Sable Aradia's Blog, page 32
September 13, 2018
Space Elevator!
By Scott Snowden
The push for a space elevator took a step forward this week when a team of researchers from Shizuoka University in Japan announced that they will launch an experiment to the International Space Station next week.
In the experiment, which will be the first of its kind in space, two ultrasmall cubic satellites, or “cubesats,” will be released into space from the station. They will be connected by a steel cable, where a small container — acting like an elevator car — will move along the cable using its own motor. A camera attached to the satellites will record the movements of the container in space, according to the Japanese newspaper The Mainichi.
Read the full article at Space.com.
September 11, 2018
Fall Patreon Drive & Giveaway!
I’m celebrating my book release and doing a fall Patreon membership drive, and I’m putting some pretty skookum prizes on the line! LINK TO ENTER HERE! Contest runs from September 15 to September 30, 2018.
My Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/SableAradia
HOW IT WORKS:
Join my Patreon at any level! (See link above, in the video endscreen & video cards, or on the top of my channel page) Value: 5 entries
Invite others to join! Get them to tell me you sent them in the comments of one of the posts or the comments section of this video! Value: 3 entries per referral. You can enter once each day.
Enter the draw at the Rafflecopter link above. Keep adding an entry every time you get a referral.
You can also gain additional entries by visiting my Facebook page, Tweeting about the giveaway (make sure to tag me @SableAradia,) or following my Twitter. Value: 1 entry per social media interaction. You can do this once each day too.
PRIZES:
1 copy of Once Upon a Time in the Wyrd West will be drawn, regardless of how many people do or do not join my Patreon
I will also draw for 1 copy of Food on Their Table if I get 10 or more new Patrons
I will also draw for 1 copy of The Witch’s Eight Paths of Power if I get 20 or more new Patrons
I will also draw for 1 copy of Chasing Fireflies if I get 30 or more new Patrons
I will also draw for 1 copy of The Pagan Leadership Anthology if I get 40 or more new Patrons
TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
Prizes will not be awarded until the minimum number of new Patrons to justify them is reached
Prize books can be signed or unsigned as you prefer
I will need your email address to communicate with you
I will need to get your snail mail address to send you your book
If you win a book you already own, you may choose 1 of any of the other books featured in the draw
I will handle the cost of the books and the shipping, but you are responsible for any relevant duties or taxes
No cash value will be awarded
You must remain a Patron for at least 3 calendar months to collect your prize
GOOD LUCK!
Visit my Amazon author page!
GET ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WYRD WEST HERE!
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Sparks by Chaël https://soundcloud.com/chael_music
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September 10, 2018
On Writing Misterioso
By N.J. Schrock
In my backyard, I have a tree whose fruit is colored bottles, and it serves a useful purpose. The bottles trap and kill evil spirits. During the night, evil spirits wander into the bottles, and they can’t find their way out—basically like a lobster trap for spirits. Then, when the morning sunlight hits the bottles, the evil spirits, which don’t like sunlight, are burned away. Poof!
Skeptical? Where’s your sense of mystery? The bottle tree legend is believed to have originated in Africa and been brought to the states with African slaves, which is why you’re more likely to see one in the South. Being a transplanted Yankee, I’d never seen a bottle tree until I experienced one years ago at The Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas. It was a thing of beauty, and a sign nearby explained the legend. I thought the idea was so cool that I wanted to have one, but I needed the right structure. Some people use welded metal rods, but I wanted something more organic. So, when our Majestic Indian Hawthorn tree died last year, I saw an opportunity to have a bottle tree although I knew it would take some work.
Read the full article at Cat Rambo’s blog.
September 6, 2018
Book Review: The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke
The Fountains Of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Read for the SF Masterworks Reading Challenge and Science Fiction Masterworks Book Club here on Goodreads, the 12 in 12 Challenge, the LGBTQ Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge, and the Hard Core Sci-Fi Challenge.
This book won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 1979/1980, and was nominated for the BSFA and the Locus.
This book was a clever idea. Clarke again proves his mastery of the genre by asking a question, and following the answer to its logical conclusion. What would happen if an engineer decided to build a space elevator? This was a novel idea when Clarke started writing about it. How would it be done? And what kind of person would it take to do it?
There were obvious references to the Tower of Babel, although Clarke made use of a story about an ancient South Asian king as his comparative narrative for its symbolism instead, and I suppose it’s a testament to Clarke’s worldbuilding in that I have no idea if the story has any truth in it, or is an allegory based on a real historical or mythological figure, or is entirely made up for the book. It felt genuine, and perhaps that is enough.
I can’t quite give it five stars, though, because in my opinion, the characters lose something. I’m not really clear what; they just felt kind of flat to me. It might entirely be my own perspective, because these 70s male scientific and religious characters are perhaps too far out of my own experience to really empathize with in the way I perhaps should. I gleaned that Clarke was probably also using the story as an allegory for himself, and musing on whether or not it’s dangerously vain to want to create a magnum opus, because how are we to really know whether or not such a thing would work, and if so, whether future generations will value it? A worthy thought, for sure.
It might also be that the narrative felt slow in places. It’s important to invest oneself into the technological puzzle to enjoy the tension in this book, and since we have yet to achieve the kind of technology that could make a space elevator feasible, perhaps I just wasn’t as invested.
Still, it is an excellent book, the idea is brilliant, and I see why it has taken its place among the SF Masterworks.
September 3, 2018
Terra! Tara! Terror! is Available for Pre-Order
[image error]You may have heard that my story “The Android Graveyard” was accepted to the Terra! Tara! Terror! anthology from Third Flatiron. So it’s now available for pre-order! You can get it here. There’s an amazing plethora of great authors in this collection, and we’re even featuring a special reprint from Robert Silverberg! I can’t wait! Check it out! Available Sept. 30, with a paperback coming in the near future. Or subscribe to the magazine on their Patreon!
September 2, 2018
Feature Friday Futures: Wyrd West
By Eric Klein
Today we have a special treat, a holiday weekend extra interview with Diane Morrison here to tell us about her novel Once Upon a Time in the Wyrd West (part of the Wyrd West Chronicles).
Can you describe your world or setting?
The Wyrd West is a post-apocalyptic setting in which technology has become unreliable without an alchemical component, and magic and myth have returned to the world. After many years of recovery, technology has returned to about Victorian / Old West levels. As a result, myth and culture reflect this, only backed by supernatural powers. Gunslingers are a holy order of Law empowered to keep the peace and protect the common people. Their dark reflections, the Desperados, make deals with infernal powers to gain their abilities. Magic and faith of all kinds have measurable and observable effects in the world, and there are elves, gnomes, and other high fantasy races, as well as giant sentient bugs.
Read the full article at Eric Klein’s website!
September 1, 2018
My Goodreads Book Review: Once Upon a Time in the Wyrd West
Once Upon a Time in the Wyrd West by Diane Morrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the long-promised print collection of the first six of the Wyrd West Chronicles, originally written as an ebook serial. Some minor changes to the text have been made in order to facilitate the flow of a single volume, mostly in that I don’t recap things that you might have read in the last episode because I assume that, unlike with the originals, you’re going to sit down and read this from beginning to end. Each story stands on its own, but together they form a consistent story arc as well.
I’ve had a good reception from people for these stories, and I sure love writing them! I think you’ll enjoy the print copy if you (like me) prefer print books. The formatting is beautiful and I couldn’t be happier with the presentation. Thanks so much to Katje Van Loon for zir excellent work, and to C.L. Cannon of Fiction-Atlas Press for helping me make Katje’s cover design, and my tweaks, work. I’d also like to thank my Patrons and my Kickstarter Backers, without whom this book wouldn’t have happened.
The Wyrd West Chronicles are a genre-bender and a mixture of a lot of things. In essence, it’s what happens when a high fantasy meets a Western, set in a post-apocalyptic magical world that’s a little bit steampunk (or cattlepunk, if you’re familiar with that term). I guess the closest description of its genre is Weird West, where Western meets the supernatural. However, the supernatural element in Weird Westerns tends to be geared towards horror; vampires and zombies and the like. Mine is more like Tolkien meets Tombstone.
I think, however, that you could still legitimately call it a Western. The themes are based in Western themes; standing up for what you believe is right, rugged individualism, determined survivalists; that kind of thing. A dedicated Western fan will recognize a lot of tropes that they know and love (without the stereotypes, I hope; though that may not be evident right away.) This is a mythic West. Yet, all the tropes that remain exist for a reason that I think is consistent within the world I’ve constructed. I like to take tropes and not exactly subvert them, but twist them. Firefly fans might appreciate what I’m trying to do.
I find that fantasy, sci-fi and western fans have all found things to enjoy in these stories. I hope you will too.
August 30, 2018
Character and Identity
By Morgan Smith
Writers are all different, and they have a lot of different ways of describing/manifesting how characters in their work come into being.
Some of us are analytical: we use character sheets, balancing the strengths and weaknesses, outlining and pinpointing traits that we then use to (hopefully) further their plots. We “map” things. We rely on graphs and probabilities and numerical data. We know in advance that if “X” happens, the character(s) will do “Y” because “that’s who they are”.
Some of us are more “fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants” – we might create a basic character (he’s a roguish-type, but with aristocratic table manners/she’s pretty but with low self-esteem) and then – when a situation comes up – revisit those basic outlines, to add habits or quirks or secret talents, that further the plot or thematic stuff as we get deeper into things.
Read the full article at Morgan Smith’s blog.
August 28, 2018
CreateSpace Merges With KDP
I’m glad I’m also planning on printing Once Upon a Time in the Wyrd West with IngramSpark. The timing of this could not have been much worse for me because it affects my Kickstarter fulfillment in progress. I will keep my readers posted of any changes. Expect the cost of Food on Their Table (CreateSpace exclusive) to be going up; that much I can say for sure. Sorry about that.
The day we’ve all been waiting for (or, in some cases, dreading) is here! CreateSpace has officially announced that CreateSpace (CSP) and Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) will become one service. All titles it hosts will now move to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). As I had guessed, CS will, in effect, become one of Amazon’s production and distribution centers, printing the titles on behalf of KDP.
If you wish to compare the pros and cons of KDP compared to CreateSpace, check out my earlier posts, KDP Print Just Got A Whole Lot More Attractive and Moving Your Book From Createspace to KDP Print.
CreateSpace Says…
Here is the official announcement in CreateSpace’s own words (text in bold emphasized by me):
“In the coming days, we will give CreateSpace members the ability to move their account and titles. To ensure a quality experience, we will add links to the CreateSpace…
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August 27, 2018
NASA Spotted a Vast, Glowing ‘Hydrogen Wall’ at the Edge of Our Solar System
By Rafi Letzter
There’s a “hydrogen wall” at the edge of our solar system, and NASA scientists think their New Horizons spacecraft can see it.
That hydrogen wall is the outer boundary of our home system, the place where our sun’s bubble of solar wind ends and where a mass of interstellar matter too small to bust through that wind builds up, pressing inward. Our host star’s powerful jets of matter and energy flow outward for a long stretch after leaving the sun — far beyond the orbit of Pluto. But at a certain point, they peter out, and their ability to push back the bits of dust and other matter — the thin, mysterious stuff floating within our galaxy’s walls — wanes. A visible boundary forms. On one side are the last vestiges of solar wind. And on the other side, in the direction of the Sun’s movement through the galaxy, there’s a buildup of interstellar matter, including hydrogen.
Read the full article at LiveScience.
