Science of the Week, 12/18/15

At long last, The Force Awakens! My family and I were supposed to see the movie last night, but since my son had his tae-kwon-do test then, we had to reschedule. Luckily we were able to get tickets for this evening. No spoilers, please!

Anyway, here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Helping others dampens the effects of everyday stress

New microscope create near-real-time videos of nanoscale process

U mad bro? Computers now know when you're angry

New results from world's most sensitive dark matter detector

Humans evolved to get better sleep in less time
(This doesn't explain my insomnia, though)

Fish oil helps transform fat cells from storage to burning

I'm not sure yet how much blogging I'll do over the holidays. While I have the next two weeks off, I expect to spend most of my time taking care of household chores and my son, seeing family, and writing/editing. I need to plan some down time for myself too. Whatever you have planned for the rest of the month, enjoy it!

Age and Creativity

Despite my busy schedule over the weekend, I managed to read Susan Kaye Quinn's The Legacy Human, first part of the Singularity series. It's about a teenage boy who's an artist, and he has to compete against other teenage artists for the chance to win immortality not just for himself, but for his dying mother. It's a good book,fast-paced and thought-provoking, and it's the current front-runner for my Hugo nomination. However, one of the issue it makes me think about might not be what Quinn had in mind.

In her world, teens compete to ascend (be transferred to an augmented state) because they're most likely to survive the process. Given that the youths apparently don't have to work or go to school (which could explain some of the problems in their society), it's plausible that they could practice enough to master their art. But what kind of life experiences or perspectives can one accumulate in less than two decades? Is this system fair to the late bloomers--assuming that the losers or those not picked for the competition would bother continuing their art with no hope of the big reward? Even a prodigy like Mozart benefited from maturity. Perhaps as a middle-aged writer, I'd rather read about characters closer to my age, ones more likely to inspire me, than ones I'm now old enough to parent. There are certainly real-life examples of people being creative at every stage of life, from Mozart to Grandma Moses.

Do you feel age makes a difference in creativity? Do you think it's harder to have a creative mind as one gets older? Alternatively, how does one preserve a creative mindset as one gets older. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Science of the Week, 12/11/15

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

First worldwide survey of religion and science: No, not all scientists are atheists

Rudeness at work is contagious

Study undercuts idea that "Medieval Warm Period" was global


I'm afraid that's it for this week. This weekend is going to be very busy for me. My family is making two appearances to support Toys for Tots, we're going to a Science Night at our local museum, my son has a chess tournament tomorrow, and we're taking a special train ride with Santa on Sunday. I really hope things slow down a bit, or at least give me time to write. Hope your weekend isn't too hectic!

Deathbushes and Mixups

Books Three and Four of the Season Avatars series each feature a different Avatar as the main character. Book Three, Chaos Season, stars Jenna, the Avatar of Summer, as the viewpoint character, while in Book Four, Fifth Season,the viewpoint shifts to Ysabel, Avatar of Fall. Jenna's magic centers on plants, while Ysabel's magic revolves around animals. Perhaps it's not surprising both of them will face a unique plant or animal unlike anything they've encountered before. The difficult part is choosing what names to give these new species.

My current name for the plant Jenna must deal with is "deathbush." It grows very quickly, thrives in conditions that would kill other plants, and has poisonous thorns. It's not based on a single real plant (though they smell like thyme) but was inspired by a combination of undesirable traits.

Ysabel names the creatures she finds "mixups," since they're a mixture of reptile and bird. I based it on troodons, the dinosaur with the greatest brain-body ratio and therefore supposedly the most intelligent. Since this is a fantasy world, I may modify them a little to make them bigger and more intimidating, or possibly give them other features too.

As readers, what do you think of these names? I like the idea of using compound words, since they are descriptive. While "deathbush" doesn't sound too bad to me, I wonder if "mixup" downplays the threat factor of the animals. Since both of these book are still in the first draft/revision phase, I can alter the names without affecting the other books in the series. Please let me know if you think I should keep or change these names. If you have ideas for new names, feel free to suggest them. If I pick a name you suggested, you'll be mentioned in the Acknowledgements section of the appropriate book.

Science of the Week, 12/4/15

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

A horse's eye view: does a pony see what we see?
(This article also talks about the vision of chimps and dolphins.)

Increased CO2 enhances plankton growth, opposite of what was expected
(No mention of how they compensate for reduced levels of calcium carbonate, which goes along with increased CO2)

Scientists get first glimpse of black hole eating star, ejecting high-speed flare

Climate can grind down mountains faster than they can rebuild

The inside story on wearable electronics

Scientists find "Cosmic Web" holding the universe together

Twitter data can make roads safer during inclement weather

 Cosmic radio bursts yield first clues about their origins

Blocking a single molecule defeats chronic fear

Researchers confirm original blood vessels in 80-million-year-old fossil

Have a good weekend, everyone, and see you Monday!

IWSG: With a Little Help from the Beatles

It's time again for the monthly post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. 

This time of year can be a sad one for Beatles fans. November 29 is the anniversary of George Harrison's death, and of course the anniversary of John Lennon's murder is coming up next week on December 8th. There's only one way to cope with the loss of these fine musicians, and that's to play their music. Every December, I treat myself to a Beatles marathon by playing all of their original albums in chronological order. That's not counting solo albums (it may be hard to believe, but I don't own all of them), bootlegs, or collections. It is a definite pick-me-up, and it makes me feel happier and more inspired. Every year I wonder why I don't do it more often.

As writers, we may become obsessed over word counts and goals. We may have other responsibilities on top of writing, duties that can drain us and disconnect us from our muses. It's important to remember to treat yourself to good things too so your creative well keeps flowing. For me, it's Beatles music. What feeds your muse? Please share in the comments.

Writing on a Smartphone

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I spent my Thanksgiving break seeing friends and family, trooping in two parades as a Jawa, and doing housework and laundry. I got some writing done, but never as much as I would like. That's why I tried writing with my smartphone this weekend. I have both Dropbox and Microsoft Office on my phone, so I saved my WIP to Dropbox and opened it on my phone. It took a while to get to the end of the document (I had to use Find on a word I'd used recently), and while I didn't have to write out whole words, formatting was more complicated. It's not as easy as writing with a regular computer, but it would be helpful for getting more writing time in--though it might compete with reading time.

Have you tried writing on a smartphone? Would you rather use that or paper?

Science of the Week, 11/27/15

If you celebrated Thanksgiving, I hope you had a great holiday.

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Later socialization can beat childhood neglect--for prairie voles

Comet fragments best explanation of mysterious dimming star

Warm temperatures worsen cardiovascular disease but not diabetes risk in mice

The search for happiness: Using MRI to find where happiness happens

Supercomputing the strange difference between matter and anti-matter

Biologists characterize new form of mRNA regulation


Have a good weekend, everyone, and see you on Monday!

A Jawa Gets Out and About

It's been nearly two months since our family made our first official appearance, or troop, as Star Wars characters. So far, we've trooped at a birthday party, a zoo, a symphony, a pet store, a library, and other places. By the end of this week, we'll have done ten troops--assuming all of us are well enough to do it, that is (Alex is sick at the moment). Here are a few photos of us in costume:

 Alex "stole" Boba Fett's blaster, but he'd better run away if he wants to keep it! (Eugene is in the background as the Imperial Gunner.)

 Alex and I play checkers. (In case the height difference isn't obvious, I'm the one on the left.)

 We found a droid! Can we keep him?

 Our new Sandcrawler comes "some assembly required."

We don't see this cold white stuff on Tattooine, but it sure is fun to throw around! (I'm the one about to throw a snowball at Alex on the ground. Eugene is at extreme left.)









Despite the trooping, I have nearly 55,000 words in Fifth Season and am up to revising Chapter Four in Chaos Season. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more writing done over Thanksgiving.

What do you do to get out and about?

Science of the Week, 11/20/15

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Programmable electronic glasses provide children effective, digital lazy eye treatment

Early Earth's haze may give clue to habitability elsewhere in space

Wedding of same-sex couples boosted U.S. economy by $813 million

Marriage, the ultimate crime fighter?

Researchers sequence genomes of parasite that is actually a "micro jellyfish"

Experimental drug targeting Alzheimer's disease shows anti-aging effects



Have a good weekend, everyone, and see you Monday! Hope you don't get any snow over the weekend; we're supposed to get several inches.

Scattered Seasons on Sale!

This week, I'm running my first Kindle Countdown promotion with Scattered Seasons. The normal price for the e-book is $3.99, but from today through 11/19, it will be $0.99. After that, it will be $2.99 until 11/23, when the price returns to normal. I have a few ads scheduled to run during the next few days. Hopefully sales and a rise in the ranks will continue through to the second stage of the countdown. We'll see if that works and if it makes sense to run a two-price sale.

In case you don't remember the premise behind this book, here's the blurb again:

Lady Gwendolyn lo Havil is an Ava Spring, born to heal others and lead the Season Avatars of her generation. Season Avatars with divine magic must work in groups of four to save the country of Challen from Chaos Season, times when all of the seasons appear at once. When the current Ava Spring dies in a riding accident, Gwen must find the other three Season Avatars she will link with. But two of them are missing, and with Gwen's own magic crippled by a cursed pottery shard, she will have to use all of her skills to find the Avatars scattered across the country of Challen. During her journey, she meets a stranger who claims to know the shard's origin. Is he truly an ally of the Season Avatars, or is he trying to stop them from uniting? 

I've made some progress editing the third book in this series, but I'm still only about 10% of the way through. The beginning did need extensive rewriting, so I hope the rest of the revision will be easier. As for Book Four, I'm currently over 52,000 words and heading for the climax. Let's see if I can finish the first draft by the end of the year!

UPDATE: Pat pointed out that the price hasn't changed. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, everyone; I didn't have this issue with the other books in Select. I've e-mailed Amazon about this and hope they will change the price very soon.

Science of the Week, 11/13/15

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Who's the "enviest" of them all?

Genetic tinkering shows promise for preventing hearing loss

A simpler way to define a planet

Great. Now there's "psychic robot" software

Asteroid ripped apart to form star's glowing ring system

That's it for now. Have a good weekend, and see you Monday!

An Interview with Jessica Therrien

 Today I have on my blog an interview with Jessica Therrien, author of the Children of the Gods series. Please welcome her!

1.    Please tell us about yourself.

Hello! My name is Jessica Therrien. I’m the author of the YA paranormal series, CHILDREN OF THE GODS. I'm a mommy to a super cute 2-year-old and a chubby wubby baby boy. My days are spent taking care of my munchkins and writing, most likely in my pajamas.

2.    Please tell us about your latest work.

REDEMPTION is the 3rd and final book in my series. Here is the jacket blurb:

Lead Council member, Christoph, is dead by Elyse’s hand, and Descendants have begun to emerge, exposing their secret to the world. Some see this as the prophecy come to fruition, but the prophecy caries a heavy consequence. It was never meant to be as peaceful as most had hoped.

Humans and Descendants struggle to live together in a world that isn’t ready for such a change. America is divided. Those who glorify the supernatural race believe Descendants truly are the gods they claim relation to. Others see them as a threat.

When Elyse gives birth to the next generation oracle, she sees one final vision—war. The destruction of the country’s major cities, and the end of America as we know it.

After her daughter is born, Elyse finds herself without the ability she needs to predict the future. Desperate to save the world from such conflict, she puts her faith in the hope that Descendants are the key to survival. After all, they have the power to supply a broken society with the means to survive.

Only from the ashes can a new world be born.


3.    What drew you to writing YA paranormal?

When the YA craze began I read through everything I could get my hands on. It was early on (I’m not sure there was even a YA section in B&N), so I was having trouble finding the next “IT” book. I got frustrated and decided I would just write it.

4.    How do you manage to write while caring for two small children?

HA!! I don’t know! The zombie-writer in me takes over at night, lol!

5.    Of all the stories you’ve written, which one is your favorite and why?

I think it’s always the latest thing I’ve written (so in this case, REDEMPTION). I feel like with each book I’ve matured as a writer, so looking back sometimes makes me cringe. I see all the imperfections and flaws in my writing style.

6.    Do you write in any other genres? If so, which ones? If not, what would you like to try?

I’m writing a pretty heavy adult novel right now…I’m not sure which genre yet, but it’s a personal story that is very close to me.

7.    Who are your favorite authors and why do you admire them?

Well, JK Rowling, of course. She had an amazing ability to captivate readers of all ages.
I also really love Moira Young (author of Dustlands). Kat Ross is a new favorite of mine.
On a more literary level, Zora Neale Hurston is amazing. I could go on and on…


8.    What’s one of the goals you hope to achieve with your writing?

Just to continue to enjoy the process. My publisher had me on a pretty tight deadline with UPRISING (Book #2) and it wasn’t much fun.

9.    What’s something people wouldn’t be able to guess about you just by looking at you?

I can speak Mandarin Chinese. I lived in Taiwan for a year and majored in Asian Studies.

About The Author

JESSICA THERRIEN spent most of her life in the small town of Chilcoot, California, high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In this town of nearly 100 residents, with no streetlights or grocery stores, there was little to do but find ways to be creative. Her mother, the local English teacher, inspired her to do all things artistic, and ultimately instilled in her a love for language. Jessica currently lives in Southern California with her husband and their two children.

You can visit her online at
www.jessicatherrien.com

Lead Council member, Christoph, is dead by Elyse’s hand, and Descendants have begun to emerge, exposing their secret to the world. Some see this as the prophecy come to fruition, but the prophecy caries a heavy consequence. It was never meant to be as peaceful as most had hoped.

Humans and Descendants struggle to live together in a world that isn’t ready for such a change. America is divided. Those who glorify the supernatural race believe Descendants truly are the gods they claim relation to. Others see them as a threat.

When Elyse gives birth to the next generation oracle, she sees one final vision—war. The destruction of the country’s major cities, and the end of America as we know it.

After her daughter is born, Elyse finds herself without the ability she needs to predict the future. Desperate to save the world from such conflict, she puts her faith in the hope that Descendants are the key to survival. After all, they have the power to supply a broken society with the means to survive.

Only from the ashes can a new world be born.

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE (Links available soon)

Elyse’s Story…

OPPRESSION (Book #1)

UPRISING (Book #2)

REDEMPTION (Book #3)

The Children of the Gods Series

A Farewell to Smashwords?

When I published Lyon's Legacy in 2011, the first place it went live was on Smashwords. If you're not familiar with Smashwords, it's an e-book distributor that not only makes books available on B&N, Apple, Kobo, and several others, but also sells e-books directly in many formats. (This is handled through their infamous Meatgrinder, a program that converts books in Word into different formats. I haven't had major problems with it, but I know some authors have.) In some ways, Smashwords is a competitor of Amazon Select, which requires authors to make their content exclusive to Amazon in exchange for certain perks. Unfortunately, for me at least, Smashwords isn't an effective place to sell my books. Even with Lyon's Legacy being permafree, it's difficult to sell any books directly on Smashwords or the sites it distributes to. It can take a long time for books to be distributed and even longer to remove them from distribution. Smashwords is also known for automatically opting all books into new markets, requiring authors to opt out if they don't like the terms.

Recently, an alternative distributor has popped up. Draft 2 Digital (D2D) also distributes to Kobo, B&N, and Apple, along with a couple of other sites Smashwords can't reach. They have a streamlined process for publishing books that's not only faster with distribution but easier to use. I even seem to sell better through them, and other authors have noticed the same thing.

I've quietly unpublished most of the works I had on Smashwords. Some are now exclusive to Amazon (or else I'm still waiting to make sure they're off other sales channels, months after the fact). The only books I have on Smashwords are Lyon's Legacy and Twinned Universes, and it seems to me it would be better to switch them over to D2D. The problem is dealing with Smashword's slowness and concern about how that move would affect readers. Since Lyon's Legacy is permafree, unpublishing it from Smashwords could cause Amazon to drop the price match, even if the book then becomes free through D2D. (I've thought about it and decided to keep this series out of KDP Select for now.) I also want to make sure readers know about the transition in advance before I do anything.

I'm therefore giving notice to my readers that I will unpublish Lyon's Legacy and Twinned Universes from Smashwords by the end of the month. If you haven't downloaded them yet, you should do so soon. When I know it's down, I'll move it to D2D while keeping the same prices.

Do you have any experience with Smashwords or D2D? If so, what did you think of them?

Science of the Week, 11/6/15

Here are some of the most interesting science news articles I read this week:

Microbiomes could hold keys to improving life

Making cars of the future stronger, using less energy

NASA study: mass gains of Antarctic Ice Sheet greater than losses

Spirals in dust around young stars may betray presence of massive planets

Nuclear membrane repairs the "dark matter" of DNA 

Black hole has major flare

Scientists can now "squeeze" light, a breakthrough that could make computers millions of times faster

 Magnetic cell sensors let scientists track cells and interactions within them

Have a good weekend, and I'll see you Monday!

IWSG: First vs. Second Draft

I'm experiencing some technical difficulties with my blog at the moment, so I won't be able to post pictures or add hyperlinks. However, I didn't want to miss the Insecure Writers' Support Group this month. If I have the opportunity later, I'll go back and edit as needed.

For those who are new to this blog, I'm working on Books 3 and 4 in a fantasy series. I've finished the first draft of Book 3 but still need to revise it. However, I'm currently spending more time working on the first draft of Book 4, even though I know the priority should be publishing Book 3. In some ways, it's easier to write something new instead of revising. With first draft, the important thing is to get words down and reach the end, so they don't have to be perfect, or even good. After all, I can tell myself I can change word, phrases, or ideas in the next draft. However, once the words are down, it can be harder to change them, especially if you need to remove them and start over, as I had to do with the beginning of Book 3.

I think what I'm going to do is set aside at least one session a week for editing Book 3. In the meantime, I'll continue to work on Book 4. It would be nice to have the first draft of that book done by the end of year. Hopefully I'll be able to publish Books 3 and 4 fairly close to each other. Since this is a five-part series, it will give me some incentive to work hard on the final book so there isn't too long of a wait between Books 4 and 5.

Do you prefer working on your first draft or your second? How do you make working on your least favorite part of writing easier? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Release Day for Redemption

Jessica will be stopping by my blog on 11/11 for an interview; however, her latest book releases today. Read more about it below.

Redemption (Children of the Gods #3)

Nobody promised freedom would be peaceful…

AVAILABLE TODAY!

Lead Council member, Christoph, is dead by Elyse’s hand, and Descendants have begun to emerge, exposing their secret to the world. Some see this as the prophecy come to fruition, but the prophecy caries a heavy consequence. It was never meant to be as peaceful as most had hoped.

Humans and Descendants struggle to live together in a world that isn’t ready for such a change. America is divided. Those who glorify the supernatural race believe Descendants truly are the gods they claim relation to. Others see them as a threat.

When Elyse gives birth to the next generation oracle, she sees one final vision—war. The destruction of the country’s major cities, and the end of America as we know it.

After her daughter is born, Elyse finds herself without the ability she needs to predict the future. Desperate to save the world from such conflict, she puts her faith in the hope that Descendants are the key to survival. After all, they have the power to supply a broken society with the means to survive.

Only from the ashes can a new world be born.

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

Elyse’s Story…

OPPRESSION (Book #1) – ON SALE $0.99

UPRISING (Book #2) – ON SALE $0.99

REDEMPTION (Book #3) – AVAILABLE NOW $2.99

The Children of the Gods Series

The Descendants have waited long enough for freedom…

Rafflecopter Giveaway Link:

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/594b6e8d13/?

About The Author

JESSICA THERRIEN spent most of her life in the small town of Chilcoot, California, high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In this town of nearly 100 residents, with no streetlights or grocery stores, there was little to do but find ways to be creative. Her mother, the local English teacher, inspired her to do all things artistic, and ultimately instilled in her a love for language. Jessica currently lives in Southern California with her husband and their two children.

You can visit her online at

www.jessicatherrien.com