Graphic Novels and education

cartoonmovement.com

51 posts?! Far out! Pat yourself on the back, Don! Congratulations! When we first started this venture, I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough to write about or that what I said wouldn’t be of interest to anyone. But we have maintained a steady readership world-wide, most recently with consistent clicks from Indonesia and China. I’m not sure I’m ready to claim we have faithful followers, but we do have readers. It must be the subject matter and of course, the riddles. Speaking of which, my riddle answer was: book. I’ve had the clock ticking for 4 days now on your last riddle, Don, and nothing has struck me. I have absolutely no idea! I must be on vacation!

I’ve enjoyed your Kubrick and authors information. The first two times I saw 2001, I would say I agreed with your wife: That was the stupidest movie ever! By the 3^rd time I viewed it, it made more sense and subsequent viewings keep opening up new and different trains of thought for me. Kubrick took movie making to a new and different level with his use of visuals and by tapping into the odd, less predictable endings; he seemed to delight in making people uneasy with his endings. (Dr. Strange Love comes to mind.)  

Your path through Kubrick History led me to graphic novels, which I’ve spent time this week investigating. Many of my students are animators or graphic artists who can’t seem to tell a story unless it is drawn. And I have to say, this worries me. And yet, who took her grandson to the comic book store so he could choose his own graphic novels? Who rejoiced when he sat and read one of them to her? (I shall remain nameless at this time.) I guess I haven’t made my mind up as to the value of the graphic novel.

themedfairedesign.blogspot.com

As a teacher, I’m concerned that we are inhibiting our ability to read and understand the written word; that as a society, we will be reduced to the middle ages when most of the population could only read the pictures on signs. It has been proven many times over in elections throughout the world that the success of democracy is based on the literacy levels of the people; that people who can’t read will vote for whom ever builds the best emotional argument which means the population is manipulate able.



Descargas-bicolores.blogspot.com

One of the things I’ve learned is that the United States has comics; Europe has graphic novels. The difference? Authors and publishers in Europe, especially French publishers, have taken it upon themselves to not only teach the reader something, but also draw attention to something (a plight, a social disservice, a prejudice…) The social service concept delivered as a graphic novel has yet to tip over into popularity in the United States; for the most part, graphic novels/comics are entertainment.

graphictextbook.blogspot.com

Further investigation produced a most interesting turn – graphic textbooks. Jeremy Short, professor of business for University of Oklahoma collaborated with David Ketchen and Will Terrell (illustrator) to create a business textbook about franchising and business strategies. They told interviewer Kyle Arnold that the biggest challenge was putting the “textbook into a narrative fiction format” (Arnold, K., 2012). Has it been successful in the classroom? According to Short, the students think so. But the idea hasn’t caught on in with other academics. However, one of the most successful teaching books for the body and its various systems is a graphic coloring book that the user colors themselves. And I’ve seen the graphic textbook used successfully for teaching in the nursing field. So theoretically, the use of images integrated with text should be a winning no-brainer for instructors. So why do we find it so hard to let go of “only text is truth?” especially when faced with “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Why do I? Old habits die hard? I’ll have to think about this.

None of this takes into consideration quality of picture, quality of text, formatting, which play a big part in whether or not a novel is "quality"! Just trying to wrap my head around comic/graphics as an enabler of learning is kind of warping my thoughts right now. I'll have to get back to you on that later.

As to a riddle this week? I had the week off and didn’t even once consider a riddle! So I’m going to beg off for this week. But I did find desk and table, edited two new books for Wormhole, got the new Transport 20 on Amazon and read some steampunk short stories. Tomorrow I go back to work bright and early, or should I say “dark and early.” Get to meet new students – the adventure continues.

 

Have a good week, everyone!

Carolyn

 

Reference:

Arnold, K. (2012) Graphic novels on business may overtake textbooks. Tulsa World. Retrieved from www.tulsaworld.com

fig.1: cartoonmovement.com

fig 2: themedfairedesign.blogspot.com

fig 3: descargas-bicolores.blogspot.com

fig 4: graphictextbooks.blogspot.com

fig 5: googlegraphics.com

Happy 50th !! plus other jetsam and flotsam

 

 

 

First of all,  humble but most significant congrats are extended here Carolyn, as your last post was the 50th in our conversation blog.

 Your time with the mastadons, mammoths et al. sounds  truly awesome to me  ( and I'm using word in its pre-slacker-catch-phrase context )  Back when Ike was your President I was first astonished by them and similar giant prehistoric creatures. To think that so much mobile real estate could actually be living flesh. I was totally one of those wide-eyed boys who were ga-ga for all things old and monstrous. I still am at times.  The Godzilla remake ( the 1998 one with Ferris Bueller ) still makes my top 20 kick back and just watch list.
 

 

Somehow, I doubt that Matthew Broderick puts it front and centre on his resume though.

 



Now then, where was I , oh yeah,  Kubrick....



Stephen King, William Thackeray, Vladimir Nabokov, Arthur C. Clarke and Anthony Burgess share something. They are all accomplished authors. Starch collar literary types may chafe at having King, and maybe even Clarke labelled as such, though. What they share for our purposes here  is having had literary offerings turned into cinematic offerings by Stanley. Kubrick . Some were overshadowed in the process. Burgess may have felt this effect most of all. Few remember that A Clockwork Orange was originally a novella by Anthony Burgess? Overwhelmingly we think of Kubrick’s riveting and mega-unsettling movie when we hear that title. To his credit, Arthur. C. Clarke ( who rubs shoulders with The Beatles in my personal pantheon ) wrote a novel titled 2001 at the same time that the movie was being created ( facilitated, in part, by his collaborating with Kubrick on the screenplay, as the movie had been inspired by an earlier short story of his “ The Sentinel”.)

Nabokov probably enjoyed a resurgence when Kubrick’s Lolita was released in 1962. It didn’t , and couldn’t, treat the  taboo subject matter the way the novel did simply because of the button down state of cinema censorship at that time.  "What was all the fuss about ??"   is probably the standard reaction from one viewing it in 2013. The 1997 remake was truer to the novel and, with 35 years of ripening public mores and morals working in it’s favor, more provocative as a result.  It would only be only two years later that the director of the original Lolita would pass away, in 1999.




Thackeray probably reaped the same benefit, maybe even to a greater extent. Nabokov’s subject matter came with a built-in shock value quotient. Thackeray’s “ Barry Lyndon” was more soporific than salacious, it seemed. Either way, they were ambitious undertakings. Martin Scorsese, apparently, feels Barry Lyndon was Kubrick at his best. I confess, I tried on the original novel and simply couldn’t get it to fit comfortably, and ditto for the flick. My loss, no doubt.

King’s novel would, no doubt, have done just fine on it’s own but Kubrick and Jack Nicholson will forever be indelibly associated with  The Shining, even for those who first met it in paperback or hardcover.  Apparently King wasn’t happy at all with the direction that Kubrick took his story and, like George C. Scott ( who felt burned from his experience in Dr. Strangelove) vowed to never work with him again) - oh well, their loss perhaps. 

  I'm thinking there might be one more kick at the Kubrick can, but I will move on to other things here and now, or else I’ll drone on for hours. I'm on the perilous precipice of pedantry even now!

And that, of course, means riddles. Pretzels they were indeed, Carolyn. What gave it away, the sodium chloride or the pretzel logic? I'm gonna go back once more right now and look at your latest, but once again I am flummoxed I believe.( insert passage of time music here - but not the cheesy one from Jeopardy!  )

  Nope, I simply do not have a clue not even a wild guess right now. 

 Here's mine for blog entry #51:

 

 

A quick shot of liquid courage

Energy conduit under the hood

Contracts when times are tough 

 

Enjoy  that egg hunt or egg coloring or  whatever rituals may accompany your observance of Eastertime. Does anyone still have an Easter Parade, I wonder?

Don

 

 

Note: All Photos/visuals sourced from Google images

Mammoths, Mastodons and Grandchildren

It’s been an interesting couple of days: we had a major snow storm and high winds that dropped 12 inches of snow in less than 24 hours; the grand kids brought their parents to visit with us, just in time for the storm. We’re talking three busy kids with lots of energy after being cooped up in a car for a four hour drive. They bring beautiful chaos to our house, and when they leave, the silence is almost deafening (I now understand what that metaphor means.)  

So we took our lives in our hands and drove across town to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to see the Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age exhibit. We arrived about 30 minutes before everyone else with small children who needed something to do on a bad snow day. I had the privilege of going through the exhibit with our youngest granddaughter. New to being able to read successfully, we had a great time. About halfway through, she was able to identify: mammoth, mastodon, Asia, Africa, environment, exceptional, fossil and a host of other mighty big words by herself. She made her grandmother proud. Grandchildren were able to outlast grandparents in the order of chaos and noise at the museum.

Once back on our side of town, we treated our grandson to his first comic book store complete with gamers in the back.(You know the type of store – row upon row of boxed - bagged comic books, graphic books, shelves of collectibles figurines in the front and a short curtain in the back to separate the gaming tables and gamers from the rest of the world.) Given the roads, I figured few people would be out and about - apparently gamers have to be die before they’d consider not going to a gaming session. The gamers were well mannered, used appropriate language and exuded passion. For a 10 year old, it was a birthday dream come true. He left the store with his pick of graphic books and comic books in hand.

All in all, I think it was a successful couple of days.

I think I’ve finally gotten my story ironed out. Keeping in mind it is a prequel, and as one editor advised – don’t be nice to your characters – I’ve finished it up. I’m waiting for the last editor to pass along his notes on the rewrite. I think it is a go for the next Transport. While I’m waiting, I get to sink myself into two books that Wormhole will be publishing over the next months through the Transports and then as individual books in the fall. It is such an interesting world I live in – able to work with authors from around the world, have editors in Canada, have reviewers in Europe – and never meet or shake their hands – who’d of thought! I miss the face to face though; I like to see the way people smile, what makes their eyes light up… but I’m not going to complain too loudly.

Winners of the sowrite.us.com writing contest were announced this week. Congratulations folks! Got news that a new and even better contest is in the works for April. I’m looking forward to it! We’re offering the Wormhole Electric Fantasy Collection as one of the prizes. Can’t wait!

My guess for this week's Wednesday Riddle is: Pretzels

Don, I’ve forgotten what some of the subjects for my riddles have been! And, I’m too lazy to go back and read previous posts to find out, so forgive me it this topic has been covered before:

Sleep aid

Partner in Crime

Travel companion

Teller of truth or lies

Keeper of the past

Presenter of the future

Creates a relationship without actually meeting

 

Guess I've about used up my two cent's worth,

Have a great week everyone!

Carolyn

 

Kubrick Chronicles - Part 1

“A long long time ago,” as that  line from American Pie goes, a 22 year-old guy putting himself through university  as a clerk at A&P  ( today he'd be a " product associate " or something )  took a cashier he’d just met at work to a movie.  It would be their official "first date", since a beer after work the previous week couldn't really be called a date, now could it. Plus, on that evening while they were having a brew or two at a local beer joint after the late shift, someone had managed to make off with her purse from under the table while they socialized a few tables over. So, he just wanted that experience to go absolutely away.

 They did find the purse in a hedge outside with wallet empty but intact. Turns out she too was a student and there was nothing to lift from it anyhow.  But this time he wanted things to go swimmingly because he was already convinced that this red-haired young lady was different and special.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 "Where were you in "62" was the tagline for the movie they were hoping to see. The young man had heard a couple of things about this movie and it's director - some guy named George Lucas. It was playing at the Park Theatre, a recently rejuvenated holdover from the days of huge glittering marquees and grand polished stone vestibules that slowly sloped out to the street so patrons could be inside well before they reached the box-office. The line-up was just about out to the street, he noticed fitfully when they rolled up in  his scruffy old red V-dub.  They joined the line and in no time they were one back of the ticket window.  As the couple in front of them reached the counter the lady spoke:

   

 

  " Two tickets for American Giraffe ", she announced.

 The guy and his date stifled a chuckle.

   

  " Do you mean American Graffiti? " the voice behind the glass inquired.

The dialectical divergence was solved and our couple stepped up to the window
    

   " Two for American Graffiti, please." he said, resisting the urge to parody the lady ahead.

    

  " I'm sorry, that showing is now sold out." the voice replied.

 

 

 

The Park Theatre, as well as refurbishing its 19th century grandeur up front, had upgraded the  business end of things, too. What was once a  wide multi-level theatre with balconies for the carriage trade  was now three smaller one level  venues.  No more balconies for ,as Bob Seger sings, " workin' on mysteries without any clues "  but now there were two other flicks simultaneously available. The young man had been so blinded by the allure of his date that he hadn't noticed that as they snaked up  towards the ticket window. The choices were " The Exorcist " which was still bringing them in, and a curious third choice "2001 A Space Odyssey."

 

 

  The young man, realizing what else was available to see, was suddenly quite animated. He assured her that 2001 was  " an absolutely fantastic and  incredible movie " that would really change her life ( hyperbole was invariably his Plan B back then ) 

 "How could this evening possibly go wrong" he thought. The best movie ever made and he'd be the one to introduce her to it.

 

 

 Two hours later,  the flick still has almost half an hour left and he's started to notice that she's gone to to snack bar or the ladies room a lot.   Magically, she was in the seat beside him when the lights came up with an indescribable expression on her face. 

 "She digs it, too," he thought ecstatically.

As they sauntered down the elegant marble and granite vestibule to the front entrance and readied their eyeballs for the outside, he popped the question he'd been dying to ask:

 "So, is that an incredible movie or what ?? "

She answered in a forthright manner that he would later come to know and love. 

 " That was the stupidest movie I've ever seen! "

Cut to 2013. Our protagonist is having dinner with the lady who was once in red - like he does 4 or 5 days every week. In the interim he's probably seen 2001 at least once every few months since 1973.  In anticipation of this blog he asks again that same question and listens attentively for her answer:

" It's still the stupidest movie I've ever seen! "

Gotta luv that lady, chicklets and all ! ( And there is still time to change her mind !! )

I mentioned a few times back that I'd have to get to Mr. Kubrick, and the time has come. It won't be done in one entry, either, how could it?  Hell, I'm not sure if two will be enough!!

 

Okay, to the business and brightness of the day. Carolyn, your editorial observations, from the other side of the writer's  river, really kick home the whole gist of this writing thing - and how it's so much like the teaching gig in one very fundamental respect. One is up there bare-faced and bare-boned on the stage. Amazing that we who do it and have done it regularly still find it so intimidating. I guess if we didn't it would become stale and prosaic, though, wouldn't it ?
 

 

I wouldn't think of withdrawal as defeat but rather along the lines of living to fight another day. It's a wise and sage-like thing n'est-ce-pas??
 

 

Riddles.. Yes Riddles !!
 

 

You were quite on the mark with the funeral thing. I am thinking that your offering this time is an EXIT sign. Many times I have found myself inside a concrete labyrinth and the red EXIT sign was truly the way to where I wanted to be - home!
 

 

My next lurks below:

 

Arrow straight or twisted about

Shiny soft ,salty or sweet

Logic that isn’t logical

Inspired roller-coasters

Some are made to be hung

 

 

 

Don

 

 

P.S. Way back near the start of these blogs, Carolyn, you noted that someone had dug the way you wrote memoir stuff, but that this didn't do it for you. I think that anyone who can take someone else's memories and make them shine even more brightly isn't doing ditch diggers work at all.

 

 

 

 

Dreams, Space and Editing

I just finished judging Sowrite.us.com's latest writing contest! Wow. Talented writers of all genres submitted opening paragraphs - it was a pleasure to read them all!

thirstywagman.com

Yeah Commander Chris Hadfield! He is living the dream that many in my generation wish they could live. It has been a dream of mine to go to the moon or at least the space station. It might be a bit late for me by the time the cost comes down, but it is nice to see that at least some non-astronauts are getting the chance to live my dream. One of the thoughts that keeps floating through my brain is how would I feel if my grandkids decided to settle Mars? It seem a bit far to go for Christmas.

harpreet singh

I'm with you on reliving some dreams, Don, but why just replay them? Why not make them real? The theory is that if you  replay a future dream enough times, the dream might eventually come true. There's a thought -

Onto the editing sage. I sent my story to two editors - one prefers character development to action, the other believes action is king. Both panned the new and the old beginning of the story - uhmmm. Seems I need to redo - back to the drawing board. The rest of the story is going to hinge on the beginning. Can I make it lean and mean? Another problem that was pointed out by both was the lack of visuals. There are lots of smell, feel, sound but very few visual descriptions (I am an auditory learner so visuals aren't as important to me - I like people to create their own visuals.) Both editors pointed out areas through out where descriptions would be helpful. One of the big questions was: if this is a prequel, where is the tension that gets readers to want to read more? Uhmmm - maybe the ending needs to change.

For all the challenges I'm facing getting this story ready for April, I have to admit there have been times I've considered withdrawing it. We have published with just two stories - we could do it again. But there is that something within me that says NO! Withdrawing is the easy way out; withdrawing supports the doubts I have as a writer. Not good. I continue on.

 

The new beginning showed up on Friday and rewrites through out have gone well and all point to a different ending which I have in mind. I can hear the dialogue, see the action... magic fingers and nimble mind please don't fail me now.

Another reason I continue on is because this is a good reminder of what I do as an editor to writers who write for Wormhole. I ask them to bring their best and then tinker with it to make it better. I'm hopeful I give my writers more time to tinker than I've allowed myself. This has been an amazing eye opening adventure. Thank you editors for demanding better of me.

Riddles. Don, my thought for yours is "funeral".

And for you this week, exclusively:

Four simple letters

Blazing red

To show the way home

 

 

Just a reminder:  Fantasy Collection is available through Amazon and Amazon UK . New Transport 20 will be available the 4th of April.

 

Have a great week everyone!

Carolyn

Wows , hmmms and Why Not?? s

 

 

 

 

Okay, I'm shameless and weak, I admit it.  Some more good ole' conspicuous flag-waving to start with.....

Even we quiet, polite self-effacing Canucks have to indulge occasionally. Today The International Space Station changes commanders and a Canadian, Chris Hadfield,  takes the helm.  Once again that line from the Thrift Shop song says it for me!

 

 

 

 
 


In the process of finding out more about this near heavenly event, I found myself at the Virgin Galactic website and had one of those " wow" type moments, and one of those " hmmm" type ones as well!  The wow is for the fact that it's possible to book a flight - and maybe a bit for the 200 large that you'll have to plunk down in order to do so. Presumably, every seat is a window seat !  I wonder if they play " The Blue Danube " whilst in flight?  Supposedly a number of celebs have signed up including Tom Hanks, The Pitts ( You know, Brad and the Missus ) and Stephen Hawking.

Again...wow!








 The hmmmmm.. came  after beholding the spacecraft itself and thinking , "Haven't I seen that one somewhere else ?

On the landing deck of a Death Star perhaps?"

When things like this, that I once thought of as being almost wholly within the realm of the fantastic actually make the move from "what if?" to "when?" it sets me to thinking about other such fanciful stuff. That, plus your mention, Carolyn, of things becoming affected by the subconscious takes me back to one of my fairly regular "why not?" items ( why not? is just the b-side of the "what if" coin, anyhow! )

 Since we can almost always conjure up memories of all but the most mundane and unassuming parts of our lives, why can't we do the same with the dreams that we have -  i.e. why can't we replay our dreams?  After all aren't they just items from our subconscious?  If we have all the components there to experience them once why not over again?  

 

 

I have lots of dreams that I'd love to experience again, including an absolute beauty just a few nights ago! I don't want to go back in time and re-experience  them or do the  looping "Groundhog Day" thing. I just want to be able to replay them the same way I do with conscious memories.


Why Not, eh ?!   When are the lab-coats gonna accelerate the particles on this one?



From dreams to riddles now.  You were right on the money Carolyn, with the last one. Sneeze it was, indeed.

 

 

Your most recent one, I'm gonna guess, is a  printer ( hard to believe that you can, if you keep your bargain eyes open, buy a whole printer for less than an ink cartridge.) 

 

 

Here is another:

Smiles left at the doorway

Sentiments on sombre display

Past tense rules conversations

People wrestling with mutability

Don


P.S.   - Let's just say that the 8-ball playoffs will go down as a character-building experience and certainly one which, if it had been a dream (which I wish it had)  I do not want to replay.......

 

Under Construction

 The rigorous edit has been survived. The opening of the story is weak, hard to understand and the new opening is boring. The rest of the story appears to be pretty good. I’ve been reviewing John Howard Reid’s Seven Solid Roads to Writing Success, a quick little book I picked up off of Amazon. So how do I think I did according to Reid’s suggestions? Reid’s point three is: Your First Words. “Those first words are important. … you have to arouse the interest of the reader right from the start” (2012). He talks about the first sentence being important – I think the whole first series of paragraphs have to be engaging, even the opener of a trilogy. That seems to be one of the points I really stress when I’m editing; so, to have it done to me just reminds me that the reader comes first.

I've also edited the dialogue and the action - tried to strip it down to the essentials. Keeping the dialogue as a way to advance the story and reveal bits and pieces of the characters as the story goes along has taken time, but I think I've got it.  Zack, in his CaptainJackson series, has characters that speak in dialect and as the episodes have unfolded, his characters remember or think or react differently to the events in the plot so it is becoming easier to identify the characters without having to have their name attached to what they say or do; I think part of that is familiarity with the characters has helped.  

Action, movement in the story. Reid suggests that readers want “thrilling, fast-paced, suspenseful, with a nice ironic twist at the end” (2012). One of the better ironic twist writers is Jeph Keir. Just when you think you’ve got the story nailed down, he pulls the rug out. In mine – no ironic twist, but I also accept that I am writing a series that I hope will eventually be consolidated in a book. Too many twists in the beginning and it gets hard to remember what all needs to be ironed out in the end. I’ve got the conflict thing down. So the question becomes, is the story entertaining? Guess I’ll find out in April when it gets published as part of Transport 20.

 

Sorry to hear about your lack of enthusiasm for winter, Don, especially since you live in a place that has a lot of winter. We got snow yesterday - lots of cold wind, but today the sun is out and the sidewalks and streets are melting. For the most part, winters in Colorado are pretty nice! Very do-able!

Don, it was interesting that you have started Science is Culture; an amazing concept. I just completed a two day workshop on the intersection of religion and science. Amazing! There is now scientific proof that what we think does affect the chemical compounds in our bodies and how these compounds are distributed among our genes which then trains the body to become the subconscious mind – triggering chemical releases from the mind based on past experiences. Essentially, we are living today based on reactions to the past. Ground Hog Day revisited daily.

For those of you on the East Coast looking for things to do on St. Patty's Day, head on over to Lunacan at the Hilton West Chester in Rye Brook, NY. and say HI to Ariel Cinii! She'll be part of the music program and if things go well, she'll also be reading from her book, Family Forge! 

As for my riddle: a lamp (table, floor or hanging)

My guess for yours is: Sneeze

 So hear is a new riddle:

 

Big and blocky yet can render in color

Capable of compositing dreams or demands

Discharges its guts

One sheet at a time

Well, back to editing - promised a book edit by this evening - time to get it finished.

Have a great week,
Carolyn

Oh, and Don - this is for you! As I'm learning, the story is always under construction!

In the land of the Freeze and the home of the Brrrr-ave!

 Ah yes, here we are back in the land where men are men and frozen solid like the rest of us. I'm  still shell-shocked enough by the change in climate from where I was to where I am that this entry could easily and instantly devolve into a tedious whine about being back here where socks, boots and overcoats ( does anyone still call them "overcoats" out there ?? )  are de facto as well as de rigueur.

 But I won't totally digress, for once. I will say, before I stop caterwauling (luv that word!)  that there are three words I will never put together in this order again and say with all honesty, and they are " I love winter "

What has deflected me  enough by to forego my egocentric yapping, Carolyn, is your mention of being rigorously edited ( dripping red, I believe she said ! ). I know, when I first got into this editor stuff, that this was one of those necessary standing naked while delivering a speech kind of experiences that I have to face at some point if I did the writing thing. I'm still wrestling with that, although my plans of using time in Meh-hee-co to write went for the same kind of sh*#-kickin' that my reading intentions suffered.






So, as this is essentially a blog loosely but umbilically attached to sci-fi,  I have to acknowledge the Obama jedi mind meld thing. It's really intriguing in a way.  That it got such a heaping helping  of mainstream media coverage certainly says something about how sci-fi has penetrated popular culture.  My response to that aspect of it can best be summed up pop culture-wise by the last  line of the chorus in the " Thrift Shop " song that's all over You Tube and well beyond. 


  



What that whole  nerdesque kafuffle also did was send me back to something I picked up in one of the bargain bins at the supermarket a few months back and just got into a bit ago. Science is Culture is a collection of  " Conversations at the New Intersection of Science + Society "  edited by Adam Bly, the founder of Seed  magazine. I guess it was languishing in the reduced bin because it didn't rush off the shelves like Fifty Shades of Grey ( Which, BTW, I saw in Spanish down there in hot and sultry Mexico, albeit only in one of the trendiest, toniest suburban malls.)

One of the participants in one of the "conversations" in this collection is Lawrence Krauss, a University of Arizona theoretical physicist - (  those guys who really do think seriously about time travel and the Theory of Relativity, etc.,) On the topic of using Star Trek in teaching and writing about the role of science in the political and cultural landscape, he notes that " The Star Trek universe  was a way to seduce readers into thinking about the real universe," and marvelled on " just how deeply it was ingrained in the consciousness of not just Americans, but of Australians now and Canadians."

I'll politely ignore the fact that he gives we Canucks third billing here ( C'mon eh! Captain Kirk may have said he was from Iowa and only working in space, but he's actually a Montreal boy - a Canadian! ) and  simply use this whole Obama meld-down item as another illustration of what Mr/Dr. Krauss was referring to.




Okay, mortarboards off! Class is over for to-day. On to the you-know-whats.


My last item was actually soap, which does come in operas and, for me at least has a habit of getting away in the indoor rain/shower. I confess that I have absolutely and positively no idea what your last one was. It's most confuscating, as Bilbo would say. The swinging left and right thing completely mystifies me - I guess I'm thinking in another plane lately - maybe even an airplane winging its way back to sunny Yucatan. So I'll actually surrender on that one, Carolyn. I just know it will be something completely familiar and obvious.

 But I will offer this one up in response:

Sudden explosion precipitates blessing

Gooey, raspy and often repetitive

Harbinger of germ invasion

Burglar alarm for infinitesimal particles 

Don

 

 

 



P.S. Good luck on your heroes journey Carolyn. I'm going to get to those interview questions quite shortly. We're in the midst of playoffs in my 8-ball league and the next couple of evenings are spoken for but thereafter it's on the short list.

P.P.S.  I had intended to spend at least part of this entry grilling you (pun excruciatingly intended) on your coming out as a pepper lover. I shall have to pursue that menu item at another time, I guess.

 

Hero's Journey and Peppers

Don, glad you made it back okay, and sorry about the snow. I tried hard to keep it here for an extra day or two (I really wanted a snow day) but the wind had other plans. Hopefully you made it home alright and that thoughtful neighbors had plowed out your driveway and walks, turned the heat on for you and put eggs, milk and bread in the fridge.

Your comments about peppers helped me remember one of my favorite culinary students who started growing peppers last year. His favorite was the ghost pepper. According to the heat index, one seed from this little delight can cause burning for up to 30 minutes. Peppers do do wonderful things to tough meat! Sometimes I’m sorry I’m a vegetarian! But after trying a Serrano and a cayenne pepper, I’m not too upset by my diet choice. I know there are many recipes that are pepper based, I just haven't gotten the nerve up to try them out.

This last week I’ve been teaching, and writing, the hero’s journey as set out by J. Campbell. I get to read creative short stories next week! Which I’m looking forward to.  I’m also amazed at how many students don’t know the format. I’m grateful for pop movies that follow standard story telling, otherwise, I’m not sure my students would get it. Getting them to apply it to their own lives and to realize that they themselves are on a hero’s journey is not easy. Too many think Superman and Iron Man are what a hero is.

So I’ve been pounding the keys for the last 10 days and have finally finished my own story. The process was laborious at first simply because I couldn’t find enough time every day to write even though I know it is easier to maintain a story line if I do. Out of frustration, I finally just ignored my schedule and wrote. Thanks to my long suffering husband, I finished it Saturday.  I’ve sent it off to the editor with directions to not spare my feelings. I tried to follow the journey and the pulp thriller concept, but I know there are times it drags a bit.  I think it is a good story, but then again, I wrote it. Now it’s time to get back to editing the stories that have been turned in. Glad you’re home, Don, I can use the help.  

Okay, so here’s a thought for you Don. I’ve been considering doing short interviews with the Wormhole authors and putting it on the blog. I can come up with all the mundane questions about character and plot, but surely there are questions we can ask that would help readers, and editors, better understand the thoughts behind the story that help develop the story. What questions would you ask an author in an interview?

Riddle: snow shovel it is! Hopefully you don’t have to use one too much longer!

My guess for yours is dirt. I had originally thought about washing machine or dish washer but I couldn’t apply operas to it.

Sometimes tall, sometimes squat

 

Maybe thin, maybe not

On the floor, on the table, swinging left and right

Sometimes bright, sometimes dull

Uses are many; all for ascertaining the view

 

ADVERT!

Samples of the new Wormhole Electric Fantasy Collection are now available on the Wormhole website. Larry and Scott did a great job organizing the home page. I’ve been looking at other websites to see what we might do differently. I think these two guys are moving us in the right direction. I like the look and feel of the new page: clean, easy to read, easy to follow.
AND: March Writing contest has been combined with the February contest and there is more money and more opportunity to win! Check it out! sowrite.us.com

 Welcome home, Don!

Further Note:
Editor returned the first 5 pages of my manuscript - the first two pages are dripping red.

"Really?" whined the author, "is there nothing good about it at all?" Author reads first two pages. "How'd that get in there? That's not what I thought I wrote!" Chagrined, author retreats to computer to try again.

I am on my own hero's journey -

 

Have a great week everyone,

Carolyn