Notes for the Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul - Rudy Rucker

Notes for The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul, by Rudy Rucker
I also have to check some of the photo permissions,, redo some of the drawings.
I’m suddenly feeling a little anxious about getting it all done in a reasonable time
frame, as Christmas is coming up, then a trip to NYC with Sylvia, and then my planned
three-week Micronesian diving trip with my brother in February. Well, we’ll move it along
one section at a time, see how it goes, if worst comes to worst it could take at most till the
end of March.
Wolfram hasn’t weighed in with any suggestions yet, he got distracted with his wife
having their fourth child. I just hope he doesn’t want some huge alterations at the last
minute. His assistants liked the book, he says.
***
12/6/2004. So now I’m done revising Chapter One; I have a feeling that may have
been the hardest one, as it’s temporally the most remote from the state of mind I ended up in.
I cut quite a bit, but put in some new stuff too.
I decided to drop the Chapter Summary sections, most of which weren’t done, so that
lightens my load a bit.
At this point the general watchword is “jettison.” Prune. Simplify.
Got an email from Wolfram, he may come in with some suggestions this week after
all.
Starting to feel good about the book again. It’s not quite what I dreamed of
producing, but it’s fun to read and sporadically illuminating.
On to Chapter Two tomorrow, I hope.
January 17, 2005. In copy editing
So I finished all my editing, posted the manuscript on the web, and Oakes got it and is
already copyediting it.
I just visited with him in NYC. Met some of his team, the publicity people at Avalon.
Since John sold Four Walls Eight Windows Avalon Publishing, my tome will come out
under the Thunder’s Mouth imprint.
Wolfram comments are still trickling in.
January 27, 2005. Marketing Suggestions From Wolfram.
Stephen called the other day, and was on the phone for two-and-a-half hours. He was
full of ideas about the book.
***
He says the ending is too “aw, shucks,” or “I’ve written 26 books and I’m tired.” I
could drive things home a bit more.
***
Short Pitch For The Lifebox, The Seashell, and the Soul
We're presently in the midst of a third intellectual revolution. The first came with Newton:
the planets obey physical laws. The second came with Darwin: biology obeys genetic laws.
In today’s third revolution, were coming to realize that even minds and societies emerge
from interacting laws that can be regarded as computations.
Does this, then, mean that the world is dull? Far from it. The naturally occurring
p. 138