Fiction Writing's topics - tribe.net

Destiny now live! & more publications news

Elissa — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:43:37 GMT

Blog entry with links at:
http://hurricanecountry.blogspot.com/2009/12/destiny-live-for-download.html

I've released the third volume of my Deviations series, available in multiple formats at my website, Manybooks, and Smashwords. I also joined Operation E-Book Drop, a program whereby authors provide free e-books to service members in the coalition Armed Forces.

Windborn writes over at HubPages, "Rather than stuff judgments of right and wrong down the reader's throat, Malcohn asks questions, and leads the reader to find his own answers. Further, she develops the ideas of right and wrong from her characters' points of view, and the points of view of her various cultures. ... Get the whole series, and allot a large chunk of time for reading them, because once you pick them up you won't want to put them down."

Grinnnnnnnn.

In other publications news, "Butterfly Woman" is forthcoming in the Winter 2010 issue of Goblin Fruit (guest-edited by Mike Allen); "Lepidoptera in Space" will appear in the Nov./Dec. prose poem issue of Star*Line (guest-edited by Bruce Boston); and "The Unexpected Answer," originally published in Of Poets And Poetry, will be reprinted in Harp-Strings Poetry Journal. The Popcorn Press anthology Vampyr Verse (now available for pre-order) contains my poem "Neighbors." In 2010, my story "Judgment at Naioth" will appear in the Dybbuk Press anthology She Nailed A Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror.

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Fiction and Poetry in Oct./Nov. Asimov's

Elissa — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:13:21 GMT

My poem "Derivative Work" and novelette "Flotsam" appear in the October/November Asimov's.

From the intro to "Flotsam": "Elissa Malcohn burst into our pages in November 1984 with her intensely powerful story 'Lazuli.' Although another tale appeared in our Mid-December 1986 issue, we've been waiting twenty-three years for the third. We're delighted that the hiatus ends with 'Flotsam,' a story that was partly informed by Elissa's employment at a government contractor during some of those intervening years."

Matt Bruensteiner, Garbled Signals (http://garbledsignals.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/asimovs-octobernovember-2009/ ), commenting on "Flotsam," writes:

"As a young girl Mercedes discovered a biological 'impossibility' in the polluted coastal waters of her city. The discovery, and the way it was denied haunts her throughout her life in the working class world of the US-Mexican border. Working blue collar jobs, she spends her free time researching the impossibility she’s sure she remembers from childhood. An excellent story, which does particularly well at blending the story of Mercedes as a person between cultures into an sf story."

My story in the mid-December 1986 Asimov's was "The S.O.B Show," a fond spoof informed by five years of volunteer planetarium work. The title took its name from the field's nickname for the "Star of Bethlehem," or Christmas, show.

"Lazuli," a science fictional treatment of childhood sexual abuse and my first professional sale, single-handedly placed me on the final ballot for the 1985 John W. Campbell Award.

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Worldcon report; story in Year's Best SF recommended reading list

Elissa — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:14:44 GMT

You can find my long and photo-heavy report here:

http://hurricanecountry.blogspot.com/2009/08/bonjour-hi-worldcon-report.html

Among the highlights: My story "Hermit Crabs" is on the "recommended reading" list in The Year's Best Science Fiction, 26th Annual Edition. And Electric Velocipede, which published the story, received the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine.

That makes three publications in which my fiction has appeared that won awards this year. Riffing on Strings won an IPPY Silver Medal and Unspeakable Horror won a Bram Stoker Award. Not bad :D

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characterization

Max — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:30:30 GMT

Most of the time people will tell you that the main character has to be "likable". most of the time this means that they subscribe to the readers version of right and wrong, baring that a "dark character" or "antihero" must be charming (think Dexter) and still have have his/her own code or ethics that the readers can identify with and on some level admire. other then Alex in A Clockwork Orange (who endeared himself by virtue of eloquence) I can't think of many main characters that were what I would call despicable but he still isn't unlikable. Dose any one know a GOOD book that has an intentionally unlikable main character?

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Privacy vs Terrorism

max — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:13:41 GMT

I was thinking about writing a book about someone who gets arrested for corresponding with an arab (in Sudan) on suspicion of terrorism. The themes are, mainly: paranoid governments, privacy v terrorism, alienation of potential allies etc. Has anybody read a book or short story with similar themes, story, idea etc. Also looking for similar real life examples if anybody knows of any.

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Dru-u-ughs...

jmparker — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:14:14 GMT

What is it with literary journals who say they won't print stories that mention the use of drugs?

Do writers not take drugs anymore? Have humans stopped taking drugs while I wasn't looking?

What's up with that?

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Deviations reviewed at Old Musty Books; Unspeakable Horror Wins Bram Stoker Award; more

Elissa — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:19:36 GMT

Rachel Baker at Old Musty Books writes, "If you are looking for something different with a great story line, I would suggest reading these books. They are very well written and draw the reader into the story, possibly against their will."

My blog entry has the details:
http://deviationstrilogy.blogspot.com/2009/06/thank-yous.html

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Riffing on Strings Receives IPPY Silver Medal

Elissa — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:23:23 GMT

Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory (Scriblerus Press), which contains my story "Arachne," has won an IPPY Silver Medal. Details at http://bit.ly/BjqdR.

"Arachne" originally appeared in the Dec. 1988 issue of Aboriginal Science Fiction. Writing it was a fabulous ride that I blogged about here:
http://hurricanecountry.blogspot.com/2005/07/weaving-without-loom.html

The anthology includes fiction, poetry, essays, artwork, and a play. Congratulations to editors Sean Miller and Shveta Verma and to all contributors! Ordering info at
http://www.banyancollege.org/scriblerus/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=6&Itemid=38

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Appetite Released/Upcoming Radio Spot/Oasis/New Plains Review

Elissa — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:48:01 GMT

Vol. 2 of my series, Deviations: Appetite, is now live! The sequel to Covenant was originally slated to be released by Aisling Press in 2008, before that publisher folded. I'm now offering both volumes as free downloads, with plans to release Vol. 3, Destiny, in December.

You can tune in on May 28th at 6:30 PM ET to hear me on Blogtalk radio. I'll be Mark Eller's guest on Chronicles ( http://www.blogtalkradio.com/MarkEller ), a joint project of The Write Stuff (http://www.thewritestufftv.com/ ) and Shadow Play Entertainment.

I'll also be a guest at Oasis, the convention hosted by the Orlando Area Science Fiction Society, May 22-24.

A creative nonfiction piece appears in the "Short Takes" section of New Plains Review's "Service" issue, Spring 2009.

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Death Angel prose. What do you think

Alexander — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:33:43 GMT

A little something I wrote:
Pe, pe peo ple said his brain was infected by devils
In fected by, in fected by, in fected by devils
People said his brain was infected by devils
On top of a hill, partly hidden by a group of tightly knit oak trees, sits an ivy covered mansion. Its large windows, tall floors and opulently decorated well kept halls inevitably inspire old wealth. Money you can loose with a drug habit and a couple of well intentioned friends. Wealth?, you can’t get rid of wealth. As generations pass it gathers a mind of its own. The family relinquishes all responsibility to lawyers and smart money growers. The only occupation family members employ: gratuitous spending and mingling with their like. So removed from the world of ordinary mortals they no longer seem to be a part of it.
A large room, ceiling engraved with lions and eagles surrounding the masonic sign .A sturdy sculpted massive wooden door, held together in iron straps, is facing a big top rounded window. The white walls are lined with bookcases loaded with eminent, classy looking books, the classic signs of an impressive and valuable book collection in a house where nobody reads.
It’s sunny outside, golden white glinting upon every surface. But upon passing through the window of this room the light becomes cold, grey and depressing. The feeling you get when sitting in a dark room glancing outside to the bright sunlight. Bats like this feeling, it makes them feel secure, why can’t some men too?
An old bitter looking man sits in a tall, oak, armchair – its arms are sculpted in the shape of two lion heads roaring and showing their teeth. The man sits with his back to the window, in a dignified, yet leisurely position. Impeccably dressed he wears: dark colored slippers, a pair of smooth gray silk pajama pants, a silk ruby red caftan with a black low neck & thick black sleeves & a thick red foulard around his neck. His face is dark and covered with gray three day old stubble. Eyes are black, penetrating and seem to blaze anything that they point at. The hair is full, soft, grey and combed back as only italian mafioso’s know how. His hands are wiry and seem to clutch his beautifully adorned glass of cognac, reminding of an eagle, perched in a tree upon a rocky mountain and scanning the valley below.
As with most old people his most habitual facial expression was firmly itched upon his face. As such, even the smiles of Augustus Cromwell have a menacing look to them. This is because his most accessed emotion is anger, with hate as a close second. Known to his closest “friends” as Augustus C, he is as bitter as wormwood and as mean as only a man who has had everything and enjoyed nothing can be.
A thought carelessly goes through his mind, grabbing his attention and discharging one of his constant smile/scowls: “They will all die! There we will all be equal and their happy, empty, useless lives won’t mean anything”.
The air is thick and anything that can be heard pains the ear. Every sound in this room is born of the deepest silence. And, as the first sweeping note of a violin solo brings/sings hope, so does every noise here sing desperation and emptiness. OR The air seems to vibrate with even the smallest of noises as the deep silence of this room seems to be always broken by sounds that have the effect of smashing glass upon a weak heart.
A servant opens the door, he asks softly:
- Will there be anything else, sir?
- Get out of here James, go back to that rundown house of yours! he spits in a bitter spiteing tongue.
James voice changes to cold and official:
- Very well, have a pleasant weekend sir. He turns and leaves, slowly closing the door behind him.
- Fuck You! the bitter old man yells, interrupting a sip from his drink.

Augustus Cromwell sits alone, smoldering, half muttering, half yelling to himself:
- Damn these servants, you pay their fucking kid’s schools and this is how they behave! Vermin!
The air is still.
A sharp pain in the chest. Every heartbeat is a hammer slammed to his eardrum. Tightness grips his throat. Sweat pours from every pore: salty, wet and cold. Augustus Cromwell is dying. He knows this and decides on an aristocratic pose for his soon stiffening corpse. His shaking hand places the cognac on the small XVII century hand sculpted coffee table next to him. He leans back trying to still himself. The pain jerks his chest and sends his body to the floor. His mind curses: “(Why doesn’t anything ever work out the way you want it. By Monday, I’ll be smelly and swollen. I should have exploded myself in a sunken coffin”. Heaving throes shake the body. It gasps for air. It dies.
Silence. 13 seconds pass. If anyone where there, they would have noticed that a hundred years seemed a lot shorter. And, as the falling tree that no one hears, this sensation leaves a memory only in the mind of the universe.
As if from every point on the window, the air ripples.
A see through figure raises itself up from the facedown carcass. Its body is young, supple and somehow... ideal. The apparition looks around as if savoring its surroundings, stretching and flexing its body. It slowly starts showing discernable features.
The hair is black and the eyes are even more piercing. Augustus’s face is glowing white with health, yet, underneath the robust skin, the old man’s scowl still lurks.
NOTE: A spirit is not the same as a ghost. A ghost is a spirit that is free. A spirit is what is left of us when our bodies die – sometimes called a soul, but rarely as this usually has a different meaning.
A crackling sounds starts building in the room – a black portal bubbles itself into existence upon the surface of the window.
NOTE: A war scythe is a vicious looking weapon that is used by death angels due to its extensive offensive and defensive capabilities. It mainly consists of three parts: a 1.80 meter long, straight, lightweight metal shaft called a snaith, a blade and a grip. The blade is 60 centimeters long, sturdy and curved; it is mounted perpendicularly to the toe of the snaith. The upper end of the snaith consists of a heavy spherical holding grip. This has three main uses: to allow the scythe to be grasped securely, even while swung one handedly, to counterbalance the weight of the blade allowing it to function as a quarterstaff and, finally, to bludgeon as a mace.
The death angel tightens his hold on the grip of his scythe, with a mighty push of his huge black wings he pounces through the portal. His eyes sting as he bursts through, as if jumping wide eyed into water.
The tightly held metal ball is slammed into the apparition’s chest, smashing its body through a bookcase.
The spirit of Augustus screams, the air turns into searing needles, halting the death angel midstride in his advancing attack. The spirit kneels and immediately jumps forward, an electrically blue energy emanating from the clenched fist of his extended arm.
A counterclockwise spin of the scythe blocks the attack, fluidly followed by a blow that crashes the metal ball into the apparitions jaw, sending it to the floor. It narrowly avoids a downward flaming scythe strike so strong it judders the decking.
Nimbly, the young Augustus lifts himself upon his hands to a crouching position and explodes into another deafening yell. The sound climbs higher and higher, caressing every pain receptor it can reach. It slowly seems to take shape, catching fire.
Blake buries the blade of his scythe into the ground, holding onto it for balance against the tidal wave power of the scream. His huge black crow-feathered wings close around his body; an imperfect sphere is engulfed by raging fire.
As his energy is expanded, the yell dies down.
The death angels wings spring open, dispelling the smoke; he closes the distance. He slashes downward and diagonally.
Augustus dodges, the scythes blade passing over his head as he rotates his torso.
Quick as an arrow, Augustus rotates his torso around the scythe, its glistening blade passing over his lowered head, grabs it by the heel and lodges it into the floor’s wooden planking.
The disarmed death angel is grabbed by the neck, lifted into the air and violently slammed to the floor.
Having already grabbed the apparition by the wrist, Blake pulls it downwards. His metal heal connects with the nasal bone in a muffled crunch. In one fluid graceful move, Augustus Cromwell’s body is lifted onto the same foot, thrown to the floor, and straddled. The Askaran Dagger pierces his throat to the hilt.
NOTE: An Askaran Dagger is a modified Xiphoid – a retractable forearm dagger, a class of weapons whose blade is housed in a forearm worn wristband. The Askaran Dagger is a single bladed weapon, with one sleeve, housed in a simple, dual spring loaded guide rail. It differs from an assassin’s tool in regard to the fact that it must be manually retracted. The sleeve allows the blade to double its length, reaching 40 centimeters above the knuckles. The blade is sharp, double edged, 3 centimeter wide at the base and made from an unknown metal that is as hard and lightweight as titanium, but shines as only polished silver can. This weapon is intended for piercing but has enough length and resistance to be used for slashing as well.
Golden white blood drips from the blade, it blackens and hardens before reaching the ground. The air feels as a just sheathed sword, the smooth impeccable end of a consummate action; completeness as an attribute of motion.
Energy flows anew. Clothes shred and rip themselves away from the body, as if of their own volition. The chest is exposed. With rakish speed the sign of Caiaphas is carved deeply into the apparition’s otherworldly flesh.
Most onlookers, had there been any, would have thought this symbol looks corporate. They would also have thought that this isn’t a noteworthy observation. The fact that corporations share similar characteristics to what we usually deem as evil: ruthlessness, selfishness, cruelty or irrationality would not have occurred to them; neither would the fact that beings with similar mental characteristics, share similar physical characteristics, no matter the inner workings of any particular universe.
Blake’s wrist is slit, the sacrifice is made.
Deeply, the ritual of Baqir is asseverated:

Puon het lordw ni a tReag hitew droush Upon the world in a great white shroud
Tiss het engal tiwh het rakd gwins fo Khan, Sits the angel with the dark wings of Khan,
Sih deah si gihh, ubt sih reath si wol, His head is high, but his heart is low,
Lifedl tiwh het naip fo naterel feli fwol, Filled with the pain of eternal life flow,
Ubt vene sa sih naip verne vesdicee, But even as his pain never deceives,
Sih lliw ot perwo verne His will to power never recedes
Nad roughth sih lliw: And through his will I now command:
Het tingpar fo royu nibeg nito tandist sevalh The parting of your being into distant halves

Blood drips upward from Augustus’s lacerations. Tiny droplets spin around each other, faster and faster, bubbling, extruding hair-like tentacles, weaving themselves into a golden ring: two serpents with hollow eyes, one devouring a large, oval ruby, the other coiling around it. A new Mnemon’ankh is forged.
NOTE: Mnemon’ankh - loosely translates as memory of life. Such artifacts come into existence at the separation of the mind (memory, personality, ego) from the spirit (essence, the primal you, what is left when everything that is changeable is stripped away). It encompasses all the memories and experiences of the birthers life.
A sturdy silver chain slithers silently through the air; it flows through the Mnemon’ank’s orifice and closes behind Blake’s neck. It lets itself fall, clattering with other chains and rings.
The death angel hoists the mutilated body on his shoulder. He slowly walks to the portal. The moment he passes through flames erupt. Books burn, blackened blood boils, glass cracks. As the blaze devours the room its former aspect returns.
The room is unchanged, yet quite different. The feeling is warm, the air is peaceful and the light seems to have gathered strength, peering through the glass and playfully casting the shadow of an old willow tree next to the corpse of an old man.

Suggestions and criticism are quite welcomed.

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Who is your HERO?

Stacie — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:04:08 GMT

I got some advice about writing a compelling protagonist lately that seems to pinpoint some of the problems I have been having.

I was told to think of a person who is my hero, and what qualities that person has that makes them heroic to me, and also to consider what the opposite of that would be.

Then, include those kinds of qualities in my protagonist.

Trouble is, the people I admire tend to be subtle and nuanced, which makes my protagonists a little borign or even unlikable if I am not careful. I need to re-define my heroes a bit, perhaps?

Who is your hero and why?

posted in Fiction Writing - 10 replies

Story Acceptance and Publicity

Elissa — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:54:37 GMT

My story "Judgment at Naioth" has been accepted to the Dybbuk Press anthology She Nailed a Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror.

The horror anthology title refers to the incident in Judges 4:21. My story does some Midrash on much of 2 Samuel.

Thanks to Julianne Draper, who profiled me at
http://www.examiner.com/x-6332-Tampa-SciFiFantasy-Books-Examiner~y2009m4d1-Author-Profile-Elissa-Malcohn

Julianne blogs for the Miami Examiner's online Tampa edition.

A second publication in which my work has appeared is up for an award. In addition to Unspeakable Horror being on the final Bram Stoker Award ballot, the magazine Electric Velocipede (which published my story "Hermit Crabs" last year in #14) is on the ballot for a Hugo Award:
http://anticipationsf.ca/English/Hugos
Congrats to editor John Klima!

The interview that hosts Glenda and Tony Finkelstein did with me last October at Necronomicon is now airing on the Internet radio show The Andromeda Library, which broadcasts daily from 4-6 a.m. and p.m. Eastern Time on Ad Astra Radio. Glenda's blog gives details:
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=181623487&blogId=481161835

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Ok, so who is NEW???

Stacie — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 02:23:09 GMT

As moderator, I know that a few people have joined this tribe in recent months. Therefore, I feel a roll call of sort is in order. Introduce yourselves and let us know what projects currently grace your drawing board.

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Unspeakable Horror Becomes Bram Stoker Award Finalist; Covenant Re-released

Elissa — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:03:56 GMT

Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet (Dark Scribe Press, 2008) has reached the final ballot for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in an Anthology.

My story "Memento Mori" appears in the anthology, in very good company!

To read about this year's Stoker Awards, given by the Horror Writers Association: http://www.stokers2009.org/
To get anthology details, including links to reviews and interviews: http://www.darkscribemagazine.com/about-the-anthology/
To order Unspeakable Horror: http://astore.amazon.com/darkscrimaga-20/detail/0981863205

Congratulations and thanks go to editors Vince Liaguno and Chad Helder and to everyone involved with the work. And congratulations to all the other Stoker finalists!

In other news, I've re-released Covenant, the first installment of my six-volume Deviations series, as a free download. Details and download link here:

http://home.earthlink.net/~deviations/index.html

Covenant was originally published by Aisling Press in 2007. The sequel, Appetite, was to be released last September.

Downloads of the second edition (ISBN 978-0-9819764-0-2, distribution allowed, all other rights reserved) are available in formats compatible with Kindle, Microsoft Reader, Palm and other PDAs, and Sony Reader, plus .pdf and HTML files that can be read on a browser. I plan to post Appetite before the summer.

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A Cautionary Tale: Let The Seller Beware

Elissa — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:07:21 GMT

See this post for info:
http://hurricanecountry.blogspot.com/2009/02/let-seller-beware.html

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Invite

jmparker — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:54:58 GMT

http://narrativenonfiction.tribe.net/

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MFA study

Joy — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:47:01 GMT

OK, troops, I'm going over the top.

I'm going to apply to a Creative Writing MFA program.

*Something* is preventing me from getting a job-job to support the writing. Maybe I'm meant to completely submerge in the writing for two years, learn how to teach other people to take their own scribbly journeys, and see what happens from there.

Has anyone else in this tribe done the MFA route?

I have every confidence in my artistic ability. It's my professional-world-interactive skillz that want strength. I hope to make literary relationships, professional and artistic, and have the option to teach while allowing my own writing to be itself and grow.

Thoughts? Advice? Warnings?

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Writing Exercises online

ShamanZen — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:43:01 GMT

Hi friends. Sorry I haven't been around in a while. Been traveling... Just a note to let all you writers and would-be writers out there know that I've posted a couple new writing exercises on my book site with titles such as "Everyday Objects as Lenses of Creativity" and "Inspiration in the Mundane." Aside from being writing exercises, they're not bad spiritual exercises either. If you're having trouble finding ideas or experiencing writer's block -- or if you just want something to do -- check it out at www.gateofgalithonel.com. Peace, ShamanZen

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New life for old story?

Joy — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:00:53 GMT

Hey all,

Going through storage, I found the hard copy ms. of a literary fantasy short-short that was published 17 years ago in a free quarterly newspaper distributed only in Seattle and Portland, OR. No pay for it but the "glory." The editor changed the title of the story but nothing else.

It's still good and feels like it could go somewhere. If I give the old title back and tweak two sentences, can I send it out again?

Thanks, everyone, for your help.

posted in Fiction Writing - 4 replies

Story live at Helix and my turn on-camera

Elissa — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:29:31 GMT

My short story "Prometheus Rebound" is now live at the e-zine Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, issue #10, over at

http://www.helixsf.com/index.htm

I've blogged about the story's inspiration at
http://deviationstrilogy.blogspot.com/2008/10/story-live-at-helix.html

You can also watch me do a turn as "Commander Mal" on Sci-Fi Times TV, over at

http://www.scifitimestv.com/

where I pop in briefly to give the hosts a hard time near the beginning of the show. (An interview with me as myself will air on October 8.) The show streams on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. Eastern and is then "on demand" the following week before it goes to the archives. I've also embedded the premiere on my website:
http://home.earthlink.net/~emalcohn/index.html
(or do a Web search on "Malcohn's World")

Thanks! -- Elissa

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writing for children

Stacie — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:33:41 GMT

I am trying my hand at writing for children. I have a new project I am working on with a friend.

I don't want to dumb down the language, but want to tell a simple story well.

Anyone have experience doing this that they want to share?

posted in Fiction Writing - 2 replies

Story acceptance to Asimov's!

Elissa — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:48:42 GMT

My story "Flotsam" -- the piece I was agonizing over in this thread

http://fictionwriting.tribe.net/thread/cc03f6fe-3a63-440e-8d15-f8ceca0e6371

-- has just been accepted to Asimov's.

Grinnnnnnnn.

posted in Fiction Writing - 6 replies

Sacramento comic creators make it to TOP 10 in Worldwide Competition!

ECV Press — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:54:48 GMT

Hi, all. This is Ben Schwartz, a Sacramento comic store owner and small press comic publisher with ECV Press. I am also a co-writer with Hai-Na-Nu Saulque on our new project Hank Houston. We entered a worldwide competition to find the best new comic for Platinum Studios to produce and we have made it to the TOP 10.

From this point forward the winner will be determined by your votes. We need your support and help to spread the word! Please take a look at our website where you will find, concept sketches, alien designs, pin-ups, daily webcomics and a link to give us your vote! Give us a vote and tell your friends.

www.hankhouston.com

Thank you in advance for all of your support and help in taking Hank Houston to the TOP!

Ben Schwartz

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short story writing books

minder_bug — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:09:24 GMT

Hello out there!
I am looking for a great book on writing short stories. I have a friend who is very good and whose birthday is coming up. There is always room for improvement and he loves to read. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance. Oh BTW, the birthday is soon so if I need to order something let me know quick. Thanks again!

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musical inspiration

minder_bug — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:24:33 GMT

This comes from the dream thread.

Does music inspire you to write? Do you have favorites to listen to during writing? Do you need certain music to writing things?

I always have music playing in my head. Music is a HUGW inspiration for me in every aspect of my life. While I write I need music that fits with my scene. Sometimes I just loop a song over and over until I get something just right.

posted in Fiction Writing - 5 replies

Readercon report

Elissa — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:37:57 GMT

I had a blast at Readercon! My report is over at
http://deviationstrilogy.blogspot.com/2008/07/readercon.html

This past week my mail brought contributor's copies of Space and Time #104 (which contains my poem "First Contact in Appalachia"), We'Moon '09 (which contains my poem "Ancient Wisdom Distilled"), The Drabbler #11 (which contains my short-short story "Houston, We Are the Problem"), and galleys for my poem "Derivative Work," forthcoming in Asimov's (issue TBD).

The entry also cites more praise for my story "Hermit Crabs" (Electric Velocipede #14) and a recommendation of Covenant -- and I've learned that Deviations: Appetite, the second volume in my series, is now available for pre-order at Barnes & Noble.

And I'm off to Denvention in less than two weeks.

First priority: Catching up on sleep and striving for coherence... :-)

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Just crowin' and pluggin'

Elissa — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:38:58 GMT

On the Asimov's forum thread "The Best New Stories Of 2008" ( http://www.asimovs.com/aspnet_forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=65&Page=0 ) I found this comment by Fabrice Doublet, posted back on July 7:

"HERMIT CRABS by Elissa Malcohn in Electric Velocipede 14 is very good."

And this reply by Gardner Dozois:

"Elissa Malcohn was a new writer back when I first took over ASIMOV'S, then vanished for decades. Good to see that she's writing again."

That had me grinnin'. I'd had a long writing drought during my multiple-shift days.

And Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory (Scriblerus Press, June 2008) got a very positive review over at New Scientist. Riffing reprinted my story "Arachne," which originally appeared in Aboriginal Science Fiction in Nov./Dec. 1988. A snippet of the review is at
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19926652.800

I'm currently attending Readercon (back at this convention for the first time since the 1980s) and am having a blast.

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

An invitation to visit my author's blog

ShamanZen — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:49:38 GMT

Hi fellow writers! I just wanted to let you all know that I now have an active author's blog. The home of my novel, The Gate of Galithonel, is now an up and running blog on which you will find poetry, essays, articles and exercises for creative writing. Come be entertained, contribute a poem, get unstuck from writers block, be inspired, or whatever else you can think up! I'll be doing my best to post two to four times a month so why not bookmark my site and stop by on a regular basis? You'll find me at www.gateofgalithonel.com. Peace!

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

More work, out and forthcoming!

Elissa — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:46:18 GMT

In addition to recent releases of Electric Velocipede #14 at WisCon two weekends ago ("Hermit Crabs" heads the line-up) and Riffing on Strings (which contains "Arachne") on June 1, my short-short-short (100-word) story, "Houston, We Are the Problem," now appears in The Drabbler #11, from Sam's Dot Publishing:
http://www.genremall.com/anthologiesr.htm#drabbler%2011

The 12th Drabble Contest is now open, at
http://samsdotpublishing.com/drabbler/drabbler12.htm

At WisCon I met Eric Heideman, editor of Tales of the Unanticipated ( http://www.totu-ink.com/ ), who has chosen "Cog" (published in TOTU #4 in 1988) to reprint in a "best of" anthology from the magazine's first ten years. Grinnnnnnnnnn.

My WisCon report is up at
http://deviationstrilogy.blogspot.com/2008/05/wiscon.html

with my Wrath of Con report to follow some time over the next few days (I had a blast there, too!). That involved an 8-1/2 hour drive each way and gave me my first look at the Florida panhandle. I blogged the scenic trip over at
http://hurricanecountry.blogspot.com/2008/05/rounding-big-bend.html

Now I get to settle down and catch up on correspondence, bills, submissions, freelance work, etc. etc. etc. On June 21 I pop down to Tampa for a signing with other Aisling Press authors at Barnes and Noble (Carrollwood), concurrent with the launch party of A.J. Rand's and Carrassa Sands's contemporary SF novel Sky Gold.

I'm now on the Program Participant list for Denvention/Worldcon (*G* there, too), so I need to send them a bio and a link to my website. And see if I can line something up at Readercon... :D

posted in Fiction Writing - 3 replies

Dreams that trigger writing

Stacie — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:31:01 GMT

Anybody else do this? I get a lot of ideas and inspiration from my dreams. I had a dream last night that was very pleasant, and when I woke up I figured out a way around a blocked bit of writing. My dream got me out of the painted-in corner

Yay!

Funny enough, the dream itself only peripherally had to do with my project, but when I awoke I knew just how to fix it.

posted in Fiction Writing - 8 replies

Dilettante?

Stacie — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:39:54 GMT

If you write and do not seek to publish, what are you? Is the world still publish or perish even in these days of super hard competition?

Isn't it a rare person who can both write well and promote their work well?

If you go through a period of writing essentially in secret or not for any type of monetary gain, are you a dliettante, or just practicing?

posted in Fiction Writing - 5 replies

Dark Scribe/Riffing on Strings/Electric Velocipede

Elissa — Sat, 17 May 2008 20:00:19 GMT

Dark Scribe Magazine/Dark Scribe Press has been unveiling -- slooooooowly and torrrrrturously, one day at a time -- the bios of contributors to its Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet anthology, which will include my story "Memento Mori." My bio went up yesterday. You can see it and the others unveiled so far at
http://www.darkscribemagazine.com/unspeakable-horror-from-the-sh/

And I've gotten the new flyer for Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory, which contains my story "Arachne." Contributor's copies are en route and the anthology is available for order. Release is June 1. More info from Scriblerus Press is at
http://www.banyancollege.org/scriblerus/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=6&Itemid=38

Speaking of book promotions, I got this URL for Dennis Cass's hilarious gem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxschLOAr-s

courtesy of Lisa Mantchev's ( http://lisamantchev.livejournal.com/ ) blog. Lisa and I both have stories in Electric Velocipede #14, which debuts at WisCon next week. Sneak preview over at
http://blog.electricvelocipede.com/2008/04/sneak-preview.html

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Identical Real-Name Dilemma

Elissa — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:00:04 GMT

A writer I know has the same name as a well-known one. Both write material dealing with similar issues. The writer I know is looking at potential publisher interest in her book, but so far it's through a third party (not an agent) and there's been no direct contact between writer and publisher at this point. She's concerned that her name might be a hindrance, even though it is her real name.

My layman's take is that she has the legal right to use her legal name, but publishers might balk because of the marketing issues involved. Including a middle initial would help differentiate, but I don't know if this person has one.

Any thoughts, advice, etc., are much appreciated! Thanks.

posted in Fiction Writing - 2 replies

Contests?

Stacie — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:49:11 GMT

Anybody submitting to any contests this summer?

If you see any good ones, post them here.

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

How much research do you do?

Stacie — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:23:49 GMT

Here's a two prong question:

How much research do you do on a new writing project?

AND

Do you read similar books in the genre to see if you are duplicating someone else's idea?

posted in Fiction Writing - 8 replies

Casting a character

minder_bug — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:06:14 GMT

I am taking a writing class. This weeks' homework is to cast my main characters using actors from books, movies, TV shows etc. I have an idea for most of them but I am stuck on one of my characters. Gabriella (Gabby) is of Colombian decent, small, petite, and spunky. I can't think of anyone to 'play' her. I can see her in my mind but I can't find anyone to cast as her. Any suggestions?
BTW, if you cast characters for your novels/stories, share your ideas. Maybe that will spark some ideas for me too.

posted in Fiction Writing - 7 replies

PSA: For US-based SASEs

Elissa — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:39:34 GMT

Given that snail-mail submissions/SASEs tend to have a several-month turnaround, here's the USPS list of new postage prices effective May 12, 2008:

http://www.usps.com/prices/welcome.htm?from=bannercommunications&page=prices

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Genre? What's your story?

Stacie — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:29:58 GMT

I was just wondering what genre, if any, you guys feel your work fits into. And how do you feelo about how "genre" fiction is treated as opposed to "literary" fiction?

I guess I would fit into some sort of spooky urban fantasy? Or erotic thriller? Or delusional ranting? Who knows!

posted in Fiction Writing - 8 replies

Luck of the Irish?

Stacie — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:29:40 GMT

Getting ready for St. Patty's Day.

How about you? Who is your favorite Irish author?

How about stories about those little guys with the pots of gold?

What did St. Patrick have against snakes anyway? And do you think that is some sort of code for pagan, snake revering beliefs?

Discuss...

posted in Fiction Writing - 3 replies

Off-topic: Poetry as fiction stimulator

Stacie — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:06:03 GMT

I just got back from the 2008 San Francisco Writers' Conference. I plan to put up a full update of it tomorrow, but for now I am throwing down a gauntlet.

For lots of reasons, but chiefly to take my poetry more seriously, I intend to write 40 poems in the next 40 days. The theory is that it will help me be more artistically observant of the world around me. I'll post some of the best ones and we can deconstruct them or revise them. Or just make fun of how facile I can be when I am writing on a deadline.

I'm starting tomorrow, 2-18-08. Anybody else want to try it?

posted in Fiction Writing - 3 replies

2008 Valentines

Stacie — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:24:33 GMT

We did this last year and got some great responses.

Who do you LOVE this year, writing wise? What books have grabbed you in the last year?

For me, I have been reading the His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman lately. I'm digging it.

posted in Fiction Writing - 3 replies

20 Master Plots?

Stacie — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:02:21 GMT

Has anyone read this book? Is that really all there is? Does someone coming up with that theory mean that those formulas are the only ones that work commercially?

Let's discuss...

posted in Fiction Writing - 5 replies

References between publishers

Joy — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:03:14 GMT

This is a professional ettiquette question. My first novel was under consideration by a small publishing house in 2007 and was championed mightily by my contact there, but being a small house they could only choose one book to focus on in 2008 and it was somebody else's. So I am going out again with the queries etc.

If another publisher or an agent is interested, is it kosher to refer them to my champion at the house that rejected my book, for a publisher's view of its virtues and potential? Or should I start each relationship from scratch? Is it Don't Ask, Don't Tell?

Thanks, everyone!

posted in Fiction Writing - 7 replies

On the Air

Elissa — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:38:47 GMT

I will be doing a phone interview tonight as part of the "Jordan Rich Show Book Club, Winter 2008 edition."

The interview will occur at around 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, February 2 (the show runs from midnight to 5 a.m.). It can be heard on

http://www.wbz.com/pages/6202.php

where you can click on the blue "Listen Live" button in the upper right.

I was at the WBZ studio in Boston for my first appearance on the Jordan Rich Show in October 2002. At that time Jordan invited me back when I had a book published -- so, here I am! The second volume in my series is due out later this year.

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

New York Writers Conference

Leia — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:39:49 GMT

Is anyone going? I am, it's sold out. 7,000 people!!! www.awpwriter.org Let me know let's meet up!

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

Acceptance to Unspeakable Horror anthology

Elissa — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:48:29 GMT

To round out an extraordinary publishing year...

This morning I got word that my story "Memento Mori" was accepted to the anthology Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet, to be published by Dark Scribe Press.

I've posted my publications tally for 2007 over at
http://hurricanecountry.blogspot.com/2007/12/tally-ho.html

Blessings to you all for 2008. Happy New Year and beyond!

posted in Fiction Writing - 2 replies

Writing Resolutions for 2008?

Stacie — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 22:16:02 GMT

Okay, who has some resolutions?

Mine is pretty simple: Learn to write again with a toddler in the house. I don't know how I am going to do with that one.

posted in Fiction Writing - 5 replies

Free Writing Class

C. — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:16:15 GMT

I'm not sure who might be interested but I thought I'd post this anyway! I've posted this on some other groups also :D

www.fmwriters.com is a great site. If you're looking for some help getting a novel started then the owner is starting a great class that starts the frist of Jan. It's 2 years long, an assignment a week, but it's great for anyone looking to give their writing an extra jump. I've taken the class two times.

tell us if you decide to join up! I talked myself into signing up again! (now to find an idea.... hmmm)

www.fmwriters.com/community...cboard.php

You will have to join fmwriters.com to post and join the class.

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Book contract signed (really, this has been an extraordinary week!)

Elissa — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 11:05:22 GMT

I've just signed a contract with Aisling Press for Appetite, the second volume in my Deviations series. (The first volume, Covenant, is available at http://www.aislingpress.com and elsewhere. I've got vendor links up at http://home.earthlink.net/~emalcohn/deviations.html .)

And I've made arrangements to be on the Jordan Rich Show (WBZ Newsradio 1030 Boston) on Saturday, February 2, 2008. The show will focus on fiction authors and will run from midnight to 5 AM Eastern time. We plan to do an interview by phone around 12:30, and will firm up details as we get closer to the air date. The show is broadcast nationwide and is accessible on the Web at
http://www.wbz.com/pages/6202.php

I was a guest on Jordan's show in October 2002 (I lived in Boston then, so was over at the studio), and we spent a great hour talking about science fiction with each other and with listeners who called in. Afterwards, he invited me back when I had a book published.

Here I am... :-)

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Just got an acceptance to Helix

Elissa — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 05:51:03 GMT

My story "Prometheus Rebound" has just been accepted to Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly. I don't know which issue it will be in, but it will be available for free perusal when it goes live. I'll post a link when it's up.

That now makes four stories forthcoming, joining "Identity Theft" in The Drabbler #10, "Hermit Crabs" in Electric Velocipede #14, and "Arachne" in Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory (Scriblerus Press, June 08). "Arachne" will be a reprint, having originally appeared in Aboriginal Science Fiction's Nov./Dec. 1988 issue.

Grinnnnnn.

posted in Fiction Writing - 3 replies

Is "first person" lame?

Stacie — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:55:40 GMT

I was reading the submission guidelines for a small literary zine, and one of the things the editor lists that they are not interested in is "first person accounts".

Did I miss something? Since when is writing in first person a problem? Is it considered lazy or something?

Just curious to see what people think this means.

posted in Fiction Writing - 2 replies

Terry Pratchett

feiruz_al-bnefsagia — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:48:09 GMT

FYI

http://www.paulkidby.com/news/index.html

:(

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Advice and tips

Pam — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 17:23:16 GMT

This is something i wanted to do when i was a lot younger. But never got round to it. I guess life itself took hold got a job and the dreams disappeared
Today when i woke i got thinking maybe i can give it a go. But being a complete novice i don't know how to go about it. Its more to do finding a suitable publisher not wanting to get ripped off
Because i know it will be hard work.

Any tips any advice

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

Publishing under a Pseudonym

Joy — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 04:57:20 GMT

I didn't see this brought up under the topic below about whether pen names are passe, so I'll pose the question here:

If I'm going to publish under a pseudonym, how do I manage this with the publisher? Do I say up front that the name on the story will not be my legal name? Or do I put the pseudonym on my mailbox and checking account and do all my communications under that name, depositing checks made out to that name?

I can't help thinkng of Alice Sheldon, who wrote for decades as James Tiptree, Jr. and no one ever knew Jim was Alice, not even her editors.

posted in Fiction Writing - 9 replies

Recommended contemporary writers

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 07:20:10 GMT

Having admitted that fiction continued to be written after the 1940s, who are some contemporary writers or specific works that are recommended for somebody who doesn't particularly like historical fiction, sci fi, or fantasy writing?

Need different books on the bedside table.

posted in Fiction Writing - 5 replies

TriggerStreet.com now accepting short stories and novels

Elissa — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:39:25 GMT

Up until recently, TriggerStreet was accepting only short films and screenplays. Since then, they've added plays and now short stories and books to their site.

From their e-mail to me:
"Since its inception, TriggerStreet.com has been the place to go if you wanted to find exposure and feedback for your Screenplays and Short Films online. Now, in addition to being able to upload your Short Stories to the site, a section we launched earlier this year, you can now also upload Books that you have written."

Normally a member must submit a couple of reviews of others' work before submitting their own, but there is currently a "free" period (meaning no previous review is needed) for short story and book uploads.

Creative Commons has a post that pretty much encapsulates what TriggerStreet is about, at
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/4419

I haven't used the site, myself, but I became interested in it after seeing Kevin Spacey (who founded it) interviewed on the Charlie Rose PBS show a while back.

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Interview

Elissa — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:52:00 GMT

Just a little crow... I was down at the St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading on Saturday (which was wonderful) and was interviewed by Brad Stager, Program Director of the WUSF Radio Reading Service. Part of that interview is near the end of a two-minute audio slide show now up at WUSF.org. Links and a still shot are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/1801181630/

More photos and details about the festival are up at:

http://deviationstrilogy.blogspot.com/2007/10/from-panel-to-st-petersburg.html

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Nature Writers?

whyvandalism — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 05:30:11 GMT

essays, poems, prose, fiction, sci-fi, other?

are there any nature writers out there today in e-space?

deadline for the november issue of Why Vandalism?
October 29th, 2007

www.whyvandalism.com/
submissions page:
http://whyvandalism.com/submissions.html

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Acceptance to String Theory Anthology

Elissa — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 06:54:11 GMT

My story "Arachne," originally published in Aboriginal Science Fiction (November-December 1988), has been accepted for reprinting in the String Theory Anthology forthcoming from Scriblerus Press, the publishing arm of the Banyan Institute.

http://www.banyancollege.org/scriblerus/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=6&Itemid=35

Wrote editor Sean Miller:

"I'd love to discuss with you what it is about your piece that we appreciate so much, and I'm hoping that as we approach publication, we'll have the chance to do so. But for now, due to time constraints, we can only offer you this somewhat generic approbation and welcome."

Grinnnnnnnn.

The anthology is scheduled to go to press in May 2008. My blog entry "Weaving Without a Loom" ( http://hurricanecountry.blogspot.com/2005/07/weaving-without-loom.html ) describes my process of writing that story (the photo of the spider up top is before my "good camera" days).

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

In Print!

Elissa — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 03:50:49 GMT

Advance copies of my novel Deviations: Covenant made their debut at Necronomicon, Tampa's annual science fiction/fantasy/horror convention. More info is at

http://people.tribe.net/0563a508-c05e-4e85-9680-ba4966fb1d2c/blog/f9c40b4c-61f3-43c8-a4c8-01ba616fb132

I brought back copies to have at several local promotional events I'm doing this month. Aisling Press ( http://www.aislingpress.com ) will release Covenant on November 28. Copies can be pre-ordered at discount through Aisling, and also through Barnes & Noble.

I'm trying to figure out if it's all hit me yet, since I've now launched into Sales Mode. :)

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Banned Books Week

Stacie — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 21:26:17 GMT

What is your favorite Banned Book?

Everyone knows I am huge Harry Potter fangirl, but I have been making my way through other banned books just out of spite.

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

October writing prompt

Stacie — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:44:05 GMT

For this month's prompt. Throw down a few paragraphs of Proustian Rapture about the candy in your Trick or Treat bag.

Mad props to the best one.

Oh, and it is okay to respond to the older prompts if they tickle your fancy.

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

September Writing Prompt

Stacie — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:45:14 GMT

Scenario: Something a child saw while hiding in a pile of autumn leaves.

As usual, best response gets bragging rights.

posted in Fiction Writing - 4 replies

Drabble Contest: A last-minute quickie!

Elissa — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 16:32:25 GMT

This contest started on August 1, but I just learned of it today. Its deadline is (*cough!*) tomorrow.

The Tenth Between Kisses Drabble Contest
http://www.samsdotpublishing.com/betweenkisses/DrabbleContest010.htm

A "drabble" is a very short story containing exactly 100 words...no more, no less. Its title is limited to 15 words, no more.

Deadline: 2400 hours Central Standard Time on 30 September 2007

See the website for more info.

In other news, my poem "Forest Dragons" received an honorable mention in the Science Fiction Poetry Association's sonnet contest. Another entry, "Salvage," reached the top ten for "at least one" judge. Both will appear in a chapbook of the contest's top sonnets, to be released by Spec House of Poetry ( http://www.spechouseofpoetry.com/store ) in cooperation with SFPA. Contest entries included 262 poems by 165 poets.

And I've dashed off a drabble and sent it in... :)

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Mitchell and Webb on editing

Elissa — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:06:06 GMT

One of my critique buddies sent me this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo1XFz0kac0

Before today I'd never heard of the comedy team of Mitchell and Webb, but this video had me laughing out loud.

posted in Fiction Writing - 2 replies

Compulsive or deliberate?

Stacie — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:52:48 GMT

Are you the type of writer that "has" to write or you will go mad? Or are you able to be more deliberate and sublimate that urge to your schedule?

Just wondering how everyone is doing.

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

Shameless plug: Covenant is now available from Aisling Press

Elissa — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:48:42 GMT

More detail is at
http://people.tribe.net/0563a508-c05e-4e85-9680-ba4966fb1d2c/blog/a7bc6c85-e87a-4219-8d10-a42e1c08215d

posted in Fiction Writing - 2 replies

Ray Bradbury's birthday...

Unsilent — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:37:41 GMT

Falls on this day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

What would you do?

Stacie — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:56:59 GMT

If you went blind? How would you write? I have been having some eye problems lately, and I have been forced to think about this question, although my eye problems are not that serious (yet?).

But if you were forced to work with a visual impairment, how would you go about it? Would using methods that didn't use your eyes, such as dictation or using a transcriber, change the way your stories turn out.

Personally, I get a different result from just using a computer vs. typewriter or writing by hand. I can only imagine how dictating a story would change it.

What do you guys think?

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

Hot off the presses

Elissa — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 16:41:27 GMT

1. A photo collage on the cover of Harp-Strings Poetry Journal (you can view the collage at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/422140063/ )
2. An article on copyright in Poets' Forum Magazine. (Writing the article inspired the poem that Asimov's is using.)
Both are Summer 2007 issues.

I've also been invited to write another article for PFM, and an article (a paying gig!) for my college alumni magazine. Tonight I'll send in topic proposals for the latter.

Our central A/C has died after a generous 27-year run, so when I felt too hot to draft I spent time typing up my handwritten journal. This is an infrequent but regular activity of mine, and since I'm usually inputting months if not years worth I get to rediscover and integrate all sorts of things. This time it was a vague story sketch from 2005, inspired by an article I'd read in 2004. I'm between book drafting and saw how I could possibly make the short story fly: where the conflict lay, the character and plot dynamics, etc. Before then it had been a concept I wanted to play with but wasn't sure how.

So, I've started drafting that -- and will see how far I get as my brain fries pending the installation of a new A/C system.

My anthology submission was an "almost" -- enough so that the editors asked to keep it on file in case they expand the project. "We're not doing this to many submissions, but we thought your story was too interesting to let disappear," they wrote. One of the better rejections. :) Meanwhile I'm free to submit it elsewhere.

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Another acceptance

Elissa — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 23:53:36 GMT

-- of poetry, by Asimov's, but I mention fiction in the post :)

I got the good news via email yesterday. Asimov's has a poetry backlog, so it may be some time before the piece appears. But it will be my second poem in there, following my first one back in 1983 ("Wings," mid-Dec., reprinted in the anthology Burning With A Vision (Robert Frazier, Ed., Owlswick Press, 1984) & the 1984 Rhysling Anthology (Science Fiction Poetry Association), which contains nominees for the best sf/f poetry of the year). Asimov's also published two stories of mine, one in '84 ("Lazuli," Nov., which got me on the final ballot for the John W. Campbell Award) and one in '86 ("The S.O.B. Show," Dec., a spoof of the planetarium field, in which I did volunteer work for 5 years. The title, in which S.O.B. stands for Star of Bethlehem, is trade slang for the Christmas show).

It's good to be back! :D

In other news, last Wednesday I finished the first draft of Book #5. After some tweaking on Friday it tops out at 85,792 words. I have a couple of projects to tackle before I proceed to the next and (as currently planned) last book in the series.

posted in Fiction Writing - 4 replies

Are pen names PASSE?

Stacie — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 04:29:46 GMT

Do you or would you use a pen name? For all of your work or just some of it?

I have a great last name (Ferrante), but I still wonder if I would go with a pen name if I try to find a market for this quasi-romance I am writing. For the mainstream work (whatever that means), I would just use my real name.

Not that I am ashamed, I'm just thinking of future PTA meetings, etc.

Any thoughts?

posted in Fiction Writing - 12 replies

What is hard to write about?

Stacie — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:40:10 GMT

Something Elissa said in another thread got me thinking. At least for me, I cull a lot of ideas from my own life for my writing, usually so I can warp it. But there are a few things in my life that people casually comment "Oh, you should write a book about that!" My mother says this constantly about my struggles with my family building. But there is no way, while I am in the midst of it, that I could get enough emotional distance to write about it yet.

So I guess what I am wondering who else has these kinds of suggestions made to them? Who suggests writing projects to you, especially the ones that never fly?

Or, alternately, are you the type of writer that plumbs the depths of your own life for fun and profit, with little going unexamined publicly?

Or, on the third hand, do you avoid including any details about yourself? And how the heck do you do that while maintaining realism?

posted in Fiction Writing - 7 replies

Summer Resolutions

Stacie — Tue, 08 May 2007 15:22:29 GMT

Mine is that I will get over myself and SUBMIT at least 10 pieces/queries for possible publication this summer.

What about you guys?

posted in Fiction Writing - 14 replies

OK, I'm doing some things that I normally don't do

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 06:06:34 GMT

(a) starting a thread here
(b) writing a longer fiction piece
(c) posting each section of this piece as I write it in my blog
(d) asking for any feedback / feed forward / etc.

Oh yeah, it's in my tribe blog . . .

posted in Fiction Writing - 4 replies

Online fiction writing class offered this fall ... $78

Jennifer — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:22:33 GMT

Viscount John Morley called creative writing the “most seductive, the most deceiving, the most dangerous of professions.”

Find out what all the fuss is about.

Writing Short Fiction: a fully ONLINE course offered through Ohlone College
begins the last week in August 2007
16 weeks of stimulating instruction for only $78!

We’ll write until our fingers are numb, taking inspiration from contemporary writers such as Lorrie Moore, George Saunders, and T.C. Boyle.

For more information, or to enroll, email the instructor at jhurley@ohlone.edu

Jennifer Hurley is an assistant professor of English at Ohlone College in Fremont, CA. Her writing has appeared in various literary journals, including The Mississippi Review, The Green Hills Literary Lantern, and Natural Bridge. She spent the month of January as a writer-in-residence at OBRAS in Portugal, where she communed with wild pigs, doused herself in red wine, and started writing her first novel.

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

Erotica or Romance?

Stacie — Mon, 14 May 2007 03:49:57 GMT

How do you decide what you have on your hands? Is romance more formulaic? Erotica more edgy or perhaps less story driven?

I'm working on a piece that has a definite story, but also focuses on a sexual relationship between two people. I'm having trouble figuring out what market to go after with it. (I know, just shut up and write the thing already).

I don't want to get lost the shuffle of the sheer volume of erotica that is out there. One (non-paying) site I looked at had over 500 new stories posted in the last week. Paying markets in erotica seem like a vast and uncharted sea to me. I don't consume a ton of erotica myself, so my gauge for the quality of a given publisher is severely lacking.

But the romance genre is just so, well, PINK. That section of the bookstore gives me hives. I know that there is money to be made in that genre, but it seems that it has a lot of rules/formulas. Even though what I am writing could be classified as a Romance, I am loathe to go there with it, especially since it is a rather unconventional story.

Any ideas?

posted in Fiction Writing - 6 replies

New Queer Fiction Journal

Pericula — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 13:32:17 GMT

Angela Faith Brown, former Alyson editor, has started up a stylish new online journal called subterraneans. My short story 1000 Miles was reprinted in the premiere issue:

http://www.subterraneansonline.com/current%20issue.html

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bridget Bufford
Author, Minus One: A Twelve-Step Journey

posted in Fiction Writing - 8 replies

Show some love!

Stacie — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 17:33:10 GMT

The other thread about the editor-gone-wrong got me thinking. There has to be just as many GREAT people to work with out there.

Who have you worked with, editor-wise, that just rocked your socks?

For me, I would have to say I learned a lot from my Reno News and Review editor, Jimmy Boegle. He has since moved to Tucson, but I learned a lot about finding my voice (at least as a columnist) from him. He could tweak my work in small ways that didn't change the flavor of the piece, but always made me sound more clever and polished.

Mad props!

Who else?

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

JT Leroy thread

Stacie — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 22:56:03 GMT

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/06/22/entertainment/e132659D26.DTL

Let's discuss whether or not this will change the way people use pseudonyms in writing. It seems that the ultra-hot "memoir" genre is littered with the bodies of troubled writers.

Is the false persona "art" or is it "fraud"?

posted in Fiction Writing - 3 replies

Just got an acceptance...

Elissa — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 02:57:46 GMT

My short story "Hermit Crabs" has just been accepted over at Electric Velocipede "for publication in a future issue."
Wrote editor John Klima in his e-mail, "I'm blown away."
Grinnn.

I don't know yet when publication will actually occur, but I'll pipe up when it does. I learned about EV through Lisa Mantchev, who has an excellent story forthcoming there. (I was lucky enough to read her draft.)

posted in Fiction Writing - 8 replies

Published flash fiction!

Stacie — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 16:37:24 GMT

http://www.whyvandalism.com/issue_jun07.html

My flash fiction piece, "The Basement Muse" appears in this month's issue of why vandalism?

*little happy dance*

posted in Fiction Writing - 5 replies

It is June: What's cookin'?

Stacie — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 21:18:50 GMT

Ok people. It is TOO quiet. Hopefully that means you are busy writing. What is on your front burner this month?

Me: Still working on "Daniel" a novella of short vignettes. Also working on submitting work for publication/collecting rejections.

posted in Fiction Writing - 2 replies

When is DARK writing dangerous?

Stacie — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:33:24 GMT

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/04/20/creative_writing/

Link is to an article in Salon about students who write grisly work, and whether there is a connection.

Where is the line between free expression and the signs of dangerous thinking? I'm interested to hear some viewpoints on this.

posted in Fiction Writing - 21 replies

International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day

Elissa — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:30:49 GMT

Thanks to Lisa Mantchev ( http://www.lisamantchev.com/ ) for alerting me to International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day.
According to its originator and host Jo Walton ("Bluejo"), IPSTD is, "the day when pixel-stained technopeasants everywhere are stretching and smiling and putting down their technotools to celebrate their existence by releasing their works into the wild, or at least the web."
Bluejo hosts IPSTD over at:
http://papersky.livejournal.com/
and was responding to this post on the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) page at Live Journal:
http://community.livejournal.com/sfwa/10039.html
Since I already have a couple of stories up on my webpage, I added my link to the growing list.
My sampler (found at http://home.earthlink.net/~emalcohn/fiction.html ) contains two of my 1980s publications. "Cog" appeared in _Tales of the Unanticipated_, Fall/Winter 1988. ("Cog" is the second story down. I list it first here because IPSTD focuses mainly though not exclusively on science fiction and fantasy.) "Variations for Four Hands" appeared in the erotica journal _Yellow Silk_, No. 14, Spring 1985.

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

New tribe!

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 11:56:58 GMT

http://tribes.tribe.net/revolutionizedversion1/tribeallposts?action=DeleteTopic&topicid=32d3232d-5d53-4286-94db-feafa3edca22

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Ray Bradbury Day: April 18 (I don't know why -- it's not his birthday)

Pericula — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 13:01:21 GMT

From ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING

To sum it all up, if you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling.

You must write every single day of your life.

You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in glorious fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next.

You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads.

I wish for you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime.

I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you.

May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories --science fiction and otherwise.

Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And, out of that love, remake a world.

--Ray Bradbury

posted in Fiction Writing - 3 replies

Writing Prompt

Pericula — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:34:13 GMT

When I look at you I don't think of love.

posted by:
Duchess Aletheia, on my own Creative Writing of Columbia tribe. Used by permission.

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

Kurt Vonnegut

Masque — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 17:53:52 GMT

He was such a hero of mine. Not so much for his writing, per se. But for his wisdom about the craft. I can't count the number of quotes I use from him in my creative writing classes.

posted in Fiction Writing - 5 replies

Ever write a bunch of crap?

Stacie — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:38:27 GMT

Or to be more specific, do you ever finish a project only to become convinced it is utter garbage?

How do you stop yourself from stoking the furnace with your manuscripts?

posted in Fiction Writing - 6 replies

Super-short story challenge-an exercise.

Stacie — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 18:47:47 GMT

Ok, show off your skills.

Please tell a story using exactly 5 sentences. Bragging rights to the best one.

posted in Fiction Writing - 25 replies

Exercise #2: The Bank Robbery

Stacie — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 05:03:17 GMT

Imagine you have a character that is robbing a bank. Write a paragraph or so (of whatever length that is shorter than War and Peace) that illustrates why he or she would take such a risk. Raise the stakes as high as you can.

As always, bragging rights for the best one.

posted in Fiction Writing - 8 replies

What is on the Front Burner? April 2007

Stacie — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:24:02 GMT

I'm working on my series of erotica-ish shorts entitled "Daniel-The wheel of a year". It is just for fun and my own sick amusement.

What is everybody else doing this month?

posted in Fiction Writing - 4 replies

What's cookin':Late March 2007

Stacie — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:45:40 GMT

Okay, it is too quiet. Hopefully that means people are writing. What projects are on your desk right now? Anything promising?

posted in Fiction Writing - 13 replies

always accepting submissions

whyvandalism — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 15:12:15 GMT

always accepting submissions
why vandalism? is an online arts journal currently accepting submissions from visual artists and writers of poetry, fiction, and gonzo. We also publish original art/film reviews and essays.

www.whyvandalism.com/

posted in Fiction Writing - 0 replies

Valentine's day Special: What writers do you LOVE?

Stacie — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 18:22:40 GMT

For Valentine's day, I *heart* Margaret Atwood.

posted in Fiction Writing - 9 replies

How messy are your edits?

Stacie — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 05:05:13 GMT

I find I am trying to be so tidy about my editing/rewriting process. Maybe that is erroneous? Do you guys maintain tight control over the editing process, or do you really unravel things and mess about with it?

Just curious about how other people work.

posted in Fiction Writing - 7 replies

Who has PAIN??

Stacie — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:12:19 GMT

My carpal tunnel is acting up something fierce this week.

Who else has PAIN? Do you have a favorite remedy?

posted in Fiction Writing - 1 reply

easy money as a porn writer?

diazo — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 04:32:21 GMT

i heard that you can make decent money writing porn, or should i say "erotica." so i can be like a tasteful anais nin kind of thing. anyone know how i can do this? i just wrote something choice.

posted in Fiction Writing - 13 replies

Depression and creativity

Stacie — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:07:04 GMT

I'm going through a deep situational depression, and all work on everyhting has ground to a halt.

When you are super down, how do you perservere?

posted in Fiction Writing - 5 replies