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Sparkanium it is.

Next item. Does anyone think it's particularly bad to have both cold fusion and dark energizers in the book? I don't dwell on it, but cold fusion is used for low power applications (e.g. flying cars, starfighters, etc.) while the energizers are used for all the big capital ships. I'm not sure where to draw the line, though. Should a garbage scow have an energizer?

On a related note, my understanding of cold fusion is that it produces excess heat, so I have a damaged fusion core overheating in a starfighter to the point of killing the occupant. I introduced coolant in the starfighters to prevent this from happening normally. Reasonable?

Can someone suggest a real mineral on Earth that might be used in energizers to draw dark energy from the void as a means of very high power generation. I was considering radioactive tritium, but it's normally a gas. I'm hoping for a relatively rare mineral that might exist on other worlds in greater quantities. Think of it as Arrakis's spice, but for power instead of navigation. Should I just make one up?

Amy, if you look down, you'll see concrete. If you look to the front, back, left, or right, you'll see buildings. If you look up, you'll see sky. And crowds everywhere. (I'm 6'3", so they're like bloody hobbits underfoot.) And the occasional smell of pee. Look for signs that say 'Dirk was here,' especially near the pee. Re-watch Blade Runner before you go.

Seriously, there are two very nice cemeteries downtown, one with tombstones dating back to the 1600s. The World Trade Center, of course (I never saw the rebuilt version, unfortunately). The NYSE on Wall Street with lots of security. Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island boat tours leaving from the very south tip, Battery Park City downtown (lived there once), and the walkway up the whole West Side of Manhattan (especially nice downtown in spring), with views of NJ. Tour boats around the island (a must, IMO, right under the bridges). If you like the stink of fish, go to the Lower East Side. 42nd Street (unbelievable crowds, hold onto your kids). Central Park. Broadway shows. A zoo in Queens, I believe. There's a botanical garden somewhere, too. I don't recall anything in Brooklyn, but I never went very far there.

And on day two, .... :-)

Hoof in butt.

I decided to give Trump a break after I read that a well-known televangelist (guess his name), after being caught in his third sex scandal, told his congregation, "The Lord told me it's flat none of your business." Talk about balls, pun intended. It was too funny to leave out, so I just threw in a few extras. I was listening to Elvis Presley sing An American Trilogy on repeat as I wrote this. Damn he could sing! My brother is selling a VW cheap, if you're interested.

One way to avoid the overuse of dialogue tags is to have the speakers say the other person's name from time to time in the dialogue. Also, you don't need them if the context makes it obvious (e.g. One person is mad, the other is trying to mollify them. In that case the dialogue should make it obvious.)

As for fancy tags, when they contribute value to the dialogue, I use them. Mostly I stick with said, asked, and replied, and even those can usually be eliminated. For example: "That hurts," John said, wincing. becomes: John winced. "That hurts."

I think Apollo and even his father would oppose constant monitoring, since it would allow the enemy to figure out how to play him once he's in power. The Julii are nothing if not orchestrators of their public image. I'm pushing the limits just by considering a public match with Caligula and the Shogun. Even in Dune, the Baron's nephew, Feyd, a remoreless killer, only ever went up against drugged opponents. If the emperor wants to put out false videos, you need little more than an Amiga 1200. After all, Apollo faked his death the same way. Consider the resurrection of Grand Moff Tarkin in the latest Star Wars film. In ten years, give or take, the tech will make fake videos indistinguishable from the real thing.

I didn't understand the second half of your post, Amy.

For those who've read the new A Pax Romana, the chapter strikes me as bland. Apollo learns his destiny, which interferes with his workout, he gets the sh*t kicked out of him by the Shogun, and then gets even with God's help. All in only ten double-spaced pages. Granted, I could do with shorter chapters, but it seems like there isn't enough meat on these bones. I plan to add other kids to the gym, so I can introduce a best friend for Apollo, but that's just more kids in a gym working out. Same old same old.

Any suggestions?

No worries. I've whittled it down to one of the two writeups in my previous post above.

Any preference, anyone?

Dirk

Somehow I need to get A. J. Ripper explained in one sentence, otherwise it interferes with the unfolding story. ... She was the notorious self-proclaimed Australian Jack the Ripper who was only apprehended after her doctor theorized that Ripper might refer to one of his patients with untreatable flatulence....