Tomorrow at Foolscap 11

Foolscap 11, the SF convention devouted to the discussion of written science fiction and fantasy, started a three-day run today at the Marriott Town Center in Redmond.

Novelist Peter David and artist Jeff Sturgeon are featured guests.  A ton of other local writers, including two of my favorites, Jay Lake and David Levine, will be there, too.

I’m going to drop by tomorrow (Saturday).

It’s my first time at a convention devouted only to written SF and I’m looking forward to it.

At long ridge writers group

Author and writing teacher Mary Rosenbaum has invited me to participate in a Professional Connections interview all this week at the Long Ridge Writers Group.

We’ll be discussing the craft of flash fiction; my new e-zine, 10Flash and whatever other writers’ issues that may arise.

It starts today.  Stop over and participate.  It should be fun.

At long last

The story that would not cooperate is complete.

I finished first draft of Wayfarer tonight; it came in at just under 10,000 words and it fought me every single word of the way. I think it wanted to be a novel. Maybe some day I’ll let it have its way and expand it into a book, but not just now.

I’m pleased the way it turned out, but I think I’ll let it set for a day or three, let it cool off in my mind, before I polish it and send it to Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

Here’s a sneak:

First glance at the little fellow, standing in the tavern doorway, I wondered why he hadn’t blown away in a stiff breeze.

He didn’t look much taller than my shoulder and he was all hard points and sharp edges. His spiky cap of hair was white as the bleached bones of a flensed whale.

“Don’t be certain he’s as old or brittle as he seems.”

Eakin’s whisper scratched at my ear. The defrocked wizard-priest was still hidden away aboard Blessèd, but his magic let him see what I saw and hear what I heard. And he hissed into my ear as if he was at my shoulder.

Eakin hid from the public, for the practice of white magic not sanctioned by the One Church had left him a ruin. His skin was pale as parchment; his arms and legs twisted from the effort of the casting. And he wore a scarlet patch over the ruined pit of his left eye to hide the price he had paid to gain the arcane sight that allowed him to witness my Journey.

I took a second look at the newcomer and decided Eakin was right.

There was nothing flyaway about the little fellow’s manner. He stood his place in the doorway, one eyebrow cocked, studying us all, as if he could shine a light into our minds and so was privy to every sorry secret in the joint.

At every day poets

The folks at Every Day Poets have accepted another of my tongue-in-cheek rhymes — Bear Necessities.

It will mark my sixth appearance at the daily poetry site. It’s offered as a little something for Halloween, all about a girl name Sarah Blaine and teddy bears and childish obsession.

Oonah called it “nice horror”, said it reminded her of a Hitchcock film. Constance said she’d never look at her children’s stuff animals in the same way after reading it. Kathleen referred to it as a “rollicking light bit of fun”.

We need to watch out for Kathleen.

Even so, I’m with her, although I do think she was too kind to call it rollicking. Chuckle-inducing would have been a strong enough adjective, I believe. But that’s just me.

Oonah. Constance. Kathleen. Thank you for reading and accepting Bear Necessities. I’m pleased you liked it.

I’ll post a warning for everyone else when it’s due to appear.

Back in the saddle

After a six-month stint, I stepped down last week as a slush reader for Every Day Fiction. My time in the job was a delight and an education, and I think I am a better writer and a better editor for the experience.

It’s amazing what some folks submit to magazines, hoping to be published. That was part of the education. But it was also so much fun to happen upon a well-told tale. That was the delight.

And stepping down allows me to submit flash fiction to Camille and Jordan again. I wasted no time.

The day after I turned in my notice, Jake Freivald, editor at Flash Fiction Online, e-mailed me, passing on Canticles. So I wiped its nose, tucked in its noir and sent it back out the door to Every Day Fiction.

I just heard from Camille. She said it was “a great story” and that she would give it a home.

Canticles didn’t wander around forever, but it’s a good example of why a writer shouldn’t give up on a story because one or two (or a dozen) editors reject it. If it’s a good story, the right fusion of writer-story- editor will happen.

As Tim Allen’s Captain Jason Nesmith said in Galaxy Quest, “Never give up. Never surrender.”

Thanks, Camille. It’s good to be back on the writers’ roster at Every Day Fiction.

I’ll let the rest of you know when to look for Canticles. Thanks for dropping by.