Short Stories

I hate writing short stories. I find them way, way harder to write than novels, although I have no idea why. I also don't particularly like reading them. What's the point, when there's not really enough room to get to know the characters or to develop a decent plot? I like novels.

But several things lately have made me decide to write some short stories:
1. It kept coming up during Worldcon and I decided there was a reason I kept catching that message.
2. The Daily Science Fiction September lineup was published last week and my short story "Blood Oranges" will run on Sept. 25.
3. That Daily SF story is my second of three pro sales required for me to be eligible to join SFWA, and if I don't write anymore short stories, that third sale will never happen.
4. I've been on the treadmill of writing a novel, trying to find an agent, failing to find an agent, writing another novel for several years and it's worn me down badly; I need a few short story sales to regain some confidence in my writing.
5. I suspect if I start to sell to pro magazines regularly, I'll get more interest from agents.
6. Some relatively quick money would be nice too.

So once I decided to write short stories--and focus on writing for the pro markets, not the smaller magazines--I also decided I needed to read what's being published these days. I went to the book store and bought copies of Analog, Asimov's, and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine--EQMM because I like mysteries, not because I expect to write any.

I read EQMM first and loved all but one story in it. I mean seriously loved them, to the point where I may subscribe. In fact, I went back to the book store yesterday and bought Aflred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, because I wanted more. I haven't read it yet, though. I was floored that I reacted that way to short stories and picked up Analog expecting I'd react the same way.

I didn't. The stories were pretty well written but I found most of them dull, pointless, and thought they were trying awfully hard to sound important. In short, the magazine was everything I remembered from trying to read SF stories years ago, and the reason why I don't like reading them now. Asimov's was better; I enjoyed maybe half the stories. I also bought The Magazine of Fantasy & SF yesterday and read the first story today, and liked it. Hopefully I'll like some of the other stories too.

After reading these short stories, I've come to a major conclusion: a huge percentage of stories in all these magazines--including mystery stories--take place in evocative, exotic settings, which I suspect is an effective way to hook a reader into a story that might otherwise come across as bland. Foreign settings usually have a white man as the main character; "normal" settings frequently have an "unusual" main character (native American, Chinese-American, woman, etc.).

My writing has improved considerably (I think) since I stopped writing short stories a few years ago. Now I know the secret to setting, I think I can start selling to pro markets. If only I can finish some wretched shorts.

New SFWA qualifying market

SFWA has released its updated qualifying markets list, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies has been added! Not only that, but they've made it retroactive to the first issue--which means that I'm now 1/3 of the way to SFWA membership!

Congratulations to BCS!

Scary stories and rainy days

I stopped by the post office on the way home from work, and my copy of the new 52 Stitches came! I can't think of a better thing to read on a super-rainy September day than a collection of scary stories!

Unfortunately, when I walked in the house and said to my mom, "Hey, look what I got!" she plucked the book from my hands and sneaked it away to read it first. But that's okay. I know where she lives.

52 Stitches, of course, is edited by Aaron Polson, and I'm a member of his fan club that Cate Gardner started. If you join the fan club now, you can beat the rush. :)

Emerald Tales #1 available

The first issue of Emerald Tales is available for order here. I got my contributor's copy yesterday. Usually I only read my story in any given contributor's copy, and sometimes one or two others if they look interesting--short stories aren't my favorite--but I read all of Emerald Tales. I wanted to see how the other authors handled the "follow the butterflies" theme.

The issue starts off with Erika Tracy's beautifully written "A Search Dog's Tryptych," which made me cry. It's my favorite story in the whole issue, worth the price of admission on its own if you ask me. My next favorite is Catherine J. Gardner's surreal "Empty Box Motel." Both those stories actually take the same approach to the theme, and they're both full of brilliant imagery--lush and earthy in Tracy's case, bright and sharp in Gardner's--but they could not possibly be more different.

Most of the stories contain literal butterflies, except for Arthur Carey's "Wedding Present" (a darkly funny story) and my own SF story "Cult of the Butterfly" (where the butterflies are aliens). I was a little disappointed by that, but each author used their butterflies a little differently. I didn't love all of the stories, but most of them aren't speculative in nature and that lowers my interest level right there. I'm looking forward the next issue in a few months; its theme is "masks, or things are not what they seem."

Wow, look at that. I actually reviewed something in more than three words.

Reviews ahoy!

Tangent Online just relaunched! It's a review site for speculative short fiction. Right now they're mostly just reviewing the big print magazines, but they've got plans to expand that. I did skim through to see what issues they've reviewed of various smaller magazines (*ahem* of course I wasn't looking for any of my stories, that would be silly) but I didn't notice any that I have personally read. Since right now they're only reviewing print magazines, which can be pricey or slow to arrive if you order an issue, it's a good way to get a feel for the kinds of stories a particular magazine publishes so you know whether to submit there (or subscribe).

Insert complete change of subject here. We're having corn on the cob with supper, and I gave my mostly-eaten cob to my cat Vincent. Vincent loves corn on the cob. He's finishing off the kernels I didn't eat, and of course getting them all over the floor. He's so cute when he's not deciding the living room carpet is a giant litterbox.

Publish or perish. Also update or die.

Since May is whine-free month, I'm trying to figure out how to put a positive spin on this. I don't know that there's anything positive about trying to find a good market that pays a decent amount for reprint rights. Writers are clamoring to all but give away fresh new stories; why would anyone want to bother with reprints?

Specifically, the problem is my story "Snow Magic" that appeared in Fictitious Force #6; note that their website has not been updated since issue #3. As far as I'm concerned, the publisher did a great disservice to all the writers in issue 6. Instead of waffling around saying, "We're on hiatus and we're not sure we'll come back, but we're going to publish these last stories anyway but not bother to advertise the issue," they should have just released all subs.

But I'm being positive here, so I'll tie this back to Aaron Polson's post today about the internet and how writers (and publishers) use/need/relate to it. When I subbed to Fictitious Force back in March of 2008, the magazine was one of the big semi-pros. They'd published writers like Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, Alliete de Bodard, Jay Lake, and lots of other up-and-coming/semi-big-names; they routinely got mentions and reviews in Locus, SF Site, and the other biggies. By the time I received my contributor's copy in February of this year, though, they hadn't put out an issue in about a year (at least, I think so; it's hard to tell because their website hasn't been updated in so long) and the only mentions I find of issue 6 are from contributors blogging that they got their copy.

That's how fast the internet moves. Go on hiatus for a few months and it's like you've dropped off a cliff. For writers, a few months can mean the difference between bragging that you've been published in such-and-such magazine and getting an "oooh, jealous" in response, or getting a blank look. What magazine? Are they still around? I thought they folded in, like, 2008.

The flip side of that isn't just that a magazine needs to release good issues--because issue 6 of Fictitious Force was heartbreakingly good, with excellent, fascinating stories that practically no one will ever read. A magazine has to have a web presence too, and they need to keep it updated. Blog it, add new content, archive old issues online, whatever, but keep the site updated or everyone assumes you are dead.

And going back to Aaron's post again, a lot of publishers--especially the old guard print magazines--just don't get this. Take Locus, for instance. They've got a great website (well, I find it hard to navigate, but at least it's updated), but you can't buy and download an electronic version of the magazine. I ordered the March issue this year, partly for the 2009 book release list and partly because I'd heard they mentioned BCS #5 and I wanted to know if they'd mentioned my story (they hadn't). It cost me $10 with shipping, which was ridiculous to start with, and I had to wait two freaking months to get the issue. Will I ever subscribe? Hell no, dawg, not until it's available as a cheap pdf download.

Fictitious Force is/was print-only as well. I don't think it's a coincidence that they're dead. Sorry, on hiatus.

I like having my stories archived online so people can read them; I think it's good for me as a writer--a great way to attract new readers and hopefully keep them. So I guess I'll head back to Duotrope to see if anyone wants a slightly used "Snow Magic" for their ezine.

It lives! It liiiiives!

I got my contributor copies of Fictitious Force #6 in the mail today. That was a surprise! I was pretty sure I'd killed that market. My story "Snow Magic" is the lead story in this issue.

They haven't updated their website yet to reflect the new issue, so I don't know when it's technically being released. From the editor's comments in the front of the magazine, it sounds as though they're still not sure what they're going to do about future issues. I'm selfishly glad they decided to print this one, though.

Doing the 5k Strut

I checked my wordcount on Blood and Taxes over lunch--because I knew I'd written a lot yesterday, but I wasn't sure how much--and holy cow! I wrote 5,000 words yesterday! I figure I'll be done with the book within about 10,000 words. I do worry that the main character is awfully passive throughout most of the book, and I'm a little concerned about the pacing, but those are things I can address when I revise. For now: onward!

I got my print version of MindFlights issue #4 yesterday. It's very nice, and you can read my story "Gaming Real Life" on actual paper inside it! There are other stories and some poems in the issue too; I've read several of them, and they're a lot of fun.

Nonononono, not fair!

Renard's Menagerie is closing.

I should have subscribed. This is all my fault.

It's ridiculous how proud I am of the story they published this time last year, "The King's Messenger" in issue #5 (copies still available, I understand). That was the first time Kristof of The Weredeer (*stares meaningfully at Mundania and drums fingers*) made it into print. I was looking forward to ultimately getting more stories into RM's pages.

Stupid recession.

Two stories here, two stories there

Catherine J. Gardner found out before I even realized the list was up--I've got two stories in Every Day Fiction's year's best anthology. The post with the full list of stories is here.

It flummoxes me. I like "Bad Luck" okay, but I never thought "How My Sister Lost the Game" was my best by a long shot. In fact, I really didn't expect to get into the anthology at all. I have a tiny feeling that maybe they made a mistake, and the two slots I ended up with ought to have gone to more deserving stories.

Still, I'm pretty pleased. And while we're talking about EDF, one of the co-editors, Jordan Lapp, has won first place in the third quarter 2008 Writers of the Future contest! WOOHOO! Way to go, Jordan!

And speaking of Catherine J. Gardner, for that matter, she has a story up at Macabre Cadaver's new issue, "In the Dumpster King's Zip Code." And in the same issue, Jeremy Kelly has a story too, "The Crop Bearer." Both stories are awesome with a capital awe. You really have no excuse not to go over there and read them.

And I have written about 200 words on my Nano book today. Which is about 1800 words less than every single other person on my buddy list. Must...write...faster....

Beneath Ceaseless Skies issue 1

I've been meaning to write an actual review of the first Beneath Ceaseless Skies issue, but too much happened this week and I kept forgetting. I figured I'd better hurry before issue 2 came out.

The theme of BCS is literary adventure fantasy. If the literary part turns you off, after reading the first issue I can assure you that the adventure part is just as important. Stuff happens in these stories, and the writing is great. In fact, I'm really excited about reading all the upcoming issues, and it's rare that I get excited about short fiction at all (I don't even love writing it, to be honest). If you like Black Gate, you should find a lot to like in BCS. The artwork's great, too.

The first issue consists of two stories (or one and a half if you want to get technical). The second half of Chris Willrich's "The Sword of Loving Kindness" will appear in issue two, but you've only got about a week to wait. It's a fun, lively Gaunt and Bone story. I hadn't encountered the characters before, but now I really want to read the others--this one's hugely inventive and a quick read despite its length. I'm definitely looking forward to the second half. I wasn't always sure who was talking during some of the rapid-fire dialogue, but the descriptions are lovely and the pace never flags.

This issue's second story is David D. Levine's "Sun Magic, Earth Magic." In the hands of an amateur writer, this story would have been horrible horrible horrible--but Levine pulls it off with elegance and subtlety. I didn't expect to like it, to be honest, but I was very pleasantly surprised. You might have trouble reading if it you're claustrophobic.

I'm very impressed with BCS so far. Best of all, it's available online for free.

(Full disclosure here: BCS will be publishing one of my stories, "Sand-Skin Man," in their Jan. 1, 2009 issue--but I would have enjoyed these stories even so. Incidentally, "Sand-Skin Man" takes place in the same world as my weredeer stories, but on a different continent. And without any weredeer.)

First story appearance of 2008!

I forgot to say more about Renard's Menagerie issue 5 that's out now with my story "The King's Messenger" in it! I read the entire issue Saturday and really enjoyed it. I don't say that lightly, either. I probably shouldn't admit it, but I very often don't read all the stories in the magazines/anthologies my stuff appears in--I just read mine over and make sure there are no horrible mistakes, and then flip through the rest of the issue and see if anything strikes my fancy.

In this case, I read my story, then thought I'd look at the next one. I read it, thought "that was good, but I'll read the rest later" and next thing I knew, I'd read the whole issue cover to cover. That's amazing for me. Needless to say, it's a good issue with interesting stories and some nice internal art, and a book review section. I think I may have to spring for a subscription with my next paycheck.

Now that that issue's out, I'm sure everyone is relieved that I will freaking stop talking about it. I plugged this one a lot, sorry--but I was just excited that my favorite character Kristof has made it into print! Now I just need to sell his book.