Chuck Wendig's Flash Fiction Challenge: Must Love Dinosaurs

Chuck Wendig, writer of such titles as MOCKINGBIRD, BLACKBIRDS, and CONFESSIONS OF A FREELANCE PENMONKEY (a personal favorite that you MUST read...read it!), posts a weekly Flash Fiction Challenge on his blog. This week, in celebration of the debut of his Kickstarter-backed book DINOCALYPSE NOW! Chuck's challenge involved Dinosaurs.

I LOVE Dinosaurs.

So here is my entrance into Chuck Wendig's Flash Fiction Challenge: Must Love Dinosaurs, titled: THE HUNTED.

Enjoy!

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THE HUNTED
by Christopher Meyer

Turin slid through the thick undergrowth of the verdant forest without a sound. His feet passed plants and twigs in slow, steady arcs as he prowled forward. Around him the denizens of the forest called and roared.

There was a rush of leathery wings above as an avian creature shot by.

Turin remained calm and continued on, but his grip on the spear in his right hand tightened.

There was the slightest scrape of a plant behind him and Turin froze. Turin’s lean, muscular form didn’t move an inch as he waited and listened. It was a long few moments before he began to move again.

Turin had to be careful, lest he ceased to be the hunter and became the hunted.

From the position of the sun to his left Turin could tell he was making good time. It was still morning. There was plenty of daylight left to find his prey, kill it, and return to the village. A small smile crept across his tanned, scarred face.

Suddenly a plant behind Turin shivered and cracked.

Turin spun, keeping low, and jabbed his spear in front of him. His heart raced and sweat sprang from his brow. He had been so careful. How had they snuck up behind him?

There was a flurry movement, then two feathered reptiles leapt into the air, pecking at one another before flying off.

False alarm.

Turin waited a moment as his heart slowed and the adrenaline drained from his veins. His whipchord muscles, coiled and ready for a fight, relaxed. Turin waited another moment in case the commotion had covered the noise of someone – or something – else.

When Turin did finally move it was slow. Each individual body part moved while the rest of his body remained. First his leg swung around in a ponderous arc, followed by the lower part of his torso. As the rest of his body turned his head scanned the area around him and his eyes scrutinized every detail. The spear clasped firmly in his hands followed his turn.

Nothing.

When Turin was absolutely sure that nothing was following him he moved forward once more.

After what seemed like an eternity of cautious movement Turin came upon a downed tree. The massive trunk blocked his direct path, and going around would take longer. He looked up to see the sun through the dense canopy. The giant yellow orb was almost directly overhead.

Turin couldn’t be delayed.

Turin hoisted himself up on the fallen tee, ensuring to keep his body close to the trunk so as to not expose himself as much. He led with his right side, his spear forward in case there was danger on the other side. Little by little Turin worked his way over the tree.

Turin was almost to the other side when his foot made contact with something soft and wet. A moment later his foot slipped, and Turin toppled to the ground on the far side of the downed tree. He landed with a loud thump, his spear thrown from his hand.

He cursed himself as he jumped to retrieve his weapon and backed against the tree trunk in a defensive posture. He should have been more careful, Turin told himself. He had made a child’s mistake in his rush to reach his bounty. As he scanned the area he looked up to the tree to see what had fowled his footing. A disturbed patch of moss met his gaze.

Stupid, he told himself.

Another few tense moments and Turin set off again. He moved slightly faster now, wary of the sun creeping across the sky above him. It seemed that every moment the shadows become a little longer. Sweat began to pour down Turin’s face. He tried to keep focused as perspiration stung his eyes.

Several times Turin stopped to listen when he thought he heard movement.

Each time Turin had a growing feeling of being watched, but each time there was nothing but the forest.

Turin came to the edge of a small clearing and stopped. Finally he was there. Before him sat three small craters, each piled up with soil and dead vegetation. Within these depressions were eggs the size of Turin’s fist. Returning with just one would solidify his place within village elite. Two would propel him to greater heights.

Turin’s goal sat atop the eggs.

The female Velociraptor was hunkered down over the nest nearest where Turin crouched. Her long head twitched back and forth, scanning the area around her for scavengers or larger predators. Every once in a while the female raptor would tilt her head to the side and listen.

Killing her would make him a king amongst his people.

The trick was pulling it off and returning to the village – alive.

Turin crouched lower, building energy in his powerful legs in preparation to spring forward and spear his prize. Every muscle in his body coiled in anticipation of the attack.

Turin was focused.

His spear was ready.

Everything was silent.

Suddenly the forest around Turin came alive.

Turin jumped in surprise and turned to see what was happening.

Five lean forms materialized from the dense vegetation. Rows of razor sharp teeth glared at Turin as the pack hunters closed in.

Turin’s heart sank. He had been the prey all along. When the raptors had picked up his trail, Turin didn’t know. His whole endeavor had been pointless.

Turin swore he would die honorably as the raptors pounced.

He didn’t get the chance to raise his spear. Turin didn’t even have time to scream.

One of the raptors, a young male, lifted its head from its prey and sounded a victory roar.

Then the forest was silence once again...

Adam Baldwin and OMUG Comics

Today was a glorious day! I went to Krypton Comics here in Omaha, Nebraska and got to meet Adam Baldwin, as seen here in this picture:

It was pretty cool! He was very personable, and noted that I was military. Great guy, and got his autograph on my special edition copy of Serenity.

I also met a couple of amazing local artists from Omaha Underground Comics, creators of the very cool  THE CULLING series. Great bunch of guys, I really enjoyed meeting them and discussing our self-publishing experiences. Their project has been two years in the making and I purchased Issue #1 from them while I was there talking indy-shop (I still need to get Issue #0). Their website can be seen at http://www.omugcomics.com/. Check them out and buy their comics, you won't be disappointed with their high-intensity action comic THE CULLING.

Went and saw the Avengers Movie afterwards with my brother and a friend. It was worth it! Lots of action, great comedy, and actually had a well developed storyline for a superhero action movie. Very little cheesiness. Joss Whedon did well...but he killed Agent Coulson. DAMMIT JOSS!

Good little day all around.

Until next time. . .

Get ALL the Free Online Education!

If you read my Twitters, you'll know that today I have my phone call meeting with my editor to go over the short story OLD HABITS and get it ready for the next (and hopefully final) rewrite. OLD HABITS (no link to page yet) will go on sale the week of May 15th, so keep an eye out for it on the RENEGADE DATA CORE website.

While that's in the works, I would like to draw everyone's attention to a new phenomenom I find really cool: FREE ONLINE EDUCATION.

That's right, I said FREE ONLINE EDUCATION.

Why write about it, you may ask, when I'm a sci-fi writer? As a sci-fi writer I have a very hopeful vision for the future, and champion companies such as SpaceX and Planetary Resources that are trying to make a future in space not only possible, but cost effecitve.

Free education such as I will discuss is a huge leap into the future, providing education on numerous subjects at zero (or perhaps, in some cases, a very low) cost. The subjects our children need to be successful in the future-engineering, math, science, and technology-are available for all to participate in.

Robert A. Heinlein would be proud!

The trend setter in this realm is the Khan Academy. The founder, Sal Khan, left his hedge fund manager job to start this amazing experiment. It started with videos on subjects ranging from history to math and everything inbetween. Now there are challenges to help learning, assessments, rankings, a knowledge map, and badges individuals can earn for completing sections.

Others have joined in on free online education, citing the need for more available education to the world and the benefits it will bring. Udacity is a free education start-up that currently offers a few classes in computer science and some robots, such as remote controlled cars. Coursera is a cooperative between Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Michigan, and University of Pennsylvania with over two dozen free classes in numerous subjects.

In March, MIT created MITx and ran an experimental free online class. 120,000 people signed up for the class, “Circuits and Electronics." Now Harvard and MIT are joining forces to create edX, that will offer numerous free courses starting this Fall 2012. While some people may take these classes at leisure, there will be homework and exams. Those who complete everything and receive a certain grade can obtain certificates from either MIT or Harvard (depending on who supports/teaches the class). MIT will charge a small fee for certificates, and Harvard hasn't decided whether or not they'll charge for certificates.

What are the benefits, one may ask? With access to the internet becoming more widespread every day, people in developing countries that might not be able to afford school-or that don't have formal schools-can use these tools to educate themselves and their children, and badges (in the case of Khan Academy) and certificates can be used to help them get into higher education, or to help them to take the village and resources they have and change it. This free education provides "soft tools", so to speak. You can't touch the concept of math, but this tool has helped the human race advance in everything from acrchitecture to medicine to technology. These soft tools can help others the world over to improve their lives and the lives of their families and communities.

Sorry if I sound like a bit of a hippie there...I promise, I'm not.

NOTE: I have a love-hate relationship with math. I'm not very good at it, even after studying for hours/days/weeks until I'm blue in the face. But math helped create my Apple MacBook Air, so I can't totally hate it.

My hopes for free education. While I know that EVERY single course can be free online, and they shouldn't be, I hope they offer some introductory engineering courses. Aeronautical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Architectural Engineering, even Agricultural Engineering intro classes (like sections 101 and 201, and maybe a supplemental class or two, like 102 and 202). I would take those right away. Engineering is one of the key competencies that will be needed and will bring the future to the present quicker via better technology and more efficent, cost effective ways to get into space. Engineering will also allow us to do more in space with the resources there, like colonize/mine the moon, mine asteroids, and colonize other planets/moons.

Hell, what am I saying, Engineering is needed now. It was needed more five and ten years ago.

This makes me look in hindsite at my degree (Political Science; a slacker degree, to be sure) and think, "What the hell was I thinking?" Unfortunately, unless I land several million dollars, I won't be getting an engineering degree anytime soon.

What really inspires and motivates me about this free online education phenomenon? The government had ZERO to do with it. The US Government is already ass backwards on how to effectively leverage the internet (amongst other things), and if they had tried this it would have been a resounding flop (or such is my theory being of the "don't trust big government" mindset; your theory may differ). It was private individuals and private schools. These forward thinking people took it upon themselves to do something better for others. No government mandates. No bureaucratic monstrosities. No one from Congress saying they/their party did better than everyone else/the other party. Free thinking Americans with ideas and a desire to achieve more and do good. It makes me proud to be an American when I witness these sort of things.

Unless you're already a rocket scientist (and have a leg up on me getting to Mars, you bastard!) I would recommend taking some of these free classes, if not just to refresh/expand your knowledge. I know I will.

Until next time...

Excerpt - The Technocrat Draft

I've been writing (like a boss).

Like all great pieces of fiction, I had to leave the first part of the next novel alone for a while. I've been inundated with work, homework, and studying for a professional certification. They aren't excuses, but they are pretty good reasons.

Here and there I've worked on the next novel, THE TECHNOCRAT, and wanted to share a bit of what I've completed. I'm thinking of doing this in a chapter-by-chapter style. I write a chapter, get it edited and rewrite until beautiful, then sell each chapter individually for $0.10-0.25. Yes, that is 10-25cents (USD).

We'll see, I still have a lot of writing to do. Until then, enjoy this excerpt from the draft of THE TECHNOCRAT:

The Democratic Republic of Haven Butte

Titan, Saturn

08 January 2306

            The wind howled and moaned as it swept through the deserted streets of Haven Butte. Curfew was in effect. No one dared brave the city at night, lest they be spotted by the army and gunned down. No questions would be asked. There would be no hearings or investigations. The Revolutionary Council was clear on the curfew. Dissident elements still infested Haven Butte. The curfew was for the good of the people.

Judd Wooller watched from the window in his darkened apartment as a patrol of six Revolutionary Army troopers (more like children playing at war) and a technical moved by on the street below. Judd noticed that some of the idiots didn’t even have full kit. Some had load bearing gear while others stuffed magazines and canteens in the pockets of their cold weather clothing. They carried their weapons as if they were on a hunting trip. It was a miracle they had managed to overthrow the king and his ruling elite.

“This place is crawling with patrols,” the man beside Judd said in a whisper.

The patrol moved past and Judd breathed a sigh of relief.

“They’re gone,” Judd said.

“How long has it been?” the other man asked.

“A little over a month,” Judd said.

“Lord d’Helion wouldn’t leave his investment and us to die. . .would he?”

Judd shook his head. “We’re far from Mars, Patrick. Who knows what’s happening on the mons, or the red planet.”

Patrick’s shoulders slumped.

“But, if we wait any longer these revolutionaries will come after us,” Judd said.

“How would we get out?” Patrick asked. “The nearest city-state is over two hundred kilometers from here. Titan may be more developed in terms of terraforming than other moons, but we would still die in the wilderness.”

“Better that than be tortured to death for any connection with the previous government.”

Patrick couldn’t argue with Judd’s logic.

Judd walked away from the window and into the apartment’s kitchen. A pot of fresh coffee sat on the counter. Though it was late at night neither man could sleep. Judd poured himself a large mug of the brew and sat down at the kitchen table.

Patrick still stood. He wrung his hands and looked around the apartment as if he was watching a mouse run along the floor.

“Sit down,” Judd said. “You’re making me nervous.”

“How can you be so calm?”

“I’m not. But unlike you I can control my emotions. Get yourself a cup of coffee and sit down. It’s not like there’s a whole lot we can do anyway.”

Patrick trudged over to the counter and retrieved a mug from the cabinet overhead.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Patrick jumped and let go of the mug. The ceramic cup hurtled to the floor and shattered into a dozen pieces.

“Open up,” a gruff voice said. “Revolutionary Army. Random inspection.”

Patrick cursed.

Judd waved Patrick down and got up to answer the door.

“Good evening, sir,” the ragamuffin soldier said. “Identification please.”

“I need to get it,” Judd said. “Please come in.”

The soldier at the door and a second trooper strode into the flat. Judd took note that neither man kept both hands on their assault rifles.

Judd pulled his and Patrick’s identification cards out of a drawer and presented them to the first soldier.

The boy glanced at the cards and then at Judd.

“These aren’t authorized identification cards,” he said.

“We’re contractors,” Judd said. He neglected to mention their nationality. “We got stuck here during the revolution. Every time we try to apply for new ID’s we’re turned away.”

The soldier looked at each of them with a suspicious eye.

“Run the cards,” the first soldier said. “They could be on the kingdom database.”

The other trooper produced a handheld scanner and ran each card. The device chimed and displayed the readings.

Judd Wooller knew he was in trouble when the two soldiers shared a look and their demeanors changed.

“We’re going to need you to come with us,” the first soldier said.

“Is there a problem?” Judd asked.

“You’re Olympian.”

“Is that a crime?”

The soldier leveled his assault rifle at Judd’s midriff. “The Olympus Mons Technocracy supported the King and his regime. We have specific instructions to bring you in for questioning.”

More like interrogation, Judd thought.

The second soldier moved to secure Patrick, and the first soldier looked to watch.

Moron.

At that moment Judd launched himself at the first soldier and tackled him. The trooper fell hard and let go of his weapon. Before the man could react Judd pummeled his face with punches. The soldier’s companion turned to see what was happening, only to have Patrick smash him across the face with a mean right hook.

Before Judd could grab the dropped weapon four more Revolutionary Army soldiers barged into the apartment and leveled their weapons at Judd and Patrick.

Judd and Patrick raised their hands in defeat.

They were roughed up before being cuffed with zip ties and shoved out of the flat and through the apartment building. Dark bruises were forming on Judd’s and Patrick’s faces, and several cuts to their faces and heads bled. To Patrick’s credit he remained straight faced and dry eyed.

“We didn’t want trouble,” the first soldier said as he wiped his bloody nose. “We just wanted to ask some questions. But now you’re in for it.”

“I’ve spent my time in the military,” Judd said. “I already know what’s going to happen.”

The six soldiers shoved Judd and Patrick outside into the cold, dark night. The roads were slick with packed snow – there had been no municipal services since the King had been overthrown. Patrick slipped and fell flat on his back.

“Get up,” one of the troopers said.

Patrick tried to get his feet under him, but his bound hands made it difficult. He strained his head up as he fought to stand – and stopped.

“Get up,” Judd said, his voice a harsh growl.

Patrick wouldn’t stop staring at the sky.

“What are you looking at?” another soldier asked.

They all turned their attention up. Above them Saturn dominated the sky. Slim, bright streaks decorated the scene with brilliant colors.

“It’s just a meteor shower,” a soldier said.

Judd’s eyes widened as realization sunk in.

“They’re here.”

“What?” the first soldier asked. “What are you talking about?”

The soldiers began to move their prisoners again when the first units hit the ground.

All Greek to Me

I would like to show you all something:

You will notice that, within the last week, the majority of visitors to my site spoke CHINESE. Not US-English, not even UK-English. CHINESE!

Xie xie. :)

I actually think this is really cool. A bunch of people from another country are checking out my site. You will also notice that #3 on this list is Italian. So I say: Prego!
The problem: It's not translating into sales. If I received even half the sales of the number of foreign views I would be sitting pretty.
While I have no quantifiable evidence to back it up, my theory is that the reason foreign views are not translating to sales is lack of translation. The stuff I sell is not in their native language, and they can either not read it, or not read it very well.

This leads me to wonder: what if there was a translation service? If there is, smack me now and point me to it. I would love to sell my stuff in other languages (German, amongst them).
It's not just about sales, though. I would be sharing my story with people from all over the world. My ideas would span languages and cultures. What an awesome concept! This makes me jealous of big authors like Stephen King who get their books translated into a bazillion languages at the drop of hat (not, really, but you know what I mean).

That said, though, I still need to drive sales in my hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. My theory could be very sound, but if I can't drive sales in Omaha, I probably can't drive sales too well internationally.

But it's something to think about. If you can translate your novel/novella/short story into another language, I would say try it! Think about the greater reach you could create by just translating into one other langauge, such as Spanish.
Translate into Spanish and you have millions of prople in over a dozen countries that could, potentially, read your book. Habla?
It's something to think about.

Until next time...

Hunting for Ideas

Hello everyone! Did you miss me? :) What? You didn't? What a buncha-ANYhoo, I've been MIA for the last few weeks because I just purchased a house and have been trying to whip it into shape. Between that, work for my Master's Degree, my day job, and everything else (Lent is rough, dontcha know?) blogging has taken a bit of a back seat.

Well, now I'm back (in black)!

Today's fine topic: Idea Hunting.

I read about the The Idea Hunter on the Forbes website. The book, written by Bill Fischer, Andy Boyton, and William Bole, is about the literal and figurative hunt for ideas. They talk finding your gig - what you want to do - and then actively searching for ideas from numerous different areas, especially areas that aren't even related to what you want to do. The book is based around their I-D-E-A model: Interested, Diverse, Exercised, and Agile. Throughout the book they give numerous examples, from Thomas Edison and Walt Disney, to Steve Jobs. It's a very quick read (and only took up about four pages, front and back, in my personal notebook), and, while it doesn't give you all the answers, it does help the reader form a rough framework from which they can work on discovering ideas.

I'd like to note here that the previous paragraph is a very brief, bare-bones synopsis of the book and I highly recommend reading it to get the full effect. It's $12.99 in the Kindle store.

The Idea Hunt isn't just for businesses, which the book is more geared toward. The authors say that this can be used for anything you're trying to do.

And what are we trying to do here, more often than not? Well I'm here to write...and make money. But mostly write (money is nice, too).

So where am I going with this? And why don't I have any pants on? Well I can't explain the lack of pants (or why I feel groggy, or why I'm bruised all over). The point is that the Idea Hunt is perfect for we writers. Some writers may already have this down pat. Think of all the writers that want to write about something and do endless research...that leads to research in another area, which leads to research in five other areas. But for us normal types - we self-supporting, hard working, bronze skinned, chissled muscle, self-published writers! - it can be an uncultivated art.

For example, say you're writing a sci-fi novel (NO WAI! you say. WAI! I say.), and say you wish to mirror Heinlein in that all space technology is founded deeply in fact, or clearly proveable theory. A good start would be to research how rockets work. And you want your rocket to go somewhere, right? So you'll have to research the bodies within our solar system and how they work.
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
Now that you're researching the rocket and planets, you research engine types and fuels, which leads you to researching a lot of science. This could bring an idea for characters! Maybe a rocket engineer chief. And how does the piloting of that rocket change when landing on, say Mars? Or Titan? Or on an asteroid? How are the fuel and components of the rocket affected on different planets and moons?
Or how is the rocket built? Who builds it? What's the process that organization has to go through to liscence, build, and sell/operate that rocket? What departments and individuals within and outside the organization are involved? What are the roles and responsibilities of their jobs? How and do they all interact in a business sense?

See all that? That's the beginning of ideas flowing. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. As you write MORE ideas will come to you, and MORE research will have to be done.

So where do I get MY ideas?

Robert A. Heinlein, for one. He is, without a doubt, my favorite author with all perpatuity throughout the universe. His sci-fi, specifically, is what pushed me to get serious about writing sci-fi.
BattleTech was next. BattleTech is the epitome of giant robot/power armor future combat. The stories and the tabletop game started swirling ideas into my head since I was 13.
Aliens (note the "s") with its colonial marines. Warhammer and Warhmmer 40K (BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! I mean...yeah!). StarCraft, WarCraft, Command and Conquer.

Real life is a HUGE influence on my ideas. SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and other private space companies make me very hopeful for a future where humanity lives and operates throughout the solar system, and I hope more private space companies enter the market...and take me to the Moon and Mars. Many of the ideas coming out of this rising industry fuel my ideas for what I write, even if it is just hyper-ventalating optimism.

But there are a lot of non-space and -science related sources I draw from, too.

The Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fortune, Inc. Magazine, and other business sources that I use to augment my day job and help increase my personal knowledge add to my writing. Some of the ideas expressed in the Harvard Business Review had directly impacted how I'm shaping the Olympus Mons Technocracy for the next novel (DUN DUN DUN! Spoilers!).

Finally, personal experience and learning go into a lot of what I write. My experience in contracting and purchasing influences how I write about deals (see DER STERNVOLKER). And the education I'm going through now - my Master's degree and soon-to-be studying for my Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) from the Institute for Supply Management - influences me in what professions I write my characters into and how they interact (such as in the upcoming FREE short story RUN).

The point is to look everywhere for ideas, both in writing and in whatever your industry is. Search for ideas in other, non-related areas that could give you new insights and inspire new ways of doing things in your writing or job. And I recommend The Idea Hunter for everyone.

Until next time...

Where am I?

I'm sure some of you are wondering where the hell I've been. My digital presence has been lacking.

This is where I've been: painting my new house. When I'm not working I'm here...painting takes up a lot of time.

I promise I will be back with more fiction and updates.