So back at World Fantasy in San Jose, I picked up a bookmark for a science fiction club in the Washington DC area, WSFA. I figured that since I was headed out there, I should check it out. Last night, I went to my first meeting. Getting there was quite an adventure. The meeting was… Continue reading “This is my culture; this is my community”
Author: Joe Vasicek
Joe Vasicek is the author of more than twenty science fiction books, including the Star Wanderers and Sons of the Starfarers series. As a young man, he studied Arabic and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus. He claims Utah as his home.
Got a bite!
Just yesterday, I got a response to a query for Genesis Earth that I emailed to an agent at Nelson Literary Agency, LLC. Apparently, my query piqued their interest and they wanted to see the first 30 pages of my manuscript! It’s not a huge development, of course–they haven’t requested the full, just a partial–but… Continue reading Got a bite!
Snowmageddon! Hooray!
So for the past week, a series of crazy snowstorms has been pelting the Mid-Atlantic. President Obama has dubbed it “snowmageddon,” and it’s so bad that all federal government offices have been closed since Friday. With another storm hitting us tonight, it looks like we’re going to have the whole week off! Yay!!! So, for the… Continue reading Snowmageddon! Hooray!
Thoughts on writing characters
A couple months ago, I was listening to one of my personal recordings of Brandon Sanderson’s English 318 lectures from last year’s class. The topic was writing characters. Brandon outlined several techniques for making characters sympathetic. He also outlined how to round them out: give them flaws and handicaps, as well as little quirks to… Continue reading Thoughts on writing characters
Quest for Lost Heroes by David Gemmell
It has been forever since I read this book. Still, I really should review it. Here goes. At Bel-Azar, four friends held out against hopeless odds, only to be spared by the Nadir Khan. Known by the Nadir as the “ghosts yet to be,” they enjoyed the fame of heroes for a time, but now… Continue reading Quest for Lost Heroes by David Gemmell
It’s full of stars!
I have a confession to make… I should have been writing these past three hours. I really should have been writing. But a couple of days ago, I downloaded this awesome program called Celestia. And when I say awesome, I mean awesome! Imagine Google Earth. Now, imagine Google Earth…for the Universe. I told you it… Continue reading It’s full of stars!
Quick worldbuilding question
For To Search the Starry Sea, I’m writing from the point of view of a far future starfaring culture completely independent of Earth. They’ve preserved our concepts of “hour,” “day,” and “year,” but these units of time do not correlate in any way with the revolutions of the worlds on which they live (basically, a… Continue reading Quick worldbuilding question
Career chat at high tea
So my Turkish supervisor at WINEP took us new interns (all four of us) out to the Mayflower hotel last week for high tea, where we talked about how things have been going for us at the institute so far. It was interesting–the first time this Mormon boy has been out to tea, particularly in… Continue reading Career chat at high tea
Falling in love: does it actually happen?
I like to tell people that I don’t believe in the concept of “falling in love”–that true love isn’t something you fall into, it’s something you grow into. The thing you fall into is called “infatuation,” which by itself doesn’t last long. It’s happened to me many times, and look at how single I am.… Continue reading Falling in love: does it actually happen?
Stuck in a scene
I’ve been stuck in the same scene the whole week, and I really wish I could get it over with so that I could move on to other stuff. What that other stuff is, exactly, I don’t know, but I’m eager to find out. I don’t plan things out much when I write. Usually, when… Continue reading Stuck in a scene