Words    Words    Words

If ya gots somefin to say, like, say it, dude.

…Steve has a new book out*. :)

*with a new chapter every month…

What if you could tell if someone could write about science just by peering at his genes? There has been speculation about the role of the hormone verbopressin in humans ever since we discovered that variations in where receptors for the hormone are expressed makes California neocons make up facts about presidents, but East Coast Fundamentalists write about Intelligent Design; verbopressin is related to the “giggle chemical” oreillytocin. Now it seems variations in a section of the gene coding for a verbopressin receptor in people help to determine whether a writer misrepresents scientific discoveries, or just makes things up.

Wasse Halum at the Geroginska Institute in Bucharest, Romania, and colleagues looked at the various forms of the gene coding for verbopressin receptor in 3 Romanian people, who were all bad writers. The researchers also investigated their spelling. They found that variation in a section of the gene called “IMl33t” were more likely to use insufficiently large samples, confuse their research, and make uncalled-for generalizations.

Not only that, men with two copies of IMl33t were more likely to pull random facts out of actual research and completely misinterpret them.

Given that everyone surveyed had been writing about science for at least a week, the team suggests that having multiple copies somehow contributes to writing problems anywhere near the Black Sea. Because the results were collected for a different study, the team couldn’t quiz the writers on whether they were actually familiar with their native language, says Halum.

It is not clear exactly how multiple copies of IMl33t affect expression of the verbopressin receptor, and our most confused syntax. And yet that’s the most interesting question, says someone I spoke with near the Xerox machine.

In some writers, the theory is that the brain has two “sensational” systems: one for writing for the mass media, and one for grant applications. In neocons and fundamentalists, receptors for the two systems sit at adjacent desks, so grant applications get a lot of attention, leading to government funded research into why the government shouldn’t fund research. To see if the same mechanism is at work in liberals will mean using deleted passages from editorials, to see if variations are linked to the number of copies of IMl33t.

IMl33t’s writing effects extend beyond writing about science. Earlier this year, the same gene section was shown to affect Fox News Broadcasts, linked to income from commercials. Another study found people with tin ears, linked to media tie-in novels, often have multiple copies of IMl33t.

Halum’s colleague Lich Paulenstein says the team’s next task is to test how a verbopressin suppository effects writer’s desires for long lunch breaks.

References: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14641-monogamy-gene-found-in-people.html

The murder mystery I wrote with my poker teacher Don Hill is being serialized on an online poker magazine called Blind Straddle.  The sample can be found here.

It’s a subscription site: you have to pay a fee to get access to the story.  I think it’s like $15.00 a year or so.   They have writers like Bob Ciaffone and Lou Krieger, as well as Adam Stemple and Chris Fox, so, while it may not be worth it just for my story, for any serious poker player it’s an easy call.

Just finished the first draft of Your Itch.  Starting revisions tomorrow, I think.   I have no idea what I think of this one; have to wait until the revisions to see how it feels.

I’m pretty much okay now, assuming nothing else goes wrong.   A bunch of you sent me money, which helped more than I can say.   When we posted a while ago asking for a loan, Matthew Fischer said, “I think you are very likely to get 150 fans to donate $100 in exchange for exclusive access to some signature graphic design element, audiobook, podcast or piece of prose.”

Since then, I’ve been thinking over what sort of cool thing to do to say thank you.  This post is just to say I’ve got an idea, and it’ll take about a month or so to put together.  So hang on, and watch this space for breaking news.

And, really, no shit, thank you all again.  Thank you very much.

I received my contributor’s copy of this year’s Triangulation anthology in the mail the other day. (Triangulation: Taking Flight) It is very exciting to see my story (”The Reap Assessors”) in it! It’s my second short story sale but due to how these things work out, it’s actually the first story to see print.

Don’t forget to watch for my first sale, “Memory Box”, in the Unspeakable Horror anthology coming from Dark Scribe Press this fall.

Gene Wolfe coined the term ‘golden book’ to refer to a book that utterly opens up your head, stirs around your brain, and changes how you look at the world — I think it was singular in his coining, the one book that changes you, but I think many of us have several over the course of their lives. For me, these are the books I read over and over and keep extra copies around so I can force them on new friends or lovers.

Here are a few of mine:

R is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury. My mother made me read this at a young age; it was my first SF. Have never looked back.

Little, Big by John Crowley. I absolutely adore this book. Thoughts of it haunt me sometimes. Every time I read it I find something new or gain a deeper appreciation of its themes.

The Years of Rice and Salt and the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. The Mars trilogy provides such wonderful thoughts about other ways to do this human society thing that I always end my readings yearning to go live on his Mars. And Rice & Salt is stirring in so many ways, among them Robinson’s gifted ability to write in so many styles, and some powerful explorations of human relations.

Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint. I’m not much of a de Lint fan these days — too many of his themes started to wear on me after a while, and I started to see some holes in how he sees the world. But I remember how differently I looked at the world around me for days after finishing this book, and others by him.

What are some of yours?

Correction: Andrew Wheeler informs us that Gene Wolfe’s term is actually The Book of Gold. Thanks!

On this day in 1982 were born Aliera and Carolyn Brust, who came into the world to brighten it for the rest of us.  Soon they’ll be able drink, and I’ll have to talk to them about S-E-X.  In the meantime, happy birthday!

Off to Austin for Armadillocon.  Hope to see some of you there!