Marcy, Humans, and Isaac Asimov

The talented and prolific writer, Marcy of Mainewords blog honored me with an award that I'm not sure I deserve.

But try to take it away. Go on. Just try.

The rules:

1. Thank and post the link of the person who nominated you.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself to your readers.
3. Nominate 5-10 blogs and notify them.
4. Pass on the rules.

Five Facts:

1. In high school I always made a straight A in English class...at least until the grammar course came along. My grades always dropped to a B after that. It took professional writing forty years after formal education for me to learn what an adverb was.

2. I have cats. Two inside critters and multiple barn cats outside.

3. German Shepherd dogs are my one special love.

4. SuperMassive Blackhole by Muse is one of my favorite songs

5. Have Spacesuit - Will Travel by Robert Heinlein changed my adolescence love of animal books—Bambi, The Black Stallion—to Sci-Fi.


My nominations - and for those listed, please feel free to accept or decline as time and/or interest permits!

1. Michael Offutt, who apparently shares my taste in TV shows.

2. Angela Brown. I want to be her when I grow up.

3. Julie Flanders, author of the most excellent Polar Day. Love the cover, btw.
4. A Daft Lass. I hope to visit her native Scotland next year.
5. Ian S. Bott, author of the soon-to-be released, Tiamat's Nest.

Movies, TV, and Books. Finding one TV show that justifies paying my Directv bill each month is rare. To find four such programs is jaw dropping. I've posted about Dominion (an intriguing concept with meh writing), Mr. Robot (great first episode, disturbing second), and the premiere of Fear The Walking Dead in August. Now I have a new AMC show, Humans.

Synths—robotic humans—are in every facet of life. Medical,

construction, and households. Some people see them as inevitable. Others hate and distrust everything about them. A third type see them as brothers. 

The synths are programmed with the Asmovian Law, the three tenets of robotics:

• A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
• A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
• A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

But some of the synths are more human than they first appear. They feel anger, betrayal, and love. They have family ties and go to any lengths to protect each other.

One might note a pattern in shows I favor. All deal with a dystopia world. Reality shows or sitcoms? Uh...no. Just no.

Go to Why Asimov's Three Laws Can't Protect Us for an analysis of the modern robot and artificial intelligence.

Charity's Birth of a Novel. Every Friday you post a quick update on how you're doing on your writing projects. It can be combined with Camp Nano or whatever personal goals you've set.

All you need is a line or two added to the beginning or end of whatever post you already had planned for the day.Then visit the others in the list to encourage them to keep moving forward.

Added to my wordcount on Chimera and had major progress on first edits of The Adamant. 

Chimera Mage-28,667
The Adamant-First Edits, first chapter
Of Oak and Dragons-102,000, re-write
Diamond Black-8834 

I'm looking forward to Dark Matter next and hope I can add it to my list of good ones. Any more suggestions?

Writing Diversity. Not a Black and White Situation

I am struggling with a quandary: Can a straight white person successfully write characters of different ethnicity and orientation?

I haven’t included LGBT characters in my books. It’s not from a judgmental ’tude or even a religious bent. I told myself that I couldn’t write from their standpoint since I am not of a gay person’s mindset.

But somehow, I manage to create characters that do magic, have powers. 

Now, maybe I can do a little magic, making a perfect strawberry rhubarb pie.

But performing real magic—as Justus did in Wilder Mage, releasing the elements he gathered and "...fire shot into the sky from around him, splashing the undersides of the cloud with ebony..."—is beyond my abilities.

So what is the difference between writing about magic that I don’t do and a person of the gay persuasion when I’m not?

The answer might lie with people's taste in literature. At a recent book fair, a person asked me about Wilder. I said Justus is a modern wizard who is hiding his powers from those who would bond him to their cause. As soon as I said the word wizard, she snorted, turned away, and said, “I don’t read that crap.”

Ah. Okay. Well have a nice day.

Maybe there is a kernel of truth to that sentiment, but way less harsh. If it is well written, I read all genres, including non-fiction and LGBT, but my meat-and-potatoes love is Sci-Fi and Fantasy. If it doesn’t interest me—like a tech manual or sports—then trying to create something out of my disinterest seems like hauling a ton of rocks up a steep hill...all work and no joy.

One last word on this subject. As I said, all genres are welcome in my brain. But I would hope the writer doesn’t create diverse characters as a token gesture. Write from the heart. Not the trend. Make them your own and don’t let others judge or decide for you. 

Charity's Birth of a Novel. Every Friday you post a quick update on how you're doing on your writing projects. It can be combined with Camp Nano or whatever personal goals you've set.

All you need is a line or two added to the beginning or end of whatever post you already had planned for the day.Then visit the others in the list to encourage them to keep moving forward.

This week was of time, goals, and structure. I didn't make my thousand words a day goal on my WIPs due to Life and other nuisances. But I did create a better work ethic and participated in blogging and commenting. So Yay for me!

Chimera Mage-27,382
The Adamant-First Edits, first chapter
Of Oak and Dragons-102,000, re-write
Diamond Black-8834 

How did your week go? Do you write what you know and love? Do you try to include all persuasions?

IWSG - Challenges

IWSG—Insecure Writers Support Group: The Final Frontier.

These are the continuing voyages of the Ninja Captain, AJC. His mission, to explore all new writing venues, to seek out new authors and new blogs. 

To boldly go where no blogateer has gone before.

Coming together on the first Wednesday of every month for a virtual pat on the back. 

IWSG. Motivation goes with inspiration. You can’t write without either. Both seem in short supply lately. I blame it on the weather. Mostly because I use Mother Nature as an excuse for everything else.

Anticipation. Books coming soon include Jim Butcher’s new series and another Robin Hobb novel.

On the farm. What a year this is. Our crops are in but it was a challenge. Too much rain kept us out of the field and I’m sure the yields will suffer.

If you own a pet, I’m sure you noticed the major price increase in dog and cat food. That was due in part to the cost of grain. Corn and soybeans are now half of what we received two years ago. Did anyone notice the price of pet food falling also? Yeah. Me either.

Movies and TV. Mr. Robot. This is the bare time between the series end of Justified and the season premiere of

Walking Dead in October. Sure, WD has a spinoff coming in August and I have great hopes for it. But for now, I’m left twiddling my thumbs. Nuthin’ worth watching.

Last week, I saw the Wednesday premiere of Mr. Robot on the USA channel, and Holy Talking Cats, what a show.  Elliot Alderson is a cyber genius working for a security company. He is anti-social, prefers to stay in the background and keeps quiet his side job of hacking and exposing the dregs of society.

Elliot finds himself in the middle of a cyber war and is unsure what side he is on: the techno-warriors or the evil corporation that pays his wages.

This show is modern, a techno-geek’s nirvana. I can see this being a real disaster someday since everything is connected via the ‘net. Medical records, banking, credit card data. Sincerely scary stuff. I highly, highly recommend this well-written, on-the-edge-of-your-seat techno-thriller.

Today is Indie Author Pride Day. Make this hashtag trend on all social networks, #IndieBooksBeSeen.
Take a photo of your books and you and post with the above hashtag.

Details at Lyons Book Promotions

Where have you found motivation in writing? Have you seen Mr. Robot? Support all Indies!