| tangent |
[Jun. 23rd, 2008|11:54 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  amused | ] |
So, I was reading through my friends page and ran across a list of books and their associated authors and I had no idea what prompted the list and it dawned on me that I'm living LJ in reverse, which is probably the only way to really do this...and I'm rambling. Anyway, it brought to mind the legend of Merlin and how he was suppose to have lived life in reverse. I don't know if this is a valid Arthurian concept or not, but it's stuck with me from one of the many fantasies I read once upon a time. This sent me off on a tangent of course, wondering how this would all work.
My first realization was that life would be experienced in an effect by cause manner rather than by the standard cause and effect. I found this morbid to say the least, but I guess it is standard fare for the mystery genre. It would be hard to meet a person as a corpse and then grow to care for them as they grew younger. How does one not warn them? My second realization was it would have to be a life of solitude. Every encounter would be an introduction and then I realized this would be utterly impossible. The group encountered would just wonder who the weird old guy was who kept babbling unintelligibly. The only way this might work is if Merlin were living scenes or chapters in reverse. And then still, it's tragic, which is probably the point.
That audible click you just heard was the light switch for the bulb in my head. I need a break. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 15th, 2008|08:28 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | determined | ] |
| [ | music |
| | NPR | ] |
I have been reading doctodd's book "A Clockwork Murder" and it made me think about the book I pitched at WW06 and what it would feel like now after so long without reading or editing or thinking about it. So, I did what every would-be writer would do and opened it up and started through it again. I realized around midnight last night I had to stop or I would sideline my short story goals for the year and start trying to sell it again and even possibly go back to other books I had planned to be doing by now. I did notice that my voice or writing style from novel to short story has changed. I don't know whether that is because of the length of story or because of my growth or even possibly my lack of growth as a writer. I don't know. Anyway, I decided to stick to the plan of doing ten short stories this year. Wish me luck. |
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| Talebones Subscriptions |
[Apr. 11th, 2008|10:25 pm] |
I guess we all have our own modes on how we generate story ideas - stream of consciousness, news headlines/articles, bumper stickers, overheard conversations. There are those that are random I suppose, spontaneous even, or at least they seem like they are, but I would bet most of us tend to go back to the watering hole in the same spot. Anyway, I almost always come away with a new story idea from reading one of the different magazines I subscribe to. My favorite is Talebones. I just received the latest issue and can't wait to pour through it. I have two stories working from Mr. Swenson's Fall issue. These are a page or two per idea waiting in line in that ever growing list of stories. But, none of this is really my point. In his "Letter from the Editor" type piece he mentioned declining subscriptions. I guess I could always get new ideas from reading bumper stickers, but where would I publish them? Don't misunderstand me. This is a completely selfish appeal on my part. The more of our type of magazines vanish, the harder it will become for us beginners to get started. Subscribe! |
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| Kanji |
[Apr. 11th, 2008|10:12 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | pleased | ] |
Kanji came home last night with a positive rejection letter. It was the standard form letter with choice phrases underlined. The most telling was "try me again", which is encouraging. He did say it didn't grab him fast enough. I'll take another look at the start, but I want to get it back out as soon as "The 5:37 Train" comes back in. I'll let it sit for now, though, until I finish my WIP. |
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| not writing what I wanted |
[Mar. 30th, 2008|01:20 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
| [ | music |
| | KT Tunstall | ] |
I did not go back to Valhalla. I thought about it. I moved onto a story, Jinxing Crossing, that grew up out of a conversation about settling Venus. I know I said I wanted some good old fashion Fantasy, but these characters just wouldn't get out of the way. Anyway, I'm off to plot the outline. |
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| submissions |
[Mar. 18th, 2008|08:42 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | excited | ] |
Kanji and The 5:37 Train are in the mail to Talebones and Analog respectively. Good thoughts! |
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| death of a premise |
[Mar. 16th, 2008|10:13 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | working | ] |
My first contact story is official dead-ish. Anyway, I've decided the believability of the protagonist being in the situation I've put him in just isn't going to work. I like the concept, however, and think it's still usable at least for a setting for a future story. Even the protagonist is likable enough to be reused, but I just can't make this work. It has too many leaps of faith.
Kanji is done. I plan on sending it out this week to Talebones. Cross your fingers.
I'm going to revisit a story I've had on the shelf for some time. Its working title is Valhalla. This is one I don't know how I'm going to end as of yet, but I need some good old fashion fantasy for awhile. It was originally a novel idea and I'm not sure I can squeeze it into a short story baggie, but maybe I can flush it out enough so when I'm back to working on longer fiction I know where I want to go with it. |
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| editing voice |
[Mar. 8th, 2008|10:35 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | and grumpy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | soundless | ] |
I managed to cut around 250 words from Kanji this week and only have about 75 more to kill off before I'm below the 6,000 mark for Talebones. Ya know... This whole short story thing is a completely different animal and not the cute and cuddly kind either. Forcing a story into such a short distance is like packing pudding in plastic baggies. I find myself cutting words for count sake alone. I give up depth because it doesn't push the plot. I leave out the feel of stone beneath a character's fingertips because, well, it doesn't push the plot; it's just texture. I know, I know, I know. I'm gaining more than potential publishing credits. I'm learning to write concisely, to tell the tale without the ramble, but sometimes I worry I'm losing my voice. A sell would make me feel better, I guess, which means I should get back to editing. A little sleep would be nice too. |
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| Doomsday seed vault |
[Feb. 26th, 2008|02:55 pm] |
What a wonderful scifi concept? For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, Norway has opened the "Doomsday seed vault" today. This is a store of the world's agricultural seeds, not to be confused with wild plant life, and it is being set aside against catastrophe. Meaning, boom or cough-cough or man it's getting hot in here, it sure would be nice if we had some food right about now kind of catastrophe. It is even in one of the most remote places on earth. Which means, whoever is still standing when the need arises, they must walk as far north as a few degrees south of the North Pole, swim across the artic sea to get to the island where the vault is kept, get the life saving seeds, carry them back south to warmer climes, plant them, and then wait for fall to eat. It's a good thing only the strongest survive. Maybe they will have some "lunchables" on hand for the poor souls on the walkabout.
Don't get me wrong, I think this is probably one of the smartest things man has done to ensure our survival. Other smart things on the "before we all die to do list" are, in my opinion: mandatory population control, elimination of all greenhouse gas emitting vehicles and power plants, international laws controlling the growth and production of chicken and pigs and fish (note: this should not be done together in the same building where the different species may share their diseases like it is being done today in most countries.), and, since I am a scifi/fantasy geek, terraform a nearby plant such as Mars or Venus and move at least a couple of us over there. Feel free to add to my list or reject it or just laugh about it.
If nothing else, the Doomsday Vault will give settling aliens something to plant when they finally get here. Hopefully, there will be some drinkable water for them. What kind of hosts would we be if we didn't even leave something for them to drink? We should add a keg of Guinness to the Vault. |
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| Simian submission |
[Feb. 24th, 2008|12:14 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | mellow | ] |
| [ | music |
| | without sound save the chimes on the wind. | ] |
I have submitted Simian to Abyss & Apex, which is not what I said I was going to do the other night, but my friend who puts up with all my early drafts insisted I leave the story alone. She argues the story isn't about the world building, but about Chella loosing her son to the military and how she feels about it. I'm worried the outside world is too thin and leaves the reader wondering and wanting more info. Anyway, I gave in mostly because I agree with her, but also because I want to see what someone else thinks. Maybe it just wasn't a fit for F&SF.
Kanji has progressed. I haven't devote as much time to it as I should. I've been reading during my writing time, not because I'm behind, but because I've just wanted to read. You know, drift on someone else's written word for a change. This leads me to S. M. Stirling's The Sky People. This was a good book, fun and a throw back to stuff I read as a kid. I'm a Stirling fan and all his books have been at the very least good, most are really good to great.
I had another character introduce himself to me the other day while I was sitting and waiting at work. Most of my stories start with a quick daydream. Tomin lives in a high fantasy world rife with magic and beasties and wars and prophesies and, well, fantasy, but he could careless about any of that. He actually strives to avoid it all as part of his personal doctrine. "It's what gets people killed." He's a lot of fun if not a royal pain in the ass for his friend and business partner.
Anyway, this is me for right now here in this place. |
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| the written |
[Feb. 10th, 2008|01:44 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | good | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Tool - Lateralus | ] |
Well, there you are. I do wonder sometimes why you sit and wait for me to come back and tell you where I've managed to wonder off to. When last we spoke, I was waiting for an answer on my Ditch story, which wasn't a fit for Talebones, and I was planning work on Harvest Moon. This is just one of those stories for me. It's evolved and died and evolved again and stalled. At the moment, it's sitting on my electronic shelf collecting electronic dust. I've moved on and completed two other short stories. Neither of which were what I said I would be working on this winter. Anyway...
Simian is about Chella, a well bred descendant of genetically engineered chimps, and her son Ouber. They're living in post-pandemic England, which is still mostly intact compared to most of the world thanks to the new Queen and the Islands forced isolation. She's the nurse for her owner's wife and her son when sold will provide him with the money his wife needs for treatment to combat the lingering effects of the plague. The story covers the night in which Ouber's future owner shows up to buy him and Chella's issues as the night unfolds. I submitted Simian to Fantasy and Science Fiction. It wasn't a fit. I'm considering reworking the ending and giving more of the world building info. It's pretty short. An extra 500 to 1000 words still has it under four grand in word count. Maybe this will help give it a fit somewhere. I'll let it sit for awhile though.
The 5:37 Train is the second of my completed short stories. It is another pandemic story, but this one is set in the moment as the Flu is being released or at least, the parent strain of the multiple derivatives that are wrecking havoc around the world. The parent is a killer as well, but at least the immunity gained will be effective with its children. So, anyway, we get to wait with Collin as he waits for his metro train. This one's gestating still after its last edit. I think I'm going to try this one with Talebones again.
I have three more stories in the works. Kanji is set in the not too far future which is current in the standard scifi up grades like electronically enhanced humans and a globally warmed environment. Ghostlight is a story that's been gestating for awhile and pulls its setting from my childhood in England. It's a standard children's world jumping story. And the last is The Maze, which my children want me to name World Key or Witch Key or something with a door in it. It was a story developed out of a storytime thing I've started with them while in the car. I told them a couple Grimm's Brothers stories, but when I ran out of those, I just started winging it. Side note - this is a lot of fun if you haven't tried it with your kids especially when they get involved. I'll need to find a children's magazine for this one unless it swells enough for it to be a children's book. hummmm?
Anyway, this is where I am now. Oh, the book I'm reading now is worth checking out if anyone is looking for a fantasy read. It is The Awakened Mage by Karen Miller. The first book of this series is Innocent Mage. Normally I don't like books written with heavy accents, but I fell right into this one. I'll try to stay current with you more often, but, well, I tell my mother something like this as well. See ya soon. |
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| Rhymes in the night |
[Oct. 6th, 2007|02:25 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | amused | ] |
I have this scene in my head where my beleaguered protagonist is confronted with needing to find her way through an illusion and guarantee her way back and the thing that comes to me is Hansel and Gretel's pebbles. We use pebbles because birds eat bread, right? Well, what do you do when the birds eat pebbles as well? You enchant the pebbles of course, which requires a catchy chant or rhyme. This of course sent me off google hunting for a mold in which to cast my catchy rhyme. And I found:
As I was going up the stairs
I met a man who wasn't there
I met that man again today
I wish, I wish, he'd go away
- Sapphire and Steel
Sapphire and Steel was a 70's TV show in England. From my skim of the info, I gather the rhyme played havoc with bedtimes around the country. I just thought I would share. I wish I could watch the episode.
(I may have my facts off here. I really did go through it quickly, but I hope not. If I have, feel free to correct me.) |
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| writing and submitting |
[Sep. 30th, 2007|01:35 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | working | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Stone Sour | ] |
Well, I finished my last edit/rewrite of The Ditch and sent it to Talebones a few weeks ago, maybe three. Note to self - always check formatting before submitting. I didn't of course. I sent The Ditch off with some very basic mistakes. I didn't underline the words I wanted Italicized, but just used italics, which is a no-no. And, this one's the kick in the balls; I didn't put my return information in the top left corner of the first page of my manuscript, but on my cover letter. At least, I have my last name on each page of the story, which will help the ever gracious and patient Mr. Patrick Swenson connect my story with me. There are probably more and I do apologize, Mr. Swenson, for my boneheadedness.
I got the new issue of Talebones a week or so ago. The lead story, Wolf Song by William Nolan, sent me off in a flurry of stories, one of which I will actually keep. I must say, writing a story about a werewolf who actually enjoys being a werewolf is liberating. The characters are sensual, brazen, fun. It's a good issue. Buy it. Subscribe. www.talebones.com
My current story, not the werewolf story, is Harvest Moon. The title might change since the story has evolved so much. It's a witch story, not my bread and butter, but fun in a dark way. Mina, my protagonist, is fighting to keep from becoming the final ingredient in a witches longevity spell. She's tough and has to beat the witch according to my daughter who insists that the evil witch never wins. If that were only true... I'm hoping Apex Digest is a good fit for this one. And I promise to double check my formatting.
For November, I have a story I started as a short story, but evolved pushing the limits in word count and plot. This is Threshold, a story about a woman who is tricked into openning a doorway between worlds and letting very evil and power hungry men into our world on an apocalyptic level. She can't reverse the damage she's already caused, but maybe she can sever the head of the beast and minimize further damage. My plan is to start from scratch with an outline and just write until I'm done. At the very least, maybe I can cut it back down into a short story.
I should be back to the wolf story after that, hopefully before the end of the year. It sure would be nice to send out four short stories before the end of the year. But I'll settle for three with a rough draft of a novel, even a short novel. |
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| It's been ages. |
[Jul. 8th, 2007|11:08 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Dallas | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | determined | ] |
I've been gone a long time. I won't bore anyone with the details. The good news is I'm writing again. I have spent the last weekend digging up and reading all my old short stories and picking at the ones unfinished. It felt good, like coming home. I guess anyone who had been reading my journal is long gone by now so I'm back to me. I've decided I'm going to polish off The Ditch and try to sell it. |
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| Buy/Read this book--win a deadly writing implement |
[Sep. 1st, 2006|01:02 pm] |
I didn't manage to get the cover to paste correctly but you can see it on Joshua's site or LJ.
CONTEST!!!
Cracked Throne Viral Contest
Win a signed ARC (advanced reader’s copy) of the novel The Cracked
Throne and read it before its release in hardcover on November 7th, 2006!
All you have to do is post a copy of this contest description in its entirety
onto your LiveJournal, blog, or webpage sometime during the month of September,
thus infecting all of your friends on your friends list. Then email Joshua
Palmatier at jpalmatier@sff.net with your name and a link to your posting.
I’ll draw a name at random on October 1st, 2006 and announce the winner on my
LiveJournal.
But wait! There’s more!
Preorder The Cracked Throne or The Skewed Throne at
Clarkesworldbooks.com between now and October 31st and for each order
you’ll be entered into a contest where you could win one of the following
prizes:
Grand Prize: A signed ARC (advanced reader’s copy) of the novel
The Cracked Throne, five copies of The Skewed Throne so you can infect
your friends, and a pen shaped like a dagger.
First Prize: A signed hardcover edition of the novel The Cracked
Throne and a pen shaped like a dagger.
Second Prize: A signed hardcover edition of the novel The Skewed
Throne.
Third Prize: A signed paperback edition of the novel The Skewed
Throne.
Order multiple copies and be entered into the contest once for each copy
ordered! See the complete official rules at Clarkesworldbooks.com. |
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| catching up |
[Aug. 31st, 2006|10:13 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | working | ] |
| [ | music |
| | still no sound | ] |
I am finally caught up with all the friends post I've missed over the past week. Vacation, ya see. I had a good time. On the vacation, skimming the posts was relaxing, but not as much fun as blowing money in a casino or swimming with the kids in the ocean.
Now, to business. Here's my agenda for the fall as I see it now. Re-write The Ditch. It's a short story about the people who didn't get to live on the golden hill of Camelot with the "silver spooned" elite. Re-write Harvest Moon. It's another short story. This one is about a witch or more precisely, about the man she's chosen for a mate and what he goes through during her planned encounters with him. And last, start The Vale. This will be my second novel. It's about Rachel, a young woman who finally gets the date she's been dying for only to be sold to a pack of goblins by her love interest because of who she might be. Oh, and sell Kingmaker of course. |
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| I got it! |
[Aug. 31st, 2006|09:05 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | soundless | ] |
Well, it's here. My first rejection came in the mail tonight on the one night I wasn't even thinking about it. It's the whole "watched pot" thing I guess. I know it's not what I wanted or even expected, but I'm not upset like I thought I would be. It is a good thing. I have reached another milestone. Okay, yes, I'm disappointed, but I not really surprised. Statistically it was unlikely (alright, damn near impossible) to sell my first book on the first try. I'm kind of proud of my rejection. Ms. Elizabeth Winick of McIntosh and Otis said she enjoyed my voice. How bout that? |
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| a day off writing |
[Aug. 7th, 2006|01:31 pm] |
This would be the life, you know? To wake up, see the wife off to work, feed the kids, do a few errands, and then just write the rest of the day.
Anyway, I'm posting today to mention a writer I ran into again this year at a local wine festival over the weekend. Austin Camacho (www.ascamacho.com) is the first writer I spoke to after finishing my book last year before I went into my very long edit and my quest to enter the publishing world. He self publishes and, yes, I know people say that's not the way to go, but I know he sold something like 30 books yesterday if I understood his mug give away (buy2getamugpromotion--he had one of fifteen left). And this is what he does just about every weekend at one festival or another around the Virginia/Maryland area. I don't mean to imply he sales that many books each weekend, but he seems to be doing really well. My point in all this is he's everywhere promoting his writing and it is easy to admire his drive and dedication. While I don't want to self publish, I don't look down on it because of him and I certainly hope I get out to as many festivals and such as he does especially of the wine variety. I wonder how many traditionally published authors sold thirty books this weekend and got to drink wine doing it. Self promoting doesn't seem so hard that way.
If you like mysteries and action adventure, than check out his website or go to amazon. Blood and Bone is the first of his mysteries series and has just been picked up by a traditional publisher. He didn't mention which one, but did say they were doing a good job pushing it so far. I'm not a big mystery reader, but I picked Blood and Bone up and added it to my reading list. Now, back to the writing. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 28th, 2006|10:40 am] |
I had one of those writing nights last night where nothing comes simply. I'm butchering a scene from a short story I want to sell and it's just not improving. I pushed it until my cat got feed-up and left. I, apparently, am not a good seat when the muse is elsewhere. Maybe, it's the muse he likes. Anyway, so I gave up and turned my attention to my website. I'm going to make one. I've been given the software by a good friend with even the offer of technical assistance when I need it. All I have to do is create it. What's more my wife procured the site name and gave it to me for my birthday. Who knew nine bucks could make me so happy? The name is/will be grimmland.com. I wanted grimland.com for obvious reasons, but some twit has it parked for the purpose of selling the site and wants $7,500 for the damn thing. Besides, grimm is more true to the brothers and people might get the reference more readily. So, stand by...
Question: I plan on having a product page on my site for my books, but would also like to showcase the books of friends and other writers I've read and want to push. Do I need to ask permission to do this? Would anyone even mind? It's free publicity, right? I wouldn't even be the one selling the books. It would just be a link to Amazon or the writer's website or something of the sort. |
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| The beauty and story of a book |
[Jul. 26th, 2006|08:10 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | awed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | San Ilya: They Died for Beauty | ] |
There's an article on CNN this morning about a book being found in a bog somewhere in Ireland. It's a book of Psalms and was apparently open to Psalm 83, which is amazing considering the topic of that particular Psalm and what's going on in the world right now. It kind of screams fake, but ignoring that I'm left with a sense of awe of the thing as it is. It's being dated around 800-1000AD. That's 1200 years of life and mystery and, well, story. There are just so many ways one can take this event even if it is a sham and write a compelling story. Hell, it writes itself. What a great find. I don't even care if it's real. I just love this kind of thing.
Another news tidbit that caught my attention lately is they are going to map the Neanderthal genome. How cool is that? I wish I could stop time and write every story that comes to mind. |
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