2015 Resolutions

Once again, we're at the end of a year and looking forward to a brand new shiny one. Time to think about what changes we want to make.

I'm going to stay away from the long lists and health related resolutions this year. I always end up depressing myself by the middle of February with those anyway. I'm going to keep it short and sweet for 2015.

1. Write for at least thirty minutes every morning.

"Write every day," is a bit of good writing advice you see all over the place. It's something I've tried and failed to start doing time and again, and I've come to believe my reason for failing is because I've never set a specific time aside for it. So that's what I'm doing this year.

I'm a person who peaks in the late morning and afternoon, so if I had my druthers, that's when I'd pick for my writing time. Unfortunately, my late mornings and afternoons are taken six days out of seven, so the half hour or so I've been using to check various social media and have my morning coffee will have to do. It'll probably be like pulling teeth the first week or two, but I figure slow and steady is better than the hit or miss thing I've had going on the past several years.

Some days this might mean writing a few blog posts and scheduling them out, but most days, I'll probably be working on my current works in progress. I'm hoping to start releasing a novel once a year, starting with The Icarus Project sometime in late 2015 and then returning to the Yekara series with Midnight Rising in 2016. Then alternating between the Icarus trilogy and the Yekara series as time goes on.

2. Stick to the cleaning schedule.

I'm a very neat and organized person who lacks in the follow through department. Or well, lacking in energy a lot of times, would probably be more accurate. I do well enough the days I'm off or work-from-home. However, the days I go into the office, I have a bad habit of just crashing once I come back through the door.

I wrote up a workable housekeeping schedule for our family to follow, but we never gave it a go after Hubby's school year started. We're going to try to stick to it going forward in 2015. I figure it might take us a while to get everything back in order following the holiday chaos, but we'll get there eventually. The trick will be sticking with the schedule and not becoming complacent when we get back to just maintaining the house in it's clean state.

That's it. I just have two measly little resolutions this year, but sometimes the smallest things can have the biggest impact.

What are your resolutions for 2015?

Fragrance Introduction: Eclectic and Intuitive

I don't normally introduce new fragrances this time of year, but I'm going to make an exception for these two. Once again, I've had the wonderful opportunity of working with an author to create fragrances and soaps inspired by their characters. In this instance, two characters from Ellie Collin's upcoming Empire Valley series.

First up is Intuitive, a light, fresh, and slightly sweet blend of abalone, sea, coffee, coconut, lavender, and chocolate. It was inspired by the main protagonist, Sophia.

Intuitive Glycerin Soaps

Upcoming Interview - The Will Anderson Show

I will be joining local talk show host, Will Anderson on air during his show on Wednesday, July 23. The show airs on WTKI and WEKI weekdays from 4 to 6 p.m. central standard time.

We will be discussing my debut novel, Right of Succession.

Right of Succession is Available!

Long time readers will know I've spent more than half my life working on my first full novel. I've written other things in the past nineteen and a half years, but I kept going back to Right of Succession.

Well, it's finally been finished and published!

It is available on Kindle and in paperback form. In fact, you can snag an electronic copy free from Amazon if you head over and download a copy by Tuesday, June 24.

For local folks, I'll be at Con Kasterborous this weekend, and I should have about twelve paperback copies available for purchase at my booth. (If they arrive when my publisher says they will, that is.)

Personalized, signed copies will be available through contentedcomfort.com along with all bath and body, knit, and crocheted items come mid to late July when I finish integrating my storefront with the main website. My Etsy store will stay up as a means to accept inquiries from existing customers and to direct returning customers to the main website.

If you read and enjoy, please help a new novelist out and leave a review. And as always, thanks for your support!

Musing on Character Archetypes

So, I was listening to one of the local radio stations this morning, and they read something called "Captain America's Top 10 Complaints" since they're giving away movie passes to Winter Soldier. One complaint stuck out: "That Iron Man gets all the girls."

Movie still from The Avengers

My first response was to roll my eyes. Both have plenty of fangirls and can do well enough in their own right. Besides, Tony's in a committed relationship. And Steve, so far as the latest movies go, hasn't been awake for long and is still grieving. It's not something I think either character would care much about anyway.

Writer Fail, Lion's Club BBQ Recount, and a Rebirth

Yes, I know. I promised I'd have Right of Succession published at the end of last week. Sorry folks, I wasn't expecting the events of last week.

First, I threw my hip out of socket somehow on Wednesday morning. I couldn't sit at the desk, and it's next to impossible to type while lying flat.

I recovered from that just in time to set up for the Lion's Club BBQ Cook Off. I normally don't work events this late in the year. But it was a free booth, and I thought a tent would be enough to keep myself and the soaps from damage. I was wrong. I lost about thirty to forty sample soaps, even in the shade, and I wound up with heat stroke.

New policy: no outdoor events between mid-May and the very end of September. It's just too hot and humid here in the Tennessee Valley for items that start melting at 90 degrees.

New Fragrances for the Ladies!

Instead of spacing these out into four different posts, I thought I'd just put up a video that introduces them all at once since I'd promised to do so on my YouTube channel anyway.

If you like my videos and want to make sure you don't miss any of them, make sure to subscribe to my channel. While I do post a few of them here, I don't with all of them.

New Fragrance: Doctor Who Inspired Rainbow Hex

It's that time of year again. Con Kasterborous is coming up in just four and a half weeks, so I'm hard at work designing and producing new original fragrance lines. Today I have a look at the first of this year's three new Doctor Who inspired fragrances scheduled to debut at the convention.

Rainbow Hex Glycerin and Goat Milk Soaps

Just like the regeneration it's inspired by, Rainbow Hex is an interesting and slightly eccentric blend of marine, ozone, patchouli, lime, fresh greens, basil, and fresh cut grass. The design itself is modeled after the colorful patchwork coat worn by the 6th Doctor as portrayed by Colin Baker and is done mostly in glycerin soap with a bit of goat milk thrown in.

Con Kasterborous Recap

I went to Con Kasterborous in Huntsville, Alabama this past weekend. It's one of only three dedicated Doctor Who conventions in the U.S., and it was in it's first year.

Thanks to Emma McCauley for the photo!

It was great, especially considering it was the convention's first year. The turn out was way higher than expected. The costumes looked great, and both the guests and convention goers were delightful. I think everyone had a blast. Want proof? Lady Soliloque made a video of the goings on.

I'll say, I did stick out a bit like a sore thumb in the dealer's room. Bath and Body products aren't something you'd expect to find on sale at a science fiction convention. I mean, how many folks carry science fiction and fantasy themed fragrances and soaps? I got a few odd looks as people walked right past on their way to the FYE and Zero Gravity booths. 

What is it about long lived characters?

I've never in my life had cable, so it's only because of Netflix carrying the newer Doctor Who series I've been able to discover the series last month. (Yes, I only got to start with the Ninth Doctor, but I did try to find the older series. No luck.) We're only a few seasons in, but it really is addicting.

There's just something about a character as long lived as The Doctor, Highlander's Methos or Darius or Amanda, any number of vampires, or any centuries old character. All those experiences, the knowledge, the joys, and the pain they've experienced, the things they've seen makes them fascinating. What makes The Doctor doubly so, is the writers show how he continues to grow, learning from his companions as he teaches them.

There are tons of videos out there, but I came across one that seems to sum up character of The Doctor almost perfectly.



Of course, it probably doesn't help personally that Christopher Eccleston looks like a good deal like Hubby and there are quite a few similarities between the personalities of both the ninth and tenth Doctors and Hubby's. It's like watching what he'd become if he had centuries of life ahead instead of just the few decades any of us can hope to have.

Top Ten Most Fascinating Women of Sci-Fi

Okay, it's the ladies' turn in the spotlight today folks. Here's my pick for the ten most fascinating women in science fiction, and I have to say, I'm a lot more confident in my choices for this list than Tuesday's. I'm sure there are lots of great series out there I haven't seen or read, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this readers.

I'm still floundering a bit with the women of fantasy list I have planned for next week, so any suggestions are welcome. What if I were to include mythology or the original versions of classic fairy tales?

Anyway, on to the list. As with the last one, there are some spoilers in the descriptions, so be forewarned.

10. Guinan from "Star Trek: The Next Generation"

When you're going for interesting characters in science fiction or fantasy, one easy place to look is among characters of long lived races. I mean, you simply can't live hundreds of years and be one dimensional.

Guinan is El-Aurian, a long lived race of listeners, which makes her a natural bar tender. She was something of a confidant, councilor, auntie, and surrogate mother to the crew of the Enterprise-D. Soft spoken and kind, she also had a bite, enough to make Q wary of her and to wipe the shooting range floor with Worf.

9. Dr. Samantha "Sam" Carter from "Stargate SG1" and "Stargate Atlantis"

Samantha Carter is one of those characters that prove nerdy girls can be sexy and kick booty while getting their geek on. Whether she was making desperate repairs, rigging devices MacGyver style, upsetting cultures (in a good way), or running to the rescue with guns blazing, SG1 would have fallen flat without their female second-in-command. Oh, and she made it all ten seasons without dying half a dozen times, unlike some characters.

(As much as I like O'Neill, I included this pic because some of Carter's funniest moments were bickering with McKay.)

8. Lessa from Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series.

I know the series name may make it seem like this one belongs on the fantasy list, but if you've read the entire series, you know the Pern books are technically science fiction.

Readers get to see a lot of Lessa in the Dragonriders series. She's a teen at the beginning of "Dragonflight," and she's in her forties by the time "All the Weyrs of Pern" rolls around. (I stopped reading after Todd McCaffrey took over the series, so I don't know what goes on from there.) Lessa runs the gambit from sweet to bratty, wise to recklessly stupid throughout the series.

One of many children of a lord holder, Lessa survives the massacre of her family through dumb luck, and hides as a drudge. Years later, she gives up her claim to run the hold in order to take a chance of impressing the last queen egg. Eventually, she follows a hunch in deciding to use her dragon's ability to travel between space and time to travel 400 years into the past and back again in an effort to save Pern. (Like I said, genius and stupid all at once.)

7. Max Guevara from "Dark Angel"

Max is one of many of the ultimate test tube babies in this near future, post apocalyptic series. Max, along with her "brothers and sisters," were genetically engineered and trained by the U.S. government to be super soldiers. Each posses bits of animal DNA, which give them increased senses, stamina, strength, speed, and can come with some nasty side effects such as seizures when their diet isn't sufficiently high in tryptophan and periodically going into heat.

Max becomes entangled with "Eyes Only," a behind-the-scenes political activist, and eventually leads her fellow chimeras into the light.

6. Sarah Connor from the Terminator series

You've gotta love Connor's personification of the mama bear instinct. Here she was, just this normal girl minding her own business when this killer robot from the future starts trying to kill her and some guy saves her only to start spouting off an insane story about how she's the mother of the resistance leader.

Sarah Connor blossoms into a kick butt character after the end of the first film, when she learns she's pregnant. Her priorities shift with that tangible proof of the story she was given, well other than the freaky killer robot, and she sets out not only to protect her son in the here and now but to try to keep that future from coming to pass at all. Along the way she sometimes forgets her son John is still just a kid. She's not a perfect mom by any means, but she's a perfect example of why you never mess with someone's child.

5. Zoe Graystone from "Caprica"

Never mind the advanced technology, obscene amounts of money and material goods her family has, or the fact she's growing up on one of twelve planetary colonies humanity has set up, Zoe Graystone is your typical teenager. She just so happens to also be a programming prodigy with major reservations about society.

In a culture of polytheistic beliefs and extreme decadence, Zoe is a monotheist with high morals. She seeks to spread reform with her best friend and boyfriend, not realizing her boyfriend is a religious extremist until seconds before he sets off a bomb on the railway, killing them both, and leaving behind nothing but the virtual avatar she made of herself. Zoe's father, who has been working on a military android design, discovers Zoe's avatar and downloads it into his android in a misguided attempt to resurrect his daughter, thus creating the Cylon race.

4. Zhaan from "Farscape"

Welcome our only plant based entry on the list.

When we first saw Zhaan, she was introduced as a priest and escaping prisoner. As the series progressed, we learned she is a talented healer and botanist, which makes sense considering she's a plant. She is also guilty of the crime she was imprisoned for, a political assassination against her mentor and lover, when he was willing to bring in a hired army to maintain his power. This act of violence triggered a madness in her, which is the norm for her species, and she managed to regain her sanity through decades of meditation and prayer, which is exceedingly rare.

Alternately comforting and frightening, Zhaan embodied the full range of feminine roles throughout mythology and folklore. She was at once mother and monster, creation and destruction, nurturing kindness and chastening rod.

3. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace from "Battlestar Galactica"

I know a lot of folks have a problem with the fact Starbuck's sex was changed in the new series. (What about Boomer? Same deal there, but no one made a big deal out of it.) Personally I don't see what the big deal is. Starbuck's still arrogant, hot headed, and sex crazed: same basic personality with a different wrapper.

From what little I've seen of the original Galactica, the new series' take on Starbuck is a whole lot more interesting, and it has nothing to do with the fact she's a girl. It has everything to do with better character development. It's what sets the new series apart from the old, character driven plots and story lines that span whole seasons.

Forget daddy issues, Kara has mama issues. She's spent her whole life trying to live up to her mother's expectations and later pushes herself to be the best after the death of her fiance'. Her luck with men is atrocious. The Cylons, Leoben in particular, believe she's caught up in their destiny somehow and haunt her for it, going so far as to mentally torture her on New Caprica after having stolen one of her ovaries on Caprica Prime.

And I still haven't figured out what happened with that time loop thing in the last couple seasons.

2. Echo from "The Dollhouse"

Whedon seems to have a thing for female characters who are as strong as they are messed up. Discounting the parody "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog," all of Whedon's series are represented at least once on the women of science fiction and fantasy lists I'm working on.

Echo, also known as Caroline, was your average college student with a yen for political activism. She got in over her head when she tried to take on Rossum, and ended up as a "doll" in one of the company's dollhouses. Her personality was wiped from her mind and stored on a computer wedge while her mind was constantly overwritten and her body hired out to the highest bidder.

It's soon apparent Echo's mind is more elastic than anticipated, and she begins accessing supposedly wiped information in times of distress. Then a psychotic "doll" going by Alpha decided to dump every personality she'd ever been implanted with in her head all at once. Because of her natural neural elasticity, Echo handles the artificial dissociative disorder better than Alpha did, eventually helping to take down Rossum from the inside.

1. River Tam from "Firefly"

The Tam family always knew River was a genius: not a run of the mill genius either, I'm talking nearly off the IQ charts type genius. So, when she's offered a place with an academy for the gifted, they jumped on the opportunity for her and never looked back. Luckily for her, River's older brother Simon noticed her cries for help from within the academy, a front for the Blue Sun corporation, who was experimenting on exceedingly gifted children.

Simon was able to help River escape, but she was left mentally damaged by her stint with Blue Sun. Much of what she says seems like gibberish until a few minutes or hours later. Simon eventually discovers Blue Sun completely stripped River of her emotional defenses, meaning she is literally incapable of blocking her feelings or controlling her emotions. This empathetic openness combined with her natural intellectual prowess create a type of extrasensory perception, bordering on telepathy and precognition.

In addition, River was trained as an assassin. The combination of her innocence and youth and her extreme skill with weapons of any type as well as hand to hand make her a disturbing blend of pure nightmare and cute kid sister.

There's been a major upsurge in quality female characters in the science fiction genre of late, so this was actually one of the easier lists to compose. Oddly enough, followed closely by the men's list for the fantasy genre. Make sure to come back to see that one next week.

Oh, and the world building series will continue on Sunday. I've no idea how it happened but "birthday season" took me by surprise this year, and I've been a little buried under multiple gatherings, headaches, and an injury the past few weekends. That's what I get for not prescheduling posts days in advance, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

Top Ten Most Fascinating Men of Sci-Fi

Lately I've been playing around with some character studies, and these exercises got me to thinking about all the great characters that pulled me into the fantasy and science fiction genres. Today's list is the first of four top ten lists as I see them, though I am open to suggestions, especially when it comes to women of fantasy.

(You wouldn't believe how hard it is to think of truly fascinating female characters in the fantasy genre. Then again, maybe I just haven't perused enough material.)

If the lists seem a little heavy on Stargate, Star Trek, Battlestar Galatica, and the works of Anne McCaffrey, I did ask for suggestions on both Facebook and Twitter for the past month. I only received one answer that you'll see in the women of fantasy list next week, so these other lists are the characters I could think of based on the series, movies, books, and comics I've read or seen, and the series above are my favorites.

(Star Wars is among my favorites, but the majority of the characters got beat out by better written ones. Sorry.)

Oh, and fair warning, some descriptions contain spoilers.

10. Peter Reidinger from Anne McCaffrey's "Pegasus in Flight" and "Pegasus in Space."

Peter became a paraplegic when a wall collapsed on him early in his adolescence. He was discovered as a "talent" when he began astral projecting himself into Rhyssa Owen's room without realizing what he was doing. After years of training, he becomes a key part of humanity's journey to the stars.

The sheer power of Peter's telekinesis make you want to scream Stu, but McCaffrey's handling of his disability and fight to learn fine control of his telekinesis to give himself the appearance of normalcy make him one of the best teenage science fiction characters around. Plus, his interaction with surrogate little sister, Amariyah, is just adorable.

9. Darien Fawkes from "The Invisible Man" (2000 TV Series)

(This one was suggested by Mom. I really don't remember much about this series as it never caught my fantsy.)

Darien believed he was following in his father's footsteps when he began picking locks as a teen. Then he chose to perform CPR when his latest robbery victim suffers a heart attack instead of fleeing, resulting in his third strike and a life sentence until his brother gets him released on the condition he becomes a test subject. He becomes a reluctant agent for "The Agency," who funded the project, if he wants access to the Quicksliver counter-agent that can keep him from going insane as the substance builds up in his system every time he goes invisible.

8. Quinn Mallory from "Sliders"

Mallory is a physics prodigy who discovers a way to travel between parallel worlds. Along with his college professor, friend Wade, and a passing singer who happened to drive into the interdimensional vortex, Quinn "slides" through the multiverse searching for home after the algorithm which should have taken them home is corrupted.

Often sweet and possessed of an overgrown sense of responsibility, Quinn tries to right wrongs throughout their journey. Though he does take to brooding and becomes a pain in the rear and a real jerk in later seasons due to those same traits and his tendency to take everything onto himself, be it responsibility or criticism.

7. Leonard "Bones" McCoy from "Star Trek: The Original Series"

Abrasive, grouchy, occasionally bigoted, but ultimately a caring and good man with a quirky sense of humor, Dr. McCoy is one of the most interesting and least annoying characters of the original series. He wasn't shy about stepping in as the voice of Kirk's conscience and provided a perfect foil for Spock's logic.

6. Shepherd Book from "Firefly"

Okay, I know I didn't mention this series in my list of favorites, but I'm a total brown coat. Half the sci-fi lists for both men and women could have been made up of Firefly characters, but I didn't think that'd be fair.

Book is Whedon's second take on a scary preacher man. Unlike Caleb from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Book is mentally stable and not at all prone to torturing and killing young girls. He even warns Captain Reynolds, ironically played by the same actor who played Caleb, of the special hell reserved for "child molesters and people who talk in the theater" when Reynolds accidentally marries a young girl via an archaic ritual.

Though Shepherd book hails from Southdown Abby and is often seen performing the duties of a preacher, as well as studying his Bible, there are hints given throughout the series that he wasn't always a preacher. In fact, he's shown downright fear a few times when his identity or at least his ID is revealed. His past remains a topic of speculation.

5. Michael from "Stargate Atlantis"

And now we come to our first true villain on the list, the human-wraith hybrid Michael. I like my heroes a bit on the Byronic side and my satans Miltonian, which is why I'm so fond of this character in particular. He's psychotic and as evil as they come, but you can't help but feel sorry for him.

I mean first he's captured and used as a lab rat, and then he's tossed out on his rear by his kinsmen because he's no longer fully wraith. He's cast out everywhere. Is it any wonder he's a little touchy?

Though his obsession with Teyla's magic baby was a little over the top on the creep out meter.

4. Jean-Luc Picard from "Star Trek: The Next Generation"

I know some of you are probably clamoring that Kirk should be up here, but let's face it, Kirk's a big ol' Gary Stu at the best of times, and although I enjoyed the latest Trek movie, it just made the character more of a Stu than ever.

Picard is an interesting character without being over the top. He has strengths and flaws, which do a fine job of making him stand out without having to hog the spotlight. His adventures with Q and the friendship/flirtation he had with Dr. Crusher, balanced by an irritation with her son's involvement on the ship, were key points for the character.

3. Dr. Daniel Jackson from "Stargate SG1"

If Dr. Jackson were to write a memoir, it'd have to be titled "Confessions of a Frequently Dead and Often Insane Archeologist." The man just can't stay dead, and he has worse luck with women than BtVS's Xander Harris.

After being laughed out of academia for his theories regarding aliens and the pyramids, Jackson was hired by the U.S. government to make some translations for them. In doing so, he discovers how an ancient artifact called the Stargate works and goes through with the first team. After his wife is taken by alien parasites, he joins SG1 as he searches for her. While often being one of the brains of the team and a major moral compass for the SGC, Jackson has his fair share of dark side moments up to and including becoming an agent of the enemy, for those of you who don't like to pretend like the last two seasons never happened.

(Though if there's a Stargate equivalent of Clan Denial for seasons 9 and 10, sign me up.)

2. Scorpius (and Harvey) from "Farscape"

Ah, another villain makes the list.

Scorpius is one of those characters that can pull you in and make you gag at the same time. He's enigmatic, depraved, cultured, and barbaric all at once.

He's a balance of opposing forces by his very nature, being half heat intolerant Sebacean, half warmth loving Scarron. He's the result of the Scarron's attempt to further their race by blending genetics. He's rejected by the Sebaceans, who are nearly fanatical about genetic purity, and by the Scarrons who see his need for a coolant suit to survive as an unforgivable weakness. Because of this, he holds no loyalty to either of his parent races, and ruthlessly seeks after his own ends.

His desire for the wormhole knowledge John Crichton possesses leads him to implant a neural clone of himself in John's brain. John spends much of the series trying to have the clone removed, but eventually gives up, dubbing the clone Harvey as it begins to take on a character of its own. Harvey, who is mostly interested with staying alive, does whatever he can to keep John alive and sane, even at Scorpius' expense.

1. Gaius Baltar of the new "Battlestar Galatica"

I'll admit, I've only ever caught a few episodes of the original Battlestar Galactica, so I'm not exactly familiar with the character's original incarnation. (I'm a character driven kind of girl with a yen for dark fic, so the new series holds a thousand times more appeal for me personally.)

With the allegorical leanings of this new series, Baltar is its Paul. Being a self-centered playboy genius and eventually selling out humanity to make his latest conquest, Baltar is the chief of sinners. Even after he realizes what he did, he continues in his self-serving ways even as a mental incarnation of his Cylon lover whispers about God's plan for him in his ear. Redemption begins for him during his presidency on New Caprica, where he secretly aids the resistance. He's reviled for his public displays of cooperation and barely escapes being put to death. However, the memoir he partially published while in the brig makes him something of a spiritual leader for a segment of the fleet.

He shares his pondering on God and life, at first to keep his place among those who support him and thus ensure his safety, and later because of genuine belief. Eventually he is redeemed through his first selfless act in the series as he helps defend Galatica against a Basestar and helping Caprica Six find Hera, the half human, half cylon Eve.

* The pictures are screen caps and promotional shots.

Ah why not? Happy Star Wars Day!

Make sure you're on the light side of the Force, or you might end up like this guy.

YouTube Fun

I had a little time to kick back and mess about on the computer yesterday. I found some fun fan videos I'd like to share with you.

I was in something of a Buffy mood, and I came across this little gem set to "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas. I'm not the biggest Black Eyed Peas fan, but the clips of Angel dancing at the beginning made me giggle. Warning: The author used the uncensored version of the song.

Boom Boom Pow [B]tvs

Then you have Buffy vs. Edward Cullen. I found myself giggling maniacally at this one. Actually, I think the Buffy/Angel drama should have ended the same way.

Buffy vs. Edward

Let's move on to Battlestar Galactica. The first series was before my time, though I have caught a few of the old episodes on a retro television network. Personally I like the character driven bent of the new series better. Then again, I'm a dark story junkie, so the tone fits my personality better anyway.

Here's a set of clips beautifully set to Requiem for a Dream from Lord of the Rings.

Battlestar Galactica Requiem

This next one has kind of horrible video quality, so I wouldn't suggest enlarging the video any. However, I love the song, having fallen in love with it thanks to the Highlander series. It fits the tone of the series very well.

Battlestar Galactica Who Wants to Live Forever

Of course, that got me to thinking about an old favorite Highlander video. It covers the Horsemen story and is set to "It's Been a While" by Sting. Warning: the author used the uncensored version of the song. Not work safe.

Methos: It's Been a While

Con Dreams

I've wanted but never actually managed to make it to Dragon*Con for years, ever since I heard about it over at Anne McCaffery's Kitchen Table Bulletin Board, which was taken down some years back. Why I haven't gone changes with the years, but it generally revolves around responsibilities and a lack of funds. This year, I didn't even realize it was about that time until Jen from Cake Wrecks began twittering from the con floor Saturday morning.

She mentioned what a good time she and her husband were having watching the Stargate panel, and being the massive Stargate geek I am, I've been checking here and there trying to catch some videos. Alas I've yet to find any from this year's panel. However, I did find one video that's just too fun.

Apparently con goers got together to try to break the world record for number of people dancing to Thriller. One of the dancers happened to be in an Alien costume, and the results are quite giggle worthy.

Why do I have images of a whole line of Aliens dancing Thriller in my head now?

Reverse Vacation: Day 2

Day two of the reverse vacation saw more progress. It's perhaps not as impressive as yesterday, but still, progress.

I finished the last of chapter five. Then I combined previous chapters seven and nine to make the new chapter six, and began rewriting the old chapter ten as the new chapter seven. All in all, it was only 2300 new words. It's a paltry sum, and chapter six takes up the majority of the new word count. However, it was one of the more difficult chapters I'll have to write this week. I've completely changed several characterizations, and balancing the new interactions required a few false starts.

I'd hoped to get more done, but a sleep deficit I built up this weekend thanks to some disturbing dreams caught up with me early in the afternoon. I decided to take a quick nap to prevent writing gibberish and didn't wake up until three hours later. So, although I didn't produce as much new verbiage as I would have liked, I believe it is at least high quality work. The test will be in the reread at the end of the month.

Star Trek's New Movie...

We saw the new Star Trek film yesterday. What a joy!

Time travel paradoxes as a whole irk me, but this one was done well. It helps that I can understand their reasoning for wanting to use it. The point was to revitalize the franchise, and there was no way around the die hard fans' desire for sticking to cannon that would allow for attracting new fans. Thus, it almost had to be a time paradox film.

I won't say any more except, it's well worth the price of admission.

Star Trek: My Introduction into Science Fiction

We all have those things that influence us in our formative years. As parents, we give a lot of thought to how we teach our children manners, kindness, instill a work ethic, and the like. Yet, other things we do can and do have a big impact on who our children grow up to be we give little thought to.

Did my mother ever think, when I was a preschooler sitting in the living room floor watching old reruns of the original Star Trek and Lost in Space with her, I'd grow up to write science fiction? Somehow I doubt it.

I barely remember my introduction to science fiction. I was so young, not even four I believe, when I began watching reruns of the original series with my parents. All I really remember are vague impressions of bold color, thinking it was funny how their food looked like my geometric blocks, being upset when they took the series off the air "for good," and telling Mom Mr. Spock was my favorite character.

Then Next Generation entered the scene, and I ended up with my first actor crush on Wil Wheaton in his role as Wesley Crusher. I'm a little embarrassed by in now, looking back and finding the character a bit grating as I do, but I was a preteen during the original airing. (Well all but the last three episodes anyway.)


Then, Mom got into a new series called Babylon 5. I was already brainstorming and taking notes for a story idea that would eventually evolve into Right of Succession. At that point, most of what I had was character ideas. I knew who I wanted my main characters to be. I had a firm idea of their appearance, character, and history in my mind. My villain, on the other hand, was just a vague impression. Then I saw an episode of Babylon 5 with Psi Cop Alfred Bester in it.

Walter Koenig played the character in such an interesting and creepy way at the same time, it immediately pulled me in. Those first impressions of the character became a basis for Count Ralic. The character has evolved as much as the others over the intervening years, but the overall sense of darkness and a few mannerisms remain.

As you can see, I have ample reason to be excited about the release of the new Star Trek movie today. Hubby and I are heading out with friends to see it this weekend as a sort of birthday celebration. I do hope it's one of the good ones.

* The picture is courtesy of Wikipedia's article on the Alfred Bester character from Babylon 5.

Thank you, Editorial Anonymous!

Even as I've been working on rewrites and edits on Succession, I've had this nagging feeling something was still off with the manuscript, but I couldn't name the problem. So, when Editorial Anonymous offered a first pages clinic over on her new blog, The Anonymati, I decided to submit the first page for a professional opinion.

Am I ever glad I did!

The problem was obvious. It's a problem I know I have, and I've been working to correct the habit for a couple years now. However, Succession is a piece I've always been incredibly close to, and I suppose I was too close to see the problem. Now I know what to fix, and soon this book's journey will come to an end for better or worse.

What was the problem? I was overwriting. Even with all the cuts I've done in the last months, there were still too many extraneous details, awkwardly wordy phrases, cliches, and word choices that had her thinking of a romance novel.

As a writer, especially a writer of fantasy or science fiction, the details are so clear to us and such a part of the story the temptation to cram them all in is a strong one. After spending so long building a world, it's difficult to leave some details to the reader. It feel like leaving something you love, something important completely up to chance. I suppose you could compare the feeling to sending your child off to their first day of kindergarten without teaching them how to share. There's a sense something is going to go horribly wrong.

Yet, unlike sending a child without a knowledge of sharing into a large group of other children, leaving the unnecessary details to the reader actually helps the manuscript. Filling in those bits empowers the reader and prevents the story from being lost in its own trimming.

So, I'm off to the editing room again. It's time I had a talk with my inner editor. Seems she's been too merciful with the striking pen. This won't do.

Thank you again, Editorial Anonymous, for helping me see what I've been missing these past six months or so.

For the full post on Succession's first page, click here.

Why Sci-Fi and Fantasy?

Have you ever been looked at cross eyed for being a fan of or a writer who specializes in science fiction or fantasy? I have. High school teachers, college professors, friends, and some family members, upon finding out my aspirations to make a living by the pen and my penchant for the genres, have given me a look that screams, "Why waste your time with that stuff for social rejects when you could write romance, or crime fiction, or suspense, or humor?" even as they plaster on a fake smile and try to come up with something a bit more polite to say.

You know what I have to say to their attitude? Why not write science fiction and fantasy? I've tried my hand at romance, mystery, horror, humor, and suspense. My horror was a bit tame, and my sense of humor is a little to dry for most folks' taste. I'm capable of pulling off romance, mystery, and suspense, but I simply enjoy writing in my preferred genres more. Plus, there's a level of quality my joy in writing the piece brings to the finished product you simply don't find in something less pleasurable to compose.

Well, why does anyone enjoy science fiction or fantasy? Why were the genres developed in the first place?

There's so much to explore, especially with the strides being made in the sciences today. Being a woman naturally drawn to the sciences, exploring the possibilities in tomorrow's technologies is second nature. Also, there is a level of social detachment interjected by placing your story in a completely different culture which frees you up to speak about issues difficult to address without immediately alienating good chunks of your audience.

Yes, there's a level of escapism in the genres. This is why so many academics and writers tend to look down their noses at "genre fiction." They lump it all together in a gigantic bubble gum wrapper and toss it in the bin with everything else they consider entertainment junk food, never noticing the nutrition for the soul held within.

Variety and spice are as essential in maintaining a healthy love of reading as it is in keeping to a healthy diet. Elements such as fantastical species, magic, exotic cultures, and space travel or other advance technologies are the basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme to the skinless baked chicken and steamed veggies of social commentary held within.