Gen X and Millennials-’Nerds’ Who Created Universes

If you were called a ‘nerd’ in the early 90’s, and it was an insult… “HELLO THERE”. Welcome to the Lucent Universe, my peeps. Curious what has influenced my writing?

It’s hard for some youngsters these days to imagine, but the pop culture that props up the very identity of much of our modern society has been carried on the backs of ‘nerds’ for decades. Do you remember the first Star Trek episode you saw? TOS or TNG? You know, back when you had to wait a whole week for more? There was no such thing as ‘binge-watching’ or ‘downloading episodes’. Then DVR became a thing. Cable TV began playing re-runs (yes, I see Lorraine’s kid brother from Back to the Future in my head every time that term is used).

What about Classic Doctor Who, or the ‘96 Movie set in San Francisco? Is your Star Wars trilogy 4, 5, 6? Or is it 1, 2, 3? (I’m not even going to touch 7, 8, 9, that’s a whole other blog post that my midichlorian count isn’t anywhere near high enough to survive). Did you fall in love with the crew of Serenity in the fan-favorite Firefly, cry when it was cancelled, cry again when the movie was announced, then binge the series using actual DVDs? Stargate let me travel to distant worlds, The Longest Journey married together the technical and the fantastical, The Lord of the Rings, both the books and the film adaptation (which is amazing, thank you, Peter Jackson!) brought an entire universe from Tolkien’s imagination into ours.

Chronicles of Narnia gave a sense of hope in youth. Rand and Robyn Miller’s Myst took the idea of entering a world written by the D’ni and solving puzzles with nothing more than your powers of observation and your wits, and made it a mainstay in computer gaming that was a revolutionary form of storytelling for its time. Books like The Dragonriders of Pern, Ender’s Game, and Dune sit on my shelves beside Jane Austin, the Brontë Sisters, and William Shakespeare. One of my favorite PC games/series of all time is The Journeyman Project (3 specifically)—a Sci Fi Time Traveling adventure where the player (Time Agent Gage Blackwood) was tasked with safeguarding history, clearing his name, and inheriting the Legacy left behind by an ancient race of benevolent alien beings. (Full disclosure: Arthur is hands down my favorite sidekick of all time, sorry Crow!)

Other digital media that influenced my love for deep lore and Sci Fi Fantasy came from Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and Mojang. I even had an old educational PC game that taught me the constellations and revealed facts about ancient civilizations with each puzzle I unlocked.

Seriously, a friend’s kid asked for a balloon animal in the shape of an axolotl at an event, and when I asked her if she liked it from Minecraft, she said, ‘No, my teacher taught me about them!’ Well, little missy, your teacher is probably first gen Minecraft and you are reaping the benefits of cultural inheritance!

Ask me about The Legend of Zelda, Jedi Survivor, Indiana Jones, Marvel and DC, or even King’s Quest (yup, I’m that old), and you’ll find out how fast—and how much—I can talk. Star Wars Legends is a thing because George Lucas built something that sparked the imagination of millions world-wide. It’s also inspired authors to bring their own internal worlds to the surface and share it with others.

My point is that we have huge cultural fandoms, YouTube theorists, video-game aficionados, and books/digital stories turned cinematic experiences because the potential of human creation is so vast and diverse. We don’t just take in information, we want to experience these stories, become our heroes, cosplay and have impromptu photo-shoots, just so that we can feel transported in space and time.

So the next time you see a half-repaired brick wall and think about a certain pointy eared hero, or a blue door (sorry, we don’t have Police Boxes here in the States) makes you want to fling a long, striped scarf over your shoulder and run inside, remember: you carry those worlds inside of you. If you are an author, keep writing. If you are an imaginer, keep reading. If you’re a gamer, keep playing.

Because the ‘nerds’ of the past have made these worlds not only possible, but ubiquitous.

You’re welcome.

Want to get lost in THE LUCENT UNIVERSE? At this link only, get eBooks of TRANSLUCENT TRAVELER and SHATTERED CRYSTAL for FREE! [February 1-28]

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Want to get lost in THE LUCENT UNIVERSE? At this link only, get eBooks of TRANSLUCENT TRAVELER and SHATTERED CRYSTAL for FREE! [February 1-28] ⇩