Science Fiction on the Brain

I'd like say that I am a guru of science fiction books. While I like to read, have read science fiction, and even took an accredited science fiction course in college, many other things affected my writing. My science fiction tendencies developed from observing the stars as a boy. I scanned the Milky Way with my 40X telescope and later with a with multiple lens telescope.
I would often discuss stories in Science Digest, including articles by Isaac Asimov, with my grandfather. Traveling with my brother and parents on vacation to historic sites sparked my imagination and stirred a longing to travel back in time. And let's not forget the baby boomers' preoccupation with television. I tuned in when the original Lost in Space aired on CBS in 1965, but, then came Star Trek.

I was ready for this show and admired the morality plays, the strength and sense of destiny (and humor) of Kirk and company, but I particularly attached myself to the show's optimism for the future.
I once attended a lecture by Isaac Asimov at the University of Massachusetts.

With gusto Asimov illustrated his concern for problems facing the world, but he left me in awe of his encyclopedic mind. I'd be happy with 1/10 of 1% of that , thank you very much.

In considering a piece of science fiction writing, the first rule is that if it is bad fiction, it is bad science fiction. There is no magic that can convert something bad into something good just because it is science fiction.
Isaac Asimov, On Science Fiction

Only a few years after the Asimov lecture Carl Sagan arrived on our TV screens.

Cosmos revved my enthusiasm for the history of science and Sagan's account of the cosmos was my starting point for hundreds of further explorations. I still listen to Sagan, years after his death, in my tiny headphones as I jog under the stars.
My basic premise in science fiction is to present an average person (such as me) with extraordinary challenge against forces never seen before by humanity. In resolving what has become undone in the world, a new outlook surfaces.

I like heroes. The steady presence of Ross Poldark in Winston Graham's Poldark Saga is a perfect template for any hero.

Joseph Campbell maintained the hero is always ready for the adventure.

Join the adventure.

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