Since I started the introduction to Contemporary Musings: Sixteen Contemporary Stories from a Sci-Fi Writer with a confession, I’m going to start this blog post with a different confession.
Writing about your writing is hard. Take this volume, where the stories span multiple genres and nearly a decade of my writing, how do I say something short and pithy about them all that will let you know if it’s your kind of book or not?
Not sure, but here goes:
Like all of my story collections this one is themed and there is something that binds them together (besides me, the writer) and that is these are contemporary stories.
To be more specific, a lot of my stories take place in contemporary settings with something extra (like ghosts or powers), these are contemporary stories that are neither sci-fi nor fantasy. These sixteen stories are about our world, the one you and I are living in.
These are also some of my most personal stories. Sometimes when I write, I’m exploring something or going through something, and that was the case for many of these and that makes them, in my opinion, some of my best short stories.
There’s a big mix of genres here: romance, coming of age, mystery, drama, and some that just aren’t easy to classify. If you enjoy my sci-fi and fantasy, there’s something in here for you.
Here’s the blurb:
Contemporary Musings
What happens when you take the fertile imagination of a science fiction and fantasy writer and apply that to modern, contemporary stories? In these pages, Robert J. McCarter does just that, applying the wit, compassion, and character-oriented approach of his sci-fi work to stories a little closer to home with stunning results.
From what happens after “happily ever after” reaches its inevitable conclusion, to a tender coming of age story (or two), to a mouse-eyed perspective on human-sized problems. This collection runs the gamut from mystery to romance, from light to dark, from familiar to unique.
Buckle up for an extraordinary journey as McCarter masterfully blends sci-fi sensibilities with contemporary narratives, delivering a mesmerizing collection that defies convention.
