Category Archives: Writing

Reader Expectations vs Integrity of Story

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I almost feel the need to apologize. I’m going to talk about process again. I admit it, process fascinates me. As much or more how a thing gets done as what. I’m not sure that’s normal. There’s also the fact that I’m always going to feel more comfortable talking about what I do as I opposed to who I am. I’ll work on that, I promise, but in the meantime, this is what I have, so I’m just going with it.

This post could have just as easily been called “walking the tightrope.” There’s a truism that “all stories are really about the time and culture in which they’re written,” even if they’re set in ancient Greece or the moons of Proxima Centauri. There’s truth in that. Even if you’re trying to be faithful to what’s known about Greece in, say, 427 BCE, you’re still going to be writing from the cultural background and perspective of a person living in the 21st Century, and more to the point, you’re going to be writing for readers of the same ilk.

In short, you’ve got a problem. Continue reading →

That Was an Adventure

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Where the heck are we?Yesterday I attended what might be the oddest literary event I’ve ever been to. It was a combination picnic/booksigning way out in the country. Bear in mind, I live in Mississippi. When I say “out in the country” I do mean waay out in the country. Out in the “no address, just directions” part of the state. We got thoroughly lost, but in our defense I will say that the road we were supposed to turn down was missing its name marker, so you sort of already had to know where it was to find it. We never found it. We finally had to call the hostess to send a rescue party and get ourselves escorted to the site. Continue reading →

Saving Your Skull – You Might Need it Later

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A well known editor used to tell an anecdote about a writer who submitted a new story just about every month. The stories weren’t very good, but the polite and upbeat cover letters, the consistency of the submissions, the fact that the writer was clearly working hard and not just retelling the same story over and over, all caught the editor’s attention and he found himself almost looking forward to the monthly submissions. He showed one to a friend and remarked upon the writer’s persistence. His friend agreed that the story was ok but nothing exceptional.

A year or so later his friend called him on another matter and the editor said, “Remember so and so? I just bought a story from him.” Continue reading →

Rediscovering My Inner Fanboy

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I signed the contracts this morning, so I can go ahead and announce that “Skin Deep” from Eclipse 2 has sold to Witches: Wicked, Wild, and Wonderful, a (partly) reprint anthology from Prime Books due out next March. The editor is Paula Guran, and I’ll be sharing a ToC with Jane Yolen, Neil Gaiman, Ursula Le Guin, Tim Pratt, Margo Lanagan, Elizabeth Bear, Tanith Lee (see the link for the complete ToC) and that’s just for starters.

See, I’ll also be sharing a ToC with Andre Norton. Andre Norton was one of my very first influences; I actually discovered her before I read Bradbury or Heinlein, and my novel A Warrior of Dreams is dedicated to her, as well as Lord Dunsany and H.P. Lovecraft, for reasons that should be clear to anyone who reads it. Pardon the “squee!” but sharing a book with Andre Norton invokes my inner fanboy. We don’t see him that often, but nice to know he still lives here.

Drop the Lamp and Back Away Slowly

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Everyone’s read that type of story, and you know the ones I mean: Deal with the Devil, Genie in a Bottle, Magic Fish, Magic Ring, et many ceteras. And anyone who has read that kind of story must come to one reasonable conclusion, and that is, if you come across any kind of wish-fulfulling object and actually make a wish, you have to be out of your ever-lovin’ mind. Continue reading →