Category: Warped Writing

The End – Writer’s Grief

You’ve written those two lovely words: the end. For some writers, the time is one of celebration—look at what I’ve accomplished! I finished my book! You know only ten percent of writers who begin a book finish it, right? It’s time for the Snoopy happy dance! But … what if it’s not? What if, instead of feeling like celebrating, you feel sad? If you do, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. I want to state that up front. Unequivocally. For those of you who don’t, let’s take some time to exercise that vaunted writer’s empathy, and see if we can’t…

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The End – A Conversation With Joshua Simpson & Kristene Perron

***SPOILER ALERT AHEAD! (For Warpworld books 1 through 4)*** As we prepare to send the final chapter of the Warpworld saga out into the world and launch our final guest blog series on the Warpworld Comms, Josh and I thought it would be fun to share some behind-the scenes talk and photos of our experiences working together for almost ten years. Kris: First, Josh, holy crap, it’s been almost ten years! Josh: Yeah, and honestly it does really feel like it, too. But then I’ve been through: the job I had when we first met, going back to college to…

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The Power of Three

Three years, three novels, that was the goal Josh and I set for the start of the Warpworld series. And even though we’re running behind schedule on our promised release date for book number three, we will hit that three year goal in just a few more weeks! For our fans who have been patiently waiting for the release of Warpworld III – Ghost World, stay tuned. We’ll be announcing our launch date any day This third book came with all kinds of new challenges, not the least of which were big changes in its authors’ schedules. I spent most…

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Full of Win

My extrans wanderings are almost at an end, which means our poor neglected Warpworld blog will soon come back to life. But I had to take a moment out of my travels to share some news. Today Josh and I learned that Warpworld Vol.1 won an Honorable Mention in the 2014 Eric Hoffer Book Awards (Commercial Fiction category). The Eric Hoffer Awards recognize excellence in independently published books–something I support with much waving of arms and yelling of "WHOOP!" Since I did not expect a science fiction novel to even make it onto the shortlist, this Honorable Mention comes as…

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What’s So Great About Science Fiction?

Short answer: Everything. For the long answer, you can read my guest blog post up on 49th Shelf today: Why You’re Not Reading Science Fiction and Why You Should. And if you’re a Canadian speculative fiction author, you can come and share your work here: Speculating On Canadian Fiction Happy reading, everyone!  

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The Truth Inside the Lie – Lynda Williams

The Highway and the Universe In my teenage years, my faster-than-light method of travel needed to be scientifically plausible. That’s when I invented reality skimming, inspired by an enrichment course in space-time physics in my high school years. Fig 1 Rel Ship in space But by the time the Okal Rel Saga shaped up into meaty stories about people, the underpinning technology had to map to something more emotionally real. Philosophically, this became the wear and tear of living (shimmer damage), and the risk of losing one’s grip and drifting into depression or ennui (time slip). Physically, however, the inspiration…

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The Truth Inside the Lie – Douglas Smith

On Writing About a Different Culture My recent novel, The Wolf at the End of the World, takes place in modern-day northern Ontario and continues the story of the Heroka, my human-like shape-shifting race that I introduced in my award-winning story, "Spirit Dance." Along with the Heroka mythology, The Wolf incorporates Cree and Ojibwa stories and traditions. Now, I’m a white male of British descent writing about First Nations culture and beliefs. Any author who writes about a current culture other than their own risks being accused of cultural appropriation. That risk is even greater if the writer belongs to…

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The Truth Inside the Lie – Nathan Elberg

The World is a Wild Place People are different. Not just in appearance, or restaurant preference. Not just in intelligence, but how they apprehend the world. You might say there’s a pencil on a table. A Pacific Islander would say that the table lumps. You might say there are a few pencils on the table. The Islander would say the table lumps severally. You might say that your father’s brother’s children are your cousins, while your male siblings are your brothers. In many societies though, your father’s brother’s children might be just as much your brothers as your male siblings. You might believe in fundamentals, like honesty,…

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Journey to the Land of Misfit Toys (aka Worldcon 2013)

I was unsure about attending my first Worldcon.  Concerns… Cost: My spare funds have been almost completely directed to production costs of Wasteland Renegades (almost ready, promise!), so the timing was bad. Geography: Ucluelet is a long way from anywhere. To get to San Antonio, Texas (on my budget), would take me two full days, including five hours on the bus. THE BUS! *shudders* Aloneness: Due to other work commitments, Josh was unable to attend. And, sure, I’m okay with attending events solo, I tend to make friends with relative ease, but I also know these sorts of events are…

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The State of the (Warped) World – Field Report

I’ll keep this transmission brief as heightened Storm activity is playing hell with the comms. Progress report: Wasteland Renegades Status: Copy editing – complete We’re on the final read-through before the manuscript goes off to be formatted, typeset, and all those other fun things manuscripts have to do before becoming a real book. Our goal is to have Wasteland Renegades live by Sept. 1st. If you’ve subscribed to our newsletter, you will be the first know when it’s ready. For those of you who require proof of our effort, or who are just curious about the glamorous behind-the-scenes life of…

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