The first Odds and Ends of March is online for my Patrons: two free novels, a cartload of feminist science fiction, sword & soul, a book-reading app, 1200 years of Roman history in 20 minutes and a whole museum devoted to cats.
Because it’s good to be my Patrons.
Back when I was still working as a researcher in university, I was asked once how I managed to “reconcile” my research papers with the science fiction, fantasy and horror stories I was publishing at the time. My reply being, of course, that I credited my readers with the modicum amount of intelligence needed to tell the difference between a paper on Miocene rocks and a story about a guy working part-time as a vampire hunter.
I also added that, if it is perfectly fine for a geologist to do research and then play piano in a jazz band or cook for his friends on the weekend, why should it be different were he a storyteller instead of a pianist or a barbecue maverick?
On the other hand, I guess some of the reading I’ve done recently for research purposes might really get me in trouble with my (now former) colleagues. It’s all about the Younger Dryas cold spell, and it makes for both fascinating science and great storytelling.
Continue readingMy Patrons just received the second issue of Nuts & Bolts, an irregular series of pieces about writing – focusing on practicalities rather than theory. This is the second post of this kind I do this month – the first was successful enough to convince me it was a good idea to go on.
The topic of today’s post is world-building, and was inspired by a very stupid argument fueled by this image.
It is good, they say, being my Patrons.
The last Odds and Ends of February has been posted on Patreon, featuring cheap books in Italian and English (one recommended by Hemingway), some early 1960s music (Chet Baker! Ella Fitzgerald! Dean Martin!), a 1950s style fantasy short movie and its soundtrack, and a collection of fake movie posters.
Because it’s good to be my Patrons.
I am putting the finishing touches on a 12.000 words novella in what I, being old-fashioned (or just plain old) would call the science fantasy subgenre. It’s something long overdue, that I promised to my Patrons a lifetime ago, and that was caught up in too many complications to write here about.
But now here it is. I have a cover, and I am going through a bout of rewriting – which means the story might end up being longer than planned. I hope nobody will complain.
The novella is basically sword & sorcery with a thin patina of science – I took some inspiration from the Recent Dryas Impact Event and some theories about the extinction of the Clovis culture in the Americas, and then threw in a few neanderthals, a few sabretooth tigers (because I like sabretooth tigers), and some evil “Atlantean” ubermensch.
The idea was to tell a story about a primitive man versus a much more advanced but decadent culture.
Being a paleontologist, I had to censor my internal censor – this is fantasy, not a textbook!
I have just started a new series on my Patreon page, about the nuts and bolts of writing when writing is not your tool to pull chicks, it’s what pays your bills and keeps you afloat. Nothing fancy, just a series of posts about how I solve certain problems, how I tackle certain issues.
And that’s how I call the series: Nuts & Bolts – Writing to make a living.
I’ll start with one 1000/1500-words post per month, for all those that support me with 1$ or more. Then we’ll see if the thing grows.
These posts will appear on my Patreon page exclusively, both in English and Italian. Because it’s good to be my Patron (or so they say).
Let’s see what happens.
On the 7th of January 1992 I landed in London, nursing a bronchitis and a few lines of fever. I rode a taxi to my hotel, then went looking for a place to eat a bite. Along the road to a pub, I stopped in a bookshop and bought two books by Michael Moorcock: Mother London and one of the Jerry Cornelius books. Both had the dome of St Paul on the cover. I still think those two books set the tone and the rhythm of my year spent in London.
Now I’ve been commissioned an article about Michael Moorcock. It’s a pro bono job, and I’ve been given total control on the subject, the word-count, the style. And I’m thinking I will do a piece about London in the works of Michael Moorcock.
And what better occasion to finally get me a copy of Modern Times 2.0, a Jerry Cornelius adventure which comes bundled with an interview to the author and an article in which he reminisces about London.
One of those cases in which doing research is a good opportunity to have fun.
Karavansara 