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Peter Cawdron

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October 2011

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Popular Answered Questions

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Peter Cawdron My advice to aspiring writers?

Pace yourself and don't let unrealistic expectations get the better of you. We live in an instant society. Instant coff…moreMy advice to aspiring writers?

Pace yourself and don't let unrealistic expectations get the better of you. We live in an instant society. Instant coffee. Instant TV dinners. Streaming music and videos, etc, it is all just a mouse click away, but writing doesn't work like that. Writing is an art. Writing takes incredible patience and perseverance. Writing is a marathon, not a sprint. Don't be impatient.

You're not in competition with other writers. You're in competition with facebook, twitter, youtube, flappy bird and a bazillion other colourful sparkly games. You're in competition with movies and newspapers. Give them all a good run for their money by producing something that drags people away from those devices and into the pages of your book.

You're going to be criticized, and it won't be easy to take, but learn from that criticism. You can't please everyone, but you want to be open to learn what you can do better, and that means listening to your critics and recognizing the truth in what they say. Sure, there's plenty of trolls. Don't feed them. And yet for every troll there's thousands of readers that want to be entertained, so take heed to their response to your work.

Be professional. Get your work edited. Polish your writing. Never be satisfied with anything less than your best. (less)

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Is there a particular reason why so many of your books are first contact stories?

Peter Cawdron Petr, sorry for the delay in answering your question...

I'm fascinated by the concept of First Contact with extraterrestrials for a number of reasons.…morePetr, sorry for the delay in answering your question...

I'm fascinated by the concept of First Contact with extraterrestrials for a number of reasons...

1. It will mark a dividing line in history. There have been dozens of turning points in the development of civilization, from slow burning activities like the invention of agriculture or writing, to fast-acting inventions like Gutenberg's printing press, Galileo's telescope, Newton's mathematics, etc, but none of them have transformed society as much as First Contact will simply because any alien species that can reach out to us will be tens of thousands of years more advanced than us.

Imagine teaching a bronze-age people like the Egyptians or the Babylonians how to build their own iPads, or a Mars Rover, and you get an idea of just how rapidly and radically humanity will change.

2. They'll provide a counterpoint to our intelligence. At the moment, we are unmatched on Earth. We can do whatever we want without critique from anyone beyond those that care enough to study cause/effect, but it's too easy for scientists to be dismissed. I'm sure there will be resistance to change, but having an independent point of reference beyond ourselves will (I hope) allow us to see and change our own shortcomings more easily (this is the basis behind the ending to Anomaly). Think about how our culture has changed from slave-owning days, or from when women couldn't vote, and consider that we're still in transition. Too often, people exploit each other for monetary gain, for ideological reasons, or out of selfishness—that will be exposed as shallow and immature.

3. First Contact will help us see beyond the moment. All too often, we're consumed with our daily affairs and we forget just how astonishing it is to be alive. We're like an insect crawling through the grass, not seeing the splendor of the garden around us. In reality, life is an astonishing privilege. Carl Sagan said, "We are made of star stuff." Neil deGrasse Tyson said, "We are the universe considering itself." We are quite literally the universe brought to life. When I look at the stars at night, I wonder who's looking back. Our lives are incredibly short. We're like mayflies living for a mere five minutes. We should spend that time enriching our understanding and, from that perspective, enriching the lives of others.

Thank you for supporting independent science fiction

Cheers,
Peter(less)

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Peter Cawdron’s books

Average rating: 4.2 · 72,517 ratings · 5,938 reviews · 272 distinct works • Similar authors

	Anomaly 4.03 avg rating — 5,977 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	3zekiel 4.08 avg rating — 5,102 ratings — published 2019 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wherever Seeds May Fall (Seeds, #1) 4.31 avg rating — 3,906 ratings — published 2021 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cold Eyes 4.42 avg rating — 3,678 ratings — published 2021 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Xenophobia 4.27 avg rating — 2,700 ratings — published 2013 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Losing Mars 4.28 avg rating — 2,524 ratings — published 2018 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ghosts 4.41 avg rating — 2,066 ratings — published 2023 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Feedback 4.18 avg rating — 2,141 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jury Duty 4.26 avg rating — 1,967 ratings — published 2021 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Retrograde (Mars Endeavour, #1) 3.77 avg rating — 2,145 ratings — published 2016 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Peter Cawdron's Blog

What about AI?

As an author, I’m conflicted about the use of artificial intelligence (large language models).

On one hand, my work was stolen to train them. Regardless of your position on copyright and the use of other people’s intellectual property to train LLMs, it is undeniable that companies like OpenAI and Meta knowingly used stolen materials. They downloaded hundreds of thousands of books from a piracy web

Series by Peter Cawdron

First Contact (34 books)
by

Peter Cawdron (Goodreads Author)

4.25 avg rating — 61,178 ratings

Seeds (2 books)
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Peter Cawdron (Goodreads Author)

4.33 avg rating — 5,491 ratings

Mars Endeavour (2 books)
by

Peter Cawdron (Goodreads Author)

3.81 avg rating — 2,489 ratings

Colliding Worlds (3 books)
by

Peter Cawdron (Goodreads Author)

4.11 avg rating — 1,731 ratings

Galactic Exploration (4 books)
by

Peter Cawdron (Goodreads Author)

4.17 avg rating — 1,490 ratings

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Peter is Currently Reading

Peter Cawdron is currently reading

There Is No Antimemetics Division

by qntm (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Peter Cawdron said: " I'm currently reading about the antimemetics division, but I can't seem to remember anything I've read, just which page I'm up to (IYKYK). Seriously, it's a fun read with some great quirky ideas. The characters aren't developed, but I think that's in ...more "

Jul 15, 2026 08:05PM · see review

Peter Cawdron is currently reading

The Mind in the Making: The Relation of Intelligence to Social Reform

by James Harvey Robinson

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Jan 25, 2025 03:32PM

Peter Cawdron is currently reading

The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True

by Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)

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Peter Cawdron said: " I'm reading this with my kids at night on the iPad, which is an excellent medium, as it has the entire book plus beautiful illustrations and a number of interactive features, like breeding frogs over successive generations to see if they can survive ...more "

Oct 15, 2012 03:57AM · see review

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Peter Cawdron made a comment on The Anatomy of Courage " Ralph wrote: "Cangratulations, Peter! I'm looking forward to reading "Anatomy of Courage" as I'm sure it will compare in quality to your other excelle ...more "
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Peter Cawdron is now friends with Rúben
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Peter Cawdron rated a book really liked it Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1) by Matt Dinniman (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I got to meet Matt at a writing conference in New Zealand. He's a down-to-earth bloke with a good sense of humor. Although LitRPG is not my genre, I grabbed a copy of Dungeon Crawler Carl from my local bookstore and plowed through Carl and Donut's ad ...more
Jul 15, 2026 08:01PM · 5 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Peter Cawdron made a comment on Afterword: Entropy " Ralph wrote: "I just finished "The Oracle" and found the Afterword especially interesting and enlightening. Thanks. I also reviewed it on Goodreads." ...more "
Mar 28, 2026 02:52AM · see blog post
Peter Cawdron and 1 other person liked CLINT GILMAN's review of Entropy (First Contact): "Another good book by Peter Cawdron I enjoyed the book! It's another good one by Peter Cawdron. I've read almost all of his first contact books. "
Mar 28, 2026 02:51AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Entropy by Peter Cawdron. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Entropy by Peter Cawdron <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Peter Cawdron liked F Donghi's review of Entropy (First Contact): "thanks to Peter Once again Peter takes us on an interesting adventure and shares some interesting points and perspectives with his readers. Is this my favourite Peter Cawdron book? Probably not. Is it worth a read?Certainly it is. Hope you enjoy the b" Read more of this review »
Mar 28, 2026 02:51AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Entropy by Peter Cawdron. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Entropy by Peter Cawdron <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Peter Cawdron and 2 other people liked Claire Sadowniczak's review of Entropy (First Contact): "Heart pounding! I was in the Amazon! From the first page to the last, heart pounding adventure and thrilling adventure. The characters breathed and the descriptions transported. But there was also a message making it more than fabulous entertainmeny " Read more of this review »
Mar 28, 2026 02:50AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Entropy by Peter Cawdron. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Entropy by Peter Cawdron <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Peter Cawdron answered Shawn Thompson's question: Who designs your book covers? They are incredible. Hi Shawn, thanks for the feedback. I design my covers myself using iStockPhotos (no AI-generated images) and Canva, as I have a specific look-and-feel I'm trying to achieve, and I think consistency is important. You'll notice they always have the sam See Full Answer
Dec 17, 2025 04:39PM · 5 likes · like
Peter Cawdron voted for Of Monsters and Mainframes as Readers' Favorite Science Fiction in the Final Round of the 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards. Cast Your Vote
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Peter Cawdron liked a quote “The real problem of humanity is the following: We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and godlike technology. And it is terrifically dangerous, and it is now approaching a point of crisis overall.” Edward O. Wilson
Jun 03, 2025 02:56PM · 1 like · like · more quotes by Edward O. Wilson

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Quotes by Peter Cawdron (?)

“Knowledge is more dangerous than any gun, more dangerous than a sword or knife. Even in Eden, knowledge was forbidden.” “But why?” “Knowledge shapes decisions. Limit knowledge and you limit the choices people can make. Knowledge has always been about power, for better or for worse, for good or for evil.”
― Peter Cawdron, Monsters

7 likes

“Don’t go looking for miracles. You are the miracle. Every day, your body creates roughly three hundred billion new blood cells. That’s more than all the stars in the galaxy. Imagine that.”
― Peter Cawdron, 3zekiel

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“Email, Facebook, Twitter—all those false prophets of contrived importance—they can wait. Any urgency they have is artificial. Besides, I’ve had my fill of cat videos this week.”
― Peter Cawdron, Starship Mine

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