Jay Lake: Writer

[awards|repost] Obligatory story pimpage

I didn’t publish much short fiction last year, due to the effects of my cancer journey on both my productivity at the keyboard and on my focus on marketing. Such writing time as I’ve had has remained focused on my novels. Nonetheless, a few things have squeaked out into the marketplace.

For my own part, I think the best of these is my Sunspin novelette, “A Long Walk Home”, which has been selected for Year’s Best Science Fiction volume 29. If you’re a Hugo or Nebula voter, I hope you’ll give it consideration.

Anyway, here’s the list.

Novels
Endurance (Green, volume 2), Tor Books

Novelettes
“A Long Walk Home“, Subterranean Online
“The Decaying Mansions of Memory”, Untold Adventures

Short Fiction

“The Blade of His Plow”, Human for a Day, ed. Martin H. Greenberg and Jennifer Brozek
“A Critical Examination of Stigmata’s Print Taking the Rats to Riga” The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities: Exhibits, Oddities, Images, and Stories from Top Authors and Artists, ed. Jeff and Anne VanderMeer
“‘Hello,’ Said the Gun“, Daily Science Fiction
“A Place to Come Home To” (with Shannon Page), When the Hero Comes Home, ed. Gabrielle Harbowy and Ed Greenwood
“They Are Forgotten Until They Come Again”, River, ed. Alma Alexander
“Unchambered Heart”, ChiZine
“You Know What Hunts You“, The Edge of Propinquity

Tags: Awards, Books, Endurance, Repost, stories, Sunspin

Posted: 6:38 am Mon February 06 2012 | Comments(0) |

[writing] Killing even more darlings

Yesterday I took a day off from Sunspin to let the book steep a bit in my writing subconscious before diving back in. (Though late in the day I did get back to it.) Instead I worked on revisions to my steampunk fairy tale novelette, “You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens”. A combination of wise first reader feedback and my own confirming judgment have led to me delete an entire scene. Rescued from the cutting room floor, here it is for your perusal.

(Note this is first draft, the raw stuff, and because of the decision to cut it, I haven’t cleaned it up at all.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Fiction, Process, stories, wip, Writing

Posted: 9:16 am Sun February 05 2012 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad wanders into the weekend

“A Long Walk Home” is on this year’s Locus Poll ballot — In case you liked this Sunspin novelette. You can read it here.

A reader reacts to Visitants, ed. Steve Jones — Including comments on one of my stories.

Not So Wild Review: Schlock Mercenary — I’ve said before that I think Schlock Mercenary is some of the very best long form SF around. This reviewer frames his praise differently, but seems to share my same fundamental opinion. (Via @howardtayler.)

Release the hounds! — Miranda Suri on learning to outline novels. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)

I Greet You in the Middle of a Great Career: A Brief History of Blurbs — Heh. (Via @legalnomads.)

How Do We Get There? — Cat Valente asks about the development of post-scarcity societies.

An obsessive history of The Elements of Style and what makes it a cultural treasure. — Even unto being wrong on a number of points of grammar and usage…

Indie Game: The Movie — For those interested in that sort of thing.

Space voyages shouldn’t become politically incorrect

Komen Reverses Decision on Planned Parenthood Funding, Is Still Likely Full of Shit — Komen blatantly, obviously, and deliberately targeted Planned Parenthood. Their board room is still staffed with conservative donors and at least one vocal anti-choice politician. They’re still a conservative political organization masquerading as a feel-goodery for people who just want to help cure cancer.

Komen May Continue to Fund Some Planned Parenthood Grants — A pro-life site accuses Planned Parenthood of being “dishonest thugs”. This coming from the political movement that operates “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” (profound dishonest fake clinics meant to deceive and entrap desperate pregnant women) and actively encourages the murder of doctors (unconditional thuggery)? Project much? Of course you do, you’re conservatives.

Komen backlash: Public turns fury on vice president Karen Handel

The big backlash against bullying women — Sadly, conservative America controls the discourse, and profits politically and culturally from the bullying of women. It’s not going to stop.

Indiana backing away from bill allowing creation “science” into classrooms — Many similar bills are introduced in state legislatures each year and, in cases where their sponsors speak to the press, they tend to reveal a great deal of ignorance regarding both science and the law. In terms of science, they tend to misunderstand the meaning of the term “theory,” think that there are multiple scientific explanations for life’s diversity, or suggest evolution is a theory for life’s origin. The Indiana bill’s sponsor, Dennis Kruse, appears to get all of these wrong. It’s tough getting ahead when you’re flat fucking wrong in terms of both reality and the law, but conservatives will persevere. And they succeed far too often.

Romney’s political success is a mixed blessing for Mormon Church — His presidential candidacy could be a breakthrough ‘JFK moment for Mormons,’ but it could also stir up more negative publicity for the church. I was sympathetic to Romney on the issue of religious criticism until he made it clear he wouldn’t have a Muslim in his cabinet.

Chris Christie and the Nation-State Project — Ta-Nehisi Coates on conservative ignorance of history. Many of the actual people who were beaten and killed “in the streets”–Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, for instance–were attempting to secure the very right which Christie, bizarrely, believes they should have exercised. It’s almost as if he doesn’t know what the Civil Rights movement actually was.

As Romney’s slip-ups show, gaffes nearly unavoidable on modern campaign trail — Nush mostly just babbled. Romney’s gaffes are golden soundbites for his opposition.

?otd: Ink much?

2/4/2012
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (busy with tattoos and Dad time)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 8.0 (solid)
Weight: 229.8
Currently reading: The Man in the Moone, and Other Lunar Fantasies ed. Faith Pizor

Tags: gender, healthcare, Links, Movies, Personal, Politics, Process, Publishing, Religion, reviews, Science, sex, stories, Videos

Posted: 8:05 am Sat February 04 2012 | Comments(0) |

[conventions] Epic ConFusion Day One

Yesterday was a lot of a fun, and a bit blurry. I slept fairly late, but still managed to work out and get some writing in before descending into the maw of the convention. Hung about with a number of folks in the bar, splitting a light lunch with Cat Rambo, then went off to the authors’ AD&D game (a/k/a NerdFest 2012) where I sat in for Scott Lynch for a couple of hours until he and Elizabeth Bear made it in. (My personal high point was casting a Hypnotize spell on a rampaging ogre and ordering him to vomit, which disrupted his attack.)

That was followed by dinner in the bar, where someone, and I have no idea who, picked up my bill from afar. Thank you, unknown benefactor. I then went off to my panel on Gender, Race and Class, which I wound up moderating. It went unusually well for such difficult topics. The rest of the evening I spent in the bar floating amongst Doselle Young, Saladin Ahmed, John Scalzi and various others. As a result, I may be writing a short story called “The Transubstantiation of Chocolate” featuring a conquistador named Juan de Scalzo and an Aztec demon name Chocolatl. Such are the perils of conventiongoing.

I have a reading this morning, a panel this afternoon on trilogies, and a signing this evening. Otherwise I shall be in the bar today, which is very congenial here. My schedule being what it is, I suspect I’m going to have to take a bye on writing for the day, but I’ll make up for it tomorrow whilst traveling home.

Have fun, be well, and see some, all or none of you here at Epic Confusion.

Tags: Conventions, friends, Personal, stories, Writing

Posted: 6:52 am Sat January 21 2012 | Comments(0) |

[writing|cancer] The horse continues

Yesterday I finished “You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens” at 13,300 words, by writing a final 4,400 words. It’s the first piece of fiction I’ve written since chemotherapy put my right brain into vapor lock this past October.

You can imagine my profound relief. It doesn’t really matter if this story is good or not — well of course it does, of course, but not in this context. It matters that I wrote and finished it. I started last Monday, and seven days later on Sunday I was done. With two days off along the way.

I produced it, start to finish, at a respectable rate of output, and I like it.

This is me, back on the horse, and the horse continues.

The manuscript is out to first readers now. I’ll have to find some time to revise sometime in the next few weeks. But tomorrow, or possibly Tuesday, I’m on to Sunspin revisions. (As it happens, the_child has a basketball game tomorrow, which is why I may have to wait til Tuesday to get going.)

This is who I am. A writer, writing. Damn, am I glad to be back.

Tags: Books, Cancer, Child, health, stories, Sunspin, Writing

Posted: 6:38 am Mon January 16 2012 | Comments(3) |

[personal] Weekend update, a bit of mortality

Yesterday was fairly good in some ways. I got another 2,500 words in on “You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens”. the_child made substantial if rocky progress on homework with an assist from me at several key junctures. She and I had lunch with my parents, as well. We also wound up rewatching the first Harry Potter movie on DVD last night. As an added bonus, my overnight dreaming included kylecassidy talking at me from a television, his head shaven and horky black hipster glasses on his face.

At the same time, my dinner date cancelled due to the flu, which was a mild bummer for me and a much bigger bummer for her. More importantly, yesterday I learned of two recent deaths. An old friend of the family — of my parents’ generation — died of complications from a severe stroke. And a young writer friend of mine died of complications from metastatic breast cancer, leaving behind her infant daughter. In neither case was the death especially surprising in a larger sense, but in both cases it was unexpected by me.

I don’t walk around in a depressive fugue or anything like that, but I find myself a lot more sensitive to mortality issues these days. As I said to another friend recently, talking about personality changes under extreme stress, the biggest change I see in myself over these past 3.75 years of dealing with cancer is that I’ve utterly lost my once boundless optimism. I don’t think I’ve become sour or withdrawn, I just have no faith in my future. I’ve been shot down way too hard too many times in the past few years to feel like flying high any more. Neither of these deaths are about me in any way, and I wasn’t especially close to either of the women who passed away, but I still feel them like a leaden cloak upon my bent shoulders.

Tags: Cancer, Child, family, health, Personal, stories, Writing

Posted: 7:52 am Sun January 15 2012 | Comments(3) |

[personal] Home, doing stuff

Flew home yesterday. Got 2,500 words written in the process, along with some napping. Spent some quality time with the_child in the afternoon, then she went off to a school dance and I went to thirdworld‘s housewarming/birthday party. Thanks to chemo and its discontents, I’m pretty sure that’s the first party I’ve been to since my birthday party last June.

This weekend I want to finish, or at least make serious progress, on the current short story project. I’m aiming for 10-12,000 words. Also, planning to spend a bunch of time helping the_child with math homework and a paper she’s doing for her eighth grade project. I did have a dinner date tonight, but my friend has come down with the flu, so we have postponed.

That’s about it. Writing, parenting and relaxing this weekend. What’s a weekend for, anyway?

Tags: Cancer, Child, health, Personal, stories, Writing

Posted: 8:46 am Sat January 14 2012 | Comments(0) |

[personal|writing] In which both progress and regress are made

Yesterday’s weather here in Omaha was beastly. The kind of weather that makes me wonder why anyone not under the supervision of a court actually remains in this place. In fact, this morning, when faced with 10 degrees, wind and ice patches on sidewalks in the predawn darkness, I gave myself a very rare bye on my morning exercise.

Day Jobbery yesterday was productive if lengthy. At home, if I get tired (and fatigue is still very much an issue), I can go sit in my easy chair for 15 minutes and read work email from there. No such option in the office, where you’re pretty much full on the entire time you’re in. It’s the little things that are wearing. Still, I’m holding up and doing well.

On the home front, the_child did another high school visit yesterday. We are coming to grips with her choices for next year. And though some subjects are definitely harder than others for her, she remains diligent in her assignments, while playing hell for leather on the girls’ basketball squad. She makes me proud every day.

In my own world of assignments, I got another writing session in after work. 2,400 word in an hour on “You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens”. Plus the plot sort of did this origami lurch and I now see what my subconscious was foreshadowing the other day. Fred, the little man inside my head, is way smarter than me. I’m sure glad he’s in there. Doubtful there will be writing today due to my work and social commitments, but there will be more tomorrow.

And a little bit of WIP… Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Child, Omaha, Personal, stories, wip, work, Writing

Posted: 5:45 am Thu January 12 2012 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad thanks you for those items that you sent it

You Know, I Learned Something Today — A reader reacts, with critical eye, to the anthology Human For a Day.

A World Of Comic Sans — In a world where Comic Sans is the only font, logos would look like this. Hahaha. (Via Steve Buchheit.)

We’re Eating Less Meat. Why?

Discovery Could Lead to an Exercise Pill — A newly identified hormone acts like a workout, and transforms bad fat into good. How very Silver Age sfnal. Up next: food pills.

Exoplanets are around every star, study suggests

Astronomers weigh in on Milky Way’s true colours

Darwin for economists

Evolution: A Game of Chance — A nice, clear explanation of evolutionary processes. Warning: Facts and informed speculation not valid if you’re not a member of the reality-based community.

Church-state separation extends to religious schools, Supreme Court rules — Well, this is a good idea. Not.

New Supreme Court Ruling Should End Hysteria Over Religious Liberty — Conservative religious groups have long predicted that church freedom would perish at the hands of “activist judges.” But the Supreme Court’s new exemption of religious groups from discrimination laws should silence the false alarms. Or not. The NRA is still screaming about Obama coming to take their guns, against all evidence. And then there’s GOP freakout over the nonexistent EPA farm dust rule. Conservative hysteria and outrage has repeatedly proven immune to reality-based evidence.

My Guantánamo Nightmare — In case you labor under the delusion that Gitmo is about justice. Or even terrorism. Security theatre ruins lives.

The Tea Party’s Not-So-Civil War — It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of racist loons.

Why Republicans Deny Science: The Quest for a Scientific Explanation — Some of the conservative denial of science may well be cynical in nature. But there’s no doubt from polls that large numbers of conservatives really believe this stuff–that global warming isn’t real, nor is evolution. And indeed, the denial of reality extends well beyond science and into other fields like economics and history. I’m voting for cynical, myself, at least among the GOP political leadership.

Do Republican Primary Voters Actually Prefer Moderates? — Interesting, but not sure I agree with it. Romney and McCain aren’t moderate, except by comparison to the outright bugfuck lunacy of a Bachmann or Santorum. Certainly not in any sane universe.

?otd: What’s up with the plywood violin, anyway?

1/12/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (2,400 words on short story)
Body movement: n/a (hideous weather)
Hours slept: 8.75 (fitful)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: Lion’s Blood by Steven Barnes

Tags: Food, Funny, Links, Personal, Politics, Religion, reviews, Science, stories, Tech

Posted: 5:39 am Thu January 12 2012 | Comments(1) |

[personal] Miscellaneous Updatery

No writing time yesterday. I had a full day at the office, then we had an after hours holiday party at my boss’s home, so that pretty much filled the day. I did bring some Époisses cheese to the party, thanks to the rather excellent cheese department at the Whole Foods here in Omaha.

I also dropped by a Barnes and Noble to pick up a couple of Charles Stross books for my reading pleasure, and was amusingly mistaken for Mr. Stross by the store manager when I inquired about signing my stock. I did manfully refrain from signing Charlie’s books for him.

Workie bits today, and unless something expected crops up, writing time this evening. I’m not pressing myself on this story, just letting it come to life in my head and on the page. We shall see.

Anent yesterday’s hair rant, it occurred to me when I woke up this morning that although I miss my flowing tresses, as a practical matter it would be nice to have my eyelashes and nose hairs back. Trust me, being nasally bald is annoying and slightly indecorous. The eyelash thing is just sad.

I’ll be home Friday afternoon, off to a housewarming party Friday evening if I haven’t collapsed from exhaustion. I expect to spend much of the weekend working with the_child on some homework issues, but also hoping to finish the story-in-progress this weekend, so that next week I can fire up Sunspin revisions.

And of course, next Thursday, a week from tomorrow, I’m off to Michigan for Epic ConFusion. See some, all or none of you there.

Tags: Books, Cancer, Child, Conventions, Funny, health, Personal, stories, Sunspin, Travel, work, Writing

Posted: 5:39 am Wed January 11 2012 | Comments(4) |