As an author, and fan of the pulp-fiction genre (1898 through the late 1950s), whether it’s science fiction, noir detective, western, or sword and sorcery, my stories are often a fusion of two or more of these sub-genres with a modern perspective.
As a dilettante researcher (UFOlogy, alternate
history, genetics, physics, geography, anthropology, etc.), I conduct
research on the various subjects in my stories, but only as necessary and with just enough
depth to serve the story. To an author, "story is king."
Now that I’ve finished writing my short story collection, Fan of the Genre, I'm working on my first planned series, 51 Ghost Town. It's based on an idea I had for a graphic novel, 51 Silverton, a mysterious silver
mining town bordering Groom Lake, and within the boundaries of Americas most
famous secret base, Area 51. I'll continue to work on short stories here and there for a third anthology, and may revisit K'Zarina if the muse strikes.
...because—we were that one child in every class, that child with a stack of books fresh from the library, books on science, math, history, psychology, philosophy, art, anatomy, and more importantly—a stack of paperback novels (Many of us also love our comic books, and gaming, but those are for another discussion).
We may be alike, and often our book stacks might overlap, but we're also as diverse and multivariate as our books. Many people think we’re a dying breed, those who prefer books to social media and electronic devices, but they’d be wrong. We’re no luddites, nor do we eschew social media and technology, just that we prefer to read. Story drives our world. It gets people excited, from the multi-billion-dollar industries of films and television, to building and design, to medicine, to space and exploration.
One well known contemporary example of us is Elon Musk of SpaceX (and Tesla, The Boring Company, Starlink, and Neuralink, etc.), who has included several seminal works in science fiction and fantasy as having influenced him, including, Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings.
It may bore you, but if you're interested, my book stack almost always included, but was not limited to, any combination of the following: Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Orson Scott Card, Raymond Chandler, Arthur C. Clarke, Michael Crichton, Lester Dent, Philip K. Dick, Sir Author Conan Doyle, Philip José Farmer, Neil Gaiman, Walter B. Gibson, Zane Grey, Ursula K Le Guin, Robert A. Heinlein, Zenna Henderson, Frank Herbert, Robert E. Howard, Elmore Leonard, Louis L’Amour, C.S. Lewis, H.P. Lovecraft, George R.R. Martin, Anne McCaffrey, Michael Moorcock, Larry Niven, Andre Norton (aka, Alice Mary Norton… who knew? ;-), Ayn Rand, J.K. Rowling (yes, even I was infected with the Potter craze ;-), J.R.R. Tolkein, H.G. Wells, and so many more.