Express Yourself: Lunch With An Author

The Express Yourself Weekly Meme is brought to you by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests.

This week's question is: What author(s) would you love to have lunch with?

I have several answers for this one, so it's a good thing we're allowed more than one.

One obvious answer is J.K. Rowling.  I love her work, and I love her life story. She started out broke, and she succeeded beyond all reasonable expectations. That's just awesome.

Another is Neil Gaiman.  The man rocks.  There's no other way about it.

Terry Pratchett.  He's funny, and his books are full of relevant social commentary.  His work is truly wonderful.

Neil deGrasse Tyson.  Yes, he's primarily an astrophysicist, but he's published some great books too.  Anyone who's interested in the universe would benefit from reading his books.  He's also a tremendous speaker, which adds to my desire to meet him in person.

If you could have lunch with an author, who would you choose?

Express Yourself: Author Quotes

It's time once again for the Express Yourself Weekly Meme with Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests.

What are some of your favorite author quotes?

I have a lot of favorites, but since this is asking for only a few, I chose these.

"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might has well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default."

-J. K. Rowling

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

-Henry David Thoreau 

"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them."

-Isaac Asimov 

"Keep away from people who try to belitte your ambitions.  Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great."

-Mark Twain

"The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can."

-Neil Gaiman

The Weekend Philosopher: Douglas Adams

This has been an extraordinarily busy weekend.  With my Towel Day Blogfest going on through Monday, and this being a holiday weekend on top of all that, I'm going to do something simple for my philosophical post for the week.

In this spirit of Towel Day and Douglas Adams, I'm going to share a few quotes that I feel are philosophical in nature.

"For instance, on the planet Earth, man has always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much-the wheel, New York, wars and so on-whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time.  But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man-for precisely the same reasons."

-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be."

-The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

It's all about perspective, indeed.  If that makes you feel uncomfortable at all, remember this.

"I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day."

-The Salmon of Doubt

If your new expanded perspective on life is freaking you out, you can choose your outlook, as we learn from the following quote:

“What to do if you find yourself stuck in a crack in the ground underneath a giant boulder you can't move, with no hope of rescue. Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your current circumstances seems more likely, consider how lucky you are that it won't be troubling you much longer.”

―The Original Hitchhiker Radio Scripts

And, above all, keep this in mind.

"Don't Panic."

-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Hopefully that gave you plenty to think about as you go about your weekend. Cheers!

The Towel Day Blogfest

It's May 25th!  Do you know where your towel is?

Today is Towel Day, a day to honor the memory of the amazing Douglas Adams.  I decided to host this blogfest, because I've loved the work of Douglas Adams for most of my life.

(A quick note.  The linky list will remain open through the end of the blogfest, so feel free to jump in!  Click HERE to find all pertinent details.)

I've read all of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books.  I've heard the radio programs.  I also own the book below, which is a great peek into the life of Douglas Adams.  If you're a fan and you haven't read this, I highly recommend it! I also find it notable to mention that page 42 of this book is left blank.  This was an appropriate choice.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to share at first, which is funny since I'm the one hosting this blogfest.  I decided to share a few Douglas Adams quotes that speak to me, and I figured I would wrap things up with a little flash fiction tribute.

Quotes

"I love deadlines.  I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."

"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss."

"For a moment, nothing happened.  Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen."

"The Guide is definitive.  Reality is frequently inaccurate."

"The mere thought hadn't even begun to speculate about the merest possibility of crossing my mind."

"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.  There is another theory which states that this has already happened."

"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."

I could cite so many more amazing quotes, but I'll have to leave it at that for now.

Now I hope you'll enjoy my flash fiction.

The Tale of the Lost Towel

Zerndoggle Ramfort Smith III woke early on the morning of his 42^nd birthday with a sinking feeling in his kneecaps.  Most people got sinking feelings in their stomachs, except for the Fetts of sector ZZ5 Plural A Beta who had no stomachs at all, but Zerndoggle could never get the hang of normalcy.

Why did he have this highly irregular sensation?  He’d committed a grievous error, one far too ghastly for even the Monks of Eternal Repentance to understand.

Zerndoggle forgot where his towel was.

Not that he would admit this, of course.  He instead contended that his towel suffered from spontaneous massive existence failure.  Surely if it could happen to the Starship Titanic, it could happen to his towel.

Unfortunately, the mystery of the missing towel went far deeper than a simple SMEF problem.

The towel, still damp from Zerndoggle’s last bath, was inadvertently left next to a ballpoint pen.  When the wormhole inevitably opened to take the ballpoint pen to its home planet, the towel was pulled through along with it.

The damp towel landed on the back of a giant mutant star goat that happened to be floating past the ball point pen planet.  Mold soon began to grow on the towel, and soon it was home to an entire mold colony.  Over the millennia, the mold evolved until super-intelligent mold spores began to launch from the towel.  The spores encountered many species, and they settled in the brain tissue of the travelers they encountered.  These travelers didn’t suffer from any outward signs of illness due to this mold infestation, save for one terrifying symptom.  The infested all developed a sincere love for Vogon poetry.

As for Zerndoggle . . . his fate was too terrible to mention here.  What else could you expect?  You always need to know where your towel is.

Poetry With Neil Gaiman

I love Neil Gaiman.  This is no secret.  Anyone who knows me and my bookshelf well enough can attest to this.  If Neil Gaiman did it, there's a good chance I love it.  He tells fascinating stories in an engaging way.  He also encourages fledgling authors and artists of various kinds, which is great.

I have a special love of one work in particular, though.  I love the poem "The Day the Saucers Came."  I discovered it in his book Fragile Things, which I would recommend to anyone.  I love it so much I own two copies, as a matter of fact. Hey, they have different covers, so that's my excuse!

Here's a video of Neil Gaiman reading this epic poem.  I highly recommend you watch it, because it is well worth your while!

Blogspiration 18: Mind and Matter

Blogspiration is a weekly meme hosted by GrowingUp YA& Saz101. The meme was created to help spark inspiration among bloggers, readers & writers alike. An inspirational quote/picture/video is posted weekly, on the day of the author's choosing, so that it may inspire creativity, conversation & just a little SOMETHING.

For my Tuesday Treat post, I thought I'd give you the Blogspiration that I didn't get around to putting up over the weekend.  I promise that the time I saved by doubling up will be dedicated to my writing, and not to something yucky like doing dishes or folding laundry.

This quote has always resonated with me.  I know I've read it everywhere, and I've heard it at about 50% of the graduation ceremonies I've attended.  Okay, this may be an exaggeration, but even if it is, it isn't by much.

That being said, this cultural pervasiveness does not take away from the quote's meaning and power.

Background Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I try to keep this in mind for both my personal life and my writing life.  There are exceptions to this rule, of course.  After all, discussing hot button issues at family dinners can result in unsavory consequences.  I mean, when people are wielding dinner knives, a little verbal restraint isn't a bad thing.

Joking aside, I try to say and write what is true to me.  Those I love don't have to agree with or like everything I commit to paper, nor do I have to agree with every viewpoint expressed by them.  In the end, the valuable relationships are strengthened by respectful disagreement and dialogue.

Besides, who wants to write a story while constantly worrying about that potentially controversial thing you wrote?  That sounds utterly exhausting. Write what's true to you, and you'll reap the rewards of being genuine.

Writing Advice

Today, I decided to share some videos about writing.  Yes, it may seem like I'm being lazy, but I'm actually just focusing most of my attention on writing some short stories.  I'm not waiting for the elves to come in the night to finish writing them for me (watch the first video to find out what that means!).

I know Neil Gaiman is popular with many of the writers I've met, and he's one of my favorites as well.  So, who better to go to for advice on becoming a writer?

Now, here's more great writing advice from author/screen writer Geoffrey Zimmerman.  He addresses the importance of self-awareness, which is crucial for any author.  As he so accurately points out, you need to know what you want you words to do.  Language is, after all, very diverse.  We combine our words to create a landscape of meaning.  Nuance arises from the way we combine our words, hopefully in a skillful way (though, as political blunders prove, this is not always the case).  To make the most of your words as a writer, it helps to know and understand your intent.

And he also addresses the importance of knowing how you write best.  This is crucial to actually getting anything done.

I hope you enjoyed the free advice!  Now I'm off to do some writing!

So Long, Ray Bradbury. Thanks For All The Stories . . . . . .

Prominent science fiction author Ray Bradbury has died at the age of 91.  All I can say is that, while he will be sorely missed by all who loved his work, his contributions to the world of literature will live on forever.  Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and Something Wicked This Way Comes are only a few of the most well-known examples of his literary works.





Here are some links that may be worth your while if you'd like to know more about his life and accomplishments.

• Daughter Says Author Ray Bradbury Has Died in California (USA Today)
• Ray Bradbury Online
• Ray Bradbury (Wikipedia)
• The Official Ray Bradbury Website
• From the SFWA
• Ray Bradbury on Sci-Fi, God and Robots: The Late Author's Biggest Ideas
• Mourned By Scientists and Sci-Fi Luminaries (Space.com)