When my husband and I went to York several years ago, we went on a city tour. At one point, the guide said, "A Yorkshireman is a Scotsman, stripped of his generosity," and I knew immediately which of my ancestors' genes I had inherited. But I'm not a complete miser. I do spend money -- occasionally. For instance, I just bought Feedback, by Robison Wells, for full price, and two other books as well! And I suppose sheer guilt will goad me into buying at least a few full-price books from Baen. But until then, I'm glad of the opportunity to try out new books for free and maybe find some new favourite authors.
I've recently discovered Planet Baen, a game developed by Baen Books, where you can earn free ebooks by playing! Once I heard the words "free" and "books," I immediately ran over to check it out. It's not difficult at all, and I've already earned three ebooks just by investing a few minutes three or four times each day.
When my husband and I went to York several years ago, we went on a city tour. At one point, the guide said, "A Yorkshireman is a Scotsman, stripped of his generosity," and I knew immediately which of my ancestors' genes I had inherited. But I'm not a complete miser. I do spend money -- occasionally. For instance, I just bought Feedback, by Robison Wells, for full price, and two other books as well! And I suppose sheer guilt will goad me into buying at least a few full-price books from Baen. But until then, I'm glad of the opportunity to try out new books for free and maybe find some new favourite authors.
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I just got the news from Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine about my submission, Per Ardua Ad Astra. Rejected in the first round. The reader comments said that I had decent writing, good world-building, and an engaging protagonist, but the plot was quite predictable. I'm not really surprised. I felt that it was a weaker story than Viruskiller -- more pedestrian somehow. Now the only thing to do is to wait for Viruskiller to be rejected as well, then set my sights on Mindflights again. And, of course, keep trying to write new stories.
In other news, I won an Amazon gift certificate from Debra Erfurt's blog. Ten dollars! After much consideration, I decided to buy a book by Mette Ivie Harrison with the intriguing title of Vampires in the Temple. I mean, how could I resist? I've already finished reading it, too, and found it very enjoyable, with little bits of snark here and there, a mystery surrounding the protagonist that gradually unfolds as the story goes on, and a satisfying ending. I've also used what's left of the gift certificate to buy Dispirited, by Luisa M. Perkins. More good reading ahead! Julie Coulter Bellon issued a flash fiction challenge over at her blog yesterday. We could write 400 words and had to include the phrase "the blood spatter made a strange pattern" somewhere in our piece. After having watched Men in Black 3, I was in a bit of a silly mood, so I came up with a little story that you can read by clicking here. For lack of a better title, I've just called it Blood Spatter for now. Hope you enjoy -- I thought it was fun!
Emboldened by my success with Viruskiller, I've now also submitted Per Ardua Ad Astra to the Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. Again, I have very little faith of it actually being published, but I can at least hope for some good reader comments. And maybe I'll submit Human there, too, just for the experience. Wish me luck!
I don't believe it! Viruskiller has just been put on the short list at Andromeda Spaceways! Squeal!
But they were careful to point out that only 1 in 20 stories make it from the short list to actual publication, and I'm now trying to convince myself that my story will end here. But still! I almost made it! Squeal! In the meantime, I've been thinking about the "sparking" process that helps me come up with new ideas. Several years ago, I discovered a digital radio station called BBC Radio 7, which has since been re-named BBC Radio 4 Extra. They broadcast comedy and drama, and the thing that first drew me in was the fact that they broadcast audio productions of Doctor Who! I later learned that I can download these episodes, and anything else I want from BBC radio, via a nifty tool called Radio Downloader, and ever since then, I've been listening to many episodes of various audio productions while I go on my daily walk, or do that onerous housework. Aside from Doctor Who, I've also listened to adaptations of books from many genres, such as mystery, sci fi, fantasy, and even some classic literature such as Charles Dickens, C. S. Lewis, and Elizabeth Gaskell. This week, I've been listening to a production of The Railway Children, by Edith Nesbit, and one line in particular got me thinking. One of the children said something like, "It must be more fun to be a dragon than to be a parlour maid." I immediately started thinking about life from a dragon's point of view, which of course reminded me of the BBC series Merlin (would be cool if they also had audio productions of Merlin, but so far, they don't, or at least not that I know of.) And eventually, in the fathomless depths of my brain, these two experiences combined and an new idea for a story was sparked into life. I've been thinking about it all weekend, trying to figure out an ending (very important for me, as that's where I most often fail) and now I've started writing. And I will not worry about the word count! I suppose most writers go through a similar process, combining various elements of everything they've read and seen and heard, letting them get all jumbled together inside until --presto! -- something new and different pops out. It's just astounding, isn't it? Now I must work on not comparing the jumbling ability of my brain to that of other people, such as Iain M. Banks, Brandon Sanderson, Nancy Fulda, Emily Mah, or anybody else. I can already tell it will be a difficult task. Actually, maybe I should give up chocolate instead. That'd be easier. ;-) |
Melanie Goldmund
I've written fanfic under the name Zelofheda, and some original fic under my real name. Archives
September 2019
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