It’s a Small (Genre) World and Some New Places to Visit

Posted on September 18, 2012 by D. Thomas Minton

It’s a small genre world, and I found something cool at the same time.  How’s that for an opening teaser?  Now let me back up and explain….

Yesterday a reader named Joachim Boaz left a comment on a post I had written a few weeks ago about the lack of diversity among writers of speculative fiction.  In that comment, he pointing me toward a website dedicated to reviewing novels by women speculative fiction writers called SF Mistressworks.  Over the course of the day, Joachim and I exchanged numerous comments, learning that we liked many of the same women writers—C.J. Cherryh, Ursula Le Guin, among others—and I learned about a few I hadn’t heard of before, but now want to read.

Last night I checked out the site Joachim had linked and found, to my surprise, that it was run by Ian Sales.  Apparently, Ian oversees several different websites, and SF Mistressworks is one of them.  I’ve never met Ian, but—playing six degrees of separation—I feel like I know him because he’s editor of Rocket Science and a writing friend of fellow Hopefull Monster Colum Paget (who also happens to a have a story in Rocket Science, so buy it and read).  Ian and Colum seem to be of the same mind and like to argue…er….discuss things—at least that’s how it looks from my perspective, albeit it’s a 12,000 km away perspective.  Both of them are obviously sharp guys, have their opinions on things, and aren’t afraid to make those opinions known.  I have a lot of respect for that.  But back to the site…. 

I’ve only had a chance to quickly peruse SF Mistressworks, but it has a wide range of reviews for novels by women authors both known and unknown to me.  Ian updates it frequently, so there’s an impressive number of reviews on the site.  I’m looking forward to taking some time and poking around the offerings; I’m certain I’ll find several books to add to my must read list.  By the way, Joachim also runs a review site, Science Fiction Ruminations, which at quick glance seems to specialize in reviewing novels published in 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.  What I found particularly interesting was that he also had the cover images for the works he reviewed (and often the different covers for the various editions).  There’s something very retro-cool about old book covers that takes me back to my younger days of reading science fiction as a kid.  I’m a fan of the New Wave science fiction of the 1960s, so I’m also looking forward to spending more time on Joachim’s site.  If you have the time, check out both the sites.

Posted in Science Fiction, Writing | Tagged , | 3 Comments

“The Last Horse” Hits the Shelves

Posted on September 16, 2012 by D. Thomas Minton

My story “The Last Horse” is now available in the September 2012 issue of Aoife’s Kiss.  It’s about carousels, Americana, and…well…the apocolypse.  The issue also has one of the neatest pieces of cover art I’ve seen in a long time.  The September issue isn’t available on Amazon yet, but you can get a copy here.

Posted in Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Window into My Mind?

Posted on September 13, 2012 by D. Thomas Minton

I don’t write horror stories.  Sure, I’ve written dark stories, but nothing I think anyone would consider horror.  Recently my writing group, Hopefull Monsters, had a long discussion aimed at trying to define horror: What it is, and more importantly to me as a writer, what makes it tick? 

That discussion spurred me to finish the draft of a story I had started several months ago, but abandoned because it wasn’t quite working and the subject matter disturbed me.  It’s not a horror story per se, but it is horrific—terrible things happen to people, with terrible consequences.  Now the story is bothering me.  I woke up the other night, thinking about it.  I might have been dreaming about it; I’m not sure.  It’s stuck in my consciousness, like a rusty nail.

I think the story bothers me because I’m left wondering from what dark corner of my mind did it come.  Why would I even think of such a thing?  I told my wife about the story, and she gave me that sidelong glance usually reserved for leftovers gone bad.  Unlike when I have talked about other stories, she just said (to paraphrase), “That’s messed up.”

Does that mean I have a good story on my hands?  It’s not a good story yet, but I think it has real potential.  It needs the usual revisions—it is a first draft afterall—but I’m not sure I want to work on it, at least not at this time.  Maybe after I’ve gotten some distance from it…had a chance to think about where it came from…what it means….  Hmmm, it might be a while.

Posted in Inspiration, Writing | 3 Comments

“Dreams in Dust” Scheduled for December

Posted on September 10, 2012 by D. Thomas Minton

I received news yesterday that my story “Dreams in Dust” will appear in the December issue of Lightspeed Magazine.  What an awesome way to close out 2012!  Lightspeed is one of my favorite publications, and this will be my second appearance in it, my first being “Thief of Futures” in the September 2011 issue.  So treat yourself to a holiday gift, and pick up the December issue, or better yet, get yourself a subscription and don’t miss a single issue.

Posted in Science Fiction, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Toasted Cake Wins Parsec Award for Best New Podcast

Posted on September 8, 2012 by D. Thomas Minton

Toasted Cake recently produced a wonderful podcast of my story “Clownspace.”  I learned a couple of days ago that Toasted Cake was honored with a Parsec Award for best new podcast.  While I wasn’t overly familiar with the Parsec Awards (I’d heard of them, but not much beyond that), a little research shows that they are a big deal in the speculative fiction podcasting world.  To get one is a notable achievement, so congratulations to Tina Connelly, the voice and brains behind Toasted Cake.

As I mentioned previously, the podcast of “Clownspace” is the best one I’ve heard of one my stories.  It would be awesome to have Tina produce another of my stories, but I suspect with this recognition that it will be even harder to get another piece accepted.  While that may be bad for me, it’s good for the industry.  For those interest, Toasted Cake is currently open for submissions, so if you have a flash fiction story that’s a little quirky, send it Tina’s way.  If she takes it, I know you’ll be happy with the results.

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Self-doubt and the Fine Art of Rejectomancy

Posted on September 6, 2012 by D. Thomas Minton

Rejection is part of writing for publication.  Pro-rate magazines accept considerably less than one percent of all submissions.  As a writer, you either grow a thick skin about it, or you stop submitting stories. 

With all of the rejection inherent in the business, writers don’t need to self-reject themselves.  Yet I know writers who don’t submit to some publications because their chances of getting accepted are so low.  They self-reject their own work, usually by manufacturing a reason for which their story isn’t suitable for that publication—maybe the story is too long, too short, not the right theme, too dark, not dark enough.  I’ve done it before.  In fact I nearly did it today before I caught myself.

Ultimately, I think self-rejection is a symptom of low confidence in a particular story or in the writer’s own craft.  Self-rejection is self-doubt.  It’s the manifestation of that little voice in the head that says my writing isn’t good enough.  But you know what, Stephen King wasn’t “good enough” when he started (he talks about it in his book On Writing).  Neither was J.K. Rawlings, Joe Haldeman, Issac Asimov…and they turned out pretty well.

Here’s a secret—well, it’s not really a secret.  A writer can never truly know what an editor is seeking.  I can look for trends in published stories, but really, I can never say what story might catch an editor’s eye.  Of course, if an editor specifically says they don’t published science fiction, then don’t send them a Golden-age space opera; that’s just wasting everyone’s time.  But if it’s a science fiction publication in which you’d be proud to see your work?  If you’re even asking the question, “Does this story really fit?” then submit it.  Have confidence in your story and don’t self-reject it.  Let the editor do that.  A submitted story might have a less than one percent chance of being published, but an unsubmitted story has a zero chance.  Submit it; you may find a pleasant (and profitable) surprise the next time you check your mail.

Posted in Science Fiction, Writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Hugo Award Winners Announced

Posted on September 3, 2012 by D. Thomas Minton

Many years ago, I set out to read “the best” science fiction novels written, but didn’t know where to start.  I decided to read all of the Hugo and Nebula award winners.  I quickly found that I tended to prefer the Hugo winners over the Nebula winners—I’m not sure why, but I did.   I’ve read almost every Hugo Award winning novel, missing only a few of the most recent ones, and I was seldom disappointed.

So I’ve been awaiting this year’s winners list, which was announced last night at Worldcon.  Congratulations to the winning authors:

Novel: Among Others by Jo Walton
Novella: “The Man Who Bridged the Mist” by Kij Johnson
Novelette: “Six Months, Three Days” by Charlie Jane Anders
Short Story: “The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu

With the exception of the novelette category, these same works also won the Nebula Award this year.  Personally, I liked Ms. Anders novelette more than the Geoff Ryman’s Nebula-winning “What We Found.”  “Six Months, Three Days” is a fun and heart-touching look at the relationship of two people who can see the future.  If you haven’t read it yet, I suggest you do.  It can be found here.  Oh, and I can now add Jo Walton’s book to my must read stack of novels.

Posted in Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Analog Gets New Leadership

Posted on August 30, 2012 by D. Thomas Minton

After 34 years at the helm of Analog, Dr. Stanley Schmidt is retiring.  Analog is one of the “big three” publications in the short speculative fiction field, and has produced numerous Hugo and Nebula winning stories and launched the careers of some of the best known names in the business, including Asimov and Heinlein (that was back when Analog was called Astounding).  While I know many who think Analog publishes “old-fashioned” stories, some very good fiction still appears in its pages.  Writers I know who have worked with Dr. Schmidt talk about his generosity and approachability.  I wish Dr. Schmidt the best in his retirement.

Trevor Quarchi will be taking over Analog‘s reins.  Mr. Quarchi served as Managing Editor at Dell Magazines (Analog‘s publisher), and oversaw my story “Observations on a Clock,” published in the February 2012 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction (also published by Dell).  I found him to be friendly, professional, and easy to work with, so I suspect Analog will be in good hands.  It will be interesting to see how Analog changes over the next few years under his leadership.

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

“My Mask, Human” Set for End of September

Posted on August 29, 2012 by D. Thomas Minton

It looks like Daily Science Fiction will publish my story, “My Mask, Humanity,” on September 28th.  I say “looks like” because the news didn’t come via the folks at DSF, but through SF Signal, a reputable science fiction website.  The line-up posted by SF Signal looks like the line-up published monthly by DSF, so I suspect it’s correct, even if it’s unclear why SF Signal would have the line-up before it appears on the DSF website.

When DSF bought “My Mask, Humanity” last spring, they warned me it would take a while to get into the rotation.  It’s actually gotten there faster than I expected.  I must confess, however, I was secretly hoping DSF wouldn’t publish it until after October 1 because its publication officially disqualifies me from entering the Writers of the Future contest.  A post-October 1 publishing date would have allowed me to squeeze one more entry into the contest.  I guess this means I’ll have to stop goofing around and win the contest sooner rather than later.

Posted in Science Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Digging Out

Posted on August 25, 2012 by D. Thomas Minton

I enjoy traveling to remote and interesting place—it’s one of the reasons I went into the line of work I did for my day job—but I also really enjoy coming home…except for the pile of things that always continues to accumulate while gone.  The work for my day job here doesn’t go away, it continues collects, awaiting my return patiently as a panther.

Since returning from Palmyra, not a lot of fiction writing has gotten done.  The long Palmyra-days have turned into long dig-out-of-pile days, but I’m almost there.  One more big deadline early next week, and then I can get back to the story I was working on.  It has one, maybe two, scenes left to a finish first draft.  Now back to that pile, it isn’t getting smaller while I write this….

Posted in Travel, Writing | 1 Comment