“Sword of Antaros” Launched on Kindle Vella

I have launched a serial adventure story, “Sword of Antaros,” on Kindle Vella. This is the story of sword-and-sorcery hero Lairc of Antaros, first featured in Cirsova Magazine a couple of years back. Now Kindle Vella, with its serial format, offers a place to chronicle more fantastical tales of dashing swordsmen and beautiful women in an homage to the classic barbarian heroes of Robert E. Howard, Lin Carter, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

This is a Saturday matinee, a time of glistening cities and crumbling castles, mighty wizards and loathsome demons, flashing swords and fiery sorcery. It’s been fun to write, and I hope it’ll be fun to read…

Read Full Post »

Life in 2D and 3D

When you’re a kid, except for your parents and grandparents, grown-ups are pretty much cardboard figures occupying a single well-defined place in your life. Like your teachers, remote authority figures who must live somewhere, but you have no idea where, or what they do there. They are your teachers, and that is the only way you perceive them.

The same holds true for older relatives, those great-aunts and great-uncles who live for decades in some age-limbo between sixty and 117, and who may not even be actual relatives, but simply old people whose entire impact on your life stems from their erratic and opaque relations with your parents. Other than that they share some ancient experiences your mom and dad, you know practically nothing about them; their whole point seems to be to make you wonder what your parents did for fun before you were born.

Then, one day, you realize that a new generation has grown up behind you, and you are that teacher, that great-uncle, that friend of the parents’ from some long-lost civilization called “the Seventies.” You know that you have a fully-rounded life, with a job and a spouse and hobbies–but the kids don’t know that. They see only the two-dimensional character that affects their lives, just as you once did.

As a writer, and someone who has now reached that latter tier of life experience, I can see that this is a lesson: All characters are people, and all people have depth. (Yes, your character can be an alien or a telepathic dog, but they’re still people.) The more sides you see of someone, the more you understand that person. And that can have a terribly beneficial effect on your writing.

A couple of years ago, I submitted a story to a magazine, which bought it. Then the editor asked me about a particular character who appeared only on the first page. She was a waitress, and her raison d’être was merely to deliver drinks and provide an excuse for one character to hustle the other out of the bar. But the editor found her fascinating, and wanted to know more about her. Why? Beats me, but he was willing to pay for a whole ‘nother story if I would write it. (Of course I would. I’m not stupid. And he bought it, and the pair were very well-received, thank you.) The whole idea, though, came about because the editor recognized that even this minor character had a life–a life that intersected with my original story in a way I would never have envisioned on my own.(Who knew she was sleeping with her boss?)

Fortunately, I had matured enough as a person and as a writer to develop that outside life into a story. But honestly, I had originally written that story a long time ago, and if I’d been asked to write the companion piece way back then, I probably could not have done it.

Because, quite simply, I was too young. And now, am I old? Apparently, I’m just old enough.

#SFWApro

Read Full Post »

Too Many Wonders

The question comes up fairly often, and it came up today: How far afield can an author go from established facts and still keep an audience? This is similar to our last discussion, but different. Here the question is not why some people like an author so much they will let her get away with (literary) murder, but how far an author can stretch the truth–or more specifically, how many times in one story?

I once had a story rejected because it contained Too Many Wonders. (It was capitalized in the rejection letter. I can show it to you.) The complaint was that the story had too many fantastical elements when it should have depended on one major speculation. And if that’s how the editor wanted to run his magazine, then he was right to say so. Honestly, it wasn’t the only problem with that story and he wouldn’t have taken it anyway, but I had sent in a lot of stories by that point, and I think he was trying to be encouraging. I sold the story much later, but even then the editor asked for significant changes (and he was right).

But I see stories all the time where there’s more than one speculative element! you say. And you, too, are right. If your story is set in the future, practically all of the elements will be speculative in nature. (Ironically, my story was set in the far future. Didn’t help.) The relevant phrase here is “practically all.” There’s one thing that doesn’t change, that can’t change, and that’s the human element. No matter how many changes you make, your characters have to be identifiable to present-day audiences. (Unless you’re Fred Pohl. Then you can do anything you want.)

The problem with Too Many Wonders is that they distract from the characters. I once heard it said that SF is the easiest thing to write because you don’t need characters; you can depend on gadgets and aliens and exotic settings. That is, to use a polite term, garbage. The idea of SF is to use the fantastic to explore real-world ideas without seeming to, thus allowing the author to make a point without hitting the reader over the head with relevance. (Or it can just entertain. But the best SF, the best literature, does both.)

Regardless of whether it’s serious or fun, a story should make a point. And the only elements that inhabit that story should be those that help to make that point. I thought my story fit that description, and my long-ago editor did not. You see who won that argument. So when you ask why a story should only have one speculative element, the real question is, why does it need more?

Answer that question to determine which editor will read your story. Answer that question well, and many people will read your story, over and over again.

#SFWApro

Read Full Post »

News and Notes

When you’re in the groove, and the writing is going well, you want to write more. You may not want to write more of anything vitally important, but you still want to write. So you think of a subject to fill four hundred words and you write a blog post. This particular four hundred words is in the form of the newsletter that I’ll probably never start.

What? you say. The writing is going well? What’s up with that? Okay, that will do.

I just finished the second draft of a short story which has been on-and-off for the past few months. I had a first draft, but I knew it had a big hole in the middle even as I finished, so I put the whole thing aside for a few weeks. (I write slowly, so things tend to incubate for a while.) Finally pieces started falling into place and I returned to it, whereupon more pieces fell into place, and now I think it’s about ready for someone to see. (Not you, my reader, you deserve better than a second draft.) I am quite pleased with the alterations I made and expect great things to result.

Speaking of “great things,” The Invisible City has been out from Digital Fiction Publishing for almost a week, and is moving along quite nicely, thank you. I fully expect that, when The Secret City and The Cosmic City come out, fame, fortune, and a Hollywood premiere will quickly follow. Invisible currently available for the debut price of $0.99 (but that won’t last). Think about it: 120,000 words of swashbuckling science fiction adventure for less than a buck. You could buy the whole trilogy for the price of a venti frappuccino. (If you do buy a copy, please consider leaving a review or a rating. It’s crazy helpful.)

But if shorter works are your bag, do not despair. I have an SF story about the importance of family, “Relative Fortune,” coming out in the November Galaxy’s Edge, and a fantasy adventure, “When Gods Fall in Fire,” in the upcoming issue of Cirsova.

And of course, my gorilla-centric unnamed novel is poking along. I still hope to finish it by the end of the year.

So that’s my life in a nutshell, with the emphasis on “nutty.” And it’s almost four hundred words…

#SFWApro

Read Full Post »

Sale – “When Gods Fall in Fire”

Very happy to announce that my heroic fantasy tale, “When Gods Fall in Fire,” has been accepted for publication at Cirsova (where one can find several of my earlier efforts). “WGFF” is nominally a fantasy story, but with an SF slant and (if you squint sideways) a sort of Lovecraftian tinge. I tried to be a little different when I wrote it and ended up with something that’s hard to describe. But now you’ll have the chance to make that determination for yourself!

“When Gods Fall in Fire” should appear in 2018.

#SFWApro

Read Full Post »

Do I Have to Go to Finland Now?

Today Cirsova magazine, which has been nominated for a Hugo as Best Semi-prozine, announced its nomination package (i.e., the selection of stories it wants to present to voters), and one of my stories, for a wonder, is in there. This is, of course, a great hardship for me, since now if I say anything about the Hugos, I have to include a disclaimer. (I’m not sure if this post counts.) This does not mean I’ve been nominated myself, but it’s thrilling to be thought worthy to be a part of the magazine’s pitch to the voters.

On the other hand, it’s also an awesome responsibility, because now I’m the de facto ambassador for the talking gorillas and human/wolverine hybrids from the future who told me the story in the first place. (Yeah, it’s that weird.)*

If you’re not going to Helsinki in August, you can read the story here for free. If you are going to Helsinki, all I ask is that you give all of the nominees a fair shot.

Happy reading!

 

*Shameless plug: If you like this story, it was an inspiration for my novel The Invisible City, available here and here.

#SFWApro

Read Full Post »

For the Love of the Game

I recently attended the end-of-season banquet for the UCLA women’s basketball team, of which I am a long-time fan. Yes, the men’s program at UCLA has a long and legendary history (of which I am justifiably proud, although I had absolutely nothing to do with it, but that’s college sports for you), but I have found the women’s team to be a more rewarding experience to watch. The men’s program has constant turnover from one-and-done players who just use college as a way station on their way to the NBA. Very few quality players stay four years, so what’s the point in getting invested in them? If they don’t care, why should I?

On the distaff side, however, there are no lottery-ticket deals in their future. Even the few who proceed to the WNBA won’t get rich off of it. Which leads to the question: Why do it? College is hard enough, why make it even harder?

Simple: because they love the game. And you can tell when you watch them: the drive, the tenacity, the unwillingness to give up even when the score is lopsided and the clock is winding down. These women have taught me a lot about toughing it out–and that is the number one skill a writer needs, too.

It is said you have to write a million words before you learn how to write. Seems pretty solid to me. How long that takes is up to you–but even if you do it, it’s not like there’s a magic switch that clicks on at that point and suddenly you’re selling stories to Asimov’s. Or even Cirsova. Some people sell their first story; others take decades to reach that mark. If you can’t stick it out, if you can’t summon up the self-confidence, the drive, or simply the stubbornness to keep writing even when all of your friends have secretly written off your chances and only ask, “So, are you still writing?” because they’ve run out of small talk–then you won’t make it. Not because you can’t–you simply won’t.

I have seen my team play with seven players out of 14 unable to suit up because of injury–for the entire season. And every one of those women played like she was the only one who could do her job for 40 minutes because she was the only one who could do her job: There was no one else. I have seen them come back from 20 points down in the second half–when even I had secretly written them off–because they didn’t know how to quit.

I had already started selling when I became aware of how remarkable my team was, so the lessons they taught weren’t quite so essential, but when you’re a writer, self-doubt is never far from your doorstep. And when those creeping doubts ring my doorbell, I look back on that team–my team–and I remember that we all need to rely on the same resilience if we’re going to succeed, that same knowledge that doing our best is going to help us, even if we lose this game, because there’s always the next game.

Look at it this way: Charlie Brown lost practically every game he pitched, but he never stopped showing up. I like to think he grew up to be a writer.

#SFWApro

 

Read Full Post »

2016 in Review

As we wave good-bye to the tragi-comedy that has been 2016, I present you with the summation of my writing year, for whatever it might be worth. (Probably more to me than you.)

Submissions: 96. Trust me, this is a lot more than I thought. I credit the dozens of markets available today; when I started, there were three. Twelve of these subs are still outstanding.

Sales: 9. This is a record. Four original stories, five reprints. One of the original stories, moreover, was solicited by an editor. That was a first. (Woohoo!) The most-rejected of the original stories, “Hoskins’ War”  (appearing in Cirsova), had been rejected five times. Of the reprints, “Grinpa” (appearing in an upcoming volume of Digital Quick Fiction) had been rejected eight times before it first sold; this will be the first time it is reprinted.

Words written: 72,433. This is not in and out itself an impressive number, but in my own defense it only counts original works, not the extensive re-writing of older stories (some of which I sold). I would guess the true number to be closer to 90,000. The bulk of these words (66,000) are contained in The Cosmic City, which will be done very soon. I promise!

I also appeared on a panel, for the first time in, oh, let’s just say since I began selling, at Loscon. It was on what life would have been like without Star Trek. I was the guy who half-seriously pointed out how Star Trek had delayed some technical innovation. Nobody threw any tomatoes.

So that’s how I spent my free time. This is the first time I’ve added up these numbers; there are some surprises. Next year, I want to write more original fiction (easier when you’re not concentrating on a novel), and of course I want to sell more. With any luck, those things will go hand-in-hand.

I guess it’s up to me.

Happy New Year!

#SFWApro

Read Full Post »

Two-for-One Sale

No, it’s not what you’re thinking. Wait until December; maybe I’ll offer some deals. I’m here to announce that I will be showing not one, but two stories in the Spring 2017 issue of Cirsova: “War of the Ruby” and “Shapes in the Fog.” I’m really psyched about “Shapes in the Fog” because it was solicited.

The editor read “WotR” (not “LotR”) and waxed rhapsodic about a minor character that he wanted to see more of. (When I say “minor,” I mean she’s gone after page one.) Could I, asked he, write another story to shadow the first, featuring her?

This is one of those offers writers dream of. It’s not like selling a reprint, where you get paid for doing nothing (except submitting), but on the other hand, it pays a lot better, and  the editor has already told you what he wants.

So I did it, and they liked it, and they bought it, and now it’s coming out next year and I will appear in the same magazine twice.

And they said this stuff was hard…

#SFWApro

Read Full Post »

Publishing Update

Cirsova #2 is now out, featuring my short story about the little-known supernatural arena of the American Revolution, “Hoskins’ War.” The enemy of your enemy is your friend, but when a colonial guerrilla warrior witnesses an attack by uncanny creatures upon a British column, he realizes that some wars transcend politics and geography and that if this massacre is left unanswered, there soon may be no one left to fight over whether America deserves its freedom.

I can also announce that “Foundering Fathers” is now available as part of the anthology Singular Irregularity. In a complete coincidence, it too examines the underpinnings of a pivotal event in America’s fight for liberty–albeit in a more lighthearted vein. When time-traveling Barclay Webster accidentally leaves Paul Revere senseless just before he is to make his legendary ride, who but Barclay will be there to rescue history? And when plans go awry, who but Soames, the inestimable valet, will be there to rescue Barclay?

And finally, Once a Knight, A Tale of the Daze of Chivalry, has been made available for free on Amazon for a very limited time. Fantasy Faction called Once a Knight, “cleverly written. … [A] pun in every paragraph and a smile in every sentence.” If you love Monty Python and the Holy Grail, or the films of Mel Brooks, this book belongs in your library.

Read Full Post »