robert.admin – Page 139 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

May 7, 2015

Technology Shift (DOG EAR)

y current project is Tubitz and Mergenstein, a story I wrote nearly thirty years ago. The original dealt with a young couple, opposites in every way, who flee across the galaxy pursued by corporate and governmental forces. Back then, I was writing a luke-warm scifi novel – nothing special. Spaceships traveled through black holes to get places (‘downsloping’, I called it). Now it’s a full steampunk yarn, with runnered sailing ships crossing vast seas of mirror-flat rock. Should be easy, right? Just say “sailing ship” instead of “spaceship” and you’re covered. Uh. No. As I read this, I’m coming to […]

May 3, 2015

Embassytown (Review)

ou gotta really want it. That’s all I can say about this book. I love China Mieville – he always provides amazingly new ideas to his works. But this one you’re going to have to work at. I’m not sure if I even get all the points he was making (which sucks since I’m reviewing it, right?). His books are out there, but he invites you (with language and setting and beautiful writing) to join him. Okay, so, Embassytown is a strange place, a little town of ambassadors living on an alien world way out on the edge of known […]

May 2, 2015

Lost in Space (5/2/2015)

ot such a good night tonight. I was clear so I had to break the scope out for a look. The problem was, the full moon pretty much washed everything out so I could only get a vague series of stars. And now that the sky has shifted about and my buddy Orion is a no-show, I’m having a hard time determining what is where. Tried to line up on the pour spout of the big dipper but it made for high angle sighting – a difficult line up. Still, I got a good look at Jupiter with full magnification, […]

April 30, 2015

It shows? (DOG EAR)

won’t deny I’ve been under a lot of stress at work, all that man-against-man that looks so heroic and climactic in stories and yet comes across as petty nonsense in corporate environments. Honestly, the things people fuss over. So I’ve been quiet. But I’ve also been mentally busy. Yeah, I’m dealing with your clucking and egg stealing, but I’m also considering ideas for my “Tubitz and Meganstein” rewrite. In a nutshell, this is a book I wrote almost three decades ago. I remembered liking it then, and recently I located an old copy in storage (likely the only version in […]

April 26, 2015

On high (4/25/2015)

ugged our scope and tripod all the way up to Beech Mountain for our vacation. First day here, we were scouting possible locations. The Grandfather Park location someone mentioned was impossible to find – I have no idea what they were referencing. Closer to home, we found two possible – the big dead mansion on the curves coming over the hill and Buckeye Lake Park. I checked with the park folks and they said, sure, come in after dark. No problems with that. That evening, the clouds swept away (thunder to the north) so we gave it a look. The […]

April 23, 2015

To YA or not YA (DOG EAR)

here is a strong Young Adult (YA) market out there. Let’s be honest. You can look back through the literary greats of our times; Shakespeare, Hemmingway, Steinbeck, hundreds of fantastic authors. And which author is so popular that an amusement park (a gigantic complex) is built to honor her creations? Yes, Harry Potter’s Rowling. Never ever ever has an author been granted a construction that dwarfs those of the Pharaohs of Egypt. And this is all for a book I found unremarkable (compared to Watership Down and The Once and Future King, or even the Rings Trilogy). I mean, really, […]

April 22, 2015

OpsLog – LM&O – 4/22/2015

o big night for ops at the club. Rolled down the street and the lot was packed – always a good sign. Didn’t have to beg any jobs – all the locals, all the freights, and almost all the passengers ran. I ended up on the panel – that’s okay, I know how to deal with that. The railroad was just getting started and I was making my usual moves. Run 202 to Zanesville and duck him into a siding, with another warrant to carry him to Martin Yard once the Silver Bullet passed. My other move is to get […]

April 19, 2015

Looking Backwards (Review)

ully titled Looking Backwards: 2000-1887, this utopian science fiction novel was a landslide blockbuster hit (only third behind Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Ben Hur). Published in 1888, it broke all sorts of records for sales. Hundreds of clubs formed to discuss the novel and its ideals, and its proposal for a better world. In a word. SOCIALISM! Yes, poor Julian West, suffering insomnia, has himself put to sleep by quackish means in a crypt-like basement, only to find out (through later evidence) that his house burned down, his servant died, and nobody was there to wake him. Locked in suspended […]

April 19, 2015

Tubitz and Mergenstein (Review)

heap shot here; I’m reviewing a book that I wrote, and that wasn’t ever published. So yes, this one will be tough to find. I think I have the only copy in existence. But maybe I can change all that. I’m preparing to rewrite this thing, to aim it at the adult/YA steampunk market. It’s a jolly little romp that has always warmed my heart. I think, reworked, it could have a chance of publication (of course, when is that ever not true? Why would I write them anyway?) Anyway, Tubitz and Mergenstein involve the pairing of a mismatched couple, […]

April 17, 2015

Corporate 5K – 2015

ell, it was an event, all full of dramatic pursuits, missing diamond rings and mood-setting rainstorms. So I was on setup this year and helped the boss load and transport over. Gray day and getting grayer. Set up went okay but there was some confusion with the wife driving about downtown and me jogging up and down streets trying to catch her (saw her go by twice). It was like some bloody Buster Keaton bit. Sheesh. Anyway, everything set up as planned. Hung out and had a granola bar. Chatted with people. My brother and niece showed up – always […]