I've been thinking about what to write
for my inaugural blog for the past few days, but realized that what I
wanted to say was close to my heart all along. Less than a month has gone by since we all learned
about the passing of Ray Bradbury at the very distinguished age of
91. By my own estimation, and the estimations of many who truly
appreciate science fiction, he was truly one of the greatest science
fiction authors of the Golden Age of the genre.
It seems strange, how easy it is to
simply go to a library or visit an online retailer to be privileged
to have instant access to read the works of Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke,
Heinlein, or Dick. We live in an age that is directly influenced by
selected parts of all of their imaginations, yet some of our closest
family members and friends do not seem to know their works as well as
one might think. Their words and visions of the future continue to
astound readers, and it's hard to believe that these great thinkers
are all gone from this Earth. But it's not a cliche: as long as
they're still in print or in data, their ideas will never die.
As I prepare to self-publish my first
science fiction novel, highly uncertain as to whether or not there
will ever be another, my mind is occupied by the works of these and
other legendary sci-fi authors. The sheer magnitude of inspiration
and critical thought that they contributed to help shape the world we
live in is staggering. Satellites, personal computers, mobile
phones, space travel, the Internet, and that's not even close to
everything they inspired. The very list could be it's own literary
work.
In my teen years, I used to spend hours
upon hours at home or in the public libraries and parks of Whittier,
California reading the works of the Golden Age greats and many
others. At the time, I could hardly imagine that one day I would
possibly have the nerve or the ability to complete my own work, nor
did I imagine what an incredible impact that reading their works
would have on my life. Other than entertainment value, reading
science fiction from an early age vastly improved my vocabulary and
critical thinking skills. It nourished my young mind when I felt
otherwise uninspired by the curriculum of a quickly diminishing
public education system. It was also an escape from a real world
that frequently fell short of my expectations of what the future
should hold: The 2600. The Challenger disaster and the shuttles put
on hiatus. MTV. Dial up BBS computing. NASA maladministration and
budget cuts. The end of Pan Am before they pioneered passenger
service to the moon. The end of the Cold War and the loss of robust competition
in space. Programming in BASIC and C+. Years of marginal upgrades
to the capabilities of computer operating systems. Sigh.
Back then, I still had high hopes that
maybe one day I might have the opportunity to have met Mr. Bradbury
or one of the others and ask them some questions about their works,
but it never happened. Now, in reflection, I think that these
'meetings' may have happened after all. In the years before I began
to craft and develop the world of my first novel, I was drawn to
reread the greats before I decided that maybe I was long overdue to
give it a go. I realized that rereading some of their works had
answered many of my earlier questions that I had for them, and that I
was ready to try to generate some questions and answers of my own.
I am sure that I won't be the last
would-be author to be inspired by these legendary figures, and hope
that any of you reading this will make it a priority to rediscover
some of their works one day soon, especially if you have not yet read
many of them recently.
I know that I will again revisit these
authors one day, at least after I finish editing my work and take my
big shot in today's competitive science fiction marketplace. But I
know that I'll always want to go back to my favorite authors and
novels to see what my old friends are getting up to.
