Clockwork Phoenix 2- submission guidelines

If you didn't get a story in to the first anthology, Clockwork Phoenix is doing a second volume, and submissions are now open. Here are the guidelines:

http://www.clockworkphoenix.com/#guidelines

Here's a rundown of what they're looking for:

Editor Mike Allen says: "CLOCKWORK PHOENIX 2 is a home for stories that sidestep expectations in beautiful and unsettling ways, that surprise with their settings and startle with the ways they cross genre boundaries, that aren't afraid to experiment with storytelling techniques. But experimentation is not a requirement: the stories in the anthology must be more than gimmicks, and should appeal to genuine emotions, suspense, fear, sorrow, delight, wonder. I will value a story that makes me laugh in its quirky way more than a story that tries to dazzle me with a hollow exercise in wordplay.

"The stories should contain elements of the fantastic, be it science fiction, fantasy, horror or some combination thereof. A straight psychological horror story is unlikely to make the cut unless it's truly scary and truly bizarre. The same applies to a straight adventure fantasy or unremarkable space opera — bring something new and genuine to the equation, whether it's a touch of literary erudition, playful whimsy, extravagant style, or mind-blowing philosophical speculation and insight. Though stories can be set in this world, settings at least a hair or more askew are preferred. I hope to see prose that is poetic but not opaque. I hope to see stories that will lead the reader into unfamiliar territory, there to find shock and delight."

So polish up those drafts, or get those shiny new ideas down on paper, because you have until November 16th to submit. I'm going to try and send one or two pieces their way, so, best case scenario would be to see a few of you all in there as well. Good luck!

Next week I'll be putting up reviews for two new releases, MultiReal and Sly Mongoose. I'll preempt by saying that both are absolutely worth buying, but I'll give a more detailed breakdown after the three-day weekend.

Enjoy the holiday, everyone.


I see that smile.

Books can be used to take over the world!

Who knew pages held such power? That whole "emotional manipulation" that we suffer from television and movies? You think you're safe from it by turning to a book? Think the ink and paper provides enough of a barrier for your mind to distance itself from being tugged in directions it doesn't necessarily want to go? To see images you didn't want to see?

Think again. A new study, using MRI scans, shows that the same regions of the brain--those involved with experiencing an emotion--are activated no matter whether a person is watching an image of an object or event, reading about that same object or event, or actually experiencing that object or event.

So, writers of the world, be aware of this awesome power you hold over people's minds. With great power comes...you know...world domination and stuff.

(Also, do realize boredom is an emotion, and that it can be felt just as strongly reading a book as anything else. Make sure the plot never lets the reader want to put it down.)


I see that smile.

Google Alerts?

This morning, I'm pointing you in the direction of Agent Kristin Nelson's blog, to a post of hers that discusses some of the nifty tricks an author can do using Google Alerts.

What are Google Alerts? It's a system (with Google of course) where you can input certain keywords, phrases and such, and then receive emails on a regular basis (daily, hourly, weekly, whatever you choose) when Google's search engine runs across new instances of those keywords being posted online.

How can this be helpful? Well, for instance, if you have a book out, you can have your name and the title of the book setup in an alert, and anytime someone posts a review of it, you're likely to receive a note about it. Or if someone talks about you on a blog, you'll be tuned in to the conversation without all the tedious googling of yourself.

What else can you do? Check out her tips to find out.


I see that smile.

A publishing dictionary

Bookends Literary Agency has posted a oh-so-helpful dictionary to assist you in understanding the lingo of the publishing industry, which sometimes has more acronyms than the military.

What's a vanity press? Is a query different than a synopsis or proposal? And just what is the difference between ARCs, the BEA, and AAR?

Don't forget to check out the rest of the Bookends blog, as it is full of insights and information about agents, querying, editing, and the publishing industry at large. Plus they have links to a ton of other sites and blogs that will contribute heavily to your writing biz education. Don't miss out!


I see that smile.

A dating site for readers?

I'm not sure what to think when an international publishing house launches a dating service. I mostly get suspicious and wonder if the publisher really has people's best interests at heart, or is this a subtle ploy to get lonely and broken-hearted folks to buy more self-help, therapy and 101 Best Date Ideas books?

I mean, when I think of a dating website, the first words to my mind are not "book publisher." But I guess since this dating service will be geared towards literary-minded people, it might have a chance to serve the needs of the bookworm niche. So will potential dates be determined by genre preference? Book length endurance? E-readers versus paperback luddites? Would you have to bring a book along on the date for a read-along, and are graphic novels allowed?

Man, it's a good thing I'm already married, otherwise I'd find this whole thing rather daunting.


I see that smile.

Pant...wheeze...

The wife and I just ran...10 miles. For some of you...I know that's not much...but considering...

*cough*

...this is the longest and farthest we've run...without whips and other torture devices involved...

*pant*

...it might be okay to feel proud about our progress.

(the one upside is that my body is now so tired I have no choice but to sit at the computer and write. At least running doesn't tire out the fingertips too much)


I see that...*thud*

Passive-Aggressive Appetizers

An amusing diversion for your end of the week. I present this article, which holds delicious recipes for 14 passive-aggressive appetizers to be served at your next dinner/cocktail party.

Here's a taste test of what's in store:

1. Top thick slices of country bread with fresh goat cheese. Sprinkle with herbs and bake until crusty; serve to everyone but Jeff.

2. Vegetarian friends? Try veggie rumaki: wrap a strip of imitation bacon around a water chestnut, spear with a toothpick, and broil—but instead of imitation bacon use real bacon, and instead of a water chestnut use veal.

3. Steal Cheryl’s famous potato-salad recipe. When Cheryl asks, “Why did you steal my recipe?,” say, “I don’t know, Cheryl, why did you break my heart?” Then laugh so she knows you’re just kidding.

5. Tell Marissa that you appreciate her concern, but in the two years since Cheryl broke off the engagement you’ve grown up a lot, and you’re really in a much healthier place now. Then say, “Speaking of fiancés, how’s Peter’s alcoholism?” (Note: This is not technically an appetizer.)

Double brownie points if you use these recipes for the snacks at your book launch party. Let me know how it goes.

I see that smile.

What will it take?

After a wonderful performance by a famous violinist, a member of the audience said to him, "I would give my life to play like that!"

The violinist replied, "I did."

---------

I can't get this little story out of my head today.


I see that smile.

Sly Mongoose released! (yesterday...whoops)

Meant to take note of this yesterday. Tobias Buckell's third book in his Caribbean-spiced sci-fi series came out yesterday. My copy of Sly Mongoose is already in the mail and should hopefully arrive in a few days, so I'll give a review of it when it has been thoroughly devoured.

Read the first chapter here.

Publisher's Weekly already has their review up, and it looks promising:

"Buckell returns to the universe of Crystal Rain (2006) and Ragamuffin (2007) for another action-packed story of human colonists fighting to survive on an alien world with all the odds against them. The story bounces between two protagonists: teenage Timas, one of the few inhabitants of the floating spherical city of Yatapek who can maintain the enormous mining machine that harvests ore from the furnace-hot surface of Venus-like Chilo, and Pepper, aka Juan Smith, an elite Ragamuffin soldier from New Anegada who'd prefer to forget about his violent past. As the only survivor of a ship infected with a virus that turns people into murderous zombie slaves of the alien Swarm, the last thing Pepper wants is another fight, but with the Swarm making inroads on Chilo, he has little choice. Buckell delivers double helpings of action and violence in a plot-driven story worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster."

Can't wait to see more of Pepper in action. He was one of my favorites from the previous two stories, so it's great to see him taking the spotlight. If anyone else has gotten their hands on this, I'd love to hear your reaction.


I see that smile.

Uncharted genres

It seems that genres in the speculative fiction field are getting more specific by the year. Want a steampunk young adult vampire time travel romance? Why that's in aisle 7. Want a cyberwarfare sleuth with a few elves and dragons tossed into the mix? We've got that too. Often, though, we can boil things down to a couple of labels. Urban fantasy. Vampire versus Werewolves. Epic fantasy. Sword and Sorcery. Steampunk. Hard/soft sci-fi.

Here then are a few genre themes and ideas that haven't been tapped into all that much. If you want to take it as a personal challenge to write stories to fulfill all of these, be my guest.

A few of my favorites:

9) Due to genetic degradation, it now takes a village to produce enough healthy chromosomes to make a child.

19) A new drug makes you want what you already have. But over time, you forget they already have it, and think you have to go out and get whatever it is.

6) A new drug makes you think you have superspeed. But actually, you don't.

3) Aliens invade, then realize they forgot something at home, and go away. And then invade again, a few weeks later.

Any of you all have some genres or themes you think should start taking the spotlight?


I see that smile.

Them there's fightin' words

And if you've read Jade Tiger, by Jenn Reese, you'd realize how appropriate that saying is. I've had the opportunity to get my hands on a copy of Jade Tiger, a book that lies off-center of my usual genre choices, but which I am very happy to have had the chance to read. Jade Tiger is an interesting mix of martial arts, romance, and supernatural fiction.

The Plot: Shan Westfall has spent the last fifteen years of her life seeking out the five mystical jade animals that once belonged to a secret society of female martial artists (which included her now-dead mother). Now she has a lead on one of the missing animals that might lead her to the rest. But she's not the only one hunting them down. The man responsible for destroying the Jade Circle is still out there, and he will stop at nothing to achieve ultimate power for himself. Sounds fun, eh?

So, important things first. The romance. I don't tend to go for romance books much in my genre selections, so when this element started to make itself obvious pretty early on, I wondered if it would distract from my enjoyment of the main story. Fortunately, while Reese introduces it in with the "love-at-first-sight" way, it fits with both the fast-paced nature of the story, plus she includes a logical reason for the attraction that mostly silenced my inner cynic. So it flowed along with the rest of events and provided a nice counter-balance to all the bone breaking and skull crackin'.

The fight scenes themselves, of which there are plenty, are direct and strong. I'd make a crack about "not pulling any punches" here, but then I'm afraid someone would show up at my doorstep with a bat and some rope. But it doesn't. Reese has an obvious history in martial arts and uses that to make her fight scenes feel real, even when her fighters are doing things that might make an Olympic athlete choke (don't forget the supernatural element here. Be ready to suspend disbelief.). Having been heavily involved in martial studies myself, I saw a lot of familiar moves and terms throughout and could imagine the sequences of moves pretty well. Some people might be less aware of how the details fit together, but for the most part the scenes rush you along and are clear enough that you shouldn't have any big issues following them.

Themes are pretty overt here. There's a huge emphasis on the need for balance in one's life, as the Jade Circle once protected that ultimate balance with the five animals each representing a different aspect of life one could embody. There's also a lot of discussion about gender roles, with several men being the main villains here. Fortunately, not all men are created evil in this story, nor are the women put across as perfect--everyone makes mistakes--but it's definitely a perspective both sides come from often enough, which makes the conflict as much emotional and psychological as physical.

I did feel the motivation for one character's nasty actions came across a bit weak, but aside from that, most of the characters, even the minor ones, have solid presences and backgrounds that make them feel alive, even if bruised and bleeding.

Jade Tiger is just shy of 250 pages, and you'll plow through it within a night or two, depending on your reading speed. There's no real room for twisty subplots, lots of fluffy description or lengthy internal debates. But that does fit the POV character's nature, and you see through her eyes the whole way through, so it's natural and understandable that with such a personal mission, Shan wouldn't let herself be distracted by anything.

The writing is crisp and strong, and I like how Reese makes some character interactions feel like internal fights just as much as the actual slap-me-down scenes. Lots of old relationships pop up throughout the story on both sides, and it's fun to see those complicate matters more than they already are. This is a great story with lots of bold energy driving it forward. I'm thankful for the chance to have dabbled outside my usual genre picks, and am looking forward to her next work.

Don't miss the chance to check out Reese's website as well. You can find an excerpt of Jade Tiger there, if you want a taste test. Plus, she's written quite a bit of short fiction, and has a 12-part series, Tales of the Chinese Zodiac, available for free, which are incredibly imaginative and fun. Dig in, folks!


I see that smile.

Goin' campin'

Of course, out of all the bright and hot summer weekends the wife and I could choose to get out of town, we choose the grayest, wettest one to hit in months. Ah well. At least we'll have hot chocolate up in the mountains.

While I'm away for the weekend, here is something for your viewing pleasure. One writer's imaginings about how the publishing industry works. See you next week!




I see that smile.

Wheel of Time Movies!

Yet another in the series of, "I'm way beyond excited to see them make this into a movie, but they better not screw it up!" announcements. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, the last (12th) book of which is being written by Brandon Sanderson, has been optioned by Universal Pictures.

As reported, "Big-screen adaptations of the books will begin with the first book in the cycle, The Eye of the World."


Can't. Wait.

Justdon'tscrewitupplease.


I see that smile.

New chapter sample for Hero of Ages

Just a brief note today to point you in the direction of this new sample chapter. If you aren't already looking forward to the finale of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series, then hopefully the prologue and chapters he is making available should get you excited.

http://brandonsanderson.com/blog/680/New-Herof-of-Ages-Sample-Chapter


I see that smile.

Stephen King's web series

To promote one of his upcoming anthologies (Just After Sunset), Stephen King is producing a 25-episode graphic video web series called "N." Each episode is a quick watch (usually around two minutes), the art is well done and creepy, as one might expect, and the story, while told from a rather mad perspective, is compelling.


We're just under the halfway mark in the number of episodes they intend to make available, so catch up when you can and then stay tuned each weekday for a new release.


Enjoy. And then start looking for faces in the rocks. Or is that just a trick of the light?





I see that smile.

5 Things to make yourself more attractive

To editors and agents, that is.

http://varkat.livejournal.com/32011.html

Some of the advice is rather obvious, such as "Write a fantastic novel."

But did you know that having a marketing platform will increase your chances appreciably, and that trying to get your personality across in meetings and query letters (we're assuming a nice personality, here) can help you make that all-important connection.

When agents take the time to sit down and list those elements that draw them to one writer or another, it's a good idea to take a hard listen and figure out if there's anything you're lacking. Check out the article for further thoughts and links to more agent posts.

How is your week starting out?


I see that smile.

Weird News Weekend

A sure sign of the coming apocalypse: babies are being born at 8 pounds, 8 ounces, at 8:08 am, on 8/8/08.

Another would be when grandmothers start driving around with their grandchildren sitting on top of the car roof. This isn't like forgetting your coffee cup or briefcase up there...

And after a customer was beheaded on one of their buses, Greyhound decided to pull an ad campaign which extolled the relaxing nature of their company, saying, "there's a reason you've never heard of 'bus rage.'"


I see that smile.

Wooden science fiction

Take a look at these incredible wooden sculptures by artist and builder Michael Rea. They're not just your average sculptures, either, as he draws on a love for the geek culture and science fiction to inspire his work.

He's got an astronaut suit, time machine, a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, and even a huge mecha-warrior machine built in honor of Stephen Hawking's lifetime of achievements. Amazing craftmanship here, I think you'd have to agree.



I see that smile.

Hamlet- The Facebook Edition

What hath become of us? Will all the great plays of old be twisted by the patterns of modern social interfaces? Will our children learn of the great tragedies through these abbreviated versions texted to them on their phones?

Hamlet- The Facebook Edition


Here are a few of my favorite lines:

The king poked the queen.

The queen poked the king back.

Hamlet and the queen are no longer friends.

I see that smile.

I'm torn...

There are some days I really want a Kindle or some other e-reader, and some days that the comic below reflects my feelings more accurately.

As much as I appreciate the convenience and advances e-reading offers, it still doesn't quite capture the visceral appeal of reading a solid chunk of a good book. I'm sure I'll catch up with the times...sooner or later.


I see that smile.

Garfield Minus Garfield

Garfield Minus Garfield is quite an odd, yet appealing project. The owner of this site has gone through many of the Garfield comic strip archives and removed the famous striped, lasagna-snarfing feline. What's left then, when you take out the iconic star from his own newspaper medium?

Jon Arbuckle, of course. Left alone to ponder the meaning of the universe, go to extreme lengths to get attention from just about anyone, and even spout what come across as almost suicidally depressed statements that leave you wondering about his sanity.

It is a really unique twist on the old comic, and puts things in quite a new perspective. You might realize just how much you actually overlooked poor Jon, and see his antics in a whole new light. Is he a crazy loner? Someone off his meds? Or just that desperate? Read through and find out.


I see that smile.

Editor Wanted

Apex Digest Online, a ezine of science fiction and horror, has been expanding its market presence lately, what with offering more pay-per-word for its accepted stories and increasing its staff. Now they're looking to hire an editor (aka. minion) to help wade through the slush pile of submissions.

As they put it:

Submissions editors must commit to reading and responding to at least 20 short stories per week (max. length 7500 words, average is 3-5k) and offering commentary on stories selected by other editors. Payment is in gratitude, free books, and the power of wielding the rejection letter.

Since they're an ezine, you can live pretty much anywhere in the world and still do this job. Could be fun. Could make you stay up late at night wondering how so many words could be arranged in such horrible combinations. Up for the challenge?


I see that smile.

How is Brandon Sanderson like Bigfoot?

Because the only evidence I have of encountering him at the local Barnes and Noble yesterday are these two fuzzy photos snapped by my camera phone. Well, that and the two books he signed for me.

Great guy. He spent a lot of time answering the crowd's questions about A Memory of Light, the last in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series which he is writing. Many of his questions, due to the non-disclosure he signed in taking on this project, were of the "Read and find out" nature, but he did say he knows who killed Asmodean, he knows how it ends, and everyone we'd want to see in the last book will be in the last book. Other questions answered:

Nothing in the works for any graphic novel adaptions of his work, but he'd be up for it in the future depending on certain factors. A movie option is out on Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians, which would be quite fun, and he's in development of an epic fantasy series that could end up being about 10 books long. So...he should be nicely busy for the next twenty years, if all goes according to plan.

He'll also be at Worldcon this week, taking part in a Wheel of Time panel with Tor CEO Tom Doherty. So if you missed him in Denver now, catch him there then.

Thanks for a peek at the wizard behind the curtain, Mr. Sanderson. Twas a grand time.

I see that smile.

An agent's favorite bad similes and metaphors

Found this and thought it worth sharing:

• The small boat glided gently across the pond, exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
• John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds that had also never met.
• His thoughts tumbled around in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without any Cling Free.
• He was as tall as a six foot three inch tree.
• Her eyes were like big brown circles with little black circles in the middle.
• His vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

Want to take a shot at making up your own terrible comparisons?


I see that smile.