Dusty Elements
Once I'm done with the novel, I plan to go back to doing some short stories. Here are a couple of story elements lying around that might be used for something:
-"Pooka": There are personal AIs just starting to become intelligent, in a world where only they are free. (Based on the notion of animal-like trickster spirits, especially as portrayed in the RPG "Changeling: The Dreaming" as representing human dreams of freedom.)
-"Taboo": A guy is condemned by his society for not being willing to do something he considers terrible. (Based on a secondhand description of goldfur's novel "Life's Dream," in which the hero supposedly agrees to commit incest.)
-"Dixie Island": A libertarian sea colony deals with social upheaval that threatens to physically tear the place apart. (Based on a not-very-good short story I did, where the trigger was a whites-only restaurant.)
-"Ownership": An AI could have voting rights, but how does that square with the fact that an AI can easily be copied? One solution is shared ownership in a corporate identity, probably leading to loads of conflict.
-"Anti-Cthulhu": Someone investigates and conquers a supposedly incomprehensible mystery in space. Meanwhile, due to technology, people really do become less human as they travel far from Earth.
-"Scrooge": "I don't need to be charitable in my personal life; I pay plenty for government social services, and they do everything that's needed. Those agencies are wonderful and benevolent... aren't they?"
Those are just pieces of stories. I also want to try something more action-oriented, after reading several Heinlein novels and writing way too many stories where people mostly stand around and talk.
-"Pooka": There are personal AIs just starting to become intelligent, in a world where only they are free. (Based on the notion of animal-like trickster spirits, especially as portrayed in the RPG "Changeling: The Dreaming" as representing human dreams of freedom.)
-"Taboo": A guy is condemned by his society for not being willing to do something he considers terrible. (Based on a secondhand description of goldfur's novel "Life's Dream," in which the hero supposedly agrees to commit incest.)
-"Dixie Island": A libertarian sea colony deals with social upheaval that threatens to physically tear the place apart. (Based on a not-very-good short story I did, where the trigger was a whites-only restaurant.)
-"Ownership": An AI could have voting rights, but how does that square with the fact that an AI can easily be copied? One solution is shared ownership in a corporate identity, probably leading to loads of conflict.
-"Anti-Cthulhu": Someone investigates and conquers a supposedly incomprehensible mystery in space. Meanwhile, due to technology, people really do become less human as they travel far from Earth.
-"Scrooge": "I don't need to be charitable in my personal life; I pay plenty for government social services, and they do everything that's needed. Those agencies are wonderful and benevolent... aren't they?"
Those are just pieces of stories. I also want to try something more action-oriented, after reading several Heinlein novels and writing way too many stories where people mostly stand around and talk.