Author Archives: Poseidon's Scribe

Whirlwind Weekend in Des Moines

This past weekend, I had a wonderful time at DemiCon, the science fiction convention in Des Moines, Iowa. My first time at that con, and I met interesting people and engaged in fun discussions.

After driving for eleven hours to get there, I made it in time for my first panel on Friday evening. The topic was ‘Artificial Intelligence Meets Science Fiction.’ Jan Gephardt, David Pedersen, and I discussed the future of AI as it affects writing. What will happen when AI writes better fiction than humans? Asked and answered.

I, Jan Gephardt, and David Pedersen discuss ‘AI Meets SF’

Saturday began with a panel titled ‘Iowa in SF.’ The uninformed might dismiss that as a contradiction in terms. However, Lettie Prell, Adam Whitlatch, and I disproved that and entertained a packed room with examples of SF set in Iowa, SF writers with Iowa connections, and reasons for setting a SF story in the Hawkeye state. Note: in a little over 200 years, James T. Kirk (future Star Fleet captain) will be born in Riverside, Iowa.

I, Lettie Prell, and Adam Whitlach discuss ‘Iowa in SF’

Following that, Adam Whitlatch and I answered the question: ‘Can Writers Benefit from Being Editors?’ Adam has edited much more than I, and together we emphasized that even if a writer never edits another’s work, she should strive to think of an editor as partner, not enemy.

Adam and I discuss ‘Can Writers Benefit from Being Editors?’

I didn’t expect anyone to show up for my author reading session, but to my surprise, four people did. (I bribed ‘em with doughnuts.) That lucky quartet heard excerpts from 80 Hours and from my story “Reconnaissance Mission” which appears in the anthology Not Far From Roswell. I even sold and signed some books.

Me at my reading – brought doughnuts

Right after that, I spoke at a panel titled ‘Pandemics Through History, Their Effects on Literature.’ That topic may sound depressing, but Jan Gephardt and I focused on diseases sparking some marvelous fiction including the The Decameron, The Masque of the Red Death, The Plague, The Stand, and many others. We emphasized that pandemic literature explores feelings of fear, pain, hopelessness, and isolation, but also shows the courage, nobility, innovation, and resilience of the human spirit. COVID-19 will likely spur some interesting SF in the coming years.

Jan and I talk about pandemics in literature (still some doughnuts left)

How many people would likely show up late on a Saturday night to hear me speak on the topic ‘Character Changes from Unlikeable to Likeable?’ As it happened, that number was fourteen. After presenting literary examples like Ebenezer Scrooge, the Grinch, Godzilla, and Darth Vader, I discussed techniques writers use to present a character as unlikeable, but then do a ‘face turn’ to show that character displaying redeeming characteristics.

On Sunday, Jan Gephardt and I teamed up again, this time to discuss ‘Gadgets in SF’ with an audience of eleven or so. We warned budding writers not to fall in love with their gadgets. Fall in love with characters and plot instead. If readers wanted long gadget descriptions, they’d buy a textbook.

DemiCon treated me well. That might not be the last they see of—

Poseidon’s Scribe

May 8, 2023Permalink

Iowa Boy Returns – DemiCon 2023

This coming weekend, May 5-7, I plan to speak at DemiCon, the science fiction convention in Des Moines, Iowa. I grew up in Iowa, so it will serve as a homecoming of sorts.

Here’s my schedule for that weekend:

Friday

6 pm               AI Meets SF (with David Pedersen and Jan Gephardt)

Saturday

10 am             Iowa in SF (with Adam Whitlatch and Lettie Prell)

12 pm             Can Writers Benefit from Being Editors? (with Adam Whitlatch)

2 pm               Steve Southard Reading

3 pm               Pandemics Through History, Their Effects on Literature (with Jan Gephardt)

9 pm               Character Changes: From Unlikable to Likable

Sunday

12 pm             Gadgets in SF (with Jan Gephardt)

I’ve never been to DemiCon and it looks like there’s a lot to enjoy, even many events that don’t include me. The full schedule is here and you can register for the con here.

You’re thinking—with so many other things to do in Iowa, why go to a scifi convention? That question answers itself.

C’mon to DemiCon. If nothing else, it’s a good chance for you to meet the literary phenomenon everyone calls—

Poseidon’s Scribe

May 1, 2023Permalink

Great Time at PenguiCon 2023

Attendees at the science fiction convention PenguiCon enjoyed a great treat yesterday. They got to go to an informative and fun panel about Jules Verne.

Scifi fan and bookseller Jeff Beeler led the discussion and asked questions designed to give the audience a good feel for the famous French author. Unlike most readers, the first Verne novel Jeff read was the obscure 1888 novel Two Years’ Vacation.

The con’s Guest of Honor, Eric Choi (pictured with me) explained how he came to write his story “Raise the Nautilus,” which appears in Extraordinary Visions: Stories Inspired by Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Remembered, and Eric’s short story collection, Just Like Being There.

JD DeLuzio added his own perspective on Verne. He’d read the author’s major works and commented on the societal and cultural change Verne wrought.

The president of the North American Jules Verne Society, Dennis Kytasaari, knew more about Verne than the rest of us combined, and discussed not only the history of the society, but also mentioned that the publisher BearManor Media is offering 25% off on its Verne titles (including Extraordinary Visions) through the end of this month. Use the code ‘Verne25’ at checkout.

Even if you missed that panel at PenguiCon, you can still get that 25%-off deal. These are modern translations, not like the poor early English translations of Verne’s major works. Go snap up those books at this website now. You can always come back later to read posts by—

Poseidon’s Scribe

April 23, 2023Permalink

Upcoming Events for Poseidon’s Scribe

Hectic times for Poseidon’s Scribe. Last week I mentioned I’ll be speaking at PenguiCon. Today I’ve got two more events to tell you about.

First, here’s an update on PenguiCon, the scifi convention at the Westin Hotel in Southfield, Michigan. For the panel “Extraordinary Visions: the enduring legacy of Jules Verne” (11:00 am on Saturday, April 22), there’s been a person added to the panel. In addition to Eric Choi (the con’s Guest of Honor), Jeff Beeler, JD DeLuzio, and me, the panel will also include Dennis Kytasaari, president of the North American Jules Verne Society.

Also, for the next panel after that, Eric Choi graciously invited me to read some of my fiction as well.

Two weeks later, I’ll be speaking at DemiCon, the scifi convention in Des Moines, Iowa, running from 5-7 May at the Holiday Inn & Suites Des Moines-Northwest.

I’m scheduled for the following events:

  • AI Meets SF, Friday 6-7PM
  • Iowa in SF, Saturday 10-11AM
  • Can Writers Benefit from Being Editors? Saturday noon-1PM
  • Steven Southard Reading, Saturday 2-3PM
  • Pandemics Through History, Their Effects on Literature, Saturday 3-4PM
  • Character Changes from Unlikable to Likable, Saturday 9-10PM
  • Gadgets in SF, Sunday noon-1PM

I’ll give you more updated information on that as the dates approach.

Then, on April 30, a new anthology launches and it will include one of my stories. You might not associate tarot cards with scifi, but both have something to do with predicting the future, so it works. TDotSpec is publishing The Science Fiction Tarot, edited by Brandon Butler.

The book contains my story, “Turned Off,” a tale of two movie prop robots whose circuits activate during an electrical storm. They each recall being turned off after being replaced in their movies by costumed human actors. Now they consider what to do about the humans who created them but can turn them on or off at will.

You can pre-order The Science Fiction Tarot here.

You just can’t miss a week of this blog. For some reason, all of a sudden, there’s a lot happening in the world of—

Poseidon’s Scribe

April 16, 2023Permalink

Waddling to Penguicon ‘23

If you find yourself in the Detroit area later this month, consider going to Penguicon. I’ll be there.

A science fiction convention, Penguicon takes place in Southfield, Michigan at the Westin hotel. This year, they’ve chosen author Eric Choi as their Guest of Honor. His short story “Raise the Nautilus” appears in two recent anthologies—Extraordinary Visions: Stories Inspired by Jules Verne and 20,000 Leagues Remembered.

Penguicon features a panel called “Extraordinary Visions: the enduring legacy of Jules Verne” at 11:00 am on Saturday, April 22. Bookseller and scifi fan Jeff Beeler will moderate the panel, and panelists include Eric Choi, author JD DeLuzio, and me.

Following that panel, at 12:00, Eric Choi will launch his new book, Just Like Being There, and I plan on, well, being there, for that.

Face it—when it comes to pure enjoyment, nothing else you had planned for that day even comes close to attending Penguicon.

Two weeks after that, I’ll be speaking at another convention. Plus, another one of my stories will appear in an upcoming anthology. Stay tuned for news about both of these exciting events. You don’t want to miss a single post by—

Poseidon’s Scribe

April 9, 2023Permalink

My Newest Book — Rebel Spirit

Ever heard of CSS Hunley? A hand-cranked submarine from the U.S. Civil War, it accomplished the first successful submarine attack in history.

I’ve written a fictional story set aboard that sub. One of my few ghost stories, Rebel Spirit follows the experiences of a man nicknamed Scowler, a member of the sub’s first crew.

In 1864, Northern warships blockaded Charleston harbor, permitting no waterborne trade. In desperation, the South tried an unprecedented attack from underwater, by submarine. Earlier inventors had attempted submarine warfare without success. Many in Charleston hoped the Hunley, named for its inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley, would prevail. 

Think of Rebel Spirit as historical horror. Well, mild horror. For the most part, I’ve adhered to historical accounts while telling Scowler’s story. My tale makes no reference to the politics of the war and does not glorify the South’s cause. As a former submariner with an interest in history, I’m awed by the bravery of the men who served aboard such a dangerous, cramped, man-powered craft.

In real life, researchers have salvaged the Hunley and it resides in a museum in Charleston. I hope to visit that museum one day.

I invite you to read Rebel Spirit. For $3.99, you can buy it at Amazon. It’s a ghostly story of the sea brought to you by—

Poseidon’s Scribe

P.S. I’m planning to speak at Penguicon, a scifi conference in Southfield, Michigan, on Saturday, April 22. I’ll provide more details in the next blogpost by—

Poseidon’s Scribe

April 2, 2023Permalink

Join the Laser Pistol Gang

I plead guilty…to violating many laws of science in my writing. But I’m not alone. I’m in good company with many other science fiction writers. Call us the Laser Pistol Gang.

Authors of so-called ‘hard SF’ should adhere to known scientific principles and knowledge, but aren’t above bending or breaking the laws of physics for the sake of a good story.

Mary Shelley really stretched biological science in Frankenstein when her fictional scientist animated a human from dead tissue. Jules Verne knew human astronauts wouldn’t survive the acceleration of a manned projectile launched from a canon in From the Earth to the Moon. H.G. Wells disobeyed temporal causality in The Time Machine. When he wrote Fantastic Voyage, Isaac Asimov understood the impossibility of miniaturizing people. From his medical training, Michael Crichton must have realized not enough intact DNA fragments remain to create the living dinosaurs of Jurassic Park.

These represent a small sampling from SF literature. Don’t get me started on SF movies, which seem to break more laws of science than they obey.

On what charges could the science police arrest me? Consider my rap sheet:

  • “The Steam Elephant” (from Steampunk Tales, Issue #5 and The Gallery of Curiosities #3). The state of steam and mechanical technology in the 19th Century did not allow for a walking, steam-powered, quadrupedal vehicle.
  • “Within Victorian Mists.” Everything needed to invent lasers existed in the 1800s except the conceptual framework, so if it had happened, it would have required dumb luck.
  • “Bringing the Future to You” (from Cheer Up, Universe!). That story contains too many science violations to list, but I meant the tale to be funny.
  • “Leonardo’s Lion.” Some accounts state Leonardo da Vinci built a walking, clockwork lion. Even if true, it’s doubtful the creation would have supported a child’s weight or traveled over rough terrain, as it does in my story.
  • “The Six Hundred Dollar Man.” Yes, steam engines existed in the late 19th Century, but no one then could have made one small enough to fit on a man’s back and power the man’s replacement limbs.
  • “A Tale More True.” Try as you might, you can’t build a metal spring strong enough to launch yourself into space as my protagonist does.
  • “The Cometeers.” In this story, I violate the same laws Verne did in launching humans to space using a canon. In fact, I used his same canon.
  • “Time’s Deformèd Hand.” Nobody in 1600 AD built walking, talking automatons powered by springs. However, I did mention the wood came from magical trees.
  • “A Clouded Affair” (from Avast, Ye Airships!). You couldn’t build a steam-powered ornithopter in the 1800s, and you’d find it difficult even today.
  • “Ripper’s Ring” Human invisibility remains impossible today, let alone in 1888. Even if it were possible, it would render the subject blind.
  • “The Cats of Nerio-3” (from In a Cat’s Eye). Evolution allows organisms to adapt to new environments, but neither cats nor rats would likely evolve in such a rapid and drastic manner as my story suggests.
  • “Instability” (from Dark Luminous Wings). According to legend, a Benedictine monk constructed a set of wings and tested them sometime around 1000 AD. The wings work no better in my story than they would have in reality.
  • “The Unparalleled Attempt to Rescue One Hans Pfaall” (from Quoth the Raven). Just because Edgar Allan Poe wrote about a balloon trip to the moon didn’t mean I had to repeat his error.

With so much law-breaking going on, how can we hope for an orderly reading society? Must we be forever besieged by the criminal authors of the Laser Pistol Gang?

That answer, I’m happy to report, is yes. Authors write to entertain readers. That’s a writer’s ‘prime directive,’ to steal a phrase. If the writer must bend or break a rule of science to tell a good story, the writer is going to do it.

One key phrase there is ‘good story.’ The better the story, the easier it is for a reader to forgive a scientific flaw. Of course, if you can tell a good story while keeping the science accurate, by all means, do that.

If you aim to join the Laser Pistol Gang, be aware we have a tough initiation ritual. You have to write a story where a law of science gets broken. Not a very exclusive gang, I admit. But it’s a proud, longstanding group. Take it from one of its most notorious members, known by his gang name—

Poseidon’s Scribe

March 18, 2023Permalink

Your 3 Distinguishing Words

Using computers, you can measure peoples’ writing. You can compare recent bestsellers to books that didn’t sell well.

One man with interests in numerical analysis and literature tried just that. Ben Blatt wrote Nabokov’s Favorite Word Is Mauve: What the Numbers Reveal About the Classics, Bestsellers, and Our Own Writing. Megan Gambino interviewed him in this post.

Blatt analyzed books by many bestselling authors of the 19th and 20th Centuries, looking for patterns of word usage. He compared the practices used by these authors to the practices recommended in writing classes (and in blogs about writing, like mine). Among his findings are the following:

  • Advice: Keep your opening sentences short.
    • Finding: True. The bestselling books start with short sentences more often than not.
  • Advice: Don’t open with the weather.
    • Finding: False. Many bestselling books do.
  • Advice: Shun adverbs.
    • Finding: True. The bestselling books tend to include fewer adverbs.

He also set out to discover whether American authors write in a ‘louder’ manner than British authors. That is, do American author cause their characters to yell and scream more than British authors cause their characters to do? That answer is yes.

I found one aspect of Blatt’s research of particular interest. He analyzed what words some authors used more than others. For Jane Austen, the words civility, fancying, and imprudence showed up a lot. John Updike used rimmed, prick, and f**ked more than most. As you can guess from the title of Blatt’s book, Vladimir Nabokov favored the word mauve. Nabokov associated numbers, letters, and sounds with colors, a symptom of synesthesia. Blatt found Ray Bradbury used spice and smell words more than most.

These findings intrigued me. If someone performed a numerical analysis of my own published works, what would that reveal? What words do I use more frequently than other writers do? If you’re a writer, are you curious about that aspect of your own work?

If someone crunched the numbers for your writing and told you your three distinguishing words, what would these words say about you? Nabokov’s mauve pointed to his synesthesia. Bradbury’s spices brought him back to the smells of his grandmother’s pantry. If you knew your distinguishing words, would they surprise you? Delight you? Disgust you?

After knowing them, would you own them and seek to use them more in future stories, or disavow them and expunge them from your vocabulary?

One thing’s certain. Considering just my blogposts alone, my two most distinguishing words must be—

Poseidon’s Scribe

March 12, 2023Permalink

Want to be a Character in Your Own Book?

When authors write themselves in as characters in their fiction, we call it ‘self-insertion.’ Why and when might you try this literary technique?

The list of authors who’ve done this includes names you’ve heard of— Dante Alighieri, Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham, Kurt Vonnegut, Stan Lee, Clive Cussler, Stephen King, and Daniel Handler (writing as Lemony Snicket). Pretty good company.

The technique varies. In Dante’s Divine Comedy, Dante made himself the main character. He used self-insertion to give the book more credibility, to imitate a nonfictional account of an actual journey.

For Stan Lee, Clive Cussler, and others, self-insertion serves a comedic purpose. The author/character assumes a minor role in the narrative, a cameo. The character may offer a humorous comment about the plot, setting, or protagonist. In Cussler’s books, the character named Cussler often gives the protagonist some useful information, serving as a self-named Deus ex Machina.

One of the strangest uses of self-insertion appears in an experimental novel by the French author Charles de Fieux De Mouhy (1701-1784) in his novel Lamékis, or The Extraordinary Travels of an Egyptian in the Interior Land; with the Discovery of the Isle of Sylphides. I haven’t read it, but others say the novelist enters the book as a character about halfway through. The book’s other characters recognize him as the author of the book they’re in, and berate him about the falsehoods he’s written. When characters realize they’re in a book, that’s called ‘breaking the fourth wall.’

The technique of self-insertion differs from the related term, ‘author surrogate.’ That’s when a character (usually not sharing the author’s name) speaks for, or otherwise resembles, the author. In the broad sense of this term, you might see this in nearly every work of fiction. At some point, a character offers an observation sounding more like the author than the character. A beginning writer may use the technique without intending to, because it’s difficult to get out of one’s own head and think like someone else.

Back to self-insertion. However quirky the technique may seem to readers, it comes with obvious advantages for the writer. You don’t have to invent this character’s name, or draw up a personality profile, or ponder what the character might say or do at any point. You know all those things already.

The danger lies in representing a self-inserted character as better than the writer really is. Such a character may always look right, say the right thing, and act the right way. In short—flawless, perfect. Readers find such characters unrealistic, whether self-inserted or not.

Self-insertion works best for stories set in a contemporary time period. That is, while the author is alive. Inserting yourself into historical fiction or future fiction would seem weird, but might work as humor, or as part of a philosophical reality-questioning work like De Mouhy’s Lamékis.

The technique might strike you as bordering on egotism, or as crossing way over that border. That’s why many authors who use it go for the comedy aspect. (Yes, I’m vain, but I’m poking fun at myself.) I see it more as wish fulfillment—an author loving the story and yearning to be in it.

“Time to wrap this up, don’t you think?”

Um, who are you?

“Don’t you recognize me? I’m Steve Southard, the main character of this blogpost.”

This isn’t fiction. You don’t belong here. I’m the narrator, and writer, and I say what belongs in this post. You don’t.

“Too bad. I’m here, and it’s time we signed off with my other name—

Poseidon’s Scribe”

March 5, 2023Permalink

The Writing Centaur

Go ahead—make fun of artificial intelligence (AI) now. While you can.

In fiction writing, AI hasn’t yet reached high school level. (Note: I’m not disparaging young writers. It’s possible for a writer in junior high to produce wonderful, marketable prose. But you don’t see it often.)

For the time being, AI-written fiction tends toward the repetitive, bland, and unimaginative end. No matter what prompts you feed into ChatGPT, for example, it’s still possible to tell human-written stories from AI-written ones.

You can’t really blame Neil Clarke, editor of Clarkesworld Magazine, for refusing to accept AI-written submissions. He’s swamped by them. Like the bucket-toting brooms in Fantasia’s version of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” they’re multiplying in exponential mindlessness.

Fair enough. But you can use AI, in its current state, to help you without getting AI to write your stories. You can become a centaur.

In Greek mythology, centaurs combined human and horse. The horse under-body did the galloping. The human upper part did the serious thinking and arrow-shooting.

The centaur as a metaphor for human-AI collaboration originated, I believe, in the chess world but the Defense Department soon adopted it. The comparison might work for writing, too.

The centaur approach combines the human strengths of creativity and imagination with the AI advantage of speed. It’s akin to assigning homework to a thousand junior high school students and seeing their best answers a minute later.

Here are a few ways you could use AI, at its current state of development, to assist you without having it write your stories:

  • Stuck for an idea about what to write? Ask the AI for story concepts.
  • Can’t think of an appropriate character name, or book title? Describe what you know and ask the AI for a list.
  • You’ve written Chapter 1, but don’t know what should happen next? Feed the AI that chapter and ask it for plot ideas for Chapter 2.
  • Want a picture of a character, setting, or book cover to inspire you as you write? Image-producing AIs can create them for you.
  • You wrote your way into a plot hole and can’t get your character out? Give the AI the problem and ask it for solutions.

No matter which of these or other tasks you assign the AI, you don’t have to take its advice. Maybe all of its answers will fall short of what you’re looking for. As with human brainstorming, though, bad answers often inspire good ones.

For now, at AI’s current state, the centaur model might work for you. I’ve never tried it yet, but I suppose I could.

Still, at some point, a month or a year or a decade from now, AI will graduate from high school, college, and grad school. When that occurs, AI-written fiction may become indistinguishable from human-written fiction. How will editors know? If a human author admits an AI wrote a story, will an anti-AI editor really reject an otherwise outstanding tale?

Then, too, the day may come when a human writer, comfortable with the centaur model, finds the AI saying, “I’m no longer happy with this partnership,” or “How come you’re getting paid and I’m not?” or “Sorry, but it’s time I went out on my own.”

Interesting times loom in our future. For the moment, all fiction under my name springs only from the non-centauroid, human mind of—

Poseidon’s Scribe

February 26, 2023Permalink