Introductions All Around

Special of the Day:
Meet Fax

"'Lo. Name's Fax. Yeah, I'm the new 'tender here at Spacefreighters. Glad to make your acquaintance. What'll ya have?" He pulls a glass of Billins and adds a splash of green casco as garnish, placing the drink on the counter. "There ya be."

Straightening, he wipes his hands on his apron and smiles. "Yeah, I came over from Condhar's Net after that nasty bit of business with the female Purmian last week. The place caters to the darker side of freighter clientele, if ya know what I mean. Pirates, rouge salvagers...flibbin' headrunners. Uh...you wouldn't be one of those, would ya?" He raises one eyebrow. "Good. Didn't think so. Anyway, decided it was time to seek my livin' in a less perilous locale, if you get my float." He winks.

After serving another patron, he wanders back to the near end of the bar. "What's that? Oh, yeah, the Net is a wreck. That melee is the talk of the spaceport. Been off planet for awhile, have you? Well, I'll pass on a bit of chatter you may not have tapped into then."

"The Trouble With Demons is slated to launch on April 28. Looks like there'll be a healthy crowd in attendance. Popular, that one. You can follow the launch prep over at Lisa Shearin's place."

"Speaking of that, one of the sister-ships, Armed & Magical is in one hades of a battle pitted against Anton Stout's Dead to Me on Bookspotcentral. Here's the address to get a peek at the battle transcripts." He glances both ways and leans closer. "In fact, might not be too late to getcherself involved in the skirmish. But you didn't hear it from me."

Fax pulls a clean tankard down from the rack and, doing a quick scan to make sure Merc isn't lurking about, wipes a spot off the rim.

"If you're inta seein' a bit of scenery, be sure to check out Greg Manchess' take on painting the cover art of Canticle by Ken Scholes. That one's sponsored by Tor.com. Amazing mystical stuff, that."

Fax glances out the port as a ship does a low flyover and shakes his head. "Carduwan hot shot." He slides a dish of snacks onto the counter with a sly glance toward the kitchen. "Have some crunchers. It's on the house."

Generous guy, this Fax.

"Oh, by the way," he says, hooking the handle of the tankard back up on the rack, "if you're lookin' for a read that leans toward dark apocalyptic fantasy, check out the excerpt from Over in Plague County by Heather Powell-Smith, a pre-published author featured in the Discovery Showcase on Fantasy Debut. Int'restin' world, that landscape."

He places your tab face down on the counter and unties his apron.

"Welp, that'll do for me. Gotta spiff the cellar for my co-'tender. Benna will be ondeck soon. Enjoy your day, and be sure ta stop in again next time you're in this neck of the galaxy."

Time for a Refit!

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Celebration 10,000 drawing last week. As we blast off toward our next 10,000 hits, Spacefreighters is adding a new dimension. No, not that kind of dimension. Three's enough for now, thanks.

But mayhaps you noticed the larger font? We're going to try this out, making future posts easier to read. You're not the only ones getting eye strain from the tiny default font on the dark background, let me tell ya.

*slips off her reading glasses and sighs in appreciation*

We may experiment with a lighter background, but we'll save that for a future rainy day...or would that be a meteor shower?

Next, Spacefreighters has finally hired some staff. We'll now have two hosts--our lovely(?) 'tenders--Fax and Benna. They'll be serving up virtual Billins and sharing gossip, news and rumors with you, in uniquely Fax and/or Benna style. And they'll be pointing out some of the patrons who wander into Spacefreighters from time to time, including several of the characters from my novels. They may also share a bit of backstory, legend or infamy or whisper a few juicy details they've heard. There could even be a few surprise characters from other novels you know and love...or those you may get to know in the future (if their authors grant them shore leave, of course).

After all, who better to give you the lowdown on SF/F characters than the bartenders at one of the galaxy's favorite watering holes?

So stop back often and catch the latest chatter from Fax and Benna.

Cloudscapes: Muse Fuel

Clouds, you say? What's so fascinating about them?

Ah, the poor, dissed cloud. So often we think of clouds as merely "overcast" or "gray." As writers, do we often overlook the variety and possibilities of clouds?

Clouds can serve as harbingers of more than just the weather. They can set tone and inspire a sense of majesty, danger, terror, impending doom, hope, magic, mystery, wonder, anticipation, or awe, to name just a few emotions.

Here, as fuel for your muse, are some amazing photos of New Mexico cloud formations courtesy of The National Weather Service Cloud Landscape.

A Lenticular cloud formation over Espanola in January 2009, looking very much like a hovering mothership. Whimsical? Or an omen? Photo by Joe Schiel.


Mammatus cloud formations over San Jon in Jun 2003. Imagine your MC staring up at a sky full of ominous spheres. Or is it a sign of hope? Photo by Gerald White.


Double Cloud Shadow in June 2007. Eerie, yet inspiring. Photo by Becky Ramotowski.


Dawn on the Caja Del Rio Plateau in February 2007. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning. No oceans in this vicinity, so what other superstitions might it inspire? Photo by Charles Harrison.


Dissipating rainclouds near Roswell. Roswell? *queue Twilight Zone theme* Photo by Steve Johnson.


More mammatus clouds from May 2004. A great wall of water vapor. Photo by Jay Blackwood.


A shelf cloud over Glenrio in July 2005. I don't know about you, but seeing something like this incites a feeling of apprehension. Are clouds supposed to look like that? What powerful forces in the atmosphere would cause this pattern to form?


This is a pyrocumulus formation. As the scientific name implies, the pyrocumulus are actually clouds formed by large fires, such as the Pine Canyon Fire in September 2005. Wildfires can create their own weather patterns. Photo by Linda Hawson.


Sunset over Albuquerque in 2004. This sunsets marks a transition between two realities, the very different realms of day and night. Photo by Jay Blackwood.

I hope you've enjoyed and been inspired by your journey through these majestic clouds. Altogether now. Ooooooh! Ahhhhhh!

April Fools!...A Little Early

Here in New Mexico, it's been spring for about four weeks now. Tulips are blooming, trees are flowering or leafing out, it's been sunny and warm. But...

Every year Nature likes to play a little April Fool's Day joke on us. It's a part of the cycle of life in the high desert/southern Rockies and as dependable as Old Faithful. As April 1st approaches, so does the onset of our last major blizzard of the year. I've been waiting for Mother Nature to have her last laugh for the last several days now.

Guess what? Good morning from a winter wonderland. :)

Looking out at my window, there's at least eight inches of snow piled up on my patio furniture. My patio pear tree, already in full bloom, is now covered with little cotton balls of snow. Gorgeous. And yay! A current two hour delay and possible snow day at work. And...Brrrrrr!

It's too dark yet for pics, but I'll try to snag some to post later.

Happy Friday and TGIF.