Peggy’s Qs and My As (about science fiction)
I’m not sure if Peggy of Biology in Science Fiction wanted professional science fiction writers. If so, then I guess she can ignore my answers. If not, then here are my answers to her questions for science fiction writers (if you’re a science person, go check out her questions for science writers): Why are you writing science fiction in particular? What does the science add?I think the primary reason I write science fiction first and fantasy second is that science fiction seems to grab at my imagination in a more profound way than fantasy (which isn’t meant to be a slight on fantasy). The reasons for this are also my reasons for not clinging to a particular religion, and also being rather critical of religion: I’m a rational/logical/non-pseudo-supernatural-whatsit person. You can argue that I’m not rational or logical, but I do spend more of my time looking at things from a viewpoint born out of what is known and provable, to a certain extent, rather than looking at stuff that is, to put it bluntly, bunk. I find things like quantum computers or astronauts losing $100,000 tool bags in space far more interesting on a more consistent basis than TV shows about ghost hunters or listening to people explain to me how dinosaurs and humans lived together.So, from this perspective science fiction offers me a way of thinking “realistically” about the future. Science fiction is the literature of the future, whether that future be distant or near. I like being able to write about what the world could be like in 20 years, or 50 years, if one thing were to show up, or a new technology were to become a part of traditional culture, etc. I like how science fiction offers me a lot of ways of dealing with what interests me, such as human reactions to the other (in science fiction this translates to human reactions to aliens, cyborgs, clones, robots, human replicas, etc.).Perhaps what science adds, when I make an effort to really use it (and I guess I use science all the time in science fiction, but when I talk about really using it I mean actually going out of my own little box to find new concepts to work with or trying to portray a better grasp of something I don’t know a lot about), is a sense of reality. The idea that this story I’m writing could actually happen. That’s important to science fiction I think: that the science make the stories and imagined futures seem real enough for the reader to actually consider the possibilities. The science makes the fiction stronger. Part of this is my personal distaste for regular fiction. I like things that aren’t currently real. I like spaceships and aliens and bizarre future technologies, etc. To me, the science simply makes the fiction stronger by allowing for more complex themes than are present in “traditional” fiction. You could argue with me on this if you wanted to, but “traditional” fiction cannot do what science fiction does. Period. Science fiction is unique because of its ability to do what other fictional forms cannot do. What is your relationship to science? Have you studied or worked in it, or do you just find it cool? Do you have a favorite field?I consider myself a science enthusiast. I don’t claim to know everything about science and am honest enough to say that I probably couldn’t explain without flailing my arms around like a moron how basic aspects of science work. I don’t remember how to do most of things I learned in chemistry and I couldn’t easily tell you the specifics of every step of cell division. But I love science, even when I don’t understand it (and that happens a lot, because I have no idea how quantum physics works, or what string theory really means, or how the heck a computer works, etc.). I consider myself relatively knowledgeable, though, regardless of my weaknesses. I’m not Mike Brotherton, who is a scientist, and I would never take up arms against him on any scientific issue, because I would lose horribly.That said, I have studied bits and pieces of science. I think I know a bit more about biology and evolution than I do about, say, complex subjects such as the eleven dimensions or string theory or quantum theory. I have a lot of sociology-type experience in college primarily because I wanted to be an evolutionary biologist before I decided literature and writing was more up my alley. I really find myself fascinated by primates and how close they are to us (and if you researched you’d be absolutely astonished at how intelligent and “human” they really are). Outside of that, I utilize Google on a regular basis to keep myself as knowledgeable as possible about subjects I don’t know very well (such as physics, astronomy, etc.–although these subjects are actually fascinating to me, so I find myself learning more and more as I go along).If I had to pick a favorite field, I’d have to say astronomy. While evolution and primatology are all hot topics for me, I find the recent news in science regarding exoplanets, asteroids, deep space satellites, supernovas, dark matter, etc. absolutely astonishing. Whoever said we weren’t still advancing our at an exponential rate was a complete moron, because the things we’re learning from space are mind boggling. Pretty soon someone is going to be able to prove that that whole panspermia thing is real…imagine that day, eh? How important is it to you that the science be right? What kind of resources do you use for accuracy?This really depends. First off, I’m willing to make exceptions about certain tropes in science fiction for the sake of a story. Faster-than-light travel is still impossible according to our good friend Einstein. But, if FTL isn’t possible and you don’t want to be one of those folks who uses wormholes and other loopholes, then you’re pretty much screwed if you
Question to Readers About Reviews
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I do book reviews and wondering if perhaps my reviews could use some fixing. I want to improve them because I get the sense that they’re not quite right. What do you think? Are there things you’d like me to do in my reviews that I don’t? Would you like to see less of something and more of something else? Any suggestions and constructive criticisms appreciated. Thanks in advance! (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
Help: Need Your Advice
I already asked one friend and he gave me a good perspective on the matter, but I thought I would ask all of you who read my blog or stumble upon it for your thoughts on something that recently came to my attention.Last year in the final quarter of my first year at UC Santa Cruz I took a required course called Lit. 101, which, at the time, had the theme of “Animal Theory”. It was an interesting course, to a certain extent, though not perfect, and I developed a relationship with the professor because we both share some common interests–science fiction, actually.So, when I found out one of the professors I wanted to do another independent study course with wouldn’t have the time I decided to ask the professor of my Lit. 101 course. And she emailed me back saying that she didn’t feel she would have the time to do so, but offered me a slot in her graduate course this fall.Now, for those that don’t know, I’m an undergraduate. I have no degree, yet, and this will be my second year at a real university as opposed to the five I spent figuring out what the hell I wanted to do in community college. That means I’ve never taken a graduate course; the highest course I’ve taken is actually the Lit. 101 course, which is the second highest level course you are required to take for a literature degree.I’m hesitant to take her up on her offer only because I don’t know a lot about graduate level seminars and fear that I’m not up to something like that. At the same time, I like this professor and this is a great opportunity. It will offer me a challenge, which I feel I do need, and might help me on my way to applying for graduate school. So, what do you all think on this matter? Do you have any advice or suggestions? Or perhaps you’ve had a graduate school experience and could enlighten me to what it’s like? Thanks. (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
eReaders: Suggestions?
I have probably been a tad bit critical of eReaders in the past, and with good reason, but I’ve been warming up to them somewhat as of late. The reason is that there are a lot of online magazines and magazines that release in PDF format that I would like to read more of, but I can’t because reading online for extended periods of time actually gives me a headache or bores the hell out of me.But recently I’ve decided to accept some eBooks for review, only because the publisher is a itsy bitsy in size and while I would love to have hard copies I thought it would be beneficial to this small publisher if I just bit the bullet and read a few books in eBook format. I’m not, at this point, going to do this for every publisher, or every author, but special cases will be made because I can stand to read the occasional eBook, just not eBook after eBook.Things are changing in the book market, though, and particularly in the short fiction market where online publishing seems the more “common” route than traditional publishing. I think this has pros and cons, but I think, all in all, this is possibly a better model for some publishers and probably something the big three are going to have to embrace to stay alive. Currently there are several online magazines that I read on and off, and I would like to read them more regularly, but there’s that “reading from the computer” thing and I’d rather spend my computer reading time editing my work or writing.All this in mind, I thought I’d talk to all of you about eReaders and get your opinions on the matter. I’m thinking of trying an eReader–possibly asking for one for Christmas–so I can start reading online magazines more regularly and news stuff. If I find the eReading experience good enough to extent that to eBooks I might change my entire review model and take eBooks almost exclusively to save the publishers a bit of money.The thing is, a lot of the eReaders I’m seeing have tremendous limitations for file format. So, what would you suggest? Is getting non-Kindle format books onto a Kindle too difficult to bother? What about Sony’s new eReader? Can I get PDFs onto eReaders or are there tools to help me convert to the correct format? What about plain text or txt files or .doc files?What do you suggest or what are you experiences with eReaders?