Trekkie giveaway and NaNo kudos

First of all, my heartfelt congrats to all those who participated in NaNoWriMo, whether you stayed the course or not. I didn't, but I did learn something. I'm a short story writer. At least for now. I love writing them, especially flash. Maybe I should rejoin Other Worlds Writers' Workshop, so I can do their semiannual SSIAWs (Short Story in a Week challenges). I wrote some really good stories with those. Well I think they were. And most of them were published.

And the winner of the copy of Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall is... Shauna Roberts. Congrats!

Alas, no one guessed the bonus question. I guess I get to keep another Quirk poster. Darn! ;) What was the question, you say? Who was the talkative, blue crew member on Star Trek Next Gen? That's the Bolian barber, Mr. Mott. Captain Picard even posed as him - in name, not color - on the "Starship Mine" episode.

Here he is, a little more than 3 min. into this clip from "Schisms".

Writing and SF Turned Science

The new job is great (staff writer for a trade journal). I'm finally getting paid to write. I mean really paid. Story sales just don't do it. I shudder to think what the amount I get paid for a story looks like when divided by number of hours spent. But let's not discount the joy of creating something unique and (hopefully) entertaining. I'm planning to really crank out that sequel to Awesome Lavratt in November with all of you NanoWriMo participants. Nothin' like a deadline and peer pressure.

I'm making plans for OryCon30 in Portland, OR. Looks like a lot of fun panels in store.

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While scaring up facts for a column a few things stuck with me. I thought I'd share.

Researches at Purdue University have invented a tricorder! Check it out.

Affordable electric cars coming later this year. Read about the 2009 models. Chrysler is getting into the game. They have three prototypes for 2010. Dodge sports car, Jeep Wrangler and a Chrysler minivan.

On Sunday, the first privately developed rocket achieved Earth orbit. Go SpaceX!

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Coming soon:
Interview with Ben Bova along with a review of Mars Life.
Review of GUD (Greatest Uncommon Denominator), a SF magazine.