The Grind Continues

So the first act of this novel I'm working on is pretty well set, as is the third. As always, it's the second that's the hardest. I've got about 40k of what will be about a 60k novel down (I like short novels myself, so that's what I try to write). In order to make an effective middle of the plot, I'm doing a lot of free writing. This means I'm writing a lot of scenes and dialogue and even characters that will get cut. It's a little tedious, but it's always worked well for me. It allows me to get to know my characters better and therefore understand the finer points of their motivations. I got 4,000 words down yesterday and am starting my writing late tonight. I'm still fighting off whatever's been in my system, and slept for 5 solid hours today. I know I needed it, because I'm tired again now!

Abyss and Apex, The Pedestal Magazine, and Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show

No, I didn't get these all today. They trickled in over the last week, while I've been sleeping off whatever's been in my system. (My guess, a mild case of the flu.) Got rejections from Abyss and Apex, The Pedestal Magazine, and OSC's IGMS. One of those stories is back out at another market, and the other two will soon join it. Gotta keep my trunk circulating.

Disciple, to appear in The Black Gate

A new category for this blog, sales! This week I sold a short story called Disciple to The Black Gate. This is my second sale to them, something that suprises me no end. They are an adventure fantasy market, and adventure fantasy is extremely competitive. Furthermore, my first sale to them was a story that isn't technically fantasy.

So it goes like this. Years ago I was in a funk and I wrote a story in one sitting that I didn't much like, but I sent to The Black Gate. A year later, long after I'd forgotten about it, I get a personalized rejection from them, saying they liked the story but had suggestions. I was boggled by the fact that they'd personalized the rejection. After reading it, I sat down and reworked another story The River People, and sent it to them. A year later (The Black Gate has long response times) I get a request to rewrite part of it, which I did, and then it sold.

During this last bout of correspondence, The Black Gate was officially closed for submissions, but the editor invited me to submit anyway. So I submitted my story Disciple, one of my personal favorites that I could not find a home for. I got another rewrite request, and then another sale.

Just goes to show that: a) perseverence pays off and b) one shouldn't be afraid to try new markets, even if they seem like a bit of a stretch.

Uncle Vernon's Lie by Patrick Samphire

Patrick Samphire was another of my Clarion West classmates. One of the first stories that we critted by him, Love Stories from the Jungle, went on to be published in the Ideomancer Unbound Anthology. Patrick writes very cool imagery and has a good head for non-linear plots, something I envy. I've seen him shift gears from science fiction to fantasy to steampunk with apparent ease. He was one of the early ones to become a full fledged member of SFWA after graduation. He is also the husband of Stephanie Burgis, another classmate.

Coming soon, Patrick has the short story Dragonfly Summer that will appear in Interzone. You can hear his story The Western Front in podcast form by clicking on the link there, and when I asked him what he wanted me to include in this blogpost about him, he told me that his favorite story of his is Uncle Vernon's Lie, republished recently in Serendipity. I went at once to read it, and I agree, it's a good one.

Patrick's also got a novel series in the works and an agent who is shopping them around. It's already taken too long though. Why hasn't the publishing world snapped these up already?

No, not dead

Just been a little under the weather. Been writing 2,000 words a day, though, so at least that is getting done, and I've been wrestling with my other site. Hop on over to www.emtippetts.com to check it out.

Meanwhile, I've got stuff to post on this blog. I'll start putting it up tomorrow.

The Mattress Fund by Allan Rouselle

Allan Rouselle was the penultimate nada in our Clarion West class. When we all first got into Clarion West, a few of us were already published in pro markets. Those of us that weren't called ourselves the Nada Crew. After we finished the workshop, there was a flurry of story sales and the Nada Crew shrank fast, until it was just Allan and me.

Allan then sold the short story, Band of Sisters, to the anthology, Hags, Sirens, and other Bad Girls of Fantasy, which made me the lone and ultimate nada. He's also sold Everybody Stops at Boston's to Cosmic Cocktails and was a contributor and contributing editor for the upcoming Lunacy: the Best of the Cornell Lunatic. I believe "the Cornell Lunatic" is one of Allan's nicknames, am I right, Allan? He also wrote and stars in the video posted above.

At Clarion West, Allan drafted the best Campbell Award presentation speech of all time. It began with, "A lot of now famous writers have won the Campbell Award, but have you ever heard of..." followed by a list of obscure Campbell Award winners. I was impressed that he knew them all. He then lamented that no one had ever asked him to present the Award, and given the brilliance of that speech, I just can't imagine why. Allan was also one of the only other members of the class who knew Russian. Or, more accurately, he knows Russian and I had two years of it once. I could almost decipher what he wrote on his door notepad. If he was standing next to me and helping me, that is.

Jumper, the movie

So, yes, the night before last, Trevor and I went to see Jumper. I am glad I read both Jumper and Jumper: Griffin's Story before I went, as it really did fill in the backstory. The only downside was that I, like many others who know the world, wondered how much the movie effectively conveyed to the audience. I could fill in the facts about the world and how jumping worked, but have no idea how much someone who hadn't read the books would understand. All in all, though, the movie was a great ride.

And seeing it with Steve Gould and friends was a lot of fun. He and Laura and their daughters were all dressed up for the red carpet. Trevor and I just wore Sunday clothes, as neither of us has red carpet formal wear. We filled a good portion of the theater, and other writers like Steve Stirling, George RR Martin, Bob Vardeman, and Stephen R. Donaldson were in attendance (and if there are others of you I missed, I'm sorry. It was crowded and I'd been up since 5am that day.) When Steve Gould's name came up on the screen we all cheered.

And then afterwards we went around the corner to Tucano's to eat. Trevor, the carnivore, loves that place, and several friends who couldn't make it to the movie joined us there. We're all hoping the movie does well so that the sequels get made!

Valentine's Day for geeks

So tonight Trevor and I are going on a date. We'll be watching Jumper with a group of about ninety other people, including Steve Gould. This movie opens today, and we're excited to get to see it with the author of the original book.

After the movie everyone's going to dinner in Albuquerque. It's sure to be a complete madhouse!

Jumper: Griffin's Story, by Steven Gould

I was hesitant to read this before the movie, Jumper, opened, but Steve Gould assured me that it didn't have any spoilers and would, if anything, help me to understand the backstory for the movie better. So I read it, in a day and a half. It's the kind of story that has a natural inertia to it so it was very easy to just sit down with it and look up to see that six hours had passed.

My only sadness about this book is that the teleportation in the original Jumper (everyone knows this is a story about a teen who can teleport, right? We haven't been in a coma for the last three months, have we?) was such a clever and nuance metaphor. It was about a kid feeling diconnected, cut loose from his moorings, and coming to grips with his own potential. Jumper: Griffin's Story is a more straightforward action novel, and a very good one at that. I'm glad I read it before seeing the movie, but if you didn't, I suggest you buy it, read it, and then see the movie again. Perhaps watch the movie a couple more times just to make sure you got it all.

Was at cruising speed....

I've been writing between 1,000 and 4,000 words a day, until today, when I got the copyedited version of my upcoming novel. Now rather than forge ahead in my new book, I am subjected to the unique torture that is reading my own writing over and over again.

I've been very impressed with this publisher, because man have I heard nightmare stories. Editors who don't give deadlines, only pitch a fit when you unknowingly pass them. Copy editors who correct things like Yoda's grammar (true story, happened to a Star Wars novel.) Novels that end up just shelved for months or years on end before coming out (I am still having this particular nightmare, and will until the book is out). I even knew someone who had a book all copyedited, the galleys set, and then the release date came and no book. A month later when he followed up with the publisher, they said they'd opted not to publish it "just then". That was a few years ago, and it still isn't out.

But I digress. I was talking about copyediting. As I read and revise according to copyedits I have come to believe that this process accomplishes two things. One, the edits get done. Two, the author is reduced to a very low place as she reads her own writing for the millionth time (I can recite parts of this novel in my sleep, and may even do so for all I know). This latter effect prevents illusions of grandeur and unreasonable expectations. I guess there are authors who think their first book will hit the New York Times bestseller list. I suspect they weren't reading very carefully when it came time to do copyedits. Reading my own writing feels like examining my own face carefully in the mirror. I get more critical the more I look.

Next I'll have the galleys to proofread. That is the stage where I really lose it. It's when I think, "What the heck? Some crazy people are making a book and they put my writing in it? Are they on drugs?" The very first time I did this was with a short story in an anthology, with an illustration. I sat there with the galleys thinking, "This looks so professional, except for all the words they're putting into it."

But is there any job I'd prefer to this one? No. Am I really hating my life? No way. Carrie Vaughn put it very well when she said, "Yeah, these are problems, but they're the problems you dreamed about having."

American Hero website up

For those of you Wild Cards fans out there, the American Hero website is up. The forum is enabled so that you can interact with the heroes themselves. And yes, I do mean the heroes. This website is lifted straight out of the book, Inside Straight. Head on over and take a look.

Ian Tregillis has a website

While Ian Tregillis has been sitting in a padded room, muttering to himself, someone designed a website for him. It's all very exciting because Ian is ever so enthusiastic about writing, and now this site makes him look like a real writer. It even has links to his "agent" and "manager".

Yes, okay, all joking aside, do go to the site. It's got a very cool layout and design, and do keep tabs on Ian Tregillis. His first novel is due to his editor soon and should be out in 2009. I've read the first draft, and would recommend it to anyone who likes really a good plot, characters, milieu, underlying concept, prosecraft, scene set up, etc.

And yes, he does already have an agent and manager. He is that good.

Tatumi Studio

If you want a tattoo, or need an old one fixed up, there's no one I can recommend more highly than my cousin, Leslie Mah, and her partner, Roxx. Their studio, Tatumi, is located in San Francisco, in the heart of the Mission District. If that's a ways out of your way, it's still worth the trip, imo. I mean, this is permanent body modification we're talking about.

Leslie and Roxx wear portfolios of their own and each other's work, from which one can see their impressive skillset. They know how to match tattoo ink colors to natural skin colors and do more color work without outlining than I've ever seen in my own, admittedly limited, experience (where I live boasts maybe half a dozen tattoo artists). They also know how to put the tattoo in at exactly the right depth so that the lines stay crisp and neat year after year. Leslie's got some tattoos that I know are over ten years old, but the colors are bright and the fine lines still thin as a pencil drawing. These are skills they've developed over years of practice.

It's important to note, these two are very high end. Leslie and Roxx do custom work and are always booked up. Correspondence with them will often take a month, and their work is not cheap. They are both accomplished artists who design their own tattoos and will work with you to come up with the exact design and placement you want. They also do cover-ups and fixes for bad tattoos, so if you have a tattoo that's bled or faded or... you just wish you didn't have, consider asking them what they can do to make it gorgeous.

Besides that, the studio also boasts some very cute dogs.

Dread Empire's Fall, the trilogy by Walter Jon Williams

Walter Jon Williams was just beginning this series when I joined Critical Mass. In fact, the opening of Dread Empire's Fall : The Praxiswas the first thing I ever read for the group. This is space opera, and before you jump to the conclusion that all space opera is like Star Wars, perhaps you ought to read Destiny's Way, Walter's contribution to the Star Wars canon. He can write that sort of thing quite well, and has enough self awareness to include more than a little irony.

But back to the Dread Empire's Fall series. It begins with an ancient empire created and governed by an immortal race who, for reasons understood only by their immortal minds, decide to end their lives one by one. The suicide of the last immortal is the first scene of the first book, and the empire is then left to be governed by its constituents.

Humans, bird like aliens with fragile skeletons, furry humanoids, and an insectile race are a few of the races that make up the empire, and these races were kept segregated for the most part in a society that had a long and prosperous golden age. Without the immortals to run it anymore, though, things begin to fall apart. This series follows the ensuing civil war, which plays up strong parallels in our own, Earth history.

Now, it was from Walter that I learned how insane the publishing industry can be. I learned what the word "orphaned" meant (when your editor leaves and doesn't pass your project on to another) and that books that come out years later than they were promised may have been handed in on time, or even early by the writer, only to get mangled in the publishing process. In truth, Walter's got some of the worst luck I've had the misfortune to witness. The last book came out well after the first two, and yet the first two sell well enough that the entire series is now in print. Any bookstore I've visited in the past several years has all three sitting on its shelves. If you're a history buff, or just hungry for good space opera, I recommend this series.

Preview of cover for Implied Spaces, by Walter Jon Williams

Walter Jon Williams let me have this jpeg of the cover of his new book, Implied Spaces. This book takes place post-singularity in a world where the humans are immortal, rebootable, and back-upable. Their existence is carefully monitored and controlled by six great supercomputers, and then what happens? Yeah, you guessed it. A supercomputer goes rogue.

The concept of an "implied space" is a space that must exist given what you know of the surrounding structure. This book is about more than just implied "spaces" though. The implications of this world are far more sweeping than that.

And it is this concept that drives the main plot in a direction that I'm guessing few will anticipate.

This is merely the latest in Walter's long and distinguished career. I had meant to do a post that covered more of it today, but time is short. I shall do it Monday.

Wild Cards Launch tomorrow

I am bumping this post back up onto the main page. If you're in the Albuquerque area, come to the Wild Cards launch tomorrow.


Also, for those of you who live in New Mexico, I got permission from George to post this invite:

We'll be having a big launch party / mass signing for the book at Page One on Saturday, February 2, at 2:00 pm. Eight of nine contributors will be on hand to sign books: me, Melinda, Daniel, Ian, John Miller, Carrie Vaughn, Caroline Spector, and Michael Cassutt. Only the mysterious S.L. Farrell will be missing. Oh, and Kay McCauley and Patrick Nielsen-Hayden will be flying in from NYC for the event.

So y'all come, okay?

Who is going to be the new American Hero?

George R.R. Martin
http://www.georgerrmartin.com/

Melinda is Melinda Snodgrass. Daniel is Daniel Abraham, and Ian is Ian Tregillis.