Guy Stewart's Blog, page 62

Elements of Cron and Korea #13: From 10% to 30%...Applying Lisa Cron’s Wisdom Consistently

I may  have mentioned that one of my goals is to increase my writing output, increase my publication rate, and increase the relevance of my writing. In my WRITING ADVICE column, I had started using an article my sister sent me by Lisa Cron. She 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. I am going to fuse the advice from her book WIRED FOR STORY with my recent trip to South Korea. Why? I made a discovery there. You’ll hear more about it in the future as I work to integrate what I’m learning from the book, the startling things I found in South Korea, and try and alter how I write in order to create characters that people will care about, characters that will speak the Truth, and characters that will clearly illustrate what I’m writing about.
“Remember when Luke has to drop the bomb into the small vent on the Death Star? The story writer faces a similar challenge of penetrating the brain of the reader. This book gives the blueprints.” – David Eagleman
I’m done with iterating what I’ve learned and applied from Lisa Cron’s “A Reader’s Manifesto: 15 Hardwired Expectations Every Reader Has for Every Story”. The list is below here and I’ve put links to each essay in the series below.
So, now what?
I practice. I’ve been working hard to use this methodology since I read the article and then the book – which all started April of 2018. Since then, I’ve written nine stories and sold three – two of them to my dream market of ANALOG Science Fiction and Fact.
My usual number of published stories has run about ten percent for decades. Since reading Lisa Cron’s article and book, the percentage has jumped to 33 percent. A third of what I write.
That’s significant. It shows that I’ve started to internalize the ideas she presented in the book and article. It shows to me that they’re an effective way to look at writing stories.
The reader expects…
…that the story will start making a very specific point, beginning with the first sentence.…the story to revolve around one, single plot problem that grows, escalates and complicates, which the protagonist has no choice but to deal with.…a glimpse of the big picture from the very first page.…that there will be a protagonist.…that the protagonist will be flawed and vulnerable – never, ever “perfect.”…the protagonist to not only have a past, but one that affects the future.…that the protagonist will enter the story with a longstanding agenda – that is, something she already wants, which is what gives true meaning to her goal.…the protagonist will have a longstanding misbelief that has kept her from easily achieving that goal.…that the plot will force the protagonist to confront and overcome her misbelief, something she’s probably spent her whole life avoiding.…to feel something, from the first sentence to the last; and what the reader feels is what the protagonist feels.…a clear, present and escalating force of opposition, with a loudly ticking clock.…that there will be something crucial at stake in every scene, continually forcing the protagonist’s hand.…that as the protagonist tries to solve the plot problem, she will only make things worse, until she has no choice but to face her misbelief.…that everything in the story is there strictly on a need-to-know basis.…that at the end of the story the protagonist will emerge changed, seeing the world through new eyes.
So, I’m working on a new story that combines my veterinarian and South Korea. The working title is “Dinosaur Veterinarian”. In the reviews of “Road Veterinarian” (ANALOG, September/October 2019), while people had trouble believing that a road covering could be a living substance and given enough prodding (starvation) it could actually move, reviewers did like the interaction between my genetically modified soldier and a veterinarian with a genetic disorder called “piebaldism”. I suppose my message is that just because people are genetically changed, they’re still people. Also, the message is that we have a choice: we can take something wonderful and make a weapon out of it; or we can just take in something wonderful. In this case, it’s wildlife – we can take it in (obviously not something like bubonic plague, coronavirus, or other diseases that cause suffering – though I’ve heard that there has been discussion of the philosophy of microbial rights (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3059913/, https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-016-0702-7) or we can turn wildlife into weapons.
The metaphor is carried in my characters, Thatcher is a deliberately modified Human; Javier is an “accidentally” modified Human. The antagonists in the story have not only modified an influenza virus (one of a series of iterations of the H1N1 virus that caused the 1918 Flu Pandemic) to make it more virulent, they have altered the genes expressed in certain species of birds who are the most closely related to prehistoric velociraptors (Microraptoria), in this case, the red-legged and black legged seriemas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seriema) though they are the sole survivors of the small bird family of Caramidae and represented by these two separate species. One, the red-legged seriemas is a runner and often captured in its South American niche and domesticated as a “guard bird”; like a carnivorous form of farm geese in Europe and North America.
A “flock” or pack of these “terror birds” is infected with an avian flu and released in the DMZ. It’s up to my main characters with the help of two others to figure out what’s going on and stop it.
While maintaining the romantic tension between the two mains. If I can execute Cron’s methodology and meet the reader’s expectations, I may be able to sell this story as well.
As always, I’ll keep you posted.
Resource: https://www.creativelive.com/blog/essential-storytelling-techniques/Image: https://www.ducksters.com/science/chemistry/chromium.gif

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 432

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: Magic is Evil, at best relatively neutral. Often The Corruption. There is a good chance it's directly obtained through a Deal with the Devil, powered by Blood Magic or involves Human Sacrifice and Forsaken Children. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarkFantasy)Current Event: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/07/16/former-brazilian-president-practiced-black-magic-ex-wife-says/
Martina Felipe el Bueno scowled at the ancient video tape cassette where it rested under glass that perfectly screened out UV and cosmic rays and lowered the intensity of visible in near vacuum. She said something in Spanish.
“Why don’t we just use English. I can’t even understand your Peruvian accent,” said Álvaro Villa softly.
“Fine,” she said. “The problem remains, whether we say it in Spanish or English – or even Spanglish – the occult rites of a former national leader are there for the viewing. But we can’t see them.”
“Why does it bother you so much?”
“The tape is a century old and preceded the collapse of his government before it accomplished anything.”
“You’re saying if he didn’t do the animal sacrifices, he’d still be in power?”She laughed, “No, he’d still be dead. I don’t think even Brazil is ready for a zombie president.”
“That’s for sure.” They stood side-by-side, staring at the artifact.
“I got in touch with you because I think we can get the images off this, but I think we need to merge science and magic.”
His breath caught in his chest. He’d heard of it from abuelo. “Oil magic?”
Martina nodded, paused, then said, “The college has a supply.”
“It’s illegal for any of us to even touch it,” Álvaro said. “Even if we touch it, we would be instantly expelled right after we were arrested, tried and sentenced.”
“If we do it physically, I suppose you’d be right.”
“What other way is there to steal oil?”
“Magic,” Martina whispered. “Black magic.” Álvaro barked a laugh and Martina spun to face him, snarling, “What do you know about black magic?”
He held his hands up in surrender and said, “Nothing – as in ‘magic is fine in dumb stories like THE GOLDEN COMPASS, but this is real life’. Abuelowas my favorite person on Earth, and when it came to story-telling, he was the best. But he was old – his generation used ‘it’s magic’ to explain something it didn’t understand.” He shook his head, “First time he saw a cell phone 3D projection when I was talking to my girlfriend one night, he said, ‘esto es la magia negra’.”
“What if I told you a way to use the sacrifice of black gold to create a magical field we would protect the cassette…”
Image: http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/6255CaernarfonCastle_pic1.jpg

Slice of PIE: Creating Alien Aliens Part 2

NOT using the panel discussions of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention in Dublin, Ireland in August 2019 (to which I be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I would jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not today. 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…

Part I: https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2020/01/slice-of-pie-creating-alien-aliens.html
I’ve ended up going on with the idea of creating “alien aliens” by reading some classic short stories in which alien aliens were front and center. So far:
“Can These Bones Live?” by Ted Reynolds (ANALOG, March 1979) – in which a Human has to plead for the resurrection of a race of extinct aliens after dreaming about the greatness of the aliens. She also ends up asking questions about the aliens who have the power and eventually about an alien people who the powerful ones respect. This gives a fascinating view of what different sapients might find important. (Nominated for several awards)
“Slow Life” by Michael Swanwick (ANALOG, December 2002) – in which astronauts are exploring the oceans on Saturn’s moon, Titan. A perfectly rational scientists gets into trouble and starts to have weird dreams, eventually believing that some form of intelligent life who live in black smoker type stacks in the methane oceans of the moon are communicating with her through dreams. (Won Hugo for best novelette of that year)
“Camouflage” by Joe Haldeman (ANALOG, March-May 2004) – Two aliens landed on Earth a long, long time ago and eventually take on Human form and live a small portion of their eternal lives on Earth. (Won James Tiptree, Jr award and 2005 Nebula for best novel)
“Blood Music” by Greg Bear (ANALOG, June 1983) – A scientists injects himself with his own cells, enhanced and transformed into colonial sapient beings, alien in every way but origin. In the magazine story, they might have been stopped; in the novel, they weren’t. (Story: Hugo 1983, Nebula 1984; novel nominated for both plus British Science Fiction Award).  
Recently, I have read all of David Brin’s UPLIFT books and stories, which are full of aliens of every variety. Julie Czerneda works with aliens in all but her fantasy novels with various levels of “out-there-ness”. CJ Cherry has spent 20 years exploring the society of the “alien” atevi.
What ALL of these have in common may seem obvious to you, but it was a startling surprise to me. I finally figured out that aliens are best presented and realized when they are metaphorical representations of the Humans they interact with.
Of course, this raises the question: “Is this what REAL aliens will be like?”
The answer (also “Of course!”) is “Are you kidding?”
 They won’t be like Shram, T’Pol, The Horta, Alien, Jar Jar Binks, Solaris (though this one comes close to being really “alien”), ET, or even Esen-alit-Quar, who, while physically alien, has a personality that’s as Human as mine.
They’ll be alien. Most likely incomprehensible. Alien.
So, once we reach the year that we make Contact, what do we do? Probably spend forever trying to figure it out. It’s unlikely that there will be a Federation we can join; probably not an Evil Empire to fight or even a Rebellion we can join; we’ll probably continue on the same way we are going today. They won’t be our Alien Saviors or our Alien Enslavers. They probably won’t even notice us.
So the function of aliens in science fiction is to explore HUMANS; us. Not figure out what will happen at First Contact. Nothing will happen. It’ll hit the headlines, then vanish from our normal navel gazing life. Even the ones who SWEAR they’re ready and are smirking at the rest of us will move on to the next "interesting thing".
So. How do I create aliens to explore Humans? They have to interact with Humans and be a metaphor of something profound that I’m trying to say. Something related to my themes: Education. First contact. Faith in God. How we interact with very alien. Domestication. Technological solution to problems today. Self-sacrifice.
Humor.
I do NOT have these down yet. In fact, I’m not even certain these are the themes I’m working on. But, I AM working on them. It’s just going to take time to learn to focus!
Resources: http://astronomy.com/bonus/alien-contacthttp://astronomy.com/bonus/alien-contact, https://medium.com/@adammann930/we-need-to-do-a-better-job-of-imagining-aliens-8fc7dff0af44,  Image: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/m...https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/1/12/Horta.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20110626014559&path-prefix=en

Slice of PIE: Creating Alien Aliens Part II

[image error] NOT using the panel discussions of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention in Dublin, Ireland in August 2019 (to which I be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I would jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not today. 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…

Part I: https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2020/01/slice-of-pie-creating-alien-aliens.html
I’ve ended up going on with the idea of creating “alien aliens” by reading some classic short stories in which alien aliens were front and center. So far:
“Can These Bones Live?” by Ted Reynolds (ANALOG, March 1979) – in which a Human has to plead for the resurrection of a race of extinct aliens after dreaming about the greatness of the aliens. She also ends up asking questions about the aliens who have the power and eventually about an alien people who the powerful ones respect. This gives a fascinating view of what different sapients might find important. (Nominated for several awards)
“Slow Life” by Michael Swanwick (ANALOG, December 2002) – in which astronauts are exploring the oceans on Saturn’s moon, Titan. A perfectly rational scientists gets into trouble and starts to have weird dreams, eventually believing that some form of intelligent life who live in black smoker type stacks in the methane oceans of the moon are communicating with her through dreams. (Won Hugo for best novelette of that year)
“Camouflage” by Joe Haldeman (ANALOG, March-May 2004) – Two aliens landed on Earth a long, long time ago and eventually take on Human form and live a small portion of their eternal lives on Earth. (Won James Tiptree, Jr award and 2005 Nebula for best novel)
“Blood Music” by Greg Bear (ANALOG, June 1983) – A scientists injects himself with his own cells, enhanced and transformed into colonial sapient beings, alien in every way but origin. In the magazine story, they might have been stopped; in the novel, they weren’t. (Story: Hugo 1983, Nebula 1984; novel nominated for both plus British Science Fiction Award).  
Recently, I have read all of David Brin’s UPLIFT books and stories, which are full of aliens of every variety. Julie Czerneda works with aliens in all but her fantasy novels with various levels of “out-there-ness”. CJ Cherry has spent 20 years exploring the society of the “alien” atevi.
What ALL of these have in common may seem obvious to you, but it was a startling surprise to me. I finally figured out that aliens are best presented and realized when they are metaphorical representations of the Humans they interact with.
Of course, this raises the question: “Is this what REAL aliens will be like?”
The answer (also “Of course!”) is “Are you kidding?”
 They won’t be like Shram, T’Pol, The Horta, Alien, Jar Jar Binks, Solaris (though this one comes close to being really “alien”), ET, or even Esen-alit-Quar, who, while physically alien, has a personality that’s as Human as mine.
They’ll be alien. Most likely incomprehensible. Alien.
So, once we reach the year that we make Contact, what do we do? Probably spend forever trying to figure it out. It’s unlikely that there will be a Federation we can join; probably not an Evil Empire to fight or even a Rebellion we have join; we’ll probably continue on the same way we are going today. They won’t be our Alien Saviors or our Alien Enslavers. They probably won’t even notice us.
So the function of aliens in science fiction is to explore HUMANS; us. Not figure out what will happen at First Contact. Nothing will happen. It’ll hit the headlines, then vanish from our normal navel gazing life. Even the ones who SWEAR they’re ready and are smirking at the rest of us.
So. How do I create aliens to explore Humans? They have to interact with Humans and represent be a metaphor of something profound that I’m trying to. Something related to my themes: Education. First contact. Faith in God. How we interact with very alien. Domestication. Technological solution to problems today. Self-sacrifice.
Humor.
I do NOT have these down yet. In fact, I’m not even certain these are the themes I’m working on. But, I AM working on them. It’s just going to take time to learn to focus!
Resources: http://astronomy.com/bonus/alien-contacthttp://astronomy.com/bonus/alien-contact, https://medium.com/@adammann930/we-need-to-do-a-better-job-of-imagining-aliens-8fc7dff0af44,  Image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/Vq2GSZTSc6DehftieJd1R-fP-t8VQOjjYYop2KbiprB8bOqxPm-T1lHJVQNoZVJrKqnoa15PUlfmjaxFPrrKtXuvVNgQViQ63nvo4ieZZNL3bw

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 431

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.
SF Trope: Humans are NOTHING special in the universeCurrent Event: “The apparent size and age of the universe suggest that many technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations ought to exist.
However, this hypothesis seems inconsistent with the lack of observational evidence to support it.” [Editorial comment: “‘Suggest’?????? ‘Seems inconsistent’???????]
There is no evidence that there is life anywhere in space – oh, there are hopes, dreams, protestations that “we can NOT be the only ones in this ENTIRE UNIVERSE” (this shriek is followed by a childish tantrum-like stomp of a foot. It has been uttered by the most distinguished of scientists and science fiction writers ever to walk this Earth – from Carl Sagan to David Brin) and frantic attempts by those who do not believe that Humanity is unique.
But there is NO PROOF that there is anyone of any sort anywhere in the universe but HERE.
Perhaps the best thing would be to just admit that we’re all there is and go from there.
Two paths are possible, the first one was followed to its logical conclusion by Isaac Asimov in his FOUNDATION classic tales – from FORWARD THE FOUNDATION through FOUNDATION AND EARTH.
The second seems to be happening before our very eyes:
Claudie Nicollier and Wubbo Fugelsang shielded their eyes against the glare of the rising sun. Claudie said, “Do you have any idea how ridiculous this looks?”
Wubbo snorted, rubbing the beard he’d allowed to grow over the last two weeks of the Human space program. He said, “They’re trying to fool themselves into believing that space belongs to the mechanical.”Claudie grunted, grabbing his shoulder to steady her own hand. She said, “I joined the ESA to stop this. I did it for the glory of France!” Her shouted sounded more choked than triumphant. “Six years of training flushed away by an accident and bureaucratic panic.”
“You started training when you were ten?” he said, smiling. “I was born dreaming of space. My parents conceived me on the night of the last American shuttle launch on July 21, 2o11.”
“How romantic!” she whispered.
“And extremely uncomfortable, my older brother told me.”
“What?”
“They were laying on a blanket on a beach in Florida about five kilometers from the Cape Canaveral launch pad.”
She slapped his shoulder, “We’re talking about the end of an era, Rub. How can you joke at a time like this?”
“Sorry.”
From their hiding place, they watched an Ariane VI rocket hurtle into space. Built entirely by robots, crewed by robots and guarded by robots, it was the International Space Union’s first shot since bringing the ancient International Space Station back to Earth. For the first time in eighty years, no Human lived anywhere but on the surface of the Earth.
The ISU and all its member nations had declared that space exploration could now begin in earnest with Humans safely at the center of a web of spidery lines of destinations from the first interstellar probe on the eighth year of its journey to Alpha Centauri B to the buckshot spheres of picobot satellites in orbit around all eight planets and fifteen moons.
“It’s not me I’m worried about,” said Claudie.
Rub lifted an eyebrow, standing up, stretching – they’d been crouched here since the night before, hiding in the jungle west of the Launch Center. “Who are you worried about then?”
“Noah and Natalie and Waqas and Chris...”
“The Americans?” he snorted, “What are you worried about them for? They had their chance to go to the stars. They blew it.”
“Agreed.”
He waited then said, “I hear a ‘but’ in there.”
She stretched as well, quite aware of his interest in her calisthenics. She said, “I’m worried because I heard them talking the other day. They have something – how do they say it – they’ve got something ‘up their sleeves’.”
Rub shook his head, “They don’t have the power to do anything anymore. They can’t even work themselves out of their Second Great Depression.”
“What I heard from them doesn’t require power just a little remodeling…”                                                                        Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Ariane5_VA221_liftoff2.jpg/220px-Ariane5_VA221_liftoff2.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 430

[image error] 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. Change of pace for a bit – I’m going to look at elements of EXTREMELY popular SF, F, and H; break them apart and use each element as a jumping of point for a story idea…
Sometimes we forget that adolescents can be parental abuse victims, too...800-273-8255   OR TEXT '273TALK' TO 839863

https://www.linesforlife.org/get-help-now/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIprS5ktue5wIVlJOzCh0vTQgwEAMYASAAEgLz8_D_BwE  H Trope: Abusive ParentsCurrent Event: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536926/Sharon-Glass-trial-Boy-12-testifies-starved-locked-closet-fathers-girlfriend.html
Austin Ventura stood in his room. What should he do? What could he do? Carlos Rodriguez Cruz – his best friend since kindergarten – had run off somewhere. Worse yet, he’d been gone for anywhere from a few minutes to four hours. Austin texted Carlos’ sister, Paulina, “You still there?”
“Not going anywhere. Really.”
“Can I come over?”
“Here?”
“Where?”
“Meet me at the school.”
“I can get there in ten.”
“No car. Give me an hour.”“Why?”
“Walk.”
“I can come and get you,” Austin clicked. He waited. His screen dimmed to dark. She wasn’t going to answer. Shaking his head, he left the house, walking out thefront door. Mom and Dad had long ago given up trying to keep him in the place – he’d “escaped” so many times…and they’d had to pick him up from the police station for curfew violations so many times, that they’d finally said if he was going to go out whenever he felt like it, he could pick himself up.
They refused. He tested their resolve exactly once. That was the night he had to walk home from down town Minneapolis. His parents insisted the cops turn him out. The also lied about how far away they lived – they said they were staying in a nearby hotel. It had been just before Christmas. Austin was twelve.
When a cop car stopped to nab him, it turned out it was the same one who’d grabbed him the first time. The lady had said, “Your parents made you walk home?”
Miserable – even in his fancy Columbia ReflectiveHeat Brand – in just his jacket and Converses, the cop relented and gave him a ride home. When he dropped Austin off in front of the mansion, he’d leaned forward, looked at the entryway and said softly, “I can file for child abuse if you want...”
“No!” Austin had exclaimed. The publicity would ruin Dad. Mom would never speak to him again. “I’ve learned my lesson.”
The cop had made a face, shrugged and said, “Suit yourself, kid. But if you ever change your mind,” he’d squirted a contact email to Austin’s cellphone then went on his way.
Austin-in-the-present shook his head and sighed, the only lesson he’d learned that night was that he had to be a helluva lot sneakier from then on. And he’d learned exactly how mad Dad could get. He set off to meet Paulina.
Names: ♂ Mexico, Mexico; ♂ Minnesota, Italy (= “baby in the woods”, “foundling”); ♀ Spanish form of French name   Image: http://www.colourbox.com/preview/1040022-181623-.jpg

Slice of PIE: Creating Alien Aliens, Part 1

NOT using the panel discussions of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention in Dublin, Ireland in August 2019 (to which I be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I would jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not today. 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…

Part II: http://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2020/02/slice-of-pie-creating-alien-aliens-part.html
I have created three universes.
In the first, it’s Humans alone. We genetically engineer ourselves to fit the varied environments we encounter. The overarching conflict is between the Empire of Man and the Confluence of Humanity. The first considers someone Human if they are 65% or more “Original Human” DNA. If you’re less, you’re considered SubHuman. The second sees ANY genetic manipulation to be A-OK. 
In the second, it’s us and mobile plants. Humans have gone deep into space and encountered the WheetAh, mobile plants reminiscent of a giant saguaro cactus crossed with a pitcher plant. The conflict is as obvious as it is inevitable – we eat plants. They eat rodents; hence the pejoratives each lays on the other. We call them Weeds; they call us Weasels.
In the third, we are junior members of the Unity of Sapients, some fifty extremely different intelligences (I can’t say species – as in Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species – as there are smart minerals, arthropods, collective, herd, and individual intelligences in the Unity. We haven’t even been certified sapient. (definition: adjective – having or showing great wisdom or sound judgment; Orig –1425–75; late Middle English sapyent < Latin sapient- (stem of sapiēns, present participle of sapere to be wise, literally: to taste, have taste), equivalent to sapi- verb stem + -ent- -ent
So, I’ve written stories in all three universes. How many in each have been published?
Confluence/Empire: I’ve written seven; only one has been published.WheetAh: Written two; one published.Unity: Written seventeen, four published…which seems good, until I point out that the four published stories didn’t contain aliens.
So, I CAN’T write believable aliens.
Why not?
Writers who have written believable aliens: David Brin, Julie Czerneda, Hal Clement, James White, Alan Dean Foster, CJ Cherryh, Larry Niven, Octavia Butler, SL Viehl, and others that escape me; clearly depict them. But HOW?
I’ve been doing some superficial analysis and it seems that when Humans and aliens interact closely and the alienness is narrowed down to one or two SPECIFIC differences; the ones that somehow cause the problem; that’s when the aliens are acceptable.
For example, CJ Cherryh’s atevi. Basically giant Humans with golden eyes and coal black skin, bipedal, five digits, and sexually compatible with Humans (though not reproductively compatible); have one difference: they have no concept of love. In place of love, they have a profound sense of association. All large, mammalian life forms on the Earth of the atevi have this same biological urge – to associate under one strong leader. The single Human who interacts with them, Bren Cameron, understands this and can speak their language fluently – but he still makes mistakes when under pressure to assume that the atevi“feel” about him as he does about them. This creates countless situations of tension and have driven the story line for some TWENTY novels over a quarter of a century of time. The reason I go back repeatedly is because I want to see what happens next as the Human population grows and the atevi advance in technology and eventually reach parity with Humans; and possibly visit Earth.
Another example is James White’s famous Sector General novels. Twelve novels spanning over thirty years of writing, they depict the life of a small group of Humans on a massive space station away from the “main thoroughfares” of a vast interstellar civilization as they interact with countless alien cultures and medical personnel. Languages, medicine, morality, humor, and emotions are touchstones – and points of conflict – for the series.
So – what have I learned with my brief analysis?
1) Aliens and Humans HAVE to interact closely; intimately. (I tried this with “May They Rest” and it was quickly bounced by five magazines and my favorite, to which I’d sold several stories…) In “A Complications of Sapients”, my character and an alien, “cockroach” sapient interacted VERY intimately – and didn’t sell…
2) I need more aliens than Humans. I did this in “Peanut Butter and Jellyfish”, podcast from CAST OF WONDERS. It took place on a trimaran carrying cultural exchange WheetAh. Humans need to be at a disadvantage. The aliens should be at an advantage.
3) It needs to be a BROADLY threatening situation. I think I did this in “The Princess’s Brain”, but I’ve got to go back ad reread it. I DID do this in “The Krasiman, Monkey Boy, and the Frogfather”, but that didn’t sell, either.
So, I’m ready to try something new. Cron plus the above…should give me an alien story that will sell.                                                             Resource: https://writepop.com/writing/writing-realistic-aliens/, (I’ve used this one: ) https://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Alien-Societies-Extraterrestrial-Life-Forms-ebook/dp/B00B2B8FOO, https://nypost.com/2018/02/24/heres-what-aliens-probably-look-like/, Image: https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3321076413_10.jpg

Slice of PIE: Creating Alien Aliens, Part I

NOT using the panel discussions of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention in Dublin, Ireland in August 2019 (to which I be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I would jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not today. 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…

Part II: http://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2020/02/slice-of-pie-creating-alien-aliens-part.html
I have created three universes.
In the first, it’s Humans alone. We genetically engineer ourselves to fit the varied environments we encounter. The overarching conflict is between the Empire of Man and the Confluence of Humanity. The first considers someone Human if they are 65% or more “Original Human” DNA. If you’re less, you’re considered SubHuman. The second sees ANY genetic manipulation to be A-OK. 
In the second, it’s us and mobile plants. Humans have gone deep into space and encountered the WheetAh, mobile plants reminiscent of a giant saguaro cactus crossed with a pitcher plant. The conflict is as obvious as it is inevitable – we eat plants. They eat rodents; hence the pejoratives each lays on the other. We call them Weeds; they call us Weasels.
In the third, we are junior members of the Unity of Sapients, some fifty extremely different intelligences (I can’t say species – as in Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species – as there are smart minerals, arthropods, collective, herd, and individual intelligences in the Unity. We haven’t even been certified sapient. (definition: adjective – having or showing great wisdom or sound judgment; Orig –1425–75; late Middle English sapyent < Latin sapient- (stem of sapiēns, present participle of sapere to be wise, literally: to taste, have taste), equivalent to sapi- verb stem + -ent- -ent
So, I’ve written stories in all three universes. How many in each have been published?
Confluence/Empire: I’ve written seven; only one has been published.WheetAh: Written two; one published.Unity: Written seventeen, four published…which seems good, until I point out that the four published stories didn’t contain aliens.
So, I CAN’T write believable aliens.
Why not?
Writers who have written believable aliens: David Brin, Julie Czerneda, Hal Clement, James White, Alan Dean Foster, CJ Cherryh, Larry Niven, Octavia Butler, SL Viehl, and others that escape me; clearly depict them. But HOW?
I’ve been doing some superficial analysis and it seems that when Humans and aliens interact closely and the alienness is narrowed down to one or two SPECIFIC differences; the ones that somehow cause the problem; that’s when the aliens are acceptable.
For example, CJ Cherryh’s atevi. Basically giant Humans with golden eyes and coal black skin, bipedal, five digits, and sexually compatible with Humans (though not reproductively compatible); have one difference: they have no concept of love. In place of love, they have a profound sense of association. All large, mammalian life forms on the Earth of the atevi have this same biological urge – to associate under one strong leader. The single Human who interacts with them, Bren Cameron, understands this and can speak their language fluently – but he still makes mistakes when under pressure to assume that the atevi“feel” about him as he does about them. This creates countless situations of tension and have driven the story line for some TWENTY novels over a quarter of a century of time. The reason I go back repeatedly is because I want to see what happens next as the Human population grows and the atevi advance in technology and eventually reach parity with Humans; and possibly visit Earth.
Another example is James White’s famous Sector General novels. Twelve novels spanning over thirty years of writing, they depict the life of a small group of Humans on a massive space station away from the “main thoroughfares” of a vast interstellar civilization as they interact with countless alien cultures and medical personnel. Languages, medicine, morality, humor, and emotions are touchstones – and points of conflict – for the series.
So – what have I learned with my brief analysis?
1) Aliens and Humans HAVE to interact closely; intimately. (I tried this with “May They Rest” and it was quickly bounced by five magazines and my favorite, to which I’d sold several stories…) In “A Complications of Sapients”, my character and an alien, “cockroach” sapient interacted VERY intimately – and didn’t sell…
2) I need more aliens than Humans. I did this in “Peanut Butter and Jellyfish”, podcast from CAST OF WONDERS. It took place on a trimaran carrying cultural exchange WheetAh. Humans need to be at a disadvantage. The aliens should be at an advantage.
3) It needs to be a BROADLY threatening situation. I think I did this in “The Princess’s Brain”, but I’ve got to go back ad reread it. I DID do this in “The Krasiman, Monkey Boy, and the Frogfather”, but that didn’t sell, either.
So, I’m ready to try something new. Cron plus the above…should give me an alien story that will sell.                                                             Resource: https://writepop.com/writing/writing-realistic-aliens/, (I’ve used this one: ) https://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Alien-Societies-Extraterrestrial-Life-Forms-ebook/dp/B00B2B8FOO, https://nypost.com/2018/02/24/heres-what-aliens-probably-look-like/, Image: https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3321076413_10.jpg

Slice of PIE: Creating Alien Aliens

NOT using the panel discussions of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention in Dublin, Ireland in August 2019 (to which I be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I would jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not today. 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…
I have created three universes.
In the first, it’s Humans alone. We genetically engineer ourselves to fit the varied environments we encounter. The overarching conflict is between the Empire of Man and the Confluence of Humanity. The first considers someone Human if they are 65% or more “Original Human” DNA. If you’re less, you’re considered SubHuman. The second sees ANY genetic manipulation to be A-OK. 
In the second, it’s us and mobile plants. Humans have gone deep into space and encountered the WheetAh, mobile plants reminiscent of a giant saguaro cactus crossed with a pitcher plant. The conflict is as obvious as it is inevitable – we eat plants. They eat rodents; hence the pejoratives each lays on the other. We call them Weeds; they call us Weasels.
In the third, we are junior members of the Unity of Sapients, some fifty extremely different intelligences (I can’t say species – as in Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species – as there are smart minerals, arthropods, collective, herd, and individual intelligences in the Unity. We haven’t even been certified sentient (definition: adjective – having or showing great wisdom or sound judgment; Orig –1425–75; late Middle English sapyent < Latin sapient- (stem of sapiēns, present participle of sapere to be wise, literally: to taste, have taste), equivalent to sapi- verb stem + -ent- -ent
So, I’ve written stories in all three universes. How many in each have been published?
Confluence/Empire: I’ve written seven; only one has been published.WheetAh: Written two; one published.Unity: Written seventeen, four published…which seems good, until I point out that the four published stories didn’t contain aliens.
So, I CAN’T write believable aliens.
Why not?
Writers who have written believable aliens: David Brin, Julie Czerneda, Hal Clement, James White, Alan Dean Foster, CJ Cherryh, Larry Niven, Octavia Butler, SL Viehl, and others that escape me; clearly depict them. But HOW?
I’ve been doing some superficial analysis and it seems that when Humans and aliens interact closely and the alienness is narrowed down to one or two SPECIFIC differences; the ones that somehow cause the problem; that’s when the aliens are acceptable.
For example, CJ Cherryh’s atevi. Basically giant Humans with golden eyes and coal black skin, bipedal, five digits, and sexually compatible with Humans (though not reproductively compatible); have one difference: they have no concept of love. In place of love, they have a profound sense of association. All large, mammalian life forms on the Earth of the atevi have this same biological urge – to associate under one strong leader. The single Human who interacts with them, Bren Cameron, understands this and can speak their language fluently – but he still makes mistakes when under pressure to assume that the atevi“feel” about him as he does about them. This creates countless situations of tension and have driven the story line for some TWENTY novels over a quarter of a century of time. The reason I go back repeatedly is because I want to see what happens next as the Human population grows and the atevi advance in technology and eventually reach parity with Humans; and possibly visit Earth.
Another example is James White’s famous Sector General novels. Twelve novels spanning over thirty years of writing, they depict the life of a small group of Humans on a massive space station away from the “main thoroughfares” of a vast interstellar civilization as they interact with countless alien cultures and medical personnel. Languages, medicine, morality, humor, and emotions are touchstones – and points of conflict – for the series.
So – what have I learned with my brief analysis?
1) Aliens and Humans HAVE to interact closely; intimately. (I tried this with “May They Rest” and it was quickly bounced by five magazines and my favorite, to which I’d sold several stories…) In “A Complications of Sapients”, my character and an alien, “cockroach” sapient interacted VERY intimately – and didn’t sell…
2) I need more aliens than Humans. I did this in “Peanut Butter and Jellyfish”, podcast from CAST OF WONDERS. It took place on a trimaran carrying cultural exchange WheetAh. Humans need to be at a disadvantage. The aliens should be at an advantage.
3) It needs to be a BROADLY threatening situation. I think I did this in “The Princess’s Brain”, but I’ve got to go back ad reread it. I DID do this in “The Krasiman, Monkey Boy, and the Frogfather”, but that didn’t sell, either.
So, I’m ready to try something new. Cron plus the above…should give me an alien story that will sell.                                                             Resource: https://writepop.com/writing/writing-realistic-aliens/, (I’ve used this one: ) https://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Alien-Societies-Extraterrestrial-Life-Forms-ebook/dp/B00B2B8FOO, https://nypost.com/2018/02/24/heres-what-aliens-probably-look-like/, Image: https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3321076413_10.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 429

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: “Euhemerism – a rationalizing method of interpretation, which treats mythological accounts as a reflection of historical events, or mythological characters as historical personages but which were shaped, exaggerated or altered by retelling and traditional mores”Current Event: http://etyman.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/euhemerism-juhim%C9%CB%8Cr%C9%AAz%C9m/, http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/ships/id233.html
Austin Jake Byme shook the water from his blazing red hair, pushing it back with both hands. He’d have to cut it if he wanted to disappear – he’d be identified by his locks for sure, thief that they thought he was. Footsteps on the planks of the stern wheeler IRON MOUNTAIN sent him scurrying back along the sides of the boat and ducked into an open aft door just before the paddle wheel as it strained for a moment, then with a massive groan, began to turn, pushing the boat away from the dock and the copper who’d been chasing him.
The hold was packed with bags of flour and crates of supplies. From the roof hung the cured carcasses of pigs and cow. Chickens scurried out from under his feet, clucking sleepily as he slipped behind a crate, wedging himself into the space. He was asleep in a moment, shivering a bit as the darkness brought up the cool, Mississippi mists.
He woke in the deep darkness to the sound of the creak of a plank and the cluck of a chicken. Immediately aware, he pulled his legs tight to his chest as quietly as possible. The carcasses began to swing together, rhythmically and the panes of glass in the windows rattled in their frames. There was a sudden flash of light and the temperature in the hold dropped. A moment later, a voice said, “I know you’re in here, Master Byme, wedged between the wall and a crate, thinking I’m some sort of ghost.” Austin squirmed. The voice said, “And you’ve no idea who I am, but I’ll tell you when you come out.”
Austin blinked in amazement then slid forward, to his hands and knees then rose up. Pins and needle ran up and down and he caught himself on the leg of a pig. He said, “Who are you?”
The person stood in deep shadow, though Austin could see his legs. Dark material, the pants with pockets though he wore no coat. He stepped into the light. Wearing a waist-length under shirt and nought else, he stepped again and Austin started. The voice belonged to a boy, perhaps a few years older than himself. His head was haloed in hair so red it seemed to glow. Austin said again, “Who are you?”
“Your great-great-grandson from the early 22nd Century.”
“What?”
“That’s funny, your autobiography didn’t mention that you went deaf at the end of the 19thCentury.”
“My autobiography?”
“Yeah. It was great reading, and I’m not here to kill you and change the future.”
“What?”
The other boy snorted and said, “HG Well’s THE TIME MACHINE won’t be published for another twenty-three years.”
“Who’s HG Wells?”
“Jules Verne?”
“Oh! FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON and JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH! Those are…”
“I know. Your favorites. But neither of them has anything to say about what I just did.”
“You built a time machine?”
The other boy snorted and said, “Not exactly, but sort of.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He cleared his throat and said, “My name’s Jake Austin.”
“That’s my...”
“I said I was your great-great-grandson! There’s proof if you’re wondering about it.”
“It’s not that…it’s just that…”
The planks beneath their feet lurched, throwing both boys backward...
Names: ♂ America, Ireland Image: http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/6255CaernarfonCastle_pic1.jpg