Okay, I have to admit, I don't have a lot good to say about television. It is evil. It destroys more brain cells than beer and pot combined. Yes, it can be relaxing to sit down in front of the tube after a day at the office, but you're rotting your brain.
Now, to be a hypocrite, I do watch a handful of shows from time to time. I don't rush home, or even try to be at home, when these shows are on, but if I have nothing else to do or the other half is watching TV, below are a few of the shows I will tolerate.
Dexter
On Showtime. The serial killer is the good guy. You can't go wrong with that.
Sopranos
This show is in re-runs now after finishing last year, and it had a slow season or two, but overall I loved it. Again, the bad guys as the goodguys.
The Office
Hilarity ensues at work. The writing for this show is sometimes sheer genius.
My Name is Earl
I liked this one a lot early on, but it's dropped in favor with me since about halfway through the last season. It still has its moments.
Real Time with Bill Maher
I like Bill. I disagree with at least 75 percent of what he has to say,but I find his show informative and entertaining. I like many of his guests, and I don't feel like I'm being given a line of bull. Even when I don't agree with Bill, I at least feel he is passionate about what he is saying, and not just another talking head trying to squeeze out thisw eek's paycheck. Most talkshow hosts, and/or political talk hosts, give off a creepy vibe to me ... part of it preachy, part of it swarmy ...and I don't feel that from Bill; at least when he's being an ass, or acting silly, he's upfront about it.
That's about it. I will sometimes watch "Two and A Half Men," but find the show very hit and miss. If I live to be five thousand years old, I never need to see another episode of "Friends."
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
The drama that is my life of late
As no one here knows, because I've not mentioned it in any detail, my life has been hell the last few weeks.
See, we decided to move again. Our last house was too big and, frankly, too expensive. So, we found a new place. Two days before we had to be out of our old house, we found out we couldn't move into our new house yet because of construction work going on around the house. The city was doing major road and gas line work in front of the house, and behind and around the house were other construction jobs for other houses and townhouses.
All of this means, we had to be out of our old place, but we couldn't yet get into our new place. Initially we stayed in a hotel, but that gets expensive very quickly. And we have no relatives living near.
Which means since the first of October the wife and I have been staying with friends. And they have an extremely small house with only one bedroom. The wife slept on a bed we set up in their dining. Me? I've been on a couch.
But today ... finally, today ... we got the keys to the new place and the city has finished their work, so we can get into our new place.
I don't get off work until a little after midnight tonight. But I don't care. I'm still going to empty that damn storage unit, even if it means I don't get any sleep for three days. At least when I do get sleep, it will be on a bed again.
See, we decided to move again. Our last house was too big and, frankly, too expensive. So, we found a new place. Two days before we had to be out of our old house, we found out we couldn't move into our new house yet because of construction work going on around the house. The city was doing major road and gas line work in front of the house, and behind and around the house were other construction jobs for other houses and townhouses.
All of this means, we had to be out of our old place, but we couldn't yet get into our new place. Initially we stayed in a hotel, but that gets expensive very quickly. And we have no relatives living near.
Which means since the first of October the wife and I have been staying with friends. And they have an extremely small house with only one bedroom. The wife slept on a bed we set up in their dining. Me? I've been on a couch.
But today ... finally, today ... we got the keys to the new place and the city has finished their work, so we can get into our new place.
I don't get off work until a little after midnight tonight. But I don't care. I'm still going to empty that damn storage unit, even if it means I don't get any sleep for three days. At least when I do get sleep, it will be on a bed again.
Is short fiction dying?
This is related to my post below, so you might want to check it out first.
There's been a lot of Web talk recently about the potential death of short fiction, most specifically short speculative fiction. You can find plenty of informed comments from authors such as John Scalzi, Jeff Vandermeer and Jim VanPelt.
For the most part, I'm going to agree with Vandermeer, though he has his detractors on this issue.
Frankly, I don't think there is as much good short fiction out there as there used to be. Or, to be more correct, I think there is just as much as there used to be, but readers are bombarded with so much more crap today than we used to.
The Internet and desktop publishing have allowed a whole lot of people to think they can be writers and earn Stephen King's salary at the stroke of a computer key. It's just not so. I hate to squash anyone's dreams, but there are a lot of people out there who should not be writing. I don't mean to say they have no right to writing and submitting fiction, but that if they are going to, at the very least they should look at their work as objectively as possible and spend plenty of time working on their craft before submitting.
Writing does take talent, but it also takes experience. Just because you like to read it doesn't mean you can write it.
I do not mean to suggest anyone should give up their dream of being a writer. Not at all. Just do the work. Write your stories. Read. Write some more. Study editing and other forms of writing, screenplays or poetry and the like. Keep writing and writing. Sometimes it takes years to be a decent writer. Join a critique group, get some feedback. When you finally think you have a good story, then submit it to a publication.
I speak from experience. I'm sure I made George Scithers at Weird Tales cry more than once during the early 1990s.
So, I suppose the gist of what I'm saying (to get back to my original subject) is that if anything is killing short fiction ... it's bad writing. Or not-quite-so good writing.
And I'm not I'm the greatest writer in the world. If I was, I'd be earning that Stephen King salary.
There's been a lot of Web talk recently about the potential death of short fiction, most specifically short speculative fiction. You can find plenty of informed comments from authors such as John Scalzi, Jeff Vandermeer and Jim VanPelt.
For the most part, I'm going to agree with Vandermeer, though he has his detractors on this issue.
Frankly, I don't think there is as much good short fiction out there as there used to be. Or, to be more correct, I think there is just as much as there used to be, but readers are bombarded with so much more crap today than we used to.
The Internet and desktop publishing have allowed a whole lot of people to think they can be writers and earn Stephen King's salary at the stroke of a computer key. It's just not so. I hate to squash anyone's dreams, but there are a lot of people out there who should not be writing. I don't mean to say they have no right to writing and submitting fiction, but that if they are going to, at the very least they should look at their work as objectively as possible and spend plenty of time working on their craft before submitting.
Writing does take talent, but it also takes experience. Just because you like to read it doesn't mean you can write it.
I do not mean to suggest anyone should give up their dream of being a writer. Not at all. Just do the work. Write your stories. Read. Write some more. Study editing and other forms of writing, screenplays or poetry and the like. Keep writing and writing. Sometimes it takes years to be a decent writer. Join a critique group, get some feedback. When you finally think you have a good story, then submit it to a publication.
I speak from experience. I'm sure I made George Scithers at Weird Tales cry more than once during the early 1990s.
So, I suppose the gist of what I'm saying (to get back to my original subject) is that if anything is killing short fiction ... it's bad writing. Or not-quite-so good writing.
And I'm not I'm the greatest writer in the world. If I was, I'd be earning that Stephen King salary.
Some scary numbers
Author Warren Ellis has listed some circulation numbers for some of the BIG speculative fiction magazines right here. We're talking Azimov's Science Fiction, Analog, Interzone and Fantasy & Science Fiction.
These numbers do not look good.
And worse, I can't offer any hope for short story writers and editors and publishers.
The fact is, short stories have not been a popular form of entertainment for a long time, since at least the 1960s. Yes, short stories did survive, and some good ones have been turned out, but the heydey for short stories has been over for decades. And things have only gotten worse in the last decade or two.
Why is this happening? I personally think it has much to do with technology. First you had television (and to some extent cinema), and nowadays you've got the Internet. Technology has created too many forms of entertainment, and distractions, for everyone to be able to watch or read everything. There used to be a form of bonding when you could turn to someone and say, "Hey, did you catch such-and-such show?" or "Hey, did you read such-and-such book?" A lot of that's gone. It's still there to some extent, but that entertaining, even intellectual, bonding, is harder to find (though it's probably easiest to find on the Internet, fulfilling a vicious cycle).
I am not shooting down television or the Internet. Both are fine mediums in their own ways. But print mediums have an extremely tough time competing with them.
I'm not sure print mediums can compete nowadays, though there is still life to be found in short stories, especially online. And the book publishing industry is churning out more novels all the time, though they seem to be playing the lottery, always hoping for that next big seller (though, even there, I'm always hearing about how the best sellers are actually losing money for everyone).
So what's to be done? First, I think writers and editors and publishers need to stop living in denial. They need to stop thinking, "Oh, things will be better next year or quarter or decade or whatever." They need to stop bitching about TV and the Web, and start doing something about it (though some are). They can't compete directly, so what to do? Only one thing. Join thy enemy.
Plenty of magazine have made the leap to the Internet, but I don't see them doing anything groundbreaking, just another Web site with a list of their upcoming stories, yaddy yaddy, bore me to tears. Most of the real innovative work seems to be coming from the smaller presses. They are trying new things, shaking it up a little. One of my favorite examples is Every Day Fiction (check them out if you haven't already).
As for writers, what we can keep doing is working on the best stories we can and seeking new markets. Those markets might not be in magazines. New markets might be in anthologies or for video game companies or podcasting or something else no person has even thought of yet.
I will tell you this: Short stories will survive. The heydey might be over, it might come again, it might not. Who knows? But there will always be some market out there somehow.
These numbers do not look good.
And worse, I can't offer any hope for short story writers and editors and publishers.
The fact is, short stories have not been a popular form of entertainment for a long time, since at least the 1960s. Yes, short stories did survive, and some good ones have been turned out, but the heydey for short stories has been over for decades. And things have only gotten worse in the last decade or two.
Why is this happening? I personally think it has much to do with technology. First you had television (and to some extent cinema), and nowadays you've got the Internet. Technology has created too many forms of entertainment, and distractions, for everyone to be able to watch or read everything. There used to be a form of bonding when you could turn to someone and say, "Hey, did you catch such-and-such show?" or "Hey, did you read such-and-such book?" A lot of that's gone. It's still there to some extent, but that entertaining, even intellectual, bonding, is harder to find (though it's probably easiest to find on the Internet, fulfilling a vicious cycle).
I am not shooting down television or the Internet. Both are fine mediums in their own ways. But print mediums have an extremely tough time competing with them.
I'm not sure print mediums can compete nowadays, though there is still life to be found in short stories, especially online. And the book publishing industry is churning out more novels all the time, though they seem to be playing the lottery, always hoping for that next big seller (though, even there, I'm always hearing about how the best sellers are actually losing money for everyone).
So what's to be done? First, I think writers and editors and publishers need to stop living in denial. They need to stop thinking, "Oh, things will be better next year or quarter or decade or whatever." They need to stop bitching about TV and the Web, and start doing something about it (though some are). They can't compete directly, so what to do? Only one thing. Join thy enemy.
Plenty of magazine have made the leap to the Internet, but I don't see them doing anything groundbreaking, just another Web site with a list of their upcoming stories, yaddy yaddy, bore me to tears. Most of the real innovative work seems to be coming from the smaller presses. They are trying new things, shaking it up a little. One of my favorite examples is Every Day Fiction (check them out if you haven't already).
As for writers, what we can keep doing is working on the best stories we can and seeking new markets. Those markets might not be in magazines. New markets might be in anthologies or for video game companies or podcasting or something else no person has even thought of yet.
I will tell you this: Short stories will survive. The heydey might be over, it might come again, it might not. Who knows? But there will always be some market out there somehow.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Big news for me: Story accepted
My short story, "Deep in the Land of the Ice and Snow," has been accepted into the Flashing Swords anthology, "The Return of the Sword: A New Age of Heroic Adventure."
I'm really excited about this publication, and about my story being in it. There are some pretty impressive names already slotted for the anthology, but I won't give it all away here, at least not until all the authors have been named.
You can find out more at the SFReader.com forums.
I'm really excited about this publication, and about my story being in it. There are some pretty impressive names already slotted for the anthology, but I won't give it all away here, at least not until all the authors have been named.
You can find out more at the SFReader.com forums.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Songs for my funeral
The other half and I have this thing where we've told each other which songs we want played at our funerals. We each have two songs. Hers are Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides, Now" and Sting's "Until ..." Mine are below.
Hurt
I love Trent Reznor's original, but I've got to go with Johnny Cash's version.
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
What have I become?
My sweetest friend.
Everyone I know
goes away
In the end.
And you could have it all,
My empire of dirt.
I will let you down
I will make you hurt.
I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way.
Black Bird
Not necessarily my favorite Beatles song, but one I like, and it has personal meaning and memories for me.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,oh
You were only waiting for this moment to arise, oh
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Hurt
I love Trent Reznor's original, but I've got to go with Johnny Cash's version.
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
What have I become?
My sweetest friend.
Everyone I know
goes away
In the end.
And you could have it all,
My empire of dirt.
I will let you down
I will make you hurt.
I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way.
Black Bird
Not necessarily my favorite Beatles song, but one I like, and it has personal meaning and memories for me.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,oh
You were only waiting for this moment to arise, oh
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Every short story writer's worst nightmare
After spending some time looking over Duotrope and Ralan, I've come away a little disgusted. I've mentioned this before here. It seems to me there are way, way, waaaaayyyyy too many little niche markets and not enough general fiction markets for short stories.
I expect genres, but for the love of all that's holy, does every single friggin' little publication have to be so concise in what they are willing to publish.
Yes, I realize it's a free country, and they have a right to publish what they want. But, come on, are people thinking? How many copies of a fantasy anthology about three-legged cats that ride monkey gnomes does somebody really think are going to sell?
I expect genres, but for the love of all that's holy, does every single friggin' little publication have to be so concise in what they are willing to publish.
Yes, I realize it's a free country, and they have a right to publish what they want. But, come on, are people thinking? How many copies of a fantasy anthology about three-legged cats that ride monkey gnomes does somebody really think are going to sell?
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