What’s your Horoscope on planet Caidoz?

It’s decided. In 2021 I’m beginning a novel tentatively titled Horrorscope. Its concept is this. Brothers born on opposite sides of conflict on a planet where zodiac caste system determines your position in society.

Caidoz Astrological Signs

When originally conceived, I thought surely I’d need someone to consult in the ways of the Zodiac. However, being the introvert that I am, I decided to create an entirely new world with a different system. On planet Caidoz, the south pole always faces the sun. It wobbles on a perpendicular axis so its rotation is parallel with its sun. On the only southern continent, it’s always day. Its axis wobble, however, gives it some semblance of directional influence on which to base their strict code of astrological oppression.

Caidoz Map

The world building and nomenclature alone has been usurping a good bit of my writing time. As of now, Caidoz is still evolving. You’ll be the first to know what it evolves into.

Jim

Plenty of Crazy Ideas

After finishing and publishing my poetry anthology, “do ants have souls,” I need new goals. I have plenty of crazy ideas. If I try to work on too many projects at once, I could wallow in a time warp. Here are the major ideas crying out to be heard between all four quadraspheres of my cerebral cortex and cerebellum.

Spencer Murdoch and the Fall From Heaven

Spencer’s chosen-one son reaches school age and is bullied at school while Spencer focuses elsewhere and decides to take control and enter the portal.

C. J. Murdoch beyond the Mystic Portal

Creatures of light visit three-year-old C J Murdoch and transform him into a grown man where enters Erzandor’s portal and discovers heaven’s golden streets.

God Particle

A physicist discovers the God particle and is instantly transported to heaven and learns the truth of God and the universe.

For this I need to read the popular 1993 science book of the same name. As if I didn’t have a large enough stack of books in the to-read pile behind the stack of books in the currently reading pile.

Horrorscope

Brothers born on opposite sides of conflict on a planet where zodiac cast system determines position in society.

War for the Unsouled

God allowed only so many souls when he thought Earth into existence. Now, good and evil battle for the hearts and minds of the unsouled.

Yes. I created a word for this one but it’s okay ‘cause I used it in the title.

Screen play adaptation of Twisted Fate

After the seemingly random discovery of an abandoned barn, a fun-loving young man endangers his friends in a deadly mystery beyond his earthly understanding.

Screen play adaptation of Martholomew

A high school boy and a new girl in town trespass on forbidden ground and discover a supernatural truth to an unearthly local legend.

Violence

An epic poem on gun violence I’ve been working on for a while but need to assemble into some kind of reasonable form.

I could ignore it all and spend my days playing guitar and writing songs. A man can write infinite songs in his head but only so many with his hands.

Or I’ll go with what I decide to love.

Peace and Love
Jim

James M M Baldwin, Sergio de Companion, Jim

It is said, science fiction and fantasy are two separate things. Science fiction; the improbable made possible. Fantasy; the impossible made probable. But what happens when you mix these two opposites? Rod Serling,Twilight Zone The Fugitive 7/9/1962

Born into this mixture between science fiction and fantasy, speculative fiction author James M M Baldwin persists in these endeavors to this day.

After writing three to six hours a night, six nights a week (never on a Sunday), for 15 years, (that’s approximately 21,000 hours), I took a break from writing. From Memorial Day, 2017 to Labor Day, I didn’t write a tittle or a toddle (or a title). I did participate in the Nebraska Writers Workshop’s June Bits of Scripts facilitated by Sally J. Walker. That was a big success this year.

Island of Magic

Portals of Erzandor

You’d think, with that many hours writing I’d have more to show for it. Beside the two novels; SPENCER MURDOCH AND THE PRORTALS OF ERZANDOR and SPENCER MURDOCH AND THE ISLAND OF MAGIC. Beside my science fiction short story collection;  ORION’S ARM: TALES FROM THE MILKY WAY. Beside my horror collection; BEYOND THE VISUAL CORTEX: TALES FROM THE INNER REACHES OF THE MIND. Beside and my long form poetry collection on mental health topics; MENTALCHAOS. Beside the situation comedy, MOCKINGBIRD HEIGHTS, written for the 2016 NWW Bits of Scripts (yes it’s true, sometimes I think I’m funny). And besides turning my short story DREAM HUNTERS into a feature length sci-fi/fantasy/horror script. Besides all that. There’s one thing I’ve accomplished more than any other; rejection.

Beyond the Visual Cortex

Orion's Arm

Pursuing traditional publishing is a tricky path. Convincing an agent or publisher to invest in you is somewhat of a catch-twenty-two. You can’t get them to notice you without a record of successful publishing, and you can’t get that record without getting published (to a certain extent). With that said, Mockingbird Heights’ failure to place in the 2017 Omaha Film Festival (I might not be as funny as I think I am) registered as my 213^th rejection.

I think I've earned a break.

Tatanka, Sergio de Companion

During my hiatus, I finished several large art projects painting under the brush-name Serio de Companion. (If you had read Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor, you’d know I stole the name from my own writing.) As Sergio, working religiously every Sunday, I’ve completed hundreds of works, many abstract, recently swinging almost 180 degrees, creating my own lineal contemporary style. I’ve not started counting gallery rejections. Not yet. While continuing my lineal contemporary series, I’m adding a ledger art line matching historical event drawings with antique ledger paper from the same years. If you’re interested in ledger art, take a look at the great Don Montileaux’s website.

Sergio de Companion Ledger Art

Mental Chaos

Another thing I seem to be good at (whether writing or painting) is ideas. I have lots of ideas. I have more ideas than I have time. In my writing que are two more novels and another screen play, but next on my list is my second poetry collection (yet unnamed).

Bottom line, you’ll see more of me in the future. Whether as James M M Baldwin, Sergio de Companion, or just plain Jim, I’ll be lurking around somewhere. You may have to scan a few asteroids. 

Peace and love, brothers and sisters.

Jim

Holed Up In the Bat Cave (Writing)

Yes, it's true. I've been absent. But trust me. it'll all be worth it. I'm holed up in the bat cave working on the next Spencer Murdoch novel tentatively titled "The Island of Magic." Stay tuned.
Peace
Jim

What is Speculative Fiction?

People often ask me, "What is speculative fiction?" Like all fiction, I like to tell them, it answers the question, "what if?" In speculative fiction, the question is, "What if anything imaginable were possible?" In my stories I've asked questions such as; What if a percentage of light speed travel is possible. What if time travel is possible? What if supernatural monsters are real? What if someone could physically enter the dreams of another person? What if hatred could manifest itself in a biological presence? What if a man discovered a portal between heaven and hell? These are only a few of the questions that have made it into my stories. I have hundreds of questions such as these that have the potential to become future stories and novels.

I know this concept seems like it could be infinitely wide-ranging, but I believe that is what speculative fiction should be. No restraints. Technically, speculative fiction encompasses the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. But even among these three, there are many subgenres. Wikipedia defines it as, " an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror fiction, weird fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as related static, motion, and virtual arts.

According to Google, to speculate means to form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence. They define speculative as engaged in, expressing, or based on conjecture rather than knowledge. Those are fancy ways to say, "making stuff up." That's what we do when we write speculative fiction. I know some "hard science fiction" fans and writers that might disagree with that, but it's still taking what is known or possible and filling in the blanks. Some relevant synonyms might be conjectural, theoretical, hypothetical, or abstract. Put the word fiction after any one of those and it could probably be considered a subgenre of speculative fiction.

GreenTentacles.com attributes the creation of the term "speculative fiction" to Robert Heinlein (one of the big three science fiction writer of all time along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clark) in 1941. DictionaryReferance.com gives a precise definition, "a broad literary genre encompassing any fiction with supernatural, fantastical, or futuristic elements. That makes it easy. Right?

Well, I'd better get busy writing. If you want to know more about my speculative writing, stop by my website. In the meantime, what's your favorite speculative genre. Or, if you want to be more specific, who is one of your favorite speculative fiction authors or what is one of your favorite speculative works?

An interview with James M M Baldwin

Recently, Smashwords offered all of its authors the chance to participate in an interview on the Smashwords website. Here is what James had to say.

Q- What's the story behind your latest book?
A- "Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor" was inspired by the emotional state brought on by a post 9-11 environment, the spirit of a world changed by a single act. This is the story of a family working to retain their happiness and security despite obstacles beyond their control.

Q- What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
A- When I'm writing, and the story is flowing, I really become immersed in the characters and their plight. It's almost like I become that character and I'm living through them. I know it sounds a bit psychotic or schizophrenic, but I think that feeling is the experience of any creative person while they're writing, or painting, or composing, or whatever. Being a fantasy writer means that I experience things I could never live through in a million lifetimes. I hope the reader feels the same.

Q- What do your fans mean to you?
A- Naturally, the fan is what makes the world go 'round for a writer. The reader is the most important aspect of creating. I want them to come away from my stories with a
"Wow. That was different… or original." I'm not sure if I have any fans in the true sense of the word. Not like J K Rowling or something. I'm sure I have some vaguely interested people. I guess they would be my fans. Hey. If you're out there somewhere, drop me a note at jamesmmbaldwinauthor@aol.com

Q- What do you read for pleasure?
A- I often enjoy reading classics, especially science fiction classics. I also enjoy reading speculative short stories. There's just something exciting to me about entering another world every time you sit down to read.

Q- Who are your favorite authors?
A- My favorite author is probably Ray Bradbury. Not only do I enjoy his stories but I think he is a good role model for an author. In his work ethic or approach I mean. Another along those same lines is C S Lewis. His space trilogy, specifically "Out of the Silent Planet" is what made me decide I wanted to be a writer. Also, Madeleine L'Engle's "Wrinkle in Time" quadrilogy is one of my all-time favorites. Her imagination is unrivaled. I recently discovered that she wrote a fifth book in that series. I need to get my hands on that and read it. The Jenkins and LaHaye "Left Behind" series is entertaining and inspirational, especially for anyone who has read the bible. My favorite modern writer would have to be Ted Dekker. His circle trilogy is A-plus.

Q- What is your writing process?
A- Most of the trained writers I workshop with at the Nebraska Writers Workshop will probably scoff at me for saying this, but I'm a seat of the pants writer. Most successful writers have everything planned out before they begin. My planning is all in my head. So it's not like I don't know where I'm going, but there's always room for exploration and new direction. Albeit, a lot of what I write gets cut out later.

Q- Describe your desk.
A- Uh… messy.

Q- What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
W- Because I have a day job, I don't have any choice. My writing takes place in the dark of night. I think that fact is reflected in the subject matter and tone in my writing. Of course family also plays an important part in my life. So, if you're getting the drift here; I don't sleep much.

Q- When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
A- As I mentioned before, family is an important part in my life. So I like to take them to do free things like hiking or to the beach at a local lake. My son is interested in paranormal investigation, and I'm his sidekick. I'm also a bicycling addict. Whenever I can, I take off and ride somewhere between 10 to fifty miles at a time. I keep trying to push the distance a little further each time. Maybe someday when the kids are grown, I'll ride my bike across the country. Years ago I wrote and recorded several rock albums, but it's been a while since I've forayed in that direction. It would be a joy to have the time to get back into that again. I studied art in college and enjoy pencil drawing. I'm also an avid painter and sculptor. Wanna buy a painting? Hahaha

Q- Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
A- I wrote a story about a young man that finds himself alone. The phone rings and he picks it up to find no one there. Then the doorbell rings. He runs to answer it and no one is there. He runs up and down the street searching for someone, anyone. He finds no one. Scared and dejected, he returns home. He passes a mirror and looks in. And… you guessed it… no one is there. I thought it was brilliant at the time.

Q- What are you working on next?
A- I think, like most authors, there's always a plethora of projects running through my mind. Sometimes that can be a distraction to progress. But, as for projects actually in the writing stage; I have two short stories I need to finish. One's has a working title of Schätzchen Drachen, which is German for baby dragon. It's the story of a young boy in the Black Forrest of Germany that finds a Dragon egg. The other is a darker tale that was actually the result of a bad dream. I'm not exactly sure how far to take that one. The dream was pretty extreme. After I finish those two, I need to get to a new round of editing on the completed second novel in my Spencer Murdoch series. It has a working title of "The Island of Sora Sesha." I'm really excited to get back to that and publishing it sometime in 2014.

You can get books by James M M Baldwin at the following locations
Paperback edition of "Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor" at CreateSpace here.
Paperback edition of his science fiction short story collection at CreateSpace here.
Paperbacks and Kindle editions at Amazon here.
Also available in Amazon stores worldwide.
Ebook editions for any ereader in the Smashwords store here.
IBooks for iPhone, iPod, or iPad at iTunes here.
Nook editions from Barnes and Noble here.
Also available at Sony, Kobo, Diesel, and can be requested as an ebook checkout at libraries worldwide.

Light Speed Travel, Part II; Nuclear Propulsion

Tell me what you think about this. Firstly, what do you know about the nuclear prohibition in space. Obviously, with the laws of inertia, you don’t want radioactive material flying about the universe. But what do you think would happen with a nuclear explosion in outer space. Secondly, in my story “Son of Thunder,” I proposed a nuclear propulsion device that would harness the expanding energy of an atomic explosion against a blast-plate attached to a ship. Since a nuclear blast’s initial detonation expands at high percentage of the speed of light, I used ten decreasing proximity explosions to propel my ship faster and faster as the reactions get closer to the ship’s blast plate. In the story, my ship achieves a velocity of four percent of the speed of light, exceeding twenty-five million miles per hour. At that speed a ship could travel to mars, depending on orbital conditions, in less than a day.

In researching the story, I discovered that there have been studies on nuclear pulse propulsion, not the least of which was “Project Orion.” Also, there are numerous science fiction forays using such a device. And of course, when you talk about light speed travel, you also have to think about time anomalies. And that’s where the true focus of “Son of Thunder” resides. But that sounds like the subject for another future post. I can sense a “Light Speed Travel, Part III; Time Travel” in the offing.

I wanted to bring this up because I think about it often and would love to hear your opinion.

Jim

See also:
Light Speed Travel, Part I
and
Light Speed Travel, Part III; Time Travel

Light Speed Travel, Part I

While making calculations for my short story “Son of Thunder,” a story about a round trip voyage to Mars at a percentage of light speed, I came up with some interesting data to share with you.

We know light travels 186,282.397 MPS (miles-per-second), which translates to more than 670 million MPH. Current theory does not allow an “object” to move at the speed of light because of the restraint that increased acceleration as it approaches light speed would require an infinite amount of energy.

However, here are some examples of how long it would take to travel to specified locations in a ship capable of traveling at the speed of light. Our light speed ship could travel the roughly 250,000 miles (varies depending on its orbital distance) from Earth to the moon in 1.3 seconds. The 93 million miles from Earth to the sun would take 8.3 minutes. (However, if you’re traveling to the sun you’d better go at night so don’t you burn up ;) ) The time to traverse the 25 billion miles to Alpha Centauri would be 4.4 years. And a trip in our speed-of-light-ship to the edge of the Milky Way galaxy would take a mere 100,000 years.

Seem like a long time? How about this? Using current technology, most of a vehicle’s fuel is used reaching Low Earth Orbit with little fuel left for an interplanetary or interstellar mission. But presuming we could fuel a ship beyond orbit, its speed is around 17,000 miles per hour (408,000 miles per day, 148,920,000 miles per year). Therefore, our space ship travels at 0.0025 percent of the speed of light. Considering our light speed ship took roughly 4 and a half years to reach the nearest star Alpha Centauri (4.3 light years at 5,865,696,000,000 miles per light year equaling more than 25 trillion miles), it would take our ship 170,000 years to travel that distance. Now here’s the real kicker: The center of the Milky Way galaxy--our galaxy--is approximately 30,000 light years. To reach it using our current technology spacecraft would take approximately 1,186,046,511 years, that’s more than a billion years; almost unfathomable, not to mention what it would take to reach another galaxy.

In “Son of Thunder” I proposed a controversial propulsion system that I discuss in Light Speed Travel, Part II; Nuclear Propulsion. Check it out here. But these are plenty of numbers to wrap your brain around for now. Have you ever contemplated space travel and the speed necessary to achieve a deep space program? What are your thoughts? You tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.

Jim

See also:
Light Speed Travel, Part II; Nuclear Propulsion
and
Light Speed Travel, Part III; Time Travel

Swords and Dragons

Swords and Dragons
James M M Baldwin

Dragons deal death upon the land
Raised swords split the sky
Dreams of destiny dance in the dark
Serpents soar above singing sorrowful songs
Demons draw their daggers in deception
Snakes serve a sour justice in a sunless season
Dogs growl, drums direct a stampede
Scarred soldiers draw silver sabers from crimson scabbards
A dance of danger drowns a kingdom in demise
Scarlet sands recite somber stories
Darkness drapes the dead in a desolate shroud
A single sword rises in success
Death defeated
Sovereignty saved

A Frayed Knot

In response to a recent query, an agent wrote that she was afraid not. Aside from the old joke about a rope that’s refused service in a bar, goes outside, has its friend tie it in a loop and unravel its end. It goes back in and the bartender says, “Aren’t you that rope I threw out of here. The rope says, “I’m a frayed knot.” But back to the agent: It seemed an odd thing to say. An agent never admitted to being scared from my query. She was probably just being flippant in her use of an idiom. What she should have said was, “I believe, regrettably, that the answer is no, or “Unfortunately, no; I regret that that is not so.” Technically, the way she phrased it, it means she is not afraid. But no; I’m afraid not. So it’s a “no?” I’m afraid so. The full sentence should have read, “I’m afraid I can not,” something she probably did not want to admit. I had hoped she would be not afraid, but ‘fraid not. In the words of a John Michael Talbot song, I’d offer my dear agent this advice, “Be not afraid.” However, since much of my writing has taken a dark turn lately, maybe it was a subconscious compliment. My words may have actually scared her. Maybe I had written my query too well. But, then again, maybe knot.

What do you think about this fearful word play?
Have you ever been scared by a book?

Thanks
Jim

Life's Autumn

Life’s Autumn
James M M Baldwin

Silver sunlit rays traverse a lavender sky
A fragile hand clings to life

Purple clouds trimmed in gold hide a setting sun
Hope remains amid enthusiastic prayer

Copper hues dapple autumn leaves
Disease enforces its penalty

Birds speckle the sky departing for southern lands
Loved ones visit but return whence they came

A season ends
Death claims its prize

A distant star lights the dark
A wandering soul finds an eternal home

Ten Scariest Movie Villains

As a speculative fiction author, I dabble in horror. Two of my best are Twisted Fate and Dream Hunters. Though the second leans more toward science fiction, the dreams contained in the story are pure horror. Today I came across a list on AOL of the ten scariest movie villains. Some of them I hadn't heard of.
Here's the list.
10. Ghost Face from Scream
9. Angela Baker from Sleepaway Camp
8 Jigsaw/Billy the Puppet from Saw
7. Chucky from Childs Play
6. Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King's It
5. The Firefly family from House of a Thousand Corpses
4. Michael Meyers from Halloween
3. Jason Vorhees from Friday the Thirteenth
2. Leather Face from Texas Chainsaw massacre
1. Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street

I wasn't familiar with the Firefly family or Angela Baker, but the video clip from Sleepaway Camp looks intriguing; a bullied child takes revenge.
Another list from YouTube listed as top ten horror movie villains (doesn't mention scary)adds Norman bates from Psycho, Jack Torrance from The Shining, Regan from the Exorcist, and Hannibal Lector from Silence of the Lambs. They also had the Xenomorphs from Alien, but if your going to have that, you also have to put in the predator from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Predator movie. That one however may be less horror and more action/adventure. If I'm including action adventure, I might want to add Heath Ledger's Joker from the Dark Night and maybe even Darth Vader from Star Wars.

What do you think? Did I leave someone out? Who's your scary favorite?

Jim

Wild Wednesday Leads to Thoughtless Thursday

Great story flowing onto the paper Wednesday night, so much so, that I stayed up past my usual 12:30 AM self-imposed curfew. The story intrigued me. I couldn’t stop right in the heart of the action. Finally, after two in the morning, the Mountain Dew wore off and I came to a stopping place that would be easy to pick up the next night. The next day went swimmingly until late in the afternoon when having only four hours sleep hit me. I made it through until last night when I sat and stared at the computer screen. I knew what I wanted to say but it just didn’t make it to the keyboard. A vacant spot the size of a tennis ball occupied my skull. Something was missing. I slept my usual six hours last night, so maybe tonight will be better.

Wow! What a Morning.

Today I spoke with God. I confronted demons face to face. I traveled forward and backward in time. For a short while, I visited another planet. I witnessed the death and rebirth of planet Earth. …all before breakfast. Do you want to hear about the rest of my day?