Month: September 2009

Workshops

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 4 Comments

I recently discovered that a significant online source of resource links for Clarion and other workshops has vanished from the web. Unhappy. So I have set about filling in the gap a little.

I’m not thrilled with my first attempt — the design feels chunky and clumsy.  There was a poor translation between my original file and the final result.  I may have to build it from the bottom up in html to get WordPress to accept what I want. It’ll be good practice; I haven’t used that much raw code in years.

But version 1.0 of my links page is available here.

Back in the saddle…or the mail, anyway

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

I feel better.

I now have three stories out awaiting validation (or rejection).  One to WotF, one to Pseudopod, and one to Strange Horizons.

Why these markets?  In fact, I’ve always found it fascinating how others decide which market to trust their stories to.  WotF is obvious: big prize, multi-teired validation, and no pros to compete against.  Pseudopod was recommended by David  Steffen.  I like the thought of “Glow Baby” being performed and Pseudopod just sounded unique.

But why Strange Horizons over Asimov’s or Analog or F&SF?  Shouldn’t I start with the big-shot pro markets before drifting to the online pro-zines?  Not me.  I don’t have a year to wait to see what the “big three” have to say.  And how useful is their form letter to me?  Don’t get me wrong, F&SF usually rejects my stuff in a timely fashion, but getting through all three can take a while.

Strange Horizons is a pro market and I see a lot of big names show up there.  I also see unknowns on occasion.  More importantly, their electronic submission process is fairly quick and quite good.  And a lot easier than messing with postage.  I once even received a line of personalization in a rejection email from SH (it said my plot was fun but the story didn’t come together).

I’ve seen the big three called out regarding their continued resistance to electronic submissions.  They’re fast, cheap. and save space.  So what’s the point of hard copies?  They make a satisfying fluttery sound when you hurl them into the rejection pile that no click or beep or whi r of a computer can match.  Oh, and the biggies are very quick to reject no-names like me.  SH seems a little more daring, a little more hip.

Will I send my stuff to F&SF?  Asimov’s?  Analog?  Probably, if it doesn’t get sold first.  I have nothing against the big three, I just don’t start there anymore.  Maybe I will, someday, if my name ever starts earning some recognition.  Until then, my progression will likely be WotF, Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons (depending on the timing of the WotF quarters).  No one can compete with the response time of Clarkesworld.  Bu is that a good thing?

Input/Output

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The day I put my Writers of the Future fourth-quarter story in the mail is the day I discover that my third-quarter story earned an honorable mention.

Good?

Eh…

I haven’t read that story in a while.  Now I can give it a quick read and send it off somewhere.  Market to be determined.  I think I may take some market advice from a recent visitor (thanks David) on my second-quarter story (a reject — late speculative element) and try Pseudopod.

Sadly, I have nothing out there right now.  Not a thing.  School staarted and I fell behind with story subs.  Time to throw a couple into the wind and see where they blow.

-Oso

Hey Mr. Postman

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 3 Comments

Tomorrow.

“****************” hits te mailbox tomorrow.  It’s as ready as it’s going to get.  I truly believe this has semifinalist tattooed all over it.  Maybe I’m naive.  Then again, maybe I’m selling myself short.  Only one way to find out.

So it’s on to greener stories now. “The Naked Man” is due for more attention, as is “The Will of Roshambo”, an older piece I haven’t done much with.  Or maybe it’s time to spark the creative juices with a quick flash.  Whatever it is, I need to keep writing.  I don’t have a story for the next WotF quarter yet.  I’ll be 4 for 4 in submissions this year and I’d like to keep it up until I either win or start focusing full time on one of my five novels-in-progress.

Thanks to Nobu and Tomas for their last-minute comments on OWW, and thanks to Matt and Will for their commentary, too.  But now, off to bed.

Do you feel alive? Woooooooo!

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 4 Comments

I went to a Metallica concert Monday (Wooooo!) and atried to collect some descriptive sensations for my writing.  I got a few, but mostly I enjoyed the concert.  Big Metallica fan.

I also put “**************” back up at OWW for a last look.  It’ll be in the mail to WotF in a week.  I’m hoping some sharp eyes can help me catch little stuff.  I’ve got a couple old friends looking at it, too, but they may not get to it until the next total solar eclipse.

I’m setting a daily goal of 500-words on “The Naked Man”.  (Wow, I need a new title for that.)  It’s low, but I’m busy.  At that rate I should finish in a couple weeks.  I’ll likely trim some length out later.  It’s up to 4200 so far and I’m not quite halfway yet.

Anyway, that’s my update.  More substantive posts to come when I’m less exhausted.

-Oso

Writing uphill through a blizzard

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

I am still excited to be finally writing my Festival of the Naked Man story, but progress is taking forever.

In my infinite wisdom, I decided this should be set on an English-speaking planet founded by Japanese with a rich cross-section of cultures represented.  My main character has a Norse name and heritage but his family all believes in the planet’s Shinto-based religion.  The protag’s girlfriend is Chinese and the religious leaders are pretty much all Japanese.  I spent hours just researching the names.  A little slang follows each culture with the Japanese filtering in more than anything due to thir dominance of the population.  Considering the only language I have any background in (other than English) is Spanish, this language thing has been wearing out my Google.  Now watch me end up cutting half of those words in the end.  Grrr…

Even the parts in English are slow going due to my desire to really choose the right word.  I know it’s still a first draft, but I can’t just throw any word on the page.  (I recommend Flip Dictionary for this — an exceptional thesaurus for getting the right word out of a close miss.)

I dare say this will end up novella length, or at least novelette.  My pace is starting slow but there’s a lot to get out there early.

I really think this will be the first of my stories that could fit in Analog magazine.  There’s a lot of “soft science” wrapped in a shell of hard science.  I’m pretty sure I’ve buried some commentary about American organized religion in with my plot.  (For the record, I am a baptized-Catholic who attends a Methodist church where I deliver the children’s sermon each week.  You’ll have to read the story to find the message that comes out of that Christian crossover.)

Mostly I’m just happy to be writing again.  Now if I could just disconnect from all the other stuff I do (video games, television, parenting, teaching, sleeping, eating…blogging) I might have enough time to finish this story before my daughter goes to college.

-Oso

What’s good for the writer is murder on the teacher

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

I spent a lot of this evening brainstorming characters for my next story (I’ve mentioned my Festival of the Naked Man idea beforel I just needed characters to get it going).  Now I have the bug to start writing it…now.  The problem?  It’s a quarter after twelve and I have to teach tomorrow at 7:45.

So what to do?  Blog about it, apparently.  Then I’ll sign off here and go tap away at it until about one.  If I get enough steam going, maybe I’ll take a day off this week to finish my first draft.  (Leaving a story dangling when I need to be writing really does make me ill.)

Okay, I have forty minutes left.  Time to write an opening scene.  Night all.

Clarion SD Instructors

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 7 Comments

I’m not sure when the list went public, but Clarion SD has posted the list of instructors for 2010.

  • Delia Sherman
  • George R. R. Martin
  • Dale Bailey
  • Samuel R. Delany
  • Jeff VanderMeer
  • Ann VanderMeer

You guessed it, I have not read any of them.  I suck.  I did recently buy Steampunk, a collection edited by the VanderMeers.  I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my list.  That’s got to count for something, doesn’t it?

So who are they?

Delia Sherman writes for both young and adult readers.  It appears I’ll have to do some research to get a goo feel for what unique contributions she might bring to the workshop, though her partnership with writer Ellen Kushner could turn into a double-team of instructors.  Both women write in the “fantasy of mnners” subgenre (a new one on me).

George R. R. Martin boasts a long career including a plethora of Hugo and Nebula awards, editing and production experience with The New Twilight Zone (1980s) and the CBS series Beauty and the Beast (which I recall my parents watching in the late 1980s).  His awards track record suggest he is a true arist in the medium of novellas.

Dale Bailey’s work seems to populate the biggest and best of anthologies (Year’s Best, Nebula Showcases, etc.)  I may well drive past his house every time I visit my parents (not quite, but I pass near his hometown of Hickory, NC) and he got his post-graduate degrees in my old hometown (Knoxville, TN).  Most of his work seems to be in the horror genre.

Samuel R. Delany has a unique perspective on life as a black, gay, dyslexic writer (a combination that inspired his Hugo-winning autobiography).  He has several Hugo wins and a stack of nominations (Hugo, Nebula, Locus, you name it).  He appears to have just a much success and notority as a literary critic as he does writing; now there’s a skill set that could benefit aspiring writers like me!

The VanderMeers are each successful in their own right.  Ann is fiction editor of Weird Tales magazine (for which she won a Hugo) and founder of Buzzcity Press.  Jeff won a World Fantasy Award and has been finalist for most of the other big awards.  I’d love to see the two of them imitate another Clarion married couple (Kate Wilhelm and Damon Knight) by teaming up the last two weeks.  I suspect that ay be the plan.

All in all, a good lineup.  How does it compare to Clarion West’s dancecard?  I’m not sure.  Both are good.  I’m eager to apply to each.  I better get writing!