Ubiquitous Bubba's Blog, page 8
October 21, 2013
Writing Time
So, I’m writing about a personification of Time. How would you characterize Time as a person? Does Time have a sense of humor? Do verb tenses confuse Time? Does Time ever experience deja vu? Does Time have a favorite snack?
I know other authors have tackled writing about Time as a character. My take is a little different. Mine is a woman who is referred to by her minions as, the Mistress. She’s frequently covered with tiny spiders and thin wisps of silver webs. She wears long, flowing grey robes with billowing sleeves and a flowing train. The Mistress glides on a carpet of fog from one universe to another. She carries an hourglass filled with miniature skulls instead of grains of sand. It frequently irritates her and she would much rather have a nice watch. She likes to wear a jester’s hat, with little bells hanging from multicolored tails. She always has a wedge of cheese in one of her many pockets. Cheese amuses her. She likes to watch it age.
In my book, there’s a problem with Time. It’s a contagious condition that is spreading across multiple universes. When dimensions fall and Time collapses, how would the inhabitants of that universe know? If Time gets caught in a loop, how will the universe react? If Time has an enemy, who can she call on for help?
These are some of the questions I ponder as I write Blithering Genius. I had hoped to finish this book earlier this year. It just needed more Time.
Filed under: News, Ponderings Tagged: author, book, fantasy, Humor, science fiction, time, writing
October 14, 2013
Fun with Toxic Waste
For years, fictional characters have gained superhuman abilities due to exposure to toxic waste/radiation/mutant spiders. They run around in tights for no apparent reason. Some choose to be heros while others try (and fail) to take over the world. Someone will inevitably knock down buildings, toss trains, or raise a bit of a ruckus. Heros will swoop in, enjoy a prolonged tussle, and then race off, leaving a demolished city in their wake.
It occurred to me that, in spite of the frequently hyped mutation benefits, most people really don’t want to live near a toxic waste dump. I know. You’re probably wondering, “Hey, wouldn’t it be great to have an extra pair of arms, or some wings, or the ability to read minds?”
What if those arms looked like T-Rex arms? That doesn’t sound quite as good now, does it? Other than the obvious texting advantage, tiny additional arms don’t have much going for them. What if you grew wings, but they were pink and too small to help you fly? That might be especially bad if you’re name was Tinkerbelle. Kids can be cruel, you know. Parents who name their kids after fictional characters can be worse.
I think mind reading would be pretty bad, though. Can you imagine the constant noise and confusion as hundreds or even thousands of thoughts swarm over you? It’s one thing to ignore the roar of faceless strangers. It’s another to try in vain to block the thoughts of those you know. Do you really want to know what they think? What about politicians? Can you imagine the years of therapy you might require if you knew exactly what your govenment had planned for you? The only time you’d find absolute peace and quiet would be while you were stuck in traffic. Heavy traffic is blissfully free of thoughts.
I think teleportation would be a much better super power. I think about that every time I buy gas. I also dwell on this idea during the daily commute. Think of the possibilities. You could instantly jump anywhere you wanted to be without the soul-crushing grind of getting there. Nothing would be out of reach. There’s a downside, of course. The fact that the planet is spinning and falling through space means that your jump would have to be perfectly planned in order to avoid slamming your face into a mountain or unexpectadly enjoying the vaccuum of space. All in all, you probably wouldn’t have much time to learn from mistakes. On second thought, telepathy might be safer than teleportation.
A mind reader just drove past me, rolled down his window, and shouted, “Duh!” I’m glad I don’t know what he’s thinking.
Filed under: Ponderings Tagged: fantasy, Humor, mutation, super powers, superhuman, Telepathy, teleport
October 13, 2013
And Now, From Another Blog…
September 9, 2013
Wyrd!
Recently, a group of self-published authors gathered together on Goodreads.com and decided to create a science fiction / fantasy anthology. 12 authors wrote 14 short stories for this project. I was honored to submit a story to this collection.
We called this tome, Wyrd Worlds. The eBook is available for free on Smashwords.com at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/355249. If you enjoy speculative fiction, short stories, or things that are free, I urge you to download a copy. This anthology contains a wide variety of tales by some excellent authors.
I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as we enjoyed writing it. We’d love to hear your feedback, comments, questions, and/or reviews.
Filed under: General, News Tagged: anthology, book news, collaboration, ebook, fantasy, Humor, New, science fiction, self-publishing, short stories
August 22, 2013
Featured Author: Ubiquitous Bubba
Featured Author: Ubiquitous Bubba.
Interviewers ask questions. It’s their thing. Elizabeth Los recently asked some questions that prompted some inward pondering. Here’s the link to the interview.
Filed under: General, News
August 6, 2013
Low Cost Reality
Reality is expensive. Stuff costs money. Even money costs money. Time is a dimension, but people will charge you for it. Space has to be purchased or rented. In addition, insurance requires you to pay for possible futures.
Many human beings are trapped in Reality. It’s not their fault. No one asks for existence. As the price of Reality increases, people search desperately for relief.
Relax. Here’s something that should help. The price of Reality may be high, but the cost of Reality Challenged has just gone down.
You’re not imagining things. (Well, not yet, anyway…) Reality Challenged, my debut novel, is now available as an eBook at a reduced price from the usual eBook stores.
Spending less on an eBook can be your way of challenging Reality. Future you would thank you if the cost of time travel was not so high.
Filed under: News Tagged: book, book news, fiction, reduced price, sale
August 1, 2013
Popular Artistry
Popular Artistry – It’s a bit odd. If you think about it, the concept of having artistic works that appeal universally to the masses across multiple demographics is a relatively new phenomenon. Recently, I pondered the nature of artistry and cultural values.
100 years ago, cultural differences between geographic regions and socio-economic demographics were strong, reflecting the local values, worldviews and beliefs. The USA was a nation made up of many cultures rather than a comprehensive and uniform culture. Artists created their works within the context of their culture. In many cases, an artist would study under a master, learning the master’s technique, style, and genre before launching out to create their own work. In the aftermath of World War 1, a new universal culture began to emerge. Over time, this national culture overwhelmed its smaller, localized counterparts. Following World War II, the shift from regional, demographic cultures to a uniform national culture accelerated. Values clashed and fell before the unstoppable onslaught of a universal national identity. Similar cultural revolutions occurred throughout the world across the 20th century.
As a mass culture formed, art changed to express the new values and beliefs. Instead of creating art within the context of a local, regional culture, artists began to create for the masses. The teaching of the masters was dropped in favor of a new paradigm. Art had to be accessible to the masses in order to be “good”. Instead of evaluating a work of art based upon the artist’s technical skills, the new culture created new standards. The value of art became based upon its popularity rather than by the technical skill required to create it. Paint splashed without thought on a canvas was “better” than a skillfully painted portrait if the right people endorsed it. A three chord song was “better” than a brilliantly written symphony if the popular people liked it.
Writers and publishers were not immune from these changes. Even within the last few years, we have seen authors feverishly jump on the latest trends. Whether it was with wizards, vampires, werewolves, or zombies, writers were falling all over themselves to leap onto the bandwagon. It’s not their fault, really. It’s a cultural value. We prize the popular. We read the best sellers because we believed that their popularity indicates value. These books must be the best because they’re the most popular, right? We read book reviews written by others not because we wanted to know what other people thought but because we wanted to know if the book was popular enough to be “good”. We looked at sales rankings before buying to make sure we’re getting a good value.
It’s not a question of knowing how to evaluate quality. People are smart enough to know whether or not a book, song, or painting is well done. The issue is that, as a culture, we place an extremely high value on popularity. In many cases, we value popularity more than inherent quality. The strange thing is that we also place a value on appearing not to value popularity. Acting like you don’t care about such trivial things is one of the keys to increasing one’s popularity. It’s quite a psychological dance. We mock people who strive to be popular while feverishly working to garner the approval of others ourselves.
For an artist, this presents a real problem. Do you chase the elusive mirage of popularity or be true to yourself and your artistic voice? What good is it if you write your novel and only a small group of people read it? If you pour your heart out in a song and few every hear it, does it matter? If your painting captures the sum of your life’s work and it sits in a garage, is it worth anything? If you create a work of art, can you be satisfied with it if it is not popular?
In creating art, we can choose to break cultural rules. We can choose to do the unpopular thing. We can express the minority opinion. We can stand, not in opposition, but in indifference to relative popularity. We can speak with our own voice, in our own style, in our own unique manner without imitating another’s voice. Doing so may not be popular. It may fly in the face of a culture obsessed with the cult of celebrity. It may draw the scorn of fellow artists who feel threatened or offended by your difference in values. It may lead to a life of obscurity, largely ignored by the world around you.
On the other hand, what might happen if artists were to lead the culture rather than follow it? Cultural values are always in flux. If artists choose to change their own values, is it possible that they might influence the culture around them? If so, would you like to help change the world?
Filed under: Ponderings Tagged: Art, culture, literature, popularity, writers, writing
July 1, 2013
Cool Summer Sale
Heat is hot. Summer has a lot of it. Sitting in an air conditioned room is cool. Sitting in an air conditioned room with an eBook is even cooler.
This year, the month of July is getting cooler. From July 1 to July 31, 2013, you can purchase a copy of Reality Challenged at Smashwords for 50% off. Just go to the Smashwords web site http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/262469 and use Coupon Code SSW50b when you check out.
The question to ask yourself is, “Would I rather endure the horrendous suffering caused by frying under a massive ball of fire dangling precariously overhead, or relax in serene comfort while reading a funny book?” I think you know the right answer.
Filed under: News Tagged: Books, discount, ebook, funny, sale
June 26, 2013
Short Stuff
Side projects. Sometimes, they come out of nowhere. They jump up, refocus your priorities, and promise they won’t take much of your time.
A group of Science Fiction / Fantasy authors on Goodreads decided to create an anthology of their short stories. When I read about this, a short story suddenly leapt out at me and demanded my attention. I told it that I was working on my second novel and that I didn’t have a lot of spare time. It curled around my brain and said that it could share time and I could work on both projects simultaneously. I asked it if it really knew me at all. It then sank its fangs into my mind and told me that it was only pretending to give me a choice.
So, I dove into it. In the beginning, the story was very dark and rather depressing. I liked the basic idea, but not the way it was delivered. I added another character and rewrote the intro. The entire story came to life. Before I knew what was happening, I was halfway through it and wasn’t even sure where it was going. I came up with an ending, and pushed forward. I got up to the last 2,000 words or so, and the story dug its claws in. I suddenly realized that it had a completely different ending in mind, so I went back and rewrote the finale. When the story was finished, it lay there, purring contentedly and occasionally flicking its tail along my brain stem. That’s a strange sensation.
The stories are being collected by the end of July and the anthology will be published on Smashwords in the August/September timeframe. It will be offered for free and I’ll post links to it here at that time. My short story is titled, The Imaginary Invasion. I hope you enjoy it. As side projects go, this was a lot of fun.
Yes, it told me to say that.
Filed under: News Tagged: anthology, fantasy, fiction, free, goodreads, new story, science fiction, short story
May 30, 2013
Considering String Theory
We’ve all heard about it. String Theory. It’s the (relatively) new big idea in physics. It could even lead to the mythical Theory of Everything. Some speculate that it could explain, predict or someday prove the existence of parallel universes.
When physicists engage in creative speculation, science fiction authors get excited. No one creates impressive sounding buzz words like a physicist. Supergravity, Mirror Symmetry of Six Dimensional Manifolds, String Dualities, 11 Dimensional M-Theory, Two and Five Dimensional Membranes, 12 Dimensional Two Time Theory, etc. Each one is like an eagerly anticipated birthday present.
Sure, some authors dive deeply into the hard science, wrestling with the formulas, contemplating theoretical constructs, and stretching their brains to the breaking point. They eagerly pour over complex geometries, undetectable dimensions, nuclear forces, and the uncomfortable glares between General Relativity and Quantum Field Theory. Others take a different approach.
For many years, science fiction has played in the space beyond what is currently known and proven by science. Want characters to get from one star to the next within the reader’s lifetime? Hyperspace! Want to blur the lines between man and machine? Cyborgs! Want to consider alternate histories? Parallel Universes! Want to explore the mind-bending ramifications of causality problems? Time Machine!
For the average person, scientists can sometimes appear as wise Seers of Ultimate Truth. They perceive things mere mortals can’t begin to understand. When we ask them to explain, we can’t understand the explanations (or the drawings). We are sometimes surprised when we discover that some of this science began as a flight of fancy in someone’s imagination.
Imagination plays a big role in our lives. We foster it and encourage it as children. We praise it in our artists, authors, and musicians. We frequently challenge one another to “think outside the box” or to be creative problem solvers. It’s not hard to see similarities between the imaginations of a physicist and an author. Both speculate on the nature of reality, alternative scenarios, and logical outcomes. They both attempt to create a plausible and believable worldview. They both build on what is known and look ahead to what might be. Obviously, one of those professions is more noble and respectable than the other, but we can’t all be authors.
Filed under: Ponderings Tagged: authors, imagination, physics, science, scientists, string theroy, writing
