As I wrote on March 1st I had a short story to write. It’s been sent off. It’s either the work of a twisted genius, or I’m a goofball prat. The truth, most likely, lies somewhere in-between… Twelve thousand words. Which is pared down from the fourteen thousand the story hit. It’s funny. There areContinue reading “On the Old Mission”
Category Archives: Writing
On "Making Minds Free"
Occasionally I’ll write a drabble, a short story of exactly one hundred words. One year the only stories I submitted to Pocket’s Strange New Worlds contest were drabbles. Why not? I thought. What editor wouldn’t want to buy a story for ten dollars instead of a few hundred? Well, it didn’t work out that way.Continue reading “On "Making Minds Free"”
On Great Characters
Sometimes you find a character who is an absolute joy to write. Arrogant, prone to speeches and bombast, quick-witted, and an all-around asshole. I love writing this character! I am so going to miss him when I’m done with this. :/ (ETA: 11:30) I’d gotten stuck in a particular scene. I knew how it began.Continue reading “On Great Characters”
On Skipping Stones
About three miles from the house is the Liberty Reservoir. It’s an artificial lake that provides water to Baltimore. It being a pretty day–clear blue sky, temperature around eighty-five–I packed a bag with notebook and pens, grabbed a towel, and drove out to the reservoir. I wanted to get some writing done while communing withContinue reading “On Skipping Stones”
On Unwritten Tales
I saw this elsewhere, thanks to Nea, and it looked kinda cool. Never let it be said that I don’t like cool. 😉 Tell me about a story I haven’t written, and I’ll give you one sentence from that story. So hit me up, people. Give me something off-the-wall. Or not. And I’ll give youContinue reading “On Unwritten Tales”
On Being Poetry
Yet again, this is Keith’s fault. He posts these memes, how can I not take a look? 🙂 If I were a form of poetry, what form of poetry would I be? I am, of course, none other than blank verse.I don’t know where I’m going, yes, quite right;And when I get there (if IContinue reading “On Being Poetry”
On Roadtrips
I was thinking of a short story I wrote about five years back. Pocket Books runs the Strange New Worlds contest for unpublished authors — they can write short stories featuring the Star Trek characters and submit to the contest. I was eligible, and I came up with an idea that I really liked. ItContinue reading “On Roadtrips”
On Weird Concepts
So an idea came to me. An alternate history novel. An alternate history novel about the Beatles. There have been a few Beatles alternate histories. Larry Kirwan’s Liverpool Fantasy comes quickly to mind, as does Stephen Baxter’s “The Twelfth Album” and Ian McLeod’s “Snodgrass.” The concept is doable. It’s something that conceivably could have happened.Continue reading “On Weird Concepts”
On the Silence
I’ve been out of town for a week, out of touch. An impromptu road trip. Got back home yesterday morning. Spring has truly arrived. It’s nice outside. I got some writing done, the story mentioned earlier. It’s about one-quarter done. I’m anticipating getting it to half done by the end of the weekend, then havingContinue reading “On the Silence”
On Rejection
A short story for an open-call anthology came back rejected today. The editor’s feedback consisted of three points: Well-written Going to take a pass Find a home for it Oh, well. Rejection happens. As soon as I figure out another market for this, out the door it goes again! Someday it will have a home.Continue reading “On Rejection”