phywriter.com|Prone to occasional grandiloquence

In which we see how some interesting ideas can come from the driest beginnings:

[10:28] MyriadPhy: i am officially distracted

[10:28] MyGoodFriend: by…?

[10:28] MyriadPhy: these ICD9 diagnosis codes are pretty specific

[10:28] MyriadPhy: The ICD9 coding system is a statistical
classification system that classifies diseases and injuries

[10:29] MyriadPhy: insurance companies use these codes for various
billing duties

[10:29] MyGoodFriend: ah, ok.

[10:29] MyriadPhy: i think it’s humorous that they seem to have a code
for everything

[10:28] MyriadPhy: E805.3: “Hit by railway train, bicyclist”

[10:29] MyriadPhy: not only was someone hit by a freight train, it was
while on a bike, no less

[10:30] MyriadPhy: so I kind of got lost going through the codes (like
I get lost going through dictionaries) and I start thinking of plot
points. I realize it’s a bit like literary crack

[10:30] MyriadPhy: i wonder if they have a code for being injured by
aliens, just in case. that would be humorous

[10:30] MyGoodFriend: lol

[10:30] MyriadPhy: ah! here we go: “Aircraft accident NEC, space craft”

[10:31] MyriadPhy: in case a flying saucer lands on your head,
apparently

[10:31] MyriadPhy: here’s another that caught my eye: “Watercraft fall
stairs, stevedore”

[10:31] MyriadPhy: that’s apparently the code for when your servant
breaks his leg on your yacht

[10:33] MyriadPhy: i can see a story where all these weird things
happen, and an insurance bot keeps track of the ICD9 codes like a
running comment, sotto voce, like Marvin the H2G2 robot with a medical
dictionary.

[10:34] MyriadPhy: Our hero trips over a milk bucket and a cow sits on
his leg, “Misc Farm equipment, injury, bovine”

[10:36] MyGoodFriend: ha! that’s funny!

[10:37] MyriadPhy: He narrowly misses getting hit by a train and runs
into his bot, falling down a flight of concrete steps. The robot
observes (in a deadpan voice):
“Hit by railway train, fall down concrete steps, electronic stevedore”

From the bottom of the steps:
“That’s not entirely accurate! The train missed me!”

…and thus, we see where some ideas come from, which is to say, practically anywhere.

For the past five months or so, I have had the great priviledge of being the Managing Editor of Dragons, Knights, and Angels magazine (aka DKA). This week, something else has come up that is more down my alley, so I started to pray for the appropriate replacement. I was hoping to find this person in the next six months.

We found her the next day.

I’d like to announce that as of today, Selena Thomason is the new Managing Editor for Dragons, Knights, and Angels magazine.

You may remember Selena from her published works or her recurring column from sister-site The Sword Review, or you may know her from her site, or from NaNoWriMo. Wherever you know her from, you know her, as I do, as a sharp mind, a great proofreader, a fine writer with published works in sci-fi /and/ fantasy, and a woman of great conviction and personal honor.

Please join me in welcoming Selena to DKA, and give her all the kind support that you’ve granted me.

Welcome, Selena. The keep is yours, Milady.