BLOGS

The deadline for Dealer/Vendor applications for Detcon1 is January 27, so get those in if you want to be in the room!  

See http://detcon1.org/exhibits/dealers/ for the application and more information.

This event is going to be at the Renaissance Center right in Downtown Detroit. It is the 2014 North American Science Fiction Convention -- people will be attending from all over the country. We expect an attendance of at least 1500 people, including editors and publishers.

Greeting, everyone! I'm Brent Dorian Carpenter, creator/writer of the cult classic comic U.N.Force at Caliber Press in the early 1990s. Currently me and my business partner, indie filmmaker/director Joe Doughrity in LA are working to launch Foundation Comics and Press to bring UNF and other titles back to print and digital formats. While awaiting funding to pay illustrators, advertising, etc, I have written two novelizations of upcoming comic projects that I am extremely excited about.

Enemy Space: The War of Syzygy launches my epic sci-fi franchise series involving the first interplanetary war between Earth and Mars, and presents the saga of the Palladin Family, an African American military clan at the heart of both sides of the conflict. Set in 2098, it explores the overarching themes of climate change, the 99% vs the 1%, and Man playing God to disastrous results. I've always wanted to create my own space opera, and ES pays homage to all my faves, Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Avatar through a wildly original story.

T'Schai: The Fall and Resurrection is the first of s four-book series that tells the story of the T'Schai, an ancient African civilization of hyper-powerful masters of osmosis and the Georhythm, a race of titans that self-destructs due to its own hubris. It dovetails with the present-day story of Paul Morgan, a bipolar African American teen who discovers through very bizarre circumstances that he is descended of the T'Schai, bearing enormous powers he is not psychologically equipped to handle while facing the six hostile survivors determined to wipe out modern day humanity and reclaim Mother Earth. Think Superman meets Dune meets Roots.

Since my earliest childhood I have been endlessly obsessed with the subjects of superheroes, sci-fi, astronomy, archaeology, history, geography, genetics, geopolitics and the notion of "Man playing God." I revel in finding unique ways to weave these wildly ranging topics into one epic work of fiction as only my unique bipolar brain and ghetto Detroit aesthetic can cast them all together.

In my day job, I work 60-plus hours a week as a personal trainer, and devote every waking hour on weekends putting Foundation Comics together. I am pleased to have begun weekly posting chapters of both books on my Facebook page, where you can log on to find out where they are available for sale.

Like most of you guys I also have several other projects in the works, including movie and tv screenplays Joe is shopping around Hollywood and could be days away from a stunning announcement or about to hold my breath for another year or two...lol. Just getting my social media chops, so bear with me, and again thanks for the forum. Looking forward to some great conversations.

SCI-FI FOR WORLD-BUILDING & SURVIVAL at the Allied Media Conference 2014, June 19~22, 2014 (info via Tumblr)

This year the Sci-Fi Track has returned in the form of the Liberation Technologies track, which hopes to use SF (science/speculative fiction) as a tool in fighting oppression, and builds off past tracks and movement building, such as the Science and Social Movements track and the Octavia Butler and Emergent Strategy sessions.

The post-apocalypse is here and real, where ancient and varied cultures and technologies have been erased in the name of Empire and Progress. What do we do when access to memory/the past has been standardized, and the potential to manifest and (dis)embody the joyous unknown has been shamed and left behind?

This track seeks sci-fi and speculative themed session proposals that disrupt, deconstruct, and reframe oppressive mainstream media networks, narratives, and representation by using sci-fi possibilities to reorient existence.

Appropriate themes and activities include:
Afro-futurism, healing practices, bodies and abilities (paranormal, dis- or otherwise), storytelling, emergence, meme-making, imaginative world-building, fan-fiction, magical real[ness], DIY sci-fi, intersectionality, collective memory, speculative cities, exploding binaries, digital places/cyberspaces, redefining science/technology, technologies that are incomplete, gestural & in process, recuperation of technologies both ancient and contemporary, mythology, affect and public regulation of feeling, ∞.

We explicitly seek to welcome & center the #libtech track around:
People of color, black people, trans* people (transwomen, non-binary trans, transmen), youth, native people, fat and abundant people, surveilled people, dis-abled people, mixed people, non-people, and the communities that exist around the lot of us in all our different places and experiences.

Read the FAQs for Submiting AMC Sessions here for questions about session formats more. Please send comments, and questions to our AMPtalk page or to libtechamc@gmail.com.

»> Submit your Call for Proposals to our Google form here.

Deadline for submissions is March 1st, 2014.

Hello everyone!

The campaign for our, “Earth Squadron” Movie has been underway for a couple weeks now and we have made significant gains on the campaign. We still have a long way to go and we would humbly ask that If you like Black Sci-Fi, if we have purchased your books or contributed to your campaign to please support us now.  This is serious business. We often ask why we do not have this or why we do not have that, it is because we have to make it ourselves and support others when they venture to do positive things for our community.

This project is just the tip of the iceberg. We plan to use this as a means to open the door for future 3D, cartoon and live action projects.  I am asking for your support by donating what you can afford toward getting this movie done. Our team is fired up and ready to make this film a reality! Our community and children in particularly deserved more positive images and role models to emulate. Be a part of making that happen now.

Click here for more info and to support today:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/earth-squadron-movie-project

Sincerely,
Jarvis Sheffield, M.Ed.
Administrator

LINK:  http://glossi.com/PenelopeFlynn/77789-other-sci-fi-mag-winter-1-2014

Source: Discovery link below

Discovery: Kugelblitz! Powering a Starship With a Black Hole
Jeff Lee, Icarus Interstellar
Harvard Abstracts: Geons, by John Wheeler
(Note: Dr. Wheeler taught at UT Austin, Texas)

Enormous Craft Detected On Moon, The Secret Is Out (Photos)

At least one enormous object of unknown origin has been visually verified as having landed on our moon. As a result, on Wednesday, January 15, three Terrier-Orion rockets blasted off within a span of 20 seconds from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. EST (0600 to 1000 GMT) on hush-hush missions for the Department of Defense (DoD).

TRN has obtained photos of the unknown spacecraft and has an audio interview with an outside consultant from NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) who confirms that for almost two years the U.S. government used the MacDonald Observatory in Texas to track the approach of two of these enormous objects. A year ago, in January 2013, the objects had gotten to within 200,000 miles of Mars when they suddenly vanished.

Realizing these two craft were approaching earth and might not be visible to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbital Camera (LROC) depending upon where they went, the Government reactivated the previously cancelled Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) to be launched to the moon on September 6, 2013. It took almost 100 days for LADEE to be placed into proper lunar orbit. By December, 2013, both LADEE and the LROC found at least one of the two enormous objects had landed on the moon, in a crater the size of the City of Chicago.

All of this was kept secret until, quite by accident, the LROC images (which are generally made public) were uploaded to the publicly available GoogleMoon service, where intrepid users came upon the enormous object. Now, the whole world can see this "object" on the moon --- the secret is out.

Click here for the full story

Enormous Craft Detected On Moon, The Secret Is Out (Photos)

It's important that you get your family involved in your writing process. If you're like me, then you have to actually work for a living. Also, if you're like me, you have a family. Both require a considerable amount of attention and thus, take away from the time you have to write on a daily basis. If you've read my previous post on setting writing goals, that's only half the picture. I've fallen way short of meeting mine simply because when I've been able to write has been sporadic at best.

Again, get your family involved. Work, you really can't do anything about unless you can set your own hours. But it would be to your benefit to create a schedule, discuss it with your family, make your adjustments, and then implement.

I've enclosed my Writing Schedule. The green are my blocks for writing, but that doesn't necessarily mean those are the only times I can write. I still use my smartphone when I walk the dog to write using Google Drive. And I tend to stay up later than my wife at times and I might steal a moment or two then.

Liked this post? Why not check out a book or two? A couple of them are free.

I stumbled over another one of these scams on Craig's List. Here's another example of someone trying to make money off you without you really getting paid. I'm not saying you can't find a legit publisher on Craig's List, but one that wants to pay you $100, at most isn't one of them. Now I'm not necessarily against getting paid as a ghost writer (which is what this comes off as), but if you're going to take a flat-fee as payment for up to 40 pages of writing, $100 is nothing but a rip-off. If they really meant business, they would cut writers in for a percentage (10% is fair for new or unproven authors, 25% at least for authors who are established).

And I've made no changes whatsoever to the posting as it appeared on CL's site. Why don't they put the name of the company in here? Is there a reason this is kept secret? Again, not that that locks this in as a scam, but it certainly is indicative along with the fact there are no terms put forth outside of the meager stipend they offer.

We are looking for writers that can write structured, well organized content in an ebook format. We are looking for different subjects. 

Some sample categories:
- Weight Loss
- Stress
- Health
- Psychology
- FictionWe need books in all categories, so please email us with your areas of expertise. You will be provided with reference material to use as inspiration which you can then rewrite in an original way.The ebooks should be about 30-40 pages long. Pay is $50-$100 per book depending on the subject. If your work is satisfactory there is more work available immediately.Please email me with:
- the subjects you would be qualified to write
- Sample(s) of your work
- Your estimated delivery of such an ebook

Thanks!
***MUST INCLUDE SAMPLES OF YOUR WORK.. Otherwise your message will be ignored

• Location: anywhere
• do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers
• Compensation: yes

Instead of losing money on your manuscript, why not make the most of it? If you don't know how to publish your own story, pick up a copy of How to Publish on Amazon Kindle, Smashwords, & Nook the Easy Way! Only $2.99!

Credit: Link below

Science Daily:
Milky Way May Have Formed 'Inside-Out:' Gaia Provides New Insight Into Galactic Evolution

Can't wait until the walkers are moaning at your door? Try The Butterman Cometh. Only $0.99.

A new teaser trailer for The Walking Dead has been revealed - scroll down and click to watch. The 31-second-clip focuses on Andrew Lincoln's character Rick Grimes, as he tries to build morale among his fellow survivors following a confrontation with David Morrissey's The Governor. The zombie show is set to return from its mid-season break in the US on February 9. It was revealed in October last year that The Walking Dead had been renewed for a fifth season. It is currently the most-watched show in America among adults aged 18-49 and the premiere episode of season four drew a best ever audience of 16 million viewers.

Read more at http://www.nme.com/filmandtv/news/new-teaser-trailer-for-the-walking-dead-revealed/329544#J8pqUpLZXUk4oHE4.99

Check out Fleshbags, the 'Sickest. Zombies. Ever' according to Zombiephiles.com.

Just a quick update to the Kaizen app. 

Kaizen Text app has been updated with some bug fixes and some minor functionality upgrades.

the most important new feature is the addition of the Average number of words per sentence calculator. 

The Oxford Guide to Writing - provides that sentence variety is key to maintaining a overall effective style. The Guide provides a handy short cut by stating that sentences should be between 15 and 20 words long. Shorter and you run the risk of choppy statements. Longer, and you risk losing the reader in a sea of commas, semi-colons and adverbial phrases. Of course, different lengths, in the right pen, can make magic. However, it never hurts to evaluate your writing relative to some of the metrics the style mavens think are essential to good writing.

Simply enter your text into the Kaizen text field and see how it shakes out.  Use the Kaizen Text App here. 

Moorsgate Media 

On the bug list side, a bug that prevented the complete analysis of a text where there were words without syllables (such as made up words) has been fixed.

        Here's a snippet of things to come.  Aura, The Art of Winston Blakely is my first art book and

        its almost here.

         Chock full of goodies from all genres, Sci Fi, Horror, Sword and Soul, Humor, Pulp Adventures

          and Fine Arts.

          It has a special introduction by Jarvis Sheffield, creator of Black Science Fiction Society.com,

          so you know it must be good.  Thanks to William Hayashi for his fabulous interview on

          me, months ago... which by his wonderful inspiration that propel me to do this book.  I  had

         always wanted to do an artbook, but never felt the right motivation until that faithful interview.

           Its good when creative people inspire each other, makes for an excellent product.

              Now... in order of appearance...

                1. Kotas, The Dragon ( cover from Immortal Fantasy, created by Winston Blakely )

                2.   Midnight Phantom Strikes ( Black Pulp Hero from the 1930's, based on

                       the writings of Jemir Johnson

                3.   The Road  ( illustration from Leopard's Moon- illustrated tales of Sword and Soul

                       by Melvin Carter

A Black Out of Black Heroes

    
It all began when in the late 80's I would stop by the corner store to buy a Captain American comic book for 75 cents.  Then in the early 90's when I was a young man in the US Army.  This man would sell me once a month, Brother Man, Dictator of Discipline.  That was the first black superhero comic book I ever saw with excellent writing and great artwork.  That's when I started to seek other black superhero comic books.

     Sadly, there wasn't any I could find.  All the comic book stores were covered from top to bottom with comic books. But none of them look like me.

     Now in the 2014, I have a company called Heroes Like Me Entertainment that is dedicated to presenting stories of sci-fi, action, mystery and fun with heroes that look like me and you.

     I have created a short video called The Alien Ambassador: Nightmare of the Gorans.  It is an attempt to present a black teenage superhero to multimedia thru YouTube.   

     It is also a launching pad for my endeavor to seek funding from the Internet community to produce The Alien Ambassador; The Movie. 

     As I began to send out press releases about my project. I noticed I was getting little attention and no responses back from comic book websites and sci-fi companies.  I even turned to African american websites and have gotten positive responses from a few. One of them is Black Science Fiction Society

     I was upset when Marvel Studios didn't green light a Black Panther movie but instead green lighted Guardians of the Galaxy.  A group few have heard of, but since it's Marvel it will make millions of dollars.

     I firmly believe there will not be any black superhero movies on the screen until a black creator makes once for everyone (Black, White, Latino, Asian, Indian) to see. 

     Dragon Ball Z and Speed Racer are Japanese cartoon shows that were made into movies.  Instead of the lead characters being Japanese, they replaced  them with white actors.

     That was wrong.  The movie could have been successful if the movie studios stayed true to the original material and kept them Japanese.

     I know that if my characters where white that I would have gotten a better response for my project from both white and black audiences.

    Several years ago a black cartoon movie was made called The Golden Blaze. It had a A-list cast of black actors, but it wasn't commercially successful.  Even balck folks didn't support it well.   

    Nichelle Nichols of Star Trek fame once considered to leaving the show in the sixties because she felt that she was a glorified telephone operator.  Martin Luther King Jr heard about this and asked her to stay on the show since she was a positive black woman on a sci-fi show.

    She did.  That is why we know who Nichelle Nichols is.

     Another project worth looking at is Earth Squadron by the creator of Black Science Fiction Society.  I will definitely contribute to it's development. 

     We need to see heroes in tights of color, we need to see heroes of color too fly space ships and chart alien worlds.  We need to see heroes that look like me an you.  I love Superman, Spider man, Batman and Wonder Woman but we have been denied the opportunity from the major movie studios to see a black hero on the screen.

     We have to make our own, We have to support those who are trying to make that happen by any means necessary.

-Christopher Love