tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25204973309738134432024-03-13T06:03:04.023-04:00A. G. CarpenterWriting :: Advice :: Short Stories :: Novels :: Business :: Query :: Publication :: Editing :: How-to Write A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.comBlogger230125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-12287368152808606142018-08-05T18:37:00.000-04:002018-08-05T18:37:26.790-04:00At Long Last... It's certainly been a minute since I last posted over here. This has been a year of stress, disorganization and trying too hard to keep working. <div>
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But, maybe, things are starting to level out a bit now. </div>
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I spent most of July finishing up a new novel for Falstaff Books. This one is a sequel to the SF Western novella "Brass Stars", and is the first of two books I will be writing for Falstaff this year. The release date for "A Fistful of Dust" hasn't been finalized yet (I just turned the manuscript in) but we suspect it will be sometime in the Spring of 2019. As usual, I will post more about that when we get closer to the release. </div>
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I'm also working on a couple of novellas, pondering the revisions for the Cozy Mystery/Fantasy novel, and working on finishing the Southern Gothic Magic Girl novel. In other words, still writing all the things even if progress this year has been somewhat slower than in previous years. </div>
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Also, if folks are interested in buying an autographed copy of "Touch: A Trilogy" you can check out my <a href="https://gumroad.co/touchtrilogy" target="_blank">Gumroad</a> page. </div>
A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-36498841305156614472017-12-18T14:08:00.000-05:002018-01-02T20:59:41.796-05:00Once More Around the Sun: The End of the Year Wrap, Round Up and General Review of ThingsThis has been a year of even less blogging than usual. Mostly because I've just been busybusybusy and at the end of the day my social media stuff comes second to the other creative work. But, as we head into and through the winter holidays and the last couple weeks of the year, I thought I would go back over the highlights of the year.<br />
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In January I finished up a third round of revisions on the Epic Not Fantasy and it has been out in my agent's capable hands since then, looking for a home. January also saw the release for "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Shade-Soul-Touch-Trilogy-Novella-ebook/dp/B01MZE2D64/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1485701879&sr=8-12&keywords=Of+Shade+and+Soul" target="_blank">Of Shade and Soul</a>", the second book in <i>Touch: A Trilogy</i>.<br />
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In February I wrote the first draft of a project that is Jane Austen meets the Greek Gods for a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth. Because of other work under contract that one got shelved after the first draft, but I'm hoping to pick it back up in the new year and get it ready for publication. <br />
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In March and April I wrote "Of Flesh and Bone", the final book in <i>Touch: A Trilogy</i>, and co-wrote a brand new novella for inclusion in the forthcoming Monster Society collection. (Currently projected for release in 2018.)<br />
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In May I wrote <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mothers-last-child-ag-carpenter/1126941520" target="_blank"><i>Mother's Last Child</i></a>, and polished up the first draft of <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jacquelyn-and-the-sparkly-emo-vampire-goat-ag-carpenter/1126941552?ean=2940154715260" target="_blank"><i>Jacquelyn and the Sparkly Emo Vampire Goat</i></a> - both of which were released as ebooks later in the summer.<br />
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In July, Falstaff Books released "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TMDZ2D" target="_blank">Of Flesh and Bone</a>," and in August the omnibus edition of the trilogy came out in print and ebook.<br />
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In August I also started a Patreon which revolves around my Steampunk novel, <i>The Gear'd Heart</i>, and provides the opportunity to subscribe for $1 a month and read as new chapters are released every week.<br />
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I also started a YA novel in September and the first draft is nearing completion. It's a Southern Gothic, magic girl, fantasy that's kind of Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Gilmore Girls in rural Georgia. It's fantastic and I love it, but it's also been one of the harder projects I've written.<br />
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And, finally, in November I took a break from the YA novel and wrote the first draft of a Cozy Mystery/Fantasy mash-up that is loads of fun and also weird and full of feels. (Because you know how I love weird and full of feels.)<br />
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I will be updating some things here on the blog over the next few weeks with better links for those looking to find any of these projects I've been talking about. And, you may have noticed, I've added a couple of buttons to the top right of the page for those who just want to drop a few dollars into the proverbial tip jar. (One is PayPal.me, the other is Ko-Fi. Money distributed through either helps me pay bills and spend time writing instead of doing something else to make ends meet.)<br />
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This has been a long year, full of work, and some disappointment, but I am looking forward to 2018 and the projects I'm hoping to bring to you over the next several months.<br />
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Thank you to all the folks who have bought my books or support me on Patreon. Y'all mean a lot to me.<br />
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See you in the new year! A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-42093167279708769012017-08-15T19:08:00.000-04:002017-08-15T19:08:36.436-04:00New Release! The Complete Touch TrilogyAs promised folks, Falstaff books has released the entire Touch trilogy (Of Lips and Tongue, Of Shade and Soul, Of Flesh and Bone) in a single volume. It's available both for Kindle and as a paperback via Amazon <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074KMV1P8" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br />
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Since I have been busy with other things since my last blog post (I know, I know. It's been a minute.) let me share the cover art and back cover copy now.<br />
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"I loved this novella series. Brooding,
earthy, whispering to us with a delicious mood of creeping dread while
filling the heart with a pure sense of wonder." - Charles de Lint, World
Fantasy Award Winning Author of <em>Moonlight & Vines</em>.<br />
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"A. G. Carpenter's <em>Touch Trilogy</em>
is a terrific paranormal mystery series... If you like Faith Hunter's
Jane Yellowrock series, you owe it to yourself to check out A. G.
Carpenter." - Bruce Bethke, Philip K. Dick Award Winning Author of <em>Headcrash</em><br />
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Magic and madness don't always run hand in hand, but there's a reason they call it the Touch.<br />
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Delaney
Green is one of them that don't burn, not that no one ain't never
tried. After her mama tried and failed to murder her for pulling on the
future like it was a piece of string, Del has spent her whole life in a
mental institution for her own safety. And everyone else's. No one wants
to see what might happen if she goes cracked.<br />
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When a dozen young
women turn up burned to a crisp, local folks are quick to point the FBI
team investigating the supernatural killings straight at Del. But
Percival Cox, the quiet agent with secrets and magic of his own, doesn't
see a monster, and he finds himself drawn toward Del and her strange
abilities.<br />
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As Del struggles to keep their newfound love from going
the way of Romeo and Juliet, but with less fancy speech and a lot more
killing, she'll cross from this life to the next, and back. Her daddy
always said, once you see the future you can change it, and Del will do
her damnedest to temper the wild magic she sees in Percy before he
destroys them both.<br />
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"The 'Touch' trilogy is a masterclass in
world-building, tells a fascinating story with economy and intelligence,
and does so with fine, pared-down prose. But best of all is the
characterisation; Carpenter writes about real people the reader comes to
care about. An all-round winner!" - Eric Brown, Philip K. Dick Award
Nominated author of <em>Rites of Passage</em>."<br />
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I am very excited to have all three novellas available in a single volume. These were a bit of a passion project for me, and I hope that you will take the opportunity to pick up a copy today and discover the magic for yourself. </div>
A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-52457261134776150462017-07-12T10:23:00.000-04:002017-07-12T10:23:26.054-04:00The Long SlogFor most folks who ID as "creatives" we start doing the thing because we love it.<br />
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Whether that's illustration or comics or knitting or sculpture or short stories or screenplays or or or....<br />
All these things start from a place of "OMG! I love this so much that I want to do it too!" So we write or draw or knit or whatever because it makes us happy. (Even when it makes us sad, too.)<br />
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But, at some point we realize that we can either do this thing we love a little bit less or we can try and make money at this thing we do. (Because, let's be honest, we all have bills and life and things that can't be paid off with sheer creativity. And the Bohemian ideal of living in abject poverty while devoting oneself to the arts is not as cool as the musical versions make it seem.)<br />
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For me, personally, I write because I love it, but I try and sell my work because I also need to eat. And pay the electric bill. And the water bill. And the internet bill.<br />
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It's a fine line to walk - writing the things you love, and then finding an audience who is willing to give you cash money for said things. (Especially hard if you don't fit neatly into a genre or category.)<br />
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I am extremely grateful to the fans who have bought my self-published novelettes and novellas. To the folks who have bought the Touch trilogy and waited eagerly for the finale. But the last of the Southern Gothic novellas comes out in a week, and the self-published books sell best at conventions.<br />
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So, in the quest to continue doing the thing I love (writing) while still being able to pay for the things I must have (electricity, water, internet, etc), I have started a Patreon.<br />
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I've been considering the idea for quite some time, but given the realities of being a mother and primary guardian of the homefront, and all the work that entails, I was uncertain about committing to new content every month. However, I have a lot of content that is already written and ready to be shared. Including, The Steampunk Novel.<br />
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This is a book I spent a lot of time on. Years, even. I learned how to write a novel by writing this book and it is the start of the most ambitious story-world I have come up with. And now, thanks to the magic of Patreon, you can have it in serial format for just $1 a month.<br />
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It's always... challenging, asking folks to help you keep doing something that can seem so very ephemeral. But this is a novel I love. It's a novel I think you will love. And, with your help, I can not only let you read it, but I can continue to write other things that I love as well.<br />
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Check it out, the first two chapters are posted for free.<br />
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<a href="https://www.patreon.com/AggyCarpenter">https://www.patreon.com/AggyCarpenter</a><br />
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A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-49849169730081239532017-06-29T07:10:00.000-04:002017-06-29T07:36:13.955-04:00Coming Soon: Of Flesh and BoneIt's almost here, folks! <i>Of Flesh and Bone</i>, the final book in the <i>Touch</i> trilogy is coming in July from Falstaff Books. And that means.... a brand new cover. (And it's especially shiny.)<br />
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Are you ready?<br />
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<i>Delaney Green may have found her way back to the living, but her new
body isn't going to last. Without magic, and still separated from Percy,
she is forced to rely on the tangled memory of what might be to find a
way to reclaim her bones. With the help of an old ally, and the
reluctant assistance of new enemies, Del takes the final steps down a
long road home. </i><br />
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I will at LibertyCon this weekend (Jun 30 - Jul 2), but stay tuned for more details and some exciting announcements coming soon. <i> </i>A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-10941634253984974692017-05-29T21:28:00.000-04:002017-05-29T21:28:23.732-04:00Coming Full CircleLast week I dropped in to let y'all know that I'm still here, I've just been busy. And one of the things I've been busy with is BRASS STARS.<br />
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Some of y'all might remember that this SF Western novella was first published by Eggplant Literary Productions back in 2013. That was a year that felt like a really big deal as far as my writing career was concerned. This novella was accepted and published, and - after ten months and a shiteload of queries - I also found representation for The Steampunk Novel.<br />
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It felt like the wheel was starting to turn in my favor after five years of working really hard to not only polish my craft, but push beyond short stories. I shared links and the gorgeous cover art and told myself that <i>This is it. This is the break I've been looking for.</i><br />
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And then things... just didn't go the way I thought. BRASS STARS sold, but not well. And then the publisher folded less than a year later and I was left with a book I loved, but was now a reprint.<br />
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What to do?<br />
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My first thought was to find another home for it, but that proved unsuccessful (despite getting all the way to final consideration at another small press). And I was worried that maybe this little book that I really love so much was, well, maybe not that good. (I know, I know. Why am I telling you this? In the business side of things everything is supposed to be shiny and wonderful.)<br />
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The good news is, I still love this novella to death. It's not a fancy book. It's not a literary book. It is a book about a snarky, sweary, determined woman who wants revenge. And a psychopathic, cybernetic horse. I mean, really? What's not to love?<br />
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So, I am republishing this one myself, complete with additional revisions (about 10% new material) and a brand, spankin' new cover. The exact release date has not been decided on yet, but I should have a preorder page up on<a href="https://gumroad.com/aggyc#" target="_blank"> Gumroad</a> in the next week or so.<br />
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In the meantime, you can check out the cover and blurb below.<br />
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Tashndelu Sand has traveled across the deeps of space in the company of Snyder - a cybernetic beast who has no ones best interest in mind - to Paradise, a lonely town on a desert planet, to find the<br />last man in the posse that killed her mother. The plan is simple. Get in, kill Brannigan, and get out, and nothing is going to stand in her way. Not John Crow, an <i>Extra Sapien</i> like herself, trying desperately to win her heart. Not Diamondback Jack, a retired gunner who is determined to save her soul. Not even her own fear of the brutal darkness growing inside her. <br />Fifteen years ago, Brannigan shot her and left her for dead. It’s time to return the favor.<br />
A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-47776605408442479502017-05-26T19:44:00.000-04:002017-05-26T19:44:58.013-04:00Coming Up For AirEvery now and then you get a year that's just full of stuff - both good and bad.<br />
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This spring I've managed to deal with the flu, a lingering (think 2+ months) cough, a head cold, and a fractured rib.<br />
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I also finished up two drafts <i>Of Flesh and Bone</i>, the final Touch novella. Plus managed to crank out 13k in a week on the Monster Society novella that will be featured in the forthcoming anthology with Eric S. Brown and Robert Waters, in order to get it turned in a month early. (In addition to a brand new, never-before-seen novella, the anthology includes all of the short stories about the Monster Society previously published in The Grantville Gazette.)<br />
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I had a point, shortly after finally getting over the flu which knocked me out for two solid weeks, where I was frustrated because I felt like I hadn't gotten anything done. And then I sat down and looked at what I had written and realized that I already had almost 80k under my belt between Christmas and the middle of April.<br />
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(Oh, yeah. Did I mention finishing up revisions on the Epic Not Fantasy? There was that too and I am waiting on pins and needles for it to find a home so you can all read it because it might just be my favorite book yet.)<br />
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But, as we head into Memorial Day weekend - and near the middle of the year - I am trying to take stock of what I've accomplished and what's still to come.<br />
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My remaining big conference of the year is LibertyCon at the end of June. (I know, I know. I would love to make it to more cons too, but finances don't currently allow me to travel very far.) The plan is to be able to share both the Monster Society anthology and the completed collection of the Touch trilogy with y'all by then. And if that doesn't happen, then they should be available shortly afterward. (And <i>Of Flesh and Bone </i>will also be available as an individual ebook as well for those that have been buying the novellas as they have been released. The advantage of the collection is that it will be available in print, for those that don't like reading on a screen.) <br />
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In addition to both of those novel-length collections, I have two novelettes coming out end of June and early July. I've been teasing the cover of the first (Jacquelyn and the Sparkly Emo Vampire Goat) on Twitter and my Facebook author page, but I'll be doing a more detailed write-up here in a few days. [<a href="https://gumroad.com/l/sparklegoat#" target="_blank">SparkleGoat is currently available for preorder on my Gumroad page</a>, but I'm still finishing up some details on the second book, <i>Mothers Last Child</i>, and would like to put them both up here together.]<br />
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Suffice to say, if you are looking for more of my work, it's coming very soon. But, due to the repeated health issues and the sheer volume of work I've been tackling, I've not had much of a chance to talk about any of it here. Or much of anything else.<br />
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That's about to change though as I am working on getting all the pertinent covers and links, etc together. So, please stay tuned.<br />
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There's a lot of great stuff coming. A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-91549907966647074152017-03-25T09:43:00.000-04:002017-03-25T09:43:16.223-04:00Make an Author Happy on Her BirthdayHey, folks. So, today I am celebrating 38 years on this planet. If you want to celebrate with me, you can make me very happy by buying one of my books.<br />
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"Eleven stories about love, survival, and the depths of the human heart.
Eleven worlds – some remarkably similar to our own, some
dramatically different. From the clammy dungeons and mysterious
rooftops in "The Spider Thief and the Sorcerer" to the muddy, voodoo
protected shores of Lake Ponchartrain in "Legacy" to the highrise slums
of Venus in "The Weather's Always Fine in Paradise", this collection of
short stories will take you out of the everyday world and into the realm
of 'what if'? What if magic and knowledge were things that could
be leased and reclaimed? What if voodoo could open a woman's heart
to the possibility of love? What if the things that mattered most
were not things at all? Explore the possibilities in this
collection of eleven stories from A.G. Carpenter."<br />
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Paperback available through <a href="https://gumroad.com/l/Weather-Is-Fine-pb#" target="_blank">Gumroad</a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1523336579" target="_blank">Amazon</a> <br />
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Kindle version through <a href="https://gumroad.com/l/weather-is-fine-mobi#" target="_blank">Gumroad</a> <br />
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Nook/eReader version available through <a href="https://gumroad.com/l/Weather-Is-Fine-ebook#" target="_blank">Gumroad</a>, <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-weathers-always-fine-in-paradise-ag-carpenter/1123238335?ean=2940152844641" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a>, and <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-weather-s-always-fine-in-paradise" target="_blank">Kobo</a> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6z1Ac3YhE-5kjUTHa71COPz0Xe2kZyqU7q9YuFF2tKjS7L6k0dfPqt9gxz7v92D42MkgPuscoLzladSCLskwLA9V2nLaW2GMQTRdQmw_fCdpuvwCw4HHxkNvIk7MKAKld5pu-z_fgq819/s1600/Of-Lips-and-Tongue-Cover-sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6z1Ac3YhE-5kjUTHa71COPz0Xe2kZyqU7q9YuFF2tKjS7L6k0dfPqt9gxz7v92D42MkgPuscoLzladSCLskwLA9V2nLaW2GMQTRdQmw_fCdpuvwCw4HHxkNvIk7MKAKld5pu-z_fgq819/s320/Of-Lips-and-Tongue-Cover-sm.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br />
"Delaney Green is one of them that don't burn. Possessed of the Touch -
with the ability to not only see the future but manipulate it - she's
been kept in an institution for most of her life. When the Salesman, a
murderous entity with a connection to Delaney's past, starts burning
girls to death, FBI Agent Percival Cox gives her the chance to leave the
asylum behind. But he presents an even greater threat and she must risk
flesh and bone in order to keep him from becoming a Power more
destructive than the Salesman. "<br />
<br />
Available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HMVHOVW" target="_blank">Amazon</a> for Kindle <br />
<br />
Nook/eReader version available through <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-weather-s-always-fine-in-paradise" target="_blank">Kobo</a>, and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/of-lips-and-tongue-a-g-carpenter/1124017184?ean=2940153258256" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyG2f1i-IkJeUs1_9fscEPLY8ALNMVURvYlnuCfa64VdYElTH12AsC_I53APB1z9Y1NBoPpuJ9y9zE7waZKc2GO7ZHdtpD04KQwJyBsgvMSvWqRxyC-gfZD4ijBxlkjY4KkOE3WJjuiE3R/s1600/Of+Shade+and+Soul+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyG2f1i-IkJeUs1_9fscEPLY8ALNMVURvYlnuCfa64VdYElTH12AsC_I53APB1z9Y1NBoPpuJ9y9zE7waZKc2GO7ZHdtpD04KQwJyBsgvMSvWqRxyC-gfZD4ijBxlkjY4KkOE3WJjuiE3R/s320/Of+Shade+and+Soul+Cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
"Delaney Green might be dead, but she don’t mean to stay that way. As she
searches for a way back to the realm of the living, and the man she lay
down flesh and bone for, Percival Cox and his team investigate a series
of deaths and stolen souls. But Percy is not the man he used to be. If
Del can’t find a way to stop him from waking his past, he could destroy
everything, including himself."<br />
<br />
Available from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MZE2D64" target="_blank">Amazon</a> for Kindle <br />
<br />
Nook/eReader version available from <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/of-shade-and-soul-a-g-carpenter/1125551853?ean=2940154183908" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a>, and <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/of-shade-and-soul" target="_blank">Kobo</a><br />
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A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-79402197220379679572017-01-02T09:12:00.001-05:002017-01-02T09:12:09.299-05:00Begin Again: The End of the Year Wrap-up and Beginning of the Year Aspirations2016 was a shit year in a lot of ways. For an arbitrary collection of days a lot of bad things happened and I, for one, have been looking forward to the chance to reset my goals and expectations with the arrival of the new year. But in order for the magic that is assigned meaning to work, I have to not only make plans for the future, but look at where I've been for the last twelve months. (Figuratively. We all know I've been right here.)<br />
<br />
So, before I lay out goals for this new series of months, let me, briefly look back at the past year.<br />
<br />
I started the year off with the publication of my collection of short stories, <i>The Weather's Always Fine in Paradise</i>. While the majority of these stories had been published elsewhere previously, many of them had disappeared from the web as various markets closed down or took down older content. And it gave me the opportunity to share three stories that had gotten a lot of "nice, but not quite" rejections over the years.<br />
<br />
The release of that book was quickly followed by a contract with Falstaff Books for a trilogy of Southern Gothic novellas, <i>Touch.</i> And the first, <i>Of Lips and Tongue</i>, was released at the end of June.<br />
<br />
I also began co-writing a series of short stories with Eric S. Brown for the Grantville Gazette, featuring his characters, The Monster Society. Altogether we have written five short stories and three have been published to date (with the last two forthcoming a little later in the spring).<br />
<br />
In addition to those short stories, I wrote the second <i>Touch</i> novella - <i>Of Shade and Soul</i>, forthcoming January 2017. And I finished the first volume of an SF epic, <i>Survivor,</i> that is steampunk and post-apocalyptic and character driven and has no magic whatsoever. It's also close to 700 pages, by far the longest thing I've ever written. (There was also the Sparkly, Emo, Vampire Goat story I wrote in the week leading up to Christmas - 8k words worth of funny, subverted fairy tale.)<br />
<br />
So those were the positive personal things I accomplished in 2016, which leads me into my goals for the new year.<br />
<br />
A couple of years ago I moved away from more general goals to focus on project-oriented goals. This was in part because life is chaotic and I was beating myself up for the portions of the year (and they are there no matter which year it is) when I can't get my butt in my chair and write every day or I just can't get as many words on the page as I'd like. (See this past September when I battled carpal tunnel issues and dropped my weekly wordcounts to about 1/10 of what they were in July and August.)<br />
<br />
There are two projects already on my plate for 2017.<br />
<br />
1. The third/final novella in the <i>Touch</i> trilogy (<i>Of Flesh and Bone</i>) which will come out late spring or early summer if things go as planned. (There will also be both an audio book and print collection of all three novellas, following the release of the third novella in eBook format.)<br />
<br />2. A super-secret project that I'm hoping to be able to announce by the end of January.<br />
<br />
I'd also like to:<br />
- Start the second volume of the Epic Not Fantasy.<br />
- Polish off a couple of novellas I've drafted over the past couple of years and then shelved because they weren't quite right.<br />
- Work on an idea for a creator-owned comic book series.<br />
<br />
In order to make that happen there will likely be daily and weekly wordcount goals, but those will be negotiated with myself as the year progresses and various deadlines present themselves. Due to the recovery from the carpal tunnel issues, I've found that 1k a day is pretty doable, but higher daily goals tend to aggravate.<br />
<br />
But these are just the concrete goals, the tangible things that if I achieve them I can actually show folks "Here is this thing I've done and you can see it." I have other goals that are more personal and less quantifiable.<br />
<br />
The biggest, and scariest, is writing the things I've been afraid to write*. I am encouraging myself to write those things that cut deep and challenge and are not safe at all. This latter is a thing which makes my anxiety plow through the roof because all of these word-things (books and short stories and various scripts) are meant to be building a career out of this work that I really love. But not safe can, sometimes, also mean not-sellable. And not-sellable is a difficult piece to fit into a burgeoning career.<br />
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But there are things I want to write that will not be written unless I stop trying to stay in the safe parts. And that's my primary goal for the year: to not write safely.<br />
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So, with all the assigned meaning I am capable of giving it, welcome to the new year. May 2017 be a year of keeping ones real-world loved ones safe, and making ones words decidedly dangerous. <br />
<br />
*There are always projects that crop up that I have doubts about in regard to technical skill. But the really frightening ones are the ones that push social and political and spiritual boundaries. You know the ones, they always involved writing about That One Subject That is Very Personal For You. <br />
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<br />A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-73155033077182229642017-01-01T10:39:00.000-05:002017-01-17T08:46:30.628-05:00Award Eligibility: 2016Hey, folks.<br />
<br />
My publication activity this past year is pretty simple.<br />
<br />
I self-published a collection of short stories in February - <a href="https://gumroad.com/aggyc#" target="_blank"><i>The Weather's Always Fine in Paradise</i></a>. Of the stories in that collection, two were previously unpublished. (The others were all reprints from my semi-pro/pro sales in previous years.)<br />
<br />
These two are all shorts and eligible for awards where the criteria is "published between Jan 2016 - December 2016". <br />
Made<br />
The Weather's Always Fine in Paradise<br />
<br />
If you are interested in reading any of these for consideration, I am offering a free eBook copy on request. You can reach me via email annagrace(dot)carpenter(at)gmail(dot)com<br />
<br />
Also published in 2016 was my Southern Gothic/Horror/Dark Fantasy novella - <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lips-Tongue-Touch-Trilogy-Novella-ebook/dp/B01HMVHOVW" target="_blank"><i>Of Lips and Tongue</i></a>. If you are interested in a copy for consideration please contact my publisher, John Hartness, at Falstaff Books - john(at)falstaffbooks(dot)com or contact me at the email address above.<br />
<br />
There are also several short stories that were published in the Grantville Gazette which I co-wrote with Eric S. Brown.<br />
- <a href="https://grantvillegazette.com/wp/article/6801/" target="_blank"><i>An Army of Scarecrows</i></a><br />
- <a href="https://grantvillegazette.com/wp/article/the-monster-society-snowbound/" target="_blank"><i>The Monster Society: Snowbound</i></a><br />
- <i><a href="https://grantvillegazette.com/wp/article/7166/" target="_blank">The Lost Monster</a></i><br />
<br />
The Monster Society stories can be read for free via the above links. <i> </i>A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-29490203265287583142016-12-27T00:00:00.000-05:002016-12-27T00:00:04.841-05:00Cover Reveal: Of Shade and SoulI am so very pleased to share the cover for <i>Of Shade and Soul</i> with y'all. Are you ready?<br />
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This is the second book in the <i>Touch</i> trilogy and we are working hard to bring it to you in January of 2017. It will be available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N.com, and other fine retailers of ebooks.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, enjoy that shiny cover. (And, if you haven't bought a copy of the first book, <i>Of Lips and Tongue,</i> you can check out the opening pages on Amazon.com <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lips-Tongue-Touch-Trilogy-Novella-ebook/dp/B01HMVHOVW">HERE</a>.)<br />
A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-25406460568518850972016-11-14T20:17:00.000-05:002016-11-14T20:17:01.260-05:00Resistance (Update 11.14.16)Things have been quiet on the blog as I have spent the last several months working on finishing up two different projects.<br />
<br />
The most recent was the full draft for "Of Shade and Soul" the forthcoming sequel to "Of Lips and Tongue". We don't have an official release date yet, but we're aiming for early January. (Assuming my health cooperates. The carpal tunnel issues I've been struggling with are slowly improving, but I am not back to where I was earlier in the year. And, as with most stress injuries, rest is the best cure when it starts to flare up.)<br />
<br />
So, look for updates on the release date, plus a cover reveal coming in December.<br />
<br />
I've also finished up a second draft of "Survivor" - the epic post-apocalyptic SF book I've been working on since the spring. I finished the first draft mid-summer, but after taking a step back and talking to my agent, I realized I was cutting the story short. So, I did another pass to flesh out some of the areas I had glossed over in the madness that is a first draft and in the process added another 46k words to the manuscript.<br />
<br />
*insert desperate laughter here*<br />
<br />
The latest revision pass is now tightening up the action in the last third of the book in prep to put it out on sub. But, with current events in the US the past couple of weeks, I was reminded of this sequence from an earlier section of the book. It has been on my mind a lot so I thought I would share it with y'all.<br />
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<![endif]--><br />Izzy checked the compass heading, fluttered the pedals underfoot to adjust course. "We are doing the right thing, aren't we, Reese?" <br /><br />"Pursuing the talisman?" <br /><br />"Protecting humanity." Her cheeks flushed, guilty. <br /><br />"Ah." He swung his legs over the edge of the hatchway and looked down at her. "Are you tired, Isabenne?" <br /><br />"Yes." She frowned. "But that's not... none of this is new, is it? The war. The politics. You've seen it all before." <br /><br />He rubbed his head, thoughtful. "There is nothing new under the sun. But it is not continually worse. Not unless we cease to try." <br /><br />"Is that we're doing? Trying to hold back the centuries of all the worst of humanity in the hope of a few more years that are good?" <br /><br />"Perhaps." <br /><br />She could hear the concern in his voice, but refused to look up at him. "Perhaps. Then we are believers after all. Fighting for something that history says we will never reach." <br /><br />"And what is that, Isabenne?" <br /><br />"Peace." Her voice cracked and she glared out into the darkness, blinking away tears. <br /><br />Reese was silent for a while. "Perhaps we are not meant to fight for it." <br /><br />That made her look up at him, startled. "You think we should surrender?" <br /><br />He shrugged. "No. I think..." He shook his head. "Not all resistance is war. Maybe we are meant to save humanity some other way." <br /><br />"Some other way." <br /><br />He spread his hands. "We are destined to live. If we remember that..." He fell silent again. <br /><br />She licked her lips. "Maybe." She locked the controls and let her feet swing free. "You should rest. We don't know what tomorrow brings." <br /><br />Reese sighed. "Aye, captain." He drew his feet up, settling back against the wall of the corridor. <br /><br /> Izzy took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to relax. <i>We are destined to live</i>. She stared out toward the stars twinkling on the horizon. That might be worth fighting for.A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-32636756781543745422016-10-23T11:50:00.000-04:002016-11-14T20:09:32.268-05:00Something Witty (Update 10.23.16)After spending the last six weeks struggling with carpal tunnel, last night I finished up the main draft for <i>Of Shade and Soul. </i>This is the sequel to <i>Of Lips and Tongue</i>, and continues the story of Delaney Green. I'm very excited about this novella and can't wait to share it with you all, but the release date is likely to be sometime in early January.<br />
<br />
<b>In the meantime, <i>Of Lips and Tongue</i> is eligible for nomination for the Bram Stoker Award. If you are an HWA member and would like a copy for consideration you may contact my publisher - john (at) falstaffbooks (dot) com - and he will be happy to provide you a copy for free.</b><br />
<br />
If you are not an HWA member (or you just want to help support a starving author) you can always purchase a copy through <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lips-Tongue-Touch-Trilogy-Novella-ebook/dp/B01HMVHOVW">Amazon</a> or <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/of-lips-and-tongue-a-g-carpenter/1124017184">Barnes & Noble</a> or <a href="https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/of-lips-and-tongue">Kobo</a>.<br />
<br />
Continue to watch for updates. I'll be revealing the cover for <i>Of Shade and Soul</i> before long. (I think y'all are going to love it.) Plus there will be some "behind the scenes" posts on how I tackled writing and pitching a series. A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-42803343309432725372016-09-28T14:20:00.001-04:002016-09-28T14:21:03.929-04:00Update on GalaktikaThe Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has issued an update on the situation with Galaktika Magazine.<br />
<br />
You can read it here: <a href="http://www.sfwa.org/2016/09/the-galaktika-situation/">http://www.sfwa.org/2016/09/the-galaktika-situation/</a><br />
<br />
I have a further update of my own coming sometime this weekend. A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-38759192938527897722016-07-19T22:02:00.001-04:002016-07-19T22:02:39.499-04:00Apply Constant PressureA month or so ago, I got into a discussion with some folks about stress dreams. Well, less of a discussion and more of a sharing of anecdotes about stress dreams. Which ones folks had most frequently, how they changed over time, ways in which we dealt with them (and the stress that triggered them).<br />
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I mentioned that although I had the very common "get to school and discover there is a class I didn't know about and today is the final test" dream when I was younger, it wasn't until I reached college and was actually in a school environment that I began to find it actually a stressful dream. (Thank you twelve years of being schooled at home for making that dream funny the first few times I had it.)<br />
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Then I mentioned that more recently my stress dreams usually resolve with me pounding on whatever (or whoever) is causing the stress in the dream until it yields and is no longer stressful.<br />
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One of the other folks said they couldn't imagine being violent enough to hit something or someone else. Even in a dream.<br />
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That made me chuckle a little. Not that someone else would respond differently than myself - that is rarely a surprise.<br />
<br />
I chuckled, because the propensity to beat my annoyances in the dream world into submission says a lot about my personality. I do not easily yield. (And yes, this is both a strength and a flaw.)<br />
<br />
Writing is frequently a very solitary pursuit. It requires time and thought and research and a certain amount of opening veins (figuratively) and bleeding (figuratively) on the page. Having friends and family that encourage and support you in this seemingly simple endeavor is crucial, but at the end of the day no one can write your book except for you.<br />
<br />
And that is daunting. Because the only real and solid credential for a writer is that they have written something.<br />
<br />
A short story.<br />
A poem.<br />
An article.<br />
A novel.<br />
<br />
Words on the page, beginning to end. A writer is someone who writes. And that is a thing that sounds easy, but for most of us never is.<br />
<br />
There's always another hurdle.<br />
The thing that we wrote? Not really meaningful until it's published. (Because we tell ourselves publication is validation.)<br />
The thing that was published? Not really successful until we're paid for it. (Because we tell ourselves compensation is validation.)<br />
That thing we were paid for? Not really anything more than a hobby until we can quit the day job and live off our creative work. (Because we tell ourselves that recognition is validation.)<br />
<br />
There's always another hurdle, another step, another goal, another writer who has done more or better than you have.<br />
<br />
Writing is the stress dream to beat all stress dreams. But it's not a thing you wake up from. This is the real life version with film at eleven and a viral media tail that leaves folks saying "I couldn't make this shit up."<br />
<br />
I have found success in some measure by using both fists (figuratively) to beat the shit (figuratively) out of the obstacles in my path.<br />
<br />
Chris Pratt went viral with <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BBCS7PoDHMX/?hl=en">an Instagram post </a>a few months back in which he talked about doing the things he loved and pursuing his dreams. He concludes with "Apply constant pressure for as long as it takes. It will break before you do. Go get it."<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span id="react-root"></span></span><br />
<br />
It's easy to only see the obstacles and think "I'm not strong enough or bold enough or aggressive enough to break those down."<br />
<br />
I used to wake up in a panic after dreaming I was back at work with the asshole boss from hell. Until one night I realized I had nothing to lose by trying to beat them into submission because it was all in my head. And sure enough, when faced with the constant pressure of my (dreamworld) fists, they yielded. Sometimes they come back. My fists are still here; they still yield.<br />
<br />
You have nothing to lose by pursuing your desire to write. If you want publication, pursue it. If you want recognition, pursue it. But don't let the things you want (publication, validation, recognition, and sweet, sweet cash) keep you from the thing that you need (to open those veins and bleed on the page).<br />
<br />
Apply constant pressure. The obstacles are all in your head. A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-40710124052472802302016-07-15T17:33:00.000-04:002016-07-15T17:33:41.495-04:00Writing Minorities from a Position of PrivilegeLast weekend I had the pleasure of attending LibertyCon in Chattanooga, TN. It was the third year I'd been a guest at this particular convention and it never fails to be interesting (if sometimes challenging).<br />
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In particular this year, a question from an audience member during the Weird Wild West panel prompted me to think more specifically about the challenges of writing perspectives outside our own - specifically those of minorities being written by folks with greater degrees of privilege. It's not the first time I've thought about the issue, nor the first time I've talked with other authors about it or written about it. But it has been a year and a half since I last put any sort of formal shape to my thoughts and I was surprised to discover that, while my general thoughts have not changed, the specifics are different now.<br />
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The question started with a reference to an essay in which the author had argued that authors who are not part of minority groups would be better off letting those groups write for themselves rather than tackling perspectives they are not familiar with. (I.e. White folks shouldn't write from the PoV of Latinx or African-American characters because they won't really know or understand the culture, and in providing a majority voice they will inadvertently silence more authentic voices.) The audience member then pointed out that although she was a WoC, she would struggle to write from the perspective of a lesbian because she's straight. She then asked what the panelist thought - did we agree that folks who were not a part of a minority should avoid writing characters from minority perspectives?<br />
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There's a thing that tends to happen when you ask white authors this question or mention that it's been asked. Invariably they say "I write characters all the time that aren't me. Murderers and thieves. Writing a character who is a person-of-color or a member of the LGBTQAI community is no different." And then they usually stress that doing research into cultures and communities we aren't a part of is important for authenticity.<br />
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This opinion is similar to the position I took a year and a half ago (<a href="http://agcarpenter.blogspot.com/2015/04/fixing-diversity-in-science-fiction-and.html">"Fixing" Diversity in Science Fiction and Fantasy</a>), but further consideration has led me to believe that it is not enough.<br />
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First of all, let me point out that having diversity in ones story world is still a must. (Barring some unnatural and plot specific reason that everyone looks one way or another. I.e. A virus that killed off nintey-nine out of every hundred women leaving a planet or country with a massive male population and only a handful of women.) But having a diverse story-world is not the same thing as writing from a minority perspective - writing from the POV of a person-of-color or LGBTQAI or differently abled, etc.<br />
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The former means recognizing and incorporating a variety of folks into the fabric of your world so that it feels real. The latter means seeing that world through the experience of someone who is from a particular culture/subculture. The latter means not just understanding general experiences - being an outsider in a group or having a lover leave you - but specific experiences - having store employees follow you around because of the color of your skin or being suspected of being a criminal based on the way you wear your hair or being told that you sound like a certain ethnicity because you laugh too loud.<br />
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The latter means not merely drawing on the experiences that all humans have in common, but understanding that as a white/cis/het/abled/neuro-typical person there are experiences you will likely never encounter, but are common for members of other cultures.<br />
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And that doesn't even touch on differences in family life and structure, economic challenges, religion, music, dress, education, etc.<br />
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"So," you say. "You do think only minorities should write minority characters."<br />
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The short answer is no. And my next answer is "If you are not part of a particular group - minority or otherwise - understand that you are not an expert on that group."<br />
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All things being equal in terms of writing craft, a person-of-color will always write a POV character from their cultural group with greater authenticity than someone outside that group. Folks who have lived in poverty will portray the complexities of being poor more clearly than someone who has always lived comfortably. A lived experience will always be more authentic than a researched experience. <i>Always</i>.<br />
<br />
Secondly, saying "I am not a murderer, but I write about them because that's what authors do," is not a valid equivalent to "I am not an African-American, but I write about them because that's what authors do."<br />
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It's true that a large part of writing fiction requires putting oneself in the head and skin of folks that are very different from our real-life self. But murder is a thing that transcends culture - it is a human experience that almost anyone can imagine because it is not culture or religion or gender specific.<br />
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Imagine you write a book from the POV of a serial killer. Imagine, even, that you get a part of it wrong. Something in your portrayal doesn't represent the actual experience of real serial killers. Imagine that something in your representation of a serial killer has a negative influence on the way everyone else views serial killers. Now imagine that everyone in the world reads your book. How many folks will be able to say "This is wrong. I am a serial killer and I know,"? How many folks will find they are subject to additional prejudice because you have added to the negative of opinion of serial killers?<br />
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Now imagine you write a book from the POV of a minority that you are not a member of. Imagine you get a part of it wrong. Imagine that your representation has a negative influence on the way everyone else now views that minority group. Now imagine everyone in the world reads your book. How many folks will be able to say "This is wrong. I am a member of this group and I know,"? How many folks will find they are subject to additional prejudice because you have added to the negative opinion of that minority group?<br />
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[Let me clarify that I am not saying that if a group is sufficiently small you shouldn't worry about "getting it right". Rather comparing the creative ability to write about thieves to the creative ability to write about people-of-color borders on ignorance - well-intentioned or not.]<br />
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"So," you say. "You do think only minorities should write minority characters."<br />
<br />
The short answer is no. And my next answer is "If you intend to write about an experience that is not a human experience (love, grief, anger, hate, hope, etc) and is based outside your own cultural background, then you had better do your fucking research."<br />
<br />
This means talking to people within that group. It means reading books and articles by members of that group. (Not just books and articles about that group.) It means writing the thing you intend to write and then showing it to those people you talked to before and asking "What have I gotten wrong?" (It also means understanding that these folks don't have an obligation to explain these things to you. Look for help, but don't demand it.)<br />
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It means recognizing that the things you think you know about being African-American or Latinx or LBTQAI or neuro-atypical may be flat out wrong. The things you've seen in movies or read in books may be wrong. It means recognizing that your ability to imagine yourself as a member of x-group may be flawed. It means being humble and being willing to learn. It means not being defensive when someone tells you "You will have trouble understanding this because you haven't lived it." It means being able to to take criticism from folks outside your immediate friends and family without saying "Well, my roommate in college was Asian and he thought this was okay."<br />
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It means recognizing that while some experiences can give you a good emotional foundation for writing about prejudice or discrimination, being ostracized by the mean girls in high school is not the same as living with systematic racism against your ethnic group. It means recognizing that being misunderstood because you were a tomboy in college is not the same as having your family kick you out for being gay.<br />
<br />
So, all of this to say, if you feel you must write from a perspective outside your own lived experience, do so carefully. Do your research and stay humble.<br />
<br />
If, like me, you are still a little uncomfortable with trying to write from a different point of view, you can still write fiction that presents diverse worlds. Either by making sure your supporting characters and "bit parts" reflect a diverse reality or by writing in worlds that are not our own. (I.e. The main POV characters in the Epic Not Fantasy novel are not "white", but their culture is not ours to begin with. The character whose skin is dark will not have the experience or culture of a man from Africa or the Caribbean or the United States because none of those places exist. But he does still provide a character who is smart and capable and central to the protagonist's success who "looks" like someone of African descent.) The latter is not a perfect solution, but I am committed to not excluding groups just because it's easier and safer for me to write about straight white cis-het folks.<br />
<br />
And use your voice to support and recommend the work of those who are minorities. Not because they need your approval. But because, like it or not, authors in a position of privilege will continue to be asked their thoughts on diversity. And, if you support diversity, you will not just give your own opinions on it, but highlight those who are writing from a diverse perspective.<br />
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Because imagining what it's like to be African-American or Asian or Latinx or neuro-atypical or LGBTQAI is not the same as living it.<br />
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</span>A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-77922830351672587212016-07-01T00:00:00.000-04:002016-07-01T00:00:06.016-04:00Legacy of Truth: Guest Blog by Christy NicholasToday we have an excerpt from Christy Nicholas book, <i>Legacy of Truth</i>, coming July 6, 2016 from Tirgearr Publishing<i>.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJG6T61iHu7H8trVqSRhOxbV4mRFRM9JrGllSRQpbTesV6UGwLYqQt9tQswnXDXrXB8CFUInV5hSdZS22xNvzRKtvOj2LYAP2_ToMC0CIrE3mX3F8kgrZgRfLdOMUZUKZwOzkK5FI65_9W/s1600/LegacyofTruthbyChristyNicholas-500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJG6T61iHu7H8trVqSRhOxbV4mRFRM9JrGllSRQpbTesV6UGwLYqQt9tQswnXDXrXB8CFUInV5hSdZS22xNvzRKtvOj2LYAP2_ToMC0CIrE3mX3F8kgrZgRfLdOMUZUKZwOzkK5FI65_9W/s320/LegacyofTruthbyChristyNicholas-500.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br />
<i>Ardara, County Donegal, Ireland<br /><br />March, 1787</i><br />
Éamonn Doherty eased onto the old rocking chair beside the crackling fire. As soon<br />
as he settled, he was bombarded with children, clamoring eagerly for a story from Grandfa.<br />
<br />
Well, it was his fault. Whenever he returned from his wanderings around the<br />
country, he would give them a story, a tale of Ireland’s past or his own.<br />
<br />
The bairns settled onto the ground at his feet. There were Esme and Eithne, the<br />
twins, looking stark and thin with shocks of wild red hair and too many freckles to count.<br />
<br />
“That's my spot! I always sit there, Eithne, and you know it!”<br />
<br />
Eithne looked at her sister and sniffed, saying nothing. She turned to Éamonn and<br />
blinked as if innocent.<br />
<br />
Esme pushed at her sister, but Eithne was braced for it. She resisted the shove and<br />
looked back over her shoulder with disdain.<br />
<br />
Fuming, Esme crossed her arms.<br />
<br />
In the far corner, with her arms wrapped firmly around her knees, sat the youngest<br />
sister, wee Brighid. Everyone called her Bridey. Her solemn green eyes peered at him,<br />
owl-like. She must be about ten years old by now. And little Níaṁ wasn’t a sister, but a<br />
cousin, her parents having died of a fever. A brown wren, she was plump and sweet,<br />
still a toddler.<br />
<br />
Éamonn would have preferred some grandsons to pass his stories to, but his son<br />
and daughter-in- law, Brian and Shona, had given him only granddaughters thus far.<br />
<br />
Still, he loved them dearly. His two other children were both dedicated to the church, so<br />
Brian was his last hope for grandsons. Éamonn looked at the girls and decided perhaps<br />
a story of a manly hero might do them for the night.<br />
<br />
He fixed his eyes on wee Níaṁ until she giggled nervously. He tousled up his thick<br />
white hair until it looked like a lion and she laughed. Smiling, he began.<br />
<br />
“Tonight our tale will begin with a hero of great fame, for who has never heard of<br />
Fionn Mac Cumhaill, leader of the Fianna, Warriors of Ireland?”<br />
<br />
Timidly, Bridey raised her hand.<br />
<br />
Interrupted, Éamonn cocked his head. “Yes, child? What is it, my dear?”<br />
<br />
“I haven’t heard of him, Grandfa.”<br />
<br />
Éamonn closed his eyes, reaching for patience. The children weren’t to know what<br />
a rhetorical question was.<br />
<br />
“That’s all right, mo chuisle. I will be telling you now, so?”<br />
<br />
The girl nodded and wrapped her hands more tightly around her knees until she<br />
was just a pair of feet, arms and a curly mass of red hair sparkling in the firelight. For a<br />
moment, Éamonn went back in time, to the memory of his dear, long-dead wife, Katie.<br />
<br />
She had hair such as that, wild and bright. The windows rattled as the wind outside<br />
picked up. The children all shifted uncomfortably.<br />
<br />
“The Fianna were a band of warriors, pledged to protect the shores of Ireland from<br />
foreigners. Fionn’s father was the leader of the Fianna, so he had his son raised by a<br />
warrior woman. Have you ever seen a warrior woman, Eithne?”<br />
<br />
“I have!” The girl was the boldest of the lot. “There is a woman who hunts up in<br />
Bunbeg. I heard Alan say she came into his dad’s bakery one day!”<br />
<br />
“I heard that first! He told me first.” Esme said.<br />
<br />
“Girls, that’s enough. Would you like to know about this warrior woman?”<br />
<br />
It did the trick. All four children looked up at him, expectant.<br />
<br />
He grinned and got back into the rhythm of his tale.<br />
<br />
“This great woman was called Liath Luachra, and she was tall, with long muscles<br />
and longer hair. Her brown hair she kept in thin braids, which went all the way down to<br />
her knees. She was a fierce warrior, always clad in skins and furs, and she taught Fionn<br />
all her arts. When he had learned all he could from her, he left to join the Fianna.<br />
<br />
“But the Fianna knew him for his father’s son and worried for his youth and safety.<br />
They told him he must leave, and they could not protect him from harm. This angered<br />
Fionn, so he left in a temper. After his temper had cooled, he sought out a Druid to learn<br />
wisdom. The Druid he found was named Finnegas. Finnegas spent seven years trying<br />
to catch the Salmon of Knowledge, and he had just caught the fish before Fionn found<br />
him. It roasted on the fire, and Finnegas told Fionn to watch it while he got more<br />
firewood.<br />
<br />
“Fionn watched the fish, watched it bubble and pop, sizzle and squeak.”<br />
<br />
Níaṁ let out a squeak of her own to help with the sound effects.<br />
<br />
“He saw a great blister form on the skin of the salmon, growing larger and larger,<br />
about to pop. He pressed his thumb to it to push it back down so the skin wouldn’t be<br />
blemished. As he did so, his skin burned, so he stuck his thumb in his mouth.” Éamonn<br />
demonstrated with his finger and looked around until each child did the same.<br />
<br />
“But he had done a terrible thing, now.”<br />
<br />
“What was so horrible, Grandfa?” Bridey asked with wide eyes. “All he did was<br />
touch the fish!” She replaced the thumb in her mouth absent-mindedly.<br />
<br />
“Ah, that is true. But, you see, Fionn was the first to taste of the flesh of the Salmon<br />
of Knowledge, and it meant he now had all the Salmon’s great wisdom. Finnegas was<br />
furious and chased him out with a club, but Fionn now had the knowledge and wisdom<br />
he needed to lead the Fianna fairly.”<br />
<br />
All the girls watched him for the end of the tale.<br />
<br />
“In the end, he controlled his own fate, and therefore could make himself happy.<br />
That's all that any one of us can do, aye?”<br />
<br />
When Níaṁ realized the tale was over, she belatedly removed her thumbs from her<br />
mouth. As she did, he picked her up into his lap and rocked in front of the fire with her.<br />
<br />
She was a solid, warm little child. Brian might not be able to make his farm work well,<br />
but he at least kept his children fed.<br />
<br />
He sang a sad, low song of lost love and broken promises until each child fell asleep on the soft, white wings of fantasy.<br />
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If you pre-order a copy before the release you'll receive a special sale price of $0.99.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Nicholas_Christy/legacy-of-truth.htm">Legacy of Truth: Tirgearr Publishing</a><br />
<br />
In a small town in northwest Ireland around 1800, Esme must grow up quickly. Her parents are leaving for America, abandoning her and her groom-to-be, Seán, to fend for their own. As she struggles to find her place among strangers in a new, isolated town, she finds it difficult to keep hold of what is precious to her. <br />
<br />
Her one friend, Aisling, helps her through depression and illness as Seán stays away longer and longer on trading missions. Her sister tries to steal a mystical brooch from her, a brooch with which her grandfather entrusted her, to use for her own selfish ends.<br />
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While she has some comfort in her small family, she must discover comfort in her own company to hold back the growing despair and battle against her sister's treachery.<br />
<br />
------<br />
<br />
Christy Nicholas, also known as Green Dragon, has her hands in many crafts, including writing, digital art, beaded jewelry, writing, and photography. In real life, she;s a CPA, but having grown up with art all around her (her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother are/were all artists), it sort of infected her, as it were. She loves to draw and to create things. She says it's more of an obsession than a hobby. She likes looking up into the sky and seeing a beautiful sunset, or seeing a fragrant blossom or a dramatic seaside. She takes a picture or creates a piece of jewelry as her way of sharing this serenity, this joy, this beauty with others. Sometimes this sharing requires explanation - and thus she writes. Combine this love of beauty with a bit of financial sense and you get an art business. She does local art and craft shows, as well as sending her art to various science fiction conventions throughout the country and abroad.<br />
<br />
Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/greendragonauthor">www.facebook.com/greendragonauthor</a><br />
Homepage: <a href="http://www.greendragonartist.com/">www.greendragonartist.com</a><br />
Blog: <a href="http://www.greendragonartist.net/">www.greendragonartist.net</a> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdRqb3JKaPiItsLox0joTyR6uctbCMOkagEKh7uFmsMdEep3pVCRnd72J-g8RF8S7inxQpvL3m-zLHFvnBjgUEGAOgF3vhxEGWSPmmcvoMP3ctsUbKudJwAHanzbKx3txx8qbu1dPh6vB/s1600/Christy+Nicholas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdRqb3JKaPiItsLox0joTyR6uctbCMOkagEKh7uFmsMdEep3pVCRnd72J-g8RF8S7inxQpvL3m-zLHFvnBjgUEGAOgF3vhxEGWSPmmcvoMP3ctsUbKudJwAHanzbKx3txx8qbu1dPh6vB/s320/Christy+Nicholas.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>
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</span>A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-76096792063992185312016-06-28T12:24:00.000-04:002016-06-28T12:24:25.051-04:00New Release! Today I have good news. <i>Of Lips and Tongue</i>, the first novella in the <i>Touch</i> trilogy, is available on Amazon.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lips-Tongue-Touch-Trilogy-Novella-ebook/dp/B01HMVHOVW"><img alt="https://www.amazon.com/Lips-Tongue-Touch-Trilogy-Novella-ebook/dp/B01HMVHOVW" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCoxcoGGjlLmXuSor3XThtMDZU-f1-kVvhEWDi2GZKkJHpIl7pVIHeABP9VXHWsCLnW6rOxO5v-c484G6XPtV5K3O1IphZMrF2XpeGDjkQxipGnH91YrXjet2ptRDtL4pZ6kT6FhlPpAss/s320/Of+Lips+and+Tongue+Cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<i>Delaney Green is one of them that don't burn. Possessed of the Touch -
with the ability to not only see the future but manipulate it - she's
been kept in an institution for most of her life. When the Salesman, a
murderous entity with a connection to Delaney's past, starts burning
girls to death, FBI Agent Percival Cox gives her the chance to leave the
asylum behind. But he presents an even greater threat and she must risk
flesh and bone in order to keep him from becoming a Power more
destructive than the Salesman. </i><br />
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<br /><i> </i><span id="fullpost">
</span>A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-7310871755563374522016-06-10T07:31:00.000-04:002016-06-10T07:31:08.977-04:00LibertyCon Schedule (July 8-10, 2016)The full schedule for LibertyCon is live on their website, but here are the specific panels and events I'll be participating in.<br />
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Friday, 8<br />
2PM Dangers in the World of Steampunk <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Gallery A)</span> - <span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;">Paul Boberg moderates this panel on the dangers of steam and other inventive ways to kill off your Steampunk villain.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;"><span style="font-size: small;">5PM Opening Ceremonies - Centennial Theater</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;"><span style="font-size: small;">9PM Author's Alley - </span></span><span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;">Come by the Author's Alley to chat, buy a book or get an autograph!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Saturday, 9</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">12PM Weird Wild West <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Centennial Theater) </span>- </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;">Rod Belcher moderates this panel on the wild west as envisioned with aliens and Ghost Riders in the Sky!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: small; height: 12px;">2PM Autograph Session (<span style="font-size: x-small;">Dealer's Room)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: small; height: 12px;">6PM Southern Gothic <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Cent. Theater Foyer) </span>- </span><span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;">Leia Barrett-Durham Powell moderates this chilling panel on all frightful things Southern Gothic!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;"><span style="font-size: small;">9PM Author's Alley - </span></span><span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;">Come by the Author's Alley to chat, buy a book or get an autograph!</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: small; height: 12px;"><span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; height: 12px;">Sunday, 10 </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: small; height: 12px;"><span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; height: 12px;">10AM - Kaffeeklatsch <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Roosevelt Room)</span> - </span></span><span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;">Have coffee / continental breakfast and chat with the pros </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: small; height: 12px;">11AM - Reading <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Victorian Lounge)</span> - </span><span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: small; height: 12px;"><span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: 12px; height: 12px;">Come out and have a seat as our author guests read passages of their works</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: small; height: 12px;">I'll have copies of <i>The Weather's Always Fine in Paradise </i>available. (Convention discount too, so it's a great time to pick up a copy if you haven't already.) And I'll be reading from <i>Of Lips and Tongue</i>, the first book in the <i>Touch</i> trilogy.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: black; font-size: small; height: 12px;">I hope to see you there! </span>A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-30417154038513839232016-05-17T15:45:00.001-04:002016-05-17T15:45:39.765-04:00Fragments (The Weird Ones - Chapter 1)It's always interesting looking back at older projects. Sometimes I just want to burn them, but every now and then, I find something that is interesting, even if it makes me roll my eyes a little.<br />
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This one is the beginnings of a novel that I remember had The Lady of the Lake after she left England and went to live in the mountains of Kentucky. I also remember that there was some sort of conflict between various magic-wielding groups that centered around the twins born in the first chapter of the book. And I had just read all of Charles Williams novels. So there is a fair amount of allegorical overtones.<br />
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This is just the first chapter. I'll probably type up the others at a later point, just for fun. Always interesting to see where I was pushing on various bits of style and craft at a particular time. This was written about 2006-2007, I think. No dates on it, just a bunch of handwritten pages, so it might be from a little later.<br />
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Chapter 1: Birth<br />
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The labor was long, drawing on through the hot green afternoon into the soft warm night until, in the mysterious grey hours before dawn, the girls had finally come. <br /><br />
The eldest emerged in a healthy glow, skin all roses and cream beneath the birth fluids, eyes opening bright and blue, fair hair wisping from her head in nearly invisible strands. She looked up at the midwife and chuckled, a bright and innocent sound that immediately dispelled the pain and struggle that had haunted them through the past hours. <br /><br />
With quick, competent hands, the midwife separated her from the umbilical cord and gave her to her daughter to clean and wrap. <br /><br />
The Lady lay on the bed, strength fading after the long night, and the midwife spoke reassuringly.<br />
<br />
“One more now. We almost done.” <br /><br />
Ansley stirred, raising her head a little. “One more?”<br /><br />
“She’ll come easy after the first.”<br /><br />
They began again. The midwife singing low and rich, the mother sobbing as she writhed in the grip of the contractions that felt they would tear her in two. But the midwife was right - the second child came quickly. <br /><br />
As the babe came forth, the midwife felt a horror strike her. The child was much smaller than her sister, born too soon to be fat and strong. There was no deformity, to all appearances she was healthy. Just too small, too still, too cold. <br /><br />
Silent, the midwife cut the cord, rubbed tiny hands and feet, opened the small mouth and blew air into her lungs. But there was no response. <br /><br />
“Lady,” she said. And there was such a note of a grief in her voice that she needn’t say any more. <br /><br />
Ansley began to weep, soft and low, a sorrow beyond words. <br /><br />
But the midwife’s daughter looked at the cold, still babe and said, “She is not yet beyond hope.” <br /><br />
The mother and the midwife both knew the infant could yet be saved, but neither had the instinct to do so - tired after the long night.<br /><br />
But the girl was not so old nor so practical as her mother or the babe’s. She knew only, with the clarity which is the constant companion of the very young, that the infant’s life could readily be saved. That knowledge grew in her with such power that when she spoke her voice was older and strange in her mouth, though it was no less certain. <br /><br />
“She is not yet beyond hope.” <br /><br />
The babe’s mother stirred. She was ashamed of her own lack of courage, but that shame could not overwhelm her love and she sparkled with hope that perhaps what she feared to do, this young woman would accomplish. <br /><br />
The midwife looked at her daughter with narrow eyes, wanting to disbelieve this truth and so absolve her own hesitation. But the girl, normally so timid in her mother’s presence, held out her arms with such surety it was as if she had spoken a command. <br /><br />
The woman handed the cold, still babe to the girl and now her doubt was tinged with malice as she allowed herself to hope perhaps her daughter was wrong and nothing could be done. As she surrendered the child to the more innocent girl, she muttered, “The curse will have its way.” <br /><br />
To which she responded lightly, “ The curse will be undone.” <br /><br />
Kneeling, she laid the infant in her lap and lifted the tiny, pale head in her slender, dark hands. Leaning close she spoke gently, but with purpose. “I freely give that which I have for you to take of what you will. For I have been given much.” And she breathed on her. <br /><br />
At that moment the other babe cried out with the same joyful chuckle as before, magnified by recognition of the words <i>I have been given much</i>. Her voice, though small, was clear, and the echoes chimed throughout the house. <br /><br />
Her sister took a breath and opened her eyes, dark and somber. And she too cried out and the whole house trembled with it, the great arches outside ringing in affirmation, for the second voice and its small cry spoke not only of life given, but also grace. <br /><br />
Ansley, lying weak on the bed, felt her spirits life and she allowed herself to hope that her cowardice would not haunt her forever. <br /><br />
Tiana, kneeling on the floor with the babe still in her arms, knew that she would no longer stand in the shadow of her mother. <br /><br />
The midwife, crouched beside the bed, looked at the infants with malice growing in her heart. She did not yet realize she hated them nor would she ever understand why. But in that moment, when her daughter, glowing with justice and mercy, so lightly tossed aside her fear, the midwife began to hate the twins. <br /><br />
Ansley held both her daughters in her arms and fresh tears poured down her cheeks, though these were sweet, not bitter. “My daughters,” she said. “How beautiful you are.”<br /><br />
The twins who were not twins looked at each other - bright blue eyes meeting dark black eyes; rosy fingers reaching lazily toward an ivory fist. The extraordinariness of the moment was lost to them as all such moments are to the very young. Life and grace seem only unusual to those who have lost their innocence. To the newborn girls every moment was simply love and grace.<br />
<br />They expected no less. <br /><span id="fullpost">
</span>A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-17100584451759911522016-05-06T17:58:00.000-04:002016-05-06T17:58:23.892-04:00Cooling Down - Update 5.6.16Sorry for the radio silence the past few weeks.<br />
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I went to the Steampunk Expo and Gothic Con in Chattanooga, TN back in mid-April, and when I got back, I decided to buckle down and finish up the Epic Not Fantasy Novel. (More formally titled <i>Survivor.</i>)<br />
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I'd been working on that book off and on since last year, originally starting it with the thought that it would be a quick little novella and then slowly developing it into something longer, more epic and covering two volumes. Because that's just how I roll.<br />
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<i>Survivor</i> has a lot of structural elements of a Fantasy, but at its core its straight SF. In fact, its one of the few things I've written that has nary a whiff of magic about it. Of course, it's set in a post-apocalyptic world where even electricity is a bad word and computer programming is considered a downright dark art. (Which is only natural if one lived in the centuries following a series of wars where sentient Machine had nearly wiped out humanity.)<br />
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It's a sprawling little epic with airships and retro-steam tech, sentient gorillas who grudgingly work alongside their smaller, weaker and much less hairy cousins, and an exploration about the self-determining prophecy of fear.<br />
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It's also done! <br />
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Well, the first draft anyway. I finished up the last scenes this morning, bringing the word count in close to 90k and a manuscript page count of 466. Which makes me very happy. That gives me room still to polish and add in some bits and pieces where I might need without worrying if I have to take out anything that it'll get too small or too big.<br />
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I'm also looking forward to getting the edits on <i>Of Lips and Tongue</i>, the first novella in the <i>Touch</i> trilogy coming out from Falstaff Books later this summer.<br />
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But before I tackle revisions on <i>Survivor</i> or edits on <i>Of Lips and Tongue</i> I intend to sit down with my brand new copy of <i>Hellboy in Mexico</i> and veg for a bit. I think I might have earned it.<br /><span id="fullpost">
</span>A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-88031892361258461632016-04-17T18:56:00.000-04:002016-04-17T18:56:07.981-04:00Galaktika Magazine: Getting PaidJust a quick note today.<br />
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Polenth Blake is <a href="http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?317273-Galaktika-Magazine&p=9806692&viewfull=1#post9806692">reporting they have been paid</a> by Galaktika Magazine for the publication of their (translated) story, <i>Never the Same</i>.<br />
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They say they were offered copies in lieu of payment, then told $20 was the new standard monetary payment, but they requested $50 and were paid accordingly.<br />
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Doug Smith had <a href="http://www.smithwriter.com/foreign_market_list.htm#Hungary">originally listed Galaktika's payment terms as $50-$100 per short</a> story plus contributor copies.<br />
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This is good news, as it means the staff at Galaktika are making some effort to make good on the payment their guidelines initially promised. I encourage authors to whose work was stolen to pursue that payment and not opt for copies only. (Remember that <a href="http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2016/04/12/answers-to-some-galaktika-magazine-questions/">Katalin Mund said just last week those magazines are no longer available for purchase</a>, but it has been pointed out that they will continue to sell the physical copies from their office - via the website or in person - for an indefinite period of time. This means they will continue to seek profit from the work that was originally stolen.)<br />
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I strongly encourage authors published in the bigger SF/F magazines in the US or England since the early 2000s to check the Galaktika Bibliography and make certain their work is not among those that were stolen. Primary targets were big name magazines that offered some or all of their content for free online at some point following the initial publication (Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, Asmiov's, Analog, etc). Other typical targets are folks who were published in slightly older anthologies, that then posted their short stories on their blog at a later date. <br />
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If you have been effected, the contact person is Katalin Mund and she can be reached at mund dot katalin at gmail dot com<br />
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[Unsure what all the fuss is about? You can start here - <a href="http://agcarpenter.blogspot.com/2016/03/galaktika-magazine-theft-on-massive.html">Galaktika Magazine: Theft on a Massive Scale</a> and then read more about it here: <a href="http://hungarianglobe.mandiner.hu/cikk/20160331_hungarian_sf_magazine_galaktika_published_short_stories_without_the_authors_consent">Mandiner Article in English</a>, <a href="http://agcarpenter.blogspot.com/2016/04/galaktika-magazine-more-bad-behavior.html">Galaktika Magazine: More Bad Behavior</a>, <a href="http://agcarpenter.blogspot.com/2016/04/galaktika-magazine-by-way-of-explanation.html">Galaktika Magazine: By Way of Explanation</a>, <a href="http://agcarpenter.blogspot.com/2016/04/galaktika-magazine-legacy.html">Galaktika Magazine: Legacy</a>]A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-71230562135216072302016-04-12T14:27:00.000-04:002016-04-12T14:27:27.719-04:00Galaktika Magazine: LegacySeveral things happened this morning in regard to Galaktika Magazine.<br />
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First, Katalin Mund, manager of Galaktika Magazine <a href="http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2016/04/12/answers-to-some-galaktika-magazine-questions/">responded to Cat Rambo's request for further clarification</a> on several points following the <a href="http://galaktika.hu/a-metropolis-media-kiado-kozlemenye">initial statement made by Istvan Burger on Friday</a>.<br />
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Second, I was contacted by Eric Brown, who told me his story, The Time-lapsed Man (<i>Interzone</i> #24 1988) had been published without his permission in a 1994 issue of Galaktika.
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<span id="fullpost">Third, comments from a Hungarian reader pointed out that back-issues of Galaktika are still available to purchase through the website or in person at their main offices. (More on this in a moment.) </span><br />
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<span id="fullpost">Mr. Brown's story was stolen during the first iteration of Galaktika - when it was owned by Mora Publishing, and run by </span><span id="fullpost">Péter Kuczka and Judit Trethon (who have both passed away in recent years). At first I wondered whether to even mention this. </span><br />
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<span id="fullpost">As Metropolis Media has made clear to Mr. Brown, they do not have any responsibility for the actions of the previous publishing house. And (as Malcolm Cross pointed out in a previous post) Galaktika was originally published in a much different political and economic climate. With the folks involved in the theft of work during the '90s already gone, perhaps there isn't a point in bringing it up. </span><br />
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<span id="fullpost">But if we are to consider the legacy of Galaktika, we must also consider how the current publisher and staff members acquire their foreign work. </span>That means considering how they intend to address the issue going forward. That is a question they have not addressed.<br />
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Mr. Burger and Mr. Nemeth have offered vague explanations that are, quite frankly, not satisfactory given the number of years this theft has occurred. But whether it was ignorance or laziness or just the inclination that if they could get away with it, they would, something has to change drastically going forward.<br />
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I would really like to think that the offer to provide compensation for the authors whose work has been stolen indicates the problem has been resolved. Although requiring the individual authors be aware they've been stolen from and making them responsible for seeking payment does not seem a good faith step.<br />
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And there is the question that Cat Rambo raised regarding whether authors could or would be able to request their work withdrawn from Galaktika. She referenced a potential online edition (which is seems there is not one), but the response from Katalin Mund was as follows.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The short stories were published in a monthly magazine, which was sold
for two months, so these prints are not available any more. So Authors
don’t need to withdraw their works.</blockquote>
As I mentioned earlier, a comment from a Hungarian reader promptly revealed the misrepresentation of that statement.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
They state it, but this is a flat-out lie. Nearly ALL back issues are
available for ordering on the publisher’s webshop,
http://galaktikabolt.hu/. I checked, and every issue from the year 2015
is available now. (The original article on mandiner.hu was about the
magazine’s 2015 issues.) They're not digital copies, the physical,
paper-based issues are still sold.</blockquote>
At the very best, Mund and Galaktika are misrepresenting the situation regarding further sales of the pirated work. And this is key - they are <i>selling</i> that work.<br />
<br />
Free piracy sites for novels are not entirely uncommon. And, while they are certainly problematic, they mainly rely on income from ads rather than attempting to sell the [electronic] books that they are providing for download. (There are also some arguments made that those who will grab a book for free from such "collections" are generally not folks who would have purchased it in the first place.)<br />
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But Galaktika has been selling the work they've stolen, and using the names of big authors (folks like Tom Hanks and John Scalzi) to draw readers and add legitimacy to their publication. To represent that they will no longer be doing so is misleading at best and tends point to a continuing legacy of excuses and bad behavior.<br />
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<span id="fullpost"> </span>A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-64700144521839742382016-04-12T08:37:00.001-04:002016-04-12T08:37:29.591-04:00Galaktika Magazine: Authors Must Seek CompensationAs Cat Rambo has posted on her blog today,<a href="http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2016/04/12/answers-to-some-galaktika-magazine-questions/"> Galaktika Magazine has responded to some of her questions</a> regarding compensation to the authors whose work was stolen.<br />
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It is important to note that authors whose work has been stolen must contact Galaktika.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We'd like to ask authors to contact us directly to agree on compensation methods. You can give my email address to the members. <span style="color: blue;">mund.katalin@gmail.<wbr></wbr>com <br /><span style="color: black;">- Katalin Mund</span></span></span></blockquote>
They also state that there is no need for work to be withdrawn as the print copies are no longer for sale. But there is no mention made of how they intend to address the chronic theft from this point forward. <br />
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A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2520497330973813443.post-32005212125816459272016-04-09T17:34:00.000-04:002016-04-09T17:34:20.633-04:00Galaktika Magazine: By Way of ExplanationFollowing the publication of<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="gD" name="Bence Pintér"> Bence Pintér's article on Galaktika's theft of short fiction during 2015, the publisher, </span></span></span>István Burger, and editor, <span class="im"> Attila Németh, came under scrutiny from the SF/F community. Their response was interesting. </span><br />
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<span class="im">Mr. </span><span class="im">Németh said he had recently been dealing with personal issues and, being somewhat overwhelmed, he had passed the responsibility of seeking permission for foreign reprint rights on to others. He had not realized there was a problem until it was brought to his attention by the Mandiner article. (He also referred to the accusations of theft as "lies" and claimed it was being blown out of proportion by a rival publishing house.) </span><br />
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Then, on April 8, 2016, <a href="http://galaktika.hu/a-metropolis-media-kiado-kozlemenye/?utm_source=mandiner&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=mandiner_sci-fi_201604"> István Burger published a statement</a> regarding the allegations made against Galaktika regarding theft of short stories published during 2015. Although he did not issue the statement in English (an interesting choice given that many of those effected by the theft of their work do not read Magyar), several online translation services offer up the following basic points.<br />
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<i>1. The Mandiner article brought the unauthorized publication of the translated short stories to the attention of the international community and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). </i><br />
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<i>2. Galaktika has tried to publish high quality SF/F from both Hungarian and international authors as part of the long-standing tradition of the magazine. </i><br />
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<i>3. The staff has not acted with the proper diligence, caution or speed in regard to acquiring foreign rights. </i><br />
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<i>4. Some sort of compensation is being offered to those affected by the theft of their work, but the specifics are not yet determined. </i><br />
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<span id="fullpost">Let me pause for a moment and say that the offer of compensation is a step in the right direction. However, neither Mr. Burger or Mr. </span><span id="fullpost"><span class="im">Németh have addressed the underlying issue. </span></span><br />
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<span id="fullpost"><span class="im">This is a chronic and widespread issue of theft. It is not just the stories published in 2015 (of which there are many), but work that was published as far back as 2008. </span></span><br />
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<span id="fullpost"><span class="im">If we were to look only at the authors who had a single story published without their permission, like Aliette DeBodard, Polenth Blake, Malcolm Cross, and Lily Yu, we might be able to accept at face value the explanations being offered in defense of Galaktika. (Although it is still important to note their work was published back in 2012.) If we consider that some authors, like Lisa Goldstein and Tanith Lee, had been published by Galaktika before it was rebooted in 2004, we might be able to assume this was just an occasional misunderstanding. (But we should still remember they had not given permission for their work to appear in more recent issues.) </span></span><br />
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But then there are authors like Elizabeth Bear, who never submitted work to Galaktika, and who had two different stories published without her consent - one in 2008 and one in 2015. Authors like Kij Johnson who had four stories published without her knowledge or consent - in 2009, 2010, 2014, and 2014/2015, respectively. (The last - <i>The Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles</i>, Tor.com, 2009 - was published twice.)<br />
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This pattern is more than a lack of diligence or caution or speed on the part of the publishing staff at Galaktika. It is not an occasional oversight or misunderstanding of previous contracts. This is habitual theft.<br />
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Remember that the vast majority of these authors never submitted their work for consideration, there was no implication of giving their permission for the translation and publication of their stories in Galaktika. Rather, their work was copied from other, paying publications online without any attempt to contact the original publisher, editor or author, and then printed for profit in Galaktika. That is not a mistake, that is theft.<br />
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Cat Rambo, current president of SFWA, said she is still trying to obtain a copy of <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="gD" name="Bence Pintér"> </span></span></span>István Burger's statement in English and there are still questions to be answered. (How soon can authors expect to receive payment? Will authors be able to request their work be pulled from Galaktika? Will Galaktika contact all those involved to arrange compensation or will they put the responsibility on the individual to contact them and make a claim?) <br />
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And the question remains, what will Mr. Burger and Mr. <span id="fullpost"><span class="im">Németh do going forward? </span></span> A.G. Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625944977710830629noreply@blogger.com0