Category: Writing

Couple of Mentions for Until Forgiveness Comes

By:  TempestMy Fiction

IROSF had this to say about the story:

If you want to posit a distinction between a fiction and a story, this one is a fiction. The events of the story, or the several stories, that lie in the background of this scene must be inferred by the reader. Nor is it clear even to the participants just how the ghosts are invoked, or what sort of presence they have there. None of this really matters in this piece, where the point is the presence of the observers and the different reason that each of them have for coming to confront their ghosts, or not.

Also, Willow Fagan (whose artist spotlight is up today and you should def. check it out) mentioned it on his blog.

At the beginning of this story, I thought the use of the style and format of a public radio show was clever and interesting.  By the end, I was very moved.

That’s what I was going for :)

Taking Stock

By:  TempestWriting
Taking Stock

So, things are looking un-good for a lot of publishing houses right now and more than one person has commented that it really sucks to be a debut novelist at this time.  But Justine notes that children’s books are still doing okay, comparatively, and not just the Twilight series.  I guess this means I should put a pause on the Egypt book and get to rewriting my YA novel.

I hope the agents I query are into gay sex…

Just Wondering: How Many Webzines Offer Downloadable Versions?

By:  TempestThe Publishing Biz
Just Wondering: How Many Webzines Offer Downloadable Versions?

Like the title says. I’m a mobile gal, and most of my reading is done on my commute or while out. I don’t mind whipping out the netbook for reading, but doing so on my phone would work, too. I’d like to read more short fiction, therefore I’d like more of it to be mobile. So, this got me wondering how many online magazines even offer a downloadable version of their fiction. Anyone wanna enlighten me?

Tiny Notebooks Ahoy!

By:  TempestWriting
Tiny Notebooks Ahoy!

Last week at KGB I was chatting with Mary Kowal about her new and shiny Eee PC.  Yet another writer joins the tiny notebook cult!  Huzzah!  We were discussing the merits and drawbacks of the 901 model and she asked me which one I would get were I getting a mini notebook today.  Without hesitation I said: Samsung NC10.

Cuz I’m an expert and stuff now.

I recently had to write up a piece for the day job comparing the top five 10-inch models.  There are probably some on that list you’ve never heard of and, of course, the familiar Eee PC.  In ASUS’s defense, the more expensive 10-inch models they’ve brought out recently don’t have the same problems then 1000H has, but they are, as I said, more expensive.  (The S101 is $700 or some crazy shit.)  All of the netbooks I compared are $500 or less.  Some way less.

But for those just getting into the netbook game, I suggest you skip the 8.9 inchers altogether and head straight for 10 unless price is a major, major consideration.  In that case, the 8.9-inch with the best keyboard is the Acer Aspire one.  It’s a great machine in other ways, too.  I hear that up-and-comer Genevieve Valentine has one, and everyone wants to be just like her.

So there you have it.  The two best netbooks out right now are the Samsing NC10 and the Acer Aspire one.  So says the queen.

Burning Question

By:  TempestWriting Life
Burning Question

I have an editorial up on Fantasy today that I think you’re all qualified to discuss :) It’s about the lack of comments on fiction in this here Internet age:

I’m really happy we have such a high level of participation from our readers, but we can’t help but notice that the comments section of our fiction is sparse or non-existent in many cases. We know you’re reading the stories (I’m obsessive about stats), but you rarely comment on them.

This is not limited to Fantasy, I know. Most online magazines offer a way for readers to comment on stories, whether on the page itself or in a forum topic. The only place where I see consistent commentary on stories is the Escape Artists forum. The audience there is vocal and brutal, but very engaged (which is awesome).

Recently, Sheila Williams mentioned that though the Asimov’s forums are very active, readers rarely discussed the stories.

“…mostly they get on there and argue politics; we call it the basement. …they hardly ever talk about the stories. There are a handful of dedicated readers that talk about the stories, but they are the minority. What I have seen in the past in the ’70s and the ’80s, there were dozens of letters coming in a month. We don’t get the letters anymore. I think back in the ’80s we had more correspondence coming in on the stories than I see in the comments on the forum.”

You would think that there would be far more commentary on stories on the Internet, considering how easy it is to broadcast your opinions to the world. Yet in the case of SF/F mags, we seem to see less.

This doesn’t include comments that happen elsewhere. For instance, last week I got several comments on my post pointing people to SH plus some emails and IMs (all of which I appreciated a lot, thanks!), but no comments on the SH forum. No idea why. I also found, through the magic of Google Alerts, some comments here. Again, yay for me! But I wonder why they didn’t also comment in the forum. ‘Tis a mystery, but one I’d like to explore (over at Fantasy, not necessarily here).

Impatient!

By:  TempestWriting
Impatient!

My story is coming out over at Strange Horizons next week.  Up until a week ago I was being very mellow about it.  But now that it’s so close, I want it to be up NOW OMG!  I’m impatient.

You would think I’d be used to this by now, as I have stories coming out in other markets that won’t see the light of day for months, maybe even a year.  I have no particular problem with that (especially as in one case I knew upfront it would be a long while), but it makes me do the little ‘I have to pee’ dance in my head.  Wait, the: ‘I have to see my fiction published NOW’ dance.

Ah well, I’ll get over it.

…omg 5 more days.

Fiction n’ Things

By:  TempestThe Publishing Biz

Fiction: The Plagiarist by Alex Rose.  Very interesting piece this week.

Thing: In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re back to doing an author spotlight for every story that goes up.  The lovely Ellen B. Wright has been in charge of those and is doing an excellent job of taking them beyond the standard questions I’d been asking before.  Very interesting stuff, particularly from this week’s author.

Fiction: Nine Sundays in a Row by Kris Dikeman. Fellow Altered Fluidian Kris has a story up at Strange Horizons this week. Check it out.

Thing: I just said “oh noes” on national radio.

Some Friendly Advice

By:  TempestThe Publishing Biz
Some Friendly Advice

All you authors out there, we need to have a talk.  Sit down.

Tell me, if someone were to Google your name, or the name you write under, right now, would they be able to find you?  Would your website come up on the first page of hits?  Do you even have a website?  No, I am not talking about your LJ, I am talking about a website.  A place where people can find out where you’ve been published, what is coming up, maybe a little bit about you?  No?  No, no, no on all counts?

Then you FAIL, author.

Look, I understand that not everyone is all about being all up in the internet and revealing their whole lives all the time.  I really get that.  However, if you plan to sell some stories and make a name for yourself, you need to be out there a little bit.  You need to have some kind of web presence, even if it’s just a very simple group of pages that list your published works and maybe your favorite soup recipe.  There needs to be a way for people who enjoy your work to keep up with you and maybe read more of your stories.  You need to have a presence on the damn internet.

And no, LiveJournal is not enough.  Because LiveJournal or any other social networking site — Facebook, MySpace, whatever — is generally only useful to those already on it.  People who are just on the internet, or just looking for some casual information, or just looking to read more by you, are not interested in your LJ.  Not that they aren’t interested in journals or blogs, but they want something that feels open, inviting, and not like they have to have a password or be a part of a community.

So, I will say it again: Get a website.  Seriously.  If you have sold one story or five or however many, you need a website.

I just spent several minutes trying to track down the contact info for about 7 authors and 5 of them did not have a website or just had an LJ.  A lot of them had distinctive names, yet show up no where on Google.  No  No, no, a thousand times no.

Go get one now.  (Or find someone willing to make you one.  I know several people who charge reasonable rates.)