Sherrie R. Cronin's Blog, page 28
February 24, 2017
Am I writing sexist science fiction?
[image error]I’ve been a feminist since I was a teenager; longer than that if you consider wanting to be the chief science officer on the star ship Enterprise as a sign of early feminism. And yet, like other like-minded authors of speculative fiction, I struggle with feminism in my writing.
Read the entire post at Am I writing sexist science fiction?
Filed under: c3: favorite posts Tagged: #amwriting, #amwritingfantasy, book reviews, books, causes, creating characters, equality, feminism, fiction, heroes, science fiction, sexism, sexual norms, women, writing, writing science fiction
February 18, 2017
Does Marvin Gaye know what’s going on?
[image error]In fact, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” is a song about hope … It basically says I’ll be there to help you , because no force is big enough to stop me. It’s the last part of the that message that gets my attention; the idea that nothing can be so big and so bad that it can’t be overcome by someone who wants to make things better.
Read more at Does Marvin Gaye know what’s going on?
Filed under: music, z2: favorite posts, z2: hope Tagged: anger, best music, equality, happy songs, hippies, history, hope, just listen, music, music videos, politics, protests
February 11, 2017
Am I capable of learning to like anything?
I conducted psyche experiments on myself when I was a child. You can’t blame me. There were things I needed to know, and I was my only cooperative subject. For instance, were all my preferences acquired tastes? This was important. If they were, then maybe I would eventually like beer, which was good because this appeared to be a necessary component to getting along as a teenager. On the other hand, it meant I might eventually wear pink polyester stretch pants like my mother, which was a horrifying concept. Either way, I had to know.
Read the entire post on my y1 blog at Am I capable of learning to like anything?
Filed under: y1: favorite posts Tagged: acceptance, creepy, define yourself, experiments, hate, honesty, honor, I know it when I see it, identity, kindness, obnoxious men, open mind, people who bring you down, politics
February 7, 2017
The Trouble with Telepathy
[image error]Yes, it may not be the classic telepathy of fiction, but we are talking about direct brain to brain communication here, aided by modern technology. The article goes on to address possible real life uses including already successful work on adapting a brain-to-machine interface to help paralyzed patients walk by using their brain signals to control prosthetic devices. This is cool, and it is really happening.
Read this update on achieving telepathy through technology at The trouble with telepathy.
Filed under: reviews, writing, x0: favorite posts, x0: telepathy Tagged: #amwriting, #amwritingfantasy, books, brains, communication, empathy, fiction, finishing a novel, future, games, magic, mind reading, novel, open mind, predictions, science, science fiction, speculative fiction, technology, telepaths, telepathy, writers, writing, writing science fiction
January 30, 2017
The Magic of the Solstice
You probably can tell that I’m fascinated by the seasons, just as I’m fascinated by pretty much everything else about our amazing planet. If you find such things interesting, check out a wonderful site called Time and Date where you can get a wide variety of information about observing the heavens from various places here on earth. I used the website as I wrote d4, researching the movement of the sun in both Greenland and Iceland as it affected my characters and my story.
Read this entire post on my d4 blog at The Magic of the Solstice
Filed under: d4: favorite posts Tagged: beauty, beginnings, magic, nature, physics, science, seasons, solstice, spring, sunsets, wine, winter
January 23, 2017
Backing Down, Making Nice, and Saying Goodbye
The Dixie Chicks sweep the 2007 Grammy Awards with their album “Not Ready to Make Nice”
Accept and move on. That doesn’t mean backing down on my principles. It does not mean making nice with the people who put us into this mess. In fact, hanging on to what I believe and refusing to look the other way regarding hateful behavior is going to help me get out of this funk. I’m determined to find a way to say goodbye to a world that is not going to be, and then to work my hardest to see that four years from now I’m singing a very different kind of song.
Read my entire post about defiant music and my post election struggles on my c3 blog at Backing Down, Making Nice, and Saying Goodbye
Filed under: c3: courage, c3: favorite posts, music Tagged: acceptance, anger, best music, change, courage, music, music videos, obsessed, overcoming, people who bring you down, politics, reconcilliation, reform
January 17, 2017
Safety in Science Fiction
Taking the time to read Charles Yu’s “How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe” was a special treat for me. If I let myself read science fiction at all these days, it is flash fiction; something that won’t stick in my head while I try to finish my own science fiction novel. But I was at a retreat for three days, without computer, internet or television, and it was dark before six p.m. What was I to do? So I took peak into Minor Universe 31 and became trapped for many enjoyable hours.
Read the full review on my z2 blog at Safety in Science Fiction.
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Filed under: reviews, z2: favorite posts, z2: time Tagged: #TimeTravel, book reviews, books, creating characters, creativity, fiction, finishing a novel, novel, original, physics, quantum mechanics, reading, risks, science, science fiction, the universe, time, time altering, time bending, time machines, time travel, unique, writing science fiction, writing style
January 14, 2017
I decided to make 2016 the best year of my life. So, was it?
[image error]A year ago today (Dec. 31 2015) I came up with an odd plan. I read the quote The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood* and I decided to challenge myself to make 2016 the best year of my life. It’s been a year now. How did it work?
Well, implementation was challenging. A few days into 2016 I realized that I had already forgotten my plan, which wasn’t exactly an encouraging start. So ….
Read the full post on my y1 blog at I decided to make 2016 the best year of my life. So, was it?
Filed under: y1: favorite posts, y1: joy Tagged: be better, beginnings, better, comfort, free time, fresh start, happiness, improvement, joy, memories, moving, new house, new year, personal freedom, personal growth, perspective, resolutions, seasons, tomorrow, unexpected, worrying
January 6, 2017
A way to wish you joy and peace in 2017
I woke up to this sunrise today, a reminder that every day brings us a fresh chance to embrace, improve and enjoy this wonderful gift we call life.
It’s been a tough couple of months for me, and for others who want to encourage tolerance and empathy. I’m looking for positive ways to deal with my concerns about the direction in which my country is headed, and I hope that you are too. Lucky for me, my sister, who is full of good ideas, had a suggestion for me.
With her encouragement, I reviewed, edited and sorted through the 159 posts on my x0 blog and put the best of them into a new book called “Face Painting for World Peace.” This short (121 page) volume of essays attempts to be both humorous and thought provoking as it examines what I like to call “intra-species harmony” (aka world peace) from a wide variety of angles. Three of my favorites are One Person’s Tourist Destination is Another Person’s Home, My Imaginary Prison Time, and My iPod Works as a Fortune Cookie.
This new eBook is available on Amazon for the least I am allowed to charge (ninety-nine cents), and is similarly available at Barnes and Noble, on Smashwords, and at the iTunes store where it can be found as an iBook by searching on Sherrie Cronin. This is not intended to be a money making project; I have pledged to donate half of all proceeds to “Doctors Without Borders”.
Here is the description:
I am passionate about the cause of the world peace. From early 2012 on I have maintained a blog in which I often write about empathy and peace. I have arranged these short essays in book form, to be published for Christmas 2016. A lot has changed in the world over the past four years, but what has not changed is how I continue to cherish time with those I love, and how others do the same throughout the world. This book is my holiday card; my way of wishing hope, joy and peace to every human on earth, with no exceptions.
Please download, please enjoy, and please share with others. Meanwhile, I will try to wake up every day during this coming year, catch a glimpse of that beautiful dawn, and then seek out positive ways to add my voice to the chorus still being sung by those who believe that kindness should guide our politics, our words and our actions. I invite you to sing along, too.
(You can read the orignal post announcing the book on my x0 blog.)
Filed under: writing, x0: peace Tagged: #amwriting, acceptance, art, be better, be gentle, better, book reviews, books, causes, compassion, do something, doves, empathy, finishing a novel, kindness, meditation, music, new year, pacifism, peace, peace signs, peace songs, publishing, Qigong, reconcilliation, science fiction, self-publishing, tolerance, travel, world, world peace, writing, yoga
December 30, 2016
That’s Why You Make the Trip
Cinnamon on oranges and cumin on boiled eggs. The inside of a walled city so confusing that it has spawned an entire cottage industry devoted to directing lost tourists. Surfer towns painted in hippie colors and seaside resorts caught in a 50’s time warp as they offer hospitality to a smattering of elderly Europeans.
None of this is what I expected when I came to Morocco.
This is a blog about predicting the future, and over the past few days I’ve been thinking a lot about the unexpected.
Read the entire post on my d4 blog at That’s Why You Make the Trip.
Filed under: d4: favorite posts, travel Tagged: adventure, future, hippies, now, ocean, photography, predictions, probability, risks, seeing the future, sunsets, tourists, travel, treasures, unexpected
