Science fiction author and technology blogger.
New writers (and even experienced ones) sometimes stare at a blank page or empty text window waiting for inspiration to strike. Many techniques exist to help overcome writers’ block. Today, I’m using something called a writing prompt. According to ThoughtCo.com, a “writing prompt is a brief passage of text (or sometimes an image) that provides … Read more
How could Sal Konstanz take command of an interstellar warship named Trouble Dog and expect anything less than trouble? Trouble is exactly what she gets in this fun, witty, and intelligent space opera from Gareth L. Powell. Title: Embers of War Author: Gareth L. Powell Publisher: Titan Books, 2018 Audiobook: Blackstone Publishing, 2018 Reading time: … Read more
After retiring from the software industry, I decided to boot a second career as a creative writer. This didn’t seem that difficult. I had extensive technical writing experience, and I took college-level creative writing classes while at University of Michigan. How hard could it be? Turns out, I’ve forgotten everything I’ve learned about writing stories … Read more
The more I read young adult (YA) fiction, the more I like it. I was floored by Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel after reading it a couple years ago, a poignant story about a band of traveling performers in a post-pandemic world. Equally compelling, two teenagers with cancer search for the author of … Read more
Hello. Let’s establish a secure connection using AF protocol. Here is my data. It’s July 2144. Judith “Jack” Chen operates beneath the law, running pirated drugs across the navigable Arctic Ocean. She’s a futuristic Robin Hood, delivering affordable copies of expensive patented drugs to people in need. Title: Autonomous Author: Annalee Newitz Publisher: Tor Books, … Read more
In June 1982, Steven Spielberg’s film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was drawing record crowds in theaters, and I was in college studying computer science, punk rock, and cynicism. Disillusioned by some previous big box office hits that failed to live up to their hype, I declared E.T. couldn’t possibly be as good as everyone claimed. I … Read more
After extensive thought and consideration of my inaugural blog, I’ve decided to describe how I set up this website. I know. Bore me to death! Okay, here we go. I went with WordPress. I did not, however, use wordpress.com. With paulmartz.com already hosted on my Debian 7 Linux system, installing WordPress locally made more sense … Read more