We Read Science Fiction just posted their review of Hal Spacejock books 1 & 2. (The blog author discovered the books via the download version of Hal 1, and requested the whole series for review purposes.)

Couple of snips from the review:

• Australia's Simon Haynes successfully lampoons the bedrock of science fiction themes and doesn't take himself seriously. At all.

No kidding!

• First, you will need to read these books with an open mind and an understanding of why they were written to enjoy them. If you try and take them too seriously you'll hate them, but if you grok Hal, you'll love them. Second, they are great for teenagers who you want hooked on SciFi. Remember that if you don't have the mind of a teenager.

I've seen a couple of comments around the place from people who tried to take Hal seriously, and it wasn't pretty. Fortunately, the other 99.99% of the population still has a sense of humour.

One of the most interesting comments in the review was that Hal 2 was a lot better than Hal 1. I hear that a lot (usually followed by 'Hal 3 is better than Hal 2' and 'Hal 4 is better than Hal 3'), but I really don't mind at all. Getting better as the series goes along means I'm growing as a writer, and my goal of fifteen Hal novels isn't completely loopy. (Oh sure, people laugh at my bold claims now...)

Anyway, feel free to descend on the We Read Science Fiction blog and comment on the review. The site encourages this sort of reader reaction.

(You'll also find a lot of other book reviews - perfect reading for a lazy weekend.)

It seems fitting after all the talk of art and theatre this week to have an interview with T. Lynn Ocean, who, coincidentally, also did time scaring people at a haunted house.  Now, though, she spends her time writing fabulous fiction, including FOOL ME ONCE, SWEET HOME CAROLINA, SOUTHERN FATALITY and SOUTHERN POISON (the latter two part of her Jersey Barnes mystery series).

Q. You've had an eclectic career history, from commercial tread rubber sales to television producer.  How do you think this has played into your fiction? 

I'm not sure about the other jobs, but working in television definitely teaches you to choose your words carefully and make each one count, especially when you're writing scripts for 30-second spots.

Q. Where did you come up with the idea of the fantastic Ox from SOUTHERN FATALITY and SOUTHERN POISON?  Do you ever find your quirky characters getting away from you?  Trying to steal the show? 

I wanted to create a multi-dimensional character who would nicely compliment Jersey.  Oh, yeah, and he had to be HOT, but not in a traditional pretty-boy way.  The Lumbee tribe has been in the news for many years because they were trying to gain Federal recognition.  Lumbees live all over the country but their tribe is centered around the Lumber River in NC, just up the road from Wilmington where the series is set.  Once I met some Lumbee men and learned more about them, I knew I'd found Ox.

And about stealing the show...I got so many great comments about the Granny character in FOOL ME ONCE that it was bizarre.  People liked the main character, Carly, but they loved Granny.  I guess the characters are just going to do their thing and it would be difficult to try to tame them down.  But as long as the end result works, and the agent and editor are happy, then all is well!

Q. Where does it start for you — voice, plot, kernel of an idea?   How do your stories develop?

I have no idea.  But I'm a huge believer in using your subconscious mind to plan, plot and write.  Everyone has this amazing power at their disposal, but the key is to effectively put your SM to work for you.  For example, you must fuel, or feed your subconscious mind with creative input and ideas for it to toss around while you sleep.  And you must avoid stress and negative thoughts. 

Q. Will Jersey Barnes ever really retire? 

I just checked my vintage 8-ball (you know, the black liquid-filled ball you ask questions) and it said, Outlook Good.  But then, Jersey's still working, despite her resolve to quit.

Q. What's the most fun about writing?  Is it the research road trips?  How many do you take in a given year? 

Personally, I'll jump at any chance to go on a trip in the name of research.  One of my favorite things about writing is that it gives me a reason to meet interesting people, learn a new skill, and make new friends.   I might need to talk to a boat captain, or a hostage negotiator, or a divorce attorney.  Most people are more than willing to talk to me.  And those who aren't probably wouldn't be any fun to meet anyway!  On a separate note, to get more into the mind of Jersey Barnes, I've taken advanced firearms training and have become an instructor.  This fall, I'll be attending a week-long course called the Lethal Force Institute.  Should be a blast. 

Q. Are you doing any special promotions for your late summer/early fall releases?  Where can folks go to learn more about your books?

This year, I'm staying pretty close to home.  But I am doing a moveable feast, a conference, and some book signings in Wilmington, NC, and several cities in South Carolina.  To see a schedule of events or learn more about my books, folks can check out www.tlynnocean.com .

Just back from hauling a load of Stuff out to the nature center, where it will be yard-sale'd for the benefit of Wife's continued salary.  Yes, this is where you question cost/benefit ratios...

But it means we get rid of Stuff, like Elder Son's abandoned bike and some aluminum-frame backpacks that haven't left the back room closet in over 30 years...

Someone asked if they could see pics of the roof garden, so today I went up and took a few and decided to spam you all with them. I also took a pic of the VASE OF SIN that I mentioned in the previous post.

First, the crackle vase that I stole from the church:

( Vase of Sin )

Not the most beautiful piece of crackle that I own, but I'll go to hell for it anyway.

Now the garden. Here are the two shots of either side of the roof:

( Garden Left, Garden Right )

Those are the two vegetable plots. We also have a few spots for just flowers, and a kiddie pool that we filled with dirt and seeded with grass so that our guinea pigs could have a lawn to munch and run in. It's surrounded by flowers. Here the pic of that:

( The Guinea Pigs' Lawn )

And now some closeups of some of the veggies that the garden is producing. Let's see, there's tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, corn (2 pics of that--a long shot and a closeup of one of the cobs), watermelon, yellow squash, spagetti squash, and lastly carrots.

( Mom said you need to eat your veggies! )

And that's what our garden looks like. We've gotten peas from it as well, but they're done already so I couldn't get a picture of them. We have green beans and some peppers that have only just flowered. And for some reason the acorn squash has tons of flowers but no actual squash started on it yet. Perhaps more pictures will be posted once some of that stuff starts producing.

(Yikes! I didn't realize the carrot pic was so out of focus. Sorry about that.)

 So last week on here and on my community LJ  capes_coffins, we talked about writing weaknesses. This week we're talking about writing strengths. Now I don't know about you, but I have trouble seeing my own "strengths." That's not false modesty, that's just how I've always been. But we can psycho-analyze me another day, let's get on with it!

So tell me what your writing strengths are!

 

Got out in the relative coolth of the morning (only mid-70s F) and mowed the back yard.  With temperatures projected to mid-80s (+/- 29 C) and rising humidity, I felt this was a good alternative to heat stroke or myocardial infarction . . .

While working, heard a voice from the burning bush* approving of my ecological efforts, substituting sweat for gas as mower power.  He also was powering a push mower in the misty morning.  I had to explain to our rear neighbor that this was an emergency backup system, and that I anticipate returning to my wastrel ways when the other mower is fixed or replaced.

But for this morning, I display virtue.  You may now, in your best snide Roddy McDowall voice, quote his role as Mordred:  "Virtue is it's own reward."

*Or winged wahoo, an aggressive ornamental shrub that obscures our back fence and the World Beyond.

Holy crap, I've been Boing-Boinged! Thank you, Mary!

If you enjoyed Modern SF Novelist, I would ask that as a favor to me, you consider visiting the Tom Smith Fundraiser. Tom (filkertom) is an incredibly skilled filker, and writes some of the funniest songs I've ever heard. (My favorite is House at Cthulhu Corner.) He's also a very nice guy, and the one who sat down and recorded "The Song of Jig" in the hallway at a convention for me. (MP3 here).

Tom ended up in the hospital this summer, which means no performing and lots of medical bills, so every donation helps.


On a different note, does anyone know what's up with Amazon? Seems like more and more over the past few weeks, I've gone over to obsess about my sales ranks review the upcoming releases, only to get an error message that Amazon.com can't be displayed. Personally, I would rather see people shopping at the brick & mortar stores anyway, but it's still bizarre to see Amazon down.

ETA: Okay, it's starting to sound like this is just my problem. Hmph. I wonder what I did to offend Amazon...

ETA2: Or maybe not. Data in the comments is contradictory. Jim is confused.

I did a lot of theatre growing up: acting, lights, make-up, assistant stage managing; I pretty much ran the gamut.  Some of you know I met my husband when we worked as actors at a haunted house.  And here's another interesting thing about art: most artists put themselves into the work, through their characters and points of view, as we've been discussing with photography and fiction.  Your characters aren't you, of course, but generally there's a kernel there.  However, actors, really good ones, have to be able to empty themselves completely and be filled with whatever persona they're taking on.  Most people aren't aware of how much charisma and recognition are based on non-aesthetic cues, like carriage, body-language, expression.  To me the best actors are often those it takes you a while to recognize from part to part because they've changed so much of themselves. 

I once saw a play in college performed in part by two of my best friends at the time.  It was avant-garde—no logical dialogue or plot—and absolutely fascinating, mostly because I couldn't see either of them in their roles.  If I hadn't known it was them, I might never have guessed, even though neither was exactly forgettable. 

That might have been the moment that I knew acting wasn't truly for me.  It takes an immense amount of talent and a certain mind-set to be able to do that.  I was never able to completely loose myself, empty myself of the insecurities, the focus, the concentration, let the character take me over and basically just use my body as its puppet. 

It's very interesting to me with writing, though, that when I'm on the right track I really do feel as though I'm just channeling my characters.  Possibly this is because I can pour them onto the page and don't have to hold them inside me.  I don't know, but it's intriguing.  I'd love to hear all your thoughts.

If there's one thing worse than Nigerian scam artists with their ridiculous claims, it's Nigerian scam artists who include a 400kb+ attachment with their ridiculous claims.

Trust me, Nigerian scam artist, I'm not going to open the attachment. This is doubly so if you demand in UPPERCASE LETTERS that I read your junk CAREFULLY and send the bloody thing to my 2005 email address.

Superpowers
Writer: David J. Schwartz
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 376

I'll be honest: this isn't the kind of book that would EVER catch my eye, let alone one I would read. So why'd I read it? The answer's rather simple, as David Schwartz is a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writer's workshop. I can't catch EVERY publication my Odyssey alums, but when it comes to novels, I do try and give them a shot.

That said, Odyssey or not, this is one novel I should've left alone. The premise: five college students wake up the day after a party with superpowers, and they decide to do use their powers to fight crime in the town of Madison, Wisconsin.

That's it. But I should point out that this story? It starts in the summer of 2001. Think about that. Do the math. And I'll go ahead and say the conclusion isn't as interesting as you might think.

Here's the thing: I'm not a comic-book girl. My fiance, however, is THE FAN when it comes to comics, and over the past ten years, has made me read various titles and seen various movies that I probably would've ignored if left to my own devices. Thanks to those ten years that also include nearly weekly trips to the comic book shop, I like to think I know SOMETHING about comic books, superheroes, superpowers, and what's DIFFERENT in the superhero genre, so to speak. I'm no expert, not by a LONG SHOT, but I know what I like, and I like what I love.

This book didn't work for me. Sadly. Spoilers ahead.

( Superpowers )

My Rating

Wish I'd Borrowed It: Like I said, this book just isn't for the reader like me, and had I not had a rather tenuous tie to the author, I would've never given this book a second glance. That said, if you like superhero fiction/comics, it's worth giving this one a shot. You're bound to get more out of it than I did. And I'll give Schwartz kudos for making three of the five heroes women, and one of them's even a minority (too bad HER power is invisibility, but that actually figures into the story in an interesting way).

Next up: MultiReal by David Louis Edelman

This is going to be a completely random post with little tidbits of stuff that's gone on recently, including the explanation for the title of the post. Why haven't I been posting lately? Well, I've been working almost non-stop on the book proposal/plot synopses of the sequels to Well of Sorrows. I'd like to sell them, you see, so that Colin's story can be finished. You've seen me obsessing about the titles of the two books, so here's the final decision:

The Immortality of Colin Harten (tentative series title; does it suck?)
Book 1: Well of Sorrows
Book 2: Leaves of Anguish
Book 3: Flames of Sacrifice

Thanks to everyone who weighed in on this. Keep in mind that this was just for the proposal. If an editor is interested and buys the last two, then the titles may change. Even Well of Sorrows might change in the end, depending on what my editor thinks of the manuscript.

Also, thanks to pbray and jennifer_dunne for looking over the plot synopses on such short notice. I have the package printing at the moment and will be sending it out tomorrow. If I don't run out of ink. (Already ran out of paper and made a quick run down to Kmart to buy some.) I'm expecting to run out of ink in about 20 pages, with only 20 pages left to print. This is my life.

Let's see, what else has been going on? Oh, yeah, stealing from the church. I've already told you all about my obsession with crackle glass (see previous post with pictures). Well, this past weekend we hit the flea market and there wasn't a single piece of crackle to be found. *fail* So on the way back we hit one of the local food bazaars that the churches seem to run here on a weekly basis on the weekends. Each weekend it's a different church selling different types of ethnic foods. We usually stop by and spend $20 at each church event. Well, this particular church was also having a yard sale, sort of. The minute we walked in I saw this great piece of crackle. A vase, brown, and large. I homed in on it, thinking that it's probably worth $50 and I'd definitely take it is it was $20, perhaps if it was $30, since most people don't realize how much crackle is worth. Some even think the glass is broken and worthless. In any case, guess how much they wanted?

$5

I almost squeed. It was a near thing. But I locked in my sober face and tried not to drop the crackle piece since inside I was trembling and weak with my find. I very calmly told the young person behind the table that I'd take it and handed it over to be wrapped.

As I walked away, my partner told me I'd stolen it. I admit there was a small amount of guilt as I unwrapped it at home and set it on the table in the sunlight. But it's not like I'm a dealer and I intend to sell it to someone for 10 times its cost. I intend to keep it! It's found a good home! I swear!

I'm going to hell.

In other news, we've started getting tomatoes and cucumbers from our roof garden. Pictures will likely be forthcoming. The corn is almost ready to pick as well, and the eggplant is looking great! A few squash coming (spagetti and yellow straightneck) as well. Nothing but flowers so far on the acorn squash, but we've got TONS of little watermelons started. Most are getting to be a decent size and make me think they'll actually produce something.

Oh, and while writing the synopsis for the new books, I realized that I'd written out a history of this world and how everything connected at some point. But where was it? I started digging (I seriously believe this was procrastination efforts on my part, because I didn't NEED the history). I ran across the history . . . along with some old emails I'd sent to agents during my agent hunt before getting published. One of them included ALL of the projects I intended to write at that point. The Skewed Throne was among them (as a single stand-alone novel of course), plus Well of Sorrows and the current series, along with two other books I'd totally forgotten about. As soon as I read the little plot synopses, all of the details of those books came back, characters, setting, etc. One is a contemporary fantasy (not an urban fantasy) and the other is science fiction. I may post those paragraphs in the next LJ post. But in any case, it made me realize I've got . . . 15 other novels either written (like Fever) or planned, plus at least 3 others that are slightly vague but forming. Four of these are SF, and three are contemporary fantasy/suspense novels, like Stephen King.

I guess I'd better get writing.

Oh, and that reminds me: don't name one of the kings in your land Stephan. I did. I kept writing and writing and writing and every time I typed King Stephan it bothered me. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why, until about a week ago.

Stephen King . . . King Stephan . . . just a little too weird.

ETA: Printing done without a need to run for ink! Yay!

Registration doesn't begin til tomorrow, and this wonderful book-oriented convention organizers assure me that anyone is free to drop by the Burlington Marriott tonight for the pretty wonderful programming from 7:30 - 11:00 p.m.! Said programming includes my "Return to Riverside" talk (8-9 pm),( Read more... )

So if you weren't sure what to do on a hot Thursday night, come to Burlington!

I've been having a great discussion with zen_kitty, ranging from my blog to hers and back again, about photography, which has brought up an interesting link to writing.  Really good photographs are not about simply showing you an object.  They give you an interesting point from which to view it; you see it through the lens, the filter, the frame the artist/photographer provides.  It's the same with a great book—it's not just about a good story.  It's about a good story well told.  As a listener, you'd rather hear a tale from an animated storyteller who has great delivery and a unique way of expressing things, who knows what to put in and what to leave out of the tale to make it concise and intriguing.  Fiction is the same.  What sets great fiction apart from good is how it's told, how amazing and real the voice is, how unique the lens through which we see the events unfold.  Just a thought.  A lot of times this is what makes the difference between me liking a novel and me loving it enough to represent.

Just read coffeeem's moving, lucid, inspiring & dare I say empowering description of her recent experience (and her subsequent post letting us know that all went well, and how). As she says, the comments to the first post are an encyclopedia and how-to book all on their own. Particularly quotable is marydell's I think of depression as a basilisk--it paralyzes its prey for easier eating. Also much good advice on workarounds for getting medication without adequate insurance coverage.

You're all wonderful.

This turned out to be a little more challenging than I expected when I started, but I perservered. Why? Because I love you. And also because I'm stubborn :-)

If you enjoy, please feel free to share. All I ask is that you credit me as the author, and maybe include a link either here or to my web site.


I am the Very Model of a Modern SF Novelist

I am the very model of a modern SF novelist,
I've manuscripts space opera, anime, and fantasist,
I know the kings of fandom and the best flamewars historical
From Andrew Burt to LiveJournal, in order categorical;
I'm very well acquainted too, with matters editorial,
I keep my cover letters brief and never too suctorial,
About rejection etiquette I'm teeming with propriety,
With many cheerful facts about your online notoriety,
I'm very good at worldbuilding and proper use of ansibles;
I know the hyphenated names of beings unpronounceable:
In short, in matters space opera, anime, and fantasist,
I am the very model of a modern SF novelist.

I know our genre history, from H. G. Wells to Arthur Clarke,
I've read so much time travel, I've a pretty taste for paradox,
I quote in panel talks the wise advice of Crispin and Miss Snark,
I study wormholes, galaxies and theories about matter dark;
I can tell a work professional from books Publish America,
I know the Eye of Argon from Conan of Cimmeria!
Then I can hum the melody from every last John Williams score,
And whistle all the airs from that infernal film Fantastic Four.
I'll write you books of goblin war and princesses who won't conform,
And tell show you every detail of a goblin warrior's uniform:
In short, in matters space opera, anime, and fantasist,
I am the very model of a modern SF novelist.

In fact, when I know what is meant by "grok" and "droid" and "FTL",
When I can tell at sight the sword Excalibur from Anduril,
When twists in stories I perceive by reading just one paragraph,
And when I know precisely how to pen a clever epigraph,
When I have followed breakthroughs yearly in e-book technology,
When I know more of grammar than my profs from University--
In short, when you run out and buy and read every last book by me--
You'll say a better novelist has never writ a fantasy.
My works even appear in many dialects European,
Thanks to the perserverence of my agent JABberwockian;
In short, in matters space opera, anime, and fantasist,
I am the very model of a modern SF novelist.

I'm not quite sure what to make of Rev. Jackson these days.

I managed to scrape together a little time to write between real life and scrambling to finish artwork.

A short Clark section before the longer Lex part I have planned next.


Part nine

( 9 )

That's what the sign in front of the gas station said last night. I'm guessing the thought of spelling "appreciation" defeated them completely.

It's too hot to think. Bleh. Today's going to be a reading day. Right now I'm working on David Anthony Durham's Acacia and Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why. And yesterday I read the Fray graphic novel, set in the future of the Buffyverse.

One mangled muskrat, on the road shoulder out in the bog.  Tuesday's raccoon has vanished, proving again the efficiency of our cleanup squad.

Warm (about 80 F) and rising humidity.  Headed out on the bike before conditions got worse.  Brown-eyed Susans brightening the roadsides and fields, along with all the usual suspects.

15.30 miles, 1:07:50

(Which is less than half the speed that the Tour de France riders would make over the same route, but I never claimed to be a cyborg.  Doping, hell -- I want them X-rayed.)