I somehow wound up finishing a lot of stories this month. I’d love having a reader or two look over this one before I send it out. It is 5800 words of science-fiction. It’s in a password protected post, but it’s the same as the last story. If you don’t know what that is, drop me a line and I’ll tell ya.
The teaser:
The afternoon sun angled across the scarred wood counter despite the bamboo shade Elise had lowered. She grimaced and picked up the steel chef’s knife, trying to keep the reflection in the blade angled away so it wouldn’t trigger a hallucination.
In one of the Better Homes and Gardens her mother had sent her from the States, Elise had seen an advertisement for carbon fiber knives. They were a beautiful matte black, without reflections. She had been trying to remember to ask Raj about ordering a set for the last week, but he was never home while she was thinking about it.
There was a time before the car accident, when she was still smart.
According to Wired Science SpaceX successfully put their Falcon 1 rocket into space.
SpaceX has made history. Its privately developed rocket has made it into space.
After three failed launches, the company founded by Elon Musk worked all of the bugs out of their Falcon 1 launch vehicles.
The entire spectacle was broadcast live from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. Cameras mounted on the spacecraft showed our planet shrinking in the distance and the empty first stage engine falling back to Earth.
I just watched the footage and I’ll tell you it’s a pretty inspiring thing.
I just sold “Jaiden’s Weaver” to Diamonds in the Sky, An Astronomical Anthology edited by Mike Brotherton. I’m extremely pleased by this because I came up with the idea for the setting while at the Launchpad Writer’s Workshop. Jerry Oltion, one of our fabulous instructors, helped me work out what it would be like to live on a planet that had rings.
Many, many thanks to the very kind folks who read the draft of this and offered feedback. You guys rock.
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The concept for this build is that each of the three witches has created her corporeal form out of things she’s found in the woods. So one is made of stone, one of sticks and the other of mist. I’m starting with the stone witch because she will be labor intensive and yet at the same time is fairly easy technically. Michael Schupbach, the designer, did full scale drawings for me so that as I work on designing their internal structure I know how much space I have in which to work. We’ve got front and side views of each character, though for the moment I’m only showing you the stone witch. |
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In this case, I’m running a channel in through the figure so the puppeteer doesn’t have to hold their arm straight out in front of them. It’s still going to be a significant amount of weight, but I’ve tried to go for the strongest position possible considering scale and operation of the figure. |
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As a side note, I had to travel over to Brooklyn to pick up the foam. The trip there is pretty fast, maybe twenty minutes. The trip back however, included eight foot long sheets of foam, the subway, and wind. It’s times like this that I love New Yorkers, because we’ve all had to carry the horrifically oversized thing on the subway, people tend to be really helpful. I think it’s the only time you see pity. So I had folks holding doors for me and being generally quite nice all the way. Then I got off the train and the wind picked up. It was like walking with a parasail. That was seriously unpleasant. By the time I got back to the shop I hated the entire world again. |
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I should mention that the puppeteers are high school aged girls, so weight and ease of operation are going to be key for the whole build. |
We were given a lovely review in The Fix for the latest issue of Shimmer.
Here’s a teaser:
Beneath the glossy cover art by Aunia Kahn, the 2008 Spring issue of Shimmer is filled with illustrated stories loosely based on relationships, and how the power of love or the lack of it influences people’s lives. This issue will satisfy the widely diverse palates of fantasy readers.
Ooo! The Dark Crystal has midnight screenings on October 10th and 11th. Yes, I secured my tickets before telling you. It’s been years since I’ve seen it projected.
Edited to add: Here’s a making of video.
A friend of mine has to give up their hotel room for World Fantasy. If you or anyone you know needs a room in the con hotel, drop me a line today or tomorrow.
I was heading downtown during rushhour last night and somewhat miraculously had a seat on the train. The usual crowd was trying to push in and this guy started shouting, “Move the f**k in. Move to the center. I’m getting on this train.”
Not unusual.
A tax broker type in the middle of the train shouted back, “You’re in the train. Shut up already.”
“Come on and make me.”
“Why are you still shouting? You’re in the train.”
The shouting guy continued unabated. “You want to come over here and make me. Move into the train.”
Tax broker was standing dead center of the train. It’s unclear exactly where shouting guy wanted him to move. The doors were shut and we were moving at this point, so you know, shouting guy didn’t have a case for being angry. Tax broker said, “Just shut up already.”
“You shut up.”
“Shut up.”
“You shut up.”
The three-year old level of conversation continued for a bit and then shouting guy sayid, “No, you shut up, you devil!”
At which point we pretty much all laughed. Shouting guy nodded, “Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about.”
A woman from another section of the train said, “They’re laughing at you.”
Silence. Shouting guy got off at the next stop.
What makes me really curious is where he came up with “You devil!” I felt like I’d run across a time-traveler from the past who’d been told that to pretend to be a contemporary New Yorker he had to be antagonistic but wasn’t given the full vocabulary list of expletives.
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They disguise the hanger as a winery in downtown Manhattan. But don’t be fooled. Who would build a winery in Manhattan? |
I’ve started a new project, building the three witches for MacBeth. Yay! No dead dogs! This is for the Puppet Kitchen with Michael Schupbach designing. It looks like it’s going to be a fun gig and I’ve got full permission to post process shots as we go.
Today wasn’t very exciting in terms of having photos to offer you. We met with Emily De Cola, who’s directing the puppet movement to talk about the physical requirements of the figures. I also headed into the garment district to pick up fabric swatches. These are going to be beautiful but creepy puppets.
This game says it can read your mind. Go ahead. Give it a try.
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