Posts filed under ‘OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS’
FICTION USING FACT
When writing science fiction, I enjoy including knowledge gained during my former career in science in my stories to give them an air of realism and draw the reader into a world where the borders between fact and fiction blur.
I have had the pleasure, of late, to view that approach adopted, to some extent, by some recent TV shows. I also appreciate the new approach these outlets are using in presenting their programs. More on that appreciation will follow in another post.
One program I have been following, and I hope you fans of horror have also, is The Strain, based on the novel of the same name written by Guillermo del Toro seen on Sunday nights on FX. Vampires are the beasts in question and for the first time, to my knowledge, an explanation is given for the condition and its spread. Also detailed is a reason for the monster’s primary weakness – sunlight.
Ever since Bram Stoker penned his classic novel, Dracula in 1897, horror fans have been fascinated by this lustful amoral sucker of blood. Beginning with the classic film, Nosferatu, seen in 1922 followed by vampire movies starring Bela Lugosi and on to Christopher Lee we have witnessed countless young maidens come under the spell of these heartless fiends through their bite. But how is this evil trait passed from one victim to the next? The Strain has answered that question.
A virus is the culprit.
More and more we are becoming aware of the horror viruses can weak. From polio to the appearance in the western world of AIDS in the early 1980s to the recent Ebola outbreak in Africa, viruses have left their mark on mankind. I find it fascinating that a virus is now being used in the formation of vampires. Granted, the vampires in The Strain do not follow the classic manner in neck bites seen in days of old. These current vampires have a much more dramatic method. Also cleverly explained is their weakness to the sun, nicely tied into their propagation by a virus.
Those who have worked with tissue culture I’m sure have do so in a biological safety hood. When the hoods are not in use a UV lamp is illuminated to destroy any bacteria or viruses lurking within. In The Strain scientist fighting the disease are caught in a convenience store which, in addition to selling the usual fare of magazines, soda and beef jerky, has a well-stocked supply of UV lamps. And vampires are susceptible to UV rays such as those found in sunlight.
I love it!
The scientist use the UV lamps the combat the vampires when leaving the building. They also mention that the lamps are useless while they are inside for the rays do not penetrate glass, which is true.
I find this show entertaining not only because of the horror but also for the use of correct science. I also now know the answer to another burning question I have pondered: Why are nubile bikini-clad women never attacked by vampires in the dead of night while using tanning beds? It’s the UV rays.
Another program I’ve been following is Falling Skies broadcast also on Sunday nights by TNT. Aliens have attacked earth and are powering their ships using electricity beamed from the moon. One of the characters says, “Just like Tesla predicted.” He’s right.
Back when the use of electricity was in its infancy, a debate began between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla as to what form of electricity should be provided to customers. Edison was for direct current (DC) and Tesla for alternating current (AC). Fortunately Tesla won, AC being a safer product. Tesla also wanted to transmit electricity without the use of wires, solely through the atmosphere just as the aliens are doing in Falling Skies.
Finding science fact in science fiction and horror makes the genre all that more interesting.
STRUGGLING TO GET IT PUBLISHED AND MARKETED: SLOW DOWN
In the past, I have shared with you comments made by Brooke Warner in her blog published by the Huffington Post. Recently, she posted another article about publishing which I feel poses some important points. In this article she contrasts the difference in the timeline between traditional publishing and self-publishing and lends tips on why it is important to slow down in these efforts.
STRUGGLING TO GET IT PUBLISHED: FINDING MARKETS, DUOTROPE
Back in the day when I was on the road to becoming a famous poet, a hint on where that road led – picture the final scene in the movie Thelma & Louise, I used books and magazines to fine markets where I could submit my work. Pounding out poems on my electric typewriter, going through gallons of white-out, off they would go along with the required SASE. This was long before the home computer came into existence, before the internet was even a twinkle in Al Gore’s eye. How things have changed since my early writing years. The books and magazines still exist, but I can guarantee, at least for the books, by the time they are published much of the information is outdated, unless the book is accompanied by a website to maintain currency, save your money.
My go-to source for finding markets for my work nowadays is the website Duotrope, providing over 4000 markets for poetry, fiction and non-fiction and constantly updated. Up until a few years ago it was free, now it will cost you $5 a month or $50 a year. If you register, you can get a free trial. If you are serious about submitting your work, you can’t go wrong giving this website a try. I’ve included a link at the end of this piece.
The site offers searches by the publisher’s name, or if you want to search all markets for your specific piece, you can do that too. In the later type of search, you are given the options of genre, length, pay scale, and a more specific breakdown within your genre. You can also query to see if the publisher accepts reprints, simultaneous and multiple submissions. Also available for most publishers is their response time and percentage of acceptances.
Upon completion of your search you are provide with a list of primary and secondary markets that meet your criteria. On the Duotrope page listing the publisher’s specifications you will also find a link to the publisher’s website. This feature saves tons of time in your submission process. Your search and then be saved if for some reason you first offer of the piece is rejected. I’m trying to be both ironic and humorous.
Finally, you receive a weekly email listing current market updates. One look at this list of weekly market activity will clearly demonstrate how rapidly a book of markets becomes outdated.
If you want to stay on the cutting edge of where to submit your work, I highly suggest you look into Duotrope.
SOUNDS OF SUMMER OUTSIDE MY WINDOW
Pity those locked away in their air-conditioned sanctuaries safe from the heat, but sheltered behind those closed window they are also prohibited from hearing the sounds of summer. The silent night is not silent at all with windows open.
During the day, even with windows closed, you cannot deny the scream of cicadas. Beginning slow and then building to a crescendo only to suddenly go silent, as if a mighty hand has pulled the plug powering their song. This everyone will hear, but it is the muse of the night lost behind closed window.
Throughout the night, setting a background mood, are the soft whispers of crickets. Late in the evening, frogs join in with a chorus of croaks and calls telling on another to come a callin’. Late in the dead of night you might hear a fox join in with its own mysterious music calling to a mate, a call liken to the scream of a woman in the grip of terror. On occasion, that fox may provide a more true sound of terror and fear, the death of a terrified rabbit caught during a midnight hunt.
All the sounds of a summer night come to a close as the eastern horizon lightens with the promise of another day and birdsong fill the air.
STRUGGLING TO GET IT WRITE: A WRITER’S NEED TO READ
I want to approach the making of a writer from a new direction, that with reading in mind.
These thoughts are the result of the ongoing question I have: Can imagination be taught? I have pondered this topic in past posts. You can be taught how to write, but can you be taught what to imagine, taught how to provide that spark which becomes a work of fiction. Some writers use prompts to get their writing juices flowing, but I feel these prompts could provide either the imagination trigger for a piece or merely a subject, depending on the individual. The crux of the effort is the individual.
The birth of this piece is the fact we are told over and over that when a writer is not writing he should be reading. As I write this I continue to perform mental gymnastics. If you must be encouraged to read can writing be in your future? For some reason, I have always had a burning desire to read which required no encouragement and feel naked when books are not present or readily available. I’ve always felt that the more vivid your imagination, the more enjoyment you derive from reading, the more vivid your imagination the more brilliant the pictures created in your mind as you read a book. Images which a video game or television show cannot compete with. In this sense, a writer can’t help but be a reader feeling incomplete without a book close by. For that book is feeding what is the life’s blood of the writer – his imagination.
REFDESK.COM, AN AWESOME WEBSITE FOR WRITERS AND NEWS JUNKIES
,’Refdesk,com is a website I check on a daily basis. It overflows with connection to other sites of varying interests and links to newspapers to name of few of the rewards it offers.
Here’s the link.
As a science fiction writer and also a reading addict, I thought I’d share three sites I always check.
The first is ‘Today In Literature’ which serves to provide a wealth of literary background.
http://www.todayinliterature.com/
The same can be said for ‘Writer’s Almanac’ hosted by Garrison Keillor.
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
Finally, there’s ‘Science Daily’ chock-full of articles on up-to-the-minute scientific findings. I use this site as a source of ideas for stories. If the lead story in Top Science News generate a story idea for someone I’ll eat all my Arthur C. Clarke novels.
LYNN’S WORLD KEEPS ON ‘GROWING’
My daughter, Lynn, had an article published about the farming in the Philadelphia Inquirer today.
Of course, I thought I’d share.
http://www.philly.com/philly/food/20140807_Farm_food__stat_.html
STRUGGLING TO GET IT WRITE: PEOPLE WATCHING
Reading as a writer, I am constantly in awe of details ‘good writers’ see in their characters. The emotions, mannerisms and body language, to say nothing of physical description, bring a writer’s characters off the paper and strut before you, and let you hear them speak when the tone of their voice is described. One of my favorite details, which I have seen a few times is: ‘His mouth smiled, but that smile did not reach his eyes.’ I can truly say that, in real life, I do not know if I am capable of detecting that emotion.
I’ve always thought of myself as more of an observer than a participant in this complex existence, but I’m beginning to find that my observations are lacking in detail, not adequately fulfilling my writer’s needs. I working on remedying that flaw, but can it really be corrected? Can your level of observation be actively increased or is it just something you’re born with?
To bring a character to life, the writer must have a clear picture of that character in his head, both physically and emotionally. The better the writer is able to accomplish this feat, the better the story. I’m in the process of struggling to slow the act of writing down, to expand on the details that bring the character to life. I tend to rush my writing and concentrate more on plot and action. I now seek a more balanced approach between character and action.
While recently watching a documentary by Ken Burns about the life of Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain). I’m sure PBS will provide ample opportunities for you to view it if you missed it. I highly recommend you watch it. One comment that struck me was how Clemens spent years observing the world around him and the people populating it long before he knew he would become a writer of fiction. For example, he would notice whether a man had his hands in his pocket or not, and what the contents of those pockets probably were.
MEMOIR: LIVING ON BORROWED TIME
I’m old enough, and my memory good enough to recall a great deal of detail growing up in Newark, NJ during the 1950s and 60s. With these memories in mind, I study the world around me and have to chuckle. At times, it’s as if our society is rediscovering the wheel, then again, at times I’m amazed that my wheel still turns.
One observation which I find interesting is the current nutritional trends, and what information they provide – if any. Consider all the studies you’ve heard concerning the benefits or harmful effects of coffee consumption. I don’t know about you, but it boggles my mind. Some of the current nutritional mindsets are to cut down on processed food and eat local. When I was young, we adhered to these principles as a way of life. Processed food was in its infancy. And unlike today, for better or for worse, the mom of the family stayed home. Most did not know how to drive, and that didn’t matter because most families could only afford one car. Few moms worked outside the home. Their lives were taken up with raising the kids, maintaining the home and cooking. We are warned away from processed and junk food, yet grocery store shelves grow heavier and heavier with these items. Is there a bottom line at work here?
Another ‘new’ trend encouraged is to eat locally. While I was growing up that was the only option. Fruit and vegetables – veggies had not been invented yet – were not transported from all over the globe as they are now. In my neighborhood, fresh produce was available during the summer months sold from a horse-drawn wagon. During the winter the stores carried a minimal selection.
Those are the positives of my past which are far outweighed by the negatives, hence to purpose of this article.
During my youth, the fear of cholesterol was unknown. Of course it existed, but knowledge of its hazards was unknown and its effect, insidious. Food was consumed without a thought to sodium or fat content. Taste was all that mattered. It was a time long before the existence of ‘best by date’. The rule of thumb was: If the can wasn’t swollen the contents were fine to consume.
But all this is secondary to the primary reason I am living on borrowed time, although my food consumption has left its effects in the form of bypass surgery. The health concern most abused in my past was sun exposure. Today we have sunblock able to protect you from any damage the sun may try to deliver. When I was a kid we also had a means of protection and it was homemade. This was long before billboards began displaying that cute little girl having her bathing suit bottom pulled down by that delightful dog to expose her pale butt and tan line.
The means I used to shield myself from the sun’s harmful rays was a concoction of a few drops of iodine dispersed in baby oil. Where that was invented I have no idea. Did it work? No way! Every summer’s journey to the shore resulted in a bright red burn resulting in a mass of oozing blisters. Back then we were of the mindset that when you spent a day at the shore you had to get your money’s worth and we always paid the price. When we went as a family unit, on the way home I and my siblings would sit in the backseat of the old Chevy shivering from the intense sunburn. To this day we fondly refer to those sun-induced chills as suffering from ‘the disease’.
Once home, my mom would apply vinegar to our burned bodies. This remedy is actually documented as working, usually in vinegar ads. At night, after a day at the beach, slathered in oil and vinegar we were human salads suffering the pain of a summer outing.
NEW MOON RISING ON SALE IN OXFORD
That’s Oxford, PA.
You can now find my novel, New Moon Rising, on sale a Bookplace, a delightful used book store owned by Virginia Beards. If you love books as much as I, and live in southeast Pennsylvania you owe it to yourself to visit this small treasure, not only for what great finds may come your way but to visit with Virginia.
Virginia taught literature at Penn and the depth and breadth of her literary knowledge is truly awesome. Pick up a book and there is a good chance she is familiar with the contents, or for one of the books I purchased, also knew the author. She is also an accomplished poet and her book of poetry, Exit Pursued By A Bear And Others, is available at the store.
Here is a link to the bookstore’s website.
Give it a try.
