North Pole Weather 2/17/14

The sun will rise at 8:42 this morning, and set 8 hours and 47 minutes later at 5:29 this afternoon. It gets up to 13.5 ° above the horizon at 1:05 pm now. It’s still cold, with occasional snow flurries. I now have 2 feet of snow on the ground, occasionally marked by moose tracks. Temperatures are generally in the minus 20’s at night and below zero in the daytime, though it might warm up a little by the weekend. Most likely it’ll stay about 10 degrees colder than normal this week, but at least no 40 below is forecast here in the Fairbanks area. The north coast may really be getting it, though.

The roads are still slick, but no more so than usual.

We don’t get much wind here in the valley, but wind chill has been setting records in some parts of the state. That I can do without!

Weekend Writing Warriors: Tourist Trap

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors (click the logo above) and Snippet Sunday (click the logo below.) These are blog hops where authors of all genres (mine’s science fiction) post up to 8 sentences of anything from rough drafts to published works.

I’m still posting from Tourist Trap (blurb below) my second published book. Roi is a few thousand feet above the ground in a malfunctioning hang glider, and has accidentally triggered a screamer that nullifies his esper abilities.

Photo Source

Both the screamer and the compensation circuits needed power, he thought. He had felt no difference in weight distribution when he’d lifted the glider for takeoff, so there was at least a chance that the small power pack in the right upright was feeding both. Carefully, almost holding his breath, he began working his hands toward each other on the control bar. When they touched, he maneuvered the left hand under the right. His right hand came up, working at the catch of the power pack compartment.

The catch had never been designed for mittens.

His breath sobbing with frustration, he brought his right hand back to his mouth and used his teeth to pull the scarlet mitten off and let it drop. It fell away to the rugged ground beneath him, turning over and over until it was so small he could no longer see it.

Blurb:

A vacation with his three best friends from slavery and a manhood challenge: Roi is given the graduation present he has dreamed of. Dogsledding, hang gliding, a chance to see Pleistocene animals transplanted to a Terraformed vacation world, horseback riding, sailing … all the sports he has returned to with his recovery from paralysis, and a few new ones to learn.

They’re prepared for danger from weather, wild animals and extreme sports. But none of them realize that Roi’s half brother Zhaim, determined to recover his old position as Lai’s heir, intends to kill them if he can—and he’s decided that the dangers of the trip will make a perfect cover for his schemes.

How long will it take them to realize that the “accidents” they keep running into are more than just accidents?

 Tourist Trap, the second novel of the Jarnian Confederation, won first place in science fiction and fiction book of the year in the 2011 Reader Views contest.

Reviewers say:

“Fans of Sue Ann Bowling’s novel Homecoming will not be disappointed with its sequel. Tourist Trap returns the reader to the world of the Jarnian Confederation—to Roi, Lai, Marna, and all of their friends and relations. The author does a stellar job of bringing these characters to life, allowing the reader to not only see their actions but to understand the culture and politics that motivate them. (ForeWord Clarion review)

“Tourist Trap” is a great read for anyone that wants motivation and feeling to accompany the action in their sci-fi adventure. Alien beings and super powers are an integral part of Roi’s story but what makes this novel really shine is the heart. Nobody is good or evil just because that’s their assigned role. Just like in real life, everyone has their own motivations and desires, and Bowling does a great job of letting the reader see what it would be like to walk in the shoes of Roi, Xazhar, and even madman Zhaim. (ReaderViews review)

Tourist Trap (iUniverse, 2011) is available from:
iUniverse http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000188494/Tourist-Trap.aspx
Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tourist-trap-sue-ann-bowling/1104199464
Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/Tourist-Trap-Sue-Ann-Bowling/dp/1462029582/
in dust jacket, trade paper, and e-book formats.

Science Fiction Romance Presents: Both Sides Now

Do I belong here? I write science fiction, and I know some regulars here have seen my writing, both in Science Fiction and Fantasy Saturday and in Weekend Writing Warriors. Romance? Not always, by any means, but there are bits of romance, sweet rather than spicy, in my writing.

This excerpt is from the second book of the trilogy I’m writing, at the moment called Both Sides Now. (It was Horizon War, but I decided to save that for the whole trilogy.) Here Coralie, the first to speak, is talking with her brother Mik in advance of the yearly trek to new pastures undertaken by their horse nomad clan. Coralie has been nursing Kevi, who is an injured off-worlder in hiding. Bethe was the group’s midwife, who died during the last winter.

“Is anyone able to take Bethe’s place?”

“Tried to talk Doc into it, with the usual luck. He suggested we take Kevi.”

“Kevi? Mik, that’s a wonderful idea! But is he up to it? He’s made a very fast recovery, but he still tires quickly, and he can’t walk any distance.” She shivered a little, remembering the condition Kevi had been in when he had first arrived at the cave.

“He says he can ride. And he was balancing even when he was unconscious.”

“Well, he gets along with Joker. And he’s a good doctor and vet. Certainly he knows more than old Bethe did, and he’s good with animals and people both. Nonie, would you feel safe coming along on summer trek if Kevi comes too? You’d have to ride some. I can’t carry you double all the time! Mik, can we manage a gentle pony? Kevi’s been giving her lessons on Joker, but she really needs something smaller.”

The child came forward a step. “Kevi’s coming too?” she asked eagerly.

Mik looked as if a horse had kicked him in the head. “You’d feel safer with Kevi along?” he asked.

Nonie, by the way, is a little girl who has been raped and left for dead, and is panicky around most men.

Jarn’s Journal Year 9 Day 235

Year 9 Day 235

Photo Source

If I had a distort, I thought, I could take Songbird to watch the northern hunters without worry that they might see us. Provided I could convince her to be quiet.

Not that she couldn’t be quiet. That was something children of the People learned early, when stalking small animals. Songbird might not hunt large animals, but I’ve seen her capture enough fish and small rodents to know how silent she could be. But that wouldn’t top her from being seen, and I was certain the hunters had much better vision than most animals.

The computer had the instructions for making warnoffs, I thought, and I still had a number of un-programmed chips. Could a distort possibly be as easy to make as a warnoff was?

I tried asking the computer for “distort.” Nothing. I tried describing it. How do you describe something like a distort? Finally I remembered someone – I don’t even remember who – saying that the effect was caused by bending light rays around an object. The computer gave me an explanation of mirages, which I didn’t really need, but there was a footnote at the end of the article that referred to “artificial mirages.” It was a long shot, but I tried it.

Turned out that was it. Invisibility took two chips, with different programs. The first would cause electromagnetic radiation in a relatively limited band of wavelengths to bend around an object, producing a semitransparent effect. That would affect a recording device, but it wouldn’t confer complete invisibility – anyone looking (or an optical recorder) would see a rather wavery image with odd color fringes but there would still be something there. The second would be programmed similarly to a warnoff, but the message would be closer to “nothing there,” instead of “I’m harmless and I’ll make you sick if you try to eat me.”

It took several days but it worked. Somewhat more to my surprise, Rainbow took it for granted. Was I not a god?

The Ice Park is Coming!

No, the ice park isn’t open to the public yet, but it’s being constructed. The slide, mazes, and various other ice projects are being built, and this video shows a little of the action.

Quotes from Jane Austen

These are the contexts of the quotes tweeted from @sueannbowling between February 6 and February 12, 2014. All but the last are from Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen.

“Much as you know already, there is a great deal more for you to learn.” Mrs. Norris is speaking to Maria and Julia, having first emphasized how much they know.

“I can never be important to any one.” Fanny to Edmond, when she thinks she is to be sent to live with Mrs. Norris

“Not all her precautions could save her from being suspected of something better.” Mrs. Norris has put a good deal of emphasis on having a spare room for a friend, which she does not intend for Fanny.

“They were much to be pitied on the occasion, not for their sorrow, but for their lack of it.” Maria and Julia on their father’s departure to Antigua.

“She really grieved because she could not grieve.” Fanny’s reaction to Sir Bertram’s leaving.

“Their vanity was is such good order that they seemed to be quite free from it.” Describing Maria and Julia enjoying the social round in the absence of their father.

“She could not abandon the remnant.” Sue Ann Bowling, Homecoming. Marna, when she finds a mummified body after the plague.

Review of Mansfield Park DVD (BBC 1986)

All of Jane Austen’s completed novels have been made into films. This includes Mansfield Park, though I get the impression from reviews that in some the original plot is unrecognizable. The DVD I am commenting on here, however, is the only one I’ve watched, though I’ve ordered two more recent ones.

One of the things that came up during the Pride and Prejudice bicentennial was that as far as video was concerned, most people tended to like best the first video they saw. For me, that was the BBC version with Colin Firth as Darcy. That may be part of the reason I find the 1986 BBC video of Mansfield Park so much to my taste – it was the first I saw. Quite aside from that, it is very close to the book, with much of the dialog taken directly from Austen. The characters are very much true to those originally drawn by Miss Austen, and I particularly like Mrs. Norris, who is almost a caricature.

In reading reviews, I get the impression that people who liked the book like this video. People who find Fanny Price boring (I don’t) often preferred film versions that changed Fanny considerably from the way Jane Austin created her. I look forward to the arrival of other versions, but I doubt that I will like them any better.

I had hoped to find a film trailer for this DVD, but instead I found that the entire DVD is up on YouTube, chopped up into short segments. So I selected one of the shorter sequences, a conversation between Tom and Edmond Bertram and Mary Crawford, to give you a taste of the style. (NB: The YouTube episode says 1983, but it is clearly taken from the movie I am reviewing.)

North Pole Weather 2/10/14

The sun will rise at 9:06 this morning, and set 7 hours 59 minutes later at 5:05 this afternoon. I actually was able to stop at the grocery store on my way home from my writing group yesterday, and still got home before sunset. Driving has become a little more comfortable with the sun high enough I can use the visor to shade my eyes.

The weather is finally seasonable (read: cold.) Not all that cold for Interior Alaska, and certainly not record cold, but we’re not expected to see temperatures above 0°F, day or night, for at least the next week. Good thing we got a little more snow last week, so we have almost 2’ to insulate the ground. Clear skies are expected today, though, which this time of year goes with the low temperatures and inversions. It might cloud over and give us a little more snow by the end of the week, but that ridge I was worried about over the Bering Strait is firmly in place.

Our warm January was not without negative effects. The Yukon Quest, a week-long sled dog race from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, finished this morning after major problems, some of which were associated with the amount of open water on the Yukon River. Some of the trails used by the race are on the river ice, and this year the ice wasn’t all there. At this point I have no idea if the head injury suffered by one of the lead mushers had anything to do with the weather.

At least it’s far enough along toward spring that we have daylight again.

Weekend Writing Warriors: Tourist Trap

It’s Sunday: time for snippets from published or unpublished works from a variety of authors. Click the logo above to get the list and links for Weekend Writing Warriors; click the logo below for the Snippet Sunday list.

Roi’s hang glider has been misbehaving, and in trying to straighten it out he has triggered a screamer which effectively negates his esper abilities.

Photo Source

Even a tight mental shield couldn’t stop the pain in his head entirely, and levitation and teleportation were no longer even remotely possible. Whoever was responsible for the sabotage had intended for the glider to kill him. Any normal telepath, raised to depend on esper talents, probably would have panicked.

Roi, however, had been conditioned from birth to find ways of dealing with impossible situations without betraying his esper abilities. His involuntary start had thrown the glider into another tumble, and his helmet speaker was raucous with cries of alarm from the others. “Shut up and keep clear,” he snarled in response as he struggled to get the scarlet wing flying again. Somehow he leveled off heading more or less toward the orange roof, though he was too low now to make the distance without a thermal, and too wary of the blood-colored wing to trust his ability to circle in an updraft for height. The ground below was studded with boulders and cut by gullies, and looked almost as hostile as the suddenly unfriendly sky.

I think he’s finally realized he’s in real trouble.

The blurb:

A vacation with his three best friends from slavery and a manhood challenge: Roi is given the graduation present he has dreamed of. Dogsledding, hang gliding, a chance to see Pleistocene animals transplanted to a Terraformed vacation world, horseback riding, sailing … all the sports he has returned to with his recovery from paralysis, and a few new ones to learn.

They’re prepared for danger from weather, wild animals and extreme sports. But none of them realize that Roi’s half brother Zhaim, determined to recover his old position as Lai’s heir, intends to kill them if he can—and he’s decided that the dangers of the trip will make a perfect cover for his schemes.

How long will it take them to realize that the “accidents” they keep running into are more than just accidents?

 Tourist Trap, the second novel of the Jarnian Confederation, won first place in science fiction and fiction book of the year in the 2011 Reader Views contest.

Reviewers say:

“Fans of Sue Ann Bowling’s novel Homecoming will not be disappointed with its sequel. Tourist Trap returns the reader to the world of the Jarnian Confederation—to Roi, Lai, Marna, and all of their friends and relations. The author does a stellar job of bringing these characters to life, allowing the reader to not only see their actions but to understand the culture and politics that motivate them. (ForeWord Clarion review)

“Tourist Trap” is a great read for anyone that wants motivation and feeling to accompany the action in their sci-fi adventure. Alien beings and super powers are an integral part of Roi’s story but what makes this novel really shine is the heart. Nobody is good or evil just because that’s their assigned role. Just like in real life, everyone has their own motivations and desires, and Bowling does a great job of letting the reader see what it would be like to walk in the shoes of Roi, Xazhar, and even madman Zhaim. (ReaderViews review)

Homecoming (iUniverse, 2011) is available from:
iUniverse http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000188494/Tourist-Trap.aspx
Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tourist-trap-sue-ann-bowling/1104199464
Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/Tourist-Trap-Sue-Ann-Bowling/dp/1462029582/
in dust jacket, trade paper, and e-book formats.

Jarn’s Journal Year 9 Day 212

Year 9 Day 212

Photo Source

If there is a northern ice cap, it is not land-based anywhere on this northern continent or on this island or peninsula whose coast I have been following, and it’s getting too cold to continue northward. As far as I can tell, there is nothing but ocean to the north, anyway, and I’m well above the Arctic Circle here. From the time of year and the sun’s height at noon, I’m around 71° N.

The word is barren, but there’s no ice in sight. Or land farther north, for that matter, even when I levitate as high as I can go. Just salt water, and very unfriendly-looking salt water, at that.

So what shall I do next? The fur-bearers are well along on growing their winter coats, though I think it will be a few more fivedays before they’re at their best. I wonder if Songbird has weaned her daughter yet, at least enough that she could be gone for a few hours? Watching the northern hunters (or rather their women) tan furs was her idea, but I find I am looking forward to it. Maybe I can even figure out how they tan the really big hides, like the one on that carnivore I ran into the other day.

Could there be a floating ice cap?

Jarn’s Journal is a regular Friday feature. For the entire Journal to date see my author site.