Author: Joe Vasicek

Joe Vasicek is the author of more than twenty science fiction books, including the Star Wanderers and Sons of the Starfarers series. As a young man, he studied Arabic and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus. He claims Utah as his home.

Movin’ along

I submitted a story to the Writers of the Future contest today.  Basically, I took the scene from Genesis Earth that won the Mayhew Contest this year, slapped just enough of an ending on it to make it feel like a coherent story (inshallah), changed a couple of universe details, and sent it out.  Time… Continue reading Movin’ along

Thank you readers

I appreciate my first readers very much, even when it hurts.  Especially when it hurts. Today I got the comments back from a longtime Quarkie friend on Genesis Earth, and she told me that, in her opinion, the book still needs a lot of work.  However, she made it very clear when (and why) she was bored,… Continue reading Thank you readers

Breaking 20k/7day and a new apartment

Today I broke 20k words for the running seven-day total.  According to my records, the last time that total was over 20k was Monday, June 8th.  Despite the fact that I moved into a new apartment today, I managed to finish with just over 4k for the day. You should have seem me at the… Continue reading Breaking 20k/7day and a new apartment

Thoughts after finishing Legend by David Gemmell

I just stayed up a bit late, finishing Legend by David Gemmell.  Wow. According to his  wikipedia entry, Mr. Gemmell wrote Legend in two weeks while waiting to hear if his cancer diagnosis was terminal.  After reading this book, I can definitely see how that influenced the writing. This book is incredible, one of the… Continue reading Thoughts after finishing Legend by David Gemmell

Twenty percent, Writers of the Future, and the INTERN

I am now 20% finished with Ashes of the Starry Sea. Huzzah!  The story is definitely picking up steam. In related news, my seven day totals has peaked higher than it’s been in the last two weeks, up above 17,500 words.  Inshallah, that number will rise to +24,000 befoore the end of the week. In… Continue reading Twenty percent, Writers of the Future, and the INTERN

Blog buttons!

So I was reading my friend Gamila’s blog, and she mentioned that she made some blog buttons.  Immediately, I thought: “Cool!  I should do something like that.” So, without further ado, I give you…blog buttons! Post them to your blog!  Put them on your sidebar!  Attach them to your message board forum signature!  Use them… Continue reading Blog buttons!

Dragging behind a bit

My writing slowed down significantly during the Writing and Illustratin for Young Readers conference a week ago, and it hasn’t really picked up at all since then.  For my seven day totals, I’ve only been averaging between 17k and 14k–that means, on average, I’m doing about half what I want to be doing.  Blah. While… Continue reading Dragging behind a bit

“Why people read”

Dave Farland puts out this great e-newsletter called “Dave’s Daily Kick-in-the-Pants.” For the kick today, he suggested the following exercise: You probably have a good idea about what you want to write—horror, mainstream, fantasy, historical, romance, westerns, religious fiction, and whatnot. Sit down for ten minutes and on the left-hand side of your paper, list… Continue reading “Why people read”

something

So…I figure it’s been a week and I should probably post something on this blog. Wow. Well, work is underway on Ashes of the Starry Sea, and I’m starting to have a love-hate relationship with it.  Most writers say you first novel isn’t that good, and you just need to get it out of your… Continue reading something