On Writing – John A. Underwood

On the Passing of Torches

I was thinking about canon and continuity…

Voidstrider volume three is done! I’m enjoying the fuck out of this celebratory glass of scotch and watching the kitten sleep in her basket. I haven’t had as much difficulty with a book since my first real novel. But the struggle is ended. Revision is always an invigorating, fun process for me. It took longerContinue reading “Voidstrider Update”

Abandoned AU

Let me tell you a little about a parallel history concocted for an abandoned project…

Density of Prose

I have about a hundred pages left on my Dune re-read, and I keep thinking about the writing itself. Herbert knew how to imbue his prose with density. Reading Dune, one is introduced to an entire universe which seems wholly unfamiliar at first blush. Something to the tune of at least twenty thousand years separatesContinue reading “Density of Prose”

Representation Difficulty

I want to show that in my future, there is no longer any culture clash or social stigma of any kind on trans folk. But as a cis male, I must tread carefully.

Impostors

I wrote my first story in April or May of 1989. It was about a mutant shark that had legs and the ability to breathe on land. I called it PAWS. By the end of the story, people are trying to kill the land shark right? But it survives, of course (I was already planningContinue reading “Impostors”