Prairie Dog Massacre

Many long time readers of this blog will know that I'm a nature lover. Even though we live in the city, there is a large field and a wooded area near us. Over the years, we've seen all kinds of animals around here. For birds we see all of the normal birds plus a lot of hawks. We even see an occasional egret or bald eagle. For furry critters, we have squirrels and rabbits, and even an occasional deer or coyote. But more than anything, we have lots and lots of prairie dogs...hundreds or even thousands, or at least we did.

Today, Denver Water came through and killed most of them. They dropped poison down the holes, and then collapsed the holes. I have no idea of why they would do this. We know that they're going to be putting in some new sewer lines at the farm on the other side of the field, but considering that there's a creek between these prairie dogs and the farm, it's kind of hard to believe that these lines will be in the area with these dogs. The fact that there are apartments on the side of the field with the dogs means that they can't run the lines to the street, so there doesn't seem to be a logical reason for the massacre.

I know a lot of people hate prairie dogs, thinking that they're just disease carrying rodents, but it's really not true. They actually serve an important role in the ecosystem around here, and even though a colony will occasionally be infected with the plague or some other nasty disease, how many diseases are humans passing around amongst themselves?

The simple fact is that we love our prairie dogs around here. They're fairly intelligent creatures, and we love to watch them, especially since we've learned a little about them. We're also questioning the timing of this slaughter. The young have only been out for a couple of weeks, so it seems very inhumane to kill all of them. If there really was a logical reason for this massacre, why not do it in the fall before the adults breed?

Plus, they did leave some of them alive, and they left some of the hole untouched, so if there was a logical reason for doing this, why would they leave some of them alive. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

Overall, we are quite pissed with Denver Water. We're trying to get an answer for why this massacre has happened, but so far, we haven't heard anything.

FlashForward

It looks like ABC has decided to cancel FlashForward. I'm not much of a TV watcher, but this is the one show every week that I actually looked forward to. I also watched Caprica and V, but neither of those story lines come close to comparing to FlashForward.

I worry about Caprica because of the way BSG ended. The last thing we need is another deus ex machina ending. Any writer will tell you that's the worst way to end a story, and as for V, I mostly watch it because it's SF, although I don't think it's anywhere near as good as the cheesy 80's TV show.

FlashForward was different from most SF TV, however. The show had an intellectual edge, but at the same time, you didn't have to understand the physics they were talking about to enjoy it. I think the biggest thing that made the show different from other TV shows on today is that the drama between the characters was more realistic, which is probably why it didn't succeed. People want to watch shows like Grey's Anatomy, where the drama between characters doesn't really resemble anything in the real world. In that show, as well as a lot of other shows, people are sleeping around like crazy, which I think is what some people dream their lives could be like. In FF, when Olivia starts to feel an attraction towards Lloyd, she doesn't just jump into bed with him. That resembles reality a lot more. Most people don't have an affair just to have sex with someone else, they have an affair because they're having troubles with their significant other, and they feel an attraction towards someone else, and then over time, that leads to the affair. This is how FF dealt with the issue.

Most of the drama between characters was like this. It resembled what we see in the real world, and that is what drew me to it, and like I said, probably what turned others off.

Was the acting sometimes a bit stiff? Yes. Was some of the writing not the best? Yes, but these are true of most shows when they start out...especially SF. Look at the first two seasons of ST:TNG or the first season of Babylon 5. They had some horrible acting, and some really bad story telling, but the series grew into their own, and turned out great. I really think this is what would have happened with FF.

There are people trying to save the show on ABC, and others trying to get another network to pick it up, and I'm certainly hopeful that something will happen. There is a petition making the rounds to try to get ABC to save the show, if you want to sign it, go to http://www.petitiononline.com/47110815/petition-sign.html.

Honeymoon, wedding, and such

I have to admit that when Sam's Dot started the drive to raise money for us to go on a honeymoon, I really didn't expect much out of it, but people have been great, and we really appreciate it!!!

We aren't going to be able to take our dream honeymoon of going to Taos, but we will be able to get away for a couple of days. We're just getting a hotel in downtown Denver, and we're going to see some of the sites of our hometown that she's certainly never seen, and that I might not have seen. Certainly not what we were hoping for, but still a nice chance to spend some time together, and we have a lot of generous people to thank for that, and we are truly grateful. Not going to Taos might also be a good thing because Rebecca still isn't feeling very good, and who wants to drive six hours when you feel like you're going to throw up all the time?

We are pretty much done with all of our wedding planning. We got our license yesterday, and now we just need for next Friday to get here. Family starts to arrive on Tuesday, so that means I will spend most of the weekend cleaning...and you thought a writer's life was glamorous? Silly readers...

A Mother's Day update

As the BIG DAY approaches, things keep getting more and more hectic around here, but we still took some time out for a nice little Mother's Day. The oldest got her a bath set and made her a bird house in school. The youngest got her a lavender scented candle. I got her a very large picture frame. It holds seven pictures, so I put one of each of the girls, one of the girls together, one of me, one of the ultrasound picture, a picture of Mikey (the turtle), and a picture of our beloved K.J. (our wonderful cat who passed away earlier this year). She loved all of the gifts, and then she had to go to work. Mothers should not have to work on Mother's Day. If she's feeling good enough when she gets off, we're going to take her out to dinner.

We have most everything done for the wedding now. There are a few more odds and ends that we need to take care of, and we need to get our license...and then I need to clean, clean, clean our place.

Writing and such has taken a bit of a hit. I'd hoped to get the Law Enforcer's Sourcebook for the Ephemeris RPG done before the wedding, but now it looks like that will be June. I also got Tyree's editorial notes for Red Moon Rising, and there's quite a bit of work that needs to be done to get that into shape before it comes out this fall. I'd hoped to get through most of that before the wedding as well, but it looks like that too will fall by the wayside.

For now, we're just all trying to keep our sanity here. Simple weddings should not be this stressful...

Sam's Dot tries to save our honeymoon

As mentioned in a previous post, Rebecca and I have been having financial difficulties, and those problems were leading us to the logical conclusion that we were going to have to cancel our honeymoon. Well, Tyree at Sam's Dot Publishing has stepped forward in an effort to save our honeymoon.

Sam's Dot now has a donation page set up on their website for anyone that wants to help us out. Tyree's always been a classy guy, and this is just further evidence of that.

http://samsdotpublishing.com/honeymoon.htm

Many thanks to Tyree, everyone at Sam's Dot, and all of our friends...the ones we know, and the ones we don't...

Five new stories at Anthology Builder

I've mentioned Anthology Builder in previous blog posts. It's a great site where you can build your own anthology from a wide variety of stories. I now have five new stories up on their site. Those stories are:

Hunted
The Magenta Equations
Forgive Men their Trespasses
Tranquility
When Living is a Crime

It's really a great site, and I would recommend that you check it out...

http://www.anthologybuilder.com/authordetails.php?byline=J%20Alan%20Erwine

Bye bye honeymoon?

It looks like due to financial reasons, we're going to have to cancel our honeymoon. Like a lot of people in America, we've had a tough year financially. I'm still underemployed, with just writing, editing, and game design monies coming in...and there's not a lot of that. My unemployment ran out months ago, and I still haven't found work. On top of that, we've had a lot of unexpected expenses come up. Both of the girls have been to the doctor more this year than in previous years. It's never been anything serious, but the bills do add up...even with insurance, plus Rebecca's health has been far from great. On top of that, last week we had to get glasses for the oldest, and our insurance saved us a whopping $30...which means they were pretty expensive. And of course, earlier in the year we had all of the cat drama. Poor K.J. passed away, and we had to get his remains back, and at the same time, we had all the vet expenses of saving Mosi. All of these things added up to well over $1,000, and that pretty much tapped out our reserves.

A few people on Facebook have suggested setting up registries or asking for donations. Unfortunately, we only have three weeks left, and I don't think there would be enough time for us to get the money we need. Plus, I've always been the type of person who is very uncomfortable with the idea of asking for help. If it was something serious, then maybe, but this is just a honeymoon, so we may just have to say goodbye to our trip to Taos...

Earth Day

Earth Day is here, and I'm hopeful that a lot of people will take this day to look at their way of life, and possibly do something to change it, although I have to admit that I'm not very hopeful of this. Most people give Earth Day lip service, or worse, they laugh at it derisively.

I know there are a lot of conservatives out there who think that we don't need to worry about what we're doing to the Earth, but they're wrong. There are even a few who think that we don't need to worry about it because God will save us...they're REALLY wrong.

The Earth is the only home we have, and there's not much chance that we'll be going to the stars any time soon, and even if we do, Mars would be the most hospitable planet, and the Earth on her worst day is a hell of a lot more hospitable than Mars, so we need to take care of our planet.

I really wish I would have finished the edits of Red Moon Rising earlier, because Earth Day would have been the perfect day to release it, but alas, I was too slow.

There are a lot of books out there that look at what could happen if we continue to screw with the planet, but I'll plug the one that I edited, and that would be Ecotastrophe. This was an anthology that looked at some possible futures for our planet. Some of the stories were very bleak, while others were a little more hopeful, although all of them have the underlying idea that we need to change our ways.

Ecotastrophe

The DASFA meeting

Last night I did my presentation at the April DASFA meeting. In general, I hate speaking in public, and it probably showed. Doing all of the Cons that I've done has made it easier for me to be part of a group speaking to a crowd, but this was just little old me, and I was terribly nervous.

It was a pretty open forum talk, so I just basically decided to talk about how I got to where I am today as a writer editor and game designer. I started with when I started writing, which was basically when I learned to put a subject and predicate together, and then went from there.

Overall, I think things went fairly well. I got a few laughs at times, and when we hit the Q&A session, there were quite a few questions, so hopefully I got a few people interested in my work...

I spent a lot of time talking about the Ephemeris Role Playing Game, and people seemed genuinely interested, so hopefully we'll have a few new players with the system soon. They had a party after the meeting, and there had been talk that they'd play the game...of course, being as nervous as I was, I forgot to ask Rose if they were going to do that or not. We, of course, didn't go to the party because the youngest fell asleep during my presentation, and the oldest was on her way towards sleepy town as well.

Speaking of Rose, she really surprised us by presenting us with wedding gifts. We weren't expecting anything like that until the reception, but it was incredibly nice of her...but then we've come to expect that from her.

During the Q&A there were a lot of questions about small press publishing, and specifically Sam's Dot Publishing...so, if you're reading this Tyree, you might expect a few more submissions in the near future. Also had one question about Flying Pen Press, and I strongly recommended them as well.

Overall, it was a lot of fun, and I hope that the members of DASFA didn't feel like they'd wasted an hour of their lives...

A Problem in Translation is done

This morning I finished the final revisions on the novelization of my short story "A Problem in Translation." It's been a long process, and I'm glad it's over, although now I need to start the task of trying to find it a home. It came in a bit shorter than most of the major markets would want, so I'll have to do a little more research before I decide just where I want to send it first.

Now that this is done, I think I'd like to get back to writing some more short fiction. All of the readable SF that I've written has now been published, and I'm a bit burnt out on writing long stuff. So, I think I'll take a break and write a few short stories, and of course, I'll continue to work on materials for the Ephemeris RPG.

Hugo Nominations

The Hugo nominations were announced over the weekend, and no, I wasn't nominated for anything...nor was I expecting to be. It's nice to think that someday I might get a nomination, but I'd probably drop dead of shock if I did.

I was able to "watch" the nominations come in live from England as they were reported on through something like a chat window. The most pleasant surprise was when I saw Lawrence Schoen get a nomination for best short story. You see, many yarns ago when I was first editing for ProMart, I published a few of Lawrence's stories. So it was very nice to see one of the old time ProMartians get a nod. It kind of makes me think that maybe I do know a little something about editing...

Genre Mall Bestsellers

The Genre Mall Bestsellers list for March has been posted, and three titles that I'm involved with made the list. The new issue of Aoife's Kiss, which features on of my stories was number one. The premier issue of The Martian Wave, which I edited was number three, and Wondrous Web Worlds Vol.8, which I also edited was number five.

To see the complete list, go to http://www.genremall.com/bestsellers.htm

Prepping for DASFA

As mentioned previously, I will be speaking to DASFA next month. This will be a 30-45 minute presentation about myself, my writing, my editing, and the Ephemeris RPG. I'm not really one for talking about myself a lot, so I'm already trying to put together some notes on some of the things I might want to say. More than anything, I'm hoping I don't put anyone to sleep, but I think I should have some interesting things to say.

I think more than anything, I'll focus on myself and on the game, since they've had a lot of writers speak to them...many of them more successful than me, so talking about the things they may not have heard in the past seems to be the best route to go...

Pregnancy is Tiring

I'm finding Rebecca's pregnancy to be very tiring. Under normal circumstances, I (with some help from the girls) do quite a bit of the work around the house. I work at home, so it's just easier if I do it. However, since Rebecca has developed some seriously horrid morning sickness, I've taken on a lot more of the responsibilities. Normally on her days off, she'll cook, but I'm doing all of that now, and since there are only a few things she can eat, I usually have to make something different for her than what we're happening. She usually tries to help with the cleaning, but since she's feeling so bad, I don't want her to, and she usually doesn't have the energy to do it anyway.

Also, because of the person I am, I try to insist that she rest most of the time, and I wait on her for whatever she needs.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Under normal circumstances, I would walk to the ends of the universe for her, and now that she's carrying my child, I'd walk to the ends of the multiverse for her. I'm just saying that I've been even busier than normal lately, and I'm feeling quite tired, and I now have zero free time for fun...but it will all be worth it in the end, so I'd be an idiot to complain.

And a note to any guy that thinks their stay at home mom and wife doesn't do anything while they're at work...you're out of your mind. Taking care of a household is at least as hard, if not harder, than working a 9-5 job...

Ultrasound

We went for our second ultrasound today. The one we had two weeks ago was inconclusive, and there was a lot of worry that we'd lost the baby. Today's scan, however, showed that everything is good, and the baby is developing just as it should. Although it was still too early to actually hear the heartbeat, we were able to see it.

The last two weeks have been very stressful, and we're very happy to have a positive outcome on this one!

DASFA update

As mentioned in a previous post, I will be speaking at the monthly DASFA meeting on April 17th. The event has had a change of venue. The meeting will be at the Broadway Book Mall at 200 S. Broadway in Denver.

I will be speaking about writing, editing, and game design, and it should be a good time, so anyone in the area should please feel free to join us...

A little wedding updatery

It's now 64 days until our wedding, and we are still getting ready. This month has been a little less productive than we would have liked, mostly because Rebecca has been stricken with some heinous morning sickness. Let's just say that morning sickness isn't just for mornings anymore...

We did buy our rings, and we should have those in the next week or two. It's hard for me to imagine that I'm going to be wearing such an expensive piece of jewelery. I don't think I've ever worn anything that cost me more than $20...and this, this was definitely more.

In order to stay on track, we still need to buy my suit and order the cake...luckily those aren't too time consuming, and hopefully we'll be able to find the time and health to take care of both of those next week.

The RSVPs aren't coming in as fast as we'd hoped, so we will probably have to take the time to start querying people early next month. We really need those numbers for the restaurant. I know a lot of our guests are readers of this blog, so for those who keep asking, we're registered at Target, but you might have to use her name to find the list...because Target doesn't seem to want to accept J. as a first name...go figure...

For the most part, we're ready for this to be over with so we can just get on with life. Weddings should not be such a pain...

A quick reminder

I just wanted to remind everyone that my flash fiction story "Nobody's Home" appears in the latest issue of Aoife's Kiss.

Also, The Martian Wave issue 1, which I edited, is also now available. The zine focuses on the exploration and colonization of space...a subject that is very important to me.

Both of these zines are produced by the fine folks at Sam's Dot Publishing.

Ephemeris on Kindle

The Ephemeris RPG is now available for the Kindle. I'm not sure how pairing an RPG with e-book technology will work, but it seems like it's at least worth the effort. To order your copy today, go to http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003BEEA0S

And of course, while you're there, don't forget that two of my books are also available for the Kindle, and those are only 99 cents...

Seedlings on the Solar Winds

The Opium of the People

Back to A Problem in Translation

Now that Red Moon Rising has found a home (to be released by Sam's Dot Publishing this fall), I'm getting back to work on the novelization of A Problem in Translation. For those of you not familiar with the story behind the book, I'll explain...

I originally had envisioned doing a short story collection centered around the crew of the Astrid. I wrote the first story, which appeared in Alternate Realities. Later, it was turned into an illustrated chapbook by Sam's Dot Publishing, and is still available from The Genre Mall. The second story appeared in Hadrosaur Tales. At that point, it was pretty obvious that I could combine the two stories, and then expand everything into a novel...and that's what I started doing. I've been through a few rewrites, but it's not quite there yet...but it is close.

Since this is a space opera, I've even done a little bit of a work on a screenplay for it. Normally, my work doesn't really lend itself to a screenplay, but this story seems to scream out for dramatization.

For now, I'll get back to work on the novel, and hopefully I'll make some good progress on it over the next couple of months...going to have a baby to feed, after all...