I've been researching marketing for promoting my books. I've found out that I have to have a brand. In other words, I need to figure-out who I am and what I stand for as an author and what I'm conveying in my books. I think I have it: science, REAL science.

As a Materials Science Engineer in Aerospace I've been working in the field of cutting edge R&D for over a decade, and I know what is real and what is very far out (or ridiculously stupid or defies the laws of physics, etc...).

One of the great things about writing science fiction is that I get to research the latest trends in some fascinating subjects. Then the magic of imagining where/how/when the technology will get implemented and how it will affect society takes over.

Some of the things I'm learning about are so close to being realized and I'm not sure people understand the consequences. Often engineers don't think about the full consequences of implementing new technology, or they are unable to predict the full outcome, or they simply can't see beyond the problem they are trying to solve.

For instance, today I learned that an autopilot car hit a pedestrian and now they are pulling back on implementing the technology. Because of something the engineers didn't think of in the design. Small things that we don't think of can have major affects.... can delay technology for decades or even prevent it from being realized completely or at all.

Even more interesting is when something is invented and it changes the entire world... like the internet or the light bulb or airplanes or democracy. I would like to invent something that changes the world for the better, unifies humanity and makes everyone just a little happier and more satisfied with life in some way.

In my writing I mostly want to entertain people. But, maybe if enough people read my books they can have discussions together about the technology and maybe, just maybe, I will inspire some brilliant engineer to make something amazing. Ripples in the ocean make waves. :)

Becoming a writer is like marrying my artistic (storyteller) side with my analytic (researcher) side. Which works because I've always felt a bit split down the middle (am both a left brain and right brain thinker).

I've been putting quite a bit of nostalgia of older technology into my second book (it will be out soon, I promise). I came across some of my old artwork and thought I might share it. The inspiration was from my beginning computer programming class. It also represents the artist/engineer split that I have.

Hope you like it. :)
Binary Hello World by H.A. Burns