Tara Maya's Tales

  I love ants. Okay, not in my kitchen. I hate ants in my kitchen. But I love studying ants, at a distance. Even a little distance is okay. When I lived in Indonesia, a bunch of Weaver ants lived in a tree right outside my bedroom window. Weaver ants are some of the coolest effing ants on the planet. Those who live in my tree built what looked several green basketballs made out of leaves glued together. I loved to sit out on the balcony watching them. Ants are hive animals; hive are such an incredibly power system of social organization, called eusociality , that it's really the only rival to the mammalian sociality that we use ourselves. So it's not surprising that aliens in Science Fiction are generally either shown as being much like humans... or much like ants. (Or bees or termites, the other hive bugs.) The Formics, or "Buggers," in Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" series are insectoid aliens that are literally named after ants. In the televisi...

This tip is from 30 Day Novel .    Writer’s block is almost always a red flag warning you about some problem with the novel. (The only other cause for writer’s block is severe personal stress, which may be negative, like a divorce, or positive, like a move, but either way absorbs all your mental energy. However, that’s outside the scope of these Tips. If you are in such a situation, give yourself a break and take care of the issue first.) One of these red flags, and one that I’ve faced many times, is Ignorance. You sit down ready to write a scene…it’s right there in your outline… it should be no problem. You lift your fingers, like a piano prodigy, to wrest sweet story music from your keyboard, and… Nothing.  The scene is not working because there’s something that’s stumping you. For me, it’s often something like the place and time of the scene. Sometimes it’s a deeper problem though. Occasionally, it’s something god-awful like a Plot Abyss At The Heart of the Whole Da...

      The Curse of Carthage was a supposed curse that forbade the rebuilding of Carthage after it was destroyed in 146 BC. On the one hand, the story of the Curse is one of the most haunting scenes in Roman history.    Scipio Aemilianus, the very general who wrecked the great temple of Baal and set ablaze the clay bricks of the city, surveyed the smoking ruins and rued the day that one day the same terrible fate would befall Rome. Humane feeling and eerie foresight suffuse his solemn words.   Yet the “curse” had a more immediate impact, as it seemed to doom attempts by the reformer and populist political leader Gracchus, to establish a Roman  colonia  (colony) on the former site of the city.    And that was awfully convenient for Gracchus’ enemies in the Senate, wasn’t it?   Kar Jin Ong argues in an interesting essay that the idea that the Curse of Carthage was Fake News. https://www.academia.edu/12180739/The_Curse_of_Carthage_The_...

  This guy, an MD named Vinay Prasad, discusses how ChatGPT will impact medicine--and in particular, medical writing. I think that his analysis applies to writing in many fields, even creative writing.  To make it short, ChatGPt will help slow writers write faster, but it can't help writers without creative ideas write more creatively. It's great at smoothing along production of written material; it's not great at true innovation.  This might help reward innovation, as those with original ideas can get them out fast enough to compete with those who have no original ideas but used to rush re-hashed ideas to publication faster than their peers. Prassad also discusses how ChatGPT might change who becomes physicians. Keen intellect will be less important, because physicians will be able to use AI as a crutch. However, empathy might be more important! (He laughs cynically at that.) Will the analytical thinkers still be drawn to this area of medicine?  Perhaps not.  ...

  Editing has made me realize something I've always been reluctant to admit. To explain what I mean, let me tell you what I'm doing right now. I'm working on Book 11 of The Unfinished Song: Flute. The title references the infamous Bone Flute that when played by someone with all six Chromas of magic, forces everyone else to dance to his tune. I have a strong draft of Flute, but it's one that I wrote before I revised Book 10, Sworn, the book right before this in the series. For a long series like this, it's essential to work form an outline. But what do you do when the outline changes? Or when you read the scenes of you draft and realize they aren't as strong as they could be? In my case, the outline itself isn't so wrong, but I feel as if many of the scenes just aren't doing enough work. This, I can see, is going to drag out the story too long, and I'll have the same problem in this book as I did with Sworn, fighting to keep my wordcount at a reasonab...

  Shadow, his unhorse, galloped across the field of blood and snow, into the forest, where rain battled the fire that wanted to devour the trees. Any colder and the rain would have turned to sleet. The girl trembled in Umbral’s arms. She felt good there, soft and tiny and clinging to him like a child. Her hair, brightly dyed red, held the fragrance of henna and dried flowers. She clutched at his chest as if she trusted him to protect her; though, more likely, she was just afraid that if she didn’t hang on, he would let her drop and break her neck. He sheltered her from the rain as best he could. As if a few drops of water were the main danger to her. Deep in the forest, he reached the Deathsworn menhir, large and looming, black and crowned with bones. Here he tapped his horse with his obsidian-beaded hoop, and the shadow beast halted. The forest fire had burnt out here, but it had done its damage. The skeletons of trees around the megalith stuck up from ash, raw black claws. At the...

There are tons of fairies and magical critters in The Unfinished Song . I’m always on the look-out for traditional magic creatures that I can adapt. I remake them to fit my world-building, but I do the research into whatever folk legends first. It’s a great excuse to pursue my love of folklore and mythology. The Aluxob are small, mischievous creatures are part of the world of the Maya, which are known from carvings and clay figurines from the ancient world. They play the same role as gnomes, hobs or leprechauns in ancient Celtic tradition. The Aluxob are usually only about 12 to 18 inches tall and are often found in maize fields, gardens, forests, and caves. They can become invisible or visible at will. They are usually depicted wearing traditional Maya dress.  Some stories even describe them turning into small forest creatures like weasels or frogs. Weasel and frog shifters? Cool. These creatures are known for their mischievous nature, and often show their displeasure at being bot...

  I worked out this "Four Block" method of writing a scene for my AI for Authors Fiction Writing Guide . Then I discovered, hey, you don't need to work with an AI for this method to be useful.  So I present it here as a writing tip on its own.  First, let's review what constitutes a scene. Bear with me if you know this already. It's a short review. There are two kinds of scenes, and, confusingly one kind of scene is called Scene and the other kind of scene is called Summary. Think of them as Show and Tell. I know, you've heard it a million times to Show Not Tell. Mostly, that's right. The fact that Steve the AI tends to Tell rather than Show is one of the reasons purely Steve-generated stories sound more like a synopsis than a real story.  A Show scene is a detailed and immersive portrayal of a moment in the story that focuses on action, dialogue, and sensory details. Scenes usually involve characters interacting in a specific time and place and move the p...

Biafra was a short-lived state in eastern Nigeria that existed from 1967 to 1970. The name "Biafra" was derived from the Bight of Biafra, a bay in the Atlantic Ocean that forms the coastline of southeastern Nigeria.   The secessionist movement that led to the creation of Biafra was sparked by the perceived marginalization and discrimination of the Igbo people, who are the largest ethnic group in southeastern Nigeria. The Igbo had been politically and economically marginalized by the Nigerian government and were subjected to discrimination and violence by other ethnic groups in Nigeria.   In May 1967, the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, declared the secession of the region from Nigeria, and the formation of the Republic of Biafra. The Nigerian government rejected the declaration and launched a military offensive against Biafra, triggering a civil war that lasted for three years. The Biafran forces were initial...

  “In this video, we explore the exciting potential of GPT-5 and how it could transform the world we live in. As the next generation of AI language models, GPT-5 has the ability to understand and generate language at an unprecedented level of sophistication. From revolutionizing customer service to advancing medical research, we discuss the many ways in which GPT-5 could be applied to solve some of the world's most pressing challenges. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about the cutting edge of AI technology - leave a comment below with your thoughts on GPT-5 and subscribe to our channel for more updates on the latest developments in the world of AI! ” 0:27 app users 3:45 debate 4:15 experiments 5:08 v5 features 5:15 robot Halodi 7:42 plugins 9:53 balloons 10:02 waitlist 10:15 gloves, piranhas * I'm still waiting for my Housekeeping Robot.  Will ChatGPT-5 make it possible? This video is pretty excited, but I notice something odd about Robot Intellectual ...