by S.J. Pajonas
My
mom was the first person to hand over a science fiction book to me. I remember
that moment when she produced CHILDHOOD’S END by Arthur C. Clarke and said, “I
think you’ll enjoy this.” I was already a Star Trek and Star Wars fan, so she
knew what I was into. She understood my need to dream amongst the stars. And
that book? It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Growing up a child
in the 80s and 90s, I spent a lot of time in the library. I can still see in my
head our two local libraries, the two places I spent the most time pouring over
every book in the science fiction section and hoping for something new to pop
out at me. No science fiction book was safe! I read the blurbs on the back
cover, and I paged through the first chapter. Each trip, I took home at least
three or four books and was back in a week for more. I even joined the Science
Fiction Book Club and looked forward to each book sent to me. My appetite was
insatiable.
So it came as no surprise to anyone
when I started writing my own science fiction series, The Nogiku Series and The
Hikoboshi Series. The advice for most authors is to write what you want to
read, and I wanted more adventures in space, preferably with women at the helm.
Because you know what all those stories I read as a kid lacked? Women. I rarely
saw a three-dimensional woman, someone I could look up to. Yet, those stories
still grabbed me, despite the lack of role models. Since deciding to write my
own series, I have focused on women while still paying homage to the great
authors who came before me.
The series I’m writing now
references two of my favorite science fiction stories from my childhood:
Phillip K Dick’s BLADE RUNNER/DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? and Isaac
Asimov’s Robot Series, THE CAVES OF STEEL THE NAKED SUN, and THE ROBOTS OF
DAWN. With androids on the loose in the Hikoboshi Series, it seemed proper to
access the classics and use them to guide me. But I thought, “What if my worlds
had never read those books? What kinds of things would they do the same? What
would they do differently?”
So I took two paths and made Blade
Runner my “positive” guide and The Robot Series my “negative” guide. With
lifelike androids who were so human they needed to be tested, the Blade Runner
model pushed the story along for my heroine, Yumi. She could never tell who was
human, who was android. And her Blade Runner hero, Rin, would devote his career
to figuring out the difference. Choosing the opposite of The Robot Series
model, the Hikoboshi androids would have no rules or laws that they operated
by. It would lead to chaos and upheaval… until the two models could be reversed
and go in the opposite directions at the mid-point of the series.
As someone who loves a good plot
twist, this model has been a lot of fun to work with! And I’m sure I’m leaving
readers with lots of questions and looking for answers that I look forward to
answering as the series progresses. And of course, I’m enjoying referencing my
favorite stories from my childhood.
What
are your favorite sci-fi classics? Have they influenced your choices of current
science fiction to read? Tell me all about them in the comments.
S.
J. Pajonas is the author of the Nogiku Series and the Hikoboshi Series, both
Japan-inspired fiction. She’s a writer, knitter, amateur
astrologer, Capricorn, and Japanophile. She loves foxes, owls, sushi, yoga
pants, Evernote, and black tea. When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about
writing or spending time outside, unless it’s winter. She hates winter. Someday
she’ll own a house in both hemispheres so she can avoid the season entirely.
She’s a mom to two great kids and lives with her husband and family outside
NYC. They have no pets. Yet. When it comes to her work, expect the unexpected.
She doesn’t write anything typical. Find her online at http://www.spajonas.com.
