From Robots to Aliens and Witches, the Sci-Fi Genre Is on a Roll
Sci-Fi is slamming it in popularity and NHWP authors are onboard! NHWP is presenting its second event in the Speaking Of series featuring a panel discussion on Saturday, May 14 from 4:30 to 6 PM — “Sci Fi: Reaching the Outer Limits of Great Storytelling” If you miss it, you’re in luck. It is being recorded and you will be able to access it in the future through NHWP’s vault of recorded webinars and events.
We caught up with two of our NHWP Sci-Fi authors, E. C. Ambrose and Robert P. Murphy to chat about their experiences, influencers and work in the genre. We hope you enjoy these two NHWP member spotlight articles.
Nashua Author Aspires to Reach Mars
E.C. Ambrose, a prolific Sci-Fi author who makes her home in Nashua, NH, once asked an astrophysicist friend why he went into the field. He replied that reading Ray Bradbury’s books made him want to go to Mars. “When I read Bradbury, his work had a similar effect: he made me want to help people believe they could go to Mars,” said Ambrose.
Ambrose first began writing simple stories in second grade. At the ripe old age of eleven or twelve she knew she wanted to be a writer; it was just a matter of working at it. And she has followed that plan ever since. Her latest book, Drakemaster hit bookshelves on April 14, 2022. Like most of her books, Drakemaster lies within the niche of historical fantasy. The setting is 1257 AD and involves an ancient map carved in a cane, a disgraced descendant of Chinggis Khan, and a secret Chinese society in a desperate race across medieval China to locate a clockwork doomsday device.
Ambrose, most inspired by authors Mary Doria Russell, Ray Bradbury, and Peter S. Beagle, is currently working on her next book. “It is set during WWII,” she said. “It is about a young Lithuanian who learns the secret art of animating machines with magic, and uses it to raise a warship sink by a U-boat.” Such is the imagination of the author who also recently finished up her trilogy of books in the Dark Apostles series. “I choose among my inspirations the project I think my readers will be most excited to have,” she said.
“Of the protagonists/villains in my books, my favorite is Brigit, in the Dark Apostle series. She is fighting for the right of her people, the witches, to survive,” said the author. “It’s just that she’ll sacrifice anyone and anything else to succeed.” When asked about her favorite hero in her work, she replied, “Hamish, in The Forest of Bone, who, as a rat shape-shifter, never believes he was meant to be the hero.”
When not writing books, Ambrose educates other writers on topics ranging from craft to book marketing.
Merrimack Man Living with Uncommon Compulsion
John P. Murphy leads a quiet and somewhat ordinary life in Merrimack, New Hampshire, except for the robots, that is.
Murphy readily admits to a life-long fascination with robots, which drives his dual career path. He holds a PhD in robotics and works in machine learning and network security by day. By night, he is a sci-fi author whose stories often center around robotics. “The author Isaac Asimov was a very early influence on me (together with Star Trek: The Next Generation), not only as I grew up to be an author fascinated with robots, but as an engineer who pursued a PhD in robotics,” he said.
Murphy says he has always been a writer, beginning in first grade. In high school, he dabbled in playwriting. “But, it wasn’t until after I finished grad school, and had the experience of working hard toward a goal, that I got serious about becoming a better writer.”
“I’m pretty eclectic and my influences are all over the map,” said Murphy. “I would consider myself a success as a SF/fantasy author if I could be favorably compared to Terry Pratchett, Diana Wynne Jones, or Hayao Miyazaki — people who have managed to perfectly blend wild fantasy, keen insight, and great kindness into their work.”
Murphy enjoys writing mystery plots in fantastic settings and peppers humor throughout his work. His first book , a novella, The Liar, originally appeared in the Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy and later became a standalone. It was nominated for a Nebula award for best novella the year it came out. “It’s set here in New Hampshire, and I’m still very happy that I got the voice and feel right for the book. It has a gentle sense of humor and laid-back pace that can be hard for me to get right,” Murphy said.
Murphy creates memorable characters such as his favorite villain from Red Noise, John Feeney. “He’s a slick old gangster, a little past his prime but with a lot of tricks up his sleeve,” said Murphy. “His sense of humor even as everything came apart for him made it a lot of fun to keep writing his scenes.” Murphy’s favorite protagonist is Andy Baldwin from his novella Claudius Rex. “He’s a private investigator working (grudgingly) with an obnoxious artificial intelligence. I had so much fun writing his dialogue and the way he and the AI manipulated and needled each other but ultimately found a kind of friendship.”
The author is currently working on two new books in parallel. One features a small crew of scientists on a deep space science station who are disrupted by the unexpected death of one of their colleagues. When rumors arise that the colleague’s death was not accidental, but murder, an investigator who is terrified of space travel is sent to unravel it all.
“My work has always involved a lot of humor, so I can really only reliably write for people with the same weird sense of humor I have,” quipped the author.
On May 14, 2022, Murphy and Ambrose will be among a group of sci-fi writers in a moderated discussion presented by New Hampshire Writers’ Project (NHWP). NHWP, a writers’ professional organization, has recently introduced a new series called “Speaking Of…” “Sci Fi: Reaching the Outer Limits of Great Storytelling” is the latest conversation in the series and will be moderated by Jeanne Cavelos. Other sci-fi authors participating are James Patrick Kelly, R.W.W. Greene.
