Friday, July 10, 2015

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?






10 comments:

  1. Congratulations! Good for Heinlein.
    Rather slim pickings for shows at the moment. Ready to give up on Defiance.

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  2. Oh thank you for the award! I will blog about this next week. Yes, we do have the same taste in shows. I'm also watching Killjoys and Dark Matter.

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  3. TV? *sigh* I haven't started anything new in a long time. Maybe after we finally move to the new house I can find some time to relax.

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  4. Of course you deserve the award! And God, I loved Asimov's robot books as well as the whole Foundation series. And I love German Shepherd's, too. Someday I hope to have another one.

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  5. You and I probably see reality shows the same way, not really worth watching.
    I've seen the commercials for Humans and wondered if it was good. Sounds like it would be worth checking out.
    And thank you so much for the award. I'm so humbled, truly :-)
    *now blushing*

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  6. I've been enjoying Dark Matter. I've been obsessed with Wayward Pines. The last episode made both the intrusive government and the terrorists sympathetic at the same time. A rare feat. Proof is interesting, although I'm not sure if I totally like it. Mr. Robot worries me.

    (I can talk about TV for hours. If you want some interesting recommendations, just let me know.)

    I'll have to try Humans out. I can't remember why I shied away, but I can catch up OnDemand.

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  7. I seem to be doing all my TV viewing On Demand, after a series has several episodes aired. Not easy paying my comcast bill lately either.

    Cats are awesome :)

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  8. Thanks for the mention! Will respond in due course though it may take a little while as we're just getting ready for a camping trip. And cats are cool!

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  9. Hey, fellow summer hater! :D Thanks so much for the nomination and also for the Polar Day shoutout, I really appreciate it. I enjoyed reading your facts and anyone who loves cats is okay by me. :)

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  10. I haven't seen the show 'Humans' yet. I shall have to try it out if I actually have time--- have a lot of work to do around the house and, oh, yeah. Writing. Ought to do that.

    My cats greet your cats. Or, depending on the cat, hiss at your cats.

    http://myantimatterlife.wordpress.com
    (because Blogger hates me now I've moved to Wordpress.)

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