Updated on September 17, 2025
Here are some great resources for some of the science-based quandaries and set ups that occur when writing fiction. Medicine will have it’s own section. Construction of worlds will be included with world building (because I love puns).
Continue reading Science and Space ResourcesMy office looks like the command center of a space ship. A low budget space ship with a clutter problem, perhaps, but futuristic nonetheless. Many years ago I banished my cheap ergonomic keyboard and kitchen chair and replaced them with a keyboard system.
I literally waited for this keyboard for years. I tested out a prototype in physical therapy in 1995 (not a typo, I’m that old), and after a few moments of typing I knew that I had found my soul mate. Ok. So it doesn’t exactly have a soul, but it’s definitely one of the first things I’d grab in an emergency of the house destruction kind. Unfortunately, as a newly developed device, it was also in a price range that made it unobtainable to a recent college grad and new homeowner. So I waited.
Sometime after I tested the prototype, the keyboard developers joined forces with a chair manufacturer and released it as a combined system known as Interfaces by Cramer. After a while Interfaces was bought by Kinesis and they renamed the keyboard Evolution. Kineses made a desktop model, an under desk arm suspended model, and the chair mounting model.
The Interfaces/Evolution keyboard is a truly split keyboard, not this halfway stuff you find in a standard ergo keyboard, it’s often referred to as a floating keyboard. Half of the keyboard attaches to the right armrest of my chair and the other half attaches to the left armrest. I can put my feet up on the desk and still type, if I were inclined. I’m not. But I could if I wanted to. There’s an integrated track pad, I opted for the left hand version after discovering that you couldn’t get it on both sides (eventually there was a model that had it on both sides). Each armrest is adjustable, and each section of the keyboard will raise, lower, pivot or tilt to the position most comfortable to the user. A not insignificant percentage of the population can’t comfortably pronate their hands (that’s the palm-down position necessary with most keyboards). For everyone else, it’s still a good idea to change your position from time to time. My system allows for all of that.
The chair was a bit of an unexpected boon. I’d always ignored my seating arrangement when writing. At one time I didn’t have a chair at all; the computer was only a foot or two off the floor on a couple of milk crates, so there wasn’t room for a chair. This wasn’t ideal for my back, or so I was told after I developed a pinched nerve. The kitchen chair was better, but what the heck is lumbar support, anyway? Most office chairs I’ve used aren’t suited for six-foot tall people with absurdly long legs. Whatever.
Now when I sit down to write, I am in control. I am the commander of all I see (at least until the computer crashes, proving who’s really in charge). I get delusions of grandeur. I can really put myself on those spaceships I occasionally write about. Who better to enjoy this technological masterpiece than a sci-fi writer? The real bonus, of course, is that I can type for longer periods of time without my arms threatening to secede from the union of me. This is critical because I still do all my editing by keyboard.
Granted it isn’t all roses. This split keyboard took some getting used to. It probably didn’t help that I taught myself to type and didn’t use the right fingers for anything (what is this “home row” you speak of?). It’s a long way to reach for a key on the other side of the board. When I first got started, I often had to watch one hand to make sure it was doing what it ought. It was initially really tough to alternate between the god of keyboards at home and the regular old ergo I use at my paying job. The keyboard and chair take up a lot more space than you’d expect, and I have to be careful not to smack the keyboard against the desk when I turn.
The most unfortunate thing, however, is that ultimately Kinesis decided the Evolution just wasn’t popular enough and discontinued it. You can sometimes find a used one for sale on E-Bay or Craig’s List; I actually picked up a second one a few years ago this way. I look into it periodically, and so far no one is making anything quite like this, and I fear its eventual demise.
Its nice to enjoy some of the benefits of technology I write about and dream about from time to time. A lot of them could be closer that we realize, but in a capitalist economy, the price point and sales figures may make them quickly obsolete.
Brain: So, these speed writing challenges are pretty fun, eh?
Me: Yeah. I’m having a blast with them.
Brain: I’d noticed. Are you liking the plot depth and details I’m providing?
Me: Definitely. They’re turning out developed and with a nice arc in a short time frame. I couldn’t ask for better. I mean, we both know this is not my natural story length.
Brain: And the potential for later expansion, how’s that working? I’d hate to overload you…
Me (finding the sentiment difficult to believe): Not at all. These are great.
Brain: Is there a anything else I can help you with?
Me: Actually, there is. The one I’m working on now is… tougher than I’d expected. The idea from the prompt seemed straight-forward enough. But it took two speed writing sessions to get down my initial plan. See? I’ve got two different scenes that don’t feel connected. I was thinking the right bookends would pull them together.
Brain: Great idea, how about this?
Me: That’s a thing of beauty, right there.
Me: 600+ words in. Oh crivens. This thing’s gone off on its own tangent.
Brain: Gotchya!
Check out all the Writer Brain shenanigans in reverse chronological order here.
“Excuse me.” The young voice startled me, and I looked up from where I was hunched into the trunk of my car, rummaging for the jack. She looked Japanese and about fourteen. Her black and silver clothes made me think of the night sky. She stood in the center of the sidewalk, a hopeful expression on her face.
“Do you have a map I could borrow?” she asked.
“Uhh…” It took me a moment to pull my brain from the track it was on, to one that could answer her question. Poor kid was lost. I realized she wasn’t alone, though. Another girl, similarly dressed, stood in the grass several feet back. She was holding what looked like a couple of brooms behind her back. “I don’t have like a paper map or anything,” I said, wondering what happened to the one I used to keep in the glove box. “But I could pull one up on my phone, if that would help.”
She looked puzzled. “You can do that?” she asked.
Continue reading Speed Writing #8 – Good DeedsNote: while I reference writers here, this applies to many other artists who produce projects that can be stored in a digital format (music, visual, film, etc).
The writer has a multitude of fears. For non-writers this statement may conjure a general list including failure, rejection, creative blocks, and not being taken seriously. While these may indeed cause some concern for a writer, they are nothing compared to the king of all fears, data loss. Some of us live blissfully in denial, unaware how terrifying it is, until we experience it.
The loss of stories, research, and supporting documentation comes in many forms, flood, fire, burglary, but the most common is a computer failure of some sort. The computer is an essential tool for most writers. Computers, like all machines, eventually wear out. Any machine can have a defective part, causing a malfunction at any point during use. If your machine is portable and travels with you, the risk of damage or theft increases. So where does that leave the writer when the parts go bad and the machine fails?
Your actions will determine if this is an inconvenience or Shakespearean-level tragedy.
Save early, save often; it’s a maxim that has stuck with us since the early days of personal computers. Often this means saving to the hard drive in case you lose power or the program experiences a random error. After all this time, autosave still kind of sucks. But just how reliable is that thing that makes all those whirring noises when you open and save files? Hard drives are a lot less touchy than they once were, but it’s still not a question of if your hard drive will fail, but a question of when.
Saving to the hard drive alone isn’t enough. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to back up your data, with network, USB drive, CD/DVD, and cloud being pretty popular. How often should we to time out of our writing schedules to make these important back ups? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? If not done often enough, you’ll lose some of your changes, or maybe your newest projects when your hard drive screeches to a halt. We each have to decide how much loss we can live with, and then pick a process we’ll actually follow through with. Having the plan and not using it will just make you hate yourself all the more when someone breaks into your house and takes your computer. Let’s try to avoid the self-loathing, shall we?
A historian friend of mine introduced me to the acronym LOCKSS – lots of copies keeps stuff safe. I’ve used this to develop my backup process. Every time I write, I back up my work on a USB drive that goes everywhere with me. I have an in-home network that I back up to as well, though not as frequently as I could, mostly because it’s currently a manual process. Periodically, I save to an external hard drive that I hand off to my parents, who live in a different city. In the last year, I started monthly backups to a cloud drive.
Remember, if your backup plan is too complex or too time consuming, you won’t actually do it. And if you don’t actually do it, we’re back to the self loathing.
Save early, save often, and find a back up method that meets your loss threshold and realistic willingness to put forth effort. When your hard drive makes clicking noises sounding like a very slow turn signal, I hope you can sigh with resignation instead of sobbing with despair. I’ve done both, and the one is infinitely preferred over the other.
I leaned against my elbows on the high top table and gazed at the stage. The between set curtain was still down, and I could see tennis shoes moving back and forth while the roadies set up for the next band, and real reason I was even here.
Clubs were not my scene, but once in a while there was a band I liked enough to endure the crowds and noise. The Fratellis fell into that camp, so here I was, at First Avenue, by myself, waiting. At least no one had spilled their beer on me, and my feet were relatively unscathed so far. Unlike my friends, who dressed up to go out, I preferred to wear clothes I didn’t care about.
I felt the table jiggle a bit and turned my head to see the guy who’d taken the stool next to me.
“Is it okay if I sit here? ” he asked.
I shrugged. “It’s a free country. “ Usually sounding bored and disinterested worked on those few who decided to hit on me.
He looked puzzled. “I mean, you’re not saving it for anyone or anything like that, are you?”
I shook my head. “Nope. “
He smiled, and I cringed internally. Instead of a friendly expression, it showed his ego, in all its glory. Ugh. I wondered if he practiced that one, thinking it looked sexy. Then I wondered how many other women agreed with him, or at least went along with it.
Continue reading Speed Writing #7 – Intimidation Gone AwryBirth does not always call attention to itself. It is not necessarily a thing of beauty. There is not always screaming, although sometimes that simply comes later.
The stainless-steel kitchen sink was half full of water so cold the bare sides above were fogged and condensing. The shiny silver faucet was dotted with sweat, and droplets slid one by one into the pool of water below. Two recently clipped peonies floated on their petal heavy heads, their stems sticking straight up in the air like some sort of backward bouquet. Small groups of ants gathered in the green cup where the stem joined the blossom. Some had climbed the stem to hang precariously on upside-down leaves. Floating lifeless in the water were the casualties who had not made it from their places deep within the flower before the deadly flood reached them.
Continue reading PeonyI usually take a lot of photos at conventions, so this year is a bit of an anomaly. The few I took, are available here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eCTgXRHCD2WMXZ5aA
Brain: So you know that idea I just gave you?
Me: Which one?
Brain: This one, here, see?
Me: Oh. Yeah. You’re not going to take it back are you? I’ve started thinking about it and have some pretty good plans for developing it.
Brain: No need to worry. I was just thinking…
Me (very quietly): Uh oh.
Brain: Do you remember this fragment of an idea?
Me: Yeah. It’s cool, but I have no clue what to… oh… I see.
Brain: Neat how they fit together, eh?
Me: Yeah. They do fit very nicely together.
Brain: I’ll just leave you to it.
Check out all the Writer Brain shenanigans in reverse chronological order here.
MarsCon is one of my favorite conventions because it has a bit of everything, making it a full geek experience, without the overwhelming crowds like ConVergence, DragonCon, and ComicCon. The programming is diverse, and I can actually get to the things I want to attend (unless there’s two things I want to see at the same time, or I’m scheduled on a panel across from something else). The costumes are top notch, and the people are very nice.
I started this year’s MarsCon by dashing up ten flights of stairs to get to my 4 pm panel Artistic Inspiration. I take my moderator duties seriously, but the hotel was down an elevator and the snow made our drive extra slow. I didn’t die, but I did need my inhaler, and it turned out we had to wait for someone to open the room anyway.
Our Artistic Inspiration panelists were A. Merc Rustad (writer guest of honor), Ruth Berman (speculative fiction and poetry writer, and Rhysling Award winner), Kathryn Sullivan (YA writer), and myself as moderator. I’ve been on many panels with Ruth and Kathryn. Ruth has a nearly uncanny knowledge of quotes, golden age speculative fiction, and L. Frank Baum. Kathryn brings an energy that can help perk up those dozy panels in hot crowded rooms. I’d not had the pleasure of being on a panel with Merc, and they were an excellent participant, providing a little different perspective and experience than the other panelists, which ensured we had lots to discuss and share.
We talked a bit about how inspiration can be the spark that triggers a story, or it can be a the energy that helps us continue through the longer pieces or rough patches of finishing a story.
Recommendations for sparking your inspiration or refueling your creative energy:
MarsCon was held at the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport/Mall of America, where it’s been the last few years. It’s a good size and has some nice features – it’s generally accessible (when all three elevators function) the stairs aren’t locked, and they don’t use hyper-scented cleaners, soaps, or deoderizers that trigger my asthma, unlike some hotels. It also has a few downsides in that the parking situation is not ideal and while the restaurant does a great job with breakfast, it’s over-priced and under-whelming for lunch or dinner.
I moderated an 8 pm Writing Diversity Right, but it’s getting it’s own blog post because I have resources to share. The parties were good, with the IKV Rakehell and Nokomis groups always do a nice job. It was nice to see Babylon 5 recognized this year, but I missed the Harry Potter and Royal Manticoran Navy, both of which have been fantastic in the past.
S.N.Arly 