Steven Lyle Jordan's Blog, page 14

Businesses should pay for social media content

Social media content is, by nature, shared; people like to share their experiences, and they use social media programs to do it.  I, myself, just shared pictures of the first snow of the season on my Facebook page.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.

But I think I do have an issue with commercial/profit-making sites asking me to send them my content so they can put it on their website or television program.  Organizations like news sites like to say, “Send us your photos of this event or that sighting, and we’ll show it here.  Comment on our site and we’ll post it below.  Here’s what our viewers have to say.”  One reason they do this is so they don’t have to hire or contract a photographer or newsperson to generate this content, which saves them money and increases their profits.  Well, I made an effort to take that photo or video too.  Why should I give it away to an entity that will use it to improve their profits, and not get a cut from that?

In an age where people are having more and more trouble finding worthwhile work… where jobs are specifically being cut and free public content is being substituted, benefiting the company alone… where the imbalance of company profits versus personal profits seem to be growing day by day… and where every company seems to solicit your opinion specifically for them to post and improve their popularity… maybe it’s time to revisit the arrangement between for-profit organizations and public input.

It’s high time for for-profit companies to pay for social media content solicited from the public.

[image error]I’m not talking about a lot of money, but at least a micropayment… a dollar, say… for every photo or text message they solicit and use on their websites and programs.  For audio or videos, a set amount per second used.  Even on-the-street interviews should have a dollar amount placed on them.  Only content actually used would be paid for, which should encourage people to send the best content they can.

This seems only fair to me: These companies are using the content they receive from private citizens to improve their popularity and effectiveness, and to cut down on their employee roster, which they can use to justify commercial costs and value to shareholders; they are making money off of private citizens’ content; professionals who appear on their programs and sites get paid for their work; so private citizens should also be receiving some compensation for the input that generates money for said company.

This is, in fact, an extension of the fact that social media companies themselves make a load of money off of content provided by private citizens.  Citizens make people like Mark Zuckerberg rich and famous, without receiving any compensation for their contribution to his fame and fortune.  All social media that grows off of freely-uploaded content is equally guilty of profiting off of others’ efforts.  And whether you agreed to be a part of it or not, it’s blatantly unfair; profiteering off of an unsuspecting public.

[image error]IF this country ever starts talking about ideas like Universal Basic Income, this could be part of that overall concept: Paying individuals for efforts that contribute to the public good, including supplying even simple social media content to for-profit companies.  This would encourage private citizens to create content that contributes to public knowledge and edification, while putting a proper burden on companies to pay for the content they receive.  Individuals would probably register an account with a content solicitor, and would have those micropayments applied to that account whenever content was used (and a system of auditing that usage and proper payment thereupon will need to be put in place).

Even quick reviews should earn private citizens something (how about reviewing a restaurant and getting a few bucks off your meal?).  Every organization that asks for a review just because you walked in the door should be willing to compensate you for that 1-2 minutes of effort.  And if not, maybe they should reconsider those annoying pop-ups that appear on my phone whenever I’m within spitting distance of a store (Verizon, I’m looking square at you).

So, there’s my proposal.  I think it could go a long way to lessening the imbalance between for-profit companies who solicit for free content to cut costs and individuals willing to provide content but aren’t compensated for their trouble.  Seems only fair.

Filed under: media, social Tagged: pay for social media content, social media micropayments, Universal Basic Income

Stingray? Yeah, I’d reboot that.

[image error]The Tracys of Thunderbirds

Gerry and Sylvia Anderson have gone down in television history as the creators of a whole host of science fiction television shows… many of which were created in Supermarionation, using sophisticated marionettes instead of live actors for their characters.  These Supermarionation shows were, understandably, always considered children’s fare; but they were mostly built on premises that were as adult as many live-action sci-fi shows.  And many of them have proven to be very popular over time, becoming iconic of sci-fi tropes in popular culture.  One series, Thunderbirds, has been rebooted as a computer-animated TV show and as a live-action motion picture; and I think other series have the same potential.

[image error]One such Supermarionation series was Stingray, a program about a group of heroes that pilot an advanced submarine through the oceans.  It can’t be denied that this was a kids’ show, concerning itself mostly with the battle against cartoon-level supervillains and sea-monsters, and featuring an actual mermaid as a member of the crew.  Despite that, Stingray has a tremendous possibility for a reboot to a serious adult science fiction series.

No… really.

[image error]Seaview, of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

There are some precedents for the idea of a live-action sea-based series, the best-known being Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Seaquest DSV.  Both series featured an advanced submarine that traveled throughout the world’s oceans to study scientific discoveries, help those located at sea-based locations (islands, sea-bases, ships, etc),  and occasionally deal with weird phenomena discovered at sea (usually some form of “sea monster”).  Stingray could have similarities to both shows, but some significant differences, too.  And there are great elements to draw the audience into such a show.

[image error]Seaquest, DSV

The main element is the ongoing fascination with and mystery of the world’s oceans.  Considered today to be “the last frontier on Earth,” with ongoing threats from environmental and human degradation, possibilities for energy generation (and carbon sequestration), fishing, resource recovery, archaeology, potential living space, etc, etc.  Mankind is on the cusp of a thrust off-shore and into the oceans to augment living space, energy and resources, at the same time that it’s trying to understand the environmental effects that will impact sea rise, alterations to fishing potential and the general health of those oceans.

This means the encroachment of political, scientific and industrial concerns into the oceans, with many of those concerns often at odds with each other; and the need for a law enforcement arm to prevent conflicts and stop law-breakers.  Stingray‘s security organization, World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP), would be that law enforcement arm patrolling the oceans like seaborne rangers to prevent the breaking of international maritime laws and aid those in need.  (Actually, if I could I’d move heaven and Earth to find a new organization name that broke down to an acronym of a sea creature, not an airborne insect.)  This show would have adult issues and relevant storylines related to the environment, politics, law, human rights, animal rights and scientific discovery.

[image error]Stingray itself may be the flagship or prototype of a new highly maneuverable multi-purpose assistance/combat craft.  One significant difference between Stingray and previous series would the existence of WASP, an organization that can have a fleet of subs, ships and other vehicles; Stingray is one of a fleet of ships under one flag.  The fleet dynamic opens up the story possibilities, and can sustain a larger cast, than that of Seaquest or Voyage.

I would have the sub undergo some updating, to account for modern design aesthetics, but try to maintain the overall look of the craft, which appears to be compact and fast (and is very recognizable).  The ports along the top blister have to go, as well as the pointless and non-hydrodynamically large torpedo depressions.  The titular ship itself could also stand a larger crew: The only crewmen in the original series were the pilot and hydrophone operator; a pretty impressive example of future automation, but at least a few specialists could have been assigned to the ship permanently and as needed.  My ideal cast for Stingray would resemble the central cast of Star Trek: A Captain (also the helmsman—it’s a small ship), navigator (and weapons officer), communications officer, science officer, medical officer and ship’s engineer, all trained in emergency internal and external operations.  They would occasionally be joined by WASP experts, depending on the mission.  This would create the character dynamics demanded by modern audiences.

I mentioned weapons: Everyone knows about the venerable torpedo, but I think we could do better.  Maybe Stingray could have a more extensive and intelligent arsenal of weapons, short-range and mostly defensive (the larger ships of WASP would be true warships).  Torpedoes would be intelligent, controllable from the sub as needed, and possibly do more than just blow up.  Sonar-jamming equipment would be a must, and possibly robotic specialty drones could be used as probes or remote sensors (something like Seaquest’s “whisker” drones).

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Now, let’s address the Mermaid in the room: In the original series, Marina was a member of a Mermaid race, who helped save the Stingray crew in a crisis and became a defacto member of the crew.  One might remember the character of Piccolo from Seaquest, the man with genetically-engineered gills; though Marina was mute, so not the most effective communicator, she served a similar purpose aboard Stingray, working underwater with greater ease than the rest of the crew and being able to go where Stingray could not.  Altering Marina to be a genetically- or surgically-modified human could work.  Possibly besides gills, she could be much more extensively modified to withstand higher pressures that humans can’t stand, as well as stronger limbs and maybe a modified spine to enable faster swimming, on par with dolphins.  Maybe such extensive modification would alter her appearance from a standard human.  Or maybe she’d just be a normal human and the expert operator of a “swim-suit,” functionally a body-fitting mini-sub that allowed her to travel underwater with more maneuverability than the Stingray.  (Think an Iron Mermaid suit.)

Another possibility for Marina could be that she is not human at all, but an android designed for efficiency in the water.  Perhaps a prototype, one of a few in WASP, on loan from some robotics or military organization for evaluation purposes in sea operations.  I think this makes more sense than the modified human idea, as the human body really isn’t built for efficient activity underwater, and certainly not at great depths, but a modified humanoid body might work.  Want to add AI, and maybe give it a personality that makes it more like a member of the crew?  Sure, why not?  It’s science fiction, after all.

Search and rescue will be a regular storyline, courtesy of individuals and groups building facilities in and on the ocean and not taking full account of the dangers and ferocity of the sea environment.  We might see labs on the ocean floor or floating near a sea volcano, facilities trying to study rare phenomenon, exploration and mining rigs, and maybe an occasional sea-steader or fishing outpost damaged by storms.  Stingray may work with one of its family in the WASP fleet to do searches, assist in security transgressions, or maybe recover something that got a little too close to some interesting undersea find.  And they may assist in emergency efforts at islands or shorelines where having a sea route to safety is particularly valuable.

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underwater city

" data-medium-file="https://stevenlylejordan.files.wordpr..." data-large-file="https://stevenlylejordan.files.wordpr..." class="size-medium wp-image-8286 alignright" src="https://stevenlylejordan.files.wordpr..." alt="underwater city" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://stevenlylejordan.files.wordpr... 300w, https://stevenlylejordan.files.wordpr... 600w, https://stevenlylejordan.files.wordpr... 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />More likely, though, would be man-made devices, perhaps sea vehicles, other subs, deep-sea exploration, drilling or processing rigs and working robots that run amok… those would be your “sea-monsters.”  Maybe other organizations have created their own sea-androids like Marina, and use them as warriors or guards around their installations.  Countries with their own interpretation of maritime law… corporations and individuals who feel they are above maritime law… and a few anarchists who oppose any law at all (pirates, essentially)… those would be Stingray’s regular enemies.  And since this would be set in the future, we can fill its world with the expected short-term results of global warming, like coastal towns and facilities reclaimed by rising ocean levels, extreme weather, resource-borne conflicts and island/coastal refugees.

And just because I know everyone would demand it, I’d have one, I SAY ONE, amphibious dinosaur released from an iceberg and gone on a rampage in the ocean (hey, if you were in the ice that long, you’d have the world’s worst brain-freeze… so you’d probably run amok too).  Personally, I’d prefer discovering the dinosaur, naturally long-dead, but so well-preserved that we learn something new and astounding about them that influences our view on science and nature for years to come.  What would be even better, though, would be the discovery of a strange mechanism recovered from a recently-calved iceberg that turns out to be an ancient alien probe; and upon releasing it, it zooms off into space, providing proof of aliens and (if the show runs long enough) something to look forward to down the line.

All of this should allow the show to avoid most of the kitsch that Seaquest resorted to, which ended up giving the show a Disneyesque aesthetic.  Though I hate to use the word, Stingray could be a more “gritty” series, with character conflicts and issues strongly prescient of current events.  And it could still serve as a platform providing viewers with a little bit of marine science and biology.

So there you have it: A viable strategy to reboot Stingray to be a gritty, modern adult SF series.  Seaquest DSV, it’s most recent competition, lasted three seasons (and suffered a lot of churn due to its competitive timeslot); but where Seaquest eventually lost, Stingray could last far longer, especially with a few ongoing storylines involving particularly persistent anarchic groups, misbehaving governments, natural crises, and maybe the occasional character conflicts with WASP or its on-board experts on how to solve a problem.

As always, I’m available for consultation.

Filed under: entertainment, media, science fiction Tagged: Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, Seaquest DSV, Stingray, supermarionation, TV series reboot, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Damned uppity writers

The image at the top of this story kicks off the latest in a discussion that has lasted over a decade: That readers demand digital versions of books should be free.

Since before ebooks first became a thing, book possessors would take a book they’d bought, scan it into an ebook, then share if on the internet to anyone who wanted it, no charge.  This was illegal.  But because it was the internet, no one could stop these people from doing it.  So they kept on doing it, like closet anarchists stickin’ it to the Man.  This led to ebook producers experimenting with a number of schemes, including (gasp!) asking readers to pay for books, and being forced to lower those ebook costs to make it palatable for readers to part with their dimes for entertainment’s sake.

But there have always been those who refuse to buy ebooks.  They’ve come up with myriad excuses, my favorite being “electrons are free”… as if the value of an entertainment product lay in the medium it is impressed upon, not the work itself.  The other excuse, which is ladled like gravy upon writers like me, is “You’re not an author published by a major publishing house; therefore, you are an amateur, a hack, and I shouldn’t have to pay as much for your work.”  By “as much,” of course, they mean “free.”

[image error]Aspiring writers have it tough.  They are judged to be bad, specifically because they do not publish through a major publishing house.  (You know, like one of the prestigious major houses that published the book at right.)  In an industry ruled by trashy biops, cookie-cutter fiction by Famous Authors who are promoted just because they’re Famous, and series based on rehashed movies or kitschy fantasies, the unpublished author is somehow the one who has to prove they have a good product.

And even when they find their fans and gain a following, the fans still feel they deserve their efforts and accomplishments for free, just on account.  They feel entitled to someone else’s work, and demand to pay nothing for it.  Where I come from, there’s a name for that kind of arrangement.

Slavery.

I was thinking about this, about a third of the way through the novel I’m presently working on.  I’ve tried various forms of marketing my work over the years, but it’s never worked out to my satisfaction or profit.  And it’s because readers see me, an accomplished author of over fifteen books, as a slave for their entertainment; they feel entitled to take my works—to steal my works—as soon as I make them available.  But when I ask for a little compensation for my time—hundreds of hours of planning, outlining, drafting, writing, editing, producing (with cover art), marketing and promoting—suddenly I’m a bad guy, a crook, a carpetbagger trying to rip them off… an uppity nigga.

Consumers have, admittedly, been spoiled by other forms of media.  Television, for example, is seen by most as a free service (even largely by those who pay for cable), and they somehow don’t consider that advertisers are paying to bring those shows to them.  And the price they pay for a book is hardly equal to the cost of producing it; so they assume what they’re paying for is the paper they’re printed on.

But if a person can buy an apple at a farmer’s market, or a produce stand in front of an actual farm, and not feel as if the farmer has no business charging them for the produce they brought to market from that tree right over there, why don’t writers get the same consideration?

When I become aware that the very consumers for whom I produce entertainment treat me like an uppity nigga, suddenly the wind blows out of my sails, and I have an extremely hard time justifying putting one word down.  The creative juices stop flowing, and my desire to write dies.  Seeing the post above put me in that very mood all this weekend, and I got zero writing done.

To be clear, I have a wife and a mortgaged home.  I pay taxes, utilities, insurance policies and groceries.  I pay for my television, internet and cellphones, and I buy my own clothes.  When I (IF I EVER) retire, I’ll still have most of those bills to pay (and probably more, thanks to the VERMIN running the nation and Congress at the moment).  Since Roombas will probably have all the cleaning jobs by then, I’d like to be able to write to generate some extra income to keep me out of the poor house—or, maybe more accurately, the poor tent.

But I swear, I’d rather spend my retirement years begging for pennies on the street, than work the life of a slave, making the supreme effort to entertain the public and getting whipped by their barbed tongues for my effort.

Pass the word: I am no one’s uppity nigga.  Neither are the rest of the writers out there.  Pay for their books, or step and fetch for your own damned selves.

EDIT:

I find it very appropos that my post, having been linked to a Facebook page devoted to teaching writers to make money off their books, has resulted in my being booted from that group.  Guess I was too uppity for them, too; so I’ve been gagged and sent to the woodshed.  Thanks for the validation and support, massas.

Filed under: writing Tagged: slavery, writers are slaves

Valerian: Movie of a future cult following

[image error]Over the weekend I had a chance to see Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.  This movie was director Luc Besson’s tribute to a French sci-fi pulp series, Valérian and Laureline, which ran in comic form from 1967 to 2010.  And much like Besson’s earlier sci-fi epic, The Fifth Element, it was largely panned and ignored at the box office when it was released.  But I suspect Valerian may turn out to have similar staying power as The Fifth Element over time.

(NO SPOILERS HERE)

First of all, because of what it is: Sci-fi from the popular 60s era that gave us Star Trek, inspired the Metal Hurlant graphic magazines (known in the US as Heavy Metal), and from which elements the Star Wars movies were developed.  The common elements of mid-20th-century sci-fi—galactic-scale organizations, tons of humanoid and non-humanoid aliens that resemble terrestrial nationalities and animals, easy travel throughout the stars… basically the entire galaxy as an extended Earth—has a palpable hold on fans of science fiction and adventure, a factor that explains the never-ending popularity of Star Trek and Star Wars.  (As the cartoon below suggests, quite a bit of Star Wars may have been directly taken from elements introduced in Valerian.)  The Fifth Element also encompassed much of those elements (being an homage to Metal Hurlant-style adventures), and though it took time to connect with fans, those elements eventually gained traction and earned it a cult-status.

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Secondly, for the story, which has general similarities to The Fifth Element:  The heroes are not the impetus of the central plot, but are randomly drawn into it and become major elements of its conclusion; many fairly recognizable plot-points and procedures are intermixed with almost incomprehensibly wild elements; likewise fairly normal characters exist alongside exotic and eccentric characters and aliens; and a healthy touch of humor is there to “humanize” the aliens and sci-fi elements, again, to help ground the overall production.  Considering their similar genre roots and Luc Besson’s direction, that’s hardly surprising.

Valerian‘s production is just gorgeous.  The movie makes extensive use of exotic intergalactic locales and beautifully-rendered aliens of all kinds to create its multi-leveled and lightly-nuanced universe.  The principle aliens around which the story is woven, the Pearls from the planet Mül, are beautiful and, because they are created so lovingly by Besson’s artists, fascinating to watch.  In a way, the effect of having so many aliens and exotic locales is that after awhile, the viewer finds themselves accepting all of it: The illusion sells, and you buy in to the entire tableau.  Never during my viewing did I ever feel “kicked out” of the illusion by anything I’d seen or heard; it’s that tight.  This movie was also filmed in 3-D; though I haven’t seen the 3-D version, I understand it stands up against Avatar as the premiere 3-D experience.

Also, neither movie speaks well of the military.  The Fifth Element‘s military were mostly just inept; in Valerian, the military figure more heavily into the story, in a negative way.  The heroes of Valerian are part of that military, but they act smarter than most of their commanders, spend most of their time acting independently of those commanders, and basically ignore the orders of their commanders to help save the day.

[image error]Valerian and Laureline, themselves, have apparently lost a few years of age compared to the comics; neither of them look much older than twenty, which makes their supposed years that they’ve been partners seem odd, but which certainly will help endear them to the YA audience.  Critics have largely slammed Valerian’s constant pursuit of Laureline, but this, too, seems like a nod to YA storylines that tend to be similarly filled with hormones and young love subplots.  I can’t say it was particularly endearing, or even convincing, to me… but then, I’m not a fan of YA programs and storylines, so maybe I’m the wrong person to ask.  But I would’ve cast the leads as older, probably around 30, to look more realistic.

[image error]So I just chucked it in with the movie’s humor.  Pulp sci-fi is always full of humor, and Valerian is no exception.  Though it is not as over-the-top as the humor in The Fifth Element, it still shines through and reminds viewers like me of those “good-old days” of poking fun at alien versions of human customs, human-alien interactions and the weird impacts on life that future technology will impose on us.

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Probably my favorite element of Valerian is its opening.  It starts with real footage from the Apollo-Suyuz mission, in which American and Russian astronauts docked and met in space for the first time, then quickly moves to scenes of astronauts from various nations meeting in space, and gathering their ships together to create a grand space station, Alpha, above Earth.  More ships come and come, and more nations join together in space… until one day, a ship arrives that is not from Earth; our first meeting with aliens, who also join Alpha.  They are soon joined by other aliens, until Alpha is swollen with ships and alien races, and must relocate out of Earth’s orbit.  It’s a very optimistic notion, central to the world of Valerian: That cooperation will be the key to progress.  And this is another 60s sci-fi concept that’s still popular in TV and movies, even as people are beginning to see it as an old-fashioned notion today.

[image error]Finally, I’ll just say that Valerian is fun: Romps through various exotic locations, non-stop action, cool sci-fi tech, a new alien around every corner, conspiracies, to-hell-with-authority heroes and an explosive ending, make for a trademark 60s pulp-sci-fi style film.  Though I prefer serious science fiction, there’s nothing wrong with sci-fi that just lets you put the frontal lobe in a jar, break out the beer and snacks, and have a good time… and this was one of the better times to be had.  My wife and I enjoyed it, and I’ll be adding it to my collection.

And maybe next year, someone will bring Perry Rhodan to the big screen…

Filed under: entertainment, media, reviews, science fiction Tagged: 20th century sci-fi, Heavy Metal, Luc Besson, Metal Hurlant, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Fifth Element, Valérian and Laureline, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Kestral 1: Rewrite done

My rewrite of book 1 of The Kestral Voyages, now retitled to be Race to Deep Abignon, was officially finished last night.  In the tradition of the 20BooksTo50K Facebook page, I saluted myself with a Montana Mule (Gentleman Jack bourbon, ginger beer and lime juice… there are SOOO many variations on the Moscow Mule out there these days).

[image error]The new cover for Kestral book 1.

I really enjoyed working on this rewrite.  I’d been initially afraid of making minor or major changes to the book, which was already considered by readers as one of my best.  But a good author is always learning and improving, and as I went through the novel, I found plenty of room for improvement.  For instance, I’ve found a few key places to apply the “Show, not Tell” rule and punch up the narrative overall.  And I found a few phrases that early-author-me thought were da s#!t when I first started… but that don’t read so well to me today.  And damned if I didn’t find a few typos in there, even after so many edits over the years!

I was assisted in this effort by MS Word, which has developed ways of suggesting changes to text, or pointing out oft-repeated phrases, that helped me tighten up the text overall (where needed; Word also makes dialogue suggestions that are not always helpful… but thanks for the input).  Don’t call this an endorsement or anything… but I still prefer Word for writing, editing and formatting my novels, and will probably be using it for years to come.

[image error]I also made changes that tightened up the characters themselves.  I made mention in an earlier post that I have a very different vision of Carolyn Kestral now than I had when I first started writing her.  This new image is reflected in the new cover, also created by myself.  The cover was done in Photoshop, combining the face of the new Kestral and interesting lighting effects, along with a new design for her space freighter, the Mary; I’ve depicted multiple versions of the Mary over the years, but this one is closer to the original description of the freighter than any I’ve done before.

The rest of the characters—Mark O’Bannon, Angel Shakra, Sarander Fi and Tirri Riza—still look the same (though I’ve re-emphasized Sarander’s size compared to the rest of the crew), so most of my edits were concerned with their dialogue, and giving them more individual mannerisms to make them shine a bit more.  Yes, this is a story for adults: There is some language, there is some sex, but nothing you won’t get from television (after 10 pm, anyway).

So, writing done… but the book still needs a few things before it’s ready for re-release, so be patient.  I’m moving on to the next book in the series, which is already off to a great start; and Race will need to have links and references to the new book, and the overall marketing program, before it’s released.  Right now it’s scheduled to be available in January or February of 2018, and I’ll be more exact as I get closer to having everything else done.

 

Filed under: books, promotion, science fiction, writing Tagged: Angel Shakra, Carolyn Kestral, freighter Mary, Mark O'Bannon, Race to Deep Abignon, Sarander fi, The Kestral Voyages, Tirri Riza

The Kestral Voyages: The “aliens” are humans

It seems to be an idea we’ve had for as long as we’ve had science fiction: Beings from other planets that were humanoid in build and appearance; from slightly to exactly, and everything in-between.  It’s always been a great metaphor for our meetings and dealings with people from other continents, whose skin color, language and/or customs were often very different from our own.

[image error]It’s also been easier to depict in live-action productions, where creative makeup is all it takes to depict a man from Vulcan or a woman from Orion.  Countless science fiction TV series and movies have used this relatively cheap and easy method to present us with aliens from all corners of the galaxy, who can just as conveniently talk with us, breathe our same air, frequently eat and drink our same foods and liquids, and even have sex with us.

But realistic science has also schooled us in the overwhelming likelihood that, IF we ever meet aliens from other worlds, there is little likelihood that they will be humanoid in appearance, not even as much as the many colorful aliens in the Men In Black movies or the myriad characters of the many Star Trek series.  Most likely our atmosphere, food and drinks could sicken or even kill a visitor from another planet on the far side of the galaxy from us.  Yet many science fiction writers continue to write stories of these humanoid aliens, blithely ignoring the reality of their almost certain nonexistence.

When I wrote The Kestral Voyages series, I liked the idea of many worlds in the Fraternity of Orion planets that they could visit and beings on those worlds that they could deal with.  But I didn’t like the idea of creating aliens that would be capable of dealing with humans on a direct, one-on-one basis; I thought, as a writer, I could do better.  So, instead of borrowing from the Book of Humanoid Aliens, I reached for a different book… the Book of Terraforming.

[image error]Terraforming is a concept wherein a planet is intelligently restructured to be as close to an Earthlike planet as possible.  The idea has been used in many books, in TV series (including Star Trek and Firefly) and movies (Aliens), and it’s become very familiar to regular SF readers.  It’s also a major element in the Kestral series.

But I considered the difficulty of terraforming, and the possibility that not all terraformed planets would end being completely Earthlike; that there may have been limitations to what could be done to some planets, and resultant variations on the Earth-standard environment that might not be completely healthy for humans.  What would be the best course in such a situation?

My answer was making genetic alterations to the humans who would live on those planets.  Genetic augmentation is a technology that we’re just starting to study and experiment with (more with other animals than humans, at this point), and as we learn more, it’s conceivable that we may start experimenting on ourselves, and maybe our children, in due course.  We may create humans altered from our baseline DNA, their alterations capable of allowing them enhanced traits or abilities that will benefit them in certain jobs or environmental conditions.

[image error]The possible genetically-altered humans from a terraformed planet.

Imagine genetically altering a human to be able to better filter out an extraneous chemical in the air… or to create stronger muscles to deal with a heavier gravity… or to adjust the rods and cones in the eye to better see in naturally foggy conditions.  These would be the “aliens” in my books: Actual humans that had been altered to fit their worlds.  Some would have minor alterations, not discernable to the human eye; while others might look significantly different, perhaps with unusually-colored skin, or feathers instead of hair, or more massive frames, or slighter frames, larger ears, prehensile tails… the possibilities are pretty large and just as potentially interesting as the possible range of humanoid aliens.

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The most notable such characters in the Kestral series are Mark O’Bannon and Tirri Riza, members of Kestral’s crew.  Mark is a native of Mars, where early efforts at genetic augmentation unfortunately went awry, resulting in a population of humans with jet-black skin and bleached-white hair.  In fact, it’s considered an embarrassment in Fraternity medical circles, and sometimes considered reflective of the relative intelligence of Martians that they did this to themselves (draw your own conclusions).  Tirri is an Avian, from a planet with such light gravity and convenient atmospheric conditions that their residents can fly with minimal extra equipment, they’ve developed lighter skeletons and musculature, and traded normal human hair for compound follicles that resemble feathers.  As I write new stories, I’ll introduce more such characters and tidbits on how they fit in Kestral’s universe.

[image error]A former (badly-Photoshopped) depiction of Mark O’Bannon

To me, this makes much more sense for the future: We may never actually meet aliens, but in moving out to the stars and refitting worlds for our use, we may become the aliens ourselves.  And the advantage of this concept is that, if all of these characters are human at root, then they can share a common language (and the ability to speak and hear each other), share much of the same foods and nutrients, breathe the same air, and therefore live amongst each other with minimal need for specialty apparatus to coexist in the same environments.  And this is even a better metaphor for the many races concept, as my characters are all variations on humans… just like in real life.

And let’s face it: There’s a delicious irony in imagining other-planetary races that would look much like the makeup-inspired aliens shown on TV and in the movies…

Filed under: books, science, science fiction, social, writing Tagged: aliens, aliens as metaphors, altered DNA, Firefly, genetic augmentation, humanoid aliens, Star Trek, The Kestral Voyages

Fantastic Four: So close

[image error]The other night, the movie Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer played on TV; I decided to watch, and as I did, I was reminded of how close the first two Fantastic Four movies in 2005 and 2007 came to being successes.  I mean, both movies did do some things wrong, but they also did some things right.  And in hindsight, it’s really a shame things did not work out for those movies.

First, the things they did right: The biggest single thing was picking a great team for the Fantastic Four themselves.  Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba and Chris Evans not only looked the parts of Reed Richards, Sue and Johnny Storm, but they had a chemistry as a group that had you believing they were the mildly-dysfunctional family and effective team that the FF is supposed to be.  In both the first and second FF movies, this chemistry shone through in the ways the family interacted… it felt genuine to the source material, and believably depicted as well.

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I think, in a lot of ways, Michael Chiklis was hired to sound more than look like Ben Grimm, based on the voices we generally heard in cartoons as children; but he is also a good enough actor to emote underneath all that costume makeup and have his personality shine through.  Considering the handicap he had to deal with, he did a great job, plus he shared that family chemistry that fit him into the group.

There was also the production in general, which looked great, though sometimes small and sparse in physical sets.  The FF’s uniforms (I always thought they were supposed to look more like a scientist’s encounter suit than anything else; and at heart, the FF are scientist-explorers) looked good on all the actors, and not just Jessica Alba.  Let’s face it, male superhero uniforms have always been harder to pull off than female uniforms, since the audience is a lot more used to seeing skintight outfits on women.  However, the Gruffudd and Evans were in top shape when they did the movies, and the uniforms showed it off.  (Chris Evans would eventually take his musculature to Captain America: The First Avenger, robbing us of the chance to ever see those characters together.)

[image error]The production’s special effects were also top-notch, being well-integrated into the live action and never (well, rarely) looking overlaid or badly-comped.  Most notable here were the stretching effects for Reed; I think those effects were harder to pull off and achieve a “feel” that would work for the audience, but I think they managed it, with only the caveat that Reed’s stretch effects tended to be slow, not as liquid as I think he was generally depicted.  In comparison, Johnny’s flames and Sue’s invisibility were relatively easy to accomplish, and Sue’s force fields were serviceable.

And finally, the depiction of the team as scientist-explorers, not just muscle-bound superheroes: The FF have always been best at exploring the unknown and using science to defeat the unknown and the bad guys; often, their powers were used as delaying tactics while Reed whipped up some gizmo to defeat the bad guys.  Science was their theme as well as their modus opperandi.  Even their powers were based on the four classic elements, and tied to their personalities—air (Sue, who often felt invisible around Reed), fire (Johnny, the reckless hothead), earth (Ben, down-to-Earth guy) and water (Reed, the genius with the fluid imagination).  The science-based theme was what made them unique; true science fiction superheroes.

Okay, that’s the good.  Here’s the bad:

[image error]Hands down, the biggest bad was the overt elements of both movies’ stories.  The depiction of how the FF gained their powers was simultaneously too close to the original source material (mysterious “cosmic rays”) and too over-the-top sci-fi (being on a Star Trek-like space station, artificial gravity included) to sit well with audiences.

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Also, the hackneyed movie tactic of using the same event to create their supervillian, Doctor Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) was convenient, but not as effective in tying the characters together.  The comics depicted Victor’s creation as being directly related to his obnoxious ego and rivalry with Reed resulting in his futzing with one of Reed’s experiments, causing an explosion that almost killed Doom, ruined his good looks and drove him back to his homeland.  He encased himself permanently in an armored suit to hide his disfigurement, and returned to use his scientific knowledge specifically to get back at Reed (for disfiguring him and robbing him of the chance to be adored, apparently).

The movie Victor gained his own super-powers from the same “cosmic rays” incident that created the FF (a sort of element absorbing ability), but he wasn’t immediately disfigured or humiliated, and so never really had a strong reason to hate Reed.  Later, he lost his company, due to the finances lost when the space station was destroyed; and instead of seeing the glass-half-full potential (yo, I got cool powers), decided to blame Reed for his misfortune (becoming a millionaire instead of a billionaire… boo-frikkin’-hoo, dude).

[image error]The movie Victor, his abilities and his drives, should have been created around an element, like the rest of the FF, to balance him against the themed powers of the FF; perhaps plasma, something that scientists were not really aware of when the FF was created in the 1960s, but is now considered a natural element alongside air, earth, fire and water.  Plasma also fits Victor’s chaotic, hard-to-control persona.  A plasma power could have led to a life-threatening and disfiguring accident for Von Doom, forcing him to withdraw from the world, wear a protective suit to keep himself alive, lose the chance at love and adoration (and physical contact), and then have a real reason to be mad at Reed.  It could also be a source of controlled plasma bolts fired from Doom’s hands, which would emulate the energy bolts he regularly used in the comics.

The first movie was all about the four’s gaining their powers, then trying to deal with their new powers and status as celebrities, plus Reed and Victor’s hate-rivalry, causing Victor to strike out against the FF; on the surface, that was fine, but it suffered in the execution when Doom’s plan hinged on managing to cure Ben Grimm of his Thing-ness, something Reed hadn’t managed to do in the comics for decades of trying, but which Doom figured out in the first movie.  The “cosmic rays” bit should have been updated to be more like the Negative Zone experiment Reed attempted in the Ultimates versions of their comic book characters, which Victor manipulated out of a false sense of superiority over Reed, thus creating the accident, and which gave Victor his disfigurement and the impetus to hate Reed and the others.

[image error]The second movie’s overall plot about an Earth-threatening crisis worked (though the crisis itself should have been something better than a big cloud of dirt), but it really wasted Victor an a man who just wanted the Surfer’s board for ultimate power, blithely ignoring the fact that he was going to be the most powerful being on the planet for a few hours, before Earth and everything on it would be consumed.  A better movie would have been about his reluctantly working with the FF to stop the oncoming force, perhaps using the board to help save the day, and then stealing the board afterward and having to be reined in by the FF.

[image error]The second big bad was the one element that production apparently couldn’t handle: The Thing.  I get how the production wanted to allow Michael Chiklis to appear physically in the movie, and they did a lot of work to create his Thing costume for live action scenes.  Nothing against Chiklis, but the Thing is depicted in the comics to be much bigger than a normal human; Chiklis’ Thing was small, barely taller than Jessica Alba and shorter than Evans and Gruffudd.  And he really didn’t look “rocky” the way the Thing is supposed to look; it was a good-looking suit, but it still looked like a rubber suit.

The Thing should have been handled as pure CGI, the way it was done in the more recent FF movie, using the same motion capture technology and care used to create the Hulk in the Hulk and Avengers movies.  If that meant the movies should have been delayed to wait for the technology to catch up… then they should have waited.  A less-than-convincing Thing only lessened the look of the team to audiences, lost both movies major points, and contributed to their criticism and less-than-stellar box office numbers.

So: A rubber-looking Thing and badly-constructed stories led to the failure of the first two FF movies.  But the well-conceived and depicted characters were its strengths.  It seems the most recent 2015 FF movie even tried to correct some of the obvious flaws; but the dark style, lack of character chemistry and (again) failed storyline only dug the franchise an even deeper hole.

Will these errors ever be corrected?  Unfortunately, Marvel Comics and Fox Studios have been fighting over the franchise, and its future is in limbo for the foreseeable future.  But considering Marvel’s movie studios have shown a better ability to bring its characters to the silver screen in the last decade—and now there is talk of bringing the FF franchise back to Marvel—maybe someday we’ll see a Fantastic Four movie that actually works.

 

Filed under: entertainment, media, reviews, science fiction Tagged: 2005 Fantastic Four movie, Ben Grimm, critique, Dr. Doom, Fantastic Four movies, Reed Richards, Sue and Johnny Storm

Writing the decline of the U.S.

The United States of America has always had a high opinion of itself: Pinnacle of Democracy; Land of the Free, Home of the Brave; Torch of Liberty; Melting Pot… yada yada yada.  But in the last few years, and especially thanks to our recent elections, the nation’s shine has begun to show a deep, dark tarnish… one that, it’s now clear to most of the country, will require quite a bit of scrubbing to clean.

[image error]When I published Worldfarm One, years ago, it seemed to most of my readers (primarily Americans) as inconceivable that we could ever be living in a world where the United States of America and its citizens could be seen by the rest of the world as in decline, morally corrupt, undesired, the very “wretched refuse” that America used to invite to its shores to be uplifted.  And as unlikely as readers thought that was, the concept of a United Nations organization that was considered efficient, in charge and acting to improve the entire world seemed downright insane.

But today, many Americans see their country in a very different light.  The reality of the nepotist, cronyist, incompetent Trump administration, with its active disdain for the lower and middle class, women, the disadvantaged, the different, the environment, the economy and job markets, immigrants, and everything accomplished by Barack Obama (apparently just because he wasn’t born white), along with the complicity of the rest of Republicans in government, leave many Americans seeing a distinct decline in the spirit, effectiveness and prosperity of the United States.  As well, many world leaders and their peoples no longer look to the United States for spiritual, moral or even practical leadership in world-impacting matters.

[image error]In this light, it is perhaps easier to imagine a United States that is considered by others to be the black sheep of nations, a nation of ignorant, intolerant and corrupt leaders, and the equally ignorant, intolerant and corrupt citizens who voted them in.  And if we don’t pull ourselves out of the powerslide we seem to be creating for ourselves, we could be seen as an entire nation of idiots, slackers, anarchists, better off ignored and avoided.

Worldfarm One described such an America, a country that the rest of the world looked down upon as an anarchic bully finally brought down by the weight of its own waste, and which many of its citizens wanted to escape rather than endure.  The main character, Keith Maryland, was a man who knew he had no future in the United States, and so he falsified his past enough to escape the U.S. and take a job at a United Nations-run megafarm in Brazil (just as a friend of his similarly escaped to a farm in Africa).  Unfortunately, the stigma of being an immigrant from los Estados followed him, leading to discrimination and harassment simply because of his home country.

Sound familiar?

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Yes, Keith’s journey was intended to recall the struggles that many immigrants to America’s shores have had to endure: The declining living situation in their homeland; the denigration and discrimination, the distrust and persecution directed at him, through no fault of their own; and their honest efforts to overcome them, survive and eventually prosper.

Predictably, the complaints I heard from some readers reflected the sense of pride American citizens have for their home, often accompanied by a complete and intentional blindness for that country’s faults.  You might expect this from a fan of, say, Duck Dynasty… but not from someone who reads science fiction and has a more open mind to the possibilities of the future and the realities of the world around them.

(On the other hand, I’m also aware of the… let’s say “closed mindset” of some SF readers who don’t seem to enjoy tropes or premises outside of their expected parameters.  If they were expecting one kind of story, and this one let them down, their reactions aren’t surprising.)

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But I also have to admit that a big part of the fault is my own: I wasn’t a good enough writer to make clear the reality of life in my future United States.  It wasn’t supposed to be a significant part of the story, but maybe for understanding’s sake, it needs more detail about the American decline and American life.

Until I get around to revising the content of that book, therefore, I hope my readers will stop and take another look around at their reality… and realize there may be more variations on America’s future than they may have considered.

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Filed under: books, science fiction, social Tagged: decline of America, fall of America, government corruption, immigrant discrimination, United Nations, United States, world leadership, Worldfarm One

The evolution of Kestral (and humanity)

The current revision work on the Kestral novels—especially book 1, one of my oldest books—is giving me the chance to revisit more than just grammar and titles.  As I started working on revising book 1 of the series, I realized that I was seeing the books, the characters and my own writing in a new light.  My revisions will reflect that.  Regarding the writing, I’ve added new material and tightened up on existing material, to better flesh out the story and the characters.

Most notably is an interrogation sequence in book 1, which I’d previously only referenced in the narrative, ie, “So this happened.  Afterward…”  I decided that I was skipping over some useful opportunities to help round out my characters, as well as give more dimension to that part of the book.  So, in true “show, don’t tell” fashion, I added the interrogation scenes; nothing extensive, in fact, pretty brief… but still effective.

[image error]The new cover design for Kestral book 1.

Some of the improvements are cosmetic, as best illustrated by what will be the new cover of book 1.  Take a look at right:

I’m very excited about the new look to the series, highlighted by my new cover design.  First is its new title, replacing “My Life, After Berserker”: “Race to Deep Abignon” is a more action-oriented title, fitting the novel’s action-adventure format; and it better describes the story itself.  The overall composition of the cover emulates the most popular and modern aspects of science fiction action-adventure covers, which I hope will catch many a fans’ eye.  Future covers will use similar elements.

Also, there’s the depiction of Kestral’s ship, the Mary: This art represents the best depiction of the Quicksilver-class space freighter that I had in my mind when I conceived it.  Based on a public-domain piece of art I recently came across, I used the art as a framework and sculpted in Photoshop to achieve the desired scale and structure of the Mary.  Then I worked it into the cover design, accompanied with a great-looking lighting effect for its faster-than-light “tesser” field.

Finally—maybe most notably—is the new look for Carolyn Kestral herself.  As I’ve redesigned and reworked this series, I realized that I had in mind a different vision for Kestral… one that, I think, better represents the likely future of Humankind.  In the Kestral books, a lot is made of the makeup of humanity in the future, having voluntarily undergone various genetic changes and augmentations to live on new, terraformed planets.  (More on this in a future post.)  In real life, humanity is going through a constant and steady change, as disparate populations mix across the globe, intermarry and procreate, further intermixing our genetic differences; the globe, following the example of the United States, is becoming a Melting Pot.

[image error]Carolyn Kestral’s new appearance represents some predictions of the look of the majority of humanity in our future, and the way I was coming to imagine our heroine: A stronger mix of races from below the equator, as well as the Indian and Asia-Pacific regions, and a subsuming of traditional European features behind those of these other races.  Her hair, originally short and blond in previous depictions, is now a longer brunette.  And she is still a statuesque stunner.

This Kestral not only represents a more likely future appearance of humanity, but she more closely resembles the growing and diversified cross-section of science fiction fans, many of whom have historically felt underrepresented by all the predominantly European characters, heroes and heroines in SF.  I hope that some fans and readers, seeing my new covers, may feel more compelled to check out a book featuring people that look more like themselves.

And this isn’t to say that other readers should feel like they are being discouraged from reading the Kestral books, nor that I’m suggesting that they might be members of a “dying race” or something; quite the opposite, I see a future of all human races coming together to make a new, hopefully better human down the road, and they’ll be as much a part of that as ever, even if it’s less obvious on a cosmetic level.  After all, the European culture is still a major part of modern society, and it will probably continue to be a major component of world culture for some time to come.

All of this has gone into the reimagining of the Kestral books and their characters.  Kestral 1, Race to Deep Abignon, will soon be re-released, followed soon after by a new book 2 of the Kestral Voyages.

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Filed under: books, entertainment, promotion, science fiction Tagged: Carolyn Kestral, humanity melting pot, Kestral Novels, new cover design, Race to Deep Abignon, rereleases, revisions, The Kestral Voyages, the Mary

Decathlon homes for the future

My wife and I can now clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel that signals our retirement from the daily grind.  (Well, one of us, at least.  It’s also possible that one of us will continue to work to supplement that retirement… but that’s another grind.)  And as we approach it, we’re considering the strong possibility that we’ll leave the Maryland area, considered one of the higher-priced and highly-taxed areas of the country.  That means selling our house.  So the big question is: What will we live in after this?

[image error]Cute, but… no.

Many might assume, from my many posts about tiny houses, that we’re thinking about moving into one of those diminutive domiciles.  But as interesting and economical as those homes are, let me assure you that we’re not planning to scale down from a 2500 square foot house to a 250 square footer.  Tiny homes offer great lessons on how to downsize your unneeded possessions and demonstrate all kinds of spiffy storage solutions.  But—maybe because we’ve both been living in larger spaces for all our lives—we can’t imagine scaling down that much, if we don’t need to.

(And there’s something else to think about: Tiny houses aren’t exactly well-secured to the ground, making them susceptible to high winds… think tornadoes and trailer homes.  I’ve got enough on my mind without worrying about doing a Dorothy during twister season and ending my retirement with a bang AND a whimper.)

[image error]Solar Decathalon held at the Mall in Washington, DC

No, when we think about a retirement home, we like to think about the structures and designs we’ve seen at the Solar Decathlons sponsored by the US Department of Energy and various corporations.  The Decathlons host various organisations, mostly universities sponsored by building or energy corporations, that build solar-powered and sustainable home designs to be tested for efficiency, viability and habitability.  During the Decathlon, the public can visit on specific days and tour the homes for free, to see the many examples of design and engineering on display.  And at the end, the houses are graded, scores are totaled up in individual categories, and a grand winner is declared for the show.

[image error]I especially get a big kick out of the show, as I’ve been a fan of solar and efficient/sustainable home designs since my early teens.  The US has been developing more efficient home designs and materials, and single-home energy systems like solar and wind, for decades now; and if we had been rolling out these new designs as they were developed, we could have saved our country millions per year, perhaps billions, in energy use by now.  I’ve watched the industry carefully, hoping for the point at which current prices were low enough for me to take advantage of them, in my current or maybe a future house.  And those price points are finally reaching attainable levels for the general public.

[image error]We’ve both attended the Decathlons held in the Washington, DC area, and we’ve toured many homes that seemed ideal for single-couple living.  The homes on display feature open, airy designs and clever sustainable systems to keep your energy costs down and your environmental footprint small… ideal for families on fixed incomes, like retirees, or for anyone desiring to live cheaply and more efficiently.  The homes, in general, are in the neighborhood of 1000 square feet, and the larger of them seem to be plenty large enough for the retirement future we imagine for ourselves.

The University of Maryland WaterShed house, the Decathlon winner for 2011, is one of our favorite designs.  From their site:

Inspired by the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, the University of Maryland return(ed) to the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 with WaterShed—an entry that proposes solutions to water and energy shortages. The house is a model of how the built environment can help preserve watersheds everywhere by managing storm water onsite, filtering pollutants from greywater, and minimizing water use. The photovoltaic and solar thermal arrays, effectiveness of the building envelope, and efficiency of the mechanical systems make WaterShed less thirsty for fossil fuels than standard homes.

[image error]The homes have been built as test-beds for various types of energy efficiency systems, including solar panels, solar heating systems, grey-water treatment, windmill energy generation, smart power distribution systems and appliances, and insulating materials.  Some that we saw were built solely for the Decathlon, and clearly not supposed to be “finished” homes as such; but many were constructed with such finishing detail that they could be lived in, year-round, as-is.  Many homes were sold to interested organizations after their Decathlon; the WaterShed house, for instance, was moved to a PEPCO site, where it is now on display as a “living laboratory” of efficient design.  It is the hope of many that some of these home design plans may someday be available for private individuals to purchase and build, or at least used as guides to build your own.

Unfortunately, it’s getting harder to keep an eye on our prize.  Two years back, the Solar Decathlon moved its show to the west coast; this year’s Decathlon was held in Denver.  (The 2019 event will also be in Denver, presumably around Columbus Day.  We may be able to make a trip of it.)  The US Decathlons are held every odd year in the US; in 2018, a number of them that will happen overseas.  Unfortunately, the present administration is being heavily lobbied by traditional power companies to discourage the new, alternative energy companies,  which suggests the administration is intentionally moving the clean energy target away from potential US customers like myself… it’s hard not to suspect a direct effort to quash alt-energy in favor of Good Ol’ Boy oil and coal.  Who knows what the future of this event will be.

[image error]All the same, as that light at the end of the tunnel gets bigger, we’re keeping a weather-eye on those Decathlon homes, and we hope that—on the day we decide to leave this area for greener pastures (and cheaper climes)—we might be able to take one of those houses with us.

 

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Filed under: environment, technology Tagged: efficient home design, energy efficient home, modern home design, Solar Decathlon, solar power, sustainable design, U.S. Department of Energy, WaterShed House