Mention the subject of “love interest” in connection with the sf genre and you might get various plausibly dismissive reactions from those who do not know it very well. SF, they might say, is too concerned with other things; with sociological extrapolation or derring-do amongst far stars. Its sense of wonder is ill-fitted to the different kind of wonder, the personal nuances of a successful love story. Trying to put both kinds of greatness into a story would surely lead to overloaded plots and confusion of aim.To which I reply: it all depends on what kind of sf story we are discussing. To begin with it should be admitted that here are stories which are such generally good portrayals of character and situation, that there is bound to be a well-handled love interest simply because the people in the story are human, living human lives. This is the case with Jack Vance’s masterpiece, Araminta Station. Vance in sheer exhuberant creativity gives us the world Cadwal with its political stresses between Conservationists and their “progressive” opponents, and his hero suffers love and loss and love again, in the course of his schooling and career, which is all intimately linked with the fortunes of the society in which he lives. You could call Araminta Station a character-epic set on another world; its status as sf is real, but it also has something of the assurance of a “mainstream” novel of manners.The love interest doesn’t have to be as nuanced as this in order to be a successful part of a story. In Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters, an alien-invasion thriller, the course of true love between hero and heroine is marred for a time when he falsely believes she has allowed herself to participate in a plot to manipulate him into undergoing a horrible test involving contact with a parasitic alien. The episode is a good example of a love story “subplot” being a useful aspect of the main plot when it touches it at a certain point. The characters are not as finely drawn as in the Vance novel but they are every bit as good as they need to be, and they are presented in a sufficiently vivid series of situations, that the reader can round them with his imagination.This is a good general principle: sf provides the special situations, and the situations provide the opportunities for romantic drama. More so than in mainstream literature, the characters can afford to be stereotyped because the situations confer vividness on them to a special degree. Thus the so-called “stereotypes” become brilliant in their simplicity, like gemstones.Examples that come to mind include:The beautiful-but-mean-minded Sanoma Tora and the noble-hearted Tavia in E R Burroughs’ A Fighting Man of Mars; the various women who beguile or infuriate the hero in Ward Moore’s alternate-history novel Bring the Jubilee (in which the Confederacy won); the awkward situations in which the space-pilot hero finds himself in J T McIntosh’s One In Three Hundred, where the Earth is about to be destroyed and space-pilots are given the task of choosing which few people are to be given a chance to escape to Mars…. a situation rather conducive to acquiring a lot of sudden girl friends.In the Ooranye Project there is the dilemma explored in “The Open Secret”, in which belief in reincarnation is an obstacle to a romance which, in a previous incarnation, led the hero and heroine to produce a child who grew up to be a destructive arch-villain who plagued civilization: the fear is that if they marry again in their current lives, their evil child will also be born again. And in “The Forgetters” the theme of love is likewise basic to the plot – the hero seeking artificial amnesia as an escape from an unhappy marriage, with unforeseen results.However, sf can do more than all this. The theme of Love itself can be brought explicitly – if you like, philosophically – into the story. Here I must mention the only woman writer to be cited in this article – C L Moore, author of two of the most unforgettable sf tales ever.”No Woman Born” (1944) is the story of Deirdre, a dancer and singer, who was all but killed in a theatre fire – only her brain survived, and she was given a new body of metal. Its designer knew better than to try to reproduce her old body scientifically; but science could give her another kind of beauty. The metal body is marvellously described. Its fluid, serpentine motions enthrall her audience when Deirdre gives her first comeback performance. Yet we are made to feel that Deirdre is doomed to drift ever further from humanity as the metal of her body influences her soul. The love in this story – the love, not of two individuals for each other, but of an adoring public for a diva – is bound, we feel, to end tragically.And finally, the ultimate claim for romance, for the power of love: “The Bright Illusion” (1934). Due to a cosmic conflict and the subterfuges and disguises which it makes necessary, a man and an alien are brought together in a love which transcends the barrier of species. Their bodies are horrible to each other, but their souls somehow become enamoured.
It was a very strange sensation to be addressing her thus, from brain to brain. “The sight of you was dreadful to me, and I know how I must have looked to you. But the shock of that sight has taught me something. The shape you wear and the shape you seemed to wear before I saw you in reality are both illusions, both no more than garments which clothe that…. that living, vital entity which is yourself – the real you. And your body does not matter to me now, for I know that it is no more than a mirage.”
In a sense, C L Moore is making opposite points, taking opposite sides, in these two great stories.

Owning alternative fuel cars is all the rage right now and this vehicle is also believed to be one of the most fuel efficient car. Among these cars are conversion kits designed to create what people call water cars. HHO gas kits are the technology behind water cars and before a few years ago making this type of hydrogen conversion just wasn’t within the reach of the average Joe. Thankfully now you can create one of these alternative fuel cars from items found at your local hardware store. But what are water cars anyway?You may have seen them on TV or in the news, some guy driving down the road running his car on water for gas. Crazy as it sounds this technology isn’t some scam, and the benefits of HHO gas have been known about for years. Now there are dozens of patents that describe in detail how to convert your regular fossil fuel car into more fuel efficient water cars. It is important to note that these HHO gas kits are not meant to totally replace gasoline but to supplement it thus creating a more fuel efficient car.Now there are other benefits as well besides better gas mileage. Many people have reported increases in horsepower and reduced emissions coming out of the exhaust pipe. The big winner here besides saving a ton of money on fuel prices is good ol’ mother Earth. Anytime we can reduce our emissions and lessen our dependency of fossil fuels is a good thing for our environment.
Having said all that there are a lot of choices out there in regards to which HHO gas kit you might be considering. In my opinion though any water for gas kit needs to meet certain criteria1. An Easy to Follow Manual. There’s no point trying to take on a project like this if the manual your going to follow reads like it came out of some science lab. It needs to be clear concise and easy to follow if the average Joe is going to be successful at completing the project. Sure all the parts for making water cars can be found at your hardware store but putting it together properly is a little more complicated. It’s just not a simple case of attach this hose here and that hose there and voila you got yourself an alternative fuel car able to run water for gas. No it’s a bit more complicated then that, so that’s why I said the manual or guide needs to be easy to follow and understand.2. A support system that is willing to help you right through the entire project should you get stuck. This really is an extension of number one, but if you can find a HHO gas kit with an incredible support system willing to help you out if you get stuck then you found a winner in my books.

After repeated requests for more alternative jobs for lawyers, I have decided to add to the previous article 6 Alternative jobs for Lawyers Jobs. These are merely some thoughts which can perhaps get those brain cells working to help you to discover your talents and give some direction as to where you may concentrate your efforts.o Motivational SpeakerThis was motivated by a comment left by an anonymous reader. There could very well be something in the suggestion that lawyers should try public speaking. Look at some of the well known motivational speakers like Les Brown and John Dmytryszyn. What skills do these guys possess? They are comfortable speaking to a large audience, they can tell personal stories of their own unhappiness or discontent, they can speak of overcoming adversity and they can convince you to make the choices they recommend. So they are usually eloquent, persuasive, engaging and perhaps flamboyant raconteurs. I would say that pretty much sums up a fine trial lawyer. Francine Ward is one lawyer who did it.o Poker PlayerInterestingly this was also inspired by a lawyer/commenter who was quite likely speaking tongue in cheek. Now don’t laugh and don’t end up like the compulsive lawyer/gambler Arelia Taveras. The point of this suggestion however is to stress that you can make a living out of something you love and it has been done as evidenced by the story of Greg Fossilman Raymer who rose from relative obscurity as a Patent lawyer to achieve notoriety as the 2004 World Series Poker champion. As Greg himself states on his website, he took from the strengths he gained as a lawyer and applied them to poker.”If you’re a litigator or do a lot of negotiation, then you have to be able to read people well, and determine when they’re bluffing or lying, and when they’re not. As such, lawyers who have that type of practice, and who do well at it, are probably in a position to quickly become very good poker players.”o Career CoachWho better than someone who has been through the rigors of law school and the legal profession to guide attorneys both inside and outside the law. I already mentioned Monica Parker who helps unhappy lawyers careers outside of the law. Julie Fleming-Brown is also a trained lawyer who provides professional and personal coaching for lawyers. You may be very organized or perhaps you notice aspects of the practice that you feel strongly could do with improvement but your firm gives little or no value to your ideas, you may have a gift for organizational or human resource management or you may be an excellent motivator. Instead of holding your head over a stack of files for hours or butting heads with other lawyers in the court room you may be happier helping them to achieve better work/life balance inside or outside the law.o Legal RecruiterA legal recruiter with a legal background is often viewed as an asset. Here is a person who understands how the legal profession works, how lawyers think and interact and the needs of law firms. Some of the talents for a career coach may be applied here as well and a legal recruiter with excellent coaching skills will probably gain an excellent reputation and build a great business. Here are two examples of lawyers turned legal recruiters Felig/Lindy Legal and Abacus Legal Jobs. Note they both reject the notion that they just offer employment service. The former emphasizes the breadth of their offerings and the latter relies on the reach of their expertise across the globe with their slogan run by lawyers for lawyers.o Legal CorrespondentYou have seen them haven’t you? Star Jones and Cynthia McFadden come to mind. You take the inside knowledge you have of the law and with your excellent communicating skills you explain the wranglings and machinations of a civil suit, a criminal case or issues concerning judges, lawyers and the esoteric legal community as a whole to the public. Who knows you may even step up and get your own show or an anchor position on primetime TV.o Private InvestigatorOh yes. I am sure you have read novels where the protagonist is the lawyer turned private eye. They always seem to be down and broke however. So it is likely that most lawyers would view this as a step down but some of us are more than snoops we have strong investigative talents and are quite competent at intelligence gathering with some business savyy to back it up. We are also masters at reading between the lines or seeing through the scam so why not consider this field. You won’t be limited to checking out whether Mr. R and his colleague are spending their lunch hour at the colleague’s apartment but the range is wide encompassing Business Intelligence Gathering, Database Investigations, IP investigations, Civil and Criminal Investigations and more. Michael D. Rothman and Todd A. Carozza both qualified attorneys established their own investigative firm.Greg the poker player discusses the contribution of both his science and legal background. This is enlightening. Most lawyers already have at least two degrees. If you can harness and leverage the sets of skills you gained and developed in those areas you most likely could find a way to find the job which is ideal for you.