Blurred Line

A little update on my writing, since neither of the status bars have moved: I have been working on Mass Romantic, it's just that all the new stuff is in my notebook and hasn't been typed up yet. As for "Spam", I got myself into a situation that goes a little like this.

Main Character: Hey! You just threw a massive wrench into my plans. Things were going so well.
Author: Yeah, well...overcoming obstacles and all that...that's what makes a story work, dontcha know.
Main Character: OK, so how do I overcome this obstacle?
Author: Uhhh....well, how about you do this instead?
Main Character: Wait, that's even more simple than my original plan. So, why didn't I think of that first? And, this new plan totally doesn't jive with my character traits.
Author: Uhhh....well, I guess you're kinda screwed.
Main Character: I guess you're kinda screwed.
Author: Crap.

Fortunately, I'm on the way to resolving things. I just need to add a few details in at the beginning, as per the corollary of that famous statement of Chekhov's - if you fire a pistol in Act III, you sure as hell better see the pistol in Act I (the actual statement, if you were wondering, is "If you see a pistol over the mantle in Act I, the pistol should be fired by Act III"). Then my characters will have a resolution that'll make sense plot wise and, you know, be something that they'd actually do. Anyhow, with any luck I'll get that all down on paper tomorrow. Now, I'm off to my three hour night class and then wings and drinks with the crew.

I just finished reading The Miller's Tale for my Chaucer class tomorrow. And, frankly, the idea that a fart joke can endure for 600 years makes me irrationally happy.

Also, LED and Resistor Circuits Sex Positions. Seriously, you know you want to click on that.

Just a quick note of congratulations: Justin Stanchfield, who wrote a very cool story called "Fade Away and Radiate" that appears in Goodbye, Darwin has just placed a story in Gardner Dozois' Year's Best SF collection. So, be sure to pre-order a copy for yourself. (via SF Signal)

My application to Clarion West has officially been submitted. Now comes the three months of waiting to hear back.

That's all I have time for now...have to get back to working on my seminar.

Christian rock tends to get a pretty bad rap these days - I'm not entirely sure if it's deserved or not (since I'm not Christian, I tend not to listen to the genre, and devotional lyrics grate on my nerves). So, when I was recommended the latest album, Chess Hotel, from The Elms, a band that had released its first two albums on a Christian label, I was hesitant. I'm glad I picked it up, though, because it has become one of the best albums I bought in 2006.

The band's has been compared to some blend of The Black Crowes, Aerosmith and Oasis, which I can kind of see, although they rock a hell of a lot harder than Oasis. This is one of those straight-ahead, no-holds-barred rock albums and the track I've put up, "Nothin' To Do with Love", typifies the band's style.

As always, just press ZAP on the player to listen. And if you like it, make sure to pick up the album for yourself.

On Wednesday night, I have to present a 90 minute seminar on A.M. Klein's Quebec poetry from the 1940s, so I was at the library tonight doing a bit of work. Anyhow, the desks in the library are covered in comments students have made over the years, and I have a habit of reading them when I need a quick break. On the right wall of my desk was a note that said "Want to play library tennis? Look to your left." So, of course, I do. And there's another note that says "Look to your right."

And now my neck is sore.

Step 1: Find one out-moded genre.
Step 2: Cram said genre into a wildly implausible setting.
Step 3: Watch the awesomeness unfold.

Yes, this is a recipe for awesomeness. Let me explain what I mean: I just watched Brick tonight (if you haven't gone out and rented the flick yet, it's definitely one to put on your list). If you haven't heard of it, it's basically a Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett novel plunked down into a contemporary high school. One of the most enjoyable part of the movie is, incidentally, listening to all these kids speak in the tough-as-nails, slangy rhythms employed in those pulpy 1940s detective stories. One of the other things I've been doing over the past couple weeks is rewatching my favourite TV series of all-time, Firefly. And wouldn't you know it, he exact same thing is going on there. This time it's an Old West motif on a spaceship five hundred years in the future. I'd love to add a few novels or stories to this list because I know I've read some that do this, but I'm drawing a blank here. Anyhow, it's fair to say that this has been done a number of times with a fair amount of success.

So, why do we enjoy this kind of stuff? Forgive me for being prosaic here, but it's because things taken out of their element are interesting. Having Western characters ready for a shootout at high noon has no inherent excitement in it - not unless you know the backstory. It's simply characters being where they're supposed to be. Having Western characters on the run from government assassins and flesh-eating madmen...well, that just sounds more exciting, whether you know the reasons or not.

Essentially, what I'm saying here is pretty obvious: Different is better. Very few of us, especially those who are interested in SF, want to read the same old thing over and over. I bring this up with good reason, though, because it seems to me that a lot of amateur SF writers are, for whatever reason, failing to take chances and so something different with their writing. Of the stories I've received for Fusion Fragment thus far, very few have managed to surprise me. And I'm certainly guilty of this, too. Heading off the beaten path is definitely something I have to work on with my stories. The people who get published on a regular basis, I've noticed, tend to have figured this out. I often read stories with premises so unbelievable that I marvel at the author's ability to make them succeed (for example, the title story in Pat Cadigan's collection, Patterns, is so bizarre as to be almost inaccessible).

So, here's my advice for the day: Don't write the story that anyone else could write just as easily. Write the story that only you and your imaginative, twisted, and bizarre little mind could come up with.

Just a few writing notes: I've officially pushed back Issue #1 of Fusion Fragment to February. I just haven't received enough quality submissions and I'm doubtful that I'm suddenly get bombarded with a bunch of great stories in time to publish an issue in the next two weeks. This is what I get for being so picky.

Also, I've been working on "Spam" today. Originally, I'd planned for it to run about 5000 words, then thought it'd be closer to 3500. Well, it's taken another turn and I think it'll end up being back in the 4500-5000 word area. It's gone from being a story about rival gangs having internet flame wars (the difference being that in the future, flame wars don't play out like a couple of nerdy twelve year olds slapping each other) to being something of a techno-heist story. Incidentally, I was rather fond of my original premise, but it was one of those instances where things just didn't pan out on paper. On the other hand, now I get to write cheesy heist dialogue like this:

"What's H's game?" Zan asks.
"Street cred, mostly. Though it'd give his blog hits a bounce. Get him some more jobs."
Zan snorts. "He wants to get more customers by fucking over the ones he already has?"
"H has never been able to see more than one variable at a time."
"What's your take on this?"
"Ten percent of H's next three jobs. That's assuming I decide to stay on with him."
Zan looks over at her. She doesn’t meet his gaze. Wants to let him observe.
"H is a good guy. I like him," she says. "But he's not very good at what he does. Gotten by mostly on luck and the ability to surround himself with smart people.
"So, I could stay on with him. Make my ten percent. Maybe enough to buy a nice house. But, sooner or later, someone's going to bring H down, simply because he doesn't know how to play the angles. And then what? Legit biz wouldn’t be likely to hire me because of my involvement with him and I'm not the type to get any deeper into the other end of the spectrum. Who knows, I might end up getting pinched right along with H.
"Way I see it, the best option is to strike out on my own while I can. Do something really big, then disappear. All I need is someone with the contacts to put the last few pieces of the puzzle into place."

Went to see Children of Men last night (after a kickass, disturbingly buttery dinner at Red Lobster), and I think I can describe the movie in one word: Wow. Yes, it was that good. Quite possibly to be among my top ten favourite films of all time. For one, it's a very well-thought out piece of dystopic SF, which I'm a big fan of. Where a flick like V for Vendetta (which I also enjoyed, but not quite as much) took its portrayal of a futuristic ultra right-wing government way over the top, this film plays things very subtly. As a result, the government here is easier to sympathize with but, at the same time, is also exponentially more horrifying. There's a lot of small touches that flesh out the world, making it a fascinating watch for any SF fan. The acting from Clive Owen and Michael Caine, among others, is top notch and the script is fairly well-done, though it's not quite so tidy as some people might like.

The big reason, though, that this is such a good movie is Alfonso Cuaron's camera work. The action scenes are just stunning - and I don't mean stunning in the same fashion as your typical big-budget action flicks. The direction at these times comes very close to a 1st person POV, so it feels like you're actually there. Honestly, I can't bring to mind any other film that has such an immediacy to its action scenes. It was unbelievable. For that reason, I'd really recommend that you go see this in a theatre. It's an experience you don't want to miss.

On a completely different note, for those if you not into crazy Christian sex comics, I went to a great live show this weekend featuring a local band called The Souljazz Orchestra. Their sound is a fusion of jazz, funk, afrobeat, and latin music and it was just terrific. Click over to their website and have a listen.

Saw this on Bookslut a few days ago and, somehow, I neglected to mention it. Anyhow, they're these comic books from a Christian cult that thought you could bring people to Jesus by luring them with sex. All of the comics have been archived here, for your reading pleasure. Or you can download my personal favourite, Do You Want a Penis or a Sword? in PDF format. I provide you with my favourite quote: "God enjoys fucking you with His Word! Your spiritual vaginas are sucking on my spiritual penis, and out pours the Word". Seriously, I couldn't stop laughing. Oh, and if you haven't gleaned it yet, these comics are totally not work-safe.

The title explains it all. I've been sick today and stayed home from school, opting instead to concentrate on various writing related activities. Except, that is, for writing itself. I read through some Fusion Fragment submissions and, for those interested, here's where the stats are at:

Total stories read: 30
Collective word count of said stories: 112,900
Total stories accepted: 1 (for an acceptance rate of 3%)
Amount of sex scenes in said stories: Significant
ETA for first issue: No idea

Seriously, what's with all the sex? I mean, not that there's anything wrong with it, but I'd estimate that three quarters of the stories I've gotten have had sex scenes in them.

Also, I've been working on my Clarion app, which meant that I went back and read all three of my short stories, plus the entirety of Mass Romantic. And you know what? I still say that "Between Eternities" and "Smoke and Mirrors" are better than the two stories I wrote in 2006. Ultimately, though, I didn't include either, because I wanted to include an excerpt of Mass Romantic in my app. "Between Eternities" ended up being too long (they cap their manuscript lengths at 30 pages, so I would've only been able to include a small slice of the novella) and "Smoke and Mirrors" was too close in terms of my narrative voice. I thought it'd be better to show some range, so I included "Learning Magic From Mint" and chapters two and three of Mass Romantic. Anyhow, now I have to work on a 700-800 word description of my background and my reasons for attending the workshop. I'm thinking of just writing CAVAN WANT TO LEARN!! a couple hundred times.

Also, I saw the trailer for Ocean's Thirteen today. Now, the original (well, the remake original, that is) is one of my favourite movies of all time. I hated the sequel, since they tried to jam the fun atmosphere and zingy dialogue of the original into some crappy little heist script originally intended for another movie. I have high hopes for the third time around, since they've got brand new writers, Brian Koppelman and David Levien, who worked on the awesome Matt Damon/Edward Norton poker flick Rounders and the surprisingly good adaptation of the John Grisham novel, Runaway Jury. Oh, and they added Pacino to the cast. And, as I recall, he's made a few good movies in his day. Anyhow, you can bet I'll be at the theatre on June 8.

For those of you who have been reading the blog for a while, you might remember some of my Clarion angst from last year, when I was hoping desperately to get into last year's Clarion East. Well, since I love rambling on about the workshop so much (and since I'll probably be rambling on about it occasionally until I'm rejected or accepted this year) I thought I'd give a bit of background.

Anyhow, Clarion started way back in 1968 and, since 1972, was housed at MSU in East Lansing, Michigan. It's an intensive six-week workshop geared specifically to science fiction and fantasy writers, where you live in university dorms with 15-20 other aspiring writers, and have a different instructor each week for the first four, and then an anchor team of instructors for the final two. Each day you have classes in the morning, story critiques in the afternoon and writing/general merrymaking in the evening. Last year (when I applied) was the last year that Clarion was to be held there. They've since moved to sunny California and this year will be holding the workshop in San Diego. Meanwhile, in 1984, Clarion West kicked off in Seattle. The two workshops were never formally associated, but used the same format. And, even though Clarion West was regarded as Clarion East's (which they'll probably be calling Clarion Beach now, or something like that) ugly little sister, there hasn't really been any difference in quality between the two for quite some time (if there ever was).

As opposed to last year, I'll be applying to Clarion West this time around, a decision I've made based on two things - tuition and board is a few hundred bucks cheaper, and the instructors seem to suit me better. Sure, Clarion has Cory Doctorow this year, which would be awesome, but aside from that, but the rest of the instructors are fantasy writers. SF-centric as I am, I figured Clarion West would be the better choice. They've got two of the instructors who were at Clarion last year - Nancy Kress (she of the totally sweet Beggars In Spain) and Samuel Delany (he of the...well, living science fiction legend, really). Also teaching are Larissa Lai, a fellow Canadian, whose work skews more to the literary side of things. She's written a couple of novels (her first was shortlisted for the Books In Canada First Novel Award) that could be classified as somewhat mythological, I suppose. There's Graham Joyce, who I'd not heard of, probably on account of the fantasy pedigree, but he's got himself a shiny World Fantasy Award, which isn't too shabby. Then there's Kelley Eskridge, whose novel Solitaire was just fantastic (and, in terms of content, was extremely close to my own interests in SF). Lastly, there's Patrick Nielsen Hayden. And, let's face it, if there's anybody in the world you'd want to critique your work, how could it not be the editor at the biggest, bestest science fiction publisher in the world, Tor?

Clarion West runs from June 17th to July 27th this year. I'm not entirely sure where I'd find the money if I was accepted, but I suppose it can't hurt to take a shot. As for what I'd submit, since "Between Eternities" and "Smoke and Mirrors" failed to make the cut at Clarion last year, I doubt I'll send those in again. Interestingly, Clarion West allows for both novel excerpts and stuff outside SF&F in their applications, so that means I could theoretically send in an excerpt from Mass Romantic if I so desired. Still, at this point, I'll probably stick with "Learning Magic From Mint" and "Spam", whenever it is I finish that story. Anyway, my goal is to get my application in by the end of the month, but I'll be keeping everyone up to date (probably more so than you'd like to be).

I thought I'd kick off 2007 with a bit of romance and national pride. I'm not sure how popular Hawksley Workman is outside of Canada, but he's huge here. Of course, most people know Hawksley from his gigantic radio singles, like "Striptease" (a pretty straightforward title) and "Smoke Baby" (dominated by lyrics about cocaine and alcohol). So, if you've never actually gone out and listened to a Hawksley album before, you might be surprised to find that the vast majority of his songs are low-key love songs that show off both a great voice and immense lyrical talent.

This song is my all-time favourite Workman tune, as it showcases pretty much everything that makes him a great artist. He duets here with a great female vocalist, who isn't credited on the album and, even with some research, I haven't been able to figure out who it is. My best guess is that it's Sarah Slean, a Canadian indie favourite, who worked on a couple of other songs on this album, entitled (last night we were) The Delicious Wolves. Make sure to check it out.

As usual, just press the ZAP button on the player to listen.