The Good, the Bad, and the Update

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

Stuff going on all over the place here in Chaos land.  Some are good, some are bad, some are just continuations of stuff I’ve mentioned before.  I will refrain from classifying in order to protect the innocent and the guilty.

First, summer ends and school starts tomorrow.  Well, inservice anyway.  I got about 10% of the writing I wanted done over the summer, so I’ll go ahead and classify that part as bad.  I can say I’m eager to see this particular summer end, so I guess that hits good.  So maybe it’s a wash.  Either way, I’m up early and back at it tomorrow.

In other news, I’m starting to get adjusted to my bi-pap machine.  I’ve mentioned it before; it keeps pressure on my airway to combat apnea and snoring.  The foundation of the house appreciates the snore reduction.  It’s still an odd sensation and I occasionally feel like the thing is suffocating me, but less and less.  I’ve started spending time reading before bed with the mask on to get used to it before trying to sleep in it.  I will be bringing the machine with me to cons in the future which should make roommates a more realistic possibility.

Speaking of reading, I’ve started reading Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy which I picked up at LibertyCon.  It’s interesting.  So far, it’s pretty much a caper story set in a fantasy world.  A lot of the powers in the story remind me of the movie Push (Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning), which was a better film than its box office suggests.  The two don’t seem to be related, though.  Anyway, I’m really enjoying the first book.  I’m tempted to bring it to the inservice tomorrow, but no.  I’m too straight-laced to do that, alas.

What else?  The same middle scene of my steampunk fairytale continues to defy me.  I think I need to completely reimagine the scene.  That may well mean rereading the story up to that point.  I bet there’s a flaw before that scene that can be tweaked to lend to the proper flow.  I wanted to have a funcional draft before I went back to school.  I don’t.  Oh well.

And finally, I am toying with the idea of creating a podcast.  I’m not 100% what format I’m after.  I think I’ll do a reading as a dry run with the tech available to me to see how practical this idea is.  If it sounds like garbage, I’ll have to abandon the idea until I can afford decent equipment.  This is likely a reaction to listening to a lot of Writing Excuses of late.  I’m probably leaning toward an informal interview style, mostly via skype.  Anyway, it’s still an idea at stage two out of fifty, but I think it would be fun.

So, That’s the updates on me.  And I made it all the way through without telling you to go to Smashwords or the Kindle Store to buy Baker’s Dozen.  Okay, almost all the way through.  If you have a Smashwords coupon, it expires on the 22nd, so go get it.  And I am looking for reviewers still.  If you’ve ever reviewed stuff before and/or have significant web traffic, send me an email so we can work out a free ebook arrangement.

Until next time, stay chaotic.  (Trying out a new catchphrase.  Maybe?)

Fixing the end broke the middle

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

Today I finally stuck a fork in the first draft of my Steampunk fairytale story.  It had taken a long time to tinker with the next to last scene to make the action build correctly.  I wasn’t thrilled with what I had, but I had something workable and moved on to the scene with the final confrontation.  (Maybe it was more than one final scene, but that’s beside the point.)  The ending from the previous draft worked okay, so I tweaked it a bit and put it in…and realized my new middle scene had made the ending impossible.

Boo.

The easiest thing to do is probably to change the ending.  Heck, it’s the last four paragraphs that need to be changed.  That’s it.  But changing the ending to fit the middle (that I wasn’t thrilled with) takes away the cruel poetry imparted on the bad guy.  So instead I really need to change that &@#$ middle scene.

So what’s up with the middle scene?  Well, it’s a heist subplot (or event) in the middle of a story.  The heist will end up successful, that much is certain (to make the story work).  That doesn’t mean it has to go smoothly.  In fact it should not go smoothly.  When I ask myself, as the writer, “does their plan work?” the answer needs to be either “yes, but…” or “not quite, yet…”  I have kind of pinched myself into a corner with it.  Based on the surrounding material, the answer pretty much just needs to be “yes, it works.”  Not acceptable in this story.  (That’s only entertaining if George Clooney and Brad Pitt do it…and not in a sequel.)  Too cut-and-dry.  Too tidy.  The story doesn’t need tidy there; it needs to be messy.  It needs to dial up the tension.

I think the solution is going to force changes on the end, unfortunately.  I mean, there needs to be a cost to the heist.  It could cost a character’s life, but I’m not prepared to go there.  So the cost needs to be in terms of assets.  The main asset the “good guys” have is…that would be spoiling, but it was needed for the ending.  Alas, I see no way around that.  I think I can make the heist more successful than planned in order to trick the ending into working again.  Basically, plan to use asset X to procure target Y; X is destroyed in the process of obtaining Y, but they also get bonus Z.

Hmm…did blogging just solve my dilemma?  That would be pretty sweet.  I’m sure this story has other issues.  Perhaps some more vague rambling will help me devise fixes for those too.

Flash! Ah, ahhh…

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

In the spirit of fostering competition and all that, I want to mention that Escape Artists (the fine folks that bring you fine the podcasts Escape Pod, Pseudopod, and PodCastle) are kicking off their third Flash Fiction Contest.  Apparently the last time they did this over 6 months with all three podcasts, but this year they will have three separate contests — one for each title — with a shorter submission window for each.  They are starting with the Escape Pod contest, so that means sci-fi.  Read the rules on their forum.  Deadline is September 15th.

I’m already digging into my stockpile of unsold flash to see what might work.  I’ll probably write at least one new story for it.  Since each writer can enter two, a mix of new and old might be the best way to go.

To the archives!

My Latest Discoveries – Writing Excuses and WikidPad

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

I’ve listened to Mur Lafferty on I Should Be Writing for years, so I’m not new to podcasts aimed at writers.  I had checked out a few others before, too.  So after meeting Brandon Sanderson at LibertyCon, I had to check out his podcast Writing Excuses. 

It’s not just Sanderson.  He casts with Dan Wells, cartoonist Howard Tayler, and Mary Robinette Kowal (apparently the latest addition).  I’ve been wearing out back episodes.  The chemistry among the podcasters is great, the advice is great, and the short length (fifteen minutes because…naw, I won’t steal their tagline.)  It’s been great fun to listen to and has me revved up to write, something I’ve been having trouble finding the focus to do of late.  If you haven’t listened to Writing Excuses, give it a try.  It’s worth it.

One of the Writing Excuses topics was Story Bibles.  It’s something I’m bad at organizing, so I gave it a listen and discovered…WikidPad.  Let the world building addiction begin! 

Ooh, this is a sweet little program.  Not that it’s anything fancy.  It’s a notepad program that automatically links sub-documents together if you type a mix of caps and lowercase (MixCaps) or put the word in [brackets].  Very easy learning curve and you can feel the world growing every time you create a new link.  I pulled out my notes on an IP some friends and I had tried to start up and it really put some perspective on what we had and what we didn’t.  I’m loving it.  Thank you, Writing Excuses.

New podcast, new world building toy…I just need to remember that these are not prizes in and of themselves; they are supposed to get me writing again.  That said, here I go…

All It Was Cracked Up to Be

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

Back from LibertyCon.  It was a great weekend.  Had a few firsts, made a few friends, and generally had fun.

Lets start with the egg-speriment in marketing.  I ended up putting tiny card stock coupons inside gold plastic Easter eggs.  The little paper had the cover pic; QR codes for Smashwords, Kindle, and my blog; web addresses for Kindle and Smashwords; and a coupon code.  The eggs seemed to be a hit.  77 of them were distributed, mostly from the freebie table where you usually find bookmarks, postcards, and black-on-florescent paper flyers.  I think the eggs were just more interesting looking and people grabbed more of them than they did bookmarks.

There a downside to the egg-speriment: so far, I’ve only sold one ebook out of an egg.  Yep, one.  I have a number of folks who have promised they will buy one, and they have a month before the coupon expires, so all is not lost.  We’ll see.

Sunday morning was my first opportunity to do a reading at a con.  I got the 10am time slot, a time hen many folks were bringing luggage to their cars.  I thought it would be the kiss of death.  It wasn’t.  I had an audience of at least a dozen (dare I hope it was a baker’s dozen?).  On top of that, all of them seemed to enjoy themselves.

I started by reading “Faerie Belches”, a middle-grades urban fantasy I originally sold back in 2008.  The crowd response was great.  I had forgotten what a sweet little tale it was, and it worked even better out loud.  The reading convinced me to send the story to PodCastle, an audio podcast market for fantasy.  I sent it today, so we’ll see…

The other story I read was “Call Me Z”, a previously unpublished zombie-culture story.  It was a story I always had faith in but never found a market for.  Again, the crowd seemed to like it.  So I was two for two.  (It helped that I bribed them with donuts — tiny, gas-station-bought donuts.)

Another first for me was being interviewed for a “YouTube show”, effectively a video podcast.  My new pal John Hartness hosts a show called Literate Liquors on which authors describe their works and recommend something to drink while reading them.  It was fun.  I’ll be sure to link to the episode when I find it.  (For what it’s worth, I got to watch guest of honor Brandon Sanderson record an episode even though he doesn’t drink.)

I made quite a few friends — too many to list in fear of missing one — and even better, I think I picked up a few new fans.  Now I need to go write more stuff for those fans to read.  A great weekend that has inspired me to get back to work.

Oh, and one more thing.  There was a general consensus at the con that $2.99 is to cheap for Baker’s Dozen.  So what do I do about it?  I’ll raise the price, but not yet.  No matter what happens, the $1 egg-coupon is good through August 22nd.  But if you’re planning to buy Baker’s Dozen, you might want to act soon!

The Shell Game

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

With LibertyCon just around the corner, I’ve been looking for a good way to market Baker’s Dozen.  I’ve committed to an idea.  Is it good?  Maybe.  Is it great?  I doubt it.

Eggs.

I guess I may be over-committed to my cover art, but I just ordered 100 gold(-ish) Easter eggs.  I plan to fill the eggs with ads/coupons for Baker’s Dozen.  The coupon will be good for Smashwords, but links to both SW and the Kindle Store will be in there.  And maybe cheap candy…I haven’t decided.  I figured a little something to separate mine from the dozens of pieces of paper might translate into a sale or three.  Yes, this means I’ll be carrying around a bag of eggs like a delinquent on Halloween.  If you see me, ask for an egg,

I’ll also do a little trolling for reviewers at LibertyCon.  I want to get a couple people to read and review Baker’s Dozen.  I’m not chasing Locus or anything, just some bloggers with little web traffic and a track record of reviewing stuff that would be willing to share the review on Amazon and Smashwords.  If that describes you and you’d be interested in writing a brief, fair review of my collection, zip me an email.  Reviewers will of course get their digital copy for free from Smashwords.

[Be warned: I will be screening my reviewers prior to dealing out free copies.  Not that I’m looking for favors or bias, but I don’t want to risk exposing myself to illiterate reviews from readers that don’t understand the genre and just wanted something free.  If I can’t find a track record of reviews, I won’t be likely to shell out a free copy.  But asking can’t hut, I guess.]

The Con that keeps on Giving

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

I recently — maybe not so recently — posted my LibertyCon schedule.  Well, it’s growing.

First, they added the Opening Ceremonies (Friday, 5 pm) to my personal schedule.  Okay, I get that.  I am an “also attending” guest so it would be nice to wave to the crowd.  I can do that.

Then they seem to have added a couple autograph sessions (Friday at 6 pm, Saturday at 4 pm Sunday at 1 pm).  I don’t expect much of a line, but it makes sense to have a time when people can expect to find me.  It might make more sense if I didn’t have a panel (Research) conflicting with that Saturday @ 4, but whatever.  Now tht they fixed the timimg of my second autograph session, everything should work out swell. Should. I can go with the flow.

Finally, I have another panel.  And this is one I can definitely contribute to: Whimsy and Satire in SF&F (Saturday at 6 pm).  Whimsy.  That’s what the W in my name stands for.  (Really?  Maybe.)  And it’s currently a panel of 3, so I’ll have plenty of talk time to say something funny.  My typical record is 1 out of every 10 jokes is funny.  That’s why comedy is so hard.

Whew, it’s going to be a busy con.  I need to find some time to buy beers for pros, too.  I can’t wait.

My LibertyCon Schedule

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

It’s about a month to LibertyCon (July 20-22).  Last time I checked the schedule, I didn’t have any panels scheduled.  I was a late-added guest so it wasn’t a big surprise.  When guests drop out, someone has to fill their spots.

I checked the schedule today and found the issue resolved.  I’m sure that things are still subject to change, but right now my schedule includes:

  • Messiest Ways to Kill a Zombie
  • Historical & Science Fiction Research
  • Self Promotion: Increasing Discoverability Through Marketing and Technology
  • Reading – Scott Baker

Yup, I have a reading.  On Sunday morning.  I’m certain it will be well attended.  :-/  I’ve never done a reading before other than reading flash fic to my classes when they beg.  It’ll be good practice.  So I guess I should start picking a piece to read.

Having no novels out or forthcoming, I guess I’ll be reading short fiction.  The obvious thing to do is read something from Baker’s Dozen.  Plenty of good candidates in there.  Not “Leech Run” or “Chasers” since both are Escape Pod stories and have/will have audio presentations that trump whatever I can muster, but I could read “Poison Inside the Walls” if I want something pro-published.  Right now I’m leaning more toward “Call Me Z”, my zombie culture piece; it’s fun but poignant.  Also in the running are “Glow Baby” (urban fantasy; think of Tribbles) and “Secondhand Rush” (dystopian, slight cyberpunk overtones).  Then there’s the option of reading something unpublished, particularly if I finish it between now and then, but I don’t really see the marketing value in that approach.  It may boil down to whichever story I feel like reading to an empty room.

As for the panels, that first one is made of awesome.  To top it off, John Ringo is on that panel with me.  That one may get a touch out of control…I hope.  The research panel is a bit out of my league since I’m not a research nut.  Plus I seem to be on the panel with sciencey-types.   But I research and I’ll have a pearl or three to share, I suppose.  As for the self-promotion panel, I’ve been doing some of that with Baker’s Dozen but not as much as perhaps I should.  I’ll be listening as much as talking there.

All in all, I’ve really come to enjoy Chattanooga cons and I don’t expect this one to be too different.  Still a month away, though.

I hate waiting.