Flametoad

Do you use Google Buzz? I’m a die-hard Google Reader user, and I click the “share” button every time I hit a post that I think other people would enjoy. Those entries appear here on Flametoad.com to the right in the “Items of Interest” box, but they also appear in my Google Buzz stream if you follow me there. Buzz seems to have potential, but I haven’t hit critical mass with enough people I follow or people who follow me to get particularly serious about it. If you’re a Buzz user, you can follow me by adding preston.dubose. I’ll likely reciprocate.

Magnetic Field around a Sunspot. Image credit Hinode JAXA/NASA

I’ve had a long-standing interest in solar power, the effect of solar cycles on our weather, and the like. I suppose that’s why I’m fascinated by the Carrington Flare– an 1859 solar flare so strong that the magnetic effects on earth caused telegraph wires to spark and catch fire.  It really sparks the imagination. What would a flare of that magnitude do to our wired world today? Forget climate change– how could society react if the majority (or even merely half) of electronic equipment around the world simultaneously fried? It revives all those Y2K fears all over again, except we don’t know when the hammer will fall and we’re not sure how much we can protect. Imagine banking computers going down, hard drives frying, power transformers blowing out (such as the one pictured in the linked article), and cellular satellites and towers failing. Okay, I admit it. My fascination has less to do with science than an imaginary scenario in which the technological glue holding modern society together comes unstuck. There’s a “World War Z” story in there, sans zombies.

At any rate, it is worth noting that we appear to be emerging from a deep solar minimum (period of low sunspot activity). That means we’ll see roughly 11 years of growing sunspot activity, which means growing flare activity, which means increased magnetic fluctuation. Whether we’re due for a new Carrington-level event is a matter of conjecture, but it makes for nice drama. Maybe the Mayans were onto something with this whole calendar-ending thing. Anyone want to place bets? Electronic payment not accepted.

I can’t say exactly how long I’ve wanted to be a writer. It was probably around the same age I stopped dreaming of traveling the globe catching wild animals for zoos. Though, to be fair, I think there was a period when I planned on doing both. I wrote my first book in junior high. Sixth grade, I think. It was highly inspired by the Hardy Boys and similar series, although the lead characters just happened to share the names of myself and my best friend. Unfortunately, that novella met with limited critical success– an “A” for creativity and an “F” for actually covering the material the essay was supposed to be about.

Sure I may have been discouraged, but after a while I picked up my ego, dusted it off, and resumed dreaming. I envisioned a new trilogy, and spent the following grade year writing it in my spiral-bound notebook. It topped out at around 110 hand-written pages, and was about a pair of young boys who gain supernatural powers. At the end of the first book the main protagonist’s girlfriend was killed in an explosion meant for him, and the second book–started but never finished–introduced a new pair of protagonists, girls who were also given supernatural powers. The final book in the trilogy was to be about the final showdown between good (the teens) and evil, and I think it involved rediscovering Atlantis.

I never finished that trilogy, but I did continue to write short stories through high school and–less frequently–college. Writers are driven. The stories that bubble and build inside of us have to find a way out. Writers are also dreamers. Sure, we write for ourselves, but we also write for the dream of success and admiration that we secretly (or not so secretly) think we deserve. We write with the dream that one day our lives will be something like this:

However, writers who do more than dream, the ones who read and research and network and learn the biz realize that the reality isn’t quite as glamorous. It’s… well, it’s more like this:

Why would anyone want to subject themselves to that exercise in ego destruction? Why, after getting a C- on my 6th grade novella, did I start plotting out an even greater story? What drives us to keep writing and trying in the face of all opposition, or even worse–apathy? I’m not sure what it is, but I know it’s there. I’ve come a long way from that first novella. Having a story in Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas
was a great milestone for me, but it’s not the end. I’ve got stories to tell, and they want–they need–to be told.

Now I just have to keep off the Xbox 360 long enough to write them.

The ENnie-nominated Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas

If you follow the ongoing adventures of 12 to Midnight, you might have heard that the anthology we published last summer–Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas–was nominated for another award. I say “another” because it was nominated and won the Predators & Editors readers poll for anthologies, and it briefly made the “long list” of nominations for the Origins award. Now it’s up for the ENnie award, which will be announced at GenCon in August. You can read about the nomination at 12 to Midnight, but if you really feel moved to vote this instant then polls are open. Buried Tales is in lucky category #13. If you haven’t read Buried Tales, then this is a great time to do so. You can order Buried Tales in print from Amazon, or you can get the e-book for dirt cheap at the FlamesRising store.

Our little book shares the category with some amazing products from well-known publishers. It is truly an honor just to be nominated. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to editor Matt McElroy and all the contributing authors for making it the success that it is.

I usually don’t toot my own horn, but since this is my blog I guess I should mention that one of those contributing authors was me. My story, The One that Got Away, is a first person account of a fishing trip gone wrong. And when I say wrong, I mean kind of wrongness that only happens in Pinebox. It has everything a good fishing story should have– friendship, sorrow, beer, and the biggest damn catfish you could ever imagine. If you haven’t picked up a copy of Buried Tales yet, I hope its string of accolades will convince you to give it a try.

The US isn’t the only country facing looming water shortages. Parts of China are draining groundwater and aquifers up to twice as fast as rainwater can replenish their supply. If this continues, “China will lose the ability to feed about 10% of its 1.3 billion people.” (Bonus material: We were also recently treated  to a rare admission from a Chinese official about they really see the U.S.)

Speaking of water, in climate change news new research into the rapid melting of Antarctic’s Pine Island Glacier is casting doubt on global warming as a cause. Apparently the melt-off has been in the works for a long time and would be happening now with or without global warming. This research does nothing to disprove global warming, but it does remove a piece of “evidence” from the table.

I’m sure you’ve heard about the vast mineral wealth found in Afghanistan? The article says that they could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium.” If managed properly, these mineral resources could replace opium as the main source of income for many Afghanis. Of course, getting access to these resources will mean major infrastructure improvements, such as railroads, roads, and reliable electricity. With this much wealth at stake, I think you can forget Afghanistan being abandoned. Even if we completely turned out backs on the country, the Chinese would immediately step in. Batteries play a huge role in our “green” future, which means our insatiable appetite for oil will be replaced for an insatiable appetite for minerals like lithium. The big question is, what will it take to keep the Taliban from sabotaging efforts to improve the infrastructure of their own country? Because they control the roads, they have already stopped an effort to revitalize a hydro-electric plant and return reliable electricity to the southern part of the country.

Want to argue the politics of our place in Afghanistan? I don’t. If you want to chew on politics, I was recently reminded of this old article in which the author suggests we abandon the old two-dimensional left-right political spectrum in favor of a more sophisticated model for political axis. It’s as good as any. Or, you could check out some of the others mentioned on Wikipedia. They have the benefit of prettier graphics.