Author: Dan Harris

Writer of stories that haven't happened yet. 10% Sci, 90% Fi. Author of The Unity Sequence: ASCENSION POINT (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009TCE6G4) & VENUS RISING (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C9PF35G)

REALLIFE, WRITERLIFE and Tom Hiddleston

On By Dan HarrisIn Reading, Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Self-Publishing, Writing2 Comments

Hey, look – I’m really nailing this one-post-every-seven-weeks plan. Keep ’em keen, that’s what I always say.

It’s not, of course. It’s just that WRITERLIFE has been frustratingly derailed by REALLIFE for the last few months. A lot of it’s been good stuff, like moving from Brazil to D.C. and settling into our sweet new apartment, but a fair chunk has been being stupidly busy at the day job. (Which has even been a night job sometimes over the last month. The telecoms software game isn’t all champagne and supermodels, I tells ya.)

But that’s enough of my grumbling. You’re here for superhero movie trailers and sweet, sweet hyperlinkage to stuff wot you should read. Some of you even care about when my next book is going to be out! Thanks to everyone who’s pestered me about that. It’s wonderful that you’re keen to read it, even as I apologetically mumble that no, it’s not going to be this year, but I’m damn sure going to try to get it out before the one-year anniversary of Venus Rising. If I can’t knock out a book a year, then something’s gone wrong. I’m not Fran Lebowitz, here.

So. Let’s get it on.

Continue reading “REALLIFE, WRITERLIFE and Tom Hiddleston” →

I’m Reading Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’ And I Have No Idea What It’s About

On By Dan HarrisIn Random, Reading, Sci-Fi and Fantasy2 Comments

Yet, I should say. Grabbed you with that controversial headline, though, didn’t I? Hopefully some of King’s many fans rushed here to defend his work in my comments section. (Hi!)

But no–I’m talking about the rare and happy occurrence of starting to read, watch or otherwise consume a book, movie, TV show or other art with absolutely no idea of what the story is about. Because how often does that happen these days?

I’ve heard of The Stand, obviously. I know some people think it’s King’s best book, and that others insist it’s overwrought, overblown, and in need of a good editor. I know that my mum started watching the TV adaptation some years back and gave up a few episodes in.

And that’s all I knew when I saw a copy on the shelf of the second-hand bookstore two blocks away from the new apartment in Washington, D.C. into which Mrs. Dan and I recently moved, priced at what seemed like a bargain $3.00. (The book, not the apartment. They run a little dearer than that.)

“Stephen King for three dollars? And it’s a thick one,” thought I. Thumbed it open. “Small print, too. This’ll keep me going for a while.” Closed the book again, looked at the cover. ‘The Complete and Uncut Edition’, it says, and the brief foreword promised 150,000 words, or 500 pages, more story than the already lengthy version that was originally published.

No blurb on the back cover, no clue to the story. Just a black and white photo of an unsmiling King from twenty-odd years ago. And on the cover, a figure on horseback wielding a scythe.

“Well, people are going to die in it, I can tell that much.” And I paid my money, and I took my new book home.

It doesn’t actually matter what The Stand is about, and I won’t risk robbing anyone of the same experience I’ve had by describing it. But it did make me think a little about what we’ve lost in this age of constant, immediate, instantaneous media. We’re flooded with trailers, reviews, articles and blogs, each movie studio or television network desperate to shove their product in front of our eyeballs, and a million other internet denizens waiting to pronounce it good, or bad, or simply broadcast that it exists.

God forbid if you haven’t seen the latest episode of Breaking Bad because you’re planning to watch it later. You’d better stay off the internet until you do. (And just to be on the safe side, don’t go to work either.)

We buy books and movies because we read reviews, and plot teasers, and friends tell us “Dude, you have to watch My New Favourite Show. It’s about this geography teacher from Arizona who has Alzheimer’s but becomes a Mafia don in New Jersey before faking his own death and joining the Baltimore police force. It’s fantastic. Netflix it. I’m on season eight.”

I loved The Avengers. And I’m already pretty damn excited about the sequel. So far all I know is it’s coming out in May 2015, and someone or something called Ultron is in it, but I’m sketchy enough on my Avengers canon that I don’t know what that is. But I guarantee that by late April 2015, I’ll know exactly who stars in the movie, who all the new characters are, what Ultron is, and will have seen four different trailers containing 90% of the best scenes from the film. Because I’m weak, and I won’t be able to help myself.

But wouldn’t it be nice, just once, to not have those teasers, those tasters, the constant little dribbles of information that leak out and draw us in? To go back to finding out about a film by seeing a poster for it on the side of a bus stop two weeks before it came out? Or discovering a great new TV show by flicking through channels one night and being gripped by a great scene? Or discovering a new book not by browsing a list of what customers who bought that item also bought, but by wandering into a second-hand bookshop that you didn’t even know was there and just picking one up off the shelf?

You can still do that last one, at least. And you should, I highly recommend it. Because, you see, The Stand is about–

Riddick. Riddick! RIDDIIIIIIICK!

On By Dan HarrisIn Sci-Fi and Fantasy5 Comments

Riddick‘s out now. Grantland posted a wonderful primer on the series, the character, and one Mr. V. Diesel, which is well worth a read.

I love Pitch Black. It’s one of my favourite SF films of all time. Partly because of the minimal ensemble cast of almost unknown actors, partly the stark harshness (harsh starkness?) of the desert and the contrast between blazing day and total night, and partly the grungy lo-fi, low-budget vibe.

But mainly because: Riddick. Intergalactic badass with surgically shined eyes, the wits and moves of an alpha predator, and not a single sleeved shirt.

“Hello, ladies. You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?”

Then four years later came Chronicles of Riddick, a sequel with the kind of grandiose title that made me immediately worried it was going to be a completely different kind of movie. And it was, and it was objectively pretty bad – incomprehensible plot, lots of Royal Shakespeare Company-trained actors hamming it up massively, including Judi Dench (!) – but I still enjoyed it.

Because, you know – Riddick. Who (spoiler alert for a nine year old film!) ended up being emperor of the galaxy! Somehow. Maybe? I’m still not clear. He’s king of the Necromongers, at least! (Ugh.)

The closest we’ll ever get to seeing Khal Drogo on the Iron Throne, basically.

And now, those nine years later, Riddick’s back, and this time – judging by the eponymous titling of the film – it’s personal. I’m trying to avoid reading too much about the movie so I don’t spoiler myself, but I do know he’s not the king of anybody anymore. And the brief synopsis on IMDB sounds remarkably familiar:

Left for dead on a sun-scorched planet, Riddick finds himself up against an alien race of predators.

Pitch Black 2, ladies and gentlemen! I can’t wait.

“The 7 Most Common Misconceptions About Science Fiction Publishing” from io9

On By Dan HarrisIn Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Self-Publishing, WritingLeave a comment

Worth a read for any writers aspiring to be published by Tor, Orbit et al. Prepare to have your illusions shattered! (Maybe.)

2) When you’ve published a book, you’re immediately a famous author

Often it seems as though people believe that “as soon as you’ve had a book published you’ve made it somehow,” says Jonathan Oliver with Solaris Publishing. In reality, “it can take a long time to build up a profile as a writer and, unless you’re immensely lucky, your first published novel isn’t immediately going to shoot you into stardom and untold wealth. You don’t just write a book and rest on your laurels. You build up a reputation one book at a time.”

Yup, much like being a recovering alcoholic, becoming a famous author is a long process. Full piece here.

I’m Baaaaaaack

On By Dan HarrisIn Random, Reading, Sci-Fi and Fantasy, WritingLeave a comment

[Silence. After a few moments, footsteps are heard. Faintly at first, but then louder as they approach. A man appears from stage left. His stride stutters for a moment as he glances toward the darkened auditorium, but he gathers himself and steps confidently to the microphone.]

*cough*

[He taps the microphone twice. Feedback whines through the auditorium’s speaker system, and the man winces. He moistens his lips and peers out at the shadowed space where the audience might be.]

“So. I’ve… been away for a while.”

Silence.

“I don’t know if anybody’s out there, but… well. Let’s just pick up where we left off, shall we?”

Continue reading “I’m Baaaaaaack” →

USA! USA! And So On, And So Forth

On By Dan HarrisIn Writing2 Comments

“So where have you been, Dan? You haven’t blogged in a couple of weeks, and Ascension Point hasn’t been on sale for aaaaaaaaages.”

Didn’t you hear? I was moving to the US.

That’s right–after three years in sunny, rainy, brilliant and baffling Brazil, Mrs. Dan and I have relocated to the land of the free and the home of the restaurant portion that’s 50% larger than it really needs to be. We’re in Brooklyn, NY for a few weeks before we head off to our new long term home, the nation’s capital: Washington, West Virginia.

Hang on, that doesn’t look right. It’s the other one, isn’t it?

So–give me another couple of weeks to get settled in, and normal service will resume. I’ll finally crack on with the next installment of The Unity Sequence, tentatively titled Causal Nexus. The first five chapters have been done for ages, and the outline’s there. Just need to get my head down and write the bloody thing.

Oh, and I can get back to my regular schedule of reposting io9 articles. I know how much you all like those.

Later, folks.

More Profane, Wonderful Advice from Mr. Chuck Wendig

On By Dan HarrisIn Self-Publishing, WritingLeave a comment

I’m back from vacation, sporting a charming ‘tan’ in my classic shade, which I like to call ‘subtle lobster’. While catching up on what I’d missed from my usual writing and publishing blogs, I came across this gem from Chuck Wendig, ‘50 RANTYPANTS SNIDBITS OF RANDOM WRITING & STORYTELLING ADVICE‘.

1. SNAP YOUR TRAP AND WRITE SOME SHIT

Stop talking about writing. Stop reading about writing. Stop dreaming about writing. Stop doing things that don’t qualify as writing. The thing that defines a writer is that the writer writes.

14. YOU’RE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY

If you’re not writing, that’s your fault. It’s not anybody else’s. It’s not your wife’s fault. Not your Mom’s fault. Not your kid’s fault. It isn’t because of a job, or Big Six publishing, or Amazon, or a Muse, or Writer’s Block. You might as well blame a Yeti (who acted in collusion with a cabal of randy leprechauns). It’s all on you. Accept responsibility. Stop complaining. Fix your shit.

29. SLOW YOUR ROLL, SPEEDY MCGEE

Embody patience. The worst thing you can do for your story is pull it out of the oven before it’s done cooking. Don’t quit early. Don’t publish thirty seconds after you typed the last word. Don’t query a stinker. Stories — like wine, brisket, romance and bondage games — need time.

Writer types: Go read the other forty-seven.