RAZORED ZEN

So What is Fast Writing?

2012-02-01T08:48:00.001-06:00

Once in a while, someone will tell me they wish they could write as fast as I do. Over the years it’s occurred quite a few times, but I’m still a little surprised when it happens because I think of myself as a very slow writer. Of course, I’ve told other writers that I wished I could write as fast as they. That got me thinking about how exactly to define ‘fast’ writing.

Something that confounds the issue, of course, is the difference between writing and publishing. The last time someone made a comment to me about being a fast writer was right after Days of Beer and In the Language of Scorpions came out, and after I mentioned that Under the Ember Star would likely be published this year. That’s not fast writing, though. That’s fast publishing. A third of Days of Beer was completed a couple of years ago, and I wrote the rest throughout November and December of 2011. That’s probably close to 15,000 new words in two months, which is actually kind of fast for me. As for “Scorpions,” the majority of the stories in there were reprinted from earlier magazine publications. I did write a couple of new pieces for that book, and I completed a number of stories that had been in rough draft form, but the total number of new words in that book was fairly small. “Ember Star” was written mostly last summer, 30,000 words over several months. I didn’t even average 500 words a day.

In order to try and understand more about my own productivity, I decided this year to keep word count records. I know many writers who do this routinely but I’ve never really made an effort to do so before. Well, the first month’s data is in and here are the results:

I produced 8033 new words of material that I hope to get published. This counts stories, introductions to stories, and material about stories that might go into a publication. It doesn’t count blog posts or letters of recommendation or other writing that I do as part of my job and life, but which isn’t going to be put on any bibliography of my publications. Although I don’t know exactly what my average monthly output is, I feel comfortable saying that this was actually an above average month for me.

January has 31 days so my average daily output was 259 words a day. That’s a little misleading because I didn’t write every day. I didn’t keep “exact” notes on when I wrote or didn’t, but looking back over my journal it looks like I wrote material that I hoped to publish on about 20 days of the month. That would bring my average daily production count up to a whopping 402 words a day. According to my journal, on my best day in January I did “about a thousand words.” None of that suggests to me that I am a fast writer.

I also realized, though, that word count is only a partial record of writing activity. I do a lot of revising and rewriting on my stuff. In other words, on the days I wrote I tended to work a lot harder than a new word count of 402 would suggest.

So if I’m not a fast writer, who is? Stephen King? King says he writes about 2,000 words a day. Considering that he’s a full time writer while I’m not, even two thousand doesn’t seem all that fast. But if he writes six days a week, that would give him a production of 634,000 words a year, or one and a half books considering the size of his novels. To average a million words a year would require around 2740 words a day, every day. Since I don’t imagine anyone writers 365 days a year, we’re probably talking about million word a year folks averaging 3,000 words a day or better. Now that seems pretty fast to me, but I’d like to know how many hours a day this writer works, and how much revision they do.

So. Is Stephen King a fast writer? What does it take to be considered a fast writer? Is fast even about word count? Or it about an attitude? Is it about a writer wanting to churn out the biggest word count possible in the least amount of time necessary, without worrying about achieving anything more than the lowest level of quality needed to get it published? What do you think?
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Kindle and Nook Collections

2012-01-29T09:29:00.001-06:00

Some folks I know who are self-publishing on Kindle are talking about hundreds of sales for their works a month. (I don’t know any of those folks who are claiming thousands.) I have two self-published titles up on Amazon and Nook, Killing Trail and Days of Beer, and I haven’t come close to that number yet. Sales for Days of Beer have pretty well flatlined, but Killing Trail is still selling a few copies a month.

One thing the folks are saying who are publishing more is that it 1) helps to have more titles available, and 2) it helps if they are all basically in the same genre. I’m never going to be able to pull off the second one. I don’t read in any one genre and I just can’t focus my writing in one. I like stories of all kinds, and I want to write the kinds of stories I like to read. And I don’t want to use three or four different pseudonyms; I’d end up having to tell folks it was me, anyway.

However, I’ve decided that I’m going to put up at least two more ebooks from my own Razored Zen Press in 2012. One of them will not be the erotica collection I was talking about last year. I just decided I didn’t feel comfortable doing it. However, I do have two specific collections in mind that I will try to publish.

The first will be called Whiskey, Guns and Sin. It will be a noir/crime collection. The title story was previously published at Beat to a Pulp, but the ending is completely redone for this collection. The Swampy Jack story, “The Finest Cut” will also be in there. And another story, which I have an idea for but which hasn’t been written yet. I have a cover concept firmly in mind.

The second one will be a “Hauntings” collection. I have one story written for this already, called “Mouth Wet with Rain and Leaves.” There will be at least two more stories but I have to write them first. I have plenty of ideas. I don’t know what the collection title will be yet, but all the stories will deal with hauntings in some way or another. I have a cover idea for this one too, although not as firmly held.

Each of these collections will be shorter in total words than either Killing Trail or Days of Beer, but will contain three stories each and I’ll sell them for .99 cents. I’ll see if this will make any difference in my sales figures on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

For those of you who are saying, oh no, not more Gramlich already after Days of Beer in December and In the Language of Scorpions in January, it’s going to be at least a couple of months before “Whiskey” goes up, and quite a bit longer than that before the “Hauntings” collection is ready.

It’s a crazy new world of publishing out there. I haven’t the foggiest what is going to happen. But I'm going to have my stuff in the mix some way or another.
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Strange Worlds Contest: The Winner

2012-01-28T10:05:00.004-06:00

Well, it took me longer than I'd planned to have my drawing for the copy of Strange Worlds, the illustrated Sword & Planet anthology that I have a story in. But it is now completed, as of about 9:00 this morning.

The winner is: Bernardl, and judging by his comments on Edgar Rice Burroughs I think the book has found a good home.

Sorry to all those who didn't win, and thank you for your patience.

Bernard, I have your email address so I'll email you later today about mailing you the book. Let me know if you want me to sign my story.

If anyone wants to purchase a copy of Strange Worlds, you can order them here. I'm going to order a few more copies myself for sale at some point. This month was not a good 'money' month, though.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on that post, and who faithful visit my blog. I appreciate you folks.
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Surprise blog at Novel Spaces

2012-01-26T08:35:00.003-06:00

My post at Novel Spaces is still up today, but is the second post down from the top now. It's about "Surprise" in writing. If you haven't visited yet, perhaps you will today.

I haven't forgotten my giveaway. I promise. Someone will win a free copy of Strange Worlds. Soon. I've just been swamped with things coming up.

Thanks to all for reading.

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In the Language of Scorpions

2012-01-21T09:16:00.003-06:00

The moonlight settled over the December beach like snow birds coming in to roost on an arctic plain. And the midnight world was brush-stroked in white, the white of sand and shells and stones, the white of bones and ghosts. In the midst of that white was a splatter of black, or what could have been red in brighter hours. It reminded Kyle Dupree of a snowflake in negative, and he thought it was incredibly beautiful until he realized what it represented. Then he dropped the cigarette he'd walked out on the beach to smoke, and reached down with his thumb to unsnap the strap that held his Colt Trooper in its holster.

In the Language of Scorpions is out from Borgo Press. I really love the cover. Maybe my favorite yet from Borgo/Wildside. This is a collection of my horror stories, written across some two decades. Some of the tales have been printed before but there are actually quite a few new ones written (or finished) for this collection.

The sample piece that opens this blog comes from a story called “Splatter of Black,” and it features the main character from my first novel, Cold in the Light. There are a few flash fictions here too, but most are full-length stories. Here are a few other story titles from the collection:

Still Life with Skulls
Roadkill
Razor White
Haunting Place
Wall of Love
Twenty-Four Mile Bridge

Just to let folks know. Most the books that people have seen from me so far, except for Midnight in Rosary, have been heavy on fantasy adventure. “Scorpions” is a horror collection. There are a lot of Twilight Zone type stories and tales inspired by writers like Edgar Allan Poe that any reader might enjoy. But there are also some stories that have graphic gore and explore very intense subject matter. Some folks find that kind of thing uncomfortable.

In the book itself, I inserted author notes in front of some tales to let readers know what they were in for. There are notes about each of the stories a the end of the book, too, which give more information about them. The most graphic tales are “Razor White,” “Splatter of Black,” and “Wall of Love.” These were all written during the heyday of “Splatterpunk.” If you like gore, those should satisfy you. And if you don’t like gore, there are plenty other tales that I think you would enjoy.

The books is available at Amazon at the moment, in both print and ebook. It will be available on Barnes & Noble soon.

Here’s the link for print

And for Kindle

Thanks, as always, for reading.
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Writing and Other Fun Things

2012-01-20T08:30:00.002-06:00

I've finished two stories in the past few days. One was the "Swampy Jack" story, which ended up under the title "The Finest Cut." Several folks pointed out that the original title, "Swampy Jack's Finest Cut," might either have given too much away or may not have set the right tone. I agreed. I ended up keeping the character name "Swampy Jack," though, because it fits that character and how he portrays himself. The piece is pretty much pure noir.

The other story is a horror piece under the working title right now of: "A Mouth Wet With Rain and Leaves." Some day I'll post about short versus long titles. Personally, I'm a sucker for long titles as long as they have a poetic or humorous element to them. I don't buy books for their covers, but I probably have bought books before just because the title was so cool I figured I'd have to like the writing within.

Unfortunately, the work of the semester has also hit big time. I've got a couple of research proposals on my desk to review, a student paper to edit, a set of tests to grade, a brief note I have to write for a scholarly journal, and a long scholarly book that I've been asked to review. Lana says we need to grocery shop too!

This is not to mention any pleasure reading of the books and stories I have loaded on my Kindle or sitting on my desk from blog friends like Patti, Oscar, Bernard, O'Neil, Sid, Chris, and plenty of others that I'd like to get read.

I never wonder where all the time goes. I know exactly where it goes.

By the way, I am getting ready to close my giveaway for Strange Worlds and will have the drawing this weekend. If you haven't yet entered, all you have to do is leave a comment on This Post

The Drawing will likely be held Sunday so today and Saturday it is still open.
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Styx versus The Priest

2012-01-15T18:02:00.001-06:00

I was driving the other day when a song came on the radio that I didn’t remember ever having heard before. My first thoughts were, “Wow, this must be a remake of “Suite Madam Blue” by Styx. I punched the info button and the name Judas Priest came up. The song was titled “Beyond the Realm of Death.” There was absolutely no mention of it being a remake, and I couldn’t imagine the Priest doing a remake of Styx!

I did a little more research, and could find no connection between these two songs at all. Yet, they have almost exactly the same basic riff. “Suite Madam Blue” was on Styx’s 1975 album Equinox, while “Beyond the Realm of Death” was on Stained Class, from Judas Priest in 1978. I also read a hint that Judas Priest may have had a guest guitarist on their song, and, rather strangely, the Styx guitarist named John Curulewski, who played on Equinox, left the band right after that. I began to wonder if Curulewski could have been the guest guitarist on “Beyond the Realm of Death” but could find nothing to indicate that.

The mystery remains. How in the world could a Styx riff end up on a Judas Priest album three years later? And lest you think it’s only a passing resemblance, I’ve linked both songs below. Give them a listen, especially the opening sections.

Styx: “Suite Madam Blue”.

Judas Priest: “Beyond the Realm of Death”.

If anyone has any info on this, I’d love to hear it.
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A Life Lesson

2012-01-12T09:07:00.002-06:00

I don't often buy new shirts, but I did at the end of 2011. I needed 'em for school. I bought 'one' long-sleeved shirt, because on rare occasion it gets cool enough in southern Louisiana for such. I also bought shirts with pockets so I could carry pens and markers to classes with me. No, I don't have a pocket protector; I'm not that much of a nerd. Though maybe I should be.

I wore my new long-sleeved shirt once. All went well. I decide to wear it again. As I'm getting ready for classes that day I have a variety of pens on my desk to choose from. I pick up one and note that it has ink smears around the bottom. Clearly, this one should not go in the pocket of my new shirt. I pluck up another instead and am off to class.

I come back from class with a giant ink stain in the pocket of my shirt. The pen that looked as if it would not leak...leaked. I am absolutely sure this experience has provided me with a life lesson I need to learn. I'm just not exactly sure what the lesson is.

At first, I thought the lesson was: "No matter what decisions you make in life, you are screwed." Then I thought, maybe, it was: "Don't worry about trying to prevent disasters. You can't." But then, perhaps, the lesson is really: "Give up any illusion you have that you can 'control' things in life."

Right now, I'm leaning toward another interpretation of the event: "Inanimate objects know what you are thinking and will do anything they can to spite you."

I'm wearing my ink stained shirt today. I'm carrying the pen in the pocket that 'looked' as if it would leak. It felt like the thing to do. I hope I'm not throwing a gauntlet into the face of the inanimate world. I'm badly outnumbered, if so.

Wish me luck!
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The Genesis of an Idea, at Novel Spaces

2012-01-10T00:39:00.003-06:00

I'm over at Novel Spaces today with a post about generating writing ideas. It's related to an idea for a story that occurred to me yesterday on my commute for a noir story I'm calling "Swampy Jack's Final Cut." I hope you'll drop by.

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Upcoming!

2012-01-09T09:49:00.001-06:00

I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a couple of big publications in 2012. I hesitate almost to mention them, having been burned that way in the past, but I don't really have a lot of other stuff to blog about today and not a lot of time to think about what to blog anyway with it being the first day of classes. So let's hope I don't jinx myself.

First, a collection of my horror stories has been sent to the publisher by Borgo Press's editor. I don't know exactly when it will be out, but in past practice it's been within a month or two of getting to the publisher. That collection will be called "In the Language of Scorpions."

Second, Borgo's editor, Rob Reginald, has found a possible match for "Under the Ember Star," my space opera novella. He plans to publish it as a "Double," with "Ember Star" on one side and another novella on the other side. I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

I'm working on two short stories at the moment, one called "Harvest of War," for a Scott Oden anthology, and the other called "Swampy Jack's Finest Cut." I came up with the idea for "Finest Cut" commuting across the 24 mile Bridge this morning.

Hope everyone's day is off to a good start.
Later.
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A Pub and some Reviews

2012-01-06T21:22:00.001-06:00

My last post featured a giveaway and I'm going to let that run a little longer, so if you haven't yet entered the drawing for a copy of Strange Worlds, just leave a comment on the post HERE.

In the meantime, though, I thought I'd go ahead and post a couple of things of interest (at least to me) that have come up. First, an article I wrote about Sword and Planet fiction, and which Steve Servello expanded, is up online at ERBzine, volume 3566. If you'd like to know more about that genre, you can find it here.

I've also gotten some very nice reviews on Amazon for Days of Beer. I thought I might copy them here. Thanks very much to Steve, Randy, Travis, and Kent. I much appreciate it.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Frothy Adventure, January 3, 2012
By Travis D. Erwin "Travis Erwin"
A quick, enjoyable read as tasty as a cold one on a hot summer day. Reading this book is like sitting down and with great friends on a Friday night. The stories will make you smile, reminisce, and forget all about the hangovers that went along with them.

4.0 out of 5 stars great fun, January 2, 2012
By Kent Westmoreland
I love this book. It reminds me of my own mis-spent youth, but in North Carolina. Charles is a great wit; he'll keep you in stitches.

5.0 out of 5 stars How well I remember . . . well maybe not, December 31, 2011
By Pleasure Reader "Steve"
Charles has created a wonderful coming of (drinking) age tale set in rural Arkansas. Growing up in Oklahoma, may of the images and events he describes bring back vague memories for obvious reasons. Charles tells his stories with such self-deprecating humor and a wonderful descriptive voice that pulls you into each successive tale even if they do not always turn out successful for him. Great fun.

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny!, December 31, 2011
By George R. Johnson "Randy Johnson"
Charles' humorous look at his "love affair" with beer, from his first taste to his first drunk to various adventures he went through over the years. Some eerily mirrored things that happened to me. Maybe it's a universal male thing.

Had quite a lot of fun reading this. He mentions not liking Budweiser. Same here and I used to love to infuriate "Weiser drinkers by saying I'd rather have a Blue Ribbon.

Recommended.
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New School Year, a Review, and a Giveaway

2012-01-03T10:46:00.002-06:00

My son, Josh, is coming up today so I won't be around the net much. And tomorrow I start back to school so I'm going to be less regular (in blogging that is) than I've been over the Christmas break. In the meantime, I leave you with a review.

With his John Carter of Mars series, Edgar Rice Burroughs ignited a publishing juggernaut that lasted well into the 1980s and drew in writers such as Robert E. Howard, Leigh Brackett, Gardner F. Fox, Lin Carter, Alan Burt Akers (Ken Bulmer), and many others. The John Carter stories formed the prototype of a genre that came to be called Sword and Planet fiction. By the late 1980s, however, the genre had declined to the point that it was no longer being published by the major presses and only the small presses kept it alive. Now, Jeff Doten has created one of the first new pure Sword and Planet anthologies to appear in many years, and he himself did the lavish interior illustrations for the work. Here are my thoughts and notes on the collection.

Strange Worlds, “Collected and Illustrated by Jeff Doten.”
Space Puppet Press, 2011

Soft cover, fully illustrated, 189 pages.

Contains an introduction, eight illustrated stories, and a full color comic book, as well as an expansive list of suggested reading in the genre of Sword & Planet fiction. Each story is introduced with a full color cover set up to look like the fantastic paperback covers of the 1970s and 80s.

Cover: by Jeff Doten. A John Carter type character is caught in a contemplative mood.

Introduction, by Jeff Doten. A very short commentary on the nature of Sword & Planet fiction.

1st story: “God’s Dream,” by Charles A. Gramlich. As a boy, Zarn’s father is murdered by desert nomads and Zarn himself is taken captive. He grows to adulthood and earns the right to wear the title nomad for himself, but he can never be fully a nomad, and the mystery of his father’s death draws him into the badlands and toward a destiny he has never suspected.

2nd story: “When the World Changed,” by Ken St. Andre. Is it death that awaits anyone who opens the Pits of Vrando’harr? Or something much worse?

3rd story: “Metal Rat & the Brand New Jungle,” by Jennifer Rahn. Ivor and Tyla fight the Zernesq, and no matter how strange the world around them becomes they find a way to fight on. This one definitely had one of the strangest and most unpredictable endings I’ve seen in fantasy.

4th story: “Pearls of Uraton,” by Paul R. McNamee. Drak of Dithor knows how to get things done on Uraton. That’s why two Terrans come to him with a dangerous and illegal request. Great hook at the beginning and action all through this one.

5th story: “The Final Gift,” by Liz Coley. It is time for Tarn to seek his spirit guide, and kill it with the last new blade of his people. But what if the beast he meets is more than a beast?

6th story: “The Beasts of the Abyss,” by Lisa V. Tomecek. “Miranda Station. Edge of the empire. No man’s land. A place of little opportunity and even less mercy. For Caliban, it was perfect.” Lisa Tomecek was channeling her inner Leigh Brackett when she wrote this one. The atmosphere and action are very good.

7th story: “The Specimen,” by Adrian Kleinbergen. You open a small doorway into a parallel universe and you get a small sample of the weirdness to be found there. What happens when you open a “big” doorway?

8th story: “Slavers of Trakor,” by Charles R. Rutledge. Connor Blake had what John Carter had, what Dray Prescot had, but then his princess was killed, her flyer shot down by the insect-like Chithlain’s. And now Connor has only emptiness. Until a young man tries to waylay him and instead ends up offering Connor redemption.

Comic book: “Martian Abductations,” by Jeff Doten. A grocery run on old Mars is not for the faint of heart.

Suggested Reading: A pretty comprehensive list of the best known Sword and Planet fiction available. Authors and titles listed.

Now for the giveaway. I have a copy of this book that I'm going to give away to one of the commenters on this blog. I'm going to leave this post up for a few days so if you want to be entered in the drawing for the book just leave a comment. After I have the drawing, I'll post the winner here and indicate how to get in touch with me to claim your prize.

If you can't wait and simply must have your copy shipped now, you can order these: HERE.

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So how was 2011 from a Writing Perspective?

2012-01-01T13:37:00.001-06:00

I guess most folks my age or older will agree that the events of a single year kind of run together these days. I remember events but I don’t remember exactly when they occurred. Was it 2011 or 2010, or maybe 2009. I can’t keep ‘em straight. That’s one of the major reasons why I start my new year with a retrospectus on the old one. I’ve always been a guy who likes ‘summing up.” I like making lists. I like seeing lists grow. And these days I need to do that sort of thing regularly to keep up.

Until I sat down this morning to look at my 2011 writing, I had a feeling it had been a slow year for me. Turns out not so much. More good things happened than I recalled. Borgo/Wildside published Midnight in Rosary, my collection of vampire and werewolf stories. Swords of Talera, Wings Over Talera and Witch of Talera were released as ebooks at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. A Rip Through Time came out, to which I was a contributor, and it made a bit of a splash. Strange Worlds also came out, one of the first illustrated anthologies of Sword & Planet fiction ever, and I had the lead story in that, called “God’s Dream.” The Dreams in the Fire Cross Plains charity anthology came out, which contains my story “A Gathering of Ravens,” and what might well have been the best short story I read in 2011: “I Am a Martian Galley Slave,” by David Hardy.

I finished a couple of nonfiction essays that paid pretty well, and had stories published in Rick Moore’s White Cat Magazine (“Ruins and Wraiths”) and in Trembles Magazine (“Lily White and Red.”). Gave a couple of nicely attended speaking engagements and got invited to three cons that I much enjoyed, The LA SF and Costuming Fest, The Undead Con, and CONtraflow. Did a couple of online interviews, most notably over at Elaine Ash’s wonderful blog. That was actually more of a feature than an interview, and one I cherished.

For brand new writing, I didn’t do that much. The school year was pretty rough, especially in the fall, and there were health issues for both Lana and I all year long. I did complete two new novella length projects, “Under the Ember Star,” a space opera piece which should be out next year from Borgo Press, and “Days of Beer,” a humorous memoir of my beer drinking days, which I self-published from Kindle and B&N at the very end of the year.

I also blogged a lot, facebooked a lot, read a lot, and in March I bought a new car, a Hyundai Elantra. All in all, not a bad year.
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Days of Beer: An Excerpt

2011-12-30T12:23:00.002-06:00

Here's a little piece of Days of Beer that no one has seen before. Well, that is unless you've already read the book.
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In my first week in New Orleans I stopped at a local gas station to fill up, and then went inside for a snack. I noticed several large, barrel-shaped coolers stuffed with ice and single beers of various kinds. The sheer beauty of the arrangement stunned me for a moment. I felt the wick of tears come to my eyes. It is for such wonders as this that terms like “smorgasbord” and “cornucopia” were invented.

I’d never been to a place other than a bar where you could buy a single serving of beer, but in front of me now I saw a pirate’s hoard of single servings, the gorgeous colors of their containers vying for my attention. And this was at a gas station.

A sudden terror overwhelmed me then. I feared I was experiencing a flashback from my graduate school experience with that hallucinogenic. Surely, this vision could not be real!

Before the mirage could dissipate, I quickly plucked two tall golden bottles of elixir out of the ice and rushed to the checkout counter. The woman behind the register asked me: “Would you like me to open those for you, sir?”

I stared in confusion at her for a moment, knowing that she spoke in English but unable to quite translate her meaning. Finally, I replied, “I’m…driving.”
She leaned a little closer to me, and in a louder voice to make sure I heard her, asked again: “Would you like me to OPEN those for you, sir?”

I finally understood, and managed, somehow, to choke down the emotion threatening to well up inside of me.

“Well, maybe just one,” I replied.

Amazon.com Widgets

The link at Barnes and Noble is here
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Days of Beer Goes Live

2011-12-27T09:59:00.001-06:00

I said I had an announcement for today, and it’s big for me at least. I was complaining earlier this month about having many projects going and none finished. Well, I’ve finally finished one. Days of Beer is now live online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I am happy, and somewhat relieved. Apparently I still can finish things when I have a little time to write, as I’ve had over the Christmas break.

I’ve talked about the “Days of Beer” project quite a bit. You’ve seen pieces of it. The full title is “Days of Beer: A Memoir of a Beer Drinkin’ Man.” Although some folks suggested changes to the title, and taking out the word memoir, it is a memoir of sorts, although with the emphasis on funny incidents rather than a serious examination of my life. (That would be incredibly boring.)

I also did a fair amount of researching what books were available already, and this title comes closest in my mind to conveying what audience I’m trying to reach. I could be wrong. But in the end you’ve gotta go with your gut.

I decided to introduce the book at 99 cents, although it’s actually got slightly more words in it than “Killing Trail.” I plan to raise the price after a month.

Lana took the cover photo but I added the title and author name. There’s a second cover version inside the book. Lana was going to help with it but after her surgery she just couldn’t stand any time on the computer so you get the best that I could do. I want to get better at doing covers since I’d like to publish more ebooks down the line. Once Lana is back on her feet, she'll probably up the quality on this cover and I’ll replace it. I didn’t want to wait until then to get the work out, though. I’ll be back in school and time will be a precious commodity again.

Amazon.com Widgets

The link at Barnes and Noble is here.

I'm happy!
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Color and Mood in Writing

2011-12-26T00:28:00.004-06:00

I'm over at Novel Spaces today with a post on color and mood in writing. I hope you can drop by.

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For Reasons Unknown

2011-12-25T10:00:00.001-06:00

For reasons unknown, my blog suddenly disappeared yesterday. In fact, I found myself persona non grata with Google so that I couldn't log in to my gmail account or anything else powered by Google. That includes Blogger. I sent an email to their contact and access was restored sometime after midnight last night. I don't know why but I'm glad everything is back with no problems.

I'll have a big announcement, for me anyway, coming up on Tuesday.

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Updates of Various Kinds

2011-12-23T09:59:00.001-06:00

Lana is in quite a bit of pain and discomfort after her surgery. She's having trouble sleeping for more than a couple of hours at a time. Her throat gets sore when she sleeps as well, from the tube used during surgery, no doubt. All of this is standard and to be expected, and much what she experienced with her last shoulder surgery. I hope she will get stronger every day now.

I will be at home with Lana for another week or so, but our school starts back on January 4, this year, which seems awfully early. I had hoped to get a lot accomplished over the break but it doesn't look good at the moment. However, Days of Beer is pretty much finished and I've been working on the cover. It will be up soon.

I checked Blogger this morning and had 220 plus posts in my reader. I did a quick scan through and didn't see anything earth shattering, so I decided I didn't have the strength to do my usual commenting. I'll try to get back to visiting and commenting today.
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Lana is in for Surgery

2011-12-21T04:14:00.002-06:00

Lana is going in this morning (Dec. 21) for surgery on her shoulder, for a torn rotator cuff. I will try and post later once she's out, but won't be visiting blogs on my regular rounds today.

UPDATE: It's 12:45 now and Lana is HOME, and asleep. She came through everything OK. Thanks to everyone for the well wishes.

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The Urge for Memoir

2011-12-19T10:17:00.003-06:00

I was never very interested in memoir writing. Until lately. Before my fifties, I wrote a few short pieces of memoir. Most were intended to be funny. One was called “When Electricity Came to Arkansas,” about an unfortunate experience with an electric fence. Another was a short piece called “Death by Prose,” about the humorous pitfalls involved in selling stories to the Small Press. I did a different kind of piece about my Hurricane Katrina experience and its effect on my writing. That wasn’t funny. I also wrote an account about adopting my son, called “Long Strange Road to Fatherhood.” While it was accepted for publication once, in the end it never saw print.

Then, just after I turned fifty, I put together the pieces for Write With Fire and ended up adding a longish memoir about how I became a writer. It was almost 4,000 words long. For some reason, I felt it was time to tell that story and that book seemed like a good place. I don’t really know if anyone paid much attention to it, but it was fun to do.

A year or so ago I posted several pieces on my blog about my teenage experiences with beer drinking. I called them “Days of Beer.” They were favorably received and a couple of months ago I suddenly decided I was going to write up those experiences more fully and publish them as an ebook. That work is almost finished now, and it’s 18,000 words long. I couldn’t believe how much material was there to work with until I started, but I believe the thing holds together well and I think it’s pretty funny. So far, the writing group that I’ve shared about a third of it with have agreed.

In the next weeks, then, a new piece will be coming out from Razored Zen Press. I need to finish the final read through, and get the cover ready. I have an idea for that and will get Lana to take the photo. I’m using the actual names of folks in many cases, but if I feel there’s any likelihood of embarrassment I’m changing the names or just leaving them out. I’m planning on opening it at 99 cents for the holiday season. I’m also toying with titles, but am leaning toward just calling it “Days of Beer: A Memoir of a Beer Drinkin’ Man.” What do you think?

The biggest question is “why now,” though. Is there something about getting older that naturally makes one want to look back and recall your life? Or is it something that most people have when they’re younger and I am just now finding it of interest? Are you interested in memoir? In reading it? In writing it? Is it a recent thing for you? Or long-term? Do you have any idea why?
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I'm Reading Again: Here's the Proof

2011-12-16T10:30:00.002-06:00

Well, I’m officially finished with the school semester. I got my grades turned in on Sunday and took two days pretty much completely off. Then I got back to work on some writing and it has been going well. I’ve also been doing a lot of reading and much enjoying it. Here’s some of the stuff I’ve read.

A Rip Through Time, by Chris F. Holm, Charles A. Gramlich, Garnett Elliott, Chad Eagleton.
From a concept created by David Cranmer.

What a great fun read this one was. A grand romp across time by four authors working in serial form, the kind of pulp adventure you don’t often see anymore. It’s no secret that I did installment two of the story, and I tell you I just loved seeing how Garnett Elliott and Chad Eagleton played off some of the ideas that I introduced into the work, just as I enjoyed playing off what Chris Holm had put into the opening chapter.

At present, this is available at Smashwords, and for the Nook.

Miles To Little Ridge, by Heath Lowrance

This is a fast paced western of novella length. The main character, Gideon Miles, was created by Edward Grainer, but here the writer Heath Lowrance takes over the reins to tell a hard hitting tale of revenge and justice. I liked the detail on this one. I found the settings and characters very believable. Good stuff.

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Monsters & Mormons, Edited by WM Morris and Theric Jepson

I’ve only read one story from this collection so far, David J. West’s “Fangs of the Dragon.” I enjoyed it very much. The gunfighter, Porter Rockwell, is sent to investigate tales of a lake monster who is killing locals. He finds a wide ranging conspiracy related to the sightings, and then comes face to face with the monster itself. The results are unexpected, and cool.

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I’m also reading Bolo!, by David Weber, which consists of stories about the infamous “Bolo” war machines originally created by Keith Laumer. I haven’t finished it yet but I’ve just loved the first two stories, both of which had me a little misty eyed at the end. This is the first work I’ve read by David Weber. It won’t be the last.

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Monster Dream

2011-12-12T09:14:00.002-06:00

Cool monster dream last night. Lana and I were on vacation, staying in a motel at the outskirts of a large Texas city. I was hungry; she wasn't, so I walked about a dozen blocks to small restaurant. While I was there, Lana actually called me on the store's phone and told me she wanted to go home. As I left the eatery, however, a parade was coming along the main street between me and our motel.

I started trying to find a gap through, when I heard a collective gasp and looked up to see the ball of a water tower flying through the air and then crashing down into some buildings. When I looked behind me I saw massive columns of smoke rising in the distance, and fires burning among the city center's skyscrapers.

The parade was scattering so I ran through the crowd toward our motel. I started along the route I'd come but soon came to a big parking garage that was leveled. I turned into other streets, trying to make my way through, and I knew that whatever the destroyer was it was getting close because debris was flying everywhere. At one point, a giant whip-like tail went whizzing by over my head, shearing off tree tops.

When I found the motel, people were running and screaming, although some were clustered together praying. I started screaming for Lana but there was no answer. I ran inside and down to our room. When I threw open the door, Lana was inside folding clothes with the music turned up really loud. I started yelling at her to "come on, come on". And to "get her shoes." I grabbed her hand and practically dragged her from the room to the outside. Then I woke up.

This dream was almost surely a response to watching the movie "Super-Eight" the other night, although it had elements of "Cloverfield" in it, for sure. I enjoyed!

******
Since it's getting close to Christmas, I thought I'd also post my "price list" today. If anyone wants a signed copy of anything I've got around the house, this is the damage. You can email me at kainja at hotmail dot com I hope everyone is having a good December so far.

(2011): Current Prices on Books: Signed copies. (Shipping included inside the USA)

The Talera series: Sword & Planet Fantasy Adventure Series

Swords of Talera -- $12.50
Wings Over Talera -- $12.50
Witch of Talera -- $12.50
All 3 -- $32.00

Bitter Steel: An anthology of Sword & Sorcery short stories. $12.00

Midnight in Rosary: An anthology of Vampire and Werewolf short stories. $12.00

Both anthologies: (Bitter Steel & Midnight in Rosary). $22.00

Cold in the Light: A horror/thriller. $8.00

Wanting the Mouth of a Lover: A collection of vampire haiku. $5.00
Or $4.00 as an addition to any other order.

Write With Fire: A nonfiction guide to writing. $14.00
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A Matter of Convention

2011-12-09T23:58:00.002-06:00

I'm over at Novel Spaces for today with a post about something that happened to me at a recent SF/Fantasy convention. Stop by if you get the chance.

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Wings Over Talera

2011-12-07T07:36:00.004-06:00

David J. West has a nice review over on his blog of Wings Over Talera, the second book in my Talera Trilogy. I appreciate it.

The most fun I've ever had writing remains the writing of the Talera Trilogy: Swords of Talera, Wings Over Talera, and Witch of Talera. I will do a fourth book at some point.

I'm very glad that folks have generally liked these books a lot, that they've seen something good in the way I drew on the legacies of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard. I certainly appreciate all the kind comments on them, and the reviews over on Amazon and on Goodreads. These remind me of why I love good stories so much, and why I so enjoy writing.

If anyone is interested in picking up signed copies of one or all of the Talera books for Christmas, let me know. I've got copies at the house and can make folks a deal on the trilogy. Email me at: kainja at hotmail dot com

The books are also available for the Nook and the Kindle so if you know someone who has one of these ereaders, or who is getting one for Christmas, these books could make a nice gift. At least I think they do. :)

Time Travel and Sword and Planet Action

2011-12-03T11:10:00.003-06:00

I’ve been needing to post this information for a while but work has been crazy this whole semester. Seems mostly I’ve been putting up holding pattern blog posts. I have a test to grade today but Monday is the last day of class and then we’ll have final exams. I’ll be incommunicado for a few days then before I get finally to Christmas break. If I’m gonna get this post up it needs to be today.

First up, the collected Simon Rip adventure, A Rip Through Time has been published from Beat To A Pulp. It’s available from Smashwords for .99 cents and that’s quite a lot of reading, over 38,000 words. You can get it there for Kindle, Epub, PDF, or various other formats. Many of you already know that this is a serialized story based on David Cranmer’s ideas and character, and that I did one of the sections. Below is a quote about the work that I took directly from the Smashwords site, and it’ll give you the writers and the titles of the various sections:

“A Rip through Time follows the time-cop's travels in a series of five short stories written by several of today's top pulp writers. Chris F. Holm opens the collection with the fast-paced "The Dame, the Doctor and the Device." Charles A. Gramlich's "Battles, Broadswords, and Bad Girls" and Garnett Elliott's "Chaos in the Stream" breathe new life into the time travel story. Bringing the saga to a gripping conclusion in "Darkling in the Eternal Space" is Chad Eagleton, who then takes it a step further with a mesmerizing coda, "The Final Painting of Hawley Exton." And for all the time-traveling enthusiasts, Ron Scheer provides an insightful essay, "Are We Then Yet," which explores the mechanics of time travel in popular fiction.”

I’ve got my copy and look forward over Christmas break to reading the whole thing together. I was so pleased to be a part of this. I much enjoyed writing my segment, and was lucky to be chosen to be among this crew of fine writers.

*****

Next up, I want to mention a new, and “illustrated” collection of Sword & Planet stories called Strange Worlds. This anthology is edited by Jeff Doten, who also did all the wonderful drawings for the work. I believe this may be the first illustrated collection of S & P stories ever. And I’m very happy to say I have a story in the collection called “God’s Dream.” I had an incredible amount of fun writing it.

You can find out more about the anthology here. There is a review of the book up at Black Gate. I will be posting more about it as I read the rest of the stories in the collection. Here's the front and back covers below:

Teaching Issue

2011-11-29T10:14:00.002-06:00

One thing I find difficult as a teacher is explaining to students that even though they might have legitimate reasons for missing class at times, they are still responsible for finishing the work, and that missing class almost always affects their grade negatively. This is not because I take off points for absences, but because by missing they lose out on stuff they just can't get from merely reading the textbook or borrowing their friends' notes.

Yet, year after year, I have students come see me who have missed a substantial amount of class because of a health issue, or because of family problems, who believe they should be given the grade they "would" have earned if they had not had the problems.

Leave aside for the moment that I have no way of predicting what they "would" have earned if they hadn't had personal issues. They always know, and it's often at least a letter grade above what I think likely. When students do have legitimate reasons for missing, I allow them to make up assignments, but I cannot go back and insert all the information in their brain that they would have gotten if they had been in class.

A student came in recently who had missed a lot of class because of family issues. She'd made a "C" on test 1, but because of all the missed classes she got an "F" on test 2. I worked out what she needed to get on test 3, the final, to get a "C" for the class. Her first question was, "What about a 'B'?" A "B" was statistically impossible. She then asked me, "What if I make like a 95 on the final exam?"

I told her that I'd be happy if she did so but that it still wouldn't get her to a "B." I could see she was hoping I'd tell her that I'd curve her grade to a "B" if she made an "A" on the final, but that's not the way it works. There is a certain amount of information a student masters in a class to earn an "A." There are other amounts for "B" and "C" and lower. Even if she mastered the last section at the "A" level, she would not have mastered the earlier material at that level.

She was nearly in tears when she left, and I felt badly for her. I know she has been through a lot this semester, but I can't morally sign off on work as having been completed at a certain level when it has not. And I don't know how to explain this to students.

I've tried telling them that we are not judged in the world on what we do 'one' time. Most people can get up for one test, one game, maybe even one story. Instead, we are judged on what we do across a semester, across undergraduate or graduate school, across a season, and across a career. We don't have to be great every time, but we need to be consistently good if we are going to get consistently good results.

Most of the students I talk to about this seem to think I'm just being mean. I don't feel very good about that myself.

Novel Spaces Suspense: Part 2

2011-11-26T00:20:00.002-06:00

I'm still over at Novel Spaces today, but I'm down one post from the top. This is the second part of my post about using suspense in writing. I should put up a new post here but I came back from vacation with a whole bunch of things piled up. I hope you can drop by.

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Guest Blogger: Ty Johnston

2011-11-24T00:01:00.006-06:00

Fantasy author Ty Johnston’s blog tour 2011 is running from November 1 through November 30. His novels include City of Rogues, Bayne’s Climb and More than Kin, all of which are available for the Kindle ), the Nook, and online at Smashwords. His latest novel, Ghosts of the Asylum, is now available for e-books. To find out more, follow him at his blog. And now, Ty:

Today is Thanksgiving, but as I write this it is still October. It is through the marvels of modern blog scheduling I can write this post weeks ahead of time, then Charles can set up the time and date for my little article to run.

Why would I write this post so early, especially considering this is a holiday for many? The truth is, I have a whole bunch of blog posts to write. This month, November, I am on a blog tour to promote my newest epic fantasy e-book, Ghosts of the Asylum, which was just released earlier this week. I am appearing on 30 different blogs, one each day of the month, which means I have 30 posts to write. And then there are posts to my own blog I need to write, plus as a fiction writer I’ve always got another novel or short story to be working on.

But just because it’s October here where I sit in the past, while November 24 there where you sit, does not mean I can’t reflect upon the holiday that is Thanksgiving for those of us in and from the United States.

The truth is, I have a lot for which to be thankful. Yes, there are wars in the world and modern politics and media consistently grate at the nerves, but I am one of the fortunate few who gets to write fiction for a living.

Yes, I can get up early or sleep in. I can stay up all night if I want. I can work whenever, or not. I don’t have any bosses to answer to, nor boring meetings to attend. All because of my chosen profession.

I don’t mean to rub it in for those not so fortunate as myself. Believe me, fiction writing for a living has plenty of its own downsides.

But I want to be thankful today.

I want to thank Charles for hosting me here on Thanksgiving. I want to thank all the other bloggers who are hosting me this month. I thank my wife for putting up with my nonsense, and I even thank my beagle for being such a good girl ... most of the time. I thank my mother and father, who usually don’t understand my writing but who support me anyway.

And, perhaps most importantly, I want to thank my readers. Without you, the readers, I would not have the life I currently enjoy. I hope my writing gives back at least a little, hopefully a lot.

It’s Thanksgiving. And I’m thankful for being a fiction writer.

Got to go. It’s time for lunch, which today is a bologna sandwich. Wish I was there with you on Thanksgiving so I could enjoy some turkey and dressing!
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Cryptozoology

2011-11-21T20:54:00.002-06:00

Lake Pontchartrain isn’t really a lake. It’s an estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico. It’s generally said to be “brackish,” although parts of it to the north side are pretty fresh while other parts are heavily salty. It is the second largest inland saltwater body in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake, but, at 630 square miles, it’s the largest inland body of water in Louisiana. It borders New Orleans on the north side. I live on the north “shore” of the lake. On a recent photography expedition to the lakeshore, Lana and I stumbled up on a bit of a mystery. I’ll introduce it by asking a few questions.

Isn’t it possible, nay probable, that there are large creatures living in Lake Pontchartrain that are rarely seen by humans? Could some of these large creatures, under the right circumstances, be classified as monsters? Could such a said monster be, in fact, a relative of such other lake monsters as Nessie and Champie?

Could an intrepid photographer and her man Friday have caught a picture of said monster, who one might dub…Ponchie? Is said man Friday about to reveal said photograph right here on this blog? Does a bear **** in the woods?

You will note the long snake-like neck, a common descriptive characteristic of other lake monsters. You will note the opened mouth. I figure Ponchie was about to pounce on a pelican, of which there were many around that day. You might argue that the photo is really of some mundane object jutting out of the lake bottom. To this I say: “Pshaww!”

One last question. Could Ponchie, perhaps, be able to spend time on land? Could he be responsible for the skeleton depicted below, which was found only half a mile from my house? Should I be afraid, very afraid? I know how I would answer those questions.

What about you?
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Razored Zen Interview: Patti Abbott

2011-11-19T00:01:00.004-06:00

My most recent guest on Razored Zen Interview is Patricia (Patti) Abbott. Patti has had her short stories appear in a number of anthologies, and around the web. Recently, a substantial collection of her tales has appeared from Snubnose Press called Monkey Justice. Patti’s stories are known for capturing the essence of people’s humanity even within worlds of darkness. And so, I present Patti Abbott. (RZ represents Razored Zen and PAB is Patti.)

RZ: Tell us a little about yourself outside of writing. Hometown. Family. Job. That sort of thing.

PAB: I grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood in Philadelphia and moved to Detroit, Michigan at 22 when my husband, Phil, finished his Ph.D. and got a teaching job in political science at Wayne State University. As my children grew, I finished my degree, eventually taking a job at Wayne State writing newsletters, catalogs, web material, and brochures for the next twenty years.

My degree is in history and I didn’t start to write until I took a poetry writing workshop in the late nineties. Having access to a university probably allowed this to happen.

RZ: What made you want to write? Is it a desire that’s always been with you? Or was there some particular event or book that ignited the fire?

PAB: I have always wanted to write but lacked the confidence to try for years. My parents were the sort of people that discouraged ambition because they didn’t want to see me get hurt if I failed. They had very limited goals for themselves and for me. Better to be a secretary or work for the phone company (which I did for years) than try something so grandiose.

But some success in the poetry workshop convinced me I had some ability. Next, I won a chapbook contest and then switched to writing stories. My poems were really stories in verse so I was able to use them as blueprints for my first stories. I took four writing workshops with the wonderful Chris Leland and his encouragement made me begin to submit stories in the late 1990s. My stories were always dark, but the first dozen or so were basically literary. Sidebar: my mother changed her mind about my writing as she grew older and was very supportive of these ambitions, realizing she hadn’t encouraged me enough earlier.

RZ: Writers always get asked about their influences. Consider this that question.

PAB: I greatly admire the short stories of Alice Munro (the early ones in particular), Raymond Carver, Bobbie Ann Mason, Flannery O’Connor, John Cheever, Mary Lavin, William Trevor, Lorrie Moore, Eudora Welty and Charles Baxter. If I were to talk about my influences as far as crime goes, I would say Patricia Highsmith, Margaret Millar and Ruth Rendell, especially her non-Wexford work. That’s the tone I strive for at least. I like short stories that have a great voice, an unusual point of view. I am not as interested in plot. Complex plots are difficult to pull off in 4000 words so just as well.

RZ: Patti, I know this is a hard question to ask a writer, but tell us about your favorite story in Monkey Justice, and why it’s your favorite.

PAB: I think my favorite story in MONKEY JUSTICE is “Raising the Dead.” It’s the story of a female photographer who comes up with the unusual, if slightly repulsive, idea of taking pictures of dead men. I like the fact that she’s a difficult woman and relate to her need to find a way to express herself. To find a way to succeed artistically. I like that the story is set in Detroit and is gritty. There are no pretty moments in the story or the book. No noble acts. She does a rather shocking thing at the end of the story. It’s not something most people can understand, but I felt it was consistent with who she was. And perhaps who I am. That’s why I tried to turn it into a novel. The novel is able to develop her, her relationship with several men, and with the city more fully.

RZ: Writing can be hard work. What motivates you to keep going? What inspires you?

PAB: Age motivates me. The idea that time is running out and I have to cram as much as possible into every day. There have always been reasons why I didn’t have enough time to write before this year, but all of them are gone now and there is nothing to do but to sit down in front of the screen and write. I am inspired by my husband who will write anytime he has ten minutes to spare. He is my greatest inspiration and my greatest supporter. He has never once suggested I put my writing aside to do something for him. I wish I could say the same.

RZ: What are you working on currently? And what’s next for you?

PAB: I have promised my writing group to spend more time in trying to place the two novels. Twice I tried to find an agent but gave up after less than a dozen queries. Again I am up against my cursed fear of failure. Better not to try than fail. Better to let the novels wither on my hard drive until someone carts me and the computer off.

I am also working on about half a dozen stories and have about that many coming out over the next few months. I also should say here that I take my blog very seriously, especially the attention we pay to forgotten books. I also like to promote other writers whenever I can. These are hard times. I don’t have to support myself through my writing and am miserable for those who do.

RZ: Besides Monkey Justice, what other work is available from you right now, and where can readers find it? Is there a place online where folks could go to learn more about you and your work?

PAB: My website has links to most of my stories still online. (http://pattinase.blogspot.com) I also have stories in the print journals DAMN NEAR DEAD 2, NEEDLE, CRIMEFACTORY: FIRST EDITION, BEAT TO A PULP: ROUND ONE and TWO, DEADLY TREATS, and D*CKED. And one in the new Ed Gorman anthology. Ed has included my stories in three of his anthologies and I am very grateful to him.

Patti, thanks so much for visiting Razored Zen.

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Halfway Man

2011-11-16T07:57:00.002-06:00

I'm not very happy with myself at the moment. I think I'll start calling myself "Halfway Man." Since the end of summer I've been spinning my wheels. I've got a short story about Orcs halfway done. I've got a memoir about my beer drinking days that I hope will be both funny and suitable for a Kindle/Nook publication. It's halfway done.

I'm halfway through the galleys for In the Language of Scorpions. I should have been "full done" long before this. I'm halfway or near that on the erotica collection I was talking about here a few weeks ago. I've only about half way decided to publish it to begin with.

I've had a sword and planet story published that I want to promote but I'm about halfway to getting around to that. Hell, I even opened a beer the other night, drank about half of it, and put it in the fridge that way. There was a halfway finished can of Clamato already in there. Now, those two are visiting with the half eaten Quarter Pounder I stuffed in there from a few days earlier. If I can't even finish a beer, what hope is there for my writing?

What isn't halfway done is less than that, and I'm about halfway decided to chunk it all and play video games. Let's see: I'm about halfway through Red Dead Redemption. Should I go on with that one or buy a different game. No doubt, Halfway Man will buy a different one.

Progress, thy name is not Charles Gramlich.
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Star Trek and Star Shatner

2011-11-14T10:56:00.003-06:00

I just finished reading William Shatner’s autobiography, Up Till Now. I enjoyed it, although I most enjoyed the sections where he talked about Star Trek. It wasn’t as good as his books, Star Trek Memories and Star Trek Movie Memories, but those were all about “Trek” so that’s probably why I liked them so much. I’m a Trekker, Trekkie, Trekophile. Take your pick.

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Of course, Shatner worked with other authors on these books so I don’t know how much was specifically him and how much his co-writer. But all three books had a great deal of humor in them, and they certainly humanized our Captain Kirk. Shatner went so far as to clearly acknowledge that a number of other cast members, such as Scotty, Chekov, and Uhuru, did not and do not like him, and he admitted that he might have some blame coming his way. He admits that he probably stepped on their lines at times or took them for himself, but he argues that he intended it to be for the good of the show. He does seem to have become a close friend of Leonard Nimoy. (That’s Spock for some of you non-Trekkers.)

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If you’re a Star Trek fan, I’d highly recommend Star Trek Memories and Star Trek Movie Memories. Up till Now is more for the “Shatner” fan, and I think I’ve gradually become one over the years. He kind of grows on you.

What about you? Trek fan? Shatner fan? Anti-Trek? Anti-Shatner? Don’t worry about expressing your opinions. My phaser is on stun only.
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Razored Zen Interview: Travis Erwin

2011-11-11T23:33:00.000-06:00

I think it’s time to run another author interview. My guest today is Travis Erwin, who has his first book out. It’s called The Feedstore Chronicles. I have my copy but have not read this one yet. I have read his short collection for the Kindle, called Whispers and loved it very much. I’m looking forward to his newest. Without further ado, here’s Travis. (RZ represents Razored Zen and I’m sure you can figure out what TE stands for.)

RZ: Tell us a little about yourself outside of writing. Home town. Family. Job. That sort of thing.

TE: Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, I’ve never strayed too far from the crib. By day I work for the US Postal Service making certain the machines that sort the mail keep chugging along. Being that it’s nearly Christmas card season let me say glitter is an evil thing. When you mail a glittery card half of the sparkles end up in the bottom of postal machines . Meaning when I open them up to make a repair, I come away looking like a craft store junkie or an overzealous Twilight fan.

RZ: What made you want to write? Is it a desire that’s always been with you? Or was there some particular event or book that ignited the fire?

TE: Reading. I’ve always been an avid reader and for as long as I can remember I’ve had the thought: Hey I could make up characters and stories. But for years I saw publishing as an unobtainable goal for a country boy from Amarillo, Texas. Then I met a local writer, Jodi Thomas, who writes historical romance and mainstream. Seeing the success she’s had gave me the confidence to actively write with publication in mind. Still, it took better than a decade for me to find a publisher for my first book length project.

RZ: Writers always get asked about their influences. Consider this that question.

TE: There are the folks I know. My mentors. Writers like the aforementioned Jodi Thomas and Jennifer Archer and Debbie Upton that have patiently read, critiqued, and offered advice every step of the way. Then there are the authors I love to read and whose style influences me because when I grow up I hope to be just like them. I love Richard Russo for the way he builds communities of characters so real that I begin to think I used to live in the town where it was set. Christopher Moore and Carl Hiasson both taught me nothing is too absurd for the sake of humor, and David Sedaris made me realize poking fun of yourself is sometimes the only answer.

RZ: Travis, The Feedstore Chronicles is based upon your real life experiences working at a feed store in Texas. Can you tell us a bit about that?

TE: I’m not sure if you mean a bit about working at that feedstore or a bit about writing based on real life, so I’ll tackle both. Working at the feedstore for a man who is still the most morally bankrupt I’ve ever met was, in one word, an adventure. My boss would say or do anything and I was an eager but naive teenage boy in the throes of puberty. After my four year stint I felt a bit like a natural disaster survivor—lucky to be breathing. But these days I look back with nostalgic fondness on those years. I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

As far as writing about that time. It was harder than I imagined. For one thing, I didn’t want to vilify the character based on my boss. He was a likeable guy and even though I haven’t seen or spoken to him in years I still consider him a friend. Some of the events, when taken out of context, would paint an ugly picture. So it took some manipulation to turn my experiences into a story that followed the arc I created, as well as retaining a strong element of humor. There were some experiences I wanted to include but I’m not entirely certain the statute of limitation is up so I left them out. Last thing I wanted was my book used as criminal evidence. I’m only half joking.

RZ: Writing can be hard work. What motivates you to keep going? What inspires you?

TE: I’m never satisfied. I suppose that is what keeps me going. I sold my first short story about 2 months into writing. I sold three or four more in the year that followed and then, for about 5 years there, I amassed nothing but rejections. That was hard and I did get discouraged, but back in the day I refereed high school football here in Texas and trust me when I say nothing an agent or editor says to me will ever compare to the criticism I heard back on those Friday nights. My wife and boys inspire me. They believe I can do the impossible so I keep battling along trying to prove them right.

RZ: What are you working on currently? And what’s next for you?

TE: Outside of promoting The Feedstore Chronicles I am working on another humorous food based book, titled Lettuce Is The Devil: The Culinary Dogma of a Devout Meat Man. It’s a tongue in cheek mixture of memoir, comedic essay, and cook book. I also have a trio of novels in various stages. A comedic women’s fiction project about a woman whose life is being ruined by sex, a serious work of literary fiction about a man trying to redeem himself before cancer claims his life, and an erotic western titled Saddle Up and Ride. Actually that last one is bullshit. The one thing I can’t seem to write is a steamy sex scene.

RZ: Besides The Feedstore Chronicles, what other work is available from you right now, and where can readers find it? Is there a place online, such as a blog, where folks could go to learn more about you and your work?

TE: I self-published a small, novella length collection of three stories called Whispers. The stories contained in it are much heavier emotionally than most of my writing, but I felt compelled to share them with the world. Whispers is available for 99 cents on both the Nook and Kindle. I also have a short story titled “Plundered Booty” in the e-anthology Deadly by the Dozen. “Plundered Booty” is perhaps the most fun I’ve ever had writing a story and I’m glad it found a home alongside 11 other great authors.

Travis, thanks for visiting Razored Zen.

Charles, thanks for having me. Yours has always been one of my favorite blogs and I can’t wait for the day when I get to meet you in person. Hopefully over a juicy steak and a cold beer.
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Talking Suspense at Novel Spaces

2011-11-10T00:05:00.003-06:00

I'm over at Novel Spaces today talking about Suspense in writing and in movies. I hope you'll drop by.
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CONtraflow Con

2011-11-07T22:47:00.001-06:00

Had me a good time at CONtraflow Con. I got to meet David Brin, whose work I admire. I didn’t really get to talk to him very much because he always seemed to be on panels at the same time as mine. My most successful panel was one on Robert E. Howard. I had several enthusiastic attendees and we had a wide ranging discussion about Howard and his work.

I also sat on a panel called “Our Vampires are Different” with a number of other writers. We compared vampires from the Dracula era to the Twilight Era, and I tried to make the point that the Twilight vampires are “fantasy” vamps rather than “horror” vamps. I also argued that vampires have moved from villains in the early days, to anti-heroes after Anne Rice, to straightforward heroes in books such as Twilight.

I also gave a panel on writing and had about five folks, including a young man of High School age to whom I gave a copy of Write With Fire. I didn’t think it went all that well but I did get a lot of questions and that was good.

I sold a few books at the Howard panel but that was about it. I bought a lot of books, though. The CONtraflow charity was the New Orleans library and they had a book sale table there where I spent a considerable sum of money. I was glad the Dealer’s Room had a couple of book tables since fewer and fewer cons have much in the way of books in the dealer’s rooms these days.

I put in about fifteen straight hours today and got a lot done, but certainly not enough. A few more fifteen hour days should get me caught up at least, although not ahead. What I’d like to work on is a set of galleys for a new collection of my stories, which have been sitting on my computer for about two weeks without me even having time to look at them. This will be a collection of my hardcore horror work, which will be entitled In the Language of Scorpions. Maybe soon.
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CONtraflow and High Chaparral

2011-11-04T08:27:00.004-05:00

Giving a test today, then taking off pretty quickly for CONtraflow con. I have a panel today on Robert E. Howard, followed by the opening ceremonies and the Meet the Guests Party. Tomorrow I have panels on Reading, Vampires, and Writing. Looking forward to all of them. David Brin is going to be there, whose work I admire greatly, so I hope to get to meet him.

Some of you might remember a Western TV series called High Chaparral. I enjoyed it, although it was short lived. I recently found a tie-in novel for the series, written by Steve Frazee, and started reading it. It's called The Apache Way.

In it, Blue and Manolito get captured by Apaches. Although I'm generally enjoying the book and the writing, Frazee did something that I hate for authors to do. While the captives are stumbling along behind an Apache warrior all bound up and nearly dying of thirst, Frazee writes a kind of: "one day they would both look back on this moment and be amazed they'd been able to survive it."

I wanted to pull my hair out. Yes, we're pretty sure already that the characters are going to live, but do you have to tell us like this, in the middle of a supposedly life-threatening situation?
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Updating and Undead

2011-10-30T14:23:00.001-05:00

Wow, it’s been a busy few weeks, and not likely to ease up for at least another week. However, I haven’t posted in a week and haven’t even been able to visit blogs the last few days. I even missed my scheduled blog post on Novel Spaces, which is not like me. So I thought I’d take a moment while I’m watching the Saints game (and it isn’t going well) to update the blog on what’s going on.

On Friday, I spoke to the Entre Nous Book Club for Halloween on the topic of “The Psychology of Fear.” There were about thirty folks there and the talk went really well. There were a lot of questions and discussion afterward, which is always enjoyable. The group then treated me to a delicious lunch at the Metairie Country Club. Thanks to Fe, Christie, Elaine, and all the members of Entre Nous for a great time.

Friday evening, Lana and I attended the Vampire Lestat Fan Club Vampire Ball in downtown New Orleans. A few technical glitches that delayed the start of the ball, but once things got rolling it was magnificent. Incredible costumes and the entertainers all rose to the occasion with great performances. Lana and I spent much of our time just watching the movement of the gorgeously costumed performers and attendees.

On Saturday, I spent most of the day at Undead Con 2, at the Chateau Bourbon hotel in the French Quarter. They had two great panels of writers and I got to meet and chat with most of them. I sat on the second panel of the afternoon, with Cynthia and Mike Arsuaga, Lewis Aleman, Robert Crutchfield Jr., and Kurt Amacker. We had great attendance and a lot of laughs. After that, there was a cocktail party with delicious food and more conversation. I much enjoyed myself. Thanks very much Dionne, Suzie, and Cher Groves for all their hard work in making the ball and the con a success, and for being kind enough to invite me.

Now I’m going to try to visit a few blogs, but bear with me for the next week as school work heats up and CONtraflow Con comes roaring in next weekend.
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The Psychology of Fear

2011-10-23T19:38:00.001-05:00

Still way too swamped to get much in the way of blogging done. Besides school work, I've got several writing related things coming up. I'll be giving a lunch time talk this coming Friday to the Entre Nous Book Club. I'm going to be talking about the Psychology of Fear for Halloween.

Right after I finish that talk, I'll be heading downtown in New Orleans to attend the Undead Con. This will be my first time as a guest of that Con and I'm really looking forward to it. The con takes place at the Chateau Bourbon Hotel and I'll have an author's panel on Saturday.

The following week I'll be attending CONtraflow in New Orleans. I'll be setting on panels about Robert E. Howard, Vampires, and writing. I'm looking forward to that as well. After that I'm going to take the following weekend totally off!

I'll leave you with a few definitions from my talk about fear.

Fear: a biological response of the body to a threat. Sympathetic nervous system activity (SNS). The FIGHT or FLIGHT response. Heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure go up. Sweating, butterflies, goosebumps.

FEAR is: more biological: Horror, terror, and suspense all contain major psychological factors.

Suspense: When something is about to happen. Something BIG. But not quite yet. Can be good or bad. Child waiting for Christmas Day. Patient waiting for test results.

Terror: When the suspense is dark and threatening. When what you expect to happen is bad. Since the happening is not there yet, it isn’t quite fear.

Horror: When what’s about to happens--Happens. And it ain’t pretty.” FEAR is always an element of horror, that SNS response. Horror also has at least a little bit of disgust with it.

Suspense is when the person says: “I just wish something would happen. Anything. I can’t stand the waiting.”

Horror is when the person: Wishes they were still in suspense because what’s happening to them is far worse than the waiting.
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Aging and Raging

2011-10-20T10:15:00.001-05:00

I’m still really swamped at work so I’m going to continue being relatively scarce on blogger for the next couple of weeks. Just a quick thought today on Aging and Raging. I was listening to Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” yesterday. The opening line is: “I stand up next to a mountain. And I chop it down with the edge of my hand.”

Jimi was young when he did this song, of course, and young when he died. I remember hearing “Voodoo Child” when I was young, and feeling the power flow through me. I felt the same way, felt like I could challenge a mountain and whip it, felt like I could take the scraps of that mountain and build an island, as Jimi sang. I remember one day, at sixteen, I’m barreling down a rough back road on the dirt bike I had at the time. I’m pushing the motorcycle as hard as I can, and the speed, and my youth are making me feel invulnerable. I take both hands off the handle bars, lift them high and give the world a big “F You.”

Good thing the world didn’t toss a rut in my way at just that moment. I might have experienced road rash a long time before I actually did. Or worse. I don’t know about you, but I remember feeling invincible as a teenager. You stand up in the storm and the thunder rolls over your head and the lightning strikes the ground around you, and you feel your heart running like a wild horse, and you know nothing can bring you down.

I remember in my twenties reading Dylan Thomas’s:
“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

Those words ignited in me. I had no doubt that I’d do exactly that. By then, perhaps, I could imagine being taken down by a force bigger than myself. But I still knew I’d go down fighting.

It’s a long way from twenty-five to fifty-three. One by one my sureties are fading. Most of the time, my raging seems to have changed to aging. I like to think its wisdom and, if so, it took it long enough to work through my thick skull. But like I said, the sureties are fading. I’m not so sure it’s not just fear.

Still a great song, though! Have a listen! Voodoo Child.

Still a great poem! Have a look: Dylan Thomas.
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The Year of Reading Dangerously

2011-10-16T19:28:00.001-05:00

Those who have been visiting my blog regularly may remember that I keep records of the books I read and that I measure my reading year from birthday to birthday. Being that the 14th was my birthday, I have now compiled my yearly report.

I read 118 books this past year, up 2 from last year and down 6 from the year before that. In general, my reading habits remained very consistent from last year, 13 nonfiction reads in each year, 2 classics, 21 SF, and 5 poetry works. I was up 2 on westerns, to 15, and down 6 in thriller/mystery, to 18. The three most notable changes were as follows: 1. I was down 6 in fantasy, for a total of 5, the lowest number of fantasy novels that I’ve read in a year since I began keeping detailed records (1988). 2. I was up to a total of 11 in graphic novels, the highest number since I’ve been keeping records. (I didn’t even have a category for graphic novels until about three years ago.) 3. I hit 7 on reread books, the highest number ever in my personal history. (I didn’t have this category until about 10 years ago.

Why the changes? Well, ever since I read The Watchmen I’ve been going up on reading graphic novels, hoping for a repeat of that classic. So far, not. But hope remains. And, some of those graphic novels would be classified as fantasy, so my fantasy count may not be down as much as it seems. As for the reread books? For most of the last 30 years I’ve virtually refused to reread a book because there were so many “new” books out there. Since about 2003, though, I’ve started to allow myself more “comfort” reads, books that I know without a doubt I’ll enjoy. I suspect it has something to do with aging.

So that’s my year-of-reading report. I’m gonna try to make my blogging rounds now, although I’m still going to be fairly scarce for a while. I just finished a major editing job for which I was spending several hours a day, and finished grading a test I gave Thursday. Unfortunately, next week is midterm time for us at Xavier and I’m going to be doing a lot of grading for the next few days. After that I hope things will get back to normal.

Later.
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Bullied by Life and Work

2011-10-12T08:05:00.001-05:00

Life and work are ganging up on me right now. I'd report them to someone for bullying me but the folks I'd report them to are probably on the side of the bullies. Certainly no time to write any fiction, although the ideas are coming fast and furious. I'm gonna try to maintain my blogging for now but will be making some short posts for a bit.

Today I'll just casually drop a mention of Write With Fire, my book on writing, which is available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Here's a little piece from the introduction about the book:

If you’re wondering why you’re holding a book on writing by someone who is not famous, well, most writers aren’t famous. Most of us work hard at our craft without the benefit of big advances and multi-city tours. Most of us never have autograph parties with lines so long that our hands cramp from signing our names. For many of us, writing is something that we beg, borrow, or steal the time for while our other job keeps the bill collectors at bay.

I’m lucky that as a college teacher in the field of psychology part of my job is to write and to teach and study writing. I hope that’s given me a perspective on the field that can be of use to others, but like most of you reading this I still struggle for every bit of writing success that I get. That struggle has been long, and it’s taught me a few things that I’ve tried to put into the essays that follow. I hope you enjoy.

In case you're wondering what's in the book, you can "look inside" at Amazon. But here's the table of contents below:

Part One: ……………………………………………………………
So You Want to be a Writer ……………………………………
First Words …………………………………………………….……
Writer’s Block No More ……….………………………….…………
Tipping the Odds in Your Favor ……………………….……………
Writing with Purpose ………..………………………………………
Don’t Talk, Write! ..……..…………………………………………..
Writing With Confidence …….……………………………………..
RQW3R …………………………………………………..…………
Five Habits of Publishing Writers ………………………………….
Quick Versus Slow Suspense ……………………………………….
Six Steps to Creating Suspense ............…………………………
The Mechanics of Suspense ……...…..……………………………..
Creating Sympathetic Characters …........………………….……
Characters: The Best and the Rest ….…….....…………………
Harvesting Memories ……….……………………………………….
Writing Your Past for Fun and Profit ………………………………
The First Rule of Endings ……………………………………………
The Curse of the Lazy Ending ……………………………………….
Endings: What’s at Stake ……………………………………………
The Physical Side of Writing …………………………………..……
One Way to Put a Style Together ……………………………………
Writing for Excess (With “Barbarian’s Bane”) ………………………
Writing With Attitude ……………………………….……………….
Selling and Reselling (With “To The Point”) ………….…………….
The Working Man’s Curse …………….……….…………….………
Punctuate It and Forget It! …………………….………….…………..
Problem Words ……………………………………………………….
A Grammar Primer …………………………………………………...
Rewrite, Rewrite, Rewrite ……………………………………………
By Example ………………………………………………………….
Before you Submit, Don’t Forget ..…………………………………

Part Two: ………………………………………………………………
Writing Groups …………………….………………………………...
Page-Turners: What Makes Them, What Breaks Them ..…………
In Praise of the Net ……................…..………………………………
Blogging: Pros and Cons ..….……………………………………….
Pro Versus Amateur ………………………………………………….
Expand Your Mind …………………………………………………..
Fun With Fear ………………………………………………………..
Why Horror ………………………………………………………….
Horror Writers: The Crazy Truth …………..…….………………
The Horror Lists ……………………………………………………..
Dream Stories …………………….…………………….……………
Criticism Hurts ………………………………………………………
An Error in Detail ..........................
Ernest Hemingway: A Writer’s Life and Death ..…………….……
Jack London: Two Fisted Writer …………………………………….
Ken Bulmer: A Death in the Family..………………………………..
Where Have all the Good Themes Gone ……………………….……
Writing Weather ……………………………………………………..
What the Writer Wants ..……………………………………………..
Rest in Peace: Short Story .………………………………………….
Five Years Down the Road …………………………………………..

Part Three ..……………………………………………………………
A Writer on the Run …………………………………………………
Readin’, Writin’ and Me ……………………………………………..
Death By Prose ..……………………………………………………..

Bibliography ..………………………………………………………… P. 286
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What Your Writing Says about You, at Novel Spaces

2011-10-10T00:57:00.003-05:00

I'm over at Novel Spaces today, talking about "What Your Writing says about You." I hope you'll drop by.

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Erotica

2011-10-08T21:43:00.003-05:00

ADDED NOTE: I'd forgot about this, but an interview with me just went up over at Penny Ehrenkranz's blog. I hope you can check it out.
And now, back to my original blog post for today.

I’ve blogged before about a strange goal I’ve had in my writing life to try and publish something in every genre. In pursuit of that goal, many years ago now, I had an erotica story published under a pseudonym. I used the pseudonym because my mom was still alive at the time, and she would not have approved. When I was a teenager my mom didn’t even like me reading anything with sex in it. She once picked up a book I’d borrowed from my older sister that had sex scenes in it. That was not a pleasant day when I got home from school, and I know it was worse for my sister, who I’m sure got a sound chewing out.

Even worse, when I was in high school my mom found one of my notebooks in which I’d written down a scene that had sex in it. I still vaguely remember that scene, and it was incredibly tame even by the standards of the time. Nevertheless, it was sex and she was not happy. I didn’t get yelled at too much; I got the “disappointment,” and that was far worse.

I did later publish stories with sex in them while mom was alive. I just didn’t tell her about them. But I didn’t publish anything in which sex was pretty much the sole purpose of the tale. Except that one pseudonymous story. This brings me to today’s post.

I’m thinking of republishing that old erotic story as a .99 cent kindle ebook. I haven’t decided on a title yet, and I have no idea at present about a cover. I’m trying to decide whether to use my own name or another pseudonym. I do intend to acknowledge it if I publish it, but it might still be best to use a pseudonym. The thing is, although the books published under Charles Allen Gramlich have been in different genres, they have all had a strong sense of adventure at the core of them (except for some of the stuff in Midnight in Rosary, I guess.) This story would not have that so it seems reasonable to establish a different name for it. I had once thought about writing a romance novel and using the name “Pamela Charles” on it. I have a feeling that erotica sells better with a female author’s name on it, but I don’t know for sure. Maybe someone here knows. So here are my questions to my fellow bloggers.

1. Is there any likelihood that publishing an erotica story would hurt the sales of my other titles? I guess here I’m wondering if there is still any stigma attached to publishing erotica. I have to admit, and it’s probably my Catholic upbringing, it still sometimes seems a little questionable to me.

2. What do you think about a pseudonym? Should I use a female one, and, if so, what about Pamela Charles?

3. For anyone that has published or read a .99 cent ebook, what kind of word count do you typically look for in such a work? Especially for erotica?

4. As for covers, how and where do people get covers for erotica?

As always, thanks for reading.
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Razored Zen Interview: Bret Funk

2011-10-06T08:30:00.024-05:00

My guest today on Razored Zen Author Interview is Bret Funk. Bret is another Louisiana author. I’ve known him for a lot of years now. I’m not quite sure how many. I first met him at a local science fiction convention where we were both guests. Bret is the author of the acclaimed Boundary’s Fall fantasy series, and editor and publisher of Tyrannosaurus Press. He also edits The Illuminata, for which I’ve written a lot of articles and essays over the years, including quite a few that appeared in my book Write With Fire. Now, here’s Bret. (RZ represents Razored Zen and BF is Bret.)

RZ: Tell us a little about yourself outside of writing. Home town. Family. Job. That sort of thing.

BF: I grew up in southern New Jersey, not too far from Philadelphia. It was a rural area when I was born but morphed into a suburban haven, full of housing developments and strip malls, during my childhood. Two sisters. Parents who worked hard. Good friends. But it was still NJ, so as soon as I graduated high school, I left.

College was a choice between Boston and New Orleans. A conveniently-timed visit to Tulane in February sold me on New Orleans. It was only after I returned in August of 1994 that I realized the pleasant February weather was partnered with ridiculously hot summers. For someone that had been always hot in NJ, that posed a problem.

I majored in Biochemistry, got a Master’s degree in Epidemiology, all with the intention of going to medical school. Fate intervened, medical school didn’t happen immediately, and as I watched many of my med school friends grow tired and miserable, I decided that it might not be the wisest career choice. I started writing, and since I couldn’t survive off my words, I went back to doing what I did in high school: fix computers. I’ve been in IT ever since.

RZ: What made you want to write? Is it a desire that’s always been with you? Or was there some particular event or book that ignited the fire?

BF: There was no particular event, but I’ve always had an active imagination. Giant battles were arrayed across the attic of my house (fantastic crossover wars with Transformers, army men, dragons, and even the occasional My Little Pony when troops were in short supply). I tend to pose myself a lot of “what if” questions, and try to follow those thoughts to their conclusion. And I have a tendency to criticize, and a habit of listing (in my head, at least) all the things I would have done differently to make a given book, TV show, or movie better. Eventually I decided to walk the walk, and I started writing down my own stories. It was tougher than I thought, and even tougher to get noticed. So I should offer a blanket apology now; some of the things I was critical of were probably more a result of the industry and less the fault of the author.

RZ: Writers always get asked about their influences. Consider this that question.

BF: I can’t, and probably shouldn’t for fear of forgetting someone, provide any particular list of authors who have influenced my writing. I have gravitated to science fiction and fantasy since childhood, with a tendency toward epic fantasy. Stories that are character driven over those that are plot driven. As a child, I preferred tales where the good guys won absolutely; as an adult, I tend to favor stories with more nuanced conclusions, where the line between good and evil is blurred in both protagonist and antagonist, and where even the noblest characters suffer for the choices they make.

RZ: Bret, tell us a little about Tyrannosaurus Press.

BF: Tyrannosaurus Press is an independent publishing house of speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, alternate reality, etc.) born out of frustration with the way the publishing industry worked, and how difficult it was for an unknown author to get any sort of voice. Sadly, the demands of life mean that it does not always get the attention it deserves, but we have published five novels and two anthologies to date, and our ezine, the Illuminata, is about to enter its tenth year. Our goal remains the same: to help unknown but promising authors find ways to get their words seen, with the hopes of furthering their writing careers.

RZ: Writing can be hard work. What motivates you to keep going? What inspires you?

BF: Writing is an escape for me. It gives me the much needed break from reality that we all need to continue functioning. For me, writing is a better escape than watching TV or movies, or even reading, because it also offers me mental exercise as well. Figuring out how each character should react in a given situation, and the consequences born of those characters’ decisions, excites me. It’s that excitement, coupled with the rush of a finished story, that inspires me most.

RZ: What are you working on currently? And what’s next for you?

BF: At the moment, I am preparing to start the final volume of the Boundary’s Fall series. After that… I have a number of other ideas, but I haven’t decided which one will get my attention next.

RZ: What work is available from you right now, and where can readers find it? Is there a place online where folks could go to learn more about you and your work?

BF: I have four novels in the Boundary’s Fall series (Path of Glory, Sword of Honor, Jewel of Truth, and Forge of Faith) available now in bookstores. The latter books are available in ebook formats as well. By the end of the year, we hope to have all four books available in Kindle, Nook, and ePUB formats. There’s also a smattering of short stories available across the web, and a number of articles in the archives for the Illuminata, which are available on our website (www.tyrannosauruspress.com).

Bret, thanks for visiting Razored Zen.

NOTE: Bret’s books are also available in print on the websites for Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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A Couple of Announcements

2011-10-03T09:50:00.001-05:00

A couple of quick things. I mentioned Treasure Island in my previous post and how I was hoping to reread it soon. Well, I found that it was free for the Kindle on Amazon and quickly downloaded it. If you want it for free, the link is: here.

Also, the second issue of Rick Moore's White Cat Publications magazine is up online. I've read a couple of stories already and they are very good. The general link is here. There's also some exciting stuff coming up over there.

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Treasure Planet

2011-10-01T08:36:00.002-05:00

We watched Treasure Planet last night. This was my second time, Lana's first. This is a Disney animated movie, in case you don't know. It's based on Treasure Island but with all the action transplanted to space instead of the high seas. It starts similarly to Treasure Island but then moves further and further away from that story as it progresses.

I like the movie quite a lot. It engages my imagination. It's got pirates in space and a bit of a Space Opera / Sword and Planet feel. However, Lana told me it lost 80 million dollars when it was released and is considered Disney's biggest flop. Wow!

At first I couldn't figure out why it lost money, but I think maybe I've figured it out. 1) It's a bit too complicated for really young kids. 2) it's not sophisticated or modern enough for teenagers. 3) There's no love interest for the young man, Jim, which is a staple of many Disney classics such as The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. 4. The story seems targeted more toward a male audience with its subplot of a developing relationship between Jim and Silver, who becomes the boy's sort of surrogate father.

All in all, I thought it was well worth my time, but I'm apparently one of the few. If you saw it, what did you think? Do you have any idea why it may have done so poorly?
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Dreams in the Fire, A Review

2011-09-28T08:09:00.001-05:00

Dreams in the Fire (2011)
Edited by Mark Finn and Chris Gruber, Cover by Jim and Ruth Keegan.

Dreams in the Fire contains stories and poems inspired by Robert E. Howard. Proceeds go to Project Pride, the community organization from Cross Plains, Texas, that takes care of the Robert E. Howard House and museum in Cross Plains. All the authors in this collection are long-term fans of Robert E. Howard, and though not all are professional writers, their passion for Howard’s work shows clearly through. Even those who have not been widely published bring their best to these tales, and they can all feel pride in their work. Here’s my take on the pieces.

Introduction by Rusty Burke: Discusses Robert E. Howard Fandom, particularly the group known as REHupa, which almost every contributor to this collection is either a current or past member of.

“A Gathering of Ravens” by Charles Gramlich: My story about a sword slinging female warrior.

“The Rhymester of Ulm” by James Reasoner: A thief robs a bard of his magic pen. Or does he? Reasoner is the biggest name author in the collection.

“The Word” by Rob Roehm: “Carl Macon owned the land, all of it.” A flash fiction western style tale about taking a stand.

“This Too Will Go Its Way” by Barbara Barrett: A fine poem that evokes a strong sense of nostalgia.

“CSI: Kimmeria” by Robert Weinberg: Weinberg is also a widely known name. This one is written as a kind of play. I’m not the most sensitive guy but I thought I detected a satirical and humorous edge.

“Bloody Isle of the Kiyah-rahi” by Christopher Fulbright: Robert Howard wrote many pirate stories and this one is a fine tribute to that genre.

“Son of Song” by Frank Coffman: A tribute to Howard and my favorite poem in the collection.

“Avatar” by Jimmy Cheung: Good sword & sorcery fiction. It had my favorite opening line of any of the tales: “It was a corpse city infested with the living.” I would like to see an expanded version of this at some point.

“Belit’s Refrain” by Barbara Barrett: Belit is my favorite female character from the Howard stories. This was a very nice poem that captured her essence.

“Now With Serpents He Wars” by Patrick R. Burger: A Knights of the Round Table story. I much enjoyed the use of sorcery in this one.

“Best to Let it Lie” by Danny Street: A poem that captures the kind of nihilistic outlook on life that Howard’s poetry often expressed.

“Two Dragons Blazing: A Tale of the Barbarian Kabar of El Hazzar” by Angeline Hawkes: Kabar must find a way into hell to save his beautiful sister.

“The Nights’ Last Battle” by Amy Kerr: A long poem that captures Howard’s voice well when he was writing his more bombastic style of poetry.

“Sailor Tom Sharkey and the Phantom of the Gentlemen Farmer’s Commune” by Mark Finn: A humorous tale that reflects the kind of storytelling that Howard handled so deftly with his humorous boxing stories of Sailor Steve Costigan.

“I Am a Martian Galley Slave!” by David A. Hardy: My favorite story in the collection. The use of language is superb and the characterization is excellent. This one deserves to be nominated for an award.

“A Spirit on the Wind” by Frank Coffman: Another fine tribute to Howard by Coffman.

“Dead River Revenge” by Chris Gruber: This was my second favorite story in the collection. Lots of brutal action and a setting that recalls the Conan story, “Beyond the Black River.” The character of “Billy” is the most Howardian character in the collection without being a pastiche of a Howard character.

“The Moon” by Barbara Barrett: A very short, almost haiku ode to the battle between the sun and moon.

“No Other Gods” by Gary Romeo: Essentially a Conan pastiche, although using a character named Tanan.

“A Meeting in the Bush” by Morgan Holmes: Not so much a story as a sketch of an interesting meeting between two iconic characters in the jungle. I think you’ll be able to figure out the characters pretty easily.

“Blades of Hell” by Don Herron: An appropriately bloodthirsty ending poem.

Afterword by Mark Finn: Talks a bit about putting this project together.

Notes on the Contributors: Short pieces about each of the featured authors. You get to find out how most of them are connected to Howard fandom.

I highly recommend this collection, and it’s for a very good cause.
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Over at Novel Spaces today

2011-09-26T00:30:00.003-05:00

I'm over at Novel Spaces today, talking about the use and overuse of description in fiction. I hope you'll join me.
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Writing and Sensuality

2011-09-24T20:35:00.001-05:00

Sensuous writing, to me, has little to do with sexuality. It has to do, in large part, with engaging the senses, of enmeshing the reader in a world of lush experience. Ray Bradbury is a sensuous writer. Robert E. Howard was, despite the fact that he is often considered a hyper-masculine author. When you read Bradbury or Howard you feel the chill wind, taste bitter drink, hear the crack of ice, and pant from the heat. But the details are put together in such a way as to create a sense of exotic beauty. And there is more. Sensuous writing not only excites the senses, it creates a mood, most often a melancholy one.

Poul Anderson was a master of sensuous writing. His book The Broken Sword, or his long story “The Queen of Air and Darkness” illustrate Anderson’s love of language and command over mood. They sing with poetry. Even the darkest imagery is combined with a sense of sad beauty.

For me, and feel free to say if you disagree, I find the most sensuous writing in the fantasy genre, followed by science fiction. Mainstream literature seems to be suspicious of sensuous writing, and hard bitten genres like noir and crime fiction try to immerse the reader in gritty detail. These stories also create a mood, but not one that is infused with beauty. There are times when I want just that kind of mood, but more often than not I seek out the beautiful, even if that beauty is tinged with darkness.

I strive for sensuality when I write, and I think I’ve gotten closest to it in my fantasy work, such as in the Talera Trilogy, and in some of the stories that appeared in Midnight in Rosary. While many of the stories in “Midnight” feature vampires, most of these are not ‘horror’ vampires but ‘fantasy’ vampires. And there is a clear difference. Sensuality is important to fantasy vampires, while gritty savagery is the drape that clothes horror vampires. Some time back, I put up a link to a free story from Midnight in Rosary. I’ll post it again here since it indicates the kind of sensuality I’m talking about (and in this case has some sexuality as well.) The story is called “The Poetry of Blood” and the link is here.

I’ll end with a couple of quick passages from the Talera series, these two from Wings Over Talera. Here, for the first time, Ruenn MacLang meets Vohanna. With Vohanna, I hoped to create a villain who would combine both beauty and evil, attraction and threat. These are important elements of sensuality in the language of fantasy literature. At least, I think so.

1). There were no adornments anywhere upon Vohanna—-no web of black pearls in her silken flag of hair, no bright jewels at her finely sculpted ears, no copper brassards clasping her upper arms. She wore no kohl to darken her sable lashes, no paint upon lips that were already riper than the rising sun.

In her form, she looked guileless and fragile. In her face, she looked...innocent. But her gaze was ancient and black upon mine, with firefly runes twining and beating in the depths of her glance. I felt that glance like a bruise.

2). Vohanna took another step toward me. And a third. Down the skull steps from her throne she came, and it seemed her sandals spurned the dusky wine that cascaded beneath her feet. Her eyes teemed with scarlet embers and with...other things.

“Kneel to me, Ruenn,” she said.
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Razored Zen Interview: Mark C. Durfee

2011-09-22T08:30:00.034-05:00

My next Razored Zen Author Interview features Mark Durfee. Mark is the first poet I’ve interviewed. Mark is a Detroit poet, what very well may be a breed apart. I’ve never met Mark in person but I know him from the online blogging community, and from his “Stink” trilogy, which includes Stink, The Line Between, and Scent of the Garden Within. I have read each of the volumes and reviewed them on Goodreads. Good stuff. So, here’ssssss Mark. (RZ represents Razored Zen and you know the drill on MCD by now.)

RZ: Tell us a little about yourself outside of writing. Home town. Family. Job. That sort of thing.

MCD: On steamy day in July of ’54 Mother Durfee had her second baby boy who was her fourth child. Though she had one more, two years later, she knew the oddest of all her children had been born already. That’d be me. I was born in Detroit and for the past 57 years never had a permanent address that didn’t have Detroit in it. I was born at the right time to be able to see the city at the tipping point of 1.7 million people to the current 700 thousand.

Our household was one of very literate, highly educated people, but I only paid half the fare so I became literate but not formally educated beyond high school. I enlisted in the navy at age 17 to get away from a mixed bag of problems, some self caused, some attributable to others but in either case now 40 years later I know it was the right thing to do. I may be the only honorably discharged veteran in the history of the United States to never fire a weapon, not even in boot camp. I had the compartment watch duty that day and was never rescheduled to hit the firing range.

My father went from his HS diploma to a PhD. In chemical engineering in the 5 years after WWII, my mother had her MSW by age 23 (social worker) and all of my siblings have advanced degrees, while I still need twenty some credits to get an associates degree in something. The thing about that much education in one house does is there were always books, newspapers, and an expectation that we would use them. My folks didn’t care what we read as long as we read. My father was a practicing alcoholic but a genius when it came to chemistry and especially polymers and plastics but he considered me to be his stupid child because I never could do basic algebra. Lord knows in his sober moments he tried to teach me but then I had more fun not understanding what a slide ruler was for but enjoyed making the parts move. I think it safe to say that I am my mother’s child, that woman could cut through more red tape for more people than any ten social workers and she spent 45 years at the same agency eventually rising to run the place.

The one thing I have always appreciated about my parents is they never shielded us from anything, nightly news with Walter Cronkite was mandatory. Many nights we never ate together but the Civil Rights, Viet Nam war and political news was a mandatory event. I believe they wanted us to understand not just the present but the effect of wars and what the black community not only in the south but in America has been through, they were good straight ticket democrats and personally I think they would be made crazy by today’s political situation after having lived as teens in the Depression of the 30’s and the war right after it.

After I was discharged from the navy, a few months before my 21st birthday, I looked around at a country still in turmoil with the winding down of Viet Nam (no I am not a combat veteran, I was a deep water sailor on a small ship on the North Atlantic.) and Watergate. The Arab oil embargo effects were still being felt and I looked at going into one of the auto plants for a job but I just couldn’t force myself to do that. Nothing wrong with it, it was a great living for them that could stand the same thing day after day but being at sea ruined that part of me. On the day I turned 21 I stuck my thumb out and 8 or so hours later I was somewhere in central Illinois.

I had no plan but to see what there was in America. So for the next 4 years I just moved about, sometimes I would work in the fields for a few days and other times just walk whichever way I was headed. In the military I had seen most of the East Coast cities so I pretty much stayed away from them and it was not un-common to spend a few weeks just quietly camping in the tree line. I never had any expectation for any particular day but it was at that time in my life I was able to be alone with the spirit of our being. And I found out through pointed questioning of that spirit creation and evolution are not mutually exclusive. One has to do some unbiased research into it but they are both in my belief structure true. The cosmos and all in it, included man was created many billions of years ago.

In ‘79 I came back to Detroit got married and divorced and had 2 children in between a very short marriage. They were still babies when my ex took them to a smaller town because she knew she didn’t want them to grow up in Detroit. I don’t blame her to be honest and she married again to a great guy who did a wonderful job raising the kids. But farm country just wasn’t for me, I knew there would be no way I could make a living so I let them go without to much problem and did my best to maintain some relationship with my darling children. I met my current wife in ’83 or so and we have been together ever since. It was a package deal and I inherited another son 3 months older than the one living in Farmville.

In the meantime I went to work for the city of Detroit and spent 20 years in four different departments, by far my favorite was the Art Department hanging art at the Detroit Institute of Art. That is one of the few places I can honestly say I was able to with the curators explanations get a fine education in the different schools of art and styles used. *shrug* 5 years and bad times hit and I had to go back to laboring in a fresh water plant. Eventually I finished up as a general auto mechanic when I blew out my L4-L5 disc and that was that. I was forced into a disability retirement. And two years later was in a roll over crash that broke my neck which stopped the idea of going back to work. That was 12 years ago, so since then I have been on a permanent week end.

So to end this question I was a blue collar working guy, I have never lived anywhere but Detroit permanently, never was a suburban type (not that there’s anything wrong with that) I have 3 kids 1 an engineer, 1 working on becoming an engineer, and my daughter who is an adrenaline junkie is an EMTS. My wife (commonly referred to as The Old Lady) and I have been together the better part of 30 years and even though we live on 25% of what I was making when I had a job I, believe all is pretty good for us personally. We are fortunate to have no debt, don’t mind driving beaters for cars and most of our neighbors actually, we get along with.

RZ: What made you want to write? Is it a desire that’s always been with you? Or was there some particular event or book that ignited the fire? Why poetry as opposed to prose?

MCD: I think that the poetry and the earlier wanderlust will have to be blamed on my grandmother. She was a wonderful woman who lived to 105. As soon as she could she left the farm outside of Ottawa and went to teachers college then moved four thousand miles away from home by herself to teach English in Calgary Alberta. It was still a cow town in 1907 and she stayed for 5 years before moving to Toronto. Once she married in her early 30’s she settled down and was content to be a housewife. She took care of me and my younger brother when I was between 3-6. She didn’t like children’s stories but in the afternoon while dinner was cooking and she had time to sit, she read poetry to me. I can’t claim that I understood it, but she knew how to read it and I loved the sound of her voice as she read. She introduced me to Dickinson, Frost, Guest, Sandburg and her other favorites. Once I was able to read for myself at about age 5 I always included some poetry in my choices among the comic books and other young adult books. Shel Silverstein wasn’t around yet but I was able by then to at least understand short works by the likes of Stephan Crane.

When I first started to put pen to paper at about age 14, spending hours writing a piece, I think it was to piss my father off. He thought I should be out playing football (fat kid, hold that line!) or baseball but like the factories later, that just wasn’t for me. I never followed sports, although I did like seeing Gordie Howe’s picture in the paper when he had dropped the gloves and was smiling with another tooth gone. To be honest I have rudimentary understanding of the rules of hockey but the rest of them…well the Old lady has to explain them to me if I sit and watch a game with her. She is the fan of the family.

Once I started writing though I never stopped, I like the solitude of writing and it is usually poetry that I write. Funny thing was when I returned from boot camp all of my journals had been burned and for once I did the right thing, kept my mouth shut. Just kept on writing but for the next thirty or so years I never kept any of it. I would write and drop it over the side for Poseidon to read and judge or just hit the circular file with it. A couple of times during that period some curious people would pay for my lunch as a trade for the napkin I was writing on. That was an interesting experience, but still when you are living out of a back pack you don’t waste space with pages of paper.

Now I have been keeping most everything I write because Michelle Brooks (Michelle’s spells—the only creative writing professor I ever had) said she would beat me if I threw any more writing away. So now I delete instead of throw away (just kidding Brooks). I don’t have this burning desire that will bust my gut to get published or anything so intense that I will go even more insane if I don’t write about it, but like Brooks taught me “There is poetry in everything.” I am just one of those fortunate souls who are able to see it.

I write prose, I just don’t often put out it out there. I have 6 or 7 completed novels that all need an editor’s hand and a few dozen essays and short stories. I am a poet though and it took me decades before I could say that about myself and become comfortable in those shoes. If one were to Google up “All I wanted was a little weed Mark C Durfee” they would come to Ivan Prokupchucks blog where he published that story. That is an example of my prose, a short memoir I wrote a few years back.

RZ: Writers always get asked about their influences. Consider this that question.

MCD: The easy answer would be who. I could run through a list of poets and writers that range from Yeats and Crane to Dickens and Dostoyevsky. I have favorite contemporary poets and musicians that I listen to and honestly love their work but what influences me I think most is yesterday, and today. Situations and people that come to mind who are for the most part voiceless or lost, crowded out by life’s loud and arrogant people. I have been in that position and I never liked it, then a couple of decades ago I learned to not be afraid to speak so in my own way I am speaking for my younger self as well as others who may stumble upon some of my work and find they can be courageous if they find a way to lose their fears. That one thought drives me, fear kills and I want most people to live, that they may learn to love honestly and fearlessly.

RZ: Mark, much of your poetry has a clear sense of place about it, and that place is Detroit. What is it about Detroit that sets you off?

MCD: Although I have spent my life here I do not love Detroit. I have great respect for her but it just seems that it has become too easy for the rest of the nation to say “bulldoze Detroit” and that pisses me off. I am honest, brutally so in my poetry that is centered on this city. I am not afraid to tell the truth of Detroit today. But Detroit is so ugly it is beautiful in its own way, it redefines beauty while at the same time acts as a portrait of the way America herself could find itself in as short as another decade if we don’t set our minds united to solving the great divide that is happening right now nationally.

Detroit since the early 20th century has always been segregated, not as racially as it is now but ethnically. Everyone who came here from somewhere else for a job moved into neighborhoods that they made their own. The Irish one place, the Poles another, Hispanics another etc. and no one ever integrated anywhere but on the factory floors. But what I find odd is that this city was one of the true drivers of the middle class, that group that earned a living wage and had access to some small luxuries like college for the kids or a boat or summer cottage.

Now that the factories are mostly gone, decaying or torn down the population within the city for the most part still does not yet value education because for generations, an 8th grade education could get you a great job. Those families that did value education when it was affordable have moved on now so what we are left with is a class of people who are semi-literate, and struggling with a 25% unemployment rate, not able to help their kids with homework and stuck in place. I could leave but I keep asking myself where would I go that I could do more than where I am at right now. I tutor first graders in reading, I do open mic’s in the suburbs and the city and I mentor other writers who ask for the help.

I don’t see Detroit as a hopeless place but rather like one of those voiceless people I mentioned earlier and I have a blog and a voice and I try to use both to reach an audience to inform them that “hey we are still here, we are able to work but someone has to come and do something with this 75 square miles of vacant and abandoned land within the city limits.” I see a reason for hope in a hopeless place and I want to stick around long enough to see some real change created by the hands of the people who live here. I don’t know what form that change would take but we are not on any known fault lines, are not prone to hurricanes, flooding or tornadoes and don’t have particularly brutal winters. That seems to me to be a starting point for some companies to come in here and build big projects, nuclear plants, hydrogen plants or anything that needs people who know how to use their hands and heads when putting things together.

RZ: What, or who, inspires you?

MCD: I do not like the word god. It is too generic a word. Who inspires me is that being that squeezed all matter so tightly it exploded into a cosmos for us to be awed by. I am still inspired by stars dressed in a dark blue cloth of sky. After that knowing my own individuality and commonality with others inspires me to want to keep breathing for awhile yet, I don’t think I am ready to have the last page of my personal book written yet. But if so I at least know I have been kind and done all I could do while I was here. In short that point where the mortal touches the infinite is my greatest inspiration.

RZ: Are you working on anything currently? What’s next for you?

MCD: I am not physically setting anything down for publication right now. The Stink trilogy took me about two and a half years to write and edit so I am not quite ready yet to shift gears to another theme. But I am thinking on a book of the political poetry I have been writing off and on because I am one who is always ready to make known my thoughts on religion (mostly a decent place to start but a poor place to end) and politics, which since the Reagan era has run the train of America off the tracks that a greatly diverse nation should be on. I am also thinking of doing an anthology with another much younger poet, I love her work and it is just as honest and raw as my own usually is, but she has a greatly different perspective on life. Either way it would be 6 months or so before anything would be ready. But the beauty of self publication once it is done the rest moves pretty fast.

RZ: What work is available from you right now and where can readers find it? Is there a place online where folks could go to learn more about you and your work?

MCD: I self publish, even though all of the three previous books have a publisher listed to get an ISBN for them, but the only way to get the books you named in your intro is at detstink@gmail.com I do it this way because it keeps the cost down. If I went the conventional publishing route the books would be subject to editing I may not want and the price would be in the $15-$17 range. So far I have been able to sell each 80 page book for $10 US and that includes return postage to anywhere in the world. Generally I am not trying to make a great profit on these books but just to be heard and maybe in being heard help someone find their way out of a briar patch.

No one, including myself has written a Wikipedia page about me yet so the only way to learn more about me is to ask me. I write The Walking Man blog where I float quite a bit of my poetry.

Mark, thanks for visiting Razored Zen.

From the bottom of my being Charles, thank you. It is to me a great honor to appear here and get a chance to really think out again why I am and how I have come to be as I am. I truly appreciate your readers and find them not only to have a wonderful sense of humor but to truly be interested in the craft and art of writing.
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The Roast of Charlie Sheen

2011-09-20T10:29:00.002-05:00

I watched Charlie Sheen get roasted last night and enjoyed it. I seldom pay attention to celebrities, but I often do enjoy these roasts. Besides, this one had William Shatner on it and he is one celebrity I do occasionally pay attention to. Besides Shatner and Sheen himself, there was John Lovitz, who I believe was in the movie--The Wedding Singer. There was Mike Tyson, who I know from boxing. And there was Seth MacFarland, who I understand is the creator of Family Guy. Slash played guitar and I recognized him. I really had no idea who the rest of the people were, although I’ve seen some of them on roasts before.

As was to be expected, the roasters poked fun at Charlie Sheen’s drug use, his fights with ex-wives, and his use and abuse of hookers. They made a lot of jokes about his apparent recent meltdown, which I had only heard vaguely about. I didn’t get any of those jokes, but many of the others were funny. Many of the roasters also made fun of the other roasters, and I often find those jokes the funniest of all during these events. Mike Tyson appeared to be intoxicated and was actually quite funny.

Interestingly to me, the jokes at these events are generally extremely mean-spirited. Sheen, for example, was ‘taunted’ about having lost his daughters because of his bad behavior. (I winced a bit at that.) I generally dislike mean-spirited humor, but for some reason it seems OK on these roasts. I guess it’s because I can actually see the person being skewered on the screen, and they are laughing themselves at what’s just been said about them.

The funniest joke of the night, from my perspective, involved William Shatner. Sheen was doing his spiel at the end and said he’d wanted Shatner to be there because he needed some clean urine. He added, “I had to wring it out of the diaper but it was still good.” (Shatner is 80 years old.) I laughed pretty hard about that one.

So, do you watch these roasts? Do you even know who these people are? And does the mean-spirited nature of the jokes ever bother you?

BY THE WAY, my post about "Fantasy by Definition" is up over at Rogue Blades Entertainment at the moment. I've joined that august group and will be posting relatively regularly there as time goes on. So check it out if you get a chance.
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The Legacy of Lee

2011-09-18T10:26:00.003-05:00

A week ago now, Tropical Storm Lee swept through our area. We "weathered" the storm quite nicely. We had quite a bit of rain but only localized flooding that didn't cause Lana and I any trouble. The wind was largely nothing to worry about and we didn't even lose electrical power during the storm. Afterward, in fact, we thanked Lee for bringing in some much needed cooler weather, which at first allowed Lana and I to get outside a bit more.

Then Lee's children arrived, courtesy of all the standing water he left behind, and I am no longer considering the storm a weak villain in the story of my life. On Friday evening as I arrived home, I stepped out of my car into a swarm of mosquitoes that resembled the swallows returning to Capistrano. If those swallows were blood-sucking predators, that is. I made a break for the house through the cloud and managed to get inside and get the door barred before I was down more than a pint or so of A-.

Lana and I then hunted down and killed the few six legged vampires who had managed to breach our barriers. An hour or so later, we heard the mosquito truck come by spraying its load of mosquito death, and I must admit to feeling a small bit of pride at how my fellow humans were striking back at the evil. Under my breath, I began to chant, just subtly, "Human Race, Human Race."

Alas, while our front yard remains a relatively mosquito barren landscape, our back yard--to borrow a line from the movie Starship Troopers--"crawls." The weather is nice but there is no sitting on the deck. Not if one values the fine red fluid that flows in one's veins.

Unfortunately, I have to venture out each morning into that no man's land to feed the birds. It takes barely a few minutes but the hordes are waiting. I am covered with bites, quite a few of which appear to be bites made upon previous bites. And they itch...really...really ...bad. I'm considering buying myself a Hazmat suit. If I knew where to find one.

Ahh Lee. We thought you were a weak sister. But you've brought me low. I bow before your dread power. I surrender my back yard to your minions. I will call you forever, "Father of Mosquitoes."

Have mercy!
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The Poor Hearing Approach to Good Stories

2011-09-15T10:58:00.003-05:00

I remember reading a piece by Harlan Ellison once about how a story idea and a title came to him. If I remember correctly, he was on a plane and overheard two women talking about their kids. One woman asked the other about her son, Jeffy. Ellison heard the woman answer: “Oh, Jeffy is five. He’s always five.” Now, Ellison was pretty sure the woman actually said “fine,” but that’s not what he heard, and out of that mishearing a story was born. That story was called “Jeffty is Five” and is quite a good one.

A week or so ago I posted a poem here called “Harmland.” That title, too, came from mishearing something. I was listening to a song, not sure by who, when I heard the singer use the word “Harmland.” I was almost immediately sure he said “heartland,” but that’s not what I heard. The title instantly resonated with me and the poem came only a short time later. The emotion of the poem had been inside me for a while but the title helped coalesce it into something real.

Yesterday I was listening to “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” by the Hollies. I like this song very much but never have figured out quite what the lyrics are. I know I could look them up online, but what’s the fun in that. Instead, I enjoy trying to puzzle them out, and I enjoy the weird associations that come to me from mishearing certain phrases. For example, I’m pretty sure there’s “a machine ahold of my right hand” somewhere in that song. And there’s a story in there somewhere that one of these days I’ll write.

While listening to that song yesterday, for the thousandth time, a perfect title for a noir crime story also came to me: “Long Dead Woman in a Black Dress.” I’ve got to write this one, and I’ve got a pretty good idea how it’s going to work.

So, if you’re looking for titles or story ideas, I suggest you mishear a few things. What say you?
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For Want of a Zipper

2011-09-12T08:10:00.003-05:00

For want of a zipper, writing time was lost.

One day last week I woke up half an hour early. That meant I got to work half an hour early. After dealing with emails from, 1) a student who needed a form signed but couldn’t meet any of my office hours, 2) a student explaining why she hadn’t turned in the essay due Thursday, 3) a student explaining that she’d lost her ID and therefore couldn’t swipe into class on Wednesday but was nevertheless present and could I let the university know, 4) a graduate student from another university who wanted me to find a research file for her because her advisor, who also had the file in her office, wasn’t available at just that moment, 5) a faculty member who really likes to talk on the phone, and 6) some emails that I actually ‘needed’ to deal with, I realized I had almost 35 minutes free before my first class.

I had prepared my class notes the night before so 30 of that 35 minutes suddenly became writing time. I called up a story on my computer that I’ve been working on but made the mistake of needing to go the bathroom first. In the bathroom, my zipper broke. And hell followed with it.

I spent a minute or two trying to fix my zipper in the bathroom, with no luck, so I untucked my shirt and casually sauntered back to my office, whereupon I closed my door and frantically stripped off my pants to work on the zipper. That availed me nothing. Zippers are a technological marvel, but when they break down it becomes a job for an expert. (Much like a computer or a modern automobile.) I lack the appropriate training for any of those jobs.

I put my pants back on and sauntered up to the secretary’s desk, inquiring if she had any safety pins. (A search of my own desk had proven fruitless. I had plenty of paper clips but didn’t think they were my solution to this particular Kobayashi Maru.) Fortunately, our secretary had two safety pins, a King Kong sized one and a hobbit sized one. I thanked her for them and sauntered back to my office, where I closed the door and frantically began trying to use the two pins to close the gap in my pants. They did the trick…partially. But both pins were bright silver and gleamed like the corona of the sun. I considered adding staples at that point but I don’t really like waving weapons around anywhere below my belly button.

Although I don’t have extra pants at my office, I did happen to have an extra shirt that was on the large side. I put it on, leaving it untucked, and attempted to verify for myself whether or not my newly armored and shiny crotch would be visible to my students. (Did I mention that 80 percent of my students are female?) A colleague whose office is next to mine had arrived by now and I considered asking for a double check. However, she is also female, and though we are friends I did not see it turning out well if I asked her to check my crotch area to make sure she couldn’t see the safety pins under my billowy shirt tail.

Fortunately, a few offices away sat a male colleague. Making sure that he was alone, I entered his office and indicated to him that I had a rather huge favor to ask of him. And by huge I just mean large, of course. Or well, medium. I explained my predicament and asked, as delicately as I could, if he might visually scan the affected area to see if I were going to get fired for pulling a Jim Morrison on a bunch of undergraduates. His eyes appeared to flicker lower for the barest of bare fractions of an instant and back up. He said that he didn’t think I had anything to worry about as long as I didn’t “reach up” while writing on the board. I thanked him and fled, wondering if we would ever speak again, and knowingwe’d never discuss…the incident.

Returning to my office, I realized that I had approximately 1 minute of the lovely 30 minute writing time left. I checked email instead. For want of a zipper, writing time was lost. That’s my morning excuse and I’m sticking to it.

As for my classes that morning? I stayed very still behind the lectern the entire time, except for when I turned my back fully to the students in order to reach up and write on the board. As the old timers say, “praise the lord and pass the safety pins.”
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Earning Your Endings at Novel Spaces

2011-09-10T00:06:00.001-05:00

I'm over at Novel Spaces for a couple of days with a post about story endings. I hope you'll drop by.
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Too Many Stories; Too Little Time

2011-09-07T12:56:00.003-05:00

Since finishing Under the Ember Star in July I haven’t done a lot of writing. I took a couple of weeks off, and then school started and I’ve been pretty well swamped. But I’m starting to get the itch again, badly. I’m ready to get started but the question is what to start on. There are so many stories I want to tell, so many characters crowding my head.

In psychology, we have the concept of the “approach-approach” conflict, which is the conflict that occurs when you want two things but can only choose one. Writing is like that for me. It’s why I start so many things but typically end up finishing only a few. Right now I’m working on a story called “Harvest of War” for an anthology. I’ve completed the rough draft and am handling the polishing now. That one will be finished because someone has already asked me for it. But that one is not calling for full-time effort at this point so which other project do I pick up? I have a lot of choices.

Wraith of Talera: Two years ago I started the fourth book in the Talera series. I’m about a third of the way done with it and I have a very good idea what is going to happen through the rest. This one will be complete in and of itself but will also be part of a duology. I want to tell this story. My mind is urging me in that direction. But....

The Razored Land: One year ago I started this post-apocalyptic novel. It will be told in two parts and the first part, roughly the first half, is finished. I really like the idea behind this work and I think the topic is quite timely. Not only do I want to write it but I think it might be a little trendy even. But....

"Down Home": A few weeks back I put up a blog post with some potential first lines to stories. One of those ignited my imagination and I began the piece. It’s going to be a departure from most of the writing I’ve done in the past ten years in that it’ll be more literary and realistic. I think it’s going to be an interesting challenge and I love challenging myself. But....

Where It Wanders: About five years ago I started a horror novel and wrote probably the first one-fifth of it. It’s going to be a more complicated book than "Wraith" or "Razored Land," but I really like the characters, especially the two primary villains, and I am enjoying the twists and turns. I think this one would particularly appeal to those readers who liked Cold in the Light. I recently reread the stuff I have and thought it was very good. But....

In the Time of the Gun: I’ve been reading a lot of westerns in the past few years, returning to one of my first loves in fiction. I put together Killing Trail and it has been well received. I wrote two brand new stories for that collection and man did I enjoy them. I really want to write another western, a full-length one, and I already have a character that I find fascinating. If I could get it done I’d probably put it up on Kindle and Nook to try and follow up on the success of Killing Trail. But.....

The Darwin Book: I’m over three-quarters of the way done with this one and I’m currently doing a lot of background reading that I need to do to complete it. That reading should be done within four to five months and then I could make a final push. But....

There’s “The Morphy Machine,” “Farhaven,” a collection of essays on Robert E. Howard, a compendium of fantasy words, etc, etc.

I guess this is mostly a good problem to have. At the pace I manage, there’s years of solid writing right there. I don’t have to worry about running out of ideas for the next decade or so. On the other hand, having too many ideas can lead to a crisis of decision making, at least for me. As in the classical approach-approach conflict, when I commit to one project I’m putting all the others once more on the back burner. And that back burner is getting crowded. Something will almost certainly get lost in the shuffle, as with “Farhaven,” a kid’s novella I started about ten years ago, and “The Morphy Machine,” an SF chess story I started about 25 years ago.

I don’t suppose I’m asking for ‘which’ project to pick. I’ll eventually make that decision. But I wonder what others do in an approach-approach conflict. How do you decide? What “breaks” the tie for you? In writing, or elsewhere in life?
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Razored Zen Interview: Kent Westmoreland

2011-09-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

My latest guest on Razored Zen Author Interview is Kent Westmoreland. Kent is the first author I’ve interviewed who lives in my geographical area. He resides in New Orleans now, though originally he hails from a farm. Like me. His was in North Carolina, mine in Arkansas. As Kent says, he eventually “stumbled into New Orleans and never made it out.” We’ve met a number of times. I first got to know Kent when he and I were in a writer’s group together. We met at a local bar called Cooter Brown’s. That’s about all I can tell you. Perhaps that’s enough.

Most recently, I attended a talk and a signing by Kent for his book BARONNE STREET, a detective novel in the grand tradition. It’s available in both trade paperback and Kindle. I read it, enjoyed it, and reviewed it on Amazon here. Without further ado, here’s Kent. (RZ represents Razored Zen and I’m sure you can figure out what KW stands for.)

(Photo Credit: O'Neil De Noux)

RZ: Tell us a little about yourself outside of writing. Hometown. Family. Job. That sort of thing.

KW: I don’t think I have been to Cooter Brown’s since the writers group stopped meeting. We exchanged some good ideas during those elbow bending sessions.
My personal story is not exciting. My parents were generous and loving; I have no sad stories of being tortured and abused. However, I made their lives a living hell.

The stork dropped me in rural North Carolina on a farm with cows and chickens; a situation I never really cottoned to (a nod to my native vernacular). But the location came with my parents and a pretty cool older brother, so there are no complaints.

After high school I moved to Charlotte and spent a few years drink and stupid before eventually attending college to become a software developer.

A few years after college I wound up in New Orleans as a stopping point on my way to south Florida. I never made it to south Florida

My day job is project manager for a company that provides banking software and technology services. My wife, Leslie, is CPA. We live in uptown New Orleans with three cats.

RZ: What made you want to write? Is it a desire that’s always been with you? Or was there some particular event or book that ignited the fire? Is there something about growing up on a farm that makes one want to write?

KW: Before I started to school I would dictate stories to my grandmother. I don’t know if she actually transcribed them or made a grocery list as I rambled about Civil War battles. The stories most likely had no plot, characterization, or point.
In second grade I started writing stories that were what you might expect from a seven year old -super heroic fantasies featuring me.

In junior high and high school, I wrote a number of short stories that were mostly period pieces: westerns, civil war, post-civil war. One story was set at the Woodstock music festival. I did write a an alternative history novella with the same premise, but different storyline, as the movie Red Dawn. It was quite dreadful as I recall.

After high school I put writing on the back burner. I wanted to focus on a financially rewarding career, a health plan and a 401K. My life has always been a left brain/right brain struggle with the left brain usually dominating. A few years ago I knew it was time to start writing again. The result was BARONNE STREET.

RZ: Writers always get asked about their influences. Consider this that question.

KW: In BARONNE STREET my goal was to tweak the traditional detective novel format. I started with the format pioneered by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. To give the novel a more post-modern attitude I studied The Horse Latitudes by Robert Ferrigno. To create an atmosphere of decadence and ennui, I listened to the music of early and mid-period Roxy Music while writing the novel.

Burleigh Drummond, the protagonist, has a self-aware, sardonic voice I borrowed from the narrator of the Kurt Vonnegut pastiche Venus on the Half-Shell which was written by Phillip Jose Farmer. Drummond shares DNA with James West from the TV series The Wild, Wild West. What I always loved about James West is wherever he went people said: “There’s James West, secret agent for the Secret Service”. It was so absurd. But I realized this would happen to Drummond since he operates in small, insular New Orleans, a city with only three degrees of separation instead of six. So I worked that concept into the novel and the stories. Drummond seldom engages anyone who doesn’t know him or know of him.

RZ: Kent, much of your fiction, BARONNE STREET included, is set in the New Orleans area. What is it about this area that attracts you as a writer?

KW: Initially I had planned to base the Burleigh Drummond series in Palm Beach, but Lawrence Sanders had beaten me to that locale with his fine Archie McNally series. In retrospect Palm Beach would have been the wrong choice. Palm Beach is less of a city and more of a winter vacation community for the ultra-wealthy; they only stay for “The Season”. And then there is all that beautiful sunshine, white sand, and crystal-blue ocean. Burleigh Drummond needed to operate in a dark city with darker secrets.

Then I wandered into New Orleans. A city filled with secret societies whose members don masks once a year and toss trinkets to the masses. The bluebloods make backroom deals to restrain new business and influence politicians. The politicians bleed every dime from the city coffers and do nothing for the city. Then the bluebloods and politicians dance together at formal balls while the city decays. New Orleans was the perfect location for Burleigh Drummond to set up shop

RZ: Writing can be hard work. What motivates you to keep going? What inspires you?

KW: Writing is hard work. That left brain/right brain struggle keeps me from producing more. The second Drummond novel is abandoned. I admire writers like you who not only produce a lot of stories, but are prolific in subject matter.

RZ: What are you working on currently? And what’s next for you?

KW: I am working on a spec screenplay which will be marketed to production companies that make straight-to-video and TV movies. I think that avenue is less of a long shot to sell than a novel and more lucrative. That’s the left brain winning again.

RZ: What work is available from you right now, and where can readers find it? Is there a place online where folks could go to learn more about you and your work?

KW: In addition to BARONNE STREET, I currently have two short stories in Kindle format on Amazon.com. Ash Wednesday and Price Tag Attached. Both feature Burleigh Drummond.

Ash Wednesday is a re-telling of Cinderella with Drummond in the fairy godmother role. The Kindle edition has two versions of the story. The first version originally appeared in the anthology Erotic New Orleans and reads like a vintage Penthouse Forum letter. The second is safe to use as bedtime story and was published in Thrilling Detective magazine. An Amazon reviewer said the Kindle package is a good example of “how the same story can be written so differently”.

Price Tag Attached is collaboration with O’Neil De Noux. Drummond assists New Orleans homicide detective Jodie Kintyre in solving the murder of a French Quarter antiques dealer. Jodie is a character from O’Neil’s Dino La Stanza series. Since the La Stanza series exists in the 1980’s and Drummond is set in modern times I guess we have to term this work an alternative history mystery. The story was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

My web site is www.KentWestmoreland.com. That's here. If anyone wants to contact me directly my email address is Kent@KentWestmoreland.com.

RZ: Kent, thanks for visiting Razored Zen.

KW: Charles, thanks for inviting me. We need to go back to Cooter Brown’s. In addition to your company I miss the dark German beer and the pastrami sandwiches.
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A Poem

2011-09-02T07:33:00.001-05:00

Charles A. Gramlich

HARMLAND

Some will hate you,
because you helped them when they were down
and they can’t stand to have needed help.

Some will hate you,
because they are jealous of your success
even though they haven’t worked for their own,

because you have family and friends
and they’ve driven all of theirs away,

because you own things they don’t
and they won’t bust their ass like you did to get them,

because in your smile there are no knives
and you give to others while they take.

Some will hate you,
because you are Jewish, or Muslim, or Christian,
or none of the above,

because you are black or white, male or female,
gay or straight,

because you carry more weight than they think you should
or are thin enough for them to call you vain.

Some will hate you,
because they are bitter and unhappy,
angry at a world their own faults have turned against them,
because they demand respect but give none themselves,
because their own mouths are full of lies
and they think yours is too.

And when such people hate you,
know that hate is all they have.
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Razored Zen Interview: Chris La Tray

2011-08-31T07:00:00.005-05:00

I think it’s time to run another author interview. My guest today is Chris La Tray. I first became aware of Chris’s work on Beat to a Pulp, with his story entitled “The Pickle”. Later, we exchanged blog visits, and then I got to meet Chris in real life when his job brought him to the New Orleans area for a visit. We ate some Italian food and had a few Italian beers. Then we had some American beers. There are plenty of geographical (beer) areas to explore yet on his next visit. Without further ado, here’s Chris. (RZ represents Razored Zen and I’m sure you can figure out what CLT stands for.)

RZ: Tell us a little about yourself outside of writing. Home town. Family. Job. That sort of thing.

CLT: I live in Missoula, MT. I was born and raised in the area, but have lived in other places (Pacific Northwest, Ohio) for enough years to know this is pretty much where I want to be. The University of Montana is here, so culturally we are kind of a little oasis in the midst of what is a pretty conservative state. I like that from my ass at my desk here, I could literally be on a trail in about 20 minutes where I'd be as likely to see a bear or mountain lion as I would another person.

As for family, I share the house with my 18yo son and my wife, Julia, who is a clothing designer operating under the name DonkeyGirl Designs (shameless plug, buy her stuff!). Both of them are wildly creative and keep me inspired with the things they do. We also have two cats and four dogs here -- three of which are Jack Russells. Those little bastards keep me on my toes too. In fact, I'm downstairs writing this with the music loud so I can't hear any mayhem they may be up to elsewhere in the house.

RZ: What made you want to write? Is it a desire that’s always been with you? Or was there some particular event or book that ignited the fire?

CLT: I grew up living kind of in the middle of nowhere and didn't have the opportunity to spend a lot of time with other kids when I wasn't in school. As a result, I read a lot, and that led to writing stories. I have this little blank book I received for the "Reading Award" when I graduated from 8th grade, and it has an inscription from my teacher that says something like "A little something to help you on your way to writing your first fantasy novel!"

When I got into high school I started playing in rock bands. That became my primary passion, but I always thought that writing a book would be something fun to do on the side (while on the tour bus, you know). When I realized that rock stardom probably wasn't going to find me (we arrived in Seattle in the late 80s/early 90s packing spandex instead of flannel), the rock band sort of went on the back burner, though I do still play in one. I wrote two fantasy novels back in the early 90s, then stopped for a few years. Started writing again, mostly record reviews and interviews and things, which led to some freelance stuff for the local weekly, and then I started writing fiction again after taking a couple local workshops. So I would stay it has been a path I've been staggering along since I was pretty young, really, with occasional diversions. Seems to be going pretty steady now, though.

RZ: Writers always get asked about their influences. Consider this that question.

CLT: I was into fantasy as a kid. Conan, the Lord of the Rings, stuff like that. When I started playing Dungeons and Dragons as a junior high punk, I used the "suggested reading" list in the First Edition Dungeon Masters Guide as gospel. As I've gotten older, the stuff I read and the writers I admire have become so varied that this could go on for pages and pages. What I like best, and what I try to create with my own writing, is the kind of stuff that reads quickly and tells a compelling story. I can forgive writing that could use some tightening up much more readily than something that is working magic with language but isn't saying shit to me.

RZ: Chris, you write both fiction and nonfiction. Do you have a preference between the two? Do you find one easier than the other? Is there any common thread between your fiction and nonfiction?

CLT: I love fiction, and I could go on and on with ideas of stuff I'd like to write, or stuff I've read that I had a great time with. But in the last ten years or so the stuff that really wows me the most, and inspires, and makes me say, "Damn, I wish I'd done that!" is all in nonfiction. Writers going out and learning about something and writing about it, having adventures, telling stories that are factual revelations. People like David Quammen, John Vaillant, Susan Casey . . . these are narrative nonfiction writers that have blown me away not just with their writing but with the adventures that drove them. I would LOVE to do that kind of thing.

As for a common thread, that sense of adventure is probably it. It goes back to stories of Conan or Tarzan exploring lost ruins, or Doug Chadwick chasing wolverines in Glacier National Park. I find it utterly thrilling, utterly compelling.

The majority of my nonfiction writing has been related to music, and I burned out on it. I got tired of finding descriptions and trying to find new ways to describe bands when it came to articles, record reviews, etc. I finally stopped doing it just because my heart wasn't in it. I would write a 200 word music review and get paid $15 for it. When I decided to stop, I was irritated that most bands, rather than send press kits with CDs and things, would send links to downloads. I didn't want to put in the time to find it, wade through all the MySpace bullshit (because that is where the majority of the links were directed), download it, and burn a CD, because I would do the bulk of my listening in my truck which would only play CDs. For $15 I didn't think it was worth my time.

Honestly? Big mistake. When I consider the thousands and thousands of words of fiction I've written for zero, zilch, no money, that irritation over a "measly" $15 is pretty stupid. I could sure use the extra $45 - $75 a month I was getting for the reviews, not to mention the occasional feature article that might net me $60 or $80. It also taught me economy of words, because 200 words isn't much to work with, especially related to something I liked. Or 800 words, for that matter. Trying to write an article about the Melvins, a band who has been around a long time, while also including quotes from Buzz Osbourne -- who is one of the most entertaining interviews ever -- is a real challenge with only 800 words to play with. I probably learned more from the discipline than I realized, not to mention the process of working with editors, deadlines, etc.

What am I saying? The nonfiction stuff I was doing was much easier in a lot of ways, paid better, (i.e. at all) was excellent practice, but was also irritating and mildly soul-sucking. But I was an idiot for dropping a gig that paid pretty regularly.

RZ: Writing can be hard work. What motivates you to keep going? What inspires you?

CLT: I think watching my wife work so hard with her clothing design inspires and motivates me more than anything else, just to keep at it. It certainly isn't the money, nor is it the idea that I have something huge and important to say that hasn't already been said, better, many times before. It really is hard friggin' work, and I'd be lying if I said I don't struggle with that. Not the work so much as just the turnaround. It sucks to write a story, submit it, then wait weeks and weeks or months and months to hear anything at all about it, for better or worse. If one hears anything at all, mind you. I haven't submitted a novel yet, and I'm already gnashing my teeth over that. I've been writing songs and performing them for most of my life, and the turnaround there is way faster. I could write a song tonight, go to rehearsal tomorrow and be playing it as a band in a matter of minutes. Then unleashing it live shortly thereafter and getting some feedback. The wait when it comes to that kind of sharing with writing is the hardest part for me. But I keep doing it, and try not to bitch about it too much because there are so many of us in the same leaky boat. I realize that ePublishing and stuff can alleviate some of that, but I'm not thrilled to join the throng screaming, "Buy my stuff!" over and over again. Right now there are at least three collections out I'd like to pick up, and at least that many I already have but haven't read yet. It all gets pretty overwhelming, because I feel that if I don't buy and support other people's work, then what right do I have to ask them to support me?

But what can I say? I do it anyway. At some point, though, as the day gig becomes less and less capable of making the ends meet, I may need to find something different to spend this much time on that actually includes the occasional check. But I'm not to that point yet. And who knows, there might be spare minutes here and there while delivering pizzas, or standing on a street corner with a belly shirt and that spandex on I mentioned earlier, to jot down the occasional pulpy paragraph or two anyway.

RZ: What are you working on currently? And what’s next for you?

CLT: I'm juggling two novel projects and have a couple short story ideas I'm kicking around. I'm really trying to focus most of my energy on the novels, because I want to get them complete and submitted so I can be pissed off about that part of the process for a while, muttering the names of agents and editors into a growing pile of beer bottles, stuff like that. As for what's next, I have a story coming out at Beat to a Pulp at some point that I collaborated on with Grainger/Cranmer where I "cover" his Cash Laramie/Gideon Miles characters, adding in one of my own, but I'm not sure when that will show up, if ever. David is doing so well with his own work on those characters there's no real reason to publish it; I'd ride that wave too if I were him! Then I have a story coming out in a future issue of Needle; the Winter one, I think. Finally, I have a story coming out in the inaugural issue of Pulp Modern; I think that comes out before the year ends, but I'm not sure. Honestly, once something gets accepted, I don't really care when it comes about because by the time it does I know I will have a) forgotten what it's about, and b) will likely hate it when I re-read it. I'm just grateful to editors who actually respond to a submission at all, let alone say they will publish it. That tickles me to no end. Those people are the ones who are doing the thankless work, that's for damn sure.

My current band is in the process of recording our first album too, that should be wrapped up hopefully in October sometime. I wrote all the lyrics for that thing (except, now that I think about it, one song), and they're absolutely awful. But I love every damn word.

RZ: What work is available from you right now, and where can readers find it? Is there a place online where folks could go to learn more about you and your work?

CLT: My website, which is just a fancy word for "blog", is the best place. There is a page there with links to stuff that can be found online, both stories as well as some of the other articles I've written. As for the blog itself, it is probably a perfect example of what a writer shouldn't do, because it's totally all over the place, and is hardly ever about writing. One day I might review a movie, another day I might have pictures from a kickball game, and then another day I might have a picture of a pile of bear shit I came across out in the woods. But it's definitely a snapshot into my day to day life, and if it seems like I'm a jackass as a result, then it's probably because I pretty much am.

Chris, thanks for visiting Razored Zen.

And thanks for having me, Charles!

Heroic Fantasy and Myth Making

2011-08-28T22:13:00.003-05:00

Heroic fantasy is a literature of myth making. It's not about telling things the way they are, or even about how they were or might have been. It's about telling, or at least hinting at, the deepest truths and mysteries of human existence. It's about ancient days when human consciousness was first arising and we as a race were becoming something more, and less, than animal. In those days the gods and demons and all manner of supernatural beings were real--at least to the people of those times--more real than they can ever be to the majority of modern humans.

Despite what one of its practitioners once wrote, Heroic Fantasy is not about a world undreamed of. In symbols at least, we have all dreamed of it. I consider thinkers like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung to be more philosophers than scientists. If you want to understand psychology as a "science" then you might as well ignore them both, as well as many others of the same mindset. But, if you enjoy speculating about the origins of human consciousness and the ways in which those origins influence modern literary traditions (which is not scientific psychology), then both Freud and Jung (particularly Jung) can be useful.

For both Freud and Jung, human prehistory was a time when the seeds of later myths, and of many later truths, were being planted. I believe they are right (though not for the reasons they are often thought of as right). And I believe that one thing that separates great Heroic Fantasy from lesser work in the field is the degree to which a tale taps into the substratum of myth, and the degree to which it evokes the “depth” of prehistorical time in which those myths were arising. (All this assumes, of course, that the writer has the storytelling skills to hold the reader's attention long enough to evoke his or her sense of myth and of time’s vastness.)

Robert E. Howard is perhaps the best illustration of what I'm talking about. Howard tapped into almost pure myth when he created the worlds of Kull and Conan, and when he modified historical ages to provide an arena for the adventures of Bran Mak Morn, Cormac Mac Art, and Solomon Kane. There is an underlying coherence to Howard's fantasy worlds. His mysteries are shrouded in the web of ages but when one reads of his green-walled ruins and his leftover denizens from elder races one feels the living power behind his craftings. One feels as if there is something more there behind the stories, something that is real, or should have been real. It’s much the same feeling one gets when swimming and something powerful passes by just under the surface.
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I'm Adaptable at Novel Spaces

2011-08-25T23:36:00.001-05:00

I've got a post up over at Novel Spaces today on "Adaptability." Stop by if you get the chance. I'd appreciate it.
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A Question

2011-08-24T08:09:00.003-05:00

I'd like to get your opinions on something. When I first published Killing Trail, I set the price at $2.99. The price seemed both reasonable to me, and it allowed me to get the 70% royalties from Amazon for each copy. However, I've since seen other, roughly equivalent, books published at 99 cents. I've been wondering whether I should drop my price to 99 cents. I've not made a decision on it and I'd like to gather some information first. So, given that Killing Trail has now been out for a little more than a year, here are my questions.

1. Would dropping the price upset folks who paid $2.99 for it, or would it be more likely seen as a natural discounting process for a book that has been out a while?

2. How do readers view it when an author drops the price on a book ‘temporarily’ as a promotional offer. I know some writers start out with a lower price for a week or two and then go up, but in my case I was thinking about dropping the price to 99 cents for say a month. What are your thoughts on that.

I tell you, the business end of writing gives me fits. I neither want to be seen as a money grubbing author, nor do I want to sell myself short. I probably spend as much or more time agonizing over this kind of thing as I do a plot twist. The latter is much more fun, though.

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Back To School, and To The Stars

2011-08-21T10:04:00.004-05:00

Well, school is back in session. We had registration on Thursday and Friday. Classes start on Monday . I’ve got a pretty good schedule this year and I’m ready. My class numbers are pretty large so it’ll be a busy grading year. As usual once school starts, I won’t be blogging quite as much or able to visit blogs as regularly. The last couple of blog posts were prescheduled.

A bit of good writing news. To The Stars and Beyond: The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories is out and up on Amazon. Why is it good writing news for me? Because it contains my story, “I Can Spend You,” which is one of my favorites among my own stories. There are also stories by Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Richard Lupoff, along with plenty of other writers. They’re really holding the prices down on this series to try and encourage readers. So far it is only available in print, but I think it’s going to be a kindle book as well. That’s what it says in the “Product Description.”

Amazon.com Widgets

And now I’m off to make my blogging rounds.
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In a Story…(Part Two)

2011-08-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

In a story, things happen. And they don’t happen in a nice, predictable pattern. Telling a story isn’t like playing a game of chess. The writer doesn’t have to have the board all set up and the pieces all arranged just so before starting the story. In fact, messiness is desirable at the start. “In media res” is a piece of writing advice I like. It means, begin in the middle of the action. Another piece of advice I like about writing is, never tell the reader more than they need to know at that precise moment in time. In the perfect book, the reader always wants to know a little more than they do know. That’s why they turn the page.

Of course a book doesn’t have to start with a battle or an alien invasion. As long as something is happening, there’ll be readers who will follow you. What do you think of the following scenarios, for example.

1. “I’m pregnant, Don. And it’s not yours.”

2. I heard the car coming and looked up from weeding my flower garden. We didn’t get many visitors out here in the country. I never expected this one. The daughter I hadn’t seen in ten years got out of the car. She wasn’t alone.

3. I recognized the ring tone as I answered my cell.
“Hi, Granny,” I said, smiling.
“I’ve shot your grandfather,” she said. “I just thought you should know.”

I’m not saying these are beautifully written opening lines but at least something is going on in them. My thinking is that all three of these are essentially literary openings. The stories that developed from these would most likely be primarily about human relationships, either their development of their destruction. I might not actually want to read any of these stories, although #3 sounds the most interesting to me. I’m a genre junky. I don’t often read stories that are solely about relationships. For me, a writer needs something like:

1. She looked like she was about twelve years old until she pulled the gun on me.

2. The howling began around dark. I should have left the cabin then. But the sound was far away and I told myself it was only wolves. Besides, I was expecting friends to join me for a weekend in the woods.

By midnight my friends hadn’t arrived and the howling was closer. It was closer and all around the cabin. And it didn’t sound like wolves anymore.

3. The ship plunged through the atmosphere, burning as it went. Only a fragment hit the earth. But that fragment was alive.
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Interview With Me Up at Kindle Author's Blog

2011-08-16T16:38:00.004-05:00

We interrupt our scheduled Part Two of "In a Story" to mention that there's an interview with me up over at David Wisehart's Kindle Author's Blog. It just went up today so I wanted to link it. I hope you'll check it out if you get the chance. I'll put up the second half of "In A Story" on Thursday.

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In a Story…(Part One)

2011-08-15T22:35:00.004-05:00

In a story, things happen. They happen immediately, or at least PDQ. Things that have happened are frequently revealed in dialogue, or, often with less effectiveness, in summarized form in what is called an info dump. Talented writers, in certain types of stories, can have action happening in the dialogue itself, although it’s a rare story that can get along with dialogue alone.

The first line of this essay came in a fit of irritation as I was reading a book from a mainstream SF publisher. It came because this particular book did not illustrate the principle that ‘in a story, things happen.’ By thirty-five pages in, we’d had a dozen characters introduced and had “hints” that a major crisis was threatening earth. (I already knew from the back cover that we were looking at a first contact scenario.) We’d learned a few things about the characters, almost none of it very interesting. We’d also had a nine page conversation in a jeep with a flat tire in the rain, about nothing. Starting with page 35, we got a page and a half info dump about a specific character, including pretty much the character’s whole military service and the honors he’d received. That was it for me. I closed the book and uploaded it to bookmooch. I was irritated enough to vow never to read another of this author’s books again.

The worst thing, from my point of view, is that the first book I read by this author was absolutely wonderful. It was also an alien contact story, but the action began in the first paragraph as a research lab at a major university blew up and opened a gateway to another dimension. The action seldom slacked off after that, although a lot of characters were introduced as the book went on. I was so impressed that I immediately bought two more books by the author. The second one I read was written with a coauthor and was horribly slow with a lot of character description that ended up going nowhere. I blamed it on the co-writer so I still came to the current novel with high hopes. Dashed hopes, as it turned out. If this had been the first book I read by this author I would never have gotten to the one that was really good.

Things happen in a story. Or else it’s not a story. No matter how many characters a writer introduces, it’s not a story until things happen between those characters. No matter how much a writer hints at big things to come, it’s not a story until some of those things actually begin to occur. I think most writers have to learn this fact. I don’t believe it comes naturally for most of us. It didn’t for me, although I never took 35 pages to get to some big happening. Swords of Talera is my slowest starting book. There’s a five page introduction that reveals Ruenn Maclang’s character and sets up a mystery about Ruenn and where he’s been. Then comes Chapter 1, with three and half pages of rather mundane activity until the screams begin and the story is fully launched. Wings over Talera has a three page introduction with a battle happening by page 2 of the book itself. Witch of Talera has a two “paragraph” introduction and an assassination attempt on the first page.

Here’s my plea to writers. Make things happen. Make them happen quickly. I don’t want to put your book down any more than you want me to.
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Mucho Reviews

2011-08-14T00:25:00.002-05:00

We finally got internet access back late on Saturday so I’m trying to catch up on blogging. I won’t be able to get to every post I’ve missed but will get back to regular visiting tomorrow. Today’s post is going to be reviews of books I’ve read lately.

Mark C. Durfee: scent of the garden within
A jam packed collection of poetry, with nearly every inch filled with Mark Durfee's sometimes loving, sometimes bitter, but always accurate words about today's world. This is the third in a trilogy of poetical works, and is the largest in scale. Mark is one of our blogging buddies, of course. For more information, or to order a copy of this book, see Mark’s blog.

Gerald So: We Might Have: Poems
This is a collection of contemporary poems that I read for Kindle ebook. I'm not sure if it's available in other formats. I didn't intend to read this one so quickly. I just got it yesterday. But I read the first few while taking a break from TV and found them addictive. Most are short and pithy. But there's clearly a sound talent behind the words and a lot of feeling in them. I'm 52 now and these poems probably apply most strongly to younger individuals, in their teens and 20s perhaps, but I could easily put myself back in those days and recall when I felt just like this. Good stuff. Gerald blogs here.

Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall: Night of the Living Trekkies
Since this is somewhat of a "gimmick" book, I was afraid it would be awful. But I love Star Trek so I decided to give it a try. It was actually very well done and I enjoyed it very much. I'm very pleased to have been wrong about it.

The key to this kind of thing is good writing and this certainly qualifies. And clearly the authors knew their subjects, both Star Trek and Zombies, and Star Wars to boot. Lots of nice touches, like using episode titles for the chapter titles, and having the dialogue at places reflect the shows.

Kudos to the authors.

Robert B. Parker: Resolution
I didn't think it was quite as good as Appaloosa or Brimstone but it was enjoyable and I feel comfortable giving it four stars.

Christopher Rowley: Heavy Metal Pulp: Pleasure Model: Netherworld #1
I reviewed this on Goodreads and gave it 2 stars and just said I didn’t much care for it. I’ll say a little more here. First the positives. It was a very quick and easy read. It’s heavily illustrated and the illustrations are pretty good. It was well edited and the writing was certainly professional. However, I personally found it fairly full of clichés. I also think the book didn’t quite know what it wanted to be. It sort of acted like it wanted to be an SF, hardcore porn version of a noir detective novel, but the sex was very limited. The SF aspects were not explained well enough for us to clearly see the world in which the story was set. And the noir detective part was certainly rather standard. There was a lot of graphic language but the story itself seemed fairly tame. It also didn’t really have a clear cut ending to the immediate story line, and I tend to dislike that. Even a series book should have a clear cut ending, I think.
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Internet Non Connectivity

2011-08-12T10:54:00.002-05:00

Our internet is down. Equipment failure. They have a service call in but we're not sure when they'll be coming by. I'm at the library for the moment with my laptop just to indicate here that I'll be largely off line until the problem is resolved. We live in the country so it's a 20+ minute drive to get to a place with wireless capability. I'll return to visiting everyone's blogs as soon as possible.
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New Post up Over At Novel Spaces

2011-08-09T23:03:00.003-05:00

I'm talking about summer's end over at Novel Spaces. Hope you can drop by.

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Razored Zen Interview: Keith Gouveia

2011-08-08T08:53:00.004-05:00

I’ve decided to do a few more interviews on my blog. These won’t be exclusive to writers, although that will probably make up the bulk of the posts. I don’t plan to make it a mainstay feature but I like learning about other folks and this will give me a way to do that. And maybe it will introduce those who visit here to some new writers or new blog pals.

My first guest is the writer Keith Gouveia. I met Keith in an online writing group called “The Parasitorium,” which was founded by my good friend Del Stone, Jr. Del went on to publish a collection of stories from group members in 2003. It was called The Parasitorium: Terrors Within. I had a story in the collection called “Thief of Eyes,” and Keith had one of his early stories published in that collection, a nasty little work called “Taper.” Without further ado, here’s Keith. (RZ represents Razored Zen and I’m sure you can figure out what KG stands for.)

RZ: Keith, tell us a little about yourself outside of writing. Home town. Family. Job. That sort of thing.

KG: I grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts and now live in Florida. I’m married to my lovely wife, Lisa, and I’m a mechanical engineer in my off hours.

RZ: What made you want to write? Is it a desire that’s always been with you? Or was there some particular event or book that ignited the fire?

KG: Telling stories has always been my favorite pastime. Unfortunately, in high school, I had a Literature teacher who berated me over my topic choice when it came to creative writing. He would often assign homework to write freely, I would chose a horror story as that was what I enjoyed reading the most outside of the Hardy Boys and Conan stories, and he would give me a C with a handwritten scribble “this trash will get you no where.” No red punctuation markups, just his vitriol. The mental block he instilled in me wasn’t demolished until Lisa entered my life (eleven years ago) and supported my writing. Been going strong ever since. I write to entertain myself, and if I can do that for someone else then that’s just gravy.

RZ: Writers always get asked about their influences, so consider this that question.

KG: Edgar Allan Poe is at the top. Robert E. Howard and Stephen King are close seconds. I remember reading Poe and feeling his pain, it resonated with me as I shared his pain of loss and loneliness. I borrowed my mother’s copy of Stephen King’s IT and was thoroughly frightened, and was and still am in awe at Howard’s vision.

RZ: Keith, one reason I wanted to interview you is because, like me, you seem to enjoy writing in a variety of genres. I’ve read horror stuff by you, fantasy oriented stuff, and even materials that border on Young/Adult. Why is that? Is there a common theme or thread that you see running through all your work?

KG: I think it boils down to my reading habits when I was younger. I read various age appropriate material and a lot of not so much, and when it comes time to explore a story idea, I’m open minded and allow it to fit where it’s best suited. Plus, I have two great kids and I want them to be as well read as I was. Regardless of the genre though, I will always fit in a horror trope or two.

RZ: Writing can be hard work, especially when you’re slogging through the middle passage on a novel. What motivates you to keep going? What inspires you?

KG: Life inspires me. Combine that with my wife’s nurturing words, and I rarely hit that proverbial wall called writer’s block. Once I get going, I have the strong urge to see it to completion. Discipline is one of a writer’s greatest assets.

RZ: What are you working on currently? And what’s next for you?

KG: Right now I’m working on new werewolf short stories for a sequel collection to my Animal Behavior and Other Tales of Lycanthropy as well as finishing my zombie novel Death Puppet. After that, I’ve been writing a fantasy epic off and on titled Sword of Darkness, Sword of Light and I’d like to get back to that.

RZ: What work is available from you right now, and where can readers find it? Is there a place online where folks could go to learn more about you and your work?

KG: Right now, my most notable works are the aforementioned werewolf collection and my continuation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Black Cat, titled The Black Cat and the Ghoul. It is a zombie mash-up ala Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but rather than splicing zombies into the piece, I’ve continued the tale of a nameless character in Poe’s short story and turned it into book length in a way I believe true to Poe’s vision and macabre taste. But if you want Fantasy, check out my YA novel Children of the Dragon, all titles released by Coscom Entertainment and can be found at all on-line bookstores and can be ordered via brick and mortar stores as well. And to learn more about me, I have a website (though I’m terrible with updates) at http://www.keithgouveia.com or befriend me on Facebook.

Keith, thanks for visiting Razored Zen.

Thank you for having me. Until next time, “Pleasant Screams!”

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Coming to a Con Probably not Near You

2011-08-04T22:30:00.001-05:00

Looks like it’s going to be a busy fall for me. But I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be going to both “Undead Con” in late October, and to CONtraflow in early November. Both are local New Orleans cons and I’ll be sitting on panels with some talented folks.

Undead Con is put on by Anne Rice’s Vampire Lestat Fan Club. All kinds of exciting things are happening there, including the Annual Vampire Ball, which is the place to be in New Orleans for Halloween. This year the events will be held October 28-29.

CONtraflow is November 4-6, and David Brin will be the author guest of honor. Since I’ve got a lot of his books, I’ll be looking forward to meeting him and getting his autograph. There are many other great guests as well. I’m not sure what panels I’ll be sitting on yet but no doubt I will have fun.

If you’re gonna be in the area at either of these times, or both, I’d love to see you.
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Free Story from Midnight in Rosary

2011-08-01T23:32:00.006-05:00

I haven’t talked much about my vampire/werewolf/ghost collection lately. That’s Midnight in Rosary, the title of which the blogosphere helped me decide on. I thought I might post a sample story from the collection, one called “The Poetry of Blood.” It’s not quite vampire. I’m not sure exactly what it is. But it’s short, which I think it needs to be for this sort of thing.

There are erotic elements to the story, and mostly the “threat” of violence. That’s why I didn’t put it up directly as a blog post. If you find those elements distasteful then you may not want to click on my link. If I’ve done my figuring right, however, clicking on This Link should take you to the story. I hope you enjoy.

The book is available at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble, with the links below.

Amazon.com Widgets

Barnes & Noble
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A Review of Killing Trail, and More

2011-07-31T19:50:00.004-05:00

Travis Erwin gives a good mention to Killing Trail over on his blog. I'm glad the book is being so well received. Thanks, Travis.

I recently read a pretty good book myself. It was called Night of the Living Trekkies, and was written by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall. Since this is somewhat of a "gimmick" book, I was afraid it would be awful. But I love Star Trek so I decided to give it a try. It was actually very well done and I enjoyed it very much. I'm very pleased to have been wrong about it.

The book's premise is a zombie outbreak at a Star Trek convention. The key to this kind of thing is good writing and this certainly qualifies. And clearly the authors knew their subjects, both Star Trek and Zombies, and Star Wars to boot. Lots of nice touches, like using episode titles for the chapter titles, and having the dialogue at places reflect the shows.

Kudos to the authors

Amazon.com Widgets

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Painting, and My Personal West

2011-07-29T07:11:00.004-05:00

We've been having some work done on our house for the past couple of days and they are painting in my room, among other things. That's where my computer and internet access are so that's why I haven't been around to the blogs as much. It seems to be completed now so I'm gonna start making some rounds of blogs.

In the meantime, Richard Prosch is rerunning his "My Personal West" series of posts. The one he's got up today is a guest post by me that I wrote back when Killing Trail first came out. If you didn't see it then, check it out now. It's HERE.
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Novel Spaces: Dedication Weirdness

2011-07-25T11:14:00.003-05:00

I'm over at Novel Spaces today talking about one of the strangest experiences I've ever had in my writing career. It has to do with the issue of book dedications. I hope you'll check it out.

It will be one post down from the top now.

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Hell West

2011-07-22T01:34:00.005-05:00

My dream last night began with a college age man sitting in a class for would-be teachers. The students are practice teaching and one young woman first has cake served to the class. Our young man, I’ll call him “hero,” gets a piece of white wedding cake. Class then ends and hero leaves with two female friends, a blonde and a brunette. He is dating the blonde but runs into a female teacher who whispers to him that he should really date the brunette, who is smarter and nicer.

Hero has to go to the bathroom and this is where the weird stuff starts. While in the bathroom, he gets a feeling that something isn’t right. About that time, a dwarf comes in and locks himself in a stall. Then a bag lady he saw outside also wanders in. She starts to flirt and tries to grope him, and he quickly leaves without managing to consummate his bathroom experience.

He goes around the back of the building to urinate but runs into two security guards. He and his two lady friends are then standing next to a railroad car on display behind the building when the sunny sky darkens and a kind of ‘shield’ snaps into place between the three and the outside world. A monstrous shadow starts to rise out of the railroad car, and the two security guards open fire on it. A massive arm with a single huge claw on the end smashes out of the car and crushes the guards. The blonde is also killed and our hero knocked unconscious.

Here it gets really weird, and funny. Our hero wakes up in Hell “West.” Satan has had to abandon the real hell but has set up a little touch of home right on the college campus. He's brought his family with him, 1) a mentally challenged 20 something son who wears a batman mask and cape, 2) a son of about 8 who never says a word, and 3) two twin teenage daughters, one with long and the other with bobbed hair. Hero is being kept because his blood is especially nutritious to the hell-borne. He is told that his brunette friend is alive but being held prisoner to keep him in line.

The long-haired daughter seems the most normal of the family and hero talks a bit to her. She protects him from her short-haired sister who wants to hammer nails into him, and this makes him feel like his best chance of escape is to befriend her. That seems to be working. When the bat masked son wants a snack, the long-haired twin is the one to “bleed” hero into a chalice, but he realizes she's doing it because her sister would hurt him much worse.

Then, Satan offers hero a bet. If he can beat the devil and his family in baseball, they’ll let him go. The young man agrees. The “baseball” is really a hacky-sack, and the bat is a fat red plastic kid’s bat (like my son had). Satan is up first and hero is pitching. Satan gets a hit and his youngest son runs for him. The kid gets on base, but then tries to steal another base and hero tags him out.

The devil fouls the next pitch into the bushes. While hero fetches the ball, the devil brings another player in on his side, a woman who is completely burned black and who stands between our hero and the batter’s box. (Satan refers to the damned as the “Burned ones.”) As our hero pitches, she tries to knock the ball away, and if she succeeds it is called a foul.

Unfortunately, I woke up before the game could finish so I don’t know if our hero escaped. I’m thinking his chances aren’t too good. What do you think?
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Doc Savage, Quake 4, Writing

2011-07-18T10:00:00.002-05:00

You can download the newest issue of The Illuminata today, with articles and reviews, including an opinion piece by me on “Doc Savage: The Hero Problem.” If you’re a huge fan of Doc, try to remember that I really am a nice guy anyway. :)

The issue is: Vol. 9 Issue #3 July 2011, and you can download it as a PDF or an EPUB HERE.

Looks like a good writing day here. We’ve had four straight days of heavy, heavy rain, and though we definitely needed it we’re starting to experience some localized flooding, including some road closings. I’ve been inside a lot, playing a bit on my new video game, Quake 4, which is brought to you by the same folks who gave you Doom, my favorite video game of all time. Quake is not quite as good but is still fun. Primarily, though, I’ll be sitting high and dry in my house today, writing, writing, writing. Then napping. Wow I’ve got a good life. I hope yours is going as well.
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More Star Trek Versus Conan

2011-07-15T00:37:00.003-05:00

Here's a bit more of that, dare I call it, "humor?" Well here goes anyway.

Many people think Chekov has an accent because he’s Russian. In fact, it’s because Conan punched him in the mouth until he could no longer speak straight.

Conan once told Q to get off his ship. Q listened.

Conan was once captured by the Gamesters of Triskelion. He made them fight each other and bet on the outcome. He won several quadrillion Quatloos on his bets but immediately spent it all on strong drink and women.

Conan once wore a red shirt for a whole year. He lived. But the same couldn’t be said for those who accosted Conan during that time.

Dilithium crystals always remain crystallized in the presence of Conan.

The warp drive was invented by Zefram Cockrane when he was running from Conan.

Conan loves Tribbles; Especially grilled over an open flame.

Tribbles are normally born pregnant but not so in the presence of Conan. Conan finds their offspring to be an irresistible hors d’oeurves and they can sense it.

Conan does indeed have a piece of the Federation’s action.

Conan has found that Picard’s bald head puts a dandy shine on his boots.

One of Conan’s wet farts became Wesley Crusher.

Conan once beat Kirk at a game of Fizzbin. He got a Royal Fizzbin with his first hand.

Conan spanked Charlie X.
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Three Days Off

2011-07-12T10:29:00.004-05:00

I "finished" Under the Ember Star on Friday and for the past three days have refused to allow myself to look at it, or even think much about it. I'm a firm believer that you should always put any story or book away for a while before you do the final read through. It helps you get some needed objective distance.

I also didn't want to get started on another major project until after I finished the last read through on "Ember Star," and I haven't taken many days off this summer so far, so I decided I'd take the entire three days off from writing.

Man, am I tired of my writing vacation. I would normally try to let "Ember Star" sit a few more days but I'm too antsy and will get back to it today. I'm pretty happy to have that hunger. I played video games and read for three days, and I enjoyed it, but there was definitely something missing. Writing energizes me, feeds me intellectually in a way that video games, watching TV, and even reading can't do. It's in my blood now, or my brain, or some part of me. I reckon I'll be doing this until I die.

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Alien in the Family, at Novel Spaces

2011-07-10T00:38:00.004-05:00

I'm over at Novel Spaces for the next couple of days. I did a post on the hybrids in literature, particularly in science fiction. I hope you can drop by.

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Conan Versus Star Trek

2011-07-08T09:12:00.003-05:00

In the line of the books about how bad ass Chuck Norris is, I was thinking about putting together a book about Conan the Barbarian versus Star Trek. I'd probably have copyright issues in either case so I don't think it will ever happen, but here is a sample of what I've come up with for fun so far. I've got lots more. What do you think? And please do forgive the occasional vulgarity. These kinds of things aren't long on manners.

In one of their trips back through time, the crew of the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701) encountered Conan the Cimmerian. The following events happened.

1. Twenty-seven red shirts died. Fourteen others suffered severe internal injuries from wedgies.

2. Yeoman Rand got pregnant. Twice.

3. Spock attempted a nerve pinch on Conan only to experience in return the more effective and far more painful nerve PUNCH.

4. Scotty finally met someone who could drink him under the table. Until Scotty passed out, the two of them got on well. They even moved past “It’s green” to “It’s liquid.”

5. After bumping into the drunk Conan, Bones retorted, “Dammit, Jim, I’m a doctor not a punching bag.” He was wrong.

6. Kirk couldn’t act his way out of getting his ass kicked.

7. Uhuru learned a lot about alien tongues.

8. Sulu discovered that swords aren’t toys. It took him a long time to get his rapier out of his ass.

9. Conan was accidentally duplicated in a transporter accident. Both his sides were bad ass.

10. Conan tried Romulan ale and thought it was for pussies
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CAPSULE BOOK REVIEWS, APA 94, 95

2011-07-06T00:51:00.003-05:00

I’m so close to the end of “Under the Ember Star” I can taste it, and I’ve been writing myself out on that so I don’t have a lot of energy to blog. Here’s a few capsule book reviews.

I recently read two books in Ed Gorman’s Sam McCain series, a private eye series set in small town Iowa in the 1960s. These were Breaking Up is Hard to Do and Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool. Both were very good and very easy reads. I’ve already ordered more.

Do read Michael Connelly’s The Narrows. This is a serial killer book but it was quite well done and persuaded me to get some of his earlier works.

Read Koontz’s The Good Guy. Although Koontz has written out most of the darkness within this one hearkens back in some ways to his older work. It has one of the strongest beginnings in recent memory.

Read Rumble Tumble by Joe Lansdale. This is a Hap and Leonard book, and if you don’t know what that means then you need to find out. Email me if need be and I’ll explain. These books are suspense but I wouldn’t call them “straight” suspense. There’s always some pretty weird shit in any Lansdale book. Rumble Tumble is the good stuff. A quick read, and very brutal.

Probably you shouldn’t bother with The Forty Fathom Bank by Les Galloway. Galloway, who is dead now, attempts a Hemingway riff and doesn’t quite pull it off. I really didn’t like the main character, who is a whiney little bitch, and the ending is telegraphed very early. But I did admire the prose. It’s a novella of 108 pages. Galloway wrote it when he was 72 so that was kind of cool.

Of interest to early paperback readers, Pocketbook Writer: Confessions of a Commercial Hack, by Charles Nuetzel. Nuetzel wrote a few ERB type books back in the 60s, as well as a lot of other stuff. This is his autobiography. It includes an interview I did with him years ago.

A very good book is In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S. M. Stirling. This is the first in a proposed Martian series. It was far superior to The Sky People, the first in a proposed Venusian series. Stirling did an excellent job updating the Sword & Planet genre here. He created an interesting way for the Martians to express themselves and kept it up throughout the whole book. There was plenty of action, as well, and quite a twist ending. Check it out.

Maybe, if you want, read Ice Prophet by William R. Forstchen. I’ve liked every other book I’ve read by Forstchen, especially his Lost Regiment series, but I didn’t really care for this one. I believe this is one of his first, written in 1983. The idea is good, a future ice age world where religion rules and ice ships sail the glaciers. It has similarities to Ice Schooner by Moorcock, but is not as good. Forstchen spends too much time on the development of the society and less on the characters and action. The ending is pretty cool, though.

Another very good book is Nightblood by T. Chris Martindale. An even better book by him, however, is Where the Chill Waits, which I read a few years back. Both books are excellent horror novels, and I also feel that Martindale writes with a style similar to what I used in Cold in the Light.

As for Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill. If you like Stephen King you’ll probably like this. Joe Hill writes much like his pappy. The book started out good, then slowed way down in the middle. I almost put the book down then, but am glad I didn’t because the ending was a real roller coaster ride and was very good.

The Rocket’s Shadow and The Lost City, by John Blaine. These are two YA books, both written in 1947. This is a Tom Swift/ Tom Corbett kind of series but I didn’t think they were as exciting. “The Lost City” had a neat twist in that the “city” in question turned out to be a hidden Mongol city where the actual grave of Ghengis Khan was hidden. I would have loved these books when I was in my early teens, but they were a bit much of a sameness for me now.
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White Cat Comes Alive

2011-07-03T10:18:00.003-05:00

I’m pleased as a good beer to let everyone know that White Cat Publications is now live and rockin’. This promises to be a great site for both readers and writers. The link to the home page is HERE, but once you’re on site you can see the richness of what is up there already, as well as get glimpses of what is to come. If you click on the “Fiction” tab you’ll even see a story by me called “Ruins & Wraiths,” as well as excellent tales by Tyree Campbell, Stewart Sternberg, Charles P. Zaglanis, and Lillian Cohen-Moore.

If you’re a reader, there’s already some good stories on the site and a lot more to come. There are reviews and links and other news for the reader’s world. (Don’t forget to click on the “Next Page” at the bottom of the home page.)

If you’re a writer, this is a paying market with an editor who knows his stuff and is open to a variety of stories and styles. There is also a lot of supporting material for writers, and heads up on issues such as internet plagiarism.

I urge everyone to have a look, and bookmark the site because it is expanding geometrically. I’m going to add it to my magazine links today.
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When the Dam Breaks

2011-07-02T01:09:00.004-05:00

A while back I posted about hitting the wall on my WIP, “Under the Ember Star.” That wall proved tough to get over. I find a book develops a certain momentum, especially if you try to end chapters on cliffhangers. And once you get into that rhythm of movement it’s hard to break free. That was the source of the wall. I wanted the story between 25,000 and 30,000 words, and I realized I had to get hold of the reins and pull the thing up if I were going to end it where I wanted it. But the story fought the reins. I finally won, but it was a near thing, and it looks like the final will be right around 30,000 words, just a little longer than I’d hoped.

When the wall finally breached, the end came quickly. I did about 20 pages of rough draft in one day. It’ll have to be polished so the work is not done by any means, but the pieces are all there and I know where they go. And best of all, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I was afraid there’d be too much talky explanation at the end and not enough action, but I found a way around that. Sometimes, also, I worry that I won’t be able to pull it off, that this time I’ll write myself into a corner I can’t get out of. I’m glad it didn’t happen. This time. Someday it probably will. That’s the perils of writing by the seat of your pants.

In other news, I have another review of a friend's book below. This is for Apostle Rising, by Richard Godwin.

Amazon.com Widgets

Apostle Rising mixes a number of genres, and does it flawlessly. There are elements of the police procedural, with two sets of connected serial killings being investigated. There are horrific elements that are a match for anything you’ll read in a straight horror novel. And there are edge-of-your-seat twists and turns that keep your head spinning and which are the basics of the thriller. The final twist caught me completely by surprise even though I read a lot of thrillers and am generally pretty good at picking out the hints. This one had me smiling because it was just perfect, and yet I never saw it coming.

The story is also written in luminous and often poetic prose:“The woods are cast deep in folded meadow shade, hues of blackness tinged with the heavy odours of autumn, rotting to nothing in the scattered leaves where insects scurry and blind slugs creep and grope their way to mulch.”

One of the main reasons I picked up this book is because I’d read a number of Godwin’s short stories and always enjoyed his prose. Godwin is a helluva stylist and I’m a sucker for beautiful language, especially when it is combined with a dark sensibility that gives it backbone.

Finally, we have good characters, both heroes and villains. I like heroes who hurt but move ahead despite the pain, characters who stand for something, who fight the good fight. Frank Castle and Jacki Stone have those qualities. And the villains (there are more than one) are a good match for our heroes. Overall this is a very strong outing for what I believe is Godwin’s first novel. I’m looking for even greater things ahead for this writer.
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In Praise of Nonfiction

2011-06-29T11:06:00.005-05:00

I talk a lot about fiction on my blog, about reading it and writing it. Usually when I mention loving to read I’m referring to fiction, and during the summers I really indulge myself there. I also prefer to write fiction over nonfiction, although I’ve actually sold well over a hundred nonfiction articles and the pay is much better than for fiction. Writing it is definitely a different kind of animal.

But my focus on fiction here shouldn’t be taken as a ‘dislike’ of nonfiction. I’ve often said that, as writers, nonfiction will feed our heads better than fiction, and I read a lot of nonfiction that is not just for work but for pleasure. I thought I might talk about it today. My nonfiction reading generally falls in three areas.

1. Science: I consider myself a scientist, and, as a teacher, I feel it absolutely necessary to keep up with scientific developments in the field of psychology. In the past five years I’ve been reading very heavily in the areas of evolution and evolutionary psychology, partly because I’m working on a book in that area, and partly because I’ve developed a couple of evolutionary related courses at my university. I’ve read some very good stuff in this area. The granddaddy book of them all in this field is Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species, which I read many years ago but still reread passages from here and there. Some other good writers in this field include Loren Eiseley, Richard Dawkins, and Stephen J. Gould. Unless you’re working on a book, however, I’d suggest you not read many of the “Intelligent Design” screeds, which generally give a bad name to both science and religion.

2. Books on Writing: Kate Wilhelm’s Storyteller, Lawrence Block’s Telling Lies for Fun and Profit, Bill Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words. These have been three of my favorites in this area in the last few years. But I also really enjoy reading writer’s biographies, and I’ve got a bunch, from Hemingway to Stephen King. I love hearing about how other writers work, and about their successes and not so successes. A lot of writer’s lives are probably pretty boring to people who aren’t writers, but I find them fascinating. Of course, I’ve actually written my own book in this field, my collection of writing tip articles and essays called Write With Fire

3. Music: I think I always secretly wanted to be a rock star. I’m quite sure I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much as I sometimes think I would. And these days those dreams are way behind me. But I still read books about rock stars, mostly aging stars these days. Two of the more enjoyable works in this field that I’ve read have been Lemmy’s autobiography, White Line Fever, and Dave Mustaine’s self titled autobiography. I enjoyed Motley Crue’s The Dirt. I will eventually get around to Ozzy’s books.

I do read outside these three areas, though not as much. I’ve read a fair amount about motorcycle culture. I wouldn’t consider myself to have been an outlaw biker. I definitely was no 1%. But I enjoyed my years as a biker and I found the sub-culture pretty fascinating. I still read a few books about that world, including Ralph Barger’s Hell’s Angel. I devoured history when I was younger, particularly the history of ancient warfare, and World War II. I came close to becoming a history prof rather than a psychologist, and I would have specialized in WWII. But there’s only so many hours in the day and history has fallen off my radar for the most part in the past ten years.

Amazon.com Widgets

What about you? What are some of your favorite nonfiction works, nonfiction areas?
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Ashedit on Gramlich

2011-06-26T20:21:00.003-05:00

I feel like all I'm doing lately is touting my own horn, but there's something neat that's just gone up that I want to call to your attention. Over at Ashedit's Blog, Elaine is having a kind of Gramlich extravaganza. I think it's kind of cool so I hope you'll check it out.

Thanks so much to Elaine for putting this up. Much appreciated.

Also, I'd almost forgotten that June 27 was coming up. The second of my monthly posts is up over at Novel Spaces. This one is not about me but about "For the Love of Books." There's some cover photos I think many of you might appreciate. It's just down from the top.

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Buddies in the Saddle Review

2011-06-25T09:58:00.003-05:00

Well, I haven't normally been posting every day but I had to put up a link to Ron Scheer's review of Killing Trail. Ron captured exactly what I hoped to do with those stories. I'm very glad he enjoyed and I sure do appreciate the support. Check it out if you get a chance, at Ron Scheer on Killing Trail

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Progress and a Retrospective

2011-06-24T10:17:00.003-05:00

I've been doing a lot of writing and I can 'see' the end of "Under the Ember Star." My pace as slowed but I know the end is in reach and I have a pretty good idea of what has to happen and when. There's still going to be some feeling my way through. In the meantime, I thought I might be lazy today and post a scene from my first novel, from Cold in the Light. I'm still very proud of this book. Kargen, who is mentioned in the scene below, is probably the best villain I ever created. I believed when I finished it that 'everyone' would love this book. You know, I still think that. Or at least I think they should. :)

Amazon.com Widgets

Kargen's war-band followed swiftly along the scent trail of their leader, moving like an animated wind through the forest, flowing around tree trunks, leaping over fallen logs, rushing as quick as air through the night. They passed a ruined helicopter and the torn bodies of humans, one of them without a head. But they did not stop.

The kill-smell on each of the dead bore the mark of Kargen, and it injected enough of a stimulant to quiver their war-spikes and raise spines all across their heads. It made them run faster, and faster, down hills and up, until they crossed a road of bare ruts through the dark woods.

The band's warriors no longer cared about the strange odors underlying their leader's scent pattern. Blood and violence made too heady a perfume. It overwhelmed any reservations they might have had. Kargen killed, and because of that he led. They only wanted to join with him in hauling down the prey, in tearing it to froth. Their teeth hurt with the thought.

Then, as one, the band slowed, came to a drifting stop in a meadow where wild flowers of purple and white bloomed. A wetness flared their nostrils, the raw signature of a not too distant stream. And painted among the wet were the threaded fragrances of Kargen and the Mother and of humans. And, too, of a place.

A killing ground.
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More Reviews

2011-06-21T14:14:00.006-05:00

A post just went up by me over at Rogue Blades today on "I Dream of Heroes." I only realized it went up this morning so if you get a chance, check it out. Below are two more reviews of books by friends. And it looks like something kind of cool is going to be happening this weekend. I'll let you know.

The G.O.D. Factor, by Rachel V. Olivier:

This is a novella length SF work by our blog colleague Rachel Olivier. A deactivated artificial intelligence unit that once ran a giant warship regains sentience. And it’s insane. It also thinks it’s God. And now it’s installed in a civilian ship rather than a warship, with a crew that is poorly prepared to deal with it. The event happens during the shift of a crew member named Monica, and she has to figure out how to get her fellow crew members out of an AI imposed stasis and retake the ship.

Good stuff. I might have actually liked seeing a longer version of this. It could be expanded to a novel, but I don’t know if there’s any plans for that. It’s definitely a quick read, well written, with a solid emotional core to the story. Rachel is a polished writer. I always recommend her work.

You can pick this one up at Sam’s Dot.

Past All Traps, by Don Wentworth:

This is a collection of haiku and other short poems, observations about the world and about life. It sort of combines Eastern and Western sensibilities. I thought it was very good. There are whimsical pieces and pieces that are much sharper and pierce.

"Stop counting syllables
start counting the dead."

My favorite, because it's so true: "While begging forgiveness, plotting my next scheme."

I recommended it.

If you want this one, you can pick it up from Issa’s Untidy Hut. The link is at the top of the right hand column.
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Father's Day

2011-06-18T00:35:00.005-05:00

I didn’t have many Father’s Days with my dad. I remember wishing him happy Father’s Day a few times, but I can’t recall any gifts I gave him except for one. In grade school one year they brought in a wood burning kit and let us make designs on pieces of treated wood. I did a Father’s Day and a Mother’s Day piece. I have no idea where they are now. I can only vaguely remember them at all. I was probably 10 or 11. A couple of years later and my dad would be dead.

When my mom remarried many years later to a wonderful man named Ray, who was much like my father in many ways, I was already in my mid-twenties. I never knew quite how to refer to Ray. I didn’t think of him as my step-father, because I was already several years out of the house by then. I came to love and respect him, and I often actually called him on Father’s Day to wish him a good day. But I never really knew what to say. And, of course, many times on that day I was a little bit closed off inside because I missed my own father.

Then I had my son, Josh, and Father’s Day became a joyful time to me again. I still have many of the gifts he’s given me on prominent display in my office or around the house, some alien figurines, a porcelain skull, some of his sketches, a clock he made for me one year.

On Father’s Day this year my son will be coming up to see me. He’s 23, so I made it 10 years longer for him than my father was able to make it for me. I will be spending the day with him so I won’t be blogging. Tomorrow, I’m going to the grocery with Lana and we’re going to see if we can pick up some sushi grade tuna and salmon, and if we can then on Sunday Josh and I will steam that over the stove and eat it fresh and nearly raw over a bed of sticky rice and soy sauce. If not, I will go and get some sushi and bring it home. And we will have it with some cold Abita beer.

If I didn’t get to enjoy many Father’s Days from the side of being the son, I’m very thankful to have them from the side of being a father. These are precious days. I hope you all have a chance to enjoy them. With your father. With your son. With your daughter. With the memories you have of the past, and with new memories you will make on this day, in June of 2011.

Whispers and Cash

2011-06-15T19:38:00.002-05:00

I’ve recently finished two Kindle ebooks written by friends of mine. Both were excellent books, and I wouldn’t say so if I didn’t feel it to be true. Following my mother’s advice, if I didn’t believe what I said about them, I just wouldn’t have said anything at all. Below are my reviews, and links to Amazon for the books.

Amazon.com Widgets

Whispers, by Travis Erwin

This is a novella length collection consisting of two stories, “The Simplest of Sounds” and “White Shutters,” and a memoir piece called “Whispers.”
All are simply outstanding. Reading them is like touching a circuit alive with electricity. The tales are told simply but with great emotional power. I normally think of thrillers when I think of page turners, but I read these straight through without stopping and kept hitting the “Next Page” button on my Kindle about as fast as my thumb would work.

If I had to assign a genre to the collection, I’d call it literary. My reason would be that these are realistic tales of “real” people, and they are more about the heart and the mind than about action. However, they don’t leave the reader wondering at the end. Each piece has closure .

The memoir piece recounts the author’s experience surrounding his son’s birth, when the doctor gave him those dreaded words: “Something is wrong.” I wept through half of this one.

Whispers is also available on the Nook here

Overall, I highly recommend it. 99 cents is definitely a bargain for the talent on display here.

Amazon.com Widgets

Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles

My second selection is by Edward A. Grainger, and I think it’s no secret that Grainger is actually David Cranmer. This is a wonderful collection of seven western stories featuring Marshal Cash Laramie, who is sometimes called the Outlaw Marshal. Laramie has a little of Matt Dillon in him, but there's a lot more of Dirty Harry.

Laramie is a true hero, the one who does what has to be done to protect the innocent rather than just doing what the law allows. His partner, Gideon Miles, is cut from the same cloth, although he is a black law officer in a difficult time.

I really enjoyed this collection and highly recommend it. A fun read, but also one that makes you think, and which doesn't skirt the tough issues. Stories like “Melanie,” for example, really hit you where you live.

This is another .99 cent book, and you can’t go wrong at that price.
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Hitting the Wall

2011-06-13T09:04:00.004-05:00

It seems to happen in nearly every book. I don't remember it happening with Swords of Talera, but in every other book I've written I've hit a wall at some point that seems to say: "this far and no further." Beginnings are easy and fun. Endings are harder but still fun. Middles are tough. And I've hit that point with "Under the Ember Star."

I know what the problem is. In the early part of a book, you set up mysteries and questions that help keep the reader reading. But you can't answer every single one of those questions at the end because the ending can't just be explanation. That means you have to insert more and more information as you get further into the work. You have to reveal some answers as you move through the book, without revealing everything. And that inevitably slows down the action and the pacing. That's the point I'm at now.

I spent most of yesterday spinning my wheels, or so it felt like. The chapter I'm working on, even called "Revelations," is all talk and no action. I think the dialogue is revealing info the reader is curious about. I hope so. And I think the information is interesting in its own right, given the reader's curiosity about the world of the story. But I haven't been able to work a lot of conflict into the dialogue. The characters are being too nice to each other for one thing, letting the information be drawn out with little to no resistance. I've got to change that, and shorten the whole chapter so that the lull in the action doesn't go on too long.

Once this chapter is done, I finally know what is going to happen next. It's going to be full of conflict and I'm in a hurry to get there. First, I just have to climb this wall.

Wish me well.
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Howard Days, Novel Spaces, and Killing Trail

2011-06-10T23:20:00.004-05:00

It’s almost unheard of these days for me to post two days in a row, but June 11th was the anniversary of Robert E. Howard’s death. Most of you who visit here know who he is. I’ve talked about him plenty of times before. On the 11th, I talked about him again, but this time I did it over at Novel Spaces. I hope you’ll drop by.

And, of course, Killing Trail is indeed up finally as a Nook Book. I’m excited. Here’s the direct link again, in case you missed my shouting yesterday. Thanks all for visiting.

NookBook At Last

2011-06-10T10:35:00.006-05:00

Hurray! At least to me. Killing Trail is up as a Nook Book. Same price as over at Amazon for the Kindle. I never found out what the major issue was or even got notice it had been published. But I decided to have a look just in case late last night and there it was.

Here's the link for you "Nookites." Killing Trail

To Make a Reader

2011-06-09T00:38:00.001-05:00

What leads one to become a reader? What led ‘you’ to become a reader?

These are questions I often ask myself, because I wonder how it happened for me. When my son was young I read to him every night, or at least told him stories every night. Some of them I made up myself. He had two large bookshelves in his room and they were full of books. Anytime he showed interest in a book I got it for him. He certainly saw me reading a lot. But although he does read and does enjoy it, he certainly isn’t a reader like I am.

When I was growing up, my mother read newspapers or magazines, mostly things like Better Homes and Gardens. She read the Bible. I don’t remember her reading fiction although she did have some of those Reader’s Digest condensed books at one time. My father read the Bible and farming magazines. He read for religious reasons or for information. Both my parents were great people but, maybe because they had to work so hard all their lives, they just didn’t do much reading, and certainly not just for fun.

My oldest brother was married and gone by the time I was born, but my other two brothers never read anything while I was growing up that they didn’t have to, except maybe hunting magazines. One of my brothers did become a reader later in life and even has his own excellent library, but I didn’t see him reading when I was young. My sister read a good deal, though, and it was from her that I borrowed a lot of books while I was growing up. These were mostly books she brought home from the library, many of them for her husband, who was definitely a big reader.

My parents, in fact, tended to actively discourage me from reading as much as I did. My mom often told me I was going to ruin my eyes, and both mom and dad would find me reading in the house sometimes and make me go do chores. They didn’t mind a little reading but I just did too much to suit them, and not the right kind of stuff. Oh, I read about hunting and fishing, and I read the Bible, but I also read science fiction and fantasy and that nonsense. There certainly wasn’t any of that kind of stuff around our house. I even used to hide out in the barn to read so I wouldn’t be caught for chores. Yet, today, I’m one of the biggest readers I know.

So what’s the secret to creating a reader? Do you encourage reading, model reading, and read to them every night? Or do you tell them they read too much and to put down their books and go outside? Do you buy them any book they want? Or do you let them scrounge for whatever reading materials they can find? I tried the first way. My parents tried the second way. My way worked somewhat, but mom and dad had the most success.
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Still no Success

2011-06-06T23:31:00.004-05:00

The announcement I'd hoped to make last Friday was that I'd finally gotten Killing Trail uploaded to Barnes & Noble for the Nook. Alas, that still hasn't happened. They claim to be having some trouble verifying my account identity, which has now got me all worried that someone has stolen it. So, what I'd hoped to be something good has not turned out so well. I'll give it a few more days, see if anything happens. If not I'll have to cancel the upload.

The only other thing I have worth mentioning is that I watched the movie Shoot 'Em Up tonight. In it, a man gets involved in trying to save a pregnant woman from a hit man and ends up delivering the baby. The mother is killed and now the guy has to take care of the baby himself while an army of hit men try to kill it. He enlists the aid of a lactating prostitute. And the resulting body count is higher than Commando or Rambo. This had to be the most over-the-top movie I've ever watched, and I loved every minute of it. Totally ridiculous but very well done. I laughed my keister off as one ridiculous but intriguing scene piled on another. I recommend it.
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Announcement Deferred

2011-06-03T16:42:00.005-05:00

I thought I was going to have a bit of a personal announcement to make today but my thinking was premature. And it turns out I won't even know if I'll be able to make the announcement until Monday. Oh well, never count your beer until you've opened the can and had the first sip. Nothing major anyway.

In writing news, I’m over 15,000 words into “Under the Ember Star,” and since I don’t expect it to go much over 25,000 I’d say I’m well into the middle of the work. That almost always means a bit of a slow down for me, and it has here. But I’m still making progress and I expect to finish it by the end of June. I’d like to have it done sooner.

I finished reading two books by friends in the past week. I’ve included my reviews below.

Midnight Eyes by Sidney Williams:

Midnight Eyes is a thriller set in Louisiana, an area of the country Williams knows well, having grown up there. A serial killer is working one of the small Louisiana towns and an embattled sheriff and his FBI profiler son have to solve the case before more die. Along the way they have to deal with their own shattered relationship. The writing here is very fine and the "killer" is definitely a bit different from what the reader starts out expecting. There are some nice twists and turns along the way, and a really exciting action sequence at the end. The characters are well drawn and seem very real, including the killer. Good stuff.

Amazon.com Widgets

Midnight Eyes for the Nook

Longarm and the Arizona Flame by Tabor Evans (Really James Reasoner):

This is what they call an “Adult Western,” which means it has sex in it. The sex is relatively graphic but not pornographic. I’ve only read a few adult westerns, and almost always because I’ve known the author, as I know James Reasoner. The key thing for me is that when James writes one of these books the book works as a “western” first and foremost. This is a very good western, in fact, and I much enjoyed it. If you haven't read any of this type of book this would be a good introduction.

Amazon.com Widgets

Arizona Flame at Barnes & Noble

I also read my first SF book by John Ringo, called Into the Looking Glass. I liked it a lot and have already picked up a few of his other books.
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Trip Report Part 5 (Finale)

2011-05-31T16:09:00.006-05:00

May 16--Monday: The Holiday Inn Express where we stayed had a good hot breakfast with bacon, so we ate there. Then we drove into Alamogordo, New Mexico and got a room at another Holiday Inn Express. Bacon will make you like any hotel, I say. We saw a bunch of pronghorns along the way, and nine big dust devils. We passed through the lava fields again. We stopped at the VLA and drove down a road for a better view. We ate Mexican food at a place in Socorro and they had fry bread, my second exposure to the delicious stuff.

After that, we drove for miles along the edge of the White Sands Missile test site. We also passed a giant Pistachio nut statue. I would claim it was the highlight of our trip. But that would be a lie. Once in Alamogordo, at the hotel, we swam in the pool and soaked in the hot tub. My attempt to wash clothes was derailed when I left some paper in one of my pockets. Egad but that made pretty bad mess. (I eventually got them clean at home.) We then went to White Sands, which is a huge area of sand dunes made of gypsum. It definitely looks white. Lana got some great pictures, with sun setting, the moon rising, and the San Andres Mountains in the background. From the glow off the sand, I guess, the sky looked almost like a white out from a snow, but there were a lot of pale purple tinges to it as well.

I spotted a lone beetle making his way up one of the dunes and Lana got pictures. I promptly named him “Beetlelee.” We saw him again as we left and he’d burrowed down in the sand and was already still. I left a little something behind in the dunes, and I brought home a partially rusted spoon that I found uncovered in one of the dunes. It was dark when we left White Sands and we saw some Chuck Will’s Widows flying around. I wanted Long John Silver’s for supper, but by the time we got back to the hotel most things were closed up and I got drive through MacDonald’s instead.

May 17--Tuesday: We left around 8:00 in the morning, thinking we’d drive to San Antonio, which was halfway home, and then get a hotel. But once we got into the rhythm of movement we didn’t want to stop and ended up driving all the way home, arriving around 5:00 in the morning. It was awesome to be home. During our driving we passed through an area in the mountains of New Mexico where large swaths of forest had been burned and fire-fighting crews were still on hand, and then in Texas we saw a number of large dust devils. One rather surreal experience happened when I stopped to pee along a little ranch road in the mountains. As I was taking care of business, I heard Lana laughing. Being certain that she was not laughing at me, I asked her what was going on as I got back in the car. She pointed to a metal sign, which I had noted coming in but had not bothered to translate. Lana translated it for me, and perhaps you’ll be able to do so in the picture I’ve included below.

[If you can’t translate, here’s what it said: “If you use our road to pee, please take your TP (toilet paper) with you.”]

On Wednesday, then, I did little other than alternate resting and sleeping, and by Thursday I was trying to catch up on emails and blogging. You know the rest. It was a heckuva trip. I enjoyed it, but I am glad to be home and able to get into the routine of my writing again. I missed that on the road.

By the way: another member of my writing group has just had a flash fiction piece published. It’s Alvin Burstein, with “The Sound of Silence.” It’s over at Dark Valentine. Stop by if you get a chance. Although Al has published non-fiction, I believe this is his first fiction piece. It’s another good un.
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Trip Report Part 4

2011-05-29T10:18:00.011-05:00

May 14--Saturday: We got up at a reasonable hour to take our Hummer tour, and I polished off Lana’s leftover duck from Rene’s for breakfast. The tour was great. The ride itself was cool. We actually went onto the Navajo reservation and the only road was a rough trail made by the tour itself. The driver had fun terrorizing us but ‘most’ of the time kept all 4 wheels on the ground. The slot canyon was amazing and Lana got many awesome photos.

After, we had a nice lunch at a western themed restaurant in Page with a tour-bus full of French tourists. After that we went to Horseshoe Bend, a very sharp curve in the Colorado River with a huge bluff in the center. It was a long walk to get there in intense heat, with no shade, and both of us were exhausted when we got back to the car. But again Lana got great pics.

We then drove to the Cameron Trading Post where we got a room. I was absolutely floored by how lovely the place was. Our room looked out on a little courtyard laden with flowers sweet little benches to sit on. The restaurant was excellent. I had a “Navajo Taco,” which was so huge it filled the plate. It was pretty much taco fixings on a flat piece of fry bread. As Lana will tell you, I’m a professional eater, but I could not finish my whole meal this time. We then bought some stuff at the gift shop. I got a few things for Josh, and a cool Navajo belt for myself. My only regret was that we went to bed very early, around 8:00 in the evening and didn’t get to sit out in the courtyard. But we wanted to get to the Grand Canyon for dawn. Despite our early retirement, neither of us slept terribly well. Lovely as the room was, the walls were quite thin and there was a lot of noise. It didn’t matter. We were excited about the Grand Canyon.

May 15--Sunday: Up a little after 3:00 and Lana drove to the Grand Canyon, which was about an hour from Cameron. She got some great morning shots of the gorge with the sun coming up, but it was freezing cold. Lana was shaking and her teeth were chattering. She’d warned me it might be cold and I had reluctantly brought a thin windbreaker. I was glad for it, and glad for an extra t-shirt later. We watched two elk feeding on the green grass outside one of the lodges, and we also saw a ‘huge’ centipede that I thought was dead until I touched it with my foot. Turns out it was just really cold. We ate breakfast at one of the lodges and got way too much food.

There’s actually a little town right on the edge of the canyon, a tourist town with hotels, restaurants and shops, and even with its own mass transit system. We rode the shuttles around quite a lot, stopping here and there along the rim for photo ops. By now it was much warmer and there were a LOT of people. I enjoyed the canyon immensely but the crowds were a little much for me. We stopped in the visitor’s center for a movie about the canyon and I bought a couple of books at the bookstore there.

We left around 1:30 and drove a good long ways into Show Low, Arizona. Lana saw a dead elk along the road as I napped. We also saw many large dust devils whirling through the red-dust landscapes. It was a bit eerie. We finally stopped at the Holiday Inn Express in Show Low, which was the cleanest place for the most reasonable price that we’d found. Close by was a New York Pizza place and we pigged out.
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Space Opera at Novel Spaces

2011-05-26T23:49:00.004-05:00

I know I didn't leave the third installment of my trip report up top for long, but it's still one post down. I wanted to let everyone know that my latest blog post is up over at Novel Spaces. I've posted on the topic of Space Opera, which my current WIP, "Under the Ember Star" fits into. Space Opera is faster than light space ships and blasters and star spanning empires. Fun stuff. I hope you'll check it out.

That's my spaceship below, btw. It's not quite faster than light, but fast enough for me these days.

Also, thanks to everyone who visited Beat to a Pulp to read Linda Schenck's story. I much appreciate your support of this fine new writer.

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