Let's go to Mars

Since I was nine or ten, I've been passionate about Mars. More than any other body in the universe, it's always been Mars that's held my attention. For any of you that have read my fiction, that's probably pretty obvious, since Mars is a setting for many of my stories.

Using the ideas set forth by Robert Zubrin, we can go to Mars...not in twenty years, but now. With the money we spend in a day or two on the War on Terror, we could fund a crewed mission to Mars...a mission that would stay there for more than a year.

I don't know if the Science Channel will be showing Mars Underground again any time soon, but if they do, you should definitely watch it. For those of you who might be interested in a more detailed explanation of Zubrin's plan, I would strongly recommend his book The Case for Mars. This book has influenced not only my own writing, but many of the bigger hard science fiction writers out there.

There's no reason for us not to go, so let's do it!

The count

I've gotten several e-mails in the last month asking how many stories I've sold, so I figured I'd post the count here. I've also been asked a couple of times what genres I've been published in, so I'll break it down here.

Keep in mind, this is just original sales. There are no re-prints in this list (I've lost track of those a long time ago)...

38 science fiction
1 dark fantasy
1 children's fantasy
1 horror

And the novel, The Opium of the People is science fiction.

My day at the airport

I had to get up early today so that my friend Josh and I could take our friend Vik to the airport. She's going to Russia for a little over six weeks.

This was only the second time that I've been out to Denver International Airport, and when I say out, I mean out. It feels like you're driving half way to Kansas when you go out there, and then all of a sudden, rising up from the plains, is what looks like a bunch of circus tents. I really think our airport is one of the ugliest I've ever seen. It looks like Bozo the Clown was on acid and decided to just throw up some tents. They say that it's supposed to represent the mountains, but it doesn't look like it to me.



The area where they built this airport is highly prone to tornadoes (they had one almost touch down the first week it was open), and since it's built on the plains, when it snows and the wind blows, it's almost impossible to reach. Great planning, Denver!

This was also the first time I'd been to any airport since 9/11, and I have to admit, I was really tempted to scream "Jihad," but I decided not to. We got their insanely early, which you pretty much have to do with international flights, and got jerked around by some moron from United, basically telling us we couldn't go to the international ticketing line even when we'd already been told we were supposed to go there. Some people get to wear a uniform and they think it somehow makes them special.

The one thing I found most amusing is that while we were at the counter, I was watching the two, yes, two, baggage handlers that moved stuff on the conveyor belts. I would guess that there was maybe one bag every two minutes that got loaded onto the belt. One person would make sure the bag would go through the little hole into the "automated" system, and the other would grab a little carrier to put the bag in if it was soft. Yes, it takes two people to do this job...and they probably get paid very well.

Overall, I was very unimpressed with the airport and the airlines, and definitely with the security. It doesn't seem that much better than it was before 9/11. Sure they have that little puffer machine that's supposed to be able to detect explosives, but from what I've heard, the thing really doesn't even work.

Very unimpressed.

My Meez

I saw that Jim Van Pelt had made one of these on his LiveJournal, and it really does kind of look like him...so I just had to try it for myself.

Surprisingly, it does kind of look like me...

The horror of it

I was recently having a conversation with a friend of mine about horror, and why I don't read it. It's not that I don't like horror, it's just that it doesn't really scare me...which I think is the point. I'm much more terrified by what I see on the nightly news than what I read in a horror novel. And vampires, serial killers, and zombies don't scare me anywhere near as much as George Dubya Bush and the neocons.

Still, if a writer can touch something that does actually scare me, it sticks with me. To this day, the drowned zombie from Dan Simmons' Song of Kali haunts me, and the reason is that I'm hydrophobic. The idea of drowning scares the hell out of me, so he was able to tap into that personal fear. The idea of something being under the bed or in the dark doesn't scare me, so those horror tropes don't seem to work for me.

Horror, I think, works more on people who have lots of fears...I guess I'm just not one of them.

Wondrous Web Worlds

I've just delivered the final edited version of Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 7 to Tyree. This collection features work from regular visitors Keith Graham and Marva Dasef, as well as from occasional visitor s.c. virtes. It's hard to say when the book will actually be released. We still have to design the cover and find a place to put it into the publication schedule. These collections are usually put wherever we can find room because they're not big money makers. We mostly do them as a tribute to our contributors and as a tribute to James Baker who, along with me, got this ball rolling many years ago.

I'll keep you updated as I learn more.

A cycling detour

Yeah, I'm going back to being a cycling geek for the day. On Saturday, the Giro d'Italia starts. This is a three week race, and next to the Tour de France, it's the biggest thing in cycling. This year, however, the winner of last year's race won't be there. Ivan Basso who dominated the race in 2006 and then was thrown out of the Tour before it even started because of his connection to a blood doping scandal won't be riding. Since early July, he's been denying any involvement with the blood doping scandal called Operacion Puerto, but this week he admitted that yes, he was involved, but he didn't actually dope. He was only planning on it. So, he'll probably be suspended for a couple of years, and I don't see anything wrong with that.

But it really makes me wonder if you have to cheat in life to get ahead. Athletes do it, politicians do it, I've even heard of some writers trying it. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned honesty?

Before anyone asks, the writers cheating thing I'm talking about is the fact that some writers (usually small names) will try to post bad reviews about other writers' books...I'm assuming in the hope that it will make them look better. Sadly, it does happen...

It's becoming clear

I think I'm starting to realize that if I want a job that I can use my writing and editing skills at, I'm going to have to go back and finish my second degree. The other option would be to get a lot of professional credits, but school would probably be easier and take less time. Still, even with professional credits, I probably wouldn't have much of a chance because they'd be in science fiction, and that's just looked down on...

Maybe it would be a good idea for me to just settle for a crappy job for the next few months, and then start taking classes. Not really sure what I'm going to do, but I suppose this is an option I should consider.

In general, I don't hate the idea of going back to school, but I do hate the fact that I'd have to have a minor, even though I already have a BA. If you ask me, it's just the school's attempt at trying to get more money out of me.

Decisions, decisions...now I have to get back to work...

My Story at Science Fiction Story of the Day

My "cyberpunk" story "A Chronic Mistake" is up at Science Fiction Story of the Day for May 6th. Click on the title of this post to read it...

Thanks Keith!

The new postal rates

I'm not sure if any of you have checked out these new changes the USPS is making to their rates. It's pretty absurd. Now different sized packages have different rates, and reading through the rate lists is about like those stupid word problems I hated so much in algebra. If Johnny wants to ship a package to Cleveland that's 8X11 and Suzy wants to ship a package to Seattle that's 14X12, what's the square of the hypotenuse?

For writers and small press publishers, this is going to be a major hit in the wallet. I would imagine some of the smaller publishers will actually be pushed out of business by this, and some writers will limit themselves to only submitting on-line, which greatly hurts their chances of ever making it.

But, this is the cross we must bear, so I guess I should just shut up and deal with it...

The Imperial March

I have a music player on my MySpace page that holds 75 songs (when it works right), and one of those songs is The Imperial March from Star Wars. I was wondering if anyone hears that piece whenever Bush is walking to the podium to speak? I know I sometimes do...

The Problems with the May 15th Gas Boycott

This has been circulating for quite a while now, and I think everyone needs to realize that the entire boycott is based on a faulty paradigm.

Here's why...

1) The idea that this worked in 1997 is actually an urban myth. From the reading I've done, there seems to be no evidence to back up this idea.

2) The oil industry isn't effected by something like this as other industries might be. Even if you boycott on the 15th, you're still going to buy gas on the 14th or the 16th, and the oil industry will just make back the money they lose on the 15th.

3) The oil industry does not work on a daily profit and loss schedule. Although it is true that they will raise their prices if there is a terrorist attack, hurricane, or something else that might effect their production, they're not going to lower prices just because people don't buy. They know you're going to have to at some point. They work more on a weekly and monthly basis, as do most corporations, and one day's losses are not going to mean much to them.

4) The major gas stations will not be hurt by this as much as the small mom and pop stores. A day of boycott could hurt a small store, and if we lose those, it's just that much easier for the big boys to charge whatever they want.

If you really want to make a difference, take mass transit, or if you have to go to the store and it's just a couple of blocks away, walk instead of driving...and don't just do this on the 15th. Do it on a regular basis.

My trip to hell

One of the things I like about freelancing is that I can sleep in. I'm a chronic insomniac, so I can get a little extra sleep if I can sleep in. Maybe that was one of the reasons my last job almost killed me. I usually had to get there between 5 and 6 a.m.

So, rarely in the last ten months have I gotten up early...in fact, I think the last time I did was Christmas, but today I had to get up early...because I had to go to hell. That's right, I had to go to the DMV!!!!!!

I've been needing to get a new ID for a while, because let's face it, who really wants to go to the DMV. I went a while back, and after waiting something like three hours, I was told that my documentation wasn't adequate because I had a county issued birth certificate instead of a state issued one. This was after the woman at the door reviewed my documents and said they were ok. So, I had to send off to Ohio to get a new birth certificate...and of course, they raised their prices while my check was on its way...so I had to do the whole thing all over again.

Today I was going to be smart. I got up early, walked the 45 minutes to get there, arriving just before they opened...and there was a long line. So, I got my number sat down and waited. It didn't take too long, but the woman who recorded my information entered it wrong, so it ended up taking even longer.

Still, I was only there for an hour, which is not bad for a trip to hell...er the DMV.

I was surprised that I had to give a fingerprint. I guess it's just one more way for the government to keep track of us. Another strange thing is that here in Colorado, you don't get your ID right away. They mail it to you after 2-6 weeks. They claim that it's because of the Patriot Act, but I know other states where you get the ID the same day, including Florida...

The bees!!!

Jim's been mentioning the bees disappearing in America quite a bit lately on his site, so I thought I'd post this link I found through Jay Lake's page. Click on the title of this entry to check it out. I especially like the last theory!

There's really not much going on...

It's kind of a boring day today. Still looking for a job...still having trouble finding one. I seem to be either overqualified or under qualified for whatever I'm looking for.

Still, there's really not much to talk about, so feel free to ask me questions...

Interview

The "Authors of MySpace" page has done a brief interview with me. They're interviewing a lot of the people on their "friends" list, but it's still pretty cool answering questions about writing. You can read the interview by clicking on the title of this entry, and then going to their May 2nd blog.

Future Syndicate reviewed again

SFRevu has reviewed
Future Syndicate. It's not a glowing review, but the reviewer didn't hate the book, so I guess that's a good thing. It seems, and this is just opinion on my part, that the reviewer went in expecting something else, which always taints how you really feel about a book.

As Jay Lake always says, at least they spelled the names right...

A New Story

It's been a few months since I posted a new story on my website, so today I posted "A Chronic Mistake." This story was my first, and so far only, foray into Cyberpunk. I only occasionally read cyberpunk, but I usually enjoy it, and so this was my big experiment in that sub-genre. Some day, I'm sure I'll go back and write more...it's kind of fun...

Just for Jim

I saw this video, and it made me think of Jim's rant on his blog, so I just had to post it...

The Page 69 test

Apparently this is something that has been going around the web for a while, although I just became aware of it after reading about it on Robert Sawyer's blog. The idea is that if you're interested in a book, you pick it up and read page 69, and that should tell you if it's worth reading. I tried it with my book, and found that it actually does give a lot of important details, and might just intrigue enough people to buy it...so, here's page 69 of The Opium of the People...

CHAPTER TWELVE
Edward 4:1

“How much have things changed at the lab?” Edward asked.
His friend Bill smiled a half smile. His weathered black face showing some of the life it once had. “We’re still doing research, but it’s nothing like we used to.”
“What do you mean?”
“Edward,” his friend said glancing around, “Do you really think we should be talking about this? Didn’t you just get interrogated a couple of days ago?”
Edward waved his hand in the air. “They can’t arrest me for asking innocent questions.” Bill just looked at him. Edward laughed. “Okay, maybe they can, but I think it’s alright.”
He glanced around as well. The street was well lit and fairly crowded. It was market day, and many of the vendors had yet to pack up their belongings for the evening. People walked around in their most colorful clothes, laughing and smiling as if all was right in the world. The vendors called out the names of their goods in loud voices trying to drown out the competition. Many of the items being sold were useless in Edward’s opinion. How many different types of prayer beads could one person own? Some of the vendors brought food items in from the country. There was nothing like farm grown chickens or milk from a hand-milked cow. Edward noticed a man in a black uniform two stalls behind them, looking over some fabric. As Edward watched, the man glanced up and looked right at Edward and his friend.
“Maybe it isn’t safe.”
Bill followed Edward’s gaze. He shook his head and sighed. “They don’t hide most of their research from the public, so we can talk about that. I wouldn’t talk about the top secret stuff anyway.”