Building worlds, imagining futures
I’m doing it
again: writing a science fiction novel. I wish I could fully explain why. It’s
difficult and time consuming. It can be frustrating—not just the act of
creation, but the process of sharing and dissemination. Creating something new
and elegant is a great pleasure. The rest of the process—especially
marketing—becomes a chore. It involves negotiating the increasingly complex
social networks of fellow humans. And, as some wag said, the more humans I come
to know, the more I like my dog. But that observation has become the nucleus of
my next tale: What if humans were the pets and more complicated aliens—let’s
call them Jadderbadians—felt that spending time with humans was preferable to
dealing with other Jadderbadians?
The title of my
novel is “A Groupie Genius in the Kennel of Master Morticue Ambergrand, a tale
of alien invasion and companionship in Earth’s distant future.” I’m hoping the
title conjures thoughts of A Connecticut
Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and other titles where the author explores
the human condition with tongue firmly placed in cheek.
As I see it now,
the purpose of these blog entries shall be to:
1.
Share the process of creation so that others
with similar inclinations can benefit
2.
Talk out the details of my tale as I proceed to
clarify them in my own mind
3.
Explore the development of my characters
4.
Build a community of interested readers that may
also serve as a painless form of advertising
5.
Introduce myself to those who might be
interested in exploring my writing, illustrating and graphic design efforts
6.
Test my story line and premises
Why science fiction?
Some
have asked me: why use the vehicle of science fiction to tell this story?
Couldn’t I reach a more general audience without resorting to an exotic future
and even more exotic aliens? Perhaps I could.
But science fiction appeals to me in many ways:
1. Science
fiction has always sparked my sense of wonder by making me imagine all the
“what ifs?” of possible futures. Furthermore, science fiction builds futures
consistent with what we know about nature through the study of science—a
powerful tool for solving problems and answering questions using nature as the
final arbiter—the stage on which experiments prove or disprove how we think the
universe operates.
2. Science
fiction allows writers to explore the human condition as naïve outsiders with
new perspectives. Gene Roddenberry used the original Star Trek to address questions of gender and race because there was
no other way to do it in a public forum during the sixties. Let Klingons,
Vulcans and tribbles show us the error of our ways by entertaining rather than
preaching.
3. Science
fiction tends to address the BIG QUESTIONS we all ask ourselves: Why are we
here? Why does the universe exist? Does our personal consciousness survive
death in some way? Why does our universe support life and how common is it? Do
supernatural forces exist and, if so, how do they operate? Do our individual
lives have purpose beyond mere survival? Is conscious intelligence limited to
life or can we create it? To what extent can we build the futures we want and
to what extent is our behavior limited by evolutionary accidents?
Science
fiction provides a powerful way to dream with your eyes open. Colorful stories,
in general, allow humans to tell the lies that reveal universal truths. In the
deep past we sat around campfires and mesmerized our comrades with the tale of
how we stole dinner from that dangerous cave lion. Today I want to tell a story
about how an alien and his human pet find their way to a future filled with
promise because of the dreams they share and the mysteries of life they can
only solve together.
Pull
up a log if you want to join my tribe around the campfire.
