Ask the Author: Carl deSoto
Answered Questions (10)
Carl deSoto
I could easily see myself writing a heartwarming story about the House Goblin we have that keeps making things disappear randomly, and gifts us with things. Car keys are the most often vanished of items, as though they don't want us to leave, and our backyard seems to have the ability to spawn toys. None of our neighbors are Sports People, yet we've had a half dozen various soccer and volleyballs appear, along with pieces of interesting wood for the dogs to chew on.
Carl deSoto
I haven't found many new books that I've had the time to add to my list. I'll likely re-read Fallen Dragon, and possibly re-start the Death Gate Cycle or the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix.
Carl deSoto
Let's go with cooking horror. So, for starters, take 2 cups of vanilla extract...
Carl deSoto
Tough one...there's a few I'd love to visit, and a few I'd love to live in.
If just for a visit, I'd say the space stations and the Martian landscape in The Expanse, or the corporate colony worlds of Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton, or possibly even the lands of elves, dwarves, and men of Middle Earth during The Hobbit or The Fellowship of the Ring.
If it were to live there permanently, I'd likely go with my own setting within Manifold Dreams. It's a bit of an idealized version of what could happen, but I would love to travel between Earth and the three colony planets, see the different creatures on each world, how the cultures have developed, the differences in language, art, and fashion. I'd want to visit the underwater districts of the capital city of Venalara, see the flotillas drifting overhead while I shop in the dim blue light. I'd want to visit the megastructures on Ryla, and see the VR graffiti of the children, visit the top university in the universe, and experience the 12 hour sunset from the rooftop restaurant. I'd want to visit the cityships of Earth as they cruise through the upper atmosphere, hear the stories from the people there who have lived almost 200 years by that point, and take a trip planetside to see Tokyo, or London, or New York as they had been once before...buildings demolished and recycled, plant and animal life abundant and free-ranging. No longer a planet FOR humans, but a planet OF humans.
That is where I would go.
If just for a visit, I'd say the space stations and the Martian landscape in The Expanse, or the corporate colony worlds of Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton, or possibly even the lands of elves, dwarves, and men of Middle Earth during The Hobbit or The Fellowship of the Ring.
If it were to live there permanently, I'd likely go with my own setting within Manifold Dreams. It's a bit of an idealized version of what could happen, but I would love to travel between Earth and the three colony planets, see the different creatures on each world, how the cultures have developed, the differences in language, art, and fashion. I'd want to visit the underwater districts of the capital city of Venalara, see the flotillas drifting overhead while I shop in the dim blue light. I'd want to visit the megastructures on Ryla, and see the VR graffiti of the children, visit the top university in the universe, and experience the 12 hour sunset from the rooftop restaurant. I'd want to visit the cityships of Earth as they cruise through the upper atmosphere, hear the stories from the people there who have lived almost 200 years by that point, and take a trip planetside to see Tokyo, or London, or New York as they had been once before...buildings demolished and recycled, plant and animal life abundant and free-ranging. No longer a planet FOR humans, but a planet OF humans.
That is where I would go.
Carl deSoto
Tough one...there's a few I'd love to visit, and a few I'd love to live in.
If just for a visit, I'd say the space stations and the Martian landscape in The Expanse, or the corporate colony worlds of Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton, or possibly even the lands of elves, dwarves, and men of Middle Earth during The Hobbit or The Fellowship of the Ring.
If it were to live there permanently, I'd likely go with my own setting within Manifold Dreams. It's a bit of an idealized version of what could happen, but I would love to travel between Earth and the three colony planets, see the different creatures on each world, how the cultures have developed, the differences in language, art, and fashion. I'd want to visit the underwater districts of the capital city of Venalara, see the flotillas drifting overhead while I shop in the dim blue light. I'd want to visit the megastructures on Ryla, and see the VR graffiti of the children, visit the top university in the universe, and experience the 12 hour sunset from the rooftop restaurant. I'd want to visit the cityships of Earth as they cruise through the upper atmosphere, hear the stories from the people there who have lived almost 200 years by that point, and take a trip planetside to see Tokyo, or London, or New York as they had been once before...buildings demolished and recycled, plant and animal life abundant and free-ranging. No longer a planet FOR humans, but a planet OF humans.
That is where I would go.
If just for a visit, I'd say the space stations and the Martian landscape in The Expanse, or the corporate colony worlds of Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton, or possibly even the lands of elves, dwarves, and men of Middle Earth during The Hobbit or The Fellowship of the Ring.
If it were to live there permanently, I'd likely go with my own setting within Manifold Dreams. It's a bit of an idealized version of what could happen, but I would love to travel between Earth and the three colony planets, see the different creatures on each world, how the cultures have developed, the differences in language, art, and fashion. I'd want to visit the underwater districts of the capital city of Venalara, see the flotillas drifting overhead while I shop in the dim blue light. I'd want to visit the megastructures on Ryla, and see the VR graffiti of the children, visit the top university in the universe, and experience the 12 hour sunset from the rooftop restaurant. I'd want to visit the cityships of Earth as they cruise through the upper atmosphere, hear the stories from the people there who have lived almost 200 years by that point, and take a trip planetside to see Tokyo, or London, or New York as they had been once before...buildings demolished and recycled, plant and animal life abundant and free-ranging. No longer a planet FOR humans, but a planet OF humans.
That is where I would go.
Carl deSoto
Writer's Block is an annoyance. Mine usually kicks in when I get to a part of the story that I hadn't mapped out as well as other bits. The details just shy from the light. To get past it, I sit down and write a little. Start with "the". You've already written something! Now continue the sentence. Finish the thought. Now finish the paragraph. Now finish the page. Eventually I get past the block and the words flow like water once again.
Carl deSoto
The best thing about being a writer, for me, would be that I can go back and re-read my own stories. I can always re-run them in my head, but sometimes details change over time. Maybe someone's a little taller, shorter, older, skinnier, or their personality was a bit more scathing. Once it's on paper, I can enjoy it like any other book, and the further from the story I get the more I can enjoy immersing myself in a universe I already know so much about.
Carl deSoto
I've heard it before, so I'll simply rehash what worked for me. The best way to write is to write. It doesn't matter what your first draft looks like, it probably doesn't even matter what your fifth draft looks like. Don't do it because you expect to write The Next Big Thing, don't write hoping for renown, prizes, and rains of money...write because you need to get the stories out of your mind and onto the page. If you don't enjoy it, the readers will be able to tell, and it makes for hard reading, so have fun and stop overthinking it.
Carl deSoto
My current project is the sequel to Manifold Dreams, continuing the story of Manik and the crew. Some new friends, some new enemies, interesting locations, and hopefully a little bit of wonder.
Carl deSoto
For Manifold Dreams, the idea developed out of a universe I'd been pondering for quite a while. Originally setup as the playspace for a tabletop paper-and-dice RPG setting, strangely enough. When I got stuck on writing the details, physics, and minutiae of the universe, a friend recommended I write a story set there to try to unlock more information. I ended up with much more than I'd bargained for. The setting is still on the stove, albeit on a back burner, while completing the storyline for this series is taking the lion's share of my attention.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more