Below is the list of books that I read in 2010. I'm fairly certain it's accurate, as I was pretty good about updating this log when I finished a book. I also put links to the reading journal posts where applicable. The last two reviews are coming soon as I just finished them.
The Chronicles of the Black Company - Glenn Cook
The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Little, Big - John Crowley
The Runelords - David Farland
Spellwright - Blake Charlton
The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Brotherhood of the Wolf - David Farland
Moonwise - Greer Gilman
The Etched City - K.J. Bishop
The Animal Bridegroom, Poems - Sandra Kasturi
So, I only read 10 books in 2010. 10 books in a year is just shameful! Well, I'm not going to shoot for 11 books read in 2011. I'm going to have to aim higher than that.
31 December 2010
27 December 2010
Rejection
The bad: rejection from Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
The good: personal note and invitation to submit in the future.
It is as I feared (I should really start listening to those voices in my head): the pace is too slow. I need to change the beginning back to the way it was before. I can do that easily because I kept my submission to Flash Fiction Online.
I'm a little happy about this rejection though. Strange right? Right after I submitted it, I found another mag I think this story will really fit well with. So a few little tweaks and I think I'll have it...
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Etched City - K.J. Bishop
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
Beyond the Cemetery
The good: personal note and invitation to submit in the future.
It is as I feared (I should really start listening to those voices in my head): the pace is too slow. I need to change the beginning back to the way it was before. I can do that easily because I kept my submission to Flash Fiction Online.
I'm a little happy about this rejection though. Strange right? Right after I submitted it, I found another mag I think this story will really fit well with. So a few little tweaks and I think I'll have it...
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Etched City - K.J. Bishop
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
Beyond the Cemetery
13 December 2010
A Reading Experience
This is going to be more of a description of my reading experience with Greer Gilman’s Moonwise. The basic story is simple, but experiencing the text is utterly magical. This is why fantasy is my chosen genre. Reading it transports you, the prose effects a wonder that strikes at my heart. And this book did that so well that I am going to talk more about that than anything else. If you want a book review go find one at Amazon. If you want to find out what it’s like to read Greer Gilman, read on.
Moonwise is Greer Gilman’s first book, originally published in 1991. It won the Crawford award in 1992, and was nominated for the Tiptree and Mythopoeic awards. It was released in hardcover by Prime books in 2005 and reissued by Wildside books in 2006.
I know she wrote this book over the course of 10 years on a typewriter with no outline, and no plan for it. For this, the work was well edited (though I did find a few line errors). I know going back through this much text and making sure everything is in the right place is difficult to say the least, and the business-savvy side of me screams of inefficiency, but I only have the most respect for a mind that can successfully wrangle with that.
I’d heard so many great things about Gilman, and I’d seen her participate in various panels at Readercon and Boskone. She is a brilliant folklorist and wildly creative woman. But after hearing her read, or more accurately perform (from another of her stories), I just had to read her books. But it was hard to find through my normal channels (used). So I was thrilled when I found it at Readercon last July and was able to have it signed.
So, with great anticipation I finally picked it up, appropriately, in September (the story takes place in fall and winter). But it’s December now. Yes, it took me a long time to read. The prose was just as dense and challenging as the literature I studied in college. I took my time with it, savoring the lines, references and double meanings like I savored those of Dickens. Even though I read it cover to cover and followed the arc of the story, I can’t help but think I’ve missed a lot of...something in the writing.
Suffice it to say, I wasn’t instantly in love with the book. It had a slow, kind of boring start with a few dead ends and little hope of clews. And I didn’t expect the story to be what Farah Mendlesohn describes in her book, Rhetorics of Fantasy, as a “portal quest” story, in which the characters go through a portal from the normal world to another. Moonwise started in contemporary times with two girls, Sylvie and Ariane, who see the same world I see.
I prefer my fantasy untouched by the modern world. I usually don’t like contemporary fantasy stories as much because the main characters are my filter to the world, and I’d rather see it through the eyes of a native than someone like me.
Yet, I can hardly say Sylvie and Ariane are like me. Although they are denizens of the 20th century, if I met one of them in person, I might describe them as otherworldly. They were a promise of what was to come: enchantment, folkloric references and skillful world creation. These things charmed me and kept me examining page after page.
After the story got going, Gilman always keeps the suspense and tension up. One way she did this was by making the world never comfortable. I’d pity the characters and wonder at their survival. They were always freezing and wet and sleeping on rocks, or even when they found a welcoming home, it was bad news and holding out the suspense and dread of what is to come.
I’ve finished this story once, but I know I’ll come back to it and go find her other books. With its wonder, it has wakened sleepy and tired spots in my brain that I had forgotten, it has opened up new parts of my brain, and it has filled them with possibilities--nature abhors a vacuum.
This blog entry is cross posted at Wandering Around the Words.
This blog entry is cross posted at Greater Portland Scribists.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Etched City - K. J. Bishop
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: On Fate's Waiting List
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
Beyond the Graveyard
Moonwise is Greer Gilman’s first book, originally published in 1991. It won the Crawford award in 1992, and was nominated for the Tiptree and Mythopoeic awards. It was released in hardcover by Prime books in 2005 and reissued by Wildside books in 2006.
I know she wrote this book over the course of 10 years on a typewriter with no outline, and no plan for it. For this, the work was well edited (though I did find a few line errors). I know going back through this much text and making sure everything is in the right place is difficult to say the least, and the business-savvy side of me screams of inefficiency, but I only have the most respect for a mind that can successfully wrangle with that.
I’d heard so many great things about Gilman, and I’d seen her participate in various panels at Readercon and Boskone. She is a brilliant folklorist and wildly creative woman. But after hearing her read, or more accurately perform (from another of her stories), I just had to read her books. But it was hard to find through my normal channels (used). So I was thrilled when I found it at Readercon last July and was able to have it signed.
So, with great anticipation I finally picked it up, appropriately, in September (the story takes place in fall and winter). But it’s December now. Yes, it took me a long time to read. The prose was just as dense and challenging as the literature I studied in college. I took my time with it, savoring the lines, references and double meanings like I savored those of Dickens. Even though I read it cover to cover and followed the arc of the story, I can’t help but think I’ve missed a lot of...something in the writing.
Suffice it to say, I wasn’t instantly in love with the book. It had a slow, kind of boring start with a few dead ends and little hope of clews. And I didn’t expect the story to be what Farah Mendlesohn describes in her book, Rhetorics of Fantasy, as a “portal quest” story, in which the characters go through a portal from the normal world to another. Moonwise started in contemporary times with two girls, Sylvie and Ariane, who see the same world I see.
I prefer my fantasy untouched by the modern world. I usually don’t like contemporary fantasy stories as much because the main characters are my filter to the world, and I’d rather see it through the eyes of a native than someone like me.
Yet, I can hardly say Sylvie and Ariane are like me. Although they are denizens of the 20th century, if I met one of them in person, I might describe them as otherworldly. They were a promise of what was to come: enchantment, folkloric references and skillful world creation. These things charmed me and kept me examining page after page.
After the story got going, Gilman always keeps the suspense and tension up. One way she did this was by making the world never comfortable. I’d pity the characters and wonder at their survival. They were always freezing and wet and sleeping on rocks, or even when they found a welcoming home, it was bad news and holding out the suspense and dread of what is to come.
I’ve finished this story once, but I know I’ll come back to it and go find her other books. With its wonder, it has wakened sleepy and tired spots in my brain that I had forgotten, it has opened up new parts of my brain, and it has filled them with possibilities--nature abhors a vacuum.
This blog entry is cross posted at Wandering Around the Words.
This blog entry is cross posted at Greater Portland Scribists.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Etched City - K. J. Bishop
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: On Fate's Waiting List
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
Beyond the Graveyard
01 December 2010
click...
Just submitted "On Fate's Waiting List" to Beneath Ceaseless Skies!
average response time is 3-5 weeks.
If this goes poorly I'm going to think about revising this thing again...
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Moonwise - Greer Gilman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
average response time is 3-5 weeks.
If this goes poorly I'm going to think about revising this thing again...
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Moonwise - Greer Gilman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
27 November 2010
Rejection from Clarkesworld
Dear Cynthia,
Thank you for the opportunity to read "On Fate's Waiting List." Unfortunately, your story isn't quite what we're looking for right now. Each month, we receive hundreds of submissions and while I may like many of them, I can only publish twelve of them per year.
In the past, we've provided detailed feedback on our rejections, but I'm afraid that due to time considerations, we're no longer able to offer that service. I appreciate your interest in Clarkesworld Magazine and hope that you'll keep us in mind in the future.
Take care,
Neil Clarke
Publisher/Editor
Clarkesworld Magazine
www.clarkesworldmagazine.com
Simple form letter... but that's all Clarkesworld does anymore as I hear it.
__________________________________________________________
Currently Reading
Fantasy: Moonwise - Greer Gilman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Thank you for the opportunity to read "On Fate's Waiting List." Unfortunately, your story isn't quite what we're looking for right now. Each month, we receive hundreds of submissions and while I may like many of them, I can only publish twelve of them per year.
In the past, we've provided detailed feedback on our rejections, but I'm afraid that due to time considerations, we're no longer able to offer that service. I appreciate your interest in Clarkesworld Magazine and hope that you'll keep us in mind in the future.
Take care,
Neil Clarke
Publisher/Editor
Clarkesworld Magazine
www.clarkesworldmagazine.com
Simple form letter... but that's all Clarkesworld does anymore as I hear it.
__________________________________________________________
Currently Reading
Fantasy: Moonwise - Greer Gilman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
23 November 2010
I've Submitted
I just submitted my story "On Fate's Waiting List" to Clarkesworld. They have a 36 hour average response time. I find this is making me more antsy about submitting than normal. Usually I just click send and try to forget about it, but this is going to come back to me so quickly I can't stop thinking about it. Thanksgiving isn't even helping.
Next story for me to work on is my world founding mythology story for Limna, the world in which my novel takes place.
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Moonwise - Greer Gilman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 1
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
Next story for me to work on is my world founding mythology story for Limna, the world in which my novel takes place.
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Moonwise - Greer Gilman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 1
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
17 November 2010
Greater Portland Scribists: Writing Fears
Greater Portland Scribists: Writing Fears: "Former literary agent Nathan Bransford recently posted a question to writers on his blog: “What is your greatest fear as a writer?” I’m goi..."
04 November 2010
I havn't abandoned this blog!
But, oh, have I been busy!
I've been working on this special project, and I haven't really talked about it here yet. I believe I mentioned it two months ago (?!?) in my last post. But I thought it was time to formally cross-blog about it.
A couple writer friends and I have put together a group, Greater Portland Scribists, or GPS. We meet weekly (yes that's why I've been so busy), to discuss our group progress, each other's writing and to write. Hopefully by next summer we will be able to produce an anthology ebook of our stuff. In the mean time we are keeping our blog up to date with ebook news and weekly (Wednesday) articles written by us. I just posted yesterday myself. Go read it!
Of course, I'm also still working on getting published in the magazines and will try to publish my novel after it is revised, which I will do after I have a short story published. And my 3 year plan is to become a member of SFWA.
So with all that going on, I've found myself kinda burnt out of my own writing goals. Time to change that. With winter coming, I think I'll be able to look inward and really get what I want, and soon. :)
Currently Reading
Fantasy: Moonwise - Greer Gilman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
On Fate's Waiting List
I've been working on this special project, and I haven't really talked about it here yet. I believe I mentioned it two months ago (?!?) in my last post. But I thought it was time to formally cross-blog about it.
A couple writer friends and I have put together a group, Greater Portland Scribists, or GPS. We meet weekly (yes that's why I've been so busy), to discuss our group progress, each other's writing and to write. Hopefully by next summer we will be able to produce an anthology ebook of our stuff. In the mean time we are keeping our blog up to date with ebook news and weekly (Wednesday) articles written by us. I just posted yesterday myself. Go read it!
Of course, I'm also still working on getting published in the magazines and will try to publish my novel after it is revised, which I will do after I have a short story published. And my 3 year plan is to become a member of SFWA.
So with all that going on, I've found myself kinda burnt out of my own writing goals. Time to change that. With winter coming, I think I'll be able to look inward and really get what I want, and soon. :)
Currently Reading
Fantasy: Moonwise - Greer Gilman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
On Fate's Waiting List
04 September 2010
I've been writing
I've been working on the artisan story that got rejected by flash fiction online last March. I've given it a lot of thought and even workshopped it with my fellow scribists. It is now 6 pages long, and it ends. That's right. I wrote a short story that ends. And I really love the way it is turning out.
I'll be workshopping it with my meetup group, Rocketship Unicorn at the end of the month. And then hopefully submitting it.
Now I just need to work on rewriting my old story, The Making, from before Seton Hill. It's a creation myth and I've been recently inspired on how to end it :).
I feel a trend coming on.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: Brotherhood of the Wolf - David Farland
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
Soul Starved
I'll be workshopping it with my meetup group, Rocketship Unicorn at the end of the month. And then hopefully submitting it.
Now I just need to work on rewriting my old story, The Making, from before Seton Hill. It's a creation myth and I've been recently inspired on how to end it :).
I feel a trend coming on.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: Brotherhood of the Wolf - David Farland
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Workshoping:
Soul Starved
22 August 2010
just something to keep me going...
“Genre is a matter of knowledge, which some people have (e.g. those writers who produce genre fiction and those readers who make their way through it) and other people don’t. It is impossible not just to write, but to market and sell and to review or read, a crime novel (for example) without a good understanding of the history of the genre and the various ways in which it has worked. Genre, in other words, has no time for naivety or ignorance.” –POPULAR FICTION by Ken Gelder
The Magicians--Lev Grossman
Quick review today...
Overall, I loved reading this book. Grossman’s style is impressive as is his vocabulary. He strings words and phrases and paragraphs together to create admirable passages.
So this lovely writing was pretty much what let me get through the book itself. Think Holden Caulfield meets Harry Potter. Except our MC is no prophesied hero who is going to save the world. He’s just your normal person, who happens to be able to do magic, trying to get through life.
We have our emo, smarty pants high school student, Quentin Coldwater, whose every wish is granted when he is transported to a college where he will study magic. That part of the book I related to. I went to college and it was pretty much the same kind of thing for Quentin--except there was magic. Watching college kids learn to handle magic was indeed entertaining.
But when he graduates the book takes a major downturn. Quentin is confused about what to do after college when he no longer has a curriculum to follow, is no longer under the institutional umbrella. This is the standard quarter life crisis problem. I went through that too, but he reacts to the situation very poorly. He never grows up; never faces the challenge of living his life and it makes me kind of hate him.
Then, when it gets so bad that he does have to grow up and deal with life, he pretty much gives up and sits there doing nothing with his life until his friends come and save him.
One thing the story left me out of was “the Narnia thing.” Grossman made the characters obsessed with C. S. Lewis’ Narnia stories, but calling it Fillory instead because of permissions issues. I never read these stories, a shame I know, so all of the references were lost to me.
While I didn’t like what Quentin what doing, it fit his character and the circumstances making the whole work cohesive. Grossman tied the beginning to the end and wrapped it up neatly.
I finished reading the book for the great style, and the rest of the characters. They reminded me of many people I’ve known and they didn’t react to “Real Life” as badly as Quentin did.
So if you like to watch other people suffer, or just love to be sympathetic toward them, this is an excellent book in every way.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: Brotherhood of the Wolf - David Farland
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Overall, I loved reading this book. Grossman’s style is impressive as is his vocabulary. He strings words and phrases and paragraphs together to create admirable passages.
So this lovely writing was pretty much what let me get through the book itself. Think Holden Caulfield meets Harry Potter. Except our MC is no prophesied hero who is going to save the world. He’s just your normal person, who happens to be able to do magic, trying to get through life.
We have our emo, smarty pants high school student, Quentin Coldwater, whose every wish is granted when he is transported to a college where he will study magic. That part of the book I related to. I went to college and it was pretty much the same kind of thing for Quentin--except there was magic. Watching college kids learn to handle magic was indeed entertaining.
But when he graduates the book takes a major downturn. Quentin is confused about what to do after college when he no longer has a curriculum to follow, is no longer under the institutional umbrella. This is the standard quarter life crisis problem. I went through that too, but he reacts to the situation very poorly. He never grows up; never faces the challenge of living his life and it makes me kind of hate him.
Then, when it gets so bad that he does have to grow up and deal with life, he pretty much gives up and sits there doing nothing with his life until his friends come and save him.
One thing the story left me out of was “the Narnia thing.” Grossman made the characters obsessed with C. S. Lewis’ Narnia stories, but calling it Fillory instead because of permissions issues. I never read these stories, a shame I know, so all of the references were lost to me.
While I didn’t like what Quentin what doing, it fit his character and the circumstances making the whole work cohesive. Grossman tied the beginning to the end and wrapped it up neatly.
I finished reading the book for the great style, and the rest of the characters. They reminded me of many people I’ve known and they didn’t react to “Real Life” as badly as Quentin did.
So if you like to watch other people suffer, or just love to be sympathetic toward them, this is an excellent book in every way.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: Brotherhood of the Wolf - David Farland
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
08 July 2010
not really
You only think this is a post....
I'm just showing my excitement because I'm leaving for Readercon in Burlington, MA tomorrow :D
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
I'm just showing my excitement because I'm leaving for Readercon in Burlington, MA tomorrow :D
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
05 July 2010
I've written
I've finished writing the rough draft of my labyrinth story. :) I just need to fix a ton of things and add a scene or two. Hopefully I can keep it below 5000 when I'm done revising.
I hope I don't do what I did with this story ever again. I started writing it months and months ago. I knew the ending of it and then just got bogged down in the middle. It sat and sat and sat and I never finished it.
As a writer who tends not to write outlines, I think that by knowing the end I just wasn't excited about writing it as I already knew what it would be. However I am using outlines more and more these days.
If I want to be a professional writer, I need to stick to the writing no matter what. I need to make myself outline and blow through the rough draft then revise. Otherwise I just won't make the deadlines and therefore a living.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
I hope I don't do what I did with this story ever again. I started writing it months and months ago. I knew the ending of it and then just got bogged down in the middle. It sat and sat and sat and I never finished it.
As a writer who tends not to write outlines, I think that by knowing the end I just wasn't excited about writing it as I already knew what it would be. However I am using outlines more and more these days.
If I want to be a professional writer, I need to stick to the writing no matter what. I need to make myself outline and blow through the rough draft then revise. Otherwise I just won't make the deadlines and therefore a living.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
04 July 2010
Spellwright by Blake Charlton
So this one is not quite a classic. I needed to take a break from the classic fantasy literature and get into some fresh work by someone new. Well, I may have decided that after hearing about this book. I came across it during the Amazon/Macmillan kerfuffle at the beginning of the year. As this book was set to release in March, it was used as an example of how Amazon was hurting the authors more than the publishers. Charlton is a new author so having Amazon pull his publishing house near the release date would really hurt his numbers if it wasn't resolved quickly.
So I took a look at the book. The cover was intriguing, it had great blurbs from trusted sources and, and the title was a pun. Yes I love puns, deal with it. But the pun didn’t just end with the title, it extended throughout the book in a beautiful conceit. It was a high fantasy to boot, something that is losing steam in the publishing industry. This book was something I had to read. And a few months later, I checked it out of my local library. I can’t afford to go and buy hardcovers these days, and read it cover to cover blowing off the other things I should have been doing…
There aren’t just puns! There are also many fun linguistic twists that really tickled my love of language. The magic system is entirely based on language, so Charlton had many opportunities for word-play that he took advantage of.
I liked more than just the language of this cute, quick read of a book. The fantasy tropes were used in a fresh way. The main character, Nicodemus, is prophesied to save language but something wasn’t quite right. He has a language disability, what we’d call dyslexia, which affects his magical abilities in profound ways. Like I said in my last post, I really like when prophecies are used differently. “There was this prophecy, but it’s wrong and we can’t use it to guide our steps.” The notion brings a very realistic flair to the lives of our main characters and makes me appreciate their problems much more.
Much of the story is rooted more in the local and broad politics and religion of Nicodemus’ world. This is a complex and full world. On all levels, different powers have different magical languages and they all have their own political agendas. Charlton expertly weaves a complex political web, letting characters represent different factions and letting the conflicts center in one small place. The political, religious and academic factions cross paths seen from the front row inside a small wizard’s school. Yet this is no Harry Potter. Nicodemus must win a war to save language, but first he must overcome his own limitations.
Charlton also pulls from mythological traditions. As far as I could tell, Norse, Celtic and Greek. And then he pushes them around and alters them for his own uses. These gods are not just figureheads in stories, they are real beings and are seeking their own ends, but they must first get by the humans who oppose them. They are not all powerful and they have their own rules to live by. This makes them interesting and complex characters, and another layer of conflict.
Charlton’s style is smooth and I really didn’t have too many complaints about the story. If I have to put one in this post it would be about the pacing. It felt to me that he had the most tension built up for a turning point in the story as opposed to the final denouement, and the end didn’t wrap up nicely, but dragged out a little bit (hello sequel?).
I think I will buy the paperback when it comes out because I know I will want to re-read this book, and lend it out as well.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
So I took a look at the book. The cover was intriguing, it had great blurbs from trusted sources and, and the title was a pun. Yes I love puns, deal with it. But the pun didn’t just end with the title, it extended throughout the book in a beautiful conceit. It was a high fantasy to boot, something that is losing steam in the publishing industry. This book was something I had to read. And a few months later, I checked it out of my local library. I can’t afford to go and buy hardcovers these days, and read it cover to cover blowing off the other things I should have been doing…
There aren’t just puns! There are also many fun linguistic twists that really tickled my love of language. The magic system is entirely based on language, so Charlton had many opportunities for word-play that he took advantage of.
I liked more than just the language of this cute, quick read of a book. The fantasy tropes were used in a fresh way. The main character, Nicodemus, is prophesied to save language but something wasn’t quite right. He has a language disability, what we’d call dyslexia, which affects his magical abilities in profound ways. Like I said in my last post, I really like when prophecies are used differently. “There was this prophecy, but it’s wrong and we can’t use it to guide our steps.” The notion brings a very realistic flair to the lives of our main characters and makes me appreciate their problems much more.
Much of the story is rooted more in the local and broad politics and religion of Nicodemus’ world. This is a complex and full world. On all levels, different powers have different magical languages and they all have their own political agendas. Charlton expertly weaves a complex political web, letting characters represent different factions and letting the conflicts center in one small place. The political, religious and academic factions cross paths seen from the front row inside a small wizard’s school. Yet this is no Harry Potter. Nicodemus must win a war to save language, but first he must overcome his own limitations.
Charlton also pulls from mythological traditions. As far as I could tell, Norse, Celtic and Greek. And then he pushes them around and alters them for his own uses. These gods are not just figureheads in stories, they are real beings and are seeking their own ends, but they must first get by the humans who oppose them. They are not all powerful and they have their own rules to live by. This makes them interesting and complex characters, and another layer of conflict.
Charlton’s style is smooth and I really didn’t have too many complaints about the story. If I have to put one in this post it would be about the pacing. It felt to me that he had the most tension built up for a turning point in the story as opposed to the final denouement, and the end didn’t wrap up nicely, but dragged out a little bit (hello sequel?).
I think I will buy the paperback when it comes out because I know I will want to re-read this book, and lend it out as well.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
20 June 2010
Been Doing Some Reading :)
The Runelords by David Farland
I've really been trying to step up my reading. And hey, two books in a month, next I know it'll be three! Also, I’ve been busy lately with a new project, which I’ll talk about another time, so this is going to be a fairly simple review.
Premise:(From the back of the book)
The very Earth is in pain. Its wounds must be healed. There must arise a new king: the Earth King must be reborn. Only then will humanity have a chance to survive.
The Runelords takes you for a fun. ride It offers a few things that most fantasies don’t--as far as I’ve read anyway. It has a very medival culture feel to it, but is not set in the landscape of Europe as we know it. So Farland definitely did his research for this one, and some creative work to boot. Tossed into this culture is a new concept, that of the Runelords themselves. These kings use a magical process using runes and branding (I love Scandinavian mythology so it’s almost automatic for me to like this idea) to take the best qualities donated from their loving or purchased from broke subjects theoretically to rule better but we know better than that, someone will twist this benign practice and we will get a story.
In the runelords, old traditions have changed over time and when a war unlike anything these people have ever seen marches into Rofehaven the only answer is to go back to the old ways, to follow the Earth King for this war is much more than it seems.
3 Things I liked:
• An existing prophecy doesn’t happen the way it is supposed to--now the men don’t have their guide, their script to play out. Kind of refreshing. It makes you feel like the characters don’t know what they are doing they are shooting in the dark just like real people.
• Characters fail, and fail hard and then they feel the guilt for it and have to find other answers. They see that they could have done a million things differently but they didn’t and have to cope with that and go on with life.
• They beautiful princess loses all her physical beauty, the common peasant girl becomes beautiful. It’s interesting to see how this affects them.
3 Things I didn’t like:
• The endowments sound too much like stats in role playing games. Quantifying one’s strength, speed and brains as concretely as Farland does here seems so unnatural to me.
• If I could give David Farland one piece of advice about improving the writing of this book it would be R.U.E. Resist the Urge to Explain. Some explanations are necessary for world building and catching up on previous events, but he does a great job of showing many actions and conclusions but then clutters the pages with loads of telling.
• Sloppy proofreading--I could nitpick little things extensively. This bothers me the most, for two reasons. For the last ten years or so I’ve trained myself to pick up on continuity errors in my own writing and in workshops, and I know that as an unpublished writer, one mistake like that could get my entire manuscript rejected but it’s fine for him (or his editor?) to mar his work with imperfections because he’s a big name author. Second, letting those little things through feels like taking a sharpie and squiggling lines on, say a da Vinci painting or some other masterwork. Does he have no pride in his work?
anyway, I'll get to reading the three remaining volumes of this series but I think I'll let this review stand for them all. Like I said, I'm a bit busy working on a new project. More coming on that soon.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: Spellwright - Blake Charlton
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
I've really been trying to step up my reading. And hey, two books in a month, next I know it'll be three! Also, I’ve been busy lately with a new project, which I’ll talk about another time, so this is going to be a fairly simple review.
Premise:(From the back of the book)
The very Earth is in pain. Its wounds must be healed. There must arise a new king: the Earth King must be reborn. Only then will humanity have a chance to survive.
The Runelords takes you for a fun. ride It offers a few things that most fantasies don’t--as far as I’ve read anyway. It has a very medival culture feel to it, but is not set in the landscape of Europe as we know it. So Farland definitely did his research for this one, and some creative work to boot. Tossed into this culture is a new concept, that of the Runelords themselves. These kings use a magical process using runes and branding (I love Scandinavian mythology so it’s almost automatic for me to like this idea) to take the best qualities donated from their loving or purchased from broke subjects theoretically to rule better but we know better than that, someone will twist this benign practice and we will get a story.
In the runelords, old traditions have changed over time and when a war unlike anything these people have ever seen marches into Rofehaven the only answer is to go back to the old ways, to follow the Earth King for this war is much more than it seems.
3 Things I liked:
• An existing prophecy doesn’t happen the way it is supposed to--now the men don’t have their guide, their script to play out. Kind of refreshing. It makes you feel like the characters don’t know what they are doing they are shooting in the dark just like real people.
• Characters fail, and fail hard and then they feel the guilt for it and have to find other answers. They see that they could have done a million things differently but they didn’t and have to cope with that and go on with life.
• They beautiful princess loses all her physical beauty, the common peasant girl becomes beautiful. It’s interesting to see how this affects them.
3 Things I didn’t like:
• The endowments sound too much like stats in role playing games. Quantifying one’s strength, speed and brains as concretely as Farland does here seems so unnatural to me.
• If I could give David Farland one piece of advice about improving the writing of this book it would be R.U.E. Resist the Urge to Explain. Some explanations are necessary for world building and catching up on previous events, but he does a great job of showing many actions and conclusions but then clutters the pages with loads of telling.
• Sloppy proofreading--I could nitpick little things extensively. This bothers me the most, for two reasons. For the last ten years or so I’ve trained myself to pick up on continuity errors in my own writing and in workshops, and I know that as an unpublished writer, one mistake like that could get my entire manuscript rejected but it’s fine for him (or his editor?) to mar his work with imperfections because he’s a big name author. Second, letting those little things through feels like taking a sharpie and squiggling lines on, say a da Vinci painting or some other masterwork. Does he have no pride in his work?
anyway, I'll get to reading the three remaining volumes of this series but I think I'll let this review stand for them all. Like I said, I'm a bit busy working on a new project. More coming on that soon.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: Spellwright - Blake Charlton
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
01 June 2010
another one done
John Crowley-Little, Big
I have to preface this entry by saying I’m a little biased about this book. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about it: It’s so awesome, Oh my god you have to read it, If you want to start reading fantasy start with this one, this book is so great and so on. So I dove into the pages with high expectations. I thought, if they think it’s so great, I should also think it is so great.
I should have known better. What others like is not what I like. I know I like high fantasy and epic fantasy. I like other world fantasy, including futuristic. Urban and Contemporary rarely does it for me, though rural can work sometimes. I like clever and witty narrative and dialog.
I should have quizzed these people more on what they like before I thought I’d like this monumental work of fantasy literature. But I can respect Crowley for what he did in this book.
Going into it blind, I thought it would be about a peculiar family and the house or estate they live on. But in the end, not so much. It’s about what is done to them. So the whole book is getting us familiar with their tale, with them. Making us get attached to them and feeling for them when the standard bumps of life show up in their lives. This book is about 500 pages long, and covers about five generations. Every time he jumped into a new one I got bored and agitated with it. So there were many people to whom I was supposed to empathize and develop a relationship with.
Meanwhile there are hints dropped and heavy handed (I think) foreshadowing--I actually rolled my eyes at the most prominent instance. To be blunt, it’s dodging of the fantastic annoyed me. The questioning and uncertainty irked me. And the two most main characters never even entertained the possibility. That certainly adds tension, but one makes me feel left out and two makes me want to be in someone else’s head more. There are a few brief respites though, like Crowley wanted to give us some glue or something.
The thing I disliked the most was dialog. They spoke in a halting and staggered fashion. A word, a descriptive phrase, then the rest of the sentence. People do not speak like that. Sometimes they might, but not ALL THE TIME. So he was trying to pass these people off as eccentric, sure, but I think my blood pressure went up when certain characters were speaking.
But none of that really matters in the big picture. Roz Kaveney said in a review she wrote in 1982 for “Books and Bookmen” that this is one of the few stories that reconcile humans and fairy, which it does. And I couldn’t put my finger on why I didn’t like it until I read that. The characters in this book seemed so askew for “normal” people. They’d have to be to do that job. So they didn’t appeal to me on the front of normal people exposed to fairy, or occupants of a fairy land who happened to be in our world. To me they were awkward, with a very exclusive feel, but not pretentious (otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered).
So hearing Ms. Kaveney’s conclusion, and having read “From Homer to Harry Potter,” I can easily classify this story as literature of fairy. This fantasy pulls very strongly from traditional “this world” beliefs and doesn’t take it to another world. I’ve always held stories that deal with actual Faerie slightly apart from the other fantasy I read. Usually when I refer to fantasy, I’m thinking of epic or high, or even some urban and contemporary if the fantastical elements are strong enough.
So, maybe I read it wrong, or just missed something. I don’t feel the need to read the rest of Crowley’s work to see what is particular about this book or just him. But as I’ve said above, much of this story didn’t grab me.
Okay, so what did I like about this book? Why did I read all of it? There are a few reasons. I’m a little obsessive about finishing what I start. It’s a highly influential work. I hoped it would get better. And after I got about a quarter into it and didn’t like it, I wanted to at least be able to say why honestly.
On another note... hopefully I'll have another story out for sub soon.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Runelords - David Farland
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
I have to preface this entry by saying I’m a little biased about this book. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about it: It’s so awesome, Oh my god you have to read it, If you want to start reading fantasy start with this one, this book is so great and so on. So I dove into the pages with high expectations. I thought, if they think it’s so great, I should also think it is so great.
I should have known better. What others like is not what I like. I know I like high fantasy and epic fantasy. I like other world fantasy, including futuristic. Urban and Contemporary rarely does it for me, though rural can work sometimes. I like clever and witty narrative and dialog.
I should have quizzed these people more on what they like before I thought I’d like this monumental work of fantasy literature. But I can respect Crowley for what he did in this book.
Going into it blind, I thought it would be about a peculiar family and the house or estate they live on. But in the end, not so much. It’s about what is done to them. So the whole book is getting us familiar with their tale, with them. Making us get attached to them and feeling for them when the standard bumps of life show up in their lives. This book is about 500 pages long, and covers about five generations. Every time he jumped into a new one I got bored and agitated with it. So there were many people to whom I was supposed to empathize and develop a relationship with.
Meanwhile there are hints dropped and heavy handed (I think) foreshadowing--I actually rolled my eyes at the most prominent instance. To be blunt, it’s dodging of the fantastic annoyed me. The questioning and uncertainty irked me. And the two most main characters never even entertained the possibility. That certainly adds tension, but one makes me feel left out and two makes me want to be in someone else’s head more. There are a few brief respites though, like Crowley wanted to give us some glue or something.
The thing I disliked the most was dialog. They spoke in a halting and staggered fashion. A word, a descriptive phrase, then the rest of the sentence. People do not speak like that. Sometimes they might, but not ALL THE TIME. So he was trying to pass these people off as eccentric, sure, but I think my blood pressure went up when certain characters were speaking.
But none of that really matters in the big picture. Roz Kaveney said in a review she wrote in 1982 for “Books and Bookmen” that this is one of the few stories that reconcile humans and fairy, which it does. And I couldn’t put my finger on why I didn’t like it until I read that. The characters in this book seemed so askew for “normal” people. They’d have to be to do that job. So they didn’t appeal to me on the front of normal people exposed to fairy, or occupants of a fairy land who happened to be in our world. To me they were awkward, with a very exclusive feel, but not pretentious (otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered).
So hearing Ms. Kaveney’s conclusion, and having read “From Homer to Harry Potter,” I can easily classify this story as literature of fairy. This fantasy pulls very strongly from traditional “this world” beliefs and doesn’t take it to another world. I’ve always held stories that deal with actual Faerie slightly apart from the other fantasy I read. Usually when I refer to fantasy, I’m thinking of epic or high, or even some urban and contemporary if the fantastical elements are strong enough.
So, maybe I read it wrong, or just missed something. I don’t feel the need to read the rest of Crowley’s work to see what is particular about this book or just him. But as I’ve said above, much of this story didn’t grab me.
Okay, so what did I like about this book? Why did I read all of it? There are a few reasons. I’m a little obsessive about finishing what I start. It’s a highly influential work. I hoped it would get better. And after I got about a quarter into it and didn’t like it, I wanted to at least be able to say why honestly.
On another note... hopefully I'll have another story out for sub soon.
Currently Reading
Fantasy: The Runelords - David Farland
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
24 April 2010
Where I am in my writing
When I graduated from SHU, almost a year ago, I was really hyped up on doing all the right things, taking all the right steps and getting my writing career off the ground. So I made a little list, and it looked a little like this:
Write short stories and submit them (read: get published)
Make a website
Make a reading/writing blog
Read a lot, classics, genre criticism, fantasy simultaneously
Rewrite novel
Fix synopsis
Get an agent
These items are generally arranged in the order that I would ideally complete them, but I didn’t expect it to necessarily to go as planned.
And this are the writing related things I’ve done since I graduated June 2009:
Created a website
Created a reading/writing blog… but it’s really boring
Written 3.5 stories
submitted 2 of those stories, both rejected
read 4 fantasy novels
read 1 folk tale collection
0 literary
Made a list of agents to submit my novel to
Critiqued a lot of other people’s work
Not too bad right? I’ve at least attempted to do most of the things on my list…Well, Yoda said “do or do not, there is no try.” So, I’m going to get a little more focused “doing” now.
What I need to do this summer:
Read more…learn to speed read?
Revise both rejected stories and re-submit
Finish partial story and submit
Rewrite novel and submit to agents
So hopefully with this spelled out right here, I can keep myself on track and get a foothold in my writing.
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Write short stories and submit them (read: get published)
Make a website
Make a reading/writing blog
Read a lot, classics, genre criticism, fantasy simultaneously
Rewrite novel
Fix synopsis
Get an agent
These items are generally arranged in the order that I would ideally complete them, but I didn’t expect it to necessarily to go as planned.
And this are the writing related things I’ve done since I graduated June 2009:
Created a website
Created a reading/writing blog… but it’s really boring
Written 3.5 stories
submitted 2 of those stories, both rejected
read 4 fantasy novels
read 1 folk tale collection
0 literary
Made a list of agents to submit my novel to
Critiqued a lot of other people’s work
Not too bad right? I’ve at least attempted to do most of the things on my list…Well, Yoda said “do or do not, there is no try.” So, I’m going to get a little more focused “doing” now.
What I need to do this summer:
Read more…learn to speed read?
Revise both rejected stories and re-submit
Finish partial story and submit
Rewrite novel and submit to agents
So hopefully with this spelled out right here, I can keep myself on track and get a foothold in my writing.
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
thoughts on a rejection
I just received another story rejection. So that makes 2. I’m not suffering madly here, though I did go through the standard rejection blues for a while. So yes, that means I didn’t “just” get the rejection but it was recent, okay?
I waited a few weeks to let the story and the rejection get out of my head before posting this for a reason. I want to get further away from the story and see if I could tell why it got rejected-the editor (John Joseph Adams) didn’t give any explanation.
So in looked back on this tale, Trials of the Night, I think that despite the fact I really love this story, were I an editor I would not have chosen to purchase this story either.
To be up front, my story has a few things wrong with it that I let myself ignore when I submitted it: The imagery isn’t as strong as it could be. The plot is a little out of whack. Pace and description aren’t helping each other. And the structure is not optimal.
So why’d I let myself submit this? There was a deadline, and I hadn’t planned ahead enough for it. I didn’t even have another person read the story.
So why didn’t I just say “no way! This doesn’t have a chance?” I really love the story, and it is good, it just really needs more work. And if I didn’t submit it, then I would never know if it might have sold.
What is writing if not just one long learning experience?
So now I have this story out to a friend for some critiquing. I’m interested in seeing if he has the same problems with it that I think I do.
Currently Reading:Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
I waited a few weeks to let the story and the rejection get out of my head before posting this for a reason. I want to get further away from the story and see if I could tell why it got rejected-the editor (John Joseph Adams) didn’t give any explanation.
So in looked back on this tale, Trials of the Night, I think that despite the fact I really love this story, were I an editor I would not have chosen to purchase this story either.
To be up front, my story has a few things wrong with it that I let myself ignore when I submitted it: The imagery isn’t as strong as it could be. The plot is a little out of whack. Pace and description aren’t helping each other. And the structure is not optimal.
So why’d I let myself submit this? There was a deadline, and I hadn’t planned ahead enough for it. I didn’t even have another person read the story.
So why didn’t I just say “no way! This doesn’t have a chance?” I really love the story, and it is good, it just really needs more work. And if I didn’t submit it, then I would never know if it might have sold.
What is writing if not just one long learning experience?
So now I have this story out to a friend for some critiquing. I’m interested in seeing if he has the same problems with it that I think I do.
Currently Reading:Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
19 April 2010
The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
I’ve just completed Patrick Ford’s The Mabinogi, a translation of medieval Welsh folk tales and mythological cycle. Reading this book lets me tick off one more on my list of reading to catch up on non-Greek mythology. I can say, with some embarrassment, that I have never heard of any element of these stories before, so when someone in my office glanced at the title of the book I was reading and commented, “obscure Welsh literature, great,” I felt a little absolved.
When I was just getting into the book, I was a little disappointed in the story telling. The story arcs rambled, and changed seemingly without explanation. Story lines ranged far beyond the interest point. And the laundry lists of heraldic titles and accomplishments; tasks and quests made for really dull reading. There was practically NO SHOWING. But that is what was recorded in the original manuscripts, which were written down by someone who heard someone else tell the oral story. Would the people back then simply “understand” all the tactile imagery that was possible when the characters go riding across the land? Had they done it all themselves, in an uneventful journey? The author of this book could only decipher what his modern day learnings let him to reach back and translate the Mabinogi.
The author, Patrick K. Ford is the Margaret Brooks Robinson Research Professor of Celtic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University. Needless to say he wrote this book with academic interests and not story telling in mind. Despite being very sparse, with little imagery and barely three dimensional characters the stories serve to give us 21st century denizens a peek into the ways of old cultures. However I can see how each of these 6 – 40 page stories could be turned into a rich novel, however dark.
These tales aren’t for the weak-of-stomach. From crushing skulls barehanded, stealing, rape, murder, torture to animal cruelty they show the worst of human nature. They show what people do to get what they want: woman, money, power, land, respect, honor and revenge. And sometimes people do terrible things to breach hindrances.
My favorite story was that of “Manawydan son of Llŷr.” Even though this story is rangy, and the events a little jerky we see magic, trouble, rescue, punishment by social decree and then the wrongs are righted. I just love happy endings; well I like it more when the jerks who were wrong get what’s coming. Mainly I like the story line where a group of people are displaced from their own land and must wander to find a new place, yet no matter how hard they work, they cannot find a place they fit in. And after some time they return home and break their curse. I like this because they didn’t give up. They didn’t sit idly waiting to find a way. Even when they weren’t trying to break the curse, they were working hard, trying to get by because they had to.
That's it for now. Maybe someday I'll come back to these tales for story fodder, or for further study.
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
When I was just getting into the book, I was a little disappointed in the story telling. The story arcs rambled, and changed seemingly without explanation. Story lines ranged far beyond the interest point. And the laundry lists of heraldic titles and accomplishments; tasks and quests made for really dull reading. There was practically NO SHOWING. But that is what was recorded in the original manuscripts, which were written down by someone who heard someone else tell the oral story. Would the people back then simply “understand” all the tactile imagery that was possible when the characters go riding across the land? Had they done it all themselves, in an uneventful journey? The author of this book could only decipher what his modern day learnings let him to reach back and translate the Mabinogi.
The author, Patrick K. Ford is the Margaret Brooks Robinson Research Professor of Celtic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University. Needless to say he wrote this book with academic interests and not story telling in mind. Despite being very sparse, with little imagery and barely three dimensional characters the stories serve to give us 21st century denizens a peek into the ways of old cultures. However I can see how each of these 6 – 40 page stories could be turned into a rich novel, however dark.
These tales aren’t for the weak-of-stomach. From crushing skulls barehanded, stealing, rape, murder, torture to animal cruelty they show the worst of human nature. They show what people do to get what they want: woman, money, power, land, respect, honor and revenge. And sometimes people do terrible things to breach hindrances.
My favorite story was that of “Manawydan son of Llŷr.” Even though this story is rangy, and the events a little jerky we see magic, trouble, rescue, punishment by social decree and then the wrongs are righted. I just love happy endings; well I like it more when the jerks who were wrong get what’s coming. Mainly I like the story line where a group of people are displaced from their own land and must wander to find a new place, yet no matter how hard they work, they cannot find a place they fit in. And after some time they return home and break their curse. I like this because they didn’t give up. They didn’t sit idly waiting to find a way. Even when they weren’t trying to break the curse, they were working hard, trying to get by because they had to.
That's it for now. Maybe someday I'll come back to these tales for story fodder, or for further study.
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: Wizardry & Wild Romance, A Study of Epic Fantasy - Michael Moorcock
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
01 April 2010
another sub
I made the deadline for John Joseph Adams anthology, Way of the Wizard. I submitted my story Trials of the Night, no it's not a vampire story.
It comes in very close to a 5000 word count. I wrote most of it in one day. The first bit came over the course of the week. The very final wrap up came the day after I wrote the end of the beginning, the middle and the beginning of the end.
The words kept coming and I kept driving the characters along their arcs. I had 2 subplots and a main plot. For a short story I think I did pretty well. In fact, my short story crafting has come a long way. I'll take this moment to be a little proud of myself.
I think it was a really great draft, which I then moved to revise immediately. I didn't get to let anyone else read it first, or even let it sit for a couple days as I would have liked. I wound up working on this story pretty much right up to last minute. I guess I didn't remember from college how much I hate doing that. From now on, I'm going to ah, try to get a jump on things and not wait for panic to hunt my muse down. Sit down and crank it out. Plan everything before I dive into the words. This phrase witch has learned. I'll say that much.
I have a new problem word, "now." It seems that I've gotten over some of my past ones such as "felt" and "looked."
Maybe I'll get a chance to finish those books down there...
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 1
Agent: 0
It comes in very close to a 5000 word count. I wrote most of it in one day. The first bit came over the course of the week. The very final wrap up came the day after I wrote the end of the beginning, the middle and the beginning of the end.
The words kept coming and I kept driving the characters along their arcs. I had 2 subplots and a main plot. For a short story I think I did pretty well. In fact, my short story crafting has come a long way. I'll take this moment to be a little proud of myself.
I think it was a really great draft, which I then moved to revise immediately. I didn't get to let anyone else read it first, or even let it sit for a couple days as I would have liked. I wound up working on this story pretty much right up to last minute. I guess I didn't remember from college how much I hate doing that. From now on, I'm going to ah, try to get a jump on things and not wait for panic to hunt my muse down. Sit down and crank it out. Plan everything before I dive into the words. This phrase witch has learned. I'll say that much.
I have a new problem word, "now." It seems that I've gotten over some of my past ones such as "felt" and "looked."
Maybe I'll get a chance to finish those books down there...
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 1
Agent: 0
11 March 2010
Dismal...
I seem to have a weakness for creating short story length plots for characters I spend any time on creating. It is now the 11th of March, and I have no plot for my wizard character. I've tried ditching the character and finding new ones and spending less time on development and more on plot. But my brain is not budging. Wizards are not inspiring me right now. For that matter neither are Witches or Sorcerers. I'm trying to hard and stifling my creativity.
Adding to the pile, as I work on my outlining skills I realize that I am not very disciplined in crafting stories on demand. I can do it, but nothing I come up with speaks to me, or has an ending. The stories are boring and I don't get excited enough to write the thing.
Maybe I just need to write the story by outline and see what happens. Doing so will help me feel out what I am doing with outlines verses characters.
At this rate, I don't think I'll make my deadline on March 31st. Hmm... maybe no Internet for a week if that happens?
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Adding to the pile, as I work on my outlining skills I realize that I am not very disciplined in crafting stories on demand. I can do it, but nothing I come up with speaks to me, or has an ending. The stories are boring and I don't get excited enough to write the thing.
Maybe I just need to write the story by outline and see what happens. Doing so will help me feel out what I am doing with outlines verses characters.
At this rate, I don't think I'll make my deadline on March 31st. Hmm... maybe no Internet for a week if that happens?
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
07 March 2010
burnt and busy
I've been busy and regrettably not as much with reading and writing as I'd like... GUILT...
I have been feeling a little burnt out with everything. There's been drama at work, drama with my apartment, travel and taxes. I've been so busy with work since the holidays I'd even taken time out from my local writing group, Rocketship Unicorn, and skipped this year's Boskone. Much Sadness.
But now, work has calmed down and I've ironed out many of the wrinkles that have cropped up recently. So I've said enough. Enough wishing, enough wasting time. I'm back to doing and getting things done. Finally getting back to my writing group last Wednesday really helped. We've changed the format a little and I think it was a great change. We're actively working instead of waiting for work to come by. Everyone was really energized about it and it just felt great to talk about writing to writers again.
I recently got a peek at Jeff Vandermeer's blog and one of the lines on it has impressed me greatly. "I'm not online tomorrow." Meaning he'll just be working on writing, not reading e-mail, surfing or reading blogs, or posting blogs, or sending e-mail. "Oh, my," I thought. "Just imagine how much time I'd save, how many more words I could write if I limited myself like that." When I think of actually doing it, I think that I can't possibly not check my email every day, not read my blog list, not chat with all my distant friends and check up on facebook's feeds. This, to me, looks like I'll need to change my lifestyle a little to fit my priorities, to accomplish my dreams.
I'll end this with some writing updates. I don't have any page counts, but I can say that I've written one story, a cyberpunk about the Ark of the Covenant that I got 'shopped in my group. I look forward to revising it and submitting that soon. Other than that I've been brainstorming on two other stories that I just can't pin down.
My next deadline is March 31st for an anthology called "Way of the Wizard" edited by John Joseph Adams. I have a really great character, now all I need is a plot. Looks like I shouldn't "be online" tomorrow huh...
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
I have been feeling a little burnt out with everything. There's been drama at work, drama with my apartment, travel and taxes. I've been so busy with work since the holidays I'd even taken time out from my local writing group, Rocketship Unicorn, and skipped this year's Boskone. Much Sadness.
But now, work has calmed down and I've ironed out many of the wrinkles that have cropped up recently. So I've said enough. Enough wishing, enough wasting time. I'm back to doing and getting things done. Finally getting back to my writing group last Wednesday really helped. We've changed the format a little and I think it was a great change. We're actively working instead of waiting for work to come by. Everyone was really energized about it and it just felt great to talk about writing to writers again.
I recently got a peek at Jeff Vandermeer's blog and one of the lines on it has impressed me greatly. "I'm not online tomorrow." Meaning he'll just be working on writing, not reading e-mail, surfing or reading blogs, or posting blogs, or sending e-mail. "Oh, my," I thought. "Just imagine how much time I'd save, how many more words I could write if I limited myself like that." When I think of actually doing it, I think that I can't possibly not check my email every day, not read my blog list, not chat with all my distant friends and check up on facebook's feeds. This, to me, looks like I'll need to change my lifestyle a little to fit my priorities, to accomplish my dreams.
I'll end this with some writing updates. I don't have any page counts, but I can say that I've written one story, a cyberpunk about the Ark of the Covenant that I got 'shopped in my group. I look forward to revising it and submitting that soon. Other than that I've been brainstorming on two other stories that I just can't pin down.
My next deadline is March 31st for an anthology called "Way of the Wizard" edited by John Joseph Adams. I have a really great character, now all I need is a plot. Looks like I shouldn't "be online" tomorrow huh...
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
sticking to it
Even though I haven't posted here, in my reading/writing blog for some time, I'm sticking to it. I'm coming back and journaling my most recently finished book, which I've had finished for a few weeks, but have not had the time to blog it.
Glen Cook
The Chronicles of the Black Company
Omnibus of the first three books in the Black Company series
I read this book in a strange circumstance. I read the second omnibus (last three books) before this one. So I already knew the characters, and what would happen to them in the future. Cook so dutifully referenced and explained many of the events of the first book in the second, I could say to myself, “ah yes, I remember this,” as I came across new scenes. This is a rather disappointing way to read a book. So I’m chalking up my less-than-thrilled reaction to that.
While not making for good reading, reading out of order made for good studying. I could see how he dips back to describe old events in the here-and-now later on--the amount of detail and action he needed to evoke the memory but not to go off on too much of a tangent.
Reading out of order also presented another odd reaction in me. I liked the characters more, and quicker upon starting the second book than the first. I also thought they were more fully introduced and described going into the second than the first. I would have thought this would be the other way around. But again, I got a lesson from this. Cook had probably gotten more into the characters’ heads after three books, and better knew how to introduce them later on. And also, he didn’t stop popping in insights and descriptions of them no matter how far into the story he got.
Another theory on my more intense character attachment later in the series is that they started different, more important roles in the beginning of the second book. One thing Cook is known for is telling stories from the point of view of the common man instead of kings, princes and heroes. In the first book, the characters are all no-ones in a mercenary outfit, however they are doing important things. Yet by the second book, they all of a sudden take on new, more important roles. I don’t want to put in spoilers here, so I won’t be specific. I’d almost argue that they aren’t “the common man” anymore. Yes they still have their roots in peasantdom, but they have considerable power over others via reputation, which draws them up in society. This seems just a little contrary to the “common man” motif Cook is known for.
So after reading the middle through the end, and then the beginning to the middle, I felt a little let down by the end of the first book. This was a major turning point in the series, and their world too. There was build up, and foreshadowing tension and suspense throughout the book, and I knew what was coming. But what I was interested in was how it would happen. And, I’ll say again, it didn’t seem like much. I think he could have written it “bigger.” What it boils down to is two, or three people fighting, be they gods or beggars, it still kinda looks the same. When you watch, or read about, an even match, it doesn’t look like much. What makes it impactful is the sense of importance the author imbues in it, which is directly related to the buildup of suspense/tension. What will happen if the good guys win? The bad? What are the implications? We knew what these were, but didn’t really see, at the end of the book, what the fallout was.
Recalling the beginning of the second book, that is where the fallout occurred. Cook structured his books, his six book series, to keep the readers buying. But for me, who read them out of order, it just made it fell flat.
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Glen Cook
The Chronicles of the Black Company
Omnibus of the first three books in the Black Company series
I read this book in a strange circumstance. I read the second omnibus (last three books) before this one. So I already knew the characters, and what would happen to them in the future. Cook so dutifully referenced and explained many of the events of the first book in the second, I could say to myself, “ah yes, I remember this,” as I came across new scenes. This is a rather disappointing way to read a book. So I’m chalking up my less-than-thrilled reaction to that.
While not making for good reading, reading out of order made for good studying. I could see how he dips back to describe old events in the here-and-now later on--the amount of detail and action he needed to evoke the memory but not to go off on too much of a tangent.
Reading out of order also presented another odd reaction in me. I liked the characters more, and quicker upon starting the second book than the first. I also thought they were more fully introduced and described going into the second than the first. I would have thought this would be the other way around. But again, I got a lesson from this. Cook had probably gotten more into the characters’ heads after three books, and better knew how to introduce them later on. And also, he didn’t stop popping in insights and descriptions of them no matter how far into the story he got.
Another theory on my more intense character attachment later in the series is that they started different, more important roles in the beginning of the second book. One thing Cook is known for is telling stories from the point of view of the common man instead of kings, princes and heroes. In the first book, the characters are all no-ones in a mercenary outfit, however they are doing important things. Yet by the second book, they all of a sudden take on new, more important roles. I don’t want to put in spoilers here, so I won’t be specific. I’d almost argue that they aren’t “the common man” anymore. Yes they still have their roots in peasantdom, but they have considerable power over others via reputation, which draws them up in society. This seems just a little contrary to the “common man” motif Cook is known for.
So after reading the middle through the end, and then the beginning to the middle, I felt a little let down by the end of the first book. This was a major turning point in the series, and their world too. There was build up, and foreshadowing tension and suspense throughout the book, and I knew what was coming. But what I was interested in was how it would happen. And, I’ll say again, it didn’t seem like much. I think he could have written it “bigger.” What it boils down to is two, or three people fighting, be they gods or beggars, it still kinda looks the same. When you watch, or read about, an even match, it doesn’t look like much. What makes it impactful is the sense of importance the author imbues in it, which is directly related to the buildup of suspense/tension. What will happen if the good guys win? The bad? What are the implications? We knew what these were, but didn’t really see, at the end of the book, what the fallout was.
Recalling the beginning of the second book, that is where the fallout occurred. Cook structured his books, his six book series, to keep the readers buying. But for me, who read them out of order, it just made it fell flat.
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Little, Big - John Crowley
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
28 January 2010
Soul Starved submission update
As you can see below, if you read from the bottom up, I currently have no flash submissions out.
I just got my rejection from Flash Fiction Online. I am positive though, for two main reasons, and a bunch of other ones.
Reason One:
It was a personal note, not a form rejection. They even said it had a strong start. This is good! It even asked me to consider them for future submissions. :)
Reason two:
With their suggested revisions, my story would be too long to submit as flash, but I planned for that with a submission schedule. So I know where it will go next, after I do some tweaking.
So, I'm not floundering, or desperate. I have a plan and am confident that I can sell this story (at some point).
Happy days ahead!
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Chronicles of the Black Company - Glen Cook
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
I just got my rejection from Flash Fiction Online. I am positive though, for two main reasons, and a bunch of other ones.
Reason One:
It was a personal note, not a form rejection. They even said it had a strong start. This is good! It even asked me to consider them for future submissions. :)
Reason two:
With their suggested revisions, my story would be too long to submit as flash, but I planned for that with a submission schedule. So I know where it will go next, after I do some tweaking.
So, I'm not floundering, or desperate. I have a plan and am confident that I can sell this story (at some point).
Happy days ahead!
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Chronicles of the Black Company - Glen Cook
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: 0
Short: 0
Agent: 0
12 January 2010
Catching Up
Despite not posting, I have been wandering around the words. I've been working on finishing my current book so I can move on. One of my resolutions is to catch up on "the classics." By classics I mean Fantasy Classics. There are 4 or 5 books that I constantly hear about that I have never read. So I am going to remedy this.
As a writer, I sometimes feel that I don't have a good reading background. The fantasy novels I read that made me want to be a fantasy author were inspirations, but not real heavy hitters. Another reason to which I attribute my delinquency is a slight obsession I had with reading through the authors I loved, one at a time. And I only read from my small-town public library. I've since given up that habit--I think college broke me of it. And now I try to read a combination of the best Fantasy coming out now, classic literature and what I call "good writers." Good writers consists of authors whose styles are AMAZING but still didn't win any awards.
So I'm trying to finish the Cook omnibus (and getting there) so I can move onto I think I'll read John Crowly's Little Big. I like to see where my next step is.
While I'm on my way, getting through the book, what happens but the lightning of inspiration strikes me down. I've got a really cool idea for another short story. I'm not in the writing stage yet. I'm in the stage where I'm puzzle cubing two cool ideas together. I know there's a place for them to click. After enough "meditation" on it, I know it will click.
Off I go!
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Chronicles of the Black Company - Glen Cook
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: Soul Starved, to Flash Fiction Online
Short: 0
Agent: 0
As a writer, I sometimes feel that I don't have a good reading background. The fantasy novels I read that made me want to be a fantasy author were inspirations, but not real heavy hitters. Another reason to which I attribute my delinquency is a slight obsession I had with reading through the authors I loved, one at a time. And I only read from my small-town public library. I've since given up that habit--I think college broke me of it. And now I try to read a combination of the best Fantasy coming out now, classic literature and what I call "good writers." Good writers consists of authors whose styles are AMAZING but still didn't win any awards.
So I'm trying to finish the Cook omnibus (and getting there) so I can move onto I think I'll read John Crowly's Little Big. I like to see where my next step is.
While I'm on my way, getting through the book, what happens but the lightning of inspiration strikes me down. I've got a really cool idea for another short story. I'm not in the writing stage yet. I'm in the stage where I'm puzzle cubing two cool ideas together. I know there's a place for them to click. After enough "meditation" on it, I know it will click.
Off I go!
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Chronicles of the Black Company - Glen Cook
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: Soul Starved, to Flash Fiction Online
Short: 0
Agent: 0
02 January 2010
Little steps
I just submitted my fantasy story Soul Starved to Flash Fiction Online.
Next step wait 2-3 months for a reply.
While I do that... I'm going to get cranking on the novel again.
Go me!
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Chronicles of the Black Company - Glen Cook
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: Soul Starved to Flash Fiction Online
Short: 0
Agent: 0
Next step wait 2-3 months for a reply.
While I do that... I'm going to get cranking on the novel again.
Go me!
Currently Reading:
Fantasy: Chronicles of the Black Company - Glen Cook
Scholarly: The Mabinogi - Patrick K. Ford
Writing:(I'm slacking here)
Submissions out:
Flash: Soul Starved to Flash Fiction Online
Short: 0
Agent: 0
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