About

I’m what you call a digital minimalist; I’m leery of bombarding people with tweets, updates and constant reminders to buy my stuff.

So, I balked at the advice given by experts where I entice readers with a freebie so that they can sign up to my weekly newsletter where I bombard them with stuff to buy.

I do have a special email list purely for those who want to know when I release a new book. If that’s you and you sign up,  I promise you that you will only get emails from me when I release a new book. And that happens twice or at most, four times a year.

You don’t need to know (and most probably don’t want to know) what I had for dinner or what new trick my dog could do.

I believe that this blog is all you need to keep up with my activities and thoughts.

On this blog, I will write:

• flash fiction based on the Distant Stars saga
• excerpts of my novels
• deleted scenes from my novels
• updates on what I’m working on
• Special book offers and discounts.
• announcements on new book releases
• posts where I fangirl about my favourite shows and characters
• and maaaaaybe what I ate for dinner

If you feel like it, you can visit this blog to read all of this. I post on the first day of each month. Sometimes, if I feel like it, I’ll post more. (Or less.)

Best to have blog posts emailed to you so that you don’t miss any.

It’s all up to you. Your choice.

And that’s what’s so important in the Age of Overwhelm. The ability to choose want you want to take in.

Have a good day and I hope you will stick around 🙂

 

Tai Weiland

Advertisement

Battlestar Galactica and the dilemma of God

In a genre that largely treats God as dead, Battlestar Galactica stood out because God was actually a character in the series. It was never implicitly implied that the mysterious being pulling the strings of the hapless humans and Cylons was God per se; even the mysterious invisible beings that haunt Cavil and No.6 wouldn’t confirm it (or is reluctant to). His portrayal, of course, would get some Christians protesting, as he (or at least his representatives) seemed manipulative, vague, sometimes cruel to ensure the poor humans instruments do what he wants.

God also had an interesting way of choosing them – ie prophets. Instead of the boy scout Apollo or even the conflicted No.8, they picked No.6, who was literally responsible for the genocide of the human race, and Cavil, a selfish, amoral, self-absorbed bastard.
I think some viewers expressed frustration at the vagueness of these mysterious beings’ actions, but I thought it was perfect.

Ultimately, I think the BSG god represents mankind’s frustrations, fears, confusion and awe of God. Namely, why His actions are perplexing to most of us, our grief at why he allows evil things to happen, and our frustration that He refuses to explain his actions.

I couldn’t help but include a god-like character in the Distant Stars novels either. I think of this being as kinder version than the Machiavellian BSG one, though no less frustrating and exasperating. Thinking of this character as a literal representation of the Christian god would be a mistake though. This character, like BSG’s is a reflection of my emotions about God.

Can God exist in sci-fi? You bet.