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Doing the rounds for #FridayFlash or #TuesdaySerial never fails to astound me - the sheer volume of good fiction that's being given away for free is astonishing. Of course, it's difficult to know where to begin, so I've decided to plug the stuff I enjoy reading myself. Now, there's a LOT of stuff I enjoy, so if I comment on your work regularly but don't feature you, don't be offended, I'll get to you eventually...
So I'm kicking things off with The Mythical Creatures Employment Exchange by Justin Davies! It started running in November 2010, and is currently up to part 18. It tells the story of the exchange, run by Fiona McAlister and her loyal staff - Alice, fluent in conversing with cephalopods, furry monster Ms Pinky and werewolf Neil. The Exchange gets work for mythical creatures by placing them where they're needed - where else did you think Santa got his elves?
Anyway, Alice is sent on an assignment to Norway to investigate a kraken with the wrong work permits, and ends up getting kidnapped by a shady organisation who want the kraken for their new Nautilus World attraction. It's up to Fiona to assemble a crack rescue squad of harpies, Furies, zombies, poltergeists and many more! The serial also features a griffin that I've come to refer to as "my griffin" since Justin asked for suggestions of mythical creatures to include, and that was mine. Weirdly, he wrote the griffin in before reading my suggestion, so we're possibly psychic twins.
The Mythical Creatures Employment Exchange is billed as "comedy/fantasy" and it does exactly what it says on the tin. It's very funny, full of action, and cracks along at a good pace. It's incredibly inventive, and it reminds me quite a lot of another of my favourite authors, Tom Holt. I can also attest that Justin is a very lovely guy, too! You can follow him on Twitter @flyingscribbler, and you can get started on Chapter One now. Make sure you leave him a comment and tell him Icy sent you.
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Commitment
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I've just had an article posted on Fuel Your Writing about why you might find it difficult to finish a project before you crack on with a new one. If you follow writers on Twitter, or read their blogs, you'll probably see a lot of mentions of "Have new idea for a project! Should I work on that, or stick to WIP?" or something similar.
Finishing a novel, or a short story, or any kind of creative project, requires a certain element of commitment to the project as a whole. The project may need you to spend a long period of time with your attention focussed on that one thing - it's hardly surprising your creative mind starts to wander, and terrified of stagnation, it starts trying to distract you. You're like the Lothario who thought he'd been finally tamed by the buxom brunette from the tavern by the beach, only to find himself eyeing up the local ladies after a few months of passion with his paramour. You want to stay faithful, really, you do, but those new ideas are just so exciting!
I tend to find that when I'm working on one particular project, I'll indulge in short but sweet side projects. So I might be working on a novella or a serial, but I'll still write my weekly Friday flash, or blog posts. They're such small projects that they're hardly projects at all, and doing them means I get to pay scant attention to the smaller ideas while keeping myself focussed on the larger idea of the work in progress.
Having said that, the Fuel Your Writing post does contain one particular point that comes from extremely personal experience. That point is the third reason why people may find it difficult to finish a project.
I'm scared. If I never finish writing it, or I never make all of the changes to the draft, then it'll always have the potential to be amazing. If I do finish it, then it loses that potential and just becomes a 'thing' I've done. It might not live up to expectation.
As some of you may know, lately I've been working on a novella, The Guns of Retribution. It's a Western, and clocks in a couple of hundred words shy of 30,000. I've had my trusted and highly valued beta readers give it the once over, and now I've made my changes based on their feedback, I'm pretty pleased with it. Having said that, for the few days before I actually finished it, I kept finding reasons not to make the changes. I told myself I "didn't want to ruin it" but when I really stopped to think about it, I realised that I didn't want to finish it. The moment I did, it wouldn't be a "work in progress" with the potential to be the book I had in my head. It would be done (or as done as it can be until I get feedback from "higher up").
What a stupid way of looking at it! Rather than being grateful for being able to tell the story, and excited by the prospect of having it finished and getting it out there, I was worried that it would fall short of both my expectations, and everyone else's. I was sabotaging my own efforts! Of course, with the novella as a work in progress, any flaws can be smoothed out, and I can always tell myself it can be improved. With my novella finished, I have to stand behind it and say "Yes, I did this."
Well you know what? I do stand behind it, and I'm damn proud to say I did it.
Finishing a novel, or a short story, or any kind of creative project, requires a certain element of commitment to the project as a whole. The project may need you to spend a long period of time with your attention focussed on that one thing - it's hardly surprising your creative mind starts to wander, and terrified of stagnation, it starts trying to distract you. You're like the Lothario who thought he'd been finally tamed by the buxom brunette from the tavern by the beach, only to find himself eyeing up the local ladies after a few months of passion with his paramour. You want to stay faithful, really, you do, but those new ideas are just so exciting!
I tend to find that when I'm working on one particular project, I'll indulge in short but sweet side projects. So I might be working on a novella or a serial, but I'll still write my weekly Friday flash, or blog posts. They're such small projects that they're hardly projects at all, and doing them means I get to pay scant attention to the smaller ideas while keeping myself focussed on the larger idea of the work in progress.
Having said that, the Fuel Your Writing post does contain one particular point that comes from extremely personal experience. That point is the third reason why people may find it difficult to finish a project.
I'm scared. If I never finish writing it, or I never make all of the changes to the draft, then it'll always have the potential to be amazing. If I do finish it, then it loses that potential and just becomes a 'thing' I've done. It might not live up to expectation.
As some of you may know, lately I've been working on a novella, The Guns of Retribution. It's a Western, and clocks in a couple of hundred words shy of 30,000. I've had my trusted and highly valued beta readers give it the once over, and now I've made my changes based on their feedback, I'm pretty pleased with it. Having said that, for the few days before I actually finished it, I kept finding reasons not to make the changes. I told myself I "didn't want to ruin it" but when I really stopped to think about it, I realised that I didn't want to finish it. The moment I did, it wouldn't be a "work in progress" with the potential to be the book I had in my head. It would be done (or as done as it can be until I get feedback from "higher up").
What a stupid way of looking at it! Rather than being grateful for being able to tell the story, and excited by the prospect of having it finished and getting it out there, I was worried that it would fall short of both my expectations, and everyone else's. I was sabotaging my own efforts! Of course, with the novella as a work in progress, any flaws can be smoothed out, and I can always tell myself it can be improved. With my novella finished, I have to stand behind it and say "Yes, I did this."
Well you know what? I do stand behind it, and I'm damn proud to say I did it.
Monday, 4 April 2011
Photo Prompt 27
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Twenty-seventh prompt, ready and waiting.
If you want to use the prompt, all I ask is that you include a link to this entry and a credit to me for the photograph, and that you post a link to your story in the comments box below so I can see what you've come up with! If you don't comment on this entry, then I can't comment on your story.
The twenty-seventh prompt is Crypt.
All photo prompts are my own photography - you can find more of it on Flickr. You can also buy my prints from Deviantart. 20% of all proceeds go to charity - the other 80% go towards my PhD fees!
If you want to use the prompt, all I ask is that you include a link to this entry and a credit to me for the photograph, and that you post a link to your story in the comments box below so I can see what you've come up with! If you don't comment on this entry, then I can't comment on your story.
The twenty-seventh prompt is Crypt.
All photo prompts are my own photography - you can find more of it on Flickr. You can also buy my prints from Deviantart. 20% of all proceeds go to charity - the other 80% go towards my PhD fees!
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Friday Flash - Losing Battle
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Gwinn didn’t want her father to die.
She cowered in the corner of the hovel, trying to keep out of the way. Her father lay on the low table near the empty fireplace. An arrow pierced his side, just below his ribs. Blood oozed around the shaft. He kept scrabbling at the arrow, yelling curses when he touched it.
His hound sniffed at the air, and whined, pawing at the rough earth floor of the shack. Gwinn worked her fingers into his fur, trying to quiet the dog’s whimpers. Gwinn whispered in his ear, trying to reassure the dog as much as herself. For all of her fourteen years, she felt like a child.
The old woman hunched over the table, slapping her father’s hands away from the arrow. She hummed a melancholy tune and examined the wound. Gwinn could smell the bad blood. Dafys, her father’s best friend and commander, slammed his fist on the table. The impact made her father cry out.
“What are you waiting for, woman? Take it out!” shouted Dafys.
“All in good time,” replied the old woman.
She leaned forward and wrapped her gnarled fingers around the arrow. Gwinn’s father shouted another curse, and his hound howled. Dafys whirled around, his blue eyes blazing.
“Can’t you shut that dog up?”
“I’m trying, sir-”
“Try harder.”
Gwinn wrapped her hand around the dog’s muzzle and brought his head close to hers. She slung her other arm around his neck, and held him close. He shivered in her arms, his howl dissolving into whimpers. Her father screamed again, and Gwinn buried her face in the dog’s fur.
“One more should do it,” said Dafys.
Gwinn looked up, straining to see through the tears. The old woman gave the arrow a final tug, and it tore free. Black blood spurted from the wound, splattering the old woman’s faded apron. The stench of decay hung heavy in the air.
“There you go, Merryd, it’s out,” said Dafys, leaning over her father.
“Beggin’ yer pardon, sir, but this arrow...” said the old woman. She peered at the jagged head. Gwinn’s stomach rolled at the thought of the metal lump buried inside her father.
“Yes?”
“Did it come from a forest dweller, or a bandit?”
“A forest dweller. Lord Tulloch had us chasing poachers ,” replied Dafys.
“I thought so. This ‘ere arrow...it’s been dipped in brax berries.”
Dafys stared at the old woman. Gwinn’s heart dropped through her rib cage, hitting her stomach with a thud. Brax berries. Poison. Her father groaned, writhing on the table.
“Can you do anything to help him?” asked Dafys.
“I can try, sir, but it’s fair advanced now. I’ll do what I can,” said the old woman.
Gwinn tried to stand, but her legs buckled beneath her. She slumped to the floor. Her father’s hound licked at her face. She pushed him away. He whined, looking from Gwinn’s tear-stained face to his moaning master and back.
“Is my father–” she began.
“Not now, girl,” said Dafys.
The old woman bustled around the room, throwing dried herbs and foul-smelling oils into a bowl. She pounded the mixture with a stone pestle. The acrid smell of the paste made Gwinn’s eyes water. The hound backed away and forced himself between Gwinn and the wall.
“Is this legal?” asked Dafys.
“This ‘ere is a ‘erbal remedy, sir. T’ain’t magic, if that’s what yer thinkin’,” replied the old woman. “No one can do magic theirselves.”
Gwinn’s father gasped behind them. He wheezed, fighting to get air into his failing lungs. Gwinn rushed across the room and grabbed a pale, clammy hand. Her father shifted, trying to look at her.
“I’m here, Papa,” said Gwinn.
The old woman slapped the stinking paste onto her father’s wound. His eyes flew open, bulging in agony. He screamed. The paste sizzled and spat where it touched the oozing black blood.
Her father’s body shuddered. Gwinn sobbed and squeezed his hand tighter. She wished that she could somehow will the poison out of his body. The hound sat on his haunches and let out a single banshee howl. Her father shook in one last spasm, and lay still.
Gwinn stared at the body. She told herself that the white, haggard face did not belong to her father. A stranger lay on the table, not Merryd Twildir. The old woman rolled her eyes skywards and muttered something under her breath. Dafys stifled a sob. The hound collapsed in a fit of whimpers in the corner.
Gwinn pressed her lips to her father’s hand, and laid it on his chest. She turned and sat on the bare floor. The strength of the table against her back reassured her. An eerie silence descended on the hovel, broken only by the stamp of horse’s hooves in the cold mud outside. Gwinn looked out of the window. A crow sat on a post just beyond the glass. It gave a single caw, and flew away towards the trees.
Gwinn didn’t hear Dafys’ promise that she would be taken care of. The old woman’s apologies and platitudes fell on deaf ears. All she could think of was how she would break the news to her brother.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
[Book Review] Flashman and the Redskins
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Fellow writer Danny Hogan recommended that I read Flashman & The Redskins, and being on a real Old West kick at the moment, I decided that I would. Written in 1982 by George MacDonald Fraser, the novel comes as part of the Flashman papers, a fictional set of accounts that purport to be the memoris of the Flashman character that appears in the 1857 book, Tom Brown's Schooldays. In this particular volume, we see him in the American West - part one is set in 1849-50, which seems him trek from Louisiana to Santa Fe masquerading as the husband of a madam, while part two is set in 1875-76, which sees Flashman embroiled in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
It's an absolute humdinger of a novel. In part one alone, Flashman ends up leading a wagon train, falling in with scalp-hunters, marrying an Apache princess, befriending Geronimo, before crossing the States with the legendary frontiersman, Kit Carson. In part two, he acts as a translator and envoy at various meetings with the Sioux over the Black Hills, before ending up at the notorious battle. By the end of the book, he's in Deadwood, chatting merrily with Wild Bill Hickok. That's quite a lot to pack into one book!
While much of it veers close to implausibility, the amount of historical detail is incredible. The book also contains two appendices to explain particular instances in the book, as well as a wealth of foot notes to further expand some of Flashman's assertions, as well as to add background and context to his narrative. Flashman might be a lying, lecherous, philandering cad, but he's a damn fun one, and his conversational style makes it easy to zip through his adventures. The most amusing thing about him is that he frequently displays acts of bravery, yet hurries to explain that he's actually a coward, but simply appears brave - he's a real antihero who just doesn't want to admit he's not entirely bad!
It's a fun read, stuffed with historical detail, and it's a real disappointment when you reach the end and realise that's the end of his adventures in the Old West. Highly recommended.
Five blunt pencils out of five!
It's an absolute humdinger of a novel. In part one alone, Flashman ends up leading a wagon train, falling in with scalp-hunters, marrying an Apache princess, befriending Geronimo, before crossing the States with the legendary frontiersman, Kit Carson. In part two, he acts as a translator and envoy at various meetings with the Sioux over the Black Hills, before ending up at the notorious battle. By the end of the book, he's in Deadwood, chatting merrily with Wild Bill Hickok. That's quite a lot to pack into one book!
While much of it veers close to implausibility, the amount of historical detail is incredible. The book also contains two appendices to explain particular instances in the book, as well as a wealth of foot notes to further expand some of Flashman's assertions, as well as to add background and context to his narrative. Flashman might be a lying, lecherous, philandering cad, but he's a damn fun one, and his conversational style makes it easy to zip through his adventures. The most amusing thing about him is that he frequently displays acts of bravery, yet hurries to explain that he's actually a coward, but simply appears brave - he's a real antihero who just doesn't want to admit he's not entirely bad!
It's a fun read, stuffed with historical detail, and it's a real disappointment when you reach the end and realise that's the end of his adventures in the Old West. Highly recommended.
Five blunt pencils out of five!
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Links a plenty - writing advice on the web
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There's an awful lot of advice online for the aspiring, intermediate or even expert writer, and it's sometimes difficult to keep up. As it's been a while since I've done a "links" post, I've decided to compile a list of some of the latest blog posts I've come across to do with writing (and yes, I did write the Fuel Your Writing post, before you say anything). As a further note, I highly recommend all of these blogs for their insightful and often just plain interesting articles.
How To Stop Your Creative Muse Walking Out And Cheating On You
A Big Creative Yes
45 More Tips For Writers, From Writers
Marelisa's Abundance Blog
10 Steps to Making Your Author's Blog A Success
A. Victoria Mixon
8 Fiddly Things You Can Do To Your Manuscript To Make Your Editor's Day
Hey, there's a dead guy in the living room
Writing Historical Fiction? How to Write a Book Set in the Past
Quips and Tips for Successful Writers
What the Fiction Editor looks for
Rachelle Gardner
10 Things To Do Before You Self Publish
Self-Publishing Resources
To Betta or not to Beta
The Kill Zone
Six Core Analogies for the Six Core Competencies
Storyfix
Your Online Press Kit
Publetariat
Self-publishing vs Traditional Publishing
Nathan Bransford
Seven Tips for Submission Success
Fuel Your Writing
And for a little bit of general silliness...
Marvel Comics Family Trees
How to be a Retronaut
How To Stop Your Creative Muse Walking Out And Cheating On You
A Big Creative Yes
45 More Tips For Writers, From Writers
Marelisa's Abundance Blog
10 Steps to Making Your Author's Blog A Success
A. Victoria Mixon
8 Fiddly Things You Can Do To Your Manuscript To Make Your Editor's Day
Hey, there's a dead guy in the living room
Writing Historical Fiction? How to Write a Book Set in the Past
Quips and Tips for Successful Writers
What the Fiction Editor looks for
Rachelle Gardner
10 Things To Do Before You Self Publish
Self-Publishing Resources
To Betta or not to Beta
The Kill Zone
Six Core Analogies for the Six Core Competencies
Storyfix
Your Online Press Kit
Publetariat
Self-publishing vs Traditional Publishing
Nathan Bransford
Seven Tips for Submission Success
Fuel Your Writing
And for a little bit of general silliness...
Marvel Comics Family Trees
How to be a Retronaut
Monday, 28 March 2011
Photo Prompt 26
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Twenty-sixth prompt, ready and waiting.
If you want to use the prompt, all I ask is that you include a link to this entry and a credit to me for the photograph, and that you post a link to your story in the comments box below so I can see what you've come up with! If you don't comment on this entry, then I can't comment on your story.
The twenty-sixth prompt is T Rex.
All photo prompts are my own photography - you can find more of it on Flickr.
If you want to use the prompt, all I ask is that you include a link to this entry and a credit to me for the photograph, and that you post a link to your story in the comments box below so I can see what you've come up with! If you don't comment on this entry, then I can't comment on your story.
The twenty-sixth prompt is T Rex.
All photo prompts are my own photography - you can find more of it on Flickr.
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