​The Wayfarers book series by Becky Chambers.

I've only read 2 of the 4 books but this is a unique series. First of all, the world building is top tier. Several alien species with fully realized cultures and biologies. Set in a future where mankind has left behind a dying solar system (the sun has burned out) and humans now live on any number of planets and ships in what was an already established federation of species when they left Earth behind.

Here's what makes these books unique - so far. There is no main bad guy or impending universe destroying cataclysm. The stuff that the characters go through is just "shit happens" kind of stuff. Which I hate saying because it sounds boring but a) it's refreshing to just enjoy a world and the characters and sit in the mud with them and b) I appreciate the low level of drama. 

Real life is full of stakes; being late to work for an important meeting, car breaking down and no money to fix it, breaking a leg and there's no elevator or whatever. The difference here is the context. Being an AI in a robot body is not as liberating as the AI expected. A spaceship not working is incredibly dire because no matter how far in the future this is, humans still can't survive the vacuum of space without technology. 

Book 1 - A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, so far is my favorite. After reading it, I could pinpoint what every crew member loves. (Finding that for all my characters is going to be a major factor in my future writing.) And all of them are awesome. Definitely gave me Firefly vibes, in that the crew is so loveable and generally awesome. 

Book 2  - A Closed and Common Orbit, follows a whole new set of characters but continues to build on what we know about the other species and the tech that is used in this reality. I don't know if we'll come back around to the crew of the Wayfarer or if all the characters converge at some point. 

I'm starting book 3 soon, so yeah, highly recommend.

​This month I want to recommend two books by the same author. Ted Chiang. He wrote the short story that inspired the movie "Arrival" with Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams. 

"Arrival" came from his first collection of short stories titled, "Stories of Your Life, and others."  "Stories of Your Life" is the short story that "Arrival" was taken from. I was completely fascinated by the idea of how language shapes our perception of reality. That idea is explored much more deeply in the text of story. Not to mention how does one write a story when time is not perceived in a linear manner. If you have not watched the movie this will not make any sense.

All that to say, each story in his first collection was unique and memorable. When I saw that he had another collection, Exhalation, I bought it without hesitation. I was not disappointed. Again each story so full of imagination. Ted Chiang's stories are also packed with philosophy and wonder. 

Every single story in both books feel like wholly separate and fully realized worlds. It's mind blowing to be honest. I think he is a singular talent and I can't wait to read whatever he comes up with next.

It's been a couple of weeks now and I think I can safely say I was wrong on all accounts except #2 and I give myself half a point for #4.

As I said I would be happy to be wrong and happy I am. It took sometime for this one to sink in. Part of that is on me, I let me expectations get away from me so when this movie went places I did not think possible it took time to absorb. Same was true for Force Awakens. Now that the dust has settled and I've read way too many articles breaking down every tiny nuance I can say I like this one. The best parts have to do with Kylo and Rey. I absolutely hated the whole side mission with Finn and Rose which is a bummer because I really want more for Finn.

The biggest revelation for me is that The Force Awakens and  The Last Jedi run together and the events take place over about a week. That is a lot of change for these characters to go through, all of them, good guys and bad guys. Not sure I will ever buy space Liea but otherwise I like her role and am sad to know her story will be left unfinished in a way. Finally a question that has been bugging the crap out of me, why can't a droid pilot the ships that are set on a collision course? I think Admiral Holdo would have been an awesome addition and we lost her for no reason. 

But in any case, I would say The Last Jedi is worth your money at least once and is taking the franchise in new directions that will ultimately be good for the long game. If you have heard about all the outcry and hubbub around the movie I would strongly suggest you ignore it. The the film is cultural politics. You can dive into the fray if you want to but in the end you have to decide for yourself what you think. As with any creative work, you should decide for yourself if you like it or not.

Recommended Reviews:
https://www.starwarsnewsnet.com/2017/12/spoiler-review-the-last-jedi-a-surprise-to-be-sure-but-a-welcome-one.html

https://nerdist.com/star-wars-the-last-jedi-spoiler-review/

https://nerdist.com/the-last-jedi-star-wars-toxic-relationship/

I love going to the movies, always have since I was little. As a fan of movies as medium for telling stories and as a writer I have a keen interest in books with movie counterparts. I personally prefer to read the book first before seeing the movie if at all possible, but that’s just me.

So I have finally gotten around to reading “All You Need is Kill.” This is a book by a Japanese author, Hiroshi Sakurazaka, that the movie “Edge of Tomorrow” is based on. It’s short, a quick read. A little over the top in some places and it does not pull any punches when it comes to war in its purest brutality.
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I had a particular interest in this story because I wanted to see how the author wrote the time jumps and repeats. Turns out, it’s actually pretty simple. Deftly done in way that it doesn’t actually repeat the same tuff over and over verbatim. Sakurazaka switches it up to keep you reading and the pace never slows (the movie handles the looping in a similar way, unlike Groundhog Day.) As a writer, it is worth looking at the technique he used.

The weirdest thing about the book versus the movie is that the plot of the movie is significantly more complicated. Usually you have to strip a novel to just its main action for the sake of time (i.e. Ender’s Game) but not here. Except for a few flashbacks, we pretty much never leave the army base that the main character, Keiji, wakes up in every time he dies.

There is no scientist that worked with Rita when she was stuck in the time loop. And all training is on the day of battle, during the same battle over and over (implied.) No training room montage with cheeky banter. Though seeing Tom Cruise get beat up by robot arms is pretty gratifying.

The movie slows way down when Cage, Tom Cruise’s character, tries to break the repetition of days by running away. This happens in the book too, but only once and it’s a much shorter scene and ends in an unexpected way.

The biggest point of divergence is of course the end. I will not give anything away but I have read other science fiction novels by non-Americans and it’s pretty easy to tell American writers from others, at least with the books I have read. I find writers from other countries are okay with having wide open endings with no sequel in mind. Unsettled endings and unanswered questions, not an issue. Leaving the reader in a destination they had no idea they were going to and have no way of getting back from doesn’t bother them one bit. As a child of the 80s and the American sitcom this is not how I like to walk away from a book.

But anyways, the ending of the book took me by surprise from the moment it started and I liked that. And when I think about how the movie went about solving the problem of the time loop and its creators I just think, why mess with what the author had intended? It was so much better. Why add complication where none is needed?

I’m sure it was a decision made by the powers that be at the movie studio but to me it’s an insult. Either they didn’t trust the actors to pull off that kind of complexity or they didn’t trust the audience to be able to feel something without having to have loud music and contrived conflict. See what I mean? Insulting.
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One point of cool for the book in particular. The author has included an alternate chapter sequence (below.) It ends on the same chapter but huge chunks are moved around. I intend to re-read this book with this order in a few months. I want to forget it a little bit so I can enjoy it more and be surprised again.

If you’re so inclined and don’t mind some colorful language or violent deaths, I recommend reading this book. The movie's pretty good too.

A FAQ to writers is where do ideas for stories come from? For me, characters or situations just appear in my mind one day and maybe I write a paragraph or a page and then it gets filed away. A few years later I find what I wrote and start where I left off.

That is what happened in the case of my upcoming book, Linchpin. I saw a little boy and I wrote a whole page of his thoughts that has become the opening, you can read right now over on the other page. The little boy is Jyot and I was editing a scene with him in it when he says, “I like him too.” I heard that line in my head exactly as it is spoken by another character from one of my favorite movies, Alexandra from The Fall.  When I wrote that line, I knew for sure that Tarsem Sigh’s beautiful film was the inspiration of my story.

In 2008 I discovered Taresm’s movie and bought it promptly. I think I watched it daily for the better half of a month. While it was filmed in several locations all over the world, most of them were in Rajasthan, India. The landscape of that film is what I saw in my mind when Jyot first appeared. Jyot and Alexandra are very different people in very different circumstances but they are both extremely likeable and the adults that come across their path are forever changed.

After that, I did my usual thing which is to follow the characters around and record what they do. I am convinced that if I had not seen that movie, I would not be writing the story that I am today. Which is fine, there are limitless ideas in the universe but I am really happy with the story I have and grateful that my imagination took the leap it did from such a wonderful source.

Activity: Google Image-The Fall Tarsem Singh. Beautiful.

Once upon a time I had no TV so I listened to the radio instead. That is is when I found this American Life, A.K.A. my favorite radio show. The episode was "Americans In Paris." And I have been hooked ever since. Ira Glass and his team have given the world some of the most inspiring and fascinating  stories. I tell their stories to other people all the time.

The world is such a fascinating place full of interesting people and TAL goes after it with zeal and compassion. I am not doing it justice. Just go check it out. If you get the chance to see it live, do it!

Some favorite episodes include, but not limited to:
~Fiasco
~10 Commandments
~Superpowers
~Secret Worlds
~24 Hours at the Golden Apple
~Three Kinds of Deception
~Poultry Slam (all of them)

A close runner up, but only because it's newer, is Radiolab.
Radiolab is the first place I learned about the field of science called Emergence. Even you don't like science you will like this show. The hosts Jad and Robert are a lot of fun to listen to and the people that talk to are amazing.

Some favorite episodes include, but not limited to:
~Laughter
~Unraveling Ravel
~Color
~Yellow Fluff and Other Curious Encounters
~Apocalyptical - Live from the Paramount in Seattle

Click on the pictures to be taken to their websites and start exploring.

I just want to take a few moments and give credit where credit is due to Sven Geier, the artist behind the banner I am using here on my website. Sven's website is full beautiful and cool digital images that he offers all for free simply because he loves to create them. Over ten years of his creative life all there for you admire and download if you find something you like. Check out his work here.