What have you learned from reading science fiction?

While trolling around the new Facebook questions app, I came across this interesting question.  Unable to resist, I spent the next hour crafting my answer. This is what I wrote: Gosh, what HAVEN’T I learned from science fiction? Because of science fiction, I do not fear the alien. I do not feel threatened by people… Continue reading What have you learned from reading science fiction?

Confessions of a delinquent blogger

Man, so much has been happening, but now that I’m working an eight to five job, I never have the time to blog about it.  It’s 2am and I’m running on only four hours of sleep from the previous night.  Oh well, it’s a weekend.  Here goes. I passed the 50k mark for the rewrite… Continue reading Confessions of a delinquent blogger

Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

Cordelia Naismith never thought she would find the love of her life on a scientific survey to an unexplored border world, let alone that he would be a Barrayan, one of the enemy.  But Aral Vorkosigan is not just any other officer in the Barrayan Military.  He is courteous, fair-minded, thoughtful–and above all else, driven… Continue reading Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

Wolverton interview and more

The interview with Dave Wolverton was a resounding success!  We had a fascinating conversation about science fiction and the gospel, his latest book In The Company of Angels, self-publishing, the English 318 class at BYU and the profound impact it’s had on the LDS writing community, and much, much more. On that, I suppose I… Continue reading Wolverton interview and more

Story notebook #2

A while ago I rediscovered my first story notebook and wrote a few posts on it.  I promised I’d do the same for my other story notebooks, so here’s the next one. For those of you who may be surprised that I’m sharing all my story ideas, let me explain why I’m doing this.  First,… Continue reading Story notebook #2

Thoughts on the convolutions of discovery writing

It’s been forever since I posted, so I figured I’d put something up and let you guys know what I’ve been up to. I’m happy to say that Worlds Away From Home is going well; I wrote just under 20k this week, which is more than I’ve written in a long time.  I hope to… Continue reading Thoughts on the convolutions of discovery writing

The Madness Season by C. S. Friedman

In the 21st century, Earth was conquered by an alien collective consciousness known as the Tyr.  Now, five hundred years later, humankind has been scattered across the Tyr-occupied worlds as slaves.  It is a dark and uncertain existence, under the rule of masters who do not care whether their charges live or die. For the… Continue reading The Madness Season by C. S. Friedman

Dying of the Light by George R. R. Martin

Worlorn is a planet without a sun, wandering on the fringes of the galaxy where the skies are starless.  Though it came to life briefly as it passed the red giant Fat Satan, those days are over, and the world is slowly dying. Dirk T’Larien never thought he would find himself on such a forsaken… Continue reading Dying of the Light by George R. R. Martin

Old story notebook, part 3

Alright, it’s time to finish up with the old story notebook I discovered a couple of weeks ago.  These ideas were written down back in 2007, when I was writing the first draft of Ashes of the Starry Sea. Without further ado: In the future, people live in arcologies, and wars are fought outside by… Continue reading Old story notebook, part 3

How Avatar should have ended

Before I came out to Washington DC, I saw Avatar in the theaters.  AWESOME movie.  Loved the concept, loved the characters, LOVED the science fiction elements and how well they were woven into the story. However, like much of the stuff that comes out of Hollywood, I was disappointed with the ending.  It felt too… Continue reading How Avatar should have ended