Hugh Howey

WRITE MORE

2015 was kind of a slow writing year for me. I have a deadline to meet at the end of February, and more books to write after that. The more I write, the more you get to read. I plan to accomplish this by…

SURFING THE INTERNET LESS

Sorry, but this is a polite way of saying “spend less time on social media.” I’m not going away, but every word I type on Facebook is one word taken away from my work in progress. Added up (and it ADDS UP!), this forces me to work longer days to meet deadlines, and ultimately takes time away from…

SPENDING MORE TIME WITH FAMILY

There’s no reason for me to be writing during family time on weekends. A few hours in the morning by choice is still fine. I like to write every day, even if just for an hour or two, and I can do that in the early morning hours when most of the house is asleep. But spending most of the weekend days writing to meet an easily achievable deadline is not healthy or fair to the most important parts of my life. Same goes for weekday evenings. Cutting out social media related event time is one way to help with this, the other is…

DEVELOP A BETTER SCHEDULE

The cross country move threw what I considered a tight schedule WAY off track. In military terms, it did not survive first contact with the enemy. No more of that. The first thing I’m going to do every morning is stretch out with the 5 Tibetans (Hugh Howey introduced me to these—check out the video), fix a coffee, and spend an hour walking and WRITING on THIS CONTRAPTION! I’ll be up early enough to do all of this and hang out with the kids before they head to school. Then it’s off to the gym or out for a run. I plan to spend to be at my other desk by 9AM. I’ll probably see the treadmill again before the end of the day whistle blows between 4-5PM. If I hit 3K words before 4-5PM, I’M DONE.

EXERCISE MORE

My new routine will ensure that I exercise more. The concept of regular exercise took a vacation in 2015. My goal for the year is to be in as good or better shape than Alex Fletcher from my Perseid Collapse Series. That may sound kind of strange, but I have a reason for this goal. I write a lot of post-apocalyptic, prepper-related fiction where characters are constantly fighting for their lives. It’s over the top stuff for sure, but it really drives home an important point. What’s the point of readiness and prepping, even for a minor emergency, if you’re too out of shape to execute your plan?

I chose Alex Fletcher, because he wasn’t a physical super star. He could run 4-5 miles at a decent pace, carry a pack on an extended hike, swim several hundred yards against a mild current and sprint around shooting at the bad guys for a few minutes without vomiting. That’s all I’m looking for. And I wouldn’t mind NOT looking like a tub of $#@! in vacation photos. The lens doesn’t lie! While more exercise will help, shedding the FAT weight equivalent to a rucksack helps even more. For that, I plan to…

EAT HEALTHIER AND EAT LESS

More on this later. The food plan doesn’t start until January 5….and I have BEER waiting in the fridge.

WHAT ARE YOUR RESOLUTIONS FOR 2016?

When I started to write a review for Hugh Howey’s sensational bestseller WOOL, I found myself with writer’s block. I never get writer’s block. So much has been said about the WOOL series that I struggled to find something new to say…maybe it’s not possible at this point. Hugh Howey is an inspiration to Indie writers like myself, as he continues to slug it out in the trenches, despite the wild success of this series. If you enjoy dystopian science fiction or apocalyptic stories, you can’t pass this one up. Destined to be a classic? I think so.

What more can be said about Hugh Howey’s WOOL, right? I suspect readers have just barely scratched the surface. WOOL is a delightfully wicked post-apocalyptic story, packed with an even flowing, inexhaustible supply of cleverly crafted allegorical and symbolic devices. From the Silo itself to the division of classes, Howey develops an irresistible world with a jarring number of eye opening parallels to our own pre-apocalyptic existence.

Beyond this lies an engaging dystopian science fiction story, filled with intrigue, deception and hope. The deeper you dig into the series, the better it gets, though I have to admit that the first book in the series was by far my favorite. The job of Sheriff within the Silo reminded me of Sean Connery’s role as Marshall O’Niel, in the early eighties sci-fi classic Outland.

I agree that Howey’s Wool is destined to be a science fiction classic in the same vein as Heinlein, Bradbury or Asimov. I know this sounds lofty, but Wool has all of the suspenseful, thought provoking, well-developed elements that drew me into the science fiction classics. I look forward to future installments of the Wool series and to catching up on Howey’s books.