Merry Christmas to all!

So its Christmas again. My favorite holiday, my personal New Year, a time very special to me. It can be stressful of course…I work in retail so Christmas day itself I dont have to work, but this time leading up to it has been crazy. However I’ve passed a very pleasant Christmas eve and will soon follow my personal tradition and go watch the 1951 Alistar Sim “A Christmas Carol” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

This has been a good year for me. I’ve made three story sales. I’ve written many stories that I’m happy with, and created the Nine Roads world/magic system. I’ve begun laying groundwork for what will probably be a series of novels. I’ve also made some great new friends and managed to help some of them with some problems with my other, long-unused set of skills. My only wish is that I could have everyone I care for with me at this time but, you can’t have everything.

So instead I want to wish everyone a very merry, happy and safe Christmas…I hope you do have everyone you care for around you.

Progress for “Guardian of the Green Node” At Zombie Feed

Back in October I submitted “Guardian of the Green Node” to the Zombie feed anthology from the special zombie branch of Apex Publications and yesterday while searching around, I discovered that the first flurry of rejections has gone out and anyone that hasn’t received one is in the second round of cuts. I haven’t so apparently I’m there. Very exciting.

“The Open Hand” held for voting at Electric Spec

Got an email from the Electric Spec editors, yesterday. They’re holding “The Open Hand” for voting. I won’t know anything till February though. That would be nice however, since Kitsune-tsuki appeared in their Feb 2008 issue.

In other news, since the revisionary part of my mind refuses to function, I think I will start that giant monsters story instead…

Review of “Katja From the Punk Band,” by Simon Logan

Sooo I just finished “Katja From the Punk Band” a couple of days ago, having enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s written entirely in present tense which I found both slightly disconcerting and extremely refreshing. Probably, and unsurprisingly, the “punkiest” of Simon’s work so far, the book still has many of his other trademarks and much for both we longtime fans and new readers to enjoy.

There’s a whole cast of crazy, intriguing and deeply messed up characters, although only the most central receive full development. The narrative is not always told in chronological order, but the shifts are generally easy to follow, especially once you realize what’s happening. The pace is quick and yet little is resolved until very near the end…and even then, some character’s fates are never really known, and the ending is quite open. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Katja. The short chapters and frequent cliffhangers keep you turning the page, even though you know the next chapter probably won’t contain the resolution of the last cliffhanger, making this a most unique and enjoyable reading experience. I highly recommend it.

2,000 hits!

The Key of the Twilight has passed 2,000 hits! Yay!

“The Wages of Decay” In the final round at Andromeda Spaceways

Got a hold-request email this morning from Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine-”The Wages of Decay” has passed their first two rounds of reading and now lolls happily in the third stage, the pool of stories from which the editors choose material to publish. Now I wait for three months (at most) to see if it gets picked. Still, very happy news.

A Friend’s Success

This is a bit late, but Demonmachy, the debut novel of my dear friend and colleague, Brant Danay, is available from Severed Press. I’m about to start on my copy shortly-his writing and ideas are unlike anything you’ve seen before or are likely to see again…

http://www.severedpress.com/

“The Price” Complete; Future plans

So it’s about time for an update. Yesterday I completed the first draft of what is, in essence, my literary response to September’s tragic rash of suicides, tentatively titled “The Price.”

Now it is time to go into revisionary mode for a bit. Crits are in for “Lost and Found” and there are still those tweaks I wanted to make on “Guardian of the Green Node” and a few very small polish points for “A Destroyer, A Protector” before I send it off to IGMS (given their positive rejection of “The Open Hand.”

Also high on the list is the continuation of work on my novel-project. I have a few character outlines…I know the major threat, the crux of the story…and one subplot. But that’s about it. Especially, I have no idea where to start, nor even who will be the central character or protaganist. Mostly, I’m going to keep creating characters for those specific roles I know of (The Nine Chromas, and the nine assasins hired to rub them out for example) and hope that something is revealed as I go.

Flagship Magazine including “Ghost Deli” now available!

The title pretty much says it all. Both text and audio versions are available here http://flyingislandpress.com/flagship

Reactions to the Supernatural

So, there is an issue I’ve long pondered and the critiques of “Lost and Found” have brought it to the fore in my mind again.

Early in the story, Emrys my recurring super-wizard who dresses in Medieval style clothes and has a clawed hand and foot, appears in a spectacular display before two archaeologists in a ruin in a modern-day type world.  One of them responds with considerable skepticism, trying to rationalize him as some sort of wacko that snuck into the dig, despite what he just saw. Most of my esteemed critiquers have said this doesn’t make sense and I can agree with that. However, I’m not sure if it’s entirely unrealistic. The question, which I have considered before is, how would a “normal” person from the “real world” react when confronted with a supernatural occurrence or being, given that we have it drummed into us from childhood that there is no such thing as magic/monsters/ghosts etc. I think in the end it depends upon the person. But I think that, for many, in such a situation their mind would see two options: Rationalize it, or confront the possibility of their own insanity.  I’m not sure how many would, at least right away, entertain the possibility that what their seeing may simply be real and be exactly what it seems to be.

 

Thoughts?