Notes from the Booze in Space Panel, at Archon 47 This past weekend I was at the Archon47 science fiction convention, and was a speaker on several panels. By far the best attended panel I sat on was titled: Booze In Space! “The panel description states: Alcoholic beverages are frequently…
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Science Fiction, Fantasy, and the Messy In Between
Where’s the dividing line? Executive Summary You’re busy, so here’s the main points of this essay, laid out and best understood by reference to the accompanying diagram. Science fiction and fantasy both shelter under the umbrella of speculative fiction. Which encompasses even crazier stuff than you typically find in the…
Risky Business
Consider yourself warned. Talking to a writer is risky business. We should come with a hazard sticker; “Be Advised! Anything you say may be used in my work.” Simply put, there are only three sources for what a writer puts down on paper. First is imagination, which,…
In My Back Pocket
Ancient Roman mosaic, buckled by earthquake, https://www.world-archaeology.com/features/discovering-roman-mosaics/ During the battle of Waterloo, Wellington, the British commander, is reported to have said to his staff, “I saw this ground last year, and kept it in my back pocket since.” (https://gjscloset.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/meet-your-waterloo/) Meaning that his keen military mind had made note of…
Fun With Physics and the Internet
For an upcoming novel, the narrative demanded that a character be flung off of an asteroid, and spend about 30 minutes falling back to the surface, because of the lower gravity involved. As originally written, the chapter is set on the asteroid Ceres. However, a little voice in the…
Rudyard Kipling, Father of Steam Punk?
Did Rudyard Kipling invent steam punk? Arguably, yes. The other day, an online post took me back to my high school days, when I stayed up through one Saturday night to finish an anthology of Kipling stories. That must have been an earlier collection than the one edited…
Fool’s Paradise Snippet
Here’s a snippet from the first chapter of my stand alone novel, Fool’s Paradise. It’s the tale of an interstellar freelance operative, who is hired to retrieve something of value from a planet which has descended into chaos. Before long, he figures out the job is going to be a…
Revolting Characters
Image: The Wizard of ID, The Peasants Are Revolting I have a serious problem, with revolting characters. Upon starting to write fiction, I discovered that there are several different ways to plan out a story. The most logical is just that. Write down an outline of how the…