I just completed a road trip to all forty-eight contiguous states. First of all, my apologies for not visiting people I know in many of those states. The point of my trip wasn’t for visiting, but just to get through it in a reasonably short time.
During the trip, my wife and I drove 9898 miles in 21 travel days. We made the journey in two loops, a counter-clockwise western loop covering the states west of the Missouri River, and a clockwise eastern loop. That allowed us a break in between.
Having just completed our tour last night, I’m still compiling statistics and organizing notes I took. I promise to write more about this trip when I can. For now, it must suffice to say I enjoyed the chance to ramble the roads of this country and touch the soil of each of our connected states.
Though not the first to make a journey like this, I’d guess only a tiny percentage of Americans have done it. People talk about the number of states they’ve been to, but that’s the result of many disconnected trips taken over years or decades.
Occasional traveling provides stimulation for writers, and my journey accomplished that. As I said, you may look forward to more about this forty-eight-state odyssey, as written by—
In recent years, a distressing trend has infected TV shows featuring household interior design. I’m talking, of course, about the display of books backward—pages out—on bookshelves. This must end.
Somehow, this bizarre book-positioning method caught on and became a thing. Normal people, in normal homes, now arrange their books this way.
Why? Some claim they prefer the monotone look of shades of white on a bookshelf to the chaos of multi-hued book spines. Others say they enjoy choosing books to read at random without knowing author or title.
Those reasons strike me as rationalizations for a decision really more about imitating a new fad seen on TV.
An internet search reveals the reason cited by these shows for hiding the spines of books. They blame it on copyright law. If they exhibited the titles, they say they’d have to obtain permission from the publisher of each displayed book.
That explanation doesn’t ring true. What bookseller, publisher, or author would sue because they didn’t want their book spine displayed before a nationwide audience? With print book readership in decline, you’d think these entities might even pay the TV show for the publicity of some bookshelf space.
Further, if the interior design shows fear copyright lawsuits, why do TV news programs routinely feature interviews of people with properly displayed book spines on shelves in their background? Shouldn’t the same legal threat apply to news shows?
Turn your books around the right way, I say. Stop this insidious disease before it spreads further.
If it continues infecting more homes, I’ll implement my own method of protest and no doubt it will catch on with other authors. I’ll get my publishing companies to print my book titles and my name on the page side of my future books.That way, if you turn the book around, you’ll still see what’s also printed on the spine.
I don’t expect things will go that far. Fads come and go, and this one must die of its own accord. As the newness fades, and as people search in vain for specific books on their shelves, they’ll realize how silly they’ve been.
They’ll turn their books around to reveal the informative spines once more. As they do so, they’ll pause a moment to thank—
This past weekend, I attended and spoke at ICON 48, the science fiction convention in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. What a great time!
Bill Pitcher, me, Tony Penticoff
On Friday night, I spoke at a very imaginative panel on the topic of “Dyson Spheres and other Megastructures in Space.” Tony Penticoff did a marvelous job of monitoring the panel (and making an informative presentation) while Bill Pitcher and I talked about various aspects of these structures. The ten audience members seemed engaged, and asked several detailed questions.
Michael Fraska and I
My first Saturday morning panel covered “Embracing Technology isn’t only for the Young.” (How would I know? I’m not old yet.) Still, Michael Fraska and I talked about that topic in an informed way and I think the three attendees got something out of it.
Me and Myron Williams
Next came an Author Meet and Greet. I sat at a table with Myron Williams while prospective readers stopped to talk. To my surprise, I sold a couple of books.
Me, Tom Ashwell, and Jim Hines
After lunch, I moderated a panel on the topic of “Riding the Publishing Roller-Coaster,” and authors Tom Ashwell and Jim Hines (ICON toastmaster and Hugo award winner) helped the seven members of our audience understand the ups and downs of the writer-publisher relationship.
Me and Paul Price
In mid-afternoon, I moderated a panel called “The Rapid Increase of Population Growth” with retired EPA scientist Paul Price. He gave the eight-member audience a much better understanding of the rise in human population. Though the world’s populace may experience some problems in the near term, it may be best to worry about something else.
Nobody attended my scheduled author reading with fellow author Trisha Anderson. I chatted with her for some time, though, and spent a pleasant half hour learning about her novels.
Joseph Isenberg, me, and Tony Penticoff
Saturday night, I served as a panelist for two artificial intelligence topics. The first, “Artificial Intelligence in World of Creators,” drew a crowd of three people, but moderator Tony Penticoff and panelists Joseph Isenberg and I explored how AI may soon create stories as well as human writers can. We might have to adapt to a future where AI writes better fiction.
Tony Penticoff, Bill Pitcher, and me
The next panel, “How AI Will Transform Our Lives Over the Next Five Years,” garnered an audience of eleven. Tony Penticoff moderated this panel as well, and Bill Pitcher joined us. A lively discussion occurred, with great audience participation.
Me, Tom Ashwell, and Athena Foster
Sunday mornings at scifi cons tend to be subdued after attendees have stayed up late the past two nights, and a sense of winding down pervades the hotel. However, eight alert and curious audience members gathered for a 10:00 am panel titled “First Time Authors – How to Get Published.” I moderated, while authors Tom Ashwell and Athena Foster imparted excellent advice.
At noon I moderated an interesting panel called “Writing a Compelling Fight Scene.” Author Alexis D. Craig did a masterful and enthusiastic job of educating the ten-person audience about how best to do that.
Rachel Aukes, me, and Megan Mackie
My last panel, “How Do I Get My Work Out There?” started at 1:00. Author Rachel Aukes moderated, and author Megan Mackie sat on the panel with me. I believe the six attendees of this panel walked out with solid tips on how to get their manuscripts published.
All in all, a wonderful con, and, having grown up in Cedar Rapids, it represented a nice homecoming for—
If you’re not planning to be in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from October 13-15, consider it. I’m scheduled to appear at ICON, the science fiction convention there. Cedar Rapids means a lot to me—I grew up in that city.
Here’s my schedule for that weekend:
Friday
9 pm Dyson-Sphere – Megastructures in Space (with Bill Pitcher and Tony Penticoff)
Saturday
9 am Embracing Technology Isn’t Only For The Young (with Michael Frasca)
12 pm Writing a Compelling Fight Scene (with Alexis D. Craig)
1 pm How Do I Get my Work Out There? (with Rachel Aukes)
I’ve never been to ICON, and I’m looking forward to it. They’re holding the con at the Cedar Rapids Marriott at 1200 Collins Road NE. Online registration for the con is closed, but you can register at the door.
All I can say is—hey, Cedar Rapids, I’m back! We’ll see if the old town can stand a whole weekend of—
