Hey, so I intended this blog not just to showcase my own work, but to link with other writers and connect with anyone wanting to know the inside baseball of writing. So, let's talk about coming up the right way. Oh sure, there have been a few non-writers who got a wild idea one day that, "Oh my god, wouldn't it be fun to write a novel?" And there are a couple people (and here the word 'people' is a stretch. More like bog-creatures) who have written fan fiction and one day decided they would like to turn their blended scraps of other people's ideas into a novel. And yes, a few of these cases have sold millions, which is why mainstream literature (rant cuts off abruptly here)
But you want to do it right? You want to develop your skills and work your way up the amateur leagues by publishing short stories before you pump out your seven book epic fantasy? Well then good for you buckaroo! I know that's why I wanted to do. When I was starting out I would listen to Ray Bradbury and Neil Gaiman interviews and they all had the same advice: write.
There's really no trick about it. When you write you develop your skills, your style, you learn the what editors want and you become that much better. But where to start?
Well luckily for you, modern man has a solution. That solution is called Duotrope. Duotrope is an online database that has literally thousands of literary magazines in its listings. Furthermore, Duotrope breaks down the listings by: genre, word length, payment, submission type (paper or electronic), how difficult they are to get in, and a host of other things so that you can find the perfect litmag for you. There is a small fee of $50 for a yearly subscription, but if you have even the slightest desire to be a writer this shouldn't be a big deal. Will $50 really stop you, you John Steinbeck in the making?
So that's my tip to all you aspiring writers. Rack up a couple short stories, four of five, get a Duotrope account, and send 'em out one by one. Depending on the magazine it will take a while to hear back; I always have at least four short stories in rotation at all times as some get published and I replenish the stock with new stories. So go out there and let the world know how much of a special little snowflake you are!
A couple weeks until my horror story is published! Perfect if you want to be terrified while cozying up by a fire. Until then I'm working on my novel when I couldn't figure out what to put in next. Coincidentally, my dad drags me to a hike. I didn't want to go. I told him it would rain. He doesn't believe in Google. It did. But it was great and now I know exactly where the rest of it is going. Nothing like getting out in the middle of nowhere and just thinking.
Hell, it's about time! I am getting a horror short story titled 'Malvore' published this December in Wicked Words. It's a horror story, so it will be perfect to give you the winter-time chills.
It's a good thing it's getting published soon too; I don't think I have gone a single year since 2009 without getting at least something published professionally, but over the past year I have been working on a novel that has consumed so much of time that I haven't been able to write short stories. Thankfully, I managed to get this one published right before the years' end so my publishing streak is 5 years running!
Over the past couple of weeks I have been contemplating the state of 'Nerdom' and geek culture, as it is defined today. The zeitgeist has certainly gone in favor of geek icons, geek stories, geek heroes, but I can't help but shake the feeling that the spirit of geek culture is lost. When I was growing up in the 1990s, on the tail end of when video games, anime, comics, in-story universes (such as the Marvel-verse, WoW-verse,) were consider low culture and weren't respectable. Now though, 'geek culture' is considered to have won as now the biggest movies are superhero movies, comic-cons are enormous, vid games are super popular, even e-sports.
Pro player Soulkey's first person perspective in a game. Who wouldn't want to watch pro players this good? Warning: Soulkey is so fast it may cause seizures.
Perhaps I am just a cynical bastard, but doesn't it feel like even though the franchises and intellectual properties are the same, the actual spirit is gone? That perhaps all these old science-oriented and highly speculative properties have been reworked into highly stylized, Hollywood stories that are interchangeable from all of the dumb 'non-geek' works, but no one has noticed that style has replaced substance?
My most contentious example of this is the new BBC Sherlock series. Don't get me wrong, the music is great, the style is amazing, and the acting is impeccable. But does anyone else notice that Sherlock Holmes never actually uses intelligence or science to solve any crime? Ever? Thanks to fast-paced editing I think most people failed to notice that Sherlock either makes impossible guesses or says things that are completely obvious?
Oh yes Cumberbatch, I'm coming for you.
Episode 4 with Irene Adler is my favorite example. Sherlock steals Irene's phone upon meeting her and has 3 chances to guess what the 10 character code is to unlock her phone to get the information. He gets no clues but manages to guess SHERLOCKED and figures it out just in time!....Except how does that make any sense? (1) Irene Adler programmed the code before she ever met Sherlock in person (2) if she did genuinely become infatuated with Sherlock from afar, why would that mean she would make the code on her phone containing military secrets a pun dedicated to Sherlock? (3) Am I supposed to believe a super-genius like Irene Adler isn't going to make a code based on semi-random numbers and letters like Jm4!Q9b$ or something like that, that no one can guess? So Episode 4 ends with Sherlock using no science or deductive reasoning, but making a literally impossible guess to solve the mystery.
All the other episodes are essentially the same. In Episode 1 the killer actually finds Sherlock and tell him his whole plan, and Sherlock isn't even given the chance to outsmart him thanks to Watson. In Episode 2 the writers make a tongue-in-cheek reference to Sherlock's uncanny ability to get very specific things write by having Watson mock Sherlock for not knowing that the Earth revolves around the Sun, implying that Sherlock's knowledge is very specific to forensic stuff...and then the episode has Sherlock decode 16th century Chinese secret codexes and we're supposed to believe he would reasonably know this because the part of a normal human's brain that remembers pop culture and 4th grade science has been removed and replaced with a part that knows medieval East Asian wordplay...?
Seriously, watch any episode of Sherlock and what you'll find is that he never actually uses his intelligence to solve crimes; it's all just impossible guesses and then common sense (as in Ep 5 when he noted that the British scientist said, "I'll call you" which is an Americanism, instead of "I'll ring you," so Sherlock was able to deduce that he lived in America for a while...what a genius!).
It's rare that Americans do better than Brits at high-brow cinema, but RDJ's Sherlock is much more faithful than the BBC's, and not just because it takes place in the same time period as the books.
I know everyone loves Sherlock except me and another writer friend I know, but I can't get behind it. Yes, Sherlock does everything right EXCEPT the writing. The actual plot makes no sense, and in my mind what's the point? The whole point of the old Sherlock Holmes character was someone who uses intelligence and science to solve cases. What is the point of calling Benedict Cumberbatch's character Sherlock if he just fires off one-liners and improbable guesses?
The same could be said about a lot of revived nerd properties, such as the new Star Trek series. I'm not going to critique those as much because I think most people realize they are silly. I'll just say, why did Nero plot revenge on Vulcan for destroying his home planet in the future when he was in the past and could just prevent it himself? Or why did Old Spock not teleport off the ice moon when he literally lived next door to someone with a teleporter?
I'm not saying either of these are necessarily bad, but when people say geek culture has won I think we need to take it with a grain of salt. I mean, the new Sherlock is good; the pacing is great, but it comes at the cost of actual deductive reasoning. The new Star Trek has great action sequences and is funny, but what happens in the film is that Spock begins to explain something scientific and Kirk interrupts him in a way that is not only humorous but communicates to the audience that Spock is intelligent (without ever having to do anything intelligent) while Kirk is brash. In the 1960s Trek show, Spock would have gone on for 5 minutes explaining the logic and science behind something, which would have been boring, true, but it would have at least proven that there was some intelligence in the show. These properties are good in their own way but it seems that these 'nerd' properties have become famous by removing everything about them that made them nerdy.
Which isn't to say that our culture is totally bereft of nerdom. Stories which have a lot of thought behind them and don't compromise are available, just not as big as the more vapid ones. My favorite example of a great sci-fi film would be Sunshine, a gem by Danny Boyle (one of my fave directors) or District 9.
As far as books go, if you're looking for something to read (that isn't my work...hint hint) Ian McDonald's 'River of Gods' is an amazing work that is so filled with Indian culture and science knowledge that it reaches the point of pretentiousness. River of Gods takes place in 2047 India and it tells the story of 6 different characters from all different castes, classes and backgrounds in the holy city of Varansi on the Ganges river, as a conspiracy involving advanced A.I.s erupts during a war crisis with a neighboring Indian state (by the way, India has split up into different states who contend with each other). To say that this book is thick is an understatement, and I actually gave up reading it for a year because it was so thick on science and exploring Indian culture that I felt it ignored the central plot and characters. But trust me, the last 50 pages are worth it. It's as if the first 550 pages were all one giant set up to a punchline that lasts for 50 pages and blows your mind at every step. if you want a hard sci-novel that isn't just an empty crime drama but with gadgety things, it doesn't get any better than River of Gods
Currently I am reading the only book possibly thicker than River of Gods, which is 2312.
I can't even begin to explain this, suffice it to say it won the Nebula and Hugo award and practically every sci-fi award. It drives me a bit crazy because it is basically a science textbook that covers astronomy, physics, theoretical physics, optics, biology, anatomy. and a host of other topics and there is some vague story going on in the background. I am already mostly done with it and when I start a book I finish it damnit! There's only been one book that I refused to finish in my life, so I will work my way through 2312. If you are looking for a challenge it is worth picking up, and even if you don't finish you will at least pick up some interesting ideas to discuss with your smart friends, because oh Lord is this book thick with great ideas. So much so it has trouble fitting in a story. But what do I know? Did I win a Nebula or Hugo award? No(t yet).
A couple days ago I finished what might be my best work! I wrote a 60 page romantic fantasy novella set in modern day rural France. I'm so confident that I am sending it off to Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, which is perhaps the most well-respected and widely read F&SF litmags in America and the world at large. Stephen King and a host of world famous award winners have published there, so it would definitely be an honor to be published there. Fingers crossed, as it would certainly be my biggest acceptance ever!
Until then, shall we admire a beautiful sunset and my trouble-making dogs together?
Sophie, the little black and gold one, is actually quite the little monster. Always wants attention, always bothering Tanner. But she is too cute to stay mad at.
