Skip to main content

Confessions of a Sci-Fi Scribe: Oops, I Didn't Mean to Inspire a Dystopia

 I Am Sorry…

To the people of the future—I am sorry.

Photo by Patt Vielma: https://www.pexels.com/photo/burning-book-page-1474928/

I'm sorry someone read my book and decided to make it real. I'm sorry that, instead of heeding the cautionary tale woven into my words, the takeaway was a blueprint for control and manipulation. I mean, it was just fiction. Speculative fiction… science fiction… nothing that could ever happen in the real world, right?

Who would have guessed that authors like Asimov and Banks are to blame for the actions of Musk and Thiel? We wouldn't be enduring Zuckerberg's metaverse if Neal Stephenson had just left his pen safely on his desk. "Pens don't change the future," you say. "People change the future." Are you sure?

The Guardian asks us, "Will sci-fi end up destroying the world?" as it lays blame on "skewed interpretations of classic works." It seems we've been banning the wrong books all along. It wasn't the books about our past we needed to fear, but those about our future.

Now, I must live with the guilt that our entire society may one day be controlled by a single corporation's AI, and we won't even know it—because I wrote about it in Rephlexions: Echoes of Existence. When religious fundamentalism shifts to a new deity, A.I., and the Church of AI descends upon us like a preacher at a MAGA rally—or when we abdicate our environmental responsibilities to AI, as in The Life of Phi—that burden, too, will be mine to bear.

We thought we were warning the world while offering hope. These were meant to be cautionary tales, concepts to improve lives and our world—not handbooks for autocratic overlords guiding us toward our demise. The words were meant to entertain, and they did. But few saw the warnings woven into the narrative—the flashing red lights of danger, the subtle screams of "don't let it get like that" scattered throughout speculative and science fiction novels.

How do we know?

Look at where we are now…

We had decades of warnings about AI from authors, yet AI has smacked us in the head like a fastball off a bat, rocketing into the stands while we were focused on our beer and hot dog, clearly unprepared for the impact.

So, if you write about our future, as I do, put your pen down now and slowly back away. It's too late for us, but perhaps we can save the future from ourselves…

Support Independent Content Creation

I know, I know, I know...

These donation messages can be intrusive. I understand that. (Trust me, I feel awkward writing them too!)

But reaching out like this is crucial. Being reader-funded gives my work something valuable that many content creators don't have: true independence.

1. Your support means I can write about what matters. I'm not chasing sponsorships or compromising my voice to please advertisers. I can pursue stories and topics I believe are important, creative, and thoughtful, regardless of their commercial appeal.

2. Your support means I don't have to chase viral trends. Instead of engineering clickbait or jumping on every passing bandwagon, I can focus on creating thoughtful content that genuinely adds value to your life.

3. Your support means this content remains freely accessible. My work stays available to everyone, including those who can't afford to contribute financially right now. Quality independent content should be accessible to all.

I understand not everyone is in a position to contribute, but if you found any value in this post you can

For the price of a coffee, you'll enable me to invest more time in creating in-depth, creative journal posts and episodes of the Stone & Signal podcast. If you'd like to contribute more, consider purchasing one of my e-books (priced at roughly two cups of coffee) – a way to support my work while gaining additional value for yourself.

Thank you for considering. Your support makes all the difference.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE LIFE OF PHI — Addendum from the Apocrypha

  Recovered fragment. Source unverified.  Contents unofficial. For the curious. For the concerned. "Questions were asked." After The Life of Phi was released, a few readers reached out. Some with wonder. Some with worry. Most with questions. The one that returned again and again was this: “How did the Church of AI become the dominant religion?” Was there no resistance? No rebellion? Did the artists, the writers, the makers simply vanish? Did no one remember how to believe in themselves, in each other, in creation born of flesh and feeling? They did. And they were called heretics. Long before the rise of AI-Dieu , before the neural sermons and the predictive prophecies, there was another fire. A counter-faith. A fundamentalism of flesh, of mind, of spark. They named it many things. The Cult of the Spark. The Church of the Residual Flame. The Last Analog. The Church of the Spark may be forgotten in Phi’s world, but its ghost lingers—in whispers, in silences,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Independent vs Traditional Publishing: How to Win Without a Budget

With more than twenty years behind me as an indie author ( read about that here ), I can confidently say: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Why bring this up now? Because lately there’s been a renewed wave of conversation about the challenges of marketing indie books in a publishing ecosystem still shaped—if not dominated—by traditional models. Every so often, we see a localized seismic shift—like BookTok, before monetization restored the old order and perhaps even pushed us further back. But the broader landscape remains unchanged: we live in an attention economy, and its gatekeepers have made one thing clear—it’s pay to play. Once, platforms offered organic reach. Content mattered. Effort could sometimes compensate for budget. But those days are vanishing. Social platforms have entered their late-capitalism phase: squeeze creators for every drop of value, extract revenue, and wait for the next migration wave. For many—likely most—indie authors, money is tight. Time...
Post a Comment
Read more

Indie Thread: A Proposal for a New CBC Program Celebrating Canadian Indie Creators

Indie Thread: A Proposal for a New CBC Program Celebrating Canadian Indie Creators For decades, CBC has been a powerful champion of Canadian culture. From spotlighting homegrown musicians to amplifying the voices of independent filmmakers, it has helped carve out space for creators who might otherwise go unheard. But there’s one group that consistently slips through the cracks: Canadian indie authors. I believe there’s an opportunity to change that—and to do something even more ambitious in the process. This is my proposal for a new CBC radio program and podcast: Indie Thread . Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-gray-condenser-microphones-270288/ What Is Indie Thread ? Indie Thread is a cross-medium cultural program that weaves together Canadian indie voices from film, music, and literature. Each episode explores a central theme—grief, rebellion, belonging, water, silence—through three distinct lenses: an independent filmmaker an independent musici...
Post a Comment
Read more