Thursday, June 21, 2012

Paperback Version of 101 WPFSFW Is Now Available

101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers, vol. 1, is now available in analog form! That's right, you can hold it in your hand, bend the spine, dog-ear the pages, draw raunchy doodles in the corners, and drop it in the toilet.



For serious, pick up your copy HERE 




Also, thank you (yes YOU) for being nice enough to read my blog. 





Friday, June 1, 2012

Today's the Day

Well, writers and writettes, it's finally here!

101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers has hit the (virtual) shelves. I'm feeling pretty good, and though it's only been a day, I've been getting some sweet feedback already. Here's hoping some people hit the book's Amazon page and write reviews (I'm looking at you, kid).

Putting this book together took about three months all together, from researching prompts to hiring an illustrator for the cover art, and then uploading everything to Amazon. The best tool I had for writing the prompts were people in writing groups. I got exciting feedback from their responses, and I had the benefit of writing for them, which was so helpful. I owe them a debt of gratitude.

Self-publishing may not be right for every kind of book, but it seems the perfect format for a book like this. It allows me to put a book out there that doesn't bust the banks of notoriously broke writers, and I can format them according to my own plan.

Just to give you a peek at what's inside, here's a prompt from the book. If you like what you read, head to Amazon and get your copy. At $.99, it's pretty much a bargain.

*****


For a science project, a sixth grade boy designs a car that can run on water. He comes home with a first place ribbon from the science fair to find his parents missing and two men in dark suits and sunglasses sitting in his living room.


*****




And here's the cover in all it's glory:

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

A Sneak Peek at the Cover Art for My Book!

Below is a sneak peek at the cover art for my new book, which was designed by the lovely and talented Geoff Pratt. It's still in the works, but as we get closer to the release date, I want to get you excited about 101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers!



Also, here's a writing prompt from the book!


****

The light is dying. In a few moments, the sun will be behind the horizon. Your character is running as fast as he/she can through the streets, but every door is barred, every window boarded up. He/she knows that people can see and hear him/her calling for help, but no one will open their door and offer shelter. The sun finally slips below the horizon.

****

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Rejection's Just Another Name for Nothing Left to Lose

I received a rejection email from The New Yorker the other day for three poems. While it's always hard to get a rejection, you should know that the vast majority of published writers could paper their entire houses with rejection letters. It's a part of the life cycle, and if you're afraid of rejection, afraid of criticism of your work, you have two options: Quit writing or nut up.

On to the next submission!

This is one of the three poems I sent. I am interested in any feedback. Gaman is the Japanese term for "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity." A more complete definition can be found here. I am debating whether or not to explain the definition in a small bit of text at the beginning or end of the poem, and that I wrote this poem shortly after the tsunami in Japan. Your thoughts?

Gaman

A piano lies
parsed in the middle of the road.
The foot traffic is rats and ghosts.

Keys hold fast to melody
in their determination to line up
and stick together.
Middle C
apostrophied
by C sharp
and married to D,
closely watched by D's dark half-step.

As if the earth had not been shifted
and then drowned,

as if silence was more destructive
than muddy water,

as if sound could knit together
fragments of pavement
and glass
and sundered skin.

But of this fractured instrument
splashed across two lanes of traffic
in a town where no cars move
of their own ignition,

order is illusory:
the music you hear
is just the wind and the rain
moving debris
across the guts of a piano.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Writing Prompt # 23

My eBook, 101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers, is coming out in June. It's full of great prompts to get your pen moving across the page, but it also includes several tips and tricks for generating new ideas. I'm dying to share it with you, so here's another sneak peak! 

****

 One morning in Ms. Fuller’s science class, a simple experiment produces an unexpected burst of greenish red smoke. None of her students seem hurt, but she begins to notice that they’re exhibiting some strange behaviors.

****

Friday, April 20, 2012

One of the Most Harmful Articles Aspiring Writers Can Read

A review of "The 10 Most Harmful Novels for Aspiring Writers," by Crawford Kilian

In this article, published two years ago but highlighted yesterday on NPR, Kilian posits his theory that there are certain novels that should not be read by young writers because doing so will harm their ability to write. Specifically, he says these novels "inspired young writers to imitate them," and badly, he suggests, based almost completely on his own personal experiences as a writer. But there is so much wrong with this statement. Young writers may have imitated them, but it's up to the young writers, not the books, to move beyond that imitation, to learn what they can from the novel and then bring something new and unique to the table.

In my own personal experience, imitation has led to breakthroughs and improved skill. No one should be asked to read, let alone PUBLISH, the crap I was banging out on my grandmother's electric typewriter when I was twelve years old. It was a mishmash imitation of Stephen King and Mark Twain, and featured vampires, werewolves and sexy vampire hunters. I'm pretty sure I've burned the manuscript, if only for everyone's safety. But the experience (sitting in front of a typewriter and actually creating a new world) was vital to my growth as a writer. I was inspired by the books I was reading at the time, and I was imitating the style of certain writers because it was comfortable to me, and it eased me through the initial act of creation.

As I read through Kilian's list of books, and his reasons for including them on the list, I find that he dislikes some of them, and dislikes his own imitations (written as a young writer) of the rest. These are valid opinions, and I do agree a few of them. But I disagree completely with the idea that young writers should avoid these books for the reasons Kilian outlines, and find it slightly preposterous for him to suggest that the act of reading these books is what causes young writers to churn out crap writing.

Everyone churns out crap writing, and they do it because they are learning. You do it, I do it, we all do it. No one breaks through to the other side if they don't allow themselves the benefit of the doubt. Allow yourself to churn out crap writing, and know that this is how you get better.

"Some novels are good but dangerous because they leave us dumbfounded." This is the line that baffles me the most. There's nothing I love better than reading a book that is so good I'm left dumbfounded. When my brain returns again and again to a book I've finished, I know that I've read something important, something well written and powerful. Kilian goes on to suggest that most writers are incapable of writing something as powerful, and so even the act of reading a powerful book will cause writers to give up.

A funny side note: The title is "The 10 Most Harmful," but Kilian lists only nine books by my count.

Because I don't believe in keeping you from bad writing, you can read the article here.

Read the books he doesn't want you to read here:










Every word you read is an act of learning, and even bad novels can teach you something as a writer. The most harmful thing you could ever really do is stop reading.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Writing Prompt #3


 My eBook, 101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers, is coming out in June. It's full of great prompts to get your pen moving across the page, but it also includes several tips and tricks for generating new ideas. I'm dying to share it with you, so here's a sneak peak!

*****

Writing Prompt #3
Blood oranges gain their eponymous color overnight, and only when the night is cold. They are sometimes called vampire oranges.

Imagine an orchard tended by vampires (or a similar night-dwelling creature). What kind of fruit would these creatures grow? What special properties or powers could it have? How would they defend it during the day? What about a fruit that has certain properties when harvested during the day and quite different properties when harvested at night? Eaten during the day vs. at night?

*****