Adding Primes to a Story
Thanks to Robin Sloan and his always-interesting newsletter, I discovered an interesting idea about stories: it’s the primes that really matter. The stories that have stayed with us for years (or centuries or millennia) have not stayed with us because every word or every scene is important. There are key elements that are important: a scene, an image, an idea, a certain archetypal character. In other words, these are the prime numbers, the tentpoles for the rest. If the key elements in the story are the prime numbers, then the rest are just regular numbers, and you can move and Read more…
The Legacy of Technology
As I continue to work on Book II of The Lattice Trilogy, I am writing more and more about the legacy of old technology. Writing about “old” technology in 2081 means writing a lot about current times (and the next few decades). But there are so many examples of legacy technology today. We are surrounded by it. We often think of technology as this march of progress, but a better image would be of geologic strata. New technology is layered over older technology, but the old technology doesn’t go away. It’s just not as visible. It’s a much more accurate Read more…
A $0.99 sale on The Lead Cloak!
All this week, ebook editions of The Lead Cloak are on sale for $0.99. If you’ve been putting off buying your copy, this would be a great time to pick it up. Here’s a link to all the online stores carrying the book. A recent blog post about it called it, “One of the best for the new year!” I hope you’ll check it out!
Cover story in the Weekly Volcano!
I knew that The Lead Cloak had been written up in the Volcano … but I hadn’t seen that it was the whole cover until this afternoon. Wow! That looks amazing! Read the article yourself, which is mostly a Q&A about the book and sci-fi, but there is a very cool section at the beginning: This sci-fi novel is a page turner: The year is 2081 and people are living experiences, hearing thoughts and seeing sights through the eyes of others … The book is a phenomenal collection of characters, with no one playing ultimate villain or reigning good Read more…
Four Tacoma Authors Take Publishing Into Their Own Hands
Well, there are actually a lot more than four local authors doing it. But it’s great to see independent publishing getting some coverage as a trend. It’s certainly changed my life–finding readers has been incredibly motivational and my writing has picked up substantially. It’s just hard to believe that if three years ago when I was ready to publish The Saint Go Dying that if I’d spent all the time trying to find an agent, and then an editor, that that book would even be out right now. Let alone another five. That said, I’m not a die-hard about self-publishing. I Read more…
“Staggeringly Smart”
So. The Lead Cloak was reviewed by Kirkus Reviews, and it’s got a humdinger of a review. Most of it is actually a pretty crisp plot synopsis, so don’t click through if you don’t want to read a couple spoilers. But here’s the end of the review: The Lattice is a staggeringly smart example of what sci-fi critics call the “Big Dumb Object,” but Hanberg’s expertly honed storytelling is sleek and fast enough that readers won’t get tripped up in the twists. A solid premise supports this entertaining tale. As you might imagine, I was pretty pleased. “Expertly honed storytelling?” I’ll Read more…
First Week of Sales, Ranked
I have a pretty good running tally of my weekly sales between all my books. I’m sure there are some that I missed here and there, but in terms of trends, it’s pretty helpful. I was interested to see how my first week of The Lead Cloak stacked up to some of my other releases. Here are all six books and their first week of sales, in chronological order. Personally, I was glad to see that The Lead Cloak was better than the rest. I put a lot of work into it! But what did strike me is the falling Read more…
To Title or Not to Title
It’s hard to title a book or a movie. I’ve written hundreds of thousands of words, but it’s usually those first couple of words that are the hardest. Truth be told, I’m still not 100% happy with The Lead Cloak‘s title. It has just the slightest tinge of fantasy, when it’s really a pretty straight sci-fi adventure. One of the most common things people try with titles is to adapt a famous quote or line from the Bible or Shakespeare. Sometimes this can be devastatingly effective. Other times, pointless or pretentious. After seeing numerous titles adapted from Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, Read more…
Top Ten Signs the World of “The Lead Cloak” is Coming True
What will the future be like? Will we wear our computers on our forearm? Will we bid on next week’s weather? Will we have guinea pig for dinner? Here’s the top ten signs to watch for. I’ll revisit this post in a few decades to see how I did. Take it away, Mr. Letterman! (warning, some mild spoilers of the book below) 10. The United States continues to obsess about safety, especially about head injuries. Football is declared illegal. People must wear soft helmets whenever they not in their homes or a place of worship. 9. Southern Italy and Catholicism Read more…
Last Night’s Launch Party
Here’s a few photos from last night’s party at Kings Books. Thanks to everyone who came out to join me for the reading and signing! I had a blast. Photo by Marguerite Giguere Photo by Tasha Church Photo by Mary Holste Photo by Post Defiance Photo by Halley Knigge
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