Welcome Lynn.  I’m so glad that you could join me today.  Everyone please be sure and leave a comment to be entered into the prize drawing.

Many times during book signings or at conferences, I’ve been asked where I get my ideas. I’ve come up with some things that one might consider outside the box – way outside. Most of the time, I’m happy to tell people from my imagination and while this fact is true, I’ve usually taken something that is known and twisted it to an unknown.

Still, I’m sure many would like to know just where the germs of my imagination come from…well…I’m a science fiction affectionado from way back. I devoured authors like C.J. Cherryh, Isaac Asimov and many, many others as I grew up. These fine people told me what was possible for my future. If one looks at the history of today’s gadgets, you will find it in a science fiction novel somewhere. But I’m an author and need to think of some things on my own. I need to take what I know, look into the future and come up with a maybe to include in my books.

One of my mainstays that I read constantly is a magazine called Science News. Articles from there got me on a trend with nano-technology that I still use quite frequently today. This magazine runs the gamut of information from space technology to what’s happening in the human genome, all prime fodder for sci-fi tales.

Another place that I frequently turn to is a couple of web newsletters sent out by the Syfy channel called Device and their general newsletter to members. Device has given me more information on really obscure technology and then I play the what-if game to my heart’s delight. Some of the ideas don’t make it very far, and others find themselves winding their way into some of my storylines.

I watch every science show on TV that I can find. The Science Channel and the History Channel are two of my main sources as well. Each of them has a different perspective about something I love. TSC keeps me up to date with the latest, or close to the latest, discoveries from around the world. History keeps me abreast of where we’re been and the pitfalls to avoid.

I also keep a notebook of my more interesting finds. Like a screen that rolls up like a pencil. Or how nanites are changing the world of medicine. Or how bucky balls work. Or what a new world really has to have to be habitable with humans or anything from this world. Things that I might want to use in a book one day are all put in there when I find them, what websites and more.

My latest novel, The Harvester, has a heroine who has optics similar to those found in cameras in her eyes. She can see light spectrums that humans only dream about. She also has a bit of alien wear that has adapted itself to her use as a weapon of self-defense. Those ideas would never have come about if I hadn’t read an article or watched a TV show somewhere about the possibility.

The biggest thing writers of science fiction has to remember is that no matter what they produce, it must be believable in the world as we see it. Our world is changing so fast, computers purchased today are obsolete tomorrow, that even those who live in it are having a hard time adapting. Who would have thought we would have Tribes all connected to each other to help promote our writing as a group? Who would have thought that we’d be talking in 140 character phrases just 5 years ago?

Not I…and that’s what makes writing the future so fun…it’s never boring!

Lynn Crain has penned over 25 novels in romance in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and contemporary romance, general to steamy in nature. She always knew that writing was her calling even if it took years at other professions to prove it. She has belonged to EPIC and RWA for more years that she cares to think about. Currently, she lives in Europe while her husband of nearly 30 years pursues his dream of working internationally. Her state-side home is in Nevada where family and friends wait patiently for their return.

Her latest book, The Harvester, is due out from Shooting Star Books this month. You can find her hanging out at A Writer In Vienna Blog (www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com) and various other places on the net (www.theloglineblog.blogspot.com; www.twitter.com/oddlynn3; www.lynncrain.blogspot.com ). Still, the thing she loves most of all is hearing from her readers at lynncrain@cox.net.