The World in the Satin Bag

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Will Science Fiction Die?
2007-10-16 19:36:00
The short answer is yes. But I'm not here to give a short answer. Instead, I intend to try to explain why science fiction will find itself in a terrible bind at some point in the future. The sad part of this is that many of us may watch science fiction die, or perhaps our children will witness that, and for those of us who are in love with the genre it will come as a crushing blow.The sad truth is that science fiction cannot survive forever as it sits right now. There may come an opportunity to change directions, but when that happens it ceases to be science fiction and becomes something else. Science fiction is not dead now, and isn't dying now, and issue I've already addressed. The fact of the matter is, science fiction is surprisingly fascinating right now not because it's necessarily predicting unimaginably beautiful futures, like in the Golden Age, but more or less taking the world as we know it and bending it to give a new perspective on our species and the complex i...
More About: Fiction , Science Fiction , Science-Fiction

Dystopian Commonalities in SF
2007-10-16 01:01:00
...or why dystopian fiction is so commonWe all know what the model dystopian novel is, since we had to read it in school. Some of us enjoyed it immensely; some of us hated it with a passion. In either case, we were presented with 1984 by George Orwell as the first true dystopian novel. Few of us probably questioned this, as many students seem apt to accept the almighty wisdom of their teachers. The truth of the matter is that dystopian fiction had already been invented before Orwell ever wrote 1984--a fact we have to accept because Orwell drew heavy influence from We by Zamyatin--and in a lot of ways, the idea of a dystopia is endlessly entwined into our literature no matter where we turn.But, that aside, it has been an interesting phenomenon to watch as science fiction paved the way for grander concepts in dystopia. Many who read science fiction and understand what a dystopia is will say "that sounds like half of all the science fiction books I've ever read", or at least some...
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The Literary Nazis: Part Two
2007-10-14 12:17:00
...or Why the Literary Academia Hates SF...from my viewpoint.Well, I thought I'd do a little extension on this post. What exactly makes those who seem to control the literary world and decide the fate of individual works of art hate science fiction so much? Given the discussion in my Literary Interpretation class, I think I have a couple ideas. Feel free to add your thoughts and ideas!Science: Most people who read are not scientists. Trends in science fiction have gone from fantastical truly unbelievable settings to ones rooted in reality. Some novels go as far as to bring up concepts that are rather complicated and hard to grasp for a lot of people--namely the current trend to use Quantum Physics. This can all be intimidating.Simplicity and Lack of Thought: I think I mentioned it in the previous article, but there is an unfortunate belief that science fiction is all pulp-fiction. They think it as simplistic, possibly formulaic writing. The likely reason for this is the o...
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The Literary Nazis (Against Science Fiction)
2007-10-13 22:33:00
I wrote the following as a journal entry for one of my literature classes this year. It came up during class really, the idea that the literary world considers science fiction, and fantasy, to be either not really literature at all, or lesser literature. This has become a sort of campaign for me now--attempting to change the minds of people about science fiction. Someone also brought up the idea that the novel is dying. I decided to address the issues in a journal entry. Keep in mind, I may not be right, and this was somewhat of an emotional response. Here it is:Something I am finding rather difficult to deal with and accept lately is this somewhat negative concept in the literary world that books like The Immoralist and similar ‘classics’ are significantly better literature than books that hold somewhat more higher prestige with the majority, such as Harry Potter. It was brought up in class today whether it is true that the importance of the novel is dying. I think the pr...
More About: Science , Fiction , Science Fiction , Nazis , Science-Fiction

Chapter Outlining, Your Thoughts?
2007-10-12 17:53:00
I've never really done outlining of any sort before. Originally it was because when I tried to do it I lost all interest in the story and stopped. Now, I don't outline because I'm afraid of it. A lot of my ideas never come into my head in their full form. I have an idea for something, start it up, and go with it.Lately I've been having problems though and am trying to do the whole outline thing, at least to the extent that I know the general direction of the story. But outlining is not nearly as easy as I thought. Basically this is what is going on:A long while ago I started a strange SF horror story called "The White". The title is only temporary, in fact I'm thinking of the changing it to "The Lies of Venicia", since that has more to do with what is going on anyway. Well, I put the story aside, unfinished, a long time ago for some reason or another and just came back to it and realized how much I really liked the idea (a human colony in another star system that has be...
More About: Thoughts , Chapter

Take That You Literary Fools!
2007-10-11 19:08:00
Oh yes, today is a day of joy and rapture. Today marks a day of greatness and a shifting change in the world of literature. I'm going to assume this is the first time this has happened, so here goes:Doris Lessing has just won the Nobel Prize for Literature!Why does it matter so much? Because Doris Lessing writes science fiction! It's a nice rub in the face of all those literary snobs who think SF as lesser fiction. Eat it!If you want to read more go here or here. Oh, and a little bit about her and her writing is here.Thanks so much to Doris Lessing for paving the way for other great SF authors out there! We have hope yet!(Don't click the read more, there is no more after this)
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Heinlein's Rules of Writing
2007-10-10 20:28:00
If you don't know who Heinlein is, you obviously don't read SF. I regret to say I have yet to read any Heinlein, which could be considered blasphemy by many. In any case, he was an influential writer and he had a few little rules that even to this day seem to be rather relevant. This also is going to address a comment by Jameel regarding 'constant fiddling', where you are always making changes rather than progressing the story. So pay attention:Rule One: You Must WriteSounds obvious doesn't it? The problem is that too many people, including myself at one time, say they want to be writers, but never actually get anything done. You can't be a writer if you don't write!Rule Two: Finish What You StartThis one I have problems with and I think a lot of writers do too. Sometimes you'll write something and suddenly be extremely bored with it. Are there others of you out there that have that problem? To put it simply, though, you can't publish anything if you never finish...
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So You Want To Be A Writer...
2007-10-09 19:56:00
Being a writer, even a published one, is not an easy thing. We all wish we could have the succss of people like Stephen King or John Grisham, selling million dollar book contracts and selling millions upon millions of copies worldwide in a whole assortment of different languages. The sad part of that dream is that it most likely will never come true.In short, being a writer is hard. Here are some things to think about to make sure you're serious about this venture:Trying to keep up with the market is impossible. Therefore writing to the market is pointless, unless it's short stories. Even if you sell your novel, it could take a year or more before it ever goes to print. By then, whatever market you had written and marketed that book to may have changed and now your really interesting and original novel is old news.Rejections are common. Some writers go through hundreds of submission attempts before anyone ever gives them a shot. You'll likely have the same problem. The m...
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Young Writers Online
2007-10-08 17:56:00
I have a lovely announcement to make to all you out there.I have started a new website with my friend Andrew for young writers. It's called Young Writers online and you can visit he link here.What is YWO? Well, a site for young writers, built by young writers. This means, young teens, teens, and even college age adults. The hope for the site is to help all sorts of writers develop their craft through critiques and discussion. There's a full community there everyone. So come on in, join up! I hope to see some new faces there.Also, I'd love it if people would spread the word. YWO is really new, which means we have a long way to go before we are a thriving community. So please feel free to talk about it in your blogs, review it, or whatever suits you.And if you'd like to add a link or image to your site for us, that would be awesome. You can find all our various image options here.Hope to see you there!(Don't click the read more, there is no more after this)
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A Dialogue of War (in fantasy)
2007-10-06 09:31:00
This very subject was brought up by SQT in her recent post. I don't want to steal the spotlight from her very well drawn analysis, but I did feel like addressing the issue a bit myself.SQT is very right that it seems that fantasy is overridden with novels that focus on war. I can't think of a novel I have read that didn't have war as a central theme somewhere. War might not be the primary plot line in a story, but almost all fantasy seems to have it there in some capacity.Some of the issues I see with this is that fantasy writers want to place a lot of focus on the people in war that aren't ordinary, ignoring those that suffer the most. I addressed this in the comments to some extent, but I think some context here would be great.Look at the historical basis for fantasy. Generally, most fantasy is written in a semi-medieval style time period. We all can generally accept this as true. Whether or not magic, dragons, or other strange and supernatural things 'actually' exist...
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Editors and Their Faults?
2007-10-05 19:04:00
How much responsibility does an editor have when it comes to the condition of the work they are choosing to publish?Serious question. What do you all out there think?For some context: I am currently reading a novel that has a lot of mistakes that not only should never have been written, but should have been picked up by the editor, the writer, and the copywriter. There were POV violations all over the place, flat characters, character development issues and contradictions, and even a sentence in the book where a huge line of zeros randomly appears in the middle of a word. The last I might be willing to pass to printing error, but that's pushing it.So, how much of that should have been addressed by the editor before the book went to the press? Do you personally expect more from an editor?(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this)
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Russians Rule the World Today (Sort of)
2007-10-04 18:53:00
Okay, so I'm on a roll with the misleading titles, but really you can't blame me given what today is.Happy Birthday to Sputnik!That's right, today is the birthday of the flight of Sputnik in orbit around our little blue planet. In a way, it was both the most amazing and most frightening thing in a time when one world war had ended and people were deathly afraid that another would occur (with the Russians obviously). But, seeing how, in theory, the Cold War has ended and, in theory, we're semi-decent buddies with Russia, for however long that will last, we should pay some respects to that little spacecraft that captured the world for a rather brief moment in time.For a little more info, Sputnik flew for about 3 months and then dropped out of orbit. The interesting thing is that you could actually pick up the beep of its transmitter (or whatever it was that was sending the beep in the first place) on little radio receivers--you know, those ones that people used to use to talk t...
More About: World , Today , The World , Sort

Amoebae Are Zombies
2007-10-03 19:20:00
I was reading this interesting article and thought I'd talk about it here. People are apparently dying rather suddenly from a small organism. It's called Naegleria fowleri, an apparently little known amoeba that has deadly consequences. The good side of this is that it is not an epidemic and hopefully will not be flouted as one.According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWL'-erh-eye) killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases — three in Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.You can become infected rather easily, which is scary. Since Naegleria lives in just about any warm, watery environment one can simply get it and not even know it until it's too late. The stuff can even get into your swimming pool, if you don't take care of the water and chlorine levels.Beach sa...
More About: Zombies

Literary Critics Are Morons
2007-10-02 19:43:00
What exactly is it about the literary academia that makes literature, in its most basic form, even more inaccessible by the general populace? I'll tell you. Critic s are morons. Now, what I mean by this is not that they are just stupid in how they choose good books, but rather that they have no understanding whatsoever what the rest of the country, and most of the world, find to be valuable literature.Most of us, as in humans, are not literature majors. Taking that into account we have to assume that most of us also are not necessarily prone to having enormous vocabularies or be adept in reading complex, convoluted sentences, the likes of which seem to be prevalent in literary criticism. This is my problem with the literary academia. There is considerable concern over the future of literature and concern in that people, in general and in the majority, are not reading, are not interested, and seemingly don't care. The problem is the literary academia.I recently was reading on...
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Man's Obsession With Predictions
2007-10-01 19:12:00
We live a society constantly trying to predict, in one way or another, what exactly is going to happen in the future--near or far. We've all heard of Nostradamus--well most of us, look him up if you haven't. So, what exactly is our curiosity with the future? The interesting thing is that, from the perspective of reality, there's no sure way to even know what the future holds. But that doesn't seem to stop us from trying to figure it out. Perhaps in the future some technology will come along that changes this, or maybe we'll get smart enough to know the patterns of life. It's very unlikely, but still.Even I am not immune to this obsession. In my first finished novel, WISB (the World in the Satin Bag, found on the right there), the main villain happens to be capable of viewing the future, and altering its course in the process by knowing what decisions he needs to make to correct what might come true.What predictions do you have?I recently found a site called Long Bets wh...
More About: Obsession , Predictions , Predict

The Insignificance of Earth
2007-09-30 22:57:00
I've always found it profoundly interesting how people on this little planet think of themselves as so utterly important. So I thought I would write a post about just how insignificant we are in comparison to the universe, an idea spawned by this link.Earth is but one planet in a our solar system. Our solar system has 8 planets--Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune--since Pluto is no longer a planet. Thanks stupid scientists and your anal criteria. There are loads of asteroids, comets, etc. too. Of our 8 planets, 6 of them have moons--one for Earth, two for Mars, 63 for Jupiter, 60 for Saturn, 27 for Uranus, and 13 for Neptune. Our Solar System has one sun.Our sun is a star in the Milky Way Galaxy. There are billions upon billions of other starts in our galaxy, and millions of them are similar to our sun. There are hundreds of confirmed exo-planets--planets around other stars. Our galaxy is one of billions of other galaxies in our universe. In...
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Changing WISB For All Mankind
2007-09-29 06:48:00
Some of you might have noticed some serious changes around here. I'm doing some work on the blog to try to get new readers and the like and due to some suggestions some things are changing.First, things have moved around a bit, and the archives are now a drop menu to save space.Most of you never look down on the right hand side. Usually I have a group of image bars there from sites I am a part of. I try a lot of places to see what places seem to bring traffic to the site. I'm not trying to simply increase traffic, but what I'm doing is trying to bring new readers in to my blog. That's all. So I try various things, and from time to time I delete all the things that aren't doing anything for me from the blog. Which is exactly what has happened. All the links that weren't adding to my new readers are gone (I pay attention to sitemeter)I've temporarily removed the word meters on the right hand side. Why? Alex suggested that perhaps they are misleading because they are e...
More About: Changing , Mankind , Chang , Chan

A Solid Farewell To An Icon
2007-09-28 17:30:00
It's really irrelevant if you liked Robert Jordan's work or not. You can't deny his impact on fantasy literature, one that while not as powerful as Tolkien's, is certainly recognizable. Jordan pioneered the massive fantasy epic series. There is no doubt that his writing (including not only the Wheel of Time, but various other work too) has brought rise to countless long-winded fantasy series. And like all literature, it's hit or miss. The impact is undeniable, whether or not you see it as positive or negative (though you have to admit that his impact is a little of both).With his passing he has left behind quite a legacy, including an unfortunately unfinished fantasy series that we all of have heard of--The Wheel of Time. Like Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber...I have never read any of his works, but I recognize his importance to the fantasy genre, much like I recognize Tolkien even though I was not a fan of his writing (the story was excellent, but it wasn't written very ...
More About: Icon , Farewell , Solid , Fare , Well

The Everchanging Space Economy
2007-09-27 20:32:00
First things first, I want everyone to know that I did a review of Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret over at SQT's blog. Check it out please.Now for something interesting! I'm sorry that it seems like all my little news things are all related to SF. Unfortunately there isn't really a whole lot of stuff that would pertain to fantasy that I'm finding. And what exactly would be good news stuff for fantasy? Anyone know? Other than literary stuff (such as Robert Jordan dying). So if anyone perhaps has some insight as to what you would like to see, let me know.Now to another interesting article I found, located here. I'm rather optimistic when it comes to space travel, of any kind. I think one of the biggest issues we have today not only in regards to space, but even other technologies, is that we don't take risks. There are no more Thomas Eddisons in this country, or in a lot of the world for that matter.So it came as a surprise to me that scientists think that it wou...
More About: Economy , Space , Chang , Chan

Microbes Rule!
2007-09-26 05:36:00
How many of you know what happens to the human body when it's subjected to the weightlessness of high Earth orbit? Well, to put it simply, the body actually starts to whither. It's not a quick process, and certainly not one that would prevent us from shipping people long distances in the solar system, but there is a noticeable effect on the immune system when astronauts return to Earth after a considerable stint in space. It's similar to AIDS. Your body has cells called T-cells, which have these little receptors whose job it is to basically tell other cells there is an infection in that particular cell. When someone is infected with AIDS, those receptors stop working. This is permanent in AIDS, obviously. So, when the body gets a cold, the cells don't know how to fight it because it seems to be replicating itself at such an alarming rate, which is true. Your body is no longer fighting the infection, basically.Now, being in space is much the same, except that the effects ...
More About: Microbes , Rule , Robe

Updates, Changes, and New Writing Projects
2007-09-26 05:27:00
So I am officially moved in to my new place for the next couple years. Well, at least for the next year. There is a good possibility I will be spending some considerable time in New Zealand next year, but we'll see.Things are still a bit hectic. Some things are not yet unpacked, and things are a little misplaced and misshapen. I'm in a smaller room than I was before. You can see somewhat how things are progressing in some of the images at the end of this post. It's not perfect, but it will certainly do, and at least I have DSL, a roof, TV, my beautiful animals, and my schooling to look forward to!So given that, it's been a rather stressful couple of weeks.Now for an update on, well, stuff. I'm reading Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret for SQT's blog. It's a wonderful book and if anyone hasn't read the first you should. I also got a laptop, which I'll get a picture of eventually. I need it of course, because I'll be on campus quite a lot during the week.Now, f...
More About: Projects , Writing , Updates , Chang , Chan

Update On Me
2007-09-19 22:21:00
I just wanted to give everyone an update on what is going on. There haven't been any posts on here for several days and here is why:I have moved! Yes, I have officially moved to Santa Cruz, CA. Well, technically I'm in La Selva Beach, CA, but it's right next to Santa Cruz and since I'll be attending UC Santa Cruz to get my BA, I figure it's easier just to say I'm in SC.So, I moved Sunday, and the last few days have been rather hectic trying to get things unpacked and organize all of my stuff in storage. I'll have some pictures in a week or so to give a visual idea of what is going on.So that's the reason for my absence. Things will resume eventually. I have a lot of news to bring up and the like.Thanks for your patience!(Don't click the read more, there is no more after this)
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Amazon Bestsellers in Scifi & Fantasy
2007-09-16 07:43:00
So, here are you top ten bestsellers on Amazon as of tonight. It's an interesting bunch I think.10. The Children of Hurin by J. R. R. Tolkien9. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger8. Confessor by Terry Goodkind7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury6. Spook Country by William Gibson5. Dark Possession by Christine Feehan4. The Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks3. Making Money by Terry Pratchett2. His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman1. The Road by Cormac McCarthySee what I said about being an interesting bunch? Some oldies, some new stuff, and some fantastic works in there. If you want to see beyond 10, go to the link here.Enjoy!(Don't click the read more, there is no more)
More About: Fantasy , Bestsellers

The Power of Data
2007-09-14 06:43:00
I was using StumbleUpon's lovely 'stumble' feature again, and came across something that got me really thinking not only about our preconceived notions of the world as it sits today, but also about what the world might become in the future. The link is here. Don't watch it yet. Read on first. I want to do a little test at the end of the post.The ending was especially interesting, showing all the countries as they popped up on the chart as the use of the Internet spread from place to place. So, according to statistical data we are all somewhat misguided in what we think about the third world. It's apparently not as bad as it's made out to be. Obviously that doesn't refer to places like Africa where AIDS is wreaking havoc, and this shows in the data, but a lot of countries that I thought were exceedingly poor and unhealthy are actually somewhat the opposite. What does this say about the way our media or even our educational system teaches us about the rest of the world?...
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Art is Awesome!
2007-09-13 05:19:00
This is topical because it's Scifi art! I was over at Astrona today and there were a series of videos of this spraypaint artist that does things with spraypaint I didn't think were possible. You need to to check it out. The first video is totally amazing! I especially liked the part when he started using fire to make what I assume was the gloss.Also it seems that Michael Capobianco of SFWA has issued a statement regarding basically how SFWA intends to continue to protect author's rights here. I pretty much agree. One blunder should not change how SFWA intends to protect its authors. Of course they messed up, but that surely doesn't mean we should condemn the organization entirely. They've been around forever. Couldn't hurt to be nice to them a bit.Now for some really bizarre news thanks to this Universe Today article. Some times stars eat up comets, asteroids, and planets, and sometimes stars get eaten up. Apparently, and I'm no expert here, scientists have discover...
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New Review Up! Ragamuffin by Tobia S. Buckell
2007-09-12 00:10:00
New review of Ragamuffin here!Check it out! There's a giveaway too! Details on that post.(Don't click the read more...this is all there is)
More About: Review , Tobi , Muffin , Kell

Six Years: NYC Remembered
2007-09-11 20:03:00
There's not much to say here. What can you say about something like this? We are fortunate and unfortunate to have been alive to witness, even from a distance, one of the most frightening moments in the history of this country. Are there words to truly describe what many of us felt then and feel now? I still can't watch the videos or look at the pictures for more than a few moments. I didn't know anybody in NYC, but for whatever reason just seeing it even in still form brings me to tears.So, for this day and this day only, let's all forget the war inIraq and everything else going on in this country. Let's forget who's running for election, what new laws are coming in, etc.All we should do at this moment is remember. Remember all the men and women in the trade center and at ground zero, alive and dead, who saw it happen.Remember the fire fighters who risked their lives doing what they volunteered to do.Remember. That's the only thing we as a people can do. Most of us weren't ...
More About: Years

SFWA: My Thoughts
2007-09-11 10:05:00
Alright, so it's probably somewhat old news, but so be it. I feel like putting my thoughts out there. I'm sure some of you have already heard about SFWA's little blunder in regards to www.scribd.com. For those that haven't, here is a very brief run down of what happened:Some members of SFWA reported finding their material posted on Scribd and other similar sites to the SFWA e-Piracy Commitee and complained about the infringement. SFWA responded and sent a notice to the sites responsible and requested they take the material off else legal action be taken. The sites responded by doing exactly that (at least in the instance of Scribd, since this is where it all explodes from). Cory Doctorow had a fit, here, because his work was taken off even though he never gave SFWA authorization to remove it (because he had not authorized SFWA to act as his copyright agent, to put it simply), and apparently this has happened to several other authors. SFWA publicly apologized, here, for the...
More About: My Thoughts , Thoughts

Some Useful Links of the Week
2007-09-10 07:03:00
Well I'm posting a lot of links and this post is basically just some more links to stuff that might be useful to some of you. Mostly I picked them because they're interesting to me. I'm also not trying to steal what Jason Penney is doing over at All the Billion Other Moments. He does posts of 'Links of Interest' on there. So my intention is not to seem like I'm copying, even though technically I'm doing the same thing here. So be it. His links are really good too! Plus I've become obsessed with StumbleUpon now, which is a wonderful site you should all be a part of because you can find some wonderful stuff just randomly surfing with the "stumble" button.Also, I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I did do my first review for SQT here on Spin State by Chris Moriarty. Go check it out!Alright, so some useful links!1. 13 Things That Do Not Make Sense from New Scientist Space. This one really grabbed me because of the Horizon Problem, the Pioneer Anomaly, and the W...
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Sad News For the Week and Some Happier Stuff
2007-09-08 22:27:00
I just found out today that Lloyd Alexander and Madeleine L'Engle died this year. Read the post here at Wands and Worlds. Also here is the USA Today reports for Lloyd Alexander and Madeleine L'Engle. Sad day indeed for me. Both wonderful writers who did much for literature.For happier news I guess:Here is a neat bit on the Voyager spacecraft. I love the image. Very Scifi :).Also an interesting read on magic is here at Karen Lee Field's blog. Good stuff there.As part of my column at the TeenageWriters Blog, I've started an eight part series on beginnings. The first of them is here. Feel free to check it out! I also wrote a bit about the importance of places like TeenageWriters, Critique Circle, and the like here.Also, at some point this weekend I'm probably going to babble about the latest SFWA issue. Some of you know about it already, but I feel like adding my two cents, even though I'm not a part of SFWA cause I don't fit into their strict guidelines yet.Enjoy the...
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