Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
March 2021 – Science Fiction Microstory Contest (Comments Only)
date
newest »
newest »
Mod
Every great story, and every successful life, is a hero's journey. I have been ruminating of late that American politics has been corrupted because so many people fail to accept for themselves the role of hero -- protector of the innocent and transformer of the world into a safer place for them -- and are thus consigned to an endless twilight of childhood, in which the sky is always darkening, and they must cling to the safety promised by abusive parental figures. In other words, juicy theme, Greg!
J.F. wrote: "Every great story, and every successful life, is a hero's journey. I have been ruminating of late that American politics has been corrupted because so many people fail to accept for themselves the ..."Very powerful words, J.F. And, very inspirational.
Got one in.Characters are from a story I sold to Amazing Stories a few years ago.
I was trying to riff on Vogler's iteration of Campbell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27...
Really needed another thousand or so words!
Mod
Would indeed, Jot, but no, my friend is a male person, retired now. Great about your and Dr. Clark's paper, though!
Mod
Mod
Mod
I've held a number of positions including computer architect, software engineer, digital and analog engineer, and entrepreneur. I live in Belmont, California between Silicon Valley and Pharma Valley in a heavily wooded area in a house that I designed. I've lived here for 48 years. Yes, I'm older than the hills.
I live in Cambridge, MA, right next to Harvard U. Close also to MIT where my father taught physics for many years. A fine man. May he rest in peace. I've lived in Cambridge since the early 80's, and over the years I've volunteered for a number of progressive causes (primarily ecological) carried quite a few signs and knocked on quite a few doors for Democrat candidates.
Jot wrote: "I'm 56 today living on Long Island, NY. Writers, please tell me something about yourself."Happy birthday.
A good birthday to you, Jot! Remember, this group you developed back in 2012-2013 has been very important for many writers; give yourself the birthday present of being proud of so much you have done.Re myself--I'm old and have been writing poems and stories since age 8 or 9, was 17 when I first had a story accepted for publication. I did a math major at Cornell, but realized (1) at least a couple of real people did math better, and (2), as a colleague said, "To do anything creative in math, you must get as intensely involved in thinking math as in thinking philosophy"--so I switched to philosophy. Happily, except, as you know, the wee difference in pay scales.
Subsequently, I went into creative writing, the antiwar movement, and the underground press, had kids, took office jobs, did p.r., joined writers groups, and took a writing workshop taught by Ursula Le Guin. I've had two novels and bunches of short stories and poems published. Plus mountain hiking, photography, and a stint in France. :) Since you asked.
Happy Birthday, Jot! Thanks for everything you've done with this group.
Happy belated birthday, Jot!I've had a very uninteresting life but for a while, in the mid-1980s, I was one of the most widely read writers in North America, as I wrote most of the movie and network program descriptions used in most of the newspapers in the US and Canada. I can honestly say I have more than 10,000 hours of paid writing experience, but it was always boiling down a 1-2 hour plot into a single sentence. When I started writing my novel, I was actually afraid I couldn't pad a story out that long, but I wrote 60K words in one month, using Nanowrimo, once I realized that writing a novel, at least the first draft, is only barely distinguishable from the experience of reading one. I have a degree in English, wanted to be a journalist, got my entry-level job as a proofreader, then copy writer, then I fell down the IT rabbit hole and have been designing and managing databases for the past several decades.
Edited to add that I am also the lone author of an algorithmic patent, which is not bad for an English major.
Mod
You're close by Tom. Am planning on taking the RV north to Maine in late July. Would be cool if we could have a quick meet up..at a social distance. Though I am getting my second vaccine dose today.
Yes, with your help Paula, we kicked off the first consecutive contest month in 2012-10. As with you, I struggled in my math degree, but was lucky to have a love for software even before college, though it was just by playing with the existing basic code for an adventure game to try to make one myself.
Joseph, what's the patent number? I'd like to give it a read. I love algorithms, and need to figure out how best to protect and publish my new software language. The compiler to convert the code into c++ is almost done.
Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes.
Jot wrote: "Joseph, what's the patent number?"7,299,483
The application had languished for years and every time I saw my dad, usually once a week, he would ask about it. He passed away on December 31, 2006. The patent was finally awarded the next year, on my birthday.
Jot, my email address is kailfer.deil@gmail.com and I would be happy to look at your language. The first attempt at readability by the common man was COBOL which some (not me) regarded as a success. I used a FORTH-like shorthand language invented by a coworker (Dick Dorance) to write COBOL code for Wells Fargo. Ughh!! The secret is to be able to write a language that is clear and concise! This is one of the reasons that I've become a convert to Julia. I can write in one page that Python takes three and it can run as fast as C and be quite readable.
Jot wrote: "Kalifer, what's your most successful product as an entrepreneur? I'm working to be one as well, but it's so hard to wear that many hats. If you are interested and promise not to disclose, I would l..."Thanks for the invite, Jot. I'd like that. (My sister lives in Maine; beautiful state.) Good for you; glad you're getting your second dose. Be well.
Thanks, Jot. I actually didn't struggle re my math degree but rather was pulled in by philosophy in a way that math--with the exception of an audited seminar on (if I recall correctly) the topologies of logics--failed to do. Have you read the wonderful "graphic novel" Logicomix? Somewhat a bio of Bertrand Russell combined with some history of the Vienna Circle, "ordinary language philosophy," etc., it catches what that draw--an intersection of language, math, epistemology, foundations work, etc.--is like. Jot wrote: "Kalifer, what's your most successful product as an entrepreneur? I'm working to be one as well, but it's so hard to wear that many hats. If you are interested and promise not to disclose, I would l..."
J.F. wrote: "Happy belated birthday, Jot!I've had a very uninteresting life but for a while, in the mid-1980s, I was one of the most widely read writers in North America, as I wrote most of the movie and netw..."
OH my, bet I read a bunch of those capsule descrips/reviews, too. So far, my own 3-word review for Brickweavers is "excellent--gripping--imaginative."
I'm glad you are enjoying the novel, Paula. Here's a little detail you may not have noticed: there are no standard units of measure in the entire story. Because it's set 4,000 years ago, I couldn't use words like "inch" or "minute", and I didn't want to create a fictional system of measurement so everything is compared to something else. "Hour" is only used to indicate a certain point in time (eg. "What is the problem, that I should be called this hour?"), which is otherwise measured in heartbeats or sun positions. I broke the rule with the use of "league", which is an allusion to Jules Verne and is a unit of measure as foreign and exotic to most people as any I might invent.
Mod
Kalifer, let me try to come up with a clean example of its usage.
Glad you had an easier time with higher level math than me, Paula.
Tom wrote: "Jot wrote: "Kalifer, what's your most successful product as an entrepreneur? I'm working to be one as well, but it's so hard to wear that many hats. If you are interested and promise not to disclos..."It was in the Minicomputer era, I started Minicomputer Technology and designed and sold disk and printer controllers. Later sold the company. It went out with the Minicomputer era.
Mod
Hello Jot and happy very belated birthday! And hello to all of my fellow writers here, whose stories I have enjoyed since joining the group in April 2017.A little about me.
I'm 48, turning 49 in May. I live in Lake Stevens, WA, which is directly east of Everett, WA. I work for The Boeing Company as an internal communications specialist at the Everett Delivery Center, where we deliver all of our wide-body aircraft. As an aviation fanatic, I really enjoy seeing the airplanes fly. I've been working from home since March 2020.
I have six children, ranging from 19 to 7, five boys and one girl who is a Type I diabetic. Yes all the children are mine, at least that's what my wife keeps telling me.
I am an avid distance runner and obsessively track my mileage in an Excel spreadsheet. Since Jan. 1991 I've run over 11,100 miles - which is not as many as some people, and a whole lot more than most. :) I cannot find my mileage notebook from before that time, which vexes me.
I love the video game HALO and am waiting until the XBOX Series X becomes available again on Amazon so I can splurge on it with all of my carefully horded Amazon gift cards. Of course, I love science fiction. I also dearly miss my Montana Green 1992 VW GTI, which I sold before marrying my wife. She says it is the other woman in the relationship. (I will have another one some day!!!! Car, not wife.)
I deeply enjoy reading all of your stories every month and this writing is one of my very few creative outlets.
I write freelance articles through the web platform WriterAccess.com, and in all my free time I narrate and produce audiobooks at the speed of a moving glacier.
I worked at a movie theater all through high school and college, and it is still my most favorite job ever. I had a brief stint as a music host on 90.3 KEXP during college from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.
My best to you all as 2021 continues to unfold.
Jot wrote: "Joseph, can I used that to find BattleBots? Love that show.Kalifer, let me try to come up with a clean example of its usage.
Glad you had an easier time with higher level math than me, Paula."
--Jot, fwiw, everyone I knew in higher level math courses, including me, worried, at least some of the time, that they weren't doing math well enough. It had nothing to do with one's actual ability.
J.F. wrote: "I'm glad you are enjoying the novel, Paula. Here's a little detail you may not have noticed: there are no standard units of measure in the entire story. Because it's set 4,000 years ago, I couldn't..."Oh dear, I hadn't noticed that! Which is to say, it works seamlessly.
Mod
Six kids in twelve years. Man, you've been busy. Though sorry to hear about your daughter's illness.
Beyond my three kids, I have four sibs and am one of 26 cousins on my father's side. Back in the day we would all get together every other weekend. In past years, we have still had several gatherings a year, but covid has put a hold on that. Still regularly see my sibs though. Family is everything to me.
Not much of a jogger, but am a decent mountain biker. Mostly I love to scuba or snorkel dive, but that's limited to my brief trips south. Not much to see in the cold, dark water of the North Atlantic.
Jeremy wrote: "Cubits!"Computer nerd definition of Cubit: A bit in a three-dimensional bit array.
Historical Note: Three thousand years ago the cubit was widely used but differed in length. In the Egyptian Old Kingdom when the pyramids were built, it was around 52.4 cm. The Mesopotamian cubit was 53.3cm. Ancient Greece had 2 cubits 46cm and 34cm. You had to watch out for those guys when you wanted your house built.
Mod
1 Voxel=3 cubytes if RGB? You should color code those internal organs.
Kalifer wrote: "Jeremy wrote: "Cubits!"Computer nerd definition of Cubit: A bit in a three-dimensional bit array.
Historical Note: Three thousand years ago the cubit was widely used but differed in length. In th..."
From what I've read, cubits were standardized for a specific build site. The manager would produce a stick based on the length of their forearm, and that would be used consistently for the duration of that construction. Any consistency in a geographic region may actually represent the work of a popular architect or engineer!
Yep! Go for the tall and lanky architects to get the best space for the price.
Happy Birthday, Jot. I hope it was a great one.Bio, eh? Oh boy. . . I've had an unconventional life and career. I'm the father of four daughters, three of whom are identical triplets, all in their early 30's. I'm now comfortably retired with my wife in Leesburg, Virginia, a DC metro area suburb bordering on No. Virginia wine and horse country. She and I enjoy our life greatly now that every night is Friday night, and every morning is Saturday morning. I ride a harley bagger as often and as far as I can.
I fell into the microcomputer business as a field sales rep when they first started shipping in kit form in the late 1970's. This meant I got to travel around the country on a full expense account, goofing off with fun entrepreneur-types. I was one of four people that started Computerland, as a 21 year old Franchise Sales Rep selling the world's first computer retail store franchises.
By force of personality, I managed to parlay my rare early microcomputer marketing experience into a 44 year sales career culminating as sole owner of a 20-year old business selling high-capacity data storage systems to various top-secret government agencies.
I did hire a very gifted coder once to help me create an advanced, cloud-based expert system application development environment utilizing some novel, (at the time), intuitive menu driven development tools making it easy to build and manage your own help desk, workflow, and product configurator apps. It was a great asset in my business since it allowed me to automate about 80% of the support, document distribution and product selection requests I received. And it was very cool since it ran on Amazon's early cloud 24X7, and it let one app pass control and variables to another, facilitating group development and content maintenance features.
However, due to the rapidly changing software technology in web applications, I was forced to reinvest, redesign, and redeploy the stupid thing about every 18 months. It's name was CHIP. We wrote it in JAVA, then again in Cold Fusion. When I had to consider a third version in JAVA/HTML5, I threw in the towel and told my coder he was going to have to find someone else to fund his retirement.
Now along with hanging with my wife and two dogs and two cats, I spend time building furniture from scratch. My latest project is a motorized liquor cabinet that opens by lifting a shelf unit straight up, out of the top. So fun.
Oh, and I also wrote three full length Sci-fi novels, (The Axe Series was a labor of love, reminiscent of the old-school Sci-Fi from my youth), as well as a few short novellas and probably 50 or so short stories for this group. My 1500 or so novel copies got very good reviews, the short stories posted here. . . not so much. Lol
Mod
We are taking the RV south in June, heading first to Shenandoah and then to the Smoky Mountains and Myrtle Beach before heading home. Should be a fun trip.
Drop by for a visit. We're less than an hour from Shenandoah Valley.
Mod
Mod
Loved your story, Justin. Excellent imagery, strong emotion and good pacing.
Posted. Almost didn't make it. Too many things going on.Heroes are not made overnight. Sometimes it takes many little steps instead of one or two big steps. My story is about one of those little steps.
Also just under the wire. Been scanning slides and negatives. About 18,000 so far. Between the rest and prints already scanned, about 50,000 images. I'm literally watching my life flash before my eyes.
Also reading a bit: Midnight in Chernobyl, so the inspiration for reactor meltdown, but in space instead of on a planet.
Mod
Greg wrote: "Also just under the wire. Been scanning slides and negatives. About 18,000 so far. Between the rest and prints already scanned, about 50,000 images. I'm literally watching my life flash before my..."
Good tech drama, Greg. (Very Star-Trek reminiscent.)
Tom wrote: "Loved your story, Justin. Excellent imagery, strong emotion and good pacing."Thanks Tom! It's interesting how you start with an idea in mind, then the story goes a completely different direction!
Mod
Required Elements: A Reluctant/Unlikely Hero, Something of Great Value and/or Power.
Inspired by: A Ring, A Hobbit, and an Arkenstone.
(See the rules under the Contest Rules Topic)