hard work and research to figure out the past. There are a lot of discoveries that archaeologists have branded as religious or ceremonial simply because they don’t understand what an object was used for. And do we know how the pyramids were built? I sure don’t. There’s an awful lot we don’t know, and an awful lot that we aren’t equipped to find out. The past gets buried over time unless we seek it out. If we’re using archaeological digs to discover information from two or three centuries ago, should we expect that thousands of years won’t cover up ruins? I happen to think that if an Ancient Civilization was that awesome, a writer had better have a good reason for why it collapsed and why no one knows about it. They also need to know why it’s not a pile of dust or buried if it’s still standing thousands of years later. I don’t exactly walk down the street and around the corner to some dilapidated ruins–my city was built on top of them because they were in a good spot. There aren’t magical abandoned cities hanging around with which to produce the odd deus ex machina to solve our moral battles with other societies. We do, however, write stories about them. And we do romanticise them (see also: Donovan’s Atlantis). My question, then, becomes why do we look to the past to provide for the future? What is it that we expect, or more importantly hope, to find? If you don’t know the history you’re doomed to repeat it is an idea that gets drilled in somewhere in junior high. History and our shared past is important. Humans want to know their stories, and people want to get on with things, so to speak. It’s a nice thought that someone out there did all the work for us, and all we have to do is stumble upon the deus ex ruins for a solution.But what does this really say about us?Sara J. normally blogs on Jumpdrives & Cantrips.
I saw this over at The Antick Musings of G. B. H. Hornswoggler and though, what the heck, I should do it to. By the way, anyone who reads this and has a blog is officially tagged. So, yeah. 1. You have 50 dollars in your pocket. What do you do with it? I either deposit it in my bank account or spend it on books. Or both. Or I deposit it and use my credit card to pay for books. 2. What is your most guilty pleasure? Good lord. I don’t know. Maybe that I like Eragon, but not because I think it’s a great book. Or maybe because I like My Chemical Romance. Does liking Queen count as a guilty pleasure? Cause I love Queen and Fleetwood Mac. Beyond that, I don’t know. Oh, I like fruity drinks (you know, alcoholic beverages that are all fruity and get you labeled as “gay”). Yeah, I like those and I’m not afraid to admit it, but maybe that’s not a guilty pleasure? Gah. I have no idea. 3. Have you ever had anyone close to you die? I guess that depends on what “close” means. My grandfather died and while I would say we were pretty close, it wasn’t as close as this question might be implying. I do miss him though, but the unfortunate part of that is it was a good thing he died. Why? Because after he had his major stroke he was just deteriorating and losing everything he used to be. He couldn’t care for himself, hardly spoke, etc.I’ve been thinking of putting together a story book with stories from everyone in the family about him. I wouldn’t publish it for real. This is one of those things where you just self-pub it since the only people who care about that sort of thing are family anyway. Yeah, maybe one day. 4. Are you confused as to what lies ahead of you? Yes. Majorly. I’m not going to go into it, but the future has me happy and confused at the same time because things have been happening to me that I never thought would happen (good things I mean). 5. What was the last movie you saw, for pleasure, and would you recommend it? Sunshine. I did a review for it and it was a really awesome movie. Definitely a gem of last year. So that second part is a yes. 6. Superman or Batman? Oh this is a stupid question. I can’t pick because one is a superhero and one is just good at fighting crime. And both are DC, so I really don’t care. Superman could kick Batman’s toosh any day of the week anyway. 7. If the person you like does not accept you, would you continue to wait for them to change their feelings? In the past, yes, and I can tell you this is idiotic. If anyone reads this part take note: if someone doesn’t accept you, then move on and get over it. You can’t force people to like you. Thankfully I have my girlfriend, who likes me for who I am. I don’t need to wait for anybody else. She’s all I need. (Oh, mushy Shaun, you silly goose!) 8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do? I assume this means to someone else. Well I don’t have to worry about that, as I said before, but in the past I was stupid and hung around and tried to convince them I was the better choice. Granted, I was right (most of the people I had serious crushes on were in abusive relationships where the guy cheated or was emotionally and verbally abusive, etc.). The great thing about my girlfriend is that none of that crap matters anymore. We’re perfect for each other, and that’s the only thing that matters. 9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy recently? Yeah, of course. I have finals, which suck, and I’ve had that whole financial issue and the bit about having to move, which is still looming around the corner. That makes me unhappy. Oh, and my car died and it’ll cost too much to fix, and since it’s not a car you can really donate I’ll probably have to junk it. Yeah, joy. 10. If you could have chosen at birth whether to be a boy or a girl, which would you be? A boy. Sorry ladies but I’m quite content with not having periods, giving birth, etc. Yes, you might say it’s beautiful and wonderful, but I really don’t want to push a watermelon out of a hole 100 times smaller. Doesn’t sound like fun. There’s other things too like crazy hormones, PMS, etc. Yeah, I’m good with the mannish bits. 11. Which of the 7 Deadly Sins do you think you relate to the most & why? Sloth or Lust. Probably the former since I am not fond of physical labor at all (I’m asthmatic, so doing hard work just sucks). 12. If you find out that your best friend is going out with your boyfriend/girlfriend, how would you react? Well I guess I’d be single, for one, and I wouldn’t have that best friend in my life anymore. Sorry, that’s betrayal and nobody who considers themselves my friend can survive betrayal. And if my girlfriend was cheating on me, yeah, there wouldn’t be many kind words said. I’m a ridiculously faithful and monogamous person. 13. Who is currently the most important person to you? My girlfriend. Hands down. 14. Would you rather be a really good person or a really interesting person? Neither, and no I will not choose one or the other. If being good means I’m boring, then I’ll likely have no friends, so it won’t matter if I’m good anyway. And if being interesting means people won’t leave me alone, then that sucks too. I like a combo. 15. Do you believe in some form
NASA does it right. Okay, maybe not, but for those of you interested in how space travel really looks right now you should watch this video of spaceflight STS-122 doing a pitch maneuver. The interesting thing about this is that space travel isn’t all flying around and shooting off like we see in the movies. You remember Armageddon? The Bruce Willis flick that attempted to do what Deep Impact did right, but was more successful because it gave us a more flashy, exciting picture with oddball characters (albeit an unrealistic picture).Well, in that film we saw the two ships, which aren’t that much different from what we see in the space shuttles today, take off at wild speeds, swooshing and zipping around as if they were in the air. While it was certainly beautiful to watch (who doesn’t want to see spaceships going back and forth like we’d expect to see on Earth?) it was entirely unrealistic and, well, ridiculous. The space shuttles we have today are actually very cautious and there’s no such thing as a simple maneuver. Sure, that maneuver in the video looks simple, but it’s precisely calculated because if you screw up you spin more than you really want to, and then you either have to do it all over again or you really screw yourself and crash. Maneuvers are calculated pretty much down to the wire on purpose so that there aren’t any accidents (yes, we do see accidents, but they are exceedingly rare).There’s just something to be said about being realistic over being completely unrealistic. Certainly in the far future we can expect space travel to be a little more, well, interesting, but as it stands right now, it’s not very interesting to folk that aren’t necessarily interested in what NASA is up to anyway. I might find that little maneuver rather fascinating, but it’s not the most thrilling video. There are no aliens, no flashy moves, no blasting of engines. It’s just a simple pitch maneuver in space using nothing more than a little momentum. Exciting? Is to me. I like it. Granted I wouldn’t watch it all the time, but it’s worth a peek. That’s the point, though, and perhaps the public is a little misled to think that space travel is, right at the moment, super flashy and all Star Wars/Star Trek-ish. It’s not folks. In fact, as space debris gets more and more of an issue, space travel might become even more dangerous.So, think on that for a while. Give it a few hundred years and maybe we’ll fly ships around in space like we see in the movies. But don’t count on it. There’s no gravity or air pressure up there. Talk about a blank slate, eh?
