Meanwhile…

Things have been crazy busy this past week or so. We finally decided to get rid of our pool, which has been nothing but a drag on our time and money for the past year. So the last couple hours of each day have been spent slaving away at dismantling the damned thing (work and the unbearable heat pretty much make it impossible to anything during the day). Work has been busy. This past Saturday was spent at the Can’t Stop the Serenity charity event, which was fantastic, as usual. I spent Sunday wading through half a foot of sludge to cut the liner out of the pool. I’m be glad when it’s all finally gone, at least.

Most annoying, I missed out on seeing Moon this past weekend. Since Fort Worth is a cinematic wasteland, I’ll have to either drive to Dallas to see it or wait for the DVD.

At any rate, I’ve been kind plucking away at this zombie flash piece, but I’m not very happy with it. It needs to be more immediate and immerse the reader in what’s going on. It feels too much like a big info dump in these first few paragraphs, which in my opinion doesn’t work well for flash.

It’s going to be a very depressing story. My stuff is usually pretty light and fluffy. I almost feel bad for how dark this story will be. This is what happens when you write about zombies and it’s not a comedy, I suppose.

So here’s the first few paragraphs. I’ll be keeping some of this, but likely reworking it heavily to make it feel more like the reader is there in the house with them, rather than reading some account of it later.

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I just noticed that my steampunkish story “Four Liars” is live over at the premier issue of 10Flash. Check it out and let me know what you think, over there or here.

There are some other awesome writers featured there as well, including Jordan, Gay, and Erin, so you should find something you like. I need to check them all out myself.

First day’s writing complete, a little alternate World War I steampunk-style war scene. The full story came in just under a thousand words. I don’t know if there’s enough story to it to consider submitting it somewhere or not. I’ll have to think about it.

Excerpt after the jump.

Edit – gah, sorry, some intertube gremlins ate the second half of my post. Should be good now. Well, visible, not necessarily good. Continue reading

I nearly forgot, but tomorrow marks the Writer’s Ink Story Every Day contest. We started this last year after my own fool-hearted attempt at something similar on my own. Now all the cool kids are doing it. Every day for two weeks we’ll all attempt to churn out a piece of flash fiction of at least 500 words.

So keep an eye on this space for terrible, hastily-written exercises for the next couple of weeks. I usually get about 9-12 pieces done. With a little luck one or two might be worth polishing up.

Steampunk story “The Four Liars” accepted! Look out for it in the premier of 10Flash in July. I will, of course, post a notice when the issue is up. Exciting! I’ll be featured along with some really great writers who should be familiar names by now, including Gay “L&O” Degani and Erin “Babymamma” Kinch.

I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll save further discussion of the story for after it’s out.

For the past few weeks I’ve been struggling with a story for 10Flash, an exciting new market that’s opening up soon. I was invited by the editor to submit something, which is extremely flattering. I don’t want to disappoint!

Each issue of 10Flash is themed. In the premier issue we are all writing about librarians on vacation in an exotic land. It’s a great prompt to work with, and opens up huge possibilities.

I originally, as I even hinted at here on the blog somewhere, came up with a story about a Greek librarian visiting Atlantis. Basically the idea was that they would show him this amazing library full of every book imagined, even books from the future. But in the end he’s disappointed because it’s all on computers instead of actual paper.

It was a cute idea, but kind of cliche, I think, and I was having a hard time coming up with a way to make it an interesting story and not just a joke.

I’m happy to say that last night I came up with something way better (triggered by a random Twitter post, incidentally), so I’m trashing the Atlantis idea. I do want to eventually do some underwater Atlantis stories. There is something about the concept that fascinates me. But, really, is Atlantis going anywhere? The underseas kingdoms can wait.

The new story is, I think, much better. There are some steampunk elements, which is an aesthetic I love, and I’ve done some pretty fun research to really bring the story to life. I’m hoping to finish it up today and get a crit or two of it from the Writer’s Ink crew next week before submitting.

It seems a waste to just toss these couple of paragraphs, so here it is, the aborted Atlantean Library story. You can probably tell I was really struggling and couldn’t get into it. The idea was that he’d been taken to sea by this shifty merchant and tossed overboard, but I cut his interactions with the ship’s captain as I realized I probably wouldn’t have space for that. Easier to just toss in a line of dialogue explaining it later. As he’s drowning (which I didn’t convey very well at all), the Atlanteans slow down time and come rescue him.

I still kind of like the concept of this beginning, so maybe I’ll use the idea in another story sometime.

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Greetings from the distant past (last Tuesday)!

My latest flash piece, “The Squeeze,” should be live on Every Day Fiction right about now. Check it out if you haven’t already! Comment! Vote! Tell your friends (and enemies – I have nothing against evil support).

It’s an odd story, one that you’ll probably either totally get and think is hilarious, or not get at all and think I’m insane. I’m not sure which demographic I envy more. So it’ll be interesting to see the reaction.

I almost missed it, since it went up over the weekend, but Frank has an excellent new story up over at Every Day Fiction – check it out.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was about as disappointing as expected. They crammed a lot of unnecassary characters in, and to do so they condensed and butchered the portions of Logan’s origin story that are actually interesting.

Part of the problem is the taming of Wolverine for a mass audience, which is strange because the untamed Wolverine has about as mass an audience (in comic book terms) as you can get. The film completely passes over the years he spent feral and savage in the Yukon, living with wolves. His time with the Weapon X program is chopped down to like one mission. They don’t cover any of his time in Japan (though there is a hint at it after the credits). I’m not being fanboyish here – I certainly don’t expect the film to be slavishly devoted to the source material. It’s just frustrating when they ignore so much great material in favor of some 30-second fan wank appearance of Emma Frost or Gambit or other characters who have nothing to do with Wolverine’s origins.

Oddly enough, Wolverine is kind of a Mary Sue. For a character that has had tragedy after tragedy heaped upon his comic book incarnation, nothing bad really happens to him here. He has help at every turn. When he needs more power, someone comes along and gives it to him. When it looks like he meets someone who can defeat him, people who hated his guts five minutes before show up to save the day. This is motherfrakkin’ Wolverine, people. If anyone is custom made to have horror after horror perpetrated on him, just so that he can stand back up on his own and slice the shit out of whoever did it, it’s him.

There are other things to not recommend the movie as well – the last third of the film is fairly predictable and chock full of cliche. The filmmakers also underestimate the audience and feel like they have to explain things that are obvious.

It’s not all bad. There are some fun action scenes. There are some great performances from most of the cast (though I can’t imagine who thought it was a good idea to put Will.I.Am in there). If you want to completely shut off your brain and enjoy a fun action flick, you’ll find something there to enjoy.

I’ve got a new post up over at the Flash Fiction Chronicles, about what to do when real life and fiction pass uncomfortably close in the night. Check it out! Comment!

Just to aim for the most annoying story possible for Jordan over at Every Day Fiction:

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Hospital bills for broken rib: $800

Therapy costs for traumatized child: $300  an hour

Ginsu knife to make sure the bastard never does it again: priceless

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I expect my acceptance notice shortly.

Edit: oops, just realized I went with “abusive spouse” rather than “cheating spouse.” That, clearly, calls for an entirely different story.

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Magnifying glass to spot the glitter and mysterious blond hairs: $25

Private detective fees to confirm suspicions: $150 an hour

Ginsu knife to make sure the bastard never does it again: priceless

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