Wistful Nebulae

Don't Panic

2012-02-01T01:03:00.000-08:00

Before we get to panic, I have a post up on Stephen Tremp's website today HERE, where I'm talking about space telescopes. Man, I would love me a space telescope. Maybe too distracting. I'd do nothing else but stare through my space telescope. Anyway, let's get back to panic...

"Don't Panic!" Has been my mantra for the last week. I have two deadlines set for this month. On February 21st Stopover at the Backworlds Edge 's third and highly polished draft is supposed to go to its editor. On February 29th, The Backworlds 's third and highly polished draft is supposed to go to its editor.

At the moment, I'm questioning my sanity. Because, of course, other bits of life came crashing in on top of my demanding schedule. I could be a wimp and tell both editors I need two more weeks, but I decided not to. At least not yet. There's nothing more motivating than deadlines.

And I'm blessed with some really great critique partners blasting through the second drafts of both WIPs to give me a hand in making the best polished 3rd draft of each possible. Thanks to my local partners--Mike Rettig, Ella Zane and Trudy Schoenborn who volunteered to read through the last 70 pages of Stopover. Thanks to Misha and Tony for working hard on The Backworlds. I owe you all beers.

Anyway, I'm taking a page from Leda, the main character in Semper Audacia, and I'm being bold. To do what we do, fellow writers, we must often be bold. Semper Audacia means always bold in Latin. Leda would not cower in a corner and say, "It's too much." Nope. She'd say, "Shut up and do it."

So my mantra this week has changed to, "I can do it," and, "Be bold." I will do it. I will. Then I will plan a day off sometime in March as a reward. With a beer. Woot!

Thanks to Loretta [the great artist who did a beautiful illustration for Stopover] for creating this great word bubble so I could play with Paint with a project less obsessive than a new book cover [sort of a stress release for me]. OK, I have to include the beautiful illustration:

Get your own bubble to fill with your word of choice by right clicking and saving the image below. Choose something to motivate you and keep you on track.

What word would you pick?

Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for IWSG--Insecure Writers Support Group. It's not too late to sign up and join your fellow insecure writers on the first Wednesday of the month.

Oh, and don't forget about the I'll Tumble 4 Ya Blogfest on Friday, February 10th. All's you have to do is post up who your crush was in the 80's. One enthusiastic blogger is even having a contest related to the bloghop. Check it out HERE. You can click on the "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" tab above to sign up. Maybe you're too young to have had a crush in the 80's, but maybe there's something you love about the era? You could post that up--a song or a movie or a book. Members Only jackets? Our Madonna, Pat Benetar and/or Flash Dance inspired fashions? Those were soo totally awesome.

What Does the Future Hold for Us?

2012-01-30T00:07:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Stephen Tremp for visiting Wistful Nebulae today. What a treat! I started reading Opening on my Nook and have to tell you all that it's very exciting and action-packed. The plot just keeps ramping up. Can't wait to read more later today.

What Does The Future Hold For Us? Moving beyond the use of fossil fuels? Awesome inventions and cures for diseases? Colonizing the Moon and Mars? Or does a dystopian period marked by war, famine, disease, pollution, and mass starvation await us as we exhaust our natural resources? What do the Futurists and Visionaries say?

Futurists: Think Tanks consisting of theoretical physicists, economists, architects, sociologists, and technology experts attempt to predict what our immediate and long-term future holds and what we should do now to either avoid catastrophe or position ourselves to move forward.

Visionaries: Experience the future through dreams or supernatural means with little or no regard for what is actually possible. Nostradamus is considered to be a visionary. So are the prophets of the Old and New Testaments.

What Lies Ahead: Will there be a second Age of Enlightenment? Will innovations in the Nano-Bio-IT-Neuro sciences change our lives, economy, and culture and help to secure our future? Or will they be the accelerants that send mankind back to the Stone Age? This is an excellent topic to Google.

Theme For Opening: As I researched this very topic, I thought I would use this theme as the driving force behind the antagonists stealing the breakthrough in wormholes in order to implement their vision to change the world and place its future in the hands of a scientific oligarchy. They have a disdain for the current state of the world and a vision to replace current failures caused by inefficient governments, large greedy global conglomerates, and even larger banking institutions.

They believe physics, biochemistry, and nanotechnology should replace government, corporations, and religion, at least as we know them to presently exist. They feel science is government, corporations, and religion all packaged together.

We Live In Exciting Times! Our world is changing right before us at breakneck speed. Our planet is becoming a much smaller place. CERN and other research and development centers around the world are on the cusp of discovering wonderful and awesome breakthroughs in physics, biochemistry, and nanotechnology (all of which I use in OPENING).

Question: Will mankind use these inevitable discoveries to further civilization? Or will they be used to pad the pockets of an elite few and sell us out? Please leave your thoughts in the COMMENTS.

If you feel this post is worthy, please Tweet or share on Facebook if you feel so inspired. Thanks for stopping by!

Stephen Tremp is author of the recently released suspense thriller OPENING, the second book in the BREAKTHROUGH series. You can visit Stephen at Breakthrough Blogs. Opening and Breakthrough are available for download at:

Amazon for $1.99

Smashwords for $1.99

Dreaming of Summer

2012-01-26T01:17:00.000-08:00

I'm being interviewed at Lynnette Labelle's today. It includes an excerpt from Semper Audacia. Pop by for a visit. :)

I really started missing the observatory about last week or so. Maybe a week earlier. We don't open again until Memorial Day weekend. Siigh.

The long off-season is good for me though. I have more time to write. All that wishing gets me thinking, gets put into my stories or ideas for new ones. Like the give and take between planets and moons, I need the give and take of the short season and long off-season.

Here's a photo of M17, known as the Swan Nebula. It's above Sagittarius, looking toward the center of the galaxy. You can see the swan shape, yes? Taken by the camera attached to the 24" telescope.

Here are some shots I didn't share during the season of flora, etc... I love photographing all of nature--what's below my feet as well as what's over my head.

What does winter have you missing?

Oracle Mystery Tour

2012-01-23T02:32:00.000-08:00

The cover for JC Martin's Oracle is out and the revelation of her cover has a mystery attached to it, one that the readers can solve for a chance at a $20 Amazon voucher! For more details on the contest and how to participate, see JC's blog HERE.

Oracle

As the countdown begins, the body count rises.

With London gearing up to host the Olympics, the city doesn’t need a serial killer stalking the streets. They’ve got one anyway.

Leaving a trail of brutal and bizarre murders, the police are no closer to finding their latest murderer than Detective Inspector Kurt Lancer is in finding a solution for his daughter’s disability.

Thrust into the pressure cooker of a high profile case, the struggling single parent is wound tight as he tries to balance care of his own family with the safety of a growing population of potential next victims.

One of whom could be his own daughter.

Fingers point in every direction as the public relations nightmare grows, and Lancer’s only answer comes in the form of a single oak leaf left at each crime scene.

Lindsay Buroker has a new story out

The Assassin's Curse

When outlaws Amaranthe and Sicarius chance upon spies stealing military prototypes, they immediately give chase. Well, immediately after Amaranthe talks Sicarius, former assassin and all-around non-altruistic type, into the mission. She wants an imperial pardon, and what better way to attract the emperor’s favor than by looking after the empire’s interests?

99 cents at Amazon / B&N / Smashwords

Origins Blogfest, Monday, February 13th

Hosted by DL Hammons of Cruising Altitude 2.0, and cohosts Katie Mills, Alex J. Cavanaugh and Matthew MacNish

On Monday, February 13^th, you should post your own origin story. Tell us all where your writing dreams began. It could be anything from how you started making up stories as a child, or writing for the school newspaper, or even what prompted you to start a blog. How about stories about the first time somebody took an interest in your writing, or the teacher/mentor that helped nudge you along and mold your passion, or maybe the singular moment when you first started calling yourself a writer. It all started somewhere and we want you to tell us your own, unique, beginnings.

Sign up at any of the four blogs.

And don't forget about the I'll Tumble 4 Ya Blogfest hosted by Nicki Elson, Suze of Analog Breakfast, and myself. You can read all about it and sign up HERE

Support JC's cover contest, sign up for festing, checkout Lindsay's books.

Have anything to share this Monday?

A Simple Method for Creating Greater Conflict and Better Characters

2012-01-19T02:26:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday I went to the Rose City Romance Writers monthly meeting in Portland with two of my local writing buddies. It was a great day and we had lots of fun.

There was a mini workshop during the meeting on "Five Simple Ways to Identify and Increase Character Conflict." It was really very informative, constructive and as simple as promised. It was basically doing a Glasser analysis for characters. I found it so useful, thought I'd pass it on. You can get more information and the worksheets at www.JudithAshleyRomance.com

Not only is a great method to help create more conflict and tension, it's also useful for finding common ground between characters, motivations and just generally getting to know your characters better. Also a great tool for creating depth in the story, plot and characters.

Francine Howarth is hosting the Indie-Author Tag Party on February 4th & 5th. Go HERE to sign up.

his blogfest is just a simple fun game of playing tag on Amazon to up your profile and that of your book/s.

You'll not only meet other Indie authors along the way, ones you've probably never met before, you can guarantee readers and writers who are on the cusp of going Indie will all be watching from the sidelines and taking note of books that catch their eye and its link!

So what do you have to do?

The Rules!? I hate that word and prefer "Criteria required" for entry to the tag-party:

First off: how tagging works

a) be prepared to tag all those who join the tag-party = fair play

b) basically follow tag-players’ links to Amazon

c) scroll to tag and add appropriate tags

Secondly what to do on your own blog:

d) post details of your Amazon link to your blog on 4-5^th Feb.

e) copy-paste the banner (from my sidebar) to your blog's sidebar

f) lastly: sign-up

Stephen Tremp's--Breakthrough Blogs--new novel, Opening is out!

“A scientific breakthrough of such magnitude it could radically alter the future of humanity—for better or worse—is in the wrong hands.”

Available from Smashwords and Amazon.

Ciara Knight has a new release coming out:

The Curse of Gremdon

In a world where marriage is forbidden, sex is only granted to male warriors, and the outer realm is full of murderous creatures, Arianna fights to protect the life of her only living relative, her brother.

Tardon, an elite warrior, is granted anything he desires by the Elders, but finds little joy in the voluptuous women presented to him. Born for the bloodlust found only in battle, complicated emotions emerge when he discovers his equal in the alluring warrior, Arianna.

Charged by the Elders with saving the castle from attack, Tardon and Arianna risk the curse when they traverse the vast outer realm to retrieve serum from the Tree of Life. If successful, the Elders have promised Tardon the right to marry and Arianna the cure for her brother’s death fever. Will their love carry them through or will the discovery of a great deception be their ultimate demise? See Ciara's blog for more details.

And a new release from Li of Flash Fiction:

“Small Doses” is a collection of flash fiction built around medical themes. They are not clinical accounts, nor are they to be used as any sort of factual reference; they are pure fiction. However, several are based on existing, documented conditions. There are tales of love, loss and betrayal which examine health and illness from varying points of view; a man who is dying to sleep, a hand with a mind of its own, and an efficient if somewhat unemotional caretaker. Whether the maladies are real or imagined, they have one thing in common: the struggle which we, as humans, endure as ultimately mortal beings.

Currently available at Amazon and other outlets. See Li's site for more links.

Have you made any great discoveries this week? On the website's blog this week: How I Miss the Observatory / tomorrow: Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair -- www.mpaxauthor.com

I'll Tumble 4 Ya

2012-01-16T01:25:00.000-08:00

Ahh, the 80s. Everything was so fun & easy, and nobody took themselves too seriously---how could we with those NFL-worthy shoulder pads stuffed into our shirts and all that...hair? In the spirit of fun, easy & frivolous, I've teamed up w/ fellow 80s girls Nicki Elson from Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts and Suze from Analog Breakfast to ask you one simple question:

Who was/is your 80s celebrity crush?

Please join our Tumble 4 Ya Blogfest in the Linky below and on

Friday, February 10

Post a picture, video, or whatever of the celebrity you most tumbled for in the 80s---along with your feeble justifications, of course. ;) Or, since it's come to our attention that there are, in fact, persons roaming the planet who weren't of crushing age during the 80s, which 80s star most makes you tumble now? Jon Bon Jovi, perhaps? Christie Brinkly? Or were you more the ambiguous Boy George type?

C'mon, tell us who ya tumbled 4!

(P.S. It's safe to assume we'd love for you to put our Blogfest icon in your sidebar & tell all your friends about it.)

Methods of Visiting Blogs

2012-01-12T02:10:00.000-08:00

Connecting and networking and participating is the key to making a blog effective. Yes, it takes a lot of time, mostly in the visiting of other blogs.

So, I thought those of us with more experience could share how we go about blog hopping. Got any great tricks to share?

My method--

*First off, I have a scheduled time Monday-Friday for visiting blogs. Somewhere between 70-90 minutes. Somedays I might spend less time, 30-60 minutes, if I have other obligations. And, I usually take weekends off. We all need scheduled down time, or we'll burn out.

*I visit everyone who visits me. For example, today I'll start by going to blogs of everyone who left a comment on this post. Then, I'll go to Monday's post and check on the blogs of those who left comments on Monday.

*Then I use dashboard to systematically go through the blogs I follow. I jot down on a post-it where I leave off and stick it to the edge of my monitor. Otherwise I'll forget.

*I usually visit links left by others in their posts

This is the method I came up with to deal with visiting blogs. What's yours?

The Glory of Options in Publishing

2012-01-09T01:13:00.000-08:00

With the publishing industry in a state of flux and the stigma lifting from self-publishing, there is no longer one right path to publication.

JA Konrath and Amanda Hocking began on their own and ended up with lucrative publishing contracts.

Traditionally published midlist authors like Bob Mayer have decided to leave their publishers and go off on their own.

Epublishing has changed the game. It’s the fastest growing market for books. Ereader folks are voracious readers. This is great news. It means the written word won’t die. It’s just changing formats.

These were some of the factors which made me decide to go indie. Science fiction is not a big market. Most of my readers are digitally savvy. So, it made sense to me to get out there and tap into my market myself.

Sure, writing is an art, but it’s also a business and a career. In the end, I want to make money and quit snuffling around for peanut shell crumbs. Going indie is my best shot at achieving that.

Just because that’s what I decided, doesn’t mean it’s the best answer for you. We all need to respect each other’s decisions. No matter how a writer publishes—indie, traditional, or a smaller press—we all work very hard and put a huge amount of effort into what we produce. We all pour our souls into our stories, sentences and words.

It’s wonderful that we now have so many options.

And check out The Missing Link, a novel by Brandon Meyers and Bryan Pedas of A Beer in the Shower. Available at Amazon.

And there have been noises in the blogosphere of this year's AtoZ Challenge. Arlee Bird has a separate site for it this year HERE and several cohosts for the mega event.

Yes, it's a bit of extra blogging work, but it's worth it. I know I met several of you last year during the challenge, and am damn glad of it.

Load up the posts ahead of time, so that you're not blogging and visiting all at once. There's no way to visit everyone. Last year I started in the middle of the list and went as far as I could. I plan on signing up again.

I'd actually like to feature many of you this year, so if you have a book, a short story to promote, blog post send it on over--mpaxauthor[at]gmail[dot]com. Flash fictions, etc.. would also be great. How about your favorite blog post? Maybe could all trade posts and made the load lighter. :) Shrug. Just an idea.

Anyway, hope you all had a great weekend.

The Universe in 2011

2012-01-06T02:07:00.000-08:00

A video from NASA, an overview of 2011. Looking forward to what 2012 brings.

This week on the website: www.mpaxauthor.com : Talking about sources of inspiration and a video from NASA on Saturn's moon, Enceladus.

Next week, this blog returns to Monday & Thursday postings.

January Angst

2012-01-04T01:21:00.000-08:00

My January entry for Insecure Writers Support Group ...

Thank you Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this group where us writers reveal our warts and cheer each other on. It's cheaper and more effective than therapy. It's not too late to join if you're interested. Just click on Alex's name and it'll take you to his blog.

I feel like a stuck record ... biting my nails with feelings of inadequacy. Probably what I talked about last month, too. Huh? It's deva ju. Yeah, I know the v and j are switched. The way I wrote it comes from a SG-1 episode. Any Stargate fans out there?

Oops, got distracted. Anyway, as I was saying, some days I just feel like I have no idea as to what I'm doing. I'm grateful I don't feel that way everyday. I have a suspicion I'm feeling that way now, because I'm getting closer to rolling out Stopover and it's making me nervous and seriously question whether it's ready for public consumption. I hate every sentence I write lately.

I also hope I can find an editor I can work with. Another source of stress. I worry I don't have that going right -- the editor thing. Maybe I need to say more, ask more questions. What do you do if you're unhappy with the editing you get? It's not about being corrected, I want to be corrected; it's what gets overlooked by an editor and isn't corrected that bothers me. I pay for that person to catch what I miss and to fix my commas and punctuation.

I know my comma usage is far from perfect. I'm not sure of my semi colon, colon and dash punctuation at times either. So, I really rely on an editor to get that right for me and I really need to rely on that person for longer work.

I know someone I trust to get all that right for me, the anxiety comes in as to whether I can afford the person I trust. I really hope I reach a point this year where costs won't be so much of an issue. Yeah, I worry a lot. The theme of this post ... And it's one of the major reasons I write -- writing sends all those stresses to the background where they belong.

Despite all this jabbering, you know what? I'll overcome all the doubts and insecurities and I'll publish The Backworlds, Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge, and The Augmentation of Hetty Locklear this year. I always get past them ... until the next time. This time will be no different. I'll inhale a deep breath and I'll publish and I'll keep going.

So what worries are on your plate this January? Any advice on working with editors? What do you do when the "every sentence sucks" blues come around?

Stopover's Second Draft Done

2012-01-02T01:56:00.000-08:00

Despite all the frivolity of the past few weeks, I was able to power through finishing up the 2nd draft of Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge. Right now I'm lining up an editor while putting on a second coat of polish. The third draft won't take too long, as it's mostly detail work and no major changes, and it's the 3rd draft which will go to an editor. Then guess what I get to do? That's right, edit again when it comes back. And again. I went over Semper ad nauseum. I expect that trend will continue. Then comes formatting. I'll be doing paperback this time, too. Busy, busy.

The Backworlds is supposed to go out before Stopover as a freebie. I'm still writing its first draft as I decided to write it in the middle of Stopover. Then Stopover caught momentum, and sometimes I just have to go with what has momentum. Does that happen to you? Write faster me, writer faster. I intend The Backworlds to be a short story, but seems my idea is too lofty for brevity. That's OK, I have a clear idea as to how that one is to go, which should help me finish it up. I'm aiming to have the second draft of it done by mid-February and hope it'll come in under 30,000 words.

Then what? I have to finish up Hetty Locklear's 1st draft, which is about 2/3's written. It'll be a lot of work to get that mess into second draft shape. I'll do it. Seems my life revolves around revisions. Always. Polishing, revising and editing. Anyone else feel that way? Anyway, I hope to release it this summer.

Then what? Sequels for both series -- Boomtown Craze for the Backworlds series, no title for the Hetty sequel but I know what it's going to be about. So, that's something.

My aim for 2012 is to get both of these series going and to concentrate on growing my audience. What are your plans for 2012?

Did you all have a nice holiday? Was good here. Still haven't had much snow, which is really, really strange. It snowed for the first time last Friday night and was merely a dusting. Not the normal bluster of winter this time of year. Not complaining though. I hate driving on ice and snow, so the lack of it is fine with me. I did some stargazing over my break. On Christmas night, in fact. I took Orson Bradbury out in the driveway and looked at Jupiter, then the Orion Nebula. Tested out my new magic eyepiece. :D Awesome.

I Want an Alien For Christmas

2011-12-22T02:08:00.000-08:00

Best of the holiday season to you all!

See you in 2012!

Reframing and Repackaging

2011-12-19T01:35:00.000-08:00

My perspective on my writing career received some reframing this year. All the changes in the industry made me pause and mull a number of things over. Meeting Lindsay Buroker was another shove in reframing my ideas about becoming a published author: I could do what I love and what I wanted to do. I could do it now. Thank you, Lindsay. If I can follow in her footsteps of success, I'd be thrilled. In one year she's sold over 10,000 ebooks. Woot, Lindsay!

The growth of the ebook industry, some positive rejection I'd been receiving from some of the big science fiction rags [SFWA worthy], and the uncertainty of the traditional publishing model led me toward taking my career into my own hands.

It began with releasing Plantgirl, Small Graces and Translations in late June. Free reads I initially released on Smashwords. They're now also up on Scribd and Feedbook. The point of releasing free reads is to get the work into as many hands as possible. I recently discovered reads can be uploaded to Goodreads, too. So, I'll get that together in the next couple weeks and get them there, too.

Putting out the Free Reads was a very positive and rewarding experience. I received a lot of feedback, and after adding the newsletter signup to the end of my stories, I've gotten people I don't know who want to be kept in the loop as to my future releases.

Downloads stagnated for a bit. I had never really liked the cover for Translations, but it was the best I could do at the time. I kept playing around with Paint.net though and began formulating a better idea. Then I stumbled across the perfect piece of art for it and it all came together beautifully. Everything else got repackaged after that so they didn't look like cheap cousins beside Translations.

I liked the original Semper cover a lot, but in thumbnail [which is what most people see] it just looked like a brown square. My skills at Paint.net were improving, so I tried something new. It turned out beautifully. Yea.

Repackaging can work to improve downloads and sales. Although, I'm no bestseller yet, I've made inroads into a start. I think sometimes my problem is I'm not as confident after a release as I need to be, and probably should be. I think, 'Oh, it's just a short story.' If I short change it, well, I have to quit doing that. I love Semper Audacia. It's a good story. It deserves a better attitude from me than it's gotten. I'll do better. Perhaps a topic I'll address in more depth for IWSG in January.

I'm not stopping. The polished draft for Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge should be done by the end of the year. Then it goes through a second coat of polish. Refining, adding some new detail, and making a few changes per my local crit group. I redid its cover, too. Mostly because I noticed video gal and I had a typo in the title -- which I didn't notice for several months. The apostrophe goes after the s in Backworlds, not before. But now I think I might release Stopover in paperback, too, which means redoing the cover again. That's OK. I'll manage.

The Backworlds is a prequel, which I intend to release before Stopover as another Free Read. It will come in somewhere between 20-30,000 words. Thanks to my crit partners Misha Gericke and Tony Benson here in bloggyland for their feedback.

The Backworlds Series will be a space opera series set on planets in our galaxy. My premise is that humans on Earth 'improved' ourselves to be able to live on a variety of worlds. Then humans decided they didn't like what they had created and try to take it back. This resulted in a war. The series begins during a truce between the Foreworlds and the Backworlds. Thank you to the Husband Unit for the last bits of inspiration both of these stories needed.

Also coming in 2012: The Augmentation of Hetty Locklear. Redid her cover, too. She's still in 1st draft stage. This will also be a series. A mix of contemporary sci-fi and urban fantasy. It will eventually morph into sci-fi. Right now it's envisioned as a trilogy. Folks' love for Plantgirl was its inspiration.

Wandering Weeds Anthology should be coming out this year, too, in which is my novelette, The Tumbas. I wrote it so long ago now, I'm not sure what I think about that.

Anyway, all of you are the ribbons on my year. Thank you for the inspiration, the support, the encouragement, the new directions and the success I've found. It's not measured in dollar signs at this point, but in winning over some grains of sand to my beach. Thank you for joining me on this adventure. I can't wait to see what 2012 brings for all of you. There's an amazing amount of talent out there and I'm fortunate to rub elbows with a lot of that great talent.

Happy Holidays and a Joyous 2012. You're all my stars. [This is my last post for the year -- there will be a holiday themed post going up on Thursday -- regular posting will resume January 2 -- Will be talking about Super 8 on the website tomorrow, then it goes on hiatus until January, too].

Deja Vu - Never Surrender

2011-12-15T02:20:00.000-08:00

The Deja Vu blogfest, hosted by DL Hammons.

Here's one of my first ten posts ever, from 4/6/10.

That's today's motto: Never surrender, never give up.

Some of you may recognize it from Galaxy Quest. I have to say, it remains a favorite - the movie and the quote.

Sometimes we look at other people and think they have it easier than us. That perception is probably not true. In most cases there's probably a lot of work and effort that went into achieving whatever it is of that person's being coveted.

This much is certainly true. If you give up, you will never achieve it yourself.

Frustration is part of the game no matter the goal. Obstacles and challenges are part of any road. They're just bumps and potholes. Nothing to let yourself get intimidated over. Not good enough reasons to stop. Not if you have passion and drive.

If you look past the potholes and ignore them, there's still a lot of road and asphalt. There's grass and trees and an endless sky. At some point the road crew will come by and fix the road. It will smooth out and you'll forget about the potholes for awhile. When they show up again, as they always do, just steer around them or pick an alternative route. But don't quit. There's people honking behind you.

Yeah, it's a metaphor. Take it how you wish. Keep your eyes on the road, the sky and the future road crew. Most importantly: Never surrender, never give up. As Jason Nesmith says.

Sir Alexander Dane: You're just going to have to figure out what it wants. What is its motivation?
Jason Nesmith: It's a rock monster. It doesn't have motivation.
Sir Alexander Dane: See, that's your problem, Jason. You were never serious about the craft.

If you're looking for my lunar eclipse photos, see: www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/ Tomorrow's post at the website is on a mysterious object found near Mercury.

December 10th Lunar Eclipse

2011-12-08T02:12:00.000-08:00

I took the above photo at last year's lunar eclipse, also in December.

For North America, the eclipse this weekend will happen as the Moon is setting and the Sun rising. The eclipse will begin around 4:45 in the morning, Pacific time, and will set while in full eclipse.

That part of the sky is tricky for me to see. There's a lava butte in my way. So, if the roads and weather permit, I'll have to get up and drive out to Pine Mountain and watch from Millican Valley ... if I want to use my telescope.

Will depend on the weather. Even if it's not snowing, it's going to be bitter. It's the last lunar eclipse until 2014, however, so I hope I do get to see it.

From NASA:

The Moon's orbital trajectory takes it through the southern half of Earth's umbral shadow. Although the eclipse is not central, the total phase still lasts 51 minutes. The Moon's path through Earth's shadows as well as a map illustrating worldwide visibility of the event are shown in Figure 6. The timings of the major eclipse phases are listed below.

Penumbral Eclipse Begins:   11:33:32 UT
   Partial Eclipse Begins:     12:45:42 UT
   Total Eclipse Begins:       14:06:16 UT
   Greatest Eclipse:           14:31:49 UT
   Total Eclipse Ends:         14:57:24 UT
   Partial Eclipse Ends:       16:17:58 UT
   Penumbral Eclipse Ends:     17:30:00 UT

For more information see: NASA Eclipse Website

In other stargazing news, I met up with a fellow star guide up at PMO last Friday night. You can read all about the account at www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/ There are photos I took. Moon images were takend with a new filter my wonderful video gal sent to me. And I finally got to see Orion. Woot!

The Pits of Frustration

2011-12-05T02:02:00.000-08:00

Since I've changed posts on this blog to Mondays and Thursdays, I'm posting up my Insecure Writers Group article today. So, that it's here on Wednesday. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for spearheading this great brainchild.

I recently went through a bout of "I suck", "Everything I write sucks". These bouts of insecurity and doubt come in waves. Then I wonder if I'm delusional or certifiable ... maybe.

Most of the worry probably stems from the fact that I'm impatient for the most part. Impatience causes bouts of frustration. Frustration leads to the "I suck" insecurities. Pretty much every creative type goes through these bouts, fearing their work is terrible and unoriginal and all sorts of other despicable things.

Does it stop me? No.

To do what we do, we have to be somewhat original, folks who forge their own path. That's what drives us to do what we do. It's also what then makes us insecure when our 'genius' gets exposed to the public at large. Not everyone will get our vision, or what we do. Our output is subjective. Not everyone has our tastes.

Don't let it stop you. To sparkle, we must brave the sunlight and embrace what makes us different. And we must realize that we will continue to grow and improve.

On those days, I go over all the positives. One by one. I enumerate them and relive them, bolster myself back up. The truth is, even if I do suck, I'm not going to stop writing.

Do you have these bouts, too? What do you do?

On another note, I spruced up all my book covers. All of them got new wrappings over the weekend. All shiny and pretty for the holidays, for all the folks getting new Kindles and Nooks. My skills at Paint improve all the time. Sometimes I have no idea what I want when I start a cover. So, I keep playing. I found a great new image for Translations, which inspired its makeover. Then I felt the others should get a makeover. Then when I finished those, I thought Semper should get one, too.

Around Oregon -- Benham Falls

2011-12-01T02:16:00.000-08:00

Sharing some photos from over the summer. This is a trail in the Deschutes National Forest on the other side of the river from the Lava Lands [where the astronauts trained for the Moon].

Here, we're looking at the lava flow on the other side of the river.

Despite the alien manipulated mosquitoes trying to devour us, the best thing about living where I do is beautiful places like this.

DL Hammons of Cruising Altitude is hosting the Deju Vu blogfest on December 16th. Easy as you post up an article you wrote BC - before comments.

Posted a photo of comet Garrad taken at the observatory this summer on the website's blog -- M. Pax. Will be talking about Odyssey 5 tomorrow (where I learned more about transhumans by a former transhuman -- Peter Weller (Robocop)). Odyssey 5 was a series on Showtime.

See you here next week for IWSG -- Insecure Writers Support Group, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh -- and I don't know what my other post will be about yet. It'll be a surprise.

Transhumans

2011-11-28T02:04:00.000-08:00

The question of what are transhumans came up when I reported Syfy developing a new show set in space ... yes, actual science fiction. Astounding enough, yes, but not the topic of this post.

I've been watching Odyssey 5 -- which I'll talk about more on Friday on the website -- and there was an episode on transhumanism.

It has to do with the belief that humans can transcend using technology. The belief is technology can help us evolve to something greater, using technology to eliminate aging, physical disabilities and improve individual lives.

From Wikipedia: Transhumanists believe it is imperative for humans to strive for progress and improvement of the human condition. That it is possible and desirable for humanity to enter a transhuman phase of existence, in which humans are in control of their own evolution. In such a phase, natural evolution would be replaced with deliberate change.

So, imagine then that a sci-fi show having transhumans, would be humans enhanced and improved by technology, therefore, pulling in the subgenre of cyberpunk. Although cyberpunk does not necessarily 'improve' us [think borgs], transhumanism does. So, that's it's distinction.

Some prominent examples of transhumans are:

Darth Vader

Robocop

The Replicants in Blade Runner

Bionic Man & Woman

Leda in Semper Audacia

(I wrote about one and didn't even know it)

Grace in Small Graces

Side note: Posts on this blog will now appear on Mondays and Thursdays. Will be posting Tuesdays and Fridays on the website: www.mpaxauthor.com

And an announcement from Wendy Ewurum of Fabulosity Reads launching a new book site:

Fabulosity Galore is an online book store and blog created and run by Wendy G. Ewurum, author of Fabulosity Reads (a book review blog).

Fabulosity Galore is affiliated to a number of booksellers, Amazon.com and Kalahari included. It's a quest to find the best book and accessories deals. It will also make the best effort to prominently feature books which have been reviewed by at Fabulosity Reads. Fabulosity Galore strives to support our writer friends and favourite books in their endeavour to promote and sell their books. Readers are more than welcome to submit their bookish requests and comments to us. And last but not least writers we also welcome news from writers about any promotional activities concerning works/books.

So, now we know what transhumans are, realize we even know a few, in some cases realize we created a few. Have any thoughts on the transhumanist movement? In reality or sci-fi?

The Pilgrims were Aliens

2011-11-23T02:08:00.000-08:00

The Pilgrims were aliens who brought to us the alien technology of stuffing. I saw it on an episode of South Park while Stan, Kyle and the boys were watching the History Channel. They even had photographic evidence. Therefore, it must be true.

I'm very thankful for each and every one of you.

Happy Thanksgiving! See you next week.

Weird Tales of Pine Mountain

2011-11-21T02:06:00.000-08:00

The bottom of Pine Mountain, where the observatory is, was the sight of several cattle mutilations in 2000. There were reports of strange lights in the sky in Millican Valley. One of the mutilated bulls was found in a tree.

I've heard reports of strange lights on that road from others -- encased in a bright light. I had my own encounter with lights the first summer I worked up at the observatory. I thought it was another car, but the lights traveled at strange and inconsistent speeds. At several points I thought they were going to pass me, so I slowed up. Only there was no noise and no brightening, and when I turned around, there was nothing behind me. The second incident, I realized the lights were vertical and not horizontal. They'd start off far behind me, then zoom up as if traveling several hundred miles per hour. I called them an UMO [unidentified moving object] as they didn't appear to be flying.

Every night I've returned from the observatory since, I've looked for those lights. I've never seen them again though. Disappointing as this time I'd investigate more. I'm just so curious. What were they?

Yes, I'm always on the look out for weird, but I'm not prone to seeing things. I've been wanting to see a cougar for 4 years and haven't. Bet they've seen me though [so, I tease one of the other volunteers that the lions are in the bushes watching us]. Sure, I've made up stories about yetis for the guests, but I've never seen one. Which brings us to another weird tale. The Pine Mountain is part of the Deschutes National Forest, which is known for Bigfoot sightings. Cool.

Maybe the lights were Yeti with mopeds. Shrug. ??

So on with the cattle mutilations. One of the new volunteers worked for a national park in Arizona, and told me how he was called in to investigate a cattle mutilation down there. He said it was really strange as there were no tracks near the carcass. He said just the udder was missing and the wound appeard as if it had been cut out. There were no tears or teeth marks, just a precise hole. He said no animal had done that. There was also very little blood which is a characteristic of all reported mutilations.

Since reports in Millican Valley noted strange lights, I wonder how the two are related. But like all great mysteries, I'd hate for it to be solved and to really know. I doubt the reality is as spectacular as what can be imagined. The imagining is where all the fun is for me.

Millican Valley coming down off Horsehead Ridge

Looking East in Millican Valley. A couple of antelope add to the scene.

Looking West from Millican Valley. The Cascades in the distance.

The gangsta cows of Millican Valley

What mysteries do you like to think about?

PS, I have a guest post on The Capillary where I talk about physical limitations.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

2011-11-18T02:13:00.000-08:00

Talked about The Dark Tower and Game of Thrones this week at M. Pax.

Finally saw the final Harry Potter movie last weekend. We're DVD kind of people in this household, so I'm a bit behind the curve with movies most times.

With that said, Deathly Hallows Part II was a nice conclusion to the series. I felt it could have used a bit more edge and grit. It was very good, but I was wanting a bit more spectacular.

I think I need to read the last book, because I feel as if I missed something about Snape. Probably glossed over in the film in the interests of time and drama, it seemed as if that part needed more time and attention than it got. It left questions reeling in my head. The answers I seek are probably in the book. Right? Those of you who've read it, are they?

My TBR pile is huge - both book books and ebooks. I still haven't finished Perdido Street Station and feel enormously guilty about that. Been reading a lot of ebooks though, which is noted on my website this week - www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/ - also talked about The Gunslinger series this week. I'm dying to get to Tanya Huff's new book in the Confederation series. OK, I'm anxious to get to all of the books in my growing stack.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Jessica Bell's String Bridge

2011-11-16T02:26:00.000-08:00

String Bridge is an emotionally provocative story about a family dealing with the fallout of decisions made. Sometimes it’s as sweet as a ballad, strumming on harmonies of the golden moments. Sometimes the emotions are raw and sour, hitting off-notes

Melody Hill struggles with a decision she made to give up music. The decision is made before the story begins, and the tale begins with the aftermath. She and her husband Alex struggle with individuality against the fabric of family.

When Alex and Melody gave in to being a family, seemed to me, the music of their lives became the most harmonious.

It’s a great read, and I’d highly recommend it.

Here’s the official blurb:

Greek cuisine, smog and domestic drudgery was not the life Australian musician, Melody, was expecting when she married a Greek music promoter and settled in Athens, Greece. Keen to play in her new shoes, though, Melody trades her guitar for a ‘proper' career and her music for motherhood. That is, until she can bear it no longer and plots a return to the stage—and the person she used to be. However, the obstacles she faces along the way are nothing compared to the tragedy that awaits ....

ebook available from:

Amazon

Amazon UK

For links to the paperback and accompanying cd, see Jessica’s website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/ She blogs at The Alliterative Allomorph.

Jessica is an amazing talent. I wish her all success.

Want to talk about what influences your creativity? I'm blogging about that over at my friend, Stuart Nagler's blog today. Something about people with eyes in the backs of their heads. Ooo!

Outer Space! Really?

2011-11-14T02:04:00.000-08:00

Syfy announced plans for a new drama set in ... OUTER SPACE! Seriously? The Syfy channel is going to make a science ficiion show? I'm speechless, and trying not to get my hopes up too much.

As reported on Gateworld:

Robert Hewitt Wolfe, who worked on Star Trek: DS9 before shepharding Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, is developing a currently untitled series from Universal Cable Productions, set on the Starship Defender. “After decades of war, the newly formed Unity Democracy orders a volatile mix of humans and trans-humans to lead the Starship Defender on an expedition in search of lost worlds requiring law and order,” says Syfy.

I'm wondering what they mean by transhumans. Ghosts in space? Animal-human hybrids?

At any rate, just because they're thinking about doing this show doesn't mean it'll ever even make it to the pilot phase. So, I'll try and forget about it until it happens, and hope someone creates a science fiction internet channel with plenty of spaceships and aliens and planets and stars.

With that said, they're also developing two new dramas that seem to use ghosts. Um, Syfy, you don't need any more ghosts on your channel.

NASA's Journey Over Vesta

2011-11-11T02:22:00.000-08:00

NASA's Journey Above Vesta

Asteroid Vesta as seen by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft.

In case you haven't seen yet, here's what scientists saw of the asteroid passing so close by this week -- this is a different asteroid. So, yes, asteroidmania on Wistful Nebulae today:

Talking about Battle: Los Angeles today on the website: www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/

Flying Alien People

2011-11-09T02:27:00.000-08:00

I'm at Jon Mac's Mythik Imagination today, contributing to his Weird Wednesday feature. I adore weird. Such stories fuel my imagination and spark me up with inspiration.

If you want to hear about my latest stargazing adventure, visit: www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/ My fellow star guides and I met up at PMO last Tuesday night (November 1).

And, I'm talking about blogging at Savvy Self-Publishing.

Yes, another busy blogging week.

At Nicki Elsons

2011-11-07T02:25:00.000-08:00

I'm over at Nicki Elson's Not So Deep Thoughts today.

If you haven't read Nicki's Three Daves yet, it's awesome.

I'm also interviewed about Semper Audacia at Maria Violante's. Want to know where the title came from? The idea of the suit? The ghosts?

This being November thing is tripping me out. October really flew by. My best to all of you participating in NaNo.

Twists and Turns

2011-11-04T02:24:00.000-07:00

Wendy Ewurum was kind enough to invite me over to Fabulosity Reads for a guest post. I'm talking about twists and turns and the unexpected.

Here's an astronomy tidbit:

Asteroid 2005 YU55

Scientists will be tracking an asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier as it flies by Earth on Nov. 8, 2011.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Some Folks Will Love What You Do

2011-11-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

I'm going to keep this short. Here's one simple truth I've learned since beginning my publishing journey:

Some people will love what you do

And if you care to pay attention, their enthusiasm will see you through everything else and give your confidence a nice jolt in the arm. When we're starting out, we really need that.

Thanks to all of you who have given me a nice jolt in the arm. It keeps me going. I do my best to return the favor. Not only are you fabulous people, there's a lot of amazing talent out there. I've read so many great books and stories recently, all by folks I know out there in bloggyland. Very well done, you guys. Bravo!

IWSG is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. Thank you, Alex.

Inventing the Future: Technology

2011-11-01T02:58:00.000-07:00

I'm hosting the lovely Susan Kaye Quinn today. Her book, Open Minds releases today. I was fortunate to bump into her recently in cyberland. Besides a great trilogy, she writes a great blog and is a great person.

Inventing the Future: Technology

by Susan Kaye Quinn, author of Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy)

Sometimes I’m asked if I use my engineering background (Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, worked for NASA, studied global warming) in my stories. The answer is, of course, YES! But I also use my background as a wife and mother, bike rider and cake baker. I think writers put bits of themselves in their stories—it’s hard not to. But my techie background does come in handy when dreaming up gadgets and technology for the future.

In my paranormal/SF teen novel Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy), I fast forwarded the world nearly a hundred years, to give time for the evolution of mindreading (and mindjacking) to occur. But the world didn’t stand still in that time. We certainly wouldn’t have the same cars or computers or phones, but how can you know what the future will look like?

Sometimes I can barely figure out what tomorrow will bring.

I started out looking at the past. What had changed in the last 100 years? What did the world look like in the 1910’s? I could expect similarly large changes to happen going forward (probably more so). In the 1910’s, refrigerators were invented and Ford christened their moving assembly lines. We had tanks and machine guns that required 4-6 people to run them. We fought a war with U-boats (submarines) and aeroplanes (airplanes). Much was different, but much was the same.

I tried to keep a different but same flavor in the future world of Open Minds.

I envisioned phones would still be around—they’re handy—but they would get exponentially cooler. With the world becoming filled with mindreaders, I pictured an exodus of people from crowded cities for the suburbs and countryside, where they could spread out and escape each other’s thoughts. Range (thought-wave-range) ordinances would spring up to enforce the separation that would keep society civil. A sprawling metropolis of well-spaced dwellings would require extensive public transportation, something that could be reasonably accomplished in a hundred year time span.

The engineering came in handy for dreaming up taxicabs with programmable autopaths and mindware interfaces. But I feel like I’m running out of room as the world catches up with the e-readers I put into the story just two years ago! The risk of science fiction is always that science fact will show you up.

I’m currently writing Closed Hearts (Book Two of the Mindjack Trilogy) and having more fun with gadgets and technology. If you’ve read Open Minds, you know the changes are just beginning, and some of those Book Two changes will be in the technology as well. Time to study up on my neuroscience …

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See more guest posts about Open Minds at the Virtual Launch Party!

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy) by Susan Kaye Quinn is available in e-book (Amazon US (also UK, France and Germany), Barnes & Noble, Smashwords) and print (Amazon, Createspace, also autographed copies available from the author).

*****************************

PRIZES!

Susan Kaye Quinn is giving away an Open Books/Open Minds t-shirt, mug, and some fun wristbands to celebrate the Virtual Launch Party of Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy)! (Check out the prizes here.)

Three ways to enter (you can have multiple entries):

1) Leave a comment here or at the Virtual Launch Party post
2) Tweet (with tag #keepingOPENMINDS)

Example: When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep. #keepingOPENMINDS @susankayequinn #SF #YA avail NOW http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds

Example: Celebrate the launch of OPEN MINDS by @susankayequinn #keepingOPENMINDS #SciFi #paranormal #YA avail NOW http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds

3) Facebook (tag @AuthorSusanKayeQuinn)
Example: Celebrate the launch of paranormal/SF novel OPEN MINDS by @AuthorSusanKayeQuinn for a chance to win Open Books/Open Minds prizes! http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds

***********************************

Bonus: Me and Kai Strand last Thursday at our local writers meeting with Susan's Open Minds on Kai's Kindle.

Aliens are Human, Too

2011-10-31T02:23:00.000-07:00

Guest posting over at JL Campbell's blog today. Hope to see you there. :)

So, to alleviate my astronomy withdrawal, I went out last Tuesday with one of my fellow star guides. We met at the bottom of the mountain and set up down there where the hang gliders usually turn off to go up to the other peak. We toughed it out for about 90 minutes. Considering how cold it was, that's amazing.

Although I had bundled up, my fingers and toes protested their numbing experience for two days. No photos. For one, there was no Moon. For two, I didn't even change eyepieces after the first 10 minutes. It was too damn cold to expose my fingers. I thought about snapping a few of Jupiter, but not for long. I couldn't feel my fingers enough to have taken a decent photo.

The sky was amazing. So, clear. The Milky Way just sparkled. Viewed some star clusters in constellations I've never viewed up at the observatory [because they aren't visible up there during the season].

How do you know you really love doing something? The willingness to suffer. I suffered the cold -- it was in the 20's -- to watch stars. And I will again.

I hope the sky is clear December 10th to watch the lunar eclipse. I plan on filming it this year if the sky does cooperate.

47North

2011-10-28T01:54:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month at BookExpo America, Amazon announced 47North, a science fiction and fantasy imprint. Yes, that's right. Amazon is getting into the traditional publishing game.

It already has several imprints: AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, Powered by Amazon, Montlake Romance, and Thomas & Mercer.

47North will launch with established science fiction and fantasy writers and some new voices. The imprint name comes from Amazon's hometown, Seattle. Makes sense. In Oregon here, I sit at the 45th Parallel.

Rife with Hugo and Nebula award winners, 47North launches with some big splashes.

Amazon has positioned itself as a giant with the potential to grow even bigger in the publishing world. It's hard to know which way is up these days. All I know is, the future is here in cyberspace. The good news, we're all already here working our little fingers and butts off.

Yes, Amazon is now signing authors and getting into the publishing game. Sure, it already has been in the game through Kindle Direct and Createspace. But now it's shaking things up even more.

What are all your thoughts on these new developments in the publishing world?

Added note, I wanted to let you know of Ciara Knight's release:

Love's Long Shadow

Sammy Lorre was cast from Heaven for conduct unbecoming an angel. Living in a demon-infested small town with no memory of her previous life, she faces never-ending purgatory until Boon saunters into her life with a promise of angelic love. But is he an angel from Heaven or a minion from the underworld preying on her human emotions? To discover his true identity, she must risk eternal damnation and her heart.

Amazon: ~ Smashwords:

Ciara's website is at http://www.ciaraknight.com/

Jon Mac has a new FREE read out. On Smashwords. 99 cents on Amazon. But should be free on Amazon soon, too.

It wasn't just any other night in the unlife of Ned The Undead, it was Halloween! But the world had changed a lot lately, and nothing seemed to turn out the way he expected. Find out why Zombies are people too, in "The Human Ate My Pumpkin!"

Jon blogs at Mythik Imagination.

And thank you to Madeleine of Scribble and Edit for the Friendly blogger award.

Everybody have a great weekend!

Doings on Planet M. Pax

2011-10-26T02:09:00.000-07:00

What's happening on planet M. Pax:

1) Blogging. Here comes the split. Beginning this week, I split the blog on my website off from this blog. The website is geared more toward readers, so the blog there will be geared toward readers and fans. When I get some. Yesterday's post is on things to consider when choosing a telescope. Photos of Saturn, the Moon and Jupiter are included.

On Tuesdays I will publish an article there on science fiction, astronomy or things to do with my books/stories. www.mpaxauthor.com I made some changes over on the website ... again. I dropped Spacedock 19, as that will now be covered in the blog. I added a 'Coming in 2012' tab between the MPaxWorks (published work) and WritersDesk (finished work still searching for a home). Eventually the stories in WritersDesk will get published in short story collections for econsumption, or expanded into longer pieces for epublication as novels or novellas.

2) Revisions on Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge are moving along. The once was novella has blossomed into a novel. I should be done with the polished draft by end of November. Hope to have it through my crit partners before Christmas ... then off to an editor. I anticipate the release to be February 2012.

In the far future humanity, bioengineered humanity created to deal with different environments, has spread out to other stars and planets in the galaxy, called the Backworlds. Craze’s Tavern sits on the fringes of expansion. Last stop for one hundred fifteen light years, Pardeep Station is a heap of dust and little more.

The lepper opens, bringing in a ship that should no longer exist. Stamped with the Foreworlds’ mark as if spoiling for a fight yet the war ended two generations ago. The vessel drops off a Water-breather, a type of Backworlder thought to be extinct. She brings rumors and subterfuge, danger and troubles. Craze knows he has stepped into her trap the moment she walks into his bar. His only hope is that it isn’t too late to find a way out.

Video Gal is hard at work on a new video for Stopover. Hope to unveil it soon.

I'm working on a free story to go out before Stopover, which will be the story of how Craze and the other characters in the novel get to Pardeep Station. It'll be called The Backworlds and I should have the book cover and blurb ready later this week. I also started the second novel in this series, Boomtown Craze. My ideas on it are still a little fuzzy. When I have more time to devote to developing the first draft, I'm sure they'll get clearer.

3) The Augmentation of Hetty Locklear. This was my previously untitled work based on the popularity of Plantgirl [my free read]. Thank you to the Husband Unit for coming up with the awesome title. It now has a cover, and chapter one has come back from all my crit partners. I'll be attaching chapter one to the end of Plantgirl, and I'll let you know when it's up. That'll be one way to get chapter one early. The other is to sign up for my newsletter.

So, I'm really excited about this cover. Video gal and I got smarter and pick out stockart before I finish a first draft now. We pick models and art that have multiple selections. Video Gal gets annoyed if she only has one photo to create a whole video from. I do what I can to keep her happy. Anyway, we had picked our model for Hetty Locklear, and when I went to purchase one of the images to create the cover, there were a bunch of new photos. One of which was the most perfect photo for the cover ever. I was so excited. Because that never happens -- the perfect artwork.

Hetty Locklear somehow passed the initial screenings and assessment tests to land an interview. Finally. She desperately needs this job. Her internet is about to get cut off. The interview starts off terrible and never gets better yet it never occurs to her to question why she's hired. Not until it's too late.

A loner who spends most of her time in cyberspace, the new job at Willamette Research Dynamics transforms Hetty's life. No longer alone, she gains a hot boyfriend and a stalker. Some things at the new job are kind of strange though, and she finds something at work she shouldn't. A hellish experiment. She won't ever be the same.

Hetty Locklear is the first novel in a second series. Contemporary sci-fi. I will begin its polished draft when I'm done with Stopover's and have The Backworlds first draft done.

The plan is to then get a sequel out in each series by the end of 2012. Hetty Locklear is planned as a trilogy. The Backworlds series has no limits

Sometime in 2012 The Tumbas will be out in the Wandering Weeds Anthology, too.

Found two new outlets for free reads. Scribd and Feedbooks. Feedbooks has been great. Almost 200 downloads a piece for Translations and Small Graces in two weeks. Scribd is slower, but I'm still reaching new people. The more hands I can get the free reads into, the better. I updated Translations and Small Graces, attaching the first four chapters of Semper Audacia to the end. Hoping it will help generate some sales. Haven't uploaded Plantgirl yet. Waiting to attach chapter one of Hetty Locklear, then I'll upload it.

So, yes, my summer job may be over, but my schedule hasn't slowed down at all. How are things on your planet?

Giving Authors a Hand

2011-10-24T00:47:00.000-07:00

I'm on the lovely Damyanti's blog today: Daily (w)rite

Would love to see you there if you're so inclined. :)

PMO Closed

2011-10-21T02:13:00.000-07:00

So, yes, the observatory season ended, Saturday, October 1st. It was such a crappy day all day Saturday, we were all pretty bummed that we might not get any sky. It looked pretty darn hopeless, honestly.

The sign says closed. :-(

We got some glimpses of the Moon, and I jokingly said I'd try my Hogwarts spell [which worked once earlier in the season]. It's pretty simple. I flick the fingers of my left hand at the sky and say, "Clouds go away."

We laughed, not expecting it to work. I packed Orson Bradbury up in the car before total dark. Two of the volunteers and I shared 'Cannon', our name for the University of Oregon's 10" dobsonian telescope. Our newest volunteer entertained us with a story of a cattle mutilation he had witnessed -- which I'll tell you sometime soon -- when he was down in Arizona. He just moved up here from there and spent many years working for the National Parks. Yes, we like science, but we also share a like for weird.

Lo and behold, my spell worked. The sky cleared to almost perfection. We looked at all our favorite objects and shared them with the visitors. Our guests went home. I went into the 24 to hang and look through the big telescope the rest of the night. I fought the sleepies to stay up to see Orion and all its splendors. Well, ten minutes before it rose high enough to look at, the clouds came rolling back in. Like a huge black curtain, saying, "Good night and adieu until next May." Siiigh.

Just as sad, I had to return the magic eyepiece [the 11mm Nagler] to the kind volunteer who lent it to me for the summer. I've got to get my hands on one of those. It gave me views through my 8" dob which rivaled the 24". No lie.

At any rate, I did capture some photos of Jupiter through the 24. We didn't have a filter on, like we should have, so the glare made the pictures a bit blurrier than they otherwise might have been. Still, they're not bad. You can see Europa peeking up over Jupiter, a little left of center, looking a bit like a pimple. The red spot is also visible in the large band of red closest to Europa and just above center.

Can you believe I already miss it? I can't. I was so ready for the break, and have been going 200 mph since. Yesterday I had convinced Husband to go out with me last night, but the clear day turned into a cloudy mess. So, we didn't go out. He was able to fix my telrad, and rumor has it the holiday season could bring me a magic eyepiece of my very own. :D

Have a great weekend everybody!

Who Would Want to Write a Memoir?

2011-10-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

In my blog travels, I stumbled upon Lisa Vaughn and her inspiring story, which she put down into a book to share with the rest of us. Bold voices and compelling stories attract me no matter what the genre. So, I ~~begged~~ asked Lisa to come over to Wistful Nebula for a guest post.

Who Would Want To Write A Memoir?
by Lisa Vaughn

I know what you're thinking...A narcissist? Well, maybe perhaps, but sometimes it's much more than that.

As a reader, I have always enjoyed biographies and memoirs over any other genre, I just think reality is more interesting than fiction. But before I wrote my own memoir, I never really thought, "Why"? Why would someone - who is not known in the public spotlight - want to expose their most private thoughts and intimate details of their lives? And really, who would care?

Well, now that I am added to that list of 'narcissist', I can tell you - sometimes it's not about 'you' so much as a person, as it is about 'you and the healing process', at least in my case.

I never set out to write a book, in fact it's the last thing I ever imagined. After my mother's death in 2005, I found myself dealing with a lot of 'unfinished business' that I still carried with me. In fact, I was shocked at just how much baggage I still carried! Through many long 'therapy walks' on the beach - with just me and my pent up thoughts - I started to make sense of the scattered puzzle pieces. And equally surprised to find there were more pieces in that puzzle as well, not just my mother. Then one random afternoon I decided to confide my story to a friend - the super secret story I held locked inside my head for so long. Why I decided to tell her at that time, I have no idea...but I'd like to think fate, once again, nudged me. She convinced me, through a tear-soaked face, that I had a story the world needed to hear. Huh? Who...ME?

Yes, I knew my story was unique in many ways, but I hadn't hinted a word of my experiences in thirty plus years...where would I even start? Well, I started at the beginning, as they say. And once I jumped in, I swear the keyboard smoked! In less than two weeks I had my first (very rough) draft. Not only was it a chance to put all my random thoughts in black and white, turns out it was very cathartic - and a very necessary part of my healing process. Not until I saw those words staring back at me did I realize the 'why' of it all. And that's when I finally 'got it', which in turn allowed me to forgive and let it go...for good! Freeing my soul of resentment and anger, allowing me to see exactly why things happened the way they did, and the reasons - but most importantly, making me realize ALL my experiences - good, bad or indifferent - actually made me the person I see standing in the mirror today. And you know what? I truly like that person...now.

So there I sat with close to 300 pages of self-discovery...what next? Actually, it was a no-brainer. I knew it was my mission - my purpose - to get the message out there. And what better way than to publish a book? My message? Acceptance. If I can help someone going through the same thing, or make a parent realize the damage they may be doing to their children unknowingly, then it's worth it for me to have my face behind that message, in fact I'm proud to be that messenger. Like they say, if I can help one person, it was more than worth the trip.

So, I believe THAT is why people write memoirs, or at least it's why I wrote mine. Narcissist? Perhaps a tad, but hey, I'm a Leo, so I blame that before my memoir!

Lisa Vaughn, a self-proclamined 'hippie-chick' and freelance artist, has taken her creative voice to a whole new medium, with her memoir, The Gifted Ones. A true story of resilience that sends a strong message of acceptance and the power of love - told in a raw, honest format, much like talking to an old friend. Everyone has a story...this just happens to be hers. Lisa currently resides in Florida along with her loving husband and four cats, where she continues to create her visions of self-expression.

Author Blog-Page ~ Author Website

The Gifted Ones. Conservatively raised Catholic,Lisa,at age thirteen,would suddenly find herself on a totally different path. Through an unlikely chance meeting of a fellow classmate,she would soon find herself innocently taking their relationship to a foreign level neither saw coming...finding out what they are made of as they face the consequences and struggles that come along with going against the grain.

Available for sale at
Amazon: Print & Kindle Version
Smashwords: All Ebook Versions

Thank you, Lisa, for stopping by and informing us on the process that goes into writing a memoir. It takes a lot of courage to write one. I have The Gifted Ones on my Nook. There's a lot we can learn about creating fictional stories from writers who share with us stories from their lives.

Cats in Space

2011-10-17T02:18:00.000-07:00

Guest posting on the fabulous, Julie Flanders blog today, What Else Is Possible? Come over for a visit. Discussing travels with Makayla and Nini.

Susan Kaye Quinn's Open Minds launches on November 1st. If you'd like to help her out with her launch party, pop over and sign up. HERE

Also, the Husband Unit is on vacation this week, so I might not be around as much. The posts will still go off, but I might actually take a few days off. Maybe. :) If the weather's nice, I expect to explore more of the wilds of Oregon. Maybe get in some star gazing. Maybe not. I broke the telrad when unloading my telescope from the car a few weeks back, bringing it home from the observatory. The telrad is how I aim the telescope. Husband Unit is trying to fix it. I'll probably have to order a new one. I still have the original finder scope and can maybe limp along with that through the off season. We'll see.

Semper Audacia is now available on iTunes and B&N.

What's up with you guys?

Pay It Forward, Semper Audacia Winners

2011-10-14T00:09:00.000-07:00

Paying it forward bloghop. Sponsored by Matthew MacNish and Alex J. Cavanaugh.

It's tough to pick only three. So many of you have helped give me a boost on this journey. Special thanks to Reka Sang and Loretta Stephenson for the lovely reviews. Thanks to Alex for his multiple shoutouts on his blog.

1. Lindsay Buroker
2. Francine Howarth, Romancing the Blog, Indie Book List
3. Julie Flanders

Thanks to Alex, Libby Heily, Christine Raines, Madeleine, Miranda Hardy, Nicki Elson, Jon Mac, Allan Douglas, Nancy Thompson, Reka Sang, Damyanti for roping me into a great group on Triberr, JL Campbell, Ciara Knight, Lynda R. Young, Jarrak, Diego, and Laura Eno. The support by other writers in cyberspace is so tremendous and so appreciated. I know there are more people I need to thank, and I will by visiting your blog.

I've said before and I mean it, we are in this together. To make it on our own in any endeavor is a rare thing, even more so in this one. We need each other and each other's support. I thank each and all of you for yours.

The five winners of the free ecopies of Semper Audacia are:

1. Melissa Bradley
2. Madeleine of Scribble & Edit
3. Christine Rains
4. Shallee
5. Tara Tyler

Are sales off the charts? Hell, no. I didn't expect them to be. I did make a start and I've made some fans. I read on a blog somewhere about how we build a beach a grain of sand at a time. So, I've started mine. I came up with some plans and have been working hard.

You all keep up building your beaches. I'll be one of your grains of sand.

COMING OF AGE AND THE QUEST TO BELONG

2011-10-12T02:22:00.000-07:00

By Bryan Thomas Schmidt

How important is it to you to belong? The coming of age story is an age old trope that continues to fascinate. There’s something about the comfort of certainty that creates an urge in us to be certain about ourselves. Perhaps it’s because the world around us is so beyond our control and full of uncertainties, we desire a place to feel safe and in control. This also may explain why the key years of discovery in people’s lives—the teens and early twenties—are often so tumultuous, filled with experimenting, pushing boundaries, and reevaluating values and identity time and again.

In my novel, The Worker Prince, I deal with a unique kind of coming of age crisis, when the main character, raised a prince, discovers he was secretly adopted and born a worker—the people enslaved by his own. For Davi Rhii that discovery brings huge revelations. For one thing, his status as a Boralian Royal is called into question. Will his family and friends still love him when they know the truth? Even more telling, what does it mean to be a worker? Davi’s quest to answer the second questions leads to great trials and tribulations. Life for the workers is worse than he’d ever imagined. In defending them, he finds himself outcast and on the run, and is forced to reevaluate who he is and what matters to him. Will he joins their fight for freedom? The decisions he makes will change his life and the lives of others forever.

Most teens wrestling with coming of age don’t face such dramatic consequences as Davi does. But still the questions he seeks to answer and the emotions he experiences are familiar to all of us. It’s why the coming of age story remains so popular in literature of all genres. Have you ever stopped to think about who you are and how you go to be there? Have you ever asked yourself what would have happened if you’d made different decisions or gone in different directions? If so, then Davi Rhii’s journey in The Worker Prince will be familiar for you.

Bryan Thomas Schmidt is the author of the newly released space opera novel The Worker Prince, the collection The North Star Serial, and has several short stories forthcoming in anthologies and magazines. He’s also the host of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Chat every Wednesday at 9 pm EST on Twitter. He can be found online as @BryanThomasS on Twitter or via his website. Excerpts from The Worker Prince can be found on his blog.

The Worker Prince can be purchased HERE.
Thanks to Bryan for this great post. It is intriguing to contemplate where in life I could have decided differently. Tomorrow, Bryan and his Worker Prince tour will be at Gene Doucette http://genedoucette.me/

It's Monday I'm in Love

2011-10-10T02:14:00.000-07:00

I'm guest posting over at J.D. Brown's today, talking about love as an essential element in all fiction and all characters. Come on over and join me. An Author's Blog About Writing.

Thanks to all of you helping me launch Semper Audacia. You're all so fabulous. It was just accepted into the premium catalog by Smashwords, so will be showing up at iTunes and B&N shortly.

Thanks to The Capillary for the Versatile Blogger Award.

And here's Nini reading Julie Flanders' article in Cat Fancy. Yea, Julie! Makayla ran away before I could make her pose, too. Julie blogs at What Else is Possible and The Pet Parent Diaries.

To FREE, or not to FREE, that is the question

2011-10-07T02:30:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm pleased to feature an article by Mark Souza. A fellow Pacific Northwest writer and a great Twitter pal.

To FREE, or not to FREE, that is the question.

by Mark Souza

Whether ‘tis nobler..., eh, far enough with that analogy. I, as a writer, reached that point thousands of others have before me, and thousands more will soon. I put my first work up for sale in the ever broadening veldt of ePublishing. I floundered at first, as most will, trying to learn the ins and outs of ePublishing and eBook formatting. I learned much and made mistakes along the way others can learn from.

The initial successes of my relatively short writing career have centered on short stories. During the last two years, I sold over two dozen that have appeared in various anthologies. While I have been toiling away on a novel, the rights to some of these stories have reverted back to me, and I made the decision to market them as singles as a way to introduce myself to readers before my novel releases in 2012. I started with the first short story I ever sold for print, Cupid’s Maze, with another five stories to follow shortly after.

This was good practice to learn a thing or two about eBook formatting and how to work with the major eBook retailers. I figured the experience would benefit my novel. I concentrated my initial efforts on the biggest eBook retailer, Amazon. That was my first mistake. How, you might ask? Though I learned how to create an HTML version that renders fairly well on the Kindle (could never get photos or graphics to render), and learned some of the formatting bugaboos that can kill an eBook, when I was ready to launch, up popped the question about what the price of my book would be. Amazon requires a minimum price of 99 cents, so that’s what I selected. My objective at this point is to get my work into as many hands as possible and win fans.

Over the weeks, I watched sales trickle in - no, trickle is too generous. It implies flow. There was no flow. There were a couple sales right away - droplets. Then nothing. A week later, another. Then nothing. Perhaps casting a broader net was the answer. I next uploaded Cupid’s Maze to Barnes & Noble, or tried to. Its release status is still pending weeks later.

Smashwords was another outlet I was familiar with. I always thought of them as the goofy second cousin everyone has heard about but never met; another of my mistakes. But still, the goal was to cast as broad a net as possible and Smashwords was another outlet. While I researched how to upload my work there, I came across their style guide. What a gem that is. If you plan to sell an eBook, go to Smashwords and download their style guide now - unless you’re a masochist and like avoidable pain. Not only does it cost nothing, it tells you how to avoid formatting gremlins that will ruin the appearance of your eBook, it gives great advice on making the reading experience better for your readers, and advice how to better market yourself within your book. GET THE SMASHWORDS STYLE GUIDE.

One of the topics in Smashwords’ author resources is whether or not to give away free material. After reading the article, I determined that in my case, free was the perfect price. I am a relatively new author without a defined readership trying to introduce readers to my work. As my sales, or lack of them, on Amazon showed, even 99 cents can be an impediment for an unknown author. I want readers, not nickels and dimes. By the time my novel comes out, I want people to know who I am.

After reformatting the Cupid’s Maze.doc file per the style guide and uploading to Smashwords, 60 copies of Cupid’s Maze were downloaded in the first eight hours. Not only that, but the Smashwords’ Meat Grinder generated files in various formats compatible with every retailer and eReader device out there. When I downloaded the Cupid’s Maze.mobi file to my Kindle, lo and behold, it rendered my author’s photo perfectly, a feat I had never managed in my own formatting attempts.

After a little more researching, I discovered Smashwords is not the goofy second cousin of ePublishing, it’s the industry leader. For while more people may go to Amazon to download their eBooks, the eBook’s being downloaded may likely have come from Smashwords. You see, if you follow the Smashwords style guide and your book qualifies for the Smashwords Premium Package (free), Smashwords will distribute your eBook to the major retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo, Apple, Borders Australia, and many more. And that little minimum pricing issue with Amazon and Barnes & Noble? If you price your book at $0.00 (free) on Smashwords, it will be free when it hits the major eBook retailers. It’s the only way to this that I know of.

So back to that question: to FREE, or not to FREE? Go to the Smashwords site, peruse the information they make available to authors, and make your own decision based on what your objectives are. Smashwords will be there to support you either way. And while there, download your free copy of Cupid’s Maze (and the style guide).

About the Author

Mark Souza lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, two children, and mongrel beast-dog, Tater. When he’s not writing, he’s out among you trying to look and act normal (whatever that is), reminding himself that the monsters he’s created are all in his head, no more real than campaign promises.

Out There on a Tight Rope

2011-10-05T02:27:00.000-07:00

So here it is, the day after my first big release on Amazon. Because of so many of you wonderful folks, I'm not as nervous or worried as much as I otherwise would be. So, thanks to all of you for that, and a million times over.

Some local writer friends were trying to convince me recently that blogs are a waste of time. They quoted some studies or whatnot. All, well and fine, and I understand their need to feel they're not missing out by not blogging. They are missing out though. This is a fabulous opportunity to network, help other writers who send out an SOS, make friends and learn. Where else is there an Insecure Writers group? Only here in bloggyland.

I confess to some feelings of anxiety and insecurity, despite my bluster above. My dream is to write stories and publish them. I want to keep doing it, and I hope I will. I hope some people will like what I do as much as I enjoy creating my works. So many, many hopes. Like submitting, it's hope mixed with trying not to expect too much. So, I chew on my lip and hold my breath. I took that leap and there's no going back. I must keep moving forward. Must. Anyone want to clutch hands?

What has your stomach in knots?

Major thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this group.

Semper Audacia is Out!

2011-10-03T00:29:00.000-07:00

Party! Today is a party. Celebrating my publication of the space opera novelette, Semper Audacia.

I am extremely proud of this story. It's about loneliness, fortitude, courage, overcoming insurmountable obstacles, love and heroism. It may be set in outer space, but the core of the story is very human.

And that's not all you get, attached to the end are the first three chapters of Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge. Also a space opera. It's the first in a series about engineered humans scraping out a living on the galactic frontier. I'm aiming to have it out by the end of 2011, early 2012 at the latest.

Available from Amazon, AmazonUK, AmazonDE and Smashwords. Coming soon to B&N and iTunes. A bargain at only 99 cents.

For coming to the party, I have favors. I'm giving away 5 copies of Semper Audacia. Leave a comment below. It's an ebook, so everyone can enter.

What you can do to help a struggling author make a start: Tweet the links on Amazon and/or Smashwords, talk about Semper on your blog, leave a review on Amazon, Smashwords, and/or Goodreads, hit the FB 'like' on Amazon and Smashwords, ask me to do a guest post, download the book.

No matter how a writer comes to this moment, the moment of publication, it is a thrilling one. And we sure don't get here alone, and we don't keep going alone. Sincere thanks to all of you. Couldn't do it without you.

Nini and Kayla [my cats, but probably really the Husband Unit] will draw the names and I'll announce the winners on Friday, October 14th.

Party!

One To Go

2011-09-30T02:26:00.000-07:00

This is the last weekend the observatory will be open until next Memorial Day.

Last Friday was so perfect. Absolutely perfect. Warm. Cloudless. Moonless. Dark. Manageable crowd. The sky just took my breath away. I stared at old friends, knowing I might not see them again until May, and spent hours roaming around the sky, just roaming. It was perfect.

Managed to get some shots of Jupiter. Knowing the weather here and turn on the head of a pin, I savored it, knowing another ideal night was not likely to come along this season.

Sunset from the bottom of Pine Mountain looking across Millican Valley toward the Cascades.

Sunset from the summit. Smoke from wildfires made for a terrible sunset Friday night. It didn't effect viewing at all though. Thank goodness.

Jupiter through 11 mm Nagler, blue filter on. Zoom.

All four Galilean moons lined up perfectly Friday night. Not sure of the order, but Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. This was taken through a 25 mm eye piece, no filter.

Saturday was still warm, but the wind howled, driving in a cold front and a parade of clouds. Viewing was hit or miss, the clouds having a fun game of hide 'n seek with us. Still managed to get a glimpse at most objects, but it wasn't as clean of a view as Friday night. By the time we got everyone through to see Jupiter and the summit had cleared for me to think about snapping some photos, the clouds socked us in. Good night, Mary, they said, drawing a thick black curtain over the stars.

Lots and lots of clouds. Boo. Pretty, but boo. Tonight is supposed to be clear and it's supposed to get up into the 80's. So maybe I won't freeze too badly. Tomorrow, the weather says rain. So, tonight may be it.

Thanks to Kathy McKendry of Imagine Today and Tara Tyler of Tara Tyler Talks for the versatile blogger award. Two very awesome bloggers. Check them out.

PS, anybody else having trouble following people? I can from the top, but not by hitting the sidebar widget. Google won't sign me in. Another fun blogger glitch? Annoying if someone has the google connect follow, but isn't on blogger.

Come back Monday for a Semper Audacia party, and enjoy your weekend. What plans do you have?

One More Week

2011-09-28T02:21:00.000-07:00

One more week until Semper Audacia's release. :D

Alone. Leda is the last living member of the brigade, the sole defender of her world. War took everyone she knew, leaving her in the company of memories and ghosts. Or is it madness?

The siren blares. The enemy is coming. Or is it? The approaching vessel isn't a friendly design, but it answers with the correct code. Leda must figure out whether the arrival is reinforcements or the final assault. In an aging flyer, she ventures out to meet her world's fate, the last stand.

I'm working on a press kit today and some guest posts, getting all ready for next week and the big day. I'll have the links posted up next Monday. I'm really pleased with how this story turned out and with how the next release, Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge, is shaping up.

Tomorrow I go back to writing, getting Backworlds #2 [working title: Boomtown Craze] and The Augmentation of Hetty Locklear [previously untitled, thank you Husband Unit] farther along. Next week I start polishing the rest of Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge, so that I can get it to the editor's. I need to keep working on the WIPs while I do so and promote Semper. Thank goodness the observatory closes after this weekend. It'll give me more time.

Here's some new releases by bloggyland friends to check out:

Francine Howarth has a new ebook out: The Highwayman's Mistress

The novella is set in 1792 - 1793 respectively: the era of the French Revolution.

Richard Courtenay Viscount Somerton, gallant as heroes come, has agreed to see Miss Diamonta Whitaker, safely delivered to the Palace of Versailles. Half French by birth and daughter of a French countess, Diamonta has more than one reason for accepting a gracious invite to stay at the Royal Court at Versailles. Her heart lies at court, with Francois de Boviere, Count of Saint Mont Marche.

Unfortunately, tide of revolution has swept from Paris to Versailles and heads of French aristocrats are seriously under threat of Madame Guillotine. With Diamonta's coche still en route to Versailles, strange as it seems a highwayman delivers a message by way of robbery to save her life. Can she, upon return to England, ever recover from her mother's wrath once her relationship with a highwayman is discovered, and can he survive a duel to the death?

Available on AmazonUK Kindle. Francine blogs HERE.

And the lovely, JL Campbell, blogging at The Character Depot, has two releases up on Smashwords.

Giving up the Dream, Free Read

Love, honour and obey. In a perfect life, these promises are easy to keep. When faced with spousal betrayal, idealistic oaths take a back seat. Justine Charles made the ultimate sacrifice for her dying husband. Will she rally after his death or be forced to give up a final chance at happiness?

Download in any format from Smashwords.

Now also available for 99 cents on Amazon.

Don't Get Mad Get Even

What choices do you have when you are abused, cheated on and left with a trail of broken promises? Don’t Get Mad…Get Even. Take an inside look at Jamaican culture and lifestyle through a collection of award-winning stories. You will laugh, cry and commiserate with a compelling cast of characters, who conquer their challenges in unique ways.

A bargain at 99 cents from Smashwords.

Now also available on Amazon.

I have failed in finishing Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, the Wistful Read for the book club, before the end of September. Sorry, China. I've been enjoying it and am about halfway through. Should get to posting about it sometime in October.

Terra Nova, Life on Mars

2011-09-26T02:07:00.000-07:00

Terra Nova starts tonight on Fox, 9/26, 8:00 p.m. Eureka's season ended just in time. I have high hopes for this show. Let's hope Fox doesn't fubar it. You can find out more than you want to know about the show at the official website: http://www.fox.com/terranova/

TERRA NOVA follows an ordinary family on an incredible journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a daring experiment to save the human race. In the year 2149, the world is dying. The planet is overdeveloped and overcrowded, with the majority of plant and animal life extinct. The future of mankind is in jeopardy, and its only hope for survival is in the distant past.

When scientists unexpectedly discovered a fracture in time that made it possible to construct a portal into primeval history, the bold notion was born to resettle humanity in the past – a second chance to rebuild civilization and get it right this time.

The series centers on the Shannon family as they join the Tenth Pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova, the first colony established in this beautiful yet foreboding land. JIM SHANNON (Jason O’Mara), a devoted father with a checkered past, guides his family through this new world of limitless beauty, mystery and terror. Jim’s wife, ELISABETH (Shelley Conn), is a trauma surgeon and the newest addition to Terra Nova’s medical team. JOSH (Landon Liboiron) is their 17-year-old son who is torn to leave life as he knows it behind; upon arriving at the settlement, he finds himself instantly drawn to the beautiful and rule-breaking SKYE (Allison Miller). MADDY (Naomi Scott), Josh’s endearingly awkward 15-year-old sister, hopes Terra Nova will give her a chance to reinvent herself. Although Elisabeth’s medical training secured the family a spot on the pilgrimage, a secret involving their five-year-old daughter, ZOE (Alana Mansour), soon endangers their place in this utopia.

I've always said any show could be improved by the addition of giant, man-eating reptiles. I just hope I won't be disappointed.

I like Jason O'Mara in the lead. He was also the lead in Life on Mars. Have you ever seen this? I watched in on dvd recently and it really is a fabulous show. Jason - Sam Tyler somehow ends up back in 1973. I commend their attention to detail. The culture, the feel, the attitudes, it took me back to that decade without a stumble. Peppered with the 1970's cop show are trippy scenes as the audience tries to figure out with Sam Tyler what the heck is going on. If you haven't seen Life on Mars, I highly recommend it. It originally aired on ABC. I see the UK did a remake, but I haven't seen that one, so can't say whether it's as good.

The season ender of Eureka was great. I'm glad to see we get a 'final' season before all science fiction disappears from Syfy. Warehouse 13 had zombies in it, so I couldn't watch it. Why would they do that to me? It's just wrong to put zombies in any show not about zombies that I watch.

I get inspiration from TV, so I like to watch some. Except for Terra Nova, there's not anything on I want to see though. I've been watching Lexx on Netflix, which is interesting. Dark, but interesting. Definite Mad Maxxish, Blade Runnerish vibe.

Anything have you excited this season? Besides my upcoming release of Semper Audacia? :) See anything good on dvd or Netflix?

Want to keep discussing Terra Nova? Join me on my website, Spacedock 19 is continuing talk on Terra Nova.

iPhoning in the 1980's

2011-09-23T02:22:00.000-07:00

Guest post by Nicki Elson. She blogs at Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts. If you haven't met Nicki yet, you should. She's very entertaining and funny. I'm enjoying her Three Daves, which is on my Nook. She suckered me in with the 1980's. That was my decade.

Thanks, M.Pax, for so graciously inviting me to your place for my Blog Blitz to celebrate the brand new book cover for my novel, Three Daves, and to let everyone know about the big September-only 99 cent eBook sale of this 1980s chick lit/romance (Kindle, Nook, eBook and ePub).

We’ve been to some amazing places here at Wistful Nebulae—adventures in space, across incredible vistas, and into the future. But now we’re going somewhere…else. I couldn’t find an affordable DeLorean, so climb into this choice (boat-sized) Bonneville, and we’ll book-it back to the 80s! Are you totally stoked?

You see, I refuse to get an iPhone or anything of the like. I survived the 80s without one, and I certainly don’t need one now. So our mission today is to prove that anything the iPhone does, we were already doing in the 80s. Oh hey, there’s Gordon Gecko—somebody grab that thing out of his hand. No, it’s not a mini-refrigerator! It’s a cell phone, you dweeb.

Okay now, see that guy who looks like he’s jammin’ to tunes over there? What? Yes, I know it’s not winter…earmuffs? Oh, like, I’m so sure! Those are Walkman headphones. Grab ’em. Yeah, that box clipped to his waistband too. Awesome, now to my old boyfriend’s house for the Betamax! Well, no doy VCRs took over, but his dad didn’t know that was going to happen, and his family has a mondo collection of movies in Beta.

Cool beans, looks like we have everything. Huh? The iPhone can record movies too? Wait, I think there’s a basketball game at the high school tonight—my dad’ll be there video taping my pom-pom routine. We totally rocked Madonna’s “Material Girl,” by the way. There he is, the guy in the crew cut holding the ginormo camera. Be careful of the gnarly handle on that thing. Should we grab the duffel bag too?

Okay, we’ve finally got everything and can return to 2011 to veg out with all the electronic entertainment we could possibly ever want. Wh-what’s that you say? Internet access? Dude, you’re just spazzin’ cuz of all this time travel; the internet’s a myth. It’ll never happen…

Thanks, Nicki for such a great adventure. Come back any time.

Interested in guest posting for Wistful Nebulae? Email me: mpaxauthor@gmail.com

So were you around in the 80's? That was my decade. Any memories to share? I remember Members Only jackets and the music video. Do they even make videos any more?

Shooting the Moon

2011-09-21T02:26:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks up at the observatory were obscured by full Moon then by very cold nights the following week and clouds.

Full Moon weekend was warm. I didn't even have to zipper my coat. We were bombarded by moths outside. My car is still covered in moth guts. There wasn't much to see besides the Moon and Jupiter that weekend. I couldn't even find the brightest guide stars to point my telescope to where another object would be. Those I could find were severely washed out. To add insult on Saturday night, clouds rolled in. Between those and all the smoke in the air, Jupiter rose a bright orange. I'd never seen it that color before. My photos of it didn't turn out so great. But I did get some Moon shots.

Autumn in the high desert doesn't bring a lot of color in the form of trees, but the brush changes color, bursting with yellow. Juniper and cedar are evergreens, and the deciduous kind of tree doesn't really grow here.

Almost full Moon before the clouds swallowed it up.

Here's a video of the clouds covering the moon.

Last weekend was frigid. I managed a few shots between shivers on Friday night.

Saturday night was completely socked in. :-( No star gazing.

Only two more weekends before we shut down until next May. :-( I hope the weather cooperates so I can savor these next few weeks. The Moon will be out of the way if the clouds stay away.

Two Thumbs Down

2011-09-19T00:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for hosting the Worst Movies Blogfest.

This was actually hard for me, as I have a tendency not to remember movies. Most of them fall into a huge blackhole in my memory. But I do remember some I've hated, or didn't care for.

1. Dune. The version with Sting. Sting looked great and the sand worms were cool, the rest of it was a huge mess. I'm a big fan of the books, so this movie was a huge disappointment.

2. Jurassic Park II. Another case of being very disappointed. The original is one of my all-time favorite movies and I was so looking forward to this. It was such a letdown. I wanted to throw my popcorn at the screen. It captured none of the magic of the first.

3. AI - has to be one of the most depressing movies ever made. There wasn't even an inkling of hope in this story.

4. Highlander II. Left everyone saying, wtf ???

5. Terminator III. I kept falling asleep during this movie. Was there a plot? Seemed like just a lot of running about and explosions. To be fair, my husband liked it. He can get me to vacate a room quick by pulling that piece of trash out of the dvd cabinet.

6. Borat. I know some people liked it. I'm not one of those who did. I gave it to Goodwill.

7. Day the Earth Stood Still, the remake. The original was great.

8. A sci-fi collection of 15 movies. These were newer D level movies. There was one with Mark Hamill and Bill Paxton in it, flying about. Another with Brandon Lee. One with one of the Wrestler dudes. Not Hulk Hogan. Possible they were lower than D. I love a good, bad movie, but these were just bad. Really bad. After ten minutes we'd be looking at the clock saying, "Why isn't it over yet?" Husband and I were too afraid to watch any more after the first five. That went off to Goodwill, too. Maybe I should have burned it instead of torturing some other soul.

9. Star Trek Generations. I hated the way Kirk died. Just hated it. I pretend this movie does not exist.

10. He Man. My brothers, sister and I still have fun with this movie. We do the 'good journey' thing, since we've all gone our separate ways. It does have some entertainment value. Some.

Alex said we couldn't use Syfy movies, but I just have to say their version of Thor was really, really terrible and my eyes still burn from Category 7. My eyes! My eyes! Avoid those two at all costs.

Well, that's all I've got. How about you? Any movies you pretend don't exist?

PS, I've created a FB fan page, HERE. If you care to stop by, I can quit talking to myself. :) I'll be posting photos from the observatory there on a regular basis.

Coming Attractions

2011-09-16T00:16:00.000-07:00

I'm over at Wicked Writers today, talking about my upcoming career plans. Come on over for a visit: WICKED WRITERS

The countdown to Semper Audacia's release has begun

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Speaking of coming attractions ... sometimes we can't see the consequences of what lies ahead from what we do. Sometimes, something marvelous happens though. A seed brings something unexpected. What treasured days those are.

The husband unit and I put a bird feeder in the backyard, and a whole forest of sunflowers sprang up.

I've begun posting a daily moon / observatory photo on Twitter. Another seed with unexpected results.

In other news, RIP Andy Whitfield. What a damned shame. Condolences to his wife and family. I was so saddened to hear he lost his battle with lymphoma. I lost a sister-in-law to it about five years ago and a good high school friend to Hodgkins. Andy was the star of Spartacus.

Adventures in Self Publishing

2011-09-14T02:49:00.000-07:00

My Adventures In Self Publishing by Libby Heily

Writing is a game of inches. It's a celebration of small victories and a constant struggle against setbacks. I've always found writing to be challenging. Stories do not spring forth from my pen. I grind them out over time with sweat, tears and fear. When I think I'm done, I submit them to friends and fellow writers who tell me I can do better. I then go back and do better.

Maybe it's because writing has always been difficult for me that I thought publishing would be easy, or at least easier. I was wrong. It happens often. The actual formatting and uploading of the novel isn't too difficult. That's all following rules and experiencing a predictable outcome. The rest of publishing is completely different. You know what I'm referring to, the marketing part of it.

I started building my platform at the end of February 2011. I started a blog, started tweeting and joined a few forums. I tried to differentiate my blog by releasing original flash fiction every Friday. I figured readers would want to see what type of stuff I write. I got a few new readers that way, which was wonderful, but I wasn't hitting a broader audience.

That's when I decided to ~~steal~~ borrow an idea from M. Pax. I published a collection of flash fiction on Smashwords and offered it to readers for free. I was pretty happy with the immediate result, over eighty downloads in two weeks. I figured that was eighty people who would have never known I existed otherwise. I listed the book on several websites that featured free books and saw my downloads jump to over one thousand. Hey, not bad.

The next step in building an audience was to put together a collection of short stories and release it on Amazon and other outlets. I priced the ebook at 99 cents. I posted on the blog, my facebook, and I tweeted about it. Other bloggers were kind enough to mention it. I had a few sales right off the bat but things slowed down pretty quickly.

The game plan now? I want to reach new readers. I want to grow my audience. At this stage in my career, I want to be read. In order to do that, I'm approaching book bloggers for reviews. I've approached thirty book bloggers via email and will approach more every week for months to come. I have six reviews scheduled and one interview. Will this ultimately help me be successful? I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty positive it won't hurt. Right now it's about exposure, not sales. Sales will come over time after people know who I am and what I write.

I wish I could tell you I have all the answers. I wish I could say I'm successful like John Locke and Amanda Hocking. What I am is a writer with stories to yell and the determination to be heard.

What is your strategy for getting your stories in the hands of readers?

Thanks to the talented Libby Heily for penning this post for us. She has two ebooks out.

Twist, Turn and Burn. A collection of twelve flash fiction pieces. The stories range from character studies to exploding bodies to tree eating humans to a day in the life of a piece of gum. Twist Turn and Burn is a quick read that allows you to explore different genres in only minutes. Available from SMASHWORDS.

Fourth Degree Freedom. Explores the best of humanity and the worst. The stories range from hopeful realism to the dystopian side of speculative fiction. Each story twists and turns through darkness and light, settling somewhere in the shadowy area of day to day life. Available from AMAZON.

Libby blogs at Libby Heily.

I've enjoyed both of Libby's ebooks. Her writing is fresh, original and exciting. It makes me think, which is something I gravitate toward in literature. I look forward to her future books.

If you'd like to do a guest post, contact me at mpaxauthor@gmail.com

I Went Nook

2011-09-12T00:50:00.000-07:00

After a lot of thought and research, I decided to purchase B&N's Nook. I got the simple touch reader, and I lurves it. Even better, it's currently filled with reads from so many lovely authors out in bloggyland: Brondt Kamffer, Peggy Bechko, Libby Heily, Me, Lindsay Buroker, Melissa Bradley, N.R. Williams, Laura Eno, Alexander Zoltai, Brian Hutchinson, Jon Mac, Dale Mayer, Carolyn Arnold, Nomar Knight, Frances Pauli, Nicki Elson and Jaleta Clegg. Fabulous.

I debated between Nook and Kindle for quite awhile. The touch screen swayed me. The lack of bells and whistles and crap I don't need swayed me. The simplicity of adding files to the Nook swayed me. We don't have wifi at home, but I can download to my PC, plug the Nook in like a thumb drive and transfer the files over.

The Nook is lighter than a paperback and uses the eInk technology. Now I can catch up on my backlog of ereading. Well, most of it. Some of the publications I already had wouldn't convert. Pity. It takes me eons to get through anything on the PC. When I read, I like to go relax. The ereader is just like a book, but it's a whole library in one.

I found this free software called Calibre http://calibre-ebook.com/ which will convert files from one ereader type to another. Some of the Kindle files it wouldn't convert and a couple of the others. Boo!

I read Translations end of August and I had downloaded my own story from B&N, then read it off my Nook. Cool. Rad cool. It was my best reading ever. I did voices and hand gestures and all that. Maybe because I was so thrilled to have downloaded my own stuff from a bookstore. Maybe all the previous practice paid off.

Anyway, there's a B&N less than two minutes from my house, and I meet my local crit group there every couple of weeks. I can read books for free in the store on my Nook while I wait for them to show up. It'll be an incentive to get there early. :) Plus, I can read library books on the Nook, and even lend other Nook readers one of my books for a few weeks, or borrow one.

Will this replace all my book buying? Probably not, (I just purchased book 2 in George RR Martin's series on sale at Target and preordered Tanya Huff's 5th book in the Valor/Confederation series -- if I'm going to pay as much or more for an ebook, I'll opt for the regular book) but it may lessen that growing pile in the corner over there ... I think it's about to eat me.

I love that I have so many of you on my Nook. I carry you around and show you off, say how I know almost every author on it. I love the touch technology ... almost like turning a page, but a little more fun.

So, do you have an ereader? I'm definitely a convert.

Smoke in the Desert

2011-09-09T02:20:00.000-07:00

Some of you've seen me tweet or FB about the smoke out this way the past few weeks. There's a wildfire up at Warm Springs, a good 60 or more miles away, but the wind is just right to make it smokey all the way down here. Thank you, wind [that was facetious, in case you missed it].

So here's my Pine Mountain Observatory photo journal from last weekend. Clicking on any photo will enlarge the view.

Here's proof of the smoke. I took this photo last Friday at Pine Mountain Observatory.

So we begin our final month of the observatory season. Four more weeks to go then I get a little wiggle room ... maybe. Probably not as I push on with my epublishing endeavors.

Friday night was cold. I wasn't sorry I had dug all my thermals out and put them on. I was sorry I didn't opt for a sweater over a long sleeved shirt, and I really must invent knee warmers. Once my knees get cold, I'm done, done, done. Or I need to invent some sort of down igloo contraption that's wearable. Here's some moon shots I took Friday night.

The Moon is just to the right of that tallest tree

Had a lot of great visitors, as usual. One little guy on Saturday had a great imagination. He looked at the Moon through my telescope for a really long time and started having a conversation with the astronauts he imagined up there. Then he was telling me about the dinosaurs there, too. I was so amused and entertained, I asked him whether the dinosaurs had spaceships. To which he said, yes. We then had a very interesting conversation about spacefaring dinosaurs. Sparked a few story ideas for me. Thanks, cool little dude.

Here's photos of the Moon from Saturday.

And some of Jupiter. I learned that using a blue filter cuts the glare and lets the red stripes pop out. I'll play more with it next week, attempting to get better shots than this.

Without a filter - can see three of the Galilean moons -- Callisto, Ganymede & Europa

With the filter -- not as bright, but you can make out some of the red stripes

Here's some extra shots.

I found this shadow very interesting Saturday evening. There were no clouds, so it was the low sun and the contours of the mountain making that shape. Took this on Saturday. You can see there was a lot less smoke. Thank goodness. I'm getting tired of smelling burning trees.

These are highland cattle at a farm on the way out to PMO.

Ran into some deer. Baby. Center of photo.

Here's Momma below me, who was getting ready to kick my ass if I didn't get out from between her and baby.

There was a coyote in the middle of the road on my way home Saturday night. Had to make a screeching stop to miss him. It was pitch black, so no photo. No cougar spottings yet, but as one visitor put it, that doesn't mean they aren't watching me. It'd be very interesting if cougars had telescopes.

The Russians had trouble with their rockets last week, so the space station may be abandoned come November if they can't fix the problem. We grounded the shuttle, so no help from us. At least, there are still the spacefaring dinosaurs on the Moon.

In sci-fi TV news, I heard that Syfy already scrapped Blood & Chrome. So, there will be no BSG series this fall, except maybe on the internet. What has a girl got to do for some space opera? Sigh. Maybe an internet space opera channel is the way to go. And, Happy Star Trek Day, one day late. Sept 8, 1966: Star Trek premiered on television. TV boldly went where it had never gone before. What a legacy.

Have a great weekend.

What Made a Difference Recently

2011-09-07T02:06:00.000-07:00

It's easy to get down now and then. We're in a tough industry and have to deal with a lot of rejection and judgement. It can take it's toll.

Somehow we have to pick ourselves back up and keep going. Somehow we have to find a way to make the stings not matter so much. Is it easy? No.

Usually I call up my list of successes. Most aren't tangible, but I have fond memories of winning over excited fans at readings and I have received some nice rejections. I thumb through it all when I need to.

Recently, I read John Locke's book, How I sold One Million eBooks in Five Months. Although the techniques and tips are why I purchased the book, what made it worth the purchase was the boost in confidence the pages gave me. The whole world doesn't have to love us, and they're not going to.

We must discard the haters, as they're not our target audience. Obviously. We should write to the people who love us. And, some will. Those are the people we're to pay attention to.

A few days later, most of my crit group was at our monthly Guild meeting (where I read Translations). I had sent them the first three chapters of the novella I plan to publish after Semper Audacia, and they said to me that they didn't think I needed them any more. It was a nice thing to hear, but I won't attempt writing without garnering their opinions.

So my advice is, hang onto the golden moments like a vice and never let go. Replay them as often as you need to. We will all grow and improve and sometimes hit home runs. We tend to ignore those moments and concentrate on the darker ones. Well, at least I do. My husband will tell you how I obsess over those, which is why he thinks spouses of writers need a support group, too. Thanks to him for listening, ad nausea, to all my obsessing.

And, thanks to all you lovely bloggy people. You make this journey easier, too. Couldn't do it without you :) Major thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this group.

Those to Follow and 7x7

2011-09-05T02:49:00.000-07:00

It's a holiday weekend in the US. I'm out in the wilds of Oregon somewhere ...

Here are some great blogs you should pop in on and follow:

Libby Heily - Libby recently published two books of short stories, which I love. They're fresh and different, like she is. She's adjusting to a new schedule, but she's worth a follow.

Suze, The Girl Wizard - Many provoking and thoughtful posts that transform everyday life into an art form. Suze is a great read and a great follow

Christine Rains - Fun and fresh writer with a bold streak. I've enjoyed following her adventures.

Tonja, Tonja's Musings - Her journey has been wonderful to follow. She's genuine and writes about her life in tidbits that are relateable.

L.G. Smith, Of Bards and Prophets - Another wonderful follow. Inspiring and insightful posts.

Thank you to C. Lee McKenzie of The Write Game for bestowing the One to Follow Award on Me. It makes me happy to pass it on.

From L. G. Smith of Bards and Prophets I received the 7x7 award.

Most Beautiful -- Every post featuring other writers and their work. They deserve more accolades than they get. Whether Indie or otherwise, writing a book takes the same amount of work. Everybody works hard at it.

Most Popular - Lost in Space from the AtoZ challenge. It went viral and continues to get the most views every week. Guess I should do more old sci-fi TV show posts.

Most Helpful - Story Trailers on a Shoestring Budget. This was one of the first posts I wrote for this blog. Way back when ... when crickets sang. :) This will have to be updated sometime in the future as my video gal is searching out new software as the new version of moviemaker is not as good as the old XP version. Hope she finds one soon. Stopover is going to need a new trailer since the rewrite.

Most Controversial -- I really don't post anything controversial, unless you want to count discussions on epublishing. But i don't. So instead, I present my first post on Gangsta cows. Meet the Gangsta Cows.

Most Surprisingly Successful - At the Keyboard. Why this post continues to get views every week is beyond my understanding. It was a run-of-the-mill progress post. Shrug.

Most Underrated - All my posts featuring photos from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Click on 'Met' under labels. The reason I got to go there last fall still makes me sad, but it was good to be in Manhattan again. It'd been 20 years since I moved away.

Most Pride Worthy - I loved writing this post. It was a blast. It's been getting a lot of hits this week. Don't know why. Local Astronomers Presumed Missing.

To:

C. Lee McKenzie
Madeleine, Scribble & Edit
Golden Eagle
Alex J. Cavanaugh
Michael Offutt, SLC Kismet
Miranda Hardy
Tara Tyler, Tara Tyler Talks

To everyone who stops by and reads my blog, thanks for the support. This ride is progressing beautifully because of all of you. To you I present the "You Rock" award.

Give yourselves a round of applause. :) I'm giving you a standing ovation.

Valor is My Choice

2011-09-02T00:53:00.000-07:00

I read and write in many subgenres of science fiction, including fantasy. There is one space opera series which really stands out to me and which I claim is my favorite. It has many things going for it including a strong female lead and her ability to overcome impossible situations. As I've said, I really enjoy a story where the main character keeps seeking and never gives up.

Visit me over at Wicked Writers to find out what it is. HERE

Gangsta Cow Spotting

2011-08-31T02:47:00.000-07:00

Clicking on any photo will enlarge it.

It'd been way too long since I ran into my buds, the Gangsta cows. This past weekend I shared many cow stories with visitors. Hey, it's the American West. Everybody has cow stories.

The paragliders came back in full force, too. Look at all of them.

And, I bumped into a pair of antelope on my way up the mountain last Friday. It's a very short video.

A beautiful sunset.

A waning moon.

Jupiter is rising. Here's a photo from week before last of Jupiter rising with the waning moon.

Here's a photo of Jupiter and its four Galilean moons: Callisto, Ganymede, Io and Europa. It's not a great photo. Hopefully as Jupiter gets higher in the sky earlier in the night, I'll get better photos of it.

Here's a video of a twinkly star. When they're low on the horizon, they change colors and brightness, like a holiday light. I enjoy watching them through the telescope. It's the atmosphere which makes them do that, the same effect which causes the sun to break into brilliant color when it sets. A twinkly start on a much larger scale. It's very short.

I met some really awesome people over the past few weeks. I consider myself fortunate that the observatory attracts so many interesting people. Quite a few young people came with avid interests in astronomy. More than one young mind told me they were going to grow up to be an astronomer. I love hearing kids with an interest in science and I do my best to get them even more interested.

Sometimes I feel the season is starting to get long, but it never fails that some fabulous people drop by to re-energize me and remind me why I have the most awesome job on the planet.

Look at what these awesome visitors did. They added yeti art to the yeti houses.

Rooting for the Little Guy to Win

2011-08-29T00:48:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was single, longing for some guy I thought the sun and moon rose on to notice me. That's part of what my story Translations is about, but only part. Most times, I write about characters dealt a lousy deck of cards looking for a way out or just looking and not knowing what it is they're searching for. Somewhere along the line they come across something that changes how they think or perceive their world. Often I take my character from being insignificant to significant in some way. Maybe only in their own eyes, or through a distorted lens, and they might not get what they thought they wanted.

Are those the types of stories you enjoy reading? Not all of my stories are set in outer space. Neither Plantgirl, nor Translations is. Small Graces shares that same search by the main character who ends up finding something she didn't know she wanted. There are links at the sidebar to download these stories from Smashwords, Barnes & Noble and iTunes, and they aren't going to cost you any money. They're all free. Short and free. So, they won't take up much of your time either.

Translations covers this same theme of searching and not always getting what was wanted. Nora is desperately in love with Mitchell Allen. He's trapped inside a tomb. She's trapped by Mitchell's brilliance. She gets a small taste of what she wants, but only a taste, and not exactly the one she was looking for..

Last Thursday, I read my story Translations at an event sponsored by my local writers guild. It was my best reading ever. I met new friends and talked to old ones about my new decisions. A local fellowship of other authors is a great thing. A safe environment to learn to read to an audience is another great thing. I am doubly fortunate in that my local library and writers group both provide opportunities.

The story I have coming out this fall is similar. Leda has to overcome obstacles to get what she wants. Some are physical, some are mental and emotional. I hired an editor last week. Semper Audacia, a space opera novelette, will be my next release. Here's the cover I've been working on.

Here's the trailer, made by my wonderful friend, Kimberly Nicole. She's very talented and I'm very grateful to have her on my team.

I'd like to repay all you wonderful people who have supported me in this endeavor, and I'd like to say thanks with a special offer on Semper. There's one of two ways to get it. Either leave your email in the comments, or send me your email at mpaxauthor@gmail.com.

I'd also like to pay the rocking writing community back by helping you get the word out about you, your blog, your website, your story and/or your book. For more details, hit on the 'Guest Post' tab above.

Mbuwn, Relic by Douglas L. Preston and Lincoln Child

2011-08-26T02:46:00.000-07:00

Today on Fantastic Friday Writers, we're writing about creatures. Yes, I love aliens. I also love giant, man-eating reptiles, Gamera, and large evil fish. Instead of any of those, I'm going to write about the Mbuwn from Relic, by Douglas L. Preston and Lincoln Child. This book has so much going for it. If you haven't read it, you should. It was creepy with archeology and history thrown into the mix. The creature, mbuwn, really scared me.

Named "Mbwun" (translation: "He Who Walks On All Fours"). Description, at best, is a "scaly primate." Characterized by an unusual smell and glowing red eyes. The DNA of this creature includes gecko genes. Is described as being "as fast as a greyhound with the intelligence of a human."

I'll leave the rest of the revelation about the creature to the book, because it will spoil the story if I go too far. I enjoyed the sequel as well. Definitely some fun reading.

See what other Fantastic Friday Wrtiers have to say: Alex J. Cavanaugh, Elizabeth Mueller, Anastasia V. Pergakis, J.D. Brown, Deirdre Eden Coppel and Jeffrey Beesler.

Upcoming blogfest: Worst Movies Ever, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Listing the ten worst movies you've ever seen. For more information and to sign up click on Alex's name.

What creatures have you run across which have impressed you? Any favorite creatures?

What about robots? I have a fun little robot game paying homage to our mechanical friends on my website. ODE TO THE ROBOT. If you'd like to stop by.

Books and Authors Which Led Me Down the Writer Path

2011-08-24T00:21:00.000-07:00

As soon as I learned to read, I was a voracious reader. My mother took us to the library every week, and I think I read just about everything in the children's section. My favorites were stories about horses. Walter Farley occupied many hours of my childhood. My favorite book, Man O'War, I read about 5,000 times. The first story I ever wrote [I was about 8] was about a horse named Wesco. I don't recall anything else about it other than it was about a horse.

Wonderful as those stories were, they weren't what made me want to be a writer. The foundation was laid by such wonderful reads as Willy Wonka, James and the Giant Peach, Ramona the Pest, A Wrinkle in Time, The Phantom Tollbooth and Pippi Longstocking. I really loved Pippi. The spark came when my grandmother gave me a hard bound [which I still have and still read] Anne of Green Gables. Anne's adventures and imagination made me want to invent worlds like hers. It was around then stories began swirling in my head, inventing themselves over and over. Like they do now. Difference is, now I write them down.

The sparks which led me to science fiction were Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey. When I was younger I thought the title was 2001: A Space Oddity. lol Makes no difference. The story inspires me to this day. And, two of his short stories: The Nine Billion Names of God and Encounter at Dawn. More sparks came from Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

What about you? What author[s] / book [s] inspired you to write?

The Spark Blogfest, hosted by Christine Tyler of The Writer Coaster.

My Favorite Star Treks

2011-08-22T00:06:00.000-07:00

If you're here for the Spark blogfest, I'll be posting for that on Wednesday.

Narrowing this down to just five favorite episodes was really hard. For me, the original series was the best. It had the best characters and I liked how the solutions were always within my grasp, so I could play along trying to figure out how Kirk and pals were going to get out of trouble.

City on the Edge of Forever

After accidentally overdosing on a powerful stimulant, Dr. McCoy acts erratically and disappears through the Guardian of Forever, a newly-discovered time portal on a remote planet. Kirk and Spock follow after learning that McCoy somehow changed history. Arriving in the 1930s, the duo meet Edith Keeler, a New York social worker who gives them a place to stay. As the days pass, and McCoy is nowhere to be seen, Kirk finds himself falling in love with Keeler... but Spock discovers that Keeler must die to restore the timeline. Spock built a radio in this episode, which one of my cats found exceedingly interesting. It was then I began suspecting she has a crush on Mr. Spock. The pointed ears maybe?

Trouble With Tribbles

Tribbles--purring, limbless, and fertile--disrupt the exploitation of a disputed planet between the Klingons and Federation. I especially loved Mr. Scott's line: "They called the Enterprise a garbage scow."

Amok Time

Kirk violates Starfleet orders in order to take Mr. Spock home to Vulcan to be married, only to find himself thrust into a duel with his first officer for possession of the bride. The ending is so classic.

Plato's Stepchildren

This episode never fails to make me laugh. The crew of the Enterprise encounters an ageless and mischievous race of psychic humanoids who claim to have organized their society around Ancient Greek ideals. Well known for the kiss between Uhura and Kirk.

Journey to Babel

While transporting dignitaries to an important peace conference the Enterprise is pursued by a mysterious vessel and an assassin is discovered among the passengers. This is my ultimate favorite episode. It had several different things going on, which made it more complex than usual.

Honorable mentions:

Space Seed -- Where we meet Khan.

Enterprise Incident -- where Kirk & Spock dress up like Romulans.

For the Earth is Hollow and I have Touched the Sky -- First off, I just love the title of this episode. It's a Dr. McCoy centric episode.

Mirror, Mirror -- Just love evil Spock.

This Side of Paradise -- classic.

Arena -- Gorn vs. The Kirk

Spock's Brain -- Come on, it was hilarious that Spock's brain got stolen. One of my favorite moments in Star Trek is McCoy telling the Kirk that Spock's brain was stolen.

Thanks to Ellie Garratt, host of the Star Trek Blogfest, blogging at Ellie Garratt.

What are your favorite Star Treks? Your favorite character?

Get Visible Off the Internets

2011-08-19T00:27:00.000-07:00

I'm over at Wicked Writers writing about self-promoting off the internets. Pop over and we'll talk. HERE. Hope to see you there.

Atlantis's Landing Ends an Era, but Exploration Goes on Headed for Jupiter Finding Mud on Mars

2011-08-17T02:21:00.000-07:00

It was sad when the space shuttle Atlantis landed, ending, for the moment, manned space flight for NASA. I was very young when Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon, but I remember that moment vividly. Still arguing with Robert Miller everyday whether the first day of the week was Monday or Sunday [I stubbornly insisted it was Monday], I could grasp that putting people on the Moon was an amazing feat. Made me gasp and stare in wonder, teased my curiosity which has lasted a lifetime. So, I felt it was a step backward to shelve the shuttle and start hitching rides on the Soyuz, while working on a new rocket system which seems more like Apollo and Saturn than a step forward.

Yet exploration continues on. Our robotic counterparts go where we can not and find amazing things. The Mars Orbiter found evidence of mud on Mars, indicative of flowing water.

Juno launched on Friday, August 5th, beginning its four year journey to Jupiter, where it will study Jupiter with the same intensity Cassini continues to examine Saturn and its moons.

Dawn has reached Vesta, one of the largest asteroids/minor planets in the Asteroid Belt. Once it has spent some time with Vesta, Dawn will move on to Ceres. Maybe the minor planets aren't as flashy as the main planets to most, but I find them fascinating and want to know more.

I'm definitely fascinated by what they keep finding and will stay tuned for what they find next.

Observatory Season Past Halfway Mark

2011-08-15T00:25:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the observatory season winds toward finished. About six more weeks to go. August is always our busiest month -- weather is good and tons of objects to show off even in the smaller scopes. The Perseids meteor shower was obscured by the full moon this year.

Butterflies


Bad picture of me, but hey, here I am.

Waxing Moon, taken through my telescope, 8/5/11


Detail of the Seas of Tranquility and Serenity, taken through my scope, 8/5/11

Saturn through my scope w/ the new eyepiece. Saturn's getting low, so hard to see clearly at this point.

Moon 8/6/11

This past weekend was full Moon. I worked Friday night, peak of the Perseids Meteor Shower. We saw a few big, fiery meteors earlier in the evening, then nothing. The Moon even made part of the Big Dipper disappear, it was so bright. There was little to show through the telescopes except the Moon. Then clouds rolled in, adding insult to injury. I took Saturday off to be with the husband unit.

Sunset 8/12/11

Moonrise 8/12/11

Almost full Moon, 8/12/11, taken through my telescope

Click on any photo above for a larger view.

**BONUS**

Here's a little tidbit on a possible UFO found in the Baltic Sea in early August - A Swedish treasure hunter found a strange formation on the floor of the Baltic Sea, speculating it could be an underwater “Stonehenge,” while others say it could be a UFO. In fact, ocean exploration experts tell PM, the sonar image in question may not be trustworthy, and the explanation for the formation (if it's real) is probably rather ordinary.

BUY ME, BUY ME, BUY ME!

2011-08-12T02:23:00.000-07:00

There's a marketing tactic that doesn't work all that well, continuously bombarding folks with a hard sell approach of what you're hawking. Folks get it from everywhere all day long, so it's not so difficult for them to tune you out. And they will.

Investing time and interacting with people works better, in other words selling you instead of your wares. And, there is a world beyond the internet. Get business cards printed with your web address and / or blog and / or email. I got a set without phone and address with my website, blog and email that I can hand out to whoever. I hand them out up at the observatory and around town. My husband passes them out, too.

I've only just begun promoting a product, so am no expert, other than just be visible as a reminder to folks that you're there. Lots of generous authors on the nets will volunteer to help you out. Be generous back. People like to help other generous people.

Most importantly, produce a great product. Reviews help, and the ones I've received from people who don't know me at all have been really rewarding. And those from people who do know me, too. They've said the nicest things. :D

It's about connecting with your fan base, a true connection. Those are the meat and potatoes of what you're doing. It takes time and effort, it's neither instant nor easy, like pushing a boulder up hill.

Thanks to all of you out there who have made the boulder a little lighter. You rock! I truly appreciate it.

How about you, any words of wisdom on promotion or marketing? Audience building?

See what other Fantastic Friday Wrtiers have to say: Alex J. Cavanaugh, Elizabeth Mueller, Anastasia V. Pergakis, J.D. Brown, Deirdre Eden Coppel and Jeffrey Beesler.

Blood and Chrome, Fall 2011 Sci-Fi TV

2011-08-10T02:06:00.000-07:00

Syfy has ordered another Battlestar Galactica prequel called Blood and Chrome, takes place in the 10th year of the first Cylon war. As the battle between humans and their creation, a sentient robotic race, rages across the 12 colonial worlds, a brash rookie viper pilot enters the fray. Ensign William Adama, barely in his 20s and a recent Academy graduate, finds himself assigned to the newest battlestar in the Colonial fleet… the Galactica. The talented but hot-headed risk-taker soon finds himself leading a dangerous top secret mission that, if successful, will turn the tide of the decade long war in favor of the desperate fleet.

Here's concept art released for the series:

Yay on space opera, but I'm not entirely excited. I'm not enamored of prequels at all, for one. For two, Caprica was awful. At least in this one there will be some space battles. That's something.

Also coming up with sci-fi-ey themes:

Terra Nova. FOX. Centers on the Shannons, an ordinary family from 2149 when the planet is dying who are transported back 85 million years to prehistoric Earth where they join Terra Nova, a colony of humans with a second chance to build a civilization. I'm really looking forward to this despite the logic flaw of why they'd chose to send people back in time to this time period to save them. Maybe they explain that in the first episode though. Then there's the fact it's on Fox, where they enjoy screwing up the success of sci-fi shows.

Once Upon a Time. ABC. Centers on a woman with a troubled past who is drawn into a small town in Maine where the magic and mystery of Fairy Tales just may be real.

Grimm. NBC. Crime solving drama where the main character is a descendent of the Brothers Grimm. Latest reports say this won't be starting until November.

Fables. Based in a world where fairy tale characters have been forced out of their homes by a mysterious enemy known as the Adversary, and now live in a hidden community in New York City known as Fabletown. The series' first storyline followed Fabletown's sheriff, a reformed and pardoned Big Bad Wolf, who investigates the murder of Snow White's party-girl sister, Rose Red.

Untitled Star Wars TV Series. On hold for 3 more years due to budget problems reported June 2011. This could be cool if they can figure out how to produce it without a budget equivalent to running a medium sized country.

Seems fairy tales are invading the airwaves this fall.

This past Sunday was the season finale of Falling Skies. That was fast. It was pretty good. They wrapped up something I'd been wondering for awhile ... what happened to Karen. The gang of survivors had some successes and failures in their offensive against the aliens. Now we have to wait until summer 2012 to see where they're going with this story.

So what are your thoughts on another BSG? The fairy tale shows? Anything interesting you? Anything not?

Dark Spell and Her Favoured Captain and Ereaders

2011-08-08T01:26:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Mueller's Darkspell is coming out this fall.

Winter Sky believes she is everything ordinary . . . until she is kissed by Alex Stormhold.

As seer of Stormhold Coven, Alex is sworn to be Winter’s protector against the darkness that hunts her. Violently thrust into a magical realm she always thought impossible, she stumbles upon a disturbing secret of her own.

Will love prove thicker than magic?

Elizabeth is a fellow Fantastic Friday Writer. You can find out more about her and her wonderful book at her website and her blog.

Francine Howarth signed a contract for a contemporary romance due out Fall 2012. Meanwhile, she has released Her Favoured Captain, a novella, on Kindle.

It's 18th Century England and news of an arranged betrothal shatters Emerald Lady Penhavean’s dreams of one day wedded for love. Her instinct to rebel against marriage to a man more than twice her age causes severe conflict between her and her brother, but Lord Penhavean insists she will marry the Earl of Moorby no matter what: with or without her consent. To ensure her compliant to his bidding he resorts to cruel measure and destroys the one thing she loves above all others.

Distraught, she flees to the creek with intention of setting herself free from fate worse than death. There she encounters a stranger, a young buccaneer of wise if witty countenance. Something in his eyes and tone of voice stir feelings Emerald cannot ignore, and life once again seems preferable to that of death. But how can she now return to the house and the fate that awaits her, when she knows her heart finally captured by a man she could truly love?

Available at Amazon. Francine blogs HERE.

Congrats to Elizabeth and Francine, all success to you both.

Upcoming Blogfests:

The Spark Blogfest, hosted by Christine Tyler of The Writer Coaster, August 22-26. What book made you realize you were doomed to be a writer? What author was the spark of inspiration for your first ms?

Star Trek As We Know it Blogfest, August 22, hosted by Ellie Garratt. Posting top 5 characters and episodes and/or movies. Sign up HERE.

Lots of festing that week.

So, seems the birthday fairy [months away] will grant me the wish of an ereader. :) I should get through the ebooks piling up on my hard drive much faster then. Any thoughts on Nook vs. Kindle or another ereader?

Ghost Stories

2011-08-05T03:46:00.000-07:00

Do you believe in ghosts? I discuss an experience I had with something 'out of the norm' HERE.

Pop over and add in any experiences you've had. Then if you care to, you can go to the home page and vote in the poll as to whether you believe in ghosts or not.

Your participation is greatly appreciated. :)

In the last poll, Serenity was the ship most folks wanted to travel on, followed closely by the Tardis and Moya.

Also spent some time moving things around on the website.

You all have a great weekend. :)

Self-Publishing as an Audience Building Tool

2011-08-04T02:47:00.000-07:00

Writing over at Wicked Writers today.

The topic was the new role of agents ushering authors through the self-publishing process. Which I confess to not getting ... why would a writer need an agent to self-publish? I didn't find anything on the topic. If you've heard of this, please inform me.

I don't think an agent is necessary, other than they may be trying to maneuver into some role there as more writers go into epublishing. At any rate, I wrote about using epublishing as an audience building tool instead. If you care to pop by, you can read the article HERE

New Toys: Oxygen III Filter and Naglers

2011-08-03T02:23:00.000-07:00

I confess, this is a nerdy astronomy post. The past two weekends up at Pine Mountain Observatory have been pretty much ideal -- clear nights, warm, and late rising or no moon.

Two weeks ago, another volunteer lent me his 11mm nagler, which is a very nice eyepiece, an eyepiece that made it seem like I had a whole new telescope. Amazing. Simply amazing. The magnification was outstanding. So much so, I told my fellow star guide I was willing to trade him my car for it. He was kind enough to let me borrow it the rest of the summer. :D Very, very nice toy.

The next day, the oxygen III filter I had ordered arrived in the mail. Yay! Another new toy. I'd been waiting on it and had gotten a great deal on it through Amazon of all places. An oxygen III filter makes certain nebulae pop and easier to see. Got my first ever view of the veil nebula on my own. It's very difficult to detect without a filter. Now I can see it in all its glory. Nice.

Because the weather improved so much, the observatory has gotten much busier, what I call crazy-assed busy. As long as the crowds have an interest, it's fun. But they get crazy with their flashlights and there's something about more people which makes people behave less ideally. I still want a bullhorn. The other volunteers thought I was kidding, but I wasn't. "TURN OFF THE FLASHLIGHTS. NO WHITE LIGHT! QUIT KiCKING ROCKS. QUIT THROWING ROCKS. GET YOUR DOG'S HEAD OUT OF MY TELESCOPE. SHUT OFF YOUR CELLPHONE OR GO DOWN TO THE GIFT SHOP! PUT OUT THE DOOBIE!" I'm not joking on the last one either.

Here's some photos:

Because Saturn is getting lower in the sky, the views of it aren't as clear. Heat and other atmospheric conditions interfere with clear viewing and a hot telescope. I took this through the 24" telescope.

Most Loved and Most Hated Film Adaptations

2011-08-01T00:10:00.000-07:00

Books I've loved that were turned into movies I've loved:

1. The newest Star Trek. I wasn't sure I'd like this, but I thought it was awesome.

2. 2001: a Space Odyssey. I saw the film first, which made me so curious, I read the book, and read it again and again. This is what turned me onto sci-fi. It made me wonder and made me think, and that's what I've always loved about it. I watch the movie again and again, and so, too, read the novel.

3. Sense & Sensibility. I enjoy this film version as much as the book. Both of which I read / watch over and over.

Most hated film adaptations:

1. Dune. I was skeptical that complicated book could be made into a 3 hour film and make sense. I sure was right. It couldn't. The only redeeming thing about it was the casting of Sting.

2. I think it was in the 1990's when this version of Mansfield Park came out. Strayed too much from the intent of the original novel, which made me hate it.

Watching the Harry Potter films makes me want to read the books. One day, I'll get around to it.

I've also heard Logan's Run and The Postman were excellent books and differed from the movies, so I'd like to read both of those books one of these days. Will go add them to my list in fact.

There have been plenty of other books to movies I've seen, but these were the ones that stood out. Any movies you've loved / hated that came from books? Any movies which prompted you to read the book?

Novel Films Blogfest, hosted by Madeleine of Scribble and Edit, August 1-3. Listing of novels, comics and plays that you have BOTH read and seen the film/ TV adaptations.

Display Driver Stopped Responding and Has Recovered.

2011-07-29T00:05:00.000-07:00

The above tech message is one I've been getting everyday lately. Siigh. Yes, brand new computer. I know enough to understand it's pointing at a software issue. Sometimes I really hate technology, it plagues me like space debris orbiting the Earth. Nonetheless, it's something that is always present, a part of life. Whether that tech is a rock driving a stake into the earth, or hands converting plant fibers into rope, or dark wizards conjuring up an army of golems, or a curious society launching a spaceship, technology is part of our lives and the world.

This week, Friday Fantastic Writers are buzzing about technology. Both science fiction and fantasy use technology. In fantasy it might be crystals and spells and cauldrons, but it's still technology.

In both, there is something that works outside the norm, whether Hogwarts or Stargates, some bit hovers outside our present understanding and technological advancement to drive the story in some way. So, how does the writer deal with this?

I consider technology one of the cores to world-building. Technology should mesh with the culture and status of the society. It should make sense with who they are. A true peace-loving people should not have developed weapons of mass destruction without a solid, logical reason.

As to tech making sense, I go beg the husband unit for help. He loves gadgets and that sort of thing, knows how to build them and fix them. I imagine what I want, he designs it. Usually.

Technology is something that needs as much care and attention by the writer as the main character, the mc's arc and plot. If you don't make a plausible argument or world for what you create, you could very well lose your audience.

In reality, technology often drives me crazy. In writing, I find inventing it to be another creative outlet. Do you ever invent tech for your stories?

See what other Fantastic Friday Wrtiers have to say: Alex J. Cavanaugh, Elizabeth Mueller, Anastasia V. Pergakis, J.D. Brown, Deirdre Eden Coppel and Jeffrey Beesler.

To Say Nothing of the Dog

2011-07-27T02:21:00.000-07:00

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis was a very enjoyable read with history, time travel, romance, dogs, cats, jumble sales, butlers, a row boat trip down the Thames and a lot of humor.

It's the story of Ned Henry who is badly in need of a rest. He's been shuttling between the 21st century and the 1940's searching for a Victorian atrocity called the bishop's bird stump. It's part of a project to restore the famed Coventry Cathedral, destroyed in a Nazi raid over a hundred years earlier. But then Verity Kindle, a fellow time traveler, inadvertently brings back something from the past. Now Ned must jump back to the Victorian era to help Verity put things right -- not only to save the project, but to prevent altering history itself.

Connie Willis is a multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards winner, and I felt as if I got some Jane Austen mixed into my sci-fi. As a Jane Austen fan [big time, bet you'd not guess that], this book was a winner for me. I'll definitely give Connie's other books a read.

Currently, I'm reading Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, which I'm getting much pleasure from. I like the complicated story he's weaving with a very large cast. His characters are interesting and so are all the plots. I've heard folks rave about George, so I bought this book to see what all he's about. So far, so good.

Blogfests

Novel Films Blogfest, hosted by Madeleine of Scribble and Edit, August 1-3. Listing of novels, comics and plays that you have BOTH read and seen the film/ TV adaptations. Madeleine provides a link on her site to help you pick out what you've seen and read.

My free reads have been accepted into the premium catalog, so soon they'll be available for download from B&N, Apple, Sony and more. Currently available in all ereader formats from Smashwords:

Small Graces / Translations / Plantgirl

Other recommended reads:

Burning Love by Nomar Knight. I first read this story as a serial on Nomar's blog. Raw, original, dark and creative, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nomar kept surprising me, which kept me wanting more. I now thrill in owning a copy of it to read through again. Available from Amazon.

Twist and Burn by Libby Heily. A collection of flash fiction. Having read several pieces by Libby on her blog, I look forward to delving into this collection. She's always original and usually quirky and surprising. I love quirky and odd.

Building Great Sentences

2011-07-25T02:21:00.000-07:00

I've been taking a dvd course, Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft, taught by Professor Brooks Landon of the University of Iowa, which I borrowed from my crit partner, Dennis Strachota -- a talented and interesting guy, Tendrak Theatre.

For awhile, I've sometimes felt something was missing from my writing, felt it was stilted and flat. This series of 24 lectures is solving this problem for me.

"Most of the sentences we write can be improved by adding propositions which help explain the sentence, or by adding details which clarify information it advances"

The additions, however, must be helpful, logical and easy to follow. Doesn't mean we add on tangents or phrases that distract the reader from the purpose of our sentence and scene.

"Cumulative sentences have the ability to add information that actually makes the sentence easier to read and make it more satisfying, flying in the face of the received idea that cutting words rather than adding them is the most effective way to improve writing."

Prof. Landon says, sometimes less is not more, more is more and in many cases, more is what our writing needs.

My natural inclination has always been toward this kind of writing, so I feel set free and more confident about unleashing my preferred style, voice and expression, especially now that I have the tools to execute what's in my head onto the page. It was a very 'aha' moment for me.

Therefore, it's a series I'd recommend. It's currently on sale. From The Teaching Company. I'm glad Dennis was kind enough to lend it to me.

Have you had any 'aha' moments lately?

Full Moon and Hanging at the Observatory

2011-07-22T02:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was full Moon. Worse than that, it was rainy and damp. So, we had clouds to deal with, too. The rain went off, but the Moon made even the Owl star cluster a figment of the imagination. For a larger view of any photo, click on the photo.

Can see the rain on the mountain just left of center. Right of center, too.

Moody skies over the high desert.

Skies started to clear and the sunlight hit this fluffy cloud.

The rain did have the high desert blooming. Not only were there flowers everywhere, they smelled fantastic.

Wildflowers everywhere

We only got one telescope out, because we didn't have many guests plus there wouldn't be much to show. Here we are bundled up in our winter gear on a mid July night.

I'm the left most person.

The moon rose with an orange flourish over the 32" telescope's dome. It was really beautiful. Lightning kept flashing over the southwest, but it never came closer. The dampness had dew on the telescope quick, however, and had me feeling cold and damp quick. Packed it up early. But only after I got a few shots of the Moon. Just for you guys.

Moonrise

Full Moon

Saturn through the 24". Four of its moons were visible, but
they don't show up in the photo

The color comes from the moon filter.

Saturday was worse. Clouds roared in with a vengeance swallowing up the sky. Then it started to rain. Packed up quick. Really don't want the mirrors on the telescopes getting wet.

I think these are called alpine lupins, but don't take my word for it. The mountain was covered with them everywhere. One benefit to some rain. The second being the lessening of allergy symptoms.

A few shots of the moody sky.

And a movie of the Moon being swallowed by clouds.

Meet Alien McGee

2011-07-21T02:29:00.000-07:00

Posting on getting to know characters over at Wicked Writers today. I'd be happy to see your smiling self. HERE.