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There are times you meet people, even in this, the weird and wonderful cyber-world of the interweb, when you just seem to click. C G Blade & Jackie Siefert-Pappas are two such people, recent friends and fellow authors and founders of Psuedosynth Press, we have found much ‘common ground’ exists between us. This is their guest post for […]
via If creativity flows, don’t question it. Are you writing divine fiction? — A Little more Fiction
If creativity flows, don’t question it. Are you writing divine fiction?
I am not sure what to call it, divine intervention, a higher calling, and a purpose, perhaps? Maybe it is a flow of creativity from another plane of existence. Almost seven years ago, my ‘well-being’ was a nightmare of thoughts about my physical future and where I might be going after several surgeries. I always say, “Chaos and pain breed creativity.” Cobalt was a calling for me that was a significant positive step. I couldn’t get it out of my head no matter what I did or how distracted I tried to become. Was it an obsession, an epiphany? I believe it was. The Greeks define an epiphany as -“An epiphany (from the ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, “manifestation, striking appearance”) is an experience of sudden and striking realization. Generally, the term is used to describe scientific breakthrough, religious, or philosophical discoveries, but it can apply in any situation in which an enlightening realization allows a problem or situation to be understood from a new and deeper perspective. Epiphanies are studied by psychologists and other scholars, particularly those attempting to study the process of innovation.” Ever since college, I have kept the dream alive. The desire to write science fiction the way I know you and I would love it.
Fast forward seven years later…
Cobalt and the remainder of the novels were ‘meant to be,’ my own epiphany, so to speak. I wrote the Pseudoverse Series because I believe in one adage: If you want to read something and you cannot find it, write it yourself. I believe some things need to be said, and I have a lot more to say in the coolest and most devious damn way I know how. That devious side of me would be hiding messages in plots and narratives as all of the writers before we did since the dawn of charcoal and papyrus. When I am alone at night squirming in pain staring into the darkness with a journal on my end table, and a chapter-by-chapter movie begins in my head, all of the pieces of the novels fall into place, and I’ve worked them all out: Cobalt, the expanded sequel Crimson. Cobalt + Crimson=Atomic Bomb=Los Alamos. Can we go back and do it again? Would we if we could? What if technology has changed that allowed us to do more damage differently? What if it was, Emerald, Onyx, heliotrope, Chrome, Indigo, Ash and artificial intelligence singularity were a reality? What about repairing our wounded patriots? Could we actually produce this idea and make a dream come true for millions of wounded souls?
Okay, here is how I approached this whole Pseudoverse Series idea. I am going to jot down what I believe to be the 100 most influential people, places, and things in science fiction and science and hide them in nineteen novels with several plot lines inside each story. I love a grand conspiracy as much as the next person does. I am also going to use real people in all of my novels. Why? When I read a book I relate to ‘someone’ inside, a character who does something fantastic, miraculous, or malicious. (If I did not read ‘fiction,’ I would go nuts. I am not a big biography fan, but I did hundreds of hours of work researching real people to put these novels together so go figure) You either get a picture of this person or character in your head right away, or it slowly develops over time, depending on who you are reading and what era it is from. When I was writing Cobalt, my supporters and allies automatically became characters in addition to the people I started out within my list. I loved doing it, and I loved it when they became terrible or corrupt in my head. (Creating an antagonist is so much fun to write.)
The entire Pseudoverse Series is a puzzle! The novels are in themselves divine puzzles waiting to be slid together. Enjoy them as a fun roller coaster ride that never stops (Check out the Blog on Heliotrope as a Storyboard). The historical accuracy will blow you away from the hours of research that DC Belga and Cad Gelb put into these stories. Cobalt will be forever a stunning debut novel I will cherish as young parents cherish their newborns. I as most authors do when they finish their first novel, wept. These novels are not masterpieces to be shoved into a bookshelf and admired from afar but loud grenades that go off in your hand, leaving a mark on your forehead that begs the question: “You know, there is more to this book than just this beautiful pulp-inspired cover. Look closer, and you may see something you never saw before. Why would someone spend all this time doing this?” Duck! Its a well-executed barrage of hidden events going off all around you in all different directions! Your grey mass explodes!
Only a fiction obsessed robot programmer/creative writer knows the answer to all of that rambling above. Welcome to my “Uncanny Valley.” Thank you for reading this, and if you have read Cobalt I profoundly and genuinely hope you enjoyed it as much as I did planning it out and writing the sarcastic First Lieutenant Petra Kayden Dace and her sidekick Terprise, stuck in her head forever. The talented and beautiful author, accountant, and muse of Pseudosynth Press, CEO Jackie Siefert-Pappas, will be completing another twisted plot soon for us to hash out together. She has been and always will be my main muse. I have several muses. There is Cindy, Catherine, Sharon, Amanda, and too many others to name. I am not the only one with great ideas for stories, and I thank them from the bottom of my warm, robotic heart. Thank you for supporting us through the years. YOU are the reason I continue to pound out stories. Cindy Calloway, our editor, is the reason that these stories are so damn funny and pop like corn in ‘Real Genius.’ If you are on a roll and the stories are flowing, don’t question it. There is a reason for the flow. You might not find out until years later, but it will eventually come out, and you will be pleasantly surprised at the outcome… I know I am…
Robotic Love and Hugs, CG
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Amazon and Apple Bidding for Bond — Cinematic Slant
Included among the companies bidding for distribution rights to the James Bond franchise? Apple and Amazon, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter that details how valuable this franchise, which is among the only brands in play in terms of rights, is to the potential winner. Amazon makes a certain amount of sense as […]
Confessions from a trio of science fiction junkies. Let us introduce our Pseudo-self’s to you, those who share our passion… A journey through the ruptured, twisting, fantastical minds of three science fiction writers with a dream.
“Without sarcasm, science fiction is just science.” CG Blade
“We set out to write something completely different born of a dream.” DC Belga, co-author of Heliotrope
“Science fiction should be subtle. Like a robotic finger slowly pushing through your skull, poking around, waking you up.” Cad Gelb, co-author of Crimson
These quotes and many like them can be seen everywhere today. Writers and authors look to them for inspiration and guidance, checking these quotes to see if they are on the correct track. It inspires your writing. The three of us set out to write science fiction that had never been written before. Enjoying the works of Bradbury, Asimov, Nelson, Dick, Hubbard, and Heinlein for quite a few years can do something magical to your grey mass. It forces you to think differently. Watching the great science fiction movies of the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s can also have a deep impact on your thinking. Campy perhaps? Maybe. But, they still have a profound impact on the science fiction genre and mirror our society in general. Many of them with a subtle or not-so-subtle message ground into them. After many months of filling notepads and journals, we decided to do the following with our novels. We confess, it was tedious at times, grueling to say the least, and not at all easy. But nothing great ever is:
- Incorporate subtle hints throughout the novels that give you the ending or the ‘Pseudo-personality of a character.
- Each of the novels are infused with hidden and not-so-hidden music lyrics that coincide with the theme of the books. These are also prevalent at each novels webpage. The Main Perpetrator
- Use the first half of the first book Cobalt, as a ‘set-up’ for the rest of the series.
- Infuse the novels with commercials, Intermissions, and pop-culture references.
- As we wrote, we listed the ‘Media Easter Eggs’ contained within the novels and locked them away in a safe. Each novel has from thirty to fifty each.
- Each of the characters in the novels would be ‘real life’ people. Some of them are actually working their real life jobs in the novels. The characters on the cover art are our friends who gave us their faces to use. We dragged some of them kicking and screaming with the promise of Twinkies, Skittles, and Smarties.
- Pay homage to every science fiction writer, director, and movie that we as well as our readers love. Some of them are twisted anagrams throughout the novels.
- Research until it hurts. The historical research we did, and are currently doing, is mind-boggling. Every date, day, and time of an action or a historical action is down to the second. (This has taken three years to piece this together. We wanted this very accurate so that at the end of each novel, time itself is correct for the next novel.) Past , present, and of course, future history is used as conduits.
- Suspend disbelief. What is the best way to do this so that YOUR experience is the best it can be? Grinding, grueling, writing and editing. The novel Cobalt was rewritten thirteen times before we were satisfied. Even then as an author, you are never completely satisfied. We aim to please even if it means bloody fingertips.
- Give you a chance to witness the miracle of binary to alpha conversion. At the end of each novel we have incorporated hints and other oddities that can only be “seen” with a binary to text conversion program. Copy and paste the ones and zeroes from the novel into the converter and click “to text”. Enjoy! (As a robot programmer, I, CG Blade, wanted to do something fun in a novel that had never been done before) Here is the conversion link: Binary to Text Converter
- Sarcasm reigns supreme. “Make it horrible, make it dark, make it gory, but for God’s sake, tell a joke” – Joss Whedon. We went all out here. There is nothing like a smart-ass protagonist with a “chip” on her shoulder that is able to make you smile and giggle after she has shredded someone with a Gatling Gun.
- Use one, and ONLY one artist to illustrate every one of our covers. That talented artist is Katerina Ventova. She deserves a lot of credit for what she has done to propel this series but she will never take it. Humble and gracious, she loves what she does, and we love her for it. (There are hidden messages and twenty-seven names on each cover, front and back)
- Ensure that our editor can put up with our sarcastic writing, no-holds barred content, and has the technical capability to understand and love science fiction as much as we do. We found that one-in-a-million editor in Cindy Calloway, and we will never let her go. Cindy Calloway – Editor-At-Large
- The long arduous search for someone who captures our characters for the audio books is over. The talented voice over artist, actress, and comedic genius of Bradetta Doyle-Vines is unmatched. She understands these novels and IS the voice of Petra come to life. Crimson and Emerald are now being recorded as I type this. Cobalt ACX Audio Book
- For those poetic souls we have also incorporated science fiction poems into our novels from a wonderful poetess by the name of Cindy J. Smith. Check her out. She is amazing. You will find they fit right into these stories. Cindy J. Smith – Poetess-At-Large
- Finally and foremost, we wanted these series of novels to feel like and I am quoting from a reader here, “like you are reading a movie you are holding in your hands”. We set out to make sure these novels were interactive. Your five senses are attacked with imagery and characters that are unforgettable.
Our final confession: We wrote this series for you, and for us, the passionate science fiction junkie. We enjoy the little hints in books and movies. The subtle nods to great books, movies, and music. We cannot stop now. It is like an Easter Egg addiction that is ever-growing. We hope to continue our preservation of science fiction the only way we know how. Subtle, colorful, and very twisted. You do not have to ‘read into’ everything in these novels to enjoy them, but if you love the challenge, it is there. For the most part, please enjoy the ride itself. We loved giving it to you.
Robotic Love, CG Blade, DC Belga, Cad Gelb
Below you can find links to our novels. When you wander over to our website on a laptop or desktop computer, please do not hesitate to turn your volume up to eleven. Enjoy the show! (Press play on a smartphone)
Here is the Rock and Roll HOF voting so far…one day remains to cast your ballot.
Here are the current standings so far and the link to vote. Have a great day, CG.
Here is the link to vote! Rock and Roll HOF Voting
Robotic Love, CG
New Robot Eats And Digests Living Things – What Could Go Wrong? —
“It may not be a living, breathing robot, but UK researchers have created something pretty close. Robotics experts has developed a soft robot capable of consuming organic material for energy, effectively creating a machine which digests living things. The hope is that such self-sustaining robo-scavengers could be used to mop up contaminated water or algal blooms, which…
via New Robot Eats And Digests Living Things – What Could Go Wrong? —
CG Blade 