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Why Batman and the Joker can't Kill each Other

Dave — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:22:47 GMT

They are fighting an ideological battle for each other's soul. They are both two sides of the same coin: Two individuals who, because of a horrible day in their lives, became insane and decided to take on the world and remake it in their image.

The joker was a shitty comedian with a pregnant wife, a nice guy. On the day his wife died in a random accident he was bullied by mobsters into committing a crime, fell into a vat of chemicals and ended up alone, in pain, and scarred for life. The overall pain was such that he snapped.... realized that the world is cruel, unjust and random and decided he was going to destroy all fabric of the attempted, false, self-delusional order of the world and break everyone down to his level. He believes morals, ethics, are hypocritical nonsense. You can refer to the Dark Knight movie, in which he says "I'm just ahead of the curve." He spends the entire movie putting everyone in front of him in situations where, to survive, they will have to break their moral code. Even the henchmen of the black guy... there are two. For no reason other than to break them, he says he will hire the one who kills the other.

This is what the Joker does: he lives to prove to people that he is the avatar of who they really are. He refuses to lie to himself.

Batman watched his parents be murdered, went insane also and developed obsessions. He fights to bring justice to a world he feels is essentially good yet plagued by the unnatural disease of crime and evil. He believes in justice above everything else, he does not kill.

So what happens when these two men face each other? The Joker's ultimate victory is for the Batman, the strongest enemy of his world view, a person who refuses no matter what to break down to his level, to kill him. He wants the Batman to kill him. He can't wait for Batman to do it. It will prove his point: anyone can be broken into evil, just like him, if their pain or their reasons are strong enough.

Meanwhile the Batman is facing someone who is the epitome of cruelty and senseless crime. He HAS to beat the Joker according to his rules, to prove to himself that his rules mean something. And this is a decision he has to face every time he catches the Joker. Do I kill him? How many lives will I save if I just kill him? He always escapes Arkham.... I will be doing a good thing by ridding this world of this supremely deranged psychopath. If only he could break his morals in this one case.... this one time... for the greater good....

The Joker knows this. And he laughs. And he hopes.

But he also has to deal with the temptation... without the Batman he would be virtually unstoppable. Even in the world of DC Comics where there is Superman, other supervillains fear him. They steer clear of him. He is too unpredictable, chaotic, and cruel. If only he were to kill the Batman, there is nobody out there who understands him enough to be able to stop him. If only he could kill the Batman... everything would be so simple.

They are fighting a deeply personal, deeply ideological war. They each represent what the other one hates the most, and they each depend on the other to stay alive until the other bends to his will.

The last each one of them wants is to kill the other.

It is poetic.

Original post by igornorais

Reads for any Occassion

Dave — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:24:29 GMT

First, if you think you might kill yourself, read The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus.

If you're coming to grips with someone's past affections for someone else (or someone called you a West Briton) read "The Dead", a short story by James Joyce.

If you hate your shitty office job and staring at your cube walls make you crazy, read Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris.

If you think you're the worst fuck-up in the world read Jernigan by David Gates or alternately, "Where I'm Calling From", a short story by Raymond Carver. That will fix that.

If you're f***ing a lot but still feel empty read Because They Wanted To by Mary Gaitskill.

If you feel you have committed an unforgivable crime, read Atonement by Ian McEwan.

You might need one of these books to flush your system by relating to one of the characters, then to start feeling better, move to one of the books in the next:

If you are wanting to try to find the courage to try something new, read The Commitments by Roddy Doyle.

If you are trying to get over a bad relationship, read The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. But not anything else by Annie Proulx, ok?

If you've been in war read "The Things They Carried", a short story by Tim O'Brien (alow a novel) or "The Pugilist at Rest", a short story by Thom Jones.

If you're trying to get over family issues in your childhood, read Waterland by Graham Swift.

If you're losing your faith in all of humanity, read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, but don't stop until you've read the last page, you hear?

If you're worried over a friendship that had a falling out, read "This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona", a short story by Sherman Alexie.

If you think the problem is you, read A Wizard of EarthSea by Ursula Le Guin.

If your significant other left you, read The Riders by Tim Winton.

If its the death of a friend, read "In the Cemetery Where Al Jolsen Is Buried", a short story by Amy Hempel.

If none of these work, then read The Once and Future King by T.H. White, where everyone looks completely human in all their dimensions but you love them anyway.

Oringla comment by everydayishumpyday

What to read when

Get Off the Train

Dave — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:05:09 GMT

Money equals power and freedom. Be very careful about that for which you trade your freedom and power. I choose not to hand over mine for knick-knacks like an iPhone, Tupperware, gold wedding bands, an electric clothes dryer, matching luggage, designer sunglasses, or chrome wheels.

I don't live to have, I live to do. I have never spent $50 on a coffee table book with photos of the Costa Rican cloud forest, but I have been there, carrying my gear in an old ice chest ($3 at Goodwill) instead of a $200 REI backpack. I never buy $25 concert t-shirts, but I have been to thousands of concerts. I take night classes at a community college, and now I speak Spanish, I can do body and paint work on my car or motorcycle, and I keep in shape in their gym. I have the time and money to do these things because I got off the consumer train.

If you put your money in the bank, and someone fucks you, you can pay for a lawyer. If you put your money in the bank, and your child wins an award, you can get on a plane and go to the ceremony. If you put your money in the bank, and your boss is an ass, you can resign. But people who sell stuff want to take away your money and give you crap in return. When they have loaded you up with Franklin Mint bronze statues of John Wayne and Hello Kitty mouse pads, you won't have money left for lawyers and planes and telling your boss of fuck off. So stop spending money on anything that does not meaningfully improve your life. (And if it is merely an aesthetic improvement, it is not really an improvement.)

How? Stop consuming advertising, to the extent you can. Also, kill your television. Aside from the commercials, your television sends you the message about 1 bazillion times an hour that the kind of person you want to be drives a shiny SUV. Try not to let that message get near you. Associate with a different class of people.

Instead of playing golf on Saturdays with people who are on the train, people who buy custom exhaust systems to get a few more horsepower from their cars (How fucking fast do you need to go?), people who have stainless steel barbeques, people who get their cars washed by a machine, spend the day at a protest march, or a bluegrass festival, or in the community garden with people who share your values.

The most important thing you can do is stop telling yourself that the solution to all of your problems is a trip to the mall. You don't need to go to a mall. Ever.

If something breaks, do not write on your list of things to do, "Get a new one." Instead, write on your list of things to do, "Learn to repair the one I have." Or, "Learn to live without a lawn edger, or power mirrors in the car, or Vitamix." Write that on your list of things to do. Wear things out. You don't need new Nikes because yours are dingy. When they have holes, get an upholstery needle and sew them up. Do that until you can't do it anymore, then get new ones. Use the shit you have. If you already have a computer, you don't need a Playstation. Make do. Your phone is pretty goddamned good. You don't need a new one just because there is a new one. Stop talking to people about the latest phones. It has nothing to do with you.

This is not easy. You might not know where to start. Try an experiment: Make a solemn oath that nobody in your family will buy anything new for 90 days. Okay, if you run out of toothpaste, you can make an exception. But no clothes, no DVDs, no books, no kitchen gadgets, no tires, no nothing. If you MUST have something, get it from Freecycle, get it from a flea market, make it yourself, but buy nothing new for 90 days.

Then, after the first 90 days elapses, do 90 days without carrying cash. Set a limit for everyone in your family. Maybe $10 for adults, $5 for kids. (No credit cards.) This is going to mean that sometimes you are going to buy only $10 worth of gas and have to go to the gas station twice in a week instead of filling up once. Small inconvenience. It is going to force you to consider what is important. With only ten bucks in your pocket, you might stop after work to get some milk, but you won't buy anything else. If it is really important, you can go back and get it later. But you will learn that many of the things you thought were important aren't. In these 6 months, join r/frugal, read DIY blogs, take a welding course at a community college. Replace all of the spiritual junk food you have been consuming (like TV, like the magazines in the seat-back pockets of airplanes, like the ads in the Sunday newspapers) with nutritious food for your soul (like r/simpleliving, and How To Make Sausage videos on YouTube).

Ask yourself as frequently as you can, "Do I want to spend my Saturday afternoon shopping for shit I don't need, or playing Frisbee with my kids?" Then go play Frisbee.

I am off the train. I invite you to disembark. Here is how you stop struggling:

Put two sticks of softened margarine in a bowl. Add 1 cup of white sugar, and one cup of brown sugar. Add two eggs. Blend this. Add three cups of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and one tablespoon of baking powder. Mix well. Stir in 2/3 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Spray a cookie sheet with Pam, and lay out 12 generous spoonsful of dough, evenly spaced.
Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes. As soon as you can put a toothpick into the middle of a cookie and take it out clean, remove them from the oven. Put the cookies on a wire cooling rack. When they are cool enough to eat, but still warm, eat half. Then lie to your wife about how many you made.

What were we talking about before? Something that is not very important, as I recall. Your life is better already, isn't it?

Kung Fu Panda Explained

Dave — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:50:22 GMT

Young Tai-Lung. Wants to become Dragon Warrior. Wants the scroll. Why, exactly? Not to be a super villain at first, of course, but because power, and his skill at martial arts, is the only thing that impresses his sensei and surrogate father, Shi Fu. He sees the title and scroll as one of many things that, to phrase it a bit coarsely, will purchase his father's love. The furious passion in his training, his devotion to the skill and craft of it, all as part of the goal of becoming a God in his father's eyes.

So Shi Fu brings Tai Lung to the turtle, Oogway. Now you think Oogway's a bit of a tosspot for turning down the naturally talented, hard-working Tai Lung here, but consider what Oogway knows. He knows what's written on that scroll (which is to say, nothing), and more to the point, what Shi Fu and Tai Lung think is on that scroll (the button combo for God mode, basically). Consider Oogway's position, then. Is Tai Lung going to accept that the scroll is blank? Is he going to accept that no further power comes with the title? In addition, is giving him the title of Dragon Warrior going to be a good thing for him, having him be praised for what Tai Lung will interpret as power alone?

This is a big and twisty problem. Tai Lung wants to become a God to win his father's love, and Oogway knows that's not what the Title will bring him, and that nothing good can come of this. So Oogway says no. Tai Lung pleads with Shi Fu, but on some level Shi Fu knows Oogway must know best about this sort of thing and sides with the turtle. Tai Lung, in the hugest emotional outburst he's ever experienced, a combination of betrayal from his father and the crushing of his dreams, strikes down his father and tries to take the scroll, failing when Oogway stuns him (Bear in mind still, Oogway is protecting Blank Paper, its value is purely symbolic, and only appreciable by someone who "gets it") where he is sent to jail. Maybe Oogway and Shi Fu hold out hope that Tai Lung can turn around, but the betrayal he feels is too strong, and consumes him for 20 years.

Enter Po. Big ol' panda who loves him some Kung Fu, but through an absurd accident ends up with the title of Dragon Warrior. To everyone (save Oogway) this is granting God-hood, and everyone else is in disbelief, most notably Hardworking, Naturally Talented Tigress, this is spitting on everything she's worked so damn hard for, but have nothing like Tai Lung's outburst.

Now, how does Po react to being made a God? He is humble. This is the key, that Oogway sees in that instant when he becomes Dragon Warrior. This is the key difference with Tai Lung, who sadly never learned humility. Poe, who by rights should be worshipped by the Five, is awed to even be in their presence, And he's Reluctant at that. While he embraces the idea at the outset with crazy energy, once he appreciates the stakes, he can't take the obligation. Worse still Shi Fu doesn't believe in him either, and Oogway, the only person who did, has died.

Eventually Shi Fu and Po work things out, Po improves and gets the scroll, hoping it will contain the IDKFA cheat code, but it's blank. This is cataclysmic in context because it basically means there's no defense against Tai Lung, who is fast approaching the village (How, incidentally, do the Furious Five beat him there when they've been beaten down so hard?) Poe runs away, again, and the truth of the scroll takes a while to click with him, however, and he comes back to the temple to save Shi Fu, now wounded.

Re-Enter Tai Lung. The Battle commences, and eventually, Tai Lung bests the Dragon Warrior. For all Po's power, courage, and wisdom, (think I just unintentionally named the three Triforces) it's still not enough, and Tai Lung takes the scroll. While Po's been using it as bait to control Tai Lung, he still thinks it has the magic God-spell on it. So he takes it, and reads it. He doesn't understand. He cannot accept it. Po tries, even now, to reason with Tai Lung, to make him see how wrong he had been all this time, that he was pursuing power when he should have sought peace.

And poor, pathos-ridden Tai Lung, having achieved by his own hands the greatest possible things in his world, the defeat of the Dragon Warrior and the possession of the scroll, is not happy. It wasn't enough. It could never be enough. This is what Oogway saw all those years ago. Tai Lung couldn't then, as now, learn the lesson of the scroll, attain the inner peace that it was intended to deliver. Tai Lung lashes out in confusion, desperation, a need to watch the world burn, master bruce, but with no goal, his attacks are easily dodged and countered, even by absurdly inexperienced Po, ending with Tai Lung's destruction by the Wu Shi finger hold.

The Wu Shi finger hold. His sensei-slash-father's greatest skill. That he never attained himself because to Tai Lung, power was a trophy to earn, a thing to take. How does Po come to know this hold? He taught himself. Inexperienced, neophyte Po, with no natural skill, watched, and learned. Because to Po, power is not a thing to take but to, create for yourself. All that tine with Shi Fu and Tai lung could easily have learned it, 20 years in prison he could have worked it out, but not, so all-consuming was his rage, so impossible was his inner peace. And so Tai Lung is destroyed, and Po earns 500xp, becomes a kung fu warrior, and completes the entire first cycle of Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey".

Original Reddit post here

How Commercialism Stifles Artistic Expression

Dave — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:53:33 GMT

Art, regardless of medium, reframes the context of its message in ways that are uncontrolled. If you want to succeed financially as an artist, look at who succeeds as political opinion and economics writers: those who suck at the teat of various corporate backed think-tanks. Typically, these are right-wing like the Heritage Foundation. There are some left-wing ones out there as well. But the underlying message is: Fall in line politically, and we'll send a revenue stream your way.

Not to go Godwin, but this can be understood historically through the Nazi state propaganda controls on art. Hitler took particular interest in destroying so-called 'degenerate' art, while at the same time promoting a range of neo-classical and Art Deco forms that were sterile in creativity while fitting a narrow range of the politically acceptable. The Soviet Union and Communist China followed similar approaches to controlling society by controlling acceptable artistic expression.

The United States appears to be following a formula of simply destroying any artistic expression whatsoever. Rather than institute a state accepted form, the leadership would simply rather defund all artistic expression across the board. One might point to the politically coordinated response to Andre Serano's Piss Christ and say, that attack on the National Endowment for the Arts was the start. But it wasn't. It has been a longstanding American formula to simply work people to death and thus prevent them from forming community ties, whether through artistic expression or in finding public places to meet without commercial demands.

Come to a cafe in Europe and people sit and talk for hours. In the US, it's buy a coffee and leave. Walk into a restaurant, eat, now leave. This commercialism exists to prevent organic community formation, and free artistic expression, whether by gallery, plays, music, or independent cinema, for such are in opposition to organized destruction of community. In that sense, individual artistry and free expression within the United States is considered a threat to the controlled status quo and the goals of authoritarians. Just like in any other prior dictatorship. The difference is only that now, artistry itself, rather than various forms of 'degenerate' artistry, is under attack.

Then comes the question of living standards for artists. There will undoubtedly be people here who will argue that artists should pay their own way. And, in general, I'd agree. However, given the distribution monopolies controlling media access, there is no level playing field for the individual artist to gain entry. Further, commercial artists are horribly exploited by publishing houses, film distribution companies, and the like. Just as are the consumers of their art. It's a direct attack on any kind of individualist artisan creation model. For such models are uncontrollable, and thus represent a threat to social propaganda, from advertising to political speech.

IMO: the solution to providing artistic freedom is to be found in new distribution models that connect the artist directly with the consumer of his or her art. It is also to be found in lowering the cost of creation while at the same time lowering the cost of consumption. The only place to cut this fat is not in salaries or fees for consumption, but in the extraction rents that the distribution monopolies impose. And the Internet is the only means possible to achieve this goal. Thus, we see attacks on the very mechanisms of private distribution that would allow for such a new direct artist to consumer conduits to organically form.

This is political. It is not simply cultural.

Original Comment by kittykatkillkill

Crack-Shot Storm Troopers - Stop the Slander!

Dave — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:13:55 GMT

It's a complete and total lie that storm troopers are inaccurate, and it ignores the relevant details of the events.

To prove that they are, in fact, crack shots, watch the opening sequence in A New Hope. Here we have a number of stormtroopers charging into a narrow breach into heavy fire, yet they are able to gun down more rebel soldiers in cover than they take in casualties! This is not amateur night here--this is stone cold killers, destroying their foes mercilessly. They are so effective that the defenders fall back almost immediately.

Then, the next time their accuracy is mentioned, it is in the examination of the corpses of a bunch of child-sized aliens. That's right, they were able to kill a number of small targets with expert precision. Now, it was off-screen, but you cannot get that kind of consistency and precision randomly. It beggars the imagination to think that their aim is terrible. So why can they never hit Luke and Leia in the Death Star? They were ordered not to. The escape was allowed--recall that Tarkin and Vader discussed exactly that the minute the Falcon left. They needed the princess to go to the hidden fortress so they could track them there. She already had refused to give them accurate coordinates, even as her homeworld was destroyed before her eyes. She would never break, never talk. So she had to escape.

Now, killing the one guy escorting her to the ship, or any of the vital crew to the small craft, would be counter-productive to that enterprise. But, they have to make it look good. The escape triggered an alarm. Even if it hadn't (highly unlikely--they command was far too competent at their jobs to let anything slip through), Vader knew that an escape was on--he felt the presence of Obi-wan. Vader is quite competent, and so would have certainly alerted command to this. After all, he did have a discussion about it with Tarkin before seeking out Obi-wan. The only reasonable conclusion then is that the stormtroopers, fanatically loyal and dedicated to the cause, were ordered to attack but miss when doggedly pursuing these escaping prisoners. And, miss by a small enough margin that it looks good. Recall the bridge scene--blaster fire was erupting around the edges of the doorframe that they were standing on--inches from serious harm. Yet, despite that large volume of fire, in single-shot mode, no hits were scored. And well it was that none did! Had a single shot hit the princess, it could have killed her. It could have wounded her severely enough that escaping with her would have been implausible, and they would have instantly been alerted to the fact that it was a set-up.

It nearly was--Leia thought it too easy. However, any hit would have made it obvious if they did escape, since even if it wasn't lethal, it would have dramatically slowed the party down, destroying any illusion. As such, from A New Hope, all evidence is that they are, in fact, excellent shots and quite loyal, willing to die for the cause without a moment's hesitation on the order of Lord Vader.

One could argue, terribly, that it is simply the quality of the weapon that is a problem. That is patently absurd. The Empire has the resources to build a space station the size of a small moon without being noticed. It wasn't public knowledge that the Death Star was built--it came from nowhere and blew up a planet. No one believed that possible until it happened, which was the point.

This means that they have a logistical train that routinely delivers massive amounts of material across the galaxy, such that it draws little real attention. This cannot be cheap--the cost of transport alone would be immense. But they are somehow buying weapons on the cheap? That makes no sense. They'd make sure that these things were very accurate, and consistent, before the purchase of every lot. Their quartermaster corps would see to that, and they must be sufficiently competent to do so because they were able to build a moon in secret. That's no mean task. So their weapons must be accurate. Ignoring that, it still remains the fact that recently looted weapons, from the very racks that these stormtroopers drew from, were quite accurate in the hands of other people who just picked them up and had not drilled extensively on them. These must be accurate weapons indeed, or the Hand of God Himself intervenes upon every shot ensuring the safety of the heroes and the death of the villains. Now, consider Empire Strikes Back. We see very little of the battle of Hoth, but we do see them rapidly assembling a heavy weapon even as they take automatic weapon fire, without a moment's hesitation. That requires immense discipline and skill. This goes, again, to demonstrating their intense competency. You do not acquire such coolness under fire without intense and rigorous training. Are we then to believe that they train to just set weapons up, but not fire them accurately? Please. So, on Cloud City, we again see a large contingent of stormtroopers not hitting the escaping princess and retinue. Again, this is clearly by design. Darth Vader had the hyperdrive disabled--he asked his subordinates this on his command ship. They weren't going anywhere. However, he needed a back-up plan. They weren't going to leave without Luke, and he wanted his son captured. So he again ordered them to be allowed to escape, but to make it look good. They weren't going anywhere anyhow--they'd just be going straight into the shuttle bay of a Star Destroyer, unable to jump to hyperspace. He knew that Luke had been developing his skills, so it is not unreasonable to assume that he could send a message via the force to effect an extraction. Luke could flee, and Luke is certainly clever and skilled enough to find a way past guards--or at least, past enough that he could get out. Then, the Falcon would "rescue" him, leave atmosphere, and promptly be captured, leaving Luke firmly in the hands of Vader. Lobot being able to lead a security detail anywhere? That's either a gross oversight, one that is unbelievable given that Vader himself ordered the Falcon to be disabled, or deliberate. He knew Calrissian would attempt to break the Princess and Chewie out--why do you think he kept altering the deal, pushing it well beyond the boundaries that Lando would accept? Did he think that Lando would simply go along with this, without resisting? Surely not. This leaves the final movie, Return of the Jedi. Again, we see nothing but extreme competency and accuracy on the part of the stormtroopers in battle.

During the battle, we never see the results of their pot-shots against rebels or Ewoks, but we do see them laying down a consistent volley of fire, with disciplined shots, and constant ducking back to cover. One could argue this would mean inaccurate shots, but given the first movie's opening sequence, that is hard to believe. They were using the sights to aim, instead of firing from the hip, during this fight and on the ship combat, they did not bother aiming carefully. It's hard to believe they lose any accuracy at all when using a more carefully aimed approach. So what direct evidence do we have of their shooting? When Han and Leia are attempting to break into the bunker, two successive pot-shots hit a child-sized object behind partial cover, instant disabling the droid, and inflicting a potentially serious wound on Leia. Again, these were shots taken under hasty aim against targets behind cover, while shots were going towards them. This is not an easy thing--ask an infantryman if you disbelieve me.

The evidence is clear--Stormtroopers are quite accurate and effective soldiers, with top of the line equipment. Claiming otherwise is slander.

Original post by LoveKebab

Internet Validation

Dave — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:13:49 GMT

[Seems as though the Internet has become]... a constant, daily parade of people trying their hardest to get some kind of validation, some kind of attention. It's pathetic. I've always been suspicious of most people overall but this swarm of people with what appears to be a true hunger for attention and this deep neediness for validation...it should trouble people.

But so many relate to it that nobody feels comfortable standing up to call it out. Much less calling it out when it occurs and the circle jerks commence. Neediness and desperation for attention are definitely two of the biggest flaws with the modern day human.

By the numbers and vastness and frequency of it between Reddit, twitter and Facebook, content quality is no longer of concern. We're no longer sharing information; we're sharing neediness. We're taking photos of our kids in private moments and trying to sell them to millions of complete strangers so you can feel some moment of warmth of acceptance and validation. And pictures of our children right after their mom has left them (front page currently) all to howling, cheering members who really don't remember what it was like to simply find information and share it.

It's all lowest common denominator photos and private moments made public. And all of it...every last bit...is for someone, somewhere to fill that momentary warmth of being fed that attention that they're starving for. It really is disgusting on a reasonable, rational level because it's completely absurd and irrational. THAT has been the center of exchange in the past few years and likely why people continue to appear dumber and dumber as time goes on.

I can ignore it to a certain degree but it does piss me off because perfectly curious, interesting, seemingly intelligent people used to focus on the world around them...quality content free of cats, etc. Real information, real news, real science, progress in technology, computers, you name it. And all that content has boiled down to, 'Here I am standing with my girlfriend on vacation with a 3-legged cat.'

It's sad. I feel like I'm watching the death of civilization in slow motion. Certainly the death of information exchange and intellect.

But none of that matters because what trumps it all is that feeling. That momentary high, that drug where people feel needed, feel wanted, feel something that they're sorely lacking in their lives. That they're needed or cared about or paid attention to....that's why it appears to be such a flaw in the human brain. It's definitely an addiction if you look around. Not like a drug but probably similar to the mindset of a hoarder where this high comes across and continues to encourage the irrational behavior.

But honestly...think about it. What is more sad than a society of people who are constantly begging to feel needed, appreciated or validated? It feels like constant begging....and admitting, 'I am not content with myself and my life. I therefore am on a constant drive to gain this attention that I am lacking in life through the internet by trying to impress people by posting and reporting every single aspect of my days and in hopes that someone, somewhere will be impressed with me.'

It's not enough for the average person to experience real joy, real passion, real love, real adventure, real excitement....everyone has to stop what's going on around them, take photos, take the time to upload them to 4 or 5 different online destinations and they sit back like fishermen and wait for the attention to roll in so that need can be fed.

I really, honestly hope there are studies to address this irrational behavior in humans. I hate that it's become so common that people refuse to even acknowledge that it's irrational and even kind of ugly. Would you want a real-life relationship with someone who openly begged for attention on a regular basis? Would you tolerate this hunger, this neediness that society has decided, 'well, it's OK because everyone does it.'?

I tend to have sympathy for people like that but I certainly can't relate to them on any kind of emotional level. Take the guy on the front page right now: "My wife just left me with a kid who turned 3 today and not a single fuck is given."

OK, dude's wife left him and their son. NO fucks given (you have to say that because it's an accepted, timely meme, lets people know you're one of them and hyperbolic enough to garner attention). Then proceeds to post photos of himself and his child to millions of strangers who are all cheering him on and telling him everything will be OK.

And that shit is irrational as fuck. If we break it down, the guy is scared shitless. And that kid has no idea what he's in for as he grows up if his mom never shows back up. But hey: NO FUCKS GIVEN. If we lie to ourselves and lie to others and everyone pretends that nothing is wrong and everything is great, that doesn't make it so. It's that temporary high the guy gets from this idea that he and his son really might be OK, that this won't be a constant struggle and that his son will be OK without the mom he's had for 3 years. It's that warmth, that neediness for validation or someone to tell him it's going to be OK. And that's what he got. In the worst way: "You're a HERO. You're the dad of the year. Everything is going to be great, you're the best dad ever."

That's opening up a very, very, very private moment up to complete and total strangers. That in itself is irrational and kind of careless but what did OP get out of it? That momentary high. The validation that came pouring in, that warmth of feeling like something is going to be OK perhaps. It's that drug. And the next time OP has a personal problem, you can bet he will return for that momentary high that the instant support group has afforded him with his past problems. Facebook, twitter, tumblr, reddit...that's what it all boils down to now. Not connecting, not exchanging information, but to feed that hunger that always exists for the addict. That constant pang that needs to be fed, encouraged by a growing army of people who spend all day and all night online instead of out in the real world who feed that need because they themselves need to be fed.

Again, I think future studies will reveal a lot more is going on than the average person thinks is going on. It is a withdrawal like you see in addiction. It is stimulating parts of the brain that need attention and that part that releases dopamine and adrenaline momentarily when you feel special or feel loved. Regardless of the fact that the internet is not a drug, the reaction is still similar and above all else: The process is still and will always be irrational. Regardless of how common it has become, how accepted.

It's dysfunctional on some of the highest levels of human reason. We know that the ego needs to be fed, but until the past decade, it couldn't be fed constantly and globally on demand. Thus, the entire focus of the internet on the whole (certainly not altogether) has gone from and educational, information exchange to laptops and computers simply becoming one interconnected, gigantic support group.

When you strip it all away, the facts remain: Humans are desperate for attention and desperate for interaction, support and validation. And if they can get that high, that feeling, without having to leave the house and deal with people who actually know them on an intimate level, it's like being able to download a drug. So what do they do? They sit in front of the computer day and night downloading the fuck out of that drug. Over and over and over again.

Kind of sad, really. I assume that guy who posted the photo of his kid 'not giving a fuck' about his mom having left him has at least a few close friends he could have approached to discuss or share or deal with his fears and feelings. Which is traditionally how you get to some kind of acceptance and processing of emotions in a situation of loss and grief.

But what if they told him something he didn't want to hear? What if they didn't validate him or tell him everything is going to be OK? That's why you turn to strangers and that's where reddit comes in. People will tell you what you want to hear in very much the same way that poor people never see themselves as poor. Because in this global support group of the internet, you never know when you're going to need that validation and attention. You don't want someone to ask questions or point out the truth or bring up this idea that maybe things are more serious than they are.

You want a meme. You want people to tell you what you want to hear. So you have to join in and do the same for everyone else: A giant, dysfunctional support group of people who continuously enable one another and support one another's addiction.

It saddens me to think that this is what the internet has ultimately really boiled down to for the average person. So much potential, so much opportunity. I could honestly see a world in 10 years very similar to Wall-E where people no longer venture outside of their homes, their basements, etc. because they can fake experience, fake emotion, fake sensation...all by getting that high of attention and validation they so constantly and seemingly endlessly crave.

Using the analogy of downloading a drug on demand...and what we know about how how the brain processes reward and addiction, we can fake sensation, we can engage certain chemical responses and we can become addicted to those in the same way that people become addicted to the adrenaline of dangerous sports, the high of dopamine and the warmth of serotonin being released over a sustained period.

Honestly it reveals how fragile and needy humans are. And in my mind, I was perfectly fine with people hiding that aspect of the human psyche. I much preferred it when that was seen as a weakness rather than it become the rule rather than the exception for the average person.

Original post on Reddit by gloomdoom

CAPTAIN BLIGH SCUTTLES MORDECAI SLATE NOVEL

John M. Whalen — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:53:42 GMT

A lot of Mordecai Slate fans are going to be disappointed. The previously announced publication of the first novel featuring Slate, �Vampire Siege at Rio Muerto,� has been canceled. Not by me. By the publisher. Since I announced here on the SFReader forum that the book was nearing publication, I feel I owe it to my readers to explain what happened.

I could simply say that the book was canceled due to �creative differences� between myself and the publisher, Science Fiction Trails. But I don�t think that�s really why the book was killed. I�m still not sure why the publisher pulled the plug. I�ll lay out the whole story, and maybe you can figure it out.

I had a contract to produce the 60,000 word novel in six months by March 31, 2012. It was finished and sent in a day early. In two days I got back a rave review, the publisher calling it �a first rate adventure.� He said it had �interesting characters,� and the opening prologue was �exceptional.� But he hated the ending. What he hated wasn�t the climax or the resolution of the story, but a little twist I put in at the end. He �implored� me to change it.

I thought about it a few days. The worst thing a writer can do, I think, is make the mistake of thinking he�s writing in stone. So I came up with a different ending and sent in new pages. He accepted it and commissioned Laura Givens to do the cover. But afterwards, I wasn�t happy. The problem with changing something in a finished story is, once you do that, you may have to change other things. I thought additional rewriting was necessary, and I sent a new draft of the last chapter. He accepted it. But I still thought it needed one more rewrite. I finally got the ending that I wanted and sent it to him.

His response to the third and final revision was: �I am cancelling (sic) the project. Nothing pisses me off more than unprofessional writers who are constantly trying to rewrite stories after they've been sold. I wish you the best of luck at finding another publisher.�

I sent back the following: �If you don't want to work with me to make this the best book possible, that's your privilege. I might remind you I didn't want to change anything until you said you didn't like the original ending. Other than saying you didn't like it, I haven't gotten much editorial guidance from you on what you wanted.. . . Rather than giving an opinion or offering suggestions you just want to cancel? Really?

His response: �Go to hell.� Talk about professional.

So, in a temperamental fit, he killed the book. He has not only lost the puny advance he paid me, but any possible profits from the book, which he himself called �a great adventure.� Then in a further display of pique, a few days later, he altered the e-book version of the �Showdown at Midnight� anthology by removing my story �Samurai Blade� from it!

Many of my writer friends have been telling me to stop dealing with small press publishers. They tell me they don�t pay well, take most of the money that is made, put out poorly edited products, and do nothing to promote your books. More writers are turning to self publishing. You have more control over the book and you make more of the profits. I still think most small press publishers are honorable people, and I�ll continue to submit stories to them. But I�ll be more careful which ones I choose to work with. All the same the prospect of self-publishing is starting to seem a lot more attractive. An even better idea would be to get an agent and start selling to pro markets.

As for the publisher, his behavior can probably be better understood by a post on his blog a day or two after all this happened. He posted a picture of Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh with the following entry:

�One thing that's amazed me is that I used to have a permanent photo of Captain Bligh on my old website. Then, I've put him on this blog [that's the Charles Laughton version]. No one has ever asked Why do you have Captain Bligh on your blog? Well, it's a two part answer. Some people used to say that Charles Laughton looks like me. And then there's Mr. Bligh. I think he's been unfairly demonized. By all accounts, he was a capable seaman and actually navigated by starlight 2000 miles in an open boat following the infamous mutiny on the Bounty. In other words, he's kind of a hero to me. . .�

Really? Well, as Captain Publisher sails off into the sunset, Mordecai and I wish him smooth sailing and lots of luck. I�ve got a feeling he�s going to need it.

Shift to Digital Goods; Traditional Media vs New Media

Dave — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:40:47 GMT

I think that Valve is one of the few entertainment companies that has started to realize that digital distribution demands a complete rethinking of the rules of economics.

The issue at hand is, traditional business models are based on some constant rules that simply don't apply when the good being traded is digital. Namely, the laws of supply and demand. A digital good has what is essentially an infinite supply after an initial production cost. And while a content provider can manufacture an artificial scarcity to drive up demand (and in turn price), this is generally so transparent that it just sows consumer discontent, which carries its own problems.

Anyway, the core of the issue is the same thing that separates piracy from theft - when you take a digital good (either legally or illegally), the original good remains in place.

Now, this isn't the first time this issue has arisen in the world of commerce - the printing press caused a controversy in part for this exact same reason. However, even then, the materials required to print a book or a piece of sheet music still had an expense. Even going into the age of technology, when people bought records and cassettes and CDs and DVDs, the physical product changing hands still maintained the illusion of a supply, even if what people thought they were paying for (a cartridge with a game on it, a CD with songs on it, a DVD with a movie on it) wasn't what they were actually paying for (a license to play a game, along with the cartridge and game, a license to play songs, along with the CD and songs, etc.).

But now the internet has removed the need for the CDs and DVDs, and having the actual files on our computers has laid bare the infinite supply of these songs, music, movies, etc. that we've been paying for, leaving us with the plain truth - all this time, what we've really been paying for is the license to use this media, not the media itself.

The value of a piece of media was a bit easier to ascertain when we were just talking about the price of a movie or the price of a game. Something to buy and sell like anything else, right? I bought it, it is mine, and I can turn around and sell it to someone else, and then it will no longer be mine, and it will be theirs.

But now, when you buy something, it is not yours, because you never actually bought it. You bought the license to use it. You cannot do whatever you want with it, because it is not yours. You cannot give it to your friend, because it is not yours. You cannot sell it, because you never had it to begin with. So what is it worth to you, not to own a piece of media, but merely to have permission to use it?

It is a fundamentally different question, and one that media industries are only just now having to answer, as the artifice that they constructed around this media has been stripped bare, and customers no longer have the false assumption that they bought that movie or that game or that album.

What do you do when your customers, so used to buying movies and music and games, are now being asked to buy licenses to movies and music and games?

If you work in these industries, the natural response is, "act like nothing has changed". Because for them, nothing has changed. Their customers never were buying those movies, music and games. Why should it be any different now that they are essentially buying the same thing they always were buying?

But for customers, the world has shifted, and now they were being told that everything they had assumed before, everything they were sold on before, was wrong. A lot of them don't understand it, and many of them feel like they're being cheated. People don't like feeling cheated.

But on top of all of it, this value that they had attached to these things they've been buying has evaporated, because that was a value that was attached to all those assumptions that they'd been making all of those years. If for decades people spend $15-20 on movies, and suddenly you tell them you're not selling them movies anymore, you're selling them a license to view movies, it seems only natural for them to think they're not worth as much. If they can see that the movie itself, the thing they value, can be copied easily and quickly for virtually no expense, suddenly they are less willing to pay the same price for it, even if they have no intention of getting it illegally. Why? Because the illusion of the value they thought it had has been shattered.

You get the same reaction by telling someone that the "miracle cure" you've been selling them is just sugar water. Sure, you're technically selling the same thing now that you always were, but now everyone essentially realizes they were paying too much for it to begin with, even if they really like sugar water and it is a cure for what ails them (er.... thirst? This analogy is getting out of hand...).

Now, bear in mind, this isn't an outright call for piracy, because these content providers did have to invest an often considerable amount of cash up-front to create the music/movie/game. They certainly need to be able to recoup those costs and turn a profit. However, those needs don't change the fact that they are currently depending on that money to come from an business model that no longer makes sense for what they are selling, because they are no longer selling a product. They are selling a service, an agreement, a contract.

If it costs me a million dollars to make 50,000 copies of a product, I know exactly what each of those copies cost to produce - $20. And I know that if I sell them for $30 each, I make $10 on every copy sold, meaning that in order to recoup my costs at that price, I need to sell at least 33,334 of that product. And I can raise my price if demand is high resulting in a higher profit margin, or I can lower it if demand is low to raise demand, but I know that if I ever lower the price below $20, I have a negative profit margin, and I'm losing money on each one of that product I sell.

But that's not how digital distribution works. If I spend a million dollars and create an infinite number of copies of a product, how much is each copy worth? Really, it's determined purely based on how many copies of that product I'll sell, which using the current economic model I have no reliable way of predicting. If I sell one copy of that product, that one copy cost one million dollars to produce. If I sell one hundred million copies, each copy only took a penny to produce. So at any price, you could be selling a product with a positive profit margin, you could be selling it at a negative profit margin, you could be selling it at cost - you have no real way of knowing.

That's not the half of it, though. Because your supply of the product is infinite, so is the time frame of sales, at least theoretically. For a physical product, you have until the product runs out to turn a profit, and then you need to make more of it. For a digital product, once you've spent the money to make it, you'll have enough of it to last you forever.

What Valve has stumbled into, and what the traditional business model has failed to consider, is that since time is infinite, and supply is infinite, these factors can be used to an advantage over traditional business models.

Traditionally, a game has a few months to sell through most of its stock before sales drop off. After that, the traditional model says that you've gotten everything you're likely to get out of that game. However, if you have infinite supply, there's no added cost to selling the game for a fraction of the price. After all, you've always got more to sell. You'll never run out. And you don't need to worry about selling the product with a negative profit margin anymore because what the hell is your profit margin now? Profit margin? What's that? It no longer exists.

The only profit margin you have to worry about now is overall sales. If you spent a million dollars to make a game, and now have an infinite number of copies of that game, how much each copy sells for is meaningless. The only thing that matters is how much all of the copies have sold for. You can sell a million copies of the game or just one, but as long as you have brought in more money than you spent on the development, you have turned a profit. And every single copy you sold, even if that copy sold for only a penny, was a part of that profit.

Even on top of increasing demand, Valve found a way to best exploit the drop in prices by maximizing word of mouth to revitalize interest in a game, even after the sale is over. Suddenly, that window of a few months after launch no longer exists, and the possibilities for that are huge.

Other companies, like Netflix, are toying with other business models. Even iTunes is a new and uncomfortable business model the recording industry has had to get acclimated to. Here they'd been selling songs in sets of 10-20 for so long that selling them one by one piecemeal was scary and absurd. But iTunes was just rolling with something consumers were already starting to realize (even if they didn't realize they were realizing it) - consumers they were no longer willing to pay $20 for a CD that only had one song they liked, especially when that CD no longer existed in physical form, and was now clearly just an artificial construct to force people to buy the other dozen or so songs they didn't want.

All of this didn't happen because of piracy. It's not because consumers were given the choice between getting it legally for $20 or illegally for free (although, of course, for some that was the case). It was because consumers now saw exactly what it was they were buying, and determined that it was overpriced. And the more these media companies insist on being paid the same as before, and begrudge their consumers every dollar lost, and lash out by treating them as thieves, the more consumers will see these companies as greedy, when ultimately the problem isn't necessarily one of greed (though to some extent it is), but one of being entrenched in a business model that no longer makes sense.

However, as with anyone who's stuck in the past, others move forward without you. Valve and Netflix are just the beginning. Kickstarter also looks to be promising - taking the risk out of development by having the funds for development coming directly from those purchasing the product. It's an economic model that's clearly still in early experimental stages, but undoubtedly the one we're currently using must have been in early experimental stages at one point of time too.

That's the future. It's still murky and unresolved and we can't be sure what it'll look like when the dust settles, but it will absolutely change everything about media industries, and that's pretty much certain. In the meantime, media companies are so certain of and obsessed with the current business model that they've become driven to madness with stamping out what they perceive their problem to be - piracy.

And piracy is a problem for them, but it has been for decades now. And while that problem has certainly grown in the internet age, it hasn't grown as much as they think. And their efforts to stamp it out, besides being ultimately fruitless, are also counter-productive, because they're driving away their own consumers. And those consumers will find alternatives to go to. And more and more, those alternatives will be perfectly legal ones, using new business models.

The tools to create are changing and becoming more accessible. More people these days are capable of putting together a decent song, of filming a decent show or film, of designing a decent videogame.

The tools to advertise are becoming more accessible. Now, you don't need to buy ad spots on TV, you can create a hit viral video on YouTube, or get advertised via word-of-mouth on FaceBook or Reddit.

It won't be long before this sort of progress results in a change of guard between traditional media companies and newer ones. It is already happening. And the old media companies least likely to survive are the ones who are fighting the hardest against the changes taking place in their industry. The likes of Disney, Metallica, and Sony can learn a lot from the likes of HomeStar Runner, Dr. Horrible, Louis CK, OK Go, and Valve. They need to learn a lot from them. The question is, will they learn it before it's too late?

Original Reddit Comment

The World is not Fair, or Just Do It

Dave — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:54:23 GMT

I could not agree more. There is this weird mentally, especially on circlejerking places like Reddit, that somehow you deserve to have all the things you want. That you deserve that awesome woman or man that you only dare to stare at from a distance. That you deserve the great body, healthy skin, perfect job, high pay, amazing holidays, the new computer or your dream fulfilled.

Well, guess what: You don't. There is no one in the universe that looks at you and says "well, you deserve to have all these things, I am going to give them to you". You don't deserve anything. If you can read this you probably already had many great things thrown at you for which you didn't do a thing. A good education, loving parents, food, shelter, a computer, maybe even a good spot in university or a good job.

If you want to be the person that you want to be - do something for it. You don't know people? How could you if you waste your time on Reddit or with porn? Go and get a hobby, join a club, do something that you haven't done before.

You can't dance? Learn it. You can't tell jokes? Train it. You don't like your job? Find a new one. You don't have the skills? Find out what skills you want - and learn it. You want to find an attractive partner? Become an attractive partner first.

I am annoyed by Reddit, or, to say it more precise: By the attitude of a large part of the youth today. By the beliefs that people here hold. My favourite is the "Need work experience to find a job" thing that comes up every now or then. Why do they look for people with work experience? Because any employer knows that those who don't have work experience are probably at fault themselves. They are the self-entitled ones who believe that food should fly in their mouths, and that their great inner values are enough to become great, no work needed. Sure, there might be one or two who would deserve better luck - but likely, when you are honest with yourself, you are probably not one of them.

Or another: friendzone. Friendzone. The most ridiculous and sexist concept I have ever heard of. Yes, it's now applied in both directions, but traditionally it is that a woman "puts" a "nice" guy in the friendzone. The poor fellow. She is so hot and he likes her so much. And he does nice things for her. Why doesn't she love him for the things he does? Why is she so cruel? Well, it's because he is an idiot. He believes that you can buy attraction. Do you fall in love with a girl just because she occasionally helps you out? Of course not. You fall in love because of looks and character and her behaviour and likely because of a well formed personality. She is an interesting person, that's why you feel attracted to her, why you want to spend time with her. And, sure, some women might more or less consciously exploit that. But that doesn't change the matter:

If you believe that somebody else ought to love you because you do something nice for them; if you believe that somebody else needs to feel a certain way because of things you do - then you are an idiot. If you are unhappily in the friendzone - you are an idiot, plain and simple. Deal with it, accept that you have a good friend, and move on. Or try and take the relationship to a new level. But don't whine how cruel the girl is because she doesn't let you hump her even when you fix her computer.

Do you deserve anything? HELL NO. Is there a "fair" universe - where fair means biased in your favour - that gives you all the things you want? HELL NO.

If you are on Reddit whining about your lack of friends or partner or your horrible job - then you are at fault and nobody else.

You chose a bad partner? Your choice.

You think you deserve a better job? Go and get it.

Yes yes, it's not easy. Oh, you sent 70 applications and still no one took you? Did you ever consider that maybe you are not interesting enough for them to take you? Maybe it's not your lack of experience, mabye it's your horrible spelling, your lack of skills, your subtle disrespect for them, or any other of a million things. Maybe you are just unlucky, there are a few of those - but, if you are honest with yourself, the chance that you are one of them is small.

Most people are socialised in this "get it all" society. Instant gratification through TV and fast food and those fake achievements of games that come in exactly that interval that keeps you hooked. Life doesn't work like that. Clicking a button and doing fun things will rarely make you successful. Hard work, that's where it's at. Of course, even hard work doesn't guarantee anything. You need to invest it wisely. You need to be willing to make sacrifices. You need to stay strong. You want to lose those 200lb? Well, good for you that you exercise 15 minutes a day. Bad for you that you say yes to all those donuts and chips.

People fail because they expect instant rewards. You avoid that donut and in return you wake up in the morning and your trousers fit. You start reading a book on French and the next day you can talk fluently. You can sit in front of your computer, doing your job with average results while you spend time on reddit - and you still think you deserve a raise? You wake up and don't bother to shower but still expect people to enjoy your company? You spend your nights all at home playing video games and still you expect to be able to have interesting discussions with other people?

You, if you are that person, are an idiot. You don't deserve good things, you work for them. The whole concept of "deserving" something, punishment or reward, is based on an ancient logic that there is somebody watching over us who can read your mind and rewards you for merely being good and punishes you for merely being bad. Well, guess what, you can get away with stealing when you do it right. And you can suffer for doing good things, if you do it wrong.

Get that in your head: The world is not fair. The World Is Not Fair. There is no fairness, no justice. And you should be happy about that, because else probably you would be starving and not the Indian farmer who works 14 hours a day to feed his family and still half his children die from diarrhea and he himself at 30 from starvation.

The world is not fair. You can be one of the 1% or so lucky ones, those who get things for merely being born in the right family, or with the right looks or the incredible mental skills. But chances are you are not.

But still: You can be the person you want to be. You CAN. If you work for it. Your application keeps getting refused? Ask others why. Ask them for candid feedback, not to be nice. You are alone? Go out and meet people? You are fat? Lose weight. Oh, but your friends want to go to McDonalds? Nice excuse for lack of wilpower. You don't know how to cook? Learn it. You are bored? Go get a life. You hate your town? Move.

I hear you, I really do. You say "it's not that easy" or maybe "you just don't understand my situation" or "I'm trying my best.." blah blah.

My answer is simple: You are an idiot. You don't understand, you refuse to understand a simple fact: The world is not skewed in your favour. You don't deserve anything. Life is not supposed to be easy, it is not supposed to be any way. There are no checkpoints along the way, or small boxes with rewards - life is not a video game. Life just is. It is hard, it is sometimes unfair, it is sometimes difficult, even painful. But if you don't like it the way there is only one option. Only one, and unless you accept that you will fail over and over again, you will be unhappy for all your life:

If you don't like the way things are - fight with all your power to change it. You can't find happiness, you have to create it. You don't deserve breaks. You don't deserve a pat on the back. You don't deserve that snickers. You don't deserve those new shoes. You don't "deserve" anything.

You need to choose where you want to be, and then you need to work your way towards it. Someday you might succeed. Or maybe you don't. But you know one thing: If you never try you will always fail, every day, every hour, every second.

You need to work for the things you want. Of course you can't achieve everything. Of course not everybody can be president. But for those things that any person dreams of - a good partner, a nice place, a good job and a healthy social life, and for most other dreams that people might hold: You are not magically entitled to have it. You need to work for it. There is no alternative. And if you believe there is, if you believe you are entitled to something, to anything - then you are, plain and simple, an idiot.

Do you act and think as if you are entitled? Do you believe that you deserve things to be better? Then, my friend, you are wrong. Then, my friend, you need to learn that the world is not a good and gentle place. The world is a neutral place. Some start lucky. Some start unlucky. But I haven't seen a person yet who cannot improve his lot by working hard on improving it.

Original Reddit Comment

Was Once A Hero by Edward McKeown. Book 1 of the Robert Fenaday Shasti Rainhell Trilogy

edward-mckeown — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:29:18 GMT

Reluctant privateer Robert Fenaday searches the stars for his lost love, Lisa, a naval intelligence officer whose ship disappeared near the end of the Conchirri War . He?s joined by the genetically engineered assassin, Shasti Rainhell, whose cold perfection masks her dark past. Both are blackmailed by government spymaster, Mandela, into a suicidal mission to the doomed planet Enshar. Leading a team of scientists and soldiers, they must unravel the mystery of that planet?s death before an ancient force reaches out to claim their lives.

The classic Planet Stories of S/F have suffered abandonment, without a rescuer, until now. Edward McKeown's "Was Once A Hero" combines adventure and romance with the dark humor and human complexities absent from a more black-and-white age. Robert Fenaday and Shasti Rainhell are real people. They make mistakes, they hurt, they stumble in the dark emotionally, and they save the world. They are flawed, wounded heroes, and they make you realize, as you hungrily turn each page, that the best fiction contains excitement and passion; and the best aspect of life is the possibility of personal redemption. Was Once a Hero provides both." Tim McLoughlin, author of "Heart of the Old Country" (Movie Title: The Narrows) and Editor of "Brooklyn Noir"

http://www.amazon.com/Was-Once-A-Her...6144528&sr=1-1

https://www.createspace.com/3765878

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/120464

http://www.hellfirepublishing.com/hero.html

Announcements, review and interviews
SFWA http://www.sfwa.org/2012/02/was-once...dward-mckeown/
SFSCOPE http://sfscope.com/2012/01/edward-mc...+%28SFScope%29
Flames rising http://www.flamesrising.com/?s=mckeown&.x=0&.y=0
The Examiner http://www.examiner.com/fringe-artis...as-once-a-hero

Press release http://www.prlog.org/11771900-join-t...e-romance.html

Radio http://newscliptv.com/podcasts/books/edwardmkeown1.html
Radio http://www.blogtalkradio.com/page-re...as-once-a-hero
TMV Cafe Free Pie Show http://ia600805.us.archive.org/10/it...nEdMckeown.mp3

Blog Interviews and Other
http://hellfireherald.blogspot.com/2....html?spref=fb
http://www.robinreneeray.blogspot.com/
http://www.inspirationforum.co.uk/sh...d.php?tid=2131
http://wredhead.blogspot.com/2012/02....html?spref=fb
http://wredhead.blogspot.com/2012/02....html?spref=fb
http://thereforyoumelissa.blogspot.c....html?spref=fb
http://rueview.moonfruit.com/#/archived/4558190570

Ed's SF reader page preserved

edward-mckeown — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:56:02 GMT

EDWARD F MCKEOWN

photo by http://www.michaelchurch.com/
EdwardFMcKeown@aol.com

I've enjoyed a life-long love affair with science fiction. I write believable people in extraordinary situations, balancing romance, humor, adventure and reasonable extrapolations of science in stories that I believe people will want to return to. Whether it's in the short stories of my "Lair of the Lesbian Love Goddess series" or in the Fenaday and Rainhell novels, classic "Planet" tales of a crews of unlikely companions facing unknown dangers, my intent is to give the reader the sort of page turning, involving adventure that Andre Norton wrote and leaven it with the emotional complexity and ambiguity that CJ Cherryh brings to the field.

While the experiences of the SF Universe are out of reach of those unable to pay for a rocket ride, I use my own background to try for an underlying verity in my characters. I?ve parachuted, flown in gliders, hang gliders and strapped to the floor of military helicopters. I?ve been rated as an expert shot and carry a black belt in the martial arts. I?ve been paralyzed by fear, exhilarated by love and walked into fights, both literal and metaphorical, that I knew I could not win. I have the great good fortune to be married to the talented artist Schelly Keefer http://www.redskygallery.com/html/home.asp and her products are available at www.zazzle.com/schelly

Follow @EdwardMcKeown1

Made you look ;-)

Amazon Queen Penthsilea says follow her to Ed McKeown?s Amazon page?or else!

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004NM9ZU2
image by Michael Church

It's been a good time on the writing front. My story "Appellate Angel" is accepted for the upcoming Janet Morris Anthology, "Lawyers in Hell" and "Let's Go To Hell" was accepted to the anthology following that, "Adventurers in Hell." Look for the book this July 2011 on Amazon.com and other retailers.

http://kerlakpublishing.com/lawyerhell.html
http://www.amazon.com/Lawyers-Hell-J...tt_at_ep_dpt_1

THE SHA'DAA ANTHOLOGIES
Sha'daa III: Pawns is in the works- look ahead!
Here's the book trailer for Sha'daa Last Call: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMW4RviPa8A

The journey begins! Sha'daa II Last Call is now for sale. Direct from the publisher to start and then on many other markets. This is my second editorial credit working with Mike Hanson, our creator. I also have two stories in here, the lead piece "I Kill Zombies" (featuring the cover character Raven Blackstone) and a second "Hellbeast" set in Iraq, a bit of a tribute to our folks in camo. We hope you enjoy the work!

http://www.sciencefictionpaperbackbo...chael-h-hanson

We were even announced by SFscope http://sfscope.com/2010/11/shadaas-p...alypse-re.html

The Sha'Daa Anthology is finally for sale! The epic apocalyptic adventure in which a group of writers share a world and characters will be brought to the world by Cyberwizard Publications imprint. The series created by Mike Hanson and edited with Edward McKeown begins the tale of the apocaplyptic struggle that rages every 10,000 years on Earth. This series embraces everything from soul-shaking horror to comedy as it follows the engagement between humanity and hell in unexpected corners of the world featuring an introduction by famed SF writer, Mike Resnick!

http://www.sciencefictionpaperbackbo...the-apocalypse

I was contacted by a visionary fellow named, Michael Hanson. He was making the rounds of small press writers and publishers, recruiting talent for a shared anthology called "The Sha? Daa." Mike?s concept was that an apocalyptic event occurs every 10,000 years when the forces of evil break across the dimensions to Earth. The next Sha? Daa? is due to break out only a few years into our future. Mike came up with about twenty scenarios for writers to pick from to do stories. It was in his mind that the battle to come would be fought in odd places, by unlikely heroes, and run the gamut from true horror to comedy. It sounded fascinating and I signed on, picking a theme of unionized sewer workers battling demons in the underside of New York City.

A group of us began the Sha' Daa" journey together. Not all of us made it. One died, another battled serious illness, one?s computer flamed and took the work and their heart out of the project. One withdrew rather than be edited. Some of us did double duty and picked up an additional story and added to the growing epic. Lee Kuruganti graced us with her wonderful artwork and the book began to come alive.

Eventually we ended up with a quarter million words of Sha? Daa stories. We were in trouble. We?d not figured on the hardihood of our writers. Usually in such projects people talk big but don?t produce. Our Sha Daaists fought on, with writer after writer producing fine work, sometimes far in excess of the requested word count. I had been helping Mike behind the scenes on some of the editing when he realized that the mass of stories needed a more determined edit. To my surprise and great pleasure, Mike asked me to undertake it. I lost track of the hours I then invested in working the Sha? Daa". I was guided by one basic principle, "help the author tell THEIR story." It was a humbling and somewhat disturbing prospect for an author to take other people?s words in hand, for all that I have been in critique groups for years and led one. I reached back into that experience, remembering how my groups were always my first defense against bad writing. I quickly realized that no matter what I did we did not have one book on our hands but two and so was born, Sha? Daa" II "Beachheads."

The Sha? Daa," combines the vision of the following wonderful writers: Mike Hanson, Arthur Sanchez, Nancy Jackson, Edward McKeown, Lee Kuruganti, Deborah Koren, Wilson G Marsh, Jaime Schmidt, Duncan MacMaster, Adrienne Ray, Robert Adams, Tricia Ulaub, T. Anthony Truax, Terri Von Reiman, Robin Matheson and the late James Wasserman.

Good reviews!!

http://www.literalminded.com/story/b...les-apocalypse by Eric S. Brown and
http://staticmovement.com/reviewshadaa.htm
http://sfscope.com/2009/04/shadaa-is...ort-descr.html
http://www.darkscribemagazine.com/reviews
http://mirrordancefantasy.blogspot.c...onfiction.html
http://www.flamesrising.com/shadaa-tales-review/
http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/?p=6132
And now we are on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF7XeqYZPCM
and an interview with Mike
Hanson http://staticmovement.com/michaelhansoninterview.htm and http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Sonar4M...the-Apocalypse
We are for sale on :
Barnes and Nobles http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Sha.../9780982135242
AMAZON! http://www.amazon.com/ShaDaa-Tales-A.../dp/0982135246
Tower Books http://www.tower.com/shadaa-tales-ap...roduct_details

PERSONAL APPEARANCES AND MISC STUFF
Get ready for a triple-decker ham sandwhich with cheeze whiz topping as I ad-lib a Teminator for the Michener Museum in Doylestown. [COLOR=black]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6E4JTiO3ks

My Graduating Class at the OSC Boot Camp.
Edward McKeownWell I am back from Orson Scott Card's Book Camp. It was a great experience. I highly recommend it. I learned a great deal though it may be quite a while before I integrate it all into my head and my writing. This was serious work. We frequently ran to 10:30 or later. I ended writing a short story in less than th...ree hours, something I don't think I could have done any where else. Professor Card was a gracious host but a straight-shooting critic, this is not for the delicate. But this is the sort of training I see as invaluable to anyone serious about writing. http://www.hatrack.com/index.shtml

Concarolinas is in the bag for me and it was a great if somewhat bewildering experience. I met a lot of great authors including Jerry Pournelle and Allen Wold. The undoubted highlight of the Con was dinner with the lovely Claudia Christian and her talented husband David Honl. They were great fun to talk to and ...very quickly felt like old friends. http://claudia-christian.blogspot.com/

Official Website of actress Claudia Christian

claudia-christian.blogspot.com
Well once again I am struck by how kind, thoughtful and loyal sci fi fans are...the convention (which I replaced Peter Jurasic in the last minute) was very well run with a great selection of talented model maker's wares on display. ...

http://www.concarolinas.org/guest/guestview.php?gid=164

ConCarolinas 2010 / DeepSouthCon 48
Sci-fi Carolina Style, with a little Deep South thrown in
Location:Hilton Charlotte University Place http://www.concarolinas.org/guest/guestview.php?gid=164
Edward McKeown http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDzUay7RqBw,

Representation:

THE BOOKSavailable for publication contact me and I will put you in touch with my agent or handle direct on the unrepped ones.

Image by Michael Church Photographer (Wrik and Maaruo with her seated on the Wrik's ship "Sinner"

Transitions: is the story of the redemptive power of a friendship between Wrik Trigardt, disgraced pilot and Maauro, a 50,000-year-old combat android. Maauro is an ancient relic, who adopts the appearance of a young girl after Wrik discovers her on the asteroid base she assaulted millennia ago. They quickly become dependent on each other for survival on Kandalor, a lawless part of the universe hostile to both.

Wrik is haunted by his past, by the compromises he?s made with the local Guild crimelord to survive. He is severed from his past and his family.

Maauro, in comparison, is an innocent. Her operational life of eight years was spent in a war with a deadly species called Infesters. She killed then without hate as she was programmed to do. Maauro is not Pinocchio. She does not want to become human, but wishes instead to become more herself. In her own words: ?I am pleased that I need no longer fight. It frees me to experience options that were not available to me before. I will sample an existence free of war. Gather sunsets and gaze on stars for as long as I continue to function.?

But peace and security elude the pair who must face the Collector, a powerful Guild leader who seeks knowledge of the distant past. But when the well of time is disturbed, there is no way to tell what deadly powers will emerge from it.

Foresight: The second Maauro Book is being written right now with Maauro, Wrik, Jaelle and Dusko starting their "trouble agency" and finding it almost immediatley. These images were done by my good friend Michael.

In the first image from left to right Dusko, Jaelle, Wrik and Maauro are walking at the Star Central Spaceport.

Here Wrik finds Maauro frozen on the floating city of Tir-a-mar on the Neptunian gas giant of Cimer. (images by Michael Church http://www.michaelchurchphoto.com/ )

For following novel length work I am represented by the Swetky Literary Agency http://amsaw.org/swetkyagency/meetou...ction-J-R.html

Please see:

image by Michael Church

Shasti Rainhell at the destroyed military base of Gigor on Enshar

Was Once a Hero: Reluctant privateer Robert Fenaday searches the stars for his lost love. He?s joined by the genetically engineered assassin, Shasti Rainhell, whose cold perfection masks a dark past. Both are blackmailed by government spymaster, Mandela, into a suicidal mission to a doomed planet. Leading a team of scientists and soldiers, they must unravel the mystery of a planet?s death before an ancient force reaches out to claim their lives.
http://amsaw.org/swetkyagency/submis...onceahero.html

Shasti Rainhell, genetically engineered colonist from Olympia with her favorite toy

Fearful Symmetry: Having survived the nightmare world of Enshar, Robert Fenaday abandons privateering and his quest for his lost wife to begin life anew with the genetically engineered assassin, Shasti Rainhell. But spymaster Mandela has other plans for the pair, intrigue and murder on Shasti?s home planet of Olympia. Fenaday must fight his way to Shasti, facing her deadly creator and an alien mystery that could destroy the Confederacy. http://amsaw.org/swetkyagency/submis...lsymmetry.html

She's big,she's bad she can't be had, Shasti!

Points of Departure: completes the trilogy of Robert Fenaday?s search for his wife Lisa, and his companion and sometime lover Shasti Rainhell?s search for her humanity. The trilogy is written so the reader can pick up any of the books and have a complete SF adventure in hand, yet all three form the overarching story of Robert?s quest and Shasti?s emotional voyage of self-discovery. Robert Fenaday has survived monsters, rebellion on Olympia, and a fight to death with Jalgren Pard, lord of assassins.

Now he had slipped control of the confederate spymaster Mandela, renewing his quest to find his wife, Lt. Commander Lisa Fenaday. In the ruins of Pard?s fortress, Fenaday?s friend, Telisan, has unearthed Pard?s plot to ally with a new alien species that holds Lisa prisoner. Fenaday knows that his mission could trigger a war with these new aliens, the Voit-Veru, but he is long past caring. The weight that lies on his heart is a dual one. He had abandoned the quest while Lisa languished as a prisoner, believing her dead. Worse, he has fallen in love with another woman, Shasti Rainhell, the genetically engineered assassin created by Pard.

http://amsaw.org/swetkyagency/submis...departure.html

Hidden Stars: This is the first book of Shasti's own adventures and is meant to be read on its own, but she has "co-starred" in the previous Robert Fenaday series in Was Once a Hero, Fearful Symmetry, and From Which No Traveler Returns.

Shasti Rainhell, genetically engineered and artificially created for beauty and deadliness, commands the privateer Sidhe on a voyage into unknown space, facing new loves and dangers.

Shasti Rainhell is recruited by a Confederate spymaster for an expedition to find the origin of a new threat. A golden oval starship has landed on a Confederate world spreading death and panic. Where did it come from? What is lurking in the dark beyond known space?

http://amsaw.org/swetkyagency/submis...ddenstars.html

Recommendations for ?Was Once A Hero? http://amsaw.org/swetkyagency/submis...onceahero.html
The classic Planet Stories of S/F have suffered abandonment, without a rescuer, until now. Edward McKeown's "Was Once A Hero" combines adventure and romance with the dark humor and human complexities absent from a more black-and-white age. Robert Fenaday and Shasti Rainhell are real people. They make mistakes, they hurt, they stumble in the dark emotionally, and they save the world. They are flawed, wounded heroes, and they make you realize, as you hungrily turn each page, that the best fiction contains excitement and passion; and the best aspect of life is the possibility of personal redemption. Was Once a Hero provides both." Tim McLoughlin, author of "Heart of the Old Country" and Editor of "Brooklyn Noir"

Publications:
Fiction:

The Jermey Leclerc Knight Templar Series- an urban fantasy series set in present day Charlotte NC of the adventures of Jeremy Leclerc and his snarky guardian angel, Shadowheart.

I am happy to announce publication of the Jeremy Leclerc Knight Templar story "The Devil and the Details" in Wicked Witchery edited by Naomi Clark available from http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html

Shadows & Light (Volume II) http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-anthologies.html

The struggle between man and evil has always been a mainstay of fantasy. Pill Hill Press pays homage to this tradition in the sequel to their critically acclaimed anthology, Shadows & Light: Tales of Lost Kingdoms. Volume II features thirteen brand new magical tales of the epic battle between good and evil, including: Choices in the Dark by Ray Tabler, Master Race by Gerald Costlow, The Hand of Fate by David J. West, Azieran: The Secret in the Mist by Christopher Heath, Mania's Children by Gustavo Bondoni, Champion by Marc Sorondo, Night Ambush by Scott Harper & Diane Smith, The Tithe of Hell by Edward McKeown, The King of Sorango by John M. Whalen, Zhea by Gregory L. Norris, Spread Your Wings and Die by Lydia Sharp, Sons of Odin by John Richard Albers & Aquila's Ring by Cat Rambo.

"Kudzu Jesus" a tongue in cheek tale of a weed gone very, very bad, has been accepted for Leather, Denim and Silver Tales of the Monster Hunter http://www.pillhillpress.com/monsterhunter.html And her is the image by the artist Schelly Keefer that inspired the story

My story "Medi-Evil" from my Jeremy Leclerc Knight Templar series (urban fantasy set in present day Charlotte NC) is now for sale in the anthology Faeries http://www.pillhillpress.com/books.html

The Crosstime IX anthology is out on Amazon- it features two of my stories, the third place winner "the Audit" and " Devil You Know" both from my award-winning Jeremy Leclerc Knight Templar series of urban fantasy stories set in my hometown. The names have been slightly changed to protect the few innocent I know and of course, Samantha

Amazon.com: CrossTIME Science Fiction Anthology, Vol. IX (9781890109127): James M. Thompson, John A.
www.amazon.com

Lightning Strikes Twice! 2007 Crosstime SF Contest First Place for "Medi-evil" http://www.crossquarter.com/ available on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/CrossTIME-Scie...0832629&sr=8-2

23 House www.23house.com has purchased "Pas De Deux" a "Jeremy Leclerc Knight Templar" story for their anthology Nights of Blood II: Tales of the Vampire to be released in Spring 2009 Now available on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Nights-Blood-M...0807406&sr=8-2

The original Jeremy Leclerc story Templar has been extensively re-written and published in Serve in Heaven, Reign in Hell Edited by Naomi Clark
Cover Price $ http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-...-movement.html and unlike the previous incarnation this version doesn't require a brown paper wrapper ;-)

"Templar" the story of a modern day Knight Templar in Charlotte NC, will be published by Vampires2's print magazine in Feb 2008. http://www.vampires2.com/ (note- this site is a little on the spicy side you do need to be over 18 to use it.)

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The Lair of the Lesbian Love Goddess Series- The Lair series features Brian McManus, everman cop and later private detective, and his sexy partner, Regina Del Mar, and transgender sidekick Freddie Bouvier as they defend the 22nd Century spaceport of New York from alien bad guys.

The new improved "Lair of the Lesbian Love Goddess" coming from Hellfire in May 2011

Mars Needs Men- coming from Hellfire publishing in April 2011

"AND THE STORY OF YOUR LATEST SUCCESS KEPT THEM SO ENTERTAINED-" Billy Joel

It's a Threepeat!!! I am having some trouble believing it myself but for the third year in a row I just pulled first place in the 2008 CrossTIME Short Science Fiction Contest for the "The Robot Not Taken" a Lair Story. http://www.crossquarter.com/ The book was a finalist in the 2008 NM Book Awards and is available on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/CrossTIME-Scie...9790125&sr=1-1

Blood Sucking Gourmets from Outer Space" is being republished as the lead story of Vampires2's print magazine. http://www.vampires2.com/ (note- this site is a little on the spicy side you do need to be over 18 to use it. The cover is of my character Jelena of the Draoi however- the artist took liberties with her uniform... )

Cats with Wings has published the Lair Story, "Bone to Pick" in their inaugural issue 6/2007.

Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine May/June 2005 contains "Al Clone Capone" (a "Lair" series story).

Goremet Quisine, edited by Nancy Jackson has accepted, ?Bone to Pick? a ?Lair? series story.

Lowport edited by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, published by Meisha Merlin contains the award wining ?Lair of the Lesbian Love Goddess.? Published 9/2003.

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The Confederate Space Series- These stories,as with the Fenaday and Maauro Books are set in the shared universe of the Confederacy, a loose association of space-faring species including humanity as they endure the first major space way in history and the emergence of new species and threats within and without.

This anthology contains my non-violent SF story, "Beautiful Dreamer" I hope you enjoy the work. http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-...-movement.html

2006 Crosstime SF Contest First Place for "Beautiful Dreamer" http://www.crossquarter.com/products/SciFi05.htm and http://www.amazon.com/CrossTIME-Scie...e=UTF8&s=books

Beautiful Dreamer has been selected for the trade paperback edition of
Distant Passages: The Best from Double-Edged Publishing 2005 http://www.lulu.com/content/276255 2006

The Sword Review has published "Bedbugs" in Issue 19 http://www.theswordreview.com/ available for sale at http://www.lulu.com/content/589852

There is a nice review available at: http://www.tangentonline.com/index.p...899&Itemid=265

Altered Coordinates has republished my Confed Worlds story "Bedbugs" (3/2009)

Other works: here are the one-offs and other works that caught my fancy. A wild collection of stories and concepts

Look for my piece, "The People of Terra Firma" in Issue # 3 of Residential Aliens http://stores.lulu.com/resaliens

[FONT=Calibri]My story Forces of Evil, a light-hearted look at the Apocalypse from the point of two conscientous objector with the F.O.E is featured in this anthology from [FONT=Calibri][COLOR=#800080]http://www.pillhillpress.com/[FONT=Calibri] (2010)[FONT=Calibri][COLOR=#800080]http://www.amazon.com/Silver-Moon-Bloody-Bullets-Anthology/dp/0984261095/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1279111178&sr=1-1-fkmr1 AAAAWWWWwwoooooooo!!

Silver Moon, Bloody Bullets: An Anthology of Werewolf Tails

Edited by Jessica A. Weiss

ISBN-13: 978-0984261093

Cover Price $16.99

Silver Moon, Bloody Bullets is a collection of twenty-five claw-biting short stories that explore the myth of the werewolf and the lure of the full moon.

From gladiator fights and cursed blood lines to secret societies and anonymous meetings, the following talented authors have turned the mysteries of the werewolf inside out: Matthew S. Dent, Jay Raven, Kelly Metz, Christopher Jacobsmeyer, Mark Souza, Dale Carothers, David Bernstein, Scott M. Sandridge, Marianne Halbert, Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, J. Leigh Bailey, Dylan J. Morgan, Edward McKeown, F.J.R. Titchenell, Patricia Puckett, Jessy Marie Roberts, Ben Langhinrichs, Kiki Howell, D. Nathan Hilliard, Frank Summers, Christopher Heath, Rob Rosen, Carl Hose, Stephanie L. Morrell, and Lawrence R. Dagstine.

Leucrota Press http://www.leucrotapress.com/ has accepted "Must Have Own Weapons" for the 2008 Abaculus anthology Now Available for sale at http://www.amazon.com/Abaculus-II-Da...0829076&sr=1-1

Residential Aliens and Cyberwizards Publications have accepted "Failure to Communcate" for Strange Worlds of Lunacy in 2008 [COLOR=#0000ff]http://residentialaliens.blogspot.com/ Or the ResAlien's store link which is here:[COLOR=#0000ff]http://www.lulu.com/content/2342433

Residential Aliens has published "The People of Terra Firma" for Jan/2008 http://residentialaliens.blogspot.co...rra-firma.html

AtomJack has published "CEO" Feb/2008

Speculation Nation is printing a rewrite of "New York Minute" in their debut issue in 2008.

American Fiction published "Ed & Joey" A literary fiction piece in their November 2007 issue.

Raygun Revival has published "Final Exam" in as the lead story of issue 20 http://raygunrevival.com/ & http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_04_15.pdf

Barfing Frog has published the extended version of Rewrite! (2006)

The Best of AstoundingTales.com, Volume 1, edited by Arthur S?nchez and Keith Graham, contains "Graduation Day." This anthology includes the finest work published by AstoundingTales.com in 2004?05.

Planet Magazine, "Failure to Communicate" (2004)

Charlotte Writers Club Annual Award Anthology contains the award winning ?Work in Progress? http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/books.php Published 11/2004

Planet Magazine: ?People?? December, 2002 issue
Bloodlust Magazine, United Kingdom: May 2002 ?Blood-sucking Gourmets from Outer Space? This is the third story in the ?Lair? series.

Planet Magazine: ?New York Minute? June 2002 issue

Planet Magazine: ?Open Twenty-Four Hours? feature story December 2001 but can be read for free at http://www.fantasyreaders.com/free.cfm
Millennium Magazine: ?Everyone Thinks He?s Human? Nov 2000.

Captains Log #9: ?Ghostlight-One? A Stat Trek Story Set in the Star Fet Battes Universe

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Film and Audio

http://dunesteef.com/category/edward-mckeown/

Must Have Own Weapons by Edward McKeown

The story of this one originates with my favorite radio series, Car Talk on NPR with Tom and Ray Magliozzi. At the beginning of one show, Tom was reading from personal ads in the Boston paper and came up with this one. "Time-traveler seeks adventurous companion. Must have own weapons. I've done this before."

That expression kept running around in my head, must have own weapons. I thought what the heck, say I was asked to participate in an adventure and all I could use was stuff I had around the house. And ok, as a martial arts instructor and expert shot, my house might be just a tiny bit better equipped than the average for the sort of thing. I put together my time-traveler's kit of weapons and gear and then thought that it was kind of a shame that I wasn't off on some adventure. But being a writer gives you an option there. I came up with the story of a young man, just out of the military and a bad relationship and fed up with his crappy job, In short, in the emotional state to do something, particularly with the aid of cheap booze, completely wacky. So he answers the add and gets more than he ever expected.

It all goes to show that you just never know where the next bit of inspiration is coming from. Now I have to go, it's time to feed the velociraptor.

kind regards

Ed

At last,it's here. It's free and you can listen to it whereever you are. The Dunsteef players audio play of my story, "Open Twenty-Four Hours" Enjoy [COLOR=windowtext]http://dunesteef.com/ Tars Bokara has the unenviable task of seeking out the unlikely location of the long-lost planet Earth. When he finds it, he discovers a thriving business covering the entire world, with employees eager to please. Want to take a guess what their hours are?

The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine
dunesteef.com
First contact between humans and a being from another planet happens in the New Mexico desert, near a nuclear testing range. The humans are a group of wide-eyed teenagers, and the otherworldly being calls itself Hotkas. Hotkas does not come in peace. This was great fun as the "Dunesteef players" perform my short story Final Exam think of Orson Wells terrifying the world! Well, maybe a little less scary

Film

Ed had sold his first screenplay! A health film disguised as an SF thriller "Last Clean Chance" http://mecklenburg.granicus.com/Medi...p?publish_id=5

Story Line: The Mecklenburg County Health Department's most recent hit production is an 8 minute science fantasy thriller entitled "Last Clean Chance". Set in a bio-research lab, the movie stars two sisters who have lost their parents in a tragic accident. One of the sisters has been secretly working on a biological weapon based upon a mystery animal flu virus. A doomsday scenario is set in motion when the virus is leaked into the lab space occupied by Dr. Joanie Schell. Lisa, her younger sister and an intern at the lab, is called upon to save her sister and the planet by getting herself into the restricted area without setting off an irradiation protocol that will kill everything except the virus . Along the way, Lisa must wash the bio-weapon off her hands by using proper hand washing techniques. Tailored for young viewers, the movie teaches a valuable skill and reminds us of the number one way to prevent the spread of disease. Written by Ed McKeown and Gary Black, Directed by Frank McGough, and featuring Joe Travis as Director of Photography, the movie was shot in high definition (HDV), a first for the Department.

Also available on YOUTUBE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pyVitPu0Ik

Editorial Work

Non Fiction:

[COLOR=#0000ff]http://www.roguebladesentertainment.com/2011/08/words-of-the-sword-saint/#comments

?Words of the Sword Saint? by Edward McKeown

Musings on Miayamto Musashi and the Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho)

A long time ago in a land far, far away, there lived a very strange and dangerous man. He is known to as Miyamoto Musashi also called the Kinsei or ?Sword Saint? though a better translation might be Master of the Way of the Sword as his use of the weapon was hardly saintly in the Western Tradition. To those in the West he is hardly known outside of Japanophiles and martial artists. The most common image arises from a series of movies usually referred to as the samurai trilogy which show the growth of Musashi from a common ruffian to the ?beau ideal? of the samurai warrior.

> 2007 International Artist will publish my article on the life of Hungarian Artist Zoltan Szabo later their November issue yearhttp://www.international-artist.com/

SFWA Bulletin has purchased my article, "Mr President we have a First Contact Situation" for Spring 2007

The Science Fiction Writers of America Bulletin will publish my speculative essay, "What do we do with Flores Man?" in their fall issue for 2005. http://www.sfwa.org/bulletin/

The Pastel Journal has purchased, "The Art of the Critique Group- Schelly Keefer methods for establishing and running a critique group" for their December issue www.pasteljournal.com

"What I need know to own property and not get my butt sued off!" TouchStone Times Summer 2006 issue.

Charlotte Writers Club Annual Award Anthology 2005will contain the award winning ?Zoltan Szabo Remembered- A life in Art? http://www.mainstreetrag.com

Watercolor Magazine: Fall 2003 issue, ?The Light in the Darkness? www.myamericanartist.com

Pastel Journal: Nov 2002 issue,?The Art Techniques of Schelly Keefer?nonfiction, www.pasteljournal.com

Independence Blvd: ?A Quick Medium: A biography of the Artist Zoltan Szabo? Jan, 2000.

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Awards:

2010 "Replacment Hearts" my first real romance story recieved an honorable mention in this year's Crosstime SF contest.

2010 "The "Devil You Know" a Jeremy Leclerc (Templar Series) recieved an honorable mention in this year's Crosstime SF Contest

2010 My Jeremy Leclerc (Templar series) story "The Audit" received the third place slot in The 2010 Crosstime SF Contest and will be in this year's anthology. www.crossquarter.comwww.crossquarter.com
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]www.crossquarter.com

2008 Finalist New Mexico Book awards for "The Robot Not Taken" a "Lair Story" http://www.nmbookcoop.com and first place in 2008 Crosstime SF contest

2007 Honorable mention "Writers of the Future" for "Medievil" a "Templar" Story
2006 Crosstime SF Contest First Place for "Beautiful Dreamer"
2004 Charlotte Writers Club, Third place?Zoltan Szabo, A life in Art? Nonfiction
2003 Charlotte Writers ClubHonorable Mention, ?Work in Progress?
2003 Finalist in the North Carolina Elizabeth Simpson Literary contest, ?Dimensions?
2003 Fantasy Readers Hall of Fame, ?Bloodsucking Gourmets from Outer Space?
2003 Charlotte Writers Club, Honorable Mention for ?The People?
2002 Writer?s Digest Short Story Contest Honorable Mention for ?Lair of the Lesbian Love Goddess.?
2001 Finalist in the North Carolina Elizabeth Simpson Literary contest for ?Lair of the Lesbian Love Goddess.?
2000 First prize in the Canadian X the Unknown contest for 2000. ?New York Minute?
2000 Runner up in the same: ?Open Twenty-Four Hours.?

Articles:

Charlotte Observer 2006

Science Fantasy Thriller "Last Clean Chance" Released http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlot...h/14421322.htm

2002 Charlotte Observer People Section ?Artist and writer couple succeed.?

Ed's reviews and work with other authors:

I am proud to announce that I have joinged the staff of Abdandoned Towers Magazine as an editor http://abandonedtowers.com/blog/aban...agazine-staff/

I was recently asked to write an introduction to a wonderful piece of work by Sarah Wegner http://www.sarahwagner.domynoes.net/ (alias Shade 53 on SF reader) in her upcoming work "Hardwired Humanity" soon to be issued by Cyberwizard publishing's Altered Dimension Imprint. This is a terrific collection of stories on the intersection of man and machine, keep haunting the site until it is for sale. http://www.cyberwizardproductions.com/

See my Reviews:

http://www.sfreader.com/bbreviewer_r...eown&FN=Edward

Reviews of Ed's work

-Eric S Brown LiteralMinded http://www.literalminded.com/story/b...les-apocalypse Sha'Daa: Tales of the Apocalypse is an end of the world book like no other I have read before. The anthology was written by various authors whose tales weave together into a seamless novel, rather than a collection of related stories. It is set on a fictional world that is constantly under attack from Hellish creatures of other dimensional origins...

"The Dive", written by Edward McKeown, is the opening tale and one of its strongest in the anthology. It pits a band of sewer workers and a lone cop against the demons of the time of the Sha'Daa as they try to cross over into our world. The story possesses enough driving energy to match even the best "fast zombie" apocalyptic stories. After encountering The Salesman, the workers discover the demons in the sewer tunnels and suddenly are forced to find a way to stop them from reaching the surface and the teeming metropolis above who are blissfully unaware of their impending doom.

Selected Reviews of Lowport?s ?Lair of the Lesbian Love Goddess?

?Warning to fans of Lee and Miller?s Liaden: this anthology isn?t focused on that universe?s Low Ports, much as readers might like to see them at center stage for once. Rather, these stories are about the low ports of many worlds, comprising a sort of universe of scruffy towns like Mos Eisley on Tattoine in Star Wars, particularly the back streets and dreary cantinas of such places. As in almost any anthology, the content?s quality varies. But the idea behind the whole enterprise is to tell the stories of folks who usually play small parts in the background; that is, when authors don?t neglect them entirely. Despite the PC flavor that such a theme generates, the 20 authors involved here produce a number of original settings and some high-quality characterizations. Pay particular attention to the contributions of eluki bes shahar (aka Rosemary Edghill), Edward McKeown, Jody Lynn Nye, Laura J. Underwood, and in one of his relatively rare appearances at shorter-than-novel length, L. E. Modesitt.?

?Frieda Murray, Booklist
?It?s hard to get a handle on the kinds of stories you?ll find in Low Port by simply reading the title. Depending on your tastes, this could be a double-edged sword. What you won?t find in Low Port are stories about the larger-than-life characters that seem to populate so much of today?s popular fiction. What you will find, however, are stories about the characters that normally get only a passing mention or the unlikely heroes that get completely overlooked.

?That said, the stories in this anthology run the gamut. From Edward McKeown?s futurized crime noir tale, ?Lair of the Lesbian Love Goddess,? to Patrice Sarath?s tale of four adventuresome kids, ?More to Glory,? there should be at least a few stories in this book that would appeal to even the most selective reader. Nathan Archer?s ?Contraband? is the story of a customs inspector who discovers that a shipment of ?pets? is more than it seems. Paul E. Martens? ?The Times She Went Away,? tells of a female space adventurer and the profound impact she has on a port dweller?s life through the course of a handful of meaningful encounters. ?Bidding the Walrus,? by Lawrence M. Shoen is one of the anthology?s strongest efforts, recounting the story of a futuristic contractor?s near-disastrous foray into the world of Artificial Intelligence. Yet, editors Lee and Miller save the book?s most skillfully crafted story for last. Douglas Smith?s ?Scream Angel,? is a multi-layered tale about a circus that features a pair of angels who have the ability to produce a drug that produces pleasure based on intensity of emotion. Factor in that the owner of the circus is in love with one of the angels as well as addicted to the drug she produces, and the story quickly becomes one that holds the reader?s attention until the very end.

?Overall, this anthology is entertaining and has some thought-provoking stories that will keep readers on board in order to see what kind of odd scenario or character they will encounter next. Recommended for readers of any genre who appreciate a well-told story.?

?Jason Brannon, SpecFicWorld

?The ?low port? may be the lower decks of the space ship, the kitchen or the dungeon of a castle, the homeless of society, or even an orphan. They can be the lowest on the rung, but it doesn?t always mean they are the lowest of the low or the bottom of the barrel. Everyone has their pride and their dreams and that is what I find most admirable about this anthology.

?Digger Don?t Take No Requests? by John D. Teehan is the story of a panhandler on the Moon with his eyes set on the stars. Ru Emerson?s ?Find a Pin? is the story of a homeless girl and her mother living on the edge. Chris Szego?s tale of ?Angel?s Kitchen? is one of a strange meeting place. ?Lair of the Lesbian Love Goddess? by Edward McKeown is a charming tale of aliens and sex. Other stories are by Jody Lynn Nye, Lee Martindale, Laura J. Underwood, and Sharon Lee.

?This is an unusual and interesting group of stories by authors old and new, authors tried and true. Be sure to check out these stories. It may be about the lower level characters, but it is high-level adventure.?

?Barry Hunter, Baryon Magazine 91

?The fans of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller?s Liaden Universe? are many and widespread and, apparently, include not a few authors. The writing team has brought together this time not an adventure of the aristocratic families of Clan Korval, Clan Mizel and the other high-powered families of that universe, but the people who normally go unnoticed. It would be a mistake to call them ?average??there are thieves and addicts and agents and biomeds and saviours. The characters of Low Port are the beings that keep the world going while royalty dances among the stars. And the stories of these survivors have a flavour that is uniquely their own.

?All is not gloom and despair in these well-chosen stories, however. A wry humour radiates from the garbled world in Joe Murphy?s ?Zappa for Bardog,? with a lead character that is lovable, if untouchable, and a refusal to give up among the rebellious beings. An edgier wit peeks through the dangerous prose in ?Gonna Boogie with Granny Time??a contribution from Sharon Lee herself that earns its position in this irresistible anthology. And, title aside, ?Lair of the Lesbian Love Goddess? shows off Edward McKeown?s sly and clever mastery of the joke left unsaid.

?Lisa Dumond, Black Gate Magazine, MEviews

Links

The friends and their work

My good friend Kim Wright's book trailer care of Indievision.com for "Love in Midair" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDzUay7RqBw available for sale at http://loveinmidair.com/

http://www.akashicbooks.com/heart.htm Tim's book was made into the movie- "The Narrows" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1008010/

Reader sympathy!

Will Macmillan Jones — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:02:14 GMT

For those on the site who have not yet written, please be sympathetic! having just had my first book published, frankly my head is still in the shed, and there's a whirlwi9nd of tasks demanding attention to actually sell the book.

Not what you think about the time you first turned on the WP and started to type...

Debut writer, lost in the clouds

Will Macmillan Jones — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:53:01 GMT

Originally Posted by Will Macmillan Jones

Hi Guys,

A quick introduction: I'm a debut novelist, writing comic fantasy, signed for a full series to a new indie publisher. My first book is available via Amazon and other retailers as paperback or ebook.

I've been a fantasy reader ever since my parents bought me a copy of the Hobbit when I was eight, so all this is their fault really.

Any of you who've been on Authonomy will have seen me there, and if you haven't had the FB or twitter feeds for my screed of bad jokes, WHY NOT?

New Anthologies from Aeon Press

bobn — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:43:09 GMT

Aeon Press have published two new anthologies - Transtories and Box of Delights. Transtories is SF, Fantasy and Dark Fantasy while Box of Delights is Horror. Transtories features stories by Writers of the Future winner Aliette de Bodard, Lawrence M. Schoen and Robert Neilson (me). Box of Delights features such luminaries as Hugo winners Mike Resnick and Kristine Katherine Rusch. They really are well worth checking out.