Jason Halstead's Blog, page 49

More Fiction, Less Science

Last week Erin O'Riordan put this post up on her blog. It's my post, I just figured I'd repost it here for those that may have missed it but were interested in writing or reading science fiction.

So I write science fiction and fantasy primarily. I started out in fantasy, both in my early years of thinking I knew how to write and in my first published novel. Why fantasy and not sci-fi? Well, fantasy was easier! With fantasy I could make up the rules – even the really important ones like which way is up. That's the magic of the fantasy genre, both figuratively and literally.

Science fiction is a lot more complicated. With sci-fi a responsible author feels obligated to remain plausible (most of the time). I liken it to the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek. Star Trek was and is written by people with a respect for science and for imagining what the future could be. Star Wars was and is written by people who aren't interested in science and rules, but rather in telling a story in an environment with cool guns and cooler outfits for enslaved princesses. Which is better? If you ask me a blend of the two with a preference towards the Star Trek end of the range. In either case, preservation of the outfits should have a high priority.

I have entire books written and sitting on my hard drive – and some begun and abandoned – in the sci-fi genre. I got caught up so much in the hard SF aspect that I lost the story and the characters. The science behind the fiction has to be plausible, but there are very few people these days that can go into detail about futuristic science and technology without losing readers along the way. The late, and great, R.A. Heinlein was arguably one of the best at this. Then again not many people can plot a rebellion and secession of the moon while simultaneously working with the government to enable mankind to reach the stars. Not only that but come on, who these days has their multiplication tables memorized all the way up to 20 x 20? I sure don't.

The trick to writing science fiction, I find, is to stop being so hardcore. Rather than trying to explain the manner in which localized singularity generators can compress space-time around a ship to enable a starship to travel faster than the speed of light it's a lot easier to just say, "Vitalis was seven light years beyond the outer periphery of human solar systems but thanks to the FTL drive they could make it in three months."

Incidentally the singularity generators directionally warp space time to allow conventional propulsion to allow a ship to cover more distance without actually reaching or exceeding the speed of light. No, it's not realistic and it's highly unlikely anything like it would ever be viable but it is a great example of all the thought I've put into this sort of thing that you'll probably never see in a book of mine because, seriously, who cares?

The take home here? Details rock, but don't bore your readers with them. To me a book isn't about genre so much as it's about story. Use the genre to further the story, not to show how much smarter you are than Einstein because you figured out the flaw with the Theory of Relativity. Trust me, you didn't.

Got some aliens? Cool! As a reader I don't need to know the precise ratio of their preferred mix of nitrogen : oxygen. If they can breathe our air great. If they can't, give 'em a helmet or some breathing apparatus. The obvious caveat to that is if a detail is integral to a story. If said alien needs a high percentage of hydrogen to breathe and humanity's only hope involves convincing one to belch while holding a lit match in front of them, pay some attention to it.

Focus on the characters and the story. Develop them, move them, make them see and feel what's going on. The reader wants to feel what it's like rocketing through space and staring at the beautiful swirls and colors of a gas giant out the port window, they don't want to read the concentration of gases in the atmosphere and hear how their interaction with each other causes the prismatic blend.

R.A. Heinlein, L. Sprague DeCamp, & Isaac Asimov

Fighting the World

Yesterday was an example of Murphy's Law. The day started out a little shaky, but seemed to be okay, then it just went to pieces throughout. Even involved a few hours spent at work flirting with a complete server meltdown of my ERP server. If you don't know what that means it's okay – suffice to say it's critical for an automotive (or many other) business to run for more than a few hours. Everything turned out more-or-less fine though.

So late last night seeking some purely thoughtless mind-candy I watched Sucker Punch. The movie with Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Scott Glen in it. Probably a few other people as well, but I've dropped enough names. I had no idea what it was about by this time – I'd forgotten all the ads and marketing crap about it. To say I was confused and then surprised would be an understatement.

First off, I found the movie very well put together, even if I'm normally not into graphic novel and goth style art. It helped that there are five beautiful girls (often more) running around in trashy outfits the entire time, I'll admit. For the record they did dress trashy, but it was tastefully done. Weird, I know.

Even without what made this movie special it could have been a good movie. Touching, even, if taken in the right direction. Instead they went into some daydream sequences that portrayed the main character (Babydoll, played by Emily Browning) as an ass-kicking super-secret-agent that was virtually unstoppable. The other girls help her out in these daydreams – but the weird part is that the daydreams are sort of like internal struggles the characters are having while their real-world bodies are trying to complete another task (gather items to escape from a place they are trapped in).

Great action sequences in a Matrix-esque style. Incredible special effects as well, from steam powered undead soldiers to a dragon who's intent on having Babydoll flambe for lunch. I can't say much more on them, other than to say the choreography was neat and the girls did a great job being sexy and dangerous.

All of the above was neat about he movie, but it didn't make it stand out to me enough to write up this review of it. There was a plot twist at the end that caught me off guard but didn't really surprise me. I'm not convinced it was necessary, in fact. Another twist shortly thereafter really surprised me and, I'll admit, made me a little sad to see. Sucker Punch was an apt title by the time the movie ended.

Scott Glen comes close a few times to taking a bath in a tub of melted cheese (not literally) with his performance – but that's what his character is supposed to do. He does a great job and it makes even more sense at the end. The words of wisdom he imparts are humorous and useful. It's the message of the movie that really rung true with me though. A message about how important it is to fight.

I'm not suggesting bullying or starting up a fight club (even if you can't talk about it) in your basement. The message is that everybody has choices and what you make of your life is entirely up to you. Even in a situation where you end up trapped in a mental hospital that's a front for a whorehouse you have choices.

And yeah, it gave me some story ideas as well. Just about everything does these days. We'll see what, if anything, comes of it.

Sucker Punch Movie Poster

From Science Fiction to Pagan Spirits

Erin O'Riordan just posted a guest blog post about me on her blog. I'm rather excited about it for a couple of reasons. The first being that I talk about writing science fiction and some things I figured out along the way (with many more to come, I'm sure). The second is that she dug up an awesome picture of R.A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and L.Sprague DeCamp having a meeting of the minds. Okay, so it's only awesome to sci-fi geeks like me, but humor me and Erin and go check it out anyhow.

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2011/08/science-of-writing-science-fiction.html

It gave me some ideas for a follow-up post…but those I'll save for my blog for another time!

Characters Wanted!

I'm working on getting ready to launch into part two of Vitalis (what? Read this: http://booksbyjason.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/artistic-license/), but I'm a couple of characters short. So I thought, for a change of pace, why not give the readers a chance to personalize a book! Put in some comments here and tell me about somebody you like / admire / can't stand who could be turned into a character in a book.

I'm looking for characters that are not really all that interested in being law-abiding citizens. I can't go into too much detail without spoiling it though. I suppose they could be undercover law enforcement of some type. It's science fiction, taking place significantly far in the future – far enough that humanity has expanded to live in multiple star systems and can travel between them with relative ease.

Propose somebody I like and use and I'll be sure to hook you up with a free version of the finished product. How's that for incentive?

Reduced Book Prices until Aug 31st

I won't lie, August has been a slow month. I've whined before, but that's no reason to give up. If there's a problem then there must be a solution, it just has to be found. My solution? Offer a discount to stimulate some sales!

So for now until the end of August, Wanted and Voidhawk

are on sale for $.99 each!

There's another reason to do this as well, at least for Wanted. With Ice Princess so close to coming out I want people to be able to get their hands on Wanted and get primed up for the sequel. So why not head over, check it out, pick yourself up a dirt cheap sale copy for your kindle, and then make me a very happy man and leave a review on it too! So far Wanted has four star ratings and a couple of reviews to back it up. Voidhawk, on the other hand, has both 4 and 5 star ratings and reviews (not to mention two sequels which are as good or better).

Last chance to click and head that-a-way…

The great HCG diet

Only a few people who read the title know me well enough to know that it is dripping with sarcasm. There's nothing great about it and I cringe and then get very angry every single time I hear a commercial for some HCG gimmick for weight loss. It bothers me on a cellular level that these assholes are taking people's money and claiming that their HCG diet will help you do a variety of things.

The one I heard today was right about one thing. HCG is a naturally occurring hormone. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (quite a mouthful). HCG occurs naturally in women who are pregnant – in fact, that's how a great many over-the-counter pregnancy tests work, they look for HCG in a woman's urine. When taken exogenously (e.g. via a needle injected subcutaneously) by a man and only by a man it signals the testes to produce additional testosterone. Not massive amounts, mind you, just small boosts.

Why weight loss? A d-bag by the name of Kevin Trudeau. He has since been prosecuted for false advertising for many BS schemes he ran to screw people out of their money. He came up with one of the first largely successful HCG diet gimmick schemes, basing it on loose interpretations of studies done that showed non-significant in-vitro results. When amplified to human dosages and effects, the real world effects do not exist. I say his was largely successful in the context that it was successful at suckering people all over the place to send their money to him.

But wait, you tried one of the HCG diets and you lost weight? Sure, it's possible. The people marketing this crap aren't stupid, just immoral. They know their HCG doesn't do a damn thing – that's why they say you also have to eat a calorically restricted diet and incorporate exercise. Another factor that can't be discounted is the placebo effect – the power of the human mind. Believe in something and you can manifest limited results. It's mind over matter, to a limited extent, and it's cognitive dissonance. Your belief triggers your brain to make you behave in ways that help you reinforce that belief, from disregarding information that contradicts what you believe to encouraging you to do additional activities that will help that belief show signs of becoming reality.

And I just ruined it for you, right? Maybe, but more likely if you read this far and are / were a HCG proponent the cognitive dissonance has kicked in and you think I'm full of crap. Maybe I'm disillusioned or maybe I want to sell you something else. Maybe I'm bitter because it didn't work for me. Maybe I think everybody should be fat except me so I can look down at everybody else and laugh at them. Yeah, maybe…

How about some studies:

- "In 1974, the FDA banned the use of hCG in the US based on a series of studies maintaining that weight loss was similar both in the Placebo and hCG-treated groups. Our study corroborates those previous findings." – http://www.indexmedico.com/english/ob...

- "THESE WEIGHT REDUCTION TREATMENTS INCLUDE THE INJECTION OF HCG, A DRUG WHICH HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION AS SAFE AND EFFECTIVE IN THE TREATMENT OF OBSITY OR WEIGHT CONTROL. THERE IS NO SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE THAT HCG INCEASES WEIGHT LOSS BEYOND THAT RESULTING FROM CALORIC RESTRICTION, THAT IT CAUSES A MORE ATTRACTIVE OR "NORMAL" DISTRIBUTION OF FAT, OR THAT IT DECREASES THE HUNGER AND DISCOMFORT ASSOCIATED WITH CALORIE-RESTRICTIVE DIETS [16]." – http://www.dietscam.org/reports/hcg.s...

- "..But it's the calorie restriction that causes the weight loss, not the HCG." – http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hcg-...

Artistic License

I'm partially color blind and completely style / fashion blind. I think less is more when it comes to skirts, dresses, and plunging necklines. Clearly, I have the taste of a neanderthal with the lack of common sense to back it up (after all, I just admitted this!).

So why bring attention to my failings? It's not part of a 37 step plan to better myself (trust me, I've been climbing those steps for as long as I can remember). No, it's because I did the impossible between last night and today – I designed some cover art for myself! Oh sure, I tapped my wife for some creative and color assistance, but much less than anyone who knows me would expect, including myself. I had a vision and it just took me being stubborn and forcing it to happen. I might suggest that tactic could be used more in life, but I somehow doubt it's long term effectiveness in romantic situations.

Anyhow, the cover is for a series of shorter books I'll be releasing under the series title, "Vitalis". The initial release will be a novella in the 30k word range and the later ones will be between 10k and 20k (I'm predicting – so far I've only written two parts for it). It's science fiction all the way and involves finding a new planet filled with life so vibrant it more or less acts like a fountain of youth for humans who live there. Unfortunately it's a bit of a hostile planet, in spite of the lack of intelligent indigenous life. I can't say much more or I'd be giving it away! I'll have blurbs to follow very soon though. I hope to get the first one out there sometime in September (capitalizing, perhaps, on the excitement generated by the pending release of Ice Princess).

Until then, here's the cover image!

Book 1 of the Vitalis series, by Jason Halstead

Pre-Release Driving Me Crazy!

Short post tonight, but bear with me. I'm going crazy now that the reviews from my ARCs for Ice Princess are coming in (ARC – Advanced Reading Copy, a pre-release version used to get reviews). Two reviews in so far… and I'll leak a tiny snippet of them.

 

Review 1: "The author surprised me with a couple of twists and turns that I didn't expect. The story moves quickly and kept me interested. Unlike some sci-fi authors who create settings that are so far-fetched they aren't believable, Halstead writes about a future world that is very real and plausible. The author does an excellent job of exploring how far people will go to ensure their own survival. I thoroughly enjoyed "Ice Princess" and hope the author continues with a 3rd installment!"

Review 2: "This is a complex story, with lots of back-story that is revealed throughout the process. The truly amazing thing is how much of a story Jason Halstead fits into a novella of this length – it was very impressive!…I highly recommend this very interesting, post-apocalyptic story of the ties that a person develops between family and friends, and the creation of those ties."

 

Cover art can't come fast enough..

Until then, feel free to check out Wanted, the prequel to Ice Princess or browse for one of my other books at http://www.booksbyjason.com

August isn't a bad month – it's a month with opportunities for improvement!

August, I am told, is not a very good month for book sales. My numbers definitely reflect that, except that while successful and well marketed individuals are hitting lower than average sales mine are so damn low it's hard to even see them! Kindle Direct Publishing has turned me into a neurotic mess by offering near real-time reporting and every time I check it's a slap in the back of the head.

To combat it I've been in touch with an increasingly successful author by the name of Michael Hicks (http://authormichaelhicks.com/). Great guy and he's got good taste in books since he writes sci-fi and fantasy also. Anyhow, he's thrown some tips my way that have been invaluable, including pointing out that the blurbs on my books on Amazon were short and vague. I checked and was apalled – they were exactly what he said! Clearly I must have put them in there like that, but I don't know how or why – especially when I have longer versions elsewhere. As soon as I got past my WTF moment I went in and rewrote them all, and now a day later most, if not all, are showing up with the new descriptions. Shame on me, but at least I can still learn from my mistakes.

So I changed my book descriptions and then I registered on the Kindleboards and listed my books there, but still I didn't feel I was making any progress and my outlook was bleak. Next I decided to try and rework my promotions into something more fun. Something that included reviews and quotes from them. To that end, back in April I received a review on Human Nature from a place called The Romance Studio. I thought it was a pretty good review and I was pleased with it, then I went on with my life. Turns out I moved too quickly. Yesterday I was looking to quote some reviews so I could be a little more specific in some promotions I'm sending out and I found the full review, whereas before I only saw a snippet of it. It turns out the review was phenomenal! We're talking full service with a happy ending kind of phenomenal! 5 star review (or hearts, as they use on that website). I'll even copy and paste it in it's entirety, or you can click this link to go directly to it: http://www.theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/humannaturehalstead.htm

"Before the world was invaded by malign aliens, Dawn was happy being a doctor and a fiancée. Her life changed when the world succumbed to despair and fear, making her shed her innocence in order to save lives. However, Dawn is in pain after having lost her fiancé to one of the hideous creatures trying to wipe out the human race, and afraid to reach out and connect with another human being. Angie is a reckless soldier and Dawn's best friend in their military base. Unknowingly in love with Dawn, Angie tries her best to draw her out of her shell and to make her believe in love and in humanity again. Before she's successful however, she gets captured and is believed to be dead. Dawn's ultimate fear of losing someone else close to her is what finally opens her eyes to the truth that's been in her heart all along. Will she be able to save Angie in time? Worse, will she be able to teach her group of survivors about the value of human life, and convince them it is worthwhile to risk it all for the sake of one?

Human Nature is a truly magnificent book. I am amazed at how much depth and complexity all the characters and the plot have. This isn't just a book about aliens invading the Earth. This is a story about how to be human in a world where humans aren't relevant anymore, and how to show humanity and compassion for a fellow human being in a world where everything is characterized by hardship and a mad need to just stay alive. Angie and Dawn are incredible characters, and it was really impressive to see them battle and cope with realistic and mundane issues in a world that's gone crazy with aliens who want to eat you alive around every corner. The most amazing aspect of this story is how such a fantastical and surreal plot can be so grounded and so real. That's possible due to Mr. Halstead's talent in portraying the important message that human nature is, in truth, a man's and a woman's need to connect with one another. No matter what circumstances humanity finds itself in, as long as we make sure we are not alone, the basic aspect that makes us human will never die.

One small feature that could be improved is the narration's point of view. There are parts where the point of view does shift away from Dawn, and because of that I think the other characters deserved more individual attention, more personality, and a stronger voice than what they have. Even Angie, who is supposedly a major character, is somewhat flat when compared to Dawn, and that inequality doesn't make sense since their relationship is paramount to the book. Yet, this book is so well written that this minor lack of development and the minor technical errors I found do not detract from its quality in any way.

Overall rating:

Sensuality rating: Mildly sensual

Reviewer: Athena

April 4, 2011″

Human Nature, by Jason Halstead - available on Amazon

So is August getting any better for me? Subjectively speaking not really, but it's proving to be educational and very supportive of self-improvement. I'm occasionally a cocky guy but I'm also always trying to learn and better myself. Thank you for helping me become a better person, August.

One man's success story is another man's tale of woe

A fellow struggling writer friend of mine recently had a considerable personal success. He got to meet one of his favorite authors, R.A. Salvatore. Not only did he meet him, but he had several interactions with the man throughout the course of a day at Gencon. Kudos to him, I say, even if my own thoughts of R.A. Salvatore are somewhat different. Gary Vanucci's recounting of the wondrous event can be found here: http://eyeonashenclaw.blogspot.com/2011/08/meeting-of-lifetime-ra-salvatore.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EyeOnAshenclaw+%28Eye+on+Ashenclaw%29.

It's not his writing that has me miffed, you see. He's successful and certainly does a good job. Heck, I even enjoyed his writing quite a bit when I was younger. I won several of Mr. Salvatore's books, to boot. The problem I have is that he delayed my own attempts at becoming a writer by years because of his primary character throughout his books.

You see I was once a gamer myself. Not video game so much as the kind of kid who sits around a table with pencils, paper, and a bunch of dice with other kids. Well, adults do it too and there's certainly nothing wrong with it – it can be a very fun time. There's nothing amoral or disconcerting about it, rather it's a chance to do some ad-lib acting and brainstorming in a social setting amongst peers.

So anyhow, I had this character who was similar to Mr. Salvatore's main character (Drizzt Do'Urden) in many superficial ways. The thing is, I'd never heard of Drizzt because The Crystal Shard, Salvatore's first book, had not been published yet. Anyhow, my character (a chap named Kelnozz Risingmoon) did his thing and went on to be the star of some of my first novels. As a matter of fact he starred in three of them, each a little better than the one before, with plans for more. But by the time I got around to submitting them to various places Drizzt had hit the scene and stolen my thunder.

Kelnozz had a short run on a couple of websites as a freebie, but that was back in the days when I still sucked as a writer (in spite of people telling me otherwise – I shudder when I go through those early stories). With the help of an editor things could have been considerably different, but the door was shut for me at the time and I needed to come up with something else altogether.

I did, a fun tale about an anti-heroine named Yamara. Disillusioned and convinced that I'd never get anywhere she enjoyed the same successes as Kelnozz, which is to say a few free story sites with no real hope for a future. The writing was better too, though only marginally in my opinion. Apparently it was better enough, I received word a few years ago of someone who had stolen that story and published the early parts of it in an anthology. I checked into it and it was true, but thanks to some legal action taken by myself and some other wronged authors we got the entirely frabricated book eliminated. Some sign of success, eh?

I still think fondly of Kelnozz and hope one day to rewrite his tales so that they don't suck. It's not just Kelnozz's tale that needs to be told, after all. There's also the story of Alesha, Nordan, Martin, Pompey, Bobocateya, and a host of other characters that I only had the honor of writing about, not creating. And did I mention the paladin who mistakenly burned a nest full of giant wasps that also had some captive people trapped inside of it? Oops…