The Askamar Journal

x-posted a little, for obvious reasons
Spec the Halls, my contest for winter holiday-themed science fiction, fantasy, or horror (stories, poetry, art, or other creative works), closes to submissions Friday, December 18th. So far we have only a dozen or so submissions, so if you submit a good piece, the odds of winning are relatively high! Or go there to enjoy the entries. http://www.aswiebe.com/specthehalls.html Spec the Halls: A Winter Celebration of the Weird and the Fantastic http://www.aswiebe.com/specthehalls.html

Some of you may have noticed that there are a lot of trees in INDIGO SPRINGS. Most are huge, contaminated, crazily overgrown trees, located near the center of the magical spill in Oregon and full of mutated animals to boot.

Ever felt a tad bit guilty about the effects your reading passions may have upon the ecosystem? Well, so has A.M. Dellamonica (aka planetalyx) so she's hosting a little challenge.

And while I may be a new aquaintence of hers here (completely coincidentally she happened to be a "real life" friend of a friend!) I can say without any coersion from her that this is easily my favorite book of 2009. If you haven't read it yet, check it out!





"A lot of trees also went into the making of INDIGO SPRINGS, the physical artifact. Put another way, books (of the non "e" kind, anyway) are made of forest. In recognition of this fact, I am planting twenty-five trees, through Eco-Libris, an organization that plants trees in Nicaragua, Belize, Honduras, Panama and Malawi. Here's a snippet from their web site:

We don't believe in preaching doom and gloom. It’s not our style. We do believe in taking action and in the power of small changes to make a big impact.

How is this a contest? Here's the answer: whenever Eco-Libris plants a tree on your behalf, you get a sticker to put inside the book, to indicate you've balanced it out. I have these stickers in hand. I'm going to autograph them and send them to the first twenty-five people to:

1) Tweet or otherwise post this contest announcement.
2) Let me know: e-mail me your mailing address c/o alyx (at) sff (dot) net so I can send out the autographed sticker.


*FYI, this one's open to anyone. I'll let you know when the contest closes.

Twenty five books, twenty-five trees. Spread the word, folks, and thanks!"

Source

Published On Sat Dec 12 2009

For Peter Watts, life can be stranger than science fiction.

Watts – who has written six such books – was on his way back to Toronto last Tuesday after helping a friend move to the U.S. Before crossing the Blue Water Bridge into Sarnia, American customs officers pulled him over. He says when they began rifling through his car and luggage, he got out. They ordered him back in the car; he asked what was going on.

What happened next has become the talk of the blogosphere: Watts too has waded in on it, posting that he was assaulted, punched in the face, pepper-sprayed and thrown in jail for the night, only to find that he was the one charged – with assaulting a customs officer.

Customs officials told the Star Watts was given directions "and became non-compliant...he did not follow directions and a physical altercation" ensued.

An officer with the Port Huron police told the local newspaper that Watts "angrily" got out of the rental car and when he refused to get back in, they tried to cuff him and he became "aggressive." In the melee, police said, Watts "choked" a customs officer.

"As a result of that he was detained and turned over to local authorities," says Ronald Smith, chief customs and border protection officer at Blue Water, adding officers were conducing "outbound operations" stopping and inspecting vehicles after the toll booths but before they hit Canadian customs.

Watts empatically denies any such action.

"I can state categorically that I did not choke anybody, I did not use profanity and did not raise my voice, I did not initiate any physical contact," says Watts, who is also a marine biologist with a PhD in zoology.

"All I basically did was use words to ask what was going on."

Now, friends are raising funds online to help Watts to help him cover his legal costs, which he says are overwhelming for someone who makes a living as an author.

Fellow sci-fi writer Cory Doctorow, who blogged about the incident at boingboing.net, chipped in $1,000 right off the bat – and while no one will say how much has been raised in total, friend David Nickle said it's enough to get Watts through the first hurdle. Should the case go to trial, friends will arrange a fundraiser.

"It's a bit like trying to figure out the mindset of a grizzly bear," Watts said when asked why officers attacked him.

Watts' next court appearance is Dec. 22. If eventually convicted, it's a felony charge that could see him imprisoned for two years and a possible fine of up to $2,000.

Watts had driven to Nebraska with a friend to help a retired University of Toronto professor move there, but their rental car had broken down. The two were driving a replacement car the rental agency had provided in the U.S.

After the incident, Watts' friend was arrested and interrogated, but not charged.

Watts, however, spent the night in jail, in the standard orange jumpsuit, and was released the next day on $5,000 bail. He was dropped off across the border at Canadian customs, without his coat – it was in the car, which was impounded – during a winter storm.

Watts is overwhelmed by the online donations, and jokes that while most people must be supportive, "it's quite possible that some people think I'm a ...jerk, but they hate homeland security more."

If more money is raised than he needs, it will be donated to charity, he said.

Among the many comments posted at boingboing.net, are some suggesting Watts must have had an attitude when dealing with customs.

"The question is what is attitude?" he said. "I've been told by cops in the system that the mere act of getting out of a car, the mere act of taking any action at all, not simply responding to an order...is considered attitude...what they take offence to is not necessarily what anyone else would find offensive."

Source

Published On Sat Dec 12 2009

For Peter Watts, life can be stranger than science fiction.

Watts – who has written six such books – was on his way back to Toronto last Tuesday after helping a friend move to the U.S. Before crossing the Blue Water Bridge into Sarnia, American customs officers pulled him over. He says when they began rifling through his car and luggage, he got out. They ordered him back in the car; he asked what was going on.

What happened next has become the talk of the blogosphere: Watts too has waded in on it, posting that he was assaulted, punched in the face, pepper-sprayed and thrown in jail for the night, only to find that he was the one charged – with assaulting a customs officer.

Customs officials told the Star Watts was given directions "and became non-compliant...he did not follow directions and a physical altercation" ensued.

An officer with the Port Huron police told the local newspaper that Watts "angrily" got out of the rental car and when he refused to get back in, they tried to cuff him and he became "aggressive." In the melee, police said, Watts "choked" a customs officer.

"As a result of that he was detained and turned over to local authorities," says Ronald Smith, chief customs and border protection officer at Blue Water, adding officers were conducing "outbound operations" stopping and inspecting vehicles after the toll booths but before they hit Canadian customs.

Watts empatically denies any such action.

"I can state categorically that I did not choke anybody, I did not use profanity and did not raise my voice, I did not initiate any physical contact," says Watts, who is also a marine biologist with a PhD in zoology.

"All I basically did was use words to ask what was going on."

Now, friends are raising funds online to help Watts to help him cover his legal costs, which he says are overwhelming for someone who makes a living as an author.

Fellow sci-fi writer Cory Doctorow, who blogged about the incident at boingboing.net, chipped in $1,000 right off the bat – and while no one will say how much has been raised in total, friend David Nickle said it's enough to get Watts through the first hurdle. Should the case go to trial, friends will arrange a fundraiser.

"It's a bit like trying to figure out the mindset of a grizzly bear," Watts said when asked why officers attacked him.

Watts' next court appearance is Dec. 22. If eventually convicted, it's a felony charge that could see him imprisoned for two years and a possible fine of up to $2,000.

Watts had driven to Nebraska with a friend to help a retired University of Toronto professor move there, but their rental car had broken down. The two were driving a replacement car the rental agency had provided in the U.S.

After the incident, Watts' friend was arrested and interrogated, but not charged.

Watts, however, spent the night in jail, in the standard orange jumpsuit, and was released the next day on $5,000 bail. He was dropped off across the border at Canadian customs, without his coat – it was in the car, which was impounded – during a winter storm.

Watts is overwhelmed by the online donations, and jokes that while most people must be supportive, "it's quite possible that some people think I'm a ...jerk, but they hate homeland security more."

If more money is raised than he needs, it will be donated to charity, he said.

Among the many comments posted at boingboing.net, are some suggesting Watts must have had an attitude when dealing with customs.

"The question is what is attitude?" he said. "I've been told by cops in the system that the mere act of getting out of a car, the mere act of taking any action at all, not simply responding to an order...is considered attitude...what they take offence to is not necessarily what anyone else would find offensive."

His personal style is characterized by an obsessive attention to details...
click on image to see and know more

Have any of you read J. V. Jones Sword of Shadow series (A Cavern of Black Ice, A Fortress of Grey Ice and A Sword From Red Ice? I'm wondering what it's like in terms of unpleasant and/or unnecessary explicit scenes, unnecessary descriptions of bodily functions, graphic descriptions of unpleasantness, that sort of thing. I really don't like books with that sort of thing in it, and won't read it if I can help it. So I'm looking for advice as to whether or not I should get Book 1 (I've been given Book 3 and would rather start with Book 1 if I'm going to read the series).