Are you stuck in a rut? Do you want to become a writer but are too afraid of quitting your day job? Over on the Lateral Action blog, Brian Clark gives us Tyler Durden’s 8 Rules of Innovation:

They say life is what happens while you’re making other plans. Innovation is what happens when you recognize when to change the plan and perhaps the entire game. Maybe your initial plan falls apart, or maybe you simply need to throw the current plan away… Be what you’d like to be, and do what you’d like to do… it really is that simple. Having the courage to just run with it is the difference between a fulfilling life and a life full of regret.

Gary Reynolds of Concept Sci-fi interviewed me recently regarding my forthcoming novel, Silversands. We discussed the process of novel writing, the lessons I learned from writing mine, and the possibility that books will become shorter in the future to better compete with other forms of entertainment.

The full interview is now online here.

I’m currently co-writing a short story with another Interzone author – and after a few weeks of work-related hassles, it feels good to be writing fiction again.

AZTEC JAGUARS FALLING
By Gareth L Powell

It’s nearly time, and they’re in a small plane, flying over the Mediterranean, fleeing the coming catastrophe. The radio’s quiet tonight; hardly any traffic. The clouds overhead reflect the day’s heat.

“How much longer?” she says.

He looks at his watch: “A few minutes.”

They’re both quite drunk. They’ve been drinking ever since the announcement, two days ago. God knows how he’s got the concentration to navigate up here, in the dark.

Folding her arms, she turns to look out the window at the coast of Spain. It’s a ribbon of yellow light.

“Do you think it’s going to hurt?” she says over the noise of the propeller.

He doesn’t answer. She can see his face reflected in the window, illuminated by the dials on the dashboard. She can see the sweat on his forehead; smell the cabin’s mixed scents of engine oil, fear, and hot plastic.

Neither of them sees the impact – they’re facing the wrong way when the comet hits – but the shockwave catches them about a mile off the coast of Barcelona, and they have to ditch in the sea. It’s midnight. The plane flips onto its back as it hits the water, and the tail breaks off.

According to space.com, scientists now believe that massive objects outside our universe are drawing clusters of galaxies toward themselves in a process they’ve dubbed “Dark Flow”:

Patches of matter in the universe seem to be moving at very high speeds and in a uniform direction that can’t be explained by any of the known gravitational forces in the observable universe. Astronomers are calling the phenomenon “dark flow.”

Recently, there have been a number of calls for more optimism in science fiction. Way back in January, Jetse de Vries laid down a challenge to the readers of Focus, the BSFA’s magazine for writers, to come up with stories that showed a convincing, progressive future -

Write an ambitious story about how the future changes for the better: one that is convincing, as well. As realistic and plausible as you can get it... Let it be grounded in the real, but a real that is more than just nihilistic, cynic, diffident, or disinterested. The progress can be incredibly hardfought, the progress can be met with all possible resistance, have setbacks, and all. But in the end, let there be some kind of progress.

Shortly afterwards, Jason Stoddard wrote:

Where we live is getting strange. But this doesn’t mean it’s a dystopia, or that we’ll be bowing to evil corporate overlords whose only mission statement is to rape the planet, or that we’ll have mind control installed against our will, or that we’ll all die because of climate change or slowing economic growth or whatever the cause du jour is. So why can’t we be strange–and happy?.

And:

…strange and happy does not mean looking forward to the boundless and perfect frontiers of a science-saturated future. It can easily encompass cynicism, hard realities, difficult sacrifices, ugly worlds, and many other hard, gritty scenarios… Because, even as we stumble forward along largely self-centered paths, there is the potential for greatness. And that makes me happy.

And today, over at the Guardian book blog, Damien G Walter also wants to move away from the gloominess that characterises much modern science fiction:

The challenge for writers of science fiction today is not to repeat the same dire warnings we have all already heard, or to replicate the naive visions of the genre’s golden age, but to create visions of the future people can believe in.

All of which makes me think of Ian M Bank’s “Culture” novels – gritty, visceral stories told against the backdrop of a vastly powerful utopia, where every citizen has the right to live exactly as he or she pleases, with no need of posessions or personal wealth.

I’ve written my own share of dystopias in the past – and will probably write a fair few in the future too. But this call for optimism has struck a chord with me, and I think it’s time we found a new balance in science fiction, between dystopias and utopias – a way to write involving, character-driven stories set against realistic, rigorously extrapolated futures that are as complex and varied as our present day – stories that show hope among the ruins, progress in the face of adversity.

After all, it’s all very well scaring people, but sometimes, you also have to inspire them.

Today’s been a busy day. I wrote a press ad for a new client (a local restaurant chain) and they liked it. The ad will shortly be appearing in a number of local magazines. I also answered some quesitons and supplied a profile of myself for a forthcoming interview with Concept Sci-Fi - which I believe will be published in a week or so (keep watching the site). After that, I caught up on some admin and even found the time to finish reading “Blindsight” by Peter Watts – which is an excellent book for anyone interested in psychology, the senses and what it means to be self aware.

Of course, I still have a pile of further things to do – including stories for two forthcoming anthologies, the opening chapters of two new novels, and a half-written collaboration with another Interzone author. Not to mention finding clients, earning money, etc…

My favourite lines from the review were:

Now, fifteen of Powell’s stories have been brought together in The Last Reef, giving readers the opportunity for a sustained voyage through a surprisingly diverse range of imaginative and entrancing worlds.

And:

Without question, what all the stories definitely do have in common is a memorable quality – you’ll be thinking about them for a long time afterwards. These are stories that engage both the heart and the brain… Elastic Press has performed a public service in collecting them together.

Today was my last day working for Agresso. After nine years and two months with the company, I was sad to say goodbye. But also excited, because now I’ll be able to give my full concentration to copywriting and fiction, which is what I really want to be doing.

To quote Talking Heads:

Think about this little scene /Apply it to your life / If your work isn’t what you love / Something isn’t right

I have a client briefing scheduled for Monday lunchtime. Please see the “Copywriting” tab above for more information on my services and experience.

As a special welcome to this new website, I have a pdf file of the first two chapters of my forthcoming novel, SILVERSANDS for you to read. The file’s taken from the Pendragon Press giveaway mentioned in the post below and will give you a taste of what to expect when the full novel’s released in April. If you aren’t attending Fantasycon and you’d like me to email you a copy get in touch via the “Contact” tab.