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for writers who want to be read

Author Topics : Jim Van Pelt

I have a new novel coming out in October from Fairwood Press, Summer of the Apocalypse.

News of what's going on in my writing life and other trivia can be found at James Van Pelt's Home Page

Over the years I've slowly compiled a list of books about writing that are worth reading. If you're looking for some interesting and practical writing information, I think you won't go wrong with any of these.

I keep a blog at A Place for Strangers and Beggars.

Jim Van Pelt

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1053 comments found - Newest 100 - Newer 100 - Older 100 - Oldest 100

Message 513924 by Jim Van Pelt on 2007-02-05 10:12:45. Feedback: 0

IS IT EASIER TO BE PUBLISHED BY THE SMALL PRESS? (a reposting of my LiveJournal mini-essay) I think in many ways, getting published by a legitimate small press is just as hard as hooking up with a large publisher, but for different reasons. The key word here is "legitimate." The subsidy or vanity presses, of course, have no barriers. A good book could potentially come from them, but the VAST majority of books are being published by subsidy or vanity presses for a reason. For the legitimate small press, which for me means a press that has editorial barriers in place, and who purposefully tries to publish the kind of books that will either make money or further the press's reputation, often publishes through personal connections. So that means that either the writers have come to the publisher's attention through their other work (short stories, articles, previous novels), or the writer knows the publisher, and the publisher has become a champion of that writer's work. There's little or no "slush" in that system. In fact, my guess is that a significant proportion of the books published by the legitimate small press happened because the publisher approached the author, not the other way around. At least that is how my three books came to be published by Fairwood Press. The personal connection dynamic works with large presses too. I've heard numerous stories of agents, acquiring editors or publishers approaching writers whose work they've admired, but the large press also depends on books from folks who are brand new or who they've never heard of. Many of the large presses use agents as their slush readers, but the system is the same. I'll bet a greater percentage of novels by unknown (to the publisher) are published by the major presses than the legitimate small ones. Legitimate small presses are more open to quirky, eccentric or experimental work. I don't think they are "easier" venues to being published. YMMV

Message 513654 by Sonya M. Sipes on 2007-02-02 05:56:05. Feedback: 0

oh that anthology sounds AWSOME... that rocks Jim!

Message 513652 by Terry Hickman on 2007-02-02 05:39:16. Feedback: 0

*shrug* "humbling"? Looks like a bunch of heavy hitters to me. ;^>

Message 513636 by Jim Van Pelt on 2007-02-01 20:12:46. Feedback: 0

It's been a good week. I also received a contract from John Joseph Adams for his post-apocalyptic reprint anthology, Wastelands. The TOC is very humbling: He's still working with a couple of authors, but so far the contents looks like this: * Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels by George R. R. Martin Vertex, 1973 * The Fringe by Orson Scott Card Fantasy & Science Fiction, 1985 (Hugo/Nebula nominee) * How We Got In Town and Out Again by Jonathan Lethem Asimov's Science Fiction, 1996 * Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack by John Langan Fantasy & Science Fiction (forthcoming) * Never Despair by Jack McDevitt Asimov's Science Fiction, 1997 * And the Deep Blue Sea by Elizabeth Bear SCI FICTION, 2005 * The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi Fantasy & Science Fiction, 2004 (Hugo/Nebula nominee) * Killers by Carol Emshwiller Fantasy & Science Fiction, 2006 * Still Life With Apocalypse by Richard Kadrey The Infinite Matrix, 2002 * Bread and Bombs by M. Rickert Fantasy & Science Fiction, 2003 * Artie's Angels by Catherine Wells Realms of Fantasy, 2001 * Mute by Gene Wolfe World Horror Convention Program Book, 2002 * Inertia by Nancy Kress Analog Science Fiction & Fact, 1990 * The Last of the O-Forms by James Van Pelt Asimov's Science Fiction, 2002 (Nebula nominee) * When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow Jim Baen's Universe, 2006 * The End of the World as We Know It by Dale Bailey Fantasy & Science Fiction, 2004 (Nebula nominee) * Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus by Neal Barrett, Jr. Asimov's Science Fiction, 1988 (Hugo & Nebula nominee)

Message 513631 by Justin Stanchfield on 2007-02-01 17:45:06. Feedback: 0

Very good company to be in, Jim! Congrats!

Message 513536 by Jim Van Pelt on 2007-02-01 12:51:14. Feedback: 0

Thanks, Sonya. It's cool to know so many of the folks on the list. Of course I also think it's cool to wander through the SF/F/H section of the bookstore and recognize names of folks I've met.

Message 513340 by Sonya M. Sipes on 2007-02-01 06:56:05. Feedback: 0

Hey Jim, That's fantastic to hear about your book being listed in LOCUS. I plan to go pick up a copy of the mag today and read all the rest of the good news. Congrats! Sonya

Message 513337 by Jim Van Pelt on 2007-02-01 05:23:15. Feedback: 0

The Locus recommended reading list from '06 is now available. I'm happy to see The Summer of the Apocalypse listed in the first novels, and "The Small Astral Object Genius" in with the short stories. More fun are the number of friends, LJ buddies and folks who for one reason or another I correspond with who made the listing: Elizabeth Bear, Mary Rosenblum, Karen Traviss, Jo Walton, Jay Lake, Paul Park, Daniel Abraham, Tobias Buckell, Ellen Klages, Alan DeNiro, Jack McDevitt, Deborah Layne, David Moles, Paul Melko, Paolo Bacigalupi, Cory Doctorow, Gardner Dozois, Ken Scholes, and Jack Skillingstead. Congrats to all!

Message 509861 by Jim Van Pelt on 2007-01-24 13:51:01. Feedback: 0

Yes. Shaun caught up with me at MileHiCon (I think--it wasn't WorldCon), and asked if he could do the interview. We did it over the phone in early January.

Message 509859 by Sonya M. Sipes on 2007-01-24 13:38:19. Feedback: 0

Jim that is SOOOOOO cool! Did he approach you about the interview?

Message 509857 by Jim Van Pelt on 2007-01-24 12:47:06. Feedback: 0

I'VE BEEN PODCASTED! Shaun Ferrell at Adventures in Scifi Publishing interviewed me earlier in the month for his podcast show. That episode is now available (click on "listen" below the advertisement for the books) at his website. You can listen to it on your computer or download it to iTunes to listen via an iPod. It's a big file, so if you are on a dial-up system it takes a while at http://www.adventuresinscifipublishing.blogspot.com/ It's both cool and intimidating to listen to myself. I say "um" too much, and it sounds like I had a bit of a cold for the interview, but I was able to talk at length about Summer of the Apocalypse. Other topics we mentioned included the following: - Publishing through print on demand - Writing process - Apocalyptic fiction and the ecology - Fairwood Press - Jay Lake, Ken Scholes - Writing for young adults (even when you're not trying too) - The future of publishing - My upcoming projects

Message 509764 by Jim Van Pelt on 2007-01-23 10:21:24. Feedback: 0

I received an e-mail today from a newer writer about doing short story collections. She asked for some advice on the following questions: 1) When should a writer do a collection? Do they have to be at "critical mass" or have won an award? 2) Do you contact publishers or do they contact you? 3) Small press or major press? 4) How well do short story collections do? 5) Do you need an agent? 6) How do you choose the stories and how much input does the writer have? Here is my lightly edited reply to the questions. I'm very interested in hearing input from other folks who have done collections. First, the answers to your questions will be on the "your mileage may vary" type. Also, you could ask another pro and get different answers. so, with those two thoughts in mind, I'll dive in. I think that you are right in wondering if there is a better time to release a collection, and I like your use of "critical mass" as a way of judging. Ideally, you should do a collection when there is enough interest in your work to justify one. Certainly, winning an award or publishing a bunch of stories in highly visible venues could be a sign that a collection is justified. However, as it turns out, no matter how badly you perceive a need from fans of your work for a collection, the only person who matters on whether you do a collection is a publisher who is either a fan of your work or thinks that s/he would be doing the literary world a favor by publishing the book (or they think they can make money *g*). Unless you're are self-publishing (which I don't recommend), you need a publisher to like the book. I get the sense now that some authors are rushing into collections before they are really ready, so prudence might be the better course. I've published two collections. Like you, I really wanted to publish one, but I didn't actively look for a publisher. My understanding of short story collections was that the only time they were published were at the end of a long and distinguished career, or if you were the flavor-of-the-day novelist and a publisher wanted to do your collection as a favor. It turns out that those ideas are true in some sense, but they aren't the only truths. The small presses have been turning out a lot of interesting collections. The market isn't big, but it is there for an author the press believes in. So, I wasn't looking for a publisher until I went to lunch one day with Patrick Swenson, the publisher of Talebones. He also is the publisher of Fairwood Press, which does a line of POD novels, collections and non-fiction. He had published some of my short stories, and he knew of my work in Asimov's, Analog and other places. He asked me if I had ever considered publishing a collection. I hoped that the increase in my heart rate wasn't audible to him as I casually said, "Well, not really. Are you interested?" He was, and out of that conversation we've done two collections (and a novel!). Whew! Long answer to your first couple of questions questions. Of course the ideal situation is the one I just described, where the publisher approaches you. If I thought the time was right for a collection, I would query the publishers I admire with the proposal, but the chances of interesting them is much less. I suspect they're approached fairly often, and the small press is insular and contact oriented. An author who they don't know at all would be an unlikely sell to them. If, on the other hand, the publisher had read and admired your work elsewhere, and then you approached them, it might work even if they didn't have a relationship with you ahead of time. The major presses are not publishing short story collections by folks who aren't already kick-butt novelists, like Neil Gaiman who just released his collection, FRAGILE THINGS. The only exception I can think of is Ted Chiang, but he's a freak of nature (everything he writes, and he writes very little, wins a major award). So I wouldn't bother trying to sell a short story collection to them. That leaves you to the small press. Small press is a great venue for short story collections, though. You'll get a more "hands on" treatment of the book, and a reputable small press will know how to get the book to folks who are interested. I'm a big fan of small press and short story collections. Thank goodness the smaller publishers can feed my addiction. Sales on most short story collections are small. My first collection has been a best-seller by POD and small press standards with about 4,000 copies sold. James Patrick Kelly told me that his first collection with his (major) publisher sold fewer copies than that. It's possible he was just flattering me--after all Kelly is one of the nicest people in science fiction--but what I've heard about collection sales makes me think he could have been telling the truth. In the small press world, sales of even a few hundred copies is often considered "successful," because the book didn't lose money. Many, many, many books, by the way, lose money. You don't need an agent to sell a collection, and I doubt you could get one for that purpose. As I said, the large presses aren't publishing short story collections by relative unknowns, and the money is too small in the small press to interest an agent. Selling a collection is just like selling individual stories: it's all on the writer's back. Choosing stories for the collection is great fun. I had a lot to choose from, so I considered what was the tone I wanted the whole book to achieve, what reading the stories in a particular order would be like, what the opening story should do, and what the closing story should do. It was wonderful. I did want to show my range, so there was a mix of short and long, funny and serious, and a mix of styles. I thought that too many stories written in the same mode would be dreary. The only concern I had was that some of my stories were sort of "R" rated, and I wanted to be able to bring the book into the high school where I teach, so I didn't include any of them. It makes sense that if you have a story that has made your reputation that it ought to go into the collection. For my second book, I included a story that had been a Nebula finalist and had generated a lot of buzz (I was just contacted about selling it to another anthology). So, I put the story in the book and ended up naming the book after it, THE LAST OF THE O-FORMS AND OTHER STORIES. My publisher asked me to send twenty-some stories so that he could choose among them to make a collection of fifteen. I think we ended up with a couple more than that. Different publishers behave in different ways, though. My relationship with Fairwood Press has been great. I was able to give input on cover copy, the cover art, the selection and order of the stories. I hear of authors who get no input. Both my collections ended up at about 75,000 words. A lot of the length choice was dependent on how many pages we wanted to print as opposed to how much we would have to charge for the book. The bigger the book, the more expensive it will be. Both of mine retail at $17.99, which is very competitive in the POD world. Hope this helps. Feel free to send me follow up questions if you want. With luck, some other writers may chime in on the topic here.

Message 509763 by Jim Van Pelt on 2007-01-23 10:20:23. Feedback: 0

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Message 509285 by Jim Van Pelt on 2007-01-14 22:36:32. Feedback: 0

This is shameless self promotion! It's the time of year to let people know who would like to know what they ought to know if they liked your writing. I. Asimov's reader's poll is open until February 1. Anyone can vote on line for this award. My short story, "The Small Astral Object Genius," appeared in the Oct./Nov. issue and is eligible. At http://www.asimovs.com/asimovreaders_2006.shtml II. The Hugo ballots are out. Last year I had the oddness of missing the short story finalist ballot by one vote (and I didn't vote!). This year I have three stories that are eligible for consideration: "The Small Astral Object Genius" from the Oct./Nov. Asimov's. "Tiny Voices" from the Sept. Talebones, and "The Road's End" from the February Realms of Fantasy. You must have been an attending or supporting member of L.A. Con IV or are an attending or supporting member of Nippon '07 before Jan. 31, '07 to be able to nominate. Deadline is March 3. Online voting can take place at http://www.nippon2007.us. You'll need your pin number, which should be on your mailing label from WorldCon progress reports. III. All three stories are eligible for Nebula nomination. "The Small Astral Object Genius" has already attracted a couple recommendations as of the Oct. online update. Also, my novel, Summer of the Apocalypse, is eligible for nomination. This is for SFWA members only and can be done online starting at http://www.sfwa.org/, and then logging in before going to the "Interactive Nebula Award Report." I'll gladly e-mail a copy of any of the eligible stories or the novel to SFWA members who would like to see them.

Message 509007 by Jim Van Pelt on 2007-01-07 20:19:38. Feedback: 0

Faren Miller of LOCUS reviewed SUMMER OF THE APOCALYPSE and really liked the book. It's a lengthy review and included these comments: "Van Pelt is a master of the telling detail, plucked from what had been mainstream life...the most mundane items contribute to an atmosphere that's simultaneously creepy, poignant and slightly absurd. Summer of the Apocalypse takes place on both the large scale of history, as a civilization falls, and the intimate level of personal relations: family, friendship, love...you'd do well to seek it out, for this is humanist SF at its best."

Message 508862 by Jim Van Pelt on 2007-01-04 12:58:37. Feedback: 0

I have a longish post about how reviews impact book sales at my LiveJournal website, http://jimvanpelt.livejournal.com/20224.html, for those who are interested. Also, Jay Lake constantly posts interesting comments about writing or links to interesting discussions of writing from his LiveJournal topic at http://jaylake.livejournal.com/. He also posts about everything else, so if you want a starting point, try http://jaylake.livejournal.com/874106.html. Since Jay posts about politics and everything else he finds interesting, there can be longish gaps between his writing about writing, but they're worth finding. I think it's interesting how much thought-provoking stuff I'm finding through LJ now. It's an extensive supplement to what I used to get almost exclusively from The Rumor Mill.

Message 508334 by Terry Hickman on 2006-12-25 14:33:59. Feedback: 0

Double-cool. And of course I meant "Merry" Christmas, not "Marry Christmas." Yeesh.

Message 508327 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-12-25 09:44:19. Feedback: 0

Yes, really cool! I hear that the book is also reviewed in the upcoming Locus. Fingers crossed.

Message 508314 by Terry Hickman on 2006-12-25 07:19:36. Feedback: 0

Whoa, cool, Jim! That must have been quite a thrill to see your book reviewed! Marry Christmas indeed!

Message 508310 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-12-24 19:43:00. Feedback: 0

I drove to Denver today to spend the holiday with my folks and the rest of the family. While perusing today's Denver Post, I found a review of Summer of the Apocalypse. As a conclusion to the article, the reviewer said: "Van Pelt's first novel is a searing look at our conflicting wills to survive and destroy ourselves. It's also a nostalgic look at modern Colorado and the fragility of our civilization in a tender contrast of the hope of youth and bittersweet regrets of age." The whole review is visible at http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_4881645

Message 508290 by Year Ray on 2006-12-23 23:36:08. Feedback: -1

Jim; As a person (a strange thing to require stipulating in view of the fact that only people send or post messages on the net, but one necessitated by the lingering effects of dehumanization ventured on my kind since the advent of mass human movement about the planet; circa 1500s), I can't (and can) understand the snidely need for you to pounce upon my posts with vitriole and angst at every turn. Then again it can get boring at Speculations with the dearth of interaction and that kind of discourse is temp.... This message truncated due to length. Sign in to see the rest of it.

Message 508164 by Amy Sisson on 2006-12-20 14:36:20. Feedback: 0

(Apologies if you see this 3 times -- I posted twice without signing in, it said it was successful, but nothing showed up...) I think there will likely be many lawsuits over Google books, and that it will take a while to settle out. I have to say, 1/4 of the material seems to be pushing the definition of "fair use."

Message 508157 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-12-20 11:45:56. Feedback: 0

Here's a puzzling question for our legal eagle authors. At what point are you committing a copyright violation for reprinting another author's work? The reason I ask is that Google Books (go to Google and select "books" in the search option) now gives readers a look at a large portion of the books it lists. My two collections are there (search for "James Van Pelt" and I'm the top two choices). Google makes about 1/4 of the book available for reading. No story is included completely, but there's a lot of text there. I'm generally in favor of making text available for readers to look at as they decide about a book, particularly ones like mine that can be ordered at Amazon but won't be at your local big-box store, but I guess I don't understand copyright legalities. If I was writing a review of a book and quoted that much material I would feel I had gone beyond "fair use." What Google is doing isn't even a review. It's just text. I don't mind if it nets more sales, but I would like to understand the legality of it. Does anyone know?

Message 507984 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-12-15 22:51:37. Feedback: 0

Over the years I've written and sold a fair number of Christmas stories. I've posted one at my website, http://www.sff.net/people/james.van.pelt (click on the branch and bulb). If you have links to Christmas stories or your own, or just know of Christmas stories on the web, I'd love to hear about them. Merry early Christmas!

Message 507887 by Year Ray on 2006-12-11 19:52:36. Feedback: 0

Jim; Am very much enjoying the nalo site you recommended. It will keep me away for the disturbing need to post similar remarks as those she discusses here at Speculations. "A Place for (Race) Strangers and Beggars" sounds interesting but I will spare you any immediate visit given my dubious stature among the Speculants in the Rumor Mill, but rest assured I will sneak a peak on the rebound and get back at cha. Your comments below are also very intriguing but I sense most writers will file these ideas in the.... This message truncated due to length. Sign in to see the rest of it.

Message 507868 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-12-11 06:57:47. Feedback: 0

Dreams and dream imagery enter my fiction frequently. I think the tendency to purposefully insert dream imagery comes from my slow and late realization that the topics I write the most powerfully about are the ones that I think about the most. I know this sounds painfully obvious, but I've seen in my writing classes that the majority have no idea what they think about frequently. Isn't that weird? When they write their stories, they write what they think a story should look like (often time heavily influenced by television and movie tropes), but they don't write about their own interests or obsessions. More and more I find my own attention turning inward to the things I think about, and the fiction that comes from those thoughts often feels more primal and authentic. The scenes with the most punch are the ones that come from my strongest (and often) most secret places. Which brings me back to dream imagery. Dreams feel like unfiltered interests and obsessions. I know that folks have spent a lot of time interpreting dreams, and I'm into that too, but on a more private level. What is the image, and why am I dreaming it? It's not too much of a leap, then, to see story telling as a waking dream. When I start a story, I almost never have any clear ideas about what is interesting about it, but through the writing and thinking about it, a meaning eventually arises. For me, writing is self-administered dream analysis. There's this great story that I tell in class about a kid who gets in trouble in school, so to keep from being expelled, he agrees to see the school psychiatrist every week. At the first session, the only thing she asks the kid to do is "Tell me what you dreamed this week." The kid thinks this is totally bogus, so he just makes up a dream. "No way I'm telling this fool my real dreams," the kid thinks. Every week, the sessions are the same, and each week the kid doesn't tell his real dreams. He invents them instead. Finally, the end of the year arrives and the kid is going to graduate. He goes to the last meeting, and the psychiatrist asks him again, "Tell me what you dreamed this week." The kid says, "Look, Doc, I have to tell you that I've lied to you every week. Those dreams I told you, I made them all up." The doctor nods. "I know," she says. "It didn't matter." (I don't know why I decided present tense was the best way to tell that story, but there you go.)

Message 507753 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-12-07 05:53:14. Feedback: 0

Very interesting comments on why so many slush pile writers go wrong from Nalo Hopkinson: http://nalohopkinson.blogspot.com/2006/12/things-fall-apart-centre-cannot-hold.html

Message 507533 by Ruth J. Burroughs on 2006-11-30 20:18:28. Feedback: 0

Very cool. Thanks, Jim:)

Message 507528 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-11-30 16:53:05. Feedback: 0

Someone pointed out a very good markets site to me today at http://www.duotrope.com/ It looks very useful for folks who also write outside of science fiction, fantasy and horror too.

Message 503839 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-10-31 19:40:40. Feedback: 0

I'm off to World Fantasy on Thursday. What Speculation folk are also going?

Message 503556 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-10-31 05:38:18. Feedback: 0

MileHiCon in Denver was this weekend. The dealers' room sold out its copies of SUMMER OF THE APOCALYPSE. A fan ran into me Sunday and told me he'd bought the book the day before, read it that night, and loved it. That was great instant feedback, but mostly I was thinking, "What are you doing reading a whole novel at a convention when you could be partying?"

Message 498030 by Ruth J. Burroughs on 2006-10-20 18:18:06. Feedback: 0

Congratulations, Jim! So many rmillers getting novels published. If this keeps up I'm going to go broke buying books:) Can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Message 497978 by Justin Stanchfield on 2006-10-20 14:44:36. Feedback: 0

Cool! Congrats, Jim.

Message 497901 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-10-20 09:02:17. Feedback: 0

I'm now a novelist, officially! My copies of SUMMER OF THE APOCALYPSE arrived in the mail yesterday. My favorite cover quote came from Jerry Oltion. He said, "Every time James Van Pelt writes a story, the world gets a little richer. This time he's written a novel. You do the math." Very cool. I think you can order the book at any book store that is hooked into Ingrams, but I'd encourage folks to order straight from the publisher, Fairwood Press, at http://www.fairwoodpress.com. Hit the "Catalog" button at the top of the page, and then the "Novels" link.

Message 497326 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-10-18 20:49:17. Feedback: 0

I was grading A.P. essays last night, and it struck me how grading those essays is so similar to evaluating slush piles for publication. Some of the essays do a really good job of covering the question they are supposed to answer but are stylistically flat. Lots of simple, declarative sentences. Numerous linking verbs. Uninteresting diction. On the other hand, there are essays that are stylistically interesting. Lots of flair with language, but they don't make any sense, or they distract themselves and wander away from the task. That division seems similar to what I see in slush piles. There are a lot of stories that are competently told, but the writing itself is unappealing. Not bad, mind you, but not interesting. Then there are the stylists who put together these very interesting moments, but there's no story. It's so rare to get the two kinds of writing together in one writer, where there's a competent story AND language that is interesting enough to carry it.

Message 496564 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-10-17 21:02:23. Feedback: 0

I saw a nice review of "The Small Astral Object Genius" at BestSF at http://www.bestsf.net/reviews/asimovs061011.html The story has gotten a lot of good reviews except in Locus, where both reviewers were luke warm about it. Reading reviews is the short road to neurosis, I figure, but I can't help myself.

Message 496236 by SueO2 on 2006-10-16 06:40:42. Feedback: 0

Jim, your comments are falling into the spam holding tank. Not sure why except I see you are posting without logging in. Did you type in the "secret" word? ... (not so secret, but it's easy to miss if you aren't looking for it.) There was a kink in the system that I think Kent just fixed. Used to be that when you typed in the secret word and had preview on, the secret word disappeared and you were unable to do anything but fall into the spam tank. So, just a head's up in case you didn't know the new details around here.

Message 496182 by Jim C. Hines on 2006-10-15 19:08:59. Feedback: 0

Be careful -- LJ can be dangerously addictive...

Message 496178 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-10-15 18:51:07. Feedback: 0

I'm trying my hand at some occasional blogging. You can find my brand new inroad on the Internet at http://jimvanpelt.livejournal.com/

Message 493982 by Jim C. Hines on 2006-09-30 17:25:02. Feedback: 0

Just trying to help :-)

Message 493971 by Terry Hickman on 2006-09-30 14:58:13. Feedback: 0

Hines, you're wicked. I like that in a RMer. :)

Message 493886 by Jim C. Hines on 2006-09-29 13:24:30. Feedback: 0

Things have *not* been slow. You'd have to be a total fool to think that! Clearly you're trying to discriminate against the quickness-impaired! How dare you try to impose your own standards of velocity on the rest of us?!!

Message 493883 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-09-29 13:03:32. Feedback: 0

I saw a very nice review of "The Small Astral Object Genius" in Tangentonline at http://www.tangentonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task;=view&id;=871&Itemid;=259 Things have been slow around here. I'll have to say something controversial to start up a conversation. *g*

Message 490481 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-08-17 13:47:53. Feedback: 0

I'll be at WorldCon next week. On Wednesday I'll be at the Asimov's/Analog table signing with Mike Resnick from 4-5. Here's the whole schedule: ASIMOV'S/ANALOG TABLE SIGNINGS WEDNESDAY 2-3 Robert J. Sawyer, Mike Shepherd Moscoe 3-4 Connie Willis, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel 4-5 Mike Resnick, James Van Pelt 5-6 Sean McMullen THURSDAY 11-12 Cory Doctorow, William Shunn 12-1 Nancy Kress, Sheila Williams 1-2 TABLE CLOSED 2-3 Bruce McAllister, Robert Reed 3-4 Connie Willis, James Patrick Kelly 4-5 David D. Levine, Ian McDonald 5-6 Mike Flynn, Paolo Bacigalupi 5:30-6:00 John G. Hemri FRIDAY 11-12 Joe Haldeman, Gardner Dozois 12-1 Lisa Goldstein (Isabel Glass), Chris Roberson 1-2 TABLE CLOSED 2-3 Robert Silverberg, 3-4 Harry Turtledove, Stanley Schmidt 4-5 Kim Stanley Robinson, Wil McCarthy, Gardner Dozois 5-6 Daryl Gregory, Paul Melko SATURDAY 11-12 Allen M. Steele, Geoffrey A. Landis 11:30-12 Mary Turzillo 12-1 Harry Harrison, Mary Rosenblum 1-2 TABLE CLOSED 2-3 Frederik Pohl, Greg Bear 3-4 Vernor Vinge, Jack McDevitt 4-5 David Brin, Jack Skillingstead 5-6 Tim Pratt, Michael Cassutt, Gardner Dozois

Message 488081 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-07-09 15:04:41. Feedback: 0

Hi, Douglas. Thanks for the comments. It must be nice to have the UCR resource so close.

Message 488074 by Year Ray on 2006-07-09 11:37:48. Feedback: 0

Have been enjoying your site and enjoyed as well reading your sample story, Paralle Highways. Having lived in Compton, Santa Ana and Riverside County for over 12 years each, as well as having made the journey on Interstate 10 to Arizona scores of times, made the whole tale more vivid. I been trying to find as many sites as possible in my latest research craze and will use your suggested links to branch off into even more unknown territory. Kinda feels sometimes like the characters in your story but only in .... This message truncated due to length. Sign in to see the rest of it.

Message 488073 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-07-09 10:35:09. Feedback: 0

Thanks, Josh. The first time I picked up the Dozois collection, several years ago, I didn't know he did an honorable mention list. So, imagine my surprise when I was reading that edition and found my name in the back. I went to our local bookstore and checked the older editions. It turned out I'd been listed in earlier years too, but no one had told me. Two other members of my writing group made he honorable mention list too: Karen Fishler and Carrie Vaughn.

Message 488065 by Josh Rountree on 2006-07-09 07:14:07. Feedback: 0

That's great, Jim!

Message 488050 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-07-08 17:00:05. Feedback: 0

I picked up the newest Year's Best Science Fiction, Gardner Dozois, ed. I had three stories listed in the Honorable Mentions: "One Day, In the Middle of the Night," Talebones; "The Ice Cream Man," Asimov's; and "The Inn at Mount Either," Analog.

Message 487896 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-07-05 08:46:04. Feedback: 0

My novel, Summer of the Apocalypse, will be released in October, in time for World Fantasy, from Fairwood Press. For the last couple of days, I've been working on the very interesting task of blurb hunting. What this involves is asking writers whose names have recognition value, and who I know well enough to impose on, to write something pithy about the book or about my writing for the cover. It's uncomfortable work in many ways. It feels like taking advantage of a personal relationship for a business transaction. But, it's a part of the job.

Message 486810 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-06-13 13:16:57. Feedback: 0

I received Progress Report #4 from the World Fantasy Convention today. Ballots are due by June 30 for the World Fantasy Awards. Unlike most of the other awards, World Fantasy recognizes single author collections with its own award. For those of you who read here who are also members of the convention, I'd like to point out that THE LAST OF THE O-FORMS AND OTHER STORIES is eligible for nomination. The ballot is available in Progress Report #3, posted on line as a PDF at http://www.fact.org/wfc2006/book/pr/wfcpr03.pdf Also, the ballot can be e-mailed to Roger Turner at rturner@cyberus.ca I am always shocked by how FEW nominations are often necessary to get works onto finalist ballots. If you are attending the convention, your nomination will count!

Message 485603 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-05-24 14:44:24. Feedback: 0

A lightning strike! I found out today that my Analog story, "The Inn at Mount Either" is one of the finalists for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science fiction of the year. The complete list of finalists is at http://www.ku.edu/~sfcenter/sturgeon-finalists.htm Wow!

Message 485046 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-05-14 20:27:27. Feedback: 0

This weekend is our town's jazz and arts festival downtown, so I talked to our local, independent bookseller, who is right in the middle of it. I set up a table on the sidewalk in front of the store, put up a sign, and in two hours sold 5 copies of THE LAST OF THE O-FORMS, 2 of STRANGERS AND BEGGARS, and 3 of a little book of non-genre poetry I self published 12 years ago. Not bad for a minimal investment in time and effort.

Message 484146 by ET on 2006-04-29 03:12:03. Feedback: 0

Congratulations, Jim!

Message 484142 by Mystery Guest on 2006-04-28 21:45:01. Feedback: 0

Congratulations, Jim! I should be at World Fantasy, so will look forward to seeing your novel debut there! -- Amy S.

Message 484135 by Ruth J. Burroughs on 2006-04-28 19:43:35. Feedback: 0

Congratulations!

Message 484113 by Mystery Guest on 2006-04-28 14:13:17. Feedback: 0

HUZZAH! Jackie

Message 484109 by Lori White on 2006-04-28 13:48:54. Feedback: 0

I'll say it here, too-- Yay, Jim!

Message 484094 by Mystery Guest on 2006-04-28 09:08:31. Feedback: 0

Wonderful, Jim, congrats! Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. kathy

Message 484088 by Terry Hickman on 2006-04-28 07:13:21. Feedback: 0

Woo hoo! W00T! *jumps around in circles* Oh boy oh boy a JVP novel!! Whoo hoo, you go James!!!! That's about a million congo-rats to YOU DOOD!!!

Message 484085 by Justin Stanchfield on 2006-04-28 06:41:12. Feedback: 0

That's great, Jim! Congrats!

Message 484083 by Jim C. Hines on 2006-04-28 06:00:57. Feedback: 0

Congratulations, Jim!!!

Message 484080 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-04-28 05:47:04. Feedback: 0

It's official now (at least the notice has been sent to Locus), my first novel, SUMMER OF THE APOCALYPSE, will be released from Fairwood Press in time for World Fantasy.

Message 484014 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-04-27 06:00:38. Feedback: 0

One of the many parts of being a teacher that I like is that I get to make up study sheets for literature that I enjoy. As I was making up one today for "Think Like a Dinosaur" I realized that I can also apply this to my writing. I want my stories to be interesting enough to make a decent worksheet for (if that makes sense). There ought to be enough "meat" to the story that it can stand the scrutiny of a worksheet, and be worthwhile to study. So, here is my worksheet for "Think Like a Dinosaur." It goes from easy to answer questions to the more thoughtful ones. In the meantime, I'm going back to the story I'm working on to consider what kind of worksheet it might provoke. 1) Who is Kamala Shastri? 2) What is our narrator’s job in the story? 3) Who are the dinosaurs? 4) What is “the marble”? 5) How have the dinos conquered the problem of the vast distance between stars? 6) Why is Kamala Shastri so nervous before she makes her trip to Gend? 7) The narrator tells Kamala a story about his Catholic upbringing, and Kamala tells him one about a neighbor in the apartment building where she grew up. In one way, the stories are just to keep her mind off of her nervousness, but in another they are exactly about the central problem in the story. Why would the dinos find the two stories ridiculous, and what do the stories have to do with the rest of the story? 8) What goes wrong with Kamala’s migration (her trip to Gend)? 9) What are the equations that have to be balanced to make travel to the stars possible? 10) When a person travels to the stars using the dinos’ system, does the person who gets into the marble actually travel anywhere? Be careful how you answer this. What does the word “travel” mean? What does the word “person” mean? 11) The story was introduced to you as one that was influenced by the classic short story, “The Cold Equations.” In what way are the two stories similar? In what way are they different? 12) Is the narrator a murderer? Why or why not? 13) If you were given an opportunity to travel to the stars using the dinos’ technology, could you climb into the marble to go? Explain your reasoning. 14) What does the title of the story mean?

Message 483262 by Mark Siegal on 2006-04-13 08:51:18. Feedback: 0

That lesson plan sounds really neat. Glad it improved their next efforts so rapidly.

Message 483257 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-04-13 08:33:05. Feedback: 0

I had a great, new SF lesson plan over the last few days. The class is getting ready to write their own SF stories. One of my disappointments with this lesson plan in the past is that the class isn't a fiction writing class, so a lot of the stories exhibit all the awfulness of the unpracticed (and uninformed) trying their hand at fiction writing. The biggest problem among these stories is that the kids just don't know how to narrate. They summarize and/or drop in long expository lumps that just kill the story. So, I needed a way to get them into narrative writing in a hurry, without spending weeks to set them up. Here's what I did. I showed them a Twilight Zone episode ("All the Time in the World"). When we were done, and after we discussed it, I had them write, in class, the first five minutes of the movie as if they were writing the story themselves. They had to get to 200 words before they stopped. Then, I evaluated the 200-word efforts using the rubric I attached here. I handed back the evaluated manuscripts (I didn't make any marks on their drafts--no extra comments--the only feedback they got was my circling the descriptor that best described the different aspects of their drafts--this only took me a half hour or so to do). I talked about what I noticed. I read a couple of the better ones. Then, we did the exercise again, using a different Twilight Zone, "Kick the Can." The difference in what they turned in the second time was remarkable! So, I have a lot more confidence that the stories they turn in for their big project will be much better than what I've seen in the past. If you are interested in more detail, the post below this one is the rubric I developed. Remember, this is just to evaluate the first 200 words, so there's no evaluation for plot. If I had one, it would probably be entitled, "Introduction of conflict."

Message 483256 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-04-13 08:29:06. Feedback: 0

The way the rubric works as a feedback tool is that the teacher circles the descriptor that best describes the student's work. The first description is the ADVANCED one, the second is PROFICIENT and the third is IN PROGRESS. For folks who can't get away from a grading mentality. ADVANCED = A, PROFICIENT = B, and IN PROGRESS = C or below (some people are more in progress than others). Each section below starts with the aspect of the story that is being evaluated, and then the three descriptors for that aspect. Narrative vs. Expository - Most of the story shows actions happening. There is a sense of a scene or scenes like you might see in a play. There may be dialogue. - Some of the story shows actions happening. There may be significant sections of dialogue. - Most of the story is told rather than shown. There are few or no individual actions that you might see in a play. There is no or very little dialogue. Setting - There will be a distinct sense of an individual place. Multiple details will make the setting seem unique. - There will be some sense of an individual place. There will be some details. Setting may be introduced late. - There will be little or no sense of an individual place. Setting will be absent altogether or very generalized. Character - The character or characters will be shown in a multiple of ways. The characters will seem distinct and individual. - The character or characters will be given at least one distinguishing characteristic. - There will be little or no sense of the characters other than as names or as a generic description. Voice/Style(this could include elements that affect coherence and readability) - The language of the story will be interesting and creative. There will be a sense of attitude or character in the narration. - The language of the story will be serviceable and clear. - The language of the story will have problems that make the story difficult to follow or make it unappealing. Overall - The elements work together to create an interesting or compelling story. - The elements do not interfere with the clarity of the story - One or more of the elements interfere with the clarity of the story. Something in how the story is told needs significant revision.

Message 482767 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-04-06 05:38:42. Feedback: 0

Hi, Terry. You're absolutely right. It's times like these that remind me of what George Scithers told me once: "Publishing is like a roller coaster. You've got to enjoy the times when you're up, because you're sure to go down," or something close to that.

Message 482764 by Terry Hickman on 2006-04-06 05:06:45. Feedback: 0

(bookslut.com review) - WOW. Nice to be appreciated, innit Jim? Congrats! 8^D

Message 482756 by Mystery Guest on 2006-04-05 21:17:11. Feedback: 0

When good things come, they come in waves. First, THE LAST OF THE O-FORMS AND OTHER STORIES, is a finalist for the Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award. The voting for it closes in Jan. '07. STRANGERS AND BEGGARS was a finalist for this award too. The ballot and a brief book talk is available at http://www.cal-webs.org/bluespruce/booktalks5.html Second, THE LAST OF THE O-FORMS AND OTHER STORIES has been reviewed in several places, but the absolute best review I've ever seen for it or any book is posted here: http://www.bookslut.com/fiction/2006_04_008412.php It's an incredibly kind review. If what people say about a book can help sell a copies, then I ought to send this reviewer a cut of the sales.

Message 482684 by Terry Hickman on 2006-04-05 07:46:10. Feedback: 0

Woohoo! You go, JVP!

Message 482677 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-04-05 06:25:25. Feedback: 0

I'm famous! I'm famous! Or, at least, I now have an entry at Wikipedia. I found this while cruising for reviews of THE LAST OF THE O-FORMS AND OTHER STORIES. And, no, I didn't post it myself or put somebody up to it *g*. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Van_Pelt

Message 482523 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-04-02 19:55:12. Feedback: 0

Shocklines, an online bookstore, is offering my latest collection, THE LAST OF THE O-FORMS AND OTHER STORIES, with a moneyback guarantee. If you order the book from them and don't like it, you can return it within 30 days for store credit. No questions asked. It's their "new voices guarantee." I don't feel particularly like a "new voice" as much anymore, but it's a great deal! This is the same book that one of the Bookslut (great name, huh!) reviewers said, "The Last of the O-Forms and other stories is a great collection of sci fi - a really really great collection . . . James Van Pelt is an incredibly brave writer and I really do believe that. He does all kinds of great things with this book (a Vice Principal haunted by doubts and the children he knew before - plus his younger self is a real treat in "Do Good"), and his choices of setting and characters are a constant surprise . . . He's a really good writer and I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. You should read it -everybody should read it." Here is the link for the Shocklines offer

Message 481960 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-03-23 05:13:08. Feedback: 0

Jay Lake sent me a link to this review of THE LAST OF THE O-FORMS AND OTHER STORIES. It's the nicest comments about the book I've seen yet, starting with its title, "The Best Sci-Fi Writer You've Never Heard Of." The review is at http://chasingray.blogspot.com/2006/03/best-sci-fi-writer-youve-never-heard.html

Message 481435 by Lori White on 2006-03-12 23:13:24. Feedback: 0

Congrats, Jim! Seems like you've got a nice little stretch going--

Message 481422 by Terry Hickman on 2006-03-12 18:18:58. Feedback: 0

Hey, Jim, schweet sale! Congrats!

Message 481415 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-03-12 16:51:54. Feedback: 0

A couple month acceptance of a short story, "Tiny Voices," from Talebones. Patrick Swenson reports things are going well there, and ahead of schedule, so they may up to three issues this year instead of the two per year they've been doing for awhile. Also, we've been discussing possibilities for the table of contents for a "Best of Talebones" anthology at their discussion topic at http://www.nightshadebooks.com/discus/messages/4211/5726.html?1141919289 Come on by if you'd like to join the discussion.

Message 481311 by Jed Hartman on 2006-03-11 11:58:10. Feedback: 0

Congrats on #85! And on the Horton reprint. The analogies are, as Lori suspected, ringers, or at least some of them are. Several of them are from the 1995 Washington Post Style Invitational, a bad-analogy contest. I've seen dozens of versions of the Post contest list, though, so I'm not sure which of these are from there and which are from other sources.

Message 480798 by Mystery Guest on 2006-03-04 00:49:55. Feedback: 0

Cool! It's a great story. Nice to see it's getting th erecognition it deserves. Justin

Message 480797 by ET on 2006-03-03 23:55:17. Feedback: 0

Way to go, Jim.

Message 480791 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-03-03 21:07:31. Feedback: 0

Sometimes the good news comes in bunches. Editor Rich Horton has chosen a short story of mine from last year, "The Inn at Mount Either" that appeared in ANALOG, for inclusion in his new anthology, SCIENCE FICTION: THE YEAR'S BEST.

Message 480692 by Josh Rountree on 2006-03-02 08:00:22. Feedback: 0

Congrats, Jim! Here's to 85 more.

Message 480668 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-03-01 21:00:11. Feedback: 0

Thanks, all! This was my 85th short story sale, which feels pretty darned good since I can still remember like yesterday when the editor of a little horror magazine, AFTER HOURS, called me to tell me he was taking a story from me, my first story sale. I have the whole list posted in the bibliography section of my website.

Message 480654 by ET on 2006-03-01 12:32:40. Feedback: 0

Congrats, Jim.

Message 480614 by Lori White on 2006-02-28 21:42:04. Feedback: 0

Cool! You uh--might make a little money if you stick to Taco Bell. I thought not.... law

Message 480611 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-02-28 21:09:20. Feedback: 0

Of course, what an acceptance does is provoke 3 celebrations: my wife and I went out to eat to night. We'll do it again when I get the check, and we do it a third time when it appears in the magazine. This darned writing business is so hard to break even in *g*.

Message 480593 by Justin Stanchfield on 2006-02-28 18:35:46. Feedback: 0

Congrats on the sale, Jim!

Message 480592 by Terry Hickman on 2006-02-28 18:22:03. Feedback: 0

Congo-o-rat-o-roonies! That's way cool, Jim!

Message 480588 by Melissa Mead on 2006-02-28 17:43:50. Feedback: 0

Congratulations!

Message 480587 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-02-28 17:08:15. Feedback: 0

We're celebrating at my house. Asimov's bought my latest, a short story entitled "The Small Astral Object Genius."

Message 479821 by Mystery Guest on 2006-02-18 15:15:45. Feedback: 0

Thank, Lori. I've been teaching long enough now that I'm seeing the kids of former students coming through my high school classes. Maybe the most interesting one was when I was 19 and swimming in college, I had kind of a crush on this 15-year old girl on the age-group team my college team shared the pool with. I thought I was too old for her. She's now the grey-haired head of the recreation department in the city where I teach, and both of her kids have been in my classes. At any rate, enough of those now-adult students have come back to tell me what they got from my classes that even on the downest of days, I know I might be reaching someone. Jim Van Pelt

Message 479812 by Lori White on 2006-02-18 13:23:08. Feedback: 0

Some of these are too funny. I've always wondered if they're ringers, or the product of smart kids messing with their teachers. You know, for some reason I just thought of something I should tell you. I don't know why I haven't thought of it before. Maybe my cold-addled head has so much gunk in it that it's forcing some thoughts to the surface. I had a really good, supportive English teacher in high school. I ain't writing much, but I'm still writing and writing (and Mrs. Dougan's support) still mean something to me. So, anyway--if you're ever worried that you're just pounding your head against a wall and the kids will wipe every iota of what you taught them out of their heads the minute the final bell rights, don't. Somewhere down the line (and I'm sure it's already happened and will happen many times in the future) some grown-up will look back and be very glad he or she had you as a teacher. Hmmmm.....maybe my cold is making me maudlin--but it's true. law

Message 479241 by Mystery Guest on 2006-02-15 14:19:11. Feedback: 0

It has been pointed out that #9 looks like a line from THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY: "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't." Jim Van Pelt

Message 479224 by Mystery Guest on 2006-02-15 13:11:41. Feedback: 0

Okay, Jim. I now dare someone, anyone, to put ALL of these together into one story! SueO2, who howled like a cat who'd just gotten its head stuck in the rocker as my mother was trying to get out of it.

Message 479216 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-02-15 12:16:48. Feedback: 0

Here is a list of metaphors and analogies that supposedly came from real high school students' papers. English teachers see these periodically, but I thought some of you might not. I've certainly seen some howlers in student papers. Actual Analogies and Metaphors Found in High School Essays. 1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master. 2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free. 3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it. 4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. 5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up. 6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. 7. He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree. 8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM. 9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't. 10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup. 11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30. 12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze. 13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease. 14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph. 15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fence that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth. 16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met. 17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River. 18. Even in his last years, Grandpappy had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut. 19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do. 20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work. 21. The fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating. 22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something. 23. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slenderleg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant. 24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools. 25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up. 26. Her eyes were like limpid pools, only they had forgotten to put in any pH cleanser. 27. She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs. 28. It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.

Message 476262 by Lawrence M. Schoen on 2006-01-13 14:59:16. Feedback: 0

brilliant! Jim, you make me heartsick for my oold professorial days.

Message 476235 by Jim Van Pelt on 2006-01-13 08:51:08. Feedback: 0

Every once in a while I've been posting reports about good moments in my Science Fiction class at the high school. I had one this week as I introduced the unit on space opera. I think it's important to incorporate real science whenever possible in a discussion of science fiction, so I had put together a Powerpoint on the problem of distance in space. It's a cool presentation, but it's not particularly visceral, so this time, before the Powerpoint, I did the following: I borrow a ping pong from the P.E. department, then take the kids into a long hallway in the school. Of course, they have no idea what we're doing in the hallway! So, I point to the ping pong ball and say, "Imagine this is the sun. It's 1.5 inches in diameter. At this size, Mercury is 5 feet away." I have a kid stand 5 feet away, and he's Mercury for the rest of the demonstration. "Of course, Mercury is not to scale, here. He would be about the size of a microbe. At 9 feet from our ping pong ball is Venus." I put a kid there. "At 13 feet is Earth." Several kids wanted to be Earth. "At 20 feet is Mars. Now there probably should be another planet a bit closer, but, instead, there is the asteroid belt, so the next planet, Jupiter, is 69 feet away, which is about 25 strides down the hall." I have a kid walk off the 25 strides. "Saturn is 128 feet away, which is the end of this hallway." I send a kid to the end of the hall. We have some fun shouting answers to questions Saturn has from 128 feet away. "Uranus is 257 feet away, a bit more than twice as far as Saturn from the sun, about in the middle of our parking lot." Here a kid asks me what the sun would look like at that distance. "A bright star," I tell him. "Neptune is 404 feet away, which would put it past the Mormon seminary across the street from our school, and Pluto is 531 feet away, somewhere in the plowed field beyond the seminary." At this point, one of the kids said, "Travel is a bummer!" Everyone laughed. I wish that I had set that kid up with the comment so I could take credit for the segue that it produced, because what I asked the class next was, "If you think that is bad, how far away is the next closest star?" The longest guess was a couple of miles. I actually managed to stun the class with, "The next closest star to us, if the sun is the size of a ping pong ball, is 687 miles." It was a great lesson. If you want to play around with solar system distances, a fun web site is at http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/ It allows you to make the sun (or any of the planets) any size you want. Then it calculates how far away everything else would be, and how big they would be.

Message 475496 by Lawrence M. Schoen on 2006-01-03 07:29:03. Feedback: 0

Hey, double chocolate congratulations, Jim!

Message 475243 by Robert N Stephenson - Altair Aus on 2005-12-30 19:42:25. Feedback: 0

Way to go Jim, and Hope you and the family (give your wife a kiss for me, a little one on the cheek) have a great New Year, with many, many more works in the works, so to speak. One day I hope to get Stae side and maybe even over to you in your small town (ish) - Robert N Stephenson

Message 475235 by Jim Van Pelt on 2005-12-30 13:41:49. Feedback: 0

My short story, "The Road's End," is in the latest REALMS OF FANTASY. February, '06.

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