SciFi Q of the Day: Can Good SciFi Lack Plausibility?

Posted on February 28, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

SciFi Question of the Day: Is it possible to have a good SciFi story when the science behind it lacks plausibility?

Facebook Answers:

Joseph Kerezman No, thats called Fantasy

AmyBeth Fredricksen The STNG episode where they discovered Riker was cloned by a transporter accident?

Patty Wright well if the transporter is possible, than so is that. (Though not technically “cloned”… just “copied”.) The transporter reads your molecules, takes them apart, then duplicates them somewhere else. So it could make a second duplicate. (This is why McCoy insists you die everytime you go through the transporter.)

AmyBeth Fredricksen Sheldon thinks so too. 🙂

Dave Mac ‎^which is fiction^

Gwendolyn Wilkins I’m willing to overlook that lack of solid, hardcore science in my sci-fi if the story is good. Personally I’d take a little glossing over and implausibility to an Doc Smith-esque exhaustive description of how the electrical capacitors in the navigation console work.

James Lucius Implausibility, to me, has always been part of the willing suspension of disbelief. As long as the implausibility is internally consistent I don’t have any problem with it.

Dave Mac Fantasy is when some guy flys into your childrens window and takes them away to Never Never land where they will never grow up or mom and dad never gets to see most of them again.

And they live happly ever after!

Patty Wright I don’t know… I live in a land where the boys never grow up.

AmyBeth Fredricksen ‎~rimshot~

Patty Wright if you watch the latest, British movie of Peter Pan it’s actually the tragedy that it was written as…. Peter Pan looking into windows at families he’ll never be a part of because he refuses to grow up and become a respponsible, adult man. Leaves me crying every time…

Janine Gorell Yes.

Dave Mac Having two people I known over the years where their children were taken from them… I don’t know, this whole Peter Pan issue disturbs my calm.

Patty Wright anyway… back to the question of the day… sorry AmyBeth!

AmyBeth Fredricksen ‎…not the worst tangent I’ve experienced…

Dave Mac Yes. A total brain interface for the Captain’s Chair so the ship responds to his every command.

James Lucius ‎*Imagine the fracas when the ship tries to scratch his butt.*

AmyBeth Fredricksen Oh, fracas indeed!

.

Google Plus Answers:

Greg Christopher – Of course.

Stargate!

Fifth Element!

Brent Stires – All of them really

AmyBeth Inverness – +Brent Stires do you mean you’ve never seen/read SciFi that did have plausible science?

Brent Stires – Well some of it is yes, but most really isn’t.

Unless you’re super open minded in which case they all are

Brent Stires – Star Wars – light sabers no, warp speed probably no, a death star also no

Stargate- wormholes probably no
Fifth Element- all of it no, lol

KeriLynn Engel – Most definitely; I think there’s a spectrum of speculative fiction that ranges from fluffy fantasy to hard sci-fi, and there’s more overlapping & in-between than there is on the ends of the spectrum.

Chloe Saint Claire – Yes, definitely. As long as your reader can maintain their suspension of disbelief, the story can work without necessarily adhering to the laws of physics/science//whatever

Thomas Sanjurjo – Dr Who

Laston Kirkland – absolutely… but you MUST remain internally consistent. If the moon really IS made of cheese…. and tides sometimes pull stringing ribbons of this cheese to earth… and people who eat this cheese end up the moon cheese masters, well then. you’ve got… um. you’ve got…. where was I going with this again?

AmyBeth Inverness – Fondue anyone?

Thomas Sanjurjo – And http://gizmodo.com/5426453/the-physics-of-space-battles for the fault of over realism.”Any technology, sufficiently advanced, will seem like magic” ~Arthur C Clarke

Thomas Sanjurjo – +Laston Kirkland, Anne McCaffrey was brilliant at that. Her son has picked up the torch for Pern very well I might add.

Christopher Blanchard – I like to think of a quote from the guy that did the movie “Braveheart.””I never let something like the truth stand in the way of a good story.”

I think the same applies to hard science. 🙂

Thomas Sanjurjo – When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Sorry, was quoting off the top of my head earlier, here are the actual Three Laws of scientific prediction, as per Arthur C Clarke.

Jim Hanson – What +Laston Kirkland said a thousand times over. Internal consistency is the bread and butter of any scifi (or fantasy) story.

AmyBeth Inverness – +Jim Hanson & +Laston Kirkland …which is why my “Writing” folders have just as many Excel spreadsheets as they have Word documents! 🙂

Laston Kirkland – mine all look like the calliope mall doc.

Jim Hanson – I really want to write a period pulp scifi some day, set in the far of future world of 1999 and using the scifi conventions, knowledge, and tropes of the 1930-1950’s – rocket ships, moonbases, a Mars covered in a dense forest and inhabited by dinosaurs and ancient, dignified, dying aliens…

Laston Kirkland – I’ve been thinking the retro-future thing… with shiny cigar shaped rockets with fins and spandex suits with random perpendicular disks at theshoulders, wrists and ankles would be a fashion trend similar to steampunk. I suspect that’s going to hit in a few years. The Jetsons look…. as nostalgia.

Thomas Sanjurjo – I’m working on an alternate history based on the plausibility of luminiferous aether. Kinda steampunk but high scifi, it’s pretty fun. Having “light engines” that traverse space is a strange alternative to hard scifi.

Jim Hanson – I even designed a retro robot in the vein of the Robot from Lost in Space and Robby from Forbidden Planet, et al. Mine has no face, exactly, but has a bunch of different emotional “face plates” on a Flip-Clock style system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_clock) under a glass dome so it can rotate through to the correct emotion as it’s data spool dictates.

Thomas Sanjurjo – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminiferous_aether

If you wanna know more about it.

Laston Kirkland – its also a big part of the back story behind the mad scientist character class of Mage the Ascension..also called “The Son’s of Ether” (they are very upset that a council of technocratic mages have agreed to no longer believe in Ether)

Thomas Sanjurjo – Played that. 😉

Jim Hanson – I read a pulp story once where they built conventional rocketships that were capable of local interplanetary travel, but could also absorb matter straight from a star to give them a super-charged burst (not unlike Star Trek’s “warp”) to travel interstellar distances. I’m surprised few people ever picked up on that idea, because using random stars as gas stations sounds like a very practical, albeit fantastic.

AmyBeth Inverness – Stargate Universe capitalized on the “Stars as Gas Stations” idea with the inter-galactic ship periodically dipping into a sun to refuel.

Jim Hanson – Yes, but it was using the stellar gasses to fuel it’s FTL reaction. This was more like… swinging from vine to vine to get from Tree 1 to Tree 2, only with stars. I just think of the plot implications it could have… Your destination might only be 50 light years away, but if you can only take on enough stellar matter to make a jump of 20 light years at a time, and there aren’t any good candidate stars between here and there, you might wind up having to take a route of 100+ light years to get to your destination.

SciFi Question of the Day: If I wrote a story about a ladder with one end permanently connected to the Earth and the other end permanently fixed to the moon, would you question my scientific basis, or just go with it?

Would your answer change if I said Morena Baccarin would play She-Ra in the screen adaptation?

Facebook Answers:

Gawain Ouronos I, for one, would quickly question your scientific basis – which is a lot better than what I would do if I didn’t “know” you!

If you also mentioned She-Ra, I would have no choice but to quickly defriend you! 😛

Santi Fabrellas LOL, I thought about this same premise years ago. The end connected to the Earth should rotate, and it should be a string made ladder, or something flexible.

Joseph Kerezman The Moon would have to be in a GeoSynchronous orbit for that to work.

Gwendolyn Wilkins I guess if it were a really *stretchy* ladder… Wow, they really DID do that in She-ra didn’t they!! (Flashbackz!!!!!)

AmyBeth Fredricksen I remember She-ra riding her winged horsie to the moon, throwing a rope at it, and towing it back to where it “should” be…

Google Plus Answers:

michael interbartolo – probably would question it, but Morena would help me get passed it 🙂

Graham Guy – It would tie itself in knots, so that might be an issue. Having said that, If Morena Baccarin was going to play She-Ra I’d watch it whatever logical challenges the story might throw.

Charles Moore – What about a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator instead?

Or are you talking more like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob’s_Ladder?

Jenn Thorson – It would depend on whether the tone was fable-ish or not and how many other fantastic things were in the piece.

AmyBeth Inverness – +Charles Moore I’ve been up to my elbows in space elevators lately (More on that later!) and I will eventually segue into the Jacob’s ladder idea!

Charles Moore – But yeah, tied to the moon? I’d question it. That’s the sort of science I expect from bad made-for-syfy channel movies, but I expect better from stories. 🙂

Space elevators that go into geosynchronous orbit but not directly to the moon? That I’m okay with.

A horror story based on the idea of a Jacob’s Ladder kind of construct (space-elevator like?) I’m all over that awesomeness!

AmyBeth Inverness – Horror? I took up a challenge once to write a truly evil character. The best I could do was really annoying. The antagonists in my stories are rarely evil; they’re more complicated.

Charles Moore – Horror doesn’t have to have evil characters. Just evil situations. Look at much of HP Lovecraft’s stuff. His evil things are things, not people….

AmyBeth Inverness – I really do need to read more Lovecraft… that’s a really interesting point, that “Horror doesn’t have to have evil.”

Charles Moore – evil CHARACTERS. Evil situations/things/places? Sure! Lovecraft was a master at locations and (mostly) non-living things that just dripped evil (sometimes literally!)

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 Stranded in the Past

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

The next SciFi Q of the Day will be up next Tuesday.

Posted in SciFi Q of the Day | Tagged Aerogel, Morena Baccarin, Peter Tsou, plausible science, She-Ra, Space Elevators, Space Ladder | 4 Comments

Interview With Natasha Journeydown

Posted on February 25, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

Natasha Journeydown is the newly appointed White Duchess of Fallcastle. The youngest of the Duchy, she has garnered attention for not only her youthful enthusiasm, but for her attention to detail and innate sense of fashion.

1) Have you always hoped for a noble appointment?

It was my dream since I was a little girl, to spend my life serving the Kingdom. Of course, I had no idea that an offer would come so soon, and for the oldest duchy in the Kingdom! I am both honored and excited to take this path with my life.

2) How did you qualify at such a young age?

I’m not the youngest to qualify, nor the youngest to be appointed. I started working towards the requirements in secondary school, donating as much of my time to public service as I could. You’d be surprised at how many of the requirements can be completed in adolescence if you set your mind to it. The last piece for me was my college degree, so on the day I graduated college, I qualified for the pool of noble candidates.

3) Isn’t there some kind of waiting period, or time to process an application?

Yes, there is a processing time. However if you have everything in place except for one specific, well defined piece such as a degree, military discharge, or volunteer contract, you can submit early, and if it is approved then your candidacy becomes effective as soon as that final piece is complete.

4) During your engagement, the Duchy Presumptive was quite active in the duchy. Is that normal?

I don’t think so. Then again, the transition of government at a duchy level only happens once every few years or so. There isn’t really a “norm” that all duchies follow. But in our case, the Kingdom’s 300 Year celebration fell during the transition, so both the Seated Duchy and the Duchy Presumptive took part in all the events.

5) The wedding was spectacular! Was it everything you ever dreamed it would be?

I’ve seen so many clips of my own wedding that included things I never actually got to see! 🙂 Really, it was wonderful, but I had very little to do with the planning of the event, and I was only a small part of it.

6) And the honeymoon?

Was also everything I’d ever hoped it would be. Although it included several public appearances, I did enjoy having a day dedicated to getting to know each of my new spouses individually.

7) You spent quite a lot of time together in the months leading up to the wedding. Do you feel that you really knew each of them by the time of your wedding?

Yes and no. I do feel that I know, intimately, who each of my husbands and wives are. But I also know that we will spend our lives discovering new things about each other and ourselves.

8) What has it been like, moving from Skytower to Fallcastle?

More of a shock than I realized, actually. I’ve traveled quite a bit, but actually living in the Fall Castle, so close to the ground, so integrated with the land is indescribable. I’m so used to everything being one large city, well organized and sanitized… seeing some of the smaller towns out in the country is quite remarkable.

9) Do you get to go home very often?

Fallcastle is home now, of course. But yes, I do travel to Skytower frequently. However I don’t always get a chance to see my family. I’m usually there to see the White Queen, and sometimes it is a spur of the moment trip.

10) Are you excited to become a mother?

Yes! We were all surprised to discover that the Red Duchess was pregnant. But we are all very happy, and looking forward to her birth any day now.

11) What unique challenges do you and your spouses face as the new rulers of Kingdom Come’s oldest duchy?

There are many. Fallcastle has a large population, and that in itself presents many challenges. The Dowager Duchy ruled for many years, and there are citizens who loved them, and others who reviled them. It is important that we establish the tone for our own rule, yet respect all that has come before.

12) What has been the biggest challenge for you personally?

I thought I had a thick skin, but it is very difficult to hear all the negative things that come out once one is in the public eye. Especially when the only apparent reason behind the lies is simply to poke a stick at one of us just because we are in the public eye.

13) Do you enjoy doing all the public appearances?

It depends entirely on the event. I love speaking with citizens and really connecting with people, but that is difficult in my position. I prefer the events that are small enough to let me actually speak with a few people.

14) Where do you get your sense of fashion?

That really surprised me, that my sense of fashion was deemed notable enough to be talked about so much! But I suppose it comes with being in the public eye. I’ve always enjoyed dressing well, but not necessarily anything trendy. I prefer to choose what catches my eye, and what exudes professionalism while still being comfortable.

15) Did your year on Earth influence your fashion sense?

My year on Earth influenced far more than my fashion sense. First of all, even with a unified government, Earth is still very much a collection of vastly different cultures. They each have their own sense of fashion, and politics, and social barriers.

16) Why did you spend a year on Earth?

One of my dads works for a big communications company, and every once in a while he has to travel off planet. Since travelling to Earth takes several weeks, and he was going to have to be there for at least a few months, he decided to take one wife and the three oldest kids with him. One of my moms volunteered, but the three of us kids didn’t get much choice! We were excited about it though.

17) Why just one wife?

Most marriages on Earth are just one man and one woman. There are a lot of same gender couples, but group marriages are considered “strange.” So by taking just one wife, our family could easily blend in with most cultures on Earth.

18) When in Rome, do as the Romans?

Ha! Yes, exactly. Actually, my sister Deanna fell in love with Rome, and she lives there now.

19) Do you have any plans to travel off planet now that you are a Duchess?

Certainly not anyplace as far away as Earth, but at some point I’ll probably visit one of the closer colonies.

20) Who shot first, Han or Greedo?

Ha! I actually watched Star Wars while we were living in Hong Kong! It was all in Chinese, but I’m pretty sure I remember that Greedo, the bad guy, shot first.

~sigh~

Yes, when I have a scheduling snafu I fill in with a fictional interview. This is the first time it’s happened twice in a row! Last week I interviewed Moose, a character in my serial short story. I often use the characters from one of my “old” stories about the planet Kingdom Come. If you’re curious, you can read the interviews with Charity Kochsato, Royal Kochsato, and Grey Kochsato, all of whom are part of the Duchy of Drakeshead on the western edge of Kingdom Come. (You can read about the Kingdom Come stories here.) Natasha’s story comes a generation before Drakeshead. In fact, in Grey’s interview, when he refers to the rulers of his home duchy being very formal, he is referring to Natasha and her spouses.

The two interviews that were supposed to be this week and last week will still happen. Life gets in the way sometimes!

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

Posted in Interviews, Kingdom Come | Tagged fictional interviews, Natasha Chan, Overshadow | Leave a comment

199

Posted on February 22, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

Yeah. I’d edit that title too, if I was an editor.

…were an editor? No… was an editor.

Anywho…

I think this will be my 199th post. Time to think of something spectacular for my 200th!

Meanwhile, an update for #ROW80.

I’m doing better with writing. Not as much as I’d like, but close. I’m wondering if I need to purposely move away from novel writing for certain time periods and let myself do the short, less demanding stories for a while. I felt like I was on a roll after NaNoWriMo, and I really wanted to dive right into the next novel. I did start it, but too many other things came up (like going back to work) and I stopped. The ideas were still there. I wanted to write. I just couldn’t find the time.

One of my goals for this #ROW80 is to reach 2k in one hour. I can do #1k1hr, but the 2k barrier has yet to be reached.

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

Posted in ROW80 | Tagged #ROW80 | 4 Comments

SciFi Q of the Day: Stranded in the Past

Posted on February 21, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

This is a Two Parter. Same question, two very different time periods.

SciFi Question of the Day: If you found yourself hopelessly stranded back in the glory days of the Roman Empire, how much of your knowledge of future events would you share, and with whom? (I’m purposely being somewhat vague on the exact time here.)

Facebook Answers:

Dave Mac As little as possible.

Pony Horton I’d start building gliders and aqueducts, and making amazing photorealistic paintings long before anyone had figured it out.

Katherine Fixer Noel ‎… there is a port city I would avoid, though I would love to follow the golden footprints.

Gwendolyn Wilkins Well, since my grasp on Latin is shakey at best, I likely wouldn’t be sharing much of anything ;P

William Lutz I would freaking rule the empire like it was from Romulus done with true honor

Google Plus Answers:

Mari Miniatt – I would say, sarcastically, “Yeah, those barbarians are no threat.”

R. K. MacPherson – Well, I’d certainly try to profit by securing myself a nice little chunk of power. Legate has a nice ring to it.

I’d probably try to advance metallurgy, chemistry, and biology as well through texts. I might disrupt the Council of Nicea (depending on the time-frame). I’d leave texts and tests regarding astronomy and I’d totally lay the groundwork for political thought of the 18th and 19th centuries to come about…only much sooner.

Basically, I’d ensure that the world we know would be vastly different…and I’d be very curious to see how things unfolded.

Eugene Geist – I would use my knowledge of fermentation and distillation to build a liquor industry. I would then begin making gunpowder to sell to the highest bidder. Then buy a fleet of ships, sail to the new world and cultivate tobacco, bring it back and get everyone addicted with me the only supply. Who needs the ATF! (oh and I would also invent the printing press in there somewhere)

AmyBeth Inverness – My problem would be the huge gaps in my knowledge. I know about gunpowder, but I don’t know how to make it.

R. K. MacPherson – That’s where I cheat. As an archaeologist, I studied ancient technologies and adaptations. I’ve got a slight advantage. Of course, if we go back to the Pleistocene, I’m screwed. I can’t make stone tools to save my life.

Diego Lizarazo – First I would try to find a way to survive day by day. I may have, in some areas, more knowledge and experience than the normal Roman citizen, but I don’t have something quite important: the language.

When that problem is solved, I would try to find an influential person in the region where I am located, and depending on his interests I would try to come up with some technology/knowledge that he may find useful. That way I would create reputation and hopefully gain enough money to start bigger projects that would include:

1. Improve the army of the empire with air units. Hot air balloons at first.
2. Use the improved Legions, and the fear and military advantage that air units may confer, to expand the Empire and impose the Pax Romana everywhere. Hopefully with this unnecessary wars will be avoided between the nations that would join the empire.
3. Create a semi monastic institution that would keep secret all the knowledge that I can provide and keep scientific research at the core of a healthy empire. The printing press, change in numeric system, compass and basic medical improvements would help to make the efforts of this institution known by everyone and affect the daily lives of all Romans.

Wow, there are more things that come to my mind like starting an industrial revolution, “discovering” the Americas, creating the first assembly lines with a new standard of measurement, and push for the adoption of a universal language.

But if nothing works, I will just turn into a SciFi writer and tell the Romans stories about a future where men can fly, communicate across oceans and sit in front of a weird thing called computer during 8 hours a day.

Eugene Geist – Charcoal, sulphur and saltpeter (potassium nitrate). Historically, saltpeter can be made by collecting manure and feces mixed with straw and wood ash in a covered space to keep it dry. Frequently douse with urine and let sit for a year. Then leach saltpeter out by washing the pile with water, filtering it through potash (wood ash) and then evaporate off the liquid.

100 parts saltpeter
18 parts charcoal
16 parts sulfur

There! Now you are prepared.

AmyBeth Inverness – +Eugene Geist I need to have that tattooed somewhere unobtrusive so I’ll always have it handy, just in case…

Eugene Geist – Hmmm. Not a bad idea.

Diego Lizarazo – Like the tattoos in Memento , but mixed with time travel.

SciFi Question of the Day: If you found yourself hopelessly stranded in the past, on the day of and in the city where you were born, would you share your knowledge of future events and technology with anyone?

Facebook Answers:

Geri Bressler And be burned/squashed/drowned as a witch? I think not. Ignorance is bliss…especially when the alternative is a slow and painful death!

AmyBeth Fredricksen I had no idea witch-burning was so prevalent in the 1970’s…

Geri Bressler Well they burned bras, didn’t they? Wait, no that was the 60’s.

Geri Bressler Hang on, I’ll get it in a minute! LOL

Geri Bressler I know! They make you into a…a…REPUBLICAN! *gasp*

just kidding!

AmyBeth Fredricksen Are you saying that if you found yourself stranded back in time, you would become a Republican? Or you would somehow make sure the newborn “you” became a Republican?

Geri Bressler Hmmm…Wyoming in the early 70’s. I can’t figure out what I’d tell myself that anyone would care about. Don’t date that jerk in 8th grade?

Henry Anona Look the jerk up and give him some pointers 🙂

Geri Bressler How about…disco doesn’t die fast enough…and lay off the hairspray for crying out loud!

AmyBeth Fredricksen Or would you walk away from the “other” you and go somewhere else to make a new life for yourself? What if hubby was also stranded on the day and city of his birth?

Geri Bressler I think I’d walk away…but try to find hubby if I knew. I’m not a big believer in the “disrupting the timeline thing” but I think it would be surreal and very emotionally disturbing to see the younger me.

Branli Caidryn I think I would let it all go and start over. Change my name too >.>

Dan Bressler I’d definitely be buying stock in Microsoft.

James Lucius Consider the culture shock you’d be going through. None of the money in your possession is any good. Your driver’s license? Same. You have no identity. You may not have marketable skills, in the context of the time. Assume you’re currently an engineer. Do you remember — did you even ever know — how to use a slide rule, a compass and a protractor? So far as “knowledge of future events” is concerned, do you know, for instance, exactly when Microsoft’s IPO was? Do you remember the exact date of the stock market crash of 1986? (Or was it ’85?) My guess, for what it’s worth, is that an involuntary refugee from the future would be more likely to end up like the protagonist of H. Beam Piper’s “he walked around the horses” than the proverbial Connecticut Yankee.

Kirstie Hall id be buying up loads of mega flares and paltform shoes some to take with me and some to be held and sent to me at a certain age coz they a nightmare to get hold of now and vintage would b amazing lols

Daniel Beard only with my bookie and my stock broker

Google Plus Answers:

Michelle Marie – Hmm… Probably not, people already think I’m weird.

Christoph Daemondred – I think I would use my knowledge of events to live an easy and happily prosperous life, only taking the most minor advantage of the situation to do so (buying stock in tech to fund myself) and perhaps do what I could to help move society quietly in a better direction. Hopefully without causing any horrible paradoxical collapse of the time stream.

Oh, and of course taking advantage of all those chances I missed out on when given a second change.

Roger Brasslett – I would use my knowledge to silently make sure I’m financed for life.

M. David Blake – No, I didn’t.

David Grigg – Absolutely. What’s wrong with changing the past? It was pretty badly messed up at the time. Whether I would be believed is another matter (see 12 Monkeys).

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 Why Go to the Moon?

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

The next SciFi Q of the Day will be up next Tuesday.

Posted in SciFi Q of the Day | Tagged Stranded in time | 2 Comments

Assless Chaps (AKA a guest post from Jenn LeBlanc)

Posted on February 20, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

Hi everyone! *waves* I had a very special request from AmyBeth to write about the behind the scenes of a photo shoot. So you are in for a special treat.

See I am an author, and I am also a photographer. I shoot romance cover stock for authors as well as illustrating my own novel.

So last month I was shooting for my new novels SUBMISSION and RETRIBUTION parts five and six of The Rake And The Recluse, and it was very exciting. We spent three days in the studio, my hero, my heroine, my assistants, a makeup artist and me. We brought my story to life.

SO here are a few of the outs, of Derek of course because he is a goof. It’s why I love him.

We have SO MUCH FUN in studio. It just isn’t possible to put into words. Half the time we are laughing and goofing off, to a layman it’s possible they wouldn’t believe we got any work done at all. But we do, and it is AWESOME.

So one little story from behind the scenes. I was shooting Derek with one of my fav new models Brittany, we were doing a little stock imagery, and I had D in the chaps (a.k.a. the assless chaps on twitter. Yes I KNOW they’re all assless, just come play on twitter and you’ll understand.) D and I have known each other for years, he is not just a muse but he is one of my closest friends at this point. The day before he kept sticking his butt out, and I warned him several times that if he kept doing it I was going to smack his butt. SO the next day, while he was in the chaps (with a pair of jeans on underneath…just to be clear) a couple new models I’ve never worked with came into the studio.

Derek sticks his but out. I smacked it. Hard. The crack was loud in the big cave of a studio. I immediately turned and tried to explain to the new kids that I don’t generally abuse my models, but that we knew each other really well and he deserved it.

At least they didn’t run away. And in my defense, he smacked me with a riding crop once. And my assistant that day.

So there you have it, a little insight into the chaos that is my studio. It’s crazy, but it is so much fun I can’t even begin to tell you. You never know what will happen, but you know it will be good.

Thank you AmyBeth for having me!! Now for the giveaway! Tell me something terribly embarrassing you’ve done! I shared..it’s YOUR turn!! Be sure to include your email address in order to be entered into the giveaway.

Jenn

Where to find me: Twitter | Facebook | Author Site | Blog | Tumblr (NSFW)
And please come find me! I LOVE to chat with readers!

And what follows is a bit about the books:

Trailer:

Blurb:

A woman out of time.

A man stifled by propriety.

A nemesis determined to take her away.

A brother to the rescue.

How will a powerful Duke deal with a woman who doesn’t know her place? How will a woman used to the 21st century survive in time where she is considered property?

Francine Larrabee woke up on the wrong side of the century. She was fairly certain she went to sleep in her own comfy bed, but she doesn’t quite seem to be there now. Only adding to her problems is that she has no voice, is constantly being glowered at by a large, stunning man who is obsessed with propriety, and she is apparently betrothed to another horrid little man, determined to ruin her, and any other girls that get in his way.

How does she find herself in the past, when she couldn’t even find herself in her present? How does a self sufficient businesswoman survive in a time when women were still considered property for the whole of their lives and what is she going to do with this man who draws her to him so fiercely.

Where to get the books:

THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE

FREEDOM : Part one brings Francine to the world of the Duke of Roxleigh, clashing worlds in first installment of the completely revised novel, with all new material.

Available now from these ebook retailers:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

All Romance eBooks

iBookstore for iThingys

FOUND : Part two finds Francine in the world of the Duke of Roxleigh. The clashing of worlds in first installment of the completely revised novel continues as Francine finds her footing, discovers secrets about her elusive host, and learns more about herself than she ever thought possible.

Available now from these ebook retailers:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
All Romance eBooks
iBookstore for iThingys

TAKEN : The Rake And The Recluse : Part Three

Part THREE brings Francine and Gideon closer than they ever imagined possible, until the unimaginable tears them apart. What will Gideon do if he loses her, this time, forever?

Available now from these ebook retailers:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
All Romance eBooks
Goodreads

RUINATION : The Rake And The Recluse : Part Four

Part FOUR is full of revelations, celebrations, protestations and one surprise that will have you holding your breath for the final chapters. What has Perry done?

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
All Romance eBooks
Goodreads

SUBMISSION : The Rake And The Recluse : Part Five

Perry leaves Roxleigh House without a backward glance only to be tossed headlong into one of the most difficult trials of his life. How will he protect the very thing he is dedicated to pursuing? How will a man dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure survive a woman who refuses to relent, when he knows he cannot have her.

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
All Romance Ebooks
Goodreads

RETRIBUTION : The Rake And The Recluse : Part Six

Perry must find the woman who has managed to capture his heart, then he must find a way to keep her. Someone else is on the hunt, someone from her past who doesn’t appreciate that she still lives and breaths.

Coming February 28, 2012

NOW it’s your turn, remember to answer the question to be entered to win the full six-part serial novel as it is released, and thank you for stopping by. You will ALSO be entered in the grand prize #WICKEDblog tour, which will be given away on March 1, 2012. Don”t forget to include your email address in your comment or you can’t be entered into the grand prize drawing.

Rules can be found HERE. A full list of all the posts in the tour can be found HERE.

The shortlink to this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-D4

Posted in Guest Blog Posts | Tagged assless chaps, author and photographer, Derek, Found, Francine Larrabee, Freedom, Jenn LeBlanc, Retribution, riding crop, Ruination, Submission, Taken, The Rake and the Recluse, The Wicked Blog Tour | 7 Comments

Interview With Ulysses “Moose” Umbra

Posted on February 17, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

Ulysses “Moose” Umbra is a Sergeant in the Naval Corps of Orbital Defense. He has been decorated with more than a dozen honors, including the Bronze Petal and the Arheim Award. He has been stationed on the Moon for the last six years, playing a pivotal role in keeping the peace on our turbulent satellite.

1) How long have you been in the Corps?

Almost twenty-three years. I’m a lifer, eh.

2) What made you decide to join?

My grandad was in the Corps. He had all the best stories, and people looked up to him. He did something great with his life, and he could be proud of that. I wanted that. I want to do something great, and to look back on my career with pride when I retire.

2) How did you get the nickname “Moose?”

Well, besides the fact that I’m a really big guy, we were training in Alaska back when I was a raw recruit, and I was riding shotgun in the Soovie. It was late at night, and the guy driving was going a lot faster than he really should have on those roads. I looked ahead and saw something big blocking the road, so I yelled “Moose!” at the top of my lungs. Well, it turned out to be a fallen tree, not a moose, but still, we could’ve been killed if I hadn’t yelled when I did. But they’ve called me Moose ever since.

3) What nickname did the other guy get?

We call him Shotgun, because we never let him drive again.

4) Were you stationed in Alaska?

I’m from Ottowa, and I was only in North America long enough for boot camp. I was stationed in Italy for a while, then I was on the Interbartolo station for a few years. I’ve been on the Moon for six years now.

5) Living and working in such a low gravity environment, how do you maintain your muscle mass?

The Corps doesn’t let you get soft. We work hard. Even on our days off, several hours are devoted to exercises that are designed to make sure we can function in any environment, no matter where we may end up being stationed.

6) Do the civilians on the Moon do the same?

It varies widely from colony to colony. Like in Looneyville, they feel like they’re a whole new race. They’re really proud of their physical adaptations, and the kids that are born there all just assume they’ll never leave. Other colonies, like the Mark Apollo station, make a point to cycle people up to one of the stations with gravity simulators on a regular basis.

7) How does the Corps function with so many different colonies with different governments?

Well, Earthgov might not be all powerful, but they do have enough influence to arbitrate all the petty little differences that come up.

8) Petty?

Not every conflict is petty. There’s been some pretty serious hizups from the day the second colony was established, long before my time. Just because the US of A put a flag on the moon a couple of centuries ago didn’t mean that country got to decide the fate of the entire moon! As soon as humankind had the ability to go, lots of people went. And they’re not even necessarily associated with any government on Earth, either. Some started that way, and gained independence later, but others were founded by corporations or religious groups.

9) Would you consider settling on the moon when you retire?

That’s a long way off, I hope. But I miss the green hills of Earth. I want my kids to be able to play outside. Climb trees and stuff like that.

10) How many kids do you have?

None, yet! I don’t even have a girlfriend.

11) What are your hobbies?

I’m the tagger for our unit’s hopper team. And I fence. Like, with an épée, Olympic style.

12) Are you any good? Will we ever see you in the Olympics?

Ha! Yeah, I’m pretty good, but not Olympic material.

13) Anything besides sports?

I read a lot. Historical stuff. My Nana was French, and she was big on stories of the old Monarchy. She likes to say we’re descended from Louis XVI, even though only one of his children survived to adulthood, and she had no children.

14) How does she explain that?

The way the family legend goes, Louis XVI and Marie Antionette’s two young sons didn’t die of some illness. That was just a cover story. They really sent the boys away to live in hiding, away from the anti-monarchists.

15) Wow! I wonder if there’s any truth to that?

It’s just a legend. But it could be true… we’ll just never really know. 🙂

16) You were recently honored with the Arheim Award for your heroism during the Nehare Incident. What was it like, being there while it happened?

First of all, it was a great honor and I am humbled by the accolades that have been… just showered on me ever since. Really, people are making a lot more out of my part than I really deserve. My unit was the closest when it happened, and it was only our training and the cool heads of my entire team that helped us head off something that could have been much, much worse.

17) How are your new fingers working?

My brain still doesn’t recognize the hardware as mine. But they do everything they’re supposed to do, it just takes a while to get used to.

18) Did you ever think we would see this kind of conflict on what was once the most peaceful example of human habitation ever seen?

I just think there shouldn’t be bombs on the moon. I mean, we’ll never take that next step out to the stars unless we can make our lunar colonies work. I think people always thought that a “lunar colony” would be one big happy place. No one expected the moon to develop into a dozen individual colonies, each with very different ideas of what a lunar colony should be. Of course, there’s conflict. But, come on! We can do better. As a species, we as humans can do better.

19) Do you think the lunar colonies will unite?

I hope so. But I think they all need to maintain their individuality as well. It can’t be one just ruling the others.

20) Who shot first? Han or Greedo?

Ha! I shot first, and I shot the sheriff and the deputy too lol!

Every once in a while, there’s a scheduling snafu, and I fill in with a fictional interview. Moose is going to appear in this Monday’s chapter of What Would Have Been.

I’m killing him off.

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

Posted in Interviews | Tagged backstory, Moose, SciFi, Shotgun, What Would Have Been, WWHB | 32 Comments

White Sails

Posted on February 16, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

"Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor," by William Halsall, 1882 at Pilgrim Hall Museum

I’ve heard that when the European ships appeared on the eastern shores of America, the Native Americans had no context to describe what they saw. They used words like “white clouds” to communicate the experience.

I feel like this when I’m talking to my daughter. Besides her speech impediment, she has a long list of special needs, many of which have yet to be properly labeled or categorized. The first five years of her life (with her birth family) were highly traumatic, and sometimes the information that comes out of her mouth is completely nonsensical.

I’m a writer. I pride myself on my ability to put ideas into words clearly and, when necessary, delicately. I like to think I’m observant. But sometimes I find myself struggling to remember…

Wait… what did she just say?

Even when I can understand the individual words, sometimes the way she strings them together makes no sense. As her mother, I’ve figured out a lot of her habits, and since I know what’s going on in her life I can usually figure out what she means.

But sometimes I have no clue. Later, I find myself talking to a therapist or social worker or teacher, and I can’t recreate what my daughter was trying to say. It’s as if the words are “I was in the sink and when it’s over it is the there yet?” Now, if I had been prepared to listen carefully to a puzzle that was about to be presented to me, I might have been able to repeat back the exact words, then pick them apart and make some sense out of them. But this is life, a hundred interactions a day. Most of the time, I can figure out what she means. She’s become much better at expressing herself over the past six years. But out of the blue, when I’m least expecting it, she’ll come out with one of these odd threads of words. Asking her to clarify does not always help. Sometimes she can find new words, but more often she just gets frustrated, and gives up. She pretends she really meant to say something else, and even though I know she’s lying, there’s no convincing her to go back and try to express whatever it was she wanted to express.

In one month, she will be a teenager. We can add a large dose of hormones to the mix. I can only hope that, as all her peers are waxing into their own adolescent worlds and talking to their parents even less, she will somehow find a way to express herself in a way that those of us who love her can understand.

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

Posted in Commentary & Musing | Tagged daughters, special needs | Leave a comment

Back on the Wagon…Wait…or Off…

Posted on February 14, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

One week later and I still haven’t figured out the analogy. Maybe I’ll pull a Lucas and re-edit this post three months from now when a really witty anecdote comes to mind.

But things are better. After several updates in a row (ROW…ROTFLOL! OMG I’m so funny!)

Sorry…

After several ROW80 updates about how I’m not meeting my goals, I met most of them this week. I’m still doing fine with the blog stuff. Even though my Marie Antionette story gets less than a dozen hits each week, I still post it, and I will still finish it. If nothing else, it’s a good exercise.

I’m not writing as regularly as I should, I have had a few days that were very productive. I wrote a 3k story about a space elevator called Jack and the Beanstalk. I think I will put it on the blog next week, at the same time as the interview with Michael Laine, who is actively working on designing a real space elevator. I also half finished a fantasy short for an anthology some friends are putting together just for fun. I made good use of some found time and wrote half of another short story by hand.

Maybe I’ll put those halves together and call it a whole…

For long-term goals, I need to get back to writing and editing my full length novels. The short stories are fun, and they’re great exercise. They also exorcise all those extraneous ideas running around in my head. But although the shorts might be submitted to an anthology or magazine or contest, my true desire lies in the novels.

This shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-CJ

Posted in ROW80, Writing | Tagged #ROW80, A Round of Words in 80 Days, Jack and the Beanstalk, Michael Laine, Space Elevator, wagon | 2 Comments

SciFi Q of the Day: Why Go to the Moon?

Posted on February 14, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

SciFi Question of the Day: Why go to the moon?

Facebook Answers:

Joseph Kerezman Because its there.

AmyBeth Fredricksen Yeah, so’s Venus, but I wouldn’t be seen dead there!

Bob Camp because its better than going to Uranus!!!! LMAO! (sorry i have the sense of humor of a 13 year old sometimes, had to do it.)

AmyBeth Fredricksen You’re right, Bob. Somebody had to do it!

Joseph Kerezman Fine. The Moon is our stepping stone to Mars and beyond. Human kind will not survive staying put on Mother Earth. Better?

Juno Suk The moon has more land. Lower population. Lower property taxes. And they have a Starbucks and Walmart there.

Juno Suk Strangely enough, when you moon someone, they’re likely to see Uranus.

AmyBeth Fredricksen ‎Juno Suk Yeah, but is it a Super Walmart?

Joseph Kerezman I’ve heard that Mars needs women…

AmyBeth Fredricksen ‎~rimshot~

Pony Horton Helium-3. Look it up. ‘Nuff said.

Joseph Kerezman I thought it was “Mars needs Moms”

AmyBeth Fredricksen It turns out they’re not picky.

Al Hartman Um, to see if Alice ever made it?

Pony Horton Al, maybe she’s lying right next to Tommy Lee Jones after SPACE COWBOYS!

Al Hartman Pony, is Tommy Lee “The Man in the Moon?”

Joseph Kerezman ‎”Mars Needs M.I.L.F.s”? Sorry I couldn’t resist

Joseph Kerezman We’re all adults here 🙂

Al Hartman Wait, wasn’t the moon blasted out of orbit on September 13th, 1999?

Pony Horton Al, yes it was but DON’T TELL ANYONE!!! So far, nobody has figured out that the moon is now just one of my matte paintings!!

AmyBeth Fredricksen Damn, Pony, you’re good!

Pony Horton Thanks Amy! Oh, wait… you mean about my matte painting! (Sorry)

James Lucius ‎”We choose to go to the moon … and do the other things. Not because they are easy. But because they are hard.”

Gwendolyn Wilkins Practice for going to other worlds. Can also serve as a launching point to other worlds. Setting up bases and colonies also helps ease population issues (though really those should be dealt with BEFORE heading out into space imo).

Pony Horton And also, LOTS of free parking!

Geri Bressler Wouldn’t it be easier to launch large ships for exploration and colonization from the moon, thanks to lower gravity?

Pony Horton Geri, YES! That’s one of the better reasons for being there.

Emily Becker Priest Why Not?… hehe had to ask.

Kristi Webb Cause it is there!

Brian Covault Easier and cheaper. Cost of going form Earth to orbit is the biggest challenge to space exploration.

Google Plus Answers:

Anthony Deaver – Because it’s there? 😉

AmyBeth Inverness – OMG… facebook got the exact same answer from a different person lol! Of course, the second person to comment made a “Uranus” joke…

Anthony Deaver – Can I change my vote then?

(Nevermind, +Greg Christopher beat me to it )

Greg Christopher – To reach Uranus!

Rebecca Blain – If I miss I’ll still land among the stars. :3 (I love that quote…)

Suzy Brown – Because it’s an incredibly cool thing to do, & people love being cool

Denise Nikonson – Because no place on earth is safe to hide your most prized possession. The moon is the closest option.

Wendi Raig – Why not?

michael interbartolo – because we can not stay on earth forever a time may come when the Earth is used up, blown up or scorched as the Sun dies and if we don’t leave the cradle of Earth then everything we have been, everything we could be everyone we were would be gone. The moon provides a close test bed to live away from Mother Earth with short communication time delay and short return. It is a foothold for future exploration further out away from the safety of our home. developing technology, energy, life science and learning is invaluable given it’s proximity.

Chris Whissen – To shore up our dwindling cheese supplies.

Jonathan Gunson – Because sometimes there’s love on the moon. No really, there’s pictures http://bit.ly/Kissing-On-The-Moon

AmyBeth Inverness – Talk about “Love on the Rocks”…

Anthony Fox – Build a military base to defend the planet.

They’re coming.

Jonathan Gunson – +AmyBeth Inverness are you at +Authors of Google+ ? I’ll repost your query there.

michael interbartolo – to defeat the Nazi’s Iron Sky Official Theatrical Trailer [HD]

AmyBeth Inverness – +michael interbartolo are you going to SpaceUp Houston?http://spaceuphouston.org/

michael interbartolo – +AmyBeth Inverness probably not but I haven’t checked the agenda.

Robert Fredricksen – The moon is the perfect place to launch deep space vehicles to continuing exploration of space. The moon’s lowwer gravity and ice to make hydrogen makes it the perfect depot to reach strange new worlds……

Joel Moore – It has an unlimited source of black unobtanium that will safely and cleanly power our planet for 1000’s of years.

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 Religion in Science Fiction

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

The next SciFi Q of the Day is Stranded in the Past

Posted in SciFi Q of the Day | Tagged cheese, Iron Sky, landing among the stars, love on the rocks, lower gravity, moon, science, space exploration, SpaceUp Houston, Starbucks on the Moon, unobtanium, Uranus, Walmart on the moon | 9 Comments

10K

Posted on February 12, 2012 by AmyBeth Inverness

Writers and runners talk about goals (or goats, if you’re Tiffany Reisz) in terms of “k.” The letter “k” as in short for “kilo,” meaning “one thousand.”

Today, I reached a 10k goal.

No, not words. And most certainly not meters!

Today, I tweeted my ten thousandth tweet.

I was reluctant to join twitter, a little more than a year ago. Originally, I did it for the sake of a cute guy who has a way with design. Then, looking at the Nelson Agency‘s website, one of the suggestions for people like me was to establish an internet presence, such as a web site and diving into social media.

I already had a large friend base on facebook. Those friends are still near and dear to me, and I can always count on them to give me the answer to either a straight or a silly question. I began this blog, and then I looked at my tiny twitter account where I only followed Paul Teutul Jr. and a few friends. I started following several of Nelson Agency’s staff and clients, and from there I branched out into a whole world of writers.

I understand that Twitter isn’t for everybody. (I was thrilled when Christian Slater joined a few months ago, but as of today he’s only tweeted a few times.) I’ve heard the advice clarified from agents and other writers: Yes, you need to have an internet presence. But just do what you’re comfortable with. You don’t need to join every single social network out there. You just need to make sure that you are connecting with people online, in whatever way works for you. The only exception is having a website… most people I’ve heard agree that a writer, even one who know that publication is more than a year away, must have a website and it must be up to date.

Website: check

Twitter: check

Facebook: check

Google Plus: check

Goodreads: check, but I really need to update it more frequently

YouTube: New, but I’ve added a few things…

A finished, polished manuscript, ready to send to an agent….

…ummm…

Excuse me…I have some work to do…

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/s1qnT4-10k

Posted in Commentary & Musing | Tagged facebook, G+, Goodreads, google plus, Nelson Agency, Nelson Lit, Paul Junior Designs, Tiffany Reisz, twitter, YouTube | Leave a comment

SciFi Question of the Day: Is it possible to have a good SciFi story when the science behind it lacks plausibility?

Facebook Answers:

.

Google Plus Answers:

SciFi Question of the Day: If I wrote a story about a ladder with one end permanently connected to the Earth and the other end permanently fixed to the moon, would you question my scientific basis, or just go with it?

Would your answer change if I said Morena Baccarin would play She-Ra in the screen adaptation?

Facebook Answers:

Google Plus Answers:

Natasha Journeydown is the newly appointed White Duchess of Fallcastle. The youngest of the Duchy, she has garnered attention for not only her youthful enthusiasm, but for her attention to detail and innate sense of fashion.

SciFi Question of the Day: If you found yourself hopelessly stranded back in the glory days of the Roman Empire, how much of your knowledge of future events would you share, and with whom? (I’m purposely being somewhat vague on the exact time here.)

Facebook Answers:

Google Plus Answers:

SciFi Question of the Day: If you found yourself hopelessly stranded in the past, on the day of and in the city where you were born, would you share your knowledge of future events and technology with anyone?

Facebook Answers:

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SciFi Question of the Day: Why go to the moon?

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