Sandra Ulbrich Almazan: Speculative Fiction Author

Behold The Book of Beasts!

2012-01-30T07:58:00.003-06:00

OK, it's not exactly the Eighth Wonder of the World (that would be the lost shrine of Zagawa, for those of you who have Curious George addicts in your home), but it is my latest short story. Here's the description:

Jonur, a biology student at the University of Selath, doesn't believe in demons or magic. He thinks there's a rational explanation why almost nothing lives in the area around Lake Forsaken. As he and his partner collect samples from the area, they become sick themselves. Then Jonur encounters a foreign girl with a stranger book. She claims the area is poisoned and that Jonur and his partner are now affected. However, she plans to use her book to create an animal that can neutralize the poison. Who is this girl? Can she and Jonur work together to fulfill her plan, or will she let him die?

This story is set in the same world as my current WIP, Scattered Seasons. "The Book of Beasts" is about 5,000 words long, and it also includes a bonus sample chapter from Lyon's Legacy. It's currently available as an e-book for $0.99, and you can find it on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.

Thanks to everyone who helped me with this book, particularly Meghan Derico of Derico Photography, who made the cover.

Enjoy!

Please Stand By....

2012-01-30T00:01:00.000-06:00

I should have an exciting announcement soon.

Science Experiments

2012-01-27T00:01:00.000-06:00

Normally I do a Science of the Week post on Fridays, but since I already posted about science a couple of times this week (and to be honest, I'm behind in reviewing my Science Blogs), I thought I'd give you a couple of science experiments from YouTube today. If you're a tea drinker like me, you can make yourself a tea bag rocket:

(Obviously, it helps if you use tea bags instead of loose-leaf tea.)

And liquid nitrogen is always fun:

I remember for one of my physics classes in undergrad, the professor dunked a rubber ball in nitrogen and shattered it against the wall.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Shattering The Happiness

2012-01-26T00:01:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, I was paging through my "To Read" collection on my Kindle and came across a free book I'd downloaded last month. I read a couple pages, then backed out and deleted it. No, it wasn't because the book was horribly written. The beginning featured a man and his pregnant wife, and I knew that she would die. (That's not a spoiler; it's part of the blurb. I may have subconsciously remembered that when I started the book, but I couldn't even remember the title.) I didn't want to experience her death.

We all know that happy characters make for poor fiction; they need to deal with problems to move through the story. I've certainly given my characters their share of troubles. But as a reader, when a story starts with characters in a good situation that I know won't last, I'm reluctant to break that veneer of happiness and plunge into pain. It's easier to start with them already dealing with their problems. I had the same problem with Louise Cooper's Indigo series; it started with the princess happy with her family and her betrothed. I didn't want her to ruin everything, even though there would be no story without her reckless action. I read the first couple of pages, then abandoned the book and the series.

Is this quirk unique to me, or do other people hesitate to "shatter the happiness"? Have you found books where the end justified shattering the happiness at the beginning?

Scientific American, February 2012 Issue

2012-01-25T00:01:00.000-06:00

Here are some of the most interesting stories from the February 2012 issue of Scientific American:

Is Space Digital? (are matter, information, and space linked?)

Swept from Africa to the Amazon (how dust may explain our weather and the fertility of the Amazon--the rainforest, not the bookstore!)

All Hands on Deck (citizen volunteers are helping scientists collect data about our climate from WWI ship logbooks)

The Future of Chocolate (a very important topic!)

The Brittle Star's Apprentice (a chemist draws inspiration from nature for new materials)

I hope you enjoy it!

Ten-Word Tuesday: Science Update

2012-01-24T00:01:00.000-06:00

Guess there wasn't arsenic in old bacterial DNA after all.

The Success of Failure

2012-01-23T00:01:00.002-06:00

For all of us who struggle with creativity, this article on CNN reminds us that failure is a necessary part of the process. It's better to try, fail, and learn something from it than to fear failure and never do anything. I think that's especially important for all writers now in these changing times of publishing.

Has fear ever kept you back from doing something? Did you regret it later?

Science of the Week, 1/20/12

2012-01-19T15:42:00.003-06:00

It must be time for more science.

Electron's negativity cut in half by supercomputers

Electrons are fundamental particles that can't be split. However, supercomputers allow scientists to conduct virtual experiments that do split simulated electrons apart to study their behavior. In the experiments, the electrons condensed at supercool temperatures and behaved collectively as a superfluid.

Although I read some other interesting news articles on Science Blogs, this was the only one that I felt merited a link here.

Did any of you come across some interesting science news this week? If not, did you learn something else?

Edit: Whoops, this published too early! Sorry about that. I'll just leave it here for Friday. Have a good weekend, everyone!

Writing Rewards

2012-01-19T08:02:00.002-06:00

Writing can be a lot of hard work, but it does have its own rewards. I was lucky enough to get two rewards yesterday. I got to see the cover of my next indie project, and it's much better than anything I could have done with my next-to-nothing skill with GIMP or Photoshop. Also, I'm rereading Twinned Universes before I send it to the editor. There are quite a few things I need to change or reword, but this Sandra person can turn out some readable prose. ;)

What are your writing rewards?

On the SOPAbox

2012-01-18T00:01:00.000-06:00

Some of you may have heard of SOPA, the Stop Piracy Online Act, and PIPA, the Project IP Act, controversial anti-piracy bills. If you want to learn more about these bills, you can check out some articles here and here.

I'm all for protecting the rights of content creators--I'm one of them--but the language of these bills is murky when it comes to defining pirate sites. To quote from the CNN article, "A site could be deemed a SOPA scofflaw if it takes 'deliberate actions to avoid confirming a high probability' that its service will be used for copyright infringement." SOPA was originally written to require that sites with pirated content have their domains blocked. My understanding is that this language was removed from SOPA but is still present in PIPA, and PIPA is farther along in the legislative process than SOPA. Wikipedia is supposed to go dark today in protest of these bills, as are several of the blogs I follow. (I learned about this protest here.)

I'm not going dark because I believe it's better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness. If you want to protest this bill, support Wikipedia with a donation or go here. The link will give you other ways to counter this bill, including contacting your elected representatives and senators.

How do you feel about SOPA/PIPA? Too much, or a needed counter to piracy?

Ten-Word Tuesday: Days Off

2012-01-17T00:01:00.000-06:00

I always spend more time on household chores than writing.

Time Traveling with Broad Universe

2012-01-16T00:01:00.000-06:00

I think I've mentioned on this blog before that I'm a member of Broad Universe, an organization dedicated to promoting women writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. One of the activities they do every month is host a podcast with a specific theme. Since this month's theme is time travel, I volunteered to read from Lyon's Legacy. Other readers include S.A. Bolich, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Pauline Baird Jones, and Justine Graykin. Roxanne Bland is the hostess, and Justine Graykin put it all together. You can listen to it here, and don't forget to check out Broad Universe here.

Science of the Week, 1/13/12

2012-01-13T00:01:00.001-06:00

It feels like a long time since I've done one of these posts. So, did you hear about the world's smallest frog or the first chimeric monkeys yet?

Here are some of the most interesting science articles I found on Science Blogs this week:

Almost Perfect: Researcher Nears Creation of Superlens

Global Warming caused by Greenhouse Gases Delays Onset of Next Ice Age

Seeing Quantum Mechanics with the Naked Eye

Three Small Planets Found Outside Our Solar System

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Amazon Pricing Issue Fixed

2012-01-12T08:12:00.002-06:00

I saw it yesterday, after I got an e-mail from them saying they would check into the issue.

Not much else to add today, other than I need to get to work so I can leave at a reasonable time (we're supposed to get a lot of snow this afternoon) and that I should reach 50,000 words in my first draft of Scattered Seasons today.

Have a good day!

Mapping Dark Matter

2012-01-11T00:01:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, there was an article online at Scientific American discussing scientists' efforts to map dark matter in space. If you're not familiar with dark matter, don't worry; no one really is. It's material that can interact with ordinary matter through gravity but is otherwise undetectable. Dark matter may make up as much as 98% of the universe, but it doesn't seem to be present on Earth, only in space.

Although I'm no expert on this branch of science, I find it fascinating that there's so much out there we don't know about yet. If scientists ever discover the nature of dark matter, we could be in for another paradigm shift, like the ones Kuhn talks about in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. (I still remember that from my History of Science class during undergrad.) I attended a panel on dark matter in science fiction last year at WisCon; you can read my notes here if you're interested.

What areas of science do you think we know the least about?

Ten-Word Tuesday: You Know You're a Kindle Addict When....

2012-01-10T00:01:00.000-06:00

You buy the e-book of a paperback you already own.

Pricing Problems

2012-01-09T00:01:00.001-06:00

I've mentioned on here before that I put Lyon's Legacy on sale for $0.99 for the month of December. I did this for Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. Between the drop in price and increased promotion, I had my best sales last month, though I'm still light-years away from anything vaguely resembling a bestseller list. On New Year's Day, I raised all my prices again. (I don't want to sell my work too cheaply, as Kristine Kathryn Rusch advises writers not to do that. If you haven't read her essay from last week, you need to, no matter what type of publishing you're pursuing.)

Last Thursday, I was on Amazon and happened to notice that the price of my novella had been discounted back to $0.99, even though I knew the price had been higher. What had happened? It turned out that two of the stores Smashwords distributes to, Kobo and Diesel, update their catalogs less frequently than the Apple or Sony stores. Kobo and Diesel were still showing the $0.99 price for my book, so Amazon dropped the price to match them. As of Sunday night, however, both Kobo and Diesel were showing the new price. I republished my novella on Amazon last night, so we'll see if that raises the price--and keeps it there.

I hope other self-published authors take note of my experiences and plan accordingly. If I do decide to lower the price of one of my stories again, I may only do it on Amazon and B&N in the future. Smashwords is a very valuable site for self-publishers, but the complications with different distributors make it tricky to adjust the price there, especially for temporary promotions.

Back on the Blog Chain--Our House

2012-01-07T00:01:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the first blog chain of the year! For this round, Jon has challenged us to a writing exercise:

Imagine the home(s) where you grew up, and start drawing a floor plan. As you draw, memories will surface. Grab onto one of those memories and tell us a story.

In lieu of any drawings, I'm going to post a video instead:

No, my house wasn't quite like that. The first house I lived in was a ranch; after that, we moved to two multi-level houses. All of them had basements, which inspired this story based on true events:

Basements

When she was eight, her parents redid the basement. Gone was the play area under the stairs where she drew on the wood with chalk; gone was the grayness and the spooky shower. Instead, her parents put in wood paneling, black-and-white tiles, and a bar. They christened the new area with a huge party.

A few days later, the basement flooded.

Shortly thereafter, they sold that house and moved to one that already had a finished basement. They put the Christmas tree down there, despite the carpet. When she examined the presents, she was already planning which one to rescue in case another flood occurred.

As she grew older, she collected more treasures: books, letters, report cards, trophies, and other memories of her past. One day, she and her husband bought their own house. Into their unfinished basement went all the boxes of memories, to be unpacked someday when they could afford to bring color and softness to gray concrete. They had time to wait; the house inspection had turned up no problems.

They came home one weekend to find the power out and the basement transformed into a wading pool.

The basement is dry now, and clean. But when she goes down there now, she's not even sure which memories had to be discarded like holey rags.

Amparo posted before me, and Matt will post tomorrow. Go check out what stories their childhood memories inspired.

Writing Classes with Cat Rambo

2012-01-06T00:01:00.000-06:00

Normally Fridays on this blog I round up some science news articles for the week. However, I just ran across something that might be useful to other writers out there, so I hope you don't mind if I share it with you instead. Author and BroadUniverse member Cat Rambo is teaching several online writing classes over the next few months. You can find the class descriptions, including schedule and pricing, here. The "Your First Page" class looks especially interesting to me, though I have to see what my schedule is like. You can get a discount if you help spread the word about these classes or register by Wednesday, 1/11.

Have a good weekend! If you're online tomorrow, swing on by to catch up with the Blog Chain. Otherwise, see you Monday.

Setting Goals--Challenging or Realistic?

2012-01-05T08:01:00.002-06:00

One of my writing goals for this year was to write 1000 words a day. I managed that for three days, but yesterday I barely got 300 in. Part of the reason is I haven't been sleeping well (again), and I was feeling especially brain-dead yesterday. If I'd pushed myself to write, I probably would have ended up using Curious George words like "blimlimlim."

Another thing I've noticed over the last couple of days is that since I'm pantsing this draft, it can take me a couple of hours to get to 1000 words (since I have to first figure out what to say and then wrestle my ideas into words). That hasn't left me with editing time for some other projects I want to self-publish. I may end up scaling back my daily writing quota so I can squeeze in editing time.

When you set goals for yourself (not just writing, but any type of goal), do you set something challenging, or do you plan something you know you can accomplish? There are advantages to both types of goals, but I was wondering if people tend to one type of goal or another.

This Month's Scientific American

2012-01-04T07:10:00.003-06:00

Here are some of the most interesting items I found in the January 2012 issue of Scientific American:

The lead story is about new discoveries about the pathway of aging. (The studies were originally inspired by a compound found in microorganisms from Easter Island; this compound increased the maximum life span in rodents--something no other chemical has done.) What we're learning about aging suggest that it's the flip side to growth; mechanisms that support growth and development (such as cellular growth and replication) prove harmful as we get older.

Other interesting articles discuss animals' magnetic sense, computer models that predict crime (the article even mentioned The Minority Report), quantum tunneling and glories, sustainable food supplies that use less energy, and the dusty future of the American West.

If you need a little extra incentive to stick to your resolution to lose weight, there's a photo essay on the hidden dangers of obesity.

And on that note, it's time for breakfast. Have a good day, everyone!

Reading Report for 2011

2012-01-01T21:29:00.003-06:00

Welcome to 2012! How many of your New Year's resolutions have you broken so far? ;)

As you probably know if you'd poked around the blog, I've been tracking everything I've read (with the exception of cereal boxes, work-related stuff, etc) last year. I thought it would be fun to take a look at what I've read.

The grand total was 166 items finished. (Three I didn't finish due to lack of time.) This includes nineteen magazines and eight short stories published independently on Amazon, for a grand total of 139 books read. Of those books, twenty were paper.

Here's the breakdown by genre:

Science Fiction--16
Fantasy--68
Mystery--12
Non-Fiction--23
Other--9
YA--11

And here are my favorites by genre:

Science Fiction--The Clockwork Rocket
Fantasy--The Night Circus
Mystery--I'm not sure I can pick a specific book, but I did like the Crochet Mystery series
Non-Fiction--For writing, I would pick Flogging the Quill; for science, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
YA--The Hunger Games is an obvious choice, but I would also recommend Rampant
Self-Published--I really loved the humor of "Smite Me, Oh Dark Lord."

This year, my goal is to read 120 books. I picked this number before looking at my stats for 2011, so now it seems a little low. My tracking on the blog broke down toward the end of the year, after I joined Goodreads. It's much more convenient to track books on that site, but it doesn't work as well for magazines. I'll probably skip tracking my read item here, so if you want to follow along with my reading, please feel free to friend me on Goodreads. My author profile is here if that helps.

Did you track your reading for 2011? What were some of your favorites?

Looking Back at 2011

2011-12-30T00:01:00.000-06:00

Since this is the last weekday of the year, I thought I'd skip the usual Science of the Week post and look back at 2011. So many different events happened that I'll have to stick with the highlights.

For science, I think one of the most significant achievements was Watson, the supercomputer that beat two human Jeopardy! champions.

For the writing and publishing worlds, where do I begin? We lost Borders and beloved author Anne McCaffrey. We're still in the middle of a paradigm shift with the publishing process and the proliferation of possible paths for authors. It's going to be a few more years before things get settled. For me, it was a watershed year with my decision to self-publish Lyon's Legacy--something I never would have considered at the beginning of 2011!

What were the highlights of your year?

Enjoy your New Year's Eve, and I'll talk to you again in 2012. We'll see if I manage to finish one more book before the year ends.

Books--Purging and Pricing

2011-12-29T07:22:00.003-06:00

Hi, Everyone! I hope you're enjoying the holiday season. I've been spending the time doing various chores (the kind you keep putting off), playing too many Facebook games, and writing (never as much as I feel I should be doing).

One of the chores I did was to reorganize my bookshelves. I don't place a book on the shelf until I've read it. I also tend to wait until I have several books to shelve. I did this yesterday. As part of the process, I reviewed my paperback collection and decided to get rid of some I knew I wouldn't want to reread. I don't have more space for bookshelves in my office, so sometimes it's necessary to get rid of books, especially since I was almost out of room. Now I have about three-fourths of a small shelf free. I also went through Alex's old books and got rid of the ones he'd outgrown. (It was a little sad getting rid of all the Sandra Boynton (sp?) books, but I did save my favorite one.) When Eugene came home, he was inspired to sort through his collection and choose a few to sell. All told, we wound up with about four small boxes of books.

Anyone care to guess how much we got for them at Half Price Books? Do you hold on to your books or pass them on when you're done with them?

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

2011-12-23T00:01:00.000-06:00

I can't resist wishing you a Merry Christmas--Beatle style! Or even Beatles tribute style!

And now a classic Christmas song from a real Beatle:

Promotional Links for Indie Authors

2011-12-19T00:01:00.000-06:00

Welcome to my new followers! :waves: I plan to catch up on blogs tomorrow and hopefully visit participants in the Deja Vu Blogfest on Friday.

Anyway, I wasn't planning to post much this week, but I've found a few sites that will help indie authors promote their work and wanted to share the links with you.

Women's Literary Cafe--A place where readers and authors unite. They help spread the word about indie books through Twitter at @IndieKindle and @WoMensLitCafe. They also have newsletters, author spotlights, and much more.

Indie Book Collective--Another place with resources for indie authors, including workshops, blog tours, and other promotional activities.

1500 Authors--A site where indie authors with books available on Amazon and B&N can list their work. Works are organized by genre.

No matter if you're a reader or a writer, I hope you find these links helpful.

Deja Vu Blogfest

2011-12-16T00:01:00.001-06:00

"Feels like deja vu."

"What?"

"Feels like deja vu...."

Welcome to the Deja Vu Blogfest! If you're new to this site, welcome! I'm Sandra, an indie SF/Fantasy writer. Please look around the blog to learn more about me and my SF novella, Lyon's Legacy. I can't resist a plug: my novella is on sale this month for $0.99 at Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.

Anyway, below is one of my favorite blog posts. It's part of the blog chain I belong to, and it was originally posted in March 2010.

Back on the Blog Chain: Holding out for a Hero(ine)

Yep, the Blog Chain post is making its first appearance on my blog this month. Eric posed this question:

Do you create characters that are larger-than-life or are your characters more like the average Joe?

(For discussion purposes, let's use his definition of "larger-than-life" as meaning exceptionally talented. It doesn't have to be a supernatural talent--an Olympic athlete would be larger-than-life.)

In his book Characters and Viewpoint, Orson Scott Card discusses how these two types of characters go in and out of fashion. Most of my esteemed fellow Blog Chainers, from Eric to Kate, have been on the side of the average Joe or Jane. I think some of this is due to genre. A few people admit their characters have a slight supernatural twist, but for the most part, larger-than-life characters are considered too perfect, too hard to relate to, or even too cliched. We're at the end of the chain now, and there's only one person left to champion the champions: a short, overweight, almost-middle-aged speculative fiction writer. In other words, me.

Let's cue some music for our discussion:

Most of my protagonists have had some extraordinary gift. My first two books featured magicians, as does my short story "A Reptile at the Reunion." My NaNoWriMo book from 2007 had a pair of shapeshifting sisters. Paul, the hero of Across Two Universes, lives in a science fiction universe, but he has a "quantum quirk" of his own. The only protagonist who might be considered an "ordinary Jane" is Paul's mother, Joanna, in my novella "Move Over Ms. L." So, how do I avoid the previously mentioned pitfalls of larger-than-life characters?

First of all, I don't think a larger-than-life character is necessarily perfect--or should be. Many legendary characters had flaws as big as their virtues. Hercules was very strong, but he wasn't above using dirty tricks in battle. Lancelot was in love with his liege's wife. Modern-day larger-than-life athletes like Michael Phelps and Tiger Woods have shown what I'll call lapses of judgment. Even my beloved Beatles have done drugs, had affairs, made poor business decisions, and otherwise proved they're not perfect. Having an extraordinary talent doesn't mean you're invincible either; just look at Achilles and Samson. I could go on, but the point I want to make is that the larger-than-life characters may be good at what they do, but if they're too good, then the story loses any suspense factor. Struggle is at the heart of all stories, so your characters have to face challenges that force them to stretch themselves. Heck, much of the time my characters struggle just to get along with their allies!

Another concern writers have about writing larger-than-life characters is how to make sure the average reader can relate to them. It's not as if most of us turn into animals every full moon or perform magic and read others' minds. Here, I think the key is to focus on emotions or experiences that can be universal. Many larger-than-life characters in speculative fiction face problems readers can relate to; for example, Carrie Vaughn's werewolf Kitty has a mother dealing with cancer. A classic Star Trek episode, "The Devil in the Dark," features an alien that's basically a sentient rock. Yet this creature is also a mother trying to protect her young. How can any parent not relate to that? If you can relate to a rock, magicians and other larger-than-life characters ought to be easy.

As for whether or not larger-than-life characters are cliche, I think anything can become one. It's not always easy to find a unique spin on a subject, but it can be done.

Going back to Eric's question, why do I prefer larger-than-life characters? Part of the reason is escapism and wish fulfillment. I live in Midwestern suburbia, and I like taking mental breaks from it with my fiction. Having high-powered characters means you can demand more of them; they buy you a seat at the high-stakes plot table. But there are other reasons for enjoying larger-than-life characters and speculative fiction. By looking at the extremes of the human condition (or even examining non-humans), we can learn something about the ordinary parts too. And while ordinary characters in extraordinary situations can do astonishing things, extraordinary people can inspire us to transcend the commonplace and reach for something we never thought possible. Our future depends on how far we can see and our drive to try new things. If we work at it, what was once considered extreme or even impossible can become part of our mundane reality.

I hope you enjoyed that blast from the past! I expect to be busy at work today, so it may take me a few days to visit all the participants in this blog fest. I'm also going to cut back my blogging schedule during the holidays. At this point, I'm not sure how often I'll post. Enjoy your weekend, everyone, and see you soon!

Feel Like a Character....

2011-12-15T07:49:00.003-06:00

Sorry I didn't blog the last couple days, but I came down with a bad case of Real Life.

I held back on scheduling a Ten-Word Tuesday because I wanted to tie it into the Higgs Boson announcement. (Which was nothing more than a big fat Maybe.) Then at work, since someone else goofed, I got handed a Mission: Impossible task to be completed by Friday. I was already busier than normal with training and validation tasks; this just felt over-the-top. However, I have to admit that if my life was a novel, this would have been a good twist to put on a character in an already tough situation.

I did make some progress yesterday in rescheduling other projects, and I also found out that some other people in my department will take over Mission: Impossible if I don't get it done by Friday. The company president knows I'm scheduled for vacation the next two weeks, so it's not like I have to give it up. So that's good.

Anyway, for discussion purposes, have you ever felt like a character in a story? What were the circumstances? What would you have said to your author?

Although tomorrow is Friday, I'm participating in the Deja Vu blogfest, so I won't be running Science of the Week. Tune in tomorrow to see which blog post I choose to rerun!

Dear Santa....

2011-12-12T00:01:00.000-06:00

Dear Santa,

This year I've been a very good writer. I've worked hard on my projects, I've critiqued others and kept up with my blog, and I even wrote (and finished) two short pieces I hadn't planned on when I was thinking about my writing goals for the year. Here's what I'd love to receive in my writing stocking:

1. More time to write!
2. More time to pre-plan my scenes so I make better use of my writing time.
3. More sales and good reviews for Lyon's Legacy.
4. A sale to the anthology I wrote that short story for.

We have plenty of cookies, so after you're done fulfilling my son's wish list, don't forget the person who did the baking. Stay warm!

Best,

Me.

P.S. So, what's on your "writer wish list" this year?

Science of the Week, 12/9/11

2011-12-09T00:01:00.001-06:00

It's been a hard day's night's week, so just a few links today:

Beating superbugs with a high-tech cleanser

New synthetic e. coli strains are the Swiss army knife for biofuel production

Sorry, that's it. Then again, I think after yesterday's post about entangled diamonds, we need something light as we head into the weekend. Have a good one!

The Science of Science Fiction: Entangled Diamonds

2011-12-08T00:02:00.000-06:00

(Warning: technical blog post ahead. Not to be read before your morning dose of caffeine.)

According to this article on CNN, scientists have succeeded in entangling two diamonds...or have they?

If you'll pardon me using Wikipedia as a source, quantum entanglement occurs when two particles interact, sync up in at least one quantum state (like spin or polarization), and then separate. Their quantum states are still linked, so if you interact with one particle, the other one changes its quantum state instantaneously, no matter how far apart they are.

In the CNN article, which is based off a paper in Science, two diamonds were placed about six inches apart, and then photons were shot through a beam splitter. Some of these photons managed to go in two directions at once (which I think has something to do with Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which limits how well you can know both the position and momentum of a particle at the same time). These photons caused vibrations in both diamonds at once. When the beams are recombined after they leave the diamonds, the head scientist describes it as "We know that one diamond is vibrating, but we don't know which one....In fact, the universe doesn't know which diamond is vibrating – the diamonds are entangled, with one vibration shared between them, even though they are separated in space."

I'm no quantum physicist (I just read popular books about it when I was younger), but to me, this doesn't sound like quantum entanglement. Are the diamonds still linked after the experiment ends? Does changing one diamond affect the other one, even if they're not touching? Perhaps the scientists understand this better than I do. It does seem to be linked to Bell's Theorem, but I'm not going to attempt to discuss that!

What does this experiment mean for science fiction writers? It does show that quantum effects carry over into the macroscopic world. (When I was learning about the uncertainty principle at school, we always used to say that an object like a chair does have uncertainty, but it's extremely small.) This could have implications for quantum computers and possibly speed up communication. The CNN article ends with the scientists pointing out, "This particular research project does not have any immediate technological applications. It's just really fascinating, and really confusing, at the same time." But if experiments like this one change the way we understand the universe, that's also fodder for speculative fiction.

For John

2011-12-08T00:01:00.000-06:00

I can never let December 8th go by without thinking about John Lennon. Here are a couple videos of his songs:

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" to tie into my next post (about entangled diamonds)

I'm dedicating "Power to the People" to all the indie writers out there.

Discussion: Your Favorite Science

2011-12-07T07:47:00.002-06:00

If you read science fiction, is there a type of science you enjoy reading about the most? Do you like reading about space travel, or are you more interested in bioengineering? Do computers and nanotech appeal to you? How about anthropological science fiction such as Ursula Le Guin's work?

For me, I've read all types of science fiction, but since I studied molecular biology in undergrad, I find myself most interested in biological science fiction, whether that means altering our own bodies or dealing with "strange new life forms." Please feel free to share your preferences in the comments below. Do you have a background in your favorite science, or do you enjoy learning about something new? Do you feel one type of science lends itself to fiction better than others?

Ten-Word Tuesday: Sleeping Children

2011-12-06T07:39:00.001-06:00

A sleeping child is the calm before the morning rush.

Secret Santa eBook Exchange!

2011-12-05T00:01:00.001-06:00

Ebook authors, are you interested in finding new readers and receiving an ebook yourself? Then head on over to Michael Rose's blog and sign up for the Secret Santa Ebook Exchange! Full details are available at the link. The deadline for signing up is December 20; the exchange takes place between December 21-24. Books must be at least 99 cents in price and will be randomly assigned (so you have to be open to genre), but the participants will also get a master list of all the authors and books. Hope to see some of you on the list!

Back on the Blog Chain: There's a Place--Or Is There?

2011-12-04T00:01:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the last blog chain of the year. Today, Tere asks us:

What conditions do you need to get your best writing done? Closed door, crowded coffee house? Computer or notebook? Can you just sit down to write, or do you need to wait for the time to be right?

Amparo comes before me, and Matt is next.

As a working mom, I can't wait for the perfect conditions; otherwise, I'd never have a chance to write. I have to be flexible. For example, here are some places where I've written recently:

1. At work (on my lunch hour), on my laptop
2. At home, after Alex falls asleep (usually later than he should), with my laptop on my desk and Pandora playing over the headphones
3. At the bookstore, on my laptop
4. In the hall of the park district building where Alex takes dance class, on my laptop
5. At a relative's house, watching Alex play with trains while I write on a printout of my story

As you can see, I find having a laptop vital for most of my writing, but I can write on paper in a pinch. I can generally tune out my environment, but TV is too distracting for me.

What about you? Do you have a favorite place to work, or do you work in multiple locations?

Science of the Week, 12/2/11

2011-12-02T00:01:00.000-06:00

If it's Friday, it must be time for more science links:

Fake leaf could usher era of "fast-food energy"

Oil-eating mushrooms

3-D Printer makes bone-like material

Microscopic worms could be key to living on Mars

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Discussion: Writing Short Stories

2011-12-01T00:01:00.001-06:00

I can't remember if I've discussed short stories before here, so I thought it would be an interesting topic. Most of my fiction reading is novel-length, but I do occasionally read short stories. I try to write them from time to time as well; in fact, I started a new one on Monday for a themed anthology. It's set in the same world as Scattered Seasons, but the country and time period are different.

Short stories seem to require tighter pacing and word count than novels do. I know at one point beginning writers were urged to try short stories before gearing up for a novel, but these days, it seems more common for writer to go straight to novel length. Perhaps this depends on the market for short stories in the writer's genre of choice.

Do you write (or have you written) short stories? If so, were they just for writing practice, or did you send them out? Did you try a different writing technique from what you normally use for a novel?

Lyon's Legacy--Holiday Sale and Kindlegraph

2011-11-30T00:01:00.001-06:00

I thought I'd experiment a little with pricing, so I'm putting Lyon's Legacy on sale for 99 cents until the end of the year. Please feel free to share the news. You can find my novella on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.

Also, if you'd like my autograph (or at least the right-handed version of it), I'm now signed up with Kindlegraph. You can request a personalized inscription and signature for your e-book copy here. You don't need a Kindle to get this; you can get the signature as part of a PDF file. (You don't even need an e-book, as signatures are kept separate from the book itself.)

If you're an author, you might want to sign up with this service. It's free, and it's another way to connect with readers. Here's the link to the sign-up page. You'll need to enter the book's Amazon Standard Identification Number, which you can find on the book's Amazon page.

Enjoy!

Ten-Word Tuesday: My Sweet George

2011-11-29T00:01:00.000-06:00

We still miss you and your music, George. Cheer Down?

Scientific American, December 2011 Issue

2011-11-28T00:01:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend! Eugene and I spent part of Thanksgiving at the Kristkindlmarkt in downtown Chicago before going to his aunt's house for dinner. Among other things, I also took Alex bowling, set up the tree, visited the Wonderland Express exhibit at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and finished reading the latest Scientific American. No, it's not as exciting as preparing for the holidays, but there were still some interesting articles that offer ideas for science fiction. Here's the list:

1. A special feature about 10 World-Changing Ideas (including microbe miners, digital currency, year-round crop plants) and a computer model under development that would contain enough data to predict the future.

2. New plans for getting to the asteroids and Mars.

3. Ways in which cities are adapting to climate change.

4. Epigenetics and the mind. (Epigenetics deals with molecular markers on DNA that affect how it's regulated.)

What did you do over the weekend? Do any of these articles interest you?

Science of the Week, 11/25/11

2011-11-25T00:01:00.001-06:00

If you celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday, I hope you enjoyed the holiday! Here are some leftover science articles from earlier this week:

Spanish computer can read your emotional state

System for assessing the odds of life on other worlds

New projection shows global food demand doubling by 2050

The caffeinated truth about water pollution

Anne McCaffrey

2011-11-23T00:01:00.001-06:00

I had another post scheduled for today, but I postponed it after learning last night that Anne McCaffrey had passed away.

Anne McCaffrey was one of the first authors I got into when I became a science fiction/fantasy reader. I have twenty-five books of hers in my collection. Naturally, many of these are in the Pern series, but I also especially enjoyed The Rowan and its sequels.

What's your favorite Anne McCaffrey book?

P.S. I'm taking tomorrow off, so Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I'll be back on Friday with my usual science links.

Ten-Word Tuesday: Faster-than-Light Neutrinos?

2011-11-22T00:01:00.000-06:00

Original results still stand; now let other labs test this!

Meet Editor/Author Lauren Sweet

2011-11-21T00:01:00.002-06:00

I first met Lauren Sweet when I was looking for an editor to help me with Lyon's Legacy. When I contacted her again for another project, she told me she had just published a book of her own. Naturally, I had to learn more. She graciously agreed to let me interview her for this blog.

Please tell us about yourself.

The basics: I was born and raised in New Jersey, spending my formative years with a book in my hand (or sneaked under the desk during math class). I tried my hand at writing romance novels in the ‘80s, took a twenty-year detour through the business world, and finally escaped to Alaska and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska Anchorage. I now live near Portland, OR, and am a freelance writer and editor. My other esoteric skills include astrology, tarot card reading, and the ability to do a perfect split.

Some things I love: Caramels, Muppets, office supply stores, Nathan Fillion, fudge, Stargate SG-1, sappy love songs, snarky humor, fountain pens, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, crystals, my Jeep, down comforters, my fabulous hundred-acre couch, Winnie the Pooh, flamingoes, and comfy clothes.

How did you get into writing and editing? Which came first? Which do you prefer?

Writing came before editing—the editing part was kind of accidental. I always like to know how things work, so when I started writing seriously, I read a lot of writing books and studied other people’s writing to figure out how stories are put together. Later on I joined a critique group. I learned an amazing amount from analyzing other writers’ works-in-progress and pondering not just what wasn’t working, but why it wasn’t working and how the problems could be fixed. I found I enjoyed that and had a talent for it, and people started asking me specifically to help them with their work. Eventually that led to getting paid.

I love writing and wish I could spend more time on it each day, but it’s also very satisfying helping other writers achieve their dreams. If I had to pick one or the other, though, it would be writing.

How did you get into freelance editing? What are the pros and cons of being a freelancer?

After I finished my Creative Writing MFA in 2008, I hoped to ease into full-time editing by getting an office job and freelancing part-time. But the economy crashed the second I hit Portland and there were no office jobs to be found, so I was thrown into the deep end of the swimming pool as far as freelancing was concerned. Looking back, I’m glad it happened that way, because otherwise I don’t know if I would’ve taken the plunge.

Pros: setting my own schedule, working at home in my pajamas, setting up my business and my services in a way that fits my goals and personality. Plus I get paid for reading some really awesome books!

Cons: uneven income, no holiday or vacation pay, having to provide my own medical insurance and other benefits, extra self-employment taxes, dealing tactfully with the occasional writer who doesn’t want to accept how much work their project needs.

Could you please explain the difference between developmental editing and copyediting? Do you find one type of editing easier or more enjoyable?

Developmental editing has to do with the craft of fiction writing—the way the story is told. Plot, story structure, character development, point of view, narrative tension, dialogue, setting, scene structure, tone—all the “big picture” issues.

Grammar, spelling, typos, word usage, and similar language issues are copyediting issues. If copyediting also includes correcting paragraph and sentence structure, clarity and flow of ideas, it’s usually called line editing.

There’s some overlap between these definitions, depending on the editor, and some editors will also address language issues in a developmental edit, but I normally don’t. Usually after a developmental edit scenes will have to be added, cut, or totally revised, in which case any line editing/copyediting has to be done all over again. Which means the client will have wasted their money having me do it the first time, and I don’t want that.

Copyediting is easier, but developmental editing is more fun.

What is Aladdin’s Samovar about?

It’s about a woman named Amber Polaski who buys an antique brass samovar that turns out to have a (very sexy) genie in it. She makes a wish to find her long-lost father, only to find that he’s on the run from the Mafia. People get shot at, shrink wrapped, and pounced on by a pack of Happy Puppies—and Amber is forced to defend herself against Mafia assassins with common household appliances. Plus, Jasper the genie turns out to be nothing but trouble—in more ways than one!

How did you get the inspiration for Aladdin’s Samovar?

When I was getting my Master’s degree in creative writing, I started a short story about Amber finding the genie in her samovar. (I wish I could remember what possessed me to put a genie in a samovar instead of the usual lamp, but I don’t.) I never finished the story, because in that version she had only one wish, and I couldn’t figure out what she wanted most.

I put the story aside and didn’t get back to it until three years later. At one point after writing the first version, I’d had a conversation with a classmate who said that since Amber had never met her father, her wish would be to meet him. (That was a head-smack moment for me; those things always seem so obvious once someone has pointed them out to you.)

Once I reread the story with that in mind, I wondered what would happen if Amber found her father, but he wasn’t what she expected—if he were, say, on the run from the Mob. I immediately realized that could be the jumping-off point for a novel—or even a series. And Aladdin’s Samovar was born.

Did you edit your own book, or did you hire another editor to look it over? What factors influenced your choice?

I have beta readers who help me pick up any inconsistencies in my work (and let me know if it’s really as funny as I like to think it is). But other than that, I’m my own editor—I’m a nitpicky perfectionist, so I’m usually more critical of my work than anyone else is.

I also have writing colleagues that I turn to when I’m stuck on a solution to a writing problem, who are kind enough to brainstorm with me and let me bounce ideas off them.

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

Hmm—so many writers; so little time… I love Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, because her characters feel so real, and I always finish her books convinced that I know what it’s like to live in the 1700s. She also raises a lot of interesting questions about the way we look at issues like violence, gender, war, honor, marriage and religion, by voicing various points of view from people who lived in completely different circumstances than we do.

I also love Dorothy Gilman’s Mrs. Pollifax series—about a sixty-year-old widow from New Brunswick, New Jersey who becomes a CIA operative. Some of the books are kind of dated now, but the character is so much fun!

And a non-novelist—I’m a blatant worshiper of Joss Whedon, the TV/film writer who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. He’s so deliberate (yet brilliant) in his storytelling—everything is planned out and he knows exactly where he’s going with the long-term story arcs in his shows. I also love his originality—he knows every potential cliché in the business and manages to throw a fresh, surprising twist on each one.

Are you planning to write other books?

I’m already working on the second book in the Amber and Jasper series. One of the characters from the first book, Iggy the homeless dwarf, was formerly a carnival performer. He drags Amber (and the genie) off to help him rescue a friend from his carnie days. There’s a murdered clown, buried treasure, a midget cowboy show, and a very scary ventriloquist’s dummy. Plus some unexpected romance, and hopefully a lot of laughs!

What do you like to do to relax?

One of my favorite things to do is kick back on my aforementioned couch with a cup of tea, a cozy blanket and a good novel (or a stocked-up Kindle!). When I’m on vacation, I can easily go through a book a day. I also ice skate—I take figure skating lessons and once in a while I do a competition—jumps, spins, spangly dress and all. And I love to sing Karaoke—mostly cheesy country songs.

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

I look like a little suburban cream puff, but inside I really want to be Xena the warrior princess, wear studded black leather and kick butt.

If you had three wishes, what would you wish for (besides more wishes)?

Jasper the genie is already smirking! (When he grants a wish, it rarely turns out the way you thought it would. He’s a trickstery kind of genie…)

Let’s see. I think I’d like a superpower—the ability to fly. Flying dreams are so cool…the reality would be amazing. My second wish would be that Dulce de Leche ice cream would no longer have calories (and no, Jasper, the no-cal version has to taste the same, or there’s no point). I guess my third wish would be that my Amber and Jasper books go viral and become runaway bestsellers. Either that, or that Michael Trucco would give up his acting career, throw himself at my feet, and become my Boy Toy. (Kidding!)

Or we could go with world peace, ending hunger, and cleaning up the Texas-sized island of plastic garbage in the middle of the Pacific ocean.

Aladdin's Samovar is available on Kindle for $2.99.

If you'd like to contact Lauren, please e-mail her at writerservicesATlauren-sweetDOTcom

Back on the Blog Chain: My Biggest Accomplishment

2011-11-20T00:01:00.001-06:00

Michelle's topic was this round was partially inspired by National Novel Writing Month:

This is the month in creating writing goals and making big accomplishments. What is your greatest accomplishment -- in writing, your life or perhaps something incidental that had a big effect on you?

Amparo posted before me, and Matt will post tomorrow.

I think I would have to say my biggest accomplishment is my relationship with my husband, Eugene. We met over twenty-one years ago. We dated for fifteen years before we got married, and much of that time we were long-distance. If we can go that long and endure so many changes, I'd like to think we can make it through the rest of our lives together. Love you, hon!

Science of the Week, 11/18/11

2011-11-18T00:01:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe it's the end of another week. Here are my picks for top science news:

Genetic variation plays role in kindness

Smart swarms of bacteria inspire robotics researchers

Bats change ear shapes, making their hearing more flexible

Researchers reveal potential treatment for sickle cell disease

Prairie soil may provide answers to countering climate change

Mimicking the brain, in silicon

That's it for now. Enjoy your weekend. I'll be posting on Sunday for the blog chain, so stop on by if you're online.

Getting Past the Slog

2011-11-17T00:01:00.000-06:00

I've been trying to crochet a "yarn train" for Alex since last year. It's an actual 3-D train, with the crocheted pieces sewn around a plastic frame which is stuffed by fiberfill. I plan to post a picture when I get it done--if I ever get it done. I don't work on it every day, and I have to admit there were places where I goofed up and had to start over or had trouble figuring out how to follow the directions. Probably my biggest challenge to date has been trying to figure out how the boiler and smokebox go together. The directions didn't quite make sense to me, so I put it off as long as possible while I crocheted the pieces for the cab. But now that I finished that, I didn't feel I could go much farther without assembling it. So I just took a deep breath and did it the best I can. It doesn't quite match the picture that came with the pattern, but it's doable. (I may try to make the back part bigger by adding more fiberfill.) Once I get the cab made, I can go back to crocheting.

It's funny that when we write books, no matter how exciting the story is, there always seems to be that middle sloggy section that's hard to write. Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and plow through it. At least it's a lot easier to edit a story after it's done than trying to change a finshed crochet project!

The Science of Science Fiction: She-Male Hawks

2011-11-16T00:01:00.000-06:00

There's an interesting article in The New York Times about female mimicry in animals, especially hawks. (To read the article, click here.) Some animals, such as garter snakes and harriers, have a significant number of males that either look like or act like females. For instance, in the spring, the garter snakes will emit female pheromones to attract other males. The other males gather around to warm up the she-male snake; when he's warm enough, he turns off the pheromones. For the hawks, the female disguise is permanent, and they are actually more aggressive than the he-male hawks. (The he-male hawks manipulate the she-males into attacking outsiders while the he-males sit back and watch.) Scientists suspect the she-male hawks benefit because they are able to participate in what the article terms "extra-pair copulations," though this hypothesis is still being tested.

As a scientist, I'd love to find out what makes a she-male a she-male. Is it mostly genetics, mostly environmental, or a mixture of both interacting? The percentages of she-males varies, but there's a group of hawks in France with 40% of the males looking like females. Why is that so high?

Whether or not you want to draw any parallels to human behavior, this does sound like an interesting trait to include in an alien race.

Ten-Word Tuesday: NaNoWriMo Song

2011-11-15T00:01:00.000-06:00

Are you halfway there, or just living on a prayer?

Second-Book Stall

2011-11-14T12:05:00.002-06:00

Dean Wesley Smith put up an interesting post over the weekend called
“The New World of Publishing: 95% of All Authors Will Never Indie Publish.” He admits this number is a guess, but he raises some good points about the thoughts that go through writers' heads, discouraging them from either trying to indie publish or to stop after putting out just a couple of books. No matter how you feel about traditional or indie publishing, I think it's worth a read. At the very least, it's worth knowing you're not the only author out there with negative thoughts in your head. ;)

Have you ever suffered from a second-book stall, where after completing the first project, you struggle to start, finish, or submit/publish your next project? How did you get out of that?

String Bridge Chart Rush

2011-11-11T00:01:00.001-06:00

Today is THE day to help Jessica Bell's debut, STRING BRIDGE, hit
the bestseller list on Amazon, and receive the all-original soundtrack, Melody Hill: On the Other Side, written and performed by the author herself, for free!

All you have to do is
purchase the book today (paperback, or eBook), November 11th, and
then email the receipt to:

jessica.carmen.bell(at)gmail(dot)com

She will
then email you a link to download the album at no extra cost!

To purchase the paperback:

Amazon USA

To purchase the eBook:

Amazon USA

Amazon UK

To listen to samples of the soundtrack, visit iTunes.

If you are
not familiar with String Bridge,
check out the book trailer:

Rave Reviews for String Bridge:

“Jessica Bell’s STRING BRIDGE strummed the fret of my
veins, thrummed my blood into a mad rush, played me taut until the final page,
yet with echoes still reverberating. A rhythmic debut with metrical tones of
heavied dark, fleeting prisms of light, and finally, a burst of joy—just as
with any good song, my hopeful heartbeat kept tempo with Bell’s narrative.” ~ Kathryn Magendie, author of Sweetie and Publishing Editor of Rose & Thorn Journal

“Poet and

musician Jessica Bell's debut novel String Bridge is a rich exploration of desire, guilt, and the
difficult balancing act of the modern woman. The writing is lyrical throughout,
seamlessly integrating setting, character and plot in a musical structure that
allows the reader to identify with Melody's growing insecurity as her world
begins to unravel … String Bridge is
a powerful debut from a promising writer, full of music, metaphor, and just a
hint of magic.” ~ Magdalena Ball, author of Repulsion
Thrust and Sleep Before Evening

“Jessica Bell is a brilliant writer
of great skill and depth. She doesn't pull back from the difficult
scenes, from conflict, pain, intensity. She puts it all out there, no holds
barred, no holding back. She knows how to craft a scene, how to develop
character, how to create suspense. This is an absolutely brilliant debut novel.
I look forward to reading her
next novel, and next and next.” ~ Karen Jones
Gowen, author of Farm Girl, Uncut Diamonds and House of Diamonds

Connect with Jessica:

String Bridge: http://www.stringbridge.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jessica_bell

Website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/

Blog: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell

Publisher: http://www.luckypress.com

Please TWEET and/or FACEBOOK this post using #StringBridge!

Science of the Week, 11/10/11

2011-11-10T00:01:00.001-06:00

I'm posting this a day early because I'm participating in the String Bridge Chart Rush tomorrow. Here are some of the most interesting news stories on Science Blogs this week:

Carbon Monoxide Relaxes City Dwellers

How We Experience Fantasy Determines How Much We Enjoy It

Fatherhood Can Help Change a Man's Bad Habits

High-Tech Spider for Hazardous Missions

How Arctic Microbes Respond to a Warming World

Scientists Find Evidence of Roman Era Megadrought

I hope you enjoy them!

Scrivener

2011-11-09T00:01:00.001-06:00

I found out through The Passive Guy's blog that Scrivener, a writing program long available for the Mac, is finally available in a Windows version. If, like me, you're not familiar with this program, you can learn more about it here.

It looks interesting, but it seems like it might be more useful for plotters instead of pansters like me. (I admit I'm a bit stuck with Scattered Seasons at the moment, so I spent the evening outlining what I've written so far to figure out where to go next. Maybe I'm only a semi-panster, which sounds even odder.) On the other hand, it looks like there's much more to Scrivener than a virtual corkboard.

So, does anyone out there have previous experience with Scrivener? What was your experience like? Would you recommend it to others?

Ten-Word Tuesday: NaNoWriMo Progress?

2011-11-08T00:01:00.000-06:00

As long as you're writing, it's progress. Keep on going!

Back on the Blog Chain: My Favorite Monster

2011-11-07T00:01:00.006-06:00

Matt has been encouraging us to indulge our monster mania this round with the simple question

What's your favorite monster?

Several other people have mentioned cute or cartoon monsters, so I don't feel quite so embarrassed revealing my favorite monster. Perhaps I should be, seeing he comes from a 70s Saturday morning cartoon show that I liked a lot as a kid (and I doubt it was for the science). Who is he, you ask? Look no further:

After all, who wouldn't want a fire-breathing sea monster on their side? Of course, that does mean you have to put up with Godzuki...

Strangely enough, I've never seen the Godzilla movies. I should do that in my numerous microseconds of free time.

I'm the last one in this blog chain, so you can either start from the beginning with Matt or work your way backward with Amparo.

Science of the Week, 11/4/11

2011-11-04T00:01:00.003-05:00

Here we are at the end of another week. I took Monday off, so my sense of time is off too; it feels like a short week. Anyway, here are some science articles I found of interest this week:

Technology makes storing radioactive waste safer

World's most powerful laser could "tear apart the vacuum of space"
(I found this article linked here. Wouldn't it be cool if scientists could prove the existence of other dimensions?)

"Vampire" Bacteria has potential as living antibiotic
(Humm, coincidence that this article was released the day after Halloween? I think not.)

Do bacteria age?

Communication in the depths--perhaps not as primitive as we would like to think

And I can't ignore this one from CNN:

It's not "Star Trek," but NASA wants a tractor beam

I do have something to celebrate--Lyon's Legacy is finally part of Smashwords' Premium Catalog. I had to redo the formatting a couple of times before it passed the AutoVetter. Hopefully it will be easier with my next project.

Do you have anything to celebrate this weekend?

Oma Lisabeth

2011-11-03T07:52:00.004-05:00

Today would have been my grandmother's birthday. I can't remember her birth year off the top of my head, but she would have been in her late 90s. This picture of our family was taken about two years ago. She's in the pink/rose sweater. I plan to dedicate my next story, "The Fighting Roses of Sharon," to her. (I still have to get it edited and have a cover made.) The story revolves around a teenager, her mother, and her grandmother, Rose. Like my own grandmother, Rose is interested in flowers, but for a much different reason.

OK, all you NaNo writers, time to get back to writing!

Setting Reasonable Goals

2011-11-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

This may be the wrong month to talk about setting reasonable goals, but I know the writing goals I set for myself in October were too much. Among other things, I wanted to write three chapters of my current WIP, send another story out for editing, and maybe outline a third story. This month, I've scaled back a little. I plan to focus on writing 1000 words/day on my current WIP, arrange editing for the second story, and have a cover for the second story drafted. Since I didn't make my writing quota today, I already feel behind. (Then again, I spent the evening working on the second story, so I wasn't entirely bad.)

If you routinely juggle multiple projects, how do you balance them? And how much writing can a working parent accomplish on any given day?

And the Winner Is....

2011-11-01T12:50:00.003-05:00

I was so busy writing through lunch I almost forgot to post who won the Harry and David gift basket in my Lyon's Legacy promotion. The winner (selected by a random number generator) is....

Michelle!

Thanks so much for your review and interviews, Michelle! Please contact me so I can have that gift basket shipped to you.

Also, Briane Pagel just posted his own review of Lyon's Legacy on his website, plus I have the honor of being the first author to answer his "10 1/2 Questions." You can check both of them out here. Thanks, Briane!

OK, back to the laptop for a couple more minutes....

Ten-Word Tuesday: For Those About to NaNo...

2011-11-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

May the words flow as steadily as caffeine this month!

A Review Treat and a Sleepy Hollow Trick

2011-10-31T00:01:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween!

I got a nice treat over the weekend; Michelle McLean reviewed Lyon's Legacy over at Operation Awesome. She said, "This book just had a little bit of everything; science, time travel, romance, major character growth, a bad guy you want to smack upside the head, heartache, and hope."She also interviewed me on her blog and on Pots 'n Pens. Thanks so much, Michelle!

I happen to live not too far from Sleepy Hollow, Illinois. Friends who live there invited us to join them at the town's festivities this weekend. There was a costume contest, hay rides, and a chili contest. The main attraction was twofold. The first part of it was a huge bonfire lit shortly after sunset. Although the day was sunny, it quickly got cold in the evening, so I was grateful our friends had reserved a spot as close to the bonfire as we were allowed to go. The second attraction was an appearance by the Headless Horseman about an hour after the bonfire was lit. (I found out later he was actually a she.) He rode in on a horse, carrying a jack '0 lantern by his side. He passed back and forth in front of us a few times, then rode slowly along the barrier so kids could pet the horse before disappearing back into the night. Thankfully, the experience wasn't too scary for a four-year-old.

Here are some pictures my husband took of the bonfire and the Headless Horseman:

Enjoy your holiday, and beware of strange horse riders!

Science of the Week, 10/28/11

2011-10-28T00:01:00.003-05:00

Here are some links to science articles of interest:

Scientists create computing building blocks from bacteria and DNA

Your DNA may carry a "memory" of your living conditions in childhood

Rare model animal for studying depression

More time outdoors may help Johnny see

Paper-based wireless sensor could help detect explosive devices

Researchers build transparent, stretchy, skin-like sensor

New technology helps spinal disc regeneration

Scientist Cracks Mysterious Copiale Cipher

Among interesting articles in the November 2011 issue of Scientific American is one about an experiment to test whether microbes can survive a trip from Earth to Mars and back. If they can, then perhaps a long time ago, Mars could have seeded Earth with life. Check out the issue if you can.

Have a good weekend, and see you on Halloween!

NaNoWriMo Cheerleader

2011-10-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

As I said last week, I have too many other projects to finish first before starting something new, so I'm sitting out of NaNoWriMo this year. That doesn't mean I won't be writing; I'm about 19K into a fantasy novel. I just couldn't wait until November 1st to start it. However, there's so much writing energy going around the blogosphere during November that I hate to be left out of it completely. So I'd like to be a NaNoWriMo Cheerleader--as long as I don't have to wear one of those outfits. (Trust me; that's a bad idea.) I got the idea from Sommer Leigh. She's set up a blog hop where NaNoWriMo participants can sign up to receive notes of encouragement from others. You can sign up at the link. If you'd like me to be on your personal cheerleading squad, please leave a comment below.

Time to work on some cheers...."Write, write, write all night! Sixteen sixty-seven will do it right!"

Um, maybe I should just stick to SF and fantasy....

Just a Reminder...

2011-10-26T00:01:00.001-05:00

That if you'd like to be entered into a drawing for a Harry and David gift basket, you have until midnight CDT next Monday (Halloween!) to do so. Please check out this post for the rules.

I hope everyone enjoyed the fair yesterday! I added some books to my "To Read" collection; I hope you did too.

Internet Book Fair Blogfest!

2011-10-25T00:01:00.004-05:00

M. A. Leslie is sponsoring an Internet Book Fair Blogfest today. It's a chance where authors get to promote their works and readers get to discover new books and authors. If you're coming here for the book fair, welcome! If not, please check out the link and browse the selections. There are a lot of authors participating, so you should be able to find something of interest.

My contribution to this book fair is Lyon's Legacy, a science fiction novella featuring Joanna Lyon, great-granddaughter of the legendary TwenCen musician Sean Lyon. Joanna may have inherited some of her ancestor's musical talent, but her parents' bitter divorce and her Uncle Jack's attempts to remake her into another Sean have left her hostile toward her family and music. Her passion is for science, but since she has no access to the family funds, she struggles to earn enough credits for graduate school. Then her uncle sets up a business deal with her employer to make Joanna go on a mission for him: travel via the spaceship Sagan to an alternate TwenCen universe where Sean is still alive. Joanna must collect a DNA sample from Sean so her uncle can create a clone of him. She refuses at first, but finally agrees to go. Secretly, however, Joanna believes her uncle will exploit the clone, and she plans to sabotage the project to stop him. But when she falls in love with one of the scientists in the Sagan's genetics lab, clashes with other time travelers who fear she'll change how history develops on the alternative TwenCen Earth, and receives devastating personal news, Joanna will find herself pushed to her limit even before she comes face-to-face with her hated ancestor. Their encounter will leave her changed forever. Will she still be able to thwart her uncle's plan, and what will she have to sacrifice to do so?

This story is available as an e-book for $2.99 at Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. It's the first book of the Catalyst Chronicles series. The second book, Twinned Universes, will be ready early 2012.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy the story!

Happy Book Birthday, Maria!

2011-10-24T00:01:00.001-05:00

Maria Zannini's second book in her Second Chances series, Chain of Souls, is out today. Here's the overview:

Banished from Heaven for refusing to harvest an unwilling soul, Liam Chase drinks to forget night after night until the Angel of Death pays him a visit. For the price of a few humans souls, Ziva promises to get him reinstated into Heaven. Liam doesn’t doubt her influence, but milking humans of their light is an unspeakable crime, punishable by eternal oblivion. He’d rather rot on Earth than commit such a monstrous sin. But the Angel of Death didn’t get where she was by taking no for an answer. Ziva is a huntress of extraordinary skill and cruelty. If he refuses, his loved ones will be her next targets. And Ziva never misses. Ziva has already set her sights on Shannon, the soul he once refused to harvest, and his beloved servant, Evie. He’ll do anything to keep them safe, even if it means his death. But something goes wrong just as he concedes, and the chain of souls picks a new mistress before he has a chance to deliver. Brought for trial before the most feared angel in Heaven and Hell, Liam discovers he has failed to protect his loved ones and now they too could share his fate.

You can purchase it for $2.99 at B&N, Smashwords, and Amazon. It is an e-book.

Science of the Week, 10/21/11

2011-10-21T00:01:00.002-05:00

Before I get to the science articles, I thought I'd let everyone know about an Internet Book Fair being held by M.A. Leslie next Tuesday. I learned about it through The Alliterative Allomorph. If you'd like a chance to promote your book or meet new authors, check it out here. I plan to participate, so I'll be skipping my Ten-Word Tuesday next week.

Here are some articles from Science Blogs that I found interesting this week:

Dark Matter Mystery Deepens (It doesn't behave as predicted)

Psychopaths' word choices

Self-Replication Could Lead to New Materials

Gratitude as an antidote to aggression

Record-Breaking Photo Reveals a Planet-Sized Object as Cool as the Earth

Tech turns iPhone into SpyPhone

Superhard, amoprhous diamond created

That's it for this week. Enjoy your weekend, and see you Monday!

Goodreads

2011-10-20T00:01:00.000-05:00

I goofed; yesterday's post about RPGs for kids was supposed to be today's post. But at least now I can say that I have an author profile on Goodreads. I'm on there as Sandra Ulbrich Almazan if you'd like to add me as a friend. I

RPGs: Not Just for Grown-Ups Anymore

2011-10-19T16:27:00.002-05:00

Anyone out here familiar with D&D and GURPS? (Dungeons and Dragons and Generic Universal Role-Playing System) I played some role-playing games back in undergrad: Star Trek, Star Wars, and a spy game I can't remember the name of anymore. I even tried running a superhero campaign in GURPS, but we only did it once. I wouldn't claim to be the greatest gamer, but I had fun with it. So it was nice to see this article on CNN about a guy who's come up with a RPG for kids. It's not a video game; it's a tabletop version. (I wonder what kind of dice it uses.) RPGs not only foster creativity, but they also help kids with their math and reading. Hopefully something like this will also encourage a lifelong love of fantasy and science fiction as well.

Of Borrowing E-Books and Publisher Contracts

2011-10-19T00:01:00.000-05:00

Today I have a couple of items that don't really belong together but are too short to post separately.

1. I finally borrowed my first e-book from the library today. (If you're curious, it was Juliet Immortal.) I've been stalking the library website for the past few days since I knew I was next on the hold list. The process was much easier than I expected it to be. I followed the link in the e-mail notification to the website, signed in, and checked out the title with a few clicks. I did have to download it to my Kindle afterwards, but that was just another couple of clicks. I had thought I'd have to go through Overdrive (a special program for borrowing media like this) or download the book first to my computer and then transfer it to my Kindle via cable. Instead the book downloaded wirelessly to my Kindle. Gotta love that! While I was there, I browsed through more books and placed holds on a couple more. I think it will be a balancing act to figure out how many books to place on hold in order to get a steady but not overwhelming stream of them.

2. If you read Writer Beware, you may have seen this guest post today about an author who has been attempting to get her book back from her publisher since, according to her, the book is no longer "in print through regular trade channels." What exactly does that mean? She contends the book is no longer physically available in book stores and is only available in the publisher's warehouse. Robert J. Sawyer responded on his blog saying he found the book available through some Canadian bookstores and in on Amazon.ca. (I tried looking for this book tonight on the U.S. Amazon website and saw it was listed as being "temporarily out of stock.") Does this author have a case? I am nowhere near qualified to rule on that, but I think the wording in this contract is subject to interpretation. This case is a reminder to all of us that in any contract, the wording should be as clear and specific as possible; if you're not sure about something in it, you have the power to negotiate before you sign the contract, not afterward.

Ten-Word Tuesday: NaNoWriMo?

2011-10-18T00:01:00.000-05:00

Sorry, not this year; I'm busy juggling several unfinished projects.

Let's Talk Computers

2011-10-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

I don’t remember exactly when I purchased my Dell laptop, but it’s about as old as my son. Four may be a golden age for children, but it’s leaden for laptops. My programs were crashing all the time, I was having trouble with the Sleep and Hibernation modes (I’d wind up rebooting anyway), and most ominous of all, the hard drive was too quiet. Figuring a hard drive crash was just waiting to happen, I decided I’d better replace my laptop sooner instead of later. So I did a little research and bought a HP Pavilion from Best Buy. It has at least twice the RAM of my old laptop, over six times the hard drive space, and cost a lot less. If only everything else in life improved in quality and price over time like computers.

I remember the last time I bought a computer, I had to buy a special program to set up the new one. I had to hook up the two computers and let them sync up overnight to transfer my files. This time, the new laptop came with a Windows Easy Transfer program. I was able to transfer the bulk of my files in a couple of hours via my external hard drive. Some things didn’t survive the necessary program conversion/transfer, and I still need to see if I can import my e-mails from the old computer. But for the most part, the transition has been pretty easy.

So, what programs do you consider vital for a writer to have on her computer? I still have to upgrade the trial version of Word, but I do have Calibre, Dropbox, Overdrive, and a trial version of Photoshop Elements. What else do you recommend?

We Interrupt This Weekend....

2011-10-15T00:01:00.000-05:00

To bring you a very serious photo:

If you don't recognize these men, they're Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood, part of the Whose Line Is It Anyway? cast. They put on their special two-man improv comedy show in Elgin last night. Eugene and I saw them perform a few years ago; it's somewhere on this blog as "Dances With Mousetraps." (The final part of their show involves them doing a routine blindfolded and barefoot with 100 live mousetraps scattered on stage; they call it the most dangerous improv routine ever. They did it again for this performance, though with a different scenario. They were also trying to throw mousetraps at each other, so even though the skit made me cringe at times, you knew they were asking for it.)

Eugene and I got tickets through Groupon earlier this week. Our seats were in the back. We didn't get any suggestions in at this show, but for the Sound Effects act, Brad came up to our row and had everyone take turns doing his sound effects. (Eugene does a much better blowdart than I do.) At the end of the night, we went to the table where they were selling DVDs and bought one. The seller announced Colin and Brad would come out and sign them, so we waited. It was probably about fifteen minutes or so. We were among the first few in line. Eugene took the above picture with his cell phone while they autographed the DVD liner. I'm glad my parents didn't mind watching Alex a little bit longer so we could meet Colin and Brad. Seeing the show was fun enough; getting autographs and a picture just topped it.

Science of the Week, 10/14/11

2011-10-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

It's been quite an exciting and busy week around here, between the release of Lyon's Legacy and my purchase of a new laptop (more about that on Monday). Here are some science articles I found interesting this week:

Green sidewalk makes electricity--one step at a time

"Dinosaur ants" not so different from humans when it comes to haves and have nots

"Thinking machines" will guide future power grids, say experts

Eating your greens can change the effect of your genes on heart disease

Human ancestor had sixth sense

How the brain makes memories--rhythmically!

Genome mining method streamlines discoveries from nature

Fish jump into picture of evolutionary land invasion

First comet found with ocean-like water

Brain imaging reveals why we remain optimistic in the face of reality

Monkeys move and feel virtual objects using only their brains

I hope you find something interesting among all those links. Have a good weekend, and I'll see you on Monday.

What I've Learned So Far About Formatting and Publishing

2011-10-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

I did most of the formatting and file uploading of Lyon's Legacy last week. Here are a few things I learned--the hard way.

1. No matter where you plan to upload your files, use the Smashwords Style Guide to get a nicely formatted version of your manuscript. It's free, and it walks you through the process. You can find it here.

2. Start using styles to format your manuscript, as they carry over through the conversion process. If you use the Smashwords Style Guide, it will talk you through how to create and modify a style.

3. Going along with #1 and #2, use styles to define your paragraphs. If you set up a style with an automatic indent, then you don't have to worry about tabs. (And apparently tabs are bad.)

4. Start using styles in your current WIPs, so you don't end up having to remove a lot of blank lines between paragraphs. It was bad enough doing this for a novella; it will take twice as long for a full-length novel.

5. When you publish through Smashwords, you will have the option to prepare e-books in various formats, including those for Kindle and Nook. Go ahead and include them, but opt out of distributing to Amazon and B&N. You can do this through the Distribution Channel Manager on your Dashboard. I didn't realize this was in a different place at first, so I panicked a little until I figured out how to do it.

6. Double-check all the information before you hit "Publish." For example, make sure you remove all references to Smashwords when you prepare the Kindle edition. (I wound up making separate files.) You can edit your information afterwards, but the process can take time. Amazon seems to take longer than PubIt! or Smashwords to accept changes.

7. Make sure the size of your cover file meets the requirements of the various sites. I had to use Paint to downsize the file for B&N and for MyIdentifiers.com.

8. If you want ISBN numbers for your e-books, you need separate ones for each format. In other words, your Kindle version will have a different number than your Nook file. Amazon and B&N assign their own numbers, but I think the ISBNs may be useful later on. If you publish through Smashwords, you need an ISBN to distribute to Apple and Sony.

9. Once you hit publish, the stories may be up sooner than you expect. Smashwords seemed to be the quickest, followed by B&N, with Amazon last. I published on B&N after uploading to Amazon, but it was available on B&N first.

10. Don't be intimidated by the process; just give yourself extra time to review formatting and what fields you have to fill out for each site. The sites do offer help as well.

I hope that was helpful. I'm no expert, but if anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

Back on the Blog Chain: Give a Little Crit

2011-10-12T00:01:00.001-05:00

I was originally scheduled to participate in the Blog Chain on Monday, but since I had some exciting news to share, Kate agreed to switch dates with me. This round, Sarah asked,

Do you work with critique partners? How did you find your crit pals, and what influence have they had on your work?

Yes, I do work with critique partners. I feel it's vital to have someone--preferably several someones--look over your work before you submit it. Since the whole point of writing is to communicate with others, it's important to make sure your words are saying what you think they're saying. Crit partners can catch errors, inconsistencies, plot holes, and other "big picture" problems, but sometimes it's also useful to have someone look at your story on a line-by-line basis.

Over the years, I've found many crit partners in many different ways. I found one of my first crit partners (I think his first name was Richard) through a snail-mail science fiction/fantasy group for writers. (I can't even remember which one this was, but it was well over a decade ago.) I've met others as part of writing workshops held at conventions; I'm still friends with some of them (Hi, Margie and David!) even if we no longer exchange drafts. I met Heather through Broad Universe, and we still review each other's work occasionally.

These days, I mostly find crit partners on the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. It's a paid workshop, though you get a trial month for free when you start. It works by requiring members to earn points by critiquing others' chapters and stories. (My lifetime review count stands at 875.) After you've earned four points, you can spend them by posting your own work for critique. Although anyone can review any story, in practice, most members form crit groups with people who post on the same schedule or write stories they like. My current group of crit partners consists of Susan Elizabeth Curnow, Heidi Garrett, Elizabeth Hull, Ann Winter, and Zvi Zaks. You might recognize those names from the Acknowledgements page of Lyon's Legacy I posted last week.

What influence do my crit partners have on my work? In brief, a lot. I use most of their comments when I revise; sometimes I go in a different direction than what they may have suggested, but I do that when I feel their advice has merit but doesn't fit with my vision of the story. These situations may be the most valuable, since they make me stop and think about my story. I feel that critiquing and being critiqued has really improved my writing ability. In particular, sometimes my main characters come across as unlikeable in the beginning, so my crit partners have made me focus on that and work to overcome that problem.

I can't resist adding a little tribute to my crit partners:

To follow the rest of the chain, see what Matt said yesterday, and check out Cole's blog tomorrow.

Ten-Word Tuesday: Scarecrow Alex

2011-10-11T13:48:00.002-05:00

It needs a face and hat to match my son.

Lyon's Legacy is Live!--Plus a Contest!

2011-10-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

Although formatting and uploading weren't always easy (I'll blog more about them later this week), I was able to get Lyon's Legacy (Catalyst Chronicles, Book One) up on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. It's available for $2.99 in all three places. Currently it's only in e-book form, but I plan to combine it with Twinned Universes in a paper edition next year. Here's the blurb:

Sometimes being a geneticist isn’t enough to understand your family....

When scientist-in-training Joanna Lyon learns her rich uncle plans to have their rock legend ancestor, Sean Lyon, cloned, she’s disgusted. Uncle Jack pushed her into music when she was younger, and she hated it. So it’s particularly galling that he wants her to travel through a wormhole to an alternate universe and sample Sean’s DNA. She only agrees to go so she can secretly sabotage the project. But meeting Sean forces her to re-examine her feelings about her family, including her estranged father. Can she protect the unborn clone from her uncle, and will she have to sacrifice her career and new-found love to do so?

To celebrate the release of this novella, I'm going to run two promotions as described below:

1. I'll give away free copies of Lyon's Legacy through Smashwords to the first five people who request them through commenting on this post. In return, I ask that you review my novella. You can do so either on your blog, on one of the sites where it's being sold, or on Goodreads. Please mention where you plan to post your review when you make your request, and please post it by the end of the month. (And of course, please be honest!)

2. Some people may still think self-publishing is going over to the Dark Side, to which I say, "At least they have cookies." Now you can have them too! I will give away a Harry and David gift basket worth up to $40 to one lucky winner chosen at random. They offer cookie collections, but if you'd prefer something different, they also offer fruit baskets and other types of food. You can enter the drawing by spreading the word about this contest, posting a book review on one of the sites mentioned above, or interviewing me on your blog. Please comment on this post with the link by the end of the month. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments as well.

Thank you for your help in spreading the word, and I hope you enjoy the book!

Science of the Week 10/7/11

2011-10-07T00:01:00.000-05:00

I'm so glad it's Friday; it's been a long week.

Here are some interesting science news articles from Science Blogs this week:

Real-world cloaking device works best underwater

"Bullets" spewed from supermassive black hole

Physicists move one step closer to quantum computer

Transmissible Alzheimzer's a possibility

Researchers transform iPhone into High-Quality Medical Imaging Device

Gravitational waves that are the sound of the universe

Have a great weekend, everyone, and be sure to watch this blog next week. I'll let you know as soon as Lyon's Legacy goes live!

Acknowledgements and Dedication

2011-10-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

There's one very important part of Lyon's Legacy that I'd like to share with you before it goes live. Here's the Acknowledgements and Dedication:

Thanks to Aviva Rothschild and Susan Ryan for inspiring the original draft of this story with their own works.

So many people critiqued different versions of this story that I’m not sure I remember them all. Some of the people who have helped me improve this story are Heather Barnes, Sam Butler, Susan Curnow, Heidi Garrett, Elizabeth Hull, Gregg Lipschik, Ian Morrison, Darrell Newton, Walter Williams, Ann Winter, and Zvi Zaks. With the exception of Heather Barnes, they were or are members of the Online Writing Workshop for SF, Fantasy, and Horror. If I’ve missed anyone, I apologize. Any errors in this book are my own.

Lauren Sweet was both developmental editor and copyeditor, and Meghan Derico of Derico Photography designed the cover. Both of them did fantastic jobs.

Special thanks go out to my husband, Eugene Almazan, and my son, Alex, for supporting me through the writing and publishing process.

Finally, I would like to dedicate this novella to my writing mentor, Kathleen Massie-Ferch, who passed away in 2002.

"How Much Farther, Papa Smurf?"

2011-10-05T08:09:00.002-05:00

The good news is I'm formatting Lyon's Legacy into e-book format.

The bad news is I'm formatting Lyon's Legacy into e-book format.

I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to finish it. There are still a few more details I have to take care of yet before I can start the triple upload process to Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. I expect to have it done by the end of next week, but at this point I can't predict an exact day.

Stay tuned....

Ten-Word Tuesday: Science Journalism?

2011-10-04T00:01:00.001-05:00

Tantalizing yet irrelevant lead, weak case for conclusion--why, CNN?

The Science of Science Fiction: Energy from Hot Air

2011-10-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

I saw this article on CNN yesterday and thought it had an interesting idea for an energy source. Since hot air naturally rises (because it's less dense than cold air), an Australian entrepreneur wants to use it as a potential source of energy. The idea would be to build a very tall tower (2,600 feet) and surround the ground around it with a canopy. The sun would heat the air under the canopy, which would then flow into the tower. As the air rises, it would spin turbines which would be used to create electricity--enough to power 100,000 homes every day. Is the idea feasible? There are some concerns about how long the tower would stand and if it really would produce as much energy as promised. But if it works, it would offset the environmental costs in less than three years. Funding still has to be secured, but whether or not the real tower is built, it's still a concept that might be used in near-future science fiction.

Science of the Week, 9/30/11

2011-09-30T00:01:00.000-05:00

Here we are, at the end of another month already. Here are my picks for the most interesting science news stories from Science Blogs:

Video shows first tool use by fish

How global warming causes animals to shrink (can I blame my shortness on global warming?)

Research points toward Alzheimer's vaccine

Autism may have had advantages in the past

Not very much this week, but hopefully you'll find something you like.

Have a good weekend, and see you on Monday!

Lyon's Legacy--The Cover

2011-09-29T00:01:00.000-05:00

I'm very pleased to reveal the cover of Lyon's Legacy (Catalyst Chronicles: Book One), designed by Meghan Derico of Derico Photography:

I had some of the cover elements in mind when I approached Meghan. She questioned me about Jo's appearance to find a suitable model. I was able to pick the model photo that I liked best, then Meghan added in other elements. We went through a few versions of the cover before we agreed that this one was the best. Meghan was very easy to work with and has a much better eye for design than I do. ;) I look forward to working with her on the next books in the Catalyst Chronicles series.

A Tale of Two Blurbs

2011-09-28T08:06:00.002-05:00

Well, the cover art for Lyon's Legacy is nearly done, and the manuscript will be back from the line/copy editor within a week. It looks like I'll be able to publish it sometime in October. There are still several things I need to work on before the story goes live, including the blurb. I have two different versions and would love some thoughts on which one to use, along with any suggestions for improvement.

Blurb #1:

Sometimes being a geneticist isn’t enough to understand your family....

As a child, Joanna Lyon was pressured by her family to play and write music like her famous rock-n-roll ancestor, Sean Lyon, but her passion was in science instead. When grad school became too expensive, her Uncle Jack offered to make her rich if she did him a tiny favor: travel to an alternate Twentieth Century universe where Sean still lived and sample his DNA. Jo disapproved of Jack’s plan to create his own performing clone of Sean, but she agreed to accept the mission with her secret goal of sabotaging it.

Facing obstructive historians and her own hatred of Sean, can she obtain Sean’s DNA without being stranded in his universe? How much will she have to sacrifice to protect Sean’s clone?

Blurb #2:

When Joanna Lyon, a scientist in training, learns her rich uncle plans to have their rock legend ancestor, Sean Lyon, cloned, she’s disgusted. Uncle Jack pushed her into music when she was younger, and she hated it. So it’s particularly galling that he wants her to travel through a wormhole to an alternate universe and sample Sean’s DNA. She only agrees to go so she can secretly sabotage the project. But meeting Sean forces her to re-examine her feelings about her family, including her estranged father. Can she still protect the unborn clone from her uncle, and will she have to sacrifice her career and new-found love to do so?

Please let me know which one you prefer. If you have some constructive suggestions for a new approach, I'd love to hear them too. Thanks!

Ten-Word Tuesday: Monkeys and Shakespeare

2011-09-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

Digital monkeys are writing words of Shakespeare--but not together.

Superheroes of Science Blogfest

2011-09-26T00:01:00.000-05:00

Look, there in the lab! It's a flask! It's a fruit fly! It's...SUPER SCIENTIST!

That's right, this week, Claudie A. is hosting a Superheroes of Science blogfest. If you'd like to join in, please sign up on her blog for a chance to win a prize. Here are the writing prompts:

Who is the most memorable scientist character to you? What's so special about him?
What scientists - dead, alive or fictional - made a difference in your life?
Is there a scientist you admire? What has he discovered or what is he working on?

Today, I'm going to discuss fictional scientists. One of my favorite scientists in fiction is Dr. Mackenzie "Mac" Connor from Julie Czerneda's Species Imperative trilogy. Mac is a biologist whose work with migrating salmon proves to be vital for understanding a deadly alien race. She cares passionately about her work, and her relationships with her friends, both human and alien, are as important to her character as her science.

If you're interested in alien scientists, check out Robert J. Sawyer's Far-Seer, Fossil Hunter, and Foreigner for dinosaur counterparts to Galileo, Darwin, and Freud.

Finally, even though it's going to be a few more weeks until my novella Lyon's Legacy is ready for publication, I can't resist mentioning the heroine, Joanna Lyon. Joanna is the descendant of a Twentieth Century rock star, but she prefers genetics to music. As she struggles to find a lab where she can work on her dissertation, she shares her love for science with everyone, even those who are indifferent to science.

Do you have any favorite scientists in science fiction? If so, who are they?

Back on the Blog Chain: Getting Better All the Time

2011-09-24T00:01:00.002-05:00

Since getting my Kindle last year, I tend to base my book buying on the beginning of the book instead of the blurb or cover as I did with paper books. That means if the beginning is poorly written or doesn't hook me in some way, I probably won't buy the book, let alone finish reading it. So when Sean asked,

What are three books you would tell people that they need to keep reading even if they aren't immediately sucked in by the first page?

I had to think about it for a while. After I came up with a couple of examples (which I'll name in a minute), I realized they had something in common. They were books that were highly regarded or got good reviews, but they were written in unusual voices that were difficult for me to get into at first. But since I trusted the reviews enough to keep reading instead of moving on to something else, I was eventually able to get the feel of the voice and follow the book better. Sometimes characters or plot twists that came later in the story also helped raise my interest in the book. So, here are my three books, plus an Honorable Mention:

1. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. --Set in a nineteenth century England where magic used to work (and still does for the two gentlemen named in the title), this book is written in a dense, old-fashioned style, complete with lots of footnotes. The paperback was about a thousand pages long, making the book even more intimidating. It takes a while to get the dry British humor, even for an Anglophile like me. I have to admit I liked some of the secondary characters better than the two main ones, so I enjoyed the story more when they were featured.

2. The Sound and the Fury--I actually chose to read this book for my AP English class in high school because it was challenging. (Well, what do you expect from Faulkner?) When my teachers asked me about it, I quoted Shakespeare at them: "It is a tale told by an idiot." This is literally true for the first section; I found the other parts easier to follow. One of these days I would like to go back and reread this book to see if I can understand it better now.

3. In His Own Write--I couldn't resist including one of John Lennon's books. John loved wordplay and nonsense, so his writing can be surreal. I like to say that I have to tilt my mind sideways in order to understand what he's saying. But everyone should have their minds tilted from time to time, shouldn't they?

The Kappa Child--I'm including this one as an Honorable Mention because I can't remember if I disliked the beginning or was just disappointed in one of the later plot elements. The voice, though quirky, wasn't as hard to follow as in some of the other books I've mentioned. The end tied things together in a way that still make me think about this book.

As a final point, I read all these books in paper, not e-book form. I'm more invested in paper books I've paid for than e-book samples that I can easily delete. Then again, life's too short to waste reading books you don't enjoy, especially when I know I'll never clear my "To Read" lists. I have over 180 book samples in my "To Read" collection on my Kindle now, plus another twenty or so paper books. Are you sure I can't take my Kindle with me? ;)

Please follow Amparo backward and Matt forward to see what books the rest of the blog chain recommends.

Science of the Week, 9/23/11

2011-09-23T00:01:00.000-05:00

Here are the most interesting articles on Science Blog this week:

Biologists discover genes that repair nerves after injury

Marijuana can prevent PTSD symptoms

Proton-based transistor could let machines communicate with living things

Genetic slip robs people of fingerprints

Black hole, star collisions may illuminate universe's dark side

Fail-safe system may lead to cures for inherited disorders

Gamers succeed where scientists fail

That's it for this week. I normally don't blog on weekends, but I'm scheduled for a Blog Chain post tomorrow. Stop on by to see which books I think are worth a slow start!

Library Lending for the Kindle

2011-09-22T11:06:00.002-05:00

Amazon announced yesterday that library lending is finally available for the Kindle. It's starting out slowly at first, with about 11,000 libraries participating and about 25,000 titles available to be borrowed. My local library does lend out e-books for the Nook and other devices, but as of yesterday afternoon, their website said Kindle lending wasn't available. I think it's supposed to come soon; the question is how many of those 25,000 books will be in my favorite genre.

It seems that the differences between the Nook and the Kindle are rapidly disappearing. Is this new Kindle feature going to affect your book reading habits or your e-reader preference?

Would You Rather...? Writing Edition

2011-09-21T00:01:00.000-05:00

My son watches a lot of Curious George; I probably know more about that show than any current TV program for adults. As he was watching the "Zeroes to Donuts" episode tonight (where George accidentally orders 100 dozen donuts instead of just one dozen), my husband posed an interesting "Would You Rather" question to me: would you rather eat 100 donuts or 100 scoops of ice cream?

(If you're not familiar with this game, each player must choose one of two possible options presented to her. Sometimes these options can be pretty nasty, in which case you must decide which one is the lesser evil. Sometimes these questions can be pretty thought-provoking.)

I thought it would be interesting to create some writing-related "Would You Rather" questions. Here's one: would you rather lose all the files on your computer or all the books in your library? As much as I love my books, I can replace them more easily than my computer files, so that's what I would go with.

How would you answer this question? What questions can you come up with?

Ten-Word Tuesday: Citibank and the Environment

2011-09-20T08:05:00.001-05:00

It's wasteful to issue two cards when one will do.

The Night Circus

2011-09-19T00:01:00.000-05:00

I just realized I have over a thousand posts now on this blog. I started it shortly after I got married, so this November will be my six-year blogging anniversary. It might be time to start thinking about a contest.

Anyway, I normally don't do a lot of book promotion on this blog, but over the weekend I read a book I really enjoyed, so I wanted to tell you about it. It's called The Night Circus. Set in the late 19th century, the book is about a pair of young magicians bound by their teachers into a contest where only one can win. What's unusual about this contest is that it takes place within a circus. Not just any circus, but one that appears overnight without warning. It opens at sunset and closes at dawn. In the meantime, it offers delectable treats and incomparable performers, all in the black-and-white scheme of the circus. (Even fire burns white here.) Instead of one big tent, the acts perform in many small tents, each with mysterious signs. There is a cloud maze, a pool of tears, a wishing tree, a carousel with magical animals, a fortune teller, and many other wonders. The circus is so extraordinary that it attracts fans who follow it from city to city, like Deadheads of another century.

Although I read science fiction and fantasy for their sense of wonder, often times the magic or science-fictional aspect of the story feels ordinary. In this book, the magic of the night circus becomes something many characters yearn for, something with a life of its own. I hope that if you read this book, you feel the magic too, the way I did when I read it.

Science of the Week, 9/16/11

2011-09-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

I can't resist starting this week's link list with a reference to Star Wars:

Tatooine-like planet discovered

Researchers discover gene linked to optimism, self-esteem

50 New exoplanets discovered by HARPS

Astronomers find extreme weather on an alien world

Researchers predict new superhard materials

Students create application that "writes" books
(Don't worry; I think this app is a long way off from writing fiction)

Blood vessels from your printer

Sea urchins see with entire body

I found all of these articles on Science Blog.

Have a good weekend, everyone! Tomorrow we plan to take our son to the local railway museum; on Sunday, we'll go apple picking. Hope you have something fun planned too!

Recommended Books

2011-09-15T12:24:00.002-05:00

I don't think I've done this for a while, if ever: what books do you recommend the most to others? They can be fiction or non-fiction.

For me, one of my favorite non-fiction books is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It's one of those books that just clicked for me when I read it. As for fiction, I love Patrica McKillip's and and Connie Willis's work. One recent fantasy trilogy I'd recommend is The Accidental Sorcerer; Witches, Inc; and Wizard Squared.

What would you add to this list?

Author Logic

2011-09-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

Have you ever found yourself applying the rules of your world inconsistently? I did the other day when a beta reader found my characters saying one thing yet acting as if what they said wasn't true. I must have been trying to increase tension when I did that, but now I have to go back and figure out how to make it consistent.

What do you do when you find you've left plot holes in your stories?

Ten-Word Tuesday: That Kindle Smell...

2011-09-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

Make your e-reader smell like a paper book with this.

The Power of "Yes"

2011-09-12T12:06:00.003-05:00

My reading today from 365 Tao: Daily Meditations (by Deng Ming-Dao) featured a story about the author meeting a great, unnamed writer. At the time, the author of my meditation book was a novice writer, and he had a lot of questions for this much more experienced writer. As he tells it, "To most of my questions she would only answer, 'Yes.' She knew all the answers, and she knew all the exceptions, and she knew the best thing that an older person could tell a younger person was, 'Yes.' Yes, the affirmative. Yes, as in keep exploring. Yes, as in there are no ultimate answers."

What have you said "Yes" to lately?