Over the years, a lot of authors and scholars far more knowledgeable (and opinionated) than me have tried to nail down science fiction, defining it in a variety of ways, sometimes in contrast to other genres like fantasy. Here are a few: John W. Campbell: “Fiction is simply dreams written out. Science fiction consists of…
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I’m offering my science fiction novel, Strictly Analog, as a FREE download today at Amazon. Ted Lomax does his best to get by as a private detective in a society where almost nothing is private any more. He lives in a near-future California that has gained independence from the economically collapsed United States and where…
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When you think of E.M. Forster (if you think of him at all), you probably think about British novels that have inspired Oscar buzz-worthy films like Howard’s End, A Room with a View, and A Passage to India. All good, but the kind of thing most science fiction fans don’t jump to as their next…
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I first came across a reference to Don Ryan when I was reading Kevin Starr’s Americans and the California Dream series, a remarkable history of California. Starr identified Don Ryan’s Angel’s Flight as one of the first novels about Los Angeles and Hollywood, and since that was the focus of my dissertation, I sought out…
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I’ve just finished listening to the audiobook version of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, the preferred text read by the author. It’s been said that writers are often the worst readers of their own work, which may be true in some cases, but not this one. Gaiman’s rendering of the different characters’ voices is brilliant, vivid, and…
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When I released my first book in paperback and Kindle editions earlier this year, I had the nice opportunity of being able to sign some copies for friends. One person joked about whether I’d sign his Kindle for him. I kindly offered to scratch my name into the cover. When my second book came out…
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I’ll think of this as the summer I became an audiobook convert. I had never really had anything against audiobooks before, but had just thought of them as “not my thing.” Years ago, while studying for the GRE in literature, I remember listening to cassettes (I did say “years ago,” remember?) of George Bernard Shaw…
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