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People write for many reasons. I write because it is in my soul. Regardless of financial 'success' or not, am going to continue to do so. It's a daily duty, taking a laptop to a cafe - like hiring a work table for £3.20 and getiing a coffee for free.
While my work falls into the two main camps, fact and fiction, it all seems to include science, in one form or another. Even the true story about domestic abuse has science, in the form of the technical issues in recording and avoiding equipment being smashed by the abuser - not always successful but successful enough to get the evidence needed.Science is fascinating and science fiction even more so.
In science we can't yet make aircraft cable of Mach 60 but in science fiction we can. Giant battleships displacing 120,000 tons? No problem. Super-strong androids with egos, quirks and ambitions? No problem. Teenagers running around with laser rifles just for fun? No problem, even outside Texas.
Science fiction really is a joy to write. My only regret is am unlikely to still be around when such things become a reality. But hasn't that always been the case. HG Wells wrote about invaders from Mars long before craft travelled between our worlds.
As we look up in wonder at the stars, we see the same stars our pre-historic ancestors did millions of years ago. Sure, we know a lot more about them but can we visit them yet? No, still not yet.
My biggest fear for humankind is our own self-destruction. Look at the damage we have done to the environment in the past 100 years. People talk about saving the planet. The planet will be fine even if we nuke ourselves to smithereens. It is the environment we need to save, along with the life on it. Moon wars coming? Probably. There will always be greed and egos demanding to be fed.
AI? The perfect environment for AI to become a threat to our survival, whether of its own accord or due to deliberate weaponisation, is if it can globally access systems. What are all the major companies in the world doing? Going online and putting more and more things in and from the 'cloud'. It is very rapidly becoming the perfect storm.
Supposedly secure systems are already hacked by determined players. When determined players become self-learning AI - which will never tire, slow down or give up trying to get in. Defence, finance, health, energy, media information - all can be taken over by the malevolent.
Fake news? The University of Facebook (Meta) and the mass of misinformation so many people seem ready to hoover up and accept as fact, without questioning the validity or agenda of the provider. Itcan swing elections, support wars and turn complete untruths into accepted versions of events. Many of those claiming news against them is fake are the ones making fake news themselves - narcissistic projections. Sadly, a lot more is to come and it will become only harder to understand what is real and what is not, unless we really think about it and check the sources/agendas.
As humans, we look for re-inforcement of our views and, if fake news feeds that need, it is all too easy to simply go along with it. It is also very dangerous to do so. Attention to detail not emotive statements is the key to working out what is actually real.
I'll end by inviting you to take a look at my work. Most Fridays, one of the main titles is offered for free as an ebook - ultimately you could read all of it for free. Or you could enjoy the low-priced paid ebooks, or even the paperbacks. What ever you decide, hope you enjoy them.
All the best,
Sam