CHASING THE FUTURE: TECH AND SFR

As writers of science fiction romance it’s our job to envision the future and the technology that will make that future possible. How will we get around? What gadgets will make our lives easier—or more complex? What aspects of technology will threaten our privacy or freedom or humanity or survival?

Those kinds of questions about the nature and limits of technology are a huge part of the fun of writing SFR.  They are also a huge part of the challenge. Because in this age of tremendous technological growth and change, we no sooner construct an elaborate world full of shiny tech toys than some garage genius has actually made it happen. Staying ahead of the tech game means running full out all the time.

Just take a look at Greta’s post on interstellar travel. A few years back, actually traveling to the stars via warp drive or hyperdrive or jumping into a wormhole or whatever seemed impossibly out of reach. Now, researchers are closing in on the theoretical foundations for these crazy star-hopping ideas. 

As few as ten or fifteen years ago, you could find plenty of reputable scientists to say that Earth could be the only planet capable of sustaining life in the galaxy. Then more powerful telescopes and better analytics allowed us to find the first planet in that “Goldilocks” zone just far enough and not too far from its parent star to allow the possibility of liquid water (thus life as we know it). Then we found more planets. And more. Now everyone agrees: there must be millions of Earth-like planets out there. New technology has allowed us to recognize a new truth.

I’m not that old, but in my lifetime, I’ve seen computers go from the size of a room, storing data on reels of metal tape, to the size of an iPod or watch, storing data in a chip the size of a baby’s fingernail. We’ve sent manned teams to the moon and back and established a permanent presence in orbit around the Earth. We’ve sent probes to Mars and out into the solar system and down into the depths of the oceans. We’ve made Captain Kirk’s communicator and Dr. McCoy’s medical scanner everyday realities. And don’t even get me started on movies and television!

Some of these things were predicted by SF writers, many were not. Strangely, it seems the less bound by the “rules” of prevailing science the writers were, the more accurate they were in their predictions. The STAR TREK Original Series writers, creating without much concern for how stuff really worked, were a gold mine of future technology simply because they inspired young tech nerds to invent what they saw on screen. (The inventor of the cell phone and the researchers working on warp drive have all admitted that TREK was their inspiration.) Writers of the Golden Age of science fiction took us to outer space without a thought as to how we got there. Their readers took us to the moon with the U.S. space program.

Like Greta, I don’t worry too much about whether the system I choose for interstellar travel (and communication and a dozen other things) works given current scientific knowledge. I take pains to make sure it is internally consistent and logical, given the science I have posited for the world I have created. Who knows? One day that world may exist.  And wouldn’t that be fun?

HAPPY 25^th BIRTHDAY, HUBBLE!

Speaking of technologies that changed our view of the universe—25 years ago, a new kind of telescope was assembled in orbit, beyond the interference of our atmosphere. The Hubble Space Telescope has treated us to some spectacular images over the years, as well as quite a few startling discoveries. Enjoy these images from the Hubble, courtesy of NASA!

Cheers, Donna

Interstellar: Another Promising SF(R?) on the Horizon

Interstellar, an upcoming feature length film has been described as: "may be the first movie that shows realistic space warp travel." [Sploid]

That in itself is something to get excited about, but add to that a standout cast which is reported to include Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, John Lithgow, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Casey Affleck (Ben's younger brother) and Topher Grace. Matt Damon is also reported to have a role from some sources. With an environmental catastrophy backstory, we just may have a blockbuster in the making.

The film is directed by Christopher Nolan, best known for directing the Dark Knight Batman series and Inception. Scified: Interstellar.

It was filmed in Iceland (which also served as the set for the Alien-franchise related Prometheus) and Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada.

Background

Based on the theories of theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, the Interstellar project was originally spearheaded by Steven Spielberg who tapped Jonah Nolan to write the script, making the transition to Christopher Nolan (Jonah's brother) as director an easier transition. The film is co-financed by Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

What's It About?

Much of the plot is being kept under wraps, but it's reportedly based on Thorne's scientific theory that wormholes exist and can be used for time travel.  Interstellar is described as depicting "a heroic voyage to the farthest borders of our scientific understanding."

The drama is based on a worldwide food crisis triggered by global climate change and depletion of natural resources.  Crops are failing, and corn is the last viable food source being produced in what is rapidly becoming a worldwide dust bowl.

The storyline seems to take the classic path of great hope rising from near hopelessness.

Wikipedia says: "When a wormhole (which theoretically can connect widely-separated regions of spacetime) is discovered, explorers and scientists unite to embark on a voyage through it, transcending the limits of human space travel."

Is there a romantic sub-plot? Possibly. We'll have to wait to see how the story plays out. At the very least there will be an exploration of human relationships in the face of hardship and great discovery...but also potential disaster and unrecoverable loss.

The tagline:

Our destiny lies above us.

A Look at the Trailer




My Thoughts

The closely-guarded plot appears to be a cautionary tale about a future we're right now heading into at the speed of light. Interstellar may be the ultimate If/When statement: If we don't find ways to curtail the destruction of our sole eco-system, it's only a question of when we'll be forced to find drastic means to fix it or face extinction.

As Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield said: "Dinosaurs are extinct because they didn't have a space programme."

Presumably, Interstellar puts forth one possible solution to our current path to extinction.

When Can I See it?

Interstellar is set to be released on November 7, 2014.

What do you think? Will you plan to hit the theaters when Interstellar is released this fall?

Redesigning A Cover

Current Cover

The conversation with Dani ran something like this -

"Would you like to do an updated cover for The Bones of the Sea?"
I looked at the current cover. To be fair, it does look a little...shabby...compared to Keir and Terms & Conditions Apply. "Do you think Bones of the Sea needs a new cover? I know the text isn't great - I did that myself and the image was just a stock photo from Dreamstime." And despite having had GIMP for two years, I still can't figure out how to use it to put decent titles on my own cover art. Plus it is just a single stock image, one anybody can buy and use. But still...
"The text could be better, but I think it's a pretty good cover. I like the image."
I love the image but I would like the text to be better so we go for that. And so begins a day of ranting on Twitter, as not only do I fail to find the stock image on my memory sticks (always back up ALL your stuff, people!), but the DVD disk drive on my computer packs up. Argh!

Then Dani comes to the rescue and sends me this -

I was actually speechless. I LOVED it! Without even a discussion over image ideas, Dani had picked up on the key elements I'd always wanted in the cover but had neither the skills nor resources to achieve myself back when I published it in May 2011. I'd used a bought single stock image, with some text added - a wonderful image that I loved and I felt was evocative - but also easily available to anyone else to buy. This was just a rough draft she'd put together to get my thoughts on. And once I'd seen it, I wanted it.

Anyone who has read the story should be able to immediately identify with the image. Seeing this threw any plans of mine simply to put new text on the old cover. But the amount of bubbles meant that even at this size it was hard to make out the diver. At thumbnail - which is how most people will see it when browsing - it becomes impossible. So, much as I loved it, tweaking was needed. Below are three more versions, each with a tweak.

Larger Diver

No bubbles

Different diver

Dani wasn't prepared to give up tweaking until I was completely happy with the cover, and I have to say she's a joy to work with and one very talented lady. So this is my final new shiny cover for my free scifi short The Bones of the Sea - designed by Danielle Fine. Ta da!

Isn't it purty?! This will be replacing the old cover over the next week - I need to make adjustments to the interior of the book before re-uploading it to Smashwords. In the meantime, I highly recommend checking out Dani's website here if you're on the hunt for a cover design. (pssst, she also does editing and book trailers!).

In other news...

Action!

It's #pitchwars! This is "an upcoming event where agented authors, industry interns, and editors team up with aspiring writers to shine up their manuscripts and pitches to present to some awesome agents." You can check out all the details here. Currently the submission window is open until the 5th December for you to pick three mentors from the list (check carefully who is accepting what genres, as many are looking for those outside their normal preferred genre to read or write!) and submit your query and the first five pages of your manuscript. I have my mentors chosen and my query all ready to go, I just haven't...submitted yet. >.< This will be my first time pitching so I admit to being nervous. Yes, even with two book contracts under my belt. O.o There's also the #pitchMAS workshop on the 5th December here and you can see which agents and editors are judging the pitches here. The best of luck if you're taking part in either or both of those.

Discoveries

In line with Laurie's post about the latest space news, an article on io9 has shown the possibilities of exploring beyond our own solar system are getting closer to a reality rather than remaining a science fiction idea. Warp drive! Physicist Harold White is convinced he has a theory that will result "in an engine that can transport a spacecraft to the nearest star in a matter of weeks — and all without violating Einstein's law of relativity." Of course it's all theory at the moment - there's no time scale on when this might happen, but his convictions seems to take it from being more a case of if to when. So, it's unlikely in my lifetime - unless one of those technological leaps occurs - but perhaps our grandchildren will be hopping from one star to another in a matter of weeks. It's a wonderful thing to consider. You can read the entire article here.