Split Personality

As a writer, if I have one complaint about editors, it's that they don't give a piece a chance (apologies to John Lennon). They don't read far enough, or they make snap judgments based on only a few paragraphs. They don't follow through and find out (cough, cough, ahem) what a great writer I am.

As an editor, if I have one complaint about writers, it's that they fumble their openings. They feel they have to explain everything, or they try to be too sophisticated, too cute, too whatever of one thing or not enough of something else. In short, in trying so hard to get it right, they get it wrong.

I know, 'cause I get it wrong all the time.

The only way to keep my sanity and still perform my duties as both writer and editor is to understand that the two jobs are not the same, but they don't need to be at odds with one another. After all, isn't the goal to produce strong writing and therefore good stories?

It's a Jekyll and Hyde world, and I'm just a wanderer here.

Bette Davis and The Dread Pirate Roberts Redux

Here's a re-run, a portion of an entry originally posted on January 5, 2007. Over a year later, it's still true, even though one fantasy manuscript has been completed, and the second is almost three-quarters complete. Despite the progress, I'm still not satisfied, and I keep reading the work of other writers that I am convinced is so much better than mine that I can't hope to compete. Whinge, whinge, whinge. That's a writer for ya.

Every time I think "the end" is near, the novel requires more from me, forcing me to walk roads I've never traveled, to fight enemies in disguise and to use weapons that are unwieldy in my hands. "I am not equipped for this," I complain, but the story does not listen. It expects me to do what must be done.

I do not know how to do something? So what, shrugs the story. Learn.

"I can write short stories and poems in my sleep," I boast in a cry-baby whine. "I can conduct interviews in a single bound. Why can't I just stick with them? Novels hurt too much."

Who wants to sleep away his years? the manuscript demands. Then, in a sly reminder of The Dread Pirate Roberts, it stares at me and says, Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

"Yeah, yeah." I sigh and pick up my trusty pen. "I hear ya."

Don't you just hate it when inanimate objects are right? They can be so smug.

Being away from a lengthy manuscript can cause memory lapses, and the creative muscles can grow stiff. This afternoon, I read excerpts from existing pages, reorienting myself in the characters' journeys, both the physical travels in which feet meet dirt and the internal odysseys where souls brush against one another. Often the inside story is where the action is.

My goal as a writer is to present stories that move along at a brisk pace yet never let the reader fall behind; tales that speak to the spirit while leaping over chasms. I've come close to that goal in short stories. A novel, however, is uncharted territory where I, the intrepid explorer, have to make my own maps. Not an easy task, even with a compass and rudimentary drawing skills.

It's taken me years to traverse the same ground that other novelists skip over in months. Why bother? I must not have it in me to reach the end. But, even when I whine, I cannot stop. I must do this. I have to prove to myself that I can. I refuse not to grow.

Bette Davis, that raspy-voiced actress who could do nasty so well, once said, "This became a credo of mine: Attempt the impossible to improve your work."

Amen, sister.

Re-Entering the Fray

Thieves' Honor, Episode 7 -- "Leaping the Circle" -- is now in the hands of the Overlords at Ray Gun Revival magazine. At a little over 4,000 words, it felt short, incomplete, so I expanded a couple of ideas and inserted two extra scenes at the end of the episode, making it well over 6,000 words but also making it complete. There's more connection to the overarching storyline, as well as the answer (sort of) to a question that I've been following since the second episode: Who has the IntuiCom implant, and why? The answer isn't entire, but it's beginning.

As for the fantasy novels, those are still in the works. I really want to wrap up the story in the second manuscript, rather than dragging it out over a third book. Then again, I'd rather the whole story would fit into one book, but it'd be a long read, and who's gonna take a chance on publishing such a lengthy manuscript by an unknown?

On the other hand, maybe I'm rushing things, and I need to let the story play out at its own pace. The characters still surprise me, and things have happened that don't follow the formula for tales like this i.e. the hero doesn't kill the villain. There's gonna be a grand showdown, but the baddest dude has already been taken out, by another villain. There's a villainess, though, and she just might be the worst baddie of them all.

I already know the last scene of the story -- that's been written for years -- but I just may need a longer story and that third manuscript, thus creating the stereotypical fantasy trilogy. Ugh. But if the story demands it, the story demands it. There comes a point when the story no longer serves the author, but the author serves the story.

Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow - Day 3

This is the third and final day of the CSFF Blog Tour for March, highlighting Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow.

I like that the protagonist -- named, ironically enough, Hunter Brown -- isn't perfect, has a a sense of humor, can laugh at himself, and, despite his fears, embarks on some potentially deadly adventures. Regardless of some technical issues with the actual writing, the storytelling is good, and the story itself is interesting, and I recommend it to readers ages 12 and older, including adults.

I had other plans for my posts during this tour, but I didn't get to compose them ahead of time, and work and other events have imposed on my schedule, so today's entry is short and not very helpful. For more detailed and enlightening reviews of the book, please visit these stops along the tour:

Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Melissa Carswell
Valerie Comer
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Marcus Goodyear
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Nissa
Wade Ogletree
John W. Otte
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson

Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow - Day 2

There has been discussion on this month's Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy Blog Tour concerning storytelling style and certain allegorical elements, so I'm adding my two cents.

First, and most obvious: This book is not intended for adults. Its protagonist is fifteen, and the narrative begins with the unexpected results of a prank pulled on the last day of school for that year. Most middle grade or junior high readers who pick up the book will be hooked. For us adults, such an opening may not hold any appeal. We've already endured being fifteen, we've survived to (insert your age here), and we'd like to move on, thank you very much.

Second: Yes, there are allegorical elements. I refer again to the first point: This book is not intended for adults. We have read wider, encountered more types of stories, than our youthful counterparts. To us, allegory is obvious. To a twelve-year-old, not so obvious. He or she isn't necessarily looking for a direct correlation between characters or objects and the real world or holy writ, but for a good story that draws the reader in and surrounds them with interesting characters, events, settings. Most children and teens don't consider the deeper aspects of stories, or the real-world parallels, until they start analyzing literature in school. Though such analysis teaches much, it can also detract from the pure enjoyment of story.

'Nuff said.

Now, about Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow:

The Author's mark, the triple-V motif, is cool -- Via, Veritas, Vita. Way, Truth, Life. The swords and arrows are cool, too, not being weapons until needed, until the hilts are wielded or the bowstrings drawn. The book's ability to literally absorb its readers in the story made me laugh out loud -- not from mockery, but from the idea that letters can open wide and swallow the reader. That's not quite the image in the novel, though; when Hunter first reads the book, the letters are see-through, and he is sucked into them, into the story they describe.

These elements intrigue me now, and would have done so if such a book were available when I was a kid. Any story including mystical portals, space travel, time travel, magic keys, secret codes, special swords, alternate dimensions -- any book with the strange and fantastical -- grabbed my attention. My mother often expressed concern that I was filling my mind with evil notions and falsehoods masquerading as truth. She was right to be concerned, because much of what I read was dark and could have led me into unhealthy interests. With Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow, parents need not have my mother's worry. In addition to an engaging story and a protagonist with whom they can identify, readers will be presented with life-applicable threads of truth woven among the story's events.

I had intended a different post for today, but those thoughts can wait until tomorrow. Meantime, there's a page -- Join the Resistance -- on The Miller Brothers' website, where readers 13 and older can sign up to become Codebearers, play the Codebearer challenges (the deadline for prizewinning is past, but the game's still available), and participate in the Codebearer Community. Also, the entire text of the book is available online, for kids who may not be able to get to the bookstore themselves. How awesome is that?

For other perspectives on the book, visit these blogs:

Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Melissa Carswell
Valerie Comer
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Marcus Goodyear
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Nissa
Wade Ogletree
John W. Otte
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson

Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow - Day 1

Welcome to Solandria and the Shards!


Christopher and Allen Miller -- The Miller Brothers -- have crafted an interesting, fun, and fast-paced young-adult fantasy story in Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow, the first in The Codebearers Series. (Not only did they write the story, they did the artwork, too! Check it out on their website.)

Tomorrow, I'll dive into my thoughts on the book, but for now I'll say that, despite the fact that I'm ready to read some grown-up fiction after spending so much time among books intended for children and teens, I was drawn into Hunter's story, and found him to be an engaging protagonist.

And, as I am always on the lookout for books that are kid-friendly and read-out-loud-able, I recognize in this book an excellent candidate for weekly Story Time at the Boys & Girls Club, and as a possible addition to my niece's bookshelf. In my world, a book can't get any higher praise than that!

For other reviews, check out other readers' opinions at these links:

Brandon Barr
Melissa Carswell
Valerie Comer
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Marcus Goodyear
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Magma
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Nissa
Wade Ogletree
John W. Otte
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly - Open for Submissions

For all of you looking for a place to send your brief but muscular fantasy fiction, check out this new magazine, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, and make sure to read all the way to the end of the Submissions page. Good for an understanding laugh, especially for anyone who's been on the editing side of the biz and seen all manner of manuscripts submitted for possible publication.

As the masthead proclaims, HFQ is looking for prose, poetry, and fiction that falls squarely into the heroic fantasy sub-genre. For a definition and examples, check out the "Heroic fantasy" entry on Wikipedia, or visit Castle Fiction to see books in the epic and heroic fantasy vein.

For writers interested in submitting to HFQ, here's an encouraging -- and challenging -- note from the editors:

Feel free to include a paragraph introducing yourself and detailing your publishing history, and anything you think we need to know about your story. Or not. All we really care about is the quality of your yarn.

You have about five paragraphs to hook us and 10 pages to impress us — use them wisely.

Our email address is: editors@heroicfantasyquarterly.com

Any takers?