September 15, 2016 by J.R. Johnson
Nights are cool, maple leaves are touched with red, and while a mosquito recently gifted me one massive and very distracting bite, the pesky little blighters are all but done for the year. It is 46F as I write this, and this year’s fall equinox will take place on September 22nd.
It’s time to come to terms with the fact that summer is on its way out.
/insert brief pause for distraught handwringing… or not
•
Actually, I think I’m ok with that. Why? Because fall is a terrific season. Because I love pie (mmm, pie:). Because if you were raised on fall as I was, its absence is missed. And because the nagging feeling at the back of my mind tells me that it’s time to get back to work.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t take the summer off. I’m still working, still writing, but I haven’t had much of a presence here. My schedule has been more erratic than usual, as fishing or family or other excursions called me away. And much of the writing I’ve done is tweaking, fixing, editing or otherwise sorting out existing material.
Fall is a great time to dig in and embark on new adventures. To make big plans. Use those extra hours of darkness to dream of the new, and on waking, make those dreams real.
I hope your summer was as fun as mine, and I hope that you, too, are ready for a change. It’s time to get to work.
Posted in Writing | Tagged #ThingsILike, creativity, equinox, fall, Fiction, inspiration, Motivation, persistence, pie, speculative fiction, summer, work, writing | Leave a Comment »
August 22, 2016 by J.R. Johnson
The good folks over at The Verge have the list of 2016’s Hugo award winners, complete with links and the complete list of nominees. Lots of women and authors of color this round. All in all, this year’s award race largely shrugged off reactionaries and controversy, a real win for diversity and innovative speculative fiction. Enjoy!
Winner: Best Novel
Posted in Writing | Tagged arts, awesome, books, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, Hugo Awards, Hugos, inspiration, N. K. Jemisin, science fiction, sff, speculative fiction, writing, yay | Leave a Comment »
August 5, 2016 by J.R. Johnson
Here’s a quick update to let you all know that I’ve got a new story out today, yay! “Last Light” is a flash fiction piece that’s quick and free to read, and it’s available now from the good folks over at Page & Spine.
Enjoy!
Posted in Writing | Tagged #FreeFiction, fantasy, Fiction, flash fiction, free, genre fiction, Page & Spine, short stories, speculative fiction, writing, yay | 2 Comments »
July 25, 2016 by J.R. Johnson
Oh hello there! It’s been a while since I’ve posted, as apparently I have gone fishing. Not literally, at least not yet, but in the sense that my mind has decided that it’s time for a summer vacation. I’m still working, both on writing and other things, but it seems I needed a little break and I’m taking it here.
Remember what summer meant when the last school bell rang and the doors opened on whole months of freedom and possibility? I’m feeling a little of that right now, and dang it, I’m going to enjoy it. I hope you are too!
Posted in Holidays | Tagged fun, gone fishing, summer, Thoughts, work, yay | Leave a Comment »
June 10, 2016 by J.R. Johnson
I had a post in mind for today that I thought would be cool but, sadly, it’s not ready. Rather than go with something that’s not right, I’m setting it aside until I can do a good job or come up with something better. So in the end, what did I choose as Today’s Thing I Like? Popcorn:)
Here’s an excerpt from the family cookbook to tell you why.
Popcorn
My whole family can make this with their eyes closed, but Dad really deserves credit for setting new and higher standards for butter and salt consumption. He is blessed with a genetic tolerance for such unhealthy behavior; his blood pressure and cholesterol levels are lower than mine.
For years he’d head to the kitchen after dinner, and a few minutes later I’d hear pop pop! as hot oil turned the first kernels inside out. A few minutes more and we’d be piled on the couch with huge bowls of popcorn and masses of paper towels.
There was no television in the house growing up but at some point we acquired a copy of Star Wars and a video monitor. This was back before Blockbusters popped up down the street (or closed down, for that matter), and there were certainly no DVD players.
The tape was black and white and we watched it on a Beta machine. (Don’t remember Beta? That’s funny, no one else does either.) My brother and I watched that tape until it died, literally came apart from use. To this day I can still reel off an annoying amount of dialog and get excited when I see Star Wars in color. What could be better than a cold drink, a hot bowl of popcorn, and reciting C3PO’s lines with people you love?
Posted in Entertainment, Likes | Tagged #C3PO, #ThingsILike, entertainment, family, food, history, home, old tech, science fiction, sff, speculative fiction, star wars, Thoughts, writing, yay | Leave a Comment »
June 8, 2016 by J.R. Johnson
Ah, Wednesdays! That most glorious of days, when Monday’s want-to-do list meets Friday’s ruh-ro-must-do list in a big jumble of expectations, and it can all feel like a bit much. (Or is it just me?:)
Today I’m working on multiple fronts and happy to be making progress. That’s what I push for, most days, even when it’s not easy. On writing, I’m nibbling away at a novel, fixing up a couple of short stories to send out, and doing a workshop exercise. And oh yes, there’s the day job:)
When what I’m doing gets hard, it helps to remember that it’s not carrying a 50-pound boulder across the sea floor hard.
Color me impressed, and inspired.
Posted in Likes, Writing | Tagged #strongwomenrock, awesome, Fiction, Hawai'i, inspiration, Motivation, persistence, science fiction, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing | Leave a Comment »
June 6, 2016 by J.R. Johnson
Today’s free fiction is An Owomoyela and Rachel Swirsky’s “Between Dragons and Their Wrath” from Clarkesworld (there’s a free audio version too, if that’s your thing).
My name is Domei. I think I am fourteen. I will probably die today. If not, I will probably die tomorrow.
When it happens, I don’t think I’ll be surprised.
Enjoy:)
Posted in Writing | Tagged #FreeFiction, An Owomoyela, Clarkesworld, dragons, fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Rachel Swirsky, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, writing | Leave a Comment »
June 3, 2016 by J.R. Johnson
Today’s Thing I Like is nonfiction writing in general, and author Mary Roach in particular. If you aren’t familiar with her work, check out the books linked below or this interview with Seth Shostak at SETICon 2012.
Nonfiction can be a fiction writer’s best friend. At its best, it includes detailed, character-driven explorations of real-life situations and challenges, and can provide the sort of solid foundation a more speculative piece needs to succeed. I’ve mentioned this before, but avoiding abstractitis is key to good writing.
Specifically:
No matter how abstract your topic, how intangible, your first step is to find things you can drop on your foot.
— John Maguire
Nonfiction helps you do that, and Mary Roach is a great example of a quality nonfiction writer.
I have yet to read all of Roach’s books but Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal and Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void were terrific. Her books take a somewhat off-beat topic and delve in, deep. She’s also funny. The level of detail is satisfying and succeeds in painting an engaging portrait of her subject that is also educational. Packing for Mars, for example, is a great way for writers to familiarize themselves with the nitty gritty of space exploration, how we got to where we are now, and how we’ll get to where we’re going.
To note, if you’re interested in popular nonfiction about the intricacies of digestion or Mars exploration, check out Giulia Enders’ excellent Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ, and Steve Squyres’ Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet.
Read, then write:)
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, Science!, Writing | Tagged #ThingsILike, books, creativity, Giulia Enders, inspiration, John Maguire, Mars, Mary Roach, nonfiction, science, Seth Shostak, space, Steve Squyres, Thoughts, Writers, writing | Leave a Comment »
June 1, 2016 by J.R. Johnson
I realized that I have been trying to write a serious version of what is clearly a goofy, rollicking space pirate adventure. Obviously!
That led me to recall the following wisdom from a modern-day sage (who should know):
Figure out who you are. Then do it on purpose.
― Dolly Parton
Posted in Funny, Likes, Writing | Tagged artists, awesome, creativity, Dolly Parton, Fiction, funny, inspiration, persistence, quotes, science fiction, sff, space pirates, speculative fiction, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing | Leave a Comment »
May 30, 2016 by J.R. Johnson
Today is Memorial Day in the United States. We’ve been watching classic war movies all weekend, Patton and The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far. I’m thinking of my stepmother’s father, who campaigned in North Africa and Italy. I’m thinking of one uncle who served and came home with his humor and wits intact, and another who did not.
One set of parents is hosting a party to celebrate the hope of returning summer, another set is at the family plot cleaning graves and laying flowers. Both sides of memory are necessary, in my mind.
Part of what writers do is build creative narratives that interpret life, remember the past, reframe the present, and project into the future. Art is interpretation. Memory is selective. What we remember depends on who we are, and who we hope to be. When we stop telling stories, we start forgetting.
Today’s free fiction is Pamela Sargent’s “Too many memories” from Nature’s Futures division.
You already know what Dorothea’s most important insight was — that the reason our client had so much trouble with her memories was that she possessed no narrative structure on which to locate them.
“There’s no framework there,” Dorothea Singh said to me, “nothing to hang the memories on.”
Today, we are that framework.
Posted in Holidays, Writing | Tagged #FreeFiction, artists, arts, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, history, Memorial Day, Motivation, Nature's Futures, Pamela Sargent, science fiction, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing | Leave a Comment »
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