The writing bug has struck me again (apparently what I said in the previous post about not wanting to writing lasted all of about 20 minutes). I’m finally working on completing my flash fiction pieces for the Voices in the Night project. Over the past two days, I’ve completed two more of my stories, leaving me with just two more get done. I’m shooting to have them finished up by this weekend, so I can then focus on getting everything pulled together, edited, and revised to think about getting it headed toward printing.
Personally, it’s just nice to be in a frame of mind to write again. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it until this past week, and now that I’m back into it I almost can’t remember why I put it away for the winter. Once I get these stories done, though, then it’s back to the novel I’m writing for my wife (which may or may not ever see the light of an actual publisher’s desk) and the Gunslinger story arc I’m writing for my Halo clan. Beyond that, it’s short story time again for magazine submission and – hey, why not? – maybe even beginning work on a novel. We’ll just have to wait and see how things go.
Tags: 100-voices-in-the-night, authoring, halo, Speculative Fiction, tied-the-leader, ttl-gunslingers, Writing
“The trees are beginning to awaken from their winter-long slumber. The sap is flowing again, and the air is fresh and new. At long last the eternal winter has broken. We can have hope again and cast off this weight which has so long settled onto us. Man can once again live as he was meant to. The earth lives again and hope springs true once more.”
~the ravings of Quibble, a madman, with regard to the Dalara Wilderness, in which nothing will grow
Tags: fantasy, fiction, snippets, Writing
With the Flashes of Speculation redesign complete, I’m putting the callout again for submissions. If you write science fiction, fantasy, or horror and are looking for an outlet for your writing, then please consider Flashes of Speculation. Stories need to be 1000 words or less.
FoS could use a little promotion, as well. If you’re a contributing author or a reader of the site (or simply a speculative fiction fan), I would be most appreciative if you could promote FoS on your blogs, websites, etc. Also, if someone has a little Photoshop mojo and time to spare, I wouldn’t say ‘no’ to banner and button graphics that people can put on their websites to link back to FoS. If anyone’s interesting in doing something like this, you can use my Contact page to let me know.
Tags: fantasy, flash-fiction, flashes-of-speculation, horror, science-fiction, Speculative Fiction
I really would like to get Flashes of Speculation into a much more active status – more submissions coming in, more interaction from readers (both on the site itself and on the discussion board I’ve created for it), more of everything that will launch it more into the public eye. Unfortunately, though, marketing has never been a skill of mine, and I’m just plain out of ideas of things to do to advance its visibility.
So, here’s where I’d like some help and suggestions from my readers. What could I do to advertise FS a bit more broadly and make it more well-known? Where are places I could go and sites that might be interested in doing link exchanges? And are there any graphicly-minded folks out there who might be willing to donate a couple of banners and buttons that FS could put into circulation for folks to post on their sites? Any other ideas that I’m sure I missed?
Anyone?
Tags: fantasy, flash-fiction, flashes-of-speculation, horror, science-fiction, Speculative Fiction
Things I do not like to see in novels – Kalbzayn’s World
This is a bit of old news, but sometimes I keep things in my writing queue for longer than I should.
In the article cited above, Kalbzayn complains about supplemental material in speculative fiction novels.
Right away, before the story begins, Holly includes a guide giving rules on how to pronounce the names in the story…
...I absolutely hate stuff like this. I was an Arabic linguist for a while and truly have an appreciation for languages that sound quite a bit differently than English. When I read a book, I don’t want to think about these kind of rules.
I am not a fan of detailed maps for the same reason either [...] I can normally get a good enough picture of the location in my head if the author has done their job. Us readers should never have to rely on a map to make sense of what is going on.
Now, maybe I’m just a geek or whatever, but I actually prefer having those kinds of things included in a book. I’ve always loved maps – in fifth grade (back when PCs were primitive and no one had ever heard of color monitors) I’d spend hours playing with a game that quizzed you on the locations of various countries. I’ve always had a good sense about geography, and having maps of a fantasy or science fiction world helps me visualize better how the author pictures his own universe. It gives me a better sense of where things are located in relation to one another and better understand why, for example, it might take weeks (rather than days) to travel from Point A to Point B.
Similarly, when character names are exotic or unusual, I appreciate it when authors include a pronunciation guide. For example, Tobias Buckell includes a pronunciation guide in Crystal Rain. Personally, I don’t mind looking these things up as they help me enjoy the universe this author has created. I would rather know how the author pronounces the names rather than try to figure them out for myself and risk botching the job.
Understanding the geography of a speculative universe and knowing how to pronounce names make the universe more authentic and, for me at least, more enjoyable all around. Authors can’t please everyone, of course. Those of us who enjoy these kinds of appendices thank the authors. And those who don’t – well, you’re allowed to just skip them.
Tags: books, fantasy, Speculative Fiction, worldbuilding, Writing
In case folks missed it, Flashes of Speculation got another update yesterday. Four new stories got posted up, so go give ‘em a read and leave some comments and feedback for the authors.
FS is always taking submissions, as well, so if anyone has any speculative fiction stories under 1000 words, feel free to send them my way. I haven’t done such a good job promoting FS lately, but I’d be curious to see if interest in the site – both from contributors and readers – can be revived.
Tags: flash-fiction, flashes-of-speculation, Speculative Fiction
I’ve apparently become somewhat enamored with some bits of British grammar – it’s been slowly-but-surely taking over my writing. For instance, I’ve noticed that instead of using the word ‘whining’, it’s become ‘whinging’. ‘Humor’ becomes ‘humour’, ‘theater’ gets a slight rearrangement and becomes ‘theatre’. Of course, my spellchecker hates all these spellings, but I think they look more refined and elegant. There’s a certain classiness to them that appeals to me, and frankly, sometimes I think the British spellings make more sense. If nothing else, they do occasionally help distinguish nuances of word definitions.
Now if I could just figure out how to imitate that dern British accent and pick up some more slang.
Tags: british-grammar, grammar, Humor, Writing
I’m on a writing dry spell right now. It’s been two or three months since I’ve written anything speculative. I just haven’t had the interest lately. I’m just happy to be able to survive each of these cold, cold days right now. With eight horses to feed, this means breaking ice in buckets several times a day, hauling water from the house to the barns (no running water out there yet), mucking stalls (when it’s warm enough to be able to tolerate the temperatures), and taking care of feeding. Most of my life right now is horses and shivering, especially when the wind chills are as low as 30 below.
But there is a light at the end of the temperature tunnel. While the forecast doesn’t reveal temps over freezing anytime within the next week, they are on an upward trend, which gives me hope. And for once, I’m actually wishing that Punxatawney Pete is correct and that spring will be here six weeks earlier than normal. This is the single longest – and worst – cold snap in recent memory, and I’m ready for it to come to an end. And hopefully, once the weather warms up and the temperature in my office at home becomes tolerable again, I’ll feel a bit more like writing.
But for now, I’m going to add another sweatshirt and wrap up in a blanket and think sunny, warm thoughts. Maybe that’ll help.
Tags: horses, weather, Writing
A entry on another blog yesterday led me on a merry trail to this Newspaper Clipping Generator. That, in turn, served as the inspiration for a 387-word piece of flash fiction that I intend to use for the 100 Voices in the Night project. It’s kind of funny how it worked out because when the story was all written, I realized that it’s actually part of another story that’s been in my head for a couple of years now, just from a different perspective.
I still haven’t decided if the longer story is even going to get written. It’s a science fiction/horror piece, and some of the events that transpire make me a little nervous. It’s a nightmare descended on Earth, or at least one part of it, and as such is from the perspective of at least one person trapped inside it. The one I wrote yesterday is written in newspaper-style format, and details some of the events of those who were lucky enough to be outside the phenomenon.
I didn’t plan the relationship between these two stories – it just sort of happened. But it’s pretty cool that it worked out that way because it actually provides a little more focus and a few more details to the longer story that may never get written. Maybe I’ll write this little universe into existence – I don’t think there’s actually going to be that much to tell, but once I step into it, I may find it’s bigger than I first thought. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Tags: 100-voices-in-the-night, flash-fiction, horror, inspiration, science-fiction
Now this is the kind of weather I can actually tolerate – for a while, at least. The temps have dropped enough that the persistent rain has become snow. It was actually a lot of fun to work out in it tonight, but only because I was bundled up and actually working hard enough to stay warm. The horses were happy to get their feed, and I was happy to have something physical to do for a little bit.
I’ve been back on the South Beach diet for just over a week now. It’s been a bit of a rough week, complete with hunger pains, crankiness, and temptations to hop down off the wagon. But I’m glad I’ve stuck to my guns because already I’ve dropped six pounds and can see a visible difference. Another 12 pounds and I’ll be back down where I was before the big move last year.
I’ve been adding to my blogroll the last couple of days. There is now a new section for science related blogs and websites, all of which have RSS feeds (which is about the only way I roll these days). Go give them a look-see if you’d like. I suspect I’m going to have more reading material and story ideas in coming days than I quite know what to do with.
I’m trying out a new automatic wallpaper program I found today called Desktop Earth. It automatically refreshes your wallpaper with a satellite image of the Earth, showing you what part is currently under daylight and which is under night. You can play with the options to show you city lights at night and moonlight reflections. It’s pretty cool, but it’s a little bit resource intensive. I’ve had to set it to refresh every 15 minutes (default is 5) just so it doesn’t bog my computer down too much.
I’m finally making some time for some story writing. I’ve been terribly remiss in my obligations here, so it’s catch-up time. I had a great flash fiction idea just tonight, so I’m in the midst of setting this one down to paper. And, speaking of which, I’d best get back to it.
Tags: desktop-earth, health, software, south-beach-diet, weather, Writing
