Technologically Speaking
As I reread my old short stories to publish here, I noticed a trend where they started as more horror/suspense stories but evolved into more techno thriller style. I'm a bioengineer in my day job, which keeps me up to date with a lot of new science and tech. Maybe the two are related? As I go about my day, I get lots of story ideas that are inspired by the journal and science news articles that crossed my path.
On a related note, my current WIP started as an Ocean's Eleven or Antman style heist, but has transformed during the plotting phase to be more techno thriller. And getting back into novel writing also inspired me to dust off the techno thriller first draft I wrote years ago, but not the drafts of other genre stories.
Maybe I'm a techno thriller writer at heart?
I can get into that.
My ideas often start with an article, and then I extrapolate. How would the world in 20 years if this tech pans out? In some ways, techno thrillers are near future science fiction stories that appeal to a wider audience.
I do enjoy the fantasy setting, but when I set about to write A Clockwork Murder, I imagined what a fantasy world would evolve into after many years and the introduction of technological advances. Toying with that idea was one of the best parts of writing that story. Currently, I'm incorporating magic into the modern world, but I'm treating magic like a new science discipline rather than a hand waving plot device.
I'll leave you with a few articles that sparked plot ideas for me. For more, follow me on Mastodon. I post them there.
-A report about using AI to enable fusion reactors to operate longer. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07024-9 Nothing could go wrong pairing AI with a reactor that puts out more energy than it takes to run it. Right?
-After a person dies, some cellular machinery continues to function, and in fact, the death causes some genes to turn back on. Naturally they are referred to as zombie genes: https://www.the-scientist.com/unraveling-the-mystery-of-zombie-genes-71458 Fungal zombies are done! Bring on the genetically engineered zombies! Or better, how's this title: "The Good News is You're Immortal..."
