Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, Fiction, stories in real life, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Have you ever watched a movie and thought, “Phew, the caped crusader stopped the bad guy. It’s too bad he had to wipe out a city block to do it, ’cause that can’t be cheap”?
If you answered yes, or if you’ve ever wanted to know the difference between justifiable and reckless acts of damage (and why Peter Parker would be liable for millions before he’s legally able to drink), then this video is for you!
Insurance Lawyer Reviews Damage in Superhero Movies & TV | VF Reviews | Vanity Fair
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, appliances, home, Thoughts, writing on February 11, 2023| 2 Comments »
Yesterday, I gave my mother an appliance-related pep talk. Their fridge was making an ugly sound, but they managed to fix it, yay.)
Today, our dryer threw in the towel. Literally, as in, no matter how many times we ran the thing, the towels (and sheets, and shorts, and socks) refused to dry. Ruh-ro.
Enter Mr. Man. Trusty voltmeter in hand, he forged into the depths of the laundry room and after a valiant battle, emerged victorious. (For definitions of “victorious” that involve 3–5 day shipping of replacement parts.) The heating coil had snapped, so it was perhaps unsurprising that it could no longer perform its function.
So it was a no-writing day. Still, while the day was a bit of a wash (heh), it’s looking up!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, public policy, science fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I started multiple posts today (mackerel? Winnie the Pooh? cracking CIA kiddie codes?) but none seemed quite right. I think I’ll go shovel some snow and see if that gets my mind going.
In the meantime, here’s a piece about the usefulness of science fiction in the nonfictional world.
Connecting Science Fiction to Science Policy by Avital Percher
Science fiction can help the science policy community envision both where we end up as well as how we get there. As our social-technological problems grow ever more complex, we need a range of stories that spans the human experience and even beyond. How will we leverage new tools to improve equity and democracy in society? Science fiction can help us imagine future possibilities, opening not just our minds but our hearts as well.
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Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, free fiction, genre fiction, reprints, Writers, writing, yay on February 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I am pleased to announce that the new edition of Polar Borealis is out, and it includes “A Needle Pulling Thread.”
I wrote the story in 2018 but the themes of humanity and hope still strike a chord. My thanks to editor R. Graeme Cameron, who remains dedicated to furthering the cause of Canadian speculative fiction, and congratulations to all those in the issue.
Find the free PDF online:
POLAR BOREALIS #24 – February 2023
Poems by Roxanne Barbour, Rodolfo Boskovic, Carlyn Clink, Robert Dawson, Catherine Girczyc, Jim Smith, Richard Stevenson, and Dean Wirth.
Stories by Warren Brown, Victoria K. Martin, J.R. Johnson (hey, that’s me), Cathy Smith, Rhea E. Rose, Jacqueline Thorpe, Gerald L. Truscott, and David Wiseman.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Tuesdays, Writers, writing on January 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”
— Charles M. Schulz
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Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Motivation, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Action is hope. At the end of each day, when you’ve done your work, you lie there and think, Well, I’ll be damned, I did this today. It doesn’t matter how good it is, or how bad—you did it. At the end of the week you’ll have a certain amount of accumulation. At the end of a year, you look back and say, I’ll be damned, it’s been a good year.
— Ray Bradbury
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I have come to the conclusion that I typically have enough space in my brain for two things a day: work and one other project.
Today, my brain overfloweth.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, cozy is as cozy does, genre fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »
You know how some nights you’re looking forward to a nice relaxing book by the fire? … But then you realize that “cozy mystery” is really just another way of saying “obstruction of justice.”
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, Kafka, music, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Some days you wake up with a story idea crystallized in your mind, bright and shiny and ready to go. And some days you wake up with “She’s An Easy Lover” by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins stuck on repeat.
Guess which kind of day I’m having.
The funny part is that it’s not a song I’ve ever actively liked, I wasn’t dreaming about anything related to its subject, and it’s not the sort of fiction I tend to write. I mean, it’s not as if the song is about the lead singer of a band telling the story of how he stumbled into a dark street one night after a show and into the arms of a beautiful and deadly vampire or anything.
Right?
So maybe there’s a story seed here after all. I still don’t know why this particular song came to me at this particular time, but that’s the wild and unpredictable nature of creativity for you.
“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.”
― Franz Kafka
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.”
― Beatrix Potter
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