Lockmeupology: Query Quarrel

It's almost Friday where I live so I'm wishing everyone 
a great weekend before I crash. 

The forecast for the next two days is looking about the same for me: 

Write, write, rewrite, rewrite . . . 

Wish I could go see Henry Cavill's abs Man of Steel. *sigh*

Graphing Out Your Plot

Generating a plot graph is a great way to visualize your overall story. It's relatively quick and easy to do and can reveal problem areas in your story that feel flat or stagnant. You can later go back and decide if these areas could use a bit more action or emotion to avoid the "sagging in the middle" syndrome. 

For my graph, I decided to plot intensity over time, but I've seen graphs that use other labels like misery over time. Use what ever makes sense to you and your story. Before starting with my wip, I thought it'd be good practice to plot a story we all know and love, Cinderella. This is what I came up with:

:

It's pretty basic, but all the major plot points that matter to me are there. Remember, this is my interpretation and your graph of Cinderella (should you choose to do one) would look slightly different than mine. So what we see is a nice build of events (rising action) over the course of the story until we reach the climax in Act III followed by the dénouement (fancy word for outcome or settlement).  

Next, I tried the same technique on my wip. The monster  I've been working on for almost 3 years now. The one that's finally in the editing phase but that's still over 100K...  : /

Here is my result. 

My first reaction was, "Looks spiky." Act I seems pretty crazy yet by Act III, things seem to slow down with the exception of two huge spikes. But how does it compare with Cinderella?  Well, my dear Watson, lets find out:

Wow. 

Okay, let's analyze this real quick. 

The first thing I realized: I'm not writing no damn Cinderella story. (; 

Second, I may need to tone down some of my spikes (intense scenes) or at least spread them out a little better. Another thing I see is my need for more romantic elements, not just action points. The other huge difference is the dénouement.  I don't have one. But I already knew that. Is that okay? I don't know. The dénouement actually comes in book two. But as a first time author, this will probably make it harder to get published.  

So after thinking about this I naturally became pretty insecure about my writing and my story, again. On the one hand you have Cindy's blond hair and a perfect body plot with a nice crescendo we all know and love, and on the other hand, you have my wip. The one that looks like you'd get electrocuted if you try to read it. 





Have you ever done this kind of mapping? Has it helped? How do you visualize your story structure/plot? 

P for PHEROMONES: resistance is futile

I sat in a bar once with another insect geek entomologist drinking beer and we debated over termite pheromones for hours. Yes, anything is possible. The point is pheromones are fascinating! The problem lies in convincing normal people they are too, but here goes nothing…

FUN FACTS!

First, what is a pheromone? A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical that triggers a response in members of the same species. It’s a way of communicating information, sometimes over vast distances to other members. Most people are familiar with sex pheromones. A classic example is the sex pheromone emitted by certain female moths so potient it can attract a male from miles away. But what’s interesting is that there are all kinds of different types of pheromones. Here are just a few examples:

Alarm. This is the "We're under attack, CHARGE!" pheromone. Alarm pheromone is released by bees in the form of isoamyl acetate when it stings. This marks the victim as a potential threat and will draw other bees to attack. You don’t want to walk around a beehive with a ripe bananna in your hands. Why? Because ripe banannas give off an odor similar to alarm pheromone and it could trigger an aggressive response from the hive.

Trail. This is the "Follow the yellow brick road," pheromone. Ants use this to find their way to and from a food source and back to the nest. Ever try rubbing your finger across the imaginary line an ant follows? They will stop at the spot you rubbed your finger because the trail pheromone is gone. I love confusing ants.

Funural.This is the “I’m dead, take me outside,” pheromone, (place funural pheromone on a live ant and watch all the others keep trying to dump her out of the colony! <3 bug humor...)

Aggregation. This is the “Lets all hang out,” pheromone.

Despersal. This is the “Everyone get the H*** out!” pheromone.

Epideictic. This is the “Occupied, go away,” pheromone.

Territorial. This is the “GET OFF MY MOUNTAIN!" pheromone.

Pheromones are also a useful tool for managing insect pests. Pest Management Professionals will use synthesized sex pheromone as bait to attract males into traps, thereby takeing them out of the local breeding population. Another technique is to super saturate a given area with sex pheromone. This causes “male confusion” *snickers childishly*. When high levels of pheromones are put into the atmosphere, males are no longer able to pinpoint the female. If he can’t find his mate, they can’t reproduce.

So are you convinced yet? Listen to Tom, he knew what was in the air. (;

J for Juvenile Hormone

Since you made it this far, might as well keep reading. Plus, I bet (100 internet points) by the time you get to the end you'll realize you've already come across this topic in stories and books before. (:

FUN FACTS!!

Juvenile Hormone (JV) is an insect growth regulator. It regulates development and reproduction in insects. As long as there is enough JH in the body, the insect will continue to moult (shed their exoskeleton, remember from E post?) from larval to larval state. With lower levels of JH, the insect will moult from larval to pupal stage and the complete absence of JH results in the formation of the adult. But it doesn't  work that way for all insects. In honey bees JH acts differently, but I'll spare you all! 

"So what?" you say.
"Keep reading," I say.

Synthetic analogues of JH have been developed and used as an effective pest management tool against insect infestations. The high levels of JH released into the atmosphere prevents larvae from developing into adult insects. If an insect can't reach the adult stage they cannot reproduce!  AH-HA!! And because JH is target specific, it should have little effect on people and other non-insect organisms. I use the word "should" because research is still ongoing with respect to its effect on non-target organism.  

But there are drawbacks. One, JH itself is expensive to synthesize therefore costly to use in a pest management program. Second, JH needs to be released in an enclosed area with little to no draft/air currents that would subsequently blow the JH away. Thirdly, it will not eradicate a pest infestation right away. It will take time before all the pests have died out. And lastly, JH does not discriminate between pest and beneficial insects. Caution should be used when using JH as an insecticide to insure beneficials will not be impacted.

So does JH ring any bells?

Think, where have you heard/read this before....

I know you have....(:

Think...think....think......

Ok, give up?

.
.
.

That's right, insects in a sense have created the Fountain of Youth long before people dreamt it up! Just think what a great wip idea this could be....young scientist researching an easier way to synthsize JH when she/he accidentily creates the fountain of youth! What could go wrong? Everything!!!  Now take this and run with it! And when your book becomes an international best seller, remember to cite me in the credits unless, I beat you to it. (;

Now, cough up the 100 i points.

I for Isoptera: Termites!

Fun Facts

1) Termites belong to the order Isoptera which means equal wings (equal in lenght).

2) Termites are eusocial insects. A colony divides the labor among castes, produce overlapping generations, and take care of young collectively.

3) Termites feed on cellulose, the main component of palnt cell walls and the most common organic compound on Earth. It can be found in dead plant material generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil and/or animal dung. 

4 ) Cellulose in a termite's food is digested by myriads of microoganisms (ooooo, ahhhhhhh) living in the termite's digestive tract. An excellent example of symbiosis !!! Woot Woot and the crowd goes wild!!! But, that also means they can cause serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation forests. In the southwestern United States, termite damage is estimated to $1.5 billion each year in wood structure damage (source: Wikipedia). 

5) Depending on the species, termite nests can be entirely subterranean or may protrude above the surface as mounds, some reaching 9 meters tall (30 feet) !!!

6) Termites use mud tubes to travel above ground. The tubes provide protection from predators and prevent water loss due to open air. 

7) It is estimated that certain termite queens can produce up to 30,000 eggs/ DAY! (O_O)

Below is a flash fiction piece (~350 words ) I wrote this morning. The idea came to me last night at 2 am :/ I don't ever write in this tense and it shows but nevertheless, I wanted to take a stab at it.

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I sit in the middle of the table, cross-legged. My eyes seduced by the overhead light source.

Flash, flash, flash.

The hallucinations begin.

A parade of psychedelic colors enters my visual field. They swirl in front of me, breathtaking in their juxtaposition. They look soft and warm. I reach out to catch the blue one. It’s quick. I giggle.

Flash, flash, flash.

They vanish.

Now I’m hot. I tug at my robes then my body snaps back. I fall from the edge and hit the ground but feel no pain. I try to get up but my body, rigor mortis-like, does not comply.

“They’re eating my brain,” I say. "I can feel them in my head. Feasting." My voice escalates, my heart starts drumming, my anxiety is climbing.

“Shut up Batskin. No one is eating your brain,” says a voice outside my view.

I wait for my body to melt and then sit up. Clovis is sitting on the couch, the stripes across is right arm show rank. His spoken words are suspended in a green bubble above his head. I’m not comforted knowing he’s here. They’re probably eating his brain too.

Flash, flash, flash.

A small visitor enters the room. It wears a bronze galea on its head. I’ve seen it before; it’s from the OmegaArc 90 sector. It needs to know.

“They’re eating my brain and they’ll eat yours too,” I warn.

“What the hell is he tripping on Clovis?” says the visitor.

“Schizomethtral.” I watch the word trail out of Clovis’s moth. The letters are dancing but he does not see them.

“Crap, Clovis. You know he can’t handle anything from the Craters.”

“I only gave him one hair.”

The visitor approaches me. It’s huge now, a towering figure above me. It looks angelic. Maybe it’s not from OmegaArc 90. Maybe it’s an angel from the Vega moon. My mind wonders, I can’t stop staring at its beauty. “If his eyes dilate any wider, I’m taking him to the medical compound.”

So many words crowd the room. I watch them mix together forming new sentences, mostly gibberish.

“Whatever man. Take him and get out. Both of you are killing my ride.”

 “They’re eating my brain,” I whisper again.

“Calm down Batskin. No zombies here.”

Zombies? It thinks of zombies but it’s wrong!  

I feel a tingle in my sinus, a tickle in my nasal cavity that causes me to sneeze. Something is forced out of my nose. It drops to my hand. Its a small white creature no larger than the lashes on my face.

“What the hell is that?” says the towering figure in front of me.

It sees it too. I am relieved. “Termites from the planet Earth. I told you, they’re eating my brain and they’ll eat yours too.”

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IMPORTANT: Just so we're clear about this, the above excerpt is a work of fiction. Termites do NOT eat brains! Unless, your brain is made of wood.