Breaking News & Random Musings on Space, Technology, Sci-Fi & the View From A Writer’s Window
Road trip means it's time to bring out THE notebook. The one in which, way back in 2015, I brainstormed Aurora Renegades and Resonant. Then, on the next road trip, Asterion Noir. About 2 years ago, Shadows & Light (sorry not sorry for that final scene tease ).
And now, the next saga.
What an incredible vacation our trip to Seattle for PAX West was! Allow me to spam you with 154 - I mean 8 - photos.
Seattle brought its A-game, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I *know* it's usually overcast and drizzly, but 3/4 of our visits, the weather's been great. Makes it difficult not to move there...but I know better, dammit.
Despite the fact that PAX has grown into a juggernaut of a worldwide gaming convention empire, it honestly felt exactly the same as it did when we attended 14 years ago. A heavy emphasis on small, independent PC gaming studios, tabletop gaming and TCGs. Tons of playable demos, tournaments and freeplay for fun.
There weren't many AAA game studios there, but we did go to a jaw-dropping The Witcher 3 panel, where we saw half an hour of gameplay from the upcoming Songs of the Past expansion. And Mr. Jennsen got to immerse himself in the nostalgia of his beloved '80s adventure games at a panel with Sierra Online alumns, including Jane Jensen (no relation, lol, but I did write about her Gabriel Knight series just a few weeks ago), and the FMV gaming retrospective museum.
Somehow, despite visiting Seattle at least 5 previous times over the years, we had never gone to Pike Place Market. Why didn't anyone tell us how cool it is? Fresh fish and flower stands, hidden alleys with quirky stores full of genuinely unique items, endless levels that wind down to the waterfront.
10/10, do recommend. Good show PAX. Good show, Seattle.
Pictures:
1) How much fun did I have? This much fun.
2) and 3) Seattle was seriously showing off all weekend.
4) Then and Now: me playing game demos at PAX in 2012 and 2026. Not much has changed, lol.
5) Do I have a weakness for giant robots shooting lasers in space? YES I DO.
6) I somehow did not know that this game released earlier this year. It's a survival/strategy/base builder game, and you get to play as Janeway. YOU GET TO PLAY AS JANEWAY.
7) Golden Age Collectibles at Pike Place Market. This is one of the coolest stores I have ever had the pleasure of entering. At first glance, you think they have the standard geeky memoriabilia and trinkets you find at every geek store or convention. But no; 80% of the items, I had never seen anywhere before. We made out like bandits.
8) BLMF Literary Saloon (also at Pike Place Market). When you walk in, it looks like just another hole-in-the-wall used bookstore. It is not. You wouldn't believe the SF gems hiding in this chaos. Interesting astronomy/physics books, too! And I assume all the other genres. The owner was delightful & displayed ready knowledge of any book we mentioned (including its location in the store if he had it). He and Mr. Jennsen geeked out over Neuromancer - then he and I geeked out over Foundation. What a wonderful store!
So there you go. Now to finish the first draft of Naked Singularity!
I've talked often about how important the Mass Effect video games were to my becoming a writer. But long before there was Mass Effect, there was Gabriel Knight. Gabriel Knight 3, to be precise.
My husband was a lifelong PC gamer and Sierra Online fanatic, and GK1 and 2 had already won multiple Game of the Year awards and much critical acclaim. But me? I was an attorney, a former bookworm who no longer had much desire to read, write, or generally have any fun whatsoever. Well, GK3 came along, and he saw his chance. He wooed me in with teasers of a fabulous mystery, vampires, the Holy Grail, and a female computer nerd as a playable secondary main character. So I gave it a try.
I was enraptured! I devoured the game, twice in a row - the first video game I'd played since Super Mario Bros on the NES. Enraptured enough to then go back and play GK1 and 2, both equally incredible stories. So why were they incredible? A couple of reasons, but above all, due to creater and writer Jane Jensen. She envisioned telling complex, nuanced, novel-worthy stories within the medium of video games - then figured out how to do it.
Right person, right idea, right time. The Gabriel Knight trilogy spans several leaps in the technological capabilities of video games, from the 2D point-and-click adventure style of GK1, to the industry's brief (and weird to our modern eyes) experiment with full-motion video in GK2, to the arrival of 3D graphics and a free camera in GK3. Each leap forward gave Jensen more tools with which to tell a deeper story, and she took full advantage of them all. The gameplay of each installment can be clunky to modern gamers (each one in its own particular way), but the stories are as rich and compelling as anything we have today.
I didn't rush off to embrace my inner writer immediately upon completing my Gabriel Knight binge. But I DID become an avid video gamer because of it, and the first spark of creativity, that in time burnt away the lawyerly outer shell, was lit. And when Mass Effect crashed into my life 8 years later, I was ready for what happened next.
Why do I post this today? Because journalist Elías Casella has published an excellent deep dive into the making of these games and how their development interwove with Jane Jensen's journey, the rise and fall of Sierra Online, and the technological leaps that transformed PC gaming in the 1990s. If you are at all interested in this topic, give it a read: https://www.421.news/en/gabriel-knight-sierra-games-en/
The speculative, intrigued smirk of a speculative fiction author, mid-panel discussion on "What makes science fiction, 'science fiction'?" at MisCon this summer.
So what might be going through my mind at this moment? Smug confidence that I've got a zinger of an answer to the clever question an audience member is asking? Delight at how awesome and insightful the discussion is turning out to be? (<-this one was definitely true) Or is an entire new world and story exploding into my mind in this instant, discussion be damned? Or the perfect solution to a thorny plot problem materializing, triggered by something a panelist just said (which would definitely result in delight breaking through to my expression)?
The thing you must understand about an author, and doubly-so a spec-fic author, is that at any given moment, even if the conversation we're having with you is engaging and fulfilling, odds are at least 50% that characters are chattering away in our head. Supernovas are exploding. Ships are firing. Dramatic reveals are unfolding.
We apologize for our distraction--it's not you, it's us--but we always have one foot in another world, and there's simply nothing to be done about it.
Thanks to Steven Sears for sending me the pic, and his lovely wife and awesome spec fic author Jessica Brawner for capturing it!
No context story of my summer, courtesy of my Oura ring. Can confirm its accuracy. Now? Now I just get to write my book.
For the record, I dislike air travel. Not flying as such, but the incredible hassle the whole operation has become. Nonetheless, I must concede that it provides many opportunities for brainstorming, working through plot issues, and writing words.
These are my transcribed audio notes from my trip last week. Not the words on Naked Singularity that I WROTE, mind you - and those were quite substantial. These are just my random thoughts while driving or walking through the airports. So many threads to weave together and arcs to bring home!
Also, that last bullet header might or might not involve something unrelated to Amaranthe...
I tell ya, they will just put ANYONE in the paper these days.... ;)
I’m happy to report that a good time appeared to be had by all. Attendance was great for such a niche topic, and honestly, the questions came in fast and furious! Hopefully I answered them well. I wish I had some good pictures from the event, but while the venue was comfy and welcoming, the lighting was not conducive to quality photography.
Finished watching Widow's Bay earlier this week. It's Cthulhu, isn't it?
I haven't laughed so much while watching a TV show in a long time. The humor is effortless, the actors' comedic timing flawless. Of course, the next second I'm cringing in dread or jumping in terror. What an odd mix of dry humor, wit and horror! It shouldn't work, but somehow it does. Likely in no small part due to superb performances by Matthew Rhys, Stephen Root, Kate O'Flynn and Dale Dickey.
The day after we finished the season, the show was nominated for a whopping NINETEEN Emmys. So take that as a second endorsement, and if it sounds like something you might enjoy, give it a try.
A good time was had by all! Or, well, by me, anyway. ;) It WAS cold and rainy (though it was in the 80s right up until the moment the con began, lol - Montana is always unpredictable that way); in the picture of the panel below, you can’t tell just how cold we were - but we were! Luckily, it was fairly cozy inside the vendor hall, so I was able to debut my new Rocky tshirt one day. :D
I had several long-time readers stop by to chat, which was so awesome. And hopefully created many new readers.
I spoke on a panel discussing “Indie By Choice,” and moderated two panels: “AI in Fiction vs AI in Our Reality” and “What Is Science Fiction?” Both turned out to be really fascinating discussions, with great perspectives from the panelists. I spoke on a similar panel about AI at Dragon Con last year, and it was fascinating how much opinions have evolved in a single year; everyone is taking AI much more seriously now.
"Live at Andre's."
Who's Andre? Apparently, a guy who was deep in the Seattle music scene before he retired near Spokane, built a big house on the side of a mountain, then built a performance stage hanging off the mountain above the Spokane River and started inviting his musician friends to play there. 200 or so guests in Andre's back yard for a relaxing evening of great music and spectacular views (and cake, it turns out).
It was such an amazing evening! It's like a mini-mini The Gorge, without the utter nightmare traffic on exfiltration (we were home before 11pm).
The band? Red Wanting Blue. If you've never delved the indie Americana scene, you probably haven't heard of them. But if you do enjoy that style of music, check them out! They have more than 20 years of truly excellent music to enjoy. (We've been fans for years; this is the second time we've seen them perform.)
(Last summer’s edition featured The Gorge.)
You all know I’m a gamer. Especially story/character-driven RPGs. Story/character-driven SCIFI RPGs? My happy place.
This past weekend was a big one for gaming, with a ton of trailers and reveals from the Summer GameFest, Future Gaming Show and PC Gaming Show. Most importantly, we got to see 20 minutes of EXODUS!
And I’m really happy with what I saw. The character animations, cut scenes and combat all looked much improved over earlier glimpses. Cue the hype meter! EXODUS will release in early 2027 (hopefully).
You can watch the full 20 minutes of gameplay here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOLJh9EEQOw.
P.S.: The Jun PC shown is just the default - you can customize your character’s gender and appearance.
P.P.S.: You get an Awakened dog as a companion! (Not a pet, a friend - he’s sentient.)
P.P.P.S.: They should’ve let a marketing person or voice actor do the commentary. The game producer is not exactly charismatic, lol.
You guys.... *wipes a tear away* They'll keep me company, right beside my desk. Every day.
I try not to boast, but today, I'm so proud of what I've created. This universe and these characters will live on forever, in the world and in my heart, and I could not be happier.
And when this arrives on the day you start outlining the final book in earnest, well...emotions are going to be experienced.
Books 2-4 of the Broken Binding special editions of the Hyperion Cantos arrived. I'll be honest, I don't think I've ever seen more beautiful books in my life. Words fall short of capturing how stunning they are.
My #1 career goal isn't to see my books on the screen in movies or TV series - it's to have a full-out, every flourish Broken Binding edition of the Aurora Rising novels. Or, you know, all of them. ;)
ST: SNW Season 4 will debut July 23 on Paramount+, and a big trailer has dropped.
Season 3 was very uneven, with many divided opinions among fans. But this trailer looks seriously epic. Imploding planets, dinosaurs…and that black hole scene!
Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FaPm2QTy5w
I realize the answer is probably, "Everyone...? What rock have you been living under, Jennsen?" And it's not like I didn't know Record Store Day *existed.* But despite being a passionate lover of music, I'm not a vinyl afficionado, nor am I a hipster (which probably isn't even a thing any longer....).
But Collective Soul sent me an email saying they had an exclusive record out for Record Store Day, and it's a nice, sunny, spring Saturday, so Mr. Jennsen and I decide to jaunt out to the local record store.....
Where we find a line of 50 people! What is this madness? The doors open and everyone crowds in, running for the special "Record Store Day" racks so they can fight over 1 of the 3 copies of the special record by their niche artist of choice. I'm taken back and a little confused about what I have wandered into, but nonetheless determined. So I jostle with the best of them, suppressing my inner introvert urge to go hide in a corner from the sea of humanity.
But, nope, denied. Collective Soul is all already gone. Because apparently some people camped out overnight??? *sigh* However, while I was jostling, Mr. Jennsen was browsing the rest of the store, and he came up with the Brandi Carlile record for me, so, cool.
I think I mentioned that it was a beautiful spring Saturday, so we decided to hop down the road to Spokane, where there are many more record stores (honestly, a disproportionate number for the city's size; not sure what's up with that).
First stop, nope. But they had hindu love gods, so it's all good. Next stop, also no...but they had Joe and a double-dose of Muse. At this point, I figure I'm SOL, but now we're on an adventure, so we press on. Third stop? They just sold out, dangit. Fourth stop - SCORE! Last copy.
I got my prize. And wayyyy more records than we left the house intending to bring home.
Who has 2 thumbs, ran low on bookmarks and business cards at Emerald City, and decided to do a total redesign of both? This writer did.
I love them. Rumor has it, I'm a fan of blue, so if I don't get to use blue in my calling cards, why am I even here? Luckily, I do!
My big Birthday present from Mr. Jennsen, guys: a special edition of Hyperion from The Broken Binding. Pictures will never convey how absolutely stunning this book is. Gobsmackingly beautiful.
Time for a confession, and a bit of a ramble. I've been reading scifi since I was 13 years old and writing it for 15 years...and until this year, I'd never read Hyperion. YES, I know it's considered one of the greatest scifi books ever written. YES, I know it's beloved by millions, who rant about it at every opportunity. How do you know I know? Because I've owned a beaten-up mass market paperback of this book for 35 years. It's followed me across the country and through my many moves, and been shelved in every single one of my houses. I always intended to read it.
So why hadn't I? My excuse is that I always believed Dan Simmons to be just a horror writer, in the vein of King and Koontz; which is fine - I've read some King and a lot of Koontz in my time - but I just couldn't bring myself to believe that he could write great scifi, or not the kind of scifi that I love, anyway. If you read the book description, it's about a monster called the Shrike who's killing everyone - obviously it's horror! So I let it sit.
Then, in February, Mr. Simmons passed away, and the accolades poured across the internet in a tidal wave. I read so many impassioned testimonials about this book, I was blown away. So in honor of Mr. Simmons' laudable career, I decide I would read it.
Um, so...Hyperion is an INCREDIBLE book. It is literary (in the true sense of the word - the plot is structured as an homage to The Canterbury Tales, and this story-telling style absolutely elevates the novel in myriad ways). It IS science fiction - in fact, every page is jam-packed with scifi concepts. Far-future humanity spread out amongst the stars; FTL travel, rejuvenation therapies; hundreds of exocolonies. Advanced AI plays a large role in the story (seemingly benevolent, but with interests and goals beyond our comprehension). It explores the consequences of time dilation on relationships and the impact of a post-scarcity, abundance society.
And, yes, it IS horror. The Shrike IS a monster that kills people in violent ways (it may also be much more than that - TBD). As such, it's not what I would characterize as a "happy" book. The backstories of the main characters are often tragic, and they're facing a terrible trial.
But above all, it is simply beautifully written. Every sentence feels lovingly crafted. I loved almost every minute of it.
Now, it does end on a cliffhanger - and not a gentle one. Drops you straight off a sheer cliff. This is a 4-book series. I'm currently about halfway through book 2, and the story has taken a turn into areas I did not entirely see coming. I will say that so far Book 2 is not AS good as Hyperion, in large part due to the absence of the Canterbury Tales "pilgrims' stories" structure. But it's still excellent, and I am invested.
So here's my unqualified endorsement, 30+ years after I first acquired the book: read it if you haven't.
P.S.: Mr. Jennsen also wrapped all my presents in space- and book-themed wrapping paper, then set them on the counter 4 days early so I could enjoy it.
A simply beautiful film. By turns hilarious, endearing and inspirational. Just go see it. Help it make a billion dollars, so we get more quality entertainment like this.
I may wax philosophical at length later, but most everyone won’t have seen it yet, and you all deserve to go into it fresh, without my idle musings priming your expectations.
Project Hail May (Lego version) is complete! It spins and shifts around as needed, and is a very cool design. The best part is, of course, Rocky; he's adorable. I’m seeing the movie on Saturday!
It's my once a year reminder that I have a fun Buy Me A Coffee program you can subscribe to if you like (think Patreon, without all the heavy-handed rules and fees). It comes with different tiers, so you can subscribe to exactly what you want and nothing more. Perks include:
- monthly wallpaper downloads from my book covers and other art
- monthly livestream chats, where we cover space news, tech advancements, scifi media, my books and whatever else you inquire about...oh, and I read excerpts from my current WIP
- getting every new ebook 10 days early
- getting to listen to the new audiobook as Pyper is recording it
Learn more here: https://buymeacoffee.com/gsjennsen
