Writing

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Behind the Scenes with VERTIGO

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Behind the Scenes with VERTIGO

If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ll remember that as Starshine neared completion I began posting little excerpts from it every couple of weeks. I haven’t done so with Vertigo, primarily because all the excerpts are spoilers. All of them. I mean it. I do hope to start releasing some quotes in the coming weeks, which are too short to be spoilers. Right?

 

(As an aside, one edit made last week was at the urging of my husband, who said, “This is the actual book, you are supposed to spoil them!”)

To try and make up for my overly secretive and neurotic fear of revealing too much too soon to you guys, I thought I would share some other details about Vertigo, both fun and legit.

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Amazon, Hachette, Kindle Unlimi— Oh, Who Am I Kidding?

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Amazon, Hachette, Kindle Unlimi— Oh, Who Am I Kidding?

The internet writing community is all aflutter this summer about business clashes between Amazon and the publishing companies – specifically Hachette (the smallest of the ‘Big 5’ publishers). There is also the breaking news that Amazon has rolled out a subscription service for books called Kindle Unlimited. The announcement of KU intersects and influences the previous debate and sets off new discussions about how and why people do and should be able to read books, treatment of and compensation for authors, indie vs. traditional publishing, book pricing, price fixing, antitrust and monopolies, capitalism and fairness.

Like many writers, I have thoughts and opinions on these issues, and I wanted to share them with you. In summary, they consist of:

VERTIGO

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Five Things I Learned Writing (and Publishing) Starshine

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Five Things I Learned Writing (and Publishing) Starshine

Seven weeks after publication the craziness has started to settle down, and I’m finally getting used to a “new normal”—which means I’ve had the chance to muse a little on the whole experience.

In the tradition of the terrific (and irreverent) blogger and author Chuck Wendig’s series “Five Things I Learned Writing…”, I present five things I learned writing (and publishing) Starshine:

1.  Google will not send the FBI to your door if you spend six hours on the internet researching the fastest-acting deadly toxins.

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The Subversive Notion of True Equality

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The Subversive Notion of True Equality

Social issues and politics are nearly impossible for us to escape, even—or maybe especially—in entertainment. Even far-future singularity sci-fi and fantastical epic fantasy often contain overtones of commentary or condemnation on the state of modern society.

The science fiction writing community, like many professions, has struggled with issues of discrimination of late. The SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America) has spent the last year embroiled in controversy surrounding accusations of sexism, complete with resignations, protests, and internet petitions. There’s probably even a meme or two for it.

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Asking Less (and More) of Others

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Asking Less (and More) of Others

We all know people—likely professional colleagues, as they rarely last as friends—who view a person's worth solely in terms of what the person can do for them. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. Can you drive me to the car repair shop over lunch?” “Oh, you finally have a weekend free to yourself after eight weeks of work and house guests? Great! Can you help me move into my new apartment?”

Of course, true friends are glad to help one another out, and over time it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. You want to help your friend, because you genuinely want to make their life easier and better. Too many people, however, don’t wait for that goodwill to develop before presuming they’re entitled to impose upon your life.

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Daring to Dream: Why the World Needs Science Fiction

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Daring to Dream: Why the World Needs Science Fiction

While researching the theory behind the Alcubierre Drive, which forms the scientific basis for faster-than-light travel in Aurora Rising, I again came face-to-face with an issue which annoyed me immensely back during my aspiring-astrophysicist days.

Fully half the Wikipedia entry for the drive is taken up with all the reasons why it is impossible; the latter half of nearly all “serious” articles on the concept the same. Now, I readily admit that currently, not only are we not capable of producing the technology required for such a drive, we don’t even possess the theoretical scientific knowledge necessary to do so.

So. What.