The Human Harvest is coming – so say the doomsayers - by Vijaya Schartz

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Doomsayers have always been here, but this is a new one to me. As a science fiction author, I find it fascinating.

I recently came upon a claim (by Enki files), allegedly translated from ancient Sumerian tablets secreted away in locked backrooms of the British Museum. It says that the human species is an alien experiment with an expiration date, and our makers are returning to harvest us as soon as the total population of Earth reaches nine billion humans… which should happen in about half a decade.

According to these tablets, dating thousands of years before Christianity, not all of us will be harvested, the records say, only those deemed worthy. The rest will be destroyed when the Earth is cleansed then reformed for the next experiment, which will not be human at all, but something more primordial.

Parts of this sound suspiciously like the rapture in Christian texts.

Will we soon face Armageddon, fighting aliens to prevent Earth’s destruction?

According to Enki Files, the top leaders of our world are aware of this.

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But here is where the texts diverge. According to these ancient records, these makers do not consider us as living entities in our own rights, but as mere vessels… but vessels for what? Enki Files says the texts are incomplete, many tablets are missing, damaged, or in some places unreadable, which allows for misinterpretations and mistakes.

Still. For a science fiction author, the very notion is fascinating. From the perspective of a limitless universe populated by advanced alien races, why not?

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Is this why some world leaders are pushing AI advances, even though we know it could replace or even kill us all? Is there a secret plot from the most powerful leaders of Earth to face that harvest and the following Armageddon with AI weapons to defend our very existence?

Do I believe this? I believe the ancients who recorded it believed it strongly enough to carve it in stone and preserve it in their library for future generations.

It makes me curious. What would be the end of the journey for mankind? What would we become? As vessels, what would we contain?

Each day I am surprised by the depth of thought of our ancestors. Writing science fiction and fantasy allows me to build on their recorded mythology to create a populated universe, and stories that resonate in all of us, because they are part of our faraway past.

Enjoy the reading.

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Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author

Kick-butt Sci-fi Heroines, cats, romantic elements

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One of Canadian Attractions--The Bay of Fundy by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

https://books2read.com/Road-Tripping-Southern-Alberta

Amazon US: https://us.amazon.com/Road-Tripping.../dp/B0GNJFDZMF

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Road-Tripping.../dp/0228639352

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../road.../1149544339...

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I began my writing career as a travel writer, switched to fiction writing for many years and am now back to being a travel writer again. All of my articles and books have been set in Canada, which is where I live. Roadtripping Southern Alberta is my latest travel book and, as its title suggests, is about what there is to see and do in Southern Albera. But I have travelled across Canada and learned much about its exciting and varied history and have seen many of its attractions.

Today I’d like to describe my husband's and my visit to the Bay of Fundy situated between the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The Bay has the highest tides in the world and was formally designated one of North America’s seven wonders of nature in February, 2014. (The others are Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, Mount McKinley, the Everglades, and Yosemite National Park).

       From Moncton, New Brunswick, we drove south on Route 114 to Hopewell Cape and the Hopewell Rocks, arriving in the afternoon. It was low tide so after we paid, Mike accepted the cart ride offered while I decided to walk the trail to the Rocks. I arrived at a viewpoint overlooking the ocean floor and the reddish rock structures.  Mike and I took the stairway down to the floor and wandered out among the tall formations. The ground was surprisingly solid with a few muddy areas.

       The Hopewell Rocks were originally a massive mountain range that was older than the Appalachians in the United States and bigger than the Rocky Mountains in Canada. Over millions of years the range wore down and after the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age, water seeping through cracks in the cliffs eroded the sedimentary and sandstone and separated the Rocks from the cliffs. The incoming and outgoing tides have eroded the base of the rocks at a faster rate than the tops and that has caused their unusual shapes. Those shapes and the vegetation growing on top have given the formations their nickname of the Flowerpot Rocks.

       Due to the tides, the Rocks are covered in water twice a day. Some visitors are able to see the high and low tides in one day but since the next high tide would be at night, Mike and I found a place to camp and returned to the Rocks the next morning. There is approximately six hours between low and high tide and the entrance fee covers a return visit to enable visitors to see the Rocks during both tides.

       Again, Mike took his ride and I walked. I reached the viewpoint and the change was astonishing. Just the tops of some of the rocks showed, the rest being under water. The tides can reach a height of 16 metres (52ft), which is as high as a four-storey building, twice a day. I walked down part of the stairs but the rest was blocked off to the public because they were under water. High tide is a good time to take a kayak tour and three kayakers were paddling around the formations.

       After seeing all the water and the partial formations, it was hard to believe that just the day before I had walked on the floor of the bay. It was an amazing experience.

The Minnesota Mystery Night by Dean Hovey

Last night I was the guest of honor at the Minnesota Mystery Night September celebration. It's a truly humbling experience to be interviewed in front of eighty mystery fans. Some were old friends, others were a regular crowd who also showed up when William Kent Krueger (author of the Cork O'Connor series) and Craig Johnson (author of the Longmire series) were interviewed earlier this year. My interviewer, author Brian Lutterman, is an old friend and we had a comfortable discussion about books, characters, plots, writing, editors, and publishers. I love talking about books. A lot of our time was spent discussing "Death in Darkness", its setting in Jewel Cave National Monument, and the series which involves my US National Park Service investigators flying around the country to solve suspicious deaths on Park Service properties. Brian" "You dress in khaki pants and a golf shirt just like your main character. Are you Doug Fletcher?" Dean: "Absolutely not! Doug is younger, smarter, and better looking." Brian: "But Doug's a bit cynical, irreverent, and uses dialogue that sounds like you." Dean: "Let's say that Doug and I share a lot of views about policing, people, horses, poisonous snakes, and politics. We are both from the Twin Cities. so our voices sound midwestern with a touch of Fargo-esque accent." And the interview went on for an hour. As an author, this tops my list of fun and enriching experiences. It always amazes me that people enjoy my books and can relate to my somewhat scarred protagonists. Many thanks to Bob Junghans, Brian Lutterman, and the staff at Lucky's Pub. It was an honor and privilege to be your guest.

The Uncomfortable, Awkward Crinoline, (what women put up with), by Diane Scott Lewis

 

Allure of the Crystal Palace will be available in November.    

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Writing about a woman thrust back in time to 1851, I needed to describe the clothing she would have to wear. Clothing totally foreign to her. In 1851, women's dresses were pushed out to unbelievable widths by an undergarment called a crinoline. How would any of us manage such a change?

My time-traveler, Keely, cringes at going from short clingy skirts to huge bell-shaped gowns. The gown bounces around her, bumping into everything. She feels like a ship swaying on the sea as she walks. 

It was invented to rid women from wearing heavy layers of petticoats. Why not just reduce the number of petticoats, I wonder? Keely decides to cut hers down, alter her gowns, and risk being ridiculed.

The first crinolines were made of horsehair, then wood, and in 1856, steel. Keely must figure out how to sit in them, and in her case, run.

The steel hoops were flexible, suspended by fabric tapes. But the fashion was awkward. Women in their homes put their knick-knacks up high to protect them from the billowing skirts. The garments certainly kept any suitors at bay.

Working women sometimes caught theirs on fire and were burned to death.

Magazine and newspaper writers mocked the style. One such article said women had to remove their crinolines and hang them on the side of the omnibuses before boarding. No proper Victorian woman would have done this, thus showing her underwear in public.

By the end of the 1860s, the fashion declined, to be replaced by the bustle in the 1870s.

The bustle only pushed out the skirt in back. Still not very practical.

To find out more about me and my books.

                    

Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with one naughty dachshund.

How do you celebrate birthdays? ...by Sheila Claydon

 Find my books here

It's my husband's birthday today and, when asked what he wanted, he said he didn't want anything.  Of course he didn't get away with that because I had already decided that a few of his clothes needed updating! Our children, somewhat at a loss, have opted for a celebratory restaurant meal and a bottle of wine, while grandchildren have sent biscuits and chocolate and messages. 

Why didn't he want anything? At 85 he still has his health, good friends, a close knit family and enough money for a comfortable life, so doesn't want anything else. Having travelled a great deal both for work and, after retirement, for pleasure, he no longer wants the experience of airport queues, long flights and  unfamiliar beds. His pleasure now is a countryside dog walk, an evening with friends or family, a game of cards, sport on TV or a good film. Many of our slightly younger friends are also veering towards this way of thinking even if some of them haven't quite got there yet. A reduced life maybe, but contentment is a priceless gift.

Today has made me think about birthdays however. With a Chinese daughter-in-law and therefore an Eurasian granddaughter, I already knew other cultures celebrated differently. Whereas we give her a birthday card and presents, and help with birthday parties, her Chinese grandparents and other relatives give her red envelopes. These contain crisp new notes and are a symbol of good luck for the year to come. Another Chinese tradition is to slurp down longevity long noodles without breaking them, as a symbol of a long life.

Because of our travels we have also experienced birthday celebrations in other cultures. In Australia small children eat fairy bread. This is white bread spread with butter and topped with coloured sprinkles. Not the healthiest, but greatly enjoyed.

In Denmark the 'cake' is a pastry shaped as a person. It is decorated with candy, icing and liquorice, and known as the cake lady. She comes to a rather traumatic end when the birthday boy/girl decapitates her while the guests all scream at the top of their voices. As the Danes regard their national flag as a symbol of happiness and celebration, cakes, party tables and even front doors are also often festooned with replica flags.

In Mexico there is a long history behind the birthday tradition of splitting the piñata. This is a brightly coloured shape, traditionally seven-sided, but nowadays also made in many different shapes, that is hung up, often on a tree branch but sometimes indoors. Formed variously from cardboard, foil, clay, or papier-mache it is filled with candies, lollipops chocolates and small plastic toys. At the party it is attacked by blindfolded children who take turns to swing at it with a stick. This happens immediately before cutting the cake while guests sing traditional songs. When the piñata splits the contents scatter across the floor and are scooped up by the excited children.

Thailand has a very different take on birthdays, regarding them as a time to give not to receive. Wishing to gather good karma for the coming year they give out alms, buy birds and fish captured for slaughter and release them back into the wild, and also honour their parents with gifts for the sacrifices they have made. They also traditionally wear their birth day colour, which is associated with whichever day of the week they were born.

India is similar in that, with the birthday boy or girl dressed in new clothes, the whole family might visit a temple with offerings of prayers and flowers. Other religious rituals are part of the day, including honouring parents and warding off the evil eye. However, western style birthday cake is also eaten but in a very different way. The first bite is fed directly into the mother or father's mouth by hand. The parents then feed a bite back and this hand-feeding ritual continues with close family and friends.

Unsurprisingly, Italian birthdays are a time of great family celebration. Particularly important is the traditional dessert of a fruit-topped tart or layers of puff pastry with cream. Equally important is the tradition of immediately opening gifts rather than waiting until the end of the party. And then there is the ear pulling, where family and friends pull the birthday person's ear lobe once for every year of their life. Hard on the ear but a wish for a long and prosperous life.

So many different traditions, such different food, and yet I imagine that every small and not so small child experiences the same level of excitement when they wake up on their birthday morning. 

The cover of my book Double Fault does not look very celebratory but with two-year old twins helping celebrate an almost forgotten birthday that culminates in the big showdown that is integral to the happy ending, it's another sort of celebration. Birthdays can be many things.