The Sleeping Sun

I'VE BEEN READING this book that was on a lot of year’s best lists. Wait, actually it was on one list, but other people linked to it on twitter several times and I keep clicking on the same link and was surprised to keep seeing the same book on all these lists, which were the same list.

I figured it out, eventually, but it made for a hyper-awareness of this particular book.

I’m still in the middle of it, and will eventually review it on Goodreads, but there was a short, two or three paragraph section that caught my eye.

In it, in a section that mentions synesthesia, it talks about some neurologists believe a developing baby brain, as it become a toddler, and eventually a child, might sense the world more like someone with synesthesia does.

Interesting, but that lead to a digression about a child animising the objects around them. And how that too is part of the development of understanding the world.

On new year’s, we’d been babysitting my nephews, and I decided to see if my youngest might give me some anecdotal evidence that there is any truth to this. The book suggested asking a young child about what happens to the sun at night. So I asked.

“What happens to the sun at night time?” I asked.

My youngest nephew (herefore to be called, Younger) said, very matter of factly, “The sun gets sleepy, and he has to rest. So he lays down and sleeps until morning.”

My older nephew (I shall dub him, Elder), who is in school, was aghast, he immediately gave a very long, but essentially correct, explanation about the solar system and earth’s rotation while orbiting the sun.

Younger went quiet for at least two seconds after Elder’s explanation before he quite confidently said, “That makes absolutely no sense.”

Kids. They’re pretty awesome.

A QUICK SET OF GOALS for 2014. They’re pretty simple.

1)      Write 500 words of fiction per day. That would add up to 175,000 words in a year. That's a pretty impressive number for a pretty small amount of work on a daily basis. I managed to get 1k out today during lunch. If I don't get it done, no big deal. It's the journey, not the destination. 

2)      Revise and Edit. Tons of stuff to do really. Tons.

3)     In order to help with my nuts and bolts of plotting, I’m thinking of crafting a super complicated time-travel story. Because the airtight time travel story is really the holy grail of plotting, I think. They don’t get done often.

That’s about it for me. Happy 2014, folks.

Where I Ramble - Presumably About Being Old

IT'S 2013! When I was a kid, and I mean a pretty young kid, first coming to grips with the concept of numbers – not just learning to count, add and subtract, but of considering what numbers can mean. I think I already wrote in a previous post about my quest as a child to write ALL the numbers down – I used to try to think of the future. In 10 years, 20. In all my imagined futures I would envision myself as an adult, in a way that only a 5 or 6 year old can, and think of how great my life would be (eating cookies anytime I want, staying up past 8 p.m., being able to buy comics whenever I want… and yes, all those things are great).  

But in all that, I was never able to think beyond the year 2000. There was this fog in my head that started there and made thinking of what life would be like as a middle-aged person an impossible task. No, anything beyond 2000 was so far in the future as to be unknowable.

So here I am, 13 years beyond that fog of ignorance, and I’m still struggling with thinking of my life in the present tense. On occasion I’ll have these brief flashes of insight, a moment of perspective, that lets me consider my place in the world. I shiver at those times.

For example, I picked up a copy of 2001 a year or two ago. I’ve never read it. I’ve read Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama and Childhood’s End. But I nothing else by him (as a solo author at least, I’ve read many of his collaborations – and although he collaborated with Stanley Kubrick for the screenplay to 2001, the novel is all Clarke).

So I grabbed it on my way out the door to work yesterday. I had just finished reading The Quantum Thief and wasn’t so sure what I wanted to start on next. I ended up not starting it because I’ve been caught up in the surprisingly excellent Gone Girl which is a mystery novel that my wife strongly recommended I listen to as I drive to and from work – I’ve since been spending lunch hours in my car, as well as looking for excuses to take a drive.

Now, I have The Sentinel at home as well, and I intended to read it first, as I’ve been made aware that that was the novel that inspired 2001, which of course Clarke rewrote, renamed and released with the same title as the movie.* 

It’s been a joke for so long that it’s stopped being noteworthy, but the story of 2001 is supposed to take place in 2001, more than a decade ago. What dawned on me the other day however, was when I stumbled upon the novel 2010 (the sequel) and realized that takes place in our past too.

Damn. The future is the past. Other people point his out on a regular basis. I know that on an intellectual level… but sometimes I’ll have a moment of clarity where it just punches me in the gut and it hits me in a whole different way.

ALL THAT SAID, it made me think of 2013, how incredibly old the child version of me would think I am,  and what I want to do with my golden years. Last year, I wrote a post of my goals and by all accounts I did not achieve them. This year I hope to finally embrace revision and editing and get all those 85% completed things that I have and finally wrap them all up. And that’s it. That way, should I die (because I'm old), then I'd have something there, rotting on a hard drive, that would let the people that are here k
now that I finished something.

Oh, there is one more thing, I've got an awesome novel idea that I’ve got to get done.

ONE OTHER THING - I there was a story on io9 the other day about music being composed entirely by a computer. Click..... HERE..... to read and watch a performance.

It made me think of two things. 1) I told you so (I wrote a post about this back in 2009 I think. It was very insightful). And 2) Computer written novels will be coming soon.

*That doesn’t happen too often, but that isn’t unprecedented, I know Steven Gould did that with Jumper. He wrote the novel, then when it was made into a Hollywood extravaganza, he wrote an entirely different novelization of the movie based on the novel… I think Disney’s John Carter also had a novelization, but one obviously not written by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

My Last 2012 Recap Post

I think I've hinted around for a while now that I was pretty dissatisfied with my writerly pursuits in 2012. Since I went through my books read during the year, I thought I would go over the things I wrote in 2012 and see what I actually did, and what I didn't do.

The Blutonian Death Egg - Finished - A novel about a twenty-something slacker that finds himself as humanity's representative to an alien species.

I've really just sat on this. I submitted this a couple of years ago to a traditional publisher or three and then pulled it back after several rejections and rethought what I was doing here. It's now a contemporary tale that I started a decade ago. It's getting dated. I had a few people read it in the past two years (Hey Alex! Hey Donna!) but in 2012 I decided to rework it some more... I just didn't work on it due to the other shiny things that captured my attention.

Nada's Song - Finished - a post apocalyptic short story set on a small moonbase. I thought it would be neat to explore what happens to people left alone after the world ends, namely, astronauts on the moon.

Submitted to and rejected by: Writer's of the future, Analog, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld & Daily Science Fiction.

I like the story, a lot. I had to deal with the fact that it was a last-person-on-earth scenario which makes it a bit experimental for me. I mean, without other characters it's hard to do a traditional story. I think it works, but not everyone agreed with me.

The Legend of Catkid - Finished - A superhero origin story. I thought it would be fun to write a short-story that included b-list superheros that sometimes peddle dope on the side to make ends meet.

Submitted to and rejected by: Strange Horizons, Escape Pod, Lightspeed, Michael Morcock's New Worlds*, Clarkesworld.

Another one I loved. One rejection had a note that mentioned how much they enjoyed some aspects of the story but felt it was a bit unfocused. I understand, it is all over the place.

My Killbot Buddy - Finished - probably my favorite story I wrote during the year. A story about a 120 year-old that has his dementia cured only to find out the whole world wants him dead for something he did while suffering from his affliction.

Submitted to and rejected by: Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Asimov's, Escape Pod, Lightspeed & Analog. 

Proof that thinking you've written an amazing story doesn't mean anyone else will.

Forager's Feast - Finished - Another post-apocalyptic story, this one about future scavengers looking for the things they need to survive.

Submitted to and rejected by: Apex Magazine, Pseudopod & Nightmare Magazine.

I waffled on whether or not I should even submit this one, it has a twist ending that I wasn't really thrilled with. But I decided that I would let any potential editors make that decision. So far they've seemed to agree with my gut that this one isn't ready.

Going Home - Finished - Another one I personally thought was great. And yep - the world was ending again. It was 2012 after all, I mean, the world was supposed to have ended. It was on my mind. This is about the fall of the last soldiers remaining during an alien invasion.

Submitted to and rejected by: Lightspeed, Shimmer & Clockwork Phoenix.

This one might have been missing something, I dunno. I liked it.

Elvis, Leia, and Greedo Walk into a Bar... - Finished - a contest for a Star Wars competition. I can't recall what happened with that, but I posted it on my blog. You can read it any time you want by clicking on the page above.

Unnamed Ghost Story - Finished - You'd think I'd have a name for it. But it's about a peeping tom that accidentally stumbles onto a haunted bridge.

Written specifically for a locally produced anthology that is to be released sometime in 2013.

Lot's of local landmarks in this one. It was a great deal of fun to write.

The Ice Machine - Sorta Finished - A novelette written and almost great... but with something missing. It serves as a prelude of sorts for a novel drafted two years ago but never competed. It's complicated. Anyway, it's a story that stands alone but needs a companion piece to work. Not real sure what to do with it.

Submitted nowhere... it's sitting in a file while I try to figure what to do with it.

It'll be finished. I swear.

Total Depravity - WIP - my never ending novella/short novel about a colonial era man hunting an escaped slave that I keep rewriting. I put it aside in October when I got stuck doing rewrites. I swear, it'll be done soon. This one is going to be self-pubbed once complete.

The Ascension Artifact** - WIP - I did the infamous Writer's Roundtable podcast about this one. Ugh. I put this aside mid-year to focus on Total Depravity. You can see that didn't work out too well for me. The intent for this one is to submit to traditional publishers once this one is done.

Mary's Tale - abandoned/shelved - I may pick it up and finish it. But anyone who's read A Dead God's Wrath might recall Mary. This is another story that takes place in her life in the modern era. It's a premise that lacks a story right now. I worked on it for some time before I just gave up because I couldn't make it work.

Billy vs Science - shelved - I plan on finishing this later, really. But it's 1000 words or so about a boy that thinks he's a cosmic power trapped living the life of an elementary school child. I loved the premise so much that I need to come back to it and really focus on it when I can do it justice.

Unnamed apocalyptic tale - abandoned - a short story about why googling things won't work once society fails. I figured that this one was a bit too preachy. But man, it certainly proved my point.

___

And that's about it for me. There were a few flash fiction pieces I toyed with during the year, but for the most part. These were the things that consumed me in 2012.

And now you know.

* I actually was a bit unsure about New World's submission guidelines. I actually ended up writing to them and removing myself from consideration after 6 months or so. I'm sure I would have been rejected eventually anyway.

** That is NOT going to be the title of that book when it's finished. Ugh.

Mid-Year Update - And I Suck at Blogging!

My first week back from vacation was a trying time. I think most of my problem is that I suffer from the same issue that Neo did in the first Matrix movie. Namely, the world I live in when I’m at work doesn’t seem real to me. The real world is the one in which I lie on the beach and drink fruity alcohol most of the time between trips to the men’s room, seafood buffets, and naps.

So, until Laurence Fishburne shows up with a handful of pills and says I can return to the ‘real world’, I think I’m going to just have to get used to the feeling like things are amiss.  

As it stands though, I have been trying to get back into the grove, not only for work and home life, but for online things and writing. I figured I should take a few moments and share some minutia that I’m sure no one is interested in… I'm sure everyone's thrilled.

First, I’ve come to realize over the course of the past year or so that I’ve been blogging at the expense of writing. I’m sure anyone who was keeping track of my online activities has noticed that since the end of the A-Z challenge I’ve been spotty at best, and non-existent at my worst. It’s just been me trying to find a balance that allows me to actually write, do artsy things, and not to mention hang out with the family, in the short time I have daily to do such things.

So, blogging has been on the outs, I’ve been posting some, but visiting infrequently. I’m going to try to be post consistently – twice per week – and then devote 30 minutes or so daily to visiting others. I know from experience that that might not get me around to too many places, but committing to 30 minutes is better than crossing my fingers and wishing for the best.

BUT – I HAVE BEEN WRITING, so all that extra time I’ve been freeing up hasn’t been a waste. And if anyone recalls, I had a lot of goals I posted at the beginning of the year regarding my writing. So, here’s my mid-year update: I’ve been doing a lot of short stories, and I’ve been submitting them to markets as I deem them to be appropriate… so far I’ve gotten only a ton of rejections, but at the same time, I’ve been submitting exclusively to the largest and most prestigious markets first, and working my way down from there. My goal was to write and submit at least a story a month. So far in 2012 I’ve written 10 short stories.

I have also been working on a novella with the intent to self-publish. Yay for me. I wrote it last year and thought it was pretty good then, but I was having this one little problem, I put it away for a few months and picked it back up a month or so ago. It was much rougher than I thought it was, but because I loved the story so much I decided that instead of chucking it, I’d do a complete rewrite. I’m in the middle of that now. It’s going much better…

I hope.

And finally, I’ve also been working on my Epic Fantasy novel – which I’m thinking might end up taking a year or so or working on it before I can even think of asking someone to consider critiquing it (and I don’t want to even think about how to go about that, it’d be a huge commitment to ask of anyone). That thing is more complex story wise than anything I’ve ever tried to write before - half a dozen viewpoint characters, each with his or her own arc, and a whole world history and magic system to develop. If the way the first draft is unfolding holds true, then this will easily be the two and a half times longer than any other piece of fiction I’ve ever written.

That’s a lot of words to put towards something you’re not entirely sure you can pull off. But whatever, I’ve always been a weak plotter and I think this is forcing me to make sure I am careful and meticulous with it. No better way to learn than to do.

And also, I think it’s something I would do even if I knew now that no one would ever be interested in it. It’s a story I feel like I need to get out.

Six Week Update

It's all about accountability I suppose. So here is my attempt to let you know where I stand so far this year in my goals.

I have half-heartedly agreed to participate towards the write 1 sub 1 for this year. I say half-heartedly because there is no way in hell I am writing 52 short stories in a year. I figure I can whip out 12 though. Which means I’m doing one a month instead of one a week. Close enough for me. Oh, and I've not actually signed up for anything, it's more of a personal goal.

Also, I’ve only now about to submit my January story. I figure I’ll submit all 12 this year sometime. Again, close enough. My short stories to tend to run long. I’m going to try to do a few 2000-3000 word ones this year. It’s hard for me, because I really like digressions, a lot. I’ll have to try to rein those in a bit going forward.

But by Monday submission number one should be out the door. Probably to Writers of the Future again. A grand prize winner gets something like $5k. It’s hard to not make that a priority up until such a time as I become ineligible – which happens with professional sales.

The story? Glad you asked. About an astronaut trapped on the moon and contemplating suicide as the earth endures the apocalypse. Early drafts focused on Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and shoddy Chinese screening processes for choosing their taikonauts. Also, a main character whose Russian sounding name turns out to be Latino, go figure.

I’ve been in the self-editing stage in my February story – this one about a disgruntled teenager who finds something he shouldn’t when piddling around somewhere he shouldn’t be.  I’m already freaking out about his one – is there a market for YA novelette thrillers? If there is, I’ve not heard of it.

But whatever, write it first, worry about the market later I suppose.

As it stands, I'm way behind my larger goals, as these short stories were supposed to be nothing more than weekend projects, with the rest of the time spent working on revising novels. The short stories have been bigger, longer, and more time consuming than I would have hoped. 

Still, the year is young. I can catch up.

It's a Brand New Year

I took an impromptu vacation last week. I intended on a post, or even two, but decided not to. I had already written an end of the year recap, books I liked, movies, stuff like that. But I decided against it. I saw so many of those type posts go up that I figured the world could live without it from me... of course, if the world really does end in 2012 then I'll know I was wrong.

So, I do have some goals in mind to accomplish this year. I want to write more short stories. At least 12 of them. I want to revise and edit one complete novel until I think it's done enough to submit, and write at least one completely original novel.

That's pretty much it. Oh, and just in case anyone is looking for a pearl of wisdom from me today: Hangovers seem so much worse when you're older.

I also hope to establish and follow a set blogging schedule, and be better about visiting others.

And I hope to lose at least 30 pounds. I had salad twice today. I hope I've lost most of that 30 pounds by tomorrow.

Happy New Year!