The Blue Candle Society

For a long moment I soared outward, free of the clinging bonds of gravity. Then a trailing buckle from my work belt snagged on the window frame, and I whipped back to slam into the side of the gondola with stunning force. I hung there for a few moments, collecting myself and reflecting on all the mockery my habit of wearing a work harness with various hooks and buckles had earned me over the years. It was true that they did occasionally catch on doorways, furniture, and on one memorable occasion the ball gown of a pastor’s wife. But they were remarkably handy for hanging tools from while I worked, and now they appeared to have saved my life. Continue reading ‘Serial Saturday: Nightmare Engine of Doom Part 7 – Enzo Reveals a Cunning Plan’

Posted in Serials

Once again, Ricky and the Elder Gods has been excerpted, this time on the new Cold Fusion Media website.  It is a lot like last time it was excerpted, of course, except now the cover is slightly different (without my name on it, sadly) and the whole story can be had for about eight and a half cents (provided you have one of those new-fangled e-readers, and buy the other 11 stories for a similar price).

Posted in General writing things

British Fonzie Is Right!

Last Sunday’s episode of the Simpsons, “The Book Job“, was significant from a literary point of view not only because it had Neil Gaiman as a guest star, but because it blew the lid off the YA-fantasy genre complex.

But really, engaged as I am in NaNoWriMo, I was struck by some wisdom from Lisa: “I’ll just bang out 2,000 words then stop, even if I’m on fire.”  Good advice for us all, Lisa, good advice for us all.

Posted in General writing things

This Poor Sod Didn't Wear an Orange Hat

I’m taking a brief pause here, like I did with the first Serial Saturday offering, to go over lessons learned so far.  As I said before, I try to keep this sort of literary navel-gazing to a minimum, but heck, its been months since I indulged in it.  Also, it is appropriate to pause on this day, when I change from wearing a brown hat (or no hat at all), to a stylish blaze-orange one when I walk the dogs.  Always a day for quiet contemplation.

I see, looking back at my post about the first effort at writing a weekly serial installment, that I went on at some length about how difficult it was to race along just barely ahead of my deadline, working on something without knowing how everything was going to end.  Well, that was a piece of cake compared to the Nightmare Engine of Doom.  In part, I think this is because I foolishly engaged in NaNoWriMo shortly after beginning this serial.  I had the best intentions of getting out in front of things by putting six or seven installments of the serial in the can before November, but I think I managed one, which I used immediately.

Really, though, what makes Nightmare more difficult is that stories about JT Quinn practically write themselves, since I have a good feel for the characters and it is all in a setting only a degree or two off from the real world (maybe three).  This story, about our unnamed narrator are trickier because I don’t know him as well, and he uses rather fussy language, and doesn’t live in a world all that close to mine.  Also, it is harder to be amusing (or at least what I hope is amusing) than action-packed.  Of course, I kind of knew all this would be the case, but I thought it was worth stretching a bit.  And it isn’t like I’m forcing anyone to read the serials, much as I’d like to, so if it doesn’t work no real harm done.

Posted in General writing things, Serials

Just a quick post, as I am swamped with all sorts of writing things this week (no, really – not just things like preparing for upcoming Orange Hat Day).  Anyway, How to name your first novel – a useful resource for all writers.

Posted in General writing things

One of the stewardesses led me to the dirigible’s engine room, stopping at the baggage compartment on the way for me to collect my tools. It was a noisy place, the clattering of pistons making it difficult to hear.

“Is it always like this?” I asked my guide. She shrugged, in the same elegant manner she had used in the driving area, or whatever it was called. I began to cast about, trying to discern what the problem might be. As near as I could tell, everything seemed to be in order, save for an odd whistling noise barely audible over the clatter of metal.

Then a bone-chilling sigh caught my eye. Continue reading ‘Serial Saturday: Nightmare Engine of Doom Part 6 – Peril in the Skies’

Posted in Serials

Glen Duncan may not know much about writing, but the man knows humor.  literary authors are “hard-wired or self-schooled to avoid the clichéd, the formulaic, the rote.”   Oh my, what I wouldn’t give to be able to come up with gems like that.  Hard-wired, forsooth! Anyway, if you want to read more about the similarities between science fiction writers and porn stars, I’d recommend this, by Charlie Jane Anders.

Posted in General writing things

“Legacy”, the kinda-sorta sequel to “Ricky and the Elder Gods” is going to be published in the first full-length Arcane anthology.  No word on what it will cost yet, but with thirty stories it is surely worth a lot.

Posted in General writing things

Someone shrieked in terror, possibly me. In any event, everyone in the steering-room, or whatever it was called, turned to stare at me. For several long seconds, we all looked at one another, before I risked a glance out the window. As near as I could tell, from the ground passing below, we were drifting sedately along, which, upon reflection, made sense.

Enzo shook his head in disgust. “I’m afraid my colleague does not have my experience with dirigibles,” he said to the stewardesses. He released a little high-pitched shriek, evidently in imitation, then chuckled in that annoying way he had. “Now that I’ve rested the engines, I’ll just fire them up again and we can be on our way.”

He leaned over and spun a dial, then seized a lever and cranked it several times. We all watched as a thin stream of what appeared to be tea emerged from a spout beneath the lever to patter on the floor. Continue reading ‘Serial Saturday: Nightmare Engine of Doom Part 5 – Mechanical Difficulties’

Posted in Serials

I’m participating in National Writing Month, against my better judgement really, given all the other writing -related things I should be doing (to say nothing of all the other things like day jobs and personal hygiene, which could suffer as well).  A fair number of people seem to have fairly strong opinions about NaNoWriMo, from it being the wonderfulest thing ever to it being a machine that churns out horrible half-baked prose.  I suspect the latter are mainly agents who get NaNoWriMo projects sent to them on the first of December (if there are any agents or editors reading this, rest assured that I will not go sending this thing out (assuming I finish it) without letting it age for a while, and revising the dickens out of it).

I kind of find it an interesting experience, though, because it forces me out of my typical writing method (slowly, after trickles of inspiration).  I work fairly well with routines and firm, if arbitrary, goals for some reason, it seems.  It is sort of exhilarating to settle down in front of the old computer with absolutely no idea what happens next, then byGod come up with something five minutes later, because 1,700 words a day ain’t going to write themselves.  Normally when I have no idea what happens next I stare off into space or check my email, but there is no time for such indulgences during NaNoWriMo.

All in all, it feels a bit like being pursued by a boulder a la Indiana Jones, with that daily wordcount goal I hit every evening being like sliding under the closing door (doesn’t that sound exciting?)  It does get a bit exhausting day after day, of course.  I think my writing buddies who, as off this writing, are hovering around 10,000 freaking words are really missing out.  That’s like Indiana Jones strolling along in front of a very slow-moving boulder that keeps stopping to catch its, I don’t know, boulder breath (give me a break on the snappy metaphors, will you?  I wrote 1,738 words today and it ain’t a weekend).  Point being, they’re missing out.

The concern, of course, is that I’m writing a bunch of rubbish.  I like to think that I occasionally discover characters saying or doing things that really reveal their personalities, things that I wouldn’t have known about if not pressed to find out, but I think it is undeniable that they occasionally just blurt things out to fill the silence too, things we all later regret.  But that’s what rewrites are for.

Posted in General writing things