Category Archives: Writing

Happy Birthday, Neil Armstrong

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Eighty years ago today — August 5, 1930, Neil A. Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He grew up to be the first man to walk on the surface of the Moon.


(Neil Armstrong in the Lunar Module after walking on the Moon. NASA image.)

And 35 years ago today, in 1975, test pilot John Manke glided the X-24B to a safe landing at Edwards AFB, thereby proving the concept that would allow Space Shuttles to return from orbit and land safely.

[BREAK, BREAK]

Shameless plug: Speaking of (typing of?) walking on the Moon, my alternate history story “Memorial at Copernicus” concerns a lunar excursion in the future, made possible by an Apollo flight that never was. It’s in this month’s issue of Redstone Science Fiction.

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A Baen’s Bar Patron Describes My Work

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‘nother Mike, one of the long-time patrons of Baen’s Bar, recently suggested some alternatives to the “Slushmaster General” title bestowed upon me by Alethea Kontis, viz.,

  • Admiral of the Slush
  • Grand Master of the Slushy Barrens
  • Explorer Extraordinaire of Slush

In the same message, he presented this “appropriately melodramatic” (his words, not mine) portrayal of the slush reader’s trade:

His steely eyes blazed through his thick goggles as he stared over the mounds and bales of slush, looking for that rough-cut diamond he knew was buried somewhere in the stacks. He knew that it was out there, somewhere, just waiting for him to find it. Despite the storm of distractions, the allure of comfortable working conditions, and all those other temptations trying to pull him away from his true work of rooting through the unending piles of slush, he would persevere until he found it. And when he did, he would turn it over to the readers, those ultimate judges of value, who would decide whether this was a true diamond to be worked by the magic of the editors or just another hunk of glass to be cast aside.

I don’t know about all that, but “Grand Master of the Slushy Barrens” has a nice ring to it ….

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New Story: 'Memorial at Copernicus'

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My story, “Memorial at Copernicus,” went live today at Redstone Science Fiction.


(Redstone Science Fiction logo. Click to enlarge.)

It’s a brief alternate history tale that takes place (of course) on the Moon; specifically, near Copernicus Crater. Here’s the direct link if you want to check it out — I hope you enjoy it!

Also today, I completed a long-overdue web redesign.

Let me know what you think!

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Unintended Humor in the Slush Pile

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The latest chapter in “what not to do” as an aspiring author.*

I find it interesting how many authors craft a cover letter that describes their book in superlative terms (“thrilling,” “magnificent,” “interesting,” etc.) and doesn’t provide any details about the story: nothing about the main characters and the hardships they endure, lessons they learn, or worlds they save. Don’t do that. Show us your terrific story, don’t tell us how terrific it is.

But rarely does a submission make me laugh out loud at its sheer hubris. One recent entry managed it, though: It started off in the familiar and disappointing descriptive-rather-than-detailed fashion, a little on the boastful side but not arrogant, until the first thing behind the cover letter wasn’t a chapter or a synopsis, but a contract.

That’s right, this author presented their own contract to their prospective publisher, with terms more typical for non-fiction than fiction but covering such things as manuscript delivery, subsidiary rights, and the advance.

That’s when I laughed, a full-blown guffaw that echoed in the room: when I saw the six-figure advance the author expected for their not-that-interesting debut novel.

It felt good to laugh, but I’m sure that’s not what the author wanted to happen.

So, since it seems this piece of advice doesn’t “go without saying,” I will say it: Authors, don’t specify your own advance. Wait to see if the publisher is interested enough to offer you one.

Be wary of unintended humor in your submission.

___
*Yes, I’m aware that, as an aspiring novelist myself, my advice probably isn’t worth very much. Use with caution.

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Micro-Fiction

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THAUMATROPE, a “a Twitter fiction magazine for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror fiction under 140 characters,” published my micro-fiction submission yesterday.

There’s no good way to excerpt from something only 140 characters long — I’m not even sure how to title the thing — and it’s probably just as quick if I provide the link: Check it out here.

If you’re on Twitter, you can follow THAUMATROPE for more micro-fiction at http://twitter.com/thaumatrope. You can also follow my ramblings at http://twitter.com/GrayRinehart.

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Forthcoming Fiction

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A brand-new electronic magazine, Redstone Science Fiction, plans to publish my short-short story “Memorial at Copernicus” in an upcoming issue.

How new is Redstone Science Fiction? Their first issue will be June 2010. I love their tagline: “Get us off this rock.”

It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me and has followed my efforts to sell my novel that “Copernicus” in the story’s title refers to Copernicus Crater on the Moon.

What is it with me and stories that take place on the Moon? I don’t know … except that I’ve always wanted to go there,* and since I can’t go for real I have to settle for going in my imagination. And it’s very nice when I can take a few people along with me.

They tell me my story may appear as early as the August issue.

___
*Yes, I know I’d be leaving a very comfortable rock for a not-so-comfortable one. But I look at it from the humanity-and-the-galaxy standpoint: it’s not the ultimate destination … just a stepping-stone.

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New Writers! Pay Attention to SFWA's Writer Beware, Etc.!

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(Warning: This will be something of a rant.)

Yesterday I went through a handful of query letters submitted to Baen, several of which were from literary agents or people posing as agents. One of the agents is on the “Writer Beware” list maintained by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) — the “Thumbs Down Agency List” — and two of the others are probably vying for their own spots on the list.

Why don’t writers research these agencies before they submit to them? In addition to Writer Beware, the Absolute Write Water Cooler forum has lengthy threads warning of substandard agents, including all of the agents in question, and Preditors & Editors has very clear and succinct evaluations, and lists all three agencies as “not recommended.” (Okay, it actually lists one of them as “highly not recommended.”)

Why didn’t you pay attention, new writer?

  • Did you think the agency’s efficiency would impress us, if they sent three different queries in the same envelope? Especially if the query for your story told us next to nothing about the story?
  • Did you think the agency’s attention to detail would inspire us, if they didn’t proofread their letter?
  • Did you think the agency’s approach would intrigue us, if they didn’t include YOUR OWN NAME in the letter?

That last one is not a joke: one of the agencies used the first line of the query letter to plug themselves (really) and went on to include the title of the book, a brief description of the book, and an offer to send the manuscript, all WITHOUT MENTIONING THE AUTHOR’S NAME. (I’ll admit, that was one way to get the query letter read more than once: I had to make sure I wasn’t just missing it somewhere.)

So, bottom line: if you’re reading this blog post on a computer, rather than a friend having printed it out for you, then you have access to all of the sites I mentioned above. Use them. Take their recommendations to heart.

Oh, and you might want to check out potential publishers’ sites, too. They have these things called “guidelines” that you might want to read.

For instance, the Baen guidelines clearly state that we want to see a full manuscript and a synopsis, not just a query letter. Yes, I look at your query letters, but when I do I ask myself: did this person not read our guidelines, or did they read and ignore our guidelines?

As for me, I will wait until something I’ve written is attractive enough that a good agent wants to represent me, because after three years of reading submissions I’m convinced that a bad agent is far worse than no agent at all.

Do you have any related stories to tell? I’d love to hear them.

(And if you’re reading this post on Facebook, think about popping over to the actual blog to leave a comment.)

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RavenCon Recap

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(Another version of this recap is on the Feature page of my website.)

Last weekend’s trip to RavenCon went very well. The con was in a more spacious hotel this year, and as usual was superbly organized and the con staff was excellent. It felt good to be immersed in science fiction and fantasy again, even for a short time.

I was pretty busy during the con, as you can see from the list below:

  • Making the Science Fit the Story — This was an enjoyable panel with a surprisingly large audience, very well moderated by John Cmar and featuring the multiple Nebula Award nominee Bud Sparhawk.
  • Pitching Your Work and Writing a Query Letter — This was a mini workshop with Michael Kabongo and Kalayna Price, and it took a slightly different direction from the original intent. The three of us did, however, take the opportunity to drill into the participants what it takes to write a professional cover/query letter.
  • The Pen is Mightier Than The … — I called this panel the “Baen Books World Domination Panel”, since the panel opened with an entire slate of Baen people: authors Julie Cochrane and Steve White, plus me. Later we were joined by Barbara Friend Ish, publisher of Mercury Retrograde Press. I moderated this panel, which explored the selection and treatment of weapons in science fiction.
  • Will there be BBQ’s in Space? — This panel turned out to be much more interesting than we imagined it would. Julie Cochrane, Chuck Gannon, and Hugo Award nominee Lawrence M. Schoen were my fellow panelists, and we discussed cultural celebrations and how writers incorporate them into various types of science fiction stories.
  • What does the future hold for space travel? — For a 10 p.m. science panel, this one was well-attended and we had a lot of fun with it. Laura A. Burns moderated, and Chuck Gannon, John Cmar, and Butch Allen were the other panelists. We covered everything from the current state of affairs at NASA to some far-out propulsion possibilities, and Dr. Yoji Kondo provided some expert commentary from the audience. (Afterward, I talked for awhile with Dr. Kondo about our work at Edwards AFB, and about science fiction luminaries such as Dr. Robert L. Forward and Charles Sheffield.)
  • Blogging, Twittering, ___ings: Are They Productive Time or An Addiction? — I moderated this panel, which had the widest variety of people on it: Nebula Award-winning Baen author Catherine Asaro (sitting in for her keyboard accompanist Donald Wolcott), literary agent Michael Kabongo, and artists Chris Flick and Bryan Prindiville. We had quite a lively discussion, despite the fact that we outnumbered the audience (one of the dangers of a late-day Sunday panel).

In addition, I also attended a few panels, including “Not Your Mommy’s Star Trek, or is it?” and “The Rise of Young Adult Dystopias.” More important and more enjoyable, I enjoyed some long and fruitful discussions with Lawrence M. Schoen, Bud Sparhawk, and Amy Sturgis, and even made some time to work on a short story.

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Another Honorable Mention

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I see on their blog that the story I sent in last December received an Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future contest. This is my 3rd or 4th HM, which used to be known as “quarter finalist.”

Skimming the rest of the list, I recognized a couple of other names: Rick Novy and Brian Dolton, two of my friends from the Codex Writers’ Group. Rick had a short story in the issue of Tales of the Talisman that ran a “flash fiction” piece I wrote; he also has about a dozen Honorable Mentions from WotF. (I also see something called a “Silver Honorable Mention,” but I have no idea what that is.)

Now, to try to sell the story to a magazine. And maybe the new story I mailed to WotF last Friday — more science fiction than fantasy, this time — will do better.

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