Christopher McKitterick's Blog, page 29

Speech is DONE.

That keynote address I'm delivering this Wednesday at the University of Central Oklahoma's Liberal Arts Symposium XXIV? Done!

(Check out the promo poster they made! Love it!)

One of the most difficult writing tasks is revision - especially when one has to meet a maximum word-count. Even more challenging is when minutes read aloud, not word-count, determines the length. I've not given a one-hour talk before, and it's complicated because one hour thins down to about 40 minutes when taking into account the introduction and Q&A - so it was pure guesstimation on my part about how long it should be. I knew what I wanted to say, the structure and content, but one never knows how long it'll end up after one's research and writing are complete. To get a handle on this, I used some other people's keynote talks as guidelines.

Everyone reads at different speeds, and because I learned to talk in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I speak more quickly than some. I figured I could use a few more words than my models if needed.

My first draft came to 9000 words, quite a bit longer than my generous target. Typical. When I've tried to write short-short stories (or flash fiction), I end up with a couple thousand words. My short stories turn into novelettes, novelettes into novellas, and novels into giant bricks of interwoven stories. Revision usually lengthens them as I enrich the setting or character or fill in plot holes.

Read aloud, 9000 words amounted to about 80 minutes - though a lot of that was stopping to make changes, or hearing chernobylred 's feedback. Even so, it would surely run longer than an hour read as-is.

Crap.

After a revision (that added words) and some cutting, I got down to 8800 words, which took almost exactly one hour to deliver. CRAP.

CR suggested some major cuts, I cringed, but one cannot create time, so back to the cutting table. I targeted about 15-20% shorter, because that's how many minutes I needed to trim.

After two more passes, I got it down to 6900 words. Pretty close. After one more set of brutal cuts this morning, it's down to less than 6500 words: a full 20% off the top.

I can't tell you how helpful it is to have another set of eyes, another perspective, to determine what's really necessary and what just gets in the way. It's also incredibly useful to get the kind of completely honest suggestions that only chernobylred can offer, because she doesn't feel the need to sugar-coat her candor. Ahem. Thanks to her, I now feel confident not only in my delivery (she patiently listened to me read it twice), but also the content.

And, y'know, being able to finish the talk during the time alotted.

Can't wait! It's called, "Science Fiction: Mythologies for a Changing Age." I think it's a really good talk. Hope the audience finds it inspiring.

Chris

"Surveyor of Mars" story now available in WESTWARD WEIRD

I have a new story out - right now! It's called, "Surveyor of Mars," and it appears in in DAW's new Westward Weird [Amazon|Powell's] anthology, edited by Kerrie Hughes and Martin Greenberg.

My story is about a land surveyor - who is also a reluctant gunfighter - working on Mars who gets drawn into larger and less-pleasant events that will shape the future of the pioneer world.

It's set in about 1900 on Percival Lowell's Mars after H.G. Wells' Martian invasion of England. A horrific civil war has wiped out the (sentient) Martians, and human pioneers are homesteading, mining, and looting the planet. The surveyor of Mars is a young man who emigrated because of troubles back home in Montana that led to his father's death. Unfortunately, troubles arise on Mars, too, and a war is brewing between the Company and the settlers...

Gunfighters, Buffalo Soldiers, pioneers, a habitable Mars that never was but maybe could have been: I plan to work more within this setting! By the way, my icon for this post comes from Antoniadi's map of Mars as he and Lowell saw it through the imperfect optics circa the time of this story.

Inspiration came from Wells' War of the Worlds; Percival Lowell's Mars as the Abode of Life and Mars and Its Canals to get a feel for how people thought of Mars at the time; and Jonathan Raban's Bad Land, a wonderful look at the plight of the pioneers who settled northeast Montana, aka "The Great American Desert."

Do you like the Old West, alternate history, and the supernatural? Then you should LOVE this book - and, I hope, my story, too!

Chris

Chevelle update: Inspected! Photos in the sun!

Just got back from the Highway Patrol VIN inspection: It passed and is ready for a new title!

Also took it by the local tire & suspension place for an inspection, and they said it looks solid - even has modernized (and new) bushings and other suspension parts that are grease-able. Good news!

About the way the mufflers are hung (straight-through glasspacks that dump in front of the rear axle), he said, "This is cute, but I've seen worse." They just kind of dangle from straps. They won't fall off or anything, but clearly making it high-tech was not on the prior owner's mind ;-)

He suspects the loose handling is due to the rear end being jacked up and having big tires out back and small ones out front. He said the springs could be replaced, but they don't look shot, and that just putting on reasonable tires will go a long way toward making it drive better. Needs front wheel bearings, but that's about it.

Woohoo!

And now: New photos!


I am in love with this angle. I mean, LOOK AT THE SHAPE OF THIS THING! A timeless and beautiful design.

This car has no bad angles. Look at that great ass!


In front of the house (the blue one on the right).


Love interior design from the 60s!


ROAR! Here dwells the 396 big-block Chevy engine, now a 408 with beefy cam driven by gears (instead of chain), ported & polished heads, high-performance exhaust headers, and lots of other goodies. About 450 rear-wheel horsepower.


Front end closeup. LOVE that nose!
I'm in love.

Chris

The newest addition to the stable: 1968 Chevelle SS396!

Look what just arrived this morning! A badass 1968 Chevelle SS396! Okay, almost certainly it's a "tribute" car rather than a factory SS model - which would have cost about $10-20 grand more - but it is an original 396 4-speed, and now it's even faster than stock!

Here it is after a 600-mile trip from Milwaukee. The fellows who delivered it are great and brought it here for half what others charge (can't find a website, but they're Double-D Hauling from Milwaukee, I believe, and I found them through Progressive Auto Relocation). Everything about the delivery was perfect once I finally found a shipper... that part was a huge pain. If you ever need to have something delivered fast, affordably, and with good humor, these are your guys! Here they are backing the Chevelle off the trailer, driver in the car and his co-pilot guiding him off:



I love how the only color in that shot is the Chevelle. After a minute or so of warm-up (it's actually winter in Kansas now), he backed it right off and parked it in the street, where I got this requisite, "Hooray my car arrived and it's as nice as I hoped!" photo:



Yes, this is the first time I bought a car off eBay without being able to inspect it first. Scary. Also scary was having it delivered by people I'd never worked with before. Let me tell you, but did I ever do my research. Even so, I still had nightmares about shippers turning out to be car-thieves, or the car getting here and turning out to have been totally misrepresented in the ad, and so forth. *whew*

I had been looking at and occasionally bidding on Chevelles for months now, particulary the 1968 model (my favorite because of the angled nose, sleek tail treatment, cool interior design, and elegant body shape), and had actually bid on this one a few times. Yes, it's sort of a hobby. I didn't want to pay a lot, which was tough because I wanted a 4-speed and the big-block, both of which add big-time to cost. This one had been relisted several times, with a pretty horrible ad that used photos taken with a cell-phone camera. The seller never updated his ad with more description or better photos for the month or two I kept track of it, though he did lower the reserve a little each time. Finally, after the bidding once more ended without a winner, I got a "Second Chance Offer" matching my high bid (almost $4000 off the reserve price!). HOORAY!

We exchanged a few emails and calls, and he sent me a much nicer photo he had from when he first bought the car. Though it wore the wrong wheels (and too big, in my opinion), it revealed that this was not a complete basket-case. I should point out that I paid about half of book value in medium condition, so I figured that even if it needs some work, whatev! We can spend some time and moolah to fix it up and even improve it. See, chernobylred is also a big muscle-car fan, and we wanted something awesome to use as a regular driver, so it didn't need to be perfect and we both kind of preferred it that way - it's a little scary to think of driving an expensive, historically significant car in the rain! In fact, it's going to be the first car she works on, too. There's little more satisfying than having been part of the restoration and customization process of your classic car!

This came at a really good time, too, because the Saab's fuel-injection is once again failing. *sigh*

Anyhow, its condition is about what I expected: a few areas of bubbling under the paint, a couple of small holes in the trunk floor, tires need to be replaced, driver's-side door panel needs to be replaced, the shifter linkage is a bit wonky, it needs to have one of those aftermarket AC/heater systems installed, and a few other things need to be addressed. On the other hand, the engine is clearly newly rebuilt - and built to the back teeth! It uses a gear drive (what an incredible sound!) to drive a hot cam, the heads are ported and polished to flow more air, it has new long-tube headers, and the power it puts down is pretty awesome to feel. Who needs first gear? Well, it'll be nice to get that fixed, but still - WOW! And even though it delivers about 450 horsepower to the wheels (way more than stock), it's a little quieter than the hot-rod Newport because it has Cherry Bomb mufflers that dump right before the rear axle, which is located using drag-race-style ladder bars. What a sound it barks out the exhaust, by the way!

Oh, and I took it for a spin around the block. I discovered that it'll go a little sideways in all the gears when the roads are damp and you give it lots of throttle... heh heh.

Anyway, once I got it back to the garage I spent some time wiping off the wet road grime and inspecting it. Verdict: I'm happy with the new addition to the stable. WOOHOO!

Chris

The newest addition to my stable: 1968 Chevelle SS396!

Look what just arrived this morning! A badass 1968 Chevelle SS396! Okay, almost certainly it's a "tribute" car rather than a factory SS model - which would have cost about $10-20 grand more - but it is an original 396 4-speed, and now it's even faster than stock!

Here it is after a 600-mile trip from Milwaukee. The fellows who delivered it are great and brought it here for half what others charge (can't find a website, but they're Double-D Hauling from Milwaukee, I believe, and I found them through Progressive Auto Relocation). Everything about the delivery was perfect once I finally found a shipper... that part was a huge pain. If you ever need to have something delivered fast, affordably, and with good humor, these are your guys! Here they are backing the Chevelle off the trailer, driver in the car and helper guiding him off:



I love how the only color in that shot is the Chevelle. After a minute or so of warm-up (it's actually winter in Kansas now), he backed it right off and parked it in the street, where I got this requisite "Hooray my car arrived and it's as nice as I hoped!" photo!



Yes, this is the first time I bought a car off eBay without being able to inspect it first. Scary. Also scary was having it delivered by people I'd never worked with before. Let me tell you, but did I ever do my research. Even so, I still had nightmares about shippers turning out to be car-thieves, or the car getting here and turning out to have been totally misrepresented in the ad, and so forth. *whew*

I had been looking at and occasionally bidding on Chevelles for months now, particulary the 1968 model (my favorite because of the angled nose, sleek tail treatment, cool interior design, and elegant body shape), and had actually bid on this one a few times. Yes, it's a sort of hobby. I didn't want to pay a lot, which was tough because I preferred a 4-speed and the big-block, both of which add big-time to cost. This one had been relisted several times, with a pretty horrible ad that used photos taken with a cell-phone camera. The seller never updated his ad with more description or better photos for the month or two I kept track of it, though he did lower the reserve a little each time. Finally, after the bidding once more ended without a winner, I got a "Second Chance Offer" matching my high bid (almost $4000 off the reserve price!). HOORAY!

We exchanged a few emails and calls, and he sent me a much nicer photo he had from when he first bought the car. Though it wore the wrong wheels (and too big, in my opinion), it revealed that this was not a complete basket-case. I should point out that I paid about half of book value in medium condition, so I figured that even if it needs some work, whatev! We can spend some time and moolah to fix it up and even improve it. See, chernobylred is also a big muscle-car fan, and we wanted something awesome to use as a regular driver, so it didn't need to be perfect and we both kind of preferred it that way - it's a little scary to think of driving an expensive, historically significant car in the rain! In fact, it's going to be the first car she works on, too. There's little more satisfying than having been part of the restoration and customization process of your classic car!

This came at a really good time, too, because the Saab's fuel-injection is once again failing. *sigh*

Anyhow, its condition is about what I expected: a few areas of bubbling under the paint, a couple of small holes in the trunk floor, tires need to be replaced, driver's-side door panel needs to be replaced, the shifter linkage is a bit wonky, it needs to have one of those aftermarket AC/heater systems installed, and a few other things need to be addressed. On the other hand, the engine is clearly newly rebuilt - and built to the back teeth! It uses a gear drive (what an incredible sound!) to drive a hot cam, the heads are ported and polished to flow more air, it has new long-tube headers, and the power it puts down is pretty awesome to feel. Who needs first gear? Well, it'll be nice to get that fixed, but still - WOW! And even though it delivers about 450 horsepower to the wheels (way more than stock), it's a little quieter than the hot-rod Newport because it has Cherry Bomb mufflers that dump right before the rear axle, which is located using drag-race-style ladder bars. What a sound it barks out the exhaust, by the way!

Oh, and I took it for a spin around the block. I discovered that it'll go a little sideways in all the gears when the roads are damp and you give it lots of throttle... heh heh.

Anyway, once I got it back to the garage I spent some time wiping off the wet road grime and inspecting it. Verdict: I'm happy with the new addition to the stable. WOOHOO!

Chris

Astro-Porn of the Day: Panorama of the Southern Sky

This gorgeous 360° panorama shows the Milky Way arching across the night sky over the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. The photo is a composite of 37 smaller shots with a total exposure time of about 30 minutes, taken in the early morning hours. The Moon is just rising and the zodiacal light shines above it, while the Milky Way Galaxy (our home) stretches across the sky opposite the observatory:


Click the image to see the ESO website.

The observatory's open telescope domes are all visible in the image, including 4 smaller 1.8-meter Auxiliary Telescopes that can be used together as an interferometer and the 4 giant 8.2-meter Unit Telescopes. To the right in the image and below the arc of the Milky Way, you can see the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, our two irregular-galaxy companions.

Just WOW.

Chris

Novel news

Just got my royalty statement and learned that Transcendence has earned out. Hooray! Thank you to everyone who has purchased a copy. If you haven't, well, why not take a trip to your favorite bookstore ;-)

Woohoo!
Chris

A step forward for freedom in the USA.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just struck down Proposition 8, California's gay-marriage ban, ruling that it is "unconstitutional" and says "it lessens human dignity of gay and lesbian people."

Let's just simplify that to Proposition 8 was unconstitutional and lessens human dignity. From yesterday's ruling:

"Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples," wrote Judge Stephen Reinhardt.

"Although the constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted."

If you want to defend marriage, you need to make it an option for everyone, or else your "defense" is only lip service. If you believe in freedom and individual rights, you need to allow everyone - even those whose loving relationships make you do not share - to enjoy the same rights as you do. If you believe in America, you believe that everyone deserves the same freedom and opportunities - even to try and fail, or maybe especially that.

Today is a good day for freedom in the USA.

Chris

Astro-Porn of the Day: Gorgeous Northern Lights from the Solar Storm

Check out these movies of the Northern Lights (aka Aurora Borealis and Australis, depending on where you live on the globe). First up, a video time-lapse from a Norwegian neighborhood:



Another video time-lapse from across a city:



There are tons of great photos out there, too, such as this one of the Aurora Australis as seen FROM THE SPACE STATION. BY AN ASTRONAUT:


Click the image to see the International Space Station page about the solar storm.

Just WOW! I miss living in a part of the world where one can observe these amazing space shows.

Chris

Astro-Porn of the Day: Huge Solar Storm Hitting Us Now

The Sun exploded late Sunday, January 22, with a massive flare, an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection, and a burst of fast-moving, highly energetic protons. The latter has caused the strongest solar radiation storm since September 2005 according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.

NASA models predict that the CME is moving at almost 1,400 miles per second, and are right now pummeling Earth's protective magnetosphere. This has the potential to provide lovely auroral displays, possibly at lower latitudes than normal... and HORRIBLE DOOOOM! Well, it is a threat to satellites, the Space Station, and so forth. Check it out:



That flash you see in the blue portion is many dozens of times the size of Earth; the eruption you see in the red is... well, larger than the Sun. They're not the biggest ones ever or anything like that, but the exciting part of this event is that the ejection is pointed at us.

We've never endured a period of high solar activity with today's level of dependence upon communication technology, so it'll be interesting to see how this affects communications.

Chris