Julian Fellowes is a LOUSY date!

Good to hear from you, Don. For a couple of days there I was afraid the weather had taken you “off planet.”

Sorry to hear about the dishwasher and the plumbing. Interestingly enough, our dishwasher shorted out in the “on” position this week and filled the house with the smell of burning plastic, insulation, and wiring. I now know what a house fire would smell like. Happily my husband was able to disable the run away before it flooded the kitchen. We were really lucky that it happened at night before we went to bed. Sorry yours leaked into the basement.

You didn’t give me the answer to your last riddle… yes, Tea is my answer.

Okay, onto the title of today’s blog. This is not a “spoiler”, Fellowes already did that.

We (my husband and I and friends) “were” ardent watchers of Downton Abby. And we’ve patiently waited for season 4 to start. We thrilled that Mary finally came to her senses and that Mary and Tom joined forces and were going to move Downton forward into the 1920s and 1930s. Second episode of the season, The Rape. It was not only the Rape of Anna, a much loved by many character, but it was also the rape of Tom by the new house maid and the rape of the audience by the writer and director.

Kurt Vonnegut laid out the responsibility of the writer: be a good date, take the reader someplace interesting, maybe unexpected, but treat the reader with respect. We have endured much with this show – good villains that you love to hate, the death of two popular characters, the jailing of Bates, Edith left at the alter now involved with a married man, World War I…  The second episode of the 4^th season did not treat the audience with respect.

The brutal attack of Anna smacked of sensationalism, a move toward “shock drama”. Fellowes and the director were able to put into application one of Hitchcock’s finest methods of suspense – show as much as is necessary and then let the audience’s imagination take over and fill in the missing pieces. The imagination will produce something that is far scarier than anything that can be shown on film.

At first I wondered if it was because I’m American and have a culturally built in aversion to anything that doesn’t have a somewhat happy ending (the Disney effect).   It appears, through other blogs and comments by audience members worldwide, that we cared more for the characters than Fellowes does.

Writers in the past have grown to hate the characters that feed them: Nevada Barr and her character Ann Pigeon for example. Pigeon, in the last couple of books, ended up so beaten up, mauled, that we could no longer read the series. Agatha Christy admitted to disliking Hercule Poirot and in the later stories, Poirot was sent off on travels that he absolutely hated. But Christy at least continued to give Poirot the ability to stand up for himself and solve the crime. Fellowes denied Anna that.

Has Fellowes grown so tired of the popular couple (Bates and Anna) that he feels compelled to not only test them to the extreme, but he also has to test the audience’s love for them? Or was Fellowes making an assumption that because we hear about stuff like this on the news and we watch horror films we could take it? Is it just a comment that says that sort of thing happened a lot back then – and still does?

There is an issue with “group think” – where one strong personality in the group can get everyone else in the group to go along with what they have intended. We see it a lot with experienced skiers in the back country crossing avalanche runs or in the board room of companies embarking on a new campaign. There might be someone in the group who disagrees, but the leaders of the group are strong enough that pressure is applied and all group members comply – whether or not the action is right or wrong, good or bad. Is this what happened with the producers of Downton? Didn’t anyone object to this turn into base soap opera for the sake of drama?

So while we as an audience get to question the length and breadth of Bate’s love for Anna, I trust that Fellowes is now questioning whether the audience’s love for Downton will be enough to put up with trash. I pre-ordered the UK dvd version and am now seeking to find a way to cancel it. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

So the new chant I’m opting for [instead of “Free Bates”] should be “Jail the writer and the producers!” Fellowes is a lousy date!

The riddle cave!

Multiple uses

Pictures, stories, taxes

Letters to be remembered

Music to be played

Fits on a keychain

Is small enough for a pocket

Large enough to

Save your life

Plug it in

Sigh with relief

It is all still there

Just a reminder! Wormhole Electric Transport 27 is available! Check out Ariel’s newest, and I think her best, story about the airlands; Jack and Lisa are putting the final screws to their characters!

Have a great week, everyone. And Don, good luck with the plumbing!

Images imported from Google Images

Fig 1 – Crazy Dishwasher retrieved from meanderingsooziii.blogspot.com

Fig 2 – Kathryn Rathe: Kurt Vonnegut retrieved from www.theispot.com

Fig 3 – Hitchcock quotes retrieved from www.famousquotes.com/alfred-hitchcock.html

Fig 4 – Nevada Barr retrieved from www.goodreads.com

Fig 5 – Downton Abby Season 4 episode 2 retrieved from blog.zap2it.com

T27 cover by Larry Varvel 

Hot Times, wet ordeals and Cold Comfort

Hi Carolyn,




When my LSBH and I found ourselves, incarcerated at home early last week courtesy of Ma Nature, I spent some inquisitive time online. One item that caught my eye was on The Weather Network ( the Canuck equivalent of The Weather Channel ) from their “ Digital Reporter “ Daniel Martins.  He  observed that while we carp and harp about the take no prisoners winter we’re getting, we should consider that its “WAY” worse on various moons and planets right here in our home system.





He looked at seven locations in all. The one I found most surprising was Mercury. I always had this image of Mercury as a planet that was only a half step short of being burned to a crisp. Such is not the case, it seems. Even though its three times closer to the sun than we are , on the nightside temperatures get down to -180 C ( -292 F ) . Add to this the fact that Mercury is a slowly rotating planet and one day here translates into 58 days there and you have a most frigid situation.



Even Mars can produce overnight lows that have broken the sensors of some of the many probes that have been sent there from earth. It typically registers nighttime lows of -110C ( - 166F ). The red planet also has frosts that can last for 100 straight days. In the summer months it can hit about 35C ( 95F )   Now, that's more like it!

There were a number of other fascinating, but frigid, factoids about planets and moons that inhabit our local heavenly neighbourhood.  They include ice volcanoes and 100 metre snowdrifts - Brrr.  The whole article can be found on the Weather Network website.




A small side bar here whilst we are in a Martian mood. A local gentleman was disappointed recently to discover that while he had been accepted for initial consideration by the folks at the Mars One Project, alas, he did not make the short list. Wow, I simply cannot get my head around the idea of seriously wanting to do that. Somehow the thought of blasting off from earth NEVER TO RETURN just completely escapes me.





 
 
 
 







And just to close the book for a bit on the weather chronicles  it seems
"polar vortex"  is the new term du jour in weather media land. Sometimes I do think that the idea folks in the back rooms at the various weather networks regularly brainstorm ( now theres a weather image in itself, eh ) just to come up with these  terms that pack a jolt. In October of 2010 it was a " weather bomb"  that caught us all off guard and that was the buzzword for awhile.









As you asked about the flooring stuff  I shall elucidate a bit.  I'm a sucker for oak anything. As a Canadian you'd think I'd make maple my wood of choice, but oak has, for me at least, much more visual character. The flooring we're using is pre-finished and extremely sturdy. We did part of our living/dining area with it 18 years ago and then finished off the bedroom, hallway and dining area with the same stuff about 8 years ago. It wears like steel plate and the little grooves and such that appear over the years can only be described as character marks just like the wrinkles in all of our faces.









Well, the wet stuff has been making its presence felt inside here most recently. Like any major reno undertaking theres always gonna be some domino effects. This time it was plumbing stuff. A hot water pipe in the kitchen that wouldn't turn off even though the valve was as closed as we could get it, necessitated turning off the water until repairs could be made. Shortly thereafter the underfloor fitting for the dishwasher got us in hot water again as it sprung a leak in the basement which didn't become apparent until it soaked through the finished ceiling and created an icky drywall mess. So we've spent a couple of days sans hot water and I have a small taste of what the folks who got cut off from basic utilities in the blizzard went thru.

Your observations on singing and how it promotes mutual awareness and group integrity of a variety of sorts was most interesting. When I was in high school I was in the orchestra. That too made one very attentive to what those around are singing or playing - the ultimate in co-operative activity. 

 I can certainly appreciate that it is diametrically opposite to the kind of conditioning that you referred to in your theorizing on young people who get into technology incessantly and fuel their everyday activities with high sugar and similar processed foodstuffs. It's some sort of witches brew, to be sure.




Once more to  the riddle cave we go. I am guessing that your last offering was tea.


I was very tempted to come with a riddle for water this time around, as it's been in mind constantly but I shant. Instead I offer this fella:

deceptive effects  of this substance

 hopefully create receptive response

 in one sense especially

 

 

 

See y'all later and stay dry.  




Don



All Images sourced from Google Images

Fig. 1 - 40belowproject.ca
Fig. 2 - eso.org
Fig. 3 - sciencefiction.com
Fig. 4 - canajunfinances.com
Fig. 5 - adamcowherdconstruction.com
Fig. 6 - commons.wikimedia.org

 

Polar vortex, singing, Video gaming and Diet

‘Mornin’, Don.

WOW! The power of the word to deliver the weather! Your pictures were very telling!

Actually, the snow is your fault – there is something called a “polar vortex” (a very cold cyclone) located at the north pole around Baffin Island and Siberia. These low pressure areas are really strong in the winter. When the low pressure system breaks down, all that cold air spills south.  According to NOAH, this happens when the stratosphere suddenly warms up.

I was thrilled to hear that you were able to ride out the blizzard warmly. Several friends in Minnesota weren’t so lucky and one of our Wormhole writers in New York got a bit cold because the electricity went out. Everyone reports being warm again. Colorado was on the western edge – it just got cold, dropped only 4 inches of snow. The wind has been the problem here – bitingly cold and gusts up to 50 miles an hour.

We occasionally experience blizzards here – about every 4 or 5 years. The kind that break trees. The last one kept us house bound for about 4 days. The blizzard itself was gone within 40 hours, it was the 3 feet of snow on the roads that kept us home. Lately we’ve been in a bad drought so we could always use more snow.

One to other exciting topics! Like singing! I noticed that you mentioned that the human voice was the ultimate instrument. I know we’ve discussed that listening to music is one of the whole brain activities that keeps our minds nimble and flexible. Now there is evidence that  participating in music keeps us young.

I’ve read several articles about older people and choirs. It appears that singing in groups increases longevity and life quality. It also, believe it or not, decreases the risk of falls. Because the choir members are all breathing at the same time and rate, their heart rates synchronize and produces a sense of calm. Pretty amazing if you ask me!

I’m impressed with the oak flooring. Are you going to stain it? Leave it a natural light color? The smell of the sealant will take several weeks to get out of the house. Hopefully your weather will be nice enough that your son can let the cool clean air in. What are your new cabinets made out of? Will they also expend into the laundry room?

I’ve been working on the Wired Generation. Learned some interesting things: they don’t use the frontal lobe for thinking; they use the temporal lobe instead. This means these good folks don’t have as many ways to work out an issue or a problem. This ties directly to the reptilian brain and keeps the body in the fight or flight mode.

So I’ve been collecting information, bits and pieces here and there and I have a theory I’d like to float out. We’ve had a number of shooting lately, people not able to work through their anger or frustration without killing others. So I’m going to propose a  little different idea here.

Concept one: We now have evidence that violent video games can lead to violent behavior – but the final tie in between video games and violence will probably never really be made. We do know that people who participate in violent video games are 70% less likely to help their neighbor out.

Concept two: We now have evidence that sugar-sweetened drinks affects a teenager’s behavior. For younger children, this shows up as aggression, ADHD, destructive tendencies, fighting and attacking others.

Concept three: Children and teenagers who use a lot of technology have been found to not think with the frontal lobe which allows for critical thinking, empathy, and prediction. Instead they think with the temporal lobe which creates a sense of fight or flight.

Theory: Is it possible that a combination of diet, technology and participation in violent video games has created young people who are unable to stop themselves from doing harm to others?

Just a thought.

On to the cave!

I have begun the process of collecting the riddles. I have to admit that there are several that don’t have answers. And, I think we can divide them into easy, moderate and brain numbers. I’m excited about this! I also have the cover in mind already!

Okay – Pots and pans! I missed it! I should have thought of that given your talking about cleaning out your cabinets. Ah well.

I think my last one was a repeat from one I did last year. I haven’t found the original yet. Mine was “photograph”.

My new one:

Green or black

Crop or weed

Medicinal or energy creating

Wrapped in a flow through package

Imbue saturate or soak

Add sugar, milk or cream

Feet up, sip

Have a great week folks!

Carolyn 

All images retrieved from Google Images
Polar Vortex – 2013 retrieved from www.digitalafro.com

Healing Harmonies Retrieved from www.ucsf.edu

Soft Drinks by Lauren Malley Retrieved from www.fotopedia.com

Human Anatomy Retrieved from www.aokainc.com

More Violence in Kids with deployed parents Retrieved from militaryfamilies.com 

Her Word Is An Anvil

Hi Carolyn,




Well let me just say that if there is ever a situation where someone comes  to me and says “ What do you know about this Carolyn Varvel person?” or let’s say the folks at Alfred A. Knopf, or Penguin Books or Random House were doing background checks for potential new editors or entry level publishing managers and they came to me for a character reference. The situation could unfold as follows:

　

They ask me how it is to work with or deal with Ms Varvel. I respond  that her word is an anvil. I continue by noting that when she says something will be delivered then you can depend upon it being delivered, and in a thoroughly effective fashion. They would then probably ask for some anecdotal example to corroborate this semi-hyperbolic statement.. I would counter by noting that on January 5th, in Conversations at Wormhole Electric she said that snow would be delivered to myself and the rest of us here in Southern and Central Ontario. She didn’t use any puffery or ostensible terms - she simply stated that " we're sending you more of the cold white stuff”




I would then proceed to point out that she delivered  on her undertaking, and delivered in gold-plated spades, no , in titanium plated spades.

We are in the process of digging out from a blizzard that can only be described, as the guys in the old school barber shop I visited recently would say,  as an absolute “ corker “ We had the experience of being, for all intents and purposes, pinned in our domiciles for 48 hours straight simply because it was a maelstrom outside. There was no point in clearing any walkways or driveways because they’d be filled back in and more within the hour. Our home looks like some gargantuan pastry chef picked it up and plunked it into a bowl of white fluffy icing , mixed it around thoroughly and put it back. The outside windows, facing all four points of the compass, are snow encased.





There were no power outages, which is good because we were really cooped up in here for two full days. It must have been something to be on the prairies as a pioneer and pinned down for weeks on end by a fierce winter. We’re stir-crazy here after only three days!


Okay, I’ve had my little weather-induced therapeutic behavior episode here. On to other stuff.







Boy, I was sad to hear that Phil Everly passed away earlier this week. The air and web waves have been full of accolades, and rightly so. I won’t attempt to add to them because the sheer volume speaks for itself. I did, upon hearing the news go back and listen to all of my Everly Brothers stuff and then to the later icons who claimed them as a seminal influence. I especially listened to early Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Beach Boys stuff and other groups whose harmonies were part of what put them on the top shelf. When I listened to them I could pick out the individual voices but when I listen to Phil and Don it was like one man possessed of two sets of vocal chords  - wow!

It’s still the ultimate instrument - the human voice. I am so tempted to go on here but it would simply end up being a slobbery blubbery wake-like couple of paragraphs.


About your vacation......

Hawaii no less. That is a no small potatoes ( or should that be pineapples?) vacation, especially in the winter months. I’m glad it met the anticipatory expectations it must have had if it was something you’d been saving up for and contemplating for a number of years. Your descriptions and pics of the islands were great. If I were there I think I’d be hanging around the volcanoes as much as I possibly could. They must be like the Rockies in that they really put we humans in our place as just one small and fairly insignificant  piece in the big puzzle. And I agree that natures ability to heal after such a violent wound is another reason to regard her with unlimited awe.









You didn’t happen to see a hunky, woolly-chested, tall P.I. in a red Ferrari scooting about, did you ?






Glad you got a wee kick out of the twelve minutes of Christmas thing. I actually did have a bit of a dream on Christmas eve and it did have good ole’ Sanny Clause in it and some time travelling stuff. That could have been in part because traditionally we watch the  Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol just before we hit the hay each Christmas eve. Been’ doin ’that one since we were kids ourselves.


BTW, if you had only 12 minutes worth of time travel how would you spend it?



Speaking of spending time I should correct a slight misconception. We are only going to be in Mexico for about five weeks and a bit. We tried to make it more but this kitchen thing got in the way. We will be here when the tear out part happens and when the installation of the new kitchen happens. During our away time our son, who spent a number of years in the renovation business will be putting in the oak flooring that will be underneath all of this kitchen stuff and out into our mudroom and laundry room as well.




We are able to make this extended stay happen because we have some friends who, when their nest emptied, cashed in the property they had here and bought a cottage  on Lake Huron and then went to Merida and bought an old home right in the centre of Merida and had it restored and also stuck a small guest house on the other end of the property.  That's where we are staying. It all sounds extravagant, I suppose,  but with the difference in materials and building costs its actually far less expensive than one might think.





We actually just transfer our everyday lifestyle from cold here to hot there for a number of weeks. In February, to be hanging the wash out in a breeze that one would normally face in a hot July is most mentally beneficial, let me  tell ya. Groundhog Day becomes Gecko Day.




Okay, to the 2014 Riddle Cave we go. My last offering was " pots and pans " - I think I'm on a utensil kick because we're sorting through the junkyard of them we've accumulated in our old kitchen. The Salvation Army Thrift Store is the next stop for wackloads of " stuff " from here lately, including utensils galore.

I can't quite get a definitive handle on your riddle, Carolyn and times up so I am gonna guess that its - fossils, like those found in solidified lava.

Here's the second one for this year:

A better alternative to

teeth, table edges or pliers

Gives you the leverage to

Open up a world of possibilities

 

 

 

See you next time Carolyn and I hope your research is zinging along like a zipper on steroids too.

 

Don

 

 

 



 

All Images sourced from Google Images

Fig. 1 - rcmp.grc.gc.ca
Fig. 2 - allposters.com
Fig. 3 - guardianlv.com
Fig. 4 - daysofthecrazy-wild.com
Fig. 5 - tomselleck.tv- website.com
Fig. 6 - travelyucatan.com
Fig. 7 - thefamilywithoutborders.com
Fig. 8 - magnum-mania.com

A Return Home

Good morning Don!

Happy New Year! Sorry about the weather, and just to make sure you really appreciate Mexico, we’re sending you more of the cold white stuff.

We just got back from celebrating our 43^rd anniversary in Hawaii for 8 days. We saved for it and it finally came true! We went from a dry 40 degrees to 85 degrees, rain and 105% humidity on the big island of Hawaii. We had a great time!

Volcanoes are awesome! Nature’s ability to re-assert itself after a traumatic experience  is incredible! The beaches on the Big Island are mostly lava flows so I was a bit disappointed in the lack of big unpopulated beaches. They don’t exist on the Big Island. Many of the small sand beaches have been gobbled up by the big expensive resorts; the state parks are nice but crowded.  While we were there, there were warnings of high dangerous surf. We didn’t see a lot of surfers – it is hard to surf in lava flow water.

We did a zipline! What an experience! We dropped 1000 feet over a course of 9 ziplines that were strung over gorges, waterfalls and lush tropical rain forests. I now understand why that mode of travel is called “zipline”. Not only do you zip down the line, but the sound you make as you travel down the line is like a zipper on steroids!

One thing we were amazed at was how clean the island was – no trash or garbage blowing around. Many of the local stores have gone to a “no bag” policy or they use paper bags. The paper obviously decomposes quickly in the humid hot environment. The only road kill we experienced was palm fronds and fallen fruit. It is clear that the local population takes a lot of pride in their island home.

We did run into graffiti on the west side near Kona - black lava flow fields littered with words and pictures made out of white coral. Other than that, the island was clean!

We visited cultural sites and shopped a lot. But the one thing that was truly fascinating was the coffee plantation we visited. I learned a lot about coffee and am considering doing as my research example for my research class this quarter. I haven’t figured out the thesis statement yet. I do know that Kona coffee is one of the more expensive coffees - $55.00 a pound. And I learned that once dried, coffee beans will “hold” for up to 2 years; that it is the roasting process done by the various coffee companies that give coffee it’s flavor.

Don, you are going to Mexico for 2 months! How do you manage it? We were gone for 8 days and came home exhausted! I know that a whirlwind trip is different than an extended stay. I imagine it takes a whole different mindset. We also got a bit homesick. After 8 days, even though snow was imminent, it was time to go home.

You are truly a trusting person as a lot of your kitchen will be redone while you are gone. I love Habitat for Humanity! The sociology class requires volunteering and several students have volunteered for Habitat in their warehouse. Their reports on the experience are always fun to read and humbling.

We redid our kitchen (a repaint) a couple of years ago. Boy do I understand your thoughts about hoarding! We got that cleaned out, it felt like it took days, and looked at the rest of the house… I have a closet that is “stuffed”. It has all my hobby remnants in it. I don’t dare leave the door open as I can hear all the material from my quilting days and my sewing machine seductively calling my name.

I was fascinated by your “12 Minutes of Christmas”. I could have guessed that you’d do the Drury Lane theatre in London and the Cavern Club in Liverpool. The Tesla Lab was not something I’d guess you’d do. And I so agree about the 2 minutes for the first contact with extra terrestrial life! That would be an experience worth waiting for!

I can’t think of anything for a riddle! I don’t believe it! But my guess for yours is “hot pads”.

Okay, wait, it’s coming…

An experience

Frozen in time

In the blink of an eye

Fuzzy or clear set for posterity

 

Have a great start to the week, everyone!

Carolyn

Cavernous Cupboards, Compendiums and The Riddle Cave Reopens

 

 

Hi Carolyn, and Happy New Year,

 

 

 

Well I certainly echo you sentiments about how cool it is that it's been a years worth of blogs and then some and things still seem to be rolling along without becoming tedious or repetitive. We have visited a wide variety of topics but the one that has turned up the most I think has been the weather. That's a good starting point for this time since right now it's cold enough to freeze the ( fill in the blank ) off of a ( fill in the blank ) here. Last night I found myself up at about 3 am and checked the weather station I have out of curiosity. It was minus 21 with a wind chill that made it over minus 30 - that's about 22 below zero in American degrees!  This side of the continent appears to be gettin' smacked real good at the moment. 
 

 

" In a month and a bit you'll be in Mexico" I keep telling myself.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, BTW, for giving me the benefit of the doubt in your Dec. 22 entry by assuming that I have " great ability with hockey skates ". I did spend more than a few minutes on them as a kid but I never really got the hang of it enough to be that  skate like the wind hockey player that every Canadian boy supposedly aspired to be. I was actually one of those kids who would rather read than play sports and whenever I did find myself on a hockey team I was invariably the fella who "rode the pines" as they say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And to continue in that retrospective vein, Carolyn, your year in review blog certainly points up two things in abundance.  You have helmed the good ship Wormhole Electric through some very interesting and adventurous seas thus far, Captain Varvel,  and scanning the 2014 horizon makes it obvious that, as the songs says, " You ain't seen nothin' yet ".  Sail on, sail on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The whole holiday scene came off pretty well around these parts this year. The people mean more than the gifts, of course, but my daughter gave me a great one that I can't wait to tie into. It's a monstrous (1100 pages plus ) compendium of " strange and dark stories " entitled  "  The Weird "  It covers over a century and the author list reads like a who's who of literature. I haven't cracked it yet and I'm reminded that about the time we launched this blog I had also obtained some new reading material by Harry Harrison which I STILL haven't gotten to. I even, I notice, made it one of my resolutions for New Years a year ago to double up on the reading.  Hasn't happened yet - Arrgghh!

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the moment, we are emptying and tearing down our kitchen in preparation for the renovations it will undergo while we are here in January, during our absence, and when we return in March.  It's amazing how much can be squirrelled away in those cavernous kitchen cupboards in a quarter of a century.We've found stuff we simply forgot we had and other stuff that may have to be carbon-dated. My better half and I both get the feeling at times that we may be borderline hoarders. One pleasant discovery we recently made is that the folks from Habitat for Humanity will come and remove our old cupboards and appliances free of charge and give us a tax receipt for whatever they get when they resell them. That is most cool.




Well that just about empties the hold for this all over the map entry. Except for one thing.  The riddle cave is hereby reopened with the following:

Essential instruments in the gastronomic symphony

Infinite in size and variety

Wouldn't be in the kitchen if they couldn't take the heat.

 

 

 

Later.

 

Don

 

P.S. I'm all for herding together past riddles into a little compendium (luv that word!)



All images sourced from Google Images.

Fig. 1 - idiom-a-day.blogspot.com
Fig. 2 - hockeybroads.com
Fig. 3 - funylool.com
Fig. 4 - bookshelfreaderreviews.blogspot.com
Fig. 5 - truewords.com

 

 

 





Wormhole Electric 2013 in Review

So we begin another amazing year, Don. Did you know that we’ve published 6 books, 2 books for an individual author, written over 125 posts, entertained over 4000 page views for people from around the world! Thank you! Thank all of you for participating in this conversation, even if just to read it. I enjoy reading Don’s words and often find myself wishing I was as passionate about different subjects as he is.

I was a bit hesitant at first to start this blog, kind of wondering if we’d run out of things to talk about like an old couple at the dinner table. But we haven’t yet! Our conversations have run the gambit from music to heroes, to books, to movies, to movies from books,  travel, and Don has listened nicely to my explorations into the Wired Generation.

I thought I’d take a few lines to talk about the writers for Wormhole Electric. It is because of their talent and willingness to share their work that Don and I got to together. That in itself is a story! The writers come from different backgrounds as well as different parts of the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Several are mothers with young children – they write at nap time or when the kids finally get to sleep at night or between clients or on the coffee break at work. One is a stay at home dad who has an audio book company, another is a dad who solves technical computer problems from home. We have an IT expert, a lighting designer, an accounts payable specialist, an artist / song writer, a real estate specialist, a couple of teachers…

You can tell from the topics there are several who enjoy the supernatural and the macabre, others who write fantasy like it was their daily life experience. Science fiction rolls off the keyboards of some while they twist everyday life with the spice of science and fantasy.  

A couple of months ago, we asked the authors some questions about how they get their story ideas, do ideas keep them up or wake them up at night,  or whether or not their characters talk to them when they’re not writing about them? Or how do they deal with the times great ideas come to them and they can’t write the idea down! Almost all responded that their characters are fairly disciplined and able to wait to comment until the writer gets up in the morning, but then, LOOK OUT! Several mentioned that they keep a small tape recorder handy and one admits to using his wife because his ideas often come when they’re driving on the interstate! One writer has been able to write his travel adventures into his stories. All admit to hearing their characters “discussing the current situation they are in”, but no one admits to being pestered by characters who just want a better role in the story. Well, I did back when I was doing the fiction portion of my writing.

So how did we all get together? I talked about this way back in one of the beginning blogs with Don, but I’ll say it again. It started with a “If you could do anything, what would you do” type of question on a coffee break. Someone heard, offered to help me put the website together, I mentioned it to friends who had friends who loved to write… it really is one of those “follow your dream” things. I didn’t give up my day job – but a lot of that has to do with how much I love teaching. We’re not rich – yet. I think our time will come. We have too much talent writing, editing, designing for Wormhole to end up as anything less than spectacular!

I was asked once why we call the monthly ezine “Science Fiction Fantasy Transports”. When we were originally putting this concept together, several of us were speculating about the transporter used on Star Trek. It transported people to “other places”, which is what fiction reading should do for the reader – transport them to another world, another dimension, another concept… ezine Transports were born.

So what’s next? Science Fiction Fantasy Transport 27!

Ariel Cinii has provided us with three books so far, and is now allowing us to showcase her final book, The Telepaths’ Song which we will be running throughout the first six months of 2014. I think this book is perhaps her greatest! It is well written, has a tight story line that pulls the reader to end of the story, characters that are well fleshed out and believable! Even though it is science fiction/steam punk, it still has to be believable! Jack Levravich and Lisa Manifold are providing the set-up episodes so that in February, they can wrap their stories up. They’ll take a much needed rest – I’ll give them a couple of months, then I imagine they will both be back with more great stories.

We’re pleased to have SM Baughns back with us in April along with O’Ryan Jackson. These two are our macabre specialists. Their stories are tight, grizzly, well developed, and have just enough of a twist in them that you really don’t see the ending coming.

Colby Elliott and Jeph Keir are back in February. Colby is our stay-at-home specialist and Jeph Keir has blessed us with the Iron Sky Empire stories. For both of these writers, all their work is good, and each new story is better than the last.

In March, Tamara will publish another story with us. She is one of those fascinating authors who can take every day happenings and weave in science fiction in such a way that by the end of the story, you’re more than willing to believe the story she has created. You believe it hook, line and sinker.

Me? I’m working on non-fiction at this point in time. I enjoy the research process and sharing what I find out. Through the blog, I’ll keep you all informed as to those “did you know?” moments that I stumble on concerning the Wired Generation. In May, I’m thinking that Don and I have put together enough riddles that we could publish the best ones in a Riddle Me book type of thing. I have to have Don’s permission to do this – please note that I’ve been asking Don for over a year now to come on board as a writer because I know he writes, but he’s side stepped me so far. Maybe this is the way to get him involved!

 

Well, I think I’ve used up my weekly blog real estate, as Don would put. Time to wish all of you a great New Year! Follow your dream! It is worth it! Give up your day job? That’s up to you. The point is, enjoy what you’re doing! That is what gives life worth.

Happy New Year everyone!

Carolyn