Finding #Inspiration

Back in 2011 I wrote my first short story in nearly thirty years - The Bones of the Sea. This was before I became part of the crew at Spacefreighters Lounge, but Laurie invited me to guest post about it, so this was not only my first publication but my first appearance here (thanks Laurie). You can read that original post and the inspiration behind it right HERE.

But yesterday, with spring clearly reclaiming the UK, my family and I were once more at the beach that inspired that story. It was a gloriously sunny day, and the warmest of the year so far at a very balmy 17 degrees C. We were picking up clams and cockleshells, discovering strange green blobs in pools left behind by the tide, and essentially enjoying the sunshine. Then my husband, who'd forgotten to bring his phone, asked me to take a photo of a barnacle-encrusted spike of wood for him. I obliged, and instantly saw an opportunity for a few more artistic shots. I adore natural 'sculptures'.

And straight away muse was saying 'seadragon spines'. I've got to admit she has a point. With their rocky coating of barnacles, these splintered pieces of wood, either an old boat or part of a groyne look like the bony plates from something like a Stegosaurus or dragon. Or perhaps some kind of sand dwelling monster shark or Godzilla waiting beneath the surface to pounce on an unsuspecting victim! From The Bones of the Sea to the Spines of the Sea. A possible sequel? Maybe. Right now it's just an idea, not a story, but from such inspiration stories are born.

So when writers say they can find inspiration in anything, they really do mean it. From a simple walk on the beach to a potentially world-changing discovery such as the possible Jurassic era pyramids Laurie has just blogged about. 

Pippa's Journal

Mission Success!

Not only has spring kicked off with a glorious start on the weather front, but so has my life in publishing, compensating for a pretty awful beginning to 2014. Hot on the heels of my contract for my YA paranormal romance novella RIP, I've also signed a contract for my SciFi romance novella Tethered. Woot! Plus I'll be releasing a cyberpunk short story - Reboot - on the 31st March. Swing by my blog on the 24th March for the cover reveal (or you can sign up to my newsletter HERE and get a sneak peek a day early!). With a paranormal romance short story releasing in October, this could effectively double my current number of titles by the end of this year or the beginning of next. I also have a super secret project starting this week, but I can't tell you anything about that. The timescale for that also depends entirely on how edits and release dates pan out with the contracted titles. This has meant the original projects for the next three months of this year have been moved all the way over to 2015 already. Yeah, I'm that busy! Just shows you how much difference a few weeks can make. Right now I just have one more novella out on submission, and should that be rejected I've had a request for it elsewhere. So I'm hopeful of a third contract in the next few months. If not, I still won't be lacking for things to do.

Discoveries
Build your own solar system - a handy tool for constructing your theoretical planets found by IllaesusCandor Sans Tache HERE.
Free writing classes at Coffeetime Romance HERE!
Ideas for Scifi writers found by Sabine Priestly HERE.

Happenings
Scifi author Michael Formichelli is running a series of blog posts on 'romance across alien lines (romance between humans and aliens)' and I'm one of the contributors. The series will start on the 14th at his blog HERE.
Starla Huchton will be doing an interview at my blog on Monday for the release of her first book in her superhero series HERE.

Ping Pong
Donna, I guess we just haven't hit escape velocity yet. Perhaps SFR will be a more slow burn into space than a rocket launch.
Laurie, I really hope we hear more about the Jurassic era pyramids...preferably before someone blows them up. :/

Jurassic Pyramids?

There's a story that's all abuzz on the internet the last few days. Supposedly, a series of pyramids were discovered in Crimea, Ukraine. They are said to be the oldest on Earth...in fact, they could date back to the Jurassic period!

You can Google "Jurassic pyramids" or "Crimean Pyramids" to see some of the various stories and videos or click the links below to read about this latest sensation. (And how cool that this story popped up just after Amy Riddle-DeClerck started an active discussion on ancient civilizations on the SFR Brigade discussion group.)

Apparently these pyramids were discovered in 1999, revealed to the world in 2002, more widely speculated on in the latter half of 2012 and jumped to viral sensation since March 1st. Odd that we haven't heard much of these Jurassic Pyramids before now.

Entrance leading to one of the Pyramids

The mysterious structures are said to be underground, buried under layers and layers of sediment, and were discovered by Ukrainian scientist Vitalti Gokh (sometimes spelled Goh) who was searching for water. According to Gokh, there is a shaft that leads directly to one of one pyramids. Gokh estimated the size of the structures as 45 meters in height and a length of about 72 meters. Accounts vary as to the number of pyramids, which is somewhere between 7 and 37.

Perhaps the story finally became of global interest now that there are reportedly a large number of Russian troops present in the area. A few sites are even asking if this is the real reason why Russia is focusing on this particular area of Crimea. Hmmm....

Some reports claim the pyramids give off energy at certain times--possibly presenting a new energy source that Russia would prefer the rest of the world not discover or exploit. The structures are said to be in the shape of the Egyptian pyramids (smooth-sided) but truncated at the top like the Mayan pyramids. (I haven't found a clear explanation of how the size, number or shape of the pyramids has been determined when they are buried.)

Reported Location of the Crimean Pyramids

Several recent articles--that seem to have originated from the same source--also claim that buried under one of the pyramids is "a small body in the form of a mummy, 1.3-1.4 meters long with a crown on his head." Supposedly Vitalti Gokh first revealed this in an interview with ICTV. The implication being that the body can't possibly be human when the pyramids date to an geological era long before humans and even most early mammals had evolved. There's also a mention of a structure that is sphinx-like with a resonance chamber, and at least one of the pyramids is underwater.

My gut feeling is that most of the information is probably a grossly exaggerated or greatly enhanced by speculation, but it is intriguing if these structures do exist in some form. If truly that old, they certainly weren't built by the dinosaurs.

So who or what built them?

Or could the dating methods possibly have been in error? Or entirely fictional.

Diagram of pyramid construction
from Coppens' site.

This article on the Crimean Pyramids by Phillip Coppens reads like a less sensational and more scientific approach to the facts. It states the Crimean Pyramids (or pyramid) were originally discovered in 1999 and later dated to about 12,000 to 14,000 years old by a team of scientists, before much more outrageous claims were put forth by Vitalti Gokh about them being built in the Jurassic with a purpose to channel galactic power beams to other smaller pyramid groups to stabilize the Earth's crystal core...more or less. [Click the link at the beginning of this paragraph if you want to get Coppens' take.]

(Okay now--Dingdingding! 14,000 years ago. Now we're talking. That's an era I'm actually researching.)

According to Coppens' article, the location of the pyramids amidst sediment and clay strata suggests they were buried by the effects of a massive flood, and this fits much more closely with the many legends of advanced civilizations in that early age that were destroyed in a cataclysm (such as Atlantis/Poseid or Lemuria/Mu...or possibly even a pre- or companion civilization to one or both.)

Here's one more speculative article that contains an accompanying video:

http://www.secretsofthefed.com/wtf-worlds-oldest-pyramid-found-ukraine-w-videos/

[Dig a little deeper, and you'll also find even sketchier stories and interviews about similar underground pyramids reportedly in Alaska and Antarctica.]

Whatever the true facts, this is wonderful fodder for the muse. Discovery is exciting. Speculation inspires. Even if the reports turn out to be completely false, the idea will linger on in my subconscious and may eventually weave its way into a story premise.

What do you think? Hoax? Exaggeration? Do your feelings about the reported "discovery" fall on the fascinating or ridiculous side of the equation? Do such revelations (whether true or fiction) inspire new ideas for you?

~~~*~~~

SFR: LIFTOFF ACHIEVED, BUT HOW TO HIT ESCAPE VELOCITY?

An interesting discussion prompted by Charlee Alden’s post over at Smart Girls Love SciFi this week took up the matter of how best to define success for science fiction romance as a genre. As individual writers, the decisions we make will not only make or break our own careers, but expand or contract the small foothold SFR has made in the publishing industry.

Charlee noted that, historically, SFR has been best served by the digital publishing industry and has grown as digital publishing has grown.  Indie publishers, small presses, self-pubbers and the digital-first trend among traditional publishers have all benefited SFR, primarily by having an open mind about the genre.  As a consequence, online is the no doubt the first stop for readers looking for SFR.  Since SFR fans are a pretty tech-savvy bunch, this hasn’t been a problem.

Still, many SFR writers, like any other writers, cling to the dream of seeing their work in print.  The book may be a “dying” medium to some, but the hard-copy (that is, paper) publishing industry still controls 70% of sales.  Charlee asks whether the SFR community should continue to work toward more traditional publication as a goal.  That’s not a bad question to ask.  Will we ever have the respect we’re due if we don’t have a certain number of titles and authors in print?  It’s easy to marginalize digital and indie presses, though the RWA did give its first RITA to a digital-first publisher title in 2013.  Maybe over time the “gloss” attached to traditional publishing will tarnish completely, in which case, why all the fuss?  (I have to say, personally, though, that it is very hard to give up this particularly goal.)

No matter what format the books are published in, however, it seems clear SFR has not yet found the magic formula to break out from its “niche” status and appeal to a broader reading audience.  What would it take for the genre to find that larger audience?

Some suggestions were made in the comments to Charlee’s article.  Melisse Aires thinks ensemble stories, particularly space operas, would be popular, since readers are already familiar with the concept from television and movies.  The same writer stresses that series are necessary to build reader loyalty.  Both concepts are key to success in other romance subgenres, particularly paranormal and contemporary, where readers hang on tenterhooks waiting for the next book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood (J.R.Ward) or Virgin River (Robyn Carr) series, featuring characters they know from previous novels.

I’m pinning my hopes for success on these concepts with my Interstellar Rescue series, companion novels that stand alone, but share both a world and several characters.

I also believe it helps to have a strong romantic arc and to aim for that romance audience, a much bigger, more welcoming group than the science fiction readership.

Then, of course, you might try for something completely different.  Pauline Baird Jones would love to do a web series.  It would certainly bring more interest from a new segment of the public.

Science fiction romance has been standing on the brink of breakout success for a long time.  We’ve managed liftoff, but we keep waiting for that one novel or author to help us achieve escape velocity.  Maybe it won’t work that way.  Maybe it will be more like achieving critical mass, one exceptional novel or series at a time.  The only way to accomplish that is to keep writing.

DISCOVERIES

Charlie Jane Anders has some excellent advice for fledgling SF writers in 10 THINGS THAT EVERY BRAND NEW CREATOR OF SCIENCEFICTION SHOULD KNOW at io9.com.  That certainly includes any SFR writer, newbie or otherwise.

Cheers, Donna

Pippa's Journal - Mission Success 3/2014

After a somewhat rocky start to the year, I half expected never to have any good news ever again (it was a major low point, I'll admit). But now, having had to sit on this news since Friday I can now announce...a new contract! Squee! My freaky NaNoWriMo story that had me tearing out my hair so much since November received a contract offer from Lycaon Press, the YA division of Breathless Press after they requested the full as part of their NaNoWriMo critique event. I'm stoked! (Is that the right US phrase?) Here in the UK I'd say chuffed. The contract is signed, but obviously I have no release date or anything as yet. I also have other good news...that I'm going to have to keep under wraps for now. I know, I'm sorry. Well, only a teeny, tiny bit, bwahahaa!

So while I'll basking in the glow, I thought I'd quickly share my stats on the writing front for this year--a few facts for the curious.

Word counts
New words for 2014 so far - 12096
Words edited for 2014 so far - 59011
Submissions made - 4
Rejections received - 4
Contracted - 1
Pending - 1

Current titles available - 4
Confirmed publications for 2014 - 2
Possible publications for 2014 - 2

As you can see from the list, as I mentioned at the start of the year it's all about editing the 100K+ written last year. I've edited five times as many words as I've written! And with two definite publications and two possibles (which would double my number of available titles to 8), I can already foresee much more editing ahead. The projects I had scheduled for this year may well have to be bumped over to 2015...and it's only March now. This puts me back to where I finished at the end of last year publication-wise, though with a slight change of titles. Instead of the winter scifi romance short, I'm releasing a cyberpunk, and I have a paranormal novella instead of a scifi romance.

So there you have it. Just a quick update and the promise of more good news to come. May your March be equally awesome!