Science Fiction Newsletter - Jan 2012

For a full list of previous issues, go to: "Science Fiction Newsletter - Archives" 

January 8, 2012

Editor: EarlyHours-A Vigilante Ranger
Co-Editor: D. R. Prescott






1. About this Newsletter
2. Letter from the Editor
3. Special Feature
4. Editor's Picks
5. Ask & Answer

We Are Science Fiction

         The New Year is always a time to assess, reassess and plan for the upcoming year. One of the things I do every year is contemplate my involvement here on Writing Dot Com (WDC), and try to formulate WDC New Year's Resolutions. I've never gone as far as participating in the "Dear Me: Official Contest" , but I've thought about it a few times. In past years, I have resolved to increase my reviewing, try my hand at poetry, enter contests, put on auctions, and become more active in the "Vigilante Angel Ranger Team" .

         This year, my WDC Resolutions and attention is on this Newsletter: trying to decide on topics, finding ways to increase the number of subscribers, encouraging participation by readers, and wondering if I can keep up the monthly pace for another year. But after reading this month's Special Feature, The Sci-Fi Gene, by D. R. Prescott , I decided that I'm definitely putting my efforts into the right genre . I'm not sure that I can maintain the monthly consistency, but Don's essay did make me think about why I like Science Fiction in the first place. And that reminded me why I like to write, and why I do the Newsletter. In the Letter From The Editor, I talk about the things I like about Science Fiction. How about you? What is it about Science Fiction that you like? Post it and discuss it with other readers at the "Science Fiction Newsletter Forum" !

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Alan Kay

What I Like About Science Fiction

         I love to read, write and listen to science fiction. The worlds built and the concepts and ideas presented describe things that are just around the time corner. Science Fiction promises us things that are possible, but just out of reach (at least for a while). Many Sci-Fi stories are years ahead of their time. Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash described his "Metaverse" long before Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) came to the Internet. And robotics and Artificial Intelligence were the brainchildren of Science Fiction writers. And let's not forget All That Star Trek Stuff (ATSTS) . This is one of the things I like about Science Fiction: it makes the mind limber, allowing it to have a smooth transition form what "is" to what "may become."

         In school I was one of those nerdy science geeks with the pocket protector and slide ruler. Science has always inspired me. I've pondered the infinity of space and the paradoxes of time. I've thought about traveling faster than the speed of light and unifying the Field Theories. But it's not just the science that interests me. If it were, I'd just read a physics book. It's the fiction that hooks me; the speculation; the What If.

         I decided that there are specific things that draw me to the Science Fiction genre, and make a story particularly satisfying:

The Science: Like most Sci-Fi fans, I demand that the science be accurate. It must be derived from current knowledge, be believable, and be explained logically.

Escapism: Since I generally read to escape from the daily grind, I want to read, watch or listen to stories that are way beyond the mundane. Alien encounters, time travel, death stars, planets ruled by apes, Slurm. Sign me up!

Thought Provoking: I like to escape, but a little social commentary is okay too. What happens when the population overruns the planet? What if science creates a deadly microorganism or nano-machine? What will the future bring regarding class structure, racism, extremism, or eugenics? What does it mean to be human?

Relationships: Like other genres, the most captivating Science Fiction stories include plots and subplots dealing with interpersonal relationships. If you set a human-human, human–alien, or human-robot relationship against the backdrop of science, time and the Universe, count me in! I'm not a big face of the Romance genre, but I have to admit that adding a great love story to great Science Fiction never hurts the story. Two lovers, a perfect planet, just the right combination of gravity, magnetic field, ozone layer, atmosphere and pheromones... Science Fiction escapism at its best!

Hot Chicks (or guys if you prefer): OK, I'll admit that this is a stretch. How about Princes Leia? Or Ellen Ripley from Alien, Seven of Nine, or Lisa from Weird Science? And I can't leave out Futurama's Turanga Leela (she has such a lovely eye). I think that's about it for the women, but a female friend mentioned these examples of hot guys in Sci-Fi: Han Solo, Jean-luc Picard, Neo and Robert Neville. And then I added Java the Hutt and Philip J. Fry to her list.

"We all want to escape occasionally. But science fiction is often very far from escapism, in fact you might say that science fiction is escape into reality... It's a fiction which does concern itself with real issues: the origin of man; our future. In fact I can't think of any form of literature which is more concerned with real issues, reality." Arthur C. Clarke

"For me science fiction is a way of thinking, a way of logic that bypasses a lot of nonsense. It allows people to look directly at important subjects." Gene Roddenberry

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The Sci-Fi Gene

by D. R. Prescott

         Take an impressionable five year old, mix in a little science, and a generous portion of fiction and you get a lifelong fan of science fiction. In 1949, I watched the first episodes of Captain Video and His Video Rangers and followed them along until the series was cancelled in 1955. The tiny screen burst forth with things that prickled adolescent synapses.

         Sure, the acting was shallow, the props stretched credibility, and the plots, especially the early ones, lacked sophistication. Still, there was something about it that sparked my imagination and kept me coming back for more in spite of a nightmare created by an episode where Captain Video was carrying on a conversation with a head sticking out of a box, fashioned to be the heads body. I woke up screaming and the afterimages of a disembodied head and hairy arm dangled directly overhead in midair before my eyes. The head had no arms in the Captain Video story line. That was my little embellishment to my intense nightmare.

         Undaunted, and in spite of my grandmother's objections, I continued to watch Captain Video and His Video Rangers day after day since it was on for a half hour, five or six days a week at the start of prime time—7 p.m. EST. I convinced her that I liked science and had gotten over my predilection to that particular nightmare. The truth is I had a few similar nightmares but, after that initial one, was able to wake up before I made too much noise.

         Here is a YouTube video link for you to judge for yourself the vigor and intensity of a half-hour segment of a 1949 Captain Video and His Video Rangers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hjyiBWz9MA This video punctuates the low budget and, often, the makeshift nature of the early shows. Laughter is allowed as you watch it. Of course, in my own defense, one might ask: How discriminating a five year old would be? Of course, what about the adults who got caught up in the series? What bit of television magic captured their attention?

         Somewhere toward the middle of the show, there was usually a cut to a "B" cowboy flick touted as more of the captain's rangers fighting evil out Wild West followed by five or ten minutes continuing story capped with a teaser to entice you to watch the next night. The commercials added to the thrill encouraging you to buy Powerhouse candy bars and send in wrappers with a nickel or dime to receive your very own secret, identifying Captain Video Picture Ring. I wish I still had mine. (Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmKgK_I0wqY and see the enticement that must have been irresistible to young lad with stars in his eyes and disembodied heads dangling overhead as he slept.) How could one resist eating their way to getting a secret ring through the mail?

         Here's the funny part. My grandmother sat down to watch the episode immediately after my first nightmare supposedly to monitor the stuff I was watching and put the clamps on me. As the ticklers from night to night urged viewers to tune in for the next installment, whatever magic lay beneath that veneer of immature television production must have gradually cast its spell upon her. She started watching it with me every night! Eventually, my grandfather watched too! They became fans of the program as did many other adults around my neighborhood.

         At times, we would talk about things that were suggested in the show. Stars and planets in the night sky took on new meaning for me. Those discussions continued into first grade, usually when I came home from school for lunch, however, not until the last few moments of the tear-jerking Love of Life episode was over and the used Kleenex cleared away. Anticipating the next episode, I would run back to school with my head swirling with possibilities.

         The more that we speculated on ways Captain Video might solve a seemingly insoluble problem or fight off the evil forces threatening humanity, my nightmares disappeared, replaced with my crude drawings of spaceships and planets done at my little desk beside the ice box (not a refrigerator) in the pantry.

         Whether you were attracted to science fiction by Space Patrol, Tom Corbett-Space Cadet, Captain Video, Star Trek, Star Wars, or TV series like The Outer Limits or Twilight Zone, something fired your Sci-Fi gene. Can you pinpoint that moment when you were hooked? I remember lazy summer days in the mid to late fifties reading Asimov, Heinlein, or Superman comics under a shade tree in the yard? I know where my gene got turned on—sixty-two years ago by Captain Video on a tiny television screen.

         When was yours? What was your trigger?

"Anything you think can be held against you." Phillip K. Dick

Here is an item of interest to writers of all genres, including Science Fiction:

ID: 1829736   (Rated: 18+) Inside or Outside  Simple guidelines for creating effective openings for stories and scenes by Max Griffin

Short Stories:

ID: 1822750   (Rated: E) The Future Begins  character development, using dialogue only. Mission to capture asteroid. For contest. by Ironworker

ID: 1794828   (Rated: 13+) Luna's Box  A discovery beneath the surface of the moon by Jonas

ID: 1839104   (Rated: E) The Bird  A cautionary tale of environmental degradation, short attention spans and dinosaurs. by Jason S Haden

ID: 1175396   (Rated: 13+) Chapter 1- A Cure for Immortality  A wanted outlaw finds herself face-to-face with an alien believed to be extinct. by Sara King

ID: 1737474 Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. by Not Available.

ID: 1837886   (Rated: 18+) Megaloblatta  Mars Mission One - Year - 2050 by Coffeebean

ID: 1780881   (Rated: 13+) Aurora's Humanity  "They called themselves humans. She had done everything she could for them." by PatrickB-new biz with MissBee

ID: 1832748   (Rated: 18+) The Hidden Light  Tolstoy meets Star Wars in this epic tale of war, death and the true nature of humanity by Jamie Folk

Poetry:

ID: 1135828   (Rated: 13+) Warped  Written for "Not Another Love Poem" contest...a mirror is a time machine. by Lynn

ID: 1828905 Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. by Not Available.

Guest Editors Wanted!

For upcoming issues of the Unofficial Science Fiction newsletter, I would like to invite subscribers to contribute. We are currently taking a tour of the Solar System, looking for interesting destinations for our stories' characters. Consider writing a "Special Feature," based on this or any other scientific of sci-fi interest you may have. Don't hesitate to contact me anytime if this appeals to you! -ed.

Last month's Newsletter topic was Faster Than Light Neutrinos

:

Budroe is Blessed! : "Great newsletter that is relevant. I am struck with awe for those who actually understand the fullest implications of what FTL Neutrinos will do to our scientific understanding of the world we live in, and the universe around us. This is really good work, and I appreciate the obvious effort. I subscribed."

31245bob: "I enjoyed your work on neutrinos. The humor was exellent. A while back I wanted to do a sci-fi piece on breaking the time /light barrier the hard way (speed) therefore discrediting Eintsien's theory of relativity. I searched the internet for something on the speed that Sol is moving through space. Found a web site that stated the milky way galaxy is rotating at a speed of 135,000 miles per second (if my memory serves me right) carrying our primary right along with it. If this is true (you can't believe everything you find on the internet) then a moving body would only have to achieve another 51000 miles per second to break the time/light barrier if your going the same way through space that Sol is. That is rather simplistic but worked for me when I wrote The First Time Traveler to wdc."

LinnAnn-2x-NaNo Winner : (Regarding Faster Than Light Neutrinos): "...I"m using them in my novel series. need something faster than light to sen da signal 'waaay out' there. lol... I was planning on being sufficiently vague about it, except to use the neutrinos to send a message. Think that will fly?"

Thank you so much everyone! I really appreciate the feedback from readers. Keep it coming! - ed.

Don't Be Shy! Write Into This Unofficial Newsletter!

Reader feedback and comments is important to the Unofficial Science Fiction Newsletter (USFNL). Much of the Newsletter's content is based on reader feedback and discussion. Feedback can always be sent directly to EarlyHours-A Vigilante Ranger , but to make discussion even easier, a USFNL Forum has been set up. Feel free to post and interact at the Forum; some of the discussion may end up here! And don't forget to add the Forum (below) to your list of Favorites, and post often!

ID: 1703191   (Rated: 13+) Science Fiction Newsletter Forum  Discussion of NL Topics, Reader Feedback, Ask & Answer by EarlyHours-A Vigilante Ranger

Please check out our "sponsor":

ID: 1617315   (Rated: 18+) The Sci-fi Writers Guild  Collaborations, discussions and reviews - Welcome to the Sci-fi Writers Guild by EvilDawg - A Vigilante Ranger!

Thanks for reading, and see you next month!

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