Secrets & Mysteries

May 20, 2013| cometary| 0 Comment | 12:49 am

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For the rest of May and well into June, I’ll be reporting on a recent time-travel journey. In real time, the trip took just over 300 hours. We began with a quick jump of about 1 million years, but worked our way all the way back to the Pre-Cambrian, over 600 million years ago. There were were twenty-one in our party at the outset, twenty when I left to return to the chaos of the latest millenium. And seven went on to explore further, and I’ll always wonder what I missed. For now, that need will have to be satisfied by sharing the discoveries of that two-week expedition.

I may have to make some side trips into the future, as I’ve committed to attend BayCon 2013 (aka Triskaedekaphobicon). Trading trilobite searches for autograph hunts.

PassagePassage

Eclipsed Moon With Spica

A few weeks ago, we had a beautiful lunar eclipse visible in North America. It was well worth sitting out to watch the Earth’s shadow advance until the Moon was completely covered and glowing with a warm red hue, then retreat until the Moon shone bright once again. Here is a combination of a poem written for a workshop many years back, inspired by another lunar eclipse, with a few photos from this year’s event. Multitudes of astrophotographers caught fine images of that eclipse. This time, my equipment on hand was my hardy little point-and-shoot Lumix, which yielded many images suitable for artistic manipulation, especially with effects added by the drifting fog that interrupted our clear view. Mars was in view as well, so I’ll include one image with Mars. Can you spot it?

I watch the Mother walk my night, spreading her darkness through my shadows. She turns to me as the night turns, and I watch, I gaze, rapt in the music of her light.
Wrapped round and full in the stillness of this, my night, she draws in light and darkness from the sky, and sets them in my hands and at my feet, until the whole land is an image of sky, until I am full, full round and whole, wholly wrapped in the music within my darkness.
She waxes as the night wanes, and I gaze, gaze, until I dream I am a fish which has never before known water, and now, for the first time, breathes … until I dream I am a child who has never known her name, and now, for the first time, dreams …
dreams she stands with a woman, a stranger, in a land which bears an image of sky. The other, the stranger, is silent beside her, while she speaks to the mother as a favored daughter. As she speaks, I give back through my hands the light and darkness which is the sky until the land rests again beneath my shadows, until the child knows me for herself.
Even as we greet and join each other, the Mother steps over the edge of the world. Even as the stars first claim the sky, I breathe the mist of my first morning.

2021 Final Roundup2021 Final Roundup

I promised a post on my so-called accomplishments of the past year. It’s a decent exercise, especially when the year ahead looks so daunting. I’ve had to slap some provisional titles on works in progress, but that’s part of the fun. So, without further ado:

Fabulous Accomplishment	What Bit of Writing It Has to Do With
One short story published in an SFF market, both digital and print	Parrish Blue
Finished first revision cycle with Wind and Smoke, divided the work, and completed second round revision with Volume 1.	Wind and Smoke (work in progress)
Finished a two-book entry to my series, revised and submitted Book 1, nearly completed revisions on Book 2	Shadows of Insurrection (submitted) Fires of Resolution (WIP, in final revisions)
Talked a regular reader into reading the first two volumes of Lidian’s Promise, made decisions on updates needed to go to market.	A Sorcerer in Levoigne (WIP) Strangers in Almadina (WIP)
Wrote, revised, and had a short story published in an anthology, PLUS experienced having that story nominated for the Pushcart Prize.	“Heart’s Delight” (anthologized in Fault Zone: Reverse)
Wrote, revised, advocated for, and had published a neurodivergent short story.	“Reunion” (anthologized in Fault Zone: Reverse)
Wrote, revised, and had accepted a middle-grade SF novella for a shared-universe collection	The Smugglers (planned for mid-2022)
Wrote, revised, performed, and had accepted a humorous short story for a shared-universe collection	“Coke Machine” (planned for spring 2022)
Submitted multiple entries to the California Writer’s Club (CWC) SF Peninsula Chapter’s Literary Stage competition, won awards for opening chapter for a diverse-characters novel, a humorous madcap short story, a structured poem (a sestina), and a short story.	A Sorcerer in Levoigne (Chapter 1), “Coke Machine,” “Trap” (poetry), “Solitary Dances” Note: the contest does not involve publication, but awards are listed on the SF Peninsula Chapter website.
Launched a newsletter and published the first eleven monthly issues (Twelfth issue came out in January 2022.)	*Tales from the Oort Cloud* What do you mean? You haven’t subscribed yet? EZ box on this page. Pop-up roaming the page. Link in the title and right here. Go for it. You won’t be sorry.
Attended the Nebula Awards Conference online	(I’ve volunteered to help at the 2022 conference.)
Served on four panels at Octocon, the Irish National Science Fiction Convention	Moderated a panel on the isekai subgenre in anime, and another on global optimistic futures, took part in an improv panel (Orbital Tidy Town Committee), and a science panel on energy futures
Volunteered a full schedule at WorldCon virtual	Hosted Kaffeklatsches, monitored panels, teched a publishing workshop.
Performed a reading with Strong Women, Strange Worlds	All That Was Asked No video, but similar to a reading on Fairy Princess Lolly‘s livestream program last year.
Performed a reading on Fairy Princess Lolly’s livestream series, Author Reads	“Parrish Blue” Part of a longer program. You’ll find this reading at T= 53:47 in the video.
Became board-adjacent on SF-Pen chapter of CWC as runner of open mics	Fourth Tuesday open mics
Provided a second year of tech support for the South Bay Writers chapter of CWC	Open mics on First and third Fridays
Updated my website, with a proper landing page, the blog in its own territory, and space for appearances.	Cometary Tales (you are here!)
Increased my vast followership on Twitter (hahaha)	Up to 241 for Cometary Tales and 204 for Pixel Gravity
Sold some copies of my book!	“Some” is as close as you’re going to get to a number, here.
Also: racked up several agent rejections, practiced pitches and studied statistics of twitter pitch contests, and wrote four (count ’em! FOUR!) blog posts!	Tally Ho!

I should note that at each of the open mics I manage, I also take part, sharing excerpts from works in progress as well as poetry and related works.

I’ve also been diligent at showing up for my critique partners and my non-critique writing group, even if I can’t be there in person. That boils down to 10-12 hours a week of reviewing colleagues’ work, accepting notes on my work, and discussing craft and our work together in online meetings.

Lessons of a BayCon Gofer: Jill of All TradesLessons of a BayCon Gofer: Jill of All Trades

In 2014, BayCon had its traditional four days to work with, and Friday was an ease-into-the event day. This was a great time to turn up at the Gofer Hole and ask if they needed help. “Yes!” being the inevitable answer. Warning: if you try this, there ARE forms! If you are a kid, there are parental signatures required. So I signed away liability for the horrific injuries and possible death that might occur as a result of my participation in the duties of a fetch-and-carry helper in a nice hotel constructed to meet modern building codes. More likely: infection by a zombie virus, but ha on them, they didn’t mention zombie viruses in the release form.

The reward for filling out forms: my first badge ribbon of the Con. Yes, this means I am Gofer #18. Shades of Caddy Shack.

Meet Gofer #18

So what does a Gofer do? Take a deep breath, plunge in. Oh, it is soooooo difficult.

Job #1: Go to the Big Ballroom, to help set up for some event tonight. No idea what the event is. The person who called for help? He’s not there. No one knows what he wanted done. But the guy hanging lights at the Art Show needs an assistant.

Job #2: Help hang lights at the Art Show. Now, actually hanging the lights is a Skilled Job, not a Gofer job. My job is to hand cable ties to the exhausted electrical tech, whose ladder-climbs for the weekend have already gone into the triple digits. And to help spot weak links in the chain of power-strips and extension cords feeding electrons to the downlamps positioned to light the display boards for the art. Artists are already checking in, placing their work, jockeying for prime display spots in the venue. Still, we proceed up and down rows with a stepladder and a bundle of cable ties.

Job #3: The original person who wanted help is back. He needs a banner snapped onto a big framework thingy. It’s a multi-gofer job that takes some cooperation, especially amusing as none of us assisting with this thing have any idea what it’s for. My engineering brain helps with figuring out the layout itself, and we get the fabric stretched out nicely, but my partner gets to actually do most of the actual attachment, since there is a power element to the task.

Job #4: Hang around in the Gofer Hole, being On Call. Seriously, being available counts as working. Yes, indeed, this is even better than counting billable hours in my consulting practice. Dang, if only I could bill clients for time I’m home & my phone and email connections are working. There are snacks here—bagels, mmmm. And electrical outlets, so I can plug in my netbook & work on a Messy Monday project.

Job #5: Schlep groceries for a party. Some longtime VIP staffers are having a private party. Their goodies for the party are stowed in the Gofer Hole. We On-Call Gofers have the hugely easy job of carrying the goodies a hundred feet down the hall. [Hint: helping with a party does entitle one to partake of the party. Generally speaking. I did not take part, having a prior engagement with a soda machine.]

Job #6: Load sodas into the Charity Soda Machine. This is a magical device in the Games Room that converts geeks’ need for carbonated sugar- or aspartame-water into monies for this year’s charity fundraising. I was briefly concerned that I would run into difficulties with my limited weight-lifting capabilities. But the job soon devolves into a three-stage process free of excessive lifting:

Stage A: Wander about looking for the Keeper of the Soda-Machine Keys.

Stage B: Wait for the Individual Authorized to Use the Humungous Hand Truck

Stage C: Leave when Keeper of the Machine appears and disavows any need for help

Job #7: Build a LARP set. Someone has created a live-action role-playing version of a card-based game called “Kill Dr. Lucky”. This is a game I have never heard of, but someone has gone to great lengths to build an accurate, room-sized playing field that live humans can walk about on as if they are playing pieces in the game. Our mission: assist this charismatic lunatic by moving chairs out of the way, laying out the sheets his friend has carefully marked out with lines and labels, getting each in proper orientation to the other and smoothing out the boundaries with tape. By the time we are done, I’m determined to show up and try out this LARPing thing.

And by this time, I’ve put in totally enough time as a Gofer for one day, while the activities I’m least interested in on the program are conveniently over.

My Very Own Ray Gun

I have time to dash up to the DIY room before dinnertime and make myself a cool ray gun by artistically decorating a plastic gun with gold and silver and red and purple and green Sharpies. It is my favorite toy already. So shiny.

And I wouldn’t want anyone to think one has to devote the entire day just Gofering about. I did skip an hour of possible On-Call credit for a panel on the relative merits of James Bond and Doctor Who. And regretted it. There is no contest. Doctor Who is way, way cooler than James Bond, but the panel was mostly a bunch of guys keen on car chases in movies.

Finally, yes, I did get to play Kill Dr. Lucky. It was super fun, and while I cannot claim to be the One Who Did the Deed, the evil Dr. L was indeed assassinated. Here is our team’s creative enactment of the impending demise of the successful assassin.

Let’s Get Doctor Lucky’s Killer

Gofer Lesson of the Day: Sign up early & there will be lots of easy jobs to do while the con is barely getting started. There’s never a dull moment, or if there is, you can get credit for working by napping while On Call. And don’t leave home without a suitable weapon.

Have Ray Gun, Will LARP

Secrets & Mysteries

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2021 Final Roundup2021 Final Roundup

Lessons of a BayCon Gofer: Jill of All TradesLessons of a BayCon Gofer: Jill of All Trades