Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Sorry I've been somewhere


I was told by one of his best friends that Steven Volk has a new book coming out in June called Fringe-ology (How I Tried to Explain Away the Unexplainable---and couldn't). I only have a hint that it may be very much in my "love loops" of imagining quantum consciousness, in the people I discover in original stories. What holds us here? What would it take to keep us here? I have only the slightest idea what the book's going to be about, but check it out, would you?
http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Fringe-Ology-Steve-Volk/?isbn=9780061857713I cannot wait to see what stunning plots I'll have to try after this book!


You followed me long here, you know I've revived an interest in artificial intelligence, leading back to the ancient question "where did we come from?" allied with "how are we coming to be here now? And why are we not just programmed creatures without decisions?"


This leads me back to the Penrose-Hameoff theory I've tried to inter-twine, using two test stories, right here in this blog. (Well, the other one's tucked away on http://integr8dfix.blogspot.com/2010/12/twelve-days-of-defenders-begin.html Anyway, I chose as my two test groups the X-Men (here) and the Defenders (on integr8dfix.blogspot.com). If you are not familiar with the characters, don't fret: I was. I needed them to help me plunge into the outer reaches of experience and knowledge; after all, I DO sound like I'm in way over my head, right? I just couldn't die without writing these characters; they were part of the journey from my father's death of pulmonary fibrosis on Nov. 29th, 2007, and the miserable year that preceded that, where I studied doom and gloom on the environmental scale and felt as much loneliness as I think I'll ever again know.

From here, I hope to refine the spiritual journey through the original characters, such as those that began to emerge flamboyantly and boldly starting with Sunstrike, Valkyrie Maiden, Sylvane, Zero, Elda, Analogy, and Miracalla in September of 2009, then began to make themselves at home in a novel dependent till then upon years of non-fiction reading and research and personal exploration. The pitch for their series, Portal Immortal, is neatly outlined for quite a distance, were the right artist to come along, and its first 17 issues end up in yet another retelling of this Transmetamorphosis. Whether #16 & 17 or the novel itself will see print first, who knows. In keeping with its all-too-human cast, "Phenomenal Experience" is about a trio of regular folks---albeit geniuses---finding one another across the dream of death and life. Which, come to think of it, is another cool title, there. No one in these stories has to come back and fulfill a trademark's duty to make money with regular appearances. Who knows what saving the day will mean in this strange new world, where, unlike with the superheroes, the status quo is not the likely story goal.


I'd plotted the Defenders story last spring, but hadn't scripted it. Just one of those things you realize you have to do before you die, trust me. Over the summer, I discovered an idea that spawned the original story I began drafting before the holidays. Well, among Santa's presents was a box of ideas how to present this personal science fiction story, with Nate, Abbie, and Janaka, its original characters. http://ceaseill.blogspot.com/2010/11/phenomenal-experience.html Apparently, it's taken me a while to finally part with these stories I've been leading up to since April 4, 2009; my most conservative part would live on in these fantasies and their gratification. I could not chance rushing this, however much I wanted to submit "Phenomenal Experience" for publication by my birthday, at least. So, let me acquaint you with the discovery I made in an issue of EnlightenNext one rainy afternoon that's colored the these three stories.

But give Stuart Hammeroff a shot to lay out his theory on
the brain. You'll understand, I think, why I believe it's good material for speculative fiction---which is to in no way say I've disproved it.

http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/presentations/whatisconsciousness.html

He is an anaesthesiologist and professor with the Univ. of Arizona system. I wonder what he is thinking right now about Congresswoman Gifford.



This is his basic introduction to the idea and its genesis. Don't worry if you have to come back and listen again as you grasp different aspects along the way. It's quite mind-expanding and I hope it helps me finish the story I've been meaning to post here almost two weeks past!

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