My early Christmas present

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In a few weeks, Black Gate #15, which includes my story “Eating Venom”, goes to press. Here’s the artwork that accompanies it (and since you’re online, you get to see it in color–it’ll be B&W in the magazine):

eating venomclr

Cool, huh? It’s by Malcolm McClinton. I’d never have thought to imagine the characters that way which is why I’d be a terrible artist, but I love it! Click the link to see more of his work.

About that story: I sold it over three years ago, so it’s a bit of a time capsule of my writing style and technique. I’ll be interested to reread it when it comes out.

How it came about: Some folks will remember a few years back when Janine Cross’s Touched by Venom came out, there was an online row about the writing style, and the way the style was criticized in an offline gathering.

While all that was going on, I thought There has to be a story idea in this somewhere. Not that I’d read the book in question: all I knew of it was that it’s erotic, boundary-pushing second-world fantasy. But a real writer would be able to generate a story or twelve out of it, right?

Some folks know that I don’t get story ideas easily or often–I’m just not that sort of writer. Still, I was sure there was something worthwhile there, and after a bit of work (and more than one false start) I came up with the idea of a sort of basilisk fugu and wrote “Eating Venom”.

It’s full of my usual obsessions: outright bastards, flagrant lies and manipulation, decent people trapped by honor and expectation, magical elements that are largely backgrounded for human conflicts, screwed-up social/political structures, bitter resentments, and much stabbing with sharp pieces of metal. I’m proud of it.

You guys are reading Black Gate magazine, aren’t you? It’s full of adventure-oriented fantasy of the kind I love.

Anyway, I’m off to have Xmas Eve lunch with my in-laws (and the holidays have me way behind on all my online reading). Best wishes to everyone reading this, whether you celebrate Christmas or not.

F/u to previous post

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Now I want to tell the story of meeting my editor for the first time:

It was San Diego Comic Con, and I was on my first ever panel, which was held in the first few minutes of the first day. I’d never been to SDCC before and had little idea what to expect. Not to mention there was some unusual social interaction there that I didn’t have time to process. So I did my best, but I was a bit of a mess.

Then I looked out into the audience and saw my editor in an aisle seat, watching the panel. I’d already looked her up with Google Images (anything to procrastinate!) and recognized her instantly. Of course, seeing my editor out in the audience made me feel even more confident and calm.

Oh wait. I mean just the opposite.

Anyway, I flubbed a bit and rambled a bit more. I had some buddies in the audience (who had basically held my hand through the travel and badge-acquiring process) but I tried not to look too much at any of them.

Then, after the panel was over, I walked up to her and introduced myself. She lied and said I did well, and I felt kinda awkward.

Then one of my buddies (the one with the hammer) ran up to us and said, in a very loud voice, “Mr. Connolly! Mr. Connolly! Would you sign my girlfriend’s breasts?”

That’s what happened the first time I met my editor.

Quote of the day

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“It was a hard decision because another editor had offered more money. I called up my old boss from when I’d worked in publishing to ask what I should do, and he told me that the right thing to do is always to take more money, because life is uncertain, and the professional life of a young and up-and-coming editor who might get a better job at another house at any time is especially uncertain. He was right—he’s always right—and you should keep his advice in mind. When you make a deal it’s with the publisher, not the editor. I prefer to make the risky un-fiscally responsible choice whenever possible, though, so didn’t take the bigger offer and luckily Amber didn’t abandon me. I think about the money all the time, though, and not in a wistful “ah, sliding doors” way.”

— Emily Gould from Five Writers Talk About Their Book Editors.

Actually, I could have pulled a number of different quotes from that article–that’s a rich vein right there–but this one made me laugh. (Unlike Matthew Galloway’s account of his first-ever meeting with his editor, which made me laugh and cringe.)

Give it a read. It’s pretty interesting.

Beta!

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Minecraft has entered beta as of this week. Unfortunately, as I write this, there’s a bug that won’t allow it to launch in MacOSX. My son, who was so freaking excited about the new changes, can’t play and probably won’t be able to play until the new year, considering.

Still, it’s a cool game, even if I did lose my diamond sword and pick because an errant swing of my pick brought lava down onto me, killing me in a blink and destroying everything I was carrying.

Dammit.

The price has gone up now that it’s in beta, but you should check it out anyway… although maybe give them a chance to work out a couple of bug fixes.

Connectivity issues

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I seem to be having some difficulty getting and sending at least a portion of my email. Maybe all of it.

It may take a while for this to sort out, so don’t be upset if my response times are a little slow.

Apropos of a Twitter speech

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Writer/Director Kevin Smith left a long… rant? Let’s call it a speech–on Twitter about being what you want to be, rather than wanting to be it. He talked about spending time–years in many cases–believing in yourself and pushing until you reach your goals.

He makes a good point. There was a study in creativity not too long ago (Google won’t turn up the actual study) that asked people to exercise their creativity. Many folks who had boring jobs and didn’t think much of their own creativity scored quite low. Not a surprise, right?

But then the people giving the study asked them to answer the questions as though they were someone else. Someone creative, like a sculptor or other artist.

Once instructed to respond the way a creative person would, they began to give very creative answers. It wasn’t a lack of creativity, it was that they didn’t think of themselves as creative people, and so didn’t try hard to think creatively.

And this is true of many aspects of writing. One of the tricks I use all the time when I’m stuck is to ask myself “How would a professional writer fix this sentence?” (I know, don’t tell me, I know). Or “What would a best-selling/award-winning author have these characters do?”

You can substitute the name of an author you already admire, it can be some sort of platonic ideal, or you can picture yourself in some advanced, evolved state. I usually choose option 3. The fact is, this trick really helps. It opens me up to solutions that weren’t accessible before, because I was all wrapped up in who I think I am and what I think I’m capable of.

So, go Kevin Smith.

New quote of the day

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“‘Challenging’ is a synonym for ‘fun’ around here.”
— my son’s Parkour teacher at his birthday party yesterday.

That’s going to be my new writing motto.

In other funtastic news, Circle of Enemies is available for pre-order at Amazon.com as of, well, now. It won’t ship until the end of July (the 26th, by the current plan) but you can help Amazon.com decide how big their initial order should be.

I have no idea what that means, either. I’m just vamping here.

I have lots to do today, so I’m not going to be online much. Don’t forget to check out/comment on the last minute gift suggestion posts on my blog or on LiveJournal.

Offer last minute gift suggestions

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‘Tis the season to offer gift suggestions for last-minute Christmas shoppers. Do you have something people might want to give as gifts? Well, I’m going to copy an excellent idea that’s been going around LiveJournal:

Please feel free to post links to anything you’ve got for sale right now: books you’ve authored or edited, and any arts or crafts you’ve made. Then spread the idea around on your own blog. It’s a handy way to promote interesting gifts to last minute shoppers.

And a reminder for folks: a lot of the commenting that happens in my online spaces happen on my LJ. If you’re looking for smart gift ideas, be sure to check there.

So have at it!

You get your Christmas video early

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Ho.

Ho.

Ho.

Randomness for 12/18

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1) Oh no, it’s the Daleks!

2) The Gawker Media security breach gives us a chance to see the 13 most common passwords.

3) Ten building converted to bookstores. Very cool photos. via @victoriastrauss

4) Wikileaks cables turned into comics.

5) Eleven weird D&D questions from The Dragon’s “Sage Advice” column.

6) Why you should never fry gnocci. Video.

7) Yogi Bear is like District 9 but way more depressing. A really interesting review of a really uninteresting movie.