Apex Digest

I haven't seen much talk about this magazine at my usual online writing haunts, so I wanted to let everyone reading this to know about Apex Digest. It's a science fiction and horror magazine, and it just so happens to have its home right here in my hometown.

I haven't met the editor, Jason Sizemore, but we've talked several times through e-mails. I'm doing a few book reviews for him, so hopefully they'll be included in the next edition; if not, well, then eventually.

Apex is currently closed to submissions, at least until September, so don't flood Jason with stories, at least not yet.

And for those of you who don't know, Apex Digest is a pretty well respected publication. They've published short stories by the likes of Joe Konrath, Neil Gaiman, Christopher Rowe and others.

Give them a look.

A writer's dilemma

Years ago, when I suffered from writer's block, one of the problems I suffered was that I thought of everything in short story form. I wanted to work on a novel, but I felt helpless to do so because every story I came up with worked better as a short story.

Long story short, then I started screenwriting, which helped me work my way to novels.

Nowadays, I suffer from the exact opposite problem I used to have. I think of everything in the terms of a novel.

I'm still busy working on ye ole trilogy, plus a few side projects, so I've got plenty of work. But I keep having ideas that I want to make into a short, but those stories keep expanding and expanding and expanding. For instance, I've got an idea for a character, his environment and the basic plot. But then I start thinking about the character's past, how he got to what he is and where he is at. I start thinking about certain relationships he has with other characters, and I know his far past as well as some of the things to happen to him in the future.

And then I'm lost. I've got too much in my mind for a short story.

Lucky me. Yet another novel idea. No, no. It's even better. Another idea for a series, or another trilogy.

Damn thinking like a novelist!

No. 28 - The King of Elfland's Daughter

by Lord Dunsany

Started: July 25
Finished: July 30

Notes: I've never read any Dunsany, but he's been recommended by several authors I appreciate. So, here goes.

Mini review: Lyrical, musical prose. A decent plot, with a good (but kind of mixed) ending. Unfortunately, I was bored almost the entire time I was reading this. There was nearly no dialogue and I don't need to read repetitive page after page of description ... and it's not even really description, more of a tone setting. But 200 pages of tone setting? Sheesh. I can't say it was all bad, and I'm glad I read this one, but I don't think I'll be reading any more Dunsany soon.

I'm still around

Okay, I know I've not been blogging much lately. I've also not been hanging out at my usual online haunts lately.

Here's why: My PC has died on me.

My Mac still works fine (I use it for most of my writing), but it's old and I can only get dial-up on it, which suuuuuuuucks. So, I can get on the Web at home, but it's so slow it's hardly worth fooling with. What little posting I've done of late has been at my part-time newspaper job, and most of the security measures there and some older technology limit what I can do.

So, I haven't forgotten anyone. I'm not dead or anything.

As for my writing ... I'm still editing the third book of the trilogy. I'm also working on updating a few old short stories. And I'm working on a few book reviews for a spec fiction magazine (more on that at a future point ... like when my first review is published/posted so I won't look like a complete fool if this falls through for some reason).

Love to all my homies.
Darkbow, out!

No. 27 - Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

by J.K. Rowling

Started: July 22
Finished: July 25

Notes: Stop laughing at me. No, I didn't wait in line late at night to get this book. My friend Robin did that, and she gave me the book as a late birthday present. Normally I would probably wait a while before jumping into a book I've just received or purchased, but I know all the so-called secrets will be bouncing around soon and thought I should read this one before I hear about everything.

Mini review: "Appropriate" is the first word that comes to mind when I think of how I feel about this final book in the series, and I don't mean "appropriate" in a bad way. The ending is pretty much how I expected it to be, and in some ways, hoped it would be. Despite all the raggin against Harry Potter and Rowling, I would give a new series or book by J.K. a chance. I could say plenty more, but I won't because I don't want to spoil anything for any potential readers.

No. 26 - Cell

by Stephen King

Started: July 18
Finished: July 21

Notes: I'm in the mood to read some more horror, and I've had this one for a few months. Stephen King, horror, zombies (sort of). What could go wrong?

Mini review: There could easily be a lot of comparisons between this book and King's earlier work, "The Stand," but the themes are different here, the story much narrower and "The Stand" didn't have zombies (okay, the ... things ... in "Cell" aren't technically zombies, but they might as well be). A good read. Not King's best, but far from his worst. This book would be a good primer, a good starting place for anyone not familiar with King's works.

No. 25 - One Thousand and One Ghosts

by Alexandre Dumas

Started: July 13
Finished: July 17

Notes: Being a big Dumas fan, I was happy to discover this book at BN a couple of months ago. It has two of my favorite subjects, Dumas and horror. Yes, apparently Dumas wrote a horror book, and it's only been translated into English within the last few years.

Mini review: Not really a novel, but more a collection of haunting stories told by a group of people sitting around chatting. Dumas is himself a character in this book, as the overall story is told from his point of view, but I don't know if the gathering of talespinners actually happened or is fictional. With Dumas, it's often difficult to tell where history ends and fantasy begins. While these stories might or might not be "horror" by modern standards, they definitely fall under the umbrella of gothic, especially pre-Dracula 19th century gothic horror. If you enjoyed le Fanu's "Carmilla," or Maturin's "Melmoth the Wanderer," and other such vampiric and ghostly tales of the early 19th century, this Dumas book is for you, with the same eeiry feelings and tensions. I'm glad I discovered this book, because I didn't know Dumas could be quite this haunting (though I do remember the execution of Milady De Winter being sombre to the point of shaking me up a little).