simondlr #22 - Pre-Order "Hope Runners of Gridlock"!
Hi friends!
Happy to share that pre-orders are open for my debut novel: “Hope Runners of Gridlock”. It’s currently being edited and a tentative release date is set for October 24th.
It's about finding hope in a cyberpunk city with radical markets. If you enjoy a story whose characters deal with issues of belonging, hope, truth, and choice that take place in a near-future city with novel economic systems of power, then you will enjoy this novel.
More information and pre-order links available here: https://blog.simondlr.com/posts/hope-runners-of-gridlock
To those that have already pre-ordered, thank you!
I’m really proud of what I’ve written! I hope you will enjoy the world and characters I inhabited for the past 2 years.
—
It’s all definitely been a strange journey. To go from a small idea in July 2018, to releasing the story 2 years later. It feels monumental, yet also small when compared to prolific authors like Stephen King. Do they remember their books? Do they still feel it is monumental to finish one? Perhaps it’s like Bob Dylan when he thinks back on the songs he wrote, uncertain of how he did it.
“I don’t know how I got to write those songs,” Dylan said in 2004, apropos of “It’s Alright, Ma.” “Try to sit down and write something like that. I did it once, and I can do other things now. But I can’t do that.”
As someone that enjoys the creative process as much as the outcome, I’ve documented this process into a companion guide which is included in the bundle. Going from writing blog posts for 10 years to writing my first novel? What did I learn? What would I do differently next time? Why did I write this story?
Over time, I will release this companion guide into blog posts! I’ve learned a lot and hope to share it.
Most of all. I’m excited for you all to read it!
Links!
Metamodernism in Sci-Fi
Metamodern is a ‘structure of feeling’ that is ‘characterized by “the oscillation between a typically modern commitment and a markedly postmodern detachment.” It’s been big inspiration for the novel and what feeling I wanted to leave with the reader. This article takes a look at Metamodernism themes in sci-fi. Notably, looking at films like Arrival, Interstellar, and Her.
Web3 Sustainability Loop
Trent penned down a great article that takes about the nature of web3 networks and *why* they work. It’s also a good understanding of how to model these networks yourself, if you are aiming to build or partake in one.
Ethereum is a Dark Forest
Taking cues from my favourite sci-fi trilogy: “Remembrance of Earth’s Past”, Dan Robinson details a harrowing account of trying to retrieve someone’s funds on Ethereum. Any profitable movement on Ethereum can be monitored and sniped by a monitoring bot.
Porter Robinson And The Creative Process
Porter Robinson is one of my favourite musicians. This interview is a great behind-the-scenes look on that creative process. We need to remind ourselves to play.
Conviction Voting Pilot!
Conviction Voting is a great governance system first pioneered by the BlockScience team, and promoted through Commons Stack. It works by weighting votes over time, which helps protect against certain kinds of governance attacks. Aragon is now testing it.
Conversation with Lisa Tan on Bonding Curves, and Harberger Taxes
I spoke with Lisa Tan, who has a really great YouTube channel on crypto-economic designs. She really gets it, and it was great riffing with her.
The Ownership Economy & Interdependence
Jesse Walden from Variant Fund talks the ownership economy with Mat & Holly from Interdependence. Interdependence is also a really excellent podcast. Definitely worth a listen. Recent discussions includes guests such as Bruce Sterling (a cyberpunk pioneer) & Nico Perez from Mixcloud. Throw some support on Patreon too!
That’s all for this edition!
Remember to watch a sunset. :)
Take care,
Simon
