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The Opportunity

Scientific progress makes moral progress a necessity; for if man’s power is increased, the checks that restrain him from abusing it must be strengthened.
- Madame de Stael

Science fiction is often credited with being the forerunner of invention. We were going to the Moon and to Mars and the asteroids in our fiction long before 1969. Cell phones, tablets and Siri were all foreshadowed by Star Trek. Nuclear powered submarines? Jules Verne, baby! The technological progress we’ve made that was foreshadowed and inspired by science fiction is nothing if not inspiring.

This is a preview of The Opportunity. Read the full post (635 words, estimated 2:32 mins reading time)

I can’t be right.

The thing about the most recent kerfuffle (and yeah, I’m using that word on purpose) in the SFWA writing community is, there’s no good answer here. People on both sides have interesting points, I care about and respect people on both sides.

And if you haven’t heard about the kerfuffle, count your blessings. 

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The Other Side of the Coin

Today, I want to talk a little about language. I happened onto a twitter fight (one of the few things I find twitter is still good for is watching people talk past each other at 140 characters) yesterday where one of my twitter friends – someone I respect but with whom I find myself often disagreeing – had said something about how soda pop was poison. Which got another of my twitter friends – someone else I respect but with whom I find myself often disagreeing (I must be a very disagreeable person), really really upset.

Why?

Well, that’s a good question. I can’t answer for my twitter friend. I can tell you that I thought it was a gross and inappropriate use of language.

This is a preview of The Other Side of the Coin. Read the full post (608 words, estimated 2:26 mins reading time)

Goals, Motivation, Confusion.

There’s a lot of talk out there about goals. I keep hearing people talk about them, and the advice is sometimes a little contradictory.

You should tell everyone about your goals so that you build up some accountability!

You should tell no one about your goals so that you’re more likely to actually do them!

Goals need to be big, hairy, and audacious!

Goals need to be specific, measurable, actionable, reasonable, and… I forget what the T is. Time-focused? On a deadline?

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Who needs a weekend project?

With the day job, I find myself around a lot of very interesting characters – some crazy smart people. Which is always good.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I hang out with crazy smart people every time I’m with my wife. I read crazy smart people on the internet. I listen to crazy smart people in the podcast. But there’s something about being around someone who is crazy smart face to face that’s just different.

So, one of the things that FIP always talked about but never really got off the ground was RSS delivery of ebooks. The delivery is probably pretty simple – it’s an RSS feed, and the ebook is provided via a link or an enclosure, like a podcast. So that’s not that difficult to set up. The hard part is how to catch it and make it automatically readable on your computer, your e-reader, your phone, or your tablet. And that means building some kind of app.

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Shakeups

I have just made the official announcement on the Galley Table podcast, which will be up on Youtube later, but I should mention it here also.

Effective a week ago, I stepped down as managing editor of FlagShip and Flying Island Press. Reasons are many, and I won’t go into them here. As for anyone looking to submit new stories, FlagShip is on hiatus for now while the team determines how to proceed. They are in discussions now.

This is a preview of Shakeups. Read the full post (527 words, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)
Used under Creative Commons license from http://www.flickr.com/photos/esjay/3091108140/

Dig In. Pull.

Used under Creative Commons license from http://www.flickr.com/photos/esjay/3091108140/Lately, the news has been nothing but doom and gloom.

Doom and Gloom.

Doom and Gloom.

DOOM AND GLOOM.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting a little tired of unrelenting, unremitting tons of metaphorical dirt being shoveled on top of my metaphorical head.

Hey, Guys! I’m not dead! I think I’ll go for a walk! I feel happy! I feel happy!

Clonk

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Market Devolution, and Brie

The other day, as I was tootling around the internets, I happened upon a very quick exchange between one of my favorite authors and some random dude. They were talking about Kickstarter.

Kickstarter, said the author, isn’t charity. It’s an open market. Open to everyone. If you like something, kick in and contribute. Promote. And if you don’t? Stay away. No skin off your nose, no burr under your saddle. Move on, nothing to see here.

The second guy jumped in and said something that I thought was interesting. He said, in essence, “Sure. And like all other open markets, it will devolve to the most average, most generic, most commercial products possible.”

This is a preview of Market Devolution, and Brie. Read the full post (625 words, estimated 2:30 mins reading time)

What’s scary about this?

Reading David Farland’s Million Dollar Outlines, and liked the first exercise so much I thought I’d post it here.
It’s easy enough.
Sit down for ten minutes.
Think of five things you most like in your fiction. Then identify what you think is the biggest potential danger in trying to create that effect.
1.a sense of wonder and excitement.
I worry that it won’t translate, or that I will come across as a rube or a hick.
2. I like seeing a hero win against impossible odds.
This is tricky, because the temptation is twofold. Maybe I will make things too easy for my heroes, and they’ll never have to struggle or be in real peril. Or maybe I will make things too hard, and he either won’t win, or the ending will be contrived and unauthentic.
3.I like seeing a good love story.
But with today’s culture being what it is, I worry that people will think of my stories as being too prudish. And being able to separate love and sex is growing increasingly difficult for this culture.
4. I like big battles, explosions, and action.
It’s hard to keep track of what’s going on, and to convey the appropriate amount of peril. See 2.
5. I like big ideas in my fiction – I love Starship Troopers and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and The War Against the Chtorr books specifically because of the super-interesting ideas in them. But it’s hard to do that without coming across as preachy and didactic. And those same ideas may alienate potential audience members.

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Breadcrumbs

I wrote Battlehymn with a vague inkling of where it might be headed. I borrowed from a number of places including LDS scriptures, the works of John Ringo, Macross Frontier, etc. And I wrote it pretty quick – it was a NaNoWriMo novel, after all, and the whole think clocks in just north of 60k words.

I finally sat down and wrote a good chunk of what’s left in book 2 – Lamentations tonight. (Yeah, I know, the goal was 3k a day, I’m a week behind, I know. That’s still what I’m shooting for. Which will get harder starting Monday when I start a new contract job for a few months.)

This is a preview of Breadcrumbs. Read the full post (372 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)