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Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

Thought I’d Share

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on February 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I just posted this to a writer’s group and then thought, what the heck, maybe other people would appreciate this too. And here we are.

I saw a writer on Twitter feeling not great about his work, of the “everything’s terrible, no one wants this stupid book, what’s the point, why am I even bothering?” variety. Been there, of course, who hasn’t, and I had some thoughts. Sharing in case someone else needs to hear it too:

Think of the last book you read that brought you joy, or showed you that there is light at the end of darkness.

Your book is you, repaying the favor.

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Photo by Jay-Pee Peña 🇵🇭 on Unsplash

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My Favorite Things

Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged , , on February 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

For my valentine.

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Who Am I Missing?

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on February 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I decided to make a list of science fiction and fantasy authors based on my reading history, organized by the starting letter of their last name. (That’s normal, right?) 

This is off the top of my head and while I read a lot my memory isn’t the best. I have certainly forgotten many authors, and of course there are many more that I have not yet read. And I haven’t put everyone in here, but focused on the ones engraved into my longer-term memory banks. (As such, it tends toward the classics.) Even so, I was surprised to find that most letters have at least some entries.

Most, but not for Q, U, and X. 

Here’s my list in progress. Who am I missing?

A is for Asimov, Atwood, Adams, Abercrombie, Andrews, Addison, Anders, Anthony

B is for Butler, Bradbury, Bujold, Banks, Bacigalupi, Bester, Butcher, Burroughs, Baum, Bull, Beukes, Bradley

C is for Crowley, Chiang, Card, Crichton, Arthur C. Clarke, Cronin, Chambers, Corey, Susanna Clarke, Carroll, Cooper, Cherryh

D is for Delany, Dick

E is for El-Mohtar

F is for Farmer, Farland, Feist, Fforde, Flint, Foster

G is for Grant, Gibson, Gladstone, Gaiman, Gabaldon, Green, Goldman

H is for Harrison, Herbert, Huxley, Heinlein, Haldeman, Hamilton, Hobb, Hopkinson

I is for Ishiguro

J is for Jemisin, Jordan, Diana Wynne Jones

K is for King, Kowal, Kingfisher, Kay, Kurtz

L is for Leckie, Lem, Ken Liu, Le Guin, Lewis, Lem, Lunch, Cixin Liu, L’Engle, Lowry, Lord, Leiber

M is for McCarthy, Miller Jr, Muir, Martine, Miéville, Martine, McGuire, McCaffrey, Matheson, Moorcock, Milne, Macdonald, McKinley

N is for Niven, Novik, Norton

O is for Okorafor, Orwell

P is for Pournelle, Pratchett, Pullman

Q is for …

R is for Robinson, Rothfuss, Rowling

S is for Scalzi, Shelley, Stephenson, Simmons, Sagan, Stross, Samatar, Sanderson, Sawyer

T is for Tolkien, Tchaikovsky, Tiptree Jr., Tepper

U is for …

V is for Vonnegut, Verne, VanderMeer, Vinge

W is for Weir, HG Wells, Martha Wells, Willis, Whitehead, Walton, Williams, TH White, Wilhelm

X is for …

Y is for Yolen, Yu

Z is for Zelazny

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Photo by Arno Senoner on Unsplash

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I Remember

Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged , , , , , on February 6, 2024| 1 Comment »

I tried to resist posting the Tracy Chapman / Luke Combs duet of Chapman’s “Fast Car” because it is everywhere. Why did I break down and change my mind? Because music, like writing and other forms of art, is a transformative time machine.

Tracy Chapman Duets “Fast Car” with Luke Combs

Listening to the performance, I remember who I was when I first heard the original song. I remember the road I’ve travelled to get to where I am. And I remember running down the steps at the Harvard Square T station and realizing that Chapman had been there before me, playing to distracted commuters as she built her own road to the future.

It’s also just a really good song. 

And I love that a new generation is getting to hear it in a way that emphasizes the shared humanity, challenges and goals of its singers, and listeners.

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Photo by Brent Ninaber on Unsplash

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Inspiration is a Fair Weather Friend

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice. You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”

― Octavia E. Butler

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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Lying Fallow Today

Posted in Writing, tagged , , on February 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Lies Vergauwen on Unsplash

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Default Settings

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on February 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Today, an excerpt from David Foster Wallace‘s 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College. It was made in to a book titled This is Water, but is also available online as text and audio. 

It’s the sort of essay that can help if you start tripping over yourself, which everyone does at some point. 

It’s also an interesting way for an author to approach their characters. What do they know? What do they take for granted? What do they love? What do they hope for? What do they fear, bone deep? 

What is water to them?

If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. On one level, we all know this stuff already. It’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness.

Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful, it’s that they’re unconscious. They are default settings.

They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing.

And the so-called real world will not discourage you from operating on your default settings, because the so-called real world of men and money and power hums merrily along in a pool of fear and anger and frustration and craving and worship of self. Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom all to be lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the centre of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about much in the great outside world of wanting and achieving…. The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day.

That is real freedom.

— David Foster Wallace, 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College

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Photo by Kyaw Tun on Unsplash

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The T-4200, Take Two

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I have mentioned a story called “The T-4200” on this site in posts before. Originally published at Andromeda Spaceways Magazine in 2017 (yay), it was not available online (so sad!).

Until now.

That’s right, the good folks at Escape Pod looked at this goofy sci-fi adventure featuring a beleaguered civil servant just trying to do the right thing, dimension-hopping animals, and murderous ice cream carts and said, “Yes, please.” 

(Fine, I may have added the “please.”)

The thing about Escape Pod is that they are an audio magazine. Because they also publish the transcript, this story (all 9,000 or so words of it), is now available in both audio and text formats.

Which means that you, fair reader (or listener!) are now able to sample the delights of this story for yourself.

Enjoy the audio performance or read the transcript at Escape Pod. 

Escape Pod 923: The T-4200 (Part 1 of 2)

Escape Pod 924: The T-4200 (Part 2 of 2)

  • Author (that’s me!): J.R. Johnson 
  • Narrator: J. S. Arquin 
  • Host: Valerie Valdes 
  • Audio Producer: Adam Pracht

I had a great time with this story. Hope you do too!

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Photo by Jeet Dhanoa on Unsplash

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Endless Possibilities

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 31, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Today, I’m happy to share a lovely short story from friend and fellow Writers of the Future alum Elaine Midcoh. 

Papa’s (Not) Gone – MetaStellar

Later, people wondered why I didn’t cry.

It cheered me up. I hope it does you, too.

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Photo by Sven Read on Unsplash

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It’s the Little Things

Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on January 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I have not read Brian Klaas’s Fluke, the book on which the article below is based, but this line made an impression in my busy day.

The big idea: what if every little thing you do changes history?

One hundred million years ago, a shrew-like creature got infected with a retrovirus, eventually leading to the placenta and, by extension, the reason why we don’t lay eggs.

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Photo by Domino on Unsplash

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