Joshua Bader's Blog: How I Learned to Love the Bomb, page 3
August 2, 2016
End of character
I'm drawing my character series to a close with this one... meaning this is your last chance to comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of Frostbite. I'm not feeling great today, which has me putting this off, delaying, delaying, delaying... but faithful reader deserves better treatment. I may start throwing out teasers for Two Wizard Roulette soon to make up for this abuse.
My books are best described as character-driven. There are times I know what's going to happen in a scene... until I actually start writing it and the characters are full of ideas all their own. More than any other plot elements, the characters desires push my stories forward.
We've been talking about interesting people and the elements of them that have inspired characters. I could add to that list a former mayor who got in trouble selling imaginary cattle and being involved with the wrong bankers. There was a recovering meth addict who was my business partner and went on to open his game store. I could talk about a girl whose penchant for tragedy inspired Colin Fisher's adventures in the first place, because she just wanted somewhere to run (you've met her briefly in Frostbite as Carrie Ann Womack... and I hope you'll know her better as the series goes.)
But really there comes a point that I have to acknowledge that my characters with all their quirks and flaws are ultimately a part of me. I think I caught the full brunt of the Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times." I certainly have, both for better and worse. My life has rarely, very rarely, been boring and I appreciate the current rollercoaster of writing and publishing. I think too much and that shows up in my characters. I've been told I have the ability to instantly and effortlessly specify my current emotional state, from exuberant joy to shattering heartbreak. I self identified as a Goth in the days before emo was really an option, and there's nothing quite as satisfying as picking through those dark heavy laden emotions. Marriage and parenting requires me to dwell less in those and work on more stable, happier heartbeats... and I'm trying. (At least my characters can still wrestle with their inner demons.) I'm bipolar, impulsive to the point of reckless, and I still identify with the villain of Two Wizard Roulette more than I should. That's my character DNA that I bring to the written page... a mix of heart and darkness.
One of the real blessings of talking to people about Frostbite is realizing how many of you are in the same boat as me. Our darker spirits may be forced into abeyance for the sake of keeping a household alive... but that does not mean we cannot indulge them in the occasional fictional flight of fantasy. Thank you for reading.
My books are best described as character-driven. There are times I know what's going to happen in a scene... until I actually start writing it and the characters are full of ideas all their own. More than any other plot elements, the characters desires push my stories forward.
We've been talking about interesting people and the elements of them that have inspired characters. I could add to that list a former mayor who got in trouble selling imaginary cattle and being involved with the wrong bankers. There was a recovering meth addict who was my business partner and went on to open his game store. I could talk about a girl whose penchant for tragedy inspired Colin Fisher's adventures in the first place, because she just wanted somewhere to run (you've met her briefly in Frostbite as Carrie Ann Womack... and I hope you'll know her better as the series goes.)
But really there comes a point that I have to acknowledge that my characters with all their quirks and flaws are ultimately a part of me. I think I caught the full brunt of the Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times." I certainly have, both for better and worse. My life has rarely, very rarely, been boring and I appreciate the current rollercoaster of writing and publishing. I think too much and that shows up in my characters. I've been told I have the ability to instantly and effortlessly specify my current emotional state, from exuberant joy to shattering heartbreak. I self identified as a Goth in the days before emo was really an option, and there's nothing quite as satisfying as picking through those dark heavy laden emotions. Marriage and parenting requires me to dwell less in those and work on more stable, happier heartbeats... and I'm trying. (At least my characters can still wrestle with their inner demons.) I'm bipolar, impulsive to the point of reckless, and I still identify with the villain of Two Wizard Roulette more than I should. That's my character DNA that I bring to the written page... a mix of heart and darkness.
One of the real blessings of talking to people about Frostbite is realizing how many of you are in the same boat as me. Our darker spirits may be forced into abeyance for the sake of keeping a household alive... but that does not mean we cannot indulge them in the occasional fictional flight of fantasy. Thank you for reading.
July 28, 2016
Opposing Views
Returning to the character series (meaning you can comment to win at the end of this blog), I wanted to talk about someone whose view points diverge dramatically from my own. It is all too easy to let all of my characters become a mouthpiece for my own position or to be flat straw dummy caricatures of the "enemy". (For exemplars of this approach to fiction, just watch the political conventions this year.)
Unlike past character series, I'm not going to give her name. She most closely corresponds to the witch Marianne out of Two Wizard Roulette, though there are pieces of her in Duchess Deluce as well. For purposes of this, I'll call her Mare.
Our differing views start at the issue of witchcraft. For her, it's a sacred religion. I really do gravitate somewhere between Catholic and Messianic Judaism depending on the day, with a Buddhist tint. When I first met her, I was wrestling with a lot of ideas about where I stood with regards to the fundamentalist evangelical church I was raised in. I knew that wasn't what I believed in, but I had rebelled enough that I felt like some of it was worth saving, if I could just trim out the junk that got tied in with it. (To whit, there are good reasons for abortion to be legal, sexuality is not a disqualification from God's love, and God is bigger and more inclusive than any one particular denomination.)
Her approach to life was pretty different. She was married, in a polyamorous marriage, deeply committed to paganism, and equally deeply opposed to anything to do with Christianity. What struck me about her was that we could talk regardless of our differences. Sometimes we stuck to safe topics, like our love for Silence of the Lambs. Other times we delved into deeper waters like the nature of magic or how she was raped by her youth pastor at a very young age. (If I have any magic in me at all, it is the ability to extract someone's deepest darkest secrets with minimal effort.)
She introduced me to Robert Heinlein and it continues to mystify how two such different people could find solace in a very outspokenly political author (He is counted among the conservatives, but his positions range from Libertarian to Democratic Socialist.) Her influence continues to work its spell on me and I likely landed in urban fantasy, rather than high fantasy, as part of her effect. I also owe my knowledge of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to her, as in the days before Netflix, she was kind enough to loan me her VHS tapes of the entire series.
I think the thing I learned from her more than anything else was that love and positive regard for another human being does not depend on agreeing with them on every single point. Sometimes the best friendships come from understanding our differences and respecting them without trying to force them to be just like us.
Unlike past character series, I'm not going to give her name. She most closely corresponds to the witch Marianne out of Two Wizard Roulette, though there are pieces of her in Duchess Deluce as well. For purposes of this, I'll call her Mare.
Our differing views start at the issue of witchcraft. For her, it's a sacred religion. I really do gravitate somewhere between Catholic and Messianic Judaism depending on the day, with a Buddhist tint. When I first met her, I was wrestling with a lot of ideas about where I stood with regards to the fundamentalist evangelical church I was raised in. I knew that wasn't what I believed in, but I had rebelled enough that I felt like some of it was worth saving, if I could just trim out the junk that got tied in with it. (To whit, there are good reasons for abortion to be legal, sexuality is not a disqualification from God's love, and God is bigger and more inclusive than any one particular denomination.)
Her approach to life was pretty different. She was married, in a polyamorous marriage, deeply committed to paganism, and equally deeply opposed to anything to do with Christianity. What struck me about her was that we could talk regardless of our differences. Sometimes we stuck to safe topics, like our love for Silence of the Lambs. Other times we delved into deeper waters like the nature of magic or how she was raped by her youth pastor at a very young age. (If I have any magic in me at all, it is the ability to extract someone's deepest darkest secrets with minimal effort.)
She introduced me to Robert Heinlein and it continues to mystify how two such different people could find solace in a very outspokenly political author (He is counted among the conservatives, but his positions range from Libertarian to Democratic Socialist.) Her influence continues to work its spell on me and I likely landed in urban fantasy, rather than high fantasy, as part of her effect. I also owe my knowledge of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to her, as in the days before Netflix, she was kind enough to loan me her VHS tapes of the entire series.
I think the thing I learned from her more than anything else was that love and positive regard for another human being does not depend on agreeing with them on every single point. Sometimes the best friendships come from understanding our differences and respecting them without trying to force them to be just like us.
July 27, 2016
Way Back Wednesday
So I'm a little slow on getting my weekly blog post up this week. But I've got great reasons. It's Way Back Wednesday, which means $1 admission at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Sonic has half-price Ice Cream stuff today. I have a teenager, which is the rough equivalent to saying I have been assigned to watch a fully armed, but undetonated, nuclear warhead. And there are lots of Pokemon to catch.
Because writing requires an understanding of so many scenes and backdrops and characters, it is easy to get lost in studying life and not writing about it. This is not a bad thing, as many writers (present company included) can be sullen, antisocial, and withdrawn at times. But it does make it tough for fans to follow if the tap goes dry for too long.
So I'm going to the zoo today, because zoos are awesome and I'm a cheap skate. Tomorrow, I'll write another post in my characters series. And when I get around to it, I may post a sample of Two Wizard Roulette for those that are ready for what comes after Frostbite. Thanks for reading!
Because writing requires an understanding of so many scenes and backdrops and characters, it is easy to get lost in studying life and not writing about it. This is not a bad thing, as many writers (present company included) can be sullen, antisocial, and withdrawn at times. But it does make it tough for fans to follow if the tap goes dry for too long.
So I'm going to the zoo today, because zoos are awesome and I'm a cheap skate. Tomorrow, I'll write another post in my characters series. And when I get around to it, I may post a sample of Two Wizard Roulette for those that are ready for what comes after Frostbite. Thanks for reading!
July 19, 2016
A Different Era
There is a tendency to modernize our characters, to make all of them, whether 2 or 102, conform to our modern prejudices and viewpoints. Part of the trouble with this approach is that some of the greatest characters belong to a different era. Separated from their time and place, it is hard to appreciate them for who and what they are.
Vic Diffee is one such person to me. If I forced him into modernity, I am not sure he would fit. Vic grew up with the great American highways, a car guy from an early age. He started selling cars out of his dad's motel parking lot on Route 66 in Bethany, Oklahoma, way back in 1954. His dad seeing his hard work and that this was no passing fancy for him helped him acquire an actual lot the next year. Vic didn't belong to any particular brand, but loved all cars, often driving around all the different vehicles he stocked.
Later in life, he acquired a Ford Lincoln and Mercury dealership, though part of that was a concession from Lincoln that Vic was already selling more town cars than their established franchises. (In that aspect, Vic was part pirate, part shrewd businessman. I've heard stories about how he got his town cars and continentals even without the franchise.)
He is generous to a fault. If he wasn't giving to charity, he would give any man a chance to earn his paycheck, whether it was checking gas, mats, and oil on his cars or selling them. If he was a more vain man, I suspect most charities in Oklahoma City would have at least one wing named after him. But taking the credit was never part of Vic's plan. He just enjoyed playing around with cars and felt grateful to have made money while doing it.
His family life has been strained at times, I think in part because, like so many men of his era, he is stoic, not sharing what is on his heart with those around him. He is used to being in charge and those who work closely with him learn to read his signals. For example, he ends most discussions by thanking the other person for their time: It is useless to try to continue the conversation beyond that thank you.
But he is a vital character for me in understanding what a complete life successfully devoted to a passionate career looks like. He has taught me the importance of doing what I love doing. I remember taking him to the pharmacy on the day he had all of his teeth removed for pain medication: he sold the pharmacist a Lincoln while picking up his script. I also remember how polite he was to everyone: the cashier and the janitor were the pharmacist's equal to Vic.
As always, you can comment on the blog posts of this series for a chance to win an autographed copy of Frostbite.
Vic Diffee is one such person to me. If I forced him into modernity, I am not sure he would fit. Vic grew up with the great American highways, a car guy from an early age. He started selling cars out of his dad's motel parking lot on Route 66 in Bethany, Oklahoma, way back in 1954. His dad seeing his hard work and that this was no passing fancy for him helped him acquire an actual lot the next year. Vic didn't belong to any particular brand, but loved all cars, often driving around all the different vehicles he stocked.
Later in life, he acquired a Ford Lincoln and Mercury dealership, though part of that was a concession from Lincoln that Vic was already selling more town cars than their established franchises. (In that aspect, Vic was part pirate, part shrewd businessman. I've heard stories about how he got his town cars and continentals even without the franchise.)
He is generous to a fault. If he wasn't giving to charity, he would give any man a chance to earn his paycheck, whether it was checking gas, mats, and oil on his cars or selling them. If he was a more vain man, I suspect most charities in Oklahoma City would have at least one wing named after him. But taking the credit was never part of Vic's plan. He just enjoyed playing around with cars and felt grateful to have made money while doing it.
His family life has been strained at times, I think in part because, like so many men of his era, he is stoic, not sharing what is on his heart with those around him. He is used to being in charge and those who work closely with him learn to read his signals. For example, he ends most discussions by thanking the other person for their time: It is useless to try to continue the conversation beyond that thank you.
But he is a vital character for me in understanding what a complete life successfully devoted to a passionate career looks like. He has taught me the importance of doing what I love doing. I remember taking him to the pharmacy on the day he had all of his teeth removed for pain medication: he sold the pharmacist a Lincoln while picking up his script. I also remember how polite he was to everyone: the cashier and the janitor were the pharmacist's equal to Vic.
As always, you can comment on the blog posts of this series for a chance to win an autographed copy of Frostbite.
July 12, 2016
Love and Other Fairy Tales
This is part 3 of my series on characters and the actual people in my life that inspired them. I've avoided adding family to the list. They have shrinks for that, not poor unsuspecting faithful readers. But I've got one who didn't start out as blood, but definitely belongs on the list.
I was at home on Christmas leave from my station at the Naval Nuclear Power Command. There was a girl I was seeing in South Carolina who for a variety of reasons didn't want anyone to know she was seeing me. New Years Eve I called out to talk to her. She promptly handed over the phone to her best friend, Jennifer, to distract the room from the fact that I called her. (This was in the day when cell phones were the size of small elephants and people had enough courtesy to let other people in the room know who they were talking to.) Jennifer and I had never even met before... but the conversation was interesting enough, I was determined to meet her once leave was over. I even wrote her into a story I was working on that very night.
If I had to pick one characteristic to summarize her, it would be charming. From watching her all these years, she is someone people genuinely want to like. I've seen people manipulate to that end... hers is simply a result of innocent beauty of the soul. She is as endearing in a flannel shirt and jeans as she is in formal dress. (The 90s were weird. Everybody wore flannel. She looked good in it.)
She has always worked well with children and jobs that surround her with children. I think it's because they know, just by looking at her that she is a good person. Her charm wins them over from the first smile.
She is not a simple creature. She has a darkness of her own. Her temper can be a thing to behold, particularly when playing video games where we remark that her usual strategy is "Jennifer smash". Her sense of humor can be... twisted.
She has been a supporting cast of any number of my books and stories, most recently with providing inspiration for Agent Andrea Devereaux in Frostbite and Two Wizard Roulette. In real life, I did my best to surround her with children of our own.
As a reminder, you can comment on this blog post for a chance to win an autographed copy of Frostbite. (And two others out of the archives: Characters and Sympathy for the Devil.)
I was at home on Christmas leave from my station at the Naval Nuclear Power Command. There was a girl I was seeing in South Carolina who for a variety of reasons didn't want anyone to know she was seeing me. New Years Eve I called out to talk to her. She promptly handed over the phone to her best friend, Jennifer, to distract the room from the fact that I called her. (This was in the day when cell phones were the size of small elephants and people had enough courtesy to let other people in the room know who they were talking to.) Jennifer and I had never even met before... but the conversation was interesting enough, I was determined to meet her once leave was over. I even wrote her into a story I was working on that very night.
If I had to pick one characteristic to summarize her, it would be charming. From watching her all these years, she is someone people genuinely want to like. I've seen people manipulate to that end... hers is simply a result of innocent beauty of the soul. She is as endearing in a flannel shirt and jeans as she is in formal dress. (The 90s were weird. Everybody wore flannel. She looked good in it.)
She has always worked well with children and jobs that surround her with children. I think it's because they know, just by looking at her that she is a good person. Her charm wins them over from the first smile.
She is not a simple creature. She has a darkness of her own. Her temper can be a thing to behold, particularly when playing video games where we remark that her usual strategy is "Jennifer smash". Her sense of humor can be... twisted.
She has been a supporting cast of any number of my books and stories, most recently with providing inspiration for Agent Andrea Devereaux in Frostbite and Two Wizard Roulette. In real life, I did my best to surround her with children of our own.
As a reminder, you can comment on this blog post for a chance to win an autographed copy of Frostbite. (And two others out of the archives: Characters and Sympathy for the Devil.)
July 7, 2016
Autographed Giveaway
I've been teasing doing a giveaway through this blog for a while now on social media So here it is! On August 7, I'm giving away a signed paperback author's copy of Frostbite to one lucky participant.
No purchase is necessary, but I do need you to sign up. So how do you sign up? (I'm so glad you asked.)
I'm in the middle of a blog series on characters and people who have meant enough to me to provide DNA for characters. Right now, there are two such posts up: Characters and Sympathy for the Devil. For each comment you leave on one of the series' (one per post), you get an entry into the drawing on August 7. The comment can be about the post or a blatant plea for free stuff, but you have to comment to win. I'll make sure to let everybody know when a new series post is up on social media. Good reading and good luck.
No purchase is necessary, but I do need you to sign up. So how do you sign up? (I'm so glad you asked.)
I'm in the middle of a blog series on characters and people who have meant enough to me to provide DNA for characters. Right now, there are two such posts up: Characters and Sympathy for the Devil. For each comment you leave on one of the series' (one per post), you get an entry into the drawing on August 7. The comment can be about the post or a blatant plea for free stuff, but you have to comment to win. I'll make sure to let everybody know when a new series post is up on social media. Good reading and good luck.
July 6, 2016
Sympathy For The Devil
I started talking about the people who live in my memory last week. They inevitably bleed over into the characters in my novels. I know how people talk, how they act, from watching and interacting with these living characters.
Dr. Ken Bond is definitely one of them worth noting. If Dr. Neuenschwander taught me what genius looked like, Dr. Bond is my model of sanity/insanity, addiction, and recovery. He was my counselor, mentor, and friend. In a lot of ways, I have to be careful what I write, lest I break the sacred bonds of doctor-patient privilege.
I don't generally stick with counselors long. I've had a few where after a few sessions, I started to wonder who was providing therapy for who. I suppose that goes with the territory of having a degree in psychology and being a natural empath. I never had that issue with Dr. Bond. He was a consummate professional and immune to my endearing, but manipulative, charms.
He had alcohol issues from a past life, before he found his calling. His romantic life was rocky. I think he struggled in relationships for a lot of the reasons I struggle, too. We both had a deep academic interest in sex. Much of our non-counseling time was spent talking about the biological differences between the sexes, sex offenders, patterns of sexual development, and Robert Heinlein. (For those not familiar with the science fiction of Heinlein, he is largely inseparable from the sciences of love and sex.) His dissertation was on the effects of counseling sex offenders on the counselors and I am probably the only non-therapist, non-sex offender, to read it cover to cover. All that sex study starts to stew the brain and it's hard to enjoy a real relationship: you start analyzing and over-analyzing your every move, wondering whether it's hormones, addiction, trauma, or actual romance propelling your actions.
We did yoga together as well. I think that was how he kept his sanity: exercise and meditation to turn the noise off, to stop thinking. There are only so many thoughts that are possible from upward facing dog transitioning into plank position. Those that are tend to be inwardly focused on your own body or lost in the nebulous thoughts of the nature of the universe.
I haven't talked to him in a while. He changed jobs and got divorced again. He is perhaps one of the kindest souls I have ever met and I think that compassion for others drains the self over time. He could be sharp tongued when he was tired and had an unerring sense for where the other person's soft underbelly was. I'm sure that can't be easy in a marriage to a professional caregiver.
I wish he was still in my life, but our paths have gone our own ways and social media just isn't his thing. He still lives on in my novels. There are times when the light is just right that Colin Fisher starts to look more and more like Bond, Ken Bond.
Dr. Ken Bond is definitely one of them worth noting. If Dr. Neuenschwander taught me what genius looked like, Dr. Bond is my model of sanity/insanity, addiction, and recovery. He was my counselor, mentor, and friend. In a lot of ways, I have to be careful what I write, lest I break the sacred bonds of doctor-patient privilege.
I don't generally stick with counselors long. I've had a few where after a few sessions, I started to wonder who was providing therapy for who. I suppose that goes with the territory of having a degree in psychology and being a natural empath. I never had that issue with Dr. Bond. He was a consummate professional and immune to my endearing, but manipulative, charms.
He had alcohol issues from a past life, before he found his calling. His romantic life was rocky. I think he struggled in relationships for a lot of the reasons I struggle, too. We both had a deep academic interest in sex. Much of our non-counseling time was spent talking about the biological differences between the sexes, sex offenders, patterns of sexual development, and Robert Heinlein. (For those not familiar with the science fiction of Heinlein, he is largely inseparable from the sciences of love and sex.) His dissertation was on the effects of counseling sex offenders on the counselors and I am probably the only non-therapist, non-sex offender, to read it cover to cover. All that sex study starts to stew the brain and it's hard to enjoy a real relationship: you start analyzing and over-analyzing your every move, wondering whether it's hormones, addiction, trauma, or actual romance propelling your actions.
We did yoga together as well. I think that was how he kept his sanity: exercise and meditation to turn the noise off, to stop thinking. There are only so many thoughts that are possible from upward facing dog transitioning into plank position. Those that are tend to be inwardly focused on your own body or lost in the nebulous thoughts of the nature of the universe.
I haven't talked to him in a while. He changed jobs and got divorced again. He is perhaps one of the kindest souls I have ever met and I think that compassion for others drains the self over time. He could be sharp tongued when he was tired and had an unerring sense for where the other person's soft underbelly was. I'm sure that can't be easy in a marriage to a professional caregiver.
I wish he was still in my life, but our paths have gone our own ways and social media just isn't his thing. He still lives on in my novels. There are times when the light is just right that Colin Fisher starts to look more and more like Bond, Ken Bond.
June 29, 2016
City Owl Preview Time!
I love writing with City Owl Press. Not only do they have fantastic editors and talented artists, not only do they handle so much of the promotion and hype for the book... they also have a great family of authors. I say, family, because we really do interact with each other and help each other figure out all the little things on our works in progress. It's a great place to be.
Today I have the honor of doing a book preview for one of City Owl's other authors, Miriam Greystone. Like me, she's way into urban fantasy and her latest book, Truthsight, is well in the genre.
Doctor Amy spends her nights running a secret clinic for supernatural creatures. When she is forced to use her magic to save the lives of a centaur infant and its mother, she vows never to regret her decision, no matter what the consequences. Not even when the Mages capture her, beat her, and condemn her to die. Before the sentence can be carried out, she is abducted by a mysterious being named Rowan, who demands that she use her healing abilities to save his father. When Amy fails to save the ailing man, her actions unintentionally force Rowan into an exile that will soon turn into a death sentence. Now, Rowan and Amy must join forces with the creatures who were once her patients and fight to uncover the one secret that may be powerful enough to save them all.
Pretty cool, huh?
Like pretty pictures? I've got the cover up on my facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.bader.50
Today I have the honor of doing a book preview for one of City Owl's other authors, Miriam Greystone. Like me, she's way into urban fantasy and her latest book, Truthsight, is well in the genre.
Doctor Amy spends her nights running a secret clinic for supernatural creatures. When she is forced to use her magic to save the lives of a centaur infant and its mother, she vows never to regret her decision, no matter what the consequences. Not even when the Mages capture her, beat her, and condemn her to die. Before the sentence can be carried out, she is abducted by a mysterious being named Rowan, who demands that she use her healing abilities to save his father. When Amy fails to save the ailing man, her actions unintentionally force Rowan into an exile that will soon turn into a death sentence. Now, Rowan and Amy must join forces with the creatures who were once her patients and fight to uncover the one secret that may be powerful enough to save them all.
Pretty cool, huh?
Like pretty pictures? I've got the cover up on my facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.bader.50
June 28, 2016
Characters
Characters matter. More than genre, more than style... characters matter. If my characters are intriguing, three-dimensional, living, then my book will be interesting. Gandalf the Gray is an interesting character: He could write a cookbook and it will still be readable.
I was doing an Author's Q&A for the release of Frostbite and someone asked where I get my characters from and whether I based them off of actual people I knew. I struggled with that question, because I knew it was a very important one... and the answer was not a clean cut yes or no.
My thought process started down this road not too long ago, when I told someone they were one of the ten most interesting people I had ever met. That got me thinking about who exactly were the ten most interesting people I had ever met. As I made the list, I realized that there were snippets and pieces of them that became part of my characters.
No fictional character is an exact copy of any of these people. For one, I couldn't do them justice. They are far too intriguing for me to capture in ink and paper. Two, I tend to do bad things to characters and if I thought of the character as I do the person I might not be able to properly torture them in the way that you, loving reader, have come to expect.
I'm going to spend some time over the course of this blog talking about the people who have provided DNA to characters, how they've impacted me, and what I learned from them. They were intriguing to me when I knew them and I think you'll find them interesting too.
The first one of note, in no particular order, is Dr. Neuenschwander. He was a tall, skinny pole of a man with a mop of long white hair on top. My first introduction to him was when I visited the university he was teaching at. I had done well on a national test of high school physics and the dean was interested in making sure that Dr. N and I met.
I'm not sure what image a physics genius conjures in most minds. Dr. N did not match mine. He road a motorcycle, loved jazz music and the saxophone, had an interest in old cars, and a smile and a laugh that let you know when he was genuinely tickled by something.
That is not to say he was not a physics genius. He impressed upon me, more than anything else, that the key to mastery of science is a mastery of mathematics. I was something of a math prodigy, or so I thought till I sat through his Atomic and Nuclear Physics lecture. Dr. N was a virtuoso, a master of mathematics from advanced calculus to trigonometry. He could process massive equations on the fly with a practiced ease that we mere undergraduates could not. I've praised him on his math skill many times since: it's always met with an "Aw, shucks" humility as if he was nothing particularly special. I am not alone in my impression of him as a genius: he served as the president of the American Physics Association.
It was through Dr. N that I was introduced to both the writings of Richard Feynman and Dr. N's favorite book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Both have shaped me greatly and I'm sure there are moments that I subconsciously plagiarize both of them.
Dr. N taught me that I was not the smartest man on planet Earth. He was the first person I ever met who I was absolutely certain was smarter than me. This is a valuable lesson for a fantasy writer, because our characters often encounter things which are beyond them, beyond comprehension. I am not sure I could have appreciated the emotions behind that had I never sat through his lectures.
I was doing an Author's Q&A for the release of Frostbite and someone asked where I get my characters from and whether I based them off of actual people I knew. I struggled with that question, because I knew it was a very important one... and the answer was not a clean cut yes or no.
My thought process started down this road not too long ago, when I told someone they were one of the ten most interesting people I had ever met. That got me thinking about who exactly were the ten most interesting people I had ever met. As I made the list, I realized that there were snippets and pieces of them that became part of my characters.
No fictional character is an exact copy of any of these people. For one, I couldn't do them justice. They are far too intriguing for me to capture in ink and paper. Two, I tend to do bad things to characters and if I thought of the character as I do the person I might not be able to properly torture them in the way that you, loving reader, have come to expect.
I'm going to spend some time over the course of this blog talking about the people who have provided DNA to characters, how they've impacted me, and what I learned from them. They were intriguing to me when I knew them and I think you'll find them interesting too.
The first one of note, in no particular order, is Dr. Neuenschwander. He was a tall, skinny pole of a man with a mop of long white hair on top. My first introduction to him was when I visited the university he was teaching at. I had done well on a national test of high school physics and the dean was interested in making sure that Dr. N and I met.
I'm not sure what image a physics genius conjures in most minds. Dr. N did not match mine. He road a motorcycle, loved jazz music and the saxophone, had an interest in old cars, and a smile and a laugh that let you know when he was genuinely tickled by something.
That is not to say he was not a physics genius. He impressed upon me, more than anything else, that the key to mastery of science is a mastery of mathematics. I was something of a math prodigy, or so I thought till I sat through his Atomic and Nuclear Physics lecture. Dr. N was a virtuoso, a master of mathematics from advanced calculus to trigonometry. He could process massive equations on the fly with a practiced ease that we mere undergraduates could not. I've praised him on his math skill many times since: it's always met with an "Aw, shucks" humility as if he was nothing particularly special. I am not alone in my impression of him as a genius: he served as the president of the American Physics Association.
It was through Dr. N that I was introduced to both the writings of Richard Feynman and Dr. N's favorite book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Both have shaped me greatly and I'm sure there are moments that I subconsciously plagiarize both of them.
Dr. N taught me that I was not the smartest man on planet Earth. He was the first person I ever met who I was absolutely certain was smarter than me. This is a valuable lesson for a fantasy writer, because our characters often encounter things which are beyond them, beyond comprehension. I am not sure I could have appreciated the emotions behind that had I never sat through his lectures.
June 23, 2016
Haiku for Haiku's Sake
Poetry has always been important to me. I think it lets us say things that mean something, without getting trapped in the descriptive narrative of fiction. I'm toying around with the idea of a book entirely of poetry... to be finished when I darn well get around to it. Two Wizard Roulette is the big project right now, but I took today to start organizing some work that I had already done and patch it together with a few new verses.
This being an author's blog, maybe I should share one from today... The poems start in early morning, while the poet is still asleep and gradually flow in the rhythm of the day. With that introduction, I give you, "Whirlwind".
Rush, scurry, dart, run
Weekday is here. See! Do! Be!
Exercise wheel routine.
Whirlwind of activity
But always the same. Do! More!
Never stop, never!
Sun is high, burning
Down light, activity is meaning.
Doing now is right!
This being an author's blog, maybe I should share one from today... The poems start in early morning, while the poet is still asleep and gradually flow in the rhythm of the day. With that introduction, I give you, "Whirlwind".
Rush, scurry, dart, run
Weekday is here. See! Do! Be!
Exercise wheel routine.
Whirlwind of activity
But always the same. Do! More!
Never stop, never!
Sun is high, burning
Down light, activity is meaning.
Doing now is right!
How I Learned to Love the Bomb
A blog talking about how life forced me to be a writer and I couldn't be happier about it. Topics should include writing with children, mental health issues, discrimination, and science fiction.
...more
- Joshua Bader's profile
- 36 followers
