When Refugee Colonizers Go Astray, What Must They Do to Survive

Polymath by John Brunner is one of those hidden ScFi classics from back in the day when there was much controversy about calling Science Fiction ScFi. The book, written in 1974,  also illustrates the optimistic viewpoint about democracy: people could rule themselves when guided by wise men. [Of course, the wise men still needed sharp, with-it women as mates.] 

We won't ever talk about how space exploration has been retarded by political decisions. 

But yeah, the social aspects of the book seem dated--almost fifty years later--but Polymath still gives the reader a quick moving, engrossing tale where one cheers for the good guys.

As a writer, I couldn't help feeling envious. Today, Polymath would be considered a novella.  [Both my books are twice that long.] Today, it ends at where the false conclusion starts.  Yeah, there's no hint that the human vermin are destroying the ecology of the planet. The reader is left to assume that things will be done wisely, according to the Americal Way. [The reader must remember that the AW was not so explotive and predatory back then.]

Settling an alien planet is a common theme in Science Fiction.  The problem in Polymath happens when the colonizers land in the wrong place, far off the established space lanes. Two different space ship landings offer two possible solutions to the dilemma. Granted the AW wins, but Brunner gives the reader a suspenseful ride. I would have liked to have read Brunner's take  on what happened after the  steering rules were set up.

The characters made the book for me. All were multi-dimensional, especially the main character, Lex, a polymath being trainned to organize newly settled planets. But, the villians have more than one trait, too, as well as providing some comic relief.

You can read a sample and more reviews on

Amazon        Nook        kobo/Rakuten

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Other Interesting Reading

Writer, Writer, how does your garden grow? Oh. You write. Here's an interesting take on editing your manuscripts by Kristen Lamb: The Dangers of Premature Editing.Pruning Our Stories vs Pillaging Them. You might want to take a look.

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My Writing Rut

Still doing content edits of On the Run. Here's Pillar's reaction to the demon battle at the end:

"A scattering of drips splashed against Pillar’s face from the trees overhead. Without knowing it, she had stepped back into their shelter after the explosion of light. Ears ringing and muscles trembling, Pillar blinked, but the world was slow to come in focus. Everything had gone silent. Pillar coughed to clear her lungs as she fought to return to the world. Lefferson’s books had hinted that power could explode rather than just light fires, but she hadn’t taken the notebooks seriously."

Memories, bad and good, Can Propel Your Story

One of my joys this last Christmas was a copy of E. C. Tubb's last Dumarest book, Child of Earth. My son searched high and low for the last two [missing from my book shelves] only to find that the next to the last one was totally expensive. He couldn't find a "cheapie", and I told him to give up. I'm satisfied to know how Tubb depicted parts of earth once Dumarest finally arrived after some 33 books.

I started out liking the books because they were an interesting, easy to follow books after I was exhausted chasing kids. I've continued to re-read them over the years because they are well written and filled with action, however unbelievable.

The more important fact I learned:

Tubb has become something of a cult figure.

That isn't surprising to me because Dumarest is a space opera version of Jack Reacher, a good guy who's always one step ahead of the bad guys. The chase is always depicted in fast paced action scenes with interesting characters and villains. 

People still collect Tubb's books even though he's an obscure British writer who published Dumarest novels between 1967 and 2008. It's sort of weird that the long line of books on my bottom shelf are collector's items, almost a complete set except for the super-expensive next to the end book.

Child of Earth isn't a novel in the usual sense of the word. More of a novella padded with memories of important past events mentioned in the series. None of the solving a big problem after several adventures. The book is more of an escape story--without any of the imaginative world creation. Just a bleak, killing snowy environment and a limited number of characters. A nice read. But a novel, no. More of a guilty pleasure for Tubb fans.

If you want to learn more about E. C. Tubb's Dumerast, check out Amazon. Some of the reviews are really interesting, and I learned a lot. Since he died in 2010, it was surprising to see how many of Tubb's Dumarest books are ebooks and still being sold.

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Other Interesting Reading

It's the time of year when "my best ten books" lists sprout like leaves, in spite of the snow. Somehow, I doubt if many self-published books appear on them. Not many traditionally published books do, either. The Passive Guy has an interest take on publishing and books, arguing that there are way too many books being published. You might find it interesting, too.

Found another interesting blog about writing and New Year's Resolutions: Pat Stoltey's Blood Red Pencil blog about Colleen M. Story’s
 Overwhelmed Writer Rescue: Boost Productivity, Improve Time Management, and Replenish the Creator Within, There's a lot in the book that applies to everyone, not only writers.

Stoltey comments: The author also tells us a little flexibility and a lot of grit are the writer’s best tools for pulling us out of the quicksand and getting our feet on solid writing ground. I think the advice applies to everyone. Not giving up is one of the keys.

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My Writing Rut

Was going to get back into writing new stuff this month. *pause while looking sheepish* But had a problem. I was trying to write Rendezvous with Demons which is a continuation of On the Run. Only I couldn't remember details from the manuscript. So, I'm editing it again. I was only going to skim it, but I found lots of typos and passive "to-be" forms. 

Think it's a good idea. My copy editor charges by the hour so I get a double benefit. I refresh my memory and I save myself some money. A nice way to start the new year, all in all.

Ka Pow! Time to Get Some Thrilling Comic Book Action

    Picked up William C. Dietz's Redzone: The Mutant Files off the to-read pile and rocketed off to the days of yester-year when my reading was confined to comic books -- because my teachers had convinced me I couldn't read.  Don't know why the book was there. It's not the kind of book I usually read. But, if you want a thriller filled with action, the book won't disappoint.

   Redzone isn't just another dystopian novel, set after a bioterrorist killed off most of humanity and turned a sizable portion of the survivors into despised mutants. Political boundaries have realigned with Pacifica, along the west coast of the US, for normal people. Nevada-Utah-Arizona has become a land controlled by mutants. Casandra Lee, a detective with the Los Angeles police, travels into the redzone where mutants are in control to seek her missing mother. That the story does this in the middle of a serial murder investigation feels weird, but Lee lands in an assassins sights, which ups the action. Thrills are the goal here, not logic, I guess.

   Casandra Lee isn't the usual dysfunctional detective with a drinking problem. She tends to kill suspects at a faster rate than normal, but then, she is attacked more often than most cops. Lee's the target of two would-be assassins, the group of mutants, who follow her back to LA from Nevada, and the Bonebreaker, the serial cop killer the department had mobilized to capture. Yeah, for the record, Lee will be is next victim, but that villain doesn't seem to be in any hurry.

   Character development isn't the strongest point in action thrillers. Yet most of Dieitz's characters come across as people rather than space-fillers. Lee is a sassy, kick-ass, intelligent protagonist with a temper that gets her into trouble as often as not. Sounds like a cliche, but I didn't think so while I was reading. The support characters were believable, too, if standard, including a love interest.

   The medical basis of the plague that created the mutants bothered me a bit. Didn't feel like Dietz incorporated medical knowledge about airborne diseases in his characters' interactions with the wider, might-be-carrying public. Hints were made, but nothing was consistent...or meaningful. Since his world resulted from a virulent contagion that changed genetic material, I felt in need of a bit more explanation. But since I didn't really think about it until after I completed the book, no points off. 

  The book met my "one more chapter" test so I'll recommend it even though the plot line is a little fractured. Dietz creates a believable dystopian world as well as an investigative cop procedural, at least for someone relatively unknowledgeable about police procedures -- like me.

Read excerpt and more reviews at Amazon and B&N Nook.

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Interesting Links

   Found this article at the Savvy Book Writers blog -- Nothing New in e-Book Price Wars -- very interesting. You might want to take a look at it, reader or writer.

   Accepting the dangerous reputation of the Fair Folk from folklore, I have never been a particular fan of Tinker Bell. Imagine my delight when I found Sylvia Spruck Wrigley's blog on Five Reasons Not To Piss Off the Fair Folk. By the end of the blog, I was thinking what a wonderfully funny novel this premise would make. -- No. I won't be writing it. Not only do I have too much in my files already, but I don't write funny.

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My Writing Rut

   The first demon attack in On the Run is finished and ready for revision...sometime, when I get an
ending onto the book. But the "Nate" chapters that started my novella back last spring are ready to be worked on. Have about 7,000 words and a couple empty chapters.

Am wondering why this would ever be a novella.

   Spent a lot of time this week organizing my writing files for On the Run and pulled out a page full of suggestions for my transition chapter for when Pillar is kicked out of the Academy. Yeah, she's going to be on the roam again, but gotta make it different this time around. Grylerrque is still waiting in the wings too.

   Now, I need to clean up debris ... or should I say, I'm placing ideas from the pile of sticky notes around my computer in the appropriate chapters. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll start the transition chapter to the next and last part of the book.

   Then, I need to pay some attention to my website again. Which means I have to get on the phone with Go Daddy. Ugh.

Time and Exposure, the Bane of a Writer's Life

Time and Exposure:

The Bane of a Writer's Life 

by Grahman J. Wood

   Speak to any writer and they will avalanche you with a whole range of fears linked to their writing. For me I have two. Time and Exposure.

   Firstly, let me take “Time”. Time is limited and a writer needs time to formulate, express and amend their story. To accomplish this in the time between your day job that pays for the roof over your families head and the food to keep you going, the demands of supporting an energetic family and keeping your social life higher than a sea whelk (no disrespect to all sea whelks as I am sure most have an adequate social life), you need to be:

1. Insanely workaholic
2. Massively egotistically
3. Just plain crazy

   Now I am No.1 but people have said there is an essence of 2 and 3 in there! The problem with time is that you can’t recreate it and go back (though wouldn’t that be great?). Once used its gone and the demands in life don’t ease up. As a writer you are always conscious of time running out – to write the next chapter before dropping your son off or mowing the garden, for submitting to editors to meet deadlines, to attend publicity calls or send in blogs for interviews…the list is endless. If I could control anything then time would be my thing…

   Then we look at “Exposure”. Once that lovingly crafted piece of writing is out there you are open to all sorts of reaction. You become obsessed by kindle ratings, comments on blogs etc. To survive the slings and arrows you build elaborate pre-reaction statements like ‘Well I was really busy’ or ‘Hey, I was never looking to win the Booker Prize’…however you forget that most people are genuinely very fair and when the nice comments come in your arguments fade away. I have also found a readiness for others to compare or link the author to their writing ie the author is defined as a person by their writing. I have lost count of how many people take my science fiction stories for ZEIN and apply it to me. For the last time I do not have hidden magical capabilities and no I have no plans to save the Earth (though see No.2 above which may kick in).

   Exposure to ridicule, criticism and comment is the weight any writer has to carry. This is more than offset by compliments, astonishment that you have the determination to write a novel and the satisfaction of finally crossing one off your bucket list. For me it is a necessary evil and one I would gladly face as I just simply love to dive into my imagination and share my stories with whoever wants to take that journey.

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Author Bio

   Graham Wood was born and raised in Manchester and today lives in Timperley, Altrincham. He works freelance, coordinating large global outsourcing contracts. Zein: The Homecoming by Graham Wood (published by Clink Street Publishing 7th July 2015 RRP £8.99, eBook £4.99) is available online at retailers including Amazon.co.uk and can be ordered from all good bookstores. Royalties from the Zein series are donated to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House after they were instrumental in helping Wood’s family. For more information, please visit: www.grahamjwood.com.  

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Blurb: Zein: the Homecoming

    With Zylar defeated and on the run, newly appointed Lord Chancellor Kabel Blackstone leads a joint human and Zeinonian force in his search for his home planet, Zein. On Zein, Tate Malacca defends the survivors in the last remaining safe haven from the attacks of the vicious Pod hordes, who are intent on killing them all. As Tyson's powers in the magics grow more unstable... who can control or guide him; hopes may lie with the enigmatic Changeling, Zebulon. On Earth, the mysterious Cabal spreads its influence and network, with the ultimate aim of controlling the production of the all-powerful zinithium. Zylar waits for his opportunity for revenge, breeding his master race and building a new Ilsid army to crush the Blackstone brothers once and for all. Facing incredible odds Kabel, Tyson and their friends have to conquer their own fears and temptations to fight for not just each other but the millions who face certain death if they fail.

Find links to Zein: The Homecoming on
 Amazon UK, Amazon US, and Nook.