Betty Adams's Blog, page 119

Soccer Playing Robot Cows - Probably

A soccer playing cow robot I presume. Today was spent herding small children and coaches at a Lego Robotics Competition at Evergreen Aviation Museum. The robots were for the most part small, practical looking atomatons that served their purposes with more practical skill than finesse, as one might expect from robots made of Legos.  There was certianly copious ammounts of story inspiration to be had from delightful little quips spoken as seriously as only second graders can speak to "incidences" that had the coordinators gnashing their teeth and checking the venue insurance policies. 

Nothing to do but Bake Pies

3.14159....
Nope, no math jokes today. I genuinely stayed home and baked pies. Three pumpkin and one apple. Why didn't I spend the time writing? Well I am avoiding post NaNoWriMo burn out.  Stay safe folks. Safe and happy. 

Preparing for Winter

In defiance of the enchroaching darkness of the winter solstice this author is fortifying her house with ligths, apple cinimon scent, pine boughs, and bright colors. Pictures will be posted tomorrow if as I suspect I will be trapped inside  by the coming ice storm.

Where be the Machines?

When building a science fiction world mechanizaton of some sort is very frequently going to come into play. Even in post appocoliptic, espically in post appocoliptic, settings the voice of an artificial lifeform can be a major plot point, a clue to the nature of the world, or a minor MacGuffin. So when builing a world remember that that annoying robo call from an insurance company has a place as well. 

Proper Care and Feeding of Your Story

Always remember to insulate your potted plants - er - cats. A story is a finicky thing that will only grow under certian conditions. An autor must work tirelessly to provide the ideal enviroment for each one. This might involve going to a rustic South American resturant for a long lunch or going out hiking in the snow. It is tricky to manage multiple storylines at once of course. One might favor the beach and one might favor the mountains. Tend your stories wisely. 

Author Verses Reader

Who decideds what the meaning of a story is? Is it the author who pours their creative energy into a work or the reader who can look at the totality of the piece with a far greater measure of objectivity?
For instance the carpenter had no plans to make a chicken perch when he spent a day building. And yet for a goodly amount of time a chicken perch was exactly what his creation was. 

Traditions Around the World

In a bid to make fourth graders more aware of the larger world and how values and culture can vary from nation to nation a teacher does a thematic unit on Christmas around the world. Snacks, gifting traditions, and stories and studied from the three wise man and their camels to a towering old Father Christmas and Black Pete. For many this is a delightful lesson. This author especially loves the stories and was assigned to man the wassel table at the traditions fair that concluded the assignment. 
But despite the best efforts of the teachers some traditions were never mentioned. Or possibly because of the best efforts of the teachers in a small rural town full of goats and straw some traditions were never mentioned in front of impressionable and creative fourth graders. 
Take the Gavle Goat for instance. Since 1966 the residents of the rural town of Gavle has done their level best to build and maintain a giant Christmas goat of straw...it is Sweden...go figure. And since 1966 other residents have carried out the tradition of burning the goat down. It has been fireproofed with chemical retardants, water and ice, webcams, and fences but 27 times the Gavle Christmas Goat has burned to the ground. By the time that you have Santa and his Gingerbread men shooting flaming arrows into a tradition you really just have to roll with it.
Fourth grade me would have found this tradition very interesting. 

The Final Day

Last day of NaNoWriMo. It has been another crazy round and as the concept for "Dying Embers" turns five years old "Dying Embers"'s little sibling has been born. "Discovery" still has a lot of work to go even before Beta Editing. But they are joined by thee new short stories that will soon begin doing the round of magazine submissions. Remember, the is no way to be an author but to write and submit, rinse and repeat! 

Spider Nights

Story excerpt

​“I still can’t believe how quickly you got my dress done,” Myrtle observed once the giggling fit had died down.
She smoothed down the hem of the sheer silver dress that just brushed her knees. The silk like smoothness rippled down her back and caressed her shoulders.
“Oh our artisans are always ready for a challenge,” K’atst said. He skittered around the desk admiring the dress with happy chirps. “It was really quite easy to re-purpose the industrial factors to make a pleasing clothing material.”
“Well it was deucedly convenient,” Myrtle said firmly. She held out her elbow in the traditional human manner. “Now of course since you invited me for a night out on the town it falls to you to escort me.”
“It would be my pleasure,” K’atst said lowering his head down and raising his arms up in a sweeping bow.
He tittered happily, ruining the dignity of the moment, before darting over and leaping into the crook of her arm. Myrtle grinned and slipped her purse onto her shoulder. She slipped into the glimmering slippers also provided by the Trick merchants and strode out of the door of her small apartment. The heavy night air embraced her and she paused a moment drinking in the ambiance of the thriving city around her. Towering silvery buildings stretched two and three stories above her. Of course in reality each building was several dozen Trisk stories high, and many, many more deep. The buildings were clearly woven around frameworks. The struts protruded, wrapped in clinging silver mesh.
“Like a forest of shrink wrapped trees,” Myrtle observed.
“Is that a strictly visible comparison?” K’atst asked.
“All right,” Myrtle said as she started out walking. “No work tonight. We agreed.”

NaNOWriMo Victory!

After a long month (okay actually it was a short month but still) of writing this author has in fact produced over 50,000 words in (working title) Discovery, the prequel to "Dying Embers".

How did the McCarty family get involved with a unit of Alien Imperial Guards? 
Who the flying flick is Abuelita really? 
Will Ama ever loosen up? 
What causes the fairy like growth patterns in the strange meadow? 
What lurks above the atmosphere? 
What lurks below the ground? 

These questions and more are explored in "Discovery"
And after three years of writing, mostly in November, the rough draft of "Discovery" is ready for some editing.
However since I have actually formed the habit of actually writing for a few hours each day I am going to finish out the last three days of NaNoWriMo by working on short stories. At least that is my new goal.