Author: alanirvineblog

Professional Storyteller, writer, playwright, director

Advantages of Limits: Triangulation: Dark Skies

We artists like our freedom. We want to explore whatever ideas intrigue us, follow our inspirations where ever they lead us. We loved being told to “write about whatever you want.” Creative Freedom at last! And yet, we also dread being told to “write about anything you want.” Our minds go blank. Too many choices! … Continue reading Advantages of Limits: Triangulation: Dark Skies →

A Peaceful Apocalypse?

            Shortly after finishing my previous post on the post-apocalyptic comic book Dark Age, I read When the English Fall by David Williams (from Algonquin Books.) The focus here is firmly on telling a realistic story of a community surviving an apocalypse.             Williams starts out with an entirely plausible (and likely) event: a solar … Continue reading A Peaceful Apocalypse? →

An Apocalypse is a Terrible Thing to Waste

I love a good post-apocalypse story. Back in high school in the 70s, I eagerly read the post-nuclear war novels like Alas Babylon by Pat Frank, Maleval by Richard Merle. In grad school, I loved George Stewart’s Earth Abides, about a world where 98% of the population dies in an epidemic. I’ve always been intrigued … Continue reading An Apocalypse is a Terrible Thing to Waste →

Strange God in a Strange Land: Struggling with Heinlein’s Classic, part 2

In my previous post (Reader in a Strange Land), I discussed Robert Heinlein’s classic SF novel Stranger in a Strange Land and how I struggled with the novel’s view of the future until I realized that it is really a view of the past. But even as I worked through that difficulty, I wrestled with … Continue reading Strange God in a Strange Land: Struggling with Heinlein’s Classic, part 2 →