Hello! Not to worry, there's lots going on. I've collected feedback from almost all my beta readers, and had another round with the writers group, and I have a lot of feedback to incorporate into Darwin Colossus.
Several readers commented that they wanted more of the story, which is good, but also tricky, because the piece's already 1,000 words over-length for a short story. More than likely the thing to do is dial back some of the description, and then see what's possible in terms of giving readers what they're looking for. Tightness of prose and pace is generally a good idea anyhow. The intent is to start submitting this to paying online 'zines and the like once this round of edits is done, so it's time to plunge into them!
-Rich
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
A Banner Weekend
It's not precisely writing-related, but this past weekend (May 7th and 8th) was a particularly good one. First off, it was my birthday, so that's awesome right there, but even given that, some particularly great things happened, largely through the efforts of Amy, my loving, supportive and all-around awesome wife.
Besides, living as a writer also means getting out in the world and refilling one's creativity from all the cool stuff out there. So, enjoy with me!
New Ink!
This is my first tattoo. I've been wanting one, and Amy and I have been talking about what to get me, for a few years now. This design is what I picked. By way of explanation: in some of India's lore, the scorpion is akin to the western Greek concept of Cupid and his arrows, stinging unexpectedly and to great romantic effect. The rings on the scorpion's sting are Amy's engagement-and-wedding ring set. And green is her favorite color. :-D
I'm very happy with how it looks above, fresh from the needle on Friday night. The tattoo is in the middle of its healing process right now, and thus looking pretty rough as it scabs and peels. I'll post another picture when it's healed to its final form!
Local Winery
Amy and I found a great local winery near our house in rural Alabama, and had a delightful brunch there. It may well become a haunt!
Progress
Finally, brainstorming continues apace on the next short story. I'm thinking it'll be a 19th-century alternate history in which the Germ Theory of Disease achieves ascendancy 50 to 75 years earlier. Lots to figure out, and lots of research yet to do. More updates soon!
-Rich
Besides, living as a writer also means getting out in the world and refilling one's creativity from all the cool stuff out there. So, enjoy with me!
New Ink!
This is my first tattoo. I've been wanting one, and Amy and I have been talking about what to get me, for a few years now. This design is what I picked. By way of explanation: in some of India's lore, the scorpion is akin to the western Greek concept of Cupid and his arrows, stinging unexpectedly and to great romantic effect. The rings on the scorpion's sting are Amy's engagement-and-wedding ring set. And green is her favorite color. :-D
I'm very happy with how it looks above, fresh from the needle on Friday night. The tattoo is in the middle of its healing process right now, and thus looking pretty rough as it scabs and peels. I'll post another picture when it's healed to its final form!
New Car!
I posted back in 2007 about a scary accident I had, and then about the cheapie car Amy and I bought to keep me mobile. Well, Gladys the Mercury Mystique is about aged out (especially being a rebadged late-90's Ford), and after much planning and some very good fortune, we've been blessed with Chip, the Reborn 2003 Altima! ("Blue Chip," get it?) It's a much nicer and safer car, runs much better, is several years newer, and was originally built more solidly. It should last for years to come, barring any misadventures of 2007's ilk. It was delivered Sunday night, two days ahead of schedule.
Amy and I found a great local winery near our house in rural Alabama, and had a delightful brunch there. It may well become a haunt!
Progress
Finally, brainstorming continues apace on the next short story. I'm thinking it'll be a 19th-century alternate history in which the Germ Theory of Disease achieves ascendancy 50 to 75 years earlier. Lots to figure out, and lots of research yet to do. More updates soon!
-Rich
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Darwin Colossus Submitted to Beta Readers!
Hey everyone! Been a little while since my last post, but work has continued. I sent the story out to beta readers early (so very early) the morning of May 1st, and I wait with bated breath for their comments and replies.
Magic City Writers Group
Last night the group had its third-anniversary meeting, though I've only been a member for five months or so. I received a nice hand-painted mug with a writing quote I chose, and we did some more critiquing. A chapter from the group organizer's epic fantasy work was on the block last night, and it made for an involved and interesting evening.
I'm up next week, which means...
New Project
I'm actively brainstorming ideas for my next story. I kind of liked working bustles-and-waistcoats, so I'm leaning toward a "true" alt-history steampunk, maybe having to do with Pasteur, the Germ Theory of Disease and canned foods becoming available to the populace at large. Yeah, glamorous, I know. Might crash it into a story about 19th-century temperance movements, the fact that breweries were one of the big beneficiaries of Pasteur's attentions, and/or Phylloxera's savaging of the wine industry and absinthe's resulting spike in popularity. Dunno--maybe it needs some airships; perhaps a power struggle and revenge plot. Still brainstorming.
I'll need at least a decent first draft by Friday, May 13th to give the group time to do its critique reading, so if there's just no way to get it done by then I have the beta-reader revision of Darwin Colossus I can submit, which is significantly polished from when the group last saw it.
-Rich
Magic City Writers Group
Last night the group had its third-anniversary meeting, though I've only been a member for five months or so. I received a nice hand-painted mug with a writing quote I chose, and we did some more critiquing. A chapter from the group organizer's epic fantasy work was on the block last night, and it made for an involved and interesting evening.
I'm up next week, which means...
New Project
I'm actively brainstorming ideas for my next story. I kind of liked working bustles-and-waistcoats, so I'm leaning toward a "true" alt-history steampunk, maybe having to do with Pasteur, the Germ Theory of Disease and canned foods becoming available to the populace at large. Yeah, glamorous, I know. Might crash it into a story about 19th-century temperance movements, the fact that breweries were one of the big beneficiaries of Pasteur's attentions, and/or Phylloxera's savaging of the wine industry and absinthe's resulting spike in popularity. Dunno--maybe it needs some airships; perhaps a power struggle and revenge plot. Still brainstorming.
I'll need at least a decent first draft by Friday, May 13th to give the group time to do its critique reading, so if there's just no way to get it done by then I have the beta-reader revision of Darwin Colossus I can submit, which is significantly polished from when the group last saw it.
-Rich
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Genre Spelunking: That "Darwin Colossus" wound up Quasi-Steampunk
So. My first attempt at publish-worthy prose is steampunk, or at least the type that's Victorian-revivalist, set in a not-too-distant future. The original concept story I wrote a few years back was actually cyberpunk, in style as well as setting, but as I began reworking it, weeks and weeks back, I felt like it needed something to give it flavor and offer some small basis for a social dimension. Thus "Proxy Bloodsport" became "Darwin Colossus."
Contacted My Prospective Beta Readers Today...
Sent out my "wanna participate?" email. Very interested to see who writes back in the affirmative.
-Rich
-Rich
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Fitness, Mental and Physical
Went to the Magic City Writers group meeting last night, and the critique (not of my work this time, we rotate) was a bit more contentious than it's been in the past. Here's hoping it settles down for next time!
Tonight, in addition to (at long last) work on getting Darwin Colossus suitable for Beta Reader perusal, I'll be heading to the gym. I've been an avid follower of Tim Ferris's 4 Hour Body program, and it's worked well for me, both in terms of adding muscle mass, and reducing the relative stoutness of my tum. After the chaos of the past few months, Amy and I have returned to an exercise program, and we're flourishing for it.
Not coincidentally, I find it much easier to write (and to write well) when I'm doing a better job of taking care of my body. Mur Lafferty of I Should Be Writing podcast fame did a pair of episodes on the subject of staying healthy lately, and her advice is good--I highly recommend it.
I think there's something that needs saying on the subject of writerly mental health, too. Not just in the staying-out-of-the-rubber-room sense (important though that is), but in the sense of regulating one's input, one's "diet." One of the maxims of writing is that you have to do a lot of reading as well. Any writer planning on getting published needs to be familiar with the big authors, both historical and up-and-coming, in one's genre. Read a lot, and read widely. For that matter, listen to podcasts like I Should Be Writing and Writing Excuses regularly. Good advice I've heard is that for every hour you spend writing a day, you should try to spend at least an hour reading. You want to know the material you'll be both compared to and competing with, know the trends, know the tricks of the trade, and get a feel for what consumers of your product (because that's what it is, after all, if publishing is the goal) are expecting and demanding.
Another part of writerly head-health is attitude. As an example, it took me a long (long) time to get over my posture of scarcity toward my own work: "This is my Magnum Opus, my only golden perfect snowflake of an idea. If I screw it up, I'll never have another chance." The Writing Excuses guys, as well as just growing older and perhaps a little wiser, helped me through this, and now writing isn't nearly the angst-ridden chore that it used to be. Amy noticed (me sitting down to write used to herald great tension and grief in the house, which didn't give her or me much incentive to encourage it), and my output has improved hugely, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. An attitude of plenty ("I'm learning more and getting better at this all the time, and I've got great ideas spilling out of my head") has made all the difference.
Strive for health: the image of the starving, alcohol-addled writer suffering for his work in a garret may be romantic, but it's a hellacious way to make a living.
-Rich
Tonight, in addition to (at long last) work on getting Darwin Colossus suitable for Beta Reader perusal, I'll be heading to the gym. I've been an avid follower of Tim Ferris's 4 Hour Body program, and it's worked well for me, both in terms of adding muscle mass, and reducing the relative stoutness of my tum. After the chaos of the past few months, Amy and I have returned to an exercise program, and we're flourishing for it.
Not coincidentally, I find it much easier to write (and to write well) when I'm doing a better job of taking care of my body. Mur Lafferty of I Should Be Writing podcast fame did a pair of episodes on the subject of staying healthy lately, and her advice is good--I highly recommend it.
I think there's something that needs saying on the subject of writerly mental health, too. Not just in the staying-out-of-the-rubber-room sense (important though that is), but in the sense of regulating one's input, one's "diet." One of the maxims of writing is that you have to do a lot of reading as well. Any writer planning on getting published needs to be familiar with the big authors, both historical and up-and-coming, in one's genre. Read a lot, and read widely. For that matter, listen to podcasts like I Should Be Writing and Writing Excuses regularly. Good advice I've heard is that for every hour you spend writing a day, you should try to spend at least an hour reading. You want to know the material you'll be both compared to and competing with, know the trends, know the tricks of the trade, and get a feel for what consumers of your product (because that's what it is, after all, if publishing is the goal) are expecting and demanding.
Another part of writerly head-health is attitude. As an example, it took me a long (long) time to get over my posture of scarcity toward my own work: "This is my Magnum Opus, my only golden perfect snowflake of an idea. If I screw it up, I'll never have another chance." The Writing Excuses guys, as well as just growing older and perhaps a little wiser, helped me through this, and now writing isn't nearly the angst-ridden chore that it used to be. Amy noticed (me sitting down to write used to herald great tension and grief in the house, which didn't give her or me much incentive to encourage it), and my output has improved hugely, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. An attitude of plenty ("I'm learning more and getting better at this all the time, and I've got great ideas spilling out of my head") has made all the difference.
Strive for health: the image of the starving, alcohol-addled writer suffering for his work in a garret may be romantic, but it's a hellacious way to make a living.
-Rich
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Life, In The Way; Current Reads
...I am not dead. I have not forgotten about anyone or anything. :-)
It's been a little dramatic the past pair of weeks, as things around the Miller household had to be put on hold for health and recovery reasons. That issue appears (touch wood) to be receding as a concern, so I'll be getting back into revisions and beta-reader mailings this week, and possibly weekend.
The next meeting of my local writing group is coming up next Wednesday, so I've also got to get the current piece read and critiqued. Gonna be a busy weekend!
I'm also going to start doing mentions of books I'm reading and/or enjoying, because a huge part of being a writer is being a reader as well. Here goes!
I snagged my e-copy of Patrick Rothfuss's The Wise Man's Fear right on release day (3/1/2011), and devoured it over the course of the next several days, which were too crazy-full to do any writing, but not so much as to preclude reading. I don't mind saying that I have a bit of a man-crush on Patrick Rothfuss: his previous book (his debut freaking novel) affected me more powerfully than anything else I've read in fiction. Thinking of some scenes still arouses strong emotion, and I've read The Name of the Wind something like five times. In any event, the emotional peaks of Wise Man's Fear weren't as stratospheric for me as in Name of the Wind, but the storytelling was at least as strong, showing that Rothfuss isn't/wasn't a fluke, or one-hit wonder. The one question I have left is how in the world the rest of the story, knowing what we know, can be tied up in the one volume of the trilogy Rothfuss has left? Can't wait for the final installment.
I'm currently listening (via Audible.com) to The Runelords, Book 1: The Sum of All Men, by David Farland. Farland's a new author for me, but his books were recommended strongly in a few episodes of Writing Excuses, so I had to check them out. Fascinating worldbuilding, and the story's definitely sucked me in.
Finally, I'm embarking on a reread of China Miéville's Perdido Street Station, an amazing novel, and one that's a bit of a touchstone for me. I love Miéville's writing: his wordsmithing, his worldbuilding, his theme play, philosophical groundedness, the whole gamut. Perdido Street Station is arguably the work Miéville's most famous for, though he's received a lot of well-deserved press lately for works like The City and the City and Kraken. John Scalzi, today, named Perdido Street Station his #1 novel of the past ten years (in lieu of his own most-famous work, Old Man's War, which recently won a Tor.com "#1 Novel of the Past Ten Years" poll). I completely agree with Scalzi on this: more than anything else I've read (including The Name of the Wind) I read Perdido Street Station (indeed, any Miéville) and think, "Hell's bells, I want to write like that!" His stuff is lush, challenging, fiercely intelligent, and oscillates between gutter-filth and transcendent glory with aplomb. Not a bad pole-star to sail by, though the trade route I follow must ultimately be my own.
More soon!
-Rich
It's been a little dramatic the past pair of weeks, as things around the Miller household had to be put on hold for health and recovery reasons. That issue appears (touch wood) to be receding as a concern, so I'll be getting back into revisions and beta-reader mailings this week, and possibly weekend.
The next meeting of my local writing group is coming up next Wednesday, so I've also got to get the current piece read and critiqued. Gonna be a busy weekend!
I'm also going to start doing mentions of books I'm reading and/or enjoying, because a huge part of being a writer is being a reader as well. Here goes!
I snagged my e-copy of Patrick Rothfuss's The Wise Man's Fear right on release day (3/1/2011), and devoured it over the course of the next several days, which were too crazy-full to do any writing, but not so much as to preclude reading. I don't mind saying that I have a bit of a man-crush on Patrick Rothfuss: his previous book (his debut freaking novel) affected me more powerfully than anything else I've read in fiction. Thinking of some scenes still arouses strong emotion, and I've read The Name of the Wind something like five times. In any event, the emotional peaks of Wise Man's Fear weren't as stratospheric for me as in Name of the Wind, but the storytelling was at least as strong, showing that Rothfuss isn't/wasn't a fluke, or one-hit wonder. The one question I have left is how in the world the rest of the story, knowing what we know, can be tied up in the one volume of the trilogy Rothfuss has left? Can't wait for the final installment.
I'm currently listening (via Audible.com) to The Runelords, Book 1: The Sum of All Men, by David Farland. Farland's a new author for me, but his books were recommended strongly in a few episodes of Writing Excuses, so I had to check them out. Fascinating worldbuilding, and the story's definitely sucked me in.
Finally, I'm embarking on a reread of China Miéville's Perdido Street Station, an amazing novel, and one that's a bit of a touchstone for me. I love Miéville's writing: his wordsmithing, his worldbuilding, his theme play, philosophical groundedness, the whole gamut. Perdido Street Station is arguably the work Miéville's most famous for, though he's received a lot of well-deserved press lately for works like The City and the City and Kraken. John Scalzi, today, named Perdido Street Station his #1 novel of the past ten years (in lieu of his own most-famous work, Old Man's War, which recently won a Tor.com "#1 Novel of the Past Ten Years" poll). I completely agree with Scalzi on this: more than anything else I've read (including The Name of the Wind) I read Perdido Street Station (indeed, any Miéville) and think, "Hell's bells, I want to write like that!" His stuff is lush, challenging, fiercely intelligent, and oscillates between gutter-filth and transcendent glory with aplomb. Not a bad pole-star to sail by, though the trade route I follow must ultimately be my own.
More soon!
-Rich
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