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Posts Tagged ‘short stories’

Writing…

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on February 7, 2013| 2 Comments »

photo by Benimoto on Flickr

photo by Benimoto on Flickr

I’m writing. How’s it going? Not bad, considering. Ann Patchett has a terrific essay called The Getaway Car. One particularly telling passage details her view of writing. While the work is in her head it is perfect, she says, a beautiful, multi-dimensional butterfly in the most magical and vibrant colors. The problem with bringing the story into being is that she has to take that gorgeous creature and smash it onto a black and white page, a two-dimensional and wholly inadequate representation of the original.

It made me laugh and want to cry because I know exactly what she means.

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Making the Most of Rejection

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on January 28, 2013| 2 Comments »

I am relatively new to fiction writing. I submitted my first story in 2011 and have been fortunate enough to have some success publishing since. That said, I have also had an awful lot of rejections. Here’s the thing: I’m an academic. Ok, not anymore, but once upon a time. Getting a Ph.D. was terrific but did a number on my writing. What was I left with? Verbiage. Semi-colons. Colons. And commas, lots and lots of commas. Ever heard of a tale titled “An In-Depth Analysis of One Woman’s Experience with Conflict, Work, and Marriage: A Speculative Analysis of Gender Roles, Cross-Generational Attitudes, and Female-Centered Power Struggles in Medieval Europe”? No, because it’s a lot easier to just say “Cinderella.”

No matter what your background, writing for others is awash with rejection. I dare say that even writers like Ken Liu and John Scalzi have been rejected a time or two. The good news is that it’s not all bad. I’ve got a piece on blazing your own trail, and the potential usefulness of rejection in that process, over at the Clarion Foundation today. If you’re interested in ways to make even this potentially unpleasant experience work for you, check it out.

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Free Kindle stories from Mike Allen!

Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged , , , , on November 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

In honor of the wickedly dubious achievement of the three volumes of Clockwork Phoenix having sold a total of 666 copies in e-book form as of today, I am making my three strange short stories on Kindle (“She Who Runs,” “Sleepless, Burning Life,” “Stolen Souls“) available free for any and all to download on Amazon, starting today and continuing through Tuesday. Consider it an Evil Friday gift.

— via DESCENT INTO LIGHT » Blog Archive » Free Kindle stories! A sinister Black Friday celebration.

And who doesn’t like Evil Friday gifts (even if they come on a Tuesday)? Ends today, get them while they’re hot!

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