A New Planet

Saw this on Twitter yesterday — “New breed of steamy alien planet found“, from MSNBC.  The article is brief, but considering how many ideas began whirling around in my head, that’s actually a good thing.  This new planet is apparently made up of a high percentage of water, but they also go on to say there has been around 700 planets outside of our solar system, and described a few of them.  If I followed these types of news stories regularly, I’d probably know all this already, but I don’t… mostly because I’d never be able to function at work for all the ideas such news stories generate.

My first loves were Star Wars and Star Trek.  I love the idea of aliens and different planets and travelling among the stars.  Discovering new planets, even remotely, is so damn cool, but I’ve only got limited data storage in my head.  Nevertheless, the images a water planet bring to mind… so many stories to write!

In other news, I’ve finished all edits for the sequel to Spice ‘n’ Solace, which also now has a title!  Titles are very difficult for me, but strangely, I already have the title for the third in the series.  Now I just need to get that written.  This new one, though, is called Alien ‘n’ Outlaw.  Love the name!  R’kos, the alien negotiator from SnS, comes across a thief, Darien, on the run from a crime lord and impulsively decides to help him.  Hijinks and nookie ensue.  (I can’t help it, I love the word hijinks, although I really think it should be spelled hijinx.)

KC Burn

I should be…

Twitter is, it has to be said, has within it an endless supply of…stuff. If it’s happened, happening or going to happen it’ll explode on Twitter first. I love it for that reason. And I also love it for the fact that there have been ideas that have slammed me upside the head from it too.

This week’s comes from a tweep, @LettersofNote, who dedicates his time to linking to the moving or the fabulously bizarre letters from famous people. Tesla’s note paper, for instance, or Stanley Kubrick’s list of titles in search of a script. The one that grabbed me was an email from Teller–from Penn and Teller–to a then struggling magician, Brian Brushwood.

It got me thinking about how I grew as a writer and who inspires me. As Teller said:

You will never be the first Brian Allen Brushwood of magic if you want to be Penn & Teller.  But if you want to be, say, the Salvador Dali of magic, we’ll THERE’S an opening.

When I first started writing SFR a long, long time ago, I wanted to be Anne McCaffery. I think I inhaled everything, with the exception of the ships and the cats… I wrote hideously bad stories in homage to her books. I think I still have them somewhere, buried under several feet of concrete. But she inspired me to put the words down. And I did. On endless sheets of paper.

I wrote, and wrote, and read, and found other inspirations, such as Robert Browning’s poems, packed out with villains and pyschopaths. Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks and paintings. Picasso. Hockney. I was an art student. Staring at paintings was ‘work’ . As Teller points out:

I should be a film editor.  I’m a magician.

I should be a painter. I’m a writer. And what I should’ve been, does influence how I write.

Do you know who you should’ve been? Or who inspires you outside the world of SF or whatever genre you write in?

Oh, and you can read the whole email here.  I loved how Teller remembered Brian was his bastard son…

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Kim Knox  brews sex, magic, darkness and technology in a little corner of North West England. She writes erotic science fiction and fantasy romance for Carina Press, Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing, Cleis Press and others.

SYNTHETIC DREAMS, BITTER HARVEST and ONCE A THIEF are coming soon from Carina Press.

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(Image from Memory Palace)

Be my sci-fi valentine

Science fiction was a part of my life from a very early age, and no doubt played in a role in shaping my early concepts about romance and the types of men I would eventually love. So I thought for Valentine’s Day, I’d reflect on some of the sci-fi couples I recall from my childhood…

Luke and Leia in Star Wars (1977) and Splinter of the Mind’s Eye by Alan Dean Foster (1978). I don’t care what George Lucas says, my Luke and Leia dolls were NEVER brother and sister, and Han Solo was ALWAYS a stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder.

H.G. Wells and Amy Robbins in Time After Time (1979). I had a huge crush on Malcolm McDowell, even though he was also the psychopathic delinquent in A Clockwork Orange and the titular pervert emperor in Caligula. Luckily for my nascent geek love, I didn’t see those movies until a decade later.

Mary Steenburgen (Amy) went on to portray half of another favorite sci-fi couple, Doc Brown and Clara Clayton in Back to the Future III (1990). Doc was intelligent and wacky, had epic steampunk modding skills, and saved Clara’s life. What’s not to love?

Richard Collier and Elise McKenna in Somewhere in Time (1980). Classic science fiction romance about love and time travel. No robots, no computers, no lasers, but still awesome.

Tron and Yori in Tron (1982). Some girls may have had the hots for the user Flynn and his roguish, devil-may-care attitude, but I liked the nerd/hero and his digital lady love. Bruce Boxleitner was also half of a later sci-fi couple, John Sheridan and Delenn from Babylon 5 (1996).

Jherek Carnelian and Amelia Underwood in The Dancers at the End of Time by Michael Moorcock, published in the 1970s (I read them in the 1980s). More time travel romance, by the “grandfather of steampunk.” Amelia is from Victorian England, Jherek is from a future so far flung that the universe has begun to collapse back in on itself and the few remaining humans are immortal.

Who are some of your favorite science fiction couples?

- J.L. Hilton

Your average, mind controlling parasite

A parasite that takes over your brain, controls your actions, changes the way you interact with the world… The goa’uld  from Stargate right?  Nope. Look no further than your cat.

I will state, here and now, that I’m not a liker of cats. I can now be very happy about that.

Cats have a parasite in their faeces. Pregnant women are warned away from cats as this parasite–Toxoplasma gondii, or Toxo for short–can harm a foetus and can give healthy children and adults flu-like systems. You get over the symptoms and that’s it. But it isn’t. And this is the mind controlling part.

Toxo lies dormant in your brain, building up cysts and swamping you with dopamine. It reduces the fear factor, makes men more suspicious and women more out-going and caring. One third of humans are infected with Toxo…but we’re not the intended targets. Rats are.

Experiments have shown that rats with Toxo like cat urine and their fear of dark places where predators could lurk, is reduced. One researcher has called it ‘fatal feline attraction’. And it’s all down to the parasite. Toxo has to get back into a cat to reproduce and so it will alter the mind of its host to get what it wants. Other parasites are in the mind controlling frame too. Rabies drives the aggressive need to bite another victim, to continue its life cycle. Even the flu virus could make us more sociable as the contagion needs to spread before the symptoms become apparent. It really seems like the stuff of science fiction. Hence the blog.

I admit, this whole thing makes my jaw drop. And it also makes you wonder if your mind is actually your own…

Bring on the plot bunnies!

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Kim Knox  brews sex, magic, darkness and technology in a little corner of North West England. She writes erotic science fiction and fantasy romance for Carina Press, Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing, Cleis Press and others.

SYNTHETIC DREAMS and BITTER HARVEST are both coming soon from Carina Press.

Kurt Vonnegut and I

This is a sad story. It’s about a very greedy girl – me. Once upon a time I was unemployed and, having applied for gazillions of jobs, I was waiting for one of them to call me for an interview. While waiting I decided it was time to read the much-lauded Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I checked it out from the library, took it home, read it, loved it so much that I instantly trotted back to the library for another Vonnegut book. Cat’s Cradle, this time. It was amazing. I had to have another, so it was back to the library for God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.

Unfortunately, the library had every novel ever published by Mr. Vonnegut and I…well, I was hooked. Back and forth from home to the library I walked, working my way through Player Piano, Mother Night, Breakfast of Champions, Galapagos, Deadeye Dick. I couldn’t stop. I had discovered my newest love and all I could do was stuff and gorge myself on the sheer deliciousness of Vonnegut’s imagination and stories and voice. I was so happy being a greedy little piggy!

But I said this was a sad story and it is. Around novel #10 I started to get a queasy feeling. I dismissed it as a mild tummy bug and kept reading. But halfway through the novel I had to put it down. It was literally making me sick. Having gorged myself so disgustingly on the rich dish that is Vonnegut, my poor body could take no more. I didn’t finish the novel and even now, twenty years later I still get nauseated in the presence of a nice-looking hardcover with Vonnegut’s name on it. I’ve never been able to read him again.

But I loved those books so much! I want to re-read some of them so badly! I hatched a plan. On my nightstand is a battered paperback copy Venus On The Halfshell by Kilgore Trout. Trout appeared as a minor character in several Vonnegut novels, but Vonnegut didn’t write this book. I believe Philip Jose Farmer did. Maybe, just maybe, if I can launch myself sideways into the Vonnegut’s literary world, I will be able to once again tackle the Vonnegut novels and short stories I’ve had to deny myself. Maybe it’ll work. Maybe. But I’m already feeling a little sick to my stomach.

What the hell. I’m gonna read it if I have to keep an emesis basin at my bedside.

And so it goes…

Take my advice. If you find a writer you absolutely adore, do yourself a favor and dig into that delicious backlist in small bites. Don’t do what I did. Don’t be a gluttonous fool.

 

 

Diane Dooley is an inveterate bookworm living in upstate New York. She occasionally stops reading long enough to write a book herself. She blogs and tweets and facebooks.

 

Anyone else having a hunter-seeker moment…?

I watched this clip, finding it amazing…and just that little bit terrifying. They’re almost sentient. It took me back to the start of Dune and Paul Atreides being hunted in his room.  Love the hunter-seeker description, of a ‘…ravening sliver of metal…’. The quads above would be a hunting pack, ready to strip you to the bone.

Someone on Twitter also pointed out it could be the start of life as Michael Crichton’s Runaway envisioned.

Though obviously they would be no match for Tom Selleck and the Greatest Moustache of Our Time.

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Kim Knox  brews sex, magic, darkness and technology in a little corner of North West England. She writes erotic science fiction and fantasy romance for Carina Press, Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing, Cleis Press and others.

SYNTHETIC DREAMS and BITTER HARVEST are both coming soon from Carina Press.

Illusion or better home builder?

I ran across this article the other day and it got me to thinking. It’s about an Australian male bird that spends most of his time creating the perfect bower to attract a female(s) for mating. Apparently, there’s some technique to it involving optical illusions and better building practices. And trinkets. Mating dancing and preening. Further research revealed that these bowers typically run North to South, have the same dynamics to them–height and a central path. But essentially, this is a place for mating, not living.

Credit: Science/AAAS; (inset) J. J. Harrison/Creative Commons

I find this fascinating on a number of levels. The article suggests that a better arranged grotto holds the female’s attention longer than a poorly created one. Is it his stellar building technique, or other qualities? Could he be a better dancer since he’s better equipped to create this illusion?

And with such an interest in turning science fact into some kind of fiction, I tend to draw parallels with humans, or try to paint some conceptual alien species to have these traits.

Could you see it now? An alien society centered around how well males created the mating spaces, arranged for optimal visual appeal, spending all this time gathering supplies, planning for this female he’s yet to meet. He attracts her, dances with her, takes her to his place. And yet, the mating bower aka bachelor pad, is completely separate from the nesting. This society would quickly shape up to separated genders. what would a family look like? Communal living?

This entire train of thought comes down to that conflict, how do mates attract and keep one another, and what’s behind the illusions?

What animal species here on Earth would make a good model for aliens in SF?

(Purposely ignoring the idea of bugs in space, cause though I have a guilty pleasure love of Starship Troopers, um, huge bugs = ewwww)

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Ella Drake is a dark paranormal and science fiction romance author. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, & Goodreads.

Her Science Fiction Romance, Desert Blade is coming soon from Carina Press. Currently available SFR: Silver Bound, Jaq’s Harp, Braided Silk & Firestorm on E’Terra

Battleships and Aliens

The hubby and I recently saw a trailer for the new Battleship movie.  I wish I could remember which movie it preceded, because I recall thinking the two didn’t match.  Regardless… we’re watching a trailer for this bigger than life action movie.  With Alexander Skarsgard and Taylor Kitsch, so there’s some awesome scenery Anyway, they get to a point where one of the Navy’s ships is isolated by some enormous force-field, presumably of alien origin, and I say to hubby “This looks pretty good”.  Mind you, I still don’t actually know what movie the trailer is for, but there are attractive actors, explosions, a sci-fi sensibility, lots of action… yeah, I could get behind this movie.

My husband responds with, “You know this is for the Battleship movie.  Of course you remember the aliens in the game, right?”

Hubby is a master of sarcastic delivery, and I can’t stop laughing.  This movie could be awesome, but the tie in to a game… well, it’s not a new concept, exactly.  I can’t help but lose a bit of respect for this movie.  Might not stop me from seeing it, but I can’t help wondering if the game tie in is really going to draw in more viewers.  Or is it more likely to chase away those who think it’s ludicrous?  I mean, I think it’s ludicrous, but I’m also very forgiving of ridiculous premises and movies.  After all, I was one of the eight or so people who saw the recent Piranha remake… at the theatre… in 3D.

What do you think?  Any opinions on the movie or tie in?  Are you planning to see it?

KC Burn

Survived my first release party

The Stellarnet Rebel release party was January 5 at Tir na nOg Irish Pub, the inspiration for “Aileen’s Pub” in the novel. We had live traditional Irish music from Kilcarragh, including songs mentioned in the book, and I gave away promotional swag — goodies from Carina Press, nagyx “soul stone” necklaces based on the book, stickers, chocolates, and autographed book cover cards. Annie Nice (the inspiration for Aileen herself) presented me with this really cool and terribly delicious cake.

It was my first public reading as an author. I’ve taught classes, given presentations, led workshops, emceed events, acted, sang, chaired meetings, and read other people’s books during storytimes for children, but this was the most nerve-racking thing I’ve ever had to do.

Almost as difficult as the reading itself was deciding what part of the book to read. I considered several excerpts. Some exciting, some funny, some set in Aileen’s Pub… but I couldn’t make up my mind. Being a thriller, it seemed like too many of the excerpts either had spoilers or involved some piece of information the reader would need to know from a previous chapter. Or the excerpts involved too many expletives. Granted, it was an Irish pub, so what word hasn’t been said there before? But it’s also a restaurant, and I didn’t want to offend any casual diners who might be within earshot.

I settled on the prologue, which was sufficiently short, dramatic, intriguing, and self-contained. And no questionable language.

As an author, how do you feel about public readings, and how do you decide what part(s) to read? As a reader, do you enjoy hearing an author read their work, and what parts do you want to hear?

- J. L. Hilton

Race in Space: A Question

I’ve recently been involved in a few discussions regarding race in science fiction. The majority of the science fiction I’ve read in my four plus decades almost always featured white, male protagonists. It’s only in more recent years that I’ve been able to find more diversity – women and characters of different races. My own science fiction writing reflects what, for many years, was a lack of what I was always looking for. Several of my main characters are of mixed race, reflecting my view that as the centuries pass humanity’s races will interbreed more and more until it will be unusual to find someone who isn’t of mixed race.

But the discussions I’ve been involved in recently have led me to question my point of view. The question I’m asking myself now is will humanity ever get over its entrenched racism? Even if everyone were of mixed race, would certain mixes discriminate against others? Would people with lighter skin colors discriminate against darker or vice versa? Is my viewpoint, that once everyone is of mixed race then race will cease to matter, just me looking at the future while wearing rose-colored glasses? I don’t know the answer? What do you think? Links to books, online discussions, etc, would be much appreciated.

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Diane Dooley is the author of Blue Galaxy and the forthcoming books, Mako’s Bounty and Blue Nebula.