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The Good and the Bad of Attending Uni
2008-02-27 23:14:00
Well, this has been an interesting time these last few months. I've begun university level coursework at University of California, Santa Cruz, and it is proving to be a much different experience than I thought. There are things that really annoy me, misconceptions, etc. that I feel should be addressed for anyone out there thinking of attending a university level college.Misconceptions:Private schools make the claim that at public universities, like my school for example (and yes, there was actually a private school that specifically targeted my school for this), you will never be able to talk to the professors, your classes will be enormous and only be lectures, etc. This is really somewhat of a lie. I have only taken one course that had more than 80 people in it, and that was a class that EVERYONE has to take (no matter the major, it's a requirement). It's understandable that that course would be full. While the class was only lecture, with some time for discussion, the se...
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(Almost) Required Essentials For Writers
2008-02-27 07:47:00
These might seem like no-brainers, but you'd be surprised how many people don't have or do something of these things. I've learned the hard way, which is probably not the best way. Regardless, there are things that writers really should have, whether it be a product or a feature turned on in a program, or whatever. So, the following list is a bunch of stuff you should be doing. Some of them do overlap, but they are options for you to think about:Extra ComputerIf you have two computers, keep a copy of all your writing on each one. This gives you that lovely buffer.MS Word Auto-saveTurn on your auto-save to every minute. For slower computers this can be a problem, but what happens when you've just written 500 words and your computer suddenly shuts off? Well, sometimes the recovery feature doesn't get those words, and that auto-save won't have them either because it wouldn't have been on. I lost 350 words the other week. They were awesome words. I turned MS Word's aut...
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Fantasy Maps: Are They Important?
2008-02-26 05:00:00
I was doing my usual browsing and blog checking when I came on to this post from The Deckled Edge, which led me to this forum discussion, this post by Joe Abercrombie, and this post over at Neth Space. I guess it never occurred to me that the concept of map-making was such a big issue out there. As a fantasy reader, a 'writer' if you will, I do get a certain sense of joy from maps, but I've never held it against a book for not having a map, or against the author for that matter. So what is this big deal about maps? I think there are some serious issues with having maps, even though I do like them. Addressing the bad things first is probably the best way to approach this, giving me ample time to talk about the good things at the tale end. What are the bad things? First, I think there is this stigma with maps that if you make one, as I have, you have to stick with it so long as it is available to the prying eyes of readers. I learned this very lesson the hard way when I r...
More About: Fantasy , Maps

Controlling the Weather: Stupidity in a Pretty Box
2008-02-24 01:01:00
(Edit: Helps if I spell "controlling" correctly)A relatively recent article over at io9 presented the reality that we are already fiddling with the weather, which seems to me to be somewhat of a stupid thing to do. That's right, we're actually messing around with the natural order of the Earth. Now, setting aside that we've already pretty much messed with how things work on this planet as it is, there is a serious issue with screwing around with something as strong and destructive as the weather.The story has it that Chinese meteorologists can actually 'seed' the clouds, or make them drop their payload of lovely, beautiful, useful rain at another location, rather on where they might drop them, wherever that may be. The reason for the article is that China wants the meteorologists to step it up a notch and fiddle with heavier rains to make sure the Olympics are rain free.I see lots of issues with this not because I think it's somewhat environmentally immoral to play around ...
More About: Weather , Stupidity , Pretty

Podcasts For Writers: A Treasure Trove (Part One)
2008-02-23 06:26:00
One of the most fascinating things about the Internet is that it has become a vast compendium of knowledge for just about everything imaginable. For writers it is both a magical device and a curse. On the one hand a writer can find anything he or she needs (of course, when I say writer I mean anyone who thinks of themselves as a writer), but on the other hand it can become a distraction. While Google is certainly the most accurate and valuable search engine ever created, it isn't perfect and sometimes it can take a while to find things.And then, sometimes the Internet is a distraction that makes you happy. In come podcasts, one of the most interesting Internet creations I've come across aside from the slue of random flash games that seem to have absolutely no point other than to draw your attention for hours upon hours. There are a lot of podcasts out there, and like the Internet there are probably podcasts for just about everything. I listen to a lot of writing podcasts, or...
More About: Podcasts , Writers , Part , Treasure

The Signal: More Clips For You
2008-02-22 06:30:00
I just received another email about more clips from the new movie The Signal . Check them out:This first video has some interview material in it, which is really rather interesting I think.This next clip is directly from the film. I'm not sure where it takes place, since I haven't seen it yet, but it gives you some idea what is going on.There you go! Enjoy!(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!)
More About: Clips , The Signal

And She Flaps Her Wings Like Annoyance
2008-02-21 17:48:00
The evil School Faerie decided she wanted to be quite the little pest today. I just saw an email for my British Canon class saying that my TA wants everyone to have a full, six-page first draft of our final essays for the course by tomorrow for class (11:00 AM). I find that rather annoying. The email was sent on the 17th, but it still seems rather ridiculous for me to write a rough draft. I understand that for some people rough drafts (for essays) is really helpful. It's not for me. It never has been. That's not to say I'm smarter than other people, it just means I use a different process. I don't write good essays when I think ahead. And to be honest, when I write this essay and do this draft, I'll likely not touch it again until the day before the real essay is due. I don't like doing drafts. It forces me to think too far ahead of time and I like the pressure of having to churn out an essay in 48 hours rather than 336 (or 2 weeks).So the overall result of having t...
More About: Wings , Annoyance

Studying Science Fiction Politics: Perhaps
2008-02-20 18:04:00
I'm considering doing an independent study course next quarter. My reasoning is this: I already have to take one course that is required that I really don't care about and since the number of modern literature courses offered (seeing how I'm a modern lit major) are rather crappy, I don't want to have to take three courses that I hate. So I've resolved to considering independent study as an option to do something interesting.    I don't want to discuss race because, quite frankly, I'm not that interested in any subject of race within science fiction beyond tropes of racism and the data I'm collecting for the project I'm working on for this blog (which serves no academic purpose other than to educate myself and anyone else interested on what minority categories look like in the spectrum of science fiction and fantasy). My interest, I think, is in politics.    Now, when I say politics I don't mean in the same sense of the types of p...
More About: Science , Politics , Fiction , Science Fiction , Studying

Chapter Three: Of the Lives of Loe
2008-02-19 01:26:00
The Luu’tre had struck ground. Sort of. She had hit something hard and unmoving, that much was clear, but when James and the others came out into the tempest they found the ship held at bay by something rocky, porous, and the color of the sun at sunset over thin mustache clouds. Laura knew then what they had struck: a coral reef. Captain Norp cursed and fluttered about the deck, running one way and another, commanding and demanding to pull lines one way and then the next. Everyone else had already accepted that no wind would pull the Luu’tre from the great mass beneath them. They needed the tides. Laura felt alone and crowded all at once. There was so much she didn’t understand about this world. Why did the great current in the Straight of Loe run so swiftly? Why did it run all the way down the coast of Traea? And most of all, why did this world exist in the first place? James had shown her his magical dictionary, humorously called How Not To Be a Barbarian, Fifteen...
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Quota Reached: Writing Going Well
2008-02-18 02:41:00
Okay, so you might not give a flying fig about this, but so be it. I reached my quota today, and yesterday too (mostly, I generally don't count when I'm a few words under) and both times have been in this new story I'm writing currently entitled "The Life of Jordan". I imagine the name will change. I'm writing it for Writers of the Future since I have until the 31st of March to get this bad boy written. It's going to be on the longer side I think, as in right around the 12,000-word mark. This time it's SF, while the last time I submitted it was fantasy. Not sure why I'm doing SF this time, but I like the general idea of this story.The interesting thing is that while writing this I've had a lot of doubts. Usually I start writing something and I love the story 100% (even the writing) and then as I get closer to the end I start to have doubts. This is turning out to be the opposite. I like the idea of the story, but I'm not sure i like how I'm writing it. It is grow...
More About: Writing

Book Review Up: The 13th Reality and Steps Through the Mist
2008-02-17 04:27:00
I have two new reviews up!One is for The 13th Reality by James Dashner.The other is for Steps Through the Mist by Zoran Zivkovic.Check them out!(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!)
More About: Book Review , Review , Book

Where Do Your Characters Live?
2008-02-16 04:42:00
Theophrast.us had this cool post a while back with cool images of where he lived and where one of his characters lived. So, I thought I'd do the same thing for WISB!Possibly the most interesting thing about doing this post is that the little town where James and Laura are originally from doesn't actually exist. In fact, it's placed in an area where no town ever was, but next to a river that does exist and which shows up in the book by name. The little town of Woodton is actually in Montana. There are two images I created using Google for this.The first is a wide shot showing where I currently live and where Woodton would be in comparison (click for bigger picture):The next last picture is a closeup shot of where Woodton actually would be if, by some stroke of luck, the little town actually existed:It was actually a lot of fun coming up with this last image. I actually had to find the river on Google that is mentioned in WISB (Stillwater R.), and then I had to trace that rive...
More About: Live , Characters

Reviewers: Help Me Help Us All
2008-02-15 22:12:00
(Note: Please keep an eye on this as it will change from time to time)(Edit: I'm looking for books printed late 2007 or at any point in 2008)(Edit--Disclaimer: This data is not being used for a thesis, book, or anything of that sort. It's public domain. I'm not selling it or profiting in any way except by gaining knowledge, which will be presented in this blog. I will not accept money and you don't have to put your name on it if you don't want to.)Okay, so the title is a little corny, but it fits in a way. What I'm asking from all of you reviewers out there is to help me with a project for the year: determining social/religious/ethnic biases in SF and F. Edit: It came to my intention that it seems as if I'm implying that SF and F intentionally create these biases, and that is NOT what I'm intended this to mean at all. The bias I am talking about is simply a lack of material dealing with social/religious/ethnic/gender issues. This in no way means that I suggest SF...

So Sue Me
2008-02-14 21:58:00
Okay, so I set some standards on myself earlier and while I would like maintain those goals I think there is something somewhat unrealistic about them. So I think I'm going to bend the rules a little bit here to add in variables that I really can't ignore. This is in part because I'm so far behind and I doubt I'll ever catch up at this point. Yes, I'm still writing, but, well, let me explain.So I had a midterm on Monday, I had a lot of reading to do for Tuesday and for today, and further reading for Wednesday, all of which was put off in preparation for the midterm. What does this mean? This means that there really isn't a logical way I can sit here and flatly say that I can maintain a 2,000-words-a-day regimen when there are days within the school year that I can't even set aside time for to write. In fact, it's somewhat disappointing on myself when I can't achieve the goals I set because school has jumped in the way. School, unfortunately, does come first in a lot ...

WOTF: Honorable Mention!
2008-02-13 07:55:00
Guess what? Go here and look for the name "Shaun Duke". You know who that is? Think on it just a moment..................That's me! I'm an honorable mention in the Writers of the Future Contest (1st Quarter)! I received a message on my cell about it, called them back and was told and I'm super excited! This is great news! Apparently I have talent!*dances*On a side note, congrats to everyone else who has been announced as an honorable mention!(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!)P.S.: I celebrated with ice cream. It's kind of a big deal to me, and things that are big deals tend to require ice cream to calm the soul.

The Signal: New SF/Horror Flick
2008-02-12 19:27:00
...w/ awesome written all over it.I was recently contacted by Mr. McGraime of Magnolia Pictures about this film. I've heard about it before, but only briefly. Needless to say I am actually looking forward to this film and hopefully these trailers and the like will get you interested too. You can check out the webpage for The Signal here. There is also a photogallery here. It’s New Year’s Eve in the city of Terminus and chaos is this year’s resolution. All forms of communication have been jammed by an enigmatic signal that preys on the fears and desires of everyone in the city. Told in three parts from three unique perspectives by three visionary directors, The Signal is a horrific journey towards discovering that the most brutal monster might actually be within all of us. First is the regular trailer.Next is the exclusive violent trailer (warning, has some language)And lastly is an actual sneak peak preview into the movie (i.e. a scene from the flick itself): That being ...
More About: Horror , Flick

SF/F Links: February Roundup Part One
2008-02-12 07:41:00
Lots and lots of links heading your way. This has been a busy last couple weeks for sure. I've had essays up the you know where and a midterm, which I pray that I did good on. In any case, I've found lots of interesting things to share and that's exactly what intend to do: share. So enjoy!First and most important, however, is that there are actually some writers in serious need of financial assistance. Now, I'm broke due to school, but I do understand that writers simply don't make a lot of money in the first place and sometimes bad things happen they can't account for. You can find all the information about the following two writers and their predicament, plus how you can help (i.e. where to send money to), at this link to Bibliophile Stalker.James Reasoner recently lost his house and EVERYTHING due to a wild fire caused by some idiot tossing a cigarette out a car window. They've lost everything and need everything.Also Caitlin R. Kiernan, another writer, has come in...
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SoD Chapter Two: Of the Herded Man
2008-02-10 05:50:00
Falling in an abyss of fire and rage, rendering all helpless. There the world was a torrent of nothing and everything at the same time. Minds were melded and tormented by an eye blazing from out of the nothing in search of whoever might be traversing the world of magic. Traveling from beyond the lands of the one called Zagra—the one who walks in the shadow of the dead. In that instant all things became a blur, all things fell away, and great strikes of lightning banged, thunderously slashing at the mind of one who knew nothing of the vile torrents of evil that watched these passageways. Only a name could be heard in the distant hum of lights and pain. Zagra.* * *The man woke to the stench of semi-rotted teeth and peanuts. His eyes wouldn’t open just yet and his head throbbed violently, endlessly, as if his heart were beating against his brain. He didn’t stand or move, because he knew the effort would rage complaints into his mind. Images raced through his memory. Fire...
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Book Review: Darkness of the God by Amber Hayward
2008-02-10 02:15:00
Just thought I'd let you all know I have a review of Darkness of the God by Amber Hayward here. Check it out!(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!)
More About: Book Review , Review , Book

Your Limbs Are Belong to Us: SF's Future
2008-02-08 05:27:00
Long long ago in a place somewhat similar to today, with technology not quite like it is now, but with minds exploring the unimaginable bounds of space, human intelligence, and technology itself, someone came up with the brilliant idea of 'robotic' prosthetic limbs. Probably the iconic example is Luke Skywalker, who loses his hand in a brilliantly dark and emotionally complex scene with his would-be father slash evil right hand of the Emperor. We remember the end of Empire Strikes Back as Lando Calrissian and Chewie prepare to shoot off into a galactic spacescape to save Han Solo that our hero Luke Skywalker has been given a new hand filled with mechanical joints and gizmos and feeling. Literally a replacement for his former hand that is just about as good as the last, or maybe better.Well that 'future' is becoming a reality. Futurismic brought an interesting article to me through their RSS feed that talks about a prosthetic limb that can sense touch and heat. Nothing there...
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Progress Report
2008-02-06 23:48:00
I finished my story on Mars, but now have to go through the process of editing. The problem is I went 204 words over the maximum wordcount for the contest, so I have to quite a bit I think. It's going to be a tough time of editing. I'll figure it out though, I'm sure. At least the story is written.P.S.: I have no idea what the typo for 'trip' was...(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!)
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Playing Catchup
2008-02-04 23:43:00
The interesting thing about making goals for yourself is that you sometimes make goals right around the same time you have other stuff to do. Hold one, this isn't one of those "Wah, I can't write cause I have better things to do" complaints. This is the "I set up writing and reading goals during a time when I had two essays to write" complaint. However, the good news is that I should be able to catch up easily enough. I'm planning to finish up the book I was supposed to finish this weekend by tomorrow night. As for the writing...You can see I'm 3,300 words behind. I intentionally wrote over my allotted 2,000 words today to start dwindling that amount. I might write more tomorrow. I started a new short story for the Eaten Conference Short Story Contest. I churned out 2,400 words today and I plan to get another 3,000 tomorrow, time permitting. I expect the story to fall around 5,500 words, which is good because I'm somewhat limited by a 6,000 maximum word count. The st...

Hubble and the Space Program
2008-02-04 02:56:00
I was reading this article at Universe Today and felt it necessary to comment on the state of the space program in this country. I have concerns, you see, and they are legit concerns. Or so I think.The article talks about the repairs that will be done on Hubble in a way that sounds as if the astronauts have better things to do. I'll admit that they probably do, but it's also not Hubble's fault that they have other crap to do. Needless to say, Hubble is getting an upgrade and will be 90 times more sensitive and be capable of picking up over 900 galaxies as its field of vision is being increased. Also, its lifespan is being extended to 2013, with a scheduled decommission date in 2020 (which is part of what I want to discuss). Firstly, I'm glad to hear that they'll be fixing this amazing satellite. It apparently suffered a power failure in January of last year and is in need of some fixing. Thanks to NASA for fitting it into their schedule.Here is my concern, though. What...
More About: Space , Program , Space program

Book Review Up: The Awakened Mage
2008-02-03 04:43:00
You can find my review of The Awakened Mage by Karen Miller here! Check it out!(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!)
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Patriots vs. Giants
2008-02-03 01:58:00
The big game is tomorrow. I know some of you don't care, but I found this article about rumors that the Patriots spied on the Rams in 2002. I find it rather humorous that the spokesman has the audacity to tell us as a fact that the Patriots didn't cheat then when they were clearly caught cheating during this season and were fined tremendously for it. Honestly, whether or not they are telling the truth, I don't believe them. Why? Because they tried to cheat this year doing almost the exact same thing as they are being accused of doing in 2002. Go figure.(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!)
More About: Giants

SF/F Links: January 2008 Roundup
2008-02-02 18:46:00
This is what happens when you have a lot of blogs to watch and a lot of time on your hands to click the stumble button: you find a lot of interesting new articles! So here they are:Wil McCarthy's Science Wiktion: an experimental collaborative writing project. Essentially he has become busy with a nanotech company and has decided to give up some of his works to anyone wanting to write them. There's more on the site, but it's an interesting prospect.James Wharris writes about what SF has to do to survive. "For science fiction to remain vital it must stay above the event horizon or be pulled down into the gravitation hole of fantasy."An online open-source publishing model for online magazines.Not sure if I linked this already, but check out these amazing steampunk-esque creations! They're robotic animals and the like. It's so cool!Did You Know? 2.0: A really interesting video I found that shows you a lot of things you probably didn't know about the world. Watch it. It'...
More About: Roundup , Links , January , January 2008 , 2008

SF Crowsnest Link!
2008-02-02 17:29:00
Just thought I'd let you all know that SF Crowsnest asked if they could use my interview with Jennifer Rahn in their latest issue (February), and of course I said yes. Thanks so much to SF Crowsnest for using my article!(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!)
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U.S. Space Program is 50
2008-01-31 19:26:00
That's right, our glorious, slowly dying space program is officially 50 years old today. I think it's cause for some celebration. As such, I'm officially holding a "Yay, our SP is 50" party over Superbowl. Who's with me?On a side note, here is a New Scientist article on this very subject, though they're not offering to host a Superbowl party in Van Allen's favor...(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!)
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Edelman's Moral Quandaries (Pt. 5)--G.S.A.G.H.R.
2008-01-30 22:14:00
The acronym stands for: Getting Serious About Global Human Rights.The United States pays a lot of lip service to the idea of global human rights — and compared to much of the rest of the world, we’re willing to do something about it more of the time — but too often we back down from the ideals of democracy when it suits us. The way we’ve helped Israel shunt aside the results of free, democratic elections in Palestine is shameful, and the way we turn a blind eye to similar human rights abuses in our allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia is equally ludicrous. But compared to much of the rest of the world, we’re light-years ahead. We’ve ditched slavery, worked hard to put all races on an equal footing, and we’re in the long, slow process of recognizing alternative sexual orientations. Until the whole planet works the same way, we’re going to have a hard time moving forward as a species.    I have one big problem with this argument: it implies that eve...
More About: Moral

Cyberpunk Isn't Dead
2008-01-28 22:23:00
More 'SF is dying' stuff, only this time it's very specific to cyberpunk. For those that don't know what Cyberpunk is the subgenre of SF in which Neuromancer by William Gibson, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, The Matrix (and sequels), and various other technocentric films and books fit into. A recent article over at io9 indicated that Cyberpunk has been slowly declining in the last few years. The problem is that I don't really buy that assertion. While they likely did a fair bit of homework and from what they found they may be somewhat correct, I think they are forgetting a lot of things that should be addressed. Here is a chart they used to show the fluctuations from year to year between movies (blue line) and novels (red line):    The chart shows a steady decline from the early 90s into the 2000s. Something is missing. There's no way that cyberpunk is falling out of favor here. The article suggests that perhaps the fall occurred because we are livi...
More About: Dead