Writing Fiction While the World Crumbles
In a social media post last year, I jokingly wrote:
Some writers like to get feedback from alpha readers and beta readers. Alpha readers read a book early in the writing process, sometimes before there’s even a complete draft. Beta readers read a complete draft and give feedback on what’s working and what’s not working in a book to help the author find ways to improve it.
But I’m different. I’d like to find some omega readers: people who will read my book after the collapse of civilization while Brother Matthias wages a war against the last vestiges of technology and Charlton Heston tries to create a vaccine from his own blood.
It doesn’t feel quite like a joke anymore. The world is a mess. But I firmly believe the human race will eventually craft a civilization not unlike what the most hopeful science fiction has imagined for us.
Politics and economics will be part of getting there, but I suspect transformation in these areas will follow transformation in human hearts. Small acts of kindness, justice, courage, and love add up and can become greater than the sum of their parts. So our little actions each day are not just important; they’re foundational.
Literature also has a unique role to play here, and that’s why I’m spending most of my energy these days on writing stories that are honest about how shitty things are now, but that also shine an honest ray of hope.
Latest Publication
Analog Science Fiction & Fact is part of the foundation of science fiction literature. The magazine has been around since 1930. And now, for the second time, it has published one of my stories. Last year it published “Money, Wealth, and Soil”, and the May-June 2025 issue includes my latest short story, “Interconnections and Porous Boundaries”. The story explores impostor syndrome, human interconnectedness, and the ways we take for granted the awe-inspiring complexity of the natural ecosystems that sustain us.
https://lancerobinsonwriter.com/ stories#porousboundaries
A Small Request
If you’ve read Chasing New Suns and enjoyed it, I’d appreciate if you were to write a review on Amazon, indigo.ca, or whatever online bookstore you use, or, if you don’t use any, then a review in the online reader community goodreads.com. Reviews help boost an author’s discoverability.
Book Bundle
For the speculative fiction gluttons out there, Arc Manor Publishers has assembled an ebook bundle that includes my short story collection Chasing New Suns.
I’m honored to be invited to be part of this bundle along with fabulous speculative fiction writers and editors like Robert J. Sawyer, Stephen Kotowych, David Hankins, Martin L. Shoemaker, Mark Leslie, and others.
The bundle works like this: On July 11, the site will open for orders. You can choose the basic bundle of 5 books or the extended bundle of 18 books. You can find the complete list of books in the two bundles here: https://www.arcmanorbooks.com/bundle
My short story collection is only included in the extended bundle. But even if you already have a copy of Chasing New Suns, check out the bundles anyway. There’s so much good stuff there, you may want to get one of the bundles even if you already have some of the titles it includes.
Events
In March, I had a table at a book fair in Stratford, Ontario. My daughter lives there, so doing the book fair was a good excuse to go spend a couple of days with her.
For those of you in or near Thunder Bay, on Saturday July 19th, Indigo is hosting its annual Local Author Showcase from 1:00 to 5:00. I’ll be there with 13 other northwest Ontario writers.
This newsletter is also available as a pdf.