As I trodge through the latter half of revisions to the The Novel, part of my brain keeps ticking away on the problem of how to pitch the story. What should I say about it? If I boil down the plot to a single sentence or three what does it look like?
All of this (combined with several meme photos of Twilight VS Buffy: The Vampire Slayer) prompted me to start thinking about the relationship dynamics between my Main Character and the Main Secondary Character in my novel. If I had to sum up how their relationship works in one or two sentences, what would it look like?
This is what came out of that pondering.
Lowen: You're lucky I like you, otherwise you'd be dead.
Keira: Only if I didn't kill you first.
Lowen: I love you, you know.
Keira: M'ballacks.
And, because that one was so much fun, here's one for the short story I've been working on this week.
Owen Rex: I'm sorry I turned you into a werewolf but someone has to stop my bitch of a step-mother.
Willa: This is true. Besides, you're dying so I guess we're even.
So, my question/challenge/proposition for you is: How would you sum up the relationship between your MC and his/her sidekick/best friend/lover/companion/whatever?
If you feel like sharing what you come up with, hit the comment button. (They don't have to be snarky. Mine just came out that way.)
[To be clear: I have no intention of including either of those in a query letter. They are simply a part of my process as I figure out the heart of all the moving pieces in these stories.]
Friday, June 29, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Goldfish Grimm's Spicy Fiction Sushi - Issue 5
As I announced last week, Goldfish Grimm's bought "Happy After All" for Issue 5. It will be live on Sunday, July 1st @ http://goldfishgrimm.com/
Be sure to check it out! In addition to my story (plus a nearly coherent interview), there will be fiction (and an interview) from Lydia S. Grey. (Lydia is another Write 1, Sub 1 trouper and has had stories published at Every Day Fiction and in Comets and Criminals, among others.)
Be sure to check it out! In addition to my story (plus a nearly coherent interview), there will be fiction (and an interview) from Lydia S. Grey. (Lydia is another Write 1, Sub 1 trouper and has had stories published at Every Day Fiction and in Comets and Criminals, among others.)
Friday, June 22, 2012
Bits and Pieces
Goldfish Grimm's Spicy Fiction Sushi notified me yesterday that they wanted to purchase "Happy After All" for Issue 5. I'm super-excited!
I also realized that I don't think I made an official announcement when Stupefying Stories bought "The Collections Agent." And since that sale they (Stupefying Stories) have also bought "Caught" - a creepy little piece of flash fiction.
As soon as Issue 5 of Goldfish Grimm's goes live I'll post links (of course). Same with the details on Stupefying Stories and where to purchase the volume containing "The Collections Agent".
[I should probably add that all three stories were written either last year or at the beginning of this year as part of Write 1, Sub 1.]
I'm also (slowly) working on updating my links at the bottom of the page. I realized I hadn't touched that section in... months, shall we say, and some of the markets are dead. Plus, I have links to new ones.
Stay tuned for further updates!
I also realized that I don't think I made an official announcement when Stupefying Stories bought "The Collections Agent." And since that sale they (Stupefying Stories) have also bought "Caught" - a creepy little piece of flash fiction.
As soon as Issue 5 of Goldfish Grimm's goes live I'll post links (of course). Same with the details on Stupefying Stories and where to purchase the volume containing "The Collections Agent".
[I should probably add that all three stories were written either last year or at the beginning of this year as part of Write 1, Sub 1.]
I'm also (slowly) working on updating my links at the bottom of the page. I realized I hadn't touched that section in... months, shall we say, and some of the markets are dead. Plus, I have links to new ones.
Stay tuned for further updates!
Monday, June 18, 2012
New Twitter Fiction!
One Forty Fiction published "Overhead" today.
Yay!
Other than that things are pretty slow. I've written a new story (The Ant Thief) and started a second one (One Last Kill) and that's awesome.
Waiting on responses for things on submission, but it's been pretty quiet the past week or so. (Barring a #megafail with the UFO anthology. Entirely my fault. I don't write funny materialmuch ever.) I imagine there will be a flood pretty soon of yes's or no's. Either way, I'll be busy again.
Yay!
Other than that things are pretty slow. I've written a new story (The Ant Thief) and started a second one (One Last Kill) and that's awesome.
Waiting on responses for things on submission, but it's been pretty quiet the past week or so. (Barring a #megafail with the UFO anthology. Entirely my fault. I don't write funny material
Friday, June 8, 2012
June Update
Things have been busy. And crazy. And crazy busy. But, I do have a few pieces of good news to pass along.
"The Collections Agent" - a longish steampunk noir tale - and "Caught" - a bit of speculative flash fiction - with both be published by Stupefying Stories. I do not have exact dates yet, but communication with Bruce Bethke (editor-in-chief at Stupefying Stories) seems to indicate this will happen by the end of the summer.
It also seems that pod-cast version of "Insomnia" is going to happen in the next couple months. (Details are being ironed out, but I'm very excited about this.)
In the meantime, I have a handful of stories on submission (trying out a few newer markets and a few older ones) and I'm working on several potential anthology pieces. And the novel. Which, as ever, chugs along steadily.
As the middle of the year approaches I'm evaluating my weekly and monthly goals in an attempt to wind up closer to my long term goals by the end of the year. Because closer is better than not-closer.
Thus far: I have failed in the monthly word count goals. But I haven't stopped writing altogether.
I am nearly finished with one novella and two others are chugging along at a predictable (if slow) rate.
The novel grows longer each month as well. It is not the massive progress I had hoped for, but each chapter is building on the last and leading to the following and that really all I can ask for.
I have completed one new short story since the beginning of the year and revised a half dozen (or so) others.
Besides, there are six months left to meet my goals. From where I sit, that's an eternity.
"The Collections Agent" - a longish steampunk noir tale - and "Caught" - a bit of speculative flash fiction - with both be published by Stupefying Stories. I do not have exact dates yet, but communication with Bruce Bethke (editor-in-chief at Stupefying Stories) seems to indicate this will happen by the end of the summer.
It also seems that pod-cast version of "Insomnia" is going to happen in the next couple months. (Details are being ironed out, but I'm very excited about this.)
In the meantime, I have a handful of stories on submission (trying out a few newer markets and a few older ones) and I'm working on several potential anthology pieces. And the novel. Which, as ever, chugs along steadily.
As the middle of the year approaches I'm evaluating my weekly and monthly goals in an attempt to wind up closer to my long term goals by the end of the year. Because closer is better than not-closer.
Thus far: I have failed in the monthly word count goals. But I haven't stopped writing altogether.
I am nearly finished with one novella and two others are chugging along at a predictable (if slow) rate.
The novel grows longer each month as well. It is not the massive progress I had hoped for, but each chapter is building on the last and leading to the following and that really all I can ask for.
I have completed one new short story since the beginning of the year and revised a half dozen (or so) others.
Besides, there are six months left to meet my goals. From where I sit, that's an eternity.
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