This was a great surprise in my inbox this morning:

I heard “Spired” on Variant Frequencies today. What an amazing short
story! - one of the best I have read/heard in several years. Please
keep on writing. I’ll be looking forward to your first full length
novel.

It matters a lot to me when people read my stuff, regardless what they think of it. But I have to admit, praise is nice.

You out there know that I try to keep my blog focused away from my personal politics and ethics as much as possible. There are multiple reasons for this, a strong one being that I’d never want to accidentally offend a potential reader. Everyone out there are potential customers, and if I started railing on some personal subject of mine, I might come across the wrong way.

There’s other reasons, too, and they have a lot to do with the quality of the genre fiction community as a whole. Grab me in person some time, and maybe I’ll go into more detail.

But this time, I simply have to speak.

Let me add a disclaimer, right quick: I have a tale in for consideration to this market I’m about to discuss. So just in case you might get the impression I’m brown-nosing, let me dispel that right now. The point I’m going to get to is something I’d like any rational person to consider. In fact, it’s so important to me that I’ll open by taking a risk here and proving I’m being objective by offering some constructive feedback. Escape Pod has been on a roll since the later part of last year, in particular, but I’d be lying if I said I liked every story they’ve turned out. In particular, I’d like more fast-moving pieces, and more action in space.

Further more, as a plea to Steve Eley, whom I’ve corresponded with before and is very professional — Please: Run some of that flash fiction from last year’s contest. Drop the award-winners for a week and help out these folks. I know you’re likely already on this, and I know you’re swamped with work (judging by your intros) but please consider this a humble vote in favor of those winning flash pieces.

See? No brown-nosing.

Escape Pod ran a very good story this week that really struck close to home. The tale, “The Color of a Brontosaurus”, by Paul E. Martens, grabbed my attention immediately when I saw it in my iTunes feed, because I have a theory that dinosaurs almost always improve whatever work they grace. Sometimes I think dinosaurs were like a parting gift from God, as if the man upstairs really wanted to give a consolation prize to make up for the non-existence of dragons. In short, I dig them — at one point in my life, I wanted to make that literal. Still would, if Robert Baker came up one day and asked for some volunteer assistance at a site. These days, I settle for injecting these majestic critters into my work when I get a chance.

So I came for the dinosaurs, but a third of the way into the tale, I was floored by the wonderful dilemma one of the lead characters suddenly found themselves in. A man of science, rooted in the scientific method, he nonetheless is flabbergasted at the idea of seriously considering a creationist perspective to the events that have unfolded in the tale.

This touched perfectly on a growing problem I’ve continually seen in the broader scientific community, which is the stance that a person simply cannot be religious without being a peg down on the rational scale. This really bothers me.

From a scientific perspective, true rationality is at its apex when all ideas are considered until refuted. This is demonstrated wonderfully in this character’s battle with a potential reality he refuses to even consider, but unfortunately, this isn’t just fiction. I find it ironic that said scientific community, which prides itself on the endless quest for knowledge, for fact, has members with such a slanted, certain take on a possible explanation for — well, everything.

I’ve been in both camps before. I was a die-hard Christian until about age seventeen, then I was a hostile atheist until I was about twenty. I’ve never disclosed that amongst my peers before. Ready for the kicker? I’m a Christian again.

What led to that? First, I realized that if I closed my mind to other possibilities, I’d be sabotaging my own methods at finding the truth of existence. Second, I realized “religion” and “faith” can be different animals. Finally, I decided that it’d be horribly arrogant to assume at the ripe old age of twenty-X that I’d stumbled upon the unequivocal answer to the nature of the Universe.

I simply kept my mind open to the possibilities. I examined both sides closely. I read everything from Taoist philosophy to Nature Magazine. I was agnostic until last year. And, in the end, I found a personal connection with God was the end result. Was it a perfect approach? No, but it worked for me. I highly encourage you to try the same thing.

I know it’s human nature to desire absolutes, to take stands, but if there is one thing I think to be true, it’s that our perception of reality is a crude instrument, our studies so many insignificant needles poking holes of perception into the infinite cloth making up this existence.

I’m not asking you to “find God”. I’m not going to tell you faith has all the answers. After living in both sides, faith ended up having all the answers I needed, but it might not for you. I think it would if you gave it a chance, but don’t ever think I’ll assume you’re somehow less rational if you don’t arrive at the same conclusion.

All I ask — all most of us with faith would ask — is that you don’t be a scientist getting enraged at possibility. Don’t live your entire life on one side of the most important question that’s ever been asked.

I’m living my life carrying a bible in a land of beakers. Lest you discount what I’m saying because of what’s in my hand, then don’t call this a suggestion from a believer.

Call it a suggestion from a friend.

So there’s my first sale of the year. Sniplits, an upcoming audio e-magazine, has contracted “One Night at Ollie’s Stump” for publication once their site goes live. As I understand it, production is slated to hammer out the work in audio format in the next week or two. I’ve also earned more off this tale than I have any other thus far — good pay for a small-press site, in case you’re wondering.

I’m excited about Sniplits. I’ve read-up on the concept and I think the market will take it. Anne Stussey, editor-extraordinare, really is a pleasure to work with, being all those things you want editors to be: approachable, friendly, and excellent at communicating. I’m sure this venture of hers is going to take off.

The story itself is a comedy piece. That’s right, a comedy. It’s all about a backwater town in a fantasy kingdom. It’s all about notoriety suddenly visiting a place known only for its single bar, “Ollie’s Stump”. It’s all about a group of misfits, the tough woman working the counter who’d likely knock your head off if you called her a maiden, and a local mage with all the ambition and half the preparation that makes for an accident waiting to happen.

I’m not one of these writers you’ll really be able to nail down as falling into one genre or another. I think limited range can be a trap, can doom a writer to one kind of reader. I put on whatever hat feels right when I sit down behind the keyboard. For this tale, the jester’s cap fit perfectly.

I’ll let you know when it’s live. Stay tuned.

What a way to start out the new year. Last year the crew over at the Variant Frequencies podcast took one of my stories for publication. I’m pleased to see that Rick Stringer, and reader John Cmar, have done an outstanding job turning my modest tale into something marvelous.

I want to thank Rick Stringer, Anne Stringer, and Matt Wallace, the creative folks behind the podcast, without whom none of this would have been possible. I want to especially thank Rick, who’s poured so much work into bringing this tale to life. Listen, my friend — thank you.

If you enjoyed this story and are itching for more work of mine in a similar vein, I invite you to check out my bibliography, specifically the links to “Paston, Kentucky” (Murky Depths, Issue 1), “Eee” (Afterburn SF, September 2007), and “Tex’s Last Run” (Apex Online, and OG’s Speculative Fiction). Or, if you’d like some pdf docs to carry around right now, check out the free fiction I’ve hosted here, specifically “Manifest Hegemony”.

My sincerest thanks to any of you who took the time to listen to this. Feedback is also greatly appreciated, but I’d appreciate it even more if you support Variant Frequencies and tell your friends about this consistently-excellent, Parsec-winning podcast.

At this traditional time of reflection I’ve looked back over 2007, which will forever stand out as the year I got truly immersed in the world of writing fiction. This led to a mixed bag of blessings and disappointments, and upon review, I realized I still have some way to go before I’m firing on all cylinders in this ideal career of mine. I’ve also become somewhat disillusioned with various things I’ve seen within the fiction-writing community itself.

I learned that humility isn’t at all predictable. I guess the biggest lesson I’ve taken from this year is to watch out for cults of personality. The people in the center tend to get wrapped up in themselves. And that’s unfortunate. It’s counterproductive to the very thing we’re all supposed to be doing – getting more readers interested in speculative fiction.

As disappointing as a few stand-outs are, most of the community is honestly good people. I found myself pleasantly surprised at the demeanor of quite a few authors, whom almost always seemed warm and welcoming. Really, with the exception of a few bad eggs, the entire lot is pretty decent. Everywhere I went, I found that the truly gifted were often the most laid-back and humble; the least pretentious. You can’t teach professionalism, but these folks seem to have self-schooled themselves. It’s no surprise that many of them achieved great success over this past year (and I’ll give you a hint — I’ve linked to many of them).

Of course, I made quite a few mistakes myself. I learned the value of double-checking the impression a comment might give — before hitting “post”. I learned not to benchmark my successes against the achievements of others. Jealousy tried to creep in, so I stifled it.

My fiction writing itself went well this year, though not as well as I’d have liked. I achieved four additional sales, and some of those were to fairly prominent publications. There’s also one that came in very recently (I’ll fill you in on a later post), which will be number five if everything with the contract works out.

Looking at this one way, it’s a disappointment, as I had targeted ten fiction sales this year. On the other hand, my momentum really picked up from fall onward – November and December were strong months for me, in particular. I don’t know whether to take heart from the growing momentum among my fiction sales, or chalk it up as coincidence.

I do know that I am determined to tackle next year with renewed intensity. Too many times this past year I skipped days writing, or only got by with a few hundred words per session. That hurt my output, and tempered my ability to make a few tales as intense as I wanted, at least on the first drafts. As an example, I’m still sitting on three tales I intended to have edited and in the wild before 2008 smacked me in the face.

This isn’t entirely due to circumstances in my control. The workload at my day job really spiked this year which, although bringing accolades and rewards I was very grateful for, really cut into my writing time. It’s doubly hard to find the enthusiasm for sitting in front of a computer when you’re coming off a fifteen-plus hour day of having already done the same. To top it off, I’ve been battling some other personal stumbles that have been anything but conducive to regular dances with words. I can’t tell you what they are, but if you knew, you’d understand.

Luckily I have the support of a wonderful wife, a caring family, and my faith. It’s not I that’s achieved anything. Praise belongs solely to these positive influences.

I am determined to regain my footing in 2008. I’m resetting the score card and targeting at least ten sales again. And this year, I’m going to try and nail one of those elusive pro-market sales.

As always, I thank everyone out there for their support along the way. Happy New Year, and good luck.