Edward Hoornaert's Blog, page 88

Comings and Goings

Coming Soon …

… the SFR Brigade 2nd annual midsummer blog hop.

Lots of great and near-great authors of science fiction romance, including Mr. Valentine, are busy creating out-of-this-world posts–because the theme of this  year’s blog hop is Out of this World.  The hop will feature prizes including:

1st Prize – $150 Amazon or B&N gift card (winner’s choice) and an ebook bundle (currently Alien Adoration, Demetional, Wytchfire, Ghost Planet, The Iron Admiral, Games of Command, Keir and Terms & Conditions Apply)
2nd Prize – $50 Amazon or B&N gift card (winner’s choice)
3rd Prizes – two $25 Amazon or B&N gift cards (given to separate winners and their choice)

Check back anytime between June 21 and June 25 to hop and win.

Going Soon …

… Mr. Valentine.

I’ll be escaping the Arizona heat for a visit with my son, a geographic information specialist at the University of British Columbia. I love BC’s totem poles, and  UBC has a great collection.  I’ll have Internet access, so if you want to contact me, feel free.

Speaking of totem poles, I’ll never forget the time I discovered one.  Fresh out of university, I taught at a one-room school on a wilderness island along the Inland Passage section of the B.C. coast. The only way in or out was by four-seater bush planes that landed on the chuck (local slang for the ocean). The kids came to school on a school boat, because the island had no streets or cars.  Not TV or radio, either.

One weekend, following game trails (what else was there to do?), I stumbled upon a small, white beach. I knew that the Kwakiutl First Nations people ate a lot of clams, and old, pulverized clamshells turned the beaches near their settlements white.  Realizing this was the site of an ancient village, I looked through the dense underbrush at the beach’s edge.

Sure enough, a rotting tree stump wasn’t a stump at all, but the barely recognizable remnant of a carved pole.  Beaver, I think the totem was, though it was so far gone it was hard to tell.  It smelled fresh and earthy, like the rain forest after a rain. Vivid green moss grew over chunks of the grey, weathered cedar. Where the top of the pole had snapped off, a sapling grew in the rotted red wood.

Rotten or not, I’ll never forget finding that pole.

Lessons from Marcia, the Mars Rat

Marcia and the Amazing Human Brain

One of the Curiosity Rover’s most popular pictures is the so-called Mars Rat.  I’ve heard she even has her own Twitter account.  The long-distance ISP charges must be horrendous.

(If you haven’t heard of the Mars Rat, see here, here, here–oh heck, just Google ‘Mars Rat’.)

For the sake of convenience, and because the word ‘rat’ has negative connotations and I don’t want to be accused of speciesism, I’m going to refer to her as ‘Marcia’.  I have no idea if that’s her real name, and I’m not about to ask her.

Marcia, of course, it isn’t a real rat. Although scientists now think that microbial life might have been able to survive on Mars billions of years ago, a rat is impossible—unless, of course, you believe in UFOs and conspiracies at NASA more than I do. In which case you’re on the wrong site; this is about science fiction, not fantasy.

Looking at Marcia scientifically, she is a great example of a psychological phenomenon called pereidolia, pronounced pair eye DOLE ee a. That’s a fancy name for seeing pictures in clouds, sex acts in ice cubes, Jesus in a grilled cheese sandwich, or Hitler in a teapot.  Or Elvis, anywhere.

Rorschach tests are another great example.  Ditto for hidden messages found in popular music.

As cute little Marcia teaches us, the human brain is great at finding obscure patterns and similarities in a chaotic scene.

What’s that you’re saying?  Marcia isn’t obscure?  She’s obvious?

Ahem.  Try looking at a slightly bigger version of the picture in which a Japanese gentleman first found her:

Not so obvious, is she? She’s even less obvious in the original composite picture, where she’s numbered ’1′.

For fun, I spent a couple minutes scanning the rest of the picture and found:

A pair of fish jeads (2)
A groundhog (3)
A killer whale jumping out of the water … er, sand (4)
A dolphin (5)

You can find a full-size version of the original at NASA’s site.  If you find anything else hidden in the picture, let us know in the comments section.

Can Marcia Teach Us about Fiction?

Darned right she can!  This is, after all, not an ordinary rat, but an out-of-this-world Mars Rat.

Fiction is, in a sense, another form of pereidolia.

Life is messy, random, chaotic.  Just like the original picture from NASA. So what do our human brains do?  We search for patterns, even if no patterns exist.  We seek to understand people and events. We do that by telling stories that focus in on teensy little slivers of the overwhelming canvas of life, ignoring all the irrelevant stuff in order to bring out the  events that have meaning.

What kind of meaning?

Usually moral.  Most (though not all) fiction reaffirms the moral principles that we yearn for.  Bad guys get punished. Love can transform us. Good is better than evil. Selflessness trumps selfishness.

A great example is Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey. This award-winning book has  pereidolia as its theme (although Wilder never uses the word).

Here’s a quick summary:

“On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below.” With this celebrated sentence, Wilder begins The Bridge of San Luis Rey.  By chance, a monk witnesses the tragedy, and seeks to prove that it was divine intervention rather than chance that led to the deaths of those who perished in the tragedy.

Brother Juniper’s search for divine intervention is just another way of saying he seeks the tiny details of the victim’s lives to find the meaning in their deaths. It’s nifty and extremely well done.

So Marcia teaches us that fiction is a filter that ignores the irrelevant to find meaning.

Another lesson she highlights is the importance of point of view.  It’s safe to say that from a slightly different angle, Marcia would probably look like just another rock. (Admittedly, I can’t test this hypothesis.)

The lesson here is that authors need to choose the right angle to bring out the moral story.  For example, a police story about catching a crook would look quite different from the crook’s point of view, and it would have a very different moral lesson.

None of this is new, of course. Leonardo da Vinci wrote about pareidolia as an artistic device  in one of his extensive notebooks:

“If you look at any walls spotted with various stains or with a mixture of different kinds of stones, if you are about to invent some scene you will be able to see in it a resemblance to various different landscapes adorned with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, plains, wide valleys, and various groups of hills.”

My high school English teacher said that you may never know a real person as deeply you know a well drawn fictional character.  To the extent that she’s right, it’s because authors ‘make sense’ of the irrational inconsistencies that plague even the most logical person.  They select only the relevant details out of chaos, and they chose the pertinent point of view.

In short, they search for Marcia on Mars.

Science Fiction Jokes, part 3

Been a while since I posted anything, so let’s jump right in with a cartoon close to my heart.

Science Fiction Girl

This is courtesy of John Lustig’s Last Kiss site. John finds pictures from old magazines (this one from Just Married #10, 1959) and recaptions them.  Here’s John’s commentary on this cartoon:

“I could be wrong, but it seems like women in popular entertainment are more likely to be portrayed as strong, heroic action-oriented characters if the stories are science fiction or fantasy-based.Buffy, Xena, Wonder Woman, Emma Peal, Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, Lara Croft, etc.

“Why? Is it safer if it’s a fantasy?

“Be Sociable, Share!”

And Now for Something Completely Different

Knock knock.
Who’s there?
Heisenberg.
Are you sure?

Original Star Trek

I recently stumbled on a great little site.  I was quickly hooked and  got nothing done the rest of the evening. Gary Woolsey has put together a veritable feast of posters based on scenes from the original Star Trek, with his own snarky captions.  Here are some great samples:

Blood Vine

I’m currently doing a beta read of a great new vampire novel in the Blood Vine series by a good friend, Amber Belldene. In her honor, I give you the following from one of my favorite cartoons, Pearls before Swine, featuring the sometime too stuck-up Goat:

The Trouble FOR Tribbles

And finally, one more for Trekies.

Book sale extended

Good news, all.  By popular demand, the Book Lover’s Buffet sale has been extend through the weekend.  Load up on great ebooks by over a hundred authors–including Mr. Valentine.  My books can be found on the Fantasy/SF/Time Travel tab on the buffet’s home page.

Load up now from the buffet.  You won’t gain a pound!

Win Big at the Bouquet of Books Sale

The Bouquet of Books  sale rolls around just once a year, so take advantage of it while  you can. Check out the Contests tab for information on how to win great prizes–up to $400 in gift cards!

Prizes, prizes, prizes

Enter to win up to $400 in gift cards to the online retailer of your choice, generously donated by the authors in the 99-cent sale!

You’ll get one entry for liking the sale on Facebook, and 5 entries each for helping spread the word about the sale on Facebook or Twitter.

What are the prizes?

One (1) $100 gift card to the online retailer of the winner’s choice
Two (2) $50 gift cards to the online retailer of the winners’ choice
Four (4) $25 gift cards to the online retailer of the winners’ choice
Five (5) $10 gift cards to the online retailer of the winners’ choice
Ten (10) $5 gift cards to the online retailer of the winners choice

Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway today, and be certain to check out all the great discounted books in the categories above, all just 99 cents each.

A couple of Mr Valentine’s books are included in this huge ebook sale: The Midas Rush and The Trial of Tompa Lee. From the Book Lovers’ Buffet home page, click the Fantasy/SF/Time Travel tab.

Bouquet of Books Sale

May 1 – 3, three days only! Over 175 great e-books from your favorite and favorite-to-be  authors–all just  99 cents each!   Added bonus – $400 in gift card prizes! Visit www.bookloversbuffet.net.

A couple of Mr Valentine’s books are included in the sale: The Midas Rush and The Trial of Tompa Lee. From the Book Lovers’ Buffet home page, click the Fantasy/SF/Time Travel tab.

Check out the Contests tab, too, for information on how to win great prizes–up to $400 in gift cards!

The Trial of Tompa Lee

Tompa Lee, a homeless street meat, has clawed her way up the bottom rungs of the glamorous Commerce Space Navy.  When she’s framed for an act of terrorism on an alien planet, however, the Navy abandons her by turning her over to alien justice.  By herself, Tompa cannot survive the 300 to 1 odds in her trial-by-combat — but can she dare to trust not only the policeman who arrested her, but a member of the alien race that wants to slaughter her?

Classic science fiction, but with enough character development to interest non-science fiction readers.  – Romance Reviews Today

The Midas Rush

Gold!  Mystery!  Humans from all five colony worlds flock to Jones when an ancient village of the planet’s intelligent natives is discovered—inexplicably transformed into gold.

Tresky Buffrum wants neither gold nor mysteries, just a taste of adventure before settling into the simple life of a shepherd.  What he gets instead is an inscrutable bride, determined to remain chaste, who lures him to danger and intrigue at the Midas Crater.  Can innocent young Tresky defeat the fanatics gathering like vultures to obliterate the crater—and the future of mankind on Jones?

Ed Hoornaert is a marvelous writer: a terrific, engrossing storyteller and a consummate stylist.  – Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo-Award winning author

Load up at the Book Lovers Buffet — you won’t gain a pound! Visit www.bookloversbuffet.net today!

Sneak Peak Sunday

Sneak Peek Sunday is a new (at least for me) blog hop that shares excerpts.  Since I love to share, I thought I would participate.  What we’re doing is sharing six paragraphs from a published work or a WIP (work in progress).

In my recently released The Midas Rush (science fiction with romantic elements), as in any novel worth its paper, the hero/heroine has to have a dream.  An author’s task, unfortunately, is to thwart, block, frustrate, impede, hinder, obstruct, blockade, deter, and generally make it as hard as humanly possible for the hero to fulfill his dream.  Nasty folk, us authors!

In this week’s excerpt, Tresky Buffrum explains his dream to his newlywed wife, Ebbril:

“I just want us to be happy together,” Tresky whispered.  ”A quiet life,” he continued after a moment, more to himself than to her.  “A home in Gasparre.  Nothing ostentatious, but with a mountain view that the richest Haybold merchant would sell his wife for.

“You, with our child at your breast.  Me, with a small flock.  Not a big flock, but enough to feed and clothe us and buy an occasional trinket for your life-necklace.  My mother would give you one of her grandmother’s life-necklace chains, Ebbril.  She’d love and respect you because you’re so bright and strong, and she’d help you teach our children to be bright and strong.  Just like you.”

Ebbril’s throat moved.  She looked away.

Tresky gestured as though drawing a picture against the backdrop of a cloud that floated between two moons. “And when the children grow older the boys help me tend our sheep, and the girls help you manage our farm.  There’ll be problems, there always are, but together we handle them.  The boys grow self-confident and powerful, not like the other Gasparre lads.  And the girls—”

He lowered his hand to his side.  Ebbril was staring at him.

“Our daughters,” he whispered, “will all be as breathtakingly beautiful as you.”

———————————————————————————

How does Ebbril respond to this poetic vision?  She kicks Tresky out and makes him sleep outside.  Told you–nasty folk, us authors!

Does Tresky reach his dream in the end? Well, you’ll have to read The Midas Rush to find out … but I will tell you that he face roadblocks. You know, like having to save his planet from aliens, terrorists, and foreign governments.  Nasty, nasty!

Want more great sneak peaks? Visit Sneak Peak Sunday.

Looking for a Great Read, part 2: Rita Award nominees

The other day, I listed the nominees for the prestigious Hugo Award for best science fiction novel of 2012.  Today I’ll show you  for the Rita nominees in the Paranormal Romance category … and one other, a nominee for best first novel.

But first, I have a confession.  I’m not sure how much stock to put in award nominees.  Especially for romances, because the field is so vast, with so many books published, that no one can know more than a tiny sliver of a year’s offerings. How, then, can anyone compare accurately enough to say “This is the best book of the year!”

There are eight nominees in the paranormal romanced subgenre. I have no faith that they are the best eight books–but it is safe to say that they’re better than average.

Best First novel: a very worthy SR Romance

First, though, a nominee not from the Paranormal subgenre, but from the first novel category.  It isn’t about vampires, angels, or magic.  Instead it’s a good ol’ science fiction romance: Ghost Planet, by Sharon Lynn Fisher.  I don’t know if it will win or not, but I do know it’s worthy of the award.

Unlike too many SF Rom books, Fisher manages a nice balance between science fiction and romance.  The science fiction set up is fascinating, and it is seamlessly interwoven with the romance; you can have one without the other … and that’s good writing. For a first novel, wow! Give it a read!

Paranormal Romance Nominees

There are a bunch of nominees for best paranormal romance.  Here they are, enjoy!  (Click on a book cover for more information.)

                        

                           

How do YOU feel about book awards?  Do you always read the winners?  Sometimes read them?  Or never?

Looking for a GREAT Read? Part 1, Hugo Award Nominees

Have a dog and/or a cat? Hey, you’re like me!

If you’re like me, your To-Read pile is threatening to take over the house … and that doesn’t even count the untouched tomes on the e-reader!

And yet, if you’re like me, you’re always looking for the next big book to read, the next great young writer to break through. (Hmm.  Do you think this fact may be connected with point one?)

And if you’re like me, you’re hoping reincarnation works so you’ll get around to all these books in some other life.

If you’re like me, you’re asthmatic with a bad shoulder from that rotator-cuff-wrenching throw from right field back in university, have a dog and a cat and … but let’s not get carried away with the comparisons.

Never fear, I am here to encourage more clutter in the lives of folks like me. Here are some of the 2013 award nominees in the realms of this blog’s twin themes of science fiction and romance.

Part One: Science Fiction Hugo Award Nominees

This year’s nominees for best novel are:

2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson

The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity’s only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between. But in this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, its present, and its future.

Blackout (The Newsflesh Trilogy) by Mira Grant

The year was 2014. The year we cured cancer. The year we cured the common cold. And the year the dead started to walk. The year of the Rising.

The year was 2039. The world didn’t end when the zombies came, it just got worse. Georgia and Shaun Mason set out on the biggest story of their generation. The uncovered the biggest conspiracy since the Rising and realized that to tell the truth, sacrifices have to be made.

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance (Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold

Captain Ivan Vorpatril sometimes thinks that if not for his family, he might have no troubles at all. But he has the dubious fortune of the hyperactive Miles Vorkosigan as a cousin, which has too-often led to his getting dragged into one of Miles’ schemes, with risk to life and limb—and military career—that Ivan doesn’t consider entirely fair.

Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, with the chance to serve on “Away Missions” alongside the starship’s famous senior officers.  Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew Andrew stumbles on information that transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

Throne of the Crescent Moon (Crescent Moon Kingdoms) by Saladin Ahmed

The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. But these killings are only the earliest signs of a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn the great city of Dhamsawwaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.

Coming soon…

Rita Award nominees in the paranormal romance field.

A Miserable, Sick Pooch

When I returned from a recent trip, I was met at the door by this poor little fellow: our dog, Laddie, who had visited the vet earlier in the day.

Swollen, runny eye.
A shaven leg.
Elizabethan collar.
Two stitches in his left eyelid.

Ouch!  If this had happened to me (especially those stitches) I’d be a bed case for a week.  I wouldn’t be wearing the collar, though, because I think I could be trusted not to scratch the stitches.

P.S. The biopsy on the eyelid bumps came back negative, so Laddie won’t stay a miserable, sick pooch for long!