The Making of "Snips"

Summer's over! But that just means that I'm one step closer to finally completing my collection of dystopian science fiction stories, "In-Futura". I'm now on to the final five stories in Part III: Meaning. The first story in this series explores the meaning of human nature and the role of our DNA's SNPs, or "Snips".

The primary inspiration for "Snips", like many of the stories in In-Futura, was an article that I'd read about a current trend in science, technology, and society. In this case, the article, called "DNA diviners: Valuable service or dangerous novelty?", told the story of DNA diviners, and the perils of knowing too much about your inner genetic nature through quick DNA analyses. My biggest takeaway from the piece, however, was the predicament that these tests put the counsellors responsible for reporting someone's results in - how would the patient respond? What would they do? How will the information change their lives?

The Making of "Borrowed Time"

As the summer comes to a close, my work on the short stories of "In-Futura" continues. Specifically, I've been focused on finishing the final three stories in Part II: Longing. The final story in this series is the compelling journey of an autonomous military robot that gets a taste of true freedom in "Borrowed Time".

The premise of "Borrowed Time" is inspired by a current movement that is sweeping through the U.S. military: a movement away from on-the-ground human reconnaissance and combat and towards remotely-controlled surveillance and strike operations using autonomous and semi-autonomous airborne drones. Based on various rumblings and rumours, fully-autonomous ground-units aren't far behind. What really interested me about this, however, wasn't necessarily the machines, but the dynamic that must exist between a robot given the opportunity to make its own battlefield decisions and an officer half a world away attempting to maintain overarching control...

The Making of "Across the Metaverse"

As the summer goes on, my work on the short stories of "In-Futura" continues. Specifically, I've been focused on finishing the final three stories in Part II: Longing. The second of the new additions is a weird tale about a doomed romantic connection in a virtual world, "Across the Metaverse".

"Across the Metaverse" was originally inspired by the idea of social networking "tribes". Depending on what social network you're logged into, your personality, how you behave, and how you present yourself changes. For example, on LinkenIn, people are all consummate professionals, on Twitter, people spread shallow thoughts and gossip, on Facebook, people are the ultimate socialites. What if I could set a love story within the context of this world of culturally-distinct social networks? What if I adapted one of the most famous love stories of them all: Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet?

The Making of "Mail Order Bride"

As the summer goes on, my work on the short stories of "In-Futura" continues. Specifically, I've been focused on finishing the final three stories in Part II: Longing. The first of the new additions is a chilling, personal horror story called "Mail Order Bride".

"Mail Order Bride" was inspired by two related ideas and trends. The first is the idea of "homophily" which literally means "love of the same or self". It's when like attracts like - when we are attracted to someone because they are similar to ourselves. The other trend is that of online dating sites and matchmaking services, which help their users find and filter their potential matches according to their exact specifications. What if I took these ideas to the next level? Would it be beneficial to those looking for love - or scary?