Its the day after Christmas, and all through the House....

Holidays can have long histories.


Today I've been thinking about Christmas. The legend began many thousands of years ago, with the birth of Christ. Or so we've been told. Delve further and you'll find the Christians decided to move Christ's birthday to the 25th of December to coincide with a pagan holiday. 


This is quite interesting. Because today, in some countries, Christmas is all about shopping. The slow transformation of the holiday has moved towards commercialism, whereby the wreaths of holly go up, along with the Holiday tree. Don't forget that the presents and gift giving is the most important part, never mind the message behind it. Instead, movies portray Christmas as a time to be with family and friends, a time to share gifts, unwrap wrapping paper, and remind each other about how lucky we are. Sometimes, its even about providing miracles, even small ones.


It made me think: what could Christmas be like in fifty, or a hundred years? Would its original meaning be lost? What kind of world would it be like, where the holidays are commercialized and the original meanings are lost? Like Easter, the day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Or All Hallows Eve, now turned into a night where kids go door to door, dressed as scary monsters and begging for candy. At no other time would this be politically correct.


And then there's this: http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/4452192/Rude-Santa-fired-then-hired


Years ago I remember sitting on Santa's knee and maybe being told the same thing about him: he knows whether the children are naughty or nice, and where they live.


A bit of overkill perhaps? Are we becoming too politically correct to celebrate the holidays as they should be celebrated?


 I don't pretend to know all the answers. I'm just putting my views across. I know that there are many more examples out there, but for the sake of this post I'm only sticking to a small few.


Let's think about it for a while, and consider what you want the holidays to be in a few years time.


Maybe it'd make a good basis for a novel, don't you think? 

SF Fiction

My fruitless hunt for something that isn't classics to read in SF has begun.

For two days now I have been searching for something to read. Preferably as an ebook, preferably through a site that lets us New Zealanders buy them.

Now I have one of two problems with this: territorial rights. They're the nasty things where our copyright laws are different from other countries, and because our government has to be different from most of the commonwealth we miss out on all the new releases, if there are any.

And of course, our websites have an interesting classification system. Don't ask me why, but everything that is paranormal fantasy is in english lit. Or something similar.

So maybe some SF has come out and it isn't in the right genre. So what would you put SF under? Dystopian? Mystery? Crime?

Some paranormal fantasy is under crime, which puzzles me. I guess it depends on what makes it marketable.

But that drags up more questions than it answers. Someone help me out here!

Cheers, Nyxix

The Not-So-New-Genre

Well writing science fiction is proving harder than I originally thought.


I have mostly kept the same, first person kick arse female protagonist that I use for my fantasy works. Though the voice and the details about the characters are always different, it does help a little towards my goal of actually finishing the trilogy. 


 A small extract: I am not going to surrender. "Prepare for the Jump Gate in three ... two ..." There would be a time when we would lose a race, but it would not be today. Bex's voice blazed through my earpiece.

"Are you insane? The Gate is going to tear us apart!" The imbecile. I thought he wanted to win just as badly as I did. Wasn't it all about going to the SPL (The Slipstream Premier League)? Hadn't that been our dream right from the beginning? We were very nearly there. Bex would soon learn what it meant not to give up. Raising the white flag wouldn't be practical to our goals. My goals. He had to see that. Our craft just happened to be made of stronger stuff than he thought.

"We're going to be fine," I slammed the throttle into position. "One!"

I think its quite good so far for a first draft, but its like pulling teeth at the moment. Try swimming underwater and you'll get the general gist of what it feels like when a fantasy writer tries soft science fiction for the first time in ages -- with actual spaceships, instead of virtual reality a few years into the future. 

I managed to look up current hovercrafts, too. http://www.google.co.nz/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT5125470&id=nyUfAAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=hovercrafts&printsec=abstract#v=onepage&q=hovercrafts&f=false

Now, I don't know how to reference the article but what I can say is that this design isn't going to work in space, but it gives me a vague idea of what they're like. Basically, I'm going to have to double and triple check my information, to make sure I've got it right. Along with designing my hovercrafts similar to the pod-races of which Anakin flew in, I'm not going to comment any further on it.

I am going to say that I'm looking forward to the finish line with these characters. They're interesting and I can't wait to write the actual romance between Cameron and Elliot. 

Cheers,

Nyxix 

Soft SF: The Slipstream Premier League

Hi, I'm back again. I have a few summaries of my three book trilogy. These are the early planning stages of my summaries, so be warned: these are subject to change. This idea has been fermenting for a number of years, so having a solid place to put them down is quite helpful. 


Here they are: 

Book One:

Elliot Moss limps into the Sectionals when one of the top Racers bows out of the competition. Her dream of making it to the Slipstream Premier League is about to be realised: she just has a few more competitions to go before she succeeds. Only this time around, she can't lose. So when she's approached with an offer that is too good to be true: knock off a few of her competitors and she has a nice and easy ride to the finish line.

When Elliot refuses, she thinks she has come out of it with a clear conscience. But events take a sinister turn when she discovers that the rumours about the other sponsors are true. He's been murdered. Now Elliot doesn't know where to turn. She even begins to doubt the loyalty of her friends. It is made even worse when she finds a dead crew member by her hovercraft, with crime scene tape cordoning off the area. The CFB have made it personal. Elliot gets into a row with one of the GFB agents named Cameron Gage, attracting a lot of attention. That's her hovercraft they've cordoned off and how is she supposed to race without it?

There are a few objections, but finally Elliot is allowed to Race. Elliot doesn't know it yet, but someone has pulled some pretty high strings for her to be able to step foot onto the track, triggering the GFB's interest in her.

Going into the final race sets off the nerves. This time it isn't just about winning, it's about surviving long enough to get through to the end. Nobody is supposed to die during the Races. Halfway into the race, Elliot discovers her hovercraft has been sabotaged. If someone hits her car, it wouldn't just mean losing the race. It would mean losing her life.

If there is one thing that is scarier than being accused of match-fixing, it's death.

Book Two:

Elliot Moss has been looking forward to the Slipstream Premier League since the moment she began racing. What she's realised is that it is more cutthroat than ever. Rumours are circulating about how she's fixing the matches. Her competitors are dropping off like flies.

It doesn't take long to discover that just getting to the Races in the Slipstream Premier League is difficult enough. Many new Racers have been promoted from the Sectionals in order to compete, allowing for a level playing field. When Elliot discovers one of her teammates have died from the Hunter division, things begin to get serious. As the number one suspect for the Galactic Federal Bureau, Elliot begins to wonder if she'll ever make it onto the racetrack.

Elliot's no longer sure if she wants to compete. Nobody wants to face a league of assassins and she's sick and tired of not being able to trust even her closest friends. Elliot's fears are soon realised when her best friend turns on her, cornering her before the final race is about to begin. Cameron scares him off before he can do too much damage. Elliot knows it's only a matter of time before it all comes to an end, one way or the other. She has to fly with him in the final race and come out relatively unscathed.

Winning doesn't seem like such a grand prize when she comes out of the race. All Elliot knows is that she's survived. She's exhausted, but happy. It's all over.

Unfortunately, the whispers of match-fixing have grown louder. The GFB have been called in, and Elliot's thrown into an interview room.

Book Three

Accused of match-fixing and an elaborate murder plot, Elliot is about to go to the gallows for something she didn't do.

There's enough evidence for her to be locked away for a very long time. But the fact is, Cameron Gage just doesn't think one person is capable of committing all those murders, across the board.

Then there's the assassination attempts he has to figure out. Why would Elliot send someone else to off herself? As the list of suspects widens, one thing becomes clear: whoever tried to hunt down Elliot, has now switched their focus to the GFB detectives.

As Cameron's suspect list widens, it becomes clear that Elliot is no longer a threat. Holding her behind bars would be counterproductive for what he's trying to achieve. Of course, the information Elliot gives him is even more priceless.

A narrower suspect pool and the name of the very bookie who approached her with a deal. Cameron approaches the bookie with this information, who then challenges him with a wager: he'll come quietly if Cameron can beat him in a race. After all, he didn't win the Slipstream Premier League five times in a row for nothing. But there is a catch: the hovercrafts cannot be raced by one driver alone. So Cameron does the only logical thing he can think of: he releases Elliot from jail and promises her her freedom if she races with him.

The race turns ugly, fast. It turns out that the bookie wasn't as stupid as he appeared. He's got other members of his team ready and willing to shoot him down, far be it for them to take a step up and take an easy win. But Elliot knows it isn't just staying alive long enough to win that's the main affair, its getting through the track without being tracked by the other racers. If they can stay out of sight long enough to get to the finish line unscathed, they'll have an easy race.

No such luck. They're ousted five minutes into the race, and Cameron's tiring fast. He's never driven a hovercraft for this long in his life, let alone played second fiddle to a championship racer. Elliot and Cameron are taken out of the race right before the finish line, after gaining speed on the bookie.

Though Cameron and Elliot didn't win, it becomes obvious that the bookie didn't win either. Cameron convinces the bookie to tell as he wagered, since the race between them ended in a draw. It was his fault for involving the other racers.

Within minutes the whole story comes flooding out. Elliot learns all about her rise to fame, why the money had been put on her to win. Several bookies figured she wouldn't win, but the old champion came up with a way for that to happen. Knock out a few of her competition, so she could get into the Sectionals. Then help her rise slowly throughout the ranks, without her knowledge. It was all to win a substantial bet, a few hundred thousand credits on the bookie's end.

At last, Elliot's name is finally cleared. She's off scott-free and its clear she hasn't been fixing the matches. Best of all, she gets to keep both her trophy and her remaining friends. Along with that, she gains a fiancée in none other than Cameron Gage. 

Weirdness

Okay the thing I have discovered about eReaders is that they are pretty cool.

Not only do I get to have a Sony (the best New Zealand has to offer) but it is touch-screen, comes with a stylus,  (which are just extra gadgets really) but best of all, its like walking around with a mini-library in your pocket. Its lightweight, portable, and excellent if you need to escape from somebody. I'll be taking it on holiday with me too, remembering that I have to download at least two or three books before I go (because I'm going to be spending some time hiding from people after I get exhausted from socializing) and maybe take my chargers.

Which is a good thing. My charger charges the battery for goodness knows how long and if you're not a fast reader like me, it lasts a really long time. Even if you leave it on all night. *whistles*

Now I've finished ranting about how good my eReader is, I'm going to rant about something else.

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Apparently blogging is the way to go for new writers. I haven't updated mine in a while and I thought I'd just randomly blabber on about it to see what people thought -- if they get this far down after I gushed about my eReader.

And jeez, there are so many rules when it comes to blogging -- or so-called rules that I think I might be breaking every single one of them. Like updating my blog everyday, having a 50 word bio or more (I don't even think it is that long!) Actually, I blog twice a month when I remember it exists, even though it sits in my toolbar in Safari (my favourite web-browser), so there.

And then you have to remember that people are actually going to see this blog, so you have to be careful about what you post. Not that I'm not already careful, but again -- jeez. So I'm not going to think about it.

Of course, then there's the thing where I'm going to eventually figure out that everything I've just stated is wrong and probably irrelevant anyway, because I'm pretty sure there are a great number of established writers and new writers who don't have a blog to speak of, and completely ignore what's going on in cyberspace.

Rant two done.

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Um, I don't have a Rant Three yet. But that'll probably make for a new post, don't you think?

Cheers, Nyxix