Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
NOVEMBER 2018 Microstory Contest - Comments Only
So here's a probe of a sort rather alien--to me, anyhow. Let me ask (probe) you--Goodreads is, for the next few days, doing its "Goodreads Choice Awards," in which Goodreads readers/authors/ /members vote for their favorite 2018-published book. As some of you know, my fiction (genre: historical fiction) novel The Change Chronicles: A Novel of the Sixties Antiwar Movement is a 2018-published book, published by Lillicat Publishers (the publisher of TFIS volumes 1 to 4, in fact). I would be truly delighted should any of you vote for The Change Chronicles! Note: since it was not an "officially nominated" book for this award, you have to write-in the title to vote for it (you do write-in's by scrolling all the way down past the "official nominees" and then filling in the title in the "write-in vote" form and clicking the "vote" button. I think you may have to write [or cut-and-paste] the whole thing, The Change Chronicles: A Novel of the Sixties Antiwar Movement, to do this.) THANK YOU very much to any of you who may consider doing this--very much appreciated.And now back to probing aliens. Whether or no they are probing us too.
I submitted my vote for you Paula! Good luck! I hope your book is doing well!
Tom, your story scared the bejeebers out of me! Oh the horror, the horror!!!! Good work!
Thank you, Justin. (Just the thing for Halloween, eh?)Your story was of a style I've never seen you try before. From disturbing psych-ward poetry to tense military drama to off-beat sci-fi mind tripping. Very intriguing and very daring. My compliments.
Terrific stries, Tom and Justin both! Tom, I agree with Justin's comment--really terrifying story. As it should be, of course.
Justin, yes a very nice piece, in three distinct parts with a nice recurrence of the first vocabulary/theme/meter in the third part. I think if you cut a few words out, here and there, in the earlier two parts, you can fill out the third part so its concluding thrusts are clearer--just my opinion, of course.
Thank you Tom and Paula for your kind words!I did want to try something different and outside of my comfort zone. Paula does such a good job with more dialogue/thought/stream-of-consciousness from her characters and I really wanted to make a run at it myself.
I also remember reading a book in college (not sci-fi) that had stream-of-consciousness from a mentally deficient person who was kept in a sanatorium. So the sentences were not complete. People and places floated in and out of her perspective and time was not linear. So again, this was what I was trying to do with the first part of the story.
I also wanted to do something with a 2001 flavor, particularly the end of that movie, which is open to interpretation and difficult to understand.
I thought Kalifer's prompts would be easier, but I really wrestled with this story and where it was going.
Anyway, thanks again!
I see we are off to a flying start. Mine will be up soon. Have to let it rest a bit to see if I still like it in a couple of days.
C!! I laughed out loud! Short and sharp. Nice work!
Thanks Justin! I appreciate the feedback.-C
Elegant, Thaddeus--I loved it. Nice one, C.!
Hi everyone,My latest book, Microwaves: Short Science Fiction for the Digital Era, is available for pre-order on Amazon and begins shipping Dec. 1. It is a collection of all of the stories I've written with this group for the past two years.
So, since you all have already read them, I hope you won't mind mentioning it to friends, colleagues, linking it on your social media, etc.
Thank you!
Now back to work finishing my audiobook!!! So much to do and so little time!!!
Justin wrote: "Hi everyone,My latest book, Microwaves: Short Science Fiction for the Digital Era, is available for pre-order on Amazon and begins shipping Dec. 1. It is a collection of all of the stories I've w..."
Best of luck, Justin. I'll promote it in any way I can.
Great punch line, C. Sort of a bar joke for the cosmos.
Jeremy wrote: "Thaddeus, *excellent* timing with your story: https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/06/health..."They probably took one look at our broadcasts and changed direction fast.
LOL, Tom. They probably did some speed-of-light-breaking on the outward course!Justin, NICE work!!!
Thanks TomPlaying with ultra short story ideas inspired by Paula and others.
Tom wrote: "Justin wrote: "Hi everyone,My latest book, Microwaves: Short Science Fiction for the Digital Era, is available for pre-order on Amazon and begins shipping Dec. 1. It is a collection of all of the..."
Thanks Tom, much appreciated!
Paula wrote: "LOL, Tom. They probably did some speed-of-light-breaking on the outward course!Justin, NICE work!!!"
Thank you Paula!!
I posted my story for this month, hope you all enjoy it. Happy Veteran's Day!
G.C.Great reminder, thank you all veterans for your service!
-C
Great bunch of stories so far this month!Tom - Really nice twist at the end.
Justin - All I can say is wow. Less is more...I really liked that first part, especially as my mind tried to fill in the details you did not.
Thanks G.C., I do appreciate it! It was really an experiment for me to get outside my usual zone. Thank you!
Thank you, G.C.Your story was a heartfelt salute for Veteran's Day.
Chris!"You maniacs! You blew it up!"
Insert Charlton Heston on horseback on the beach...
Good one. Did not see that coming! Nice!
Good set-up and execution, Chris. Effective. 'Left me scratching my head a bit, though.I'm assuming the mysteriously space-drifting Statue of Liberty was from an alternate parallel Earth, hence the reversal of everything?
Paula,Copper oxide is green. No oxygen, no green.
I've been thinking about the oxidization thing (thanks Chris!).It could have been oxidized prior to being launched into space.
The question is, what does a vacuum do to copper? Apparently "low-oxygen copper" is a common vacuum-hardened material, but that's a modern, specialized thing.
I wonder what would happen to normal copper (which contains a few % impurities) in hard vacuum, and also what would happen to the patina on it. There's a page on vacuum-safe materials on wikipedia, but it doesn't go into detail on this sort of thing, and I really doubt anyone has ever tested this (not in our universe anyhow). Might depend on exposure to heat (i.e. sunlight) and solar wind (I wonder what kind of patina that would cause?). An interesting problem, but way beyond my knowledge of chemistry.
It's not the vacuum so much as the particle/radiation exposure. Some parallels here perhaps?https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...
That's interesting. The experimental data on that might be worth the entire cost of launching that car. I'm a little disappointed - was hoping it would be something people could visit in the far future.
Jeremy wrote: "I've been thinking about the oxidization thing (thanks Chris!).It could have been oxidized prior to being launched into space.
The question is, what does a vacuum do to copper? Apparently "low-o..."
Jeremy, that's a good question. The oxidation thing sounded good at least, so I went with it. Not a metallurgist, though, lol.
Tom wrote: "Good set-up and execution, Chris. Effective. 'Left me scratching my head a bit, though.I'm assuming the mysteriously space-drifting Statue of Liberty was from an alternate parallel Earth, hence t..."
That's the direction I was going, hence the NADA reference. Don't know if I pulled it off, though.
Justin wrote: "Chris!"You maniacs! You blew it up!"
Insert Charlton Heston on horseback on the beach...
Good one. Did not see that coming! Nice!"
Thanks, Justin!
So. . . little green copper oxide aliens? I dedicate the following galactic joke to Tom Olbert as it was his idea:Two little green aliens walk into an oxygen bar,
One says to the bartender: "Do you have a Kindle?"
The Bartender says, "Yes I enjoy wonderful Science Fiction Short Stories on it."
The other little green alien says, "Take me to your reader."
Ba-doom *tish*
-C
Hey everyone! I just submitted my audiobook version of Cerulean Rising, Part I: Beginnings. It's taken me awhile to get it all narrated and edited, but now it's with Amazon/ACX quality control for the next seven to ten days. Then it goes live on Amazon, Audible and iTunes. Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!This is the third audiobook I've produced, and the first one of my own written work. I'm very pleased with how it turned out if I do say so myself.
Thanks for letting me share!!
Justin wrote: "Hey everyone! I just submitted my audiobook version of Cerulean Rising, Part I: Beginnings. It's taken me awhile to get it all narrated and edited, but now it's with Amazon/ACX quality control for ..."C. wrote: "So. . . little green copper oxide aliens? I dedicate the following galactic joke to Tom Olbert as it was his idea:
Two little green aliens walk into an oxygen bar,
One says to the bartender: "Do y..."
Awesome! I am 40,000 words into my next novel. Hope you still want to narrate it. (I didn't enjoy doing the others).
Back atcha Jot!If aliens landed and looked just like turkeys, what would they think about Thanksgiving?
Thanks, Jot. Yes, hoping everyone's having a very good Thanksgiving. And are working really hard and fast on this month's stories, of course.
Jack wrote: "Justin wrote: "Hey everyone! I just submitted my audiobook version of Cerulean Rising, Part I: Beginnings. It's taken me awhile to get it all narrated and edited, but now it's with Amazon/ACX quali..."Jack, I'll email you!
Justin
Jack wrote: "Justin wrote: "Hey everyone! I just submitted my audiobook version of Cerulean Rising, Part I: Beginnings. It's taken me awhile to get it all narrated and edited, but now it's with Amazon/ACX quali..."Looking forward to reading your next novel, Jack! And they make great presents for sf-liking friends and relatives, btw!
Discovery of an alien probe in the Solar System
Required Element:
Something totally unexpected in or about the probe