I knew those trips to the natural history museum would pay off someday..."Daddy's Touch" is up at Flashes in the Dark today. Thank you, Family Dermestidae.
Speaking of flash fiction, stop by Fifty-Two Stitches and read "Something in Common" by Joshua Scribner today.
Enjoy the last day of May; I know I will.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Triangulation: Dark Glass (Thus Far)
Triangulation: Dark Glass will be released in time for the PARSEC's annual Confluence convention, on the weekend of July 24-26, 2009. The anthology includes the following stories (in no particular order):
"The Milton Feinhoff Problem" -- Mark Onspaugh
"More Things in Heaven and Earth" -- Jason K Chapman
"One Touch to Remember" -- David Seigler
"Deadglass" -- Lon Prater
"Souls on Display" -- Kurt Kirchmeier
"Imaginal Friend" -- Ken Chiacchia
"Saint Darwin's Spirtuals" -- Dave Thompson
"Windows to the Soul" -- Gerri Leen
"Monstrous Embrace" -- Rachel Swirsky
"Dancing Lessons" -- Aaron Polson (What's he doing in this list? Seriously.)
"A More Beautiful Monster" -- Loretta Sylvestre
"Audition for Evil" -- Amy Treadwell
"Broken Things" -- Kathryn Board
"Perchance to Dream" -- David Miles
"On the Path" -- Kelly Harmon
"Seeing Is" -- Craig Wolf
Contest entries are still to be judged, so the TOC will increase. I'm honored to find my little tale with such august company. (I tried to provide blog/homepage links where possible, and would be glad to update the others if someone points me in the right direction...)
Thursday, May 28, 2009
You're Sh#tting Me?
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Reprint?
The debate is over.
My head won, convincing me that it was my heart, too. The stories started talking to me, and they want to be read. (Nods to Katey for the Konrath link yesterday). I'll still take a high-profile print mag any day, but the truth is, most print mags aren't as high profile as they once were.
I have a few (maybe a dozen) published stories that I'm pretty happy with and for which the rights have reverted to me. What to do, what to do. The reprint options are woeful. (Nods to K.C.) Don't worry...I have something in mind. Stay tuned, dear readers.
The Great Electronic Debate greatly influenced the future of the little mag I helped start (Sand). Check out Ed's blog (if you can call his lousy, once every-other-month postings a blog) for details.
My head won, convincing me that it was my heart, too. The stories started talking to me, and they want to be read. (Nods to Katey for the Konrath link yesterday). I'll still take a high-profile print mag any day, but the truth is, most print mags aren't as high profile as they once were.
I have a few (maybe a dozen) published stories that I'm pretty happy with and for which the rights have reverted to me. What to do, what to do. The reprint options are woeful. (Nods to K.C.) Don't worry...I have something in mind. Stay tuned, dear readers.
The Great Electronic Debate greatly influenced the future of the little mag I helped start (Sand). Check out Ed's blog (if you can call his lousy, once every-other-month postings a blog) for details.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
In the Trenches
Do you "get" the internet?
Read this article: "Four People Who Don't Get the Internet", and add to the list. The same idea (with different examples) has been jostling around inside my head for a while. Mr. Miller (the author) uses the term "wild west" to describe the 'net, and I think the comparison is valid. The landscape is constantly changing...and lawlessness is the law of the land.
So, 1. what does any of this have to do with writing? 2. With the title of this post?
1. The democratizing effect of the internet has made content too cheap and easy to come by. If you haven't listened to Harlan Ellison rant about paying the author, I'll let you have a moment to head over to YouTube and watch his diatribe.
Back? Good.
I believe author's should be paid--believe me. But the 'net has spawned so many authors and makes it relatively easy to be "published" (goodness knows I wouldn't have anything published without the internet as a resource for market research at least), that the market is flooded with plenty of folks that will work for cheap (or free). Now, it may be relatively easy to be published--relative to the publishing world before Duotrope, Ralan's, and 'net based markets--but that doesn't mean it is easy to be published in high profile, quality markets. In fact, I'd argue the opposite. Those high profile, quality markets are shrinking (e.g., Fantasy and Science Fiction has gone to a bi-monthly publication schedule...what does that tell us?).
The internet has given us more noise. So many venues for fiction, each hungering for content--my head spins sometimes just trying to understand the changing landscape. You have to have a Twitter account...you have to use Facebook...MySpace...on and on. I could spend all day doing ancillary "writing" tasks that don't actually involve writing any new fiction, and still not touch on everything.
Stop the train, I want to get off.
2. The trenches. Did you read Miller's article? Big, hungry dinosaur-like entities want to find a way for the 'net to pay them like they've been paid for the past 50+ years. Think of Michael Lynton (Sony Pictures CEO) as their representative. The old world media giants are losing footing in today's new world media landscape. Ask any sixteen-year-old if he thinks it's wrong to download music for free. Poll fifty of them.
Do you think we can swing them back to the "other side"? Nope...sorry...that battle was lost long ago. Those sixteen-year-olds are going to fashion the new media landscape.
I don't want to be an entrenched dinosaur. I don't want to ally myself with them, either. But...and this is big...I don't want to be lost in the noise of the 'net.
In the end, I have to hope that quality content will win. I hope I can fashion a "voice"--my piece of the long tail--that has a place in this wild landscape. Like it or not, I believe the importance of 'net presence is here to stay.
Read this article: "Four People Who Don't Get the Internet", and add to the list. The same idea (with different examples) has been jostling around inside my head for a while. Mr. Miller (the author) uses the term "wild west" to describe the 'net, and I think the comparison is valid. The landscape is constantly changing...and lawlessness is the law of the land.
So, 1. what does any of this have to do with writing? 2. With the title of this post?
1. The democratizing effect of the internet has made content too cheap and easy to come by. If you haven't listened to Harlan Ellison rant about paying the author, I'll let you have a moment to head over to YouTube and watch his diatribe.
Back? Good.
I believe author's should be paid--believe me. But the 'net has spawned so many authors and makes it relatively easy to be "published" (goodness knows I wouldn't have anything published without the internet as a resource for market research at least), that the market is flooded with plenty of folks that will work for cheap (or free). Now, it may be relatively easy to be published--relative to the publishing world before Duotrope, Ralan's, and 'net based markets--but that doesn't mean it is easy to be published in high profile, quality markets. In fact, I'd argue the opposite. Those high profile, quality markets are shrinking (e.g., Fantasy and Science Fiction has gone to a bi-monthly publication schedule...what does that tell us?).
The internet has given us more noise. So many venues for fiction, each hungering for content--my head spins sometimes just trying to understand the changing landscape. You have to have a Twitter account...you have to use Facebook...MySpace...on and on. I could spend all day doing ancillary "writing" tasks that don't actually involve writing any new fiction, and still not touch on everything.
Stop the train, I want to get off.
2. The trenches. Did you read Miller's article? Big, hungry dinosaur-like entities want to find a way for the 'net to pay them like they've been paid for the past 50+ years. Think of Michael Lynton (Sony Pictures CEO) as their representative. The old world media giants are losing footing in today's new world media landscape. Ask any sixteen-year-old if he thinks it's wrong to download music for free. Poll fifty of them.
Do you think we can swing them back to the "other side"? Nope...sorry...that battle was lost long ago. Those sixteen-year-olds are going to fashion the new media landscape.
I don't want to be an entrenched dinosaur. I don't want to ally myself with them, either. But...and this is big...I don't want to be lost in the noise of the 'net.
In the end, I have to hope that quality content will win. I hope I can fashion a "voice"--my piece of the long tail--that has a place in this wild landscape. Like it or not, I believe the importance of 'net presence is here to stay.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Why I Begin with the End
Barry Napier planted the seed with a post about deus ex machina ("god from a machine"), KV Taylor watered the garden with a a nod to Hitchcock, and now I add my nickel's worth to the discussion. (it was two cents but inflation kicked in)
Why I Begin with the End
Two things need to happen before I write a story:
1. The seed, the spark, the idea. This usually involves a character and a conflict.
2. A resolution for that conflict--somewhere I'm going with the story. This resolution often changes as I write, but I must have a destination. I need an end to the story before I begin writing.
As a teacher, I plan backwards. I have to know what is on the test before I design the lessons. If I want students to be able to do skill x, they need to be taught skill x and have time to practice before they are assessed on their ability.
The same is true (for me, at least) in writing. A seed idea is fantastic, but if I don't know what kind of "plant" it will produce (how much space it might need to grow in the garden...how much sunlight...how much water), the story has no future. How long will the story be? How many characters are involved? How will I help my protagonist out of her/his problem?
If I start a story without an ending--a general destination at least--I might fall into one of the traps common to writing...the bad twist-ending (good twists can work, but only in the hands of master craftsman) or the deus ex machina. I'm using the definition of deus from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms here:
No author, even those able to pull off the best twists, uses improbable, contrived, and unconvincing endings. Period. The end of the story must fit the world you've created in the story. If it doesn't, it shows...like a bad make-up job on an organ-grinder's monkey.
Do I change my endings as I go? Most of the time. Stories often surprise me. But I have an ending in mind as I start to provide a sense of momentum to the story, a sense of the "knot" (or initial conflict) unwinding as the reader progresses. And the protagonist must be involved in the untying of the knot. I believe this is true in all good fiction (at least fiction I want to read).
O. Henry made a name (a pseudonym, har) by writing stories with ironic endings...but stories such as "Gift of the Magi" are set up by their beginnings. The ending doesn't come from "left field" or is lowered into the story by a machine. It works because the story moved toward that inevitable, even if unpredictable, conclusion through the actions of the characters.
I can't begin without an ending in mind. What about you?
Why I Begin with the End
Two things need to happen before I write a story:
1. The seed, the spark, the idea. This usually involves a character and a conflict.
2. A resolution for that conflict--somewhere I'm going with the story. This resolution often changes as I write, but I must have a destination. I need an end to the story before I begin writing.
As a teacher, I plan backwards. I have to know what is on the test before I design the lessons. If I want students to be able to do skill x, they need to be taught skill x and have time to practice before they are assessed on their ability.
The same is true (for me, at least) in writing. A seed idea is fantastic, but if I don't know what kind of "plant" it will produce (how much space it might need to grow in the garden...how much sunlight...how much water), the story has no future. How long will the story be? How many characters are involved? How will I help my protagonist out of her/his problem?
If I start a story without an ending--a general destination at least--I might fall into one of the traps common to writing...the bad twist-ending (good twists can work, but only in the hands of master craftsman) or the deus ex machina. I'm using the definition of deus from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms here:
Key words: improbable (reader goes WTF?), contrivance (i.e., wonky invention that doesn't fit with the logic of the story), and convincingly (the reader believes that the event is possible)The term is now used pejoratively for any improbable or unexpected contrivance by which an author resolves the complications of the plot in a play or novel, and which has not been convincingly prepared for in the preceding action...
No author, even those able to pull off the best twists, uses improbable, contrived, and unconvincing endings. Period. The end of the story must fit the world you've created in the story. If it doesn't, it shows...like a bad make-up job on an organ-grinder's monkey.
Do I change my endings as I go? Most of the time. Stories often surprise me. But I have an ending in mind as I start to provide a sense of momentum to the story, a sense of the "knot" (or initial conflict) unwinding as the reader progresses. And the protagonist must be involved in the untying of the knot. I believe this is true in all good fiction (at least fiction I want to read).
O. Henry made a name (a pseudonym, har) by writing stories with ironic endings...but stories such as "Gift of the Magi" are set up by their beginnings. The ending doesn't come from "left field" or is lowered into the story by a machine. It works because the story moved toward that inevitable, even if unpredictable, conclusion through the actions of the characters.
I can't begin without an ending in mind. What about you?
Thursday, May 21, 2009
A Picture is Worth at Least a Few Hundred Words
Writer's block? Need inspiration?
Try a random assortment of pictures from the last seven days at Flickr to inspire your writing.
Try a random assortment of pictures from the last seven days at Flickr to inspire your writing.
"Baba Yaga" from designer and folder Victoria Serova
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The Great Electronic Debate Part 2
A cappella Zoo is opening an online archive of previously published stories. The editor, Colin Meldrum, sent an email asking for permission to publish/archive "A Sort of Honeymoon". I didn't hesitate in replying "yes".
I started this internal debate here. Today, I'm adding evidence in favor of online publishing.
During an average week at Fifty-Two Stitches, we see over 250 visitors. While this isn't an astronomical number, the count has been growing steadily over the past four months (thanks largely in part to the fantastic stories and buzz created by the author/contributors). Two points for online publishing: new content can be added frequently with less effort. Imagine a print magazine with weekly editions...imagine the cost involved (both in labor and actual capital). Online is cheaper and more cost effective.
Some write for themselves. Some write to be read. For some, writing is a blend of both worlds. I do write because the process of writing is important to me, but I want as many people as possible to read/understand/enjoy the products of my labor. I don't live in a vacuum. Another point for online.
Consumers (and here I use the word in its most general sense) are wary to give up their hard earned $$ for untested products. Give it to them free, however...and online wins another point. Even publishers stand to gain by giving away content: you build consumer trust and following. Another point for online. (this is turning into a rather lopsided affair)
I haven't even addressed the "green" issue. (online wins again)
In my previous post, I mentioned this as a head vs. heart issue. My heart still likes to see work in print, but my heart is also swayed by knowing people are reading and sometimes, on rare occasions when the planets align, even enjoying, my writing.
I started this internal debate here. Today, I'm adding evidence in favor of online publishing.
During an average week at Fifty-Two Stitches, we see over 250 visitors. While this isn't an astronomical number, the count has been growing steadily over the past four months (thanks largely in part to the fantastic stories and buzz created by the author/contributors). Two points for online publishing: new content can be added frequently with less effort. Imagine a print magazine with weekly editions...imagine the cost involved (both in labor and actual capital). Online is cheaper and more cost effective.
Some write for themselves. Some write to be read. For some, writing is a blend of both worlds. I do write because the process of writing is important to me, but I want as many people as possible to read/understand/enjoy the products of my labor. I don't live in a vacuum. Another point for online.
Consumers (and here I use the word in its most general sense) are wary to give up their hard earned $$ for untested products. Give it to them free, however...and online wins another point. Even publishers stand to gain by giving away content: you build consumer trust and following. Another point for online. (this is turning into a rather lopsided affair)
I haven't even addressed the "green" issue. (online wins again)
In my previous post, I mentioned this as a head vs. heart issue. My heart still likes to see work in print, but my heart is also swayed by knowing people are reading and sometimes, on rare occasions when the planets align, even enjoying, my writing.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Submitted for Your Approval
While doing a warm-up for one of my classes last week, we discussed the Latin roots mitt, miss, and mise (meaning lead, bring, draw).
Students had to match words with these roots to their correct meaning. One of the definitions was "to yield control". The matching word: submit.
I had one of those little epiphanies. When I submit a piece for consideration (even a query letter), I'm yielding control. For some reason, I felt a sense of peace after this revelation. (May has been a rough month for rejections). My work needs to be done before I submit; after that moment, the story is in someone else's hands.
Giving up control can be quite freeing.
Students had to match words with these roots to their correct meaning. One of the definitions was "to yield control". The matching word: submit.
I had one of those little epiphanies. When I submit a piece for consideration (even a query letter), I'm yielding control. For some reason, I felt a sense of peace after this revelation. (May has been a rough month for rejections). My work needs to be done before I submit; after that moment, the story is in someone else's hands.
Giving up control can be quite freeing.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Ellen Datlow Interviewed at Nossa Morte
Ellen Datlow (yes that Ellen Datlow) has a wonderful interview up at Nossa Morte. I think all aspiring writers need to read this one.
I want to find a way "around the slush pile" (from her answer to a question about a recent open call for submissions). Sounds like the only way to do that, my friends, it to produce a quality body of work and catch the attention of someone important.
I can control some things in life (e.g., writing every day); others, I must leave to the fates.
I want to find a way "around the slush pile" (from her answer to a question about a recent open call for submissions). Sounds like the only way to do that, my friends, it to produce a quality body of work and catch the attention of someone important.
I can control some things in life (e.g., writing every day); others, I must leave to the fates.
Friday, May 15, 2009
New Story at Every Day Fiction (with an interview)
"To Make Things Right" is up at Every Day Fiction, followed by an interview from little ol' me.
I must say the story was inspired by one of my favorite short stories of all time (and one that still leaves me scratching my head), "The Assembly of the Dead" by Chet Williamson. Find a copy and read it. I know you can in 100 Hair-Raising Little Horror Stories.
Enjoy!
I must say the story was inspired by one of my favorite short stories of all time (and one that still leaves me scratching my head), "The Assembly of the Dead" by Chet Williamson. Find a copy and read it. I know you can in 100 Hair-Raising Little Horror Stories.
Enjoy!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Live Long and Prosper: Building Characters
So I saw the new Star Trek movie last night. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie within a week of its release. Welcome to life with kids, I guess.
Despite all the special effects, glitz, and weird pseudo-scientific fantasy, the characters made that movie enjoyable. Especially Spock.
Spock has what every fictional character needs: a whopper of an internal conflict. He's a walking conflict, a "half-breed", constantly at war with his emotions and expectations others have for him and his behavior. In the new film, he reaches the breaking point on a few occasions: now that's drama.I'm not really a Trekkie, but the original series/characters will always have a special place in my overly sentimental heart. Gene Roddenberry knew his writing Xs and Os when he laid out the blueprint for everyone's favorite half-Vulcan.
Live long and prosper, memorable characters!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Splitting Hairs?
After writing yesterday's post, I did a quick Google search for "dark magical realism". I wanted to be sure I wasn't misusing the term or lost in literary left field. The search produced 127 hits (that is with quotation marks around the phrase...the only way to find that exact search string).
Huh?
One of the sites referred to a book about Neil Gaiman's work on Sandman. Okay...not exactly what I think of when I use the phrase "dark magical realism". Gaiman's Sandman work leaned heavily on mythology. The first two sites on the list didn't even refer to the phrase intact. (e.g. a sentence ended with the word "dark" and "magical realism" started the next sentence)
Now I know the modifier "dark" isn't necessary. Magical realism has become a large enough literary umbrella that it has plenty of space for darkness. But I do think there is an important difference between a story like Julio Cortázar's "House Taken Over" (what I would consider a seminal work of dark magical realism) and Márquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings". One instills a quiet sense of discomfort; the other, wonder.
Some argue that magical realism doesn't exist at all...it's just another name for fantasy. (Terry Pratchett was quoted as saying "[magic realism] is like a polite way of saying you write fantasy.")
I disagree. Fantasy means something to people, even in rule-bending contemporary fantasy. Personally, I expect fantastical creatures or worlds or at least the suggestion of those things. Magical realism doesn't go so far...at least not in my understanding. It is more subtle, and in being so, more strange. I can suspend my disbelief just that much more when a story makes subtle changes to my real world. When those changes are dark, I find it even more unsettling. Vampires don't scare me. Having something never mentioned by name take over my house, does.
Maybe I'm just splitting genre hairs. Mostly, the lack of "dark magical realism" hits on Google surprised me.
Huh?
One of the sites referred to a book about Neil Gaiman's work on Sandman. Okay...not exactly what I think of when I use the phrase "dark magical realism". Gaiman's Sandman work leaned heavily on mythology. The first two sites on the list didn't even refer to the phrase intact. (e.g. a sentence ended with the word "dark" and "magical realism" started the next sentence)
Now I know the modifier "dark" isn't necessary. Magical realism has become a large enough literary umbrella that it has plenty of space for darkness. But I do think there is an important difference between a story like Julio Cortázar's "House Taken Over" (what I would consider a seminal work of dark magical realism) and Márquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings". One instills a quiet sense of discomfort; the other, wonder.
Some argue that magical realism doesn't exist at all...it's just another name for fantasy. (Terry Pratchett was quoted as saying "[magic realism] is like a polite way of saying you write fantasy.")
I disagree. Fantasy means something to people, even in rule-bending contemporary fantasy. Personally, I expect fantastical creatures or worlds or at least the suggestion of those things. Magical realism doesn't go so far...at least not in my understanding. It is more subtle, and in being so, more strange. I can suspend my disbelief just that much more when a story makes subtle changes to my real world. When those changes are dark, I find it even more unsettling. Vampires don't scare me. Having something never mentioned by name take over my house, does.
Maybe I'm just splitting genre hairs. Mostly, the lack of "dark magical realism" hits on Google surprised me.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
A Piece of Tail...um, The Long Tail
After reading this post about True Fans from Kevin Kelly at The Technium (thanks to Joshua Reynolds for the link), I started thinking about my little piece of the long tail...the little piece I'm trying to stake out as my territory.
That's what a creator (writer, musician, artist of any kind) strives to do, isn't it? Only a lucky few actually slay the dragon and lay claim to the head of the beast, but most of us hope for a chunk of the tail. (If you don't know what all this long tail nonsense is about, read the book by Chris Anderson, or check out his blog).
The question, essentially, what is my niche? My style? My creation?
I write fiction. Genre fiction mostly. Some of it is dark...okay, most of it is dark. I wouldn't call all of it horror. I have no desire to torture a reader with gory spilling of entrails. That kind of work has a place and a fan base. Most of what I write is dark fantasy--even dark magical realism (if I'm allowed such a term).
Evidence from my own "top stories" (and others):
"Catalog Sales" - A hobo sells books that turn children into monsters.
"The Ox-Cart Man" - A child ghost hunter realizes he is actually the son of the ghost he has been hunting.
"The Scavengers Lying in Wait" - The undead inhabit a pond and wait for boys to go fishing so they can, um, feed.
"Dancing Lessons" - A young girl meets a reanimated man (with a clockwork heart) who helps her learn about her estranged father.
"Tommy of the Flood" - A man's childhood friend--an autistic boy who drowned as a child--comes back to, um, spread his influence. (I have to be vague here folks...no spoilers.)
"Little Fingers" - A man's fiancé vanishes into a slab of concrete.
"Reciprocity" - A boy is devoured by his pet goldfish and reborn (sort of).
"In My World of Green Water" - A drowned boy learns that he is better off at the bottom of the pond.
I could go on, but I think the picture is fairly clear...at least to me. (Remember...no spoilers)
Quite a few of these stories are sad, poignant, carrying some kind of message--at least a call to seek a message. The messages aren't always easy, and I'm not trying to moralize. I hope I write stories that entertain, but I also want the piece to stick with you after you finish the last word. I usually fail at pure, gut-wrenching horror.
When I was nominated for Kansas Teacher of the Year (I know, whoo-hoo), one of my students wrote "Mr. Polson is my thinking coach". While I don't see writing in the same way as teaching, I would like readers to think...to really examine themselves when they read something attached to my name. So I write strange, hopefully thought-provoking, dark magical-realism and fantasy. Is there room enough in the long tail?
What is your niche? Your piece of tail?
That's what a creator (writer, musician, artist of any kind) strives to do, isn't it? Only a lucky few actually slay the dragon and lay claim to the head of the beast, but most of us hope for a chunk of the tail. (If you don't know what all this long tail nonsense is about, read the book by Chris Anderson, or check out his blog).
The question, essentially, what is my niche? My style? My creation?
I write fiction. Genre fiction mostly. Some of it is dark...okay, most of it is dark. I wouldn't call all of it horror. I have no desire to torture a reader with gory spilling of entrails. That kind of work has a place and a fan base. Most of what I write is dark fantasy--even dark magical realism (if I'm allowed such a term).
Evidence from my own "top stories" (and others):
"Catalog Sales" - A hobo sells books that turn children into monsters.
"The Ox-Cart Man" - A child ghost hunter realizes he is actually the son of the ghost he has been hunting.
"The Scavengers Lying in Wait" - The undead inhabit a pond and wait for boys to go fishing so they can, um, feed.
"Dancing Lessons" - A young girl meets a reanimated man (with a clockwork heart) who helps her learn about her estranged father.
"Tommy of the Flood" - A man's childhood friend--an autistic boy who drowned as a child--comes back to, um, spread his influence. (I have to be vague here folks...no spoilers.)
"Little Fingers" - A man's fiancé vanishes into a slab of concrete.
"Reciprocity" - A boy is devoured by his pet goldfish and reborn (sort of).
"In My World of Green Water" - A drowned boy learns that he is better off at the bottom of the pond.
I could go on, but I think the picture is fairly clear...at least to me. (Remember...no spoilers)
Quite a few of these stories are sad, poignant, carrying some kind of message--at least a call to seek a message. The messages aren't always easy, and I'm not trying to moralize. I hope I write stories that entertain, but I also want the piece to stick with you after you finish the last word. I usually fail at pure, gut-wrenching horror.
When I was nominated for Kansas Teacher of the Year (I know, whoo-hoo), one of my students wrote "Mr. Polson is my thinking coach". While I don't see writing in the same way as teaching, I would like readers to think...to really examine themselves when they read something attached to my name. So I write strange, hopefully thought-provoking, dark magical-realism and fantasy. Is there room enough in the long tail?
What is your niche? Your piece of tail?
Monday, May 11, 2009
Sorry, Fred's Busy
Remember Fred? I introduced him in this post (in which I recommend the best book on writing short fiction, Creating Short Fiction by Damon Knight). By the way, "Admiral Atlantic's Guerrilla Marketing" is now in the Land of Dead Stories. I guess it didn't find a home. (RIP, Admiral)
But Fred can't come to the blog right now. He's busy.
I'm working on two short stories (both about half done) and a flash piece that I want to finish before Fred comes running up from the basement and takes over my life. My self-imposed deadline is Friday.
What's Fred doing, you ask? He's working. He's doing that thing that he does--putting together stories. Fred is busy plotting my next novel.
Don't bother him.
But Fred can't come to the blog right now. He's busy.
I'm working on two short stories (both about half done) and a flash piece that I want to finish before Fred comes running up from the basement and takes over my life. My self-imposed deadline is Friday.
What's Fred doing, you ask? He's working. He's doing that thing that he does--putting together stories. Fred is busy plotting my next novel.
Don't bother him.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
The Horror
I spent the day at the mall, helping my wife pick out a new dress for a summer wedding. (i.e., wrangling Owen and Max while she shopped)
'nuff said.
'nuff said.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Top Five Draculas
I watched a horrible old Hammer film last night, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, but it made me misty and nostalgic for old, crusty horror.
Today's Top Five FridayTM: The top five actors to play Count Dracula, as decided by me.
1. Bela Lugosi - no competition. Lugosi had the accent, the charm, the eyes. From Dracula (1931):
2. Christopher Lee - Along with Terence Fisher, Lee was the man behind Hammer Films resurrection of the famous vampire on film. And he had blood on his fangs...something Lugosi was never allowed back in the '30s. Watch The Horror of Dracula and see that blood in bright red technicolor.
Today's Top Five FridayTM: The top five actors to play Count Dracula, as decided by me.
1. Bela Lugosi - no competition. Lugosi had the accent, the charm, the eyes. From Dracula (1931):
2. Christopher Lee - Along with Terence Fisher, Lee was the man behind Hammer Films resurrection of the famous vampire on film. And he had blood on his fangs...something Lugosi was never allowed back in the '30s. Watch The Horror of Dracula and see that blood in bright red technicolor.
3. Gary Oldman - Francis Ford Coppola's entry into the Dracula filmography (Bram Stoker's Dracula) had some casting issues. (Um...Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves?) Oldman as the eponymous vampire was one of his better choices (along with Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing).
4. Max Schreck - Nosferatu is creepy. So many shadows...so spooky. This film owes its staying power to German Expressionism and Schreck's chilling portrayal as Herr Orlock (er...Dracula).
5. Jack Palance - Dracula (1973) wasn't a great movie (despite the adaptation by Richard Matheson). But, hey - Palance is a badass.
Wait...where's Frank Langella? John Carradine? Lon Chaney, Jr.? Bah. Make your own list.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
I Had to Cut Down Our Dogwood Tree
...last year. It used to wear the most beautiful white blossoms in the spring.
I have a flash story up at The Foliate Oak entitled "Watching the White Blossoms". It isn't really a horror tale or all that speculative, but I'll call it a tribute to the dogwood. I did intend to take the plot in a much darker direction, but the story works this way.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Tipping Points
The Tipping Point is defined as the moment of critical mass, the threshold, and the boiling point. It is the point when everyday things reach epidemic proportions...the fact that little causes can have big effects, and that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment.
- from The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
When I woke up yesterday, a lovely little email from Camille Gooderham Campbell was waiting for me. My story, "The Sub-Basement" was the most read piece for April 2009 at Every Day Fiction, earning yours-truly an interview.
Me: What?
(after a moment)
Me again: But that story was published in January...
It seems "The Sub-Basement" somehow managed to garner around 4,000 hits during April despite being published three months ago. One of the questions in the interview dealt with self-promotion of my writing (i.e., what did I do to promote the story?).
Me: Nothing.
Wait...I do blog. I mentioned "The Sub-Basement" when it was published back in January. The story has a link on the right side of this page. Other than that...is it luck? Maybe an invisible "tipping point"?
Self-promotion is a necessary evil. The new mantra in publishing is "develop a following" and that is before your book is even picked up by an agent. I'm not sure I know how to develop a following. The right kind of self-promotion is part science and part art. It baffles me. Too much "me-me-me-it's all about me" and say bye-bye to any loyal readers jaded by egregious self-pimping.
I do know how to grow potatoes (I have twenty lovely plants in the garden right now). You have to shove the cut seed potatoes in the ground, wait...wait...wait. I dig deep, plant the seeds low, and then fill the holes in with dirt as the plant grows, providing more room for the plant to sprout baby taters as it reaches for the sun. It's a slow process. Then the plants die, and the miracle happens.
Wait two weeks or so, and you find full-sized potatoes hidden under the dirt.
I think the same is true with writing/publishing. I have a long way to go yet, but I'm filling in my holes, bit by bit. Write a new story...rejection. Revise the story...publication. Someone reads the story, checks out the blog. He/she is offended by my use of an Emily Dickinson quote in the title and never comes back. Start the cycle over again, hopefully landing a reader that might just come back.
It takes time, I guess. Is it luck? Yes...but I think luck is a matter of being in the right place for a long time. Sooner or later, something positive is going to happen. I hope.
Little tipping points are everywhere. I have to believe they are.
- from The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
When I woke up yesterday, a lovely little email from Camille Gooderham Campbell was waiting for me. My story, "The Sub-Basement" was the most read piece for April 2009 at Every Day Fiction, earning yours-truly an interview.
Me: What?
(after a moment)
Me again: But that story was published in January...
It seems "The Sub-Basement" somehow managed to garner around 4,000 hits during April despite being published three months ago. One of the questions in the interview dealt with self-promotion of my writing (i.e., what did I do to promote the story?).
Me: Nothing.
Wait...I do blog. I mentioned "The Sub-Basement" when it was published back in January. The story has a link on the right side of this page. Other than that...is it luck? Maybe an invisible "tipping point"?
Self-promotion is a necessary evil. The new mantra in publishing is "develop a following" and that is before your book is even picked up by an agent. I'm not sure I know how to develop a following. The right kind of self-promotion is part science and part art. It baffles me. Too much "me-me-me-it's all about me" and say bye-bye to any loyal readers jaded by egregious self-pimping.
I do know how to grow potatoes (I have twenty lovely plants in the garden right now). You have to shove the cut seed potatoes in the ground, wait...wait...wait. I dig deep, plant the seeds low, and then fill the holes in with dirt as the plant grows, providing more room for the plant to sprout baby taters as it reaches for the sun. It's a slow process. Then the plants die, and the miracle happens.
Wait two weeks or so, and you find full-sized potatoes hidden under the dirt.
I think the same is true with writing/publishing. I have a long way to go yet, but I'm filling in my holes, bit by bit. Write a new story...rejection. Revise the story...publication. Someone reads the story, checks out the blog. He/she is offended by my use of an Emily Dickinson quote in the title and never comes back. Start the cycle over again, hopefully landing a reader that might just come back.
It takes time, I guess. Is it luck? Yes...but I think luck is a matter of being in the right place for a long time. Sooner or later, something positive is going to happen. I hope.
Little tipping points are everywhere. I have to believe they are.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Remember the Sample Lady?
I worked at a grocery store in high school, and we had two nice older women who would hand out samples to customers. Of course, we (the employees) helped ourselves to plenty of little smokies, snack crackers, and cheese, too.
I've posted the first chapters of my current projects on their own pages: Rock Gods and Scary Monsters and The House Eaters.
Try not to eat too much.
I've posted the first chapters of my current projects on their own pages: Rock Gods and Scary Monsters and The House Eaters.
Try not to eat too much.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Should I Worry About Genderfail?
I manipulated a spreadsheet to provide some data about (most of) my stories, including all sold and/or published. I studied characters first, namely the protagonists. Of 69 stories examined, this bit was eye-opening:
58 male protagonists
6 neutral gender (mostly flash fiction or non-human protagonists)
5 female
Ouch.
I then broke these categories down by age of the protagonists:
58 males = 30 adult, 18 teens, 5 children, 4 older (65+)
6 neutral = 2 adult, 1 child, 3 age N/A
5 female = 3 adult, 1 child, 1 older
28 stories are 1st person POV; 41 stories in the 3rd person.
As far as non-humans, I had one clockwork, one alien, and one monster.
Adult males? Sheeesh.
I'm going to work hard to branch out a little more--really challenge myself. How about your characters? Do you see any patterns?
58 male protagonists
6 neutral gender (mostly flash fiction or non-human protagonists)
5 female
Ouch.
I then broke these categories down by age of the protagonists:
58 males = 30 adult, 18 teens, 5 children, 4 older (65+)
6 neutral = 2 adult, 1 child, 3 age N/A
5 female = 3 adult, 1 child, 1 older
28 stories are 1st person POV; 41 stories in the 3rd person.
As far as non-humans, I had one clockwork, one alien, and one monster.
Adult males? Sheeesh.
I'm going to work hard to branch out a little more--really challenge myself. How about your characters? Do you see any patterns?
Friday, May 1, 2009
Goals...What Goals?
Here's a blast from four months in the past:
- Always have at least one story in front of a pro paying market. Right now I have four.
- Finish revisions of Rock Gods and Scary Monsters and query that sucker by the end of the school year.
- Write my third "novel"--a dark thing I'm tentatively calling The House Eaters.
- Write at least one high quality story a month. Quality may require that I set the story aside for at least a week before revising--a challenge for this submission junkie.
- Give myself some breaks. I nearly chucked the whole writing idea last summer because of unreal expectations.
(My "New Year's Writing Resolutions")
Some of the Blogs I ReadTM have discussed eliminated the end of month post. I'm keeping mine simple.
How am I doing based on those goals?
- I have exactly one story in front of a pro paying market right now. Have you seen how many are "on hiatus" or shut down lately? This goal might go the way of the dodo.
- Done and querying. I've sent six queries. No hits, no runs, no errors, not even a form rejection yet.
- Done and querying. Thanks to everyone who read and commented. I've sprayed on a fresh coat of paint, guided by the voices that haunt me and other clichés.
- I did write three stories this month: one flash and two longer pieces.
- I'm not tired of writing, but I'm tired of trying to sell my writing. I used to pour over Duotrope with a certain fire, trying to find "the market" for everything I wrote. Not anymore.
To elaborate on #5: I like to write (I think). Sometimes it is very hard. Sometimes it seems to come easily, only to look back at the work and realize what a load of shite it is. The sense of "wow" is still there, though. That sense of "gee, I wrote that?" Selling the work...isn't fun. Never really was. The rejections? Are they bringing me down? Not really. Not anymore. I just don't enjoy the mental energy spent researching a market/agent, preparing a submission, launching it out into the world, and waiting. Maybe I'm far too impatient for this writing thing.
Maybe I just need some tranquilizers.
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