Bippity Boppity Science

With the recent trend in the retelling/re imagining of fairy tales, there's an under-tapped avenue for SFR. Most science geeks rebuff the "magic concepts" behind fairy tale stories and look for more "serious" concepts and themes in the science community for their novels. But if you take a step back, remove the fairy from the tale and just look at the basics behind it, you can see the science in the tale.

Here are a couple examples. For the purpose of this post I'm going to use Grimm's watered down version of fairy tales, but if you're looking for darker takes as a jumping off point, definitely research the original tellings...trust me, they're not for young ears or eyes and can add a real twist to the story.

 

By Toshiaki Kato

Beauty and the Beast: Woman comes to the aide of her beloved father and takes his place as prisoner in a beast's home. There, she come to love the beast, who turns out to be a shapeshifter with a broken heart who'd refused his human for until he falls for the woman.



Source: Art Passions

 Sleeping Beauty: Several generations before the story an opposing person/party kidnaps a woman from a rich/ruling/government family and traps her in suspended animation. The kidnappers are caught and killed but not before they jetty her out into space. The parents put out a reward for her rescue. Decades go by with no luck, until an recently retired military man takes up the challenge on a dare during a stop at the planet.













Source: Art Passions



Snow White: A jealous family member "poisons" a young woman with some Nano viral infection and she falls into a comatose state. Grieving, the family places her in a stasis chamber in the hopes that one day they can find a cure. Several years go by when the galactic government get sword of the incident. They send out a team to research the case for any benefit/advancement in their own warfare arsenal.

 

That's just my mind wanderings of 3 fairy tales. And, of course, they can be retrofitted for any sub genre or theme. The male/female roles can be reversed, or changed out for male/male or female/female.

What is your favorite fairy tale and how would a SF spin look on it?

(By the way, if any of these ideas sound good, feel free to use them. I've got hundreds of electronic post-its with ideas that I'll probably never get to and I'd love to see some of these fleshed out into a full story.)

The Science of Sex...In Space

I couldn't help the title. When I was thinking of how to start this post the first thought that came into my mind was the fortune cookie joke. You know, adding "in bed" to the end of the fortune. "You will meet a new friend...in bed", "A surprise will greet you...in bed" and so on and so forth...

Well, AR record met. I've managed to derail my post before it even really started. Let's see if I can get back on track. Or even get on track to begin with.

Any-who. Sex. In Space. Science of. Got it.

I was working on my current WIP and one of the storylines entails two people travelling in a small transport, which has no gravity. (I can talk my fictional brain into believing people will figure out artificial gravity in big vessels but I just can't get it to justify artificial gravity in a small transport.)

In this subplot, the two characters become attracted to each other. I began to write in a love scene and no matter how many times and ways I started, it wouldn't mesh. In zero gravity, all the smooth moves of the foreplay and well, the act, are gone.

He goes in for the kiss and as their lips meet, she floats back into the small transports wall and bangs her head. She leans in to kiss his neck and they both go twirling out of control. He brushes her arm and fights to keep from drifting away.

Ugh...that would get old fast. Making love should be natural and if you're spending the whole time fighting thoe whole "equal opposite reaction" thing to stay physically connected, it'll break that spark of emotional and sexual connection.

Romance needs weight. All those subtle and arousing moves that lead to a rewarding night needs gravity. Yes, their eyes can meet, the flirtatious comments can be bantered, but beyond that it becomes awkward.

Intercourse itself faces challenges. There's no natural way in space for the body to manage its heat, which causes people to perspire more in zero gravity. That leads to hot sex...literally.

And you think that challenge is awkward? Remember that gravity is what drives blood circulation. You get where I'm going with this. The male will face...Oh, how to put it?...a minor decrease in performance ability.

So, in the future of zero-g, love scenes might just end up being a pragmatic experience. The flirtation will lead to the very detached discussion of:

"You want to have intercourse?"

"That sounds enjoyable"

"Okay, well let's move to the intercourse anchor bag and turn up the AC."

"Okay, but don't forget the Viagra."

"Oh yeah. And the motion sickness pills."

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A.R. Norris

Blog: http://sci-fiadventures.blogspot.com/

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/authorarnorris/home

Blood Tells...What?

Hi fellow Brigaders!

Today I'm over at The Writer Limits blog talking about the symbolism of blood in society and writing. I think as we continue our scientific evolution, the tie between blood and life will transition to gene and life, but for now the vampires, zombies, and werewolves have it. And don't get me wrong, it's pretty cool writing when done right.

Stop by if you have a chance and weigh in on the topic.

http://thewriterlimitsauthors.blogspot.com/

Some Girls Love Diamonds

Some girls love diamonds. This thought crossed my mind as I stood, trembling with excitement, waiting for the bookstore man to ring up my SF purchases. Okay, and one horror, but come on, it’s Stephen King for cripes-sake!

After 18 years together my hubby knows and understands...okay, he doesn’t really understand, but he knows. The key to my heart is not diamonds. Those glittery things don’t catch my heart, except when they are used for scientific purposes. Don’t get me wrong, I like jewelry. I’ll wear jewelry when we go out to dinner or I have a business function. They’re pretty and all.

No, no. The key to my heart is books, and specifically SF books. I am also endeared when he sends links to the latest science and technology stories, but you can’t really give those for the holidays.

I get as excited when I open the gift to find gift cards to my local bookstore as my best friend does when she opens up the diamond encrusted watch. (It’s true. My best friend loves diamonds. Love, love, loves them.)

We die-hard SF readers are a different breed, that’s for sure. The written word is as shiny to us as diamonds are to others. Both are representations of possibility. Possibility of what the future could be, what existence could be, and what humans could be.

For diamonds that possibility is between two people who love each other. That piece of jewelry - no matter whether it’s a ring, necklace, or watch - is a representation of what the future and existence could be for those two humans together. In SF the possibility is on a larger scale. Humanity’s scale. What the future and existence of humans will be 100 years from now, 500 years from now, and even a thousand years from now.

I don’t worry so much about hubby and I’s future. After 18 years and everything we’ve been through together, I know he’s the sticking kind of guy. And the fact that he knows - if not fully understands - how important SF books are to me tells me he gets and loves me for who I am.

I hope you all enjoyed your holidays, whatever they might have been.

Discussion on Ethnicity in SFR at TGE

Hi!

I'm over at The Galaxy Express and we're having a great discussion on ethnicity and diversity in the future, which sparked some discussion on how SFR writers can best portray ethnicity and diversity in their writing.

Stop by if you have a chance.

http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net/2011/11/interview-with-revelations-of-tomorrow.html