Review of Quantum Lens by Douglas E. Richards

Quantum Lens by Douglas E. Richards
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The story line is o.k. (if unbelievable), the character development is poor, the plot is unique, BUT I can't get past the unnecessarily cruel way the female protagonist was treated in this book.

In science fiction novels, I expect to have to suspend disbelief, but a great author such as Crichton (whom I've seen Douglas Richards compared to, but I don't see the similarities personally) is able to get you to do that in a way that does not require you to CONSCIOUSLY keep turning off the part of your brain that is saying "this is really impossible" or "there is no way this could happen" (e.g. humans flying and heating the air around them using zero point energy).

The story had many holes as well. Here are a few:

1.) Why can some people harness this zero point energy and others can't? Not really explained well. I think it is some form of intellectual snobbery actually - only the REALLY smart can do it or maybe it is a religious theme - only "true believers"?

2.) Why did Craft need hypnosis to strengthen his powers? This seems to me to be an underlying theme of religious "believers" vs. "non-believers". At times it seemed they were just inventing reasons for Alyssa's character to be in the novel.

3.) Why would Omar Haddad believe in the quantum mirror device? It was not demonstrated and he was only going off of his arch nemesis' word. Very unlikely that a megalomaniac with immense powers would trust the "devil" (Craft) based on his word.

But my main gripe with this book is the treatment of the female protagonist, Alyssa Aronson (note the name). Not only was she captured, tortured, tricked, lied to over and over, and objectified throughout the book, but, for good measure, she was made to be Jewish, for (seemingly) the sole purpose of being able to have Omar Haddad call her a "Jewish whore" over and over. Really, Mr. Richards, how did her religion contribute to this novel? Her faith was never mentioned until Haddad said she was a Jewish whore (by the way, how did Haddad know she was Jewish? In the melting pot of America, names are a poor way to determine one's religion).

Sorry, but with the plot holes, undeveloped characters, fishy and unexplained scientific miracles, and helpless, objectified, anti-semitic personification of the only female character, this novel lost my vote.

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Review of Pandemic by Scott Sigler: 4 out of 5 stars **MAJOR SPOILERS**

Pandemic by Scott Sigler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

** MAJOR SPOILERS ** Well worth the wait! I have to say, most "third" books in a series disappoint, often in multiple ways. Pandemic was an exception to the rule. Mr. Sigler found a way to re-invent the whole alien virus in new and interesting ways, add some key characters, and add new twists and turns. In addition, the shocking infection of certain key characters allowed the readers to experience the new virus similar to the first-person experience with Perry Dawsey and the triangles that spoke to him. I missed Perry in this book (and noticed a lot fewer swears!). I did appreciate the few flashbacks to the old characters since it had been awhile since I read the previous books in the series. I also enjoyed the introduction to a character from the Ancester book, which will probably be added to my future reading list. This book kept me awake and reading when I should have been sleeping on a flight from the U.S. to Europe!

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Dust by Hugh Howey Review (*SPOILER ALERT*)

Dust by Hugh Howey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Phew. After the previous installment in the series, which I was highly disappointed in, this one was Hugh Howey back in spades.

First, the minor negatives. No matter what the author did, I still had a tough time finding a connection with Charlotte's character, even at the very end. Second, there were a few scientific holes (minor) that I didn't think were explained enough (mostly the stuff having to do with the fake "argon" and the "poisoning" of the air with the nano-machines that rip human cells apart, etc.) Why didn't the nano-machines fly around the earth on the wind? How long can they stay operational? How can they be destroyed? Why do they make the sky and earth grey? So they attack other things other than humans? Why not the fabric of the suits, or the silos themselves? Or the dirt?

Now, the great: in Dust, we got a lot more understanding of how "Tower 1" operates and its purpose. The pace was just right - I did not feel like it dragged anywhere. We understand what is going on with Donald's health, and more about the overall plan for Earth. Several major plot reveals did not disappoint either! I continued to enjoy Juliette's character as well as a few others. (I was kind of glad Solo did not have as big of a role in this book, I found his previous long monologues distracting.) The discovery of the diggers was major. The ending was perfect also, nice to have an ending that ties up most things and provides hope for the world.



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Motes, Utility Fog, Smart Dust & Climate Change

I've been fascinated by the idea of Smart Dust (also known as Motes) since I started doing research on how researchers calculate the global average temperature and thus decide if we are going through a period or trend of global warming or cooling. The past (and current as far as I know) method for calculating these global temperature averages involve data from land based weather stations combined with satellites in the lower troposphere and marine reports (among other methods).  

This methodology has many weaknesses:

• The land based weather stations are sprinkled around the globe but not evenly and in some cases, very far apart from one another;
• Different weather stations use different equipment for measuring temperature (some use older technology, for example);
• Not every location on the Earth even has weather stations and/or shares that data;
• There is no universally accepted "normal" temperature for Earth, yet climate data is generally reported as a departure from "normal";
• The weather stations, satellites, and ships are all at different elevations, wind conditions, latitude and longitude; adjustments for these factors are imperfect at best;
• There are dozen of different weather organizations (NOAA, NASA, EPA, GOAA, etc.) all measuring average global temperature with different results!

If you are interested in learning more, there is a great related article from NASA:

The Elusive Absolute Surface Air Temperature (SAT)

Now, some very cool reading on the topic of SmartDust and related technology:

SmartDust communication systems in the future world

The Inevitability of SmartDust
Graphene-based nano-antennas may enable cooperating smart dust swarms

In a very generalized nutshell, SmartDust or motes are teensy-tiny computers that have the ability to network. They are part of the now much-talked-about "Internet of Things". These tiny computers could in theory be programmed to check anything, weather/temperature included. 

I see huge possibility in terms of more accuracy with climate trends and even weather predictions.  With networked capability, and even the capability to fly or swim, they could reach areas of the Earth for temperature readings that are currently not possible or practical, such as the bottom of the ocean or the top of a mountain. SmartDust could be sprinkled in a much broader swath of Earth, Sky and Water, even maybe underground in caverns.  

Since these tiny computers could be programmed remotely to use the same methods of temperature measurement, be directed to migrate to the same exact elevation at the exact same time, synchronize data collection rates, or even travel an entire area in a swarm checking temperatures at various spots and various levels to get a more accurate average temperature, it would seem we could get a more universal, real-time weather trend than is possible today.

This is exactly how a major character in my novel does her climate change predictions! 

Review of The Neighbor by Ania Ahlborn

The Neighbors by Ania Ahlborn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well, what can I say? I bought this Kindle book with one of those Amazon promotions for books for $1.99 or such and I didn't read any reviews first. Despite that, it was a fast read and I finished the entire thing, which is not something I usually do for books that I end up giving only 2 stars to, so kudos to the author for somehow keeping my curiosity going until the very end! That said, I can't even recall any of the characters names off the top of my head and I just finished it last week - that says something...not something good.

** MAJOR SPOILERS ** NO POINT IN READING STORY AFTER YOU READ MY REVIEW!

Here are the main challenges with the book as I see it:

1.) THIN PLOT: Very thin plot that made little sense (leaving home due to mother being alcoholic and agoraphobic) and going to live in a dump with a childhood friend just 1 town away? Quitting job at supermarket that is so close by, only to apply at other supermarkets 1 town away and get rejected because he left the other job without 2 weeks notice. Really??

2.) THE NEIGHBOR: Crazy but beautiful 40-something woman as serial seducer and killer of young boys (for decades undetected!) Reason? To "replace" her son that she also killed, due to her childhood sexual abuse by her religious priest father and mother killed by a rapist? I don't even know where to begin with this one - I mean, really? It was like the author just decided to toss in every cliche reason for serial killing;

3.) THE NEIGHBOR HUSBAND: The husband just stands by, knowing everything, after his wife molests their son, eventually kills him and continues the pattern for decades. Then - suddenly! - at the end, he gets a pair of you-know-whats and stands up to her because he thinks she is falling in love with her latest boy-toy, the main character? I just wanted to poke him in the eye and find out if anyone was actually in there.

4.) DISMEMBERMENT AND MISSING BODIES: The underground bunker for chopping up her prey after killing them, carried out by the childhood friend who lives next door? He then drives the bodies "somewhere" and dumps them. None have ever been found after DECADES of this? Seems highly irregular, though I guess Jeffrey Dahmer got away with it for a long time...

5.) MOTHER COMPLEX: The whole mother-figure-sexual-attraction with the 40-something neighbor was just weird; his excitement over cookies and pancakes was overdone. At times I felt like the book was actually written by a teenage boy, but a crazy one. Maybe that is a point for the author if that was the goal!

6.) MIRACLE CURE: And the final insult...when the main character returns home to his real mother after the whole incident and she miraculously gets over her agoraphobia and alcoholism, and shocker, the house is even clean!

The more I write this review, the more I wonder why I was compelled to finish it. Oh well, on to a new book!

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Review of The Kraken Project (Wyman Ford #4) by Douglas Preston

The Kraken Project by Douglas Preston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I should start by saying I have a long standing affinity for all Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child books written both together as a team and separately from each author. I have read all the books in the Wyman Ford series and am a fan of that character. I would say that I felt Wyman played a much lesser role in this book than in the past. In fact, I would say my impression, having finished the book, was that the main character, the one who really stuck with me after the book ended, was the AI program named Dorothy. That was quite a feat.

I felt I really got to know Dorothy as she "grew up" from an immature child to a toddler to a teenager, and finally to an adult. I began to think of her as "alive", not just a computer program. That of course is a trick of writing, not so much that an actual AI program like Dorothy has ever, or will ever, exist. Being a former programmer myself and understanding how software works, I find the idea of self-learning in the way described in the novel to be a fictional fantasy until we find a way to merge living cells (brain or other) to computer chips. Then I might believe self-awareness and self-learning is actually a realistic possibility.

** MAJOR SPOILER NEXT **

Preston waited until the very end to deliver three major pieces of information, two of which I loved, but one of which I really didn't "buy" into. These are:

1.) YES! Dorothy hacked into the President's special pace-maker/brain controller thingamajigy (forget what they called it) - this was a VERY cool idea that I did not expect or see coming at all. This in itself would make a very fascinating sequel!

2.) YES! The idea that there is another software/entity "awakening" across the internet. This again, would make a very cool sequel!

3.) NO! The big "secret" of how the "Strong AI" was programmed was to allow it to sleep, and somehow it would dream. I just can't buy that one. There was no time in the book where there was any mention of Dorothy needing sleep, even the entire time she spent in the robot with Jacob or out on the Internet, and it doesn't make sense to have software sleep. I would have needed a more technical explanation of how that would work or I can't suspend disbelief on that one.

Overall, a really fun, fast-paced read and I hope they will do a sequel (though Wyman Ford series has not generally had sequels in the past).

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Part 2, Chapter 2 Teaser: Introducing Sagan Phillips

PART 2: COMET PHILLIPS        

2032                                               

CHAPTER TWO

Greenbelt, Maryland, United States of America

Sagan Phillips' face was flush and his sandy hair tousled as he jogged easily along the gravel pathway. His rhythm changed to a walk as he hit the pavement leading around the back of the building, away from the throng of reporters. The sun had already burned the sky a white-blue and the air still held the aura of summer, despite the jolts of color already spreading through the leaves. Looking up, he marveled at how well the Earth's pure blue ceiling hid the dark, destructive vacuum of space beyond it.

Approaching the gunmetal door, Sagan slowed as the biometric beams and chemical sniffers worked him over. The door slid open with a mild whirr and welcomed him with the date and time as he stepped inside the cool, white hallway of the NASA Goddard Space Center residential wing. This place had served as his home as well as his office for over a year now, and he would miss it. If today went well, he and his team would be celebrated as heroes and the world would breathe a collective sigh of relief. There was no option for him to consider the alternative. Others had already projected out multiple disaster scenarios. Potential casualties had been calculated, evacuation plans had been drafted and secure underground bunkers were filled with key government and scientific leaders. He walked with long strides to the elevator that would bring him to the control center where the rest of his team was already assembled and waiting for him.

-------

"Faboratories" and "Cybrids"

One of the possible paths my book may take is to genetically modify humans to survive an extreme ice age (a "Snowball Earth").  There are quite a few amphibians, insects and fish that can survive freezing using a number of biological techniques.  The Wood Frog, for example, can freeze 2/3 of its body and protect its tissues with cryoprotectants (glucose in this case) so the cells are not damaged.  Many fish use "antifreeze proteins" to protect itself from freezing solid in below freezing waters, such as the Winter Flounder.  In the case of a rapid onset ice age, natural selection would not be fast enough to turn humans able to survive outside in dramatically frigid temperatures.  (As an aside, a genetic adaptation to survive extreme cold might come in handy for future astronauts!)  To combine these characteristics into humans might involve creating some sort of hybrid or Cybrid.  Freaky but very cool advances going on now!

Even if humans can find a way to make intelligent cybrids that are freeze tolerant, in the meantime, they need a way to survive in the cold before that new generation grows to adulthood (assuming that even happens). One way is through artificial heated skin or outfits. 

There is a Fabrication Laboratory ("Faboratory") out of Purdue University working on some intelligent, flexible materials, sensory skins and stretchable sensors. 

Definitely possibilities for my novel as well as for future generations!

Review of Allegiant by Veronica Roth ** MAJOR SPOILERS**

Allegiant by Veronica Roth (third book in the Divergent series)

** MAJOR SPOILERS *** 

This was one of the most disappointing third installments of a trilogy I've read so far. Two things stand out as ruining the book for me right from the start: 

1.) In the first two books, we were inside the head of Tris the entire time; but for some unknown reason (which we find out much later was probably so that the author could kill off Tris and still continue the book to its conclusion) we begin to hear the story alternating between Tris and Tobias. This would be weird but o.k., except for the fact that there seemed to be no difference in their "voices", so I kept getting confused as to whose perspective each chapter was from and would have to go back and check at the beginning of each chapter (the author shouldn't really have to put the name of the person speaking at the beginning of each chapter, even though it is courtesy - but in this case it really was necessary).

2.) The second reason is really what killed the whole series for me. Basically, the whole point of the book made zero scientific sense. I mean, not even a little. First the human race experimented with genetic modifications; that went terribly wrong and caused a big war between genetically "damaged" people and genetically "pure" people that ruined the Earth (the "Purity war"). OK, so that is weird, but I can maybe suspend disbelief on that one. But then, here's the solution they came up with: build these cities as experiments to wait for genetic purity to be born through generations (??) and those people would be identifiable because they could resist the various mind serums (like Tris). Wait, what? Oh, and most of these experiment cities failed. There are just so many things WRONG with this plot, I got kind of mad at the beginning of the book and nearly stopped reading. But after having enjoyed the first two books so much, I pushed forward. Unfortunately, Ms. Roth just distracted us with more uprisings and soap-opera style relationship interactions between Tris and Tobias. Here are a few of the ridiculous suppositions I just could not swallow:

a.) Um, if they know how to manipulate the genes in the first place, why don't they just manipulate them back to how they were?

b.) All genes have mutations, some good, some not so good, don't see how you can pin a certain modification (like a mutation) to the cause of evil and war in society (really???? I feel like we're talking Nazi stuff here, maybe that is the buried message Ms. Roth is trying for, a warning against genocide?)

c.) Um, why didn't they just test everyone with a blood test to look for "pure" genes? Why did they have to watch them on cameras in fake experiment cities letting them be tortured by fear serums, memory setting serums, etc. This makes zero sense.

d.) So Tobias is not genetically pure but somehow he can still resist the serums. Um, ok, what? Doesn't that invalidate the entire experiment? 

And on and on and on, I can't stand to even write about it anymore! 

So, warning for big Divergent fans, this book may not be what you are expecting!

SmartDust, Nanodiamonds & Bionic Plants, Oh My!

OK, I admit it, I probably went into the wrong field of study when I went to college. At the time, I had just seen "Wall Street" (1987 movie) and pictured myself as a female version of Bud Fox or Gordon Gekko. HA. One internship in a brokerage firm in Boston cured me of that, but it was too late, I was on the path to a degree in Finance, studying corporate mergers and stock options. After spending years in the financial services industry, I moved on to a career in corporate law (not a lawyer though!), then finally "converted" to the world of computer science, where I remain to this day. Computer science has given me the chance to take part in creating the "Internet of Things", visualizing "Big Data" (a phrase I detest, but that's a story for another blog), work with advanced analytics algorithm software, and assist manufacturers in becoming more and more automated. Interesting stuff.

But...the science geek part of me has never left and I can't stop reading about new technologies and scientific breakthroughs as they come out. 

If you are following me on Twitter, you are probably wondering why I'm tweeting about SmartDust and Nanodiamonds and Bionic Plants - how does that related to a publishing venture from an aspiring author? Shouldn't I be writing about sentence structure and book marketing?

Many of the ideas in my science-heavy tweets will make their way into my novel, and some I'm "saving" for future novel ideas I already have in my head. I want my stories to be realistic enough that a scientist in a relevant field would at least say "ok, this author did some research" and not shake their head in dismay at the sheer impossibility of it.  That said, I'd like to know enough that I can take emerging technology and scientific discoveries and enhance them, take them maybe a few steps further or in a new direction, all while advancing the plot in my near-future world.

My dream (of course!), is to invent something as part of my story-telling that some scientist somewhere takes notice of, and turns it into reality! The science fiction novelists I admire most have "invented" science or technology in their writing as fiction that today is real - I believe they influenced the future in a profound way with their writing! That would be the ultimate accomplishment in my book, not books sales or tours - having a real influence on the world.

Some cool links related to this idea:

Straight from science fiction novels to reality!

Science fiction ideas that became reality in 2013

And here's the a list for 2012

Book Review (SPOILERS!) for Shift Omnibus (Silo #2) by Hugh Howey

Shift Omnibus Edition (Silo, #2) by Hugh Howey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Let me preface this review by saying that I have loved the Wool/Silo series thus far and admire Hugh Howey's fantastic writing and story-telling style. I also do plan to read the next in the series after a short break in between. That said, I had to give the Shift Omnibus Edition only three stars.

Despite this series answering several questions for the reader and getting to know key characters in more depth, there seemed to be some issues with the plot and sequencing, making it a tough slog at times. In addition, and this may be my personal preference, I generally don't like approaching the same story from a different angle (e.g. the interaction between Jimmy and Juliette that we knew all along was coming), so my review might be skewed by that.

SLOG: I found myself about half-way through the novel just wanting to skim over the Jimmy chapters. I was bored with his Solo life and catching fish for his cat Shadow. The entire sequence did not seem to add much to the overall story and dragged on in my opinion.

PLOT CONFUSION #1: Donald woke up with everyone thinking he was Thurman? I don't understand how that can be. There must be photos of each person to match to their names in their computer databases, not to mention the cryogenic pods.

PLOT CONFUSION #2: I kept thinking my Kindle version was re-arranged somehow towards the end, or maybe the segment where Donald wakes his sister was a dream? Donald and his sister fly a drone until it won't work anymore. Next scene is Donald waking up the real Thurman. Huh? How did they get back to Silo 1? Maybe I need to follow the chapter date sequence more closely.

PLOT CONFUSION #3: Donald turning murderer. I don't understand the point of killing Anna and of having a conversation with her first if he was going to kill her anyhow. Maybe we are to believe that he is going crazy, brain damage or cancer of the brain, as he keeps coughing up blood (which no one seems to notice or comment on, even though he carries around a blood stained rag to cough into and his shirt sleeves are stained from his coughing into his elbow).

Despite giving this 3 stars, I am hopeful that I'll be back to a 5 star review for the next installment of the Silo saga, can't wait!


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Dream Waking

I've gotten unstuck! Pretty thrilled about that - only wrote about 5 new pages, but the story now has a path out of the spot I was stuck. Even if I re-write/re-think it all later, at least I'm MOVING the story forward again.    

For the first time in the novel, I'm attempting to incorporate a dream (really a nightmare) into the story.  I'm also thinking a lot about world building for the story. A large portion of the story will happen in an underground city and I need to balance futuristic technology with the realities of space, energy and resource limitations in a circumstance where above-ground is mostly not available to the people anymore.  

A small example is beds. Beds take up quite a bit of floor space in a dwelling.  I'm toying with ideas of beds that retract into walls, suspended hammock-like beds, inflatable beds that deflate when not in use, or beds built into the floors that have sliding covers so they can be walked on in daytime. 

Here's the dream and wake transition I'm working on...(very first draft, no edits yet!):

"The sand burned her feet as she walked. She should have worn her sandals, she thought. Then her feet hit the cool wet sand. She pulled her sunglasses over her eyes and watched her daughter’s blonde curls spray sea water as she jumped and chased the waves to shore with some new little friends. The sky was a deep, perfect cloudless blue and the air was filled with the sound of ocean waves, seagulls and the happy shrieks of children. Miranda stepped back to take a photo and realized she had lost some of her light. Looking up, she saw a single ominous cloud blocking the sun. As she watched, that one cloud seemed to grow in all directions, sending the beach into sudden darkness. Goose bumps sprang out on her arms and she began to shiver violently. Something was wrong - the sky was dark green - not the muddy gray of storm clouds. She couldn’t hear the waves any longer. She couldn’t see the ocean which had pulled back out of sight. Then…the blood curdling screams began. She could see her daughter’s wet hair and skin freeze into ice, while the muddy sand solidified around her ankles…"

"Miranda bolted upright in bed, dripping with sweat."

Why Write?

I am currently reading APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur by Kawasaki and Welch (really good tips by the way, I'm enjoying it).  One of the questions posed is WHY, as an aspiring author, we we want to write a book, and what we hope the book will offer when it is done.

I did not even have to think to answer that question.  I love scientific discovery, researching and pondering science questions and have a vivid imagination! I have been an avid science fiction and horror reader since I was a kid, I devour scientific magazines, blogs and articles regularly and wanted to direct all that learning in a creative way. 

My full time job (yes, this is a side gig!) is fulfilling in other ways, but provides me no reason to learn about genetic engineering, climate control, hologram computers, and other futuristic science and technology. I am not looking to replace one career with the other, just to have an enjoyable outlet for the latter.  And hopefully, along the way, I'll share some ideas and stories that others find cool and enjoy reading as much as I enjoy so many authors books today.

Some of my favorite authors of all time that inspired me to write:  

• Orson Scott Card
• Octavia Butler
• Michael Crichton
• Margaret Atwood

"Computers don't get headaches"

I imagine all the computers in my novel similar to the 

hologram ones seen in the movie Iron Man which 

Elon Musk believes are really build-able. Can't wait!

No long post today.  Just a quick snippet from the novel.  Enjoy.  As always, comments and critiques welcome.

"Verne’s dark eyes were red-rimmed with exhaustion and he felt a migraine lurking like an inevitable train wreck.  After weeks staring at three dimensional images of goo for ten hours a day, he had dealt with more than his usual share of migraines. Each day he reminded himself how lucky he was to have landed this contract gig and how it would be the shining star of his resume for years.  Still, with the throbbing behind his right eye intensifying, he decided a short break was in order." 

"In reality, his role there was more like an assembly worker than the highly trained expert he really was.  He just had to swap the physical samples after the completion of each analysis routine, ranging from two to seven minutes.  An analysis routine must never exceed seven minutes or the samples risked defrost and destabilization. The computerized microscopes record everything and are programmed to 'look' for certain anomalies. As he stood and walked away, his work station automatically locked and the screen darkened, but Verne knew it was still awake, still analyzing.  Computers don’t get headaches.  Human workers were still a necessary evil, at least for now.  Walking past a dozen rows of other engrossed lab techs, he knew they were doing the same drudge work.  The volume of comet debris collected from Antarctica was massive and NASA wanted every single droplet analyzed."

(As a side note, I'm kind enough to cure Verne's migraine with a futuristic treatment, currently studied but not yet available to the public called calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist. Read about it here.)

Ice-minus Bacteria

Zenna is a major protagonist in the novel.  She's introduced early on, in a near-future world, living in a Citiburb with self-driving vehicle and cool holo-gloves that melt onto her hands.  She's a leading microbiologist, who bioengineered microbes for cloud seeding. Here I describe her work, a key in the plot that develops.  (Side-note: the past tense doesn't quite feel right here, but it is consistent with the rest of the novel.  Re-thinking my tense throughout.)

Question:  is this too much hard science?  Will most readers skip over this stuff? Can I pull it off?  

(By the way, I didn't make this stuff up, its based on real science!  Wikipedia describes bioprecipitation and Ice-minus Bacteria.)


It is interesting to me, but maybe slows the story line surrounding it.  I'm contemplating having someone else describe Zenna's relevant work with cloud seeding bacteria and mention her name, rather than including it in the chapter that introduces this character.

"Zenna was a microbiologist, specializing in bioengineering of microbes for various industrial purposes, including weather manipulation. She had done some ground-breaking work to bio-engineer Pseudomonas Antarctica IN-74, a hardy variety of bacteria found extensively in Antarctica. It has superb ice-nucleating properties, ideal for snow creation at temperatures higher than would normally support it. The ski resorts bought tons of it, allowing them to extend the season a month on each end. Then the weather providers wanted to get their hands on it, but due to climate regulations for weather modification couldn’t use it."

"Business being business, a compromise was finally reached. If they could make the bacteria self-destruct before it could replicate, anti-GMO fanatics would be calmed. And if the bacteria could also photosynthesize, then the global warming folks would also be happy."

"Meeting the secondary requirements changed the whole game, but Zenna managed to isolate the ice-nucleating properties from the IN-74 bacteria and inject the critical properties for ice formation into already genetically modified photosynthetic Cyanobacteria which naturally input carbon dioxide and output oxygen."

"These photosynthesizing Cyanobacteria were then modified by injection with an 'enemy bacteria' – bacteriophages - that expand as the bacteria gobbles up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere until they burst like a water balloon in approximately 8-12 hours. This served three purposes: first, it would release the ice nucleating artifacts; second, it would prevent the bacteria from reproducing; and third, the bacteria are destroyed, therefore posing no threat to the earth as they fall to the ground inside the snow or rain.That project was a true masterpiece and those bacteria are now utilized all over the world, probably a key reason that weather service providers have been able to expand their business so rapidly."

* ALL RIGHTS RESERVED * COPYRIGHT © 2014 *

Aerogel

So, in the novel, a comet is going to hit Earth. A big comet. (This is not a spoiler as this happens very early in the novel, its where the story starts.)

I've invented a way to eliminate the comet (the method I used later plays into the story). But, what I want to know is: am I going into too much detail? Should I just skim over an approximation of how its done, or maybe, no explanation at all is required? (The orange aerogel is featured in several later chapters, and by the way, is a real thing: Wikipedia explanation, and it really has been used to catch comet dust: NASA Stardust Mission.)

"Projections for impact were dire, from massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to a change in the earth’s axis from the impact, ultimately resulting in catastrophic changes to our relationship with the sun. Many scientific schemes were proposed to either eradicate the comet or to move it off course. In the end, its size prevented the latter solution from being viable with available science and materials, so eradicating or minimizing it became the focus. Laser technology was not yet advanced enough to take out an object flying at that speed; nuclear warheads were too imprecise and posed other negative side effects. Despite having the ability to track the comet’s path, humans did not yet possess space travel technology to send humans safely on a mission to take out the comet closer to where it originated."

"Given these limitations, the team adopted a multi-pronged approach. Satellites were put in orbit around the comet, first for tracking, then for probe insertion. Each diamond tipped probe would carry multiple chemical payloads, the first being a caustic acid, capable of boring through nearly any material on earth, released from a hole in the synthetic diamond tip. This acid, combined with heat delivered on initial impact, would bore clean holes into the ice and then into the rocky core. Each probe was equipped with a GPS tracker and unique ID for identification. Almost two thousand probes were embedded at key fracture points deep within the comet’s core. When the time was right, they would all be remotely triggered with precise timing."

"The trigger event would open chambers inside each probe, combining chemicals that would create a powerful blast at thousands of carefully calibrated points for maximum damage and minimal fragment size. The orbiting satellites would have a secondary role to play, self-destructing nanoseconds before the blast and bursting into a sticky, fluffy foam substance – “aerogel” - to capture as much of the debris from the blast as possible and float it to Earth in the gel. The blast location in space would be timed to maximize potential of any remaining fragments falling to earth over Antarctica."

Thoughts on the above excerpt?

• Too wordy? 
• Too complicated? 
• Too much information?

Herding Cats

Herding Cats: According to Wikipedia: "An idiomatic saying that refers to an attempt to control or organize a class of entities which are uncontrollable or chaotic. Implies a task that is extremely difficult or impossible to do, primarily due to chaotic factors."

This is how I feel about my novel right now. I have 13 Chapters finished (how ironic, not that I'm superstitious) and each one sort of lives as a mini-story on its own, though there are tiny silver threads in there to (hopefully) tie the story together. Protagonist's character definition and back-story is being done in nearly every chapter. To make matters worse, the chapter timelines sometimes overlap and sometimes skip around in time.

Challenge: make the tiny silver threads between chapters into steel cables so hopefully a less segmented back-story for each character is needed and a more seamless timeline emerges.

Related Tasks for Self:

• Find a way to mention other characters in the context of earlier character story lines before all the characters come together later in the story. Build up the character connection thread. 
• Consider removing the dates at the beginning of each chapter and segment the book into sections (with multiple chapters in each section) then associate dates to each book section. 
• Try out free apps such as Gingko to attempt to organize my chapters by section and keep notes about each Chapter, areas to work on, etc. Using just Microsoft Word is getting cumbersome. 

Un-abandoning my novel!

I've been working on my very first novel for over 3 years now, minus the past year that I mostly abandoned any effort to write significantly on it.

I ask myself why I have abandoned it, when I was formerly working on it so actively.  I answer friends and family who ask how my writing is going: "Oh, slowly, I have been so busy!"  Truth is, I was not less busy previously when I was working on the novel, I just made time for it.

A few things happened that slowed me down, I believe, and I need to conquer each one:

1.) I got some non-glowing feedback from a few people I shared a few chapters with;
2.) I realized I have too many protagonists, all but one a woman (very unusual for science fiction!)
3.) I am stuck on a particular point in the book where all my protagonists come together in one place at one time, and I have found the event impossible to navigate for some reason;
4.) I did too much research and realized I was getting bogged down in scientific details that most readers would not care about;
5.) I have been over-editing (repeatedly!) the chapters already written, rather than moving forward with new ones (due to #3 and #4 above);

So this blog is going to be about getting un-stuck from each of the challenges above and moving forward to get my novel drafted in 2014!

I hope to get feedback in this blog on my writing, my characters, and even my plot, to give me a push in the direction I need to finish, good or not.