Notes from the author: Nearing the finish line.

Greetings festive readers. Thanks for being here.

I wish I had a dime for every time someone said to me that they’d like to write a novel. I think a lot of us who like to read think that someday we’d like to try to create a world and populate it with realistic people living dramatic lives.

 . . . then we sit down and try to write something and that blank page stares back at you. I have never attended a gathering of writers without hearing about the fear of the blank page. 

Me and I believe most writers who do start then finish their novels (wether they sell or not) do not have this fear. I see the blank page as an opportunity not an obstacle.

Yesterday I mentioned that I had the germ of the idea for my sci fi saga forty years ago. I thought about that story off and on for YEARS. 

I’m currently working on the final book in the series (The Mother of the Galaxy). What that work looks like right now is me sitting and doing nothing. By the time I set myself up at the keyboard I pretty much know where I am going. I don’t have all the details worked out. I like to leave some “wiggle room” for serendipity. I always seem to find some very interesting solutions during the process of typing out the story. But, I have the finish line out there.

I wake up everyday with butterflies in my belly, thinking about completing a saga that looks to run into 425,000 words.

Philip the Bard returns tomorrow, new years day.

“Kusha” is coming soon.

Earth Year 2013

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Notes from the Author: Return of the sun.

Greetings festive readers. The sun returns! Yeay! Apparently our sacrifices and prayers worked and the sun rises in the sky. Spring and then summer will come. The cycle continues.

For me the coming year will be a big one. I am completing the work of my life. With the release of “The Mother of the Galaxy” this summer I will be concluding a project that begun forty years ago.

I can picture the exact moment this all started. I was in a barracks room on Torrejon Airbase near Madrid in Spain. I had an idea for a story. What if aliens showed up and told us we were actually aliens ourselves from the home world of the arriving aliens. I put pencil to paper and wrote, over the next few weeks, about ten thousand words, the beginning of the story. 

Over the next several years I carried this short stack of spiral notebooks with the story, notes, maps and outlines. All the time thinking that someday I’d finish the thing.

Here I am, forty years later about to do that exact thing. I’m a deep thinker, but certainly not a quick thinker.

Over the next few days I’ll be telling the tale of how this saga came to be real paper and ink. How did I become insane enough to believe that I could write a series of novels? Further I will explain why that is indeed such an insane notion.

“Kusha” is coming soon.

Earth Year 2013

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Notes from the Author: From the Fevered Bed, the solution to universal peace.

Greetings Merry Readers, thanks for being here! I’m still recovering from the flu but feeling much better, thank you.

Isn’t it strange where we find our inspirations, where the muse finds us? While recovering from one of the worst bouts of illness I’ve ever had, I lie awake, suffering in bed and all the details of the last book in the Max Gavaskar Series became clear to me.

Recently I’ve been working hard, polishing “Kusha” getting it ready for publication after the new year. I’ve also been working on the story line of “The Mother of the Galaxy” the conclusion of the series.

There were a few issues I was trying to resolve (in dramatic fashion, of course) at several places in the story. In my fevered state all the solutions came to me.

I won’t give away any details but I’ve been trying to find a dramatic way to have a peaceful resolution to something that is usually concluded with some sort of violent act. 

I think I have it. I hope to demonstrate that universal peace is possible.

Now, wouldn’t that be a good gift for the holiday season?

Earth Year 2013

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Surviving the flu . . . barely.

Hi healthy readers. Did ya miss me? I've been missing you. I came up with the flu on the 23rd and been in bed since. I'm still not great. I just came our to get my email and check in here.

Hopefully I'll be recovered in the next day or two.

I'm very excited about the coming year and I be posting within the next few days every week day.

In January on the blog we'll be sharing a conversation with the Mother herself.

In February we release "Kusha" the sequel to the "Gavaskar Field". Kusha is a more action packed romp than the first book. It has car chases, space battles, a surprise, and maybe a little zero G naughtiness.

Then this summer . . . comes "The Mother of the Galaxy" the conclusion to the Max Gavaskar cycle and the Harappan History Project. I've been working on this recently and I can't wait for you to meet the bad guy! You're gonna love/hate him.

So until I can come out again . . .
Never Mix Red wine and Oodo.

From "The War on Christmas" to Peace on Earth

Greetings beloved readers. Thanks for being here. The holiday season is upon us. I’ll post next week but will probably take a couple of days off. I have family coming to town and I may be distracted. (in a good way)

Today I offer up my thoughts on the “War on Christmas”. From the end of the Pax Romana to the Renaissance, the Christian church held total control over European society. Over a thousand years of brutality and cruelty. To express support for any religion not Christian was to court death. I fear than my Christian friends forget this period in their history and fail to understand the apprehension secularists feel when Christians try to force their religion on the secular world.

Humanism grew from a spark into raging flame and the oppression of the orthodoxy was chipped away. Let me say here that I can separate the spiritual lives of Christians from the horrors of their church’s history. The inquisition is not why I left Christianity.

Today Christianity occupies a more appropriate place in Christian’s lives. Religion should be spiritually uplifting. It should not try to run the secular world. Everyone should be allowed their own spiritual path as long as it harms no other.

Sadly, every Solstice time we hear from (politically motivated) Christians that evil secularists are assaulting Christmas.

We are not. To all my Christian friends . . . relax. We atheists, secularists and those from the myriad of faiths that honor the solstice time do not want our Christian friends to give up their holiday. In fact many of us celebrate in the same way!

I have a yule tree. I put up lights. I send cards. I do my best to spread good cheer. I am not a Christian and I do not celebrate the birth of Jesus or Mithras.

Here is what we secularists and other heathens would like from our Christian friends . . . a little understanding that your’s is not the only holiday tradition this time of year. I do not begrudge your celebration of your religious icon. 

Also, when someone says to you “Happy Holidays” try to understand that they are not trying to offend you. They may be trying to not offend you by wishing you a “Happy Saturnalia”.

Christians, Pagans, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Atheists, et al, share much more in common than we have differences. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we rejoiced in our differences rather than argue over them? Shouldn’t THAT be the reason for the season? Lets make the holiday season a time for understanding our differences and sharing our similarities. We all are free to celebrate the season in our own way but we especially take this time of year to learn about the culture of our friends and neighbors. That is how we may find Peace on Earth.

Happy Holidays to ALL of you.

Earth Year 2013

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Notes from the Author: Conclusion of the Futurist series

Greetings kind readers. Thanks for being here. Yesterday I laid out the time line for human history from now until the birth of Melanie Gavaskar, known to the Universe as Max.

I make a series of assumptions to lead me from now to then. I fear the we humans will not be able to stop ourselves before we wreck the environment. No, we aren’t going to destroy the world, but if we don’t do something very soon we are going to make things very hard on ourselves.

No matter how bad things get we will recover eventually. I am an optimist. I see human history as one long, slow trudge towards civilization.

Full disclosure . . . I don’t have kids. So, I don’t worry too much about what will happen to the environment for my benefit. My wife and I will see things deteriorate but I don’t see complete eco systems failing in the near future. I do expect to see some interesting times. I hope society is able to care for me when I can no longer care for myself. (will I become soylent green?)

Those of you who do have kids should be very concerned and working very hard to ensure that they and their society doesn’t have to spend all its energies learning how to adapt to the new environment. American conservatives often like to moan that we will be leaving the coming generations too much debt. I say the economic debt we might leave is a drop in the bucket compared the problems we are setting up for them environmentally. (OK back off the soap box)

Earth Year 2013

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

The Harappan Blog: Earth History from 2028 to 2391.

Greetings promising readers. Thanks for being here. Today I will spell out the history that leads to my novel “The Gavaskar Field” which takes place in the year 2411.

Year 2028 - First superstorm hits Florida and the Carolinas. Most of Florida beyond salvage.

Year 2039 - Superstorm “Devin” hist West Coast of North America. Coast line from LA to Vancouver wiped out. Refugees from west flood the eastern states. Rioting soon follows.

2042 - The Second American Revolution. Refugee riots bring on Marshal law and US government falls.

2043 - US re-established under the “Constitution of the New Millenium” with charismatic leader.

2047 - Large earthquake toppled much of San Francisco into the ocean. Few people there to notice.

2083 - World population down to lowest level since the 1700’s. Also the year of “The Great Computer Crash of 83”.

2094 -  Eccentric billionaire industrialist Marcus Johnson launches spaceship the “Arc of the Millenium” with two thousand followers in cryo sleep. They go on to settle planet Harappa.

2099 - As the struggling human race rejoices at the end of the Twenty-first Century designs for the hydro-cyclon motor are discovered in writings from Marcus Johnson. The new device draws energy from conversion of oxogen and hydrogen into waster and back into gasses. With this clean and nearly limitless energy the environment is restored.

2141 - 2184 - New Green religion grows based on the Green Bible, a text attributed to Marcus Johnson (this later questioned when Earth and Harappa re-met).

New world government formed with the “Greenies” in charge.

2184 - Beginning of Pax Veridis, a period of  relative peace (though forced) that lasted until the Earth Revolution in 2392.

2371 -  Debendra Gavaskar discovers a way to travel faster than light.

2390 -  Melanie Gavaskar born.

2391 - Earth Ship “Debendra Gavaskar” discovers Marcus Johnson’s colony on planet Smoot-28-4027-3 which the locals call Harappa.

Earth Year 2013

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Notes from Bubba the Science Guy: Space Exploration, the next two hundred years.

Welcome divine readers. Thanks for being here. Yesterday I discussed what I expect in the realm of space exploration in the next thirty years. I can not imagine we will be leaving the solar system for a long long time.

The next one hundred years and beyond will be about exploring the system of planets, moons and other assorted debris we live in. We will begin mining resources from other worlds as Earth’s becomes depleted. 

While the stars continue to fascinate us there is much to discover and explore in our local neighborhood. Europa has liquid water that we are eager to learn if supports life. Titan has a very interesting environment. We believe the asteroid belt is a gold mine for minerals and ores we can use here on Earth. 

Colonies can be set up on Mars with technology we have today. As the capitalists explore Earth orbit they will bring more and more scientists into the study of astrophysics. We will certainly learn new ways of living and working in space. 

These predictions are based on the assumption that we do something to deal with climate change very soon. If we do not then we will be spending our efforts dealing with adapting to the new Earth Climate. That most likely would put space exploration back at least one hundred years.

That is the scenario I offer up in my sci fi series. 

Tomorrow, I will spell out my future if we don’t fix things

Earth Year 2013

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Notes from the author: The Next Thirty Years of Space Exploration

Greetings gentle readers. Thanks for being here. Philip the Bard is still recovering from the wedding and the beginning of the Winterfest Football Tournament. Me, I’m recovering from my beloved Oakland Raiders giving up 56 points but I am here for you all anyway.

Today the topic is the future of space exploration. I grew up in the 50s and 60s when humanity was taking its very first steps off of the homeworld. It was an exciting time to be alive. How many people were inspired to study the sciences because of our early attempts to escape the bonds of Earthly gravity?

By the end of the 60’s we’d placed several people on the surface of the moon. Man, we were on our way!

Then, people got bored with science. Going back to the moon was not nearly as exciting as getting there the first time. We quit paying attention. Then two of our space shuttles crashed. Things seemed to be slowing. We were loosing our momentum.

Or were we? 

Well, certainly we did loose some, but in the background our scientists and engineers have been working. We are making progress. 

I firmly believe that we need both socialism and capitalism to survive as a society. I believe we currently have too much capitalism and not enough socialism but here in space exploration  is a place where more capitalism is called for. We would not have got as far as we have without the people’s investment in the space program. Now, however, private enterprise is stepping into the fray and very soon we will see the fruits of their involvement.

I’m just over sixty years old. If I live another thirty years what will I see as far as the expansion of the human race off of Earth?

In the next thirty years we will see tourists in space. We will see people living on Mars and we will have unmanned probes exploring most of the planets in the solar system. I would expect  some serious attempts to explore some of Jupiter’s moons. Titan and Europa are both very intriguing.

Will we be traveling to the stars? Not in the next thirty years.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about the long term prospects for traveling to the stars. 

Earth Year 2013

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Weddings on Kusha

Greetings festive readers. We’ve been discussing the coming Winterfest. It is a time of year that all Harappans look forward to. However life goes on too. There are indeed other celebrations to be observed. This weekend Geoffrey and Adam’s great grandson, Tim is getting married to the love of his life. 

They are getting married in Wellsville up on the coast. My wife Ina and I will be attending as will Dorian and Alex. We’ll drive up the day of the wedding and come home the next morning. The Winterfest Football tournament starts that day so Dorian and I want to get back to Harappa City to see at least the end of the first game.

Weddings in Kusha are fairly simple things but the reception can go on for days. I know Geoffrey is planning on spending the week camping out in Wellsville.

Never Mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 87

Earth Year 2479

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Winterfest around the Milky Way

Greetings spirited readers, thanks for being here.

We are discussing the coming Winterfest and how we Harappans celebrate the season. Basically we party.

All human cultures celebrate this time of year. The Tarsans honor some ancient founder of theirs. The Cascadians celebrate much like Harappans do the return of the sun and the approach of spring. I don’t know that the SID ever did much to honor their past, or to celebrate anything for that matter. For them a holiday seemed a simple excuse to not work on a particular day. There are celebrations on Lava. They celebrate this time of year even though they have no seasons. I think most Lavans see it as an excuse to party. At least Lavans that don’t work for the SID.

Yes there is still an SID, though it certainly isn’t what it used to be. I don’t even know what they consider their mission to be anymore. They were kicked off Earth. The have an office here in Harappa City but I don’t know much about what they do. I think they provide weather information but weather is so mild on Kusha that isn’t much of a task. Most of their people live and work on Lava but they no longer are the political power there either. The Lavans established their own government after the Farm Riots in EY (Earth Year) 2409.

Never Mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 87

Earth Year 2479

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Winterfest on Kusha

Greetings peaceful readers, thanks for being here.

With Winterfest coming I thought I’d tell you about some of the traditions we’ve brought to Kusha from Harappa.

The Earthers didn’t think to highly of us Harappans when they first met us, but to get to know us is to get to love us. Ha ha.

The Earthers thought we Harappans were too involved with our intoxicants. We do like to party. The Founder was a heavy drinker and he made libation a large part of his paradigm. Hedonism is a major part of Harappan philosophy. We work hard and play hard. Life is short, make due with the limited time you have. Don’t spend your days and nights worrying about things you might have done or shouldn’t have done. Spend your time experiencing life. Find joy in new experiences. Explore new things, do lots.

So, Winterfest has become about re-exploring Harappan ways. Many folks feel that they are passing on our traditions to the next generation of Harappans, even if they live on Kusha.

Winterfest we drink more, eat more and smoke more. We sing more, dance more, laugh more and we play more. You can never have too much laughter.

So for today I leave you with an old Harappan proverb ( I am told that there is an Earthly counterpart in the Mahabharata but I learned this from my Grandmother who had never heard of Earth).

The fire never has too many logs,

The ocean never has too many rivers,

Death never has too many souls, and 

A fair eyed woman never has too many men.

Never Mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 87

Earth Year 2479

Philip the Bard's Harappan blog: Visiting the Mother

Greetings sacred readers, thanks for being here.

Yesterday we broke the news that early in the new year we will actually get a private audience with the Mother of the Galaxy herself! I am so looking forward to that but life goes on, so until then we’ll get back to life on Kusha.

Winterfest is coming. Back home on Harappa we really had a winter. Nothing like they have on Earth, but in the White Mountains where I lived before The Arrival, we had two long months of snow and cold. Winterfest celebrated the half way point between Autumn and Spring. Here on Kusha, especially around Harappa City, where I live now, we don’t see snow very often. I have seen it fall but not stick on the ground. We certainly don’t get the waist deep dumps that I grew up with.

Even so, we Harappans have brought Winterfest to Kusha with many of our other traditions. Only now Winterfest is more about celebrating the Old Harappan traditions than it is about surviving the Winter. People gather to prepare the old foods and old drinks.

Vintners all over Kusha have been preparing their finest wines and the herb growers have been harvesting their crops. The algae lakes are in full swing. More algae cakes are eaten in the two weeks of Winterfest than all of the rest of the year.

Kids born on Kusha will never know our Homeworld. Many folks dispute what the “Homeworld” means. Didn’t humans evolve on old Earth? That’s the argument anyway, but I’d bet the farm that most Harappans who were born there would never claim Earth as their Homeworld.

Tomorrow we’ll talk more about the coming Winterfest.

Never Mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 87

Earth Year 2479

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Our Huge Announcement!

Greetings genuine readers, thanks for being here. I’ve been away from the blog for a few days but I have not been idle. I’ve been working on a project of interest to us all.

Most of you know that the Mother of the Galaxy is not totally well. Despite her young age (I don’t know exactly how old she is but guesses are around one hundred) her body is frail and weakening. The best doctors from all over the galaxy have been consulted and there is nothing for her. She is not expected to survive the winter. Spring will arrive without the Mother of the Galaxy.

I heard one scientist explain that with all the space miles she travelled in her life, more than any other human, her cells just are breaking down. It all just seems a tragic joke that the person who saved the Galaxy from chaos is dying because of her involvement in saving us all. Sadly, we can’t save her.

I can honestly say that I knew her before she became the Mother of the Galaxy. I knew her when she was just Max Gavaskar. My friend Dorian Thain knew her even better. They were quite close. Dorian was something of a mentor for her. She certainly did not need a mentor when it came to science, but he helped her when she wadded into the deep end of the diplomatic pool.

OK, OK, you all know this stuff. But, what have I been teasing for? What is the big news I’ve been promising? Through Dorian I have arranged a meeting with the Mother of the Galaxy herself. Yes! Dorian and I are going to be allowed to visit her personally. I will publish transcripts of our visit here in the blog.

This meeting is to take place shortly after the Winterfest holidays. The Mother has a long list of people waiting to visit with her. In her weakened state she only has the energy for a few short visits each day. We are very fortunate to have this opportunity. If it weren’t for my connection to Dorian we would not be going. 

In the coming weeks I’ll keep you posted on her health and on preparations for our visit with her.

In the mean time . . .

Never Mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 87

Earth Year 2479

Notes from the Author: The Future of Population Control

Greetings nobel readers. Thanks for being here. 

Remember to look for Philip the Bard to return with a HUGE announcement this Monday.

Earlier in the week I spent two days railing against politics but I don’t see that as nearly as big a problem as the human population. We have to solve the population problem. I see that as problem one. Terrorism would fade, the environment would heal and societies would calm down if we could roll back the human population to a sustainable number.

The question is how do we do this? China is experimenting with economic restrictions in an attempt to slow the birth rate. Forcing people to restrict their reproduction seems dictatorial.

People tend to get nervous when anyone brings up the notion of population control. Several years ago I was part of a “Men’s Discussion Group” in Oregon. We came to the conclusion that the population issue needs to be at least brought up for discussion. We sent a representative to the Democratic State Convention thinking they would be more receptive than the Republican party. 

Nope. We weren’t even let in the door. They would not even entertain the notion of mentioning it in the convention let alone making it a platform plank.

My hope is that in the near future societal pressure comes to bear on the act of reproduction. We need babies, certainly. We just don’t need so many. I am childless by choice, but over the years I have on many occasions had to defend my choice. I’ve been called “selfish”, “immature” and worse. I don’t condone rudeness but perhaps this kind of peer pressure can be applied to convince people that not everyone needs to have kids.

You love kids? Have one. Don’t care for them? Remain childless. You want a big family with kids all over? Um, you might want to reconsider that one. We have to give up the notion that I have heard many times that having a baby makes a woman complete. Being smart, being compassionate being strong, these are what make a woman complete.

Birth rates in the first world are indeed dropping. However the third world is maintaining unsustainable birth rates. Whenever women are educated birth rates drop. Hmmm? Maybe we should be educating more women.

Have a great weekend. Philip the Bard returns Monday with his BIG announcement and later in the week I will post another futurist essay regarding the future of spaceflight.

Earth Year 2013

Never mix red wine with Oodo.