Writer’s Seminar

Biography
Born March 11th, 1952 in Cambridge, England
Died May 11th, 2001
Influences: Monty Python, Kurt Vonnegut, P.G Wodehouse, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen
Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery, Humor
Best known for the ‘trilogy’ of five books, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Other works include assisting on Doctor Who (script editor and author of three novels), the Dirk Gently novels, and The Salmon of Doubt (a collection of essays, material, and an unfinished novel) that was published after his death
Was an environmental activist
Loved fast cars and technology
The main interest in school was science
Hitchhiked across Europe to Istanbul
1970, left school to become a writer
Feb 4th, 1977, met a man (Simon Brett) and the pair agreed to produce a sci-fi comedy show on the radio. This was ultimately the starting point for hitchhikers guide
Married Jane Belson on November 24th, 1991
Had a child named Polly Jane in 1994
Signed a deal with Disney to make a feature movie (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 2005)
Died of a massive heart attack while working out at a local gym

Works

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979) (novel)
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe(1980) (novel)
Life, the Universe and Everything (1982) (novel)
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984) (novel)
Mostly Harmless (1992) (novel)
Dirk Gently
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency(1987) (novel)
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988) (novel)
Doctor Who
The Pirate Planet (1978), a Doctor Who serial
City of Death (1979), a Doctor Who serial
Shada (1979–1980), a Doctor Who serial

The Salmon of Doubt (2002), unfinished novel manuscript (11 chapters), short stories, essays, and interviews
Last Chance to See (1990, with Mark Carwardine) (book)

Advice to Writers
The fact is that I don’t know where ideas come from, or even where to look for them. Nor does any writer. This is not quite true, in fact. If you were writing a book on the mating habits of pigs, you’d probably pick up a few goodish ideas by hanging around a barnyard in a plastic mac, but if fiction is your line, then the only real answer is to drink way too much coffee and buy yourself a desk that doesn’t collapse when you beat your head against it.”

Themes
Unreality and Reality at the exact same time
Human (and Alien) Nature
Intelligence
Absurdity
Philosophy
Nature of Life
Sadness
Awe and Amazement
Science
Culture
Language and Communication
Exploration
Politics

Genres
Science Fiction, Humour, Mystery

 

My Emulation

For love, there is no greater than what is shared between Space and Time.

Space, with nebulas dancing in her eyes and stars glinting off the white of her teeth.

Time, with his ticks, nerves frayed from eternity worrying over the living before they are welcomed by Death.

There are none like Space and Time.

There is nothing like her soothing voice, holding Time in its grasp as she whispers the mysteries within her in his ears.

There is nothing like his soft caresses, reminding her of every moment they’ve spent together watching over the rise and fall of civilizations.

There is nothing like Space and Time.

Until there isn’t.

Space’s eyes slowly die out, stars warping into masses of night corrupted by humanity and its greed.

The light that once brought worlds to life is cut through the heart with a dagger of lust, slaughtering the very thing that gave Space her existence.

She has become nothing more than the shell of her once perfect being. Nothing more than the mere home of the same civilizations who maimed her being.

The same civilizations who left Time to his devices,
alone, for eternity.

 

For Time, there will be nothing greater than Space and her nebulas now replaced by sullen darkness.

For love, there will be nothing greater than what was Space and Time.