Lawrence Nault's Journal

Some words arrive unexpectedly—unattached to any story, yet too vivid to be left unwritten. Over time, I’ve found myself collecting these fragments of poetry, pieces that don’t belong in my novels but still deserve a life of their own in the world. My blog has already welcomed one of these wandering verses, but  Fragments of Frost and Fire  is a home for these untethered creations. A space where fleeting thoughts and deeper reflections take form, shaped by ice and flame, stillness and fury, life and loss. Some will stand alone, while others may one day find their place in larger works, but all will linger here, waiting to be felt. Wounds That Won't Heal  You flinch, As It cuts deep, Opening you up, Exposing the nerves, Every wisp of air, Flowing over the wound, Triggering those exposed nerves, Ramping up that pain.   But it’s only for a moment, You hope, As you close up that wound, Wrapping it tightly, So no one can see it.   Someti...

I’ve always leaned toward traditional publishing practices when it comes to beta and ARC readers, so my circle of readers is small — but their feedback is invaluable. The insights I’ve received so far have been thoughtful, detailed, and deeply encouraging. Here’s a glimpse of what a couple of my early readers had to say about The Life of Phi : One reader described the experience like this: "I wasn’t expecting The Life of Phi to hit me the way it did. What drew me in wasn’t just the worldbuilding or the plot — it was the writing itself. The language is lyrical, almost hypnotic, especially in the sections narrated by the water itself. Those passages felt like poetry — fluid, unpredictable, and powerful." They went on to highlight the symbolic use of water as both a life force and a destroyer — a metaphor that deepened the novel’s tension. As Quinn reflects on the AI’s growing influence, the weight of those water metaphors builds. Sahara’s destructive path mirrors a raging ri...

Introducing: Fragments of Frost and Fire Some words arrive unexpectedly—unattached to any story, yet too vivid to be left unwritten. Over time, I’ve found myself collecting these fragments of poetry, pieces that don’t belong in my novels but still deserve a life of their own in the world. My blog has already welcomed one of these wandering verses, but Fragments of Frost and Fire marks the beginning of something more—a home for these untethered creations. A space where fleeting thoughts and deeper reflections take form, shaped by ice and flame, stillness and fury, life and loss. Some will stand alone, while others may one day find their place in larger works, but all will linger here, waiting to be felt. The first poem under this theme is The Slow Bloom of Ice , a meditation on death not as a sudden force, but as something that seeps, grows, and takes hold from within. The Slow Bloom of Ice  It flows in all life, A pure, primordial element, From which life emerges, The sus...

 "Through writing, I strive to transport readers to another world, to merge their mind and heart with another being, to inspire, motivate, and deepen understanding. To earn my place in this world by living modestly through this work alone—this is my dream, my goal, and my honor." – Lawrence Nault If you have seen the documentary “ Echoes of a Hermit ” then you already know writing has always been a part of my life. That combined with necessity and perhaps some need to control my own work is what led to me entering the world of what is more commonly known as indie publishing. Nearly 20 years ago, I took my first steps into self-publishing. I wanted to get my stories out into the world, and I didn’t see anything publishers were doing that I couldn’t do myself. I started with children’s books (Squirrel Tales, Wolf Tales, and Bear tales, later expanded to a YA sci-fi (Loma – A MacIver Kids Adventure),  and eventually wrote political fiction (Jubilee). At the time, self-publishin...

 When I set out to write "The Life of Phi" (coming April 22nd), I didn’t expect to find a hidden poet inside me. But as I explored the themes of the environment, AI, and humanity, I found myself drawn to the voice of water as my narrator. Water became my storyteller—fluid, ever-changing, and deeply intertwined with existence itself. While the book itself is not poetry, water's perspective emerges at the beginning of each chapter in the form of a poem. The words spilled onto the page in a free-flowing form, refusing the confines of rigid structure. It was as if this voice demanded to be heard through poetry. This unexpected discovery stayed with me as I moved on to my next work-in-progress. I thought I could weave this poetic voice into the fabric of my new story, but it resisted. It belonged elsewhere, in its own space, with room to breathe. That’s when I realized these poems—this series I’ve come to call "Whispers Between the Worlds"—deserved to stand on their ...

  Thoughts on AI and Creativity: Transparency, Ethics, and the Changing Landscape Artificial intelligence is transforming industries, and the creative world is no exception. As an author who writes about AI in my fiction, I pay close attention to its real-world developments—not just for research, but to better understand its implications, complications, and ethical dilemmas. I want to take a moment to be clear about my own approach to AI, how I use it, and how I think it fits into the broader conversation around creativity. How I Use AI in My Work I do not use AI for writing. My words, stories, and characters are my own. However, I do use AI as a research tool. AI-assisted searches can often provide results in a single query that might take multiple standard searches to uncover. This efficiency allows me to spend more time crafting my work rather than sifting through endless pages of search results. In my novel Rephlexions: Echoes of Existence , one of the main characters is an...