Insecure Writer’s Support Group! A to Z Challenge – Ether-wall, Force Field, Genetic Engineering, and Hive Mind

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

My awesome co-hosts today are Megan Morgan, Chris Votey, Viola Fury, Christine Rains, Madeline Mora-Summonte, L.G. Keltner, Rachna Chhabria, and Patricia Lynne!

They say write every day. Since we are in the middle of the Challenge, I really hope blog comments count. I know a lot of writing and research went into my Challenge posts. Plus my posts at the IWSG site and A to Z Blog this month.

Once April has ended, my plans are to work more on my next story outline and write another article for Area of Effect. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve written for Geekdom House and would like to continue.

And since we’re in the middle of the Challenge, I’m keeping this short! Be sure to visit other Insecure Writer’s Support Group members!

My A to Z Challenge theme - Origins of Science Fiction Terms and More! The term, its meaning (definitions from Technovelgy), and first book appearance / a movie that features this term / a blogger buddy who reminds me of that term.

I’m also the guinea pig for an experiment – A to Z Lite. I get between 100-170 comments per post in April during the Challenge. And it has just become too much to return that many every day, six days a week. The other A to Z Admins agreed to an A to Z Lite trial run. A to Z Lite means I will just be posting a handful of times this month and multiple letters at a time. I also won’t be visiting every single person every single day, although I will return all comments. Hope everyone understands.

Ether-Wall
An invisibility field.

First appeared in E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith’s Triplanetary, which appeared in Amazing Stories in 1934

One of the funniest examples of an invisibility field is found in Erik the Viking. Princess Aud gives Erik a tiny cloak of invisibility, but it only seems to work on her father. Obviously, he thinks it works all the time. Released in 1989, it stars Tim Robbins, Mickey Rooney, Eartha Kitt, Terry Jones, Imogen Stubbs, and John Cleese.

Kim at This Writer’s Growing might be a bit invisible to most of the blogging community. But she’s there and in the thick of it. For some really interesting news about the world around us, check out her weekly posts.

Force Field
A barrier to objects, created by projected forces.

Believe it or not, the term first appeared in a 1920 report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In science fiction, it appeared in John W. Campbell’s book Islands of Space in 1931.

One of the many examples of a force field can be found in the movie Independence Day. When our ships attack the alien vessel, they meet a force field they cannot penetrate. Starring Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirch, Randy Quaid, and Adam Baldwin.

Another force to be reckoned with is The Blue Grumpster. He’ll come at you full force, with truths and nonsense all the way, and you’ll never know what hit you!

Genetic Engineering
Direct manipulation of genetic material.

First appeared in Jack Williamson’s novel, Dragon’s Island in 1951.

You can’t mention genetic engineering without thinking of Jurassic Park! Released in 1993, it stunned us with the most realistic dinosaurs we’d ever seen. Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Sir Richard Attenborough, and Samuel L. Jackson – who has been in almost every huge movie since!

EE Giorgi at CHIMERAS is on top of this subject. She’s a scientist! If you want facts not fluff from your authors, you need to tune into her posts.

Hive Mind
A collective alien intelligence.

The term first appeared in James H. Schmitz’s short story Second Night of Summer in 1950.

The perfect example of a hive mind is the Borg in Star Trek First Contact. Released in 1996, the seventh installment of the Star Trek series starred Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Alfre Woodard, James Cromwell, and Alice Krige.

The Amazing Elizabeth Spann Craig hosts a site that is definitely a collective – the Writer’s Knowledge Base.
Even more eerie – its web address is hiveworld.com…

What’s your writer insecurity this month? Saving your writing time for May? Where have you seen an invisibility field used? If you’ve seen Independence Day, are you ready for the sequel? Know of any genetic manipulation gone wild? Fan of the Borg? Following those excellent bloggers?

And do you think I’ll survive this IWSG/Challenge overlap…?