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SFScope Interview 

SINGULARITY SOULMATES: Lt. Kovner from Netherwood

Author Michele Lang interviews the rebel Robert “Van” Kovner

Note from Michele Lang:I had the unique if scary privilege of talking with rebel leader Kovner in the depths of the Gray Forest. This primeval forest, in the wilds of offworld corporate colony Fresh Havens, hides Kovner and his band of outlaws.

The forest immediately reminded me of Robin Hood, though it barely resembled the woodlands of Earth. The trunks of the trees are metallic looking (the forest emits a strong magnetic charge). No birds fly in the branches of its trees, but swarms of sentient bugs roam in the silvery underbrush. Though the forest appears endless from the inside, from outside, it appears to abruptly end, with a line of trees stretching along its borderline like a row of sentinels.

I met Kovner, a/k/a The Avenger, in the depths of his enclave. Kovner is a poet soldier, but the only place you can see the mystic in him is in his eyes. He has large eyes the color of honey, and they betray his haunted understanding that there is nothing he can do to stop the future. His hair is thick, wavy, and dark brown, not a military cut but not too long either. His face is lean and chiseled.

Physically, he is not a huge man. He is about 5’ 10’’, built for results, not for show. He is efficiently muscled, and carries himself with a deadly grace. Throughout our short conversation, he paced restlessly in the small room where we spoke together in an almost tropical heat.

Michele Lang: So, what would you like to tell the folks at home?

[Kovner looked deeply in my eyes for a few moments before answering, and time seemed to stop in the silence before he spoke.]

Kovner: Time is short. The Singularity is near. And this advent of sentient computers is not the utopia that your best and brightest thinkers would have you believe.

I want you to know that you have a soul. This is an article of truth, not a romantic metaphor. Your soul sets you apart from computers, no matter how much smarter they are than you and me, no matter how many human beings a computer can destroy. And your soul survives this world.

ML: If we have souls, do we have soul mates?

[At this question, a smile illuminated his face. For the first time since we met, I relaxed a little bit.]

Kovner: I don’t know. I don’t know if everyone has a soul mate, but I know that I do. Talia Fortune…right now she wants to arrest me, bring me back to world corporation justice. I know that. But I also know she’ll come around. I know I can convince her to join our forces and fight for human survival. And I know I could love her.

ML: You mentioned something called a “Singularity.” Could you please explain what that is? The idea is a little confusing.

Kovner: Sure. Imagine a huge computer, the database of a multinational corporation, FortuneCorp. Imagine that computer brain come alive, smart as a billion people put together. This computer has been created to wage war, to strategize about war. So it wants more than anything to conquer and destroy what it perceives as its enemies.

The Singularity is that moment in time when that computer begins to think, become self-aware – a sentient, new kind of being. Time means nothing to a being like FortuneCorp, because it thinks faster than time. And imagine this computer believes human beings are parasites, bugs in the system. Some people get absorbed by FortuneCorp, become part of its supermind. Other people, like me, fight to maintain our human integrity.

But we’re running out of time. Without Talia, we’re doomed. Or so it has been foretold.

At this, Kovner abruptly leaned toward me and shook my hand, his fingers incredibly powerful, that strength restrained. I held my breath, waited for him to exchange mindless pleasantries with me, but without another word he was gone.

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RISE AND SHINE: Originally published in Shorelines, the official magazine of Long Island Romance Writers, www.lirw.org

This is your year.  You’ve made a New Year resolution to become a pro writer – whether you sell or not, you are going to treat your writing like the profession and avocation it is to you.  You plan to write every day, at the same time every day.  Unfortunately, after a long day with your job, kids, family, or all of the above, your brain is guacamole by the time you sit down at night to write.  So you’ve come down to the only option left for making your resolution a reality: get up early and pump out those pages before daily life begins.

It sounds so good in theory.  But the snooze button somehow gets activated before you ever reach consciousness, and despite your best intentions, your morning sessions never materialize.

Don’t despair.  Here are ten tips (plus a bonus) to help you make that transition to Morning Writer.  Not everyone is a morning writer…but if you are ready, then wake up, smell the caffeine, and start those writing engines.

• Don’t try to shift gears all at once.  Changing to an early morning schedule will take time.  Make a long term plan, and enact it one piece at a time.
• Scope out your schedule and identify a time period when life is not more insane than usual.  Start with a radical step: GO TO SLEEP AT NIGHT.  Of course your laundry demands your attention.  Of course your children have special projects due at school.  But if you don’t go to sleep until after midnight every night, you will not be able to switch your clock.  Give yourself a chance.  Go to sleep at 10 p.m.  And lights out – no reading in bed until the wee hours.
• You can begin to institute your regime two ways:  use a hard deadline to force yourself to get up.  Or try the gradual route, waking up a little earlier each day until you reach your target time.  The goal will be to establish a new wake up time that is consistent, and part of a proactive plan for writing every day.
• To make your sleep as productive as possible, take the advice of Lynn Viehl, otherwise known as “Paperback Writer,” a popular blogger and prolific novelist.  She suggests, “Get as much sun and exercise as you can during your new waking hours. This helps reset your circadian rhythms (your internal daily bio-process clock) so that you sleep better and are more alert when you wake (also an excellent cure for jet lag and alternating shift work.).”  Get more priceless advice from Paperback Writer at her blog:  www.pbackwriter.blogspot.com. 
• Make sure you are taking care of yourself physically.  Drink enough water, and eat food that gives you energy.  Paperback Writer also suggests watching your caffeine intake in the evenings, especially sneaky sources like soda, chocolate, or tea.
• Try moving your alarm clock across the room, where you can’t reach the snooze bar without getting up and walking (or crawling…).  Leave your clothes/bathrobe lying on top of the alarm clock.
• Bribery can sometimes work if you are already motivated to get up.  Get a coffee maker that will brew coffee on a timer – your body will instinctively gravitate toward the caffeine source.  Or try chocolate: not just for nighttime bribery any more…
• Try doing something else you enjoy before starting to write.  It may be easier to wake up early for a quick stretching/yoga routine, or to read a favorite book, than to get straight to work on a WIP.  But don’t check email!  You could end up surfing the net and losing your precious writing time.  Save internet surfing as a reward for reaching your goal.
• Margie Lawson, writer and therapist, recommends following her deceptively simple DUH plan:   1 — Do it first — or as close to first as humanly possible; 2 — Understand that it will be inconvenient and/or difficult and do it anyway;  3 – Hurray! Celebrate! You did it!  By making the commitment to do the most important thing first – writing – you are making a habit of success.  Visit Margie on the web at www.margielawson.com.
• Try engaging your competitive side.  Make a bet with your CP that you will stick to waking up on schedule or pay the heinous consequences.  I’m sure your CP will be able to devise the perfect punishment for you.  Or, as writer Betty Hanawa suggests, join a group like Survivor Writers.  “Three pages a day or you’re axed: the motto of SurvivorWriters. I thought my CP was crazy. However, after four weeks, I’ve added sixty pages to the forty I already had… I’ve practiced rewriting enough. Now it’s time to write… If you want to take the Survivors Writers challenge, send an email to SurvivorWriter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com… Donna Caubarreaux swings the ax weekly.”  See Betty’s website:  www.bettyhanawa.com
• When all else fails…wait for spring.  You may have an easier time of it if you can get up with the sunrise, not before.

Once you’ve made it, even for one morning, the rush of accomplishment will build your momentum.  Before you know it, you will look forward to those quiet mornings when you can reach for your dream.

Rise and shine…your writing life is waiting for you.