2015 in Notes

When you work on writing stories, it's hard to show people what you're working on via social media or a website because, oops, putting stuff online usually counts as publishing it in the eyes of magazine editors that prefer to be the first publishers.

But held up between my fingers is 2015 in my notebook. This is where most of my Saturday and Sunday mornings or afternoons went after I got my shit back together in the spring; this is my year in review, heh. For a lot of these stories, this is closest they'll get to being seen, because the work was just practice or wasn't good enough. Others have been read aloud or will be read aloud. And some of those I hope to collect with other ones in a pretty package later this year.

I'm not saying that I'm better than anyone else interested in the moderately insane craft of writing, and I'm certainly not saying I'm harder working. Just that I tried, and I hope to try some more, and I'm out here, and thank you.

Daily Science Fiction

So. A few years behind the times, I know, but a couple of months ago, I stumbled across Daily Science Fiction. Now, it's become something I really look forward to reading on the weekdays.

For those who aren't familiar with it, here are the important points that I hope will motivate you to check it out:

1. It's free.
2. It delivers a new short story to your inbox every weekday.
3. It features stories from new and established writers alike, so it does wonders for exposing readers to authors they might not know.
4. It's free.

Below are two of my recent favorites. Check them out--maybe you'll enjoy them, too!

"What Wags the World" by Sarah Pinsker
"In Autumn" by Theodora Goss

Earbuds

I had thought about putting together a short story collection this year. Ended up not doing it, but for a good reason: one of the stories I really want to include, "Earbuds," got accepted into Allegory E-zine, which means the rights to it are tied up for a bit, heh.

Anyway, the fall/winter issue of Allegory came out today with "Earbuds" in it. I don't submit many stories, but I do like this one, and I hope you'll enjoy it if you read it (psst, it's free). Special thanks once again to Michael Penkas for reading it over and helping get it into shape.

Click here to read "Earbuds" on Allegory!

Current Comic Book Reading

I finished one six-issue music-based comic book miniseries only to have another one start. Yay and dammit, all at once, for a new limited 'Phonogram' series! ("Dammit" only because I like having money.)

Every Day I'm Tumblin'

That's not true at all.

However, I have been trying to use Tumblr more. I've started a blog there with the main goal of finding stories, poems, and similar bits of creative writing that I really like from other Tumblr users. I reblog 'em as I find 'em (which, again, is only every few days), because every good writer can use support and appreciation, no matter how small the show.

So come join me on my Tumblr, Reading Under the Night Light, if you're interested!

Thoughts on Being a Writer

Here's the thing:

I think that anyone can be a writer, but that not everyone who has ideas and can assemble coherent sentences is a writer.

Good creative writing involves choosing just the right word for the moment, along with paying attention to the ways words and sentences come together and the effects that, together, they create.

In short, writing is a craft. That means that it's hard work, and a good portion of the time, it'll make you want to set yourself on fire and jump into a pool of gasoline.

But if you're a writer, you won't want to spend your time any other way.

Jerome Charyn's 'Bitter Bronx'

I've had pretty good luck in terms of quality when going to the library and checking out random books that I otherwise know nothing about from the new releases shelf.

An excerpt from one of my latest happy finds:

"Whatever music I have had risen from the bedlam of the Bronx, all the staccato sounds, the syncopation of sadness and loss."

Holy $@(%. That's just from the author's note.

Seriously, that's from Jerome Charyn, and if you enjoy language like that that pares down sentences until only the right words are left, I really recommend checking out his story collection Bitter Bronx. "The Cat Lady's Kiss" reads like a fairy tale perfectly transposed to New York and rolled around in grit.

I mean, damn.