Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Did a panel at HBU this weekend...

The topic of the panel was “Realism in Science Fiction” and I was supposed to keep us on topic talking about the research that we do to keep our sci-fi grounded. To my credit, I only got side-tracked by the subject of dystopia for like ten minutes, and that’s because D.L. Young was there and he’s specifically a dystopian writer, and the subject of author responsibility to society had already been broached (by me).

Which reminds me I should work on the dystopia blog series I was doing. But while I’m here, allow me to offer the following seemingly arbitrary observations from the panel:

  • All of the authors felt that researching science was extremely important, but that it’s possible to lose yourself in research and never proceed with the work. Two of the four of us shared anecdotes in which deferring to the expertise of a professional made our own attempts at research look kind of sad.
  • We did not feel like we had any responsibility to be 100% correct all the time, mostly because this is impossible. However, we do feel responsible to be as correct as we can, especially if the science is the crux of a story.
  • Social, political and economic sciences are science, too, and people should research and write stories about these things.
  • We all felt that science fiction should be educational and inspirational, but of the four of us, only E.L.Russell was able to say he’d written stories specifically for the purpose of raising awareness of the possibility of the science in his story. He felt strongly about this.
  • I was able to direct challenging questions toward D.L. Young and E.L. Russell, but C. Stuart Hardwick evaded me and I’ll try harder next time.
  • Apparently none of us like first names.
  • HBU runs an awesome event and I think they’re going to be putting video of this panel on Youtube at some point, so hopefully I’ll be able to share that some time.

My next appearance on any panel is going to be at Houston’s Comicpalooza, where I’ll be doing some panels directed at writers and some panels directed at readers. I’d encourage everyone to come and say hello, either at a panel or at one of the tables on the dealer floor (I’ll be bouncing between the SkipJack table and the Houston Writers Guild table).

Friday, April 10, 2015

Announcing a new book: Atargatis

This one has been a long time coming. I haven't released a new book since my debut novella, Absolute Tenacity, in January of last year. Atargatis has been a manuscript since well before then, the idea maturing over time and going through several phases of rewrites. About six months ago the final thematic piece of the story clicked into place in my head and triggered massive rewrites. I'm pleased to announce that I'll be releasing Atargatis on April 20th, in just ten days.



A Goddess stirs in the deep...
The underwater city of Atargatis is the only bastion of the last humans, a genderless population of nearly identical clones. They share their ocean world with a sea-faring species, the Scorps, who have prophecied human extinction. As the day of that prophecy nears, Atargatis fearfully blocks the Scorp pilgrimage to their goddess in the deep ocean.
The Scorps' only advocate among the humans, Senator Edessa, is convinced that the Scorps' true intention is to save humanity from the prophecy. But when Edessa's last ally is assassinated in a coup by his nemesis, all political pretense falls away and Edessa is no longer safe in Atargatis.

Watch for the ebook on sale starting April 20th, and print not far behind! For now, find it on Goodreads.

Friday, April 3, 2015

Absolute Tenacity in print

More than a year after its publication, my debut novella is in print on Amazon. If you want to grab a signed copy, I'll be at the Houston Baptist University writer's conference next weekend. Or, if a university writer's con isn't really your thing (it's my thing, but I don't judge) you can always try and win one of three signed copies available in the Goodreads giveaway I'm trying to get started.




Goodreads Book Giveaway

Absolute Tenacity by K.J. Russell

Absolute Tenacity

by K.J. Russell

Giveaway ends April 12, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win

Another great time to find me is at Comicpalooza in May, where I'll have not only copies of Tides of Possibility and Absolute Tenacity, but also Tides of Impossibility and two new books. What two new books? A new novella and my first full-length novel. Those are going to get their own full announcements this week, though.