Your most recent project

[William H.]

My latest project was to make some holograms by etching arcs into black plexiglass with a circle compass. They turned out better than I thought; under normal light they just look like a bunch of scratches, but under a halogen light or in sunlight, a 3-d type figure can be seen. It's sort of like an optical illusion in that the figure seems to exist several inches below the surface of the plexiglass. And when the plexi is tilted back and forth, the image moves from one end of the arcs to the other (see cube photos below).

Instructions on how I made this can be found at this site:

http://amasci.com/amateur/holo1.html

If anyone else has been working on something that they would like to share with the group, whether it is arts, crafts, woodworking, verse, photos, or whatever - feel free to post it here.




http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/robh/images/_hola.JPG

http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/robh/images/_holb.JPG

http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/robh/images/_hole.JPG

[roger]

The guitar I am building...

[roger]

and the rosette...
(the mess at the top of the rosette is intentional, it'll be covered by the fretboard)

[fhios]

I've been working 80-hour weeks to keep my family in order, and, as a kind of side-benefit, I've been working on a book about the experience.

[kittynh]

cool William!

today I painted pumpkins with glow in the dark paint with my kids. We also used Sharpies. Turn out the lights and they look really cool. The paint doesn't want to really stick to the pumpkin, so you get a drippy glow effect that is just weird.

can you tell I'm in teacher mode? I'm designing a small quilt to give to Randi at TAM2. Because I want him to like it it is making the design hard. It's always easier to make something YOU like. Bought some beautiful Chinese fabric today to use somehow in it (Asian makes me think of all the great magicians that used a Chinese theme). At $16.00 a yard at wholesale it's going to be VERY VERY small miniature size.

[Phil]

Completing the final chapters of my fourth novel (writing, not reading). Should be done soon, and then much polishing and self-editing to do, but it's a labor of love, as they say.

[Zep]

Organising the moving of 100 tonnes of computer gear from one city to another for our non-professionally run computer museum. For nix. LABOUR of love...

And working for a living!

[Chaos]

Originally posted by Phil
Completing the final chapters of my fourth novel (writing, not reading). Should be done soon, and then much polishing and self-editing to do, but it's a labor of love, as they say.

What kind of novels do you write?
And did you publish any of them?

[Phil]

Originally posted by Chaos


What kind of novels do you write?
And did you publish any of them?
Mainstream literary and science fiction/fantasy.

Two of my books are being considered by publishers now, but no news in a long while. It's frustrating.

Do you have any connections in the publishing business? I work cheap.

[Mercutio]

Originally posted by Phil

Mainstream literary and science fiction/fantasy.

Two of my books are being considered by publishers now, but no news in a long while. It's frustrating.

Do you have any connections in the publishing business? I work cheap. Tell 'em you are an award-winning writer already. I'll vouch for you...

[Chaos]

Originally posted by Phil

Mainstream literary and science fiction/fantasy.

Two of my books are being considered by publishers now, but no news in a long while. It's frustrating.

Do you have any connections in the publishing business? I work cheap.

If I had such connections, they would be of no use to you, because I live in Germany, and I think german publisher don´t publish original English language versions - except perhaps if you were, I don´t know, Lord Byron or someone else playing in that league.

And if I had such connections, I would use them for by own novel, when/if that gets finished. It´s SF, the first version is almost finished by now, but it needs very much editing. I started the project in November ´99, and right now it´s already the third version - the first was just plain crap, the second got lost in a computer crash without a safety copy. Now I´ve been with this for almost four years; on one hand, I am not very enthusiastic about practically writing the novel anew for the fourth time, on the other hand I think I have ut way too much work into it to just let it die. And I have just grown too fond of some of the characters.
Right now I am making first plans for another novel, but I don´t know if I have the heart for it yet; I have been feeling very demotivated for the last few months and I see no change in that ahead.

By the way, would you care to give me more info on these novels - perhaps by PM if you don´t want to do it in public?

[Phil]

Originally posted by Chaos
. . . It´s SF, the first version is almost finished by now, but it needs very much editing. I started the project in November ´99, and right now it´s already the third version - the first was just plain crap, the second got lost in a computer crash without a safety copy. Now I´ve been with this for almost four years; on one hand, I am not very enthusiastic about practically writing the novel anew for the fourth time, on the other hand I think I have ut way too much work into it to just let it die. And I have just grown too fond of some of the characters.
Right now I am making first plans for another novel, but I don´t know if I have the heart for it yet; I have been feeling very demotivated for the last few months and I see no change in that ahead.

By the way, would you care to give me more info on these novels - perhaps by PM if you don´t want to do it in public?
Yeah, you have to be careful with electronic copies. I keep no fewer than 4 copies of my books in various locations at all times. One on my work PC. One on my home PC. One on my laptop. One on a ZIP disk. I use one as the master, then copy down to the other drives once a day. Also when I'm completely finished with something, I burn it to a CD that goes in a safe deposit box.

I know you will rewrite the lost book, if you are fond of the characters. Just don't think of it as a chore, think of it as a chance to polish the story.

And if there is one lesson that I've learned from other writers and from my own experience that is true, it's this: Writers write.

If you are a writer, you will find the motivation somewhere, and begin doing the rewrites, or start a new project. Hey, I know how you feel. Some days I just don't feel like writing; the spark just isn't there. And I know if I force myself to work on something creative that means a lot to me, my work's going to be terrible, because of my lack of heart at that moment. But I still write. Something. A Poem. A short story. A letter to a girl. A lengthy post in one of these threads. Something. And usually I find that once I start rolling again, and my fingers are flying, and the keys are clicking, the motivation returns. So no excuses, Chaos. Get off your ass and get to work.

And I don't mind sharing info about my books, as long as the discussion is general. What would you like to know?

[Chaos]

I´ve learned about electronic copies the hard way. I had a copy efore that crash, only it didn´t work...Now I have several copies as well - on the PC I use to write, on a backup CD a update now and then, on an ancient 386 computer I still keep, and on the floppy disk I use to "ferry" files between the two computers.

I have already rewritten the novel - v2.0 was lost in the crash, this is v3.0 that is 95% done.

I do a little writing now and then, mostly background material for my roleplaying game. A few weeks ago I did an Account of the new campaign´s opening adventure, from the point of view of a 13-year-old girl - only an NPC, but I am very fond of her. I posted that in a writers´ forum; after reading it, at least two of the other users thought I actually was a 13-year-old girl, as I had "hit" the point of view so well; they even adressed me as "Valerie", which is the girl´s name, instead my username. Now that´s an interesting form of praise...

So much about me...what are your novels about? Would you like to give a short summary? (Are there any publishers on this board? Perhaps they will get interested?)

[Brown]

Originally posted by Phil
I know you will rewrite the lost book, if you are fond of the characters. Just don't think of it as a chore, think of it as a chance to polish the story. Somewhere, I don't know where, I have a script for a murder mystery play.

Basically, a bunch of people meet for a high school reunion, and two of them are murdered. As it happens, the killing occurs during a heavy rainstorm (an unexpected event that makes it pretty clear that the murderer(s) must be among those present). Also, one of the attendees is a police officer who feels that it is his duty to immediately begin investigating. He places himself in charge of the investigation.

As the story develops, everybody (except for one person) has an alibi, and each alibi seems to be independently corroborrated by others. Naturally, suspicion tends to gravitate to the one person who has the uncorroborrated alibi, until... someone points out that this alibi is in fact well-corroborrated and that he could not have committed the crime!

Then the accusations really start to fly among the others, many of whom had a motive for committing the dastardly deed. Some of the corroborrated alibis start to show some cracks, and tempers start to get short. And it turns out that the real murderer was....

Well, I'm not going to give that part away. (It wasn't the cop. That would be too... Mousetrap-like.)

Suffice it to say that the play was rather intricate, with many important plot points. The play also included a map of the premises, which a character draws on a chalkboard to show everyone's location at the time of the murder. The map is also used by some characters to poke holes in other characters' alibis.

And that play is now lost. I do not know what happened to it, whether it is on a floppy disk somewhere, or what. I have considered trying to rewrite it, treating it "as a chance to polish the story," but there is simply too much work involved. I am afraid that it will either have to "turn up" or remain lost forever.

[Phil]

Originally posted by Brown
Somewhere, I don't know where, I have a script for a murder mystery play.

Basically, a bunch of people meet for a high school reunion, and two of them are murdered. As it happens, the killing occurs during a heavy rainstorm (an unexpected event that makes it pretty clear that the murderer(s) must be among those present). Also, one of the attendees is a police officer who feels that it is his duty to immediately begin investigating. He places himself in charge of the investigation.

As the story develops, everybody (except for one person) has an alibi, and each alibi seems to be independently corroborrated by others. Naturally, suspicion tends to gravitate to the one person who has the uncorroborrated alibi, until... someone points out that this alibi is in fact well-corroborrated and that he could not have committed the crime!

Then the accusations really start to fly among the others, many of whom had a motive for committing the dastardly deed. Some of the corroborrated alibis start to show some cracks, and tempers start to get short. And it turns out that the real murderer was....

Well, I'm not going to give that part away. (It wasn't the cop. That would be too... Mousetrap-like.)

Suffice it to say that the play was rather intricate, with many important plot points. The play also included a map of the premises, which a character draws on a chalkboard to show everyone's location at the time of the murder. The map is also used by some characters to poke holes in other characters' alibis.

And that play is now lost. I do not know what happened to it, whether it is on a floppy disk somewhere, or what. I have considered trying to rewrite it, treating it "as a chance to polish the story," but there is simply too much work involved. I am afraid that it will either have to "turn up" or remain lost forever.
Or I'll 'borrow' the idea and write it.:)

I'm reminded of the movies Murder by Death and Clue. Those were just silly movies, but I like the ensemble cast gimmick. Highly entertaining. So if you ever recover the play and produce it somewhere, I'll be first in line to see it. And I'll be trying to figure out who the murderer is the entire time.

[William H.]

Another recent project of mine was to make a vacuum cleaner bazooka. Very easy to construct, all you need is the vacuum, some pvc pipe (inside dia. approx. 1.375 inches), some duct tape, a small piece of cardboard and a projectile.

The basic plans for making one can be seen here:

http://michaelv.org/ideas/labs/bazooka.php

I recommend using a wetvac, and very small water balloons for ammo, works best if you use a spray bottle to squirt water up the pipe first to lessen the friction on the balloon.

The duct tape is for attaching the pvc to the vacuum.

Something fun to do with the kids...

[Rosencrantz]

This weekend my wife's brother-in-law and I are getting together to make him a suit of armor and helmet out of cardboard, wallpaper paste, newspaper, speckling paste, and spray paint. It's intimidating, but it's not as difficult as you might think -- there's a great web site here (http://www.talisweb.com/halloween/armor.shtml) that walks you through the process if anyone's interested in doing something similar.

[Brown]

Originally posted by Phil
Or I'll 'borrow' the idea and write it.Go ahead. Would you like to know how the guy with no alibi turned out to have a pretty good alibi after all?

Basically, this plot point revolved around one of the underlying "themes" of the play, namely, that no matter how well you plan something, you can't anticipate everything. The murderer could not have anticipated the downpour that trapped everyone in the building (and complicated disposal of the murder weapon). The murderer could not have known ahead of time exactly where everyone would be when he chose to commit the crime. The murderer could not know who would have a good alibi and who wouldn't. That type of thing.

Well, the fellow with "no alibi," when questioned, claimed to have been alone at a particular place (sneaking a cigarette or something like that). No one could corroborrate this story. When all of the others' stories were compared with his, however (and here is where the map of the premises comes in), two things became clear: First, if he were the murderer, he could not have known where anyone else would be at the time of the murder. At most, all he could know is that the victims would be alone. Second, if he were the murderer and he were to lie about his whereabouts at the time of the crime, it was virtually impossible for him to say he was in a particular place without being contradicted by others. In other words, he claimed to be at the only place in the entire building at which no one could see him, but he could not know in advance that he would not be seen there. Had he claimed to have been in the rest room at the time of the murder, for example, Mr. X would contradict that story; had he claimed to have been in the cafeteria, Mrs. Y would have called him a liar, and so on. If he is the murderer, out of all the possible alibis that he could have chosen, how is it that he happened to choose the only one that can't be falsified? Which suggested that the uncorroborrated alibi was probably the truth.

This led to the closer examination of other alibis, which turned out to be less rock-solid than they first appeared.

[Phil]

So his uncorroborated alibi is established and corroborated by the corroborated alibis of the others. Very clever.

This play sounds intriguing. You have piqued my interest at least. What condition was the script in when you lost it? And more importantly, where do you think it is (still in your possession, just misplaced?), and have you considered trying to have it produced?

It may be a lot of work to rewrite, but I'm sure you could get help from some of us on the forums for the cost of an executive producer credit. ;)

[Brown]

Originally posted by Phil
What condition was the script in when you lost it? And more importantly, where do you think it is (still in your possession, just misplaced?), and have you considered trying to have it produced?The play was "done" but not "finished." Almost every time I read a scene aloud, I found ways to change it a little. I expect that there are a few places that require a little more exposition and a few places that need less.

After writing the play, I had to move out of my apartment. This meant I had to box things up for storage, including my computers and my floppies. When I unpacked one of my computers some time later, I looked for the play and could not find it. I suspect it's sitting on a floppy disk somewhere, but I have no idea where.

I've given up looking for it, concluding that it either will turn up or it won't.

I have not considered having it produced... except... I did struggle for quite awile trying to see how it could be staged. After all, you can't put a whole building on a stage. Basically, I arranged it so that some of the rooms (e.g., the cafeteria) are totally visible, other rooms (e.g., the restrooms, most of the upper floor and the site of the murder) are not visible, and some sites (e.g., the hallway) are partly visible. The map became important to the staging of the story because you can't show all of the rooms on the stage.

[Bluegill]

All of my canvas-painting has been put on hold while I spend my time painting walls. My wife and I just got a house, and we're painting, spackling, painting, spackling... starting to look sort of nice.

It's a special sort of agony, not having the time to paint a picture, and being surrounded by one of the most beautiful Autumns we've had in years. sigh.

On the plus side, I will finally have studio space in the garage! No more painting in the corner of the dining room.

[DrMatt]

Second CD in the works.
As I write, the masters are at the producer/editor's place.
Lo-res versions of my photos of the recording sessions are at http://personal.www.umich.edu/~fields/houston640x480/.
:cool:

[Melissa Johnson]

Novel in the works (second draft). Short stories percolating. Interesting to see other writers posting here--as to date, I'm unpublished. Got a helluva smackdown from MZB when she was still alive--man, that took years to get over, especially as it was most likely well-deserved. Now, I'm kind of proud of the distinction...wish I'd saved the story and the rejection slip...

I hate telling other people that I write. I haven't told that many. I hesitate to mention it here. My Editor-on-the-Shoulder is an 1,200 lb gorilla. I don't know that I write so much as I treat my own mental illness, to paraphrase Vonnegut...

[Brown]

I'm working on my holiday crossword puzzle. (I posted last year's puzzle in the Puzzle section of the forum.)

I have the basic idea and the basic theme. The theme includes a poem, and I'm not quite satisfied with the meter of the poem. Also, I haven't yet quite developed a suitable grid.

[Phil]

Originally posted by Melissa Johnson
Novel in the works (second draft).
. . . I hate telling other people that I write. I haven't told that many. I hesitate to mention it here. My Editor-on-the-Shoulder is an 1,200 lb gorilla. I don't know that I write so much as I treat my own mental illness, to paraphrase Vonnegut...
Welcome to my neurosis, Melissa. Fortunately, I kicked it years ago. Used to hate telling others I wrote, too, but I've made my living at it for more than 15 years now, so it's kind of silly not to. Plus my friends really seem to enjoy my fiction. Of course they may just be humoring me, but either way, my ego gets a boost.

And like you, I hold my rejections as badges of honor. They are each a layer of a skin that has become fairly thick over the years.

What types of things do you write. You can PM or just shine me on, if you're not comfortable talking about it.

[Kullervo]

translating Jean Dufresne's Lehrbuch des Dames into English for a fellow in the UK. Early treatment of minor Polish Draughts (aka Pool Checkers).

[Melissa Johnson]

Originally posted by Phil

Welcome to my neurosis, Melissa. Fortunately, I kicked it years ago. Used to hate telling others I wrote, too, but I've made my living at it for more than 15 years now, so it's kind of silly not to. Plus my friends really seem to enjoy my fiction. Of course they may just be humoring me, but either way, my ego gets a boost.

And like you, I hold my rejections as badges of honor. They are each a layer of a skin that has become fairly thick over the years.

What types of things do you write. You can PM or just shine me on, if you're not comfortable talking about it.

I've been writing since I was a kid. I would love to be making my living at it, seriously--it's the only thing I think I'm fit for.

I write speculative fiction--not really fantasy, not really sci-fi. Hybrid of both, maybe. Imagined worlds, that kind of thing, but not long on magic. I love the act of creating--the act of rewriting and editing is a little more like work--in the first go-round, I can get utterly lost in another place, so that coming back to reality is similar to surfacing after a deep dive.

Then I read my favorite authors (usually having nothing to do with science fiction) and I feel worthless. I'm learning not to keep beating myself up over not writing like Graham Greene, but it's tough sometimes :)

So, you've actually let your friends read your stuff? I'm just starting to do that, hesitantly.

[Phil]

Originally posted by Melissa Johnson
. . . I'm learning not to keep beating myself up over not writing like Graham Greene, but it's tough sometimes :)

So, you've actually let your friends read your stuff? I'm just starting to do that, hesitantly.
Yes. As I say, it's a win/win situation. They are your friends, so chances are, if you stink, they're still going to blow a little smoke to keep from hurting you, and if you're really good, then their praise is genuine. Either way, you're golden. Of course I also have a select few friends that I trust will not blow smoke. They are avid readers and will tell me honestly if I stink. I use them as soundingboards and proofreaders.

Just had a thought: My writers group has recently disbanded. We should consider forming one from members of these forums who are also writers. It would have to be an electronic group of course, and separate from the forums, but I bet there's valuable feedback to be found here. Maybe I should start a thread to see if there is any interest.

What do you think?

[Melissa Johnson]

I would be amenable to such a situation...I'm not very computer savvy, beyond using what's in front of my face, but I could definitely dig an online writer's group. It might be interesting and supportive.

[Phil]

Originally posted by Melissa Johnson
I would be amenable to such a situation...I'm not very computer savvy, beyond using what's in front of my face, but I could definitely dig an online writer's group. It might be interesting and supportive.
Well, I was thinking, it wouldn't be logistically feasible to do more than have one member send an elctronic copy of something they're working on (per month, say) to the other members. Then have the others offer critique. Then the next member would do the same. We would just take turns. Do you know how to attach a file to an email message?

Meanwhile, I'll start a thread in this forum to see what kind of interest there is among other JREFers.