Fantasist's Scroll

Well, I’ve really done it this time!

Yep, I made a name generator based on the Conlang Word Generator and the Conlang Generator. It’s pretty cool, if I do say so myself! Now, keep in mind, the names aren’t perfect and they’re based on the languages in the drop-down list, but they aren’t from the language. In other words, if you choose “Chinese” as your base language, you won’t get Chinese names, but conlang names based on Chinese phonology. And, if you choose “Tsolyani”, the names will be in the correct “format”, but not really quite like names from Empire of the Petal Throne. Still, it is fun. And, if you’re an author looking to crank out some names fast, it works pretty well.

In any case, I had fun doing it, so enjoy!

Have you ever wondered?

Well, wonder no more! Scientists at UCSC have run a computer simulation of just such an event. There’s a pretty big meteor that has a 0.3% chance of hitting the Earth in 2880, but, not wanting to wait until the last minute, these folks decided to see what would happen if it hits us. Or, rather, our distant relatives.
Well, it might not be the most pressing concern, but it does provide some fodder for fiction. After all, these scientists are answering questions that a science-fiction writer might ask if they were going to write about such an event. They even have a picture of it, which I’ve linked to locally here. View image

It’s really a very interesting possibility, to me. Would new islands be created in the blast crater afterward? How would the ocean life change in that area? Would we have to deal with the darkening skies and changing temperatures that killed the dinosaurs? What will the Earth be like, say, 20 years after the impact? All very interesting indeed. Make a good story, or novel, eh?

Is Neo the Messiah?

I wrote about this on my other site, Diary of a Network Geek, but it’s worth mentioning again. The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article about religion in science-fiction, especially the Matrix movies. It’s interesting to me because I’ve seen similar connections myself for a long time. Back in college, I wrote a paper about how similar the Luke Skywalker character was to the archtypeal hero from myth. It’s a short hop from that to the archtype of the messiah.
I think there’s plenty of room for religion in fantasy and science-fiction. In fact, I think it’s essential that it gets included more often. Why? Well, because it’s an important part of human interaction and has been for a very long time. Think about how many wars were justified through religion. How often has science been hindered, or helped, by religion? If nothing else, religion can give us our regular rituals and holidays. Sure, Christmas and Easter are often very secular holidays now, but they are still based on religion.
And, religion can be a great motivator for characters. Crusaders and missionaries both can be very interesting characters to follow. Also, people trying to escape religious persecution can drive plot. Even some one seeking enlightenment can be an interesting story, if told right.

My point is this, religion is a part of our everyday life in one way or another and as an author, I would be foolish to overlook the possibilities it presents me. It’s not something I’ve seen too much of in literature for quite some time. I wonder why?

Okay, this is just not right!

I was going through some old e-mail and found a link to this article on Wired News about Klingon Erotica. I can’t get to the actual site, thanks to my pornography blocking software, but the article is enough. First, they created a language for the fictional Klingons, now this. I shudder to think of what’s coming next.
And to think, Gene Roddenberry named Klingons after a former co-worker that he didn’t like! I wonder what Gene would think now! Heck, if they were real, I wonder what the Klingons themselves would think!
After yesterday’s entry, and the shows from the night before, it really makes me wonder what all those science-fiction script writers are up to!! They must be really, really frustrated and repressed.

What’s the attraction?

Is it the danger of losing “everything”? Is it the possiblity of “scoring big”? Is it the simple lure of something for nothing?
The other day there was a news story on NPR about a public figure who was critisized for gambling. He was participating in a legal activity with discretionary money and he didn’t seem to be in any significant financial difficulty. In short, he was not a compulsive gambler. But, still, he was critisized because he claimed to stand for “family values” and people had a hard time buying that while he was a gambler. Why? He wasn’t breaking the law or causing his family any apparent financial difficulty, so why did some people see it as “wrong”?
As a writer, the motivations behind this kind of behavior interest me. I see plots and sub-plots in the idea that something which is legal may not be moral or socially acceptable. Gambling strikes my fancy for a number of reasons. For one, there are lots of angles to take. The honest, lucky gambler, for instance. He might be well-to-do, but many of his fellow gamblers are jealous of his success and suspect him of cheating. Or, the very good cheat. Everyone knows the cad is cheating them, but they can’t figure out how. Or, better still, that part-time gambler that either scores big or loses everything in one weekend of all-out gambling. And, then there are all the reasons why any of these people might have been gambling in the first place: thrills, desperation, relaxation, greed.
Then, too, I can imagine someone who does it as a kind of worship. Imagine, for instance, someone who judges how “righteous” they are based on how well the dice roll or how good a hand they’re dealt. The “spiritual” gambler. The fanatic who gambles to see if God is listening. Or favors them. Remember the old joke about the guy who prays to God to let him win the lottery? He prays and prays, but never wins. So, one day he asks God why he’s never been allowed to win. God responds, “You have to meet me half-way. You need to buy a ticket.” So, it’s not that far-fetched. Many of us equate how lucky we are with how holy we are. The more we’re favored by God, the more “lucky” we seem to be.
So, my job as an author, is to pull the interesting stories out of these situations and make them real. It sounds like an interesting challenge. Hmm, maybe I should be off writing those stories instead of this blog!

Blog of a fugative heiress?

Maybe, maybe not. I saw the story on Wired News, but it’s been other places on the ‘net, too. It’s possible, of course, that this fugative from a repressive, arranged marriage is legit, but there’s enough controversy surrounding it that it quite possibly is just a stunt. Some have speculated that it’s just a creative attempt to generate some buzz about a fictional account of an escaped “poor, little rich-girl”. Who knows for sure? No one, yet. I’m sure it will come out eventually, but for now, no one really knows. It certainly would be an interesting literary device. In fact, I had thought of doing something similar, but in a fantasy setting.
My idea was to have an electronic version of a fantasy character’s diary. In particular, a Marco Polo-like character who would allow the reader to explore the fantasy world I was creating via journal entries. It’s an idea that I may still pursue.
In any case here’s her blog if you’d like to check it out.

Engineering before engineers.

Well, at least, before engineers as we know them. Certainly, long before engineering degrees from universities!
The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention and Engineering in the Ancient World (which is an updated version of a book I bought some time ago), both lay out some interesting ideas for “modern” technology for ancient cultures. They both present some great ideas for the basics of technology in a created culture or world.
For instance, China was quite advanced. The Chinese are famous for inventing paper, but they also invented the first printing press and gunpowder. Though, they used those technologies differently than we did in the West, due to cultural differences. They also invented luminous paint and earthquake detectors.
Other ancient cultures invented other suprising things, including water wheels and complicated plumbing and sewage systems. The Romans had heated baths similar to what we’d think of as indoor, heated swimming pools!

Of course, for me, it’s all the little things that really make a world seem real. Things like, what kind of clothing was worn and why. Like, how they lit their way at night. How they prepared their food. A lot of that, though, can be found in these two technology books. Think, for instance, about how much food needed to be processed and moved to feed the ancient Roman Empire or any of the Chinese Dynasties. All things to consider when building a world from whole cloth. And, every decision has impact on the others and implications in the way a people actually live. These two books begin to explore some of those relationships. The rest, though, is up to a creative author to discover.
So, what are you waiting for? Get reading! Then, get writing!!

New and Improved!

Way back when I first put the ConLang Word Generator on this site, my ultimate goal was to have something that created an entire language via CGI. There were lots of tools available for making words and even languages, but they were all limited in some greater or lesser way. For instance, the very good LangMaker by Jeffery Henning, is for Windows only. Chris Pound’s Name/Vocabulary generators require going to the command line, and it helps if you know a bit of PERL, too. But, I wanted something that would crank out languages on the web. Originally, I have to admit, I was trying to figure out a way to charge for this, but it’s just too fun to keep it to myself, so it’s free.
My ConLang Generator is based on Chris Pound’s PERL scripts, but with heavy modification. My English source files come from a number of sources, but mainly from resources associated with LangMaker.

So, standing on the shoulders of giants, I have finally made a free ConLang Generator. Enjoy!