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Author: Janet Gershen-Siegel

I'm not much bigger than a breadbox.

Character Review — Selkhet 3000Character Review, Josie James, Greg Shapiro, Jazminder Parikh, MD, Johnny Barnes, Dalton Farouk, Peri Martin, Carmen D’Angelo, MD, Dr. Devon Grace, Tommy 2000, Lex Feldman, Velexio, Character Reviews are Coming, Ixalla, Elise Jeffries, MD, Frances Miller Ashford, Marnie Shapiro, Ceilidh O’Malley, Dr. Mei-Lin Quan, Trixie LaRue, Tathrelle, Nell Murphy, Craig Firenze, Adger, Astrid Hennigsen, Benjamin Chase, Bobby/Jerry Brodie, Cyndi Mendez, Dez Hunter, Eileen Bragin, Eleanor Braverman, Judge John Lowell, Keisha Darnell, Minka Lopez, Nell Murphy, Noah Braverman, Olga Nicolaev, Peter Ray, Rachel Gifford, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sally Bowles/TSTO Tiles, Shannon Duffy, Student #17, Tad Lewis, Ginny Carey, TSTITO, Selkhet 3000, complex evil characters, Emma 1000, They Say This is the One, Elston Young, Trinity Hawthorne, Character Creation

Character Review — Selkhet 3000

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 24, 2023

Consider Selkhet 3000, One of My Original Characters

Who is Selkhet 3000?

I needed someone who could be a helper with the robots and Dr. Tinerrian, and quickly hit upon the idea of a robot filling that niche. Enter Selkhet.

Where Did Selkhet 3000 Come From?

When I first started writing about the Obolonks, I was completely winging it. As a result, I had no idea what I was going to do with Selkhet (or any of the other characters, for that matter).

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Selkhet

Much like Tommy 2000, Selket is created in Dr. James Tinerrian’s lab. She precedes him yet is a 3000 model. But she’s not the first fully sapient robot that Tinerrian makes. That is the seldom seen Emma 1000.

Why is she a 3000, and Tommy a 2000? Even Peri asks this! But the truth is, at the start, I was just going with what I felt sounded the best. With Tommy, there was some alliteration. Then I came up with an explanation. She would be overly emotional and sometimes less than controlled. Hence Tinerrian takes Tommy back to an earlier restore point.

But I have never honestly explored her less than fully controlled side. Maybe I will in the prequel, although it’s more likely it would be in the third trilogy series.

Description

I like the look of Selena Gomez for Selkhet. Very lovely, and very no-nonsense.

Actress Selena Gomez, who I see as Selkhet 3000. Image is for reference purposes only.
By The White House – [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118366234

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

In some ways parallel to Tommy, she’s almost a proof of concept as to just what Tinerrian can do. But like Tommy starts off, her emotions are initially more a series of weights and measures than anything else.

That is, she performs trillions of calculations per second to determine if the proper emotional model to follow is the one of disgust, sorrow, joy, or any other feeling.

Her essential motivation is to take care of things for Jim Tinerrian. This includes long after his death, in the Time Addicts trilogy and beyond. In that trilogy, she immediately recognizes that Josie James needs help, and helps her.

But (if I recall correctly), she and Josie have never actually met before. But Selkhet trusts Tommy, and Tommy knows Josie is important.

Quotes {Peri has just met Selkhet and Tommy; Tommy has just morphed in front of Peri}

“Or an executive or any professional person here on Earth,” Tommy said. “Or I can look like a hayseed from Europa.” To prove his point, he became younger and taller and leaner, and wore a pair of coveralls but no shoes.

Peri’s jaw dropped, “Did you see that?” she asked Selkhet and Dr. Tinerrian. “Did you? That was, that was incredible.”

“Oh, that’s nothing,” said Selkhet, yawning slightly and morphing herself into a short, elderly, overweight Indian woman who looked a lot like Peri’s ex-mother-in-law.

“Oh my God!” Peri reeled, her heart in her throat, “You, you’re a, a, a, a, what?”“

Dr. Tinerrian, I believe you owe me a dollar.” Selkhet smiled. “We had a little wager going. The doctor said you wouldn’t guess I, too, am a robot. I am Selkhet Three Thousand.”

Peri sunk into the desk chair Tommy had vacated. After a moment, her detective instincts kicked in. “If you’re a Three Thousand, then why am I getting a Two Thousand? Er, no offense meant there, Tommy, but why?”

“Selkhet is a prototype. She’s the first of her kind and is here to help me with all of the other robots. Hence her name, Selkhet.” Peri squinted, tilting her head slightly. Dr. Tinerrian added, “Selkhet was the Egyptian guardian of the dead. Our Selkhet here is guardian of the robots. Anyway, Tommy is the first for the police department. We’re rolling out the entire Tommy Two Thousand series within a year, but he’s the first. There’ll be one in every police department from the Boston Meg to the Perth Meg and elsewhere in between—in all twenty-eight megalopolises if I have anything to say about it. And maybe they’ll even be off-Earth, and on a moon or a planet, too.”

Relationships

Although she’s just a machine, Selkhet has relationships.

Selkhet and Jim

Did Jim Tinerrian consciously create Selkhet to be a kind of dream girl for him? I confess even I’m not sure. But her devotion to him extends long past his death. Although she’s not as much of a tragic figure as Tommy is after Peri’s death.

One thing I wanted for her was for to not be Jim’s mindless servant, and she isn’t. She’s more of an employee half the time.

Selkhet and Tommy

Almost like a big sister in the first trilogy, Selkhet becomes Tommy’s plus-one for various social engagements in the second trilogy. I don’t really ‘ship them although I recognize that readers might…

Selkhet 3000 and Emma 1000

Because Emma doesn’t show up until the last of the Time Addicts books, I don’t have too much on this relationship. However, even though Emma is the elder of the two, Selkhet is more sophisticated and take charge.

Emma often doesn’t know how to act around people, and suffers from what we would call a form of social anxiety. Selkhet takes Emma under her wing and champions her, almost like a mentor and a protégée. And although I never put it on the screen, Emma had to have reactivated at some point.

Perhaps Selkhet was responsible for that? I might explore that in the third trilogy.

Conflict and Turning Point

Just like Tommy 2000, Selkhet 3000 is in both of the currently existing trilogies and her fate is fairly similar to his. When he is damaged in a way that is essentially a happy accident, he shares his transformation with her, so that she may experience it as well. That’s one turning point in her existence.

Another is when she helps out Josie. Selkhet could have more or less looked the other way. But she doesn’t. I don’t honestly explore it, but to my mind, it’s not specifically due to continuing devotion to Jim. I feel it’s more that she just plain feels it’s the right thing to do. Her acting on a hunch makes her more sapient than, in some ways, even Tommy.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

Much like Tommy, Selkhet can technically live forever, as long as she can find replacement parts. Hence, she played a relatively big role in the final book in the Time Addicts trilogy.

Future Plans for Selkhet 3000

The prequel for Time Addicts did not include her. And as for the prequel to The Obolonk Murders, that’s a long shot.

Selkhet 3000: Takeaways

Charming, smart, and sophisticated, Selkhet 3000 has a lot going for her. She’s fun to write.

Selkhet 3000 — the mother hen of the sapient robots.

Want More of Selkhet 3000 and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?

If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then check out my other articles about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.

Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders

Humans

Robots

Obolonks

Character Reviews: Time Addicts

The Good Guys

The Bad Guys

The Obolonk Universe

Self-Reviews: Obolonk Trilogy

Self-Reviews: Time Addicts Trilogy

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Character Review — Benjamin ChaseCharacter Review, Josie James, Greg Shapiro, Jazminder Parikh, MD, Johnny Barnes, Dalton Farouk, Peri Martin, Carmen D’Angelo, MD, Dr. Devon Grace, Tommy 2000, Lex Feldman, Velexio, Character Reviews are Coming, Ixalla, Elise Jeffries, MD, Frances Miller Ashford, Marnie Shapiro, Ceilidh O’Malley, Dr. Mei-Lin Quan, Trixie LaRue, Tathrelle, Nell Murphy, Craig Firenze, Adger, Astrid Hennigsen, Benjamin Chase, Bobby/Jerry Brodie, Cyndi Mendez, Dez Hunter, Eileen Bragin, Eleanor Braverman, Judge John Lowell, Keisha Darnell, Minka Lopez, Nell Murphy, Noah Braverman, Olga Nicolaev, Peter Ray, Rachel Gifford, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sally Bowles/TSTO Tiles, Shannon Duffy, Student #17, Tad Lewis, Ginny Carey, TSTITO, Selkhet 3000, complex evil characters, Emma 1000, They Say This is the One, Elston Young, Trinity Hawthorne, Character Creation

Character Review — Benjamin Chase

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 19, 2023

Let’s Consider Benjamin Chase, One of My Original Characters

So, who is Benjamin Chase?

For The Enigman Cave to work, I needed for Marnie to be not only okay with space but downright happy to be there. But one of the flies in the ointment would be her ex.

And while Ben may be almost a negative version of a Mary Sue, he does have his moments, one of which is in the Quotes section. Besides, it’s more than a little bit fun to write a character who is perpetually pissed off. Or, at least, he seems to be.

Where Did Ben Chase Come From?

To round out the cast and give Marnie a smaller antagonist before getting to the bigger one, I came up with the idea of an ex. And, originally, because I named her Marnie Chase, I first thought that I would have her catch him cheating and divorce him in the book.

Then I thought better of it, and made them already split as early as page one.

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Benjamin Chase

David Strathairn, who I see as Benjamin Chase.
By Keith McDuffee from Northborough, MA, USA – FlickrUploaded by stemoc, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30832011

The chief botanist on board the Valentina Tereshkova is a necessary part of the crew. Brilliant and handsome, you can almost forgive Ben’s flaws. Almost.

But he’s hard to deal with under the best of circumstances. His original tolerance for Marnie was due to her intellect. But their marriage was stormy at best.

Description

In the book, I describe him as, … “tall and slender, with dark hair gone gray at the temples. A few lines on his face added character and interest, and dark eyes could hold nearly anyone’s attention. They had certainly held Marne’s attention, back in the day.”

My husband suggested David Strathairn for the look, and I have to agree.

However, this actor doesn’t seem to have played too many villains. But Ben isn’t exactly a villain. He’s more like a thorn in Marnie’s side than anything else.

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

The smartest guy in the room should have been happy with the smartest woman in the room. But Ben’s not so secret dirty little secret is that he’s a philanderer.

And in a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moment, Marnie’s thoughts tell the reader that he’s a serial philanderer.

When things really hit the fan, he doesn’t get a comeuppance although Marnie does eventually dress him down. For Ben won’t act like a hero. But he can act a little less like a whiny brat. Marnie takes what she can get.

Quotes

A few minutes later, Chase stomped in. “You know I’m not on the bridge crew.” He glared at his ex-wife. “And who the hell sent me a picture of a bunch of chlorophyll?”

“Chlorophyll?” asked Ray. The others just stared.

“Yes! Goddamned chlorophyll. I don’t have time for these shenanigans,” Chase huffed.

“Ben,” Marnie looked him in the eye, “are you absolutely certain that’s chlorophyll?”

“I know chlorophyll when I see it. Every botanist does.”

“And the chemical formula, Tom, what do you have on your screen?”

“C fifty-five, H seventy-two, Oh five, N four, M-G.”

“That, C-whatever stuff,” Marnie said. “Is that chlorophyll?”

“Yes.” Chase was even more peeved. “Everybody past basic Biochemistry knows that.”

“They never found it off Earth though, eh?” Marnie played her trump card.

“What?”

“Here,” Astrid punched up another picture. “This is the atmosphere of the world we’re orbiting.”

Ben leaned over and looked through the scope at the Scientific station. “Well, I’ll be damned.” He, too, was slack-jawed. “We, we found it.”

“You sure?” asked Marnie.

“Yes,” Chase was threatening to become as shell-shocked as Marnie and Tom were. “Algae can have chlorophyll. They’re technically unicellular. But they, they live communally. I, I would say they, they count as, as multicellular.”

“Remember where you were, remember what you were thinking and, and how you felt,” Marnie said. “Because this is goddamned history.”

Relationships

Aloof and often intolerant, Ben still has two significant relationships.

Marnie Shapiro

In a stormy, meeting of intellects type of marriage, Ben isn’t the kind of affectionate and caring person that Lex Feldman is. Because she’s such a laid back person, she tolerates his shenanigans until they turn into obvious, undeniable philandering.

I think of them almost like Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter, where there’s a lot of verbal sparring. I can almost see Ben and Marnie with cocktails in hand, at some swanky New York party, continually insulting one another. In real life, of course, this is exhausting at the best of times.

Kristen Watson

The head nurse on the Val is one of Ben’s conquests and the last woman he was sleeping with before the divorce became finalized. Perky, young, and almost regretting the affair, she is everything he is not.

In particular, he’s not a fan of children—yet she becomes pregnant anyway. Oops.

Conflict and Turning Point

Much like with the rest of the Enigman cast, Ben’s turning point happens a few times. Once, when the planet and its riches are discovered, but also when the government of Earth collapses.

But he doesn’t take a brave stand or anything. He just becomes a little less of a pain in the patoot.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

He doesn’t really have any. The only continuity I foresee for him will be in the prequel story.

Future Plans for Benjamin Chase

For either the 2023 NaNo or maybe 2024 (2025?) I will write a prequel in the Enigman universe. Ben will be there and the reader will see their marriage a bit. But I don’t want that story to turn into just a constant bitchfest for the two of them. That’s not the plot.

In fact, I don’t want him on screen much at all during that story. But once I start writing it, I may change my mind. We’ll see, particularly if it feels like the word count ends up being too low.

Benjamin Chase: Takeaways

This character is vital to the storyline and particularly vital for Marnie’s own personal growth as a character. But a real person like Benjamin Chase would be annoying as hell.

Benjamin Chase — proving even whiny people can sometimes be heroes. When it suits them.

Want More of Benjamin Chase and the Rest of The Enigman Cave?

If The Enigman Cave resonates with you, then check out my other articles about how our society handles first contact with a species that may be as primitive as Australopithecus.

Character Reviews: The Enigman Cave

The Enigman Cave Universe

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Self-Review – Alix’s Apocalypse

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 17, 2023

It’s Time for a Review of Alix’s Apocalypse

Alix’s Apocalypse came about as a short story during 2021, when I was working to keep sharp between NaNoWriMo outings.

Background

The initial one-word prompt was the word daisies. And so the first thing I thought of (because I can be ultra-morbid at times) was of corpses pushing them up.

I named the title character after a women I had know years ago but, unfortunately, I had at the time recently learned that she had passed away from breast cancer.

Plot

When the world ends, there are survivors. But how can they get together and learn to trust one another again? For Alix, the feeling of trust and community begins to return when she starts to receive gifts at her campsite.

Characters

The characters are Alix, Esteban, and Shari Chung. Mentioned but never seen is Alix’s mother in law, who had Alzheimer’s. However, this story was not written for The Longest Night Watch.

Memorable Quotes from Alix’s Apocalypse

They’re everywhere, covering countless fields of grass and bones and spent shell casings. In thousands if not millions—probably billions, who am I kidding?—of unmarked final resting places, the dead are pushing them up.

It all happened in the early spring. The land was full of promise and rainstorms and their ships. Those hideous conveyances, the color of the underbelly of a dead fish.

Their rays are some sort of combination of poison and radiation. But at least they weren’t airborne. So, when an area was hit, it was devastated and became a barren wasteland. We called it being over. But in between the parts that are over, there are parts that are not. And this is where the daisies bloom by the millions.

And even the places that were over aren’t quite so over these days. I’ve seen deer walk into the over places and emerge unscathed. Of course, twenty years from now, they might all get cancer. Which would be tragic. But I don’t know if deer ever live that long, anyway.

Rating

The story has a K rating. I write about the end of the world, but you don’t really see it on screen.

Takeaways for Alix’s Apocalypse

If we are ever attacked and essentially all become feral, then I hope someone remembers to give a gift and start to trust again.

Alix’s Apocalypse — because maybe there can be a semi-happy ending after all that. #amwriting

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Self-Review – Dominick and AngelaShort Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Gentrification, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Aenor the Wanted, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Back, Front, and Side Pages, Camp, Courier to the Soviets, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Saddle Up, Bank Teller, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, The Ides of the Secretarial Pool, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End,

Self-Review – Dominick and Angela

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 12, 2023

A Review of Dominick and Angela

I really like this little story of how a small time mobster is changed by love and leaves his old life behind. Dominick decides to leave it all behind before he is pulled any deeper into the mob life.

Background

The initial section came from a one-word prompt: bilk. I wanted someone who would almost defend that as a life choice, to bilk people out of their money.

But then Dom grew on me, and I came to the conclusion that he and Angie needed to get out.

This is a short story that I wrote in 2021 to keep sharp between NaNoWriMo months.

Plot

Knowing that his life is only going to get worse, Dominick decides he needs to leave it all behind. At the same time, he’s in love with Angela and wants to make a life with her.

The story therefore starts in the confessional at St. Catherine’s, where he’s talking to Father Russo about his dilemma.

But it turns out that this is not Father Russo’s first rodeo.

Oh, and FYI, there is no Saint Catherine’s on Staten Island.

Characters

The characters are Dominick Ottomanelli and Angela, his girlfriend (she never got a maiden name). We also see his mother, Louise and his Nonna (grandmother). The only other characters are Marina Santiago and Father Russo, with quick appearances by the cleaning lady Marjery Simms, and the caretaker, Robert Kowalczech.

Other characters I mention but you never see them, namely Paul White; Martha Renatti and her toddler; Louie D’Antonio and his family, Anita, Mario, Tammy, and Kathy; and Marina’s colleague, Jeff.

Memorable Quotes from Dominick and Angela

Father Russo sped through the ceremony as quickly as possible. When it got to the time for their vows, Angie held up a hand. “I want to say something.”

“Of course.” The priest stepped back a bit.

“My mother always said that marriage is a great adventure. I’m glad my adventure is gonna be with you.”

“E ticket all the way, baby.”

“By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Rating

The story has a K+ rating, as I mention some violence but it’s never onscreen.

Takeaways for Dominick and Angela

So, I don’t honestly know how accurate his life or the process of covering up his existence are. But I don’t think they matter as much s how this story makes me feel, and I hope how it makes a reader feel. And it doesn’t have a home yet. Still, I hope a publisher (or maybe just me!) will take a chance on a lovable galoot like Dominick.

Will Dominick and Angela make it? Even I have no idea. #amwriting

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Tropes and the Allure of the Familiar

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 10, 2023

Background – Tropes

What are tropes? Should you always avoid them?

There is something about their familiarity. It is kind of comforting, in a way. But it can also be rather stale writing to lean on them too heavily. What are the pros and cons of them?

Marketing 101

Consider one of the most basic concepts of marketing, whether it’s the latest cutting edge digital marketing (AI-infused or not) or a billboard on a lonesome highway somewhere.

One of the core concepts for both is giving your buyer persona (your ideal customer) what they want. Let’s take that to product marketing for a second, shall we?

Now, it is highly unlikely that you will go broke selling cheese pizza if your pizza is at all decent and the marketing isn’t utterly saturated. This is because lots of people love pizza, and the cheese variety is as basic as you can get. Apart from pepperoni, extra cheese is the most popular pizza topping out there.

It can be made kosher or halal, and you can add it to any standard semi-vegetarian or lacto-vegetarian diet. Sounds awesome, right?

But what if you invent, oh I don’t know, pizza-flavored coffee?

People certainly enjoy both pizza and coffee. And they may even enjoy them together. So, why not put them together into one product?

Why not?

Because ick, that’s why.

Seriously. Don’t do this.

What Does Pizza Have to do With Tropes?

Your super standard cheese pizza is equivalent to a trope. It is not only popular. It’s also expected. Yet pizza-flavored coffee is unfamiliar and weird. Even when both elements sell well, the mashup sometimes just doesn’t make enough logical sense.

So, your idea of a horror mystery science fiction romance with talking unicorns and a guest appearance by Elvis is probably going to be a bit much to people. Even if they love every single one of the elements, the mashup feels forced, overdone, and just plain odd.

Tropes and Scènes à Faire

Er, what are scènes à faire? For that, you need to go back to copyright. Scènes à faire are not really tropes. They are something different entirely.

Here’s a set of examples.

Romance Scènes à Faire

The meeting and a first date. A first kiss, and a rivalry. A relationship in peril. And a happy ending. What do all these have in common? They are so common in romances that readers and audiences have come to expect them. And, you can’t copyright them unless you get extremely specific and/or put a new twist on them.

These are all examples of scènes à faire. You’ll never get into copyright trouble (er, I’m not your lawyer, but this is kinda obvious) if your romance contains a kiss.

Horror Scènes à Faire

Don’t go into the basement! Oh my gosh, don’t go anywhere alone! Trust no one! The Scream franchise played up scènes à faire to box office gold. Characters could stay alive if they could follow the unwritten ‘rules’ of the genre. Again, unlike Freddy or Jason, these are expected bits and not copyrightable.

Science Fiction Scènes à Faire

So, there are a few subsets of science fiction, including space opera, sci-fi/fantasy, and dystopia. They all have their own scènes à faire. In a space opera, a description of the ship is fair game. So are planets, stars, and moons.

In a fantasy, magical or near-magical elements (think ‘the Force’ in Star Wars) are something a reader or audience member has come to expect. And in a dystopia, expect elements of either a fallen civilization or a fascist one.

Why Are Scènes à Faire Okay, But Tropes Kind Of Aren’t?

There is a somewhat blurry line between the expectations that come with scènes à faire and the staleness that can often accompany tropes.

TV Tropes is a gold mine here. It’s all a rabbit hole you can find yourself falling down. So, here’s a sample. Let’s look at the trope they call, One Last Job.

In this trope, a career villain agrees to ‘one last job’ before retiring. This can end up with the villain’s death or comeuppance, or the villain rejects retirement, and a bunch of other variations. This can even be attached to a good guy agreeing to one last case or arrest or the like.

TV Tropes shows not only the trope itself and where it exists, but it also points out the variant. In Supernatural, for example, Sam is the one who wants to do ‘one last job’—but he’s a teenager. Hardly a person we would call seasoned.

The Copy/Paste, the Expectation, and the Reader

If I wrote a story about ghost-hunting brothers where one of them was going to do ‘one last job’ but was swept into the fray anyway, readers would probably feel it was familiar. And for anyone who knows Supernatural, it would be way too familiar.

So, that’s probably too close. But what if I make them sisters who are bounty hunters, and take the fantasy aspect completely out of the equation? Is that enough for it to feel original yet still familiar enough to please my buyer persona and meet their expectations?

The answer is—I don’t know, unless I try.

And neither do you.

Takeaways

Tropes can actually be good tools for writing. But there are some caveats.

Getting too close to a source work or at least a general idea of one can feel stale and unimaginative. And if your own writing bores you, then imagine how your readers feel?

But getting too far away from it can throw out the baby with the bath water and turn into pizza-flavored coffee.

So, try to aim for a sweet spot, where a reader is comfortable and your work feels like coming home again, and not like a pale imitation of something that came before.

Wield your tropes wisely!

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Pocket Conflicts in Writing

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 5, 2023

What are Pocket Conflicts?

So, pocket conflicts are the kinds of conflicts which are tiny. They aren’t wars and they don’t lead to divorce or a firing. Instead, they are more about the speed of “who moved my cheese?”

Hence they are kind of trivial, yet they can add a lot of annoyance into anyone’s life. And they can add color and interest to your characters, too.

Sibling Rivalry

Because the sibling relationship is often fraught with conflict, it can be the perfect vehicle for these types of conflicts. And if you have ever seen two children in the back of a car arguing about who last touched whom (or if you have ever been either of those children), or who last sat in front, then you know exactly what I am talking about.

And sibling rivalry does not necessarily go away when the siblings have grown up. Old resentments can crop up even when going through a deceased parent’s things. And the ‘kids’ might even be in their sixties by then.

Work Relationships

Pocket conflicts abound at work. And it’s not just cheese moving. What happens when someone moves somebody else’s desk? Or maybe someone was passed over for a promotion. Furthermore, colleagues can resent when a person has a different schedule if they don’t know why.

If a parent has to drop their children off at daycare, and has permission to do so, then there’s every possibility that employee will, on occasion, be late. And that can create a conflict with that person’s coworkers if the boss doesn’t explain things properly.

And let’s not even get started with the kinds of conflicts that come from being vaccinated—or not.

Pocket Conflicts: Takeaways

Get your characters out of their comfort zones, but only a little bit. Because sometimes the small pebble in your shoe can hold your thoughts more than the metaphorical gunshot wound to your gut. And your characters should be no different, if you want them to seem real.

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Writing Progress Report – Third Quarter 2023

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 28, 2023

Progress Report – Third Quarter 2023

How was third quarter 2023 for writing? So I spent third quarter 2023 just trying to keep my head above water. It was… tricky. So there was that…

Allow me to explain.

It’s All About the Spoons, or Lack Thereof

If you have never heard this expression before, then it may seem a bit odd. But I see it all the time in my circles. Must be the neurotic writer in all of us.

Let us assume that you have, say, ten spoons. And you need them for various tasks. You can’t change them for knives or anything like that. You just need spoons. And not necessarily for oatmeal. You need them for life in general.

Getting up on time might be one. Showering can be another. Eating a balanced diet is another. Getting enough exercise is one. Work probably takes a good four all by itself. What are we up to now? Eight, sports fans.

Now you’ve got just two more spoons to spend (or if you prefer, energy packs in a video game or the like). Your relationship (if you have one) may be one. Dealing with your family, even if that’s 100% pleasant, may be another. Cleaning. Cooking. Keeping up with current events. Pet care and/or child care if applicable. And on and on.

But you just spent your ninth and tenth spoons cooking dinner and calling your parents.

This is about the time to mentally (or maybe even out loud) trot out that old expression, “I can’t even.”

How Do You Get More Spoons?

Sleeping. Meditating. Doing healthy things (yes, cooking and making sure it’s nutritious, and exercising are all at least one spoon apiece. But they also help you recharge and reclaim a spoon here and there).

So, getting up in the morning and getting motivated to work out might be two spoons, but you get at least one of them back when you do. And you may even get three and end up ahead of the game.

You can also mess yourself up a good thousand ways till Sunday if you stay up too late (or have caffeine too late), or if you procrastinate and end up panicking to get things done.

Spoon destroyers also include things like being a caregiver, being laid off, etc. Recent inflation is a pretty nasty spoon destroyer.

Well, What Does All This Have to do With Me?

I recognize that this is a neurodivergent and somewhat convoluted way of describing what’s not exact depression but more like spent energies.

The year started with my mother’s 90th birthday and then her death a little over six weeks later. Understandably, that has clouded everything. It removes at least one spoon for every day, and that’s not meant to sound flip.

I also decided to change web hosting providers, and that has proven to be a bear—and I even understand this stuff. A bit. More spoons.

Clearing up the last of my mother-in-law’s byzantine estate? You guessed it: Spoon City, Population: me.

Write Those Spoons!

This is all a very long explanation for why querying feels so insurmountably hard these days. Why finishing a piece is an uphill slog. And why important stuff (including this blog) is pushed to the back a lot.

I need a ladle.

Third Quarter 2023 Posted Works

First of all, I worked on a number of new short stories. This is all 100% pantsing which is a little odd for me because I do like to plan stuff.

So, right now, on some of these I have no idea how they end!

Then on Wattpad I posted on the WattNaNo profile, and nowhere else.

Milestones

Also, I have written over 3.4 million words (fan fiction and wholly original fiction combined). So right now my stats on Wattpad for wholly original works are as follows:

  • Dinosaurs – 42+ reads, 11+ comments
  • How to NaNoWriMo – 26,027+ reads, 340+ comments
  • My Favorite Things (like kibble) – 983 reads, 133 comments
  • Revved Up – 59,452+ reads, 531+ comments
  • Side By Side – 20 reads, 2 comments
  • Social Media Guide for Wattpad – 15,953+ reads, 592+ comments
  • The Canadian Caper – 506 reads, 37 comments
  • The Dish – 250 reads, 24 comments
  • There is a Road – 189 reads, 28 comments
  • WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2018 – 1,975+ reads, 45+ comments
  • WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2019 – 1,848+ reads, 10+ comments
  • What Now? – 2,812+ reads, 104+ comments

More Published Works as of Third Quarter 2023

Also, I am amassing quite the collection of published works!

Untrustworthy, which is my first published novel. So yay!

A True Believer in Skepticism, published in Mythic Magazine.

Almost Shipwrecked, a story in the January 2019 edition of Empyreome.

Canaries, a short story in the March 29, 2019, edition of Theme of Absence.

Complications, a story in the Queer Sci Fi Discovery anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds went to supporting the QSF website.

Cynthia and Wilder Bloom, stories in the Longest Night Watch II anthology.

Props, a story in the Longest Night Watch I anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to Alzheimer’s research.

Surprises, a story in Book One of the 42 and Beyond Anthology set.

The Boy in the Band, a story in the Pride Park anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to the Trevor Project.

The Interview, the featured story in the December 14, 2018 edition of Theme of Absence. So they even interviewed me!

The Last Patient, a story in the Stardust, Always anthology. This was an anthology where the proceeds go to cancer research.

The Resurrection of Ditte, a story in the Unrealpolitik anthology.

This is My Child, a short story published in the April 8, 2019 edition of Asymmetry Fiction.

Three Minutes Back in Time, a short story published in Mythic Magazine.

Killing Us Softly, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.

Darkness into Light, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.

WIP Corner

So my current WIPs are as follows:

The Obolonk Murders Trilogy – so this one is all about a tripartite society. But who’s killing the aliens?

The Enigman Cave – can we find life on another planet and not screw it up? You know, like we do everything else?

The Real Hub of the Universe Trilogy – so the aliens who live among us in the 1870s and 1880s are at war. But why is that?

Mettle – so it’s all about how society goes to hell in a hand basket when the metals of the periodic table start to disappear. But then what?

Time Addicts – No One is Safe – so this one is all about what happens in the future when time travel becomes possible via narcotic.

Time Addicts – Nothing is Permanent – this is the second in this trilogy. What happens when time is tampered with and manipulated in all sorts of ways? It’s the ultimate in gaslighting, for one thing.

Time Addicts – Everything is Up For Grabs – as the timelines smack together and continue to diverge, it gets harder to tell the “real” timeline from all the newer fake ones. And what if some of the changes are for the better?

Prep Work

So currently, my intention, for next year’s NaNoWriMo, is to write the third trilogy in the Time Addicts/Obolonks universe. But I need to iron out the plot! So a lot of this year has been spent on that. I have no name for this one yet.

For 2022 and 2023 NaNoWriMos, I have decided to create a prequel for each of the 5 main universes: Real Hub of the Universe, Obolonks, Time Addicts (while the Obolonks and Time Addicts are in the same universe, I just plain want to write two separate prequels!), Untrustworthy, The Enigman Cave, and Mettle.

So, I anticipate a lot of fun and perhaps a little confusion. But it’s all good!

Third Quarter 2023 Queries and Submissions

So here’s how that’s been going during third quarter 2023.

It’s been quiet. But that has been by design. Right now, I just plain don’t feel like putting myself out there these days. There, I said it.

In Progress

As of third quarter 2023, the following are technically (but I’m not getting my hopes up) still in the running for publishing:

This list is the name of the story and then the name of the potential publisher.

  • I Used to Be Happy – Gemini Magazine
  • Justice – Adbusters
  • Mettle – RAB
  • Soul Rentals ‘R’ Us – A Thousand One Stories
  • Who Do We Blame for This? – Sonder Review

All Other Statuses

So be sure to see the Stats section for some details on any query statuses for third quarter 2023 which were not in progress.

Stats

So in 2018, my querying stats were:

  • 68 submissions of 19 stories
  • Acceptances: 4, 5.88%
  • In Progress-Under Consideration: 3, 4.41% (so these don’t seem to have panned out)
  • In Progress: 10, 14.71%
  • Rejected-Personal: 14, 20.59%
  • Rejected-Form: 24, 35.29%
  • Ghosted: 13 (so these were submissions where I never found out what happened), 19.12%

So in 2019 my querying stats were:

  • 23 submissions of 11 stories (so 6 submissions carry over from 2018)
  • Acceptances: 4, 17.39%
  • In Progress: 11 (so this includes 2 holdovers from 2018), 47.83%
  • Rejected-Personal: 4, 17.39%
  • Rejected-Form: 3, 13.04%
  • Ghosted: 1 (so these are submissions where I never found out what happened), 4.35%

2020 Stats

So in 2020 my querying stats were:

  • 37 submissions of 12 stories (so 9 submissions carried over from 2019)
  • Acceptances: 3, 8.11%
  • In Progress: 7, 18.92%
  • Rejected-Personal: 12, 32.43%
  • Rejected-Form: 4, 10.81%
  • Ghosted: 11 (so these are submissions where I never found out what happened), 29.73%

2021 Stats

So in 2021 my querying stats were: 5+ submissions of 5+ stories (so 5 submissions carried over from 2020); 100% Ghosted: 5 (so these are submissions where I never found out what happened).

2022 Stats

So in 2022 my querying stats were:

  • 6+ submissions of 6+ stories (so 5 submissions carry over from 2020 and 2021), plus 1 reprint!
  • Acceptances: 14.29%
  • Rejected-Form: 1, 14.29%
  • Ghosted: 5 (so these are submissions where I never found out what happened), 71.42%

It can be pretty discouraging and hard to go on when nothing new comes up which is positive.

Third Quarter 2023 – Productivity Killers

So it’s work, and see above. I am not seeing an end in sight for all these responsibilities and energy drains. Sigh.

If my works resonate with you, check out my other articles about my progress:

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Self-Review – PropsShort Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Gentrification, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Aenor the Wanted, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Back, Front, and Side Pages, Camp, Courier to the Soviets, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Saddle Up, Bank Teller, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, The Ides of the Secretarial Pool, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End,

Self-Review – Props

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 26, 2023

Review – Props

Props was written as a part of an anthology benefiting the Alzheimer’s Association – The Longest Night Watch. This short story is a part of the first of the three volumes (so far).

I wanted the story to be a bit of a revelation, that someone could be paranoid but still seem coherent and onto something, at least for a while. It relies on the old trope of the only person seeing the monsters being the sane one.

But the reality is that Sarah Nichols is far from sane. Instead, her world is collapsing unto itself because of Alzheimer’s. She does not realize that she’s just incorrectly trying to connect certain events and people and places, all with a veneer of science fiction.

Sarah doesn’t know where she is, so she creates a fantasy for herself. It’s not a terribly comforting fantasy. Rather, her fantasy is of an alien abduction.

Background for Props

Because I wanted to write a story with an unreliable narrator, I turned to a familiar old science fiction trope: alien abductions. For what do addled people think is happening to them when they transfer to a nursing facility? It has got to be confusing at best. Hence I figured someone would see it as an alien abduction.

Plot

Sarah Nichols, the ultimate unreliable narrator, starts to see conspiracies and oddities all around her. Whatever this new place is, and whoever these new people are, they can’t possibly be real. Instead, she insists they are all props in a scary alien play.

Characters

The characters are main character (and unreliable narrator) Sarah Nichols and Social Worker Emily Chen. Otherwise, the people don’t seem real to Sarah, so they don’t get names.

Memorable Quotes

Day 35 – They can’t seem to get the look of us humans quite right. Every single subject looks old and careworn. Even a child I saw, a little girl – she looked careworn. If I were an alien and had a human test subject, I tell you, I would get this right. But their lack of quality control tells me that there are opportunities if I keep a look out for them.

Rating

Props has a K rating.

Props: Upshot

I think the story works pretty well. I am okay with how it was formatted (I should have probably been more insistent on changing it, but so be it). Please give generously. Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease.

If you ended up in a strange place, you might see everything as props, too. #amwriting

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Self-Review – SurprisesSurprises 42 and Beyond Self-Review Adventures in Career Changing

Self-Review – Surprises

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 21, 2023

Review – Surprises

Surprises was one of those weird little stories which I did not expect to write. I thought The Enigman Cave was done and dusted.

So it’s a sequel of sorts to The Enigman Cave.

Background to Surprises

The background is that Marnie and company are on their way back to Earth. So it is not going to be easy going. Marnie is well aware the reception they get might not be such a great one. In fact, it could even be a death trap.

The Plot of Surprises

And the plot is, well, there isn’t too much of one. Essentially, Marnie and her pals get drunk, much like at the start of The Enigman Cave. But in this instance, they are worried about how the Earth is. And so Marnie ends up an emotional mess.

But keep in mind, it was a requirement of this anthology to add two specific elements. I had to add a towel and the number 42. So this was in keeping with the anthology’s Douglas Adams theme. For this space opera, it did not lend itself too well to either Easter egg.

Characters

The characters are Captain Marnie Shapiro and her first officer, Trixie LaRue, and the chief medical officer, Jazminder Parikh. Assistant Veterinarian Lex Feldman shows up. But it’s botanist Ben Chase who gets the most time – and he isn’t even “on screen”.

Memorable Quotes from Surprises

“We got ourselves a gol-darned party here,” LaRue said, her accent betraying every moment of a rural Kentucky upbringing. “Booze ‘n dancing girls.”

“Just the one dancing girl,” Parikh said, doing a little swishing step and then a twirl which made her lab coat fly out a little bit, like the barest approximation of a whirling dervish. Her accent, in marked contrast to LaRue’s, was the posh product of a fine education in Leeds and a childhood in a wealthy suburb of Hyderabad.

“Jazzie, you sound plummier than usual,” Marnie said. “How much of that have you had so far?” She waved a bit at the bottle.

“I’ve had just enough to make me all right with it being chardonnay and not merlot. It’s alcohol for the damned hoi polloi, even worse than that white zinfandel rubbish. It’s a sorry sop for the masses.” She stabbed the air with a finger. “But at least it’s posher than that six.”

Rating

The story has a K+ rating. While no hanky panky occurs “on screen”, there are certainly references to it. Plus, there is a bit of bad language and a brief bit of nudity at the end. However, I don’t describe the nudity in any way. So it’s just … there.

Upshot

It was great when 42 and Beyond published Surprises. But the anthology is no more. It only lives on in memory and in a few scattered books and Amazon Kindle files. A pity, as that one did extremely well on Amazon, hitting #3 in its Amazon category.

The biggest surprises for me was the chance to write this story at all. #amwriting

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Self-Review – The InterviewShort Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Gentrification, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Aenor the Wanted, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Back, Front, and Side Pages, Camp, Courier to the Soviets, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Saddle Up, Bank Teller, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, The Ides of the Secretarial Pool, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End,

Self-Review – The Interview

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 19, 2023

My Review of My Short Story – The Interview

The Interview came about because I conjured up a kicker of an opening line. So then it immediately started to fall into place.

Background

Since I have been on countless job interviews, this one was rather easy to write. So I brought forth a memory I have of an interview being conducted over lunch. It was an odd situation. Two guys met with me and neither of them ate anytime. I ate Caesar salad by myself.

Also, as I recall, they were supposed to take me to some swanky-ish place. But instead, we went to Pizzeria Uno. At that moment, I should have known damned well it was not going to go well.

Plot of The Interview

The narrator meets a woman who runs an agency which hunts demons. And then things go a little haywire from there. In particular, during their meeting, the narrator gives away how she can sense demons. So this is vital information. But not when the story ends, it isn’t. Then it turns into an albatross around her neck.

As for the restaurant, it is a combination of a number of places I have been to. The parking lot, in particular, is from Jasper White’s Summer Shack in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But with the wine steward and all, the pretend restaurant in The Interview is a lot more hoity-toity.

Characters

The characters are the narrator and the head of the agency.  The narrator is the interviewee.

Memorable Quotes from The Interview

“So, how long have you wanted to hunt demons?” The question hung in the air for a second.

The job interview was being conducted over lunch and I had just taken in a big forkful of Fettuccine Alfredo. I washed it down with iced tea, swallowed, wiped my mouth, and tried not to look stupid. “It’s since I was just out of school. My classmates didn’t see them. But I did.”

Rating

The Interview has a K rating. While there is some menace behind it, nothing violent happens “on screen”.

Upshot

I was so happy when The Interview was the featured story in the December 14, 2018 edition of Theme of Absence. So they even interviewed me! Canaries is another story in Theme of Absence. So I guess they like me.

Fortunately I have never had an interview quite like this. #amediting

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