17 Sep 07 Nursing a Coke

I’d like to point out that a writer friend of mine is back in action and churning out a story or two.  The short story I just linked to, entitled “Responsible,” is dark and emotive, so of course I enjoyed it very much.  I highly recommend stepping over there to read and comment.  I do believe Eric would enjoy that.

Tags: eric-bailey, fiction, short-stories, Writing, yoyoy

20 Aug 06 To-Do

My personal to-do for this week:

1. Break my Warlord CCG collection down into lots, take digital pictures, and post the whole mess up onto eBay in several auctions.  Breaks my heart to do it – it’s a great game – but I simply haven’t the time or the money for the game anymore, I haven’t played in over a year, and there isn’t a local playgroup here in the Lafayette area to hook up with.  So, the cards must go, and I’ll redirect the money from that back into my writing habit.
2. Work on researching and storyboarding a fun little Gunslinger story arc.  It’s going to be based extensively in Stephen King’s Dark Tower universe, but it will be a bit of private fan fiction incorporating actual members of the TTL Gunslingers as the major characters in the story.  It will even have some illustrations, since a very talented member of the clan has agreed to contribute his pencil to drawing some pictures.  Should be a lot of fun.
3. Being expanding and polishing “These Dreams Shall Take You” for submission to a magazine by the end of the month.  From the feedback received at Liberty Hall, I think this one stands a pretty good chance of getting accepted somewhere once final revisions are done.
4. Sit down tonight and write for this week’s flash challenge. It’s been a very busy weekend.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to get it done.
5. Write my 250-word story for Jason Evan’s newest contest, which starts on Tuesday.  This one is especially exciting because Jason has enlisted the aid of Anne Frasier to help judge and offer feedback.

Yeah, I think that’s it for projects at the moment.  Geez, I think I’m gonna be busy…

Tags: anne-frasier, jason-evans, short-stories, the-clarity-of-night, todo, ttl-gunslingers, warlord-ccg, Writing, writing-contests

15 Jun 06 Going Long

I have to admit – I’m somewhat nervous about attempting to write a longer story.  Do I have what it takes?  Can I develop both the plot and the characterizations properly to keep the story moving, to keep it interesting, to keep my readers engaged? 

Flash fiction is easy.  It’s merely the putting into words a particular scene in my head.  Piece of cake.  It’s the moving beyond that scene that unnerves me.  What happens next?  Where do my characters go from here?  What do they say?  How does everything end up?  How do I tie this small scene to others floating around in my head to tell the bigger story?  It’s one thing to tell a story in 1000 words or less.  Quite another to push on to 3000 words, 5000 words, or – eek! – 30000 words. 

Honestly, I don’t know if I’m up to the challenge.  I hope I am; I want to be.  It’s not like I don’t have a dozen different stories to tell.  I just don’t know if I can tell them well – and I want to.  I want to do them justice.

What I know is that I am going to try.  So far, my writing has been compared to Nathaniel Hawthorne and an early Stephen King, so that gives me hope that I might be able to actually do this. 

We’ll see.  If I’m lucky, I’ll surprise myself.

Tags: flash-fiction, nathaniel-hawthorne, short-stories, stephen-king, Writing