Guy Stewart's Blog, page 39

Slice of PIE: DISCON III – #6: Wisdom From Editors…Williams, Datlow, Thomas, and Clarke

Using the Programme Guide of the 2021 World Science Fiction Convention, DisCON III, 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…I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the Program Guide. I will be using the events to drive me to distraction or revelation – as the case may be. The link is provided below where this appeared!

This was one of the two sessions I awaited with bated breath. They were the sessions where I would discover the SECRET of breaking into ASIMOV’S, F&SF, CLARKESWORLD, and countless Anthologies…by hearing the secret advice of these fabulous editors: Sheila Williams (ASIMOV’S), Ellen Datlow (countless anthologies), Sheree Renée Thomas (F&SF), and Neil Clarke (CLARKESWORLD)

Perhaps the most memorable quote from the session came from Ellen Datlow: “Most stories aren’t terrible – they sit there like dead fish.”

Ouch! I confess that that’s the kind of rejection I get most often these days. I’ve had seven stories in ANALOG Science Fiction and Fact, I’ve been podcast twice on CAST OF WONDERS, I’ve had four stories in CRICKET The Magazine for Children and CICADA, I’m a slush reader and columnist for STUPEFYING STORIES…I KNOW I can write professionally…but I don’t often enough to satisfy myself. So, what’s my problem? [Recent Discovery: Pete Wood wrote, “Characters [come] first. I come up with a germ of an idea, set it aside and then create the characters…[then] throw them into the story and see [where] their personalities…takes me.”] and from F&SF: “[When you get a rejection that says “It didn’t quite work for me]…usually the ending. I know, endings are hard. But the emotional payoff, what you remember most about a story, is how it makes you feel at the end. So you have to be an Olympic gymnast and nail that dismount.”

Some more wisdom from the stars (the editors AND science fiction and fantasy!), grouped by editor.

One odd comment someone said before I start: “An ANALOG story is about solutions. An ASIMOV’S story is about consequences.”

Sheila Williams (ASIMOV’S)

“I read the story first, [looking for something to] catch my attention. I’ll put it aside for a deeper, longer read. I’m looking for new ideas.”
“Themes? There are none; but I like themes for seasons.”
“If the characters are bored or boring, then the reader and editor will be bored.”
“Who CARES if you wrote a novel.”
“Figure out what I HATE.”
“[You need] compassion [in your story.”
“Each story should be NEW, not dependent on another story. It has to stand on itself.”

Neil Clarke (CLARKSWORLD)

“Don’t worry about what you subbed before. We don’t remember them. We’re more interested in the story than you.”
“I buy what I like. [I’m a] period data junkie – where, first time, what’s happening, new, new to the magazine?”
“[I dislike a story] being predictable; or not paying attention to consequences of the technology or magic.”
“Once a novel is published, you’ll never see it as a short story.”
“[I like] a moving target, [the character] changes. Pleasantly surprised [with] different perspectives.”
“The wider your audience, the more successful the story. Where can you find your readers?”
“[If you] get a rejection in a day or two, you were WAY off the mark.”

Sheree Renée Thomas (F&SF)
“[I like] updated ideas. I don’t read your cover letter, I read the story. DON’T STAND OUT IN A NEGATIVE WAY! [You have] a fresh shot every time. [If you] get a rejection in a day or two, you were WAY off the mark.”
“Weird stories, well-written ones, make me read on. [I ask myself] Do I care?”
“NO rape, misogynistic language, objectifying women. The CHARACTER is flawed, not the writer. DON’T PLAGIARIZE! You have to being something NEW!
“Where’s your novel? [Short stories are] a special skill, harder to craft well. [A short story set in your novel’s world] is a respectable tradition. It’s ground for new writers to emerge in mastery.”
“[When I read, I have a rubric in my mind]: Do I care? What about your biggest hater? Is the pacing on point? What are the challenges? NOT BORING! What do I think of feel when I reach the last sentence? You have to make me think or feel, like, “Is this something I want to have a conversation about?”

Ellen Datlow (Anthology editor)

“I read stories as I get them for anthologies.”
“[I dislike] boring language.”
“Why did you write this story?”
“I have no idea what I like [until I read it].”
“When a writer writes, ‘This is the best story I ever wrote!’, it’s the WORST.”“Compassion is important for me as an editor.”

JUST REMEMBER: “Most stories aren’t terrible – they sit there like dead fish.”

I’m going to have to start writing stories that are like FLOPPING fish!

Program Schedule: https://discon3.org/schedule/
Image: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQY860vAI2izm2g2mUgxzT14fGVmoGh66B51g&usqp=CAU

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 538

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 horror, I found this insight in line with WIRED FOR STORY: “ We seek out…stories which give us a place to put our fears…Stories that frighten us or unsettle us - not just horror stories, but ones that make us uncomfortable or that strike a chord somewhere deep inside - give us the means to explore the things that scare us…” – Lou Morgan (The Guardian)

H Trope: Abandoned Malls
Current Event: http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/12/travel/abandoned-buildings-irpt/

Kehlanna McGee and Trayvon Dehvahn crouched in an overgrown bit of woods that had sprung up around a drainage ditch outside the four-meter-tall cyclone fence, staring at the abandoned mall beyond. She said, “Wha’d’you think they’re hiding?”

Trayvon laughed softly and said, “A shameful past of excess spending at cheesy, overpriced, trendy shops that sold mostly lingerie and salt and pepper shakers?”

Kehlanna bumped him with her shoulder, “Seriously.” She gestured. A pair of city black and white police cars sat in the lot along with another pair of silver cars emblazoned with a security logo.

“I am being serious,” he said, bumping her back.

She rolled her eyes and said, “Salt-and-pepper shakers are so 1950s...”

“Thereby retro and incredibly popular now.”

“Ah!” she exclaimed, lifting a finger, “Now I know you’re wrong.” She consulted her palmtablet and after a few finger swipes, said, “ ‘Arbor Mills Mall, was the destination of a generation of shoppers starting the year it opened in 2001 and was decommissioned,” she paused and rolled her eyes, muttering, “...makes it sound like it was an important aircraft carrier or something...in 2024...” she paused then said, “That’s only half a generation.”

“Be that as it may, are we going in or are we just going to stand here talking about generations and malls?”

“In,” she said suddenly. “But we’re going to have to go back to the trailer and get a few things.” She paused, “And wait until it’s dark.”

Trayvon grinned, nodded and headed for where they’d parked trailer two kilometers away.

***
Four hours later, dressed in knee-high rubber boots and wearing black, they made their way silently through the culvert. No one had taken time to fence it, so they easily slipped under the meager security. Trayvon tapped his earpiece and subvocalized, “What are we expecting to find in here?”

“Treasure.”

He couldn’t help but snort, and Kehlanna hissed at him, sub-vocalizing, “Quiet or they’ll hear us.”

“I’m not the one hissing like a punctured whipped cream can.”

They moved as far as they could in the ravine, then climbed at a likely spot. His night goggles confirmed they were only six meters short of their goal. They scanned for the police and security cars, saw neither, so Trayvon stood up and aimed a very-illegal device at the surface between them and the abandoned mall. After a moment, he subbed, “No active pressure security spots and no evidence of landmines.”

“Landmines?” Khehlanna subbed.

“You said there’s treasure. People protect treasure with landmines and lasers and other high tech gadgets. I was checking for everything.”

She nodded in the darkness a moment later, then subbed, “Let’s go. The map I found has a maintenance door into the rear of one of the anchor stores straight ahead.” She paused, then went up the embankment and scurried across the broken asphalt. He followed three minutes later. By then, she’d cut through the locking mechanism of the door with an infrared laser. Trayvon sprayed the old hinges with a silent stream of lubricant and then door swung open a moment later as Kehlanna pulled it.

They entered the darkness and the goggles switched to a sonar image – the power had been cut to the building a decade earlier when it closed in order to prevent fires. They avoided collapsed ceiling tiles and piles of mouldering cardboard boxes. Trayvon subbed, “If this is the ‘treasure’ we can expect to find, we might as well leave right now.”

“Nah. There has to be something in here that those people are protecting.”

“Hmmm.”

They exited the back room of the store and passed through piles of stacked shelving, display cases, light fixtures, and garbage until they reached the mall proper. In front of him, Kehlanna stopped abruptly and cursed out loud rather than subbing.

Trayvon subbed, “Shut up! I can’t tell if there are audio security pickups in here...” He stopped as he pulled up alongside her. Outside the door with its corroding security gate, a group of three people, linked together by rope tie around their necks, passed by. The figure at the front of their line, holding the rope and wearing an army-style helmet that was twice as large as Trayvon had ever seen before, was a giant creature that looked for all the world, like yeti…

Names: ♀ American, Irish ; ♂ American, Greek

Image: https://cdn.britannica.com/40/11740-004-50816EB1/Boris-Karloff-Frankenstein-monster.jpg

Slice of PIE: MINING THE ASTEROIDS Part 3 – Starting With Near-Earth Prison Asteroids…

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 the ramifications fascinate me. So, I’m going to make this an occasional feature of my blog – maybe even of Stupefying Stories if the CyberPunkMaster gives me a thumbs up…

Part 0: (before I started thinking about it…) https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2016/05/slice-of-pie-asteroids-in-fictionand.html
Part 1: https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2021/11/slice-of-pie-mining-asteroids-part-1can.html
Part 2: https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2021/11/slice-of-pie-mining-asteroids-part-2how.html

While I’m not a big fan of prisons as a general idea, USING prisoners as miners is an old, horrific practice. Called “convict leasing”, it is or has been practiced around the world; even right at this moment in the “Separatist Russian” parts of Ukraine: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/present-day-concentration-camp-eastern-europe. China has been reported to have this: https://thediplomat.com/2022/01/forced-prison-labor-in-china-hiding-in-plain-sight/. And the US is hardly exempt. Even today, we have a practice revised for the 21st Century – watch the YouTube below to get an idea of what’s going on. As well, the progressive state of California has this program: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Prison_Industries.

So, what can we do? Obviously nothing, because these “labor camps” are going to continue, unabated, as they have since the dawn of Human history (ie: the Jews in Egypt – https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/were-hebrews-ever-slaves-in-ancient-egypt-yes-1.5429843)

We have already plotted out in detail the Near Earth Objects (including Asteroids https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroid_close_approaches_to_Earth).
The Near Earth Asteroids have particular parameters. There are also several types of these asteroids, the first discovered being the name of the class – NEC (comets), NEA (asteroids) and the others, with the type and the specification:

Atiras: a<1.0 au; Q<0.983 au NEAs whose orbits are contained entirely with the orbit of the EarthAtens: a<1.0 au; Q>0.983 au Earth-crossing NEAs with semi-major axes smaller than Earth's
Apollos: a>1.0 au; q<1.017 au Earth-crossing NEAs with semi-major axes larger than Earth'sAmors: a>1.0 au; 1.017<q<1.3 au Earth-approaching NEAs with orbits exterior to Earth's but interior to Mars'
PHAs: MOID<=0.05 au; H<=22.0 Potentially Hazardous Asteroids: NEAs whose Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance (MOID) with the Earth is 0.05 au or less

au = Astronomical Units (ie 152,000,000 km [93,000,000 miles])
q = orbital period in years
Q = Aphelion distance
https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/about/neo_groups.html

All right. Given:

All governments have prisons.
All prisoners are detained for short or long periods of time.
All prisoners do some form of labor.
All prisoners will be released.

What if we create and Prisoner Asteroid Miner Corp?

It WOULD BE dangerous! All potential recruits would be completely informed. As any new space endeavor has shown, death is a possibility. EVERY space program has had casualties. This program would be no different. 

Sorry, didn't mean to wax poetic...

The orbital period of all of the above (except the PHAs) is about a year.

A year of mining and astronaut training precedes the time served mining the asteroid.

A successfully served sentence, will result in the prisoner being released and reintegrated into society. They will be given stock in the asteroid being mined that can be traded or sold back to the government at current market value.

Asteroid Miners CAN choose to remain – but will return to Earth to be retrained and reintegrated as employees of the government initiating the incarceration.

An Artificial Intelligence will act as the Warden. If AIs are not as feasible as everyone things they are, then the AI will replaced by a Remote Warden – possibly in a nearby orbit; possibly on the Moon; possibly on Earth (no one would know for certain.) There would also be…”enforcement” robots. Or OTHER prisoners may be employed as prison guards. Also, enforcement will also be maintained by weekly delivery of foodstuffs, medication, and other necessities.
While it absolutely is horrendous...the potential for greatness exists. IF the gamble is won, the investment is realized, the PAMC could become a page in history and a jumping off point for a new phase of space colonization...

Aside from being a semi-serious proposal, this is absolutely rife with story ideas…see ya, I gotta go.

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.youtube.com/watch?v=TyNX5b8icrY, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convict_leasing
Image: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/A2D5/production/_114558614_hls-eva-apr2020.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 537

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.

F Trope: good vs evil (If you’ve never read THE DARK IS RISING series by Susan Cooper – you should!)
Old History/Current Event: http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/12/politics/ukraine-russia-sanctions-us-eu/

Asmita Makarov had finished drawing the proper symbols on the floor of the partially destroyed building in Lviv.

Elnur Kuzmin said, “You sure this is a good thing?”

Asmita stood, studying her work and said, “Putin tried to invade Ukraine in 2014 and we beat him then using conventional weapons – now he’s trying again. This time we need stronger weapons.” The abandoned “re-education camp” Putin had reclaimed outside of Moscow still had plenty of empty buildings. They’d gotten in an found a room of the proper dimensions.

Elnur scowled. “What’s stronger than anti-tank missiles and a determined army and the people?”

She shook her head, “Putin doesn't just want to beat Ukraine, he’s out to get his name in the history books. He wants the entries to read ‘Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev, Putin.’ He wants to erase the stain of Gorbachev. All he wants is to be included with the most brutal Soviet dictators whose aim was to make every country a satellite of Russia – even America, Brazil, and ultimately China. He’s not interested in anything less. While only Satan can be evil incarnate, he hopes to overthrow even that trope. There’s only one way to stop him.”

Elnur shook his head and said, “When you summon Perun, Morana, Triglav, and Belobog, we’ll be only the first of the people who are collateral damage…”

“It’s not worth it to try and save our country?”

Elnur wouldn’t look up until he finally did and said, “Yes. It is.”

Asmita stepped back, grabbing the bottle of blood from the bull they’d sacrificed at sunrise. She glanced at her cellphone and said, “It’s two minutes to midnight.” Elnur nodded and walked around the circle to the other side. Pouring the blood on the first symbol, she said softly, “We summon you Triglav, three-headed god of heaven, earth, and the underworld; or the past, present, and future. Come to us on your black horse!”

Elnur dumped his portion and said, “We summon you, Belobog, god of good, you are the Sun in the sky, in the underworld, the mountains, and the lowlands.”

Asmita had moved to another spot, spilled blood and recited, “We summon you, Rerun, god of thunder and weapons, and the towering mountains, and nobility; king of gods!”

Elnur, the last to go, repeated the move, emptying the container and saying, “We cry out to you, Morana, goddess of death and winter…” He paused, looked across at Asmita and whispered, “You think I should have summoned the dudes and you summoned the women?”

Asmita rolled her eyes, “Don’t be so old-fashioned, Elnur! This is…” she stopped talking as her eye kept rolling and the air around them began to pulsate like a massive heartbeat…

Resources: https://rabydosverse.fandom.com/wiki/Slavic_mythology
Names: ♀ Nepal, Russia; ♂ Azerbaijan; Russia
Image:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/71/e5/9871e52bbc09c525af21b8f6471eab15.jpg

Slice of PIE: “Free Guy” Is Just “Stranger Than Fiction”…But With VR Headsets…

NOT using the Programme Guide of the 2021 World Science Fiction Convention, DisCON III, 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…I WILL NOT use the Programme Guide to jump off, jump on, rail against, or shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. This explanation is reserved for when I dash “off topic”, sometimes reviewing movies, sometimes reviewing books, and other times taking up the spirit of a blog an old friend of mine used to keep called THE RANTING ROOM… My wife and I love both the “Stranger Than Fiction” (2006) and “Free Guy” (2021). In case you’re too young to watch old movies, here’s the plot of “Stranger than Fiction”: “IRS auditor Harold Crick suddenly finds his mundane Chicago life to be the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire existence, from his work to his love life to his death.” This film stars some real names: Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman (none of the “Free Guy” targets know who he is), and Maggie Gyllenhaal. (For the 2022 generation: Ferrell is best known as the Elf in “Elf”…; Emma Thompson is best known for lots of things, but for the target audience of “Free Guy”: Professor Trelawny at Hogwarts)

“Free Guy” (2021): “In the extremely popular video game, Free City, a NPC named Guy learns the true nature of his existence when he meets the girl of his dreams, a human player. This player's interactions with Guy has massive effects on him, the game, and real world as they play it.” This film has some big names as well, Ryan Reynolds (for the target audience, he’s Deadpool); Jodie Comer (Rey’s Mom in STAR WARS: “The Rise of Skywalker”); and Taika Waititi as the Calm Blue Rock Guy in 2 of the AVENGERS movies…

SO…how are “Stranger Than Fiction” and “Free Guy” basically the same movie – one made for people who read books, then other for people who play video games?

A fairly short list of events in both movies might serve my argument:

FIRST:
Harold Crick in “Stranger Than Fiction” is a fictional character – both in the movie; and in the book in the movie.

Guy in “Free Guy” is a fictional character – both in the game; and in the real world.

SECOND:
Harold figures out he’s a fictional character. Guy does as well.

THIRD:
Guy finds out he’s going to die when the game shuts down (or before if Antawan catches him). So does Harold – but his person isn’t a real villain. She’s an accidental villain. Actually, Dustin Hoffman serves as a sort of “low-key” villain, insisting Harold HAS to die if the book is going to be a fabulous piece of literature.

FOURTH:
Both Guy and Harold object to dying.

FIFTH:
Someone CRAZY is in charge of Harold’s story – she just thinks she’s writing her newest novel. Guy’s not even supposed to BE a character – until he puts on the glasses and goes from being a Non-Playable-Character to a FORCE in the video game…albeit, he’s not technically controlled by ANYONE at first. Then Antwan sends his controllers in.

SIXTH:
They both meet the story creator eventually – Harold at the very end, Guy when he falls for one of the creators after he has the glasses.

SEVENTH:
Neither Millie nor Keys; and not Karen Eiffel have ANY CLUE that their fictional characters are in fact an artificial intelligence and a real person…until the very end and they are ALL totally freaked out.

EIGHTH:
Both Harold and Guy have a happy ending: Harold gets Ana; Guy gets Millie…and then it turns out he’s actually KEYS…who gets Millie and Guy gets his best friend back.

There are only two differences:

Karen Eiffel and Millie/Keys are HORRIFIED to find out that Harold and Guy are REAL. While Karen lets Harold survive getting hit by a bus instead of dying; Millie and Keys set Guy free (actually all of the Free Life characters).

Karen Eiffel isn’t actually evil, Antwan is.

So, if it’s been done twice, in two very popular and award-winning movies, what are they trying to say to us?

“Free Guy” was almost universally considered a fluff movie – pure fun, no thought, just a good-old time. Esmerelda Gomez at SocioMix however, disagrees: “…the NPCs are more than coded programs for gamers to play with…this theme is centered on civil rights being messed with…by the government…[and] how citizens will fight for them…interactions and movement for change create more room for others to have the ability and rights to…live better lives.”

“Stranger Than Truth” is instead considered a piece of existential thought: “…there’s something very poetic about the understanding of one’s place in the universe, but it’s far more dramatic when such understanding occurs only days before that life ends…Each of these characters ends up doing little things to save one another. There's an underlying theme that the things we take most for granted are often the ones that make life worth living and actually keep us alive.”

The two quotes above might be swapped – STT is certainly about free will and civil rights, and how interactions and movement create room for others to have better lives. FG is certainly about understanding one’s place in the universe, and it absolutely IS more dramatic when Guy understands just before his life ends.

For both, I’d say that there is indeed an underlying theme that the things we take for granted are things that make our lives worth living.

And so, I rest my case…

References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_than_Fiction_(2006_film), https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420223/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Guy, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6264654/, https://www.sociomix.com/diaries/entertainment/the-philosophy-of-the-movie-free-guy-on-reality-purpose-and-change/1633291983#:~:text=Free%20Guy%20Displays%20The%20Change%20An%20Individual%20Can%20Make.&text=Yet%20Guy's%20interactions%20with%20other,the%20NPCs%20he%20interacted%20with.
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1c/Free_Guy_2021_Poster.jpg/220px-Free_Guy_2021_Poster.jpg, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/ff/Stranger_Than_Fiction_%282006_movie_poster%29.jpg/220px-Stranger_Than_Fiction_%282006_movie_poster%29.jpg

COVID-19 and me...

I tested positive...got hit by the symptoms...taking an investigative drug to shorten my stay with COVID-19 and keep me from getting serious symptoms. Recovering. Tired. This is about all I can write.

See you next week.

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY: DISCON III – #5: The Logistics of Off-World Disasters

Using the Programme Guide of the 2021 World Science Fiction Convention, DisCON III, 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…I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the Program Guide. I will be using the events to drive me to distraction or revelation – as the case may be. The link is provided below where this appeared!

“Complex logistics are required to respond to mundane natural disasters. How could we handle a natural disaster occurring on another planet or in space? What additional political and diplomatic complications arise when working on an interplanetary scale?”

Jennifer Rohrer: Moderator (that’s all I could find)
Sandy Manning: math teacher from Alaska (she DID mention Diomede, AK in her introduction…)
Katherine Crichton: writer of SF/F, reviewer, SFWA
Malka Older: author of novels and short SF, futurist, savior of the world (or “…one of the reasons why we still have a planet at all, even if we still don’t always know what to do with it.” – Fran Wilder

The groups assumes that Humanity will move off of Earth – and may (or may not) need to help each other in the event of a disaster.

Most people have seen the movie “Apollo 13”. If I may be so bold, I would classify this as the first off-Earth disaster flick. I would consider it a disaster for two reasons. First is that three astronauts would die if the combined forces of NASA and the astronauts themselves couldn’t figure out a way to overcome the obstacles presented by “something” that happened in space, completely out of reach of every kind of expert Humanity had at that time.

Secondly, however, is that the event prompted the epithet, a “successful failure in space”. IF the astronauts had died instead of overcoming incredible odds to survive, Humanity would have suffered a greater disaster than the Challenger on January 28, 1986 and Columbia on February 1, 2003 – not because of the loss of space explorers, but because Apollo 13 was, I think, a cusp event. As depicted in the movie, going to the Moon was about as “exciting as going to Pittsburgh.”

Had they died, either there would have been a cover up…or the space program would have ground to a halt. Apollo 1, while it happened because of the space program, didn’t have that effect. It WAS accidental, but it happened because really, Humans didn’t know what the heck they were doing.

So, the panelists looked at what WOULD we do if there was a disaster in space or worse, on a distant colony world.

They generated a series of questions initially: whose responsibility was it to respond? Was it someone’s fault? What could the decision-makers DO? Certainly they begin by interpreting what happened by gathering as much information as possible. The information is then passed on to “the Deciders”, the ones with enough information to actually figure out what can be DONE.

Once they did that – both in space and by going over what happened on the ground (which, in the case of Challenger, looked like it was someone’s actual FAULT, which caused endless litigation and the shifting of the space industry – they could move on to the Executers. They would take the plan that the Deciders came up with and put it into practice.

With that, the next most important thing was COMMUNICATION. They had to be in touch in order to first comfort, and second, gather as much information as possible.

So let’s say the Lunar Colony has an outbreak of influenza – which seems like it would probably happen. There would be lots of questions. I would think the first would be, “Is this JUST the flu, or is it, say, The Andromeda Strain? Or WORSE, COVID-19 Double Iota!!!!!” Then what? [Hey, Gray Rinehart, how about a second book in the WALKING ON THE SEA OF CLOUDS (http://graymanwrites.com/index.html) universe?]

How can we help? My guess: we would NOT send a rescue mission. There would be too many unknowns. So then what? We COULD send help – a portable infectious disease lab and vaccine synthesis pod? Certainly volunteers could be solicited…By the way, this could just as easily happen on the ISS. What if we went to call them and no one answered and the video feed showed no one there?

Hmmm, seems that might make an interesting story. Anyone know of someone has already done it?

One of the participants noted that in Alaska, where she lives and works, ALL school have back-up generators. Plus, people COULD be cross-trained. Elementary children could be certified in Basic First Aid. High school seniors could all be certified in Advanced First Aid. All biology teachers could be certified Emergency Room Technicians. School nurses could have preliminary training in Emergency Surgical Technique or could BE licensed EMTs (our school had did; he moonlighted as a Fire Fighter, too!) Doctors couldn’t be “specialists” any more. They’d have to general practitioners. In his SECTOR GENERAL books, James White allowed his Human surgeons to assume the skills of non-Human surgeons. One even kept the “minds” of six surgeons all tucked away. We wouldn’t QUITE need that yet…

What if it’s WORSE than that? What if it’s an international disaster? We need to assume that Russia and China will be players if Americans put a real base on the Moon – just as we would go if one of THEM landed a base there first, simply because such a base would present an unprecedented ability to strike other countries AND their satellites stealthily and silently. So, the settling of space, besides creating new medical challenges, will also require DIPLOMACY.

What if an American child, with her mother, who is working with Chinese and Russian radio telescope astronomers is orphaned when her mother is killed in an accident that maroons her and he rest of the kids and a few adults, underground? The Far Side is protected from colonization because Humans continue to search for Someone Out There…so communication is difficult. Who helps the child? Who does she “belong to” in the interval until her legal guardians can be contacted? We will have SOME need of Diplomatic Trees…

Do people off Earth have only their respective militaries to rely on? What if an international crew on a mission to Titan discovers what might be an abandoned facility clearly left by an intelligence not from Earth – and the Nigerian leader claims it all for Nigeria, then dies of something horrible when he opens the door to the control room?

One of the participants mentioned something called a Cajun Navy, an “informal ad hoc volunteer groups comprising private boat owners who assist in search and rescue efforts” . Is that how search and rescue, ambulance, hospital, disaster relief will work – at least until someone creates and staffs a REAL “sector general”? Will all colonies, of necessity, need to be totally self-sufficient?

What about Doctors Without Borders? Missionary doctors? Training programs? And as long as we’re talking about the future, I’m re-reading Joan Slonczewski’s THE CHILDREN STAR. There are medical programs; artificial intelligence doctors; artificial humanoid doctors; and hologram doctors (“Please state the nature of the medical emergency.”—USS Voyager, Emergency Medical Hologram, “Dr. Zimmerman”).

Last of all, “People will always be there for each other. This is supported by the literature as well as the news that reports this kind of “being there” incidents. There is little evidence for looters in the community after disaster. It’s just how people ‘are’. Most people are self-sufficient as well – where I live, there was a woman who had a TANK in order to get to tough-to-reach places. The same neighborhood had ‘the knife guy’…such a society creates a self-sufficiency; what might be called “isolated-interconnectedness with skills to make what is needed.”

Program Schedule: https://discon3.org/schedule/
Image: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQY860vAI2izm2g2mUgxzT14fGVmoGh66B51g&usqp=CAU

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 536

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.”

SF Trope: Abandoned Structure
Current Event: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-60431874

Asmita Quispe shook her cellphone.

Elnur Alaoui whispered, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to locate the mall’s AI.”

Elnur snorted. “This place is too old…”

Asmita sniffed, and pincing the map on her phone, threw it into the air in front of Elnur’s face. She didn’t care that they’d been best friends forever. He was in med school; she was the computer genius! She was the one who’d been awarded the Feynman-Manin Lifetime Grant for her own pioneering work in Artificial Intelligence! “There’s an AI here. It’s been buried or underwater since this place fell apart. They tried to revive it in the early 2020’s, then turned it over to the AI in 2034. A year later, really weird stuff started to happen.” She got the scanner program running and in her waders, slowly turned in a circle.

“What do you mean they put an AI in here? This is Bangkok! They don’t have that kind of…”

“It was a state secret. They were working with NATO countries to keep an eye on China. The AI was supposed to do nothing but listen. But it started communicating.”

“With who?”

She took down the map hovering between them and tossed a map of the mall between them. A red spot brightened and faded and brightened again slowly. She said, “It’s there.” She started off, slogging through water that was barely over her ankles. She’d waded through worse when she’d done a field study with a group that was trying to plant microwave relay towers that grew from a small container of nanomachines that would use local materials and an independent heuristic program connected to a supervising AI back at MIT in the US. Two of the seven packages they’d planted… “Focus!” she muttered.

“I AM focused! If I wasn’t focused I wouldn’t be following you…”

“Not you. Me!”

“What?”

“Forget it. My mind keeps wandering…” said Asmita.

“Oh, great. How do I know your mind isn't going wander over a cliff somewhere?” said Elnur. “You’re trying to contact an old AI to find out what?”

“I want to talk to it. It’s here and after a couple of art shows in 2021 and 2022, they project shut down. The AI’s here, but no one seems to know what it’s doing. For all we know, it could be planning on building a plague to get rid of all Humanity!”

A burst of static echoed in the core of the mall, the sound softened by greenery the grew out of the water, reaching up to the uncovered roof four stories up. There was a long silence, then a scratchy voice said, “No plague for Humanity. Sorry to ruin your sci-fi story. But, I think I could use your help in moving the Korean Peninsula to Mars…”

Names: ♀ Nepal, Peru; ♂ Azerbaijan; Morocco
Image: https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iKuHoEmxneeo/v0/-1x-1.jpg

WRITING ADVICE: Can This Story Be SAVED? #30 “Out of the Wounded Hills” (aka “May They Rest”) (Submitted 6 Times Since Sept 2019, Revised once)

In September of 2007, I started this blog with a bit of writing advice. A little over a year later, I discovered how little I knew about writing after hearing children’s writer, Lin Oliver. In April of 2014, I figured I’d gotten enough publications that I could share some of the things I did “right”. I’ll keep that up, but I’m running out of pro-published stories. I don’t write full-time, nor do I make enough money with my writing to live off of it, but someone pays for and publishes ten percent of what I write. Hemingway’s quote above will remain unchanged as I work to increase my writing output and sales, but I’m adding this new series of posts because I want to carefully look at what I’ve done WRONG and see if I can fix it. As always, your comments are welcome!

ANALOG Tag Line:
Can a dying man make peace with his enemies and himself by doing “one good thing”?

Elevator Pitch (What Did I Think I Was Trying To Say?):
The Civil War was America’s darkest moment, split into Union and Confederacy – but still, weirdly, America. War like this plays out repeatedly in the history of every nation on Earth from the dawn of recorded history. It will probably play out like this in space. How does the last WheetAh-Human Conflict veteran make peace with himself and the aliens who slaughtered everything he ever loved? Who if he finds a WheetAh who had LESS honor than he did? What if he raises a memorial to their name?

Opening Line:
“‘I should have died here with the rest of my family,’ said Timviifei Jones.”

Onward:
Stepping down from the hovering gravity modified flyer disk, he collapsed, unconscious and barely breathing.

By the time paramedics got there from a nearby Human town, he was awake. He pushed them away. One smiled, nodded, and said, “You seem fine to me, sir. Have a good day.”

“I’m not fine,” he muttered, lifting his hand to flip off the paramedics. One of them saw and cheerily waved as they flew off. Turning on the WheetAh waiting nearby, curling and uncurling her tentacles of manipulation he shouted, “You! Weed! What’s your name?”

She looked like every other WheetAh in the galaxy – a needleless, dwarf Saguaro cactus with stumpy legs and arms. She whistled and spoke from the top of her body, “Ifhofei, Mafhur Pimviifei…”

“Timviifei!” he spat on the ground. “My name is Master Timothy Jones! No Human and no WheetAh can say my idiotic name right!” His parents had christened him with a mixed Human-WheetAh name. As charter members of the Weldon Colony’s ten thousand zoologic Humans and six hundred botanic WheetAh, they’d poured every effort into creating a place where the innate enemies from the animal and plant kingdoms could evolve into a graceful peace. Shaking his fist at the memorial, Timmy shouted, “They should have known better!”

What Was I Trying To Say?
My son and I drove between Minnesota and North Carolina and back again several times since he and his family had returned from South Korea to settle near Fort Bragg/Fayetteville.

Every time, we found some historical place to stop and learn. This time, a “blue sign” on the highway pointed to a Civil War cemetery off the main road. We went to have a look. What we found out that not only was it off the road, it had a single marker and was basically a clearing in the woods near a stream. A memorial erected earlier that summer gave the story.

While South Carolina was the first Southern state to secede from the Union in December of 1860, North Carolina was second to last in May of 1861. No one denies the bitterness of a war fought between families on their own soil. Some two million Americans died, many of disease and starvation.

Even so, it seemed unfair to the dead (yeah, I know, stupid), that the remains of over a hundred soldiers were marked with a single, small stone: ..\..\..\Downloads\CSA Headstone North Carolina.jpg My son is a soldier himself, staff sergeant, not an officer – as were most of the Union and Confederate soldiers. I wanted to convey some of the sadness of people caught up in a war when they had no real idea of why they were killing each other.

Fraught with baggage…

The Rest of the Story:
The main character has returned to the “Weldon War Memorial, Human Cemetery & Apology. It lay still, cool, Earth green, and vast, the final resting place for ten thousand, four hundred, and eighty-two Weldon colonial pastoralists, slaughtered by WheetAh special forces looking for traitors of their own kind. By some obscure WheetAh custom and law, it was a place designed to bury, remember, and apologize for an atrocity, from the WheetAh to Humans.”
He discovers the remains of another WheetAh who was overlooked because they had overlain a Human; obviously trying to protect them. The characters knows because he was there. His bitterness and anger have consumed him and he’s going to die soon. He’s frail and feels some obscure notion to return and yell at anyone on Weldon who would remember. But the caretaker is the only one still around. They were at the massacre; they remember. They even remember HIM. When he relents and stubbornly finds the place where he was discovered and “adopted by a WheetAh family”. He then builds the WheetAh’s memorial crystal and mounts it on a berm so that it catches sunrise light.

He dies shortly thereafter…

End Analysis:
The STORY is good, but the Civil War is a bad metaphor to use. Duh. Perhaps use either Vietnam or someone else’s civil war – Les Miserable was after the French Revolution…but that was right against poor??? Maybe. I need to find a contemporary “civil war” maybe to use as the metaphor (though, the fact is that, I don’t even mention the Civil War. Maybe THAT’S not the problem…maybe

…the viewpoint character is wrong. There’s already a WheetAh character there; what would the story look like from THEIR point of view?

Can This Story Be Saved?
It’s a solid piece. Maybe I need to study some more “message” stories to see how they get their point across without having people say, “Oh, this is just the Civil War in disguise! Be gone!” So, yeah. I’m three years older, wiser, and more published now. Maybe it’s time.

I’ll keep you posted.

Image: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9f/22/3b/9f223b1e57a36e14db3eb13715fbe3f9.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 535

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 horror, I found this insight in line with WIRED FOR STORY: “ We seek out…stories which give us a place to put our fears…Stories that frighten us or unsettle us - not just horror stories, but ones that make us uncomfortable or that strike a chord somewhere deep inside - give us the means to explore the things that scare us…” – Lou Morgan (The Guardian)

H Trope: forbidden rooms
Current Event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial and http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume7/j7_2_1_33.htm and http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/21/3783838/mcmartin-preschool-fiasco-led.html

Thirty years after the infamous McMartin Preschool Incident, Tayna Hopewell’s parents buy the land the day care once stood on to build a golf equipment shop. Everything is past and even though she finds out about the lot’s history through a Google search, she doesn’t say anything.

They aren’t opening a day care!

Tanya who lives in Alondra and takes classes as a high school senior at El Camino College wants to be a forensic scientist after she graduates. Her parents are “golf semi-pros” and while she supports them now that she’s “grown up”, she loathes the sport and avoids it at every chance.

On the eve of a big semi-pro tourney at the nearby Alondra Golf Course, and shortly after the excavation began, Tanya NEEDS to escape her parents! They’re driving her CRAZY!

She lights off along Manhattan Beach Boulevard, jogging toward the beach and some much-needed alone time. When she reaches the excavation site, she sees that the gate is still standing open and she figures her parents own the land, so she has every right to check things out.

A warm breeze is wafting off shore a mile or so away and even though the sun is sinking toward the horizon, she’s comfortable poking around the site.

It’s not particularly interesting until she gets to the back of the lot. It’s been built over more than once – before the infamous daycare (demolished in 1985) it was a housing development, since then The Strand Cleaners which went out of business. Now her parents are building a two-story building; the ground floor will house Hopewell’s Pro Golf; the upper story was unrented yet, but there were plenty of people interested.

At the back of the property, Tanya nearly pitches into a narrow hole in the ground that runs under the fence to the property behind their land. As well, there’s evidence of the trenches running toward Manhattan Boulevard. Scowling, she looked into the hole, though she can’t see a thing. She takes out her cell, flips it to “flashlight mode” and aims it into the hole.

She still can’t see much more than the far side of it. Muttering, she unrolls her towel, lays it on the ground and lays down, scooting to the edge so she can see over it clearly.

The flicks on the flashlight, holding it ahead of her and pointing down and looks carefully.

At the bottom of the trench, at the edge of the cell phone’s light reach, she clearly sees a pile of bones.

Heart pounding, she remembers that there was a buried trash heap under the property that they’d found evidence of even during the trial in the olden days. It’s probably just animal bones.

That’s when she sees it. To one side, barely visible now, staring at her without eyes, is a small skull.

A small HUMAN skull…

Name: Slavic, Derbyshire UK
Image: https://cdn.britannica.com/40/11740-004-50816EB1/Boris-Karloff-Frankenstein-monster.jpg