I love science on what can probably be described as 'obsessive' level, and anyone who knows me can attest to that (often with a sigh and roll of the eyes).
One thing I love about science is its accessibility and the sheer volume of available information. Especially information on the speculative impacts based on lines of research. This is hard SF gold.
So, before I ramble on until your eyes bleed, please enjoy these lectures by George Church and J. Craig Venter on the synthetic genome, brought to you by Edge.
Lecture 1 is of particular interest to writers, he almost makes it too easy.
Showing posts with label authoring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label authoring. Show all posts
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Ficly
I recently joined the Ficly in order to practice writing shorter fiction and being more careful about word choice. That and it seems like a hoot.
You can find me at http://ficly.com/authors/jarrad
For those of you (if there are any) who are waiting for revenge part 2 and 3, they should drop this weekend after my final.
You can find me at http://ficly.com/authors/jarrad
For those of you (if there are any) who are waiting for revenge part 2 and 3, they should drop this weekend after my final.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Science and Fiction: A Love Story.
As I write this, I stare with great longing at the blank page of my most recent attempt at writing science fiction. It is no small task to approach a subject so based in reality, with so many rules and processes to consider, and express the beauty and wonder that lies just below its surface.
I see many writers go out to the far reaches of speculation and write about where ever their mind takes them. This far future fiction is often grounded in the ideas of today, and then drawn out to some spectacular point. This type of fiction is often as close as people can get. If things go awry, then it just is written off or ignored. The other side of this is near future fiction, in which technology is just one step or jump ahead of us. I will not bother going into the problems that it faces, for Charles Stross has already elegantly discussed it here.
Others, as put by Issac Asimov, write science fantasy. To clarify, they write something as Tolkien's Middle Earth, but instead of orcs and wizards, we get aliens and laser guns.
The reason I bring it up is because of how I want so much to be in that first category. Especially in the way that Stross or Gibson weave words around the the technology of this age and the next in a seamless mesh of fact and fancy. As I rise to this challenge, I encourage other writers endeavoring to write sci-fi to reach for the same. Let us bring the literary value of science fiction back to the table and try and reclaim the timelessness these works exist in.
Well, I suppose I am done ranting and had better get back to work.
I see many writers go out to the far reaches of speculation and write about where ever their mind takes them. This far future fiction is often grounded in the ideas of today, and then drawn out to some spectacular point. This type of fiction is often as close as people can get. If things go awry, then it just is written off or ignored. The other side of this is near future fiction, in which technology is just one step or jump ahead of us. I will not bother going into the problems that it faces, for Charles Stross has already elegantly discussed it here.
Others, as put by Issac Asimov, write science fantasy. To clarify, they write something as Tolkien's Middle Earth, but instead of orcs and wizards, we get aliens and laser guns.
The reason I bring it up is because of how I want so much to be in that first category. Especially in the way that Stross or Gibson weave words around the the technology of this age and the next in a seamless mesh of fact and fancy. As I rise to this challenge, I encourage other writers endeavoring to write sci-fi to reach for the same. Let us bring the literary value of science fiction back to the table and try and reclaim the timelessness these works exist in.
Well, I suppose I am done ranting and had better get back to work.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Agency Hunt and Letting Go
There are many, many steps on the road to becoming an author. It involves patience, dedication, and a rather thick skin.
I say this because I am about to take the next, most dreaded step.
Agent hunting.
We all done shuddering now? Good.
In all of my time, few things have caused me this much tension and stress, but at the same time few things have left me with such a sense of excitement.
But with a third draft of a manuscript, the first couple chapters of another work, and a compilation of short stories in the pipeline I figured it was time to get off my lazy ass and get something done and take the steps to putting things into print.
It is not the fear of judgment or rejection that has stayed my hand this long. Nay, it is the fact that once it sits in its new shiny dust jacket and its new spot on the shelf, then it is no longer my private joy, but one I must now share with the world.
It is simultaneously heart breaking and beautiful and the only thing I can think to compare it to right now is of a mother letting go of their child's hand on that first day of school, or a father's hug to that same child on the day they graduate and enter into the world.
Once those steps are taken, the baby you have nurtured is off to make its own decisions and in turn have opinions formed about them.
A pure moment for pride and sorrow to grip one's heart and give one pause where action is needed.
Thus I address the envelope and once more read over its contents with a heavy heart. The long weeks of waiting are all that lie ahead as the children of my mind try find their way in this world.
I say this because I am about to take the next, most dreaded step.
Agent hunting.
We all done shuddering now? Good.
In all of my time, few things have caused me this much tension and stress, but at the same time few things have left me with such a sense of excitement.
But with a third draft of a manuscript, the first couple chapters of another work, and a compilation of short stories in the pipeline I figured it was time to get off my lazy ass and get something done and take the steps to putting things into print.
It is not the fear of judgment or rejection that has stayed my hand this long. Nay, it is the fact that once it sits in its new shiny dust jacket and its new spot on the shelf, then it is no longer my private joy, but one I must now share with the world.
It is simultaneously heart breaking and beautiful and the only thing I can think to compare it to right now is of a mother letting go of their child's hand on that first day of school, or a father's hug to that same child on the day they graduate and enter into the world.
Once those steps are taken, the baby you have nurtured is off to make its own decisions and in turn have opinions formed about them.
A pure moment for pride and sorrow to grip one's heart and give one pause where action is needed.
Thus I address the envelope and once more read over its contents with a heavy heart. The long weeks of waiting are all that lie ahead as the children of my mind try find their way in this world.
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