SF Trails #2 is out!

Getting something you wrote in the mail with a nice cover on it is a great feeling. Science Fiction Trails #2 looks cool and it is. To find out how to get your copy shoot over to www.sciencefictiontrails.com .

Halloween Bounty

I don't remember getting anything too weird in my bag when I went trick or treating as a kid. A neighbor gave me an apple dipped in carmel once. Then there was that ball of popcorn.

Like I said, not too weird.

It's another case for today's kids. On recent Halloweens past mine have gotten toothpaste, tooth brushes, stickers and a can of tuna.

Here's a picture of some of the stranger bounty from Halloween 2007. You've got the bracelet that says "God's Team." There's the coloring book. Some Arabic candy and goodies. Another Bible tract. The "I Love Jesus" notebook. Halloween pretzels.

It seems to me the neighborhood we went trick or treating in got a tad judgmental. Is the Bible tract intended to make some kid a Christian who otherwise wouldn't be? Too late, ma'm. We already are.

As for the coloring book - who's going to want to color pictures about Halloween when they're regularly getting two to three hours of homework a night and it's after Halloween?

Are Halloween pretzels going to make a kid thinner than he otherwise would be?

If you really wanted to be a judgmental about the American society of 2007, how about passing out little cards with exercises printed on them? Card No. 1: The Push-up. Card No. 2: The Sit-up. Card No. 3: The Jumping Jack . . .

That's a business idea just for you, for free.

Nevertheless, trick or treating is a great tradition - one I sincerely hope lasts for many years. Getting the strange thing in the bag every now and then only adds to the fun.

Landscaping of the Future

A map at the following link shows that where I live in Arizona is "abnormally dry" even by the minimal standards of an average of 11" a year of precipitation. Yeah, it's not bad as Georgia is right now, but it's pretty bad nonetheless.

What you're looking at is my bet at what the landscaping of the future will be. No, not the dirt everywhere (though if climate change is real dramatic, what else will it be?). What I'd like to call your attention to is the berm on the right side of the photograph. When it finally does rain, what the intention is, is for the flow of water to be captured by the berm and the one below. Instead of running down a bank into an arroyo, the water will stay, soak in and provide hydration for the grass that's planted there.

I finished this project three weeks ago. Now all I'm waiting for is some rain to see if it works.

http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html

Charles Atlas and Personal Exercise Fads

I have a garage loaded with old exercise equipment. These have been my last eight personal exercise fads going back the last five years:

1. Bike riding
2. Eye Toy
3. The Bun Roller
4. Weight Lifting
5. Running and jumping rope
6. Disc golf
7. Racquetball
8. Going to the gym

Yeah, I switched them around, so it's not like I did one thing and then stopped doing it and started another.

Anyway, my new thing is the Charles Atlas course - maybe not for the rest of my life but at least for the next ten weeks.

I'm very impressed. The course builds muscle mass without the use of one free weight or any other equipment besides a chair. They're isometric exercises - you need no equipment and they leave you feeling better than you started. You do the lessons for about 15 minutes every day and, at the end, you feel like you have more energy than when you started. Ladies and gentlemen THAT is a great exercise program.

It takes care of stretching and strength training - the only thing missing is cardiovascular training. For that, I plan to run a couple times a week.

Anyway, all the best -

Jim

Fried!: Fast Food, Slow Death

If you know me or my work, you know I like to write science-fiction westerns. However, as a former laborer in the "fast service" industry, I couldn't resist the opportunity to write a story for an anthology called Fried! Fast Food, Slow Death. With a few years worth of shifts at Carl's Jr. and Pizza Hut on my resume, I had plenty of experience to draw on.

This November, my story "The FNG" will appear in that anthology published by Graveside Tales.

Science Fiction Trails #2

In my novelette "Grower" that's set in the period just after the Civil War, African-Americans have been freed. Slavers have set their site on another race: trolls. It will appear in Science Fiction Trails #2 scheduled for release by Pirate Dog Press in November.

Another science-fiction western story of mine "The Bullet Magnet" is a reprise of the famous Four Dead in Five Seconds gunfight. It appeared in Science Fiction Trails #1. That paperback is currently available on Lulu.com.