S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 105

Need More Defense

The University of Washington Huskies are 2-0 to start their 2014 season. But there's more to the story than those numbers reveal. The Huskies' first game was against Hawaii, long time one of the worst teams in the FBS (also known as "Division I"). And the Huskies won by one measly point.

Then they played the Eastern Washington University Eagles, an FCS team (also known as "Division II"). As I said last week, the Eagles are arguably a better team than the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors since the Eagles are one of the best teams (apparently ranked #2) in the FCS.

When the Huskies racked up a 21-0 lead early in the first quarter, I thought UW head coach Chris Petersen had found the formula between the Hawaii game and this game. Seven of those points came from a recovered fumble on a kickoff return, but still, we'll take it.

Then the Eagles started coming back as the Husky defense proved to be as porous as a hooker's virtue. The same problem we had with Hawaii was glaring in this game: bad defense.

The game went back and forth after the Eagles closed the gap and once even managed to get ahead of the Huskies. Last year the Eagles beat Oregon State and all us Husky fans didn't want to be their next FBS victim. Their quarterback, Vernon Adams, (who I cannot understand why he's not on an FBS team) could not seem to miss a throw. Twice the Eagles converted on a 4th and 10 play.

Neither defense was able to stop the other's offense much at all and I was worried it would come down to who had the ball last. But then the Huskies managed to pick up a fumble and turned that into seven points. They won the game 59-52.

This week the Huskies have to get their defense in shape. The offense is doing better but the defense us just awful. Next week we play Illinois (at home) and it's going to be an ugly game if the defense is as bad has they have been the last two games.

Writing Conundrum

I have a bit of a writing conundrum right now.

Yesterday I finished the first draft of a science fiction novel (working title: Subluminal Pirates; yeah, I don't like it either). I was at first aiming for 60,000 words but the novel is in three sections and when the first two sections came in at 21,835 words, I decided I wanted at least 65,000 words to make section three close to the same length. I ended up at 64,209 words with section three around 1,200 words shorter than I wanted it to be.

But they always get longer in edits.

I have another WIP (Work in Progress) that is now going through beta reads. And I can't go back and edit Subluminal Pirates for at least a week and a month would be better.

Now, NaNoWriMo is coming up in November. I have this idea for a sequel to Treasure of the Black Hole (which is under consideration at a publisher at the moment) and I thought I'd write that for NaNoWriMo. But that's two months away and other than edit Subluminal Pirates, I don't have any writing to do.

I do have some other editing to do this month. But, also, I don't have any freelance assignments.

So, do I start the sequel to Treasure of the Black Hole now and try to get it finished so I can write something else (I have no idea what) for NaNoWriMo. Or do I take two months off from writing (except for editing Subluminal Pirates and the other editing I'll be doing on an anthology)? I'm leaning toward the latter.

And who knows, I might have an idea for a novel in the meantime. But for now the twitter hashtag for me will be #amnotwriting

My 7-7-7 Challenge

I was nominated by Lesley Donaldson to do the "7-7-7 Challenge."  That is to share seven lines from the seventh page of your work in progress (WIP), starting from the seventh line.

My current WIP is an untitled and unfinished science fiction novel set about 1,000 years in the future. Humans have yet to develop faster than light travel. This section, which conforms to the 7-7-7 challenge, is a bit of exposition, explaining the rules of this world. I cheated a little and went to the end of the paragraph:

The glass stayed on the table because of the one gee acceleration the Bussard ramjet provided. At the moment they were travelling ass-backwards, negatively accelerating to match orbits with the primary of this system. When they slowed too much for the ramjet to work, they would rely on stored hydrogen to operate the fusion rocket. The Bussard scoops had three functions in interstellar space: gather enough hydrogen to run the fusion drive, store hydrogen for when the ramjet wouldn't work, and detect an object large enough to damage the Longboat.

Exciting, huh!

I nominate Antoinette Houston, Jane Bled, and Joy. They shall be informed via Twitter.

Oops!

I know I'll never be as good as a Robert Heinlein, Larry Niven, or Poul Anderson. Those men could take their knowledge of science and intertwine it with an amazing story. I think I'm a fairly good storyteller. But my science is marginal at best and my math skills pretty much stop at algebra (I've studied calculus and differential equations but to do them now . . .). My biggest fear is in on of my science fiction novels is to make a glaring, basic science error. Sometimes I'm vague to cover up my inability to calculate things. But I'm always worried I'm going to miss something.

Right now I'm working on a science fiction novel that doesn't have a title, yet. A lot of it takes place in a solar system much like ours. But because the distances are so great at times, I am constantly calculating light-speed delays. For example, a space battle starts out 30 light minutes (144 million kilometers) from where my protagonist is. So I mention that everything he is seeing happened 30 minutes ago.

Last night I was watching TV with half my brain and plotting out the next space battle with the other half. And I reminded myself I needed to take into account light-speed delays. And something made me realize that in my finished (I thought) novel, Treasure of the Black Hole, I have an event where things and people are 5 AUs (Astronomical Units) apart and yet I have them seeing and reacting as if they are just across the room (thank you, scifi movies). So a quick calculation and I realized they were 250 light minutes apart. Then I realized that couldn't be right. So I redid the calculation and realized I had a math error (the number should have been 2,500) and that that was seconds, not minutes, and 2,500 seconds is about 42 minutes (I tend to round a lot, part of that being vague).

So this morning I went back and did a little re-writing on Treasure of the Black Hole. I hope it's fixed, now. And I really hope there's no more glaring science errors.

I hope.

Jaleta Clegg Author Interview

Jaleta CleggToday we welcome Jaleta Clegg to talk about her latest book coming out, Dark Dancer and whatever other silly questions I can come up with.

Jaleta Clegg loves to tell stories of everything from aliens to magical beings to airships to funky tech to silly demons and everything in between. When not writing stories, she spends her time making bizarre things from yarn, cooking up strange dishes, and dealing with all the mundane things we all have to do, like scrubbing the bathrooms and washing dishes. She lives in Utah with a horde of her own offspring (much reduced now that they’re finally starting to move out on their own), too many pets, and a very patient husband. She wants to grow up to be Han Solo or Ursula the sea witch. Or possibly Captain Harlock, because he has the coolest space ship ever. It’s doubtful Jaleta will ever really grow up.
Serious questions:
1. What brought you to this genre? What inspired you to write this particular book?

Dark Dancer is a steampunk/fantasy mashup. I was inspired by a friend's book series about humans opening the gates to fairyland and interacting with elves (think more like Shakespeare's fairies and less like Legolas). I thought to myself, that was fun but I want airships. And elves. And magic. I want pirates with pointy ears. The story grew out of that. It's quite a departure from my other work which is science fiction adventure and silly horror. I've dabbled in fantasy, but not this way. It was lots of fun. I may go back to steampunk elves again.

2. Describe your novel in five words.

Steampunk elven pirates, magic portals

3. Are any of your characters based on either yourself or people you know?

Joren is based on my ideal version of Errol Flynn, does that count? I don't know him personally, but I love his movies. If my characters end up based on people I know, it's all subconscious.

4. How do you react if/when you get any negative reviews?

I sit in my closet, cry, and eat too much chocolate. I know my books won't appeal to everyone. And readers have a right to their opinion, good or bad. I respect their right to express that opinion. I know authors who stage campaigns to get negative reviews erased. Some even go so far as to harass the reviewers. That's just wrong. It shows a lack of professionalism.

5. Where can people find out our more about you and your books? (eg blogs, websites etc)

I've got links to all my novels and short stories at http://www.jaletac.com

I post author interviews, book reviews, silly posts, short stories, and recipes on my blog, the Far Edge of Normal. http://jaletaclegg.blogspot.com/

For the ebook of Dark Dancer, my latest release, you can get your format of choice from Smashwords at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/465920

Or Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Dancer-Jaleta-Clegg-ebook/dp/B00MRANX5A

Just for fun.
1. What’s your guilty pleasure?

Watching bad 80s sci-fi movies and SyFy channel monster movies. I love a bad campy movie full of cheese.

2. Chocolate or Ice Cream?

Chocolate *IN* ice cream. My favorite flavor of ice cream is tin roof sundae - chocolate covered peanuts and fudge in vanilla ice cream.

3. You’re in a horror film. You’re in a house and a bad guy is chasing you. Do you run up the stairs?

Naw, I run around in circles screaming because it's always the hot blond who runs in circles screaming who survives. Wait, I'm not blond. That kills that strategy.

4. What’s your favorite music?

Disco accordian polka music! *cheesy grin* Yes, that is in my collection, along with everything from heavy metal to classical to Irish folk music to disco to pop. My favorite music is whatever matches my mood at the moment. This site has some really fun ones: http://www.wfmu.org/365/ It's a very entertaining way to spend a few hours.

5. If you could visit anywhere in the world where would it be? Why? 

A tropical beach that is deserted except for me, my guests, and whoever is providing my food and cleaning my hotel room. I've always wanted to go to the South Pacific.

6. If you had a super power what would it be? Why?

Here, pull my finger and find out. Sorry, couldn't resist the Mystery Men reference. That's a really tough question because there are so many cool powers to have. Bubble wand super love magic comes to mind. Wait, that would mean I'm a sailor scout and I don't look good in a pleated mini-skirt. I could fart rainbows and poop sprinkles, but that's unicorns. I think I'll settle for jedi mind powers, like my cat has. He knows if he stares at a door long enough, it will open. I timed him once. He waited over six hours until I opened the door. Who says that wasn't his jedi mind tricks working on me?

Thank you Jaleta! And you can participate in Jaleta's Raffelcopter giveaway below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Squeaker!

It's that time of year again (college football season) when I write about sports.

For years the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors have been one of the worst teams in Division I college football. Last year they won one single game (their last). So when I saw that my beloved University of Washington Huskies' first game was against Hawaii, I thought it would be a nice warm up game for the Huskies and new coach Chris Petersen.
Petersen came from Boise State and during his tenure there had many undefeated seasons.  He had an overall record as a head coach of 93–12. Admittedly, Boise State was in a weak conference, the Mountain West (which Hawaii was usually the doormat team of). It would have been interesting to see what Boise State could have done in, oh, the PAC-12. One clue was that Petersen's bowl record was only 5 wins out of 7 games.

So all of us Husky fans had high hopes for Petersen after Steve Sarkisian bailed to go coach at USC. The Huskies even started the season ranked, albeit ranked #25, for the first time in many years.

But last night's game was ugly and showed that the Huskies and Petersen have a long ways to go if they want to become an elite team again. The Rainbow Warriors received the opening kickoff and marched down the field almost as if the Husky defense didn't exist, getting a touchdown. In short order the score was 0-10 with Hawaii on top.

The one great play but the Huskies led to one of their touchdowns, a 91-yard pass on the first play after getting the ball back on downs.  The Huskies managed to get another touchdown before the end of the half and Hawaii missed a field goal making the score 14-10 at the half.

But the second half became a defensive grind with both teams having many 3-and-out series. Hawaii did manage to make two more field goals bringing the score to 14-13. There were no turnovers and no spectacular plays, just fundamental football. Washington managed to run out the clock and barely win the game.

Not an auspicious start to the Petersen era and not the beginning many Husky fans were looking forward to.

Next week we play Eastern Washington, an arguably better team than Hawaii. While Hawaii is one of the worst teams in Division I, Eastern Washington is one of the best teams in Division II. There's going to have to be a lot of work by Petersen and the Huskies to get ready for that home game.

And the new poll comes out Tuesday and we'll see if the Huskies drop out of the top 25 due to their lackluster performance. The game started at 10:30 P.M.  EDT so maybe a lot of people didn't see it and will only look at the win. Even though it was only by one point.

Flash Fiction Friday: The Song

Today's Flash Fiction Friday is The Song. It was inspired by this:

The aide-de-camp touched a box that was set on a low table in the middle of the hotel suite's main room.

"Now, even their NSA cannot hear us, Ambassador General," he said, speaking in Valgarian. They weren't sure the humans could understand their language but they weren't taking chances.

The Ambassador to Earth was adjusting his dress uniform.  The Valgarian race was military and all government jobs came with a rank and uniform, no matter how uncomfortable they were.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" the Ambassador growled, trying to fit in the bright purple tunic.

"We have to keep the humans unaware of our plans," the aide-de-camp replied. "We have to humor them until our fleet is in position to destroy this planet and take from the humans all the riches of this solar system. They are so weak and pitiful they haven't even started exploiting their near moon or the asteroid belt."

"Again, why do have to go to this 'concert'?" The last word was in English, there is no Valgarian equivalent.

"We were invited. Apparently, it has something to do with their culture and they wish to show off to us."

The Ambassador growled. "The sooner we wipe these puny humans out the better."

"Yes, Ambassador General."

There was a knock on the door of the suit.

"Come," the Ambassador said in English. He'd used a learning machine to download it into his brain before arrival. That and all of Earth's major languages. It took a time period the humans would call "thirty seconds."

The door opened and a tall human in those funny clothes they wore with the colorful piece of cloth tied around the neck stepped in.  It was the United States Secretary of State. "It's time to go, Ambassador," he said. If the Ambassador knew more about human emotions he might have noticed the man's haughty air and been offended.

"Yes, we'll be right out," the Ambassador replied, trying to get his last rank insignia straight. The gravity on this planet was more than he was used to and it made every little movement a chore.

He was taken by a large black wheeled vehicle to the venue for the "concert."  Secret Service agents followed and let the "limousine" in larger black vehicles called "essuvees." At the concert hall, puny humans stepped aside at the orders of the Secret Service agents and the Ambassador was led to a balcony, walking on the cilia of his underside. Waiting there was the Ambassador Lieutenant, another aide for the General, who had been studying the humans longer than anyone else on the Ambassador's staff.

The Secretary of State hovered about, making sure both of the Valgarians were comfortable before he sat in a "chair" next to the Ambassador.

The Ambassador looked over the large room. Rows and rows of humans sat facing a raised area where more humans sat. Each of those humans was holding a device the use of which the Ambassador could not fathom.

The lights dimmed, a man walked out in even funnier clothes, with long tails hanging down where the feces comes out. He bowed to the audience and the humans all smacked their hands together repeatedly.  He stood in front of the humans with the devices.

Two women came out. Human women, the Ambassador scoffed to himself. This entire race was repugnant, he thought. He had no idea how they manged to breed. They even had fur on top of their heads like some base animal.

The man with the funny long tails on his clothes raised his hands. In one was a slender white stick. The people with the devises, both human male and female, the Ambassador noted, moved their devices. Some put them against their mouths or even put one end in their mouths. Others held them with sticks over them. Still others just stood by them with sticks. The Ambassador was interested despite himself. What kind of barbaric ritual was this "concert"?

The sound started then. It was soft and seemed designed to lull a being.

"What is this sound?" the Ambassador General demanded of the Lieutenant.

"They call it 'music,' Ambassador General," he replied.

"Gentlemen," the Secretary of State whispered, a forced smile on his face, "It is customary to be quiet during a performance."

The Ambassador General snorted.  But he became quiet and started listening again to the sound, the "music." And one of the women began speaking.  But it wasn't speaking, it was almost wailing. It was, the Ambassador General realize, the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard. He'd had planetary leaders beg him not to destroy their planet and, yet, this sound was even more beautiful than that.  When the second woman joined in it became even more lovely and then, to his amazement, when he didn't think he'd ever experienced anything this beautiful, the women wailed at the same time and he closed his eye stalks and let the sound wash over his body.

When the sounds and wailing stopped, again the humans smacked their hands together and some in the audience below hollered.

The Ambassador General opened his eye stalks.

"We will not destroy this race," he said to the Lieutenant.

"Sir General?"

"We cannot destroy something that produces sounds such as these. We will not destroy this race."

"But our entire civilization, culture, heritage depends on destroying inferior races to cleanse they galaxy of their stain."

"This is not an inferior race," the Ambassador General said with anger lacing his voice.  "Call off the fleet, we will move on from this place and leave them in peace."

The Lieutenant lowered his eyestalks in a sign of obedience. "Yes, Ambassador General."

Movie Review: Divergent

When I first saw ads for the movie Divergent, I wasn't interested. It looked like one of those dystopian teenage books, a rip off of Hunger Games in a more urban setting. But upon recommendation of a friend, I put it on my Netflix queue near the top.
And I must say, I enjoyed it. Divergent is about a society centered in a post-apocalyptic Chicago. The people are divided into five groups called "factions" based on personality type and predisposition. One group are farmers, one are the one who function as courts and lawyers, one is the scientists (the "Erudite"), one the police/military (the "Dauntless"), and one runs the government because they are honest, plain, and have no personal ambitions, and are selfless (the "Abnegation"). The Abnegation are so selfless, they lock mirrors to discourage vanity.
At a certain age, teenagers take a test to see which faction they should join (their "predisposition") and then at a ceremony, join the one they wish but are strongly encouraged to join the one they have a predisposition for.
The story centers on Tris (played by the lovely While a great deal of the movie deals with Tris' struggles to make it as a Dauntless (if she fails, she becomes "factionless and is essentially reduced to being a homeless beggar), there is something sinister going on (more so than the basic tyranny of the whole system).
The movie drags a little during Tris' basic training (I sort of got tired of seeing her get beat up) but once the conspiracy is revealed, it moves quickly. For a 2 hour, 20 minute movie, it goes much faster (a fair amount of time is spent explaining the society). But the underlying truths that Divergent tells about human nature and the quest of tyrants to suppress it are timeless. The movie climaxes with a confrontation between Tris as a divergent and the head of the Erudites who wants more control of the people of the society.
Between the action and the philosophy, this is a good movie. Not totally popcorn, not totally philosophical discussion, it's a great mix of both. I gave it 4 stars on Netflix.

Flash Fiction Friday: The Turtle

Today's Flash Fiction Friday story is: The Turtle.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did," I said.  "You definitely said something."

"No, I didn't."

"You didn't say, 'Who's that?"

"No, you're hearing things."

"No I'm not. You said, 'Who's that?'"

"Oh shut up and drink your coffee."

I scowled and sipped my Starbucks

A few tense moments passed.

"What?"

"Now what?"

"You said it again."

"Said what?"

"'Who is that?'"

That's when I saw the turtle.  I was green, about the size of a computer mouse.  A computer mouse with four legs a head and a tail extending from it. It looked at me and said, "Who is that?"

I stared at it.  "Who is who?"

"That lady in that chair, who is that?" the turtle asked.

"That's my wife." Yes, I was talking to a turtle. No, I didn't think about how strange that was.

"Well, she's in my chair."

"That's your chair?"

"Yes, tell her to get out of my chair."

"You tell her." There, I showed that turtle.

"She can't hear me, only you can."

I growled.

"What, dear?" my wife asked.

"N-n-nothing," I said.

"Tell her to get out of my chair?" the turtle said in a voice that was so loud it shook the Starbucks.

"Damn, that lightning is close," my wife said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Lightning.  Didn't you hear the thunder?"

"We should go," I said.  "Get home before it starts raining."

"Yes, go," the turtle said. "Get the dumb broad out of my damn chair."

I stood up.

"No," my wife said, "let's stay here and relax."

"We need to go," I said, looking about anxiously.  Was no one else noticing the talking turtle?

"Get out," it yelled and again the Starbucks rattled.  The baristas looked up with fright etched in their eyes.

"Well, I'm leaving," I said, and walked toward the door, tried to push it open, only to find it was locked.  Not locked with the built-in lock, but someone hand put a chain around it outside and locked the chain with a padlock.  We were trapped.  Trapped in a Starbucks with a manic talking turtle who had powers I couldn't comprehend.

"Fine," my wife said, "we'll leave."

"We can't," I whispered.

"Oh, now we can't leave, and why not?"

"Someone's locked door."

"Really?" she said, and pushed it open walking outside.

That's when it started to rain.

The Jester Prince: Brunhilde, a Guest Post by Voss Foster

Voss FosterToday we welcome once again the remarkable Voss Foster to our humble blog.

The Jester Prince
Arachne clapped. Flames spread out in the space between her hands as she pulled them apart. They cycled through the rainbow, growing brighter until one of the Widows finally turned to look at them. A few wisps of hair, once blonde, but now dyed in permanent dinge. Bright, almost acidic green eyes slashed out of her face.

"You're making a scene." Not upset. Her voice rasped out, air from the lungs of a dead woman. "Why?"

"To get your attention." Arachne quenched the flames. "It's rather important, Brunhilde."

"I don't really have time."
-The Jester Prince

Siegfried and Brunhilde's story is a timeless one… but not a romance, as I suggest in the books. In fact, Brunhilde is sort of the quintessential single lady… with a bit of homicide thrown in for good measure. Depending on who you ask, she's a valkyrie, a shieldmaiden, a royal, or possibly something else in some version of the story I'm not privy to. In fact, in most versions of the story, Brunhilde kills, or at least plans to kill, Siegfried. I even slip in a joke about the differences between my Brunhilde and the traditional Brunhilde. A free hug to the first one who can spot it.

In The Jester Prince, I introduce the concept of the Other, a sort of soulmate for the immortals. And a lot of the relationships are romantic. Brunhilde has lost her Other, and it sent her into a deep, untouchable depression. But can she break out of it?

To find out, pick up The Jester Prince, Book Two of the King Jester Trilogy.



With the destruction of Zirkua Fantastic, King Jester, the spirit of discord, has been unleashed once more upon the Earth. Only Toby, a fresh, untrained immortal, and the other former members of Zirkua Fantastic dare to stand against his chaos. But their hold is tenuous, and they are only truly safe from his power within the bounds of their camp. King Jester grows more powerful and more dangerous with each passing day. But he's made one mistake. That mistake could be his undoing. He's stolen Toby's soul mate, Marley. When he discovers Marley's location, Toby knows what he has to do. He will rescue Marley, even if it means he has to face King Jester alone.

But the others don't let him go at it alone. Marley has information about the resistance. They can't afford to let him stay in King Jester's control. In desperation, the immortals raise an army to storm the compound. But will it be enough to challenge the embodiment of chaos himself? All they can do is hope. Hope and put their faith in love.

Available now through Prizm Books.

EXCERPT:

"When did you stop mourning?"

Arachne's hands tightened to fists again. "I've never stopped mourning."

Brunhilde's eyes lost their intensity. "What do you want?"

Arachne kneeled in front of her. "Do you know what's been going on?"

"King Jester broke free of his bonds. He's raising an army. It's the same as last time." She said it like she was reading a grocery list. "Of course we know."

"Then you know that we need the weapons. The ones that Wayland forged last time." The words dripped from her lips, slow like honey. "You're guarding them, aren't you?"

"You don't need them. You didn't need them then, so you won't need them now. Just bind him, again."

"It's not that simple, Brunhilde."

"Yes it is." She stood up. Her limbs shook. "Very simple."

The other Widows rose after her. They all shook, but, in their black, they looked like specters of death. The pull of emptiness let up, but their power still saturated the air, weighing heavy on Toby. He shifted his senses and pulled the chain from around his neck. Please don't come to this.

Brunhilde's eyes sharpened again. "Can't you just leave us alone?"

Dragon marched to the front, pushing Arachne a few steps back. "We have to arm ourselves. If we can't turn King Jester back, it's not just us who suffer. You'll all die."

The shaking increased, Brunhilde's body almost blurring from it. "I died a long time ago."

Dragon grabbed Brunhilde's shoulder, kept her from turning. "Do you think Siegfried would want you dead?"

She slapped Dragon across the cheek, knocking her to the ground. "How dare you say his name?"

"Answer my question."

She slammed her foot down, but Dragon was up and away. Brunhilde tackled her, too fast to track. "You've been here long enough. Get out." Tears showered down, dripping on Dragon's face. "Just let us be. Please."

Pick up your copy of this amazing novel here.

The Voss Foster The Jester Prince blog tour schedule:
Wednesday, August 13th: Voss Foster: Demon Hunting and Tenth Dimensional Physics (http://vossfoster.blogspot.com)
Thursday, August 14th: Siana Wineland: Siana's Place (http://www.sianawineland.com/)
Friday, August 15th: S.Evan Townsend: Writing Thoughts (http://blog.sevantownsend.com/)
Saturday, August 16th: Iyana Jenna: Iyana Jenna (http://iyanajenna.com/)
Sunday, August 17th: TR Goodman: trgoodman.net (http://www.trgoodman.net)
Monday, August 18th: T. Strange: T.Strange (http://tqstrange.blogspot.com/)
Tuesday, August 19th: Frances Pauli: Speculative Friction (http://francespauli.blogspot.com)
Wednesday, August 20th: Jennifer Willis: Jennifer Willis (http://jennifer-willis.com/)
Thursday, August 21st: Cathy Hird: Open One More (http://openonemore.com/)
Friday, August 22nd: J.J. DiBenedetto: Writing Dreams (http://writingdreams.net/)