Tales of Jonathan

2009-08-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Bipartisanship is dead! Long live bipartisanship!Let's admit that there are not two parties in congress. There are three: Republicans, Democrats, and Blue Dogs.I believe the president, using all his political skills, can craft a bipartisan healthcare package that satisfies both the blue dogs and the democrats. There must be threats, of course. Not just carrots, but sticks. Fortunately, the

2009-05-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

I know I don't have a lot of credibility when I say it's not a left-right thing, but violators of the constitution must be criminally prosecuted. Is it my fault that the Republican party - supposedly home to originalists who believe the constitution must comply exactly to the original intent of the founding fathers (back when the concept of a founding mother was anathema) - has not actually been

2009-04-02T22:20:00.001-07:00

Hey, it's a whinge about the Republican party. All secondhand, derived information from other, more interesting folks. Yet I post it all here, because I feel frustrated. Enjoy - or don't read.After demonizing their opponents for so long, too much of the GOP leadership can't remember that there is a line of decency that can't be crossed even if it will win a few dozen votes.Thus, VP Cheney feels

2009-01-20T05:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, we're all congratulating ourselves and each other for electing a black American president. Me too, I feel it, I'm part of it.But, wait a second. Stand back for a minute.How pathetic are we that electing a black man president of the United States is such a shock, such a dramatic sign of progress?Boy oh boy, do we have a lot of catching up to do.

2008-12-08T21:25:00.001-08:00

It starts to feel like time is running out. That sounds morbid, but it isn't. As parents, we too often feel we can put ourselves aside for the good of the children. It's exactly the wrong thing to do, which doesn't make anything else make any more sense. But the office would be better served by more, better employee selfishness as well. There's a balance of course.There's a balance of course!

2008-11-11T19:38:00.001-08:00

After all the hullaballoo - Is he against Israel? Does he have mean, crusty Carter-era anti-semites as advisors? Is he a secret Muslim? - it turned out that 77% of Jews voted for Obama.Wow, that's a lot you may say. The Jewish vote must have been rallying to the election of a minority to the presidency. No, you wouldn't say that. Hopefully you wouldn't say that, anyway.See. Here's the thing.

2008-11-04T22:53:00.000-08:00

Obama won. Obama Won! Obama WonNope. It doesn't matter what tricks of typography I try, it still feels anticlimactic.Big tears. Life goes on

2008-10-07T19:49:00.000-07:00

McCain's ready to bailout homeowners? Now? Finally? Only 18-months too late? Perfect!If any voter is dumb enough to give him credit for coming so late to that obvious party... it would be sad indeed.If we'd only stepped in and taken steps to save private citizens ability to stay in their homes back then we'd have averted this entire catastrophe. (And if we had, the republican politicos would be

2008-10-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

Do you remember when John McCain was an honorable politician, a man willing to work across the aisle for the good of the country? Do you remember when John McCain was a man of honor, a gentleman who jumped to John Kerry's defense when his party was tarring the war hero as a cad.Do you remember when John McCain was a viable candidate for president of the United States?Yeah, it's been awhile.It's

2008-09-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

Joan Walsh is right. (And now I'll take her point to a greater extreme, as is my wont.) John McCain wasn't strong enough to choose his own running mate over Karl Rove's objections. How can he possibly take on the world's thugs and bad guys (who he's evidently too scared to sit across a table from, in any event).John McCain couldn't press forward with comprehensive immigration reform, which

2008-09-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

I believe it was Isaac Asimov who wrote a science fiction story in which the grand computer finds the most average American to determine all national policies by answering a one-man survey. True democracy, in essence, and a great dystopian tale.This year, that American is Sarah Palin. Except for many of her social views, which are just slightly to the right of extreme, she is the everywoman, with

2008-08-31T17:59:00.001-07:00

We should teach creationism not evolution because, for goodness sakes, we're a country with mostly Christians.We should teach that the sun revolves around the Earth. People have been burned as heretics for saying otherwise.Gravity, like evolution, is only a theory. Let's all just fly.

2008-08-04T19:15:00.000-07:00

I had no idea anyone could write so badly!!!Broke 3,000 words here on August 4th. About where I should have been at the end of the first, I'm afraid. I shouldn't be surprised to discover that I'm rusty.That last week is looking like it will be brutal for sheer quantity of words. Hopefully, I won't be reduced to typing "it it it it it it it" in order to make count. Though I could pass that off as

Nano Day Two

2008-08-02T20:56:00.001-07:00

Day two: 678Total: 1358Average: 679It feels good to write again. I'm not sure why. The trick for me is to figure out how to make writing not optional. (And to accept that I was never all that and that being all that ain't all that or even any of what it's about.)A company we just terminated our relationship with has as its unofficial motto, "We suck less." Nevermind that it turned out they didn't

2008-08-01T17:24:00.001-07:00

380... This is gonna take awhile!Exuberance was never my strong suit

2008-08-01T12:59:00.001-07:00

So, the wrimo hath begun!Wordcount August 1: 284. This is very tough for me as some one who has not written in many years. I thought then that I was good enough - or almost - to make professional sales. But, in truth, I made only one to Writers of the Future - which has its detractors who call it all amateur work (not to say that they're wrong, mind you).The important thing for me to remember is

2008-07-13T15:50:00.000-07:00

So...I started this blog as an aspiring writer. Hey, I even have links to Zines where my stories appeared at one time. But, like, totally, haven't been writing for a long time, baby. I ain't no writer no more. I know I'll never be an emblazoned member of the storied class.But... ya know, writing was in itself a thrill worth the trip. Despite a friend stating that writing without the intent of

2008-06-16T04:35:00.000-07:00

Like all good nerdy Americans, I've been reading fivethirtyeight.com for awhile now. And it depressed me. It depressed me because I was forced to revise my wild-ass guess evaluation of where the election really is likely to end up.So, for proper context here, we need a story. I was hanging out with a nonpartisan group in 2004, and though they truly were nonpartisan, they weren't actually

2008-06-04T04:31:00.000-07:00

The pundit class has gone hog wild over the latest Clinton gambit. This one's her campaign to win one person's vote to be the vice-presidential nominee.I can see their point. It would be hard to engineer a ticket that's more fun to cover nor more fun to pillory.Hillary and the pundits make the case that Obama is weak among women and blue-collar white voters. Coincidentally, Hillary's great

2008-05-17T20:08:00.001-07:00

I want to follow politics. But now, finally I've been forced to admit to myself that there's simply no story out there to follow. Not even Jon Stewart can excite my interest at this point in the meaningless wind down before the eventual coronation of Barak Obama as the democratic nominee.We're entering a true dryspell. McCain's VP? Who could possibly care? Anyone misguided enough to vote for

Falling off the bicycle

2008-04-29T21:44:00.001-07:00

It isn't true that you never forget. Part of the reason I haven't written for four years is because I didn't write for one. Part of the reason I didn't write for one year is that I didn't write for three months, and so on. By which logic, I can't ever stop typing again for so much as a millisecond or all will be lost. But I digress.Anyhow, I tried to type a few words over the past few days. Let

2008-04-28T22:38:00.000-07:00

I wrote a word! Yes, I did. It was me! Yeeha!It is of such simple victories that celebration must be built. Si?

2008-04-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

Yes. yes, it's great that Democrats have finally decided to neutralize the religious advantage Republicans have been able to claim all these years. I admire the strategic genius of embracing the religion issue with full heart. I believe that Hilary and Barak are truly two religious people who see the admonitions for social justice, compassion, and mercy which lie at the heart of all religion.I

2008-03-04T20:30:00.000-08:00

Senator Clinton just led her followers in a chant of "Yes, We Will!"I wouldn't normally mind someone appropriating such similar phraseology and sentiments as her competitors' "Yes, We Can!"But...But the good Senator has been accusing Obama of plagiarism (as we all know) for his speeches that borrow phrasing - often attributed - from Governor Deval, a participant in his campaign.Oh, the hypocrisy.

2008-02-19T00:40:00.000-08:00

There's been a massive meat recall of 144 million pounds - the largest in history, we're told. Evidently, this was sparked by secret video taken of downer cows - cows too sickly to even stand - being prodded into the abattoir and thus into the nation's meat supply. Two slaughter house employees are being prosecuted for animal cruelty.I'm glad of the recall in that downer cows are prohibited from

2007-12-22T16:05:00.000-08:00

I read a book co-written by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston. Ooo. Ouch. The first fiction novel I read in the past year and a half had to be the worst one ever written in the English language. Just my luck.I'm not being fair. I bet thriller, and especially techno-thriller, fans loved this work. It did many things right, including good pacing, the fate of the Earth in the balance, and

2007-11-29T19:50:00.000-08:00

Do I feel like a fool!Not only did "Journeyman" Robert Reed win a Hugo this year, he won it for a different story than the one I thought was so spectacular.Hah! Read a random blog and this is what you get.I hope you' ve learned your lesson. I sure have.

2007-09-28T17:45:00.001-07:00

Only planning to read one science fiction story this year? Read Good Mountain by Robert Reed. For me, it's the best story I've read since "The Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang.This is ironic for me, because I always think of "Story of Your Life" as Ted Chiang does Robert Reed. It's a great story because Chiang is a great writer who gets all the details right and puts the plot puzzle together

2007-09-16T12:38:00.001-07:00

So,By the very fact that you are reading this, you should assume the space-time continuum was spared (and thus my feline was not). If you're curious, Kye's been walking for a month and a half now. No shiny new website for you. (Also, my computer crash ate the Baker Signet font, thereby screwing up all of my covers from time immemorial. I'm thinking about just signing over all future paychecks to

2007-08-16T00:43:00.001-07:00

Would you destroy the entire space-time continuum to save the life of a cat?If it was your cat, of course you would.

2007-07-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Finally, Issue #4 of Fictitious Force will emerge. It turns out it's not a good idea to move in the middle of a production schedule. Nor does changing jobs help.Whine, whinge, moan, complain. Anyway, we're psyched that the neglected hobby will get a moment in the sun. To those that still read the static, printed word, there are some stories I'm proud to be associated with here. Strong writing,

2007-07-02T06:53:00.000-07:00

I sent this letter today. You should send something similar. Before it's too late:Chairperson Garland R. HuntState Board of Pardons and Paroles 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE Suite 458, Balcony Level, East Tower Atlanta, Georgia 30334-4909Monday, July 02, 2007Dear Chairperson Hunt:You are the last hope, not for Troy Davis but for the people of Georgia, and of America.If you don’t act to

2007-05-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

2007-05-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

I took my son, Kye, to his first rally on Tuesday. In some ways this was a positive for me. Kye is going to be a part of this vast imperfect world. It’s essential that he learn to stand up against the gross injustices that seem to be endemic. Eight-months-old is as good a time to start as any.And yet… My almost-three-year-old daughter, Wylde, was there too. A seasoned pro, this wasn’t her first

2007-02-23T11:16:00.000-08:00

Nobody likes a gas tax.It hits us on the item we’re most price-sensitive about. (We all have friends and family members who don’t even look at the price of their groceries or shoes, but who will drive across town to find the big sign that shows a five-cent lower price on gas.) It’s regressive. It makes us feel the terrorists, or cartels, or Europhile’s have beaten us. Heck, high gas prices are

2007-02-13T06:25:00.000-08:00

Repeat after me: Gas Tax.To paraphrase Heroes: Tax the carbon, save the world.It needs to be at least $1 per gallon, probably closer to $2.Will it damage the economy? Certainly, in the short run it can't help but do so. What it will also do is change a dynamic that desperately needs to be changed.We all watched the SUV craze of the 90s. Many of us bought in. We saw the MPG disappear completely

Environmental Security?

2006-05-31T23:19:00.000-07:00

I heard someone on NPR make a very good point today. To paraphrase, Global Warming is much like Social Security. Both require significant upfront sacrifices for benefits that will manifest only in our children's lifetimes.To further the analogy, the longer we wait the bigger the sacrifice necessary to stave off "armageddon."So why did I support the Democrats' recent stonewalling on Social

2006-04-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

The life you save may be your ownBut first we need to help save the people of Darfur from being wiped out. Genocide isn't a tough call. We're against it.Come to the mall in DC and let people around the world know we care, and we demand the genocide come to an end.

2006-04-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

It's difficult for me to get worked up about the latest demonstrations of incompetence and deceptions of the American people by this administration. Truly, truly, truly, their lying, poor judgment, and general inability to run a roadside stand, much less a country has been on clear display for more than four years now.The press asks how Bush's poll numbers dropped all the way to 36% job approval.

2006-03-20T14:04:00.000-08:00

Crisis Culture Killed my CogsWe live in a crisis culture. Everyone knew there was abject poverty before Katrina, but we couldn't get the activation energy going to make any significant progress towards solving the problem. Now that New Orleans isn't a constant worry, once again we don't fret or even think about poverty, nor the fact that we haven't made any progress towards solving it.We knew

2006-03-14T06:07:00.000-08:00

Through the lens of history, most crises lose their luster. Believe it or not, many of the hot button issues we work ourselves into a lather over today will not fundamentally affect the reality our descendents experience one hundred or two hundred years in the future. What is wrought in one political cycle is as likely to be undone as extended in the next. The consequences in years intervening

State of the Union

2006-01-31T19:48:00.000-08:00

President Bush wants to reduce our dependency on oil?Where's he been for five years?Is he planning to close the large tax break for small companies who buy SUVs?Will he raise CAFE standards?Where is his support for the gas tax that Clinton tried unsuccessfully to get past a republican congress in the early nineties? (That would have made a big difference by now, had it passed.)

A Review. A Review!

2005-10-02T21:20:00.001-07:00

As mentioned previously, a review came in from James Palmer at Tangent Online.For those not inclined to travel to see it, a couple of highlights are below:Editor Jonathan Laden has assembled some terrific stories by some well-known—and some not so well-known—voices. And the "The Author Reflects" sections at the end of the long stories give useful insight into the creation of the stories.All in

A Review. A Review!

2005-10-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Our First Review

2005-09-30T23:14:00.001-07:00

http://www.tangentonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=570&Itemid=262Needless to say, I am happy that Fictitious Force was reviewed - and ecstatic that the reviewer gave positive feedback to the endeavor. Thanks are in order to the authors of issue #1 for making Fictitious Force look good with some topnotch speculative fiction. Hopefully the attendees of NASFiC looked in their

Our First Review

2005-09-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

2005-09-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

The Union for Reform Judaism is doing good things right now, opening camps to refugees, dedicating staff and resources to helping out those displaced by Katrina and Rita. Go to www.urj.org to see for yourself.

2005-08-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

Intelligent Design for an unintelligent futureOur president and our senate majority leader both think we should teach intelligent design as a competing theory to evolution in public school science classes. They posit that schools are a marketplace of ideas, so having more theories on the table does not constitute a state endorsement of religion, nor does it require kids to believe.Well, I suppose

10 points for Gryffindor

2005-07-19T04:34:00.000-07:00

If you're cool enough to turn your classmate into a firebreathing toad, do you really care if your teacher gives you the equivalent of smiley-faces? I can't imagine you do.

2005-06-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

A letter I just wrote to my elected representatives:I'm shocked and outraged by the lack of foresight that you, our elected leaders, have collectively exercised. Global warming isn't just a political football, an instrument to throw around and blame the other party when nothing is done.It's the very real threat that my grandchildren will know New Orleans as a gulf, not a city. It's the danger of

2005-06-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

I spent a few minutes at work today strumming a tune on the spring that sits inside my stapler. (I bet you didn't know there was a spring inside your stapler. I didn't either, but how else would the top snap closed with enough force to puncture skin? No, I didn't manage to do that too, though it was touch and go for a few minutes.)I'm not saying this is the most productive thing I did today, but

Wait, before you strive to add weight

2005-06-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

It turns out being overweight isn’t good for you after all.As cnn.com reports, the CDC had some flaws in the methodology of their latest study which came to the surprising conclusion that being somewhat overweight is healthier than being light or at “ideal” weight. The flaw: they studied a random population, not a random healthy population. They counted those who had lost weight due to

2005-06-02T08:55:00.000-07:00

The war for mindshare isn’t between Apple and Microsoft any more, it’s between Apple and Verizon.I’m sure I’m not the first person to notice this, but as I emerged from the subway at Dupont Circle this morning it struck me that something was missing. Where, a year ago, there would have been five or six people jabbering away on their cellphones – yes, even at nine in the morning – there were

2005-05-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

Seedless watermelons should be outlawed. A seedless watermelon is to a watermelon as: (a) broccoli in a box is to broccoli; (b)corn that's been sitting in an overheated truck for two weeks then picked over by blue-haired old ladies is to fresh-picked corn; (c) alcohol-free beer is to belgian ale;

2005-02-09T07:08:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A diet rich in fiber and vegetables lowered cholesterol just as much as taking a statin drug, Canadian researchers reported Monday. They said people who cannot tolerate the statin drugs because of side-effects can turn to the diet, which they said their volunteers could easily follow. David Jenkins of St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto and colleagues

2005-02-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

The perfect is the enemy of the good, but the "good enough" is the enemy of the good enough. Where does that leave me, and all other struggling/developing/new/old writers? Somewhere between Scylla and Charybdis, I suppose. One can't get bogged down in trying to make every word impeccably perfect. By the same token, one can't brush off all concerns of style consistency and carefully-crafted

2005-01-28T22:56:00.000-08:00

More thoughts on Writers of the Future. In my first incarnation as a writer (early nineties), I submitted to Algis Budrys a few times. It was quite a nice experience to find myself actually appearing in a forum he edited. One of my recent regrets is that I will (most likely) never be published by Gardner Dozois. Another hero cleverly retires, thus escaping my aspirations. Though I'm never

2004-08-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

I do need to do my perspective on Clarion from one year later at some point. For now, I'd like to reminisce about the Writers of the Future Workshop and ceremony all of one week ago: Firstly, and most importantly, add Tim Powers and K.D. Wentworth to the pantheon of seasoned professionals who took the time and energy to convey some of what they learned through hard work to we, the unwashed,

2004-02-14T00:02:00.000-08:00

Long time, no post. I do have news, as it happens. A story of mine has won third place in the quarterly "Writers of the Future" contest and will be appearing in volume XX of that august series (in August, no less). Hurrah!

2003-12-23T02:14:00.001-08:00

I'm back. Here's the update on my life and times: I sold a story called "seeing connections" to Neo-Opsis a couple of weeks ago. Tales of 3-D scrabble in New York City parks, of course. There's a saying in baseball (amongst statheads) that the jump from A to AA is a much harder hurdle than any other, including the jump to the major leagues. Evidently, more players get weeded out in that

2003-12-23T02:14:00.000-08:00

I'm back. Here's the update on my life and times:I sold a story called "seeing connections" to Neo-Opsis a couple of weeks ago. Tales of 3-D scrabble in New York City parks, of course. There's a saying in baseball (amongst statheads) that the jump from A to AA is a much harder hurdle than any other, icluding the jump to the major leagues. Evidently, more players get weeded out in that transition

2003-09-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

Go read Idiomocracy. Because I said so. At my site, of course: www.jonathanladen.com

2003-09-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

Review of Guns, Germs, and Steel. Science Fiction authors who may not agree on much else (e.g. Orson Scott Card and Connie Willis), agree that understanding history is most important for an S.F. author. So, I undertook recently to read Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond. Possessing more hubris than sense, I’ve also undertaken a (very) general critique. Just because “Winner of the Pulitzer

2003-09-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

My thoughts on Worldcon Panels: I didn't feel these were as good as at San Jose. First, I had heard much of it before. Second, there were bunches of panels with almost exactly the same title. (economics of the future, future currencies, the effect of future developments on the world economy, a future without money, etc.) Third, bunches of panelists were double-booked, so you never knew who would

2003-09-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Finished another freelance job for White Wolf. Yes, indeedy. Anyone else need some copyediting, proofreading, dancing under a pale moon light? email me (jonathan@jonathanladen.com) What else is new? Idiomocracy! Check it out. (www.jonathanladen.com)

2003-09-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

Hello. In addition to several rejections, I just received an acceptance at AlienSkin magazine for their October online issue. Yay! Okay, at .5 cents each word (<$5 total) , I'm not quitting the day job (if I can find one) just yet. But still, for any of you out there who write or are thinking about it, these little tiny bits of validation (from strangers no less) can make a big difference. One

2003-09-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't been around these parts much of late. Sorry about that. The gentlefolk of Chaos Theory, Tales Askew put together an attractive semiprozine/funzine/whatever it is. Check 'em out (and read my story). It's the one about Billy Goats, though still doesn't qualify me to join the goatpunk movement. Wouldn't even if it were a pro-level sale. Such the pity. http://genspace.com/ctta/

2003-08-17T01:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I don't post so often. Sorry. Finished revisions today on "What Comes After Paradise" and "Pushing Your Buttons." WCAP is printed out and ready to hit a professional market. Michele and I bought new white folders and setup to print addresses on clear labels and everything. Cool Beans! Now, if only you could tell the quality of a story by its envelope, I've got it made in the shade.

2003-08-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

Like wow. My story Ballad of a Billy Goat that I wrote (the first drafts of) in 1994 just sold to Chaos Theory, another funzine (another nicely put together funzine to be sure). Well, it doesn't count towards the 500 rejection quota but I'll take it. (Good thing it sold too, this was Michele's favorite of my stories prior to Monkey See and Remersion. She was getting a little peeved at my

2003-08-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

Another rejection! Everything old is new again. (Triangle won.) Don't think of it as a rejection; it's an invitation to try selling the story somewhere else ("anywhere else," poor beleaguered JJ begs...) That's cool. There's lots of else. No wonder I've got such a large spreadsheet to keep track of it all. James Patrick Kelly told us he collected 500 rejections between his first and second pro

2003-08-03T03:17:00.000-07:00

So, I wrote 600+ words on August first. Huzzah! Does this mean the post-clarion slump is over? Hard to say. Hard to say. Despite my dream of the breakout short story and of taking my writing to the next level, it's all about the daily practice of writing. I know that, really I do. I have hundreds of thousands of words to go yet. (as do each and every one of you - get writing.) I've sent my "

2003-07-28T02:16:00.000-07:00

You seen About Schmidt? In all honesty, I'd love to hear from someone who saw it and loved it what made the movie so great. For me, it was slower than watching glaciers melt. Not coincidentally, the amount of emotion Jack Nicholson brought to the role felt like he was channeling the rich emotional life of a glacier as well. The character does experience some change--about the amount of change

2003-07-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

Some random thoughts upon the end of Clarion 2003: Overall: I had a very good time. Talking with so many others who share the writing obsession is neat. Seeing all the different writing that fits loosely under the rubric of speculative fiction was mind-expanding, having more than 20 other writers (mostly) confirm the positives and the negatives about my writing in its current state was strong

2003-07-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

And that's all, folks

2003-07-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

Some more results of Clarion: I learned about my writing voice. I learned more about constructing story. I learned more about the effect my prose has on readers: What works I can work with, what doesn't I can work with too. I will learn yet more in the months to come.

2003-07-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

Some benefits of Clarion for me: Getting feedback on stories from 16 fellow writers, all of whom bring their unique, personal perspective to reading the work. Our group represents a much broader array of readers than I have access to at home. Meeting professional writers, seeing how different their perspectives can be on our work and on what SF is all about. I've always known SF isn't a

2003-07-13T00:25:00.000-07:00

Post Trauma Ok, I haven't posted much lately. I think it may be because I'm too tired to trust my own judgment. My writing is coming with difficulty right now, but that's not so unusual for this stage of the Clarion experience - nor to be honest so unusual for me... Writing isn't all there is to life. I could use a long weekend home about now with Michele (and felidae and puppaloos), to get me

2003-07-09T10:53:00.000-07:00

Met with Scott yesterday. He didn't make this analogy directly, but what I took away most strongly from him was this image of the eating contest he watched where contestants were competing to eat the most sushi in a short period of time. The sushi was all in one continuous roll, with each foot containing different stuff. Foot three is the foot of wasabi. (wasabi is a very strong Japanese root,

2003-07-06T22:13:00.000-07:00

Wrote 733 words today. And slept. I feel somewhat better. The first scene of my entirely new (yes, yet another) short story is going in a promising direction. I will finish the other two, also, but maybe not first. Sometimes right away isn't the best timing for me. As long as I'm still writing, that's okay. After four weeks of intensive critiques, learning the inside tales from multiple POVs,

2003-07-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

It is July 6th. Real life seeps in around the edges of the illusions of Clarion. And the drum beats louder with each passing moment... I took two days without writing a word. A break, a moment, the pause that refreshes. When I returned to the keyboard last night, I found what I always find when I go any period of time without writing, the words come sluggish, the flow even more discombobulated

2003-07-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

Read Maureen McHugh's quote on the FSF board that what distinguishes slushpile wallpaper from "maybe I'll consider this" is authorial voice. How depressing. I have no voice, often as not. Such is life in the big city. (East Lansing is more of a town than a big city. More on the bad news for Clarion tomorrow.) Works well with my conference today, wherein Kelly, to my surprise (except that I read

2003-07-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

We critiqued my button story today. It was quite interesting to see all the reactions. I suspect there were some more negative things being thought but not said about it. It's a bizarre story - not my norm. What do I think of it? I'm not sure, really. Much of the language worked well, some of it not yet. There's no plot, but I think there are themes. If it resonates in a coherent manner, is

2003-06-29T23:27:00.000-07:00

Color me uninspired. I legged out 1,000 words today, which as others have noted may not be a good idea. Indeed, Kelly Link recommended slowing down to us all today. She felt the pause that refreshes might be the opportunity for what we've learned to absorb into our writing bones. Yet, still, I have aspirations of being not only publishable, but prolific. I'll take the Stephen King dictum that

2003-06-28T05:06:00.000-07:00

Halfway Reflections: Are we half-baked or half-assed? It's been three weeks. This worries me. I'm not halfway from where I started to where I want to be when I finish. In fact, my "best" story written at Clarion so far was finished on the plane on my way here. So it's time for a little analysis and reflection. Maybe I'll find the right track for my final three weeks here... Positives: + Took

2003-06-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom... Another week done, and I'm still a fool. Darn. Oh, well. It wasn't reasonable to expect miracles, I suppose. It's getting harder to inspire me to write. Perhaps a departure from routine is in order. I will sleep, intending to re-awaken as Mark Twain channeling HG Wells, with perhaps jus t a touch of J thrown in. "There is nothing new under the sun." May I not be struck

2003-06-23T22:25:00.000-07:00

Week Four Will Come - Right on Schedule We have spent some time congratulating ourselves on being different. We are impervious to the spells that have brought down mighty wizards throughout the history of Clarionia. And yet... The curse was never conquered. My inner burro has bucked a few times, and I have mostly absorbed self-inflicted blows. The smell in the air evokes potions mysterious and

2003-06-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

Hey! I got accepted for a market that pays $6 a story, more than the $5 I was paid for the last one! At this rate I'll be a professional writer in 2061. Seriously, I am honored to be accepted for the April, 2004 issue of Hadrosaur Tales. Y'all run out and buy yourselves, a copy y'hear? Shalom y'all.

2003-06-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

I took a nap and figured out what was really wrong with my swarm story: I didn't write about the interesting parts. Instead of dealing with a fascinating, just this side of unfathomable other, I stayed firmly in the mind of a petty human and his little issue with his daddy. this is tough because he is the one who's hurt the most/has to make the tough decision. but I think I wimped out, and

2003-06-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

We had a "goodbye Nalo / Hello Richard " Bar-B-Que tonight. I would thank the person who set it up, but since I committed to never mentioning any Clarion students' names (lest I misrepresent in any way, in which case I would never be able to sleep again.) I can't. I really appreciate the advice we all received, and Nalo's willingness to share her perspective on the writing life and making it

2003-06-21T00:15:00.000-07:00

Nalo took the time to look over my submission story, for which I am very grateful. It turns out I lost her in a few places where I really didn't want to. My 15th draft isn't clear enough. (Have I really written fifteen drafts? I'm not sure at this point. This story has been worked and worked hard. And more work's a'coming. Cool.) I'm just a little wary of the push to harsher critiques, from

2003-06-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

Second story critiqued. (days ago now) My wonderful colleagues did me a service and pointed out where the story wasn't working for them. Sadly, despite a good half hour of good points, they missed a few spots. Argh. They also found positives aplenty - some few of which were off the edge of the page, as they say. It's funny. I think we're all spending less time per story on the reading and

2003-06-19T19:53:00.001-07:00

Nalo Hopkinson read tonight. She gives a very good reading. Afterwards, an earnest questioner asked Nalo how she felt about writing fantasies that would be read by children who are already too disconnected from the real world. (It was a polite question, politely asked. The questioner wanted to challenge her, but with respect, I think.) Nalo answered, affirming her faith both in children and S.F

2003-06-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

The time has come. Print and submit. Print and submit. There are only three ways this can come out: 1) My story is perfect. I nailed it. 2) The story is terrible. It nailed me. 3) We both die with our ideals intact. This is evidently the "happily ever after" outcome. I kid thee not. Yet another example of why truth is stranger than fiction could ever be.

2003-06-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

No, he said defensively, I'm not wimping out. See, this connection happened and I did some work on the story, see (I'd go into details about how I missed the extremely obvious in my own story, but it hasn't been critiqued yet and so... I won't.). Then I realized that the story hadn't ended. So Tuesday is looking like the day. Meanwhile, I'm working on this other story that will hopefully fail in

2003-06-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

Summarium In Which Our Hero Tries to Distill the Clarion Experience Based on (Almost) No Personal Experience Alright, so I'm nobody's hero. Sue me. It has been pointed out to me that the only real reason that this blog would get read is by someone who is contemplating whether any of the various Clarion/Milford style workshops is in their future. Is there something I can write, without naming

2003-06-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

Drats. Foiled again. I almost had the ultimate fad diet to sell. Go to Clarion as a vegan, lose five pounds a week. I think I would have made millions, counting the book, the movie, and the assorted merchandise. But, then Michele had to go and ruin it all. She sent me a care package with enough food to add those five lbs right back and then some. Seriously, if you are vegan and coming to

2003-06-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

What to say? Here it is: I must write. I haven't written today, and now I must. No, can't avoid it. Can't go over the stories for critique again. No dancing on the head of pins. Write Write Write

2003-06-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

First story critiqued today. I learned why my ending was lacking. It was because my focus was on the wrong thing in my story. (When Howard Waldrop first told me that, I didn't quite believe him, but resistance is futile. More importantly, I'm grokking that he's right.) Frustating that one of the few times in my life that I focus at all, and it's on the wrong thing! I don't really know yet how

2003-06-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

Hey, I'm actually at Clarion now. Didn't think it would ever happen, didja? For some reason I write blogs in second person. Sign of a twisted personality, I suspect. And now I've gone meta-nonfiction on you, too. Oh well. So far, there's been much of what I expected. Large group critiques, everyone commenting on everyone else's stories, sharp insight from our author-in-residence. We started with

2003-06-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

A gathering has commenced. Meeting people in person is much different than chatting over a message group. Its good to meet people in the flesh. So far there are eight or nine folks around. By Sunday night all should be assembled. I'm too tired to be tense. The red eye to Chicago, three hour layover, and puddle-jump to Lansing can take a bit out of a person. On the bright side, I was able to