7 or 8 Things I’ve Always Meant to Do

Colin Wright

Everyone has a list of things they want to accomplish before they die.

For some people this list is piled-high with skydiving stunts, swimming with dolphins, and things of that nature. For others it’s all about traveling to the right places or sleeping with the right people or achieving a certain level of prestige within a highly visible field. These are dreams: there aren’t any wrong ones.

And I share some of those dreams. I’ve always wanted to travel, so four years ago I hit the road, and have been traveling full-time ever since. I’ve also always wanted to have absolute control over my time and how I spend it, and it’s a thrill to be able to say I’ve accomplished that goal.

I never, however, aspired to write science fiction.

Hell, I never really aspired to write much of anything. When I was younger — high school aged — I wanted to be a journalist in the tradition of Woodward and Bernstein, busting down doors and shining light on long-hidden secrets held by those with power enough to try and stop me.

In college, that word-focus shifted to poetry — a change in course that was at least partially catalyzed by my suspicion that chicks dug poetry (that suspicion turned out to be only partially true).

Not once did I say to myself, “Self, you should write some science fiction. Because dude, the chicks.” I was too caught up in my other passions and professions, and found myself meandering down an entrepreneurial path that left little room for creative experimentation with other word-based media.

Today, I have time with which to play and experiment and see what I really enjoy. And you know what I discovered? I frickin’ love scifi. I mean, I’ve always known I loved reading it — I cleared out the whole section at the bookstore I worked at through high school — but until I tried my hand at creating it, I never even considered that it could become a focus for me. Something that I would want to continue producing; a skill I would want to really develop.

After years of writing blogs and newsletters and books about entrepreneurship and travel and such, I gave it a whirl and couldn’t be happier that I did. I ended up writing a trio of speculative science fiction books for a series called Real Powers (the first and second are on the shelves, and the third will be released in a few months), and today I’ve published my first science fiction short story collection, entitled 7 or 8 Ways to End the World.

As the name implies, this is a collection of stories about world-ending scenarios, though they’re not all what you would expect. In fact, the collection as a whole is meant to leave you wondering about endings, what they mean, and considering that some endings are actually new beginnings.

You can pick up 7 or 8 Ways to End the World for a whopping $.99 as an ebook, or $7 as a paperback.

And! I had so much fun writing this first collection, and have gotten such wonderful feedback from my alpha readers and reviewers, that there’s already a second one on the horizon, aptly titled 7 or 8 More Ways to End the World. It will be published next month.

If you get the chance to pick up a copy, I’d truly appreciate a review up on Amazon and/or Goodreads! Your feedback and/or testimonials make all the difference in drawing new readers to my work moving forward.