So there I was, minding my own business and typing last Thursday’s blog entry – something about creating a new genre of fiction – when I thought I’d put in a handy, useful link. There were a few books I wanted to gather up links for, so I set about searching for the first – Stephen King’s “On Writing.” Since I was in a bit of a rush, trying to finish the blog before I made dinner, I noticed there were several Amazon site links for that book. That’s pretty common. I clicked on one to copy. Within nanoseconds, up came several pop-up windows telling me I had a security alert – one pop-up window literally spoke to me – and behind the speaking pop-up I could see something was downloading.
On top of that, a phone number appeared telling me I must call it immediately. Foolishly I did, out of idle curiosity – and I asked immediately who it was I was speaking to and how much this is going to cost. Not getting any real answer, I hung up. Okay, okay, you’re all going to call me an idiot for doing that. But you know what? I was panicked and on sensory overload. Normally, I’m as sensible as galoshes in a rainstorm. In this instance, I was a hair’s breadth from collapsing into a puddle of goo.
Then I shut down my computer, closed its display/lid over the keyboard and stared at it, as if experiencing a bad dream or a silly one-off that’d go away the moment I lifted the lid….which I did. Turning it back on, the evil pop-ups still lurked on the screen, menacing my desktop and covering my blog entry. I couldn’t close the pop-up windows, so I closed the browser.
Andrew, my husband, just happened to call and I spewed out the rapidly-disintigrating chain of events. My entire life flashed before my eyes (oh, c’mon, you can’t tell me your computer isn’t your entire center of being?). Calmly, he asked me to recite the series of events for him. Desperate to wish this unfortunate series of missteps away, I did, hoping for a seed of a solution.
“Did you back everything up?” Andrew asked.
“Well, most of it…and I thought our server did that,” I replied.
Okay, now this brings up two issues: “most of it” and “server.”
“Most of it” means I had my first book, latest draft, the one my agent now has, saved on two sticks. I’ve mailed it to myself, too. My latest book, a work-in-progress, saved on a stick and the server, but as I was working on it, not the very latest, up-to-the-minute version. Old incarnations/drafts of my first book – yes, on a stick drive, but not the server. Other files were saved on stick drives but I know I had other random files not saved anywhere.
“Server” means if our auto backup to the server backed up my work-in-progress book while the malware infected my computer…don’t want to think what might have come next…firewalls do come in handy…but so does disconnecting the internet from the wireless router. Nothing gets past if there’s no way it can get in, period.
Grabbing the travel case, I shoved my Mac into it, yelled something to my son like he can help himself to whatever’s in the fridge, hopped into my car and jammed onto the rush-hour traffic on the highway. I’m kicking myself, repeating what a dope I am for allowing this to happen, and am especially unforgiving about calling the number. When did I become soooo stupid? Sped like lightning to our local Geek Squad, stood in line while fighting to maintain calm. The woman who stood next to me made me laugh – her smartphone kept turning off and on and she was powerless to stop it. It was quite funny, actually – even she was laughing. “If I dropped it, yeah, sure, I can see something like this happening, but I didn’t do anything! This is all this phone’s idea,” she said.
The techie calls me forward and I swallow before explaining my actions to him. I feel like an idiot. With the manner of a emergency room doctor, in a soothing, calm voice he said, “You’re not the first one this has happened to, nor will you be the last. Macs are increasingly vulnerable to both malware and viruses. Give me a minute,” he said, disappearing through plastic sheets into a back room. After about five tension-filled minutes, he came out and said, “All right. Here’s the good news. From what we can tell, the malware didn’t execute, so that makes this situation a whole lot easier. It seems we can save everything, clean ‘er out and make everything right again, but it’ll take a few days since it’s the summer, people are on vacation and we’re short-staffed right now. So the bad news is, we have a seven-day turnaround right now. If you can wait that long, we’ll do the job.”
All I heard is, “The patient’s going to live.”
I gratefully thank him as I hand over my credit card, ignoring the ridiculous amount it’s going to cost to repair it. At least the service contract will last two years and the software that goes to protect it can be installed on two more computers.
It’s not until I get in the car and am on the highway that I realize it’s dark and 9:00 pm…and haven’t had dinner. Ah well, not hungry at all, after this. I arrive at home and walk in the house, handing Andrew the software as he asks me for details. He installs the software and it scans all of our networked files, as well as those on our hard drives and everything comes up clean (we have several computers). In the end, this story turns out well. I’ll get my computer back in a few days, I have another one to use but still, when I think how this could have turned out?
My God, what a nightmare.
Folks, drop whatever you’re doing RIGHT NOW AND BACK EVERYTHING UP!!!
Maybe you read The New York Time’s July 16, 2015 article regarding a fragment of a Russian weather satellite passing near ISS caused one astronaut and two cosmonauts to enter a Soyuz capsule until the all clear was issued. It wasn’t the first time something like this happened, nor will it be the last.
Take a look at the above picture. That’s a graphic representation of all of the flotsam and jetsam from the entire planet’s space industries. First, blame it on the United States and Russia. Then, blame it on any nation that dared test the limits of gravity. Pretty soon, anything as minuscule as a paint fleck to a section of a satellite remained at various levels of orbit, zooming around at 175,000 mph/281,640 km/h. Occasionally bits fall to earth, succumbing to gravity and burning up harmlessly as they enter the atmosphere.
NASA and the Department of Defense keep an excellent log of anything larger than a softball and if any debris comes close enough to the ISS, both Houston and Moscow work together to plan a strategy to keep the inhabitants safe. If a threat is deemed plausible, all are instructed to go into the ISS’s lifeboats – the Soyuz capsules – in case a quick getaway is necessary.
But this poses a larger problem: what’s being done to clean up the mess? Simply ask this question to Google and you’ll get numerous responses on various sites. Space.com has an article listing 7 Wild Ways. Popular Mechanics has its own solutions.Here’s what Mental Floss has to say.
The truth is, nothing’s being done…yet. Sure, the idea’s been kicked around, maybe even a few plans surfaced. It seems getting there and back takes priority over all the mess it takes to accomplish our goals. It’s a junkyard, for sure, and like the neighbor who refuses to let go of all the cars (and their subsequent parts) owned over the past 30 years, it’s unsightly, only getting worse, and isn’t going away.
Of course, there’s been a multitude of sci-fi inspiration drawn from this. Take, for example, the recent movie “Gravity,” wherein Sandra Bullock’s character Ryan Stone finds herself floating in space untethered thanks to a run-in with remains. David Brin’s novel, “Existence” tells the story of an alien artifact tucked among the pieces of debris.
Sadly, this is a commentary on how the inhabitants of this planet choose to deal with exploration and conquering the impossible. Mt. Everest is defiled by the remains of extreme tourism. Roman ruins scattered about their former empire faced years of abuse from casual visitors seeking an up-close inspection.
SpaceX, to its credit, is developing multistage rockets that return to earth to be used in future missions. It’s facing challenges with no successes yet, but it’s not giving up and it’s getting closer with each try. They do seem to be one exception, though.
Until we learn that exploration often results in exploitation and near-irreversable damage, perhaps any further missions might benefit from following SpaceX’s lead. If not, there won’t be any room up there to put a satellite nor will be be safe to remain in any space station.
I’ve been back for a week, yet I’m struggling to figure out what to write in this blog. I’ve so much to say about Pluto, the near miss up in the ISS and Ant-Man, but my thoughts keep drifting back to my recent vacation. So why not blog about that? It was, after all, the last subject of my blog.
Andrew and I took a trip that amounted to 4000+ miles/6437+ kilometers, driving through New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, all in 15 days. For those of you who are unfamiliar with such places, check it out on a map. Looks doable, right? That’s what we said. And sure, it is. However, possibilities always come with caveats and, in our case, ambition met with reality. Our car ate up the miles and burned through its recent oil change all in one journey, but it didn’t complain once.
I have to tell you, it was an AMAZING adventure that I hope to repeat…just not all at once. Be that as it may…
We started out one early morning and drove clear up to Maine in one shot – nine hours – and settled in Freeport, Maine, home of L.L. Bean and their grammatically incorrect sign, unless you really don’t want people kissing outside your store:
It’s a charming town, so we stayed overnight, shopped a bit at the 24-hour L.L. Bean, then continued on the next morning through the vast expanse that is Maine. Traveling along State Highway 9, we discovered its beauty – and its remoteness. Feeling hungry and needing a pit stop, there wasn’t a single place to pull over and eat. Sure, there were a few convenience stores with take-out menus, but no toilets. Luckily, we found a place just when our bladders and stomachs nearly gave up hope. About an hour and a half later we arrived at Lubec, where we crossed into Canada.
Up until relatively recently, Americans and Canadians had to show only a driver’s license to cross the border. Now, we need passports or an enhanced license, which contains much of the same information one has on its driver’s license embedded in it. But that doesn’t stop anyone from enjoying each other’s nation’s treasures.
Our goal was Campobello Island, where Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt had a summer cottage (a term I’ll use loosely) and also the location where he caught crippling polio that prevented him from walking for the rest of his life…but didn’t stop him from becoming the greatest American president ever.
From there, we took a tiny ferry across to Deer Island, and because the tide wasn’t going the right way, we missed the world’s largest natural whirlpool – looks like a sink draining. Another ferry put us into St. John, NB, and quite possibly the worst motel room we’ve ever had, ever. But it was only for one night and the drive to it was quite beautiful – saw a moose! – and then it was up to Moncton.
We eventually wound up at Confederation Bridge, a bridge so long it took three songs playing on the radio to keep us entertained while we crossed. It was totally cool, though. PEI is one of these magical places that you trip upon at some point in your life and swear you’re coming back. Lucy Maud Montgomery felt sufficiently inspired to write “Ann of Green Gables,” and we were lucky enough to stay across the street from the home that inspired her to write said book.
The next day, we rode horses on some Martian-red sand and hopped a ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia, just in time to celebrate Canada Day.
Tides are insaaaaaane! Check out the below photo:
Now this is a low tide! Andrew’s in the lower right hand corner, crouching as he snaps a photo. That’ll give you some perspective on how empty the beach becomes after the water ebbs.
After Nova Scotia we drove north and headed to Newfoundland. We took the 8-hour ferry to Port-aux-Basques, giving me ample time to finish “The Caves of Steel” by Isaac Asimov, nap, eat and take artful selfies.
Hey, we were bored…
Newfoundland’s AMAZING. Nothing short of. However, take my advice – DO NOT plan to drive from Port-aux-Basques to St. John’s in one day. It’s something like 570 miles/913 km/12 hours in one go. Andrew and I are idiots. We said f*** it, let’s go. So we did. Along the way, we saw this:
…which led to this:
Yes, he boldly went where many moose dare to go – in the middle of the highway – and I was driving, but luckily he chose to run back into the woods and not total our car, but not before Andrew took his incriminating photo.
Because Newfoundland is packed with pristine beauty, we stopped frequently. Even took the time to nip into Terra Nova Provincial Park.
Finally, we came to St. John’s, saddle sore but relieved. Loved that city the moment I stepped into it, not because it was the end of the road (finally), but because it’s a happening town all lit up like an Easter basket under a Christmas tree.
However, we had a mission: icebergs. We were not disappointed.
There are no words to describe that iceberg that accurately conveys its size or majesty. That’s the ice field an iceberg leaves behind – just as dangerous as the iceberg itself. Later on our tour, Andrew and I were screeched – listened to a Newfie recite the history of the province, taught us a saying in Newfie tongue, we had to repeat said (incomprehensible) phrase, kiss a frozen cod and take a shot of rum. Afterwards, we received a certificate declaring us Screeched and honorary Newfoundlanders.
Alas, we turned around and headed back towards the ferry (another 13-hour drive) and over to Nova Scotia once more to enjoy Bras d’Or Lake and a coastal assortment of lighthouses, then a fun-filled evening in Halifax, only to have lunch in Moncton once again and depart Canada over a very friendly crossing at St. Stephen, New Brunswick to Calais, Maine. In fact, both towns are so close you see license plates from both New Brunswick and Maine in each town’s streets.
A quick stop in Bar Harbor, Maine and Sturbridge, Massachusetts over the next two days ended with our arrival at home.
It’s that time of year, in these parts of the world, at least, that one rises off of one’s bottom and seeks adventure, or a break from the routine, at least. This New York State person is headed out, way out, to the above pictured place. Can you guess where that might be?
Gas is relatively cheap now. Put that together with the American love of cars. The result? Pack it to the gills and set off somewhere that you’ve never been before. See, the advantage of a road trip is that you don’t have to juggle weights in suitcases to shove them in a 747’s cargo hold. You have the absolute freedom to take every single pair of pants you own, twenty pairs of shoes, all your T-shirts, most of your sweaters and about eighty percent of your socks and underwear. So what if the trunk won’t close – there’s no weight restriction!
Andrew and I decided we’d head off to Atlantic Canada: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. I’ve been to Canada a bunch of times, just not there. Andrew’s never set foot in the country. I happen to think it’s a fine place worth visiting over and over again. It is, after all, right next door.
As a kid, I dreamed of going to Nova Scotia after seeing such dramatic photos of the Bay of Fundy in a National Geographic magazine. Having grown up on the New Jersey shore, the Atlantic there seemed pretty tame, only eating up a relatively small chunk of the beach at high tide. Here, the beach either vanished entirely or the ocean disappeared. Wow! Years later, after Andrew and I married, he showed me the dramatic tides in Cornwall, England, where he’s from. That was pretty cool, but my curiosity about the Bay of Fundy never abated.
I trolled the Internet looking for cool places to visit and pretty soon, the itinerary filled up with New Brunswick – we’re crossing in Maine and I want to see Campobello Island (where President Roosevelt contracted polio and left him crippled). Then up to Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland added spots in our must-see list. Tell you what, though, this website for Newfoundland won me over. It’s not like I didn’t want to see it, this quirky website made it impossible not to.
No trip is complete without a reading list. It’s going to be time for me to catch up on my classic sci-fi and I’m bringing along a selection of Asimov, Bradbury and one or two others to read, mostly on that 8-hour ferry ride between New Sydney, NS and Newfoundland. Andrew’s reading “Existence” by David Brin and “The Martian” by Andy Weir. I fully intend to abscond with both at some point.
But for now, as we set out on our epic adventure, I might just stare out the window and enjoy the sites on our own fair planet. Or look up and see my favorite constellations in different places. Cross fingers, there could be an aurora – sunspot activity’s been kicking up. I’m hoping to find enough wi-fi sites to do a few postings. And who knows? Maybe I’ll see one of those icebergs drifting by.
Writing is hard, let’s face it. Inspiration is short, patience nonexistent. And there you are, sitting in front of your computer, in absolute agony, trying to conjure up an image of a beast that’s the favorite companion of the King of Darcoia, that planet just to the left of Asysamia, right out there in the Booidad Triad. He’s been looking for a pet since his wife left him and his kids pretty much blew him off. What more can a person need than unconditional love from a favored snuggleupicus? Or your favorite little mumuchka?
On Huffington Post this week, an article regarding an adorable little creature appeared. She seemed fresh from another planet, ready and willing to charm anyone with her cute face and eyes like those of the Greys/Grays. Was she the product of an experiment, perhaps some intergalactic cross-breeding? Sure seems it, eh? This is exactly the sort of creature you’d see in a parody of space films OR a serious new race of aliens bearing the dual purpose of charming the natives to deceive them cruelly.
Oh yes, another creature that defies explanation – the tardigrade. It’s actually microscopic, but from the looks of it, a tardigrade most certainly bears the features of an alien. It’s so puffy and wrinkly, yet it’s got that cog-like snout – does it adjust the puff/wrinkle setting somehow?
The Blobfish almost reminds me of the cartoon character Ziggy, drawn by Tom Wilson. Got to admit, there’s a VERY strong resemblance. However, before you draw conclusions, what you see is the result of bringing a deep water fish up to the surface, where the pressure is much different. Here’s an artist’s drawing of what a blobfish really looks like deep below the ocean’s surface:
Blobfish hold the distinction of being internet celebrities and rate many YouTube shorts. Here’s a good one that offers not only a little informational tidbit but music inspired by it:
Science calls this Grimpoteuthis, but it’s more popularly known as the Dumbo Octopus. I say it’s one of those creatures where you give it a squeeze and its little snout pops out. Or, one plops it on top of one’s cubicle wall and invites people to ask silly questions about it. They’re actually very graceful swimmers and resemble a sort-of elephant when full grown; the above is a baby.
There’s been a lot of talk about black holes lately and it seems our fascination with them never quits. Even the term ‘black hole’ joined our lexicon long ago (“Can’t figure out what I did with my keys; it’s like they fell into a black hole or something” – c’mon, admit it, you’ve generated versions of this phrase, haven’t you?).
So, strolling around the web, I’d thought I’d make an informal list of things Black Hole:
1. Wired Magazine’s blog entry by Geek Dad, Black Hole Fun – Wired’s Guide to What Sucks – “10 Sci-Fi Movies we’d like to throw in a Black Hole.” The list starts with Disney’s “The Black Hole” movie and goes down from there. I don’t necessarily agree with his choice of the Matrix sequels (true, they were’t as strong as the original, but they had moments) or “Star Trek V” (although it isn’t the best entry in the field, it’s not that bad.), but I completely agree with his assessment of the others. I happened to watch “Lost in Space” movie the other night, mainly because there wasn’t anything else on and I didn’t feel like doing anything else, and MAN, I gotta tell ya, it sucked. I mean, who can honestly grasp the concept/irony of Matt Le Blanc playing a space jockey?
2. Here’s a University in Colorado’s list, current to 2006, of a lot of Black Hole fiction in paper and film. It’s really good. Students get 2% extra credit for finding more sources to add to the list.
3. Just in case you were curious, here’s Disney’s “The Black Hole” film.
4. Noisey – Music by VICE – blogged about Weezer’s lost science fiction rock opera, “Songs from the Black Hole.” I used to be a huge fan of Weezer, until they stopped putting out good music a while ago. Shame.
5. You can get a 2006 forgettable version of “The Black Hole” on Amazon for $1.31. US currency, that is. Apparently, it seems there’s one available for a penny, but it’s a used version.
6. Here’s Wendy Merrill’s advice on the black hole of bad follow up.
10. And, of course, no list would be complete without UFOs and black holes. Here’s an article from the website Open Minds that discusses an Oregon witness says a UFO emitted a black hole sort of energy.
In the New York Times, I read and watched a near tear-jerker of a video from their Robotica series. In this episode, the video tells the story of Beatrice Lipp, a young child who’s suffering from a chronic disease. She’s had one too many visits to the pediatric hospital and is both frightened and stressed. She hates going and misses her life at school and with her friends. To ease this situation, a special friend is brought in to rescue her from the tedium she faces.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology teamed up with Boston Children’s hospital to develop Huggable, a robotic bear that’s absolutely adorable. She interacts with Beatrice and the effect she has is nothing short of amazing. This poor kid transformed from sad to so cheerful interacting with Huggable. Beatrice reaches out to touch the bear, smiles and laughs as Huggable seems to respond to her questions and conversation. Nearby, a programmer keeps watch on the action of both the bear and child and acts as a cyber puppeteer, moving the arms, legs and head of Huggable, even controlling eye blinks.
It’s really a positive step forward in the world of robotics and a lovely video to watch.
The top video is a description of the project from MIT, and although academic, is nonetheless interesting to watch. Please enjoy both.
Once again, my sister Gwen and I found ourselves at Book Expo America, located at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City. If you have anything to do with books – read, write, sell, publish, lend, stack or otherwise handle, this is it, folks, an action-packed book and publishing extravaganza, meant to pull the forces of the written word in every available direction. It’s not for the faint of heart or feigning writers, either. If you’re serious, you’re here. No argument. Every May this trade show and convention takes place, attracting literally anyone and everyone who has a connection to the written word. If you think I’m kidding, just click here to see who showed up. Wheeler-dealers haggle over contracts, agents meet editors to sell the next big thing, authors sign books and everyone checks out the free swag.
Gwen and I went to meet up with our agent, Marisa Corvisiero, but also to wander the aisles in search of our genres (Gwen – Women’s Fiction, me – Sci-Fi). Even more, though, are the trends that surface during these events. China, holding the Guest of Honor position, displayed every single genre from children’s to serious modern literature. In the back of the floor, many digital publishing and other services commanded a large swath of space. It seems as if writing the actual story is only a tiny portion of what digital services offers. It’s getting the word out about everything surrounding that book that counts here. All business regarding the writer’s craft, folks!
Of course, there’s always room for a bit of fun, natch.
Our friend Sam Bremekamp, a Young Adult agent and writer, couldn’t make it this year, so we photobombed her way in…sort of…
I made a couple of friends, too.
And, of course, visited the latest in Sci-Fi. I tweeted a few of these, but for some reason my Twitter app shamefully didn’t recognize the term “sci-fi” and instead put either “sci-on” or “sci-it.” Kind of odd, but then again, so is the genre, so I suppose it’s okay.
We ran into a few acquaintances during our travels…
…and we couldn’t quite determine what the message was here, other than magenta and black is a must-have color for a young woman.
As we glanced around the swirl of activity throughout the ginormous floor, gazing at whole booths devoted to famous writers, outsized signs blasting their names while long lines queued up to obtain autographs from hot bestselling authors (books were free, too!), the thought crossed both of our minds: that’ll be us, one day.
Not “some day…” as in waxing wistful.
ONE DAY…as a very achievable goal.
So keep your eyes open, folks! We’re coming to a bookshelf near you.
Wow. I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I’ve actually written anything. Just goes to show you how quickly time flies when you aren’t paying any attention to it…and maybe should.
Truth is, I’ve been doing a lot of writing on my second novel and I got stuck in a loop – bad one. Knew what I wanted to write, but somehow, the words just refused to form. I have a wide screen display hooked up to my laptop. On the left is the outline and on the right is the actual first draft. The whole idea about leaving the outline up on the screen is to refer to it. And boy, did I ever. And still, nothing refused to come. Inspiration took a vacation, leaving me with no indication of blossoming imagination leading to elation.
Okay, I’ll knock off the rhymes. See? It’s wasting time, but fun. How many words can you come up with that flow well with “inspiration,” eh?
I wondered what could I possibly be missing? Over and over I read my outline and it seemed great. Nice plot development, character growth, trail of crumbs leading on the reader, no saggy middle, a great ending and bridge to the third novel in the four-novel series. And yet, my brain stuck like an ancient bug in amber.
So I did what any self-respecting writer would do: eat chocolate. That took about 30 seconds. Then I straightened up my desk. Two, three minutes. Got a cup of tea, pet the cat, spoke to several members of my household, went through my email, stared out the window. Still no good. Brain…dead.
All right, all right, I said to myself, what’s the problem. Part of it is, I’m a research whore. I can’t stop myself. If I need to find out how pins are made, often I’ll go back as far as the mine where the ore was extracted to create said pin. Will it help the plot to dig so deeply into whatever I need? Probably not, but one can never be too sure. I have a comprehensive notebook filled with details of all sorts. There’s a manila file chock-filled with info printed out. Articles saved on line. Sites bookmarked. All this so I make sure my characters speak with authority, even if they’re in the future and all this research will be ancient history.
Trouble is, none of this helped me stick a few sentences together and I was no further along in my writing.
ARGH!
Usually my husband’s good to bounce around ideas. We had a very good, very long chat about plot devices that might work. Lots of them had real potential. Hammering them out in my head, they all sounded better than great. But then, facing that blank screen?
ARGH!
“You know what,” my sister Gwen said, “what you mentioned, the plot devices that you and Andrew came up with, that is, are good. Really are. But they’re separate pieces. You need that simple elixir that’s going to drag the whole plot along.” Thing is, I thought I had that aspect hammered and nailed down tight. In a way, I did, but not fleshed out enough to make the whole series sing.
And then the helpful hint came that changed everything: Dorothy.
You know, as in “The Wizard of Oz.”
What was that one thing Dorothy wanted most of all, so much that she was willing to drag a cast of weirdos, witches, a wayward wizard and commit murder twice?
She wanted to go home.
That’s it. That simple.
Apply one good think to my lead character and…ah HA! Out it came, the shining star, the exploding microwave…my elixir.
And what a breakthrough! Suddenly, my mind won’t shut off. The words pour out of my fingers as they glide across the keyboard. All I do now, it seems, is come up with exactly what I want to say and get it out. No more stuck, no dead imagination, I’m going all guns blazing and seem to be making up for lost time.
Now, please excuse me while I get back to writing…
Yes, I know it’s a bit hazy, but look! There’s books behind me, a sure sign of a literary radio program. And if any of you have the inclination, you can follow this link to the actual show: http://livestream.com/accounts/3269343/events/4004757. It’s an archive of the webcast. At the very least, you get to see what I look like, or part of me, anyway, since my head was tilted towards our host. Hey, you get a fabulous view of my hair. Occasionally, my profile pops out, and there’s a bit where my entire face is visible.
It was quite an honor to be asked to participate in “Authors in the Round,” hosted by Karen Kenney Smith of Three Worlds Press. Gwen Jones (my sister), Allison Merritt and me were the featured speakers on this program. Gwen writes Women’s Fiction, Allison writes historical/paranormal/fantasy romances and I write science fiction (of course!). It was a lovely evening at this wonderful place named Murray Grove Retreat and Renewal Center in Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey, about a stone’s throw from the Atlantic Ocean.
Karen led us three writers through the writing process, including what made us sit down in front of a computer, let loose our imaginations and string words together like a pearl necklace. What’s weird for me is I never gave much thought to where all my ideas come from and how I managed to squeeze them out into coherent sentences. Talk about putting oneself out there: I even had to read some of the stuff I wrote. I might not be the best person to do that, but I sure had fun acting out one of my main characters. You can hear me talk about my work somewhere in the first 45 minutes, and again towards the very end. Gwen also reads from her work, too – from “Wanted: Wife” and a slam fiction piece for which she wrote. Allison speaks about her latest work, a Viking romance, although, unfortunately, I forgot the title, but it’s on the video.
Take note, fellow bloggers: I mentioned a few of you. I’ve selected a few followers with whom I’ve had some dialogue over writing and such. Wonder who you might be? Well, you can either go to 1:16:00 (approximate) on the link and hear my actual voice speak your names, or you can cheat and let me tell you: Hugh’s News and Views, D.R. Sylvester/Writes and Responsibilities, One Lazy Robot/AntVincino and The Editor’s Journal (I’m sorry I misspoke; I said “The Ladies Journal” instead). I wish I had time to mention all of my followers, for whom I’m very grateful!
So sit back, relax, watch the show and let me know what you think!
Moon, Stars and Beyond 