New Story Online – “Door” at Avenir Eclectia

Tags

Avenir Eclectia, Collaborative writing, microfiction, science fiction, Writing

Another episode in the continuing saga of the space colony the universe forgot—Today, we find Melanie Hunt on the run, desperately seeking safe haven in an Avenir space station that’s coming apart at the seams.

She’s also being chased by spiders.

Her brother is locked in his apartment, wired into the station’s virtual-reality game grid. Like most siblings, he’s less than helpful:

There was a rumbling sound in the distance, followed by a long, warbling shriek that climbed slowly in both pitch and volume, then stopped, as if it had been cut off with a knife.

Melanie swallowed hard and fought to keep her voice steady. “Do you have any idea what’s happening out here?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. This is a really inconvenient time to pester me. My guild’s getting ready to run the Fathomless Catacombs in Wizard’s Realm, and I still have to equip.”

“Carson…I…am…in…trouble! The whole station’s gone haywire. Things are exploding, and there are spiders everywhere!”

“How do you expect me to help? Go back to your apartment, or call an Enforcer.”

“The corridors to my apartment are sealed off, and the only Enforcers I’ve seen are running as fast as they can in the opposite direction. These spiders are aggressive…the brown ones are attracted to motion, the gray ones move in packs, and the red ones go straight for the throat. I need a safe place to hide. You’re all I’ve got.”

“Don’t be such a baby. They’re bugs. One-shot kills.”

“This isn’t a game, idiot. I don’t have a gun.”

“Fine. Step on them. Hit ’em with…with a book or something.”

Read the whole thing at Avenir Eclectia. If you’d like to find out how Melanie got into this mess from the beginning, here are links to all the stories in her thread:

“Gamer“

“Folly“

“Orca“

“Flatworm“

“Download“

“Tea“

“Problems“

And if you’d like to read all my contributions to this ongoing, interactive, multi-author, shared-world, cooperative microfiction project sponsored by Splashdown Books, here’s a link for that: Fred Warren’s stories at Avenir Eclectia

 

Speaking of Awards…

Tags

Avenir Eclectia, awards, Carol Award, Christy Awards, Clive Staples Award, Hugo Awards, Sir Julius Vogel Awards, Splashdown Books, World Fantasy Awards, Writing

A Major Award.

Though I’m paying particular attention to the Nebula Awards at the moment, various and sundry other awards are in the offing or have been recently announced for worthy works of literature, both speculative and literary.

Some people look askance at the whole awards culture, which can devolve into a popularity contest, circular back-pat, or narcissistic me-fest, but I think it’s worth recognizing writers and stories that rise above the mundane to the magnificent. Heaven knows authors struggle against what often feels like an eternal gale of criticism, and if history is any indication, many of our finest may only be recognized as such posthumously.

There’s a cheery thought.

Here are a few awards I keep an eye on, as they relate to speculative fiction and/or Christian fiction:

The Hugo Awards: Another of the “Big 3″ science fiction and fantasy awards. The Hugo focuses on science fiction, plus related works, television, movies, and graphic media. Unlike the Nebulas, which are voted on by the membership of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the Hugos are selected by the World Science Fiction Society, composed of the membership of the previous, current, or next year’s World Science Fiction Convention (this year, it’s LoneStarCon3, in San Antonio, Texas, in September). There’s usually some overlap among Nebula and Hugo nominees, and I’ll cover this year’s Hugos in a later post.

The World Fantasy Awards: This is the equivalent of the Hugo or Nebula for fantasy stories and art. Nominees are selected by a panel of judges and members of the current World Fantasy Convention (in Brighton, U.K. this year, at the end of October). Winners are selected by the panel of judges.

The Christy Awards: Named in honor of author Catherine Marshall, and her classic novel, Christy, the Christys recognize “excellence in Christian fiction” across a variety of genres, recognizing and promoting works “of exceptional quality and impact.” The Christy website explains the process: “Every year publishers are invited to submit novels written from a Christian worldview and copyrighted in the year preceding the awards. Each novel is entered in one of several genre categories and/or the first novel category. Each category of novels is then read and evaluated against a ten-point criteria by a panel of seven judges composed of librarians, reviewers, academicians, literary critics, and other qualified readers, none of whom have a direct affiliation with a publishing company.”

Administration of the Christy is a little odd and has stirred some consternation among readers and writers of Christian fiction who know about it. More to follow on this issue in a separate post.

The Carol Awards: Presented by the American Christian Fiction Writers (a professional organization of Christian writers “devoted to the craft of Christian Fiction”) to recognize “the best Christian fiction published by traditional publishing houses.” Stories are evaluated against a standardized scoresheet by a panel of judges appointed by the ACFW.

The Clive Staples Award: Administered by the Speculative Faith online forum, the Clive Staples Award is an annual “readers’ choice” award for excellence in speculative fiction written from a Christian worldview, with nominees and winners chosen by vote of the readership at large (if you read, this means you, whatever size you happen to be, and the nomination process is underway right now), based on criteria explained here.

The Sir Julius Vogel Awards: Huh? Never heard of this one? That may be because it’s presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand for excellence in science fiction, fantasy, and horror writing by New Zealanders. It also considers anthologies published in New Zealand containing works by New Zealand authors. Among this year’s nominees is Splashdown Books’ Avenir Eclectia anthology, which includes some of my stories.

I’ll let you know how that turns out.

What’s Happening: 03/07/2013

Tags

angel wings, anthologies, Avenir Eclectia, birdwatching, Brian Rathbone, Call of the Herald, comets, Digital Dragon, Google, Ingress, MMORPGs, Niantic Labs, osprey, PANSTARRS, Stephanie Morrill, The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt

“In a sea of stars, comets soar like the souls of tall ships with glittering tails in their wakes…” 2013 is shaping up to be the Year of the Comet, and we get our first shot at a naked-eye flyby with Comet PANSTARRS (named for the telescope in Hawaii that found it) which can be seen low in the western sky after sunset in most of North America starting tonight, though you’ll probably need a pair of binoculars to pick it out at first. It’ll be loitering in our neighborhood for about a month, returning in about 110,000 years. Okay, let’s just say “never” and call it even. For more info, check out the EarthSky blog. In August, the potentially-spectacular Comet ISON will debut, and it might even be visible in the daytime sky for a short time. We won’t be passing through either comet’s tail, so if you’re worried about Comet Zombies, rest easy.

UPDATE: Naturally, weather in the Greater KC Metro Area has been 100% obscured, with periods of rain and freezing rain, since I posted this. Perhaps the clouds will dissipate before the comet exits our solar system, but I’m not optimistic.

Oh, the quotation in bold above is from Brian Rathbone’s Call of the Herald, now available for free Kindle and Nook download via Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com. I’ll provide a review once I download and read my copy, but the cover rocks enough awesome to merit a download all by itself. Check out more of Brian’s stuff at http://www.brianrathbone.com

UPDATE: The second book in this trilogy is also free at the moment, so do as I say and did…grab a copy. In another freebie note, fans of contemporary teen fiction can score a free e-copy of fellow Kansan Stephanie Morill’s Me, Just Different, the first book in her Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series. Details here.

Not my picture, but you get the idea.

Birds of Prey Know They’re Cool: I saw an osprey today on the way to work as I crossed the Kansas River on Route K10—the bird kind, not the tilt-rotor aircraft. I’ve only made a positive ID on one of these little beauties once before, so this was kind of special. The bright-white underside, narrow tail, and distinctive M-shaped soaring posture were clearly visible as it followed the river across the bridge and away to the east. I do a lot of my birdwatching on-the-fly, so to speak, and it’s been a pretty good winter with two Bald Eagle sightings, plus plenty of well-fed Cooper’s Hawks and smaller falcons.

Shouldn’t You Be Writing? As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I’ve got a new installment in the epic tale of John Milton up at Avenir Eclectia, with another soon to follow. Digital Dragon Magazine has also just released its long-awaited anthology, A Year of the Dragon. “Angel Wings”, my short tale of mothers, daughters, and body modification, lurks within.

Fight the Future: I stumbled across something called Ingress the other day, a new Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game from Google’s Niantic Labs that’s currently in limited beta release following a viral marketing campaign that began the middle of last year. Being a frequent user of Google, Google Plus, iGoogle, Google Chrome, Google Android, et al, I was slightly miffed that what might well be the Next Big Thing had somehow flown under my radar despite said viral marketing campaign. The beta opened last November, and though you can freely download the game app from Google Play, you can’t access the game without one of the invitation codes that Google is doling out like Wonka Golden Tickets via the game’s web pages and associated media. If you thought it was hard to get into Google Plus before, you ain’t seen nothin’ like this.

Anyhow, Ingress is something like a cross between geocaching, capture the flag, the X-Files, and Project Ultra, using landmarks all over the world as its map. Niantic Labs has foolishly opened a transdimensional gateway and drawn the attention of whatever lives on the other side to our existence. These beings claim to offer cosmic enlightenment to mankind, but their motives are unclear. Some observers believe they’re trying to infiltrate and possess humanity ala the scenario in Stephenie Meyers’ The Host, only more sneakily. They’re opening interdimensional portals and seeding the planet with invisible Exotic Matter in preparation for the invasion. Meanwhile, a Resistance movement is forming to gain control of the portals and keep the aliens at bay. At least, that’s the story. The whole thing plays out over the smartphone app, where players choose their faction and coordinate attacks and counterattacks, with supporting multimedia backstory and clues provided on the various project websites. It’s a geek paradise with innumerable videos, audio files, leaked chatlogs, and oodles of obscure cryptology.

The underlying purpose of Ingress, besides making Google a bucket of money via means yet unrevealed, seems to be marshaling a worldwide volunteer force to gather the slew of photos and GPS coordinates needed to fill gaps in Google Maps and Google’s Field Trip app. Well, it’s the best theory I’ve heard yet. Perhaps that’s the real conspiracy, but you didn’t hear it from me. I was never here.

And I’m still waiting for my Golden Ticket.

UPDATE: The day after I wrote this, my invitation arrived. Coincidence? I think not! Anyhow, more details once I’ve had a few weeks to get my feet wet. First impressions: 1. Love the backstory and media support. 2. Nifty interface. 3. Sci-fi combat geocaching without the briars and poison oak. 4. Standard MMORPG grinding and leveling. 5. Cooperative element could be stronger, but they’re fighting a subculture with little love for social interaction.

New Story Online – “Awakening” at Avenir Eclectia

Tags

Avenir Eclectia, microfiction, science fiction, shared-world, Splashdown Books, Writing

A new installment today in the epic saga of a human colony clinging to life on a hostile planet circling a distant star, long forgotten by whatever remnant of life might still exist on Earth.

John Milton has abandoned his life as a wealthy trader to be wired into the virtual universe of the shadowy Dreamers, the unseen community guarding and guiding Avenir Eclectia. They’re convinced the colony is on the verge of failure and are preparing to launch the Avenir station into deep space in search of a world more compatible with human life. John shares that vision, and wants to help bring it about.

He expected to wake up inside their simulated paradise, but something’s not quite right…

Anya said he’d awaken into a world both vivid and boundless, as subjectively real as the mundane, sterile, hopeless environment of Avenir, but so much more. So much better.

Myriad horrifying possibilities began scampering about his mind, pursued by a fear that ever-so-slowly took form—lithe, feline, and clawed—from somewhere deep within his imagination. It crouched and bristled, ready to pounce. What it ensnared would become real.

He needed to take a deep breath, steady himself.

He couldn’t expand his chest to pull in a fresh lungful of air. He couldn’t even tell if he had a chest or lungs to fill with air. He was drowning in a viscous soup of nothingness.

He screamed, soundlessly. Again and again and again.

Read the whole thing at Avenir Eclectia, a shared-world microfiction project sponsored by Splashdown Books.

New Story Online: “Doll” at Avenir Eclectia

Tags

Avenir Eclectia, microfiction, publications, science fiction, serial fiction, Writing

I’ve got another episode up at Avenir Eclectia, the ongoing multi-author, microfiction saga of a lost space colony teetering on the edge of survival.

“Doll” finds Smith’s little band of orphans on their own and in the unusual position of sneaking items into people’s pockets. The contraband delivery is proceeding without a hitch, until Charlie Lone bumps into a ragamuffin’s dream come to life.

Or, perhaps, a nightmare.

She was from one of the other orphan gangs, and they’d bumped shoulders more than once in the marketplace. Charlie’s excitement overcame his caution. “I can’t believe it…you’re an Oliver!” Smith was always talking about the lucky few that caught the fancy of a rich family and got themselves adopted, like in the story, but to actually meet one, and somebody he knew—it was like a window into heaven.

Give it a read here.

Or, if you’d like read my pieces of the ongoing adventure from the beginning, you can start here (scroll to the bottom of the page).

The first compendium of Avenir Eclectia stories is now available in paperback and all popular e-book formats from Splashdown Books. Check it out here.

What’s Happening: 12/4/2012

Tags

Avenir Eclectia, Christmas, Grace Bridges, Kansas City, Saint Nicholas, what's going on, Writing

He’s too much.

Life Imitates Art Imitates Life: Anybody who thinks the current balmy 70-degree weather in the Midwest U.S. is about global warming obviously had a childhood deficient in American Christmas lore. I’m thinking our territory has been ceded to Heat Miser in recompense for the freak blizzard Snow Miser dumped on Beijing last month and the record snowfall accumulating there now. Meanwhile, our budget deadlock between Congress and Oval Office is making this look more and more like The Year Without a Santa Claus.

As I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas: You may have noticed it’s snowing on my web page this month. Thanks, WordPress! If this keeps up, I’ll need to break out the ol’ electronic shovel.

Chuck Norris Keeps This Picture in His Wallet for Inspiration: Speaking of Jolly Old Saint Nick, it’s worth remembering that the real Saint Nicholas was a fiery social reformer, rescuer of the downtrodden, and two-fisted champion of the Christian faith. Here we see his smackdown of über-eloquent, über-popular, über-heretic Arius at the Council of Nicaea. Arius was arguing that Jesus was essentially just another created being, not God Incarnate (gee, you hardly ever hear that idea nowadays). Nicholas, to put it mildly, disagreed. Though Nicholas was harshly disciplined for this lapse in decorum, the Council rejected Arius’ doctrine and formulated the Nicene Creed, perhaps the most widely-recognized encapsulation of Christian belief.

News from Deep Space: I’m a little behind on the writing updates…I have not one, but two new episodes posted in the continuing story of Avenir Eclectia.

---

“Tea” – Natalie Hunt goes in search of Avenir power-broker John Milton, but finds an empty apartment manned by a chatty cyborg butler. Awkward.

“This…this is a nice room. Is that real wood paneling?”

“Yes. It is an extravagance, but Mr. Milton found it soothing.”

Who gets his apartment now that he’s dead?” Melanie grimaced. “Oh…sorry, that’s a rude question, isn’t it?”

“Some business associate, I presume. I am not privy to the details of his will. There are no living relatives.”

---

“Problems” – Anya Sherikov and the Dreamers brainstorm solutions to an impending crisis, and something nasty awaits Natalie in the corridor outside Milton’s apartment:

Something skittered across the toe of her boot. She looked down to find a small, red-striped spider lifted up onto its hind legs a few meters away, forelegs waving in the air, fanged mouthparts working rapidly and drooling viscous slime. She stared at it in fascination—bugs weren’t supposed to be able to get onto the station, especially not the upper levels. Where did this one come from?

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To read all the installments of my stories in Avenir Eclectia, start here.

The first compendium of Avenir Eclectia stories is now available in print and all popular e-book formats. Details here.

Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime: Rather than sending me on a work trip this month, my robot overlords protectors have assigned me to support my chain gang team from Fort Leavenworth via the technological magic of telecommuting…commuting…commuting…It’s a lot like any other trip, except I get to spend my off-shift time at home, mostly sleeping. My Lovely Wife says she misses me.

Kiwi in Kansas City: Grace Bridges, who helms Splashdown Books, publisher of my two novels and short-story anthology, paid us a visit a couple of weeks ago on her tour across North America. We spent a pleasant afternoon in downtown KC taking in the sights. I introduced her to the wonders of Sheridan’s Frozen Custard, and she made some new friends. More pictures here.

What’s Happening: 10/29/2012

Tags

anime, Avenir Eclectia, Fred Warren, Splashdown Books, Writing

There’s a chill in the air as All Hallow’s Eve approaches, and my little clan is making the usual preparations to fend off the living dead with fun-sized charges of high-energy carbohydrate. Bring it on, walkers.

Is This Thing Turned On? Another interview posted a few days ago, this one with fellow author Mary Ruth Pursselley at her blog, The Writer’s Lair. Topic: Avenir Eclectia, and the new compendium of stories thereof published recently by Splashdown Books. Find out what possessed me to re-enter the world of cooperative shared-world fiction! Avenir Eclectia Volume 1 is on sale at the promotional rate of $5.98 right now at Amazon, so there’s a golden opportunity to “buy low, sell high,” or whatever.

Don’t Get Between Her and a Bag of Skittles, Either: One way the Darling Daughter has been making good use of her hiatus from the U.S. Air Force Academy is to join the debate team at our local community college. This started out as a lark but quickly became Serious Business. She seems to have a knack for arguing opponents to death. In retrospect, her talent seems obvious.

Horror in the Echo Chamber: As anyone still reading this blog may have noticed, I’ve begun a seven-part serial tale of terror called “The Transit” that I’m posting here at Frederation. I’m just playing around with a few ideas, probably a side-effect of some seasonal reading of H.P. Lovecraft, Arthur Machen, et. al. Classic “weird” horror. Anyhow, judging by the paucity of hits/comments on this activity, I seem to be talking to myself again (Which is not a huge problem, since I do that all the time, don’t I, Fred? Why, yes, Fred, you’re a perpetual fountain of soliloquy!). So, I’m wondering if I was a little hasty tossing out a half-baked concept that I’m making up as I go along. My Much Younger Brother has already advised me it reads like, and I quote, “college-level creative writing.” Sigh. If the sense that I’m declaiming into an empty room continues, I may pull this monster back into the private zone for vivisection and post it all at a later date, once it’s been stitched up properly. “Igor! Back to the laboratory!”

Did I Mention Splashdown Books? New and fresh from My Fair Publisher is Kat Heckenbach’s latest young-adult fantasy, Seeking Unseen, the second volume in her Toch Island Chronicles that began with Finding Angel. Yes, she went to Heckenbach to bring it to you. Also new and newish are Frank Creed’s cyberpunk actioner Devil’s Hit List and Greg Mitchell’s sci-fi adventure Rift Jump. Keven Newsome’s paranormal offering, Prophetess, the sequel to Winter, will be debuting soon—here’s the trailer. Perfect gifts for the imaginative people in your life, young and old…or those whose imagination needs a little nurturing.

They’re Just People Lookin’ to the East: If you’ve run out of Scooby Doo Movies for your Halloween viewing, here are a couple of suggestions:

Another: Koichi Sakakibara moves to his grandparents’ small-town home from Tokyo while his father is overseas on business, and he soon discovers his junior-high-school class shares a deadly secret. Twenty-six years ago, they kept a desk vacant in memorial of a classmate’s tragic death, but something terrible has returned each year to fill that empty space, wreak havoc, and then blot out the details of its actions and identity. Is it connected to the mysterious girl with the eyepatch who only Koichi can see—and can it be stopped? This is a story of psychological suspense, and it does a great job building up both the mystery and the atmosphere of dread. There are moments of extreme and sudden violence, some of it bloody, though obscured, and the body count accelerates near the end as the pieces of the puzzle begin to connect. No coarse language or sexuality issues, but definitely not for kids or the faint of heart. Older teens and up. Subtitled. Streaming at Crunchyroll.com.

White: In this live-action movie, struggling K-Pop group Pink Dolls finds a discarded demo tape with a catchy song that turns their careers around. Too bad it’s cursed. Can they solve the mystery and break the curse before they run out of time—and cast members? A cautionary tale of the pitfalls of Korean celebrity culture, with a supernatural twist. White is currently listed on Netflix, but can probably also be found via any of the usual movie sources with a little digging. Some grotesque “accidents,” but nothing else particularly objectionable—just scary. Keep the lights on. If you don’t, you will later. Subtitled. Older teens and up.

Or, if you don’t care for the scare:

Sword Art Online: Thousands of people are trapped inside a full-immersion virtual-reality computer game where death in the game means death in real life, and the only way to survive is to beat 100 levels of monsters. Kirito was a beta tester, and finds his prior experience provides an edge, but it also makes him a pariah. Though he shuns close friendships, he begins to realize that he needs to risk the companionship of other people—and for more than just combat support. Based on a Japanese light novel series by Reki Kawahara, Sword Art Online digs a little deeper into the gaming culture and the scenario’s mental and emotional implications than other series with a similar setup, such as .hack//sign. The fantasy landscapes are beautiful, and the fight sequences are gripping, especially the boss battles. Though the violence is computerized (there’s no blood, and slain characters dissolve into pixels), the real-life stakes increase the impact of character deaths and the menace of some social-gaming phenomena like PK (player-killer) gangs. The two teenage leads “marry” within the game, and it’s implied they consummate the relationship, though that’s never explicitly stated nor depicted. Teens and up. Subtitled. Episodes streaming online at Crunchyroll.com.

Space Brothers: Nothing scary about this one, but it’s got a lot of heart. While searching for wildlife in a forest near their home, two kids see a UFO, and the experience inspires them to make a pact to become astronauts and travel to the moon and beyond. Years later, Hibito is an astronaut preparing to fulfill his dream, but Mutta is out of work with no prospects in sight—until a letter arrives announcing a nation-wide search for astronaut candidates from the general public. Mutta enters the tortuous screening process, but the odds against him are, well, astronomical. Will he catch up to his younger brother and keep the promise he made when they were children? I think this is suitable for tweens and up (UPDATE: I’m still working my way through this series, and there is a little profanity and some depictions of alcohol use/overuse, so I’d recommend parental guidance for younger viewers), though some might not have the patience to appreciate the relaxed pace and action level of this series about the power of dreams and family ties. Subtitled. Streaming at Crunchyroll.com.

Avenir Eclectia, Volume 1

Tags

anthologies, Avenir Eclectia, publications, science fiction, Splashdown Books, Writing

Avenir: An interstellar generation ship launched centuries past from a faraway Earth, it exists now as a crowded orbital station dominating a hard, broken world, its origins shrouded in myth and faded memories. Traders and miners ply the space between planet and station, and harvest molten metal from a pair of shattered moons.

Eclectia: the unstable planet far below, its crust fractured and tormented by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Adventurers and outcasts scrape a meager living from the ashy soil and murky oceans. It harbors life alien and familiar, seen and unseen, almost all of it hostile and deadly.

Avenir Eclectia: A forgotten pioneer settlement in deep space, desperately fighting for survival.

This is the first collection from the unique chronicle of a lost colony orbiting a distant star, viewed through the many-faceted lens of multi-author microfiction.

Stories by Grace Bridges, Jeff C. Carter, Jeff Chapman, Frank Creed, Pauline Creeden, Karina Fabian, Joseph H. Ficor, Kat Heckenbach, Holly Heisey, Greg Mitchell, Keven Newsome, Travis Perry, Mary Ruth Pursselley, J. L. Rowan, Walt Staples, H. A. Titus, and Fred Warren.

Edited by Grace Bridges and Travis Perry.

Get your own copy now in print or all popular e-book formats from Splashdown Books.

Follow the continuing story of Avenir Eclectia with new episodes each week at http://www.avenireclectia.com .

Random Randomness, 10/1/12

Tags

Avenir Eclectia, games, Lost, random, randomness, Tabletop, Wil Wheaton

It’s been another one of those random months, so I might as well give in to it and go with the flow…

What I’m Watching on YouTube: No, it’s not Gangnam Style…much. It’s tabletop games. These were a staple in my house growing up in those antediluvian times when electronic calculators were a novelty. Many a slow evening hour in the hinterlands of Iowa and Ohio were consumed in Monopoly, Scrabble, Clue, Mille Bornes, Pit, Trouble, Parcheesi, Chinese Checkers, Checkers-Checkers, Chess, Risk, etc, etc, etc. I’ve had small luck turning my kids on to the joys of video-less games powered by dice and quick wits, but in the meantime, the games themselves have grown up a little bit and are enjoying a renaissance of sorts. A few weeks ago, I stumbled onto an ongoing YouTube video series hosted by Wesley Crusher Wil Wheaton, called, logically enough, Tabletop. In each installment, Wil gathers a few geeky pals and lower-mid-list celebrities to play a round of Arkham Horror, Smallworld, Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, or whatever. It’s a fun 20 minutes or so, an entertaining introduction to the various games, and a reminder of how much fun it can be to spend some face-to-face time with family or friends, just playing.

What I’m Watching on Netflix: Lost. Six flippity-dippin’ seasons worth. Somehow or other, the original broadcast wasn’t scheduled when my television was turned on. That’s probably a good thing, as I would have, er, lost six productive years of my life waiting to find out what in the name of H.G. Wells was really going on. No, the island isn’t finished with me yet.

“We don’t serve your party here!”

The Silly Season: Time for another general election, and my enthusiasm for politics is waning with every passing year. I was soured on the whole business during my high school years, when I attended the California edition of Boys’ State, in which teenage males gather in Sacramento to form a mock government and deliver all manner of ridiculous ultimatums to the real government, whose representative then pats them on their collective head. A rather nasty political machine was already firmly ensconced by the time I arrived from my provincial hometown. In sum, it was like being on the city council of Mos Eisley Spaceport, and I realized that involvement in politics, for me at least, would imperil my immortal soul. Never again. Wake me up when it’s over, so I can greet our new or continuing Robotic Overlords. Yes, I do have political opinions, yes, I exercise my precious right to vote, and yes, I will vote in the upcoming election, early and often.

Just kidding about the “often” part, I swear.

Shambala: Random. Nothing to see here.

All Your Galas Are Belong to Us: There was a minor kerfluffle at the American Christian Fiction (formerly Romance) Writers convention two weeks ago.

Kerfluffle. I love that word. “It is a large, good word, and will bear repetition.” It’s also endearingly random.

Anyhow, A group of ACFW members who happened to be speculative fiction writers, rather than the standard purveyors of historical romance, arrived in costume at the Awards Gala, and some were turned away to re-suit, with “security concerns” the stated reason. Paraphrasing liberally:

ACFW Staffer: “Good heavens! This man looks like a terrorist, and that other fellow might be hiding explosives in his…paws.”

“We are not amused.”

SF-er sporting Spock Ears: “In that case, madam, it would be logical for you to allow us a peek beneath your voluminous hoop skirt, which has ample room for all manner of ordnance.”

ACFW Staffer: “SECURITY!!!”

Ahem. Christian conventions of any flavor are always fun if you enjoy watching a good fight where nobody really gets hurt and everybody makes up afterwards. Usually.

Cinnamon Dulce Latte: Smooth, decadent, and random.

The Space Colony the Universe Forgot: I’ve another brief vignette posted at the Avenir Eclectia shared-world project. “Contraband” continues the saga of Smith the Artful Dodger and his flock of orphan pickpockets, but this time, they’re entangled in a plot that could endanger the entire Avenir space station if the product they’re smuggling isn’t handled with extra care. Hey, it’s a gang of school-age kids. What could go wrong?

All she wants to do is dance, dance…

Angelina Ballerina: Random, but mandatory if you have a daughter or granddaughter.

That’s all for now. Maybe tonight I’ll find out if John Locke is really dead this time.

Odds and Ends

Tags

Avenir Eclectia, Every Day Fiction, Grace Bridges, Korea, Namsan Park, Seoul, Splashdown Books, travel, Writing

Land of the Morning Calm: Just returned from nine days in Korea for work, a trip I always enjoy. I was able to do a little touristing on my off time, and explored a few cool spots I hadn’t visited before, including Seoul Tower, Namsan Botanical Garden, and the Samsung Museum of Art. I also spent a couple of hours knocking around the War Memorial of Korea, which was right across the street from my work site. Typhoon Bolaven rolled up the peninsula about halfway through my stay, bringing some high winds but surprisingly little rain to Seoul, and Typhoon Tembin followed in its wake with more rain but less wind, nipping at the tailfeathers of my departing flight. Two typhoons for the price of one…such a deal. You can find pictures from my trip here.

No, I didn’t hurt myself trying to rock it “Gangnam Style.”

Walking Wounded: Setting body in motion before putting brain in gear resulted in a cracked rib during my Korea trip, which surprisingly didn’t bother me much until I got home. I’d been blithely hiking back and forth across Seoul for a week, thinking I’d gotten away with nothing more than a bad bruise. Wrong-o. It’s not serious, but I’m trussed up in a pressure bandage and on anti-inflammation meds for 4-6 weeks. It only hurts when I laugh. On the plus side of this topic, the Darling Daughter’s arthroscopic surgery was successful, and her knee is recovering nicely, though not nearly fast enough for her satisfaction. She’s also taking some courses at the local junior college, has resumed her part-time job at Barnes & Noble, and is marathoning Roswell on Netflix, not necessarily in that order.

In Good Company: I received word a few days ago that my sci-fi flash fiction story, “The Transfer,” will be part of Every Day Fiction’s fourth annual hardcover anthology, The Best of Every Day Fiction Four. Previous volumes included my stories “Little Piece of Cloth” and “Half.” EDF publishes great short fiction online in a variety of genres, a new story each day, and I’m excited to have another of my stories in this year’s collection.

Kiwi Invasion: New Zealander Grace Bridges, captain of the good ship Splashdown Books, publisher of my novels The Muse and The Seer, and my short-story anthology Odd Little Miracles, is on an extended tour of continental North America. She’s currently at DragonCon in Atlanta, but will be spending a few days with us here in the Kansas City area in November. I confess I’m at a loss for sightseeing ideas that would top DragonCon (November is a little late in the season for tornado chasing), but perhaps a combination of giant stone Sphinxes, the view from a flaming tower overlooking the city, adventures in science, and the world’s best barbeque will suffice. Yes, Grace, there will be tea.

For Anyone Who’s Following Along: The story of space colony entrepreneur John Milton reaches an important turning point, then Melanie Hunt goes looking for trouble, and finds it, in “Afterlife,” my latest installment at Avenir Eclectia. If you haven’t been following along, you can read it all from the beginning here (start at the May 16, 2011 post, “Aristocrat.”) Splashdown Books will be publishing an anthology of AE stories soon, so watch this space for more details.