Betty Adams's Blog, page 115

A Rest Day

This author's body had decided that after a beating from the snow and concrete that today will be a day of rest.  

Back From the Dead

First an OVER 100 FREE book drawing update. 
Apparently doing a book drawing is a bit more complex than this author figured. It occurred to me that even if they wanted the book (who wouldn't?) folks might not be okay with someone using their name online without permission. So today the winner were contacted. When they get back to me with permission they will be announced. Then I will film the video on my new (used) phone. Which is also more complex than this author figured. So we will see how that goes. Also is my YouTube account even still active? *sighs*

Well onto some wonderful news! 
Some scientists in Zimbabwe have discovered that a from thought extinct for decades is actually fairly extant.   The diminutive "cave squeaker" (Artholeptis troglodytes) a fossil amber colored frog was first described in 1962 and wasn't seen again until December of 2016. A team of scientists from Bulawayo City followed an animal cry that none of them had heard before and found the deep amber male. 

Look at that guy! Pretty lively for an extinct frog! 

Help

When three cats decide to "help" you fix the car it makes an excellent excuse for failing to post a promised something. 

Late Drawings and OVER 100

There are now over 100 followers on the Betty Adams Tumblr page. Thank you to all my wonderful followers! You keep me going. 
Now as most of you are fairly clever you might have noticed that the 30th came and went without the promised book drawing post. (Bad Author! Not Professional!)
I will now unprofessionally blame things outside of my control. Including but not limited to a video that will be posted Sunday.
But fear not, the first Google+ drawing has been done, a winner selected, and the presentation process got way out of hand. For this I blame the influence of my brand new (very first) smart phone raising my expectations. The Tumblr >100 drawing should occur on Monday as scheduled. 
 

Political Exceptions and Montana's Ranger Representative

Okay. so you have your world building for your alien culture well developed. You have art, language, science, and politics. All of the rules for your culture are written out and yet something is missing. The thing is that all rules have exceptions and it can be a very depth giving touch to work in some exceptions to your rules.
A real life example. In the USA Representatives are chosen by population. Each Representative is tied to a physical area where his constituents live. However for some states with small populations there is only one Representative. Montana for instance has an At-Large Representative. 
One lone Representative could be written several different ways. For fantasy a Ranger style of character might be good. Think of Strider. For science fiction perhaps a harried and overworked bureaucratic with far too much paper on his desk. (Who probably dreams of being more Rangery.)
Remember in genetics or literature you often learn more through exceptions than the rules.
Can you think of any rule exceptions in famous literature that increased your knowledge of the world?

A Sleeping Fox

Here is a very sleepy fox. It is substituting for  a very sleepy blogger. 

The Immortal, the Universal, and the Continuous

When discussing nudity in art a professor once said that one of the more common reasons for nudity is to make the painting universal and timeless. Clothing depicts clearly what culture a character comes from, what class they come from, what era they come from, and even what time of day it might be. Paint your character in a dusky Middle Eastern skin tone and the character could come from any era from any culture from any class that is known to have existed. (There are a few extreme exceptions but the point holds.) Thus "The Creation of Adam" was painted. 
Likewise the setting a character is in can be era, culture, and class defining, or it can be as close to universal. Take a man and a woman in a cafe in a bustling city with horse dung on the streets and electric lights. You could guess with a fair amount of success who will be there, what they are wearing, and where they are in the world. However if a man and woman stand in a small clearing in a scrub forest what do you know about their era? their culture? their class?  It is a universal setting. 
This type of setting has benefits and problems. On the one hand the author is less constrained and if there is no reason to the writer need not expand on these details of class, culture, and era. On the other hand if these details are pertinent the writer must put in quite a bit more world building to bring them to light in these universal settings.

What is your favorite setting?  Is it something specific or more universal?  

Sunsets

This is a beautiful picture of a sunset. Isn't it pretty?
Please ignore the lack of content. 

A Question About Valentines Day Gifts

I have a question for my readers. Is there a social stigma around buying Valentines Day gifts at Walgreens or Rite Aid? 
For those who are not fortunate enough to live in the Pacific Northwest these are basically chain pharmacies that sell a little bit of everything. At the moment they are selling impossibly soft teddy bears, loads of semi-fancy chocolate, and cards with more glitter than a second grade craft fair. It all appears to be fairly good quality merchandise, not too kitschy, but they are a mass produced item that can be bought quickly. So do they carry the stigma of being "cheap" and "uncaring"?  
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What's Up Dog?

There is a very specific disappointed face that one's little brother gets when he realizes that, yes, you have seen the internet, and that you probably knew all about tween culture before he was born. Been there, seen that, have all the bad jokes.