Congrats to Daily Science Fiction for becoming the newest SFWA qualifying venue!

Congrats to Daily Science Fiction for becoming the newest SFWA qualifying venue!  This also means I'll be eligible to join SFWA.  Yay me!  Becoming eligible for SFWA had been one of my long-term goals, and it took me just over a year.  So now what?

Screw perfection: A rant against typos, fear, and other irritants.

I recently replied to a blog about typos, and I went a little off topic.  The original blog entry was written by author, Gary Wedlund, and appears at Loconeal Press's website. 

I have mixed thoughts about all of this, and when I reread what I wrote below, I think I go well beyond the issue of typos (but I think you were trying to make a larger point in any case, so I think I either added to it, or hopelessly muddled it up).

I agree that sticking a story or novel in a drawer (literally or figuratively) for a while can give you those “fresh” eyes when you take it out again. I think this is a good technique to polish a story before sending it out, or even fixing a flawed story with some promise. It’s also vital for a writer to have others take a look at his or her work. A good writers’ group can spot the picky stuff your brain skips over, or maybe they’ll even let you know when something you thought worked, didn’t. At my most recent writers’ group meeting I tried something a little different with the beginning of a novel I’m working on, and I got a pretty clear message that what I tried just didn’t work. I don’t always agree that the problems others spot are actually problems, but when you get several people telling you the same thing, you can be pretty sure you NEED to make some changes (it gets trickier when just one or two say something is a problem). I’ll do a rewrite of the beginning of the novel and see how it goes.

The reason I have mixed thoughts about all this, however, is I think it’s possible for a writer to become paralyzed by the pursuit of perfection. I know a handful of writers who are sitting on pieces I think are really great, but no one knows about them because instead of submitting their work for consideration, these writers keep polishing their work over and over again trying to make them “perfect,” make them “ready.” Ready for what? Months and months of waiting for what’s likely going to be another rejection anyway? Fire away, stop worrying, and write something else in the meantime.

While I think it’s true that a writer generally gets just one shot with any particular publisher for any given piece, and writers don’t want to blow their chance to reach the widest possible audience over careless mistakes that might get a piece rejected out of hand, I think there’s too much danger in trying to make any one piece “perfect” and as a result, writers keep that one piece–and worse, OTHER pieces!–out of a publisher’s hands (and they can’t say yes or no if they don’t ever get to read it).

Writers, your story or novel is never going to be perfect. Polish it, polish it again, then fire that sucker out and hope for the best. If a story is a good enough, a few flaws won’t sink it, and if it’s good but not great, maybe it won’t get published at the highest tier, but at least it gets published. In the meantime, write something else. Write something BETTER. Experiment with stuff. Maybe that NEW idea is going to be that one story that breaks you into the market you always wanted to break into (or win that award, get that contract, whatever it is you’re hoping for)

There are a few pieces of mine that have been published or will be published that I wish I’d held back on a bit longer before firing them off, but to heck with it, someone is going to read them and they’re good pieces (if not perfect). A writer is really never going to know what ONE story or novel is going to capture the interest of a reader who then goes back and reads EVERYTHING else that writer has written (and then everything else that comes later).

I’ve been writing and submitting fiction for just over a year now. Not everything I’ve written has been published at the “pro” or “semi-pro” level (some pieces have), but everything I’ve sent out has been published or accepted for publication–except for the newer pieces I have circulating right now which I’m confident will also be accepted sooner or later.

Damn the typos, full speed ahead! (you can always fix it when you reprint it)

Daily Science Fiction now offering Kindle collections

Daily Science Fiction is now offering Kindle collections of all the stories they published in a given month.  My story, "Blessed are the Sowers," appears in the July 2011 edition, along with a lot of other excellent stories.

I have coffee with Mike Resnick and babble like a dumbass.

This weekend I attended the Context24 convention in Columbus.  Context24 is the first convention of any kind I've ever gone to, and I really just wanted to see what it was like.  Mike Resnick was one of the major guests, and I ended up having coffee with him... alone.

Here's a little background info to set the scene: 1) I was very tired.  By that point I'd had maybe 9 hours of sleep in the last two days, having driven to Columbus and back twice; plus there was a lot of other stuff going on that kept me up at night: My daughter going to school for the first time, home refinance, writing stuff, etc. 2) Despite the fact that Mr. Resnick is an incredibly prolific, multiple award winning writer, I've read exactly four of his books EVER, and just by chance, I'm working on a fifth (the last book of his Starship series, having read the other four).  I know who he is, of course, but I honestly don't know that much about him (like the fact he lives in Ohio and attends Context regularly). 3) I was not in the room to meet Mike Resnick, I was there to snag some free coffee and jam food into my mouth.

Here's how things played out:

I decided to skip lunch, having had a large, late breakfast with my family.  Instead of eating, I scoped out the room for the next panel I was going to attend: "What women want in female protagonists" (they had me at what women want).  I left my bag in the room and stepped out for a moment.  Clever me, I then figured there was bound to be coffee in the NEXT room where Mike Resnick was scheduled to sit and chat with fans.  There is coffee in the room, but of course, there's also Mike Resnick, only moments after I enter the room--so it seems like I'm waiting for him. 

Now, I am not someone who is intimidated by celebrities (I suck at small talk with EVERYONE, not just the handful of celebrities I've ever met), so I figure it's just me and Mike,  why not man up and chat a bit and get some coffee in the process? (I'm a nobody in the scifi/fantasy community, but I think that will change in time, and part of that is meeting with and talking to people).  Problem: I can't figure out how to get the FUCKING COFFEE OUT OF THE STUPID POT. I REALLY needed some damn coffee.  Something on the coffee pot wasn't working properly, so all there was was hot water and decaf.  (What the fuck's the point of decaf coffee?) So after wrestling a bit with the coffee pot, I step back and let Mr. Resnick pour himself some decaf while I try to figure out how to fix the regular pot. I'm also trying to gauge whether I can fit an entire scone in my mouth and swallow it without choking to death while Mr. Resnick has his back turned, because I don't particularly want to eat in front of him (but I'd also prefer not to choke to death).  

Since I'm VERY tired and in desperate need of coffee, my brain isn't working so well.  I'm standing behind Mr. Resnick as I'm thinking very hard about how I'm going to get coffee out of that fucking pot (I've been told my look of concentration makes me look like I'm angry).  Resnick is probably wondering what the hell the big, creepy, silent, angry looking dude is doing, glowering behind him.  Having failed to figure out how to make the coffee pot work as intended, I just tip the whole damn thing over and pour myself a cup of coffee (yay, brute force!).  Sadly, I deny myself a scone (I had a biscotti later, once Mr. Resnick had left... meh, should have had the scone).  Having spent an awkward (but generally pleasant) few minutes chatting with Mr. Resnick, I figured I'd look like an asshole if I just took my hard earned coffee and left him sitting by himself at the table.  I figure, what the hell, chatting with someone of his stature is much more cool than the panel I was waiting for, so I'll just sit and chat with him a little longer, and when the rest of the people show for the coffee talk, I'll excuse myself and slip out. 

No one else shows up.  I have no idea why.  Mike Resnick is fucking cool.  He's also really nice, from what Matt Cook from my writers' group has told me, and Resnick is perfectly willing to talk to others about writing (pulling no punches, I've been told).

Some additional background info: 1) I'm not a genius, but I'm pretty damn smart.  I learn very quickly, and I have an excellent memory. 2) I can remember almost ANYTHING... IF I write it down first.  Part of my problem with small talk is my brain is so far ahead of my mouth that I end up sounding like an idiot.  Writing stuff down lets me organize my thoughts and slow my brain down. 3) I had not prepared in any way to speak to Mr. Resnick.

So I largely squander a golden opportunity to talk about writing with Mr. Resnick (or get an autograph, or a picture, or ANYTHING).  I can barely think of anything to say to him. I can remember, almost word for word, what some troll on Amazon said about Resnick's fifth book of the Starship series, but somehow that seemed like a bad topic. 

If I'd said, "Here's where I am right now with my writing.  [explain].  What else would you suggest?" My guess is he'd tell me to do exactly what I'm doing:  A. Write tons of stuff. B. Try to write something different each time as a challenge; stretch your abilities. C. Find a writers' group. I've found two excellent writers' groups: Writeshop and Codex.  D. Rinse, repeat, make yourself a better writer.

I've only been submitting work for a year (after a twenty year gap of even trying to write fiction), so there's a ton of stuff I don't know that I SHOULD know (I'm trying to play catch up to the field as fast as I can).  While I think I've done fairly well in a short amount of time, I'm really not at the stage where I can ask Mike Resnick anything particularly insightful. Instead, I blather about nothing in particular and try a few attempts at asking him about what he's been up to. I smile and nod a lot, like a big dorky dumbass.  He mentions his daughter went to Ohio University for a grad degree (where I'm going for a second bachelors in a couple of weeks), and I don't even think to ask what her degree program was.  I've got a daughter of my own (though she's just 5), and could have made SOME connection with Resnick as a father, if not a writer.

And while I'm not really an autograph person, I would have asked him for one (or a picture) except that my bag with my camera, my paper and pens, and everything else is sitting in the room where I had intended to listen to that panel.  I figured it would look weird to go grab my bag at this point, making it obvious that I had intended to be somewhere else. 

Despite the lame attempts at chit chat on my end, Mr. Resnick did spend some quality time talking to me.  While not all of the information he gave me may be useful to me at this exact moment, I'll damn sure remember it all.  So, thank you, Mr. Resnick.  I imagine I'll be at Context next year, and hopefully I'll be able to offer a bit better conversation.

Here's a little epilogue: Eventually, Resnick excused himself to go sign autographs, and I finally made it to the panel.  Later, Mr. Resnick and Matt Cook sat and signed autographs at the same table in the author's room.  I figured Matt would want a photo with him and Mike together at the table, so I sat around, waiting for Mike and Matt to finish conversations with a couple of fans (yes, I was still smiling like a dumbass. Mr. Resnick probably figured I was a stalker).  I kind of wanted Matt to take a picture of me and Mr. Resnick together (we put the time in together, after all.), but I had a panel to go to and I didn't want to interrupt Mr. Resnick's conversation. 

So instead, I have this story, and something to talk to Mr. Resnick about next year (Hey, Mike, remember that big creepy weird guy?).  Priceless.  Honest.  And next time I'll do my homework (and get a decent night's sleep the day before).

Torchwood: Miracle Day... WTF happened to a decent show?

I like British sci-fi shows, and I've been a fan of Torchwood.  I was pretty enthusiastic about the new series, Miracle Day, but...  OMG it's awful!  The pacing of the story arc is painfully slow, and today I tried watching the blond CIA woman tip-toe her way around in the latest episode and I finally gave up on it.  Torchwood used to be cool.  WTF happened?

"Floaters" finds a home at Digital Science Fiction

I just received word from the editors at Digital Science Fiction that they'd like to publish my story, "Floaters."  "Floaters" was the story I received an honorable mention for in the Writer's of the Future Contest (2nd Q, 2011).  I'm breathing a bit hard from doing my happy dance.  This is my second "pro" rate publication.  DSF (not to be confused with Daily Science Fiction) publishes a series of e-anthologies which they later offer in print (so it will also be my second time in print, eventually).

RLR

"Vaporware" by Mishell Baker appearing in Redstone Science Fiction

Vaporware, by my cousin (writing as Mishell Baker) went live today at Redstone Science Fiction.  I've read it and it's very good.  Why not take a look?