Riding the Waves to Eternity: Hangin’ with the Cosmic Surfer

Loony Engines of Outrage

Hmmm, sorry to harp on about this, but season 3 of Star Trek : Discovery isn’t living up to what I’d hoped. In Star Trek terms it’s quite good, but, naively perhaps, I’d hoped for better on the strength of what’s gone before. Season 3 episode 3, alas, had almost as much cheese as Mellis the cheesemonger. I found myself skipping through swelling music and inspirational speeches lest a sickbag become necessary. Also, suspension of disbelief is one thing, but there is no way Burnham’s hair could have grown that long in a year without assistance.

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I hadn’t expected to find my morning enlivened by a thought for the day from Nick Cave, but there we are. The link is here if the insert below doesn’t take you there.

In this time of illness, cynicism and cruelty, do you receive many mean or vile messages? How do you cope with that kind of negative energy?

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Writing has been progressing, but I need to think about the next bit. Every so often you need to put your characters in a bit of peril both the keep the reader interested and to keep the characters on their toes. The question is how much peril. Too much too soon and you’re raising the bar for the rest of the story; too little and it is a damp squib, unless you sucker punch the reader immediately afterwards. How much pain should I put my characters through? A quandry.

(Also, if you put the characters in a fix, you have to think of a plausible way for them to get themselves out of it).

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Music: I’ve mentioned before that I think Nick Keir is one of the great writers of songs about Edininburgh. No festival lights this year, but rain lashing down in an Edinburgh autumn, as it did today, is a perennial.