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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
Category Archives: Blog
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
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
Introduction by Bill: Cathy and I met at the Iowa Summer Writers’ Workshop in 2013. Everyone in the seminar read each others’ novel manuscripts and provided feedback, and we cheered each other on. Recently I learned that Cathy published her book … Continue reading
Literary agents may not be aware of this trend yet. Androids (human-like robots), are everywhere. Recent android movies include AI, I Robot, Ex Machina, Age of Ultron, Chappie, and let’s not forget the whole Terminator series, topped up with … Continue reading
“The first draft of anything is shit.” – Ernest Hemingway When I complete a first draft, I know I have created something out of nothing, no trivial achievement. I never throw first drafts away. I’m generally not too worried about … Continue reading
A book without readers still has value. The process of writing it was a journey. New vistas were opened, discoveries made, surprises encountered, lessons learned. It’s better if the book has readers, though. Long ago I decided to focus on … Continue reading