Incredibly amazing video: International Space Station over Earth

This is phenomenal. A time lapse video of the ISS (International Space Station) as it orbits Earth. My personal favorite elements are the sporadic lightning flashes within storm cells and cloud cover. It’s a truly inspiring view of the Earth, and boy does it make me feel small. Good thing we’re trying so hard to get rid of NASA. We definitely wouldn’t want to explore those great and vast reaches of unknown space and all of their limitless potential. For shame.

What creative element does this video inspire in you? How does it pull on the strings of your imagination? Does it kindle the spark of Science Fiction? Break through the cold boundaries of science? Let me know.

The Star Wars Blu-ray release: an artist’s work is never done

I love all the hype (and controversy) surrounding the release if the new Star Wars Blu-ray collection. It’s hilarious and interesting. For a very long time I agreed with the purist’s perspective of “leave it how it is”, or “get it as close to the original as possible, or it sucks.” But anymore I understand (if not always agree with) the artist’s notion of a work is never finished. So many things are living documents or stories, and I can definitely sympathize with someone’s desire to utilize modern technology to continually make their work better, or more inline with their original vision of it. As for George Lucas’ decisions to alter the original Star Wars movies, which so captured my imagination while growing up, only time will tell if I approve or disapprove.

So in the meantime here’s a funny thought to contemplate:

In a similar vein, here’s a great set of Photoshop’d pictures putting Star Wars in real world scenarios. Check it out here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sample Press Release for the Slipstream Effect

This is a sample press release for the Slipstream Effect. Just a sample though, nothing concrete thus far, just getting some practice in for the whole internet marketing thing. Let me know what you think about it!

Dorne Fiction

For Immediate Release

9.14.2011

New science fiction book bends the boundaries between fantasy and science fiction

In the Slipstream Effect, the debut science fiction novel by Joshua Dorne, the barriers separating science fiction and fantasy are blurred, bringing the once disparate genres together in ways never before accomplished. Filled with intense action, rolling adventure, and poignant character struggles, this new SciFi novel slashes to the forefront of the reader’s imagination.

LAS VEGAS, NV – A couple of years ago, Joshua Dorne began long dreamed journey to becoming a professional science fiction and fantasy writer and author. And now, on the brink of completing and publishing his very first full length science fiction novel, he is at the cusp of obtaining his dream. The Slipstream Effect, the forthcoming Sci-Fi novel, due out quarter one of 2012, will endeavor to bring together the always coupled, but still separate genres of science fiction and fantasy. The book itself follows the journey of a group of fictional characters, set in a near future earth. The world has been ravaged by plague, forcing the remains of humanity into “bubble” cities, in constant fear of another outbreak. Meanwhile, the creatures of myth and legend exist, and since time immemorial have vied for control and influence over the human race. Now the war for control over earth moves from the shadows and into the light, and soon the entire earth will be covered in the crazed chaos of a war that will shake humanity to its core.

The story follows Pelith, a young being caught between two worlds and in search for answers to his mysterious origins. Along his journey he must battle through the hectic near war climate of his legendary home world, a crippling inner demon constantly threatening to consume him, and discover why he is suddenly the target of  human and mythical beast alike. As the story unfolds he uncovers a plot that could determine the future of the earth itself.

“The great continent of Atlantis spread out before her. Bouts of fire spewed from ever expanding crack and crevices that spider webbed through the grand city and further into the enormous countryside. Even now, huge sections of land were falling inward, down, deeper into the earth as it collapsed and died in a ring of fire.”

For years science fiction and fantasy stories have captured the minds of readers, viewers, and gamers alike. Some stories have pioneered the way for the current state of the genre, while others have simply dwelled within the contemporary. The Slipstream Effect changes things. As a science fiction book, it ushers in a new age of industry storytelling, combining the genre’s in a way that revolutionizes how the two styles come together, and how they can exist in the future. Readers will be enthralled, longing for more of the grand adventure and compelling story when the novel is released next year.

More information on the author, the book, guides for writing and other fun stuff are available for general viewing at the author’s blog: dornefiction.wordpress.com, as well as other resources including facebook: Dorne Fiction, and Twitter @DorneFiction.

Joshua Dorne, also known as Dorne Fiction, has been a lifelong reader and lover of science fiction and fantasy books, comics, movies, and video games. A creative soul down to his core, the author of the Slipstream Effect relishes the challenge of creating fantastic stories in unique environments driven by compelling, realistic characters and events. SciFi and fantasy are a passion that runs deep, and he wishes to share with the world the wonderfully rich stories that he creates. Joshua Dorne supports the world wide writing community by offering free novel writing advice, book writing exercises, and his overall perspective of life and fiction at his blog: dornefiction.wordpress.com.

Awesome T-Shirt Designs

I saw these shirt designs and instantly needed to share them. I keep seeing more and more great shirt designs floating around from independent or small manufacturers from great artists. Kudos to the hilariously creative guys who make these!

I’m pretty sure my favorite is the robot zombie craving processors! Though I’m definitely a fan of the Full Metal Clone.

Writing Exhaustion: the trials of writing science fiction books in your spare time

Why is it that passionate motivation only lasts so long? When excitement and determined productivity turn to reluctant drudgery?

I ask this in reference to my current science fiction book project. I love the story, love the characters, and love the world that I have built around them. So why is it that I so often lag in my efforts to write consistently? And why, though I’m not the neatest of people in my home life, do I suddenly feel the desire to clean something rather than struggle through a particularly difficult scene that has me blocked?

It’s one of those extraordinarily frustrating things that consistently plagues me as I work towards finishing this piece of science fiction. I hate it. Why can’t I just push through it, get it down and done? I can I suppose, just keep writing until the block is worked out, though I know the result will leave me somewhat underwhelmed and possibly take the scene in a direction I really don’t wish for it to go. Sometimes it is a good thing to leave a scene alone, give it some air, let the ideas tumble around in the old noggin to come out either pleasantly warm and wrinkled, or nicely polished in a way that my overworked brain never considered before.

So this is my question: what do you guys do to break through, not only your creative blockages, but your writing exhaustion and lack of motivation?

Dorne Fiction’s Video Game Reviews: Deus Ex: Human Revolution – The final review

And finally it’s here, after a full week of strenuous shirking of other responsibilities, and seemingly endless hours ignoring the elements of real life such as being social and going out in public (including my wife, sorry babe), I finally finished Deus Ex: Human Revolution just minutes ago.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Final Verdict:

First off, I love it. A dark, gritty near future, filled with realistic elements and great story. Not a traditional FPS (first person shooter), it takes a slower, more methodical RPG pace, which I think is to its credit. The detail and back story is amazing, and the underlying plot is both awesome and compelling. If you like lengthy (around forty hours for the thorough player), intriguing science fiction stories bordering on the “could actually happen soon,” you just may enjoy it as much as I did. That being said, it’s not ground breaking or revolutionary, but well worth the price of admission for a game that I will undoubtedly keep in my collection and play over several times before it wears out its welcome. And fortunately for us, just about every scenario in the game can be played differently every time you go through it.

Why you will love Deus Ex:

Beautifully crafted game world. But more than that the detail and amount of research put into the environment is excellent. For me the storyline was the main show, and if you like stories of a sci-fi nature that feature human issues such as evolution, governmental control, and the threat of an Orwellian nightmare, you will enjoy it as much as I did. It’s somewhat like reading a great conspiracy novel, only you get to immerse yourself as the main character and truly feel like you matter, and you always feel special. You have choices, and Deus Ex lets you use them.

Deus Ex Final Grade: B+

A few minor flaws and choices not fully fleshed out, but what game is perfect? Awesome game overall. I recommend it to anyone who loves good game play, tight controls, beautifully rich environments, and an incredibly detailed and realized science fiction story with excellent meaning driving it. Play Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Dorne Fiction says so!

How Deus Ex: Human Revolution relates to me:

As a science fiction and fantasy writer, I tend to look at things in a “how would I have done it” sort of way. But in the case of Human Revolution, this story and my own, the Slipstream Effect, have a lot of similarities. Most of these revolve around the very real issues of human control, governmental oversight and abuse of power through secret organizations. Much like my own story, Revolution is driven by a compelling narrative with good characters with excellent motivations set in a very realistically plausible world. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a great story. And if you like it, you’ll love the Slipstream Effect as well.

As always, if you’ve enjoyed this post and are interested in more, please “like” me on Facebook, Dorne Fiction, follow me on Twitter @DorneFiction, and return here every few days for more info as the story progresses.

Sci-Fi dorks rejoice…anyone can become a Jedi

This video makes my day every time I see it. Plus, it’s proof that anyone, no matter their origins in the most humble of circumstances can achieve what every dork the world over has ever wanted…to become a Jedi! Never let your dreams die!

Tron: Light Cycles and Duct Tape

Ah the nostalgia this scene provokes. Too bad they couldn’t recreate this scene in Tron Legacy as well as they recreated it here using only Duct Tape. Oh well. Creations such as this really speak to the effect of popular culture on the world around us…sometimes it’s even awesome! Enjoy!

Dorne Fiction’s Video Game Reviews: Deus Ex: Human Revolution First Impressions

Today marked the release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the latest science fiction styled video game in the Deus Ex franchise of games. The original Deus Ex is oft considered one of the best video games made  since games started becoming a larger scale industry. It was marked by open ended game play, excellent story telling, and the innovative addition of freedom of choice within the game storyline. So how does the latest installment of Deus Ex, from Eidos Montreal and Square Enix stack up in today’s competitive and critical games market?

Story:

In the near future human evolution has turned towards augmenting the human body through science, and human and machine integration has begun. The world is in chaos with people taking sides before and against this controversial topic of body modification. You are Adam Jensen, the head of security for Serif Industries, the bio-tech company spear heading this new phase of human evolution, and soon your company comes under attack, critically injuring you in the process. Six months later you are back, heavily augmented and set on the trail to find those responsible for nearly killing you, and murdering the woman you love. A vast web of intrigue and conspiracy awaits as you seek out those who did this.

Graphics:

So far, as I am only a few hours in, the game is pretty solid. Graphics are quite good within the game play, characters and environments look well detailed and unique. The whole style of the game falls within a neo-noir color scheme over a near future-dystopian backdrop. Everything looks crisp and appropriately dirty or futuristic and goes a long way towards making you feel a part of the environment.

Graphical cons: the only real negative with the graphics are the cut scenes which lose their crisp edge and fall into a somewhat blunted or muted look, almost like a camera lens with Vaseline smeared on it. Other than that the look is excellent.

Game play:

Smooth and easy to use in nearly all aspects, the game play feels naturally suited to the game. Menus, inventory, augmentation upgrades and so on are all easy to use and access. Dialogue uses a straight forward option selection system with good options for different avenues of speech. Combat is a cover based system and while different from traditional shooters in some ways, is easy to pick up and work through efficiently.

Game play Cons: There are some annoying errors that you must deal with depending on your gaming style. Mine personally leans towards stealth options and some issues crop up (such as transitioning from crouched against a wall to engaging in hand to hand combat) that can make the experience occasionally frustrating.

Audio:

Sound is mostly good with a subtle soundtrack playing in the back and mostly solid and appropriate voice work

First Impression:

Aside from the obvious issues that have come up so far the game is pretty cool. Characters, environment, game play and the like are all top notch. I’m hooked. In fact I would like to be playing right now instead of writing this. The world is complete and believable and thoroughly fascinating and I can’t wait to see more. Keep in mind that this is only my first impression and there is much more left to come, but so far I’m into it.

Final verdict coming soon!

As always, if you’ve enjoyed this post and are interested in more, please “like” me on Facebook, Dorne Fiction, follow me on Twitter @DorneFiction, and return here every few days for more info as the story progresses.

Humor in science fiction and fantasy: Make it funny already!

Something that has always seemed elusive to me, even more so in some ways than that certain spark that ignites within an exciting, well crafted story, is the ability to inject well timed humor. This comes up because I’m currently reading (well actually listening to) the latest Jim Butcher Dresden book, Ghost Story. One of the things that’s always attracted me to Butcher’s books is his ability to fuel his main character with that sarcastic wit, that energetic, humorous banter, internal or external, that brings the character to life and establishes that instant sense of personality and uniqueness. So here’s my question to you: how do you make a book funny?

Now a book being “funny” is of course a wholly subjective thing, and will vary depending on personality, likes, dislikes, and so on. I remember when I was in college, I was writing a play and having a conversation with a friend and I said to her, “I’m trying to make it funny, but it’s just not working.” And she said to me, “Don’t try and make it funny, just make it funny.” I smiled and nodded as if at all understanding what she meant, but I never really got it. So when does the humor come in? I’ve noticed that for me personally I rarely develop any humor other than the odd sense of irony within a given situation while writing the first draft of a chapter. Does this change when you go through revision? Does time and removal from it by a certain degree give your mind the necessary perspective to insert more humor into scenes? But more importantly, should it?

I am willing to admit, much to my personal sense of woe, that I may not be as funny as I have originally thought. Although I would like to avoid that conclusion as it were the plague itself. On one hand, the Slipstream Effect does have a sense of stark seriousness to its atmosphere. This in turn could lead my characters away from salvaging or reacting to situations with humor as that oh so wonderful element of deflective defense mechanism.

So I guess the real problem with humor, at least in my case with my own science fiction story is, should it be funny? Should I try and make it so? My instincts say yes in all the ways that I love and admire these other stories with humorous overtones, or bitingly sarcastic protagonists. But I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how funny it’s going to be. So the short answer…I don’t know yet. Guess you’ll just have to wait and see! Besides, if I’m really not funny, I’m sure you guys will let me know eventually!

Any suggestions, comments, or reflections on adding a touch of humor into your story is greatly appreciated.

As always, if you’ve enjoyed this post and are interested in more, please “like” me on Facebook, Dorne Fiction, follow me on Twitter @DorneFiction, and return here every few days for more info as the story progresses.