Wednesday, July 27, 2011

NADWCON 2011: Meeting with Terry Pratchett! (Part 2)

These are just some stray thoughts and recollections about the Kids Klatch with Terry, and mebbe a couple other things.

Kids Klatch

Terry recommended seeing a movie from the early 1960's called The Mouse on the Moon. This is the sequel to The Mouse that Roared.  We managed to track down a copy on Amazon, and we all enjoyed this family-friendly, funny, and sometimes cheesy picture. It's definitely worth the $10.00 or so that it cost us. (One of my favorite scenes involves offering pudding on the moon.) Beware: There are no mice in this movie.

My son loved when Terry used the phrase, "Mad as a hat full of spoons" while whirling his head around. (NOTE: He did *not* whirl his head around ala Linda Blair in The Exorcist.)

Mr. Pratchett did not say so, but Alex and I assume that Terry's daughter is at least in part a model for Tiffany Aching.

This tidbit came from the Kids Klatch, but also from the panel about "Publishing PTerry" with two of his American editors, Jennifer Brehl and Anne Hoppe, and his agent Colin Smythe: Terry uses speech to text software called Talking Point. What's fun is that he has taught it Nac Mac Feegle! Crivens! Dinna fash yersel', ya wee daftie.

Speaking of the above panel. Writers, editors, and others in publishing are familiar with a phenomenon called becoming "editor proof". This is when a BIG NAME writer gets so big that he/she believes her prose don't stink. That is, he/she either intimidates editors into silence, or has enough power to ignore them. We've all seen the 5th or 6th or 7th book in a popular series become immoveable, indigestable bricks running nearly 1,000 pages. Or even single novels that stink to high heaven, but the BIG NAME writer can publish anything he wants.

Well, I'm here to tell you that all the members of the panel confirm that Terry Pratchett is just the opposite. Even for work of his that has been through a few drafts with his Brit agent and editors, Terry is open to suggestions from his American cousins. He really is as nice and down to earth as he seems.

Spencer

Friday, July 15, 2011

We Were Feegles Once ... And Blue

NADWCON 2011 adventures continue. Alex and I participated in the Maskerade Saturday night and had a fantastically good time. Even waiting backstage to go on was fun, right up to the moment when we stepped close to the curtain and a bit of stage fright crept in. After all, this was our first ever costume contest. (Alex's first con of any kind for that matter.) Still, nothing debilitating grabbed hold and on we went!

Our premise was an older Feegle advising a youngster going out on his first expeditiashun, uh, expellimation -- first rrrrraid.  I honestly paid little attention to the crowd reaction except for purposes of timing. We were told, however, that it was well-received. Must have been, I guess, because we were awarded one of the special awards -- Best Use of a Brogue. :-)

It was very strange posing for pictures afterwards at the photo call, but we mugged shamelessly. Then I stood stunned as Terry Pratchett walked up to us. He said something in either a) actual Gaelic, or b) a heavy brogue with words I either couldn't quite hear or understand. Regardless, my enormously lame response included saying something along the lines of, "Oh my gosh, you're doing it for real." <fail>

Still, I thought that was going to be the highlight of our con. Then Sunday happened (Kids Kaffee Klatch) and proved me wrong.

Wow. What a fabulous time!

Thanks to all the really cool and fun people we met (Hi Two-Flower! -- Mike), and especially to my wife Ellen for everything (including much work on the costumes) and daughter Jamie for putting up with her geeky dad and brother.

Spencer

The following were all just in our hotel room. If anyone has pictures from the stage, and especially video of the whole Maskerade, I'd really appreciate seeing them. We didn't get to see any of the acts before us.



Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Knights of the Full Moon: 1st Draft Complete

Huzzah! I've completed the first draft of my latest YA/SF novel. [81K words] I'm currently waiting for my group's feedback on the final chapter, but I'll be proceeding post haste with writing the second draft starting at chapter one.

Beth Vaughan and I operate the same way -- save everyone's running comments, but continue writing new material until the book is complete. *Then* go back and start fixing your huge, steaming pile of --

Of course she has 5 (or 6?) more books worth of experience at it, and a very nice publishing track record. One step at a time. :-)

Spencer

NADWCON 2011: Meeting with Terry Pratchett!

Monday night we got back from the 2011 North American Discworld Convention (NADWCON) in Madison, WI. For those who don't know, this is a celebration of writer Terry Pratchett and the universe he created.

I'll prolly be making a few entries about our experience, but I want to at least start with the following. It's an article I wrote for the Con newsletter. Vivian Obarski was gracious enough to publish it, although she understandably had to chop it down in order to fit the small amount of space she had. The following is the original, full version:


The Color of Pratchett*

I count myself among the most fortunate parents on Earth. A small handful of us accompanied our children on an amazing journey with Terry Pratchett while he hosted a Kaffee Klatch for his younger fans at NADWCON 2011.

The first step of the journey began with Mr. Pratchett asking the dozen or so kids why they were here. Someone answered, "To ask you questions!" and we were off!

We learned quite a few things about the people of the universe's best disc-shaped world. For example, Magrat Garlick's first name did not start as a typo, but reflects the original form of the real Earth name before "Margaret" insisted on becoming more refined. We learned how much Mr. Pratchett really likes Lord Vetinari and his pragmatic way of keeping Ankh-Morpork running like an adequately-oiled, working machine. Speaking of Vetinari, we found out the close kinship that Vetinari's man Drumknott has with John Steed of the 1960's "The Avengers" series. Yet another association/inspiration discovered was that Mr. Pratchett's cat Oscar spawned the infamous Greebo. Many other intelligent questions produced marvelous results.

Regardless, every question was answered thoughtfully and completely, as if there was no more important subject in the world at that moment. And indeed there wasn't. For a man who weaves the most fabulous and intricate stories – lies as some writers like to say – he had nothing but honesty and sincerity for the small children to young adults performing their interrogation.

My son Alex (foreground) with Terry Pratchett

For me, however, the best part was Mr. Pratchett's exploration of the idea that music and singing of folk songs help keep a culture knitted together. He graced us – truly – with his own lovely, clear singing of a song from his childhood that includes the chorus:

       And the larks they sang melodious
       at the dawning of the day


This was followed by his leading everyone, adult and child, in the singing of the Beatle's "Yellow Submarine". I felt like I'd drifted into someone's dream about spending the best hour possible with a favorite writer.

My son Alex came away floating three feet off the ground and almost visibly glowing from the experience. I've no doubt that the others reacted the same way, with their parents feeling as privileged as I do. Thank you, Sir Terry!

Spencer Luster

*as Discworld fans know, Terry's first book about the world was titled The Color of Magic. My article title is meant to honor this magician.

Harry Potter and the Half-Ton Prince

Originally posted December 2009:

Nope, this isn't a snarky review of either the movie or the book. It's more or less a letter to my son and to some extent other parents. The subject is shared humor.

My nine year old son is one heck of a funny guy; I think extraordinarily so. Even if that weren't true, however, I know that sharing a joke with your kid is one of the greatest experiences of parenthood.

Take the title of this post, for example. We were discussing the possibility of going to see the new Harry Potter movie, including weighing my son's disgust at sitting through so much snogging we'd heard about, versus cool magic and monsters and danger. It naturally led to making fun of the series (Snogwarts, of course), and the corruption of the title to "Harry Potter and the Half-Ton Prince." Alex quickly voiced the spell that goes horribly wrong, "Humongous Rapidous!", which inflates Harry into a half-ton mass of rotundity, with mere stubs for arms and legs. His little wand hand flails madly but ineffectively, shrinking everything in sight except Harry, because he can't aim it back at himself. Now Harry is even larger, relative to everything else. Much giggling and riffing followed.

Another example comes from when we were watching an episode of "Batman: Brave and the Bold" together. I don't recall the particulars (maybe Baby Face was involved), but at one point Batman is commenting about where he must go to find the clues he needs and he says, "To the source of all the festering evil in Gotham." At which point my son and I simultaneously blurt, "My butt!" Laughter took over, leaving breathing a distant second.

I won't even go into our discussion of World War II Japanese snipers hiding in the pants of U.S. Marines, except to say that they were crack shots. (Alex's observation.)

The point being, kind of obviously, is that joking with your son or daughter is truly one of the greatest gifts of life, just like reading with them, and it doesn't cost you a dime. Now, pass the Whoopie cushion.

Great Pyrenees

Originally posted December 2008 (again, with comments by Teresa Frohock)

NOTE: Kera is now titled Shattered Home

In my novel Kera, three of the characters (Jake, Molly and Bo) are Great Pyrenees dogs. They're integral to the plot, as well as to Kera's mental, emotional and physical well-being. Our family has had three "Pyrs", our most recent is our puppy Bella Rose.

It's been my experience that most people have never heard of Great Pyrenees, much less know anything about them. They're a giant breed, all or mostly white, taking their name from the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain. I've always thought this was appropriate because the big ones are as much like snowy mountains as animals. Our second Pyr, our boy Balyn, weighed 160 lbs as an adult, with very little fat on him. He intimidated a lot of people not just by his size, but also by his quiet and sometimes not so quiet opinions about threats. Kera's dog Jake is based on Balyn. (His full name was Balyn Le Savage, named after the knight in Le Morte De Arthur who used his sword to cleave an opponent from head to saddle.)

Pyrs are traditional herd guards, bred for loyalty and fierce protection of their charges. They also had to be very independent because their duties included patrolling over large areas, looking for and fighting predators, including wolves. Stories are told of even modern Pyrs in America who go out patrolling their ranches, only coming home at night for supper. Pyrs are NOT shepherds -- they're guardians. Other dog breeds round up or guide the flock; Great Pyrenees make sure nothing harms them.

One good source of information on the breed is a book called "The New Complete Great Pyrenees" by Paul Strang. There are other sources, and we've learned from breeders, and of course from our own experiences. Our first Pyr was a very easy going girl named Sabaka. (Bolshaya Byelaya Sabaka -- for what I thought meant Great White Dog in Russian. I'd had a couple semesters of Russian language at the time.) So far Bella has definitely been our most affectionate dog, and maybe our smartest. I'm thinking she might not be too different from Kera's Molly.

Pyrs are magnificent dogs, and I love the breed, but they are definitely not for everyone, nor even for most people. As I said, they can be very independent and will make themselves the leader of your family pack if you let them. We've made our mistakes and have some hard learned lessons. They like to wander (presumably to patrol), and will make their escapes by either going over your fence, or digging under. Occasionally they will just go through a barrier, like when Sabaka was visiting friends with us. She was wandering their house. We heard a crash. The next thing we see is our dog, wearing a baby gate around her neck. She'd wanted to get up their stairs, so she just punched through the gate with her head.

They love to dig, if nothing else to give themselves a little foxhole to sleep in, to keep their bodies against the cool earth. They also like to chew. Boy do they ever, at least Sabaka did. Part of that was due to our own mistakes raising her, when we weren't around the house enough. Stupid. But, we got some good jokes out of it. Why did the Great Pyrenees cross the road? To chew the other side. Why does a fireman wear red suspenders? Because a Pyr chewed his belt.

Spencer


Teresa said:

I love Great Pyrenees, because of their size and their beauty, but all that hair that choked me up. ;-)

My husband ran Katu Kennels and showed boxers for many years, and I fell in love with the boxer breed. At one point, I wanted to show Pyrs and investigated the breed then, and that's when I found out I should only worship them from afar.


Spencer said:

Hi Teresa,

Glad you stopped by! Do you folks still have any dogs?

I dropped by your place (http://frohock.wordpress.com/) to get the first chapter of An Autumn Tale and saw you're from North Carolina. I've heard some very nice things about your state (including Orson Scott Card living in Greensboro), and I got to thinking about it being a good place for dogs, but maybe too humid for the likes of Pyrs.

Spencer


Teresa said:

Thanks, Spencer. I'm only about 19 miles from Greensboro and shop there often, but I've never had an Orson Scott Card sighting. I've really got to get to more book related events. ;-)

We have one mutt by the name of O.B. right now. My husband stopped breeding boxers a few years ago and when our last one died, it broke our hearts. We've been spending a lot of time traveling, so we didn't want to get too many more dogs until we were home more often. It is humid here, and because boxers have trouble breathing in the extreme heat, we had an air conditioned kennel for them.

Are you on the west or east coast? You've got a lovely ocean view behind your picture! I love it here in NC, although I've moved around in my day and lived for several years in Charleston, SC. You want to talk about humidity, try living in a swamp. ;-)


Spencer said:

Hi again, Teresa,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you -- taxes, room remodel, and other vicissitudes of life interrupting my attention to writing and related matters. (Same for OWW crits right now as well - I feel bad about that for a couple of other folks besides you).

Regarding your question about which coast I live on, it's the middle coast! Toledo, Ohio is home, and that body of water in a couple of the website pictures is Lake Erie. I've lived in Chicago and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as well, so Lake Michigan and Lake Superior are both familiar puddles. I've also lived in Southern California, but the Pacific was just too small. :-) (Actually, some coastal transplants are amazed when they get to a Great Lake -- "Wow. You can't see the other side!" In fact, a little difference in wave size is about it until you taste the water.)


Teresa said:

What a lovely area! I love the Great Lakes; I just hate your winters! ;-)

Thanks again for the crit - I'm going to get off my lazy and work on those two chapters today (I hope). I'm like you, I get woefully behind on OWW crits sometimes, but I'm not in a hurry. (I've got to finish re-doing my kitchen someday!)

I've been reading several posts by agents regarding people who submit their manuscripts far too soon, resulting in rejections. I really think that OWW saved me from the same mistake. The whole experience has tempered my impatience a bit so that I'd rather delay my plans than submit a poorly edited manuscript.

Thanks for your help!

The Graveyard Book

The original post is from April 2009. I'm also adding Teresa Frohock's original comments. Teresa has a book coming out soon!

I got Neil Gaiman's book for Christmas -- before it won the Newbery Medal, thank you. I think it's excellent and I highly recommend it. It also starts with one of the best first lines I've read in a very long time. "There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife." Wow.

I defy an English reading human to taste that sentence and not take another sip. What's more, it succeeds so well with simple words and construction. The hand does not tremble, the darkness isn't malevolent nor all-pervading, and the knife is just a knife. Of course the Dave McKean illustration complements the words very nicely, but even completely on its own, that sentence *requires* you to turn the page.

It's a nice lesson for a writer, one I'll try to remember. It reminds me of the six-word Hemingway story:

"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

Sigh


Teresa said:

Here's one of my favorites, from an author I don't normally enjoy (can you believe it) Clive Barker from The Thief of Always:
"The great gray beast February had eaten Harvey Swick alive."

I just love the rhythm of that sentence, even when you say it out loud, it jumps and pops and makes you want to know what happens next.

Geeky fusion comments

The following is from December 2008. NOTE: Kera is now titled Shattered Home.

Okay, this is the first of what may end up being several geeky comments about technology used in my science fiction writing. Don't worry, this won't take long.

In my SF novel Kera, humans have achieved stable, controlled nuclear fusion for the production of electricity. The particular method used is sometimes called Internal Electrostatic Confinement (IEC), also called polywell in a bit more complex and efficient form. Basically, IEC is a couple of very porous concentric spherical shells that can have opposed static electrical charges applied to them. You then inject your two fusion reactants, and they bounce in and out of the center of the shells many, many times until the reactants fuse together, giving off energy. Do this long enough, and under the right conditions, and you can produce a net energy gain without needing massive and massively expensive machines.

There are several different possible reactant pairs, but one of the neatest is a proton (p) and a boron 11 (B11) atom. When these two get together, the only things given off are helium nuclei at high energy. Now helium nuclei have a double positive charge. What that means is the proton/boron 11 reaction is essentially directly producing electricity (slow down and "catch" the nuclei and you get current) with no other harmful products such as neutrons or radioactive particles. This is really cool! And it's a real reaction, and the IEC fusion method is a real possibility. In fact, IEC fusion is already being done by even high school students for science projects. The latter do not produce anything near net energy, but they do produce real nuclear fusion, with plenty of neutrons given off using non- p/B11 reactants.

Dr. Robert Bussard (recently passed away) has done a lot of work in this area and invented the polywell device. It's continuing, with the current experimental reactor being called WB7 for wiffle ball 7. (I love the name and image!) WB8 may be enough of a scaling up to produce net energy. I know, I know, fusion is always around the corner -- well, if turning the corner takes 30 years. So far, however, this *much* less expensive and complicated approach has produced results pretty much in line with what Dr. Bussard predicted. A nice solution for a few of our major problems could be around the corner.:-)

If you're interested in learning more, visit these sites:

http://www.fusor.net
http://iecfusiontech.blogspot.com/
http://www.polywellnuclearfusion.com/Clean_Nuclear_Fusion/The_Polywell.html

Spencer

A blog is born -- so original!

First post on Blogger, but not for me. Granted, my previous nearly invisible efforts as an extension of my website amounted to only 6 or 7 posts. Still, I'm not a complete beginner.

The next several posts will be re-posts from said extension. Then I'll see what happens. Perhaps this will grow. Perhaps it will fade into the anonymous mists of the aether.

Mebbe I'll have fun!