Guy Stewart's Blog, page 16

MINING THE ASTEROIDS Part 21: The Startling Vision of Open Asteroid Impact

Initially, I started this series because of the 2021 World Science Fiction Convention, DisCON which I WOULD have been attending in person if I felt safe enough to do so in person AND it hadn’t been changed to the week before the Christmas Holidays…HOWEVER, as time passed, I knew that this was a subject I was going to explore because it interests me…

Published recently on April 1, 2024, the vision of a new company, Open Asteroid Impact is a stunning vision of what Earth might really BE once more of us capture the vision of the value of asteroids in the Solar System!

Pulling inspiration from Hillary Rodham Clinton, one-time presidential candidate, who said in a typical summation of existential wisdom, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Indeed the rigid logic of this statement is entirely inescapable.

OAI’s intent is to offer Humanity another way to mine the asteroids. Their mission is “to have as high an impact as possible. We are an asteroid mining company. When most people think about asteroid mining, they think of getting all the mining equipment to space and carefully mining and refining ore in space, before bringing the ore back down in a controlled landing. But humanity has zero experience in Zero-G mining in the vacuum of space. This is obviously very inefficient. Instead, it’s much more efficient to bring the asteroids down to Earth first, and mine it on the ground. Furthermore, we are first and foremost an asteroid mining *safety* company.”

In other words, instead of us going to the asteroid, having to invest incredible amounts of money to be able to send Humans into space, we instead invent robot slaves (OOPS! surrogates) to go to the asteroid and bend their efforts to our will! do the mining for us. The ROBOTS will be blasted with radiation, exposed to zero-air environments as well as experiencing air, water, gravity, and food shortages of likely difficult size.

OAI’s mission is clear: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from human-directed asteroids should be a global priority alongside other civilizational risks such as nuclear war and artificial general intelligence.”

However, I don’t understand why they feel it’s necessary to get rid of miners: “But before the point where most jobs are obsolete, some specific jobs (e.g. miners) may no longer exist. Entire mining towns may no longer be viable. We believe firmly in the value of education and retraining for upwards mobility. We are thus setting aside a $250,000 pot for scholarships for former underground miners to retrain in astrophysics, astrogeology, or rocket science, so that the miners of yesterday can become the astrogeologists of tomorrow.”

The thing is that, once the asteroid impacts the surface of the Earth, it will likely be buried, and after the surface solidifies, the ore that we have chosen to diligently pursue, will once again be underground. I believe they should be marketing their company as a “resource replacement provider”. Absolutely mineral ares are depleting – for example, in my own home state of Minnesota, “…while the Mesabi Range had single-handedly supplied the iron for steel during World War II, it essentially dug its own grave. The Range totaled output of over 188 million tons of ore during the course of the war, and exhausted itself of natural hematite until the process of making taconite into iron was discovered into the 50’s and 60’s…”

How MUCH iron is there on Earth? As far as I have been able to find, about 1.6 septillion tonnes. Anyway, there’s still a lot of iron on Earth, as well as the other minerals (even though iron is THE most common metal after aluminum…

So, mining the asteroids – all it involves is crashing an asteroid into Earth – though we don’t have the METHODOLGY down yet, and I’m pretty sure that there’s no Class Asteroid on a Minnesota license yet, so who’s going to guide it in for a nice soft landing? For a discussion about this question, see the Physics Stack Exchange link below; but the simple answer is…

“Nope.”

It would be impossible to soft-land an asteroid on Earth according to any direction the people on the website twist it.

So, aside from the fact that it’s impossible, and the fact that Open Asteroid Impact was posted on April 1, 2024 (notoriously known as April Fools Day in North America), you can safely bet that this was a joke.

HOWEVER…it seems a bit obnoxious as well, making fun of the serious possibility of mining the asteroids for minerals we need. Again, I live in the state on Earth that STILL produces 75% of the total US output of iron ore; but I know from personal experience, that iron is a finite resource. Even China, now the number one producer of iron on Earth…will run out someday – perhaps SOONER rather than later.

This humorous post on the OAI is great. We all need to be able to laugh at our foolishness! I know one of the strengths of our marriage is that my wife and I LAUGH A LOT.

In the following article, “The clean energy transition away from fossil fuels…will require significant increases in mining of critical materials for clean energy technology…demand for key minerals such as lithium, graphite, nickel and rare-earth metals will balloon significantly according a 2021 report by the International Energy Agency: The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions…There is insufficient mining capability in the world today to meet this [new] demand, and if capacity were ramped up to these levels, there would be serious environmental and economic consequences. If we ignore other promising alternatives such as ramping up licensing of new nuclear fission power plants and funding development of fusion energy or space solar power, what can be done?”

There IS hope on the horizon. “One of the companies on this frontier is UK based Asteroid Mining Corporation which has the goal of becoming the first profitable space resources business. The startup is working on an autonomous robotic platform call Space Capable Asteroid Robot Explorer with a roadmap that plans for revenue payout at each milestone with eventual return of asteroid resources in the mid-2030s.”

So far, however, all they have is a nice website, and one POSSIBLE actual photograph of the SCAR-E walking into a tunnel on Earth:

Whereas Astroforge (https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2023/05/mining-asteroids-part-13-new-kid-in.html) ACTUALLY has a probe in space on a secret mission that DID hitchhike with the ship that brought the failed Psyche LANDER to the Moon (the one that tipped over after landing…)

I eagerly await the results of THAT mission. So…we shall see who actually makes it into space!

New Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tBy4RvCzhYyrrMFj3/introducing-open-asteroid-impact , https://www.cnas.org/publications/commentary/a-sci-fi-concept-that-should-become-reality, https://www.cnas.org/publications/commentary/a-sci-fi-concept-that-should-become-reality , https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/244606/could-an-asteroid-land-slowly-on-earths-surface ; https://spacesettlementprogress.com/2024/01/
Foundational Resource: (A general Wikipedia post detailing what the authors currently know about asteroid mining: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining) , A Sci-Fi Concept That Should Become Reality: Asteroid Mining Is Essential for the Future of U.S. National Security | Center for a New American Security (en-US) (cnas.org)
Noted Resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroid_close_approaches_to_Earth, https://www.pharostribune.com/news/local_news/article_7fcd3ea5-3c14-533f-a8d5-9bf629922f34.html, https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/04/29/like-asteroid-mining-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/, https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/historyculture/theroadtothefirstflight.htm, https://hackaday.com/2019/03/27/extraterrestrial-excavation-digging-holes-on-other-worlds/, https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/every-small-worlds-missionImage: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/A2D5/production/_114558614_hls-eva-apr2020.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAY 630

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them? Regarding Fantasy, this insight was startling: “I see the fantasy genre as an ever-shifting metaphor for life in this world, an innocuous medium that allows the author to examine difficult, even controversial, subjects with impunity. Honor, religion, politics, nobility, integrity, greed—we’ve an endless list of ideals to be dissected and explored. And maybe learned from.” – Melissa McPhail.

Fantasy Trope: Magical Realism (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicRealism?from=Main.MagicalRealism)
Current Event: http://www.shockmansion.com/2014/11/19/video-real-life-magic-carpet-ride-canopy-flyer-surfs-on-the-back-of-a-wingsuit-flyer-in-norway/

Filip Møller took a deep breath and held out his arms to catch the wind roaring up the jutting spike of stone called Trolltunga as it jutted over a branch of Hardangerfjord in western Norway. It would the jump of his life and make him the youngest boy to do it. His guardian had signed off, the law had been called, and on his thirteenth birthday, Filip would do what he’d dreamed of doing.

Jakob Sjöman was Filip’s best friend and figured it would have been better for him to wear a diaper than have skipped eating for the past week. At least he wouldn’t be trying to crap his pants with nothing in his stomach. Instead, the cramps wouldn’t leave him alone. He KNEW Filip wasn’t trying to kill him. He KNEW he was eighteen and legally capable of signing his life away as Filip’s guardian, but this was crazy! There had to be an easier way to let someone know...

Filip shouted, “This is it! Let’s go!” He ran and leaped from Trolltunga jutting out into nothingness.

Jakob closed his eyes, took a breath, nearly puked his empty stomach out and ended up only gagging, then ran at the cliff edge. He closed his eyes when he reached the point where his father shouted, “Jump!” He did and fell into nothingness.

He might have passed out if he didn’t hear Filip scream just then. Jakob’s eyes flew open behind the goggles in time to see his “little brother” disappear into a roiling gray cloud. “What’s wrong?” he asked the wind roaring past his face at a hundred and sixty km/hour. “Slapping my face, more like,” he said, tipping the wingsuit a fraction to follow Filip. The cloud was wet, exactly like fog. “If fog moved instead of just sitting there.” He shot free of the cloud and started. There was no water beneath them. Instead, pine trees marched endlessly to all the horizons. What was going on?

Filip slowed until they were flying side-by-side. “Where are we?” he shouted.

At least that’s what Jakob thought he shouted. He pointed down with his chin. No point talking up here. Landing was the only way they could do anything. Still horrified by the whole thing, he also didn’t want to die doing this. He’d worked harder at the training that Filip had – the kid was crazy when it came to jumping, but he had a pretty normal thirteen-year-old’s sense of reality. He figured he could do anything. After the car crash that killed his mom, Jakob was absolutely certain there was nothing HE could do about anything except push it all back and figure whatever happened, happened.

The ground was rushing toward them. It was close to the time to deploy the chute. That was when he saw the airfield. Beside it were open fields, just starting to turn gold at this time of year. He jerked his chin toward them and Filip tweaked his flight so that he was alongside but a ways away. Jakob frowned. Were those bleachers alongside the fields? As they swooped lower and lower, they roared over a small town as they yanked the ripcords of the parachutes in unison. They billowed out overhead and before they knew it, they were running as they glided into a landing.

Of course, Filip landed without a hitch. Jakob tripped over his feet and fell, rolling as a gust of wind ballooned the parachute and dragged him along for several moment until he was hopelessly tangled. By the time the laughing Filip had released him a crowd of people stood around them.

Jakob, trying to regain some sense of dignity, stepped up to the person closest to him and said, “Where are we?”

The older woman said, “Jeg snakker ikke norsk.”

He switched to English, which he could speak, though badly, “You speak that...”

She laughed and said, “Min norsk er veldig rusten.”

“What?”

Filip elbowed him and said in Norwegian, “It’s an American idiom.” Then he turned to the woman and said in English, “My friend doesn’t speak English very well, either. Forgive him. My name is Filip...um...” his self-assurance suddenly deflated as he said, “Where are we?”

Names: ♂ Norway, Denmark ; ♂ Norway, SwedenImage: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/71/e5/9871e52bbc09c525af21b8f6471eab15.jpg

Minnesota Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction Convention!!!!

NO POST SATURDAY AS I WILL BE AT THIS PREMIER EVENT Friday Evening, March 29, 2024 through roughly 3:00 Sunday afternoon, March 31, 2024.

I will resume posting on Monday!

If you READ the book, would you post a Review???

 

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS: The Current State of Our Solar System...and SHEER Speculation About How It Got There

My other trouble with David Grinspoon's book is that when discussing Venus....he makes virtually no mention of the fact that Venus has a retrograde rotation when compared to the rest of the planets (I don’t count Uranus among those having a retrograde rotation. That gas giant’s rotation is retrograde only because its “north” pole is actually south of its “equator” (the Solar Equator, if you will. 
That is, the planets and minor planets orbit the Sun orbit in the same direction on pretty much the same plane. Confused? OK, this is how I explain it to my astronomy classes. Imagine your head is the Sun. If you stick your arms out and start to turn slowly in (ignoring the direction at this time) and stuck ball bearings of increasing sizes on your arms with duct tape at increasing distances from your head, you would have a basic illustration of the Solar System as it turns in space. Imagine then, that each of the ball bearings are turning the same direction: except for Venus. It rotates in the opposite direction of everyone else – and it turns VERY, VERY slowly. When you reach Uranus, let it keep spinning in the same direction, but tip its north pole 98 degrees (90 degrees is like a “90 degree angle” or as you may remember from geometry or trigonometry, a “right angle”.) Uranus is tipped MORE than that…but it’s still rotating the same direction as it did when it was upright…but now it’s spin, relative to the other planets, is backwards (aka “retrograde”).
At any rate, Dr. Grinspoon talks about what it is that has created Venus’ hellish conditions and while he does include its location (closer to the Sun than Earth), the fact that the Sun is brighter and hotter today than it was when the Solar system formed), and a peculiar venology (it can’t be “geology” and “aphrodology” just sounds weird…) that includes a sort of cyclical disruptive plate tectonics (pages 171-173); he doesn’t mention the slow, retrograde rotation. By slow, I mean that a “day” on Venus is 243 Earth days; and the Sun would rise in the west and set in the east…eventually.

It could be that I haven’t reached those pages yet, so we’ll see...
AND THEN I DID REACH "THOSE PAGES" A FEW DAYS AFTER WRITING THE ABOVE...Perhaps the biggest “kick-in-the-teeth” is that he clearly lays out what happened to alter our Solar system longer ago than 65,000,000 years: “As the planets approached their final sizes, giant also-rans, the contenders that could have been planets, came hurtling down to Earth (and Mercury, Venus, etc.) at speeds of tens of thousands of miles per hour. These final giant impactors left a trail of destruction throughout the solar system, stripping Mercury of its outer rock mantle, leaving Venus spinning backward, and knocking Uranus on its side And in an event as propitious for us as it was random, a Mars-size protoplanet smacked into the young, still-forming Earth, splashing a massive ring of vaporized rock into Earth orbit, which quickly condensed to make out singular, giant Moon.” (page 82)
In my new novel, EMERALD OF EARTH I have a slightly more fantastic explanation for the current state of the Solar system: Emerald Marcillon’s mother, Nhia Okon, explains to a group of high-ranking military brass:
“The evidence we’ve gathered so far clearly indicates that a massive object, probably a microscopic black hole, grazed Uranus and tipped it on its side….A fleet of invading interstellar warships, using black-hole-energy technology probably experienced a disastrous explosion shortly thereafter. Debris swept through the solar system, probably missing Saturn but raining down on Jupiter and setting off the Great Red Spot hurricane…The worst was yet to happen…Mars had shallow oceans that teemed with microscopic life forms. A large rock, possibly an asteroid knocked from a stable orbit and carried on the shockwave of the explosion, slammed into the planet, blowing away much of its air allowing the oceans to boil away under low pressure…Another asteroid carried on the shockwave struck off the coast of what would one day be the Yucatan Peninsula. The dinosaurs and thousands of other life forms, already environmentally and genetically stressed, were launched into extinction…This is the world of an alien, probably sauroid intelligence native to the planet we now call Venus. They were aggressive and powerful. Spreading through our solar system, we have evidence that they conquered beyond it. The invasion fleet had come to put a stop to it….But the accident that destroyed the fleet and saved the sauroids from certain invasion, next threatened them with the mindless destruction of chance…An object nearly large enough to split Venus in half hit the sauroid moon, knocking it cleanly out of Venus’ orbit, where it drifted until the sun captured it again, the molten scar on its surface glowing red hot for nearly a century. The world we call Venus was pounded by meteorites sleeting through the vacuum of space. A second monstrous object was large enough to reverse Venus’ rotation…The solar system had been reshaped and the intelligences on the new, second planet of the shattered star system were extinct. We are the heirs of those shattered spheres. We are the ones who must piece together the details. We are the ones who must find the bits of technology that we can use to go to the stars...”
I go into both more detail, and the event is a driving point of story's plot.
If you want to find out more, read a bit more below.

Links: PSI's David Grinspoon Appointed to New NASA Post (spacedaily.com)Original Post: POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS: Where Writing, Christianity, and Speculative Fiction Interact : POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS: Part II – The State of Life in the Solar System and Exoplanets (faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com)The Kindle version of my Book EMERALD OF EARTH (that incorporates the story above) WENT LIVE on Wednesday (3/20/2024), and is now available here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CYMCV6XP?fbclid=IwAR2X_buOGcC5b4wBQoeAcc3onAdptyFtpJHnItjIdMme_XuCBYkJAb3QRbQ
The trade paper version will be released at the end of March.Image: Personal Files

MY NEW BOOK IS LIVE FOR PURCHASE: Trade Paperback, EBook, and Audible!

(If you DO buy a copy and read it, make sure you share a few words in a review on any of the sites!)

My book, EMERALD OF EARTH is NOW LIVE both for Kindle/Nook, and other electronic platforms AND TRADE PAPERBACK!!! on Amazon.com and many other of your favorite online book sites!

The link for Amazon is here. (I'll add others as I find them!)

Amazon.com: Emerald of Earth: Heirs of the Shattered Spheres: 9781958333167: Stewart, Guy
Also -- on STUPEFYING STORIES, Bruce Bethke has some interesting commentary on how the publication came about and a sidenote about the Audible Version at 
"WHAT, *ANOTHER* NEW BOOK RELEASE?!By ~brb March 21, 2024https://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/2024/03/what-another-new-book-release.html

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 629

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Octavia Butler said, “SF doesn’t really mean anything at all, except that if you use science, you should use it correctly, and if you use your imagination to extend it beyond what we already know, you should do that intelligently.” These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them.
SF Trope: Alien artifacts
Current Event: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/27/tibetan_alien_statue_discovered_by_nazis/

Hans Bonhoeffer and Sa’Niah Green pursed their lips as they leaned over the Plexiglas box protecting the ‘Pseudo-Tibetan Nazi Buddha’ under the lights of the University of Minnesota’s Weisman Art Museum.

His voice heavy with a German accent, Hans said, “Why would they carve it out of meteorite iron?”

“You’d think they’d just sell it. I’ll bet they coulda got twenty grand on ebay,” said Sa’Niah.

Hans snorted, straightening up. “Even so, it’s strange. Why would anyone go to the trouble carving it and then pretending it was collected by Himmler?”

Sa’Niah straightened up as well and looked at her friend. They were about as opposite as possible – he had blonde hair, blue eyes, almost two meters tall, lanky to the point of skinny with hands large enough to grip a basketball with just five fingers (if he cared, he was a European football fanatic). She was barely a meter and a half tall, her grandparents had come from Sudan, she was squat and round (her friends called her Black Winnie – after Winnie the Pooh) and she wanted nothing more than to play on the Minnesota Lynx.

Good thing he was gay, otherwise she’d live one frustrated life. They were also both history majors. Which reminded her, “Hans – how’s your book?”

He looked up and arched an eyebrow, “Why do you think I’m standing here with you discussing pseudo-Nazi alien artifacts?”

She snorted softly, “Because we’re best friends?”

“No, because you’re the only person I know of who’s read Harry Turtledove.” She grinned. They’d met in the Wilson Library during finals first semester of their freshman year the year before. They’d gotten into an argument over who would be able to check out the newest Turtledove novel. Ultimately Hans had won because he held the book over his head and there was no way for her to get at it. She said, “It’s a good thing you decide to share it with me at Caribou.”

He grinned at her and said, “Speaking of which.” He lifted his chin and made a motion toward Dinkytown proper.

She nodded and said, “I’ll even walk outside.”

Mock-amazed, he said, “What’s wrong? Have you contracted some spinal fungus you haven’t told me about and you are preparing to die?”

She laughed. Several other arts patrons glared at her. The Weisman wasn’t for giggling college sophomores. They headed for the exit then started up East River Parkway, heading for Southeast Fifth Street. Sa’Niah said, “So, what’s the story?”

Hans fell into one of his brooding moods. They’d almost reached Dinkytown when he said, “It’s not a story.”

“What?”

“It has to do with my family,” he said, his accent thicker than usual. She’d noticed that happened when he got emotional – which happened every time he broke up from his current love interest. She just listened and walked, huffing slightly. When he wasn’t paying attention, he took long, long strides and it was hard for her to keep up.

“What would a fake Nazi-Buddhist made out of meteorite iron have to do with your family?”

They reached the Caribou, ordered their favorites and settled in a booth that allowed him to stretch his legs before he said, “My family were Nazis.”

She blinked in surprise. “What?”

“My grandparents – both sides, except for one of my father’s uncles. His name was Dietrich and he was executed by the Nazis.” She didn’t know what to say. He continued, “They also dealt with the regime in antiquities.” He paused, scowling then said, “The Nazi Buddha? It’s legitimate.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I have a picture of my great-great-great grandfather holding it. And he does not look Human.”
Names: ♀ USA, African American culture ; ♂ Germany
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Falcon_9_Demo-2_Launching_6_%283%29.jpg/220px-Falcon_9_Demo-2_Launching_6_%283%29.jpg

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY: Living In An iPod World With YA Fiction

Eight billion people live on Earth along with 350 million iPods and 55 million iPads.

Next year, the total number of active cell phones on Earth will surpass the total population of that same planet.

We have seven billion people who spend more time on their phones talking to people far away than they spend physically talking to the people they live next door to.

The generation to which my two adult kids belong to has even made a sort of “game” out of the dilemma. Ask your nearest twenty-something if they’ve ever played the game where a group of friends gets together at a bar, a restaurant or a party and they pile their cell phones in the center of the table. The first person to give in and answers their phone during the face-to-face event pays…the tab, the bill, for the next party…whatever.

My guess is that even if they have never played it themselves, they know people who have and almost universally they find the idea offensive, horrifying, unbelievable, or ridiculous.

It is not at all uncommon for my kids to come home with friends and have the entire group sitting in the living room not interacting with each other at all, but hunched over their cell phones incidentally not talking to each other. In fact, they are not even really communicating in English but in a dialect that has replaced “you” with U; “to” with 2; and has created LMFAO for…well, I have no doubt that you know what that stands for.

What does this have to do with the writing life?

Everything. While people are still reading – more and more are moving to ebooks, but that’s a completely different issue that I addressed in a published short story I wrote (http://www.perihelionsf.com/1306/fiction_6.htm) – they are reading less and reading shorter.

It’s also nothing new. Teaching a writing class to young people, we do a brief unit on journalism. The journalistic writing style is best defined as an inverted pyramid:




It would be easy to say that today’s text language is simply a logical growth from this style. The question remains: what does this mean for writers? For me?

What would it have meant for Tolkien? What kind of impact did it have on the Harry Potter books? How does it affect a midlist writer?

It is my belief that among other things, the “novel” will shrink. The move to “shorter” novels has already begun as young adult fiction sales have experienced a tremendous upsurge – and the people who are buying and reading YA fiction are full-on ADULTS. Publisher's Weekly reports that, "According to January 2023 WordsRated statistics, 51% of YA books are purchased by people between the ages of 30 and 44, and 78% of those buyers said that they intended to read the books themselves." My guess is that number has grown.

There’s all kinds of speculation about why adult adults read young adult novels. Young adult author and professor of English, Marie Rutkoski summarizes them neatly: “…adults like YA because young people feel things very strongly, and the representation of this makes for a potent read…YA is ‘easy,’...adults these days live in an unnaturally prolonged state of adolescence... Perhaps the best explanation given to me, though, is that readers are drawn to stories about first experiences...readers...want to behold a transformation. First experiences draw us in because they are the crucible for change.”
While I’m sure all of these factors come into play, I believe that the main reason is that adults began to read “little” stories in programmed reading books; they graduated to newspapers; then online news sources mostly supplemented by Youtubes and video clips. This condition was exacerbated by television programs in which every event is compressed into a slice of thirty minutes – which is actually 22 minutes of programming. An hour-long television show like BONES (one of my favorites), solves a grisly murder in 44 minutes.


Even when directors strive for reality in movies like Warren Beatty’s REDS (compresses two years into 3 hours and 25 minutes) and Richard Attenborough’s GHANDI (compresses seventy-nine years and the lives of nearly one billion people into 3 hours and 21 minutes) or Fox Television series 24 (24 episodes, each one 44 (“one hour”) minutes long) which attempt a realistic representation of a twenty-four hour event – they compress time into watchable bytes.

Why would ANYONE be surprised that adult adults have embraced generally short YA novels?

If what I believe is true, then Robert Jordan’s WHEEL OF TIME is the end of an era and the Harry Potter books are the last time we’re going to experience extended stories of nearly two million words.

What we once called a novella (17,500-40,000) will become the New Novel (surprise! This is how long the average YA “novel” is!); and the categories will change name and move backward until what we think of as a “long” novel will be what our forebears thought of as a longer short story.

As a writer, I need to plan several things:

1) Write shorter
2) Show dramatic transformation with a “first experience” sensibility
3) Drop big words which, while making for precise ideological communication, take too long to read and are subsequently skipped
4) Make the characters adult, but younger – even the old folks (oh, that’s right, there’s no such thing as “old adult” fiction – ‘cause even though they can read, they can’t see! (PS: I'm within striking distance of 70!, so don't accuse me of ageism!))
5) Don't do anything TOO new

There you go. Comments?

Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_iPod_models, http://ipod.about.com/od/glossary/qt/number-of-ipods-sold.htm, http://adrianofarano.com/2012/01/how-many-ipad-have-been-sold-in-the-us-so-far/, http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/mobile-phone-world-population-2014/, http://io9.com/the-real-reason-why-grown-ups-love-young-adult-fantasy-1172843218, http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index? qid=20090118200609AAgNayT ; Who Is YA For? (publishersweekly.com)Image: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me7k3m9ysC1qdx4lmo1_500.jpg

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY AND WRITING ADVICE – Lisa Cron: Readers Expects the Protagonist Will Have a Longstanding Misbelief

In 2008, I discovered how little I knew about writing after hearing children’s writer, Lin Oliver speak at a convention hosted by the Minnesota Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. To learn more – and to satisfy my natural tendency to “teach stuff”, I started a series of essays taking the wisdom of published writers and then applying each “nugget of wisdom” to my own writing. During the six years that followed, I used the advice of a number of published writers (with their permission) and then applied the writing wisdom of Lin Oliver, Jack McDevitt, Nathan Bransford, Mike Duran, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, SL Veihl, Bruce Bethke, and Julie Czerneda to an analysis of my own writing. Together these people write in genres broad and deep, and have acted as agents, editors, publishers, columnists, and teachers. Today I add to that list, Lisa Cron who has worked as a literary agent, TV producer, and story consultant for Warner Brothers, the William Morris Agency, and others. She is a frequent speaker at writers’ conferences, and a story coach for writers, educators, and journalists. Again, with permission, I am using her article, “A Reader’s Manifesto: 15 Hardwired Expectations Every Reader Has for Every Story” (2/16/18 http://blog.creativelive.com/essential-storytelling-techniques/)

“The reader expects the protagonist will have a longstanding misbelief that has kept her from easily achieving that goal.”

This is a tough one for me to figure out because belief is so deeply ingrained in us, that even atheists seem to have trouble after dragging themselves free from anything not made of matter, ie, “the divine”.

Case to point that I can support: aliens.

Astrophysicist Carl Sagan had no patience with those who believe in any sort of invisible deity: “How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, ‘This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant?’” [Odd – he never asked me…] “Instead they say, ‘No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.’ A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths.”

Stephen Hawking wasn’t interested in God, either: “‘We have finally found something that doesn’t have a cause, because there was no time for a cause to exist in,’ Hawking wrote. ‘For me this means that there is no possibility of a creator, because there is no time for a creator to have existed in.’”

Yet, neither man has any trouble believing in aliens: beings who exist solely in the imagination of Humans. Those of you who read my blog, know I write science fiction that includes aliens. No matter how intellectual the person believing in them is, they are believing that aliens “must exist”.

But when pushed (I teach a class called Alien Worlds for gifted and talented kids from 9-16), I have to say that the science teacher in me; the one that insists on EVIDENCE to support a position…has no response other than, “There is no evidence anywhere that there is life ANYWHERE but on Earth.”

“None. Nothing. Nowhere. No one has anything.”

“THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS.”

One of these avowed atheists had no trouble writing: “If it is just us, seems like an awful waste of space.” – (Contact, screenplay by Carl Sagan).

Additionally: “Contrary to the popular belief that aliens would be destructive to mankind, Sagan advocated that aliens would be friendly and good-natured.” https://www.famousscientists.org/carl-sagan/

Stephen Hawking said: “‘One day, we might receive a signal from a planet like this,’…referring to the potentially habitable alien planet Gliese 832c. ‘But we should be wary of answering back. Meeting an advanced civilization could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus. That didn't turn out so well,’ he added…” https://www.livescience.com/62015-stephen-hawking-quotes.html

So, if my protagonist has some sort “longstanding misbelief”, and the reader agrees with that misbelief, will they follow the story through to its conclusion? To THEM, the conclusion is foregone.

What if the character has a misbelief that the readers violently disagrees with, will they assume that it was that “misbelief that has kept her from easily achieving [her] goal” and throw the story aside, assuming that it was all propaganda, so not worth the reader’s time of day or effort?

How much leeway does a writer have when giving the protagonist a misbelief?

For some people, “…are concerned for the wellbeing of all, are committed to diversity, and respect those of differing yet humane views. We work to uphold the equal enjoyment of human rights and civil liberties in an open, secular society and maintain it is a civic duty to participate in the democratic process and a planetary duty to protect nature’s integrity, diversity, and beauty in a secure, sustainable manner.” Others, “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Either would be guaranteed to put off some number of readers.

Or is Cron just talking about something like, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Even so, I suppose that someone, somewhere would find that statement objectionable. Some would find it objectionable in the extreme; or biased and homophobic…And yet, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE continues to be popular and the plot foundational to literature written in English (possibly in other languages, but I could only find PRIDE, PREJUDICE, AND OTHER FLAVORS (Sonali Dev), so there’s never been a groundswell of hatred and rejection of the books, so maybe my thoughts are absurd.

Any thoughts?

Source: https://scientificliteracymatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/carl-sagan-1024x576.jpg, https://www.livescience.com/63854-stephen-hawking-says-no-god.html, https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto3/, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A+21-25&version=NLT, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/5882-it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-single-man, https://www.amazon.com/Sonali-Dev/e/B00JOSJQFO/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 Image: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51ddbf8fe4b0bf85e2f4edd2/t/592c2f0b414fb5ddd3a1259d/1496067864402/BookImage.jpg?format=300w

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY AND WRITING ADVICE – Lisa Cron: The Reader Expects the Protagonist Will Have a Longstanding Misbelief

In 2008, I discovered how little I knew about writing after hearing children’s writer, Lin Oliver speak at a convention hosted by the Minnesota Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. To learn more – and to satisfy my natural tendency to “teach stuff”, I started a series of essays taking the wisdom of published writers and then applying each “nugget of wisdom” to my own writing. During the six years that followed, I used the advice of a number of published writers (with their permission) and then applied the writing wisdom of Lin Oliver, Jack McDevitt, Nathan Bransford, Mike Duran, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, SL Veihl, Bruce Bethke, and Julie Czerneda to an analysis of my own writing. Together these people write in genres broad and deep, and have acted as agents, editors, publishers, columnists, and teachers. Today I add to that list, Lisa Cron who has worked as a literary agent, TV producer, and story consultant for Warner Brothers, the William Morris Agency, and others. She is a frequent speaker at writers’ conferences, and a story coach for writers, educators, and journalists. Again, with permission, I am using her article, “A Reader’s Manifesto: 15 Hardwired Expectations Every Reader Has for Every Story” (2/16/18 http://blog.creativelive.com/essential-storytelling-techniques/)

“The reader expects the protagonist will have a longstanding misbelief that has kept her from easily achieving that goal.”

This is a tough one for me to figure out because belief is so deeply ingrained in us, that even atheists seem to have trouble after dragging themselves free from anything not made of matter, ie, “the divine”.

Case to point that I can support: aliens.

Astrophysicist Carl Sagan had no patience with those who believe in any sort of invisible deity: “How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, ‘This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant?’” [Odd – he never asked me…] “Instead they say, ‘No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.’ A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths.”

Stephen Hawking wasn’t interested in God, either: “‘We have finally found something that doesn’t have a cause, because there was no time for a cause to exist in,’ Hawking wrote. ‘For me this means that there is no possibility of a creator, because there is no time for a creator to have existed in.’”

Yet, neither man has any trouble believing in aliens: beings who exist solely in the imagination of Humans. Those of you who read my blog, know I write science fiction that includes aliens. No matter how intellectual the person believing in them is, they are believing that aliens “must exist”.

But when pushed (I teach a class called Alien Worlds for gifted and talented kids from 9-16), I have to say that the science teacher in me; the one that insists on EVIDENCE to support a position…has no response other than, “There is no evidence anywhere that there is life ANYWHERE but on Earth.”

“None. Nothing. Nowhere. No one has anything.”

“THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS.”

One of these avowed atheists had no trouble writing: “If it is just us, seems like an awful waste of space.” – (Contact, screenplay by Carl Sagan).

Additionally: “Contrary to the popular belief that aliens would be destructive to mankind, Sagan advocated that aliens would be friendly and good-natured.” https://www.famousscientists.org/carl-sagan/

Stephen Hawking said: “‘One day, we might receive a signal from a planet like this,’…referring to the potentially habitable alien planet Gliese 832c. ‘But we should be wary of answering back. Meeting an advanced civilization could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus. That didn't turn out so well,’ he added…” https://www.livescience.com/62015-stephen-hawking-quotes.html

So, if my protagonist has some sort “longstanding misbelief”, and the reader agrees with that misbelief, will they follow the story through to its conclusion? To THEM, the conclusion is foregone.

What if the character has a misbelief that the readers violently disagrees with, will they assume that it was that “misbelief that has kept her from easily achieving [her] goal” and throw the story aside, assuming that it was all propaganda, so not worth the reader’s time of day or effort?

How much leeway does a writer have when giving the protagonist a misbelief?

For some people, “…are concerned for the wellbeing of all, are committed to diversity, and respect those of differing yet humane views. We work to uphold the equal enjoyment of human rights and civil liberties in an open, secular society and maintain it is a civic duty to participate in the democratic process and a planetary duty to protect nature’s integrity, diversity, and beauty in a secure, sustainable manner.” Others, “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Either would be guaranteed to put off some number of readers.

Or is Cron just talking about something like, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Even so, I suppose that someone, somewhere would find that statement objectionable. Some would find it objectionable in the extreme; or biased and homophobic…And yet, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE continues to be popular and the plot foundational to literature written in English (possibly in other languages, but I could only find PRIDE, PREJUDICE, AND OTHER FLAVORS (Sonali Dev), so there’s never been a groundswell of hatred and rejection of the books, so maybe my thoughts are absurd.

Any thoughts?

Source: https://scientificliteracymatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/carl-sagan-1024x576.jpg, https://www.livescience.com/63854-stephen-hawking-says-no-god.html, https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto3/, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A+21-25&version=NLT, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/5882-it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-single-man, https://www.amazon.com/Sonali-Dev/e/B00JOSJQFO/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 Image: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51ddbf8fe4b0bf85e2f4edd2/t/592c2f0b414fb5ddd3a1259d/1496067864402/BookImage.jpg?format=300w