Ask the Author: John MacGregor
Answered Questions (6)
John MacGregor
I have always had a great interest in cosmology an physics in general. I have watched theory evolve and change over my lifetime and have been fascinated by its evolution. My interests probably were originally peeked by the writings of Marvin Gardner back in high school. Over my lifetime that lead to reading other popularists such as Roger Penrose, Brian Greene and Michio Kaku, just to name a few. It has also helped that I have had a life long reading habit for science fiction and fantasy. The origins of the book are centered on current cosmological models. I was rereading one of Michio Kaku's books. There was a lot of references made to philosophical approaches to physics which were contrasted with each other regarding the enthropic nature of the universe. I found many of these approaches to be somewhat religious in their dogmatic approach. That shouldn't be a part of physics from my perspective. As they were speculative approaches to thought, I decided to turn some of the more dogmatic approaches around and move them away from a faith based approach. The other major issue I focused on was what we know works in the universe but have no explanation for. This lead me to the universes found in the book.
I wanted to write a hard science fiction book; something based on current cosmological principles. Most of what is published to day in that sub-genera really doesn't belong there. They are mostly space opera's or action-adventure. There is nothing wrong with those. I am an avid reader. One shortcoming of this particular genera is that many of its readers are unable to deal with issues about what is unknown to science. I felt challenged by these issues. This evolved into the world that I built for the story. Once I had that, the rest was easy. I wanted to challenge some of the physics as well as the reader.
Also, a story is about its characters and those characters live in a society that has good and bad points. I wanted to bring these up to a level of awareness for the characters as these are issues that they have to live with. Many of these issues are ones that we live with today. That flushed out the plot direction for the trilogy. I especially wanted the reader to look at these and start asking themselves questions surrounding those issues. That provides a starting point for open discussion. Too many people today have views of the world that they have never questioned. I purposely threw some extreme viewpoints in. This was not necessarily because that is what I believe but because I wanted the reader to question their own beliefs. I believe in keeping an open mind. If readers have paused to think about some of the story elements and to reflect upon their own views on the subject matter then I have accomplished what I set out to do. I certainly don't expect anyone to necessarily agree with any of them.
Lastly, I have always been surrounded by music. Many of my best friends are musicians with pedigree's. I wanted to tie this in as a major component of the story. It was a nice fit to the cosmology and the things we know that the universe does but have no understanding of. We know that somehow consciousness and observation affect the operations of the universe. That is hard science. We just don't know why. Bringing music and physics together, in the speculative manner that I used, was just a treat for me.
I wanted to write a hard science fiction book; something based on current cosmological principles. Most of what is published to day in that sub-genera really doesn't belong there. They are mostly space opera's or action-adventure. There is nothing wrong with those. I am an avid reader. One shortcoming of this particular genera is that many of its readers are unable to deal with issues about what is unknown to science. I felt challenged by these issues. This evolved into the world that I built for the story. Once I had that, the rest was easy. I wanted to challenge some of the physics as well as the reader.
Also, a story is about its characters and those characters live in a society that has good and bad points. I wanted to bring these up to a level of awareness for the characters as these are issues that they have to live with. Many of these issues are ones that we live with today. That flushed out the plot direction for the trilogy. I especially wanted the reader to look at these and start asking themselves questions surrounding those issues. That provides a starting point for open discussion. Too many people today have views of the world that they have never questioned. I purposely threw some extreme viewpoints in. This was not necessarily because that is what I believe but because I wanted the reader to question their own beliefs. I believe in keeping an open mind. If readers have paused to think about some of the story elements and to reflect upon their own views on the subject matter then I have accomplished what I set out to do. I certainly don't expect anyone to necessarily agree with any of them.
Lastly, I have always been surrounded by music. Many of my best friends are musicians with pedigree's. I wanted to tie this in as a major component of the story. It was a nice fit to the cosmology and the things we know that the universe does but have no understanding of. We know that somehow consciousness and observation affect the operations of the universe. That is hard science. We just don't know why. Bringing music and physics together, in the speculative manner that I used, was just a treat for me.
John MacGregor
I view it like I would any other job. You have hours that you put in and you just do it. You don't call in sick, unless you are sick. You don't show up late. You do what is expected of you. If you worked for someone else then these are normal condition for any job. With writing, you are working for yourself. If you owned a shop and never showed up to open the door then you wouldn't sell much and you would be out of business very quickly. You are self employed when writing. This requires a disciplined approach to working and implies a work ethic. I don't get inspired to work. I sit down and put in some elbow grease. Once I am at my desk and sitting down then I can do other things such as put on some tunes. That helps me to focus.
As a writer, we have to understand that we are in the entertainment business. It doesn't matter if you are a musician, writer or an actor. We provide a service to our audience. The enjoyment of the production by a viewer is a very small part of the overall amount of work put into the whole thing. Watching a movie only takes a few hours. Producing a movie can take years and can involve many people. All entertainers are faced with the up-front work in order for the audience to be able to enjoy the work. Any other approach won't work. Ask any musician.
As a writer, we have to understand that we are in the entertainment business. It doesn't matter if you are a musician, writer or an actor. We provide a service to our audience. The enjoyment of the production by a viewer is a very small part of the overall amount of work put into the whole thing. Watching a movie only takes a few hours. Producing a movie can take years and can involve many people. All entertainers are faced with the up-front work in order for the audience to be able to enjoy the work. Any other approach won't work. Ask any musician.
John MacGregor
I am currently working on the sequel to "False Vacuum:Apocalypse." I envision it as being part 2 of a trilogy. This book will focus more on some of the societal issues we are experiencing in today's world and expands on some of the issues raised by the protagonists in the first book. My intention is to keep it as a stand alone book but it will be a continuation of the larger story. If I do it correctly then you shouldn't have to read the first book to enjoy it. However, it is a continuation so reading the first one would be a benefit to the reading experience.
John MacGregor
Wanting to do something and doing it are two very separate things. If you decide to do it then have a plan in place on how you are going to carry it out. Recognize that the creative component of doing the actual writing is about 5% of the job....and it is a job. The other 95% is the most important component and will take up most of the time. This involves making the story readable. The includes chasing down typos and spelling mistakes, correcting POV errors, verifying that dialog is associated with the correct character, you haven't confused your characters, etc. Once you've worked out the readability aspects, you many be involved in further types of editing (ie copy and setup). Once the story is out in the wilds then you have to somehow get others to read what you have done. That involves some level of marketing and nobody will do that for you. You have to do it yourself. I guess my point here is that the creative part is the smallest part of doing the job. Without the other 95%, you might as well have not bothered.
John MacGregor
That's like asking what your favorite color is. For me the answer can change by the minute depending on how I feel at a given moment. The last thing that I ever tried to write was a poem back in grade 6. I am now 58. I have always wanted to write something in the hard science fiction genera but until now, I never even tried to write a short story. The simple answer would be that I have knocked something off of my bucket list. I actually sat down, planned it all out and then did it. I managed to accomplish a life long ambition.
John MacGregor
At this point I have only ever written the one book "False Vacuum: Apocalypse." The truth is, I have never had writer's block. I planned out the whole book ahead of time down to the level of scenes and POV. From there it was only a matter of writing individual scenes. I am taking the same approach to the sequel, which I am currently working on. In my own experience, I found that this completely eliminated the problem. I see writers block as a problem that you run into when you don't know what direction your story is going in. There is nothing wrong with this approach but it can raise these kinds of issues.
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