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Posted on by under Greater Beyond

Through an antechamber experience of blinding bright violet, where the body barely existed but the connection to others remained. A twisting feeling, then each person was carried forward on their own spirited breeze.

The first thing that registered was the naked view of destruction surrounding them. Every scene of fleet attack was visible in all directions, as though they weren’t galaxies apart. From these directions came the hordes of soldiers out of brief violet flashes, each one hanging onto a vivid current that brought them toward a swirling maelstrom of people in the center. The looks on their faces were priceless.

For the record

Posted on by under Updates

Had an enjoyable reading for the virtual OR-eCon last weekend, and we did dawdle just a little bit into lunchtime.

Sharing here the autograph pages of the WFC 2020 program, featuring our various digital signings. I’m there on the far upper right – on the edge, naturally – near Mary Anne Mohanraj and S.M. Stirling. Heading leftwards along my latitude, I can find Sarah Pinsker, Kate Elliott, Sheree Renee Thomas, Julie Czerneda, guest of honor David Cherry, and my Nebula grandmaster mentor, Joe Haldeman. Great reads by all of these authors, glad to be recorded in their company!

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Posted on by under Greater Beyond

“This is General Alisandre, your top-ranked commanding officer. Sooner than any known actions will forestall, the vessels you are in will be destroyed by hostile Red Nexus Dragons already present in your vicinity. You are being offered unusual means to escape annihilation.”

This familiar voice resonated oddly inside the Alpha station, vibrating off of metallic surfaces in all directions at the volume of loud internal thought. People looked around and at each other. Some touched the walls as though the ship were shaking.

“Move now to your nearest external view. There will be an unfamiliar object, an orb of energy in midair. Gather around it, and link hands to stand continuously touching each other skin-to-skin. Have the two closest ends of each linked mass touch the orb bare-handed. This will bring you somewhere else which cannot be disclosed. This means of egress may be unpredictable, but it is your only option if you wish to survive. These are your orders. I am going along with you. General Alisandre signing off.” Random noises in the station escalated suddenly. The corner of an inner panel popped. This uniformed group met each other’s eyes and bolted up the hall.

The nearest outward view was a floor-to-ceiling section, where others were arriving from different directions. The object in reference was there: strange and alluring, changing the light’s tint with its glow. Shucking and tucking any gloves, hands found each other with high urgency and low awkwardness. The sound of disaster was increasing, along with their resolve to go somewhere else unspecified. There was some visible sign of inflamed Dragon presence, a fizzing yellow-green crackle against the stars.

This scenario played out in groups large and small near every porthole. Nods circled around, and with some variety of command assumed, the two nearest soldiers contacted the orb with a free hand. A bright netlike charge encased them, bringing them through as the thousands of vessels commenced to crumple, shear, and melt.

OryCon minus 3 Rooms

Posted on by under Updates

Mild tragedy has struck, and the limitations of volunteer power mean that OR-eCon 2020 has at least three fewer Zoom rooms than projected. So, the ultimate dream panel scheduling from two postings ago is all, yes entirely gone, EXCEPT: my book reading, which is definitely a good one to save. That’s a short list of spotlighted authors, and I’m glad to be on it.

It’s set before lunch on Sunday. View the schedule on the official facebook event About section.

Science fiction fantasy book conventions are almost entirely volunteer-run, in case you weren’t aware! These are amazing idea exchanges, hotspots of creator support and genre fueling. I arrived at these events later in life, but I heartily endorse the good company that may be found here, amidst lots of humanity and imagination. When I realized what kinds of discussions can take place, I dove in headfirst and fulltime volunteered for my first SFF convention, Sasquan/WorldCon 2015, and have now held five-to-several separate volunteer department positions subsequently – if I wasn’t or even if I was presenting, because they’re such wonderful forums. Volunteering is absolutely a great first-timer entry point, and anyone interested in a whole new world need not be intimidated.

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Posted on by under Greater Beyond

General Claymore made some sensory fumbling in the direction of the blue beam before feeling the cool, breezy contact. It wasn’t immediately easy to do things without a familiar corporeal form. How does one grab without hands? Just… grab. When the connection was there, he felt the extent of its channels – by way of the Signalman’s internal pathway to receptive Vedani counterparts, branching toward their frontline programming into a fractally multiplied magnitude of connections to the variety of entry points in their targets. There was a fresh tingle at these ends, like they had literally just now repurposed this technology for what they were about to attempt; yet there was a solidity of competence. While they may have just now done this, this is exactly the sort of thing they can do.

He let go and grabbed on to the tether, let go and grabbed on, like fiddling with a microphone, feeling the difference of connection and disconnect. The bare technical details were rapidly discussed with Sturlusson and a forthcoming Vedani presence, who merely and quickly stated themselves as Vedani – a new enough concept to General Claymore. He now knew what to say to the soldiers, and was feeling those distinct breaths that come before telling people what to do with their lives in the face of risk.

Coming to a decision, he addressed Raev Sturlusson first. “I want you to send me with them. Can you do that?”

“You have this connection… we, they, could actually do that. From ‘here’.” Sturlusson paused. “Your body would go, too. You know there’s a chaotic element to this emergency rescue which precludes us knowing exactly where you will end up, besides in relative safety. Are you sure you want to do that?”

“I’m sure that I’m sending them with little other option. I think this is the only way that I can choose to do so. Wherever we go, however we go, I will help them from there. And then, I think they’ll go.”

“Okay, then we will do that. I hope you’re wearing something.” Sturlusson sounded as though he knew this kind of situation.

“Be that as it may.”