Title: The Gettysburg Paradox Genre: Science Fiction Word Count: 3,650 Writing Time: about 1 week Ever since I read The Killer Angels, I’ve been something of a Civil War geek. For July 4th this year, I rewatched Gettysburg and read Gods and Generals. I’m also reading Gone with the Wind right now, and plan to… Continue reading Short Blitz #5: The Gettysburg Paradox
Category: Short Stories
Short stories and switching to Fantasy
Sorry to drop off the face of the Earth for the past couple of weeks. My parents were in town, and between spending time with them, introducing my girlfriend, celebrating my sister’s birthday, and a whole bunch of other family-related things, my blogging has kind of fallen by the wayside. But don’t worry–I’m still writing!… Continue reading Short stories and switching to Fantasy
H is for Hybrid Author
Is it worth seeking traditional publication if you’re an indie writer? Are there advantages to going with a legacy publisher after you’ve published yourself? A lot of writer throw around the word “hybrid” as if that’s their ultimate goal–the thing that’s going to make their career. A hybrid author is an author with their feet… Continue reading H is for Hybrid Author
Operation SB #4: The Curse of the Lifewalker
Title: The Curse of the Lifewalker Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Word Count: 4,340 Time: 1 day (sort of) So after “L’enfer, c’est la solitude,” I was kind of in a short story mood for a couple of days and decided to bang out another one. This one is actually an adaptation from my novel Lifewalker, a post-apocalyptic… Continue reading Operation SB #4: The Curse of the Lifewalker
Operation SB #3: L’enfer, c’est la solitude
Title: L’enfer, c’est la solitude Genre: Science Fiction Word Count: 6,962 Time: about 40 days I can’t stand people who humbrag, so I’m just going to come out and say that this story is awesome. Seriously. Kickass freaking awesome. It may be the best short story I’ve written to date. Six months from now, I… Continue reading Operation SB #3: L’enfer, c’est la solitude
Operation SB #2: The Open Source Time Machine
Title: The Open Source Time Machine Genre: Science Fiction Word Count: 3,247 Time: About 10 days I felt really good after finishing this short story. The last line in particular surprised me, which is always a good sign. I think this story is going to go places. The idea for this one actually came about… Continue reading Operation SB #2: The Open Source Time Machine
Operation SB #1: The Infiltrator
Title: The Infiltrator Genre: Science Fiction Word Count: 3,945 Time: 2 days For my first story for Operation Short Blitz, I took a story idea that’s been bouncing around in my head for some time: that one of the best way for aliens to spy on us without being detected would be to send an infiltrator disguised… Continue reading Operation SB #1: The Infiltrator
Operation Short Blitz
Primary Objective: To master the art and craft of short-form storytelling. Secondary Objective: To achieve name recognition in the speculative fiction field through publication in the major short story magazines. For some time, I’ve wanted to branch out and learn how to write well in short form. I’ve written several novels, and I feel I… Continue reading Operation Short Blitz
Revisions, X-COM, and working on my short game
So I finished putting together the revision notes for Heart of the Nebula on Monday, and started working on those today. It was interesting to compare the original rough draft (which was completely broken) with the incomplete revised version that I’d worked on about a year ago (which was also completely broken, but in different… Continue reading Revisions, X-COM, and working on my short game
Why I love writing novellas
For the first half of this year, almost every project I’ve worked on (with the exception of an unfinished short novel) has been a novella. It’s not a form I was familiar with when I first started writing, but I’ve come to enjoy it immensely, and look forward to writing much more in the future.… Continue reading Why I love writing novellas