Wednesday writing wire - prehistoric edition

What I'm reading

A friend lent me The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence by Josh Waitzkin. The author was a chess champion as a child, and was the subject of the book and movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer". Later, he switched gears to become a Tai Chi master who eventually won the World Champion title in Taiwan, where Tai Chi is the national sport. The book is a combination of a memoir and self-help book. Waitzkin examines the learning processes involved in reaching world-class skill levels; he writes beautifully and articulately about concepts that can be rather abstract and esoteric. Some major points included the two approaches to learning (viewing one's skill as an innate ability that can't be changed, versus an ability that can increase via study and effort), investment in loss (you must be willing to lose if you want to learn how to win bigger challenges), making smaller circles (breaking down a complex discipline into its basic parts, and mastering those), slowing down time (when you've mastered "chunks" of ability and can call upon them in a way that looks quicker than the eye to your opponent), and making sandals (if you can't change the environment, learn to deal with it).

As the memoir of a pretty amazing human being, the book was really interesting, if a tad self-indulgent. As a self-help book, it's a misfire; there aren't enough concrete examples given that would help us mere mortals take his philosophies and apply them to our own lives. It's still a good read, and I'm glad my friend recommended it, as it's not the kind of book I would usually pick up on my own.

I finally sprung for a tree book copy of Pre Historic Times, As Illustrated By Ancient Remains And The Manners and Customs Of Modern Savages, originally published in 1865 by Sir John Lubbock. Lubbock (1834-1913), was a banker and politician, but he is best known for his scientific contributions in archaelogy, anthropology and entomology.

I love this portrayal of John Lubbock as a bee!

As a youth, he was tutored in natural history by Charles Darwin. Darwin's theories strongly influenced him towards a view of human knowledge, culture and technology as evolving in ways similar to how living creatures evolve. Although the idea of human culture evolving progressively from "savagery" to civilization isn't quite how we see things today, his work (along with that of Edward Burnett Tylor who published Researches into the Early History of Mankind and the Development of Civilization in that same year) helped form the foundation of anthropology which was then a brand-new science.  

My interest in this book started when I read After the Ice: A Global Human History 20,000-5000 BC by Steven Mithen (professor of archaelogy at the University of Reading), a global survey course in human history which draws upon archaeology, paleontology, paleoclimatology, and genetics. From a human perspective, enormous changes occurred in the 15,000 years covered by this book. As the last ice age petered out and the world began to warm up, altering the climate, the landscapes, the plants and animals, human beings changed too, leaving behind the hunter-gatherer ways they had followed for millenia in favor of pastoralism and settled agriculturalism--which would eventually give rise to civilization. To tell the story, Mithen took the unusual approach of introducing a fictional character, John Lubbock (a modern man named after the Victorian scientist). As he time-travels to archaelogical sites worldwide as an invisible observer, the fictional John Lubbock carries with him a copy of the book Pre Historic Times, and Mithen uses it to discuss how our ideas of the emergence of human cultures and civilization have changed in the last 150 years. Some readers thought the use of a time-traveling fictional character in a history book was weird, but I think it's a brilliant way to bring readers one step closer, to transform archaelogical sites from trenches in the ground full of bone fragments and stone tools into living places inhabited by communities of real people. I was captivated by this idea--and wanted to read the book within the book.

I had purchased an ebook version of Pre Historic Times, but the OCR (optical character recognition) process by which the ebook was produced, introduces many typos, weird characters and strange formatting in the text, which were annoying and made it kind of a pain in the ass to read. Fortunately there was a physical version available which was produced by scanning and digital enhancement of entire pages, rather than OCR. So I'm really stoked to have a tree-book version that I can hold in my hands--especially in case I ever have the opportunity to go time-traveling back to 12,000 BC or so.

What I'm writing

My writing has been pretty danged productive in the last week or so! There are a couple of short stories that I really need to edit--but I've been unwilling to break away from The Free City because I've gotten on a roll with it. It was always a source of trubble for me that I couldn't quite locate the emotional center of main character #1 the way I did with main character #2... but I think I have finally cracked that problem. Strangely enough, (part of) it involves making her more of an A-hole. I dunno why that approach is so useful for me, but it has worked for me on numerous occasions. When in doubt, make the character more of an ass, and somehow that renders them more believable, sympathetic and relate-able. To me, at least. Is it because non-assholic characters are boring? Or is it because I myself am an A-hole? 

Don't answer that ;-)

What else I've been doing / What's inspiring me right now

With Goruck Challenge #2 under my belt, I've started training for the Bataan Memorial Death March which is in New Mexico in March 2015. This 26.2 mile march is held every year since 1989 in honor of the American and Filipino soldiers who were taken prisoner by Japanese forces in 1942 and forced to march under conditions of incredible hardship and cruelty through the Philippine jungle. Thousands died along the way, and those who survived had to face a harrowing experience in a prisoner of war camp and being transported to Japan on unmarked ships which were sometimes unknowingly sunk by U.S. forces. Among the American POWs were members of the New Mexico National Guard, which is why the memorial march is in New Mexico. 

I found out about this event last March, and immediately knew I wanted to do it in 2015. As a ten year old Girl Scout in the Philippines in 1979 (Dad worked for the U.S. Embassy in Manila), I participated in a commemorative reenactment of the Bataan Death March. It involved about 65 miles of hiking (three 10-mile pre-hikes before we were even allowed to sign up, and then the  real hiking over 4 days). We also had to learn about the history and write a report before we went. So even though we were kids, we understood the significance, that we were doing this march to honor these heroes of WWII, and also the idea that we were doing a hike that was long and hard for us so that we could gain some inkling of what they had suffered. I remember that you were really supposed to be at least 11 to participate, but it was my last year in the Philippines as my dad was being transferred to Taiwan, so I was allowed to participate. It's still something I'm very proud of doing, and the reason I'll be going to New Mexico in March.

Wednesday writing wire - Goruck Challenge edition

Eegads... I'd gotten in the habit of posting one of these things every week, and then at the end of October it all fell apart. Oh well... I'm gonna try and get back on the wagon here. 

What I'm reading

I finished A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin back in November. It's an account of the origin of the modern Middle East at the end of World War I, and how the seeds of strife were sown that fuel the turmoil that exists there today. Holy cats, I sure feel smarter, but hmm... smart enough to review this book? No way. (I'm no history buff--just a person who reads about things that happened, in an attempt to feel slightly less pig-ignorant.) In lieu of an actual review, here are a few observations. In 2014 we take for granted the idea of nationalism, that people should "of course" have their own countries and get to have a say in who their leaders are, but it wasn't like that 100 years ago. The British (and the French, and the Russians, and etc.) did things (ill-informed, culturally-blinkered, sometimes well-intentioned, sometimes not so much) in order to preserve their own empire and to further their own interests while believing that certain peoples weren't competent to govern themselves and so naturally they'd want the Brits (or the French, or the Russians, and so on) to do it for them. And in our 2014 eyes that makes them horrible, arrogant colonialists--which I'm not saying they weren't, but they were also acting according to the imperialist worldview that was part of their time, as all the world powers of that time acted. It doesn't make it "right", it makes it what happened.

Another observation: we tend to think that, for example, the President of the United States, knows every single detail of every single thing going on in the world and every action being taken in the name of the USA at all times, day or night, and omg, he should have KNOWN that the soda machine in the basement of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was out of Dr. Pepper, how could he possibly not know? But one person does not know all this--no one person can--and that's why a leader has other people working for him, including non-elected people, many of whom you've never heard of and will never hear of, and they do have authority to make decisions, and sometimes they end up making decisions that have giant repercussions. So for example you got Sir Mark Sykes, who was just some 30 year old dude with like, two years of political experience, going off and forging a secret treaty with France about how when Britain & France of course won the war, they would carve up all the territory, and who would get what. (Although the actual carving-up turned out somewhat differently.) OK, the real history buffs are now cringing, I'm sure--so I'll stop before I dig myself a bigger hole. Except to say, this book was indeed long--and sometimes the details became overwhelming--but it was definitely worth the read, and has whetted my appetite for more on the subject.

In the "I *am* reading science fiction, damn it!" department, I recently read A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. OMG. I can't believe I never read this book until now. It's sooooo good. I remember seeing this book on the shelves of the school library but never picked it up, probably because 14 year old me was flummoxed by the title. Like, that sounds dry and churchy. What's it got to do with science fiction? Yeah, only *everything*. The premise is that after society destroyed itself in a human-made apocalypse, and new societies emerged that disdained literacy, the Catholic church preserved the scientific and literary heritage of humanity by protecting its books, writings and relics. It was written more than 50 years ago, but feels as fresh as if it was written yesterday. It's dark, bleak, and tragic, showing the human race determined to repeat the same cycles of stupidity, hubris, and self-destruction over and over--but it's also satirical and downright funny, and somehow left me feeling strangely uplifted. Maybe that's because the characters are so engaging and live their lives with such resolve, and even optimism--so in a way, the story shows not just how *fucked* humanity is due to its own nature, but also how a part of its nature is in fact beautiful.

Anyway, highly recommended. Times a thousand. (You don't have to be religious to read it; I'm not. And don't be put off by the fact that there's a lot of Latin--you get a translation for the real important stuff and the rest is figure-out-able by context.)

What I'm writing

During November I got preoccupied with some other stuff I was doing, and my writing output dwindled to practically zilch. But since December started, I've been back on the ball with The Free City. Winter is always a challenge for me writing-wise. I do most of my writing at work during lunch; my workplace has some outdoor picnic tables including one that I call the Sekrit Picnic Table which makes an ideal writing spot where I won't be bothered. Which is great when it's nice out--but when it gets cold, I have to either go sit in my car (if it's warm enough to do that), or go out to eat, because the lunch room is not an option for getting a single word written. Anyway, I try to make up for it by doing longer writing sessions on the weekends, which so far has been working. 

What else I've been doing / What's inspiring me right now

Me and Barb at the start of the Miami all-female Goruck Challenge on November 14

I was meaning to write about this earlier, but... in mid-November I went to Miami to participate in a Goruck Challenge. This particular event was women-only, which made it special enough for me (and my friend from Green Bay WI) to fly all the way to Florida from Chicago. (There was actually several different events including a weightlifting meet & firearms training, but those were earlier in the week & I didn't get in on them.) Anyway, how to explain what a Goruck Challenge is? It's a small taste of Special Operations training. It lasts about twelve hours, it starts at night and ends the following morning, you carry a weighted rucksack which you almost never take off, each group carries an American flag, you do countless burpees and sit-ups and flutter kicks, you carry heavy objects and people, you crawl around in the sand, you go in the water with all your clothes on--over and over. (Despite being in Florida, 65 degrees with a stiff wind when you're wet feels damn cold!) You are given missions, such as move these 500 pound sandbags from point A to point B in 30 minutes... or, these ten people are "dead" so carry them from point A to point B in 30 minutes, and oh yeah the sandbags too. Heaven help you if it takes you 31 minutes... unless you like burpees. Your leader for the night is a Special Operations Cadre. They are extraordinary men and I find them rather terrifying and they sure know how to make you and your team miserable--but everything they do is done out of love... or at least the sincere desire that you learn something! Which is what makes this a unique experience. People sometimes ask if the Challenge is a race, and sometimes it gets incorrectly lumped in with the sport of obstacle course racing--but really what it is, is the opposite of a race. Because in a race you're trying to win by beating everybody else, but the Challenge is a team event where you succeed by working together so that your team succeeds. Teamwork and leadership--y'know, all the things I'm bad at. Sure, all the physical stuff is difficult and kinda hurts, but making the mental shift from "I" to "we" was definitely the hardest thing for me, a self-avowed angry, alienated loner. A hundred burpees with a weighted pack = hard. Flutter kicks with your head in the surf = harder. Investing your sense of success with the success of the group, stepping up instead of fading into the background, putting others first and yourself second = hardest. (I should mention that this was my second Challenge so I found the mental stuff way easier; during my first Challenge, I think we were about eleven hours and fifty-nine minutes into it before I started to feel it was really about "us" and not "me". But that's just me. YMMV.) But anyway, it was a blast. A hundred and thirty-six women showed up for this thing and they were all awesome. Strong, beautiful, positive attitudes, they were all amazing. Especially my buddy Barb from Green Bay! Also, the Cadre are not really *that* scary... when the painfest is over :)

Fun in the ocean at dawn! I'm #5 or #6 from the left... I think.  (photo by Chris Strasser)

Not just hot air!

Here's an interview with my fellow Alembical 3 author Matthew Rotundo, at the OsFest (Omaha Science Fiction & Fantasy Festival). He talks about the Alembical 3 anthology, the oddball nature of the novella as a narrative format, why he writes science fiction, and coolest of all, hot air ballooning (which plays a prominent role in his story "From Earth I Have Arisen").