Before I actually took the plunge and wrote a novel, I had assumed rather naively that fiction didn’t require a lot of intensive research. And sure, compared to the nonfiction books I’ve written, Spacebuckler doesn’t exactly require footnotes or citations. That said, I found myself researching all kinds of crazy stuff for the book. Such as…. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: July 2011
The long and winding narrator
A ripping good yarn...with a really chatty narrator
If something can be said in five words, trust a Spaniard to say it in five pages.
I’m half-Spanish, so I feel somewhat allowed to make such a sweeping and likely incorrect judgment about the greats of Spanish-language literature. But if you’ve read folks like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Miguel de Unamuno or even Cervantes himself, you know what I’m talking about. The tradition of narration in Spanish literature is just very different from what English readers are used to.
I mention this because I’m reading The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma, an up-and-coming Spanish author. The Map of Time is one heck of a ride, a Victorian science-fiction work that hews closely to the traditions of Jules Verne without going headlong into steampunk territory. And one of the things that sets this book apart is the narration. Continue reading
Hey, authors! What about traditional media?
Remember newspapers? They're still quite useful.
Authors have to do self-promotion. I get that. You’re reading some of it RIGHT NOW. (How very meta.) Yet most advice to authors on this topic has to do with electronic social media. There’s very little advice about going to traditional media outlets with your story.
Now, I may be biased, having spent many years of my youth working for Old Media. And let’s be clear: Even with all my contacts and experience, it’s unlikely I’ll be featured in The New York Times or on NPR. (At least, not right away.) But millions of people still get their news and info from smaller traditional outlets, and I know I’m planning to take advantage of that. Continue reading
The first capital of the United States (of Ganymede?)
Earth or Ganymede? You decide.
Last weekend, we took my daughter to my in-laws’ house for a sleepover with her cousins, and that left Kate and I some time to revisit Philadelphia’s historic center. It was also the first time I returned to Philly since setting part of my novel in an alternative version of the city.
My Philadelphia is set in 1779, but more importantly, it’s set on the Jovian moon of Ganymede. Instead of crossing the Atlantic to get to the New World, my characters cross the Void to get to a plethora of New Worlds. Hence, sailing ships in space.
So here are a few pictures of the real Philadelphia, along with a few snippets of the book, to try to give you a feel for what I’m up to. For me, it’s fun to see how the first capital of the United States of Ganymede measures up to today’s city. Oh, and as a bit of stage setting, Lt. Thomas Weatherby of HMS Daedalus and his colleagues are visiting the city under unusual circumstances, to say the least. Continue reading
Inspiration in the New West
“Go West, young man,” wrote Horace Greeley in 1865. One hundred and forty-six years later, I took his advice, and I’m glad I did.
My family and I went to visit my cousin and her family (thanks, guys!) in Colorado over the Independence Day weekend. My wife, Kate, does a much better job of talking about our travels over on her blog, so for a more complete download, click over to her site.
As for me, well, I’ve seen mountains on a number of continents, but few measure up to the way the Rockies jut upward from the plains, an imposing wall of stone that probably prompted early American settlers to say, “Whoa, those are big. I don’t want to cross those. Let’s just put Denver here.” I never quite bought into the whole romantic notion of the Old West, but I have to say, the New West did a great job of putting my writer-brain to work. Continue reading
Filed under Beer Snobbery, Travel, Writing
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Michael J. Martinez 