"Haxan" Has Gone Live!

My dark fantasy story about a mythical Western town, "Haxan", has been published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies Magazine. Please, click on the link below the title and you'll be taken to the story. I really hope you like it.


HAXAN

Appearing NOW in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Magazine

03. 26. 09.

And if that isn't enough. And don't you think it ought to be? There's a new biographical character sketch about Marwood on my webpage. Free content with the story. Now I ask you how can you beat that? Click here to read biographical material about U.S. Marshall John Marwood!



Blood.
Dust.
Wind.

Hell Is Invited To Supper

And Haxan thought it was a rough town. Find out how wrong they were TOMORROW!




HAXAN

Appearing tomorrow in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Magazine

03. 26. 09.



Blood.
Dust.
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Marwood Rides Into Haxan

See what is waiting for him when he arrives. I'm sure everything will be okay. I mean, what could go wrong in Haxan, right? In TWO days!




HAXAN

Appearing in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Magazine

03. 26. 09.



Blood.
Dust.
Wind.

What Happened to the Gold Double-Eagles?

Find out where the money is in THREE days!




HAXAN

Appearing in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Magazine

03. 26. 09.



Blood.
Dust.
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Where is Magra Snowberry?

Find out what happened to her in FOUR days!




HAXAN

Appearing in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Magazine

03. 26. 09.



Blood.
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Beneath Ceaseless Skies Teases Haxan!

Beneath Ceaseless Skies has posted a snippet from the story. Give it a peek. Here's the link!:

HAXAN Tease

Three Stories in Three Days

I like to be challenged. I like setting goals for myself and seeing if I'm up to meeting them.

I had the idea of Three Stories in Three Days for several weeks. I wanted to see if I could do it. No immediate reason, other than the alliteration sounded good and I thought it would be a decent test of my artistic skills and endurance.

I'm telling you, it almost killed me.

I got up early every morning, had a big breakfast and coffee, and was working by eight. I often finished around eight or nine (I can't really remember) that night, with an hour or two (or three) of downtime. But even though I wasn't writing those hours I was thinking of the story at hand. It was all very intense, more than I realized it would be, I guess. I should have known better.

The problem was even though I was working on the first story of three, ideas for the other two kept popping into my head. So I had to deal with that and compartmentalize. It was a mental juggle. It didn't help that my nights were for the most part sleepless. Ideas (and some angst) kept intruding on my rest. Initially, that first morning, I had some trepidation. Was I insane? This was a really big project. Who was I trying to impress? What did it mean, if anything, that I wanted to do this? Not to mention I'm of the school a story is as long as it needs to be. Oh, no, what if a story had to be 40 pages? That's a lot of work for one day. Was I setting myself up to fail?

Eh, quit your whining, you fuck, and get to work. Failure is not an option.

By the second day I was 2/3 through the second story when I was faced with a decision. I could write a quick and easy ending or go for the gold and write the ending the story had to have. Which meant it would be longer and I would have to keep working. But I was so tired! If you read my blog with any kind of regularity you know me well enough to know what side I came down on. Story comes first. But when I was into it I was psyched. I kept getting up every couple of pages or so to work off some of the kinetic energy that was flowing from the story into me. When I finished I thought I had written something pretty special.

By now I was damn near running on fumes. The whole mental aspect of this was more draining than I figured it would be. I've written three days in a row before. I've written an entire story in one day. I've written 10.000 words in a single day. But the whole dynamic of Three Stories in Three Days was like nothing I've ever attempted before. Because day by day I had to shift into another gear. Often I would think, "I"m not going to be able to do this." But then I realized I did not want to fail. So I kept going. I pushed myself. It was all mental. That surprised me.

On Day Three I was dragging. It was zombie time. I had no reason to be ashamed. I could quit. I already had completed Two Stories in Two Days. But that's not what I set out to accomplish. I started the third story. It didn't want to flow. By noon I only had about four pages. I was running out of time and starting to panic. I recognized I was being held up more from exhaustion than anything else. I knew these characters and the setting. (Which is the reason I chose them to be all Haxan stories, because I thought that would make it easier. Haha. Fool that I am.) I pressed on.

By six o'clock the ending began to reveal itself, like slices out of an orange. I had to put them together. I have three Writing Rules: Tell a good story, persevere, and trust your instinct. I depended heavily on the last two. I instinctively felt the story was good, but I had to keep going and most of all I had to trust myself. I wanted to quit. I couldn't quit. I had to finish what I had started.

I did it. I wrote the story.

When I was finished I sat looking at the screen. I was beyond the point of being able to concentrate. I had lost that ability long ago. The past three days were a wild blur. It had been incredibly intense. I don't know if anyone else would have felt that way. Maybe their experience would be entirely different. But I am still amazed how personally intense those three days were with story, Story, STORY. Man. I still can't believe I actually did it.

Bottom line, I wanted to prove something to myself and I guess I did. It doesn't mean anything in the long run. But I learned something about myself, what I can do, what I am capable of. That was instructive.

And to answer a question you might have, No, I am NOT going to do this again, haha. At least not on purpose! Once was more than enough, believe you me. You can give it a shot!

I want to thank everyone who was cheerleading from the sidelines. That was a big help, more than you can ever know.

I'm still kinda stunned. Three stories in three days. Doesn't mean anything to you, maybe, but I was able to accomplish it. I set a goal and tested myself and met the challenge. Best part? The stories don't suck.

But, boy, did it ever wear my butt out.

Do You Night-Walk? The People Of Haxan Do!

Find out how they do it in FIVE days!




HAXAN

Appearing in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Magazine

03. 26. 09.



Blood.
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Third of Three Stories Down! NONE Left in the Thunderdome!

I am so exhausted. Mentally and physically. It took everything I had to finish "Grand Guignol" today, all 3700 words.

It's a psychologically dark, claustrophobic and gritty story. Which means it's pure Haxan. But, man, it was tough. I was fighting myself as much as anything. After three days, switching gears from one story to the next to the third...it wore me out. That was the hardest part. Switching mental gears like that. But I'll write about that later, if you don't mind.

I am truly wiped out. Beyond the point of able to focus. But I did it. And I feel pretty good about that accomplishment.

Three stories in three days. I'm not bragging. It's just something I did, that's all. That's all.

Man. Am I ever going to sleep tonight.

See you guys later.


blood, wind, dust....

Second of Three Stories Down! One Left in the Thunderdome!

Started and finished "Wuthering" today. Came in at about 5000 words. This one is pretty dark. Surprised me how dark it turned out. And I loved the villain in this one and how Marwood must fix things aright. I think the resolution will come across as something of a surprise. Different even for Haxan. I hope so, anyway. (It surprised me. I didn't see this ending when I started the story at eight o'clock this morning. But what else can Marwood do with that kind of bad guy?)

And we learn some personal things about Marwood we didn't know before. Magra, too! (Jake Strop wasn't in this one. He was delivering government papers to Fort Providence, haha.)

One more story to go. Assuming I finish this I'll have a lot to say about what I learned writing three stories in three days. Because I did learn something.

Of course, it's not a given. Not yet. I've got one more to write. I think it'll be "Grand Guignol" because the way I'm seeing "Ozymandias" that one's gonna be kinda long. Which means it'll come in around six pages, lol. You can never tell about these things. I've long ago given up trying to see the future in stuff like that.

There's no profit in trying to second guess yourself.

Anyway, "Grand Guignol" tomorrow. Please, God, let me get it done on time and let it be a short one! (I could use the break.)

blood, dust, wind....
blood, dust, wind....

First of Three Stories Down. Two Left in the Thunderdome!

I started and finished "In the Image of His Maker" today. It came in at 4,000 words. I'm satisfied with how it turned out except I swear I have NO idea where I'm going to sell it. Grr.

I suppose I could drive up the psychological aspect a bit and blood it up some. That might open up some markets. I'll probably do that anyway. And if I'm really pressed I might be able to trowel some dark fantasy through there, but then that might end up changing the story into something it wasn't meant to be in the first place, and I'm loathe to do that.

Eh. What can you do. The story had to be written. I had to write it. Nothing I can do about that. I might be able to go back in a week or two and fiddle with it. We'll see. I can't obsess over that right now.

Tomorrow I start on "Wuthering" or "Grand Guignol" either of which will be a straight up dark fantasy. Yes, Haxan, too. They're all Haxan. Everything's Haxan. Blood, dust, wind.

Okay, tired now. Bed.

blood, dust, wind
blood, dust, wind
blood, dust, wind...

New Content on My Webpage! (As if we needed an excuse to party!)

've added new content on my web page. New Haxan stuff (biographical sketches!), a new sample story ("Joke Hell"!), new essay, and other fun stuff.

I'm especially excited about the new Haxan content. I'll be adding more characters sketches as time goes on. Marwood's character sketch will appear the day "Haxan" is published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

Visit me! Bookmark me! And, please, check back regularly because more changes will be a'comin'. Yay!

Ego And Confidence And Why You Need Them To Write

Today I met my writing buddymjryan and while I didn't get any writing done we had a long and effective conversation about the writing process, ego and confidence.

It was very helpful for me to have her express where she's at both mentally and physically with her writing and I think she was helped by what little advice I could offer from the perspective of someone who has some things published. We mostly talked about the difference between Writer Wannabes and Writers. She's definitely in the latter camp but doesn't always see it or believe she's there or believe she's earned it. That's understandable.

One thing I got to thinking about was the confidence thing. I understand how some people have a problem with that. I did, too. Now in full disclosure I happen to carry around a rather large and unmanageable ego so there's very little writing-wise that I don't think I am capable of. I guess there's also a bit of experience on my side that gives me confidence. I mean, as I was telling my writing buddy, I feel I could write a straight up romance if I had to. That doesn't mean it would be very good, but I have the confidence I could do it if I wanted. Does that make sense?

In other words, there's no genre I feel I can't write. Maybe it's wrong to think that. I don't know. But that's how I feel, right or wrong. I have that much confidence in myself. Now to be fair I have no intention of writing something like that because there are other genres I prefer to work in.

I guess some of that confidence is earned. I have sold over thirty short stories and articles to professional and professional magazines, I'm a member of SFWA and have a membership pending with HWA and I sold my first novel in 2005. Pretty cool. Not the best in the world, maybe, and I'm not satisfied with just that, but not bad for now.

Nevertheless our conversation got me to thinking all about confidence and awareness and "paying your dues" when it comes to writing. Like I said, I'm maybe not a perfect candidate to use for a generalization about this because I am a bit of a lunatic to begin with. That probably colors my perception of reality just a tad. I admit that. But knowing you're a nut is half the battle of dealing with being a nut, so I feel I'm in a good place there, too.

Of course, on the flip side there's the whole "I'm a writer I'm not sure this is correct here's my angst pity me" which I'm also familiar with. Yes, I probably have WAY too much confidence for my particular talent pool. But that doesn't mean I also don't have a healthy dollop of angst mixed in as well to leaven that confidence.

Writers. Man. It's a wonder we function at all.

The last thing we talked about was believing in yourself. I think this can help you more than anything else when writing. I remember someone asked me many years ago "Have you sold a novel?" and without even thinking I answered, "Not yet."

Later he told me he was very impressed with that answer. He said it told him a lot about the mindset of a writer, how you had to believe in yourself even if no one else did. I guess that's what I'm trying to get across in this essay. You have to be all about the "Not yet, but I'm capable of doing it" rather than the "No, I haven't, I'm still failing."

Believe in yourself. Trust yourself. And never give up.

Do those three things, and even in the midst of a blizzard of rejections you will one day get that acceptance letter that validates the belief you had in yourself.

Or you could just be a whack job like I am and live in your own little fantasy world where you're the Superhero who saves the day. Hey, that works too.

I'm living proof of what straight-up lunacy will get you.

"Alpenglow" Finished!

Well, I guess it was nagging me so I sat down and finished "Alpenglow" and it came in right around 5300 words. I'm pretty happy with the way this story turned out. I had been fighting it a little so this afternoon I erased the final third and rewrote it cold. Of course an entirely new ending presented itself to me.

A better ending.

Isn't that the way it always works? *sigh*

One problem was I had a character doing something dramatic but the more I thought of it the more convinced I became the drama was entirely all on my side. (Me, Drama Whore!) The conflict was there and necessary to the story, but I let my own emotions come into play and force him to do something he would never do under any circumstance. At least...not this time.

(I remember some weeks ago when I was at the coffee shop and I wrote this scene and told my writing buddy about it. She looked at me as if I were crazy. Even she knew it was wrong. God bless writing buddies!)

I wasn't being true to him. My fault. He knew it, I didn't. I finally came around to his way of thinking. He's happier now. Me, too.

Funny. I had every intention of taking the rest of today off. I went into the garden and drank a little raw whiskey while sitting in the sun like a lizard. It was nice while it lasted then I got up and went inside and made a beeline to my laptop.

Guess I wasn't finished after all. It works out well, though. It does free up time next week I can apportion to something else, writing-wise. That's good. Less stress is always welcome.

Huh. I feel I accomplished something significant today. Happy? Hm, perhaps.

More like relief.

Tie A Bow On It!

Long day today. I got a lot accomplished, not least of which was the second "High Moon" rewrite.

I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It's done. It's solid. I'll give one more pass tomorrow and send it back out.

Me tired now. Me sleep.

I get a shout out from Richard Parks! Woot! (Darn nice of him, I'd say)

Richard Parks blogged about the highs and lows of writing series fiction. He mentions my story "Haxan" which will appear in Beneath Ceaseless Skies later this month.

He has some thoughtful advice for writing a series which you should take to heart if you ever want to tackle a project like this. Then he ended up saying some awfully nice things about me and my writing. I want to thank him for that.

You should give it a look.

It's Not Rocket Science. Seriously, It's Not.

If a person of color has a problem with your story then you should listen. If a white person has a problem with your story then you should listen. If anyone has a problem with your story then you should listen.

That doesn't mean you have to write what only makes them happy. It means you should listen because they really do have better things to do than revisit their pain. That's all.

But if you do listen, don't pretend to agree to the person's face and then turn around and snark to everyone else you never agreed with her critique in the first place.

Come on. It's not rocket science. Seriously. It's not.

Monkey Writer Dog Can Solve Your Sex Woes!

I'm listed on the Internet Book Database of Fiction.

Mentioning this at a party is guaranteed to get you laid.
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(Okay, probably not. But it was worth a try.)

Racefail 2009 in the SF/F Community

I've never been one to shy away from calling people what they are. And I can't shy away now even though I'm only a tiny guppy in the SF/F pond.

What I'm about to link you to, in case you don't know, has been going on for quite a while. These are professional people, some of whom I've met.

Some of them I used to respect.

What am I talking about? Well, they're calling it Racefail '09. Actually, they're calling it a whole lot of things, but I like that term. It's got people angry. And for good reason.

Me trying to condense this SF/F fan/writer/editor/publisher shit storm into a coherent synopsis is beyond my puny mortal ability. Fortunately, you can read an excellent summary about it here.

The summary was written by popelizbet and I found it through kynn 's own LJ.

As for myself, if you've read my blog for even thirty seconds you know which side of this I come down on.

Monkey Writer Dog On The Razor's Edge

Flug. I'm right on the edge with this cold. It could fade away into a bothersome little head knocker kept at bay with Sudafed and black coffee...

...or degenerate into a horrific snot-fest accompanied with an overwhelming sense of gakking myself to avoid the misery.

It's like God is going to flip the coin in the air tonight and I'll see on which side it lands. But if this is the same God who gave me chickenpox on the night of my first communion, well, then I guess I know how it's gonna end. We'll see, though. He knows me pretty well. I don't react well when people (or deities) personally piss me off. I'm like an elephant. I have a long memory of past slights.

Anyway if it does get bad I've got an unopened bottle of rye whiskey in the freezer just begging to help me fight this cold. Then again, who needs the excuse of a cold to crack that soldier open?

I feel pretty good right now, but a little too lethargic to get up and do any work in my office. Bummer. I really wanted to start concentrating on my writing this month because February was such a mess. I guess can work from bed tomorrow, though. All I really have slated is to complete my synopsis for the novel and get that off the Five Star. If I'm able I'll also meet my writing buddy Tuesday for coffee.

I've gotten several nice emails about my story "Death Storm" which has just been published in Drops of Crimson. Really touching; I'm glad people seem to like it because this was one of my personal favorites, too.