Brainstorming Thursday: Put a Flag in It

What else do you think I would write about on America's celebration of independence? I am uber American, after all. Any more patriotic and you'd find it tattooed on my... *clears throat*

Anywho.

There are over 190 nations in the world. Most are members of the United Nations. (There's some disagreement on the exact number, depending on the various list criteria and political agendas.) In each of those countries there is some form of "Independence Day" or patriotic founding celebration.

Patriotic holidays are important to solidify a society's cultural identity and growth.

But - and here enters the brainstorming - what about when we spread out to the stars and growing pains start?

First things first, how will the expansion start? (It lends to the brainstorm further down, promise.) I see a few ways it could go.

1. The United Nations (or other unity organization yet to be created) purpose expands and solidifies all the countries and forges into the stars as one human nation. This is very Star Trek-ish.
2. Private entrepreneurs and corporations will forge into the stars with the fiscal support of the strongest nations. These nations will then lay claim to the space they conquer. Much more Firefly-ish
3. Private entrepreneurs and corporations will forge into the stars with fiscal support of private and group investors and the government concept will become corporatism.

Eventually changes will be demanded after this first step into the solar system, either by the people or competing governments or corporations. The aftermath of this forced change will cause a new patriotic celebration created by the victors.

What will that look like? Most of the current patriotic celebrations involve a certain date, fireworks, gatherings, food, music and honorary speakers.

Hmm... most of those won't work in space. Okay, gatherings, food and music seem pretty workable. But how about the date? That'll be a problem in a civilization spread across the solar system. Fireworks. Okay, granted, that could work on open planetary settlements, but what about domed facilities, space colonies and life vessels? And honorary speakers. This hits the same issues as a date. The distance will make any live speaker broadcast difficult.

Brainstorming Thursday: Plant People?

Who's to say that the intelligent alien we encounter is humanoid or insecticide, or canine, cat like or any other species that we consciously think of as "animal"?

What if the this intellectual being is actually, say, of the plant variety?

I know, I know, your mind is probably jumping to gigantic Venus Fly Traps... and singing one of the songs from Little Shop of Horrors. But I want to think outside the bubble of SF normality for a sec. Come, come with me my geeky buddies into the realm of Outside-Box Land.

What triggered this thought is an episode of Morgan Freeman's Through the Wormhole titled "How Do Aliens Think?" (LOVE that show by the way.) It put a challenge to watchers about what aliens would actually be when we met up with them. Part of the episode delved into the cognitive processes of plants.

Did you know that plants have several "intellectually charged" behaviors. They are just so much slower, quieter and differently executed than us. They can smell, touch, taste, and possibly hear. Researchers believe they might even have a form of "talk".

For example, there is a problem-solving vine. They don't have roots and they don't thrive through photosynthesis. These ropey vampires attach to other plants and suck the life out of them. To find their next food an "offshoot vine" searches and grows until it finds its next host, smells to detect if its healthy and then begins its feast.

Oh, oh! Then there are plants who can release an odor to call for help from insects to ward off pests. This scent/odor then communicates the dangerous situation to other plants who respond by releasing their own defensive odors.

Now, of course, that doesn't mean they are intellecutally conscious as we mighty humans define it. That takes the special "self-awareness" aspect that seems special to only us. But, wouldn't it be fantastic if plants on another planet had developed self-awareness? What if they had little families, dreams and aspirations, and a sense of community.

There could be dynamic communities of plant "races" and "species" trying to live and exist peacefully together. They could have a partnership with an alien insect that pollinated their community... heck could even be protectors like the wasp when a caterpillar tries to start munching on a plant's leaves.

What do you think? Too farfetched for today's "mature" SF? I know they had killer plants and whatnot in the pop SF of the early days but it seems to have trended away.

On a slightly side note, this post reminded me of a scene I did for Echoes of Regret (Telomere Trilogy, #2). Here it is for the fun of it.

* * * * *

"Beautiful," she (Brenda) whispered then blushed when she realized Captain Yourimoc overheard her and smiled.

"Yes, I agree. Look, all the flowers."

"You notice the beauty? Most men wouldn't," she commented, pleasantly surprised.

"I notice beauty in all things," he said, regarding her with a direct stare for a long moment.

She forced herself to meet his gaze. He grinned and then returned his attention forward. To calm herself, she took in the flowers he'd gestured toward. Vibrantly showcased by the green forest, the flowers posed. Purple blooms with narrow bodies and three petals spun up and then out at the tips. Pink flowers, with tightly packed petals, grouped along the ground. Blue ones, similar to roses, rested on vines, wound around and along the trees. Yellow flowers, soft and puffy like a ball of cotton stood tall and stiff near rocks.

Brenda peered into the trees and spotted a huge blossom growing on the branch of a tree. Folded downward, she only saw a single petal, soft blue with muted purple veins streaked from the base, curved along the body of the petal and accentuated its curves and dips.

The petal vibrated and the purple shimmered. Slowly unfolding, they revealed a petite form curled underneath. What had been mistaken for a petal was in reality a wing, one of two attached to a body of light dusty pink.

"Captain," she whispered. She touched his forearm with one hand and raised her other for the group to stop. She then pointed. The captain's body stiffened, tensed. What power underneath, she couldn't resist noticing, even in the moment.

The creature, skin smooth and shimmery like the wings, stayed in its curled position as the wings unfolded to its sides. The move revealed arms infused into the wings, hands with extremely long fingers extended out at the top corner edge of the spans.

A small head lifted to stare at the group, bright purple eyes stared intently. Ears, long and willowy like petals, rested high on the sides of the head. With no eyelids or eyelashes, the face was round without cheekbones or apparent nose. Small lips indicated a mouth, which seemed to purse together. Cocking the head to one side the creature took on an almost human characteristic, curiosity.

Its lower half, originally tucked down, slowly straightened to show long lean legs and claw-like feet. What had seemed like a small creature was in actuality a very long creature, with more leg than torso. Its chest had no breasts, nipples, or belly button. There was no distinguishing gender.

* * * * *

Purchase Links: All Romance, Amazon, BN

Brainstorming Thursday: Inspiration from the Every Day

I know that since the Brainstorming Thursdays have kicked off I've delved into more sciencey things, but the truth is most of the story is human, every day elements. The characters meet, react to each other (positively or negatively) and shit happens (good or bad or both).

And every writer knows the best inspiration for that comes from the mundane daily stuff: grocery shopping, commute traffic, or sitting at a deli street side table watching the people go by.


Photobucket Upload by "hesined"



Take the photo here. Normal busy day with people innocently going and doing what they're doing. Shopping, walking home, meeting someone.

Or are they? Is it really that innocent?

Maybe the guy there with the red backpack is carrying some biological weapon and heading to the pub there up the street? Or maybe the woman in the black and white shirt has just stolen intelligence from the man there in the white shirt and tan shorts.

Ooh, or there's a hired sniper up the steps there in the shadow of the stairwell taking aim at the insanely rich woman with the brown purse.

I love sitting and watching people go about their business and making up a fictional story about them. Sometimes I don't even have to do that. The other day I sat and spied a wonderful couple who were so in love the world around them disappeared. They weren't grossly PDAing it, but they were just so connected.

What real life moments have captured your attention and have you used them as elements in your story?

Brainstorming Thursday: Human Computers

I think for right now I'm going to stick with brainstorming on my earlier post HERE for your reference.

I'm kind of split. Half of my imagination is thinking about the near future possibilities and the other half is thinking about the real futuristic stuff.

Which way, which way? "Oh bother," as Poo would say... let's go with far-fetched future.

Partly why I want to go with far future is because of social networking and the evolution of how we communicate. We are developing tech devices that are more and more integral in our lives.

Technology is becoming a part of us like a limb, or creepier, an organ. A natural thought progression would be to merge those two concepts, virtual life and biocomputers. 

What if we're thinking too small when we (okay, okay, I) talked about organic pcs and tablets on Monday's post? What if it's a bit scarier and the evolution is to integrate pcs, cellphone and tablet functions into us? WE become the organic computer.

What would a story like this look like? Well, for me, it depends on where in the evolution the story is held. Right at the beginning with a rogue group of resistance fighters? After it's already common and acceptable in society? Or after things have gone wrong and humans are trying to fix their mistake?

I think, actually, I'd like a story after it's already a social norm. This way I could explore the moral dilemma and the human conflict it represents.

Okay, here's my idea:

Maybe a young woman, who's from the poorer side so she doesn't have as much of the tech integration, is trying to live life. She knows  that something's "wrong" with society. She can't pinpoint it because she's never known anything different.

Say she goes to visit her grandpa. He sold his body to a rich man who's body had reached the "end life" and needed replacement. Her grandpa's brain was connected to the virtual world to live it's remaining expected life span as decided by "The Committee". He did this in part to pay for the young woman's college.

From there the story is endless. You could take it anywhere. The virtual system could break down or get a virus and infect society. Maybe trigger an armageddon. One government could infect another governments political and military leaders and instigate a takeover.

Anything is possible. Well, that's my brainstorming for today. What do you guys think would happen? Or do you have another idea all together?

Brainstorming Thursday: Intergalactic Travel

So, as part of the whole "Call to Action" drama I instigated over the last couple weeks, I've decided to launch a little post series called... well, called the title you read above.

Enter trumpets and angels and all the other cool celebratory crap....

BRAINSTORMING THURSDAY!

Oops, sorry, didn't mean to shout. The trumpets died down right as I spoke.

Alrighty, back to reality, or as close to it as I can get -- which isn't very far.

Part of what I love about story research is all the little side trips I get to take. I'll be scouring for an acceptable antidote or medical technology and come across something that triggers another thought or idea entirely.

Let's take Sunday's post for example. On that post, HERE for your convenience, I talked about the speed of the galaxies in the universe and how it'll make a positioning system nearly impossible. Ergo, that means intergalactic travel will be near impossible... at least in my lifetime or several lifetimes.


Source: Nasa Images



But... (enter brainstorming about now) but... what if some crazy scientific kook or kooks just couldn't wait? What if she/they needed, absolutely needed for some reason, to see the neighboring galaxy? And what if it was far enough in the future science had started real/serious intergalactic travel research?

Now there, my geeky friends, is the core of a potential story.

Yeah, the rate of galactic rotations and the fast expansional gaps between galaxies is still the driving barrier for successful intergalactic travel. But, say this group... driven by this woman who has a spiritual reason for needing to venture out... has timed the motion of both the rotation and the expansion to pinpoint when a potential Goldie locks planet in a neighboring galaxy's solar system will be near enough to ours to transport a research vessel via some spacetime manipulation technology?

Maybe there's some belief of this particular planet, solar system and/or galaxy.

Wouldn't it be a gas - partial pun intended - if once they were there, the technology used to get back either malfunctioned or they miscalculated and ended up somewhere else entirely?

Long story short, what would happen if they couldn't get back? You've got, say, a crew of 50 in an unknown galaxy and no way to return home.

Anything could happen from here. They could search out the original planet to get the returning coordinates back on track and something happens along the way. They could find they're at another location with potential for life. Or, even... oh yeah, maybe some other "presence" diverted their trip and brought them to this new point.

Ooh, maybe the spacetime technology has something to do with interconnectining universe filaments. I don't know, that might be taking the brainstorm too far.

"Okay, pull back AR, pull back."

Oh man, this is exciting!

What do you all think would happen once they got there? Or, what do you think her/the groups motivation is? How do you think they ended up in the wrong place? Or, did they end up in the right place and a block of some sort is keeping them from returning?

I love brainstorming. Sometimes it threatens to throw my current WIP off course, but I try to contain it by jotting down the idea and allowing a little exploration into the concept. Then I ruthlessly tuck it away for a future project.