Workshopping – day 2

Zombie slave labor.  Robert J. Oppenheimer and flying saucers. Decrepit space stations. Intelligent, space-faring birds. Near-earth orbit junk collectors.  Memory-erasing drugs.  Growing up female in 21st century China.  Finding the true nature of spirituality.

Those are the diverse and intriguing topics for the first round of stories at James Gunn’s 2009 SF Writers Workshop.  Four critiques yesterday and four today, all presented awash in great ideas, beautiful writing and mind-stretching conversation.

Great stories. Great company.  Lots of time to talk and write.  My only concern about the program is why I haven’t come here before this.

BTW, don’t forget to check out the premier issue of my new flash fiction quarterly — 10Flash — Wednesday morning.  It features ten great genre flash fiction stories, all written around a unifying theme.

Workshopping – day 1

Day one of Jim Gunn’s SF Writers’ Workshop is winding down; in ten minutes it will be midnight here in Lawrence. It’s been a busy day and I still have two stories to critique for tomorrow.  Thank God I read all but one story before I left Seattle.

I was up at 6:45 a.m. this morning to call Rachael before she left for her Metro Transit job and then I worked on on 10Flash for a couple of hours (it debuts Wednesday).  Then I spent a couple of hours doing mundane things like setting up the little Lexmark printer I sent ahead of me and calling the University’s information systems department to get e-mail turned on in my dorm room.

Jude-Marie Green, associate editor for Abyss & Apex, and I also walked the long blocks to the Student Union to pick up food cards for the university eatery that is across the street from us, a place called Mrs. E’s.  We got back in time to join a bunch of the folks at Mrs. E’s for lunch and then we hiked back to Templin Hall for the short story workshop at 1:00 p.m.

What a great session!

Being one of those top of the alphabet persons, my  hard-science fiction attempt, A Prayer to Saint Barbara, was first out of the gate.  The critiques were generally kind and surprisingly positive.  Everyone was unanimous in saying the title didn’t work and agreed that the story was too long, but as I said in earlier posts, it’s a first draft and I expected to be making changes.

After everyone else had their turn, Professor Gunn ticked off a list of revision suggestions.  The most significant, I thought, was the importance of my coming to terms with what the story is about.  Without that understanding, he said, it is easy to wander and include all manner of unnecessary information.  His list of story faults was long but I was pleased to hear him say that he found “the writing to be impeccable.”  High praise from an acknowledged master of the art.  I worked on a rewrite for two hours after session and chopped out almost three thousand, which is due back in the group next Monday.

BTW, the new title is Fat-Bottomed Girl.

A bunch of us went to dinner at a Greek-Italian place in Lawrence’s charming downtown area and then came back to the dorm to unwind with some movies.  I won’t tell you the titles of what we watched, but everyone agreed the collective I.Q. in the room had dropped more than twenty points by the time we headed to our separate rooms for the night.

That’s all for now, other than to say the quality of the writing I am seeing here is awesome and it is so much fun spending this much time with other people who love writing and science fiction as much as I do.  What a great bunch of geeks and I use the term with the utmost respect.  Someone remarked today, I don’t recall who just now, that it was so great to be around so many people who actually read books and understood “big words”.  Amen to that.

More later about the people who are here with me to learn how to be better storytellers, as well as words about Professor Gunn, Chris McKitterick, assistant director of the program, who is one of the friendliest, hardest working fellows I have ever met, and Kij Johnson, instructor for the novel-writing sessions.  All three of them are the sort with whom I would willingly be stuck on a desert island.

Now playing in Lawrence

It’s Sunday morning and I’m sitting,in Aimee’s Place, an internet cafe in downtown Lawrence,  Kansas, having breakfast, chatting with some of the other folks participating in the SF Writers’ Workshop — and blogging, of course.

Yesterday’s trip was uneventful, other than a spectacular view of the Cascade Mountains, as we flew east out of Seattle. At Kansas City International Airport, A limousine service was waiting for me for the 60-minute trip to Lawrence.  I had a pleasant chat with the driver, a fellow named Mike Shapiro about writing and movies and Las Vegas, where he worked for twenty-plus years in various casinos.

I love striking up conversations with strangers. It turns out that Mike’s cousin is executive producer for The United States of Tara, the Showtime series starring Toni Collette and John Corbett, which is one of my favorite television shows.  Thanks for the swell chat, Mike.

We arrived right on time, at the University of Kansas dormitory that will be my home for the next two weeks.  After settling in, I sat up until past midnight, chatting with Chris McKitterick, the program’s assistant director, Kij Johnson, for the novel-writing portion of the workshop, and four or five other early arrivals.

What a hoot to have a chance to talk to other writers who love science fiction as much as I do.

I was up early this morning to work on the first round of critiques — I have four of six done now — and wrote for a couple of hours on Being Abednego, the new piece I working on.  4,500 words so far, with maybe another 5,000 or 6,000 to go.  I hope to finish it before the workshop ends.  It is so cool that the more I write longer pieces, the easier it is to go those distances.     Stretching writing muscles, I suppose.

And so to breakfast then, which is almost done.  The introductory session for the workshop is later this afternoon.  We’re headed back to the dorm for more chat.

More later.

And toto too

I’m on my way to Kansas tomorrow, not via a tornado or even a huge hot-air balloon. Just an ordinary Boeing 717, courtesy of Midwest Airlines.

By 9:00 p.m., Central Time, I should be nestled in my dormitory room at the University of Kansas, holding my breath, waiting for the start of Jim Gunn’s SF Writers’ Workshop Sunday afternoon.

Or I may be sipping on a a glass of Chardonnay and talking shop by nine. Chuck Von Nordheim, one of the other workshop participants, will be arriving earlier Saturday and he’s promised to have a bottle of vino chilling when I arrive.

Everyone else should be rolling in Sunday morning. The official start is late Sunday afternoon, when the eight participants of Professor Gunn’s short-story workshop and the sixteen participants of Kij Johnson’s novel workshop will meet with Jim, Kij and Chris McKitterick, assistant director at the University’s Center for the Study of Science Fiction.

Workshop sessions start Monday morning and I will try my best to post regularly about what is going on.

Have I mentioned that I am beside myself? I have never been much good at waiting; like our two cats, I want what I want noooow. But Saturday night will get here soon enough and it will carry me over until Sunday.

Red wine and another writer to talk to — it doesn’t get much better than that. Even if there’s no wine.

Check it out 06/25/09

Tin Man, my story at Big Pulp, got a mention in SFSignal.

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Some days I feel as if I’m the only one who reads these posts. Syndicated editorial cartoonist David Horsey offered this about that.

At big pulp

My short story, Tin Man, is up at Big Pulp today.

Big Pulp is an internet magazine featuring a wide range of pulp fiction and genre artwork. The editors’ definition of genre fiction is very broad, running the gamut from literary fiction and experimental poetry to locked room mysteries, sword and sorcery, and space opera.

Tin Man is a story about Malachi Woodman, a fellow who has crawled into the bottle after his girlfriend left him; and he’s dying of a broken heart as a result.  Only magic can save him, but at what cost?

It’s the third in a series of stories I’m calling Seattle Supernatural.  The first was I Must to the Barber’s Chair, which appeared September 1st, 2oo8, at Every Day Fiction; the second was And Bay the Moon, which was published this past March at The Absent Willow Review.

Check out all three, if you would like; let me know what you think.

The check was in the mail

Just got back from the mailbox.  My prize check from Author Services, for Coward’s Steel, the 3rd place winner in the 1st Quarter 2009 Writers of the Future competition.

$500!

I’m going out right now to spend it on something frivolous, before reality picks the lock on those handcuffs and rips away the duct tape to remind me about all the practical uses I could make of the money.

At boston literary magazine

The summer issue of Boston Literary Magazine went live today and my flash, Where It Lies, is in it.  It’s my second piece there.  The first was Stand and Deliver.

Where It Lies is a story about golf, to which I am addicted, and it considers the posting of humorous signs and the difficulties that accompanies a resolute enforcement of the rules of golf.

When she bought it, Editor Robin Stratton said she though Where It Lies was hysterical!!!!!!!!!  (The exclamation marks are hers, not mine).

Thanks, Robin.

Check it out, if you have the time; see if you agree.

Check it out 061109

Jon Pinnock is a funny fellow who writes cracking-good flash fiction, as well as the odd piece of poetry, and blogs about it at Jonathan Pinnock’s Write Stuff. Today, he’s got a post about meeting deadlines and he mentioned me. Check it out.

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I had the occasion this morning to share one of my favorite pieces of animation — Fifty Percent Grey. Wicked funny. It’s been around for a time but if you haven’t seen it, check it out.

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On a familial note, today is my son’s 31st birthday. Happy birthday, kiddo, the check is in the mail.

At morpheus tales

Just got the news today.

You can pre-order Issue 5 of Morpheus Tales now, for shipment in July.  It includes a story by gonzo horror author Joe Landsdale and my flash fiction, To Each His Niche and Task, is on page 10.

The story is told first person from the point-of-view of an aging man who is believed to be a mass murderer but is convinced that he is a superhero. Someone has said that we are all the heroes of our own imaginary movies, but what if we are the only one with true vision?

Issue cost is £3.50, including international shipping.  That’s not a typo.  Morpheus Tales is a Brit speculative fiction magazine.  I haven’t received my author copies yet, but I’ll let you know when I do.