This post first appeared at Keith Publications' writer's blog. See this URL for the post and its comments at Keith Publications.
“Nothing sadder than wasted talent.” It’s a great line from a funky little movie called A Bronx Tale – a final comment on the life of a mobster.
Wasted talent.
On Sept, 11, 2001, the mayor asked everyone to stay home. They closed our place of work that day. So I stayed home, eyes glued to the TV set, contemplating a whole new world before us – a world of terror, of endless war against a constantly roving, lurking foe. In the days and months to come, uncertainty and consternation grew at the process of homeland defense. We gave up some civilized freedoms in the name of fighting a foe that belonged to no civilized nation.
What did I want as my personal legacy? In the movie, A Bronx Tale, the boy asks the mobster “Is it better to be feared, or to be loved?” The mobster’s response, in gravely-voiced Bronx-English, is that ‘… it is bettah to be feahed.”
As a legacy, I wanted neither to be feared nor loved, but to be published -- to leave behind stories that would stand up to the test of time, like the notion of a city with the tallest buildings in the world.
What galvanized me in those days after 9/11/2001 was that I had stories beating against my skull, trying to escape, and I needed to act. Or in the years to come I might regret ‘wasted talent.’
I sat down at my lime green iMac (so proud to actually own my own computer!) and wrote a whole series of juvenile non-fiction picture books about planets and stars; sort of a geology and astronomy course for 3rd graders. All twelve burst right out of my head almost faster than I could write them down!
This first work was condescendingly dismissed by big publisher(s) with the words “books like these don’t sell.” Actually, the editor who told me this (from a major publishing house who shall remain nameless, but who’s initials start with the letter ‘S’) looked neither at the concept, nor the writing, nor the implementation plan! I was dismissed, just as the big publishers at the time tried to dismiss electronic publishing, and online marketing. A figurative ‘whatever.’
Very frustrating.
We’ve seen a lot of changes since 9/11/2001. Traditional publishing is experiencing what can either be regarded as an Armageddon of rising indie businesses (‘no one will want a book anymore’ – so much ‘crap’ produced that drowns out the really well done (traditional) book) or a huge opportunity for indie writers to meet readers bored with the fare turned out by these venues.
Overall, readership is rising (giving credence to the notion that the number of ways to slice up the economic pizza are infinite.)
I’ve had to learn a whole business – how to edit (or find suitable outfit to do a professional job), how to do the artwork (or find a suitable outfit), how to market, how to assess the ‘production quality’ of a book. Not to mention honing the writing craft itself. All while, keeping up with the demands of my day job!
In the movie, A Bronx Tale, when the mobster died, the boy was the only witness to his legacy. He was the only attendant at the funeral who came, not for show, but to pay respects. The mobster left his mark on the boy forever, and in a strange way, acted as a community leader, with a powerful, but not maximized, influence on the whole neighborhood. His life had amounted to ‘wasted talent,’ just like quite a few lives in the same neighborhood.
I love this 1993 movie, partly because it’s a great character study, with plenty of classic lines. It’s about a boy who, departing from tradition, chooses a mobster as his father figure. And in turn, the mobster introduces him to some unconventional ideas like seeing beyond ethnicity for who people really are.
On a day to reflect on 9/11 and legacies, I can say to my fellow writers, that story-telling, working closely with art directors, illustrators, galvanized by new technologies that allow an author to find their audience, and provide the reach for a potential world-wide audience, is the chance of a lifetime.
It’s a feeling captured better by another, popular, song about the great city of New York that includes the words “…it’s up to you…”
Books 1 & 2 of Claudia Alexander’s children’s science-learning picture book series titled: Windows to Adventure, will be re-released this Christmas with augmented artwork and new book production oversight.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
STEM friday: Slingshot, a gaming learning activity with teacher's input
Today I'm going to talk about Slingshot. Here's the URL:
Slingshot
Here's a little about the designers:
Fuzzy Duck Design / Fuzzy Duck Studios
Divisions of Imagebay Incorporated
952-449-6800
beth@fuzzyduck.com
I just received information about the site this morning, and looked over the teaching material about an hour ago.
First let me say that I firmly believe that gaming and other accoutrements of the modern world (apps, e-books, and online activities) make STEM material just as accessible as traditional books and magazines and should be taken very seriously by contemporary teachers trying to reach middle grade kids. I was at the KEEPING IT REAL conference on non-fiction for kids (January 2012, Sacramento, CA), and the keynote speaker said that the e-publishing world was not yet here. And many of us in the audience shook our heads in disbelief!
Slingshot is an attempt by educators, screenwriters and gamers to use the playtime aspects of characters and imaginative play to make certain aspects of engineering, aerospace, and planetary science more accessible and relevant.
The target age is 6-12. The game, and the embedded science-learning activity, looks top notch.
The characters are positioned in the Jupiter planetary environment, with its family of moons, and given a 'quest' type set of goals. In order to accomplish the goals, the characters have to have a good understanding of orbits, of atmospheric science and how to place a spacecraft into orbit using aero-braking and other engineering techniques. The characters have to understand changing aspects of their planetary environment such as changing gravity when they go from moon to moon, etc.
Here's a list of lessons:
1. Scale model of the solar system (plus more about energy and climate change)
2. Physical laws of motion (plus more)
3. How helicopters work (plus more: matter and anti-matter)
4. Aerodynamics of flybys with a slingshot maneuver around a planet (plus more about charged particles)
5. remote sensing and cameras (plus more about the element hydrogen, as in a hydrogen explosion).
6. the need for spacesuits; biology in space (plus more about life)
7. Aerodynamics of planetary entry (drop into an atmosphere). (plus more about icy moons with liquid water)
8. Surface and underwater on Europa
9. Extraterrestrial life (plus more about human biology and radiation sickness)
10. More biology in space (discussion of Biosphere 2)
11. recap
12. student activities
Also a significant portion of the lessons are addressed to non-technical things spanning getting along with others, to death in the line of duty.
As a writer, I appreciate the aspect of the materials addressed to effective characterization. As a member of the under-served population (I am African-American), I appreciated the site's attempt at Diversity. Nonetheless, I felt that the site's materials were presented upside down. Rationale for the site and details of the characterization were presented first, and the educational aspects last. I felt like that was the equivalent of showing me the sewing and pattern making when what I wanted was the suit itself. For kids, the site should dive into the conflict, put the audience into the situation, and explain the behind-the-scenes later.
They are putting kids into a situation, then asking them to understand some pretty sophisticated physics.
As someone involved in education at the University level (how do we engage youngsters so that we have the next generation of professors and professionals?) I understand the gap between the practice of science, and where some of the educational material is. (Example, I just reviewed a new Scholastic book about the planets, which was woefully simplistic, from my perspective. Neptune is not 'blue' for example.) As a professional, and a tax-payer, I'd like to see kids come up to speed a little faster. But as someone who delves into non-fiction writing for the ages 8-10, I find the range of Slingshot in terms of the lessons its trying to teach, to be ambitious. It seems a lot like Battlestar Galactica, with a technology guide attached.
I wish them luck, though. I believe that good games, with lessons attached, are the way to go.
Slingshot
Here's a little about the designers:
Fuzzy Duck Design / Fuzzy Duck Studios
Divisions of Imagebay Incorporated
952-449-6800
beth@fuzzyduck.com
I just received information about the site this morning, and looked over the teaching material about an hour ago.
First let me say that I firmly believe that gaming and other accoutrements of the modern world (apps, e-books, and online activities) make STEM material just as accessible as traditional books and magazines and should be taken very seriously by contemporary teachers trying to reach middle grade kids. I was at the KEEPING IT REAL conference on non-fiction for kids (January 2012, Sacramento, CA), and the keynote speaker said that the e-publishing world was not yet here. And many of us in the audience shook our heads in disbelief!
Slingshot is an attempt by educators, screenwriters and gamers to use the playtime aspects of characters and imaginative play to make certain aspects of engineering, aerospace, and planetary science more accessible and relevant.
The target age is 6-12. The game, and the embedded science-learning activity, looks top notch.
The characters are positioned in the Jupiter planetary environment, with its family of moons, and given a 'quest' type set of goals. In order to accomplish the goals, the characters have to have a good understanding of orbits, of atmospheric science and how to place a spacecraft into orbit using aero-braking and other engineering techniques. The characters have to understand changing aspects of their planetary environment such as changing gravity when they go from moon to moon, etc.
Here's a list of lessons:
1. Scale model of the solar system (plus more about energy and climate change)
2. Physical laws of motion (plus more)
3. How helicopters work (plus more: matter and anti-matter)
4. Aerodynamics of flybys with a slingshot maneuver around a planet (plus more about charged particles)
5. remote sensing and cameras (plus more about the element hydrogen, as in a hydrogen explosion).
6. the need for spacesuits; biology in space (plus more about life)
7. Aerodynamics of planetary entry (drop into an atmosphere). (plus more about icy moons with liquid water)
8. Surface and underwater on Europa
9. Extraterrestrial life (plus more about human biology and radiation sickness)
10. More biology in space (discussion of Biosphere 2)
11. recap
12. student activities
Also a significant portion of the lessons are addressed to non-technical things spanning getting along with others, to death in the line of duty.
As a writer, I appreciate the aspect of the materials addressed to effective characterization. As a member of the under-served population (I am African-American), I appreciated the site's attempt at Diversity. Nonetheless, I felt that the site's materials were presented upside down. Rationale for the site and details of the characterization were presented first, and the educational aspects last. I felt like that was the equivalent of showing me the sewing and pattern making when what I wanted was the suit itself. For kids, the site should dive into the conflict, put the audience into the situation, and explain the behind-the-scenes later.
They are putting kids into a situation, then asking them to understand some pretty sophisticated physics.
As someone involved in education at the University level (how do we engage youngsters so that we have the next generation of professors and professionals?) I understand the gap between the practice of science, and where some of the educational material is. (Example, I just reviewed a new Scholastic book about the planets, which was woefully simplistic, from my perspective. Neptune is not 'blue' for example.) As a professional, and a tax-payer, I'd like to see kids come up to speed a little faster. But as someone who delves into non-fiction writing for the ages 8-10, I find the range of Slingshot in terms of the lessons its trying to teach, to be ambitious. It seems a lot like Battlestar Galactica, with a technology guide attached.
I wish them luck, though. I believe that good games, with lessons attached, are the way to go.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Is magazine writing dead?
I noticed a series of cool articles about the importance of magazine writing on non-fiction for kids. The thing is ... these articles were written in 2004.
My question is this... in the current publication environment, where short stories are getting good play on Kindle Shorts, and magazine publication is down overall, are these articles still relevant to an author seeking to get their content about science out there?
Here's an article on the rise & relevance of short stories online for 99cents:
http://mashable.com/2011/12/30/kindle-singles-dick-babcock/
would it make more sense to move your publications into this venue? (admittedly formatting/editing for Kindle is not straightforward). Moreover, other formats (epub) make it easy to insert actual movies (short vids), and are much more visually engaging for kids of this era.
What about the use of apps? Here's a nice outfit that claims to be able to create kid-friendly apps to go with your non-fiction children's book:
http://itsmyturnapp.com/
And here's another example from Twitter;
If you have older kids who love Legos, and you have an iTouch, iPhone or iPad 2, the Life of George game is fun. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UFAG1S?ie=UTF8&tag=briannasmommy-20&linkCode=shr&camp=213733&creative=393177&creativeASIN=B005UFAG1S&ref_=sr_1_1&qid=1324857012&sr=8-1
Over Xmas I watched my nephew spend an obscene amount of hours on his gameboy playing educational apps. (They said that couldn't be done -- interesting kids in educational apps, but I saw it happen. His favorite app was Family Feud, but he had to spell a lot, and asked us endless spelling questions.)
My question is this... in the current publication environment, where short stories are getting good play on Kindle Shorts, and magazine publication is down overall, are these articles still relevant to an author seeking to get their content about science out there?
Here's an article on the rise & relevance of short stories online for 99cents:
http://mashable.com/2011/12/30/kindle-singles-dick-babcock/
would it make more sense to move your publications into this venue? (admittedly formatting/editing for Kindle is not straightforward). Moreover, other formats (epub) make it easy to insert actual movies (short vids), and are much more visually engaging for kids of this era.
What about the use of apps? Here's a nice outfit that claims to be able to create kid-friendly apps to go with your non-fiction children's book:
http://itsmyturnapp.com/
And here's another example from Twitter;
If you have older kids who love Legos, and you have an iTouch, iPhone or iPad 2, the Life of George game is fun. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UFAG1S?ie=UTF8&tag=briannasmommy-20&linkCode=shr&camp=213733&creative=393177&creativeASIN=B005UFAG1S&ref_=sr_1_1&qid=1324857012&sr=8-1
Over Xmas I watched my nephew spend an obscene amount of hours on his gameboy playing educational apps. (They said that couldn't be done -- interesting kids in educational apps, but I saw it happen. His favorite app was Family Feud, but he had to spell a lot, and asked us endless spelling questions.)
Friday, December 30, 2011
STEM Friday with Windows to Adventure!
Bloggers across the kidlitosphere celebrate STEM Friday by writing about science, technology, engineering and mathematics books for kids on Friday.
So I’m writing about my new book series: Windows to Adventure!
This series is meant to be companion pieces for the science found on the massive website Windows to the Universe. (http://windows2universe.org), but includes more personable fantasy characters to make the science accessible for younger readers.
STEM Friday was started by author Anastasia Suen at her blog: Booktalking (http://asuen.wordpress.com/stem-friday/), and I thank her for this opportunity to both learn and share fabulous science-learning resources for kids with other knowledgeable kidlitophiles.
I work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a professional scientist. (NASA does not endorse any commercial products, and my writing for kids is an activity that is separate from my NASA work).
I’ve always believed that kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. Windows to Adventure (W2A) is predicated on that theory! (grins). I figure that if kids can memorize all the names and features of dinosaurs, then they can learn the names and features of the layers of the atmosphere, the properties of stars and planets, and some of the physics – from geophysics to astrophysics – that makes these topics interesting to someone like me. Its just a matter of making the material engaging, of finding a way of answering some questions and laying the seeds for more questions. If the kids are curious and intrigued, they’ll invest the time to come up with answers of their own. That’s my goal, to make the science intriguing and not in a finding-answers-to-my-homework sense.
W2A takes a group of kids on ‘adventures’ in which the science is important but incidental. In one story they go straight up in the atmosphere, meeting fantasy characters along the way who are associated with atmospheric layers like the stratosphere and magnetosphere. In one story they go walking along the Milky Way to meet stars of different ages (and sizes). In the first book they go along to meet some of the most distinctive mountains and volcanoes in the solar system (in anthropomorphic form so that they can remember their geography and geology more easily).
The books also introduce cultural things – such as language! If the kids are in a country like Japan, some of the characters speak some standard Japanese phrases as ‘konichi-wa’ (hello!).
As a practicing planetary scientist I hope to broaden a student’s exposure to aspects of the planets, to compare and contrast these worlds – all in a way that is interesting and that helps them to be ale to process the news that is coming out of NAS mission like Cassini’s mission to Saturn, or these exoplanets that we’re discovering, to understanding aspects of our own planet’s climate change.
So today while blogging with you, I’m also going to be posting new material to the forum page of the Red Phoenix Books website, where I hope to bring planetary science news of the day up for general discussion with visitors.
Oh, and did I mention that the books try to be multi-cultural, with protagonists of many different ethnicities and cultures? I grew up in a very diverse neighborhood, and that is the basis for creating the neighborhood where these stories take place.
The ten books in the series can be found here (Windows to Adventure). I call them ‘creative non-fiction for kids’ – because though they combine science with fantasy and adventure, at bottom they are not plot-driven stories but vehicles for conveying information.
I hope to see all of you as visitors to the site, and participants in the forum! Cheers.
Links mentioned here:
Windows to the Universe
Windows to Adventure
A Scientist's Cafe (forum) (also found directly from the Red Phoenix Books site's navigation panel.
Other resources at Booktalking's STEM Friday
So I’m writing about my new book series: Windows to Adventure!
This series is meant to be companion pieces for the science found on the massive website Windows to the Universe. (http://windows2universe.org), but includes more personable fantasy characters to make the science accessible for younger readers.
STEM Friday was started by author Anastasia Suen at her blog: Booktalking (http://asuen.wordpress.com/stem-friday/), and I thank her for this opportunity to both learn and share fabulous science-learning resources for kids with other knowledgeable kidlitophiles.
I work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a professional scientist. (NASA does not endorse any commercial products, and my writing for kids is an activity that is separate from my NASA work).
I’ve always believed that kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. Windows to Adventure (W2A) is predicated on that theory! (grins). I figure that if kids can memorize all the names and features of dinosaurs, then they can learn the names and features of the layers of the atmosphere, the properties of stars and planets, and some of the physics – from geophysics to astrophysics – that makes these topics interesting to someone like me. Its just a matter of making the material engaging, of finding a way of answering some questions and laying the seeds for more questions. If the kids are curious and intrigued, they’ll invest the time to come up with answers of their own. That’s my goal, to make the science intriguing and not in a finding-answers-to-my-homework sense.
W2A takes a group of kids on ‘adventures’ in which the science is important but incidental. In one story they go straight up in the atmosphere, meeting fantasy characters along the way who are associated with atmospheric layers like the stratosphere and magnetosphere. In one story they go walking along the Milky Way to meet stars of different ages (and sizes). In the first book they go along to meet some of the most distinctive mountains and volcanoes in the solar system (in anthropomorphic form so that they can remember their geography and geology more easily).
The books also introduce cultural things – such as language! If the kids are in a country like Japan, some of the characters speak some standard Japanese phrases as ‘konichi-wa’ (hello!).
As a practicing planetary scientist I hope to broaden a student’s exposure to aspects of the planets, to compare and contrast these worlds – all in a way that is interesting and that helps them to be ale to process the news that is coming out of NAS mission like Cassini’s mission to Saturn, or these exoplanets that we’re discovering, to understanding aspects of our own planet’s climate change.
So today while blogging with you, I’m also going to be posting new material to the forum page of the Red Phoenix Books website, where I hope to bring planetary science news of the day up for general discussion with visitors.
Oh, and did I mention that the books try to be multi-cultural, with protagonists of many different ethnicities and cultures? I grew up in a very diverse neighborhood, and that is the basis for creating the neighborhood where these stories take place.
The ten books in the series can be found here (Windows to Adventure). I call them ‘creative non-fiction for kids’ – because though they combine science with fantasy and adventure, at bottom they are not plot-driven stories but vehicles for conveying information.
I hope to see all of you as visitors to the site, and participants in the forum! Cheers.
Links mentioned here:
Windows to the Universe
Windows to Adventure
A Scientist's Cafe (forum) (also found directly from the Red Phoenix Books site's navigation panel.
Other resources at Booktalking's STEM Friday
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Falling In Love With Romance: Are Your Characters' Voices Distinctive?
Falling In Love With Romance: Are Your Characters' Voices Distinctive?: "Earlier this week I commented about the Accent Tag vlogs that are all over youtube. They're fun to watch, but for writers, they're mor..."
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Vicky English's Camelot: Character Arc and Theme
Vicky English's Camelot: Character Arc and Theme: "I’m currently reading Stan William’s The Moral Premise on my new Kindle (Phil’s Christmas present to me.) It’s a book that was recommended b..."
Sunday, December 12, 2010
writing: San Francisco, cities, and another report from LOSCON, 2010
I'm in San Francisco this week,and what a joy! To be in the heart of the city for an entire week!
What is it about cities that compels the imagination? Outlying rural or suburban areas exhibit certain regular patterns of not only peaceful patterns of travel, but also of behavior. A city seems to be filled with chaotic babble, and frenetic jostling. Tall buildings and narrow streets lend an aura of mystery - of nooks and crannies to the setting. As if secrets can be kept. Secrets that would be all exposed in a rural or suburban setting.
This brings to mind a panel that I visited a few weekends ago at LOSCON, the convention of literary science fiction and fantasy. I wrote about the panel Is Steampunk Anachronistic? a few days ago. This panel was called Mean Streets as a Setting for Science Fiction and Fantasy.
The first thing everyone wanted to know was -- how can you have 'mean streets' in a fantasy? Isn't the point to have a 'fantastic' or magical setting? Why would you need 'mean' streets?
The answer, of course, is to create authenticity for an imaginary place.
The panel brought up two environments - the 'classic' fantasy city/setting vs a real city setting such as London or Chicago (either present or past). Examples of classic fantasy cities include: Oz; Courasant (Star Wars); Mos Eisley (also from Star Wars); Metropolis (Superman); Gotham City (Batman); Gondor (Lord of the Rings). Only a few of these 'classic' cities feel like real cities.
One panelist mentioned that even as a kid, he knew that 'Oz' was not a real city. Why? Because there was no one around to pick up the trash. Who ran the fire department? Munchkinland was more 'real' than OZ because you had a sense that there were different normal/routine functions that were being taken care of. Likewise, Mos Eisley is a 'real' city, while Courasant is not.
Why would Marvel Comics put Spiderman in a real New York City rather than either a Metropolis-like city or a Gotham-like city? Because it adds the extra spice of authenticity that neither one of the other analogs possess.
One panelist mentioned that the best depiction of Rome is in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To the Forum- the movie. They had found a set that had already been used for a big Rome movie, and they added a lot of garbage to it - pigs running loose and unsavory types loitering around. These elements added to or implied a 'functionality' aspect of city life that is often missing.
That's not to say that a city is about garbage and pigs and unsavory types. A friend who was with me at the convention pointed out that cities are inspiring and wonderful and hopeful places. This should not be overlooked just to incorporate an underbelly to the setting.
The best answer came from Cecil B. DeMille, movie maker from the classic period of the 1940-1960s. He was once asked what his extras were doing, and replied that each one had a story for what they were doing in each scene. The extras! They had made up a little story. For example, one person was on her way to have the heel of her shoe fixed at the local department store in the scene. She even had a shoe with a broken heel in her handbag. The reporter was astonished at this level of detail that the great DeMille demanded even from the extras. But the result in every scene was a setting that felt 'lived in.'
Tomorrow I'm going to breakfast at a little hole in the wall breakfast place on Market Street in San Francisco. The last time I was there, a suite of construction workers (who'd already been at work a couple of hours before this breakfast jaunt) stood in line behind me. More city people on their way to work will be there. And as mundane as it seems, for those few moments I'll feel like part of a community, living and sharing the same experiences; comfortable as an old pair of boots. What a joy!
What is it about cities that compels the imagination? Outlying rural or suburban areas exhibit certain regular patterns of not only peaceful patterns of travel, but also of behavior. A city seems to be filled with chaotic babble, and frenetic jostling. Tall buildings and narrow streets lend an aura of mystery - of nooks and crannies to the setting. As if secrets can be kept. Secrets that would be all exposed in a rural or suburban setting.
This brings to mind a panel that I visited a few weekends ago at LOSCON, the convention of literary science fiction and fantasy. I wrote about the panel Is Steampunk Anachronistic? a few days ago. This panel was called Mean Streets as a Setting for Science Fiction and Fantasy.
The first thing everyone wanted to know was -- how can you have 'mean streets' in a fantasy? Isn't the point to have a 'fantastic' or magical setting? Why would you need 'mean' streets?
The answer, of course, is to create authenticity for an imaginary place.
The panel brought up two environments - the 'classic' fantasy city/setting vs a real city setting such as London or Chicago (either present or past). Examples of classic fantasy cities include: Oz; Courasant (Star Wars); Mos Eisley (also from Star Wars); Metropolis (Superman); Gotham City (Batman); Gondor (Lord of the Rings). Only a few of these 'classic' cities feel like real cities.
One panelist mentioned that even as a kid, he knew that 'Oz' was not a real city. Why? Because there was no one around to pick up the trash. Who ran the fire department? Munchkinland was more 'real' than OZ because you had a sense that there were different normal/routine functions that were being taken care of. Likewise, Mos Eisley is a 'real' city, while Courasant is not.
Why would Marvel Comics put Spiderman in a real New York City rather than either a Metropolis-like city or a Gotham-like city? Because it adds the extra spice of authenticity that neither one of the other analogs possess.
One panelist mentioned that the best depiction of Rome is in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To the Forum- the movie. They had found a set that had already been used for a big Rome movie, and they added a lot of garbage to it - pigs running loose and unsavory types loitering around. These elements added to or implied a 'functionality' aspect of city life that is often missing.
That's not to say that a city is about garbage and pigs and unsavory types. A friend who was with me at the convention pointed out that cities are inspiring and wonderful and hopeful places. This should not be overlooked just to incorporate an underbelly to the setting.
The best answer came from Cecil B. DeMille, movie maker from the classic period of the 1940-1960s. He was once asked what his extras were doing, and replied that each one had a story for what they were doing in each scene. The extras! They had made up a little story. For example, one person was on her way to have the heel of her shoe fixed at the local department store in the scene. She even had a shoe with a broken heel in her handbag. The reporter was astonished at this level of detail that the great DeMille demanded even from the extras. But the result in every scene was a setting that felt 'lived in.'
Tomorrow I'm going to breakfast at a little hole in the wall breakfast place on Market Street in San Francisco. The last time I was there, a suite of construction workers (who'd already been at work a couple of hours before this breakfast jaunt) stood in line behind me. More city people on their way to work will be there. And as mundane as it seems, for those few moments I'll feel like part of a community, living and sharing the same experiences; comfortable as an old pair of boots. What a joy!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
writing & science: Deux et Machina and the Dawn of the Cambrian era
Hi everyone!
I wrote a little story this month for the online science fiction magazine: i09
reference: http://io9.com/
Last month i09 called for stories that deal with environmental disaster, whether caused by random asteroid impacts or oil drilling accidents. i09 believes that the first step to solving planet-scale problems is to assess, honestly and critically, what it would mean to experience such a disaster. We need mental models that can help policy-makers, researchers, and individuals prepare for the kinds of cataclysmic events that have occurred regularly throughout Earth's history.
This is a great start. I agree with the magazine that a good way to lay the groundwork for progress against environmental disasters is stories that make people think. I decided to do a story from the deep past of Earth's history, drawing on some knowledge I have as a planetary scientist.
In Earth's history, science tells us there have been three great environmental disasters - the disaster that precipitated the formation of the eucaryotic cell, the lime disaster, and the rise of Oxygen. This story is a light-hearted (hopefully) look at the response of a bunch of jelly-fish when called upon to take personal action to mitigate the lime disaster.
The story is pretty heavy with biological 'buzz' words. A brief glossary is included at the end of the story. What happened, to the best of our knowledge, is this:
600 million years ago vast amounts of calcium carbonate (sort of like bicarbonate of soda, but with calcium) began to precipitate spontaneously out of the sea. The crisis was caused by carbon saturation of the sea water – carbon dioxide passing through the water in the presence of calcium, reacted to form calcium carbonate, or lime. Resultant encrustations, or pile up of the solid precipitate to form a crust, constituted a hazard for life in the ocean.
In response, the biota developed a range of potent chemical inhibitors, including a mucus that inhibited calcification. The same anti-calcifying mucus that protected the soft tissues from encrustation helped skeleton formation by keeping calcium crystallization organized. Thus, with strong intervention by organisms, the production of limestone in the open sea, and therefore a key part of the carbon cycle, was brought under biological control at a critical juncture in evolution – just before the start of the Cambrian biological explosion.
The story is told 'steampunk' style. Steampunk is a send-up of the Victorian era. It is sometimes called 'retro-futuristic' because it looks back, but with a modern twist. Examples include The Wild Wild West, the movie & tv show. Steampunk is from the era of Jules Verne, where there were mad scientists, ladies with parasols, adventurers with goggles on, and an inquisitive desire to solve problems mechanically (see my blog post from earlier today.)
In this story I also built in a little spoof of the movie A Clockwork Orange (since steampunk as a general rule has a fascination with clocks and gears - the technology of that period - and the title included a reference to clockwork). I called the story A Clockwork Lime: How the World got Stuck with Lime-repellant Mucus 500 million years ago – or The Strange Tale of the Original Carbon Problem
What's interesting to me is that a writer is not supposed to resort to 'Deus ex machina,' or as someone recently blogged, putting the onus on God, as a plot device, to solve a problem. Any miracles must arise from the guts of the story. As a writer, I didn't violate this rule; I invoked a mad scientist to solve the problem. But in real life, there was no mad scientist.
I wrote a little story this month for the online science fiction magazine: i09
reference: http://io9.com/
Last month i09 called for stories that deal with environmental disaster, whether caused by random asteroid impacts or oil drilling accidents. i09 believes that the first step to solving planet-scale problems is to assess, honestly and critically, what it would mean to experience such a disaster. We need mental models that can help policy-makers, researchers, and individuals prepare for the kinds of cataclysmic events that have occurred regularly throughout Earth's history.
This is a great start. I agree with the magazine that a good way to lay the groundwork for progress against environmental disasters is stories that make people think. I decided to do a story from the deep past of Earth's history, drawing on some knowledge I have as a planetary scientist.
In Earth's history, science tells us there have been three great environmental disasters - the disaster that precipitated the formation of the eucaryotic cell, the lime disaster, and the rise of Oxygen. This story is a light-hearted (hopefully) look at the response of a bunch of jelly-fish when called upon to take personal action to mitigate the lime disaster.
The story is pretty heavy with biological 'buzz' words. A brief glossary is included at the end of the story. What happened, to the best of our knowledge, is this:
600 million years ago vast amounts of calcium carbonate (sort of like bicarbonate of soda, but with calcium) began to precipitate spontaneously out of the sea. The crisis was caused by carbon saturation of the sea water – carbon dioxide passing through the water in the presence of calcium, reacted to form calcium carbonate, or lime. Resultant encrustations, or pile up of the solid precipitate to form a crust, constituted a hazard for life in the ocean.
In response, the biota developed a range of potent chemical inhibitors, including a mucus that inhibited calcification. The same anti-calcifying mucus that protected the soft tissues from encrustation helped skeleton formation by keeping calcium crystallization organized. Thus, with strong intervention by organisms, the production of limestone in the open sea, and therefore a key part of the carbon cycle, was brought under biological control at a critical juncture in evolution – just before the start of the Cambrian biological explosion.
The story is told 'steampunk' style. Steampunk is a send-up of the Victorian era. It is sometimes called 'retro-futuristic' because it looks back, but with a modern twist. Examples include The Wild Wild West, the movie & tv show. Steampunk is from the era of Jules Verne, where there were mad scientists, ladies with parasols, adventurers with goggles on, and an inquisitive desire to solve problems mechanically (see my blog post from earlier today.)
In this story I also built in a little spoof of the movie A Clockwork Orange (since steampunk as a general rule has a fascination with clocks and gears - the technology of that period - and the title included a reference to clockwork). I called the story A Clockwork Lime: How the World got Stuck with Lime-repellant Mucus 500 million years ago – or The Strange Tale of the Original Carbon Problem
What's interesting to me is that a writer is not supposed to resort to 'Deus ex machina,' or as someone recently blogged, putting the onus on God, as a plot device, to solve a problem. Any miracles must arise from the guts of the story. As a writer, I didn't violate this rule; I invoked a mad scientist to solve the problem. But in real life, there was no mad scientist.
Writing: Award Winner!
I have won my first award! The Versatile Blogger Award. Oh yeah, Oh yeah. And my synopsis for People of the Lie just won second place in the MERWA contest!!
One of my favorite bloggers tagged me for this. I'm so honored, because I adore this writer - solely from her blogs. Haven't picked up her books yet, but am intrigued by those published by Siren publishing: Captured, Daughters of Persephone, and All Four One. Her name is Julia Rachel Barrett.
From what I can figure out, the history of this award is as follows: BLHMistress over at Book Lover’s Hideaway awarded it to The Creative Well who awarded it to Sugar Beats Books who in turn awarded it to Julia Rachel Barrett. Thanks Julia for awarding it to me!
As a 'taggie' I must do the following:
1) Share 7 things about myself. (LOL)
2) Pass this award on to 15 other bloggers recently discovered. (cool)
3) Notifiy the recipients. (You know who you are)
4) Link the blogger who gave this award. (see shout-out above!)
Here're seven things about myself that I don't advertise to everyone (Oops!):
1. Now that I am a scientist, I hardly ever read science fiction (gotta change that!).
2. One of my favorite bucket-list things was going to fashion week in New York with my sister (the fashion reporter), and pretending to be a journalist so as to see the fashions.
3. Another one of my favorite bucket-list things was going to Centre Court Wimbledon.
4. I am a huge Jane Austen geek.
5. One of my favorite movies is Bambi II (because Patrick Stewart is the Great Prince!).
6. I never listen to my own voice on the voice-mail nor watch myself if I'm on TV.
7. My biggest high in this life (besides being a scientist) is galloping a horse through the forest and taking jumps.
Now for the 15. Fifteen is a lot, but believe it or not, I've gotten familiar with the blog-o-sphere, and some of these spots are fast becoming my favorites!
Preternatura! (Suzanne Johnson)
One Writer's Way (Beth Rissel)
Writerly So (Deanna Cameron)
Planet Furaha (speculative biology) (Gert van Dijk)
Paranormality (Lynda Hilburn)
Rosalie Lario (Rosalie Lario)
Suzanne Lazear (Suzanne Lazear)
Around the Writer's Block (Nina Pierce)
The Steampunk Writers Guild (Lia Keyes)
Reading the Past (Sarah Johnson)
Silver Goggles
Archeologist's Guide to the Galaxy
One of my favorite bloggers tagged me for this. I'm so honored, because I adore this writer - solely from her blogs. Haven't picked up her books yet, but am intrigued by those published by Siren publishing: Captured, Daughters of Persephone, and All Four One. Her name is Julia Rachel Barrett.
From what I can figure out, the history of this award is as follows: BLHMistress over at Book Lover’s Hideaway awarded it to The Creative Well who awarded it to Sugar Beats Books who in turn awarded it to Julia Rachel Barrett. Thanks Julia for awarding it to me!
As a 'taggie' I must do the following:
1) Share 7 things about myself. (LOL)
2) Pass this award on to 15 other bloggers recently discovered. (cool)
3) Notifiy the recipients. (You know who you are)
4) Link the blogger who gave this award. (see shout-out above!)
Here're seven things about myself that I don't advertise to everyone (Oops!):
1. Now that I am a scientist, I hardly ever read science fiction (gotta change that!).
2. One of my favorite bucket-list things was going to fashion week in New York with my sister (the fashion reporter), and pretending to be a journalist so as to see the fashions.
3. Another one of my favorite bucket-list things was going to Centre Court Wimbledon.
4. I am a huge Jane Austen geek.
5. One of my favorite movies is Bambi II (because Patrick Stewart is the Great Prince!).
6. I never listen to my own voice on the voice-mail nor watch myself if I'm on TV.
7. My biggest high in this life (besides being a scientist) is galloping a horse through the forest and taking jumps.
Now for the 15. Fifteen is a lot, but believe it or not, I've gotten familiar with the blog-o-sphere, and some of these spots are fast becoming my favorites!
writing: Steampunk Panel Report from LOSCON, 2010
LOSCON is a science fiction and fantasy convention that took place at the LA airport Marriott hotel the week of Thanksgiving. There were quite a few panels on Steampunk. I went to this one:
Title of session: Is Steampunk Anachronistic?
generic answer from the whole panel: Yes!
Question - is it even possible? giant airships? corsets outside of your dress?
The panel seemed to agree that steampunk was more a style than a specific code
or lexicon for writing a book. But there can be disconnects in which the
anachronisms are more egegious than at other times. In particular the panel
felt that historical or technical anachronisms were much more acceptable than
behavioral anachronisms. And that comedy made the anachronisms more acceptable
than in other forms of literature.
Examples cited by the panel for disconnects included (a) in Wild Wild West, the
movie with Will Smith (an African American in the title role), that as soon as
the movie brought up the civil war, and that the civil war was fought for the
reasons it was fought for, then the movie did not work anymore. [And the panel
made lots of jokes about giant mechanical spiders]. Also Wild Wild West, the
movie, had a fully integrated Chinese female character who the panel called into
question after the civil war reference. (b) in Pirates of the Caribbean, where
the female character asks someone on the beach 'Are you OK?' Or another movie
about Easter Island in which one survivor tells another 'OK, let's focus...' (c)
The Great Race was cited as a really bad anachronism.
Don't take 21rst century characters and dress them in period costume and call
it steampunk.
The panel said that an author needs to have some sort of 'cover' for their
anachronism -- it need be no longer than a single sentence long, but it must
exist or the reader will think it is an 'imaginary' story. You need to be like
a fraudulent policeman, who at least presents a fake badge to simulate a
reality. Anachronism can come along if the author is sloppy about their 'cover'
These comments begged two questions -- (1) if you have period characters, and
stick to it, how do you appeal to 21rst century sympathies? (2) Can you have
Steampunk at all if you get rid of all the anachronisms? the panel's response:
Leviathan is an excellent example of a steampunk story that does not make use of
20th century characterizations. also, just as there is a certain degree of
'accepted' science in comic books - Kryptonite, and the very fact that Superman
is in most respects 'Human' -- so there is a certain acceptance of anachronsim
in steampunk. The trick is to keep/make it credible/consistent; to stretch the
reader's gullibility without making it an alternate history (which is a
different genre).
Anachronisms in costume: Victorian clothing was very restrictive, but an
Adventurous, pragmatic female protagonist would abandon certain clothing. so
some of the clothing choices can be made consistent with character.
There were lots of other interesting comments, but I found this one to be a take
away from the session - that Americans are fixated on How Things Work. And in
contemporary life we are moving away from being able to obviously 'see' the
working mechanisms of things. Take the iPhone. It has a touchpad, and how it
works is largely invisible. The automobile that you might have been able to fix
yourself 20-30 year ago, is now only diagnosable with a computer. So steampunk
might be thought of as a harkening back to a time when the mechanisms were more
tangible and accessible to the average person.
Also - there's a steampunk Star Trek on Youtube
Title of session: Is Steampunk Anachronistic?
generic answer from the whole panel: Yes!
Question - is it even possible? giant airships? corsets outside of your dress?
The panel seemed to agree that steampunk was more a style than a specific code
or lexicon for writing a book. But there can be disconnects in which the
anachronisms are more egegious than at other times. In particular the panel
felt that historical or technical anachronisms were much more acceptable than
behavioral anachronisms. And that comedy made the anachronisms more acceptable
than in other forms of literature.
Examples cited by the panel for disconnects included (a) in Wild Wild West, the
movie with Will Smith (an African American in the title role), that as soon as
the movie brought up the civil war, and that the civil war was fought for the
reasons it was fought for, then the movie did not work anymore. [And the panel
made lots of jokes about giant mechanical spiders]. Also Wild Wild West, the
movie, had a fully integrated Chinese female character who the panel called into
question after the civil war reference. (b) in Pirates of the Caribbean, where
the female character asks someone on the beach 'Are you OK?' Or another movie
about Easter Island in which one survivor tells another 'OK, let's focus...' (c)
The Great Race was cited as a really bad anachronism.
Don't take 21rst century characters and dress them in period costume and call
it steampunk.
The panel said that an author needs to have some sort of 'cover' for their
anachronism -- it need be no longer than a single sentence long, but it must
exist or the reader will think it is an 'imaginary' story. You need to be like
a fraudulent policeman, who at least presents a fake badge to simulate a
reality. Anachronism can come along if the author is sloppy about their 'cover'
These comments begged two questions -- (1) if you have period characters, and
stick to it, how do you appeal to 21rst century sympathies? (2) Can you have
Steampunk at all if you get rid of all the anachronisms? the panel's response:
Leviathan is an excellent example of a steampunk story that does not make use of
20th century characterizations. also, just as there is a certain degree of
'accepted' science in comic books - Kryptonite, and the very fact that Superman
is in most respects 'Human' -- so there is a certain acceptance of anachronsim
in steampunk. The trick is to keep/make it credible/consistent; to stretch the
reader's gullibility without making it an alternate history (which is a
different genre).
Anachronisms in costume: Victorian clothing was very restrictive, but an
Adventurous, pragmatic female protagonist would abandon certain clothing. so
some of the clothing choices can be made consistent with character.
There were lots of other interesting comments, but I found this one to be a take
away from the session - that Americans are fixated on How Things Work. And in
contemporary life we are moving away from being able to obviously 'see' the
working mechanisms of things. Take the iPhone. It has a touchpad, and how it
works is largely invisible. The automobile that you might have been able to fix
yourself 20-30 year ago, is now only diagnosable with a computer. So steampunk
might be thought of as a harkening back to a time when the mechanisms were more
tangible and accessible to the average person.
Also - there's a steampunk Star Trek on Youtube
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Preternatura: Revising 101: My Top Tips
Preternatura: Revising 101: My Top Tips: "I have a confession to make. I find writing painful. Birthing words is hard labor. But I LOVE revising. Am I weird, or do others of you fe..."
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Preternatura: What Editors Do, and What Editors Don't
Preternatura: What Editors Do, and What Editors Don't: "Okay, this is my opinion, based on my experiences--and your mileage may vary. But in the course of talking to writers and editors and bloggi..."
Monday, November 1, 2010
Castles & Guns: Guest Blogger Suzanne Lazear
Castles & Guns: Guest Blogger Suzanne Lazear: "It’s Not Just Gadgets and Goggles: Elements of a Steampunk Novel Steampunk has become quite the buzzword. As a Steampunk writer and book b..."
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