Immaculate Novelists Kult

Back from Worldcon

2011-08-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

I got back from Worldcon (Renovation in Reno, Nevada) a while ago. It's taken this long to sort of catch up with life, if that makes any sense.

I learned a ton from the few panels I attended. I mainly looked for ways to fill in holes rather than to go to panels where I already knew a lot about the subject. Here are some highlights:

Victorian and pre-Victorian war stuff: I had no idea that you could keep a firearm loaded pretty well indefinitely if you prepared for weather. Some antique weapons still sitting in attics could theoretically fire just fine--so be careful whenever you pick up something firearm-like no matter how ancient, dusty, rusted, dysfunctional, etc. it might appear. I know, duh, but it bears repeating. Your great-great-great-grandfather's flintlock might be loaded and go off. Seriously. Plus, cannonballs traveled really, really far. They just bounced on and on and on for thousands of meters.

Seriously cool. I wrote down some good sources for those hard-to-find non-technical details that describe, for example, that black powder firearms emit a gorgeous, pure white smoke (the lecturer told us it's the purest white he's ever seen.)

Panel about consistency when writing in a series, shared world, etc.: The main good idea I got from this is to write notes and an outline after you finish a chapter in a book or a short story in a world that you may intend to write in again someday. Character details that are revealed (age, that she loves bourbon, etc.) plus a general list of events is all you need. One writer on the panel had to hire someone to read her books and take extensive notes for her to go off of because after several years she needed to start writing in the series again and had forgotten most of those telling details writers keep in their heads with varying degrees of success. Reading those books would have taken too much time out of her writing schedule and would have put her behind on several deadlines.

I'm going to start doing that from now on. Much easier and cheaper than hiring someone ten years from now to read Masks and take notes on it so that I don't mess up someone's mother's age and get hate mail from fans about it. (Wouldn't it be grand to get fan mail and to work with multiple deadlines on projects because I'm such a busy writer? I know, I know, be careful what you wish for ....)

I watched master artists sketching a life model (who was somewhat clothed for propriety's sake as it was in a public area) for quite some time. It made me itch to do art again, which is good because I also studied cover design at the convention, first at the art show and then again at a cover design panel and yet again at a 'what's coming out this year' panel for Orbit. (I missed the one for Tor, darn it!) My brain is now brimming with ideas--the perfect time to start rough design ideas for various book covers before those ideas vanish into mist.

I also talked shop with a Canadian publisher. I hope to send some stuff their way soon.

There's lots more to tell, but I ought to actually, you know, write. Today.

Right now ....

Another INK Victory!

2011-07-05T08:31:00.001-07:00

I've sold a story to a great market--more details when I can officially announce them. The story is "Neighbors"--the expanded version I wrote when I realized that the end couldn't really be the end.

I also sent a story in to the Writers of the Future contest. With two stories sold in the whole universe so far, as far as the WotF contest is concerned, I can only sell one more story before I become ineligible for the contest.

Which I'm totally fine with on a lot of levels. I'd of course love to win the contest, but I won't hold back on sending out stories just so that I keep my eligibility, you know? That would be weird, and not in a good way.

Gee, I'm so calm posting this. When I got the email, I had so many exclamation points inside me I couldn't stay sitting down!

Oops. I guess they're still there. They're probably just tired.

Editorial Woes

2011-06-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

Never get into a relationship where the other person thinks you need to be fixed.

The editorial process for "Citizen's Guide to Police Use of Force" is going painfully slow. How slow? No actual work done since I rejected my editor's last set of changes. There's been minor contact, but the next vital step, where she returns the manuscript with her suggestions is two or three weeks late. I think we're already behind schedule and this shouldn't be hard.

The last one was bad. I should have got a clue when I noticed the "Track Changes" function had been turned off. Maybe hoping I wouldn't notice the changes because they would be so smooth? I sent it back, rejected utterly. It wasn't an editing job, it was an unauthorized re-write, and not a good one.

I'm pretending I'm writing this blog post so that any would-be writers reading this learn some of the pitfalls. I'm still learning them. And up until now, working with my publisher, YMAA has been really wonderful. But really I'm just writing to vent a little.

I want to get this book finished. Done. And then I don't want to even look at it again. Sick and tired of every last word. But I always feel that way toward the end of the process. I'll get over it.

Numbers

2011-05-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

I won't get hard numbers until royalty statements come in, and the statements covering these few days won't be in until December...

But "Facing Violence" has been hanging out at about the 3000 sales rank (out of eight million) on Amazon for most of the week, and almost all of that based on pre-orders. It doesn't officially ship until tomorrow.

Product Details

Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Ymaa Publication Center (May 16, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594392137
ISBN-13: 978-1594392139
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Books > Sports > Individual Sports > Martial Arts
- #74 in Books > Health, Mind & Body > Exercise & Fitness

It's also has given Meditations a slight bump in sales. Or so it seems.

Life is cool. Signing at the Cedar Hills Powell's in Beaverton the 25th. Hope to see some of the dozen or so fans then.

Two Ways

2011-04-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

There are two ways to take really good pictures. If you get an excellent camera and really learn what it can do, you can take amazing pictures.

Or you can get a pretty good, simple to operate, durable camera and go to amazing places. Keep your eye open for things that take your breath away... and take the shot.

My first parachute jump, the jumpmaster asked what was in the pouch on my shoulder strap.

"My camera. I thought I'd take some shots on my way down."

He smirked. "You're an idiot. The second you jump out of that plane you'll forget it's even there."

One of my favorite pictures (predigital, I can't post it) is of my own boots at 3000 feet.

Same with a lot of things. I'm plowing through a book right now that will be coming out in '12, doing the rewrites, making the editor happy and it is really, really apparent (especially on first drafts) that I'm not that good a writer. But the book is about things that you really can't see at a distance. About what goes on inside (and what is supposed to) when an officer makes a force decision.

Go to amazing places and keep your eyes open, or polish the skill. Either creates some good stuff.

Doing both is best. Working on it.

Productive Day

2011-04-03T17:30:00.000-07:00

Finished another article today, third in a series of five (or possibly six). Combined with the previous series, they'll actually make a good little book, a primer on social and asocial violence. If it breaks 50k words, I'll think about traditional publishing. Otherwise, e-books seem to be the way to go.

Also worked on a set of notes for Conflict Communications students. That's a delicate balance. A handbook would be neat, but people actually learn and remember better with hints than with passages.

Formatted two of the next three articles.

Still undone (but not tonight, I think. I've earned a break). ahem. Still undone: seven weeks to get A Citizen's Guide to Police Use of Force into final shape. Karen is my editor on this project and I like working with her... but the manuscript I originally sent to David was just to give him an idea and it is a really rough draft. Done that twice now, sent and sold manuscripts before I even cleaned them up. Still want to work on a manual for calming emotionally disturbed, drugged and mentally ill people. Need to format Chiron 2008.

Kami did a great cover for 2008 and it cover my first seven months in Iraq. There will be lots of new material, mostly things I couldn't right at the time and maybe a few chapters of the Nanowrimo novel I did in Baghdad.

It's Not all Crickets

2011-03-02T08:15:00.001-08:00

The silence on INK has been deafening, like the sound of crickets you get when you ask for volunteers...

Things are moving apace in my little writing world.

Sold my third article to Concealed Carry Magazine. It's been a series on different types of violent criminals. Asked to do a regular column.

Three e-books out at Smashwords. Two are compilations of the blog with some added material. One is based on the course I did for Savvy Authors. (Thanks, Mark, for the recommendation.) Kami did the covers for all three and they look great. A fourth e-book will be out before the end of the week, barring the unexpected. It's a collection of drills and some people seem really eager to see it.

"Facing Violence" is scheduled for a May release and already available for pre-order. There is a signing scheduled for 7 PM, May 25th at Powell's in Beaverton. And in early September we should be filming a DVD version in Boston.

The collaboration with Lawrence Kane is pretty much done and we're looking at an Autumn 2012 release through YMAA. YMAA also bought "A Citizen's Guide to Police Use of Force" for 2012 release and David wants to do a print version of the Drills Manual, but that won't be out until late 2012 at the earliest, probably 2013.

Conflict Communications has been blowing away audiences, but the book is going slower than I had hoped. First draft is long done, but hammering out changes is hard. Collaboration isn't for sissys.

Next project is a handbook on crisis communication for the Mentally Ill/Emotionally Disturbed. Basically just putting in words what I did for most of my last several years at MCIJ. Doubt if it will come out to full book length. If not, another e-book.

Busy is good.

Fighting Shifting Priorities.

2011-02-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

It's probably no surprise to anyone in the know I've been fighting chaos and drama at home for nearly a year now. Lost my first reader, lost momentum time and again, nearly lost point and purpose. I've been asked to do a few things I didn't want to do and I hope to pick back up some I won't entirely let go.

Through it all, while I had cut back dedicated writing from last February 14th through December 28th (no significance in dates), and while I fully realize it's not the weekly chaos, the daily drama that derails me, it's how I react to it all. Coming up on a year since my family came close to losing much due to the dipping job market, I see that this is the new normal and as that I'm not the only one living under this roof, there will always be chaos and drama, every single day. But that doesn't mean I have to walk into that constant pit of despair.

I've been pecking at a project that should have been finished years ago. I wrote my first flash fiction that is marinating for a week before I look at it again and wait for a reputable site to open submissions again. I'm still struggling with the thought that others don't have my best interest at heart. I'm trying to smooth and calm life around me while sticking to my passion here and there. I hope those roles are reversed in frequency some time in the future.

And I want to thank everyone here at INK, past and present, who helped me shape my skills. Thanks for your words. Thanks for your patience.

Offer

2010-12-14T15:01:00.001-08:00

Got a verbal offer on "Citizen's Guide to Police Use of Force" yesterday.

That makes one book out (Meditations on Violence) one e-book out (Violence: A Writer's Guide) and two books coming out- Facing Violence due in May from YMAA and Citizen's Guide with an unknown date.

Also have another e-book about ready...

Damn, I'm starting to feel like a writer.

Tonight's INK online meet up.

2010-11-07T19:20:00.000-08:00

The first INK online meet up is tonight from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. I hope to see a post from INK members or an email saying you're here with me. If not, well, I'm here working on my NaNoWriMo novel for the year. What are you working on? Something old? Something new? Something you or someone came up with at the last minute? Outline or not? Winging it? And how often has the NaNoWriMo.org site crashed for you? (I'm at six and counting.)

Anyone looking forward to OryCon next week? Or do you have a 'can take it or leave it' attitude? Looking forward to your next writer/author convention/event/out of town talk?

Finally, We're All Published.

2010-10-31T23:37:00.000-07:00

Two hours before NaNoWriMo begins and I'm told Andromeda Spaceways #48 is out containing "Ash" my first published short story. How's that for writing motivation? Last of the INK group to become a published author, but better late than never, right? Thanks INKers for helping me grow as a writer. Today, I'm an author!

Accountability Cam is up and running at http://www.cscole.com/. I'll probably write for a couple of hours after midnight (less than an hour away now) and return around noon tomorrow after the daily workout. Finally preparations in order now. Go INK NaNo-ers!

E-Book

2010-10-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I taught an online class for the Savvy Authors chapter of the Romance Writers of America. The class, of course, was about violence. It was well-received and the students were a kick: intelligent, insightful and full of good questions.

So it seemed natural to expand the lessons into a manual.

It was too short, just barely, for a standard book. Plus I doubt I have the reputation to get a book on writing to a major publisher.

A third consideration is that considering the lag time between submission and publishing, even if I was very lucky it wouldn't be out to readers for two years.

So I asked Steve Perry about e-publishing, he told me about Smashwords and...

30 sales in less than 48 hours. It may actually have an ISBN soon.

It's a whole new world.

Suggestion: INK Non-meetings 1st Sunday of the month - 7:30-8:30 p.m.

2010-10-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

Hi. My name is C.S. Cole and I'm a member of INK, the group of writers who have a hard time scheduling INK meetings. I miss our meetings but life has encroached heavily on every last one of us. Couldn't be helped. Nothing wrong with that.

I propose that we take the pressure off trying to schedule INK meetings in its old form and try something different. Once a month, at 7:30 on the very first Sunday of the month, I'll be online and I'll be here for a single hour. Anyone else who can make it to this non-meeting is welcome to do the same. No pressure or guilt if you can't come.

We can post something here on INK, or email each other with thoughts, links to ponder, and/or creative motivational words during this time. Whoever happens to show up can enjoy some writer camaraderie and a quick, on-the-spot prompt to get the juices flowing.

Proceeding toward a more dedicated method of meeting via Skipe or IM might be fun for the future. But in all honesty, I'm not looking for anything more yet, not because of lack of dedication or committment to writing but because I know, first-hand, how hard life can make things happen on a regular basis.

Long Time, No Write.

2010-09-24T20:41:00.000-07:00

*BIG SIGH* Well, that only took long enough. I completely lost my INK login information and had to go a round about way to get back here...which worked fine because my email address was wrong from the original get-go.

I apologize for being so long out of the loop. I'm well aware of how life can interfere with the writing life if one is apt to let it. I just needed to wrap my head around how much more I needed writing than minute-by-minute dealings with the life I not-so-jokingly refer to as "The Daily Drama, The Weekly Crisis." That life is the norm now. I get it. What I'm working on is wedging my former writing self back into that life, come Hell or high water. Been through near Hell. I'm told high water is a hoot and ain't so bad.

Thanks for not abandoning me, INK. Any thoughts on getting together soon? Any thoughts on NaNo?

Unrelated, sort of, I've got publishing news as of next week.

Honorable Mention for Writers of the Future

2010-07-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

Yay! I got an honorable mention for a story I sent to Writers of the Future.

Keep sending those stories in to the contest, people! You can't win if you don't play.

Okay, this is just sad....

2010-06-21T00:16:00.000-07:00

No new posts since April? Tsk tsk. No meetings since...what, RadCon in February?

I know we're all busy. I've been busy writing--when I wasn't sick, which seems like all the damn time lately. But even so, since my last post--over the course of April and May--I finished the 98,000 word first draft of my starship repo man novel. I've played goalie for a few shorts that have come back to me in the mail, getting them back into play ASAP. And I've sent out one or two new stories.

And I know y'all have been busy too, but c'mon, fellow Kultists. We might as well all be laboring in solitude for all the group-type work we've done. Really, now, we ought to be doing just a wee bit better, don't you think?

I plan to spend the remainder of June doing a polish on my novel before letting my lovely and talented wife (and first reader) take a look at it. Assuming it passes her inspection, it'll go into the mail to five or six publishers. If it doesn't, I'll clean up the problems and then drop it in the mail. Either way, it'll be done and I'll start looking toward the next novel.

To quote Raoul Julia from some silly road race movie (as he ripped the rear-view mirror from the windshield of his race car and tossed it away, "What's behind me is not important!"

Goals

2010-04-12T14:51:00.001-07:00

When I updated my INK goals today I blanched. Boy, setting the bar a little high, y'think? But I'm not going to change it. I can write at that pace. I'll even go so far to say that I can write at that pace easily. Why am I not? Because I'm spending too many of my evenings watching DVDs. Oh, I can curse The Tudors all I want. The blame must fall to me and my choices.

I am getting a new short story out almost every week, though. I think I can do two. That's what I'll aim for by next Monday.

Stayed tuned to see if Kami falls on her butt!

Aaaah

2010-04-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

The best thing, no, the second best thing... maybe third. What the hell. One of the very cool things about having a wise, intelligent and extremely well-educated wife is that some of her knowledge occasionally get absorbed into my brain. Probably via friction.

Concluded the negotiations on the contract for "7". The hard copies should be in the mail very soon. The publisher is also interested in the possibility of a DVD. I have some very dark ideas for a DVD...

Anyway, the negotiation went extremely well. There was only one serious sticking point for me and David didn't consider it a problem at all. He offered a little better deal on one of the rights and even extended it to the contract for my last book. These are great people to work with.

Here's hoping that "7" makes YMAA (and me) an excellent profit.

EEEEEEEKKKKK!

2010-04-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

[Hiding]

The scariest April Fool's post I've seen so far: Victoria knocks publishing horror out of the park.

Terrifying. Simply terrifying.

[Still hiding]

Goals & Meetings

2010-03-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

So I completely bombed out on my March goals. I've kept my stories and novel submissions in circulation when they came back to me, but I haven't finished any short stories this month. In part, I was sick. But only in part. I've produced considerable wordage, but nothing that jelled into a story.

However, as Raoul Julia once said in a road race movie, "What's behind you is not important!"

Tomorrow is the first of April. I plan to start on not one but two--two!--novels. I don't guarantee to finish either one in April, but certainly by the end of May. Two novels so I can switch projects if I bog down on one. One science fiction (starship repo man!) and one urban fantasy.

But I'm gonna need some support along the way, I think. So...when are we meeting again?

Status

2010-03-08T12:03:00.000-08:00

Things are moving apace.

Got a verbal offer on "7". The verbal offer triggered an agent hunt, and those queries just went out. I like my publisher, but as writing transitions from something on the side to a primary job, I feel obligated to start seeking more options and to negotiate smarter.

Two established authors have asked me to collaborate. I expect to have the first draft of both manuscripts done in four months. When nothing interrupts 5000-6000 words are going on the page between 0600 and 0930. Some of it is decent, too.

And, for some reason, two different chapters of the Romance Writers of America have asked me to put together on-line courses on violence, criminals and cop stuff. That's odd.

Teaching a seminar tomorrow and pitching the Conflict Communications course Wednesday.

Busy is good.

INK Visitor David Levine talks about Mars on Earth.

2010-02-26T12:48:00.000-08:00

From INK friend and visitor David Levine on his recent Mars Mission on Earth:

"I had a great interview on KATU-TV this morning and it is already available online!

Mars Mission on Earth (KATU-TV, 2/26/10):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFOXSzzCtbM
or http://www.katu.com/amnw/segments/85507062.html

My previous TV appearance is stil available, if you haven't seen it:

Life on Mars... or at least a close facsimile (KGW-TV, 2/20/10):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcuOwpdkWCM
or http://www.kgw.com/thesquare/Life-on-Mars-or-at-least-a-close-facsimile-84735647.html

I think this may be the end of my 15 minutes of fame, for this round at least. I'll let you know if I get any more media attention.
--

David D. Levine | dlevine@spiritone.com | http://www.BentoPress.com/"

These are great interviews. David is an incredible author and speaker. I highly recommend checking out these videos.

Welcome Mark Jones and Next INK meetup!

2010-02-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome Mark, our newest INK member! Mark is a very patient man, and talented author too with books and story sales left and right. INK is proud to have him onboard.

Next INK meeting is Friday, February 12th, 2010. Since all current members will be at RadCon (most of us in 'interesting' panels too, I believe, ahem), INK will meet when we're all free for a few hours. Maybe at the unofficial INK room Pajama Party!

January INK meeting 01/22/2010

2010-01-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2010. Our first meeting of the year will take place this Friday, January 22nd at the Mall 205 Elmer's Restaurant at 7 p.m.

9660 Southeast Stark Street
Portland, OR 97216-2404

Google map link

The restaurant closes at 10 p.m. and there is WiFi access.

Hope to see you there!

Meeting location wanted

2010-01-13T10:19:00.000-08:00

INK is looking for a location for it's next meeting on Friday, January 22nd. Are there any great cafes or quiet coffee houses around that are open at least until 9 or 10 p.m.?

Go, Kami, GO!

2010-01-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

Another great INK moment - Kami has her first, of what I'm certain will be many, SWFA-qualifying sale. Congrats Kami!!

Link: http://www.sfwa.org/2010/01/beneath-ceaseless-skies-is-sfwas-newest-qualifying-short-fiction-market/

48 Days

2009-12-19T17:44:00.001-08:00

The manuscript went out to my publisher yesterday. Thanks to nano and encouragement from my lovely wife, it went from blank page to submitted in 48 days.

As usual, the most annoying and aggravating part was taking the pictures. Anything I do alone can be pretty efficient. Efficiency seems to drop and flakiness increase each time another person or a piece of equipment, especially a camera, gets involved.

Thanks largely to Rick P. the efficiency problem was shot, staked through the heart and buried, decapitated at a crossroads with silver coins in the grave and rosemary and garlic in the mouth.

Take that, inefficiency!

48 days. Not bad. Especially since it is very likely to sell. "Meditations on Violence" was the publisher's best seller for 2008 and they probably wanted something to follow it with.

Hmmm. This was just one big brag. Book off here; C.S. sale there... very good time to be an INKer.

First Sale.

2009-12-11T10:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, yes, it's true. I've made my first sale. I've been in touch with my editor and you can look for my story 'Ash' in a fall 2010 issue of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.

Thank you INK for being my first readers, critiquers, and pushers to keep sending it out, especially Kami whom I thought I heard once, over the phone, sharpening bamboo shoots in preparation for shoving under my nails if I didn't keep trying. Thank you, thank you.

Ah, the First Sale juice...it is sweet, like nectar of the gods.

Public Service Announcement

2009-12-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

It's not my place to announce this, but since certain elements who shall not be named but whose initials are probably C.S. Cole is falling down on the job...

C.S. Cole sold a story to a well known and well respected Australian magazine. I thought that was an oxymoron, but I have been assured it is true and it is not necessary to hold said magazine upside down to read it.

This means that all active duty members of INK are professionally published. Statistically, this would imply that joining INK is a great way to get published. Hmmm. Plus the groupies.

Life is good.

Loving the Process

2009-11-16T15:45:00.000-08:00

I'm a short story's length within the 50,000 word Nanowrimo goal. How long the book will turn out to be, I really have no clue. Normally I have all kinds of clue by the 40,000+ word mark. I think I'm about 2/3rds done, but depending on how the plot twists and turns, I might only be halfway, or I might be within 20,000 words of The End.

Nanoing this year has felt a little weird, but a good weird. I feel really free. I've accepted the idea that I have enough writing skills that I don't have to rewrite something to death. If I go back through, it'll be to clean up details, not to 'polish.'

If I think about it in terms of rice, I like brown rice way better than the super-polished stuff anyway. Wild rice is full of awesome too. Somewhere along the way I stopped learning and improving when I rewrote something and started making my writing worse. I've had this proved to me many times now. So, enough.

That gives me much more time to develop new work and play in new stories and revisit ideas that I loved but sadly polished into a little bead that had about as much life in it as expired corn starch. That allows me to move on to the next story, whether it's the next in a series or the next in a whole new universe. And if I want to enrich a story with details or something, I'll have more time to do that if I'm not obsessing on the line by line on an extensive polish.

It's made me a little more careful about how I write those words as they land on the page, but it hasn't slowed me down all that much. Again, I've got over 43,000 words on the 16th day of Nanowrimo, and I haven't been writing non-stop. We've done housework and gone to meetings and such. I've been living a pretty normal life. I've been sick too.

I can do this. I can be a full time writer with this process, and produce more good stuff that I've ever dreamed I could. Plus, I'm not going back and ruining what I do write. Bonus!

But I'll always need my critique group, I think. I need to keep a sharp eye on what I miss, and what doesn't work, especially if it's a pattern with me. I already know I could do a lot more with setting. So as I go forward, I'm going to keep hunting for those weaknesses, and I'll depend on the Lucky Labs and INKers to help me out (and keep me motivated too.)

Done and Not

2009-11-16T14:49:00.000-08:00

By nano standards, the book is done. Broke the 50k mark yesterday. It's not actually done yet. I am not quite halfway through the last chapter. I think two days for that... then bibliography, acknowledgements, a table of contents. Possibly indexing. Go through looking for all the little places that say "XXX Research and cite XXX" (XXX makes a 'find' function very easy.)

Then the choice- send to first readers or directly to my editor. It's strong enough to go out, but I have some very fine first readers, subject matter experts who can add a lot in terms of insights and supporting anecdotes. Decisions, decisions.

Hats off to Nano and the INKers. It really got me off my ass for this project and potentially put me a year ahead on my goals.

Damn

2009-11-07T10:36:00.001-08:00

Over 19K on the new book in the first six days and wrote a flash fiction piece last night. Things are rolling.

I don't usually write fiction. The non-fiction that I write is personal, exploratory and digging into things that are off the map for most people- 'Here be Dragons". Think Charles Darwin and "The Voyage of the Beagle."

In 19,000 words, in the rush to get the ideas onto paper the process has really streamlined. The book, "7" expands on one of the themes in "Meditation on Violence". I think it may make most of MoV and most of everything written on the subject of the genesis of violence obsolete. Connections and classifications are falling together in a way that I knew was missing form MoV. The process, the ability to see the connections at speed has been a gift of grace.

This may just be the first blush of passion. With a few weeks to re-read and consider I may find the holes, notice what is missing. But this second it looks good. Very good. That doesn't mean it will be a good book- "The Origin of Species" was quite a plow- but the idea seems critical and solid.

Yesterday I spoke at a local college for a Criminal Justice class- mostly on how to recognize and avoid when your ego was getting sucked into a Monkey Dance. The new material let me teach it with more depth and more utility than ever before.

This has the potential to be very, very good.

Ready, Set, NaNoWriMo Begins.

2009-11-01T09:37:00.001-08:00

4188 words this morning logged in beginning at the stroke of midnight. Naturally, as the past three years tradition holds, I can't log into the NaNoWriMo.org website to register anything and countless email requests for a new password has been sent. If this year is anything like last year, come day eleven, I'll get a flurry of email replies with countless password resets. Anything received earlier would just get lost in the typical NaNo server crash(es). So typical. So NaNo season!

Things Fall Apart...

2009-10-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

...the Center cannot hold.

I may have that backwards. It's a wonderful poem, though.

Alright, INKERs, what's the deal? No goals updated, no meetings planned... is this because I came back from Iraq and you no longer have the safety of keeping me at Skype distance? I don't bite. Much. Only Kami. Unless I can't create space any other way. Or I want to see the looks on their faces when they realized the mistake in thinking they were fighting a civilized human being....

But I digress. Ahem. Nano is upon us. Who is in? I'm not particularly interested, but I'll do 50000 words in 30 days if anyone cares to throw down the gauntlet. To sweeten the deal, I'll even do fiction.

I think, IMHO, INK is and should be more than a critique group. Critique groups are cheap (and easy and rarely more help than aggravation/drama). INK should be what writers need: part networking, part a good kick in the ass when people get lazy, and part professional advice.

Time to stand and deliver, me hearties. The center canna' hold.

INK news.

2009-10-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Welcoming back Kami from the 2-week Kris and Dean's Master's Writing Class. She's got lots of good info over at her blog at http://kzmillers.blogspot.com/

Also in the news, allow me to introduce OryCon's Open Read & Critique (ORC) Coordinators for this year - Curtis Chen and DeeAnn Sole. I think the ORCs are in very good hands.

We've got a winner! Friend of INK Ken Scholes' 200-word Writing Contest.

2009-09-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

Cross-posted from CSCole's LiveJournal page:

Today, after battling with our broken washer yet again (it's a goner for certain now), I discovered something that has put definite Squee! back into my step.

I did well in Ken Scholes' 200 word "The Tim Machine" contest. The contest was judged by three distinguished writers: maryrobinette, princessalethea, and jaylake.

I was just mentioning, reminding, Steve that Ken's latest book, CANTICLE" was getting ready to make it's debut and it was the one book purchase budgeted for this fall/winter. One guess as to what one of the contest prizes was.

OMG with Raspberry sauce on the side! An ARC copy of CANTICLE! THANK YOU, KEN! THANK YOU JUDGES!

Trust me, much dancing will occur throughout the rest of the week. MUCH dancing.

Please stop by Ken's LJ post here to read most of the other stories entered. All are incredible. All made me wish I were a better writer. To be included in this group is every bit as exciting as winning. Bravo to all!

Ken asked on his LiveJournal page if I might post my story. You can read it HERE. Naturally, after rereading it for the first time in months, I see so many flaws in it, I want to tear my hair out. I guess I just might be starting to understand the point of rewrites after all.

(P.S. The opening line from my story was a prompt used during a writing exercise at a late spring INK meeting. Kami and Steve might recognize it from then. I'm never going to pass up using prompts for exercise again.)

Chick Lit, Dick Lit: Really Not So Different.

2009-08-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Chick Lit, a genre sub-set of young women's fictional literature, is a term that sets my teeth on edge. Though I have read and own enough chick lit to know what it is, I am most definitely not a fan. For the record, I never understood the popularity of "Sex and the City" or 'Sex in the City" or whatever that series/movie was called either; the TV equivalent to chick lit. Too much whining. Too much flip-flopping. No one knows what they want. Bores me to tears.

No, I lean more toward male-oriented fiction both in my writing and reading. Sometimes I enjoy the rare intelligent, strong fictional woman's story (TRULY intelligent and strong which is much, much harder to create than that would seem - it shouldn't be because the writer tells me that's what their female lead is [I've read way too much of that lately and am just as guilty of writing it myself]).

Lately I've begun to realize what I'm writing and reading are really just men's versions of chick lit, complete with all the whining, and after mentioning it to INK member Steve, he came up with the correct terminology for it - Dick Lit. Crude, yes, but right on the money.

Steve isn't a crude man but he's observant. He knows chick lit, has read it and understands it, and he knows all too well most of what I've written and the demographic to whom I direct most of my writing efforts toward. His term 'Dick Lit' nails it square. Though I have my doubts, I hope someday he gets credit for it.

Submission Machine

2009-08-06T23:13:00.000-07:00

I went on a total submission spree. Now almost all my inventory is out, leaving the remaining few still at home whining about when it's going to be their turn. I've got seven things out at the moment. That's not bad for someone who doesn't usually write short stories, eh? I've got three 'problem children' I'd like to tweak a bit before sending them out again and a few more that I'm not quite satisfied with enough to debut. If I can get all of that done and away out the door, I think I'll have a non-zero chance of making a second sale.

Not a shabby August so far, not at all.

I've upped my month goals because I finished them, and it's only the 6th. I've got to have at least a shot at failure here!

Another nice rejection

2009-07-29T15:28:00.000-07:00

I tell ya, all these kind and helpful rejections are neat, so it's hard to complain. But three days in a row and one last week--woof! Between stories I'm revising because I thought of something that might bring them up to the next level, and stories that just came back, half my inventory is at home right now, festering.

Stories fester when they're at home, you know. They need a wild ride in the mail or through the phosphors and then they like to wait on desks or in editorial hard drives where they can chat with other manuscripts and drink too much and party. Sometimes, when they've just come back, they're lively and have lots of things to say to the other stories who've been stuck at home, but they quickly grow morose. Then the festering begins, usually with some discoloration, and then the smell. If that doesn't get your attention, they can ooze like nobody's business.

It's easier to avoid the whole festering thing and keep them in circulation. Everyone's happier that way.

Another one for the collection

2009-07-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

I have a new rejection slip today, a coveted signed and personalized rejection slip on white paper from a market well known for it's half-page "blue rejection slips of death." As an avid collector of rejections, it's always fun to get a new kind, especially a hard-to-procure sort. BTW, those blue form rejections are a neat collector's item in and of themselves, since they're the only ones on colored paper I get. I've heard a rumor about one for a poetry market that has a poem and is quite lovely to look at. If I wrote poetry I would totally submit to that market to get one (assuming that I didn't make the cut and get a sale. Hmm, would I then be so bold as to request that they send me a form rejection with my contract so that I can have a copy? Hee--I'd love to have those kinds of problems.)

Anyway, now I have to get these stories back out. Rejection slips come in waves, I've noticed, so after having nothing to do but write for a long period, I suddenly have to start shoveling things out the door before they pile up. My marketing muscles atrophy between waves, I suspect, because I don't have a deep enough portfolio of fiction. That'll change as I write more short stories, but it won't change fast. Although I think I've improved my craft in the short story department, I'm still a novelist at heart, therefore I spend most of my writing time on novels. Eventually I may have enough short stories in final form that I'll be sending stuff out all the time. Hmm. That may not necessarily be a good thing.

It's hot hot hot today, a good day to stay home and write, especially if you have AC or a nice basement office. (Mmmm, basement ....) But first (I guess, *pout*) I will see about sending my stories back out into the world. Stay cool today, INKers and Friends of INK.

Catching their attention

2009-07-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

I got a nice rejection today. Part of it said:

The story caught our attention but after consideration we’ve decided it’s not a piece
we can use.

Not too shabby, I say.

My distractions are piling up, but writing is still happening. I've been mainly editing novels and frowning at my legless story. It'll all come together. The part that's sticky right now is that I've got all of four days to send out an agent query or I'll have failed my goals for the month. Ackity ack acka ack. I always procrastinate with those things. But I haven't been idle. I've been reading Query Shark, and thinking about what the strongest thread in my novel is so that I don't muddy the synopsis with dumb stuff. You know, the stuff that everyone, especially me, feels is so critical to the story but everyone with a few synapses firing in their brains and a somewhat-accurate memory of what the novel is about knows is just window dressing? That stuff, the stuff I want to leave out. If only it was color coded or something.

Anyway, I'll get it done soon. I'd better, or I'll owe the group a buck at a time I really ought to be saving my bucks. Four days may seem like a lot of time, but it really isn't, especially since I want to try a fresh take on that synopsis. It's not quite right as it stands. I can do better. I will, and I must do better.

Gee, I haven't even got to the hard part yet, you know, the part where the book is out and I'm trying to build interest while still working on other books. This is the easy part, y'know, even though it drags on and on.

Write What You Know...

2009-07-16T22:19:00.000-07:00

... but maybe not the way you know it.

"Write what you know" is an adage for both fiction and non-fiction writers, but there is another side to it. When you really know something, especially something that is based on precise, immediate action in very tense situations a lot of 'what you know' has to be forced down to a subconscious level. It develops a psychological shorthand. Things that are esoteric to outsiders are too obvious to be worth mentioning to insiders.

That's the thing- if you are writing for outsiders it is all about the things that aren't worth mentioning to insiders. There are things that I have forgotten how I learned. That's a problem with 'write what you know'.

The critiques are trickling in from the first readers, and they are doing exactly what I need.

My first readers are pointing out the jargon, the places where I skipped steps in explanation (remember your algebra teacher in high school saying "show your work" and you only cared that the answer was right?). A few places where there is some darkness behind what I have left out or masked with some grim humor that won't play... because the lessons are in the dark things that I don't want to say, the things that pro to pro would be considered seeking validation or attention. Professional to outsider the dynamic is different and there's not a lot of experience here. Which is why there is a market for this book.

I'm actually starting to get very excited about the re-write. But it will wait until I can synthesize all the critiques.

Thanks, readers.

First Draft

2009-07-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Smoking a nargilah with orange tobacco as the sun set over the Pir Magroon mountains, I finished the first draft of "A Citizen's Guide to Police Use of Force". It is a good day. A fine Islay scotch, Ardbeg or perhaps Smokehead would make it better but, alas, I am not in the place for that.

The manuscript is done- for now. Not yet dead with a stake through its heart and buried at the crossroads, but for now, she is no longer a threat to the poor villagers. I have contacted the First Readers, that secret cabal of SMEs (Subject Matter Experts), professionals, writers and concerned citizens who will show me the flaws. Some will brave the challenge, some will come up with whiny little excuses about not having time- such is the way of all quests.

It's a pretty good feeling. And fellow INKers- you're drafted. We don't accept no stinking excuses from our own!

Next INK - July 17th.

2009-07-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

Next INK meeting is coming up, July 17th to be precise, at the usual summer venue in Vancouver. Deadline for critique material is one week beforehand. That means today, up until midnight, stuff for critique will be accepted. So far (10 a.m. Friday July 10th), there is nothing on tap to critique.

Don't you just hate it when time sneaks up on you?

At the last INK meeting, writer Mark Jones pulled off what I personally felt was missing in my own writing life -- Talking with excitement on the Joys of Submitting Stories. Thank you Mark! I don't know what exactly you said but it got me up off my butt and I've submitted three stories in the past week. Still looking for a market for a fourth but I'm confident that I'll regain my, um, confidence in that regard.

Fever Blabber

2009-07-05T00:28:00.000-07:00

The bombs bursting in the air must have inspired a dark streak in me. I wrote and shipped off a flash tonight. Again, it's another one of those will or won't work situations that I don't think I ought to be wasting critique group time with. Yea or nay can come from an editor.

I'm feverish and snurky. Stupid cold. My kids are all better, but I'm just starting to get really sick with the being tired all the time and cough and sneezing and ongoing drainage. I fell asleep on top of my covers in my clothes last night, woke up at 5am feeling like hash browns that had fallen onto a burner that had just been switched off. I ended up going back to bed a few hours later, and didn't wake up until 2pm. Feels like my whole day was wasted, and yet, writing happened.

In marketing news, Brain Harvest is putting on a little contest. Check out the specs at the Brain Harvest Mega Challenge page. Jeff VanderMeer will be the guest judge. It doesn't get much more awesome than that, and yet, there's the possibility of winning a hand-knitted mustache in addition to the cash and accolades. I'd like to see some INKers and Friends of INK use this contest as an excuse for writing a story based on a prompt (or several prompts.) Who will take the challenge? Kami wants to know. The contest runs from July 15-August 31, so there's plenty of time and therefore no excuses. Embrace (or eat) the Nike ad.

Flash Bang

2009-07-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

Last night I got the most hilarious, inspiring rejection evah. The awesomeness cannot be described without going into long descriptions of the story combined with evasive language in relation to the contents of the letter. Alas, I don't think it would be a good idea to post the rejection here even though it probably wouldn't cause problems in the highly unlikely event that this got back to the editor. But I think the greeting says it all. Not hi, not dear ms, but argh! Complete with exclamation point.

I love my job. Heh.

Near misses, no matter how kewl or how close, are still misses, so the little flash got sent out again to an actual print magazine. I had a wonderful, grinchy idea in regard to this story, so if it misses again, I may have to do evil unto it. I like the story the way it is, so I'm reluctant to play with it, but at the same time I think the idea is sound, so another rejection will be my excuse to open up that file and open up new scenes. Sadly, once that happens, it will never be a flash again.

Kami's State of the Writing

2009-06-26T23:56:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been having trouble with ideas. Oh, I have lots of ideas. I even have some frozen embryonic stories that I can take out and ... okay, ew factor just set in.

But lately I've been dissatisfied with my ideas in general. I don't want just any story idea. I want one with that special something, you know? It doesn't have to be unique, or pretty, or smart. It does have to resonate. I have to feel it in my guts, get that special tingly thrill, and when I work on it, have unnoticed hours go by before I look up from the page.

Long walks and hot baths are in order. In the meantime, I've got my novels. I can live there happily for a very long time. Still, it would be nice to have a short story come grab me by the throat before Tuesday's write-in with my writing pals. I'll be looking at contests, prompts and anthologies in an attempt to spark something in time for that. If none of that does the trick, I'll just have to work with what I've got.

I want to produce, which means that I must produce. Letting vague feelings of dissatisfaction get in the way of writing might lead to a habit of waiting until I 'feel right' to write, which might eventually grow into full-blown short story block. I love writing shorts, and I don't want to go a really long time without writing one. It's incredibly satisfying to write something and have it done in a month (sometimes even in a day!) and a great way to break a pattern of rhythm in a rut that can sometimes form when I'm working on novels, or worse, a single novel, every day all day. As fun as it is to be immersed in a novel, there's a constant danger of complacency. When I'm complacent, I'm more forgiving and apt to overlook things. It's much more fun to work on a short story for a while and come back to the novel than to do the only other thing I've found to break the highway hypnosis, and that's to work from the back of the book forward. I can do it, but I'm not real fond of it.

So that's where I'm at with writing these days. That and trying to ditch this cold. Oh, and I have a couple of short stories that are 'overdue.' I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

June INK

2009-06-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

INK tonight in Vancouver! Lovely summer weather, homemade pizza (sorry Rory!), old and new friends, and critiques. Can life get any better?

Go J.D. Salinger!

2009-06-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

Snagged from Gurnery Journey, a blog focused on art written by the wonderful creator of Dinotopia.

Want to write a derivative work? Seriously, think twice. Do your own stuff. Someone writing under the pseudonym J.D. California wrote a sequel to "Catcher in the Rye," perhaps not knowing that J.D. Salinger not only is alive and kicking, but litigious. So now there's a lawsuit. Even if J.D. Salinger wasn't so inclined, really, do you want to hazard the chance of something like this happening to you?

I wonder if pseudo-California has ever heard of the term fanfic.

Maybe you're lucky enough that you feel your heart and soul is inspired by a work that happens to be in the public domain. Good. And yet, wouldn't it be better to rename the characters, twist the setting in a direction that resonates with your plot (or do some research and deepen the setting in a way the original author didn't explore) and let the characters grow with the challenges you place before them ... in short, writing an original work inspired by the book? You'll have something that's completely your own, and by the time you finish revising and restructuring and hammering out the details of your world, I doubt anyone will recognize what you've done. Plus, people may notice the tone or themes or characterization and nicely note that the work "is reminiscent of the works of J.D. Salinger, but with a present-day edge informed by the politics of 21st century Sweden."

I wish Mr. Salinger well.

Now I'm curious to see how the whole Potato Day (Stephanie Meyer fanfic Fail that I won't link to so that it reduces traffic) thing is doing. Hmm ... looks like she altered her page to be in Español. Does she think this will save her? I thought she would fade away after being met with lawyerly threats, but it seems she persists. I think she wants to get sued for $100,000 and spend time in jail. Weee! She's got to be one of those people who believe that if nothing bad has happened yet, it won't. Wow. The fail, it burns!

Beneath Ceaseless Skies

2009-06-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

My short fantasy, "Thistles and Barley," is up on Beneath Ceaseless Skies #18 (June 2009.) I'm very pleased to be in the same issue as Renee Stern, a Seattle-ish author and member of the very kewl Fairwood Writers.

I met Renee at CascadiaCon, the same event where I met Jay Lake for the first time. Quibblers may say something about 'met for the first time' as being redundant, but at conventions, people meet over and over again until finally they actually recognize each other. For quite a few years I played a fun game with one wonderful author in particular, where I would introduce myself to him and, without any cues like "we met at OryCon," see if he recognized me at all--didn't have to be my name. A double-take, "didn't I see you somewhere before?" or even a ruffled brow would have counted, at which point I would 'fess up. He was particularly bad with names and faces, and so I was able to enjoy meeting him as if for the first time for quite a few years before he did finally recognize me.

But I digress. Renee has been very kind to me. She works hard to create opportunities for new writers to meet other writers and workshop their manuscripts. If you're planning to go a Seattle convention, be sure to look for the opportunities Fairwood Writers creates. Remember, deadlines for things like writers workshops come long before the convention begins, so don't dilly-dally before searching for information about writer-oriented events.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies is a free magazine. If you like reading fantasy shorts, please subscribe, and spread the word. It's getting good reviews. By the way, there's a review of each issue in the Internet Review of Science Fiction by Lois Tilton in her short fiction review column. It appears that next month (July 2009) it'll be my turn. Gulp. If Ms. Tilton's tastes align with your own, the column could be a great resource as a what-to-read guide.

The Craft, She is Huge!

2009-05-31T10:30:00.000-07:00

I sent out four new submissions recently, and I'm looking at sending out my very first non-fiction proposals. I also went to the Lucky Labs meeting yesterday (it seems like forever since I've been!) and had a pint.

I felt like the meeting went well, but then I didn't get my story piled on. It can get tough when there's a consensus, and the consensus is, 'this didn't work for me,' followed by an explanation of everything that went wrong.

Which brings me to abandonment. The thing about writing is, like every other skill, it requires practice. That includes practice of every aspect of writing. I'm sure I'll miss some, but these are basic areas of writing that need lots of practice:

* Spelling and grammar

* Starting a project effectively

* Finishing a first draft

* Managing a first edit

* Receiving/understanding feedback

* Employing feedback

* Deep revision (where no element is held sacred)

* Polishing (also known as line editing)

* Tightening, or loosening (most people need to tighten)

* Establishing voice for a piece

* Establishing authorial style

* Character development

* Enrichment of setting

* Developing a satisfactory middle (muddle)

* Creating a satisfying ending

* Creating scenes with character and plot archs

* Transitioning

* Research/life experience development

* Learning about tropes, cliche's, and norms for a given genre

* Developing a narrative flow or rhythm

* Nurturing a critical eye for your own prose

* Nurturing an analytical eye when reading in your genre

* Nurturing and honoring the creation process

These are all difficult skills. None of them are straightforward. For example, spelling and grammar. You'd think that would be straightforward, but it's not. The rules are made to be broken, but they have to be broken in a way that makes reading more, not less, of a pleasure. What about nurturing and honoring the creation process? That's just care and feeding of the muse, right? Not really. Honoring includes respecting your own writing time--daily writing. Nurturing means you have to learn how to create, and then practice creating. Learn about outlines, try different brainstorming techniques, take lots of baths or showers (there's something about hot water and creativity--I'm not the only one who's noticed this!)

Lots of people come out of high school thinking they can write. On the one hand, yes they can. On another ... there's a whole lot more to learn out there, way more than even four years of dedicated college can teach you. The good news is that you can sell your experiments when you reach a certain stage of writing, and that certain stage might be right out of high school. The other good news is, writing never gets boring if you're a writer at heart. There's always something more to learn. There's always another hill to climb.

Which wraps back around to abandonment. You might think that a story that was (almost) universally tromped ought to just be put out of its misery. That depends. Has the author learned everything s/he can from the work? In this case I think the answer is clearly no. I felt that this author hadn't learned how to fix problem manuscripts yet. He hadn't learned how to take and consolidate the feedback, use that to re-examine the manuscript with his own critical eye (the feedback is, after all, a set of observations and suggestions, not a job order) and, if he couldn't figure out how to fix it on his own, start reading and researching like crazy in an effort to find out how other authors have solved those problems.

Think about it. If a story doesn't work and you abandon it every time, yes, you might eventually learn what does work when you line up all the stories you've written that receive positive feedback and write stories just like that every time. But there's a danger of pigeonholing yourself. Maybe all your successful stories are about a young female abuse victim who gets the upper hand over her former abuser and is instrumental in sending him to jail forever. Some writers make a good wage repeating the same sort of story over and over again. I'm not going to denigrate that. But if you can't find that niche and make a career out of that, you'll be a one hit wonder. If that's your goal, great. But if you really want to learn the craft, you have to learn as many items on this list as you can, and some things that are not on this list.

I invite INKers and Friends of INK to think, and even blog about, some of these elements of writing. Each one deserves a post all by its lonely. Or, just file it away, and get to writing. We're wasting daylight, people!

[This article is also posted on the INK faq]

Work Around

2009-05-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Got stuck the other night. There is a chapter that I know needs to be in the book but unlike the rest I don't have any personal experience in it. The rest of the book covers some relatively rare, relatively extreme experience but this...

So I was whining about it in an e-mail to a friend... and the whine included exactly how I need to write it. What I have seen, what it can mean, how it occurs and how it can appear.

I think I just whined my way out of a problem. That's kind of cool.

Professional Editing

2009-04-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

This seems obvious to me, but I haven't heard anyone talking about it at conventions or read it online from someone who is an authority until now at the Query Shark blog. There are all manners of writers, agents and editors in the world, so the usual caveats apply, but this makes sense to me:

I really don't like to hear that your book has been professionally edited. For me, it's not the persuasive piece of information you think it is. You think it says "my book is polished and ready to go."
What I infer is "your book was polished by someone else and god help us when we get to the edit letter from the editor, and you don't know how to do this stuff"
Freelance editors tell you a book needs to be edited before agents will look at it. What they are doing is selling their services. Only one of my clients employed an editor and that was for non-fiction.
All my novelists write, revise, and edit their own books.

I've seen professional editing work out for people. The way I've seen it work is via a teacher-student relationship with easy access to those services (aka not so many clients that the freelance editor doesn't have time for your project) and with money available to go over the work again if necessary.

Ideally the freelance editor should include notes on (generally) what was done and why. Even better is if there's an ongoing discussion so that the writer learns how to do the editing themselves. Then, if there's a sale and a call for further editing (and I can almost guarantee there will be a call for more editing in the case of a novel!) the writer has access to this same freelance editor (for stylistic continuity since that style in part is what sold the book--see how this becomes really important to have and be able to afford an ongoing relationship?) and they can work together (the freelance editor continuing to teach as they go) to get those changes sent back promptly to the purchasing editor.

Being on deadline in this situation would be incredibly stressful for me. I would be at the mercy of the freelance editor's schedule. Ack, I say, ack!

But wait, there's more. This freelance editor/writer relationship isn't a trivial thing. The freelance editor needs to have some sort of motivation to teach the writer to not need them anymore. So in comes the deeper reason for why I feel it's ideal to hire a writing teacher who does editing on the side--because the reputation for the teaching services will help bring new clients in the form of students, counter-balancing the fact that eventually the freelance editor's services won't be needed anymore if s/he is doing their teaching job right. If there's no motivation to teach clients to fly, there's every reason for a freelance editor to keep clients dependent.

I don't think it's wise to become dependent on a freelance editor unless you're the sort of person who relies on a kind of ghost-writer relationship in the first place: basically your primary marketing angle is that you're a celebrity or expert and the writing is just a means of delivering something of interest to an existing audience. That's why the mention of the non-fiction sale makes so much sense to me. If you're a novelist, it really is best to learn the craft. If you have the money, get lots of quality instruction and make that the priority over freelance editing. With high-quality instruction you can accelerate the learning process all writers go through, and maybe even avoid some classic writing errors in the process.

Don't expect that if you get a freelance editor to do a once-over that suddenly your manuscript will be sellable, and even if it is, that the sale is followed by a happily ever after. It can turn out to be just the opposite. If you get a multi-book deal, only of which the first book has been written, and you leaned heavily on professional editing, you can expect that part of your advance will be spent on purchasing ongoing services. Considering the cost per page of editing and the state of advances, this may eat your entire advance.

Not the way I would hope to spend an advance, should I be offered one. But that just may be me.

State of the Writing

2009-04-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

I got a form rejection today, so that means sending out a story today. I also finished the first draft of a story a couple days ago. Writing the first drafts has been easy for me lately. Finding time to edit has been less easy. I've also been feeling voice-poor lately. Not sure if that's rational, but something to keep an eye on. There's a lot of flat writing out there, mainly because people don't let the character emote naturally.

Once again art and writing parallel. Gotta relax and not be so tight with that narrative. Controlling too much kills the kewl.

I'm looking forward to the INK meeting tonight!

Focus

2009-03-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

Big thanks for Kami on the help last night. I've been toying with a character idea, a very strong, very unique (I think) individual. I was driving myself nuts trying to figure out the right POV, because the meat of this was the slow reveal of what and how the character came to be.

Kami, in her writerly wisdom, pointed out that it depended on the story. What was the plot? Bingo. Character studies are not stories. Vignettes are vignettes. The POV is to tell a story, not to revel in the POV. And whining is not character development (inside joke).

So, I have the character cold and some details about the world. Now I just need to choose a story to tell.

Thanks, K.

They Come Like Schools of Jellyfish

2009-03-16T22:51:00.001-07:00

What is it with rejections? They seem to come in clusters.

Two rejections drifted in today, both of them really neat with long, graceful tentacles and phosphorescent parts. I got a lovely signed rejection from F&SF's assistant editor (who I will not name in case this might generate unwelcome mail disguised as rewrite requests) and a highly praising, makes-me-blush kind of rejection from one of Brain Harvest's editors. I know, it would be far more interesting if I threw a tantrum instead of looking at these as something positive and noteworthy. I guess I'll just have to be boring, because I feel like I'm doing well, and I'm not inspired to say anything bad about these rejections. If anything, I want to thank the editors for taking the time to respond promptly and with encouragement.

I found a brief blog entry here with some fascinating comments. Keep reading! There are guest appearances in the comments that you won't want to miss.

2009-03-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

First batch of first quarter Honorable Mentions for Writers of the Future are up:

http://wotfblog.galaxypress.com/

The FNG

2009-03-10T23:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Kami, for arranging access.

The other INKers know me, so this is for the hordes of INK fans (The Inklings, unofficial sex motto: "Come get an INKling"):

I'm the author of "Meditations on Violence", which has been getting pretty good reviews on Amazon and was in its second or third printing last I checked. I've done a chapter in "The Way to Black Belt" two in "Fighter's Fact Book 2: Street Fighting Essentials" and wrote the sarcastic introduction (Marc "Animal" MacYoung wrote the sensitive introduction) to the soon to be released "Little Black Book of Violence".

So my publishing credits are all nonfiction, which is fine with me. I actually have a problem reading most fiction because it sucks. I have serious problems with plots that hinge on character stupidity to work; evil bad guys described by an author who wouldn't know evil (the extreme, like Saddam or Pol Pot who did things that would shock Steven King nor the mundane, like the local man who wouldn't let the neighbor molest his daughter because that was his right as the father and he didn't share); that don't understand anything about physical conflict... I summed up genre fiction at a convention once, "It's like most of the authors have never been in a fight and only had sex- with a partner- once."

The few fiction authors I do like have been there, done that and either write close to the bone or laugh about the unlaughable.

Non-writing stuff: Martial arts since 1981. Started working Corrections in 1991 and during that time taught officers, led a tactical team, was point man for mental health issues, worked and played with Search and Rescue and spent a lot of time with hard core criminals. Then I got bored and went to a certain dry and sandy country. Though in the mountains on the North, where I am, it has rained almost every day for two weeks.

INK blogs are more about the writing process than what I share on my personal blog. That sounds good.

Carole, Steve, Kami- thanks for the welcome. I'll try not to make anybody cry.

State of the Submissions

2009-03-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

I have stuff out to the following places: Wet Ink, Writers of the Future, Brain Harvest, F&SF, and Byzarium. Oddly, four of the five are flash fiction subs, and the fifth is one of my shorter short stories, though not quite a flash. Considering that flash is the form I find the most difficult to write, this is rather kewl and strange and funny. It also means that I really need to work on those longer length short stories, and I really need to get some agent subs out there. Right now I have no queries out. None.

After an edit I sent out a short, the one that INK looked at recently, to Lucky Labs. Now C.S. can, if she likes, pick apart my editing style.

I keep meaning to work on T.E.P. (aka the weird bird story) but it's a daunting project. I didn't mean for it to have parallel plots of equal weight that dovetail at the end into a (not quite there) uneasy ending. It's so much easier to edit on Masks or one of the other novels. That's telling to my level of (un)skill with short stories--I can dive into a novel and play for hours and the time seems to zip by, but when I approach a short story I feel like I'm handling a cactus and I don't have gloves on. The minutes crawl by. The only thing that's easy about editing a short story is that I can scan through the thing in just a few minutes and get a good sense of the overall pace. That's a handy thing to be able to do. I suppose it would be possible to do with a novel, skimming over the chapters almost as fast as a flip book, relying on intimate memory to get a sense of the overall feel. It's something that would require practice, I think, and it wouldn't take a trivial amount of time.

I've mailed my deposit for Dean Smith's Master's Class coming up this fall. Amazing how not that long ago it seemed that the class had been put off until the distant future, a future that now appears to be racing up on me. I've started reading the required books for the class. The first one is a pleasant surprise--definitely not one I would have picked up on my own. I'm glad Dean recommended that we start with ones we're least likely to read.

So that's the state of Kami's writing. I hope we'll meet this Friday on schedule. See some or none of you then!

INK member update

2009-03-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

INK congratulates past member Cheri on a recent rewrite of her first novel and wishes her good fortune in her writing and editing future.

Great work Cheri!

Welcome to Rory!

2009-02-22T10:05:00.000-08:00

I'd like to welcome INK's newest member, Rory Miller, author of "Meditations on Violence." He endured our application process and emerged victorious. About now he's probably wondering what he's gotten himself into.

Congratulations, Rory! And congratulations to INK for gaining such a valuable member.

Stay tuned; INK is on the move.

INK at RadCon 5A.

2009-02-17T15:28:00.000-08:00

INK attended RadCon 5A in Pasco, Washington last weekend and it was a blast! I'm sure a picture exists somewhere that proves it but we're still looking. So much happened. So much to reflect upon. So much that could be forgotten, and may well want to be forgotten. Gosh but that convention is fun! Please visit Kami's blog for the very best of con activity. She can say it better than anyone.

RadCon debrief and regress will occur this coming Friday at the 6 p.m. INK meeting in Vancouver.

Projects update + vague stress stuff

2009-02-08T23:25:00.000-08:00

Worked on Masks today. I'm delving into the section that needs the most manipulation, so it's going to be scary going. But fun. I think there's something compelling about fresh writing. That raw energy (if carefully harnessed) makes the situations more vibrant, especially if the changes being made aren't a noun here and a verb there, but more in the direction of plumping up the action or depth of emotion.

It's particularly rewarding to start working on the islands section 'fresh.' On previous edits I worked from beginning to end fairly non-stop. So by the time I got to the island, I was already fatigued from the long editing sessions. I'm not fatigued this time.

I also sent off a short story to be critiqued by INK. Depending on what they say, I'll make some changes, polish it up, and probably bounce it off of the Lucky Labs before shipping it out. It may be one of those stories that either works or doesn't, though. There are certainly going to be rough spots in the prose and I probably didn't go far enough with the environmental descriptions, and that's fine. What won't be fine is if the story isn't effective. It's short and a buttony kind of subject and if I didn't do a good job of addressing it, it may just have to be tossed. There's no aspect of the story I can 'save' if the heart of it doesn't work.

That's a different kind of story for me. I'm not sure if it's because I picked a controversial subject or the fact that it's very bare bones--two scenes, short on the word count, and a simple conflict. I won't go into what I think is its main weak point. I'll let my readers get back to me on it. But I'm curious to see if we see the story the same way.

Radcon is coming up. Are we ready? I'm not sure I am. Physically, yeah I am. I'll have clothes, supplies, and sometime in the next three days I'm going to take the kids to shopping with me for party supplies and groceries to sustain them through the weekend. Emotionally? I'm a bit of a mess, and that's not going to go away. I'm sure I can maintain, but actually enjoy the con? That'll be a stretch. I anticipate lots of phone calls home, and reaching out on Skype to my DH so that my family can reassure me that everything is going to be okay.

This is a good time for me to be writing on stuff that has nothing to do with my concerns for the immediate future. If I could do something about my circumstances besides applying bandaids, I would totally focus on that, but all I can do besides first aid is to worry, and that does absolutely no good. A little escapism into my writing may be just what I need right now. Speaking of which, I should get back to that now. Don't worry! This too shall pass. If anything I hope it passes slowly, so I can adapt and adjust and do whatever I can. When things zip by, well, all you can do is hang on tight.

Just a Quick Link

2009-02-06T11:19:00.003-08:00

Jay Lake linked to an excellent blog post on writing, jealousy and the process of becoming an author. A must-read for INKers and Friends of INK!

I'm in doubt mode with my novel right now, so I'm focusing on a couple of short stories. I finished one last night. I'm not sure it'll hold up in the light of day, but I'm excited about the concept. The other one is still stuck in psychic car chase mode. Not sure if I'll be editing the one I'm excited about or writing more first draft on the psychic car chase. Maybe both. And who knows? I may break out of my sad kitty face and work on the novel after all.

Rejection Appreciation.

2009-02-02T12:35:00.001-08:00

I just received a second rejection of the year. Another personalized one that I very much appreciated. Thank you editor!

Nope, still not considering this 'rejection.'

Gearing up for RadCon. Got all your ducks in a row yet?

INK meeting.

2009-01-30T11:35:00.000-08:00

INK meeting tonight, the last one before RadCon5 A! Panel reviews, upcoming workshops, treasury audit, new name, info packet progress, perhaps even time for Writers Round Table. If not, Scrabble is always good for the wordiness of a writer's soul.

Year's Firsts.

2009-01-25T18:02:00.000-08:00

WooHoo! First rejection of the year! But it was a nice, personalized one from F&SF. So wrong to call this 'rejection." Off to send that story elsewhere.

Are your stories out looking for a home? If so, congrats to you! If not, why not??

INK Makes John W. Campbell Pin donation.

2009-01-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

We are proud to announce that an INK donation to the John W. Campbell Pin has been made. More information on the John W. Campbell Awards can be found here.

"As regular convention attendees will know, nominees for the Hugo Awards, World Fantasy Awards and Nebula Awards have long been given lapel pins to recognize their nominations. No such pin existed for the John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Jay Lake, a past winner for the award, has been working with Dell Magazines, the Campbell Award’s sponsor, to produce such a pin, and the design was unveiled today [editor note: August 8, 2008] at a panel at Worldcon (also attended by Stan Schmidt on behalf of Dell Magazines). The pin takes the form of a star made of five pen nibs pointing outwards. Pins are being presented to this year’s nominees, and to all past nominees and winners."

INK meeting a success

2009-01-10T14:00:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of bureaucratic stuff to do, and we got most of it completed. Yay! Dues are back in force after a short hiatus, we have some updates, some goals, some definitions, and we're exploring a change in web presence. We'll keep y'all posted.

We've decided to donate part of our funds to a literary charitable cause. Hopefully we didn't miss some sort of deadline. Even if we did, I like the idea of paying our dues back into the writing community, so we'll find another one we're excited about if the one we chose doesn't pan out.

I paid a penalty for not making one of my December goals. D'oh! I knew that skimping out on editing Masks would bite me on the butt. That'll learn me.

Good observations at Flights of Fantasy on some of the strange attitudes that appear with the sense of entitlement some authors have in regard to being published. It got me thinking, so I blogged about an additional thought on that subject.

Free Financial Book

2009-01-09T10:28:00.001-08:00

Yay! It's free it's free it's free it's free it's free! I've enjoyed Suze Orman's books and radio shows and all that over the years. Don't miss this chance to get a free .pdf of Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan, available on Oprah's website. It won't be available forever, though. I believe it's only going to be available there until the 15th. Don't wait!

Because we don't want to be starving artists. That's just so cliche'!

See some of you at the INK meeting tonight. I hope the Friends of INK have gotten a great start to the writing year, and wish you the best luck, focus and skill for 2009.

INK meeting tomorrow!

2009-01-08T08:39:00.000-08:00

There's an INK meeting tomorrow at the sekrit cat cave! I can't wait! There's lots to talk about. Conventions, regress reports, dues, goals, events, and the ever-popular socializing and yammering about our projects.

Also, don't forget the Washougal writing meeting is on the 24rth, and Radcon is coming up fast.

See y'all soon!

And a writing goal in a pear tree

2009-01-05T00:35:00.000-08:00

I am so looking forward to the New Year. Yeah, yeah, live all year round, don't wait until January to make goals. Gotcha. Me and teh INKers have been making goals all year, thank you very much, and even meeting some. But there is something special about January, besides it's ability to make me grind my teeth each time I write 2008, have to change it to 2009 and initial it. Laugh if you want, but I do get caught up in the energy of all those resolutions being made at once, and it's fun to ride the energy wave, even if it washes out for most folks in February.

I was inspired enough even to make a deadline at the last minute, the WotF deadline Dec. 31st. I made it extra hard for them to give me squat, since it was the wrong length, wrong voice, wrong everything for this particular contest, but you know, the dumbest thing that writers do is reject their own material. It's genre. It's within the listed word count. It qualifies in every way. I may not be playing the contest smart, but I'm playing, and I'll let the judges decide how ridiculous I was to try with this one.

In the meantime I'm working on yet another short, a non-fiction project, and a novel in a pear tree. Oops, wrong season for that sort of thing. Sorry! My goal this year--let not my publishing credit be a fluke! Into the breach once more, my friends! A writing career awaits!

2009 - Bring It!

2008-12-29T22:17:00.000-08:00

INK would like to wish all friends and family a very Happy and safe New Year. Make life fine in 2009.

Fantasy Writing Plunges

2008-12-18T00:17:00.000-08:00

I haven't been writing much fantasy lately. I get a few words in edgewise here and there, but my focus the past bit has been on non-fiction. I've got about 18000 words in so far, and I'm hoping to do some email interviews soon.

At least I'm still editing and marketing fiction. I got two rejections, and sent out two manuscripts. I'll be sending out a third manuscript soon.

My to-be-edited pile is really deep right now, so the break from first draft fiction writing is probably a good thing. I have lost momentum on my Nano, though, so that's going to be a pain to start back up again. Hopefully experience and determination will bail me out, otherwise, getting to The End on my Nano this year will be unlikely. Is the Nano worth working on? I still think so. Come January, I may change my mind, but I still grin when I think about what's happened so far and what's ahead.

The next convention in line is Radcon. This interesting convention in Pasco, WA is very well attended and has a loyal following. I had a blast with C.S. last year and I'm really looking forward to Radcon this year. Heck, maybe I'll even get a fun phone call while I'm there. It can become an INK tradition!

Nothing to Lament About - PW on Ken Scholes

2008-12-10T10:31:00.001-08:00

Jay Lake has written a wonderful article for Publisher's Weekly about recent INK visitor and OryCon 30 speaker Ken Scholes.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6620242.html?nid=3332

The best money shot ever:

"Advance praise from renowned authors Orson Scott Card, Harry Turtledove and Jonathan Strahan has set the stage for Scholes to step into the shoes of the late James Rigney (1948–2007), aka Robert Jordan, whose blockbuster Wheel of Time series anchored Tor's fantasy line for most of two decades."

Lamentation, the first of five books in a series, is due out in February of 2009. Seriously, get your hands on one and hang on for the ride.

Post-Orycon Musings

2008-11-25T17:24:00.000-08:00

With the end of Orycon 30 now over 24 hours behind, I figured I'd capture a number of observations about our attendance this year.

- We spent much less time going at panels this year. While Carole spent more time socializing and helping set up for events, I spent time recharging batteries in our room. I even had time to write a couple thousand more words on Saturday afternoon. Without that helpful isolation time, I would not have been able to make it through Saturday night's ORC session.

- The ORCs were amazing this year. Friday night, the focus-on-the-hook sessions lasted until about 2:00AM. Not to be outdone, Saturday's session ran until very nearly 3:30AM with only one person leaving before they had a chance to read. Carole's adaptation of the Rogue Readings we attended at the Southern California Writer's Conference almost three years ago now are getting a very enthusiastic reception. Next year may need to go to multiple sessions to meet the demand.

- I appreciated the opportunity to meet many of Carole's writing friends and acquaintances, though I wasn't entirely comfortable with how socially dysfunctional I felt - more like a nightmare of introversion. I think there's a host of journal material to write about there and certainly a whole lot to improve before next year.

- On the downside, I was hoping that this year's convention would reignite my desire to write. Instead, it reinforced how many things I need to focus on to get the rest of my lift in control before expanding my engagements. Many thanks to Ken Scholes for his messaging on self-awareness.

All in all, a good con. I'm cautiously optimistic about next year's event at its new home - especially after a refreshed focus on goals for the coming year.

Whew...

2008-11-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

I just went over the 50,000 word mark for NaNoWriMo. This is my fifth year and simply getting started on I will remember it as a most challenging NaNoWriMo effort.

I could pass it off as difficult because of a busy work schedule, but I think it’s a bit deeper than that. I think that the difficulty this year is coming from being out of practice more than anything else.

Coming off of last year’s Orycon, I set several personal writing goals, the most notable was a goal of writing 1,000 words a day. It didn’t go so well and fell by the wayside long ago. I had managed to make it well past the three-week length that was supposed to help form the daily writing into a habit, but the habit quickly became more about battling to stay up late every night, hammering away at a keyboard that resisted me every step of the way. I fell further and further behind everything else that was going on at the time while I grew more depressed about my sagging writing commitment.

When I ultimately let it go, I let slide a number of other writing objectives as well. All the while, I looked forward to November as that time of the year I knew I'd be attracted back to writing, but as November approached, the planning for the upcoming novel effort as was a foreign process. I entered midnight of November 1 with only a vague idea of where I wanted to go with the story.

It took slogging through it to get to the point where the flow had once again returned and I'm not finished yet. But the advice for anyone who cares a whit is not to give up. Slog through it. It will become easier and you will feel better for the effort.

Go INKsters and Go NaNo-ers!!

Eating The Words.

2008-11-16T18:27:00.000-08:00

NaNo and 45,000 words. So close to the finish line I can smell it. Oh wait, that's the ~~burning~~ roasting cauliflower and leeks in the oven.

A few weeks ago I mentioned to Kami about my theory of the importance of eating healthy and exercising during November's National Novel Writing Month and how I felt that just perhaps, all that talk of chocolate and caffeine consumption to get us writers through to the finish line wasn't in everyone's best interest.

I proposed that junk food, sugar, caffeine, and lack of movement be limited somewhat to see if we all could get through NaNo's weeks two and three without the expected petering out or near total meltdown in word count. I would never propose a complete 180 degree change in eating habits just for the month because well, your mileage may vary, vastly in fact, and fainting from lack of chocolate cake is a poor excuse for not writing.

I don't know if it worked for anyone else but it seemed to be a rousing success here at home. It's a plan I'll follow for many more Novembers to come.

Go INKsters!

Decisions decisions

2008-11-15T11:11:00.001-08:00

Great INK meeting last night. I got some writing done, and a lot of talking done.

The talking thing is necessary, at least for me. I'm a social critter and I'm not good at keeping news, concerns and ideas to myself. Maybe that's part of my writer-psyche-profile. This irrational, arrogant, persistent and psychotic need to express myself with the hope that others will actually want to hear what I have to say, even if it's pure fiction.

I'm all set for OryCon 30, or as ready as I'll ever be, except for one thing. I haven't decided what I'm going to read for the Broad Universe reading yet. This has not been good for my nerves. My practice time is rapidly dissolving away.

On my list (and I'm still expanding the list)

"Calling In" A humor flash.

Appeal--I'll be able to read the whole thing. It's (hopefully) funny. I've heard many times that humor goes over well at readings. I'll fit in with the tone of the others who are likely also reading humor.

Doubts--It's trite and not really representative of what I usually write. I rarely write humor. And humor is hard, so I'm uncomfortable about reading something that I haven't practiced extensively.

"Neighbors" A fantasy flash

Appeal--It's new and punchy and I'll be able to read the whole thing with time to spare.

Doubts--It's new and may be rougher than I realize since I haven't let it sit for long.

"The Egret Prince" A dark, sensual fantasy

Appeal--It's moody, sexy (and I've been working on making it even sexier) and I worked on making it as lush an experience as I could. It's a Lace and Blade swashbuckling sort of setting without the actual swashbuckling.

Doubts--I've recently disassembled this story in order to deal with a dual-plot issue. It's literally in pieces. Also, I'm not sure how well a small section of this would read without the context of the rest of the piece. It's a complex, weird world with odd magic rules. Assuming I can find a piece of it long enough to read, it still may make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

"Masks" A political fantasy

Appeal--I've put a lot of time into this and I think it has some very strong sections. I feel very close with the pov character and enjoy his boy-trying-to-be-a-man struggles. I really relate to him and I think there's a natural artfulness in the world of jesters that may appeal to listeners.

Doubts--I have no friggin' idea what part to read. There's the opening, which I think may have too much going on and too little resolution/revelation to satisfy a listener. Yeah yeah, leave 'em wanting more, but this may leave 'em thinking 'huh?' And there's the whole rest of the novel, where I have too many choices. It seems like a massive undertaking just to find what I'd read out of this.

"Thistles and Barley" A fantasy short which will appear in Beneath Ceaseless Skies online magazine

Appeal--I'll be able to provide a teaser for the magazine, and this one obviously was publishing quality because it made the cut, so I can have fewer doubts about whether it's sound of mind and body. And the characters are fun.

Doubts--This is a very quiet story that may be underwhelming when only a portion of it is read.

"Hide and Seek" A dark fantasy

Appeal--I love the creepy horror that lies at the core of this story. And I'll probably be able to read the whole thing.

Doubts--This one is newish and may be rougher than I realize. And if everyone else reads humor, this is beyond a dark note. Child abuse, death ... yeah.

"Strangers Think They Know Me" A fantasy short

Appeal--I love this story about a sorceress reaching the end of her life, trying to act as if she's as strong as ever.

Doubts--It's an unreliable pov and that doesn't come out until quite late. Not sure I could find a section that works without the rest to build it or put it into context.

"Mayhem" A fantasy novel

Appeal--Yay first person! Yay strong opening! Yay strong characters!

Doubts--Boo, this is still in early draft form thanks to me switching to first person recently. Boo, it's what I submitted for the writer's workshop and I haven't gotten feedback on it yet, except at Flogging the Quill.

"The Belief" An SF novel

Appeal--I love the characters even more than the Thistles and Barley and Mayhem combined. There's a hard-hitting antagonism that makes for great dialogue in this novel. There's all kinds of sections I could read that would have lots of punch.

Doubts--This novel isn't finished. It's never been vetted by anyone. It was written quickly, has remained in the dark, and hasn't been edited at all because I don't edit first drafts. Ugh.

These are the top contenders.

Endeavor Award Announcement

2008-11-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

I apologize if the font or formatting is wonky. Cut and paste can mess things up. KZM

November 13, 2008
For Immediate Release:
Miyazaki Figurines From LeGuin Auctioned to Benefit Endeavour Award

For additional information contact:

James W. Fiscus, Chairman
Phone: 503-239-7641
E-Mail: mailto:Fiscus@teleport.comor Fiscus@sff.net
Web: www.osfci.org/endeavour

The Endeavour Award announces an on-line auction of two figurines given to Ursula K. LeGuin by Hayao Miyazaki. The figurines are of a Gardener from Miyazaki's film Island in the Sky and the Castle from Howl's Moving Castle. They will be auctioned on e-Bay beginning Friday, November 21.

Full information about the Award and the auction is on the Award's Web site: www.osfci.org/endeavour. A link to the auction will be posted on the site when the auction begins.

The annual Endeavour Award honors a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book, either a novel or a single-author collection, created by a writer living in the Pacific Northwest. The Award comes with a grant of $1,000.00.

Finalists for the 2008 Award are: "The Book of Joby," by Mark J. Ferrari; "Bright of the Sky," by Kay Kenyon; "Not Flesh Nor Feathers," by Cherie Priest; "Powers," by Ursula K. LeGuin; and "The Silver Ship and the Sea," by Brenda Cooper. Mark Ferrari, Kay Kenyon, Cherie Priest, and, Brenda Cooper are from Washington and are first-time finalists. Oregon writer Ursula K.LeGuin has won the Endeavour Award twice. The winner will be announced November 21 at Orycon in Portland, Oregon.

The Endeavour Award is sponsored by Oregon Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (OSFCI), a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

Hurray for great blogs!

2008-11-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

I found a great blog today. Visit Flights of Fantasy when you can; maybe it'll be your cup of tea too. I love the professionalism and the focus on publishing and fantasy and everything else so far that I've read. The Writer Beware blog linked over and I'm so glad. I would have never found this page otherwise.

Which just goes to show that there's really so much more out there than any one person can ever find. We can all afford to be picky about our sources. Even when we're extra picky, there's way more good stuff than I have time to read, so finding something that speaks to me directly, where I feel like we're on the same page, is great and good. There's no reason to slog through stuff wearily because you should (should meant in the yuckiest way possible here) when the same or better info is available elsewhere in a format and style that connects with you.

BTW I also make a point of reading pages where I regularly disagree with the people, but they have to prove themselves very smart, hopefully so much smarter than me that they could dance arguments around my head while I stare, dumbfounded, so smart that they could then communicate those arguments in a way that I understand. I may still disagree, but I'll know more than I did before. Love those kinds of blogs. Often they speak to me too, in the way that I like to have passionate disagreements sometimes.

But Flights of Fantasy isn't one of those. This is my version of an "all right thinking people" blog, a blog for Kamis. Kamis the world 'round will flock to this blog and when they read it say yea, verily, this is a good blog.

Insomnia

2008-11-09T00:59:00.000-08:00

Insomnia.

I very, very rarely get insomnia. Ask my better half. When I go to bed, with rare exception I go to sleep with ease, and except for a night walk or two I sleep through to morning. Sometimes I sleep very shallowly, not quite full-under, which may or may not have triggered some dizzy spells way back when. The source of those dizzies was never fully explained.

Anyway, I slept for about three hours and then inexplicably woke up full riot. Maybe it was the strange, reality-twisted dream that inspired thoughts of a bizarre flash erotica horror. Maybe it was that I stayed up very late the night before, slept late, and went to bed early tonight. Threw off my cycle. Under usual circumstances I'd be thinking dangit, I'm going to be messed up for the next few days.

But it's not usual circumstances. It's Nano! So after about an hour of reading with no luck recapturing the sleepies, and another hour of tossing and turning, I called b.s. on trying to go back to sleep, dressed in comfies and dashed down here to write. I can gnash my teeth, tear my hair and throw ashes on my head tomorrow when I try to accomplish some stuff. For now I'll take advantage of the distraction-free quiet, and the echoes of dreams half-lived in tesseract time.

I'll add on a reminder: Nano meeting coming up this Friday! Got word count?

Breathe, Just Breathe

2008-11-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

*Tap *Tap...Is this thing still on?

It's just me coming up for air during this crazy month filled with NaNoWriMo and write ins and Word Stock and OryCon. How's everyone doing with their NaNo novel? Good? Let me ask, have you sat there yet with a blank brain and without a single thought going through your head except that itchy, uncomfortable feeling that maybe, just maybe, you bit off more than you can chew?

Well, if so, you know what they say in NaNoWriMo land: Time to release the wolves, time to let in the guy with the gun, time to wheel out the dead body.

What? But your novel is all about puppies and rainbows? No wolves, guns, or stiffs? Even the occasional puppy goes rogue, you know. No really, statistically it's true. And no one really knows for sure what happens if the end of a rainbow just happens to fall on your head. That pot of gold has gotta hurt, don't you think?

Don't forget to what-if yourself and your novel, but you already know this. Go INKsters!

It's the Night

2008-10-31T11:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight at midnight Nanowrimo begins. Good luck INKers and friends of INK!

Check!

2008-10-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

I got my first payment check yesterday for words I've written. It's an amazing feeling. So many years of practice, workshops, flattening my butt on at least a half dozen different computer chairs. Novels, shorts, stories long since lost or abandoned, hundreds of thousands of words of fantasy that will never see the light of day because I needed that million words of crap before I could begin to make real progress. Learning to connect with a reader. Learning to find a balance between my internal editor and my dreams. Learning to educate myself, because so much of the education of a writer happens either entirely from the inside or by deliberately, through an act of will and trust, separating the ego from the written word long enough to accept a professional opinion. Learning who trust and when, especially myself (and when not to trust myself.)

The kewlest part of all this? It's a beginning. A long road to travel to begin, but that's the nature of this, and many other crafts.

NaNo Brainstorming Rocks!

2008-10-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

Awesome evening spent at Kami's brainstorming and outlining our NaNo stories. Good food shared with good conversation in front of a warm, crackling fire (with good pet accompanyment) made for a great time! We made strong headway I think. If we don't watch out, we all just might have novels circulating out there sometime next year.

Thanks again Kami! Your downstairs library/study room is incredible and the vibe fantastic for writing.

INK sponsors an Open House for Nanowrimo

2008-10-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

Come one, come all to the INK Open House for Nanowrimo! Food, drinks, and fun! October 24, 2008, 6pm, Kami's house. If you need directions or other details, email kamila at easystreet dot net. The plan is to discuss our Nano projects for this year, do a little outlining and brainstorming if necessary, and generally prepare to sit down, shut up and write. Kami lives in the Columbia River Gorge not far from east Vancouver, WA. If you want to learn about or participate in Nanowrimo, this is a good first step.

The Kickoff Party for Nanowrimo in Vancouver, WA is on the 27th. See the Nanowrimo web page for details. There are also lots of write-ins scheduled, including some for midnight when it officially becomes Nov. 1 (your local time.) Kick off parties and write-ins are happening all over the world, so if you're not local to me, check out your region and see what's what.

Adrenaline is my friend

2008-10-22T08:43:00.001-07:00

I had my first panicked OMG Nanowrimo is in single digit days moment. I have an idea, a plan, and inspiration, but what I don't have is a lot of time. I have to maintain 3000 words a day to make the goal for the month. That's not a big word count, but that's a big daily word count, if that makes sense. My writing schedule has been so disrupted I'm a bit worried that I may be out of practice of the daily writing thing.

Which is one of the reasons why Nano is so awesome--daily writing habits are refreshed and reinforced. If I didn't do this every year, I'm fairly certain I'd be a much lazier writer.

Flashed by Writer's Block

2008-10-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

Steve and C.S. brought fun show and tell books to the Washougal library combined writers and Nano prep meeting. They included two of the really kewl Writer's Block books and a book on 45 character archetypes. I ended up making tons of notes on my Nanowrimo novel project and wrote a flash. That's one heckuva productive meeting right there!

It was a good time to get out of the house, otherwise I probably would have gotten zilch done in writing today. Unfortunately I'd miscalculated the time of the OryCon 30 meeting and missed it.

In other news, I've had a story accepted for publication. I'll post details when I'm cleared to do that. Also, my honorable mention certificate arrived from Writers of the Future. It's gorgeous and hand-signed. Definitely something I'm going to frame for the office or maybe the I Love Me Wall in the stairwell.

Autumn INK Sightings.

2008-10-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

WooHoo! INK meeting tonight. Wide assortment of topics to be discussed.

INK at Library Saturday with NaNoWriMo brainstorming immediately afterward.

INK meets again on the 24th. Prep for NaNo plus outlining/writing time and looking ahead toward OryCon 30 and beyond are topics.

A Farewell.

2008-10-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

It is with great sorrow that INK bids goodbye to Carissa Reid, one of INK's founding members. We wish her the best of luck in all her future writing endeavors.

You Want Me to Write for FREE?

2008-09-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Jim Fiscus for sending this article out to the Lucky Labs and by default, me. Here's the scary part. The blog owner, who is soliciting non-fiction articles, is so very insistent that she's not asking for writers to provide articles for free. Payment, to her, is promotion.

If it were a very prestigious and high-volume blog where I know the owner isn't getting any $$ from the articles, I would probably do it. But, a very prestigious and high-volume blog that gets advertising money and whatever all else--you'd think that they'd be able to afford to pay the author, even if it's a tenth of a cent per hit or something like that. And if it's not prestigious and high volume, then huh? Why would this be worth a writer's time and effort?

The promotional opportunity here? Zilch. Again, if the blog owner hopes to build prestige and business through the blog, she should cut the writer in or, less painfully, cut them a check for a flat amount and have done.

Or maybe I should simply say yeah! What Ms. Hoy said!

Backup

2008-09-17T23:57:00.000-07:00

This is hopefully a timely reminder for everyone to back up your data. Now. You have time to surf the web and read blogs, so you have time to back up, obviously.

Well, I guess you might be at work reading this.

But still, back 'er up! If you don't and something happens to your data, don't come whining to me.

No future for me

2008-09-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

Looks like I didn't make it into the finalists with my Writers of the Future sub. There's still a small chance I'll get an honorable mention. One more box. I hope! It would be my very first one! If not, I guess I'll get the form answer in my mailbox shortly. I wonder if I made it pretty far or if I was just at the bottom of the stack. I'll probably never find out.

The good news (kind of stretch, I know) is that I can start sending this story out. I've been eager to do that for quite a while now. And I can send in my next WotF submission. I probably could have done that all along, but I was hoping. Ugh.

How Flashy are you feeling?

2008-09-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

Apex Book Company is having its annual Halloween flash fiction contest. Scare them with Election Horror in a thousand words or less if you dare! Former INK guest and writer extraordinaire Jay Lake is the celebrity judge.

And if you can include housework, you'll kill two birds with one stone, meeting C.S.'s latest challenge.

The winner and second place get SFWA-qualifying pro rate payment and publication in Apex Digest online. The deadline is Oct. 15. Spooked by close deadlines? Face your fears and embrace the terror! After all, it's for Halloween, er, elections, er ... just write the darned story already!

Another one bites the dust

2008-08-28T22:59:00.000-07:00

Got another blue slip of death from Realms of Fantasy. I'm actually enjoying getting them--not as much as an acceptance, mind you--but they're apparently infamous and besides, they're kind of pretty.

Why are they infamous? Your mileage may vary. Writers are imaginative people and they come up with all kinds of reasons that they don't like or like something. I've heard/read that the slips are particularly impersonal, that you get them regardless of writing quality and so there's no hinted feedback at all. I've heard/read that the small size makes the writer feel small. The content is very general, and lists some of the reasons why both poor and good manuscripts are rejected--again, giving the author no feel for where their story may be on the scale. And there's a number on them--the average number of manuscripts received in a given period.

Me? I like them. I like the color. I like that it's an efficient size--it fits perfectly inside a legal envelope, no muss, no fuss, no folds to straighten when I file them. I like that my story and the date it was viewed is hand written on the rejection, and that so far, I've never had someone else's rejection come to my mailbox. And I like that they make the editor's job easy. That means she can go through more manuscripts faster. That means quicker responses so I can return my manuscript into the marketplace where it may find a home, and hopefully it's less likely that the editor will burn out.

So, although it was disappointing not to get a fat envelope with a contract in it, I still smiled. Another pretty blue note to add to my collection, and I didn't even have to date or put the title of the story on it before I filed it.

Way-yay-ting is the hardest part!

2008-08-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

I hate waiting.

I try not to wait. I try to keep writing and editing and looking forward. I try to build my story portfolio and keep things in the mail. But there's a certain contest I'm very eager to hear from. Every time I load the page I think why, oh why isn't it updated? It's been ten days since their big to-do. Isn't there even a teensy eensy batch of new results? Is anyone calling anyone to let them know they're on the honorable mention list?

It's all part of the writing thang. The anticipation is part of the 'fun.'

Done with whining, back to writing.

Whine!

Okay, done now for real this time.

OryCon 30 Writer's Workshop

2008-08-23T01:16:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to submit! The workshop deadline is sneaking up!

I've got my submission all put together. I just have to wait until email starts to behave again. For some reason the server is being a pill.

Update: Got a nice rejection. Sent that baby right back out. We're at 43 subs and 31 rejections. Keep going, INKers!

Another One Flies In and Flies Back Out

2008-08-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

I got a rejection back today. The comment puzzled me--I'm not sure that adding another scene to a flash humor piece would work. I guess it would, maybe, but then it wouldn't be flash and the humor wouldn't punch, it would whiffle. Maybe (trying to read between the lines here) it didn't quite end for the reader. Or maybe it didn't have a climax, or the reader wanted a twist. Something wasn't there. Anyway. I hunted around markets to see where to send this next (I love sending rejected stories back out the same day) and came across some guidelines that made me look at the story in a new way. I didn't end up sending to that market because it didn't pay pro rates and I want to exhaust my pro markets before I go to semi-pro, but I did tweak the story a bit. I think it added needed depth without sacrificing the humor. Or so I hope. It added a few words, and I took away a sentence that I thought wasn't carrying its weight.

When working at a short length, especially flash, a whole sentence can create a surprising amount of change. A paragraph that drags can shine when the chaff is removed, or an unimaginative passage can become enriched by a single, sensory-bright description.

One thing that I think is lacking in my marketing at the moment, and that only time and more depth of work can change, is I haven't been able to send in very many second submissions, much less thirds. I've submitted to Flash Fiction Online more than anyone, but they've only looked at three stories so far. Technically I've sent quite a bit to F&SF, but most of my subs were from long ago. I've only sent them one recently. Part of that is due to the fact that there are a lot of wonderful places to publish out there and I try to fit the story to the market as much as I can. I know (or educate myself about) what they publish and some stories are closer to a particular style than others. But part is that I've spent the past many years writing novels and I refuse to send old stories unless they've been rewritten from scratch. I don't think editing old writing will bring it up to my current skill level. I think it'll just turn to mud.

What was the comment in the guidelines? They wanted characters that they cared about. A lightbulb came on. Now, hopefully, the pov character is someone special, someone human, something more than an archetype for me to use to poke fun with. It's the difference between the three men who walk into a bar and Fat Albert. I want Fat Albert. If I have three men walking into a bar, it's not a story, it's just a joke. So, thanks, commenter. I didn't take your advice, but I think I ended up in a good place because of you anyway.

INK Author Series Continues with Ken Scholes.

2008-08-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

As part of the 2008 INK Visiting Author Series, I am very proud to announce that Ken Scholes and his amazing wonder-wife Jen will be visiting us on Friday, September 19th to speak about his journey from writer to author (and most everything in between).

Ken, besides being one of the best speakers on writing process I personally have heard to date (his Norwescon Writer's Workshop was fantastic!), is well published, is currently working on his five-book series for Tor beginning with "Lamentation" due out in just a few months, and is an absolute delight to read and listen to.

This will be a evening to remember.