Writing update

I'm getting back on the horse with my writing. I still haven't rewritten the story I was working on previously. But it's still there waiting to be attacked. In the meantime, I've been writing a spontaneous story in one notebook and putting the pieces of another story together on my computer. I've also been journaling in notebooks and practicing some parts of my writing. So I'm back on track with writing every day, though my output is still not real stories. The writing keeps me happy though, so I'll keep it up.

Fear for 'The Stars My Destination'

Alfred Bester's classic "The Stars My Destination" is headed for film, kicking and screaming no doubt. This is a great novel, one which I will have to reread before the movie is released. It has plenty of amazing visuals that would be amazing on film with today's technology. But this is Hollywood we're talking about, and no doubt they'll screw up the story so much the visuals won't matter. I hope I'm wrong about that.

Found elsewhere

At one time, I wrote much about giant squid here. I've since fallen off that wagon, though I still find them intensely interesting. If you're still looking for news about giant squid, or squid in general, check out Squid, a blog with all the latest news, merchandise and general weirdness about squids. Well worth your time.

Jeffrey Ford's new collection going out

According to Jonathan Strahan, Jeffrey Ford's new collection, The Empire of Ice Cream, has started shipping. He posted the table of contents (also available at the book's site):

Introduction - Jonathan Carroll.

1. The Annals of Eelin-Ok
2. Jupiter’s Skull
3. A Night in the Tropics
4. The Empire of Ice Cream
5. The Beautiful Gelreesh
6. Boatman’s Holiday
7. Botch Town
8. A Man of Light
9. The Green Word
10. Giant Land
11. Coffins on the River
12. Summer Afternoon
13. The Weight of Words
14. The Trentino Kid

I've read all the stories except "Botch Town," which is new to the collection, "Coffins on the River" (from Polyphony #3) and "Summer Afternoon" (apparently from "Say ... Is this a Cat?"). Based on that, I'd say this is a great collection. Getting "Empire of Ice Cream" and "The Weight of Words" alone would be worth the price of the book. So order now! In the meantime, check out Ford's blog at 14theDitch.

Apologies

Sorry for the absence. I just haven't felt like it lately. Plus, I haven't done much with my writing, so I'm pretty ashamed of that. And besides that, March is absolutely the worst month of the year. It's not quite spring yet, but I'm horribly tired of winter (even a warm winter like this one). It teases you with bits of warmth before taking it away again. Then there's the wedding being planned and worries about my house going up for sale. Too much on my mind. (Not that these are good excuses for the writing failures.)

I've been reading lately, despite the unchanging nature of the box to the left. (Blogger was giving me problems changing the template.) After "Engines of God," I read "Snakes and Earrings" by Hitomi Kanehara, "With Respect to the Japanese" by Bill Condon, and am currently reading "Rashomon and other stories" by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. If you're looking for some good reading, check out storySouth's notable short stories of 2005. They've lined up some of the best short fiction found online over the last year. Strange Horizons and SciFiction get special attention for their work. Also, Elizabeth Bear has posted the first chapter of her upcoming book "Blood and Iron" online.

Hopefully, I'll start doing more in the next few days. See you soon.

Write how you need to write

Meg McCarron takes issue with the writing every day edict. What she has to say is smart and gives an alternative for those who don't like writing every day.

Personally, I think each person needs to try out different methods and find out what works for them. That's what I've been doing. I find that I can keep myself to a "write every day" schedule if I'm working on a story. It's between those stories, or weeks like now when I should be revising a story, that I find I skip days and have a hard time concentrating.

Each writer is different and each one needs to explore how they write. What's important is that you are dedicated to it, whether you write once a day, once a week or for a full month at a time nonstop when you've come up with an idea. Whatever works for you, as long as you are serious, that's the only rule.