Sci-fi and Patrick Moore (by sarah)

I have an ambition to write science fiction and this is something I really struggle with unfortunatly. I find I can easily write romance of all things which just upsets me as I hate romance but its what spills out of the pen.

Then there is horror - these are the stories that are of the level to be published, these are the stories I wish I couldn't write - I write them becuase I have nightmares of a type that cripple me with fear. I have vivid nightmares of the type that seem emensly real and the only way I have of dealing with them of not being parralised by the fear is to put the light on and write them down. I write the 'bones' and then 'feeling' of the dream and by the time I have done this there is a fledgling story which needs to be written if I am to sleep again. I don't like these stories and have tended to site upon them (ie not send them off to publlishers) even though they are the ones my writing teachers say are ready to go and are very publishable.

But I don't want to write Romance and Horror, I want to write scifi and fantasy but I have issues with both. Fantasy I completely fail to write every time I try it turns into scifi and grounds to a holt. I am planing at some point to write a seperate post on this as I think its an interesting phenominon. Scifi - scifi - this is where my true literary heart lays so why can't I write it?

Do I lack ideas?

No!

I have if anything too many ideas the brim over sometimes and now have carefully planned out story lines and books of facts and this is part of the problem - I can't write 'star trek' it has to be correct, it has to all be able to work and therefore I find myself outlining and even having written half a novel and then go - how is the science behind this going to work and so I find myself needing time travel of a specific sort that may not actually7 be time travel and then I find I'm getting books out on maths and infinities and posting questions on face book etc... it needs to all work. If I put in an ancient heating system thats all pipes and things - it may only need to spring a leak and thats its sole purpose in the book but to write it correctly I find I'm picking Als brains and looking covertly at his engerneering books (you know the old ones he collects that tell you how to build sugar refinaries and stuff).

If people are to be on space shipes they need to be viable and the planets need to be correct too and this one cuases me alot of problems - I am I think too close to this science I can see how quickly it is moving this makes me fearful of using anything in our actual solar system. Possible other planets not a problem but our solar system, actaul named galaxies they are a problem for me. At the same time they draw me - I find myself reading Astronomy Now, Sky at Night magizine, New Scientist and any old National Geographics I can find. I do this for several reasons - astronomy I am interested in and need to understand to tell the Scouts about for their astronomy badge. I also feel that being currently stuck at home but wanting to go back to college and wanting to be an astrobiologist means that I need to at least know whats going on with space missions and this is the easiest and cheapest way I have found.

But mainly I read these mags to get facts for stories in progress and also to find new concepts and ideas for stories. Now often in my writing classes I am told I worry far too much about fact but it really really bugs me when it is obvious an author hasn't even tried to find dtuff that they could have easily found out. Hence I write the story about an old man and the second world war - I go and research it. I have a teenage boy making a lighting system with LEDs I find out about it, I even have a little LED soldering kit I want to make up just to get the feel right (though Al did get that for me for another reason ie I want to make LED lighting not sure which came first the story or the reality).

There is also the issue that people seem to think that Scifi is litratures poor uneducated cousin and I get this attitude a lot at the writing groups, thats what you write to make money and its easy becuase you can just make it all up - WRONG! Worlds have to seem real, you need the reader to suspende disbelief but if you jump all over the place and make anything possible within the confines of one story you might as well just say - that god made it all ok (said like any films you've watched lately? I am legand by any chance?) This is a cop out this infuriates readers, like having a fortuatuos earthquake that just so happens to burry the bad guy but leave all the good guys with a hoared of buried treasure (I have noticed that American childrens films are very very guilty of this sort of plot line.)

Not a good story, at least not for me. Though I would say that the story should not be swamped in facts they should be there as an under current not mentioned but affecting the scifi realm in the way physics does our own world, the way societial laws govern the social groups within it. It is pattern building it, it is sytems evolving for me all over again. Writing this stuff is like running a computer simulation for me though with far more variables than anything we currently have could deal with.

I love the old style scifi as well and love trying to work out what would happen if certain systems had been adopted instead of others, this was what I was trying to do whan I was informed that I was dipping in and out of the steam punk genre - I still havent managed to read any books from it. Alaric Also got me Snow Crash as I was apparently trying to write cyberpunk. The other thing I tend to be trying to write is a sort of social scifi i.e. I extrapolate one or two things from our own or other cultures - I take those things to varing degrees of extreme and see where logic takes me with veery human characters (though not necassarily human and sometimes mucking about with what characteristics are genetically there or not is fun too). But again all this takes thought and so these stories can not just appear on the page from nothing like the Romance or horror.

I have been worrying about trying to fit it all in with what is actually known and working with current theories when I opened Febuary's Sky at Night magizine - this is the third issue of the mag I have bought and I had just finished reading the first few articles and thinking well its not relaly helped advanced what I know but wow I've just had yet another idea for a story where is my pad and pen - oh yeah I'm in the bath :/ So I moved on to the next article which happened to be Patrick Moore talking about Scifi. This article has made me feel alot better about the fact I track down all those pesky little facts, in it he mentions all of the poeple I grew up with - the main authors dad used to read to me at night (and yes I did have nightmares when he read War of the Worlds to me at the age of 7). Of course I already knew that Jules Verne had based his stories on the science fact of the day as my dad had been telling me this from a very early age.

But it was probably the bit towards the end of the article that has got me thinking perhapse I am doing things the right way - he points out that with current scientific advancement great avenues of potential are opening up for writers. I hope to be a proper scifi writer one day. Alaric tends to write scifi too though his time is very very limited but what he has produced with his miticuouls planning and nested data structure of facts is mind blowingly brilliant (I am saying this objectively not as his wife) the imagery is fantastic and the concepts geniuos of course his reading speed is about twenty times faster than mine :/

This has made me slightly nervous though as he is mottoring through what is supposed to be a joint venture in scifi and I have writen nothing of this story yet and I am feelingabit duaghnted as to how I can match this vibrant energised style.

Apologies for such a waffly post and erm.. I probably should have put in more about Patrick Moore - oh well. If you are trying to write scifi its probably a good article to read to be honest.

Dyslexics and Business (by sarah)

Barbara (Als Aunt) showed me an article that she thought might interest me from the Financial Times it was basically about people pushing their children to succeed and giving two year olds after nursery classes and stuff. It generally made me feel really sorry for the kids - then it went onto how one thing thats seen as a major handicap at school appears to give the suffers a head start in the 'adult world' ie dyslexics appear to make good business people (I would have written ontrapaner but I funnily enough cant spell it and I'm pretty sure it begins with e - oh well).

According to the article about 30 % of people with successful businesses would describ themselves as dyslexic (not sure what the result would be if they tested them all but it might be interesting). The thing is people seem so suprised by this when really what else is going to happen to someone who is generally above average intelligence but who is unlickely to get far or even get (due to application forms and tests etc...) a normal job?

The options are start your own business, become a criminal or both. I'm not being mean here about the criminal stuff studies showed in the early nineties (I think do your own research) that alot of those in prison for organised crime where showing dyslexic, ADHD or dyspastic tendencies - at the time I was really worried about this as I wondered if it ment I'd end up a criminal - organising crimes takes brains as does running a business.

The other thing with trouble shooting and finding new ways of doing things is that lots of dyslexics have to do this in their every day life - ALL THE TIME. We dictate rather than write things down oursleves, we colour code things in order to remeber what we are doing etc... this skills are exactly what you need to start a business (ok well perhapse not the colour coding but hey it still gets used alot). And hiding the fact you have difficulty with spelling etc... becomes a new and powerful tool when turned to marketing.

What I'd like to see is how large the data set was for these results and what exactly was asked - also does it tally cross culterally or is it limited to say the USA and the UK? The other intreging thing I noted was that the two men they had interviewed both had alot of children - 6 and 9 each - did the writter of the artical do that on perpose and if not do sucessful dyslexics have a tendency to have large familys in a society where successful people have fewer children normally?

The Royal Astronomical Society (by sarah)

Yesturday I went into the Royal Astronomical Society for the fisrt time though I had attended their talks before they had always been in the Geology building instead so of course that is where me an Becca initially went! Where we signed in and where we helped ourselves to coffee and buscuits - it was off course the wronge place which resulted in us having to rescue our bags and coats from the lecture theatre that was holding another set of talks by the RAS! Very embarrassing but as most of the poeple giving the talks had made the same mistake we didnt feel too bad.

Still it ment I got to see one of my favourite rooms again - there is just something about old libaries with their polished wooden book cases and wrought iron spiral stair cases that makes me drool (obviously not onto the books). The change of building however was not a bad thing as I discoved the RAS have fantastic pictures of nebulea and the like that wizz past the clear glass sides of their lift - yes I'm afraid we went and got coffee and buscuits there too - well we couldnt pass up free food and drink could we?

There was also a fantastic glass window which I fell in love with. I have never seen glass in a window done like this it had the glass textured into a swerl that was coloured sutley with pastel pinks and greens with geometic shapes frosted in - I didnt get to have a proper look at it unfortunatly - hopefully there will be a next time 🙂 Scientific and buetiful stained glass windows - it has me thinking again I'm afraid. One of the things I want to do when I have the time and the money is too learn how to do stained glass and maybe even glass blowing though I am a bit scared of that! I would like to put a stained glass window in the bathroom showinng a boat and a light house you see. But I was also thinking that maybe something on the doors at the end of Als office might look nice but I couldn't think what now my mind is a buzz with designs and seeing that window has shown me that glass pictures do not have to bee restricted to stain glass in the traditional bounded with leading type.

The girls toliets where something to behold as well with lots of purple and cascading taps!

I met up with a few of the people from the Natural History Museum and am happy becuase they say I can go back to the meteorites and to just tell them when I want to 🙂 I also bumped into one of my lecturess from Imperial as she was giving a talk on Chixulub.

The talks where on Impact-Driven Changes in the Solar System which of course included lots of sdtrobiology stuff - for those of you who don't know when I grow up I want to be an astrobiologist! There was stuff on mass extinctions, there was stuff on marine impacts, there was of course Charles Cockell who works on the microbial organisms in impact rocks (he's one of the people that helped me design my project for the MRes - the thing that had to go on hold becuase of how ill I was during the pregnancy). There was also stuff on using computer modiles to see what effect Jupiter has on asteriods and comets and weather or not it does act as a sheild to the Earth - I spoke to the PhD student who was working on this project which was great - well in fact he came to the pub with us as he was one of Beccas friends. I did unfortunatly keep asking him what where probably thinck questions ie when you say you changed the mass of jupiter in the modile do you mean you changed its volume as well or do you mean you changed its density? I had alot of these questions.

There was one interesting project that was trying to see what effect impacts had on various comet structures - this involved making balls of ice and then hitting them with projectiles from a gas gun - I like gas guns and have infact designed my series of experiments I would do with one of them - I might even have (with Alarics help|) designed my own version of a gas gun which I think is probably OTT.

There was even a talk on the contraversial Silver Pit impact structure out in the North Sea - I have to say I am not convinced too me it looked like circular fualting from an upwelling diaper (dome of salt or lower density material that pushes its way up a sort of giant flame structure like you get when sand is laid down over mud) that had then escaped. But there where spiral fualts down into the basin and I dont known anything about how they would form so I'm still giving it a chance even though it is lacking gravity anomalies etc....

There was even a talk on why certain comets have been flaring (suddenly appearing bright) and wheather or not this is due to impacts onto them or the sun melting bits of them and volitile gasses escaping from reservoirs just under the surface. I struggeled most with the talks on the comets but emensly enjoyed them and am thinking I want to find out more about comets now 🙂

It was very interesting and I'm slightly releived as I had worried that becuase I hadnt been to anything for almost three years I wasnt going to be able to understand half of it I was pleasantly suprised that the only ones I struggeled with where the comets which I have never really looked at (bar hale bop which I saw through a telescope once).

After the talks (we didnt go to the AGM) we went to the pub and talked about many things including how to make chain mail 🙂 There were three birthdays including mine 🙂

To celbrate we went to a Japanese place for dinner somewhere near Tottenham Court Road - I had a vegitable Bento which was really reallly nice 🙂 Though I avoided the green stuff I once mistook for gualcamole :/

I really enjoyed the day but have left my self with a sad ache over academia - I really really miss my rocks the fact that they where sky rocks or rocks that had been smashed up by sky rocks makes it even worse for me. I feel that due to the funding cuts in this sector I may well have missed my chance to be part of this world but I think I am going to try anyway.

Birthday Party at our London Pad (by sarah)

I decided to have a birthday party in london a week early as my birthday coincides with the start of mums treatment. Here are the photos of the event - also apologies to non face book people who I had initial forgotten to invite as I'm stupid!

Of course there was food.

And the inflatibles had to come out didnt they 🙂

A party full of geeks in an office full of electrical and pooter bits is a dangerous dangerous thing.

Tish turned up looking very much like he has just stepped off of the set of friends - I think he really looks like Ross in this picture - yes i can be mean sometimes.

Still he arrived with 'Uncle' Ben (the guy who cuaght my bouquay at the wedding) who he had randomly bumped into in the supermarket on route 🙂 this was a great suprise for me 🙂

My Brother found the romote control darleck and there was no stopping him I'm afraid but then he is forgiven as he turned up with a rainbow coloured coat with fleece lining. Charlee has the exact same one and her work colleges have pationed to prevent her wearing it to work as its too distracting apparently!

rudolf was still around but a bit legless after the holiday (in that he'd started to deflate!) I got an action shot of him here moving in on Robs food!

Clare turned up with curly hair so I had to take a photo - the party had been going for about ten hours by this point :/

At some point we decided to go next door and watch room 1408 which was fun as it lead us to telling ghost stories until about 3:30 in the morning - the party had started at 11 am - it was fun but as with all things there is a price and in this case it was three sides of washing up without a sishwasher followed by packing up, followed by the trip to Essex to get Jean from the dotting grandperants and then the trip home - with side tour to Heathrow Airport.

Thanks everyone who came 🙂

Christmas Party! (by sarah)

The Saturday before Christmas saw me and Al setting out on a fouly foggy night with tendrils of fog rising up like a living creature to ensnear the unweary traverler - mid winter suddenly seemed a very stupid time to be out and about. We where heading to Somerset to visit some fellow geologists laddened with engagement gifts, birthday gifts and Christmas parafanalia not too mention a little something for the house warming 🙂 The fog seemed to be exhuding a foul greasy dirt that was ssticking to the windscreen - we thought that our wind screen wippers had suddenly perished - but no they where fine - was it the road grit/salt as one astrophysicist suggested (namely olly) or some dark influence from beyound - like oil wells being burnt or volcanic eruptions ect...

Still it was a fun party though for some reason I appear to have only taken about two pictures :/