If I could put little musical notes around that title I would. Remember the song from Oklahoma! Oh, What a Beautiful Morning? Well, that's how I felt when I stumbled upon this site of links.
What a plethora of knowledge, advice, boot-strap picker-uppers and how to's from a wide assortment of writers. It definitely falls in the MUST SEE category. My hat's off to Gabrielle Luthy for putting together such a gold mine of inspiration.
Just a small sampling of the fare:
Need help with word alternates when the Thesaurus has let you down?
There's 1000 Verbs to Write By by Deanna Carlyle
Scratching your head over a critiquer's complaint your prose is inflicted with Dangling Modifiers?
Read Lee Masterson's article.
Battling the dragon called Passive Voice?
Get ideas how to slay the beast from Cecil (Cec) Murphy's Keep Them Active.
There are dozens of article links organized into main subject areas:
General Prose
Show Don't Tell
Active vs. Passive
Description
Grammar
Punctuation
Other Resources
(Note: It's obvious this site took a number of years to build, and unfortunately, not all the links are valid because some sites have since closed or ceased to exist, but it's only a few among these scores of great links.)
This is a wonderful garden of information for any writer. I'm also adding it to the sidebar as a resource.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Do Your Ears Pop in Space?
Well…do they?
In my ongoing series of articles gleaned from the non-fiction book of the same name by shuttle astronaut R. Mike Mullane, I thought I should address the pressing question posed by the title. The answer? It depends.
Your ears pop when there’s a change in pressure, so generally the only time your ears would pop is if the mission includes a spacewalk or EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity). If there’s no EVA, the cabin pressure is kept at a constant 14.7 psi…so no pop. If there is an EVA, the cabin pressure is decreased a day before the exercise to 10.2 psi to reduce the possibility of the space-walker getting the bends—just like divers do if they ascend too quickly from the ocean depths—when exposed to the spacesuit’s lower psi of 4.3. The bends is caused when the nitrogen in the body comes out of solution due to pressure change.
But then, what about launch? People’s ears pop in an airliner on takeoff, so why wouldn’t they aboard a space shuttle that’s rocketing skyward? The answer again has to do with pressure. Airliners release air as they ascend. This is done so the pressure on the inside of the vessel does not continue to exert a lot of pressure as the plane climbs into thinner air, otherwise the fuselage would have to be much thicker, heavier, and more expensive to build. Because the air is released, the pressure changes inside the cabin, and this causes your ears to pop. Spacecraft are made to withstand the tremendous differences in pressure between the cabin and the vacuum of space, so air is not released as the craft climbs higher.
When passenger jets ascend, they reverse the process and let air back into the cabin. This is why your ears pop on the way down.
So how do you apply these facts to science fiction writing? My muse had a field day with this, because it seems a SFR pilot might become quite alarmed if their ears popped. To heck with sensors and indicators, if your ears pop and you’re in a space-tight craft, you have a definite problem! It would mean the cabin pressure had changed, possibly as the result of a hull breach or a bad airlock seal (although, granted, it would have to be a very tiny leak or they wouldn’t have time to worry about it.) Popping ears on a spacecraft is akin to a dead canary in a coal mine. Time for quick action and damage control.
So there you have it.
(Articles to be continued…)
In my ongoing series of articles gleaned from the non-fiction book of the same name by shuttle astronaut R. Mike Mullane, I thought I should address the pressing question posed by the title. The answer? It depends.
Your ears pop when there’s a change in pressure, so generally the only time your ears would pop is if the mission includes a spacewalk or EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity). If there’s no EVA, the cabin pressure is kept at a constant 14.7 psi…so no pop. If there is an EVA, the cabin pressure is decreased a day before the exercise to 10.2 psi to reduce the possibility of the space-walker getting the bends—just like divers do if they ascend too quickly from the ocean depths—when exposed to the spacesuit’s lower psi of 4.3. The bends is caused when the nitrogen in the body comes out of solution due to pressure change.
But then, what about launch? People’s ears pop in an airliner on takeoff, so why wouldn’t they aboard a space shuttle that’s rocketing skyward? The answer again has to do with pressure. Airliners release air as they ascend. This is done so the pressure on the inside of the vessel does not continue to exert a lot of pressure as the plane climbs into thinner air, otherwise the fuselage would have to be much thicker, heavier, and more expensive to build. Because the air is released, the pressure changes inside the cabin, and this causes your ears to pop. Spacecraft are made to withstand the tremendous differences in pressure between the cabin and the vacuum of space, so air is not released as the craft climbs higher.
When passenger jets ascend, they reverse the process and let air back into the cabin. This is why your ears pop on the way down.
So how do you apply these facts to science fiction writing? My muse had a field day with this, because it seems a SFR pilot might become quite alarmed if their ears popped. To heck with sensors and indicators, if your ears pop and you’re in a space-tight craft, you have a definite problem! It would mean the cabin pressure had changed, possibly as the result of a hull breach or a bad airlock seal (although, granted, it would have to be a very tiny leak or they wouldn’t have time to worry about it.) Popping ears on a spacecraft is akin to a dead canary in a coal mine. Time for quick action and damage control.
So there you have it.
(Articles to be continued…)
Monday, January 19, 2009
Debut of CHOSEN SISTER
One of my co-bloggers over on Toasted Scimitar, Ardyth DeBruyn, has just had her debut novel, CHOSEN SISTER released by Wild Child Publishing. Her novel is a YA Fantasy. Here's the discription:*~*~*
When the Gold Wizard comes looking for the Child Warrior in Reina's village, it's no surprise he's only looking at the boys. However, when the wizard magically selects her younger brother as the warrior prophesied to defeat the Red Wizard, Reina has mixed feelings—jealousy and concern. Austyn is only six.
Allowed to accompany her brother, Reina soon finds they're in deeper trouble than she thought. The Gold Wizard's fake beard is ripped off by attacking harpies, revealing he's only seventeen, not to mention his magical demonstrations tend to go awry. Unfortunately, with the Red Wizard's harpies and snakewolves on their trail, finding a new (and better) wizard mentor is hardly an option. If anyone's going to find a way to track down the elusive Sword of Chivalry for Austyn and get him into the Red Wizard's castle to fulfill whatever the obscure prophecy insists must be done, it's got to be Reina.
Allowed to accompany her brother, Reina soon finds they're in deeper trouble than she thought. The Gold Wizard's fake beard is ripped off by attacking harpies, revealing he's only seventeen, not to mention his magical demonstrations tend to go awry. Unfortunately, with the Red Wizard's harpies and snakewolves on their trail, finding a new (and better) wizard mentor is hardly an option. If anyone's going to find a way to track down the elusive Sword of Chivalry for Austyn and get him into the Red Wizard's castle to fulfill whatever the obscure prophecy insists must be done, it's got to be Reina.
*~*~*
Be sure to check it out. And look for a book party on Toasted Scimitar sometime in the near future.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
An Acceptance
No, not for a novel yet. But I'm still working on that. ;)
I wrote an article about the christening ceremony for the USS New Mexico (click here for previous post) and it was accepted for publication by a state newspaper.
This site "adopted" the USS New Mexico for a research project some time ago, because submarines have a lot in common with spacecraft.
I wrote an article about the christening ceremony for the USS New Mexico (click here for previous post) and it was accepted for publication by a state newspaper.
This site "adopted" the USS New Mexico for a research project some time ago, because submarines have a lot in common with spacecraft.
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