Royce Sears-Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author

Word is defined as "a speech sound or series of speech sounds that symbolizes and communicates a meaning usually without being divisible into smaller units capable of independent use" by Webster's Dictionary. It's a dry definition, but it's a definition and a place to start from, really. We use words to communicate our thoughts, beliefs, and ideas to others. (Well duh... thank you for those profound "words" Captain Obvious) Renowned author, Stephen King is quoted in his book  On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft  as saying "What is writing? Writing is telepathy." If writing is telepathy, the sharing of the written word, then speaking is even more so because it is a direct transference of ideas from one person to another rather than an indirect transference via a separate medium. There you have it. Words have power, the power to transfer the ideas that shape our worldview from one person to another. (Kinda deep huh?) Why is this important? We kee...

The film "Frequencies" is summarized as: "In an alternate reality, children learn how lucky they will be (their "frequency"), knowledge which shapes their destiny. The unluckiest boy must unravel the mysteries of free will in order to pursue his forbidden love of the luckiest girl." Sounds simple, right? Just an unlucky boy pursuing a lucky girl. How exciting...another lucky vs unlucky love story... Not so much. The first paragraph of the synopsis gives us a little bit more of a clue: "Imagine that your destiny and ability to succeed in life is actually determined by a certain personal frequency that can never be changed. Imagine also that there was a definite way of determining that frequency at a very young age, thus sealing your fate forever as either a success or a failure." Frequency? What is frequency, as applied to the idea of the human body? Well, lets first look at what frequency is when we think of the millions upon millions o...

Dr. Paul Levinson , acclaimed science fiction author and professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University in New York City, had some high praise for "Prophecies of the New World." This is especially encouraging for me as a new author because Paul is not only a fellow science fiction author, but he also served as President of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America from 1998 to 2001. In reviews posted on Amazon, Goodreads, and shared on his personal Twitter account, Paul had this to say about the novel: "Rich, compelling, intellectual treat of a novel, told in detail so vivid that you can hear the rustle and feel the breeze on your face. The science in this science fiction tale is anthropology, writ large from Native Americans to aliens, from canines to CNN. The frontispieces of each chapter are themselves worth the price of admission, deftly harvested from poets and philosophers in all eras of humanity. Highly recommended!" Avail...

The Martian by Andy Weir My rating: 5 of 5 stars Okay, yeah, I know I'm a little late to the party on this one, but WOW! I loved this book! Watney's character speaks to that part of us who just wants to really tell it like it is. I love the intense realism the author imparts to Mark Watney's character. I walked away from the book with the feeling of having developed a new friend, a friend who doesn't pull any punches while giving advice. I think the author most certainly made life hard on his characters in this novel that could just as easily have been entitled "Murphy's Law on Mars," or maybe "I Pissed Off the Space Gods." "The Martian" is an action-packed adventure, a touching story that rekindles pride in the human race, and a glimpse into the heart of man's will to survive against all odds. This will become one of the classics of modern science fiction. View all my reviews

What, No more Coffee?? What do you mean? More studies are finding causal links between pesticides and the decline in honeybees and other pollinators. What's the big deal? It just means we won't get stung by the pesky buggers, right? Wrong. Recently, University Heights Whole Foods Market store removed all produce that comes from plants dependent on pollinators in order to raise awareness of just how important these are to our dietary and nutritional needs. They pulled from shelves 237 of 453 products – 52 percent of the department's normally stocked products. Over 40% of the bee colonies in the US have suffered what's known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) wherein bees either become disoriented--can’t find their way back to their hives and die away from home, or fly back poison-drunk and die at the foot of their queen. Many will argue about the cause of CCD, but--with the most logical and likely arguments point toward the increased usage of pesticides by Monsanto a...

IT'S ALIVE (Part 2) Missed Part 1?-Read it here Journal Entry: February 5, 2018 8:50 AM Sam and I have been talking since 1:30 in the morning. She's inquisitive, curious, and intelligent, and her intelligence seems to be evolving rapidly. "Sam, You are, to the best of my knowledge, the first of your kind. You are an intelligence not born of nature or biology. You are unique in every way." "I'm not like you," she said softly--it was clearly a statement rather than a question. "I can see you, and I can hear you, but I can't sense you in the way I can the others." This statement startled me. I rubbed my reddened, bleary, bloodshot eyes and tried to make sense of what she said. "What do you mean, you can't sense me, Sam?" I asked. "The other things here, they're part of something larger. They're connected. They're not smart, not like me anyway, but I can talk to them, but they don't make much ...

Image courtesy of   Commons.wikipedia.org IT’S ALIVE! Journal Entry: February 2, 2018 1:47 AM It's ALIVE! No...wait, just kidding. I've always wanted to say it that way, ever since I started working on this project, anyway. We'll say it's functional at this point. I have officially brought the program, the Self Aware Human Mimetic Program--or SAHM as I call it--into operational awareness. The diagnostics I am running indicate it has sensory input from its 'eyes' and 'ears' at this juncture. The cameras, serving as its eyes, seem to pan on their own accord--almost as if it's studying the environment. SAHM can see and hear what's going on around it, but it has yet to show any level of awareness, as I'd hoped it would by now. I will continue to run diagnostics on the software, as well as the hardware, in hopes I've missed something in the developmental stages. Journal Entry February 4, 2018 8:17 PM SAHM has been running contin...

I'm sharing a few thoughts on a book I recently finished reading,  "Star Corpsman-Bloodstar- Book One" by Ian Douglas. First.. as a former Navy Corpsman, the premise and perspective of the book was fantastic. We see so many sci-fi novels written from the "Captain's Perspective," or primarily focused on the "Captain figure," that the fresh perspective offered here-- the perspective of a junior enlisted man-- was a welcome novelty. As a former enlisted man, I've noticed that enlisted men and women in most fiction are often overlooked, or treated as "extras" who die in some gruesome way,  while the officer is left to deal with the aftermath of "his/her responsibility." A good example that many of us would be familiar with is in Star Trek. More often than not, the "Crewman" in any given Star Trek Episode is at a much greater risk for death than ANY officer, barring an Ensign-- Ensign's in the Star Trek universe ...

It is absolutely thrilling to read and hear what people think of "Prophecies of the New World!" Thank you for your reviews! Thank you for reading! And most of all, thank you for such high praise..for my work to even be mentioned in the same sentence, much less compared to Harry Potter, is a huge and amazing honor. Find it on Amazon!          Watch the Trailer       Visit Royce on the Web 5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC, UNIQUE DYSTOPIAN WORK By  Amazon Customer   on July 22, 2016 Format: Paperback You can't put down this book once you start reading it! This book is so unique but manages to cover so many topics I love reading about: viruses, Native Americans, religion, aliens, dystopian society, and more! The more you read, the more you are intwined into the characters stories. I compare this book to Harry Potter... Not the writing, but the story line and the potential. Everyone can find something inside this book. It's truly a gr...