March 19, 2011 in General Topics
One of the great motivations for writing my latest novel, The Tyrant Stratagem (that I’ve been submitting around to agents), has been my personal dissatisfaction in the quality of dialogue in major mass-market novels. It seems we have a cancer eating at modern fiction, even the more insulated elements like speculative fiction.
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March 16, 2011 in General Topics
I’ve decided to take the plunge and do some self-publishing with some of my work (don’t worry, interested agents — not The Tyrant Stratagem). I suppose I’ll try Kindle, Nook, and a few others. Where this road will take me, I cannot say, but here’s what ultimately led me to the decision to at least test these waters:
1) Traditional publishing alone is not moving my writing career fast enough along in comparison to the amount of time I put in writing (at least, not yet).
2) My fiction that magazines, podcasts, and other markets have allowed to be given a chance have been met by the general public with overwhelming positive feedback, and a few awards nominations. So why wouldn’t I chance exposing some of my fiction to the public at large and see how it does?
3) If there is indeed a sea change in publishing, whether we are watching it now or later, I want to be on the right side of it.
4) I believe my fiction is strong enough to compete, and perhaps even claw its way to the top.
More information is on the way. Stay tuned.
March 2, 2011 in General Topics
I suppose your average fiction writer tries to throw on helpings of the zazz(tm) into their blog posts in an attempt to prove how hip and capable they are as a literary-type-person. Brother, I’ve got a new daughter, so updates on this blog are razor-focused on the information and nothing else.
Any creative energy these days is channeled into short stories and editing my novel as the wife and I read through my final draft. Final draft — yeah, sure. As if I wouldn’t attack that thing again if some agent or editor was so disposed to give it a serious once-over.
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December 28, 2010 in General Topics
So it’s been quiet for me on the short fiction front, and I am aiming to correct that as soon as possible. With 2010 having been spent to a large degree on my novel, you might have thought I’d gone permanently quiet on the short fiction front. Nothing is further from the truth. I want more life. I ain’t done yet.
I am sitting on a handfull of tales that need editing — these aren’t warmed-over from past years, they are brand-new stories. It will take a little time to get them out there, but there’s two that stick out of what’s currently in the pipe:
They’ll be here before you know it.
So 2010 was slow for you, the reader, and I need to rectify that. I will be bringing you new fiction before you know it. In the meantime, if you’ve a particular request, let me know. I’ve been playing with expanding on the storylines of a few of my older tales — sort of a continuation of those characters’ journeys. Maybe I’ll swing a few out in that direction, too.
Stay tuned. And Happy New Year!
October 31, 2010 in General Topics
In summary:
1) Gareth D. Jones and I are still looking for a home for our 15k+ length tale ‘Quivira’; if you are a party interested in a good piece by two solid writers, let us know. It’s an sci-fi / high-fantasy cross.
2) Still looking for a home for my novel, The Tyrant Stratagem. Only two rejections from agents so far; and I’m steadily spreading it to other agents as I go. So we’ll see.
3) Continuing to write new fiction, of course. Three completed drafts sitting around and one more waiting to be done — about 1/4 way in. Then it will be off to the races.
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