Hyba Is Writing

Brutalism & Apartment The main setting for my eerie suspense novella Apartment is an apartment building pretty much built in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around for as far as the eye can see, except for one big avenue. Right off the bat, the book introduces the setting as "a tremendously ugly building" with "rough gray walls and sub-par brutalist architecture" making it "seem like an unfinished piece of construction." It's a striking image - this huge, brutalist structure in the middle of a harsh, cracked, orange desert. The video above discusses how brutalism is meant to make the viewer feel something and have some kind of reaction to the buildings made with that style.  Art historian Richard J. Williams explains that "you instantly get what a brutalist building looks like, you can see how it's made, and you can see what it's made of." This is true for the apartment building on Wallstone Avenue. There is nothing particula

 Worldbuilding: Man-Made Islands & Homes on Water As an author who is always working on refining the worldbuilding in my fantasy world, I'm constantly seeking new ideas, whether it's architectural styles from ancient times or futuristic concepts, or cool animals and creatures to include in the various environments characters will be journeying through.  During one of these forays into the internet for inspiration, I stumbled upon this video called "Futuristic Copenhagen Architecture Builds on Water": I thought the two ideas shared here were both pretty neat, and because I do have a setting that is essentially a city on water, I'm considering them as possible architectural and urban design solutions for my fantasy setting.  Floating Buildings The idea of floating apartment buildings - conveniently tied to the decks so as not to float off - is one that I hadn't actually thought of. Sure, there's always been the idea of living on a ship or boat, but this

 2021 Publishing & Book Trends: Digital Platforms & The Growth of Ebooks I've been increasingly interested in the global publishing industry for a while now, and recently decided to allocate some time out of my days to check out the trends that we're seeing and the path the publishing industry seems to be following based on available data. I know that many of my readers are fellow writers as well, and thought that writing this post sharing some interesting information I've found, with links to relevant sources, would serve as a helpful tool for you as well as a way for me to learn. Izzard Ink Publishing reports that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a growth for digital platforms for selling books, and for ebooks as well. It also also had an impact on which genres and categories of books have been most popular during this time - and it comes as perhaps no surprise: nonfiction, in particular books about relevant social issues and educational books for younger re

 The Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Publishing Industry: Some Trends Recently, I've been doing some research on the publishing industry at large, because why not? I'm a writer, and it's long time I learned the intricacies of the industry that I operate in. In my research, I was surprised to learn that many different sources claim that AI is having an increasingly important role in the publishing industry, so I decided to do a little digging and figure out how that it. I've decided to break my findings down by report, sharing some of the big highlights that seemed most important to me, and that might be helpful for you as well. In case you'd like to check any of these reports our first-hand, links are also included. 1. "People Plus Machines" First, I want to start off by saying that the use of AI in the publishing industry isn't new. According to the 2020 Frontier Economics report for Publishers Association, "People Plus Machines"

 Aliens & Artificial Intelligence: An Analysis of David 8 A while ago I watched the movie Prometheus , completely unaware at the time that it was related in any way to the Alien movie franchise . I found one particular part of the movie fascinating, however: the character of David 8 , an android who is sent along with a team of specialists on a scientific expedition to find signs of life on another planet. He practically takes care of the ship and its crew, who are in stasis for most of the journey.  In Prometheus , we see a meticulous David go about his daily routine on the spaceship. He plays basketball while riding a bicycle, he learns an ancient language while eating his meals, and he watches Lawrence of Arabia and styles himself after Peter O'Toole in the movie. Innocent enough - but things get particularly dangerous and grim when ( spoiler alert! ...actually, this whole article has spoilers, so watch out! ) David starts following a hidden agenda of his own, essentially u

  For a long time, I read outstanding fantasy stories where the main characters were excellent strategists, operating moves ahead of all of their opponents. Even when things looked grim for them and there couldn’t possibly be a way out of that mess they’d found themselves in — well, it was all part of their grand schemes! I read those stories and thought to myself, “Dang. I’ll never be smart enough to write something brilliantly complex like that.” Sound familiar to some of you writers out there? Luckily for me , I also happen to be a mind-mapping enthusiast. I like making webs and mind maps. It’s how I study most effectively, and how I visualize links between different concepts. Curiously enough, though, for the longest time, I’d never actually been able to transfer that skill to my writing. The day that I finally did made me see a glimmer of hope that maybe — just maybe — I could write something as strategically complex as those amazing fantasy stories I’d binge-read.

LitRPG, GameLit, & Serialized Fiction Lately, I've been on the lookout for new platforms to share my writing. (Aren't I always?) I managed to find a cool platform that focuses on science fiction and fantasy stories, and that seems to be busy enough, but also just empty enough, for my liking. I realized, as I was perusing their website and checking out other authors' stories, that a popular genre on the platform is LitRPG. I had no idea what LitRPG was, so I read a couple of chapters from a couple of stories (which, by the way, I really enjoyed!).   Basically, LitRPG is a genre that mixes your usual fantasy/sci-fi with gaming elements, like character stats and pop-up notifications once you've achieved something. In a LitRPG, your characters actually interact with and use the game mechanics to level up and progress through various quests, missions, or other plot events. This genre is pretty popular globally, especially in places like China and Russia. In fact, some of

February 2021 Writing Update: The Pirates of Sissa A while ago, I celebrated passing the 80k word milestone in my The Pirates of Sissa manuscript. I didn't really work on the book for a while since then, so if you're not familiar with it, here's a post introducing this WIP . In short, it's a high fantasy about two people on opposing sides of a violent conflict that end up being forced to work together in order to achieve peace... only there's a catch! Recently, I started working on the book again (now that I've completed and published Apartment ), and I find myself feeling quite content every time I refine my chapters, write new scenes, or figure out new plot twists. Revisiting this book is like revisiting an old friend, and it's nice to know that a project I've been working on for a handful of years now is significantly progressing.   I also broke a personal record with Pirates - its sixth chapter has over 10k words, and that is very new for me. I cons

 February Short Story Challenge #2 "Brief History of a Necklace"   The necklace was first held by its maker. He had fashioned it in all of its fine, golden-linked, delicate beauty, had made it as nothing more than a little gift for a daughter he was yet to meet. The first time it warmed to human touch was in that man’s hands. The man’s hands were rough and big, but far from clumsy. He had a history of making fine, delicate things. He had never made one for someone he knew. Someone he cared for. That was curious, wasn’t it? That after over a decade of toiling away in his shop and making the most beautiful jewelry for those who could afford the stylish pieces, who often walked in with an idea in mind and the money required to motivate a man to see it through – that in all those years he had never once thought to gift someone he loved a golden piece of their own. It was a simple gold chain. It would look beautiful on her neck. It was the least he could do for her, after so many

 February Short Story Challenge - #1 "Apollo's Directives"   By the time I got my hands on the scans, Apollo had flagged all the problematic areas. Not that it had needed to – even my human eye could recognize that this was one patient who needed a miracle to survive. But in a city like that, it wasn’t all that surprising.  The gunshot wounds had been treated on-site by Chiron. The patient wasn’t in critical condition, but he wasn’t in good condition, either. I sighed, lamenting the years and years of studying medicine as I pressed a few buttons and confirmed the AI-recommended course of action, then watched from the viewing dock above while a set of robots – the Trio, as we called them, named Aceso, Hygieia, and Epione – began working on the patient.  Apollo had been a ground-breaking development in its time, quickly followed by the Trio, and then by Chiron. Unfortunately for me, these AIs became all the rage in the medical field just as I’d made it out of med school –