POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS: Why Are Guys STILL Being Left Behind By Speculative Fiction?

Using the Programme Guide of the World Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki Finland (to which I was unable to go since I hadn't retired yet!), I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Programme Guide. The link is provided below…

Are Boys Left Behind in YA? Many YA novels have strong female protagonists. Does this mean boys are forgotten completely? What do boys read these days?

Marieke Nijkamp

Django Wexler

Peadar Ó Guilín

Sebastien de Castell

Val Ontell

Why are boys left behind right now in YA Lit? “Because,” the Trope says, “It was all about boys before and it’s HIGH TIME girls got their own stories! Boys have ALWAYS gotten it better than the girls!”

OK – I do read current YA SF, but let’s start in the past: I grew up on Robert A Heinlein, Andre Norton, Alan E. Norse, John Christopher, and Madeleine L’Engle. Yes, Heinlein’s characters were almost exclusively boys – that’s who he was trying to get into reading.

Today, girls dominate science fiction for young adults, with the shining stars of course, being Katniss Everdeen (HUNGER GAMES), Honor Harrington (Series), Meg Murray (WRINKLE IN TIME series), Cordelia Vorkosigan (VORKOSIGAN SAGA), Beatrice, aka Tris (DIVERGENT series), Lauren Olamina (SOWER series), Max Ride (Series), Miranda Evans (LIFE AS WE KNEW IT), Lina Mayfleet (EMBER series), Amy Martin (ACROSS THE UNIVERSE series), Juliette (SILO series), (THE LUNAR CHRONICLES series), Lilac Laroux (THESE BROKEN STARS series), Lessa (DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN series), Menolly (DRAGONSINGER series)…you probably get the idea.

Boys? Well, there’s…Thomas (THE MAZE RUNNER series), Luke Skywalker, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin (ENDER series), Doon Harrow (EMBER series), Miles Vorkosigan (VORKOSIGAN SAGA)…I’m sure I left some out.

However, I find the logic of having more heroines in science fiction self-defeating. While I have no PROBLEM with them and I’ve read and loved many of the books I’ve listed above, and I have no trouble admitting I was a boy who had little trouble reading girls as main characters. Maybe I’m unique…

My problem is that boys don’t read. They’ve NEVER been readers – I’ve known this viscerally as a boy who spent more time reading than playing sports; and there are statistics that back me up as well:  https://www.brookings.edu/research/girls-boys-and-reading/; and current surveys only only confirm that the "gender reading gap" is getting worse: https://testprepinsight.com/resources/us-book-reading-statistics/#:~:text=A%20Gender%20Perspective,the%20first%20two%20book%20types:

It seems like science fiction writers today are so intent on redressing sexism in society that they’ve stopped worrying about drawing boys – especially boys who are from other cultures and races – into the world of the future, that I would have challenged the writers in this group to name a Mexican boy who lives in the future and makes a positive contribution. A Somali boy? A Jordanian boy? How about a deaf boy? An Australian Aboriginal boy? A Dakota boy? Where are they in the future? Do we have Chilean boys living on Mars (which would make SENSE, actually!)?

Nope. Girls dominate the future – even in my own work http://theworkandworksheetsofguystewart.blogspot.com/search/label/Heirs%20of%20the%20Shattered%20Spheres%3A%20Emerald%20of%20Earth, but I’m working to change that.

Trying to find them in the current crop of YA lit would be an exercise in futility. I’m trying to change that – read this: http://cm-cdn.cricketmag.com/ProductImages/pdfs/sample%20issues/CKT1301.pdf, but I’m not good enough yet to get lots of my work published.

So where are the boys in the future? Where?

Image: http://www.popstaronline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/604025_D001_07127_CROP.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 696

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Octavia Butler said, “SF doesn’t really mean anything at all, except that if you use science, you should use it correctly, and if you use your imagination to extend it beyond what we already know, you should do that intelligently.”

SF Trope: sanitation in the future is non-existent in cities…
Event: http://www.smh.com.au/world/mexico-city-fails-to-solve-its-garbage-crisis-20120127-1qlr2.html, http://fryingpannews.org/2012/02/09/big-step-taken-to-resolve-las-trash-crisis/

Trey Jackson and his family live in rural Nebraska – but the city of Omaha is a big part of their lives.

Especially the smell.

The city has been nearly buried under its own waste since, in 2029, the state legislature banned Omaha from dumping outside of a 20 mile radius. While few people in the CITY agreed to the law, legislators from outside the urban areas voted them down.

In 2041, Omaha has been walled in and in order to deal with the trash situation, they have moved their garbage to the edge of the city and hire companies to come in and search through the trash to find reusable, recyclable and useful things. Because the US economy slid into The Really Great Depression after an unprecedented eight Democratic Party dominated legislatures from 2008 through 2040, few people work – but everyone continues to produce garbage.

Trey and his family are part of a garbage caravan heading into Omaha to collect and distribute the trash West. When they arrive, they make camp in their covered wagons in Collector’s City and file for a permit to dig through the trash of a particular dump Trey’s dad and mom have researched. His twelve little brothers and sisters wait for their permit to clear.

In the meantime, Trey’s parents allow him to take the older of the siblings to the Collector’s Carnival. There he meets the amazing Francine La Flesche, descendant of the Indigenous people for who the city is named. She’s not supposed to be there, though.

In fact, she’s missing from her parent’s home – and they are powerful lawyers deep in the center of Omaha, living among the city’s wealthy elite. On the Ferris wheel ride, as it stops so that they are at the top and can see the Core City, she tells him she’s run away to see the world and was wondering if she can go with his family…

Names: ♀ France ; ♂ Latin (=3)
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Falcon_9_Demo-2_Launching_6_%283%29.jpg/220px-Falcon_9_Demo-2_Launching_6_%283%29.jpg

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS: How TeenYA Science Fiction Saved Me Then #Part 1 – And How It Wouldn’t Now…

Using the Programme Guide of the World Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki Finland in August 2017 (to which I will be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Programme Guide. The link is provided below…

Are Boys Left Behind in YA? Many YA novels have strong female protagonists. Does this mean boys are forgotten completely? What do boys read these days?

Marieke Nijkamp

Django Wexler

Peadar Ó Guilín

Sebastien de Castell

Val Ontell

An old and dear friend of mine, as a part of his master’s degree in education asked me a series of questions. One of those sparked a firestorm of memories that, once they had burned down, left this essay.

The question: What would be some protective factor influences that you would have had in your life. A protective factor would be positive influences in your life. Warner described that for “at-risk” children to succeed they need to have interactions with protective factors.

My answer was that science fiction (once called “juvenile fiction”) was a major protective factor for me. Heinlein, Del Rey, Wollheim, Nourse, Andre Norton, Bova, Leinster, Lightner, Cameron, Slobodkin, Matt Christopher, and others showed me a future that I could look forward to. Their novels prepared me to run outside and look up at the Moon on the night of July 20, 1969, hoping to catch a glint of sunlight off the skin of the command module, Columbia.

While my life was outwardly middle-class, white-privileged, suburban, male; my life inside was full of misery. I wasn’t a jock – I liked to read, write, sing, be in plays, ride my bike and go camping (alone, I’m the only camper in my family). While my mom sang and read, and my dad read as well, my brothers and sister NEVER appeared to -- at least not as much as I did. Everyone was an athlete – football, baseball, hockey, track, volleyball, softball and bowling equipment filled the house. Weekdays were for practicing sports; weekends were filled with games and watching sports.

I read and started to write science fiction, played the guitar, rode my bike and taught myself how to go camping.

The futures in the books I read – because they were positive – saved me from dying in my differentness. I could explore strange new worlds and times and vaguely hope that I might someday go there. Be there. Live in those futures, on other worlds. Maybe I would have a spacesuit that I could travel in! Maybe I would be a doctor to the galaxy or visit a universe in-between.

I wouldn’t have stood a chance of growing a positive outlook on the future if I’d started reading teen/YA science fiction today. The only futures I could look forward to are ones in which magic is my only hope (and only then if I can find the right subway platform (what would I do in Minneapolis? We only have one light rail line!)) [Hmmm...is that I feel sparking?]; in another future, I might be chosen to go to the capitol and slaughter people in my peer group; in another, all the adults are gone and I have to live in a futuristic LORD OF THE FLIES; another, all adults are killed by comet sprinkles and the mission I go on is a long-shot at best; or I have to get myself surgically altered or become a pariah and a criminal.

Today’s teen/YA SF would not be considered a protective factor influence for a struggling adolescent. Not in the grim dosages they have today. While THE WHITE MOUNTAINS quartet and the WRINKLE IN TIME quintet are the father and mother of today’s teenYA dystopian lit, they were, in their time, only part of the “juvenile SF” field, they were not the entire field the way THG, G, TG, TCC, U, LB, F, and TMR are.

In those days, there was hope.

So rather than just piss and moan about it, excuse me while I get back to work on revising HEIRS OF THE SHATTERED SPHERES: Emerald of Earth for my agent to sell as my second book. 

[HEIRS OF THE SHATTERED SPHERES: EMERALD OF EARTH was published in March of 2024...and ironically, this first story has a young woman as a protagonist. It's the only HEIRS book...for now.]

Resource: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/06/14/100614crat_atlarge_miller
Image: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hNIWYeTqL._UX290_.jpg

IDEA ON TUESDAY 695

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Regarding horror, I found this insight in line with WIRED FOR STORY: “ We seek out…stories which give us a place to put our fears…Stories that frighten us or unsettle us - not just horror stories, but ones that make us uncomfortable or that strike a chord somewhere deep inside - give us the means to explore the things that scare us…” – Lou Morgan (The Guardian)

H Trope: Abduction = Love; a stranger kidnaps a total stranger and never lets them go.
Event: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/05/08/cleveland-missing-women-berry-dejesus-knight-castro.html

They’d been locked in the basement for longer than either of them could remember. The windows – Natasha Reno-Pardo assumed that the boarded up, black painted rectangles near the ceiling of the basement were once windows – were impossible to open.

The permanent stairs had been removed and replaced by a heavy, steel drop-down stairs. Rudyard Bernal, her fellow captor had worked at getting those to drop from the ceiling for a whole week. He’d tried to pry them from the ceiling seven times after they woke up. The eighth time, he’d gotten a shock so bad his hands were burned. Not enough to blister the skin, but very painful.

Light came from two fluorescents set behind thick plastic. They never went out. Food and water came in bags dropped from a hole in the ceiling whenever they were both asleep.

They were trapped.

In the dim silence, not long after both of them were awake, Rudyard said, “I think we’ve been here a month.” Then he burst out crying. Natasha looked up at the ceiling and into the corners. They knew they were being watched all the time. Once, when they’d tried to sleep together on the same pile of blankets as far from the bathroom hole as they could get, Rudyard had gotten very excited. Natasha was willing. Snakes had suddenly dropped down from the ceiling hole and the lights had gotten super bright.

They’d spent an hour sweeping the things into the hole. They’d spent most of the time fighting the rattlesnake. Neither one of them had been bitten, but they threw the blanket covered in snake guts in another corner after stomping it to death.

This day was different. Natasha stepped over the immense red door in the center of the basement floor and sat down next to Rudyard. At first he flinched and looked up at the feeding hole and muttered, “No. What are they gonna throw at us next?”

Natasha said, “We’re not doing anything.”

He leaned against her, cried a while longer and finally rested against her.

As if to curse their closeness a grinding sound came from the drag-down stairs. Real light leaked from a narrow crack that gradually widened, letting in more and more real light. When the stairs were half uncovered, they began to come down from the ceiling, making a sound like a descending castle drawbridge.

It thudded to the floor.

A shiny, black leather boot with a neatly cuffed pant leg dropped down on the top step…

Names: ♀ Russia, Mexico ; ♂ English, Mexico
Image: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51niGRrH6DL.jpg

MINING THE ASTEROIDS Part 36: Blades From The Stars! (Humans Have Been Mining the Asteroids Since ROMAN Times. Why Stop Now?)

Initially, I started this series because of the 2021 World Science Fiction Convention, DisCON which I WOULD have been attending in person if I felt safe enough to do so in person AND it hadn’t been changed to the week before the Christmas Holidays…HOWEVER, as time passed, I knew that this was a subject I was going to explore because it interests me…

While it seems inevitable that we will eventually mine asteroids for a planet hungry for metals, there’s a very real future in which Humans deplete the metals available for use in our…stuff…before we ever reach the point of realistic mining of the rocky balls orbiting or skimming near our habitable planet. Some would “harrumph” grumpily and say, “That’s ridiculous! There’s plenty of metals still left on Earth! We just have to dig a little deeper! Besides, Humanity has done just fine without using metal from stupid asteroids!”

However, there are others who point out, “It doesn’t require an economist to explain that there are some problems with the assumption metals on Earth are in infinite supply. Is it possible that we could totally exhaust some of the mineral and metal resources that are fundamental to the infrastructure and lifestyles of the 21st century, whether it be gold, iron, rhenium, or selenium?” Well, depending on who you talk to, “By some estimates – which remain controversial – our voracious consumption of some metals could mean the supply will run out within 50 years or less.”

So, while some fervently believe with their eyes wide shut that mining the asteroids is a pipe dream at best – and a massive waste of resources that could be directed to feeding the poor at worst – there are reasons that we might endeavor to not “reach for the stars”, but reach for a viable future for ALL Humans on Earth; others think it is essential that we start sooner rather than later. You’d have to count me in the camp of those who think it is essential to Civilization-As-We-Understand-It…

Of course, not ALL people live the lifestyle much of the Western World lives. Vast swaths of Humanity live in poverty, while the other portion of us live in wealth of varying degrees. (In order to give myself a wider-reading on The World, I get my news from our local NBC affiliate; BBC; and (I know, this is practically heresy) Al Jazeera. A current article states baldly: “In 2025, the richest 10 percent of the world received 53 percent of global income, the middle 40 percent received 38 percent, and the bottom 50 percent earned just 8 percent.” Read the rest of the article. It’s well-written and clearly illuminates a very perplexing issue. Don’t be afraid of being “tainted” by an unusual world-view! I’m still a middle-of-the-political-spectrum kind of person: as a PUBLIC SCHOOL teacher, my politics skew left. As a deeply religious person, my politics skew right. Our daughter classifies us as “moderate right”…

Anyway – a bigger issue that will drive my future reflections is that fact that, at THIS point, wealth seems headed to being the SOLE domain of countries CURRENTLY with resources – cash, minerals, exportable materials – enough to field a space program: the United States; Russia; India; Japan; the UK (France; Germany; Italy); Canada; Australia; Brazil; Israel; South Korea; UAE; Kazakhstan; Iran; South Africa; Turkey; Thailand; Peru; and Saudi Arabia.

So, my question: will space eventually “belong” to the wealthy countries, which stand to get even WEALTHIER and leave the rest of the world behind? What about Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Andorra; Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Baden; Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; Brunei Darussalam; Belarus; Belgium; Belize; Benin; Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei; Brunswick and Lüneburg; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Burma; Burundi; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Cayman Islands; Central African Republic; Chad; Chile; Colombia; Comoros; Congo Free State; Cook Islands; Costa Rica; Ivory Coast; Croatia; Cuba; Cyprus; Czechia; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Denmark; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Duchy of Parma; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Estonia; Eswatini; Ethiopia; Finland; Gabon; Gambia; Georgia; Ghana; Greece; Grenada; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; The Vatican (Holy See); Honduras; Iceland; Iraq; Ireland; Jamaica; Jordan; Kenya; Kiribati; Kosovo; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Laos; Latvia; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Libya; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali ; Malta; Marshall Islands; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Micronesia; Monaco; Mongolia; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Nauru; Nepal; Netherlands; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; North Macedonia; Norway; Pakistan; Palau; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Qatar; Moldova; Romania; Rwanda; Saint Kitts And Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent And The Grenadines; Samoa; San Marino; Sao Tome And Principe; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia Belgrade; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Slovakia; Slovenia; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Sudan; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Suriname; Sweden; Switzerland; Syria; Tajikistan; Timor-Leste; Togo; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkmenistan; Tuvalu; Uganda; Ukraine; Tanzania; Uruguay; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Venezuela; Viet Nam; Yemen; Zambia; or Zimbabwe?

Seems to me the obvious response would be for all of these smaller countries to band together and stake their own plots in space and set about unseating the current Rulers of Near Space…Stranger things have happened. Perhaps a brief perusal of history would be appropriate – what other small countries staked places in bigger places?

Today’s Source: https://endura-steel.com/star-forged-steel-the-history-of-swords-made-from-meteorites/ ; http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=23455; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutankhamun%27s_meteoric_iron_dagger ; https://minikatana.com/blogs/main/meteorite-sword-an-extraterrestrial-materials-journey-into-a-blade#:~:text=As%20the%20earth%20orbits%20around,blade%20made%20from%20this%20material. ; https://www.iflscience.com/what-minerals-and-metals-might-humans-deplete-on-earth-70262 ; https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/10/where-in-the-world-are-wealth-and-income-most-unequal#:~:text=In%202025%2C%20the%20wealthiest%2010,percent%20earned%20just%208%20percent.
Foundational Resource: (A general Wikipedia post detailing what the authors currently know about asteroid mining: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining)
Noted Resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroid_close_approaches_to_Earth, https://www.pharostribune.com/news/local_news/article_7fcd3ea5-3c14-533f-a8d5-9bf629922f34.html, https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/04/29/like-asteroid-mining-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/, https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/historyculture/theroadtothefirstflight.htm, https://hackaday.com/2019/03/27/extraterrestrial-excavation-digging-holes-on-other-worlds/, https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/every-small-worlds-mission
Interesting Stuff That Might Apply To Mining Asteroids: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgej7gzg8l0o 

Image: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/A2D5/production/_114558614_hls-eva-apr2020.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAY 694

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them? Regarding Fantasy, this insight was startling: “I see the fantasy genre as an ever-shifting metaphor for life in this world, an innocuous medium that allows the author to examine difficult, even controversial, subjects with impunity. Honor, religion, politics, nobility, integrity, greed—we’ve an endless list of ideals to be dissected and explored. And maybe learned from.” – Melissa McPhail.

Fantasy Trope: AI taking over everything!
Current Event: “Nonsense paper written by iOS autocomplete accepted for conference”
Fascinating Quote: “The atoms of a better universe will have the right for the same as you…”

“In possibly the best story ever, Christoph Bartneck, associate professor at University of Canterbury and ultimate troll submitted a paper to an international physics conference written by the iOS autocomplete function…He submitted it under a fake identity aware that none of it made sense. Didn’t matter though – still got accepted.”
Some Quotes?

“Nuclear weapons will not have to come out the same day after a long time of the year…”
“The atoms of a better universe will have the right for the same as you are the way we shall have to be a great place for a great time to enjoy the day you are a wonderful person…”
“Physics are great but the way it does it makes you want a good book..”
“Power is not a great place for a good time.”

Standing in the back yard, Kumar Manish said, “Physics is just a 21st Century way to explain magic.”

Durga Jyoti shook her head, “Backwards, numbskull!” She smiled as she used her favorite extinct Americanism. “It’s from some old scifi author* who wrote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

“Same thing,” he said, brushing away her comment. “One of the greatest physicists of the 21st Century started out with a ridiculous statement thinking he was getting away with tricking a bunch of creaky old physicists by playing on his gravity. When he got up to read his paper…” The look on his face abruptly froze.

Durga frowned then said, “What are you doing?” Kumar didn’t budge. After a moment, she realized he wasn’t even breathing, yet he still stood in front of her, mouth open, eyes unblinking. “Kumar?” She waved her hand in front of his face. He still didn’t blink. A moment later, the air around him began to sparkle an the faint sound of high-pitched laughter swelled around. Even as she watched, Kumar was surrounded by dancing lights that, when she squinted, looked weirdly like villa…fairies…

Names: ♀Bosnian ; ♂ Nepali * Arthur C. Clarke: 1962 “Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible.”

Image: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/71/e5/9871e52bbc09c525af21b8f6471eab15.jpg

WRITING ADVICE: Short Stories – Advice and Observation #35A: Chinua Achebe “& Me”

In this feature, I’ll be looking at “advice” for writing short stories – not from me, but from other short story writers. In speculative fiction, “short” has very carefully delineated categories: “short story is under 7,500 words.” I’m going to use advice from people who, in addition to writing novels, have also spent plenty of time “interning” with short stories. While most of them are speculative fiction writers, I’ll also be looking at plain, old, effective short story writers. The advice will be in the form of one or several quotes off of which I’ll jump and connect it with my own writing experience. While I don’t write full-time, nor do I make enough money with my writing to live off of it...neither do most of the professional writers...someone pays for and publishes ten percent of what I write. When I started this blog, that was NOT true, so I may have reached a point where my own advice is reasonably good. We shall see as I work to increase my writing output and sales! As always, your comments are welcome!

Without further ado, short story observations by Chinua Achebe– with a few from myself… Link: https://www.writerswrite.co.za/7-bits-of-writing-advice-from-chinua-achebe/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOG_ERleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyCGNhbGxzaXRlAjMwAAEe6a8Kjw0ebIZ4lVoKz6E0fL-eJGoFJikgGuqEmV4TDmUQJ0-cXElEf87HRws_aem_7AJhyKgyiFAQg0oKPot4_A

Let me set the stage: It’s 1982. I was a freshly graduated from college with a teaching degree in science (I was licensed to teach grades 6-10 (Biology). But I graduated during the years that men and women STARTED their teaching careers…

The ones who’d made it all the way were only just beginning to consider retirement. In those days, the longer they held on, the larger their retirement pension checks would be (they retired based on their “career high” paycheck; the longer they stayed the bigger the check.) They WEREN’T retiring and all I could do was be a substitute teacher…IN ADDITION, I’d been a Christian for only nine years. God called and I answered and joined a band that was called to serve the church in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Liberia. Our first stop was Lagos, Nigeria at Christmas 1983. Prior to our arrival: “August 1983, Shagari [was] returned to power in a landslide victory [but] the elections were marred by violence, vote-rigging, electoral malfeasance [leading] to legal battles over the results, uncertainties…that political leaders may be unable to govern properly [In December, shortly after our arrival in Lagos] a military coup d'état was coordinated by key officers of the Nigerian military and led to the overthrow of the government and the installation of Major General Muhammadu Buhari as head of state.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria)

The country shut down. For several days, we couldn’t get anywhere. By then, Chinua Achebe “was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel and magnum opus, Things Fall Apart (1958), occupies a pivotal place in African literature and remains the most widely studied, translated, and read African novel. Along with Things Fall Apart, his No Longer at Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964) complete the "African Trilogy". Later novels include A Man of the People (1966) [once the political situation in Nigeria had settled] his novel “Anthills of the Savannah” (1987). Achebe is often referred to as the "father of modern African literature", although he vigorously rejected the characterization. Achebe's childhood was influenced by both Igbo traditional culture and colonial Christianity.”

While I just checked out ANTHILLS OF THE SAVANNAH today, I DID read THINGS FALL APART and I am currently re-reading it. As it’s a novel, it won’t really be part of this essay. Published in 1958, one reviewer noted that THINGS FALL APART “creates for the reader such a vivid picture of Igbo life that the plot and characters are little more than symbols representing a way of life lost irrevocably within living memory." It happened that the Igbo people had embraced the Lutheran church when the first missionaries arrived, so we spent a substantial amount of time among them. I didn’t learn about Chinua Achebe until I got back to the US, but I picked up a copy and read it. While I was certainly an outsider, I have to admit that when we arrived in Nigeria, things had started to change from from what an earlier group from our sending organization that had arrived several years earlier. The infrastructure that abundant oil had built had started to fall apart as the world experienced a glut of oil and prices had dropped. Often times, buildings stood that were only half-finished.

“Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International Prize in June 2007. The judging panel included American critic Elaine Showalter, who said he "illuminated the path for writers around the world seeking new words and forms for new realities and societies.”

We learned the Igbo people with great joy picking up several of their worship songs that would illuminate Achebe’s novel. While we were in fact, “missionaries”, our mission had nothing to do with “converting Africans” – we were there to serve the local church. Invited by the Igbo church in several towns and villages, we arrived and followed their lead. Often it was simply singing – and then on a couple of occasions, we learned their songs, carrying them back with us to the US.

Decades later, I experienced a meeting with a student that became a TRULY memorable occasion. As a science teacher, I met a student who had come from Nigeria and was Igbo. I told him I’d been there and had learned one of the songs they sang in church.

He told me to sing it! I did, he was amazed – and went home to tell his parents. Graduation was a few months later, and after the ceremony, he ran up to me, followed by a “mob” of people. His parents stepped up and told me that he’d told them I’d learned a song in Igbo – and asked me to sing it. There. In front of the school. On graduation night.

Incredibly embarrassed (no one at the school knew I could sing fairly well!), and (I’m sure) furiously blushing, I started to sing (in a VERY subdued voice!), “Chineke Idimma (Igbo song, meaning, “God you are good.”) The family went CRAZY with delight!

ALL of that to frame the SHORT work of Chinua Echebe. I’ll use one of them to look at my…possibly irritating reflections.

"The Sacrificial Egg" is a poignant short story about Julius Obi, a Western-educated Igbo clerk in colonial Nigeria, who embodies the clash between traditional Igbo beliefs and modern, colonial ways, as he tragically steps on a hidden sacrificial egg, inadvertently taking on a sufferer's misfortune (Kitikpa, smallpox) and realizing the enduring power of his culture even as his world crumbles around him. The story uses vivid imagery, like the mysterious night spirits and the fateful egg, to show how modernization disrupts African life, forcing characters like Julius to confront their roots when Western rationality fails, ultimately highlighting themes of cultural identity, spiritual resilience, and the devastating impact of colonialism.”

I lived in Igbo land for three months. NOT in a hotel. NOT with running water (only occasionally), and most of the time, light was provided because the village had purchased a generator and ran it because we were guests. I never ONCE “evangelized” anyone who wasn’t interested in hearing what I had to say.

My observation here is that PERHAPS Achebe “…sought to escape the colonial perspective that framed African literature at the time, and drew from the traditions of the Igbo people, Christian influences, and the clash of Western and African values to create a uniquely African voice. He wrote in and defended the use of English, describing it as a means to reach a broad audience, particularly readers of colonial nations.” MAYBE the reason he was selected as “…a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel and magnum opus, Things Fall Apart (1958), occupies a pivotal place in African literature and remains the most widely studied, translated, and read African novel”, was that he fed the liberal/left narrative that (ostensibly) feared for the sublimation of “Africa”(there are “estimates suggesting over 3,000 distinct ethnic groups, each with unique languages, customs, and histories, spread across its 54 countries…” by ‘Christian missionaries”.

After the time I spent there, the reading I’ve done since, and people I’ve spoken with who were highly critical of our group going to Nigeria, Cameroun, and Liberia – it has always seemed like a suspiciously racist view of the intelligence of the 3000 ethnic groups to suspect that not a single one of the Igbo, Efik, Yoruba, or other groups could POSSIBLY become a Christian based on the message of the Gospel and that ALL of them “converted” because of the weight of the technology, money, and education of “white folks” who invaded their land…

“No, no, no! We’re concerned because the (implied: easily redirected people of African ethnic groups) were trampled by missionaries whose only desire was to squeeze as many Nigerians, Cameroonians, and Liberians into THEIR neat little boxes…We’d NEVER try and…”

OK – rant is done – I’ve only read this one short story and THINGS FALL APART, but have ordered the collection Girls at War and Other Stories. It’s clear though, that this author captured the eyes of non-Nigerian readers. I look forward to applying what I’m already seeing in THINGS FALL APART to my own short story writing. Maybe I can get something from Brooklyn Center (where we’ve lived for the past 32 years. You might say, “Nothing dangerous (“if it bleeds, it leads”) ever happens in your little suburb, you’re insulated from REALITY! I’ve never even heard of it!” I’ll leave you with this: “Minnesota's most dangerous areas, based on recent crime data, often include the major cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and St. Cloud, with suburbs like Brooklyn Center, Fridley, and West St. Paul also appearing on lists due to high property/violent crime rates, alongside northern cities like Bemidji and Brainerd facing significant poverty and crime challenges, with Waite Park sometimes topping overall crime lists.”

Links: #PastorChidi @followers @highlight ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinua_Achebe ; https://reolink.com/blog/most-dangerous-cities-in-minnesota/ ; https://english2302.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/the-sacrificial-egg.pdf
Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhK6miXJMTMNyB3kzq-r6I2LVCTZJj0CDS0dPV2Qapl6e9rZPuHx2u5QKcKT1QGeDg1_tPMv-lpnuSr_eiBjwPXmex9mcgtuH2-SUtZEpGWV0_HdtJQelVt5K69NulJBUqNju5GNjHgQibXsIo4NeWpTOj4ai85jCRjMHOtwtkqshzxFvZPUSjXZNq6=s320

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 693

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Octavia Butler said, “SF doesn’t really mean anything at all, except that if you use science, you should use it correctly, and if you use your imagination to extend it beyond what we already know, you should do that intelligently.”

Event: Astrophobia is an irrational fear of stars and space and may take different forms, from fear of aliens to fear of space exploration. (https://www.verywell.com/fear-of-space-2671680)

Harper Zakaria pursed her lips. She tapped them for a moment then said, “So you want me to revive this…criminal so that we can escape the dirty sandbox people like you have made of Earth?”

Abdelkader Mäkinen scowled at her. In the past, people would have said his high forehead and wide-set, almost entirely brown eyes made him look like an alien. “I had nothing to do with Anthropogenic Global Warming. My ancestors lived in Northern Finland and Algeria – mostly they were teachers and scientists, so they had nothing to do with AGW and in fact, my great-grandfather started the first windmill farm in northern California in the early Oughts.” He actually sniffed and as Harper rolled her eyes, he continued, “Now that we’ve established my credentials and innocence…”

“You didn’t establish any credentials, sir. You just absolved yourself from blame because of something one of your distant ancestors did.”

“Now see here, young lady! My family…”

“Credentials?” she said, smiling.

He actually harrumphed then said, “I’ve been on the UN Global Climate Reconstruction Committee for fourteen years and was recently appointed Chair because of my brilliance and based on the plan I’ve devised that will…”

Harper held up a hand, pursed her lips, shook her head, then looked up at the tall meta-alien in her office. “So you want me to revive one of the bad-boys from the mid-Twenty-first Century so you can fly him to one of the Martian Colonies and get the Prairiedogs back into space again, right?”

He started at her, his mouth actually open. She considered pointing out that he was a cartoon cliché in the flesh, but was pretty certain he wouldn’t be a buff of TwenCen flat animated cartoons. She let him sputter a few moments, planning on interrupting him if it took too long when he said, “How did you…”

“I don’t spend all of my time watching the sleepers, Senator Mäkinen. I have to have something to do in my spare time. I’ve read up on the astrophobia pandemic.” She smiled sweetly. “I confess that you wouldn’t be able to pay me enough to leave Mother Earth, no matter how filthy she is.”

The man wasn’t going to respond, instead, he scowled more fiercely and said, “You can mock all you want, young lady, but those of us afflicted are all that we have left behind. It seems that somehow the Colonists took the wanderlust gene with them when they abandoned the Mother World.”

She shrugged. “Not my problem, I guess. So you still haven’t explained why you want to revive prisoner,” she glanced down at her ‘pad, then up at him. “AAA000200.”

“That’s not for you to question, young lady! I have here,” he flourished an opad at her. She took it, glanced at it, and handed it back to him as he continued, “An order from the UN GCRComm demanding that you revive and release the prisoner to me.”

“It wasn’t countersigned by the Secretary General,” she said, handing it back to him. She grinned a toothy grin at him, then turned off the effect.

“It’s not necessary…”

She cut him off, “You may think I’m just a button-pusher, Senator, but as I said, I don’t just sit here watching the sleepers all day. I have a BA in pre-Law from Columbia Online and I’m two thirds of the way through Columbia Law School. I have my MD from Brigham and Women’s in CryoMedicine with graduate studies in Revival Mechanics.” She stopped, smiling at him.

He held her gaze for several minutes, then finally began to fidget, still maintaining eye contact. Finally he looked away, pocketing him ‘pad. He looked back at her, a different look on his face. He studied her then said, “I was told you were young and idealistic. I was also told you were smart and stubborn.”

“Correct on all counts.”

“But we need…”

She cut him off, “I agree, Senator. You need this prisoner in order to get the rest of us off Earth again. But I’m not sure you know who you’re dealing with.”

His ‘pad reappeared in his hand and he glanced down at it, “Admiral Concepción Shimizu was decorated…”

Harper glared at him as he continued reading, unaware of her regard. When he looked up finally, his monologue faltered then stopped. “What?”

“She’s a thief, a murderer, and despite the fact that she single-handedly stopped the South African Resurgence from turning the southern half of Africa into a new Apartheid regime, she still single-handedly also severed this world from its Colonies when she bombed the Elevator.”

This time he was prepared and flashed a false grin at her before he turned it off and said, “That is why my plan is brilliant. We will give her the opportunity to redeem herself in the eyes of all Humanity.”

Names: ♀ New Zealand, Somalia; ♂ Algeria, Finland; ♀ Paraguay, Japan
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Falcon_9_Demo-2_Launching_6_%283%29.jpg/220px-Falcon_9_Demo-2_Launching_6_%283%29.jpg

CREATING ALIEN ALIENS Part 42 D: Alien Families and “What Does It Mean To “Be Human?”

Five decades ago, I started my college career with the intent of becoming a marine biologist. I found out I had to get a BS in biology before I could even begin work on MARINE biology; especially because there WEREN'T any marine biology programs in Minnesota.
Along the way, the science fiction stories I'd been writing since I was 13 began to grow more believable. With my BS in biology and a fascination with genetics, I started to use more science in my fiction.
After reading hard SF for the past 50 years, and writing hard SF successfully for the past 20, I've started to dig deeper into what it takes to create realistic alien life forms. In the following series, I'll be sharing some of what I've learned. I've had some of those stories published, some not...I teach a class to GT young people every summer called ALIEN WORLDS. I've learned a lot preparing for that class for the past 25 years...so...I have the opportunity to share with you what I've learned thus far. Take what you can use, leave the rest. Let me know what YOU'VE learned. Without further ado...

I did a Google search with the question ‘What does it mean to be Human?’. I skimmed several rather superficial answers, then ran across this site: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Public responses to the question “What Does It Mean To Be Human?”

Try it and you’ll find that there are THOUSANDS of responses. Obviously, some people will repeat what others wrote far, far above them. But the VARIETY of answers to the question is STARTLING!

These quotes below aren’t even representative (nor do they make great sense – but I get the drift!):

Russia: “I think we change all the time and that we are ourselves as long as we remember who we were and are and we are conscious of ourselves.” Too convoluted for my simple mind…

Florida: “To be able to understand Quantum Physics...” I’m obviously not totally Human…

Australia: “The ability to show compassion, love and determination and interconnection, however, the admittance that we are inherently flawed, but working to overcome and accept our flaws and understand the world together.” I’m not sure I can “show…interconnection”? I’m married and have three kids, three kids-in-law, and four grand kids…Am I interconnected? I have a friend who is single, parentless, and suffers from depression. Is HE interconnected? How do YOU “show…love”? After I was a child, my dad never showed any physical form of love. He provided for all of us. Did he LOVE us? Hmmm…until recently, I wasn’t sure. I admit I am flawed – can a brown bear admit it is flawed? What would a “flawed brown bear” look like? A grizzly? An orca?

Jordan: “To be human is to have a soul. Our soul is what guides us make decisions and think logically about a situation. Our soul can also be safe in the freedom that comes from Christ or be lost to the sin of this world.” While I happen to agree with their faith statement, I’m pretty sure proving I have a soul that guides my decisions and think logically would be difficult to impossible. Some chimpanzees have shown some ability of making decisions after thinking logically. Are they Human?

What does this have to do with the subject of family in space? The authors commented: “Within just the past 12,000 years, our species, Homo sapiens, made the transition to producing food and changing our surroundings. We have been so successful that we have inadvertently created a turning point in the history of life on Earth.”

Wow. Just WOW! The authors have laid on a single species (not even the most abundant species on Earth! That moniker goes to “the sheer number of tailed phages, [is] estimated at (10^{31) particles, makes them the most numerous life form on the planet.” Humanity doesn’t even come close to that…

“But we’re Intell-junt!” Hmmm…define “intelligence”.
“We’ve taken over the world! We ARE the most powerful force on the planet Earth!”

I’d argue that: “Throughout human history, four infectious diseases have dominated as the leading killers: tuberculosis, smallpox, plague, and malaria. While tuberculosis claims the highest death toll across history, with an estimated 1 billion lives lost, smallpox follows closely behind, killing approximately 300-500 million people in the 20th century alone before its eradication in 1980.”

So, what IS the impact of Human families on Earth?

In their multiple varieties, Human families have caused both planetary disasters and ushered in bright presents. For example, Adolph Hitler worked hard to HIDE his past. Winston Churchill wrote, “(Hitler) was a riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma.” Largely due to his own deliberate and extensive efforts to obscure his origins. the article linked below is a review of a book written by Ron Rosenbaum and lays out some of the roots of a man almost universally hated. As a school counselor, the “discovery in Germany of a journal written by Adolf Hitler's sister…offers remarkable insights into the dysfunctional nature of the Führer's family.”

Of the “10 Best Humans In The World”, author Aastha Arya (Senior Content Writer @ iSchoolConnect) suggests that the number ONE best person was Charles Darwin (of the paper then book, “On the Origin of Species”; 1859) – and lots is known about his family as he was born wealthy, but instead of sitting around basking in inherited wealth, he poured his money into an exploration of the world.

Family SHAPES Humans. Even among other species, family dynamics drive behaviors, viewpoints, methods of thinking, ways of acting, and any number of things. “Altering” creative “reimaging” of Human families won’t make any monumental change in Humanity. In fact, authors who think that they’re predicting GIGANTIC changes in the Human institution of family don’t appear to me to be offering anything either new or strange. It’s the same-old, same-old. There are a plethora of family constellations already on Earth ranging from single parent homes to entire villages (hence the aphorism, “It takes a village”) expected to nurture a child. Even In vitro fertilization (or IVF) doesn’t change a family’s dynamics in any “startling” or “futuristic” way…family is family, no matter how it’s structured; and families living under the shell of an asteroid will not be markedly different from families growing children on a planet where they have to be genetically modified to survive acid rain or submerged cities! Families will be families; just as they have been since the first family was created!

Sources: https://humanorigins.si.edu/about/become-involved/submit-your-response-what-does-it-mean-be-human#:~:text=Being%20a%20human%20is%20being,others%20and%20caring%20about%20them.&text=To%20be%20human%20is%20to,a%20human%20is%20having%20freedom. ; https://historyofvaccines.org/blog/which-infectious-disease-biggest-killer-all-time ; https://www.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/ajp.155.12.1788 ; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/aug/04/research.secondworldwar#:~:text=Other%20insights%20include%20the%20revelation,cultivated%20in%20Hitler's%20own%20home.%22 Image: https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/I-sneak-our-little-dog-into-all-of-my-farmily-photo-sessions-602bcae1007d0__880.jpg

IDEA ON TUESDAY 692

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Regarding horror, I found this insight in line with WIRED FOR STORY: “ We seek out…stories which give us a place to put our fears…Stories that frighten us or unsettle us - not just horror stories, but ones that make us uncomfortable or that strike a chord somewhere deep inside - give us the means to explore the things that scare us…” – Lou Morgan (The Guardian)

H Trope: Ghost Towns
Event: http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/mn/taconiteharbor.html

Mary Croft may have been the only certified dredge operator on the North Shore of Lake Superior – but she hadn’t expected to be the ONLY operator in the abandoned town of Taconite Harbor.

The dredge she captained was mostly operated by an “artificial intelligence idiot”, which was why she was required by Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company to actually direct the floating suction dredge boat. The harbor was a small one, the taconite loads mostly taken out by rail, and the robots inside did most of the work in the town.

Her job would take a week and the company wanted her to work as much time as possible, so they’d given her one of the floating suction dredgers with an actual bed, galley and deck. “Henry?” she said.

“Please call me Hal,” said the idiot.

She shook her head. “I’d rather not. I have an original DVD of the old movie 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.”

“You can’t,” said Henry.

“I can’t what?”

“Have an original DVD. The movie 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY was filmed in 1967 and premiered in 1968. The first true DVD was not manufactured for movies until 1995.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do not.”

She sighed and shook her head. “Let’s call it a day and shut down operations,” she said, tapping the shutdown key on the flat screen.

“Very good, ma’am.”

Mary rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and stepped out on the deck. Henry would take it from here until the actual docking procedure which she would do in the gloaming. She loved that word, she thought, unfolding and dropping into the lawn chair she kept carefully stored until the end of the day. No one would have said anything if she’d lounged about all day, issuing orders to Henry via her cellphone, but that had never worked for her. When she did a job, she wanted to actually DO something. For the time being, however, Henry was working hard pulling in and storing the collapsible pipe they used to siphon sediment from the floor of the harbor. It was pumped to a barge where it was dried and shipped down to Duluth for further processing or shipment to central North American markets.

The sun had fallen behind the steep shoreline to her left. It was a calm evening, a choice night on the cool waters of Superior. Such a night was rare enough to make her sigh.

Farther out across the water, to her right on the lake, waves rippled like a thin band of diamonds reflecting sunset light.

What was left of the town was now invisible as was the power plant. It had once operated on coal and had had a solar conversion during the third term of America’s first black president. There was no one left living there.

When the three remaining streetlights farther up the shore, intermittently lining the stretch of road that had once been the main street of the long-abandoned town, abruptly lit, she frowned.

When lights on either side of the abandoned basketball court at the near end of the street, close to Taconite Harbor itself, suddenly lit, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She went into the boathouse and grabbed a pair of digital binoculars, took them out and scanned the shoreline.

The lights were gone.

Frowning, she lowered the binoculars and rubbed her eyes. When she looked again, the lights were on and in the distance was the slow, faint thup-thup-thup of a basketball bouncing...

Names: ♀ Hebrew, English; ♂ ,
Image: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51niGRrH6DL.jpg