You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Satisfaction’ category.
Sorry I’ve been away from the Tree for so long. There were tests to grade and record, students to see, bills to pay since April Fool’s was payday (irony be thy name), and sunny weather to enjoy with the Woman I Love. Needless to say, Reality has kept yours truly busy.
The April Fitness Plan
I’ve got until April 27th to get ready for Lifeguard Training. The good news is that I can push myself to reach 300 meters of swimming without break. The bad news is that it takes a great deal of effort and it only features the front crawl. I need to master the breast stroke and the turn required to effectively use the breast stroke. This has to be done in twenty days or less.
I ran into a bit of a snag with my revised swimming plan. Across from the Pod is North Kansas City Community Center (it is across the street from the burning Quik Trip in Birmingham’s Without Warning for those wondering). I went across the street to knock out the first of my morning swim sessions only to find a large swim team contingent there. Granted, they left me to my own lane but I found it oft putting. It prompted me to rethink my fitness plan.
Here it is.
Monday-Wednesday-Fridays
0530 hours: NKC-CC, Strength Training
I’m going to make a change to my strength training workout. I had been working on sheer muscle mass mainly as a way to burn off more calories. The more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn. I also like the additional mass because it gives me a bit of an edge in the classroom (the mass adds just a bit to my command authority).
Instead, I’m going to aim for endurance instead. I’ll drop the level of weight I am using just a notch, say my bench press down to 165 lbs at 10 reps rather than 185 at 6 reps. I have a lot of raw power at my disposal but not as much endurance as I’d like.
And it is probably worth pointing out that the swimming is increasing my overall strength anyway. Yesterday when I worked on the Lat Flex machine for the first time in two months (the Campus Rec Center doesn’t have one I like) I noticed that I was pulling far more weight than I had in the past, up to 255 pounds. So I can probably modify my workout just a notch.
0930 hours: Campus Rec Center, Swim Training
The Campus Rec Center pool is pretty quiet at this time with lots of open lanes. For this week I am going to work at building up my form, breathing and endurance.
M: 100 meters x 5 for 500 meters.
W: 100 meters x 6 for 600 meters.
F: 200 meters x 3 for 600 meters.
1900 hours: Northtown Community Center, Additional Swim Training
I notice that I recover pretty fast between sets which leads me to believe I can probably push myself a bit more. In the evening I’ll hit the pool again. Each night with the exception of Monday night (I teach so I can’t swim) I’ll try to reach the 300 meters mark consistently.
Tuesday-Thursdays
I have a body building class on campus at 1230 hours. I think I need to get down to the campus rec center earlier rather than hanging around the adjunct farm eating junk food and generally goofing off. I also need to work in a cardio element into my plan.
1130 hours: Strength and Cardio Training
It is easier to work back at Northtown so I’ll work chest at the Campus Rec Center.
I will also work in a 20 minute session on the elliptical trainer. This will probably happen during the actual class as my fellow students tie up most of the weights.
If I feel like it, I may hit the pool for some swimming. I think I’ll restrict myself to 100 meter sets.
Saturday and Sunday
With the Northtown Community Center back on line, I can work in some weekend workouts. These will probably be either easy going days or make up days. Usually Wednesday ends up being my paperwork catch up day so I suspect I’ll be running with a variation of the MWF workout.
Consumption
I need to tweak my eating habits. One probably is that fresh fruit is a bit thin on the ground. The apples around here have been pretty crappy and it is still just a notch early for strawberries. I also need to watch the binging.
So it goes. My goal is still the same. Qualify for lifeguard training. Secondary goals include fat loss and increased muscle mass.
The Teaching Front
I handed exams back this week in three of my four classes. It was a mixed bag. Overall there were marginal improvements in all three day classes. The marginal improvement can be traced to some basic facts.
1. Some students have dropped or simply didn’t take the test.
2. Some students took my advice and prepared.
The additional prep work, outlines and note cards, helped most of my students who used them. However there is always a couple of people for whom these tactics do not work. I don’t quite know why this is and it bothers me to hand out a solution to a problem and see it fail for a few students. I don’t think there is any one solution to the problem. Some students aren’t ready for college. Some students aren’t quite getting what I am trying to teach them. Some students have issues outside of the classroom which are beyond my control. Some students simply do not have time.
A few students, I think many students, approach the work the wrong way. They do the prep to get it done, much the same way a fast food cook or an assembly worker does work. Do Task A, go to Task B, connect to Task C, complete task order, set aside and move to next task order. They do it much the same way I used to fill out my DA-2404s when we were on maintenance in the motor pool. You find the same problems with the vehicle that the Army hasn’t fixed, you list them, turn it in, call it good, go get a soda.
They see the material as little bits of data to be memorized. This is not a new observation, James Loewen makes this point in his Lies my Teacher Told Me book (probably one of the only decent points he makes, overall I find the book questionable). So they memorize a little bit of data, hope they see something that matches it on the test, throw it against the wall and hope it sticks. And the more they dislike a given topic, the more likely a student is going to respond in this fashion.
Lately I’ve taken to telling my classes these things.
1. History is not about memorizing useless bits of data. If that were the case then I tell you that I can get a classroom full of parrots to earn As on the test if you give me enough time and crackers to train them.
2. History is about motivations, causes and consequences. A student needs at least that level of comprehension if they are going to understand what is going on. This is different from “intellectual history” which is what some say I should be teaching. But I can’t have a discussion about trends and historiography if they don’t have the slightest idea of the basic facts.
3. 99% of History is about this question, “Who got screwed and why?”
The response I sometimes get is this.
1. I just need my history credit.
2. Just tell me what you want me to put on the essay.
3. I am never going to use this information, why am I in this class anyway? It has no purpose.
I have some sympathy with the later one. The question which drives so many people, my father is a classic case in point is, “Will this put food on the table, pay the bills, make me happier?”
In the immediate sense? No, it won’t. For me it is only lately that my skills as a historian has helped pay the bills, put food on the table and make me happier. But even before I started teaching, my skills as a historian had use in my life. As a security officer it helped me to write a more effective report, which is a first draft of history. Most of my students are moving on to Vocational training in fields where I know they will be writing reports. Mechanics, techs, medical, law enforcement, teaching, so on and so forth, they’ll be expected to write reports, fill out forms, diagnose problems. The skills taught in an history class helps with that, even if they can’t see that we are trying to teach them a way of thinking.
For others there is only ONE right answer. The subjective nature of history drives some black and white thinkers nuts and generates the “Just tell me what you want” statement. Some items are certainly locked in stone, such as dates, who signed what document and why, where places are, where events took place, and who was there.
No one except a nutjob is going to argue that the Declaration of Independence doesn’t exist. It does. We have sufficient documentation to tell us when it was written, by who, how it was revised and why, and the reason for the creation of such a document. Those are facts.
What is subjective is the effects the document had on follow on events or what the people who helped write the document were thinking at the time. If a student thinks there is just one right answer to any question, then this will drive them mad. It will be worse if they are simply trying to get the work done and out of the way.
Anyway, these are the issues I face in the classroom on a general level. Next time I might ponder some about student attitudes toward the essay questions I issue with each exam.
Payday Activities
Well, the first of the month is payday from the teaching gig so it was off to pay bills and whatnot. We’ve restocked the larder, laid in enough to hopefully get us through the month. Perishables are a bit of a problem but we’ll do what we can.
I’ve been making Trinity’s car payment for the last few months. I’m a bit worried about what will happen once summer arrives. There will be no money for the car then. Hopefully we’ll both pick up part time jobs and maybe her summer student financial aid will help with that. Still, I’m looking forward to having the car paid off. Once we get that cleared, we can see about upgrades to the office and living room areas.
And I can start restocking my personal library.
Speaking of books, lately I’ve been looking for books on economic history. I found a couple of good surveys of US Economic History, one set in the Gilded Age, the other a comprehensive examination form 1600 to about the mid 1980s (when the book was published). I was driven down this road for a couple of reasons. One is that I would like to reach a point where I could discuss economic history more effectively in the classroom. The other is tied to Research Project Number – 05, which I think is as much about economic power as it is about military and political power. When I read these books, I’ll post reviews on them.
Niall Ferguson also has what looks like a pretty good book called The Ascent of Money. I’m going to try and snag a copy of that.
Hopefully at some point over the summer I can sit down with a revised understanding of economic history and rebuild my lectures for both American History classes.
Clash of the Titans
I struggled mightily to get out of seeing this movie but Trinity wanted to see it. So off we went, yours truly not very happy about it but I did my best to suck it up.
The film sucks ass. No character development, no reason to give a shit about what happens, it is just awful. Only Liam Neeson’s little moments make it bearable and then just barely so.
That said, there is this.
It is better than the original.
But then, how could it not be?
Other Stuff
Yesterday was a mad day of spring cleaning at the Pod. We scrubbed the shit out of that place and it needed it.
And finally, we’ve been invited out to Sunset Bed and Breakfast for Easter Sunday doings so I’ll be dropping back off the net.
Tomorrow will be another day.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
The Teaching Front: Course Prep
So, on contingency I started prepping course binders for the Fall Semester. No one at my campus has assignments yet but we know the reasons for that. For once, oddly enough, I do not have my usual dose of the Big Fear about teaching. Our enrollment is through the roof and all classes are either full or on their way to getting there. This can be traced directly to the crappy economy and the need many see for retraining.
Thus I have a notch of job security. Or at least I’m in a better position to weather the current economic downturn than I might otherwise be. If I were still at Uniguard, they’ll be looking to cut people and I’d be at the top of that list. I’d be vulnerable at other security companies as well.
I started with the easiest first after assessing my probable assignments. I have three courses I should prepare for.
Foundations of Western Civilization, aka Western Civ I.
American History to 1865, aka American History I.
American History since 1865, aka American History II.
I started with American History II first since that one has the strongest core of lecture notes. It is the first class I taught as a college instructor and while the notes have room for improvement, they are in a condition where I could start teaching tomorrow.
We have new American History textbooks so I have to line the lectures up dress right dress with the sections. Most of our students won’t read the textbook and to be honest, if I could do away with textbooks, I would. Or I’d go with a series of individual books concentrating on specialized topics. However, it isn’t my call.
The first hurdle to cover is a problem with my lectures on the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. I’ve been looking for a better way to explain it and I think I finally found one. The next hurdle is to tweak the Grant Administration lectures. After that, I may, yet again, cut down on my Battle of the Little Big Horn lecture. Each semester I shave and water it down a little more. Our students are trained by the public school system to react negatively to any lecture on military affairs. The fact of the matter is that the time can be spent on other topics.
The first quarter in American History II will look roughly like this.
How to Study History (aka Lecture Zero)
American Reconstruction to 1868
The Grant Administration 1868 to 1876
End of Reconstruction 1877
Boom and Bust in the West 1865 to 1900
Andrew Carnegie and the Industralists 1860s to 1900
Hopefully I’ll drop the first test in mid September, quicker than before. Hopefully I’ll weed out the students who do not want to be there. The first half of the semester is pretty much tied up with weeding in any case.
Oh, I know. Someone will say that my job is to work to keep those students, encourage them, be their friend, etc. Well, this isn’t High School and my job, if you ask me, isn’t to hold their hands, wipe their asses and help them breathe. My job is to teach history. Their job is to learn it.
Another change will be to utilize a master course binder for each subject. In the past, each class had a dedicated binder, which led to a lot of replication and redundancy. I think I am advanced enough that I can get by without that. I’ll keep all records for all of my assigned courses in the master binder for the respective subject.
I plan to reintroduce the Activity Log and Internal Course Journals for each subject. This is something I used to do with my short story projects. My time management is crap when I fail to perform these tasks.
Right now I’ll prep the courses out to the mid term. So I’ll finish American History II up to the mid term around the end of World War I. With American History I I’m going to try to drop their mid term somewhere around 1800. There is a lot of important material to slug through between 1750 to 1800 and from what I understand, instructors find it difficult to get out of the period and break out into the 19th Century.
The Western Civ class will be the hardest and perhaps the most enjoyable. I’ve trained for most of my college career to teach this class. Hopefully, if I get this class, it will run well. I have my notes from grad school to help but the biggest obstacle will be Ancient Egypt (not my favorite topic to be honest). This will be an ongoing project through the entire semester I suspect.
So it goes. I should know something before the 18th.
Other Fronts
Not much to report to be honest. I had to mow my parents lawn yesterday, which went without incident. At some point I’ll need to clean out their gutters.
Trinity is excited about her school plans, prepping for classes, making sure her ducks are in a row. She tends to be a long range planner (I have morphed into a more ad hoc planner to be honest, which drives her insane) so she’s been busy with that. She will be helping her grandkids get school clothes this coming weekend. I think I’ve got that set up so I will be able to slip away and get my own work done. Clothes shopping is just not my idea of fun, especially when I have a growing mound of work to do.
Sunday she’ll hit the stores with a couple of friends to search for clothing for herself. Again, per agreement, I’ll either stay behind or land at a Panera’s or something.
Aside from that, all is quiet.
The Writing Front: Submisions
I did finally get a report back that Maternal Soldier arrived at the market target on time and on target.
Nothing back on Healing Hands of the Killer, which is still out. Either the reject went out and got lost or it is on hold. I’m hoping for the later.
Be nice if I got a sale this year. That would keep up with the current trend of one sale per year, one publication per year. But sooner or later, I’ve got to write something NEW.
Probably going to be later at this rate.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
The Writing Front: Submissions
Well, I was looking over some submission guidelines and realized that I had stupidly failed to see that my primary target market was accepting only one story at a time. So that frees up Maternal Soldier for deployment elsewhere. More on that in a bit.
I’ve got Healing Hands of the Killer out right now and she has been out for two months now. According to the guidelines the rejects will come one of two ways. Either really quick or they’ll be held for final disposition. The good news, aside from not hearing anything yet, is that holding a story means it climbed close to the top of the crop. That doesn’t mean she’ll make it as we saw with Maternal Soldier and Federations awhile back but it is still a good sign.
What it means is that I am still in the game. I’ve not been put out of action yet. The only problem is that sooner or later I’ve got to start turning out new projects.
In the meantime, I think I’m going to run Maternal Soldier through the last of the available markets. Online venues first, then print markets, excepting the Markets Which Shall Not Be Names Here.
On Healing Hands of the Killer, my only concern is that it doesn’t feel like my best effort. Something is wrong with that story, something which can be fixed but I just can’t put my finger on it. In fact, so many of my stories suffer from that problem. Still, maybe a rewrite request will come back from the editor.
Maybe.
The Teaching Front
I’ve got prep work to do for three possible classes it appears. I probably won’t get the requested Western Civ One class but it sounds like I need to have something for the first two to three weeks if it does come down the pike. My Egyptian History is very weak but fortunately for me, Trinity is an Egypt Fantic and her contribution to the Combined Library is considerable. I should be able to cobble something together.
I’d love to teach Western Civ One. Hell, it is what I’ve trained for. We could spend sessions discussing the Athenians the Spartans, and that freak, Alexander. Then we could migrate on to Rome for a stroll through one of the great empires of human history.
Ah, I’ll probably be covering Andrew Jackson instead.
Still, prep continues. No word on final class assignments yet.
Other Fronts
Not much to report. My stomach has been bothering me lately. I need to hit the gym more.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
Tearing Down Tuesday Photography
I’ve got some more shots today. Perhaps I should start by saying that just about everything I used is a combination of two or more real world elements. With the exception of Ketchum Road, I almost never used something whole cloth from our own world in Tearing Down Tuesday. The town of Circeville, Missouri, to my knowledge, doesn’t exist. But the primary model for that town is Maysville, Missouri up in DeKalb County.
I suppose some folks will insist that this is a Mary Sue story. I don’t think it is but then you can’t control what others say. And frankly, so what if it is a Mary Sue story?
Ketchum Road
I had to edit this photograph to a degree due to under exposure. This is the road Kyle travels down at the start of the story. The sky would have been clear but roughly the same hue. Obviously the wind turbines, the razorbrush and the snagglethorn are missing, but otherwise, this shot pretty much shows the road I had in mind.
The Driveway
In the opening, Kyle makes his way down this driveway past the first two robots we encounter, Saturday and Sunday. They are working on a series of salvaged wind turbines. Obviously the turbines are absent, but the driveway is there.
Abandoned Tool Shed
This was another inspiration for The Tinkerin’ Woman’s Shop in Tearing Down Tuesday. Though it has fallen into disuse, it was the original tool shed when I was a kid. Much of the clutter you saw in a previous entry was present in this shed.
And it did have a beer fridge.
The Weatherby, Missouri Post Office
This is the post office in nearby Weatherby, Missouri. Circeville probably would have looked more like this image here, very worn down, tired and battered.
The Dry Hole Bar and Grill, Circeville, Missouri
The Dry Hole Bar and Grill
Andrew Leroy, Owner
Dry before Five and Wet until Last Call
Whenever that is.
This is half of the Dry Hole Bar and Grill, the Maysville Town Diner, which has changed names over the years. Since it was Sunday morning we weren’t able to go in and even if we did, it would not represent what the interior of the story’s Dry Hole Bar and Grill looked like.
The interior is actually inspired by The Quaff down off 10th and Broadway in Kansas City, Missouri.
Not everything came from the Country as it were.
Other Shots
Additional Photography can be viewed at my flickr link, http://www.flickr.com/photos/30730762@N04/ . Someday when I grow up, I’ll be able to hotlink it.
I’ve also got more photographs to add as time permits.
Perhaps it is a bit self indulgent to go through this exercise, or maybe a bit too self promotional. Well, I am a bit shameless in that respect and I have to admit that I wish I saw more material like what I am putting up. I’d like to see photographs and images of what inspired my favorite writers. What are they drawing upon when they create my favorite places and characters?
So it goes.
The Writing Front
I wonder if I am not building up for a return to the Tearing Down Tuesday universe? At the same time, The Limb Knitter universe continues to speak to me. I should take pictures of things which inspired TLK at some point.
I did work up some plot info on a possible project but it turns out as I work on it that I’ve probably got yet another novel length project on my hands.
Perhaps what I need to do is pick up at copy of The Year’s Best Science Fiction and read some of my favorites for inspiration. The 26th Edition is out and Al Reynolds has a story within so that would be worth the price of admission alone in my book.
The Teaching Front
I’ve got to work up my American History One notes over the next few days. I’ve got a gap where Andrew Jackson is at on the timeline and I still need to figure out exactly what I am going to cover.
Teaching assignments will probably arrive in the hopper shortly before classes start. I’m pretty sure I’ll get two classes at the minimum, hopefully three to four. I’m hoping for four classes.
So it goes. I’m chomping at the bit.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
For weeks I have flogged myself on the keyboard, trying to get something written of a fictional nature. I’ll get a paragraph here, a bit of dialogue there but at the end of the day, I wasn’t really getting anywhere.
Why?
Well, one probably might be the fact that the keys on my Toshiba U405-S2826 Laptop stick, notably the fucking spacebar of all keys. The keys are slow and unresponsive which means I spend a lot of time backspacing, retyping and the like. Needless to say, about the only serious writing I do on my laptop anymore is blogging and e-mailing.
That said, even if the keyboard was optimal, I suspect I’d still be stalled. Last night I finally sat down with pen and paper to try the older method. Just write the stuff out by hand. Now while my hand did cramp up after a page (and I had the same problem this morning when I wrote another page) I did find that I wrote freely, without self editing. I simply put the words onto the paper.
Which is what writing needs to be. Me putting words onto the fucking paper.
If this is going to be my set method, then I’ve got to make a few changes. First, the handwritten material still needs to be transcribed which means I need a laptop that fits like a glove (can’t say that right now). I need a laptop that runs WordPerfect, one way or the other, even if that means getting an Apple with Windows loaded onto it.
Second, I have to find a set time this fall to do the writing. Right now there is no set time nor is there a set place. The apartment simply isn’t working for the task (I can’t write three words without an interruption). My cubicle on campus won’t work because someone will bother me there. I can’t do the campus center because other people bother me there. There is a coffee shop off campus but their tea sucks. The nearest Starbucks to campus is staffed with idiots who can’t get my drink order right.
I think maybe, just maybe, the best way to get the work done this fall is to write before I work out. My tentative schedule has my first class at eight in the morning on Monday-Wednesday-Friday. I teach, I get out of the building and head over to the Rec Center where they have an eatery of sorts. The main thing I’m looking for is a comfy chair, a solid table and a place where I’ll be left the fuck alone for sixty minutes. I don’t even need tea, just water.
If I can get three to five sheets of fiction down on the paper before a workout at the gym, I think that might finally solve my productivity problem. I don’t know what to do about Tuesday-Thursdays yet, or the weekends.
So it goes.
I’ll be out for most of the weekend. Trinity has plans for me.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
The Writing Front: Working on a Story Bible
I started work on a story bible for The Limb Knitter universe today. I suspect this is not the first time I’ve started on one but maybe this rearranging of the deck chairs will help on the writing front. Right now I am writing out the definitions and info for terms such as, what do you know, the Limb Knitter. As such, there are things in the story bible that have not hit the public and so I can’t share it.
Sort of like writing a story.
There is this one character who keeps coming back to me, a bitter sort of Christ figure (hmm, I sense a theme) and I suspect I probably need to tell his story first.
Maybe.
The Teaching Front
We’re still waiting to learn exactly what we’ll get for the Fall. That is fair since the cut session is floating around out there as well as late enrollments. I could get three to four courses if luck holds out, probably American History again. Preferably they’d all be American History II as, to be honest, I really do not enjoy American History I all that much. Oh, I can teach it and the lectures do need work, but I’d rather cover the second half.
If I could get the Civil War included in AH-II, I’d be a happy man but it wouldn’t work out. You have to lay the groundwork for the war which can take weeks.
I did mention to The Boss that I’d very much like to teach Western Civilization I. A senior adjunct peer has most of the availables sewn up (this is partly because I fucked up back in 2007 and passed an opportunity when it was available). Still, I’d like to spend a semester working my way from the dawn of Western Civilization through the Greeks and the Romans. I suspect I would not spend as much time on Egypt as some people would like (that would not make Trinity happy) but I’d enjoy myself.
Hell, it is what I trained for in the first place. And I’d like to get the experience.
Anyway, we should know in a few weeks.
Fitness Front
I’ve been to the gym three times in the last four days. My weight has dropped down to 195 pounds, which is a good thing if you ask me. I need to get back to the cardio (always with the cardio) but I never do it. How am I going to get a ripped body if I won’t do the cardio?
I’m getting older and the body is changing again so I suspect I need to do some research on workouts for forty year old men. Since I am signed up for body building this Fall, I should be able to try some of those new workout tips on for size and see what kind of luck I have.
I’d like to look better at forty than I did at twenty, which shouldn’t take too much effort given what I looked like at that age.
Student Front
Speaking of Fall classes, I have signed up for three hours of PT classes, Body Building, Fencing and Karate. Why not get credit for time I spend in the gym anyway?
The Fencing might run over a possible teaching opportunity so I may have to replace it with something. We’ll see how that goes.
Finally, I’m signed up for Terri’s Online Creative Writing course. This will be a first and all of these courses should free me from being present in a classroom. Terri’s class, hopefully, will spur me to get some writing done.
Other Fronts
Not much else to report. Made blueberry pancakes for the Woman I Love this morning. She dragged me out of bed at Oh My God Thirty to do it (somedays, God help me, she is a morning person and I, my friends, am NEVER a morning person).
So it goes.
Political
Oh, by the way. What’s this shit about making it mandatory for everyone to buy health insurance? I thought that (numerous expletives considered and deleted out of fear of losing the teaching job) of ours said he wasn’t in favor of that during the primaries but now his party is going to cornhole me with another fucking bill I can’t afford to pay.
To the folks on the Blue Team, quit trying to help me out. You want to help? Throw $65K at my student loans. Get the VA fixed so it isn’t a festering cesspool full of morons. But chucking another god damned fucking bill onto my plate IS NOT HELP!
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
Research Project Number – 04
I got some work in today on one of three chapters currently sitting the hopper. Mainly detail work and some tweaks here and there. There wasn’t any factual or tactical issues in need of addressing.
I’d have gotten more work done but something came up.
No, not the previous blog entry (which is spiking, thanks 
) but something else completely.
The Teaching Front
I got a last minute call to provide assistance to an instructor on the issues surrounding the US involvement in the Middle East. I checked my politics at the door (always a good idea) and gave them what I know.
A fair way to spend two hours.
Two hours that would have been spent on RPN-04 but I suspect the client will understand. Especially if I get those chapters back to them soon.
Not much else doing.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
Summer Theme Change
You know, sometimes black with white text is just too depressing. Good for winter and fall, not so good for summer and spring. So after a stroll through the templates I ended up with Tarski, which has a handy dandy tree no less.
Feel free to comment on the new template. Like it, love it, want more of it or hate it, want none of it.
The Limb Knitter receives an Honorable Mention in Gardner Dozois’ The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Edition
Well, the anthology which taught me about the short story market is out with the latest release. Gardner picked Tearing Down Tuesday for an honorable mention in the Twenty-Fifth Edition so I was interested to see if The Limb Knitter would have the same luck.
Published by Apex Online Magazine, The Limb Knitter received an honorable mention and my name was mentioned as one of the prominent SF writers to appear in that venue.
So, that was a welcome spot of good news after yesterday’s bad news (so bad I couldn’t even blog about it).
That’s two for two. Now I just need to figure out how to crack into the anthology itself with a story of mine.
Oh, and I’d need to write a story and sell it in order for that to happen.
Research Projects Number – 04 and 05
I sent the bulk of Version One of the draft back to the Client last night. I feel like I could have done more work on it but the various disasters and meltdowns have impeded my progress. I suspect there will be opportunities to make additional mods. From now forward I’m to work on Chapters 31 to the Last Chapter. I have 31, 32 and 34 on hand. I’m currently on standby to receive follow on chapters.
As this is a three book series and my summer is (supposedly) clear, I suggested that I might do the ground work for RPN – 05. We’re cleared for that as of this writing. So I’ve started pondering those issues even though I do not know how RPN – 04 will end.
I didn’t know how RPN – 02 would end either (last few chapters were never sent, which is cool) nor did I fully know how RPN – 03 would end. Some bits were modified after I had worked on 03 which made it a better novel in some respects.
So it goes.
Kudos to Alastair Reynolds
Alastair Reynolds picked up a 1 million pound novel deal which will see one novel per year for the next ten years. I’m probably one of Al’s Biggest Fans (no, that is not a sledgehammer behind my back) so it gives me great pleasure to see him achieve a level of security most writers only dream of.
So, a blog shout to Al. Good on you, man.
The Teaching Front
Busy today. I was called in to cover two classes this morning. The upshot of that is this means August (when I will see this paycheck) will be pretty good. I had a choice between The Great Awakening and the French and Indian War.
That was an easy choice. I skipped the Awakening (which often puts even me to sleep, it is worse than Reconstruction) and started the French and Indian War.
After class I was incredibly hungry so Trinity and I hit the campus mess hall (Army habit, can’t break it) for taco salad that was a bit iffy.
So it has been a busy and far better day than yesterday.
SHINE: Optimistic Science Fiction
Jetse de Vries announced that he has extended the submission deadline to SHINE until August 1st. If you are an optimist, then this is probably the anthology you need to submit your work to.
Strangely enough, Jetse once said that Tearing Down Tuesday was optimistic and hopeful (which, while appreciated, confuses me to no end as it seems awfully bleak to me). I’ve got one submission to him right now. I’ll cull through my stockpile and see what else I have.
I am seriously thinking of deploying the following:
Entangled, the earlier version from 2007.
Fishin’ Fer Tuesday, a Tearing Down Tuesday prequel.
Healing Hands of the Killer.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
The Submissions Front: Maternal Soldier
I sent Maternal Soldier out to market this week. This is my Beggars in Spain, nearly accepted then shot down at the last minute by a change in editors. The market I sent the story off to is probably not the best fit but I wanted to get the story back out. If rejected at the current market target, I’ll start cycling through the last of the market list. I’ve got two or three possibles left before I expend all of my options.
The Writing Front: Recycle or Create a New One
I plan on sending something to the Shine Anthology but the problem is that much of my time is consumed by other taskings. I had puttered with a couple of new projects but they just aren’t holding my fire. Given that I have until July 1st to get something out the door and I can submit a story a week to the anthology, I think I’ll have to recycle old projects.
What this means is that I’ll pull the top tier of material and spend a week trying to slap it into shape. This is the sort of work I do for the client with Research Project Number – 04. I won’t have time for Beta Readers or a recreation of the E-Lite Readers Corps though. I’ll just have to snap them out, one a week until July 1st.
Here are the titles slated for deployment.
Healing Hands of the Killer.
Fishin’ Fer Tuesday.
Entangled.
I think those are the best bets. I have other projects around but they are in various states of disrepair. I think the best suited project is one which pertains to solving the land mine issue in the Korean DMZ. The tech is there and some of the rudiments of a story is there, but it is incredibly long and has serious problems. I suspect it would take me longer than a week to prep it.
That one is called Plowshares into Swords.
The upshot is this. If the stories get shot down, they’ll be available for other markets. I’ll shop them around the best I can. This will replenish the story stockpile for the coming academic year and blast some of the rust which is gathering on my writing gears.
Research Project Number – 04
I am reading through the master document of the first draft at this time. Out of the 30 plus chapters in my buffer, I’ve gotten up to Chapter 20. I’ll probably read the project three times, making notes as I go, then sit down with the hardcopy for a final run through the document.
I’ve got some additional ideas and concerns to pass onto the client. If anyone has ever attended a writing workshop, then you’d be familiar with this part. I’ll forward a working critique of the project so far, making note of various issues, characters which appear then disappear, opportunities for expanded storytelling, and that sort of thing. Memorable, strengths, weakenesses and suggestions, just as Terri Lowry sets it up in her creative writing classes (which, for those that are interested, are offered online these days).
I’ll try to get through more of the material today.
Other Fronts
Friday was grocery day so while I worked on RPN-04, Trinity went off to pick up the groceries. She says it went faster without my being there (I can believe it). While she went to physical therapy, I ran the groceries home, offloaded them and returned to pick her up. Then it was a lunch date at Five Guys and a Burger (potatoes from Idaho, for those wondering) before taking her down to UMKC for another appointment.
She’ll be enrolling in fall classes here before too long. Once financial aid drops, she’ll be set as a UMKC Roo. She’s a bit nervous about the big change but I think she’ll do well enough.
We went to the Italian Festival up at Zona Rosa and came away unimpressed. It was mainly an opportunity to eat a lot of carnival food. Crowded and very rowdy. Even Trinity, who enjoys crowds and people, didn’t care for the event. We probably should have gone to the Jazz Festival in Gladstone instead.
Live and learn.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
George Tiller, an abortion provider in Wichita, Kansas, was murdered while he served as an usher in his church Sunday morning. This much you can get from the news. He provides late term abortions and has been the subject of numerous investigations into his medical practices.
It is worth pointing out that Tiller was cleared of any wrong doing in all of these cases.
I have a bit of a personal connection to Tiller. A peer in the science fiction community (we’ve had a falling out so I won’t say “friend” per se) used to work for Dr. Tiller. I remember getting phone calls during the Uniguard Era from my peer as we struggled to become writers. They would lament the rampant nuttiness of the Pro-Life crowd as they picketed the clinic, followed them around Wichita, and posted pictures of their homes and personal lives on the Operation Rescue website. Having been to the website myself, I tend to believe it is purposely designed to provide someone like the 51 year old nutter who shot Tiller with an intelligence brief to attack anyone who works at that clinic.
Thus on this morning, I find the alligator tears of the Pro-Life movement to be a bit hypocritical. I really doubt they are sorry.
And such a cowardly way to strike as well. To go into a House of God and shoot this man down, a place of sanctuary for all.
I do not particularly have a dog in the abortion debate per se. I am a man, unlikely to get pregnant unless some miracle transpires. Nor am I in a relationship with someone who is likely to have children. I will say that I am often uncomfortable with the use of abortion as an after the fact birth control method.
On the other hand, I do understand the need and desire to control what happens within one’s own body. I know that I would deeply resent someone citing a Bible verse and telling me that I could not have a medical procedure done that would prolong or improve my life. If you draw the argument down to the absurdist level, when I have parts of my body removed or cut on, cells do die, the act of curing can be an act of killing if taken to the extreme end of the scale.
Thus I have to admit that I would prefer a world where abortion was legal, obtainable and provided in a safe, secure environment free of harassment and terrorism. A world where abortion was used rarely, if ever.
We do not live in such a world, which is unfortunate.
My writing peer hasn’t worked for Dr. Tiller for quite sometime. And drawing upon the previous entry, their fiction often draws upon their personal experiences in the Tiller clinic for inspiration. If one googles up Bearing Witness by Marguerite Reed, you’ll see another, different example, of how personal experience informs and shapes fiction.
And I think, given the subject matter in her story, it is pertinent to the discussion of rape in fiction as well.
In any case, a sad day.
Research Project Number – 04
Three more chapters in the hopper for review. I’ll probably work on those today while waiting on Trinity to finish with her day job. She’s working until noon today, which brings me down to campus on the first day of summer classes. I won’t be teaching but that is neither here nor there.
The Writing Front: The Shine Anthology Project
Jetse de Vries, formerly part of the Interzone editorial staff, is putting together an anthology of positive science fiction which will be called Shine. He is taking submissions until the end of June.
Optimistic fiction is not my forte per se and when he first aired his concerns about the lack of such material in science fiction, I think my respone was less than positive. Still, I’m willing to give it a shot. I need a short story project to work on and more to the point, I need to learn to write faster. Four months is not acceptable production time at all for a short project.
So I’ve got a project rolling as of yesterday morning. I’ve also got another project in mothballs that could be resurrected. I should spend some time, either today or tomorrow, plotting out the projects and giving them some thought.
Normally I do not blog about market targets, for a lot of reasons. Still, I think Jetse’s project is worth mentioning in case there are other writers who are dropping by looking for markets. And perhaps I mention it because Jetse is responsible for pulling Tearing Down Tuesday from the slush pile at Interzone.
Other Fronts
Trinity and I have been getting our pool time in, trying to get some sun. I find these days that I get more reading done at the pool than anywhere else. My current reading project is The Perils of Peace: America’s Struggle for Survival after Yorktown by Thomas Flemming.
The book details the political struggle in Britain, France and the United States in the aftermath of the US Victory at Yorktown. Independence was hardly assured after Yorktown, something which is not often discussed in history classes. More to the point, no one discusses the dire fiscal straits the US found herself in during and after the Revolutionary War. I have a poor understanding of the finances myself and would like to improve upon it for future use in lectures AND in my writing endeavors.
I predict a good summer. Time at the pool is time well spent. Trinity and I usually pack a light meal to take with us to ease the burden on our pocketbook. My only lament is that they do not allow us to bring alcohol to the pool, but perhaps that is for the best.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
Those that done said stuff