Ask the Author: J.S. Morrison
Answered Questions (10)
J.S. Morrison
A mystery is a puzzle that hasn't yet been solved. A plot for a book would be a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end, structured around the puzzle.
There are certainly mysteries in my life, but I am already writing books around them. The mysteries are not about me, but the human race.
Here are a few things that puzzle me: People who live in alternate realities; People who can take the most bizarre actions and risk everything, based on someone's online post; People who can hold in their head multiple, conflicting conspiracy theories, and see no issues; People who can relegate others to the categories of "inhuman" or "subhuman," based on how they think or look.
These and other mysteries of the human mind provide grist for innumerable books. You'll find some of these puzzles in "The Perfection of Fish," and more of them in the book I'm currently writing, Please let me know if you'd like to be a beta reader for my latest novel, "The Pieces of My Self," which will be published in 2022.
There are certainly mysteries in my life, but I am already writing books around them. The mysteries are not about me, but the human race.
Here are a few things that puzzle me: People who live in alternate realities; People who can take the most bizarre actions and risk everything, based on someone's online post; People who can hold in their head multiple, conflicting conspiracy theories, and see no issues; People who can relegate others to the categories of "inhuman" or "subhuman," based on how they think or look.
These and other mysteries of the human mind provide grist for innumerable books. You'll find some of these puzzles in "The Perfection of Fish," and more of them in the book I'm currently writing, Please let me know if you'd like to be a beta reader for my latest novel, "The Pieces of My Self," which will be published in 2022.
J.S. Morrison
I'd visit Wonderland and have a cup of tea with the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse, looking for insights into human nature and reality.
J.S. Morrison
The last man on Earth sat in front of a genomics modification machine with a tube of fluid poking into his veins. He read from a menu, then pressed a button.
J.S. Morrison
Bayou Farewell: The rich life and tragic death of Louisiana's Cajun Coast, by Mike Tidwell, Vintage Books, 2003
The Emotion Machine, by Marvin Minsky, Simon & Schuster, 2006
The Water Will Come: Rising seas, sinking cities, and the remaking of the civilized world, by Jeff Goodell, Little Brown & Company, 2017
The Emotion Machine, by Marvin Minsky, Simon & Schuster, 2006
The Water Will Come: Rising seas, sinking cities, and the remaking of the civilized world, by Jeff Goodell, Little Brown & Company, 2017
J.S. Morrison
"Writer's block." Hmmm. Is that like a neighborhood I should avoid? I've never walked that path.
J.S. Morrison
The answer to this question depends on the type of writing.
I don't enjoy writing copy for other people, about subjects that don't interest me.
I do enjoy writing novels because I have complete creative control, and I can follow my imagination, pursuing topics in the backstory that intrigue me.
I don't enjoy writing copy for other people, about subjects that don't interest me.
I do enjoy writing novels because I have complete creative control, and I can follow my imagination, pursuing topics in the backstory that intrigue me.
J.S. Morrison
Never give up. If you get rejected, don't blame agents or publishers. Keep trying to improve your writing craft and the story. One of the things that can help is to have beta readers tell you what's fresh and what stinks. Remember that writing is all about re-writing.
J.S. Morrison
I'm working on another speculative fiction novel, tentatively called "The Pieces of Myself."
J.S. Morrison
I get frustrated with reality, and the tension builds until I have to let it out on paper.
J.S. Morrison
My best ideas for fantasy come from reality.
* When the TV sitcom "Gilligan's Island" went off the air, the U.S. government received hundreds of letters from people urging authorities to do more to find Gilligan and crew. This led me to believe the genes for delusion sat close to those for imagination.
* Then there was Yuval Noah Harari's excellent book, "Sapiens, a brief history of humankind." It suggests the success of Homo sapiens may be due to the species' ability to think about stuff that doesn't exist in nature--imaginary things like money and nations and gods and demons. That led to the idea of the "fiction gene" in my book.
* Inspiration also came from odd newspaper stories, like the one in 2003 about a Yiddish-speaking fish--found by a Brooklyn fishmonger--warning about the end of the world. (Thank you, fish!)
* And of course, in these reality-bending times, every day in the news cycle is like living in a Lewis Carroll novel, where many people can believe six impossible things before breakfast.
* And then we have organizations like Clonaid. To quote from Wikipedia, it is a "Canadian-based human cloning organization" with "philosophical ties (to) the UFO religion Raelism."
* Another hard-to-believe outfit is the National Rifle Association (NRA), an organization that believes the world would be safer if more people carried military-grade assault rifles.
Thank you, world, for the inspiration. Some stuff you can't make up.
* When the TV sitcom "Gilligan's Island" went off the air, the U.S. government received hundreds of letters from people urging authorities to do more to find Gilligan and crew. This led me to believe the genes for delusion sat close to those for imagination.
* Then there was Yuval Noah Harari's excellent book, "Sapiens, a brief history of humankind." It suggests the success of Homo sapiens may be due to the species' ability to think about stuff that doesn't exist in nature--imaginary things like money and nations and gods and demons. That led to the idea of the "fiction gene" in my book.
* Inspiration also came from odd newspaper stories, like the one in 2003 about a Yiddish-speaking fish--found by a Brooklyn fishmonger--warning about the end of the world. (Thank you, fish!)
* And of course, in these reality-bending times, every day in the news cycle is like living in a Lewis Carroll novel, where many people can believe six impossible things before breakfast.
* And then we have organizations like Clonaid. To quote from Wikipedia, it is a "Canadian-based human cloning organization" with "philosophical ties (to) the UFO religion Raelism."
* Another hard-to-believe outfit is the National Rifle Association (NRA), an organization that believes the world would be safer if more people carried military-grade assault rifles.
Thank you, world, for the inspiration. Some stuff you can't make up.
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