Jason LaPier’s UNCLEAR SKIES is out today – this is Book Two in Jason’s incredible, darkly funny space opera THE DOME TRILOGY. He’s guest blogged for us today on what inspires him as he writes.
Hello, there! I’m delighted to be able to show off a small part of my writing space today. This photo is the area right above my monitor, on the desk where I do much of my writing. Whenever I’m deep in thought, my eyes drift up to this magnetic pinboard, which has all kinds of bits of personal inspiration. If you’ll indulge me, I’d love to give you a quick tour!
- Flyer of the cover of my debut novel, Unexpected Rain. I’m still head-over-heels for this image.
- Futurama postcards. Who doesn’t love Futurama?
- Space eye candy. Imayhave an obsession with astro-imagery.
- List of Common Rejections (notes from a writing workshop). These were so painful to learn that I crumbled them up, then later saw the value in them and flattened them back out and put them up. I’ll list them here for clarity:not connecting with character, predictable, lack of urgency, little market appeal, convoluted, not realistic. Ahhh! Don’t read them all in a row like that – you really have to space them out! But seriously, they are helpful reminders during the revision process.
- A card from when I was born, that says “We have a new tadpole in our frog pond.” My mom recently found this and gave it to me. I know I don’t call enough, Mom, but I still think about you all the time.
- Love letter from my wife. It was included in a care package she put together for me to take on a plane when I had to take a very difficult trip across the country a few years ago. My wife and I are similar in that we get stuck in our own heads a lot. This letter is a constant reminder to seek her support when I need it, and to provide my support when she needs it.
- Hand-painted card from an artist friend. This abstract piece helps me keep an open mind when I’m trying to turn on the creativity!
- Press release from when I signed with HarperVoyager. Even published authors doubt themselves whenever they get in front of the keyboard, so a little validation doesn’t hurt.
- Falling Water, house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I got to visit this place once when I was a kid. This house sits on top of a waterfall! Coincidentally, my wife studied architecture andFLWis one of her idols.
- Dungeons and Dragons style “character sheet” for a microbrew called Critical Hit. It’s about as nerdy as you can get, and I love it.
- Vintage star map from National Geographic, published in 1970. This thing is gorgeous, and it’s packed with tons of little factoids about the planets in the solar system and the constellations in the night sky. It’s a funny thing, really. I stare at it when I’m deep in thought, usually about writing, and usually about writing sci-fi. Someone put a lot of time and care into designing this thing, fueling the imagination and curiosity of a world still riding high on the moon landing a year before. The result is an object both scientific and artistic. But in today’s world, all this information is on the Internet; there’s no reason to put it on a poster. In some ways it saddens me, but the tradeoff is that now I have this kind of information and much more at my fingertips. And technological progress relentless marches on. Thoughts like these are the reason I must ask of you, my friends, to forgive me when my writing dips into “vintage” sci-fi on occasion. I’m no luddite – I live and breathe bleeding-edge technology – but sometimes I relish a retro escape.
UNCLEAR SKIES is available for £1.99 here in ebook format. If you haven’t had the chance to read UNEXPECTED RAIN yet, it is available here.
