"Dreams of a Freezing Ocean" is a collection of science fiction adventures through time and space. An anthology of epic breadth and depth, it tours a desolate, thawed Antarctica, a near-future Virginia wrestling with the excesses of the past, a Pennsylvania college town where things aren't quite as they seem, and much more, while also thoughtfully exploring the complexity of - and blurring distinctions between - humans and technology.
S.G. Kubrak has been writing — starting with the ridiculously sized “so big” crayons — on any surface he could since before he could walk, much to the family’s chagrin. His second venture into the self publishing world; “Dreams of a Freezing Ocean” is an anthology of several genres. S.G. felt it better to get them out into the world then have them languish on his computer for another hundred years. This creative explosion served as the impetus for his first full-length novel “Jessica Unbound” coming in November 2021. S.G. spends a great deal of time trying to explain quantum entanglement, and how it relates to the “hero’s journey” without the use of pictures or dense mathematics. His part-time job as a science professor sharpens his descriptive acumen and menial task tolerance. A lover of gardening and working with his hands, he is often compared to Pa Ingalls, without the violin. His proudest accomplishment is teaching his daughter the essence of good pizza and bagels. He currently lives with his wife and daughter in suburban Virginia, but his heart is always in his native New Jersey. In his own words, S.G. is exactly 2 meters tall, is from Northern NJ originally and despite that, does not fist bump, wear cheap cologne, or look ANYTHING like that horrible MTV 'show,' and remembers when MTV actually played music videos to the exclusion of all else and was considered a counter-culture icon.
So SG, tell us a bit more about your latest short story collection: what are six things that went into the writing of this book.
A new keyboard
Lots of free time
A ton of rejections from traditional publishers
More coffee than I probably should have drank
A desire to control something in my life
Eyestrain
Five things you need to get some writing done/for a good writing day?
Good music
No obligations
A positive attitude
Minimal body aches
A goal either for word count or to finish a scene. Sometimes to finish a story from beginning to end, but that is rare.
Four types of readers who will enjoy this book...
Fans of The Twilight Zone
Fans of short stories
Multiple genre readers
Folks with short attention spans. I don’t mean that disparagingly, sometimes it’s hard to plough through a novel of someone whose work you are unfamiliar with. I look at this book like a sampler of my storytelling .
Three challenges you faced in the writing of this book?
Lockdown burnout and strange perception of time. With blurring days it sometimes feels more like a job than a passion.
Underestimating effort required to edit, but appreciating my beta readers and editors.
Getting my name out/interest in the book.
Two writers that have influenced your work in general?
Rod Sterling who wrote/produced the Twilight Zone. Not that everything here is the same level, but a lot of my short story inspiration draws a direct line.
DC Fontana who was a script writer for Star Trek and a ton of other sci-fi. I never realized how much influence she had on my writing until a few years ago. Her work is all over the genre in the 60s-80s. My author name SG Kubrak is in homage to her.
One word to describe this collection?
Eclectic
"Dreams of a Freezing Ocean" is available for sale on amazon.com. You can connect with S.G. Kubrak on twitter @SGKubrak or on his website.
Disclaimer: "EMC's 6 things" interview series seeks to promote the artist and their featured writing and is in no way an endorsement of any of said artist's services, opinions or other work outside of this feature.