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Sunday, March 6, 2016
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Inventions of Fantasy at the St. Louis Science Center’s First Fridays
Inventions
of Fantasy at the St. Louis Science Center’s First Fridays
This Friday, March 4, 2016 I will be
presenting Inventions of Fantasy: The
Real Science of Steampunk at the St. Louis Science Center’s First Fridays
event. It’s part of the SLSC’s Steampunk Science night, and there are numerous
steampunk themed events to enjoy.
I’ll also be introducing the movie, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,
later that night!
It’s going to be a fun night at the St.
Louis Science Center. I invite you all to join us, and best of all most of the
events are free!
My talk begins at 8pm in the Omnimax
Theater, I’ll be signing books at 9pm, and the movie begins at 10pm.
However, the steampunk fun begins at
6pm and includes so many activities. To find a complete list of the night’s
event visit www.SLSC.org/Steampunk-science
Inventions of Fantasy: The Real Science
of Steampunk
Presented
by Brad R. Cook – 8pm in the OMNIMAX®
Steampunk twists technology in interesting and
unusual ways, but the Victorian Age was filled with inventions that the modern
world finds commonplace. Explore what was possible with steam, the early days
of electricity and the inventions that emerged from the industrial revolution.
Brad R. Cook, is the author of the steampunk novels, Iron Horsemen
and Iron Zulu. Later this year he will complete the trilogy with Iron Lotus.
Free tickets for this presentation are available
at the Main Lobby and Planetarium box offices beginning at 6pm. The
presentation will begin at 8pm in the OMNIMAX® followed by a book signing with
Brad in the OMNIMAX® lobby after the presentation.
Be sure to
check out the St. Louis Science Center every month for their First Fridays
events. Next month on April 1st they have It’s All Fun and Games!
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Learn how to “hand-sell” your books at Guild’s March 5 workshop
If people just pass you by at
book signings, learn how to close the deal at the “Human Fly Fishing:
Hand-selling Books” workshop from 10 a.m. to noon,
March 5, at Kirkwood Community Center, 111 S. Geyer Rd, Kirkwood, Mo. Free to St.
Louis Writers Guild members, $5 for nonmembers.
The presenter--Ronald R. “Reggie” Van Stockum, Jr.--is
a lawyer, teacher, biologist, writer, guitarist, and recently an actor living
on his family's old farm in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
He has a B.S. in Biology from Santa Clara University,
and an M.S. and PhD. in Biology from the University of Louisville. He also has
his Juris Doctorate in Law from the University of Louisville and practices law
from offices in Shelbyville. He concentrates his legal practice in
environmental law, and his biologic research in historical phytogeography.
Dr. Van Stockum has published
numerous articles in the area of law, science and creative writing. He has
published two novels of magic realism: Markman's
Home (2014) and Cosmos, the Stellar
Stalker (2015). He has also published a number of short stories including
“The Great and Terrible Wilderness” and “Ollie Deaton and the Breathitt County
Silver Mine.”
After the ARCHON 39 science
fiction and fantasy conference last October, St. Louis Magazine writer Thomas
Crone wrote of his experience: “HUSTLED, but gently: While walking through the
Gateway’s halls, I was summoned by a book vendor with this one-liner: ‘You, you
have a backpack with enough room for a book!’ As simply as that, I wandered over
and listened to the pitch by author Ronald R. Van Stockum Jr., who sold me a
copy of Cosmos: The Stellar Stalker,
which I’ve not yet delved into. His approach was so refreshing that I couldn’t
resist plunking down $12 on a sci-fi thriller taking place in 1976 Louisville.
Honestly, if this fella’s book is half as entertaining as his table persona,
I’ll get a bit of entertainment outta this one.”
***
Thursday, February 25, 2016
FIRST LOOK: "Letters to Olivia" by EC Holm
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in a new series of posts called FIRST LOOK featuring excerpts from stories by up-and-coming writers. We hope you enjoy getting to know them!
Welcome to EC Holm, who was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is an
honorable veteran of the US Air Force, and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree
from the University of Maryland University College in Computer Studies. He was
influenced by NASA’s space program all his life. Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and
Neil Armstrong were some of his heroes. Written works of Steven Spielberg, William
Shatner, Ursula Le Guin, E. M. Forster, and Mark Twain piqued his interest in
science fiction and adventure.
Dear Olivia,
Well, I’m out here, like I said I would, writing to you on
my tablet. I’m traveling in a cramped capsule with five other people, and all
of them are guys. Even after 10 days of travel, they have been behaving, but
I’m going nuts missing my best friend.
How are things back home in San Jose? I hope you’re keeping
yourself safe with the gang fights everywhere. Who would have thought that the
news of alien contact, a few years ago, would rupture into civil unrest
worldwide, right? The Encounter mission, to meet the aliens, has still a few
years to launch. What will happen then? Full blown wars? I hope not.
The Writers’ Lens
is about "Bringing fiction into focus." What brings your writing into
focus-- the characters, the stories, the love of words? What brings my writing into focus is the idea that the
written word is code for the brain. The brain then creates this world as
prescribed by the code. Then our soul is immersed and plays in such a world.
The reader can touch smell and taste in this world. It’s the ultimate virtual
reality. You cannot get that with a computer. In short, it’s the love of
communicating a good story.
How do you find time to write and do a demanding job? I have two jobs. What I do is I use Google Drive/Docs to write any free time I have, like on breaks, using my phone. At home, I write on my laptop. Leveraging modern technology this way allows me to make progress even with a demanding schedule.
What inspired your latest book/story? There are many companies interested in mining asteroids. Following these efforts and other space commercial efforts helped inspire me to write Letters to Olivia. The storyline is also inspired by my personal travels. Ever so often, I have encountered amazing people. So this story is about meeting new people in a new place.
What do you think readers will like about your work? I’m working on this idea of immersing the reader into the story. The stories are adventure stories set in a science fiction multiverse. I have taken from an ancient book, The Book of Enoch, to create beings of a different dimensional realm. I’ve also taken from M-theory the 11 dimensions and fashioned 3 realms. Lastly, I’ve taken the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics that explains multiple universes or realities.
This mixture of scientific theories and religious mythology
gives a rich multiverse to explore adventures in the human condition in
relation to the vastness of space. So, I think my readers enjoy stories about
bad guys and good guys, about love and loss, about what it means to have it all
and what it means to have none of it.
How much fact is in your fiction? I do base my fiction on real science. The Earth-based ships operate on known scientific principles. The alien ships operate on some more exhotic principles. Though scientific principles are applied, the engineering may not exist. Also, the dimensional beings get more fantastical, or fictionalized, technology. I like to keep in mind modern accomplishments such as smartphones, tablets, artificial intelligence in software, 3D printing, Virtual Reality, etc. I like to give a nod to these as well as the developments in commercial space.
How much fact is in your fiction? I do base my fiction on real science. The Earth-based ships operate on known scientific principles. The alien ships operate on some more exhotic principles. Though scientific principles are applied, the engineering may not exist. Also, the dimensional beings get more fantastical, or fictionalized, technology. I like to keep in mind modern accomplishments such as smartphones, tablets, artificial intelligence in software, 3D printing, Virtual Reality, etc. I like to give a nod to these as well as the developments in commercial space.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Authors Are Letting Everyone In for #AuthorLifeMonth
Authors Are Letting Everyone In for
#AuthorLifeMonth
By Brad R. Cook
There
is a fun daily photo challenge making its way around the internet this month, authors are
letting everyone into their secret world. Okay, I’m not sure how secret some of
it is, but we are pulling back the covers to show what goes on in our lives.
It’s
called #authorlifemonth and authors from all over the world are sharing a
different photo everyday letting the world into such gems as, Where I Write, My
Favorite Cover, Favorite Book in My Genre, Current WIP, and so much more.
YA and
NA author Dahlia Adler created the hash tag, which asks authors to post a photo
every day in the month of February according to a preset list of challenges.
You can read all about why she created it and more about #authorlifemonth on
her blog – dailydahlia.wordpress.com
I
missed the first couple of days because I was sick and not doing any social
media at the time, but I loved the idea and the daily challenges. So every day
I have been posting my photos. It’s
also been fun to search the hash tag and see what my fellow authors are doing
each day. Yesterday was Where I Write, and it is great to see the desks,
chairs, and couches where everyone works their magic. For me, I’ve never been
one who is able to write at a desk so I posted a pic of my couch where my cat
(pictured, kind of) and I write all my books.
The
main contest is on Instagram, but like all good hash tags it has permeated to
all the platforms. So if you’re not on Instagram, no worries, join the fun and
post your daily challenge… just remember to tag each photo with
#authorlifemonth so we can all enjoy.
Today
is: Where I Relax… I hope to see your photos
Dahlia
admits she missed that this year February has 29 days, she only created 28
challenges, so feel free to do whatever you wish on the leap day.
#authorlifemonth
has been fun, and a great way to peer behind the covers and see the secret life
of authors. It’s almost the kind of thing that Ken Burns would narrate, or you
might find on NOVA. We writers tend to be a solitary lot, but if I’ve learned
anything this month it’s that we are more alike than you’d expect.
Authors
show us your life…
Brad R.
Cook, author of the YA steampunk series, The
Iron Chronicles. Iron Horsemen - http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Horsemen-The-Chronicles/dp/0989207951 and Iron Zulu - http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Zulu-Book-Two-Chronicles/dp/0989207978. A member of SCBWI, he currently serves as
Historian of St. Louis Writers Guild after three and half years as its
President. Learn more at www.bradrcook.com, on
Twitter @bradrcook https://twitter.com/bradrcook,
or
on his blog Thoughts from Midnight on tumblr http://bradrcook.tumblr.com/
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Three Thoughts... from Other Writers, Part II
Three
Thoughts… from Other Writers, part II
By Brad
R. Cook
Last week, I posted three thoughts
from other authors about writing. I liked it so much I wanted to do it again.
This time, though, to honor Black History Month, I bring the sage advice of
three of my favorite African-American Authors – Zora Neale Hurston, Maya
Angelou, and Octavia Butler.
1 – “Research is formalized curiosity.
It is poking and prying with a purpose.
– Zora Neale Hurston
2 – “The idea is to write it so that
people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.
–
Maya Angelou
3 – “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. – Octavia Butler
I will never forget reading Their Eyes
Are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston in high school, it was the first book to really touch my soul,
and taught me the power of books. Maya Angelou is one of my favorite poets. Her
work taught me how words should flow. I was never much of a poet until I started
reading her poems. I’ll never write poetry like her, but when I do, I try to
channel her power. I will admit that I am new to Octavia Butler, I knew of her,
of course, but I didn’t really learn about her until a recent Write Pack Radio episode honoring her life. She is an amazing lady and author, and her books are
now in my to-be-read pile. But this quote speaks to me as a writer, and so I
pass it on to you.
One more just for fun, he isn’t American
so I didn’t include him in the official three but here is a great quote from Dumas.
Something to remember about all the advice you’ll find online. “All generalizations are dangerous, even this
one.” – Alexandre Dumas
Brad R.
Cook, author of the YA steampunk series, The
Iron Chronicles. Iron Horsemen - http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Horsemen-The-Chronicles/dp/0989207951 and Iron Zulu - http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Zulu-Book-Two-Chronicles/dp/0989207978. A member of SCBWI, he currently serves as
Historian of St. Louis Writers Guild after three and half years as its
President. Learn more at www.bradrcook.com, on
Twitter @bradrcook https://twitter.com/bradrcook,
or
on his blog Thoughts from Midnight on tumblr http://bradrcook.tumblr.com/
Sunday, February 7, 2016
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