Writtenwyrdd

An apparent case of plagiarism

Over at A Rage of Angel, a writer's blog, Angel describes what appears to be a repeat offender.  Check it out.  Not as big as the Cassie Edwards thing, but a dreadful example of how plagiarism is affecting our work. 

I have to wonder, though: Does the internet make plagiarism more common, or simply make it easier to find? 

October is NaBloWriMo

You've probably heard of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month); but have you heard of NaBloWriMo?  That's the National Blog Writing Month.  Where NaNoWriMo exhorts us to write 50k during the month of November, NaBloWriMo asks for a blog post per day for the month of October.  Thus the two contests aren't in competition for your gray matter.

Today's your last day to sign up for NaBlo.  To do so, email Amy at theoldcrone AT gmail.com by end of day today, September 30th.  Details here.

And if you wish to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, it starts November 1st.  Details here.  I will sign up, but will I get 50k written?  That's the big question, isn't it.  (You cannot sign up for 2009 just yet, however.)  I'm wyrddsmith on NaNo, by the way.

Twitter contest

In honor of the US release of The Ghosts of Belfast, Stewart Neville is holding a Twitter contest.  Horror, of course!  Top five entries will win a copy of Ghosts of Belfast, and the entry with the most votes gets a signed, limited edition copy of Neville's The Six.

So, here are the three simple rules:

1) Tweet your scariest, funniest ghost story in 124 CHARACTERS OR LESS.

2) It's VITAL that you remember to include the hash tag #GhostsOfBelfast or your entry won't be seen.

3) Tweet it before MIDNIGHT 31st OCTOBER.

You can enter as many times as you like, but each tweet must be a different story. So, get tweeting, and good luck!

The Plan

"In the first act of a story, the hero/ine is introduced, and that hero/ine either has or quickly develops a DESIRE. She might have a PROBLEM that needs to be solved, or someone or something she WANTS, or a bad situation that she needs to get out of, pronto.  Her reaction to that problem or situation is to formulate a PLAN, even if that plan is vague or even completely subconscious. But somewhere in there, there is a plan, and storytelling is usually easier if you have the hero/ine or someone else (maybe you, the author) state that plan clearly, so the audience or reader knows exactly what the expectation is."  Alexandra Sokoloff*

So, you have a character with a problem.  they come up with a plan, it clashes with the plans of others, and (as Ms. Sokoloff points out in her article) the hero/ine doesn't succeed the first or even the second try.  Secondary plans come into play.  Things get complicated, and it looks like your character won't win (and they might not, if you want that sort of ending.) 

The point of this ramble, though, is the important point in the quote:  There needs to be that initial plan.

Something worth thinking about also is this:  "So almost always, the initial plan fails. Or if it seems to succeed, it’s only to trick us for a moment before we realize how wretchedly the plan has failed. That weak initial effort is because it’s human nature to expend the least effort possible to get what we want, and only take greater and more desperate measures if we are forced to."*

And, something which occurred to me whilst contemplating The Magus of Athlinar (stalled on a plot point conundrum this past month):  You can say to hell with the beginning and write the middle,where you know the pivotal action is!  And that probably means that the short story will be starting at the right place!  Woot!  I think I'm a genius, lol.

$10,000 contest!

Speaking of contests, in case you haven't heard, Gena Showalter and her publisher are offering a contest with a $10,000 prize.  It's in honor of her soon-to-be-released YA book, Intertwined, which looks like a good read.

From the site:

From August 21st, 2009, until November 16th, 2009, you can enter the Intertwined sweepstakes (daily!) for your chance to win the grand prize of $10,000!!! Remember to visit daily to play the match game and see if you’ve won Harlequin TEEN swag instantly!

How do you enter? Just click here and simply enter your email address to begin!

Might I suggest...?

 

Child of Fire by Harry Connolly. 
I got a hold of an ARC and read it in one sitting yesterday--six hours straight, no kidding.  This is a non-stop adrenaline ride of a dark fantasy/horror, and it's really well done and fresh.  I think you'll like it if you like early Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, or Simon Green's Secret Histories/Nightside books.  And there's obvious room for sequels.

Musical Monday

Here's a video that's very funny, "Please Don't Leave Me" by Pink.  Talk about words and imagery meaning the opposite!

PS, does anyone know how to make these widescreen videos fit like the narrower ones used to?  I'd really prefer to embed them on the blog!

Announcing a CONTEST!!

CHANNEL YOUR INNER LOVECRAFT!  In honor of Halloween, I'm going to hold a contest.  Also it's to reward all my blog pals for putting up with the massive TMI (too much information) about my surgery and dieting woes, lol. 

WE'RE GOING TO BE WRITING HORROR. 500 to 1,000ish words of spec fic horror, poetry or prose, humorous or creepy.  (You can go over 1,000 words, but please not by too much.) And no slasher horror pretty pretty please.  

AND YOU GUYS GET TO VOTE ON THE WINNER.  We'll have voting on the entries after it's all over.  I might even submit something, but if I should luck out and win I'll give the prize to the runner up. 

DEADLINE is October 31st, naturally. 

SUBMISSIONS.  Send your submission to me in the body of an email, single spaced.  Addy: writtenwyrdd (at) earthlink.net.  Heading should read "Chthulu contest submission."  Be sure and include the name you want me to use on the post.  I won't be naming individuals during the voting round, but at the announcements round.  MORE THAN ONE SUBMISSION IS ALLOWED, BUT SEND THEM SEPARATELY.  (Please keep it to two, though.  We don't want to stack the deck.) 

PLEASE REPOST AND SPREAD THE WORD.  I WOULD LIKE AT LEAST TWENTY ENTRIES TO MAKE THIS MORE FUN!  And because the prize is cool.  It's this cute, cuddly Chthulu.* 

 

And, if we get more than 20 entries, I'll also be offering another prize to the runner up: a copy of "On Her Majesty's Occult  Service," by Charles Stross, which contains both The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue...two of my favorite books in one volume.  Geek humor and Lovecraftian horror.  Priceless!

*You can thank FairyHedgeHog for the prize idea.  She mentioned cuddly Chthulu, and I was inspired. 

And for those of you who don't know what Chthulu is, it's a monster from Lovecraftian horror, and apparently (according to the PSA the other day) quite popular with the ladies.

Why we need universal healthcare

Just as a bit of maybe-useful info, I just received the insurance company's statement of what the hospital billed for my surgery:  $24,800.  (I rounded off.)  That looks like it includes both anesthesiologist and surgeon, as they are hospital employees.  And I was told in advance the average operation costs about $15,000.  My cost appears to be only the copay at this point.  We shall see when the hospital bill arrives at my door.  (And if my surgery was 'textbook' what is it costing those who need to stay more than 2 nights and have a more complicated procedure?)

The point being, how in hell can someone get necessary surgery to save their lives with costs like this?  Or perhaps they are diabetic and need to lose weight and cannot afford an elective surgery like mine?  I have very good insurance, I should note; and because I used to administer insurance plans for several large companies back in the 90s (during my HR manager phase) I can assure you that what I have now beats out what I had back then, too.  People with no insurance or sucky insurance are really screwed if they become ill. 

And healthcare seems like a no-brainer in a country like ours.  I'd especially like to see the US govt repay hospitals for all the free care they have mandated hospitals give to illegal aliens (without getting a dime from the government that mandated this) and see Medicare not be a year or more behind on reimbursements. 

Advance Notice

I'm going to be posting a contest on Monday.  Be excited.  There's a cool prize. 

'Ware Chthulu!

Thought you  might want to be aware of these Public Service Announcements (PSAs).  Keeping kids safe is something we all need to get behind, after all. 

I borrowed the PSA from the first linked site. 

I have over 1000 unread posts on Google Reader (and other tales of woe)

Dang!  I got rather behind in my blog reading during my recovery!  And that 1000+ is only two weeks' worth of posts, too.

Back to work today

I have training.  At least I'll be sitting.  I feel great, actually, except that my back is unhappy.  But we'll see how it goes.  Work clothes do not have comfy elastic waists and the only incision that's really bothering me is next to my naval and right where the mandatory belt will dig in.  (And it's really sensitive, too, which can take weeks to go away.  Lucky me.)

Anyhow, I've lost 20 pounds since my surgery!  Only 80 more to go to be back where I was at 21.  (I'll settle for losing 50; but if I get a little too thin my knees and back might never require surgery, so I'm going to aim for just on the too-thin side of thin.  Which will be difficult to maintain.  I love to eat!

District 9: Go see it!

I saw District 9 on Sunday.  I had seen the trailer previously but had forgotten what the movie was about except for having heard it was good but very dark.  Let me start by saying that this movie is very different from the blow 'em ups we often get in current sf movies.  Action without content or good writing is not what you get in District 9.  If you remember Enemy Mine, a movie where an alien and a human meet, hate and then find common ground, you have a hint.

However, this  movie is fascinating on several levels, and the alien v human aspect is not as milque toasty as in Enemy Mine.  D9 is gritty and very dark.  First, the film is shot in documentary style, which usually doesn't work for me (Blair Witch Project, anyone?  I loathed that movie), but here the 'interviews' pull you in and foreshadows the movie while giving a bit of set up and backstory...yet not too much.  Then there's the situation, which shows humanity being what we are when at our prejudiced worst as host to some alien refugees. (This was particularly parable-like considering that the movie was set and filmed in South Africa.)  Then there's the great special effects and, yes, the action. 

In any case, it would spoil the movie to know too much about the film before you see it.  But it's gripping.  I loved it. 

The only thing I didn't like was that the general who is essentially the bad guy in the fight scenes is a blonde germanic type.  A bit too Hitler-Youth-grown-up for me.  If he'd had dark hair and didn't seem so Teutonic it would have made me happier.  And the two baddies were both a bit flat for my taste.  But, hey, it's still a great movie.

Official trailer here.

Cats will play

The Pug and Molly are chasing each other around the house this morning.  Mikey and Molly have reached kitty detente in that Mikey mostly lets her upstairs without hassle and they both are sleeping on the bed.

My back is so stiff these days it's unbelievably difficult to bend.  Yet one must on occasion.  Clearly, this is not the same sort of injury as when the back fractured or when I've had spasms.  My SI joint even slipped out for a couple of days last week.  Bleh.

I have to go to my worksite today and pick up some gear, as I have a training day for my first day back and we are required to have all that stuff with us.  We are like the boy scouts and must always be prepared.  (But I'm not going to say anything specific about  my job on this blog as I'd like to keep it until I can retire.)

And I've lost more weight, putting the total loss somewhere around 45 pounds.  Some of my winter clothes (which we've been breaking out due to nightly frosts and chilly days) are now too big.

The Japanese trends are so fascinating!

Check out this wiki on Japanese fashion, viz the Lolita styles.  Fascinating.

I'm an object lesson

See, here I am two weeks out of surgery, feeling great, off the pain meds, and I haven't written a single word yet.  Of course, having one's closest friends out to hang around with (even if I can no longer swill beer or coffee with them for hours on end like we were wont to do) means I have a distinct preference to do otherwise than said writing.  After all, it can be put off (yet again).  Friends cannot.

Which is why I am a lesson to you all in the "don't put off the writing with the excuse of an anticipated big block of future time to write.  Just.  Don't.

====

And in other news, I've lost a couple more pounds.  I am eating real food but cannot get enough of the protein or calories.  Nor can I eat the meal in the allotted time.  (Although I did accidentally eat too fast this morning and suffered the stomach ache to remind me about that particular stupidity.)

The cats are into sitting near each other and staring away from each other, but no growling.  Mikey is acting like a pouty child and won't get on my lap if the kitten Molly is in the room too.  He also was blocking her access to the food and litter box, which were in my room upstairs, so I've had to put a litter box in the living room (ghastly) and a dish of food on the dryer.  I had both of them on the bed last night, so accord may be reached before snow flies, I think.

Molly is still cute and adorable and all things kitten.  Mikey is a sulky boy but is quite willing to forgive me if I get on the floor with him and start rubbing his belly. 

Well, I've run out of canned posts, so you'll be seeing  a lack of content until at least next Thursday, when I am officially back to work and have a lunch break not dedicated to anything in particular.

I'm continuing to lose weight (I'm now where I was six years ago before the uncontrolled weight gain--a combo of sleep apnea side effects, menopause and the Atkins diet [mmm, bacon!]-- that socked on fifty pounds.  I feel good, solid food doesn't appear to be a problem.  However, I can't seem to take in enough solid food, e.g. calories!  Who would have thought that would be the problem?  Yet here I am, getting 200 or 300 calories a day and I cannot seem to get in more!  I'll have to supplement the three meals with two milk/protein drinks.  Because if you stay too long on too little calories, you lose muscle, not fat.  Which defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

I ate six shrimp for dinner last night.  Had no room for veggies except I ate one single green bean.  It's not easy (because the carby goodness is the real draw for we fatties) but you have to eat the protein first.

The cats are reaching occasional detente, with the dog enforcing it.  If one starts growling, he runs up between them and starts whimpering in the growler's face.  Stops the fight before it starts.  But mostly what Mikey does is chase Molly.  She avoids him or growls at him to let him know if he bugs here there'll be a fight.  (And right now she's gotten on my desk and is exploring the shelves.  I should try and break this behavior, but I'm happy enough if she doesn't start chewing cords or knocking things off.)

I have my best friend from San Francisco visiting with her husband for a few days, which is great fun.  She's lived in Massachusetts for the last thirteen years (and I lived with them when I migrated from SF in 99) but due to the long, 8-hour drive from Northern Maine to Western Massachusetts, I usually only see them once a year or so (when I have to see a specialist about my paget's bone disease).  It's great to see your friends, isn't it? 

Today we are going to do a bit of touristy driving about, yesterday we took an afternoon-long (literally) stroll through historic downtown Houlton Maine (county seat of Aroostook County).  I think today is a good day for Canada. Maybe Fredericton. 

So, that's all the oddments for the week.

Cool site - Goths In Hot Weather

Found a few new sites today while blog hopping.  One is the humorous Goths in Hot Weather, where the nameless blog host gleefully lampoons goths and gothettes found out of their caverns and gloomy dells and...in the sunlight!  Quite humorous commentary. 

That site thanks to the blog of Upstart Crow Literary, a new publishing house.  I forget whom I found them through.  I think it was Janet Reid's blog. 

Then there's this site, The Atomic Fox, whose author is a rabid fan of horror films.  If you are into horror films, she has a lot of news and reviews on the genre.

Or perhaps you might like to check out the miscellaneous assortment of erotic poetry and short fiction on Erik Ivan James' blog, Inside the Gazebo.

Stuff & Such

Molly the new cat is a hoot.  She's got so much kitten in her and is so tiny we kept thinking she's got to be only 9 or 10 months old, but her adoption records say she was born 2/14/2008.  The silly girl is not intimidated by the Pug, but is understandably leery of Mikey, who weighs about 22 pounds to her 7.  He's glaring and growling still, but a lot less than when we brought her home.  My fussing over him much of Sunday helped.

Just tried on my work pants and discover that I can almost bear to have them clinching my guts.  I'll be off work until I can stand to actually sit down or bend wearing them, lol.

My back is still messed up, but bearable.  Every day it's a bit better.  I see my regular doc about it this morning and I'll get her verdict on it.  She'll likely want an MRI but unless it'll show me some benefit I'll pass.  There's nothing to be done for a ruptured disc anyhow, and often they do just flare up painfully and fade away.  Just one more incident of back pain to chalk up to my cranky back if that's the case!

I haven't lost any weight in days* but I did sneak a small nibble of the hamburger, mac & cheese Mom ate for supper last night with zero ill effects.  I wasn't supposed to; but what my surgeon doesn't hear won't hurt her. I certainly didn't hurt me!  You do taste your food more when you take smaller bites and chew slowly, though.  So even a teeny 1/3 cup of food seems like a feast when you take about freaking forever to eat it.

*I take that back: I just weighed and I lost three pounds since yesterday.  Wow.  I haven't weighed this little in years!

Does urban fantasy have to be urban? I'm asea on this issue (haha)

Vampire Wire (a great blog for fans of urban fantasy and vampire fiction) had a post recently that gave me an idea.  Not a new idea, because I'd had the vague notion previously, but an idea for a new story milieu.  That's dangerous!

The question was what we readers thought were underrepresented in the category of shapeshifters in our urban fantasies.  I particularly notice that nothing from the sea seems to be showing up in urban fantasy.  Probably because urban means not in the ocean or any setting that brings water into play with any real frequency.

But it could. 

We think urban fantasy and forget that a lot of cities (New York, Chicago, San Francisco, the whole state of Hawaii) have huge bodies of water next door.   These cities are literally dabbling their toes into the sea or into rivers--or both!  Why not use that great, untapped (pun intended) resource?

Or (and this thought put a gleam in my eye) what about having your 'urban' fantasy be set aboard a ship?  Or a small sailing craft?  You have urban things on a cruise ship, just not a city.  Or you literally have a sort of city on a military vessel (there are more people on an aircraft carrier than live in my town).  With all the infrastructure and the big ocean surrounding them you can have a plot involving sea creatures who can also walk as men.  Could be good.

A pure fantasy I read a couple years ago, The Aware by Glenda Larke, was set on an archipelago, and she had a lot of cool ideas in this story related to water and creatures from below the waves.  Check it out if you want a different fantasy read.  (The Aware is the first book in the Isles of Glory series.)

Now, I wonder if I can get a grant somewhere to learn to sail, buy a yacht and sail the Carribbean for a year or two...just for reasearch of course!

Meet Molly

We went to the Humane Society's fundraiser bazaar.  Not much going on so after buying raffle tickets I had to look at the cats up for adoption.  Guess what I brought home?  Formerly known as Cagney, Molly is a Maine Coon mix and is a sleek and small cat of about a year old.  She's absolutely fearless, isn't bothered by the dog at all (even when he's excitedly sniffing at her butt) and could care less that Mikey (the other cat) is staring daggers at her and growling. 

That's what I need, an independent and yet friendly cat.  Let's hope things work out.

Is anybody else reminded of Frank Herbert?

A study published in the July 17 issue of the journal Science details how sandfish -- small lizards with smooth scales -- move rapidly underground through desert sand. In this first thorough examination of subsurface sandfish locomotion, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology found that the animals place their limbs against their sides and create a wave motion with their bodies to propel themselves through granular media.  Science Daily article

Sand trouts...sandfish... Don't you love it when you think you find the possible inspiration for something in a classic sf novel? 

I don't have any specific ideas for this one, just the observation that small little details, like the sand trouts on Herbert's planet Dune, are totally plausible, whether or not he knew about sandfish lizards.  And if you have ideas that are truly unique in your worldbuilding, it might help if they are truly plausible as well.  Readers don't always require it, but if you feed them a mixed diet of likely and way out there, the way out there doesn't push the boundaries of their willingness to believe you quite so much.  (All bets are off for humorous writing, though.)

I seem to have hit the bad luck I was afraid of last week

This morning we went for our usual 2.5 mile walk, and I was feeling great afterwards so I started doing a couple of things around the house, like picking up a little bit.  Then at 10:30 I went down into the basement to locate some yarn for a project, seeing as I can't concentrate on much. 

I picked up an empty plastic tub and set it aside in order to get to the tub on the bottom.  When I was finished, I picked up the empty tub and set it down.  When i tried to straighten up, yowie zowie!  Something slipped in my spine and hideous pain ensued.  It was immediately more painful than previous instances of my tweaky back going into spasms, and I felt something move, like I said...which is not the usual thing that happens.  Usually I just get spasms that hurt like hell but which dissipate with the application of muscle relaxants.

After taking said medications I waited about an hour and tried to get up from the recliner.  Double quadruple youchies!!  It hurt so bad I had tears pouring down my face, which isn't usual.  I swear, I think that pain topped the migraines, which I've always sworn were a ten or eleven on the pain scale.

So we schlepped to the ER and I was told I had likely ruptured a disc!!  If the pain doesn't ease up in a few days, they'll to do an MRI to verify, but there's really  nothing to be done at this point. 

I'm seriously disappointed.  I mean, I am really cautious about my back and yet this crap still happens.  Sigh.

Well, enough of my whining.  I'm going to go back to pacing the house for a while and loosen my back up, then I'll crochet some more. 

More about me

I lost two pounds during the day yesterday.  As in, I'd get on the scale out of curiosity and would have lost another pound.  So, two pounds lost during the day yesterday, and 1.5 since I went to bed at 10 o'clock.  I don't feel weird, tired or any worse for the loss, but it's amazing, really.  You'd think I would.  But the doc said once you go into ketosis (fat burning mode) it does tend to go away fast.

Other than that, belly still sore but moderately less than before.  And I still have no interest in anything but sort of zoning out before the television.  My brain just doesn't seem able to focus, not even on reading a book.  I suppose after major surgery and anesthesia that's common?  Oh well. I can't go back to work for at least three more weeks, so I still have time to write some.

And another gorgeous day today!  Once we wake the dog (he's the late sleeper in the house) we'll be off for another 2.5 mile jaunt.  Yesterday I was really what I call nappish, wanting to doze all day long.  Today I'm feeling mentally alert and eager to point my brain at something.  Maybe it'll be writing.  Or possibly the slippers I started crocheting, which has turned out to be a tedious project indeed.

Opportunity for a big prize

Anthology News & Reviews announces a contest that has a short deadline (October 1st):

The Missouri Review is now offering $15,000 in prize money for the 19th annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editor's Prize Contest -- $5,000 per genre in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Past winners' work has been reprinted in the Best American series. Each entry is $20. All entrants receive a one-year subscription to The Missouri Review either in print or in the new environmentally friendly digital format, which includes bonus audio content. The deadline is October 1st, and you can enter online or by mail. For details, check out our webpage: http://missourireview.com/contest

Nobody promised it was easy. Now, give me a beer.

"Just so you know--it is excrutiatingly difficult to plan a novel really, really slowly so you can write each scene in full detail at the same time.  It's like running a snow-plow while stoppign to examine each snow flake with a magnifying glass.  Chances are almost certain your snow-plow's going to wind up in a lake, and you'll spend the rest of the year getting it back out again.  Plannign and writing use different parts of the brain, and writers who regularly attempt this [plotting while writing] and expect tolike the results are the ones who wind up drunks." A. Victoria Mixon

Well, we know Ms. Mixon's on the side of the planner and not the pantser, don't we?  I am by nature a pantser most of the time, but I at least don't (still) make the mistake of plotting out too many scenes in extreme detail as I'm writing.  But I get something out of seat-of-the-pants writing that Ms. Mixon doesn't mention, and that is ideas. 

I discover my fictional world by writing scenes, by discovering the characters.  Sure, it's probably a lot of 'wasted' writing that's more backstory than useful to the final product; but it's what works for me.  I have tried to do this on 4x6 notecards, filling in ideas, putting the ideas into a relational database, drafting out complex plots and what not.  But what ends up happening is that, when I start actually writing, other ideas and details come up and then the complicated scene ideas are no longer that wonderful...although they can come in handy to keep me on a generally straight road.

But I continually get snarled up in the middle.  That old muddle in the middle is the quagmire of death, and it's the reason I've temporarily abandoned novels for shorter works.  I need to discover my inner A. Victoria Mixon, apparently!

Almost like summer today

Wow, another gorgeous day!  It's the high 70s and feels like summer now, but was crisp and cool for our morning walk along the river.  Mom and I got a bit stir crazy, so after I visited with our 90-year-old neighbor and we both got to complain about our various ailments, Mom and I drove to Presque Isle and bought a small CuisineArt so I can make my own 'baby food' when time comes for solids again.  It'll be far easier to use on some foods that are difficult to chew enough.  Plus I made Mom pick out her own birthday presents.  Her birthday is coming up in early October, and she'll be 69 (and looks 15 years younger, which is why people keep insisting she can't be my mother.)  She's getting a robe and a new purse.  Tres exciting, but we're far past the days of getting anything but utilitarian items.  Especially since we just moved and are *allergic* to the thought of cluttery items.

My belly hurts a lot today compared to yesterday. I'm sure jouncing in the car didn't help, but it's just one of those things, and started in the middle of last night.  Not too bad, just really distracting when you are trying to sleep.  I see the doc for a followup a week from tomorrow.  I hope I've been able to rub the permanent ink marks off my stomach by then, lol.  They  make me feel like the victim of a frat joke after an all-night bender, you know?

Avoid commando plot elements

"Fiction's like a spider web—each thread belongs to the whole and has some essential function. Spiders don't go around pimping their webs with ghastly and unnecessary props that do nothing to help them catch the fly. Neither should fiction. Not saying fiction should be utilitarian or strictly weblike, but come on—is there a valid *reason* that spiderweb is full of penguins?" The Intern

That everything should have a purpose in your writing is generally true.  However, I do disagree with the above in part: I think that random world-building observances to add a sense of scene or place or to underscore theme or emotion are very useful--just not useful when overdone.  However, for plot elements specifically, you should have a reason for all the threads, because they all need to weave together to form the web of story. 

Perhaps the motto to take from this post is: Leave nothing dangling.  Don't go...commando.  (Yes, I did have to make the obligatory allusion to a guys parts.  Really.  It's in the contract.)

Ye gods, I'm still recovering at a ridiculous rate!

I feel really, really good!  And I lost all the swelling from the surgery (six pounds or thereabouts) and lost two more pounds on top of that--one over night, and one since I weighed myself this morning.  (They do say it seems to melt off of you after surgery, but wow.) 

I went for a walk with Mom and the dog yesterday, about a mile, and it was stretching it a bit because I hadn't eaten yet and the belly was a bit sore.  Today, I felt really great, about a third less soreness, ate (okay, drank) several ounces of breakfast, and walked a 2.5 mile walk, feeling great the whole time!

It's really bizarre, but I'm not complaining. I'm so grateful it's pathetic.  I was pretty freaked out going in that I would be really incapacitated, but so far everything's great.  I do have trouble injesting anything without pain, so I'm having to drink about twice as slow as they say to, and still get some pain.  That's pretty individual, though.  Besides, you can't win them all.  So long as I can suck down enough water to stay hydrated, it's nothing to complain about.

And now I think I'll take a nap, because I do get random (and mild) cold sweats that say it's time for a rest.

Happy Labor Day!

Considering I'm not working right now, that seems ironic, or even sadistic--like a welfare recipient sneering at the breadwinners of America for being schmucks.  Of course, I'm on sick leave, but still, it seems funny/ironic to me.  I'd be working today if not for sick leave.

Anyhow, in lieu of Musical Monday, I thought I'd promote one of my favorite orphan tv shows.  Have you heard of Wonderfalls?  Likely not.  Not many did.  I was aired to critical acclaim but as every episode was in a different time slot, making it nearly impossible for me to catch them (yet I did) it never caught on and was cancelled after a meager four shows aired. 

But never fear, the story of Jay (Caroline Dhavernas), a Niagara Falls gift shop clerk to whom inanimate objects offer cryptic advice telling her to interact with strangers with hilarious and life changing results is now on DVD.  I suspect it's been out a while, but I just thought to look.  Watching some of it again yesterday with my mother reaffirmed that, along with Dead Like Me, starring Ellen Muth, Wonderfalls is one of those great shows that did not deserve to die.  Pushing Daisies is something like both of the above with the quirky off-beat goings on; but it doesn't resonate with me the same way at all.  But if you like Pushing Daisies, you might like both of these shows.  (At least Dead Like Me got a second season and a follow up movie, though.)

I had to show you this before the clutter commences

Photos of my office, all set up.  Of course, the desk and one set of shelves isn't yet painted; but that'll have to wait until I am back to 100% function.  So, here's the sort of panoramic view of the office:

Also, I am feeling quite well, not in much pain.  Just talked to my regular doctor, who is also a friend, and she says it's because I did what I was supposed to do.  I also think it's because I got very lucky, the stars were aligned in my favor and the deities smiled, lol.  (Of course, that said, I have managed to overdo it a bit, having just gone to Wal*Mart and the grocery store.  A bit of cold sweat and need for a lie down, nothing major.)

And it's a gorgeous day.  Mom and I walked for about an hour this morning. Slowly, so as to keep my innards happy.  (I walked for an hour straight in the hospital and they didn't make me stop, so I figured it was okay now.)  And how could I miss out on a morning such as this?:

Uh oh, but not so bad

Woke from a nap with chills and shaking horribly with shivers.  Got warmed up and was okay, but was running a slight fever of 100.4.  The surgeon on call thinks to let it wait and if more symptoms crop up or the existing persist to call again.  We're a two hour drive away so I applaud the decision.  And it's gone back down to normal, so there. Nya.  (Let's hope it stays that way.)

Another sad note:  We are supposed to get a frost tonight.  Boo hiss.  I was rather hoping for a lingering summer since it rained every day in June and half of July.  Can't win them all though!

It's Aliiiiive!!!

You likely missed my mother's attempt to notify you all that I was okay.  I applaud her efforts, as she did remarkably well by replying to someone's comment on the post stating I'd be away.  Not bad, Mom!  (she did misspell my middle name, though.  You have to love that.)

So, surgery went well--a textbook case, in fact.  Instead of the more typical 2-3 hours, I was out of the OR and into recovery inside an hour and a half, and only five punctures in my abdomen to show for it.  I had done what I was told to do and lost 30 pounds before surgery and gotten much more fit, which made it a lot easier on the surgeon and me both (go me!). 

The whole process from surgery to recover went ridiculously easily, too.  I woke fully alert from anesthesia after about an hour of grogginess, and I was up and walking around on my own about 1 o'clock that afternoon.  In my previous experience of anesthesia, I didn't have all my guts basically stall out, so it was interesting to discover I couldn't pee until I was about ready to burst.  That took a day to come back.  Then they want to make sure your intestines are functioning fine so they won't let you go until you can pass gas.  Fortunately that started up last night, keeping me in pain but allowing me to go home early (despite the cramps from hell, lol.) 

I feel like I was stomped on by a horse in my middle section, but the pain meds keep that to a dull roar, so long as I take it easy and don't laugh, cough, hiccup, belch or fart.  Since I seem prone to doing all of those things at the moment, ouch.  But not a bad ouch.  Others liken the soreness to what you get after giving birth.  Not having done so, I cannot say.  What I can say is that it's no bad and I thank whatever dieties are listening for the great luck. 

The most comical moment of the whole episode was me trying to give myself a bath, left-handed at the sink last night.  I couldn't use the right hand at all because of the i.v. line, and you try snapping together a johnnie with your non-dominant hand while looking in a mirror, and I bet you find yourself going, "Oh shit, haha--ow--dagnabbit, haha--ow!" too. 

I wonder how long the doc's sketch on my stomach will last?  It's permanent ink...

And I cannot say enough about the surgical weight loss program at EMMC (Eastern Maine Medical Center) in Bangor.  I've never had better treatment in a hospital environment, and they made my mom's stress level a lot lower by their kindnesses.  They even allow people to bring their well-behaved pets in, so the dog got a hospital tour.  THAT was funny, like a visiting celebrity had arrived.  All we lacked were bodyguards and dark sunglasses. 

So anyhow, that's it.  I got home at 3pm and am rather tired now so I'll be taking it easy this evening, sip sipping water and having about 4oz of milk and protein for supper.

Robots and genetics can, apparently, go together

"...this model may provide a way to understand some of the social signals that we see in other species, many of which seem baffling to a human equipped with only common sense. In these experiments, the robots demonstrated how something that was inadvertent—random flashes of blue light—could become a life-or-death social cue, and lead to the evolution of strategic behavior for both the signal and the robot's response to it."

Another good one from Ars Technica, a scientific experiment (with robots!) which illustrates how a random mutation can become linked to a totally unrelated drive and response. 

I don't have any specific story idea, but it seems like a helpful tidbit to keep in mind when designing some alien creature.  The idea of weird random things becoming linked to vital survival traits like finding/protecting food, mating, etc. just appeals to me.

Faking DNA evidence is now possible...and easy

"If there's one application of modern genetics that the public has not only accepted but embraced, it's the use of DNA testing in criminal investigations. Courts have accepted DNA evidence as definitive, and it's difficult to imagine a movie or TV show that focuses on law enforcement but declines to use DNA testing as a plot device. The reason is simple: given a valid DNA sample, the tests can match it to its source with probabilities that exclude the rest of our planet's population. Those probabilities still hold, but some researchers have now looked into whether it's possible to fake a valid DNA sample, and they have come up with a disturbing answer: just about any molecular biology lab has the tools to do so."  From Ars Technica article, "CSI Fraud: researchers craft fake DNA evidence"

So, you had to know that with the growth of technology the common (yet intelligent) criminal's ability to fake evidence was going to get better, too.  Well, as I've long expected to hear, it's possible to fake DNA evidence.  And it's apparently fairly easy for any properly set up lab to do. 

Ideas.

• Big syndicates or other criminal groups with the money/resources are going to be protecting themselves by slipping faked evidence into the crime scene (either when they commit the crime or perhaps into the evidence locker...although the latter option is far too complex to my way of thinking, given that you'd have to have someone in the lab and the evidence lock up who could access the physical evidence in both sites--including falsifying chain of evidence on the sealed evidence bags, which have to be replaced once open.) 
• Big syndicate or (etc.) might actually want to kill someone off and frame a rival.  Might also work well as a spy thriller concept.
• Your clever revenge-prone protagonist decides to jam the spokes of some entity's little red wagon with falsified evidence.
• Or a government agency is busy setting up a particular group for some subversive reason, say a coup in the works.
• Terrorists take on their targets by first spreading chaos and discontent by setting up people who are key players--say in the White House Administration, government bureaucracy in the National Security Agency, FBI or Homeland Security. 
• Your future world is run by a corrupt government which determines who are undesireables and proceeds to set them up with fake evidence to remove them from a supposedly utopian world and into exile.  (Perhaps they need workers in colonies off planet, and few volunteers.  Getting malcontents off the planet would be the 'best' solution to the government, and gaining a legal excuse would give them the moral high ground.)

 There are a number of possibilities, and I'm sure that reality will provide them in the future. 

Opportunity for...what? Bacon horror, you say?

I am scheduled for surgery this morning, so think kind thoughts of me, please, and I'll be back online to chat at you with live (instead of those moldy canned) tidings (or bitchiness as the case may be) in a few days.  In the meantime, enjoy this shared post from Victoria Mixon's blog.  (If you don't follow her, you might consider it.  She has lovely things to share with writers.)

This is too bizarre NOT to pass on to you guys:

Victorya of the Library of Living Dead Forum is proud to announce the latest anthology, Baconology!

Bacon has long been a staple in our breakfast diet, so it’s time bacon gets its due in literature–with a horror twist! Write a terrifying tale, from 1K-5K words, where bacon is the star of the show! Let’s not just make it fun, but a wee-bit unpredictable (no bacon kills because of the cholesterol–positive portrayals of bacon are encouraged). Remember, as a Library of Horror production there needs to be an element of horror, but good sense of humor and a dose of the surreal are appreciated. Other traditional monsters are allowed as long as bacon is a major component of the story (and yes, let’s make sure they are stories with a beginning, middle, and end). Send all submissions to baconhorror@gmail.com

I can make ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEES about the quality of this anthology or the integrity of the people involved. I’ve never heard of them before–this notice just came through a writer’s list this morning. But they sound like complete maniacs. I like that in writers!

If any of you do submit, please let us know how it goes!

No deadline, no payment information, just the submission information.  But it might be worth querying.  Also the site, Library of the Living Dead Forum, is all things zombie, all the time.  if that sort of thing punches your ticket, you might want to go over there and explore.

See ya on the flipside, folks!

Out of town for surgery

Well, I'm heading to Bangor for my gastric bypass surgery.  The surgery is tomorrow, bright and early.  I'm going to be in hospital for two or three days if things go well, and possibly several more if they have to do the surgery the old fashioned way instead of using the endoscope, because I'll have something like a foot long incision.  Barring any complications, I should be able to drop you a post and tell you (read: whine) all about it on Sunday some time.

I won't have a computer or internet access while away, so enjoy any automatic posts that come up but know I won't be seeing any comments for a while. 

And, yes, this surgery freaks me out immensely.  Not looking forward to major surgery or the pain or the nasty adjustment to my lifestyle.  Despite several months to practice eating slower and changing how I approach the world of food, the 'new' me will still be in shock dealing with food, lol.  I predict the term 'cranky bitch' will be applicable for a while and despite my best efforts (which, truth to tell, aren't all that great in the first place.) 

I was rather busy today...

Seeing as I'm not going to be good for much around the house after surgery, I spent the day doing the big chores--laundry, clean sheets on the bed, cleaning out the garage so I can park my suv in it this winter, mowing the lawn, etc.

And I built my desk.  It's not finished, but here you go:

That ought to provide me with space to work!  Now I just need to iron on the edging tonight, stain and varnish the desk return (the rest will be painted some other time) and vacuum.  Then I can put everything back until some time next spring when I'll paint the shelves.  (In case you've noticed, this is an attic, and the drywall joints and ceiling aren't the best you've ever seen.  But I don't mind.)

We are leaving at ten or eleven in the morning tomorrow.

Learn heiroglyphics!

Cool site here.  Check it out!