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Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

The Nebulas Await

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on June 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I’ve been too focused on work lately. Mr Man had to remind me that the Nebula Award winners were announced earlier this month. Thanks, Mr Man!

Here’s the announcement: 2024 – The Nebula Awards®, and Locus has the list with online links for free-to-read stories.

As usual, the Nebulas provide a slate of interesting material for my reading list. I’m also happy to say that Canadian authors are well-represented in this year’s awards.

Canadian sci-fi scribes among the winners for this year’s Nebula Awards

The winners’ roster also includes an interactive game that sounds like something I very much want to check out: 

A Death in Hyperspace (via Stewart C Baker)

As an embodied ship Intelligence and fugitive former warship, you’ve faced many challenges.

But when your captain dies suspiciously halfway through a hyperspace transit, you know you’re in trouble. Not because you need a captain — you can pilot yourself just fine — but because, as an aficionado of mysteries and detective stories, you know there’s only one explanation: murder most foul.

Investigate your rooms.

Interrogate your crew and passengers.

Solve the mystery.

Will you find your way back to reality — or be stuck in hyperspace forever?

It beat out big names like Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and it’s free to play online? Sounds excellent!

Way to go, everyone!

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Photo by Bit Cloud on Unsplash

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Book Break

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »

An interview with a sci-fi author about a series that sounds good:

‘For anybody who could use a break’: A Q&A with sci-fi author Becky Chambers

So, my goal with these books was to create something that hit that same note, of: “You can just be comfy here for a while. You can just be safe. Nothing’s gonna jump at you, nothing’s gonna stress you out. But I am going to speak to you as a fellow adult. I’m going to talk to you about things that are relevant to you in your adult life.”

Sounds fun, and I’ve enjoyed other Becky Chambers books, so I’m adding the Monk & Robot series to my list.

“One of the things I aim for is just to say, hey, it doesn’t have to be this way. I think that’s the key goal of science fiction in general, whether it’s a positive future, a negative future, somewhere in between. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

— Becky Chambers

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Photo by Alice Pasqual on Unsplash

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Things My Father Taught Us

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , on June 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Just some of the things my father passed on:

  • be kind
  • listen to others’ opinions, even if you don’t always agree
  • money is a useful thing, but not the most important thing
  • read to your children
  • a warm kitchen makes a home
  • a good chef’s knife is important
  • a good library is critical, and
  • you can always do more than you think you can.

To the man who introduced me to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, good food, good music, and good writing, Happy Father’s Day!

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Photo by Din Djarin on Unsplash

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Happy Friday!

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , on June 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I’m behind and my to do list is calling, but I’ve managed to sneak in some of the things that really matter. Like a little writing, food for the birds, and making Mr Man laugh.

“Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.”

― Roy T. Bennett

Hope your day is a good one!

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Photo by Franz Hajak on Unsplash

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Seven Words

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on June 12, 2025| 2 Comments »

As part of an answer to a woman looking for answers to big questions (excuse me, Big Questions), blogger Darius Foroux was asked to sum up his definition of life in 50 words or less. His answer?

No one knows what they are doing.

— Darius Foroux

I find this both reassuring and encouraging. I mean, sure, a lot of people know a lot of things, but no one knows everything. Everyone has questions, everyone has areas for improvement, and we’re all just wading through life trying to keep our feet dry (or not, you do you!).

Here’s to doing it anyway.

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Photo by Rob Pumphrey on Unsplash

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Be Bold

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“If we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls.”

— Maya Angelou

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Photo by Bernhard on Unsplash

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Wisp of a Dream

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

You know how some days you wake up at 5:30 and lie there in the early morning sun wondering what brought your mind up from sleep? That was me this morning. And as I lay there, the answer bubbled up from my dreams, slow and obscure but clear: Elder Futhark.

Weird, I thought, but I’m sure I’ll get over it.

Nope. For the past few hours every time my mind is unoccupied for more than a moment, what pops into my mind? Elder Futhark.

Wondering what I’m going on about? Runes. Let me give you a brief (very brief!) introduction to this early Germanic writing system.

Elder Futhark

The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, /ˈfuːðɑːrk/), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Period. Inscriptions are found on artifacts including jewelry, amulets, plateware, tools, and weapons, as well as runestones, from the 2nd to the 8th centuries…. knowledge of how to read the Elder Futhark was forgotten until 1865, when it was deciphered by Norwegian scholar Sophus Bugge.

Why would I have this stuck in my head? No idea. My mother studied it once upon a time, and of course, the runes of Middle Earth owe a lot to the old runic languages.

Here’s Gandalf’s mark, Certh rune no. 19:

And here’s the letter F in Elder Futhark: ᚠ

As for what it means? What can I say, the mind works in odd ways.

This wisp of a dream got me thinking about language, and how a characteristic of civilization that we think of as both ubiquitous and permanent, like an alphabet, can just… disappear.

What’s really interesting to me about this, aside from the historical progression of written language, is that what that language represents hasn’t changed all that much. 

Writing systems transform, but the stories, the ideas we’re trying to communicate and pass on with that language, those haven’t changed much at all.

I mean, sure, a not insignificant part of language has always been about keeping track of death and taxes, but those aren’t the only things that are inevitable.

No matter the language, stories remind us that we are not alone, help us give structure to the problems we face, and provide an outlet for our experiences. 

We’re still interested in heroes and villains, quests and homecomings, pain and joy, and the idea that no matter what challenges we face, there is always hope.

Always.

“Remember, language is fun! It is also magical, so use it well and use it wisely!”

— The Tolkien Society

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A bit of Futhark for you via The Rök rune stone, Sweden. Photo by Håkan Sundblad on Unsplash

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One Precious Monday

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on June 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.”

― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

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Photo by Bram van Baal on Unsplash

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Getting to the Point

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on June 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“Winning is fun… Sure. But winning is not the point. Wanting to win is the point. Not giving up is the point. Never letting up is the point. Never being satisfied with what you’ve done is the point.”

— Pat Summitt

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Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash

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Never Quit!

Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on June 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Sadly, it looks like the Ispace lander Resilience did not make a successful landing on the moon yesterday. (If it did land, it’s harboring enough resentment about the process that it’s refusing to pick up the phone.)

Ispace fails in moon landing attempt, confirms Resilience likely crashed into the moon | CNN

Ispace has gone out of its way to make clear that it’s not giving up. The motto underpinning today’s mission was “never quit the lunar quest.” And by all accounts, the company has every intention of sticking with these moon missions until they succeed.

Let this be a lesson to all you aspiring creatives out there. Never quit! (And maybe name the next lander Persistence?)

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Photo by Daniel Castellón on Unsplash

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