Elegy for a Mayfly

A short time ago I found out I had clinched a spot in The Iron Writer Summer Solstice Open, and the Preliminary Round is underway now.  The challenge elements for this story are:

The Avengers vs. The Justice League of America (as if I know anything about superheroes)

A Minion (yes, one of those Twinkie-looking creatures from Despicable Me)

A Traveling Chamber Pot Salesperson (as if I know anything about traveling chamber pots)

Also, the story must be told from the point of view of Death, the Grim Reaper.

I was up against three other writers in my bracket (The Anne Rice bracket) but two of them bowed out, a craven dodge I'm presumptuously attributing to my intimidating reputation.  One brave soul dares to defy me, however: Danielle Zwissler.  She must be destroyed.

To that end, I humbly beseech you, dear reader, to vote for my flash fiction (525 words) short story, "Elegy for a Mayfly."

Please read and vote, or save time and just vote.  I won't tell!

Iron Writer Challenge Update

And the winner is... me!

Thanks to everyone who voted for my flash fiction story, "Like a Steel Trap" during the Iron Writer Challenge #67.  I came in second in the reader poll but the panel of judges selected my story the winner!

Obviously, the judges were more discerning than the mob of philistines who voted for my competitors.

Now, on to the next challenge.  I think this win qualifies me for the upcoming Iron Writer Summer Solstice Open.  Details and shameless importuning for votes to follow....

Like a Steel Trap

I recently joined a great online writing group called The Iron Writer, which challenges writers to write 525-word "flash fiction" stories using four preselected elements from a mystery basket.  My first Iron Writer Challenge story is called "Like a Steel Trap" and includes the following four elements:

The Gods
Dice
Cocktails
Irrigation boots

That's right.  Irrigation boots.

I chose Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, and put together a gritty little tale that answers the question, "what if forgiving and forgetting just isn't an option?"

Read and vote, please! (Update: voting is now closed)

Crowd-subsidized Publishing

It's been a terribly long time since I have posted anything on this blog, and indeed, it's been a long time since I've written much of anything.  Why?  I've been busy working on a project called Fictivity Press.  In short, it's an experiment in what we are calling "crowd-subsidized publishing," a method of self-publishing similar to a vanity press (also known as subsidy press).  The main difference is that—instead of the writer paying to have his or her book prepared for publishing—Fictivity Press raises much of the funds through so-called crowd-funding sites such as IndieGoGo.

The first book selected for Fictivity Press's BookLaunch program is Pete Oxley's The Infernal Aether, which I've already invested a lot of time in.  I'll be doing the line editing and proofreading for the book some time after the IndieGoGo campaign has ended.  We're off to a very convincing start on this inaugural project but we can use all the help we can get.  You can pre-order an electronic version of the book for a contribution as small as $5.00.  Please visit the campaign home page and contribute what you can, even if it's just helping spread the word.

Is "crowd-subsidized publishing" for real?  So far, it looks pretty good!

Pantsers vs. Plotters

I've written here, here, and there on the topic of creating plots, outlines and story lines in fiction, but I still frequently become embroiled in the "Pantser vs. Plotter" wars.  In other words, some writers sit down and write "by the seat of their pants," while others meticulously plot every jot and tittle before writing a line.  For some reason, many seem to think this is an all-or-nothing decision, but I disagree.

I am a notorious fence-sitter, which permits me the luxury of criticizing every ideological tribe with abandon.  With respect to writing, I find this manifests as a virulent strain of Plotting Pantserism, as I prefer to use a hybrid method combining elements--and advantages--of both strategies.  Lee Strayer at Atomic 27 Media has interviewed me on my peculiar (but eminently sensible) approach, and featured an excerpt of our conversation in his latest Magnetic Wireless podcast.

Give it a listen, won't you?  I mean, can't we all just get along?

Can You Hear Me Now?

 

A year and a half after publishing The Last Adventure of Dr. Yngve Hogalum, I'm now venturing into the brave new (for me, anyway) world of audio publishing in two different media forms.

I'm in the early stages of an Audible.com audiobook production read by the incomparable Lee Strayer of Atomic 27 Media.  The plan is to release the Magnetron Chronicles stories as they were originally conceived: in serialized form.  More details as they become available...

In other news, New Zealand-based Booktrack has created a new hybrid media form that enhances ebooks with synchronized music, sound effects and ambient sound (sample).  Booktrack has invited me to try out their upcoming beta studio, so I hope to have some titles available in their store soon.  That's assuming they have an appropriate sound effect for a zombified severed head piloting a steam-powered spacecraft.

Strong Verbs: The Writer's Action Heroes

This is the ninth installment in the continuing story of "Editing Mister D," a joint project to coach British nonfiction writer Pete Oxley through completion and publication of his first novel-length fiction work, now tentatively titled "The Infernal Aether."

Perhaps my most distressing writing bugbear is the scourge known as the “weak verb.”  Verbs are action words, so it would seem that simply using a verb would tend to jazz up an otherwise unremarkable noun but, alas, that is not always the case.  Some verbs are just so wan and lethargic they sap the life from entire paragraphs.

What is a weak verb?  My definition is: a verb which conveys too little information or description.  Hold on—a verb is supposed to be descriptive?  Isn’t that the job of adjectives and adverbs?  Well yes, adjectives and adverbs describe, but verbs can often do so as well, often better than any adjective or string of adjectives.  A verb can even contain a metaphor, all in  a single word.  And a verb that can do all of that is what I call a “strong verb.”

Where to Start: Opening Your Story

This is the eighth installment in the continuing story of "Editing Mister D," a joint project to coach British nonfiction writer Pete Oxley through completion and publication of his first novel-length fiction work.

You’ve been quite disciplined about your new story idea, laying out the whole plot, getting a good handle on your storyline and characters, and so you sit down to write.  The blank screen is your canvas, the keyboard your brush, and the world is full to bursting with possibilities.  Getting started is half the battle, you tell yourself, and you hunker down to write that smashing first sentence, which will flow naturally into your sparkling first paragraph, setting the stage for your compelling first chapter.  After a few false starts, you begin to type:

“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”

Stirring the Pot: Creating Lifelike Characters

This is the seventh installment in the continuing story of "Editing Mister D," a joint project to coach British nonfiction writer Pete Oxley through completion and publication of his first novel-length fiction work.

The wait is over, at least for me, as Pete sent me his newest story outline today.  He's got a much tighter storyline even though the story still combines steampunk elements such as clockwork automatons and paranormal phenomena together with fantasy elements.  It's a multi-layered setting unlike any steampunk world you've ever visited.

We'll be delving into some specifics in the next installment, but for now, the good news for Pete is that he gets to start writing again.  His outline will keep him on track, and his character sketches will help guide him as he scripts the story.  He was concerned about returning to writing with the character sketches not quite finished, but I advised him get back to writing again.  This doesn't mean character sketches aren't important, but they will often draw themselves to some degree as we write.

Metamorphosis: On the Plastic Nature of Stories

This is the sixth installment in the continuing story of "Editing Mister D," a joint project to coach British nonfiction writer Pete Oxley through completion and publication of his first novel-length fiction work.

If you are constantly asking questions about your story, characters, setting, and so forth, the troublesome result is that you will have answers.  I say that answers are troublesome because they force you to be specific about things that were once shapeless and ambiguous, and because they oblige you to make changes.  They say no one likes change, but change is an integral part of the writing process.

Now that Pete has returned to the developmental stage, he has made a great variety of changes, from renaming two of his central characters to cutting out an entire chapter's worth of story line.  This isn't at all unusual in the developmental stage, but the need for remaining flexible and open to change continues throughout the writing and editing stages as well.  As I've said, nothing is carved in stone until a story goes to press.  Until that time, no aspect of a story should be considered sacrosanct or beyond reconsideration.

Why, Indeed! Strengthening Your Story with Questions

This is the fifth installment in the continuing story of "Editing Mister D," a joint project to coach British nonfiction writer Pete Oxley through completion and publication of his first novel-length fiction work.

If you have ever spent much time around kids, you know that some time after the Terrible Twos, they turn into "Why-maraners," asking "why?" about everything under the sun.  Kids are just naturally inquisitive; they're not trying to drive adults insane.  They really do want to know why the sky is blue.

Kids also have poorly developed internal governors, so they often horrify grown-ups by asking uncomfortable questions.  "Why is your hair blue?"  "Why is your belly so big?"  "Why do you smell funny?"  Again, they're just curious, and the easiest way to find answers is to simply ask questions, right?

So, what does this have to do with writing?  I'm glad you asked!

One Thing Leads to Another: Story Planning

This is the fourth installment in the continuing story of "Editing Mister D," a joint project to coach British nonfiction writer Pete Oxley through completion and publication of his first novel-length fiction work.

Pete and I have been batting his story outline back and forth for about a week, with all sorts of editorial gore, gnashing of teeth, and the obligatory return to drawing board scene.  In short, I'm putting Pete through the wringer, with good reason, and he is coming through with flying colors thus far.

Why is this process so difficult?  We're not trying to do any elaborate setting of scenes or nuanced dialogue.  We're just laying out all of the major plot points in a rough chronological sequence.  The reason, as Pete is finding out, is that we approach our stories in the wrong way.

Dem Bones: No Tears Outlining

This is the second installment in the continuing story of "Editing Mister D," a joint project to coach British nonfiction writer Pete Oxley through completion and publication of his first novel-length fiction work.

We've all heard that an outline is the first step in writing a story or anything at all lengthy.  I'm like you, though.  I hate outlining.  Let's face it: outlining a story is about as inspiring and feels about as creative as copying the first 100 pages of the phone book with a golf pencil.  The sheer drudgery of it can take the wind out of your sails before you've even begun to get creative.  Just the Roman numerals alone are enough to put me off outlines and just plunge right into the fun stuff: writing.

There's just one problem with this: you still have to outline.

Editing Mister D: A New Project

I've been contemplating branching out into editing for years now, and I've finally taken a concrete step toward that goal. I ran a short contest at Wattpad and found a talented writer named Pete Oxley, who is working on a kind of steampunk series featuring a mysterious character known only as Mister D. We're going to be collaborating on a project to get Pete's intriguing stories refined into a finely tuned, hugely marketable ebook for sale at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all the usual suspects.

As this project progresses, I'll be blogging selected excerpts of our work, our communications, and behind-the-scenes activity of getting a manuscript from draft to print. We'll even be building Pete's social media platform and doing some basic promotion. If you're a writer, you'll learn a lot by following along. Even if you're not a writer, this ought to be an entertaining look at the brave new world of ebook self-publishing.

I've just asked Pete a whole slew of questions to get a better handle on where he's going with his stories, and as soon as I get some answers, I'll be posting some of our work here. Stay tuned...

The Smiljan Breach in Print

eSteampunk's long-awaited second issue

At long last, the December 2012 issue of eSteampunk is available from the steampunk imprint of eFiction.  This issue features "The Smiljan Breach," my prequel to the Magnetron Chronicles series, featuring Dr. Hogalum on a Viennese bender, the Luftigel's maiden voyage, and a cameo appearance by none other than Nikola Tesla.

eSteampunk's second issue also brings you Matt Bett's "The Safest Passage," George S. Walker's "The Case of the Night-walking Automaton" and eSteampunk's first serial, "Black Dragon Blues," plus stunning cover art by Jonathan Hunt.  Available in PDF, MOBI, and EPUB formats for only $3.99!

New Novel Underway

I'm trying my hand at modern horror, with Station Five, a paranormal thriller set in a skilled nursing facility:

"Mia Cordova is a nurse's aide at Los Arcos Care Center, a large skilled nursing facility caring for the profoundly disabled. Abby Tate, Mia's patient, has been in a coma for almost two years, kept alive on a ventilator. When Abby unexpectedly wakes up to find herself a quadriplegic, she is overcome by inexpressible fear, grief and anger. It seems that only Mia can connect with her bright young patient and calm her rage, but Abby's fury soon takes on a dark, malevolent power that threatens to destroy everyone and everything around her."

As of this writing, I've pretty much completed Chapter One, available free at Wattpad.  Enjoy, and feel free to comment!

Big Doin's

A few announcements are in order, as The Last Adventure of Dr. Yngve Hogalum has now reached the psychologically significant (to me, anyway) "threshold of respectability" at Wattpad with 10,000+ reads!

This story has also been selected by the staff at Wattpad as a "Featured Selection" for October, which designation will garner a fair amount of publicity (I hope).

The clock is also ticking on the fourth volume in the Magnetron Chronicles series.  It will be called "High Crimes and Miscreants," and I'm on track for a mid-September release at all your favorite ebook retailers.

Finally, I'm working on a short story to submit to the inaugural issue of eFiction's new Steampunk edition.  I've got some of it online at Wattpad and would welcome any and all comments on it!

Does this bustle make my butt look big?

Steampunk icon G. D. Falksen, looking dapper and deadly serious

About twelve years ago, some friends of mine and I were knocking about some ideas on a collaborative writing project.  I found an interesting old Victorian Era drawing of an airship, added some funky lettering, and the National Hogalum Airshow and Speculative Fiction Workshoppe was born.

My creativity thus sparked, within a few months or so I was writing a (now defunct) web serial called The Secret Journals of Phineas J. Magnetron.  It was set in the 1870s, and narrated by the eponymous Phineas, a quirky inventor who also happened to be a member of the Hogalum Society, a secret organization of adventuring crime fighters.

I had unwittingly succumbed to the allure of steampunk.