Interviews or Guest Posts, Anyone?

Just a reminder that this blog is open to host blog tours, interviews, and guest posts. If you write SF or fantasy and would like to promote your work, feel free to contact me, either through my e-mail (displayed on the right) or leave a comment below. Thanks!

Science of the Week, 11/14/14

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

Touchdown! Rosetta's Philae probe lands on comet

Gut bacteria: how genes determine the size of your jeans

New research lights the way to super-fast computers

Google wants to search for cancer--inside your body

Atomic timekeeping, on the go

Study blocks MS relapses in mice

Single molecular switch may contribute to major aging-related diseases

Altered milk protein can deliver AIDS drug to infants

The cat's meow: genome offers new clues to domestication

 Reducing food waste and saving money at Thanksgiving

Archaeologists discover remains of Ice-Age infants in Alaska

Too many people, not enough water: then and now

Did men evolve navigation skills to find mates?

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

All About the Beets--Song Parody

You know a contemporary song is popular when even I hear about it--or at least the parody versions. The first parody version I heard of Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" was the Star Wars version by Team Unicorn. Last night, my husband shared MDI High School's version of "All About the Books" on Facebook. It wasn't long before my own tongue-in-cheek, vegetarian version foisted itself on me. Here are my vegetarian-inspired lyrics to "All About the Beets" for your pleasure. And for your even greater pleasure....I won't sing them (trust me on this).

Standard Disclaimer: These lyrics written for non-commercial use. I do not own any rights to the original music or lyrics.

Non-Standard Disclaimer: And it's OK if you like eating meat.

All About The Beets

Because you know
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets

Yeah, it's pretty clear, I gave up all meat
But I can cook beans, cook beans
So that they’re good to eat
'Cause I got that spice rack that all the boys chase
And all the right fruit in all the right places

I see the megafarm wearing out the dirt
We know that shit ain't healthy
C'mon now, save the Earth
If you got quinoa fritters, just eat 'em up
'Cause every inch of me is veggie
From the bottom to the top

Yeah, my doctor she told me don't worry about your size
She says, "Protein is more than steak, fish, and chicken fries."

You know I must reduce my carbon footprint for my son.
So if you’re into consumption then go ahead and move along.

Because you know I'm
All about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets
Hey!

I'm bringing tofu back
Go ahead and tell them burger eaters that
No, I'm just playing. I know you think it’s bad
But I'm here to tell ya
Every inch of me is veggie from the bottom to the top

Yeah, my doctor she told me don't worry about your size
She says, "Protein is more than steak, fish, and chicken fries."

You know I must reduce my carbon footprint for my son,
So if you’re into consumption then go ahead and move along.

Because you know I'm
All about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets

Because you know I'm
All about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets

Because you know I'm
All about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets, no bovines
I'm all about the beets
'Bout the beets
'Bout the beets, 'bout the beets
Hey, hey, ooh
You know you like these beets

Read Tuesday

I'm not into Black Friday shopping, but I do love shopping for books. Here's an event that's up any reader's alley: Read Tuesday. If you're not familiar with it, it's a day designated for giving the gift of reading. Lots of books, both paper and digital, will be on sale Tuesday, December 9. I plan to participate, and one of the ways I'm doing so is by making all of my Matchbook deals free. From now through the end of the year, you can buy a paper copy of Lyon's Legacy, Twinned Universes, Life at Seventeen Syllables a Day, or Seasons' Beginnings on Amazon and get the eBook free. There will be some other deals going on around that time as well.

Author friends, if you'd like to promote your books during Read Tuesday, please check out this link.

Mini Blog Tour for Seasons' Beginnings

Unfortunately, we don't have an interview ready for the Blog Ring of Power this week. However, I wrote some guest blogs as part of a mini blog tour for Seasons' Beginnings. Here's the list; I'll update the links when they become available.

Making Your Gods Unique, hosted by T.W. Fendley on The Writers' Lens

Telling Feminist Stories from a Male Point of View, hosted by Gail Z. Martin on Disquieting Visions

November 10, From Short Story to Novel, hosted by Vonnie Winslow Crist

November 11, What Type of Avatar Are You?, on Of Werewolves and Other Strangers

November 11, Adapting Ancient Settings, hosted by Kelly A. Harmon


Thanks to all my hosts, and I hope you like the posts! (Yes, that was meant to rhyme.)

Science of the Week--11/7/14

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

Lack of oxygen delayed the appearance of animals on Earth

Strange, fanged deer still found in Afghanistan 

Hubble sees "Ghost Light" from dead galaxies

Clear new evidence for mind-body connection

Nasal spray vaccine has potential for long-lasting protection from Ebola virus

String field theory could be the foundation of quantum mechanics

Intractable conflicts stem from misunderstanding of motivation

Researchers advocate for optimum level of "unequality" for the U.S. economy

High-fat diet postponing brain aging

Can love make us mean?

Enzymes make electricity from jet fuel without ignition

Scientists discover fossil of bizarre groundhog-like mammal on Madagascar

Study shows direct brain interface between humans


Have a good weekend, and talk to you Monday!

Guest Post: Where Fact Meets Fantasy: Lunar Eclipses & Double Blue Moons

Last week, BRoP member T.W. Fendley was our interviewee as she celebrated the release of her newest work, The Labyrinth of Time. Today she returns to share some of her research with us.

Worldbuilding is one of the fun parts of writing science fiction and fantasy, but it doesn’t let you off the hook if you get “real-world” facts wrong. That’s why I put a disclaimer in my young adult contemporary fantasy, THE LABYRINTH OF TIME, regarding the timing of a total lunar eclipse that’s crucial to the plot. 

According to Javier Cabrera Darquea’s interpretation of Ica’seleven thousand engraved stones, a comet return involving our early alien visitors will occur during a total lunar eclipse--when the moon is completely in the Earth’s shadow. Sadly, I failed to find a “real-world” match for that particular combination of celestial events to use in my story.

Instead, I decided to use another rare astronomical marker—a double blue moon. Despite the fickle definition for blue moons, I liked the imagery of the double blue moon,particularly when I
learned about the 2018 total lunar eclipse. Although I didn’t find records of a long-period comet due within the January to March timeframe for the double blue moon, I imagined one similar to Comet Siding Spring. Just discovered in January 2013, the comet made its once-in-a-million-years pass by Mars on Oct. 20, 2014.

For several decades, a blue moon has been defined as the second full moon in a single calendar month.  A double blue moon--when two blue moons occur with a year--occurs about four times in a century. The last was in 1999, and the next double blue moon will be in 2018 (Jan. 31 and March 31). 

Realistically, a “blue moon” wouldn’t mean quite the same thing to ancient people as it does to us. Even our own definition changed due to a mistake in a 1946 Sky and Telescope magazine article. Previously, the Farmers’ Almanac referred to a blue moon as the third full moon in a season that has four. Over the next two decades, about fifteen blue moons will occur, with an almost equal number of both types occurring.

Admittedly, I blurred the facts in my fiction—the 2018 total lunar eclipse will only be partially visible from Peru and will occur during the first blue moon of the pair--Jan. 31, not March 31. The next total lunar eclipse that’s visible from Ica won’t be until Jan. 21, 2019—in a year with no blue moon (by the current definition). Besides, that was too long for Jade and Felix to wait for the comet’s arrival and the return of the First Men!

 
T.W. Fendley is an award-winning author of historical fantasy and science fiction for adults and young adults. She began writing fiction full-time in 2007 after working twenty-five years in journalism and corporate communications. In October 2011, L&L Dreamspell LLC published her debut historical fantasy novel for adults, Zero Time. Her young adult contemporary fantasy novel, The Labyrinth of Time, will be released in November 2014. Her short stories are available on Kindle and Audible.

Teresa fell in love with ancient American cultures while researching story ideas at the 1997 Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop. Since then, she’s trekked to archeological sites in the Yucatan, Peru and American Southwest. She serves on the board of the St. Louis Writers Guild, and belongs to the Missouri Writers' Guild, Broad Universe, and Historical Novel Society. She also practices remote viewing with the Applied Precognition Project and studies shamanism. Teresa currently lives near St. Louis with her artist husband and his pet fish. 

 You can find her online at: 

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Smashwords

Can Jade restore the Firestone’s powers before the First Men return to judge humanity? 

Spending spring break in Peru with her grandmother isn’t sixteen-year-old Jade’s idea of fun. She’d much rather be with her friends at Lake of the Ozarks. Then she meets Felix, a museum director’s son. Jade discovers only she and Felix can telepathically access messages left on engraved stones in the age of dinosaurs.

Following the ancient stones’ guidance, they enter the Labyrinth of Time and–with a shapeshifting dog’s help–seek a red crystal called the Firestone. But time is running out before the First Men return on the night of the second blue moon.