You can’t just steal an alien machine lost since the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and use it to power your dairy farm for thirty-eight years and not expect any consequences. Read more →
You can’t just steal an alien machine lost since the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and use it to power your dairy farm for thirty-eight years and not expect any consequences. Read more →
Posted at 04:00 AM in Books, Film, writing | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Door County, Edmund Fitzgerald, Science Fiction, The Emissary Movie, the Emissary Trilogy
As of this writing, I have no idea how to create AI-generated content. I’m uncharacteristically not curious about learning how. Uncharacteristic, because normally new tech makes my inner nerd all giddy. This tech, when applied to writing at least, makes my inner ethicist want to vomit. I am trying to be balanced. I am often wrong about things. Read more →
Posted at 12:46 PM in artificial intelligence, Books, critique groups, Current Affairs, Science, Web/Tech, writing | Permalink | Comments (1)
Tags: AI, ChatGPT, writer's critique groups, writing
Koyper squirmed in his seat, looking modest. “Oh, easy. That was old spectroscopist’s trick. De Broglie’s principle.” Jim blinked at that. “Wait. Isn’t that…” Koyper continued. “Every particle, every neutron, proton, electron and every atom, it is wave, also.” He tapped his temple with his finger. “And if you sing particle wavelength, you make particle shine.” Koyper shrugged. “I was thinking of calcium so I chose calcium. Hey, Andy,” Koyper swiveled around in his seat to face Andy in the backseat. “I am glad I gave you this instrument to play. I was not sure it was good idea at first.” Read more →
Posted at 12:18 PM in Books, Film | Permalink | Comments (4)
Tags: comedy, HP Erskine, science fiction, solarpunk, The Emissary
Eagle-eyed viewers of the Emissary Movie might spy a motif. A common hand gesture used by Jim, Mark, and Andy. This gesture has a long history in the Erskine clan. We call it the gralph. Gralphs have worked their way into my sci fi trilogy. The following short excerpts do not contain any spoilers. Read more →
Posted at 02:30 PM in Books, Film | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Emissary, gesture, gralph, shaming
Our recent Peninsula Pulse reports strange lights in Ellison Bay's skies. That's not news to us. Why, that's exactly where our spaceman likes to land. Koyper typically likes to land his spaceship in Ellison Bay's Newport State Park and take in the poetry trail. Have they not seen The Emissary... Read more →
Posted at 06:27 PM in Books, Film | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Ellison Bay, Emissary Movie, Newport State Park, UFOs, Wisconsin
I'm having so much fun with my first few weeks of learning to compose on a DAW (digital audio workstation). Yup, that's me When I was 12, I had two Radio Shack audiocassette tape players. This was 1977. I had no digital. I would go back and forth between the... Read more →
Posted at 04:35 PM in Books, Music | Permalink | Comments (0)
Poster art by Ram Rojas, for The Emissary, a movie that I helped create and produce, and on which my books are based. Synopsis for book one: The Emissary and the Time Bomb from Outer Space Living on Wisconsin’s scenic Door County peninsula, engineer Jim Morgen isn’t expecting a visitor... Read more →
Posted at 10:57 PM in Books, Film | Permalink | Comments (4)
I'm writing a synopsis of my novel for an agent query letter. It's going to go something like this: CHARACTER was STATUS until INCIDENT and now he must GOAL or else CONSEQUENCE. How's this: Living on the scenic peninsula of Door County, Wisconsin, engineer Jim Morgen isn’t expecting a visitor... Read more →
Posted at 04:58 PM in Books | Permalink | Comments (5)
Tags: fiction, query letter, sci fi, solarpunk, synopsis
Got feedback on my working titles? Alternate suggestions most welcome! I've divided my Emissary book into three standalone novels and am starting to compose query letters to literary agents. I'm trying to telegraph through my titles that my midwestern sci fi adventure story is funny-quirky (think Red Dwarf) yet not... Read more →
Posted at 05:11 PM in Books, Film | Permalink | Comments (4)
Tags: book titles, comedy, fiction, literary agent, midwest, query letter, science fiction
(Updated, Nov 2023) Here's a sneak peek at chapter 1, book 1 of the unpublished Emissary trilogy. Book 1 is complete (currently seeking representation). Books 2 and 3 were complete, but my beta readers love a subplot I introduced into book 1 so much that I am now gleefully threading... Read more →
Posted at 11:29 AM in Books, Film | Permalink | Comments (2)
Tags: Edmund Fitzgerald, Science fiction
You don't have to be in Madison to hear Catherine Young's beautiful words this Nov 11th. Catherine is a treasured voice in my writer's critique group. I've delighted to get to know this wise and sensitive being over the past three years and am still learning who she is. A... Read more →
even members of the Door County Published Author Collective will be available to talk with visitors about their books, writing process, and paths to publication. Today’s authors include Corey Geiger, Holly Phaneuf Erskine, Jane Hensge, Sue Jarosh, Erika Nelson, JK Palmer, and Judy Ann Ritter. The Door County Published Author Collective is a group of writers who live in or have significant ties to Door County and who have published creative works, either through traditional publishing or self-publishing. Read more →
Posted at 12:41 PM in Books | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Author event, books, Door County, Door County Write On, events
Here's an excerpt from my book. Molly is an electrochemist who has invented a bionic leaf (based on some real inventions out there I was excited to promote.) If you like, follow this up with a fall color drive with my husband's original music. "But you don’t seem happy about... Read more →
Join me at the Write On Door County Author book fair! Oct 1, 2022, Door County, WI I'll have a sneak peek of my Emissary novel, a little reading, and of course, Herbs Demystified. Read more →
Posted at 08:17 PM in Books | Permalink | Comments (0)
Big thanks to Mike Orlock for reviewing our movie. As Koyper would say, we think he hit the button on the head. He captured it well. If it looks like we were having fun here, you would be correct. Lots of fun filming with dear, tolerant friends, lots of sleep... Read more →
Posted at 11:39 AM in Books, Film | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Mike Orlock, Peninsula Pulse, The Emissary Movie
If you are in Door County mid June, you have at least three chances to meet my friend and editor Catherine Young. She is giving readings from her new book of eco-poetry, Geosmin. In addition to Algoma's Yardstick Books June 18th, Catherine is speaking at Write On, Door County June 15 at 4 PM and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Door County at 7 PM, also on June 15th. Read more →
Posted at 01:11 PM in Books, poetry | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Catherine Young, eco-poetry, geosmin, poetry
Why are some fictional characters boring? The prime reason why I give up reading a book is because the main character is boring. Boring characters tend to be static, unchanging. More importantly, nothing challenges a boring character. We continue turning pages if we care about characters. We love the good, yet imperfect characters. But it isn’t bad to hate a character, either. A hateful character will not stop me from reading. A boring character will stop me from reading. Read more →
Posted at 07:09 PM in Books, Film | Permalink | Comments (0)
Dec 26, 2021 If it weren't for my brilliant sweetheart Tim Erskine, I would not have been inspired to try writing fiction. Five years after we created a movie together, I have a finished draft for a 700 (or so) page novel based on that movie, that my editor says... Read more →
Posted at 02:05 PM in Books, Film | Permalink | Comments (0)