IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 477

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: Chupacabra http://hannahheath-writer.blogspot.com/2017/01/epic-underused-mythical-creatures-for-fantasy-stories.html
Current Event: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2011/0808/chupacabra-found-in-minnesota.html

Mary Olson-Kensington squatted down beside the spot, examining the gravel and asphalt with a large magnifying glass.

“You look like a fool,” said Abbas Farah, “and a living cliché.”

Mary looked up at him and made a face, “Just because something’s cliché doesn’t mean it’s not legitimate.”

Abbas grunted and squatted beside her. “Fine then, what do you see?”

“Residue.”

Abbas spit into the ditch. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Without moving the glass, she turned to him. “You think this is a Sherlock Holmes toy?” He leaned back, suddenly wary, nodding slowly. “Like with you, I don’t just see that zit to the left side of your nose you’re trying to hide, I see…not what you’re thinking exactly, or even what you’re feeling…I can see something both more and less…”

“You’re talking like you’re crazy! There’s nothing outside of reality! I’m real, and that dead thing in the road was real, too!”

She nodded then swung the lens back around, looking at the road. “I can see strangeness here. Something natural and unnatural as well.” She looked up at him. “You ever hear about a Chupacabra showed up as roadkill in Mankato about twenty years ago?”

“I couldn’t – I was wasn’t born yet. Neither were you!”

“I know, but Dad told me about it when I was doing a science report on cryptids. It was killed near here.”

“That was twenty years ago! There won’t be anything left of it!”

“Not of its body, but DNA traces can remain, and anything supernatural leaves a resonance echo. That’s what the magnifying glass does. I can see resonances.”

Abbas shrugged, “How’s that help?”

“We need a Chupacabra on our side!”

“This one was dead! How’s that…”

“Where’s there one, there will be another. We need a Chupacabra.”

“What’s so important about them? They’re just one more weird animal…”

“Chupacabras have the ability to…sniff out? That’s a good way to describe it…the animals have a gift for sniffing out inter-dimensional portals.”

“And the importance of that to you?”

“I’m going to jump this dimension to do some research in a parallel line.”

“What are you planning…”

“Here it is!”

Names: ♀ Minnesota ; ♂ Somalia

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

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS: Christmas Lights, The Star of Bethlehem, and “The Star” – Another Interpretation

I love Christmas lights! If you ask my family, I would leave them up all year and light them as the mood struck me. I did that very thing one particularly busy year.

Why do I like them? Because they bring to mind the glory of the heavens and connect God and the Universe with the science of astronomy and in particular, they remind me of the Star of Bethlehem that led the Wise Men from the East to the nativity of the Savior.

Christmas lights were not the impetus for Sir Arthur C. Clarke to write “The Star” –“...Clarke noted that he wrote the story for a contest in the London Observer on the subject ‘2500 AD.’ ‘I realized that I had a theme already to hand. The story was written in a state of unusually intense emotion; needless to say, it wasn’t even placed among the ‘also rans.’”

However, the glory of the heavens and the connection between God, super novae, and Christmas certainly was. While Clarke was an outsider [someone who does not hold that the tenets of Christianity are factual; Kinnaman, Lyons, UNCHRISTIAN] when it came to Christianity (“I don't believe in God but I'm very interested in her.”; “It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God - but to create him.”), he was well aware that as he wrote this (@ 1954) the vast majority of Europeans and those of European descent at least gave lip-service to Christianity, so he wasn’t going to be openly antagonistic.

Maybe he wanted to torpedo the faith of people like me. Maybe he wanted to slap God in the face. Maybe he wanted to win a contest and wrote the most notorious thing he could think of – calling into question the existence of a loving God. By his own admission, he wasn’t dispassionate when he wrote it, though he doesn’t give an indication why he was in “a state of unusually intense emotion” – at least not that I can find (if the reason is written elsewhere, LET ME KNOW AND I’LL INCLUDE IT HERE!)

The story has certainly been dissected (see below). It certainly won the Hugo (science fiction’s Emmy award) in 1956 for best short story. I certainly remembered it. But why I remember it and why others remember it may be for markedly different reasons. I’m pretty sure that when I think of it, it’s in a way I’ve not run across elsewhere.

Most people look at it like this: “Before his journey to the Phoenix Nebula, the priest clearly ‘believed that the heavens declared the glory of God's handiwork,’ (303) but now he has learned that the supernova seen as the star of Bethlehem wiped out a whole civilization when it exploded. Before his journey he could visualize the star as ‘a beacon in that oriental dawn,’ (307) that is, as a symbol of hopefulness and of new life. Now that he has learned the scientific truth, he no longer can see the star as a positive symbol and when…’” “I stare at the crucifix that hangs on the cabin wall above the Mark VI Computer...for the first time in my life I wonder if it is no more than an empty symbol.”

And again, in another review: “What the narrator has learned but not yet communicated to the others is that the supernova that destroyed this civilization was the Star of Bethlehem, which burned brightly in the sky to herald the birth of Jesus Christ. His discovery has caused him to reexamine and to question his own faith.”

Maybe the reviewers are people of faith. I don’t know, but it seems to me that they ascribe an unwarranted fragility to Christianity – that once these incontrovertible, scientific facts are discovered, the entire faith will collapse in on itself and be no more.

Another incontrovertible fact is that I look at the story as something that Clarke may not have intended; something that might not even be acceptable. Maybe the Jesuit priest has tunnel vision; maybe he’s simply exhausted from his journey to the farthest reaches of the known universe. I will argue that instead of dashing God against the rocks of scientific reality, “The Star” foreshadowed the sacrifice that the Son of God would make at the end of His earthly life. Given Clarke was an outsider, I doubt that this was his intent. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time words launched in one direction ended up hitting an entirely different target.

I’m for the serendipitous interpretation. Besides, it’s not entirely out of line with Clarke’s view of the universe: “I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about.”

Resource: http://www.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/TheStar.pdf, http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-thestar/#gsc.tab=0, http://mistero.tripod.com/essays/stareval.html,  http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/arthur_c_clarke.html#6vgS9vxWuhKzzXcR.99, http://www.amazon.com/unChristian-Generation-Really-Christianity-Matters/dp/0801072719

Image: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/aff6073/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/1920x1080!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb1%2F5d%2Fde0da8594822b97b67471a5aa4b3%2Flars-leber.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 476

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.

SF Trope: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Ship_Galileo
Current Event: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rocket_launch_sites#Additional_rocket_launch_sites_in_North_America, https://osm4wiki.toolforge.org/cgi-bin/wiki/wiki-osm.pl?project=en&article=List_of_rocket_launch_sites, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceport_Sheboygan

Ilhan Mohamed made a face, then said, “You have to have faith.”

Enok Johnsson shook his head and said, “No, I need a new best friend who doesn’t have ridiculous, suicidal ideas.”

“Hey! There’s a launch site in Wisconsin and one in Michigan on the Upper Peninsula. The one in Wisconsin would be ideal, but it’s still used as a science center. But the Keweenaw Rocket Range in the upper peninsula is both hard to get to and it’s mostly abandoned…”

Enok was hunched over his tablet and looked up a moment later. “You do realize that your spaceship launch pad is not far from where the most spectacular shipwreck of the 20th Century took place, right? There’s even a song about it.” He hit play before she could open her mouth. He’d meant for it to be a joke, but after the initial eerie notes of the song, they listened all the way through. They looked up and their eyes locked. Enok said, “Ya know, if I wasn’t gay, I think I’d be in love with you. What’s your plan?”

“You’re willing to go with me?”

“Well, first of all, I don’t see you having a valid drivers license…”

“I do, too! I drive the kids around all the time!”

He snorted, “Yeah, whatever. Like to swimming lessons and Target? That’s maybe thirty meters from your house.” Ilhan glared at him, narrowing her eyes, lips thinning to invisibilty. He held up his hands in defense, laughing as he said, “OK! OK! You’re an experienced long-distance driver!”

She said, “You MIGHT be right, but you don’t have access to the same equipment that I do. If we decide to do this – like really build a spacecraft that could lift off from Earth, go into orbit, and land back on Earth…”

“We’d need like a zillion dollars!”

“If we wanted to do it the old fashioned way like NASA and SpaceX, you’d be right. But there are other ideas out there – and I have a direct line to one of the most…controversial and exciting.”

Enok scowled through blonde bangs, then said in as low of a voice as he could, “So, what’s your oldest brother working on now?”

She leaned closer, “It used to be called ‘antigravity’, but Abbas says that they call it gravity modification today; gMod for short. He’s not working on anything specific, but I got him to talk about it a week ago. They’re just playing with it now, but I got to thinking about applications to space travel…”

“Duh. You could see space travel in a can of pop!”

She looked up, “Now that you mention it…” He held up his hands in his own defense. She laughed, “Don’t worry, I won’t start lecturing for a while yet.” He wiped his forehead. “Don’t relax too much, if you’re going to help me, I’ll need to break you in.”

“Do it gently,” Enok said. “Remember, I’m more of a math-kind-of-guy, not a nuts-and-bolts-kinda-guy. I keep you around because you can get the pickup started even when the garage can’t.”

She looked heartbroken, “You mean…you mean…you don’t love me for my mind?” They laughed hard until she caught her breath and managed, “OK, so, the plan will involve a little simple theft – car part, a welder, and a few other things…”

“Is that all? You’re gonna make a space car? Why didn’t you say so? Let’s throw the stuff in the pickup and get going…”

“I need some time to get stuff together – how does next weekend sound?”

He rolled his eyes, “Sounds like the exact thing I want to do with my weekend – drive a million miles to the wooded point of a deserted rocket launchpad and spend the rest of the time building an insane spaceship!”

Names: ♀ Somalia, US ; ♂ Norway, US
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Ariane5_VA221_liftoff2.jpg/220px-Ariane5_VA221_liftoff2.jpg

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS: Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, Easter, and Science Fiction

NOT using the panel discussions of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki, Finland in August 2017 (to which I 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 Program Guide. But not today. This explanation is reserved for when I dash “off topic”, sometimes reviewing movies, sometimes reviewing books, and other times taking up the spirit of a blog an old friend of mine used to keep called THE RANTING ROOM…

“The red light on my portaphone blinked not quite in time with the few Christmas lights I’d strung to decorate my spare apartment.”

This is how Jeff Kooistra’s story – “Easter Egg Hunt: A Christmas Story” (ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION & FACT, December 1997) begins. I’ve read this story at least 20 times since it was first published because, for some strange reason, it evokes in me the “true meaning” of Christmas.

No – not a wimpy secular attempt to re-write the meaning of God sending his only Son to Earth to redeem Humans from their sins. [(WARNING: Possibly Irritating (brief) Essay: I’m weary of repeated attempts to accuse Christianity of stealing various and sundry holy days, celebrations, symbols, and traditions. Humans constantly co-opt and adopt concepts from other cultures. Simple example is that hamburgers, a quintessential American food, originated in Germany. Macaroni and cheese was born here, in the US. We’ve coopted fajitas from the Mexican cattle ranges. The California Roll was adapted from sushi rolls in a Japanese restaurant in LA; fortune cookies as well. Most of the people in my part of the US don’t speak Spanish – but have no problem talking about their favorite taco, burrito, and tequila. A personal favorite of this family is popcorn – how much more American can you get than that? Probably not much more, though the land didn’t have that name when the Cochise tribe – or possibly the Aztecs – were using it regularly. We like to steal stuff. All of us. Atheists love to think that atheism is an outgrowth of Modern Scientific Thought, but it’s not. Even Wikipedia confirms its ancient (aka as “dumb savage”) origins…]

The true meaning it evokes is sacrifice – the main character, while he doesn’t make a sacrifice until the end of the story, eventually gives up the grim past he’s held onto since childhood. The anger and apathy has protected the yearning heart, which finally leads him to go out into a blizzard to save a place he originally had a very low opinion of.

A movie version of “A Christmas Carol” [(David Hugh Jones (as David Jones) David Hugh Jones (as David Jones); Writers: Peter Barnes (written for television by), Charles Dickens (novel)] is a classic story of an old man who has…um…walled his heart off with anger and apathy – in his case directed at Christmas. In the end, he…um sacrifices the packed anger because he realizes that it will lead only one place. But even more, his pain and anger and rejection of the sacrifice the Christ made at Christmas would lead not only to his own literal, grim, and friendless death; but to the death of a child. The child wouldn’t have the chance to even MAKE a choice to reject the true meaning of Christmas.

The second…well, the connection may seem tenuous at best until I tell you something about it…The actor who portrays Ebenezer Scrooge is Sir Patrick Stewart, known to science fiction fans the world over as Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise D from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION.

So Ebenezer Scrooge [does anyone out there know what the word “Ebenezer” means? “The place Eben-Ezer, being the name of a stone raised by Samuel to commemorate a victory over the Philistines at Mizpeh (1 Sam. 7:12), from Hebrew eḇen ezar, "stone of help," from eḇen "stone" + ezer "help"...” There are lots of theories about where Ebenezer’s last name came from, but suffice it to say that in the English language, it has become synonymous with “miser” and “mean”], after conversations with time traveling specters, chooses a future more in line a man he once was.

His affliction was an ancient one that the Bible warns against: “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (I Timothy 6:10). Unlike the rest of us, he gets a second chance to alter one of the futures we saw.

He sacrificed; as Jake Morgan in “Easter Egg Hunt…” sacrificed – both men sacrificed their anger (which, I can tell you, is a comfortingly solid thing to hold onto) in order to make a positive change in their world. Ebenezer to save both himself and the life of an innocent; Jake to save both himself and the lives of many innocents. Ultimately, Jesus came to Earth to offer himself as a ransom; to save the lives of all Humanity.

And THAT is both a Christmas and an Easter message for this holiday season.

Image: http://i1.wp.com/alternativeministryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/manger_crossbackground.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 475

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: auto-cannibalism 

Current Event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-cannibalism

Kari leaned from behind him while the movie in Forensics flickered on the screen in front of the class, whispering in his ear, “You know, if you bite your fingernails, the pieces will poke through your intestines and you’ll get a bleeding ulcer.”

“Shut up,” Mark hissed back at her.

Mr. Stanton looked up from the paper he was correcting and scowled at the two of them.

After class, Kari tapped Mark on the shoulder and said, “You’re the one who asked me to bug you about it.”

“Yeah, but…” he stopped talking as a pair of freshmen boys ran like elementary kids down the hall, cutting between him and Kari. It was a good thing, Mark decided. He’d almost told her the real reason he wanted to stop biting his nails. Or horking his snot or sucking the blood from a hangnail or any of the other instances of him eating his own flesh and blood. It started out as accidental. He’d been playing boot hockey over Christmas break and he’d been whanged in the nose and gotten a fierce nosebleed. Swallowing the blood to keep from grossing everyone out by spitting it on the ice had started something inside of him.

“‘Yeah, but’ what?” Kari asked when they pulled together again.

Mark shrugged and said, “I’ll tell you at lunch.”

Inside, he heard his Inner Voice say, “No you won’t. You won’t tell anyone about me. You just keep feeding me and when I’m big enough, I’ll come out and we’ll take over the world…”

Name Source: Local, Minnesota 

 Image: https://cdn.britannica.com/40/11740-004-50816EB1/Boris-Karloff-Frankenstein-monster.jpg

Slice of PIE: The Only Thing Holding Me Back Is That My Characters Are DEAD!!!

Using the Programme Guide of the 2020 World Science Fiction Convention, ConZEALAND (The First Virtual World Science Fiction Convention), I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. I will be using the events to drive me to distraction or revelation – as the case may be. The link is provided below where this appeared on Friday, July 31, 2020 at 1200 hours (aka 12N).

Terrain of the Heart: Landscapes that Influence Story

The geographical setting of a SFF story can be just as vital a part of the worldbuilding as culture and languages. What real-world landscapes have inspired memorable fantastical settings? Who are the modern authors working in unique ways with landscape, and how does it affect their stories?

Russell Kirkpatrick: Author of fantasy and atlases, several novels in which the main characters are geographers 

Fran Wilde: Author, Nebula and various other awards for novels, short fiction, and non-fiction
Yugen Yashima: Author and award winner in various speculative fiction genres
Max Gladstone: Writer, award-nominated of fantasy and speculative fiction

Must have been some discussion! Gladstone has created several worlds and appears to be best known for several novels about LAWYERS in a detailed, fantastic universe. Fran Wilde has created worlds both fantastic and alien. Yugen Yashima has written several award-winning stories in Japanese SF publications. Kirkpatrick fantasy in which the main characters are geographers with powers.

Of all the universes I have created, only one has a place strange enough to have become a character in its own right. That is the puffy gas giant River.

The skies of River (probably title of the novel I’ll be writing in that world), are both banded and diverse. I’ve even created a nursery rhyme that describes how the clouds behave: Belts blow east, and Bands are calm/Zones flee west, away from dawn.

River has a fractured, segregated society marginally held together by the harvest of Helium 3 (“Much speculation has been made over the possibility of helium-3 as a future energy source. Unlike most nuclear fission reactions, the fusion of helium-3 atoms releases large amounts of energy without causing the surrounding material to become radioactive…the temperatures required to achieve helium-3 fusion reactions are much higher than in traditional fusion reactions and the process may unavoidably create other reactions that themselves would cause the surrounding material to become radioactive. The abundance of helium-3 is thought to be greater on the Moon than on Earth, having been embedded in the upper layer of regolith by the solar wind over billions of years, though still lower in abundance than in the Solar System's gas giants.”

With the technical problems solved, H3 is the fuel of choice and harvested from the atmosphere of River (where it’s even more abundant than in a standard Jovian atmosphere) as well as easier to mine. There are NO aliens in this universe – though that effect has been ameliorated by one of the two major governments, both of which own and defend a stake in the skies of River.

The Empire of Man maintains the purity of original Human DNA, eschewing biological engineering for materials engineering. In the Empire, one is considered Human if their DNA is more than a 65% match with the Human DNA as recorded from the Human Genome Project, which is a sort of…bible…for defining Humanity.

In the Confluence of Humanity, that’s absurd. Human DNA is so complex it can be manipulated and combined with genes from other Earth organisms to adapt Humanity to virtually any environment. On River that have – there are Humans of every shape, size, and temperament. According those in the Empire, they might as well BE aliens.

So the Bands and Zones of River belong to the two nations and the conflict, while not constant, is constantly challenged. As there is no surface, the Confluence has tweaked a lifeform in River’s atmosphere called a cloudwhale. As large as an American state, they contain cities, farms, and industry.

The cities of the Empire are technological marvels and make use of gravity modification to conquer the skies of River.

Not only has outright war disappeared, cracks in the philosophies foundational to both cultures have begun to erode and recombine in unique ways…

I’ve written eleven stories in this universe, two have been published. I’m going to attempt a story in the skies again as soon as I’m done with the Aster Theilen Sequence of MARTIAN HOLIDAY.

One thing I’ve learned – in order to explore the alien, a reader needs a firm foundation in the Human. Both of the published stories had clearly Human characters – one Imperial and one Confluan – through whom we see the story. As I think on the other stories I’ve written, they’re much less character-driven. I let the idea take over. How I need to focus a “character-driven” story has always been a mystery to me. I suppose as far as novels go, the VORKOSIGAN stories of Lois McMaster Bujold and the FOREIGNER series of CJ Cherryh, and the short series by Julie Czerneda – the CLAN CHRONICLES, the SPECIES IMPERATIVE (my personal favorite) cycle, and the WEBSHIFTERS books are also character driven: Sira and Morgan, Mackenzie Connor, and Esen-Alit-Quar drive their stories…

In the two I sold, the youngster Igaluk Abumayaleh-Jawai, (aka Iggie), and the “pirate” Johnny Ferocious; are very clearly people whose lives are changed. Not necessarily by River, but without the world of River, they would never have happened. Gordon Oyeyemi was a Nigerian soldier whose body cells turned out to have the Henrietta Lacks Quality (HLQ) in that they were infinitely cloneable. In the Skies of River, he and his clone brother Irog – who is a genetically engineered manta ray fifteen kilometers across who has a bubble inside that is a small-scale medical clinic. Gordon had NO idea his brother had been cloned until they were paired and sent into a tense situation that only they could survive – an Imperial Heir has had her brain transplanted into a gengineered body and has vanished into the depths of River…

Maybe my future with these worlds will be to develop those two or three characters and THEN introduce the world through their lives.

Anyway, rather than the sciencey stuff, I need to work on the RELATIONSHIPS of the characters to their surroundings and how they grow more…um…Human.

Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3
Program Book: https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/conzealand/en/conzealand/schedule
Image: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bd/df/17/bddf178db4c8957b57e11e476919fabc.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 474

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: Fantastic Comedy
Current Event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpIJNGMh0IQ

Aarav Tlak shook his head and said, “Horses don’t talk.”

Kyla Das sniffed and said, “Shows what you know.”

“There’s no such thing as magic; there’s no such thing as a talking ani...”

“To reiterate what I said, you’re showing your ignorance by making such a categorical and sweeping statement. Are you including animals who have been trained or recognize commands?”

“Of course not! Animals can be smart and trainable, they just can’t talk.”

She gave him a long look then said, “So you’re saying that no animal on Earth can communicate?”

“No! You’re twisting my words. Animals communicate in a thousand different ways – some we can’t comprehend, like elephants talking below our level of hearing. But you’re talking about...about...about...talking like we’re talking and animals don’t do that.”

“How do you know?”

“You know what I’m talking about!”

“I could say that you’re a bit of an animal,” Kyla said with a smirk.

“I am not!” Aarav exclaimed.

She snorted then said, “You’ve never had to deal with yourself after you and your gf haven’t had a chance to make out.”

Sputtering, Aarav exclaimed, “That’s not fair!”

“That’s what criminals all say.”

He glared at her, took a deep breath, glared a while longer and finally said, “Proof would be you introducing me to some animal and then me and the animal having a conversation.”

“You’d accept that as proof?”

He gave her a funny look and she burst into laughter. Blushing furiously, he said, “Of course I’d accept it as proof! I’d hardly be a dispassionate scientist if I ignored an actual animal actually speaking to me.”

“Any animal?”

Aarav scowled, “I don’t like the direction this conversation is taking. What do you mean by that?”

She held out a stethoscope and said, “Put these into your ears.”

His eyes grew wide, he took them in hand, and said, “This isn’t funny anymore.”

“It’s not supposed to be. Warm up the end of that thing and put it on my belly – and prepare to be amazed.”

Names: ♀Philippines, Bangladesh; ♂ India, Croatia
Image: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/71/e5/9871e52bbc09c525af21b8f6471eab15.jpg

WRITING ADVICE: Writing the Alien – God, Jesus, Earth, and Intelligences “Out There”

In September of 2007, I started this blog with a bit of writing advice. A little over a year later, I discovered how little I knew about writing after hearing children’s writer, Lin Oliver speak at a convention hosted by the Minnesota Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Since then, I have shared (with their permission) and applied the writing wisdom of Lin Oliver, Jack McDevitt, Nathan Bransford, Mike Duran, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, SL Veihl, Bruce Bethke, and Julie Czerneda. Together they write in genres broad and deep, and have acted as agents, editors, publishers, columnists, and teachers. Since then, I figured I’ve got enough publications now that I can share some of the things I did “right”.

While I don’t write full-time, nor do I make enough money with my writing to live off of it...neither do all of the professional writers above...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! Hemingway’s quote above will now remain unchanged as I work to increase my writing output and sales! As always, your comments are welcome!

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3a/eb/83/3aeb8303cd61baaaff46a45fe45b7847.jpg

As a Christian since I was seventeen and a science fiction fan and writer since I was thirteen, I understand the SF community’s objection to Earth-based religions. Mostly the arguments grant that religion is fine, but it’s a totally local phenomenon, that is, the only Christians in the universe exist on Earth. Any kind of universal religion would be impossible.

I can appreciate the argument. It seems obvious that Jesus, Mohammed, Siddhartha Gautama, Moses, Brahma, Laozi, and others, being Human, and creating their religions at various times; are in their essence no different from the Pastafarianism of Bobby Henderson. I think the majority of SF readers and writers probably fall in somewhere on the spectrum of “I’d rather wait and see” and thinking there will be a plurality of religions along the same lines as the Prophets in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (and of course, they aren’t really prophets, just manipulative aliens); the religion of DUNE (a mishmash of Human religions with bits of Roman Catholicism, Islam, possibly a bit of Buddhism with sprinklings of various other Human faiths) – and the idea that matter is all there is; there isn’t anything invisible, and “spirituality” is an aspect of Human consciousness alone.

The Wikipedia entry gives (probably) a fairly complete list of SF religions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_ideas_in_science_fiction

CS Lewis had a very different point of view regarding aliens. In an essay called, “Religion and Rockets” (see THE WORLD’S LAST NIGHT AND OTHER ESSAYS) it was Lewis who asked the question, “How can we, without absurd arrogance, believe ourselves to have been uniquely favored?” and “...if we discovered that no form of redemption had reached them, then the human task might be to evangelize them…redemption, starting with us, is to work from us and through us [to the extraterrestrial beings].” He continues, “Those who are, or can become His sons, are our real brothers even if they have shells or tusks. It is spiritual, not biological, kinship that counts.”

Of course the belief of Lewis (and me) is that there is one God who made the universe – and every intelligence is given a “Garden of Eden Test”. We failed; Venusians passed. His idea about the salvation of Earth (and any other fallen intelligences) is actually best illustrated in his answer to a young person regarding the fantasy world of Narnia: “I’m not really representing the (Christian) story in symbols. I’m more saying, ‘Suppose there was a world like Narnia and it needed rescuing and the Son of God…went to redeem it, as He came to redeem ours, what might it, in that world, have been like?’”

I wrote a story some time ago that looked at a sort of map that intelligences who develop interstellar travel eventually discover. It shows stars where fallen and unfallen civilizations exist. I revised it recently and sent it out, and got a “that was close, but no thank you” from the editors.

The image above sparked these thoughts and while I’m certainly no Lewis, I’ll keep exploring the possibility that there are fallen and unfallen intelligences…I don’t THINK anyone is doing that right now. So we’ll see. As the holiday season rolls in, I might be sharing some other thoughts about this as well – and probably testing our a few more stories.

Me, writing on a different aspect of this: https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-slice-of-pie-is-there-perfect-alien.html
References: https://instituteforfaithandculture.org/blogarticles/is-christianity-compatible-the-existence-of-aliens, https://scientificgems.wordpress.com/2016/09/04/lewis-aliens-and-the-fermi-paradox/, https://www.christiantoday.com/article/c.s.lewis.letter.testifies.narnia.lion.as.christ/4724.htm I tried to use this article as a reference, but it’s literally RIDDLED with inaccuracies, beginning with the date Lewis wrote the response – 8 June 1960 (THE ESSENTIAL C.S. Lewis, Ed. Lyle W. Dorsett)
Image: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9f/22/3b/9f223b1e57a36e14db3eb13715fbe3f9.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 473

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.

SF Trope: Archaeological Arms Race (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArchaeologicalArmsRace)
Current Event: http://io9.com/carbon-nanotubes-were-an-ancient-superweapon-1707615687, http://www.ryot.org/autistic-teen-becomes-youngest-astrophysicist-world/394809, http://msc.tsinghua.edu.cn/sanya/StringMath2015/speakers.aspx

Puteri Etini shook sand from his hands and stood up, brushing it from his jeans. “What are we supposed to do with it once we get it?”

Marama Daeng looked up from the excavation and said, “This sword was supposed to be able to split the hair of a vicuna into identical halves with ease.”

“And The Massachusetts Institute of Technology needs it…why?” She shrugged and continued her work of brushing debris from the object they were unearthing. “You think it has anything to do with the superstring energy project in Moscow?” She snorted then sneezed, doubling over the hole, intent.

She straightened up and looking into the distance, she said, “They’ve tried magnets – super-cooled and room-temperature, dipole and monopoles; they’ve tried coherent EM radiation at every frequency imaginable from radio to gamma; electrical fields of every strength. They have captured a string, balanced between Earth and the Sun. Everyone is in Vysokaya Lomonosov Moscow State University – and everyone’s enemies have gathered around to see what they do.”

“Who’s the idiot who thinks a depression in the space-time continuum can be touched by something physical?”

“Jakob Barnett.”

“The man who can’t speak? He’s...he’s…” Pateri said.

“…the intellectual equivalent of Hawking, Kadanof, Ellis, Dyson, Leung, Becker, and Silk all-rolled-into-one are the name’s you’re thinking of.”

“How...”

“If I knew that, then I wouldn’t be digging in the sand in a remote corner not far from the Syria- Iraq border, south of the Euphrates River. I can only believe that he can do what he says. How about you?”

He sniffed, grinned, and drew the .45 from his shoulder holster…

Names: ♀Malaysia ; ♂ Tahiti
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Ariane5_VA221_liftoff2.jpg/220px-Ariane5_VA221_liftoff2.jpg

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS: The BEST Captain In STARFLEET is NOT Named Kirk or Picard!!!!

NOT using the Programme Guide of the 2020 World Science Fiction Convention, ConZEALAND (The First Virtual World Science Fiction Convention; to which I be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I WOULD jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not today. This explanation is reserved for when I dash “off topic”, sometimes reviewing movies, sometimes reviewing books, and other times taking up the spirit of a blog an old friend of mine used to keep called THE RANTING ROOM…

A friend of mine from the school I used to work at posted the meme/photo above several weeks ago and added underneath it:

“Fight me.” -- n.l.n.

As a long-time fan of all of the series, I had to serious consider her argument. The following is my train of thought (edited, boiled down then expanded with references into a coherent essay that will likely irritate as many people as it lifts up!) Onward then!

Captain, father, diplomat, religious figure? 

For three seasons, he held the rank of Captain, and was then promoted to Commander for the last three. In my humble opinion, he blew Kirk (old and new), Picard, Janeway, Archer, and Lorca out of the water -- PLUS, he didn't have a starship to flash around, just a dumpy old space station that broke down every other episode.

Picard was given the top-tech FLAGSHIP of the Federation. Kirk captained the first starship to actually go on an exploratory mission. Lorca’s job was to save the Federation from a devastating war with the Klingon Empire. Archer took the very first starship and led the very first mission out of Human space under the watchful eye of the Vulcans, who stood ready to mop up any mess Archer got into. Janeway, with an amazing ship had to rip disaster out of the mouth of diplomacy as practiced by the Federation and the Cardassian Empire.

Sisko got a ruined space station, intentionally sacked by the departing Cardassian former owners, a deeply suspicious population below who wanted nothing more than to get rid of all these frickin’ aliens and go back to Life As We Knew It…

Oh, and his “liaison” with the Bajoran Transitional Government was one of their most celebrated…terrorists…who saw the Federation as just another version of the Cardassians.

“Here you go, Sisko. Let’s see what you can do with this, hehehehehehe…”

Woops, I forgot: along with an actively hostile civilian government on the world below; and actively hostile military government a few moments away by starship (which neither he nor the Barjoans have access to); there’s also a clandestine observation by an actively hostile alien alien who can detach bits of itself that can take the shape of ANYTHING in order to spy on you.

Jake Sisco’s best FRIEND was altered by his relationship with both Siskos that he chose to become the first Ferengi to enlist in Starfleet Officer (and he eventually became a captain) which of course, ended up ameliorating the ”money-grubbing” nature of the Ferengi so much so that Rom, Quark’s brother became the new Grand Nagus.

Oh, another thing, Sisko was the ONLY one of the set who dared to take the REALLY daring voyage of marriage and family life. Added layer: he was very recently widowed and his son was shocked by the loss of his mother so, just staple "bereaved" on to the other minor things he was dealing with...(Kirk tried the marriage and kid thing VERY briefly and admittedly failed except for the making-a-kid-part (apparently accepting fatherhood for an undisclosed amount of time, then ditching THAT SUCKER like an irritated Orion Slave Girl (though it’s the MEN who are slaves to the women, apparently)).

In addition to the above, his son chose to be a writer while his son’s best FRIEND became a Starfleet Officer (eventually captain) which of course, ended up ameliorating the ”money-grubbing” nature of the Ferengi so much so that Rom, Quark’s brother became the new Grand Nagus; as a religious icon called the Emissary of the Prophets and completely fulfilled the Prophecy by sacrificing his Humanity to them.

When confronted with the clandestine observation by an actively hostile alien alien called The Great Link whose stated intent was to destroy all Solids; and who detached bits of itself, one of which ended up on DS9 calling itself Odo and was able to take the shape of ANYTHING in order to spy on Humans aboard DS9 and became so loyal to them that he very nearly refused to halt a plague given to The Great Link because he’d fallen in love with a Solid. His respect and love for Nerice and Sisko made him reenter The Great Link with the cure for the plague and saved ALL of them, bringing about the end of the Dominion, the downfall of the Cardassian Empire (again), and the integration of a bit of Starfleet into the Prophets of the Wormhole.

Let’s just tote this up. Sisko: saved Bajor, reformed Bajoran terrorist, altered Ferengi social fabric, became religious icon then fulfilled sundry prophecies including Final Prophecy of entire Bajoran civilization, reformed and saved communal alien life form, earned respect of Cardassian Empire, all WITHOUT A STARSHIP and using a dilapidated, booby-trapped, former prison of a space station as a base.

So tell me again, EXACTLY what did Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Archer, and Lorca do for Life, the Universe, and Everything?

Last of all, from a Reality Standpoint, Sisco has been relegated to being an unsung hero of the Federation. Why doesn’t he receive more accolades? How MANY real biases did he topple? At the very least, two. He was the ANTI-absent black father. He was the ANTI-uneducated black male. Despite all of this, not only was Sisko, or more correctly, Avery Brooks pretty much forgotten, he should have in fact, been a major hero in the STAR TREK canon.

But he’s not. People rave all the time about Kirk or Picard. Not ONLY did Sisko/Brooks end up being a fictional INVISIBLE MAN he actually tried to bring this up in the infrequently mentioned DS9 episode, “Far Beyond the Stars”.

Brooks commented, “If we had changed the people's clothes, this story could be about right now. What's insidious about racism is that it is unconscious. Even among these very bright and enlightened characters – a group that includes a woman writer who has to use a man's name to get her work published, and who is married to a brown man with a British accent in 1953 – it's perfectly reasonable to coexist with someone like Pabst. It’s in the culture, it’s the way people think. So that was the approach we took. I never talked about racism. I just showed how these intelligent people think, and it all came out of them.” However, it wasn’t supposed to be entirely about racism. Brooks added, “The people thought it was about racism, well maybe so, maybe not [….] But the fact of the matter in 'Far Beyond the Stars' is that you have a man who essentially was conceiving of something far beyond what people around him had ever imagined, and therefore they thought he was crazy.” This episode was Avery Brooks' personal favorite, “I'd have to say, it was the most important moment for me in the entire seven years…It should have been a two-parter.”

Rene Auberjonois commented, "Brilliant episode. One of the best of the whole series and Avery did a fabulous job of directing it." Michael Dorn said, "It was wonderfully shot." Penny Johnson commented, “This was beautifully handled and beautifully shot. But it still, in the heart, it got me.” J.G. Hertzler commented, “I thought it was one you could have built an entire series from. There was a scene toward the end where he falls apart with the camera right in front of his nose. It was just riveting.” The same scene was also extremely memorable for Nana Visitor. Armin Shimerman thought highly of how the installment serves as a reminder of prejudice, especially racism, the actor commenting, “That's what that episode does terrifically well…it’s perfect science fiction. I think it stretches the imagination of the viewer and breaks down the fourth wall to talk about the real heroes of any TV shows, which are the writers.”

...Benjamin Sisko and Black Panther should have had a face-to-face...*sigh*

Reference: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Far_Beyond_the_Stars_(episode)
Image: https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/78192652.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 472

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: adoring the pests…
Current Event: http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/17/cats-are-cute-but-could-we-learn-to-love-the-cockroach-4303071/

It took a while for Austin Ventura, Carmita Rodriguez Cruz, and Paulina Rodriguez Cruz to make it back to Austin’s house. Getting the candied-apple red Jeep Cherokee out of the driveway without starting it was a little tougher than Austin had been hoping.

He started out in the driver seat first, but because his driveway sloped up a little, they couldn’t get it pushed up enough to get it out into the street. Austin jumped out and whispered, “Paulina – you get behind the wheel!”

“I never drove!”

“Do it! Just hold the wheel straight while we push you backwards. I’ll come there and turn the wheel when it’s time!” All around them, was total silence; the dead of night when even burglars and rapists had gone to bed in order to hide their horrific shame from the light of day. If he’d tried to start the Cherokee...

“What are you daydreaming about?” Carmita whispered. “Push!”

Austin did. It took two rolling backs before the SUV was over the hump and into the street.

Then it started rolling backwards. “Hit the brakes!” Austin shouted in a whisper.

“She’s never driven a car, stupid! She doesn’t know what the brakes are!” The two of them chased the car across the street. But not until it hit a garbage can in front of the neighbor’s house. The family had a massively giant can because they only put it out once a month. Most everyone in the neighborhood knew exactly what day that was because the garbage stank to high heaven. And the can was jammed full.

Austin covered his eyes as the can teetered then tipped. There’d been no way to get there fast enough to stop it. No way to keep the month’s-worth of garbage from spilling into the street.

Cockroaches and all. “Ew…” said Carmita, who’d been standing next to him the whole time.

Paulina had scrambled out of the car and was coming around it when she stopped, transfixed by the pile of rot that now seethed with the bodies of the roaches, busily eating. She said abruptly, “Did you know that cockroaches are an important part of the ecology of Earth?” She took a step closer.

Austin and Carmita whispered together, “Don’t go any closer! They’re covered with diseases!”

Paulina looked up at them, laughed, “Not very often and the family appears to still be alive, so the cockroaches haven’t killed them yet.”

Austin looked at Carmita and said, “She LIKES cockroaches?”

Carmita shrugged and said, “It is our great shame.”

Austin sighed and went to the car, saying, “We don’t have any more time to waste. We have to find Carlos.” He hopped in and started it, gesturing for the girls to join him. Then with a spurt of gas, he sent them rolling and turned off the car. As they went downhill, picking up speed, none of them had noticed that they had picked up a few hitchhikers…

Names: ♂ Mexico, Mexico; ♂ Minnesota, Italy (= “baby in the woods”, “foundling”); ♀ Spanish form of French name 

Image: https://cdn.britannica.com/40/11740-004-50816EB1/Boris-Karloff-Frankenstein-monster.jpg

WRITING ADVICE: Short Stories – Advice and Observation #6: Nnedi Okorafor “& Me”

It's been a while since I decided to add something different to my blog rotation. Today I’ll start 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: “The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America specifies word lengths for each category of its Nebula award categories by word count; Novel 40,000 words or over; Novella 17,500 to 39,999 words; Novelette 7,500 to 17,499 words; Short story 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. 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 above...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! Hemingway’s quote above will now remain unchanged as I work to increase my writing output and sales! As always, your comments are welcome! 

Without further ado, short story observations by Nnedi Okorafor – with a few from myself…

I first came across Nnedi Okorofor’s writing when I was on the Andre Norton Award committee for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). That was the year her YA novel THE SHADOW SPEAKER. It was a strong year. I nominated THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY by Adam Rex, though the group put forth SHADOW SPEAKER…the SFWA membership overwhelmingly voted for HPAT DEATHLY HALLOWS (of course…and JK Rowling didn’t even CARE if she got it or if she hadn’t. She actually didn’t even notice…)

At any rate, Nnedi Okorafor said, “I wrote for eight years without even thinking of getting published. It wasn’t about an audience, I just wanted to write my stories. I enjoyed it. It was very gradual. I wrote about five novels before a professor told me I should try to get something published. I shrugged and said, “I guess” and submitted a short story to a journal. And that was the beginning. No novel that I’ve had published ever went through the normal route, however. I understood from the start that my path was not going to be typical. I knew the usual routes wouldn’t work for me because I was writing things that were...very unusual.”

My goal, as a 12-going-on-13-year-old, was to write more stories like John Christopher’s THE WHITE MOUNTAIN trilogy. I’d just finished them in the fall of my seventh grade year (I’d be 12 years old for eight more months…). I wanted to write my own story so it could go on forever. That first story, in longhand using a pencil was called (unsurprisingly) THE WHITE VINES and it was about alien vines growing out of a cornfield an taking over city sewers. That’s all I remember, and that was my motivation for writing – to be somewhere ELSE. I’d discovered science fiction in sixth grade with SPACESHIP UNDER THE APPLE TREE (by Louis Slbodkin) and THE WONDERFUL FLIGHT TO THE MUSCHROOM PLANET (by Eleanor Cameron). Junior High School offered an abundance of new books which I devoured – and which prompted me to write my oldest surviving story, a rip off of Andre Norton’s science fiction novels that included cats. (If you dare, here’s a link to it – not in the original pencil, I typed it up: http://theworkandworksheetsofguystewart.blogspot.com/2014/05/where-my-writing-beganmy-first.html)

“…a lot of people are told to stifle their imaginations, just in order to get by. Science fiction does the exact opposite. People who are missing that expression in their lives are fulfilled when they read a science-fiction narrative.”

That’s what I was told the whole time I was growing up…sure, my dad and I watched STAR TREK; he read some science fiction, too. But to WRITE the stuff? It was absurd! I can’t say my parents actively discouraged me – my mom got me my first Underwood-style manual typewriter, then she bought a MASSIVE electric one when the school district she worked for were selling them off to get new ones. But it was subtly implied.

Unlike Nnedi Okorafor, I grew up loathing sports. A brief sojourn into baseball when I was eight or nine and spending a season in the outfield because I could neither catch, throw, hit, or run left me with my current indifference to all things professional sports. She was a tennis and track star in her youth. So was everyone in my family: Dad played softball and bowled (after football and basketball all the way through high school), my brothers both played football and hockey (my next youngest brother going to college on a scholarship), then diverged while one did track and field, the other baseball. Both of them played for traveling hockey teams; my sister did softball and volleyball…Mom? Girls Athletic Association all three years of high school, and FENCING in college at the University of Minnesota.

Me? Tried out for the swim team my senior year – because of my dislocating shoulder, I became the team manager. After training and running all summer long and being coached by my best friend – and with ZERO support from my family, who thought I was crazy – I tried out for the junior college football team, sprained my ankle, and became the assistant trainer for two years, as well as becoming the team statistician and learning ow to keep those books…

I had turned to reading to escape; I continued in writing to escape…and maybe get published.

“Nearly a decade passed before I realized the lesson in this experience. Just as in sports, when writing creatively, if you don’t love the craft and art of it, you’ll never experience this pure form of success. Yet when you do have this love, you realize that pure success does not come from fame or fortune, it grows from that love.”

This one I fully understand – I love writing. My mantra became as still is something Isaac Asimov once wrote: 

 https://cdn.boldomatic.com/content/post/9gjTZg/I-write-for-the-same-reason-I-breathe-because-if?size=800

Nnedi Okorafor expresses a similar concept when she said, “‘When a story comes to me, I have to write it or it won't let me rest,’ Okorafor said. ‘The characters are real to me. I hear their voices. Their actions affect me. The places I write about exist. I've felt the sting of their sand storms and smelled their forests. The creatures really do bite, snarl, sing, spit, sting, etc. When I'm writing, I'm there and I enjoy being there.’”

It’s almost like being possessed or filled with the Holy Spirit. When it happens, it’s virtually impossible to stay still; it’s virtually impossible to get away from the story. I’ve two stories that has dogged me for decades. The title’s remained the same as well, but I think that I’ve only recently reached a point where I MIGHT be skilled enough to write them. For now, just two titles, the first I will attempt to write soon: “Of the Galeborne”; the second “Salvation Writ in Stainless Steel”. I have the images in my mind, but the entire, coherent story isn’t there yet. I’m currently on Mars with several characters as Mars teeters on the bring of either a revolution or a reformation. Both are profound; one stands a better chance of leaving buildings standing than the other.

“It's interesting because a lot of my stories are often based on several things, but their foundation is in the stories of the women and girls around me and also within myself. And Binti comes from a very insular family - a cultural family that's very close. And she ends up picking up and going and leaving her family and going just so that she can go to a university that is on another planet.” Nnedi Okorafor had done precisely this when she answered the call to become a college professor far from her family. The EMOTIONS she was experiencing drove the work of fiction.

So, what IS the source of my stories? When I look at my published work – which I view as a successful expression of something that is really in me; something I struggle with; something I’m working through. Two of my most recent stories, “Kamsahamnida, America” and “Road Veterinarian”, I deal with the issue of alienation (fortunately neither one has aliens in it!) – the separation of the main character from his world. The first one is literally separated from Earth when he goes to the Moon; in the second story, he’s self-isolating because he was born with PBT (PieBald Trait) aka piebaldism and has issues with people seeing him outside the framework of his work as a veterinary geneticist, where he is an acknowledged world expert. In another story, “Cockroach, Wasp, Gecko, Tiger”, the main character is living in a political internment camp in North Korea; “The Last Mayan Aristocrat”…well, it’s self-explanatory isn’t it?

So, the discovery here is the importance of knowing WHERE you’re writing from.

An unsold story of mine may be unsold because the sense of isolation I feel sometimes wasn’t clearly expressed. “May They Rest” (revised and renamed “By Law and Custom”) is also an isolation story where the sole survivor of a massacre of a Human colony on a world claimed by the intelligent plant WheetAh returns to…hmm…I don’t remember specifically WHY he returns, though his motivation is not altruistic in any way. Which might be part of the problem of the story…

So, there you go. What I’ve learned from Nnedi Okorfor in the time I spent in her universes. I hope that no matter how old I get, I continue to learn!

References: https://www.flossmoor.org/464/Nnedi-Okorafor---The-Writer, https://ideas.ted.com/write-your-story-and-dont-be-afraid-to-write-it-a-sci-fi-writer-talks-about-finding-her-voice-and-being-a-superhero/, https://www.writersofthefuture.com/nnedi-okorafor/, http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/okorafor_interview/, https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/25/15610998/nnedi-okorafor-binti-home-night-masquerade-cover-interview-read, https://www.npr.org/2016/08/20/490771640/hugo-nominee-nnedi-okorafor-breaks-down-her-sci-fi-writing
Image: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9f/22/3b/9f223b1e57a36e14db3eb13715fbe3f9.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 471

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.

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.

F Trope: Wu' means martial arts, which signifies action, 'Xia' conveys chivalry. Wuxia. Say it gently... 'whooshah'... and it's like a breath of serenity embracing you. Say it with force, 'WuSHA!', and you can feel its power…honourable warriors (侠 xiá) fighting against evil…wuxia stories are set in modern times, or even the future…Jiānghú (江湖 — literally "rivers and lakes")…martial-artists and monks, wandering knights and beautiful princesses, thieves and beggars, priests and healers, merchants and craftsmen…intricate relationships of honour, loyalty, love and hate between individuals and between communities in this milieu.
Current Event: “The Jade Warrior”

Ni Eyamba bit her lower lip as she stared down at the pre-calculus summative exam and sighed. What would the class do if she stood up and announced that she was a fusion of Atai, the mediator wife of Abassi, the creator god; and the Chinese “deity” of clan, nation, societal harmony, anti-individualism, and fulfillment of mandate still defines success. Contemporary Chinese, however, are unable to articulate the country's cultural DNA.

I am the articulation of the Chinese DNA of my mother melded with the gods and goddesses of my father’s home – the Dark Continent. I am...

Behind me, Jackson Jackson, my totally American best friend at Obama High School, poked me in the back with his tablet computer stylus and whispered, “Who do you think you are, Albertina Einsteinina?”

I rolled my eyes and got back to work. When we first talked, he asked me all about my families – not the shy one, I told him as much as he could stand.

Which happened to be an hour and seven minutes of constant talk – all through our relaxed study and into the fourth period of lunch. I’d intended to prove to myself that no one cared about me. Certainly Mom and Dad didn’t – why else would they send me to the US for schooling while they went to live the bright life in Espirito Santo, north of the capital of Brazil?

I was stuck in this...Jackson poked me again and I wrestled down an urge to turn and blast him with lightning. But then my only real friend in America would be a smoking pile of ash.

Of course I’d have to figure out how to immolate him without burning down both the school and turning myself into a pile of crematorium dust as well. Too bad my deityhood didn’t extend to omniscience. If it had, I would be able to ace this exam.

Also, the powers I’d supposedly gotten from the Efik side of my family tended toward creating things rather than destroying things. That’s why it had merged almost seamlessly with my Chinese blood. Most of Reunited China was in the throes of a materialistic orgy that made the 20th and the first half of the 21st Centuries of American excess look like…well…18th and 19th Century European excess…which made 16th and 17th Century Indian excess look like…well, you get the idea. Seems every dominating civilization seeks to outdo the previous dominating civilization...

“You gonna finish the test or just dream about graduating from high school?”

“闭嘴,” I said – Chinese for “shut up”, which is what Americans seem to say to each other a lot. Almost more than, “Wanna be friends?”

Behind me, I feel the rush of air past my ear as he breathes, “Wu xia.” He lifted the second syllable. Blood pounded in my ears. Said in such a way, he was doing no less than challenging me to a duel. I grinned, hunched over my tablet and raced through the rest of the test. I very much wanted to expend some of my angry energy by beating Jackson’s…

Names: ♀ China, Nigeria; ♂ United States, United States
Image: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/71/e5/9871e52bbc09c525af21b8f6471eab15.jpg

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY: Artificial Intelligences, Aliens, Rights, and Religious Conversion

Using the Programme Guide of the 2020 World Science Fiction Convention, ConZEALAND (The First Virtual World Science Fiction Convention), I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. I will be using the events to drive me to distraction or revelation – as the case may be. The link is provided below where this appeared on Friday, July 31, 2020 at 1600 hours (aka 4:00 pm).
Universal Rights in the Age of AI 

Human rights are a contentious issue - while many nations signed the UN Declaration on Human Rights, that consensus only formed because the Declaration doesn’t specify where rights come from. How can the definition and origin of “universal” rights grapple with the rise of general artificial intelligence? What rights are inherent to people made of small, sub-sentient devices scattered across an asteroid belt, or to algorithms of commercial origin? Will the AIs think we deserve rights, or will they resent slow meat-brained humans passing judgment on them?

Hirotaka Osawa – Professor, human-agent interaction, including development of anthropomorphic devices, simulation for social agent using social games, and humanity studies using science fictions. His own research focuses on how human-like appearance and attitude improves interaction between a user and machines.

L.J. Kendall – self-published writer
Barbara Howe – Writer, fantasy
Benjamin C. Kinney – Assistant Editor, Escape Pod
Mikko Rauhala – Writer, SF, crossover

While Osawa and Rauhala are the only two in the group who have anything to do with science fiction and AI, I’m sure the discussion was lively! It should be at any rate, because once robots, AI, and clones take over the world (in an event some believe will be called the Singularity. Some people look forward to it the way some Christians look forward to the Rapture – all their worries will be over because someone better than them will take over. Of course, a problem both ideas overlook is that the person so hoping it will happen has no GUARANTEE of being someone who survives long enough to…um…SEE it happen.)

I would have loved to have listened in on this one as my work in progress, MARTIAN HOLIDAY, looks at the question of rights for non-Humans. In it, I have both clones who are marked by being unable to reproduce on their own and have blue skin; and an AI who is struggling with belief in God – and also has no legal rights.

My blurb is, “On a well-settled Mars, the five major city Council regimes struggle to meld into a stable, working government. Embracing an official Unified Faith In Humanity, the Councils are teetering on the verge of pogrom directed against Christians, Molesters, Jews, Rapists, Buddhists, Murderers, Muslims, Thieves, Hindu, Embezzlers Artificial Intelligences, and Artificial Humans – anyone who threatens the official Faith and the consolidating power of the Councils. It makes good sense, right – get rid of religion and Human divisiveness on a societal level will disappear? An instrument of such a pogrom might just be a Roman holiday...”

Actually, the AI only showed up as an actual character recently, and didn’t refuse the name Aadesh, so I let them stay. Aadesh is a Hindi word for “instruction”. While I sort of knew that when I tagged the character, the name has grown more appropriate as they become a sort of advisor for Paolo, a character who is based somewhat on Paul the Apostle. Paul had many people who helped him, and my character, while he’s had people help him, doesn’t really have any “friends”.

This will likely be the closest he comes to a friend. At least it seems to be what’s happening. Aadesh was exiled, albeit temporarily, from the capitol of Mars, Bradbury Dome. While it wasn’t the first, it IS the most central and it became a sort of hub for the civilization of the Five Domes of Mars. There are somewhere around four million people on Mars at this time, with a number of cultures as well. It’s not clear to me if Artificial Humans and Artificial Intelligences are counted in that number, if NOT, then there are probably another million or so, though an AI can live pretty much anywhere.

While it sometimes appears to me that some people are looking to AIs as some sort of “savior” of Humanity. In the MARVEL movie universe, one of those civilizations, the Krell have the Supreme Intelligence, which is artificial and rules them, at least somewhat benevolently. So, while it’s a “god”, is it a Krell? The question isn’t addressed, but Captain Mar-Vell beats it and at least frees herself.

It's clear that by the time of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, the Krell are under the guidance of Thanos.

OK, enough, the question here was “Will the AIs think we deserve rights, or will they resent slow meat-brained humans passing judgment on them?” For some reason, Humans appear to be making AIs in their own image – as Humans have attempted to with God since Genesis.

We somehow think that any AI civilization will even care about us!

We assume they’ll think we’re a threat that they must “defend themselves” from. But, if the imagination of the average unbeliever is that limited and figure that AIs will be as easily dismissed as God, or that we’ll be “as gods to them”, then their imaginations are wimpier than I thought they were.

I’ve said elsewhere that the absolute worst thing that would happen to Humanity, whether the Singularity occurs as expected or it turns out that there are Aliens Out There or anything else that has supernatural origins in our psyches that we attempt to replace God with – is that THEY WILL IGNORE US AS WE IGNORE MOST AMEOBA.

No matter how much we jump up and down in front of them, what if they ignore us? (Which I would do if I found myself a “deity-substitute”. We may be tempted to flash how badly we’ve harmed the earth, and while I have no doubt that the climate of Earth is changing, I find it highly suspect that we’re so intent on naming ourselves as both destroyers and saviors of the planet. We replaced God with ourselves, and thus far, we’re not doing a real bang up job of becoming our own Saviors; so we have to settle for second-best and become the Destroyers Of Humanity! But we can’t even quite get that right – at least we don’t seem to be able to agree on anything without cursing anyone who disagrees with up rather than TRYING to discuss things like rational Human beings…)

At any rate, I like the idea of AI – I think C3PO and R2D2 are great. They are neither awed by Humans nor are they afraid of Humans, and often find them harmless but amusing. Will AIs have a sense of humor? Will they be able to believe in a god? Will they be able to CONVERT TO A HUMAN RELIGION? (Oddly, I had a thought when I created Aadesh. I have NO idea how other religions will look at aliens, clones, and AIs converting to them, but the fact that Jesus Himself was only half-Human and half-God would strengthen the argument that AIs, clones, artificial Humans, aliens can become Christian converts. I’m going to have this happen in MARTIAN HOLIDAY as those entities converting to the somewhat short-sighted United Faith in Humanity seems a bit…shortsighted…)

Oddly enough, most of the images depicting AI frame in terms of some kind of “super-dee-dooper-dee HUMAN brain…We’ll see how far that gets us. This is one of the few that depict it as specifically NOT-Human.

Program Book: https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/conzealand/en/conzealand/schedule 

Image: https://bernardmarr.com/img/What%20Are%20Examples%20Of%20Artificial%20Intelligence%20(AI).png

NEW POST! Writing as a Newborn 9th Gendered Polyoriented Alien Lizard

If you'd like to read a short essay by me posted at STUPEFYING STORIES today, November 12, 2020, and looking at how to write from a viewpoint that's...alien...to you, you might enjoy this!

http://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/2020/11/writing-as-newborn-9th-gendered.html

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 470

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.

SF Trope: Human Interplanetary Voyaging!
Current Event: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/04/11/nuclear-fusion-rocket-could-reach-mars-in-30-days/
Historical Background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Direct

Zubrinka Lakewood glanced at Penelope Ok.

Penelope glared back at him.

Zu said, “So, how are we supposed to get out of this?”

Aware of the cameras trained on them from all sides as well as their distance from anything she could push off of, Pen replied, “We’re supposed to work together...”

“Duh,” snapped Zu. “They want us to make nice so we can pretend to work together on our way to Mars.” He shrugged and floated slightly off kilter from Pen’s orientation.

“We’re not supposed to ‘make nice’, we’re supposed to work...”

“Yeah, I know. I was in the same class you were.”

“What was your avatar?”

Zu snorted. “Same as yours, what do you think?”

Pen snorted and flapped her hands experimentally. She floated in the opposite direction of Zu, leaving them with their heads at a ninety-degree angle. “So what are we going to do? The whole station is watching.”

Zu made a face, for a second his obnoxious self-confidence disappearing into worry. Then he said, “I could fart.”

Pen sighed, sympathy for him draining away. “This is a competition even though it’s a competition to see how well we can work together.”

“So I can work together better than you can.”

She blinked at him then reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him toward him, “We could fight about it...”

Names: ♀ Greece, Turkey ; ♂ Ukraine, United States
Image:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Ariane5_VA221_liftoff2.jpg/220px-Ariane5_VA221_liftoff2.jpg