On to Round 2!

July 31, 2025 ~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

The results of the first round of the nycMidnight Flash Fiction Challenge are in.

The writers of the top 7 stories in each group move on to round 2. There are 88 groups, each with apparently 30-35 stories. In my group, my story came in 6th. Whew.

On Friday, at midnight NYC-time, I’ll be assigned to a new group. Like round 1, we’ll get a genre, a setting, and an object. Then we have 48 hours to write a 1000-word or less story in that genre, set in that place, including that object. Only this time my competition will be people who have already proven their ability to write a decent flash fiction story.

I’m hoping that this round goes a little mor smoothly for me than round 1. Can I get a genre like sci-fi or fantasy or fairytale or comedy? All those were given to some groups in round 1. Political Satire was quite the challenge for me. I think my odds are good of getting a genre that’s a more natural fit for me, but historical fiction and romance are still out there like landmines waiting to blow up in my face.

I was also at my parents’ place for most of round 1’s window. Honestly, the political friction that exists between my folks and me might have helped the genre part of the story, but otherwise it was a big distraction. Round 2’s distraction (as mentioned in my last post) is the start of the school year. Friday is my first in-service day. Fortunately, the writing window is the weekend, so I’m hoping to avoid too much back-to-school distraction. Maybe I can use that atmosphere to my story’s advantage like I did with the last one.

I’m happy to make it to round 2. I was very nervous that I took too many liberties with the setting and object for round 1. I’m going to need a better showing if I want to make round 3. For now, I’m going to polish up that round 1 story and send it out to and editor. I’m supposed to let 10 days pass before publishing the story anywhere, but a 10-day turnaround for a response would be very fast, let alone sub-to-pub. I think there are some markets that “TruthSerum.ai” would fit into nicely. Let’s find out.

NaNoWriMo, Almost Time-O

October 29, 2016October 29, 2016 ~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

It’s that time again, for large doses of caffeine and larger doses of keyboard time. Time for typist’s cramp and plot-related breakdowns. Time to push excuses aside to make room for all the words to come pouring out. Time for National Novel Writing Month!

I’ve done NaNoWriMo a few times, with varying degrees of commitment. This year’s participation was a last minute decision, but I’ve been looking for an excuse to get my write on for quite a while. Excuse accepted. (Not that the excuse to write should not be confused with the excuses not to write that were pushed aside in the opening paragraph.)

Here are the top 5 reasons I’m excited about NaNoWriMo 2016:

#5 – It’s Nice to Have a Goal

It’s way too easy to just let things slide. Oh, I’ll write tomorrow…next week…next month…once midterms are over…in the summer…once we’ve moved…after the apocalypse. Well, a goal is stronger than excuses. Or it is if I let it be. Tough as it can be to reach my daily writing goal, the goal also gives me a place to stop writing for the day and feel accomplished. “This” is the bar for writing success for the day, week, month. That’s something I can work with.

#4 – New Support Structure

November marks one year that my girlfriend and I have been together. (One year. That status of “girlfriend”could probably use an upgrade soon. But I digress.) She is artistic and caring and fun and beautiful, and I’m eager to add “supportive of my writing” to the list of adjectives. She’s gung-ho about my NaNo participation this year and very much wants to see me writing again. Without dredging into the past, I’ll say I’ve never had genuine household support when I had writing goals. I can’t wait to see what it’s like. Living with a writer isn’t always easy, but I have faith in this one.

#3 – New City, New Writers to Meet

borotn Last year’s job change has me in a new city and I really don’t know many people here, especially writers. NaNo meet-ups and write-ins mean I get to change that. Maybe I’ll make new friends; maybe I’ll be inspired by their commitment; maybe I’ll want to finish just out of a spirit of competitiveness. Regardless, some good will come out of this new social discovery.

#2 – It’s Time to Get This Story Written

I think I’ve blogged before about the middle grades novel that my daughter and dog inspired. It hasn’t gotten written yet. I have a couple false starts, but nothing serviceable. Yet the idea has been burning in my brain for too long to let it go unwritten. The time has come. And 50k is a pretty solid word count for a middle grades novel, so this could be the real thing.

#1 – Time to Write Again

If you’ve visited this blog in the past few years, you know that I haven’t done much writing. Ultimately it was the 2012 NaNo that marks my last significant keyboard time. Blame it on what you want (job, parenting, life changes, etc.), I’m not okay with not being a writer. So whatever gets me back into the habit is a good thing.

Check back here for updates on my NaNoWriMo endeavor. Brief updates, mind you, since blogging time isn’t noveling time.

So It Goes

July 5, 2015July 6, 2015 ~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

So It Goes. It’s what Vonnegut said about death in Slaughterhouse Five. I’m not writing about a death — I hope — but it was at least a long coma.

If you peek at the date of my last post, you’ll see it was a little over a year ago. Yes, a year. I wish I could say that I’ve been too busy writing to blog. Not so. I’ve been busy being busy. Life gets in the way…can’t find time to write…writer’s block…the same old tired excuses. Bottom line, I really haven’t been a writer for the past couple years. So it goes.

But the writer in me isn’t dead. He’s been in hibernation, sulking in the back corner of my psyche waiting for me to stop sulking in the front corner of my psyche. It’s been a rough couple years for me, no doubt. It’s been tough to focus on anything at all, let along writing. So it goes.

I find myself at the precipice of a lot of change. I have a new job in a new city which means a new house which means unloading the old house (hey, wanna buy a house?) and uprooting my child which means altering the custody schedule. Good thing I have all this time during summer break to get things taken care of. Right, time. Why doesn’t there seem to be any? So it goes.

As every writer knows, time isn’t something you find, it’s something you make. I was horrified when I realized that I hadn’t made any time for anything writing related short of conventions (another topic for another post). So today I changed that. I started small, with a few little flash fiction submissions (one reprint and two unpublished gems I had lying around). I had to really scratch my head just to recall how to write a cover letter. Three little stories in the wind for a few weeks/months. And suddenly the ekg attached to this comatose writer made a little blip. So it goes. Or so it comes?

Yes, I need to return to actually writing to really resurrect myself as a writer. That’s coming. Directly. But much like a coma patient with atrophied musculature, I can’t just leap out of bed and start typing a marathon. I have to make sure I remember how to walk, then jog, then maybe some running. Even just sitting up on the bed feels good. Time to see what the floor feels like under my feet.

Let’s see how this goes.

My LibertyCon Schedule

June 23, 2014June 23, 2014 ~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

One of my favorite cons of the year is right around the corner. Chattanooga’s LibertyCon is this coming weekend. Historically, LC is a great con for writers (which usually means a great con for readers, too) with a great little con suite (did someone say beer?) and a welcoming atmosphere. This year they have me booked pretty tight. I think that’s a good thing. We’ll see. If you’re looking, here’s where and when you’ll find me.

Friday

3pm – The Flutter-by Effect: Time Travel in Literature – We talk paradoxes and explore what other compelling elements time travel has to offer. I’m moderating this one! [Gallery A]
5pm – Opening Ceremonies – Meet the guests and professionals. I guess that includes me. [Centennial Theater]
7pm – Autograph Session – Come on by; I’ll sign anything! I prefer to sign my book, of course. I’ll happily sell you one. [Dealers’ Room]
10pm – Messiest Ways to Kill a Zombie – This one is always a lot of fun. There’s a rason it’s this late, folks; leave the kiddies at home if they have sensitive ears. In other words, kiddies should probably leave the grown-ups at home. [Centennial Theater]

Saturday

11am – Urban Fantasies – I’m sure this will be “What are they? What’s new? What’s next?” and all that. So if you’re interested in urban fantasy, come on by. [Gallery A]
1pm – What’s New in Horror and Dark Fantasy? (Roundtable) – Should be self-explanatory. Lots of people on this one. [Centennial Theater]
8pm – Reading: Scott W. Baker (a.k.a. me) & Mark Wandrey – I’m not sure what I’ll read. I guess I should probably pick something I wrote… [American Room Train Car]

Sunday

10am – Meet the Locals (Roundtable) – I reckon there are a bunch of us Tennessee-livin’ authors at the con. With John Ringo moderating us, there’s no telling where the discussion will go. [Centennial Theater]
1pm – Autograph Session – Last chance to come chat and get my autograph. You can sell it on ebay for…okay, you probably can’t sell it on ebay. Yet. [Dealers’ Room]

And I thought I won a lobster…

January 31, 2014January 31, 2014 ~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

The other day I found a comment on my blog telling me I was nominated for a Liebster Award. Rotten speed reader that I am, I thought I’d won a free lobster dinner. But this is even better. It seems the Liebster Award is designed to promote the blogs of lesser-known writers. A big thanks to my friend thecoffeefox for thinking of me, and especially for the nice things she said about me and Baker’s Dozen on her blog.

I guess I should post the award now.

Just what this place needed: more pink hearts. 🙂

Oh, the rules! Here they are:

1. Each nominee must link back the person who nominated them.
2. Answer the 10 questions which are given to you by the nominator.
3. Nominate 10 other bloggers for this award who have less than 200 followers.
4. Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer.
5. Let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blog and notifying them.

I hate talking about myself (lie), but if I must I must. Here goes.

1. Why do you write?

Because I’d rather not spontaneously combust. I just took about a year off of writing to deal with personal changes; it was definitely making me hot under the collar. I look forward to going home tonight and writing.

2. Who or what do you like to read?

I don’t read a fraction of what I want to. I like to read within the genres I write (sci-fi & fantasy), but my tastes tend to wander. I’m particularly partial to humor.

3. What gives you inspiration?

What doesn’t? Whenever I say something stupid and face the consequences of it, I try to remember what great story fodder it will make later. Or if I read a science article, it makes me want to write a science fiction story. Or if I study a mathematical concept, I want to incorporate it into a magic system. Every author hates the question, “where do you get your ideas?” Ideas and inspiration are everywhere. The question is: how do you turn it off?

4. What is one thing you would like someone who reads your blog to know about you?

I started writing with no formal training. I read how-to-write books and read good science fiction and fantasy and I wrote my butt off to get where I am. And where is that? It doesn’t feel like I’m anywhere when I look toward where I want to go, but looking back I can see how far I’ve climbed: 25 or so sales including Writers of the Future, being a panelist at cons, self-pubbing a book of my short stories (and actually selling some). It’s not an easy road, but I love to write so I do.

5. What is your favorite color? (Seriously.)

Purple. Not exactly my favorite, but it’s my daughter’s favorite so it’s the color I respond to best. Second is pink. I’m kind of partial to black, green, red…but that’s all secondary.

6. What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow? (You can use your imagination, offer the standard quote, or just smile.)

I know I swallow without chewing if I get in a hurry, so pretty fast I’d say. (resisting…quoting…Python…)

7. Do you like your given name, and if not what would you change it to?

I like my name. I contemplated a pen name, or even a nom de plume, but I decided against it. I do wish more people remembered the W, though.

8. What is the dumbest or least favorite question someone has ever asked you? (You can’t say #6. Unless that’s true.)

I once had a student ask, “Are there really space whales?”

9. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Home. I am a bit of a homebody, but I’d love to go to Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and/or on a cruise to…anywhere really.

10. What is your favorite cartoon character?

Dr. Doofenshmirtz. Raised by ocelots, had to be a garden gnome…backstory gold!

So, there you have it. Looks like my next duty is to select ten more victims, er nominees. Let me wander through my blogroll here and see who’s deserving…

1) Annie Bellet – Annie has been an internet friend since early in my writing career. She’s a Clarion grad and has been seeing her share of success. (It’s been a while, but Hi izanobu.)

2) Alex Kane – Alex is another old internet friend and also a Clarion grad (of the West variety).

3) Andrew C Porter – Andrew is a SF in the same state as me (disarray?). He doesn’t update his blog often, but I enjoy seeing what updates he offers.

4) S.C. Wade – S.C. is a speculative writer and a devout Christian (which his Facebook posts regularly reaffirm). He’s very much a community-minded writer and likes to help out other writers. And a generally nice guy.

5) Diabolical Plots – This is one f my favorite blogs. David Steffen and Anthony Sullivan (and occasional guest bloggers) offer interviews and reviews and lots of other good stuff.

6) Brad R. Torgersen – I met Brad at the WotF workshop several years back. Since then, his career has exploded with award nominations and Analog publications out the wazoo. Oh, he also has a novel forthcoming from Baen.

7) Jason Fischer – Jason is another bloke I met at WotF. He has very quirky taste and an amazingly awful wit that always gets a laugh (horrible puns, anyone?).

8) Alex Black – Alex continues the WotF 26 trend. I enjoy his blog, which recently has me itching to start watching short films.)

9) Tom Crosshill – Another WotF 26er? Why not! Tom had a Nebula nominated story and a good nose for story. And I understand he’s an incredible ballroom dancer.

Last but not least…

10) Jordan Ellinger – I’ve known Jordan electronically for years and finally met him at the WotF 26 workshop (he was a winner for volume 25). He’s a writer, publisher, and all around busy guy (maybe that’s why his blog seems a little un-updated).

Wow, I did find 10 people. Now for their 10 questions:

1) What’s the hardest thing about writing?

2) What’s the best thing about writing? (It might even be the same thing as #1.)

3) What is your day job? (If it’s writing, tell us how that happened.)

4) Think back. What book/story/writer/event made you decide that you could write?

5) Name your favorite villain (one from books/stories, one from tv/movies).

6) What was your favorite subject in high school? (Lunch doesn’t count)

7) What’s the best movie you’ve ever seen that other people probably haven’t?

8) What was the last book you finished reading?

9) iPhone or Androd?

10) If you could travel back in time and interview one person, what would the two of you have for lunch? (Hey, I have to give lunch some love.)

Wow, that makes for the longest blog post I’ve had in quite a while. Thanks again, thecoffeefox, for involving me in this shameless promotion scheme. This was fun, and looking for 10 blogs was a trip down memory lane. I hope some of my nominees perpetuate the pyramid. Have fun with it. I know I did.

Me for Free

May 1, 2013 ~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

Recently a lot of people have asked me where they can find some of my stories for free. My favorite answer is of course, buy my book, it’s not that expensive, especially as an ebook (Kindle or Smashwords). But I laugh that off (and wipe away a tear) as I suggest a few places my stuff might be. Here is that advice:

How Quickly We Forget – Working customer service for a memory wipe broker requires a special set of skills and a special flavor of morality. Jack Spiegel has both. (Near-future sci-fi, very short, PG-13)
Brother Goo – Having a weird little brother is not cool for a middle school kid. But when Brandon’s little brother Mike goes from weird to other worldly, Brandon knows he needs to take action. (Present day sci-fi, fairly short, PG)
The Drake’s Eye – Lucas Drake can’t resist the opportunity to acquire a family jewel. But once he does, what would it take to convince him to part with it? And will parting be enough? (Urban fantasy/horror, very short, PG-13)
Leech Run – Captain Titan makes a living smuggling energy-siphoning mutant humans from one planet to another. But when one of those mutants goes missing from the hold, his ship and the lives of his passengers and crew all hang in the balance. (Space Opera sci-fi, text and audio, PG-13/R)
ZFL – Zombie Football League. Enough said. (near future zombies, very short, PG-13/R)
Chasers – When colony ships travel from star to star with empty fuel tanks, it’s up to Chasers like Sebastian and Wild to catch them and fuel them for deceleration. But the competition out there can get cutthroat; if you can’t take it, move on. (Space opera sci-fi, text and audio, PG-13)

So that’s what there is of me for free right now. Plenty to give you a taste of what I do. There’s a lot more good stuff out there to be found. Check my Bibliography page for more. And enjoy the freebies!

Life Update

March 14, 2013 ~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

It’s been quite a while since I posted anything here. I didn’t even do a ChattaCon report. I meant to, but life has been…complicated. I’ve been able to do no blogging and next to no writing since then. I’m sure the whole experience will make me a better writer in the future by filling the emotion tanks with fodder, but wow it’s tough to fill them.

I filed for divorce last month. It will be almost summer before it’s legally finalized, but that’s just semantics. I am closing on a house for me and my daughter (split time between parents) and that has taken a lot of my focus. It’s a sad and hopeful and exciting and scary time for me.

In other news, OmniCon is this weekend in Cookeville. I didn’t see any advertisements for it until about 3 weeks ago, so I’m expecting a very small affair. Could be fun, though. It was last year.

That’s all for now, though I do need to post soon about my recent Doctor Who obsession. I was quite late to the party and I’m only in season 3, but wow is it fun. But later…

Back in the Saddle

December 19, 2012 ~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

On December 1st I sent out a short story. No great feat, but it was the first I’d sent in a long time. Since July. I guess I hadn’t been subbing because I hadn’t been creating. It’s been a slow year for me. So sending off this story — a flash piece that had been sitting near-finished on my hard drive — was a good step. My next step will be to finish that $#!++% steampunk story and send it out. And get the other half of my NaNo novel written.

The story currently under submission is into round 2 and I hope to hear something around year’s end. If it sells, it will be pro sale #3 and the payment will slip through my grasp and into the SFWA coffers. I’m trying not to get ahead of myself (an issue I’m battling left and right these days), but I am hopeful. Mostly it just feels good to have some suspense as a writer again. Will it sell/won’t it sell? Yeah, that’s the stuff.

Capitalism conquers Duotrope

December 1, 2012December 1, 2012 ~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

I have long been an advocate of the website Duotrope as a source for short fiction market listings and tracking story submissions. It is great for predicting response times and acceptance ratios. The search functionality and market categorization is good for targeting stuff. I have also supported supporting Duotrope financially through donations. I’ve donated several times, though I don’t think I did this past year since I haven’t been subbing many short stories and thus haven’t been using the site.

Alas, the site has grown to the point where donations seem no longer sufficient to sustain it and they are going to subscription only. I get it, but part of what makes Duotrope so useful will die with this change, particularly the response time tracking. Duotrope was the ultimate source for response tracking because so many people were reporting there, largely because it was a great place to track submissions for free. I suspect you’ll still be able to report responses, but you won’t be able to access that information without a subscription so the benefits of reporting will be vastly reduced. Reduced benefits lead to reduced reporting which leads to reduced quality of the information. From my perspective, charging for the service will make the service no longer worth the price. Ironic, no?

So will I subscribe? Probably with the monthly plan, $5 per month. That way I can drop a little money and use it when I need it and let it go when I don’t. The annual subscription of $50 will be a bit steep for how I use it and would eat most if not all of my likely annual writing income unless I can sell a novel.

Is it really worth subscribing to a paid list to find non-paying markets? Or token paying markets? Not for me, even if I did still send to those markets. Besides, I’ve sent to enough markets that I can probably find a lot of that info in my own records. And there is always Ralan’s for a market list.

I’m afraid $50 is just too rich for my blood. I suspect I’m not alone. And I’m sad about it. I still support the mission of Duotrope, but I fear that a subscription will reduce its relevance in the fiction world. The change is set to take hold January 1st. If you use Duotrope and aren’t planning to subscribe, be sure you download your stats before then. I keep a spreadsheet, but I’ll have to make sure it’s current. Duotrope helped me get my career where it is today. I hope it can make the transition to a pay-based site and maintain that value for the subscribers. Good luck to them, but I won’t be a regular there.

NaNo – Day 30 part 2 – and the winner is…

November 30, 2012November 30, 2012 ~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

ME!

Congratulations to me and thousands of others who successfully wrote 50,000 words this month. My prize? A lovely computer generated certificate and an icon for my website.

I am very happy and very proud of this accomplishment, but I wonder if there is a better word than “winner”. Do people who finish a marathon call themselves “winner”? Maybe “finisher” or “victor”. (Victor means the same as winner but sounds different on the ear and requires clarification whereas “winner” sounds like you beat out other people to get a prize.) Really, “I won NaNoWriMo” sounds almost identical to “I won Writers of the Future.” Yes, I have wone both now, but one was a attle against myself and the other was a battle against hundreds (possibly thousands) of other writers. Both are worthy accomplishments, but one definitely paid better. Though a workable novel is priceless in itself and could end up worth a lot more money.

Anyway, I finished around 9:00 on the last day of November. There were only 3 days this month during which I did not write, so I figure I could have finished 3 days earlier if I hadn’t been puking the day after Thanksgiving and just ill equipped to write that one weekend. Looking at my stats, I’m surprised to see that Mondays were pretty good days for writing. Mid-week was worse, surely due to work-related distractions.

I am glad I did this. It shows me that can write every day, even amid distraction. I can outline. I can follow an outline. I can decide parts of the outline suck but keep writing anyway. I can turn off the editor long enough to get some work done. It’s been a long time since I wrote this much on a single project. On the one novel I did complete, this amount of writing took about 4-6 months.

I need to keep powering through this novel, but there is a project I’d like to turn to briefly, my ever-festering steampunk fairy tale project. It is so close to being done and really close to being great. I think it’s time to attack it for a few days before I hit The Realm Crystal again. I need to finish the draft and I REALLY need to edit. For instance, I want to turn one of my bad guys into an obnoxious good guy (you know, the one that gets killed in the zombie movies and everyone cheers) who slowly gives in to his nefarious impulses, then gets devoured by the true bad guy. (It was written as fairly bad guy gets too big for his britches and gets devoured by true bad guy…not quite special enough.) That’s the biggest change, but there will be many. But first, get to the last page — still a long trek from where I am.

I hope everyone else found NaNo as rewarding as I did this year. Keep writing and keep dropping by.