Good science fiction is about real life. It shows how individuals thrive when they have free will and wither when it’s taken away. How fear makes us stupid and understanding makes us smart. How civilizations inevitably arc toward tyranny, but also how heroes, who are normal folks like you and I, pull us back from the brink.
The Great War of the Worlds is my attempt to write one of those stories. The big picture is about a world just like our that suffered an alien invasion just before the 19th Century gave way to the 20th.
The smaller picture is about two young men that are thrown into what quickly becomes a three-way war between two continents and a new alien invasion. Both lived through the first invasion and came out with very different views of the world. How will they survive this one?
I discovered science fiction and fantasy as a boy back in the 1970s. My Dad took me to see 2001 when it was re-released to theaters in 1977. I read the giants like Dick, Herbert, Heinlein and Asimov. I shared issues of Heavy Metal and Omni Magazine with my best friend. Star Wars is a childhood milestone, while Blade Runner was a watershed moment. And, of course, I read more comics every month than I could possibly count.
I was one of those kids that preferred staying indoors and reading books and comics instead of playing outside like the “normal” kids. (Except when it came time to get on a bicycle and ride to the library or the newsstand.) Now it’s different. I prefer staying indoors and reading to watching TV like a “normal” adult. (Except when it comes time to ride my bicycle to the library or a bookstore.)
In between those critical developmental milestones, I was a substandard soldier that was pretty good at repairing radars, an uncooperative employee that was pretty good at repairing electronics, an irritable field service technician and most recently, a misanthropic software engineer.
I’ve always been interested in writing. I’ve written a few stories that I never shared. I’ve written many tech papers and blogs that I have. Now it’s time for me to pursue a dream and publish a science fiction novel. Hopefully many novels.
I live in suburban New Jersey and work in New York City. I live with a very patient wife, the worlds laziest dog, and two remarkably loud birds.