Ask the Authors (Fandemonium)

[Alipeeps]

There's only so far that people will suspend disbelief and that one was an easy one to check on; it took me about 10 seconds to google it. Interesting attitude there.

I think the point being made is that every individual has different thresholds for suspension of disbelief - often very dependent on their own personal knowledge. E.g. I can happily swallow whatever medical mumbo-jumbo House throws at me... except when they start talking about arthritis (which I have and therefore know quite a bit about) where I start to question whether what they say actually fits with what I know.

Obviously, this particular issue is something you personally are knowledgable about and that's why it trips your suspension of disbelief alarm - however, I'm sure you can also see that this is something that many people are not knowledgable about and wouldn't even think twice about when they read the book. Courses for horses. Beth gave you a perfectly polite and reasoned answer and there was no "attitude" that I could see.

[Shep'sSocks]

Really? I found it dismissive and rude.

[Alipeeps]

Really? I found it dismissive and rude.

Can I ask why? Because she didn't agree with you? Beth merely stated - and gave an example, as I did above - that every one has different tolerances for what they can suspend disbelief over. Obviously this one issue tripped yours which is unfortunate. But how is that rude and dismissive? She clearly stated in her post that she was a) trying to defuse what was becoming an antagonistic atmosphere in this thread and b) that everyone was entitled to their own opinion.

At the risk of coming across as rude myself, I'm sorry to say that the only posts in here at present that I am finding antagonistic are yours...

[Elizabeth Christensen]

Really? I found it dismissive and rude.

I'm sorry you did. That wasn't the intention. I was actually trying to demonstrate that everyone sees things differently (and also lighten things up a little in here). I did consider your original question and offer a possible explanation, one that apparently didn't ring true for you. I could also point out that the line in question was spoken by Lorne, not presented as fact, and he might have simply mixed up the acronyms, but I doubt that would be satisfying to you either. I find that once something's yanked a person out of the story, there's usually not much that can be done after the fact to "fix" it. If there's a particular type of response you're looking for from me, perhaps we could talk offline so as not to drag the thread down any longer?

<ahem> So. Who's looking forward to Barque of Heaven?

[GermanAstra]

Who's looking forward to Barque of Heaven?

Me! Me! *singing in Urgo voice" Me-me-me-me-me.

I have it on preorder and can't wait for it to arrive. I read the previous chapters that are available - one in a Fandemonium book, the other at Suzanne's website - and I want to read the rest of it!

Now, if possible! Yeah, as Jack often said: "Now would be a good time."

[Elizabeth Christensen]

very true this line is... and I have a question I was wondering about.

When did you guys (the authors) actually start writing, was it somthing that hit you in school or the like? if so how/what did you start off with for actually getting published?

I think I first started writing in middle or high school, just little stories that I never dared show anyone. Actually, I think it was Star Trek fanfic, long before I had any idea what fanfic was. Tossed it all out ages ago, and for good reason ...

Most of my writing in college was of a technical nature, but I stayed with the fiction a little. As I think I might've mentioned way back at the beginning of this thread, Sonny found me through an amateur editorial I'd posted online regarding the space shuttle Columbia -- because I'd been so ticked off by a Time Magazine article about the disaster that I couldn't help but write a response. The fact that I'm doing these books is solely due to her guidance and support. I'm still much more an engineer than a writer, so you're better off with advice from the real pros around here.

[Suzanne Wood]

Me! Me! *singing in Urgo voice" Me-me-me-me-me.

I have it on preorder and can't wait for it to arrive. I read the previous chapters that are available - one in a Fandemonium book, the other at Suzanne's website - and I want to read the rest of it!

Now, if possible! Yeah, as Jack often said: "Now would be a good time."

Me too!! *Waves to Beth too* And I know what happens

Any minute now...

Hey, these icons are cool.

[sonny1]

Beth's just pulled me off the front retaining wall job I was working on (just the side gates and kitchen to go), with a question about Tasmania, fires, and fact versus fiction, to wit, the nature of verisimilitude.

My Masters thesis has been passed, and I’m graduating next month. The thesis explores, amongst other things, the nature and concept of verisimilitude. The closer one writes to reality by incorporating it into fiction, the more likely fiction can be misinterpreted as fact. When that occurs, the story can become so real that any deviation from the belief structure imposed upon it by the reader can become instantly converted, to quote Dark Suvin, into ‘virulent ideologies of political obscurantism’. Anyone interested, see my next post - feel free to hit the delete button!

Re Tasmania. Damn. I could have saved myself a two-week research trip by investing ten seconds on Google. Still, Tassie was interesting. It snowed (in December in Australia), and we stopped at several places with a serious eye to buying land. One block in particular looked lovely. Two days later the area was being evacuated as bush fires tore through the place. The block ended up a charred mess. Imagine, I thought as I spoke to a senior SES officer (SES is a division of the Police and Emergency Service Management, which takes on the managerial role of emergencies. The TFS is a fire response service) what it would be like for the Army, deployed to hunt down what they have been told are terrorists, caught up in something like this.

My mind, which is at best a bizarre place to inhabit, revisited that notion when, the air thick with those amazing palls of smoke that covered the entire island, my son and I went exploring the hidden entrances to Hastings caves and nearly fell into a sinkhole. Tassie devil sniffed at us. Cute...not. And that noise they make - honest to God, you have to hear it in the wild to believe it.

Back in Hobart, we were buying fish ‘n chips exactly as desribed in Blood Ties, after a morning spent perusing the Salamanca markets. A television was broadcasting news about the aftermath of the fires, (Victoria was by then well alight) when the scene switched to the Sea Sheppard ship being rammed by Japanese Whalers. The Green Peace ship had been berthed at Hobart and conversation instantly turned to the 'bleeping Japanese whalers'.
I suspect some of you are aware that one of my novels is dedicated to the Sea Sheppard Conservation Society.

Guess that answers where I got some of my ideas.

I've suggested to one of my senior SES pals in Mudgee that he come on over here from wherever else he's lurking on Gateworld, to address any further concerns anyone has about how the system works in the middle of a real life emergency. He may take a few days, likely he's up on the coast helping out with these floods, definitely not eating egg and salad sandwiches.

Meanwhile, I'm going back to writing fiction.

Oh, and building that fence.

Cheers

[sonny1]

Okay, this one's for the jocks, although the opening para reminds me of a scene from Wormhole X-treme...It's the title and abstract of my thesis.It contains spoilers for Exogenesis in the form of an abstract. Anyone who has read City of the Gods, Exogenesis and The Chosen, and who is interested in an analysis or is a lit student interested in the field, email me privately and I'll send you a PDF copy.

The Attraction of Sloppy Nonsense: Resolving Cognitive Estrangement in Stargate through the Technologising of Mythology
Faculty of Creative Industries
Queensland University of Technology
2007

The SF critic can in his approach mimic mature art, which is many-sided and cognitive, or primitive art, which is one-sided and hence ideological… All literature that attempts to be either an empty game or a “science” is ideological in direct proportion to such confusion. In the latter case it confuses fact with fiction and analogy with prediction. A limit-case of quite some interest as an awful warning is constituted by all the Velikovskys, Hubbards, von Dänikens and ufologists who erect standard SF topics—which are within fiction neutral or indeed meaningful—into “true” revelations, thereby instantly converting them into virulent ideologies of political obscurantism (Angenot and Suvin).

Abstract

The thesis consists of the novel, Stargate Atlantis: Exogenesis (Whitelaw and Christensen, 2006a) and an accompanying exegesis.
The novel is a stand-alone tie-in novel based on the television series Stargate Atlantis (Wright and Glassner), a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1 (Wright and Cooper) derived from the movie Stargate (Devlin and Emmerich, 1994).

Set towards the end of the second season, Stargate Atlantis: Exogenesis begins with the discovery of life pods containing the original builders of Atlantis, the Ancients. The mind of one of these Ancients, Ea, escapes the pod and possesses Dr. Carson Beckett. After learning what has transpired in the 10,000 years since her confinement, the traumatised Ea releases an exogenesis machine to destroy Atlantis. Ea dies, leaving Beckett with sufficient of her memories to reveal that a second machine, on the planet Polrusso, could counter the effects of the first device. When the Atlantis team travel to Polrusso, what they discover has staggering implications not only for the future of Atlantis but for all life in the Pegasus Galaxy.

The exegesis argues that both science and science fiction narrate the dissolution of ontological structures, resulting in cognitive estrangement. Fallacy writers engage in the same process and use the same themes and tools as science fiction writers to resolve cognitive estrangement: they technologise mythology. Consequently, the distinction between fact and fiction, history and myth, is blurred.

The exegesis discusses cognitive estrangement, mythology, the process of technologising mythology and its function as a novum that facilitates the resolution of cognitive estrangement in both fallacy and science fiction narratives. These concepts are then considered in three Stargate tie-in novels, with particular reference to the creative work, Stargate Atlantis: Exogenesis.

[KarenMiller]

Just dropping in again to mention that I've (literally) just finished the final draft of Do No Harm. It's a big book, and I think I'm pleased with it. It was challenging, too, because there's a big focus on Janet Fraiser and I'm so not a doctor. Good thing one of my best friends is!

I'll put an excerpt on my website as soon as I can, for those who are interested.

As for how long I've been writing -- years. Since primary school. But I've been writing professionally full time since 2003.

[Bullwinkle]

I think I first started writing in middle or high school, just little stories that I never dared show anyone. Actually, I think it was Star Trek fanfic, long before I had any idea what fanfic was. Tossed it all out ages ago, and for good reason ...

I'm like you in that I have thrown away pretty much all of my past writing .... But these days I wonder if that was a good thing or a bad thing?! Sure, I think a lot of it is crap (and a lot of it was) yet there are times when I wish I had something to look back on and see how far I've come. If someone asks about my earlier writing then I have nothing to show for it and nothing to reminisce about - it's kinda sad in a way.

Having said all that, I still throw away the writing I don't like (despite my better judgement) - why is it that we never seem to learn?!

- Chris

[Suzotchka]

Spoilers for S4 ..

Spoiler:

Now that it's possible that Elizabeth Weir has become Repli!Weir, is there any possibility of having a series about her adventures as Repli!Weir or whatnot. Or does this fall under the category of you can't really develop a background or storylines because you're not sure what TPTB have in mind yet.

[lightsyder]

I was wondering if the authors that post on here regularly would mind giving us some hints on where their books and short stories take place in regards to the show? It is of course easy to tell what season most take place in but I was hoping to get some more specific details, like what episodes they are near...

[Suzanne Wood]

I was wondering if the authors that post on here regularly would mind giving us some hints on where their books and short stories take place in regards to the show? It is of course easy to tell what season most take place in but I was hoping to get some more specific details, like what episodes they are near...

The Barque of Heaven is set in season three, virtually the next mission after Deadman's Switch. I wanted it to be before Forever In A Day and Deadman's is a particular favourite of mine, so I chose to place it after that episode, with a reference to the problem with the DHD.

Suzanne.

[Suzanne Wood]

I've had word that The Barque of Heaven has just rolled off the presses and is heading off to the US distributor. It should be in the UK in about three weeks time and may appear in US and Australian shops even sooner.



Suzanne.