World in the Satin Bag

Creating Aliens: Ground Rules

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Over at HowStuffWorks you’ll find this brilliant post called “How Aliens Work“. Pay careful attention to it. If you want realistic aliens, some of those rules should be firmly planted in your brain. Aliens, of course, would be bound by many of the same rules that we are (the laws of physics for example). Yeah, good little post. (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

Science Fiction: Sometimes it’s wrong.

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Browsing through today, I discovered a very interesting website that discusses the errors within science fiction, particularly in TV and movies. Some of these errors are, quite frankly, rather stupid on the part of the creators. Such as: In the Star Trek Voyager episode “The Fight”, Voyager encounters a Negative Space Wedgie that is “2 light years across”. They start “11,000 km” away from it and yet, the whole phenomenon is visible on the viewscreen. As the Agony Booth review of this episode points out, this is exactly like “putting your nose on the ground, and still being able to see the whole landscape from horizon to horizon” except…you know…even worse. The thing also looks about as big as Voyager when it engulfs it, which might make slightly more sense (for a given value of “sense”) since Voyager is apparently the size of a planet. Yup, that’s Star Trek. There are even a few related to literature. Such as: The original Dune series was set 10,000 years (human history goes back 7,000 years at present) after the Robot War known as the Butlerian Jihad, featuring an old, decadent society that had presumably been going downhill for a long time. However, when Frank Herbert’s son picked up the reigns and wrote prequals set before and during said Butlerian Jihad, the prequels end with all the social orders and customs, and even the religion, of Dune already established as nearly identical to the ones in the original novel. And the reader is expected to believe that they stayed exactly the same for almost a third longer than the time between the invention of writing and the present. Yeah, pretty interesting, don’t you think? Check out the site. Maybe one of your favorite shows is on there with an error.

World in the Satin Bag

Fantasy Worlds: List Universe’s Top Ten

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I’d recommend checking out List Universe’s top ten for fantasy worlds. It’s quite a good list, I think. The top ten includes some obvious ones, such as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, and some less obvious ones (heck, even some plain fun ones). So go on, give it a look. It’s a good list. Anywho. (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

Seven Question Writing Meme

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It’s short, sweet, and to the point. Stolen from here. 1.) What’s the one book or writing project you haven’t yet written but still hope to?Still would like to write my zombie novel, but I don’t know if that will ever happen. I also have a new dream of writing the great American novel, but with a specfic tinge to it. That probably won’t happen. 2.) If you had one entire day in which to do nothing but read, what book would you start with? I have no idea. I have too many books. I’d probably read what’s on my review list first, but I’ll assume that this question eliminates that as an option, so I’d likely go with the Steampunk Anthology by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer, because I really want to read that (I own it by the way). 3.) What was your first writing “instrument” (besides pen and paper)?Somehow I think it was a crayon. I can’t rememer for sure, but I know I was drawing as a kid, and drawing is a form of writing. If you don’t believe me, then go ahead and argue with the cavemen. 4.) What’s your best guess as to how many books you read in a month?Depends. Sometimes only two, sometimes six. Sometimes none. It all depends. If I am really having problems with a book it can take me a while. 5.) What’s your favorite writing “machine” you’ve ever owned?I’d say my laptop only because the only typewriter I ever had had a malfunctioning “s” key, so I couldn’t really write on it. Ever since I got my laptop, though, I’ve been writing more because I can take it wherever I go. That’s a good thing, in my opinion, because I type faster than I write by hand. I always keep a little moleskine with me, though, in case of a good idea. 6.) Think historical fiction: what’s your favorite time period in which to read?I like ancient European history. I’m talking way back when the bow was just being created and before all those annoying religious wars. 7.)What’s the one book you remember most clearly from your youth (childhood or teens)?From my youth? I remember reading Hardy Boys a lot. I used to gobble those up like candy. Two or three a day sometimes. I just loved those books. I don’t read mysteries now, though, and maybe that’s because it was something that I enjoyed more as a kid. Anyone wanting to do this one can consider themselves tagged.

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