First up, another chance to win an ARC (Advance Reader's Copy) of Steph's wonderful middle grade novel, A Most Improper Magick. Adventure, humor, romance, magic, and highwaymen in a sparkling, exciting regency setting. What's not to love???
The contest is being hosted by Lisa Mantchev on her blog. Just leave a comment to win!
AND by going there you get to read a little scene starring the characters from Lisa's Eyes Like Stars having a tea party with Kat Stephenson from A Most Improper Magick. Lots of fun!
Secondly, I put another reprint to read for free on my website. This time it's "Dragonfly Summer", which was first published in Interzone. Read it here. A quick warning, though: this story is not suitable for children. Trust me on that one.
And, because it takes three things to make a journal entry, here's a couple of clips from my favourite post-apocalyptic gameshow:
From Mitchell and Webb, of course.
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"The past is a foreign country," L.P. Hartley wrote in The Go-Between, "they do things differently there."
As it turns out, foreign countries are also foreign countries, and they do things differently there too.
The past in a foreign country must therefore be a foreign foreign country, where they do things very, very differently.
Which does beg the question as to why I would choose to write a novel set in 1930s Malaya.
I have never been to Malaysia, and I have certainly never been to the 1930s. I am not by nature particularly keen on research.
My book is currently littered with square brackets of the "[something]" or "[description here]" or "[blah, blah, blah: do some research you lazy fool]" type. I've been wondering if I could get away with leaving it like that and claiming that I was writing experimental fiction.
Some writers seem to delight in writing about foreign foreign countries. Bernard Cornwell, to pick a not even slightly random example, appears to be. I have been watching the entire box set of the adaptations of Cornwell's Sharpe stories. They are fantastic, and the adaptations are brilliant too. But I can't help the odd shudder as I contemplate the amount of research I would have to do to write something like that.
Of course, I find myself actually wanting to write that kind of story, but this (I hope) is simply the side effect of watching 12 Sharpe episodes in quick succession.
What I really should do is write contemporary stories set around where I live. But these rarely fire my imagination in the same way.
So here I am, filling up a text with square brackets and hoping someone else will do all the research for me.
And, why yes, this is my first journal entry of 2010. Wasn't it worth waiting 23 days for this unfocused rambling?
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For one reason or another (mainly another), I've dropped out of contact with an awful lot of people over the last year. I'm tempted to resolve to do much better next year, but that's just setting myself up for failure. I *hope* I'll do a lot better, but that'll only happen if something changes to free up more time (servants! a cure for sleep!). So, sorry to those of you I owed emails to over the course of the year but never sent. I meant to. I really did.
On the plus side, we're going to both Eastercon and Wiscon in 2010, so I'm hoping to catch up with a lot of people there. I love conventions, and these are two of my favourite. Steph is holding her book launch at Wiscon, and we'll be doing a group reading (more on that closer to the date). I shall probably only be a spectator at Eastercon. Entertain me!
Talking about Eastercon, I have to say, that is an impressive lineup of guests of honour: Alastair Reynolds, Iain Banks, Liz Williams, and Mike Carey. Fantastic writers whose books I love. But the one that made me really squee with excitement was the artist guest of honour: Carlos Ezquerra. This is the guy who co-created Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog! *Sniffs smelling salts*.
Yeah, okay, I am still a fan boy at heart.
As for Wiscon, that is probably my single favourite con. I have to say that the prospect of doing a transgalactic--er, transatlantic--flight with a 19-month-old toddler fills me with a nameless, almost Cthuloid dread, but it'll be worth it. At Wiscon, I'll be the one looking like a shell-shocked, sleep-deprived zombie. We'll also be in Michigan for a few weeks, and in New York for about a week. We haven't fixed the dates yet, but we'll probably arrive in the US in mid-to-late April, head to New York in mid May, and then round it off at Wiscon at the end of May.
Being as it's that time of year when the Christmas excess is starting to wear off and the last year's failures-of-will have been forgotten, I've been thinking about new year's resolutions. If I'm not going to resolve to be a more reliable friend (sigh), I'm going to focus on the writing.
So, my new year's resolution for 2010 is to write every single day. I've never done that for a year before. I'm going to count revising, planning, and sketching out ideas as writing, of course, and I intend to excuse myself in the case of big emergencies or horrendous illnesses, but otherwise, I'm going for it. If I succeed, I expect you all to send me little prizes. :)
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I feel I could be a secret agent.
Okay, I’m not quite up to leaping through windows on the end of a rope or concealing parachutes in my pants (they itch; seriously). I don’t suppose I could fight an assassin in my underwear (why is he/she even in my underwear?), and my chances of infiltrating a secret base by guile and gymnastic martial arts are fairly minimal. I can’t speak foreign languages, and I loathe guns.
But I do have one qualification. Under pressure, my brain stalls entirely. For example:
Receptionist at doctors: When’s your son’s birthday?
Me: Um...
R: When’s your wife’s birthday?
Me: Um...
R: When’s your birthday?
Me: Um...
R: When’s Christmas?
Me: Um...
My brain freezes quicker than if I’d dunked my head in a vat of liquid Helium, and I can’t even remember my name.
This is absolutely perfect for a secret agent. When I was captured (and I would be, due to the above deficiencies), I wouldn’t be able to reveal a thing, because my brain would be totally non-functioning. It’s perfect.
So, what’s your qualification to be a secret agent? Non-existent prize for the best answer...
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Rather later in the day than I'd planned, but...
Today is the official unofficial agent appreciation day, begun by that fantastic group of writers, The Tenners.
I'm represented by Jennifer Laughran of Andrea Brown Literary.
What I really love about Jenn is that not only did she get exactly what I was trying to do with my book, she had very focused, very smart and carefully thought-through suggestions for how to revise it. Some of the suggestions looked pretty scary on first glance - but when the revision was finished, it was a better book, and more than that, it really was MY better book.
She's marketing it to editors right now, and although I can't say too much publicly about the process yet, I can say that she's been brilliant about getting it to exactly the people with the right taste for the book. I really like the way she talks about it, to me and to other people in the profession, and I really like her strategy for getting it out there. She's also super at communication, and her emails often make me laugh even when they're not passing on good news, which is a really impressive trick during the fraught submissions process.
She's got great taste in books, and she's incredibly knowledgeable, funny, smart, and hard-working. I'm really glad to be her client.
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It seems to be that time again, for me to post another of my previously published short stories on my website. This time it's "Lavender's Blue, Lavender's Green", which was first published in Realms of Fantasy back in December 2005.
It's a contemporary short story with just a touch of fantasy. And a few wee references to Marillion.
Enjoy it!
Read Lavender's Blue, Lavender's Green here.
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| 2009-11-01 09:49 |
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We moved house.
I think I mentioned that.
We liked a lot about Yorkshire (countryside, fantastic Indian/Pakistani/Kashmiri restaurants, friends), where we previously lived, but we were too far away from the kind of things we like being near: cafes, bookstores, shops, family.
We're now in small town in Wales, surrounded by hills and mountains. When I step out the front door I can see a high, forested hill. Often, shreds of clouds are clinging to the trees and the flanks of the hill.
We also have a really good cafe ten minutes walk away, lots of toddler grounds for Mr Darcy, and plenty of places to take Maya. We even have a back yard for the first time.
Of course, being a small town, there's no way I could get a job here. But, luckily, that won't be an issue for at least six months, by which time we may have moved again (although, man, the idea of moving again fills me with an unnameable horror).
Anyway, we're finally sorted out with everything we need here, we're mostly unpacked (except the million boxes of books), and we're set up very nicely to write.
Which means I really should get on with it.
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Somewhat delayed by moving house, I've posted another of my previously-published short stories on my website.
"At the Gates" is either YA or horror or YA horror, depending on who you ask. This is actually the most recent story I've had published. It appeared in Black Static 8 last December.
I was going to post these stories in chronological order, but that seemed way too boring, so I'm just going to poke around like a malicious kid with a stick until they've all been poked.
Read the story here.
Colin Harvey very kindly described the story as 'Marvellous' in his Suite 101 review, and Ellen Datlow gave it an honorable mention in The Best Horror of the Year, volume 1.
I wrote it during the one semester I spent on the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College, and I have to say, I'm smugly pleased with it. :)
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Well, nearly.
Tuesday is your last chance to enter Steph's fantastic, super, wonderful Regency competition.
All you have to do is embed the trailer for A Most Improper Magick on your website/blog/myspace/whatever and answer a simple question to win the Regency pack.
Here's the trailer:
You can find the rules, details of the prizes and the code to embed it at http://www.stephanieburgis.com/competition.php.
Don't miss out!
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I have been asked for any famous connections I might have. So, I present to you here five of my claims to fame.
- I am British, and thus, statistically, there is about one in a million chance that I know JK Rowling and Prince Charles. And, as Terry Pratchett says, one in a million chances happen nine times out of ten.
- Neil Gaiman agrees to everything I ask him. As evidence: Me: "Can you sign it to 'Patrick'?". Gaiman: "Yes."
- My brother-in-law once made eye contact with David Bowie.
- Er.
- That's it.
So, who can do better than that???
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I've decided to archive all my (published) short stories on my website, so they're there for anyone to read for free. I figure, if I put one up every two weeks, I'll be done in six months or so. The first story I'm putting up was the first story that I ever published. I wrote it just after I finished Clarion West in 2001, and the story was published in Realms of Fantasy in December 2002. Looking back at the story, if I was writing it now, there are things I would do differently, and I'd certainly tighten up the writing, but I'm still pretty proud of this story. I still like it. The story is Dawn, by the Light of a Barrow Fire, and you can read it here. Next one in two weeks time...
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We, like all parents, I suppose, have been after that holy grail, a baby's book that is great for both the baby and the parents. Because, trust me, after you've read through something like 'Curly the Pig' ten times in a row, you're ready to choke yourself on its torn-up, despairing pages. (No, you probably haven't heard of 'Curly the Pig'. Yes, you are lucky.)
Anyway, I have three recommendations that have worked fantastically for Mr Darcy and me:
Big Red Bath, by Julia Jarman and Adrian Reynolds (but most emphatically NOT the sequel, Big Blue Train)
I'm Not Scared, by Jonathan Allen
I'm Not Cute, by Jonathan Allen
Big Red Bath has a fantastic sense of rhythm, lots of fun, and vivid pictures. The other two are just very cute and funny. MrD loves all of them.
And that's it for my every-two-months blog entry... Aren't you glad you waited?
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Every time I finish a draft of my novel, I am absolutely certain that this time I've got it as good as I possibly can. Really, I've pounded every last wrinkle from it with a steam hammer and polished it until it's as shiny as a very shiny thing. Before I sent it out to my generous critiquers, I was damned sure that this was it. I'd made it as good as it could be. Every last word was exactly how I wanted it.
Then, of course, I got the critiques and much head-slapping occurred. How could I not have seen that? Did I really write that? I dived back in, full of enthusiasm and determination. I stripped out those unnecessary internal debates, fixed the contradictions, tightened the pace, worked on the character arcs, until finally I was done.
This time it was sure as good as it could ever be, or as I could get it.
Fast forward to now, and I've received the incredibly insightful notes from my agent. Cue more moments of revelation about how the book can be better, and a launch back in. This time it'll be as good as it possibly can be.
Expect the final, final, final draft sometime in the next millennium...
#
In other news, if you haven't already done so, pop over to congratulate ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) aliettedb who has just sold her debut trilogy to the Angry Robot Books imprint of HarperCollins. Anyone who's been following Aliette's short stories over the last few years will know this is going to be something special. I can't wait.
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Okay, this has been driving me crazy, but now I've finally found the time to be able to write this (brief) journal entry.
I am now represented by the fantastic Jennifer Laughran (literaticat ) of Andrea Brown Literary Agency for my MG (or YA?) novel, Secrets of the Dragon Tomb. Not only does Jenn represent a couple of my friends (Gwenda Bond and Tiffany Trent (tltrent )), but she's sold some of the books I'm most looking forward to in the next year, and she totally got my book.
I am really, really excited by this. I can't wait to get the revisions done and then see if dead dragons can fly.
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I fear I am becoming addicted to reality TV.
Not the terrible, awful stuff, like Big Brother or various 'celebrity' shows, thank God. But some of the other stuff I just can't miss.
Last year I couldn't miss 'Last Man Standing' or 'Extreme Dreams'. Earlier year I caught every episode of 'The Apprentice'. Now I'm finding myself hooked by Ben Fogle's latest show, 'On Thin Ice', and the new 'Wildest Dreams'.
'Wildest Dreams' basically follows nine people competing to get a job as a wildlife cameraman for the BBC. Okay, the reality TV aspect sits somewhat awkwardly in the show. Unlike 'The Apprentice', they've got normal people, not delusional egomaniacs, and everyone seems a little uneasy about the competitive, 'reality' TV aspect.
Perhaps what I like most about 'Wildest Dreams' is that (the first episode at least) is filmed in Africa. I love Africa. It's such an incredible place. i grew up in Africa for four years and I loved it there. I haven't been back since, except to Egypt, but it is a dream to go back. 'Wildest Dreams' reminds me of all the fantastic scenery and wildlife, although we don't see much of the African people.
In the developed world, we get such a negative view of Africa, and it's a joy to see something more positive. (If only we could see something positive about the people.)
Despite that, I am a little afraid of my addiction. What if I turn on the TV one day and there is a one of the awful celebrity ego-fests and ... I watch it?
It isn't to be borne.
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This may be the most astonishingly inaccurate result I've received in a quiz ever... Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...
Ursula K Le Guin (b. 1929)1 High-Brow, -15 Violent, -21 Experimental and 5 Cynical! 
Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Peaceful, Traditional and Cynical! These concepts are defined below.Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is definitely one of the most celebrated science fiction and fantasy writers of all times. Her most famous fantasy work to date is the Earthsea suite of novels and short stories, in which Le Guin created not only one of the most believable societies in fantasy fiction, but also managed to describe a school for wizards almost three decades before Harry Potter. Although often categorized as written for young adults, these books have entertained and challenged readers of all ages since their publication. Le Guin is no stranger to literary experiments (see for example Always Coming Home(1985)), but much of her story-telling is quite traditional. In fact, she makes a point of returning to older forms of story-telling, which, at her best, enables her to create something akin to myth. One shouldn't confuse myth with faerytale, though. Nothing is ever simplified in Le Guin's world, as she relentlessly explores ethical problems and the moral choices that her characters must make, as must we all. While being one of those writers who will allow you to escape to imaginary worlds, she is also one who will prompt you to return to your actual life, perhaps a little wiser than you used to be.You are also a lot like Susan Cooper.If you want some action, try Michael Moorcock.If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, C S Lewis.Author picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UrsulaLeGuin.01.jpg
Take Which fantasy writer are you? at HelloQuizzy
Personally, I would say I'm far more like C.S. Lewis as a writer than Ursula Le Guin
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So, this morning, before work, I was walking Maya in the woods in the valley below our house. It was a warm morning, and at this time of year, the woods are thick and the undergrowth lush.
Anyway, we're walking along, and around the corner of the path comes this woman with a beautiful, long-haired German Shepherd. The moment she sees us, though, she grabs hold of her dog, puts on the leash and pulls it back hard, so that its head is up.
This is a bad sign.
Anyone who knows anything at all about dogs knows that the head back and up is an aggressive posture for a dog. When you pull your dog into this position, it reacts by acting aggressively, and other dogs see it as being aggressive.
So, inevitably, the German Shepherd tries to lunge at Maya, growling and barking. Maya responds by barking too.
This kind of thing happens far too often, and it irritates the hell out of me. But, as usual, I was just going to go on my way with Maya, letting the incident pass.
Until the woman says to me, "Your dog should be on a leash, like mine."
Now I really am pissed off. Maya did not cause this confrontation, and neither did I.
"No," I respond. "They're only acting like that because you put yours on the leash and pulled it into an aggressive pose."
"Fine," the woman says, leaning down and releasing her dog. "If my dog attacks yours, it'll be your fault."
Now, at this stage I'm feeling a bit nervous. After all, the dogs just lunged at each other, and for all I know, her dog has a history of attacking other dogs.
The German Shepherd comes racing towards Maya... and they sniff, wag tails, and go their separate ways.
I was not gracious in my victory.
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It seems to me that starting a new novel is a bit like storming an unknown castle. (And, why yes, we did visit a castle this week, thus the visit by the Department of Extremely Predictable Similes).
First up, you start by circling the castle, looking at the walls, the towers, the moats, the gates, those nasty little holes in the battlements where the defenders pour out boiling oil. You look for weaknesses, places where the defences have been neglected, routes where you might break through to the heart of the castle to raise the flag of victory and execute the tyrant of, er, something (strained similes, possibly).
Occasionally, you send in a probing attack, only to have it repulsed.
So far on the new novel, I have had men repulsed by arrows, the aforementioned boiling oil, and something nasty that really can't be mentioned in polite company, or here.
I have yet to breach the defences.
Of course, if this was a perfect simile, I would have been able to just pay the same £6 admission charge to the metaphorical castle as I did to the real one last week. And there would be a nice cafe.
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| 2009-05-18 12:09 |
| Cyborg |
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Via aliettedb, my cyborg name:
Get Your Cyborg Name
Yes, this was my first journal entry for many, many weeks. Yes, it's trivial. Yes, it'll probably be ages before I post again...
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For various reasons, I've been out of touch for a while on the ethernets, and I haven't been doing an awful lot of writing.
But I'm finally starting to try to get myself back into gear, and I am launching into The Big Revision of 'Secrets of the Dragon Tombs'. As always, I hope this will take only a week or two, and as usual, I shall be wrong.
However, the whole thing has been made immeasurably easier by having so many perceptive friends who have critiqued the manuscript. Thank you to all of you. I now know exactly what I have to do to beat this thing into shape.
Here I go.
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