Eugie Foster's Self-Indulgent Musings

Children of Earth

2009-07-21T01:03:38Z

Torchwood! Torchwood! Torchwood! Yay!

Dragon*Con 2009: All-Staff Meeting 3

2009-07-20T00:09:14Z

Back from the 3rd Dragon*Con '09 All-Staff meeting. T minus 46 days until the show. Time to don my director's cap and start gearing up in earnest. Eek! Where'n heck did this year go??

Recurrent Themes of Identity

2009-07-18T20:27:58Z

Realized that I’ve been dwelling upon the nature of identity a lot of late, dancing around the issue in the subjects I’ve been researching and the stories I’ve been writing. It’s been subconscious, so the “whoa, recurrent themes of identity!” came as a bit of an epiphany. Post-epiphany, I wanted to get some of it down in writing in order to help organize it in my head.

Quickie background: I did a lot of research on the halo effect for “Whatever Skin You Wear.” (None of which I ended up expounding upon, but which I undoubtedly will in some future tale. Research is never wasted, I tell myself).

In a rather large nutshell, upon first encountering a new individual, people spontaneously seek clues indicating whether that person’s intentions are good or bad (i.e., their warmth) and also their ability to act on these intentions (i.e., their competence). And these impressions are based upon appearances. Shallow but true, appearance is the single most obvious and accessible personal characteristic in social interactions, and we’re geared to be influenced by it.

As it turns out, something like 80% of our impressions of others can be loosely clumped into warmth and competence trait categories. These two classifications are markedly universal across cultures and made very quickly, often in as little as 1/10 of one second. Yeah, Mom was right. First impressions are important.

Also, warmth is gauged faster than competence, with attractive people rated as more warm compared to their less attractive counterparts. Furthermore, when we judge an individual as being warm, we tend to judge them as competent too. That cognitive bias, the manifestation of the affect heuristic, is the "halo effect." Or, to put it simpler, folks tend to assign to good-looking individuals favorable traits like talent, intelligence, and kindness. And they do so predominantly without being aware of the role that physical attractiveness played in the process.

For example, research with school children showed adults interpret aggressive acts from attractive children as being less naughty than when their less-attractive peers engaged in such acts, and also that teachers attribute more intelligence to good-looking children.

So yeah, Psych. 101 no brainer: appearances influence how people perceive us.

The offshoot of that is what I’ve been pondering: how our appearance influences how we perceive ourselves. How much do others’ expectations mold who we are? How much does our self-concept develop from what we observe when others react to us?

With my most recent story, “Whatever Skin You Wear,” donning different virtual avatars allows people the freedom to reconcile who they are inside with their outer appearance. And I realized after the fact that it’s the counterpart/inverse story to “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast,” where it’s only when the masks come off that people are able to come to know who they really are. Totally unintentional that. As I said, “whoa, recurrent themes of identity” epiphany.

And also, I really, really want to lock people into rooms and do experiments on them.

EBooks versus Print

2009-07-17T12:55:00Z

Never had an issue reading e-text vs print, but I may now have switched over to the prefer eBooks camp. Backlighting and adjustable font sizes makes for happier Eugie eyes. And anything to decrease the strain on my eyes is a definite plus.

Recently got new glasses and contacts. I have degenerative myopia, and my glasses prescription is now so high that I can no longer get the frameless style that I prefer (the lenses, even uber high indexed, etc. are too thick), and I can't order my contacts online because the power dropdown list doesn't go high enough.

My eyes, they sucketh. Which is rather problematic, considering my occupation(s).

"Beautiful Winter" Now Out in IGMS #13

2009-07-16T17:24:09Z

My "Beautiful Winter" is the cover story of the new issue (#13) of InterGalactic Medicine Show, featuring gorgeous artwork by Nick Greenwood. Shiny!

Whatever Skin You Wear Almost Done. Back to The Stupid Novel

2009-07-16T12:37:19Z

Getting close to fork sticking on "Whatever Skin You Wear," I think. Waiting on one or two more critiques before sending it out. In the interim, the plan is to resume flogging The Stupid Novel.

Daughter of Botu: Honorable Mention in Year's Best SF 26

2009-07-14T21:12:13Z

Just learned from Douglas Cohen (douglascohen) that my story "Daughter of Bótù" received an Honorable Mention in Gardner Dozois' Year's Best SF 26. Squee!

(Shameless plug:

You can read "Daughter of Bótù" in Returning My Sister's Face, now available at Amazon.com for the sweet price of $10.75 in trade paperback—discounted from the cover price of $11.95.)

The Line Between Mad Scientist and Evil Genius

2009-07-14T12:25:12Z

I've been doing a lot of psychology research of late—the halo effect for "Whatever Skin You Wear" (which I didn't end up using when I changed the story's scope) and recently oxytocin, the "moral molecule."

And I am reminded again how much I love psychology and also that I'm somewhat sad that I'm not active in the field. Probably just as well. I'd enjoy far too much being a mad scientist/evil genius...

One of my favorite quotes from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series:

Riley: Psychologically this is fascinating, doesn't it make everyone wanna lock them in separate rooms and do experiments on them? [everyone stares]...Just me then.

Whatever Skin You Wear: First Draft

2009-07-13T14:48:22Z

"Whatever Skin You Wear" first readered by fosteronfilm (whose feedback helped me determine that no epilogue was required), several editing passes committed, and it's at first draft. Time to inflict it upon critiquers.

This story came so much easier than the last, even with the POV flip-flopping. I think the change in milieu, genre, and voice were good for my muse.

Whatever Skin You Wear: Zero Draft

2009-07-12T20:22:10Z

New words: 200 on "Whatever Skin You Wear." And it's at zero draft, two weeks from inception to "the end." Productivity win!

Except I think it may need an epilogue...

Saturday AM: Mining the Maudlin and Story Research

2009-07-11T14:20:17Z

Awash in Facebook-induced nostalgia and maudlin sentimentality. Ugh. Need Japanese gay porn manga.

It's story research. Honest! Well, this time it is...

Ahem.

New words: 1,400 on "Whatever Skin You Wear." Might be able to make it to zero draft before the weekend's out.

Sale: "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest" to Apex

2009-07-09T17:00:16Z

Just sold reprint of "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" to Apex Magazine! *happy dancing*

Mildly Haunted and Fey Infested in Metro Atlanta

2009-07-08T11:50:41Z

And the fey-infestation/mild haunting of our house continues. This morning, while I was in the bathroom getting ready for work and fosteronfilm was in the bedroom, heading towards sleep, my cell phone called his—both of which were in the living room.

Huh.

So now we have lights that spontaneously go on and off, toilets that occasionally flush on their own, disembodied thumps, and cell phones that call each other.

I am thoroughly amused.

Whatever Skin You Wear: 1st, 2nd, 3rd

2009-07-07T12:32:09Z

Epiphany: I need to rewrite "Whatever Skin You Wear" switching from first-person POV to third-person. Glargh! Been second-guessing myself a lot of late.

Writerly instinct fail!

Whatever Skin You Wear: Progress and Musings

2009-07-06T13:04:10Z

New Words: 700 on "Whatever Skin You Wear."

Keep waffling about where I want to take this/how I want to approach this. Also worried that I may be administering my point via sledgehammer. Grmf.

A Conversation About Self-Publishing

2009-07-03T21:42:02Z

For folks wondering about my thoughts on self-publishing, Matthew Nadelhaft started a question on Facebook about it, and Christina Baker Cline posted the resulting discussion on her blog (with everyone's permission).

Other folks that chimed in include Michael Stackpole, Jeff VanderMeer, Stephen Dedman, Jennifer Stevenson, and Alex Irvine.

Heading Out!

2009-07-02T16:35:05Z

Senate and House leaving at 12:30 so Legislative Counsel gets to too. *Woot!* Heading out for an early start on my 3-day weekend!

RETURNING MY SISTER'S FACE: Trade Paperback Now Out

2009-07-02T13:06:33Z

The trade paperback edition of Returning My Sister's Face is now out! For folks who'll be at Readercon next weekend, it'll be available at the SFPA table—who are graciously stocking it along with other Norilana Books titles. Although, alas, I won't be attending. Wanted to, but the stars did not align.

Gifts Not Asked For, Part II: Flame Dancer

2009-07-01T12:41:24Z

The July issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly with the next installment of "Gifts Not Asked For" (Part II: Flame Dancer) is now out. Yay!

WiP: Whatever Skin You Wear

2009-06-30T13:18:21Z

Writing Stuff:

Came up with a working title for the new Work in Progress, "Whatever Skin You Wear." New words: 500

Pondering if the theme would be better served with a narrower, interpersonal focus than my initial concept. I thought the story would be fairly epic and heroic—good guy vanquishes the uber evil and saves the world—but I think what I'm trying to say might be better expressed by two people learning something about each other in a wacky world.

Definitely would be shorter if I go that route, which is always a plus. But it's gonna be a bear trying to pull it off without some major narrative info dumping since detailed aspects of the setting are vital to the theme.

Hrmmm...

Embracing the Gods of Insomnia

2009-06-30T10:02:23Z

The gods of sleep hath forsaken me. Well I, for one, welcome my new insomnia overlords. Lucid wakefulness is obviously overrated...

New WiP: Untitled SF Short Story

2009-06-29T14:48:18Z

Smacked between the eyes by an idea for a near future, VR/social networking fusion story over the weekend. 2.5K words; no working title yet.

Guess I'm going to backburner The Stupid Novel for a little longer.

Mortal Clay, Stone Heart: Finis

2009-06-26T02:58:54Z

"Mortal Clay, Stone Heart" DONE. Fork rammed to the hilt; manuscript sent to editors; fingers crossed. Time to break out the booze! Hurray for three-day weekends.

The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognition Without Chemical Stimulants: A Mini-Case Study

2009-06-25T12:15:39Z

And lo, there was insomnia.

I think sleep deprivation plus uppers may kybosh some key writing processes in my brain, so I'm going to try to ford ahead sans meds today. Then again, sleep deprivation alone may in itself be enough to mangle my brain's word production capability. But I've been wondering for a while whether the Adderall—while giving me the energy I need to stay motivated and productive—may actually be impairing some of my creative ability. I've got the verve, but the words seem lodged somewhere in my head that I can't access with anything like the same fluidity and ease that I use to. I can still do routine and very technical wordsmithing, like copyediting and, well, editing in general—those skills may actually be enhanced by the meds—but my ability to create new prose feels diminished.

'Course, I can't write if I'm passed out and drooling on my desk, either. So I'm keeping the shiny capsules close to hand in case this doesn't work out.

And now: coffee.

Mortal Clay, Stone Heart: Mad Dash to the Finish Line

2009-06-24T12:09:42Z

The deadline for "Mortal Clay, Stone Heart" is in two days. Embarking on the final revision/editing pass. Maybe I can get it in before Fri...eh, who am I kidding?