R.G. Risch's Blog

The Balance of Style

Even though I write science fiction, I assume most writers of other genres experience the same problem I've encounter regarding style.  I have had criticisms about how complex and how poetic I my writing can encompass.  However I am always trying to retain a balance between story flow and technical explanation, while maintaining ease reading to complex prose. 
With this all in mind, I have chosen to err to the side of the simpler and less complex.  I prefer for the majority of the audience to follow the story rather than lose them in overwhelming complexity.  This decision, however, must be a personal and individual choice for every author looking to improve their readers following.

The Quandary Of English Punctuation

There isn't a writer alive who has not had a manuscript rejected simply over punctuation usage.   For example, I know of editors who will count up to a particular number of supposedly mistakes they find and reject the entire manuscript after encountering a certain amount of what they consider to be errors.  This is regardless of how well the manuscript is written.  In the +20 years I have been writing technical and business documentation, it never ceases to amaze me how often this occurs.

Take for example the use of quotation marks.  If for example, you have a sentence ending such as -- the Titanic was considered to be '"unsinkable" -- where is the period placed in ending the sentence?  Between the word "unsinkable" and the final quotation marks, or after the final quotation marks?  The correct answer -- either, but it depends on what school you have attended and what style guide you may be using. Regardless that it is probably the Chicago Style of English you're adhering to, I have seen various style guides as well as editors contradict each other in usage. (In formal English, the period should be placed AFTER the quotation marks. Why it is now more than likely placed between the word and the quotation marks, because printers of newspapers wanted to used smaller sized periods in order to save space.)

The Right Approach To Blogging

Blogging is a communication skill that should be well learned and well used by any writer/author if they wish to succeed in the craft of book marketing.  I, myself, have found this out the hard way.  Not only is it associated with Name/Brand recognition, but establishes the connection and relationship between author and reader.  Most importantly, however, it broadcasts the writer's character and writing ability.  Some simple tips to remember when blogging are these:Always blog to your audience's or group's interest – never go off topic.Always present a positive face or outlook when blogging – no one wants to hear someone vent about any real or perceived injustices in dealing with the abuses and abusers of the world.  Stay focused on subject material and the point of your current blog.Be professional and politely blow-off negative comments or simply ignore them.  Remember the world is filled with boneheads along with people with ulterior motives who want to see you fail. Offer the best you can in information and prose.  The point of any blog is to not only inform, but to entertain.Write often, I recommend once a day.  The more your name gets out there, the more likely you'll succeed.

The Key To Better Writing -- Reading

One of the key processes in developmental learning is emulating the words and actions of others.  This imitation (the sincerest form of flattery), challenge our imaginations to what we each perceive as perfection.  As an example, Thomas Edison was not a great inventor himself, but a great innovator of combining other people's inventions. 
Reading other writers' works stimulates our minds in the very same way.  Innovative ideas are not only enhanced, but re-created as greater extensions.  Vocabulary is also increased, style improved, and the descriptive flow of tale made flawless.  Reading is probably the greatest tool for every writer looking to improve their craft and ability.

Some reasons why I hate Star Wars

Normally I have the highest praise and regards for other Scifi writers and Scifi series. For example, I am an immense fan of David Weber's Honor Harrington book series as well as Star Trek and Babylon 5.  However with that said, I have nothing but contempt for Star Wars and George Lucas.

In my opinion , George Lucas is nothing more than a money grubbing master plagiarist.  He absolutely refuses to drop his demented fairy tale of Star Wars from the limelight, regardless that it is the same storyline being told over-and-over since 1977. But I guess he just can't create or (as I reason) possible steal anything new while feeding his massive ego.   

Take The Phantom Menace as an example, which he has just recently re-released...AGAIN!  This movie is an insult (my opinion again) to anyone of the Christen Faith (like me).  It makes fun of Jesus Christ (who I consider to be the true son of God) by stating  Anakin Skywalker (along with another 300 plus individuals) was begotten by virgin birth.  Some of its other predominant messages (my opinion again) promotes slavery and indentured servitude (since our heroes --the Jedi Knights -- were OK with this aspect of the glorious Old Republic), lauds forced child labor, believes in reckless endangering the life of a child (driving a speeder with 747 engines), believes children should serve as soldiers, and finally that Jedi Knights have a right to murder anyone while enforcing their own skewed morality on the rest of society and not be held accountable for any of their actions.  I ask you, is this the ethics you want imparted to your children?

To add insult to injury,  and coincidental, George Lucas has also released a new line of toys that mirrors this movie and is trying to get parents to dress their child up like the demonic–type villain figure of this horrible yarn.  It is not hard to figure out who the Phantom Menace really is – George Lucas, his henchmen, and his quest to double his billions of dollars by fools who will buy into this crap! 

George, do us all a favor.  Why don't you simply retire and go away?

Mars Bio-Station

To those who believe that the Mars Bio-Station is total nonsense, here is something to consider:
NASA hardware was used in recording the image.NASA imaging techniques were used in recording the image, which consist of visually imaging, with infrared, and radar imaging. These were NASA images.Cosmic rays occur at frequencies much higher than the light band and won't cause that type of distortion.It is a federal crime to tamper with these images on the part of any NASA employee (unless directed by some federal authority.)I rest my case.

A Tale verses Grim Reality

I've been toying with the thought of putting in my second book, which I am now writing, the grim and stark horror of warfare.  There is a cry ... an outpouring toplacesome of my own experiences into the story along with other former soldiers I know.  The thing is ... it's made of the stuff people don't want to hear.  Warfare is brutal ... and often the innocent are caught in between.

The Past Speaks Once Again

Last week again, I was approached and praised as not only an amazing wordsmith, but how the Prologue of  Beyond Mars Crimson Fleet predicts all of today'a events of  a world going mad. Again I must answer that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  The spiking in commodities and food prices, the riots, governments falling to mob rule, and finally a world war on the horizon have all been lived in the past.  The events that created the Great Depression and the beginning of World War 2 are being followed almost to the letter, just that there are different players.  But no one want to hear or do what is necessary to prevent it. I feel so sorry for this world.

Your Medicine is watching you!

From Reuters: "Novartis AG plans to seek regulatory approval within 18 months for a pioneering tablet containing an embedded microchip, bringing the concept of "smart-pill" technology a step closer. The biotech start-up's ingestible chips are activated by stomach acid and send information to a small patch worn on the patient's skin, which can transmit data to a smartphone or send it over the Internet to a doctor.
Mundel said the initial project was focused on ensuring that patients took drugs at the right time and got the dose they needed -- a key issue for people after kidney and other transplant operations, when treatment frequently needs adjustment. Longer-term, he hopes to expand the "smart pill" concept to other types of medicine and use the wealth of biometric information the Proteus chip can collect, from heart rate and temperature to body movement, to check that drugs are working properly."

This is remarkable like the "Watcher" of Beyond Mars Crimson Fleet.  With the intrusion of governments ever increasing and abuse of technology growing, they herald the "Watcher" to become a reality. 

3D Holograms First Envisioned in "Forbidden Planet" NOT "Star Wars"

From FT.com and By Clive Cookson in London "More than 30 years after the famous Star Wars movie scene in which a hologram of Princess Leia appealed for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi, US researchers have unveiled holographic technology to transmit and view moving three-dimensional images."

NOT SO!!!  The very first movie that displayed this type of advanced technology (as well as other devices to dominate the future) was a movie called "Forbidden Planet" made in 1958 with Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, & Leslie Nielsen! This was 52 years ago! It was the first big budget Science Fiction movie ever made and pioneered the specials effects that you now see today.  What is also funny is that the scene with Alteria's  (Anne Francis) 3D image was almost identically mimicked by Darth Vader in "The Empire Strikes Back".  And while you're at it, compare the final X-Wing fighter scenes in the first Star Wars movie to those of the Japanese fighters in "Tora Tora Tora" (1970) and American Panther jets in "The Bridges at Toko ri" (1954).  You might think that there was some amazing coincidence between these movies.

If one ever wants to watch a truly remarkable and great scifi movie instead of one that seems to be created by pure plagiarism, get a copy of "Forbidden Planet"!