BERMAN SAYS IT ISN'T HIS FAULT

SyFy Portal reports that Rick Berman, among other things, says UPN didn't help the "Enterprise" (ENT) series stay on the air.

He blames UPN for shifting from dramas to reality shows that cater to young women like "Beauty and the Geek" and "America's Top Model."

I'd say UPN's change in priorities didn't help, but if he and Brannon Braga had produced episodes that relied on character, dialogue, new plots, etc. rather than had the actors slather ointment on each other in their underwear, give neural pressure therapy while half-dressed, recycled old Trek stories, etc. to get ratings, ENT could've gone a full seven years like its predecessor series.

What studio would say "no" to making money?

Paramount's trying to revive the franchise after all with a young Kirk
story for Trek XI that I suspect will be a one-off at best. After seeing how "Alias" got canceled and "Lost" really begin to lose it in the current third season, I can't say I've got a lot of confidence in anything with JJ Abrams' name attached to it. Too bad Paramount passed on Bryan Singer ("X Men 1 & 2"; "Superman Returns") and a Romulan War prequel trilogy pitched by Eric Jendreson ("Band of Brothers") to settle on Abrams. I wonder if the current Paramount studio heads'll try recasting Picard and gang next?

It seems to me that with some financial sense, ENT could've been continued on cable with a reduced budget. Who's complaining about the SG1, Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica production quality?

Boris

SNW 10 COVER RELEASE

I learned today that the SNW 10 cover was released along with a publicity page.

There's a lot of hope among the faithful that the anthology will be renewed despite market changes. I really like the cover, but it does give me the feeling that SNW 10 may be the final voyage.

Me thinks this drawing of the Enterprise D's saucer section crashing in flames was drawn from that trusty ship crashing for the final count on the planet Veridian III in the film "Generations."

And based on the publicity page, the anthology will have stories that examine the meaning of the Federation.


I will not count my chickens before they're hatched. But the stories I turned in this year do explore the benefit the Federation's had on the known galaxy. And I know that the submissions I mailed in this year are better than what I entered in the last two when I finished on the Second Read List. I also received excellent advice from a number of fellow writers. Among them are David DeLee (SNW 8 & 9 author); Phil Kaldon (fellow 2004 Clarionite/physicist); Tom Wilson and several other scribes on Critters. Dayton Ward (Trek novelist and SNW alumnus) also kindly commented on an early draft of one of my stories.

If this is SNW’s last call, I really hope to get in while it’s still there. As Dean Wesley Smith tells us SNW hopefuls, New York is shut down from now till January 2, 2007 or so. News about the TOC (Table of Contents) should come out some time next month.

I’ll see if the gods are with me then.

SIT REP

Let's see...

I just concluded a week of getting comments on my "Way of the Peacemaker" story on Critters. The story's good, but needs some adjusting, which I'll try to do this weekend. I'll look forward to learning which pro author will be lined up to read the story before I shoot it off to WOTF in, say January 2007.

I've also typed up new scenes for my American "Master and Commander" script, "Stars and Stripes Forever." But I haven't added them into the current draft yet and seen how they mesh together.

And I'm getting my Chinese Joan of Arc script, "Heaven's Mandate," looked over by a new screenwriting group called WeHo Online Screenwriters Group that I joined on November 22, 2006. I think I'm one of the very first members right after the group owner, who's a production assistant at Fox. The group is just a few weeks old and I'm still getting a feel for how it's turning out. They needed people to submit a script for their first group crit session, so I submitted mine to give 'em something to chew on. The first session should be some time this month.

Then I've got my romantic comedy to take care of next before I get hold of the script consultant I have in mind for reading my 3 scripts before I send 'em to the major script contests in 2007.

I'm curious about the upcoming "Eragon" flick. I may write a review of it.

All I have to do is make the time and energy with extended holiday work hours and a bad economy slowing things down for the sixth year in a row.

I expect I'll manage.

Hailing frequences closed.

RETRO REVIEW: "CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON"

In two words: Martial Artistry.

Looking back six years, soon to be seven, from this point, one can still say director Ang Lee is a world class auteur who isn’t afraid to take a chance.

Before helming "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," Lee worked on a variety of projects from the Taiwanese family dramas "The Wedding Banquet" and "Eat Drink Man Woman" to the slice of '70s Americana "The Ice Storm" and the Jane Austen adaptation "Sense and Sensibility." More recent credits include a film adaptation of everyone’s fave raging green monster comic hero, "The Hulk," and "Brokeback Mountain’s" romance between two cowboys in ‘60s God-fearing Texas. Director Ang Lee appeared an unlikely person to direct a kung fu flick; such a film seems beneath him.

As it turns out, Lee is not only a lifelong fan of the genre, his greatest filmmaking goal was to make a lavish martial arts epic.

Director Ang Lee: "The film is a kind of a dream of China, a China that probably never existed, except in my boyhood fantasies in Taiwan. Of course my childhood imagination was mainly fired by the martial arts movies I grew up with and by the novels of romance and derring-do I read instead of doing my homework. That these two kinds of dreaming should come together now, in a film I was able to make in China, is a happy irony for me."

Watching "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," it's clear that all of Lee's work has been a mere warm-up to this staggering accomplishment. "Crouching Tiger" is even more than an exhilarating reinvigoration of the martial arts movie--it's a thrilling testament to the transporting power of film.

Note the term "reinvigoration" as opposed to "reinvention," for in keeping with being a reverential fan, Lee doesn't tamper with time-worn convention in adapting Wang Du Lu's 18th Century Qing dynasty-set novel (the fourth in a series of five). Basic plot strands ring familiar. After many years of legend-building combat, famous and feared warrior Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) is ready to give up his violent ways--that is, after completing one last mission: avenging the murder of his master at the hands of the notorious criminal known as Jade Fox (Cheng Pei Pei). But Li is ready to make one major gesture toward a different life, and that is giving up his fabled sword, the Green Destiny. He asks his longtime friend and swordswoman ally Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) to give the sword to their mutual benefactor, Sir Te (Lung Sihung), for safekeeping. When she does, Shu Lien meets the young lady Jiao Long Yu, or Jen (Zhang Ziyi), who expresses her fascination with the sword. Soon after it is placed in Sir Te’s trophy case, the Green Destiny is stolen, Mu Bai and Shu Lien leap into a quest to recover the sword, which is the mere jumping-off point for a sweeping tale of action, intrigue, and romance.

In "Crouching Tiger," that motion has its own poetry, for these semi-gods and demi-devils possess a buoyancy to match their gravity. The film's first action scene, with Shu Lien chasing the sword's thief (who, we soon learn, is Jen), sets the tone and the rules. The two fight hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot. Jen suddenly floats up, as if on the helium of her young arrogance, and canters up and down the courtyard walls as if they were velvet carpets, with Shu Lien in urgent pursuit.

The script by James Schamus, Wang Huiling and Tsai Kuojung unfolds like a comic book, with the characters and their circumstances being painted using wide brush stokes. Lee’s protagonists are bigger than life and their quest is the kind of epic endeavor that pits good against evil, with an innocent caught in between. Yet, despite the film's grandiose feel, there are enough intimate moments for us to get to know the characters. One of the primary elements of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is the way it contrasts Shu Lien with Jen. Each is a prisoner of her lifestyle, yearning for what the other has. Shu Lien, a warrior and wanderer all her life, would like nothing more than to settle down and end her loneliness. Jen, the pampered daughter of a powerful official, craves the freedom that she believes comes with Shu Lien's single status.

One of the film's most noteworthy elements was the first-ever screen pairing of two of Hong Kong cinema's biggest stars, Yeoh and Chow. Surprisingly, these icons actually take secondary positions to beautiful young newcomer Zhang Ziyi. As Jen, the seemingly innocent and innocuous daughter of prominent political figure Governor Yu (Li Fa Zeng), Zhang is a real find, holding her own in all aspects and carrying the picture with ease once the focus settles squarely on her. The conflicting forces battling for influence over Jen's soul is "Crouching Tiger's" main concern, and without an actress as gifted and captivating as Zhang in the pivotal role, it's difficult to imagine the story being quite as involving as it is.

But there's no denying the enormous contribution Yeoh and Chow make to the film. The two formed a dynamic duo, even displaying sides of their ability that they've never had an opportunity to reveal before. The ever-charismatic and commanding Chow (the T'ang emperor in the upcoming "Curse of the Golden Flower"), making his bow in this type of action film, proves to be as natural with a sword as he is with a gun (his usual cinematic weapon of choice); but his stunts aren't as heavy duty as those of Yeoh, who is given ample opportunity to show off and even elevate her well-established athleticism and grace in the spectacular fights staged by the renowned martial arts choreographer Yuen Wo-Ping ("Fist of Legend," "Matrix," and "Hero"). But the two are even more impressive in the dramatic scenes. They have a nicely understated chemistry that lends heartrending pathos to their characters' relationship. Li and Shu Lien have long been in love, but they've denied their passion in honor of the memory of Shu Lien's late fiancé, a brother by oath to Li. Their tortured longing is subtly, wrenchingly conveyed in Yeoh and Chow's vividly expressive eyes.

When production first kicked off, the film seemed cursed, though.

"We started shooting in the Gobi Desert," said Ang Lee. "That night the crew got lost in the desert until 7 a.m. We finally got going, and after the second shot, a sandstorm came in." Could things get worse?

"The Gobi is the hottest, dryest place on earth," said producer Bill Kong. "So each morning we lit incense for good luck. Well, we had dreadful luck--it rained sheets, nonstop, ruining our schedule. After a while one of the local people came around and said the gods must be smiling on us. We asked why. 'Because you burned the incense,' he said. 'We burn the incense when we want it to rain.'"

With good or bad luck, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon offered a rough challenge to say the least. A few difficulties were: a $15 million action movie that was also to be a poignant, tragic romance; a fight choreographer, Yuen Wo-ping, who had won international acclaim for his work on "The Matrix" and was bound to clash with the soft-spoken, hard-to-budge Lee; a top-flight all-Asian cast featuring Chow Yun Fat (Hong Kong), Michelle Yeoh (Malaysia), Zhang Ziyi (Beijing) and Chang Chen (Taiwan). Only one of the stars--Zhang, then a 19-year-old ingenue--spoke anything like the classical mainland Mandarin that Lee demanded. On top of these speed bumps, Yeoh injured her knee and needed a month's rehab in the U.S. and the whole ordeal was pretty damned exhausting by all accounts.

"We shot around the clock with two teams," says Lee. "I didn't take one break in eight months, not even for half a day. I was miserable--I just didn't have the extra energy to be happy. Near the end, I could hardly breathe. I thought I was about to have a stroke."

As one sage (whose name I forget) said, "Dying is easy, filmmaking is hard."

But through his agony Lee produced exactly what he hoped to create--a blending of Eastern physical dexterity and Western storytelling and intensity of performance. High art meets high spirits on the trampoline of an elaborate plot. "Crouching Tiger" is contemplative, and it kicks ass.

"Crouching Tiger" combines incredible action sequences with elements of romantic melodrama and superhero derring-do, as visually stunning as it is inventive like no other Chinese period film before or since. It has a reserved slot on many critics' Top Ten lists and made a splash both at the US box office and when the 2000 Academy Award nominations were announced. Paradoxically, the film hasn’t been as well received in China and the rest of the Far East as the slew of imitators it spawned in following years. More on that later.

The film's hallmark is its standout action sequences, of which there are five or six, depending on how you count. All of them are eye-popping and spectacularly choreographed by Yuen with special effects being used to enhance the natural athleticism of the participants. The best of these sequences is Shu Lien’s jaw dropping rooftop chase of Jen from one side of Beijing to the other, using a Peter Pan-like ability to almost fly. It's beautifully filmed, perfectly composed, and thrilling from start to finish. Another segment worth mentioning is a battle in the treetops, where Mu Bai and Jen leap from branch to branch as they do battle. These sequences are the kind of action that haven’t been equaled before or since--even by Yuen.

Lee and cinematographer Peter Pau make "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" a stunning visual experience even when the action is static. From a glorious matte shot of ancient Beijing to the verdant splendor of the surrounding forest to the majesty of Wudan Mountain, the film never ceases to dazzle our eyes and arrest our attention. Tan Dun's gentle, occasionally haunting score provides the perfect musical backdrop for the story, never calling undue attention to itself.

Lee is a visionary and a perfectionist; he demands more than his colleagues can freely give. For the dapper, amiable Chow the experience was often "awful. The first day I had to do 28 takes just because of the language. That's never happened before in my life."

Lee drove Yeoh, whose family's language is English, nearly to tears with his insistence on precise speech. But the beautiful action star thinks it was worth the trouble. "I've been waiting 15 years to work with this guy," she says. "He's gentle and very emotional. During a sad scene at the end of the film, he kept telling me to do different things, and when he'd come over I'd see he was red-eyed, teary. He gets so completely involved. And when he says, 'Good take' after a shot, he really means it."

For all its pan-Asian star power, "Crouching Tiger" depends on Zhang, in only her second film at the time. The actress says she labored under "a pressure not to disappoint the director. I felt I was a mouse and Ang Lee a lion." When first seen, Jen seems lovely but unformed, a dreamy adventuress, a spoiled rich girl with a skill to match her will. Gradually, though, Jen (or, rather, Zhang) reveals a more toxic, intoxicating beauty. Will she become a fearless heroine or a ferocious killer? Zhang, surely, is guilty of one crime: she steals the film. "She allows the audience to pour themselves into her imagination," Lee says. "It's not really her in the movie, it's you. That's beyond acting. It's cinematic charisma."

Before shooting, Zhang and her desert outlaw paramour Chang (Lo in the film) worked with an acting coach. Chow and Yeoh crammed to speak Mandarin. And throughout, Lee was learning the limitations in the laws of stunt physics from the martial master Yuen. Movies are an education on the fly, with pop quizzes every moment. How apt, then, that the theme of "Crouching Tiger" should be teaching. In this war of the generations, the adults are as eager to instruct the young as the kids are to rebel against authority. In life as in martial arts, knowledge is power. And only the most powerful, like Chow's Mu Bai, can share it. He hopes to share it with Jen. Teaching this bright, willful girl is as close as he will come to fatherhood--even if the job carries fatal risks.

In addition to paying careful attention to Chinese legends and metaphysical beliefs, Lee has injected many other elements into "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." He presents the martial arts sequences with a degree of reverence that does not call to mind the chopsocky campiness the average viewer might associate with the genre. This is not Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan; it's something entirely different and, in its own way, more wonderful. Lee also draws upon the work of other filmmakers like John Ford and Akira Kurosawa in putting the finishing touches on the film.

The movie hearkens to Asian action movies of around 30 years ago. It mirrors famous fight scenes from two films by the action master King Hu: "Come Drink with Me," in which the young, fierce Cheng Peipei defeats an inn full of martial studs, and "A Touch of Zen," with two knights doing battle in a grove of bamboo trees. Lee had the inspired--or crackpot--idea of staging the fight between Mu Bai and Jen on the trees' branches, 60 ft. in the air.

"I'd fantasized about this since boyhood," Lee says, "but a lot of my ideas weren't feasible or didn't look good. Nobody, including Yuen, wanted to do the tree scene, for a simple reason: it's almost impossible. The first three days of shooting were a complete waste. There were 20 or 30 guys below the actors trying to make them float. It was just chaotic." Finally it worked--a scene so buoyant that the audience soars along with the stars.

Humor plays as important a part as the romance and adventure. Lee includes secondary characters for comic relief. The story is serious, but the film has a healthy, self-aware sense of humor about itself, best shown by the parallel romance between Jen and Lo. The circumstances behind their meeting are wholly comic; she chases after him for an insane distance after he steals... her comb. The light touch is beguiling and completely convincing, befitting the playfulness of a young, impetuous love.

One rock ‘em, sock ‘em smack down takes place in a teahouse (the ancient Chinese equivalent of an old Western bar). Newly run off from her husband and reveling in her freedom, Jen talks trash to a whole troop of kung fu masters come to ask for a friendly match and brings the place crashing down on them in a battle where the laughs cone as fast as the punches and weapon strikes. Lee is constantly winking at the audience, reminding viewers not to take anything too seriously.

Though the film ends in a question mark instead of a period, there's hardly a criticism to make. Paced with the rich flavor and patience of maple syrup, this tiger/dragon drama takes flight during intermittent scuffles--therein lies the real magic.

If the movie has one weakness, though, it may be its dialogue, or, more accurately, the delivery of the dialogue. This was the gripe that many Chinese viewers had with it: except for Zhang Ziyi, the accents of the non-Mandarin speaking principal actors are less than authentic, putting it politely. In America, the dialogue suffers from an unfortunate translation problem. The lines are meant to be spoken in a kind of classic way, with little or no modern slang. Sadly, these lines translate to such trite statements like, "I have not yet avenged my master." It seems corny, and weakens the film's impact.

Fortunately, the movie transcends dialogue. Also, as I understand it, many Chinese don’t understand heroes who break the rules and rebel against authority. They tend to favor stories that uphold familial piety and Chinese nationalism. Themes that the film apparently didn’t focus on enough for Chinese viewers when we see that subsequent epic martial arts films grossed higher in the Far East than did "Crouching Tiger."

In my opinion, "Crouching Tiger" is a hybrid that goes beyond its mold. It's like a calligraphic scroll and Taoist painting brought to life. The screenplay delivers with several story lines intermingled, all evoking the full spectrum of human emotion. You can feel physically empowered, yet your spirit is seduced by something more subtle. What leaves an impression even more enduring than the spectacular action, breathtaking images, and lovely melodies are the people--their personalities, their emotions, their struggles, the hard lessons that they learn.

Thematically, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has a rich underlying foundation. It ruminates on the true nature of freedom and how everyone, regardless of their circumstances, is a prisoner of one sort or another. Of equal importance is the way it balances the timeless equation of love, honor, and sacrifice. It succeeds as a great pulp yarn, a historical drama, an epic love story, a humorous action tale, and a modern feminist fable. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has something for everyone.

However much the middle-aged Ang Lee suffered in making this exquisite film, he should take a little pleasure in knowing that he helped realize the young Ang Lee's dream and given the world a mythic tale that soars across cultures.

GREGORY FROST CRIT

Today I got a crit from Greg Frost on a short short story of mine.

My story's called "The Automatic Pen" in which a genius inventor builds a wormhole to contact aliens and seek their help with fixing another invention of his, the automatic pen.

I wrote it as a short tall tale set in the present written a la some classic American southern writers like Mark Twain and O. Henry.

My experiment didn't appeal to Greg Frost.

Nichevo.

It was good practice, though.

To paraphrase someone whose name I forget: "One has to dare to be bad."

SNW 10 HAS LAUNCHED...

Much faster than I expected (probably because I didn't know how it went before) Dean has made some hard choices and picked out 23 stories for the anthology plus 25 alternates on Monday, November 20, 2006.

He's mailed them off to Pocket Books where a reader there and another from CBS will labor till after the dawn of January 2007 to finalize what may be the last SNW anthology.

Details about the reading are on Dean's forum.

All I know for certain is I mailed off some good stuff this year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Thank you Dean for giving 10 years of your life to SNW and accepting me into what turned out to be your final Oregon Master Class in 2004, where you and Kris Rusch taught me a lot about the craft and business of writing.

CASINO ROYALE
UNSHAKEN, NOT STIRRED

In "Casino Royale," James Bond trades his customary wink for the kind of tightly focused stare you'd expect from an assassin.

Cool.

The cheery cosmopolitan with an insatiable appetite for women, martinis and double-entendre quips has been jettisoned. Taking over for Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig gives us a brutal, smash-mouth Bond.

A level of predictability had settled into the movies: the opening action scene, usually in a hostile setting like North Korea, along with the trademark Bond girls, the temperamental villain and his loyal lieutenant who would always be knocked off first, the lovable supporting characters like "Q" and "M," and futuristic gimmick gadgets.

But along comes a blond Bond -- namely Daniel Craig. Things begin afresh with Craig's Bond evolving from wannabe assassin to the real deal -- his first hit, first major mistake, first dressing down by M (Judi Dench), a woman to fall in love with and a jilt to the heart to forever form his cold, callous character.

Well known in the UK for dramatic roles in "Mother" and "Enduring Love," Craig may be more familiar to American audiences for his supporting turns in "Munich," "Infamous" and "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider."

Blond, muscular and combative, he is closer to Sean Connery's working-class cheekiness than his more debonair successors. This is a back-to-basics Bond, a "blunt instrument," as M (Judi Dench) puts it (echoing Bond author Ian Fleming). Which is not to say Craig's Bond isn't cocky -- that's his designated character flaw -- but the rough edges haven't been shaved off yet.

At first there was controversy over Craig’s casting. Many people were hoping for Clive Owen, whose work in the BMW "The Hire" shorts coupled with his Bond spoof in the new "Pink Panther" film made him a popular choice for Bond fans. Craig was criticized for being blond and blue-eyed (it should be noted though that Fleming describes Bond as having grey-blue eyes in the books), and for being too short (at 5' 11" he’s the shortest Bond--two inches lower than Brosnan). But since Craig strips down for a few scenes in "Casino Royale," I doubt that female fans will be complaining about his height.

And Craig can take comfort in the fact that when Connery was cast, he was criticized by Fleming and book fans for being too working class and for being Scottish. But after one outing as 007, Connery won over Fleming (who actually gave his literary character Scottish heritage after seeing Connery’s performance) and fans. Craig too is likely to win over fans after they see the film. The actor delivers a hard-edged Bond who can be a cold-blooded killer, a cool, calculating gambler and a matter-of-fact seducer of women. But he also knows that killing can sometimes be messy, and emotions can sometimes cloud judgment.

"You do what I do for too long, there won't be enough of a soul to salvage," he says, waxing poetic.

This isn’t the James Bond we know from the last forty years. Craig isn't succeeding Brosnan; he's re-inventing the role.

Amid the retooling of the surrounding cast, the last bit of continuity is Judi Dench as M, who seems reinvigorated and delivers acerbic one-liners like only she can.

Instead of a megalomaniac out to rule the world, the villain is Le Chiffre (Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen), "the Cipher," a banker to international terrorists who is only in the game for the money. His quirks are a tear duct that drips blood and the need for an inhaler.

The heroine is Vesper Lynd (French actress Eva Green), a female counterpart to Bond -- cool, calculating, the right mix of hard and soft. It's not hard to see how she could beguile Bond. Their exchanges contain none of the usual tired double entendres but rather sharp dialogue as the two suss each other out. And when she steals his heart, 007 actually uses the "l" word.

Jeffrey Wright is suitably low key as Bond's CIA ally Felix Leiter, while Italian veteran Giancarlo Giannini is his smooth local contact. Caterina Murino, also Italian, plays Bond's first sexual conquest, who pays dearly for her extramarital fling.

It's interesting to note that the radical revising of Bond is being done by the "usual" team. The producers are still Michael G. Wilson and Barbara (daughter of Cubby) Broccoli. There's no way of knowing for sure which parts of the script belong to Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (veterans of the last two Brosnan Bonds) and which were written by the ubiquitous Paul Haggis ("Crash," "Million Dollar Baby"), but the old-school romantic sparring between Vesper and Bond has the double Oscar winner's fingerprints all over it: both for the sophisticated repartee and the serious attempts to invest the characters with psychological depth. Director Martin Campbell previously retooled the series when he oversaw Brosnan’s "Goldeneye" with Phil Meheux as his cinematographer. And David Arnold has been composing Bond scores since he took over from John Barry in the '90s.

Technically, this makes the third adaptation of Casino Royale. The first two were a 1954 TV series with Barry Nelson as Jimmy Bond, and a 1967 spoof starring Woody Allen. But this is the first time the official Bond franchise has filmed the novel, updating the setting from the Cold War to the War on Terror. As far as this movie is concerned, nothing in the last 20 entries has happened.

Until its rousing introduction during the end credits, the "James Bond Theme" is heard sparingly, during brief, subdued passages. The signature line of "Bond, James Bond" keeps us waiting. There are no gadgets - in fact, there's no Q. Nor is there any Moneypenny.

There's action, but it's surprisingly low-key (for Bond). The over-the-top, gravity-defying stunts are gone. Things get brutal. Not only is there a nasty fight in which Bond beats the crap out of a bad guy, (he has to kill two people to get his double-zero status, neatness isn’t necessary) but our hero ends up on the receiving end of some vicious treatment. One can't see Connery, Dalton, or Moore going through that ordeal.

The new film gives us Bond as a young, fresh and reckless agent. The opening teaser in Prague, shot in black-and-white to demonstrate the new grittiness, shows him making his first kill. Then it’s off to Uganda and Madagascar where Bond attempts to capture a potential bomb maker/bank robber. He winds up on a wild foot-chase in and around a construction site of the kind one would expect in a Hong Kong action flick. Bond’s quarry just happens to be played by Sébastien Foucan, a master of parkour (or "free running"), who bounds over obstacles and scrambles over walls in the space of a heartbeat. The acrobatic high jinks end with a shoot-'em-up in an (unnamed) embassy.

M scolds Bond for bungling the mission and banishes him, but he rushes off on his own to the Bahamas and Miami -- without permission -- hot on the trail of more potential terrorists. He beds the exotic, married Solange (Caterina Murino) and tracks down terrorist bankroller Le Chiffre, who makes his fortune by being banker to the unbankable, such as third world warlords and other underworld scum. In exchange for a huge pile of money, Chiffre with his bleeding eye guarantees one machete-wielding warlord that his hundred million bucks will be invested without risk.

Which is, of course, a very risky move on Monsieur Chiffre's part. The eye's next move is equally mystifying when he sells his substantial stock holdings in an airline that's about to unveil a new liner. His broker doesn't understand the move since the stock has been climbing like a rocket, but when Bond's trail leads to a terrorist trying to destroy the slick new plane before it gets off the ground -- a catastrophe that would bankrupt the company -- the money manipulation part of it clears up.

Seeking to recover the money lost (and keep his head), Chiffre sets up a super-high stakes game of Texas Hold "Em Poker at Casino Royale in Montenegro. Bond sits across the table to deny the mastermind any gains. He's now aided by Vesper Lynd, who stakes him with British treasury money to the tune of $10 million.

Besides bringing his best card game, the freshman spy also needs to learn how to wear his first tuxedo, and figure out exactly which way he likes his vodka martinis prepared.

"Shaken or stirred?" asks a barman.

"Do I look like I give a damn?" says Bond.

Lynd turns out to be a prickly partner for Bond and they take an immediate dislike to each other. Needless to say, they eventually warm up to each other’s charms but not before a few intense rounds of poker.

At one point, Chiffre poisons Bond, who doesn’t quite put the defibrillator to his heart and passes out. But after Vesper gives him the jolt he needs, he returns to the poker game with a dry, "I’m sorry -- that last hand nearly killed me."

When Bond turns out to be the loser, Vesper denies him further backing though he pleads with her for a 2nd chance. Things don't always go well for the agent. In fact, they sometimes go really badly.

But Felix Leiter turns up to stake Bond instead and give him a second life.

Of course things get more complicated and nasty (namely Chiffre’s sadistic torture of Bond right out of Fleming’s book), and the movie neatly sets up Bond’s emotional crisis as his love affair with Vesper offers the promise of a life less ruthless -- and maybe the last chance to save what’s left of his blood-spattered soul.

Major sequences -- the early chase in Africa, a fight aboard a runaway fuel truck on the Miami airport tarmac, a shootout in a collapsing Venice, Italy, canal building and a grueling torture sequence -- emphasize the physicality of the stunt work rather than special effects. The old James Bond musical theme is saved for the end as David Arnold's superb score chooses to mirror the rise and fall of tensions and emotions. Phil Meheux's cinematography and Peter Lamont's design take full advantage of the great locations ranging from Prague and Venice to Lake Como and the Bahamas. And Martin Campbell does the series proud again directing a second retooling.

Bond is often caught in physically tight spaces that force him to use anything and everything at his disposal, and to engage in hand-to-hand combat rather than to rely on guns and gadgetry. At one point he even makes clever use of the stairs used to embark or disembark passengers on airplanes. And when Bond does have to rely on something other than his fists, he gets realistic tech support rather than futuristic gadgets.

What’s also fun in "Casino Royale" is seeing the characters develop. In the recent films, the characters were just a given. Bond, M, Moneypenny, Q and even the villains and women were just character types that we had come to rely on for certain traits and to act out certain roles. But "Casino Royale" invigorates the formula by fleshing out the characters beyond their conventions.

Now, Judi Dench’s M gets out of the office and out of her role as a bean-counting desk jockey to develop Bond’s superior with a little more depth and interest. A relationship begins to develop between her and Bond rather than just having them trade quips.

Bond also isn't given a tricked out hot rod by "Q" -- he earns his stylish Aston Martin DBS in a card game (along with the guy's wife). He exchanges more than double entendres with Vesper, revealing a little more of himself along the way. He even pokes around for some trace of dormant humanity in the professional killer. The direction the film takes bodes well for more revelations in the future.

For Daniel Craig, this is a triumphant debut. Not since early Connery have we seen a Bond this magnetic. Craig shows us both the human and the inhuman sides of Bond. This Bond isn't beyond uttering the occasional quip, but when he does so, there's not a lot of humor in the delivery. Not since the closing moments of "On Her Majesty’s Secret Service" have we seen such a vulnerable 007.

As the film wears on Craig refines his performance into something increasingly colder and more elegant, never quite assuming full Bond-ism until the final, crowd-pleasing line: "The name is Bond…James Bond." The poor guy he is talking to is not in for a good time.

"Casino Royale" isn’t flawless, however. About twenty minutes can be trimmed from the film’s two hour plus run time. The final section involving the romance between Bond and Lynd, drags on and we know how it has to end. There are also some questionable decisions made in the script -- like changing the card game from the book’s Chemin de Fer (baccarat) to Texas Hold ‘Em and then having a character narrate what’s going on. The script also shortchanges Leiter’s character.

But if the goal was to give Bond new life, "Casino Royale" is a smashing success. This Bond is not only licensed to kill but eager to get on with the job. I’d wager he’ll stay for as long as Craig wants him to. The success of his two following Bond movies will depend as much on the level of writing.

I’m looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

SNW 10 Reading Progress

I've learned that as of Nov 17, 2006, Dean Wesley Smith has gotten through the first read of all submitted manuscripts. I believe that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 3000-4000 stories.

Lots of fun.

Dean has stated on his forum that he's picked out more than 190 stories for the Second Read List (SRL). Now he's working to cut that down to under 100. All the stories are supposed to be very good--and hard to pick from. So he's going to get brutal in the next go round.

By my rough calculations, SRL stories are in the top 4.75% of stories.

Around 25 stories, give or take, that are good enough to be in the anthology, but aren't picked go on the Alternate List (AL). They're in the top 1.20% of submissions.

And the 23 that make the cut into the SNW anthology are in the top 0.58%.

Whew!

I've been on the SRL in the last two years. I know that I turned in some really strong tales this year--better than what I've done before. Hopefully, I can make the jump from the SRL to the anthology--especially if SNW 10 will be the last hurrah.

As a latin saying goes, "Tempus omnia relevant."

"Time reveals everything" in other words.

Dean says he'll report after January 1, 2007. At that point I'll see if the gods're with me.

I wonder which ones I should make offerings to?

Abrams Still Not Committed to Directing Trek XI

Earlier this month, an article came out on SyFy portal regarding Trek XI.

Until the story and script has been finalized, Abrams says he's not sure that he's the right person to direct the upcoming Trek XI flick, which rumors're saying will dramatize the first Kirk-Spock meeting.

When I read between the lines, I have the feeling this is due in part to long talks he's had with Shatner, who told him that his Kirk character is "uncastable" and that Matt Damon's people have announced that the actor isn't interested in playing a young Kirk.

To me, this fits in the pattern of Abrams' behavior to date with many of his TV projects. He takes something on and is excited about it in the beginning, then falls out of love, gets restless, leaves someone else behind to handle it for him, then jumps to another project which he also abandons later on.

I had serious doubts when I heard that Abrams was selected to bring Trek back to the screen. A lot of good candidates were passed over, including director Bryan Singer ("X Men" 1 & 2 and "Superman Returns").

IMHO, Abrams is something of a dabbler who works with other people's ideas, but is unable to develop them over the long term once he exhausts the initial storylines of the first season or two.

People like Ron Moore ("Galactica" & "DS9"), Brad Wright ("SG1" & "Atlantis"), and Joss Whedon ("Buffy," "Angel," "Firefly," & "Serenity") stick with their projects through thick and thin.

I don't feel that Abrams has shown that quality so far. It's my impression that he's having trouble making his young Kirk story float, so he's getting ready to pass the buck along to someone else while he goes back to playing musical chairs with his other projects.

Incidentally, I would prefer to see a Trek film with new characters and storylines. At the very least, something with a new chapter set in TNG, DS9, or ENT.

Boris

SIT REP

Hey all,

I've been busy with a major work project, but it's done now. :-)

I can concentrate on a few more things, like maybe a flick review or two.

I did manage to finish a rewrite of a space opera short story that I'm prepping for WOTF. I'll likely rewrite it yet again though...

The previous draft was 5500 words. Thanks to comments I got from James Patrick Kelly, I threw out the original set up and middle, but kept the end. The current draft is 9400 words.

Damn.

The longest short story I've written in a lil' while. I wasn't going for that length, but that's where the new premise went.

And I also changed the title from "Honor and Justice" to "The Way of the Peacemaker."

I'll be curious to hear the thoughts of the next person who comments on this before I send it off to WOTF. :-)

I'm also waiting for a crit on a comic SF tale of mine by author Gregory Frost. An online interview of him is available here.

And I'll get back to work on some scripts now.

SIT REP

Hey all,

I've been busy with a major work project that still isn't done... :-(

Adding a Mulitmedia Library to my website and some bells and whistles to this blog have only put me behind. But I'll finish it.

Writing wise, I'm up to page 31 and 5573 words of my SF space opera short tale that I'm prepping for Writers of the Future. I'd say that I'm 3/4 of the way through.

So near, yet so far...

I'm looking forward to writing up some reactions to a film or two once I finish my project.

Things are going a little slow, but they're going.

Later.

FILM COMPANY RESPONSE TO "HEAVEN'S MANDATE"

Hey all,

I called up a contact today at Jerry Weintraub Productions. She said her company has to pass on my Chinese Joan of Arc script, BUT I can approach her when I have a script appropriate for Warner Bros.

Woohoo!

So I've got two companies, Tapestry Films and Jerry Weintraub Productions, which I can approach with a romantic comedy I'm getting set to redraft later this year. I wrote the first draft in the UCLA Professional Program under screenwriter Alex Metcalf. It's called "Twice in a Lifetime."

Logline: A widowed man and an engaged woman seek their perfect match with one another.

When it's ready, I'll send it out to all the major contests in 2007 along with "Heaven's Mandate," and an American "Master and Commander" script I've dubbed "Stars and Stripes Forever."

Now I have to hook "Heaven's Mandate" up with a film company that'll want to do it whether in Hollywood or Hong Kong. Winning in the top contests next year will help.

Looking forward to putting my screenwriting cap back on when I'm through with my fiction.

Later.

LESLIE WHAT CRIT

On Sunday, 10-8-06, I got a crit from Leslie What on a teen fantasy tale of mine I dubbed "The Dance." Saying that I'm "fortunate" doesn't begin to cover it. I'm no teen fantasy guru and she did a fantastic job, outlining an easy and hard choice for me to take when I rewrite the story.

Unfortunately, I'm going to pick the hard choice. :-(

"The Dance" is about an ugly duckling teen girl who competes with a beauty queen classmate for a boy with a love potion that's not a love potion.

I'm preparing it for WOTF. An alternate market at Leslie's recommendation is Cicada.

I wrote "The Dance" based on 3 writing prompts: an unattractive person, a distinct smell, and a bowling ball.

I went with a teen girl and geraniums and made the ball magic. I'll be curious to see how the story turns out when I finish rewriting the story of mine that James Patrick Kelly commented on.

SIT REP

Let's see...

I'm up to 3128 words on my third Writers of the Future (WOTF) story after 2-3 weeks of eking out 1-2 pages a day 4-5 times a week.

I'm eagerly awaiting comments on my first WOTF sub from Leslie What.

Don't know yet who'll crit my second WOTF tale, but it will be looked at come 10-16-06 or so.

Very excited.

Once I finish off my WOTF stuff, I'm putting my screenwriting cap back on.

Looking forward to Clint Eastwood's WW II flick "Flags of Our Fathers" in a few weeks.

SNW 10: The final edition?

I just learned that there's some serious doubt about the Star Trek Strange New Worlds (SNW) 11 anthology coming out.

What's definite is that editor Dean Wesley Smith announced on his forum that he will definitely give up the reins after assembling SNW 10.

If Pocket Books decides to continue the SNW anthology series, they'll have to do it without Dean.

It's been a great opportunity to first learn from Dean and his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch at their final Oregon Master Class in 2004 and then submit to SNW.

I've learned a lot of lessons that I'm appling to my writing in both fiction and film.

I'd actually expected this to happen sooner because Dean did say at the 2004 Master Class that he had some projects in the hopper. SNW has had a great 10 year run, but, as every scientist knows, nothing escapes the law of entropy.

If the gods're with me, one of my Trek stories will make its contribution to the SNW library.

"FEARLESS" REVIEW


Martial-arts films have entered a classic, high-style period to which Jet Li is well suited, and will be missed. They have an appealing blend of rich visual style (beyond the action) and mythic storytelling

"Fearless" in particular doubles as a hymn to Chinese nationalism and traditional eastern virtues. "Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself makes you fearless." This quote from Lao Tzu, the father of Taoism, forms the premise for the film’s title, and underlies the emergence, fall, and rebirth of real-life Chinese martial-arts master Huo Yuanjia (played by Li).

The film is loosely based on the life of Huo, who lived from 1868-1910, and his exploits as a master of wushu (the general Chinese term for martial arts), which raised national morale during the period when troubled China was dismissed as "The Sick Man of the East."

We shoot into a Shanghai arena in 1910 to find Huo creatively putting a hurt on some foreign opponents. We're in the middle of a public match, one blatantly rigged to humiliate China. Three European challengers go down quickly, and a tough-looking Japanese master, Anno Tanaka (Shido Nakamura), steps into the ring for the final showdown.

As Huo readies to face Tanaka, the film flashes back to his boyhood in northern Tianjin, showing his father holding back and thereby losing a public martial arts bout. Huo, furious, takes on the victor’s preening son--and gets the tar beaten out of him. Despite his father’s opposition, Huo trains in the martial arts and becomes a local celebrity, but loses sight of what's important--family and integrity. Huo eventually challenges a rival master in a brutal battle over a seeming slight. His victory, however, turns to ashes when his opponent dies and Huo learns that he was misled about the insult and his mother and daughter lose their lives as a result of his actions.

Up to this point "Fearless" has had plenty of action, and accomplished naturally, without a lot of wire work or CGI effects; now it becomes quieter and meditative as the broken Huo finds himself in a distant Hobitton-like rural area, where he’s practically adopted by Moon, a blind peasant girl (Chinese TV star Betty Sun), and her wise Yoda-like grandmother. He learns while working in the rice paddies the virtues of humility, self-control and fidelity to the ancient ways. Huo and Moon enter into a chaste, underdeveloped romance. But Moon's inspiration reminds Huo that martial arts have their Zen side, that the word "wushu" combines two words that mean "stop war"--and that reinforces this film's sometimes incongruous pacifist themes.

After an unnamed score of years, Huo returns home, where he’s disturbed to see the Chinese kowtowing to exploitive westerners. He seeks help from his oldest friend, restaurateur Nong Jinsun (Dong Yong) to establish the Jingwu Sports Federation in Shanghai as a place to teach the true wushu way of focusing as much on spiritual self-awareness as on pure technique and to fight "with honor and civility". His success against a U.S. strongman (Aussie Nathan Jones) leads the foreigners to set up the four-against-one tournament to destroy his popularity. At this point the film reverts to the opening, with the final match against Tanaka, who proves to be a true samurai-in-spirit when his sponsors seek to win by dishonorable means. That scene excites and pulls heartstrings.

Yes, the story is pretty standard. Funny at times and both sincere and serious at others, though it stumbles occasionally when the plot gets predictable and sentimental. But the film benefits from the work of Yuen Woo-ping, who staged the numerous fight scenes with gusto, and the behind-the-camera crew: Poon Hang-seng’s cinematography is grittier than a lot of modern Asian cinema but just as sumptuous. Both Kenneth Mak’s art direction and Thomas Chung’s costumes are exceptional. And editors Virginia Katz and Richard Learoyd seamlessly integrate the quieter expository material and the explosive combat sequences. "House of Flying Daggers" composer Shigeru Umebayashi provides a sumptuous score as well. Not to mention Li’s amazing showmanship (I hope to be that agile at 42).

In terms of production value and dazzling action, the film rivals "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000) and "Hero" (2002), the latter being considered by many as Li's best recent work. "Fearless" also features a smiling, charismatic Li that hasn't been seen much since his "Once Upon a Time in China" series in which he played another real-life Chinese legend, Wong Fei-hung.

The film offers Li a few opportunities to stretch dramatically. Different subplots deal with Huo's flaws as a son and father, his strained friendship with his boyhood friend, Jinsun, and his romance with Moon (one very self-sufficient blind woman). Li is too young for the early scenes, but they still work. And, at the end, when Li's current age matches Huo's, he's able to give the part a depth and gravity that this kind of movie, unless directed by Ang Lee or Zhang Yimou, often doesn't have.

I came into the film with somewhat low expectations, but "Fearless" is director Ronny Yu's best work since his 1993 Hong Kong hit "The Bride With White Hair." Since then, he's come to America and made some busts like "Freddy vs. Jason," "Warriors of Virtue," and a "Chucky" sequel.

Reportedly, a major 40 minutes were cut from the film, right before its American release. The subplot of Michelle Yeoh’s character for one thing was edited out. A body will just have to look for a DVD version later. This explains the condensed storytelling, but "Fearless" doesn't feels gutted and still exhilarates and inspires.

"Fearless" deserves an audience larger than the one that already plans to seek it out. Sold as a martial-arts film, it's also the type of film that deserves to draw the kind of moviegoers who came out to gaze with wonder at "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"--a film that was geared not just to genre enthusiasts but was also sold as a "serious" movie suitable for a discriminating mainstream audience.

The story is told simply and clearly, and in striking visual terms. The fights themselves, including one on a high, nose-bleeding platform, and the numerous weapon combats are done simply and clearly, without too much editing razzle dazzle--a bit like the classical, lean way Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly filmed their dances.

In a way, martial arts movies are like musicals. Their soul lies in their action routines, but the best of them need a strong, supporting story to set off those scenes. "Fearless" isn't in the class of "Crouching Tiger," where the drama and the action fuse on a sublime level. But it's a personal project for Li, who loves his character of Huo Yuanjia and wants to use Huo’s story to raise his countrymen's spirits.

This story of China fighting for self-respect in the early 1900s plays well with today’s Far East Asian audiences because it nods to China's rising prosperity and confidence as a world power. Li's character symbolizes China itself, moving ahead by uniting past and present, urban and rural, clan and clan.

Jet Li has also stated that it’s his goal to express his personal philosophies about the balance between humility and self-respect, and the coexistence of violence and peace. The film is his chance "to use a violent story to talk about a nonviolent idea." Violence in service of serenity in other words.

Though "Fearless" is a story with incredibly staged fight scenes every 10 minutes, it is, first and foremost, about inner peace. It's brazenly sentimental with no major villain beyond Huo Yuanjia's flawed, impulsive self. And it preaches earnest Buddhist ideals; the post-enlightenment Huo tends to make statements like, "Competitions can uncover our weaknesses and open a path to discovery."

The film mentions the Jingwu Federation’s guiding principle of "mind, body and soul." Here, in my opinion, "Fearless" glosses over a major point. Kung fu, as practiced by the monks of the Shaolin temple, was a vehicle for attaining enlightenment. Self-discipline, good health, and the ability to defend oneself came as a consequence of practice, but weren’t the end goals. Through meditation and learning to master physical techniques, practitioners came to sharpen their minds and cleanse their spirits. When one takes martial arts to their end, one need not fight at all. A point that "Fearless" doesn’t dwell on.

In clarifying his public statement about the movie marking the end of his career as a martial arts star, Jet Li has said that it is only the last film in which he will practice the strenuous traditional wushu style of masters like Huo Yuanjia. At 43, Li’s body won’t allow him the acrobatic feats of athleticism that the genre demands. He will however continue to perform parts that utilize his skills in various action films as he works to build his reputation as a serious actor.

"Fearless" may be only his last martial-arts epic, which certainly leaves a lot of windows open.

(Note: Those interested are welcome to read an excerpt of my UCLA contest-winning Chinese Joan of Arc script, "Heaven's Mandate".)

"Clarion Moves" Chat

On Thursday, 9-28-06, I participated in a chat with Clarion board members, alumni, and Clarion hopefuls, who talked about the workshop's move to the University of California San Diego (UCSD) starting in 2007.

It ran for about 2 hours.

Here's a transcript:

------------------------------------------------------

"Clarion Moves" chat with the Clarion Foundation Board of Trustees

September 28, 2006, 9:00 P.M. EST

Participants were Tim Keating (chat host), Kate Wilhelm (Foundation President), James Patrick Kelly (Foundation VP), Leslie What (Foundation Secretary), Nancy Etchemendy (Foundation Treasurer), Karen Joy Fowler (Trustee), Jim Sheah (UCSD Constituent Relations), Liz Zernechel (2006 Clarion Director), Kate Fedewa (2005 Clarion Assistant), Jeff vandermeerr (2007 Clarion faculty), Boris Layupan (Clarion alum and Circle member), Traci Castleberry (Clarion alum and Circle member), Michael Furlong (Clarion alum and Circle member), Sarah Kelly (Clarion alum and Circle member), Keith Watt (Circle member), Thomas Doyle (alum), and Ray Vukcevich (innocent bystander).

TimK:
First I will outline how things are going to run for the participants, then I want to give each of you a chance to introduce yourselves.
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skelly:
Hi Jim and everyone!
LeslieWhat:
Even if we haven't started, can I take a sec to thank everyone for making space to be here.
NancyE:
Sure
LeslieWhat:
(it was a rhetorical question:)
NancyE:
=8)
lzernechel:
It's nice to be forced out of the theatre for a few hours
NancyE:
Good! Happy to help you out.
TimK:
Seems like the audience is small enough that they can be expected to behave themselves.
jkelly:
Maybe, but how about the Board?
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TimK:
OK everybody, we're running a little behind due to technical issues I introduced :-)
TimK:
I'd like to go ahead and get started now, unless anyone objects.
TimK:
(Silence is tacit statement of preparedness.)
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NancyE:
Hi, Ray
rvukcevich:
Hi Nancy
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mburstein:
Am I back?
TimK:
You are.
kwilhelm:
Hi, Ray, Jeff, all, welcom to chaos
mburstein:
Did I miss the opening statement?
TimK:
Nope.
jvandermeer:
hello
TimK:
Just about to get the party started.
TimK:
OK everyone, welcome to this Clarion (non) Circle chat.
TimK:
Our guests this evening are the Clarion Trustees and our topic is the recently announced move to UCSD.
TimK:
OK folks, we have left the channel unmoderated, so anyone can post.
TimK:
I noticed in the archived chats the moderator tends to take the lead in asking questions, but I honestly don't have a long history with Clarion, so I may not be the best person to do that.
NancyE:
Tim, just be our traffic cop. Keep things organized for us.
TimK:
You guys probably have more salient questions than I would, so I'm going to go directly into open Q&A.
jkelly:
Good!
TimK:
Right, if you have a question please say "question"
TimK:
I will give everyone the go-ahead in turn.
TimK:
I do expect everyone to be polite. I would hope that needn't be said, but there, I said it.
jvandermeer:
tea and crumpets polite?
lzernechel:
just thought I'd mention that if someone wants to speak to another outside the big chat area you can double click on their name to the right and it'll put you in a new room with them
TimK:
No, just no unnecessary cussing and childish name-calling polite.
LeslieWhat:
Good, because I already spilled my tea on my crumpet.
TimK:
I have been reassured by Nancy et al that they are here to answer even hard questions.
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kfowler:
sorry I'm late
NancyE:
Glad you made it
TimK:
I was going to ask each of the Clarion folks to briefly introduce themselves . . . but it seems that may not be neceessary?
NancyE:
Not a bad idea
TimK:
OK let's do that then.
kfowler:
I'm Karen Joy Fowler, part of the Clarion board.
jkelly:
My intro: Jim Kelly, Clarion victim 74 and 76, Clarion overlord 90, 92, 94, 96, 98, 01, 03. I think that's it.
kwilhelm:
Kate Wilhelm here. I've been involved with Clarion since l968 and presently am the chair person of the Clarion Foundation.
NancyE:
I'm Nancy Etchemendy, the Foundation's Treasurer, and a board member.
NancyE:
Oh yeah...I'm a Clarion victim, too. 1982
kfowler:
We call you survivors.
NancyE:
LOL
jkelly:
Thanks.
LeslieWhat:
I'm Leslie What, Clarion 1976 and BoD Secretary. Hi, all!
kfowler:
I think that's it for board members. We have a few who couldn't be here.
kfowler:
Would anyone else like to introduce themselves? I recognize some of you, in spite of your clever disguises.
kfowler:
Jim Shea should also be introduced, assuming he arrives.
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*** Signoff: JimatUCSD (QUIT: )
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NancyE:
Jim, better now?
JimatUCSD:
Boy am I embarassed.
NancyE:
S'okay.
kfowler:
It's not Star Trek yet, is it?
TimK:
Nope.
NancyE:
Jim, welcome. Please introduce yourself.
JimatUCSD:
Yes, hello. I'm Jim Shea, obviously technology-deficient
TimK:
Hehe join the club.
JimatUCSD:
I work in Development at UCSD.
kwilhelm:
I have a statement I'd like to present, explaining a bit about the background of our move.
TimK:
Great! Before we start taking questions, Kate has a prepared statement she would like to post.
TimK:
Go ahead, Kate.
kwilhelm:
In the late spring of 2005 the Clarion Workshop was declared dead, with no future funding to be granted after 2006, and the projected budget for 2006 was seriously deficient in meeting the needs of the workshop. The Clarion Foundation was organized at that time, with the mission to ensure the continuation of the workshop into the future. Liz Zernechel agreed to become the Director for 2006, and with her dedicated assistance, along with Mary Sheridan and our own board members, we reworked the budget and the 2006 workshop was a tremendous success. Soon after organizing, our first formal motion adopted our priorities for seeking a new host. Topmost among them was to stay east of the Mississippi if at all possible. Next was affordability, then stability, and sufficient funding. There were two tentative offers that met the first priority but failed all the rest. We had to reject them. For the following year we pursued other possibilities that would meet our priorities, but we were not able to find a new host.
kwilhelm:
Early in the summer of 2006, with no home and no funding for another year, we agreed that we had to widen our search to include all of the states. To our surprise soon afterward there were three good proposals for us to consider. They came from Lenoir-Rhyne, a private college in North Carolina, one from MSU Outreach, and one from UC San Diego. Any one of them, had it been the only offer, would have been acceptable, but we had to choose. For several weeks we discussed and debated them all, asked for and received clarifications when needed, and modifications if needed. When we finally took a vote on which to accept, the overwhelming vote of the Board of Directors was for UCSD. It failed our first early priority, which we had been forced to abandon, but met the test of the others.
kwilhelm:
We are convinced that UCSD offers the affordability students require, stability, and sufficient funding for the next five years, at the very least, to ensure the continuation of the high quality workshop that Clarion has always been. For hundreds of past students of Clarion the memories of the workshops will forever evoke memories of the beautiful MSU campus and the two will be forever inseparable.
kwilhelm:
And to ensure that Mary Sheridan will always be associated with the Clarion Workshop, as she has been for nearly three decades, the Clarion Foundation has started a Mary Sheridan Endowment Scholarship Fund, to be administered and maintained by the Clarion Foundation itself. We’ll miss you, Mary, but you will be a part of Clarion forever, too.
NancyE:
Is Kate's statement finished?
TimK:
Yes it is.
mburstein:
If no one else has a question, I have one or two, but they're rather trivial.
kfowler:
trivial is a great way to start
TimK:
Agreed, go ahead mburstein.
mburstein:
Ahem. Can it really be Clarion without mosquitos, heat, tornados, and creaky elevators?
LeslieWhat:
You got tornados?
mburstein:
Many stories were generated with those elements, IIRC.
NancyE:
LOL
mburstein:
And my other question...
jkelly:
Damn, We forgot the mosquitos!
NancyE:
To be honest, I will miss the fireflies.
kfowler:
We will have to substitute earthquakes and tidal waves. Won't that work?
jvandermeer:
Can mosquitos be imported, perchance?
blayupan:
?
mburstein:
I have to admit that I am constantly annoyed at the way Clarion kept being referred to as "Clarion East." Will you work to have people stop calling it that?
kwilhelm:
Clarion is a state of hte mind. Furnish your own mosquitoes, etc.
jkelly:
Well they won't anymore
mburstein:
Earthquakes are good for stories.
NancyE:
We are trying hard to eradicate the "Clarion East" thing. SFWA is not helping.
kwilhelm:
WE have NEVER been Clarion East, Never, never!
mburstein:
For those of us from the east coast, it was really more like "Clarion midwest" anyway.
TimK:
I have a newb question -- Clarion West is a SFWA organization?
LeslieWhat:
No!
blayupan:
I can't remember mosquitoes and fireflies during my stint at East Lansing, but there was plenty of pollen to set allergies off.
TimK blushes
jkelly:
The street will find another name for us, I'm afraid.
kfowler:
The street is merciless.
blayupan:
It seems to me the workshop may be called Clarion Sun, Clarion Beach, Clarion Surf now.
NancyE:
Yes. "Clarion East" was just a street name. It's very difficult that it has stuck so well.
jkelly:
But we have no control over that in the same way we couldn't stop "Clarion East."
kwilhelm:
I insist. WE are Clarion. Period.
blayupan:
I always called it Clarion.
NancyE:
And Clarion always called itself Clarion.
mburstein:
I always called it Clarion, and I recently blogged about the change and reminded people to call it "Clarion." Period.
blayupan:
What's the chat's agenda?
jkelly:
Thanks, Michael.
NancyE:
Open Q&A, Boris.
NancyE:
Type "question" and Tim will call on you.
blayupan:
Ok
LeslieWhat:
Boris, by the time I key this in someone else might answer, but it's to talk about the move to UCSD.
blayupan:
cool
jkelly:
Yay!
blayupan:
I can only wonder what the MSU dorms and cafeteria is like along with having Damon & Kate as instructors. Any immediate effects of the move to UCSD?
jkelly:
UCSD is a beautiful campus in an entirely different way from MSU. Think ocean front view and beautiful weather
kfowler:
Thank you, Kate. Let me just add that one of the advantages in our minds to UCSD was that UCSD's thinking was very long term.
NancyE:
What are the immediate effects of the move to UCSD? Any takers?
LeslieWhat:
I want to reinforce the idea that the the board formed to work for Clarion and the writers who invest the resources (emotional and financial) to attend the program.
mburstein:
Um, are we still supposed to use the word "question" to indicate that we have a question?
NancyE:
Yes.
mburstein:
question
TimK:
Go ahead.
kfowler:
The immediate effects that come to my mind are the difficulties involved in moving from a place that was our home for so long.
NancyE:
Yes, a battle to get people to understand this is not the end of Clarion. We're just moving, not dying.
mburstein:
This is a little less trivial. MSU has an archive of all the stories written and photocopied at Clarion by the resident workshops there. Will that material be moved to UCSD?
jkelly:
yes, the archive will move.
lzernechel:
question
jkelly:
The library at UCSD is well equipped to handle them
kfowler:
The archives will move. Our arrangement with UCSD is that, should the workshop cease to be housed there, the archives will join the current collection of sf materials at Riverside.
NancyE:
The Eaton collection, one of the largest sf collections in the world.
kwilhelm:
WE will be certain that the archives are well stored and available at UCSD They are a very valuable asset.
NancyE:
Liz, go ahead.
TimK:
Sorry, missed that *sheepish*
lzernechel:
It is our understanding that all materials that were created while Clarion was at MSU, including the archives, could not be moved from MSU
lzernechel:
That was part of the reason we were so pushing to keep it here
NancyE:
Maybe Kate can answer this...or Jim Shea?
kfowler:
We were told otherwise.
NancyE:
Agreed.
JimatUCSD:
I can try. I don't know what the situation is at MSU, but generally, the archive would be movable if there were not a specific agreement to keep it.
kwilhelm:
We belive it can be moved, and we're working on that premise with the cooperation of Peter Berg, a librarian in Special Collections.
NancyE:
Peter Berg at MSU?
kfowler:
Yes.
JimatUCSD:
I know that in past conversations, our Special Coll Librarian has been in touch with Peter.
kwilhelm:
Yes, he is at MSU.
JimatUCSD:
Peter has provided a detailed list of the documents that are in the Archive, and outlined the size and space needed to house it
JimatUCSD:
So I assume he considers it movable
NancyE:
Other questions?
Mfurlong:
question
blayupan:
?
kwilhelm:
Jim, he indicated as much in an earlier e-mail.
TimK:
Go ahead Mfurlong
Mfurlong:
Will next year be the 40th anniversary for Clarion, and if so, is there any kind of event planned for alumni
JimatUCSD:
This is a great question
Mfurlong:
next year? at the new location?
JimatUCSD:
I've already been thinking ahead to which year is the 40th -- 2007, the fortieth class, or 2008?
NancyE:
Yes, I've been wondering that, too. Started in 1968...
kfowler:
Which year was the thirtieth reunion? I was there, I should know. But I don't.
Mfurlong:
lol
kwilhelm:
I've never been able to grasp what century it is when it changes from one to another.
lzernechel:
This year was the 39th Clarion class
jvandermeer:
Wow. Started the year I was born. So that would make it 38, the same age as me. LOL!
kfowler:
That was a mighty fine year, Jeff
NancyE:
Second that. :)
JimatUCSD:
Yes, we generally do events when it's been 40 years since, rather than the 40th time
JimatUCSD:
At least in fundraising, and event planning
NancyE:
I think the answer is there will definitely be an event, but details aren't worked out yet.
tcastleberry:
I work in a hotel here in San Diego; I can help with the event location and housing and such
lzernechel:
We already had a number of things in the hopper at MSU for the 40th anniversery and if the Foundation would like, we'd be happy to host it as right now the office is still open.
NancyE:
Thank you, Traci.
Keith:
Just my opinion, but I think having the move and the 40th anniversary coincide would be a good omen...
JimatUCSD:
You're obviously not caught up in the move ;-)
Keith:
heh heh, true nuff
*** Signoff: kfedewa (Connection reset by peer)
NancyE:
LOL
blayupan:
?
TimK:
There's a good question.
TimK:
Can anyone talk a bit about the logistics of the move? What is happening when?
kfowler:
We probably need to think this through more before we make a plan here. But there should certainly be a 40th bash, someplace or other.
NancyE:
I think Boris had a question.
blayupan:
yes
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*** Signoff: jkelly (Connection reset by peer)
TimK:
OK, sorry to stomp on you Boris -- go ahead first.
LeslieWhat:
(Liz, I'd love to know what you had planned--another time if this isn't the venue.)
blayupan:
I was wondering what the strengths of next year's instructors are?
blayupan:
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with them.
NancyE:
One of them is here tonight. Jeff?
LeslieWhat:
Jeff V, are you ready with an instructor statement? :)
kfowler:
We have Greg Frost in Week One. Greg is a very experienced Clarion instructor and always does a fabulous job.
NancyE:
Yes, Greg taught in 1996 and 2000
LeslieWhat:
Traci or Liz, perhaps you could say something about Cory D.?
kfowler:
We have Mary Anne Mohanraj (did I get that spelled right?) in week two. Mary Anne is also absolutely terrific, though this will be her first Clarion outing.
*** jkelly has joined channel #clarion
kfowler:
Is Jeff week three? I think so,
lzernechel:
Cory was a great suicide week instructor
lzernechel:
:P
blayupan:
was Mary Anne in a Year's Best anthology of Dozois'?
NancyE:
:)
jvandermeer:
yes, i'm week 3
tcastleberry:
Cory talked a lot about electronic publishing and related things. Very fun to have around
NancyE:
Mary Anne is interesting in that she writes lots of different stuff.
kfowler:
Jeff is amazingly imaginative and edgy and we are counting on him to push students in directions they are surprised to find themselves going.
jvandermeer:
I have some idea of focus and approach that I think will be both imaginative and team-building.
kfowler:
Both Jeff and Mary Anne have experience in publishing as well as being incredible writers.
jvandermeer:
My wife Ann will also be with me, and she has a lot of publisher/editor experience.
NancyE:
Mary Anne's home page: http://www.mamohanraj.com/
jvandermeer:
so she's an additional asset.
NancyE:
(Yes, I spelled it right.)
jvandermeer:
and i'll be making myself available 24-7 for any questions they have about anything connected to writing or publishing.
kfowler:
Cory Doctorow is week four. As Liz says, his job is to keep everyone upright, inspired and non suicidal.
NancyE:
Heh heh
Keith:
My wife will appreciate that
jvandermeer:
But as for a statement. I plan to make them work hard, to see their writing from a different perspective, but still have fun.
LeslieWhat:
http://www.endicott-studio.com/bios/bioellendelia.html is for Delia and Ellen.
kfowler:
Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman will do the last two weeks.
NancyE:
Vee vill hef fun!
tcastleberry:
Who's the editor-in-res?
kfowler:
They are primarily fantasy writers, fantastic teachers, full of energy of the kinder, gentler sort.
LeslieWhat:
Delia has editorial experience with Tor.
kfowler:
I think it's one of the strongest line-ups we've had.
NancyE:
And, of course, there'll be Jeff's wife.
LeslieWhat:
Also, Maryanne has edited short fiction and has worked as a consulting editor.
kfowler:
We haven't picked the editor yet.
jvandermeer:
I don't know about an editor in res but I ran an indie publishing company for 15 years and have edited several award-winning anthologies. I know the scene inside and out, including foreign markets, etc. Both indie and big publishers.
jvandermeer:
I'll make sure they know that. Even as I focus primarily on the writing.
kfowler:
As I said, we've got it all covered.
LeslieWhat:
Except the mosquitos
NancyE:
And the fireflies.
blayupan:
no pollen?
JimatUCSD:
No misquitos here
jkelly:
And the humidity
jvandermeer:
Any land whales?
NancyE:
Plenty of pollen
JimatUCSD:
Some pollen -- but I'm allergic to everything
kfowler:
We are breeding an unholy cross species of Mosquito.firefly in the San Diego labs even as we speak.
NancyE:
LOL!!
kfowler:
You light up like a firecracker if you're bitten.
Keith:
Ocean sunsets, quite sufficient for me
blayupan:
I like long walks along the beach with pleasant company.
TimK:
Any more on the 2007 lineup?
kfowler:
And rainy afternoons, Boris?
blayupan:
nope
jkelly:
How about the dorm space, Jim? Quads with living rooms?
JimatUCSD:
Yes, the dorms are among the newest on campus
JimatUCSD:
Quads with kitchen and living room; single bedrooms
jkelly:
I'm thinking that there will be more Clarion togetherness.
NancyE:
Ah, sweet Clarion togetherness.
jkelly:
More late night bull sessions
JimatUCSD:
Some are quints (?) instead of quads.
jvandermeer:
(Thanks for inviting me, and I'm sorry to do this but I'm packing for a trip and must head out now. I'm thrilled about the opportunity to teach and think San Diego will be lovely. Bye for now.)
*** Signoff: jvandermeerr (QUIT: )
NancyE:
What, no sexts?
kfowler:
Harder to sneak off unobserved?
JimatUCSD:
Bye. Stop by any time.
blayupan:
How're things with assistant/volunteer help for Clarion?
JimatUCSD:
Well, in addition to Traci, who's here tonight
kfowler:
Traci was our first volunteer
JimatUCSD:
there are two more who have checked in so far
JimatUCSD:
One is a computer specialist who works on campus
JimatUCSD:
Another is part of the local smof community
NancyE:
One great thing about UCSD is the size of the local sf community
JimatUCSD:
And we have a large on campus club, Darkstar
NancyE:
The volunteer picture is definitely off to a great start.
JimatUCSD:
third largest sf lending library in the country
JimatUCSD:
Darkstar, that is
blayupan:
I don't know if my perception is correct, but I didn't have the feeling the SF/F community was so huge in East Lansing like it is in Seattle. Does anyone know what E Lansing was like?
kfowler:
East Lansing's community was small but mighty
Mfurlong:
there was really good local support from the booksellers in the area that had formed relationships with CLarion.
LeslieWhat:
The Ann Arbor community was also active.
Mfurlong:
The archives bookstore was particularly helpful.
Mfurlong:
in East Lansing.
lzernechel:
there is excellent support here, it's just a matter of letting them know you want to be a part of them
kfedewa:
As a student at MSU, I can safely say that the SF community is there and growing. Within MSU, classes are now being offered in everything from Tolkien to SF game design.
blayupan:
Too bad I didn't connect with the SF/F people while I was there.
kfowler:
But we never had the social scene that Seattle provided.
kfowler:
I don't know if that's good or bad.
NancyE:
The social scene, and interactions with UCSD scientists, should be terrific.
NancyE:
Yeah, Karen. I'm not sure either. :)
kfowler:
I'm really excited about the possibilty of discussions with the UCSD scientists.
blayupan:
Too bad about the social sitch too. I wanted to reach out while there, but didn't know where to go during my Clarion.
JimatUCSD:
They're excited too
jkelly:
I'm very psyched by some of the science touring opportunities at UCSD
lzernechel:
The sci-fi community here at E. Lansing is sad to see Clarion go and truly wants to find a way to stay involved.
skelly:
The only way I got through 06 was the lack of a social scene, it was me, the manuscripts and my computer.
kwilhelm:
Karen, the social scene was regarded as great, or awful and too distracting. Depends on who asks and who answers, I think.
Mfurlong:
ditto skelly
LeslieWhat:
Being a writer is always just you and the page. But when you're not writing, the social scene is great.
blayupan:
I try to balance being a hermit and a social butterfly.
Keith:
Question, when you get around to it
kfowler:
I never was a student at Clarion so it's frankly hard for me to imagine how anyone can write six stories in six weeks. But I'm pretty sure I would need outside stuff to give me story ideas.
NancyE:
I think it would be wonderful if we could find a way to keep the E. Lansing sf community involved.
TimK:
Go ahead, Keith, I think we're just vamping :-)
JimatUCSD:
We'd be interested in how we can help support that (responding to NancyE and Liz)
Keith:
Heh heh... For Jim and Jim. You mention the science touring, what is at UCSD? I'm an astrophysicist and NASA engineer, so I'm curious what they work on
JimatUCSD:
Oh my, let's see...
JimatUCSD:
We're in the top three in the country in oceanography and neuroscience
JimatUCSD:
in the top five in bioengineering
JimatUCSD:
very strong interdisciplinary research focus, especially in emerging sciences
kfowler:
Jim Shea -- when you finish with the science accolades, could you say something about Sixth College and its mission statement?
JimatUCSD:
like stem cell, nanotechnology, and IT blending into telecom
blayupan:
any work in synaptic computer interfaces and human gene therapy?
skelly:
What kinds of research facilities does UCSD have? Touring the super collider at MSU was interesting. Anything like that?
*** Signoff: jkelly (Connection reset by peer)
JimatUCSD:
Yes
NancyE:
Oceanography is much involved with global warming issues, as well.
*** Signoff: mburstein (Connection reset by peer)
JimatUCSD:
that's yes to the computer interfaces and gene therapy
kfowler:
Nevermind. Answer the science questions --
JimatUCSD:
Tours--California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technologies http://www.calit2.net/
JimatUCSD:
Scripps Institution of Oceanography (on the beach)
blayupan:
thanks
JimatUCSD:
Center for Research in Computing and the Arts -- motion capture, etc.
JimatUCSD:
Okay I'll stop....
NancyE:
LOL
Keith:
That's really encouraging. Most all of that is well outside of my field, which is exactly as I'd hoped -- very useful.
lzernechel:
Jim, in response yours and Nancy's comment, I've been working on keeping science fiction / fantasy events thriving here in central MI and I'm pleased to say that the future prospects look very good. Maybe this isn't the place for it, but our ideas are wide and far-reaching, and we would be happy to discuss opportunities with you.
*** jkelly has joined channel #clarion
NancyE:
Other questions?
JimatUCSD:
And Sixth College is an undergraduate college that focuses on the interrelationships between culture, art and technology, and the way each influences the others: think longitude and the ability to cross the oceans, and compare it to computer technologies...
kfowler:
That's wonderful, Liz.
JimatUCSD:
Okay, really, I'll stop...
JimatUCSD:
Thanks, Liz
kfowler:
Now Sixth College?
JimatUCSD:
I'm happy to work with you on links back into E Lansing
kwilhelm:
Liz, I think that the board would be delighted to continue our relationship in one way or another.
kfowler:
One of the people we spoke to about bringing Clarion to San Diego was the head of Sixth College.
*** Signoff: jkelly (Connection reset by peer)
TimK:
Other questions?
blayupan:
?
lzernechel:
well, we are trying to make as many opportunities as possible in this complicated matter.
blayupan:
I have a question.
lzernechel:
thanks Kate
TimK:
Boris, go ahead.
blayupan:
What does the board think of the idea of an abbreviated one week
blayupan:
workshop for grads at MSU every year? Odyssey has one for its grads called
blayupan:
the never ending odyssey (TNEO).
lzernechel:
well... that is something we are in the planning but NOT under the name Clarion
lzernechel:
and we DON'T want to add to the confusion
lzernechel:
:)
blayupan:
I'm certain many Clarionites would like to go back for a taste of yesteryear.
tcastleberry:
If you really want to do an alumni party--would anyone have ideas on dates and size? I could get a quote from my hotel; we do a lot of cons. And how long? 3 days on a weekend or something?
lzernechel:
Reunions are also in our planning
lzernechel:
:)
kwilhelm:
I love the idea of workshop reunions for grads. I've been asked about this many, many times.
lzernechel:
Did you guys tap into my computer and get my proposals?
lzernechel:
:P
blayupan:
Odyssey's workshop reunions are very popular.
Mfurlong:
that sounds like a really great idea to have for grads
tcastleberry:
Or maybe we could do a welcom-to-San Diego for alums; give them tours of UCSD and such too
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kfowler:
I think Walter Jon Williams (a board member who couldn't be here) and Connie WIllis are planning a grad level workshop, too.
tcastleberry:
Um--it's Taos Toolbox. http://www.taostoolbox.com/
tcastleberry:
A couple weeks in July
Keith:
(I think a "welcome to SD" for alums would be an excellent idea -- might alieviate some anxiety about the move)
JimatUCSD:
I have to say that the amount of time and energy the Board's been putting into the move is an incredible amount of work
kfowler:
Thank you, Jim
JimatUCSD:
so I'm not sure how much psychic energy they have for more new stuff in 2007
kwilhelm:
I don't think it matters how many or where they are if they're open to all grads. Travel to the nearest one could be essential for a short stay.
LeslieWhat:
(Thanks, Traci--was searching through the emails to find that url)
blayupan:
Kinda wish I didn't go to to Clarion at MSU now. What's the Taos Toolbox for?
LeslieWhat:
Boris, check out the URL Traci posted.
kfowler:
You'll have to get the details from Walter Jon. It's not one of our projects.
tcastleberry:
The Taos thing is geared toward Clarion and Odyssey alums, novel-focused, mostly for those of us who aren't published and need a boost
lzernechel:
That's right, Kate, there aren't many opportunities for Clarion grads and we think that more possibilities only enhances the bond
blayupan:
thanks for info.
lzernechel:
And proximity is important for those types of reunions
lzernechel:
not to mention seclusion
JimatUCSD:
I like anything in 2007 that facilitates the move and maintains links into the East Lansing community, for the start
JimatUCSD:
And then focus on the newer ideas, for alums
LeslieWhat:
Jim Shea's comment about energy is true. There's a lot more the board could do if our focus widened, but the Workshop is our top priority.
kfowler:
Jim Shea has also been working incredibly hard on fund-raising possibilities. As Kate said in her opening statement, keeping the workshop affordable is a primary concern.
jkelly:
My connection for the past fifteen minutes has been dicey so I think I'm going to sign off. Thanks to everyone for coming!
JimatUCSD:
One of our goals is to do the kind of broadbased fundraising that allows the Board to focus less on that and more on new, interesting ideas for the program
kfowler:
Along those lines, I'm really happy with the Mary Sheridan endowment.
tcastleberry:
Yeah--that's really neat
kfowler:
Nothing we can do would be thanks enough for all the times Mary kept us safe and dry.
kfowler:
You go plan the reunion party, Jim Kelly.
kfedewa:
Yes. I work with Mary, and I know that she would want you to know that she is honored. (A little embarrassed, but honored.)
kfedewa:
=)
NancyE:
Bye Jim K
jkelly:
Thanks, I'll be there. Bye all!
*** jkelly has left channel #clarion
blayupan:
bye
TimK:
Other questions?
blayupan:
trying to think of something.
NancyE:
I don't know about others, but I sure need my dinner
kfowler:
Maybe we're done here?
kwilhelm:
Question: Can I go eat now?
blayupan:
looks like it...
Keith:
I'm looking forward to it -- you'll have my application in a month or two ;-)
rvukcevich:
Thanks for letting be the fly on the wall. Very interesting. :) You guys are doing a great job. I've got to run now. Ray
blayupan:
the body needs food.
kfowler:
Early submission recommended.
NancyE:
LOL! Yes, let's go eat!
TimK:
OK, let's wrap things up then.
blayupan:
I've eaten.
JimatUCSD:
Sorry I was so late....
NancyE:
Bye, Ray
TimK:
Thanks everyone for attending.
blayupan:
better late than never.
skelly:
Bye everyone, thanks to the board for making this decision.
*** rvukcevich has left channel #clarion
Mfurlong:
Jim, does UCSD have an MFA program?
kfowler:
Thanks to all
TimK:
Thanks to our guests from the board, and Jim from UCSD.
NancyE:
Bye skelly
JimatUCSD:
Thanks for putting it together
kwilhelm:
By all. My stomach is making a terrible racket. Out of here.
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JimatUCSD:
Bye all
tcastleberry:
Have a good night, folks
*** Signoff: kfowler (QUIT: )
Mfurlong:
Yes, starts this fall
Keith:
'Night to all, time to get the baby to bed. Many thanks!
JimatUCSD:
Creative Writing MFA
Mfurlong:
hmm, interesting timing. OK, thanks.
NancyE:
Thanks to Tim Keating, our honorable host.
*** kwilhelm has left channel #clarion
*** Signoff: tdoyle (Connection reset by peer)
kfedewa:
Goodnight all, and thanks.
TimK:
Night all.
*** Signoff: kfedewa (QUIT: )
Mfurlong:
Goodnight, Kate
Log file closed at: 9/28/06 7:41:24 PM

"Hero of the Empire" Fiction Excerpt

The opening 400 or so words for my SNW 10 sub "Hero."

Storyline: Commander T'Pol, a Vulcan officer, struggles alone to thwart human rebels from conquering Earth...in an alternate universe with a Terran Empire that oppresses nonhumans.
----------------------------------------------------

Hero of the Empire
by Boris Layupan

T’Pol’s heart hammered in her throat.

The Starship Defiant orbited Earth, prepared to bombard the planet into submission. She had no time to lose.

T’Pol slowed her pace in the ship corridor before her two guards. “You must assist me in preventing Lieutenant Sato from overthrowing the emperor and Starfleet.”

T’Pol’s marine MACO captors, both human, grunted derisively. Corporal Mackenzie, a lithe, muscular blond female in brownish-grey combat fatigues with a skull patch on her sleeve, trailed T’Pol on the left side. Mackenzie prodded T’Pol in the back with the end of her phaser rifle.

“Empress Sato’s expecting you on the bridge,” said Mackenzie. “Move along...Commander.”

T’Pol resisted an urge to thrust the weapon into Mackenzie’s mouth. The unseemly impulse was a telltale of her eroding emotional control, the result of much too close association with the humans of her universe. What would it be like to deal with the benevolent, egalitarian humans of the parallel universe this starship came from?

“I ask forgiveness,” said T’Pol, increasing her pace just a fraction. “It was kind of Lieutenant Sato to allow me to live to witness her conquest of your homeworld.”

The second MACO, Corporal Chang, a wiry oriental human male, chuckled. “I didn’t know Vulcans had a sense of humor, Commander.”

Chang wore the red shirt and black trousers of the Defiant’s original security complement as if it were a badge of honor. T’Pol wasn’t one to criticize as she wore the light blue skirted uniform of a Defiant female science officer.

Her top was stained green, though. A cut on her cheek from where Hoshi Sato had slashed her with a dagger had dripped blood before clotting at last. It’d happened when Sato apprehended her for conspiring against Jonathan Archer on the Avenger, their former escort.

T’Pol fingered her throbbing wound. She would take Sato to task for it very soon.

“As you say, Corporal,” said T’Pol, her tone agreeable.

In the next heartbeat, she crouched to her knees, pivoted back, and spun her left leg around to sweep both MACOs by their ankles. The two corporals cried out and their weapons clattered onto the deck as they fell back.

T’Pol pounced in between the MACOs. She took hold of each at the junction where their necks met their shoulders and pinched the nerve clusters bundled there.

Both MACOs slumped unconscious.

T’Pol scanned the matte-white corridor ahead and behind her. Empty. On a ship designed to be manned by over four hundred personnel, the eighty odd survivors of the Enterprise and Avenger crews were, as a human saying put it, a drop in the bucket.

A red door lay to the left two meters ahead. She grabbed both MACOs by an ankle. Her Vulcan strength put her in good stead as she lugged the corporals to the door.
------------------------------------------