davidjwilliams

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How Do You Bridge The Gap Between Two Cool Moments In Your Novel?
A Lovely Cyborg Ponders Her Existence, In A Book Trailer That Looks Like A Video-Game Cut Scene
This Space Elevator Is The Terrorists' Next Target
Secrets Of Great Characters, According To 6 Science Fiction Authors
Learn About Future Terror And Space Elevators

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Janglesatwest
11/20/09

In reply to How Do You Bridge The Gap Between Two Cool Moments In Your Novel?
Sometimes I start my writing because I have an idea for a cool moment where even I want to be jumping in my chair. Once I write it down I start working backward to figure out hot to get to that moment. Sometimes it helps to see my writing from a backwards POV. I've even considered doing a story something like the movie Memento where the whole thing is done with the scenes in reverse order.
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Rasselas
11/20/09

In reply to How Do You Bridge The Gap Between Two Cool Moments In Your Novel?
Cannell's is good advice: "What's the bad guy up to?"
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
11/20/09

@Rasselas: Not only did he write mounds of good TV shows, he now turns out best-selling novels which are at least 75% cool moments.
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UberJumper
05/21/09

In reply to A Lovely Cyborg Ponders Her Existence, In A Book Trailer That Looks Like A Video-Game Cut Scene
Woot!

David helped write the story for Homeworld. He's credited as Dave "The Smoking Dog" Williams.

Ruskay did the sound and helped with a lot of the cut-scenes in Homeworld and Homeworld 2.
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tetracycloide
05/13/09

In reply to A Lovely Cyborg Ponders Her Existence, In A Book Trailer That Looks Like A Video-Game Cut Scene
this does look exactly like a video-game cut scene... from a decade or two ago when video-games still had FMVs.
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goldfarb
05/13/09

In reply to A Lovely Cyborg Ponders Her Existence, In A Book Trailer That Looks Like A Video-Game Cut Scene
I really love the idea of a 'trailer' for a book...why the hell not?

I mean, better than this one obviously, but a 15 second motion-graphicy-animationy trailer is a cool idea... esp for sci-fi books...
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♪
05/13/09

@goldfarb: Where would it be aired other than the internet though? Sounds like someone is throwing a chunk of change down the toilet..
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goldfarb
05/13/09

@♪: lots of people buy books on the internet...imagine an amazon page for a book that had a little trailer...
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dsmeek36
05/13/09

In reply to A Lovely Cyborg Ponders Her Existence, In A Book Trailer That Looks Like A Video-Game Cut Scene
the video looks really cool, however, i'm kinda curious what "more human than human" means. does that mean she more fucked up than the average person? the average person has hang-ups, maybe a weight problem, some paranoia, delusions of grandeur or resentment of a coworker, etc.

the Tyrell Corp said their motto was "More Human Than Human", so what the hell does that mean anyway?
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crashedpc - Haifisch
05/13/09

@dsmeek36: It means that you're a White Zombie.
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bendandflex
05/13/09

In reply to A Lovely Cyborg Ponders Her Existence, In A Book Trailer That Looks Like A Video-Game Cut Scene
is it legal to kill people

if you declare war on them first

mom
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tetracycloide
05/13/09

@bendandflex: i have to ask, what's up with the random carriage returns in your posts?
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crashedpc - Haifisch
05/13/09

@tetracycloide: It is

I believe a type of

pseudo-Haiku prose

that's dictated by

the spasms of the pinky finger

cucumber
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acrobatic rabbit
05/13/09

@crashedpc : ゴキブリ and 蟑螂 division: and....mom?
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crashedpc - Haifisch
05/13/09

@acrobatic rabbit_R.O.A.C.H.: I got it. It's a signature. Therefore, my mom is commenting at io9, asking about the legality of killing people that we have declared war on, and I am probably going to get a Drano milkshake when I go home tonight.
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SinisterBill
05/13/09

In reply to A Lovely Cyborg Ponders Her Existence, In A Book Trailer That Looks Like A Video-Game Cut Scene
I am the astro-creep, demolition style hell American freak, yeah...
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Plague
05/13/09

@SinisterBill:

Welcome to planet Motherfucker!
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Andrew Liptak
04/09/09

In reply to This Space Elevator Is The Terrorists' Next Target
Really nice art!
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Daveinva
04/09/09

In reply to This Space Elevator Is The Terrorists' Next Target
All cool, but looking through that site, it seems the author is completely ignorant of 21st century demographics.

By 2100, there won't be many Russians or Japanese left-- and probably not many ethnic Europeans, either.

Maybe these will just be robot wars. . .
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Brian Fowler
04/09/09

@Daveinva: What makes you think there won't be any Russians left either?
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
04/09/09

@Brian Fowler: Maybe he thinks they're all going to sublimate or something?

I don't get it... Russia's a big place with lots of people, and the demographics of Japan haven't changed in hundreds of years, so the near-future won't be that different. The population of Japan is going to get older and smaller, but not disappear completely.

Providing there's not Godzilla or killer mecha, but the Japanese survive those threats just fine.
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psthmn
04/09/09

@Evil Tortie's Mom: I think it's the right wing fantasy of the industrialised countries being overrun by the "brown hordes", because the hedonistic seculars don't pop out enough younglings.

5 minutes on a given fundie sight will bring up anything from islamistic majority in europe by 2050 to sharia law getting introduced any day now.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
04/10/09

@psthmn: Oh, I should have twigged to that when he said "ethnic Europeans".

But, you do have to watch that immigration. Just ask the native Americans. They used to be 100% of the population of this country and now look! ;)
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redspidey
04/09/09

In reply to This Space Elevator Is The Terrorists' Next Target
I can't help but be distracted by the horrible angle the elevator is in with that first image. I don't think there's any way that thing could lean like that and not break before it got to that position.

Those are some nicely made images when ignoring my minimal knowledge of physics, though.
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Purple Dave
04/10/09

@redspidey:
Yeah, the first thing I thought of when I saw that was how it was a great image of what a space elevator would look like as it's toppling over.
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Grey_Area
04/09/09

In reply to This Space Elevator Is The Terrorists' Next Target
His first book The Mirrored Heavens was okay. It felt a lot like a video game, for good or bad reasons. Makes sense, Williams has written for games.

Frenetic non-stop action and cool gear but I found some of the characters and plot points to be very one-dimensional and quite frankly silly. The editing of memories was interesting. I'll still give The Burning Skies a try. It is bound to be a real thrill ride with some interesting political speculation if nothing else.
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Torley
11/01/08

In reply to Secrets Of Great Characters, According To 6 Science Fiction Authors
Fantastics! Charlie, great stuff - I look forward to more how-tos, analyses, and "stories behind the stories" like this.
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Grey_Area
10/31/08

In reply to Secrets Of Great Characters, According To 6 Science Fiction Authors
Great post Charlie! This is some very sound advice from some writers I really enjoy. These tips seem all very obvious and common sense but are not applied often enough.

Just wondering, did you contact these folks just for this article or have you been asking this question over the months or years as you meet authors then figure, "Well, that's six good answers--to the laptop!"?
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Charlie Jane Anders
11/01/08

@Grey_Area: Hey just saw this question, sorry for the late answer... I actually decided to do this post last week and then wrote to a bunch of authors to get their opinions..... but it is a question I've been pondering for years.
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Grey_Area
11/01/08

@Charlie Jane Anders: Ah.

Thanks, See you next week!
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