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Flash: Team Necro (Version 2)

Waking Dead Logo

Image created by Erin Penn

“So what is in the box Caitlynn?” The dainty brunette asked as the larger woman easily hauled the box in from the hall.

Caitlynn smiled, dropping it on the left desk of their small office quietly since Gerald lay on the long sofa with a tattooed arm thrown over his dark eyes, covering the fresh scratches on his face from the previous night. “Advertisements!” she stage-whispered, snapping open the small knife she always carried in her back pocket to cut the packing tape.

The large black man groaned from the sofa.

The leggy blond respond to what for Gerald could be interpreted as a full sentence. “Yep, got everything we looked at.”

Dropping his arm, Gerald’s muscles bunched as he leveraged himself into a seating position. “No ties.” He bore holes into the more enthusiastic of his two best friends of the female variety.

“Went with the vests instead of the Men-In-Black look.” She took one out, snapping it to unfold it, and laying it against her ample breasts. Blood red, the pocket was embroidered with the company name she had chosen.

Jenni frowned. “Still think ‘Waking Dead’ is going to get some copyright infringements.”

“That’s what Daddy’s lawyers are for, and if things like ‘Lawn’n’Order’ for a landscaping firm can exist so can we.” Caitlynn smiled at her two friends. “Besides Walking Dead hires necromancers. Three of their actors require them.”

“Really?” Jenni raised an eyebrow at the claim.

But Caitlynn knows her business. “Yep, two of the dead are really dead and one of the ‘living’ who will get bit in the next season. Everlasting Staffing requires all their actors to sign a contract allowing them to be raised for up to ten years. Very useful for unexpected deaths. Imagine how much better Zounds or Dark Cloud Mountain would have been if Nowell or Payseur had been able to complete filming. Several movie companies are trying to make it part of the boilerplate but the union is fighting it.”

“Throw one here.” Gerald stood up. All six foot eight and three foot wide of him. Caitlynn pulled at one of the largest vests and tossed it over. He slid it over his stained and torn t-shirt and button up the front.

Eyeing the red fitting snuggly against Gerald’s chest, Jenni nodded. “Some days I really hate you Caitlynn.”

The blond sighed, licking her lips. “He looks great in uniform.”

“Toss one over here.” Jenni walked over from her desk.

Both of the women quickly buttoned up the vests. Caitlynn’s hugged her generous curves yet screamed professional like an accountant, while Jenni’s straightened her back and took her from dainty doll to something a breath more lethal. Suddenly they went from three recently graduated college kids to a professional firm.

The blond pulled out the door sign for their office to replace the paper printout presently taped to the door. “Waking Dead, Necromantic Consultants”

(word count: 485 – first published 9/18/2016)

Blog: Comment on Team Necro

Ready for tomorrow’s flash?

Last month I wrote a flash on Team Necro. When I worked through it, the characters and scene were all tell instead of show. I was describing the situation with scene and character descriptions overshadowing the story – even stuffing in some backstory. Basically parsing out the beginnings of a new world and group of people.

I have tried the story again, this time concentrating on the story instead of world creating. Hope you like the new version. These characters have been popping up the last few months with additional stories they want told. This is still more of a scene then a story, but I think it is much better than the first version. Let me know what you think when you read it tomorrow.

Geeking Science: The Anthropocene

We Haven't Killed Ourselves Yet

Created with Meme Generator by Erin Penn.

Anthropocene, Man is an Extinction Event

This one isn’t a cool, amazing geeking post. It still is SCIENCE – and I think it is science at its best. Not only does science gives us toys, but it helps us understand what we are doing. This is where science is the rubber on the road, supporting the vehicle of mankind.

“Anthropocene,” what a mouthful. One of my panels at ConCarolinas back in June of this year was “Welcome to the Anthropocene.” The panel happened at 10 pm after a day of panels starting at 10 am. I could barely say my introduction spiel, forget about the title of the panel. I was very grateful James Maxey was the moderator and I had fellow panelist Dr. Ben Davis to bounce things off of. 

The topic read

“This year, the International Commission on Stratigraphy is set to decide whether or not the Earth has entered a new geological epoch: The Anthropocene. This is an age when human activity is a geological force writing itself into the very stones of the planet. What is the evidence that a new age has dawned? Do the geological footprints we’ve already left on the planet give us any guidance on how to move forward in the future? “

Between the three panelists and three audience members we had a far livelier discussion than the combination of topic and hour would indicate.

I think the scariest part of the after-hours discussion is in order to qualify as a new geological age, actions man has taken will need to be recorded into the fossil records for whatever comes millions of years from now. To do that, we, as a species, need to qualify as a mass extinction event. And boy, howdy, do we. A mass extinction event takes out between 30 and 80% of species in less than a million years without corresponding replacement through evolution. 

How do we do this? 

Through our pets. Domesticated cats have killed over 33 species. [New Research]

Through our farms. Mankind has a few favorite plants which humanity plants exclusively, with little regard for natural habitat. The Anthropocene doesn’t have an onset date defined yet, but while many proponents say it started with the Industrial age, I will go with floral agriculture being the moment when our species started mass shaping of the planet and ecology for our purposes, around 11,000 BCE. I think our farms have impacted the planet far more than our cities.

Through our hunts. Every part of the planet USED TO HAVE large animals like rhinos, elephants, and lions. The only continent to still have them in any number is Africa, where the large animals grew up beside us. When we took our hunting techniques “on the road”, to Europe, Asia, and the Americas big animals went away. The most telling is the Americas since we arrived (humans in general, not the recent addition of Europeans)  pretty much all megafauna (animals over 45 pounds) has been dispatched. [10 Extinct]

We are good at the killing.

Through our travels. To get from here to there we navigate rivers (dredging and changing them), build roads (bisecting habitats), create bridges (moving massive foundations for our purposes), and bring stuff with us. We have introduced more invasive species from one end of the planet to the other that any other mobile fauna, more than even birds – and they are the second closest contender for picking something up and dropping it off in a new location.

Through our housing. Cities create mini-climates with their heat sinks and we put these things EVERYWHERE. We don’t care if the living space is below water level – heck will we reclaim an entire country (Holland) from the ocean. Or if it is miles in the air, we will find a way to live there.

I once read an observation, I think in a fiction book, we name housing developments after the animals which used to live there. … The observation stuck with me.

A recent study says in the past 100 years, extinction of some types of species (we are partial to mammals, so we keep lists of these creatures) is 100 times the normal rate. I love the upbeat aspects of “We’re Entering a Sixth Mass Extinction” (see bibliography for links) by limiting things only to the past 100 years and talking about how we have turned back extinction on several species. Only one hundred years … we have been shaping, killing, and re-purposing our planet and its ecology for 120 times that long. We’ve only noticed the results of our actions recently.

One of the sad things is the scientists keep referring to the background extinction rate as through the species numbers remain constant. The reality is after each extinction event the fossil records show a steady growth in species until the next planetary reset. Our specialists are measuring us against a fallacy of zero growth. The reality is the numbers should be growing, so we are not only losing the species we are killing but also preventing new species from forming.

But at least we haven’t killed ourselves yet. So we got that going for us.


Bibliography

“10 Extinct Giants That Once Roamed North America.” Geggel, Laura. August 15, 2015. Downloaded 6/28/2016 from http://www.livescience.com/51793-extinct-ice-age-megafauna.html.

“New Research Suggest Outdoor Cats Kill More Wildlife Than Previously Thought.” (updated) Downloaded 6/28/2016 from http://www.wildlifemanagementinstitute.org/index.php?option=com_content&id=610:new-research-suggests-outdoor-cats-kill-more-wildlife-than-thought&catid=34:ONB+Articles&Itemid=54

“We’re Entering a Sixth Mass Extinction, and it’s Our Fault.” Milliken, Grennan. June 24, 2015. Downloaded 6/28/2016 from http://www.popsci.com/were-entering-sixth-mass-extinction-and-its-our-fault.

Editing Rant: Where did the POV go?

Cartoon Businessman Under Pile Of Paper In Graveyard

Image Courtesy of iosphere at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What happens after the POV leaves? (hint: nothing the reader knows about)

Okay, fearless blog followers, today’s lesson is POV (Point of View). Most people write genre fiction from either first person or close third person POV. First person allows for intense feelings to be expressed, opinions to be shared, and a focused story. Third person allows some POV changes, the ability to pull back from the action (example a battle the person is in) etc.

In either case, be aware when your POV character leaves the scene – that is it, done. Nothing else can be known about that scene unless another POV character is used. Omniscient POV would allow the scene to continue, but the present market has trained readers to dislike omniscient POV. Therefore, the scene is ended, dead, buried by the removal of the POV. Move along, nothing more to be seen here.

The lesson takeout is be aware who your point of view is in a scene – be aware that nothing is known (to the reader) until the POV character shows up and nothing is known (to the reader) after the POV leaves. The “camera” does not stay behind.

Yes, I know you want to show the group’s reaction to the POV storming off. But a first-person POV doesn’t work that way. Writing has rules. … Yes, rules are made to be broken. But first one needs to know the rules and why they exist before deciding why THIS manuscript should be the exception to the rule. Usually the answer, once the rule is understood, is “well, I just want to be lazy about the rule” or “I wanted the readers to enjoy my Darling scene.” (kill the Darlings – more on this another editing rant)

Anyone have examples they want to share of when POV rules were broken? Did it help the story or feel like a cop-out? Why or why not?

Flash: A Kiss

Brick wall pressing her back, Genna’s eyes drifted closed. John’s hand cradled the right side of her face. His lips hovered over hers and she felt the mild breeze of his exhale. He wasn’t crowding her. The only things she felt was the gentle touch of his left hand and the heat radiating from the right arm where it was braced.

And her lips. They tingled and pulsed waiting. Ever so slowly his mouth met hers. His bottom lip brushed her bottom lip once side to side. Her lips parted in unseen invite just as he leaned the last bit forward.

Heat ran down her front; from lips, through throat, branching at the sternum to make both breasts beg for their own soft touch, dancing a moment in her stomach and finally pooling in her womb. An icy rebound started immediately at her knees, making the wall the only reason she remained standing. The cold raced up her back. Her spine shivered, her shoulders tensed, and her head moved forward so the ice could melt. His hot hand understood the need, moving through her hair to cup the back of her head.

John’s lips moved back and Genna’s eyes opened. Her blue eyes looked into his vivid green. As she watched him about to speak, all she could think was “Please don’t make this moment stop.”

 (words 226 – originally appearing at Sunday Fun on Breathless Press 12/9/2012 with the visual prompt inspiring it before the site was taken down as well as my blog; could not find photo copyright permissions so did not copy; republished new blog format 9/11/2016)