But did you learn to make an argument about the text, whether it was Heinlein or The Scarlet Letter? (Sounds like you did.) I clearly learned to argue from somewhere ! My english classes probably helped some, but I don't really know. I think it's a mistake to teach as if the classics are the only b...
I never enjoyed the process of analyzing literature, probably because I never really saw the point of it. But for me, the thing I liked least about English classes was the unspoken (or sometimes spoken) assumption that the stuff *I* liked wasn't 'serious' literature. I never understood what Hawthorn...
My wife has never seen a single episode of Enterprise, and only has a passing familiarity with Star Trek (Original Series or Next Generation). Not what you might call a die-hard fan. (She also wonders why I spend my time writing fan fiction when I *could* be writing my own potentially-marketable stu...
Interesting... The Cosmology of Serialized Television Yes, interesting. But also appalling. Appalling that so many shows are reportedly made with NO IDEA of where their story is going. And evidently no sense or presumption that there even NEEDS to be an idea. Call me naive, but I expected more. Yes...
Congrats, Dis. Hope you get published and your book takes off. Just remember the importance of a good title! For example, if you saw my work in the bookstore: Convicted, by Transwarp You might take a pass. But if you saw: Convicted, by Stephen King why, you'd probably buy it! Speaking of Convicted, ...
Generally speaking, I don't have a problem with this, but I don't actually see it taking off. As Jamieson mentioned (a buck for 5,000 words), it could be rather over-priced especially given that fanfiction.net is just around the corner with similar content at no charge. I would expect the overall qu...
Wow. Just, wow. I too will miss Kotik, but I question his judgement. I'm not sure there ARE any good guys in Syria. I predict if the rebels win, the Syrians will wake up and find they've just traded a secular dictatorship for a religious one.
After due consideration, I have decided to use 'L-T' (Thanks, Alelou). I think the dash would be a sufficient clue to most readers that the letters are pronounced individually and are not an abbreviation. Yes, clueless reader will likely read it as 'lieutenant' but they'll move on. It's not perfect,...
When seconds count, the police are minutes away (yet another reason why I am a fan of an armed citizenry). Kotik, I am saddened by your story. Yes, I know that corrupt officials exist everywhere that humans are in charge, and I also believe that large-scale official corruption is the PRIMARY reason ...
they employed gangs of bodily violence to 'prove' their point. I had to drop them all and work alone from then on. Welcome to capitalism. That's not capitalism, that's hooliganism. Capitalism requires the rule of law to insure that the right to engage in commerce and to own or disburse your own pro...
I'm working on a scene with a couple of enlisted MACOs talking to a Starfleet JAG lieutenant. In the dialogue, they are addressing him as 'LT' (pronounced el-tee). This is commonplace in today's Army (sort of like addressing a sergeant as 'sarge'), but I'm not sure of the best way to write it. Here ...
So Putaro, Alelou and Heinlein are corroborating what I have long believed (and attempt to practice myself), which is that there is value in fleshing out your story's characters and settings with lots of detail (such as ship's crew, work schedules, weapons capabilities, technological capabilities an...
I was never on a submarine, so I have no idea. The bubbleheads (submariners) pretty much had their own navy. Seems to me, though, that life on a Submarine would represent a much closer approximation to a spaceship then life on a surface ship. I'm just gllad I never had to do that whole 'hot bunking'...
So, in the engine room, for example, you would have some number of watch standers (like 2 or 3) making sure everything was working properly, and then people in their "work day" doing the routine maintenance, etc? That is correct. When you say there's "one shift" does that mean t...