I participated in an Afternoon with Authors event today at the Leaves Bakery & Books store in Fort Worth, Texas.
From left to right in the photo are Megan Dawn, Fabiana Elisa Martínez, Amanda Russell, and me. I learned a lot from listening to them discuss the writing process. Each of us, of course, does things in a different way.
We discussed our individual writing rituals, the reason we started writing, our writing influences, our preference for outlining or free discovery, the reasons humans like stories, and the ways we hope our stories affect our readers.
Each of us read some of our work. I read the beginning of my short story “Its Tender Metal Hand” from the new anthology Spring into Scifi (2025 Edition) by Cloaked Press.
I wish to thank, not only those fellow authors, but also the staff at Leaves Bakery & Books, and those who attended the event.
Announcement
My next book, The Seastead Chronicles, is scheduled to launch on May 17. Stay tuned to this blog for further details from—
At its essence, a story consists of a character and at least one event, but usually a series of connected events. The character might be you, someone you know, someone you’ve heard of, some animal, or some other non-human creature.
Born Storytellers
Since the development of verbal language, our species has told stories. Our prehistoric ancestors likely related tales of hunting game, of gathering plant food, of having babies and raising children, of combat, and of death. They spun these stories by firelight in caves and painted the tales on cave walls.
Today, much of our everyday speech takes the form of stories. “I had a good day at work.” Character and event. As children, our earliest sentences formed stories. “Mommy, I’m hungry.”
You may not think of these humdrum, trivial utterances as stories, but they meet the definition. In fact, you could count every day as National Tell a Story Day.
Methods
Face-to-face verbal communication still serves as the most common way to tell stories. We’ve invented countless others over the millennia, including cave paintings, etched tablets, inked scrolls, books, magazines, comic books, audiobooks, video games, podcasts, e-books, and more.
Interesting Stories
Though you can classify most of what we say, and most emails we write, as stories, the majority of those don’t intrigue us beyond the transient purpose of conveying information. To qualify as interesting, a story needs to satisfy more criteria:
Problem. The main character (MC) needs a problem to solve.
Attraction. Something about the MC must cause readers or listeners to identify with and care about the character.
Antagonist. The MC must struggle against an opposing force, which could be another character.
Setting. The story should convey a sense of place, and that location should be described well enough for readers or listeners to imagine themselves there.
Plot. More than a series of events, a plot orders the events such that the MC strives and fails again and again, with the stakes rising each time.
Resolution. The story should end with the problem resolved in some way, through actions of the MC, though perhaps not the way the MC expected. Perhaps the MC dies, but does so in a meaningful way that resolves the problem.
Enduring Stories
Some stories transcend even the interesting ones. These tap into some universal themes of the human condition. The style of writing captivates readers and listeners by rising above mundane prose. These stories last for centuries, getting endlessly repeated, re-read, and copied into other forms. These classics include Aesop’s fables, the books of the great religions, the Iliad and Odyssey, and myriads of others.
Your Challenge Today
On National Tell a Story Day, I offer an either/or challenge to you. You may choose Task A or Task B, and I’m unsure which one’s harder:
Task A: Using my broad definition of “story,” go through this entire day without saying or writing a story.
Task B: Make at least one of your stories interesting.
A good story can take your readers for a journey. Characters need to go places and readers yearn to ride along. A distinctive vehicle makes the trip more interesting and you can peruse Wikipedia’s list of the best-known vehicles in fiction. As a writer, how can you give some personality to your fictional vehicles?
Credit to fity.club for Odysseus’ Ship, ar.inspiredpencil.com for Pequod, moriareviews.com for Time Machine, hotcars.com for KITT, and Wikipedia for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Nautilus, Enterprise, and Batmobile.
Vehicles as Setting
A vehicle can serve as a means to move through the setting, from one setting to another, and as a setting itself. Most vehicles separate the inside from the outside, the moving from the static. They isolate characters from the exterior environment. Vehicles can provide a way for characters to shift settings in a short time, or to protect characters from a dangerous environment, or to perform a task.
Describing Vehicles
The general principles of describing settings apply to vehicles as well. If it serves the plot, readers need to picture the vehicle’s exterior and interior. If appropriate, convey the experience of being inside it using as many of the five senses as you can.
Familiar, standard vehicles like taxis, rental cars, or bicycles require little or no description. Also, once your characters have traveled in a vehicle once, you need not bore readers with details again, unless something about the vehicle, or the character’s perception of it, changes.
Resist the impulse to bog down the prose with long descriptions. You’re not writing an owner’s manual or trying to close a sale, so don’t slow down the story.
Vehicle Purposes
Vehicles serve different functions, and their design reflects that. Whether for exploration, warfare, transit, or specialty purposes like farming or construction, vehicles exist to perform a purpose. Your characters might use the vehicle for an unintended task if circumstances demand it, and that can add to interest and drama.
Unique or Commonplace?
If your character boards a standard city bus, the story gains little from a description of the bus. Your readers know what buses look like and wish you’d get on with the action. Unusual vehicles require more explanation, but you can insert bits of description in several places rather than lumping them together. Dialogue works well for vehicle descriptions, especially if one character knows the vehicle and another character doesn’t.
Attitude Toward the Vehicle
In real life, people develop feelings for vehicles, and characters can do so in fiction as well. Characters can love or hate their vehicle, and their attitude may change over time. You can use this attitude as a means of revealing the character’s personality, and the vehicle might even substitute for another character, in metaphor. (For example, he’s angry with her, but kicks his car’s tire.)
Characters also anthropomorphize their vehicles by naming them, just as we do in real life. This practice depends on the vehicle, and is more common with ships and spacecraft than with cars or aircraft. Odysseus’ unnamed ship and the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car stand as exceptions, but the practice of naming vehicles, and the name chosen, can reveal something of the character’s personality.
Bonding of Character and Vehicle
In some stories, a strong association of character with vehicle merges the two. A reader can’t think of one without thinking of the other. What is Captain Ahab without the Pequod, the Time Traveler without the Time Machine, or Captain Nemo without the Nautilus? In the TV world, where is Captain Kirk without the Enterprise, Michael Knight without KITT, or Batman without the Batmobile?
Vehicle as Character
Some stories elevate the vehicle to such importance that it almost becomes a character itself. By that I mean the story revolves around the vehicle. A reader might conclude the story is all about the vehicle and might consider the human characters incidental and forgettable. If you write a story like that, make your vehicle fascinating, since readers identify more with human characters than they do with vehicles. You can increase the fascination level by creating a first-of-its-kind vehicle. I dealt with those in an earlier blogpost.
Fate of the Vehicle
Like human characters, vehicles might change during the course of a story. Being mechanical in nature, they rarely improve, though. Parts wear out. Subsystems fail. Human operators, drivers, or pilots push vehicles past limits. Vehicles break down. They might even get destroyed in the end, by accident or on purpose, to suit the needs of the story. Whatever sort of degradation the vehicle suffers, be sure to show how that affects any character who’s formed an attachment (positive or negative) with the vehicle.
Thank you for riding along on the Blogpostmobile. This concludes our journey. Watch your step getting out. It’s been my pleasure to serve as your driver today. Once again, I’m—
How will you celebrate National Submarine Day? It’s today, by the way. I’ll offer some suggested activity ideas later in this blogpost.
USS Holland
USS Holland (SS-1)
125 years ago today, the U.S. Navy acquired the submarine USS Holland, designated SS-1. Though small, slow, shallow-diving, and lightly armed by today’s norms, that craft steered a course for all U.S. Navy subs to follow in her wake.
The Holiday
Senator Thomas J. Dodd, back in 1969, introduced a bill proposing April 11 as National Submarine Day. No president since has ever signed it, but submariners don’t need anyone’s permission to celebrate. It’s our day because we say it is.
In Memoriam
Pause today to remember those lost aboard submarines. Working, living, and fighting in a steel tube underwater involves risks, and according to this Naval History and Heritage Command website, over 4000 men have died in U.S. submarines from accidents or enemy action. The majority of these occurred during World War II. Most often, when a submarine suffers significant damage, the whole crew dies together.
Submarines in History
You can read elsewhere about the role submarines have played in U.S. naval history, including World War II, the development of nuclear power and nuclear missiles, North Pole visits, and the first voyage around the world submerged.
Submarines in Fiction
As a fiction author and former dolphin-wearer, I love good stories involving submarines. The best include 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas by Jules Verne, The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy, Run Silent, Run Deep by Edward L. Beach, Under Pressure (The Dragon in the Sea) by Frank Herbert, and The Deep Range by Arthur C. Clarke. I also recommend Aquarius Mission by Martin Caidin, The Voyage of the Space Bubble series by John Ringo (especially the last three novels), and any novel by Michael DiMercurio.
My Service
USS Bluefish (SSN-675)
I reported aboard USS Bluefish (SSN-675) in February 1982. Home-based in Norfolk, Virginia, that sub carried me to the Caribbean, Germany, north of the Arctic Circle, and elsewhere during the course of several years. Though I last strode her decks forty years ago, the memories of old Blue remain vivid. So distinct are my recollections that I rendered them in poetry. As a caution to younger readers, “The Good Ship Bluefish” gets bawdy in spots. Read it at your own risk.
Ways You Can Celebrate
Don’t let today pass without doing something to commemorate it. My suggestions follow, but you might think of others.
Tour a real submarine. Find a submarine museum and take a tour aboard. With the help of your guide, you’ll get a good notion of submarine life.
Read a submarine story. Consider any of those I recommended above.
Watch a submarine movie. Options include 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Das Boot (1981), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Crimson Tide (1995), Down Periscope (1996), U-571 (2000), Hunter Killer (2018), and others.
Watch an online video or listen to a podcast about subs.
Something about libraries draws us in. Even in the Internet Age, libraries retain the aura of vast, free knowledge that nothing online can match. Entering even the smallest one, we feel akin to those who wandered, awestruck, amidst the scrolls of the ancient Library of Alexandria. The full shelves whisper, “Here you’ll find the information you seek, the wonder, the adventure, the knowledge of those who came before. Borrow a book. They’ll all free.”
Authors and Libraries
You might think authors hate libraries, since you can read the author’s books without paying. Perhaps some authors harbor a grudge, but few libraries carry every bookwritten by the more prolific authors. If you sample a few for free, you might well buy those you can’t borrow.
In a larger sense, libraries encourage reading. The more people who read books, the greater chance some readers will read mine. All good.
When asked about libraries in a 2013 interview, author Ray Bradbury said, “Well, that’s my complete education. I didn’t go to college, but when I graduated from high school I went down to the local library and I spent ten years there, two or three days a week, and I got a better education than most people get from universities. So I graduated from the library when I was twenty-eight years old.” He went on. “[Libraries are] the center of our lives.”
Little Free Libraries
Perhaps I shouldn’t neglect libraries so small you can’t walk into them. Over 200,000 tiny libraries, just boxes containing a few books, have appeared in front yards all over this country, and over 120 others. Sponsored by Little Free Library, these small containers remain available for sharing books even when the library building is closed. You can find the little free library nearest you here or build your own.
Don’t Resist the Draw
Admit it. You’re drawn to the library, and you haven’t visited one in awhile. You couldn’t pick a better week to go, and re-establish the habit. It’s National Library Week. When you go there, you might see—
Perhaps you lack the time to sit and read print books or ebooks, but enjoy listening to literature instead. You heard about Extraordinary Visions when it got published, but passed on it, since the anthology wasn’t available in your preferred format. Your long-awaited opportunity arrived today.
While playing the audiobook, the voice of narrator Tad Davis will transport you into the marvelous world of every story. He imbues a distinct and appropriate quality to each character’s dialogue.
As you listen, you’ll learn the answers to thirteen perplexing questions:
If mysterious beings dwell at the center of the Earth, might they take revenge on the surface?
The Baltimore Gun Club wouldn’t try to alter Earth’s rotational speed—would they?
Who robbed that bank in Durango, and why did the thief’s movements seem so mechanical?
On the front lines of World War I, did a steam-powered mechanical elephant join in battle?
What if your son recreated a thrilling chapter of 20,000 Leagues…inside your house?
What really happened when Nellie Bly met Jules Verne during her 1889 trip around the world?
Captain Nemo vowed never to set foot on land, so why would he go ashore to lead a dangerous rescue mission?
What is so odd, so very odd, about a particular shop full of Vernian antiques?
When a father and son find an old box on one of Norway’s Lofoten Islands, could it contain Captain Nemo’s logbook?
At the traveling Jules Verne adventure show, don’t those costumed actors seem a bit too realistic?
When Civil War Confederates build an underwater prison, can Captain Nemo free its enslaved prisoners?
The keeper of the lighthouse at the end of the world seems content with his mechanical inventions, but why does someone want to kill him?
What secrets await a salvage team raising the Nautilus, and who else desires that submarine?
You may, of course, still purchase the ebook, paperback, and hardcover editions. But before today, you couldn’t buy the audiobook version.
If you’ve long enjoyed stories by Jules Verne, or just recently developed an interest in his novels, consider joining the North American Jules Verne Society (NAJVS). Few authors spark fan clubs still thriving over a century after their death, on other continents, but Verne did.
NAJVS never undertook an anthology of new fiction before sponsoring Extraordinary Visions: Stories Inspired by Jules Verne. Co-editors for this anthology include Reverend Matthew T. Hardesty and some guy whose nickname is—
Many of those who reach old age don’t enjoy the condition much. Those who tend to them, their caregivers, often wish they could do something else with their time.
A few years ago, I and (mostly) my wife, served as caregivers for my mother-in-law. As a scifi writer, I wondered if technology might help ease the burden for other caregivers someday.
I wrote a short story, “Its Tender Metal Hand,” about a caregiver robot of the near future. That story appears in the new anthology by Cloaked Press, Spring into Scifi, now available.
The Need
With human lifespans lengthening and the large Baby Boom generation reaching old age, the need for caregivers grows daily. Worsening the problem, the current labor shortage reduces the supply of potential workers in the field. The recent deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his caregiver wife, Betsy Arakawa, showcased the importance of the caregiver role.
The Tasks
A caregiver becomes a jack-of-all-trades, though few tasks rate high in difficulty—for humans. A good caregiver should:
Remind about, and provide, medication;
Navigate the patient around the home and yard;
Provide companionship via conversation;
Play games;
Perform necessary housework;
Clean and bathe the patient;
Monitor symptoms; and
Administer first aid if necessary.
The ideal, more advanced, caregiver might also:
Lift, reposition, and physically move the patient;
Perform medical tasks such as taking vital readings, and drawing blood;
Conduct physical therapy; and
Conduct psychological therapy.
The Current State
No single robot exists today that performs all those tasks. Some robots perform one or a few of the functions, but a true, general purpose caregiver robot awaits future development.
Today’s caregiver robots include: Aibo by Sony, ASIMO by Honda, Baxter by Rethink Robotics, Care-O-Bot 4 by Fraunhofer IPA and Mojin Robotics, Dinsow Mini 2 by CT Robotics, ElliQ by Intuition Robotics, Grace by Hanson Robotics, Human Support Robot (HSR) by Toyota, Mabu by Catalia Health, Mirokaï by Enchanted Tools, Moxi by Diligent Robotics, Nadine by NTU Singapore, NAO by Aldebaran Robotics, Paro by Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Pepper by Aldebaran Robotics, Pria by Pillo Health and Stanley Black & Decker, Ruyi by NaviGait, and Stevie by Akara Robotics.
The Difficulties
Robots have advanced in capability, but still struggle with tasks humans find easy, and excel at some things people find problematic.
Two examples of the latter category occur to me. As mentioned in my previous blogpost, a robot will listen with patience to repeated re-tellings of the same story, and a sturdy robot could lift a heavy patient without spinal strain.
Also, certain tasks, even if robotically possible, present serious consequences if done wrong. For safety reasons, substantial testing must occur before permitting robots to perform medical tasks or to lift patients.
Perhaps the most elusive task for a caregiver robot, the last one to be achieved, will be to exhibit a truly human connection, a deep, sympathetic friendship bond.
Fictional Treatment
Movies have explored the concept of caregiver robots in various ways. Bicentennial Man and I, Robot touch on the idea. Big Hero 6and Robot and Frank delve deeper, with caregiver robots integral to their plots.
My story, “Its Tender Metal Hand,” features a general-purpose caregiver robot capable of most of the tasks mentioned above. However, it lacks an emotional bond, an understanding of the human condition.
But maybe it can learn.
Perhaps an advanced, capable caregiver robot lies in the future for—
Welcome to Spring! Starting today, you can Spring into Scifi by purchasing the new anthology by Cloaked Press, available here. The book contains one of my short stories.
My Story
My tale, “Its Tender Metal Hand,” concerns an aged man, Maleko Koamalu, whose remaining family can’t care for him.
They pay for a caregiver robot.
Maleko hates the robot, but the robot persists in taking care of his needs. Robots can do many things, but can they help an old man reconcile with his child before it’s too late?
If the story’s touching ending prompts a tear or two, well, sorry not sorry.
Inspiration
I wrote it after my wife and I served as caregivers for my mother-in-law. It occurred to me that a well-designed robot could perform all the required tasks. In a couple of ways, a robot might prove superior to a human caregiver. Robots often excel at the things humans struggle with, and vice versa.
Elderly people sometimes repeat themselves, forgetting that they’ve just said the same thing. This can annoy human caregivers, but a robot will listen patiently, over and over, responding each time as if hearing it afresh.
Also, human caregivers often find it difficult to lift and convey heavy patients between bed and wheelchair, or wheelchair and toilet. A well-built robot could do this with ease.
The Anthology
The book contains thirteen other short stories I look forward to reading. Edited by Andrew Ferrell and published by Cloaked Press, this new science fiction anthology, Spring into Scifi, is available here and here so far, with more distributors picking it up soon. As I may have mentioned, it includes a story written by—
When you submit a story, poem, or article to an anthology or magazine, you could be starting a great relationship with an editor. Don’t ruin it by doing something dumb.
A few years ago, I never thought I’d edit an anthology. Now I’ve edited three. I learned a few things while wielding the blue pencil, and I’ll share those lessons with you.
Obey the Submission Guidelines
Guidelines vary from editor to editor, so you’ll have to change the same submission to comport with different formats. Sorry. Fact of life. Since you’re the one trying to pique the editor’s interest (not the other way around), follow the guidelines. Otherwise, you’re telling the editor you don’t follow instructions well. Not a promising start.
Keep Your Cover Letter Brief
In fact, if the editor doesn’t ask for a cover letter, don’t submit one. No editor wants to read your life story, so if a cover letter is required, keep it short. Proofread it before sending. If the cover letter contains typos, why should the editor bother reading your submission?
Be Friendly and Professional
In all correspondence with an editor, strive to be the writer she likes to work with most. Nothing good comes from angry responses sent in a moment of rage. Shed the suffering-creative-artist-who’s-a-cauldron-of-bubbling-emotions costume, and don your let’s-work-this-deal business suit.
Respect the Editor’s Time
Provide prompt replies to your editor’s emails (consistent with being friendly and professional). Don’t be the last writer he’s waiting on. Once, as editor, I suggested some changes to a writer’s manuscript. The writer concurred and said I could go ahead and make the changes. No. That’s not how it works. If you’re the one getting paid, you’re the one doing the work.
Be Willing to Change
One time, a writer submitted a wonderful story, but it contained factual, numerical errors. As editor, I suggested the writer change the numbers to correspond to reality, alterations that would not have affected the story. The author refused, stating the story had already appeared in a prestigious magazine and they’d fact-checked it. If an editor points out a 2+2=5 mistake, or a sun-setting-in-the-morning error in your story, it doesn’t matter where else the story’s been published. Consider all your editor’s suggestions.
Defend Your Arguments with Rationale
Think of you and your editor as a team striving to publish the best possible version of your story, poem, or article. Sometimes, an editor will suggest a change you disagree with. It happens. If you can concur with the change, do so. If not, don’t just refuse to change. Spell out the reason you’d like to leave it unchanged. Most editors will respect solid, logical rationale, and may even agree with you.
Assist with Marketing
After publication, if you’re able, do your part to promote the anthology or magazine in which your piece appears. Post about it on social media, and blog about it on your website. That editor will look kindly on your next submission.
Will your next relationship with an editor work out? Or will you botch things along the way? It could go well, if you follow the advice of—
In a way, you’re about to meet someone new, to form a new relationship. As a reader, you’ll be engaging with the thoughts of a writer. At the beginning, you don’t know where that relationship will go. With most books, the connection will make a fleeting impression, then recede into fading memory. For a golden few, though, the relationship will endure a lifetime, refreshed by periodic re-readings.
Carl Sagan’s Calculation
One thing’s for sure—you can’t read ’em all. As Dr. Carl Sagan pointed out in his TV show, Cosmos, you’re only able to read about 3500 books during your lifetime (one book a week for 70 years). That’s the number of books published in eight hours, so no matter how fast you read, you’ll only make it through a tiny sliver of all literature.
Four Quadrants
Not to make this too scientific, but let’s explore one way to categorize this. You could choose a book for fun and enjoyment, just the pleasure of it. Or you could select a book to learn new knowledge, for your betterment.
Next, who’s making the choice? Are you opting for the book yourself, or picking one chosen by others or by pure chance?
Since these quadrants overlap, let’s depict them with a Venn diagram.
Fun/Self
In the diagram’s upper left circle, we can include books: (1) by a favorite author, (2) in a favorite genre, (3) written in, or about, a favorite time period, (4) appearing next in your To Be Read (TBR) list, (5) that inspired your favorite movies, or (6) that suit your mood.
Betterment/Self
The upper right circle includes reading classics, and reading books in non-favorite genres to broaden your scope.
Fun/Others or Chance
Moving to the lower left circle, you can choose a book at random from a favorite genre or author, let chance decide which book in your TBR list to read next, or read one a friend enjoyed.
Betterment/Others or Chance
In the final circle at the lower right, you can read a book assigned by a reading challenge or book club, or a book found while browsing in a library or bookstore, or a book recommended by trusted readers—perhaps friends or family.
Thomas Jefferson’s Method
Here’s another idea, one that doesn’t fit into my quadrant schema. You could read several books concurrently, flipping from one to the other in accordance with your mood and interest. President Thomas Jefferson did this, and built a revolving five-book stand to facilitate the process.
So, Choose Already
Faced with more books than you can read, and with such a variety of ways to choose between them, some facts seem clear to me. What book you read is unimportant. How you select it is up to you. That you read books—ah, there’s the vital part.
In the meantime, I’d love to know how you choose what to read next. Feel free to reveal your decision process as a comment for—
