2010-02-01

Unlike Star Wars, SSC hinted at a much deeper premise such as the one espoused by the masterful narrative on race relations of Star Trek.

2010-02-02

greatly acknowledges the big two and many others, but SSC needed to stand on its own. First, the setting's backdrop mirrored current times.

2010-02-03

To me, Modern Science Fiction meant: not post-apocalyptic nor neo-technological. SSC envisions today's world with legitimate space travel.

2010-02-04

It is not, however, a dig against "blaster guns" and "space aliens". Some are ashamed, but we came from those roots as did smart phones..

2010-02-05

believes the story was and will continue to be told intelligently with those elements inside of it. Nothing in SSC is used as a crutch.

2010-02-06

My use of Hard Science Fiction as a descriptor will get me into trouble. Hard refers to "cussing" and "violence" not strict interpretation.

2010-02-07

It was either "Hard" or "Hardcore", and I felt that "Hardcore" was too long plus gave off an erotic connotation - not bad but misleading.

2010-02-08

Those who know of my activism and/or my philosophies can vouch for my credibility in being able to write powerful Feminist Science Fiction.

2010-02-09

Now SSC is not man-hating feminism or feminism that clings to one issue while turning its back on sexism. It is of the fair-minded variety.

2010-02-10

has to save the juicier tidbits of his ideology for the novels, but here we must briefly divert to the discussion on racism versus sexism.

2010-02-11

When a hostile alien looks down upon Earth, they don't see black or white. Their weapons happen to be colorblind and only see "Human"..

2010-02-12

has an idea of what race many of the characters are, but most of the times not - as it is ultimately irrelevant to the storytelling.

2010-02-13

That is the true power of books. If some little girl reads SSC and believes Marileva looks like her, who am I to dash that aspiration?

2010-02-14

So yes, race plays a big part in SSC but at a much larger and less petty scale. I don't have the luxury of ignoring the sex of characters.

2010-02-15

Instances of grouped character generality allow for it, but that one alien race neither male nor female will be a fun challenge to describe.

2010-02-16

Because of the current climate of cultural differences, highlighting and playing off of contrasts between the sexes makes for a great story.

2010-02-17

Dark Science Fiction refers to the fact that SSC is an incredibly messed up story that is getting worse as far as the stakes are concerned.

2010-02-18

The story is evil, so from the characters to the scenarios they find or put each other in, a tinge of dark humor needed to be sprinkled in.

2010-02-19

likes how SSC manages to be self-aware without overly poking fun at itself - conscious of the irony but not giving in to juvenile slapstick.

2010-02-20

felt it necessary to lighten the mood. After all, SSC wasn't slated to be a drama, but there was this new affinity for the word 'gritty'.

2010-02-21

New and Original Science Fiction went without saying but rounded out SSC's Sci-Fi descriptions: Dark, Feminist, Hard, Modern, New, Original.

2010-02-22

Without ruining the story, other keywords included Alien Invasion, Interplanetary War, and Interstellar Conflict - all are fairly obvious.

2010-02-23

Not quite as obvious, from the discussion thus far, is the keyword Mobile SpaceStations which differentiates SSC versus stationary types.

2010-02-24

It's an important distinction, but at the risk of not making the title sound like anime, I chose not to include the 'mobile' part within it.

2010-02-25

The SSC moves! I am pretty impressed with the technology and design. As interaction occurs, the ship becomes larger in a figurative sense.

2010-02-26

The SSC's physical dimensions are fixed until the decision to retool, but a simple literary trick makes the internal compartments infinite.

2010-02-27

In fact, the main nurturer of the protagonists, SpaceStation Colt (the ship), will become as important a character as those she protects.

2010-02-28

still remembers Roman and Marlena's wedding. That moment forever turned me into a hopeless romantic, so I needed to include the element.