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?

The Amazing Michael Offutt

As a writer, committed blogger, published author, and artist, Michael Offutt wears many hats. But the one I treasure most is the label friend.

I met this man – dare I say, Sweetie – last year. Since then, he completed and published Slipstream at Double Dragon Publishing. In November his latest book came out, Oculus, second in the series.

Oculus

Michael Offutt

Genre: Sci-fi

Book Description:

Autumn has arrived in New York, and Jordan Pendragon attends his first classes as a freshman at Cornell. Born with a brilliant mathematical mind, he balances life as a research assistant with that of a student athlete.

But Jordan also has a quest. He must find the Black Tower, a monolithic edifice housing a thing that defines the very structure of the universe. Jordan believes it is buried somewhere in Antarctica under miles of prehistoric ice.

October finds Jordan earning a starting position with the Cornell hockey team. But a dark cloud gathers over his rookie season. Unexplained deaths, whispers of a cannibal cult, a prophecy, and a stone known only as the Oculus, cast a shadow over his athletic ambitions. It is the start of a terrifying journey down a path of mystery, murder, and to a confrontation with an Evil more ancient than the stars.

Free short story that's a lead-in to this book series: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/236636

About the Author:

Michael Offutt writes speculative fiction books that have science fiction, LGBT, and paranormal elements. His first book, "Slipstream" has received some critical acclaim and was published by Double Dragon in the spring. The sequel, "Oculus" came out in November 2012. He has one brother, no pets, and a few roots that keep his tree of life sufficiently watered. By day, he works for the State of Utah as a Technical Specialist. By night, he watches lots of t.v., writes, draws, and sometimes dreams of chocolate.

Michael Offutt graduated from the University of Idaho in 1994 with a Bachelor's degree in English.

He keeps a blog and would appreciate a visit or two even if all you want to do is say hi.

Website: http://slckismet.blogspot.com/p/books.html

Art relating to books: http://slckismet.blogspot.com/p/my-artwork.html

Blog: http://slckismet.blogspot.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3099632.Michael_Offutt

Twitter: @MichaelOffutt

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slipstream/164452693676933

A Blogfest, Book Tour, TV show, and Let's Rumble

Variety. It's not just a word.

On Monday, the blogfest that I subtitled “Who is He Really" begins.

The Cavanaugh Blogfest sponsored by Mark Koopman, Morgan Shamy, Stephen Tremp, and David Powers King, let's us use our God-given talents to speculate, postulate, and otherwise poke fun at our leader in the blogosphere, the Ninja Captain of all time Alex Cavanaugh. Author of CassaFire, CassaStar, and the upcoming CassaStorm, the man is an enigma, too humbled by the accolades to even post a picture. This gives us writers the perfect chance to embarrass the hell out of him.

Also on Monday, it is my turn to host Unicorn Bell, a critique site for writers in all stages of their careers. From newbie to published, we are your source for news and advice. Looking for the junction of Traditional Street and Published? That’s us. How about small publishers and self-pub? We got ‘em.

This week, my theme comes from the movie, Michael:

‘BATTLE!’

December 17^th stars another Michael and the beginning of his book tour for Oculus, his second in the series, A Crisis of Two Worlds. Michael Offutt is one of my most favorite bloggers. I consider him a good friend and, more importantly, a real sweetie. My blog is set for a promo stop on the 20^th.

Lastly. January 8^th, a whole month from now, Justified starts another season. Easily the best, most underrated show on television.

The Journey of Four Writers

At Unicorn Bell, a critique site I share with seven other writers, we are a smorgasbord of Different, varying stages of careers, tastes, and outlook.

Heck, three time zones alone are enough to give different perspectives.

Three writers are published or soon-to-be:

Jeffrey Beesler’s Spell of Entrapment - a tale of magic, knights, and attraction - came out in February.

Sendek: The Magic Wakes byCharity Bradford, SciFi/Fantasy. To be publishes in 2013 by Wido Publishing.

Sharon Bayliss has a novel exploding onto the scene this year through Curiosity Quills Press. Called, The Charge, it is sci-fi book about an alternate future of Texas.

The fourth writer highlighted today isn’t a part of our team but a regular commentator. Michael Offutt’s debut novel, Slipstream, has sci-fi geeks raving.

Four writers following their dreams and ambitions.

Four writers I admire greatly.

Best of Luck to all. Check out their websites for more and cheer them on their journey.

Update: Who can forget Alex Cavanaugh's CassaFire and CassaStar. Me, apparently *sheepishgrin*