Michael Coorlim's Blog, page 36

I grokked Spock

When I was a kid I was super into Star Trek. The original series. I liked The Next Generation too, sure, but I was 9 when that came out. I remember watching reruns of the old series when I was very young, filled with this sense of awe and wonder by what remains one of the most accessible sci-fi outlets I had as a kid.

I loved reading sci-fi too, but when I was very young most of the cool books were too much for me to handle, and movies were far and few in between. For me, in the mid-80s, science fiction was Star Trek.

And Spock was my favorite character.

It’s probably that way for a lot of people my age, especially those of us who were smart enough and emotionally troubled enough to see an appeal in a life lived by a code of pure logic. Spock was smart. He was strong. He should have been captain, not that Kirk jerk!

Ah well. Leonard Nimoy’s portrayal was an important part of my childhood, and a major cultural touchstone for everyone over a certain age, and a second-hand touchstone for everyone below it. One of those people who added their own color to the world’s palate.

He was 83. He was suffering from a serious illness. I didn’t know him. His death was not exactly a surprise or in any way untimely, but it’s one that I, that many of us, feel keenly.

He lived long, he prospered, and his legacy touched us deeply. Thank you for the years of inspiration, Mr. Nimoy.

Questions? You are invited to either leave a comment below, or ask directly through the comment form.

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TWIK006: I-Ching

The I-Ching, or Book of Changes, is an ancient divination manual.

In this episode we talk about the development and use of the I-Ching from divination to moral philosophy to divination again.

The Yarrow Stalk Method

This is the means of using the I-Ching for divinatory purposes laid out in the Confucian commentary.

One takes fifty yarrow stalks, of which only forty-nine are used. These forty-nine are first divided into two heaps (at random), then a stalk from the right-hand heap is inserted between the ring finger and the little finger of the left hand. The left heap is counted through by fours, and the remainder (four or less) is inserted between the ring finger and the middle finger. The same thing is done with the right heap, and the remainder inserted between the forefinger and the middle finger. This constitutes one change.


Now one is holding in one’s hand either five or nine stalks in all. The two remaining heaps are put together, and the same process is repeated twice. These second and third times, one obtains either four or eight stalks. The five stalks of the first counting and the four of each of the succeeding countings are regarded as a unit having the numerical value three; the nine stalks of the first counting and the eight of the succeeding countings have the numerical value two.


When three successive changes produce the sum 3+3+3=9, this makes the old yang, i.e., a firm line that moves. The sum 2+2+2=6 makes old yin, a yielding line that moves. Seven is the young yang, and eight the young yin; they are not taken into account as individual lines.

The three coins method is much easier, faster, and generally more accessible.

Links

Ghosts of Shaolin, book 5 in the Galvanic Century series, contains a scene where the I-Ching is consulted.
You can give yourself online I-Ching readings here.
Good paperback edition of the I-Ching (affiliate link)
Handy affordable ebook edition of the I-Ching (affiliate link)
If you feel like you need them, handy I-Ching coins (affiliate link)

Personally, I just use quarters.

This is one of those things where if I get enough Patreon supporters I’d do a google hangout or a special backer-only episode where I did a live i-Ching reading.

 

Questions? You are invited to either leave a comment below, or ask directly through the comment form.

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That Which is Known: I have a podcast

For the last month or so I’ve been producing That Which is Known, a weekly podcast.

As many of my readers know, I do a lot of research for my books. It’s not a burden. I’ve always loved doing research. I was one of those kids who would browse the encyclopedia idly, who would read ahead in all his textbooks. I’m not sure exactly where I came by that love of learning, but I’ve had it for as long as I can remember.

So, naturally, my writing process involves doing a lot of research, both before I write and while I’m drifting down a given tangent.

Pedagogue? Demagogue? Some kind of gogue.

I also have a tendency to get really excited about whatever it is that I’ve been learning, to the point where I’ll spout off about it to anyone in shouting distance. Largely, in the past, this has been those “fortunate” enough to cohabit with me. I’ve also shared a few things here on the blog.

So, given the fact that I’m already doing the work and taking my natural tendency to prattle on endlessly into account, a podcast where I talk about the research I’ve been doing seems inevitable.

Why a podcast? Why not?

For awhile I toyed with the idea of making youtube videos as an alternative to text-blogging, but then I realized that while I have a decent microphone, my laptop camera isn’t that great. Plus, I’m not an actor.

Hence: That Which is Known

That Which is Known (or, if you prefer snappy abbreviations, TWIK) is just me yammering into a microphone about one of my research topics every week. After some playing about to find an ideal format, I’m going to aim for short five-minute episodes, bite-sized audio listeners can slip into whatever appropriate-sized cracks fill their days.

My goals:

Talk about things my readers are interested in to improve engagement with my beloved fans
Reach new potential readers in the hopes that they’ll be curious enough to check out my books
Get comfortable with audio production, podcasting, and speaking in preparation for FUTURE PROJECTS that I’m not currently at liberty to discuss.
Make a few bucks through donations, affiliate links, or sponsorships. Maybe.

How you can listen to TWIK

The easiest way to keep up with TWIK is to subscribe to its RSS feed or subscribe to it on iTunes. If you do listen through iTunes (and even if you don’t), it would help me a lot if you’d give it a rating – the more ratings TWIK gets, the more people will see it.

I’ll also be announcing recent topics on my mailing list, so if you’re signed up and see a topic that interests you, there will be a link for you to check that out with.

I hope you check it out. I hope you enjoy it. If you have suggestions for topics from my writing you’d like to hear me talk about, I encourage you to use the contact form on my website to let me know.

Questions? You are invited to either leave a comment below, or ask directly through the comment form.

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TWIK005: Qi

If you want to find fortune and success, you must learn to harness your qi.

I was going to do an episode on different forms of “life energy” in different cultures, but the topic turned out to be far too massive for a single episode. Instead, I’ve broken it up, and this week we’re discussing the Chinese concept of qi.

Ghosts of Shaolin and Martial Arts

I did some research on qi for Ghosts of Shaolin, the fifth Galvanic Century book, but I was already familiar with the concept from the martial arts classes I’d taken a decade ago, which lead me down the long road to studying Taoism.

Not to give anything away, but Ghosts of Shaolin has several plot points that tie into different expressions of qi theory and manipulation.

I was researching a bit more, recently, while writing the next book, Steam and Samsara, though that book deals with prana more than qi. We’ll be talking about prana in a future episode.

Links

Traditional Chinese Medicine World Foundation
An Introduction to Chinese Herbs
The Patterns of Zang-fu Organs
National Qigong Association
Feng Shui for Dummies
An exhibition of qi in the martial arts (video)

Any subjects from my books that you’d like me to cover? Comment below or use my contact form. If you like what I’m doing and want to help me increase the quality of the podcast, donate through Patreon or Paypal.

Questions? You are invited to either leave a comment below, or ask directly through the comment form.

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Shifting Focus to Galvanic Century

Best laid plans and all that.

An upswell of interest since the release of Ghosts of Shaolin has convinced me to focus on writing the next few Galvanic Century steampunk thrillers this year, and pushing back my other projects.

I’m all about the fans, so while I’m excited about these other books, I’m going to give you what you’ve been asking for. Expect the first book this summer.

Of Steam and Samsara

Following the rescue of his kidnapped daughter, detective and engineer James Wainwright wants nothing more than to take the girl on a peaceful holiday to see the Indian subcontinent’s spectacular Hyderabad Lunar Cannon, a marvel of Edwardian technology.

However, the detective soon discovers that all is not peaceful in the British Raj. Someone is perpetuating a campaign of murder and sabotage against the native Indian project. While the Crown representatives maintain that it must be the work of Communist agitators, the project’s director insists that it must be a rival English conglomerate, trying to steal this too from the Indian people.

James must overcome his disdain for politics if he’s to help stop the sabotage before the tense situation escalates into outright rebellion, or mankind will never slip free the surly bonds of Earth.

Ms. Haverdash’s School for Murdered Girls

Xin Yan could only watch in horror while the Scissorman, a monstrous serial killer, slaughtered her family. It left her alone amidst the carnage, until she was rescued by the engineer-detective James Wainwright, the man who went on to raise her as a daughter.

When the girls who tormented her most at Ms. Haverdash’s School for Girls begin to die horribly, a clinical psychiatrist working for the Metropolitan Police has his sights set on her as the prime suspect.

With both her sanity and her freedom in question, it’s up to Xin to discover who is really killing the girls at her school… no matter how painful those truths turn out to be.

Iron Horses Can’t Be Broken

When Alton Bartleby took control of the family finances a decade ago, the first thing he did was have his alcoholic father committed. The second thing he did was have his sister engaged to an American industrialist. The third thing he did was have his mother shipped off to live with her. Free from his familial burden, Alton was able to rebuild his family’s name and their fallen fortunes.

Following a bout of ill health, his wife Aldora books him a holiday at mineral springs in the American West renowned for their restorative properties. Confronted with either defying her or reconciling with the family he’s abandoned, Alton takes the path of least resistance to reconnect with his mother and sister.

His mother, at any rate. His sister has gone missing, jilting her betrothed at the altar, an insult the robber baron’s son takes none-too-lightly.

On the run from his not-quite-brother-in-law’s hired guns, Alton Bartleby must follow the trail left by his vanished sister, a decade gone cold. If he can’t find her, it’ll mean death at the hands of an enraged posse. If he can.. it might be worse.

Fisticuffs Most Brutal

Boxing is a brutal sport, one that engineer and detective James Wainwright does not care for. It reminds him far too much of the man he used to be, and when prominent local boxers begin to turn up dead, he’s uninterested in the case.

Until his brother becomes one of those victims.

Finding himself faced with an international conspiracy, the inventor enters an underground world of illegal bloodsports, forced to once more raise his fists in violent aggression against his fellow man. Can he turn his back on his pacifistic ways? What does it say about him if he can?

Is the pursuit of justice worth a betrayal of the soul?

 

 

Questions? You are invited to either leave a comment below, or ask directly through the comment form.

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TWIK004: Galvanism

This episode is the first in a series about the wonderfully strange pseudo-scientific beliefs held during the 18th and 19th century.

Luigi Galvani

Most of the episode focuses on early beliefs regarding electricity, particularly its potential medical applications as explored by physician Luigi Galvani, from whom we derive the term Galvanized.

Seeding future episodes

This is a fairly broad topic, so we’ll likely narrow it down in future episodes, particularly when we talk about mental health and electroshock therapy, and when we talk about the theories and projects of inventor Nikolai Tesla.

Links to Things:

Biography of Luigi Galvani
Modern experiments in galvanism: Frog with implanted webserver
Turn of the century electrotheraphy museum
Frankenstein at Project Gutenberg
TWIK002: Steampunk

Galvanic Century

In the Galvanic Century series of steampunk mysteries and thrillers, many figures from literature were real. Victor Frankenstein was one of those figures, though the events of Shelly’s book predate the series by almost a century.

Galvanic Resurrections are none-the-less a known example of “forbidden” science, dead men resurrected through electrical means. In the setting, Doctor Frankenstein was the one to have pioneered the technique, but it’s seen one-hundred years of development.

Other examples of galvanic science include Galvanic Constructs, automatons with living human brains and spinal columns, and the cogsmen, who are equal parts dead men and machine that incorporate a sustaining galvanic battery.

Examples of these creatures can be found in the books Bartleby and James and March of the Cogsmen.

Next Week

Next week we’ll be talking about Qi energy.

As always, if you have questions or comments, or want to suggest topics from my work for a future episode, feel free to do so on my Contact page or in the comments below.

If you enjoy That Which is Known and want to show your gratitude, you can find out how on my Donate page.

Questions? You are invited to either leave a comment below, or ask directly through the comment form.

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Writing more short fiction in 2015

For the past three years I’ve been a novelist, but I started out writing short fiction. In 2015 I’m going to try and get back to my roots.

“The best hygiene for beginning writers or intermediate writers is to write a hell of a lot of short stories. If you write one short story a week, doesn’t matter what the quality is to start,

but at least you’re practicing. And at the end of the year you have 52 short stories. And I defy you to write 52 bad ones.” – Ray Bradburry

It’s already four weeks into the year, so I’m not going to be quite following Ray’s advice here, but I do plan on writing more short fiction in 2015. More importantly, I’m going to be trying to get some of my shorts published.

I actually enjoy the submission and query process. There’s a mechanical simplicity to it, researching target markets, sending off a story, then letting the machine do its work while you write the next one.

Maybe I’m just weird.

After publication, once the rights of a given story have reverted to me, I’ll send them to my mailing list.

Questions? You are invited to either leave a comment below, or ask directly through the comment form.

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TWIK003: Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation is a natural high.

This episode is all about not getting enough sleep. I never do, yet I’m always tempted to stay up later and later to try and get more done. Give a listen and learn about how this is a terrible idea.

We start off talking about how much sleep we need, then move on to what happens if we don’t get it. We touch on sleep disorders, and Fatal Familial Insomnia.

UPDATE: After recording this but before publishing it, it came to my attention that the National Sleep Foundation published new recommendations for the amount of sleep people should be getting. You can read about those here.

As always, If you enjoyed the podcast, you’re encouraged to make a donation.

Sleep Study

I’ve been researching sleep deprivation for a web series I’ve been producing, Sleep Study. It’s got a kickstarter running until the 17th, and if successful it’ll start filming in May.

Links

Insufficient sleep is a public health epidemic
Circadian Rhythm Fact Sheet
Mayo Clinic on Sleep Apnea
Students aren’t getting enough sleep
JAMA article linking sleep deprivation to diabetes and gluten intolerance
Research linking sleep deprivation to psychiatric disorders
Article on Polyphasic sleep
Fact page on Fatal Familial Insomnia

Questions? You are invited to either leave a comment below, or ask directly through the comment form.

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Guest post on Burning Brigid Media

I wrote a guest post about keeping the faith as a working creative over at Burning Brigid Media. Go check it out.

Questions? You are invited to either leave a comment below, or ask directly through the comment form.

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TWIK002: Steampunk Origins

Steampunk. What is it? Where did it come from? What’s with all the goggles?

First of all, I’d like to thank Professor Elemental for his permission to use his song, Steam Powered, in the episode intro.

This episode covers the origins of steampunk as a literary genre, and the growing importance of the ‘punk’ element of the name.

Links:

K.W. Jeter’s note to Locus magazine, wherein he coins the term ‘steampunk’
Steampunk Hands Across the World
Beyond Victoriana
Steampunk India
K.W. Jeter on Facebook
William Gibson
Bruce Sterling
Alyson Grauer
The Difference Engine on Amazon (Affiliate Link)

Future episodes will cover specific steampunk topics in greater depth, including steampunk music, the contemporary DIY maker culture, and the mainstream attempts at commercial exploitation.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with others, or rate it on iTunes – that’s what helps our audience grow.

 

Questions? You are invited to either leave a comment below, or ask directly through the comment form.

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