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The Hardest Part About Writing
Read more: The Hardest Part About WritingThis particular post is directed largely to my writing friends, though many of you who are not writers—that is, writers in a more or less full-time sense—might get a similar take-away message that could be applied to other professions and activities. What I’m talking about here is the most difficult thing I have encountered since starting…
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Stakes and Motivation
Read more: Stakes and MotivationA couple of weeks ago I sent the first 50 pages of the manuscript of my first science-fiction novel to a professional editor for evaluation. It had been read by a number of non-professionals, including other beginning writers, non-writer friends, and those in several critique groups, but never by a professional. The editor was almost effusive in her praise…
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The Prime Directive
Read more: The Prime DirectiveIf you are a fan of the television and movie Star Trek series, and dating from the earliest series of programs which are usually called “Star Trek, The Original Series,” then you are doubtlessly familiar with the concept of the “Prime Directive.” That was an order that took the form of an unalterable and non-revocable mandate from…
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Challenged
Read more: ChallengedA few weeks ago I was standing in line at a local restaurant, and in front of me were several women from a home for the mentally ill. I presume they’ve been mentally ill all their life and are so impaired that they cannot live independently and need constant attention. It appeared that a couple of workers from the…
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Beauty In Outer Space
Read more: Beauty In Outer SpaceOne of my three science fiction novels is about a group of explorers who land on a distant planet in an attempt to see if it could be colonized by people of their civilization. Many things go wrong on that planet, and that leads most of the group to consider it as dangerous and unattractive, a place to…
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It’s A Two-Way Street
Read more: It’s A Two-Way StreetI’ve been submitting queries about my trilogy of science-fiction novels to agents and a few editors for about fifteen years now (possibly more), and I would say that probably around half of those agents and editors now have a regular policy of not responding to an unsolicited query if they don’t intend to pursue it further. Some don’t…
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Drowning In Plastic–An Update
Read more: Drowning In Plastic–An UpdateIn 2013, I posted a blot entry about how the Earth is drowning in plastic, and we should all be willing to do something to help minimize the problem. In my own inimitable way, I decided to start cleaning and reusing both plastic bags and plastic wrap. (See “Drowning in Plastic” of 2013/12/01). Now, five years…
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Where Are They? Part 3
Read more: Where Are They? Part 3In the first two entries in this series of brief examinations of the difficulty of traveling in outer space to new planets and stars and worlds, I looked at how difficult it is for humans to travel in outer space (we’ve only just made it to the moon), and whether the knowledge of the ability…
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Where Are They? – Part 2
Read more: Where Are They? – Part 2In the previous entry in this series of blog posts about the possibility of alien life in our galaxy, and especially about such life visiting us here, I speculated about the wide disparity between the knowledge we’ve obtained about the universe—which is substantial—and our ability to move around in that universe—which is miniscule. We’ve only just gotten…
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Where Are They? Part 1
Read more: Where Are They? Part 1This is likely to be the first of three postings on a topic that has intrigued me for several years—the prospect of intelligent life on other planets. Enrico Fermi posed his famous paradox, basically “Where are they?” in 1950. He was referring to the question of why highly intelligent, highly sophisticated visitors from another planet…
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Bubonicon 50 – 2018
Read more: Bubonicon 50 – 2018Well, the Bubonicon Science Fiction convention #50 here in Albuquerque, NM is over for 2018. It ran from August 24 to 26, and as I do every year, I attended as much of it as I could, hoping to grab a rare tidbit of information or advice, or perhaps a little dirt or the real scoop on some facet…
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The United States Space Force
Read more: The United States Space ForceIn recent weeks (I’m writing this on August 19, 2018) we’ve heard from the President of the United States that he wants the US to set up a “Space Force,” for what reason I’m not exactly sure. The main result of this force will be the presence of weapons, particularly atomic, in outer space. I wonder why.…