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In setting up my new novel, a sequel to the android novel I just finished, I listed my cast of characters, and wrote a few sentences under each name to describe what that person is like. But who are these … Continue reading
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Why would anyone want to be a public defender? The pay is terrible, most of the clients are poor, uneducated and probably guilty; there’s no time to prepare, the caseload is overwhelming, and failure is the most likely outcome. Who chooses … Continue reading
I’d finished my android novel and was brainstorming the next big thing (NBT). I had created a NBT document and made a list of 11 topics I really would like to write about. These ranged over music, money, magical realism, crime, … Continue reading
Surprisingly to me, definitions of science fiction differ significantly. I may have just written a sci-fi novel and if so, I’m interested in understanding what I did. Authors seem to agree that science and technology feature as necessary elements of … Continue reading
I recently discovered a category of sci-fi called “mundane” sci-fi. (See https://sfgenics.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/geoff-ryman-et-al-the-mundane-manifesto/) Mundane sci-fi eschews aliens, intergalactic travel, and interstellar communication, as these are entirely unrealistic and qualify as fantasy, not sci-fi. Instead, the “mundanes,” … Continue reading
Wandering Through the Nonsense Lavalle, Victor (2010). Big Machine. New York: Spiegel & Grau (366 pp.). At least a meandering river will reach the sea. This tale just meanders, as the cover art suggests. The first-person narrator, Ricky Rice, is a … Continue reading
Mild Angst in the Suburbs Barthelme, Frederick (1990). Natural Selection. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint. White, employed, middle-class, American, suburban guy is annoyed at popular culture. His wife and kid become exasperated with his constant complaining – about TV, magazines, people at work, … Continue reading
Writing is lonely but exhilarating, a fair balance. What isn’t balanced is the defeat-to-victory ratio. Literally hundreds of rejections are the norm, a steady stream of them. Victories? What are those? A writer must believe in the delusion of self-efficacy … Continue reading
I’ve been sending out my android story for the past month. It’s a short novel (73K words) about a man who discovers he is an android, and what he does about that. The story is told from his point of … Continue reading
But Do They Have Sex? Dunn, Katherine. (1983/2002). Geek Love. New York: Vintage (348 pp). You have to give this novel credit for sheer originality. The main characters are a U.S. family of performers in a traveling carnival, in the … Continue reading