Contact me? Syndication? Just like what I write?

So recently I recieved a comment on one of my posts informing me that my article had appeared elsewhere.

Cool.

I write this blog to share my thoughts and the information that I come across with others. If someone wishes to reprint something from my blog elsewhere they have my permission. I only request (not demand) two things:
1. That they let me know (and link to the reprint) in the comments of my original article, or in the comments of this article. This way I can enjoy seeing my writing elsewhere and even cross promote their site.
2. That they provide a link back to my site from the article that they reprint. That way people who enjoyed my writing can find more of it.

I've got a copyright notice on the blog - upper right corner currently - but this is the internet, people are going to link to, reprint, repost my work. I expect and even encourage and support that behaviour. As for those who do so without giving any credit to me, well, that's their choice and I'm not losing sleep over it.

Me, I'm gonna try and follow the Golden Rule, Link and Attribute, it's not that hard.

I'm linking this post to my profile as my contact page, any comments or questions about me and my blog that are not directly related to a post can be placed below.


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Nice Agents and Smiles

pic from: Bastholm

Reading the agent blogs today I came across this post on Janet Reid's site at about the same time as someone linked the above pic into IRC.

Janet Reid's other post today is a funny tale that should give some hope to authors struggling to get published today. It's also a good reminder to be nice with everyone you deal with, for you never know when you might meet them again.

And on the topic of meeting people again, I came across this happy ending to a story also on Janet Reid's blog.

Some more Writing humour to lighten your day, courtesy of Agent Rachelle Gardner.


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The Future is ?

Yesterday I talked about the future of the writing industry. So today it seems appropriate to talk about the future described by the writing industry. Over at Locus Online is an interesting piece titled: Pitfalls of Prophecy: Why Science Fiction So Often Fails to Predict the Future by Gary Westfahl. It's an interesting read that looks at some of the basic fallacies often made when predicting the future. I would like to note that it's not only Science Fiction authors that fall into these traps, plenty others predict the future and get it wrong. We just seem to expect the SciFi doods to get it right, perhaps unfairly.

Seriously, Science Fiction is about story telling, and while science has a role in shaping a plausible scenario, few stories can stand alone with just science. It's in the human interactions that Science Fiction excels. In the relationships and decisions that are shaped and forced by the backdrop of the (science) fictional reality. This is why I use the term Speculative Fiction. It frees me from having to defend the science (real or imaginary) in my stories.

The reality is that most of the best science fiction ever written has zero chance of ever being plausible. Hyperdrive? Alien Warfare? Robots using Humans as Batteries? If you look at the science behind those ideas it doesn't make sense. I don't know if there are aliens out there, but it really doesn't matter because the science is pretty clear on extra solar travel. It's SLOW. Lightspeed is a great speed limit, but it's also irrelevant. The energy requirements alone to bring a manned vessel to a fraction of the speed of light (1 or 2 percent) are high enough as to render it effectively impossible. So science tells us that we aren't going anywhere, and it's unlikely we're going to meet others along the way. The human battery thing just falls because it's a dumb idea, you don't really need to understand science to get that one. But Hyperdrive and Aliens and Human Batteries all make great backdrops to compelling stories.

Here is a great Mind Meld from SF Signal that looks at the predictions from Science Fiction and what has occurred and what has not. As with all Mind Melds a lot of the value is in the discussion by the participating authors as they present their own take on the question. James Gunn, Adam Roberts, and others being some of the participants.


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Market Mondays: Industry Future?

So even as the industry is in trouble agents are actually experiencing an upswing in queries. Perhaps it's the current recession driving people to write, losing your job gives you time to pursue your dream of getting published. I tend to think that is a simplistic look at what's happening. It may explain some of the bump in submissions, but that can only be a short term impact. Eventually those who lost their jobs will get new ones. Starving writers are romantic in fiction, but it's a less attractive life if you actually are starving. So what do I think may make up the rest of the rise in queries? Well let's look at the reality of the situation and the future.

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First of all, there is no money in books. J.K. Rawling aside, most authors make a pittance for much of their career. Now show me 20 published books later and we're talking, but how many make it that far? I understand that there will always be dreamers who expect writing to pay their way. But when a mortgage payment is due: How many are going to choose writing over any other form of employment with an hourly wage? Even sitting on a street corner begging can bring in more (though 300$/month isn't that great).

Today the industry is facing the largest changes to the publishing model since the Printing Press. The Internet? Ebooks? Kindle? Print on Demand? Where the technological changes are taking us is a subject of much debate. Can the business change in such a way as to ensure survival? Is it just a matter of improved marketing and lower pricing? Not everyone agrees it's that simple. Readers are driven by a number of factors in making a purchasing decision beyond price. Corey Doctorow perhaps has the best take on this. He believes the industry will survive, but with massive changes. There will be more niche markets for authors, and less of a role for large publishing houses to play. Something that is being witnessed in the music and film industries today.

However people are still writing, and querying in increasing numbers. So why do I think it's happening? Hope, not hope for a better income, but hope for recognition, for discussion, for change and a better world even. These people don't care that the industry is struggling and collapsing around them. They create because they can, and they want to share their messages and ideas. I have no idea what Paramount Pictures, or Producer Jerry Bruckheimer think of the average Youtube video, but they'd be fools not to acknowledge the impact on their industry by the content producers on Youtube. People who could not get a voice in the mainstream market and industry, found and created their own niches and markets. While major studios struggle, 1000's of individuals have found their voice. Whatever future comes for the publishing industry, it will be driven by the content producers, the Writers creating and submitting today, and their Readers. Anyone who tries to control or constrict the channel between them will eventually find themselves shunted to the side as an impediment to progress.

As dark as the world may seem, people are realizing that we are at the beginning of a new century that will probably see more change than the previous 10 combined. New ideas on government, or social interactions are being developed right now by people young and old. The impossible is made reality on a daily basis, be it medical miracles or new technological marvels. While the world struggles with global warming, the prize of free (or near zero cost) energy comes closer and closer to fruition. With all of that going on around us: Who can't help but dream a little?




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Fiction Fridays: Vampires and Nymphos?

For a brief period of time, until Feb. 24th 2009, Mario Acevedo's 2006 novel The Nymphos Of Rocky Flats will be available as a free online ebook. You can read it off of the publishers website here.

Mario Acevedo has combined humour, the supernatural and the classic hard boiled PI into a compelling story. The protagonist Felix Gomez is a Private Investigator, a veteran of the Iraq conflict where he became a vampire. He has come to the Denver area at the request of an old friend to investigate a serious of troubling events at an Dept. of Energy research facility. Throw in some nymphos, and aliens and you get a real page turner.
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Most novels couldn't pull it off. The subject matter seems too ridiculous, but Mario Acevedo succeeds in a way that even leaves you wanting more at the end. Things that worked in this story include the restraint on the sex, the fast pacing of the action sequences and the well constructed characterizations and plot.

Things that didn't work? Well it is what it is, a light afternoon's read. The author touches somewhat on the impact of current and past events on the character's lives, but very quickly moves us into another action sequence before any real character development is achieved. Only at the end of the novel, in a slightly predictable way, does a character show real change and growth, though it has more to do with advancing the next action sequence than enlightenment.

I don't mean to be harsh, for I enjoyed this story because of it's humour and lightness. A dark brooding vampire lamenting the torment of his eternal years for page after page is a tired cliché right now. A little action and getting on with your life (or undead) is a pleasant and refreshing change.

The main reason I'm mentioning this story, and linking to it, is because Mario Acevedo demonstrates very well the Scene-Sequel Pattern approach to creating a novel. That alone makes it worthwhile reading if you are interested in understanding and using this technique.

*Disclaimer some of the stuff on the above linked site is for pay - I link only for information, I am not suggesting you spend money.
*and yes Fiction Fridays can be posted on a Thursday, a calendar is just another cage man. ;)





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