Worldbuilding, squirrels, and plastic surgery

Today's link for worldbuilding resources comes at the bottom of this post, as the top two links are items that a) won't take up as much of your time and b) deserve to be read, just for the sake of searching for your eyeballs later after they have fallen out of their sockets.

So, in order of appearance, we have Way Creepy link, Spit-spewingly Hilarious link, and actual Worldbuilding link.

For the first, this is just too twisted and ghoulish of a romance for even my questionable tastes. Next thing you know, this will be the new reality show. Not only we will be trading houses and spouses, but faces. I mean, if you don't like the way your significant other looks, then ask them to get a haircut, or wear less makeup, or clean out their ear wax. But plastic surgery? C'mon! I just wonder how the kids are going to turn out when they realize what their parents did.

Now, before you click this next link, make sure you aren't currently drinking anything, nor are you going to knock over anything fragile when you fall into a laughing seizure.

Ready?

Evil Mutant Nazi Squirrels Attack!


Oh, you came back. I hoped you enjoyed that last one as much as I did. Yes, there is a third link. Two, as a matter of fact. Since Mir was kind enough to smile my way, I'll also make mention of her link to Holly Lisle's website and FAQ's on worldbuilding. Holly Lisle is a champion of worldbuilding, and one of the authors who originally turned me on to the whole elaborate process, since I saw how awesome her books turned out because of it.

The new link for the day comes in the form of Jeffrey Carver's free Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy course. Just click on the worldbuilding portion of it to see him go over some of the basic principles and approaches to worldbuilding and why it is so important in pretty much any speculative fiction work. He covers topics such as Concrete detail versus Implied detail, and making sure you have Consistency, a part of writing that runs deeper than just making sure your character's eye color remains the same from beginning to end. Click on the Deeper Dimensions part to see further examples of how he applied these principles and methods to his own books. I find the best way to learn is by seeing it in action.


I see that smile.

Multi-purpose Paper

I could come up with several uses for this: Rejection Letter Toilet Paper. (alternate site link)

Let's see. "Put rejection behind you. Print your old rejections on hearty facial-quality paper."
Takes a little fiddling with image size requirements, and might be a little pricey for some budgets.

I think a writer developed this. Or an agent or editor who wanted to get the point across to overly zealous submissions. You could also take a vicious rejection letter you received, have it printed, and then go TP the agency, or the agent's house, if you don't mind putting off the stalker vibe.

I've also heard those writing conference horror stories about writers who corner an agent in the bathroom, or slide their manuscript under the stall door while said agent is using the facilities. This could expedite the process considerably if hotels would stock the restrooms with rejection rolls while the conference is on property. The possibilities are endless...until you get to the end of the roll.


I see that smile.

Worldbuilding

Ever play SimCity or the thousands of its variations? SimZoo? SimRollerCoaster? Or my favorite, SimCubicle? Seems a lot of games are all about building things from the ground up, and then taking charge and doing...oh, anything from forming virtual relationships to building up an army and setting them to siege a city. Egypt versus the Mongol Horde? Have at thee!

In those games, you learn a lot of the dynamics that govern a world, a culture, an army, or a business, albeit on very simplistic levels compared to what they are like in real life. In writing, especially fantasy and science fiction, you do something of the same thing. You get a blank slate for an entire world and can do whatever you want with it. It's only when you realize you have to know what your characters eat for breakfast and wear throughout the week that it becomes something of a daunting task. But worldbuilding is an incredibly important thing for any story that wants to remain cohesive and seem like a true trip into another part of existence.

How do you approach this massive task in any sort of coherent manner that won't leave you drooling and staring at white padded walls?

Worldbuilding Questions

The above link is an incredibly comprehensive list of details about any world that you're building from scratch. It starts with some basic questions (like..."Are we on earth? Yes or no?") and by the end gets down to the nitty-gritty like "What calendar do people live according to?" or "Is there a structured crime/legal system?"

Now, you certainly don't have to answer all of these questions. Some may not even be valid for the world you want to work with. But it's great to make you think about perspectives and the fine points of reality that we don't remember all the time. Maybe it'll even give you some ideas you didn't have before.

There are quite a few other worldbuilding websites and resources, but I think this one link is quite a read-through for now, so we'll start there. I'll try to throw up a few other places that I've found to be invaluable in the worldbuilding process, but for now, have fun with this and see where it takes you.


I see that smile.

The little corners of the day

Just some quick, simple thoughts for today. When do you write most often? What is the best time of day for you, or have you even thought about your actual schedule? Do you have a schedule? Or are you a more spur-of-the-moment writer who squeezes a few taps in whenever you get a free minute in between the hurry-scurry of coffee fixes and paying the bills? I guess the flipside extreme are those writers who have a military approach to their schedule and regulate the minutes so finely they could shave with the sharp edges of their calendar. (It made sense in my mind, okay?)

For me, I'm somewhere in the cozy middle. I do know that my writing is steadier if I stick to something of a schedule. If I'm just lolling about the house with no particular thing to do, it's hard for me to get up the motivation to actually sit down and tap some pages out. So something of a daily routine is good for me. At the same time, I'm hardly so anal as to freak out if I'm not jumping out of bed and on the computer working the latest draft.

The two times of day I find myself able to think coherently enough and focus on writing are: around lunchtime, which is nice because I can take advantage of my hour lunchbreak during the weekdays, and late at night, sometimes after 10 or 11PM once the day has quieted down, all the chores and errands are done, and there are less distractions sitting on my shoulders and whispering in my ears.

What about you? Is your writing calendar based on a lunar/solar system? Do you get up at 3AM to pound out a few pages before breakfast?


I see that smile.

Writing envy

Has this ever afflicted you? It has me, I'll admit. Many a times I've stared at a book on the store shelf and been envious of the author who managed to get it there. It's a nasty little mood to be in, because while there are different types of envy, or even specific things you could be envious about, no matter what envy drags you down. It's a bug that, if you don't squash it right away, can burrow in and cause all sorts of rot and infection. It can lead to a string of bad moods, lack of motivation, or general disgruntlement and a belief that the universe conspires against your writing efforts. I'm sure this hits even published writers...in fact, I know it does.

How does writer envy manifest? Well, you can experience Better-than Envy, or Why-them Envy. Better-than Envy is what happens when you pick up a book and it's so good your eyeballs melt in their sockets. You aren't worthy to read this. The author has obviously got a direct line to God's inner sanctum, with a little pixie dust thrown in for boot, because their prose is perfect, their themes sublime, and their characters and plot inspired by the wisdom of Solomon. You could sit for days, craving that you were as good as this author is, and knowing that you will never ever ever reach that level of success and writing genius makes you want to give it all up right now. What's the point, right?

Why-them Envy is when you pick up a book and it is so laughable, so simplistic and shallow that any five year old could give it a scathing, gurgling review--but it's a number one bestseller for weeks on end and the author got a seven-figure advance.

There are also other modes: Word count envy, Advance envy, Cover art envy, Bestseller list envy, Book review envy, Number of cities in a tour envy...basically any part of the publishing process and fallout can become a sore point. People obsess over the numbers and become so fixated on how it "could have been" or how it "should be" that they can't get over how it is and move on to the next story asking to be written.

There will always be someone that is better than you, and there will always be someone who is worse than you, but achieves more than you. It's a fact of life, and the sooner you get snuggly with it, the better. Don't begrudge it. It didn't want to be a rule of life when it grew up...that's just how things happened.

People ask where writers get inspiration from. Now, you can say I have a Pollyanna complex, but I think even writing envy can be twisted into something that gives you an extra push. There is always higher to climb, another level of excellence to reach, and there will always be those writers whose mistakes you can learn from without having to go through them yourself. It's motivation in its rawest form.


I see that smile.

Tagged by the Mir

Fine. Hmph. I'll do it.

Seems a few days ago, the Mir tagged me after answering her own survey, which was placed upon her by another of her blogging friends. I asked if tag-backs were allowed, but she threatened to vent her wrath upon me, and I really didn't want to wake up to plagues of locusts, frogs, and hot chocolate turned to blood. That just doesn't start a day out right. So, looks like I must answer a series of questions, ones which she twisted to her own designs when she answered them. That means the format is fair game. My take? Each item has four answers to it. *Starts singing* One of these things is not like the other! One of these things does not belong! *End Singing*

Your mission, whether you accept it or not, is to guess which three are True and which one is False.

Four jobs I’ve had
1. School supply supplier: in middle school, I carried a briefcase full of pens, pencils, paper, erasers, etc. which I sold in classes for anywhere from a dime or more to students who.,.say…ran out of ink or lead during a test, or forgot their notebook.
2. Restaurant balloon twister and magician
3. Pet masseuse
4. Security guard

Four places I’ve been on vacation
1. Mexico
2. Italy
3. Kenya
4. England

Four places I’ve lived by the time I was eight
1. Maryland
2. Turkey (no, the country, not the bird…why no, I haven’t heard that joke before. Did you make it up just now?)
3. Texas
4. Florida

Four favorite foods that I have eaten today
1. A big pretzel from a hotdog stand outside of work
2. Freshly shelled peanuts
3. Hot chocolate (yes, it’s a food!)
4. Kidney beans straight from the can

Four favorite TV channels
1. The Discovery Channel
2. The SciFi Channel
3. ESPN (go my favorite sports team! Get a goal-basket score unit!)
4. The National Geographic Channel

Four movies I could watch over & over
1. The Game
2. The Emperor’s New Groove
3. The Bourne Identity movies
4. Legally Blonde 2

Four books on writing that I read over & over
1. Techniques of the Selling Writer
2. Self-editing for Fiction Writers
3. Writing for Dummies
4. How to Grow a Novel
(basically I read through these anytime I’m revising a novel manuscript)

Four places online I visit every day
1. http://www.pantheon.org/
2. http://www.wordsmith.org/words/today.html
3. http://www.newscientist.com/home.ns
4. http://www.attention-to-details.com/newslog/3ct-isnt-this-the-cutest-thing-youve-ever.asp

Four places I’d rather be
1. On the New York Times bestseller list
2. On the other end of paying off my student loans
3. Naked on the North Pole
4. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Four people I’m tagging, if they actually read this (this one has no False)
1. God (No…seriously…God has a blog)
2. David Edelman
3. Kit Whitfield
4. You (yes, you…no, not you…You.)


Okay. Admittedly, I used way too many exclamation marks in this post. But how'd you do on guessing? If any of the answers need actual clarification, just ask.


I see that smile.

Do you hear voices? Us too!

“I hear voices in my head.”

This claim almost seems a badge of pride for some writers. I’ll admit, I’ve said it quite often myself, because it’s actually how I go about forming a lot of the dialog I write. I hear the characters speaking (or yelling, or whispering) to each other in my head and I let them banter back and forth and see if they actually say anything interesting and worth writing down. Writers also seem to enjoy being labeled as “crazy,” as many equate this as being “unique.” There’s a bit of a difference between those two terms, and I think they get muddled in the pursuit of originality. But does the stereotype of a mad artist, whether writer, painter, architect, etc. have any basis in reality?

This online paper touches on a few points of interest as far as being a creative individual and the actual presence or threat of developing mental illness. Among my favorite quotes is this one:

“Highly creative "normals" also tend towards over-inclusive or "allusive" thinking and…demonstrate a capacity to conceive and utilize two or more opposite or contradictory ideas or concepts simultaneously, without being disturbed by this simultaneity of opposition, as is also the case with schizophrenics. It seems that creative individuals, like schizophrenics, are subject to a widening of selective attention, which makes them more aware of and receptive to experience, with more intensive sampling of environmental stimuli.”


Think of that quote in light of writing a story from several different character point of views, or trying to get into the minds of both the pro- and antagonist. Are we driving ourselves crazy, people? One of these days, someone’s split personality is going to sue the dominant personality for defamation as the split personality was used as inspiration for a villainous character in a book. Ah, well…so long as we’re enjoying ourselves, it should turn out all right. Right, self? Right. Good.

Oh, and while we’re on the topic of craziness, check out these photos of a rather insane (in a good way) street artist. His work shows the value of having the right perspective on life. I know, groan away.


I see that smile.

Three links and a cookie

It's Wednesday.

You say, Yes, Josh. That's what tends to come after Tuesday.

But Wednesday is a rough day. It's the smack-a-dab middle of the week that feels like a malfunctioned Friday. I've an ongoing debate with anyone who cares that Wednesdays can be worse than Mondays. It's like crawling up the slope of a roller coaster with a dozen wet sandbags tied around your neck, not to mention the dead albatross. So, here to help with a little oomph over the bump are three fun links. And, if you go through the links in order, do the hokey-pokey and turn yourself around, you get to claim a cookie at the end of this post. No cheating!

I found the first link via the lovely Mir, who posts so many times a day it's obscene: A Book a Minute-- Here you will find the many well-known speculative fiction titles, as well as certain authors' careers summarized into a few sentences. My personal favorites are the Stephen King one and the one for Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire. I dare you to try and read only one.

Second is this nifty blog-- Biology in Science Fiction . Their latest posting has to do with "Vampirism as a Disease?" If porphyrins and protein hemoglobin doesn't make you start browsing through, then I'm at a total loss.

Lastly, this howler-worthy post by the incredibly prolific S.L. Viehl: The Last Samurai Agent
Is it a bad thing if I'm impressed by the guy's methods?

Yay, you went through all the links. You may now click here to claim your cookie! Take your pick.


I see that smile.

A Strange-Culture Reading List

I saw this reading list being batted about yesterday and have decided that I must now buck up the bucks to get as many books as I can from it. Now begins the mad search on Amazon.com to see which ones I can come by cheapest.

What is this list? As provided by John Crowley, it is a list of nonfiction texts on the subject of: "Cultures We Really Evolved that are Stranger Than Any You can Think Of"

Really, it's his way of helping writers shed their mental blinders and realize that there are more ways to build a fantasy society than pasting a system of magic into a medieval type world and level of technology. How many stories out there are populated by monarchy/peasant type societies, and even have that overarching religious structure (with some name derivative of the Catholic Church)?

Crowley is wanting us to realize that there are incredibly strange cultures and ways of living in the world today (at least, they are strange from our perspective) and we don't have to keep pouring stories into the same mold over and over again. Aside from giving us a diversion from cultural ruts, I'm sure these books hold a wealth of story ideas and those fascinating little factoids that will plant a seed in your brain for some epic tale.

This one looks particularly interesting:
"Women, Fire and Dangerous Things, by George Lakoff. The way different cultures view the world as exemplified in their language. Don’t invent a language without it."

And, hey, if you want a world that has lots of kings and priests and huge religious orders with popes and bishops, then you'll at least need this one:
"Castle and Cathedral, by David Macauley. You probably read them as kids: books by a great draughtsman about the actual month-to-month and year-to-year building of these buildings. Let’s get our details right."

I'm off now to start seeing what deals I can dig up on these titles. If any of you all manage to get your hands on some of these, do let me know what you think, and if you find them helpful/intriguing/confusing...


I see that smile.

Jewish Marxist Werewolves in Bolivia?

Some great news!

Turns out David Edelman (Infoquake) selected one of my entries as a winner in the "Opening lines of a Jewish Marxist Werewolves of Bolivia novel" contest, which I found incredibly cool of him to do.

Click here for his post on the contest results

Here's my entry that Dave picked:

And the rabbi was lying on a mountain of ash and stones
with a ravenous mouth and staring pupils,
and in his soul there was silence and darkness and nothing more.
—an excerpt from Der Volf, by H. Leivick

"As I adjust my tallit, the wolf yowls within me and peers through my eyes at an infant in its mother’s arms, as she sits in the recesses of the synagogue. A crunchy morsel, juicy on the outside, crunchy on the inside.

I curse the demon to silence. It’s just before sundown on Yom Kippur, and I must recite the Kol Nidre and escape before I slaughter everyone gathered for the evening prayers.

The wolf snarls and paces the cage of my ribs, gnawing them one at a time. Sometimes I wonder if wolves, rather than humans, were made in God’s image. Certainly we’re no better than beasts as we have turned on each other here in La Paz—gorging on the weaker, and then submitting to the stronger as they clamp their jaws around our hairy throats."


Congratulations also to Colin Fisk, who got second (and a signed copy of Infoquake as well) and the honorable mentions of Edward Finch and Norman Levinson. To read their contributions, check out the link pasted above. Here also is the second entry I shot in, which doesn't really mention "Bolivia":

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the spoils.
—Jacob's prophecy concerning his sons, the twelve tribes of Israel, as found in Genesis 49:27

"Some Kabbalah mystics say the Lord made man from his own flesh. So, when I eat the flesh of man, I feel closer to the Lord than at any other time. To me, God is the moon, and my howls become the only worship He hears.

That, and nowhere does it say that human flesh isn't kosher. Blood, sure, but I'm a delicate eater. Years of bleeding the coffers of foreign creditors dry have given me quite the talent for separating blood from flesh."



As Dave mentions, most of us who entered this contest are probably a few months shy on taking our medication.


I see that smile.

Writing websites and The Dresden Files

How many of you have websites and blogs of your own? I've a list of writing sites and blogs that I visit, sometimes daily. I know that the blog-check addiction afflicts many of us. We follow our favorite authors, hoping to see that little tidbit about their personal lives, or be the first to find out about their new, ultra-secret project.

Do you have a website yet, even if you aren't published? It seems a common trend to use a website and blog as the way to initially wave hello to your future adoring public and let the world know you exist as a fledgling writer.

According to this survey, listed by Publishers Weekly and done by a New York advertising firm, "18% of readers have been to a publisher's Web site, while 23% of readers polled have visited an author's site. The survey, based on a sample of 813 readers, did not ask if readers bought a book from either site. Not surprisingly, the younger the reader, the more likely that person visited the Web. The survey found that 35% of readers under age 35 had visited an author's Web site and 21% of respondents in that age bracket had been to a publisher's site."


What other nuggets can we glean from this? Well, I'd say the usefulness of an online presence is only going to grow along with two other factors: an increasingly web-connected generation, and the eventual common use of electronic books. Yes, we can argue about when that last bit will come about, but my guess is there will be a "book iPod" in the next five years or so. In light of this, ask yourself how seriously do you take using your website and blog to promote your writing? Is it just a throwaway effort because everyone else is doing it? Or does it reflect your unique writing style, offer people reasons to come back, promotes fan interaction, and so on?


I'm wanting to study some of these questions a little more in-depth, probably this upcoming week. Right now, it's a lazy Sunday. And The Dresden Files comes on tonight, 9/8pmC! If you aren't going to watch it yourself, check back for a review of the pilot episode tomorrow.








I see that smile.

Benighted- the video game viral ploy!

This post comes for a variety of reasons. One is I enjoy playing games, and I enjoy sharing the fun of these games with others. Another is that Benighted, by Kit Whitfield, is a great book that everyone should hear about and read. This particular title surfaced in the bog of my mind through this cool little development: Apparently to celebrate the release of the paperback version of Benighted in the U.K. (where it is titled Bareback...for the reason behind the two different titles, lookie here- FAQs) Random House came up with this nifty lil' video game where you track down curfew-breaking lunes, tranquilize them, and then drive them to a shelter before they wake up and start wrecking your truck.

Lastly, Kit (whose blog I check daily for her spunky humor and great insights on publishing) asked us to pass on the news about this game and the new paperback release of the book. Now, we in the U.S. already have it released--aren't we lucky?--but this is another reminder for those of you who have yet to pick up a copy.

Remember what the book is about? Here's a review (starred even) from Publishers Weekly:

"In this impressive werewolf novel with a detective story twist, first-time British author Whitfield imagines a contemporary world whose majority are people who "fur up" at full moon; the scorned minority—called barebacks by their wolven, "lycanthropic" peers—are permanently clad in their human skin. Whitfield's bareback protagonist, Lola Galley, is a lawyer with DORLA (Department for the Ongoing Regulation of Lycanthropic Activity), an unpopular organization necessary to maintaining order in a civilized world. Lola's full-moon duties include "dogcatching," or chasing down stray "lunes," lycos in vicious, canine form. When a bareback friend loses a hand to the snapping jaws of a lune—and then turns up shot dead a few days later—it's Lola's job to defend the mauler who becomes a murder suspect. In the process of her investigation, Lola must face her own biases as a minority and unearth the secret behind the divide in her society. A nuanced exploration of prejudice, this deftly written, absorbing debut deserves a crossover literary and fantasy readership."

Go play the game. Catch 'dem lunes. Then come back and let me know what you think. Oh, and don't forget to let Kit know as well. I'm proud to be part of the viral marketing campaign!


I see that smile.

Religion and Your Writing

Whether you believe in some form of faith, religion, or otherwise, it pervades our society today. There's any number of belief sets to choose from, and within each religious organization, the walks of life are as unique as the people who choose to follow them. There's Christianity (which is my faith--nondenominational, in case you're curious), Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, the Occult...and each one brings its own perspective and beliefs about the nature of reality, the world, people, our purpose in life, and so on.

Religion is a big thing. Maybe that's why it tends to have such a big affect on the stories we tell. For instance, look at Anne Rice's return to Catholicism and her subsequent venture to write a book having a 7-year-old Jesus as the narrator and main character. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt

"I promised," she says, "that from now on I would write only for the Lord."

I was curious about how large of a presence religion has in speculative fiction, so I did a looksie the other day and found an interesting set of links. The first is Famous Science Fiction/Fantasy Authors and their Religious Affiliations. (Do any of these author's affiliations surprise you? Or could you have made an educated guess from the works of theirs that you've read?) Here's another look at some of the same info, but this time according to the book titles: Religious Science Fiction Books. (See any you recognize? See any that you think shouldn't be on the list or know any you would add to it?)

After taking a peek at that, here's a question for you: How do your beliefs and values affect your writing? Does it affect, say, how you portray a religious organization within a fantasy world you've built? Do you lift it up as the center and savior of a post-apocalyptic world? Is it something that brings hope or oppression? Does it bring enlightenment or suppress reason? Do your mages and priests get their power from a divine source? If so, what kind of god(s) have you shaped in your world? (And let's face it...as writers, I think we all have some little god complex anyways)

My approach is this. Everyone in my stories is human (except of course, for inhuman beasties, aliens, etc. but let's not get fouled in semantics). Therefore, any character is going to be a collection of virtues, beliefs, good/bad motivations, flaws, addictions, piety, blasphemy, and so on. I personally have no qualm about creating a religious order that is separate and unique from anything I believe in. It would get real tiresome real quick if every religious structure I put into a story became some twisted mirror of the Christian church just so I could use the book to preach to the readers. That isn't why I write. I try to make any religious institutes and the people involved to be outgrowths of the culture and worlds they are a part of. I need to be faithful to the story. I believe the values and perspective on life that are born from my faith will come through without me having to browbeat anyone with them. It makes for a properly fleshed-out world, and, in my opinion, a better story—which is the point, right?


I see that smile.

Book Review: Hinterland

I finally dug down deep enough in my stack of Books-To-Read-Before-I-Die and found myself flying through a book I mentioned a bit back: Hinterland, by James Clemens. I think I promised a review of it, since I gave one of the first in the series, Shadowfall. So here it is. Let it not be said I am one to shirk my promises.

Hinterland picks up a bit after Shadowfall leaves off. This is why it is known as a sequel. I would’ve been rather disappointed if a sequel had been written with all events occurring before the first book, but I digress. We find ourselves once more in Myrillia, land of the hundred gods, these gods being powerful people whose humours (all their bodily fluids, such as blood, sweat, tears, etc.) flow with Grace, this world’s form of magic. Hinterland centers on a number of familiar characters, with a few new members joining the cast. Although even then, most of the newer main characters seemed to be elevated minor characters from Shadowfall. With the last book’s crisis averted, it is time for a new one. Tashijan, which is the citadel of the Shadowknights (a military order blessed by shadowy Graces), comes under siege from both without and within, and it is up to the heroes of the story to figure out why they’re being attacked, who exactly is attacking them, and why all the trouble seems to revolve around the stolen skull of a rogue god.

My take, after finishing it? Good story. Well-built world. Great thought-out system of magic that has a lot of potential, and is fleshed out even more by Clemens in this continuation. Hinterland has a few classic elements of fantasy stories, including a magic sword…but fortunately even that is unique enough in its function and method of employ that one can avoid any cliché there. The characters all have their endearing qualities as much as their flaws. The villains are suitably creepy, powerful, mad, and cunning—although there was one main villain who I never did quite understand her motivation for all the ruin she wrought.

Is this a genre-breaking, incredibly philosophical, life-changing book? No. I didn’t expect it to be when I read it, because that’s not what the first one was. It has a lot of thrilling action, and Clemens manages to write very fast paced events without sacrificing any detail or character depth. If you enjoy good, solid fantasy, then pick this series up. I’m waiting for the next one, which the ending of Hinterland suggests will bring in a whole new level of nastiness for our heroes to plunge into.


I see that smile.

Glitches and why talking animals are good for you

Two lovely bits for you to sort through today. Take one home. Toss the other away. Or maybe keep them both for a rainy day.

Sorry. Found myself in a rhyme there somehow. Shan't happen again. Moving on.

First is this illuminating post from yesterday by one literary agent Kristin Nelson (who is based in Denver, by the way, my home away from NYC). I got the chance to actually meet Mrs. Nelson at the last writing conference I attended earlier this year. This also afforded me the opportunity to practice me "don't be an annoying writer who won't leave the agents alone" skills. I think I did all right. Anyways, the posting talks about several glitches that tend to sneak into stories (also known as fatal flaws). Several of these are very common in fantasy novels, such as having entire scenes where nothing happens but your characters sitting on their butts and having a friendly ol' chat, or also having extraneous actions scenes, or scenes where your characters do something cool just because you want to show them off to the reader, but what they do isn't actually pertinent to the story. Whew. I just realized how long of a sentence that was.

Check the post out and be honest with yourself.

Second is this article, which actually came out last December, so if you've already seen it, then read it again because it's good for you and I said so. Ursula Le Guin (and if you don't know who she is--shame!) has a wonderful essay on why fantasy stories can be just as important for grownups as they are for children. Here is an excerpt:

"To conflate fantasy with immaturity is a rather sizeable error. Rational yet non-intellectual, moral yet inexplicit, symbolic not allegorical, fantasy is not primitive but primary. Many of its great texts are poetry, and its prose often approaches poetry in density of implication and imagery. The fantastic, the marvellous, the impossible rode the mainstream of literature from the epics and romances of the Middle Ages through Ariosto and Tasso and their imitators, to Rabelais and Spenser and beyond."

And thus, by reading this essay, you gain a solid rebuttal against those who claim that fantasy, science fiction, and other such branches of the great tree of speculative fiction are not "real literature." But use this power wisely, for I'm sure Ursula Le Guin won't be all that happy if you go around bashing people over the head with the latest John Scalzi tome and yelling in their dazed faces, "Read it! It's literature!"

Maybe if you came up with a rhyme...


I see that smile.

Mapping your story

I always enjoy seeing the maps that tend to accompany many fantasy novels these days. Some science fiction stories have them too, but more often you see ancient, otherworldly lands scrolled out on faded parchment, depicting magical territories, political divides and places known as The Forbidding Lands or little footnotes like Don't Go Here Or You Die. That sort of thing.

I love these. But I never actually thought about making a map for one of my own stories until I was developing my third novel-sized story and realized I wanted to go an extra stretch in being able to visualize my character's travels and where they stood in relation to other cities, lands, people, monuments, and so on. At first, I simply sketched out my thoughts on notepads, but I decided that, like my typing versus my shorthand, it just came more naturally when I worked on the computer. So I started searching for a software program that would help me design my fantasy world.

AutoREALM is what I found. "A freely available fantasy role-playing map-making program." Now, there are numerous programs like this out there, as I saw in my browsing, but this one is just fun to play around with, and has quite a bit of variety to it, not just including fantasy icons and such, but ones you could use for say...laying out the battle zone in a quadrant of space.

To give an idea of how I have used it, here are two maps that I created using this program (and yes, they have been incorporated into one of my stories, which may or may not ever see the light of day...who can tell?)


A worldwide map with places even I haven't explored yet:


And a zoom shot of the middle continent, where the story takes place.


Look like fun? It is. I can spend hours playing with this thing, and it's a wonderful tool to make your story come to life all the more. I hope you find it as helpful as I did. Feel free to send me any maps you make. I'd love to see the lands that live in your imagination.


I see that smile.

Mad Genius Writer

No, not me. Though some have called me crazy, which I take as a compliment, thank you very much. Madness is the spice of life, dontcha know?

Ahem. Not that I want you to picture me breaking into maniacal laughter whenever I sit down to compose this blog, or work on a chapter, with beakers of dubiously colored fluid burbling in the background. So, here's the scoop. Mad Genius Writer is the latest incarnation of the brainchild of Randy Ingermanson, a science fiction author who has won several awards for his novels (Double Vision and Oxygen being two ones I'd recommend) and also dedicates a large amount of his time running a few side business ventures and teaching other writers how to market their stories. He has quite a passion to see writers actually make a decent living off their work. His thesis is: "All writers everywhere should be rich." Well, I can't say I disagree, but I might be biased.

So, visit his website here:




Sign up for his newsletter (which is free, of course), plus, in doing so, you get a free 7-day course: 7 Ways to Rev Up Your E-zine Subscription Rate. We all like free stuff, right? Actually, that's one of his big points, as you'll find out.


I see that smile.

Ways to Not Not Make it as a Writer

Still puzzling the title? I suppose the full of it would be: How to Tell Who WON'T Make It in Writing (and How Not to Be That Writer). This is more of an attitude check then actual craftspeak. Your attitude toward your writing, plus the way you handle criticism, and so on, will have a significant impact on your eventual writing success, or lack thereof. So, take a look at this rundown and see if any of these cloud of dooms are hovering over your head.

For instance, are you unable to accept that some of your writing might not actually be all that great, and that you need to work on improving it? Can you never accept criticism (constructive or otherwise) without requiring a few months time off just to let your wounded, fragile soul recover from the blow?

Also, Holly Lisle has a treasure-trove of other articles on the general writing craft, worldbuilding (some of the best I've read) and lots of other inspiring and sobering conversations on the nature of writing as a full-time career, which is what she has managed to shape for herself with no little blood, sweat, and the trampling of her nay-sayers. I hope to link a few other of her more core pieces, especially when I put up a post on worldbuilding, which is something she delves into so deep she needs scuba tanks to survive.

I see that smile.

I caved

I swore I would never give in and take one of these online tests. I really did. I mean, honestly, aren't these things just derivatives of all the psych-analysis tests that are out there so people can lump one another into more definable social borders (oh, you're an IECJ? Well, I'm an XYZA, so we obviously will get along grand...now it's the UTJPs you've got to watch out for), or where we compare ourselves to colors matrices, animals (busy beaver? leading lion, anyone?), and all that other scrap. Sure, I think that stuff is interesting, but sometimes it just seems easy to pick whatever characteristics of yourself out of the lineup and be convinced they've managed to stick your personality in a test tube and swirl it around.

Ahem. Sorry. Not quite sure why I went off on such a rant about that. I usually am better behaved. (someone whispers from the sidelines) Oh. Foaming at the mouth? Boy, am I blushing. Anyone have a napkin?

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Oddly enough, this test is pretty dead on for me...but I'm disappointed that it didn't give me my horoscope and a fortune cookie reading at the same time.

I see that smile.

What makes you a professional writer?

Have you ever asked yourself that question? Or do you even consider yourself a professional writer in the first place? Do you delineate between the titles "writer" and "author" perhaps? I've seen all sorts of artificial definitions.

A "writer," according to some, is anyone who keeps a journal, a blog, a diary, or otherwise scratches down words, thoughts and even the occasional story. If you enjoy putting down words in any fashion or form, you are a writer. Others consider a "writer" to be someone who actively pursues writing as a form of art, or craft. You don't have to be doing it for publication, but writing is a way you express yourself, and you strive to improve your technique. Perhaps you study it and subscribe to writing magazines.

Calling yourself an "author" however, draws in a bundle of qualifications, so it seems. First off, an author must have received payment for their writing. Or you can't call yourself an author until you've written a Book. Short stories and all don't count. I've also seen the claim that you can only be called an author if you write full time and can support yourself solely on that pursuit.
Australian author Sean Williams has this article in which he hashes out the factors that make a writer professional or not. He also lists a Code of Conduct the SFWA once posted.

A professional writer in any genre should:
· Respect intellectual property. That is, writers should not plagiarize, pirate, or pilfer the work of others, or encourage anyone else to do so.
· Honour commitments, both explicit and implicit. That is, writers should enter into contracts in good faith and do their best to fulfill them. These contracts include more than just delivering novels on time. They cover rewrites, appearances and other forms of publicity.
· Deal honestly and courteously with members of the public.
· Refrain from spreading falsehoods, rumors or innuendo with the intention of damaging the careers of other writers.
· Neither seek nor grant unfair advantage. That is, writers should not try to influence editors or reviewers except by the quality of their work.
· Present one's self and one's field in the best possible light.

His general conclusion (one of several main points he makes) is as follows: A professional writer is someone who is actively writing, and being paid to do so.

I would also add this on the previous arguments over whether you have the right to call yourself an author, or writer, or a snobbledygorp. If you know yourself to be a writer, then that is what you are. If you consider yourself to be an author, then that is what you are and what you should strive to be. Letting others define what you think of yourself as is a self-imposed limitation. It may seem like they are the ones making the rules of what you can call yourself, or what title you can put on the Occupation line when filling out tax forms, but ultimately it comes down to what you know you are. And hopefully we all have a good idea of where we fall on the spectrum. The question now is, where do we want to be, and how do we get there? Give me your thoughts. What is the term you refer to yourself as, and how do you rationalize it?


I see that smile.

Eight things new writers need to know

I came across this handy laundry list of things to knock into your noggin should you be taking it upon yourself to hang up a shingle upon which is painted a parchment, quill, and a security blanket.

Eight things new writers need to know as listed by Hugo and Nebula award-winning writer and Writers of the Future judge, Robert J. Sawyer.

No good advice ever grows old, as I've found, and it's always good to get a refresher on some of the basics. In studying my martial arts, it seems the simplest things often slip up the most advanced practitioners, whether it's keeping the proper stance, remembering to block, or tracking where your opponent is at all times. Forgetting any of these, and you leave yourself open to a flawed sparring match. That's why the old master is there at all times with his bamboo cane, whacking away at shins and prodding buttocks to correct the slightest misstep. It's not that he's cruel or wants to demoralize his students...it's more that he doesn't want to invest so much time in training a student, only to have them wiped out in the first street gang knife and chain fight because they tripped over their own feet (sorry, channeling Bruce Lee movies here...not anything from my actual studio...at least, that I'm going to admit to, because otherwise I'd have to revise what I told the police for their report).

Anyways, this is a great list of points that one should bring to the forefront every so often to double check whether you have Lost Your Way. My personal favorite is the fact that: Your Job is to Tell Your Stories.

Right now, I'm about three chapters into my newest story, and I'm loving it. I took a break from the novel form over December and started up again this week once I'd developed the story enough. I'm now at that blissful stage where I am exploring all the potential this story has, and I don't have to worry about revising, critiques, outlining, etc. I can just hunch over the keyboard, tell my story, and love it.


I see that smile.

Philip K. Dick Award Finalists

Just for your well being, because I know you wouldn't be able to sleep tonight without knowing, here is the list of this year's Philip K. Dick Award Finalists. Give them many congratulations, well wishes, and then go plot how to get yourself on this list sometime.

You'll notice that the topic of rejection pops up in this blog every so often. Sometimes it's because I got one myself, or maybe I didn't, and I'm celebrating this fact. Today, my mentioning of the bane and necessity of the writing life comes from Hannah Bowen's post (buymeaclue on Live Journal) on what rejections are, aren't, and why they certainly aren't worth the emotional weight we give them, nor should they be taken as an opportunity to attack, slander, threaten etc. the person who rejected your story. Here's what I consider the best quote from it to be:

"A rejection is an answer. To what, you say? To the question that your submission posed: "Would you like to publish this story of mine?" A rejection is an answer in the negative. "Would you like to publish this story of mine?" "No, thanks." (An acceptance, of course, would be an answer in the positive. But no one writes snarky responses to those.) And that, my friend, is all. That's what you're owed. You ask a question. You get an answer. All else is gravy."


I see that smile.

Traditional Pieces of Writing Advice

I want to look at some of the more common pieces of advice that people here as they float through the vast ocean of writing, publishing and so on. We come across this advice in the books on writing. We read it in writer, editor, and agent blogs (like this one!). If you go to conferences and conventions, no doubt you've sat in on many a panel where they dispense advice like so much chicken feed to the starving, eager masses. But in my opinion, there are some pieces of wisdom out there that seem to be overused (though, this doesn't make them any less applicable).

Things like:
"Write what you know."
"Show, don't tell."
"Murder your darlings."

Should such advice be applied universally? Obviously every writer is going to have a unique approach to their work, but are these three phrases ones that even generally are good to follow? Let's look at them one at a time, but in reverse (didn't see that coming, did you?)

"Murder your darlings"- From what I know (the amount and content of which is debatable) this piece of advice means that one must be willing to let go of a piece of writing of which you are particularly proud in order to better the story overall. This could be a clever twist of phrase that really doesn't help the story, or a plot point that, while intriguing, doesn't serve as anything more than word count filler. This is genuinely good advice, in my opinion, since it forces us writers to learn how to separate the meat from the gristle. I would say this advice is one people give the "yea, but..." treatment. They try to apply it to a passage of text and they say, "Yea, I could take this part out but...[insert self-rationalizing reason here]." Keep this advice in mind any time you are doing a revision, and it will help keep you on track. Yes, there are exceptions, but they better be good ones.

"Show, don't tell."- Another good piece of advice...however one that can get taken to an extreme. The essence of it is making sure that what you are writing is action, whether it's physical movement of the characters, emotional conflict, dialogue, whatever. Something is happening, moving, building up to a disaster. A reader should be able to see or envision it going on. You don't want to just write, "Susan was mad." Boring. Bland. Blah. How about, "Susan slammed the door, kicked the cat across the room and stabbed her curling iron through the wall." (poor kitty) Sure, it's more words, but it's more fun to read and you can hopefully see a clear image in your mind of someone doing these things. But...again, writers can take this to an extreme. There are times it will actually move the story faster and make it less boring by just telling the readers what happened. You can say "Ryan drove to the store," rather than showing every minute action he goes through to get there. Learning to balance between the showing and telling is actually what you should do, not tossing one out for the other altogether.

Lastly, "Write what you know."- Gah. Honestly, I hate this piece of advice, mainly because it sounds boring for me as speculative fiction writer. If I wanted to write a memoir, or a biography...sure, then I'd write what I knew. And yes, I know that it's a good idea to sprinkle concrete facts throughout even the most imaginative, delirium filled works to help the reader immerse themselves, or suspend their belief a little more. But if you only wrote what you knew, wouldn't that get tiresome? One of the biggest reasons I enjoy writing is because it forces me to face a lot of things I don't know. Right now, for instance, I've been researching a whole heckuva lot about genetics. When I started out, I knew very little about genetics, except for the scraps I remembered from high school science courses. In preparing for my story, though, I've had a lot of fun researching, uncovering odd factoids, pursuing weird science articles and the like, familiarizing myself with the terms and such. For me, that is part of the challenge...approaching a topic I might not know a lot--or anything--about and writing about it. Writing forces me to learn, and in an incredibly immersive manner, I might add. You already know what you know. That stuff will come into your writing naturally, so don't focus on that. Focus on what you don't know, and see where those stories take you. There are a lot of worlds, cultures, people, and creatures out there (and in my head) that I know nothing about. I plan to learn about as many of them as I can before I die.

So, you out there. Tell me about some piece of writing advice that you have found either incredibly helpful, or one that you realized was restricting you, or limiting you in a way you didn't see until you broke beyond it. Can these popular advice tidbits be misleading? Helpful? Confusing? Dead to rights? Let me know what you think.


I see that smile.

Two nifty things

It's Monday. The day you sacrifice on the altar of coffee with many slurps and burnt tongues and the white froth on the tip of your nose that is somehow a badge of pride to so many. Monday. The day of grumpy awakenings and shambling into work with glances to see if any of your coworkers dare to be more bleary eyed than you. If they are, then you approach and square off in the territorial duel known as "the worst weekend story." This might involve hangovers, explosive plumbing, or escapades involving the words "hospital," "rabid weasel," and "greased chopsticks." You fill in the blanks and send me the results.

In other words, Monday is a great day to brush up on How to Be a Villain. That's right. An entire primer on building your secret lairs, world-destroying weapons, and deciding whether to invest in ninjas or flying monkeys as your evil minions. Just start reading it on the subway on your way to work and see how fast you get the seats around you cleared.

Second bit of news...Jim Butcher has discovered podcasting: The Butcher Block
Listed as an irregular podcast featuring all things Jim Butcher, as well as a few things Jim's fans might find cool. Also, before I go, here's a reminder that it's less than two weeks before The Dresden Files comes to the SciFi channel. I don't get much excited for television these days, but I've got this marked, and am daring to hold high hopes that it will prove worthy of the watching.

Enjoy your Monday, you villains.


I see that smile.

Things you should know

First, David Edelman is holding a contest over at his site, in which first and second place will win signed, personalized copies of Infoquake. The contest? To write the opening lines from a bad novel about Jewish Marxist werewolves in Bolivia. The contest runs for two weeks, ending promptly at midnight of Friday, Jan. 19th. I can't wait to see what comes out of it, and yes, I'll do my best to make a submission as well.

Next, check out this rant by Mike Resnick, in which he gives a convincing argument that E.T. (the movie) was an intellectually insulting science fiction flick, among with most of the genre films Hollywood is spewing out these days. He starts with this point:

1. If E.T. can fly/teleport, why doesn't he do so at the beginning of the film, when he's about to be left behind? (Answer: because this is what James Blish used to call an idiot plot, which is to say if everyone doesn't act like an idiot you've got no story.)

And finally, this link to the galleries of artist Tom Hallman, who has done cover art for Dean Koontz and Stephen King, among many others. Some incredible images and art here, showing what I believe to be great eye-snatchers that sit among the shelves and remind us why good stories still need good cover art. I mean, are there are any images in there that you wouldn't at least check out upon seeing?

This upcoming week, posts on writing advice that you might not want to listen to, thoughts on worldbuilding, and a resource on how to be a proper villain.


I see that smile.

I don't do longhand

Why? Simple. I'm left-handed. And as such, whenever I write with pen or pencil, I tend to smear it across the page and across my skin. Since my handwriting is little better than dipping an epileptic spider in ink and letting it crawl across the page, I figured I should give myself the best chance of actually being able to read what I've written. So I stick to typing, and only use longhand to scrawl the occasional mad-dash note when a thought comes to me out and about.

We left-handers (southpaws, or Ciotóg as we're known by the Irish, which means 'strange people') are special, and not just because our mommies told us so. We're a minority, at least. 70-90% of the population is right-handed, depending on which survey you ascribe to. And while according to this article, left-handers are more prone to being "schizophrenic, alcoholic, delinquent, dyslexic, and have Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, as well as mental disabilities," we at least enjoy the element of surprise in a fight, since most people are used to fighting those who throw right hooks, or guard and attack the mirroring right side. Nifty, huh?

We have our own website club , an online store devoted to left-handed products (Though I think the left-handed coffee mugs are a little bit of a scam, myself), and now a holiday: August 13th.

Still not convinced that we're special? Check out this list of famous left-handers, including a number of U.S. presidents, H.G. Wells, and...umm...Jack the Ripper, apparently.

Ahem...

So what's your method, madness and excuse? Do you prefer writing an entire novel in a stack of notebooks, or does your laptop have a nickname and its own personal plug-in at the local Starbucks?


I see that smile.

Horses for writers

A lot of fantasy stories seem to have horses as a main mode of transportation, at least for the common folk. Of course, wizards get their teleportation spells, and there are dragon riders, gnomish dirigibles and as many other ways of getting around as there are books and authors. But horses keep coming up as a common denominator for guards, troops, fleeing a city, traveling on a quest, and so on.

So, have you actually ever ridden a horse? The last time I did was when I was about ten. I remember the carrot that it spat into the dirt halfway through chomping it, and then its tendency to rub snot onto my hand as I tried to pet its muzzle. I remember the temporary panic as yon beastie lurched beneath me my first time in the saddle and the feeling that I was riding something uncontrollable should it decide to buck me.

Beyond that, and a smattering if basic terms like "saddle," "reins," "bridle," and "don't step in that," I really don't know much about horses. Yet I admit to using them in my stories. Albeit they don't show up in much detail, but my characters have been known to hop on and ride into the sunset, or off a cliff, if I've plotted well.

The point of this barnyard ramble? The discovery of this handy research tool:

Horses for Writers by Elizabeth J. Baldwin
(writers? riders? get it?)

Purchase this ebook through Holly Lisle's website. (Holly is a consummate world-builder and writer of excellent caliber herself. My favorites of hers are Talyn or the Secret Texts series, staring with Diplomacy of Wolves). As she puts it--

"This book [Horses for Writers] is spare, direct, and frequently funny, and every piece of information in it is something you can use immediately to make the horses in your books feel real and act real…and to save your book from being one of those quoted for idiocy on Horses In Fiction panels at writers’ conferences. Baldwin’s years of experience training, riding and keeping horses can save you from enormous embarrassment in your work."

This ebook will save you a lot of research time, which, of course, will give you all that much more opportunity to write. That's a good thing, remember? Those blank pages aren't going to type themselves.


I see that smile.

Best Science Fiction books of 2006

B&N's 10 Best SF Books of 2006

Bookgasm 5 Best SF Books of 2006

Oddly enough, two books made it on both lists. First is David Louis Edelman's Infoquake. I'm sure you've seen me mention it before, so if I didn't convince you then, maybe this will help you take notice.

The second is The Android's Dream, by John Scalzi, which I've yet to read myself, but is apparently quite a fun romp. I'll pick up a copy if you will. Whaddya say?

Take a look at the lists and see what you've read and what you haven't. Then it's time to fill in the gaps. Right now I'm eating through two books by Steven Brust--