NOW AVAILABLE!
"Stargate meets The Big Bang Theory"
(but with better science!)
(but with better science!)
Matt Barnes was born with an eidetic memory, a natural mathematical ability, and an insatiable hunger to understand the physical world around him; everything unknown was a puzzle to be solved. His astronomical IQ and talent at spatial reasoning made him a true ‘visualizer’: geometry, trigonometry, and calculus were intuitive, and he perceived the world around him in a way few others could.
Matt rocketed through university, earning several advanced degrees in the time it took others to earn just one. Combining outside-the-box engineering with multi-dimensional mathematics that would have impressed Einstein, he built HYDRA, a machine that opened up the solar system for exploration without the necessity of conventional space travel. But Matt soon discovered that merging his hyperspatial mathematics with the complex engineering required to create such a sophisticated machine was a trivial challenge compared to the resistance he and his friends would face as they challenged the status quo for access to space. |
Available in e-book (Kindle) and softcover formats from Amazon :
The reviews are coming in!
Interview with Bruce
Q. Where did your idea for “n-Space” come from?
About 20 years ago I started kicking around an idea about a hometown genius going on to great things in the world of physics. Then about 10 years ago, I came across a book titled “The Final Theory: Rethinking our Scientific Legacy” by Mark McCutcheon. The author’s “expansion theory” seemed like a good fit for my protagonist Matt Barnes’ “Theory of Almost Everything.” Then I took it from there and let the story unfold...
Q. Matt’s three friends are really interesting characters — are they based on real people?
A while back I read a book about writing fiction that suggested, “base your characters on people from your life,” so that’s what I did. It made writing the book easier as I could more easily visualize the characters, their mannerisms, etc.
Renny Harris (AdAstra’s foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails planetary geologist) is based on two of my high-school friends: one is a geotechnical engineer and the other has a PhD in meteorology. The name “Renny” is an homage to a character from the 1930s Doc Savage pulp crime fiction novels (Kenneth Robeson) that my best friend and I spent years collecting.
Gary Stocks (AdAstra’s adventurous robotics expert) is based on another of my high-school friends who, in real life, was heavily into photography and adventure. Gary’s last name is an homage to the Stocks family of Penticton, BC, who ran a successful camera store that I frequented as a teen to buy supplies for my film-developing hobby.
Josh Allen (AdAstra’s computer wiz) is inspired by another high-school friend whom I went through Computer Science & Physics with at UBC.
And there are other minor characters in the book that are loosely based on people I knew. Fellow students, teachers, coaches, etc. Basically, if you crossed paths with me in life and made an impression (good or bad), you may find there's a character inspired by you…
Renny Harris (AdAstra’s foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails planetary geologist) is based on two of my high-school friends: one is a geotechnical engineer and the other has a PhD in meteorology. The name “Renny” is an homage to a character from the 1930s Doc Savage pulp crime fiction novels (Kenneth Robeson) that my best friend and I spent years collecting.
Gary Stocks (AdAstra’s adventurous robotics expert) is based on another of my high-school friends who, in real life, was heavily into photography and adventure. Gary’s last name is an homage to the Stocks family of Penticton, BC, who ran a successful camera store that I frequented as a teen to buy supplies for my film-developing hobby.
Josh Allen (AdAstra’s computer wiz) is inspired by another high-school friend whom I went through Computer Science & Physics with at UBC.
And there are other minor characters in the book that are loosely based on people I knew. Fellow students, teachers, coaches, etc. Basically, if you crossed paths with me in life and made an impression (good or bad), you may find there's a character inspired by you…
Q. “n-Space” takes place in Canada, the US, and the UK. Why did you choose those places?
Again, I followed the “write what you know” axiom. I grew up in Penticton and did an undergraduate degree at UBC. I didn’t go to Caltech, but learned lots about it when reading books about Richard Feynman. I visited Cambridge a few years ago and found it steeped in history, so I figured that was a good place for my protagonist to end up.
Q. What’s next for Matt and his friends?
Well, I don’t want to throw down any spoilers, but just imagine the possibilities! They could use the HYDRA to explore Mars, Venus, Mercury, or the asteroid belt. Maybe even further out in the solar system. Matt and his friends want to use the HYDRA to explore and have fun, so who knows what hijinks they might get up to. And they’ve got that antagonist, Charles William Winston the Third to worry about. I’ve also got another idea involving using the HYDRA for a completely different application—that alone could fill an entire book.
Q. When it comes to writing, are you a “pantser” or a “plotter”?
Yes, ha ha.
I recognize the value of spending the time to create a story plot and lay out a rough outline with chapters before getting serious about writing. But there are times when an idea for a scene springs into my head—I push the plot aside and just write the scene to see where it takes me. Sometimes the scene will mesh nicely with my plot and outline, other times it doesn’t but is just too damn good so I adjust the plot so it fits in.
I recognize the value of spending the time to create a story plot and lay out a rough outline with chapters before getting serious about writing. But there are times when an idea for a scene springs into my head—I push the plot aside and just write the scene to see where it takes me. Sometimes the scene will mesh nicely with my plot and outline, other times it doesn’t but is just too damn good so I adjust the plot so it fits in.
Q. What advice would you give aspiring authors?
Write your story—the one in your head that’s screaming to get out—then figure out how to get it in front of readers. Odds are someone wants to read it.
Some authors’ only goal is to get published, so they follow the “write to publish” path, which means developing a relationship with a publisher and writing something the publisher wants to print. The problem with that is they often end up writing what the publisher wants, not what they want.
Some authors’ only goal is to get published, so they follow the “write to publish” path, which means developing a relationship with a publisher and writing something the publisher wants to print. The problem with that is they often end up writing what the publisher wants, not what they want.
Q. What’s your writing schedule like? How many hours a day do you devote to writing?
Lately, it's rather un-structured. I try to get in a couple of hours a day, mostly in the mornings and evenings.
Q. Do you use any writing tools or software?
I started off using Grammarly, a few years ago but found it buggy and not worth the time or money. I switched to ProWritingAid (the Word add-in) and really like it. They claim it is now "AI-assisted" but I find its "re-phrasing" feature gets confused easily. Between Word's spell- and grammar-checker and ProWritingAid, I find my writing has improved significantly!
Q. What do you think about using artificial intelligence (AI) in writing?
I’m cautious.
I recently gave ChatGPT a sample scene from my second HYDRA book and asked it to just to copy-edit. What I got back was very similar to what I’d written, but with some minor improvements (mostly better verbs and adverbs) - the kind of suggestions a better writer/editor might make.
But when it comes to AI, I’m concerned about copyright issues. Imagine you write a novel and ran chapters through ChatGPT, asking it for improvements. It’ll probably give you some good suggestions. OpenAI's Terms of Use clearly states that its input and output are owned by the user, but here’s the rub: it still remembers everything you send it and everything it sends you.
So at this point, I’m not going to be giving ChatGPT any significant amount of my content.
Also, if you self-publish through KDP, you are now required to answer the question: "Did you use AI tools in creating texts, images, and/or translations in your book?
I recently gave ChatGPT a sample scene from my second HYDRA book and asked it to just to copy-edit. What I got back was very similar to what I’d written, but with some minor improvements (mostly better verbs and adverbs) - the kind of suggestions a better writer/editor might make.
But when it comes to AI, I’m concerned about copyright issues. Imagine you write a novel and ran chapters through ChatGPT, asking it for improvements. It’ll probably give you some good suggestions. OpenAI's Terms of Use clearly states that its input and output are owned by the user, but here’s the rub: it still remembers everything you send it and everything it sends you.
So at this point, I’m not going to be giving ChatGPT any significant amount of my content.
Also, if you self-publish through KDP, you are now required to answer the question: "Did you use AI tools in creating texts, images, and/or translations in your book?
Q. Do you do any online training, seminars, etc.?
Absolutely! I read self-help guides, and take tutorials from Jerry Jenkins, Jane Friedman, the ProWritingAid community, and KDP.
Q. You’ve self-published 3 books now-what are your thoughts on indie vs. traditional publishing?
When I wrote my Cold War non-fiction novel “Into the Labyrinth,” I pitched it to about a dozen publishers in Canada, the US, and the UK. Ultimately I was rejected by all, although many said it was really good writing, just “too niche for us.” So I travelled the indie-author path and never looked back.
If you’re hell-bent on getting published, you will need bags of patience as you will spend many, many months writing submissions and book proposals, then wait many more months before getting a reply. So you have to decide whether it’s worth that lost time, when you could have been self-published and making sales.
If you’re hell-bent on getting published, you will need bags of patience as you will spend many, many months writing submissions and book proposals, then wait many more months before getting a reply. So you have to decide whether it’s worth that lost time, when you could have been self-published and making sales.
Q. What’s your all-time favourite sci-fi novel?
That’s a tough question!
I’ve read so many that I can’t pick just one, so I’d have to say it’s a tie between the Red Mars/Green Mars/Blue Mars trilogy (Kim Stanley Robinson) and the Expanse series (James S.A. Corey).
I also think Battlefield Earth (L. Ron Hubbard) is one of the best I've read, and it holds the dubious honour of being probably the worst sci-fi movie ever made (a Rotten Tomatoes score of 3%).
I’ve read so many that I can’t pick just one, so I’d have to say it’s a tie between the Red Mars/Green Mars/Blue Mars trilogy (Kim Stanley Robinson) and the Expanse series (James S.A. Corey).
I also think Battlefield Earth (L. Ron Hubbard) is one of the best I've read, and it holds the dubious honour of being probably the worst sci-fi movie ever made (a Rotten Tomatoes score of 3%).
Q. DO YOU HAVE Any other writing projects on the go?
Absolutely!
Besides keeping the HYDRA Chronicles moving forward, I’m working on a techno-legal novel with my partner Lorna-it's about self-driving cars and what might go wrong. The novel runs the gamut from engineering to software quality to linguistics to law. In my engineering career, I’ve worked on autonomous vehicles in the subsea and open-pit mining so I have a pretty good understanding of what’s possible (and what’s not). Lorna has a PhD in forensic linguistics and is a practicing lawyer, so she’s providing most of the content on those parts of the book.
Besides keeping the HYDRA Chronicles moving forward, I’m working on a techno-legal novel with my partner Lorna-it's about self-driving cars and what might go wrong. The novel runs the gamut from engineering to software quality to linguistics to law. In my engineering career, I’ve worked on autonomous vehicles in the subsea and open-pit mining so I have a pretty good understanding of what’s possible (and what’s not). Lorna has a PhD in forensic linguistics and is a practicing lawyer, so she’s providing most of the content on those parts of the book.
Q. What do you do when you’re not writing?
Well, Lorna and I are building our dream home on acreage in the south Okanagan, so there is never a shortage of work around the house. I also keep active, cycling and running with local groups. When Okanagan Lake is warm enough, I thoroughly enjoy open-water swimming. And I still do a bit of navigation-related engineering consulting in the Middle East.