The Guardian Archives

The Guardian in John Scalzi’s advance reading copy pile

I should say up front that this post is a book plug. But it’s also an honest account of what’s been going on in my head since the orange menace was elected and the stock market graph of human progress took a sharp dip.

Three years into the Trump administration, I’m learning how to manage my emotions around the fact that a narcissistic man-child is systematically dismantling everything good about our country (human rights, environmental protections, voting rights and fair elections, a relatively good standing in the international community, etc.), while simultaneously worsening our preexisting national issues (racism, gun violence, massive wealth inequality, expensive healthcare, etc.). It’s an awful situation that has negatively impacted my own well-being (and I’m a relatively wealthy, privileged white male, with plentiful resources; most have it much worse).

The Guardian Book Launch, and a New Published Story

By J.D. Moyer

On October 20

In Creative Work/Career, Writing

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to East Bay Booksellers in Oakland for the launch of The Guardian! We had a full house, the books sold out, and I think I’m getting marginally better at reading my own work (despite some minor microphone malfunctions). Wine, cookies, and pretzels were consumed, books were signed in gold sharpie, and — as far as I could tell — a good time was had by all.

Reviews so far are great, at least in terms of average ratings. I could definitely use more reviews; as of today I only have nine reviews on Goodreads and three reviews on Amazon. If you’ve read The Guardian please take a second or a few minutes to leave a rating or review (both appreciated, including short one sentence reviews). As I’ve acknowledged before, writing reviews is much harder than it feels like it should be, so I will definitely owe you one if you write me a review (feel free to cash in if you need me to water your cat or walk your plant while you’re on vacation).

Reclaimed Earth

The Guardian is exactly what I’m hoping for when I pick up a sci-fi novel – richly descriptive worlds; the scientific elements are advanced and incredible but written in such a way to be plausible and the interesting, generally sympathetic cast of characters are thrust into situations which are exciting and thought-provoking. – Karen Cole (Hair Past a Freckle Book Blog)

If you’re not familiar with my Reclaimed Earth science fiction series, here’s a blurb to give you taste of what’s going on:

In the year 2737, Earth is mostly depopulated in the wake of a massive supervolcano, but civilization and culture are preserved in vast orbiting ringstations. Tem, the nine-year-old son of a ringstation anthropologist and a Happdal bow-hunter, wants nothing more than to become a blacksmith like his uncle Trond. But after a rough patch as the only brown-skinned child in the village, his mother Car-En decides that the family should spend some time on the Stanford ringstation. Tem gets caught up in the battle against Umana, the tentacle-enhanced ‘Squid Woman’, while protecting a secret that could change the course of humanity and civilization.

I’ve had some generous reviews from book bloggers, including Karen Cole who writes: “The Guardian is exactly what I’m hoping for when I pick up a sci-fi novel – richly descriptive worlds; the scientific elements are advanced and incredible but written in such a way to be plausible and the interesting, generally sympathetic cast of characters are thrust into situations which are exciting and thought-provoking.”

The Sacramento Sea

My first ever cli-fi story The Sacramento Sea was just published in Issue #14 of Into the Ruins, a deindustrial/post-industrial/economic collapse magazine edited by Joel Caris. Whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist regarding the fate of humanity (or the fate of humanity’s ongoing “civilization” experiment) it’s useful to imagine collapse scenarios. It’s useful because they are continuously happening (Puerto Rico, Haiti, the U.S. Executive Branch), even if your part of the world is peaceful and overflowing with abundance. My short story imagines a devastating, isolating local environmental collapse in California as the rest of the world continues business as usual. That seems to be the way these things often play out. Of course global economic and/or environmental collapse is possible (and some would say probable), but localized collapses are far more common.

The California inland sea also makes an appearance in my drafted-but-not-yet-finished novel The Savior Virus, and though the short story and the novel don’t share any characters, both works take place in the same fictional world. The levy system that prevents flooding of the bay delta during surges is somewhat precariously maintained, and sustained sea level rise of just a few feet could turn the Sacramento Valley into an inland sea, just as it was during the Great Flood of 1862, and before that as described by Native Americans.

Upcoming Posts

The Benefits of Negative Visualization
Shared Location Tracking Among Bay Area 11-Year-Olds as a Security Measure
Gaming Update

Flash Book Sale, New Interview, and Beautiful Leia

By J.D. Moyer

On August 16

In Writing

99 cents today only (Kindle version)

Science fiction deal seekers, today is your day. My debut, four-star-reviewed novel The Sky Woman is available on amazon and elsewhere for 99 cents. Yep, less than a buck. Grab it here (Kindle version). For you whale readers, it’s Book 1 of the Reclaimed Earth series (Book 2 is out next month, and I’m outlining Book 3).

Rethinking Book Marketing, and Some Quotes from Reviewers

By J.D. Moyer

On June 19

In Creative Work/Career, Writing

A 1970’s artist depiction of a ringstation (from https://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/70sArt/art.html).

Becoming a published science fiction author was a jubilant moment for me, and I coasted on that high for a long time.

But of course everything that goes up must come down. I’ve found my mood and attitude regarding my nascent writing career to be significantly less jubilant now that I’ve struggled with the problem of how to sell more books.

The Guardian Cover Reveal

By J.D. Moyer

On May 7

In Creative Work/Career, Writing

Yesterday I sent my editor Don D’Auria a very-close-to-final version of the manuscript of The Guardian, sequel to The Sky Woman and Book 2 of the Reclaimed Earth Series. I’ve been working on revisions for the past couple of weeks, and it’s been gratifying to re-immerse myself in the minds and lives of the characters (including Tem, the ten-year-old son of Car-En and Esper, and Umana, aka the Squid Woman, the novel’s archvillain).

Here’s the cover!

You can preorder the book here, or at your local bookstore (most Barnes and Noble locations carry the Flame Tree line). The novel (hopefully) stands on its own merits, regardless if you have read The Sky Woman, so you can jump in wherever.

Please feel free to share the word on social media!

In the year 2737, Earth is mostly depopulated in the wake of a massive supervolcano, but civilization and culture are preserved in vast orbiting ringstations.

Tem, the nine-year-old son of a ringstation anthropologist and a Happdal bow-hunter, wants nothing more than to become a blacksmith like his uncle Trond. But after a rough patch as the only brown-skinned child in the village, his mother Car-En decides that the family should spend some time on the Stanford ringstation.

Tem gets caught up in the battle against Umana, the tentacle-enhanced ‘Squid Woman’, while protecting a secret that could change the course of humanity and civilization.

The Guardian, the sequel to the The Sky Woman, is a story of colliding worlds and the contested repopulation of a wild Earth.

sci-fi author, beatmaker

Tag: The Guardian Page 1 of 2

Long-Term Thinking as a Coping Mechanism for Political Insanity (or Why I Write Science Fiction)