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How To Write The Future
The How to Write The Future Podcast offers fiction writing tips for science fiction and fantasy authors who want to create optimistic stories because when we vision what is possible, we help make it so. By science fiction and fantasy author and fiction writing coach, Beth Barany.
How To Write The Future
170. Building Creative Confidence in Sci-Fi with Author, Michael Colon
“The Gift from Aelius is a sci-fi tale that explores the meaning of purpose and life and what it means to be alive.” - Michael Colon
ABOUT TODAY'S EPISODE
In this How To Write the Future podcast episode, host Beth Barany talks to sci-fi author Michael Colon about his journey of creative confidence and authentic storytelling through science fiction. Learn how his novel explores AI-human relationships with a refreshing optimistic perspective, challenging traditional sci-fi narratives while inspiring writers to trust their unique creative voices.
ABOUT MICHAEL COLON
My name is Michael Colon born and raised in New York City. I am a novelist and a freelance writer. My author's story is about hard work, perseverance, and believing in the power of imagination. My inspiration comes from various societal elements and my own life experiences. Outside of writing I enjoy working out, watching sports, and going on hiking trails with my wife.
MORE ABOUT MICHAEL: https://www.clippings.me/users/michaelcolon
ABOUT THE HOW TO WRITE THE FUTURE PODCAST
The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers and get curious about the future of humanity.
ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany, an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist, teaches novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor.
RESOURCES
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Sign up to be notified when our training opens and get a short Creative Business Style Quiz to help you create success. https://bethbarany.com/quiz/
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GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING - START HERE
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GET SOME FREE WRITING COACHING LIVE ON THE PODCAST
Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/
- SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth Barany
- SHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade
- EDITORIAL SUPPORT IMAN LLOMPART
c. 2025 BETH BARANY
Questions? Comments? Send us a text!
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CONNECT
Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580
Email: beth@bethbarany.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbarany/
CREDITS
EDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://get.descript.com/0clwwvlf6e3j
MUSIC: Uppbeat.io
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Hey everyone. Welcome to How To Write the Future Podcast. I'm your host, Beth Barany. I'm a writing teacher, creativity coach, filmmaker, editor and all the things, and obviously podcaster. So I host this podcast, How To Write The Future podcast, because I really care about creating positive, optimistic futures with our fiction. I primarily help science fiction and fantasy writers. This is a podcast for writers and for anyone who cares about the future. So today I have a special guest, Michael. Colon. Welcome.
MICHAEL COLON:Thank you for having me on. I really appreciate this. Thank you.
BETH BARANY:Oh, you're so welcome. So just so everyone can get to know you a little bit, I'm gonna go ahead and read your awesome bio that you gave me. I really like it. So everyone please meet. Mike. Michael. Michael Colon. Colon was born and raised in New York City. he is a novelist and freelance writer, and his author story is about hard work, perseverance, and believing in the power of imagination. His inspiration comes from various societal elements and his own life experiences. Outside of writing, he enjoys working out, watching sports and going on hiking trails with his wife. So thank you again. it's so fun to talk to someone from across the country. I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area and you're in New York City. How cool is that?
MICHAEL COLON:Yeah, this is my first podcast where the host was from the California state area. this is fun. This should be interesting.
BETH BARANY:Yeah. Yeah. Time travel. Woo. We love all that.
MICHAEL COLON:Actually like to visit, the state in general. I've never been, so yeah, that would be pretty cool.
BETH BARANY:Come on down. It's gorgeous. Just beautiful. Uh, Yeah, I'm in this ideal location the San Francisco Bay area. Most of the time. It's just lovely. You have two books that we're gonna highlight today. So if you can, tell us, a little bit about your first book, which is called The Gift from a Aelius, right? Yes. Okay. So tell us a little bit about the book. Hold up the book cover. I'm gonna put you in the spotlight there for us all. Nice. Can you say the title for us?
MICHAEL COLON:Yes. the Gift from Aelius.
BETH BARANY:Great. And, for those who aren't watching on video, cause this is an audio podcast as well, it's, you've got a, like a robot shaking hands with a man with this beautiful like storm clouds in the background with a lightning, like a lightning strike hitting this desert like earth structure. Yeah. Beautiful. So tell us about this book.
MICHAEL COLON:Definitely. the Gift from Aelius is a sci-fi tale, that explores, the meaning of, purpose and life and what it means to be alive. And the protagonist is a 1 9 1, a Codex unit, which is basically artificial intelligence. And, a 1 91 lives in the machine city called Paradise. Um, paradise is a machine city that is at the far corner of the planet in the middle of a wasteland. And humans basically, um, after they helped build the utopias of the world, they were basically like, okay, we don't need you guys anymore. because could be a threat to us one day. And all the leaders of the world agreed they could have their own place. Just, they're not allowed to leave. They have to stay within The bordered walls and it's very communistic. Um, the Codex units aren't allowed to basically think for themselves. They have to follow, a very strict routine and way of life. Now, a 1 91 is very different. He's a dreamer. A free thinker and he has a built-in love for human beings. his goal is to escape paradise, which is kind of ironic that the machine city is called Paradise when it's really not. Maybe to the other Codex units. It is because the way human beings are advertised, they're like these animals or monsters and like they're gonna come back and just wipe them off the face of the planet one day. but a 1 9 1 doesn't see them like that. So basically, uh, the main plot is him trying to lead paradise and make it across the endless wasteland to the human world and try to reunite the two dominant species again for basically world peace and the way it was before.
BETH BARANY:So the robot is the main character, the protagonist of your story.
MICHAEL COLON:Yes. A 1 9 1. so I purposely used Codex Unit'cause I feel like in almost all sci-fi movies and TV shows or books, they're usually referred to as robots and essentially it is. But I wanted to write this sci-fi story very differently where it's the opposite where. it's not the typical case of machines enslaving mankind, I wanted to have more of a spiritual element to it and give a different twist to the genre.
BETH BARANY:I, I really like that. Uh, and it's, it's very interesting. It feels like humanity we're obviously in the thick of it, trying to understand what is the relationship that we want to have with these. thinking machines that we're creating. So I really love that you're, helping us explore that from, but from this, um, very peaceful perspective of why can't we be friends, kind of thing.
MICHAEL COLON:yeah. Yeah. Because the way I look at it, and you look at how things are today, you know, AI is growing faster and faster, and I can understand how that could be intimidating for a lot of people, but. it doesn't necessarily have to be like the ends of times, like it could actually be a blessing and a gift. I think it all depends on us because at the end of the day, just like in the book, codex units were made in the image of its creator, which was mankind. So, you know, how we grow and mature as a species predicates to how AI will serve us.
BETH BARANY:yeah, absolutely.
MICHAEL COLON:yeah,
BETH BARANY:I, I, I totally love what you just said because, uh, it really is about us humans evolving and how, how can humankind go to the next level in which we are more conscious of how we choose to use these machines and not let the machines dictate as if people treat the machines like they dictate to us. But actually we designed them, so let us, find a better way. So I really love that.
MICHAEL COLON:Definitely.
BETH BARANY:Yeah. So let's switch to your, second book. Let me just tell folks what it is called and then you can introduce it and tell us a little bit about it. I love this title'cause it's, it. It brings me back to childhood. You call it The Greatest Comic Book Tale Ever Told, so I love that. Show us. Excellent. Oh, I love that. Lemme put you in the center here. There we go. Greatest comic book. Let me tell people what it is like. Uh, it looks like a young person, a young man. Standing in the middle of maybe a neighborhood that's been destroyed a little bit. He's holding, it looks like maybe a comic book or something. And then above his head is two superhero figures, one in a red cape, one in a blue cape, and as if like the angel devil kind of motif. Yeah. Wow. So tell us about this.
MICHAEL COLON:Definitely. So the greatest comic book tale ever told. Quite the title. It took me a while to figure out what the title of this book was gonna be. and funny enough, this was actually my very first manuscript I worked on before my first published book, The Gift of Aelius. So I ended up getting around back to this and it went through many iterations, but yes. So you follow the story of Sonny, who's from Irontown City, lives in a poor neighborhood. And he lives with his adopted single mother who's doing everything that she can to raise him. she does everything that she can. And Sonny is obsessed with comic books. It's his escape from the harsh conditions and how he sees himself as a person, very low self-esteem, very hesitant, very afraid of the world and people in general. and as you follow his story and the more. He tries to figure out about his past and like the orphanages, he's the orphanage that he's from, and, about his family fiction starts to bleed into reality. So this is a very psychological urban fantasy. Again, I feel like this does, like this book's genre is a mix of different things. It's its own thing. But whoever's a fan of comic books, classic superhero tales, but also you get that drama and that deep psychological like impactful, um, theme that. Really touches the reader and that, that was my goal with this book was, you know, to really reach the reader's heart. And the main theme of this book is, as we go about our lives, we could choose whether we could be a hero or a villain in our own lives based on the choices that we make. So, It's definitely an adventure. It's fantasy, but the reader's gonna get that sense of, wow, like when I finished putting down this book, maybe my perception towards my life will be a little bit different.
BETH BARANY:Yeah. Oh, I love that. And I read some of your reviews for both of these books and I, it jumped out at me that some people were really, really touched by this book. It really moved them. And I just thought it was so wonderful. And, I'm really happy for you. and I love that you also are really helping people see that they, have a choice. That there is a choice between, do they wanna listen to the devil on their shoulder or to the angel on their shoulder? And I just Exactly. and I also noticed, in both stories, your protagonists are male and this story, it seems like a young guy, a teenager, maybe. and I just also wanna say how that's a wonderful, it feels like you're doing some really good positive representations of allowing young men to really wrangle with these things and think about them. And I just think that's really important.
MICHAEL COLON:Yes, I agree. And I would say to add to that in a way, both stories are like an essence of me. like with The Greatest Comic Book Tale Ever Told, um. Sunny's story is Sunny's story, but like all artists and writers, you pull from like bits and pieces of like your upbringing. And you know, for me, being raised in a single mother, uh, parent household, you know, my mom is, you know, without my mom, you know, I wouldn't, wouldn't know where I would be today. Also likes Sonny, you know, very, you know, hesitant. You know, I didn't, I didn't know what my voice was. I felt like. You know what, what is my purpose? And you know, I had my escapes too. so in a way, like I feel like writing this book was also very helpful for me too. with the Gift from Aelius, you know, obviously, you know, we're dealing with artificial intelligence and it's more sci-fi, but even with the main character, a 1 9 1, like, you know, he feels like there's more outside of his community. or his world then meets the eye or what's being shown to him. And for me growing up, I always saw myself like, what else is out there? I just didn't know how to go about stepping outta that bubble. So, um, these books that I wrote and the future books I plan on writing, you know, it's, I do pray that like not only does it entertain, but like it also touches the reader. But it's also very helpful for me too. So I feel like it's a good shared experience.
BETH BARANY:That's really wonderful. and thank you for sharing with us a little bit about your past. I'm always curious, like, what, what were the ingredients in your life? If you could name like, one key influence from your past, whether it's something you read or saw, or somebody, or a place, that really influenced you as a writer today. And this is one of the, The lightning round questions, the surprise questions for you. Yeah. what would that be?
MICHAEL COLON:Oh, a hundred percent. My mom, my mom is the influence of my upbringing. She taught me, you gotta work hard for what you want. but she also, and it was a lot of tough love it, it was both. but I feel like it made me the well-rounded person that I am now. nobody's perfect. But at the same time, in terms of like just pure impactful influence, I would say my mom and anybody who knows me personally, it's like, yeah. You know, like I, they, they just know right away. Um, yeah, I would say how I was raised echoes to the creative, how I approach my creative projects today, which is, work hard. you deserve to like, put yourself out there like you deserve, like these type of things, like why not you?'cause we're all special in our own ways. So yeah, definitely my mom.
BETH BARANY:That's great. And, and why not you? That's a great piece of advice. Yeah. For every writer listening to us, there's no one else like you who's had exactly your life experience. just reaching out into listener land out there. What's one piece of advice you would have to a writer who's working on their science fiction or fantasy story? and they might feel lost or confused or not know exactly. I don't know, not have complete confidence in what they're doing. yeah. What is some a piece of advice you would give them?
MICHAEL COLON:Wow. I would say for anyone who's, just starting out, writing their first book, it's a very exciting thing. And, they, the first thing I'll say is, just be proud that you're starting this journey. it could be very intimidating. It could seem like a lot, but I would say believe in yourself first. Because if you don't believe in your work, then no agent or publisher is gonna believe in you. And, you just have to keep working hard and keep being persistent. the three things that I always preach is hard work, faith, and consistency. And I feel like if you apply those three things, no matter what creative project you're working on, It may not land you exactly what you want, but it's still going to have a positive, solution or answer. like for me, when I was trying to get my first book deal, I don't know anybody in the industry, I don't have a master's degree in literature or, literary arts. I basically did research. Did a lot of research, and was open to self-criticism and, just being open-minded to tweaking things. And, you start to refine yourself. It's like putting a sword in a fire. it may be uncomfortable and it may burn a little bit, but after a while you become accustomed to it. You become sharp, not in the sense of sharp, as in your work's gonna be perfect and anything like that, but sharp as in like your mind and your spirit. Because there's gonna be a lot of rejection. I've, and I'm sure you, me, other authors out there, like the amount of email rejections, it gets to the point where you just laugh after a while, and not laugh in the sense of it's funny, but because at the end of the day, you know that this is just one step closer to the goal. And yeah, I would say I, there's no one piece of advice. I would just say know yourself, be genuine. Be, be, uh, consistent and you know, nobody can owes you anything because at the end of the day, it's like you have to have that love for the craft and then that'll take you to where you need to be.
BETH BARANY:Well said, beautiful advice. And just in full disclosure, I'm, I'm actually independently published, um, but I still brought my work through lots and lots of rounds of it, of edits and iterations and I wanted to get basically. To use a, a space metaphor like space flight, like green A across the board. Like I had to get nine pe nine outta 10. People had to say, this is great. I, if there could always be one who it wasn't. They're like, oh, this is not really my thing. Okay. But I had to get everybody on board. All the beta readers, all the alpha readers, all the critique partners, everybody, the strangers, I would have random people sometimes read my work when I thought it was almost done, just to make sure. I was really in the pocket, as with my goal. So just for those who are self-publishing, also, like I'm not putting out shoddy work. I really wanna make sure it is excellent and to jump, go through all the hoops of being traditionally published in any form, being accepted, going through revisions, all of that. it's not easy. So I just wanna give it a little shout out to folks on that. so as we wrap up, I have uh, one more question. For you and it won't be too, uh, out of left field. Um, I always like to, lately I've been asking my guests: What does it mean for you to write the future?
MICHAEL COLON:That's a good question. What does it mean for me to write the future? I think like any form of art, everybody's going to take it different. It's like when you go to a museum, um. You have lots of paintings. everybody's gonna take something different. But at the end of the day, it's gonna be impactful. So what it means for me to write the future, it means to continue to put out my art as genuinely as me as possible. And the more genuine you are with your art, the more people are gonna want to continue to take from it and apply it to their life. Yeah, I, I would say that's how you write the future is making sure that you're as genuine and that you're putting as much as your, as much as your essence in the work. Because readers feel that, like they could tell when something is just kind of thrown onto paper and when every word is it just makes sense to where it is. So I would say that's how you write the future.
BETH BARANY:That's really great, Michael. I love that. So we're gonna wrap up here. I'll have to have you come back when you, when you come out with another book. That's it for this week, everyone. Write long and prosper. And that's a wrap.
MICHAEL COLON:Thank you, Beth.
BETH BARANY:Thank you. Awesome. Awesome..