Anyone heavily involved in SF/F fandom will have encountered something that shattered their "WSOD" – Willing Suspension of Disbelief – and kicked them out of their immersion in the story to say, in one way or another "What the heck? That made no SENSE!" As an author, of course, I have to be very sensitive to this; I don't want my readers cranking along happily and then suddenly having their train of thought derailed. This is not, of course, something it's possible to avoid in a universal fashion; things that won't bother 99% of readers will [ Continue reading... ]
Why I Write the Way I Do
September 20, 2016 By Leave a Comment
All authors develop a style of writing – something that makes their stories theirs. Some of the "signature" is in the way they use language – particular turns of phrase and patterns of prose – while other parts of the signature will show up in the themes they like to revisit, the types of characters they like – or don't like – the things they'll show or hide, and of course the plots they choose to do, or not do. Now that I've been doing this for well over a decade (which seems so strange to me – it doesn't seem that long, unless I [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 46
October 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Now we come to the end of this adventure.. and the end of the snippets of Paradigms Lost! I hope you've enjoyed them. If you can't wait to read the rest, the eARC is now available at Baen Books! ----- Chapter 46: Explanations "I must confess, Jason, that there are a few things which remain unclear to me." Rebuilding Verne's mansion was taking some time. It had also taken a lot of fast talking to keep Jeri from poking her nose too far in; even though the mansion was relatively isolated, the battle between the [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 45
October 22, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had one more idea to try... ----- Chapter 45: That Future is Past Morgan opened the door, startled as I pushed past him without so much as a "hello." "Master Jason… ?" I looked around, shrugged, jogged into the living room and climbed up on a chair. Verne was in that room, staring at me curiously out of hollow eyes set in a leathery, lined face and framed by pure white hair. "J… Jason," he said slowly, as I mumbled a curse to myself and dragged the chair over a bit, "what… are you [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 44
October 20, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason has to do a bit of political outreach... ----- Chapter 44: Paternity and Possibility "Senator MacLain?" The voice on the other end was as distinctive over the phone as it was in public address or on television: precise, educated, a pleasant yet cool voice that carried both authority and intelligence—it reminded me somehow of Katharine Hepburn. "This is Paula MacLain. Mr. Jason Wood?" "Yes, ma'am. I don't know if you know who I am—" "Young man, if I didn't, I wouldn't be speaking [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 43
October 15, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had made a deal that made him nervous... ----- Chapter 43: Beware of Spooks Leaving Gifts I stared down at the disk in my hand. The fact that it contained possibly treasonous information made it seem as heavy as lead. But, unfortunately, it wasn't the worst of the things I had to deal with. My date with Sylvie last night, our third "real" date, had been bittersweet at best. We were happy to be together finally, but another fact overshadowed our enjoyment: despite three days of careful work, Syl, Verne, [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 42
October 13, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had asked for some help... ----- Chapter 42: Reaching Limits TO:{Jason Wood}wisdom@wis.com FROM:{The Jammer} SUBJECT:EXCUSE ME???? Did you have ANY idea what kind of mess you were trying to get me into? No, let me revise that. Do you have ANY idea what THAT kind of mess can do to me? Dammit, Wood. This guy's an international fugitive and you want me to give him a bulletproof ID? What are you mixed up in THIS time? So there were limits to what the Jammer would take casually. Nice [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 41
October 8, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had made a rather startling discovery... ----- Chapter 41: Worries and Joys Verne and Kafan stared at the reprinted articles, while Sylvie peeked over their shoulders. "H'alate," muttered Verne. "This is most inconvenient." "Maybe not quite as bad as it seems." I said. Verne had looked like Death warmed over when he came in, but that might have been the yellow street lights. He looked a little better, here in the office, than he had yesterday. I hoped that meant he was taking it easy. "With [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 40
October 6, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had some sleuthing to do... ----- Chapter 40: Solve One Problem, Get Two Free! I frowned at the faces on my screen. One was definitely nonhuman; Tai as he'd be if he changed. Seb's inhumanity was less obvious, though it was still there in subtle ways. The other two were how the children looked in their human guise. This was my first look at the pictures with a really clear head; after going over the details with Kafan several times, I'd wandered around my house sort of in a daze before finally going [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 39
October 1, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Time to stop the flashback and get back to the present... ----- Chapter 39: But Wait, There's MORE! "I wonder if I would have thought that," Verne concluded, "had I known what would come to pass." For the second time that night, I was speechless. After battling vampires and werewolves, I'd thought I was ready for anything. Even Kafan's story was, well… modern. Elias Klein had been a thoroughly twentieth-century vampire. Virigar, the Werewolf King, was at home in this world of computers and automobiles. Kafan's [ Continue reading... ]
What You’re Saying