We interrupt our scheduled program for an amazing indie film.
I really hope there is more to this little film. 15 minutes is just not enough. The way they use color to highlight certain things, and the subtle use of special effects… this could be one of my favorite youtube series.
My friends are geeky. There isn’t any getting around it, and I kind of like the fact.
I have listened, and even participated in several conversations that began “Who would win….” The answer is usually “Batman,” because even if he looses he will come back and win the second battle.
So when the question regarding world building, and specifically how two sentient species could coexist popped up I had no problem entering into this discussion. I’d already had this discussion on other occasions.
This question comes up a lot when dealing with worlds like TSR, LOTR, and others that have several species (elf, dwarf, human) that all live together. Some authors add in explanations of how they came about. Others simply make it an act of a god and leave it at that. The more scientific explanations usually come from Sci-fi sources such as Star Trek.
Star Trek 4 has to be one of the worst movies in the lot. (And I’m a major Trekkie. I still think it was pretty bad.) It did have one subject that I rather liked: humans assume we are the only intelligent race on earth, but have no common frame of reference to distinguish this as fact.
As an example, dolphins have been known to do things we recognize as intelligent or showing feeling. Whales have tried to rescue their calves. Dogs will rescue their owners. Several species of ape and birds are known to use tools. Is this intelligence? Do they feel emotion? Is it just instinct or something else? Can we really tell?
When discussing how and if two intelligent races can coexist on one planet we first have to determine what is intelligence and how do we measure it. For earth, and humans, we acknowledge humanity as intelligent because of how much we can adapt to the environment and the environment to us. We can build, create, and invent, while other species are still learning the value and use of tools.
If they did evolve, we may not even recognize their intelligence because their goals in life, their ambitions, and needs do not overlap ours enough to make it known. As an example take dolphins. They do not need homes, or jobs. They do not need money. They need fish and open waters. They do not compete for many of our resources, and likely never will since their sphere of influence is the ocean, while ours is mainly the land.
It isn’t inconceivable that these species could evolve to human like intelligence… if we let them. I think a big part of it is, evolution wise, that whichever species evolved first would have to get to a point where they did not feel threatened, and even helped the “lesser” species. If we continue to hunt apes and dolphins their evolution could end short in extinction.
In short… We really don’t know the possibilities. They are simply endless.
If you haven’t heard of NaNoWriMo… well where have you been?!
National Novel Writing Month (NaNo) is a fast pace group effort to churn out as many words as you can. The “Goal” is to write a novel, which is loosely classified as “50,000” words. There are forums, tags, badges, and more at the website where you can get encouragement to get those words out. It’s a wonderful experience!
They now have several school projects that teachers can use in their classrooms, with teaching aids to get kids writing.
I’ve participated in four different years. “Won” twice.
From mid September to late October many NaNo participants are getting ready. Deciding what to write, Nailing down a synopsis, updating info and adding counters to our websites.
I love that Huge Howey, self published author of best selling book series “Wool”, keeps word counters up on his website year round so that his readers can see his progress on his books. I love that idea. I might be stealing that idea.
So, things will be a little slow around here as I prepare for NaNoWriMo, and get a few things in order. Hopefully that means I’ll actually be writing more, and publishing something just before November, and another something after Novemeber.
Like many writers, I’ve suffered that dreaded curse: Writers Block.
I’ve read so many books, articles, essays and websites about how to cure it. How to get inspired. How to confront the blank page…. I could probably recite them all to you.
Recently I’ve read come across a few that say there is no such thing as writers block. One went so far as to say a true writer will write, no matter what.
After contemplating, and examining my own case of it… I have to agree.
My writers block has never come because I have nothing to say. I have tons to say. Worlds and stories, lives of people just swimming around in my head wanting to be told. There has never been a day in which I did not have something I could write.
True, often the ideas are bad, or not well written, but that doesn’t mean a lot. Not everything I write will be gold.
No, what really stops me, what really keeps me from writing sometimes isn’t lack of ideas. It’s the burning question: Who Cares?
Who cares if I write this? Who will read it? Can I sell it? Is it worth all this effort if no one ever does?
I’ve considered putting one of my two published books up as free just to get a reader base. But I am mindful of the fact that if there is nothing else for them to read it won’t make any difference. So I wait, and get a little frustrated. And look at that paper and again say “who cares?”
And the answer is… I care!
Those words and stories, characters and dream that shift and turn and grow inside my head… they deserve to be told. Even if I never make a dime. Even if my children end up giving them away for free when I am dead and gone. Even if only my close friends ever read them.
They are worth telling. Worth writing. And thats worth breaking the “writers block” and getting back to work.
I’m kind of in an awkward moment. Not that i’m unused to awkward moments. I’m a mom, I’ve had lots of them. Raising children is like a series of awkward moments strung together with happy, and sad ones. (Though it’s more fun to make my kids awkward, than to be awkward.)
“Flight of the Griffins” will be out this weekend. I’m thrilled. It’s taken a lot to get this behemoth of a story publishing ready, and I love the cover design.
Now what? This is my dilemma.
I am working on two novels at the moment. “Osiren’s Tears” is the first of a series set in a fantasy world. “Message in a Bottle” is my first paranormal romance that I may be publishing under a pen name.
Neither of these books are even close to being ready for an edit, let alone publication. I’m hoping to have one novel ready in March to be edited, and publish in April (a daunting task). But I don’t want to simply do nothing for the next seven months.
NaNoWriMo is also coming up.
So, for the next seven months here is the tentative schedule:
Sep 16 “Flight of the Griffins” will release.
Oct 21st, “Small Bites” tentative release. (A book of flash fiction ‘scary’ tales, perfect for Halloween.)
November – NaNoWriMo
December – enjoying the holidays.
January 20th – “Magic and Mischief” (tentative title) released.
Feb – “Osiren’s Tears” goes to the editor.
March 17th … if all goes right…. “Osiren’s Tears“is released.
This was a conversation on Reddit (where I, admittedly spend my time procrastinating) on how to learn to not procrastinate. http://www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/zj6c9/i_want_to_learn_how_to_stop_procrastinating/c654p6g One point I realized was true… twitter, facebook, tv, etc… it’s all junk food for your brain. We use it in moderation, or we use it to stuff our heads full of useless stuff an avoid what we really should/need to think about. Read the link for techniques to battle this constant influx of information.
This is Wil Wheaton… from the back of the theater. Now, if you’re at the back of the theater you can’t actually see the person talking. Not unless all the peoples heads in front of you line up just right and you manage to catch a glimpse in between heads.
The conference rooms aren’t really set up for this as far as I can see. And the audio is a bit low. But worth it? Heck ya!
Now, I am bias. I’ve been a Wheaton fan since I was 10 years old, watching Star Trek TNG and harboring my secret crush on the ultra intelligent Wesley Crusher. But Wheaton, himself, is incredibly funny and knows how to tell a good story. And his stories matter to the crowds that show up to see him because most of us were/are nerdy gamers who played a lot of the games he did, and had similar experience (minus the awesome Enterprise crew, though we envy that.)
Sadly, the Fawkes Guild comic that I had, wrapped in cardboard and safely stuck in my hard hard cover D&D book to avoid crushing, went unsigned. Being a brand new PAX goer, I was lost, and given bad directions. The line was closed before I got there. Maybe next year?
So many games, and so little time. I demoed about 20 of them, watched people playing several others. Watched people be the aliens hunting down space marines, and killed a zombie in Walking Dead after learning she was probably a little girls baby sitter. Got t-shirts, pins, and coloring books….
All in all PAX was amazing, and I’ll be going next year.
Most writers will eventually run up against copywrite at one point or another. This is both good, and bad. While copywrite does protect your intellectual property and allow you, and only you, to legally make money off of your work (be it art, video, music, games or the written word) it also has some unintended consequences.
Watch the short video below for a little explanation on how it started, and how it has been changed over the years.
My first PAX swag. Pays to be dating an enforcer. He brought this home for me last night. I absolutely LOVE Bastion, so it was really appropriate. The narrator really makes that game something that stands apart. (Think I’ll go play it tonight.) I’ll be visiting PAX on Sunday. My first con, ever! So excited! Wish I had time to make a costume, but still worth it.
At 57:30, I’m Christy, the one that sent in the question. For the record my voice is pretty high pitched, even for a girl. I’ve been asked a few times if my mommy was home. Not as often now, as I am in my 30’s, but still enough that I will be having someone else do my audio books. I also found this to be a really good discussion about “buying reviews” which has been hitting the news lately. In a nutshell… it’s a bad way to do business, makes other self publishers look bad, and for actual physical goods (like toasters) it can be even worse. On the other hand, it is really beneficial for actual readers to leave comments and reviews on books. I’ve sold mine 4 times and have yet to get a review (though someone raved about it on FB which was really nice). Good reviews, honest reviews, are sometimes hard to come buy. It’s really no wonder some people turn to buying them. Its still not the highest ethical standard.
Author Crissy Moss 