- Weird, Strange, and Unusual.
Readers, let’s give a good, hearty welcome to this week’s guest!
Steven Dutch and Chris Masterton are the pen names for Steven Dutch and Chris Masterton; Two mates who peered into the future and wrote about what they saw.
Chris spent much of his childhood imagining himself in science fiction space adventures. As an adult, he still spends much of his time imagining science fiction space adventures. Now he writes them down.
Located at the foot of the Blue Mountains in Sydney, Australia; Chris enjoys working in the software service industry, anything relating to graphic design, and playing computer games with his two kids.
Steven Dutch was born in 1188SE (Space Era) and went back in time, bringing with him a holographic orb which he deciphered with his friend and fellow time-traveller; Chris Masterton. Their collaboration and efforts resulted in History of Sol. The only way to know the history of the future is to read this series! Now!
Steven has a passion for music (just ask him), sci-fi and computer games. His favourite colour is blellow.
If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?
Chris: I’d have a dragon. As if you wouldn’t have a dragon!
Steve: I’d have a platypus/facehugger hybrid, that would be brilliant to order around! Think about it, a jumping swimming latching-on creature with a platypus bill, that would be awesome
Dragons are classic wants, for fantasy writers. I have to admit the face-hugger is a new one… *backs away from Steven slowly*
What do you write? And how did you get started?
Steve: We met in high school, where we discovered we had a common interest in sci-fi and the same weird sense of humour. One day we started making a Futurama/Red Dwarf inspired film in Chris’ garage with a bunch of friends. We made a dodgy set and everything. After about a day of filming and two and a half minutes of footage, the filming ceased but the writing continued. Then it kind of evolved into this massive story and changed from a TV series into novellas. We took some story and writing courses and reworked our stories until we had something we wanted to share with the world. Our series is called History of Sol, and we are very proud of what we have accomplished!
What a fun way to create. I often use friends to bounce ideas off of, but so far, I’ve been too much of a control-freak to play in anyone else’s world, or let anyone into mine.
What do you like to read?
Chris: I’d have to say my favourite authors are James S.A. Corey because of their space opera novel series ‘The Expanse’; Isaac Asimov, because his vision of the future was both ground breaking and inspired. Way ahead of its time; Also, I can’t go past Robin Hobb, whose incredible works about Fitz-Chivalry Farseer in the Realm of the Elderlings is one of the main reasons I started reading books in the first place.
Steve: I don’t read much sci-fi (which is ironic being a sci fi author) – I’m more into Fantasy, and love Robin Hobbs books (all of them) and have gotten right into the Rick and Morty comics recently.
I see some classic names in Chris’s list! And, Steven, you know what they say… science fiction is just fantasy in a futuristic setting, with tech as magic.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you.
Write in the morning.
Always carry a pen and notepad.
Steven: We are both better in the afternoon/evening, and nothing we do before 12 pm is any good.
Chris: My handwriting is terrible.
I totally get that! I see the twitter tag #5amWritersClub floating around, but the only one you’ll see me on is the #9pmWritersClub. But, Chris, you know the ‘notepad’ thing doesn’t have to be literal. You can take notes on your phone, swyping or even voice-to-texting.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that they can pry out of your cold, dead hands.
Use the three-act structure.
We’d be lost without it.
It’s so classic and expected that even authors who don’t intend to often find themselves using it (unless they’re doing the 5-act structure). Stories are traditionally told that way because listeners (or readers) have always found them satisfying. Satisfied readers give better reviews.
Shameless Self-Promotion time!
We’re almost four books into a series called History of Sol (fourteen planned instalments), which is set in the distant future. The homeworld (Earth) was destroyed and lost to history. Humans have colonised the rest of the solar system and live in an authoritarian society called ‘The Colonies’, made up of five different factions which fight among themselves.
Ouroboros – History of Sol (Book 1)
When Martian authorities board the cargo ship Galaxy to stop the crew from conducting an illegal experiment, the unwanted attention threatens a critical trade deal with Outlaws. Under pressure from the Colonies to deliver an exigent package, they must find a way to make the trade and deliver the package, or bad things will happen.
Check out Masterton Dutch Multimedia across the web!
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WRITING TIPS & WRITERLY MUSINGS 
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