Point of View

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Point of View: The Unsettling Pace of Change

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Wayfarer's Chapel - Rancho Palos Verdes

We live in one of those interesting times that the old (purported) Chinese curse speaks of. Change is happening all around us, epitomized by that greatest one of all, climate change, but also evident in our technology, politics, and society. In just twenty years, the idea that a man like me could marry another man went from patently absurd to an accepted reality. In just eight years, we went from the end of the term of our first black president to this churning reality we find ourselves in now, holding our collective breath while seemingly suspended over the abyss. And … Read more

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Point of View: Hiding Easter Eggs

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golden easter egg - deposit photos

One of my favorite things about writing is the idea of the “Easter egg.” This concept started out in video games, where developers would hide a surprise in a bit of code that might trigger a secret weapon, a cache of gold coins, or some other cool thing that wasn’t an official part of the game. The term has since evolved in fiction to mean a bit of information in a story that connects one work to another, but only for readers who are familiar with both. I’ve been writing regularly again, which makes me very happy. I’m going about … Read more

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Point of View: BayCon!

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BayCon Book Launch Party 2024

Just got back from BayCon and am madly running around putting things away and processing inventory and sales data, so today will be brief. We had a great time. We ran the LimFic table with Marvin Neu, Bel Sikes, Sheryl Hayes, Denise Tanaka, Amanda Cherry, Lillian Csernica, RL Merrill, Mike Karpa and Sumiko Saulson, and sold a decent amount of books. This was the first year for BayCon under new management – Mark and I are charter members of the reorganized con. And for the next two years, WesterCon and BayCon will merge, so we’re hoping for even more good … Read more

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Point of View: Making the Cover – The Death Bringer

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It’s time once again to share the making of a cover. This time, for the final book of “The Tharassas Cycle” – The Death Bringer. The fabulous Kelley York and Sleepy Fox Studios crafted this one for me. We started with a few possibilities: We tried the last one, an alien creature who looked a bit like a hammerhead shark: Not quite there. So I asked Kelley to try the fourth one: It needed… something. How about some creepy eyes? And finally for the coup de grace… a tail: Put it all together, and: I’m thrilled with the final result, … Read more

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Point of View: What Will It Mean to Be Human in an AI Future?

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humans staring at a robot in a job interview waiting room - deposit photos

I’m a sci-fi writer, which means, among other things, that I am tasked with thinking about the future and how it will unfold and sharing this with my readers. And there’s a lot to think about these days. There’s climate change, first and foremost – if it goes unaddressed, it will eventually smash human civilization to bits. There’s the rise of right-wing populism, which threatens to upend democratic institutions around the world (and already has in many places). But nothing has captured the public imagination at this moment more than Generative AI, and its impacts on the human condition. Something … Read more

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Point of View: It Matters What We Do, and that We Do It

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artist - deposit photos

I recently saw a disturbing quote from Elon Musk (I know – is there any other kind?): “It’s hard to say exactly what that moment is, but there will come a point where no job is needed,” the tech billionaire said. “You can have a job if you want to have a job — sort of personal satisfaction — but the AI will be able to do everything.” I normally try to keep this column (and my life in general) a Musk-free zone, but I think he’s getting at something important here. We are moving into an era where it’s … Read more

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Point of View: The Importance of Listening

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man listening - deposit photos

Last weekend, we attended Placer Pride. It’s one of the smaller local Sacramento area prides, but it’s also the most vibrant. It was launched just two years ago in a fairly conservative county, and the people who come to the festival are always thrilled to have us there because we provide something they have in short supply. This year, for the first time, some of the haters found the event too. Three young white men stood at the edge of the park with a bull horn and speaker (right behind our author booth, as luck would have it) and spent … Read more

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Point of View: The Wonderful, Terrible Act of Writing

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meme

I realized long ago that it’s possible to hold two entirely contradictory thoughts in your head at the same time, both of them equally valid. For instance, I can hear about a fellow author’s success – let’s say they won a contest that I also entered my own book into (and lost). I can be thrilled at their success and sad for my own loss. Both of these things are valid, and one doesn’t negate the other. That’s how it is with my relationship with writing. There’s nothing I’d rather do than be writing, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do … Read more

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Point of View: The (Questionable) Wisdom of Writing Four Things at Once

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Man with lots of ideas - deposit photos

My therapist thinks I have ADHD tendencies. That’s a fancy way of saying that I’m happiest when I am multitasking. I love round-robining through three different things at once, doing a bit on each until I wrap all of them up with pretty bows on top. Another way of saying this is that I’m a high-functioning ADHDer. I’ve learned to work with those tendencies, and to make them work for me. This came up again recently in my writing life. I’ve been stalled out on my latest WIP, my first “Forever Cycle” novel that seems to have me stuck in … Read more

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Point of View: Con Crud… Without the Con

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con crud - sick man - Deposit Photos

Anyone who has ever been to a con has probably heard of Con Crud – that catchall term for whatever cold or flu virus is circulating at the time that everyone seems to catch. I feel like that’s what I have – even though I haven’t been to a con since last year. Two week ago today, Mark got it – some kind of cold virus that gives you a headache, stuffs your sinuses full of cotton and makes you cough and cough and cough… and the damned bug is still lingering. I picked it up last Wednesday, and have … Read more