My son gets exited about hiccups. He’ll make a bee line towards me and yell, “Daddy daddy, tell me a scary story.”
After a moment’s reflection about the odd juxtaposition I’ll jump right in.
“Son,” I’ll tell him, “let me tell you something really scary.”
As children maybe we wanted a toy to talk back. A little human but not too much, they must always be available.
They can have a life of their own, so long as they’re back in their box before we notice.
The book I’m currently writing, Destiny’s Hand, takes place within a rather large spacecraft called Ship Of Destiny. As the journey is intended to last a fair number of human generations, I thought it made sense for there to be artificial intelligences available to assist and maintain continuity.
Continue reading Artificial Intelligence in my fiction, insanicide
My brother is much younger than me, still in his twenties and still in need of adventure. Not horseradish and peanut butter, more Into the Wild, which is not for family men edging towards forty, i.e. me.
The last week of last month I was chatting with my brother
Matthew
online and I excitedly linked invirtu on urban dictionary, which means “within virtual reality”. I had been trying to get words I made up for my book Destiny’s Hand into the dictionary, and this was my first success.
His response, “I am going to Boston in a week to meet Norwegians. If all goes well I will crew with them as they cross to Ireland.” Continue reading Nearing Midsummer’s Eve, My Brother And The Sea
It’s a special kind of idea that sticks enough to motivate a book. I got stuck, while chatting at work one day, with the idea of daily life in a generation ship.
Spaceships that take generations to travel anywhere is not a novel idea, but I hope my story will be. The theme of it has attracted me since I was a kid.
Sometime in high school I started imagining we all might be living virtual lives as entertainment, while in stasis in space, and that when we “died” we’d wake up and remember who we really were. Now I’m writing about people on a life boat entangled in a power struggle that’s corrupted their values. There is a connection there, but it’s subtle.
Continue reading Here’s A Novel Idea-People Decide To Die In Space
I savor Father’s Day. I admit to appreciating the attention, the clear authority over how my day will be spent. More so than any other day I am allowed to rule.
…Was what I was thinking when I went to sleep last night. However, my son
Yuri
had other ideas at six am. To him I am only a semi-authority figure. As he would say “You’re not the leader of me!”
Continue reading Father’s Day, I am Optimus Prime
