The Pecman

Aaaaaa, I agree with Fun Tails above. You're just being overly-concerned with semantics. Whether you call it "galaxies within galaxies," or "alternate dimensions," or whatever you want, it's an exact replica of the place we're in now (virtually out to infinity in all directions), only with a few changes. Maybe even more than a few. Read David Gerrold's Man Who Folded Himself. BTW, the most-recent edition (2003) adds back a lot of gay-related content that David had to omit from the book when it had first been published, 30 years earlier. Quite a lot of interesting ideas in that book -- I told him when I first read it in college, I thought about it for months afterwards. Easily among the top 5 best time-travel books I've ever read, and I read everything.

I particularly like the Indian's costume. This is about the best CG fake-claymation I've ever seen! Terrific work.

Actually, I had already made notes on this exact problem more than a year ago, for my new novel. I have a short scene where my lead character wonders out loud, "shit! What if I materialize back in 2007, only the Earth has moved ten miles off course and I wind up frozen in outer space?" That was the reason for my scene where he finds another person from the future who wasn't as lucky as he was: the guy materialized inside solid rock. My feeling is: it's all luck, god, fate... whatever you want to call it. I buy that it's *possible* for somebody to luck out and reappear in very close to the same place he or she disappeared from. No, my good friend, the late Ken Grimwood, wrote a similar novel more than 20 years ago: Rewind, where a guy relives his life over and over again, aging to 45, dropping dead of a heart attack, and then instantly reawakening in his teenage body, 30 years ago -- but with all of his "future" memories intact. The big difference was that Dan used a machine for transporting the mind; Ken made it a Twilight Zone scenario, where the time-travel was never explained. Call that "reason #6" in my list: no explanation for the time-travel. The character is suddenly stuck in a different time, and has no idea why. "Submitted for your approval: the strange case of a man who winds up in a very different time and place than which he started. There's a signpost up ahead... he's in... The Twilight Zone." (This works much better when you hear my drop-dead perfect Rod Serling impression, which is really my impression of Dan Akyroyd's impression from SNL.)

I agree with that, but it's not as hard as you think. I think as with any fantasy, you just establish some simple rules, stick to them, and don't throw in any quirks that confuse the reader. I also read a ton of time-travel novels (some cited in my forward), along with references like Paul Nahin's Time Travel (Science Fiction Writing Series). He points out there's only a handful of ways to (fictionally) jump around in time: 1) machine [ala H.G. Welles]; 2) black hole/dimensional warp [ala Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time]; 3) faster-than-light travel (ala Star Trek); 4) magic [ala Harry Potter]; or the very rare 5) human thought, from Richard Matheson's beautifully-written Somewhere in Time. Just about any time-travel story ever written uses one of the above. (There are a few combinations, like Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic John Carter of Mars novels, where the hero goes into a cave, sniffs some gas, and winds up on Mars, thousands of years ago.) The only way that worked for me for my story was #2: a wrinkle in time, a tesseract, opens up in a cave in 2007 and transports a kid back to 1864. Nothing else would work for the novel. And because we see all the people and events of 1864 from the viewpoint of a contemporary reader in 2007, I felt I had no choice but to write the story in 1st person (which I don't enjoy doing as much as I used to). Not important. Who's to say there aren't multiple time machines? Dan Kirk wrote an entire series of novels that's basically about that problem: rival governments racing to be the first to build time machines, creating alternate pasts where one or the other succeeds. It winds up as quite a mess, albeit an entertaining one. David Gerrold's Man Who Folded Himself dealt with the problem of multiple time machines very well, though the story ends at the beginning, with the lead character wondering, indeed, where did the time machine he was using come from, and what happened to the inventor? It's fiction. I say you can get away with it as long as it feels right. I once asked a NASA scientist about the Star Trek transporter, and he shrugged and said, "it's theoretically possible, but only if you had a machine on both ends -- one to take matter apart, and the other to put it all back together, atom by atom." But he agreed with me that, as fiction, it works 100% to just have people materialize and dematerialize with only the transporter on the spaceship. I think time travel is in the same category. I say that the concept has been around for more than 100 years, and people grasp the idea and can work with it, as long as it doesn't get too confusing or screwed-up. The recent Butterfly Effect is an example of a good time-travel idea that goes very wrong by the end. Not a satisfying movie -- and yet, they're making a sequel to it.

The guy who, to me, is the current reigning "King of All Time-Travel Knowledge" is my old friend David Gerrold, famous Star Trek writer (and neighbor of mine in Northridge). David's theory, from his much-admired book The Man Who Folded Himself, was that the moment you went forward or backwards in time, the time line itself splintered into multiple time-lines, just like separate lanes on a freeway. That meant, for example, the moment a major historical event occurred -- say, the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy -- several different time lines were created: 1) a world where Kennedy had only a minor wound, but lived; 2) a world where someone other than Kennedy died; 3) a wound where Kennedy had a serious wound and still had to resign the presidency; and 4) immediate death from a head-shot, which is what happened in the time-line we live in now. These time-lines don't interset. They go off and each become their own little self-contained universes, otherwise identical, except for the widely varying paths of what followed in life. For example, with item #1 above, there's a good chance that the Vietnam war would've been curtailed, saving the lives of millions of American and Vietnamese soldiers. Protest music might not have ever existed. Thousands of new lives would've been born in a completely different world. I suspect Nixon would never have been elected in 1968. And on and on and on. So I see paradoxes not having to be a problem if you buy into the concept of separate time-lines. That way, I could "theoretically" go back in time and kill a family ancestor but still not affect my own life -- because I jumped into a different time-line. If I stayed in the same time-line and killed my grandfather, *poof* I'd immediately disappear. (Which begs the question, how was I born in the first place if I was eventually going to grow up and kill my grandfather?) According to Gerrold, you can't tamper with your own time-line, and that makes sense to me.

From what I've encountered in the past, David, the resident Nifty archivist, is a crusty curmudgeon. As far as I know, the entire site is just run by one guy, and he sets the rules and policies. He once commented to me in a rare email about another website that had gotten its owners arrested because of alleged snuff comment and similar discussions. That's one reason he won't allow stories with a certain amount of violent content, but -- just as with movie ratings -- this is such a subjective area, I can't see how anybody could make consistent rules on it. I would say that Comicality's recent story Savage Moon (which I'd easily nominate for B.O.N.) is far more disturbing and has equally violent scenes as what I read in Unbreakable Faith (so far, anyway). Savage Moon has got multiple rapes, physical torture, mental torture, sex between adults and teenagers, mind-control, and god knows what else, but it's up there on Nifty with no problem. To me, both sexual content and violence in fiction all depend on the specifics of how those scenes relate to the rest of the novel. I often cite a movie I worked on in the 1980s, Terror in the Aisles, as a fascinating example of the rules of violent content: this was a 90-minute film that had short clips from violent horror and action movies. All the movies that the clips came from were rated PG-13 or R. But every time the producer submitted the lastest cut of Terror, the MPAA would slap it with an X! Their response was, "it's not just the content; it's the number of violent incidents.." So 2 deaths in five minutes is OK; 20 deaths in 1 minute is not OK.

Excellent new chapter. Mr. Ryder is a thoroughly professional writer, and this story is truly a pleasure to read.

I just finished reading one of the most unclassifiable, strangest books I've ever read. The book is called ONE FOR SORROW, written by Christopher Barzak, and it's about a troubled 15-year-old teenage boy, Adam, who endures several tragedies in his life. First, his beloved grandmother, who lives with the family, passes away in her sleep (after predicting it several nights before, based on the suspicious cluster of crows near the house). A few days later, his mom is paralyzed in a car accident, the victim of a drunk-driving accident, leaving her confined to a wheelchair. And a week after that, Jamie "Moonie" Marks, a casual acquaintance at school who's an outcast loser, is murdered. The three events are enough to cause Adam to spiral down in the depths of depression. His situation isn't helped by an uncaring blue-collar father, and a belligerent, pothead older brother, neither of whom seem aware that Adam is perched at the edge of an emotional cliff. Soon after investigating the place where Jamie's body was found, the boy's ghost haunts Adam and becomes a friend -- or so it seems. At different times in the story, the reader is convinced that the ghost may actually be trying to drive him insane, or could just be trying to have the living boy join him in the other world as a ghost. The dead boy is assumably gay, and the living boy is assumably straight, but their friendship is extraordinarily close, albeit more like brothers than lovers. The plotline is made more complex by the appearance of Gracie, a slightly older, intellectual girl who was the one who originally found Jamie's dead body. Like Adam, Gracie can also sometimes see the spirits of the dead, but Adam isn't sure whether her warnings to stay away from the ghosts are honest, or whether Gracie has her own designs on the boy. Set in a small contemporary town in Ohio, the story is an amazing picture of tragedy, interrupted with occasional moments of ironic humor, and though it's told entirely in first-person (from the living boy's point of view), the novel is rich in detail, thoroughly emotional, and yet rings true to the way a modern teenager thinks. Barzak's words are filled with beautiful images and metaphor, including the title phrase, which refers to the warning signs you can sometimes see just by watching flocks of crows. There's a little bit of sex in it, but it's very tasteful, almost chaste, as well as being a little off-center and emotional, yet at the same time, I found it very innocent and realistic. Despite a gripping first half, I think the story meanders in the second, where Adam spends much of the book in isolation, running away (several times) from his uncaring family to spend more and more time with Jamie the ghost. We're never quite sure if the ghost is real or merely something conjured up from the depths of Adam's imagination; author Barzak comes up with several major riddles -- including the mystery of Jamie's disappearance and murder -- which have no satisfying payoff. And the months that go on while Adam becomes homeless are unrelentingly miserable, though readers may question how a young teenager could avoid being discovered for six months. And the details on Jamie's ghostlike presence seem almost deliberately ambiguous and vague, making the ending almost anti-climactic. That having been said, this is a remarkable book, and Barzak's writing is sharp and cutting, and has an undeniable impact. Those looking for a Stephen King-esque horror story won't find it here; this is more a coming-of-age story about a neurotic teenager who eventually finds a way to cope with the cruelties of the world around him. Most of the horrors here are of the real-life variety -- poverty, indifference, insensitivity... and in their own way, wind up far more frightening than the creatures of the night.

This is an unusual story, but I don't think the writing is very good. It's kind of all over the map -- strange transformations, odd stops-and-starts. Not my cup o' tea.

Post a link -- I'd like to check this one out.

Really? I'm stunned. Savoir Faire was one of the best authors I've ever read on Nifty, and I went out of my way to champion his/her stories for inclusion on the B.O.N. list. I had written S.F. to compliment them on their work, but never heard back, so I had no idea what their situation was. If you have a more current email address, I'd sure appreciate it -- or if you can point me to some of their more recent work, under a new name.

This is a really remarkable news clip that happened on Friday here in California. The very-conservative Republican mayor was forced to confront the fact that there were gay people in his own family (including his daughter), which led him to radically change his oft-stated opinion that gays should not be allowed to marry. I found it to be a very heartfelt and sincere speech, and it gives me hope that maybe the world can change for the better. (Hell, it even got me a little choked up.) Here's the link for those of you who want to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS4fED1EyvY

I'm still stunned that more than 30% of the respondents claim to have lost their virginity before the age of 12. Sure, I had some minor sexual experiences when I was 11 and 12, but I wouldn't exactly call that "losing my virginity." (Or losing my religion, either.) This is all like the infamous Bill Clinton case where people get into a whole discussion of what sex is. To me, the moment bodily fluids and orgasms are involved, it's a sexual experience -- not necessarily penetration. But virginity... to me that's a whole separate subject.

BTW, the new web page looks very nice. On the unavailable story listings: I corresponded briefly with Jourdan Lane, and I'm not sure if he ever finished Target or not. That was an odd story with a lot of twists and turns, and I seem to recall it was almost done. There's some good writing in it, but man, that was a long, long book.

I edited the last ten chapters or so for Jayne, and to me, the story is not yet finished. (I even gave her a new word-processing program to help her get the new chapters written.) I think there were a couple of issues left to be resolved, but at the same time, it's about 90% of the way there. Jayne moved to a different city right around the time she did the last posted chapter, and that was one reason why it wasn't completed. I think a new career and other challenges stopped her from continuing, despite nudges from me every few months. It's a pity, because it's a very well-written story, and I think she had some terrific ideas in it. I still wish she had used one of my ideas: where the guy getting tortured sues the estate of his tormenter and wins a bunch of money as a settlement. I thought this would tie in to the tormenter's wealth and fame, but alas, that one fell by the wayside.

I'm glad you picked up on that. As it turns out, St. Louis, Missiouri was a hotbed of activity during 1864, as well as being one of the major railroad (and river) transportation hubs of the country. Watch for several other cameos -- some famous, some not. And Jesse eventually plays a major part in... nope, I'll say no more.

Yeah, that was a deliberate choice on my part. Unlike the last few characters I've created, Jason is a fairly outgoing kid, comfortable with who he is, and he has no problem performing in front of an audience. He looks on the whole adventure (up to this point, anyway) as an extended improv session. But it'll get more complicated soon enough.

Trab, Beautiful Thing came out about 11 years ago (1996). It's widely available for rental on DVD very inexpensively, from Netflix and many others. I don't know of it available legally anywhere for download, but no doubt it's up on Bit-torrent and other similar sites.

He's OK only for the moment. Things have a habit of changing in my stories. I'm reminded of Han Solo using a similar line about parsecs in Star Wars. Let's assume that Jason is a regular 15-year-old kid, who's not a science expert. Trust me, I was correcting people about what a light year was when I was 10 years old, being a wiseass (and much too smart for my own good). But I was a completely different kind of kid than this character.

I just stumbled on this one, from prolific author Comicality, over on Nifty: http://library.gaycafe.com/nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/savage-moon/ I thought this was a remarkable effort, first because it's uncommonly downbeat and horrific, and secondly (just to warn you) it's the author's most overtly sexual tale I've ever read. The plot starts out simple enough: a 14 year-old minister's son, Wes, pulls a prank that leads to him being "sentenced" to a summer religious camp for wayward youths. While at the camp, he runs into a gang of runaway teenagers, who turn out to be a cult led by leader Cyrus. During the few days detailed in the story so far, Wes gets dragged down to the depths of depravity, falling into various combinations of love and lust with the gangmembers. I thought the story was really out of the ordinary and very, very different, not only from what Comicality has done before, but also from what we normally see on Nifty. It's certainly a real departure from the "feel good" sort of thing I normally see on the net. I like the fact that the author took so many risks with the story, and I think the concept -- despite being very dark and bleak -- is an excellent idea, almost a combination of LOST BOYS, stirred in with some Stephen King, but with heavy gay overtones. My only criticism is that, after 15 chapters (or whatever has gone down so far), I think the author needs to give his readers some kind of payoff, sooner. I'm reminded of the LOST TV series, where eventually the producers have had to come through with an explanation on what was happening, rather than continuing to delay the answers. We need more than just a few bite-size morsals here and there. That having been said, I'm nonetheless very impressed with what Comicality has done with the story. I think it's absolutely unique and is holding my attention, even if the story is progressing at a slow rate. I think this is a contender for Best of Nifty. Check it out and see if you agree.

If you knew the conditions under which I'm writing, you'd be astonished I was getting one sentence done, let alone a chapter. Let's just say that life has its share of upheavals. Eh, I went down a list of a dozen or two songs I considered, and I thought what the hell -- maybe this was a song the kid had done at the piano a few times, so he transposed it to guitar. It was simply one of the first songs that came to mind, and I wanted him to go out on a fast song, preferably one without any "controversial" lyrics (drug references, modern technology, etc.). Trying to come up with a song that can work 140 years ago is harder than you might think. Just straight chords on the guitar would work with "Crocodile," but there'd be some tricky changes here and there.

You know, we should probably publish a FAQ for the Best of Nifty page to explain how it came about. The BON list was started by a West coast-based fan named Richard Lyon in the mid-1990s. He did it as an effort to tell other people which gay fiction titles were worth reading (in his subjective opinion) on the Nifty.org website. As of about 3 or 4 years ago, Richard opted to hand the site over to the website owner of Awesomedude.com, "The Dude." Many of us here routinely suggest and/or nominate titles for consideration on the list. We just recently went through a discussion on how to refine that process, so we're hoping that more stories will be added soon. Beyond that, please feel free to ask any questions you want here.

A fine book on my shelf called The Careful Writer: A Modern Guide to English Usage by Theodore M. Bernstein had the answer. Bernstein indicates that may/might is a question of tense: "He thinks he may go to Washington." (Present tense) "He thought he might go to Washington." (Past tense) But he goes on to say that the words differ in usage as well. May poses a possibility, while might poses a greater degree of uncertainty. So the difference is subtle.

OK, maybe not that much action, but the story is back, anyway. Special thanks to The Dude, AWL, and Cole for prodding me during my seclusion to keep the story going. I have gone back and revised the first three chapters to tweak one or two minor logistical problems, but if you've read them already, know there's nothing drastically different. Chapter 4 is all new, all-singing, all-dancing, so one hopes it's been worth the wait. Depending on The Dude's schedule, it should be up here soon. Critiques, bric-a-bracs, small hand grenades, and other comments are all welcome. Hey, at least there's a little sex in this one (very little). With luck, Chapter 5 will be done in some form in a month. Wish me luck...

I have two reactions: 1) you're absolutely right. An extended story with similar characters -- like the James Bond novels, or the Harry Potter books, or many others -- does not necessarily have sequels per se. Each book can stand alone, telling a complete story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. 2) be glad you're getting some positive fan mail. Don't slam your readers because they don't understand the subtleties between a sequel and an extended story. You can't complain because your readers don't like your stuff precisely the way you want them to like it. Well, first, I think all three Back to the Future films are actually pretty good -- at least they Zmeckis did try something completely different with each film, which was an admirable idea. I would argue that the follow-up films were not sequels, in that the story continues, rather than rehashing what went down before. Same with Star Wars. I think the key has to be the element of time. If the second story basically starts immediately after the last page of the first story, then it's an ongoing tale. You can make a point that the Indiana Jones films are sequels, since there's a big jump in time between all three (plus the new fourth film, due out next year).