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Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith

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Category Archives: Dystopia

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Stuck in the Elevator with the President of the World

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on May 22, 2023 by Michael D. SmithJune 19, 2023

Still working on the snappy, one-phrase, brand-defining pitch you’re supposed to have ready when you find yourself riding an elevator with the CEO of Random House. But all I have are concepts culled from various web interviews over the years, … Continue reading →

Posted in Character Images, CommWealth, Dystopia, Marketing, Novels, Science Fiction, Writing, Writing Process | 1 Reply

Are You Ready for AI Authors?

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on July 28, 2022 by Michael D. SmithJune 19, 2023

This is not really a review of How to Market a Book: Overperform in a Crowded Market by Richard Fayet, free on Kindle, but the book is a useful guide and it did inspire further thoughts on something I’d been … Continue reading →

Posted in AI, Dystopia, Essays, Marketing, Publishing, Self-Publishing, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

Asylum and Mirage: The Draft 2 Milestone

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on June 17, 2022 by Michael D. SmithJune 17, 2022

A naïve and disconnected artist gives a party to celebrate his success, only to find himself drafted that same night into a mindless war against the Reunion, an apparently unstoppable army of hallucinatory consciousness. I’ve finished Draft 2 and closed … Continue reading →

Posted in Asylum and Mirage, Caspra Coronae, Character Images, Dystopia, Literary, Novels, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

Progress: Asylum and Mirage and the Title Change

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on April 25, 2022 by Michael D. SmithApril 25, 2022

Caspra Coronae is now, halfway through its second draft, Asylum and Mirage. Hanging the essence of a novel on its title is important, and while Caspra Coronae has a lovely sound, it doesn’t convey anything about this novel, and would … Continue reading →

Posted in Asylum and Mirage, Caspra Coronae, Dystopia, Novels, Writing, Writing Process | 1 Reply

Walter’s Farewell Soliloquy–to Himself and to Draft 1 Caspra Coronae

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on February 26, 2022 by Michael D. SmithJune 17, 2022

When I recently re-interviewed the main characters of Caspra Coronae, it became obvious to all of us that Walter’s evil machinations and his over-the-top, humiliating death were merely dull plot. And that in fact the entire Part 2 of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asylum and Mirage, Caspra Coronae, Dystopia, Interviews, Novels, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

The Damage Patrol Quartet: Four Stories

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on December 23, 2021 by Michael D. SmithDecember 23, 2021

A feckless young architect falls in with a sixteen-year-old’s dubious trucking venture. Drug-addled Randy bemoans his fate as a slave employee in New Fascist Australia. An archeologist arrives on a tiny artificial gravity platform to give a scholarly lecture to … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Comedy, Dreams, Dystopia, Literary, Perpetual Starlit Night, Science Fiction, Sortmind, Stories, The Damage Patrol Quartet, Twisted Tails, Writing, Zarreich | Leave a reply

Interview with the Burlcron/Mercer/Singletree

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on August 3, 2021 by Michael D. SmithJune 17, 2022

As recorded May 30, 2021 at Smith Writing Studios. Alfred Moid Burlcron, a major character in my novel The Soul Institute, emerged as a recurring archetype as I prepared for the novel Caspra Coronae. I interviewed him just after speaking … Continue reading →

Posted in Asylum and Mirage, Caspra Coronae, Character Images, Dystopia, Interviews, Novels, The Soul Institute, Writing, Writing Process | 1 Reply

Caspra Coronae Draft One Blast-Off

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on July 3, 2021 by Michael D. SmithJune 17, 2022

What is This Thing? There were no longer any issues blocking the fiction, and I began Caspra Coronae on June 24. I finally realized that although my plans are incomplete, whatever is unresolved is just going to have to come … Continue reading →

Posted in A Writing Biography, Asylum and Mirage, Caspra Coronae, Character Images, Dystopia, Interviews, Literary, Novels, Tarot Cards, Writing, Writing Process | 2 Replies

Collapse and Delusion, The Seven of Cups, and Unexpected Redemption

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on November 30, 2020 by Michael D. SmithNovember 30, 2020

The ongoing stylistic cleanup of the Jack Commer, Supreme Commander series continues, with Collapse and Delusion, Book Four, just republished by Sortmind Press: Amazon paperback Amazon eBook (Kindle format) Smashwords eBook (multiple formats) Collapse and Delusion picks up from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Character Images, Collapse and Delusion, Dystopia, Editing, Excerpts, Jack Commer, Nonprofit Chronowar, Novels, Publishing, Science Fiction, Sortmind Press, Tarot Cards, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

Nonprofit Chronowar Redux

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on November 24, 2020 by Michael D. SmithNovember 27, 2020

Former space pilot Joe Commer inadvertently time-travels from 2036 Mars to wreck the first 2028 conference of the Committee to End Suffering on Planet Earth, scaring the nonprofit delegates with tales of the imminent breakdown of the solar system and … Continue reading →

Posted in Dystopia, Jack Commer, Nonprofit Chronowar, Novels, Publishing, Science Fiction, Sortmind Press, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

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Recent Posts

  • Supreme Commander Laurie: Draft Two Territory
  • Supreme Commander Laurie, Draft 1: Completed
  • More New Drawings
  • The Characters Table
  • What If?
  • A Writing Biography, Part V: Space, Time, and Tania through The University of Mars, 1974-1982
  • The Unknown Ending for The Martian Marauders
  • Online Interviews and a Resuscitated CommWealth
  • Supreme Commander Laurie Gets Underway
  • The Exoskeleton

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Archives

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Recent Comments

  • A Writing Biography, Part V: Space, Time, and Tania through The University of Mars, 1974-1982 – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on The Exoskeleton
  • A Writing Biography, Part V: Space, Time, and Tania through The University of Mars, 1974-1982 – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on Homage Part 1: Farewell to The University of Mars
  • A Writing Biography, Part V: Space, Time, and Tania through The University of Mars, 1974-1982 – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on An Archeological Excavation of Akard Drearstone, Draft 1
  • What If? – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on Supreme Commander Laurie Gets Underway
  • A Writing Biography, Part V: Space, Time, and Tania through The University of Mars, 1974-1982 – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on A Writing Biography, Part III: Unhappy Kid Interlude, Yet Two Novels, Sort Of

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Michael's books

Why Meditate: Working with Thoughts and Emotions
4 of 5 stars
Why Meditate: Working with Thoughts and Emotions
by Matthieu Ricard
WordPress Web Design for Dummies
4 of 5 stars
WordPress Web Design for Dummies
by Lisa Sabin-Wilson
Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End...
5 of 5 stars
Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End...
by Philip Plait
Using Joomla!
3 of 5 stars
Using Joomla!
by Ron Severdia
Serpent's Tooth
5 of 5 stars
Serpent's Tooth
by Toni V. Sweeney
On a cruise Melissa bonds with an older man, Travis, who turns out to be a famous celebrity in hiding from a once successful life. But by degrees we become aware that his enormous success came at the price of bonding with demonic forces...

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