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And so it is written...

Ideas, Ideas – The Temple of the Dreamers

When Orah and Nathaniel enter the Temple of the Dreamers, high up on the mountain, I didn’t want them to immediately barge into the chamber holding the cocoons, a sterile room dominated by technology. Beyond needing to build anticipation, I felt the haughty dreamers would have embellished the place where they strove for immortality by creating spectacular anterooms as the approach to where their science worked

Ideas, Ideas – What is the Source of Inspiration?

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein I’m sometimes asked how I come up with new ideas, especially since most of my novels involve alternate worlds and unusual cultures. The short answer: I don’t have a clue. Ideas come to me rather than me seeking them out. They arrive at odd times, usually when I’m least rational. They appear out of thin air during

First drafts – Ugh!

writers-blockAs I plod away at the mystical process of gathering impressions, images and ideas , tossing them into a cauldron and stirring them until they transform into a new novel, I'm reminded what an act of faith first drafts can be. I console myself with a quote I read  recently:

"I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand

Is a Real World Dystopia on the Horizon?

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.” ~ Albert Einstein First, let me be clear--I have Neil Gaimanstrong faith that our species can survive and thrive, even though we may go through some darker periods. But I have to say that when I began The Seeker series,

Realists of a Larger Reality

65th Annual National Book AwardsCheck out this six minute video of Ursula LeGuin’s acceptance speech for a lifetime achievement award at the National Book Awards ceremony, where she gave an impassioned defense of science fiction — and of writers in general.

A sampling: “I rejoice in accepting it and sharing it with all those who were excluded from literature for so long, my fellow writers of fantasy and science fiction, writers of the imagination,who for the last fifty years watched the beautiful awards go to the so-called realists. I think hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now and can see through our fear-stricken societies and even imagine some real grounds for hope…the realists of a larger reality.”

She also had some choice words about the current state of the publishing industry. Worth a listen.

Why I describe my novels as speculative literary fiction

Someone recently asked me why I use the term "speculative literary fiction" to describe the genre of my novels. While both terms are used frequently on their own, they are not often paired together. Speculative fiction is a term coined by Margaret Atwood in an effort to avoid the hard-core sci-fi label (she said she needed a category that meant sci-fi without Martians). It has been used to describe a number of
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The Maker of Worlds - Coming Mid 2024