Arggghhh - No, no, Ryk Spoor!

[seawasp]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Welcome to MR, Ryk I thought "Boundary" was excellent, and I've just started "Threshold", which I'm enjoying just as much. Please ignore my meanderings about octopi; I'm a bit of an amateur linguist and etymologist, and these things are just my own personal "hobbyhorse". I love the old Clarke/Heinlein books, and found Boundary to be very much in that mould. One of the best books I've read in a long time.

I had a similar rant about mistakes in Eric Flint's Latin in "1632", if it's of any comfort

Thanks again for posting - great to see you here.

My pleasure. And it didn't bother me -- I've had MUCH worse said about my stuff; what brought me to actually look was the title of the thread, which echoed the "No, John Ringo, No!" and made me wonder if I'd somehow put in something terribly offensive. We all have our kneejerk "NO!" topics.

Thanks again for your compliments; Eric and I were trying for exactly that kind of feel. I'm going for the "Old-style Grand Space Opera" feel in my other recent novel.

[seawasp]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Welcome to the madhouse!

With regard to RPGs, one of these days I ought to post some version my rant about how "Continual Light" totally breaks the basic D&D setting (though they've changed the spell since I first started ranting about it; I'm mildly curious if I'm the reason). Waaaaay too many people (and yes, this does include fantasy authors) overlook or ignore the ramifications of whatever tech (scientific or magical) they introduce to their worlds..

Yep. I try to avoid that in both my RPG campaigns, and in my writing. My favorite example of "breaking the setting" because someone didn't think things through was when I created a working nuclear bomb using cantrips in AD&D.

And hey, at least we're all worked up about "octopi" (at least some of us are; it's my preferred plural) and not about you writing a rape/violence/beer fantasy ....

Ahh, John Ringo's "Ghost". Something he literally wrote to just "get it out of my system", and then Jim Baen insisted on publishing it. Insisted by adding more money to the contract until no sane author would say "no".

And now it, and the associated series, makes him more money than anything else he's written, or is likely to.

I'd try something similar, except I'm INCAPABLE of writing stuff like that. My "embarrassing thing written just for me" is an Oz pastiche/homage novel called "Polychrome".

[HarryT]

Could I ask a question about "Threshold", Ryk? In that, you have "plasma sail" spaceships, and talk about "tacking" against the solar wind and light pressure. This immediately raised a big question mark in my mind. Sailing ships can only tack because of the process of vector addition of the force exerted by the wind against the sail AND the force the sea exerts against the keel of the ship. No keel - no tacking. A spaceship does not have any equivalent of a keel, so I'm a little curious as to how this tacking process would work. I can't see how the propulsion could be anything other than directly outwards from the Sun!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by seawasp

Ahh, John Ringo's "Ghost". Something he literally wrote to just "get it out of my system", and then Jim Baen insisted on publishing it. Insisted by adding more money to the contract until no sane author would say "no".

And now it, and the associated series, makes him more money than anything else he's written, or is likely to.

I'd try something similar, except I'm INCAPABLE of writing stuff like that. My "embarrassing thing written just for me" is an Oz pastiche/homage novel called "Polychrome".

PLEASE don't. I love John Ringo's SF, but "Ghost" and its sequels make me cringe. I think they're absolutely ghastly.

[seawasp]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Could I ask a question about "Threshold", Ryk? In that, you have "plasma sail" spaceships, and talk about "tacking" against the solar wind and light pressure. This immediately raised a big question mark in my mind. Sailing ships can only tack because of the process of vector addition of the force exerted by the wind against the sail AND the force the sea exerts against the keel of the ship. No keel - no tacking. A spaceship does not have any equivalent of a keel, so I'm a little curious as to how this tacking process would work. I can't see how the propulsion could be anything other than directly outwards from the Sun!

The key is that the NET vector force exerted on a dusty plasma sail (or a regular lightsail, for that matter) is a combination of the force from the impinging radiation and the reflected radiation. If you can in effect angle the sail such that the net vector opposes your current orbital vector to a reasonable degree, you can actually reduce your orbital speed, coming "in", or increase it, going "out", and of course do other maneuvers by combining the vectors in various sequences. Poking around, I found a nice little diagram and explanation set over here.

The dusty plasma sail used in Threshold is better at this than a naive interpretation might indicate, too, because the "dust" is, to a large extent, smart dust and each mote can individually orient according to instructions and thus reflect the light more precisely... and can change its configuration to be reflective or absorptive. In the presence of a significant magnetic field (such as Jupiter's magnetosphere) the plasma/magnetosail component also allows maneuvering using the vectors imposed by the intersection of your magnetic field with the external one.


Hope this helps. While I do gloss over details and choose specific events for dramatics, I do try to make sure I don't VIOLATE the laws of physics in the Boundary series, just abuse them a little. (my other stuff, that's another matter entirely)

[seawasp]

Originally Posted by HarryT

PLEASE don't. I love John Ringo's SF, but "Ghost" and its sequels make me cringe. I think they're absolutely ghastly.

Heh. As I said, I'm incapable of such writing.

And yes, they're ghastly. Even RINGO thought they were ghastly. But I have to be honest -- as a man with 4 kids and a desire to be a full-time writer rather than someone with a "real job" writing on the side, if I knew that writing (X) would make me tons of money, even if (X) was something I wouldn't really be proud of, I'd write (X) -- if I could -- so that I would THEN be free to write whatever the heck I wanted without worry.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by seawasp

The key is that the NET vector force exerted on a dusty plasma sail (or a regular lightsail, for that matter) is a combination of the force from the impinging radiation and the reflected radiation. If you can in effect angle the sail such that the net vector opposes your current orbital vector to a reasonable degree, you can actually reduce your orbital speed, coming "in", or increase it, going "out", and of course do other maneuvers by combining the vectors in various sequences. Poking around, I found a nice little diagram and explanation set over here.

The dusty plasma sail used in Threshold is better at this than a naive interpretation might indicate, too, because the "dust" is, to a large extent, smart dust and each mote can individually orient according to instructions and thus reflect the light more precisely... and can change its configuration to be reflective or absorptive. In the presence of a significant magnetic field (such as Jupiter's magnetosphere) the plasma/magnetosail component also allows maneuvering using the vectors imposed by the intersection of your magnetic field with the external one.

Got it - thanks!

Is there a third book in the series planned? I'm only half way through "Threshold", but I want to know where the Bemmies came from!

Thanks again for taking the time to reply; it's really great to have authors join us here.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I was really enjoying it up to the point at which he has a paleontologist talk about "squids and octopi".

I haven't looked up the mention in the book, but if this was in quoted speech then it's not a mistake at all. Many people say 'octopi', so it's OK to use it in quoted speech.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I haven't looked up the mention in the book, but if this was in quoted speech then it's not a mistake at all. Many people say 'octopi', so it's OK to use it in quoted speech.

And I see I'm late to the party! A fun thread though.

[seawasp]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Got it - thanks!

Is there a third book in the series planned? I'm only half way through "Threshold", but I want to know where the Bemmies came from!

Thanks again for taking the time to reply; it's really great to have authors join us here.

It's my pleasure; speaking in a purely cynical fashion, the more people talk about me, the more likely people are to buy my stuff... which makes it MUCH more likely I get to write more books and get paid for them. Less cynically, I love talking about my stuff with people who enjoyed it. (sometimes even with those who didn't, if they have interesting things to say about why they didn't)

Yes, there is at least one more book in the series; I began work on Portal (tentative title) recently and once I get a little more input from Eric, I hope to really get cranking on it and finish the main first draft before end-of-year (I could do it a lot faster if it weren't for the fact that I get AT MOST two days to write per week). Plus I've found I usually write best if I have two things going at the same time, and I'm either going to be working on Spheres of Influence (a proposed sequel to Grand Central Arena) or the second volume in a proposed fantasy trilogy titled The Balanced Sword.

[Worldwalker]

I have some pretty strong feelings about Ghost and its sequels. I'm not sure (assuming, for the sake of argument, that I am capable of actually writing -- and finishing, given the state of my fanfic -- a novel) how much money a publisher would have to offer for me to agree to write something like those. I'm not well-off -- extremely far from well-off, actually -- but I'm used to it, and I know lots of tasty things to do with ramen noodles and macaroni & cheese. Sure, I'd like a few million. Who wouldn't? But at what cost?

Assuming all of the following were just a matter of conscience, not legality, I've asked myself: Would I, for instance, accept a million dollars for a novel which is essentially child pornography (fictionalized, mind you; no actual children involved)? Would I accept a million dollars to write press releases and PR material for a political party I routinely vote against? How about a hostile foreign government? Or the RIAA? How much would I charge for an essay extolling the benefits of DRM? In short, how much of my soul is for sale, and at what price?

I won't know the answer for sure until someone waves that million-dollar deal under my nose, of course. It's easy to be virtuous about imaginary money for nonexistent writing. I like to hope that my conscience would overcome my need to pay my bills and I'd be able to say "I got by without this money for all these years; I can continue getting by without it," and turn it down. (mind you, the closest I've ever come was turning down an offer from TSR for my comprehensive index to Dragon Magazine, almost 20 years ago, because they were really lowballing it, but that's another story) So I'm really interested in the point of view of a real writer, not a dreamer.

So what about you, Ryk? Seeing as you're a successful author and all, and hence more likely to get the offer: Is there a price for which you'd be willing to publish your perverted sexual fantasies? How about write kiddie porn? Propaganda for the other party? Press releases for BP?

[HarryT]

You've summed up my feelings about "Ghost" there, WW. I found it an extremely unpleasant mixture of loathsome xenophobia and sadomasochistic pornography. I'm please for John Ringo that it's been a commercial success for him and Baen, but I can honestly say that it's one of the most deeply unpleasant books that I've ever read.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by seawasp

Yes, there is at least one more book in the series; I began work on Portal (tentative title) recently and once I get a little more input from Eric, I hope to really get cranking on it and finish the main first draft before end-of-year (I could do it a lot faster if it weren't for the fact that I get AT MOST two days to write per week). Plus I've found I usually write best if I have two things going at the same time, and I'm either going to be working on Spheres of Influence (a proposed sequel to Grand Central Arena) or the second volume in a proposed fantasy trilogy titled The Balanced Sword.

Great! Look forward to reading it when it comes out. If you want a test reader, when the manuscript nears completion, I'd be happy to volunteer... .

[beachwanderer]

Amazing. Now this is one of those treads I love MR for. And which makes me believe we are not too deep in this problem after all.



And welcome to MR, "seawasp"! I like your work, too.

[omk3]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

...

Assuming all of the following were just a matter of conscience, not legality, I've asked myself: Would I, for instance, accept a million dollars for a novel which is essentially child pornography (fictionalized, mind you; no actual children involved)? Would I accept a million dollars to write press releases and PR material for a political party I routinely vote against? How about a hostile foreign government? Or the RIAA? How much would I charge for an essay extolling the benefits of DRM? In short, how much of my soul is for sale, and at what price?

I won't know the answer for sure until someone waves that million-dollar deal under my nose, of course. It's easy to be virtuous about imaginary money for nonexistent writing. I like to hope that my conscience would overcome my need to pay my bills and I'd be able to say "I got by without this money for all these years; I can continue getting by without it," and turn it down. (mind you, the closest I've ever come was turning down an offer from TSR for my comprehensive index to Dragon Magazine, almost 20 years ago, because they were really lowballing it, but that's another story) So I'm really interested in the point of view of a real writer, not a dreamer.
...

Very interesting questions, Worldwalker, that any man can only answer for himself and then only then truthfully, when he is faced with them.

Have you read Vonnegut's Mother Night by the way?
One of the 'morals' of the story is this:

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.