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Posts Tagged ‘creativity’

With apologies to turtles. And tortoises. And science.

Today, allow me to refer you to a story from Nature’s Futures, about a put-upon pair of frontline workers and the genetically-modified reptile who captured their hearts.

Clean-up on Planet 9 by Carol Scheina

A giant sea turtle swimming in a building-sized aquarium. Fields of toothy purple flowers. Goddamn dollhouse-sized pine forests. Quite a bit wasn’t the size or shape it was supposed to be.

While I appreciate the author’s discussion of her inspiration for the story, I can’t help but think that it could also be (at least distantly) related to the mysterious origins of the dimension-hopping tortoise* in my own story, “The T-4200.”

Sadly, “The T-4200” is not currently available online, but this story inspired me to send it off to a reprint market. Fingers crossed!

* I know, while a turtle and a tortoise are both members of the Testudine family of reptiles, they are not the same. Still (and with apologies to all right-thinking scientists out there), the story already adds animal-based faster-than-light travel, so I’m just going to go with it.

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Photo by Josh Miller on Unsplash

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“The chief obstacle to a woman’s success is that she can never have a wife.”

— Anna Lea Merritt (19th Century Artist), Lipincott’s Magazine (thankfully, this is no longer true everywhere)

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The path to success has always been difficult for many artists, and much more so for women. Given that it is International Women’s Day and I am from Pennsylvania, I thought I’d share the story of one group of women who looked at the crappy hand they’d been dealt and said, “Thanks, but we’ll find a better way.”

This is the story of the talented Victorian girl gang known as The Red Rose Girls.

Clubhouse Goals with the Red Rose Girls

While renting out the Red Rose Inn in Philadelphia, they lived on their own terms exploring the benefits [of] a communal all-female household. And at a time when women were barely even permitted to attend art school, they enriched each others careers and thrived together as self-sufficient artists.

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Photo by Heidi Kaden on Unsplash

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Whoever came up with the idea to limit my daily cookie intake was sorely mistaken.*

Rejected.

* Ok fine, it was me.

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Photo by Adam Bartoszewicz on Unsplash

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Short on time but still want to explore the wonders of the universe? Check out Dust, an outlet for short sci-fi videos:

The YouTube Channel Sci-Fi Fans Need To Watch – CNET

…Dust’s absolutely balling YouTube channel, which functions as a receptacle for hundreds upon hundreds of sci-fi shorts with surprisingly high production values. If you’re a fan of sci-fi and you have around 15 minutes to kill, I 100% recommend hopping onto Dust and hitting play on pretty much anything. … As a spot for aspiring filmmakers to show off their talents, Dust’s videos mostly feature high-concept sci-fi – sort of like a post-modern Twilight Zone for zoomers. Almost all have surprisingly good special effects, decent acting performances and – above all – come bursting with grand ideas.

Have fun out there!

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Photo by Alex Shuper on Unsplash

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To follow up yesterday’s post about Writers of the Future Volume 39, here is the newly released book trailer complete with cover reveal and animated flaming dragon. 

I have to admit, this cover looks pretty great. And who wouldn’t want a flaming dragon? We all need a way to roast our marshmallows, am I right?

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Photo by Dan Smedley on Unsplash

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Jessie Mihalik, author of several series I enjoy, is putting out a short new serial called Books & Broadswords. As she says, “It’s strictly just for fun. :)”

Here’s the link to Chapter 1. 

I set the royal mark on the counter, and the merchant’s eyes glowed, first with greed, then regret. “I can’t make change for that,” he murmured, his gaze on the gold coin. “You’ll need to go to the bank.”

“I don’t want change,” I replied quietly, trying to keep the barely contained excitement out of my voice. “I want books.”

Well, that seems like a fine start. Follow along online, and enjoy!

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Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash

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It’s Monday and I’ve got nothing.

Ok, technically, I’ve got several post ideas but also a to-do list that’s too long and my brain appears to be broken and I have to write up some writing things aaaannnndddd… I’ve got nothing.

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”

― Jack Kerouac

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Photo by Cookie the Pom on Unsplash

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“The lesson I’ve learned the most often in life is that you’re always going to know more in the future than you know now.”

― Taylor Swift

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Photo by Jacob Vizek on Unsplash

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When it’s not the AI, it’s the users.

Sci fi publisher Clarkesworld halts pitches amid deluge of AI-generated stories

Closing submissions is a drastic move. Until a solution is identified, the magazine is not considering stories from authors. “We will reopen, but have not set a date,” Clarke said on social media. “Detectors are unreliable. Pay-to-submit sacrifices too many [legitimate] authors. Print submissions are not viable for us.

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Photo by Alison Wang on Unsplash

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Am I getting things done? I am. Are they the right things? Wellll… I mean, I’ll get to my writing and editing and workshop assignment and taxes eventually. Of course I will.

I came across a T-shirt that captures my day perfectly:

“I’m not procrastinating, I’m doing side quests.”

So, so true.

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Did I need to make my own version of this T-shirt? I did not. Did I learn something doing it? I did! Sword image from Free PNG Download. Photo by Drop the Label Movement on Unsplash

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