That's Deceptive

Last week, my condo might have been "brushed" by someone other than the janitor, and I learned a new naughty word. Two packages arrived, addressed to strangers.

Phishing, smishing, quishing and now, brushing...   initially, this blog's AI host assumed (if bots are capable of assuming) that I do not know those words, and tries repeatedly to change them. If I meant to write violently about smashing and squashing, I should have chosen my words accurately.

I do hate being "helped" by force! I've noticed that I write more and more gibberish these days, making proof-reading of emails more important than ever, which takes more time and is a total annoyance.

Quishing is QR code phishing. Smishing is Text message phishing. Now, there's brushing. The point of brushing seems to be a form of identity theft for the purpose of penning fake reviews using a brushing victim's fair name and good reputation.

This is BRUSHING, as explained by the United States Postal Service. Some of these unsolicited packages of cheap goodies may include a card with a QR code on it. Scan the QR code, and you might end up on a fake site that looks trustworthy, and you might enter banking or credit card information. Or, you might click a link and download malware.

Apparently, if you click "Unsubscribe" on an unsolicited email, you might also unwittingly download malware. Trickery has come a long way since the Trojan Horse. Now one has to beware of GEEKS, not Greek, leaving gifts.

There's an allegedly deceptive TV advertisement for a domestic cleaning service that bothers me a lot, and I cannot understand why it hasn't fallen afoul of the authorities. I was taken in. I signed up for a clean home for $19 and discovered that I was committed to monthly cleanings at $80+ each for the next six months, with automatic renewal, and moreover, laundry, window cleaning, fridge cleaning (and much more) cost extra per hour at the hourly rate of the cleaning personnel. And then, there were tips....

Legal blogger Jeff Greenbaum of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC writes about a weight loss program that has recently been fined for not disclosing that a monthly membership fee did not include the cost of weight loss medication or the costs for doctors and labs, or the fact that the monthly subscription was for 12 months with additional costs to get out of the commitment.

https://advertisinglaw.fkks.com/post/102kt0w/ftc-charges-telemedicine-company-with-deceptive-marketing-of-weight-loss-products#page=1

As with "brushing", allegedly deceptive online reviews were involved in the enterprise, and also it was alleged that actual customers who posted bad reviews were given incentives to remove or change their bad reviews... or disincentives --such as denial of any refund that might be due-- if the bad review stayed up.

Discussing a fintech company that allegedly deceived customers by charging recurring subscription fees without the customers' express consent, legal bloggers for Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLPA. J. Dhaliwal,  Mehul N. Madia, and Maxwell Earp Thomas write here:

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b869d852-50d5-4f93-9b2a-7b668b698a8c

Allegedly, clients might have been led to believe that services were free and interest-free (which sounds too good to be true). Watch out for "free trials"! If you cancel a service, even with a reputable company, double check that your cancellation is verified.

Finally, as the saying goes, if it is almost too good to be true, it's not true. Those "DOGE money" texts and emails are scams, too.

All the best,

Rowena Cherry 

SPACE SNARK™ http://www.spacesnark.com/  http://www.rowenacherry.com

EPIC Award winner, Friend of ePublishing for Crazy Tuesday   

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells

by Karen S. Wiesner 

 

This first edition cover (UK), frankly looks like something the author's kid might have created with crayons. We've come a long way, baby. 

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

It's hard to imagine the classic horror novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells, is 128 years old. It was first published in 1896 and, oh, how it has stood the test of time! This story serves as our earliest depiction of "uplift", which is a science fiction motif where an advanced race intervenes in evolving an animal species to a higher level of intelligence. 

The Island of Dr. Moreau starts with a scientifically trained Englishman named Edward Prendick surviving a shipwreck in the Pacific Ocean. After being rescued by a passing ship, he's cared for by a man named Montgomery. There, he meets who he assumes is Montgomery's manservant, M'ling, a grotesque bestial native. The ship is transporting a variety of animals to Montgomery's destination--the island of Dr. Moreau, his employer. Once they arrive, Prendick is forced off the ship by the captain, and Montgomery agrees that he can stay temporarily, though few ships pass the island. 

It isn't long before Prendick recalls who Dr. Moreau is--formerly a promising, respected physiologist who was forced out of the scientific community once his gruesome vivisection experiments were exposed. Moreau has all but disappeared in the 11 years since. 

Hearing the screams of the doctor's tortured patients on two early occasions, Prendick is driven by compassion out of the enclosed compound into the jungle. There, he begins to piece together the true horror of what's being done on this remote island. He discovers a colony of half-human/half-animal creatures living in the jungle. They're led by a creature called the "Sayer of the Law". They recite over and over their law, given to them by Moreau, their maker, which prohibits bestial behavior: 

Not to go on all-fours; that is the Law. Are we not men?

Not to suck up Drink; that is the Law. Are we not men?

Not to eat Fish or Flesh; that is the Law. Are we not men?

Not to claw the Bark of Trees; that is the Law. Are we not men?

Not to chase other Men; that is the Law. Are we not men? 

When I was a kid and watched the 1977 movie version of this book, the ritualistic chanting made quite an impression on me. It shocked and horrified me that Moreau made them obey his laws or he'd severely punish them by sending him to the House of Pain. To be so far removed from those he's, in one perspective, fathered, to feel so little regret or sorrow for their condition, was inconceivable to me, even at that young age. 

Moreau later admits that these "Beast Folk" weren't formerly men but animals he's operated and experimented on in hopes of transforming an animal completely into a human. With each new subject, he wants to believe he's getting closer to perfection, yet each time they revert to their animal form and behavior eventually. 

The balance in this fragile environment begins to erode with Prendick and his intact sense of morality (something Moreau lacks entirely and Montgomery has been losing steadily, at the cost of his own sanity, all these years) pushing it toward the edge. Seeing Prendick's rebellious behavior toward Moreau and Montgomery, the beasts soon begin retaliating for all their years of pain and suffering at the hands of the true monster in their midst. 

To put this story into the context of the time period it was published, note that in 1896, the possibly of humanity's degeneration was being discussed fervently in Europe. That's a whole 'nother subject that can be embarked upon at the reader's leisure and level of interest aside from this review. However, suffice it to say that several groups rose in opposition of animal vivisection on the basis of the topic, and The Island of Dr. Moreau is the author's reflection on the ethical, philosophical, and scientific concerns and controversies of that time period, most especially inspired by the trial of Oscar Wilde. Wells said in his preface to his collected works that The Island of Dr. Moreau embodies an ideal but otherwise "has no allegorical quality". Sure, whatever. 

Whatever the case, it's just plain a fantastic story of horror and, like Frankenstein, takes the concept of showing the monster being more the ideal of what man should be than the man himself, and, in that way, the man is the true monster. This is a story that I can't imagine anyone not finding compelling. Every part of it is perfectly developed. 

The Island of Dr. Moreau has inspired countless artistic endeavors, more than can be documented in this short review, but each of these is a testament to a story so compelling, even a century later, we're still influenced by the resonating message it proclaims. The countless films that have attempted to follow the book version are mainly all worthy of being watched at least, but it's the novel that, above all, shouldn't be missed. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Breaking Encryption

Cory Doctorow begins his latest LOCUS column with a discussion of technorealism and "nontechnical technothrillers":

Rubber-Hose Cryptanalysis

He deplores the "bad art" of the "laziness of treating computers as plot objects with no fidelity to the real world." Nowadays, he says, most SF readers will instantly recognize an unrealistic cryptography-hacking scene in a book or movie. Well, speak for yourself -- I wouldn't, but, then, hard SF isn't one of my favorite subgenres, and I know little more about computers than how to use them as magically enhanced typewriters. However, I'll take his word for the reactions of the tech-savvy audience.

In any case, fidelity to actual possibilities in the parts of a story intended to be realistic always produces better fiction. Even if readers have little to no familiarity with the science or technology essential to the plot, the action won't quite ring true if it's not accurate. Readers will usually sense when the author doesn't really know what he's doing but is "handwaving" details.

As Doctorow explains the current state of the art, modern ciphers are so impregnable to brute force that they couldn't be decrypted that way even within the lifespan of the universe. He cautions, however, that "just because well-implemented encryption can’t be attacked mathematically, it does not follow that your secrets are safe." Even if the cipher itself can't be "broken," the human user can. The criminals or the cops can torture the victim into revealing the vital password. The only thing stopping them is "the rule of law." And, ultimately, the only guarantee of the rule of law is the commitment of governments to respect it. Therefore, "authoritarianism represents an existential threat" in this area as in many others -- especially since our lives now depend on computers in so many ways.

Devising believable methods for villains to "break" encryption by tricking or forcing the information out of the protagonist unfolds endless potential for plot development through exploring characterization and the human element. In Doctorow's words, "Science fiction writers have only barely begun to plumb the many ways in which the flexibility and nondeterminacy of computers, combined with the fallibility of the people who use them, can be used to create high-stakes, high-suspense plotlines."

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: The Time Machine by H. G. Wells by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells was published in 1895 and is another story by this prolific author that's brilliantly passed the test of time. This forerunner of time-traveling fiction is as amazing now as it was in its own time period. A previous short story by Wells (1888's "The Chronic Argonauts", published in his college newspaper) was the foundation for the novella. 

I resisted reading The Time Machine for a long time because, as I said in my previous review of Timeline by Michael Crichton, I'm not a fan of time-travel fiction, which tends to be convoluted and dependent on too many elements having to converge at exactly the right moment or it simply won't work. In the case of 99% of these types of stories, I find the odds simply too astronomical for me to believe it's possible. And yet in every one of these stories, it does work. Impossibly. And, for the most part, stupidly. So I resisted this pivotal example of one of (the only two, in my opinion) the finest pieces of time-travel fiction available for a long time. Once I finally caved in and read it, it was nothing like I expected with elements of time-travel, yes, but also of horror and adventure, with a post-apocalyptic slant. 

Set in Victorian England (a time period I adore), a gentleman, scientist, and inventor identified only as the Time Traveller journeys into the far future and meets a small, "intellectually degraded", humanoid group called Eloi who live on the surface of the planet along with savage and simian Morlocks, underground darkness dwellers who only emerge at night to capture the Eloi. 

In the  story, the protagonist travels through time for a bit of adventure and goes right back out into other time periods using his machine after returning to tell his friends the tale of the Eloi and Morlocks. There is no deeper reason for his endeavors in creating and using this machine, but many since The Time Machine's publication have attempted to provide answers and justifications and sequels to this very brief story. I must say that I did actually enjoy the 2002 film version with Guy Pearce that gives the Time Traveller a deeply emotional reason for why he (a university professor and inventor) developed a time machine, as well as a name--Dr. Alexander Hartdegen. Follow-ups to the original story do hold appeal, but be sure not to miss the novella that started it all. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Animal Gender-Flipping

A list of some animals with reproductive patterns that deconstruct the male-female binary:

Animals That Can Change Their Sex

Many can switch from male to female or vice versa, depending on environmental or social conditions. (No mammals, though.) Famously, the clownfish, first on the list, reveals that Nemo's dad in the movie should have become his mother. Some animals are hermaphroditic, with both sexes in one body, or nonbinary. Some (e.g., the hawkfish) can even change back and forth rather than shifting to the opposite sex and sticking with it for life. Parthenogenetic species also exist, whose females can give birth without having their eggs fertilized by males. Humphead wrasse are females in youth but can change to males later in life.

Interestingly, Heinlein adopts this reproductive pattern for his Martians in STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. The fertile young -- "nymphs" -- are female. All fully mature Martians are male. Although only hinted at in RED PLANET and PODKAYNE OF MARS, apparently the Martians in those books have the same biology.

Such transsexual phenomena can't be classified quite the same as human transgender identity, since the physical changes are automatic in animals but voluntary in humans. Still, the examples mentioned, only a few among many, illustrate that life on Earth is stranger than we often realize. Consider the extreme sexual dimorphism of the anglerfish, where the male, much smaller than the female, attaches himself permanently to her body. He fuses with her so that he atrophies into simply a parasitic sperm cell producer.

For a deep dive, with copious references and statistics, into unconventional animal sexual behavior, check out the exhaustively thorough BIOLOGICAL EXUBERANCE (1999), by Bruce Bagemihl. He explores transsexualism, transvestism, parthenongenesis, and homosexuality, mainly the latter, in numerous species (mostly mammals and birds). The six chapters of Part I, "A Polysexual, Polygendered World," offer an overview of the field and refute arguments that have attempted to explain away homosexual behavior in nonhuman animals. Part II, "A Wondrous Bestiary," comprises a catalog of particular species observed to exhibit the behaviors discussed in Part I, with lists of sources for the information on each. The book's appendix, bibliography, endnotes, and index take up almost 100 pages.

Through natural phenomena such as these, we can find inspiration for bizarre alien reproductive biology without ever having to leave Earth.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Ama-Scam (and the 16 billion leaks)

It's not a great leap from Amazon scam, to Ama-Scam (not a word) to Abacab (also allegedly not a word) which is my ear worm for the last couple of days.

I particularly like the Moog synthesizer intro to Abacab by Genesis. I haven't thought about a Moog for donkey's years. I am assuming the instrument in question is indeed a Moog. Genesis is on the list as using it.

That song (Abacab) seems to be an anthem about lover's remorse and paranoia. The point-of-view character (sung by Phil Collins) has seduced the girlfriend of someone dangerous, and now he fears retribution, perhaps by suffocation after being wrapped alive in cellophane.

Dark! But, Mr. Collins had a number of dark and angry songs.

His opening stanza reminds me of the Apple "Flock" advertisement, with lyrics directing the listener to look at the wall, the floor, under the bedding, behind a door to notice disturbing details that are suggestive of surveillance.

Amazon isn't the worst, but Amazon did blast out a warning that well-informed scammers are crafting convincing emails with spoofed Amazon-sender-addresses. These spear phishing emails aren't just about frighteningly large purchases, but also plausible, month-end warnings about Prime subscriptions coming to an end, or being auto-renewed at an alarming new price.

Other sites warn that 16 billion Americans' email accounts, passwords, phone numbers, and personal details are for sale on the dark web. No wonder some of these texts and emails fool busy people! Also, while not absolutely illegal, data-brokers make a business out of violating privacy and endangering Americans' identity.

EFF writes about how some of these data brokers are slow walking consumer protection reforms and making it difficult to opt out.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/06/why-are-hundreds-data-brokers-not-registering-states

The most egregious tracking technique to spy on our web browsing might belong to "Meta".  It's "the Meta pixel". This tracking technique (allegedly) bypasses core security protections built into phones and browsers in pursuit of surveillance advertising. 

EFF explains what it is, how it works, why it is so sneaky, and how you can protect yourself.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/06/protect-yourself-metas-latest-attack-privacy?ref=jul2effector

Convenience is our downfall. We should never click a link in a text or email (unless we are sure that it was shared by a trusted friend.) Apparently, even the standard "Unsubscribe" text link is not safe to use! 

If no one responded to targeted advertising, or cleared a browser and went to find a wanted product through a direct website visit, perhaps surveillance advertising would not be profitable, but there is little chance of that!

On the upside, I have a family member who is fascinated by videos of blacksmiths treating pus-filled, abscessed cow hoofs. So far, I have not seen a single sidebar advert for blacksmith tools or farm animal veterinary products. 

All the best,

Rowena Cherry

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Riptide by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Riptide by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

by Karen S. Wiesner 

 

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

Riptide by authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child was published in 1998, one of their first collaborations. While I generally avoid pirate books (notably, I didn't care for Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes either, though I generally read everything I can get from him), I can't deny I love the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. This particular story had a bit more to it than I anticipated and I was intrigued by it, in large part because of all the puzzles the island throws at the main characters, making them a lot like the Lara Croft series I love in any form. The authors themselves describe Riptide as "a fictional tale of suspense, terror, and mystery…based on research into such eclectic subjects as buried treasure, high-seas piracy, 17th century espionage and cryptology, forensic anthropology, as well as the latest high-tech tools of today's treasure hunters." On their website, they listed some of them on a separate page related to the book, for those who want all the details. 

The story in Riptide follows a plot to retrieve the buried treasure of a nefarious pirate, Red Ned Ockham. Not only is the stash reputed to be worth billions of dollars but it supposedly includes a cursed sword that will kill anyone who so much as looks at it. The story takes place on a fictional and dangerous island off the coast of Maine. In part, the story is modeled after the legend of the Oak Island Money Pit (called the Water Pit here), a real-life place that's become famous for numerous theories and attempts to discover buried treasure. 

Malin Hatch is the main character, and the accident when they were little kids (Malin was five) that led to him losing his older brother opens the book. This event is the catalyst for his attempts 25 years later to return to the island his family owns. Unfortunately, the high-tech salvage team--one that has its own motives--he accompanies to the island quickly learns that the island's curse may not be all legend and superstition. Mysterious accidents, illnesses, and tech issues plague them as they try to discover the secrets behind the architecture of the Water Pit. 

The characters are extremely well-drawn and compelling and the settings are realistic to the point that you can almost see everything, as if you're watching a movie. Speaking of which, this story would make an incredible one with nail-biting suspense and a plot that just won't quit. There was talk of it in 2003 but, as far as I know, nothing came of it. I guess I'll just have to read the book again, something I encourage readers who like Indiana Jones/Lara Croft and Captain Jack Sparrow/Barbossa type characters featured in the same story to pick up as well. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Bad Advice for Writers

Searching on this topic recently, I came upon two thought-provoking lists (doubtless two among many). The general message of both is that aspiring writers shouldn't unreflectively accept any rigid "do" or "don't" as absolute and universal. As one might expect, I agree with many of the items, disagree with a few others, and have a "yes, maybe, but. . ." reaction to some.

On the Wordling Website:

Writing Tips to Disregard

On the Squibler website:

19 Pieces of Terrible Writing Advice

Not surprisingly, both lists object to the once-common decree, "Write what you know." The better version of this advice I've come across is, "Know what you write." In other words, if youre inspired by a story idea that includes elements you're not familiar with, research them in depth. As has often been remarked, if we could write about only things we know firsthand, fantasy and science fiction wouldn't exist. Historical fiction would be severely hampered, too.

To the advice that an author must write from experience, Henry James in "The Art of Fiction" explores what's meant by "experience." Does that maxim restrict writers only to their own personal experiences? James refutes this claim with the famous remark, "Try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost!” His detailed explanation of that point can be found on page 5 of this PDF:

The Art of Fiction

One item on Squibler's list that I agree is terrible advice: "Don't use adverbs." That's almost as silly as the admonition I once read somewhere, "Avoid prepositions." What parts of speech should we ban next? Adjectives? Pronouns? Definite articles?

The Wordling list includes "Good writing is rewriting" as a fallacy; the Squibler page lists "Avoid rewriting." It seems obvious neither maxim qualifies as an unbreakable rule. It depends on the work and the experience level of the writer. I'd say rewriting is sometimes desirable, even necessary. Obsessively rewriting the same piece over and over, however, I'd usually advise against. A bestselling author, one of my own favorites, warns aspiring writers that they'll have to go through multiple drafts of their first novel, maybe ten or more. If I'd been told that at the age of twenty and believed it, I would have given up in despair. On the other hand, I wouldn't wholeheartedly embrace Heinlein's famous "rule" to "never rewrite except at editorial order." Suppose you love that character or story idea and won't feel satisfied until it's brought to life on the page or screen? Having become a dedicated outliner, I revise thoroughly but never actually rewrite in the sense of overhauling the whole thing. That part of the process happens in the outlining stage. Likewise, I agree with Wordling that it's counter-productive to PLAN on producing bad first drafts.

I completely agree with Wordling's position that "Write first thing in the morning" would be an absurd burden to take on as an inflexible "rule." Writing mavens who promulgate that notion are either morning people (a species alien to me) or under the influence of the venerable American belief that getting up early is a sign of virtue and sleeping late but staying awake long into the night is, if not quite evil, somehow a sign of disorganization or laziness. Write at whatever time of day you can fit it in and summon up the most enthusiasm.

The one item on that blog I heartily disagree with: The author's skepticism about critique groups. Of course, no writers MUST join a critique group if it doesn't work for them. However, I've consistently found such groups more helpful than not. Sure, it's best to participate with other people whose proficiency level fairly closely matches your own, rather than very more or less advanced. But no matter the other members' level of experience and knowledge, they can provide the valuable function of "another pair of eyes." We know what we meant to convey in a certain passage, but will the reader understand it that way? Any comments can show us where we've missed our target.

Until I read the paragraph under the heading, "Keep submitting until they publish you," I wasn't sure what Wordling meant by citing it as bad advice. Their message turns out to be a recommendation to try self-publishing if traditional publishers keep rejecting a particular work. What I'd expected, though, was the equivalent of some professionals' negative comments on selling or giving stories to low-paying or nonpaying markets. This version of "know your own value" (which I assume it to mean) strikes me as misplaced pride. If you've tried every possible pro market for a short story without success, and you still believe it reflects your best work, which is preferable? Hide it in a file -- paper or electronic -- never to be seen by anyone, or get it published for nominal or no pay where at least it will be read? I'm strongly in favor of the latter. Some readers of that niche market might seek out your other fiction, earning money for you in the long run, or, if nothing else, that publication will grant you the pleasure of knowing people have enjoyed your work.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Pon My Word

Upon my word! Ten years --thank goodness-- after I was traditionally published with a concept of "rut rage" in my futuristic romance series, Star Trek introduced Pon Farr, which sounds a little bit similar but not the same because "mate or die" heroic motivation did not occur to me.

I did not watch Amok Time, but I used to believe that amok refers to rogue elephants' bad-tempered mating rage. (Now, I know better.... or at least, differently.)

Do you ever wonder how Pharma companies decide on names for their products? We all know of a car company that named a car model "Doesn't Go" and was widely ridiculed.

What about a drug for a serious mental condition that is named after an uncontrollable (sexual) inflammation affecting humorless aliens (Pon) and Russian organized thieves who reject authority (Vory)?

I would not have thought to have a go at this product's name, if not for the fact that their advert (see text link for Pharma) got my goat grammatically speaking, because the voice-over talent creates a word that never was, and never should be.

"Relapsing" is the written word. "Re-elapsing" is what the voice talent clearly says.

If AI is trained by everything published, AI is going to absorb this abomination and validate it. It's not the same thing as a politician who confuses "perpetrate" and "perpetuate" during an unscripted interview.

https://www.grammarly.com/commonly-confused-words/perpetrate-vs-perpetuate

There are some Pon Farr stimulated behaviors that might be perpetrated, but would most likely be physically impossible to continue perpetually (without taking a break every four hours).

Even lions, which can mate up to 100 times a day, only do so every ten minutes... source "internet searches"... which would count as "continual" but not "continuous".

Which leads me to recommend this Grammarly guide to commonly confused words: https://www.grammarly.com/commonly-confused-words

All the best,

Rowena Cherry
SPACE SNARK™ https://www.spacesnark.com/ 

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Mount Dragon by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Mount Dragon by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

by Karen S. Wiesner 

  

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. 

Mount Dragon by authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child was published in 1996, their second collaboration. In the vein of Michael Crichton, this technothriller takes existing technology and extrapolates all the horrible places it could go if left unchecked in the hands of madmen. 

Two researchers, Guy and Susana are employed by GeneDyne Corporation, stationed at the Mount Dragon facility in New Mexico, and a hormone that's been engineered to prevent the flu goes horribly wrong. The virulent disease that results and spreads rampantly, not surprisingly, could have been prevented. Guy and Susana discover that their predecessor was driven mad by his work on the virus. Other so-called accidents have also occurred and been hushed up in the time since. Only they can stop a planet-wide epidemic from leaving Mount Dragon, but those who own GeneDyne will stop at nothing to continue their experiments. Note that the authors include on their website a final chapter to Mount Dragon that didn't make it into the book. 

The inspiration for the story was best described in an interview posted on the authors' website, in which they talked about "genetically-engineered tomatoes, or milk produced from cows that have been given growth hormones... ...things like that are just the tip of the iceberg. ...Imagine 'improving' something like cholera or plague so that it's even more deadly. Or...tweaking diseases so they home in on the hereditary differences of certain groups of people. It's a truly, truly scary thought." 

Something I love is that these two authors are always trying to make connections between all their books, regardless of whether they're standalone or series titles. The hacker Mime in Mount Dragon also appears in the Pendergast Series and devices created by GeneDyne are also mentioned there. 

If you like nail-breaking suspense stories with intriguing characters set in memorable places, this one has all the ingredients to satisfying your cravings. Personally, I can't get enough of books like these, whether they're written by Michael Crichton, Robin Cook, Andy Weir, Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, or these two guys Preston and Child separately or together. If you feel the same, this is one to put on your list of must-reads. 

Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Rewriting Memories

Well, sort of. A neuroscientist experiments with "zapping" brains to obliterate or at least modify negative memories:

Neuroscientist Rewrites Fear

Does the memory itself vanish? Not exactly, it seems -- how can we really know what mice remember, though? -- but the fear associated with it appears to be reduced or eliminated. Negative memories (specifically, of fear-inducing phenomena) are overwritten by pleasurable ones. If applicable to human subjects, this technique might be useful to treat PTSD.

The research draws upon the fact that "memory is dynamic, not static. Every recall subtly alters the memory itself." It's now known that, contrary to earlier beliefs, memories aren't stored in the brain like recordings that can be played back with perfect accuracy over and over. Hypnotism can't unearth reliable recall of forgotten events. Rather, it's at risk of distorting memories or even creating false ones. As revealed by research into "repressed memories" by psychologists such as Elizabeth Loftus, it's alarmingly easy to induce people to believe they remember events that never happened.

Elizabeth Loftus

Eventually, the capacity to "rewrite traumatic memory pathways" might become a viable clinical approach. But even if future research makes it possible to extrapolate these techniques from mice to human patients, we'd still be a long way from SF scenarios along the lines of TOTAL RECALL or the chilling TV series DOLLHOUSE. Implanting elaborately constructed alternative past experiences in people's minds may remain the stuff of imaginative fiction. We don't have to go that far, though, to run into ethical issues. "The notion of erasing or altering memories raises risks of misuse or identity manipulation. . . . When does a 'helping hand' in memory editing become undue influence? Who decides what deserves erasure or augmentation? How will society balance mental health advancement with autonomy and consent?"

Moreover, suppose human subjects do consent in advance to having their remembered pasts rewritten? If they regretted the decision later, would the process be reversible? The question also arises of how important past experiences, even traumatic ones, are to our core identities. If we really could have all our most unpleasant memories deleted, should we?

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager

by Karen S. Wiesner 

 

Final Girls was published in 2017, written by Riley Sager (pen name of Todd Ritter). Although this was the first book written under the author's pen name, it's one of the last I'm reading of his. It fits into a niche genre that includes psychological suspense thrillers characterized almost routinely by unreliable narrators, unexpected plot twists, and complex and usually immoral characters. Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, S.J. Watson, and Sager himself are the forerunners in this category. 

As you can imagine, this "slasher film" trope is based on the last character left alive to tell the tale. The premise of Final Girls stemmed from the author wondering what it would be like for girls who are the last to survive horrific events in which everyone else around them was murdered. He wondered if they thought about it every day, whether it was possible for them to forget such a thing, and if they can ever trust again. 

The heroine, Quincy Carpenter, was involved in such an event. Ten years ago, her and her college friends were on vacation at Pinewood Cottage. Everyone was massacred by a psychotic escapee from a nearby mental hospital. Quinn remembers little about this, and what she does remember is recalled in scenes interspersed with the current story. After the incident, Quinn involuntarily becomes part of an unofficial club of "Final Girls", so named by journalists and social media websites. Lisa Milner and Samantha Boyd also survived harrowing, similar situations. For the most part, Quinn has shunned not only the press but the other "group members". She's getting on with her life, blogging as a baker and committed to a boyfriend lawyer, her hang-ups from the past locked up in a drawer in her kitchen. Lisa commits suicide and, a few days later, Quincy finds a text from her, begging her to make contact. Not long after that, Lisa's death is rule a homicide, and the other Final Girl Sam shows up on Quincy's doorstep. What happens next is a whole lot of disjointed weirdness, doubts about everyone and everything in her life, and the endless red herrings that complicate (and sometimes overwhelm) stories like these. 

Unlike a lot of Sager's other novels that I've read (and reviewed previously on this blog), he didn't include anything vaguely supernatural in this particular one. While I love stories that blend a thriller with the paranormal, I didn't miss it too much in this story, which I thought was one of his best. While, yes, it's true that I'm going to complain like I always do about his books that this one was at least 150 pages longer than it really needed to be, it was an edge-of-the-seat story and I got so caught up in it, I forgot the cardinal rule of not taking anything the writer says at face value. While I was trying to figure out what devious twist he'd try to pull out of his hat at the last minute, Sager sneaked in the back door with something I should have been looking out for from the first. Clever. I love that he out-thought me. Very few fellow writers have that ability so I can give nothing but kudos to him for achieving it with this story. 

In the author's note in the back, he mentioned that his editor's enthusiasm for the book aided him in setting a personal best in speed writing. Stephen King gave Final Girls a mostly positive review but found it "hampered only by bad writing and lack of literary merit". Honestly, I didn't notice anything but an overinflated word count. The book won the International Thriller Writers Awards for best Hard Cover Novel in 2018, so it can't be too bad. Fans of the genre will no doubt find this one worthy. Talk of a movie based on the book was announced in November 2017 but I don't think anything ever happened with it. Incidentally, there were two 2015-released movies (one called Final Girl with Abigail Breslin and another called The Final Girls), neither written by Sager, as well as a 2021 novel, The Final Girl Support Group (by Grady Hendrix), with a similar premise. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Actors' Looks and Suspension of Disbelief

THE MUSIC MAN (1962) is one of my favorite musical films. (I just ignore the unlikelihood of a happily-ever-after for Harold Hill and Marian. Accustomed to a roving lifestyle, with no skills other than truth-bending salesmanship, will Harold contentedly settle as a domesticated married man in small-town River City?) A made-for-TV version in 2003 starred Matthew Broderick. The plot and songs closely followed the original; the main point of the remake, as I recall, was to feature younger actors. Much as I enjoy Robert Preston in the classic 1962 version, it's true he's slightly too old for the role as a suitable mate for Marian. Not to mention the chronological difficulty that he believably, albeit falsely, claims to have graduated from Gary Conservatory in 1905, and the story takes place in 1912. So he'd logically be in his late twenties at most. Viewers have to use a bit of imagination to accept Preston as that young. Furthermore, both Marian's mother and Mayor Shinn's wife in the original movie definitely look too old to have children the ages of Winthrop and the Shinns' youngest daughter.

The remake of SOUTH PACIFIC, a 2001 made-for-TV movie, poses a similar problem, differing in that way from the classic 1958 film. In the newer version, Glenn Close plays Ensign Nellie Forbush. For me, it takes severe suspension of disbelief to accept her as an ensign, a rank for a very young officer. More importantly, a major point in the relationship between Nellie and the French planter Emile focuses on the difference between their ages. Pairing an actor who plays Emile with a Nellie played by an actress who's close to his own age undercuts a vital element of the story. Their "Twin Soliloquies" duet highlights the incongruity with its theme of a romance between "older, sophisticated man" and "young, naive woman." Consider, too, GONE WITH THE WIND. From a perspective of cool realism Leslie Howard, in his mid-forties, was far too old to portray twenty-something Ashley Wilkes.

On the other hand, generations of audiences have accepted mature actresses in the role of teenage Juliet. In Shakespeare's day, of course, she and all female characters were performed by boys. Laurence Olivier played Othello in blackface. When SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION came out, I was taken aback to learn Morgan Freeman had the part of the narrator, Red, a redheaded Irishman in the novella. Minutes after the movie began, though, I was captivated by his performance and decided he was perfect in the role. After getting over the initial shock of the change in ethnicity (as for the nickname, the script justifies it as a shortening of his last name), I realized Red's race and physical appearance have no substantial impact on the story. (That is, provided one overlooks the anachronism of Black and white prisoners freely mingling during the era of the novella's setting.) Making Othello white, though, WOULD crucially change Shakespeare's plot.

So in my viewpoint making some characters' looks faithful to the source material does matter. In SUPERMAN adaptations, for instance, sooner or later Lex Luthor has to go bald. And everybody knows Lana Lang is a redhead. Even though it's a rather minor detail, the fact that she's played by dark-haired women in two TV series, SMALLVILLE and SUPERMAN AND LOIS, nags at me as just plain wrong. The actresses couldn't have dyed their hair or worn wigs?

Granted, the skill of the performer outweighs the ideal of absolute realism in physical appearance. Still, my personal feeling is that in the naturalistic mode of contemporary filmmaking, some serious attempt should be made to have characters, especially major ones, look "right." It's jarring when one deviates too far from her or his established and expected appearance.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Rumors and Ripple Effects

Last week, my blog post was suppressed, which is not unusual. I poke the AI bear like a short-sighted proctologist from time to time. The ripples from that-- an examination of the enduring brilliance of a British essayist--were minimal.

Angela Hoy blogged this week about terminal AI errors for authors who self-published on Amazon, and who were cancelled and lost their earned-to-date royalties on ebook sales for no reason and with no recourse (because their complaints went to a bot).

I should not have repined, if it had not seemed relevant as an introduction to an important post about the risks of sharing someone else's gossip, from the law firm Venable LLP, which firm I have not cited for some time.

https://www.closeupsblog.com/2025/06/when-gossip-becomes-defamation-liability-for-rumors-and-their-ripple-effects/#page=1

Legal bloggers Lee S. Brenner. Darya Kaboli Nejat, Sam Poursafar, and summer associate Paul S. Bernstein share excellent warnings and advice about second hand defamation in the highly digestible form of Q and A.

Informed by a decision in the case of Holzgraf v Lozier (brought in central Illinois), they conclude:

"The main point is that you do not need to be the original source of the rumor to be held responsible for its impact."

One can be liable for defamation if one tells another person in confidence, but should have foreseen that that other person would not keep a juicy story secret.

All the best,

Rowena Cherry 

SPACE SNARK™

http://www.spacesnark.com/  

http://www.rowenacherry.com

Karen S. Wiesner: {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci by Barrington Barber

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci by Barrington Barber

by Karen S. Wiesner

Leonardo Da Vinci has long been a fascination for me. An Italian polymath of the High Renaissance, his achievements as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect almost feel alien-like. In too many areas, he's just too far ahead of his time to have been relegated to the years of 1452 to 1519, where most of his radically advanced conceptions couldn't even be made in reality. But he and those who trusted him tried making many of them. I marvel that one person was given so many skills. Most theorists don't necessarily design their own projects even in blueprint, nor go on to actually building it. Either they don't have the skills, the materials, or the funding. But he did so much more than conceiving, designing, and construction. He also worked from the inside out, figuring out the inner workings of the human body, proving himself to be a revolutionary in medicine, science, art, and architecture.

How did one man come by all these incredible secrets? It's beyond believing or conceiving.

Barrington Barber gives us glimpses of the genius. I read this beautiful, gold-embossed, clothbound boxed set with reproductions of Da Vinci's work called The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci. The three volumes delve into his art, life, and work. I enjoyed the overview, marveled at his range and just how much the world owes to his advancements and innovations in such diverse areas. Who can compare to him in any of those disciplines? Even if anyone has gone beyond since, no one else can claim the discoveries he did in the mere 67 years he spent on this Earth…well, that we know of. 😁

My only complaint is one that goes for all biographies. The very last thing I ever want to know about anyone, especially those I admire, are details about their private lives. I learned far too much, things I really didn’t want to know about the man. In this one area, at least, Da Vinci was indeed mortal, fallible, and depressingly common. Sigh.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Find out more about her books and see her art here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Variations on Peter Pan

The Disney animated PETER PAN, to nobody's surprise I'm sure, softens and lightens the source material. Generations of children who've never read or viewed J. M. Barrie's book or play may have grown up imagining Neverland as a carefree realm of adventure offering sometimes scary thrills but no danger of permanent harm, where Peter will help you get home to your family in the end. The animated sequel does include a hint of one uncanny feature of Peter's character, his "out of sight, out of mind" tendency to forget people and events. Only a hint, though, which doesn't last long, when he -- like Captain Hook -- intially mistakes Wendy's daughter for Wendy herself. In the novel, he forgets enemies after killing them, and he doesn't remember Tinker Bell. Fairies have such short lives, after all, and there are so many of them.

In the live-action film HOOK, Peter Pan has become a man in our world and forgotten his past in Neverland. The movie focuses on recapturing the alleged magical joys of childhood. Barrie, however, describes children as "innocent and heartless." Peter Pan is innocent, not in the sense of being good, but of being oblivious to good and evil. People die in his Neverland. Not only does Peter blithely slay pirates, when Lost Boys start to grow up (which is forbidden) he "thins them out." I've always considered the concept of not wanting to grow up rather creepy, anyway. Have you ever met a real-life child who wasn't eager for adulthood?

What I think of as the fanfic impulse inspires writers to deconstruct and re-imagine works of fiction in order to answer questions left hanging, explore the viewpoints of characters not fully developed in the original, compose scenes and side stories that might have occurred offstage, speculate on what happened after "The End," or flip the script altogether for a fresh perspective. If we're fascinated by a story and its characters, we want more of them. If the author doesn't satisfy that desire, we sometimes try to do it for ourselves. I've just read THE ADVENTURES OF MARY DARLING, by Pat Murphy. As the title implies, it considers what Mary, mother of Wendy, John, and Michael, does after they vanish through the open window. Not sit around waiting and fretting! To rescue her children, she embarks on an Edwardian-era adventure from London to the other side of the world, returning to the island of Neverland where she, too, was taken as a child. Murphy's version of the tale envisions Peter Pan as, not a runaway child, but some sort of ancient nature spirit wearing the body and personality of a self-absorbed little boy. If a Lost Boy dies or leaves, Peter forgets and replaces him, giving new children the names of previous ones. Hence the island hosts a succession of multiple Curlys, Tootleses, Twins, etc. The Lost Boys are ragged, dirty, and more often than not hungry. (Peter, in keeping with his changeless existence, doesn't need to eat.) The author's afterword quotes several passages from Barrie's novel to illustrate the underlying grimness of Neverland.

A few of the many other revisits to Neverland: WENDY, DARLING, by A. C. Wise -- as an adult, Wendy returns to Neverland to rescue her daughter, Jane, who has been lured away by Peter Pan. In Wise's sequel, HOOKED, the pirate captain, who has "died a thousand times," repeatedly resurrected by Peter's magic, ends up in London and allies with Wendy. Christina Henry's LOST BOY portrays Captain Hook as a former friend of Peter, his very first Lost Boy, in fact, and traces their evolution from friends to enemies. Jody Lynn Anderson's TIGER LILY views Peter through the eyes of the title character, in love with him and threatened by the arrival of Wendy. THE CHILD THIEF, a dark novel by Brom (both a fantasy writer and an artist), reveals Peter's ulterior motive for offering lost or abused children a refuge in his faerie realm. PETER DARLING, by Austin Chant, especially captivated me; in this novel, Peter is Wendy, or vice versa. When Wendy outs herself as a boy named Peter, her parents naturally think he/she is deranged; the magic of Neverland allows him to live as his true self. The island, though, is far from a paradise, and here, too, Peter and Hook have a complicated relationship.

PETER PAN has never been one of my top favorites, because of the absurdity (as it seems to me) of the "not wanting to grow up" premise. I've always been attracted by its uncanny, dark aspects, though, as well as the strangeness of PETER PAN IN KENSINGTON GARDENS. Therefore, I'm intrigued by published "fanfic" that expands on various hints in the original and explores its world from different perspectives.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Shooting An Elephant

"Shooting An Elephant" by George Orwell is a powerful essay that was originally published in the compilation "Inside The Whale and Other Essays". It is a tale of ugliness, misunderstanding, alienation, enforced cruelty, and social (if not peer) pressure. 

It is well worth reading on many levels, and is probably relevant even today.

One aspect of peer pressure (in this account) is the effect on a policeman in a hostile environment of the expectations of a hostile populace on the decisions he makes. Either he submits to their expectations or he does not submit.
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/shooting-an-elephant/summary

After re-reading Orwell's essay, it seems to this author that--if a trial in the USA is only a fair trial if the jury is a jury of the defendant's peers-- then any trial of a policeman or policewoman, National Guard officer, Border Patrol officer, or ICE officer is only a fair trial by their peers if the jury consists of other law enforcement personnel... just as there is a separate legal system for the military.

George Orwell makes it clear that he did not want to shoot the elephant, did not consider shooting the elephant to be justified (but it was excusable because the elephant had stomped and skinned a coolie and thereby killed the unfortunate coolie).

The elephant's rage was apparently temporary. 

According to one internet commentator, elephants are deeply afraid of causing harm and possess a noble nature. Allegedly scientists have studied the elephant’s brain and discovered spindle cells—rare neurons also found in humans-- which are said to be associated with self-awareness, empathy, and complex social perception.

Spindle cells are also found in other primates to greater or lesser degrees, particularly Bonobo. Spindle cells are also associated with cancer.

Leonardo da Vinci is credited with the opinion that, “The elephant embodies righteousness, reason, and temperance.”

Before starting a new enterprise, some Hindus are said to pray to Ganesha, the Elephant-headed god of Beginnings, Prosperity, and Wisdom. Ganesha is the patron of intellectuals, authors, bankers, and scribes.

For more on elephants: https://www.britannica.com/animal/elephant-mammal/Reproduction-and-life-cycle

All the best,

Rowena Cherry 

SPACE SNARK™

https://www.spacesnark.com/  

https://www.rowenacherry.com