It’s been a tense week, so let’s all relax and have some fun reading new authors! And if you’re interested in science fiction or thrillers, check out my interview with Jeremy Bock, author of the sci-fi crime thriller Caroline.
Tell us about yourself! What would you like readers to know about you?
J. Bock: I’m a native of West Virginia but I’m currently living in Bangkok, Thailand with my Thai wife and daughter. My real job is that I’m a technologist, primarily working in web development with a specialization in making web sites and applications accessible to those with disabilities. I’ve been writing as long as I can remember but professionally, I’ve mostly written technical documentation. Far too much to list. I have also co-authored a couple of academic papers. Caroline is my debut novel, and the first piece of fiction I’ve published.
Alexis: Wow, you actually have a fascinating day job (at least , it seems fascinating to non-techies like me)! As a middle school teacher, web accessibility can be an important issue for me, since we often have disabled students in our classes. I also know a blind person who’s an incredible mathematician, and he told me once about all the difficulties they have in making advanced math textbooks, such as high level calculus, accessible for blind students who read braille.
What book or books have most influenced you as a writer?
J. Bock: There are many, but novels that immediately come to mind are Slaughterhouse 5 and Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. Choke and Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Recent influential novels for me are Armada by Ernest Cline, Artemis by Andy Weir, and Wired by Douglas E. Richards. My novel, Caroline, and the sequel that’s currently in progress is written from a first-person perspective with a goal to explore plausible future technologies with a story and simple, accessible language. What I want most for my readers is for them to have fun reading. And second, I want them to think a little, but only if they want to. And I think Andy Weir and Ernest Cline are at the top of their games in writing novels that achieve those two objectives very well.
The best series I’ve read recently, though, is hands down the Three-Body Problem series by Cixin Liu. That’s not just an inspiration for me but an aspiration.
Alexis: I’ve been meaning to read the Three-Body Problem, since I’ve heard so much about it. I also love Slaughterhouse Five, which is probably a big influence on one of the stories I’m working on now. Vonnegut—I think I’ll forever be haunted by Mother Night.
What are some tropes of fiction in your genre that you love/hate? Why?
J. Bock: I’m a science fiction author and I think you can throw in space operas into the same genre. The overuse of proper nouns, paired with hyperbolic literary description of fictional settings exhausts me. When I read, I don’t want to have to memorize the world or universal map in your stories. Nor do I want to memorize the names of many different technologies or space ships. I’m also tired of end-of-civilization scenarios where all our societal systems break down and the technologically advanced culture must become agrarian to survive. Neither of these are fun for me.
Alexis: Agreed! I just find it so unlikely that civilization would break down so much. I think if something like that happens, the majority of the people were probably agrarian to start with, and the technologies were mostly used as playthings for the elite (see ancient Rome).
The very intense cover of J. Bock’s sci-fi thriller, Caroline.
What are you doing to de-stress during the pandemic? Is there any coping mechanism you’d recommend (or NOT recommend)?
J. Bock: I just try to keep as busy as I can with work and writing helps probably the most with stress. I also exercise as much as I can, mostly weightlifting. Keeping good nutrition is important, but so is letting it slip. The inability to travel is the hardest. Homesickness is absolutely setting in. I don’t have any solutions for anyone. Don’t drink too much. Take care of those who need to be taken care of. Escape how you can.
What TV shows/Movies do you like to watch or stream?
J. Bock: Lately, I’ve been diving into Narcos. Both the original and Mexico. I’ve got a pretty important subplot in my next novel involving the Mexican drug cartels. Consider it research, but Narcos is amazingly put together.
Do you like playing video games? What’s your favorite game right now? Has a video game ever influenced you as a writer?
J. Bock: I do. I exclusively play my Nintendo Switch. And lately, it’s been NBA2K21 and Mario 3D All-Stars. But I also sunk a ton of time this year into Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Breath of the Wild. If anything, these games distract me from writing. Though RPGs can guide you through a story with a sense of emersion and progression, and even though the stories in the RPGs I’ve played haven’t inspired me, the experiences I get from playing them have.
My favorite game now and of all time will always be Final Fantasy IX.
I’ll probably buy a second-generation PS5.
Alexis: I loved Breath of the Wild. But yes, video games can be both an inspiration and a distraction. Still, especially since the pandemic started and I’ve felt stressed and frazzled, sometimes they’re a valuable escape.
How do you choose what books you want to read?
J. Bock: I read whatever’s most popular in the genre to see what’s selling. But lately, I’ve been seeking out other independent authors in the sci-fi/thriller genre via Twitter or Instagram. There are so many talented people out there in the arts that haven’t cracked their way into the system that are really good at what they do.
Alexis: Yes, I think there’s a value to reading popular books sometimes, but I’m sometimes amazed at how really incredible books can be neglected or ignored by agents or publishers.
I noticed that you are interested in AI, which is a subject that fascinates me as well. I think it's one of the sort-of neglected and ignored potential crises of our time. Yet, I think that AI could also benefit mankind if (a big if) it were created with enough forethought and consideration. What are some of your thoughts? Would a super-intelligent AI be a terrible danger to humanity? How close do you think we really are to the singularity?
J. Bock: First off, I am a technologist but my specialization isn’t in artificial intelligence. However, I have read a fair amount of research done by people that are a lot smarter than I am. I think life-changing AI is already here in the form of social media and advertising algorithms that feed our information spheres. While this already is an enormous concern of mine as our online discourse is becoming more and more corrupt and divisive, I’m more concerned with how AI will be used (or misused) in large scale control systems and the cybersecurity around those control systems. That concern is exactly what I explore in the main plotline of Caroline.
The future of AI is going to be good and bad but most importantly: inevitable. And I don’t think it’s going to be possible to apply enough care and consideration to stop the bad. Advances in AI are going to come from everywhere all over the world by both good and bad actors, and that’s something we’re going to have to adapt to.
As for the singularity, I think you are referring to artificial general intelligence (AGI) or an AI that is autonomous from us with its own motivation; something that resembles a human but is far more advanced than we can comprehend. I won’t say that that’s an impossibility but it’s something that feels, to me, pretty far off. However, what doesn’t feel far off is an AI that looks like AGI on the outside, but is a lot dumber with more access and influence over systems than it should have.
Alexis: Interesting thoughts. I agree that the advertising algorithms and social media feedback loops have already become a huge and frightening problem. So many people are so angry and misinformed, and that will make some of them dangerous.
Writer J. Bock, Author of the Sci-Fi Thriller Caroline
Learn More About J. Bock!
Book: Caroline is available on Amazon and Apple Books, and as a Web Series