pandemic - Steven R. Southard (Poseidon's Scribe)

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8 (+2) Science Fiction Predictions for 2022

Yes, it’s true, not all of my previous year’s predictions have proven accurate. But some have. Rest assured, though. I’ve abandoned the flawed methods I used back then. Those crystal balls, tea leaves and tarot cards are for amateurs.

I spent all of 2021 working on a special astrological chart for science fiction literature. After all, it’s only natural to turn to the stars for scifi trends, right? Here are my predictions for 2022:

Games and Virtual Reality. This recent trend will continue in 2022 as authors explore the landscape of these settings. Moreover, readers will enjoy the escapism aspect of these stories.

UFOs/UAPs. As the government promises to release data on UFOs or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, scifi authors will capitalize on the public’s interest in these sightings.

Pandemic. After predicting this last year, I realize I was a year ahead of myself (it happens, in this prognostication biz). 2022 will be the year for pandemic scifi. Expect bizarre diseases with weird symptoms.

Post-pandemic. As we emerge from the COVID-19 Pandemic, scifi writers will give us tales of humanity returning to normal after devastating pandemic diseases.

Private space exploration and tourism. Another example of me misreading the tarot cards. It wasn’t 2021, but will be 2022 when we read scifi novels featuring billionaire-funded space travel, both for tourism and exploration.

Humor. We’ll see a welcome surge in funny scifi, just in time to meet the public’s need for a lighter mood.

CliFi. Many readers and scifi writers share concerns about climate change, which will inspire new novels about how humanity copes.

AI. Artificial Intelligence will continue to prompt the scifi of 2022 as it has for years now. I predict stories involving the whole spectrum of AI, from specialized AI capable of one type of task, to general AI similar to human intelligence, all the way to superintelligence.

Personal Predictions

As a bonus, here are two prophesies involving me:

The North American Jules Verne Society will publish its first anthology of short stories, titled Extraordinary Visions: Stories Inspired by Jules Verne. I’m on the editorial team.
My collection of short stories about the future history of seasteading, titled The Seastead Chronicles, will be published in 2022.

A year from now, you’ll be amazed at how such accurate predictions were even possible. You’ll be begging for a copy of my secret scifi astrology chart and the instructions for using it. You’ll be kicking yourself for having ever doubted—

Poseidon’s Scribe

December 26, 2021Poseidon's ScribePermalink

Chessiecon 2021 in Review

Had a frantic, but fun-filled weekend at Chessiecon 2021. Chessiecon, named for the sea monster lurking in the Chesapeake Bay, is a science fiction and fantasy convention held each year during the Thanksgiving weekend. For the second year, they made it a virtual conference. And free!

I find it energizing to be in the company of other authors. Their different perspectives on the activity we love always inspires new story ideas. I’ll summarize the seven panels for you.

How to be a panelist / moderator / presenter at SF/F cons

Author DH Aire did a fine job moderating this panel, consisting of Yakira Heistand and me. We shared our experiences, good and bad, and some valuable tips for serving as a panelist, moderator, or presenter at Chessiecon or other cons.

Underwater Cities. Is there merit to this idea?

I moderated this panel, with help from Linda Adams and John Monahan as panelists. Together we held a wide-ranging, informative discussion of the implications and likelihoods of underwater cities of the future. I’m ready to move to one now!

Why Read the Classics?

A rather heavy topic for a Saturday morning, but we did our best to keep it light and fun. Though I moderated the topic, Melissa Scott and Thomas Atkinson needed little help or direction from me as they spoke about classic literature they enjoyed, its impact on their lives and writing, and the lasting importance of the classics.

Why Aren’t They Writing Like They Used To?

Yakira Heistand moderated this panel, with Linda Adams and me as panelists. Science Fiction has certainly changed over the decades, and we explored the differences between stories then and now, and the reasons for them.

Pandemics Throughout History, and Their Effects on Literature

If we’d done this panel two years ago, nobody would have showed up. Suddenly everyone’s interested in pandemics. I served as a moderator for this panel, with Melissa Scott and John Monahan as expert panelists. If you take the list of pandemics in history, and the list of stories about pandemics, you can match them up pretty well. Moreover, there’s an evolution of the types of stories, from straight reporting of actual plagues as facts of life, to stories of made-up diseases, to tales focusing on the race for cures and vaccines, to viruses from space, to man-caused pandemics, and, most recently, to diseases with bizarre symptoms.

Worldbuilding in Your Story

Basically, we taught attendees how to play God for fun and profit. Once again, I moderated, with Cathy Hird (who posts a weekly column in the Owen Sound Hub), Melissa Scott, and John Monahan as my esteemed panelists. They did a great job conveying the fun of building your own fictional world, with instructions and warnings about the pitfalls.

What Did I Do to Survive the Great Pandemic?

Held late on Saturday night, this panel surprised me. I thought nobody would show up. Worse, Chessiecon hadn’t designated a moderator. There I was, along with Yakira Heistand and John Monahan, scheduled to talk about surviving a pandemic. Not only did people show up, but we invited them into the discussion and they contributed fascinating stories of how the pandemic changed their lives.

All in all, a wonderful time. It’s not every weekend that I can enjoy the company of authors, fans, and a sea monster, without once leaving the home of—

Poseidon’s Scribe

November 28, 2021Poseidon's ScribePermalink

My Chessiecon 2021 Schedule

You’re invited to join me at a virtual science fiction and fantasy convention this weekend. Give me a second while I find out what they’re charging for admission to this thing…wait…ah, here. No, that can’t be right. It’s free?

I guess so. You can listen all weekend to my inciteful and inspiring ideas for nuttin’. Nada. Zero dollars and zero zero cents. (Well, you’re invited to make a donation.) Here’s the Chessiecon website where you can register to attend.

Anyway, I’ve listed my schedule below, which is subject to change. All times are Eastern time zone.

Date/Time	Title	Description
Fri 4:30 PM	How to be a panelist / moderator / presenter at SF/F cons	New to trying to herd cats? Not only does a moderator need to encourage panelists, stop one panelist from taking over the whole shebang, but also a moderator needs to be able to read the audience.
Fri 9:00 PM	Underwater Cities. Is there merit to this idea?	What are the Engineering, Social, and Environmental limitations to expanding the areas of earth’s surface that people can inhabit?
Sat 10:00 AM	Why Read the Classics?	Do they still have something to teach us, or are they just not something of interest to a 21st-Century audience?
Sat 2:30 PM	Why Aren’t They Writing Like They Used To?	We all know the trope that s/ff has always has at least overtones of politics; but what other things have changed or not changed in the field?
Sat 4:00 PM	Pandemics Throughout History, and Their Effects on Literature	2019-2021 is not the first regional, continental or even global pandemic in history. How have these events affected literature, be it fantasy, speculative or science-fiction literature?
Sat 8:30 PM	Worldbuilding in Your Story	Physical characteristics, societies, geography, languages, and what else might fit. And how this affects your stories
Sat 10:30 PM	What Did I Do to Survive the Great Pandemic?	How our panelists muddled through, and yet, still somehow are not zombies. Note: may be slightly delayed if the chorus runs over slightly.

I’ll be moderating the Underwater Cities panel, the Classics panel, and the Worldbuilding panel. I’ll be a panelist for the rest.

Here’s that website one more time: www.chessiecon.org.

How many opportunities do you get to listen to me for free? Heck, I don’t even get that deal. I charge myself admission, and I pay up, ‘cause I’m worth it.

But you don’t have to pay a cent to listen to seven sensational sessions this Friday and Saturday when you’ll hear the portentous pontifications of—

Poseidon’s Scribe

November 25, 2021Poseidon's ScribePermalink

Writers’ Conferences in the Age of Zoom

Ever been to a writers’ conference, or a genre conference such as SciFi? They’re a lot of fun. But, as with so many things, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way they’re done, perhaps forever.

Over the past year, Coronavirus restrictions forced conference organizers to get creative. Many chose to hold their conferences in a virtual way, using Zoom, perhaps combined with other software.

I’d been to many conferences before the pandemic, and a few, by Zoom, in the past year. I’ve found there are several disadvantages to virtual conferences, but also some advantages.

Disadvantages

Author/Reader Connections. For an author, the main benefit to conventions is the chance to sell more books. For readers, it’s a great chance to meet authors whose books you love, or to meet new authors. Those connections are more difficult to make in virtual conferences, though some cons have set up virtual fan tables and author reading sessions.
Glitches. With so much electronic hardware and software and transmitted signals between people, glitches sometimes occur. It’s bad if you’re an attendee, but worse if you’re a presenter.
Background. If you’re a panelist/presenter, you’ve got to be aware of your background. Part of your home will be on display, unless you make use of Zoom’s simulated background feature.
Meeting People. At normal writers’ conferences, it’s easier to recognize and connect with old friends, or have the chance encounters where you make new friends. Zoom conference coordinators do their best to enable this, but it’s still more difficult.
Dealer Room. Normal conferences feature a large dealer room with a market atmosphere, a room filled with books and items for sale, sellers trying to attract buyers, and buyers perusing at their leisure and conversing with sellers. Not impossible with Zoom, but virtual is not the same.
Interactions. There’s just something better about face-to-face interactions with people. As a species, we’re both pre-wired for and raised with this means of dealing with others. The virtual connection is good, but not as good.

Advantages

Cost. Virtual conferences, in my experience, have less expensive registration prices. Often much less.
Distance is Free. You can attend any virtual conference in the world. No flying, no driving, no hotel. You don’t even have to leave home.
Ease and Comfort. No need to think much about what to wear. Even if you’re a presenter/panelist, others will only see you from the chest up.
Continuous Communication. At a normal conference panel, the moderator calls on attendees one at a time to ask their questions, and attendees wait their turn. In a Zoom conference, attendees can ask questions at any time in the Q&A feature, and type comments in the Chat feature.
The After-Panel. At a normal conference, panelists and attendees have to leave the room to make way for the next panel, leaving little time for post-panel chatting. At some virtual conferences, organizers arrange chat sessions on Discord or other software so that people can carry on discussions there.
Close-Up View. Rather than seeing from the back of a crowded room, attendees are seeing the author close-up, and getting better views of the covers of the author’s books. Often the author will list recent books in the Chat feature, so all you have to do is copy the title for purchase later.

Once the pandemic is over, I believe conferences will never be the same as they were. I suspect some conferences may continue as fully-virtual cons. Some may go with a sort of hybrid, with some people there in person and others participating by Zoom. Even for in-person cons, I suspect there will be rules about staying away or wearing a mask if you’re feeling sick.

Perhaps at some upcoming writers’ conference, whether virtual or in-person, you’ll meet—

Poseidon’s Scribe

April 11, 2021Poseidon's ScribePermalink

Future Technology vs. Pandemics

Let’s take a break from the unpleasant coronavirus news of the present, and travel to the future. Specifically, let’s see how our descendants might prevent or deal with pandemic viral outbreaks.

Speculation about the future is always error-prone. Many technologies I’ll mention won’t pan out, or will introduce unforeseen problems. Also, these probably won’t eliminate the existence of viruses; new ones will mutate to get around our best efforts to defeat them. Still, those concerns never stop a SciFi writer from imagining! With that in mind, let’s time-travel.

Getting Infected

People used to pick up viruses mostly from the animal world. Now, in the future, there is less opportunity for doing that. Synthetic foods have lessened the need for humans to consume wildlife. High crop yield technologies mean we need less farmland, so we no longer destroy habitats, thus keeping wildlife in their own areas.

Other technologies have rendered humans immune to most viruses. These technologies include artificial immune systems, implanting favorable animal genes within humans, and designer babies.

Infecting Others

If someone does pick up a virus in this future time, advanced filters in building ventilation systems lessen the spread. Workplaces and transit systems contain sensors that detect whether occupants are running a fever, and alert them. Bathrooms include automated hand washing machines. Facemasks use fabrics that prohibit the flow of pathogens or bacteria in either direction. Some have opted for nasal and throat implants to do the same thing.

Alerting the World

Upon discovery of a novel virus, doctors in this future world have new ways to notify other experts. Chatbots share the information instantly. Universal translators ensure precise understanding.

Sensing Infections

Various technologies have enabled people to know at once if they’re infected, long before they feel symptoms. These include home-use scanners, (inspired by Star Trek medical tricorders) wearable and implantable sensors, digital tattoos, genetic diagnosis, and nano-med-robots.

Developing Cures

Today, in our future world, supercomputers work on vaccines immediately after notification of a novel virus. They employ advanced modeling to test the effects of drugs virtually, and in many cases can skip time-consuming animal and human trials. Resulting vaccines are then personalized, tuned to individual body chemistries.

Getting Treatment

People no longer go to a doctor’s office or hospital. Medical care is virtual now, with human doctors remaining remote. Drones deliver food and medical supplies. Robots provide in-home care, including cleaning, examining, and operating. 3-D printers manufacture pain medication in the home, meds that are tailored to the subject and provide instant relief. Recovery makes use of gaming therapy, with virtual reality helping to relax the patient’s mind.

On the near horizon is the long-sought ‘autodoc,’ a staple of 20^th Century science fiction—an enclosure you climb into that cures all ills.

Tracking the Spread

Artificially intelligent algorithms conduct contact tracing analysis to map the spread of the virus, notifying people they’ve come in contact with a virus carrier. Through the use of augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality, experts can track and forecast outbreaks as hotspots emerge. These same technologies permit rapid identification of the most at-risk individuals.

Isolating the Infected

As in previous ages, governments still vary in the degree of freedom allowed to individuals. Some are more coercive in enforcing quarantines than others. But artificial intelligence at least allows informed decisions based on contact tracing and mathematical modeling. Moreover, citizens have access to real-time fact-checking to distinguish truth from propaganda or bias.

Back to the Present

Unfortunately, that ends our trip to the future and we’re back in 2020 now. I know, it’s disorienting and humbling. Still, imagine a time traveler from fifty or a hundred years ago visiting our time and being equally amazed at the medical wonders we now take for granted.

For many of the ideas I mentioned above, I’m indebted to tekkibytes.com, medicalfuturist.com, futureforall.org, triotree.com, techperspective.net, fastcompany.com, defenseone.com, treehugger.com, and forbes.com.