You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December 2008.
Aboard the Battlestar Steven Francis Murphy BSG-71
Location: Combat Information Center, Russell Anchorage, Maternal Support Command
Mission: Damage Assessment
From the Journalspace Website. Most of the members of Cheeseburger Gothic are already aware of the situation, which is a hell of a way to end the year.
Tuesday:
Journalspace is no more.
DriveSavers called today to inform me that the data was unrecoverable.
Here is what happened: the server which held the journalspace data had two large drives in a RAID configuration. As data is written (such as saving an item to the database), it’s automatically copied to both drives, as a backup mechanism.
The value of such a setup is that if one drive fails, the server keeps running, using the remaining drive. Since the remaining drive has a copy of the data on the other drive, the data is intact. The administrator simply replaces the drive that’s gone bad, and the server is back to operating with two redundant drives.
But that’s not what happened here. There was no hardware failure. Both drives are operating fine; DriveSavers had no problem in making images of the drives. The data was simply gone. Overwritten.
The data server had only one purpose: maintaining the journalspace database. There were no other web sites or processes running on the server, and it would be impossible for a software bug in journalspace to overwrite the drives, sector by sector.
The list of potential causes for this disaster is a short one. It includes a catastrophic failure by the operating system (OS X Server, in case you’re interested), or a deliberate effort. A disgruntled member of the Lagomorphics team sabotaged some key servers several months ago after he was caught stealing from the company; as awful as the thought is, we can’t rule out the possibility of additional sabotage.
But, clearly, we failed to take the steps to prevent this from happening. And for that we are very sorry.
So, after nearly six years, journalspace is no more.
If you haven’t yet, visit Dorrie’s Fun Forum; it’s operated by a long-time journalspace member. If you’re continuing your blog elsewhere, you can post the URL there so people can keep up with you.
We’re considering releasing the journalspace source code to the open source community. We may also sell the journalspace domain and trademarks. Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/jsupgrades for news.
For folks like John Birmingham, who had their professional blogs there, this is a big deal. Go to the back of Final Impact or Without Warning and there you will find the url to the now defunct Cheeseburger Gothic blog. To him, it is a money making issue as well as a way of maintaining the community of readers which congregate around John, in a far more amenable atmosphere than elsewhere in the SF community (folks who grouse about Lobes would do well to consider that he is a mouth of one compared to the brigades of similar types in the American SF communities).
For me, well, I am looking at it as a blessing in disguise. The Pondering Tree Mark One was created on a lark prior to my teaching career. I never seriously thought I’d get to teach when I started it and the entries before 2007 reflect that attitude. Certainly if the content manifested itself in my professional life, I’d answer for it and deal with the consequences, just as I would with recent conflicts in the SF community over the last year. I’m confident I could handle any of those problems if they should manifest themselves but the absence of the original blog helps.
Yes, it could be cached and probably is. Yes, some asshole may have an embarassing entry. Yes, some asshole may try to use that. Anyone who is dedicated enough to impersonate an editor I do not care for is dedicated enough to try other bullshit.
In any case, it is a shame to see Journalspace go. Frankly, I like that blog engine better than WordPress, which comes in at a distant second place compared to other engines. I do not have any use for Livejournal (for personal and practical reasons) and will not set up a blog there. There is blogger and/or blogspot but I find them to be fickle as well.
My mom and many like her will suffer no doubt. One of the appeals of Journalspace was the small town atmosphere as opposed to this shouting in a stadium feel that wordpress and livejournal have. Granted, I can generate readers for some reason (though I’m often baffled by the ebb and flow of readership in relation to content). I know this is what John Birmingham enjoyed as well.
Such as it is, there is nothing for it but to march forward. We will have to rebuild, those of us who chose to, elsewhere. It is natural, of course, for communities to grow close and over time, drift apart, for reasons catastrophic and minor. That does not make the transition any less painful.
Of course, one upshot is that some people you’d just as soon lose contact with do fade away. 
Some assholes from Journalspace I will definitely not miss.
So it goes.
The New Year Comes
As I write this it is about ten in the morning local. The land Down Under will have marched into 2009 already. On my own front, I have plans tonight with my partner (that sounds like I’m in a homosexual relationship and wouldn’t that cause the shits in SF blogistan to titter but I’m not, sorry to disappoint) that include staying in, adult beverages, some hot cookin’ and other such things which will not be mentioned here.
It has been a rocky year for me, if successful overall. I will be moving into my fourth semester of teaching. Two stories published to date with one receiving an honorable mention in Gardner Dozois’ Year’s Best SF. The latest research project is moving forward and plans to travel to NYC in February are firmed up. I’m in a pretty good relationship (as good as they get), the Father didn’t die off yet (though he is back to acting like an asshole proving yet again that only the good die young) and things overall are pretty good.
True, my preferred man for President of the US didn’t win. That suits me just fine. We’ll see if Saint Obama can make good on all of the expectations. I suspect he will not be able to.
All I know is that I wouldn’t want to be an Israeli citizen or an American soldier right about now.
So it goes.
Here is to a Happy New Year.
Respects
Steven Francis Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Aboard the Battlestar Steven Francis Murphy BSG-71
Location: Combat Information Center, Russell Anchorage, Maternal Support Command
Mission: Writing
The Writing Front: A Forlorn Harvest
Word Count: 1600
After doing nothing yesterday, I resolved to get some work done today. So we are now up to 1600, a yield of 600 words so far today. I will say that I have finished the first draft of scene one. I think in Scene Two we need some explodey goodness to get things moving. Something minor perhaps.
I’m still pondering the Great Female Military Antagonist of the project. I’m half tempted to read in detail many of the entries over in SF Blogistan to mine them for material. That said, I really do not think I need to look over there for grist for the mill. I have some good material to draw upon already.
I think the end goal for the first draft is 10K words. I’ll distill and consolidate it to a certain extent and give some thought to how it will end.
Research Project Number-04
While I’m writing my own work, I’m directed to give some thought to matters military for my client in addition to two very important points.
What is the lesson/message of the book?
What is the engine that drives the book?
I’ve got a solid idea per the first question and have already relayed that to the client. In fact, the more I think on it, the more I think the first question pretty much solves the issue of what the engine is that is driving the book.
I’m also giving some thought to a specific character’s status in this novel. I’ve got two very solid ideas now that I have a better understanding of the plot concept. At some point, I’ll write up my ideas and send them to the client. There is some research I want to do first.
Other Fronts
I continued to read Meet You in Hell while enjoying a very good breakfast at Room 39, down on 39th Street. They serve organic and free range product. My plate was loaded up with potatoes, three eggs over hard, bacon and toast. Yummy salty warm goodness topped off by excellent service.
What more could you ask for?
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Research Project Number Four
Got the first batch from the client today, edited it (didn’t need much of that), wrote up some comments and sent it back. I think the client is off to a good start.
Yeah, I know some of you know who the client is but not everyone does so shush.
The Physical Fitness Front
Got back at it today. I had to give a friend a ride to work and then transitioned down to campus to get my workout on. I stepped on the scale expecting bad news. Like, “What the fuck? Two hundred and ten points again? Shit!”
Instead, I came in at 196 pounds. Granted, I think what happened is that some of my muscle went to fat. Then again, when I did bench press there was no appreciable loss of strength. I maxed at 165 pounds, not bad for a man with a bad shoulder.
I decided against cardio today and tomorrow. I suspect I’ll save that for the first day of the New Year. The girlfriend and I want to hit the gym together.
Reading
Moving forward with Meet You in Hell today. I’m getting a lot of good stuff for my revisions.
Blog Rec: Mclowry’s Footnotes
Excellent blog entry by Mclowry on the Kansas Border Wars before the American Civil War that are worth a look. Click her link and go check it out.
Other Fronts
No writing on my own end as of yet. I will try to get a thousand words down later today. My brain is still cogitating on what I want to write.
I will say this.
I have been reading up on female soldiers, warriors, leaders and generals/admirals in fiction. Probably the one who strides closest to being a bad person is Admiral Helena Cain from Battlestar Galactica. That said, she has some sympathetic qualities to her which make her likeable and perhaps, even admirable.
I want a character who is sympathetic yet not admirable. Someone the reader will hate. Generals are not always popular with their troops, just ask General George S. Patton, a man who never sought popularity among his forces.
Most female military leaders are almost always depicted in a positive light, perhaps this is because the idea of having such leaders is relatively new and perhaps because it is politically charged. There is also a notion (a Western/Eurocentric One I might add) that mothers are naturally antiwar by default and would never purposefully sacrifice their children. This notion bothers me mainly because in a genre which is supposedly about multiculturalism we seem to ignore the very real notion that mothers in other cultures have a very different attitude toward their children, especially in a time of war.
I want to illustrate and use those differences for my story.
So I’m pondering that.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Aboard the Battlestar Steven Francis Murphy BSG-71
Location: Combat Information Center
Mission: Writing
The Writing Front: A Forlorn Harvest
Word Count: Just under a thousand
I officially hopped back in the saddle early this morning, unable to sleep in any case. Nancy Kress at her blog had discussed Writer’s Rust and how it can be difficult to get those gears moving again. I found I had similiar trouble right off the bat. It was a struggle to crank out sentences and I found that I tended to edit each sentence as I worked, which is not exactly the best way to go. On the other hand, the intro required some scene setting paragraphs to build the world the story is set in. Most readers know that I struggle with those descriptive paragraphs. I’ve set a personal goal of writing five to six sentences for each one of those paragraphs. Maybe that will help.
This will be the same concept as the previous version of this story but with some changes. Following my own advice on searching for the Truth of the Story, I made some character changes immediately, changes which suit me and not necessarily any notion of political correctness, what I should have, or what topics I should cover.
I did find a bit from a previous reboot attempt which explained a lot of what was going on. This has been an ongoing complaint with stories set in The Limb Knitter universe, the lack of background information to help the reader place themselves firmly within the story. The more literary types in the field complain mightily about what they call “infodumps” of material and I suppose this bit qualifies. Ambiguity is a literary strength, something to be cultivated and while I have used ambiguity before (can anyone tell me exactly what a Limb Knitter looks like?) I do not think ambiguity should be a required ingredient in every project.
That ambiguity might be another reason why folks are bored with science fiction.
I’m going to try and get some more work done on it later today.
Fitness Front
Having caught two illnesses in six weeks, I’ve been out of the gym and have gone badly to seed. The Christmas feasting has not helped matters. I have two gyms which are part of my benefits package for teaching I can go to. The one I went to which is closer to my house is the one I’m fairly certain made me sick the second time. I’m leery about working out there again but the alternative is to drive down to campus and use their facility or get a pass at the Northtown Community Center.
I’d rather not spend money that I am going to need over the next two months. But I do need to hit the gym again. Soon.
The Reading Front
Continuing to read The Bonus Army and Meet You in Hell. Next on the list is Andrew Jackson, a bio that I have (no, not the current one written by that clown who thinks Obama is the start of a Fourth American Republic) followed by a book on Sherman’s March to the Sea.
I am going to try to write up reviews on these books as I finish them, mainly for my own benefit. A reasonable goal of a 1000 words of analysis, summary and critique seem to be in order. I can use that material for my own lectures as well.
The Teaching Front: Things to Do, Lectures to Revise
American History I:
The Constitutional Convention
The Election of 1800
Andrew Jackson (I need to write this lecture)
Sherman’s March to the Sea
American History II:
Andrew Carnegie and the Homestead Steel Mill Strike
The Bonus Army
Theodore Roosevelt
World War I (replace military lecture with weapons lecture, no they are not the same thing)
Other Stuff
Dad slept well through the night. Mom gave him a hot toddy which not only put him out cold but also prompted him to cough up a lot of the crud in his lungs. She was saying, “I should have done that sooner.” His blood pressure is back to normal, heart is working about as well as can be expected and he seems to be getting back to his usual cranky self.
I think we’ve cleared the worst of it for now.
On we go.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Photography
My Dad grows stuff in the basement, other than mold and junk that is. He gave this to Mom this evening and she wanted pictures of it. Using her new tripod and my new camera, I managed to get some halfway tolerable shots.
If you are going to do macrophotography (basically close up shots of small objects) it is my understanding that one needs the following:
1. A stable platform, such as a tripod. Best Buy had a pretty nifty one for a decent price and since Mom likes this type of photography, I got her one.
2. A camera with a timer. I’ve got that.
3. A camera with tolerable auto focus. Got that.
The results are not too shabby considering the lighting conditions were not the best. Natural light is idea for this sort of photography but then this is a rose that was grown in the basement of our house during the wintertime.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Dad is back home and seems to be, well, his usual stubborn self. He has pneumonia which is why he had heart trouble. After an awful night in the VA’s ICU, he demanded to be released (typical) ahead of schedule (more typical) and probably against medical advice (unknown at this time but likely).
He looks, well, about like he always does these days. Grey, tired and careworn.
The Writing Front: A Forlorn Harvest
I picked up a new binder for the project and did some prelim work. We’ll see what comes of it. I think I need to take an entirely different tack from the original version of this project.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Brother, Can You Spare $15.95?
Posted using ShareThis
Apex Book Company is in a bit of a money crunch. I know times are tight but if you have a little bit of scratch then pop on over to their site and buy something. If nothing else, get a mug or a t-shirt.
If they go under, then those of you waiting to see Tearing Down Tuesday in reprint will be shit out of luck.
I’ll try to do what I can to help as well here in a bit.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Writing: Putting Things in Context
I was out reading some aspiring writer blogs this morning and stumbled across an entry which gave me pause to reconsider my own situation. The aspirant was going over their current campaign to break into publishing. Hundreds of submissions and no dice. I do not know how many years they have been at it and to be fair, I do not really know them that well at all.
Hundreds, folks. Hundreds of short stories making their way through the slush piles, getting picked off left and right yielding no joy what so ever. You have to admire the determination and since I’ve not read their fiction, I can’t say if they should keep at it. Better yet, even if I didn’t like the person, I wouldn’t say that.
It took me, from the moment I set my mind seriously to the task, about seven years to achieve initial publication. I started submitting sporadically in 2000, researching the markets and getting to know the lay of the land. My first stories had problems of course and you can see some of the earlier ones at Bewildering Stories (I’ll put a link up here in a bit over to the right). I received my first personal rejection letter with feedback from Gardner Dozois in 2003 on Tranquility Lost, which gave me a lot of ideas on how to work up my future stories. His advice stays with me to this day.
Even if you set aside the Maternal Soldier debacle and posit that I should have seen print in 2005, I did finally sell in 2007 to Interzone and again that same year to Apex. I’ve published one story per year since, low by some standards but I’ve never been a prolific writer. Production wise I have probably written a grand total of 30 to 50 short stories and I think the number is probably lower. I’ve not taken an inventory in quite some time. I’ve submitted my work to market maybe 35 to 45 times, perhaps as high as fifty. Granted, I submit more often now that there are markets more amenable to e-mail submission.
But I’ve not reached a hundred rejections, even now. I suspect I’m closing on sixty or so. Again, I haven’t kept track since the first sale.
Some will work their entire lives to get published and never achieve much. Some will resort to vanity press after decades of labor. Others will reach a point where they accept some fundamental truth within themselves (whether it is really true or not) that perhaps they do not have what it takes to make the sale. They’ll give up and perhaps go indulge in basket weaving.
I’ve groused about barriers and I believe they are very real ones. I’ve groused about the markets and their tastes, especially since 2005. I have railed against those who’d tell me how to do my job as a writer yet do not have a paycheck to back up their demands (and even if they did, would I listen?). Yet I managed to punch through anyway.
Perhaps it is possible to keep punching through. Even if it is not, two respectable story sales is far more than many ever get.
Maybe, as some of my friends tell me, I should see success for what it is, rather than reinventing it into failure. Others would kill to have what I have.
The Writing Front: A Forlorn Harvest, part of The Limb Knitter universe
The Limb Knitter – 2004, Concept Illustration by Kellie Gillette
I think I’ve pretty much decided this will be the next project, if I can get time to work on it. It is sitting on my stack in the original project binder. Most likely when I read the project I’ll wince at the material. I always do when I read an older project, even the two stories which are published cause winceable moments as I read them.
The project is set in the same universe with the nation state of Velaysia struggling to hold their own against the nameless Invaders. Some I’m sure would criticize the faceless nature of the Enemy in The Limb Knitter and perhaps in this story. What interests me is the conflicts that go on within a unit or an organization as well as some of the myths and fear that grow in those organizations over the course of a prolonged conflict.
I think some research may be in order, if I can wedge it in.
So I’ll crack open the binder and look it over today.
When and If Journalspace comes back up
What to do with that blog? Well, five years of entries are over there. I suppose if anything survives I should cull through them and back up the valuable ones. John Birmingham would tell me that the entries pertaining to the infamous Poodle of Uniguard are priceless. That will require time. There is also the need to preserve specific writing entries pertaining to various stories. I suppose this would be an opportunity edit a massive of material.
While that goes on, what should I do with the blog itself? I suppose I could make it a personal blog and steer this one more towards a professional blog. I could use it as a duplicate site along with The Pondering Sapling at Blogger, creating triple redundancy. I don’t think I can count on it as the Primary Blog anymore and I suspect when it is all said and done, John Birmingham is going to reach the same conclusion. For him the matter is of vital importance because at the back of every novel since Designated Targets is a link to his journalspace blog.
I’ll keep pondering this issue and keep folks informed.
The Reading Front
I’m still reading The Bonus Army, which is a first class book covering the particulars of the Bonus Expeditionary Force and their effort to obtain a portion of their Soldier’s Bonus prior to 1945. It was the depths of the Great Depression and they couldn’t wait till 1945 to get their money, they needed it right then. I think I will write up a review as I generate a new lecture for American History II based on that event. I think it will illustrate the Depression in a new light with a different approach to the usual Saint Franklin D. Roosevelt school of handling that time period (which I have long since grown very weary of).
I hate talking about FDR’s alphabet soup for the most part.
Last night I continued reading Meet You In Hell by Les Standiford, which covers the Homestead Steel Mill Strike of 1892. I’m in the middle of Carnegie’s overall biographic sketch which is fairly close to the one I give during lectures. Strange since I scrambled to get that material from an old Encyclopedia Britannica entry on the man two nights before my first eval lecture. I can see why my boss immediately thought of the book and mentioned it to me. I believe I will try to write a review of this book as well as I tweak my Carnegie lecture.
Additional books include a biography on Ben Franklin, which a full time peer of mine does not view in a kind light. I’ve also got Empire Express: The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad by David Haward Bain, a book I’ve been meaning to pick up for awhile.
On top of that I have three short stories from my peer to look over.
So I’ve got a full day of reading ahead.
The Father Front
Mom says he sounds congested and tired this morning. He has been struggling with breathing for months now. He did eat, which I take as a good sign.
The main problem, it appears, is that his heart’s ability to pace itself is out of whack. I think that could surely be fixed with a pacemaker but that will be up to the docs down at the VA (folks whom I do not have any real confidence or faith in, to be honest). At least they took my father immediately when he arrived at the Emergency Room. All of the other area hospitals in their infinite wisdom decided to shut down their ERs for the holidays. The VA was the only one taking people and they were packed.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Aboard the Battlestar Steven Francis Murphy BSG-71
Location: Combat Information Center
Mission: Medical Observation
He seems to be doing better. Hopefully this is a trend that continues.
In any case, the weather has turned again after a warm day melted off our snow and cracked the ice on the lakes open. I cancelled all of my plans for the weekend to stay by the home fires.
There is plenty of reading to do in any case.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Aboard the Battlestar Steven Francis Murphy BSG-71
Location: Combat Information Center
Mission: Medical Observation
Well, Mom (aka JuneO from Jspace) is back from the VA Medical Center. Dad is being held for 48 hours observation in ICU, which is unusual in that he will fight being kept for that sort of thing. That is a sign that things are pretty bad. I talked with her about it, covered contingencies and was brought somewhat up to speed on what I might need to do.
My main mission will be, if worst comes to pass, to help her get through it.
One ray of hope is this. I believe life is mainly about willpower. If you want to hang on, you will. It is the only thing that explains why some who should have crossed over the river have not done so inspite of every piece of medical evidence saying that should have happened. It also explains why others cross even though they are in relatively good shape regardless of what ails them.
My parents’ forty-fifth wedding anniversary is due on January 5th. My father says he’ll be around for it and that, I believe, is all we need to know. If he says he’ll be here. He’ll be here.
As for how I am handling it? I couldn’t even begin to disect my emotional state. Complicated. I managed to get things he wanted for Christmas this year, actually gave both presents some considerable thought. He had been looking for a new pocket knife for quiet some time, a very small one and he was having trouble locating one he liked. I managed to find it with a Winchester multi tool kit. I also found, literally by luck, a DVD of a Roy Orbison special which aired in 1988. He is a Roy Orbison fan, something I didn’t know till I stomped home one night and made so much noise he wasn’t able to watch the one on PBS. The DVD was a bit of an apology on my part.
I suspect, if he should go, I will be quite bothered by it.
Nothing for it but to wait and see.
Black days here at the Pondering Tree, lads and ladies. Black days indeed.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Those that done said stuff