The Confabulator Cafe

Author: barista

  • What’s Your Favorite Science Fiction Story?

    Every week we take a peek into the minds of the Confabulators to find out what they’re thinking. This week they were asked What’s Your Favorite Science Fiction Story? and they’ve responded with some classic titles. It’s interesting to note that of all the books mentioned not one on this list published in the 21st century. Admittedly the sampling is small and it’s hard for authors like China Mieville, Cory Doctorow, Gregory Benford, Vernor Vinge, Michael Swanwick and others to compete with the likes of Bradbury and Heinlein and Card. That doesn’t mean there’s not good SF coming out (there is! — we recommend the Year’s Best SF series edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer) but nothing that’s supplanted the masters in our minds yet. Yet.

    Jack Campbell, Jr.:

    Farenheit 451.  People always argue whether or not Bradbury is really a science fiction writer.  Even Bradbury says he is not.  It doesn’t matter.  Bradbury is a great writer and Farenheit 451 seems to get more and more prophetic as the years pass.  It’s a spectacular book with a ton of meaning.

    Sara Lundberg:

    I am a huge Michael Crichton fan. Some of my favorite science fiction stories are books he wrote – Sphere, Jurassic Park, Timeline. They read less like science fiction and more like maybe this kind of stuff is happening just beyond public awareness. To me, that’s what makes them brilliant. I believe in the quote “science fiction will become science fact,” and Crichton has always toed that line. That being said, a more traditional sci-fi story I consider my favorite is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. I read that entire book straight through without stopping.

    Kevin Wohler:

    My favorite SF story? Like there could be just one? Please! Okay, let’s do this by the numbers. I’ll give you my favorite story from my favorite collection by one of my favorite authors. The winner of this prestigious title would have to be the short story “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury. I love all of Bradbury’s work, but this 1952 short story is my favorite. It is a seminal time travel story, one that ends up being referenced in almost every other time travel story. Whenever time travelers discuss the implications of altering the past and mention “stepping on a butterfly,” it’s a nod to Bradbury and this elegantly simple yet captivating story.

    Jason Arnett:

    Stranger in a Strange Land has everything great science fiction requires: aliens, politics, sex, a circus and religion. It’s easily my favorite SF story not just because it’s famous and the name has been associated with all sorts of weird, sometimes sordid, things but because it’s so well written. The characters are palpable, the world is believable and the situations in the story are not all that far from what could happen in the real world. Its commentary on the world of the day it was written in (50 years ago) is just as — if not MORE — valid than ever.

    That said, if you buy me a whiskey some time, I’ll tell you why Inception may be one of the great SF stories ever, too.

    Larry Jenkins:

    I don’t read a lot of sci-fi.  I’m typically more of a horror/thriller guy with the occasional foray into fantasy (both my own and the genre).  But if I’m picking the story that stuck with me the longest, I’d have to say it was Ender’s Game.  I’m assuming this will probably be a popular choice, but the truth is the truth.  I was really drawn to the character, Ender Wiggin.  Not because I have some false belief that Ender and I have anything in common, other than the fact that we both eventually need to be shipped off-world.  Our powers are too great to do anything but ultimately doom humanity.

    Ender fascinated me because he was simultaneously human and alien.  He was lonely and had this burning need to be loved, but at the same time, he was cold and calculating and devoid of attachment when necessary.  He was a freaky little kid, and I would not want my own children hanging out with him.  But he certainly took up space in my head long after I’d finished reading that book.

    R.L. Naquin:

    I love Ender’s Game. I am so excited for the movie I might pee myself during the opening credits. (Just a warning, in case you come to the showing right after mine.) Still, I think I love Ender’s Shadow even more. Reading the same story from Bean’s perspective was fascinating, and I preferred Bean’s series to Ender’s. Orson Scott Card is my hero.

     Aspen Junge:

    Favorite SF series: hands down, Lois McMaster Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan novels. They are action-packed, character-driven, and wise beyond belief. I can only hope to live with one tenth the verve and dedication of Miles and his family.

    Ted Boone:

    A tie between Permutation City by Greg Egan and A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge.

    Muriel Green:

    Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes. The reason I like this story so much is because when I was a kid I worried about dying in strange ways that might make me a ghost. One of the scenarios that terrified me was the belief that if I were struck by lightening while talking on the phone my consciousness would get trapped in the telephone lines. Harlan Ellison’s story is the closest thing I’ve ever run across to my creepy childhood phobia.

  • Have You Ever Written Fan Fiction?

    Fan fiction. The mere mention of it can send people into paroxysms of rage or ecstasy. People either Love it or Hate it, with capital letters. Usually fanfic is the bailiwick of the dedicated fanatic who believes that a story MUST be told, whether it fits into the canon of the world someone else created or not. According to Wikipedia, the first fanfic might have involved Don Quixote. 

    The ultimate fan fiction is probably doing work for hire on a company-owned character. Ask anyone who’s written a Star Wars novel or one of the major superheroes for DC or Marvel and you’ll likely find they were a fan of the characters before they started typing things up. For us, here in the Cafe, every week we get asked a question that may further enlighten or illuminate the week’s topic here. Below you’ll find our confessions as to whether or not we’ve written it and even what we think about it. Pull up a chair and see what you think.

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  • How Much Is Your Writing Like Your Favorite Author’s? (Week of 30 January 2012)

    Don’t try to deny it: everyone who does anything creative is influenced by another who has done something similar before. Sometimes the impetus to pursue a career is as simple as “I can do better than her” or even more basic, like “I wish I could do that like him”. What it takes is the courage to make the attempt. Jedi Master Yoda is famously and often quoted: “Do or do not. There is no try.” We are exhorted to “Just Do It” by Nike ads. But whose lead do we follow?

    For writers, we have to learn at the feet of the masters. Just who those masters are is up for grabs, though. Each person views their own hero as a master, whether or not the rest of the world does. That said, most of the names dropped this week in the Cafe are universally acknowledged as masters of the craft of writing. Many have won awards that are ultimately meaningless. Or are they?

    The Confabulators walk the borderlands between what’s real (coffee, for instance) and what’s not (imagination, as an example). Meshing the two is a lot of work. Creating believable settings for readers to get lost in takes practice, too. And each of us has aped a style made famous by someone else. It’s all part of the process. That said, we don’t take standing on the shoulders of giants lightly. Come in, pull up a seat and see what we mean by that.

  • The First Thing You Wrote

    Creative tendencies often show up in youngsters. If they’re encouraged, they can find a way to blossom soon and the world is graced with prodigies that we don’t need to name as we don’t want to compare ourselves to them. If creative tendencies are left to flower or flounder on their own, it may take years or decades for the person who has such tendencies to realize that’s what they need to do. Creativity must find a way out. 

    Every week we ask the Confabulators a question that may further illuminate the blog question or give you some further insight into our working minds. This week we wanted to know about the first attempts our writers made. You’ll find as wide a variety of answers as there are Confabulators answering the question but a common thread was school. Let’s not underestimate what schools can do for creative people. Perhaps our answers will help you understand why…

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  • How do you go about developing ideas? (Week of 23 January 2012)

    The Cafe is a busy place. There are only a few tables in the small space and all of them have at least one writer at them, working in different ways on different things. Literary Dr. Frankensteins assembling their creatures out of surreptitiously collected parts and amalgamated into something new, hopefully something better. Occasionally you’ll hear one of us shout “IT’S ALIVE” and you’ll see the others look up from their work and smile. We’ve all been there.

    This week the Confabulators offer another behind the scenes look into how their brains work on developing ideas, including when they need to be abandoned. This a rare glimpse into the deeper processes of how a writer goes about writing. Each of us is different and thinks so differently you might be hard-pressed to say that any of us is really talking about the same thing. Take a closer look though. A close read will reward you with deep insights.

    As always, let us know what you think in the comments. Come on in, have a latte, grab a scone.

  • What’s Your Dream Writing Assignment?

    Every week we’ll ask the Confabulators a question that may further illuminate the blog question or give you some further insight into our working minds. This week’s question is one that a lot of writers have stuck somewhere in the back of his or her mind. Not everyone wants to work for someone else, or even write a character that’s not theirs, but certainly there’s something that fires our imaginations. Writers that dream are the best kind.

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  • What tools do you use? What’s your writing routine? (Week of 16 January 2012)

    In a place as diverse as the Confabulator Cafe, you’ll discover a wide range of things on each table as you pass through with your latte. Whether using a PC or Mac the writers type away in any number of word processors or software programs while creating their novels. There are even a couple of Confabulators who have written their novels completely on paper. Most of us take notes on paper whenever inspiration strikes and that’s just as wide a variety of pens, pencils and paper and napkins, too. (The napkins in the Cafe are heavy, 8″x 8″ luncheon napkins, by the way. We spare no expense because ideas have to be captured. There’s also a cup of pens on each table, usually left by previous patrons.)

    So this week, you’ll find what our bloggers prefer to use to write. What may be most revealing is that some of us change, some of us don’t. Routine is just as important as what tools are used. Everyone has his own way of doing things and that’s just how we like it around here. Never mind that sound of crashing cups, saucers and plates. It’s all part of the atmosphere.

  • What’s your favorite genre to write?

    Every week we’ll ask the Confabulators a question that may further illuminate the blog question or give you some further insight into our working minds. This week’s question is “What’s your favorite genre to write?” Sometimes a writer is better at writing one kind of story than the kind of story she likes to read. Below, look for what this group of writers likes to write. For purposes of comparison, feel free to go back and read our bloggers’ thoughts on what books are their favorites to read. 

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  • What’s your favorite book? (Week of 09 January 2012)

    Welcome back to the Cafe. Part of being a writer is being a reader. Every writer’s got one book they go back to for various reasons. (Or maybe not. Several of us couldn’t pick just one book.) Anyway, we’re telling you this week what our favorites are. Maybe some of them are among your own favorites, maybe you’ll discover some new titles you’ll want to read. Hopefully you’ll be entertained by the answers and enlightened when you get to read some of the work our writers are producing.

    We’re glad you’re here for Week 2 of the Cafe. Get something to drink, pull up a chair and feel free to join the conversation in the comments.

  • What Inspires You to Write?

    Every week we’ll ask the Confabulators a question that may further illuminate the blog question or give you some further insight into our working minds. This week’s question is akin to the one that our bloggers pondered: Where Do You Get Your Ideas? People who are learning to be creative, or who want to know what makes creative people tick, ask these two questions most often. Believe it or not, Inspiration doesn’t necessarily come from Ideas. They’re separate things. Ask anyone. Or read on.

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