Brenda Cooper's Blog, page 3

Stories of Fremont’s Children

My first solo novel, The Silver Ship and the Sea, is getting a fabulous tenth anniversary edition from Wordfire Press, available this month.  This is a favorite tale of mine, with beloved characters I got to spend many long hours with.  It was my first award-winning novel. The basic story is that six genetically altered children get left behind as spoils of war on a planet that detests genetic modification.  What could go wrong?

To celebrate, I’m crowdfunding an anthology called “Stories of Fremont’s Children” which will include both beloved and new stories set in the series. Much more on the Kickstarter itself soon. It’s a great way to order your copy of Silver Ship and also get the stories for a great deal.

More on the Kickstarter soon.

There were always supposed to be four books in this series.  Wordfire will put out the fourth, which will be a promise kept to readers. A promise made a decade ago.  I can’t tell you how good it will feel to get that story out there.  And I’m in a better position to finish than I was years ago — I know more about the problem I was trying to solve with these novels.

The new editions are beautiful (cover reveal for book 1 coming soon!) and I’ve updated the sentences while leaving the story intact.  I’m pretty excited about these anniversary editions. I hope you’ll come along with me, support the Kickstarter, and get both The Silver Ship and the Sea and Stories of Fremont’s Children.

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My Stonecoast MFA

I recently completed a Masters in Fine Arts at Stonecoast.  A number of people asked me why, and others have whether or not it was worth it. So here’s my write-up, which might help mid-career authors who are considering an MFA.  First – a brief description. Stonecoast is a low-residency MFA through the University of Southern Maine. I went to Maine for ten days each a total of five times, and all of the other work was from home.  The cost was moderate  – my two-year MFA was around the cost of one year for our daughter at a private college.  So not cheap, but not six figures, either.  The program is fairly small and intimate, with about 70 students at a time, the staff is great, and there is a deep sense of community.  Most importantly for me, Stonecoast has a Popular Fiction track. Although I did not study much popular fiction (since I’m already well-published in that field), I wanted to go to a school that celebrated science fiction, fantasy, horror and other popular genres.  While I was looking a few years ago, popular fiction tracks were still quite rare. They may still be rare.

Some Stonecoast grads you might know include Mur Lafferty, Julie C. Day, Karen Bovenmyer, Sandra McDonald, and Bonnie Joe Stufflebeam. Some Stonecoast popular fiction professors include David Anthony Durham, Nancy Holder, Elizabeth Hand, Theodora Goss, and James Patrick Kelley.

So why did I go?  After all I was already published.  So here are my reasons:

I wanted to learn to write better – so that I can create work that even more people read.
I wanted to learn the language: my under-graduate degree is in business with an emphasis in technology.
I wanted the certificate in case I want to teach at the University level as a retirement job.
I wanted to learn more about social justice writing.
I wanted to fall in love with words again.

I primarily studied poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction while I was there, although my thesis is popular fiction.

You will have to tell me how I did on number one – Wilders was written during my first year at Stonecoast and Keepers (previously titled Returners) was started during my thesis semester.  Things I write from here on out will show the full impact of Stonecoast on my writing.  How this plays out will really answer the question about whether or not it was worth the time. I figure it cost me a book and multiple short stories in output. If my writing is better, it was worth it.

I’d say I met all of my other goals.

In the category of unintended happiness, I think I learned more about multiple social justice topics.  I got to work with Martín Espada, who is one of best poets working right now and a huge advocate for the rights of the downtrodden, and with Debra Marquardt, who writes fabulous poetry and essays and is a deep environmentalist. She taught me a lot about environmental justice.

It all comes down to the people.  I worked with the brilliant and versatile  Nancy Holder on my thesis. I workshopped a ton of fabulous instructors. I liked the other students so much I cried when we all graduated and wouldn’t be coming back to Maine together again. The staff at Stonecoast is fabulous, and I felt very supported on my trip through the wayback machine to college (the last time I graduated from anything was over 30 years ago).

If anyone who is considering Stonecoast has any questions, please feel free to use the contact form on this page and ask away!

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Reading Recommendation: The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter

I just stayed up entirely too late reading a delightful new novel by Theodora Goss, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter.  It’s a lovely fantasy tale that begins with Mary Jekyll, the daughter of the famous Jekyll from the story of Jekyll and Hyde.  As Mary’s story progresses, she is confronted with a mystery, meets new friends and famous and beloved allies, and has grand adventures.  I don’t want to say too much about the story itself because I was so often delighted when new characters showed up, and I think you all deserve to have that unspoiled experience.

The book worked for me in three ways:

The line by line writing and story is executed flawlessly.  I’m not surprised as I’ve read some of Dora’s short work and poetry, and would stop and find it all if I had time.  She is a precise writer who evokes magical worlds through high craft.
Dora uses some very unconventional tools to get across the delightful people in the book – her characters occasionally interrupt the flow of the narrative in delightful ways.  I love experiments, and I found this to be a brave and effective way of doing some experimental writing in a novel.
This book works as a pure adventure.  It is also a subtle commentary on the power of women, and addresses gender, fears, and female monsters. As I read, I felt that this was deliberate – it was meant to be part of the book.  But it never interfered.

I highly recommend The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, and I think everyone should go get a copy and read it!

 

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Wilders release week recap!

Wow – what fun.  That was a wild first week for Wilders. Pun intended. Thought this list of all the events and interviews and the like might be worth putting together for folks since there are still ways to read parts of Wilders up on the web, a few giveaways, and lots of interviews.  So here is the list in no particular order:

Giveaways (Hurry!):

One copy at Bibliosanctum

One Copy at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist

Note! Two people already won copies by being part of my mailing list.  Sign up on my front page if you want a chance to win copies of books in the future! You’ll also get a monthly newsletter from me.  Never more than monthly, at least so far!  Sometimes less than monthly.

Chapters posted:

Prolog and first chapter at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist.

Prolog and first chapter at Bibliosanctum

Most of Chapter Two at Whiskey with my Book.

Reviews and Recommendations:

Sunday Recommendation at Unbound Worlds

Review by Astroguyz

Wilders is mentioned by Nisi Shawl in the Sunday Review of Books

Wilders looked at by Foreword Reviews

Interviews and Guest Posts:

Matt Staggs and I talk about climate fiction at Unbound Worlds.

Guest Post at SFF.net “Climate Fiction is good for our genre (and for us!)”

Interview with fellow climate fiction author Brian Burt (I interview him)

Interview with Brian Burt (he interviews me)

Fun, wide-ranging interview with Riley at Whiskey with my Book.

Really fun guest post at Marie Brennan’s “Spark of Life”  

Readings:

I had a great reading at University Bookstore on June 14th.  They have signed copies.

There will be a reading (with Nancy Kress!) at Powell’s Cedar Crossing on July 18th.

 

Thanks to everyone who helped out – all of the bloggers and reviewers and fellow authors and friends. 

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Interview with Brian Burt, author of “In the Tears of God”

Here is my interview with fellow author Brian Burt, who also writes climate fiction. I enjoyed meeting Brian online and working with him to exchange interview.

I just finished Aquarius Rising. I really enjoyed the book, so I’ll start with thanking you for giving me a copy.  As I mentioned when we started this conversation a few months ago, I’m interested in other authors who write climate fiction.

For the sake of my readers, I’ll start with some context:  Aquarius Rising is an action/adventure novel set in a far future where the land has been ravaged by geo-engineering gone bad, and the sea is full of colonies of humans adapted to the sea with bioengineering that went well.  It’s a great set-up, and if I say anything else it could be a spoiler.  So on to the interview questions:

Brenda: Your world building is excellent.  I felt that you had created a post-apocalyptic world that made sense and you were consistent and clear as you described the world. It was also unique. Can you talk a little about the process you went through to create the world? What was the most fun, and why?

Brian Burt: I admit I had a blast fleshing out the details of this fictional world. I actually wrote a short story originally, “Neptune’s Children,” inspired by this vision of human-dolphin hybrids swimming through the ruins of drowned coastal cities, transforming them into reef communities. Honestly, the short story wasn’t very good. I couldn’t do justice to the vision in that abbreviated format. So the tale grew into a novel, then a trilogy. As someone from the Midwest, far from any ocean shoreline, I loved researching the marine ecosystems and creatures who might populate this world. I learned so much, and every discovery triggered more ideas. It’s trite, but we’ve explored the surface of the Moon in more detail than the ocean depths. That aura of mystery provides incredibly rich soil (or sand

Reading Recommendation: New York 2140, by Kim Stanley Robinson

I finished reading 2140 the day that the United States announced it would pull out of the Paris agreement on Climate Change.  I believe today may go down in history as the day we lost global political power and destroyed the global good will of other nations towards us, and maybe worse. But that’s a different blog post, and maybe after I calm down I’ll be able to write that.  This post is to recommend that everyone read 2140.

This ambitious look at a future when sea level has risen to swamp coastlines and New Yorkers travel through canals in a “super-Venice” is brilliant.  It’s full of believable and interesting characters.  It’s well-researched and deeply imaginative.  I was quite sad to have finished it and to leave the world Robinson created behind.

I’ve read a lot of climate fiction, and this may be the best climate fiction book written so far.  While it pulls no punches, it is also hopeful. It’s characters are as full of foibles, hope, despair, and ingenuity as real people.  The future in this book feels plausible. It’s also a bit of an emotional antidote to the current political crazies. It’s also long — so it may be a healthy way to avoid taking in too much news all at once while still thinking deeply about the things that matter.

Note that I listened to this in the Audible version (and then went out and bought the hardback).  The narration is quite good.

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Wilders Pre-Release Book Giveaway!

I’m giving away at least two copies of Wilders (or POST) on June 9th.

If you’re a subscriber to my newsletter, you’re already entered in the contest. If you are not, there are a variety of ways to get entered (or increase your chances to win.) Below in the contest rules are the ways you can earn or request extra entries.

This is my way of giving out a few free books, but it’s also my way of getting more people to join my monthly newsletter and/or to meet people who are reading my work.  I hope the contest helps me get more notice for Wilders, which debuts on June 13th. I’m ending the contest at midnight on the 9th so I can mail books to people around the time they become available in stores.

OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES (BECAUSE THEY ARE REQUIRED)

This is a sweepstakes — that’s what they call it anyway, upon some research.

There will be at least two winners selected.
Here are ways to enter:

The easiest way to enter is to be a subscriber to my newsletter. To subscribe, go here: http://www.brenda-cooper.com/.  If you are already a subscriber you have one entry already (but can earn more!)
You can encourage a friend to sign up for my newsletter and/or buy Wilders, and just let me know via the “contact” form on this page.
You can send me any comment you like on any of my work that you’ve read. I may use some of these comments in promotion, but if I plan to use yours, I’ll let you know and ask for your permission.
You can send me a link to a review you’ve made of any of my work. It can be a new review or even an old review, on any platform, and it can have been a bad review. Not important.  Your entry will be a thanks for taking the time to review!
You can send me an email via the “contact” form requesting an entry, and I’ll enter you in the drawing.


The prize is a physical or ebook copy of Wilders or POST for each winner, which I’ll mail at my cost  to anywhere in the US.  If the winner is outside the US, the prize will be an ebook edition.
Prizes will be picked by random drawing. All prizes will be awarded.
Winners will be notified by email.  They must respond within 7 days or a new winner will be chosen.
The contest is open to anyone over the age of 18 who lives in the United States.
The contest opens May 23rd, 2017 and closes at midnight on June 9th, 2017 (Pacific time).
No purchase necessary.
Winners may be asked to provide a photo of themselves (hey, maybe with the book!) for the blog and to sign a release allowing me to use it here on the blog. But they won’t have to.

THANKS!

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Reading Recommendation: Dark Money, by Jane Mayer

Jane Mayer’s Dark Money uses our recent political past to illuminate the off-kilter present. Reading it made made me very angry.  While our country has never been perfect, fair, or completely free of the influence of the rich, the events described in this book chronicle a slow, insidious, and nearly complete take-over the Republican Party by the ultra-rich, much of it in hidden donations.  The book is not about how everyday Republicans are evil, or about how liberals are not evil (there’s some dark money there as well). It convincingly describes the systematic dismantling of the laws that protected us from government by the rich, and the subsequent purchase of our politicians.

Everyone should read this book.

I recently read the science fiction book (R)evolution, by P.J. Manney. I loved the book, which a page-turning thriller and a discussion of transhumanism that rises above the simplistic story that a we’ll be perfect after we get more digital abilities. But (R)evolution involves a conspiracy theory among the very rich, and I thought Manney went a bit overboard on that.  I’m not a conspiracy theory-type.  Now I believe that what (R)evolution and Dark Money describe are possible.

Dark Money is hard to read. It’s relentless.  But all of us who care about the collective, the commons, the environment, biodiversity, or just about any other cause that doesn’t directly support making the rich richer immediately should read it.  If we want to take back our future, we need to understand what and who we are fighting.

Of note – Dark Money has over a thousand reviews, and it’s 5 stars all the way.

In case you want to learn more, here is a longer review of the book from the New York Times.

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The Importance of Science to SF

I am writing this from a coffee shop in DC.  One of the reasons I came here at this time was to participate in the March for Science right here in the capital.

The March

I ran into three friends, fellow writer Brenda Clough and her husband Larry Clough, and another fellow writer, Chris Cevasco. What a small world. Brenda introduced me to Michelle Lighton (who they had just met), and she and Larry gifted me and Michelle with their signs as they attended the rally but had to leave before the march started. Here are the signs and some quotes from me and Michelle in the New York Times.

We were wet and cold and yet everyone was smiles and enthusiasm. The signs were great. The march was quiet (I suspect it’s easier for many scientists to think of and create great signs than to scream loudly). It touched me to do the walk here, in the seat of so many debates and decisions.

We walked past the EPA building, and people chanted “Save the EPA!”  I can’t believe that phrase should even make sense, much less that we might have to fight tooth and nail for it.  That’s like saying “Save the blue in the sky” to me.  But then, I’m old enough to recall the bad smog days in California, and I read enough to know what China’s air looks like.  Air should, of course, look like nothing.  And the EPA does so much more than that. We need them. But end rant, for the moment.

Why I Showed Up

I’m not a scientist.  Some SF writers are actual scientists, but I understand science at the level of an informed reader. I do read a lot. As an SF writer, I’m dependent on the work of scientists. The world building in my next book, Wilders, was partly based on Half Earth by biologist E.O. Wilson and the sequel is informed by Carl Safina’s book How Animals Think and Feel.  There’s more, but it could take a page to list all of the research I’ve done for these two books, about half of which is straight science reading.

As a writer I take what I learn from science and engineering and expand and extend it, and wrap character and feelings around it. When I’m done, it’s not science. But it’s based there.

It doesn’t stop there, though. Scientists sometimes take our ideas and make them happen.  Many inventions have been attributed to Star Trek.  Second Life talks out loud about its based on concepts in Neal Stephenson’s excellent book, Snow Crash. I could make a list.  But mostly I want to make the point that there is a loose but valuable circle of ideas that moves from scientist to science fiction writer to scientist to science fiction writer….

It felt important to march. It’s a way to be counted.  There are so many ways we can all show our resistance to backward policies, and it’s so important to do so. We cannot get tired or confused or give up. Politics has never mattered as much as it does now, and moving forward with policies based firmly on peer-reviewed science has never been more important.  The lives of many plants and animals, many people, and maybe even of all of us are at stake.

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Norwescon Schedule

I’ll be at Norwescon in Seattle April 13th and 14th. Here’s my schedule:

Friday
Dystopia / Utopia

10:00am – 11:00am @ Cascade 10

What-Ifs of Ancient and Medieval History

2:00pm – 4:00pm @ Evergreen 3&4

 Koffee Klatsch

4:00pm – 5:00pm @ Pro Suite

Saturday
Reading: 

11:30am – 12:00pm @ Cascade 2

A Writer’s Toolbox for Description – Writing Workshop (full)

2:00pm – 3:00pm @ Baker

Autograph Session 2

3:00pm – 4:00pm @ Grand 2

 The Year is 2067

7:00pm – 8:00pm @ Evergreen 1&2

 

 

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