A Kinder, Gentler Apocalypse (#SFWA Pro)

I grew up in the fifties, when we learned in grade school to “duck and cover” (hide under our desks)  for protection from an atomic bomb blast. Not unsurprisingly I had frequent recurring nightmares about that very thing. In fact, I kind of expected it to happen, which may be why, once I discovered science fiction, I found myself drawn to post-apocalyptic literature. It was almost as if I were studying so I would know how to survive the collapse of civilization.

After I became a professional writer, I wrote a post-apocalyptic trilogy of my own, over a period of thirty years. (See "How I accidentally wrote a 300,000-word Trilogy".) I did a lot of thinking and a lot of research working on the main premise of the series: what would happen to our society if all modern technology suddenly and permanently disappeared? In my series, The Pandora’s Trilogy, this catastrophe is caused by a recombinant-DNA disaster that results in the disappearance of all petroleum and petroleum products. Most of us don’t think about how very dependent we are on fossil fuels for more than motivating our cars. A vast number of manufactured objects--including clothing, cosmetics, household objects, and  electronics, are made wholly or in part of oil or plastic or other petroleum derivatives.

In my trilogy many other terrible events, including widespread genetic mutations (due to the failure of containment systems on biological experiments) and mass extinctions and genetic diseases (due to the recombinant-DNA disaster) also plague the unlucky survivors of the original “Change.” It’s a kind of dark-ages life: primitive… brutish and short. The three main characters of my trilogy each work in different ways to try to make the present better and help create a future that is less desolate. Though many animals we know now are gone, evolved forms of some creatures, including camels, housecats, and elephants, are important actors in the story.

I realized after I had written the second of the three novels that my imagined apocalypse was in fact a kind of wish-fulfillment fantasy. No, I didn’t wish for the collapse of civilization, but I realized that if a disaster such as the one I created should occur, it would permanently eliminate the possibility of nuclear holocaust. The third novel in the series, written 35 years after the first two, even ends on a note of hope for the future. No, things can never be as they once were; but humanity and the remaining animals will be able to live in a recovering ecosystem with enlightened leadership, a reduced human population, and a visceral knowledge of the mistakes that had been made in the past and must never be made again.

The Pandora’s Trilogy is available on Kindle as an e-book “box set,” which offers all three novels and some bonus material. The three novels are available separately, as ebooks and paperbacks, on Amazon. All are free to read on #KU. You'll find links in the right-hand column of this blog.

I also offer links to several free excerpts from Pandora’s Promise, listed under "Pages." “Rushing River’s Story” follows the sentient elephants who inhabit the midwest of this country after the Change. For a taste of the Pandora’s world, read the prequel (“Pandora’s Prequel”). It is the length of a novella, and offers insights into two of the main characters from before the beginning of the first book.

Meet the Author: Kathryn Lance

I really liked this interview by Liza Shaw, whose blog The Reading Head reviews books and their authors. This interview appeared on May 8, 2015  in  Meet the Author.

Today I’m very lucky to interview Kathryn Lance, author of Pandora’s Promise, the third novel in her Pandora’s Trilogy.

Hi, Kathryn, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
I’ve been a professional writer since the mid 1970’s, but I’ve retired from fulltime writing to make a living and now just write things I personally care about.

When did you decide to become a writer?
I knew I wanted to be a writer as early as second grade, and that never changed. I didn’t realize till I was much older that you can actually make a living at it.

So, what have you written?
In my 40 year full-time writing career I published more than fifty books, both fiction and nonfiction, some under my own name, others ghosted for other people. I wrote several books on fitness and health, some for doctors. I also wrote dozens of articles on those topics, for various magazines. Before books and magazines, I wrote hundreds of soap opera scripts for four soap operas. For two years in there I worked as an editor and writer for Scholastic Magazines. The first #book in my Pandora’s Trilogy, Pandora’s Genes, won the Best New Science Fiction Award from Romance Times in 1985. Until I heard about the award, I honestly had no idea that in addition to a science fiction adventure I had written a romance!

Where do your ideas come from?
Most of my best ideas come from dreams. Pandora’s Genes started as a mysterious dream that I could not get out of my mind until I sat down and wrote it to find out what happened.

What genre are your fiction books?
Mostly science fiction.

What draws you to this genre?
I have loved science fiction since I was in grade school. It stretches the mind, answering the question “what if?” I have always felt that in many ways science fiction stories are more REAL than mainstream stories.

Do you have an interesting writing style or quirk?
I am rather laissez-fair about my use of commas.

Do you ever get writer’s Block? Do you have any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block?
YES! There have been a few times when I was unable to write fiction. I cured it by forcing myself to write AT LEAST ONE SENTENCE every night before going to bed. The rules were that I could write more than one sentence—as many as I wanted– but I couldn’t go to bed till I’d done that one sentence. Very often I found myself writing several sentences; occasionally even a whole page or two. I actually wrote about half of “Going to See Grassy Ella,” a children’s comic adventure novel, using that method. I’ve recommended it to my writing students, and everyone who tries it finds it very helpful.

Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Practice, practice, practice. Writing is like a muscle--it only gets stronger when you exercise it. If you have trouble writing at all, then use my One Sentence Before Bed method for as long as it takes you to put something together.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Bob Cenedella, a wonderful novelist and radio/tv writer, was my actual mentor. I worked for him on a couple of soap operas. The best advice he ever gave me was: “Never write anything you don’t believe. If it seems unbelievable, find a way to make yourself believe it.” This advice has been helpful in everything I’ve written since, from articles to face-lift books, to the Pandora’s Trilogy.

For your own reading, do you prefer e-books or traditional printed books?
I have come to prefer e-books, which I read on the Kindle app on my iPad and iPhone. Mostly the iPhone, actually.

What books have most influenced your life?
The Brothers Karamazov transformed me when I first read it at age sixteen. I ended up majoring in Russian in college, and once visited Russia on a study-tour. I re-read it every few years and find that I get something different—but profound—out of it each time. I am planning to read a highly-touted new translation on the Kindle app very soon.

What do you think makes a good story?
Character and conflict.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I live in Tucson, Arizona, so I love to do outdoors things. I’m a docent at two nature parks and lead tours as well as interpret plants and animals of the desert. I also enjoy bird watching and hiking.

Here I am, on the far right, leading a tour at Tohono Chul Park

What advice would you give to your younger self?
Don’t despair; it’s all good.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Find a really good feedback group or writing class and attend faithfully. Practice. Don’t give up. Or start your own feedback group, but first get and read Writing Without Teachers, by Peter Elbow, which will tell you everything you need to know about creating a really useful feedback group.

16. My Second Act: How I Re-invented Myself..

As part of the WordCount Blogathon, all participants are invited  to share their “Second Act,” a midlife transformation they have made or hope to make. My own Second Act is unusual, in that my Act One was one many people aspire to for their second: life as a successful freelance writer.

By my late fifties, I found I had achieved most of my career goals--I’d published more than fifty books, including a couple of best-sellers and several novels; I’d written dozens of articles and short stories, I’d taught writing in many different venues. The publishing world was changing, becoming more difficult for “mid-list” writers like myself (those who make a living but are not household names), and I decided it was time to move on.

About the time I came to this realization,  I was inspired by our new president’s call to volunteer in my community. But I didn’t want to do anything related to writing or reading or words at all. What could I do?

One afternoon I visited Tohono Chul Park, a nature preserve near my home in Tucson, Arizona.  I was impressed with the knowledge and friendliness of the docents, who guided visitors through the beautiful cultivated gardens and natural desert trails. I was reminded of my own early interest in biology, including two years as a zoology major in college.

I can do this, I thought. Even more, I WANT to do this. I signed up for the docent training and a few months later found myself in a classroom with twenty other late-life trainees. For the next five months, I studied geology, desert ecology, reptiles, birds, desert mammals, and Arizona history. I learned, on weekly field trips, to identify dozens of desert plants. I read and did written homework, took weekly quizzes, helped prepare a plant book. It was extremely difficult, and more fun than I could have imagined.

In due time I earned my name badge and docent vest, and became a docent in the Park, leading tours, helping visitors and answering questions. Today I lead bird walks and help out at the reptile show, my favorite.

  KL the Docent

I have now completed two and a half years as a docent at the Park. I’ve made several  wonderful friends and have become the opposite of a reclusive freelance. Old friends are often astonished to see me approaching strangers and helping them enjoy the Park as much as I do.

As for writing, for the first two years I didn’t even think about it. Now, I realize that I just needed a break from something that had nourished me for so long. I’m working on a new novel, one that will be informed by much of what I have learned in my new role as a naturalist.

 
Tomorrow: Where did the fox-cat come from?

 

Technorati Tags: Second Acts,women's second careers,Tohono Chul Park

Me and Zach*

I have signed up for a blogathon challenge.  This will involve blogging every day for a month, starting May 1 and ending on May 31.  I am doing this partly because of Kindle KDP, in which I have some books enrolled.  These are my first conventionally-published science fiction novel, Pandora's Genes, Pandora's Children (which is not enrolled), and The Ptorrigan Lode, a novella that was never previously published.  I have also enrolled Going to See Grassy Ella, my favorite of my children's books.

If you enroll a book exclusively in KDP, you are allowed five promotions (making the book available for free) per quarter. This has been demonstrated to lead to increased sales.  I have offered Pandora’s Genes for free three times, and have given away probably 4000 copies.  As for sales, so far I have sold several dozen copies of the book.  But the interesting thing is that one to three weeks after each promotion I sell more copies of Pandora's Children then of the original book.  It seems clear that people who have read the first book want to find out what happens next.  So my plan is to now write the third novel in the series, which I have been thinking about for many years.

The writing of the first two Pandora’s books, and my progress on the third book, will be the main subjects of my blog posts during the Blogathon.

*Zach is one of the three main characters in the Pandora’s books.