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S.C. Jensen

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I’ve been on a bit of a non-fiction kick lately. Usually I don’t have much patience for reading about the real world, but in writing my SF trilogy THE TIMEKEEPERS’ WAR I have been asking myself a lot of questions about why people group themselves the way they do. I’m particularly interested in class divisions and how access to money and resources can shift the balance of power. And, of course, what happens when oppressed people revolt. 🧠 I started writing this trilogy about 15 years ago and the world seemed like a different place then to me than it does now. Part of that is that the world was different. Part of that is that the explosion of social media hadn’t yet enlightened me to the real people outside my personal bubble of experience. Yes, I watched the news and discussed headlines with my university classes in an academic kind of way. But social media, for all it’s faults, helped to personalize global events in a way that standard news couldn’t. 🧠 So writing book two, GHOSTLIGHTS, was a different experience for me than writing book one. My cultural exploration (albeit fictional) has become less theoretical and more personal. And conversely, my reading has led me back to theory. 🧠 Diamond’s GERMS, GUNS, AND STEEL isn’t quite a compulsively readable as Harari’s SAPIENS, but it is excellent food for thought. The specifics of environment and ecology to human evolution has me rethinking some aspect of my story. If an accident of geography accounts for the domination of the West in our world, how might environmental changes tip the scales in the future? 🧠 Are there any other #jareddiamond fans out there? What was the last non-fiction book you read? 🧠 #yuvalnoahharari #germs #nonfictionbooks #humanhistory #virus #culturalanthropology #sciencefiction #speculativefiction #rebuildtheworld #solarpunk #upheaval #collapse #humanevolution #classism #economics #economicdevelopment #economiccollapse #shiftingperspectives #antiracism

I finally finished Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy! One benefit of being sick is that I have gotten a lot of reading done. This fiction series actually paired very well with Yuval Noah Harari’s non-fiction duo SAPIENS and HOMO DEUS, which are the last two books I’ve read since coming down with bronchitis a few weeks ago. 🦠 Atwood is probably *the* greatest influence in my decision to become a speculative fiction writer. Those gears really started churning after I read ORYX AND CRAKE the summer after I finished high school. That book really unsettled me in an, at the time, indescribable way. The near-future setting was as plausible as it was disturbing (the science in Atwood’s SF is always drawn from real world experiments and studies). But what scared me most was the way I identified with her morally repugnant characters. This was the first book that really taught me how good writing can make a reader empathize with even the most unlikely heroes (and villains). 🦠 Fast-forward seven years and I had still not read THE TEAR OF THE FLOOD (2009) or MADDADDAM (2013). But I decided to reread the first book in order to see if it still held the same power for me. 🦠 If anything, ORYX AND CRAKE was even more brilliant than I remembered. Life experience added some depth to my perception of the book’s themes, and I actually found myself liking those anti-heroic characters even more the second time around. I had no choice but to order the next two books and finish what I started so many years ago. 🦠 I’m often not a fan of series’. Even trilogies can lose some of their sparkle without significant character development and thematic evolution. But not only did Atwood maintain the strength of the first book through the trilogy, she managed to add layer upon layer of intricately woven details that make the finished product feel multidimensional in a way few writers (in my experience) can pull off. 🦠 One of the best things about reading this trilogy at this stage in my writing career is that, while I admire Atwood intensely I can also see where my themes diverge from hers despite being heavily influenced by them. 🦠 #amwritingsciencefiction #speculativefictionwriter #books

Have you ever read a book that shook you to your core? That completely rearranged the way you view yourself, your place in the world, the world itself? 📚 SAPIENS and HOMO DEUS by Yuval Noah Harari have changed me. I don’t say that lightly! SAPIENS looks at the past 70,000 years and draws out macro patterns hidden in our history: biologically, socially, culturally, politically, it covers everything. Then HOMO DEUS explores our relationship with other animals, ecological systems, and computers to speculate about the future of our species. 📚 As a speculative fiction writer, I found Harari’s observations and the questions he poses to be invaluable. He has given me language to better describe the themes I am exploring in my own writing, and he has also inspired new ideas and directions for me to dig into. 📚 But I think every human could find something valuable in this vision of our history, particularly HOMO DEUS which gives us some insight into the future. Will we evolve or will we become obsolete? 📚 #yuvalnoahharari #sapiens #homodeus #thesingularity #singularity #writersofinstagram #scifibooks #scifiwriter #amwritingsciencefiction #womenwritingfiction #sciencefiction #sciencememes

May, why are you doing this? Is it to make me feel better about being laid up on the couch? You really didn’t need to. I’m quite happy with getting some reading done, even if I’m literally coughing my guts out. You did not need to go to these lengths. Please reconsider! ❄️ I know we aren’t the only ones getting hit with spring flurries. How is the weather where you are? ❄️ #snowday #snowinmay #springsnow #mothernatureisdrunk #ameeading #bronchitissucks #atleastitsnotcovid

Meet Rootbeer, the cutest reading buddy ever! You’ll have to swipe to see the book itself. I have IG priorities. • For those of you who saw my post a month ago, we brought Mama cat and her one barely surviving kitten into the house after she gave birth during a cold snap at the beginning of April. Baby is thriving and seems to have adopted us all as her litter mates. • I’m feeling a bit better finally, although my cough hasn’t really improved. I’m starting to have energy again. Yesterday was the first day in almost a week that I didn’t sleep more than I was awake! I’m so grateful to have had my husband home to take over al the parenting duties so I have been able to rest. That’s not a luxury I usually have when he’s on the road all the time! • Now that I’m conscious during the day I have been devouring SAPIENS by Yuval Noah Harari. It is such a fascinating and engaging read! If you haven’t read it and are at all interested in cultural anthropology, you must track down a copy! • As a writer, I find these kinds of books useful as well as interesting. It gives you an invaluable perspective on human relationships, cultures, and societies that can help you to make your fictional worlds make sense. • What are you reading? Do you have a favourite non-fiction subject matter? Mine are anthropology and neuroplasticity! • #kittensofinstagram #newbornkitten #rescuekitten #barncatsofinstagram #sapiens #yuvalnoahharari #anthropology #culturalanthropology #amreading #anwriting #amwritingsciencefiction #amwritingscifi #womenwritingfiction #meetwritermoms #booknerdigans #bookreview #humanbeings #blackcatsofinstagram #witchycat #historian #humanhistory

My 6.5yo daughter writes “secrets” in her unicorn diary every morning. This is the extent of my homeschooling efforts at the moment. 🦄 Katie: What makes the sound "oy" - Me: That depends on the word. It could be O-I or O-Y. What word are you trying to write? Toy? Boy? - Katie: Destroy 🦄 This is how I know I’m raising my kids right. 🦄 Did you keep a diary as a child? 🦄 #journaling #bujo #bujoinspiration #deardiary #amwriting #amjournaling #writerslife #writingcommunity #homeschooling

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