Young Adult Science Fiction

SUGAR RUSH Released!

2010-10-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

SUGAR RUSH at Decadent Publishing

PEEPS by Scott Westerfeld reviewed...

2010-03-06T05:37:00.001-08:00

...by me at-

http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2010/03/peeps-by-scott-westerfeld.html

P.S. I'm not accepting ARCs at this time.

XOMBIES Apocalypticon reviewed...

2010-02-11T15:45:00.000-08:00

...by me at- .
http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2010/02/xombies-apocalypticon-by-walter.html
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It's marketed as regular adult Science Fiction, but I think you'll like it.

Comments Enabled

2010-01-12T04:01:00.000-08:00

Yunaleska let me know Comments were still restricts. This was leftover from when I was pregnant and worried I wouldn't be available to moderate for periods of time. Comments are now enabled, although they get sent to me for approval before being published. I know this slows down any potential conversation, but I want to make sure my younger friends are not harrassed or insulted.

Blog Renovation Brainstorming

2010-01-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

Hello, YA-SciFi Geniuses! My baby is out of the newborn stage and the holidays are over, so I'm thinking of renovating this blog and reactivating. I still have a lot going on in my life, but I've learned I need to balance what I need to do with what I like to do or I'll go nuts. What's the old saying? "All work and no play makes Jane a very dull girl." Or something like that. I got to have my little creative outlets.
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I've especially been nostalgic about Star Trek Voyager lately and am brainstorming ideas on how to incorporate that nostalgia.
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek_Voyager
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I want to keep up with news on the new Star Trek movies too.

Of course, I'm always on the lookout for good books for you all, but it's not easy. There are so few of them to begin with. The ones which don't insult your intelligence often have flat characters which would bore you to death. I'm committed to reviewing one Young Adult book a month at my regular book review blog, giving preference to anything Science Fiction-flavored and including books not necessarily marketed to young people, but which I think will appeal.
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Here's a few good ones in the Temporal Vortex I think you'll like-
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CRASHED by Robin Wasserman. It's already out and you might find it in a good library. I reviewed the first in her series, SKINNED, a while back. Scroll down. I don't know if this one will be sent to me.

LEVIATHAN by Scot Westerfeld. He wrote the UGLIES series. I own this one already. Looks really steampunkish.

XOMBIES Apocolypticon by Walter Greatshell. I just reviewed the first, APOCALYPSE BLUES, in November. The new one comes out February. I'll review it when it gets to me. It's written for growed-ups too, but I think you'll love it anyway. The first one made my Top Ten for 2009.
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So, anyway, I'll keep brainstorming and let you all know. If you have any ideas, feel free to comment or email.
kimberannebulaATyahooDOTcom

THOSE OF MY BLOOD by Jacqueline Lichtenberg

2010-01-11T12:12:00.000-08:00

Reviewed by me at-
http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2010/01/those-of-my-blood-by-jacqueline.html
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Alien vampires, not your standard Blood-Sucking Dead Guys.
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This was written for the growed-ups a while back, but I think you'll like it if you remember teens weren't the intended audience. There's nothing more graphic than you'd find in a PG-13 movie, tops.

Kimber An's Top Ten Books of 2009 and My Thoughts on the new Star Trek movie

2009-12-05T06:42:00.000-08:00

I thought I should let you all know, since I've had to meld this blog with my regular book review blog, Enduring Romance. Several books of interest to my younger friends scored this year.
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http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2009/12/kimber-ans-top-ten-favorite-books-for.html
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P.S. I finally got to watch the new Star Trek movie. I was ssooooo worried I'd hate it, because I love the original Star Trek so much. But, I absolutely loved it! Every freakin' thing about it! Kirk was hot. Spock had such a good mommy. Special effects were NOT overdone, something which George Lucus has such a hard time with. I cried when Kirk's daddy died at the beginning. Sulu's retractable sword was so very cool. Even Uhura, whom some of my generation did not like so much in this movie because she wasn't much like the Uhura we knew and loved in the old series, was wonderful! Loved her. Scotty was hilarious. McCoy was too. It was just great.
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And Chekov was so cute I just wanted to bake him some cookies. If I was twenty years younger, I would've been squeeling like a stuck pig.

The New STAR TREK Movie is Mine!

2009-11-22T05:13:00.000-08:00

If ya'll remember, I was too busy giving birth to watch it in theaters. Now do you realize the sacrifices parents sometimes have to make for their children????? It's out on DVD this week.

XOMBIES reviewed...

2009-11-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

...by me at Enduring Romance

It's not labeled Young Adult, but I think you'll like it. Oh, and they're not zombies, they're XOMBIES. 'Kay? It's Science Fiction.

New, okay, Morphed Review Blog

2009-10-31T05:18:00.000-07:00

My good review buddy, Tia, has morphed her Fantasy Debut blog into 'Debuts & Reviews.' I thought you all might be interested because she's expanding beyond the Fantasy genre and debuts.
http://www.tianevitt.com/weblog/

SOULLESS reviewed...

2009-10-31T05:15:00.000-07:00

...by Mfitz at-
http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2009/10/soulless-by-gail-carriger.html
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We don't usually go in for that spooky stuff, but this one was special.

MOLLY FYDE AND THE PARSONA RESCUE reviewed...

2009-10-31T05:09:00.000-07:00

...by me at

http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2009/10/molly-fyde-and-parsona-rescue-by-hugh.html

SKINNED reviewed...

2009-09-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

...by me at- http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2009/09/skinned-by-robin-wasserman.html

Blog Renovations

2009-08-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

Good morning, YA SciFi Geniusus!

Well, I had my beautiful baby girl, otherwise known in the Blogosphere as Lil Bean. http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2009/07/welcome-to-this-wonderful-world-lil.html I'm getting back into my groove here. The great thing about being forty years old is I know what makes me happy now - books and babies. I've had all my babies and now I have to reorganize my schedule to accomadate books too. As part of that, I'm folding the most important aspect of this blog - the book reviews - into my main book review blog, Enduring Romance.

And so books of interest to my younger friends will be reviewed on the Fourth Thursday of Every Month at http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/ Although I will review a variety of genres, there will always be a strong preference for anything Science Fiction flavored. It's just SciFi is so much harder to find for you all. (((sigh))) But, I shall continue to do my level-best.

Therefore, this blog is now 'read-only,' although I will post notices when I review YA SciFi at Enduring Romance.' We accumulated a lot of good stuff in the few short months it was in full operation, so do take time to look around if you're new here.

Have a Trekkie Summer!

2009-05-22T05:56:00.000-07:00

Good morning, YA SciFi Geniuses!
I'm signing off for the summer now because I have a baby to make and that's a lot of work.
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If you get bored, I'd really appreciate if you'd invent a Fetal Transport Unit for me, like the one the Doctor used to deliver Naomi Wildman on Star Trek Voyager. While you're at it, a replicator would be nice too..
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Live long and prosper.

It's Their Kid, Sheesh!

2009-05-11T06:53:00.001-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/swedenoffbeat This article's about a Swedish couple who are fighting for the right to name their son "Q." Well, you know how I feel about parental rights and the right of individuality. When the state can dictate what you can and can't name your own child, good grief. Besides, as a Trekkie, I think 'Q' is perfect.

A STAR TREK movie review

2009-05-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

Good evening, YA SciFi Geniuses! Yep, I'm still around, just beached and severely limited in what I can do until after I recover from giving birth. Anyway, remember how worried I was about the new STAR TREK movie? Doing a remake of such an iconic Science Fiction show was a tall order I feared no human could hope to accomplish. I mean, good grief, just think of all the real life scientists and technology inspired by the original t.v. series, like Dr. Mae Jemeson, the first African American woman in space, and those doors which slide open for you at the grocery store.
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However, my good Blog Buddy, Tia, over at the Fantasy Debut has seen it and is sufficiently impressed, which makes me want to go. My husband is also reassured by initial reviews. We have to wait until after my doctor's appointment tomorrow. I might get put on medical bedrest and then it'll have to wait. Thankfully, there's a theater in Anchorage which runs movies that have already left all the other theaters, so there's a good chance I'll still get to see it in all that wonderful movie house magic.

Here's the link to Tia's review- http://fantasydebut.blogspot.com/2009/05/movie-review-star-trek.html Isn't the new Mr. Sulu hot? Of course, I always thought the first one was too.

;)

Here's an official article on the new STAR TREK's surprising success- http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/39star-trek39-has-galactic-76.5-million-opening

Weekly Tech News from Dear Author

2009-04-26T04:55:00.000-07:00

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/04/26/weekly-tech-round-up/

ENCHANTRESS FROM THE STARS by Sylvia Engdahl

2009-04-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

The thing to remember with this one is that its original copyright is 1970. That makes it 39 years old. The style is very different now. Nevertheless, this book was so popular its been republished several times and cover art varies. You should be able to find it in any good library or large used bookstore and on-line at Amazon.com and the like.

The best thing about this story is its girl hero. Seems to me we get more stories like this when Science Fiction is in a popular phase. However, it also takes into consideration the belief that girls prefer Fantasy to SF. The author clearly tried to bridge the gap between the two genres.

Elana is the daughter of two agents. Her dad leads her team and her mom died on assignment some years before. She's a teen but she's already engaged to Evrek, another agent who's just ahead of her in rank. They arrive at a Youngling world in their starship. Younglings are people from worlds less advanced than their own. They're there to explore and also to investigate an incursion by a nearby interstellar empire which wants to clear away Younglings for colonization.

Elana is so eager to go on the mission that she tricks her way into the landing party. When the only other female on the time dies during first contact, her father has no choice but to promote her to the next rank. He and her fiance are very upset at needing to do this.

Meanwhile, the local Younglings believe a dragon is terrorizing their people. A woodcutter's sons set out to defeat this dragon. The youngest, Georyn, is a sensitive, intelligent young man. When they encounter Elana on their journey, they believe her to be an enchantress and Georyn is taken with her in a personal way too.

While that's going on, another young man, Jarel, is working as a guard for the Imperials and questioning why they're there clearing away the primitive peoples because, now that he sees them in person, he realize they're just like him. They're no animals.

Of course, the three - Jarel, Georyn, and Elana - have to work together to resolve the plot.

Remember, this was written almost forty years ago, so the language is a bit stiff and the romance is rather shallow compared to Young Adult romance now. Besides YA romance not being all that deep back then, this was Science Fiction during a time when it was believed SF readers thought romance was icky and almost entirely read by boys who thought romance was even ickier. However, the author clearly knew better and I thought the romance, though light, came off well.

Sylvia Engdahl has a huge backlist. Be sure to check it out on-line or at any good-sized library. http://www.sylviaengdahl.com/

THE TROUBLE WITH DEMONS by Lisa Shearin

2009-04-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

Even if you don't usually read Fantasy, I think you might like this one just for Lisa's wry storytelling voice. http://enduringromance.blogspot.com

STAR TREK Anyone?

2009-04-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

Good morning, YA SciFi Geniuses. If you've popped in lately, you know how much I've slowed down. Even though I have a wonderful new laptop, it's difficult to write due to my unborn baby pinching a nerve somewhere on the left side of my body. I have to reserve my writing time mostly for my own stories. Of course, my increasing belly size makes it difficult to sit for long periods of time too. I won't be able to attend the opening of the new STAR TREK movie in May. So, I'd really appreciate it if those of you who do could write up some kind of review for me. Either email me - my address is in my Blogger profile - or put it in the Comments of any post. All comments must be approved by me via email anyway. Instead of posting it as a comment, I would copy and paste the review to its own post. Thanks a whole bunch!
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During this time, my priority will be book reviews for you all. I'll also link you to reviews at my other blog, Enduring Romance, for books which I think you might like even if they're not SciFi.

In baby news, my little princess is doing very well. She's large for her age, which is good because she'll probably be born early. It's good to marry a large man if you're going to have premature babies! The bigger the preemie, the better chance she has. Still, I'm hoping to keep her in full term. As for me, well, I'm in pain and increasingly uncomfortable and so on. Making babies is very hard work, which is why it's good to only make them with a responsible, unselfish, and utterly devoted mate. It also helps if he's very cute and a darn good kisser.

Young Adult at Cerridwen Press

2009-04-17T05:26:00.000-07:00

*FROM DREAMS TO REALITY by Barbara Goodwin looks pretty darn cool to me.*

Now, these are all new to me and look Paranormal all around, rather than Science Fiction. But, there might be some SciFi in there or on its way. These novels are not specifically written for Teens, I don't think. I believe they're grouped together for Teens because they have cross over appeal for both teens and adults. http://www.jasminejade.com/c-111-young-adult-interest.aspx

New Source for YA Paranormal- Harlequin Teen

2009-04-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

*This is INTERTWINED by Gena Showalter, one of the debut novels for this line. I've never read Showalter's books, but I know plenty of people who have and love them.
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Harlequin Teen is a new line from the famous Romance novel publisher and it's coming in August of this year. Despite the Romance connection, the stories will actually compass all of Young Adult fiction. Looks like the first two are Paranormal and I'm hoping future titles will include Science Fiction. We can only wait and see. http://www.harlequinteen.com/harlequinteen/index.html

Here's the link to a website trying to connect early with teen readers- https://www.harlequinteenpanel.com/Portal/default.aspx I think it looks a little too 'Tween' rather than 'Teen,' but they've got four months to get their act together.

;)

New Books from Tor

2009-04-17T05:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't checked these out, YA SciFi Geniuses, but I don't want you all to suffer just 'cause I'm knocked up and sidelined. DREAMQUEST looks kinda cool.

;)

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=236284388&albumId=991130

Tor makes it easy to keep up with what they're doing. I wish other publishers did. And I wish it was easier to find YA Science Fiction. (((sigh)))

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T05:31:00.000-07:00

We're finding our Easter eggs in the mud and leftover snow banks here in Alaska, but, hey, at least we know Spring is on the way. Have fun!

Weekly Tech News from Dear Author & I got a mini laptop!

2009-04-12T05:29:00.000-07:00

Here's the Dear Author link: http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/04/12/weekly-tech-roundup-2/

And here's my mini loptop-

Now, I can write on my stories anywhere and also accept eBooks and electronic ARCs for review.

Reading News for Techno-Geeks

2009-04-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/04/05/weekly-tech-roundup/ I don't know about you all, but I want one of those itty-bitty laptops.

TENNYSON by Lesley M. M. Blume

2009-04-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Here's another non-Science Fiction paranormal for you-

http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2009/04/tennyson-by-lesley-m-m-blue.html Click on the link because it's actually posted at my other book review blog.

Although it's labeled Middle Grade, I think anyone would enjoy it. I'm forty and I did.

Meanwhile, I'm having a terrible time finding Science Fiction in the New Releases for you all. I had what I thought was a great one, but it opened so insanely boring and full of teenage stereotypes I just knew you'd gag. I'm going to have to go back to the Older Releases to find something good, I'm afraid, and definitely not limit my choices to the YA label. (((sigh)))

JUMPER by Steven Gould

2009-03-27T06:36:00.001-07:00

Not sure if you'll like this one, but some of you might so I thought I'd let you know about it. The first thing to know about this novel is that it's a guy's story. It's written by a guy from a guy's point-of-view and totally in a guy-appealing way. So, if you're a girl and can enjoy books written like that, you'll be fine. Otherwise, I suggest watching the movie instead. It was released last year and is out on DVD. Although marketed to the Male Teens Through Twenties demographic, it's much more girl-appealing, especially when you consider Hayden Christenson was cast in the leading role. Yum! Movie-makers know guys like to take their girls to the movies. To this day, when my husband and I go out to the movies, it's inevitable Science Fiction or Fantasy because we both love those kinds of stories. He's glad I've never been in to 'Chick-Flicks,' except one, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, which I can watch by myself on DVD. Anyway, the movie is better structured for suspense and action.

However, if you think the book might work for you, read on.
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Davy's father beats the crap out of him and his mother ran out after putting up with the abuse for too long. His father keeps him around for the slave labor and so he won't have to pay child support. Davy's almost 18 years old when he discovers his natural ability to teleport. Suddenly, he's able to escape his pathetic idiot of a father.
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Disoriented at first, he goes hungry, gets mugged on the streets of New York City, and doesn't quite know what to do. He can't get a job, because he escaped his father without a birth certificate, a high school diploma, a driver's license or a social security card. He has no idea how to establish himself and his identity elsewhere and he's understandably afraid. He begins to 'jump' into hotel rooms to sleep and to other places to steal food, then clothing and other stuff. Although he demonstrates a clear sense of ethics otherwise, his stealing increases until he starts jumping into bank vaults to steal vast amounts of money.
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Early on, Davy meets Millie, a girl about three years older. They fall in love, but don't expect sighing romantic tension if you're a girl who likes that, because this is a book for guys. Remember?
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Eventually, Davy goes searching for his mother. He's terrified because she abandoned him, but Millie, a psyche major, encourages him. Eventually, he finds her and learns she didn't intentionally abandoned him, but fled to a hospital to have her face re-built after his father broke it. Then, she was afraid to go back for him.
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And so Davy has Millie and his mother back in his life again, not to mention an unlimited 'bank account.' Things should be good. However, after rescuing a woman from her abusive husband, a police officer, he finds himself being hunted down by the police who, of course, prefer to believe the pathetic idiot instead of Davy. And then his mother is killed when terrorists blow up the jet she's traveling in. Davy freaks out and wants to hunt down the terrorists, because he has this super power now and can exact revenge. The corrupt police and assorted shady characters also kidnap Millie.
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Now both the women Davy loves have been attacked and all he wants to do is avenge, rescue, and try to make all the bad people stop hurting all the good people. But, can he?
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This book was released in 1992, so it ought to be in your local library. There's another version, JUMPER - GRIFFIN'S STORY, which I have not read.
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A few warnings for the more sensitive among you- There is a little bit of graphic sexual innuendo, but nothing that effected me, probably because it's so guy-oriented that it bored me. There is a significant amount of cussing, which you might expect from any human in a really tense situation. And there's some graphic violence. None of this really bothers me much, but if it had been cleaned up just a bit the book could have been stocked in Young Adult as well the regular Science Fiction section, at least in my community's store and library, and, therefore, receive more exposure to readers. The themes are certainly pertinent to young adults, teens and twenties.

BEWITCHING SEASON reviewed...

2009-03-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

...by me at my other book review blog, Enduring Romance. http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2009/03/bewitching-season-by-marissa-doyle.html Although this one isn't Science Fiction by any stretch of the imagination, it is Paranormal, a label often used to group SF and Fantasy together. So, I thought some of you might want to know about it. BEWITCHING SEASON is YA Fantasy Historical with a strong romantic element. I'm totally into that these days.

Young Adult Romance Reviews

2009-03-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

I just found this new book review blog for the romantics among us. The reviewer seems to cover a wide variety of stories, everything from contemporary to paranormal, and the blog isn't deluged with blood-sucking dead guys either, unlike all the YA new release shelves around here. There's even one about an African American girl pilot in World War II, which I must have. The only requirement for all these novels seems to be that there must be a romantic relationship between the young protagonists. Some books seem to be all about the Romance while others seem to have it secondary to the main plot. Anyway, it's worth checking out! http://yaromancereviews.blogspot.com/

My Girl!

2009-03-15T05:07:00.000-07:00

Good morning, YA SciFi Geniuses! We had an ultrasound and our Lil Bean cooperated this time and let us know that she is, in fact, a Lil Princess. If you want to keep updated on her progress, you might want to check in at my personal blog. http://starcaptainsdaughter.blogspot.com/

If you're worried I'm falling into stereotype with my Lil Princess, just consider Lucy Lawless in Xena Warrior Princess and you'll know my girl can be anything she wants to be too. Lucy Lawless was most recently on Battlestar Galactica.

Here's the glorious Temptations to help celebrate- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltRwmgYEUr8

Louis Armstrong also has a song appropriate for the occasion- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnRqYMTpXHc&feature=related

If Kimber An Goes Silent in Cyberspace...

2009-03-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

...it's not because she doesn't love you anymore.
It's because she's 'beached' on the sofa!
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Good morning, Blog Buds! I'm moving into a time in my pregnancy when I'm increasingly more tired and uncomfortable. I will, inevitably, develop complications soon, as well.
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And so I wanted to warn you in advance that I will be posting sporadically and may even stop posting for days, weeks, even months at a time. It all depends on how complicated this High Risk pregnancy becomes. After three High Risk pregnancies and one devestating miscarriage, I think it goes without saying that my husband and I are neurotically overprotective of Baby #5, and the only way to protect him or her right now is to protect me.
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I won't divulge all the gory details of my risks. Suffice it to say, I'm forty years old and have a history of preterm labor. We work very hard to keep our babies in long enough. Besides the miscarriage, the earliest I've delivered was at 36 weeks. I think it helps that my babies are larger than average due to being happily married to a very large man for a very long time. Even my 36 week Preemie didn't need any extra help following birth. It's the pregnancy part that's difficult for us.
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The good news is I'll have more time to read, which means when I'm able to get on the Internet I'll have multiple reviews to post at Enduring Romance and/or Young Adult Science Fiction. Also, please remember there are several reviewers who post regularly at Enduring Romance and I'm sure they'll do fine without me. If you're an author, keep those ARCs comin'! I need them now more than ever.
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http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/
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http://youngadultsciencefiction.blogspot.com/
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Checking email will be my priority as I become less and less able to log on, plus getting out this requested Full for MANIC KNIGHT. I should have that in the mail by this weekend. I still have two queries out for MK, but no way of knowing if I'll receive a response at all. I don't query agents or editors who don't respond to all queries, regardless, but an aspiring author never knows. You know?
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I'll post when I can as often as I can. If you want to keep up with this blog and don't want to have to check in, I suggest you subscribe to the RSS Feed which you will find on the right hand side bar.
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Thanks to all who've extended best wishes. We continue to desire your prayers and good vibes.

STOLEN INNOCENCE by Elissa Wall and Lisa Pulitzer

2009-03-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

Good morning, Blog Buds. I just reviewed this one at Enduring Romance, my other book review blog where we review everything except the most graphic novels. STOLEN INNOCENCE is not a pretty story to read, but it is an essential one everyone needs to know about. Your body belongs to you alone and only you have the right to decide what happens to it. Pop on over and check it out- http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2009/03/stolen-innocence-by-elissa-wall-and.html

Dear Author Compares the Sony eReader with the Kindle...

2009-03-08T06:37:00.001-07:00

...for those who can't decide, like me. http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/03/08/how-to-decide-between-the-sony-and-the-kindle-eink-readers/

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND by Allegra Goodman

2009-03-06T09:36:00.000-08:00

Wow, this book is so awesome, I don't know where to begin or do it justice. It's Middle Grade, but I haven't been that age in nearly three decades and I was absolutely enthralled. I want to give it to my own Middle Grader, but I'm afraid she'll have nightmares. Okay, maybe it's time for mommy to let go just a little, 'cause this one's not to be missed!

Honor grew up in the Northern wilderness with her parents, Will and Pamela. Most of the Earth had been ravaged by ecological disasters. As so often happens when humanity is brought to its knees, a tyrant rose up to take advantage of them. Calling herself the Earth Mother, this tyrant enclosed pockets of humanity on islands and instituted totalitarian governments which dictated every single aspect of their lives, from an eight o' clock curfew for adults to what to name their children. I assumed Will and Pamela finally left the wilderness for one of these islands in order to provide honor with stability and a good education.

As jobless newcomers, Will and Pamela set up housekeeping in a townhouse by the shore and soon discover everyone else is afraid of the ocean. Their chagrin only grows when Honor is taught to sing hymns to the Earth Mother like she's a goddess and taught to be terrified of any weather which is not blue sky and sunshine. At first, Honor is really annoyed with all this too, especially when she's taught the Northern wilderness is now warm and wonderful and there are no polar bears. Since she actually lived there, she knows this isn't true. However, she'll be punished if she doesn't keep her mouth shut and go along.

As time goes on, Honor realizes the necessity to blend in and is disturbed that her parents do not. She learns from a new friend, Helix, that adults who don't go along with the Corporation who controls everything simply disappear. Where they're taken, no one knows. And the children become orphans whom the other children mistreat. Honor is terrified her parents will disappear, especially when they start secretly meeting with other adults. Then, Will and Pamela do something totally shocking! They have a second child! And they keep the baby too, instead of aborting or placing the child for adoption. They're considered horribly selfish for doing this. Honor is horrified, but her love for her parents translate into love for her little brother too. She becomes desperate to protect them all.

Honor compensates for her parents' rebelliousness by trying to become perfect. She gets perfect grades, uses all the correct social behaviors, and rejects Helix because he's a boy and girls aren't supposed to be friends with boys. Even worse, Helix's parents disappear and he becomes an orphan. Honor shuns him, as is expected, even while her own anxiety mounts. Although she's become perfect, she knows her parents are still known misfits and her little brother has a mind of his own too.

Then, one day what Honor has feared all along with increasing terror happens.

Her parents disappear.

She should forget about them. She should resign herself to life as an orphan with the Earth Mother as her true parent. She shouldn't care if her little brother is sent elsewhere. Sibling bonds are irrelevent in this supposedly ideal society. Earth Mother and her government knows all and is everything and enough for everyone.

I loved this book because it really explores every emotion anyone who's every been pressured to conform deals with and it calls upon the inner strength the protagonist never knew was there. It also turns the 'rebellious teenager' stereotype on its head by making the parents the rebels. It's truly one of the best I've read so far this year, if not the best.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND came out in 2008 so it might be in a good-sized public library by now and maybe even a school library. It's a hardback and seems to be selling well, so you might find it still in a good-sized Barnes & Noble too. Wherever you can, just find it. This one's a must-have.
;)

MYTH MAKER J.R.R. Tolkien by Anne E. Neimark

2009-03-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

This one's for all you storytellers, no matter how you tell them. I know Tolkien is a Fantasy genre icon, but, really, Science Fiction is the geeky kid sister of Fantasy. And Fantasy, in my opinion, is just the re-telling of myth.

I've found it enormously helpful as a writer to follow the careers of great storytellers, from George Lucus to Tolkien. George Lucus, I discovered, is an impatient storyteller, which I believe can account for all his mistakes with the STAR WARS universe. Nevertheless, he is a great storyteller because he's touched the hearts and minds of billions. In contrast, it seems J.R.R. Tolkien had patience which would put a saint to shame. It took him years to write THE LORD OF THE RINGS. However, he wasn't so patient when it came to marrying the love of his life.

Tolkien was born in South Africa, the son of English parents, both of whom died while he was a child. After being shuffled from family member to foster parent, he eventually landed in the care of a priest, Father Frances, who was truly a father to him. Nevertheless, Father Frances was horrified when Tolkien fell in love with Edith, a girl three years older than him, and wanted to marry her while he was still a teenager. And she was of a different religion too! In England at the start of the 20th century, men didn't marry until their late twenties and always to girls at least ten years younger. And it caused family wars to consider marrying someone outside one's own religion too.

After much grief, Tolkien finally had to concede to Father Frances or he wouldn't be able to complete his education. And if he didn't do well in college, he'd never be able to support a wife and children. Back then, it was a shame for one's wife to work outside the home. And so Tolkien and Edith waited to marry, which couldn't have been easy. Contraception was illegal back then and good girls never, ever had babies outside marriage. If you've ever wondered about the romance of Aragorn and Arwen, or one of the other more powerful romances in Tolkien's novels, this is where it came from.

Tolkien did complete his education, thought it was interrupted by World War I. This was where all the evil and violence of Mordor originated He and Edith just couldn't wait any longer and got married, just the two of them, no fancy wedding.

An injury sidelined Tolkien from the war and he went on to great heights as a professor while Edith stayed home with their ever-expanding brood of little baby Tolkiens. During this time, he sat down late one night and wrote the sentence, "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." And that's how it all began. He had no other ideas about Middle Earth until that starting point.

If you're a storyteller, I strongly recommend you get this book. It will both inspire and reassure you. You'll see how everything an author is and experiences contributes to the tales he weaves.

TRUANCY ORIGINS by Isamu Fukui released

2009-03-06T09:08:00.001-08:00

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=236284388&blogID=474322392

This link is for Tor's MySpace. Please be careful on MySpace. Not everyone there is a true 'friend.' Click on the link, Netsmartz, to the right to learn more about defending yourself in Cyberspace.

Real Science

2009-03-06T08:57:00.000-08:00

New Space Telescope Launches Today!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504747,00.html

For all you horse-lovers-

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,505964,00.html

The hamsters strike again!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,505150,00.html

I like hamsters. I keep wanting one, but all those boring grown-up responsibilites get in the way. Maybe I could justify the purchase by saying I'm supporting scientific research. I would name her 'Tribble,' of course.

eBook News from Dear Author

2009-03-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/03/05/thursday-ebook-tech-news-round-up/

Upcoming Review: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND by Allegra Goodman

2009-02-27T06:57:00.000-08:00

I'm not quite finished with this one yet, but I should be by the end of the weekend. It is very good. If you've ever felt suffocated by the pressure to conform, this one's for you. It was released in September 2008, so it should be in public libraries and still in good-sized bookstores. Here's the blurb-
.
Honor and her parents have been reassigned to live on Island 365 in the Tranquil Sea. Life is peaceful there—the color of the sky is regulated by Earth Mother, a corporation that controls New Weather, and it almost never rains. Everyone fits into their rightful and predictable place. . . .
Except Honor. She doesn’t fit in, but then she meets Helix, a boy with a big heart and a keen sense for the world around them. Slowly, Honor and Helix begin to uncover a terrible truth about life on the Island: Sooner or later, those who are unpredictable disappear . . . and they don’t ever come back.

Star Wars SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE by Alan Dean Foster

2009-02-27T06:37:00.001-08:00

The fun of this novel is knowing that it was published in 1978, right after the first STAR WARS movie, A New Hope, and before the second, The Empire Strikes Back. At that time, no one knew Luke and Leia were twins seperated at birth. "Dude, you kissed your sister, ewwwww!" And no one knew Darth Vader was their bad daddy. He was just a really powerful bad guy in a black suit who had it in for Obi Wan Kenobi.
.
Princess Leia gets to fly her own fighter in this one, which was kind of cool. She's on her way to a diplomatic conference. The Rebel Alliance won a major victory when they blew up the Death Star, but it's still a lot of work to hold it together and try to build it up enough to take at the Emperor.
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Luke Skywalker volunteers to escort her in his X-Wing. They run into some kind of energy barrier and crash-land on a mining colony. They go undercover to try to find a way off and/or to contact help. Unfortunately, Princess Leia has a hard time playing the part of a haggard minor and Luke's Force-sensitivity draws the attention of Hala, an old woman who happens to be Force-sensitive too. She's not a Jedi or anything, just Force-sensitive. Hala offers to help them find a way off the colony if they'll help her find the Kaiburr chrystal. She gives Luke a sliver of it and he realizes how it focuses the Force. Leia agrees they must find it to keep it out of evil hands.
.
The threesome leave the bar they met in and Luke and Leia get into an adolescent scuffle. Well, you know, they are only about 19 or 20 years old. Their scuffle draws the attention of a couple of local baddies and before you know it they're all thrown in the slammer for disturbing the peace.
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Okay, no big deal, but the officials learn about the chrystal sliver and decide to hold onto them a little longer and ask the governor about the chrystal. The governor suspects Luke and Leia are not mere thieves and the race is on before he realizes he's the guy who blew up the Death Star and she's an Aldoranean princess, a leader in the Rebel Alliance.
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If you've read Star Wars novels before, you know some are good and some are, well, not so good. It's an enormous challenge to write a truly great novel using characters someone else created. I thought Luke, in this one, wasn't consistant with his level of character development at this point in the Star Wars timeline. However, it was still really interesting to read this flashback and chuckle about how it relates to everything else which has happened in the Star Wars universe since. Being an old release, you should be able to find it in any good-sized public library.

In the Star Trek Universe This Week

2009-02-27T06:29:00.000-08:00

Pop over to Memory Alpha and scroll down the right side to read all about the upcoming releases in comics, novels, DVDs, and such. Here's one interesting novel, Star Trek Voyager FULL CIRCLE by Kirsten Beyer-Here's the blurb-

When the USS Voyager is dispatched on an urgent mission to the planet Kerovi, Captain Chakotay and his first officer, Commander Tom Paris, must choose between following their orders and saving the lives of two of those dearest to them. B'Elanna Torres and her daughter, Miral, are both missing in the wake of a brutal attack on the Klingon world of Boreth. With the aid of their former captain, Admiral Kathryn Janeway - as well as many old friends and new allies - Voyager's crew must unravel an ancient mystery, placing themselves between two warrior sects battling for the soul of the Klingon people... while the life of Miral hangs in the balance. But these events and their repercussions are merely the prelude to even darker days to come. As Voyager is drawn into a desperate struggle to prevent the annihilation of the Federation, lives are shattered, and the bonds that were forged in the Delta Quadrant are challenged in ways that none could have imagined. For though destiny has dealth them crushing blows, Voyager's crew must rise to face their future... and begin a perilous journey in which the wheel of fate comes full circle.

Real Science

2009-02-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

Marvin the Martian, where are you?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,500985,00.html

About Marvin- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_the_Martian

Hmm, I think I've watched this episode of Star Trek.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,500864,00.html

What would the Crocodile Hunter say?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,500724,00.html

Dear Author's eBook Article This Week

2009-02-22T13:50:00.001-08:00

It's always good! http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/02/22/a-tale-of-two-technologies-a-mac-user%e2%80%99s-experience-with-the-sony-reader/

New Book Review Blog...

2009-02-21T16:58:00.000-08:00

...for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fantasy. http://againstthenothing.blogspot.com/

Memory Alpha

2009-02-20T06:54:00.000-08:00

If you've never been to this Star Trek mega-site, you really ought to go. Besides it's encyclopedic database of all things Trek, you can also learn all about the latest Star Trek novels and comics coming out, and when and where you can watch Star Trek anything re-runs on t.v. all over the world. http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Main_Page

GAMER GIRL contest by Mari Mancusi

2009-02-20T06:47:00.001-08:00

Win an autographed book and goodies. http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=31559647&blogID=471572607

Books I Saw at the Store...

2009-02-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

...but couldn't buy and, you know, we might be able to check them out free from the library. AUTHORS! If you'd like me to review your book, please email me about sending an ARC. I'll post it here and link it to my other book review site, Enduring Romance. kimberannebulaATyahooDOTcom

THE ALCHEMYST by Michael Scott

Here's the blurb I from Publisher's Weekly which I found at Amazon.com -

From Publishers WeeklyTwin 15-year-old siblings Sophie and Josh Newman take summer jobs in San Francisco across the street from one another: she at a coffee shop, he at a bookstore owned by Nick and Perry Fleming. In the vey first chapter, armed goons garbed in black with "dead-looking skin and... marble eyes" (actually Golems) storm the bookshop, take Perry hostage and swipe a rare Book (but not before Josh snatches its two most important pages). The stolen volume is the Codex, an ancient text of magical wisdom. Nick Fleming is really Nicholas Flamel, the 14th-century alchemist who could turn base metal into gold, and make a potion that ensures immortality. Sophie and Josh learn that they are mentioned in the Codex's prophecies: "The two that are one will come either to save or to destroy the world." Mayhem ensues, as Irish author Scott draws on a wide knowledge of world mythology to stage a battle between the Dark Elders and their hired gun—Dr. John Dee—against the forces of good, led by Flamel and the twins (Sophie's powers are "awakened" by the goddess Hekate, who'd been living in an elaborate treehouse north of San Francisco). Not only do they need the Codex back to stop Dee and company, but the immortality potion must be brewed afresh every month. Time is running out, literally, for the Flamels. Proceeding at a breakneck pace, and populated by the likes of werewolves and vampires, the novel ends on a precipice, presumably to be picked up in volume two. Ages 12-up. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

THE DIARY OF PELLY D by L.J. Adlington

Here's the Booklist blurb, which I found at Amazon.com -

From Booklist*Starred Review* Gr. 8-12. A young driller breaking up rubble in war-devastated City Five unearths an old water can with a diary inside and then breaks Rules and Regulations by keeping it, rather than surrendering it to the authorities. So begins Toni V's relationship with the diarist, Pelly D, a teen who, before the war, had it all. Toni V enters the everyday thoughts and experiences of a privileged girl who, despite her societal status, may not be protected when the most powerful of the planet's three genetic clans demands all citizens be identified and sorted by genetic type. Although inspired by the buried diaries found in the Warsaw Ghetto, Adlington has crafted an original and disturbing dystopian fantasy told in a smart and sympathetic teen voice. Particularly skillful is the author's use of setting and detail to build slowly toward a full revelation of the unique physical, psychological, and political worlds Pelly D and Toni V inhabit. This provocative addition to the growing body of dystopian literature for teens is a disturbing book that shouldn't be missed. Holly KoellingCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

MAD KESTREL by Misty Massey

This one isn't Science Fiction at all, but I like girl pirate stories.

Here's the blurb from Amazon.com -

From Publishers WeeklyThis rollicking debut combines swashbuckling sea adventure, fantasy and romance with great success. Kestrel was born a Promise, a child with magical talents, and as such sought by the Danisoban mages who control all use of magic. After the Danisoban Brethren kill her parents, Kestrel survives as a street urchin and tavern maid before running away to sea. The sea cancels Danisoban magic, but Kestrel soon learns she retains her untrained ability to command the weather. She signs on with Capt. Artemus Binns, only to see him arrested for piracy and hauled away. Kestrel promptly sets sail in pursuit and finds herself in the middle of a civil war between the Ageless King of the Danisobans and his treacherous and ambitious son, Prince Jeremie. Massey's world building can be a little sparse, but there's enough spirit of adventure to carry Kestrel (and the reader) past the occasional plot hole, with plenty left over for sequels. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Here's Misty Massey's website where you can read a free preview- http://mistymassey.com

Real Science This Week

2009-02-20T06:04:00.000-08:00

*The above picture relates to the Terminator-related article at the bottom.*
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I dunno. I don't think this new-fangled electric car could handle Alaska winters. I think I'll hold off into the hover-car comes out.

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/857/exclusive-aptera-2e

Oooh, pretty! (It's a sad fact that I love science, but don't have nearly the brains for it as you all.)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090219/sc_afp/sciencespaceastronomy

Well, he did say he'd be back.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,496309,00.html

MEG: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten

2009-02-20T05:50:00.000-08:00

I didn't finish this one in time to give you a real review, so here's the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meg:_A_Novel_of_Deep_Terror

When I say I read across all genres, I ain't kiddin'. Well, I don't read Horror or Erotica, but I do read a little bit of Steven King and I have a strange fascination for monster movies (or books) like JAWS and TREMORS. Not the bloody, spooky kind, like the ones where some idiot chases people with a chainsaw. I mean monster movies (and books.) I like the MUMMY movies, for example, except the last one. Branden Fraser was great, of course, but they shouldn't have used a different actress for his wife and I think they tried too hard to have his son appeal to younger people and he flopped instead. Loved all the Ancient China historical and mythological stuff. Jet Li was his usual awesome self, of course. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mummy_3

MEG is scary cool, like JURASSIC PARK and LOST WORLD. I watched all those movies and loved them dearly, and I also read the monster-sized novels they were based on. Once, I read a novel called RAPTOR RED by a paleontologist and it was intriguing, because he wrote it like he was looking over a velociraptor's shoulder. He didn't try to humanize the raptor at all.

HOLE IN THE SKY by Pete Hautman

2009-02-17T05:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a book I think you'll like.

Backstory- A wicked flu virus outgunning anything Ebola ever did broke out and killed of most of the Earth's human population. Those who haven't contracted the virus band together in remote and primative places, ready to shoot anyone who comes near because they might bring the flu with them. A few of the sick survive and are used for various things until the resist and band together too. One group of Survivors is called the Kinka and they've developed their own religion, believing themselves to be divinely chosen to ensure survival of the species. They recruit new members by infecting healthy people on purpose. If these people survive, they're forced to join the Kinka. The Survivors lose all their hair, most of their senses (such as hearing,) and sometimes part or all of their sanity.

Ceej (pet form of C.J.) lives next to the Grand Canyon with his uncle and sister, Harryette. The sister is a Survivor. She has no hair and can't speak or hear. She's lost part of her sanity, but has developed another clarity of thinking. She loves and is loyal to her brother. Tim is Ceej's best friend and he thinks Harryette is beautiful, like Sigourney Weaver in ALIEN. Time likes old movies a lot. There's another person who lives in the Canyon whom they call the Phantom. They've seen her briefly on several occasions and once she found Ceej's mule after it got lost.

One day, Ceej's uncle and Tim's dad drive up to the dam above the Canyon because it's about to overflow or break apart, which would be very bad for their water supply. They plan to release the sleuces so water can escape without destroying everything. When they're late in returning, Ceej and Tim suspect they've been nabbed by the Kinka.

Ceej and Tim set out on their mules to find their uncle and dad. Along the way, Tim is bit by a snake and saved by the Phantom, who turns out to be a Native American girl, the last Hopi on Earth. Her name is Isabella and she saves his life with traditional medicine. She explains she's on her way to her people's most holy place, Sipapuni (a real place, by the way), where she believes she'll be transported to a different world, safe from the Flu. In the meantime, she believes her deceased grandfather is guiding her to help them.

Ceej, Tim, and Isabella travel on. Ceej and Isabella fall in love along the way and this part of the story is also done very well. They're both about sixteen years old, among the only survivors on Earth, clinging to hope, and going on faith. Ceej comes to believe Isabella's claim that the Sipapuni can save them, while Tim remains skeptical.

When they catch up with the Kinka, they discover Harryette has also been taken. Tim is frantic to get her back. He sees Harryette in a window and uses sign language to communicate with her. Harryette tells him to go away because she's afraid he'll the Kinka will kill him with the Flu or by other means. Of course, Ceej and Tim won't abandon her or the hope that their uncle and father are also being held. After observing the Kinka's movements, they also realize that Kinka children are born healthy, having inherited complete immunity from their Survivor parents. These children are the future of humanity.

Harryette has a strong belief in her own life's purpose. She decides to help Ceej and Tim get their loved ones back, whether they like it or not, setting off climactic events.

The whole journey through the Grand Canyon, observing the Kinkas, and planning how to rescue their loved ones was so intelligent and respectful of the potential real teenagers have and too many adults overlook. The romance was done well too, taking into consideration how much these young people need each other to survive, and how humanity needs them to fall in love, pair-bond, and procreate. The characters are original, multi-dimensional, and beautifully flawed. The interpersonal dynamics were spot-on.

This book was released in 2007 and can be found in paperback and hardback. Cover art varies. I found mine at the local library.

Dear Author's eBook Article...

2009-02-15T05:35:00.000-08:00

...this week is particulary good. I would subtitle it 'Girl Power!' Pop over and check it out. http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/02/15/why-ebook-hardware-manufacturers-are-missing-the-mark-and-the-market/

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-13T06:09:00.000-08:00

If you don't have a special somebody to celebrate with, I'd just like you to know I didn't either until I met my future husband at age 25. I'd never wish that long of a wait on anyone, but I must say it was worth it! Here's me and HH at a costume party-

I'm Lady Eowyn from Lord of the Rings and he's Han Solo from Star Wars. I think he looks more like Legoles than Han, but, hey, whatever makes my honey happy!
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Here's my song dedication to my sweetheart husband this year-

'All the Man I Need' by Whitney Houston.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/singleVideo/?vid=2164260

OUTBACK STARS by Sandra McDonald

2009-02-13T06:08:00.001-08:00

Okay, I'm finished, but I'm not sure you'll like it and not just because it's regular adult Science Fiction. I liked it all right, but not nearly as much as some of my friends and Blog Buddies. It's Military SF, which is all well and good and dearly loved by some readers. I have to say, Sandra McDonald does it better than others I've tried to read though. Her world-building is well-rounded. The med-bots were cute. Her characters are great in variety, everything from a wet-eared ensign (or equivilant) who's probably still a teenager to Japanese crewmen to civilian spouses getting in the way to mothers who work outside the home (uh, I mean ship quarters.) There's even a few children in the background and an adorable Gecko. Sandra thought of everything. There's absolutely no cookie cutter Military SF characters in this novel. There is a little bit of hanky-panky towards the end, but nothing more graphic than you'd see on nightly network t.v.
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Lieutenant Jodenny Scott survived the destruction of her ship by an unknown force, one of just a handful. Having physically recooperated, she hangs out on Kookaburra waiting reassignment, supposedly bored out of her mind. She may be a little bored, but mostly she's still struggling with the emotional trauma from having survived a shipwreck. She doesn't like to talk about it.
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And so she hops on the next ship out of town, the Aral Sea. She's placed in charge of some crew who reveal themselves to be either incompetant, implacable, or just downright weird. And then bad things start to happen, things which make her think this is more of a Voyage of the Damned than her previous ship. One bright spot is Myell, who is supposed to be an Alpha Male, but his fondness for the gecko indicates a soft spot and that spot is mainly for Jodenny. But, she's an officer and he's not and there's regulations against fraternization, you know. As characters, they're both okay, but neither is really remarkable, except where the gecko is concerned. Unlike a lot of outright Science Fiction Romance, the relationship develops at a believable rate and you can tell Sandra has first hand knowledge of how the military handles these things. Still, the romance wasn't that appealing to me and probably because I didn't get into the characters much.
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The other cool thing about OUTBACK STARS is that it's based on the assumption that Australia takes the lead into space exploration, rather than the usual United States. This means there's lots of interesting references to Australian names, customs, and stories. Like CHRYSTAL RAIN by Tobias S. Buckell, which utilizes Carribean inspiration, it's a welcome change from standard SciFi fare.

Real Science This Week

2009-02-13T05:47:00.000-08:00

The Dark Comets are Coming to Get Us!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,491648,00.html

And, here, all this time, we thought people were joking when they said their cars ran on hamster power! (Psst, that's Mt. Fuji in Japan, I think.)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,491705,00.html

Oooh, Ice Age Aliens - coool!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,491545,00.html

Oh, How Clumsy of Me! Russian and American satillites collide over Siberia.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,491225,00.html

Getting Back to the Roots of Science Fiction

2009-02-13T05:23:00.000-08:00

I recently made my novel, The Star Captains' Daughter, available as a free eBook at Feedbooks and, since then, I've discovered many wonderful treasures there. I've been reading further and further back on the Science Fiction timeline, you know. There's a set of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs and I hope to read and review all or several of them for you. Bear in mind these ancient SciFi tales were written before women had the right to do much of anything besides be wives and mothers. Of course, I love being a wife and mother, but that is my choice. These were written before women had many choices at all. I intend to read them for fun and as sort of a history lesson. Some say Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is the very first Science Fiction novel ever. I think it's amazing she wrote it at all and, of course, it was originally published anonymously. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein Up until the 1970's, I think it was, some women Science Fiction authors were still using male-sounding pen names. It was a man's genre, but no more! And we have the trail-breakers, like Marion Zimmer Bradley to thank for it too. Here's a link to Wikipedia's article on the Science Fiction genre- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Fiction

.

Here's the link to Feedbooks if you want to check out these great old novels- http://www.feedbooks.com/ You'll also find some newer Science Fiction novels free there too, ones published by real, paying publishers as opposed to me who just stuck it up there on my own. I'm such a rebel.

;)

I tell people I like Fantasy, but I love Science Fiction. The difference, I say, is in Fantasy you can watch Harry Potter wave his magic wand and think, "I wish I could that." However, in Science Fiction, you can watch Captain Janeway order ice cream from the Voyager replicator and think, "I WILL do that!"

Found Some Good Books

2009-02-08T06:34:00.001-08:00

Some I know are Young Adult Science Fiction, like ENCHANTRESS FROM THE STARS, but the others I'm not sure. If I think you'll like the others, I'll post the subseqent reviews here as well as at Enduring Romance. If you want to see my complete list of books which I will be reviewing here and/or at Enduring Romance, scroll down to my Amazon widget at the lower right hand side. Hey, I even found another one set in Ancient Egypt! Definitely not Science Fiction, but STARGATE is and it was inspired by Ancient Egypt. So, that kind of makes it relevant, right?

Reading News for Techno-Geeks

2009-02-08T06:30:00.001-08:00

Dear Author's Sunday article- http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/02/08/is-social-drm-the-great-digital-compromise/#more-9872

more books coming, I swear

2009-02-06T06:51:00.000-08:00

Between below zero temperatures here in Alaska, pregnancy-related nausea, and an utter lack of YA SciFi New Releases that I like, I haven't found many books to review for you all. However, I'm going on a hot, hot date with my husband tomorrow, and when you love books as much as we do that means we're going to the biggest and bestest bookstores in the whole darn state. So, I will have some good stuff for you in the coming weeks. And I won't limit myself to SciFi marketed just for teens either, although I am trying very hard to support that so publishers will put out more.

My husband just found this really cool book, RING OF FIRE, by Eric Flint. It's the second in a series, so I'm going to try to get the first. The premise is a cosmic force hurls a 20th century West Virginia town back to the Thirty Years' War in 17th century Europe. Well, you know how I love Time Travel and Alternate Earth stories! I haven't cracked it open, so I can't tell you if it lives up to its potential yet though. But, isn't that cover art freakin' awesome? Well, I like it.
;)

new blog for aspiring authors

2009-02-06T06:47:00.001-08:00

Jacqueline Lichtenberg has started her own blog- http://editingcircle.blogspot.com/ I call her the Grand Lady of Science Fiction. Besides her own novels, she helped keep Star Trek alive after the original series was canceled many years ago. I've reprinted several of her articles on this blog. You need only click on her name at the bottom to read those. Her advice has been enormously helpful to me. "Jacqueline is good, Jacqueline is wise, listen to Jacqueline or I'll poke you in the eyes."
;)

William Shatner Remembers Ricardo Montalban

2009-02-06T06:42:00.000-08:00

As you probably know, Ricardo Montalban passed away recently. He's the actor who portrayed one of the most powerful bad guys in Star Trek history - Kahn.Here's a video clip of Shatner, who portrayed the famous Captain Kirk, remembering Montalban-

http://bulletins.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bulletin.read&authorID=7367591&messageID=6316881753&MyToken=41aed3a4-c8c6-406f-9903-38030c2ad45c&hash=MIG%2fBgorBgEEAYI3WAProIGwMIGtBgorBgEEAYI3WAMBoIGeMIGbAgMCAAECAmYDAgIAwAQIPEo4bdDXInwEEIqybkUujnI%2b86jc18f4kvgEcEdvoBHdvCl9bdAA5Ooavo1RWx1IsztC3GVnoTeiovQceyUamza8%2bcjU7kbaCwNTn3lYoQobm40v4TmrErTXfQ79oxM6PTmxRkJ8cIxpxGR7RrEOTXCmFrrtcYo5BkXNu17d34Q%2bkhT9ycw4JPFn%2bng%3d

Pop over to http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Portal:Main for all the latest news from the Star Trek universe, including the new movie, new books, and comic books.

Why I Admire Stephanie Meyer, Even Though I Don't Read Her Books

2009-02-06T06:09:00.000-08:00

You've probably heard the flack over Stephen King's criticism of Stephanie Meyer, author of Twilight, this week. Here's the infamous quote-

"The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."

He went on to say how Meyer's appeal is that her stories explore romance for teenage girls, which I found rather sexist. Grown women are often insulted for enjoying Romance novels, as though romance is an idiotic concept, a completely invalid motive for reading.

Anyway, the fact is I've never read anything by Stephanie Meyer or J.K. Rowling and I've never seen the movies based on their novels. Not my cup of tea. I have watched a couple of movies based on novels by Steven King and enjoyed them, and I read his non-fiction book On Writing and found it one of the more helpful books for aspiring authors.

Here's the thing. I read tons of books. Besides loving great stories wherever I can find them, I'm also a blogging book reviewer, both here and at Enduring Romance. http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/ I've been obliged to read novels which were perfectly constructed with no grammatical errors, no purple prose, no dangling participles, and no excess 'ly' adverbs, and the were soooooo boooooorrrring I almost slipped into a coma! While I heartily recommend aspiring authors learn the craft and study their grammar no matter how much they hate it, my observation is some people are born storytellers and some are not. Stephanie Meyer has written stories which have touched the hearts of millions of people. We should all try to be sensitive to the basic needs of our fellow humans, but I think it's obvious she was born with this talent. We should all be so lucky! In my opinion, her writing skill level is irrelevent. Like anyone, she can improve that through practice. It's clear she has enough skill right now to effectively communicate the stories of her heart with her readers. And I admire that a whole lot.

;)

Real Science

2009-02-06T05:54:00.000-08:00

Not mine!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488746,00.html

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The future is bright!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488406,00.html

A mammoth of a tale, if ever there was one!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488368,00.html

So, what are we supposed to do when the aliens show up and are less than friendly, hmm?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488127,00.html

Inispiration for Storytellers

2009-02-06T05:47:00.000-08:00

An ancient Bible has been found. Is it a fake? How will it compare to the one we have today? Could it set off the next DEVINCI'S CODE?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090206/lf_nm_life/us_cyprus_bible
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Also, I had to wade through some nightmarish headlines about parents who are dispicable monsters to their children. Please, try to believe your body is precious and only you have the right to decide what happens to it. If you're in physical or emotional danger or need, please find the courage to get the help you need. There really are good people out there who can and will help you. Try Boystown first. They also help girls. http://www.boystown.org/Pages/default3.aspx

COMET'S CURSE by Dom Testa

2009-02-06T05:34:00.000-08:00

The premise is intriguing. In the grand tradition of Science Fiction, this story obviously began with 'What if?' What if the entire adult population of the Earth was infected by a fatal disease? What if all humans contracted it upon reaching adulthood? In COMET'S CURSE, the greatest minds decide to build a spaceship capable of carrying 251 teens to the nearest habitable planet in order to keep humanity from becoming extinct. They do this midst moral opposition from those who would be left behind.

A group of teens is chosen and prepared for the mission and a special computer is designed to help them run the ship, because, no matter how smart they are, there are some things they can't do by themselves. There just isn't time to educate them that thoroughly. And so the spaceship is launched and the teens settle into their new life while coming to grips with leaving friends and family and everything they new and loved on Earth behind. Not long after the launch, someone encounters an adult stowaway. Besides him trying to sabotage the ship, he could infect them all with the disease too. Will the teens survive the trip at all?

If you're a character-driven reader like me, you should know there isn't a lot of characterization in this story. All the main characters are beautiful, brilliant, and brave, which doesn't leave much room for growth or dynamic interpersonal relationships. Rather, the strength of this story is in the science of the science fiction and answering the question to the initial 'what if?'

Reading News for Techno-Geeks...

2009-02-01T05:30:00.000-08:00

...from Dear Author. http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/02/01/confessions-of-a-reluctant-e-reader-convert/#more-9219 It's all about the Sony eReader. My birthday's coming and I'm hoping, you know. If you can't afford an eBook reader, please don't feel bad. When I was a teenager, I was lucky to own my own coat and, believe me, it was butt-ugly. Hang in there. One day, your dreams will come true, so long as you keep hope alive.

;)

P.S. I did eventually get a cool-looking coat as a teenager, a letterman's jacket. I lettered in track and volleyball. It was a case of 'Don't tell me what I can't do!" Here's what I mean- http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/AliciaKeys/Superwoman--159204163;_ylt=AgR67bpiX24k2e4R8Cown9zesyUv

a great CLOCKWORK HEART review

2009-01-30T09:40:00.000-08:00

by Mary over at my book review blog, Enduring Romance. http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2009/01/clockwork-heart-dur-pagliassotto.html

That's about it...

2009-01-30T06:38:00.000-08:00

...for this week. I'm reading COMET'S CURSE by Dom Testa, but I won't have a review ready for you until next week.

Well, Duh!

2009-01-30T06:27:00.000-08:00

Study shows children need to play.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090126/us_nm/us_children_recess

The other day I went shopping at Target. It just opened stores here in Alaska. So, I was shopping along and two teenage girls went wondering by, giggling hysterically, with a box over their heads. Did I think "What a couple of idiots! Why can't they act their age?" Nope. I thought, "Well, there's a couple of best buddies having fun." I was also reminded of the fact that the *more intelligent the creature, the greater his or her need for play.* This is why dolphines, dogs, and chimpanzees have so much fun. This is why senior citizens are encouraged to solve word puzzles and such to keep their minds sharp as they age.

So, go ahead, goof off! Have fun. Be very silly. I'm one adult who will be very happy for you.

This is a picture of some highly intelligent Alaskan adults racing reindeer down the streets of Anchorage, our largest city.

Real Science

2009-01-30T06:11:00.000-08:00

Is it hot in here or is it just me?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090128/ap_on_sc/sci_hot_planet

Ka-boom, ka-boom. So another volcano in Alaska is about to blow. Big deal. I'm an Alaskan, so I can say that. My husband's a pilot and flies over volcanoes spitting, sputtering, and spewing all the time.

;)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,485048,00.html

Upcoming Science Fiction Movies

2009-01-30T05:56:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Christine for the link!
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*This is a thumbnail from ASTROBOY.*
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http://www.scifimoviepage.com/upcoming/upcoming.html
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Naturally, STAR TREK is at the top of my list, but if they think I'll watch a TERMINATOR movie without Arnold they've got another thing coming!

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I noticed several were based on computer games, like LOST PLANET.

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I liked the looks of ASTROBOY, which is based on a popular cartoon. Have you noticed all the Science Fiction cartoon movies for kids lately. We love Wall-E at our house and can't wait to get SPACE CHIMPS. Make sure the kids you know are being brought up right. Take them to ASTROBOY.

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THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE is based on a bestselling novel. I loved the premise, but it had too many descriptions and bellybutton examinations to hold my attention. I'm hoping the movie version will make it a little more snappy. I spend all my patience on my children, you know. I don't have much left over for wordy stories.

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MOON. This one's about a moon miner who's about to be replaced by his own clone. Not sure why this appealed to me. Maybe because it hits on one of my pet peeves, overlooking the value of human life and individuality.

Reading News for Techno-Geeks

2009-01-25T05:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Author does such an excellent job keeping on top of this that I just link to it. Pop on over every Sunday for the latest on electronic publishing. http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/01/25/why-epublishing-needs-to-grow-up/comment-page-1/#comment-189327 You don't even need to be an actual techno-geek. I know I'm not smart enough to ever be one!

AN ACCEPTABLE TIME by Madeleine L'engle

2009-01-24T05:53:00.001-08:00

*Cover Art varies*
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Madeleine L'engle is best known for the classic YA SF, A WRINKLE IN TIME, which I've never read. (Kimber hangs head in shame.) But, this one just sounded so cool, you know? So, I bought it first. I love Time Travel stories. They combine my two favorite genres- Science Fiction and History. L'engle has been around for decades and has a huge backlist. It's not difficult to find her novels at libraries and used bookstores.
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Polly's a smart, college-bound teenager visiting her grandparents sprawling home place. She's genetically blessed with intelligent and supportive parents and grandparents. They're all scientists and doctors and such. For the first time, she also gets to spend time with her uncle, an Episcipalian bishop. Soon after arriving, she meets up with Zachary, a boy she met in Greece the year before. He's pretty hot and thinks she's awefully fantastic too.
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Before I go on, I should mention this book was originally published in 1989. This is during the series run of Star Trek The Next Generation when Science Fiction was cool and it was okay to be a smart, scientifically minded girl. Also, the 'formula' for YA SciFi was different. Girls were still thought to like Fantasy-type SF better, but the story structure was different. When you start reading a book which was released within the last five years, you expect certain things to happen at certain points during the story. That's the formula. Nowadays, the main plot is clear on page one and you started right in the middle of the action. This novel starts with Polly going for a walk in the woods and a long description of her surroundings and there's no clear main plot until half way through the book that I could see. This novel would not have made it past the partial stage in today's Queryland. So, I encourage you to read this novel with an open mind. Let go of the established formula you may or may not even be aware of and simply accept this story on its own terms. 'Kay?
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Anyway, while out on a walk, Polly and Zach see a beautiful girl who then mysteriously vanish. Another time they see a handsome man. Polly learns there are some interesting archaeological finds around the ol' homestead (this is actually set in New England) and her family theorizes that Europeans visited the Native Americans there thousands of years before. And not just any Europeans. Druids.
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Then, Polly inadvertantly steps through a time gate and sees everything as it was thousands of years before. She meets the beautiful girl, Anaral, who is actually Native American. Over the course of several fade ins and outs of this time period, she also meets the man, Karralys, who is European and a Druid. And she meets Tav. I always like it when a heroine has a fine selection of romantic suitors to choose from and I thought Tav was hotter than Zach who was just a little too flattering for me to believe in.
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Meanwhile, only the Bishop completely believes Polly, because he's been to that time period too. He discovered it while digging around in the old root cellers. These cellars turned out to be Druid holy places where the priests communed with the dead and got in touch with all that spiritual stuff. I realize this all sounds Fantasy genre, but the scientist grandparents and the Bishop's archaeology bent provides the Science Fiction interpretation of it. There's 'magic,' but it's scientifically explained.
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So, I'm reading along with an open mind wondering when the main plot's going to kick in. Polly is drawn to the other time period, but why? I mean, who cares? Sure, anyone would be curious, but there's got to be a much more powerful motivation at work. Otherwise, it's a lame duck story. Well, right about half way through the story, Tav draws Polly into his time period using a really cool silver sun disk which she's mysteriously driven to place on her forehead and then he does something which totally stunned me. Bingo! The plot reveals itself.
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Reading this older releases is turning out to be quite an education for me as a writer, as well as being a lot of fun for me as a reader. As a writer, I often moan and groan about the restrictions in formulas and trends if I ever want to be published and get paid for it too. I mean, c'mon, guys, I totally admire Stephanie Meyer. Obviously, she has a gift for striking the cord in the hearts of millions, but I'm just not into blood-sucking dead guys! Okay? So then I read an older release and think, "Gee, these authors had so much more freedom." (((sigh))) But, actually, Madeleine L'engle was a popular author and popular authors have more freedom anyway, because they can sell a book on their names alone. Also, these authors had their own set of restrictions to live with. So, what's an aspiring author to do? Write her own thing or conform to pack standards?

More Real Science This Week

2009-01-24T05:49:00.000-08:00

You lucky folks in the Indian Ocean!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090123/ts_afp/spaceastronomyeclipseasiaafrica
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Beam me up, Scotty! Well, almost.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,482264,00.html
Okay, guys, time to get to work on that replicator. You know how I hate to cook! One of you YA SciFi Geniuses are going to build me a replicator one day, right?

Book Review...

2009-01-23T06:37:00.001-08:00

...will be posted later. I'm still reading.

STAR TREK & Going to the Movies

2009-01-23T06:24:00.000-08:00

Good morning, YA SciFi Geniuses! Well, of course, you're geniuses. All the young people in my life are the smartest and the best and always have been. It's my runaway maternal instinct, you know. I just can't help it. I kinda take after Mrs. Potatohead in 'Toy Story 2' that way. "Ooh, they're adorable - let's adopt them!"

Anyway...I was just trying to snag a Star Trek movie widget for this blog and my computer was not cooperating at all. And I was thinking it would be fun to have some kind of movie premier party. I used to do Cyber-Launch Book Parties at my Enduring Romance book review blog. Here's one for MAGIC LOST, TROUBLE FOUND, a Fantasy novel by Lisa Shearin - http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2007/06/cyber-launch-book-party.html I don't know if that would work work for a movie premier, but I thought we could brainstorm something between now and then. As some of you know, I'm in the middle of a high risk pregnancy right now. I'll probably be on medical bed-rest when the Star Trek movie premiers in May. I'll rely on you guys to review it here, if you're willing.

The other thing I was thinking about is figuring out how to keep track of upcoming Science Fiction movies. Does anyone know a good site which tracks that?

Inspiration for Storytellers

2009-01-23T05:58:00.000-08:00

If you've never been to Michelle Moran's blog and you're an aspiring author, you ought to pop on over. It's a treasure chest of inspiration, everything from Gallileo's DNA to finding new Egyptian mummies. I've reviewed both her novels, Historicals, at Enduring Romance. NEFERTITI is my favorite. http://michellemoran.blogspot.com/

Yeah, I know history may bore you at school and, on the face of it, have nothing to do with Science Fiction. But, the fact is most American schools absolutely stink at teaching history and that is why most teens hate it. Also, Ancient Egyptian culture is alien to us, when you think about it. STARGATE was inspired by it.

Real Science This Week

2009-01-23T05:46:00.000-08:00

New Life, if Not New Civilizations. If we're still discovering new species right here on Earth, can you imagine what will discover on other planets? The Discovery Channel had a show in which scientists speculated what kind of life might be discovered out there.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090118/sc_afp/scienceoceansanimalswarmingaustralia

Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like if the parasitic twin survived and was a conscious, sentient lifeform, two minds in one visible body. There's a Sci-Fi story in that and, in all likeliness, its' already been done. But, that doesn't mean it can't be done again in a new way!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,481866,00.html

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Study hard, Oh My Young Techno-Geeks! The world needs you.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,481456,00.html

Star Captains' Daughter available as Free eBook

2009-01-19T20:26:00.001-08:00

Pop over here to check it out- http://kimberan7.tripod.com/id11.html

Or here for an explanation- http://starcaptainsdaughter.blogspot.com/2009/01/star-captains-daughter-available-as.html

Much thanks to Tia for her continuing help working out the glitches!

Reading News for Techno-Geeks

2009-01-18T05:18:00.000-08:00

Good morning, Blog Buds. I thought you all might want to know that the blog, Dear Author, usually has an article on eBooks and the gadgets required for them every Sunday. Here is today's article- http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/01/18/using-calibre-to-interface-with-iphone-sony-reader-or-cybook-part-2-of-2/
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I so need an eBook reader!

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams

2009-01-16T09:51:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to reading this one and I'm so glad I did. It's a blast! It's a pretty old back, published back in the 1970's, back when even female Science Fiction writers only wrote stories with male protagonists because no one wanted to believe girls were a force to be reckoned with in the genre. And so the protagonists are guys, and kind of old guys at that. Nevertheless, it's definitely a fun read.
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Ford was stranded on Earth for fifteen years while on assignment, conducting research for an expanded version of that all-important, intergalactic bestseller, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. Unfortunately, his opportunity to hitch a new ride out of the solar system doesn't come until some interstellar developers arrive to raze down the Earth to make way from an express lane. He gets aboard via the starship's cooks who love to annoy the ship's crew by letting on hitchhikers. And he takes one of his human friends, Arthur, with him.
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Of course, Arthur's more than a little freaked out about being on a spaceship and knowing Earth's been blown up. And it's not like Ford asked him if he wanted to bum around the galaxy with him. He thinks having a little yellow fish stuck in his ear to help him understand languages is freaky too, but then the ship's boorish captain finds out the hitchhiker's are on board. Ford says they can handle being put off the ship, even if it means directly into space, but if the Captain starts spouting poetry they're in deep Tribble poo!
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This is an old and popular book, so you should be able to find it at any good library or used bookstore. Cover art will vary. With Fun & Adventure scarce in the Science Fiction New Releases nowadays, this is a must-read for anyone who needs a break.

Majel Barret-Roddenberry, She'll Always Be Number One with Me

2009-01-16T09:37:00.001-08:00

Why? Because she was the first woman in a command position in Star Trek history. She pathed the way for what young intelligent women take for granted right now - that girls can grow up to do and be anything they want to be. http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Majel_Barrett

Majel Barret was cast as the Enterprise's executive officer, called Number One by the series first captain, Christopher Pike. That means she was the First Officer, second in command to the captain. But, it was 1964, and the t.v. execs couldn't stomach the idea of a woman in pants, much less in command. And so she was re-cast as Nurse Chapel in a miniskirt when Star Trek actually began its run.

I also loved Majel Barret-Roddenberry as Lwaxana Troi, Counselor Deanna Troi's fabulously eccentric mother in Star Trek The Next Generation.

Science Fiction hasn't been as much fun since! With 'Dark & Sexy' being all the rage nowadays, I fear it will never be as much fun again. And sexy? Goshdarnit, Lwaxana was hot! In her own wonderful, fun way, she made the younger generation (mine at the time) believe women could have a blast well into their senior years. It all depends on attitude and, brother, did she have a lot of attitude!

Sadly, Majel Barret-Roddenberry passed away last month, after a long career inside and outside the Star Trek universe. She is dearly missed.

Remember, Star Trek episodes (all series) and movies can be checked out free from good libraries and watched on t.v. on Spike and the Sci Fi Channel, or you can download them from iTunes or buy on DVD.

"KAHN!"

2009-01-16T09:22:00.000-08:00

Ricardo Montalbahn passed away this week, taking with him one of the finest villains in Star Trek history. http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Ricardo_Montalban

Kahn was first seen in the Original Star Trek episode, 'The Space Seed,' which I didn't find all that interesting. I thought the Starfleet officer who abandoned Starfleet to marry him was a complete idiot.

'The Space Seed'

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Space_Seed_%28episode%29

However, when the Enterprise crew stumbled over Kahn again in the second Star Trek movie, Kahn was freakin' awesome!

Star Trek The Wrath of Kahn

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek_II:_The_Wrath_of_Khan

You can find Star Trek episodes free to check out at your local library, to download at iTunes, or on t.v. channels like Spike and SciFi Channel. I have no doubt those channels will be rerunning Kahn's episodes in the coming days in his memory.

COMET'S CURSE by Dom Testa

2009-01-16T09:13:00.000-08:00

This book's on the way to me and I'll be reviewing it here. In the meantime, here's the link to the book trailer-

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=49954832

And here's the link to the blurb-

http://us.macmillan.com/thecometscurse

DRAGONSONG by Anne McCaffrey

2009-01-09T07:28:00.001-08:00

Okay, I admit this isn't a real review because I haven't even gotten a quarter of the way through the book. My reading energy this week was taken up by a commercial fiction novel about a stay-at-home dad and his 13 year old daughter, MAN OF THE HOUSE by Ad Hudler http://enduringromance.blogspot.com/2009/01/man-of-house-by-ad-hudler.html which I reviewed for my other blog, Enduring Romance, where, despite the title, we review just about everything. Oh, yeah, and I'm still quite sickly and I live in Alaska where we're glad when it warms up all the way to Zero Degrees Fahrenheidt this time of year. But, enough of my 'my-dog-ate-my-homework' story.

DRAGONSONG came highly recommended from my buddies who grew up on Anne McCaffrey novels. Unfortunately, I was a teen in the boonies and had no idea anyone wrote Science Fiction with girl heroes until after I grew up and got the heck out into the real world.

Here's the blurb:

"Menolly loved music and wanted to be a Harper, though her father would not allow it. It was a disgrace for a woman even to think of such a thing. Finally, he forbade Menolly to even sing for fear her ambition would become known. Menolly had no choice but to run away. On her journey she meets a group of fire lizards who bring new adventure, challenge and direction to her life."

Sounds like a Fantasy novel, doesn't it? Maybe that's why she got away with writing a Science Fiction novel for girls back in the 1970's when the genre was pretty much male-dominated. Do you realize there are still people who think girls don't like science or Science Fiction? Anyway, like I've said before, Anne McCaffrey has been around for decades and has a huge backlist. You should be able to find her books at any library, used bookstore, and even the new bookstores carry her old releases sometimes. Here's her website- http://annemccaffrey.net/index.php

So, Alaska is finally warming up to Zero and I'm done at Enduring Romance for the month. I'll take my bucket and haul my pregnant body down to the library and used bookstore and find some good stuff for you next week. I think I'll also visit a few publishers' websites because I haven't seen anything good and new lately. Your recommendations are always welcome!

Real Science This Week

2009-01-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

Worst Case Scenario Solar Storm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,478024,00.html

The Milky Way - she's a growing girl!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,476207,00.html

Plucky Mars Robots

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/pluckynasaroverscompletefifthyearonmars

I'm a Little Slow on the Draw These Days

2009-01-03T07:08:00.001-08:00

Told you it was good to be Queen!

I appreciate your patience.

I tend to be sick for the duration of my pregnancies. Hopefully, I'll find my groove though. Do I mind being sick? Heck, no! 'Cause it means I'm having a baby. There is nothing more wonderful than bringing a new life into the world and helping him or her grow into an imaginative young lady or gentleman like you all.

;)

Anne McCaffrey's THE UNICORN GIRL the Illustrated Adventures by various authors

2009-01-03T06:58:00.000-08:00

If you've been thinking about trying Anne McCaffrey stories, this may be a good place to get a taste. A lot of women my age who love Science Fiction grew up on Anne McCaffrey because she was one of the few women Science Fiction authors who wrote stories featuring girl heroes.

This book starts where the first ACORNA book leaves off. Acorna is comparative to an 18 year old at this point in the series. She's helping the children she rescued from the factories and brothels of an evil world to move on with their lives. A secret message comes in saying she left a few children behind. Together with her besotted boyfriend (an interracial romance, by the way, written before it was okay), she travels back to the planet to save them. But, is it a trap?

These are short stories which will leave you wanting to read the original ACORNA novels. They're so popular that you should be able to find them in any library. If you must have them for your very own, try a good-sized used bookstore or Amazon.com. New bookstores also carry them from time to time. Anne McCaffrey is one of those authors whose stories are ageless.

TRIA AND THE GREAT STAR RESCUE by Rebecca Kraft Rector

2009-01-03T06:39:00.000-08:00

Here's a great Middle Grade novel with a girl hero. Hey, and it actually has a real, live parent instead of an egg or a robot! Fancy that. From the cover art, you might think this is for younger Middle Grade, but I think kids up to 12 years old will like it. I've known lots of Middle Graders, including one I personally gave birth to. Anyway, on with the review.
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Tria's parents are both archaeologist and they're human colonists. One day, her father is infected by germ on a dig and dies. Tria is so traumatized she isolates herself in mortal terror of all germs. So, while other kids her age go to Back to Basics School where technology is forbidden, she homeschools with a cyber-tutor. Since her mother still must go out and work, she programs a holographic girl to be her best friend and keep her company. The latest security technology keeps her safe and food is dispensed automatically.
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Tria's sterile world suddenly ends when she receives word her mother's been kidnapped. Just before getting snatched, her mother sent orders to have her delivered to a Back to Basics School for safekeeping. However, the bad guys know Tria has something of her mother's which they want. They demand she hand it over or else.
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At Back to Basics School, Tria is frantic to escape and find the object for the kidnappers. Not so easy. Of course, the adults won't listen and, besides, rescuing parents is a job for big people, you know, and little kids are stupid and helpless, so they think. There's a really mean girl there who thinks if she can be the best at everything her father will let her come home. But, there's also a boy there teams up to get a holographic projector so Tria can have her best friend back. Tria's a techno-geek and she also manages to retriever her cyber-tutor's file, which she mistakenly downloads into a robotic horse.
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And so Tria sets off to rescue her mom with new, old, and old-made-new friends, and one obnoxious girl who may ruin it all.
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Great story. I loved the adventure. I loved the girl hero getting to be a techno-geek. And I loved that the author didn't fall into the Middle Grade novel cliche of killing off all parents or even the Young Adult novel cliche of 'all parents are evil.' I get so sick of that. I also loved that the Heroine overcomes her fears for the sake of love. I have a hard time finding such heart and soul in Middle Grade fiction these days.

SPACE BRAT by Bruce Coville

2009-01-03T06:23:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a Middle Grade Science Fiction story called Space Brats, so when I saw this on the shelf I had to have it. Thank goodness, it's absolutely nothing like my Space Brats story and it was published way back in 1992.

I wouldn't hand this to a child over eight years old. It's pretty silly. Know the child well first.

Blork is an alien kid who was hatched in a factory like all the other alien kids. No mom or dad, just a robot who was decidedly uncuddly. His species isn't supposed to cry, but his egg shell scratched him when he hatched and he cried anyway. The robot nanny immedietly stamped the word, 'BRAT,' on his forehead and that was what he was believed to be from then on. He finally gave up and accepted his destiny. He became a brat like everyone assumed he already was. He had no one and no thing to pay any loving attention to him until he found a newly hatched poodnoobie, which is something like a gigantic, stupid, but very cuddly and lovable dog.

One day, Blork takes his poodnoobie to school and, of course, it destroys a great deal of property, since it's so big and clumsy. It gets taken away by the Big Pest Vaporization people, leaving Blork frantic to get him back. Can Blork rise above his presumed brattiness to out-brat the bratty adult who won't give poodnoobie back?

Real Science

2009-01-03T06:17:00.000-08:00

Obama on the New Space Race

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20090102/pl_bloomberg/aovrno0oj41g

We're Still a Long Way from Deep Space Nine, but We'll Get There

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081219/sc_afp/usspacetourism

And for you storytellers out there, a little inspiration from great prehistoric dads.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081219/sc_nm/us_dinosaurs_fathers

Sick

2008-12-30T20:16:00.001-08:00

I'm not spending much time on-line right now. I'm pregnancy-related sick and my house took hurricane-force damage for Christmas. The good news is the pregnancy-related sickness means my pregnancy hormones are *Excellent!* In fact, we had an ultrasound on Monday and the baby and everything is fine.

*This is one of my babies and I after surviving a hard-fought pregnancy and winning. It was worth everything to hold my baby in my arms at last.*

Being sick for the duration of pregnancy is normal for me. I'll be very sick for a while, then not-so-sick-but-still-sick for a while, and then back to puking my guts out in a bowl I carry with me always. I'm one of those rare mommies who actually *loses* weight while pregnant. After our third baby was born, I told me husband one more pregnancy and I'd finally be down to my ideal weight! So, if I go silent in the Blogosphere, this is the most likely reason why.

Merry Christmas from the Stars

2008-12-24T07:04:00.001-08:00

The following broadcast was made from the Apollo 8 crew orbiting the Moon on Christmas Day, 1968-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EreYmNM0N0s

Merry Christmas to all you people of this good Earth.

Edit to Add- Here's a contemporary Christmas message from the astronauts on the International Space Station- http://www.spacefreighters.blogspot.com/ This is Laurie's blog.

Pre- Merry Christmas!

2008-12-19T07:13:00.000-08:00

I'll be back on Christmas Eve for a special post, but then I won't post here again until January 2nd, unless something really extraordinary happens like I get the complete 1st season of Star Trek Voyager on DVD under my Christmas tree or aliens land and offer to buy all of America's SUVs. So, be brave, only five more days!

Retro Star Trek (kinda) DS9- 'It's Only a Paper Moon'

2008-12-19T06:47:00.000-08:00

Star Trek Deep Space Nine is probably my favorite series overall and it's difficult to say that because I love all the ST series. DS9 went into far deeper stories and dimensionalized secondary characters. One of my favorite characters was Nog. A Ferengi, Nog grew up with Captain Sisco's son, Jake, and was expected to go into the family business. However, he saw how hard his father, Rom, worked without respect or appreciation and wanted more out of life. He successfully convinced Sisco to sponser him for Starfleet Academy. His dad, meanwhile, finally gained the respect he deserved by becoming one of the civilian engineers on the station and he happily married the beautiful Leeta who saw past racial differences to the good man that he was. I loved all that! Anyway, in the 7th season the Federation has been at war, trying to prevent Dominion conquest of the Alpha Quadrant. Nog loses a leg in battle and returns to the space station to recover. Physically, he's fine, but emotionally he's still grieving. Having lost a baby, I think the writers totally nailed the whole grief concept. Besides Loss, there is also a Fear component. Nog retreats into the holographic program of Vic Fontaine and the two become friends.

Vic helps Nog work through his grief a lot and must eventually kick him out of the program, because he realizes Nog will never completely heal until he faces the Fear. Of course, Nog doesn't want to leave because in the program he can forget both Loss and Fear. He knows what's going to happen and can control it. In the Real World, anything might happen. His other leg might get blown off. His dad might get killed by a falling beam. But, Vic tells him if stays in the program he'll become as fake as everything in it. He finally accepts it and finds his loving family waiting for him outside.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/It%27s_Only_a_Paper_Moon_%28episode%29

Star Trek television episodes and movies are regularly re-ran on television, especially on channels like Spike and the Sci-Fi Channel. You can also check them out for free at a good public library. If you want to spend the money, download them at iTunes or buy the DVDs.