Brenda Cooper's Blog, page 27

First comments back on Mayan December

This is from Glen Hiemstra of Futurist.com:

Mayan December is an exciting tale of the ancient Mayans and the end of the Mayan calendar in the near future, as seen through the eyes of a time-traveling youngster named Nixie.  What begins as an interesting trip to Chichen Itza for the December 2012 equinox becomes a pulse-pounding race against time as Nixie, her scientist mother Alice, other friends and eventually the Presidential Science Advisor and world leaders find themselves stepping back and forth between the past and the present.  Nixie's uncomfortable dilemma is whether to intervene in the past.  Her challenge, she decides, is to save a young Mayan girl from ritual sacrifice, and in doing so perhaps save the world of the future.  Brenda Cooper's novel is a fascinating exploration of the nature of time itself, a lesson in the history of the Mayan culture, and a speculation on what the famous equinox of December 2012 could mean, all wrapped up in a story of mystery, intrigue and danger.

Reading Recommendation: Nnedi Okorafor's The Book of Phoenix….

The whole title is The Book of Phoenix (Excerpted from The Great Book).  I listened to this as a podcast on the way over to the Rainforest Writer's Retreat.  It was quite awesome.  I don't really want to say too much about it since it's not very long, but I like it a lot.  And, as always, Kate Baker narrates wonderfully.

A writer friend was listening to it with me – the fabulous John Pitts who is the author of Black Blade Blues.  Being an excellent man with words, he captures how I felt by saying, "Wow, that makes me want to be braver in my writing."

BTW – sorry for the low level of posting – I've got my head down in a novel, work is busy, and my foot remains in a cast – which seems to slow life down more than one would think.

Happy Coincidences: Louise (who's book I just recommended) is reading and teaching soon!

I just heard about this today, and here are the formal details:

NW Media Arts and University Book Store present:

Louise Marley READING AND SIGNING

Friday, March 11, 2011 · 7:00 p.m.

at the University Book Store

NW Media Arts and Seattle's University Book Store invite you to join us each month as we bring to Seattle critically acclaimed writers from across the US and Europe whose work showcases the finest of speculative literature. Please join us on March 11th for a reading and conversation with local author Louise Marley. Louise Marley is the author of fourteen novels of historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction. A former opera singer, historical research has been part of her professional life for a very long time. Her most recent novel, Mozart's Blood, draws heavily both on history and on music.

Marley is a two-time winner of the Endeavour Award, given to a Pacific NW writer for excellence in science fiction. She has been a Nebula semifinalist and a Campbell Award finalist. In addition to writing science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction, she published a young adult trilogy under the name Toby Bishop.

'Writing novels is very much like acting. The writer convinces the reader that what we all know is unreal can be accepted as real, at least for the moment. The place, the people, and the plot all spring from that magical source, the conjurer's imagination, an alchemy of word, gesture, setting, and plot. If the actor–or the

writer–can entice the audience to join them on their creative journey, story happens.'"

- Louise Marley

Louise will also be teaching a writing workshop as part of the Fantastic Fiction Workshop Series at Richard Hugo House on Sunday, March 13th from 10:00 a.m. –5:00 p.m.

Reading Recommendation: Mozart's Blood, by Louise Marley

Louise Marley is a good friend and we sometimes share bits of writing with each other.  So I saw Mozart's Blood born a few years ago.  I hadn't read it all the way through, or even seen the last half at all.  My theme for recovery has been "read the things you want to read" instead of the stuff I have to read.  And like the M.K. Hobson, I wanted to read this.  In fact, Altered Carbon is the only book left from when I joined SFSignal on the topic.

Mozart's Blood is a literary operatic historical vampire book.  Yep, you read that right.  And Louise is such a damned fine writer it doesn't miss a beat.  Gorgeous book.  Go check her out on Amazon – she has consistent 4 to 5 star ratings, and she earns them.  Note that her next Kensington book comes out in August, and Louise and I are planning an awesome launch party.  We both have August realese books (mine is Mayan December and hers is – I think – The Brahms Deception).  Both have time travel, mystery, and a bit of love in them even though they are otherwise very different.

Anyway, I highly recommend Mozart's Blood, especially for readers who also like history, travel, and music.

Reading Recommendation: M.K. Hobson's The Native Star

First, sorry for not posting much lately — recovering from a non-threatening surgery that's kept me from sitting well since my foot needs to be up.

Have been writing a lot, but fiction rather than this kind of stuff.  That's probably a good thing.

I've also had more time for reading and I'm tearing through stuff I've wanted to read for a while. I've heard bits of  The Native Star at conventions during readings (Mary lives in Portland and I live in Seattle, so we often end up in the same places).  So I grabbed my copy.   It was a fast read and a bit of a page-turner.  The Native Star is a wild west romp flavored with steampunk, but thankfully not dripping airships out of the corner of every chapter.  Zombies appear very briefly but play no big part.  This is good, since I'm sick to death of them.  No pun intended.

If you like adventure science fiction and fantasy, I suspect you'll like this. I'd also watch for more from this author — this is her first novel, and it really reads better than I expect most first novels to read – the writing is confident and fun.

Last day of Thailand Pictures (and the S. Korean airport)

Last day of Thailand tourism — where I rode a bus for hours, played in very bona-fide tourist traps like bamboo boat rides, and rode an elephant.

My pictures are up, including some pictures of what are now my two favorite airports in Bangkok and S. Korea.  I hope I get back to both – countries and airports.  I feel like I only saw some of the surface of Thailand, and now I definitely want to return.  There is something quite magical about the country. I missed whole parts of the show – I stayed in every night being that I was a single female traveling alone. Not that it didn't feel safe, but it would be easy enough to become a target.  Next time I will hopefully travel with someone.

Lessons for traveling in Thailand:

Carry toilet paper and a change of clothes.
Keep your camera ready all the time.
Cover your shoulders and your knees.
Bring respectful clothes (full-length pants and modest shirts) for the temples.
Bargain but do it politely.
People will bow to you.  Bow back.
Private tours are more expensive, but they are also much better.
Be curious – Thailand is a lot different from the US.
Expect surprises.
Thailand has a lot of smells.  Savory, sweet, and downright awful. They often mix.  Be prepared.
In good hotels, there are power outlets that work with American plugs.  Probably not in most other places.
Best to get a hotel on the river in Bangkok.
Learn to do the math converting bhat to dollars in your head.
Go ahead and tip.  It won't cost you much, and isn't even necessarily expected, but many of the people helping you are poor.
Avoid driving or using roads if you can.  They're crowded.  Use the river when possible.
Carry sunscreen.
Carry toilet paper and a change of clothes.  Just a reminder.

Thailand: The Conference

At the moment I am feeling very international as I am using a portable computer in the "ICT Experience Center" in the Seoul airport.  This is relevent because after being a speaker at the FutureGov Asia conference, I came away very impressed with the clear and committed focus of South Korea on internet infrastructure (including the adorable little PC I'm using with its multi-lingual keyboard, made by Samsung).  I'm also impressed with Singapore.  These countries are ahead of us in the US as far as actually delivering real high speed bandwidth.  Other countries, notably Thailand, are working with more focus than we seem to have to deliver broadband, although they have challenges as least as complex as ours.

These Asian countries are developing the tools that will be needed in the near future, and it gives them an economic edge that we are losing. Yes, American companies are doing a lot of the right things.  Yes, we still lead today in overall technology deployment.  But not in broadband, and I think not for long in other areas.  Not now, in a few measures.  We need focus and leadership and we seem to have lobbying. 

Of note, many of the presentations I heard were fascinating from a futurist perspective and convinced me that these countries are not only deploying broadband but they are also planning for accellerating change and for the next shifts after the information age. 

I will try to find time to post something in more depth later.  And I'll post more pictures of Thailand tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to being home, but I'm sorry I didn't have more time to be in Thailand and also to visit Singapore and South Korea. 

If we discount the focus, determination, and beauty of these countries we are fools.  There are two children next to me using the freely available computers and internet.  They look like they are about six years old, and their fingers are flying.

Thailand Day Three: Of a King, his people, and their dogs

Everywhere, yellow flags fly.  This is for the King (who was born on a Monday which makes his color yellow).  He is 84 now, and lives in the hospital, where he is being treated for lung cancer.  Everywhere, people here wish him luck.  Some of my pictures from today show this. It kind of feels like being in one of my favorite Yul Brenner movies.  But  in the sad bit near the end.

I took a long tail boat guided tour through the canals today and saw more Buddhas and more people, all of them smiling (Buddhas and people).  The Thai people that I saw almost all waved happily.

In the areas I went through today, there is both great poverty and great riches, side by side.  It is interesting to drive by people living in houses that are literally falling slowly into the canal right beside modern new homes bigger than many of our larger houses in the US.  Mind you, everyone seemed happy or at least content.  Of course they can't all be, but in general I would say Thailand is high in the happiness quotient.  It has been peaceful to be here.

I convinced the boat driver to slow down for many pictures of Thai dogs.

Now I will have to carry that happiness forward.  I have transitioned hotels.My driver got lost.  He doesn't speak English.  I don't speak Thai.  We asked the Swiss Embassy staff (Google Maps seemed convinced the Swiss Embassy was where the Intercontinental should be!) and they gave him directions.  He was still lost.  I finally placed an international call on my iPhone to the hotel and found someone who was multilingual and could help the poor frustrated (but polite) driver find the place.  So after racking up at least twice the correct taxi fee (and I suspect much more) and spending cellular data charges to try Google maps and international phone charges to find the hotel, I suspect I spent $40 getting about ten blocks.  The Intercontinental has me in a smoking room, and the air conditioner is stressed so it is hot.  I can't yet find the people I need to.  So I will try and practice Thai smiles. 

Off to try again to find the FutureGov people.

Thailand Day 2: A Day of Buddhas and Monks

Today I started out with a tour of three temples, and then I had the driver drop me at the Grand Palace.

I heard monks chanting.

I saw many Buddha's.  Maybe hundreds.  Maybe thousands.  I saw a gold Buddha that weighs 5 tons and one that weighs one ton.  I saw a reclining Buddha that was just plain huge.

I talked with my guide about Buddhism.  He said that Thai men must be monks for three months when they are thirty and then spend 2 years in the military.  Having to be a monk before you go into the military sounds brilliant to me.

Perhaps it is Buddhism that makes the Thais's I have met so peaceful and happy.

More pictures from today online.

It is only afternoon, but my foot and broken finger are calling a halt, at least for now.  I can't imagine snapping my Achilles tendon over here.  I even have blisters on both feet.  But the day was worth the blisters.

Day 1 of Thailand Trip

Day 1 of my Thailand trip, where I learned to get around on the river and the Sky Train, and saw the Sunday Market.

There are more pictures online.

I woke up a bit late after having gotten in quite late (like 2 AM by the time I made it to the hotel and my luggage showed up).

I was taking the hotel boat over to catch the express bus (also a boat) to get to the Grand Palace.  I met some women on the boat and they showed me how to use the Sky Train and get to the market you see  in this picture.  There were thousands (really!) of shops with everything from chickens to textiles to tourist things.  It was a bit overwhelming, especially since I was running on almost no sleep and the Thai Bhat to dollar doesn't yet translate in my head.  I only got a few pictures since I was using my ighone with my taped-up hand, and I didn't want to "lose" the iphone in the crowd.  I advise not breaking a finger right before an international trip!

After I returned from the market I stopped at the hotel to drop my purchases and head for the Grand Palace.  I made it all the way to the Grand Palace ten minutes before it closed, which didn't work out too well.  So I will have to try again a different day to make that.

Tomorrow I have booked a tour through temples. It will be less chaotic, I think, to be on a tour.  It is my last day of pure tourism until Thursday (I will be at a dinner Tuesday night and speaking at a conference on government IT Wednesday).

Right now, the sky outside my hotel window is the red-brown of sunset in a city of smog.  In general, Thailand has many smells (some good, some awful; all strong) and thick air. The people are very friendly.  The river is a road; a dirty, polluted, and well-used road.  Bangkok is big and sprawly and a mix of modern and old, rich and poor.