What Are Editors Good For?

I'll tell you.

Editors are gatekeepers. The whole purpose of an editor in the publishing business is to weed out the bad and leave only the good. This is especially true in magazine publishing (online or in print). If you think that every story written is good, then you are sadly mistaken. Just because you have written something doesn't mean that it needs to be seen. Bad stories exist. That said, it should be acknowledged that editors don't always get it right; but that's the nature of the human condition.

Editors spruce up prose. They don't do it quite as much as the other kind of editor that you hire, but they do make good writing better. In book publishing, an editor does a hell of a lot of work, and most of the time the work they do is good work. I've seen manuscripts from before publication and after and can honestly say that the final product is almost always better than the original thing.

Editors make you into a better writer. Emphasis on better. They don't make you into the greatest writer ever, but they certainly teach you a few things. Ask anyone published by a major publisher or even a small press. Ask them if their editor taught them anything. They did, didn't they? I thought so.

Editors are dedicated to good books. They are not evil, but benevolent creatures with only one goal in mind: find and publish good books that consumers will like. They don't always get it right (but, hell, let's face it, writers don't either), but they put a hell of a lot of work and TLC into every book they edit. They want to put out good books. In fact, they have to. A string of horrible books that don't sell very well could spell certain doom for an editor; it's in their best interest to provide consumers with good products. And if you don't believe that, then ask an author published by a traditional press. Ask someone at Tor or Penguin whether or not their editors did a lot of work to produce a quality product. Did you ask? And? I thought so.

The thing is, some people are jaded against traditional publishing. Sometimes it's for good reason, and a lot of the time it's not. Editors are not useless entities. They serve a vital purpose in publishing, and writers need them (even good writers). Self-published writers need them too. Every sentence you write isn't gold. Sometimes a sentence is utter drivel. The problem is that writers don't always know that, and it can take a good editor to make them see it.

If I missed anything here, let me know. I'm learning a lot of the editing trade, so if there are things editors do that I've forgotten, leave a comment!

(This post is a preface to another post I have coming up. I'm trying to wrap my head around a string of paragraphs written elsewhere that I can't help staring at--not because they are interesting, but because what is being said is so ignorant and stupid that I can't help gawking at the words. Expect that soon.)

Ten Things No Writer Should Ever Do

There are a lot of things writers shouldn't do, but there are some things that a writer really shouldn't do. Here is a list of ten things no writer should ever do:

Send a long-winded biography not limited to your writing career.
Not only do we (editors) not give a crap, but your query letter or cover letter should be short and sweet, telling us only the things we need to know to assess your manuscript. Most editors don’t even need a cover letter, but a good story is a good story, regardless of where someone was published or not published before. Sometimes a quirky fact about yourself is cute, but beyond that, we just don’t care about your life story!

Send files in formats not specified.
If the guidelines say send your submission in .doc or .rtf form, then send it in .doc or .rtf form. More than likely, the editors can’t open other file types, or have no clue what those others are. I’ve received everything from .docx to .odt to .pages, the latter two of which are for programs I don’t even have on my computer. If it can’t be opened, it can’t be read!

Demand to be paid in a form that isn’t specified in the guidelines.
Generally speaking, if the guidelines say “paypal only,” that means “paypal only.” But sure, demand to be paid by Western Union (or whatever it’s called now). Coincidentally, the person who demanded this also told us she was a forty plus year old woman, and our guidelines specifically stated that twenty-five was the cap. What can you do?

Argue about a decision.
If we don’t want your submission, arguing with us about it isn’t going to change our minds. In fact, it might make us turn to disliking you. Take a rejection like a man…or a woman. It’s part of the writing life.

Forget to attach your submission.
Okay, so this one isn’t as bad as the others, but it’s a silly mistake that you really shouldn’t do, for obvious reasons. Usually we laugh about it, but after a while it gets tiresome to send the same email out over and over.

Send an insulting email.
Something about someone emailing you to tell you that you’re a scumbag for rejecting their submission and that you should burn in hell forever is truly uplifting. People still do this, and it puzzles me why. I thought the object of submitting was to get published. How does one expect to do that if he or she insults everyone who rejects them?

Stalk someone and post hateful comments on their email.
Remember that Cole A. Adams incident? Don’t do that. Seriously. It’s bad news for you and anyone around you. It's also a good example of career suicide, and if you can't help yourself, then seek psychiatric help. They have pills for that kind of thing.

Send dead animals to a publisher or editor.
According to a rather epic story, Harlan Ellison did something like this. But Harlan Ellison got away with it because he was/is Harlan Ellison. Nowadays, I don’t think even J. K. Rowling could get away with that. This applies to any sort of shipment of illegal or unorthodox items to a publisher or editor, including, but not limited to, razor blades, pipe bombs, letter bombs, bricks, cocaine, marijuana, poison food items, anthrax, and rotten fruit.

Tell someone about your criminal convictions or crimes you've committed and have yet to get caught for.
I suppose this one would fit on a list of stupid things people do in general, but there's really nothing stupider than admitting to someone who might be inclined to publish your story for kids that you are a convicted pedophile. Honestly. It's also not a good idea to tell an editor that you killed a man once and never served any time. That's not information editors want to be burdened with. If you must confess, do so with a police officer. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help relieve your burden.

Plagiarize.
This is the big no-no, and no matter how many times people say don’t do it, there is always someone willing to take the risk. Sometimes they can get away with it, and others times not, but when you consider what happens to you if you don’t get away with it, why would you ever take the risk? I don’t know about you, but I’m not particularly fond of hefty fees or jail time. I like eating and my apartment is cozy…

What about you? What do you think are some things that writers shouldn’t do? Let me know in the comments!

Curse Them All: Should You Use Them?

I have been reading an action-packed, violent book called Kell's Legend by Andy Remic recently and the author's style has brought me to this post. Those who are familiar with Remic are probably used to his unflinching desire to inject curse words liberally into his prose; they are also probably used to his rather detailed levels of violence, too. None of these things are necessarily bad, but they do make one think about the problem of cursing in fiction--or anything, for that matter.

The problem with saying "you should only do this when" is that such a phrase is inherently arbitrary. The reality is that people have varying degrees of tolerance for foul language, including myself. For example:

I typically have no issue with the f-word, s-word, b-word, crap, ass, and g-damn; however, I do have a problem with the n-word and the c-word, and more so with the latter than the former. Let me clarify before someone jumps down my throat. I can see when using the n-word might be necessary, particularly if you are trying to tell a certain kind of story about, perhaps, the civil rights movement in the United States or the Apartheid era of South Africa; it makes perfect sense that the n-word would show up in such instances. Outside of that, however, I see no use for it. The c-word, though, is, for me, pretty much intolerable; I can't stand the word for too many reasons to count, and there have been times when its use has forced me to stop reading.

That's my personal opinion. Mine is not the only one, and no one answer is any more correct than another. To illustrate this point, I asked folks on my Twitter account to respond to the question: Do you tolerate cursing in the books you read? Where are your limits, if any? Here are some of their responses (with some minor editing):

Dhympna: Yeah, I like cursing. I sometimes get annoyed by writers who use too many colloquial expressions. I get more annoyed by authors using particular vernacular and slang too much than actual cursing. In all fairness, I do tend to curse like a sailor, which is why it does not bother me.

Kaolin Fire: No limits so long as the story's interesting and it's relevant. Whatever.

GothixHalo: As long as the writing is good and the character development isn't horrible, cursing isn't a flaw. Using it as a replacement for good writing skills is a crime, though. Having to use curse words instead of competent words is pitiful.

mspuma: I only respect cursing if it seems realistic. Overuse of cursing in writing is just an old shock value trick. Cussing in and of itself doesn't offend me. They're just words. But like any emphasized phraze/cliche, it loses its punch with repetition.

Keeping all of these views in mind, it is important to note that there is no true answer to the question of cursing. What matters most is your personal taste. The market is not so black and white to make the claim for any particular level of restraint appropriate or right. In fact, because the market is so varied, it is only logical to assume that using curse words should be based on personal taste rather than anything else. Andy Remic, for example, has no qualms about using curses, and he has a market of readers who enjoy that. Other writers avoid curses entirely; they have a market two (and likely some overlap). Some people can't stand Remic, I'm sure, and others love him; Remic, I imagine, loves himself quite a lot. Remic's personal taste is clear: he likes to use curse words in his fiction. And he got published doing it.

That is not to say that you shouldn't demonstrate some restraint. Writing dialogue is not easy to do and having dialogue that is essentially a whole stream of f-words, s-words, and b-words will seem trite or perhaps unnecessarily vulgar. It all really depends on your audience. I often look at cursing as a combination of style and necessity; if the cursing is there only to be shocking or impedes the flow of the prose, then I'm out.

What about you? Where are your limits on the matter of cursing in fiction, as writers or readers?

Reader Question: Should Writers Have English Degrees?

(For some reason I did not write down the name of the person who asked this question, nor did I write down where it came from. So, if you asked this, please leave me a comment here letting me know so I can give you credit!)

I think at one point people thought that they had to have a creative writing degree or something related in order to be a good writer. Perhaps a lot of people still think this. The reality is that there's no reason that you have to get a degree to be a writer or to even be a successful one. While creative writing programs can be wonderful, they can also be terrible depending on what you write. Most of what you learn about writing comes not from taking a class, but from reading and doing. You can take every college course imaginable and there still will be no guarantee of you learning how to be a better writer, or that you will get published as a result.

This isn't to say that creative writing programs, or English programs, aren't beneficial. You certainly can and probably will learn things from a creative writing class and professors of creative writing can help you develop your craft based on their experiences--the hope is, of course, that these professors have a significant publishing career behind them to add credibility to their advice. But the brutal truth is that having a B.A. in creative writing means diddly squat to most editors, and having one doesn't automatically mean that you're better than all those also trying to get published who don't have such a degree. Creative writing programs tend to be a mixed bag. Some are fantastic, some not so much, but none of them can promise to churn out excellent writers--Iowa Writer's Workshop does have an excellent track record, though, and that might be worth acknowledging if you're interested in a degree.

And then there is the fact that quite a lot of writers who are successful have no degrees whatsoever. Some have degrees not even related to the writing field at all--look at all the scientists who become science fiction writers, etc. Ultimately, it really doesn't matter if you have a degree or not: you can be a writer either way. If you want a degree, however, get it because you want to have a career that isn't necessarily based on something so obviously without guarantee. Creative writing degrees are good, but I've always seen them as being largely pointless unless you pursue them at the M.A. or PhD. levels. A B.A. in creative writing is essentially even more useless than a B.A. in literature or English--and let's face it, a B.A. in almost anything is worth less than the cost of printing the certificate; this is the sad state of affairs in the education world. I'd recommend that those who want to eventually have writing careers should have a fallback plan. There is literally no guarantee that you will ever have a writing career, no matter how much work you put into it, no matter how you do it, whether it be traditionally publishing novels or short stories, or doing it on your own. Being conscious of that when pursuing advanced education will help you make an educated decision about your future. What are you willing to do for a career while you try to develop your fiction skills and get the publishing credits you need to reach that point where you can quit your day job?

Thinking about that can certainly help ground your career goals. But let's not leave it up to me. What do all my readers think about this? Leave a comment.

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If you have a question about science fiction, fantasy, writing, or anything related you'd like answered here, whether silly or serious, feel free to send it via email to arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com, tweet it via Twitter to @shaunduke, or leave it in the comments here. Questions are always welcome! If you liked this post, consider stumbling, digging, or linking to it!

Inspiration Station: 5 Places to Get Inspiration For Your Writing

Inspiration can be difficult to find at times. We get bogged own in our daily lives or succumb to the myth of writer's block. But these five places might help you open up and get writing again (or expand your creative juices if they're already flowing):

• Friends
  Who better to get ideas from than your friends? Whether for blogging or creative writing, friends are a great way to discover new stories, ideas, and much more. I get a lot of my blog ideas from one of my Interwebs buddies, Mulluane, who points me to all sorts of articles that I might otherwise never have found. Some have sparked stories, and others have inspired me to write rants.
  
• Public Transportation
  Some of the best characters I have ever written were a direct result of experiences I have had riding the bus to college. You'd be amazed the kinds of bizarre, fascinating characters that ride the bus. True, sometimes the people you meet on the bus, or the train, or wherever, are a bit odd, and sometimes downright disgusting, but I can't think of a better way to develop unique characters than taking public transportation. If you have the opportunity to do so, ride a single bus route for a few weeks; you'd be surprised the kinds of people that ride the bus, and your writing will be better for it!
  
• The News
  Whether science or politics, the news is a huge inspiration machine when it comes to finding unique situations or coming up with ideas for science fiction stories. I doesn't even matter if you watch or read a biased source, because in the end, news is news and any of it is fair game for creative writing. Read a newspaper or watch CNN and you might find yourself inspired to write something.
  
• Other Writers
  This one is probably pretty obvious. Reading the work of other writers is not only great for learning how to effectively plagiarize without getting caught, but also for learning about your craft. Published writers have already made it, and you can take a lot from their metaphysical writing book to help you along the way. Natural talent is always important, but seeing others who have worked hard to get where they are can truly help you sharpen your craft and, if you're in the right mindset, other writers can inspire you to keep at it so that one day you can make it too.
  
• The Internet
  Whether through StumbleUpon or Google, the Internet is a veritable goldmine of information that can spark ideas in your creative head. The Internet connects you with the news, other writers, friends, and everything else. Sharing ideas has become common practice as a result of the the net becoming the monster that it is today. Stir up Firefox and start surfing; you might find yourself inspired!

And there you have it. What about you? What places do you go to to get inspiration for your writing? Let me know in the comments!

Top Five Tools For Writers (in today's writing environment)

Every writer has tools. Back in the old days they had a dictionary and/or a thesaurus—typewriters too, of course. When computers came around, it changed things, making it easier for folks to type up manuscripts and print them. Now that we're easily over two decades past the invention of the personal computer (and I'm guessing because I'm writing this from England and currently have no access to the Internet, which was something I took note in this post) it's interesting to think about all the various tools that have become staples in a writer's life—or at least in mine (since not all writers use all these tools and some even stick to older writer's tools).
So, I started to think about what might be considered the top five tools for writers in today's world, based exclusively on my personal opinion and on what I know are used by a majority of writers out there. I've intentionally left out things that I think are obvious: computers, laptops, word processors (of any description), and other things that have been around in some significant capacity.
Here goes (in order):

1. Web or Software-based Dictionaries/Thesauri
   Possibly the best tool for any writer who makes use of the computer primarily for writing, these handy tools (such as WordWeb or Dictionary.com) put at your disposal an arsenal of definitions. I particularly like WordWeb, which makes getting definitions or spelling corrections as simple as a click on an icon in your taskbar, but pretty much any tool that makes it easier to find words while writing, without dragging out the process like the old dead-tree forms did, deserves to be on this list.
2. Duotrope, Ralan, and Other Online Market Databases
   It used to be that not too long ago you had to either already know about the places you were going to submit to or you had to buy one of those Writer's Digest Market Guides in order to figure out where to send your work. Now we have all sorts of market databases, some of them specific to certain genres (Ralan) and some pretty much wide open (Duotrope). These have made it not only easier for writers, but also easier for small publishers (particularly magazines) to make themselves known to all sorts of writers out there. 
3. Critique Services, Forums, and Social Networking
   I don't know how writers managed to get along without places like Critique Circle or the various forums dedicated to improving one's writing (such as Young Writers Online—shameless plug). Such places have truly revolutionized how we do writing groups and critiques. Add into that the incredible tool that is Social Networking, in all its various forms (Facebook, Myspace, or even writing specific sites), and you have a collection of endlessly useful things for any writer in today's highly tech-based world.
4. Database and Note-Taking Software
   Evernote, StickIt, Freemind, and even Microsoft's various versions of those programs have all contributed, in my opinion, to making the writing world what it is today. Such programs offer a wide range of ways of keeping track of your writing, and even ways of organizing information about one's SF/F worlds. Wasn't too long ago that a writer had to waste reams of paper and countless hours in order to develop and organize all the necessary world building bits. Now all you have to do is have the right program and typing skills (handy knowledge of quick keys doesn't hurt either).
5. The Internet
   This is number one only because I am intentionally ignoring the drawbacks. As a tool, the Internet puts at any writer's disposal everything from marketing to research. There are encyclopedias, forums, blogs, music sites, databases, etc. (the list is literally endless). No matter what kind of writer you are (whether you write genre fiction or literary fiction), the Internet offers just about everything you could possibly need as far as improving your writing is concerned (or improving the realism of your prose). Now, if only you could cut out all the drawbacks (the Internet is a time sink, after all), then it'd be the perfect tool.

What tools do you use for writing? Leave a comment and let me know. I might discover something new and interesting!

Publishing: Your Options and the Pros and Cons

I don't think I've done a post like this before and it occurred to me that many of my readers and folks out in the blogosphere might like a post that looks into the various options for publishing and whether they are worth it. So, for this post I'm going to put together a short list of the various publishing options and what their strengths and weaknesses are. Here goes:

• Standard Publishing (Big Press)
• Pros
• Bigger print runs.
• More potential exposure (big presses may or may not put money into advertising your work).
  
• Editing services provided.
• Automatic "respect."
• Large advance (w/ royalties also earned).
  
• Cons
• Hard to break into this side of the industry. Even good manuscripts get rejected.
• Run on a profit platform where selling many copies of one book (or many copies of multiple books) is the standard. This means books are bought based on their profitability, with content taking a close second. This doesn't mean crappy books are picked up, it just means that if a book is too niche, big presses are unlikely to take them.
• Long wait times for submissions. Long wait times for publication. Sometimes weeks, but most of the time months or even over a year.
  
• No simultaneous submissions to most big presses. One place at a time.
• Niche Publishing/Standard Small Publishing (Small Press)
• Pros
• Greater attention paid to individual books.
• Variety; there are an enormous amount of them.
• Most pay with royalties.
• Much more receptive to short story collections than big presses.
  
• Cons
• Fewer titles published each year than big presses.
• Because they are often niche markets, they are limited in what they take.
• Low advance or no advance.
• Smaller print runs.
• Depending on the publisher, there may be low distribution (Amazon and some bookstores, but not necessarily places like Borders).
• Rare instances of unprofessional behavior and publishers caving due to economic pressure (and I mean rare).
  
• Print-on-Demand (POD) Publishing (Small Press)
• Pros
• Your title never goes out of print. Books printed as needed.
  
• They pay in royalties.
• Other pros are roughly the same as for standard small presses.
  
• Cons
• Low distribution. Many chain stores will not take these books.
• Low advance or no advance.
• Low print runs if any (print runs are made obsolete by POD technology).
• Can be difficult to tell the difference between legitimate POD presses and ones simply trying to take advantage of you.
• Other cons roughly the same as for standard small presses.
  
• Print-on Demand (POD) Publishing (Self Publishing; Lulu, etc.)
• Pros
• Low cost to the author to get a novel printed (sometimes nothing).
• Titles are printed a needed.
• Complete creative control, with some exceptions where ISBN #s come into play.
• Pays in royalties.
  
• Cons
• You have to market your work on your own.
• Usually costs extra to distribute via major websites such as Amazon.
• Books usually cost significantly more than those published by small or big presses. Some free POD methods exist (such as via Lulu), but those tend to be limited. Most companies charge a large fee for printing packages.
  
• Selling books is, for most, nearly impossible. You have to really have something worth the money.
• You are stuck in a sea of other people who think they are great writers when, in reality, they aren't. This makes getting people to view your novel difficult at best.
• Sometimes distribution doesn't work properly. When something goes wrong, you have to take care of it. There is no company to perform those tasks for you.
• Many POD self-publishing companies intentionally take advantage of writers by promising them things that aren't actually provided, etc. If you get into POD self-publishing, be aware of what you're actually getting.
• Editing services almost always cost extra. Other professional services (formatting, etc.) almost always cost extra as well. Those companies that claim to provide these services for free are usually lying.
• POD self-publishing companies can be difficult at best, even when they are good companies.
  
• Getting your novel in stores is practically limited to what independent bookstores are willing to take the risk.
• Self-publishing comes with a stigma that is often justified by the overwhelming amount of garbage printed on a regular basis and thrust on the public.
  
• Standard Self-publishing (Note: Many self-publishing houses are switching to a POD format these days)
  
• Pros
• Complete creative control, with some exceptions where ISBN #s come into play.
  
• Pays in royalties (technically).
  
• Cons
• Basically all the same as POD self-publishing (minus the bits related directly to POD printing).
• Many of these companies will intentionally misrepresent what they do and con you out of your money. Know what you are getting into before you cough up the big bucks.
• Almost always costs an exorbitant amount of money for a publishing package.
• You have to print the quantity you want. No POD. The cost for the books you print comes out of your pocket.
• Podcast Novels (Podiobooks, Podnovels, Author-distributed Audiobooks)
• Pros
• Free (technically).
• Complete creative control. You can essentially do whatever you want.
• An enormous community for support.
• Audio format makes it easier on the listener/reader as they can take the book wherever they go.
  
• Cons
• Can cost a bit of money to get set up (mics, etc.), but generally getting started is low cost.
• Limited audience (and sometimes a picky audience). It's hard to break into the field and do well now that podcasting has grown.
• Has unfortunately been stuck with the stigma surrounding self-publishing, though to a lesser degree.
• All marketing, etc. is the responsibility of the author.
• Self-published eBooks (downloadable books in various formats)
• Pros
• Basically the same pros as self-published work (creative control, etc.).
• Can be good marketing tools for blogs, when done properly.
• Cons
• Basically the same cons as self-published work.
• Can be hard to sell since it is an electronic only format; a lot of people still won't read electronic stuff (this is the same with most electronic formats, though).
• Fiction is especially hard to sell in this format primarily because eBooks have and continue to be the domain of erotica (more so in the non-self-published arena). If you're not writing erotica, this can be a difficult market to get into. Non-fiction is dominated by topics related to marketing, business, and blogging, making subjects outside of these domains difficult to get attention in.
• Lends itself well to being in both print and electronic formats with companies like Lulu, which is great for marketing yourself to both markets.
  
• Online Novels (Blovels, Wovels, Web Novels, Blog Novels, and other names)
• Pros
• Basically the same pros as podcasts.
  
• Cons
• Basically the same cons as podcasts.
• You can run into the problem of failing to grab readers who don't like to read on a computer screen.
  

Well, there you go. This list is somewhat of a work in progress. If you have a suggestion on what to add, feel free to let me know. Let me know your horror stories, or tell me what flaws or cons I should add or edit!

If you liked this post, please stumble it, digg it, or buzz it.

How To Be a Writer

...Or do you have what it takes?

I've talked about some aspects of this before, but I think it all bears repeating. Young writers constantly ask other people whether they have what it takes to be a writer. Often times they ask based on writing alone and when you think about it that's not the best approach. While it is important that you be a good writer, or even a fair writer, it's not the only thing you need to be concerned about. Being, or trying to be, a writer isn't easy, even if you're published. It's a rough road full of disappointment and rejection. It can be an emotional ride too.
With that in mind, here is a list of things that you need to do if you want to be a writer:

• Practice
  You can't go from being an okay baseball player to a great player if you don't practice. Same with writing. Don't kill yourself, but you should write when you can.
• Read
  Whether it be books on the craft, your favorite authors, or whatever, reading will teach you new things. For example, I learned ways to use the dash and the semicolon in fiction from authors who did it well.
• Grow Thick Skin
  Learn how to take rejection. This is life. Whether it be an editor, a friend, some random person on the Interwebs, or someone in your writing group, you will get rejected and criticised. It's okay, though. If a story gets rejected, don't fret! Submit it elsewhere! Don't get ticked off at the editor. That's never a good idea.
  
• Grow a Spine
  Don't be afraid of what people will think about you and your writing. Being afraid of criticism means you lock up all your writing and never let anyone see it. If you're okay with doing that, then no problem, but if you want your writing to be read by other people, well, then you have to put your writing out there!
  
• Develop a Web Presence
  Some vote against this because it sucks time away from writing, but I recommend you try to get involved with potential readers now rather than later. You can make new friends, learn a lot about the craft and promotion, etc. It's up to you if you want to do this through a blog or just being a part of a social network or group.
• The Will
  You can't just like to write. You have to have the desire to be published and the desire to do whatever it takes to get there (and when you get there, to do whatever it takes to make sure you can keep doing that--all within reason, of course). Plenty of people fail at this because they don't have the will to learn, to write, to do anything that is required of you to be a writer. This applies to any form of writing.
• Be Gracious
  This is one that took me a while to learn. If someone is kind enough to look at your work and offer a critique, be sure to thank them! Don't spend your time arguing and disagreeing. There's nothing wrong with disagreeing on some things; not all of the changes another person suggests will be useful. But it doesn't help if you're going to be disrespectful of ungrateful. Remember, they put a lot of work into their critique for you (or, at least, they were supposed to).
• Accept Failure
  Embrace it! Tack your rejections to your wall or laugh about them. It's important! You can't expect to win from the start and you can't let it get you down. Turn the emails or rejection letters into paper airplanes and toss them around the house or, if you're not the sentimental type, collect them together and have a bonfire!

If that isn't a good starter list, then I don't know what is! Any suggestions for things that should be included?

Creating Aliens: Ground Rules

Over at HowStuffWorks you'll find this brilliant post called "How Aliens Work". Pay careful attention to it. If you want realistic aliens, some of those rules should be firmly planted in your brain. Aliens, of course, would be bound by many of the same rules that we are (the laws of physics for example). Yeah, good little post.

(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!)

Science Fiction: Sometimes it's wrong.

Browsing through today, I discovered a very interesting website that discusses the errors within science fiction, particularly in TV and movies. Some of these errors are, quite frankly, rather stupid on the part of the creators. Such as:

In the Star Trek Voyager episode "The Fight", Voyager encounters a Negative Space Wedgie that is "2 light years across". They start "11,000 km" away from it and yet, the whole phenomenon is visible on the viewscreen. As the Agony Booth review of this episode points out, this is exactly like "putting your nose on the ground, and still being able to see the whole landscape from horizon to horizon" except...you know...even worse. The thing also looks about as big as Voyager when it engulfs it, which might make slightly more sense (for a given value of "sense") since Voyager is apparently the size of a planet.

Yup, that's Star Trek. There are even a few related to literature. Such as:

The original Dune series was set 10,000 years (human history goes back 7,000 years at present) after the Robot War known as the Butlerian Jihad, featuring an old, decadent society that had presumably been going downhill for a long time. However, when Frank Herbert's son picked up the reigns and wrote prequals set before and during said Butlerian Jihad, the prequels end with all the social orders and customs, and even the religion, of Dune already established as nearly identical to the ones in the original novel. And the reader is expected to believe that they stayed exactly the same for almost a third longer than the time between the invention of writing and the present.

Yeah, pretty interesting, don't you think? Check out the site. Maybe one of your favorite shows is on there with an error.

Endings: To be happy or not to be happy?

I was watching an interesting program today, even though I should have been doing something else, and I became rather interested in something I saw, so much so that I actually want to write a story that incorporates a similar idea (it's a documentary). The thing is, it's dealing with a grim subject that I'm going to set in the future and, given that, I'm not sure if I want it to end happily.
So my question is this: does a story (and in particular a short story) have to end happily? Could one end a story at an extremely low point, perhaps with some resolution to certain aspects of the story, but with the main character not technically achieving his or her main goal?
What do you all think?

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Rambo's Good Advice (Part Two)

And Cat Rambo has posted another five great bits of advice for increasing our manuscript's chances. Read them. Go on, you know you want to!

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Rambo's Good Advice

Yup, here's some great advice for those of you submitting your stories to magazines. It should be noted that all the points Ms. (or Mrs.?) Rambo mentions should be pretty much obvious. You know, simple things like don't misspell the editor's name...

Check it out! It's good advice!

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SF/F Links: April Roundup (First Half)

By the way, this is going to be long since I'm pulling links off my desktop and my laptop. So, get ready for a long list of SF/F related links!

• Universe Today
• Want to know what happens when two black holes collide? What about three? Sound like science fiction? Yeah, they asked the same question too. It's not.
• Intel, being the cool company that they are, have begun devising ways to protect microchips from cosmic rays. Basically, the chips are going to be smart enough to go "hey, that's not right" and magically fix themselves--in theory.
• Want to read more about how all life on Earth is from outer space? So do I. Screw E.T. We're more interesting (well, not really, humanity is somewhat boring to me now).
• New images of an actual dust avalanche on Mars! Now all we need are skiers. And just to add to this I think a cute picture is needed: the little blue planet and its moon from Mars. I love this planet. We're so cool.
• Apparently Saturn's moon, Rhea, has rings. Who knew? I always thought their relationship was strictly professional.
• Hubble, being the great piece of machinery that it is, has turned up evidence for organic molecules around an exoplanet! It just keeps getting better and better.
• Salt deposits discovered on Mars might be a good place to look for evidence of life (fossilized, but still, life is life). I'm skeptical, but enthusiastic. Even if we find microbial life, it's good.
• New evidence has been discovered to suggest that Titan has a liquid ocean underneath its crust! Good news? Yes, actually. This has some interesting implications about the possibilities for life on other planets.
• Did the asteroid impact for Sodom and Gomorrah happen? It's quite possible. A clay tablet that has been puzzling scientists is believed to describe an asteroid impact a long long time ago on this very planet. So maybe it really happen, eh?
• Futurismic
• First flights from Boeing to use fuel-cells! Yeah! Now we are getting closer to the answer to my question: When oil runs out, what happens to airline flights?
• The lovely folks in the Netherlands have a low-tech way of converting salt water into something drinkable.
• To add to the frightening change in our cyber-culture, there are now reports of high-tech heart monitors being hacked into. Scary? I think so.
• Apparently British waters are a great place to get mostly clean energy. Read about it here.
• Stem cell research shows it can help deal with Parkinson's. Babies killed to figure that out? Zero. Good job everyone! In a serious note, this is great news for me because I'd like to see Michael J. Fox come back to to TV.
• We're one step closer to suspended-animation, since we can now almost completely do it with mice. Yeah, this is good news because now I don't have to completely BS this stuff.
• Afghanistan is smart. Now with food prices on the rice it seems that all those lovely opium fields are being converted to wheat fields. Yay democracy, or whatever prompted them to do that.
  
• Listverse
• Top 10 Sciencific Frauds and Hoaxes. A bonus is you get a nice anti-evolution hoax in there. Fun!
• 10 More Unsolved Mysteries. I'm particularly fond of 5 and 3.
• Top 10 Bizarre Genetically Modified Organisms. Michael Jackson isn't on this list by the way.
• Top 10 Evil Human Experiments. Because we humans tend to be a little screwed up.
• Top 12 Things You Need to Be a Mad Scientist. Oh yes, now I have a mission in life!
• Top 12 Dystopian Novels. Also known as the list of really awesome books.
• Top 15 SF Book Series! Another good list!
• 8 Atrocities Committed in the Name of Religion. Not a particularly powerful list (missing a few things that need to be there), but certainly one I will give a thumbs up to.
• Top 10 Interesting Abandoned Places! I love these kinds of lists!
• io9
• This is fascinating. Apparently studies show that dyslexics are able to work comfortable when working in a language other than the one they first learned. So someone who speaks English might not have much problems working in Chinese. The article also talks about why such people are great at computer programming.
• Need a 20% decrease in fuel consumption on those oil-guzzling transport ships? Well, attach a sail to it. This might be just the thing we need to stick it to them damned oil companies.
• Apparently some scientists think we might not be that different from aliens after all.
• Genetic manipulation might be used for good: stopping HIV in its tracks. Yup. New studies show that we are born with a gene that could combat the virus, but that it is turned off. So, should we turn it on at birth? (Note, the gene is present in people infected with HIV)
  
• Detailed military specs on how to stop a giant monster in your home town. Yeah, someone has a lot of time on their hands.
• The survival guide to bad SF movies. Great list indeed!
• Want to see something scary? The science vs. scientology timeline! Yeah, apparently the Thetans are inside us all.
• Apparently this lizard can drink through its foot. That has to suck.
• Google, being so awesome, is teaming up with MIT to design the first satellite that can actually detect small Earth-like planets around other stars. I love you, Google.
• Apparently this is the new bacteria that will cause the next pandemic. I'm skeptical. It looks like a wimp to me.
• Menopause sucks (or so I hear). But guess what? You need men even more now because studies show that you can use testosterone to counter the bad effects of menopause! Yeah!
• Scientists have found a mirror galaxy to ours. Don't get your hopes up. It's not exactly like ours, but it shares similarities.
• Heathrow Airport will now have a new form of transportation from the parking structures to the airport. And it's unmanned! Awesome!
• New Scientist
• Some scientists think that it's possible there are imprints that can be seen in our sky of a pre-Big-Bang universe. It sounds fascinating, but is it true? I wonder. Can you imagine what might have existed in a universe that existed before ours?
• We're going to find out real fast if Alpha Centauri is home to an Earth-like planet (by real fast, I mean years, but that's pretty fast considering). It better be true! I mean it. I want to find aliens so I can name them the Nimblethuns!
• Apparently those folks who will eventually shoot off to land on Mars are going to be stuck with a plant that doesn't smell too good. Mosquito Fern is apparently on the list of things for them to eat. Yeah, I feel sorry for them too.
  
• Tobias S. Buckell has some really awesome advice about when to retire stories. Doesn't mean you have to do it how he does, but it might make you give your own work a real good second look.
• I have no idea where I got this. If I stole it from you, please let me know so I can credit you! There is going to be a new form of Internet soon called "The Grid". Thanks to LHC research. By the way, this would be an occasion where you could say "I can't imagine going back to DSL/Cable" in the same manner that we say the same thing about 56k. Yeah. Check it out. On a side note: Futurismic has some more about it here.
  
• SF Signal talks to Michio Kaku, who is possibly one of the more interesting hip scientists out there today. I've linked a video by him some time ago about different stages of civilizations. Check out the interview because it's interesting.
• For those that don't know, Ben Stein, that guy from TV and movies with the monotone voice that comes off really smart, is actually, apparently, officially a moron. Check out this review of his new movie, Expelled, where he lies, manipulates and basically BSes his way into making those of us who look at physical evidence and say "evolution is real" look like Hitler wannabes. Yeah, nice right?
• The Speculist talks about new research into skulls found in the Tower of London's moat that might help us find the links between current day lions and the now extinct Barbary lions. Hurray for research into medieval times!
• NASA just keeps giving us these awesome images. Check out this weird claw-like structure on Mars! Another image from NASA is this one of two galaxies closing in on one another. I love space so much. It's so fascinating and amazing.
• The CG Society put on a contest for art and CG work based on Greg Bear's Eon. See the results of the competition here.
• Shaken & Stirred has this picture of a truly bizarre house. I'm intrigued because it looks like a slightly modernized version of a Dr. Seuss invention.
• The best 11 time travel tales of all time! (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• Jim Van Pelt talks about why he doesn't think there's anything wrong with SF. I generally agree! (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• Want to see what the pros do when they write a novel synopsis for a publisher? Check it out here! (Courtesy of SF Signal, I think)
• Want to know what Star Wars would be like if it were from the 60s (or 70s?)? Find out here!
• Science Fiction Biology has an article on how to repopulate the world without men. I'm not a fan, because I'm a man, but it's interesting nonetheless.
• Check out these gorgeous images of Earth taken from space at night. We have too many lights. It's like permanent Christmas.
• The Unintelligencer! Basically, type whatever you want in the box, select the level of stupid you want and have fun. Those of you who do a bit of writing might find this rather amusing. Those of you who want to know what your college professors sound like when dumbed down to hill billy level should have no short amount of entertainment.
• Top ten mind-blowing SF books! (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• At least someone is giving a little attention to those of us who are still skeptical about global warming.
• I stumbled upon this one: the ten craziest scientific experiments ever conducted. Crazy, bizarre, fascinating!
• 50 SF & F works that socialists should read. Interesting indeed. (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• Another find from stumbling: the amazing ACSII webcam! If you have a webcam and would like to see what you look like in ACSII format, go! It's amazing! It does it in real time too!
• Mike Brotherton is brilliant for a good reason: he knows what he is talking about. Check out this article about the unique strength of SF! Additionally, here is an article by him over at SF Novelists that acts as a guide to reviewing books, from his perspective as a writer.
  
• The ten most prophetic SF movies ever! And of course there are loads of classics in there. (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• Solar Flare has an article about SF books that should be movies. I agree with almost all of them, except the ones I've not read. (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• The more you stumble the more you realize that the Internet is awesome. I found this little poster than made me giggle inside. Maybe scientists will rethink what they did to poor pluto.
• Technovelgy has an awesome article on plagiarism in SF and where to draw the line!
• Jason Stoddard talks about 5 small things SF can do to improve its image. Good ideas!
  

Publishing the Youngins?

Does anyone know what the legalities are of publishing minors (i.e. people under the age of 18)? I ask this because there is a possibility I might be working with several people who are not yet adults on a publishing basis and I am not 100% sure what sort of things I need to be aware of. The only thing that I am certain I need to do is have their parents co-sign on the publication contract.

Is there anything else I need to be aware of? Do you know someone that might be able to answer this question?

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SF/F Links: March/April Roundup

A little delayed, but finally I have some links for you all. There are loads more, so I think I'm going to have to go with a weekly schedule so it doesn't pile up like it is doing now. In any case, here are the links:

• io9
• Things you can do to help create artificial intelligences! You'd be surprised what simple things there are that can help in that field. Stuff you might already do regularly.
• Post-apocalyptic scenes made out of food! I had a link similar to this from Listverse a long while back. This is in the same vein and amazing.
• Anyone wanting some advice on map-making should start looking at vector maps of things on other planets and moons in our solar system. Seriously, go to this vector map of a methane sea on Titan and see how cool extraterrestrial maps are!
• Six earth cities that will give us ideas on how to colonize Mars. This is pretty cool actually. Rather interesting when you look at it from a realistic perspective.
• The Navy announces a five-year plan to build laser blasters. We've gotta keep up with those Chinese guys somehow right? Yeah. Good idea, but I wonder who is paying for it.
• Got a bum kidney? Well apparently there is a new way to get rid of them: give birth to it. Yeah, I don't quite understand it either, but give it a look. New medical practices are revolutionizing how we do things these days.
• Nano-wire shirt that generates electricity while you move, but burns out if you sweat on it. Good idea, needs rethinking.
• A new biomedical gel that can fix your severed spine. Works on mice, should work on us. Paralysis might not be a problem of the future!
• Listverse
• Top 10 Ways to Fly Under the Radar. Yup, for all you ex-cons out there, or anyone writing about ex-cons.
• 10 Great Inventions That Should Be Invented! Interstellar travel here we come!
• Universe Today
• Quantum communications might be viable in the near future if we get on top of it like this article suggests.
• Astrium, from good old Europe, is ramping up plans to mass produce space planes. Yup, good stuff indeed.
• Cassini picks up hints of organic chemicals shooting off from Saturn's Enceladus! Cool stuff indeed!
• 13.73 Billion Years. That's the current measurement of how old the Universe is. Find out about it here.
• Hawaiin hippy files lawsuit against the Large Hadron Collider. Go away and stop fooling with complex science that you don't understand!
• New research suggests that galaxies with quasars in the middle are not so good for planet formation. Yup, not good at all.
  
• I found this online somewhere (if I got it from you, please let me know). This is a look at the differences of opinion between the U.S. and England. It's amazing how different we are. They are, by and large, far more progressive than we are.
• This image of these concept designs of future robotic police forces are amazing. Check out the gallery too. Simply stunning image.
• Michio Kaku on things we'll probably never see. Sadly, he's likely right.
• Ten sci-fi movie survival tips. Screaming is good, though.
• Scifi reading list with the subject "not quite human". Lots of goodies in there. (Courtesy of SF Signal, I think)
• New Scientist
• Scientists have found the answer to the origins of two mysterious meteorites found in Antarctica. Find out here!
• Find ISS in this picture and you win nothing, because I have nothing to give. This is amazing though: a picture of the International Space Station over the Sun!
• Chrononautic Log has a video of a bizarre insect-like robot. Check it out.
• L. E. Modesitt, Jr. talks about SF's ability to predict the future. Good stuff as usual.
• One of the coolest things that has ever been desired by Kung Fu fans since Bruce Lee died is now about to happen: Jackie Chan and Jet Li are getting together to make a movie! Yes, look at the trailer now!
• MentalFloss has 5 reasons why we'll miss Arthur C. Clarke. *sniff* (By the way, some of these aren't related to literature, just so you know)
• Mike Brotherton has a hard SF writer's bookshelf. Good stuff, check it out if you are even marginally interested in writing SF.
• Dave Walton's page of writing advice. There is a whole lot of stuff here. Seriously. A LOT. Like two books worth.
• Space.com has this cool article about alien sociology. So, are the aliens going to come and kill us? Hmm?
• Cyber-cops are getting organized. Watch out hackers!
• CERN, the most complicated thing humans have built thus far! The Thinking Blog profiles it.
• Want to know how bad the economy really is? Look at these poor folks. Yeah, Mr. Bush, this is what you've done to this country. Congrats.
  

SF/F Links: February Roundup Part One

Lots and lots of links heading your way. This has been a busy last couple weeks for sure. I've had essays up the you know where and a midterm, which I pray that I did good on. In any case, I've found lots of interesting things to share and that's exactly what intend to do: share. So enjoy!

First and most important, however, is that there are actually some writers in serious need of financial assistance. Now, I'm broke due to school, but I do understand that writers simply don't make a lot of money in the first place and sometimes bad things happen they can't account for. You can find all the information about the following two writers and their predicament, plus how you can help (i.e. where to send money to), at this link to Bibliophile Stalker.
James Reasoner recently lost his house and EVERYTHING due to a wild fire caused by some idiot tossing a cigarette out a car window. They've lost everything and need everything.
Also Caitlin R. Kiernan, another writer, has come into financial difficulties over a medical condition, something I imagine we all have gone through.
Click the link above and please please please give a dollar or ten or twenty or more. Anything you can for these folks. It's tragic and unfortunate that writers get paid so very very little, but it's true. Thanks on that.

Okay, to usual links:

• Universe Today:
• Astrospies...possibly the coolest documentary show that isn't about aliens or secret Star Wars projects to ever be made and I'm praying I get the chance to see it! Yes, the name says it all.
• New thinking from U of Hawaii challenges the theory that galaxies all formed slowly. What if they formed fast and ended up like ours?
• How to find worm holes...and other stuff about wormholes.
  
• io9:
• Probably already mentioned this, but oh well. Scientists have found a gas giant around another star that contains organic compounds (i.e. the building blocks of life).
• Holland isn't scared of global warming. Why? Well, if the sea levels rise they're building the whole country so it can float, or so they say.
• The first child to have THREE genetic parents! That's right, THREE!
  
• A nanotube radio. Self explanatory.
• Climb like a gecko with adhesive microfiber gloves!
• Apparently pollution is mutating my little swimmers faster than I once thought, which might mean I don't have to have kids after all...just kidding, sweety.
  
• The U.S. Navy has an awesome electromagnetic rail gun. Yes, it's cool. I want one.
  
• One of Roger Zelazny's novels that was never brought to print is actually being published, well after his death of course. Good news indeed.
• Morgellons. I don't know what it is, and neither do most people, but if it's a real disease then it's one of the most bizarre diseases ever...wires growing out of your skin...weird.
• Stemagen's chief executive is the first person to see his clone grow into a viable embryo. I thought this was illegal in most places, but guess not.
• Steven Colbert talks to David Levy. Sex with robots...yeah, weird, but remotely interesting.
• This is fascinating: Why reality fatigue has made SF more interesting.
• The U.S. needs a space race with China, and I agree!
• NASA apparently is teaming up with City of Hope (cancer research) to develop low-invasive nano-surgery. I'm in, sounds like a great idea!
• A fun, yet crazy Japanese inventor says he can save the world in three ways! As io9 says, it sounds nuts but it might be true considering who this is coming from.
  
• From SF Signal:
  
• Emil Jung talks about the value of SF and F.
• The first documented case of pest resistance to biotech cotton! Or, in translation, EVOLUTION! Eat that Creationists!
• 10 Sci-Fi Techs We Could Build If They Weren't So Damn Expensive! This is a really cool list by the way.
• Cockroaches get stronger in space by the way...which lends some interesting ideas about insects...
• A quote that gives the only reason why you should never buy from Apple again. Steve Jobs = Moron.
• How popular does Google say SF is? Check this post out and find out. It's really close to overtaking God. Go SF!
• Where SF gets serious! Stuff from the books and TV we love that could actually come true in the near future!
• Why giant mecha robots are stupid! I don't agree. I do agree with this: Why giant mecha robots are totally awesome!
  
• Futurismic:
• The Large Hadron Collider (i.e. a machine that collides particles together...which is fun and dangerous at the same time) may actually introduce us to other dimensions.
• We're on our way to contact lenses that can display digital data in your vision.
• Videos from a science teacher on Global Warming. The main video has a very smart premise to it: it doesn't matter whether it's real or not, we have to make a decision now because the risks of it being true are worse than taking action and it being false. I can agree on that, however I still think global warming is a load of crap, at least as far as human involvement is concerned. You tell me how you're going to stop volcanoes from ruining the atmosphere and we'll talk.
• Apparently the French have come up with a most interesting flying hotel.
  
• Apparently flames work in strange ways in space. Check out this little thing about it from NASA.
• Here are a bunch of really gorgeous images of galaxies and nebulae (plus a couple pictures about that sex Hubble Telescope). They're truly stunning. I love space.
• Rules For Writing A Fantasy Novel. Self explanatory.
  
• 100 Phenomena is a site that is predicting future data and keeping track of things happening in real life (including things that are going to happen, which are put into the data for the future). They're interesting predictions.
• There is a Church of Spock by the way.
• For those that are obsessed with Japanese women, or just weird geek fantasies, here is a keyboard bra, worn by a fashionably pink and slight cat-like woman.
• Apparently scientists aren't ruling out the possibility of actually transporting humans from one place to another (like in Jumper). Read what they have to say about it.
• Gorgeous, high-detail picture of Mercury from APOD.
• Yahoo has this article about a recent discovery: the ruins of a 7,000-year-old city in Egypt. They date back to the Neolithic period. Now go write a story about that!
• You've probably seen this before in some form or another, but so be it. It's a representation of the Earth to the planets, the planets to the Sun, and the Sun to other suns. We're so tiny!
• Top 20 Sand Castles. Self explanatory, and cool.
• New cars from South Australia that could change the world...I hope:
  

  Staff and students at the University of South Australia have designed and built an electric car that can go 0-60 in under 10 seconds and can travel nearly 100 miles on a single charge...

  All for 2 cents USD to the mile!
• A solar panel that works at 80% efficiency, which is much better than we have already.
• Richard Bowes talks about why he likes writing but hates being a writer at Clarkesworld.
• A most bizarre dominoes robot. Yes, dominoes.
• This is our Sun. Get acquainted.
• Ten Badass Ancient Weapons! This is super cool, by the way, and might do you some good if you're writing fantasy. A couple of these things you wouldn't think the ancients had, but they did!
• Dark matter is supposed to be everywhere right? Well, that's what has scientists a little baffled because one galaxy they've been studying seems to have none...
• Possibly the coolest thing to come out of France since croissants is the news that the French President is calling for a global mission to Mars. Good idea and I would like to see global cooperation on that project...
• Abandoned technology. These are amazing images. They're pictures of structures, buildings, whatever that have something to do with technology, but have been abandoned. It's amazing. It's really weird to see all these things that look so expensive just left to rot.
• A new solution to wind energy that doesn't take up a lot of space. A bit pricey, but certainly worth considering since four of these things could power the average house and you could keep them in your backyard.
• A diagram of what those face-hugging aliens look like on a human face! Aliens are awesome!
• Galaxy Dynamics is apparently a DVD collection, but you can watch a lot of their videos online. They show really interesting clips of what galaxies look like when they collide, and some of them get really messy.
• A whole bunch of stuff about time travel. Enough said.
  
• Scalzi has once again done something amazing: he's given really in-depth advice to writers about finances!
  
• To end it all, I give you our beautiful, wonderful, magnificent little planet from space with a lovely sunrise. Tis perty.
  

Genre Links For Jan. 17th

Yup, more links for all of you. I read so many blogs and I poke around with stumbleupon and can't help myself. Enjoy:

• The Fix has a great article about writing Hard SF even if you're not a scientific genius. Good stuff there. (Courtesy of SF Signal)
  
• Is sci-fi out of good ideas? This is probably a good topic for a later article, but read this one here and ask yourself if you think so.
• Here are some scribd articles on Cyberculture and A Cyborg Manifesto. Check them out. Alternately I found this book at Google about Young Adult Science Fiction. Sounds interesting.
• John Howe (yeah, that artist for LOTR) has a great post about worldbuilding.
• The Guardian asks why critics sneer at SF. It's not really all that negative. Really it's like praise for Alfred Bester. (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• io9 has this about new technology that uses hyperventilating to turn on computers. Well, it's not that far-out, but it's interesting to think what we'll be changing in the future about how we turn things on and off.
• L. E. Modesitt, Jr. says everyone is wrong about what type of fiction is better: character driven or plot driven? Modesitt sayeth neither be good. I agree-eth.
• Need a crazy looking house made of steel? io9 can help you out with this article. Something straight out of a bizarre Star Trek episode or something.
• Apparently someone wants to turn Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End into a movie! Check it out here. (Yeah, I know, MTV...get over it).
• Roger Ebert (you know, that review guy) talks about the sad state of Catholics who bash Pullman and not C. S. Lewis. I really agree too.
• The Speculist has this article about the new $2500 car in India. Congrats India, you've done something incredibly stupid. Sometimes things done with good intentions are done in blindness.
• Ron Howard and Universal are talking about turning E. E. "Doc" Smith's Lensmen series into a movie. Well, they're talking about getting the film rights, but for Howard that probably means "I want to make it". We'll see I suppose.
• io9 has an article about the new techniques in using embryos to get stem cells that don't actually hurt the embryo. Yup, now all you people who are against embryonic stem cell research can whine and complain about the fact that so many of those embryos are destroyed later anyway because they have a shelf life. Hypocrisy abounds.
• I found this amazing video of this contraption this guy built in his home. You know, one of those weird things where the marble goes down the tube, kicks the dominoes that knock the man into the water, which causes and age to fall on a plate, etc. It's not the same as that, but it's still crazy awesome.
• Here's some speculation about casting for The Hobbit. Some of the choices seem pretty good I think.
• A video that shows the size relationship of all the planets in our solar system and stars that are larger than our sun. It's amazing really to think about how small this planet really is.
• Scientists have created a beating heart, here, and that means some crazy advancements are on the way in the near future for organ replacement.
• io9 has this crazy image of agriculture on our little planet. It looks crazy and weird.
• The Speculist brings you information about the new electric cars of our future. It's looking really good for Chevy, who will have a useful model available in 2010 that could very well prevent the use of gas for regular commuters.
• Universe Today has this article that really boggled my mind. What if the world we live in is really a virtual reality?
• Futurismic has an article about rights for robots and what one Peter Watts thinks about the idea. I don't know if I necessarily agree. What about you?
• Grasping For the Wind has this to say about formulaic fiction!
• Since everybody else is posting this, I will too. The Book Swede has the image of the side of Mercury we haven't seen yet. It's nothing special to me, but everyone else loves it. I'm just not impressed. Mercury is kind of like the pathetic planet that nobody else likes. Here's the same image from Universe Today.
  
• List Universe has the Top 10 Sci Fi Inventions that should never have been.
• TechRepublic has the 75 SF words every fan should know. (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• And then there's this article: Is There Nepotism in SF? (Courtesy of SF Signal)

There you have it! I'll have more for next week I'm sure. Now to more profound posting.

You've Got It, More Links For you Genre Folks! (Part Three)

And here is the last of them. Expect quite a lot more standard blogging from me for the next few months. I'm tired of putting links on here. It takes a long time. Enjoy!

• A huge assortment of worldbuilding links over at SpecFicWorld. Everything from websites to books.
• Universe Today has a great article about new research into that 1996 meteorite from Mars that shows that life may have started there during a cooling period of fluids, and another event from carbonate materials when the meteorite was chucked off of Mars to begin with.
• YouTube video of Isaac Asimov talking about the changes in SF after 1949.
• YouTube video of an H. P. Lovecraft newsreel.
• YouTube video of an interview with Frank Herbert on TV.
• YouTube video of a rare Philip K. Dick interview.
• Writing languages and systems of the world. Lots of stuff here that might help some of you in creating your own languages.
• Uncle Zip's Window talks about worldbuilding. Yes, I have a lot of these links. They just pop up everywhere.
• Ten big myths about copyright revealed. Yup, you need this at some point I think.
• Apparently they are shutting down FUSE, a satellite used to search for planets and other such goodies out in space. It has outlived its three-year expected use and managed a total of eight. The thing that irritates me about this is that it's just going to be shut down and in in several decades its orbit will decay and it'll burn up in the atmosphere. Why can't we make use of it for other purposes though? Right now it's being used by a university. So, couldn't we hand it off to another university, or to a collection of universities that would be willing to pay the upkeep? Just a waste of money to me.
• The Scots apparently have developed a robotic arm that is stronger than the real thing. It sounds cool, but I wonder if we're one day going to have little contests where humans try to beat robots in strength contests...sort of like those guys who race monkeys to the tops of trees.
  
• And I'll leave you with this amazing image from NASA. Beautiful.
  

You've Got It, More Links For you Genre Folks! (Part Two)

I'm almost through all of my links. One more post after this. There's just a lot of interesting stuff in here. I'm saving a few items for deeper discussion. Still, here is part two of the links!

• The Anthology Builder. Everyone else has talked about it, but here I am to bring it up again. Possibly one of the coolest ideas ever. Think about all the things you wish the record companies would let you do in your local Walmart with artist tracks and apply that to short stories. That's what AB does. You can build your own anthology!
• Apparently, according to this article provided by Futurismic, sperm actually can affect the psychological behavior of a female. At least that's so in fruit flies. I wonder if it does anything to female humans...
• Stargate is real! No, not really, but if you look at the image provided in this article at Futurismic you'll start to wonder. Apparently some physics students are trying to accelerate two particles at high speeds, collide them, and create new particles that haven't been seen before. It sounds like science fiction doesn't it? I wonder if they'll accidentally discover wormholes.
• Dusk Before Dawn talks about why Asimov's three laws will be almost impossible to implement. I have to agree that at this point his laws would be beyond our capabilities.
• TimesOnline lists the 50 greatest British authors since 1945. George Orwell happens to be number two. Represent. (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• Rumor has it that Richard Matheson, the author of I Am Legend, has sold the rights to a sequel to the film adaptation with Will Smith. Needless to say it's not hard to see why. The film has raked in over 220 million dollars, which puts it well above its budget. Hopefully the sequel will be good too. (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• What about strange machine animals? Look no further than Nantes in France. These bizarre machine creatures have sprung up there. Truly brilliant design I must say. Looks like that was a hell of a project to work for. (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• Curious what sf/f authors have popped up in the movies? Well, look no further than here. Well, maybe look further, as it does miss some things (namely the fact that Arthur Conan Doyle was in Shanghai Knights), but it's really interesting nonetheless. (Courtesy of SF Signal)
• Not sure if I mentioned this before, but here is a brilliant website that helps clear up all that confusing mess about the ten dimensions. Meaning, it's sort of like complex science for us folks who don't really want to deal with long words and such.
  
• A dictionary of symbolism, for those of you interested in that sort of stuff.
• A medieval sword resource, with lots of pictures and information about swords from those crazy days.
• This is probably the coolest thing done with dinosaurs that I have ever seen. Imagine seeing dinosaurs moving as if they were real, but not CG or any of that. Massive puppets with realistic movements!
• Well, bulletproof vests didn't give us Robocop, but research by some nanotech folks just might. This article talks about how scientists may have figured out how to create a nano-vest that can stop bullets and repel their force!
• By the way, in a few years we won't have to argue about how we get stem cells. So, to all those of you who are complaining about our current methods, here is the wave of the future. They've figured out how to use human skin cells to get just about any cell type they want.
• With growing concern with China's space program, which has just demonstrated that they have the capability to knock satellites out of the sky, the U.S. is working on a program of their own to take care of those threats that might exist out there now or in the future. It's dubbed the 'Falcon'. It's a super-sonic craft that can deliver a hell of a payload to any location on the planet in minutes. No doubt it's expensive.
• Beam Me Up talks about ten books that should be movies. I would argue that Asimov's Foundation would be near impossible to make into a good movie, but I can see a lot of the others working out. On the other side is AV Club's list of 20 good books that were turned into bad movies. I don't agree on Bicentennial Man, because I enjoyed the movie. I never read the book though. It's an interesting list nonetheless. I don't agree with their assessment of Stardust either.
  
• Here is a huge list of places you can get free books. Some of them are book-swap places and others are e-book sites. I assume all are legit.
• SFWA has a great checklist for critiquing science fiction. Give it a read and keep it saved somewhere.
• A chronological bibliography of science fiction history, criticism, and theory. I love it! That's my Christmas wishlist for the rest of my life by the way.
• The great thing about Google is that you can find all sorts of amazing free stuff on there. Like this book about Bernard Shaw on Google Books.
• 30+ tools for the amateur writer. The name explains it all.
• The grand list of overused science fiction cliches. I'm sure there is some version of this out there for fantasy too.
• Top 15 best movie sequels at The List Universe. There are a lot of science fiction and fantasy nods in there.
• Meat, the hilarious science fiction play by Terry Bisson! I love it. I think I linked to a theatrical production of it at one point. It's brilliant!
• Remoting Future is a brilliant website that uses a bunch of web clocks counting down the various futures of science fiction worlds (Dune and Blade Runner) and even real world 'futures' (Y2K). Some of the clocks have passed, obviously, and are simply counting the other direction now, but it's really interesting to see what futures just haven't come into existence.
• Apparently Darpa, a group from the Pentagon, is working on creating an artificial limb controlled by the nervous system. Sounds cool, but a bit ambitious right now I think.
• Solar power is cheaper than coal, by the way. Yet we're still paying outrageous prices for non-renewing fuel sources and our lovely government is doing little to implement newer, safer, and easier fuel systems. Go figure. To add, there is the maglev turbine, which is smaller and more efficient than all those huge ones you see in the California hills. Longer lifetime than traditional turbines, about 500 years for this guy, and it has the potential to power up to 750,000 homes per maglev turbine. Sounds good to me. Then there's these guys who have proposed they have figured out how to use the motions of cold are in the atmosphere to produce enough electricity to run the Earth 15 times over (the whole planet). It's a bold idea, but if it has any merit I'd like to see it through. Wouldn't it be nice if we never had to worry about power again? Lastly, there's this North African solar project, which proposes to provide a sixth of Europe's energy.
  
• This website lets you actually hear what things out in space sound like. Eerie and creepy.
• Did you know there is a society for the prevention of cruelty to robots? There is, and it's here.
• Want to see Earth from the view of a satellite? Have a specific satellite in mind? Well here would be a good place to get that view!
• What were they all thinking today would be like 40 years ago? Apparently some things that are real (personal computers) and some things that are just nuts (no illnesses).
• I don't know what it is, and I don't think anyone else does, but it's apparently open and it has something to do with Harry Potter's father. Either this is a brilliant media ploy, or someone who is about to get the full force of Rowling's lawyers crashing into his house.
• What exactly makes science fiction actually science fiction on television? This article postulates that it has more to do with setting than anything else.
• The Big Scary Idea. This is apparently the idea that is supposed to save SF. I think it's too big to be true.
• The Cyborg Manifesto.
• An essay on worldbuilding. It's a bit hard to read, but it's a good one nonetheless.
• Apple is being sued...again. This time by the folks that own the patent for the visual voicemail feature on the iPhone. I find a little bit of joy in it, to be honest.
• Charles Stross guest blogs on Scalzi's Whatever about the problems with space travel. I'm quickly becoming a fan of Charles Stross, even though I haven't read any of his work. He's simply a brilliant speaker, much like Robert J. Sawyer.