Full disclosure: I’m a city girl. I’ve spent most of my life it cities, clocking the majority of it in San Diego. And even though I’m stuck in this one-horse town pretending to be a metropolis, that’s Tucson by the way, I still keep up with what’s going on in the big roiling cauldrons of humanity. It’s no secret that our world is in trouble because of CO2 overload caused by a huge amount of human activity. In fact, we just hit 410 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere. But it’s the reaction that got me thinking. An offhand comment … Read more
When many of us hear the word ‘fabrics’, we immediately think of avant-garde, haute couture dresses, the latest fashions from Paris, or ‘who-is-wearing-who’ on the Red Carpet. In space exploration, however, fabrics have more applications than for just snazzy clothes, like antennas, spacesuits and shields for spacecraft. Raul Polit Casillas, a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is the son of a fashion designer from Spain, so he grew up familiar with fabrics. Now he is applying his knowledge and skills to develop woven metal fabrics for applications in space. The fabrics that Polit Casillas and … Read more
We’re in the middle of April right now. Spring is in full bloom. The white blossoms have fallen from the trees, to be replaced by tiny pink flowers on other branches. Camellias are giving way to wisteria. Not that I have too much time to notice these things, although I try to snatch a moment or two to observe them. The flowers help refresh my spirits, before I return to the madness. For this is a month of crazy, non stop writing projects for me. Yes, a writer should always be involved in projects to stay in form. This month … Read more
From the mythical Kraken to the potential future Squibben, octopodes have terrified a lot of humanity for as long as we have known of the existence of these curious creatures. And wild. Did I mention these cephalopods are wild? Because they’re basically the closest we currently have to aliens on this planet. From a human point of view, these creatures may seem to be just another lower lifeform that shares our planet, on the same level as cats, dogs, crows and dolphins. Smart, but not as smart as us. Recently, however, we may have discovered something a little different. As … Read more
We are out there. We are not always obvious. In the days before the 21st Century’s sometimes grudging acceptance of LGBT YA authors, such authors labored largely in the closet, their works publicly known while their orientation was not. Two authors whose works have recently crossed my desk again are William Sleator and George Selden. Both names are probably jogging a bygone memory or two. Both had at least one familiar hit; Sleator with “Interstellar Pig,” and Selden with “The Cricket in Times Square.” And both men had definite LGBT connections. I’ll start with Sleator (pronounced “Slater.”) I first encountered … Read more
You say the word plague, and most people’s eyes light up with horror or interest. Because, despite numerous plagues over the course of human history, only one really springs to mind with that one word. One that doesn’t need an introduction. I’m talking about the Black Plague. The Black Death, in and of itself, has had its day in a wide variety of books of both fiction and nonfiction types, even stretching into urban legends to this day. The horror of this disease is well known and used to great effect. As Ducky in NCIS once told us “The infected … Read more
How many of you have wanted to go to the moon? Everybody? Well, we’re all nerds here so I’m not surprised. What is a surprise is NASA’s announcement that there is the possibility of astronauts returning to the moon as early as next year. 2018 is the fiftieth anniversary year of Apollo 8, which was the first spacecraft to reach and orbit our natural satellite. Commander Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders left Earth’s orbit, circled the moon a few times and returned home safely. Acting NASA administrator Robert Lightfoot said last month he wants to fast-track the heavy-lift … Read more
Personally, I love it when science is pitted against science and the epic battle that it results in. It never fails to advance our understanding of our home and Universe just that little bit more. And such is the battle I bring this time. The fight over the origins of water on our planet has spanned for centuries, I can imagine, since we learned science. Where did it come from? We aren’t sure, but there are two prevailing theories that are imminently possible: astroscience’s outside interference or geoscience’s native origin. Those two theories have plagued scientific minds for a long … Read more
March is a time of change. The weather is warming up. Time springs forward, depriving us of an hour. The daylight lingers longer and longer in the evenings. With the change comes an awakening, a call to get up and move. Projects await us. The Queer Sci Fi Flash Fiction contest has begun. Blogging From A-Z is approaching, along with Camp NaNoWriMo. Publishers call for submissions, here and there, offering a variety of opportunities. For the beginning of spring is a time of opportunity. I realize this, even as I’m caught up in my own activities. I took a walk, … Read more
Today I thought it would be interesting to discuss our QUILTBAG literary influences. If you’re a writer, this could be authors who inspire you or have influenced your writing. For readers, why not share some of the authors who introduced you to QUILTBAG fiction and/or who keep you coming back for more?