SyFy Q of the Day: Stasis Pods

Posted on June 28, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

I hope they bring back Stargate:Universe

Before I even started this blog, I would occasionally pose a SyFy Question of the Day to my facebook friends. Sometimes, it was directly related to what I was writing, and I really did want some input to help me decide what direction to take with the story. Other times, it was purely fun. Here’s one of my favorites, from May 2011:

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SyFy question of the day: Should a stasis pod be designed for a person to sit, stand, or lie down?

Tim                        Fetal position take up less room

Jeremy                 Stand with a window in the front so they can wave at you when you put them in stasis. Lister Style.

Joel                        The one on the Red Dwarf has one standing up.

Peter                     I agree with Tim – Fetal position

Alan       Lying down, ‘cos of greater surface area over which to spread the weight of the “resident” – standing puts the same weight on a smaller area (the feet)…and how many chiropodists you gonna have when they come out of stasis?!!! As for sitting down, those legs muscles are gonna lock.

Jess                        Levitate horizontally…seems very syfy and perhaps even a muscle manipulating massage done by varying pressure through out stasis “session” to avoid muscle soreness, joint degradation etc.

AB                          Stargate SG-1 Universe (Not SG1) had them standing up, Lister Style, not even leaning on anything. I agree with Alan Willis, but I like Tim Shott’s idea of the fetal position. Maybe a kind of couch pod that lets people be semi-fetal, semi-lying down…

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 SyFy Q of the Day is at http://wp.me/p1qnT4-ck

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

The next SyFy Q of the Day is at http://wp.me/p1qnT4-e7

Posted in SyFy Question of the Day | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Living Vicariously for RWA11 (Blog Post One)

Posted on June 23, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

RWA11 Tweets for us to live vicariously

For some of us, the “Ah, someday…” dream refers to more than landing a great agent or *gasp* seeing our names on a published work.

For some of us, “Ah, someday…” refers to attending the Romance Writers of America® Annual Conference. Whether our reasons for missing out are family, financial, or just fear, the dream of attending this conference of conferences remains just that… a dream.

So to all those like me who are unable to attend, I invite you to live vicariously through your twitter newsfeed with me for the next week or so. There are already at least two hashtags going,of course there’s#RWA11 which is the obvious, and there’s also #RWASurvivalTip . Watch out for this last one though, these writers can get punchy!

To make the vicarious life a bit easier, I’ve decided to do a few blog posts while the romance twitterati is away living it up in New York City. Here’s a sample of what the hashtags have brought to my newsfeed over these days of preparation and anticipation.

Monday, June 20, 2011

andrewtshaffer Andrew Shaffer

Look for my pink crocs at #RWA11. RT @sbuchbinder: #RWASurvivalTip Comfortable shoes.

thedaisyharris Daisy Harris

I can’t possibly need all these clothes I’m packing for #RWA11 0.o

romancewriters RWA

RT @DonnaAlward: #RWASurvivalTip @romancewriters Smile, say hello, and ask “What do you write?” 99% of people will be fabulous. #RWA11

JulianaGray Juliana Gray

I may be mixing with romance insiders @ladyjanessalon Monday night. They’ll never know it’s me. bit.ly/lytUJH #RWA11 #clandestine

KeriStevens Keri Stevens

I admit to a quiet sob of relief when @LouisaEdwards absolved me of bringing statement necklaces to #RWA11 #UnpackThat

amyatwell amyatwell

Please share! RT @romancewriters has started a #RWASurvivalTip hashtag — what is your conference tip for #rwa11?

PamelaCayne Pamela Cayne

#rwa11 tip–call your credit card company and let them know you’ll be traveling to NYC. Saves possible fraud/theft freezes later–trust me!

romancewriters RWA

RT @KimberlyKincaid: Put business cards in your nametag holder– no rummaging necessary @romancewriters #RWASurvivalTip #RWA11

tarzansgrrl Jayne Hoogenberk

Authors and Community members, check your inboxes, #RWA11 @HarlequinBooks PJ Party invites have been sent…let the pj shopping begin!

RoniLoren Roni Loren

hubs has informed me he’ll be working the entire weekend. So much for my prep days to run kid-free errands before #RWA11

romancewriters RWA

RT @JessicaScott09: No matter how tempted you may be, do not lug a copy of your manuscript for agent/editor request. #RWASurvivalTip #rwa11

ChristinaDodd Christina Dodd

RT @ElizBoyle: #RWA11 advice and I’m taking questions.http://bit.ly/ivfhat Comment to win a writer’s work in progress prize.

manda903 Amanda Twentyfive

More people joining us for drinks on Wed night at #rwa11. Yay! @camrynrhys @thedaisyharris @miranda_baker @laurakayeauthor @monicakaye

KeriStevens Keri Stevens

@manda903 Where is this drinking happening? I’m skilled at this. #rwa11

manda903 Amanda Twentyfive

@KeriStevens PLEASE join us! We’d love to have you! 9:30pm on Wed night. Meeting in the lobby area. #rwa11

KeriStevens Keri Stevens

@manda903 This isn’t one of those awful dreams where I show up in the lobby naked and you all laugh at me, is it? #rwa11

@manda903Amanda Twentyfive

@KeriStevens Well, to avoid that fate I’d suggest wearing clothing down to the lobby. I’ll be wearing a corset… #rwa11

KeriStevens Keri Stevens

@manda903 Seriously afraid I’ll pack all the necessary shoes and forget clothes to go with them. #rwa11

manda903 Amanda Twentyfive

@KeriStevens Just have Dr. Stevens check your suitcase before you leave. You’ll be fine. 🙂 #rwa11

KeriStevens Keri Stevens

@manda903 ROFL you know him so well.

RoniLoren Roni Loren

My #rwasurvivaltip for #RWA11 Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make at Conferences http://bit.ly/gTC0yr

JamieLynn831 Jamie Murawski

@vickydreiling I am going to apologize now for begging and pleading for Will’s story next week at #RWA11

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

andrewtshaffer Andrew Shaffer

On the first day, find the biggest name author you can and tell her to her face that you’ve never heard of her. #RWASurvivalTip #RWA11

andrewtshaffer Andrew Shaffer

#RWA11 isn’t a popularity contest. Which makes it all the easier to win… #RWASurvivalTip

thedaisyharris Daisy Harris

Eye contact could be perceived as a threat. When talking to people, focus on a spot above their left shoulder. #RWASurvivalTip #RWA11

LisaHendrix Lisa Hendrix

.@thedaisyharris No, silly! Focus directly on b00bs, to read name tags of ppl u know u’ve met but don’t quite recall. #RWAsurvivaltip #RWA11

rowynnecrowley a.k.a.RowynneRegnier

@thedaisyharris Myself, I prefer forehead or nose. Sometimes mouth.

Kris10Callihan Kristen Callihan

Ack! How did #rwa11 get so close? I’m not ready! I’m not ready! *running in circles like headless chicken*

Kris10Callihan Kristen Callihan

I’m looking forward to the various parties at #rwa11, just not taking the cabs to get there. #hateridingincabsbymyself

TeresaMedeiros Teresa Medeiros

#RWASurvivalTip Don’t drink too much at RWA. Some authors are scary sober. Drunk they can be truly terrifying. #RWA11

RoniLoren Roni Loren

my cell phone’s contact list is quickly filling up with more writers numbers than family members. #RWA11

TeresaMedeiros Teresa Medeiros

#RWASurvivalTips Leave hubby and kiddies at home. Slow motion pillow fights w/ roomies much more fun that way. #RWA11

alyslinn Alys

Now I have my suitcase for #RWA11, thanks to @afpalmer. I’m tempted to start packing right now lol.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

JamieLynn831 Jamie Murawski

Who’s going to the NAL party at #RWA11 ?

annvosspeterson annvosspeterson

Hoping shopping trip yesterday is last one before #RWA11 – At least there are plenty of stores in NYC in case I missed something!

StMartinsPress St. Martin’s Press

RT @shannon_delany: Going to #RWA11? I’ll be signing free copies of SECRETS AND SHADOWS from 3-4:30 on Thursday! #13toLife

TeresaMedeiros Teresa Medeiros

#RWASurvivalTip Leave hotel every chance you get. Enjoy sunshine, fresh air, & people who don’t care if they ever get published #RWA11

katehewitt1 Kate Hewitt

@TeresaMedeiros And try to get out of Times Square too 🙂 #RWA11

thedaisyharris Daisy Harris

Countdown to #RWA11! Head colored and cut. Eyebrows waxed. (You should thank me about the eyebrows. They r baaad normally.) Toenails painted!

jennifergracen Jennifer Gracen

@thedaisyharris You’ll dazzle! 🙂 Straightened my hair last wk, coloring on Sat. Mani/pedi Sun. We’ll all be too stunning for 1 room! #RWA11

thedaisyharris Daisy Harris

Leaving tomorrow for NY. (Visiting family b4 #RWA11.) Iz vibrating with excitement!!

tarzansgrrl Jayne Hoogenberk

RT @MalleVallik: Harl authors don’t forget the PAN session on Friday at #RWA11. Lots of great information provided.

romancewriters RWA

RT @HarlequinBooks: Just in time for #RWA11! Ask the Editor with Leslie Wainger: Tips for Talking to Editors. http://bit.ly/jvgsXQ

Megan_Hart Megan Hart

Just in case you didn’t get the memo… – At #RWA11 I’ll be wearing the highest heels I own while I tweet… http://tumblr.com/xmu34ijx6e

heatherpvj Heather Peavey Johns

@Megan_Hart You wrote that post as if you think I won’t. But instead of cooly sipping whiskey, I’ll swig a jug of wine. (yes, I said jug)

SpamPrincess Heidi Hormel

@heatherpvj @Megan_Hart Have you mapped out the nearest alcohol purveyor? Pls., pls.!

Megan_Hart Megan Hart

@heatherpvj we shall be hot bitchez togetherrrr!

thedaisyharris Daisy Harris

I can’t tell whether I’m having an allergy attack or a panic attack. #RWA11

thedaisyharris Daisy Harris

On the eve of my trip to NY, am feeling punchy…and more than a little typsy. Perhaps shall pontificate on #RWA11. #noIveneverbeentoRWA

Zoe_Archer Zoe Archer

@thedaisyharris My advice: do whatever the hell you want. Have fun. Be lewd. Drink. Gossip. Wear heels. Enjoy. #RWA11

SelestedeLaney Seleste deLaney

@thedaisyharris Have fun for me!

tinaburns Tina Burns

Fashion Opinion Q: I want to wear thesehttp://is.gd/x2kwzu w/ a dress like thishttp://is.gd/mWbRBr, what do you think, Yes? No?

manda903 Amanda Twentyfive

@tinaburns I say yes, & that I’m totally jealous you can wear those shoes. I have high arches – none of those types of shoes fit me.

SashaDevlin Sasha Devlin

I agree. Totes could pull that off together @manda903 @tinaburns

manda903 Amanda Twentyfive

@sashadevlin @tinaburns Going shoe shopping is a frustrating experience for me. So many cute shoes I can’t wear…

tinaburns Tina Burns

@manda903 @sashadevlin I have to have the ball of foot support if I’m going to wear heels, that’s my weak point

@manda903Amanda Twentyfive

@tinaburns @sashadevlin Are you coming to #rwa11?

SashaDevlin Sasha Devlin

Sadly, no. But there are those who would say I couldn’t be trusted in NY. Those ppl LIE! @manda903 @tinaburns

andrewtshaffer Andrew Shaffer

That’s why I’m packing my testosterone pills. RT @laurendane: realized #RWA11 is the ultimate estrogen bomb.

MonicaKaye Monica Kaye

@andrewtshaffer @laurendane Your testicles are still more likely to shrink than not.

epicblackcar epicblackcar

@andrewtshaffer You are hitting RWA?

maiseyyates Maisey Yates

@andrewtshaffer @laurendane Just embrace it. Get a mani/pedi. Call it a MANicure. #RWA11

laurendane Lauren Dane

@andrewtshaffer pffft, so much estrogen periods start early is what I mean. You’re safe to wear white though 😉

thedaisyharris Daisy Harris

Ooh-wonder what poor, unsuspecting profession shall be having convention alongside #RWA11. Shall we take bets?

andrewtshaffer Andrew Shaffer

Next year at RWA, I will hand out promotional tampons with my book’s title printed on them. #RWA11

rebekahwsm Rebekah Weatherspoon

@andrewtshaffer remind me not to ask for your handouts.

@laurendaneLauren Dane

@andrewtshaffer novelty tampons are like novelty condoms – using them seems dangerous, LOL

Thursday, June 23, 2011

CaridadPineiro Caridad Pineiro

#RWA11 $10 Coupon Ghost Walking Tours of NYC via Living Socialhttp://ht.ly/5ozlH

TeresaMedeiros Teresa Medeiros

#RWASurvivalTip Editors are people too. Some are shyer than you. If pitching a project, relax & act natural. #RWA11

angelajames Angela James

Sneak peek of review panel Thurs at 4:30p #RWA11, I’ll ask this question of panel: Can you be friendly w/author & still give critical review

SarahFrantz Sarah Frantz

@angelajames ::sob:: I can’t be there! ONE panel I absolutely wanted to go to, but presenting at the same time. @SmartBitches

ros_clarke Ros Clarke

@angelajames Am pleased to say that all the author-friends I’ve given critical reviews to are still my friends!

TeresaMedeiros Teresa Medeiros

#RWASurvivalTip Always put on lipstick before you leave hotel room. Even if it’s a fire drill. Even if it’s a fire. #RWA11

TeresaMedeiros Teresa Medeiros

#RWASurvivalTip Never talk about author/editor/publisher in bathroom. Odds of them being in next stall: 100%. #RWA11

LynsaySands Lynsay Sands

@teresamedeiros – Well that could be fun too. Have them going for a bit then give them a hug. LOL

Kris10Callihan Kristen Callihan

Right then. Stuff to do today: get ready for #rwa11

jobourne jo bourne

#rwa11 My schedule is to the point that every time I add something, I take out a workshop I wanted to go to. I need two conferences.

@courtneymilanCourtney Milan

@jobourne I just start with not having any workshops on the schedule. It’s more efficient. #rwa11

@Bob_MayerBob Mayer

RT @NatalieCMarkey: I’m reading Writers Conference Guide FANTASTIC info 4 anyone prepping for #RWA11 Buy it!bit.ly/lde8rh Thanks!

SaraMegibow Sara Megibow

Husband made pancakes in the shape of the Statue of Liberty this morning. #RWA11 here we come!!!! 🙂

CaridadPineiro Caridad Pineiro

Countdown 2 #RWA11 To See: Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum 12th Ave & 46th St. http://ht.ly/4SrQh

romancewriters RWA

RT @AddisonFox: So excited for #RWA11 to start! Complete immersion in the world of writing = author heaven.

karenerickson karenerickson

I’m off to get my nails done for #RWA11. Gel manicure here I come! 😉

DonnaAlward Donna Alward

NYC! #RWA11! NYC! #RWA11! NYC! #RWA11! There. Just had to get that out. #notexcitedatall #kermitflail

MaureenAMiller Maureen A. Miller

Just got my hair cut. #RWA11 WARNING. If you see me, please try not to say, “Oh, look at the little Dutch boy.” 🙂

BetsyHorvath Betsy Horvath

@maureenamiller Did they stick a bowl on your head and cut around it? I think you’d look cute that way. Very professional.

Shirley_Wells Shirley Wells

@maureenamiller *snort* I hope someone will take pics…

kierstenkrum Kiersten Hallie Krum

Keep hearing “writers are introverts”. I do not think it means what u think it means. Or not enough ppl have met me #RWA11 #RWAsurvivaltip

@jennspillerJennifer Spiller

@kierstenkrum Not all writers are introverts. And it’s mostly just about energy. Doesn’t mean “shy” per se. #RWA11 #RWAsurvivaltip

noellepierce Noelle Pierce

.@jennspiller @kierstenkrum Great point about “introvert” not being synonymous with “shy”! And thanks for my Monday blog idea. 😀

karigregg Kari Gregg

Am I the only 1 NOT pitching a bk at #RWA11? Good lord, I can barely keep up as is. Wld like to talk to/abt other pubs tho #curious & #nosy

@jennspillerJennifer Spiller

@karigregg I”m willing to chat about my book, but it’s in revision, so not officially pitching. #RWA11 #curious #nosy

BetsyHorvath Betsy Horvath

Hey there, Real Life, can you just back off for a couple of weeks? Don’t you know I’m being freaking Cinderella here? #norespect #rwa11

@MonicaKayeMonica Kaye

My #RWA11 mission is to somehow finagle my way into sitting next to @TeresaMedeiros so we can whisper and giggle about other people.

TeresaMedeiros Teresa Medeiros

@MonicaKaye Yes! We can whisper about @christinadodd & @keristevens 🙂

@jennspillerJennifer Spiller

I have everything I need to pack for #RWA11, except underwear. *stares at room-sized laundry pile* Oh, right. There’s a machine for that.

julieinduvall Julie Benjamin

@jennspiller I just bought more. Don’t tell anyone.#RWA11

ChristyLockhart Christy Lockhart

@jennspiller A wh….at? I thought no undies meant you needed to shop! A machine? A machine???

DorothyStJames Dorothy St. James

Anyone else not going to #RWA11 and now wishing she was? #amwriting

And as that tweet was less than an hour ago, it’s as good a place as any to stop for now. Besides, the next tweet is from a manicure salon using the hashtag as a shameless plug.

The RWA living-vicariously-via-twitter drinking game! Er… even though I don’t really drink that much, and this will probably refer to sweet tea in my case.

Mentions of:

  • Corsets (Double if tweeter is wearing one.)
  • Alcohol/Drinking (Double if the word “drunk” is used.)
  • Manicures and/or Pedicures (Double if they imply it is a necessity.)
  • Pillow fights (double if they name names)
  • Shoes (double if the tweet mentions pain and/or regret)
  • Onomatopoeia such as *squee!* (Double if they use caps)
  • Estrogen (Double if they also mention testosterone in the same tweet)
  • Newbies making mistakes (Double if they corner someone in an elevator. Triple if blood is shed.)
  • Asking if someone is attending all or part (Extra shot for everyone who replies “no”)
  • Self-deprecating humor (Double if it’s about hair.)
  • Tweets that are no more than shameless plugs. (Double if they admit it.)

Scoresheet for This Post: (Go ahead, check my math. Pretty sure I missed a few somewhere, or counted a shoe tweet twice :))

  • Corsets…………………………………………………………………………………………2
  • Alcohol/Drinking………………………………………………………………………….6
  • Manicures and/or Pedicures………………………………………………………..3
  • Pillow fights………………………………………………………………………………….1
  • Shoes……………………………………………………………………………………………6
  • Onomatopoeia………………………………………………………………………………1
  • Estrogen……………………………………………………………………………………….3
  • Newbie Mistakes………………………………………………………………………….NA
  • Asking if someone is attending all or part …………………………………….3
  • Self-deprecating humor………………………………………………………………..1
  • Shameless plugs……………………………………………………………………………3
  • Total shots for this particular post………………………………………………..29

The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-d0. If you see yourself mentioned here and you’d like me to insert a link to your site, I’d be more than happy to oblige! Just leave a comment and I’ll get to it ASAP.

Posted in Commentary & Musing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Interview with John Hancock AKA Grokdad

Posted on June 23, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

John Hancock has an impressive portfolio of artwork as well as a few pieces of fiction to his credit. His twitter followers know him for his standing offer If you’re a celeb, and tweet me, I’ll eventually draw your picture. He currently lives in Dayton, Ohio with his wonderful wife and their son who is as silly and creative as he is.

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1.     How did you come up with the moniker Grokdad? Are you a fan of Robert Heinlein?

I am Heinlein fan, but actually the name came up another way. When my son was due to be born, a friend on a discussion board suggested I should call him Grok online. Since my moniker at that time was Lerk, it seemed a natural fit for my son’s online name.

Illustration for story on airport noise complaints for the Dayton Daily News

2.     Do people ever think you’re pulling their leg when you introduce yourself as John Hancock?

If I only had a dollar….. It happens all the time, people don’t believe it’s my real name. I joke that it was the only way my parents got me that I couldn’t get them back. I graciously endure people making one or two comments about it  (put your “John Hancock” on the dotted line, etc.) but they don’t seem to realize that I’ve had the name all my life, so even though its new to them, nothing they can say about it is new to me.
I also discovered I couldn’t make a dinner reservation with my real name. I’d show up and have no reservation because they thought it was a joke. Ironically, I now use the fake name of “Sinbad” which they happily accept without question.
When I moved to Chicago a few years back, I briefly toyed with the idea of moving into the John Hancock Tower, but then I realized I’d never get my mail.

Editorial cartoon for the Las Vegas Review Journal

3. and 4. Pepe, the Club-Footed Elephant was… disturbing. So is the font color, which I admit to playing with! Where did the story come from? How did it find its way to publication? What other works of fiction have you published?

.

.

First of all, I had nothing to do with the design of that page beyond the illustration I drew for the story. Phew! That’s out of the way.
This story wrote itself one day.
It walked unbidden from the forest of my mind, sniffed around the clearing, and steadfastly refused to go back into the trees. It is a difficult piece to categorize, it is a bit flippant, a kind of amiable dark humor, but it is not a children’s story. Oh no, it is NOT a children’s story.
Pepe does have the beauty of being brief, and can be a fun piece, especially when read aloud. As for it being a bit disturbing, the story made me write it that way. I had little choice in the matter.
I received a kind note from the editor of Asimov Magazine saying “Thank you for letting me read this”, and apologized it did not quite fit their publication. Finally, the E-zine “Bewildering Stories” published it and one other story, “The Slush-o-matic: Recycling the Slush Pile for Fun and Profit”  http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue59/slushomatic.html

Illustration for story on "What if Elvis Was Still Alive?" for the Dayton Daily News

5.     You mentioned you wanted (past tense) to be a science fiction writer. Was this a childhood dream? How much writing have you done?

Two things I dreamed of as a child: One, to be the first man on Mars. Two, to be a famous science fiction writer. Well, okay, three things: Three, to be a famous artist.
As a kid, I would ride my bike to the library, check out 14 sci fi books (the maximum allowed), read them and come back the next week for more. I am still a voracious reader to this day.
I’ve always been able to draw, and that is what puts food on my table. Writing is a bit more of a challenge for me. Oh, I can plot like the dickens (or Dickens), but I get hopelessly shipwrecked on the shore of details. Novels seemed too long for me to write, even though I outlined several. Short stories seemed more my ticket, but I found out that SciFi short stories no longer have as rich a market as it did when I was young.
So, fast forward to my mid-life crisis. I was (and am) happily married, so the affair was out. I couldn’t afford a sports car, so I thought “Hey, how about I dust off that dream to be a published writer?” And dust it off I did. I spent about a year toiling at it, getting a lot of mimeographed rejections, like most writers. Finally, I got my first personalized rejection for Pepe from Gardner Dozois of Asimov Magazine. I hung around the Asimov discussion board and was told what I’ve always been told about writing: that you have to be consumed with it and do nothing but grind out words several hours a day. I thought about it, and realized I only have fun writing when I feel inspired, so trying to get published as a science fiction writer, if it required the grinding devotion (that I didn’t really have time for at the time), then maybe I should give up trying to break into Science Fiction short stories.

I still want to write screenplays, and have several that I’ve started. But the midlife crisis is over, so I’ll just have to see how soon I get a screenplay accepted.

Illustration for prolific ghost writers for the Dayton Daily News

6.     Have you or would you try 5 minute fiction on Leah Petersen’s Blog? http://www.leahpetersen.com/

Yes. Her blog looks really interesting and I intend to give the 5 minute fiction thingy a try.

(Note: Between submitting these answers and the interview being published, John was a finalist in 5 Minute Fiction!)

7.     Now that the landscape of the publishing world looks so different, would you consider doing more writing? Perhaps something that could use both your drawing and writing skills together?

Very possibly. When I gave up on short stories, that was years ago. Now the internet seems more diverse, and more democratic – in the sense that people can be their own publishers more easily. But working a 9 to 5, having a loving family and now that I’m drawing celebrities, it’ll be while before I tackle something that big.

Illustration for Challenging Destiny magazine

8.     What kind of work have you done in the newspaper business?

I started as an illustrator, back when computers were the size of houses and houses were the size of … well houses. When the macintosh arrived, my inner geek just exploded. I became one of the very first newspaper artists using computers for a daily newspaper. What I did shifted from illustration to information graphics and graphic design. For a while, I was on the cutting edge of the industry and kept getting job offers. Eventually, of course, other artists caught up with me. And, as you probably already know, Newspapers themselves are in the process of racing to become obsolete. There aren’t many art jobs in newspapers anymore.
Currently I work in a marketing department, in a different industry than journalism. Sad, really. Journalism, in all its form has been slowly dying for decades. Now its InfoTainment or something.

Bob Dole

9.     How has your job changed with the ever increasing use of the internet?

Completely. I have done a lot of Flash animations, html design and even user interface work. Right now I’m involved in multimedia projects. Luckily, design is design. Doing it well is independent of the medium used.

10.  What kinds of social media do you use? Do you combine the personal use and the professional?

I have a facebook account, reluctantly, and am almost never on it. I think there is a temptation for people to share too much on facebook in ways that come back to haunt a person personally or professionally.
I just started twitter a couple of months ago. I like it better because its hard to get into too much trouble in 140 characters or less.

.

11.  Your twitter followers are used to seeing you address various celebrities with “Tweet me back, and I’ll draw your picture.” What got you started in sketching celebrities?

Yeah, I hope that doesn’t annoy my followers too much! The whole drawing celebrities thing started sort of accidentally. I started using twitter and following famous people, but had a hard time getting them to
respond. Finally Mary Lynn Raksub responded back to one of my tweets, and I thought “How can I thank her for doing that without seeming like a weird person?” so I drew her picture, posted it on http://www.twitpic.com/photos/Grokdad  and let her know it was there. She seemed happy with it.
I did it that way once more, but I didn’t get a response back, which worried me that I was offending that person. So I thought about a more congenial way. I started asking them to tweet me back, first. That way, it became like a virtual permission slip. Hopefully, that means they’ll enjoy being part of the gallery. It’s getting pretty amazing now, with all the famous people who have given me permission to proceed. I’ve already drawn over 30 celebs and I still have about 8 or 9 yet to draw. Since I only have time to draw in the evenings or weekends, Its easy to get backed up.

Getting a likeness in a portrait is an exacting challenge. Being off by a millimeter or a strand of hair can make or break it. It helps if you can get into a creative zone. Somedays I make several attempts and fail, and other days I can more easily be in the zone and crank out several drawings in a couple of hours. Some of my celeb drawings are better than others at achieving a likeness. The nice thing is, I have accumulated some followers since I started drawing celebrities.

12.  What celebrity would you most like to draw, but haven’t yet?

My son gets a big kick out of it when I get to draw an actor who is on a show he likes. So, when I drew two actors from SyFy’s Sanctuary, Ryan Robbins and Agam Darshi, he was pretty stoked. He would love it if someone from Big Bang Theory would tweet me back, but so far that hasn’t happened.
Personally, I am already jazzed by those who’ve tweeted me. If I could snag more I would love, for example: Helen Hunt, Tom Hanks, Cyndy Lauper, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon…Kal Penn, Wil Ferrel, Gene Hackman, Jane Lynch, Kaley Cuoco  — get the feeling I mean EVERYONE? Basically, I would love if anyone wanted to become part of my gallery.

13.  What is your ideal environment for drawing? Is it the same for writing?

My environment for drawing is sitting in my recliner, watching tv with my wife and son. I hold an 11 x 14 inch pad in my lap and multi-task drawing and family time. I like using unexpected color combinations, therefore I have a jumbled stack of prismacolor pencils on the end table within reach. I don’t decide which color to use until I reach for it.

Writing, though, I need to be somewhat alone and have music in the background. Takes a different sort of concentration, I suppose. Writing requires you to coalesce words around a thought. Drawing, on the other hand, is releasing yourself to a mind meld between your eyes, brain, heart and your hands.

14.  What is your favorite digital or electronic tool to use in writing?

Always my Macintosh, laptop or desktop, and Word.

15.  What is your favorite digital or electronic tool to use in drawing?

Again, my Mac and Adobe Creative Suites… Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.

16.  What is your favorite non-electronic tool to use in writing?

None. What am I, a caveman? If I had to write stuff out longhand, it would be forever. Honestly, thank you electronic gods for giving us the keyboard.

17.  What is your favorite non- electronic tool to use in drawing?

I’m using Prismacolor pencils on layout bond to do the celebrity drawings. I love watercolor, but don’t get to use it much anymore. I’m pretty facile with a pencil, but watercolor is like surfing – you have to adjust to the flow of water and accept your accidents and work them into the piece.

18.  What has been your proudest moment in your professional life so far?

Contributing to a series that won a Pulitzer (I didn’t personally win a Pulitzer, but that’s pretty much the closest I would have ever gotten to one). That would be the obvious choice.
The not so obvious choice is that I’m proud of many people I’ve had the chance to work with. Bright, talented people that inspired me to do better.

Cover Illustration for Challenging Destiny Magazine

19.  Does Bonzai Graphics keep you busy? Or happy? Or both?

It’s a freelance business. Anyone in freelance will tell you its not always consistent. Sometimes busy, sometimes not. That’s why I have a 9 to 5.
Happy is hard to gauge when doing freelance, because the nature of it is to do something to serve a client instead of your own creative needs. I don’t look there for my own happiness per se. I look to make the client happy.

Doing things like drawing celebs is a nice creative outlet for me, and that keeps me happy.

I’m hoping someday to get an actual gallery interested in hosting my celebrity twitter portraits.

20.  Who shot first, Han or Greedo?

Ah. Since I’m of a certain age, I know that Han shot first, first, and then Greedo shot first, second.
Depends on whether you’re referring to the original version or CGI’d rerelease.
You’ll have to be geekier than that to fool me.

And there’s more! One of the watercolors John sent along with the interview missed being rated PG on a minor technicality, but I loved it and wanted to use it. You can see the whole picture, as well as a story I wrote to go along with it on the fiction side of the blog Under Loch and Key. It is called Life and just happened to go along with The Red Dress Club prompt this week!

The Shortlink for this post is  http://wp.me/p1qnT4-cv

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SyFy Q of the Day: Holidays

Posted on June 21, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

Before I even started this blog, I would occasionally pose a SyFy Question of the Day to my facebook friends. Sometimes, it was directly related to what I was writing, and I really did want some input to help me decide what direction to take with the story. Other times, it was purely fun. Here’s one of my favorites, from February 2011:

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If you were part of a multi-cultural group going off to found a colony on another planet, what holidays would you want to keep celebrating? Which would you leave behind?

Rebecca               I’d leave Valentine’s day behind

AB                          I was wondering how long it would take for someone to say that…

Jaana                     According to Ministry, Everyday is Halloween. Its a keeper.

Rebecca               lol i’ll keep Halloween though

Al                            Families and like-minded communities might choose to celebrate all of them. It would work just like it does here when we have New Year on Jan 1st, then a Jewish New Year, Chinese New Year, etc… Even though the Government doesn’t recognize the others officially, families still follow them, and communities still have celebrations.

Unless you posit a totalitarian government, most likely it will be Laissez Faire and let the people celebrate what they want. Just because it’s a new planet doesn’t necessarily mean that they are going to redesign every aspect of daily life. People will hold onto the familiar for psychological reasons. Eventually, a distinct culture will emerge as what happened between Britain and America.

AB                          The most interesting aspect to me is that when you combine even just a dozen countries, you get SO many holidays! It would be interesting to see what developed naturally… and as a writer, to extrapolate what would happen naturally. So many countries celerate Christmas, whether they take it from the Christian tradition or the celebration of solstice or some other belief, it is widely celebrated.

Jess                        No holidays allowed and I would have signs.

Glenn                   Keep them all. Celebrate diversity.

Erica                      I’m torn betwenn Jess’ opinion and Glenn’s….

AB                          Jess is voted off the island. And I’m not speaking to Glenn till he publishes the second Solfleet book and resolves the @&)##)% cliffhangar!

Glenn                   hehehehehe

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 SyFy Q of the Day is at http://wp.me/p1qnT4-bI

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

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Asia, the Time After

Posted on June 21, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

Usually I post my stories for The Red Dress Club in the other blog, Under Loch and Key. But this prompt, besides being memoir, fits much better in The Inverness Press because I wrote it as I opened up one of the random stories from Kingdom Come that I never finished.

The prompt was “The first time I ________-ed after _________-ing.”

The first time I open the Word file after leaving it sitting in the virtual dust of my laptop for more than two years is surreal. This was one of those stories I set on Kingdom Come and never finished.

The first thing I notice is that I began it by telling instead of showing. I should have started by giving some glimpse into the personalities of these characters, instead of setting the stage and stating blandly where they are and what they are doing.

The next few things I notice are inconsistencies. Not mistakes, necessarily; they are simply small details that have either changed because I made the conscious decision to do so, or because I simply forgot.

The characters are sisters. I remembered their rivalry as cousins, and I might change this. I’ll read further and see if there’s any particular reason to decide one way over the other.

I’ve also specified the time as The New Duchy. Since that happens once every ten years, it means I have to decide which Duchy this is. I’ve spanned just over ten years in the stories I’ve written, so there are two choices.

I describe a sabbatical year instead of a semester or season. Season is what was finally decided in other books, so if and when I edit and finish this story, that little detail will be revised. I just hope I can do so without glossing over… it might be wiser to use the find/replace function so I don’t miss one.

Oh look! I mentioned bubble houses in this story. I described them differently in others, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I love architecture, and I enjoy inserting little details about future buildings into my stories.

There’s one more little paragraph that mentions something nifty and sci-fi like, and I debate whether to keep it. I will for now, because it’s easier to keep the questionable stuff in the early stages, and cut it out later. I’m always torn between demonstrating some of these advanced technologies to show that the story is set hundreds of years in the future, but when it’s just flavor and has no real impact on the plot, it might not be worth keeping.

Oh, look. It just ends. I stopped writing after 825 words, and the rest is either playing with the virtual dustbunnies somewhere in my computer, or I never wrote it. I didn’t even make notes at the end of the document, like I do now. Fortunately, I know where this particular story was going, and it won’t be hard to recreate.

I put the story back into the virtual drawer. I like this one. I will return to it someday.

Just not right now…

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

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Interview with Aislinn Macnamara

Posted on June 17, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

They say that once you reach your forties, you undergo some sort of mid-life crisis. That must have been what happened to Aislinn Macnamara when she finally made up her mind to set down some of the stories that had been accumulating dust in the dark recesses of her brain for years. As space becomes available, other plots and characters have developed the pesky habit of moving in to take their place. She has just signed a two book deal with Ballantine Bantam Dell.

Aislinn lives in the wilds of suburbia outside Montreal with her husband and two teenaged daughters. When not writing, she looks for other excuses to neglect the housework, among them knitting, reading and wasting time on the internet in the guise of doing research.

1.       Was there any kind of a turning point for you in your life when you decided that you were a writer? How much writing did you do before that?

I’m not one of those people who’s been writing ever since she could hold a crayon. Making up stories in my head? Yes, for sure. Committing them to paper (yes, paper—do you know how old I am?), no. Beyond school assignments, I never even tried much in the way of creative writing until I joined a round robin story for fun, and that was fanfiction. But that was the beginning for me. No one told me to stop, so I started making up my own stories and kept going with them.

2.       What kind of fan fiction did you write?

You’re going to make me out myself? Oh, all right. Harry Potter and a smattering of Lord of the Rings.

3.       How much writing-related material is playing with the dust bunnies under your bed?

My first full manuscript, which I wrote in about three months, spent another month line editing and then blithely annoyed various and sundry agents with. I naively thought they’d all be just thrilled to offer me representation. That one will never see the light of day again, but it was good practice. I currently have three other full manuscripts in various stages of polish. I’m not going to completely give up on them. One needs a total rewrite, and I would love to salvage the other two.

4.       How was your experience with NaNoWriMo?

I’ve never done a true NaNoWriMo. Last year I did a book in a month challenge. It was similar to NaNo in that I goaled to write 50,000 words in a month. I fell short by maybe 20,000 words, but I did make a lot of progress on the manuscript that became my Golden Heart® entry.

5.       What is the Golden Heart®?

It’s a contest that the RWA® holds every year. Up to 1200 unpublished authors send in the first 50 or so pages of their manuscript, along with the synopsis. The top ten percent in each category final. I hear it’s a bit prestigious.

6.       What other contests have you participated in?

Quite a few chapter contests. I didn’t final in everything I entered, but I finaled when it counted, so I’m happy with that.

7.       Is it all right that I ended that last question with a preposition? Don’t you have an extensive background in grammar? And what is a gerund?

It’s all right by me. I’ve ended a few of my sentences here in a preposition. In my opinion, if you have to twist the sentence into a pretzel so that it doesn’t end in a preposition, you might as well suck it up and stick that old preposition at the end.

I do not have an extensive background in grammar, per se, but when I was at university, I took a lot of foreign languages. I was a French literature major, and McGill didn’t have strict distribution requirements, so I took German and Russian on the side. I find that learning the grammar of another language really helps you understand the grammar of your native language.

Also, back when I was in elementary school, we had to walk five miles through the snow both ways while fighting off rogue dinosaurs… Um, sorry. I mean, we were actually taught grammar back then. We still diagrammed sentences. I was the weird kid in the back who thought that was fun.

A gerund occurs when you take the present participle (-ing form) of a verb and use it as a noun. In the sentence: Writing is hard work, “writing” is a gerund. But contrary to what a lot of writers claim, not all -ing forms are gerunds.

  1. You recently signed with Sara Megibow of the Nelson Literary Agency. What is this stage of your writing career like, and what tasks are you working on before the day you see your work published?

It’s equal parts exciting and scary. Everything has happened so fast. I signed with Sara about three weeks after I got the GH call. She had me do some revisions, and we went on submission in May. Two weeks ago, I had a couple of offers on my books, and we’ve just signed with Ballantine Bantam Dell. Now I not only have to think about my next book (which I’ve started) but the whole terrifying world of promotion.

9.       How did you find your agent? What does it mean Qui ne risque rien n’a rien?

I’ve queried the Nelson Agency before. The very first query I ever sent out for that first, bad manuscript was to Kristin Nelson. I can’t remember how I found them originally. I probably just googled literary agents. I wasn’t in the RWA at that point, so I was on my own. I remember one of the reasons I liked them was they took e-queries. Then after I joined the RWA and learned a little bit more, I found out how respected that agency is. With my second manuscript, I queried Sara, because I’d seen her mention on a blog interview that she was looking for historicals. She asked for a partial and passed the following day, but when I was ready to query my A-list after the GH final, she was still one of my top choices.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Qui ne risque rien n’a rien means “he who risks nothing has nothing.” It’s a risk putting yourself out there. It still is for me, even though I’m agented. When I was on submission, I faced rejections from editors. Now I’m facing the prospect of working with an editor who’s worked with some top romance authors. I’m sure she’s not going to like everything about my book. But the only way to be published is to put yourself out there, and that means taking that risk.

10.   In writing Regency romance, how do you get the historical details right? I’m always confused by why an Earl’s wife is a Countess, but a Count’s wife is… well, it’s confusing!

In English aristocracy, there are no counts, only viscounts, and the wife would be a viscountess. I had to research this. Regency wasn’t really something I set out to write, actually, although I’ve read my fair share. I was confused about the titles, too, but there are some good resources online to straighten you out.  I’m also a member of an online chapter geared toward authors of historical romance, and we have a few Regency experts among our membership.

11.   How and when did you choose your pen name?

I’m a redhead (though not natural—the why I’m a redhead is possibly another story for another time), so it seemed natural to go for an Irish name. I do have some Irish blood in me, as well. I sort of just picked two names I liked and put them together. I wanted something a bit out of the ordinary. Also the Aislinn is a bit of a nod to the city where I live. The Montreal Gazette has a political cartoonist who goes by the name Aislin.

12.   Under what circumstances do you use the pseudonym, and when do you use your real name? In particular, when you’re communicating with your agent, editor, and prospective publishers, which do you use?

I always signed my query letters with my real name followed by “writing as Aislinn Macnamara.” I’ve also used both names on my manuscript. Within the RWA itself, my fellow chapter members know me by my real name. I’ve only recently begun using the pen name more consistently. When the GH announcements were made, I had to decide whether I wanted to have my final announced under my real name or my pen name. I went with the pen name for the recognition factor. I’d always intended to publish under this name, and in finaling in such a high profile contest, it only made sense to use my pen name.

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

I have a presence on Facebook and Twitter, as well as a blog on my author website. I have a separate personal page on Facebook under my real name, but there’s been some carry-over as certain of my non-writing friends are interested in following my author activities. My twitter feed started out as a way of following industry professionals, like agents and editors. I’ve found it a great resource for online pitch opportunities, for example. But then again, on Wednesday nights during the season, you’ll find me live-tweeting Survivor with a friend.

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

I’m pretty old-school, actually. I use Word, obviously, but I actually write my first draft long hand on paper. I find the internet, email, twitter, blogs, what have you, way too distracting, for the most part, to compose directly on the computer. Of course, then I have to type what I’ve written into Word, but I take that opportunity to do some preliminary editing, cleanup and expansion.

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

My college-ruled spiral-bound notebook and a pen, but it has to be a good pen. I hate it when the ink starts giving out on me at random intervals.

16.   What is the most persistent distraction from writing?

Specifically? Kakuro. For the uninitiated (run, run now—it’ll get you too), it’s a logic game with numbers, similar to Sudoku, only harder. I keep telling myself just one game, but I inevitably click on “hard” and then it takes me two hours to fill in the grid.

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

I don’t know about ideal, but I usually write for an hour or so at night. I have to get in bed in my PJs with my notebook and then I write.

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

My characters make the rules, not me. Not just with love scenes, but in general. If they want to get interesting, I have to let them, or they take their toys and go home. (And now that I’ve typed that, I realize that can be taken in an erotic sense—but I don’t write erotic romance.)

19.   Who shot first, Han or Greedo?

I was 13 when the first Star Wars movie came out. I saw it multiple times that summer. I can’t remember anyone but Han shooting first. I don’t hold with ret-conning any more than Sam Gamgee’s gaffer holds with wearing iron-mongery. Hmm… seems like I’ve hit some kind of geek trifecta here with Harry Potter, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Oh well, I own it.

20.   When the day comes that you are on stage, accepting some prestigious award, who are you most likely to forget to thank?

At this point, I can’t fathom winning any kind of prestigious award. Part of me is still in denial about the GH final. So knowing me? Everyone.

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

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SyFy Q of the Day: Interstellar Communication

Posted on June 14, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

By Azcolvin429

Before I even started this blog, I would occasionally pose a SyFy Question of the Day to my facebook friends. Sometimes, it was directly related to what I was writing, and I really did want some input to help me decide what direction to take with the story. Other times, it was purely fun. Here’s one of my favorites, from April 2011:

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SyFy question of the day: Writers have explained space travel in many ways, but what about communication between the stars? What is plausible? Must it take months to send a message to another solar system?

Al                            If there is FTL travel, perhaps a version of the Pony Express can exist with unmanned ships that carry physical mail or electronic transmissions between planets. Being FTL, they’d be faster than radio or laser comms. Unless you postulate some kind of sub-space or super-space radio that is effectively FTL. Or using paired quantum particles to somehow communicate datas.

Or… if you have people with psychic abilities, there might even be trained communicators who use such powers to instantly transmit messages.

All sorts of possibilities exist.

AB                          I liken the Pony Express idea to the early 1990’s when computer bulletin boards (BBS’s) would link together to send e-mail. A series of near-instant jumps, several hours apart.

‎…or were you talking about Pony Horton? 😛

Bernard                Al nailed it, quantum particles.

Al                            LOL! Nope, not Pony Horton… But, not like FIDOnet either…

I’m talking about FTL ships that travel from planet to planet and upon arrival, contain communications. Are then serviced, loaded with return comms, and dispatched back.

Relays would still be too slow, and limited by the speed of light. You want some method that is FTL.

Star Trek invented Subspace Radio (or adopted it from earlier SF stories) to allow near real-time communications in their stories. But were very inconsistent in its use. Some stories had it real time for instantaneous communications, and others had it take days or weeks to send a message.

Back in the day, Ocean liners would carry mail from port to port across the Atlantic. So, could space liners in your stories.

Perhaps the arrival of a liner would be exciting for the news, mail, entertainments and the like which would be on board?

AB                          Now I’m thinking about some “THING” that might not be a ship, but can go FTL. It’s cargo is virtual, it is information…

And the next novel (which may end up being the first novel) the MMC works for a communication company and sometimes has to make business trips to earth…

And I am OCD about being consistent within my own world!

Al                            Yes! Exactly…

AB                          Oooh! Like we have satellites that bounce info around one planet, I think I’ll have… some THING like a satellite that, instead of orbiting, spends its time bouncing back and forth between two distant points… relaying packages of information at each end…

Bernard                I really like the quantum particles idea.

Consider a split-particle production facility located between two distant points. Particle packages are sent to remote areas the slow way. When used in a packet array, so that individual particles represent a binary bit (like Internet packets) information can be exchanged instantaneously.

Shane                   Madeline L’Engle’s tesseract.

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

Shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-bI

Skip ahead to the next SyFy Q of the Day at http://wp.me/p1qnT4-ck

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Interview with Tymothy Longoria

Posted on June 10, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

Tymothy Longoria is a pre-published writer known for his encouraging words and retweets for other writers. He has a children’s book called The Sad Little Robot as well as a full length work for adults called The Stories.

“I love my God, my Fam and my Tweeps. I am a Writer, currently editing my first novel, The Stories. Legends Will Be Reborn. Believe it.”

1. How long have you been writing? How long have you been serious about writing?

I can honestly say I’ve been writing since I was about 17 years old. I started writing short poems and that led to writing song lyrics.  I’ve been serious about writing…for two years

2. What social media do you use? Do you have multiple accounts or pages on any?

Yes of course. I use Twitter and Facebook. I frequent Twitter more these days but Facebook was started when I began writing seriously. I have my one Twitter account and one Facebook account for both personal and professional use. I do, however have a Like page devoted to my book The Stories and page that is meant to help others be who they are, so to speak. To remind them that what they love is part of who they are. It’s called We Embrace That Which Defines Us.

3. Besides the social media sites, how else do you use the internet in your writing?

Great question. I use the internet for research of course but I do have a blog called Aspire No More. There is no format or definite structure. Whatever pops into my head, I write it there. I’s been a great way to share my writing in general. I also use the ‘net to write for the New Authors Fellowship blog.

4. What is the New Author’s Fellowship?

It is a blog for unpublished writers by unpublished writers. Its mission, if you will, is to provide posts that are full, rich in thought and writer wisdom. We are all Christians as well.

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

My favorite tool is my Gateway wireless pc. It does what I need it to do and the MS Word program is superb.

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

My trusty comp book-full of notes, names, story titles, ideas, and everything in between. I’ve had the same one for two years. I love it.

7. If you could define the parameters for an entire new genre of writing, what would it be?

Hmmm…wow. Now this is a question to ponder. I don’t know if anyone has said this but…I think a new genre would be something like this. “I thought of a great story and I want to write it.” I didn’t write it with young or old in mind, but both. Neither modern nor ancient but a mixture of the two. Where technology and magic collide. What would you call that genre? The parameters? New, upcoming artists a.k.a. writers, writing what they want. Writing what they feel in their heart.

8. If you were living in medieval times, would you rather be a scribe, or a bard?

Well, right away I’d say bard. But upon further reflection I would have to say scribe. I’d do it may way.

9.  How did The Sad Little Robot begin? What did it turn into? Where’s it going?

The Sad Little Robot began one night when my wife, Jennifer and I were talking about what we liked drawing as kids. I liked robots. Typical boy, I suppose though honestly, it wasn’t that typical in my “circle”.  She enjoyed drawing flowers in park settings. A peaceful garden.

She drew a picture of a robot on a swing. It dawned on me. What if I wrote a story about a Robot who searches the world in search of friendship? What if I made him to be sad on this journey until the day came where by chance, he meets his one true love? The Sad Little Robot was born. I wrote it for my wife on our 10th Anniversary. It turned into a childrens picture book story and I’ve thought of many more adventures for Robut.  I hope it will be published early next year. 

 10. Have you ever considered self-publishing?

Yes. That was my initial plan. So as I began plotting and creating character names, I started researching the different “big” name self pub companies like Lulu and iUniverse.

11.       What process have you been through with your WIP? Are you querying yet?

Process. Write as much as possible, daily. That was most important for me. Just to write. I’m sure many others may associate with this: I create as I go. The plotting is less than the spontaneity.

12. If you had to pick just one quote from “The Stories” to share in this interview, what would it be?

“Tell me!” she screamed. “Do any of you dream? Huh?! ‘Cause I don’t! Not anymore! By Logos…neither will any of you!”

13. Many authors, especially in science fiction, tend to ignore the idea that their characters might have faith or attend church. Those books that do mention religion tend to make it a focus. Is it possible for a science fiction book to mention a character’s faith without it becoming an overwhelming theme?

I happen to think it is possible. Your question “Is it possible for an s/f book to mention”. Again I say yes. I personally think it can be answered this way. Some may agree or disagree. If a character is “white”, the writer should make that known, somehow, but it does not become overwhelming that he/she is white or black or of Asian descent. It’s just who they are. The same thing goes for a character’s beliefs. It is what the character believes. Not what drives the story/plot. Although another question to ask then, would be does this person’s faith affect the story or not?

14. How does faith, or religion, or spirituality play a part in your books?

I am glad you asked this question. It plays a major role. Faith that is. Without giving anything away, my personal faith has been my greatest inspiration for the story that happens before Book One. In my book there is one “God”, Logos, translated as the Word. In the Bible, the Word is Christ. While there is no “character” named Christ or God, or even a stated “religion” there is a very clear indication that the beliefs in this real world are echoed in The Stories. Some may call it allegory, I choose not to. I wrote from what I knew. From what I know. The story took on a life of its own, very early on. But those themes are present.

15. What part do art and music play in your writing?

Wow. I think an easier question would be what part do they not play?  Art. Music. It is left unsaid that they are a great inspiration for all writers, creators. Again, my belief in a Creator, who through art and music inspires me to create, is what compels me to seek these muses out. I have always been a great supporter of both and when I began writing seriously it was a marriage made in Heaven. They provide great joy, anger, and raw emotion. Things I needed to accomplish this book. I owe music and art a tremendous debt of gratitude.

16. Who did your book trailers? What point were you at in your writing and editing when they were made?

I made them myself. The first one was made out of sheer excitement. I think I was maybe 20k words in. It was then that the aforementioned excitement compelled me to ask a few people to read what I had written so far. Their words took my confidence to a new level. It was then that I created the first one. The second trailer was made about the time I was writing the last two chapters. I should note, the words in the first trailer were the first thing I ever wrote for the Stories. I edit as I go.

17. You have a reputation for aiding other writers, such as retweeting announcements a cheering them on. Why is it important to you to support others, even those who aren’t ready to query yet?

I love your questions. Really, I do. Again, my faith is the primary reason I do what I do as far as sharing. It is important to me because it is important to them. I know what they feel. I see them. I see into their hearts. Before I’m called a witch, heh, what I mean is this. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The second reason I support others. I remember telling an ex-coworker of mine, “If you’re cool with me, I’m cool with you. It you’re not cool with me, I’m still gonna be cool with you.” Meaning? I’m going to help you if I can in any way. If you don’t reciprocate, fine. No loss for me, because, we each are our biggest supporters, right? We have to believe in us before any can truly believe in us. But I will continue to support you. I know your dreams I have the same ones! I want you up there with me. As far as those not ready to query, it is a great boost in confidence and strength when another person shares your work or a simple tweet.  Those not ready will one day be those ready. Those ready will one day be an agented, or published writer.

18.   Many writers admit that they go through periods where they hate what they’re working on. Does this ever happen to you?

Since devoting time to writing I’ve written The Stories and am working on a horror short as well as a short for a Collection. I’m not one of those. If we hate what we’re doing, there’s no desire to do it. Same for a 9-5 job. If there are writers out there who feel this way, you know I love ya, but no, I’ve never hated what I was writing. Though…I am just starting.

19. Who shot first, Han or Greedo?

Upon closer examination of the facts and the 1977 original…it was all Han.

20.   When the day comes that you are on stage, accepting some prestigious award, who are you most likely to forget to thank?

Han. No. This is exactly something I would do. I really don’t know how to answer this. But more than likely my 7th grade GT English teacher Mrs. Fromme. So I’ll do it now.

Thank you, Mrs. Fromme. Thank you. For telling me…that I could.

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

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When Good Blogs Die

Posted on June 8, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

In my misspent youth (or, rather my overactive goody-two-shoes youth) if no one laughed at an obviously hilarious joke I’d made, I would simply repeat myself. Loudly. And often.

I was annoying.

Fortunately, I grew out of it.

These days, a large part of my social interaction takes place on line, where I can be assured that people did “hear” what I said because the words are on the screen. Sure, a gem might scroll off the twitter feed before it’s fully appreciated, but facebook statuses and blog posts last longer.

If they don’t comment when they first read it, that gem of a joke was either not funny, or people didn’t get it and didn’t care. You do not explain jokes; that defeats the purpose. If people don’t laugh, you just hold your head high and move on.

Back in April, in a post titled M.A.S.H. I slid in an obscure reference to Robert Asprin’s most famous series, as well as the fact that said author passed away a few years ago. I said “I myth him.” but either no one caught the reference, or no one thought the pun worth mentioning.

Just recently, in a post titled Introducing Charity the gem of a quip (referring to the painting The Lady of Shallot) was “It is filled with so much angst, you can almost see a sparkly vampire in the background.”

Well, I thought it was funny.

Having the occasional joke fall flat is no big deal, even though the insecure, attention and approval-seeking part of me yearns to be appreciated for my clever humor. But sometimes it’s bigger things that go bad.

I still love the idea of Choose-Your-Own-Romance and Choose-Your-Own-SciFi, but they have not taken off as I’d hoped. In fact, they are both dead in the water. Maybe they were too much like a pyramid scheme, where each participant had to find a couple more participants. Maybe the rules were confusing. Maybe it just wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be.

Mark Lidstone and Jen Kirchner are both doing Vote-Your-Own-Adventure stories on their blogs, and it seems to be going well. The main difference is that they both have a following of readers who vote on what the next action should be, and then Mark and Jen write the next chapter depending on the results of the voting. I don’t have much of a fan base yet, so I can’t really do that unless I want to depend on my mother’s phone-in vote (for some reason, she’s afraid to comment directly on the blog) and a couple of friends. Even my own husband rarely reads my blog, but that’s because I don’t have enough car chases or space battles. Besides, I wanted the Choose-Your-Owns to involve lots of writers in one big happy project, and give readers the option to go back and try other paths just to see what happens.

Photo of John Quinlan by photographer Sandra Kimball

It’s not dead yet, Jim. The nice thing about the virtual world of the blogosphere is that there’s no cost or trouble involved with the pages and posts just sitting there. I might be able to find a way to breathe life into them. Or maybe I just need to find the right charismatic people who have enough of their own following that the project will gain a life of its own.

In the meantime, I will post gratuitous pictures of male model John Quinlan. Besides being obviously gorgeous, people are coming to my blog almost every day because they googled him and it brought them here!

Addendum: (Because you can do that sort of thing with blog posts, ya know. I can change anything whenever I want! 🙂 )

Roni Loren directed me to this great post on Kristen Lamb’s Blog “Sacred Cow Tipping-Why Writers Blogging About Writing is Bad“. The post has some great information about how writers can get the most out of their blogs, so I might be incorporating some new ideas! Kristen Lamb is the author of We Are Not Alone. Yes, it sounds like alien conspiracy theory, but it’s The Writer’s Guide to Social Media. She has another book titled Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer.

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

Posted in Blog Business, Choose Your Own Romance, Choose Your Own Sci-Fi, Commentary & Musing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Prompts

Posted on June 7, 2011 by AmyBeth Inverness

Although I have a lot of work to do on my WIP, I usually take some time out each week to participate in the bi-weekly prompts from The Red Dress Club. I believe it was AB Keuser who first introduced me to the group.

Every Friday a prompt is posted for RememberRed, the memoire meme. On Tuesdays, everyone who participated posts a link, and then we read and comment on each other’s posts. Then on Tuesday, a prompt is posted in the Little Red Writing Hood meme, and we get together to share those on Fridays. It is very encouraging, and loads of fun to do just a short little piece that doesn’t have to be completely polished or perfect.

Today, I’m reading about things we still know by heart.

This week’s memoir prompt asked you to dig deep to find what, from your childhood, you still know from heart.

I still remember all those rhymes you did while slapping hands with a friend, like Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack all dressed in black black black.

What do YOU remember?

Please link up – but ONLY if you’ve done the prompt. And try to visit as many as you can so we can keep this wonderful, supportive community going – and growing.

Sometimes many of the posts are very similar, as  our collective brains all turned in the same direction after reading the prompt. Sometimes they are wildly different. With this prompt, about something we still know by heart, my brain automatically turned to childhood dance lessons, reinforced by the fact that I became a dance teacher myself. This piece is not my best work. It’s a nice little memory, but it has little sensory imagery and feels weak. I don’t mind; I can choose to polish it more, or relegate it to the virtual stack of forever first drafts that never go anywhere. Every writer needs a stack like that.

The first couple of posts I read recollected something from the writer’s religious experience. Geri remembered the rituals of her Catholic upbringing, and how the ritual freed her mind to reach the focus she sought for worship. Frume Sarah recalled her Bat Mitzvah.

After reading these two posts, I skipped back to read what Galit shared this week. I skipped to her for a couple of reasons. First of all, everyone skips to Galit because her writing is so beautiful, it is a treat to read what she shares every week. I always look forward to reading her posts, and she usually has a ton of comments agreeing with this sentiment. The second reason I skipped to Galit was that the theme of her blog is Parenting Spiritually Without Religion. Today, she has a sweet story about the simple act of pushing her small daughter on the swing, while remembering how her own mother once did that for her.

Perhaps religion will not be a theme…

I read on, seeing what others chose to share. Frelle remembered Goonies and the summer of 1985. Andrea remembers Miss Susie Had a Steamboat.

Continuing through the links, I decide to skim a few just to get a feel for what the group as a whole did with this prompt. I feel guilty about not leaving comments on every single post, but if something moves me, I make sure the writer knows. I waver about whether to call someone out when I feel their post doesn’t really fit the meme; I hope that people would tell me if I posted something that didn’t fit. I hope my friends would give me constructive criticism on the posts I share with TRDC, as that is one of the points of sharing. I decide to keep most of the little points I notice to myself; I hate being the only person offering a critique.

Academic facts and lists. A sad memory. Odd things that stick in our minds for no discernible reason. Bon Jovi. Tiny rituals. Shakespeare. It seems TRDC is taking today’s memoir in all directions.

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote Beauty seen is never lost, God’s colors all are fast. (Read more:http://quotationsbook.com/quote/3944/#ixzz1ObkaQAuz on Quotations Book) Although I believe he was referring to the transient nature of the beauty found on God’s Green Earth, the idea that beauty, once seen, is never lost applies to the written word as well. Even though most of the posts we shared today will eventually fade off into the blogosphere, the fact that we wrote them, and we shared them, and commiserated over the directions we each took this prompt will never be lost.

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

Posted in Commentary & Musing, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments