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March 18, 2023
AI and DRM and pirates, oh my!
Hello again, Reader. Or welcome, if you're new!
I think I'm overdue a writing update, after all, isn't that why you're subscribed? Or maybe you just want the stories, and don't care to see 'behind the curtain' as much. If you prefer, skip to the end of this newsletter for a free short story...
The second War of the Worlds sequel is being edited, and frankly it's challenging me somewhat. I abandoned the outline part-way through, and while I'm very happy with the way the story developed, it has made editing it into a coherent whole rather tricky. But thanks to some advice from my writing friends, and a fair bit of tinkering, I think I've got it under control again. I know better than to make any promises about release dates too soon, but at least now I feel more confident that I can get it over the finish line.
I've also done a couple of blog posts, discussing tech issues that impact upon writing. The first talks about the recent surge in AI or Machine Learning tools, and makes clear my position on using them. In short, if something written has my name on it, you can rest assured that I wrote it, and not some AI tool.
The second one touches on DRM (Digital Rights Management) that controls what permissions you have with things you buy digitally. It's a fairly complex area, but my position is simple. Whenever I am able to offer you some of my work without artificial restrictions on your use of it, I will do so.
Space News
The most Earth-Like Exoplanet yet?
More than 5,000 planets have been discovered orbiting distant stars (and I remember the announcement of the first one, which makes me feel very old). Most are gas giants, though - the bigger the planet, the easier it is to detect, after all. But there are a handful of rocky ones, like our own Earth. Again, most are gigantic though, and often very close to the star, something else which makes them easier to spot. With a star like our sun, anything as close as Mercury would be baked lifeless, so the odds of us detecting signs of life are miniscule. If the star is cooler, though... then a planet can be close in and still habitable. That's the case with this recent confirmation - a planet less than 10% bigger than Earth is orbiting in the 'habitable zone' of its star Wolf 1069, even though that's much closer than Mercury. Habitable is a relative term, though: the average temperature is -40C, which is far from comfortable. However, one side of the planet always faces the sun, so it's possible that there is a region that is permanently aboce the melting point of water. It's unlikely we're going to run into little green men, though - most scientists believe that the most likely form of life in the universe will be bacterial, or single-celled - and that it's 31 light years away also reduces the chances of someone popping by for a chat and a cup of tea.
Artists's impression of Wolf 1069b
Source: space.com
Other Books To Check Out
I've gathered a few great books from independent authors like me, I hope you'll check them out.
And let me know if you have any books to recommend! I'm particularly interested in indie authors, but anything you've read and loved would be awesome.
UBL
Every young woman in the village receives a dragon egg when she comes of age.
Young Kleia watched every single egg hatch with a heart full of longing. Raising a dragon of her own was her destiny. Her reason to live. Nothing else could give her life meaning the way a dragon could.
When she eventually got a dragon egg of her own, she learned that destiny is not always what it seems.
This is no ordinary tale of dragons-the kind with daring adventure, great battles, intrepid heroes, or comforting victories.
This is the tale of The Dragon That Never Was.
Free!
Being Dead is No Party...
What would you do if you woke up dead? Waking up as a ghost during the Day of the Dead festival, Brie knows she didn't survive the car crash. Alluring, mysterious Antonio is the only person who can see or hear her - probably because he's dead too. Together, they have two days to solve a year-old murder case, escape the Grim Reaper, and get their spirits to the Other Side before their chance at eternal peace vanishes and they end up stuck in the land of the living.
Buy it now
Grimmer than Grimm.
The creatures Richard Williams remembers from childhood fairy tales are terrifying. So when he discovers they are stalking him, he is glad of the Fae Defence Society's help. But when a message from his late grandfather casts doubt on their motivations, he must decide who to trust and make strange alliances to prevent a devastating magical attack on the streets of Britain.
Discover Sci-Fi Giveaway!
From now until the middle of March, there's a collection of dozens of free Sci-Fi books available. Grab them now, and you can of course keep them long after the promotion is over.
Perhaps you'll find a new favourite author? There's certainly some very intriguing titles on offer...
Pick up a couple today, and then drop the author a line, telling them what you think! Believe me, it really makes a writer's day when they get an email like that.
Strange News
The importance of being scared in fairy tales
Fairy tales used to be scary. Look at the Brothers Grimm, for example, and the original versions of the stories we all grew up with. Death was everywhere, villains (and even regular people) were truly evil, and sometimes the heros didn't live long enough to learn the valuable lesson that the tale was imparting. Even the Disney-fied versions have their scary moments, although greatly toned down to broaden their appeal, and probably to appease parents worrying about the inevitable nightmares they'd have to deal with if Uncle Walt embraced the original horror. But kids love being scared, in the right setting. Fear teaches us how we react under pressure, readies us for situations that can be truly life-threatening, and in many ways inoculates us against it's bigger, nastier brother: terror. As Neil Gaiman said when retelling 'Hansel and Gretel': ""if you are protected from dark things then you have no protection of, knowledge of, or understanding of dark things when they show up." Polish Nobel Laureate Wisawa Szymborska agrees, and takes it even further. She argues that if you want your children to know right from wrong, you should show them what true wrong-ness is. Let them learn, from an early age, that evil exists and is seductive. More controversially, teach them that doing good because you'll be rewarded for it isn't right (and usually you won't be rewarded, for that matter). Let them know that doing good because it's the right thing, even when (or especially when) it is hard, and they'll build a better world.
From Grimm's Fairy Tales - Illustrated by Arthur Rackham (1909)
Source: themarginalian.org
Miscellany
Alien Autopsy
Footage, purporting to be of an autopsy performed on the Roswell aliens in 1947, was shown on TV in 1995. At the height of the X-Files' popularity, tens of millions of people who 'wanted to believe' tuned in to see. As people debunked practically every part of it, the creator admitted it was a modern creation, but insists to this day that it's an accurate recreation of an original film...
Source: Ripley's Believe It or Not!
A Mayan elf and the President of Mexico
According to Mayan folklore, aluxes are woodland spirits. And according to the current president of Mexico, they're real and observing the building of a railway line.
Source: Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Space Pirates
No, really. Back in the 1970s, the US launched a bunch of satellites into geo-stationary orbit to relay radio signals around the world. Since getting a signal to reach them was so difficult, there was no need to worry about anyone else using them to relay their own messages. Fast-forward to today, and with a hand-held ham radio and an antenna bodged from scrap, you can eavesdrop on... well, watch and find out!
Source: youtube.com
And Finally
That free short story I promised you!
I have a set of Story Dice (https://fae.watch/z/B08T5NLF5S), a simple set of nine dice that have symbols on each face. Whenever I meet up with my writerly friends, if we don't have anything else to discuss, we roll the dice and speed-write something based on the images that come up. I was really pleased with the couple of hundred words I managed, and so I completed the story and wanted to share it with you all.
Feel free to pass it along to anyone who might enjoy it!
A short extract to whet your whistle:
Door five was his favourite. Using the retinal scanner always made him feel like a secret agent from the movies, as opposed to the reality of being a government employee. The door slid aside when it recognised him, silently apart from a slight grinding sound in the last three inches of travel. He'd reported it to maintenance before, but were they even able to get this deep into the complex?
Source: fae.watch