An open letter to Chibuihem Amalaha

On 25 Sep, 2013 By mpm With 8 Comments

Dear Chibuihem,

I'm sure this has not been the best week for you. I have no idea whether or not you'll actually read this, but I'm writing it because it just felt like the right thing to do.

I read your interview, where you describe that you have "proven with science that gay marriage is improper", with a fair amount of dismay. I decided, instead of greeting the article with derision and ridicule, which has, unfortunately, been the prevalent reaction, to give you a bit of un-asked-for advice. I tend not to do this sort of thing, really (ask my friends.) But I seem compelled to, so I will.

You say you want to be the first African to win a Nobel Prize in science. That's quite an ambition, and a laudable one. And one that will take a prodigious amount of work and drive, and you seem to be on the way, at least in that department. But in the science department... not so much. Let me tell you a little bit about science, and, more particularly, since you seem to be focused on homosexual behavior and gay marriage, a little bit about the science of sexuality. I have a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, if you're wondering about my ability to tell you about science.

Science is really more about asking questions, not "proving" already fully-formed ideas, like whether gay marriage is "proper". Scientists observe, measure, and form hypotheses, which are then tested. A hypothesis or theory  is proven after a long while of many scientists working together over years. Asking whether gay marriage is "proper" using science is not appropriate. What is proper, anyway, in scientific terms? What does that actually mean? And marriage is a human construction, not a biological phenomenon.

If you are going to scientifically compare something, you need to use things that are, in some intrinsic way, similar. For instance, scientists often study the brains of rats to get clues to how human brains work. Those are somewhat similar things (They are, actually quite different, but similar enough to give clues and directions.) It doesn't make sense to use what goes on inside a tree for instance, to figure out what happens in our brains. They aren't alike enough. Even though trees have cells, like brains have cells, they are too different to really make any reasonable conclusions about the human brain based on the characteristics of a tree. You might well compare a maple tree to an oak tree. 

You've gone even further than the tree-brain comparison. You are comparing human behavior, which very complexly influenced by biology, genetics, social context, and experience to ... a magnet? And acids and bases? Um, no. No can do. That isn't science. They share very little in common. Sure human cells have chemical reactions - that's an essential part of life. And some cells respond to magnetic charge (pigeons are thought to navigate using magnetic fields.)

So what would be similar? What would be a reasonable kind of comparison to make to human behavior? Well, how about the behavior of the primate genetically closest to us? Do you think that might make a reasonable comparison? Some people don't, and most of those reasons are, frankly, colored by social bias. That's the other thing about science. It is imperative (although very often ignored) that scientists look closely at their own social location and bias, and make sure that it isn't influencing the questions they ask, and the conclusions they draw. There have actually been many studies (one particular, relatively well-known example is actually in the realm of primate behavior,) where people went back to look at old studies and old conclusions, and found that they were badly influenced by the social biases that the original scientists had.

So what about those Bonobo chimpanzees, our closest cousins? You'd blush to read studies of their sexual behavior.  In fact, let's just talk about sexual behavior of all animals. Know what? Homosexual behavior, from the occasional dalliance, to the lifetime pair-bonding, is found in 1,500 species of animals. That's a whole lot. I think it's kinda safe to say that at least when it comes to the behavior of the animal kingdom, homosexual behavior is indeed natural, given how often it occurs.

So here's the real advice: stop. Think about what you really want in your life. Do you really want to be a scientist? If you really want to be a scientist, then, get yourself a boatload of books by people like Stephen J. Gould, Carl Sagan, Neil Degrass-Tyson, Diane Fossey, Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose and Jane Goodall. Really. I'll even buy some for you, if you can't afford them.

And, let's get personal. Why is this such an important issue for you? Are you trying to prove something to yourself, after all? Have a look at that, will you? It will be fine. Really, it will be. You are loved exactly as you are.

Best Wishes,

Michelle

Creative restlessness, compromise, and the purpose of life

On 08 Sep, 2013 By mpm With 1 Comments

If you've known me for any length of time, you know that I have had many careers, and even iterations on careers within careers. I was a neuroscientist for a while (from grad school in 1981 through around 1994 when I switched to doing public health research) and an academic for a while (1989-1999 at Hampshire College). I did full-time technology work, primarily web development for nonprofit organizations, from 1999 to when I went to seminary in 2005. I returned to web development in 2007 after it was clear that ministry was not going to be a career path. Some of these shifts and changes are because my interests and passions changed. Some of them are because I do have a lot of interests, and I want to explore. That is the creative restlessness I seem to have been born with, or acquired early in life.

I've struggled with vocation on and off since I left seminary. I've struggled with my identity, primarily, and struggled with purpose. Who am I? Am I just what I do, or someone else? What was I put on this planet to do -- what is my greater purpose?  I've always felt in my life that I had some bigger purpose than just to bumble  (or, perhaps, even skillfully navigate) through life until it's done. I went to seminary because I felt called to center my life on Spirit, but the result wasn't quite what I expected, so I went back to technology work, while working to maintain this center.

My avocations, writing and spiritual practice, have been very important parts of my life, and I wanted make them my living. I made plans, filled out spreadsheets, and warned work colleagues. I've spent months struggling and discerning. But, as it turns out, at least this time around, this is not to be so.

Over the past few weeks, I've had some epiphanies. Some are minor, and some are more significant. The most significant is that I understand more fully what I'm doing here on earth. I've known this for a long time, but sometimes, it takes deeper and deeper levels of knowing to understand fully the implications of a thing, to fully grok its meaning. I know, deeply in my marrow, that the reason I'm here is to do my best to live my life with as much compassion and generosity as I can, in each moment of every day. That's all. There isn't really anything else. There isn't anything more complicated or detailed than that (oh, well, that is far enough complicated!)  Just showing compassion and generosity in every moment is enough purpose for one lifetime. Everything else is just for fun.

The more minor epiphanies I've had recently are around understanding the ways in which I need to compromise my own nature in order to make my way in the world. I love to work. Besides my actual work-for-pay, I'm almost always doing something else that someone could label "work". I have 1/2 dozen creative projects going at any one time, and most of them make it to completion. I write prodigiously. I teach on occasion (mostly contemplative practice) and do a lot of volunteer work of varied sorts, depending on what phase I'm in. 

Because of the way work and business and such is structured in this country, most of this other "work" is not work that is easy for me to get compensated for. Writing science fiction is, for some, a living, but you have to be willing to write more for what most people want to read, and market, market, market. If you want to make a living at teaching in a spiritual tradition, you either need to be within a specific structure or lineage, or if you aren't, you need to be a good (and willing!) marketer. And because of my particular makeup, none of this is going to happen. I could go into detail about why this is, but just suffice it to say for now that I have come to the deep acceptance that I can't get my head (no, actually, my heart) around the ideas that would allow me to make either of these my living.

So I have come around to fully accept that I need to work for a living in something that doesn't totally come from my heart.  My creative restlessness means that I think it might be time for me to branch out into new areas of technology, perhaps dusting off my old data analysis skills (there is a whole field called "data science" - kinda cool, actually.) I don't know which direction I'll go in next, except to say that I want to have fun with it.

The Progressive Prayer Book Project

This book, a collaboration between Thalia Cady and I, was originally meant to be a very comprehensive collection of seasonal, personal, and situational prayers geared toward a progressive Christian audience, although we hoped it could also be embraced by others of different traditions and persuasions.

I first met Thalia in 2006, at the Progressive Faith Blog Con. It was a moment, when independent blogging was a new thing, and progressive people of faith really needed to have their voices heard. We hit it off immediately, and together helped to organize one of the interfaith worship services at the conference. I remember we had a long dinner over sushi, and talked about seminary, and Christianity, and our personal lives. Even though we were different in many ways, there were so many resonances in our lives.

We maintained a friendship primarily by phone. In the beginning of this project, we would each write one prayer a week, and talk on the phone each week, to share what we'd written. We learned a lot about each other, and it was a joy to work with Thalia. She was gracious and compassionate, understanding, and willing to respect my rather quirky theology. After about a year, we both got bogged down with life, and the project went on hiatus.

Thalia died before we could complete this work. This short volume, which contains 32 of her prayers, is dedicated to her.

The Alien Invasion Trope

On 16 Aug, 2013 By mpm

Ever since 1938, when the Orson Welles' produced radio drama of The War of the Worlds scared the bejeebus out of everyone, by far the most dominant narrative involving aliens from outer space has been one of violent invasion of Earth. There have been countless books, films and TV series based on the idea that when the aliens arrive, they are going to be violent, and overtly (or stealthily) interested in taking over our planet, and killing or enslaving humankind. 

So why is this the dominant narrative? I'm in the middle of reading Nancy Kress' Crossfire series, and I also just finished watching season one of Defiance, a surprisingly good science fiction TV series. Both complexify alien narratives quite a bit, as do many other films and books. I've steered completely clear of this dominant narrative in my own writing.

One simple theory is that it makes great bang-up action to keep readers and watchers interested. The aforementioned works, as well as the film District 9, which had a very different alien narrative, does pretty well with the action and interest, so I'm not sure that flies entirely, unless it's just laziness on the part of storytellers.

The one theory that comes to mind is that we have unacknowledged/unconscious fear of being victims of crimes we have perpetreated (I mean "we" in the collective sense of those of us who are beneficiaries of the crimes of colonialization.) And that fear comes out in the kinds of stories we tell. Stories of stronger aliens coming to Earth seem to act a whole hell of a lot like the Conquistadors and the British did a few hundred years ago.

Interestingly enough, the relatively new effort, called METI (Messaging to Extra-terrestrial Intelligence, or Active SETI) has garnered some strong criticism, even among science fiction writers (David Brin, one of my favorite SF authors, wrote a long critique of METI.) He has some valid points about science and process, but the main thrust of his critique seems to be the danger to the planet if we become more noticable than we were before - we might pique the interest of dangerous ETs. 

My personal bet? Any species as violent and exploitative as human beings can be will likely wipe themselves out before they make it to interstellar travel, as we seem to be in the process of doing. I'd rather appreciate an alien invasion, myself. Can't hardly be worse than what we're doing to ourselves.

Guest Blog Entry: On South African Speculative Fiction (August 2013)

On 04 Aug, 2013 By mpm

I'm happy to have another guest blog entry, this time about South African Science Fiction, from Nick Wood.

South African speculative fiction is a rapidly growing and perhaps localized interpretation of wider, mainly Western led genre fiction, broadly covering fantasy and science fiction. There is a tendency to call African fantastical tales 'magical realism' (e.g. Brenda Cooper's 'Magical Realism in West African Fiction') - however, there also no doubt exists a modern overlap with all forms of 'fantastika' -- as the Canadian critic John Clute calls it.

Zakes Mda has commented that Gabriel Marcia Marquez attributed some of his 'magical realist' leanings to overhearing orally conveyed African fantasy tales - certainly there was a significant African slave trade to South America as well, and African influences exist not just in their music, but no doubt in Latin American literary forms as well. Zakes Mda himself is one of the best (South) African practitioners of compelling fiction that straddles the fantastic and the mundane. Two classic examples of his 'speculative' fiction are the novels 'The Heart of Redness' and 'The Whale caller.' He is Professor at Ohio University's Department of English, but is South African through and through, with a riveting biography entitled 'Sometimes There is a Void.' 

For those interested in a socio-political history of the speculative fiction genre in South Africa, please see my article from Locus Magazine in 2009, reprinted on The World Science Fiction Blog. Along with Sarah Lotz and Tanya Barben, I updated the news around South African spec-fic, to cover 2010-11. And currently, the local South African SF/F scene is burgeoning - with writers such as Lauren Beukes, Sarah Lotz, Nerine Dorman, Charlie Human and Cat Hellisen just the tip of a powerful literary ice-berg, even in these recessionary and global warming climes.

For those of you specifically interested in [black]{.underline} South African speculative fiction, apart from Zakes Mda, there is the sole novel by a sharp and entertaining Phaswane Mpe, sadly a victim of an early death from illness, with his 'Welcome to My Hillbrow'. In addition, Kgebetli Moele has written an enterprising if dark book, in which the second half is narrated by the HIV virus, aptly called 'The Book of the Dead.' Speculative fiction lends itself well to post-colonial subversions, particularly within a country relatively recently liberated - only in 1994 were the first truly democratic elections in South Africa.

And, for a more global African take on speculative fiction, I wrote up a perspective based on a November 2012 London literary event here: [http://worldsf.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/monday-original-content-africa-in-science-fiction-by-nick-wood/]{.underline} For any readers interested in online news, a website worth following for African updates and events - sometimes bordering on the bizarre - is the excellent and ironically titled 'Africa is a Country.' 

So much diverse and interesting speculative fiction to read, then, from a huge Continent, both rich in diversity and wakening to its own potential. I am proud to be an African, no matter where I may live.

Nick Wood (c) 2013 - [http://nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz/]{.underline}

Guest Post: Fiction Excerpt by Valjeanne Jeffers

On 04 Aug, 2013 By mpm With 1 Comments

[It is my pleasure to host an excerpt by Valjeanne Jeffers.]{style="font-size:18px;"}

Valjeanne Jeffers is a graduate of Spelman College, NCCU and a member of the Carolina African American Writers' Collective. She is the author of the SF/fantasy novels: Immortal, Immortal II: The Time of Legend, Immortal III: Stealer of Souls, Immortal IV: Collision of Worlds and The Switch II: Clockwork (includes books 1 and 2) as well as Grandmere's Secret and The Visitor.

Valjeanne has been published under both Valjeanne Jeffers and Valjeanne Jeffers-Thompson and her fiction has appeared in Steamfunk!, Genesis: An Anthology of Black Science Fiction, Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology, LuneWing, PurpleMag, Genesis Science Fiction Magazine, Pembroke Magazine, Possibilities, 31 Days of Steamy Mocha, and Griots II: Sisters of the Spear (in press).

1/ SPECTAR

SHE was in the basement again. It was pitch black, the only illumination a glowing, quarter moon etched into the floor. A burst of light split the darkness, and she moaned low in her throat.

Please, I don't want to see anymore...I don't want to look.

Yet her feet moved of their own volition, inching toward the mark... and the twisted bundle now lying in its center. A man was curled upon the stone. He wasn't breathing, and his limbs were tiny and withered. But she knew he wasn't dead.

He wasn't human.

The daemon opened his eyes. I've been sleeping. But for how long?

He could feel his arms and legs, but the sensations were muted as if they'd traveled from a great distance.

Then he remembered. He'd been imprisoned---snatched from his body by the magic that had trapped him here. Even now sleep, like a delicious drug, threatened to overtake him. But he fought it away.

How many centuries would pass while he slept?

A doorway appeared in his mind and just beyond it, a tattered clump of flesh and bone...

Karla's eyes flew open --- the scream caught in her throat. It's just a nightmare. I'm okay. . .I'm here now, at home.

The Indigo woman turned her head to look at the bedroom console. [[Six-thirty]{.aQJ style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;"}]{.aBn data-term="goog_1960073277" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"} glowed on the screen. She scooted out of bed, picked up a remote from the nightstand and turned off the alarm.

Karla walked across the wooden floor of her living area into a kitchenette. A press of her fingers on the first sphere of a triangular pod started coffee brewing.

She filled a cup with chicory, walked back into the living area and pushed the second button on her remote, activating a blue panel beside the window. Jazz music filled the apartment. Like her bedroom console the unit kept time, transmitted holographic images and played tapes. Using the third button, she opened the curtains.

Curled upon her futon, the Indigo woman watched as the illuminae changed Topaz's violet sky into a mellow shade of peach. She thought of the dreams.

For as far back as Karla could remember, she'd had them. Otherworldly, exquisite and always with an unsettling clarity so different from the normal phantasms she read about.

When I eat, I wake up full---and stay that way until lunchtime. If somebody hits me, it hurts like hell...

And her dream lover left her limp with satisfaction, even after she awoke, sure he was still beside her.

At night Karla wrote them down, pouring all of her fears and desires into the notebooks. She spent hours in the library, reading stories of reincarnation and demonic possession, searching for answers. She'd found them too---dozens of them. But none could satisfy the yearning that burned inside her.

Every time she closed her eyes to sleep they beckoned, calling to her. Mornings, she awoke like a swimmer who'd been underwater for too long, grasping for the fabric of reality--- moaning with pleasure or trembling with exhilaration.

One night they're going to swallow me whole. I'll never wake up or maybe I'll just fall through to whatever's on the other side...and this new one, something's different about it. I know the others but this one --- this one scares me so bad I'm afraid to sleep.

"What time is it?"

The top left knob of her console blinked. "The time is [[7:00 am]{.aQJ style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;"}]{.aBn data-term="goog_1960073278" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"}," a pert, female voice replied.

[[Seven o'clock]{.aQJ style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;"}]{.aBn data-term="goog_1960073279" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"}! I'd better hustle! Karla gulped down her coffee, and hurried back into the bedroom to dress.

Tehotep watched the tall, slender woman thumb through her closet. He wasn't invisible, only dim. As long as he stayed in the shadows, she couldn't see him. But noise couldn't be cloaked by magic.

The Indigo woman tossed a red knit, shirt and jeans on the bed, slipped off her pajamas and walked into the bathroom. As she stepped into the shower, the nozzle automatically clicked on, spraying her body with water. He followed, standing just beyond the doorway ...

Karla finished bathing, and Tehotep quickly moved back into the shadow ---all the while devouring her with his eyes. Her skin, dewy with moisture, looked like melting chocolate her nipples, blackberries.

She toweled off her full breasts and long legs and he licked his lips imagining the things he would do with he ---to her---the endless perversions he'd force her to submit to. Things she'd come to enjoy, when she tried to please him.

The young woman walked into the bedroom. He watched her pull up her panties, hook her bra, slip her arms into the straps. Image after image flooded his mind. Tehotep felt himself harden; a soft groan escaped his lips...

Karla froze then stared into the corner facing her bed. It's only a bunch of dirty clothes, you're hearing things!

In that instant he appeared: an Indigo man with full lips, slanting onyx eyes and a shaven head. Voluminous garments hung from his muscular frame. Their eyes locked, and she gasped in recognition. The dark man smiled, nodded his head...

And vanished... 

Preview or purchase Immortal and other novels by Valjeanne Jeffers at:

http://www.vjeffersandqveal.com

From Fear to Compassion

On 14 Jul, 2013 By mpm

 We had the expectation, or perhaps, at least the hope, that justice would be done, that our justice system would recognize that the killing of an unarmed teenage boy by a man with a gun was wrong. We hoped that perhaps, the system would understand, and consider why someone like George Zimmerman might kill someone like Trayvon Martin. It's finally time to admit that our justice system is broken because it is based on the fears we are unwilling to acknowledge or accept.

We are all afraid - that's part of what makes us human beings. We fear for our property. We fear that we might lose our livelihoods. We fear for the safety of our loved ones. We fear we might not be accepted in our communities. We fear we might not be loved. And some fear the responses and reactions of others simply because of the color of their skin. And others fear people simply because of the color of their skins, or the countries they hail from, or the religions they practice. *Fear itself is not the problem. *

The problem is that fear has become the currency of our society. No, it's not just the 11 O'clock news, which is soaked in fear-mongering. It is in every single hour of every day, when our fears are played on mercilessly to keep us in place, keep us working, and keep us buying what some have on offer.

We must acknowledge what we are afraid of. We must look our fears straight in the eye. And we must change the currency of our society from fear to compassion. Otherwise, there will be more George Zimmermans killing more Travon Martins, and nothing will change.

Theology and Science Fiction

On 08 Jul, 2013 By mpm

I am a theology geek. I was always a theology geek, but going to seminary brought it out more in me. I love thinking about the many ways in which human beings of any tradition make sense of the world, of the seen and the not seen. And I always bring that perspective into what I write.

Writing about theology in science fiction can be tricky, of course. Some science fiction writers write about the future as if we end up discarding religion or any sort of spirituality, and become purely rational materialists. Most, though, understand, that it's never going to be that simple. As western civilization moves away from Chrisitanity as an organizing principle, into something where many traditions  (old and new) have freedom to develop and take space in the marketplace of ideas, the role of theology in our lives may become more interesting than we suspect.

In terms of my own writing, I've had the most fun with exploring what kinds of theology alien civilizations might have. Although in one series (The Cassiopeia Chronicles) the theology of one particular alien species was informed by a being strikingly similar to Jesus (but didn't really resemble Christianity as practiced any time recently.)

I've also been inspired by the recent advances in physics, all of which sugges that the universe is a much, much stranger place than we ever imagined. There is, to my mind, deep richness in investigating the ways in which physics can be a window into the unknowable.

Here is an excerpt from "The Casitians Return":

Jal'end'a hadn't started out studying religions. Ever since she was a teenager, Jal'end'a had been on a search to understand the universe's origins. She had originally decided to study physics, and had been trained by some of the best teachers on Casiti. She had remained unsatisfied by the process of translation of texts written by the ancients, and the theoretical and experimental approaches to understanding what many thought of as the earliest moments of the universe.

The deeper Casitian physicists delved into the origins of the universe, the more they found the face of the divine. Some physicists were working to use their methodologies to understand the divine, as Jal'end'a's major teacher did. She had even begun to work with a number of other teachers in crafting theories that unified various fields of knowledge: from origins of the universe, lyre'es'gkin, theories of the mind and brain, and other phenomena.

In the end, Jal'end'a felt the call to go within herself, to sit, to contemplate, to connect deeply with the divine wisdom inside of her in order to understand the divine wisdom of creation. So she withdrew from science, requested permission to be supported by the community, and lived alone, in a small dwelling far from the city.  

Life As Practice

The purpose of this project is to write about contemplative practices and ways of living in the world that I have found tremendously useful in my own spiritual journey. Practices that are the core of my relationship with God -- how I hear God's voice every day. As a Protestant who spent many years engaged deeply in a Buddhist meditation practice, it wasn't until I went to seminary that I discovered, and then deeply delved into the contemplative practice of Christianity.

It was striking to me. The earliest history of Christianity is full of the Desert Mothers and Fathers, who went into solitude and quiet, looking for the voice of God. They were the the progenitors of a rich monastic tradition. I spent days and days immersed in Julian of Norwich, and Theresa of Avila, and Hildegard of Bingen, John of the Cross, Ingatius and others. It was a rich history that most Protestants don't have access to. Many Protestants find their contemplative practice elsewhere, as I did.

Fiction vs. Non-fiction

On 02 Apr, 2013 By mpm

I am between fiction projects, and I decided to really push on a project that has been on the back burner for over a year. It's a book about nonprofit technology, the field I've spent the last 18 years in, 12 years full-time.

Writing non-fiction is in some ways a nice break - it helps me work on something very concrete, and takes a very different kind of creativity. I don't get to make stuff up - I have to spend time doing research. But I do get to determine how I talk about things, and how it's arranged, and how to keep it moving.

There isn't a plot, in the same way, to keep the pages turning, but there will be threads that can be followed (or not), and an arrangment of information that will be conducive for reading and study. And I get to put on paper things that I have had either in my head, or in blog posts or presentations scattered about, all in one organized place.

In this case, production is going to be similar - it will be a self-published book, both in paper and e-book formats. 

Anyway, I'll keep everyone posted on how it's going. And also, check out the Indiegogo campaign to help me get time to write it!

How Does Your Topia Arc? (Guest Post) {#how-does-your-topia-arc-guest-post .blogTitle}

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On 23 Feb, 2013 By mpm With 1 Comments

By Justine Graykin

Reading a recent post on your blog, I got to thinking about dystopis, utopias, and how the various plots tend to arc. In the classic utopia, the reader is introduced to a perfected world, and the plot is an excuse to introduce the author's ideas of how to achieve this perfection. Plato's Republic did this without resorting to any fictional device, while Edward Bellamy has his protagonist awaken in a future America that has become a socialist paradise in Looking Backwards. This sort of straightforward propaganda has largely gone out of style. Not enough action, anguish, and suspense.

Then there is the Utopia That Isn't, as in Samuel Butler's Erewhon. Although the world the reader is introduced to appears on the surface to be perfect, it is actually rife with flaws and dark secrets. It's a bit like what Ayn Rand would do if she got hold of Looking Backwards (which she rather does in Atlas Shrugged). Utopia is actually dystopia in disguise.

Between the lines in the plots of these false utopias is the acknowledgement that different people have a different idea of what is good. Socialists feel that what is most important is that all individuals are taken care of and guaranteed an opportunity for happiness. Libertarians would emphasize the right of the individual to strive for personal success without obligation to his fellow man. These two philosophies crack heads when they try to organize an ideal society.

Dystopias often take the other guy's notion of perfection and show how bloody awful it would be in practice. Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is one version of the consequences of creating the Christian Nation so many fundamentalists seem to think would be the ideal America. It's just another way of saying, "You're wrong and here's why." The reader's response would depend in part on their own beliefs. No doubt a fundamentalist would insist that Atwood has it all wrong, just as socialists think Ayn Rand is utter feculence.

The best crowd-pleasing dystopia is when you get some really bad guys, like aliens, soulless corporations, criminals, or unscrupulous politicians (but I repeat myself) and have them running things in a way that just about any sane human being would think is wrong. Suffering, injustice and misery are rampant, and when the heroic rebel comes along to put things to right, the audience is primed for applause. (I'd call this the Hollywood distopia.)

So you have the good is good, the good is actually bad, and the bad is just plain bad and must be overthrown to make way for something which we presume will be good, or at least better. There is one other type I'd suggest which I'll call the Star Trek model. In it you have a utopia, which really is a utopia, perhaps not perfect but certainly an improvement on what we have now and something to look forward to. The utopia is tested by challenges to its philosophy, which it reconciles, or threats to its existence, which it must overcome. I confess I'm rather partial to this one, having grown up with it. In a way, it combines the first two types by trying to construct a workable ideal, yet acknowledging the difficulties in doing so, the opposing views, the human weaknesses, the harsh realities, and dealing with them.

The difference for me is that dystopias start dark and (usually) end with hope, but only hope's possibilities. The Star Trek model starts in the light, with hope's fulfillment, then battles the darkness with optimism as a constant companion. Somehow I find that more courageous. It's safer to darkly prophesize about something that is wrong than it is to build and defend something that is right.

[Justine Graykin is a writer and free-lance philosopher sustained by her deep, abiding faith in Science, Humanity (well, ]{style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; line-height: normal;"}S[cience, anyway) and the belief that humor is the best anti-gravity device.]{style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; line-height: normal;"}

How to write dystopia well

On 09 Feb, 2013 By mpm

Did you actually think I had an answer to that? OK, well, I sorta do, but I think there are many ways to do it. 

Dystopia and, it's converse, utopia, are two of the most common subjects and themes in science fiction. Even when novels don't make the dystopia itself a subject, the setting might well be dystopic in nature. Firefly is a great example of doing this well. The first dystopic novel I ever read was George Orwell's 1984, which I imagine would top the list of many dystopic SF classics. One of the earliest dystopias I really appreciated was John Brunner's "The Sheep Look Up." It was written in the 70s, and was a scarily prescient look at the future environmental crisis. It did get a few things wrong - we are struggling more with climate change than we are with air pollution, but a lot of what he wrote has come to pass. One of the more interesting things I remember about that novel was that elected officials weren't from states or geographic districts, but from corporations.

The secret to writing dystopia well is to extrapolate logically from our dystopic present, with believable and imaginable steps along the way. John Brunner extrapolated trends in US governance and environmental policy. Octavia Bulter wrote what I would say was the most believable dystopic novel I'd ever read in "The Parable of the Sower.". She was really good at this. She extrapolated current (at the time she wrote it, and worse now) economic inequality to it's logical result. In some ways, the further in the future you are trying to predict, the less accurate the extrapolation is going to be. In some ways, "The Handmaid's Tale," by Margaret Atwood is another good example. The scenario of a staged terrorist attack, and religious fundamentalists taking over somehow doesn't seem all that farfetched.

But there's more than just the mechanics of writing a believable dystopia. What's the point of writing a dystopia anyway? For me, it feels like it's a warning bell, telling us to look at where we might end up if we keep going in the direction we're going in. It gives writers a chance just to play with the possibilities, and explore what characters do with the exigencies of dystopic life. And, my favorite reason, is to write about how we can emerge from dystopic futures, find hope and a new way to live. In that way, I hope that it finds us able to emerge out of our dystopic present.

Works in progress, upcoming books, and guest bloggers

On 01 Feb, 2013 By mpm

A few odds and ends today. Fridays are good days for odds and ends.

First, I wanted to let people know what I'm working on, and what to look out for in the next few months. I have two books that are completed in not-so-drafty form. I think I've mentioned them both before.

One is called "Becoming Queen," a fantasy/sci-fi hybrid, sort of. It's the story of Daneli, who is heir to a throne, the conflict between two nations, and the impending arrival of something that will change everyone's lives forever. I hope to publish this book by mid-March. The second is called "The Artifact," a straight-up hard-sf novel about a woman who grows up within a fundamentalist, patriarchal, backward colony, finds her freedom, and ends up helping to save her people from a horrible fate. I hope to publish this sometime toward the end of spring.

I'm almost finished with my newest novel, tentatively titled "Friends with Wings," about a woman who is stranded alone (well, she has intelligent, non-human companions) on a planet far from Earth. It is set 90-130 years in our future, and includes my first dystopic future, which takes up about the first 1/4 of the book. 

And for you Casitian fans, I am still in progress on the novel which describes the original capture of humans during the bronze age by the Tud'scla, the species that enslaved humans for a couple of thousand years.

Over the next few weeks and months, I'm doing a guest blog exchange, so there will be guest bloggers here. This is new for me, but I'm excited about having new and different voices here, as well as getting to talk to other audiences.

Going Vertical {#going-vertical .blogTitle}

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On 26 Jan, 2013 By mpm With 1 Comments

"Going vertical" is a phrase used often in non-fiction and memoir writing. Going vertical means that in a sense, you are going deeper (and sometimes also higher) in perspective and description at certain points in a book. In memoir, this might involve delving much more deeply into a specific happening, or zoom out to look at the very big picture. Going vertical gives the reader a chance to understand the narrator in a much deeper way than just relaying what happened next.

My current work in progress, with a working title "Friends with Wings," involves a woman who is alone on a planet that is not Earth. Alone, except for intelligent winged creatures, who she can't really understand, but who treat her well. The plot is fairly straightforward, and unlike many of my novels, there aren't many sub-plots, or other things going on. Most of the book is Trina, the protagonist, alone on a planet named Johannes. 

And so, I'm going vertical. What is it like for her to live alone on another planet? Does she miss human contact? How does she learn about the other intelligent creatures who share the planet with her?

I tend to write novels that are very plot driven. This novel gives me a chance to delve deeper into a personality, a psyche. I delve into the details of her life, so that an understanding of her, and how she survives emerges. It's a fun challenge. 

Whither paper?

On 18 Jan, 2013 By mpm

I love books, I always have. Ever since I could read, I read all the time. I don't read nearly as much as I used to, because I write so much, but there was a time when I would read three or four nonfiction books a month, and five or six fiction books a month. Now, it's more like one fiction book a month and one non-fiction book every couple of months.

And I've always liked paper books. My favorite are hardbacks. Solid in the hand, usually with gorgeous paper, and a nice binding. But practically, I never really bought that many of them. Back in the day, when hardback was released before paper, there were a few authors that I couldn't wait for - I'd buy the hardback. I think the last harback books I bought were the Harry Potter series.

And when I traveled, I always brought lots of books. Even on day trips to the beach, I'd bring at least two. Often, for longer trips, I'd be lugging six to ten books in my suitcase. It was that, in combination with selling most of my stuff to downsize on my way to seminary, that sold me on eBook devices. The idea of traveling with basically an entire library was just too appealing to me, even though I do still like paper books. And, as someone who moves as often as I do, the fewer actual physical books I own, the better. Now, I own more eBooks than I do paper books. 

As everyone knows, the paper book is not having a good go of it right now. Bookstores are dwindling. This is not entirely eBooks fault - it also has to do with Amazon, in particular. But eBooks certainly don't help the plight of bookstores, especially independent ones.  The publishing industry is undergoing a huge change, brought about by technology, including eBooks, and print on demand. It's classic disintermediation, and it's happening on a massive scale.

Almost one quarter of all books sold right now are eBooks, and that number is up from last year. There are predictions that eBook sales may outstrip all physical book sales by the end of 2013. But for my books, the deal is already done. 96% of my books sell on eBook platforms, such as Kindle, Smashwords, etc. This is mostly due to the fact that I don't have a traditional publisher, so physical copies of my books aren't getting into bookstores, and the books aren't being promoted in the classic ways.

Which leads me to think about eliminating paper versions of my books moving forward. It takes a lot of time and effort, and a bit of extra money, to make paper books alongside eBooks. And since so few people buy paper copies of my books, I'm wondering whether it's worth the extra effort for any upcoming books (there are several, I will likely publish at least three this year.)

I welcome any thoughts you have about this.

Worldbuilding, Part 5: Travel

On 12 Jan, 2013 By mpm

I love to write about travel, and when I think about each of the books I've written, travel of one sort or another is an important, or even central, theme. 

Space travel is one of the hallmarks of science fiction - a lot of classic science fiction has to do with travel to other planets, or other stars, or, aliens traveling from elsewhere here. All of Star Trek was basically built around space travel, and the ramifications of it. I've talked a little before about my tendency to do my best to obey the laws of physics, as they are currently understood, but in reality, all of the space travel that  I have envisioned in my books is impossible using any current knowledge or technology. Space travel is fun to imagine and write about. [ ]{style="line-height: 1.5;"}

[There are several ways ot exploring space travel in the world (or universe) one is building. Some people choose to downplay the technology and knowledge invoved in fast interplanetary, or interstellar travel, and just focus on what happens when people travel. Other people imagine complex new star drives that work by extrapolation of current technology. Or, some embrace interesting completely wild ways of accomplishing interstellar travel, like Frank Herbert's spice-modified pilots who fold space. I tend to do my best to pick one specific strategy, like, wormholes, or ion drives, or some such, and allow that to be as commonplace as something like jets are for us. I have two universes (both forthcoming) where interstellar travel takes a long time (not as long as some authors, who have imagined generation ships.) I have two universes, one the Casitian Universe, and one the universe of a forthcoming novel called "The Artifact" that uses wormholes and jumpgates built and/or tended by ancient species. (This is not a new idea.)]{style="line-height: 1.5;"}

But space travel isn't the only kind of travel I spend a lot of time on. I love to imagine travel on a planet. It's fun to think about what one can come across on a place that isn't Earth. However, in one case, the Expedition, I have written basically a travelogue, set in the 19th century United States. What makes it different than other fictional narratives describing that time is that it is a travelogue by a human that was not born on Earth.

Travel is an amazingly great engine for plots, which is why it is such a big theme in many genres of fiction. It provides novel situations to explore, provides context for great conflict between traveling companions, and great contexts for development of characters. One of the favorite travel narratives I've written is the story of the young Leticia, in The Story of New Earth, and her escape with others from her restrictive home, and around one part of New Earth. It's fun to really show how the new experiences that a character has during travel effects them, and how they develop as characters.

Worldbuilding, Part 4: Gender, Sexuality and Families

On 06 Jan, 2013 By mpm

This series is about the joy of worldbuilding. I didn't quite think I'd spread this out into so many posts, but I guess I have a lot of joy to talk about! 

Human beings are far more interesting than one might think given the ongoing social pressure for individuals to conform to the American ideal: the heterosexual, monogomous nuclear family (or, gosh, now, even simply the monogamous nuclear family). I have to say that I think that "ideal" is about the most boring thing human beings have come up with in history (and human beings have come up with a lot of interesting and different relationship structures). And the ideal that there should be only two gender expressions: masculine men and feminine women, is also pretty boring, at least for me (and historically, things have been quite a bit more interesting than that.) Therefore, unlike most speculative fiction, the characters and relationships I most often explore do not fit these ideals.

Humans are pretty much always the main characters in my books, even though aliens are certainly a presence at times. And when it comes to humans, I often start with one fundamental idea: what if we created relationships between people who were free to express their gender identity as they choose, and free to choose whover (and how many ever) they wanted to? What would those relationships look like, and how would society structure itself around those relationships? I think that is core - as a society, we do arrange ourselves largely around the family structures we create - so if the structures were radically different, then the resulting societies would have to be radically different.

One example is the Casitian system. Casitians are basically single, except for a period of about 15 or so Earth years, where they have, and raise, children in a family group if they choose to. An individual Casitian who wants to raise children finds an opposite-sex partner that they think will be a good match for child-rearing (no romantic attachment is expected or encouraged.) Eight to ten adults form a family group to raise their children collectively, until the children reach the age of about 12 or 13. where they leave to join a youth community. Before and after this period, or if someone chooses not to raise children, Casitians live on their own, and most spend the winter (which is actually the equivalent of a year on Earth) living with a "companion" (read: romantic partner), of any gender. This is sort of a modified gender and sexuality fluid serial monogamy model.

Then, there are the Trageri. This is in a book coming out sometime later this year, called "Becoming Queen." The Trageri have one of the more interesting relationship and family systems. I think it's kinda cool, if I do say so myself. Trageri [(one of two nations, the other nation does not at all share this system)]{style="line-height: 1.5;"}[ is a monarchy organized in "houses" - and each house has anywhere from thirty to sixty family members, as well as another thirty to one hundred or (many) more affiliated employees (and that number depends on the wealth and influence of a house.) When the eldest female of her generation comes of age, it is her duty, as head of the house, to find eight to eleven spouses, who will collectively raise the next generation of the house. There are often romantic attachments between these spouses (some can come from the same house, as there will be children unrelated to each other in the same house,) but the primary function of this process is to find others who will keep the house strong, and do well to raise the children. Individuals are free to have romantic relationships of any kind outside of the marraige, as long as they are exceedingly careful about birth control (if necessary - queer relationships are fully accepted.)]{style="line-height: 1.5;"}

When it comes to aliens, I've basically taken my cue from the amazing variability in gender, sexual expression, pair-bonding. and young-rearing that exists on this planet. There are organisms on earth that change their sex during their lives. They were the model for the Kurool, who change sex several times in their lives (although they do it consciously.) Some male animals take the lead on rearing young. The males of the aliens I'm writing about now, called the Eeriv, have a pouch on their back where the young live, and glands to feed them. 

I do have one alien species, the Tud'scla, who have five individuals who contribute their genetic material to their offspring, something not found on Earth (that I know of.) The Tud'scla are pentaploid (that is, they have five sets of chromosomes). There are no sexes or gender in this species - individuals can both contribute their genetic material to one who will incubate the eggs, or they can be the incubator.

Gender and gender expression (or the lack thereof,) sexuality (homo, hetero, bi, pan, etc.,) and relationship structures (monogamous, polyamorous, etc.) will have foundational influence on society, and that is really important (and fun!) stuff to explore. And it's also always important to think about ramifications of these structures, and the kinds of conflict that can arise because of them. Great fodder for plots!

Worldbuilding, Part 3: Making up language

On 04 Jan, 2013 By mpm

One of the more interesting parts of making up new intelligent beings, or new societies, is to think about language. Many science fiction stories and novels skip over these details entirely, because, well, they are hard. I've made my share of mistakes, and I know that I'm not anywhere near to getting as good at dealing with langauge as some writers. I think I suffer from being basically monolingual (unless you count programming languages). But I also do a lot of research, and that probably helps some. I'm not a linguist, though.

There are several layers to this. First, there are names. If you introduce characters who are alien, they generally have to be named in some way or another. The names have been, for me, an entre into what a language might be like. For instance, when I was writing my very first novel, The Casitians Return, I had to name this character who would become very central to the plot. Her name is Ja'el. I sort of did the apostrophe spontaneously (meant to signify a gutteral stop), and when I introduced other characters, most of them similarly got apostrophes in their names (although they don't all have apostrophes, like Silandra.) Later, of course, I found out this is somewhat of an over-used method in scifi (which is, I imagine, why I made the mistake - I'd read it so often.) But, by the time I'd heard that critique, I was done with the book, and on to its sequel, so I was stuck. So I just went with it. 

[In the Casitian Universe series, there are four languages represented: English, Casitian, Kinder, and Tud'scla (the language of the aliens that captured humans back in the neolithic age.) In a novel I have in progress, which is the story of the initial capture of humans, the Tud'scla invent a language that both they and the humans can speak. It is quite bereft of vowels, since they can't pronounce vowels very well. Example Tud'scla names include Hll'venr and Jrl'sen.]{style="text-indent: 48px;"}[ Casitian and Kinder language are both descendents of that Tud'scla language, although the Casitian language has changed much more than the Kinder language - it has become much more fluid, and, as you can tell from Ja'el's name, pretty vowel-heavy. The Kinder got rid of the gutteral stop, but kept the lack of vowel sounds.  An example Kinder name is Pkygy. ]{style="text-indent: 48px;"}

[Anyway, that's a pretty simple set of things to create, and I think it mostly works, It fits in with the social structures of the Casitian and Kinder cultures, and their origins. That's the fun part - how do you weave in the language with the culture. Klingon (the language at the top left over there) is a great example of how this has been done.]{style="text-indent: 48px;"}

[I've made up some vocabulary terms (and I love making terms for things that don't have English equivalents), and names, but I have yet to think about actual sentence structure until quite recently, while working on another work in progress. The alien species in that novel (working title: Kepler Exploratory) has a language which has many fewer nouns and verbs, and a ton of adjectives and adverbs. In fact, for them, sentences can easily lack nouns and verbs and still be intelligable, unlike English. I'm still working hard on writing sentences (in English) which reflect the language. It's a tough one, but the language is a lot like poetry, and since I've written poetry, it feels doable.]{style="text-indent: 48px;"}

[I have yet to actually create a language. That is certainly not in my plan, but one never knows.]{style="text-indent: 48px;"}

Get in touch

Feel free to reach out. I'd love to hear from you.

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• PO Box 391, Cazadero, CA 95421