As a teenager, I became interested in science fiction, not because of the science - but because of the imagination of the whole genre! I was a young boy living in rural (and Republican) South Dakota. In that state, imagination was not only discouraged but viewed with suspicion. After all, what did it have to do with making a living? Well, sigh, as a very near-sighted boy, what choice did I have but imagination? I couldn't play sports worth a damn because I couldn't see worth a damn. I was smart but not as smart as the "brains" in the school. So, what I had was imagination....imagination to escape a small rural town via the stars, the galaxies, and the universes depicted in science fiction! Through the short stories and novels, I could take part in unlimited travel and meet the strangest individuals (like myself, as any teenager thinks) and participate in wildly improbable (but scientifically underpinned) adventures. To this day, many people still think of science fiction as a "ghetto" of literature. I can't count the number of individuals who've sneered at my reading preferences, and for a long time it really bothered me. Then, I realized that that kind of snobbery prevented them from taking part in the grand voyage of the imagination that is science fiction, and they are the poorer for it. At its best, the genre presents breathtaking ideas and vistas, and I, for one, love to be part of that genre! Even now, after Lasik surgery and elimination of near-sightedness and astigmatism, I see farther than my sight allows thanks to science fiction! Next time, I talk about the science fiction (and other) writers who influenced my own writing! See you then! - Steve

The Cosmic and the Personal

In this blog, I promised to tell you about the philosophical approach behind my writing of the military science fiction series The Misadventures of Fragger Sparks (3 books so far). By philosophical approach, I mean how I addressed the chasm between the personal and the cosmic that exists in all science fiction stories. One the one hand, you have the epic story tellers like Asimov, Benford, et.al, who paint their words on canvases as large as galaxies and universes. On the other, you have the Zelaznys, Nancy Kresses, et. al. who stress more the impact of ideas and technology on the individual. I chose the more personal route for the Fragger series for a simple reason; few of the combat stories I've read in science fiction seemed to have little to do with actual combat. By that I mean that I never tasted the mud, smelled spilled-open intestines, or felt the mind-numbing fear of facing an enemy. (Note: I was in the Army but never in combat: however, I listened closely enough to my friend Dan's stories as a Vietnam medic over the years to realize that few SF writers were getting the real experience of war down on paper.) Joe Haldeman and David Drake probably do science fiction combat stories better than anyone. So, if anyone serves as a model for me, it's those two. My particular fictional tactic to emphasize the brutal reality of combat was to thrust Fragger Sparks into a future where he didn't understand the weapons, the people, or the political situations. He has to learn painful lessons along the way, but, being an Army Ranger, he's highly adaptable and able to apply his skills and experience to (almost) every situation he encounters. And, of course, it's all very personal to him!...Next week, I'll tell you why I became interested in science fiction in the first place. Hint: It had nothing do with science! - See you then.

The Inspiration of a Bullet Between the Eyes

In the last posting, I promised that I'd tell you how my best friend, Dan, survived a bullet between the eyes in Vietnam and lived to serve as the model for "FraggerSparks," the hero of my three (so far) military science fiction novel series, The Misadventures of Fragger Sparks.

Here's how it happened: Dan (a medic) and his unit got into a firefight with the enemy. His commander asked him to get some smoke grenades to mark a landing zone for the helicopters. Dan scrambled on his hands and knees to get those grenades, and that's when the sniper caught him. The bullet angled down out of the trees, tore through his mouth, and lodged in his throat. Because of the steep angle, the round never hit Dan's brain!

However, it did knock him back up against a tree. Head wounds bleed like mad which caused a second problem. His concerned buddies kept trying to lie him down on the ground, but when they did that, the blood pooled in Dan's throat and choked him. He couldn't speak at the time, but, after several times, he convinced them to leave him sitting up. Soon after, he was medi-vacced out by helicopter.

As you might expect, there were serious injuries. They had to extract the bullet very carefully because it was lodged next to the carotid artery. Then, Dan lost his sense of taste and smell for a long time afterward, but it gradually came back as the taste buds repaired themselves.

Like Fragger Sparks, Dan had (and has) the remarkable ability to get in the damned situations (a bullet between the eyes!) and yet survive them! For a writer, he serves as quite an inspiration!

In the next blog, I'll tell you my philosophy behind the fictional approach to the Fragger Sparks series. See you then!

Steve

Who's "Fragger" Sparks and Why Does He Have Such a Weird Nickname?

Welcome to the first "Fragger Sparks" blog! I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce this fictional character, myself, and, at the same time, do some musings and maunderings on writing and science fiction!

First things first! - Jonathan "Fragger" Sparks is the hero of my three-book (so far) military science fiction series. He's a U.S. Army Ranger transported 600 years into the future as a "Rerun," human "trash" used for menial and dangerous jobs.


Naturally, this doesn't sit well with the proud Ranger, and after the future kicks him around for a while, he kicks back - hard. His nickname "Fragger" comes from his outstanding ability to land a grenade (of any kind) straight on a target.


Fragger can survive anything and anybody, even when he screws up big time. Thus, the word "Misadventure" in the title of the three books.


In point of fact, his character is based on that of my best friend, Dan, who also appears to be able to survive anything. The proof - as a U.S. Army medic in Vietnam, he took a sniper bullet between the eyes - and he's still walking around today in fine shape! In the next blog, I'll tell exactly how he survived!


Steve Fisher


The First Misadventure of Fragger Sparks, A Ranger Finds the Way
The Second Misadventure of Fragger Sparks, A Ranger Loses His Way

The Third Misadventure of Fragger Sparks, A Ranger Paves the Way (out in ebook format; print version coming soon.