Monthly Archives: April 2012

April 20, 2012 · 3:53 pm

Real Life Monsters!

That’s right, Monsters DO exist! I have listed some pictures below, all of which in my opinion are REAL monsters, living in our world today. Sleep well tonight…bwahahahaha!

This is a 24 foot crocodile that was killing off African villagers. The Army had to come in and kill this monster. A 21 footer was killing villagers in the Phillipines, which they caught, and actually released into the wild. My own opinion – once a croc reaches over 20 feet and has tasted humans – don’t let them go.

This is some kind of weird thing that lives in the ocean. All I know is if I saw one while swimming, I would freak out.

Not sure I would hold this bad boy spider crab like that, even if it WAS dead. Spiders and crabs tend to creep me out anyway, and this thing is just too big for comfort.

That is a giant coconut crab. Again, if I was taking out the trash and saw that thing, I would run off screaming and call animal control. It looks more alien than natural creature in my opinion.

Giant Isopods are armed cockroaches that crawl along the bottom of the ocean eating dead whales, dolphins, etc. They shred them with their claws on eat them. Kind of a four foot long sea cockroach on steroids. My own theory – alien scouts, waiting for the mother ship to arrive with more of them to take over the world. Time to call the Sea Orkin Man.

Enough Calamari to feed all the Italians for a month. Giant Squid! Brings HP Lovecrafts’ Call Of Cthulhu to life for me.

That is a giant version of the common earwig. It’s amazing how something you would just normally squash without a thought causes a bit more cautionary behavior whenever it is jumbo dimensions! Also, no matter how disgusting the bug, someone is willing to hold it, and reality contestants will eat it for a chance of 15 minutes of fame.

This tiny ocean dwelling creature, the hydrothermal worm, was captured on an electron microscope. It is magnified 525 times! Thank God it is not that size in the wild.

Don’t be fooled by its tiny size, its got the will and the stuff to rip you to bones. This particular cannibal lurks in the oceans at depths greater than 4 miles and has diamond-sharp teeth to cut through steel thread.

Another giant squid I believe, but nice and red. Maybe with the blood of its victims?

The Great White Shark, nature’s best killing machine. What list would be complete without it, especially with Jaws and its sequels. Are we on what, Jaws 80 now?

Yes, I know it is just a mole, but up close it looks like some freaky sci-fi monster. The big open mouth, the huge claws. Even at its relatively small size, I wouldn’t want to get near one. Too creepy…

And finally, the worst monster of all…

Starbucks! They have spread over the map like locusts, everywhere they go they addict people to caffeine in hundreds of yummy flavors. The real horror is when you realize you are paying $5 for 20 cents worth of water and ingredients – but you can’t stop – you don’t even WANT to stop! It’s worse than Invasion of the Bodysnatchers. At least in that film, people tried to avoid the pods, not so with Starbucks… People line up around the block for their Venti Caramel Macchiatos and their Lattes with a touch of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. People behind on their rent and in real fear of eviction can still be seen wandering into their barrista, needing a fix, somehow scrounging up the money to fulfill their need, throwing basics like housing to the wind…

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Filed under Animals, Humor and Observations

Tagged as crabs, crocodiles, isopods, real monsters, spiders, squid, starbucks

April 20, 2012 · 12:26 am

Fascism

First, to be clear, I want to say that I am 100% AGAINST Fascism. That is why I am so concerned that since WW2 Americans have forgotten what it really is and our leaders, commentators and media have in my opinion intentionally distorted it. We cannot avoid it recurring if we do not understand it. The last major fascist rising cost the lives of over 50 million people, so we should never forget how it started so we can avoid it in the future. To repeat the cliche, those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.

The word Fascism, and the epithat “fascist” have lost all meaning in American conversation. As with my earlier rant against the media’s penchant for stirring up racial divide, the mainstream media always gets political left and right incorrect as well, interchanging left for all things good, and right for all things bad. An example – as you go left politically you pass by liberalism, then socialism, then to communism and ultimately to anarchism. Clearly, communism is to the LEFT. However, when the media talked about the Soviet Union, they would talk about the RIGHT-wing hard-liners as the evil ones, such as the KGB, and the reformers as the LEFT Wing reformers. In the Soviet Union, the hard liners were the FAR LEFT hard liners and the reformers were Socialists, so they were to the RIGHT of the hard liners.

So it is with fascism, which your Professors and the Media would have you believe are extreme RIGHT wing, when in almost all cases they sprung up on the LEFT, through communists and labor movements. There are exceptions of course. In Spain and Argentina, the fascists were right wing. In the Spanish Civil War, an early proxy fight leading up to WW2 the Franco faction was comprised of landowners, Hidalgos and Catholics. The opposition were communists and anarchists. The Soviets, French and Americans helped the left wingers while Italy and Germany helped Franco.

As with other wars, the movies and books are deceiving. They talk about the horrors of the right wing (which did in fact happen) but glorify the left. The communists and anarchists lost because they raped nuns, slaughtered priests, tried to take away all property rights and redistribute all land to new people, wanted to disband the military and replace it with mobs and even committed atrocities against each other. Franco’s faction was supported by the Church, all property owners, and the military. The Spanish Civil War was exceptionally bloody, and yes, Franco was RIGHT wing. However, when Hemingway wrote For Whom The Bell Tolls, it was about glorifying fighting with the communists in the Spanish Civil War, but Hollywood changed it to WW1 instead, so you would be more sympathethic.

However, both Hitler and Mussolini were LEFT wing. Hitler started out as a Communist Party operative, but could not get enough control. Many of his fellows, such as Goebells started the same. So they moved to the Socialist Party (still LEFT wing). NAZI is short for National Socialist German Workers’ Party, a clearly LEFT wing, socialist workers’ movement that was anti-democracy and anti-capitalist. Hitler used his brown shirt thugs to fight against the communist thugs in the streets. The industrialists backed Hitler because they were more afraid of the communists, and they thought they could control him. After he rose to power, Hitler threw his brown shirts under the bus to please the military, assassinating all their top leadership. Hitler was a vegetarian, implemented anti-smoking laws and national fitness. He built the first modern highways.

Mussonlini also was LEFT wing, starting in a socialist labor party. Mussolini had his black shirt thugs to fight against the opposition. Mussolini reclaimed and distributed land and got the trains running on time. Hitler came into power due to an economic crisis brought on by an ineffective democracy and reparations after WW1. Mussonlini took over from a Monarchy and ineffective government during economic crisis. Franco took power by preserving the current government against crisis created by an incoming Marxist government. All different approaches, groups, causes, so to call Fascism right wing or left wing is simply incorrect. It is something else entirely.

Mirriam Websters defines Fascism as – a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

In simple terms, and in my opinion, fascism seeks to take over when a nation is divided politically and weakened economically. It takes over more and more decision making and control in the name of rebirth and it uses the media and other sources to demonize and destroy those who disagree. It attacks and weakens institutions that oppose its new rule.

Unfortunately, it is hard to tell you are becoming fascist as a nation, until after it happens. All political movements and parties try to change goverment to their own designs and try to demonize and diminish opposition.

A clear example to me is Chavez in Venezuela. He has police shut down and arrest media stations that do not agree with him, he rises as a labor, left wing man of the people. He takes over the major industries, including the oil companies, which he gives to his brother to run. He rewards his friends and oppresses, arrests or kills his enemies. He unites his people by tough talk to America and his neighbors in Columbia while building up his military.

I don’t know if we are heading that way in America. First, we started under the second Bush with bailing out Wall Street. Since then, the federal government, for the good of “our nation” has taken over Wall Street while hiring people from Goldman Sachs to run the government, taken over health care, taken over the car manufacturers except Ford, taken over the Banking industry, taken over mortgages, taken over credit card companies, etc. The federal government has tripled in size while our economy has been in deep recession. Now they want to take over oil after pushing alternative fuels. Everything is done “for our benefit” and yet more and more the government controls everything.

The press is more and more controlled by the government as well, with dissenting views threatened with censorship through “the fairness doctrine”, advertisers attacked, dissenting views are called hate speech, etc. Like I said, it is hard to know if you are headed to fascism until afterwards. No one realized it in Spain, Italy, Germany or Venezuela until after it happened. I am not even saying this a Democrat or Republican issue. I think it is a Washington elite issue where Ivy League trained lawyers think they know better than the rest of us how we should live.

That is why it is important to remember history. We need to fight to keep out multiple party system, our free speech, our freedom of religion, our freedom of the press – and most important, our individual freedoms. I yearn for the simpler days when I could buy whatever light bulb I wanted, I could get a toilet that flushed right, I could get a shower head that didn’t drizzle, I could do what I wanted even it was bad for me, like eat popcorn made with coconut oil.

Mostly I miss being able to express my political views without being attacked.

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Filed under Humor and Observations

Tagged as fascism, franco, hitler, left wing, mussolini, politics, right wing

April 17, 2012 · 5:31 pm

Secret Evil Bases!

I collect pictures to give me ideas for things in my books. One is pretty landscapes. As I was looking through them, mostly beach scenery, I got a weird thought. Which would be a great location for a secret evil base? From time to time I will post some secret bases. If you want to participate, just send them to my email at eiverness@cox.net and I will post the ones I like and give you credit. Please don’t send me any images that are for commercial use only, I don’t want to have any artist or photographer mad at me, even though this blog is just for fun.

Some secret bases are more obvious than others, which means they won’t last long. If you have a huge island or mountain carved into the shape of a skull, people will naturally send someone over to check it out. There is also the business of building materials, construction crews, etc. I also think if I ever turned super villain, I might prefer a pretty secret base. Do evil people always have dark black lairs? Wouldn’t it be easier to attract other evil people with a cool crib? If you look at bad guys in the real world, like drug lords, mafia, dictators, they live in palaces with gold plated weapons, not in some dank cement cellar.

By the way, the picture of Microsoft’s building is here as a joke. Everyone knows about it, so it is not really a “secret” evil base… Here are my first secret base posts.

I very much like this one. You can have an underwater submarine entrance, a heli pad panel on top, and a missile silo. Also, it has a certain phallic impact that says, “Compensation!” all over it.

The seemingly deserted tower still has good clearance for guards on top to see the surrounding country side, and could house some nice anti-aircraft and radar. Below is where the real plotting occurs. Notice that despite the growth on the tower, the surrounding fields are kept cut short to provide fields of fire and make infiltration difficult.

Ok, this is the upper path, concealing the jungle lair. Notice the antennae cleverly disguised as support rails. They really control space satellites which will help control the planet in secret. Again, the heart of the base is under the convenient rain forest foliage, protected from damage by environmentalist. The perfect cover. For spare change the evil master can charge eco-tourists to walk along his satellite supports.

Old school evil base hidden in Pyramid with side outpost in the Sphynx. Got to love the detail and the fact that it is an Asian base hidden in Egypt. Extra sache for that! Also, again the site is protected from digging and tourists by the Egyptian National Antiquities Authorities. Downside – how to hollow those out and make them into bases without anyone noticing…

Now THIS is my idea of a secret base. Travel the oceans, comprising 2/3 of the Earth, most of which is international waters. No one has juridiction and clearly you look like some wealthy person out on a lark. Easy to attract henchmen to such surrounding. The side ports could house nice retractable weaponry as well. My thought, secret getaway submarine in the bottom, just in case you are discovered.

My favorite part of this base is the low tech garden hose in the foreground. The sheer randomness of it would throw off suspicion. The top is a high tech satellite, radar, whatever you wish it to be, and the bottom is obviously the command section of an underground space launch vehicle. If they get attacked, they can drop off the com equipment and blast into space – easy escape. Of course, with that large of a dish, you would probably have to locate yourself someplace where you could bribe local officials for a bit of privacy.

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Filed under Humor and Observations, Writing

Tagged as cool crib, fields of fire, ideas, missile silo, secret evil bases, writing

April 15, 2012 · 11:59 pm

Monday Morning Dogs to Start the Week with A Smile

Here are some cute doggies to start your week off right. Got to love our furry little friends:

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Tagged as cute animals, cute dogs, dogs

April 15, 2012 · 11:10 pm

Funny Video About Steampunk Rip-Offs

A lot of people are trying to make money off the Steampunk craze, but don’t really understand it. For instance, goggles and gears. Even in the Steampunk worlds, you wear goggles if you are on a steam powered motorbike, an airship, or other areas where your eyes need protecting. You might wear them if they have night vision or zooms, but you don’t just wear them all the time for no reason. The same with gears. If you are a mechanic or inventor, you might very well keep extra gears and tools on you, sample kits, etc. However, all Steampunk folks know that there is a purpose to your gear. Steampunk wearers can tell you in great deal the function of their guns, tool kits, sample kits, flying backpacks, etc.

So here is the video making fun of people who just put gears on things, paint them bronze and trying to sell them on the internet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA&feature=player_embedded

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Tagged as gears, goggles, steam, steampunk

April 14, 2012 · 3:44 pm

Too Close To Home!

I posted this on my Facebook and a lot of people like it, so posting it here as well…

Here is one my friend Kenneth Weene posted, also too close to home:

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Tagged as books, kenneth weene, rejection, writing

April 13, 2012 · 8:28 pm

An Homage to Joe Haldeman and Michael Stackpole – Authors and Gentlemen

At the LepreCon 38 conference I had the pleasure of sitting on panels with many other authors. Authors as a lot are mostly friendly and interesting people. However, when people become famous, they tend to have swollen egos and that gets in the way. Not so with two very nice gentlemen, Michael Stackpole, who I have met before at Phoenix ComicCon and I follow him on his blog, and Joe Haldeman, somewhat a living legend in Science Fiction circles.

Michael Stackpole actually remembered me, though our last conversation was only about 45 minutes long and over a year ago. That impressed me, because I am of no monetary value to him, I am not important in the trade industry, and he meets thousands of folks like me each year. He was a very important part of my career so far, and I have used his advice and mentorship to plan out several of my career choices as I change to being a full time novelist.

Joe Haldeman was not only polite on our panel, but actually asked me to moderate in his place. He sat next to me and we had the opportunity to exchange a few comments. He was not only humble, quiet and polite, but you could tell immediately he was a genuinely nice man. For someone with so many awards, books, teaching as a Professor at MIT, and the marquis guest of honor at a conference, you could easily mistake him for just a nice man saying hello on a Sunday afternoon in the park.

I have sent them both messages of thanks, but I thought it would be extra nice to introduce to you some of their work, so you can enjoy reading them as much as I have:

Joe Haldeman

http://home.earthlink.net/~haldeman/index.html – His website

Books

WAR YEAR (short novel) Holt, 1972
COSMIC LAUGHTER (anthology) Holt, 1974
THE FOREVER WAR (novel) St. Martin’s Press, 1975
MINDBRIDGE (novel) St. Martin’s Press, 1976
PLANET OF JUDGMENT (Star Trek novel) Bantam, 1977
ALL MY SINS REMEMBERED (novel) St. Martin’s Press, 1977
STUDY WAR NO MORE (anthology) St. Martin’s Press, 1977
INFINITE DREAMS (short story collection) St. Martin’s Press, 1978
WORLD WITHOUT END (Star Trek novel) Bantam, 1979
WORLDS (novel) Viking, 1981
WORLDS APART (novel) Viking, 1983
NEBULA AWARDS 17 (anthology) Holt, 1983
DEALING IN FUTURES (short story collection) Viking, 1985
TOOL OF THE TRADE (novel) Morrow, 1987
BUYING TIME (novel) Morrow, 1989
THE HEMINGWAY HOAX (short novel) Morrow, 1990
WORLDS ENOUGH AND TIME (novel) Morrow, 1992
VIETNAM AND OTHER ALIEN WORLDS (essays, fiction, poetry) NESFA Press, 1993
1968 (novel) Hodder & Stoughton, U.K., 1994, William Morrow, Inc., June 1995
SAUL’S DEATH (poetry chapbook) Anamnesis Press, May 1997
FOREVER PEACE (novel) Berkley, October 1997
FOREVER FREE (novel) Ace, 1998
THE COMING (novel) Ace, 2000
GUARDIAN (novel) Ace, 2002
CAMOUFLAGE (novel) Ace 2004
OLD TWENTIETH (novel) Ace 2005
WAR STORIES (collection, two novels and short stories) Night Shade, 2005
A SEPARATE WAR and other stories (short story collection) Ace, 2006

My next novel, THE ACCIDENTAL TIME MACHINE, will come out from Ace in 2007.

In addition, I wrote two adventure novels for Pocket Books, under the “house name” Robert Graham. Many of these books are still in print. Every volume has appeared or will appear as a paperback (Pocket, Ballantine, Bantam, Avon, Ace). Various of the titles have been published in as many as 19 foreign languages. The novel MINDBRIDGE reputedly sold to paperback for a record advance (since surpassed) for a science fiction novel.

I collaborated on an adventure novel, THERE IS NO DARKNESS, with my brother, Jack C. Haldeman II.

WORLDS, WORLDS APART, and WORLDS ENOUGH AND TIME comprise what I consider to be my best work, a trilogy that I worked on from 1975 to 1992. Ace published the novel FOREVER FREE in December ’99, and will bring out THE COMING this December.

A few dozen of my short stories, novelettes, and novellas have appeared in various science fiction magazines, along with a few appearances in “mainstream” magazines like Playboy. My songs and poetry come out mostly in tiny little magazines, with one poem in Harper’s and two in Omni. Articles and editorials have appeared in various magazines and newspapers (an article on the space shuttle won the Analog Readers’ Poll for “best nonfiction” of the year). I’ll write just about anything but criticism. (Actually, I have written criticism, but always limiting myself to writers I can praise without reservation.)

Theatrical Adaptations

Movie options have been taken on various titles, and the movie rights to THE FOREVER WAR were bought in ’97, but it’s dormant right now. I adapted THE FOREVER WAR for live stage; it opened in Chicago, October ’83, done by the Organic Theater Company (and didn’t lose money, which is unusual for a first shot). I’ve written a few short movie and TV things for Disney, but none has been produced. A short story, “I of Newton,” appeared on the Twilight Zone show in 1985. I wrote the screenplay for a science fiction adventure film that was released on about 800 screens on 21 November 1990. Over my strong objections, they titled it ROBOT JOX (I wanted to call it THE MECHANICS, but they didn’t think that was sci-fi enough.)

Awards

THE FOREVER WAR won the Hugo, Nebula, and Ditmar Awards as Best Science Fiction Novel of 1975. “Tricentennial” won the Hugo Award for Best SF Short Story of 1976. In 1978, MINDBRIDGE won the Galaxy Award for “Science Fiction and Spirituality.” “Saul’s Death” won the Rhysling Award for best science fiction poem of the year, 1983. “The Hemingway Hoax” novella won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella of 1990. THE HEMINGWAY HOAX novel won the Italian “Futuro Remoto”Award as Best Novel of 1991. “Eighteen Years Old, October 11th” won the Rhysling Award for 1990. “Graves” won the World Fantasy Award and the Nebula Award for Best Short Story of 1993. “None So Blind” won the short story Hugo in 1995. FOREVER PEACE won the Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell Awards in 1998, the first such “triple crown” in 22 years. “January Fires” won the Rhysling Award in CAMOUFLAGE won the 2006 Nebula Award and the James Tiptree Award (for science fiction or fantasy about gender issues).

Michael Stackpole

http://www.stormwolf.com/ – His website

The following is the most complete bibliography available concerning Mike’s work. It is by no means complete. It does not include small articles for convention books, his long-running column for Comic and Games Retailer, The Secrets issues nor the occasional article written for and published here on his website.

This bibliography is current to August, 2010

The way to read any entry is the following:

Year (of publication)

Title (publisher) (Awards or other information)

If an entry is followed by an asterisk (*) it means Mike was a contributor.

If an entry has a cross (†) it means Mike was an editor on the project.

Computer Games

1984

* 2010 Adventure Game (COLECO)

1988

* Wasteland* (Interplay/Electronic Arts) (Winner 1988 Best Adventure game from Computer Gaming World; CGW Hall of Fame Game) * Bard’s Tale III: Thief of Fate (Interplay/Electronic Arts)

1989

* Neuromancer *(Interplay Productions) (Winner1989 Best Adventure game from Computer Gaming World)

1992

* Star Trek 25th Anniversary Game* (Interplay Productions)

1993

* Judgment Rites* (Interplay Productions)

Gamemaster Aids

1981

• The Black Dragon Tavern (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #11) • Grimtooth’s Traps* (Flying Buffalo)

1982 # Castle Ward (Flying Buffalo) # Citybook I*† (Flying Buffalo) (Winner 1982 Origins Award for Best Adventure) # Grimtooth’s Traps Too*† (Blade/Flying Buffalo)

1983 # Stormhaven (Blade/Flying Buffalo) (Winner 1983 Origins Award for Best Adventure)

1984

* Citybook II: Port ‘o Call*† (Blade/Flying Buffalo) * Champions III *(Hero Games)

1986

• The Batman Sourcebook (Mayfair Games) * Traps Fore*† (Blade/Flying Buffalo by Task Force Games)

1987

* Citybook III: Deadly Nightside*† (Blade/Flying Buffalo by Task Force Games) * Whole Delvers’ Catalog* (Catalyst project for Task Force Games by Mark O’Green)

1988

* Orion Rising: Istanbul* (TSR, INC.) * The Kell Hounds (Fasa Corporation)

1989

* The Batman Sourcebook II (Mayfair Games) * Brushfire Wars: Korea* (TSR, INC.) * Lords of Darkness: Zombi* (TSR, Inc.)

1990

* Citybook IV: On the Road* (Flying Buffalo, Inc.) * More Tales of the Black Widow (FASA Corporation) * Sprawl Sites* (FASA Corporation)

1991

* Citybook V: Sideshow* (Flying Buffalo, Inc.)

1993

* Mercenaries Handbook* (FASA Corporation)

Articles

1977

• How I Designed a World for Tunnels & Trolls (Supernova 29)

1978

• Traps in T&T (Supernova 31) • Know Your Foe 101 (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #1)

1979

• Redcap Afterword (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #5)

1980

• Lord of The Rings Games (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #6) • The Bigger They Are… (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #8)

1981

• The FBI Affair (Space Gamer #46) • Dragonquest Review (Different Worlds #12) • Vampyre Quest (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #12) • Pulling Your Punches (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #13)

1982

• LOV Reprise (Flying Buffalo Quarterly #45) • Galactic Conflict (Flying Buffalo Quarterly #47) • Devil Games? Nonsense! (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #14) • When in Rome (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #15) (Written as Matt Shaw) • Skills in T&T (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #15) • Judges Guild Adventures (Space Gamer #50)

1988

• Home Field Advantage (BattleTechnology #0203) • Wolfhound (BattleTechnology #0204) • Home for Christmas A Special Report (BattleTechnology #0204)

1989

* The Truth about Role-Playing Games (Satanism in America; Gaia Press) • Interview with Melissa Steiner (BattleTechnology #8)

1990

• The Pulling Report (privately published) (This report on role-playing games and the crusade against them is easily available on the net.)

1991

• Rick Loomis: A Profile (The Gamer #1) • Role Playing and the Real World (Dragon #171) • We Are Not Alone (The Gamer #1) • MSPE essay (Heroic Worlds edited by Lawrence Schick; Prometheus Books)

1993

• Running the Perfect Fantasy Campaign (Pyramid #2)

1998

• The Evolution of X-wing Rogue Squadron (Star Wars Handbook Vol. One: X-wing Rogue Squadron, Dark Horse Comics) • Introduction (Star Wars: Dark force Rising collection, Dark Horse Comics)

1999

• The Third Agenda (Writers of the Future Vol. XIV)

2000

• Foreword (Star Wars Roleplaying Game, WOTC)

2002

• Introduction (Heart of Dorkness, The collected Dork Tower Vol. III, Dork Storm Press)

2004

• Introduction (PS238 collected volumes 0-5, Dork Storm Press/Henchman Publishing)

Flying Buffalo, Inc., published a gaming magazine called Sorcerer’s Apprentice. During the magazine’s run, Mike wrote two columns for it:

Arcane Graffiti was a news and review column, which he wrote from issue #5 in 1979 to the final Flying Buffalo issue, #17, in 1983.

Queries and Quandries was a question and answer column dealing with gaming issues. He started writing it in 1982 with issue #14 and went through the Flying Buffalo run with #17 in 1983. For the last several issues the format changed from being one of the readers asking for advice to Mike, writing as Grimtooth the Troll, posing questions to readers.

Board, role playing and card games

1982

• Berserker Board Game (Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (based on the stories by Fred Saberhagen)

1983

• Nuclear Escalation card game* Flying Buffalo • Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes RPG (Blade/Flying Buffalo, 1st edition Sleuth Pub., 2nd edition)

1984

• Justice, Inc. RPG* (Hero Games/Iron Crown Enterprises)

1990

• The Renegade Legion Role Playing Game (FASA Corp.)

1998

• Crimson Skies Board Game* (FASA Corporation) (Winner 1998 Origins Award for Best Board Game)

Solitaire adventures

Solitaire adventures were the hallmark of Flying Buffalo’s Tunnels & Trolls role-playing game. Mike’s first published game was City of Terrors. During his career he turned out a number of these adventures, both in the long form, and mini-solos that were run in magazines.

Mini-solos

1978

• Kingmaker (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #1)

1979

• Gold Dust, Red Death (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #4)

1980

• Stop, Thief! (Sorcerer’s Apprentice)

1981

• Blood and Honour (The Gamer #2)

1983

• Hot Pursuit (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #16)

Book length solo adventures

1978

• City of Terrors (Flying Buffalo, Inc.)

1980

• Overkill (2nd Edition) (Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (A completely different text from the first edition)

1981

• Sewers of Oblivion (Flying Buffalo, Inc.) • Dargon’s Dungeon (2nd edition) (Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (A completely different text from the first edition)

1983

• Jade Jaguar (Blade/Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (A solo for Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes)

1987

* Red Circle (Blade/Flying Buffalo, Inc.)

1990

• Elven Lords (Flying Buffalo Inc.) (Collecting the mini-solos above and adding new material)

Novels

1988

• Warrior: En Garde (FASA Corporation) • Warrior: Riposte (FASA Corporation)

1989

• Warrior: Coupe (FASA Corporation) • Lethal Heritage (FASA Corporation)

1990

• Blood Legacy (FASA Corporation)

1991

• A Gathering Evil (GDW) • Lost Destiny (FASA Corporation) • Evil Ascending (GDW)

1992

• Natural Selection (FASA/ROC) • Evil Triumphant (GDW)

1993

• Assumption of Risk (ROC/FASA)

1994

• Once a Hero (Bantam Books) • Bred For War (ROC/FASA) • Dementia (Roc/Target)

1996

• Rogue Squadron (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) • Malicious Intent (Roc/FASA) • Wedge’s Gamble (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) • The Krytos Trap (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller)

1997

• The Bacta War (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) • Talion: Revenant (Bantam Books) • A Hero Born (HarperPrism) • Grave Covenant (Roc/FASA)

1998

• An Enemy Reborn (HarperPrism) • I, Jedi (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) (hard cover edition) • Wolf and Raven (Roc/FASA) • Prince of Havoc (Roc/FASA) • Eyes of Silver (Bantam Books)

1999

• Isard’s Revenge (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) • I, Jedi (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) (mass market edition)

2000

• Onslaught (Del Rey Books) (New York Times Bestseller) • The Dark Glory War (Bantam Books) • Ruin (Del Rey Books) (New York Times Bestseller)

2001

• Fortress Draconis (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition)

2002

• Fortress Draconis (Bantam Books) (mass market edition) • When Dragons Rage (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition) • Ghost War (WizKids/Roc) (Winner 2003 Origins award for Best Novel)

2003

• When Dragons Rage (Bantam Books) (mass market edition) • The Grand Crusade (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition)

2004

• The Grand Crusade (Bantam Books) (mass market edition)

2005

• A Secret Atlas (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition)

2006

• A Secret Atlas (Bantam Books) (mass market edition • Cartomancy (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition)

2007

• Cartomancy (Bantam Books) (mass market edition) • Masters of War (Roc/Wizkids) (mass market edition) • The New World (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition)

2008

• The New World (Bantam Books) (mass market edition)

All of the Star Wars novels were also released in abridged audio versions which are actually quite good. The books have been reduced mostly to the combats, but the addition of music and sound effects makes up for what was cut.

Lethal Heritage, Blood Legacy, and Lost Destiny (aka the Blood of Kerensky trilogy of BattleTech novels) were released in abridged auto format in 2003.

I, Jedi had a Science Fiction Book Club edition which is smaller than the Bantam printing. There was also a Canadian hard cover edition of which Mike has only seen two copies (at signings).

Onslaught and Ruin were combined into a single 2-in-1 volume for the Science Fiction Book Club. In 2004, at the completion of the whole New Jedi Order series, the two paperbacks were reissued at a lower price.

Anthologies

1992

• Mages Blood and Old Bones*† (Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (Winner of Gamer Magazine’s Best Game Fiction of 1992 Award)

2005

• Perchance to Dream (Five Star) (A collection of Mike’s short stories.)

Short Fiction

There are a few notations after some of the short stories to help folks identify them. They are:

BT = BattleTech

DCW = DragonCrown War*

DL = Deadlands

FH = Farrell Holmes*

MB = Merlin Bloodstone*

MTG = Magic: The Gathering

P = is collected in the anthology Perchance to Dream.

PS = Purgatory Station*

SR = Shadowrun

SW = Star Wars

TE = is collected in Tales of the Empire

TM = Trick Molloy*

WR = is collected in the book Wolf & Raven.

WTCG = WARS Trading Card Game

If there is no indication of a universe a story belongs to, it’s original with Mike. If the note above has an asterisk (*), the story is in a series which is original to Mike.

1980

• The Wages of Treachery (Wildcat/Cryptoc 2/17)

1982

• The Lone GEV (Space Gamer #52) (Set in Steve Jackson’s Ogre universe)

1982

• The God of Thieves (Oracle #1) • Six Foot Four Inches of Death (Periodic Lungfish) (The title comes from the length of the manuscript, which was one continuous piece of computer paper. Several people just started taking turns typing out a narrative on Mike’s typewriter and it was published in a fanzine.)

1983

• Double or Nothing (Olympus #4)

1987

• GEVs Rush In… (The Sorcerer’s Scrolls #23) (Set in Steve Jackson’s Ogre universe)

1988

• Goliaths on St. Andre (BattleTechnology Magazine) (BT) • The Judas Blind (Shrapnel, edited by Jordan Weisman, FASA Corporation) (BT)

1989

• The Final Gift (Amazing Stories) (P)

1990

• Better To Reign (FASA Corp., Update #3 and Elven Fire) (SR) • Would It Help to Say I’m Sorry (Into the Shadows edited by Jordan Weisman) (SR) • It’s All Done With Mirrors (Into the Shadows edited by Jordan Weisman) (SR) • Squeeze Play (Challenge Magazine #44, GDW) (SR, WR) • Quicksilver Sayonara (Challenge Magazine #46, GDW) (SR, WR) • Digital Grace (Challenge Magazine #47, GDW) (SR, WR)

1991

• Shepherd (Dark Regions #4) (A Talion story) (P) • Let Me Call You Sweetheart (Newer York edited by Lawrence Watt-Evans, NAL) (P) • Absolutely Charming (Amazing July 1991) (P) • Numberrunner (Challenge Magazine #50, GDW) (SR, WR) • Fair Game (Challenge Magazine #62-63, GDW) (SR, WR)

1992

• Its the Thought That Counts (Whatdunits edited by Mike Resnick, DAW) (P) • Wind Tiger (Mages Blood and Old Bones edited by Elizabeth T. Danforth and Michael A. Stackpole, Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (P)

1993

• The Oldest Trick In The Book (AutoDuel Quarterly Vol. 10, N. 4) (set in Steve Jackson’s Car Wars universe)

1994

• If As Beast You Don’t Succeed… (Part 1) (Kage V1, N2) (SR, WR) • If As Beast You Don’t Succeed… (Part 2) (Kage V1, N3) (SR, WR)

1995

• Peer Review (Superheroes edited by John Varley and Ricia Mainhardt, ACE)(P) • Missed Chance (Star Wars Adventure Journal/West End Games) (SW,TE) • Arts & Sciences (Forever After edited by Roger ZelaznyBaen Books) (The book is a braided novel using characters created by Roger. It was a great project to work on.) • Luck of the Draw (An Armory of Swords edited by Fred Saberhagen, TOR) (set in Fred’s Swords universe) • Blood Duty (Warriors of Blood and Dream edited by Roger Zelazny, AvoNova) (P) • What’s In A Name? (Tapestries edited by Kathy Ice, HarperPrism/WOTC) (MTG) • Tip Off (Wheel of Fortune edited by Roger Zelazny, AvoNova) (P)

1996

• Insufficient Evidence (Distant Planes edited by Kathy Ice, WOTC)(MTG)

1997

• Side Trip, parts 2 &3 (With Timothy Zahn) (Star Wars Adventure Journal/West End Games) (SW, TE) • Kid Binary and the Two-bit Gang (Highwaymen edited by Jennifer Roberson, DAW) (P)

1998

• Asgard Unlimited (Lord of the Fantastic edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Avon) (P) • Fortune’s Hunt (serial novella published on the Crimson Skies website, later collected as Spicy Air Tales Vol. One, FASA Corporation, 1999)

1999

• Encounter at Darkknell (parts 2 and 3) With Timothy Zahn (Tales from the New Republic edited by Peter Schweighofer and Craig Carey, Bantam) (SW) • He’s a Good Little Boy (Starfall edited by Martin H. Greenberg, TSR) (Set in their Star*Drive universe) • The Parker Panic (The Anthology with No Name edited by Shane Lacey Hensley, Pinnacle) (DL, P)

2000

• The Lazarus Murder (Amazing Stories, Summer) (PS) • Keeping Score (Guardsmen of Tomorrow edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Larry Segriff, DAW) (PS) • The Cards Call Themselves (Published on Stormwolf.com in serial form) (MB)

2001

• When You’re Dead (Historical Hauntings edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW) (P)

2002

• Least of My Brethren (Sol’s Children edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW) (PS)

2003

• Elusion Illusion (Star Wars Insider #66, March/April 2003) (SW) • The Krells of Tancras Moor (Dragon Magazine #310, August, 2003) (P) • Egor’s Last Date (Dork Tower #25, Dork Storm Press)

2004

• According To Their Need (Visions of Liberty edited by Mark Tier and Martin H. Greenberg, Baen Books) (PS) • Serpent on the Station (Space Stations edited by Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers, DAW) (PS) • A Matter of Life or Death (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published in booklet form and on the net) (WTCG) • Followers Have Neither Peace nor Rest (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published on the net) (WTCG) • Even in Defeat, a Beautiful Performance (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published on the net) (WTCG) • Your Life is Already Lost! (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published on the net) (WTCG) • The First Arrow Was Light, But The Second Went Deep (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published on the net) (WTCG) • A Monster Among Monsters (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published on the net) (WTCG)

2005

• Brewed Fortune (Renaissance Faires edited by Jean Rabe and Andre Norton, DAW) (MB)

2006 • The Silver Knife (Slipstreams edited by Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers, DAW) (FH) • Intelligent Design (Furry Fantastic edited by Jean Rabe and Brian M. Thomsen, DAW)

2007

• Wildest Dreams (Army of the Fantastic edited by John Marco and John Helfers, DAW) • Seemless (Pandora’s Closet edited by Jean Rabe and John Helfers, DAW) (MB) • No Rest For The Wicked (Wizards, Inc edited by Loren L. Coleman and John Helfers, DAW) (TM)

2008

• Ghost of Christmas Present (The Corps, edited by Loren Coleman, Catalyst Game Labs) (BT) • Keeping Score (Worlds of Their Own, edited by James Lowder, Paizo) (PS) • Such a Nice Girl (serialized to Stormwolf.com) (TM) • Little Girl Lost (serialized to Stormwolf.com) (TM)

2009

• If Vanity Doesn’t Kill Me (Crime Spells edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Loren Coleman, DAW)(TM) • The Adventure of the Red Riding Hoods (Terribly Twisted Tales edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW) • The Witch in Scarlet (Serialized to Stormwolf.com) (TM) • Looks Are Deceiving (Unusual Suspects edited by Dana Stabenow, ACE) • ‘Til Death (Serialized to Stormwolf.com) (TM) • Well Met The Future (BattleTech 25th Anniversary, Catalyst Game Labs) (BT)

2010

• By Our Actions (Timeshares, edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW Books) • Such a Nice Girl (serialized to Stormwolf.com) (TM) • Better to Reign (Spells and Chrome, edited by John Helfers, Catalyst Game Labs) (SR) • Covenant (Stalking The Wild Hare, edited by John Helfers, Chris Pierson, Marc Tassin and Jean Rabe, Walkabout Publishing) • Night of the Rat God (published on Stormwolf.com as part of The Chain Story) • The Adventure of The Ghost Watch (published on Stormwolf.com as part of The Chain Story)

Comics

Mike worked with Dark Horse Comics on a number of Star Wars projects. They were:

X-wing Rogue Squadron

• Issues 1-20 Mike did the story outlines. • Issue 1/2 (Promo comic distributed during the rerelease of the original trilogy) Mike did the story outline • Issues 21-35 Mike wrote the outlines and scripted the books.

Mara Jade: By the Emperor’s Hand

• Mike collaborated with Timothy Zahn on the story then scripted issues 1-3. Tim scripted the last three issues.

Star Wars Union (The Marriage of Luke Skywalker)

• Mike outlined and scripted the entire run of four issues.

For Wizards of the Coast Mike scripted Battle for Theed, a short comic to promote the Star Wars role-playing game.

Mike has done a number of projects for WizKids. They were:

MageKnight

• Mike scripted the introductory comics available in both the limited and unlimited releases of the initial MageKnight sets. • Scrye Magazine ran a four part MageKnight serial in 2001 and 2002.

Crimson Skies

• Mike did one of the two introductory comics in the Crimson Skies boxed set.

Screenplays

2005

• Gone (Written with Brian Pulido) (Grand Prize Winner in FADE IN Magazine’s 2006 Scriptwriting Contest)

2007

• The Sickness (Written with Brian Pulido) •[Unnamed Lara Croft, Tomb Raider animation episode] (Written for GameTap to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Tomb Raider™)

From all of us fellow authors, readers and fans – I think Wayne and Garth summed it up best in Wayne’s World –

“We’re not worthy, we’re not worthy!”

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Filed under Humor and Observations, Writing

Tagged as authors, books, joe haldeman, leprecon38, michael stackpole, panels

April 11, 2012 · 11:37 pm

Global Warming – Man Made or Normal Cycle?

First, let me start by saying that there is no doubt that the Earth changes average temperature and has done so for a long time. You can measure growth cycles in ancient trees, read descriptions in old texts, look at water levels, measure layers of dirt for moisture deposits, and so on. I also know that in the last twenty years or so, the Earth has slightly increased its overall average temperature. Second, pollution is bad and should be limited and reduced whether or not it causes global warming.

The question is – has man-kind reached a level where we are causing global warming? I personally do not think so, but I will discuss it here and would like to hear your opinions.

The Man-Made Global Warming Theory and Greenhouse Gases

Humans through industrial activities create “greenhouse gases.” Carbon dioxide and other gases can trap heat in by not allowing it to escape the atmosphere. This was pausited because if you put those types of gases in an area they would act like a “greenhouse.” I grew up with a greenhouse to raise plants like pineapples and strawberries. The way it works is that heat comes through the clear glass or plastic walls, but you keep the place full of humidity and all that heat and humidity stays inside. Heat comes down but does not go up so to speak. In a laboratory, “greenhouse gases” have the same effect. Hence, scientists theorizing that as we put more of those into the atmosphere, we create a greenhouse effect where the sun’s heat comes into the atmosphere but some is trapped. I understand this and don’t dispute the reasoning.

Some of My Reasons for Not Thinking it is Man Made

1) The problem is, that when they measure it, the Earth does not act like a laboratory or a big greenhouse. The effect is simply not acting as they expected. The oceans and the upper atmosphere are not acting as expected. In many measurements it looks as if they Earth has its own internal countermeasures to prevent rapid temperature changes that we do not fully understand.

In Medieval times we know England was warm and sunny, very different than today. North Africa used to be the bread basket of the world in Roman times. North Africa heated up became the Sahara and other deserts and England cooled down long before mankind produced significant greenhouse gases.

2) If you add up all the industrial pollution of mankind, it is less than just a few volcanic eruptions, such as the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull or the June 15, 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Phillipines, which was the largest eruption of the 20th centurey after the eruption in 1912 of Novarupta in Alaska. Before that, you had the mother of all eruptions in Krakatoa in 1883.

The Icelandic eruption put up so much ash and gas to stop air travel in Europe a few days. The Phillipine eruption effects were felt worldwide. It ejected roughly 10,000,000,000 tonnes (1.1×10¹⁰ short tons) or 10 km³ (2.4 cu mi) of magma, and 20,000,000 t (22,000,000 short tons) SO₂, bringing vast quantities of minerals and metals to the surface environment. It injected large amounts of aerosol into the stratosphere – more than any eruption since that of Krakatoa in 1883. Over the following months, the aerosols formed a global layer of sulfuric acid haze. Global temperatures dropped by about 0.5 °C (0.900 °F), and ozone depletion temporarily increased substantially.

Even now, mankind does not have the ability to cause that kind of pollution that occurs in nature.

3) What is the perfect temperature? Is the temperature now correct? Should we be warmer, cooler? Is the Earth supposed to heat and cool? What if we could stop that process, should we?

4) There are two major labs that have studied modern data, and both have recently been beset by scandals over faking data and erasing data. The one in England:

From the Daily Mail

The scientist behind the bogus claim in a Nobel Prize-winning UN report that Himalayan glaciers will have melted by 2035 last night admitted it was included purely to put political pressure on world leaders.

Dr Murari Lal also said he was well aware the statement, in the 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), did not rest on peer-reviewed scientific research.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Dr Lal, the co-ordinating lead author of the report’s chapter on Asia, said: ‘It related to several countries in this region and their water sources. We thought that if we can highlight it, it will impact policy-makers and politicians and encourage them to take some concrete action.

‘It had importance for the region, so we thought we should put it in.’

Chilling error: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change wrongly asserted that glaciers in the Himalayas would melt by 2035

And NASA in America:

From the Huffington Post:

Is NASA playing fast and loose with climate change science? That’s the contention of a group of 49 former NASA scientists and astronauts.

On March 28 the group sent a letter to NASA administrator Charles Bolden, Jr., blasting the agency for making unwarranted claims about the role of carbon dioxide in global warming, Business Insider reported.

“We believe the claims by NASA and GISS [NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies], that man-made carbon dioxide is having a catastrophic impact on global climate change are not substantiated, especially when considering thousands of years of empirical data,” the group wrote. “With hundreds of well-known climate scientists and tens of thousands of other scientists publicly declaring their disbelief in the catastrophic forecasts, coming particularly from the GISS leadership, it is clear that the science is NOT settled.”

The group features some marquee names, including Michael F. Collins, Walter Cunningham and five other Apollo astronauts, as well as two former directors of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The letter included a request for NASA to refrain from mentioning CO2 as a cause of global warming in future press releases and websites. The agency’s “Global Climate Change” webpage says that “Humans have increased atmospheric CO2 concentration by a third since the Industrial Revolution began. This is the most important long-lived “forcing” of climate change.”

5) Where is the Data? Hackers broke into the email at the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) and found proof that researchers had faked data on global warming because it did not fit the theory. When asked to recalculate the data, they said it had been erased. NASA has standing public open records requests for its data, which it refuses to release.

My Belief

Pollution is bad, and we don’t need man-made global warming to justify cleaning up our emissions. Global warming and cooling occur naturally. At some point, humans may have the power to accidentally or purposefully change global temperatures, but not right now, and not any time soon. If the whole world agreed to keep the temperature of the Earth the same as it is now, we would not be able to do it. If we all agreed to heat the Earth by one degree, we could not do it.

What are your Thoughts?

2 Comments

Filed under Humor and Observations, Uncategorized

Tagged as global warming, greenshouse gases, man-made global warming, NASA, pollution, volcanoes

April 9, 2012 · 5:21 pm

Monday Morning – Dogs In Costumes!

I am sorry for the lapse of posts, but I was at the LepreCon38 convention and they kept me too busy to post. I am back now with my once a week dog post. Today, dog’s in costumes, too cute.