Why Would Someone Think This Is A Good Idea

The full rotation of the Moon as seen by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

As someone currently spite-writing the second draft of a project...this fills me with such a sense of purpose and inspiration. XD

What inspired you to write Young Wizards? A relative, a dream you had? Did the story come to you as you were writing it, or was it hammered from bits and pieces of thoughts made plain on text? Were there parts you struggled with, parts that came easier than others? (Have you already answered these questions in an interview you can link to?)

What inspired me to write So You Want To Be A Wizard?

Partly humor. Partly rage. (More about both under the cut...)

The subject's come up in interviews every now and then, but let's tl:dr; it here.

The humor: Often enough while I was nursing, and seeing the bizarre things people would do to their own bodies, I wished out loud to other fellow professionals that human beings came with some kind of instruction manual. Now, I'd known the "So You Want To Be A…" series of (US-published) career books from my childhood. One day when I was thinking about them—and for no reason I can understand at this end of time—the word "…Wizard" plugged itself onto the end of the title template.

Instead of a simple instruction manual for people, I found myself considering what a wizard's manual would look like. Where would it come from? Who would it have come from? Might it, itself, be an entirely bigger manual than the one I'd been joking about—but the full instructions and background material you'd need for (maybe) understanding life, but (definitely) doing magic? A book as big or as small as you needed for the work in hand, and full of the answers to questions you never thought you'd get answers to? ...

From that basic concept, the wider concept of wizardly culture built itself up over the next couple of years. ...Naturally I'd read Le Guin's "Earthsea" books years before, and I'd noted (but decided to pass on) the concept of a school-for-wizards. While it was interesting enough, it'd already been done by a writer far more skilled. What interested me more was a DIY-ish approach, where you learn by yourself, do things that interest you, and join up with other like-minded practitioners when the mood moves you or circumstances require.

Anyway, now comes the rage. While all this was percolating in the background, I was finishing up a YA series by another writer. When I hit the end of it, I was profoundly upset by the events of the series’s closure. They seemed to me to have treated strong and resilient young characters as helpless creatures without agency, subjecting them “for their own good” to an amnesic end-state they absolutely didn’t deserve. I got mad about this. I dove into the writing of the first Young Wizards book with the intention of treating my young characters a whole lot better—since if there was anything I knew about kids from my nursing, it was that a lot of them were tougher than many of the adults around them.

Once I was started, the writing went straightforwardly from book’s beginning to book’s end (because as I was already a screenwriter, and screenwriters outline, the novel was naturally outlined too). The writing took about six months, as right then I was also writing for Scooby and Scrappy-Doo to pay the rent. I turned in the book and didn’t think much more about what might happen next (though I knew there was quite a lot more story to tell) until I ran into Madeleine L’Engle at some event of my publisher’s. She took me aside and said, “I read your last one. I liked it a lot! When’s the next?”

That was when I realized I had a problem... so I got busy.  :) ...And I’ve been busy with the Young Wizards universe ever since. I’m busy with that universe right now, though it may not look like it. And I expect to be busy with it for years to come.

HTH!

Fibonacci you crazy bastard….

As seen in the solar system (by no ridiculous coincidence), Earth orbits the Sun 8 times in the same period that Venus orbits the Sun 13 times! Drawing a line between Earth & Venus every week results in a spectacular FIVE side symmetry!!

Lets bring up those Fibonacci numbers again: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34..

So if we imagine planets with Fibonacci orbits, do they create Fibonacci symmetries?!

You bet!! Depicted here is a:

2 sided symmetry (5 orbits x 3 orbits)

3 sided symmetry (8 orbits x 5 orbits)

5 sided symmetry (13 orbits x 8 orbits) - like Earth & Venus

8 sided symmetry (21 orbits x 13 orbits)

I wonder if relationships like this exist somewhere in the universe….

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Getting to Crossingscon: International travel

Hopefully people have started thinking about getting their travel documents in order, but how they’re actually getting to Montréal is still a big question. We’ve summarized some options on how to get to Crossingscon 2019, hopefully they help you figure out how you’ll be getting to con.

Driving to Montréal - what license do I need?

Travellers from the US do not need anything more than a valid driver’s license (learner’s permits are not sufficient) to drive in Canada. Travellers from any other country who intend to drive in Canada need a driver’s license from their home country, as well as an international driving permit (IDP) also obtained in their home country.

One important thing to note is that it is illegal to drive anywhere in Canada without car insurance, even for travellers. Make sure you bring proof of insurance with you if you are driving to Canada.

Getting to Montréal by air

The only international airport in Montréal is Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL). Montréal-Trudeau has frequent direct flights from many cities in the US and Canada, and a few direct flights from certain European cities. Many North American airlines have flights to Montréal, however Air Canada has by far the most.

Getting to Montréal by land

Being a somewhat remote city, there are only a few main arteries to get to Montréal. Most travellers coming from northern or north-eastern US will find themselves routed through one of New York, Albany or Toronto. For those considering routing through Toronto, there are several coach busses and train lines that will get you there from locations like Buffalo, Rochester and Detroit.

Travelling by bus

A few coach bus companies service Montréal, notably Greyhound, TrailwaysNY, and the Canadian branch of Megabus. Both Greyhound and Trailways have similar routes, starting in New York and making stops in Albany and Plattsburgh before crossing the border. There is a Megabus route from Toronto to Montréal, however travellers from the US will need to find some way to get to Toronto first.

Travelling by train

There are two main train lines of interest for travelling to Montreal, the Amtrak Adirondack route (NYC-Montréal), and the Toronto-Montréal VIA rail route. The Adirondack train runs daily and the VIA multiple times a day, however it’s worth noting that the Adirondack train is substantially slower than several coach bus options (11.5 hours versus 9).

Getting to Montréal by worldgate

Unfortunately the closest major gating complexes are located in Toronto and New York, as Montréal doesn’t quite have the population for gates to spawn naturally. Travellers who are planning to worldgate will need to perform their own transport spell, or use one of the more mundane forms of transport after reaching Toronto or New York.

Getting to the venue after arriving in Montréal

The Montréal-Trudeau airport is a little bit outside of the city; the best route in is the 747 shuttle which makes a stop just outside the Hyatt Regency, where the con will be held.

The Greyhound and TrailwaysNY bus lines will drop you off at the Berri-UQAM bus station, a 10 minute bus ride on bus 15 to the Hyatt.

The Megabus as well as VIA and Amtrak trains will drop you off at Montréal’s Central Station (Gare Centrale), which is a 10 minute bus ride on bus 150 to the Hyatt.

CrossingsCon ’19 will take place June 21-23 2019, at Hyatt Regency Montreal, Montreal, Canada. Badges are on sale here!

WHY ARE PEOPLE NOT MORE EXCITED ABOUT SPACE. THERE IS A PLANET MADE COMPLETELY OUT OF DIAMONDS AND A HUGE ASS RAIN CLOUD FLOATING AROUND IN SPACE THAT IS SO FUCKING COOL.

(cont) Are these timeline issues fixed in the New Millennium Editions? And if you have a corrected timeline, could you post it here? Thank you!

Fixing the timeline issues was one of the main purposes of the NMEs. So I think it’s safe to say that yes, those issues have been fixed.

No, I don’t have a timeline as such. The general progression of the New Millennium editions, though, is given in the “time fix” at the start of each book. So it goes like this:

So You Want to Be a Wizard: May 2008

Deep Wizardry: July 2008

High Wizardry: August 2008

A Wizard Abroad: Mid-July through early August, 2009

The Wizard’s Dilemma: Late September, 2009

A Wizard Alone: January 2010

Wizard’s Holiday: April 2010

Wizards at War: Late April / early May 2010

A Wizard of Mars: Late June 2010

…Hope that helps. :)

I’m upset because I want to change the world but the world is too big and people are too mean

My friend made a uquiz that assigns you a whale species. Take it. Take it now.

"Don't be afraid to make corrections. Don't be afraid to lend a hand. And don't look down."

-- Peach (Machu Picchu); So You Want to Be a Wizard, by Diane Duane