Jamie Todd Rubin's Blog, page 367
December 22, 2010
The Little Man Cries Fowl
At the Grandparent's house, there are several life-size, wooden models of birds. It turns out that the Little Man is afraid of these. There was one, standing on the floor, half again as tall as the Little Man and he would look at it suspiciously and walk past it carefully, never taking his eye off of it. He would skirt around the perimeter of the room to avoid it, and eventually, it had to be hidden away.
There is a second bird (pictured above) that hangs in the room as if it is gliding. The Little Man looks upon it with great suspicion. However, I've discovered that if I call it an "airplane" instead of a "bird", he looks at it in a different light, no longer scary. Unfortunately, there's no way to call the other bird an airplane.
It's the first time I've ever seen him afraid of anything like that and it was a little amusing to see him react that way.
December 21, 2010
Making my fiction available online
I'm considering making my first two published stories more readily available online. My first story, "When I Kissed the Learned Astronomer" is still available online at InterGalactic Medicine Show, but you have to pay for the issue. My second story, "Hindsight, In Neon" is only available in the Descended From Darkness anthology in print and eBook formats. It is no longer available on the Apex website as a free story.
I'm open to suggestions from friends and fellow writers as to how best to do this: Kindle and iBook? Other formats? Anything I should know about making these stories available. Post suggestions in the comments, or send me email directly.
Good morning from 35,000 ft
We are about 40 minutes into our AirTran flight down to Ft. Meyers, Florida. Since AirTran is providing free WiFi this month (courtesy of Google Chrome) I just couldn't pass up the chance to post live from 35,000 feet.
I didn't see the lunar eclipse last night, mostly out of laziness. I was up at 3:17am when the eclipse was supposed to be at its peak, but the moon was directly overhead and those I tried looking from several windows in the house, I couldn't see it. I suppose I could have gone outside, but it was in the low 20s and I was warm and comfortable, and besides, I can see it again in another four centuries or so, right?
The Little Man was very excited to fly on an airplane this morning. When we arrived at the airport, he watched the various planes moving about from here to there, pointing them all out excitedly. Once on board, he was alert for the takeoff, sitting in my lap and watching out the window. Five minutes later he was sound asleep. But then again, he's an old pro at this. Today's flight is his 9th.
A number of people have asked me if I was going to be blogging while on vacation. I think this post gives a good answer for that, but just in case it's not clear to anyone: yes!
Should be back on the ground in an hour or so. And magically, the temperatures will have gone from the low 30s to the mid 70s. Ahhhh!
December 20, 2010
What I plan on doing while on vacation
In no particular order:
Basking in the warm mid-70s weather of the gulf coast.
Swimming with the Little Man
Eating pizza and drinking beer at Doc's
Having a night out with Kelly including dinner at Tommy Bahama's
Writing 2 stories
Reading the rest of the Dozois' The Year's Best Science Fiction 27th Annual Edition
Reading Hartwell's The Year's Best SF 15th edition
Hanging out with my in-laws, my nephew and my brother-in-law
Going on long evening walks
Hitting the outlets and shopping. Yes: shopping
Attending Christmas Eve mass
Driving through decorated neighborhoods, counting the fake snowmen
Sitting on the lanai, listening to the water fountain
Chasing the Little Man around the house, much to his delight (and mine!)
Watching the Little Man open presents from Santa (and others) on Christmas Day
Relaxing. Eating. Drinking. Being Merry.
I know it sounds like a lot, but I've got ten days to squeeze it all into. And you know what I won't be doing on vacation? I won't be working.
I have no desire to see Tron Legacy (and other sci-fi films)
Because many of my friends and coworkers know me to be a science fiction writer, I am often asked if I have seen the latest sci-fi blockbuster and what did I think of it. The truth, I'm afraid, tends to disappoint them.
I generally hate sci-fi movies.
There are some exceptions–very rare ones–but the truth of the matter is that I get bored almost instantly and if I stick it out too long, I can find myself growing angry over things in the film that probably mean little to anyone else.
But as a science fiction writer, how can I hate science fiction films?
I think there are a couple of reasons for this:
Science fiction films are often based on source material originally found in science fiction literature, and in these cases, they are almost always far worse than the books. In fact, I can think of only one science fiction film that measured up to the book upon which it was based, and that is Carl Sagan's Contact. Most people I know who like sci-fi movies, hated Contact. Go figure.
The sole purpose of many science fiction films is to demonstrate how far we've come in terms of special effects. But when I read a book like Foundation or Rendezvous with Rama, I get all of the special effects I need by combining the words on the page with my imagination. So far, Hollywood as not been able to outdo my imagination when it comes to special effects.
Science fiction films tend lean much more toward fiction and much less toward science. They tend to be fantasies more than anything else (take the entire Star Wars saga as an example).
Science fiction films have taken audiences away from written science fiction. People are generally lazy. When Star Wars came out with its dazzling special effects, anyone who wanted to see spaceships battling it out among the stars could drop by their local movie house–which was much easier to do than to pick up a book like The Forever War and actually sit an read. Reading requires active participation. Watching a film is almost entirely passive.
This is nothing new for me; I've always been this way, and I admit, I am somewhat of an anomaly, I think, even among science fiction writers. I can't recall ever seeing the original Tron, and I have no desire whatsoever to see the sequel.
A month or two ago, I finally got around to seeing Avatar because it showed up on HBO. I hated it. Absolutely despised it. The special effects were stunning, but the story was terrible, the characters were cardboard cutouts and the plot was recycled from a dozen or more science fiction classics. Even the dialog was terrible and made what I considered to be amateur mistakes in speaking to the audience as opposed to the characters in the story. One example: the bad-guy colonel says, at one point, that if your not careful, "They'd suck your eyes out like Jujubes." This is a story that is supposed to take place at least several hundred years in the future. I doubt that anyone in that time would know what the hell the Colonel was referring to, even if he himself knew it was a type of jelly candy.
I did like the movie based on Carl Sagan's novel Contact. It was simplified a bit, and there were some things left out of it, but the thrust of the novel came across clearly and it was a well-done, well-acted film. Most people I know didn't like it. The same is true for the The Bicentennial Man, which was based on Robert Silverberg's expansion of Isaac Asimov's Hugo and Nebula-award-winning story of the same name. The film starred Robin Williams and even Williams later made fun of it in one of his standup routines. But I think the film captured the essence of the original story, which happens to be one of my favorite all-time pieces of short science fiction.
It is ironic that bad science fiction films are gold at the box office, while outstanding science fiction novels rarely made the bestseller lists, and I wouldn't be honest if I didn't admit that this played into my frustration with science fiction films. But the fact it that I love the literature of science fiction so much that I have no need for a visual medium in which to imagine my favorite stories. What goes on inside my head is good enough, and seeing it on the big screen might ruin for me an otherwise cherished image.
There will be some movies that I would go see out of sheer curiosity. If they end up making a movie for The Forever War, I'll check it out. Ditto for Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels. But I have no high hopes for them. Perhaps they will surprise me, but I doubt it. (The truth it, I'll be surprised if they get made at all.)
Many years ago, when I lived in L.A., I attended a private screening of The Puppet Masters starring Donald Sutherland. We had to rate the film afterward and discuss it with a panel of people who were getting our opinions before release. I think I was the only one there who'd read (and enjoyed) the Heinlein novel upon which it was based. The movie was so terrible that I absolutely refused to see Starship Troopers when it was released. To this day, I haven't seen that film.
I liked 2001: A Space Odyssey, but generally liked the first half better than the second half. I didn't like the sequel, 2010 at all.
This is why I have no desire to see Tron: Legacy. Special effects don't impress me. 3D doesn't impress me. What impresses me most is a compelling story that fits neatly together with rich characters that come to life and for whom I want to love or hate. That's pretty rare in science fiction in general, but it's almost a recipe for disaster for a science fiction film.
Galley slave*
Yesterday, I read through the galleys of my story, "Take One for the Road". It was the first time I've ever had a set of galleys to read through and it was particularly exciting for me. In part it was because I could see my own story as it will appear in the pages of Analog half a year from now. But also, it was yet another example of something that made me feel like a Real Writer. (I know, I know, I am a real writer, but it took me so long to get here and I am such a big fan of the genre that it is hard to get this through my thick skull.)
I have difficulty proofreading my own writing. In part, I think, it's because I can't force myself to slow down enough to take in every word. I know what's coming next and my eyes jump to that and tend to skip over all sort of infelicities in grammar and spelling. Fortunately, at this stage of the process, there have been editors involved to help out. I went through the galleys twice yesterday, as slowly and carefully as I could, with the result that I found only a single typo, which I corrected and sent back. There were a few other items that I might have changed slightly (for instance, there was a sentence in which I used the word "few" twice). I might have changed that as well, but I couldn't work up the courage to do it.
Seeing the galleys was also exciting because, while I've heard about galleys (and the truth is, I learned about them by reading Isaac Asimov's autobiography), I'd never actually seen a set. It was fascinating to see what they looked like. As I said, they looked just like the story would appear on the page (including Stan's blurb for the story). Those of you who've seen Analog know what I am talking about. But there was one addition to the galleys that is not included when the story appears in Analog, and that is the line numbers. Each page has a number for each line. I assume this is for identifying exactly where corrections need to take place. When I referred to the correction I made, I referred to the page number, column and line number, and I suspect this is the way that most people do it, although I could be wrong.
Finally, reading through the galleys gave me a chance to read the story once more. I think it is a pretty good story, and I'll have more to say about it after it finally appears in print. But it reads well and smoothly and I don't think I'd change much about it if I had the chance to do it all over again.
There is one thing that still makes me nervous, however. At Capclave, Bud Sparhawk talked about how Analog readers are the toughest readers and the smallest mistake in a story will generate a flood of letters. I mentioned this to Stan Schmidt when I met with him. He told me that the letters he worries about are not the ones that start out with "You idiot, you got such-and-such all wrong." The writers of those types of letter apparently often don't know what they are talking about. The letters that worry him are the ones that begin, "Dear Sir, You are probably already aware of this, and it is a small point to bring up, but I think perhaps the author misspoke when he said…"
I've tried to guess at what points in my story readers might object, but I'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully they are small enough not to interfere with the enjoyment of the story itself.
*From Isaac Asimov's story "Galley Slave" (Galaxy, Dec '57) which is a mystery involving the galleys of a book.
Last work-day before vacation
Today is my last work-day before vacation. Days like this always fly by, but they tend to be days in which I need more time. I have a lot of things to take care of and my afternoon is already consumed by meetings. Before you know it it'll be 5pm. I'm so ready for vacation, but at the same time, I really have a lot of loose ends to tie up at the office. Will I be successful? Stay tuned…
December 19, 2010
Don't Ask Don't Tell Repealed!
It's about time. This was a terrible policy from the outset and it is to Congress's shame that they can't seem to learn from history. There was a time in the U.S. military when certain races were excluded and the thought of integration was repellant for similar reasons given by the military today, that it would disrupt unit cohesion and moral. But the military survived integration (to its benefit) and you'd think they'd learn from that.
A lot of people are crediting Congress and patting them on the back for doing something which should have been done a very long time ago. I'm overjoyed to see this remarkable example of cowardice finally repealed, but I'm disappointed in Congress for doing so through what I think is another remarkable example of cowardice: it took a lame duck Congress to finally repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell. Lame duck congressmen and woman have no threat of voter retaliation since they've already been voted out of office. Courage would have been to repeal this long before the mid-term election.
It is yet another example of why I think term limits are needed. It's the only way to force politicians to get things done and not worry about the next election.
Regardless of the method, though, I am glad to see Don't Ask, Don't Tell repealed. Let's just hope it stays that way.
December 18, 2010
"Take One for the Road" will appear in the June 2011 Analog
Last night was an exciting night for being a science fiction writer. I received the galleys of my story, "Take One for the Road" and found out that the story would appear in the June 2011 issue of Analog, which goes on sale in April.
I also got the check for the story in the mail.
The galleys were particularly exciting for me. For those of my friends who don't know what galleys are, they are the page proofs of what the story will look like when it is in print. The purpose of the galleys are to give the author an opportunity to read through the stories, find any last-minute typos, or make any last-minute changes before the issue goes to press. I've seen hundreds of stories (probably thousands) appear in Analog and it was thrilling to see one of my own stories as it will appear in the magazine.
I have to read through the galleys and make any changes in the next couple of weeks. I don't plan on waiting until the last minute and will likely finish up this task before I go on vacation next week.
As a reminder, for those of you who don't subscribe to Analog, you'll be able to find the June 2011 issue in bookstore magazine stands beginning in April. It will also be available in a variety of electronic formats, including Kindle. And if you end up enjoying my story, you might read some of the others in the issue–and if you like those, too, consider subscribing.
December 17, 2010
Teachers
As an afterthought to my previous post on economics, I wondered what–if I were in charge–I'd spend some of the extra revenue on; the extra revenue generated if the tax rate extension had not been passed. Paying down some of the national debt is important, but there is one investment that came to mind that I would focus on:
Teachers.
About the single most important resource we have is our teachers. How well-educated we are says a lot about our overall potential as people and as a nation. In disciplines like math and science we are in poor shape and getting worse and that saddens me because it is these disciplines that could be our salvation. But we prefer to invest our money in guns and bombs instead of investing in educating our youth to be smart enough to figure out how to live without the guns and bombs.
Teachers should be the highest paid profession where money comes from tax dollars. I'd place teachers ahead of all governing roles, including state and federal leaders, up-to-and-including the President, and it is to our bitter shame that we value teachers as low as we do. A President will shape economic policy, will make key military decisions, will lead the nation in good times and bad. But a teacher will educate those people who will one day be President and do all of those things. Good teachers, teachers who are well-rewarded for their efforts, will produce better and better students.
I have had a number of good teachers in my life, far more good teachers than bad ones, and I'm sure each and every one of them taught because it was something they believed in and not something they were well paid for. In my ideal world, teachers would be at the level of baseball players in their celebrity and value. It would be more difficult to become a teacher than it is today, but it would be more rewarding for everyone involved. And once you made it to the big leagues…
There would be a "league minimum" salary, just like in baseball, and this starting salary would be among the highest in all tax funded jobs. There might be a certain amount of time where you are paying your dues, earning that high league minimum but teaching in areas that today, don't necessarily get the best teachers. After a certain number of years of service (five, seven?), you would become a free agent, and at that point, the sky is the limit. Perhaps teachers would even sign with agents, the way that ball players do, and let themselves be bid on for the best possible contract. Those teachers not performing up to par could be let out of their contracts. Instead of "spring training" teachers might report to "summer training" in which they were paid to be continually improving their skill set outside the normal school year.
At the end of each school year, there would be locally and nationally recognized awards, MVTs (Most Valuable Teacher), Golden Chalkboards, you name it. There would be cash incentives for these awards. Teachers might develop reputations that would attract advertisers. Just as you see Derek Jeter in shaving commercials, so you might see your local teacher in an Amazon Kindle advertisement. When a teacher was spotted in a restaurant, there might be a flock of students nervously approaching them for an autograph. Kids and parents alike would whip out their smart phones when they saw a particularly famous teacher walking down the street.
And like ballplayers, teachers would be extraordinarily good at what they do. They would be the best of the best, all to the students benefit. And the students would benefit from this. We'd see our kids getting better educated, becoming better thinkers. We'd see more kids entering the sciences. We'd see universities recruiting kids because of who they had for their teacher. Of course, not every teacher can be a Derek Jeter, but they do raise the bar, raise the overall quality of the profession, and that too, is to the infinite benefit of the students.
Many of the students might even decide to become teachers themselves when they grow up. It might be as difficult as medical school is today (and of equal prestige), but the result would be a generation of teachers the likes of which we have never seen. And the result of that is a remarkable generation of well-educated students who would grow up to become teachers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, artists, politicians, engineers, business owners, technology workers, pilots, bus drivers, trash collectors, and well-rounded citizens.
I wonder what it would be like to live in a world like that. And all because we'd place a different value on teachers than we do today.
