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Science Fiction

Trying My Hand at Interactive Fiction

I worked on converting my story "Choice, In Sequential Order" into an interactive fiction story using a program called Twine. It was somewhat easy to learn the basics, but I want to learn more about both Twine and Inform. I would love to be able to create something as complex as the old Infocom games using Inform. I remember countless hours in our school's computer lab, either typing in commands, or huddled around three or more friends watching the story unfold in all its green-screen glory. This dynamic continued with stuff like Ultima III. I was the cartographer, pushing pins into the cloth map "gimme" the game included to mark locations of secret places, dungeons, etc. I still have a soft spot in my heart for interactive fiction. I learned that I was not alone. Every year, there are the XYZZY Awards to honor the year's best in that field. There's also a new...

August 21, 2016
Science Fiction, Writing

What I’m Learning From Edgar Wright and “The World’s End”

I watched "The World's End" the other night, and found it to be an outstanding piece of storytelling. The basic premise is: Gary Knight, wanting to relive his self-professed "best night of his life" cajoles his estranged friends into trying to try The Golden Mile, and complete it this time. This is told in obvious flashback, where we get to see just-out-of-school Gary, Andy, Steve, Peter and Oliver as The Fateful Night played out. . . And then, we see Gary King in his present context: telling this to the other participants in some type of group therapy or 12-Step program. He stares off into the distance, a smile frozen on his face. Note: the Golden Mile is comprised of 12 pubs, a detail Edgar Wright likely included in the story as a parallel of the 12-step program. I won't go into all the particular layers in the movie (and there are), since...

July 23, 2016
Films, Science Fiction, Writing

After Seeing “Captain America: Civil War” I’m Left Wondering Why All the Love?

Full disclosure: I went to go see "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" back when it came out and enjoyed it quite a bit. I was a leery of making Hydra a shadow government since I felt it let all the air out of the balloon regarding the movie's thesis on government power and the politics of fear. However, the other elements outshone that critique. Not so with "Civil War". I found myself having a hard time caring about the characters. The movie felt overlong and bloated as a result. For me, the movie's climactic moment should have been the airport fight, with a quick winding down as the sides become more entrenched and then carry things over to a future film. Also, the characters seem to approach every problem as something to blast or punch. I know: it's a superhero film, but the Avengers are doing triple duty as spies, diplomats and special...

May 15, 2016
Science Fiction

Balticon 50 is Coming. . .

Within the first year of living in the Baltimore area, I became a member of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. I joined because of the space, which I've described as a cathedral dedicated to science fiction, and the ancillary activities. Their claim to fame, and what pays the bills, is Balticon. Confession time: I'm not a big fan of conventions. In part, I think it has to do with lack of conventions in Puerto Rico (it's become a bigger thing since I've left), as well as the demands of being in a public space with large numbers of people. Also, I am a bad fan--too finicky, perhaps. For instance, I like the idea of a show like Star Trek existing than the actual show (in all its incarnations), but rarely watch it. The same goes for most of the touchstones of being a sci-fi or fantasy fan. All that said, however, I'm excited...

May 1, 2016
Fantasy, Science Fiction

An Unforeseen Obsession: Page Views

I've been following the metrics for my story's page views in Nature Magazine. It has become a bit of an obsession as I have been somewhat overjoyed to see the page views continue to climb as time passes. There is a two-day gap between the metrics displayed and any given day, but I can't help but continue to be surprised at the exposure my story, "Choices, In Sequential Order" has gotten....

April 17, 2016
Science Fiction, Writing