Monthly Archives: January 2013

Because Doing it Once Wasn’t Excessive Enough

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Final-CoverOn Wednesday, January 30th, (tomorrow, as this post fits in linear time. Which is an illusion, but let’s not go there right now) Scott Andrews at Beneath Ceaseless Skies will be doing one more giveaway of a signed copy of Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter , this time on Twitter. You can see the full rules here, but basically all you need to do tomorrow between 2 and 6 PM Eastern Time is tweet the title of your favorite Lord Yamada story to Scott at @BCSmagazine. This will enter you in the contest, and the winner will be drawn at random.

Here is the list of Yamada stories that are available online at BCS, though of course you can name any in the series you want:

“The Mansion of Bones” (BCS #19; Podcast BCS 017)

“Sanji’s Demon”(BCS #38-39)

“Lady of the Ghost Willow” (BCS #53)

“The Ghost of Shinoda Forest” (BCS #63; Podcast BCS 055)

“The Tiger’s Turn” (BCS #79)

“Three Little Foxes” (BCS #105)

I’d enter, but I already have a copy. Though I probably will monitor the Twitter stream and make rude noises where appropriate. (Sorry, I went to a Blue Man Group concert last night and I’m feeling a bit fey at the moment. It’ll pass.)

Things That Make Writers Cranky, Things That Make Writers Happy

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eBook cover for Ghost Trouble--The Case Files of Eli MothersbaughThings That Make Writers Cranky

Working on a story for a week or more, juggling nuance, testing for subtext, reading for continuity, trying to understand your own theme so that you’ll understand what the story is really about even if no one else ever does, doing all the things you know to do to make a story work.

And knowing all the time you’re sweating over the thing that, at this point in time and with the condition of the short story market, there isn’t any darn place anywhere that you can send it.

It’s no mystery why many writers drink. The real mystery is why they all don’t.

Things That Make Writers Happy

Milestones. We like them, probably because there aren’t that many. Unlike growing self-confidence and Writer’s Arrogance (a separate topic), there just aren’t many indications that you’re making progress, or getting it right. There are a few: your first non-form rejection (harder to parse in email, but possible). Your first re-write request. Your first story sale. Your first anthology invite. Your first novel sale. Your first award (any award) nomination. Your first “Best of the Year” nod.

One problem with a “career” that lasts more than a few years is that, after a while, you start running out of milestones, and as I said before, there aren’t that many to start with. Makes it a little harder to figure out where you stand. So I was pleased no end to finally hit another milestone last weekend: I walked into the local Barnes & Noble and found Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter on the “New SF/F” shelf. Now, granted, this isn’t the first time I’ve been in a book in a bookstore. Happened a lot with an anthology. But my one previous novel sale was to a publisher who specializes in selling to libraries, so the book didn’t get general distribution. I’ve had three other collections, but most collections don’t get general distribution either. This was the first time a book that was “MINE! ALL MINE!” was in a bookstore that I could walk into and find it there. Just like any other real book.

So another first, and I was positively giddy. And, trust me, I haven’t been giddy in a long, long time.

FYI: I’m slowly working through my backlist in an attempt to make everything that is currently available, currently available in all formats. So GHOST TROUBLE: THE CASEFILES OF ELI MOTHERSBAUGH now has a print edition. For those of you who like your books to be, you know, tangible.

Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter Giveaway

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Final-CoverI’m breaking my relatively normal late week silence to announce that Scott Andrews at Beneath Ceaseless Skies Magazine is giving away two (2) signed copies of Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter. I’ve only signed three copies total and Scott’s giving away two of them. All you have to do for a chance to win the first copy is leave a comment on the Contest Page listing the title of your favorite Lord Yamada story, and why that’s your favorite. Scott has helpfully given links to all the Yamada stories that have appeared in BCS, so if you haven’t read any of them, you can correct that immediately for your chance to win. The second giveaway will be through a contest on Twitter. I’ll give details when there are any, but the first one will probably be the easiest to get in on.

Contest aside, BCS has rapidly become the premier venue for literate adventure fantasy, so if that’s your cup of tea, you’ll find a neverending pot brewing there. Check it out.

Forests and Trees, Redux

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Japanese MaskSometimes it’s hard for me to read. That is, to read as someone who reads strictly for personal pleasure does. I made that connection a long time ago. I know there are writers who can turn their editor brain off and just read for pleasure, and I envy them. I can still do it, but only under two special circumstances: one, the book has to interest me (simple enough, but when combined with–) two, it has to be the sort of book that I would never, ever, be interested in trying to write. Which is why I can read both the Harry Potter series and classic-age science fiction without the writer brain going “Okay, that was a clever transition there. Let me see how they pulled it off… And boom, your reading experience has just been blown out of the water, since now you’re reading for technique, not pleasure, and you’re on the outside of the book looking in, instead of properly immersed in the world the writer created for you. Which is why I do have so much trouble reading for simple enjoyment. I remember doing it–ages ago, it seems now, but I do remember. Which is probably why I am inordinately fond of something like Harry Potter, or Clifford Simak. They give that back to me, at least for a little while.

As I said, I’ve been coming to terms with that for quite some time. So what actually did come as a bit of a surprise was the understanding that the research bug was having the same effect. Now even books I normally could read for pleasure are tripping me up, and I’ll hit something and go “Hmmm. I didn’t know that about Japanese Buddhism as opposed to the versions that came through China. I wonder if it’s accurate….” Boom. Tossed out of the book on my butt once again. Worse, now it’s not just books. I mean, seriously– you know you’re suffering from research overload when you’re watching Kurosawa’s version of MacBeth (“Throne of Blood”) and think, “Ok, all those blades are in tachi mounts, and the secondary sword is a tanto, and only the foot samurai are carrying what appear to be katana…therefore this was set sometime after the Kamakura period, probably into the Muromachi period.”

Dang. There go the movies. No wonder I took up guitar.

New Story Time – “A Thing or Two About Love”

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FairyGreenHairThis is an older story. It first appeared in the Wizard Fantastic anthology from DAW Books back in 1997. Sort of a thought experiment on the nature of affection. Or greed. It rather depends on how you look at it. As I said, an older story. Maybe with more flaws than I like to think I commit now. Wishful thinking, probably, but I’m still rather fond of this story. Dragon would like that.