379 pages.Science Fiction This story of a society that is such a contrast to the destructive one we currently have worldwide is full of hope. But, sneaking pervasively beneath the surface, lies a hint of threat, an unspecified suggestion that all may not be as it seems.We follow the eponymous Hope as she leads a …
Continue reading Awaking Hope, by Emily Renee Cunningham: #BookReview.
Word cloud created via Wordart.com This series began as a way to suggest possible topics for research for those writing fiction set in the future on Earth. The list runs to 100, and so far, I’ve covered 16 in detail. However, it strikes me it might be more productive for writers to tackle those subjects …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 17; All the Rest.
The introduction to this series is here. This post looks at Climate. For most writers of future fiction, this is a no-brainer. We’ve made ourselves familiar with the science, understand the realities, know the world is utterly unprepared to deal with what is now correctly termed a ‘climate emergency’. We know governments, Big Business, led …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 16, Climate.
Taken in the centre of Kos Town. The introduction to this series is here. This post looks at Celebrity. What is a celebrity? The SOED defines it thus: A celebrated person; a (popular) public figure. Everybody from the latest moronic fool in some dreadful ‘reality’ TV show to the most well-known and talented performer in …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 15, Celebrity.
Image derived via clipart. You’ll find the introduction to this series here. This post looks at Cars. Globally, we humans are wedded to cars, see them as almost a right. As a means of transport, they combine convenience, privacy, flexibility, and some degree of freedom, no matter how artificial that may be. But they come …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 14, Cars.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:G20_capitalism_banner.jpg The introduction to this series is here. This post looks at Capitalism. Okay, so what is capitalism? My go-to dictionary (SOED) defines it thus: ‘The possession of capital or wealth; a system in which private capital or wealth is used in the production or distribution of goods; the dominance of private owners of capital …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 13, Capitalism.
Photo by Marko Milivojevic on Pixnio You’ll find the introduction to this series here. This post looks at Business. What do we understand by the term ‘business’? In fact, it encompasses a wide range of activities and philosophies. Some people are in business to make improvements to life, some to help others, but most business …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 12, Business.
You’ll find the introduction to this series here. This post looks at Blasphemy. Ancient and often arbitrary laws of blasphemy are gradually losing ground throughout most of the civilised world. They remain a threat to free speech in too many countries at present, however. After all, blasphemy, as a matter of law, can only occur …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 11, Blasphemy.
You’ll find the introduction to this series here. This post looks at Banking. Money, cash that is, will probably disappear in time. Currencies may also become a thing of the past when most transactions are completed online. What effect would such changes have on the banking industry and the customer’s need and experience of it? …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 9, Banking.
You’ll find the introduction to this series here. This post looks at Authority. Most dictionary definitions of authority include references to legitimacy, but modern usage incorporates, and indeed often prefers, the more pejorative definition including the abuse of power. Authority, originally an attribute of tribal leaders, later taken over by various religious organisations, and eventually …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 8, Authority.
Free photo 16872076 © Saša Prudkov - Dreamstime.com You’ll find the introduction to this series here. This post looks at ‘Art’. What art is can’t be defined adequately in a post of this type, and that isn’t the purpose of this piece anyway. Let’s, for the sake of this small post, decide that art is …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 7, Art.
Photo Credit: https://www.needpix.com/photo/1877200/ You’ll find the introduction to this series here. This post looks at ‘Agriculture’. Why do we farm, and produce food the way we do? There’s a long history of human agricultural activity going back around 10,000 years. In the past, in many cultures, the majority of the population was involved in creating …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 4, Agriculture.
If you want to read the introduction to this series, you’ll find it here. This post looks at ‘Advertising’. Why advertising? Who does it benefit? How will future advertising be presented? How will it look, feel, sound? At present, advertising, marketing, promotion, call it what you will (they’re all methods of persuading people to buy), …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 3, Advertising.
Photo by Vanessa on Unsplash This is a series on writing futuristic fiction, research in pursuit of facts, and questions asked to make ‘predictions’ as accurate as possible. A novelist and short story writer, I always start tales with characters, since character-driven stories best present the narrative. Most stories also have one or more themes under exploration. It’s …
Continue reading Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 2, Activism.
416 pages Political History and Theory/Evolutionary Psychology This is an unusually truthful book, written in rational prose with a degree of honesty that will startle most readers. Presented in five parts, entitled, The Technological Challenge, The Political Challenge, Despair and Hope, Truth, and Resilience, with each section further divided, it does what it states in …
Continue reading 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, by Yuval Noah Harari: #BookReview.
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