The blog Rambles & Randomness recently posted a "Well I Never Blogfest" so I'm going to give it a try with experiences related to science fiction (better late than never!).
Well ...
I never bought a copy of the Battlefield Earth movie after watching it in theaters, but I did buy the book and read it.
I never knew thata 32X game I own called Spider-Man: Web of Fire is worth more than $100 until today.
I never read Isaac Asimov's Foundation books although own some of the books and want to read them someday (I have too many books to read as it is).
I never could get into Dune. I'm sorry.
I never dressed up as a character at science fiction conventions, although I did enjoy seeing Darth Vader.
That's all I can think of right now. Also, as a reminder, December is "Reid Kemper's Blog Swap Month," so check out my previous post to learn about it and sign up!
Do you have great blog posts that are buried in your blog and deserve more attention? Or do you have a new post that you think will be great for a wider audience? Or perhaps you want variety on your blog by sharing a post someone else wrote -- minus any hassle? If so, I designed this blog swap to help you out.
How it works:
1. Enter your website URL in the list below to create a link.
2. Grab a post from my list of blog posts and use it for your blog.
3. Mention in the comments below which post you want to share in return.
Alternatively, if you want to swap with other bloggers, you may:
1. Enter your website URL in the list below to create a link.
2. Post your own blog swap on your blog.
3. List on your blog which posts you want to swap with those who participate.
You can swap on any day. Think of it as reciprocal guest blogging.
Enter here:
If you swap posts with me, I'll pick out one of your posts you listed and publish it on my blog. You may even write a new post meant for swapping. I'll credit you for writing the post I share and will link to your blog, so be sure to do the same.
I will not publish any posts that have obscenity, controversial topics or anything else I don't feel comfortable sharing. Please provide a variety of posts that are not time sensitive to choose from. For instance, if you have a post promoting a book you published, this would be a great way to promote your work. It's also great to spread helpful tips or resources for others. You can choose which day to participate.
You may use any post of mine before Dec. 1, 2011, for swapping, but below is a list of posts I recommend that are not time sensitive or are, to my knowledge, still relevant. Feel free to change any timely information (such as "today") and make edits.
You can find free science fiction e-books on many websites, but if you want some top-quality e-books, I recommend the Baen Free Library located at www.baen.com/library. Baen Books is a leading science fiction book publisher known for it's military science fiction novels. It also provides dozens of e-book versions of its published novels.
Image from Wikipedia.
So why does the publisher offer free e-books? One of the reasons is that if you read the first book of a series and like it, you may want to buy the other books. It's also compared to reading books for free at a library. If you like what you read, you may tell your friends and buy the books.
There are many Baen authors who participate, so I've narrowed the list to ten authors who are among the best. They are in alphabetical order, and I've included quotes about the authors from the site (click on their names in large print to go to their page with free books).
Author Alex J. Cavanaugh's book CassaFirehas a new trailer, which piqued my curiosity as to what I should expect from the book.
For those who don't know, CassaFireis the sequel to CassaStar, which was published by Dancing Lemur Press, LLC, in 2010. The sequel is set to be released Feb. 28, 2012, by the same publisher. Visit Cavanaugh's blog at alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com for more information.
I reviewed CassaStar on March 19, which can be viewed here. I enjoyed reading the book and pointed out areas I thought needed improvement if he wrote a sequel (which I'm glad he did). Now that there is a book blurb and trailer for the sequel, I already can tell some of those issues have been addressed. Below are some of my concerns from the first book followed by how I think the sequel seems to remedy those problems.
1. One of my concerns for the first book was the lack of a strong female presence, and I hoped that a female plays a lead role in a possible sequel. I'm elated to read that there is a lead female character named Athee in CassaFire. According to the book's blurb, Athee is a pilot "whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities." I also like how Byron no longer has the best mental abilities. Not every hero has to be the best at everything, so hopefully, Byron's personality will shine more.
2. I also didn't think the universe in CassaStar was fleshed out as much as I hoped. I wrote, "You only get the closed-in view of the military, which may have been done so the reader feels isolated like Byron." In the sequel, Byron is an explorer, like he said he was going to be at the end of CassaStar. I'm glad Byron kept his promise to his mentor. Having Byron leave piloting to explore the universe does two things, in my opinion:
a. It keeps the sequel fresh without sounding like just-the-same-story-with-a-new-enemy plot.
b. It gives Cavanaugh a chance to do some world-building and give the reader insight into the universe.
As for the trailer for CassaFire, although some people may say the graphics are 15 years old (I, myself, am reminded of the intro to Tekken 2 for the PlayStation in 1996), please be aware that Dancing Lemur Press, LLC, is a small book publisher, so they probably had only one person working on the trailer. It's also hard to do facial expressions in CGI (computer-generated imagery). Overall, I loved the voice of Byron, the music that comes in at the right time and the pacing of the trailer. Well, here's the trailer for CassaFire:
I look forward to reading the sequel and congratulate Cavanaugh for having his second book set for print.
(Dec. 10, 2011, update: I'm glad to report that Xenoblade Chronicles will be released in North America on April 2, 2012, exclusively in store at GameStop. Visit oprainfall.blogspot.com for further details.)
Xenoblade Chronicles (called Xenoblade in Japan and originally titled Monado: Beginning of the World) is a Japanese role-playing video game (JRPG) for the Nintendo Wii video game system that deserves to be released in the United States. According to reports I've read, there are currently no plans to release the game in North America. Hopefully, that is just a ploy to gain interest in the game here so it can maximize its game sells when it does release in North America (fingers crossed). However, Monolith Soft's game Soma Bringer that was released in Japan in 2008 for the Nintendo DS never came to America.
Although I hardly have time to play video games nowadays, I still try to keep up with new titles and buy them (yes, I even have some unopened games I bought last year and haven't played yet but will eventually get to). I only focus on few games when I do have time, and from what I've seen of Xenoblade, it will be on the top of my list if it comes to the U.S. The game is both beautiful and exciting (with top ratings to boot) and looks like a mixture of fantasy and science fiction. It was created by Monolith Soft, known for creating the science fiction Xenosaga trilogy, which is spiritual prequel to Xenogears created by Squaresoft (now Square Enix). There are rumors that Xenoblade is somehow connected to Xenogears and Xenosaga, but I have yet to see any concrete evidence.
Anyway, below are some videos of Xenoblade. The first one is the introduction footage to the game in English (United Kingdom version), the second one is a UK-version trailer, and the last one shows the breath-taking scenery in the game (it has some Japanese words but there is no speech in the video).
If you have trouble finding the right magazines to submit your science fiction short stories, if you're new to the submission process, or if you just want to a find a magazine for your reading pleasure, there are only three websites you should know, which are valuable resources:
The links above will either go to a page that lists magazines or to one where you can search for magazines.
If you just want to know the professional magazines or anthologies that publish science fiction short stories -- which meet Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America qualifications -- here are 21 markets from sfwa.org: (they are not all currently open to submissions, however):
Scenes from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (From Wikipedia)
Sept.
11, 2001, the date of one of the most terrifying terrorist events in U.S. history,
will resonate in our minds for decades to come. The sight of two planes
crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, sending dust and
debris among New York City streets, pierced our hearts with disbelief and
sorrow on that day 10 years ago. Innocent people died that morning, including
at the Pentagon and in the plane that fortunately didn’t reach the White House.
It affected family, friends, U.S.
citizens and others across the globe. It certainly was a mournful day affecting
my life as well.
What
I learned that day was to appreciate life more and not to put my goals on hold. The understanding that life can
be taken away in the blink of an eye was much more prevalent that day, and I
was determined to live my life at the fullest. I worked even harder on my science fiction book and continued to write -- to finish it. I eventually completed it a several years later despite a full load of college; unfortunately, I wrote it longhand, and it was more than 700 pages long. I considered it sufficient training for writing my second novel, so to this day, I've never typed it all up. Don't worry, I'll type and rewrite it some day -- and divide it into three books while I'm at it.
As for my second novel (or fourth depending on how you look at it), I typed it from the start (thank God). I'm more than halfway through writing it, and that story, too, likely will be divided into three books. Unfortunately, I haven't written on the novel in a year and haven't written anything significant in two. I lost that passion to finish what I started -- the passion I had for years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Sure, I wrote short stories and blogs in my free time, but something was missing. My complete story was missing.
I'm hoping to rejuvenate that spark I had. I'm hoping to finish what I started. How did Sept. 11, 2001, affect you?
