Betty Adams's Blog, page 44

July 13, 2021

How About I Give You a High-Five to the Face?

We DID it!
100 Ratings on Amazon!
There will be an open to all book draw now!
1st Prize will be: .... I typed it out once, the internet ate it, go watch the video.

How to enter the drawing:
1) Go to the video.
https://youtu.be/y7SkZKr_1ek
2) Leave a comment on the video saying you want to enter.

That's it!

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Published on July 13, 2021 13:00

July 12, 2021

Humans are Weird - Sketchy

Humans are Weird – Sketchy

“It is so rare that we get to observe a human creating art,” Tstk’sk said as he eager slipped his paws into the protective coverings this planet’s brittle ground cover demanded, glass sand the humans called it.
The rolling ground was home to a wide variety of fungal growths that ranged from larger than the humans to small enough to grow between the hairs a Trisk’s mandibles. It just so happened that the species most adapted to growing on the footpaths was a silica rich strain that shattered to dangerous fragments when trodden on by the humans’ massive feet. On the positive side the humans had entire industries dedicated to specialty footwear and the light green coverings that Tstk’sk had been gifted by his father were both pleasing to the eyes and comfortable, or at least as comfortable as something that pushed in on all of your sensory hairs at once could be.
“I do not really see the novelty in this,” Grinds observed as he slid into his belly armor.
The low slung reptile boasted feet that were more than rated for the silica rich sand of the paths but they would collect the sand up in between their belly scoots if they spent too much time outside without protection. “I have a notebook full of human art, the majority of it from this human.”
“Scientific diagrams don’t count,” Tstk’sk explained. “That is just showing what something is on the outside. That isn’t real art.”
“I do not understand the difference,” Grinds insisted as he moved to the airlock and indicated a point between his shoulder blades with a flick of his tongue.
Tstk’sk scrambled over and climbed up to the offered perch. The reptile could not move nearly as fast as a human over long distances but his average walking speed was still quite a bit faster than that of a Trisk, making the riding style a better option that for Tstk’sk to try and keep up the pace. Tstk’sk secured his datapad in a carry pouch and focused on balancing.
“The sketches that Human Friend James did in your notebook are mostly of engine diagrams,” Tstk’sk explained. “They are simple and literal depictions of the visual surface of the objects in question. There is nothing transformative about them, there is no meaning that Human Friend James is trying to express. The are not art.”
“I object to the statement,” Grinds spoke up after a polite pause as they left the cleared area of the base behind and entered the swirling tunnels of the fungal forests. “The art is entirely transformative. Human Friend James went to great effort to chose colors and textures that I could understand. You know that those graphite pencils they favor scatter light terribly for anyone capable of properly differentiating the electromagnetic spectrum. Then he had to take the critical elements of the engine and translate them into a two dimensional form. He was expressing what he thought was the important element of the design.”
“There is certainly technical skill involved in the process,” Tstk’sk admitted. “But just look at this forest around us.”
He waved a gripping paw at the spirals upon spirals that made up the interior of the game tunnels of the fungal forests. Countless colors spread out from the shimmering opalescent fibers that served as the main bodies of the massive ultra-organisim that covered nearly the entire planet. Dotted at interval turgid orbs of blue and winding coils of a shade of yellow that was so distinct at least three universities had seen spectral analysis teams to attempt to record it mixed to give the impression that the forest was full of gravity defying masses.
“It is a lovey sight certainly,” Grinds confirmed. “I do not see that Human Friend James’s attempts to replicated it in his sketchbook would be anymore ‘art’ than his attempt yesterday to give me an accurate idea of where he suspected the blockage to be was.”
Tstk’sk refrained from answering as one of the lumbering native lifeforms came down the path. Grinds chose a thin place in the wall of the tunnel and used his powerful tail to thrash out a small den where they waited until the creature the humans called a caterpillar-corgi passed. Usually a human would just step over the creatures but the lower slung bodies of the reptiles didn’t have that option.
“Does the movement of that creature’s caudal end suggest anything in particular to you?” Grinds suddenly asked as they slipped out of the temporary refuge they had made.
“Do you mean to ask if I see the booty-bounce the humans like to laugh at?” Tstk’sk asked absently as he was more focused at the moment in cleaning the fast growing forest fibers off of his smart green paw-coverings. “I see the motion and can identify it, but I cannot find the fascination in it that humans do.”
“Human Friend James drew an entire series of sketches on the subject,” Grinds went on. “He was quite delighted when he showed them to me. He wanted me to judge if he had managed to capture the booty-bounce sufficiently in the series of still images.”
“Why did he ask you?” Tstk’sk asked in surprise.
“I suspect it was largely because I was nearby and off duty,” Grinds replied, “but he said that as I had a very nice tail myself, and was used to observing caudal motion aspects of language he judged me ideal to analyze his attempt at capturing the caterpillar-corgi booty-bounce.”
“What was your judgment,” Tstk’sk asked.
“Well you know how the graphite scatters light,” Grinds replied, “but I do think it was a fairly accurate representation of the movement.”
There was a moment of silence as they paused to consider the living image of the recalled sketch.
“So,” Grinds finally asked. “If sketches of the forest count as art, but sketches of engine dynamics don’t, to sketches of booty-bounce count as art?”

We DID it!
100 Ratings on Amazon!
There will be an open to all book draw now!
1st Prize will be: .... I typed it out once, the internet ate it, go watch the video.

How to enter the drawing:
1) Go to the video.
2) Leave a comment on the video saying you want to enter.

That's it!

View more on Betty Adams's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on July 12, 2021 16:24

July 7, 2021

Kaiju No. 8 Roundtable Part 2 - Grimsabr - Dan Exclaims! - Betty Adams - Storytelling and Characters

We DID it!
100 Ratings on Amazon!
There will be an open to all book draw now!
1st Prize will be: ... look I was going to make a list but I am hot and tired and I thought I'd have more time to plan this out.
Like 4 physical books, 2 e-books, an audiobook, and probably some swag. I'll work out the details when the brain is braining again.
Instructions on how to enter the draw will be on a youtube video that will be up soon.
It will involve leaving a comment on a video.
More details to follow.

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data: by Betty Adams, Adelia Gibadullina, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data by Betty Adams - Books on Google Play

Amazon.com: Humans are Weird: I Have the Data (9798588913683): Adams, Betty, Wong, Richard, Gibadullina, Adelia: Books

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data eBook by Betty Adams - 1230004645337 | Rakuten Kobo United States

Hey! The books are moving well on Amazon and now have 98 reviews and ratings! If you bought the book and enjoyed it, it would really help me out if you leave a quick star rating on Amazon. A review would be great but just stars would be a huge boost *****!

QUICK NOTE: RE: everyone who asked. The book is avaliable in Amazon regions US-UK-DE-FR-ES-IT-NL-JP-BR-CA-MX-AU-IN. HOWEVER The above link only takes you to the US Amazon site. The one indicated by the .com ending. If it says "not avaliable in your country" that just means that you need to click over to your Amazon region.

Of course if you want a signed first edition you can email me at the email on my website and I can ship you a signed Author copy of the first edition for the same price as the crowdfunding campaign $35 domestic and $50 overseas. I'll do that until I run out of extra books.

Audiobook - Author Self Narration
Now avaliable on;

Audible,

Amazon,

iTunes

View more on Betty Adams's website »

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Published on July 07, 2021 10:34

July 5, 2021

Humans are Weird - An Appealing Revelation

 Humans are Weird – An Appealing Revelation

First Sister Northern adjusted her sheath skirt for perhaps the twentieth time and fought to keep her frill from flushing with irritated colors. The random booming of the scatter guns did not make the situation any easier. Her outer membrane was nearly a translucent pale green and while her betrothed insisted it was the most beautiful coloration he had ever seen, it was still irritating to know your emotions were being broadcast with such clarity that even the giant, lumbering bipedal aliens knew what you are feeling.
“Can I help you with that?” Third Brother asked as he swayed up to her.
First Sister Northern wondered what he thought he could do about a sheath skirt that was just a millimeter too small thanks to her most recent molt, but realized with a flush of embarrassment that he was talking about the crate she was attempting to balance with one arm.
“Please,” she agreed with a curl of her antenna.
The human swept it up easily in one of his hands, and First Sister Northern marveled again at how the stubby human fingers managed to effect such delicate handling. He stared out in the direction she had been going and First Sister Northern trotted along by his side. It was second nature by now to reach up and apply a quick pressure to Third Brother’s elbow when he was about to either wander off the path or stumble over a rock. It seemed to be second nature to Third Brother as well as he meekly, almost automatically responded to the touches that certainly had no power to force his movements.
“Where does this need to go?” Third Brother asked.
“I was taking it to the vineyard on the south slope,” she replied, and the human grunted in acknowledgment.
There was an odd note to his voice. From her experience with humans First Sister Northern knew that it usually denoted extreme focus. As this human was notorious for the casual way he usually transported large and heavy items she doubted it was because he was focused on the task at hand. Therefore she wasn’t surprised to note that his binocular eyes were clearly not focused on anything in their immediate vicinity.
“Is there one of the flying predators over the eastern hills?” she asked.
The revelation that what the initial survey team had taken to be pollinators were actually predators with no qualms about snatching the very skeins from their gardens had been a horrific shock to the colony on this world, had nearly caused the abandonment of the world despite it’s tactical importance. While First Sister Northern’s hive had been against inviting a human colony group to solve the problem none of the hive’s mother’s now questioned it’s efficacy. A sudden boom from a nearby scattergun caused both the Shatar and the human to jump and seemed to recall the absent human to the present.
“If one of those buggers are there I can’t see it,” he stated. “Why do you ask?”
“Your eyes are clearly not focused on the ground in front of you,” First Sister Northern said, giving him another push to avoid a particularly exposed root in the path. “I had assumed something was pulling your attention away.”
The human grinned down at her and for the first time First Sister Northern felt a clear and distinct unease. She might indeed be a novice at reading the fleshy expressions of human faces. She certainly had been distracted with her plans to greet and then court the First Brother who had landed just days before this human’s family had. There was no doubt she had neglected her duties as a future matriarch, leaving the tricky business of interspecies diplomacy to the wise old frills of her Grandmothers. That was all true enough, but by her Mother’s antenna she could detect a Brother hiding something he didn’t want a First Sister to know.
“You know how absent minded I am,” Third Brother said with a grin. “Not like I have anything around here worth looking at either.”
They went on a few paces while First Sister Northern let her head tilt from side to side as she inspected the human for signs of injury. Why her mind skittered immediately to bodily harm she wasn’t quite sure, but it was the way her antenna tipped. Third Brother suddenly twitched guiltily and glanced down at her.
“Not to say you ain’t worth looking at!” He assured her, his regional accent growing thicker at his flustered emotional state. “You’re right pretty. Easy on the eyes.”
“Thank you,” she said in a deliberately calm tone as her proboscis flicked out and dabbed a bit of dust off of her eye.
Third Brother looked distinctly uneasy and turned his head away and began whistling.
His shirt.
The thin, plant fiber weave was clinging to the skin on his back as if it had been applied there with more than just the saline solution the humans were constantly excreting. First Sister Northern let herself fall just behind the human. She reached up and lightly lifted the cloth from the human’s back. Third Brother jolted forward and emitted a yowl of pain that caused First Sister Northern’s antenna to curl in tight, painful coils.
“And does your Mother know that you are out of your Father’s shade with what I can assume are solar radiation burns all over your back?” First Sister Northern asked as she pulled her comm device out of it’s pouch.
“Please don’t snitch!” Third Brother gasped out.
“Oh, I am very much snitching,” First Sister Northern said in a cold tone.
Third Brother gave a groan and dropped down to a sitting position. She felt a twinge of sympathy for his plight. It was maddening to be stuck in the deep shade when the hives bustled with life and merriment. Sister duties won out easily over sentiment however. She didn’t want the culmination of her courtship marred by having a human medical emergency distracting the neighbors.

We DID it!
100 Ratings on Amazon!
There will be an open to all book draw now!
1st Prize will be: ... look I was going to make a list but I am hot and tired and I thought I'd have more time to plan this out.
Like 4 physical books, 2 e-books, an audiobook, and probably some swag. I'll work out the details when the brain is braining again.
Instructions on how to enter the draw will be on a youtube video that will be up soon.
It will involve leaving a comment on a video.
More details to follow.

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data: by Betty Adams, Adelia Gibadullina, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data by Betty Adams - Books on Google Play

Amazon.com: Humans are Weird: I Have the Data (9798588913683): Adams, Betty, Wong, Richard, Gibadullina, Adelia: Books

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data eBook by Betty Adams - 1230004645337 | Rakuten Kobo United States

Hey! The books are moving well on Amazon and now have 98 reviews and ratings! If you bought the book and enjoyed it, it would really help me out if you leave a quick star rating on Amazon. A review would be great but just stars would be a huge boost *****!

QUICK NOTE: RE: everyone who asked. The book is avaliable in Amazon regions US-UK-DE-FR-ES-IT-NL-JP-BR-CA-MX-AU-IN. HOWEVER The above link only takes you to the US Amazon site. The one indicated by the .com ending. If it says "not avaliable in your country" that just means that you need to click over to your Amazon region.

Of course if you want a signed first edition you can email me at the email on my website and I can ship you a signed Author copy of the first edition for the same price as the crowdfunding campaign $35 domestic and $50 overseas. I'll do that until I run out of extra books.

Audiobook - Author Self Narration
Now avaliable on;

Audible,

Amazon,

iTunes

View more on Betty Adams's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on July 05, 2021 16:36

July 1, 2021

ANNOUNCEMENT - Humans are Weird: I Have the Data - New Edited Version Up On Amazon

R-2!
We only need 2 more reviews to break 100 reviews on Amazon! There will be an open to all book draw when we reach that goal!

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data: by Betty Adams, Adelia Gibadullina, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data by Betty Adams - Books on Google Play

Amazon.com: Humans are Weird: I Have the Data (9798588913683): Adams, Betty, Wong, Richard, Gibadullina, Adelia: Books

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data eBook by Betty Adams - 1230004645337 | Rakuten Kobo United States

Hey! The books are moving well on Amazon and now have 98 reviews and ratings! If you bought the book and enjoyed it, it would really help me out if you leave a quick star rating on Amazon. A review would be great but just stars would be a huge boost *****!

QUICK NOTE: RE: everyone who asked. The book is avaliable in Amazon regions US-UK-DE-FR-ES-IT-NL-JP-BR-CA-MX-AU-IN. HOWEVER The above link only takes you to the US Amazon site. The one indicated by the .com ending. If it says "not avaliable in your country" that just means that you need to click over to your Amazon region.

Of course if you want a signed first edition you can email me at the email on my website and I can ship you a signed Author copy of the first edition for the same price as the crowdfunding campaign $35 domestic and $50 overseas. I'll do that until I run out of extra books.

Audiobook - Author Self Narration
Now avaliable on;

Audible,

Amazon,

iTunes

View more on Betty Adams's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on July 01, 2021 06:59

June 29, 2021

Humans are Weird - I Have the Data

R-3!
We only need 3 more reviews to break 100 reviews on Amazon! There will be an open to all book draw when we reach that goal!

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data: by Betty Adams, Adelia Gibadullina, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data by Betty Adams - Books on Google Play

Amazon.com: Humans are Weird: I Have the Data (9798588913683): Adams, Betty, Wong, Richard, Gibadullina, Adelia: Books

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data eBook by Betty Adams - 1230004645337 | Rakuten Kobo United States

Hey! The books are moving well on Amazon and now have 97 reviews and ratings! If you bought the book and enjoyed it, it would really help me out if you leave a quick star rating on Amazon. A review would be great but just stars would be a huge boost *****!

QUICK NOTE: RE: everyone who asked. The book is avaliable in Amazon regions US-UK-DE-FR-ES-IT-NL-JP-BR-CA-MX-AU-IN. HOWEVER The above link only takes you to the US Amazon site. The one indicated by the .com ending. If it says "not avaliable in your country" that just means that you need to click over to your Amazon region.

Of course if you want a signed first edition you can email me at the email on my website and I can ship you a signed Author copy of the first edition for the same price as the crowdfunding campaign $35 domestic and $50 overseas. I'll do that until I run out of extra books.

Audiobook - Author Self Narration
Now avaliable on;

Audible,

Amazon,

iTunes

View more on Betty Adams's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 29, 2021 17:05

June 28, 2021

Humans are Weird - Too Hot

 Humans are Weird – Too Hot

“I must admit” Second Sister said as she dipped her proboscis into the chilled nectar, “I used to be quite smug about Cousins who picked up new and interesting paranoias from human exposure.”
“It is quite a different bundle of twigs when you must deal with aliens yourself,” Expanding To The Horizon observed, his voice coming lazily from the depth of his mound as he absently turned over a few surface leaves to give a semblance of the color of amused agreement.
Here under the shade of the overarching vines imported from the original mother world, between two gently flowing streams the temperature in the garden was almost moderate and certainly well within the safe zone for a Shatar. Above them the uppermost canopy was in a constant state of death and rebirth and the artificially vigorous vines sacrificed the top leaves to shield the lower ones even as the bacteria nodes on their roots pumped the extracted nitrogen into the ground. These aggriforming vines provided an excellent source of biomatter for the Gathering who chose to come to this planet. Second Sister tilted her head to the side to angle her vision down at the leaves under her feet. Expanding To The Horizon had assure her that all of his tendrils were too deep for her to damage them at this time of day but she didn’t intend to step on him accidentally.
“Are you expecting to develop a new or unusual paranoia of your own?” Expanding To The Horizon asked in a tone made of rustles and clicks.
The Shatar curled her antenna in slow agreement and indicated something coming towards them, drifting down the gentle current of the stream. There was a faint rustling at the edge of the stream as Expanding To The Horizon extended several light sensitive nodes above the duff and detritus of his main mass. These silvery orbs bobbed and weaved in the still air as they took in the scene.
One human, female, was laying back in the water that was just deep enough to float her body. Her eyes were closed and the only movement in her body seemed to be in the hands that trailed back behind her head. These she must have been using to maintain her vector, feet first down the stream, but Second Sister was not sure how such small movements could counter the natural hydrodynamic tendency to shove her body sideways in the stream. The human had chosen to wear an extremely thin, white radiation shield made of plant fiber. It covered her from neck to ankles and when dry at least offered excellent solar protection. However wet it clung to her like a membrane giving her the appearance of something mummified and several centuries dead.
They observed her float past in companionable silence as Second Sister lapped at her chilled juice.
“What in this do you find so disturbing?” Expanding To The Horizon asked. “From my perspective she is simply using her recreation time to good effect. Absorbing fluids and minimizing mineral loss to evaporation.”
“She is giving off death signals,” Second Sister explained.
“Ah,” Expanding To The Horizon said, retracting his light sensitive nodes. “This is one of those cross cultural things. Differences in biology.”
“Not so much,” Second Sister observed. “Other humans find her behavior disturbing as well, observe.”
She pointed again to where another human was slowly trudging along one of the vineyard paths and was about to round a corner that would put the floating human in his line of sight. He came around the trunk of a large vine and his binocular vision crossed over the white form in the water. He jerked back with a low exclamation and clutched his hand over his heart for several moments until his breathing slowed.
“Too hot for this,” he muttered as he moved to walk on.
“Way too hot,” the still form of the female in the water agreed languidly.
“So why does she do something that makes others react to her as if she was dead?” Expanding To The Horizon asked.
“She says,” Second Sister replied with a sigh. “It’s just too hot.”

R-3!
We only need 3 more reviews to break 100 reviews on Amazon! There will be an open to all book draw when we reach that goal!

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data: by Betty Adams, Adelia Gibadullina, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data by Betty Adams - Books on Google Play

Amazon.com: Humans are Weird: I Have the Data (9798588913683): Adams, Betty, Wong, Richard, Gibadullina, Adelia: Books

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data eBook by Betty Adams - 1230004645337 | Rakuten Kobo United States

Hey! The books are moving well on Amazon and now have 97 reviews and ratings! If you bought the book and enjoyed it, it would really help me out if you leave a quick star rating on Amazon. A review would be great but just stars would be a huge boost *****!

QUICK NOTE: RE: everyone who asked. The book is avaliable in Amazon regions US-UK-DE-FR-ES-IT-NL-JP-BR-CA-MX-AU-IN. HOWEVER The above link only takes you to the US Amazon site. The one indicated by the .com ending. If it says "not avaliable in your country" that just means that you need to click over to your Amazon region.

Of course if you want a signed first edition you can email me at the email on my website and I can ship you a signed Author copy of the first edition for the same price as the crowdfunding campaign $35 domestic and $50 overseas. I'll do that until I run out of extra books.

Audiobook - Author Self Narration
Now avaliable on;

Audible,

Amazon,

iTunes

View more on Betty Adams's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 28, 2021 13:17