Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 65
June 4, 2019
The writing process…
My first experience with a computer was with a CDC 3600 (the now defunct Control Data Corporation), a powerful machine in its time but not much good for word processing—typing a story onto punch cards? No way! I was working odd hours during the semester and full-time in the summer at an R&D outfit located not far from the UCSB campus. Until that time and even a bit beyond, I took notes and wrote short stories and bits and snippets on almost any media, from unfinished lab notebooks to paper na...
May 30, 2019
Time and FTL travel…
Time travel is barely mentioned in Sing a Zamba Galactica (second novel in The Chaos Chronicles Trilogy Collection); faster-than-light (FTL) travel plays a key role in unifying the planets of near-Earth space into ITUIP (Interstellar Trade Union of Independent Planets). If that doesn’t sound strange enough, consider that both time and FTL travel are linked in that trilogy by similar physics.
The star systems of the first three Human colonies were reached by old interplanetary rigs that took a...
May 29, 2019
Steve’s shorts: The Lighthouse…
[Note from Steve: Sometimes vacations can bring surprises. Are you going on one this summer?]
Angela looked across the water where the waves crashed against rugged cliffs. A lonely lighthouse stood atop the cliffs guarding the entrance to the small harbor.
“Can I hike to that lighthouse?” she said to the wait person.
The older woman looked to where she was pointing. “Old Angus runs that lighthouse. He’s not one to welcome visitors. Keeps to himself, he does.”
“I’ll respect his privacy. I’m ju...
May 28, 2019
Author gigs…
To get them, you have to be a “popular author”; one way to become a popular author is to get them. That’s a vicious circle many authors face—maybe not those outside the NYC area, but in my case….
What do I mean by “gigs”? Not the usual rock-group or jazz-group meaning, but traditional ones for authors—book signings, lectures, discussions, and so forth. I’ve done a few, but not as many as I’d like to do. Why?
One basic reason: We live close to NYC, so the Big Five authors dominate the gigs in...
May 27, 2019
Memorial Day…
Let’s all remember the true meaning of Memorial Day: honoring all those who made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve democracy.
May 23, 2019
The most important equation…
As a scientist, I dealt with many equations. As a full-time writer, not so much. Many people know Newton’s F = ma. That equation, and its rotational form, τ = Iα, appear in Survivors of the Chaos (the first novel contained in The Chaos Chronicles Trilogy Collection). That’s about it for equations in my fiction.
Some people might think that Einstein’s equation linking the curvature tensor of space and time to the matter-energy tensor in General Relativity is the most important one in science,...
May 22, 2019
Product and place names in your prose…
I use them: liquors, hotels, and so forth. They’re all part of the plot, unlike the Starbucks cup in a recent Game of Thrones episode. The reason? They go a long way in satisfying Tom Clancy’s maxim that fiction must seem real.
Mystery and thriller writers often avoid this because they don’t want to be accused of endorsing or criticizing something real (both can lead to negative reactions from readers; the latter can lead to lawsuits). Avoiding them and using only fictional names goes a bit t...
May 21, 2019
“Evergreen Books”…
Every book in my lists of “Best Mysteries and Thrillers” and “Best Sci-Fi Books” (see my blog posts in the “Writing” category) is an “evergreen book.” What does that mean? It means they never grow old, whether they’re considered a “literary classic” or not. Of course, many literary classics are also evergreen (and some classics are just terrible reading for most readers today).
But evergreen books in the sense that they’re still wonderful books to read, even if they were published a while ago...
May 16, 2019
Authors reading…
I was recently amused by an op-ed in the NY Times (5/5/19) written by a novelist. I neither know this writer nor his books. That’s not important. What surprised me was the admission that he wasn’t an avid reader. He seemed to prefer watching Netflix to reading, only returning to the latter for any length of time when the TV network went down.
I probably shouldn’t criticize, but how can you be a writer without being an avid reader? OK, maybe not an avid reader, but someone who at least sits do...
May 15, 2019
Son of Thunder…
There were two options to consider when I thought about writing a sequel to Rembrandt’s Angel: (1) Write about Scotland Yard Inspector Esther Brookstone’s life as a spy in MI6 during the Cold War (i.e. a prequel), or (2) write about some adventures Esther had after those described in Rembrandt’s Angel. As it turns out, I did both!
Let me explain. The main story revolves around Esther and Interpol agent Bastiann van Coevorden, her paramour, the main characters in Rembrandt’s Angel. Also featur...
