Con Report: 2016 AnachroCon: Guns, Gadgets, Gizmos, and Trains: TheTechnology of the Weird Wild West

This was one of my favorite panels at AnachroCon, because after we introduced ourselves and talked for a few minutes about steampunk "gadgetry", our moderator threw out the program and suggested we have some fun…creating a group character! Here are my roughly-edited notes from the thick of it:

Panelists:

• Geoff Mandragora
• Lev Butts
• Margaret McGraw
• Misty Massey
• Nicole Givens Kurtz
• Jannaea Adams
• Moderator: Arthur Hinds

So how do you describe or introduce the"Weird Wild West" to those who do not know it?

General consensus, flawed as it is, Will Smith's 1999 Wild Wild West has "the look" - costumes, gadgets, and crazy machinery in a (sort of) Victorian-era American West -- it's instantly identifiable!

The original Wild Wild West series (1965-69) sparked the love and fascination for many of us

Jannaea

• it's modern science in an earlier time period, using materials that would have been available then
• Like a helicopter in the Renaissance -- da Vinci was working on it!
• One of her introductions was Harry Turtledove's Guns of the South - going back in time and giving AK47s to Robert E Lee
• Sparked her interest as a builder and maker

Nicole

• I write weird west and publish steampunk. I watch a lot of anime like Cowboy Bebop, Firefly, Jonah Hex, and Cowboy Bebop ("Jesse James w/ a space freighter")
• Wild Wild West was a flop, but the gadgets were fantastic
• One of the most memorable scenes -- the fight on the train with all the gadgets!

Misty

• smart is sexy
• Artemus Gordon was *smart* - he was always saving Jim West - he was the maker, the inventor

Arthur

• every gadget is a part of the maker's persona

Other favorites:

• Brisco County Jr
• Secret Adventures of Jules Verne

And here's where our panel went off the rails in a wonderfully unexpected way. Arthur asked if we, the panel and the audience, would like to continue talking about the general topic, or if we'd maybe be interested to engage in a group exercise: to create a steampunk character? Oh, we're in!

So we started throwing out ideas…what would define a "weird Wild West" character?

• Maybe carrying a sawed off shotgun, a "boomstick"
• Would it be a rifle reloader? Lever action? Have a magazine? Gears?
• Maybe a focused crystal device - not a laser, but helps to focus - peep sight - purple!
• Should we choose a gender? What about a construct? A golem? An alien?
• A cyborg - human brain
• Dr Who episode - clockwork robotic man - ancient race - replaced w/human parts
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_in_the_Fireplace
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Breath_(Doctor_Who)
• What gender? Indeterminate  - lost our sex over the years
• Ash - name - no last name
• No significant memories of being human, but knows s/he was
• Vengeful? Doesn't know purpose
• Could be multi-individual cyborg - hasn't decided who's in charge
• Some overriding consciousness - multiple agendas, gender roles - there's the internal conflict
• External conflict - everyone's afraid of Ash on sight
• We're telling the Frankenstein monster story
• Power source - can Ash wind self up, or need something to "live"
• Not a shiny metal automaton - Boomstick, period - calamity Jane persona? Clumsy, burned down a saloon
• True history: after the Civil War, lots of disfigured people, common to wear masks - wouldn't necessarily inspire fear
• Mechanical face supposed to look human, from a distance, then up close know something is wrong
• Human body - so many parts replaced it's now cyborg
• Needs some kind of food, and some kind of power source -- alcohol
• Ash lives out of town and has a still - only goes to town to get supplies
• Doctor has medicinal alcohol - human contact in town
• Could he survive on wood ethanol?
• A Town Called Ash
• Part desperately wants human contact - male is gregarious former gambler/thief- female is quiet angry former soldier - Scarlett Ohara and Rhett Butler

Everything we're describing is what happens in a writer's mind as they develop character and backstory

• Cyborg legs do better than a horse would
• Hand car, doesn't need rails - Ashmobile - wheels, crank thingy (jack handle)
• Still on the hand cart
• Ash doesn't refer to self gender - but others use he and that pisses female off
• During the Civil War - women pretended to be men and served in both sides - continued after

"Anthology of Ash - coming soon from Mocha Memoirs Press"

• Ash in long duster, holster for lever action, giant clip, sawed off shotgun
• Built-in weapon - flamethrower to burn alcohol?
• Metal hands - mean left hook
• Her kryptonite - needs fuel - if he goes too long, dead - burrito could feed brain, friend could provide fuel
• Ash would kill creator
• Dr discovered Ash and they have saved each other - traditional male doctor? Early female doctor?  Civil War Army Doctor - knew the female soldier - hasn't told Ash they have a past connection
• Ash gets Arthur's hat with goggles
• Time traveler from future - saved two people by putting them together - Or put them together as a funny joke - psychopath brain surgeon, alien joke
• Full mask could be a mask, or goggles
• Uncanny valley - disturbing to people -

Riese - web series picked up by ScyFy - she covers her face in a way Ash would

• Need more gadgets
• Purple shotgun
• Goggles - telescoping vision
• Miniature still -
• Could spit alcohol and flame it, but would be sacrificing own fuel
• Lives by the bar, as a bouncer - could have done that for awhile, until someone discovered what he really was
• Series of jobs, is discovered and move on
• Biological part is injured and needs patching - has dr friend
• A lot of blacksmiths were also veterinarian - adding to Ash's gadgets
• Blacksmith Frank, Dr Stan
• Jannaea proposes - post confederate - her town was burned to the ground  - Native American -  dr built her back up

Exquisite corpse, graphic novel by Pénélope Bagieu

What's your Passion?

• Geoff - how people make connections, loves technology
• Lev - combining myths with other genres
• Me - how cultures are different, expressions of religion
• Misty - MagicalWords.net - passion is magic
• Nicole - publishing marginalized people's works - don't have a voice - get it out there - publishing her story - silenced (main character) Sybil Lewis - loves her!
• Jannaea (blog) - writing, building (taking apart putting together), imagine stories behind them
• Arthur Hines - Emerald Rose

#

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you

Namaste

I’ve heard many translations. Here’s my favorite:

The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes

the light of the universe that shines within you.

# 

Con Report: MarsCon 2016, Williamsburg, VA, Friday, Jan 15, 2016

This was my 4th MarsCon, 2nd as an invited guest, and it remains one of my favorite regional conventions. A terrific new hotel this year, with real convention space collected in one wing, rather than walking back and forth endless long halls at the previous hotel (although I didn't get as many steps in, so there's that).

Parking had been a serious problem at the previous hotel the past couple of years, leading me to decide to drive in Thursday night and plan to spend Friday as a writing day before the con spun up. I was glad for the "down" time, although as usual, distractions kept me from getting as much writing done as I had hoped.

Unfortunately, I missed one of the very first panels that I'd wanted to attend on "Writing in Shared Worlds". That's always the way - more programming than one person can handle.

For me, Marscon began, appropriately enough, with the Opening Ceremonies. A little loose, a little rambly, lots of well-deserved recognition for many very hard-working people.

Oh, whee, a fire drill! Glad we got *that* out of the way early…We all stood around for a moment, wondering whether to take it seriously. Just about the time the con-runners started to tell us to head outside, the siren stopped (though the strobes continued flashing for quite a while).

What can follow that? Mikey Mason, of course, a high-energy performer who sang an obvious crowd-favorite, "Best Game Ever" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M60zW_Mfm58>.

Next up, new-to-me, the charming S.J. ("sooj") Tucker, sang and played guitar well. But of more note (sorry, I couldn't help myself), was her very sweet and earnest entreaty to the audience, "If no one has told you that it's ok to be you…it's all good. I'll write you a note."

Someone (I really was not yet in note-taking mode--sorry!) put together a lovely memorial video of genre luminaries who died in 2015..and even included Davie Bowie and Alan Rickman, both gone earlier in the week.

There was a champagne & sparkling cider toast to absent friends, and to the best weekend of the year, MarsCon!

Afterward, I hustled over to the hall where I will be for all of my weekend's panels (they are all in the same two rooms), for the Writing Guest of Honor (GOH) interviews with Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman, and Alethea Kontiss. The interviewer, Mike Pederson of RavenCon was there, and a good audience…but no GOHs! They were all in the Opening Ceremonies…

Then this happened…

@MarsCon Rushed from Opening ceremonies to GOH Interviews...but the GOHs are still at the OC! @EllenKushner @AletheaKontis @deliasherman

— Margaret McGraw (@MargaretSMcGraw) January 16, 2016

Because we Knew. RT @MargaretSMcGraw: @MarsCon Rushed from Opening ceremonies to GOH Interviews...but the GOHs are still at the OC!

— Ellen Kushner (@EllenKushner) January 16, 2016

~~~

So once they arrived and settled, Mike invited them to introduce themselves -- three talented women in a genre historically dominated by men, both creators and creations. After fun introductions, Mike asked each woman about their thoughts on the weekend's theme of women in science fiction.

Ellen Kushner talked about starting her career around the same time as genre powerhouses Shawna McCarthy and Ellen Datlow. There was a rise of women in publishing about the same time that there was a rise in fantasy of SF -- there wasn't much fantasy other than Lord of the Rings until Terry Brooks' Sword of Shannara. Most "fantasy" was loosely called "sword and planet" -- falling under the science fiction umbrella, but clearly "sword and sorcery" set offworld. Anne McCaffrey's Pern, Marian Zimmer Bradley, and other women rose to prominence in this period. A lot of fantasy was published as children's books, such as Madeleine L'Engle, C. S. Lewis, Roald Dahl, Lloyd Alexander, and Susan Cooper. [Almost as an aside, Ellen observed that now, YA has overtaken fantasy!]

Ellen spoke briefly about some of the negative patterns that she has seen over time. Women are still "ghetto-ized." White hetero male is the default assumption about a character in the absence of description. In the business arena of writing and publishing in the genre, the "big deal" women tend to be "honorary men"--one of the boys.

Delia Sherman said she considered herself very lucky, and she was pleased by the growing diversity of the genre and community: more diversity, more women, more women of color. Now there's the Octavia Butler scholarship to Clarion…things are changing. And to be honest, most of the old guys who don't know women are literate are retiring…the younger men rising to fill their places are more appreciative, more open-minded.

Alethea asked for her comments to be off the record. Truly, she didn't say anything scandalous, just blunt honesty about her early experiences in the publishing industry. But in truth, you're doing yourself a disservice if you've never seen the beautiful, effervescent "Princess" in person.

Mike asked, "Do women still have to write under pseudonyms or gender neutral names?"

All three agreed that people still think differently about material when they know the writer is a women or know/think the writer is a man. This is not to say that women are not excelling in areas of the genre still predominantly male, such as Louis McMaster Bujold or Elizabeth Moon in military SF. Alethea observes that publishing houses are often essentially run by women, with a man in charge.

Mike asks about their most recent projects…

Dehlia is writing book about boy who runs away from home in Maine and runs into an evil wizard. She says Maine feels very much like you've just stepped back half a century or more, and magical things live out in the forest. She has a steampunk story coming out from Tor next month, in a series of novellas.

Ellen has been happily absorbed in Tremontaine, a shared-world anthology, structured like a tv series, each episode is a short, Ellen wrote the "pilot" to set the stage. She loved the Bordertown series--so did Holly Black--so they've revived it.

Malinda Lo kicks butt w/plot, Ellen does really great w/character studies, [?] brought in whole new culture… Ellen wrote the "finale"--she said it felt like writing fanfic for her own world - lots of sex! She's also working on a new novel.

Mike asked Ellen, "What's it like, turning over control of your world for a shared world?"

Ellen tried to back off and let the writers develop their own stories--in fact, she went too far and wasn't as involved as the writers wanted. They're working on a 2nd "season" now. And there is the original Riverside series of novels that began with Swordspoint! So there's lots of material for the authors to run with.

A question from the audience:

"Do you think that women tend to write men better than men write women?"

All three agree absolutely. Ellen elaborates: we grew up reading books about boys having adventures; we had to push ourselves into male POV to get into the stories and imagine ourselves in their roles. So we as women are used to putting ourselves into a male context, whereas men haven't had the same impetus to do so. She wonders whether the next generation of women writers will have the same ability, as they have a greater variety of characters to dive into. At the same time, she says there are some men who write terrific women!

Delia says you really have to look at individual authors, because there are "the worst" of both women and men writers. Women are trained by our culture to understand underlying contexts/subtexts - "why would you do that?" We're trained to interact with people, not humans with one set of genitalia or another. But our culture still defaults to male. Men generally aren't as interested in what motivates women and what they're thinking--they haven't had to be.

Mike adds that he finds the men who don't wrote good women tend not to write good secondaries in general - all their focus is on their main characters. They don't know how to bring depth to the people they're not interested in.

Consensus: Peter Dickinson writes fantastic women!

~~~

Time for me to earn my keep! I was moderator for the panel "Social Media Etiquette for Authors". The panelists were Kim Headlee, Alethea Kontiss, Gail Z. Martin, and Will McIntosh.

We talked about a range of topics, including handling criticism on social media, negative reviews on websites like Goodreads or Amazon, as well as providing "content" rather than a constant barrage of "Buy my stuff!" messaging. Panelists discussed their preferred mediums, including Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and a few of the youth-targeted sites such as Instagram or SnapChat.

Will said that he's working closely with media publicists now that some of his books have been optioned for films, and they are pushing him toward Twitter. We talked about keeping up a flow of messages, and managing this time demand with other behind-the-scenes demands of a writer.

Sadly, I did not manage to take notes during this first panel--the commentary was lively, and I was trying to herd the cats! ;-)

My panels done for the evening, I enjoyed some time catching up with friends before diving into a full day tomorrow!

# 

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you 

Namaste

I’ve heard many translations. Here’s my favorite: 

The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes 

the light of the universe that shines within you. 

# 

Appearance: AnachroCon: Atlanta, GA

I'll be a guest at AnachroCon in Atlanta this weekend! 

My panel schedule:

SATURDAY, FEB 27

12:00—The Weird in the West: Contemporary Treatments
1:00—Once Upon a Time in the Weird West: Myths, Legends, and Fairy Tales Reimagined
6:00—Guns, Gadgets, Gizmos, and Trains: The Technology of the Weird Wild West
7:00—Beyond Schoolmarms and Saloon Girls: Women of Steampunk and the Weird West 

SUNDAY, FEB 28

10:00—Small Presses and Independent Publishing: What They Offer to Readers and WritersI will post my notes from these and other panels I attend as soon as I'm able to clean them up for you!

More chatter on Facebook and Twitter, if you friend me there :-)

Namaste,

Margaret S. McGraw

Weird Wild West is...well, out in the wild!

I'm allowed to be pretty excited about my first book release, right? I mean, I hope I will be this excited about every one!

I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed working on this project. My deepest appreciation goes to my two wonderful co-editors, Misty Massey and Emily Lavin Leverett, and all the authors and writers who gave us such wonderful stories--even those we could unfortunately not include.

When I started reading through the original "slush" pile, I read the first nine stories, thinking, "meh, okay..." Then I read Frances Rowat's "Abishag Mary" and I leaped up, shouting "Yes!" and doing my dorky happy dance in front of the computer.

The rest of the Weird Wild West are the other stories that made me--and my co-editors--jump up and say "Yes!" They're really terrific tales! You're welcome. 

So what's all the hubbub about? 

The back cover blurb:

The untamed frontier is a challenge, a test of character, a proving ground for the soul. It's a place where pioneers rewrite their future, or end their days…for better or worse. In the spirit of Bret Maverick, Cat Ballou, Kwai Chang Caine, and James West, The Weird Wild West blends western grit with the magical and mysterious unknown that waits beyond the next horizon.

With thrilling stories by Jonathan Maberry, Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin, John G. Hartness, RS Belcher, Diana Pharaoh Francis, Misty Massey, James R. Tuck, Robert E. Waters, David Sherman, Tonia Brown, Liz Colter, Scott Hungerford, Frances Rowat, Ken Schrader, Bryan C.P. Steele, Wendy N. Wagner, and a bonus story by New York Times bestselling-author Faith Hunter, you've hit the Mother Lode!

If you weren't part of the KickStarter, how can you get your hands on all this Weird Wild West juicy goodness?

Amazon has Weird Wild West available in paperback and Kindle.
B&N has it available in paperback and Nook.
Goodreads has reviews and links to lots of online stores.

Please let me know what you think of the collection! Better yet, you can really help out with a review on any one or more of these sites!

Get ready to ride into the Weird Wild West!

Con Report: IllogiCon V: Schrodington Goes to the Circus, Part 1

Friday, January 8, 2016
Illogicon is my first convention of the year, and a terrific way to start the season. In its fifth year, Illogicon is a small, regional con in Cary, NC, with lots of fun costuming, a respectable dealers' room and hall tables, and enough programming to keep me busy without being overwhelming. I know enough people, among guests, vendors, and attendees, that the con has the feel of a large family reunion.

In fact, I had no programming scheduled on Friday, so I was able to enjoy the first evening and night of the convention with friends and my daughter (this is one of her favorite cons).

The only reading I attended on Friday was Rich Dansky, who reads as he writes, clever with wry wit, often mixed with the absurd or the macabre. Rich read from two stories, the first an unpublished treat about an urban unicorn trapped by a virgin who refuses to give him up. The second, "Splash of Blue", in the Blood Sushi anthology (here's a nice review of the whole anthology), about a detective with fae blood who prefers to be paid in emotions, which he "drinks" in like the finest liqueur, while working a missing person case on the dangerous art scene of Durham, NC.

The after-hours socializing was surprisingly quiet, and I had to prepare for my first Saturday panel on the best movies of science fiction and fantasy, so we called it an early night.

Namaste,
Margaret S. McGraw

Appearance: MarsCon 2016, Williamsburg, VA

January is a busy month and a great start to the 2016 convention season, with MarsCon fast on the heels of last weekend's Illogicon.

This is my 4th (5th?) year at MarsCon, my 2nd as a guest, and it's one of my favorite cons, small-to-medium sized, friendly and fun, with great costuming and interesting programming. The ConSuite is legendary for their food and hospitality. And if I'm lucky, I'll find my way to the Endless Party at the Cross Time Saloon! 

I may fangirl when I meet Ellen Kushner.

My MarsCon Panel Schedule:
Friday, Jan 15th
6pm Fri Auditorium Opening Ceremonies 
8pm Fri Harrison 1 Social Media Etiquette for Authors

Saturday, Jan 16th
11am Sat Harrison 3 Welcome to the Anthropocene
12pm Sat Harrison 1 Adapting Books to Movies
3pm Sat Harrison 1 The Mary Sue Complex
8pm Sat Harrison 1 Sci-Fi's Effects on Gender Perception

Sunday, Jan 17th
11am Sun Harrison 1 Writing Male Characters from a Woman’s Perspective

I will post my notes from these and other panels I attend as soon as I'm able to clean them up for you!

More chatter on Facebook and Twitter, if you friend me there :-)

Namaste,

Margaret S. McGraw

Appearance: Illogicon 2016, Cary NC

I'm delighted to be an official guest this year at Illogicon, one of my favorite Southeast conventions! Regional cons are sort of like homecoming, seeing so many familiar faces. Illogicon provides enough programming to be interesting, but not overwhelming. And the costuming is great!

My Illogicon Schedule this weekend:

Saturday, January 9th

10:00am History of Sci-Fi: From Avatar to Zardoz 

12:00pm Grammar Geeks

1:00pm The State of Sci-Fi Tv 

2:00pm Live Action Slush

7:00pm Broad Universe Rapid Fire Readings

Sunday, January 10th

10:00am NSFW: Balancing the Writing Life and Work Life 

2:00pm The Weird Wild West

I will post my notes from these and other panels I attend as soon as I'm able to clean them up for you!

More chatter on Facebook and Twitter, if you friend me there :-)

Namaste,

Margaret S. McGraw

Prompt: Words flow like water

Jekkub gripped my hand, squeezing my fingers till I thought the bones would crunch together. It didn't matter.  Even if I couldn't hold a pen after this. We'd come this far together. I wouldn't pull away from him now.

“You skeered?” Collum sneered at us, puffing out his chest as if he actually had any importance. He didn't matter either. He strutted in front of our cluster of novices, supposedly preparing us to enter the Glade, but doing his best to add to the terror we all felt.

“I heard one novice went in and never spoke again…” A whisper came from the back of the group. I recognized Claret’s voice and shushed. Not helping.

“I heard one came out star raving mad, and they've been locked up ever since. Only speaks gibberish…”

“Shhh,” I hissed between tight lips. “Not. Helping.”

Jekkub squeezed harder, and I squeezed back. My penmanship was definitely in peril.

“Marris,” Collum snapped. I hadn't though Jekkub’s grip could tighten any more. I glanced to him and gave a sharp nod. His hand slipped away, and I squeezed his fingers before he was gone. I stepped forward. Before Collum could goad me, I said firmly, “I'm ready.”

If Collum spoke as he ushered me through the door, I didn't hear it. I was deafened by the roar in the Glade. The heavy doors swung shut behind me, and I stood still, hands balled into fists, heart racing, breath in fast gasps. Panic. Fight or flight. No room for thought. I forced my hands into motion, left over my diaphragm, right over my chest. Slow breath, slow heart, fast mind.

The sound echoed all around me, a continual roar at first. “Words flow like water,” I remembered Hollew, our mentor, walking around a stone basin, trailing his fingers in the clear water. “Let them flow. They'll wash over you. Around you. Through you. Receive the words that have meaning for you, and let the rest flow on.”

The roar of sound was words. But this was no flow, this was a raging storm. A maelstrom. I shook my head and closed my eyes, stepping forward. My hands pressed harder against my robe. Slow breath. Slow heart.

“...fast mind…”

I froze. Tilting my head, I listened. The roar was words, spoken, sung, chanted, in a million different voices, different languages, all at once. How could I make sense of any of it?

“...flow..."

I pulled my right hand away from my stomach and swept it in front of me. I felt cold, like water against my skin. I swirled my hand in the air and felt ripples wash over me. The solid roar changed as I swirled my hand. In it,out of it, came streams of voices, single threads I could catch and follow for a moment, before they were swept back up in the roar and washed away.

I reached out my left hand and waved it with my right. I felt the sounds wash over me, heard the streams of words flow, against me, through me. I laughed and raised my hands, waving them like the music leaders I loved to watch around the village night fires. The words flowed, and I swept them into music around me.

Finally, the streams, the roar faded away, and I stood in the middle of the Glade with my arms raised high. I dropped the down, once more pressed against my heart, my stomach. Yes, the words still flowed. I was ready to carry them out of the Glade and into the world.

The doors opened before I reached them. Collum stood ready to gloat at my failure. The words flowed. He didn't matter…

Untrue. I stopped in front of him and pressed my hand to his chest. “It's your turn, Collum. There are words you need to hear.”

He paled, unresisting as I pushed him through the doors and pulled them shut behind him.

#

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you

Namaste

I’ve heard many translations. Here’s my favorite:

The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes

the light of the universe that shines within you.

#

Prompt: Guardians of the Tree

Jostain holds the apple in his hand, pulling enough for the branch to sway down, but not enough to tear the stem. If it breaks free, if he pulls just a little harder, he will be a dead man. But first, oh, but first, he could taste it. All of it. Standing guard around the tree, we all watch. And wait. And wonder.

Did Eve pull the apple loose? Did the snake coil around and squeeze it free for her? Did she give a morsel to Abel before he died? How did she and Adam survive the madness? Were they immune, the original innocents? Standing guard around the tree, we watched. And waited. And wondered.

We are the last sons of Cain. We guard the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The knowledge of everything that is in the world. The knowledge that drives men mad. Knowledge worth sacrificing our lives to protect. Knowledge worth dying for. We guard the tree with the promise of a taste on our dying lips.

But some forswear. If the knowledge drives men mad, the possibility of knowledge does even moreso. Jostain, second only to his father, Lesteth, Leader of the Guardians, broke the circle this morning and walked under the tree. Standing guard around the tree, we watched. And waited. And wondered.

We do not guard to keep people from the tree. Only to keep those who taste the knowledge from leaving. From carrying that knowledge, that burden, that madness out into the world.

We wait for Jostain to choose. If a Guardian decides to taste the fruit of the tree, his oath demands he sacrifice his own life. With a swing of his arm, Jostain pulls the apple free and up to his mouth. He takes a big bite, chews with relish. His eyes grow wide, the pupils darken. His face goes still, his hand falls down, the apple drops to the earth. It shrivels and rots in seconds, disintegrating into the bare dirt. No leaves fall from the tree.

Jostain’s face lightens with a smile of pure joy. He pulls his dagger from its sheath, presses the blade against his neck. Standing guard around the tree, we watch. And wait.

Lesteth turns his head. Weakness? Sorrow to lose his only son? With no change in expression or posture, Jostain throws the knife into his father’s heart…

#

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you

Namaste

I’ve heard many translations. Here’s my favorite:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.

#

Prompt: The map (app) doesn’t show what’s right here

Carrie had her hands tucked in her coat pockets, fingers still feeling the sharp bite of winter wind. She walked quickly on the broad sidewalk, eyes scanning the ground for dark icy patches at the same time she kept track of the pedestrians moving around her. Minneapolis wasn’t New York, but she still practiced her Big City habits.

She noted the young man approaching, head down, looking at his phone. Idiot. She stepped clear of his path, closer to the building. Without looking up, he suddenly veered in front of her and walked right into her. She fell back on her butt and her backpack, trying to pull her hands out of her pockets.

“Oh shit! You’re real!” she thought she heard him say, as she shook her head and took a deep breath. She wanted to cry, or scream at him.

He was pulling her up by both hands. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Are you okay? Jeez, we’ve got to move. They’re looking…”

He tugged on her hands, and she was dazed enough to let him pull her to the side of the building, and around the corner. She realized they were in an alley and started to pull away. He pushed her against the wall and leaned close to her ear, hiding her face from the street.

“Please! I’m not going to hurt you. They’re passing us now. Just hold on for one more…”

She pulled her hands free and shoved against his chest. He stumbled back and she darted out of the alley.  She turned left and ran, her heart thundering in her ears. Would he follow? Grab her?

She gasped in the freezing air and slowed her pace to a fast walk. No one paid her any attention. She was afraid to look back. When she reached the corner, she turned and dared a glance. She almost stumbled. He was following her. She leaned against the building, trembling. No. What had she seen? He was walking behind three business men, pointing to them with his phone. He’d seen her. Mouthed something. Help me…

#

Author note: Are you playing Ingress? If you’d like an invite, email me. I opened the app on my way home tonight, and though it showed the streets and buildings, it never resolved to show XM lights or portals along the way. I had a sudden vision of the world as I saw it superimposed on this dark, lifeless world. What about cars moving on the roads? I didn’t actually see any people out – it was dark and cold.

Anyway, I was playing with this idea, when all of the sudden, I thought, “Oh FFS, it’s the Matrix! :(”

So what do you do when you have an idea, but you’re not sure it’s original, or original *enough*…

#

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you

Namaste

I’ve heard many translations. Here’s my favorite:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.

#