If you’re a subscriber to Daily Science Fiction (and why wouldn’t you be? An awesome free story in your inbox every day) then you’ll be getting my flash “Have You Seen My Girl?” in your inbox on the 23rd. I hope you enjoy it and I’d love to hear what you think.
If you’re not a subscriber, the story will be on Daily Science Fiction‘s website on January 30.
First of all, a sale! Actually, it happened back in October, but I was waiting to announce it until I knew when it would appear. This January 23rd, Daily Science Fiction subscribers will have my flash piece, “Have You Seen My Girl?” appear in their email inbox! If you’re not a DSF subscriber (and why wouldn’t you be? It’s a great story in your inbox every day. For free. Sign up here.), then it will appear on their website on January 30th. Give it a read and then come back here to let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your feedback.
And now, a plug. For Christmas, I loaded up my two dogs and drove to the east coast to spend the holidays with a friend. I’m a little bit crazy, so I drove the 1000+ miles in one go–almost 17 hours. And then I did it again, 10 days later, to come back home. 17 hours in a car is a loooong time, but I found a little magic that made the trip fly by. It was almost enjoyable, the first 14 or 15 hours at least. I dug up my ancient 40Gb first-gen iPod that is somehow still working. I downloaded every single story from podcastle.com, almost 400 stories, about 10Gb worth and put them all in a playlist. The moment the car started moving, I dialed up the playlist, put the iPod on shuffle, and listened to random short stories for the entire drive. Wow! Times flies when you are mentally lost in someone else’s world!
So, probably anybody who is reading this blog already knows about Podcastle, but if not, head over to Podcastle and start listening. You won’t be disappointed! I didn’t hear one story in the entire 34 hours that didn’t have me fully engaged. Not only are there up-and-coming authors who will delight you, but also stories by speculative fiction giants like N. K. Jemisin, Tim Pratt, Ken Liu, and Peter S. Beagle (if you don’t do anything else, listen to Podcastle’s very first story – “Come Lady Death” by Beagle. I found it nearly perfect.) And if you prefer horror or science fiction, try Podcastle’s sister sites, Pseudopod and Escape Pod. Enjoy!
I’m an unapologetic longhander.
It never occurred to me to be anything else. Over the last couple years, I’ve been surprised to find out that I’m apparently in a small minority. Almost every writer I’ve told this dirty little secret of mine to has looked at me like a third arm is growing out of my forehead. They shake their heads and politely try to steer the conversation to some other part of the 21st century I might be able to relate to.
It’s been a year since I graduated from Odyssey. Don’t get me wrong—best writing experience ever. I’m not second guessing, not a chance. But, workshops will mess with you. They throw your writing zen seriously out of whack.
You’ll hear, if you’ve been to a workshop or if you ever go, “You’ll have so much in your head. It’ll take you awhile to assimilate it before you’ll see it pay benefits in your writing.” That’s true, and, for me at least, it’s manifested in more than one way.
There are the authors everyone has heard about: George R. R. Martin, Stephen King. But what about all those books written by people you’ve never heard of? Some of them are treasures just waiting to be found, and that’s what this blog hop is all about: the books you might not have heard about, the authors you might end up loving.
This blog hop is like a game of tag. One author posts and then tags other authors who link back to their website the next week and tag new authors. If you follow the blog hop long enough, you’re bound to find some writers you’ll love! Maybe you’ll even discover a book that ends up being the next big thing.
I was tagged by Mary Garber. I met her through this blog. She’s currently doing some great work with short stories. You can find some of her recent work at Fiction365 (and here) and EveryDayFiction. She’s currently participating in Write 1/Sub 1 where she has committed to submitting a new short story to a market every other week for the entire year. It’s ambitious and I wish I had her energy. You can follow Mary’s progress at http://megarber.wordpress.com/
This blog hop includes ten questions to help you learn more about an author, so here’s a little info about me:
1. What is the working title of your current project?
Right now, I’m revising stories that I wrote at last summer’s Odyssey Writing Workshop. I’ve submitted two (“Every Wizard Has a Bad Spell” and “Candy”) and am currently working on another (“The Spirit of Ash”).
2. Where do your ideas come from?
Physically, ideas tend to come to me while I’m driving. I have a thirty minute drive to work, and most of my stories were grown from seeds that came to me during that time. I think driving allows me to engage my awareness just enough to get it out of the way so my subconscious can talk to me.
Mentally, my ideas come from simple things; a character, a phrase, an influence. “Every Wizard Has a Bad Spell”—about two wizards who are trying to corner the magic market but are equally powerful and so focused on each other that they essentially become powerless—came from thinking about the old Dr. Seuss story, “The Zax”, and how each Zax essentially renders itself powerless by refusing to change. “Candy”—a retelling of Hansel and Gretel—was written simply because I couldn’t get ‘fairy tale’ out of my head. “The Spirit of Ash” comes from a desire to write a magical post-apocalyptic world and an image of a ghost made of swirling ash.
3. What genre do you write?
I mostly write fantasy and psychological horror. I’d like to try more sci-fi, but it intimidates me a little bit. I don’t know why. I’ve been working on that.
4. Describe your favorite character that you’ve created.
Probably a character named Vic in a story I wrote called “Savior.” Vic is the first character that I ever wrote who took on a life of his own and pulled my writing into places that I didn’t know it was going. In the story, he’s a serial killer, but he doesn’t seem to know it. He sees ‘visions’ of how people are about to die and tries to help them avoid the fate he sees. But, he ends up being the agent of that fate, causing their death himself.
By the end of the story, I don’t know if he is simply lying to us (the story is told in first person), if he’s deluded and lying to himself, or if he’s just completely insane. I don’t think I want to know. He’s more fun this way and he was definitely a blast to write. He’s the ultimate unreliable narrator.
5. What would you do with your spare time if you weren’t writing?
Well, I’m a software developer by day and I spent many years working in the video game industry. When I’m not thinking of story ideas, I’m thinking of game ideas. If I had the time, I’d work on creating games. But, unfortunately, there isn’t enough time for both. I spent many years working on games, so now it’s writing’s turn.
6. Will your work be self-published or traditionally published?
I’m hoping that it will be traditionally published. What little I have out now is traditionally published. Besides, I’m not much of an extravert or self-marketer, skills that seem vital if I’d want to self-publish. Or maybe it’s just that I’m lazy.
7. How long does it take you to write a first draft?
Once an idea takes hold, I can write a rough draft in one or two sittings. But, ideas tend to percolate in my brain for a long time before they’re ready to burst out onto the page like that. I’ve been told that muse-driven writing is a “bad thing,” but that’s how I roll. At least for now.
8. Whose work would you compare yours to within your genre?
Wow, I’m not sure I’m far enough along to have any idea. I’m currently reading some of Ursula K. LeGuin’s short stories, and the brilliance that comes through makes it seem foolhardy to compare myself to any established author. I think I’ll wait to answer that question until I’m more established.
9. Who are your favorite writers?
That probably changes on a month-to-month basis. Lately, I’ve been blown away by John Ajvide Lindqvist and N.K. Jemisin. I read everything Stephen King writes and I adore Flannery O’Connor’s short stories.
10. When and where do you do your best writing?
I’m not a morning person. Not at all. Yet, strangely enough, I find that if I can force myself to get up, that’s when I write the best. I’m not sure why that surprises me, I discovered the same thing in college when it came to studying. It’s too bad that I really despise getting up early. As far as where – I find that a room full of people who are not paying any attention to me is really conducive to writing; a coffee shop or bookstore works really well.
So, that’s enough about me. Here’s a list of the people that I tagged to continue the hop. Click on their names to check out their answers and find out what they’re up to.
Phillip McCollum: I struck up a friendship with Phillip after critiquing a short story of his on the Online Writing Workshop. His blog is a great read for anyone interested in the day-to-day path to becoming a writer. I’d settle for half as much energy and dedication as Phillip has.
Barbara A. Barnett: Barbara is a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop, class of 2007. I met her at a get together of the 2012 class and alumni at the end of the workshop this summer. She’s recently sold two stories that you’ll be able to find soon at Flash Fiction Online and Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show.
Samantha Kymmell-Harvey: Samantha is a fellow graduate of this year’s Odyssey Writing Workshop. She specializes in historical fantasy and is crazy talented. I think you’ll be hearing her name again in the not-too-distant future. She also speaks and teaches French and is a culinary wizard (one of the rarest kinds of wizard).
