SciFi Q of the Day: Convicts or Corporations?

Posted on September 17, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

Location, Location, Location

SciFi Question of the Day: If you were planning a new planetary colony, but were short on funds, which would be preferable: Accepting ex-cons willing to pay triple what the other colonists are contributing, or ceding 51% of your colony’s interest to a corporate sponsor?

Facebook Answers

  Geri Bressler I’d trust ex-cons over a corporation any day and twice on Sunday

  Robert B. Fredricksen Lets see, you have one group that would kill with out a second thought for your and your loved ones money. And then there are ex-cons who have served thier time and are looking for a place to fit in and will work hard to get the job done. I’m with Geri on this one.

  Gawain Ouronos ex-cons of course; at least they (ideally) are trying to restart their lives without the burden of their status. This is a perfect way for them to “start over”.

I wouldn’t even cede 1% of the colony’s interest to a corporate sponsor if I could. Especially since if, for some reason, it would be advantageous for the corporation to not have you there any longer…

  Christopher Dorda That’s simple! What do you want in 29 years? Australia or the USA?

  Daniel Beard Corporate sponsor. so long as their representative can easily be given a long walk out of a small airlock.

  Gwendolyn Wilkins I’d take the ex-cons so long as I could screen them first.

Google Plus Answers:

  Miaka Kirino  I’d rather accept the ex-cons, though I’d make sure to carefully vet them, and add a stipulation to their contract that if they committed major crimes again they’d be jailed and loose their rights to whatever share of the colony they owned.

  Timothy Lake  It seems to me you have the same result: well-heeled criminals influencing your society, or well-heeled criminals influencing your society.

Truthfully, if I were telling the story, I’d take the ex-cons. There’s a great back-story in there. How did they get enough to contribute so much more than honest citizens? Are they secretly still criminals?

  Timothy Lake  oooh Oooh!! How about corporate-sponsored criminals?

Right. Sorry – this is supposed to be fiction, huh? 😉

  Caz Abbott  I’ll take the ex cons as long as they’re not violent offenders.

I would love to hear what you think! Even if you are reading this post a year or more after publishing, I hope you will leave a comment with your own ideas on this topic.

The previous SciFi Q of the Day is Restricting Voting Rights

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-Uk

The next SciFi Q of the Day is The Mayans Were Right

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Interview With Nicole Wolverton

Posted on September 13, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

Nicole Wolverton reads incessantly, feeding her odd hunger for random bits of knowledge—it makes her an excellent candidate for Jeopardy. Though she’s always wanted to be writer, Nicole has served as a money-whisperer for health and human-serving related nonprofits, wrangler of Italian pastry and accountants (not at the same time), and schlepper of unloved platform shoes. Currently she keeps a roof over her head as a freelance writer.

She shares the roof in question with her husband, dog, and two cats. Her spare time is spent on the Schuylkill River as a member of the Philadelphia Flying Phoenix women’s dragon boat team (2010 Club Crew Nationals silver medalists) and sky diving. Nicole has an avid interest in fiber arts and locally grown foods. She owns Farm to Philly, a website dedicated to eating the Philadelphia area foodshed.

Her work appears on a variety of websites and blogs as well as print publications, including Black Heart Magazine, The Molotov Cocktail, and Penduline, among others. Nicole attends Temple University and has a certificate in grantwriting from The Grantsmanship Center.

1)  Have you ever taken the test to be on Jeopardy?

I have not, but my great-aunt was actually on Jeopardy (before I was born). She won a year’s supply of Turtle Wax. Maybe one day I’ll follow in her footsteps. Of course, I don’t own a car, so I’m not sure what I’d do with the Turtle Wax…give it to my husband, maybe. Or wax my scooter.

2)  What was your path to publication?

I started like most people do: querying agents for my manuscript. But The Trajectory of Dreams is an odd novel. It’s an adult psychological thriller told by an unreliable narrator (a la Fight Club), but there’s also a science component to it—sleep science, the science of space travel. Not in a super technical way, but it’s there. And that really made it appear as a hard sell to a wide market, which is perhaps not the thing agents are looking for in a writer’s first novel. Bitingduck Press is a relatively new press that is focused on fiction and non-fiction in the sciences, and they have a solid reputation thanks to their acquisition/merger with Boson Books, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Bitingduck Press loved the novel! They wanted some revisions to the first half of the novel to change the pacing, which took a few months, but ultimately I’m quite happy with the book.

Trajectory comes out in March 2013, but already the path to my next possible publication (a young adult horror novel) is quite different, but I’m not at liberty to discuss that just yet.

3) How long have you been working on The Trajectory of Dreams?

Let’s see…I think I started outlining Trajectory in November of 2010 (although I got the idea while reading Mary Roach’s Packing for Mars, which came out in August 2010). The first draft took only maybe two months, and I spent another few months revising. I queried for a little bit, revised again…queried a bit more, revised again. I think I finished the edits for Bitingduck Press at the end of July 2012. So, off and on, for a little over a year and a half.

The ARC of The Trajectory of Dreams is currently available via Netgalley, so if you have an account there, consider requesting a review copy. I’ve received really great feedback so far from readers and the writers from whom I’ve requested cover blurbs.

4)  If your novel takes place on Mars, does that automatically qualify it to be put on the SciFi shelf?

A resounding no. The Trajectory of Dreams is set in Houston, Texas, but the novel I’m currently working on (the working title is Expiration Date) is set on Mars. It’s a young adult suspense novel. I guess in a way it could be pitched as SciFi because of its setting and maybe because of a few other details, but the plot doesn’t center around things I personally consider traditional SciFi.

5)  What is the relationship between thrillers, horror, and SciFi?

There’s an action-oriented story to tell that involves fear or a spooky unknown to some extent. There’s always an element of horror in what I write, whether it’s a thriller or something else. The first movie I can remember ever seeing is The Exorcist, so maybe I was warped early on.

6)  Are you working on another novel yet?

See question 4. I just finished the first draft of Expiration Date. I plan to start the revisions by the end of September and hopefully finish up toward the end of the year/beginning of next year. In the meantime, I’m considering some options for my next novel outline.

7)  What is Farm to Philly?

Farm to Philly is my little labor of love. It’s a group website I started in 2007 when I wanted to give the 100 Mile Diet (eating only foods from within a hundred mile radius of your home) a try. At the time, eating local wasn’t really super popular, so it could be a struggle to find locally milled flour or whatever. The website is devoted to talking about eating locally and sustainable living in the tri-state area (PA/NJ/DE)—where to find things, what to do with seasonal produce, etc. I’m really proud of the work we do there.

8)  Why is it a good idea to eat locally grown foods?

My initial answer to this was huge—it was a five paragraph diatribe. Yes, I’m passionate about this. Anyway, the quick and dirty answer is this: supporting local farmers means keeping money in the local economy and keeping the tradition of the small farmer going (my grandparents were dairy farmers), and I like knowing where my food comes from because it gives me more control over the chemicals with which my food is grown. I have a ton more answers to this, but I’ll spare you. 🙂

9)  How did you get involved in Dragon Boat racing?

Purely by accident. A friend’s aunt started a rag-tag dragon boat team for a community race. I fell in love with the sport and joined the team I’m on now, which is a competitive women’s team that trains year round and competes internationally. I’ve been racing for about nine years, six with my current team. Philadelphia’s got a fantastic dragon boat community—probably one of the biggest in the U.S.

10)  What’s the best argument you have to convince someone to go skydiving with you?

You have less of a chance of dying during skydiving than dying while in a car. Simple, effective. Most people have thought about skydiving, but it seems scary and dangerous. I suppose it can be, but no more so than anything else. I love it…the feeling during freefall is inexplicable. Right now I’m confined to tandems, but I plan to get certified within the next couple years.

11) How did you hear about 5 Minute Fiction? Have you ever won?

I can’t remember how I came to follow Leah Petersen, the original moderator of 5 Minute Fiction, on Twitter, but I did…and that’s how I started participating. Yes, I’ve got a couple of wins under my belt from when 5 Minute Fiction was hosted on Leah’s website. A few of those wins were expanded to full short stories that have gone on to be published in lit magazines.

12)  Why did 5 Minute Fiction move from Leah Petersen’s blog to yours?

Leah found a wonderful publisher for her novel Fighting Gravity…and then got really busy with all the things that go along with launching a novel. Rather than let 5 Minute Fiction die, she found it a new home. I’m sure I’ll pass it along to a new home one day, too. 5 Minute Fiction is a really fun writing exercise, and it gets tweaked with each new owner—a challenge like that needs something new every now and then to survive and thrive.

13)  Who can participate in 5 Minute Fiction?

Anyone!! It’s five minutes out of your life, you know? Five minutes to be creative and think fast. It doesn’t matter if you consider yourself a writer or a poet or something else entirely. I don’t have much of a chance to participate anymore, but when I was competing there were days the things that came out of my head were terrible and some days that brought good things.

14)  What is your favorite electronic or digital writing tool?

It’s a toss-up. I love my laptop (and Scrivener), but I also find my Blackberry invaluable. If I get a plot bunny on the train or in the middle of the night, I grab my phone and type out the idea on the notepad. Every few weeks I transfer the list of ideas to my laptop.

15)  What is your favorite non-electronic writing tool?

The dragon boat or the outrigger canoe. When I’m paddling, my brain clears of everything but the stroke. When you’ve been thinking about your character all day or freaking out about revisions, being able to clear your head is healthy and can lead to breakthroughs in writing.

16)  What is the most persistent distraction from writing?

Baking. I like to bake bread and cake and cookies. When I’m having a tough time with a scene, my brain starts screaming “Hey, you! Screw this! Go bake something!” Sometimes stepping away from the laptop for a few minutes to mix dough is therapeutic…other times it just keeps me from writing.

And I’m also in school full-time right now, so my homework and class often sucks away my writing time.

17)  What social media do you use? Do you combine your personal and professional or keep them separate?

I have a website (where I blog) and a Twitter account. I use those most often, and I talk about both professional and personal things. Here’s the thing: I don’t think you can really separate the two (not really) because writing IS personal…and, you know, you end up making friends in social media. It’s what you’re supposed to do. Otherwise, you’re just talking AT people, not TO people. I also have a Tumblr, Facebook page, and a Google+ account, although I don’t use them nearly as much.

18)  What is your ideal writing environment? Have you ever been able to create it?

Sequestered on my own private island with perfect 75 degree, non-humid weather and sunlight-compatible laptop, writing while my wonderful husband plies me with Vosges chocolate, smelly cheese, wine and rubs my feet. And no, alas—not able to create it.

Seriously, I write most of the time sitting cross-legged on my loveseat in the livingroom. One of my cats is usually curled up at my hip, or my dog is asleep on the rug in front of me. The television is usually on because I need background noise. If I need a change of scenery, I head on my scooter and go write at the coffee shop around the corner from my house.

19)  Many writers go through a stage when they hate what they’re writing.  Do you ever feel this way?

I almost always hate every single word I write. It’s healthy, though—no writer should ever be satisfied with their own work because that’s when you stop improving and learning. If you ever hear me say, “I’m a damn fine writer; worship me,” you have permission to slap me silly.

20)  Who shot first, Han or Greedo?

Don’t shoot me: I’ve never seen any of the Star Wars films. I know, I know: I’m a mutant or something. Anyway, I tend to think it’s hard to re-edit/revise a novel after it’s out in the public sphere. I guess if you self-publish or something, sure, it’s possible at least … but if you’re working in the traditional publishing side of things, which I am, a] it’s next to impossible to reissue a book (unless maybe you’re Stephen King) and b] there’s not much of a point. I mean, I personally wouldn’t re-purchase (or even re-read) a book I’ve read before simply because the writer wanted to change something. Of course, this is reminding me of Roland Barthes’ essay “Death of the Author” that calls for critics to ignore authorial intent because, well, who gives a shit what the writer intends; it’s about how the reader relates to the text. It’s not that I’m on board with Barthes, necessarily, but when the horse is out of the gate, there’s no going back.

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Piled Higher and Deeper

Posted on September 12, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

Chantilly, our pretty calico princess, was the only girl kitty. Angel was her hubby-cat.

Although I’m still sick, I am feeling much better than I was. I was even able to not only get words into the WIP while my littlest was in Preschool on Monday, but I was actually getting into the story again after fighting Bronchitis for almost a month.

On top of having the entire family taking turns being sick for the past month, one of our oldest kitties had taken a turn for the worse. A few days ago, as an alternative to kitty diapers we put her in the large dog kennel. She seemed quietly content there, and passed away quietly in her sleep on Monday evening.

Tuesday was a quiet day at home. My 13yo had dental surgery, so she spent the rest of the day on the couch, snuggling the oldest kitty who was a bit bewildered about where his wifey-cat had gone.

Wednesday morning, we discovered the Beta-fish had died.

What do you do when it just keeps piling up higher and deeper? If I was working for a company or against deadlines, my employers would not be happy with me right now. It’s been almost a month of being sick. Even though I’ve been in to see the doctor three times, and been treated with antibiotics, my productivity for the past month has been “barely scraping by.” In fact, not quite that, as too many things have been left in the dust, such as laundry. I’m wearing pajama-boxers as underwear right now, since I’ve nothing else clean.

On the bright side, besides feeling better I also have a 4yo who absolutely loves Pre-School. For three hours, three days a week, I have time to sit and write virtually uninterrupted.

I just have to tell myself that writing is more important than laundry.

The shortlink to this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-U5

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Interview With Amanda Fletcher

Posted on September 6, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

Amanda Fletcher is the author of many poems and a few short stories. What happens at Staples (coming out in Felt Tips on 12/12/12) is the first story to be published. She is the author and cook for her food blog A Witchy Woman’s Kitchen and is currently attending Le Cordon Bleu in Seattle. Amanda Lives in Snoqualmie WA, She is an avid Gardener and homesteader. Her favorite office supply is the ruler…because spankings are amazing when done right *wink*

1. What’s your day job?

I am a full time student at Le Cordon Bleu and work as a prep cook at Nordstroms Cafe 🙂

2. What manner of witchy chick are you?

The Witchy Kind! heehee well I learned from a Dianic Wiccan High Priestess/group But since then have moved on and kinda do my own thing. I worship the Earth, the God and the Goddess and celebrate the seasons

3. Looking at your wish list, I see you are a fan of Despicable Me. If you had Minions, how would you use them?

o.m.g i forgot i had that on twitter *turns red* I would probably use them to clean my house since the bf is getting sick of doing it…i know. lame.

4. Who are some of your favorite authors?

Off the top of my head: Yasmine Galenorn, Laurell K Hamilton,Diana Pharaoh Francis. Mandy M Roth, Michelle Pillow, oh and of course Tiffany Reisz 😛

5. Is writing a large part of your life?

Not so much anymore since I started school (I graduate in December) but once I’m done and have a little more time I plan on writing a lot more.

6. What is your editing/rewrite process?

I like editing as I go. which makes it hard to actually finish anything but its what works for me. I write until I’m stumped, then go back and edit/rewrite. thats my way of beating writers block as well.

7. What’s your opinion on the traditional vs. Indie publishing debate?

Which debate? Like that people think Indie published books are somehow “less published?” I think people need to do what’s right for them and everyone else can mind their own business.

8. You frequently tweet pictures of food. Do you have mad cooking skilz?

I DOEZ!!!! MAD SKILLZ. ish. I graduate culinary school in Dec, I better have mad cooking skills 🙂 I’m big on presentation and really looking to get into a fine dining gig so i can showcase/better my skills

9. What is your favorite electronic or digital writing tool?

I’m not smart enough for this question. it says electronic so I’ll answer vibrator….what is that an electronic? teehee

10. What is your favorite non-electronic writing tool?

Are there multiple? I like writing with my big purple pen with sparklies and butterflies…I’m way too sarcastic…dont kill me 😛

11. What is the most persistent distraction from writing?

SCHOOL! haha oh and writing happens on the computer…computer means interwebs… I blame Mandy M Roth.

12. What is your ideal writing environment? Have you ever been able to create it?

A small area of my own with a little tent type covering and lots of pillows. And negative. But i will soon!

13. Do you have rules for how steamy you write your sex scenes?

Heck no! I’m very much into BDSM and have been for a bit now. I like scenes steamy. I held back a little w/Felt Tips since I wasnt really sure what to write….but my next stories will be steamier.

14. What genres do you write? Would you consider trying others?

I dont really have Genres. I write what i feel.

15. Can human sexuality be divided into heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual, or is it more complicated?

No. no. no. no. I believe that human sexuality is bigger than a line in the sand. Its how people feel about each other. I might meet a group of people I really like and decide to have different types of sex that I would never have thought about before. Now if I were hetero and did something with a woman am I suddenly Bi? or *gasp* Homo? I believe that sexuality is a living breathing evolving entity. Just like life.

16. What advice would you give a person having trouble reconciling woman as “Mommy” with woman as a sexual being?

I guess I would need a specific example? Are we talking about someone with mommy issues who cannot fathom a woman being a sexual being or something different altogether? I would probably tell them to seek a professionals help just because That is one thing I’m no good at dealing with. I can help friends with a variety of different problems but this is one I’ve never encountered. Um.. Maybe I would tell them that women ARE sexual beings and theres nothing wrong with it. That they need to work to see the beauty in it? This is a hard question.

17. When you first heard about Felt Tips, did you immediately have a story idea?

Oh heck yes. The one I did hee.

18. What is the most memorable (or disturbing) thing Tiffany Reisz has ever tweeted?

Fisting. That is all.

19. You’ve never seen Star Wars? Is there any SciFi you do like?

DOCTOR WHO! Firefly, I HAVE seen the new Star Wars just not the old. Old school Star Trek a bit, Thor, the Fifth Element,  I like a lot but for some reason am drawing a blank.

20. Who shot first, Han or Greedo?

Han Solo did. haha bf had to answer for me. Self defense he says.

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This is Getting Old

Posted on September 5, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

My last few #ROW80 updates have said something along the lines of “I’m sick. I’m not writing much, but I’m here.”

Well, today is no different. The biggest change is that my littlest is now in Pre-School a few days a week, and I’ve been using that time to write. It’s not much, but it’s something. I was feeling a little better last week, but then we went out of town for a close friend’s wedding (My 4yo was a flower girl) and although I was fine through the wedding itself, that night I took a serious turn for the worse. Fortunately, my wonderful hubby took good care of me through the long weekend, and even took a half day off work yesterday. I’m trying to take it easy while simultaneously stepping back into life and taking care of everything that was neglected while I’ve been sick. I have an appointment to see my own doctor (I’ve been in the office three times already to see whomever was available, usually the nurse practitioner) next week.

Writing is one of those things I can’t do well while sick. Fortunately, some of the writing-related stuff like interviews and blog posts are a little easier, and I’ve been able to keep up with those.

Here’s to next week, when I hope to report that I’m not sick anymore!

The shortlink to this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-TU

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SciFi Q of the Day: Restricting Voting Rights

Posted on September 4, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

SciFi Question of the Day: What secular reasons might a future society have for restricting the right to vote from certain segments of the population?

Facebook Answers:

  Al Hartman They are not legal citizens of the society. They can’t demonstrate proficiency in the official language and so cannot be informed on the issues or the candidates. They don’t pay taxes to support society, and are recipients of aid, so they should not be able to vote themselves other people’s money.

  Dave Mac What about a cult religion of older men… (comment deleted by moderator)

  AmyBeth Fredricksen ‎1) Ew and 2) doesn’t fit the “secular” requirement

  Paul Chappell ‎”Starship Troopers”, only after a period of Federal sevice would one get the right to vote… Not really restrictive to certain sectors, but secular and limiting the vote…

  Al Hartman Dave Mac: Or a bunch of secularists who murdered over 90 million people? Come on Dave! Keep your anti-Catholic rants to yourself.

  Dave Mac There are theories or philosophies that involve no spiritual component yet possess qualities similar to those of a religion, I wasn’t going Catholic because personally I believe that God created man and in turn Man created religion. If anything I was heading more in the Sandusky direction whoes own personal belief system seems a bit to counter to the general society for my taste.

If you wished to use secular in terms of a govermental system, you might run into problems of being denied the vote for partaking in the gov’t system which is why I went the cult route. Maybe a younger Hitler or Sodam before he came to full power.

Anyways Al, I expressed myself poorly but somehow I think we might be concidering the same type of guy.

  AmyBeth Fredricksen Our own system of government prohibits children from voting. There’s good reason for that.

  Al Hartman ‎AmyBeth Fredricksen: Our government originally restricted voting rights to wealthy male landowners. Because they had a stake in the outcomes, and… education was not universal. Such men were pretty much guaranteed to be educated and literate.

  AmyBeth Fredricksen Education is a good arguing point. Of course, we want the people who make the decisions (voters) to be educated and informed. But… if they are NOT educated and informed, is that enough reason to deny them the vote? Does it depend on WHY they’re uneducated?

  Eric Schmitt That they are descendent of this society.

  Dave Mac How about everybody shows up at the polls, flips a coin in front of the poll worker and that counts as their vote?

  Terry Morgan Land ownership, Citizenship (ala Starship Troopers), and education.

  Dave Mac Now I’m going to have to watch Starship Troopers again?? I must have missed all the good parts last time trying to clean up the blood splatters.

  Al Hartman Dave Mac: It goes by quick in the movie. It is discussed at more length in the book.

  Perry Willis Land ownership is not a good enough reason to deny someone the vote. Not when so many educated people remain renters in our society. If all legal citizens of a country are not able to vote their minds then we do not have a representative government. If these people need to be educated as to the issues of the day, then it is up to the competing politicians to educate. Also if a person is not allowed to vote, doesn’t that amount to taxation without representation? I believe that was one of the things that brought on the revolutionary war in the first place.

  Al Hartman Perry Willis: There was not a Federal Income tax until the 1920’s. When the country was formed, it derived its income from import duties and other fees.

  Dave Mac Al, I bought the first one and then the second, which I think is still store wrapped. It’s just not exactly my type of science fiction. Not that I’m unhappy they made it because we need different types of scify for everyone otherwise the world would be boring.

  Perry Willis But there were taxes and tarriffs before the 1920’s, and just after the revolutionary war, some states just printed more money rather than raise taxes. Imposing tarriffs still boils down to citizens having to pay for it. Besides, I wasn’t referring to then, but to now, when everyone pays taxes in one way or another. I pay the state sales tax every time I buy something. Why shouldn’t I have a say over who controls how much of that I have to pay. Same thing for renters, they pay higher rents to cover the owner’s property taxes and school taxes. Don’t they deserve a say?

  Dave Mac Hopefully when your landlord comes up with your rent amount it includes their total cost (which should inc the taxes) so in a way the renter does pay property parcel taxes.

  Geri Bressler stupidity, cussedness, crazy…Republican. Just kidding!

  Dave Mac I wish everyone would just be a bit more selfish and vote for what is best for them instead of what they are told is best for some person they don’t even know. Maybe in the end we will get what is really best for more people that way.

  Dave Mac Thank you Geri, but I’ve already been tossed from the state republican party for being a conservative

  Al Hartman Perry, I wasn’t talking about today. I was giving purely secular reasons why one might restrict voting privileges. I wasn’t talking about our country.

  Dave Mac At one time as a citizen of a state you would elect your state congress and they owned your vote for the White House.

  Perry Willis Maybe you weren’t. But from our history, when the right to vote has been limited to certain people based on land ownership, race, color, sex, eventually matters would come to a head to change the innequality. A government can find any reason it wants to limit the right to vote. It boils down to what the citizens under that government will allow. So the only valid reason to limit the right to vote, would be citizenship.

  Dave Mac I don’t think the gov’t wishes to limit any citizens right to vote, in fact I feel as if they would rather expand the right to vote (state props comes to mind) so the people elected to be accountable have more voters that only have themselves to blame when they didn’t get the straight facts on what they were voting on.

  Al Hartman Dave Mac: I own all the movies, but I read the book when I was in Public School…

  Dave Mac I was caught up in Bradbury and Tolken types, Dad (finished 6th grade) would be off watching route 66 and find me with my nose stuck in a book. I forget what I was reading but he bursts into the room accusing me of reading porn and sure enough their was some page and a half of some futurist sex encounter… After that it was nothing but good old TV for me… wholesome stuff like Dr. Killdare, police story… Man I could wait to buy him a beta copy of big bad mama for his birthday so he could see Angie dickerson in real action…. lol

  Daniel Beard to pay at least $1 more to the government than you get back in direct aid. be the payment in taxes, or other donations, it matters not.

  Mark Cash wow…scify people have much more reasoned discussions concerning politics than the morons who discuss politics on political threads. No vitriol or mud slinging, just back and forth discussion. As a political scientist and a scify geek you all bring me to tears!

  AmyBeth Fredricksen Gene Roddenberry knew… if you take it into the realm of fiction, you can discuss ideas without getting into the very real realm of he said/she said.

  Dave Mac And I was going to start off with “No Red Horned People with less than three eyes”

Google Plus Answers:

  Brooke Johnson  intelligence.

in our current society, people vote for the wrong reasons because they aren’t educated on the issues. i would suggest offering a non-biased, non-partisan political education course before voting season, or a much more difficult application (more of an exam really) to vote.

the people who fail the application exam or the political education course would be deemed unfit to vote in an election.

  Samuel Falvo II  The fallacy with this is that there’s no such thing as an unbiased source of information. I can think of no weaker link in the chain leading up to an election to control political outcomes with. Sounds like an ideal place for a plot point!

  Caz Abbott  Perhaps, instead of a single unbiased source, both sides could be presented as factually as possible, going off the candidates’ own plans as listed on their official websites.

I agree in theory, but I think it would be more complicated than it sounds.

  Jennifer Coleman  Just because someone is illiterate and would fail a written test doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t intelligent or knowledgeable.

I, for one, don’t vote because despite the fact that I am quite intelligent and knowledgeable, I don’t feel that I am able to gain a full understanding of the long-term ramifications of those decisions without a lifelong devotion to the study of economic theory, political science, psychology and sociology. Which, I think it also merits mentioning that I’m not sure voting is really the best way to put people into office or to determine crucial issues.

As for the actual question, maybe voting rights are based on community service hours that year or having served in the armed forces. Perhaps even based on a limited number of ballots that are bought, sold, inherited, stolen, et cetera.

  Caz Abbott  Oh yes, let’s offer the giant multinational corporations (which already do their very best to buy and sell Senators) a chance to legitimately buy votes…

  Jennifer Coleman  +Caz Abbott My last suggestions were for a sci-fi novel. Not reality. Hence the mention of answering the actual question at hand.

  Caz Abbott  Aren’t sci-fi novels meant to be speculative fiction based on what we know of the real world? Heinlein often said that he began from a premis of, “If this goes on…” then what? Even named a story that.

  Jennifer Coleman  Then my last suggestion is clearly the best option considering that politicians and elections are already bought and sold.

  Jennifer Coleman  And, yes, that is one theory on sci-fi, but Heinlein is not the end-all-be-all on science fiction.

  AmyBeth Inverness  I read once about a political process where a group of citizens are summoned together, like for jury duty. Dozens or even hundreds of people. Then those people spend a day or days learning about the specific issue and being presented with arguments from all sides. In the end, that small body of citizens votes on that issue, and the decision is made.

I like that. I wrote it into one of my novels, but it does have a basis in contemporary politics, I just can’t remember what country (I’m thinking Netherlands?) or what it was called…

  Jennifer Coleman  Sounds similar to Athenian democracy.

  Samuel Falvo II  It sounds somewhat similar also to a variation of Participatory Economics, which similarly has some basis in reality, albeit not at scale.

I would love to hear what you think! Even if you are reading this post a year or more after publishing, I hope you will leave a comment with your own ideas on this topic.

The previous SciFi Q of the Day is Two Claudias

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-TK

The next SciFi Q of the Day is Convicts or Corporations

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Interview With Claudia Christian

Posted on August 30, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

From her first television series in the eighties, through her role as Susan Ivanova of Babylon Five in the nineties, and numerous roles in the new millennium, Claudia Christian is not only one of SciFi’s favorite stars, she is a great comedic, dramatic, and voice-over actress across multiple genres. Her book Babylon Confidential: A Memoir of Love, Sex, and Addiction is coming out this November.

.1) Did you enjoy your time in France? Do you have any upcoming French-speaking roles?

 I had a great time in France, I studied French in Sancerre and then drove all around the Loire Valley by myself visiting chateaux and just drinking in the beauty of the country. No I have never acted in French though I’ve done some acting work with a French accent.

2) At what point in your acting career do you feel you were the most driven to succeed?

 I have always been driven to succeed and I’m still waiting to become an over-night success…even after 30 years! 🙂

3) You recently cleaned out your closets to auction off some memorabilia for charity. What was the cause and why is it so dear to you?

 The cause was to raise money to help raise awareness of TSM (The Sinclair Method) a medical treatment for alcoholism that I have been on for 4 years, it saved my life and I am determined to save others.

4) How did you discover The Sinclair Method?

 I discovered TSM after trying just about everything else available. I was in a detox center and picked up a pamphlet for Vivitrol then researched the ingredients and eventually found my way to Dr. Roy Eskapa’s book: The Cure For Alcoholism.

5) Why did you write Babylon Confidential?

 I wrote babylon Confidential in order to help put a face on TSM, to help Dr. Sinclair and Dr. Eskapa spread the word of this miraculous treatment and to help others and to lessen the stigma of addiction. I’ve played a lot of heroes and I think it’s important to come out and talk about addiction so that it becomes less of a moral issue and more of a medical issue….even “heroes” are fallible…..

6) What was your writing and editing process with Morgan Grant Buchanan?

 My collaboration with Morgan was wonderful, we Skyped a lot since he lives in Melbourne and I live between London and LA, the time difference was challenging at times.

7) While writing Babylon Confidential, did you ever feel like it was just too painful and too personal to share?

 Of course it was painful at times but that’s the result of being honest..you must be completely open and bare even the ugly bits, alcoholism isn’t pretty and it shouldn’t be shameful but the more people know about it the better they can understand it.

8) Do you often find yourself saying “No” to new ideas because you already have too many things going on?

 I rarely say ‘no’ to anything.

9) Can you foresee a time when you will slow down?

 I will never slow down.

10) Is the best still yet to come?

 I hope so!

11) What is the strangest encounter you’ve ever had with a fan?

 The Tribble incident, it’s on youtube and in my book.

12) Do fans ever randomly shout “Boom Shaka-Laka!” at you?

 At conventions, yes….

13) Back in March I posed the SciFi Question of the Day to my fans “Huzzah! Claudia Christian and Claudia Black are both signed to do a movie together! What’s it about? (No, this isn’t really happening, I just wish it was)” I was thrilled that you chimed in and let me know that such a movie actually does exist! According to the Strange Frame website, they’re having screenings at Dragon*Con and Stan Lee’s KamiKaze Expo in September. How long ago did you do the voice for your character? Were the other actors recording with you, or were you separate?

 I recorded my part alone and I can’t recall when I did it…sometime last year…I do so many voice gigs it’s hard to keep track but I’m really looking forward to seeing it next month!

14) Who is Accala Viridius Camilla?

 The protagonist of the novels Wolf’s Odyssey by Morgan Grant Buchanan and me.

15) What is your favorite electronic or digital writing tool?

 My Mac desk top

16) What is your favorite non-electronic writing tool?

 My Venetian crystal pen and ink I bought in Florence….I like dipping and tapping and blotting…I’m weird like that…I have a 17th century ink blotter in the shape of  a bear, you have to replace the paper once in awhile and it’s tough to find proper blotting paper these days!

17) What would you consider your greatest achievement in cooking?

 I cooked Indian food for 30 people once in my 20’s….having never cooked Indian food in my life….and it was great!

18) If you could write yourself a part in Game of Thrones, what kind of character would you play?

 I would play anything in GOT….literally anything….if I could write it I’d make myself a Rasputin type character……

19) If you did have the opportunity to be the dictator of a small country, would that option still be attractive to you?

 Nah, I’m over my dictator stage….

20) Who shot first, Han or Greedo?

I haven’t a clue….:)

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-Th

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This Is The Day

Posted on August 29, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

This is the day I’ve been waiting for since NaNoWriMo 2010 when I finally decided that I was going to be a real writer.

Today, my youngest went to PreSchool!

It’s only three days a week for three hours at a time, but for a writer, that means I have about eight hours of (theoretically) peaceful writing time every week!

Today I got up early (the 4yo and I used to sleep in while Daddy drove the teenager to school, but now we all have to get up early together) and put my teenager’s hair in a bun. The 4yo was super excited about her first day of school, and we took lots of pictures.

I’m just coming off of two weeks of sickness. I still have a perforated ear drum and a lingering cough, but overall I feel much better. I did get almost 1,000 words down this morning while both kids were at school. Being tired held me back more than anything.

Goals? These past two weeks were sick time. Only a little bit of writing was done, but I’m OK with that. I was glad to be getting over the infection by the time school began, so I got off to a good start today.

Hopefully I’ll be able to consistently dedicate those few precious hours each week to writing. It’s tempting to start a load of laundry, or check facebook, or do one of the dozens of things I’d like or need to do. But writing, especially novel writing, is something that is best done when I know I won’t be interrupted. Laundry, facebook… all those things I can do even if kids are chanting “MommyMommyMommy!” I’m even going to try to use the mornings when my 4yo is home to do some writing as well. I’m used to doing my writing at night, but with the new schedule that’s just not feasible.

Is anyone else’s schedule changing drastically?

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-TA

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SciFi Q of the Day: Two Claudias

Posted on August 27, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

Strange Frame: The World’s First Animated Lesbian Sci-Fi Musical Film

SciFi Question of the Day: Huzzah! Claudia Christian and Claudia Black are both signed to do a movie together! What’s it about? (No, this isn’t really happening, I just wish it was.)

Facebook Answers:

  Matthew B. Tepper ‎”We, Claudias”?

Google Plus Answers:

  Charles Moore  I’m still waiting for a modern movie based on Asimov’s works wherein “based on” != “stole the title from.” BBCA should totally do “Foundation” or something. (I say BBCA because I trust American film/tv studios about as far as I can throw them and their MPAA lackies.)

  michael interbartolo  two tough as nails treasure seeking captains scour the galaxy for the secrets of a lost civilization, first as competitors until a race thought to be dead is revealed to also be searching for the secrets. now they must work together to unlock the secrets that could upset the very balance of the galaxy if they fail.

  AmyBeth Inverness  I love it!

  Glenn Rogers  Farscaping: Babylon and On…

Claudia Christian’s Answer:

Actually we ARE in a film together (Claudia Black) it’s Strange Frame, the animated film smile🙂 Claudia

It’s not released yet.  Strange Frame: The World’s First Animated Lesbian Sci-Fi Musical Film 

Claudia Christian has a book coming out this November called Babylon Confidential. Read her interview here.

I would love to hear what you think! Even if you are reading this post a year or more after publishing, I hope you will leave a comment with your own ideas on this topic.

The previous SciFi Q of the Day is Off-Equator Space Elevators

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-Ry

The next SciFi Q of the Day is Restricting Voting Rights

 

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Atemporal Masturbation

Posted on August 27, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

Eric Bana as Henry in “The Time Traveler’s Wife”

Apparently, I’m an expert.

No no no… not in the actual act, but apparently in the naming thereof.

It all started with this article about Dr. Who and Torchwood’s John Barrowman to be replaced by younger Captain Jack in Doctor Who anniversary episode. Chris Payne posted on Google Plus “What!? ….but they have to bring back Barrowman eventually.” and the conversation went on from there…

  Tiffany Marshall  Yes, yes they do.

  Peter Bailey  But don’t you want a nice fresh one?

  Tiffany Marshall  Is it just me, or do you think somehow the two will meet and seduce each other?

  Peter Bailey  +Tiffany Marshall dirty!

  Tiffany Marshall  +Peter Bailey so I take it you haven’t had much interaction with me?

  Peter Bailey  Not from what I can remember

  John Mink  +Tiffany Marshall I mean, is there anyone Captain Jack can’t seduce?

Also, would that create some type of sexy paradox? :p

  Chris Payne  I can see some kind of crazy paradox happening when the greatest pickup line in the universe is used on itself, “Hi. Captain Jack Harkness.”  +Tiffany Marshall Would that be considered homosexuality or masturbation? O_o

  Tiffany Marshall  +Chris Payne I don’t know, but I’m sure this has had to have happened in Science Fiction before. It would definitely fall under “stroking one’s ego” though ;P

  John Mink  +Chris Payne  I approve ^_^

Also, while I do like the Austin Powers reference there, I think Captain Jack would call it homosexiness or something equally corny 😉

  John Mink  +Chris Payne & +Tiffany Marshall  see, I told you it’d be “something equally corny/punny”  ^_^

  Tiffany Marshall  Paging +AmyBeth Inverness, science fiction goddess, for help on A) what to call this and B) if she has read any timetravel books where this has happened.

  AmyBeth Inverness  Great irony here… I’m only partway through season one of Torchwood, but moments ago I watched the episode where our Captain Jack went through the rift with Tosh and ended up in 1941.

…culminating with a rather passionate dance-floor kiss between our Captain Jack and the real Captain Jack… the one from whom he stole the name.

Homosexual? I think bisexual is more accurate. And Captain Jack seems to consider sexuality to be more flexible than straight/bi/gay. Homosexiness indeed lol!Masturbation? In Captain Jack’s case in this episode, no. The other man was a completely different person…. they only shared a name.Did it happen?

Yes. In The Time Traveler’s Wife there’s a lot that was left out of the movie. But there was one scene where the time traveler, as a 15yo boy, happened to find himself having time traveled to himself in his own room at that same age (days? Weeks apart?)

Anyway ~ahem~ he gave himself a blow job.

  John Mink  +AmyBeth Inverness agreed with the sexuality, I’ve always considered him omni/pan-sexual…as for your last point– why not? :p

  Chris Payne  +AmyBeth Inverness I knew that Jack is bisexual, or more like “anything goes” (anything that movies, and probably some things that don’t). I was referring to the actual act of him having sex with his past/future self. I think it would fall under the wibbly wobbly category of “self pleasure” since it is the same person. It’s like this other question I heard a long time ago, “if you cloned yourself and had sex with your clone would it be homosexuality or masturbation?”. I would probably lean towards “homosexuality” since immediately after the point of cloning that is an entirely new individual and from there you can become two completely different people. However in a time travel scenario, they are the same person just at two different points in time. For one Jack it would be the first time they’re doing this, for the other Jack it would be the second time and he would remember their sex from the others’ point of view.

Wibbly wobbly sexy wexy? O_o

  AmyBeth Inverness  Wibbly wobbly sexy wexy? is probably as accurate as we’ll get.

Robert Heinlein wrote about cloning humans, but not making an exact replica. In one case, two young female clones approach their “original” (who is male) and argue that they are old enough to have their status as protected children removed so they can become sexually active (I think they’re either teenagers or 20 ish)Anyway, part of their argument is that, since they are his clones, it would be considered masturbation. He does give in and “welcomes” them into the realm of sexually active adults, but they never really agree whether the term “masturbation” should really apply. I’d say no, in that case, since the clones are unique beings.

  Chris Payne  I think +Darque Wing nailed it over here

https://plus.google.com/116591181577516985170/posts/AeMoJSevG8W ♠Calling it “atemporal masturbation”

  John Mink  That’s more accurate than just “masturbation”  but I can’t see the comments on the post.

  Tiffany Marshall  +John Mink You don’t need to – “atemporal masturbation” was the comment we’re all talking about.

  John Mink  +Tiffany Marshall up until that post I was still on “Wibbly wobbly sexy wexy”    :p

  Chris Payne  I must include the hashtags here…. I feel we should spread the word and this way it can be traced back to this convo….  #AtemporalMasturbation  and  #WibblyWobblySexyWexy

♠ Meanwhile, over on  ‘s statement:

Only on G+ could I be having these discussions simultaneously:
1. What would the term be for going back in time and seducing oneself?
2. In the context of learning English expressions about remembering, using an example of someone taking off their pants in a restaurant.

  Darque Wing

1. Atemporal masturbation.

 

2. It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that schwing!  

 

  Tiffany Marshall  Good answer for #1! +Chris Payne what do you think?

  Chris Payne  Brilliant! That has to be it!

  Tiffany Marshall  I think +Darque Wing won the internets for that. Did you come up with that on your own, read it, or do you, um, have experience in this matter?

  Darque Wing  Just popped into my head: atemporal, outside of time; masturbation, playing with yourself.  My future self may have given me a heads-up about that being a common thing in the future.

  Cindy Brown  Didn’t Robert Heinlein address that already 😛  Indirectly in Time Enough for Love and more directly in All You Zombies (?).

  Chris Payne  +Darque Wing Yeah, your future self gave you a…. “heads up”…. 😉 I think you just defined something very important here. This will change the future of matu– er, time travel.

  Tiffany Marshall  +Cindy Brown I’m afraid you’ll have to educate me on that; I’m lost. The original post that started this can be found here:

  Tiffany Marshall  +AmyBeth Inverness…

  AmyBeth Inverness  You rang?  My portion of the discussion has also spilled over into facebook. Heinlein is coming up repeatedly.

  Tiffany Marshall  We were just wondering what you thought of the term “atemporal masturbation” more than anything.

  AmyBeth Inverness  I say we use  Atemporal masturbation for more formal situations, but stick with wibbly wobbly sexy wexy for casual conversation.

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-Tq

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