Archive for April, 2008
Solving the Perfect Crime, Backward, to My Opening Line
by David Niall Wilson
I find myself in an odd position, at least odd for me. I almost always approach the plotting and creation of a new novel by starting with one element and branching out. For instance, when I wrote “The Mote in Andrea’s Eye,” it was because Trish asked me “Why have no hurricanes [...]
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
Epiphanies are odd things.
There I was, mumble thousand miles above the planet, laterally squished in my window seat by a fellow passenger with a well-endowed caboose which kept spilling into my space, staring out of the window, waiting for the flight to end (ladies and gentlemen, I love being in new places, but I [...]
In which I explain the inner workings of my mind with the cunning use of puppets
GUILDENSTERN: We should be working.
ROSENCRANTZ: On what?
GUILDENSTERN: Well, I don’t know! On, um, hey, what about that story?
ROSENCRANTZ: Which story?
GUILDENSTERN: You know. That story. The one with the stuff.
ROSENCRANTZ: [eye-roll] Oh, that’s helpful.
GUILDENSTERN: Well, we should definitely be working.
ROSENCRANTZ: And I repeat, on what?
GUILDENSTERN: Look, this is unnatural, is all I’m saying.
ROSENCRANTZ: It’s called a [...]
WHO STALKS THE STALKERS?
OK. I have no idea what that means. I just want to get this thing rolling. Somehow, in some way, I am writing this at 11 PM on Sunday the 27th because I worked today at the plant. For eleven hours. Go figure. I went to bed last [...]
Y’all Comes Back Now, You Hear?
Recently, someone used the user review function over at amazon.com to pan my novel Firefly Rain. The book’s crime? Incorrect use of the word “y’all”. Apparently the way I’d trawled my y’alls did not jibe with the reader’s understanding of how y’all is supposed to be used, and as such, he had no use for [...]
EARLY MOTHER’S DAY FICTION
SNAPSHOTS: 20th Century Mother Daughter Fiction is an anthology I edited with the extraordinary Joyce Carol Oates. It was a joyous experience and, for those who might be interested, it remains in print. Here’s the story I wrote for the book:
“Everything Old is New Again
by Janet Berliner
“Thank you for coming.
“Yes, brunch was a good [...]
And now for something completely different (Romantic Times)
by Alexandra Sokoloff
I have to warn you, this month’s post is going to seem a bit radical to some of you. You may even feel, well, horror, at what I’m about to tell you.
I’m going to talk about my secret favorite convention. And no, it’s not WHC, or WFC, or World Con [...]
Nesting
During the last few months of pregnancy, usually around the fifth but sometimes as late as the eighth, a woman’s nesting instinct kicks in. Some primitive switch hidden deep inside the female brain flips, and the most laid-back woman suddenly becomes Robo-maid; cleaning, rearranging, putting away, and throwing out. Childproofing and smoothing all the rough [...]
GREAT WRITER MYTHS # 1: If the Editor Says Your Story Sucks, He’s Really Impressed
by John B. Rosenman
In the spirit of public service to writers everywhere, especially beginners, this is the first in a series of fearless exposes of GREAT WRITER MYTHS. Illusions may be nice and comforting, but they have a downside: they can blind you to reality and prevent you from coping with it. For a writer [...]
Conventions and You
This week is the annual GAMA (Game Manufacturers of America) Trade Show in Las Vegas, and for the first time in memory, I’m sitting here at home instead. I have many reasons for this.
First, of course, is my family. I’ve been off to Hollywood and Sweden already this year, and tossing another trip on [...]
