[writing] Those things we protect as if they were our lives
After a rump session of the Fireside group tonight, HJ and I went to the Iron Horse for a quick, light dinner. He’s a pretty quiet guy, so it was nice to get to converse with him without the Olympic-class competitive talking that characterizes most writer gatherings.
I was laughing at myself as I got there, however, because I carried into the restaurant with me both my computer bag and the galleys of Green. This is because if I left them locked in the trunk — the Genre car is a convertible and I leave nothing that might look important or valuable to a meth-head in the passenger compartment, ever — and someone were to steal the car, the hassle of replacing the car would be a lot less than the hassle of re-marking up the manuscript and replacing the computer.
Which ought to tell you something about my priorities. And you should see me with a copy edited manuscript. Sooner I would part with my voolnerables than with a CEM.
Tags: Funny, Green, Writing
Posted: 8:50 pm Tue December 02 2008 | Comments(1) |
[writing] Herman Melville’s friend, the humble comma
Whilst reading The Confidence Man: His Masquerade, by Herman Melville, I continue to marvel at the shifts in literary style over time. Consider this sentence:
While the merchant, strange to say, opposed views so calm and impartial, and again, with some warmth, deplored the case of the unfortunate man, his companion, not without seriousness, checked him, saying, that this would never do; that, though but in the most exceptional case, to admit the existence of unmerited misery, more particularly if alleged to have been brought about by unhindered arts of the wicked, such an admission was, to say the least, not prudent; since, with some, it might unfavorably bias their most important persuasions
I have several observations here.
First of all, this is a typical sentence for Melville, at least in this book.
Second, I have probably written entire novel chapters with fewer commas than this single sentence. One imagines a mid-nineteenth century fire sale on punctuation. Try reading the damned thing aloud.
Third, if I turned a sentence like that it to Tor, editorial ninjas would come to my house and choke me to death with my own copy edit. To general approbation and good cheer, I should think.
Nonetheless, I soldier bravely onward, for like all fiction, ’tis not the bottle but the contents which makes the play.
Tags: Books, Funny, Language, Writing
Posted: 9:33 pm Sun November 30 2008 | Comments(3) |
[writing] Sunspin synopsis progresses
Well, the Sunspin synopsis now stands at 8,800 words. And I’m almost ready to think about plot and character! Seriously…this is all backstory, worldbuilding, and what will be my world bible later. Context, context, context.
And as some of you clever lot have noticed, the most recent Sekrit Projekt is in continuity with Sunspin, although about six centuries into the past of the trilogy’s narrative present. As a result, part of today’s work was aligning the relevant bits and pieces of character, history and setting with the existing material in the synopsis.
By gummies, this is fun. Once the Sekrit Projekt is a little less sekrit, I’ll discuss this more. I am now considering writing several other backstory pieces simply because this one has been so damned productive for me. Not to mention which first readers report it’s a pretty neat story.
For now, you may shop as usual. No need to return to your homes.
Tags: Books, Process, stories, Sunspin, Writing
Posted: 3:09 pm Sun November 30 2008 | Comments(0) |
[writing] Sekrit Projekt hits first draft
Sekrit Projekt has come into a first full draft (with some minor revisions) at 11,200 words. Eine kleine Space Opera. That’s what I did with my day, at any rate. You?
WIP: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Process, stories, wip, Writing
Posted: 8:10 pm Sat November 29 2008 | Comments(1) |
[writing] Sekrit Projekt update
5,300 words on the Sekrit Projekt today. I plan to finish it at about 10,000 words tomorrow, assuming a quiet day for a change.
It’s nice to be writing short fiction again, as opposed to the various articles, outlines and whatnot I’ve been working on of late.
Meanwhile, since I pulled a double Lake, here’s another WIP:
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Personal, Process, wip, Writing
Posted: 8:39 pm Fri November 28 2008 | Comments(0) |
[writing] Sekrit Projekt WIP
Not the best day in the history of Nuevo Rancho Lake, but still, I write. Because I am a writer.
WIP from the current Sekrit Projekt:
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Personal, wip, Writing
Posted: 3:24 pm Fri November 28 2008 | Comments(0) |
[writing] Wisdom of Fred
Sometimes Fred is smarter than I am. Reading the galleys of Escapement this afternoon, I came across this line of mine, which I had forgotten.
“If you have lived the sort of life where only one great mistake was possible, I sorrow for you.”
Somehow, this seems very apropos this year.
Tags: Writing
Posted: 7:59 pm Thu November 27 2008 | Comments(0) |
[personal] Toby Buckell
Go check out Tobias Buckell’s blog. He’s in the ER as of yesterday. Send some good thoughts and honest cheer.
Apropos of Toby being ill, that makes a third Metatropolis author with major health issues this year. Which is just fricking weird, given that we’re a relatively young bunch. One is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action.
Tags: Personal, Writing
Posted: 5:13 am Wed November 19 2008 | Comments(0) |
[writing] Updatery
A little this, a little that.
The aforementioned galleys will be waiting for me when I get back to Portland. One set for the Escapement mmpb, one set for the Green thb. Tor has been very kind about the deadlines, since I won’t have the galleys in hand according to the original schedule. (I wander about the country too much, apparently.)
In other news, another Sekrit Projekt has landed on my desk just now, which oddly intertwines with Sunspin by utter, fortuitous chance. Watch this space for more details, but not, erm, right away.
Between the above matters, I’m going to be a very busy boy into early December. Then I’m off to San Francisco with kenscholes to wreak mayhem at Writers With Drinks (along with Cat Rambo and a cast of several), as well as at Borderlands Book.
Put in more time on Sunspin tonight, as well. For the heck of it, here’s a bit of WIP from the synopsis. (And yes, I’m apparently getting very meta.) This is a synopsis, so don’t read this as even draft of finished text.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Books, California, Escapement, Green, Sunspin, Travel, Writing
Posted: 8:48 pm Tue November 18 2008 | Comments(0) |
[writing] Officially Launching the Campbell Fundraiser
It’s the holiday season, and I’m trying to pay for a big present to give to the science fiction world. With the the kind and supportive sponsorship of OSFCI and Springtime Creations, and extremely generous support from davidelevine and frankwu, I am announcing the fundraiser to pay for the Campbell Nominee award pins.
This came about because, as Cheryl Morgan says here, “…nominees for the Hugo Awards, World Fantasy Awards and Nebula Awards have long been given lapel pins to recognize their nominations. No such pin [has] existed for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.” A year or so ago I decided that creating such a pin would be a terrific way to raise the profile of the Campbell Award, generate additional interest, and celebrate all the past, present and future nominees.
The goal at the time was to develop a design which could be crafted in sufficient numbers that every nominee in the history of the Campbell Award could receive a pin (or pins) to celebrate their achievement. Through 2007 and early 2008, Spring Schoenhuth of Springtime Creations worked to develop a design which would symbolize the historical importance of John W. Campbell himself, the meaning of the award within the field, while also recognizing the five nominees each year.
Spring and I settled on a design of five fountain pen nibs in the form of a star.
The pin — Design © 2008 Springtime Creations, photo © 2008 Dave Gallaher
Edited 2008-11-16 to include photo of the production pin
This was to provide a similar visual read with the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award pins without creating any likely confusion with the other designs and related service marks. WSFS was very kind to review the design to avoid future confusion with the Hugo, while Dr. Stanley Schmidt of Analog, the award sponsor, was also generous in offering his approval.
All of this was ramping up to a fundraiser during the late spring to provide the needed $7,000 budget to mold, cast and finish the 400 pins needed for the past nominees and approximately 10 years of future demand.
Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with cancer, and thoroughly derailed from this effort. Springtime Creations generously proceeded with design and preliminary production so we could deliver the first batch of pins at Denvention, but there is now a substantial financial commitment to meet. Uncharacteristically for me, due to illness I allowed the cart to get very much before the horse here. About $5,500 has yet to be raised to defray the production expenses and allow a mailing budget to deliver the balance of the pins.
I am officially launching the Campbell Fundraiser. This is being sponsored by OSFCI, which is a 501(c)(3) organization, and will provide full tax-qualified documentation of the donation. We’d like to raise the needed $5,500. Any excess to budget will be held against unexpected expenses, then eventually released to the Clayton Memorial Medical fund after the books have been closed on this project.
Please let me know in comments here or via email if you’d like to contribute. I’ll provide donation information (including check “pay to” or other needed funds transfer detail). In additional, everyone who donates will be eligible for an end-of-fund-raiser prize drawing including a selection of my books. If you’re interested in donating to the drawing, that would be fabulous as well.
This Campbell Award pin project is part of my ongoing effort to raise the profile of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and help celebrate the newest professionals in our field year after year. I hope you can join me in it.
ETA: PayPal is now available. Contact me at jlake(a)jlake.com for the payment address.
Tags: Art, awards, Conventions, Personal, Photos, Writing
Posted: 1:48 pm Sat November 15 2008 | Comments(3) |
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