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Posts Tagged ‘short stories’

New Series Announced: Best American SF&F

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Ooh, shiny! John Joseph Adams (editor, anthologist and publisher of Lightspeed, among many other things) will be series editor for the new Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy. See his blog post about this terrific development here. More details about the series, how to submit or nominate, and the first incarnation featuring Joe Hill as guest editor, may be found here.

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Free Download: “The 2014 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology” at Stupefying Stories

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Another year, another free Campbellian download!

Stupefying Stories has just made available M. David Blake’s “The 2014 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology.” This collection contains more than 860,000 words of fiction by authors eligible for this John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer award. Fabulous fiction, and all free free free!

Limited time offer, get yours today!

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New Story at Perihelion Science Fiction

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’m very pleased to tell you that I have a new story, Just Like [Illegible] Used to Make, up at Perihelion Science Fiction. It’s now freely available online. Enjoy!

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Why I’m Smiling…

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’m very pleased to report an acceptance from the good people over at Cast of Wonders.

When you start off, you have to deal with the problems of failure. You need to be thickskinned, to learn that not every project will survive.

— Neil Gaiman

All too true, but I’m glad that this project did:)

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The First Pancake Problem

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’m working on a draft of something today, and it helps to remind myself that the important thing, the first thing, is to get it down. I can fix it later, and even if I don’t to quite my satisfaction, I’ve still done something.

“Anyone who’s ever made America’s favorite round and flat breakfast food is familiar with the phenomenon of The First Pancake. No matter how good a cook you are, and no matter how hard you try, the first pancake of the batch always sucks. It comes out burnt or undercooked or weirdly shaped or just oddly inedible and aesthetically displeasing. Just ask your kids. At least compared to your normal pancake–and definitely compared to the far superior second and subsequent pancakes that make the cut and get promoted to the pile destined for the breakfast table–the first one’s always a disaster. I’ll leave it to the physicists and foodies in the gallery to develop a unified field theory on exactly why our pancake problem crops up with such unerring dependability. But I will share an orthogonal theory: you will be a way happier and more successful cook if you just accept that your first pancake is and always will be a universally flukey mess. But, that shouldn’t mean you never make another pancake.”
— Merlin Mann

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The Future Powered by Fiction

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

If you or someone you know is between the ages of 13 and 25 and into science fiction, check out the Tomorrow Project’s new competition. Together with the Society for Science & the Public, ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination and the Intel Foundation, they have put together “The Future Powered by Fiction” competition:

… an innovative fiction competition geared at 13- to 25-year-olds worldwide, asking them to contribute science fiction stories, essays, comics and videos to explore the kinds of futures we want to work toward together.

Fun! Prizes! A chance to shape the future! If this sounds good to you, visit the above link for full submission details.

I think this is a terrific idea and only regret that my crazy cool nephew isn’t old enough to get in on the action. Even if you don’t qualify, or you’re a teacher interested in this as the groundwork for classroom activities, the site has some great material for building these kinds of creative projects, including examples of previous winners, themes and tools to get started.

It’s free to enter, is open to entries from anywhere on the planet (sorry, extraterrestrials!) and the deadline is November 14, 2013.

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What Makes a Good Short Story

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

While this article* might be more appropriately titled “What Makes a Bad Short Story,” it’s still an interesting read from Heidi Pitlor, editor of The Best American Short Stories series and someone with an astonishing exposure to the depth and breadth of short stories.

…”Sometimes, story writers seem to forget to write scenes.” This sort of thing is fine if scenelessness is done intentionally. But too often, we as readers enter a story via a small action (a door opening, a phone ringing) and then are held captive while the author utilizes a disproportionate amount of space introducing a character, his marriage, his children, his divorce, his parents and his emotional limitations before we return to the room he just entered or the phone call that just begun. In a 17-page story, each page matters. Each sentence matters. Pacing matters.

This may be more of an issue in literary fiction than genre fiction, but it can happen anywhere. (I’m currently reading a genre novel where life-and-death chase scenes are regularly interrupted by peaceful jaunts down memory lane. Srsly?) If you want me to rush headlong into a story, don’t put up speedbumps. And while we’re at it, don’t take life so seriously:

Here are some things I wish I saw more frequently: humor, genre-bending, humor, risk-taking, a more direct addressing of real world matters, humor.

Having somewhat goofy tendencies myself, I’m pleased to see her emphasis on humor. Because what’s the point if you can’t laugh, am I right?

* Yes, there’s a typo in the article. No, it’s not a big deal, no matter what she does for a living. Would you rather she’d refused to publish the piece in an obsessive attempt to ensure its perfection, before finally giving up and tossing it in the trash? I would not:) Do the best you can, but keep moving ahead.

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Busy Day

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on September 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Busy, busy today, too much to do and not enough writing time. I did just get a great rejection (or as I like to say, a pre-acceptance), from a senior editor who asked to see more material. If that isn’t fuel for the fire, I don’t know what is.

Here’s hoping your day is also productive and encouraging…

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The Scent of Things to Come

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on September 4, 2013| 2 Comments »

I’m very pleased to announce that “The Scent of Things to Come” is now available online in Nature‘s September 5th issue. The artwork is gorgeous, too.

I have to say this absolutely makes my day:)

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Submit!

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 27, 2013| 1 Comment »

If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.
— Thomas J. Watson

Today I finish two new stories and submit them. At least, that’s my plan. It’s a good plan. Even if I lose, I win:)

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