Brian Harvey

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Born
Canada
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Martin Cruz Smith, David Quammen, Mary Roach

Member Since
October 2015


I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and currently live on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia. I studied biology and music at university, and ended up opting to be a fisheries biologist. That allowed me to see a lot of the world, especially South America, Asia and many remote places along the British Columbia coast. A lot of people and places from these places have ended up in my writing, which began when I realized my travel notebooks were filling up with great stuff about people, places and plots. I started by writing columns and magazine articles. My first book for a general audience was The End of the River (2008).

I'm lucky to live in a place where I can climb a mountain, fish, play the piano, go sailing and write -- all on the same da
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Brian Harvey Two things. First, he keeps the narrative going, even when he's basically asking the reader to follow a pretty technical path. He uses several techniq…moreTwo things. First, he keeps the narrative going, even when he's basically asking the reader to follow a pretty technical path. He uses several techniques to do this - foreshadowing and direct address to the reader, which works in small doses. The other inspiration is his ability to make a clear argument based on masses of information. Having tried the same thing myself in my non-fiction, I admire someone who's prepared to put in the time with a stack of scientific papers rather than just skim the abstracts.(less)
Brian Harvey When I'm distracted or bereft of ideas, I console myself with the realization that whatever I write can't be 100% awful. So I write a thousand words, …moreWhen I'm distracted or bereft of ideas, I console myself with the realization that whatever I write can't be 100% awful. So I write a thousand words, however crappy they are, get up and forget about it. Usually, some of it is salvageable, and I feel like I've kept up part of the deal with my subconscious (which is, "You come up with the stuff, I'll write it down.")(less)
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Beethoven's Tenth Tokyo Girl
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Cloud Atlas
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