A Day in the Life with Android (Part 3)

[Updated: January 8, 2013; see the app gReader Pro below]

This blog post continues my efforts to present the Android apps I use -- and how I use them -- on my Google/ASUS Nexus 7 tablet. In Part 1 I covered hardware accessories and what I think of as business apps. Part 2 dealt with utility apps, including cloud services.

I assume that if you are still with me on this series of blog posts, then you currently own an Android device, or at least are thinking about purchasing an Android device. So, if you haven't noted this already, each app links directly to the Google Play store where you can read more about the app, including a lengthier description, a list of permissions, and user reviews; and if you are currently an Android user, you could also install the app at that time.

With this third blog post, I plan to cover all the social media and related apps that I use: Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader; apps that support social media posts, like Skitch and Snapseed; and ebook readers: Kindle, Nook, Google Play Books, and support apps, like ED PDF Reader Pro and Calibre Library.

I realize these aren't the most exciting of blog posts, but I'm hopeful that Android users, or potential Android users, will find something of value here. These posts also allow me to indulge in my latest passion.

The official Twitter app has too many holes, so I initially used Tweetdeck Web, which I also use on my desktop and laptop. Unfortunately, it's not designed for mobile devices and was very difficult to use on the N7. And then I found Falcon Pro: a beautifully designed app that features the Google "holo" design. I've submitted a few suggestions for updates, which I hope will be addressed in the near future. If I want to view (and delete) one of my own tweets, or unfollow someone, I still have to use either Tweetdeck Web or Twitter itself.

The official Facebook app was virtually unusable until founder Mark Zuckerberg "encouraged" his employees to use the Facebook Android app -- and then multiple updates were forthcoming. Until those updates, however, I used FaceDroid, but this app would freeze quite often (and still does) so I welcomed the "new" Facebook app.

I don't use Google+, per se, but when I post to Facebook I also post to Google+. However, I do get Google+ notifications on the N7 (and Facebook and Falcon Pro notifications as well), which keeps me informed of incoming posts.

On a daily basis, I read a ton of blogs, forums, RSS feeds, etc., so I need an RSS reader that will sync across all devices; the obvious answer is Google Reader. But, GR on the web is nothing more than a list of feeds and the official GR app is just as dreadful (it hasn't been updated since the Nexus 7 was shipped in mid-July 2012). I use Feedly on the web, an excellent RSS reader, which integrates with Google Reader; but the Feedly Android app crashes on my N7 constantly, nearly every time I access a link within a feed. (To recover from the crash I have to either reboot the N7 or go into the app's settings and delete all data.) But then I read a lengthy, detailed review of the gReader Pro app on Android Police -- and gReader Pro has since become my preferred RSS reader on the N7. (It's optimized for use on tablets, too.)

[Update: Yesterday, the Feedly app had its first update since last July; the update includes some UI changes as well as bug fixes. I have used it now for about a half-hour, accessing various links, and not a single crash -- so far. The wonder (and frustration) of Android, as I previously mentioned, are the updates: sometimes one waits for six months for such an update, as with Feedly; other times an app can be updated daily, or even multiple times during the day: the app may have worked perfectly on your device to start with, but after an update, not so much anymore.

So I have set aside gReader Pro for now and returned to using Feedly, which had been my favorite RSS reader (crashes aside).]

When a photo needs an extra touch -- a border, annotation, essentially any kind of photo editing -- then Skitch or Snapseed will meet those needs. Skitch, from the makers of Evernote, has sketching capabilities as well as picture editing; and before being ported to Android, Snapseed was the 2011 iPad App of the Year. (Please forgive my indiscretion for mentioning the "i" device.) The photos from either app can then be shared with social media apps, Evernote, cloud services, etc.

A Day in the Life with Android (Part 2)

In Part 1 I reviewed the hardware accessories for my Nexus 7 tablet, as well as one set of apps that I use for work; let's call them my "business" apps for now. Though the dividing line as to whether an app is business or entertainment can be blurry at best, given the nature of some of these apps....

With this blog post I want to cover the utilities that I use on a day-to-day basis. Again, in most instances, they can be used for both business and entertainment.

As is the case with Chrome and Gmail, mentioned in Part 1, many of these apps can be installed in some fashion as both an Android and a Windows app, allowing them to be synced across all devices. In a lot of ways, it's like having my desktop and laptop at my fingertips wherever I'm at, as long as my Nexus 7 is in hand (and a wireless connection is available).

Pocket, formerly "Read It Later," is one of those essential apps that appears regularly on "best of" lists. Pocket allows you to save a website, or just the URL, or a tweet, or blog post, or -- pretty much anything -- with the ability to read it later, WiFi connected or not. I also have the Pocket Windows add-on installed on the Chrome browser on my desktop and laptop: I can save an online short story to Pocket on my desktop and read it later on the Nexus 7.

Evernote is like One Note in Windows 7, but far less complicated, and thus easier to use; and, unlike One Note, Evernote can be installed and synced across all devices. Any text and graphic can be saved to Evernote; it's for notetaking, lists, essays, drafts, whatever.

Clipper - Clipboard Manager stores my 20 most recent clips, or copies, so that nothing is lost from the clipboard. The clips can then be stored in lists with an unlimited number of clips; clippings can be searched; and, under Android Jelly Bean, the clipboard manager is accessible from the notification bar.

With the N7 I can make outgoing telephone calls and send SMS text message; however, since it is not a mobile phone, the N7 cannot receive calls. I use Talkatone free calls & texting. Talkatone also requires a free Google Voice account for incoming calls: if a voice call is sent to my N7, the call gets routed automatically to another number of my choice that is able to accept incoming calls (this number must be provided when the Google Voice acct is set up); if a text msg is sent to my N7, it is automatically routed to my Gmail account.

Battery Widget? Reborn! Pro and Easy Battery Saver: I use these two apps to manage my battery usage. The N7 battery, at least in my few months of experience, requires frequent battery charges, so I rely on Easy Battery Saver to monitor and control the battery usage, and the widget to keep me informed of same. The widget maintains a graph in the notification bar, showing usage and hours remaining or charging time.

A Day in the Life with Android (Part 1)

[Updated: December 29, 2012; see below under "Apps/Swype keyboard."]

If you read my September 21 blog post, then you know that a few months ago I purchased a Google Nexus 7 tablet (built by ASUS).

I haven't been very active on this blog since that purchase, and when I'm not working on book projects¹ to pay the bills, I'm probably attached in some fashion (my wife would probably say "umbilically") to the Nexus 7.

My goal is to be able to perform all work-related activities on the N7. A lot of that ability is dependent on the quality and performance of the apps that I use. I'll install an app that will work perfectly, and then after the next update (and some apps are updated often, even daily at times), possibly the app won't even open on the N7. It's the nature of Android: developers attempting to make their apps compatible with dozens (hundreds?) of devices, running various levels of the Android operating system (OS), and from a multitude of manufacturers.

My N7 has the latest (and not always greatest) "Jelly Bean" (JB) OS, version 4.2.1. That point-1 update occurred just last month, and since then the device's Bluetooth functionality has been erratic. This is a known issue. Unfortunately for me, Bluetooth capability is critical to my end goal.

Hardware

1. When I need to do some serious input, I use the Logitech 920-003390 Tablet Keyboard for Android 3.0 Plus and the Targus Bluetooth Comfort Laser Mouse AMB09US. The keyboard is full-size with an excellent "feel," and the case flips open to serve as a stand for the tablet.

But when the N7's Bluetooth keeps dropping the keyboard (re: see above known issue), well, not a lot of serious work gets done. The tab's onscreen "Swype" keyboard (more on this in a bit) is fairly fast, but still error prone, and I also have a tendency to fat-finger the screen -- so a keyboard is a necessity.

2. To avoid the onscreen fat-finger effect, I often use the amPen New Hybrid Stylus. I would be lost without this stylus at times (especially playing the CrossMe Color game!) and it is compatible with all capacitive touch screens. The stylus has a plastic anchor that fits in the audio headphone jack on the N7 so you never have to worry about setting the stylus down and then forgetting where you set it.

3. And lastly (for now): When I end up in an AC outlet-deprived environment and the N7's battery is running low, I have the IOGEAR GMP10K GearPower Ultra Capacity Mobile Power Station -- great for powering a phone and tab simultaneously.

A "True Review" of Alien Contact

Whispers in the night... quiet words spoken amidst the rampaging hordes of vampires, werewolves, zombies... and superheroes.

Only a few of us, now, speak -- albeit resolutely -- of our Alien Contact experience. Of the stories therein, and their impact on our collective psyches, our thoughts, our visions of what is, what could be....

Recently, another spark of light has emerged from the darkness to wield its mighty words in approbation of this tome of some of the best stories from the past 30 or so years: 'zine True Review, edited by Andrew Andrews, reviews Alien Contact in its current issue (No. 82, Vol.25, Oct. 2012).

The review is brief, considering that the anthology contains 26 stories, but recognition in any size or shape is always welcome. The review highlights 10 of the stories; here's what Andrew had to say about Neil Gaiman's "How to Talk to Girls at Parties":

Two London blokes find out about a party coming to town like no other, with beautiful women who seem, well, kind of odd. But the guys want one thing only: to get to know the girls with perhaps some extended "benefits." Everything goes as planned until the dudes realize THESE women aren't of this world.

And Ursula K. Le Guin's "The First Contact with the Gorgonids":

Jerry and Annie Laurie Debree, tourists from a plastics conference in Australia, make it to Grong Crossing, one of the most unlikely places for humans to make first contact with aliens. But for these arrogant and ignorant tourists, fame will come, whether they like it or not.

For more of the review, please check out True Review.

Writing 101: Self-Editing Notes and Resources

This weekend (November 2-4) I will be participating in the first Convolution convention, to be held at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport Hotel in Burlingame, California. So if you just happen to be in the neighborhood, please do stop by and join the festivities.

I am moderating a panel on "Self-Editing" at 6:00 PM on Saturday (tomorrow) in the Sandpebble-A room. While reviewing notes, online resources, etc. in preparation for this panel discussion --

I decided to write down these notes and links and such here, on More Red Ink, as a way of gathering my thoughts, and providing a virtual resource to the panel attendees. This way I can simply point the audience to this blog post and not have to worry about spelling out web links, names, and such during the actual panel discussion.

So, let me begin by saying that what follows are strictly notes, quotes, links, bullet points, etc. No fancy paragraphs and flow; these are literally reference notes for the panel discussion. However, if you are a writer, then by definition you are a self-editor, and you may find some of what follows of interest in your pursuit of perfection and publication.

* * * * * * * * * *

Recommendation:

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King (William Morrow Paperbacks).

Update: 11/05/2012.
As I was gathering my notes for the panel, I realized I neglected to include one of the best writing books ever:
On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (Scribner).

I know writers who reread this book once every six months or so, just to be inspired once again.


References:

Alan Cooper's List of Homonyms: words that have the same sound and often the same spelling but differ in meaning; a wonderful list of homonyms, but the list is old (1997) -- though words don't really change, do they.


Eclectics.com: "Self-Editing" by Lori Handeland.

Self editing is a very important aspect of re-writing. It is the last thing a writer does before sending the manuscript off to their agent or an editor. I look at self-editing as a final housecleaning chore. Not a lot of fun in itself, but don't you feel good when you're done?

I always do a final edit with a hard copy. There are so many things you won't see by reading your manuscript off a computer screen--beside the problem of going blind from reading an entire book that way. The printed word needs to be read, as it was meant to be read, on paper, so you can see the mistakes--and hear any with your inner ear. There is a flow that comes with a well written, well rewritten, well edited manuscript that you can hear when you read it. You must also be able to see your work as an editor or agent will see it. Too much introspection or narrative all in a row with no breaks for dialogue or adequate paragraphing makes a reader skip ahead for some excitement. Sometimes you don't notice this until you read your hard copy in the self-editing stage.

1. Are you telling instead of showing?
2. Are you establishing your character gradually and unobtrusively?
3. Is your point of view consistent?
4. Are your dialogue mechanics sophisticated? (reflect adequate knowledge of proper writing technique)
5 Have you checked for breaks?
6. Have you checked for unintentional repetition?
7. Have you checked for sophistication throughout the novel?
8. Have you checked your general mechanics?

Each bullet point has excellent content with examples.

Dorchester Publishing May Be Looking for You!

Earlier this year, Dorchester Publishing closed its doors and sold approximately 1,000 titles to Amazon.com.

Dorchester is now trying to transfer rights back to authors, but they have a huge list of authors for whom they have no contact information. You may be on this list -- or you may know someone who is and could put them in touch with Dorchester. Here's what the publisher has to say:

Thank you for your support over the last 75 years.

At this time, we are completing the reversion process, transferring all titles back to their respective authors. Though we have made great strides, our research has uncovered a number of authors for whom we have no contact information. In addition, there are a number of titles without corresponding authors. To complete this reversion process, we will need your help.

So check out Dorchester Publishing's full list of authors and titles. You just may be on that list.

Note: A lot of the authors are deceased, so agents and estates need to review this list as well.

(Thanks to @StaciaKane and @galleycat.)

How to Survive an Atomic Bomb...

A January 1951 advertisement from the Mutual of Omaha insurance company, courtesy of "v. valenti" on flickr, and boingboing.net:

The flickr link above provides a much larger image.

You gotta love this text in the header: "GAMMA RAYS VIRTUALLY HARMLESS OVER 7000 FT."

I assume this type of propaganda was initiated by the government to give the population a false sense of hope that an atomic attack was, in fact, survivable simply by following this "duck and cover" procedure. Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha....

Charles Stross and Five Loads of Laundry

I'll begin with a couple references to previous blog posts: the first post details my work on Charles Stross's The Apocalypse Codex, book four in his Laundry Files series, for Ace Books. The second post excerpts, and links to, a couple reviews of this novel.

In the intervening two months since that second blog post, The Apocalypse Codex has again been reviewed a number of times, and I would like to share with you a brief excerpt from just five of those reviews, in order of their publication. So, if you haven't picked up a copy of TAC as yet, if you're still undecided whether the Laundry Files novels are for you, then please read on; hopefully these reviews will help you decide that this series of books, and The Apocalypse Codex in particular, are a must read (and a must have).

I'll begin with the review by NancyO on oddly weird fiction (subtitled: "the fantasy, sci-fi and other weird books from my reading year"). What's so very cool about this particular review -- especially if you are new to the Laundry Files series -- is that NancyO reviews all four books in the series. So instead of focusing on TAC, I would like to quote from the introduction to her review:

There's something to be said about a guy who can combine HP Lovecraft, various writers of spy fiction, computer geekness and a little of the management nitwitedness of Office Space and come up with a series of consistently good novels that incorporate all of the above.... Along the way he throws pointed barbs at iPhones, cults, Power Point presentations, evangelical Christians, handguns and other sources of irritation -- all of which come off as funny, but only because you realize that some of the things he pokes sarcastic fun at resonate with your own fears, peeves, and annoyances. This guy is Charles Stross, who is the author of four books that comprise The Laundry Files, one of my favorite series of novels ever written. If you'll pardon the expletive, I don't know he manages to keep coming up with this amazing shit -- each book is different, sending the main character Bob Howard, computational demonologist, into perilous adventures as he and the Laundry, the super-secret civil service organization Bob works for, prepare to save humanity from the onslaught of CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN -- an apocalypse arriving from the multiverse. The people at the Laundry have developed some very modern and secret technologies that combine the most high-tech electronics with the occult to keep Bob and others like him safe to defend the world -- all based on magic as a form of mathematics. These novels remind me of old-time adventure stories with a hopped-up occult/geek/horror twist that for some reason unknown to myself I just can't seem to get enough of.

I couldn't have asked for a better recap of the Laundry Files series. And as I said, NancyO goes on to review all four books in the series.

This next review of TAC is on mentatjack (subtitled: "sff book reviews and subversive ontology"). MentatJack writes:

Stross likes to play with point of view.... At the start of The Apocalypse Codex, Bob Howard (protagonist) is established formally as an unreliable narrator:

If it happened to me, I'll describe it in the first person... If it happened to someone else I'll describe it in the third person… And if there's something you really need to understand... I'll [use second person.]

Bob tells us that in the prologue and then we're dropped immediately into a 3rd person section.... The super spy, Persephone, gives us a glimpse of what Bob is being trained to be.

Bob's accelerated training is a big part of the British defense against the future and it'll be interesting to see how Stross handles the inevitable "hell on earth" he’s forecasting. He does a great job with his central characters and the bits of insanity they encounter, but there's a distinct fog of war hovering over the rest of the world these stories are set in.

The Apocalypse Codex isn't your typical spy novel, or Lovecratian novel, or geek/hacker novel, or any combination thereof, simply because of the style in which it is written, which is dependent on the point of view of the content at any point in the story: first person, second person, and third person.

CrossMe Color app for Android

I have been remiss in posting on More Red Ink over the past few weeks. And therefore I must confess: I have become an addict. Yes, you read correctly! I have become addicted to an Android app, a game, called CrossMe Color on my Nexus 7 tab.

The game is available from Google Play and the Amazon App Store, and probably wherever else one might purchase Android apps. The cost for such an addiction is a mere $4.95; but let it be known that my addiction came to me free of charge: CrossMe Color was Amazon's free app of the day a couple weeks back.

I'm only on level two (Ashigaru), but there are eight levels (level eight being Shogun, or Expert, level) for a total of 150 puzzles.

The object of the game is to fill in the appropriate number of squares with the appropriate color, matching color and number of squares both horizontally and vertically. Here's the opening screen of the puzzle I just completed in level 2; this one is 25 by 25 squares, but many of the puzzles are rectangular.

It actually looks more difficult than it really is, at least at this level; though a couple of the puzzles, so far, have been fairly trying. This one only has three colors, but I completed one just the other day that had five colors. Here's the completed puzzle:

Note: Should you care to share in my addiction struggle, be sure to purchase the "Premium" $4.95 version of CrossMe Color. Otherwise, you will be sorely disappointed to discover the lack of color...regardless of the word "Color" in the title.

By the way, I tend to keep the sound off on my N7 when playing this game, but you might want to leave the sound on for the traditional Japanese music that accompanies the game play. And lastly, the developers promise future updates -- with more puzzles.

If you seriously want to check out this game, you can "test drive" it on the Amazon App Store.

Here's one more screen: a completed puzzle from the Expert level. I didn't complete this myself, rather I snagged the graphic from Amazon:

And when I'm not playing this game, or doing real work to pay the bills to allow me to play this game, I've been reading a dozen or so Android-related blogs and forums and ezines, trying to learn this new OS.

Harper Voyager to Accept Unagented Manuscripts for Two Weeks in October

This is not something I typically post in and of itself; rather it would be more appropriate for my month-end Links & Things roundup. However, if I wait until the end of September (considering that I haven't tackled the lengthy August Links & Things as yet!), there would be insufficient time for readers to act. So... this information is courtesy of mediabistro.com's @galleycat email newsletter:

Publisher Harper Voyager, "the global science fiction and fantasy imprint of HarperCollins," will accept unagented -- and complete -- manuscripts for two weeks in October: from October 1 until October 14.

Note that manuscripts are being accepted during this two-week period for "digital publication." Here's more:

The manuscripts will then be read and those most suited to the global Harper Voyager list will be selected jointly by editors in the USA, UK and Australia. Accepted submissions will benefit from the full publishing process: accepted manuscripts will be edited; and the finished titles will receive online marketing and sales support in World English markets. Voyager will be seeking an array of adult and young adult speculative fiction for digital publication, but particularly novels written in the epic fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, horror, dystopia and supernatural genres.

The link above provides submission guidelines: please read these carefully and completely. Harper Voyager has even provided an online "submissions portal," which is not yet active, and probably won't be until October 1.

So finish up those manuscripts, and be sure to at least spell check your work! You have a wee bit more than 4 weeks until that cutoff date.

One final note: I have absolutely no connection whatsoever with Harper Voyager -- but should they be in need of an experienced editor, line editor, copy editor....

September 11, 2012

Politics may divide us, but there are always those who will hate us specifically because we can and do argue so openly with one another. Freedom – especially of speech – has always been anathema to dictators, tyrants and ideologues. Let's not forget that on this of all days.

—Dani Kollin

---------------
Dani Kollin, along with his brother Eytan, is the author of The Unincorporated Man, a Tor Books SciFi Essential book, which went on to win the 2010 Prometheus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel of the year. Their second and third novels, The Unincorporated War and The Unincorporated Woman, were also nominated for the same award. The Unincorporated Future, fourth in the series, was published in July 2012.

"...think of Neil Armstrong, and give him a wink."

One Giant Leap for Mankind....

Neil Alden Armstrong

(August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012)

Does Google Dream of Electric Sheep?

"Nexus 6 Replicants" graphic by Superior Graphix

I got the urge recently to reread Philip K. Dick's Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep? as it's been about 20 years since I last read this wonderful novel. It's so much different than the movie Blade Runner, which is based on DADOES?

The novel doesn't have the visual impact of the movie, nor does it have the manic emotions and level of violence of the movie. The novel is a completely different [reading] experience -- and if you are a fan of the movie and have not read the novel, I encourage you to do so.

But the novel notwithstanding, I am a huge fan of Blade Runner and, in fact, I own three versions of the movie: the original version with the voice-over (on video), the Director's Cut and the Final Cut (both on DVD). One of my favorite scenes: following the fight between the replicant Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) and Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), on the rooftop, after Batty saves Deckard, when Batty could have easily just let Deckard fall to his death below. Batty, with symbolic white bird in hand, says to Deckard (and to everyone):

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."

PKD was offered $400,000 to write a novelization of the movie, but he refused, stating that the novel would remain as is and there would be no novelization. Now, to put that $400,000 in perspective: Since the film was released in June 1982, let's assume that the novelization offer was made in 1981. According to DollarTimes's inflation calculator, the inflation rate since 1981 is 3.15%; so $400,000 in 1981 is equivalent to $1,045,988.41 (let's not forget the 41 cents!) in 2012.

So, my question to you: Would you be willing able to turn down a million-plus dollars to maintain the integrity of your novel, your writing? Sorry, but I don't think so, not in this day and age of me, me, me....

In the end, in 1982, Del Rey Books released a mass market paperback movie tie-in version of the novel, featuring the Blade Runner title and promo poster on the cover, with the subtitle -- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- in parenthesis. And on the copyright page the following blocked text was added:

July Links & Things

The past five or so weeks have been very busy for me -- but having work to do is always a good thing: it helps to pay the bills. I completed a developmental edit on a manuscript for an unpublished author; I completed a line and copy edit on reprint anthology The Apes of Wrath for Tachyon Publications (edited by Rick Klaw); and lastly, I completed a comprehensive line and copy edit (and some content editing as well) on Kameron Hurley's Rapture, the final volume in her Bel Dame Apocrypha series, for Night Shade Books. Oh, and for my own personal reading (which occurs so seldom anymore), I read the omnibus edition of Wool by Hugh Howey -- one of the finest works of post-apocalyptic SF that I have read in years. I don't recall any typos at all, though there was the occasional dropped word, missing hyphenation, etc., but that's it. Imagine that -- and a self-published book, too!

I also attended Readercon in mid-July; there are aspects of Readercon that I truly enjoy, but too much of it is simply cliquish and pedantic -- and thus not my personal preference; but I attend roughly every other year for the sole purpose of seeing friends whom I would not ever see otherwise. But, it turned out that this year's Readercon wasn't so typical after all, as a lot of controversy ensued afterward. Just search for "Readercon controversy" in any search engine and you'll find enough links. Or, you could check out John Scalzi's blog post: he links to a list of "Readercon controversy" posts, and provides his own personal view on convention harassment. Bottom line: the Readercon board of directors reversed their initial decision regarding a Readercon attendee, and they have all resigned from their positions as directors. You can read the official public Readercon statement.

Now to resume my regularly (albeit late) scheduled programming: This is my monthly wrap-up of July's Links & Things. You can receive these links in real time by following me on Twitter: @martyhalpern; or Friending me on Facebook (FB). Note, however, that not all of my tweeted/FB links make it into these month-end posts. As with prior months, June was a busy month, so there is a lot of content here. Previous monthly recaps are accessible via the "Links and Things" tag in the right column.

• If you are a Facebook user -- and a writer -- you may want to add the following group to your FB profile: OPEN CALL: SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & PULP MARKETS. The majority of posts are made by Cynthia Ward, publisher of Market Maven, but anyone can post an open call for genre submissions. There have been a half-dozen posts already today, which is fairly typical.

• I recently critiqued a couple stories for a "new" writer, after which he contacted me about ways he might improve his grammar. I recommended that he read works by a few specific authors, one of which was Lucius Shepard. Shortly thereafter I read a blog post by Michael Swanwick (another author whose work I would highly recommend) in which he quoted a lengthy paragraph written by Lucius Shepard; in this paragraph, a tyrant's son restores a dragon skull. The paragraph is approximately 160 words, and includes very few adjectives and only two adverbs. As Michael says about the paragraph: "Beautiful stuff, eh?"

• On Salon.com: In an article entitled "Thank you for killing my novel," author Patrick Somerville explains how the New York Times "panned my book, then had to correct the review to fix all their errors"; he then shares the email communication one of the book's characters (yes, that's right, a character from the book) had with an NYT editor. (via Curt Jarrell's Facebook page)

• I do a lot of copy editing in my line of work, and if you've ever wandered just what a copy editor does -- a good copy editor -- then read this next link and be amazed: courtesy of Angry Robot Books (@angryrobotbooks). (also via Curt Jarrell's Facebook page)

Firefly-class Serenity

"They" say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case, this one photo is simply not enough to do justice to this amazing wonderwork: a minifig-scale model of the Serenity spacecraft created with Legos. That's right, boys and girls: Legos!

This model was recently featured on io9:

The designer is 37-year-old Adrian Drake. According to Adrian, the model took 475 hours to build over a span of 21 months; it measures 7 feet 2 inches in length, weighs 135 pounds, and contains approximately 70,000 lego pieces. Adrian states that he spent $800.00 specifically for the model in addition to the "many many many thousands of dollars I've spent on Lego over the years."

Adrian debuted the Serenity on August 4 at Brickfair in Chantilly, Virginia. And to get a sense of the size of this model, you need to see this picture, taken at the Brickfair:

But even this photo doesn't do this masterpiece justice -- because... the interior features the bridge (in fact, Wash has his toy dinosaur to hand), crew accommodations, the dining room, and cargo bay, plus Inara's shuttle. And, the cargo bay and Firefly drive light up.

Seeing is believing: Adrian has posted a 31-photo Flickr set entitled "Serenity Construction," and the coup de grâce: a 75-photo Flickr set featuring a look at the finished model, inside and out, from every angle imaginable.

Please do check out these 106 photos, which showcase Adrian Drake's Serenity.

Now, who's for getting out their Lego sets?

More Alien Contact Anthology PR

Michael Swanwick, author of the story "A Midwinter's Tale," doing his best PR routine for Alien Contact at Readercon, Burlington (Boston), Massachusetts, Friday, June 13, 2012. [Note the stack of ACs on the table next to Michael!]

And speaking of PR:

If you are interested in reviewing the Alien Contact anthology, please contact me: you can post a comment below or, if you would prefer a private email, just click on "View my complete profile" for a link to my email addy. I can provide a print copy, a PDF file, a Kindle ebook, or Nook/Sony/Kobo ebook. In your comment or email, please include a link to your book review site or, if you review for another resource, a link to one of your reviews. And if you have any questions, you now know how to contact me.

"One" by George Alec Effinger (Part 3 of 3)

One

by George Alec Effinger

[Continued from Part 2]

"I have strange thoughts, Jessica," he admitted to her, one day during their ninth year of exploration. "They just come into my head now and then. At first I didn't pay any attention at all. Then, after a while, I noticed that I was paying attention, even though when I stopped to analyze them I could see the ideas were still foolish."

"What kind of thoughts?" she asked. They prepared the landing craft to take them down to a large, ruddy world.

Gillette checked both pressure suits and stowed them aboard the lander. "Sometimes I get the feeling that there aren't any other people anywhere, that they were all the invention of my imagination. As if we never came from Earth, that home and everything I recall are just delusions and false memories. As if we've always been on this ship, forever and ever, and we're absolutely alone in the whole universe." As he spoke, he gripped the heavy door of the lander's airlock until his knuckles turned white. He felt his heart speeding up, he felt his mouth going dry, and he knew that he was about to have another anxiety attack.

"It's all right, Leslie," said Jessica soothingly. "Think back to the time we had together at home. That couldn't be a lie."

Gillette's eyes opened wider. For a moment he had difficulty breathing. "Yes," he whispered, "it could be a lie. You could be a hallucination, too." He began to weep, seeing exactly where his ailing mind was leading him.

Jessica held him while the attack worsened and then passed away. In a few moments he had regained his usual sensible outlook. "This mission is much tougher than I thought it would be," he whispered.

Jessica kissed his cheek. "We have to expect some kind of problems after all these years," she said. "We never planned on it taking this long."

The system they were in consisted of another class-M star and twelve planets. "A lot of work, Jessica," he said, brightening a little at the prospect. "It ought to keep us busy for a couple of weeks. That's better than falling through null space."

"Yes, dear," she said. "Have you started thinking of names yet?" That was becoming the most tedious part of the mission—coming up with enough new names for all the stars and their satellites. After eight thousand systems, they had exhausted all the mythological and historical and geographical names they could remember. They now took turns, naming planets after baseball players and authors and film stars.

They were going down to examine a desert world they had named Rick, after the character in Casablanca. Even though it was unlikely that it would be suitable for life, they still needed to examine it firsthand, just on the off chance, just in case, just for ducks, as Gillette's mother used to say.

That made him pause, a quiet smile on his lips. He hadn't thought of that expression in years. That was a critical point in Gillette's voyage; never again, while Jessica was with him, did he come so close to losing his mental faculties. He clung to her and to his memories as a shield against the cold and destructive forces of the vast emptiness of space.

Once more the years slipped by. The past blurred into an indecipherable haze, and the future did not exist. Living in the present was at once the Gillettes' salvation and curse. They spent their time among routines and changeless duties that were no more tedious than what they had known on Earth, but no more exciting either.

As their shared venture neared its twentieth year, the great disaster befell Gillette: on an unnamed world hundreds of light-years from Earth, on a rocky hill overlooking a barren sandstone valley, Jessica Gillette died. She bent over to collect a sample of soil; a worn seam in her pressure suit parted; there was a sibilant warning of gases passing through the lining, into the suit. She fell to the stony ground, dead. Her husband watched her die, unable to give her any help, so quickly did the poison kill her. He sat beside her as the planet's day turned to night, and through the long, cold hours until dawn.

He buried her on that world, which he named Jessica, and left her there forever. He set out a transmission gate in orbit around the world, finished his survey of the rest of the system, and went on to the next star. He was consumed with grief, and for many days he did not leave his bed.

"One" by George Alec Effinger (Part 2 of 3)

One

by George Alec Effinger

[Continued from Part 1]

He remembered how excited they had been about the mission, some thirty years before. He and Jessica had put in their application, and they had been chosen for reasons Gillette had not fully understood. "My father thinks that anyone who wants to go chasing across the galaxy for the rest of his life must be a little crazy," said Jessica.

Gillette smiled. "A little unbalanced, maybe, but not crazy."

They were lying in the grass behind their house, looking up into the night sky, wondering which of the bright diamond stars they would soon visit. The project seemed like a wonderful vacation from their grief, an opportunity to examine their lives and their relationship without the million remembrances that tied them to the past. "I told my father that it was a marvelous opportunity for us," she said. "I told him that from a scientific point of view, it was the most exciting possibility we could ever hope for."

"Did he believe you?"

"Look, Leslie, a shooting star. Make a wish. No, I don't think he believed me. He said the project's board of governors agreed with him and the only reason we've been selected is that we're crazy or unbalanced or whatever in just the right ways."

Gillette tickled his wife's ear with a long blade of grass. "Because we might spend the rest of our lives staring down at stars and worlds."

"I told him five years at the most, Leslie. Five years. I told him that as soon as we found anything we could definitely identify as living matter, we'd turn around and come home. And if we have any kind of luck, we might see it in one of our first stops. We may be gone only a few months or a year."

"I hope so," said Gillette. They looked into the sky, feeling it press down on them with a kind of awesome gravity, as if the infinite distances had been converted to mass and weight. Gillette closed his eyes. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too, Leslie," murmured Jessica. "Are you afraid?"

"Yes."

"Good," she said. "I might have been afraid to go with you if you weren't worried, too. But there's nothing to be afraid of. We'll have each other, and it'll be exciting. It will be more fun than spending the next couple of years here, doing the same thing, giving lectures to grad students and drinking sherry with the Nobel crowd."

Gillette laughed. "I just hope that when we get back, someone remembers who we are. I can just see us spending two years going out and coming back, and nobody even knows what the project was all about."

Their good-bye to her father was more difficult. Mr. Reid was still not sure why they wanted to leave Earth. "A lot of young people suffer a loss, the way you have," he said. "But they go on somehow. They don't just throw their lives away."

"We're not throwing anything away," said Jessica. "Dad, I guess you'd have to be a biologist to understand. There's more excitement in the chance of discovering life somewhere out there than in anything we might do if we stayed here. And we won't be gone long. It's field work, the most challenging kind. Both of us have always preferred that to careers at the chalkboards in some university."

Reid shrugged and kissed his daughter. "If you're sure," was all he had to say. He shook hands with Gillette.

Jessica looked up at the massive spacecraft. "I guess we are," she said. There was nothing more to do or say. They left Earth not many hours later, and they watched the planet dwindle in the ports and on the screens.

The experience of living on the craft was strange at first, but they quickly settled into routines. They learned that while the idea of interstellar flight was exciting, the reality was duller than either could have imagined. The two kittens had no trouble adjusting, and the Gillettes were glad for their company. When the craft was half a million miles from Earth, the computer slipped it into null space, and they were truly isolated for the first time.

It was terrifying. There was no way to communicate with Earth while in null space. The craft became a self-contained little world, and in dangerous moments when Gillette allowed his imagination too much freedom, the silent emptiness around him seemed like a new kind of insanity or death. Jessica's presence calmed him, but he was still grateful when the ship came back into normal space, at the first of their unexplored stellar systems.

Their first subject was a small, dim, class-M star, the most common type in the galaxy, with only two planetary bodies and a lot of asteroidal debris circling around it. "What are we going to name the star, dear?" asked Jessica. They both looked at it through the port, feeling a kind of parental affection.

Gillette shrugged. "I thought it would be easier if we stuck to the mythological system they've been using at home."

"That's a good idea, I guess. We've got one star with two little planets wobbling around it."

"Didn't Apollo have... No, I'm wrong. I thought—"

Jessica turned away from the port. "It reminds me of Odin and his two ravens."

"He had two ravens?"

"Sure," said Jessica, "Thought and Memory. Hugin and Munin."

"Fine. We'll name the star Odin, and the planets whatever you just said. I'm sure glad I have you. You're a lot better at this than I am."

Jessica laughed. She looked forward to exploring the planets. It would be the first break they had in the monotony of the journey. Neither Leslie nor Jessica anticipated finding life on the two desolate worlds, but they were glad to give them a thorough examination. They wandered awe-struck over the bleak, lonely landscapes of Hugin and Munin, completing their tests, and at last returned to their orbiting craft. They sent their findings back to Earth, set out the first of the transmission gates, and, not yet feeling very disappointed, left the Odin system. They both felt that they were in contact with their home, regardless of the fact that their message would take a long time to reach Earth, and they were moving away too quickly ever to receive any. But they both knew that if they wanted, they could still turn around and head back to Earth.

Their need to know drove them on. The loneliness had not yet become unbearable. The awful fear had not yet begun.

"One" by George Alec Effinger (Part 1 of 3)

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, if there was one previously published story that I would have included in my original anthology Is Anybody Out There? (co-edited with Nick Gevers, Daw Books, 2010), that story would have been "One" by George Alec Effinger.

In a posting to Usenet group "rec.arts.sf.written" on December 13, 1998, George wrote: "...the most difficult short story sale I've ever had was a piece called 'One,' which I wrote almost twenty years ago.... It was rejected by editors who thought... it would be an unpopular idea among their readers. It was bounced at 'Isaac Asimov's' by three different editors over the years."

The "unpopular idea" to which George referred is that we are, in fact, alone in the universe. Readers want to read about aliens, and alien contact—not that the galaxy is completely void of other intelligent life, or any life, for that matter. What kind of story would that make, anyhow?

So GAE's "One" remained unpublished for nearly 20 years until it was finally purchased in 1995 by noted SF author Greg Bear for his New Legends anthology, published by Legend Press UK. And there the story remained until 2001, when Orson Scott Card selected it for his reprint anthology, Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century.¹ And, lastly, I included "One" in George Alec Effinger Live! from Planet Earth, a collection (the second of three) of his work, which I acquired and edited for Golden Gryphon Press in 2005.² The story was introduced in the book by Barbara Hambly, George's ex-wife and executrix of the Effinger Estate.

Here is Ms. Hambly's introduction to "One" from George Alec Effinger Live! from Planet Earth:

Like a meditation returned to over and over—or a recurring dream—George revisited the image of a lone man trying his best to perform an assigned task that is both impossible and meaningless, and getting no thanks or support for his efforts. Sometimes these stories are ironic, like "King of the Cyber Rifles," sometimes bleakly funny, like "Posterity."

I suspect this was how George viewed himself and his work.

But "One" rises far above that.

I can think of no other science fiction writer who would tell a story so completely antithetical to the whole concept of science fiction. The genre is based, almost as a given, upon the fact that there is life, civilization, intelligence out there: sometimes benevolent, sometimes hostile, sometimes completely incomprehensible...but there. It is a literature of hope.

It is a literature of "What if...?"

But what if we are alone?

What does that do to hope? To sanity?

George had this story in his files for twenty years before Greg Bear bought it for his New Legends anthology, I think for precisely that reason: in the 1970s it was an almost unaskable question. George was absolutely delighted when it finally sold.

Science fiction is a genre of possibilities, of humanity meeting and dealing with unthinkable situations.

This one's about as unthinkable as they get.

—Barbara Hambly

And now, for only the fourth time in nearly 20 years—and with the most gracious and kind permission of Barbara Hambly and the George Alec Effinger Estate, I bring you, in three serialized parts...