Kissing an Alien

Think of the planet Earth. Think about kissing on the planet Earth. There are almost 200 countries on this planet and each one has different attitudes and approaches to kissing. Kissing in public ranges from being very common, to absolutely illegal.

So how should you handle it in your science fiction?

Any way you want – but make it interesting.

Kissing is a great opportunity for world building. If you're writing a first contact story, who is the first to try kissing the new alien species? What happens and what are the consequences? The person could die by toxin, or because they broke some law. Or maybe an alien kiss is the greatest high ever and it becomes a challenge to see how many aliens you can get to kiss you. Maybe the person is ostracized, or maybe just teased. These things give you the chance to not only display your society, but your character's true nature as well.

And this works both ways. You can tell the story from the alien's pov as well. If you were an alien, what would it be like smooching a human for the first time?

Even if it's not a first time, there's a huge realm of possibilities. Alien A loves Alien B but their pieces don't fit together, even for kissing. Maybe kissing causes the alien to teleport. Wouldn't that be a bummer? A society could have an entire cleansing ritual before kissing was allowed. Take a bath? No problem – except the bath is in sulfuric acid.

An alien's kiss could be addictive. Imagine a whole slave trade where the slaves are kept in line because they're dying for a kiss from their master. Or those aliens are simply the most successful drug lords ever. Flip the idea and you have aliens being kidnapped and held prisoner for the narcotic effects of their kiss.

The consequence of kissing aliens doesn't have to be the entire focus of your story, but it can add a unique layer of conflict and possibility. It will add richness to your society and can be one more hurdle you throw in the path of your protagonist.

So don't waste an opportunity. Make your kissing scenes with aliens exciting, or dangerous, or funny. Above all, make them interesting.

Dialog Checklist

Dialog is one of the best ways to bring your characters to life. A sharp line of dialog can tell you more about a character than an entire paragraph of description. I've compiled a list of some of the good and bad ways to approach dialog. There are exceptions to everything, of course, but I find that these are pretty good rules of thumb.

GOOD:

• Dialog Steeped in the Character's Voice - An expert is going to use the vernacular of their field. A street urchin is not going to use erudite vocabulary.

• Altering Characters' Speech Depending on Who's in the Room – Most characters will speak differently to their boss than they would with their buddies at the bar. If they're irreverent with both you need to consider what the consequences of that are.

• Brevity.

• Wit - But make sure it's truly witty and suited to the character. If your beta readers don't chuckle, or worse, if they groan when they get to that bit– it's not witty.

• Differing Character Voices – The words should let you know who's speaking before you get to the dialog tag.

• Dialog Tags – As many as necessary, as few as you can get away with.

• Interspersing Actions Within a Conversation – Use to show character mood or attitude and for pacing. You can also use this to reduce the need for dialog tags.

BAD:

• "As you know, Bob…" – This is a bad way to get an explanation into your story. Never have one character explain something to someone that should already know the information. Use a foil or put it in your exposition.

• "Said Bookisms" – I'm not as against these as some people, but use sparingly. 'He whispered', or 'she yelled' can be effective and unobtrusive alternates to 'said' and 'asked'. But don't have your characters spouting, snarling, screaming, moaning, and ejaculating all over the place.

• Boring Introductions – When someone is introduced to a group don't bother with, "Hi, nice to meet you." Put it in the exposition. Susie was introduced to everyone in the board room. However, if there's something important about the way two characters meet, by all means show the introduction. A good case for this would be instant attraction or animosity. Leading off with a charming smile or a killer grip to show dominance can be very telling about the characters.

• Using a Class Lecture to Present World Building – A sentence, or two, maybe, if it makes sense for the character to be in that class and if something else is going on in the scene. But don't use a history class as an excuse to info dump your extensive world building onto the reader.

• Inappropriate Colloquialisms – Make sure your turns of phrase are appropriate to the time and place of your story. A medieval peasant would not use the phrase, 'totally awesome' or 'crackalackin', and really, neither would a human five hundred years from now on another planet.

Did I miss something? Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.

Lunatic Space Pirates Falling in Love During Free Fall

So that's our prompt. This seems ripe for a romantic comedy, but sometimes the obvious is just too obvious. If the idea is too easy, doesn't stretch the boundaries and really explore the concept, even a well written story can be difficult to sell. At best, you'll get comments like, 'well written, but not very original'. Never stop at your first idea. This is the brainstorming stage; you want a typhoon, not an LA drizzle. And even if you go with your first idea, figure out ways you can twist it.

During the brainstorming stage, you might decide to alter or discard part of the idea. In this case, maybe they're not lunatics, maybe they don't fall in love, or maybe you eliminate free fall. This is fine. Ideas need room to evolve and this is where you'll start to find out what kind of story you really want to write. If you're writing for an anthology prompt, make sure to keep the important thematic bits per their guidelines.

This is the point where plot and character start to overlap for me. I take one of the ideas and follow the line of thought through to the end. But then I ask what kind of character would make this story most interesting. Often, I come up with, 'If I do Plot A, then I'd use this character and it would end like this. If I do Plot B, it would go this way.' And this gets batted around for awhile, sometimes substituting characters or creating backgrounds for them. Example: The janitor on the pirate ship who is a burned-out former special ops guy finds himself lusting after the Captain but she doesn't pay him any notice, and his confidence is in the toilet after his last mission gone wrong where lots of innocents were killed.

The janitor is just one (wordy) example, but let's run with that. So now we ask, what's his journey? What is he striving for? At this point the janitor needs to be the protagonist because he has everything to lose, and the most to gain. Also, play with the gender of your protag. See how changing their gender changes the story. In this case, I didn't want to have the needy woman chasing after a man, even if she is tough. I want to flip expectations, so the protag is male. At this point, I also decide the basics of his personality. Is he surly or cheerful? Bold, or shy? Quirks? Likable? How do those things change how he responds to the situation?

It's pretty obvious what he's striving for, right? He needs to find his confidence again and use it to win the Captain's heart. Now a few more questions crop up. Do we let him succeed? If so, what's the happy ending? If not, what's the tragic ending? Then the big question, what is learned in the end? This learning can be by the character, and/or the reader. This is where your theme starts to develop. Don't let that word, theme, scare you. If you have a solid plot, it will evolve out of the story naturally, though feel free to help it along if you recognize it. Just don't beat it to death.

I want to give our protag a happy ending. Admittedly, I rarely go tragic; it's just not in my nature. I like to have a sense of victory and accomplishment. So for the happy ending he needs to get his confidence back. (Getting the girl is secondary, and not actually necessary for him to be successful.)

Throughout the story, he'll need obstacles to overcome, and hopefully, each one will raise the stakes which increases the tension. Maybe in the first, they have to fend off being boarded and he gets into the fight, after vowing he would never fight again. After that, he changes his parameters so that he will fight to protect his own. Also, the Captain notices him for the first time.

Then, maybe, a tactical situation comes up that he is particularly adept in, from his spec ops training, and he has to decide whether to get involved. It was his command decision that got the orphanage blown up so he's gun-shy about making any decisions. But he feels strongly and overcomes his doubts to advise her. She listens (because of the first encounter), and agrees and the task goes well because of his advice. Confidence points and respect, earned.

At this point, you'll see a lot of 'maybes' in my notes. Some stay, some leave. This is truly the hammering out stage. Ideas fly in and out until I pound out a reasonable plot.

The next trial really needs to raise the stakes. Something needs to set our protag back and then force him to face that of which he is most afraid. Then, after sinking as deep as he can go, he needs to confront that fear, stand up, and take action. Hint: Innocents are involved.

The important part here is that throughout the story you've set up this ending accomplishment, making it feel right for both plot, and character. Our janitor's interactions with the Captain need to have been meaningful and leading to this. That's the flesh to this skeleton and you can't know exactly how it's going to turn out until you start writing it. I've had endings change on me two-thirds of the way through because the characters evolved differently than I expected.

This is where I've learned the value of outlining in a way that doesn't remotely stifle creativity. The skeleton of a plot is ultimately flexible so even if you're a pantser, this method doesn't dramatically tie you down. If just gives you an idea of where you're going. Part skeleton, part road map.

So this is my way of getting to a story. It may seem haphazard, or it may not. But hopefully I've given you some ideas for how to approach story construction. The only real rule is to do what works for you. Oh, and keep writing.

My First Story - The Year Was 1984

I'm sure I wrote stories here and there throughout elementary and middle school, but the first story I wrote with intent was called, "A Few Changes". I wrote it my freshman year in high school, for a Creative Writing class.

That was a lot of years ago.

I believe I typed it on my Commodore Vic20 (that's a computer, kids) that I had bought with my own money when I was ten. There was some sort problem between the computer and the printer because double letters would print randomly on the page. The one and only copy I have of the story is testament to that. We never did figure out the problem, nor did the geniuses at The Federated Group. No Geek Squad back then.

The story is about 500 words. Nowadays we would call that flash fiction. That term didn't exist when I wrote it. "A Few Changes" is a quirky little story about the end of the world - and there's a blatant Douglas Adams reference regarding Norway. For reasons I'll explain in the next paragraph, I hesitate to tell you any more.

The scary thing is, as I look over this manuscript – double letters and all – I'm thinking that with a little polish, there are a few pro markets I could send this to. That doesn't seem right, of course. But, why not? Wouldn't it be the funniest thing if 30-year-ago me actually knew how to get my third SFWA qualifying sale? So I am throwing down a challenge to myself. I am going to clean this story up and start submitting it. I'll keep you updated on its rejections and responses.

This is a funny parallel to something that happened a few days ago. In a quest for fodder for a new middle grade SF novel, I pulled out my 2009 NaNoWriMo book. This was the first, and only, time I did NaNoWriMo. The story was horrible, no two ways about it. The characters, however, are quite intriguing. I'm almost certain that I'm going to recycle them somewhere, sometime soon.

When we first start writing, before we have a clue what we're doing, I think we have an instinctual ability that emerges from enthusiasm and ignorance. This is why I never throw anything away, no matter how bad it is. I have stolen from myself countless times. Sometimes it's just a name, sometimes a concept, or even chunks of story line. Everything I know now built upon what came before it, so I see no reason not to re-use some of the bricks.

Go ahead. Take a look at your old work. Look for the gems in the pile of doody. You may be surprised at what you find. Past writer you might have been smarter than you think. At the very least, you'll be able to see how far you've come. And who couldn't use that little ego-boost now and again?

On the other hand, it might be good for a laugh, and that's never a bad thing.

Now, off to do a little editing on a certain old story…

Plot Goggles: The Best Tool I Acquired at Taos Toolbox

At a workshop like Taos Toolbox, so much happens that you could never relay completely just what you've learned. In truth, I don't know if you can fully comprehend all that you have learned for at least six months to a year, and even then you may not have the whole picture. Learning is like that. Things take time to seep into your brain.

But there are always some immediate takeaways. As I've mentioned previously, I went to the Toolbox with the distinct intent of mastering plot. While learning Plot Breaking, a Hollywood technique for hashing out major plot points, was probably the most practical thing I learned, there was a more conceptual point of realization that I think is going to help me as I move forward on this writing journey.

It's not a new concept, not even to me, but sometimes you have to see things multiple times and then see it from a different angle to fully understand. It's this. For a story to be emotionally satisfying, you have to make a big promise* in the beginning and then deliver an ending that is unique, but appropriate to the characters and situation involved. Oh, and the stuff that happens in the middle needs to be interesting and/or entertaining.

Sounds simple and obvious, right? That doesn't mean it's easy to do. How many movies have you seen that you've enjoyed, up until the end where it fizzles or lets you down in some other way? Same with books. And it's frustrating because you want to love it; instead, it leaves you wanting. And sometimes it's not just the ending. Sometimes the story goes wrong much sooner.

Take, for example, the movie Pacific Rim. If you love the movie, great, no offense meant here, but for me it didn't work. The prologue where the main character's brother is killed is interesting and moving and makes it look like this monster movie is going to have a little more depth than your standard monster action flick. After that, they deliver an illogical premise filled with contrived character arcs and a few ridiculous characters doing stupid things. It's not that I can't hang with this kind of movie, but the beginning promised me something else, so I was disappointed in what they actually delivered.

A better monster picture, in my opinion, is Megashark vs. Giant Octopus. The title lets you know this is going to be an absurd monster picture - so get your popcorn and be prepared to razz the movie all the way through because it's not taking itself seriously. Megashark delivers exactly what it promises, and hilarity ensues.

A great book that lost me, a little bit, at the end, was The Martian by Andy Weir. I highly recommend it, but the denouement (the capper at the end) felt slight. I wanted more emotional resolution so that I could cheer bigger and love this book. Instead, I have to say that I really, really like it – with this one little reservation.

As I look back at some of my older stories, I can see where I failed to deliver an emotionally satisfying story arc. Either the promise wasn't big enough, or the challenges not great enough or the end didn't fulfill the promise of the beginning. Going forward, I will be much more conscious of this. The best tool that I acquired in Taos was a pair of plot goggles that allow me to see story more clearly. I'm sure other attendees of Taos Toolbox acquired different tools, but this is what I am most grateful for.

*NOTE: When I talk about a big promise, I don't mean that you're characters have to be saving the world, but the stakes need to be high – for them.

Blogging from Taos Toolbox - a Master Writing Class in Science Fiction and Fantasy

For two weeks I am in Taos, New Mexico at an advanced writer's workshop called Taos Toolbox held by Walter Jon Williams and Nancy Kress. So far, it has been quite the learning experience. There are things I've known on the periphery but never fully understood the importance of until discussion and explanation crystallize their importance here.

The setting is beautiful, high up in the mountains. There can be some issues with altitude. More than a week in and I still get a little more winded than I should going up a flight of stairs, but not as bad as the first day. We've seen squirrels and chipmunks, mule deer and some of went on a horseback ride even higher in the mountains. Some people have gone to the gorge, others to Taos Pueblo. Sounds like a lot of fun, and it is. But mostly we've been working.

My purpose in coming to the Toolbox is to improve my plotting skills. I want to write novels, but I'm never sure how to sustain tension and interest over the course of 100,000 words. This is almost funny because usually, when I sit down to write a short story it ends up a novelette. Writing long comes easy. But spinning threads and adding layers and texture, which requires world building in addition to plotting isn't just about writing long. You have to do a lot of things to keep you reader in suspense, wanting to turn the page. That's one of the many things I'm learning here.

I will tell you, there is nothing better than sitting around with a group of smart, like-minded people who are kind enough to lend their energy and time to help you hammer out your plot. In Hollywood it's called 'plot breaking'. I call it, 'thank you all so much for helping me figure this monster out'. Mine especially, since it's a science fiction mystery, has a lot of different threads, with different color post-its. I needed tags for not only the plot and sub-plot, but for clues, red herrings and the crazy neighbor. Yes, even though there's murder, it's a lighthearted tale.

Don't misunderstand, the workshop covers character and world building, as well as many other things. It's just that plot was my bugaboo, and thus, my focus.

The other great thing about workshops like this are the wonderful, creative people you meet. It's a room full of support and friendship where you can geek out to your heart's content and no one is going to look at you strange; heck, they'll join in. These are people I will be calling on in the future when I'm looking for help and support and I expect and hope they'll do the same. These are people I'll always hope to see at cons, or have dinner with if we're in the same town. These people are awesome.

We have three more days, and while there are things I'm missing from home, I'm going to miss these people, and the whole learning experience, when I leave. If/when you're ready, check out the Taos Toolbox. It's a workshop you'll never forget.

What's the Best Soundtrack for your Writing?

I'm not talking about what music would play best behind the movie version of your story. I'm talking about what you listen to while you write. Of course everyone will have different tastes and different answers, but I'd like to present a few styles you may not have considered.

First off, I'll say that I usually prefer music without lyrics. It does me no good to occupy the language portion of my brain while I'm trying to generate words. If the music is in a foreign language, like the Amadou and Mariam I'm listening to right now, that's usually okay because my brain doesn't even try to translate.

One exception to my 'no lyrics' rule is that if I'm really tired and need a boost I'll put on something I can dance to – literally. I dance for a song or two, get my blood pumping and then sit down to write. And no, I can't dance for squat, but I do it anyway. It's fun, and will sometimes keep you working that little bit longer when you've already had a rough day at work and are trying to churn out a few hundred more words before turning in.

Movie and video game soundtracks make excellent writing music. It's best if you can find a soundtrack that suits the mood of the scene you're working on. Sometimes a soundtrack's mood will swing wildly because of a character turn or a quirky scene. Consider making a playlist and editing out anything that might bounce you out of the creative writing mood you're trying to set. Video game soundtracks are less likely to have such a big swing because the play of most games is fairly consistent. If the game has a dramatic story, the swings of emotion usually happen in the cut scenes, not in the main soundtrack.

Classical music is a close cousin to movie soundtracks. It's not my personal favorite, but I know some people swear by it.

One of my favorite types of music for writing is drumming and percussion. No flutes or high pitched singing for me, please. Just pure drumming. Drum circle with strong djembe influence is some of my favorite. There are drumming styles from all over the world to choose from. This type of music, usually with the volume fairly low, provides a nice motivational rhythm that keeps me moving forward. If you want specific recommendations here, feel free to ask in the comments.

If I need something that feels modern and upbeat, I often turn to Afro-pop. It falls in the same vein as US rock and blues without those annoying English lyrics that block my brain. Again, there's a whole planet's worth of pop to choose from. You need to find what suits you best.

Of course, that's the biggest answer of all. You have to do what's right for you. If blasting speed metal at top volume gets your creative juices flowing, by all means go for it. But I think it's worth it to try different things to see how you, and your writing, respond. If you have a used music store in your neighborhood, by all means, check out their cheap bin or the international section. If you're lucky enough to live in a city with an Amoeba Music, you're golden.

Whatever music you choose - Rock On and Happy Writing!

Note: On June 30th and July 1st, I'm going to be at Vandenberg Air Force Base to cover the launch of NASA¹s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2). I will be tweeting everything live. If you're interested, you can follow me on Twitter @TrinaMPhillips.

Second Note: The advanced writer's workshop I'm attending, Taos Toolbox, runs from July 6th -19th. I'll tweet interesting tidbits from there as often as I can, depending on the workload.

The 90-Day Novel and Writer Know Thyself

I told you I'd be giving you an update on the 90- day novel project. News is mixed. I like the discovery and story-telling philosophies in Alan Watt's 90-Day Novel, but the pace of the exercises isn't working for me. The first couple of weeks are spent on getting to know the character in depth. The idea is fine, but for me, a week of that is more than enough. Even now, heading into the third week, the bulk of the exercises revolve around character and the surface of plot is just being scratched.

Don't get me wrong, I believe character is important and I understand that it's the character's motivations and desires that drive the plot, but to dwell there forever isn't preparing me to write the type of story I want to write. In many ways, Watt's method seems to be leading people into to being good pantsers. (A pantser is someone who dives into their writing with little planning, preferring to figure the story out as they go along – by the seat of their pants.)

Truth is, the method of the book and my style of writing just don't mesh. By this point in the process, I prefer to know where I'm headed and should be developing a solid plan to get there. Otherwise, I lose momentum. Right now, I feel like I've lost the voice, the attitude, of the story. It won't be too hard to regain but I need to change course now or this project will end up dead in the water. I will continue to read Watt's book for his ideas on storytelling, but I will be switching back to my own method for plotting.

This is where understanding yourself as a writer becomes important. You'll read tips on how to do things and some of them will even come from your favorite authors; it's great to try those things, but don't get discouraged if they don't work for you. Know that your path and your method will be yours alone, and that's okay. That's the way it should be. That is what will make you the unique writer you are destined to be.

If you're so new to writing that you don't have your own method, take a look at your work habits. Do you like to plan your tasks, or do them on a whim? Do you like to tackle jobs in big chunks of time, or spread out in little bits? What time of day do you work best? Consider these things when you're planning out your time to write and when you're creating your goals. If you only have an hour to write each morning, don't be disappointed if you don't get to 2000 words every day. Be realistic and cut yourself some slack.

That's one element I like about the Watt book. It's very low pressure. He keeps reminding you that there are no mistakes at this stage – it's all discovery. That keeps the fear out of writing and that's a good thing. Your first draft should be fearless, which is actually very hard to achieve. Our over-thinking brains and social conditioning tend to get in the way. Any method that can reduce fear is fine by me.

So for as much as I'm veering away from the exercises in the book, it has still taught me a lot and I expect it will continue to do so. It's been a good exploration, and I'm sure the method works great for some people. In the end, I encourage you to try new things but remember to always be true to yourself.

How Travel Makes You a Better Writer

I love to travel. I don't get to do it near as often as I'd like but part of that is because I like big long trips that take me somewhere as different from home as possible. I want to meet people who see the world from varied perspectives. I want to understand what it's like to live in situations where life isn't so easy and not everything is a mouse-click away.

How does this improve my writing? First, it gives me things to write about. A few years ago my boyfriend and I went to China for six weeks. We had a Lonely Planet guidebook in one hand and a crappy phrase book in the other. We had a great time and brought back tons of stories. You can bet that little snippets of those adventures work their way into my stories when I need to add a little spice. The more experiences you have, the more you have to authoritatively write about; though for fiction you might have to twist the truth a little to suit your tale. I'll tell you a little secret about getting great travel stories. Most of the coolest stuff happens in between seeing the big sights. Stay off of tours, take local transport, eat like the locals and don't worry about whether you speak the language or not; you don't need it.

Another thing travel does, if you go in with an open heart and an open mind, is it lets you see how other people live. This is one of the reasons I don't take tours – I would miss too much. People will share their lives with you if you let them. They will show you what's important to them and what they're most proud of. Sometimes it their town, sometimes their business or maybe it's the braided bracelet their daughter made for them. Regardless, you will gain insight. This not only broadens your perspective, but it will help you create rounded characters with more realistic motivations.

If you travel to places where you don't speak the language (or very little of it) you will become a better communicator. In China, my boyfriend and I had a number of conversations where no comprehensible language was exchanged but meanings were entirely clear. There were the old guys playing Chinese chess in the hutong area of Beijing that invited us over to watch. With no words, one guy made it clear that he thought my bf's gut was my fault because I was such a good cook. Another time, at a monastery on top of a mountain, a group of young monks asked my boyfriend if his hiking stick was a walking aid or if it was for seeing. Again, no words. And in a pizza place in Yangshuo we found out a kitten's name translated as 'Fathead' because, well, for obvious reasons. All of these conversations happened using sign language, gesture and intonation. For as much as we writers like to use words, sometimes there are better ways. Once you realize this, you might find your characters interacting through more than just dialog.

Travel gives you a lot more fodder for creating great settings. Visiting a local African market is far more visceral than seeing one on a travel show. Being in a town that only has dirt roads after a rain and experiencing what it smells and sounds like. Heck, the first time you go somewhere and the street is filled with the smells of exhaust, grilling food, camel dung and the local spice market all at the same time I promise it'll be an experience you'll never forget. Likewise, the first time you swim in water that's so clear you can see twenty or more feet to the bottom can be amazing. In writing you want to appeal to all of the senses. Having been there for real allows you to draw upon that and lay it out on the page. And the best thing is you can take bits and pieces of all your different experiences and mix them together to create your fictional world. The more you travel, the more pieces you have.

I'm going to end with my top five travel tips for maximizing your fun.

1) Don't let fear stop you. Most places are far safer than their warnings. I live in LA and if I listened to the travel warnings about this place, I should be terrified. Sure, you might want to avoid places that have open hostilities, but other than that, most of the globe is safe enough. And I say this as a woman who often travels solo.

2) You'll always be a visitor, but try to do things on the local level. Eat street food or at small, non-touristy restaurants, take buses and motos and tro-tros. Talk to people - the ones that show you around, that drive you somewhere, or serve you food. Talk to shopkeepers and butchers and wood carvers. Share with them as much as they share with you. You will be richer for it.

3) Don't be an Ugly American (whether you're from the States, or not). Do not get upset when things are different from home or not as fancy or perfect or they take a little longer. You've come to their country to experience it, so do that. Don't expect anywhere else to be like home. Don't put unreasonable expectations on a place that has different resources.

4) Keep your sense of humor. When you travel things will go wrong. If you accept that from the beginning you'll be a lot better off. When you face adversity with laughter, or a smile, it shows good character and that resonates through all cultures. People will be more open to helping if you're good natured about the difficulty.

5) Try as many new things as you can. Don't turn down experiences because you're scared, or tired. When will you be here again? Go for it. Just do it. Put in whatever motivating phrase you need here. Sometimes you'll need to listen to that little voice that keeps you safe but push yourself out of your comfort zone. Of course you'll have some regrets about things you miss for decent reasons, but try to keep those to a minimum.

One more thing – write everything down. Whether you keep a travel journal, send e-mails to friends and family or blog on your trip, keep a record so you don't forget all those great little stories you're going to accumulate.

Happy Travels!

Birthday Outing to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour

A little over ten years ago I started to realize that I'd lived in this fascinating city of Los Angeles for my whole life and there were still things I hadn't seen or done. Between this and getting sort of bored with just going out to dinner for my birthday, I started a new thing amongst my friends. Now, on my birthday, we go see or do something that's specific to Los Angeles. It started with a trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. Since then, we've been to the Watts Towers, found a little Tibetan/Nepalese restaurant, ridden horses in Griffith Park and gone to the LA Arboretum, amongst other things. This year, we went to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour at the California Science Center. For a science fiction geek like me, this was awesome!

First off, the Science Center is a fun place. The exhibits have all sorts of interactive things for kids to do in all different areas of science. Us big people enjoyed them to, when we could get to them. There's also an IMAX theater where we watched a film about repairing the Hubble Telescope. It was very cool, though I wish they'd have shown a few more deep space shots. The 3D even worked for me, which it usually doesn't. There wasn't enough time in the day to see everything. We did find time to ride the shuttle flight simulator. It was tame (kids, remember) but well done with a good sense of motion.

The shuttle itself is in a temporary hangar. If you're in the LA area I recommend going to see it now because in about four years they're going to upright it, add the boosters and have a three tier observation area. While that sounds great, the opportunity to get as close as you can now is not one to pass up. You can see just how big the shuttle is, or isn't, in its current state. And it sits, just out of reach over your head.

One of the funniest things that struck me was the "Cut Here for Rescue' sign with the big arrow. It was only the big arrow that made it funny. Needing rescue in space is serious business. It made me think about what it would mean for everything to have gone so wrong that the crew would be hoping for someone to come along and cut a hole in their ship to get them out. How long would it take to get a rescue ship up to them? What would be their hope for survival? Astronauts are a brave bunch, that's for sure.

The volunteers in the shuttle hangar are full of useful information. My bf and I got to talking to a retired engineer that worked on the shuttle and he had all sorts of quirky stories. One in particular about a mysterious scorch mark on the top of the shuttle wing and a mystery black blob that was discovered only after partial disassembly. After lab analysis, they discovered that someone had accidentally left a roll of tape inside the wing. Fortunately, no harm was done.

Seeing the shuttle, and the IMAX movie and contemplating the vastness and mysteries of space give insane perspective on how small we really are. It makes me glad I write science fiction because I'm reminded that the possibilities are infinite and so is the human imagination.

Submission Systems and Rejectomancy

I know, I'm talking about rejection again. But if you write and submit short stories this is something you're constantly dealing with and depending on the market, rejectomancy can be anything from a fun game to pure obsession.

From the Urban Dictionary: Rejectomancy - The art of analyzing a rejection letter (particularly one received upon submitting a short story to a magazine) in order to elicit a positive or self-assuring message hidden therein.

However, with modern electronic submission systems this definition is only half the equation. Add to this great tracking sites like the (Submission) Grinder and you can obsess about your subs until the cows come home. Note: The Grinder is a free service, though I encourage anyone who uses it regularly to donate a few $ if they can.

How, you ask? Well, let's start with one of the best submission systems around. Clarkesworld not only sends you a confirmation that they got the story, when you follow the provided link you can see the status of your sub and know exactly where you are in the queue. The staff there have excellent response times. Just last week I subbed a story at 1pm on Wednesday. It started at number forty-two (not as lucky of a number as I'd hoped), by the evening it was at thirty-two. Then they dared to go home for the day. The next morning I moved to number twenty-one quickly and then it showed rejected by 11am. I got the email stating that about an hour later. I also know that the system shows if you've been held over for a second round. You can't get more efficient than that.

Some places use a similar system without the number in the queue. Asimov's, for example. The flaw in their system comes from the fact that sometimes pieces move from 'received' to 'under review' and stay there for a really long time, or they go straight from 'received' to rejection. With those inconsistencies, it becomes somewhat more difficult to obsess about check when you might receive the expected response.

And then there are some places where you simply e-mail your submission. Some of these have auto-confirmation, some don't. Personally I much prefer getting a confirmation. I hate the idea that after waiting ninety days I might query only to find that they never got the submission. But with the email sub, there's no way to know where you are in the process until they decide to contact you. The same goes for hard copy submissions, though those are becoming very rare. I will only go to the trouble of printing something out and putting postage on it for Fantasy and Science Fiction, because I'd love to list them on my cover letter.

It's this last group where the (Submission) Grinder comes in. You can see how recently a given publication has been responding to submissions. If you use their tracker, you also know how long your sub has been there and you can watch your little purple dot march across the graph making its way through red towers of rejection or approaching the green peaks of acceptance. You can see if submissions newer than yours have been responded to. Of course, this leads to the question of whether your story has been passed up or if it's just with a slow slush reader.

The Grinder also shows in shades of orange and red when your subs have exceeded the normal response time for a market. I currently have four orange submissions out of twelve. Two should be on the cusp of a response, both of which I'm foolishly hopeful about. One I know is in the final round and I'm well informed with the editor's status on the project. The last orange sub is something I may withdraw but the story is older and I don't have too many pro places left to send it.

Rejectomancy comes in when you have a sub that's near the usual response time for a publication and you check its status several times a day, either through their sub system or using the Grinder to monitor other's results. Theoretically, you should be writing new material, not worrying about the stuff that's already out until you actually get a response – and if a story gets rejected, turn it around and send it out again.

That's a nice theory, but when all that data is just a click away, I can't resist. For some publications I'd be embarrassed if I knew how many times I'd actually checked in a day. That's where the line between game and obsession gets blurry. The rush is sort of like buying a lottery ticket. You know your chances may be slim but it's worth it for the opportunity to dream.

How much Rejectomancing do you do?

PS: I promise my next post won't have anything to do with rejection. It might be about visiting the Space Shuttle for my birthday, but as Yoda said, "Always in motion, the future," so we'll see.

Until next time.