Bliadhna mhath ùr a-huile duine! Happy New Year everyone!
Tentacles and Bagpipes (sounds like the name of a pub)
First of all, my big news is that The Drabblecast accepted my “Earth Music” story!!! I am truly thrilled. This is a story I’ve previously blogged about writing and editing (also known as my alien and bagpipes story). It began about a year ago on 1 January 2012, whilst I was attending a “First Footing” event and thinking about a writing prompt from Cat Rambo’s SF&F class.
If you aren’t familiar with Drabblecast.org, you should be! Check out their short story podcasts – it’s free and awesome! They really live up to their byline, “strange stories written by strange authors for strange listeners”. To be perfectly honest, not all of the stories appeal to my personal taste (I suppose my strangeness is not fully developed), but all of them are beautifully produced. I am honored that they accepted my story, and I can’t wait to listen to it (so far I don’t know when that will be).
Miriah in (beginning) Archery Class
A little over a year ago I sent in my first story submission – and got my first rejection from Daily Science Fiction on 20 December 2012! The email print-out is prominently displayed over my desk, next to a framed copy of my first acceptance.
My stats for the past year:
Acceptances: 2
Rejections: 12
Pending: 1
Number of different stories submitted: 5
(Writing-rpg posts: a little over 100)
I will resist (sort of) the temptation to make a list of New Year’s resolutions about writing. “Resolution” seems like one of those ill-fated words. A word destined to result in failure, a word that weighs you down with its negative subtext.
Instead I’m going to declare some writing Intentions for the New Year. These are my personal goals, subject to change and in effect only for so long as they motivate me in a positive way!
Writing Intentions (NOT resolutions) for 2013
1.Write AND submit ten new short stories (goal: one a month)
2.Finish the first draft of my novel (goal: 2,000 words per week)
3.Blog more frequently (goal: weekly)
What writing intentions/goals have you set for yourself in 2013?
Today, I’m a part of The Next Big Thing blog hop, thanks to speculative erotica writerVictoria Pond, author of My Lady Gambler. The Next Big Thing is a branching pyramid-of-prose for authors to discuss their latest release or WIP. Each author answers ten questions (see below for my answers), and then tags other writers to do the same.
So it’s kind of like a chain letter for writers, without the dire threat of evil consequences if you break the chain. (Oh hey, that could be a writing prompt. Hmm…)
Rainbow over Marymoor Park in Redmond Washington
At the moment I am primarily focused on writing short stories and even submitting a few. But, I’m going to play along with the spirit of this exercise, and answer the questions based on my novel Work In Progress… using a very broad definition of “Progress”. It’s also the book I started for NaNoWriMo.
1. What is the working title of your book?
Arthropod’s Touch
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
The idea for the “creatures that need killing” in my book came from watching a murmuration of starlings video. This is truly a spectacular sight, but just imagine if you saw that after watching Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. Now imagine insects instead of birds.
My two main characters were conceived of as part of the backstory for one of my Player Characters in my cooperative writing Role Playing Game. Since then they have transformed and grown into separate personalities who demand their own unique world.
One influence in my world building has been the pervasive inequality in western culture. I tried to imagine an ideal, and was also thinking about the MVP (Minimum Viable Population) concept in terms of humans colonizing a new planet. How would I (or my fictional counterpart) select humans to colonize a new planet with the intent of a) making sure the human race survived and b) increasing the likelihood that a new human culture would develop without a privileged class based on gender, race, sexual orientation, etc. This was the beginning of my world building. I’ve found that a vision of idealized perfection is a great place to start because then I can figue out all kinds of stuff that can go wrong.
3. What genre does your book fall under?
Post science fiction heroic fantasy.
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Now that is difficult, but I will give it a WAG (wild ass guess).
The brother might be played by Ben Barnes, whom I remember best for the title character role in the film “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”.
I think I’d like the sister to be played by Parminder Nagra, whom I loved as Jess in the film “Bend It Like Beckham”.
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Whilst coming to terms with what they are, siblings Kestra and Razmer must rescue their Sept’s children, expose the Dyozan Bishop’s purpose for kidnapping them, and unite the Clades against a greater threat: the Sturmitera are swarming again and humanity cannot survive another Grand Murmuration.
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Until I have an actual manuscript in my hand, this is something of a moot point. My gut inclination would be to go the traditional route. But, who knows?
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I would need a time machine to answer this question. So instead I will declare a goal: to finish my first draft one year from now.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
My hope would be to create something that fans of Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books might like. Not that I could come close to her awesomeness! And whilst I’m in the land of wishful thinking, I would also hope it might appeal to fans of David Gemmell’s Drenai Series.
9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?
My mother is a big inspiration and source of encouragement. She provides an attentive ear for bouncing ideas around. When I’m having trouble figuring out a scene or short story, describing it to her helps me clarify it in my head. If I can’t explain it aloud, I know I have some more day dreaming to do. And of course I couldn’t be writing at all without the support of my wonderful husband!
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
One of the things distracting me from writing this novel is the backstory. There is a short story, or possibly a novella simmering in the back of my head about the humans from earth that colonized the planet, and the aliens that are there when they arrive. I may need to write that story first.
That’s it! The Next Big Thing Blog Hop! Are you a writer willing to be tagged for the Next Big Thing blog hop? If so, let me know via comment or email [ miriah (at) live (dot) com ] and I’ll add you to my list here!
Now, I hereby tag these writers to answer the same questions in about a week. (Or when they get around to it. No dire consequences, remember?):
Well, here it is December already. I would like to say that I skipped posting to my blog for the entire month of November because I was busily plugging away at my NaNoWriMo novel. That’s what I’d like to say. But the truth is that I stopped nano-ing about a week-and-a-half in. It wasn’t a complete loss. I wrote about 7,500 words of the novel I had in mind, and about 6,000 words of the pre-quell novella that I also had in mind. So I didn’t come close to “winning” Nano. But – the way I look at it – it’s more than I had before.
I have some resolutions for the next Nano…
1) Get my family on board with supporting me. In advance.
2) Make sure that if there are any submission deadlines coming up at the end of November, I will finish that story before Nano starts.
3) Complete the detailed outline for my Nano-novel before NaNoWriMo starts.
Hmm. I see a pattern here…
This Green Woman is on the wall over my desk;-)
One thing I DID accomplish in November was writing and submitting a story for an “Urban Green Man” anthology. It had been two months since the last time I submitted a story, so it felt really good to send one out.
Another thing I did in November – that I’m counting as an accomplishment, but was really more like a fun distraction – was post two “Drabbles” (stories of exactly 100 words), and three “Twabbles” (exactly 100 characters each) in the Drabblecast.org forums. I’ve created a new page – Fiction in a Flash – here on my blog to share them.
I’m still First-Reading for Strange Horizons. It’s a volunteer gig that can be somewhat time consuming, but I feel that I am learning SO much.
This is the mandatory blog post that all bloggers who participate in NaNoWriMo make. The one where I announce to the world the full extent of my writing insanity and say, “Yes, I am planning to write a novel during the month of November.”
Yes! I am participating
Never mind that I have dozens of time consuming things already on the calendar for November. Never mind Thanksgiving, never mind Christmas shopping, never mind that my twins’ birthday is the first week of December. Because somehow I am going to make time to write (on average) 1667 words a day.
One year and three days ago, I heard about NaNoWriMo for the first time.
For anyone out there who still has never heard of National Novel Writing Month, you can read about it on their website here. The basic idea is that writers from all over the world attempt to write fifty thousand (50,000) words of a new novel during the month of November.
Last year on October 29, I decided try it. I logged in and signed up. With no time to prepare, I based my story (very loosely) on the backstory of one of my PBEM RPG characters, in an alternate universe version of the world the RPG is set in. I accomplished the 50,000 word goal. I met a few fellow Nanos at write-ins and online (one I still write with). But at the end of November my “novel” was a mish-mash of vignettes that barely held together as a narrative.
This year I planned to have a carefully prepared outline. But here it is October 30, and still no outline.
But, I do have a story in mind. I have spent a great deal of time thinking about the world of my story. I know the main characters and the villain. I know the conflict. I’ve done quite a few of the exercises in Alan Watt’s book “the 90-day novel”. So, I have a plan, which is more than I had last time.
If you are Nano-ing also, I would love it if you “buddy” me on the Nano web site! My user name (no surprise here) is “Miriah”.
Last weekend I attended Foolscap, a small, local Fantasy and Science Fiction convention. One of several cool things about Foolscap is the Friday Writer’s Workshop. I got to attend four presentations, all of them extremely useful and informative.
The Villains workshop was particularly eye-opening for me. It was taught by the amazing Kat Richardson, author of The Greywalker Novels. She recently wrote an essay, “A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy” about how important a Villain is to a story. Kat is not only a gifted writer, but also an excellent teacher.I had several actual “ah-ha” moments during Kat’s workshop. In particular, I have two short stories I’ve been working on that were sort of “stalled” because I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what. Now I know – they need a “better” villain! The villain defines the conflict. If the story is kind of ho-hum and uninteresting, it’s probably because the conflict is too vague or undefined. What does it need? A villain. A villain that’s as deep and fleshed-out as the hero.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. A couple weeks ago I was in the process of creating my new character for a GURPS-based role playing game. My husband and I joined a group that is just starting a new campaign. So I was paging through the “GURPS Basic Set: Characters” book, reading about possible Advantages and Skills for my character. I mostly skimmed through the positive traits I could “buy” with points. The Disadvantages (faults) and their consequences were far more interesting. (I chose “Weirdness Magnet”, -15 points.)
A robin and his breakfast.
Speaking of villainy, I am now a First Reader at Strange Horizons! I am very excited about this opportunity. It’ll take a lot of time and work, but I feel so honored to get this awesome learning experience!
No, I will not be blogging about reading from the “slush pile”. For anyone that is interested in an “inside perspective” from the point of view of experienced First Readers, I recommend Sarah Olson’s blog post (from a few months back) “Slush Readers’ Advice for Writers”.
I recently wrote a guest blog post for Penumbra eMagazine. When I received that email from the blog manager asking if I was interested in writing a guest blog, I felt really pleased and flattered they asked me. That was my first reaction. My second reaction was panic. What would I write about?
We went for a family hike up Little Si, North Bend WA, on August 25. View of an interesting part of the trail, with criss-crossing tree roots.
I often think there is a certain arrogance or audacity to keeping a blog about becoming an author, especially since I am not in any way an expert on (well anything really, but especially) writing. There are many other blogs on the internet written by widely published authors who can give far better advice than me. (Links to some of my favorites appear in the “Resources for Writers” table on the right.) When I blog I try to stick to my own experience and the perspective of a writer just starting out and trying to get published.
So for my guest blog, I wrote about something that was going on in my life (sorting through my family’s collection of children’s books) and related that to writing speculative fiction.
But first, I read all of the entries on the Penumbra blog for the last three months to get an idea of what other blog posts looked like. (That actually increased my anxiety, because the site has interesting posts written by some very noteworthy people.) I also did some internet research, searching on “guest blogger etiquette”, to make sure I didn’t do anything really stupid or embarrassing. Then I wrote the post. Lastly, I submitted my guest blog post early (just-in-case it needed editing or revision:-)
If you read that guest blog post on Penumbra, you may be wondering which picture books among the collection were my favorites. I have many, but here are a few:
So now I’ve written a blog post about blogging. (Hopefully that’s not as lame as it sounds.) What are your favorite children’s books, and how have they influenced your writing?
This week the twins and I have been visiting my mother in my home town, and tonight I will be participating in a time-honored American tradition. I’ll be attending my high school reunion.
My (fraternal) twins
In terms of writing, it’s been a productive week. I did some major editing on one short story, and made progress on the first draft of another. I also wrote a guest blog post, and once it goes online I’ll link to it here.
For my own blog I added a Twitter feed, Blogroll, and “Resources for Writers” table. (I am embarrassed to admit how long it took me to figure out how to use the WordPress Links Widget. So I won’t.)
There is something surreal about a high school reunion. In many ways it’s difficult to figure out why I want to attend. High school was one of the low points of my life. I was painfully shy, had few close friends, and low self-esteem. I didn’t attend my senior prom, mainly because no one asked me. Academically, I was/am smart, but I only did well in the subjects that interested me. In retrospect I was a downright average, angsty and self-centered teen. So after thirty-five years, why on earth would I want to relive any of that?
For me, the reunion’s biggest draw is the potential to reconnect face-to-face with people I truly regret losing touch with.
Unlike in films or in some books, one moment in time does not define who someone is now. People evolve. Anyone who really wants to can redefine themselves as many times as they need to during their lifetime. I’m looking forward to getting to know some of my ex-classmates again, to finding out where they are now, and to appreciating how they’ve grown.
One thing I’ve learned from writing is that every life experience has the potential to become story fodder. As a speculative fiction story setting, a high school reunion is practically cliché. (BTW, if a time-traveling version of myself wants to carpool in a DeLorean, come on by. Just sayin’.)
No doubt I will be uncomfortably reminded of the person I was when I was eighteen. She had a few more flaws I’m not going to advertise here. The odd thing is, I still feel like the same person, even though I’ve changed. I wouldn’t be surprised if she shows up as a character in one of my stories. So there’s one advantage to being reminded of her. Tonight I’ll get to observe how time has affected a few dozen other people. Some of them may appear in a story or two down the road.
The Dragon guarding our front door, with Rowan berries.
It’s Lùnastal, also known as Lughnasadh and several other names including the first of August. Lùnastal is among other things a harvest festival; a time to celebrate the first fruits of summer and to anticipate the bounty of the harvest season. This seems a good time to reflect on the things I have accomplished, or not accomplished, so far this summer.
Confession time. Summer is more than half over, and since my kids said goodbye to elementary school in June, I have not finished a single story. I foolishly (or responsibly – my POV changes) scheduled summer activities that meet my children’s needs instead of my own. After all, being a parent is my day job and writing is my hobby.
Our summer started with the biennial Slighe nan Gaidheal 2012 Seattle Fèis. I reprised my 2010 committee role as registration manager on top of my newish role as SligheTreasurer. It was a truly wonderful experience and because of the hard work and dedication of many people, especially event chairs Seumas Gagne and Kate Freeburg, a tremendous success. But until recently I was utterly burnt out.
What have I been doing to improve my writing, when I can’t get more than ten or fifteen minutes in a row of quiet writing time? I have been reading. Pretty much any writing instructor or author will tell you that reading in the genre you’re writing is essential, and I have definitely found that to be true. Before I started trying to write short stories, I hadn’t actually read many short stories. (Charles de Lint’s short stories are the exception; I’ve been reading both his novel-length and short fiction for a long time.) So I’ve been reading short stories from online speculative fiction eMags. I just finished a collection of Connie Willis’ short fiction, and yesterday I bought a Steampunk anthology edited by Sean Wallace.
I could also claim to have writer’s block, except that would be a lie. What I have is more like writer’s ADHD. I start reworking a story that’s been languishing in the first-draft stage, and then I get distracted by a new idea. I take a break to write down the idea (either for a new story or some aspect of an in-progress story) and tell myself I just need to make sure I don’t forget it. The next thing I know, I’m writing that new/other story. Until the next distraction!
Speaking of writing distractions, I will add world building to my list. I have been developing ideas I have for a novel that will take place on another planet. Creating that world is both daunting and exciting; and of course fun! The dominant sentient species there is human. How did they get there? What happened to the original alien inhabitants? What are the origins of the two main religions, and how have they deviated from their founder’s intentions? How have the cultures and religions been affected by the environment? It’s a bit like playing god (or goddess in my case;-)
This photo has nothing at all to do with my blog post! I took the kids to Idylwood Park last week, and this family of ducks were going around stealing food. The crowds of people didn’t bother them at all.
Yesterday I got an email from the Editor in Chief of Penumbra eMag.
My “Dream Catcher” story will be in the September Native American folklore issue!!!
I must admit that I was sort of expecting to hear from Penumbra. I had been watching acceptance and rejection reports on Duotrope, so I knew the decisions would be made around mid-July about what stories would be used for the September issue. At the end of April I got a “passed on to the next level” email, and in mid-June I got a “final round of consideration” email. So I was looking forward to a personal rejection, and I already had the next market-for-submission picked out.
When that email arrived in my inbox yesterday, I had to read through it a couple of times before it sunk in that I really did get an acceptance. I found my husband watching TV and told him. I went back to my computer to read the email again to make sure it was still there. I phoned my mother. I emailed my sister and a close friend. After about an hour, I still hadn’t gotten another email telling me it was all a mistake, so I posted an announcement on my facebook page.
I also agonized for about twenty minutes over whether or not it was appropriate to reply to the email acceptance with a thank you. In my speculative fiction critique group, we have discussed responding to a rejection several times. (Btw, the conventional wisdom I have gathered is that you do not respond to a rejection. Editors are usually far too busy to deal with even a “thank you for your consideration” email. Some emag website submission guidelines even ask writers not to.) But, no one ever talked about how to respond to an acceptance! In the end, I went with my gut feeling and I did send a thank you email, to which the EIC responded graciously.
So now I guess I’ll be working on getting that second story published;-)
viewpoints 