The Cosmopolitan Area

Places To Visit, Things To Do

The region Aurora City dwellers refer to as THE COSMOPOLITAN forms the northeast corner of the Aurora District. Slightly over 5 square miles in area, it stretches east to west between Lee Street and Polaris Street. It is bounded on the north by 13th Avenue and generally considered to extend as far south as 92nd Avenue WestThe Cosmopolitan Inn from which the area takes its name dominates the skyline, but “The Cosmo” is far from the only interesting place to visit. Among others, highlights include:

The Dawn Endowment Cultural Center and Museum embraces and celebrates the region’s history and diversity. Interactive learning experiences both inside and outside in the extensive gardens explore Native American heritage and customs as well as depict their impact on the city. Traveling exhibits highlighting Native American cultures from both North and South America rotate through the museum during the year. International cultural traveling exhibits are welcome, if occasional, visitors as well. Cherokee storytellers and dancers are frequent guests.

The Aurora City Museum offers visitors a guided exploration of the evolution of the city. Walk-through exhibits detail the days as port and trading post to the current incarnation as the premiere location for Augments. The museum is filled with alcoves of audio-visual exhibits, historical artifacts from the region, auditoriums for technical and dramatic presentations, and knowledgeable staff. Scholars from Stone Sisters Seminary, Mountainsong Natural Studies, and Chalice Academy hold frequent public lectures.

Ruby’s is the unquestionable leader in the sale and auction of precious gems, jewelry, and antiquities of all kinds. Mr. Rudy Gilman is the proprietor and personally evaluates all items prior to their display. He acts as auctioneer for those items which catch his personal interest. While undoubtedly catering to the rich and famous, Mr. Gilman always welcomes well-behaved visitors of all backgrounds and persuasions, oftentimes making his establishment feel more like museum than retail shop.

 

 

The Dreaded…

Not Writer’s Block

I imagine that The Dreaded writer’s block will always be waiting in the closet. Even when preparing posts for E3ink, I hit blank spots and rewrites. Writer’s block gets a lot of coverage, but after publishing Orchids Ablaze I discovered writer’s block wasn’t the only troll under the bed.  Even when the words are easy to find, a few things have been known to wake me in the middle of the night.

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Influential Writers

A Cornucopia

There are so many fantastic writers out there that it’s hard to select just a few that influence my writing. It’s a different list than the authors I most enjoy reading (and re-reading), though there is plenty of overlap. That list gets very long very quickly, especially since it encompasses more than 4 decades. When I was planning out what would become Orchids Ablaze, I looked to different authors for very specific reasons. I love Frank Herbert, but attempting a story as complex as The White Plague, much less Dune, didn’t seem to be a good idea for a first attempt. Robert A. Heinlein is another favorite that attempting to emulate appeared doomed to failure, at least for now. It’s good to have goals for the future!

I’ll keep trying to get there, of course. Given that Orchids Ablaze is most akin to a prose (superhero) comic book, I wanted to keep the length to what I felt would appeal to readers of the genre. I wasn’t trying to create the great American novel.  I wanted to create a story full of memorable characters that readers would want to read more about. I wanted to sweep the reader up and move right along.

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And to all a good night

Thanks to all our Visitors and Friends!

Season’s well-wishes to those who celebrate this time. If you don’t celebrate this time of year, then well-wishes for whenever you do celebrate. A little more good will here and there throughout the year certainly is not going to do the world any harm. Be well all.

 

DDW

Roots

Never forget your stories

It’s the time of year for reflection as I wait to see if it will be a wet or white Christmas. Finishing up the old year and a new one just around the corner, my thoughts are headed farther back than than one year.

This year was the year we lost Stan Lee. Better words than mine from those who loved the man’s work and felt his influence have been spoken on his passing. He was an icon not only in the industry, but throughout media and around the world and in our own lives. Segue to… decades earlier and a visit to my grandparents. I wasn’t old enough yet to have learned to appreciate my grandparents (a flaw I was fortunate to have the chance to overcome), so I was roaming through their house. It wasn’t a very large house, but I was small and going room to room managed to occupy some time.

Enter The Box

Then I found: The Box. I’m certain many others have similar tales of discovery. The Box was half-hidden underneath a bed in a corner room. It was just an old cardboard box, not particularly sturdy. The sides bowed out and the top flaps had long been removed. I tugged it out a little. It only moved a little at a time because it was very heavy, but eventually I could peer into my new treasure chest to see what it held. A moldy wooden chest full of gold and jewels paled beside what I found within.

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1st Round of Reader Polls

Last Day for Polls – 7 January 2019

The first round of reader polls will officially close on the one-month-iversary of the release of Orchids Ablaze! For those that have already participated, Thank You! If you haven’t taken a look at them yet, we hope you will.

Let us know your opinions so we can gear our content to what you want to see.

Let’s get 2019 started on the write foot!

Sorry, couldn’t help myself.