We has them, preciousssss.... In short, since this is a fifth Friday, Amanda asked me if I'd mind posting a snippet of the space Prussians. So, without further ado, the space Prussians address a special session of the UN... The United Nations General Assembly Hall was certainly impressive, Friedrich noted as he walked to the... Continue Reading →
Lunacon is Coming
Run for your lives! Or something. I’ve got my tentative schedule for Lunacon this year – it’s happening from April 7 through April 9 this year, and in a change from the ones I’ve been to so far it's not at the M.C. Escher Memorial Hotel (aka the Hilton Westchester) this time around – I’m going to... Continue Reading →
Finding Meaning
Years ago, when I went to the Kris and Dean Oregon Coast Professional Writers' workshop, I found myself listening to the things they were saying on HOW to write, and finally asked Kris, "But what about why you write? How do I work on that?" I got back a puzzled look (as I should) and... Continue Reading →
What do you want to read?
First off, I have to give a hat tip to Jason Cordova for this topic. On his FB page today, he commented that he was tired of all the stories where "the US is a fractured dystopia. You know what I want to see? A fractured dystopian world in which the last guardians of the gate is... Continue Reading →
Post is coming
Sorry, guys. I'm running late this morning -- glares at dog. There's been a bit of upset at the house -- glares at dog again. And it has thrown everything behind. I'll be back with a blog post in a couple of hours after I take the dog to the vet and clean up. I... Continue Reading →
Today Mars. Tomorrow the Galaxy
Sf is occasionally predictive and a driving force toward a future. Believing it major force is a vanity authors and publishers like to engage in. It does sometimes ‘make straight the way’ by preparing the public to accept concepts that were simply outside their Overton window before (the idea of space travel, for example). But…... Continue Reading →
Information vs Infodumps
No two authors are alike, and no author is alike over time. This is excellent, as the audience isn't a monolithic block either, and wants different things, too. And... then there's infodumps. All stories require a certain amount of information to be conveyed, and context for the story. In stage plays, there was once a... Continue Reading →
The Madness of Editing
I've reached that point in the construction of a novel where beta readers have kindly pored over my words, let me know what is wrong with my baby (nothing fatal, thank goodness) and now I have to pick out parts of the design and rework it. I tend to create metaphors for stories that akin... Continue Reading →
Low Oxygen Environments and You
Here I am, again, and here you are, again. Welcome, welcome. I write to you, today, from the past. The not-to-distant past, but the past, nonetheless. From yesterday, as a matter of fact. And from somewhere above thirty thousand feet. (In the air, from the past, and on my hand brain? It's practically a modern... Continue Reading →
Prying A Closed Mind Open
First, take an ax… Okay, maybe not, but it’s certainly true that it’s very difficult to convince some folks that they might, just maybe, be a little bit less than correct. It is not, however, impossible. This may be the appeal of fiction to the SocJus set: characters can be faced with situations that force... Continue Reading →
Mad Genius Club 