The Stellar Blog

New Anthology Open for Submissions

2012-02-02T21:44:00.000Z

Some of you may know that I moonlight as a digital artist (see my work online or at the annual Eastercons and Novacons). Well, recently I was asked to do the cover image for a new amateur anthology for Sleeping Cat books and I thought I post the information here for anyone who was interested in submitting a story.

The anthology is to comprise stories about a character named Cherie, shown in the image, who's bio is available on the Sleeping Cat website. That's it. That's all. Just get inspired by the character and write a story.

All genres, save the more 'adult' ones, are welcomed. The maximum length is 5000 words, the deadline is July 1 and the payment is one copy of the published book.

Have fun!

2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

2012-01-12T16:02:00.001Z

For all you new-ish writers out there with a finished novel, 2012 is a new year, and that means:

It's time again for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award! That annual chance to get your Young Adult or general fiction novel noticed by the industry. So pull out that manuscript and start giving it a going over, because submissions open in just 11 days and only the first 5000 entrants in your category are accepted.

I believe this year is the fifth annual award and they've gotten the procedure down to a science. For those who don't know, it works like this:

submissions open (Jan 23 - Feb 5): first 5000 entries in each category accepted: YA and general adult fiction
Round 1: industry experts narrow field to 1000 in each category based solely on a 300 word pitch
Round 2: Amazon readers select 250 in each category based on 5000 word excerpts
Round 3: Publishers Weekly reviewers narrow field to 50 in each category based on full manuscript read
Round 4: Penguin USA publishers review all information sent (manuscript, pitch, excerpt, etc) and narrow to 3 in each category
Round 5: Amazon customers vote to get winner in each category

Yep, 10,000 entrants and 2 winners. Approximately the same odds as getting published. Except, of course, you've already had some publicity for your book this way.

Best of luck to anyone who decides to enter.

Things that make you go hmmmm

2012-01-01T09:08:00.001Z

Every author especially, I'm sure, in science fiction, experiences what I'm about to share. Still, it's weird when it happens, and weirder when it happens more than once.

I refer to that interesting story idea you've had stirring around, then eventually put down on paper. Perhaps, like me, you've even shared it online... only to have a book / movie come out that you swear was made based on your idea.

The first time this happened for me was with my short story, originally titled: Where Angels Fear to Tread. I wrote this story, with permission, based around a friend's creation so, strictly speaking, it's not my creation. The idea is a battle between angels where one renegade challenges the status quo, taking on and defeating the others in search of the truth. This story features sword play between Gabriel and Uriel, and the angels are actually avatars of corporate-owned kids who have grown up connected to a neural-immersive network. Uriel ultimate takes down the network 'Heaven'. The story also features Michael and Rafael, although originally it was Sammael.

It was published online at Writing.Com in 2006 and recently on my LightSpeedDreams.net site.

The movie that made me sit up and say 'hey' was Gabriel, release in late 2007 and then on DVD in 2008. In this movie, Gabriel takes on opposing armies with mostly gunplay, and there are obviously significant difference between the two stories, although there are also some striking similarities. The most notable for me was the last line of the trailer: This is a place where even angels fear to tread. Strange coincidence?

The next is the soon to be released Battleship. Now, perhaps this was just an idea who's coming was innevitable but it does seem a bit strange to be that another movie has been made of an idea I turned into a story. My own battleship story was done in a campfire style, alternating sections with another author that I invited to join. Again, our story was, and still is, on Writing.Com (www.writing.com/main/campfires/item_id/1160282-WDC-Battleship). Our story was military in nature, obviously. We had grand plans for the story, taking it in a sci-fi direction with the Japanese researching an alien 'angel' while the Americans and Canadians fought for control and tried to uncover what was going on. But, alas, the other author became busy and we stopped after some ten-ish turns each (it was structured like the game).

It's interesting then, that a movie now comes out called Battleship, with Americans meeting aliens in the middle of the ocean. Once can easily see how our Writing.Com version could be simplified to such a movie (disclaimer: I not saying that it was...).

Now, lots of authors have these moments and I'm by no means going to run around saying someone stole my ideas (after all, ideas can't be copyright) but it does seem intersting that both my stories were posted in the same place and later had movies that were... similar in notable ways.

Anyway, have a look, make up your own mind. Like all such authors, I'm undoubtedly too close to the subject.

btw

Happy New Year!

Iterative World Building

2011-11-18T08:34:00.001Z

As a science fiction writer, especially one interested in relatively hard far future sci-fi, I spend a lot of time world building and thinking about world building.

When it comes to creating your own worlds, solar systems, or even universal empires, imagination is the limit. But that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. Regardless of whether your story is high fantasy, hard sci-fi or even super-soft, let physics be damned, sci-fi, all world-building has to follow a one important rule.

Be consistent. Your rules, whichever ones you come up with, must be consistently applied throughout the world. If they are not, there must be a good reason. A very good reason that is, itself, consistent with the rules.

This is the crucial, guiding principle in world-building and is the difference between a believable world (even a high fantasy one) and a laughable world.

The extreme cases are possibly easier than those closer to home because it's more obvious that you're developing an entirely new world.For mundane sci-fi or urban fantasy, however, an author must be careful to clearly delineate the boundaries of where 'our world' ends and the story world begins. This includes understanding the consequences as they would play out in the world. This must be obvious to the author before they write, or they will never be able to convince their readers.

So, you have a great world-building idea, how do you make it believable?

Well, it's important to realize that the world doesn't make your story, you still need great characters and compelling plots for that. But the world will guide your story, lend its character and features to your story. If it does not, there is no use setting your story in this world. The world must be a reflection of the story you want to tell, and vice versa. Having said that, on to more world-building.

The first thing you must realize is that your idea, in it's crude form, has a 99.99% chance of having been done before. What you're looking for is a way to make it uniquely yours. For that you need to explore hidden areas, find consequences that haven't been thought of, or at least tried in this context, before.

For example, a region of floating stones. It's been done many times (Dungeons and Dragons, and Avatar come quickly to mind), yet the idea still has an interesting allure. The first thing to ask yourself is why are they there? After all, they're something so foreign to our experience. You'll start with the basics:

Fantasy -- built by ancient wizards / gods
Sci-fi -- built by ancient race / electromagnetic anomaly combined with rare alloys

The important thing to do is challenge the tropes. e.g. Instead, perhaps they are exceedingly bouyant structures and there is high density at that area, or they could be camoflaged ships, or illusions. Maybe they are actually suspended in a network of fine cables or set on invisible columns. Whatever you decide, the important thing is not to settle for the easy answer.

After you decide on the general, move to the specific. What type of people / culture lives in, developed around these rocks. Do they live amidst the rocks, above, below them? In one massive city or smaller tribes. Perhaps each rock is a colony. Were these the original builders/occupiers or did they only find the rocks.

From here you move into ideas about the people's appearance and social development and even 'secondary effects'--those less foreseen consequences of human nature in such an environment: how do they communicate? what is they driving motivation (sex, food, water, territory, raising young)?

The important things is, at each stage, to keep asking yourself any and all questions you can think of. And when you can't think of any more, ask your friends. While most of the information will not make it into the story, the more you as the author knows, the more believable the story will be.

At this stage you may turn to character and, most likely, certain ideas will come to you straight away. Resist them. The first ideas will, most likely, be bog-standard tropes. Dig deeper, ask yourself more questions on the characters, the community and what would make an intersting story in this world. Once you have an idea, ask some more questions. You will eventually hit upon that 'aha' idea that will really light your fire. Build on that. But don't stop asking questions.

In reality, the world building and story building process generally work in tandem since experienced authors have some idea of the story they want to tell before hand and are buiding a world in which to highlight issues and ideas they have. However, it's important to realize that in all other facets, the process remains essentially as described. The key thing is to never be satisfied with your first answer, always ask yourself what else might be possible.

From Ideas to Stories 2/2

2011-11-07T11:37:00.002Z

I especially love reading or watching an original idea developed into a great story, which is a big reason why I love science fiction. Several such stories come to mind, a few of which came out -- or saw new light -- this year. A few, slightly older goodies (note: these are all movies).

First, a slightly older one: The Incredibles. According to the 'making of...' on the DVD, this story came to Pixar with a few similarities to the final incarnation, but much more generic. Essentially, a super hero story, where all the heroes were in the same family. Pixar, in their genius, developed the story much further, using some of the tried and true tropes (villain is created by hero, for example) but delved much more into the family side while adding their own great twist of heroes being outlawed (admittedly, this last one quickly became overdone in the superhero world, and almost all major superhero franchises incorporated such a story around this time). I particularly liked the way the kids dealt with, but hid, their powers at school, and the middle-aged, fat Mr. Incredible working for the man at an insurance agency. Overall, a strong idea made stronger by good story telling.

This year saw a UK production 'Attack the Block' released. I'll admit I debated seeing this because the characters in the trailers weren't very sympathetic and were, frankly, a bit annoying. But I did see it. And I really liked it. There were two things done particularly well in this story. The first is to take very unsympathetic characters (they mugged a woman in the first scene) and develop a story were they become sympathetic (the unsympathetic 'posers' were killed off). Even more interesting because it was an alien invasion sci-fi story, yet the character developement didn't suffer.

The second thing 'Attack the Block' did was to develop an original alien invasion story. Without giving away spoilers, it was a credit to the writers/producers to create this story line an to develop it in a manner consistant with setting--especially without resorting to gratuitous nudity. As you might gather, the story line is not 100% original, but it's rare enough to be uncommon, especially when previous attempts turned largely into farces with attractive, naked, killer women having sex with everyone.

Cowboys and Aliens, a recent movie based on a comic of a few years ago. I feel a bit bad commenting on this as I haven't seen it, so don't have first-hand opinions. The story seems inherently interesting, bringing in the ideas of aliens in the wild west.The imagination goes crazy. Unfortunately, according to the vast majority of critics, professional and casual, was that the movie (and book) stories were very poorly developed, not promising on almost any of the potential.

A movie just out which, again, I haven't yet seen. In Time poses the interesting and highly alegorical idea of time being a literal currency with salaries being paid in time, marked on your arm, and purchases being made in said time. Again, overwhelmingly, all critics have suggested that this was a great idea that simply wasn't developed to it's very high potential.

These examples lead directly from the last post and the realization that a great idea does not, itself, make a great story. Great writers will spend time analyzing their ideas from all angles, constantly asking themselves 'what if'. They will brainstorm how those ideas will affect society, then throw-out the first thoughts and dig deeper to more interesting ideas. They will also look at what have been called (by Charles Stross at the last Eastercon) 'secondary effects' of the idea. As one example, the rise of the smartphone with excellent large-screen image and quality camera gave rise to the highly unanticipated 'sexting'.

So the take home message is that, a great idea by itself can lead to a good, although more likely, mediocre, story. But with a bit more thought, that great idea can lead to an amazing story. Professional sci-fi authors will say, time and again, don't be satisfied with your first thoughts. Always dig deeper.

From Ideas to Stories 1/2

2011-11-02T15:38:00.004Z

There are some great ideas out there. I'm sure we've all had dozens (or at least several) that we've though 'wow, that would make a great story'. When I first started writing, I would create a new file for each idea, keep it in mind and add new thoughts around that idea when something came to me. Needless to say, I was building up dozens of 'stories'... which, as any experienced writer soon learns, aren't really stories. They're just a collection of disparate ideas.

So, once I realized I could never possibly write all the 'stories' that I was developing, the next step came to me: I would start combining like-seeming ideas into a common story (yes, this thought was undoubtedly only original to me, I'm sure almost every serious author goes through this stage, most probably more quickly than me). At this stage things really start to get exciting as you juxtapose ideas you hadn't considered bring together before. The setting really begins to gain some depth, and interesting story twists start peeking out of the corners and introducing themselves.

It's at this stage that the amatuer writer strongly needs to revisit their characters. For some people (not me) character development comes naturally. An honest assessment of my own work suggests that I can make interesting characters, but for some reason, they are never the main character. He (and it's invariably a 'he') is flat and boring, surrounded by really interesting people.

So, once the world and general story ideas are developed, I go back and have a strong reworking of my main character and his relationship to other characters. Generally, I find all the characters have been too pleasant to each other and I need to build in some conflict and tension between at least some of them.

So, currently, that's how I progress through my story developement process. This particular process won't work for everybody, as some people are stronger at certain areas than others, but I have a feeling it is a good place to start for amateur sci-fi writers--a group who tend to be strong on world building and weak on characterization (perhaps not so different from most amateur writers?).

Digital Film School and other distraction.

2011-10-28T12:02:00.003+01:00

It's been difficult getting back into the writing in the last few months, partly due to my latest ACL resconstruction (6 weeks ago) and partly because I'm taking a digital film course from the Open University (T156) that's taking more time that I had thought it would.

Why take it? Well, I think that digital film is an increasingly important marketing tool and means of expression. For example, book trailers are a relatively new thing that I'm sure will become increasing important, especially as e-books begin to incorporate images and video as extra content.

The course seems to be a good course covering aspects of filming and of creating less film-oriented content, say, for slideshows, demos, etc. Of course, the principles of film production are the same, the main difference between the two directions is the different technology required.

It is, of course, suggested that we do the weekly video-creation tasks, and I've been posting mine to my YouTube account. Check them out if you want and feel free to leave comments (I just ask you try to be constructive).

The latest video, as of this post, was a piece to camera climate diary. It's rather awful, made only a bit better through editing. It's made me realize how bad I am at speaking to the camera (primarily with regards to focusing my thoughts), something I'd like to change. So I'm going to try streaming a short vlog on Justin.tv as soon as I get the tech up and running. Feel free to check it out at:

www.justin.tv/eternaltherapy/videos

Anyway, despite this, I am trying to get back to writing. My two goals for year end are to write the new script and to rework the first 3-4 chapters of my conspiracy novel. Being as it's almost November, perhaps that's a little too ambitious? We'll have to see.

Post-apocalyptic Future UK Flood Map

2011-10-14T17:34:00.000+01:00

In the process of preparing the backstory for one of my works (I won't say which), I've produced what could be a post-apocalyptic future UK map. Combining a city map with a relief map (with some tweaking) has resulted in the following:

From the upper right scale you can see this essentially highlights the separation between lowlands--grey--and highlands--green to red. One this to note is that the 'lowlands' on this map are still up to 50m above sea level. I intend to use this as a map of future flooded UK, where the lowlands are submerged. Obviously, in addition to polar ice cap melting, this would require some seismic event.

Regardless, the results are interesting, suggesting that England is most vulnerable of the three UK countries and would be most changed by such a series of events, while Scotland and Wales would be almost unaffected. In fact, England would be reduced to a peninsula off Scotland, an island in the southwest, and a small archipelego. The seat of power would possible shift to Birmingham, as London would be underwater and Southerners have very little respect for Northerners, in general.

This new geography is ripe for stories, suggesting many questions about a shift in the balance of power. For example: Could England remain in control or would Wales, and especially Scotland, reassert their power vying for independence or sovereignty over the new British Isles? How would the surviving cities, most now becoming coastal, adapt? What type of society would arise now that the seat of power (government and monarchy) has been destroyed.

So much food for thought :))

Back in Business

2011-10-03T15:17:00.000+01:00

My knee is getting bearable and almost walkable again, so time to get back to business. I'll be updating you on some of my novel and script-writing progress (and any short stories, if I get to them).

My latest news is that I've heard from BBC on my first script: a form letter rejection. Oh well. At least I've got a baseline now. I've set myself 3 more scripts to reach some acceptable level (approx. 1/6 months). The next script I'll aim to send by the end of the year.

Oh, I've found an excellent resource on CafePress for universe / empire planning: a map of stars within 30 light years, set in cartesian coordinates with links between close stars and stars with potential habitable zones indicated. I think it will be a great resource for planning my Gateway series.

That's all for now.

Taking stock as Q4 approaches

2011-09-07T00:46:00.001+01:00

I guess I should stop saying 'it's been a while since the last update' since that seems to be the perpetual state this year. I was kicked out of my routine early this year by medical issues and haven't succeeded in returning to it yet. As it's so easy to become caught up in the negative, I've decided to focus on the positive, on what I have accomplished for the year so far, and what I plan to accomplish in the next few months.

So, although I've had to re-evaluate some of my goals for the year, I am still on track for others.

1) Script Writing
I finished, revised and sent off my first complete script to the BBC in June, received the acknowledgement card a week later and have been waiting since then (possibly 6 more weeks to wait). In the meantime, I've come up with the basic stories for the next three scripts in my 2-year plan and I'm brainstorming the one I plan to finish for year's end (submitting it after I hear back from the first one).

2) Reading
My goal was to read at least one book a month--often challenging while trying to keep up with my vast number of other interests. Still, so far I have managed to average at least one book read per month (not including graphic novels, scripts, anthology edits, and manuscripts). The latest book, and older one by Roger Zelazny called 'Eye of Cat' will be particularly useful with the background in the novel I'm currently working on.

3) Blogging
This has been a mixed success. I managed to initiate a regular blog for Utility Fog Press (Utility Fog Blog) with three other writer/editors and there were regular entries for a while, however, it has slowed now and the last entry was in July! There are only two of us now doing anything regular with it so it--so if anyone reading this is interested, let me know (and send your writing/publishing background)

As for this blog, it's obviously been less than regular. A priority, post-knee surgery, will be to arrange the management of my internet resources much better, including websites and blogs, hopefully even setting up some for bringing in affiliate money.

4) Novel Writing
This is the goal that has suffered the most. I have been unable to get myself into a regular writing routine and even abandoned the revision of a novel--although that was because I felt I had learned as much as I could from it, and it would take more time to get it where I wanted it than I was willing to spend. It sounds like I abandoned the novel when the going got tough, but I don't believe that's so. This was never 'that' novel, whereas I have at least 4 others that are and I just got antsy wanting to work on them everytime I started on the other.

But, on the positive note, I have started formally compiling world info for two of the novels and have decided which one I will focus my energy on now. The current goal is to rework the first four chapters, and build the history, for the end of the year and then go full on next year, to finish draft 1 by the end of Q1.

5) Publishing
No new anthologies for Utility Fog Press this year--well, one that I requested submissions for, but is not going anywhere. I have, however, learned a lot about compiling epub e-books and have, finally, put together the e-books for Farspace 2 and Assassins' Canon, which are now available on Apple ibookstore and Lulu.com.

Also, I have some plans for a new anthology (for next year) and a regular multimedia event.

So, all-in-all, not a stellar year, but not a complete waste so far. Some failings, but enough successes to be reasonably happy (I've also managed to improve my Starcraft 2 ladder ranking significantly over season 1--I'm out of bronze league--drop me a e-mail if you want to play). Now I just have to get back to the writing!

Update

2011-06-22T19:23:00.000+01:00

It's been a little while since the last post so I thought I'd update things.

Not too much has been happening, however. Medically things are going well with the visits to Leeds. And my foot is doing well with the inserts the podiatrist made. Unfortunately, the orthopaedic surgeon strongly advised having another surgery on my right knee to tighten the 15-year old graft. That will be in August, close to exactly 15 years after the last one. The funny thing was that he told me the surgery was much improved from when I last had it, then proceeded to describe exactly the same procedure. Even the rehab is the same. The only difference will be that the graft is taken from the opposite hamstring, for the obvious reason that taking another graft from the same hamstring would unduly tax that muscle (especially because it never fully recovered due to my negligence with physio).

So, not looking forward to a month of pain/crutches and a year of physio.

In other news... I managed to submit the script originally titled 'Absolute Power'. I changed the title after Charlotte brought it to my attention that AP was also the title of a recent UK political comedy series. Too bad, I really liked the title. Maybe I could sell it in the US?!

Anyway, the BBC has already acknowledged receipt, so now I have up to 4 months to wait for their comments, if any.

I've made the conscious decision to put Mindform Ascension on hold indefinitely. The amount of work the story would take to get it where I wanted it to be was more than my interest level. Originally I started the story only as a fun thing to see if I could finished a novel. Now I can see so many directions it can go in I'm worried it's turning into something completely different from what I wrote. One possibility I'll think about is to rework it into the fun story it seems and save the commentary and philosophical insights for another story. In the meantime I'm going to work on something else...

yep, planning to go back to Gateway finally. I want to start a formal treatise of the Gateway universe so that I have a framework to build a series on. Meanwhile I'll take the advise I received at the First Impressions workshop at Eastercon and try writing some short stories to play with voice and character development. They will be set in the same universe so that I can also develop the Gateway lore.

I'm also planning the next script. One of two ideas, not sure which I'll do yet.

Apart from that, Utility Fog Press has openes submissions for the next anthology: Tales for Travelers, a micro-fiction anthology designed as easy reads for commuters. I'm aiming to publish in e-book formats first, the prepare a POD pocket paperback.

And that really is all for now. Other than the business venture I'm planning... more on that later.

The Future of the Book

2011-05-14T15:08:00.001+01:00

I recently read 'Seth Godin and the Future of the Book' on the CBC web site. An intersting article on the now and future roles an author will have to play.

There were a few comments posted after the article and here are my responses (with the original posts for reference).

Phobos06 wrote:

I prefer paper books. If I could have an actual durable paperback book which could be filled with words and never run out of batteries I would be happy.

I'm also concerned that the switch to digital books will mean that libraries will cease to exist. Already some publishers have agreed to having libraries lending ebooks but the publishers created the stipulation that an ebook can only be taken out so many times. This is absolutely unacceptable.

I'll stick with paper for the time being. I'm no old fogey either. I'm 30 and I like reading my books on the printed page.

@Phobos06
While I am concerned about many of the same things (I prefer print books, and I think about the future of libraries), technology will and must change everything. It's almost impossible to imagine a high-tech world with Victorian trappings. Impossible and ludicrous.

This means the instituions we love must change also, or cease to exist. Libraries in particular stand on the edge. For them to remain a part of our communities, they will have to find a new model of operation. Perhaps, as they are slowly going here in Yorkshire, UK, they will be more like public reading / meeting rooms with multimedia facilities for general use and, oh yeah, you can access books while you're there. Details of that latter part will require a lot of thought with the constant rise in e-books, but I'm confident an intelligent solution will be found (am I too optimistic?)

In short, we are at a period of great change and it means everyone: public services, companies, governments, the individual, will be forced to rethink models that have grown to be comfortable.

JC Army wrote:

Okay, Mr. Godin, but here lies my personal dilemna. I have written a 100,000 word novel, have tried to find an agent (all I have found that match my type of writing/novel are all full and not accepting any more material). I tried to find a reputable publisher, but alas, they are "not accepting unsolicited manuscripts". I have had some literary friends read my novel and they did love it, offered constructive criticism, etc, but here I sit unpublished. So, I begin to wonder, is my novel actually garbage? But then I read some stuff that IS published by some big fancy publishers and I think THAT stuff is garbage (The Time Travelers' Wife comes to mind, but I digress). I guess I'm stuck in the mindset, that if my novel IS garbage, I don't want to publish it just for the sake of accomplishing a lifelong dream of mine. I want it to be GOOD and I fear I need to hear that from the big publishers in order to feel worthy of becoming a published novelist. I have given up so to speak and am not sure what route to take. I like my novel, I love it's message but I'm not liking how painstaking it is to BE PUBLISHED - not just to get it published. I have always thought that anyone can publish something - just go to any old book publisher and they'll print it - I don't want that. How can you possibly try to market your work when you're focussing on earning a living and raising a family, all the while your manuscript sits in the drawer awaiting the occasional rejection letter from publisher after publisher? Sigh. Maybe someday.

@JC Army
One word: confidence. What you are looking for is validation from the big gatekeepers of the industry. But the future will be full of self-published books. Much of them bad, but enough very good. The onus is becoming more and more on the author to not only manage their career and publicise their book, but to make their book the best it can be on their own.

At the moment, the layers of gatekeepers are multiplying: publishers (editing and marketing departments), now very commonly: agents, and even agents to get you agents. This almost seems like a bubble in the publishing industry as e-books, internet and greater self employment regarding small publishers and editors, means the only thing currently supplied by the big publishing houses is the name (yes, and distribution for the dead-tree versions). This is why publishers are scrambling to develop a new model to ensure their continued existence.

I like to think of this brave new world as a return to the roots of capitalism, in a way. Currently, all industries are controlled by the multi-nationals (the publishing industry is controlled by the big six). But with internet, self-publishing, e-books, if you're book IS good and readers like it (and you do the work to get the word out), then it will sell regardless of what any manager says. And we're back, at least for the moment, to the power of the people. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Edwin

The Stuff of Dreams

2011-05-10T09:23:00.000+01:00

I had a weird experience last night as I was laying in bed. Just as I was about to fall asleep I was startled by what I can only call a 'mental water drop'. That is to say, I felt a single water drop splash on the centre of my forehead. I knew right away it was in my mind, but it was so similar to the real thing that I had to feel for water. Of course there was none.

Creepy.

I wonder if it means anything? Anyway, it's little things like this that are interesting to remember and include in stories for a little more fleshing out of the character's mindset. I know just the one...

Edwin

Lauren Beukes Wins 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award

2011-05-10T09:18:00.003+01:00

This year's Arthur C. Clarke Award winner for best science fiction novel is South African ex-journalist Lauren Beukes for Zoo City. If you haven't read it, I can definitely recommend Zoo City along with her first book Moxyland--a modern Orwellian 1984. Both are set in South Africa but that, apart from the well-written prose and great imagination, is where the similarities end. Moxyland is set in a high-tech Johannesburg where Corporations and Government abuse technology to control the population. Zoo City, while still feeling very 'real' has a more magical nature with the 'animalled'. Both are great reads.

You can find out more about Lauren, Zoo City, and Moxyland at her website: laurenbeukes.book.co.za

Edwin

Hugo Award: Best Novel Nominees

2011-04-24T22:46:00.001+01:00

Hot of the presses, the nominees for Hugo Award Best Novel (that's sci-fi for those unaware) have just been announced. They are:

Blackout/All Clear - Connie Willis
Cryoburn - Lois McMaster Bujold
The Dervish House - Ian McDonald (winner of the BSFA best novel award)
Feed - Mira Grant
Thousand Kingdoms - N.K. Jemisin

These are "people's Choice" awards, nominees and winners are selected by fans (must be a member of Worldcon--this year in Reno, Nevada--to vote).

Best of luck to all nominees.

Edwin

Creative Commons, Free e-Books, and the New Author

2011-03-25T09:16:00.001Z

I've recently started a new web site LightSpeedDreams.net. Originally I bought the domain name because I liked the sound of it, and I took some time to decided what content I wanted to put on it. Finally, I've decided to populate the site with content of mine that I will release under Creative Commons license — making it freely available for use, modification, and commercial distribution, as long as I remain listed as one of the authors/creators. Among other things, this will include mp3s, selected artwork, and selected short stories and novels.

Why?

1. In some cases the content I release would be difficult or impossible to sell.

* Cases of work with other creators who have okayed the release but then become unreachable
* Content that was created jointly with the understanding that it would be freely available
* Fan Fiction that cannot be distributed for profit

2. The content acts as a free sample of my work for prospective publishers

3. The most important reason, however, is summed up by Cory Doctorow in the forward to Little Brother (on why he releases all his books as free, drm-free e-books):

For me — for pretty much every writer — the big problem isn't piracy, it's obscurity (thanks to Tim O'Reilly for this great aphorism). Of all the people who failed to buy this book today, the majority did so because they never heard of it, not because someone gave them a free copy.

So, no, people stealing your work to read is not a problem most new authors face. People never reading your work because they haven't heard of you is. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position where I can release all my work for free online, after all, I am trying to start a career as an author and I've not heard of any traditional publishers who will take on an author with no unpublished content. I feel I'm doing the next best thing by releasing selected works for free. On one had, I think of it as a small portfolio sample. On the other hand, a bit like releasing some grown-up children into the world to see what becomes of them.

So, I hope you check out LightSpeedDreams.net and sample, use, modify the content I've posted. And please, whatever you do with it, let me know! I love to hear how my work has been used, and I'll help you advertise with blurbs on my various sites.

And check out science fiction author and digital rights expert Cory Doctorow's site www.craphound.com. The forward to Little Brother (winner of several YA awards and shortlisted for several more) explains the Creative Commons ideas far better than I could, so why not download a free copy from him (and if you like it, buy the print version).

Edwin H Rydberg

Lightspeed Dreams.net

2011-03-11T21:51:00.002Z

I've finally posted the first content to my creative commons LightspeedDreams.net site. This site is linked from EdwinHRydberg.com and is where I make all my free content available. That includes writing (selected novels, poetry, short stories, etc), artwork, ideas that might be of use to someone but that I don't have the time or resources to persue. All of it is make available under the creative commons license. Essentially, you may have, keep, use it for free or commercially, as long as you remember to list me as the creator (I ask for no royalties, only the recognition that it was my content originally, and a humble request that you let me know how you've used it--for my own curiosity).

The first content on LightspeedDreams.net is a story I wrote set in a world created by Roy Sirkis called Awaken from that Gentle Good Night. It's a futuristic science fiction story with a fantasy feel. It can be read on the site, or downloaded in PDF or EPUB formats. I hope you enjoy (and watch for more stories coming soon).

Edwin

New Utility Fog Press Blog

2011-03-11T21:47:00.003Z

I've started up a new blog dedicated to Utility Fog Press (utilityfogblog.blogspot.com). That means I'll try to keep cross-over content solely to writing-related stuff (posts on publishing, editing, etc).

In addition to my blathering, I've managed to convince several other amateur/semi-pro writers & editors to contribute to the blog. It should be interesting, as they come from quite diverse backgrounds and I'm quite excited to see how the blog goes. If you stop by, please be sure to check out their links also.

Edwin

Getting the word out

2011-02-17T22:10:00.001Z

A short note today.

As I'm notoriously bad at networking, I always keep my ear open for useful information from those that aren't. Here then, are a few links useful for making your 'brand' (better get used to the term and what it means if you want to be an author) known.

www.smithpublicity.com
A book promotion company who also have a lot of good marketing/promotion tips posted on their site.

www.sellingbooks.com
Another site with a lot of info regarding book/author promotion

Here is also an interesting article about something I've just heard of:

First an aspiring author went direct to the publisher. Now they need an agent. Soon they will likely need an agent's 'agent', or a book / manuscript promoter. I suspect this will be the big new entry into the world of writing in the next few years, as it becomes harder and harder interest agents in a manuscript due to sheer numbers (the bar keeps getting higher). These people are experts at writing query letters/packages. They know how to 'sell' your manuscript to agents (in the sense of getting an agent to want to read it--you still have to have a good manuscript to actually sell it).

The world of writing and publishing continues to change and it's important to stay on top of it and know who else you need to know. We now have to do our own marketing as well as writing, so why not take every advantage you can?

Edwin

Revision, Revision, Revision

2011-01-31T12:55:00.001Z

Well, I'm still revising Emergence and, not unexpectedly, it's going slower than I'd hoped (about 1/2 the pace necessary to meet my goals) this year so I thought I'd tell some of the general issues I'm finding.

The main issues are:

1) re-evaluating character relationships. Emergence was my first novel, written in the 2006 NaNoWriMo and then put aside for some time. Now that I've gone back to it, I find that all the 'good guys' seem too 'nice' to each other. Despite coming from diverse backgrounds, with different personalities and different goals, they all got along very well. Extremely well. So I've gone back and created more tension between several characters and where there was the hint of tension I've tried to draw it out.

2) re-envisioning the setting and scenery. Again, because it was written very quickly, I used whatever images and ideas came to mind. Upon revision I'm finding that feels lazy and generic, so I'm putting more effort into creating interesting ideas, while staying with the original vision.

3) cleaning up thin or incomplete plot-lines. yup, another one from the fast writing category. So far I'm in the early stages, but I'm trying to strengthen several of the secondary plot-lines that start early. Shortly, I'll be entering into the realm of the frayed plot-lines--I know of at least two secondary plot-lines that were forgotten about during the finished stages the first time around. Obviously they will have to be tied up.

These, of course, mean that the revision is essentially like re-writing the story, as they affect everything that comes after. And that means it takes as long to do the revision (or longer) than it took to write the thing in the first place.

Anyway, it's all part of the process. And, I have to admit, creatively filling in the plot-holes gives the same 'little victory', high-five feeling as creating the plot lines in the first place.

So, onward I march, page by page toward the end. It's not in sight, but I feel it just over the horizon.

Edwin

Welcome 2011

2011-01-03T09:18:00.003Z

"Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming..." - All Star, Smash mouth

Happy New Year everyone,

It's January 3rd and 2011 is now properly upon us. All the stock-taking has been done, all the resolutions have been made and now it's time to get down to it. I've got to say, I've never been one for resolutions - they always seemed too binding to me. Now, however, as I move onto the downward slope of life while trying to build my writing career, I find that resolutions are too vague.

How many of you have made resolutions to exercise more or to write more or to eat healthy? Now ask yourself what exactly does that resolution mean? How will you go about accomplishing it?

Booklife

In the middle of last year, I read 'Booklife' by Jeff Vandermeer and it changed the way I think about resolutions and goals. Importantly, it made me see the futility of vague goals. eg. I want to be published in 5 years. Fine. How are you going to do that, just write? How much? Do you think the first book will be published? What about managing your career or creating a portfolio or awareness of your 'brand'? What about learning the industry? And what about all the other activities in your life that distract from writing, how will you manage them?

In 'Booklife' Jeff shows how to set your long term goals and then break them into medium and short-term goals that will actually allow you to accomplish what you want. This is an important step as it makes you think hard about how you're going to accomplish your task: Finish the book - by when? How many words a day/week? How long for revision? How and who will you send it too? What about the other distractions: exercise (important for a writer), family duties, website (crucial for writers these days:companies no longer do most of the marketing), e-mail, blog, social networking? How and when to fit these in? What about that trip to the spa or learning a new skill? I'm sure everyone notices the same thing I have: as you get older, you get busier. That's why it's even more important to set goals: long-term, and specific short-term goals.

My Goals

So, like many writers, my long-term goal is to be published in 5 years. If I'm not, I have a few options. (1) decide that I'm just not a writer and move on to something else, (2) believe the market isn't interested in what I want to say (no matter how well said) and self-publish, (3) keep writing and modify that goal.

My medium term goals, then, are to complete one book a year and two short stories. The short stories, I will send out to do the rounds (and build my cv) instead of just sitting on the computer. However, since my interest lay more in novels, I intend to write short stories that tie in to the novels. As for one novel a year, this is only a matter of discipline, since I already have a half-dozen novels in various stages of outline at the moment (and several started).

Short term goals are where the resistance comes: 'I can't commit to that...I don't know what's going to happen...' True, but they are the necessary guidelines you make to gauge your progress toward what's necessary to accomplish your long-term goals. It's important to realize you will fail some of them, especially until you come to know yourself and your practical abilities better.

My short term goals are to:

(1) revise my current novel at a rate of about 5 pages/day (to finish by June)--this is no easy task since I wrote the original during a NaNoWriMo and I'm now re-envisioning most of it.

(2) I'm also aiming to finish and submit a script to the BBC by the end of March, which means completing it by the end of January (at an average of 2 pages/day. In this case I will take two weeks for research and then write at about 4 pages/day, as script-writing tends to be much faster than novel writing.

(3) I've already picked the short stories I want to finish for this year and both are partially written. I intend to finish one each 6 months, although the first will start after the script is sent. I haven't yet planned firm short-term goals for writing the short stories yet.

I'm curious whether this sounds like a lot, or a too little, to most of you. For me it's sounding a little daunting, when factoring in my other goals (health, family and recreation), but do-able if I get myself back into a good routine).

Well, that's my new years res...goals. How about you? Have you set any goals for this year? Do you have a plan for accomplishing them? I'm sure you'll succeed if you set your mind to it.

All the best to everyone in the new year,

Edwin

Farspace 2 Now Available!

2010-12-15T12:45:00.003Z

Finally, the long-awaited Farspace 2 anthology is available. I just received the proof today and it looks great. This is the longest Utility Fog Press anthology to date. In addition to the great cover by Carla Ralston and Lisa Cobb, it has stories and poetry from 19 authors, and b&w interior artwork from 3 artists as a bonus.

Here's a copy of the cover to whet your appetite.

Check out Farspace 2 and our other great anthologies at UtilityFogPress.com.

successful Novacon 40

2010-11-14T22:36:00.000Z

I'm just back from Novacon 40 at the Park Inn, Nottingham. This is my second Novacon and, as with the last, it was a relaxing conference with a comfortable schedule almost completely opposite of the hectic Eastercons. Even more surprising, due to the relatively small scale, this year there were close to a dozen top-level authors in attendance. This lead, inevitably, to some very interesting and often humourous panel sessions. Arguably one of the most enlightening sessions discussed realistic apocalypse scenarios and included two con members who work in emergence response planning.

The conference was also successful for me. Last year at Novacon 39 was the first time I had publicly exhibited artwork and I managed to sell 2 pieces (Alien Seashore and Alone). Eastercon 2010, despite having more people, was less successful for me. So I went into Novacon 40 trying to learn from my past experience and was cautiously optimistic. I brought with me eight pieces and managed to sell four (Showdown, Aliens, Looking In, Full Steam Ahead), surpassing my total previous sales! All of these images will be posted on my Deviant Art (edwinhrydberg.daportfolio.com) and Artwanted (www.artwanted.com/ehrydberg) portfolios shortly and will be available for purchase from the Artwanted site.

Recovering from the writing group

2010-10-12T14:50:00.002+01:00

Got a grilling today at my writing group (York Novelists Society) over my first six chapters of Mindform Ascension (wt). Not bad, just...detailed. It lasted over an hour and I felt like I'd been through another thesis defense!

Still, it's all good. That's how you know you have a good group. They're not afraid to ask the hard questions and you're not afraid of them asking the hard questions because we're all there to make our novels the best they can be.

Now to finish-up revisions on chapters 7-12.

It's been a while...

2010-09-23T12:59:00.002+01:00

...but now I'm back from the temporary oblivion of distraction, revision, and fixing up the house.

Summer is always...well...summer, full of its own set of distractions. Still, YNS (the York Novelists Society) marched on and, with their helpful comments, I've completed the revision of chapters 1-6 in Mindform Ascension and I've recently begun chapters 7-12. I'm revising in blocks because that seems to be the way the story works, with each 6 chapters (was 4--consequences of revision) being a unofficial segment of the story.

I've thought about sending a package out now to agents, but I see enough significant changes in the story coming that I want to finish the complete revision before passing it around to the big boys (and girls). Really want to get this done, though (hopefully by year's end) because I'm itching to start up again on something new--either the Gateway series or Poisonous Garden.

As for what else is happening--I'm planning to start an Open University course on web design shortly, and I'm going to try and get involved in the Creative Networks West Yorkshire group that meets monthly in Leeds--I hope to find someone to work on a fantasy graphic novel project featuring the unlikely hero Strepcard Zork (I'll post more teasers if/when it takes off).

And still debating whether to go to Novacon in Nottingham or SFContario in Toronto this November. Toronto wins, hands down, on location and I'm curious to hear toastmaster Robert J. Sawyer, but I find I'm getting more into the UK SF writing scene and Novacon is going to have a s**t-load of authors attending. Oh well, more when I decide.

My York Writers' Festival Experience

2010-04-12T22:17:00.003+01:00

I was at the York Writers' Festival on Saturday. It's a three day event by I was only interested in the seminars on Saturday (and couldn't afford the entire event anyway).

Saturday was organized as 3 talks and 3 workshops (alternating) and I had my 2 one-on-one agent sessions amidst those.

The opening address by Katie Fford (distant relation of Jasper Fforde) was entertaining and added more data to my theory that 8-10 years seems to be about the modal time span for a hard-working, talented writer to get their first novel published (it took her 8 years). She also presented her ten tips to follow that would guarantee publication--summarized here as: write, write what you love, write in a fashion that works for you and don't get discouraged by any one opinion.

I was fortunate to hear a 'state of the sf/f/h market' presentation by well-repsected UK SF/F/H agent John Jarrold. It's his opinion that the sci-fi market is recovering fastest in the UK, with the US still lagging a bit under the 'only fantasy sells' mentality. Australia is somewhere between the two. And I managed a brief introduction, card grab after the session.

The other workshops I attended were on 'what writers should know about rights' and a kind of day-in-the-life-of-an-editor type talk with Oliver Munson from Blake Friedmann, and Zoe King from Darley Anderson. Both were interesting, but not a lot of new information. However, I did manage to catch Zoe King after her presentation and gave a crude pitch for a science anthology that she was tentatively interested in. I got the go-ahead to send her more details.

My two one-on-one sessions went as well as could be expected. Signing up late meant that anyone with any interest in sci-fi was already booked, but John Elek and Jo Unwin were both friendly and helpful none-the-less. As a great help, Jo gave me the author of a well respected book on editing/revision of novels, something I've been looking for for a while. For anyone interested, check Amazon under Sol Stein (apparently the book titles differ on either side of the ocean).

I also met Isabella White, an independent agent (again, non-sci-fi). Interestingly, both her and John Elek, the first two agents I met, are Canadian (from Toronto). It seemed a little strange going through the last ten years of world travels to come full circle and meet two Canadians at this event.

Anyway, overall I felt the event was worthwhile for me. It almost feels like the official marking of the next phase of my writing career--namely, properly finishing the work and getting it out there. And it taught me that agents are not ogres, most of them are quite friendly and helpful.

Selected Hugo 2010 Nominees

2010-04-04T22:49:00.002+01:00

Hot off the press: the Hugo nominees were just announced here at Odyssey 2010. The winners will be voted on by Ausiecon 4 members until July 31 and will be announced during Aussiecon 4 (Sept 2-6).

The full data can be found on the Aussiecon 4 site, but I'll present a nominees from a few catagories here.

First, a few interesting/useful bits of info.

1) the twitter hashtag is #hugos
2) Americans gave most of the voting ballets, with just over half. Next most numerous were from Canada, then Australia-New Zealand, followed by UK, Europe, and the rest of the world.

John W Campbell, Best New SF Writer
- Saladin Ahmed
- Gail Carriger
- Felix Gilman
- Seanan McGuire
- Lezli Robyn

And now, some selected Hugo nominees:

Best Fanzine
- Argenta
- Banana Wings
- Challenger
- Drink Tank
- File 770
- Starship Sofa

Best Semiprozine
- Ansible
- Clarkesworld
- Interzone
- Locus
- Weird Tales

Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form
- Doctor Who "The Next Doctor"
- Doctor Who "Planet of the Dead"
- Doctor Who "Waters of Mars"
- Dollhouse "Epitaph 1"
- FlashForward "No more good days"

Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form
- Avatar
- District 9
- Moon
- Star Trek
- Up

Best Graphic Story
- Batman: Whatever happened to the caped crusader
- Captain Britain and MI13: Vol3 Vampire State
- Fables Vol 12: Dark Ages
- Girl Genius Vol 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the heirs of the storm
- Schlock Mercenary: The Longshoreman of the Apocalypse

Best Novel
- Boneshaker, Cherei Priest
- The City & The City, China Mieville
- Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd Century America, Robert Charles Wilson
- Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente
- Wake, Robert J. Sawyer
- The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi

Interesting. Whereas, last year it seemed most of the Novel nominees were British, or at least living in the UK, this year belongs to the Americans with 4 authors from the US, 1 Canadian and 1 Brit.

That's all from me. There are a number of other catagories, but these are the ones I was most interested in. Anyway, now I'd better get down to some serious reading. After some sleep.

Anthologies - The Art of Compilation

2010-04-04T14:44:00.003+01:00

I was delighted to see that the program for this year's Eastercon included a panel discussion on creating anthologies. The Panel featured Ian Whates: author, anthologist and founder of New Con Press; Ellen Datlow: American professional anthologist; Colin Harvey and Gary Couzens: writers and occassional anthologists.

There were a lot of discussions about submissions, pros and cons of open vs. invited vs. reprint (open is the most work, reprint is really fun and invited is often frustrating). It was interesting to hear that, even for anthologies, the big six publishers have a heirarchy of authors such that for every 'A' list author, you might need 2-3 B-list authors. The publishers also require 1/3 more invites than desired for publication due to the estimated number who won't end up producing a story.

It was also interesting to learn that anthologies are much more common and accepted in the US than they are in the UK. Apparently, it's very rare in the UK for a big publisher to accept a pitch for an anthology regardless of the idea. They just don't want to produce them and most British anthologies are done by small presses. This suggests to me that I should target the US market much more for selling.

Most positive for me, in this discussion, was when it came around to the layout. The two most experienced anthologists confirmed my own thoughts on layout, and the way I approached the layout for Assassins' Canon. i.e. generally the first and last are the strongest, with the longer, more challenging reads in the middle. With the added idea that the first story having the added ideas that it should set the expectations for the anthology, without being too heavy.

For Assassins' Canon, there were a number of stories I could have started with, but in the end I chose Ken Goldman's 'Fat Larry's Night with the Alligators' because it emboidied all the ideas above and, I felt, led nicely into the many directions and types of stories the anthology included. Likewise, Jason Frank's 'XDA Zai: The Wild Hunt' was a strong story that wrapped up the anthology in the same way--a nice mix of real and surreal. That said, there's not a single story I'm unhappy about including and I remain thrilled at the finished product. I can only hope future anthologies from Utililty Fog Press will be as good.

The Truth About Utopias

2010-04-02T21:06:00.003+01:00

Eastercon (Odyssey 2010) has started off today and the first panel discussion I went to was titled: Utopia - how the concept has developed in sci-fi and philosophy.

As might be expected with such a title, much, if not all, the discussion centred around the usual things: what ideas have been presented in the past, what the panelists' own views are, is a utopia even possible. You know, wading through 50 minutes to find a few pellets of gold, like 1) on average, utopian communities that have been tried in the west last 18 months; 2) the most successful utopian communities have been religious oriented; 3) there's not even really a concensus on what a utopian society would fundamentally entail.

I believe these are the pellets of gold because they give the fundamental clues about the 'true' nature of a utopia. The secret...if anyone is wondering...is the same as it is for much of life. In short, a utopia is purely a frame of mind. If one believes they live in a utopia, then they do. Simple. This lends to the understanding of why religious groups are most successful with utopian societies--because both are about belief.

An ideal, physical utopia is logically impossible since everyone will have their own view of what a utopia is. Which suggests the way (dare I say, the ONLY way) to create a Utopia. One must make the population believe they are in a utopia. Classically, the could involve methods of propaganda or other brainwashing. Futuritically, it could involve more direct, technological means (subliminal messages in television shows...).

Typically, the discussions at such a panel has issues of class. i.e. partial utopias, a utopia for the upper class, while the lower classes toil their fingers to the bones. However, I don't believe this for the simple reason that the upper classes are no more happy than the lower classes. They have an easier life, but there is strong sociological evidence that such a life does not make one happier (indeed, if it did, why would such people continue striving for more...). Another observation to suggest that utopia is in the mind.

When looking at the existing and past cultures, my own belief is that the USA has come closest to achieving this utopian mindset--not only among their own people, but among people around the world. Despite all the problems of the country--attrocious health care, huge disparity of riches, rampant gun abuse, political corruption and abuses, imperialism, war mongering, resource hording--most residents, immigrants, and perhaps even foreigners, believe it is the best country in the world to live. This leads me to believe that the propaganda policies of the American government in the last century have been highly successful in creating the utopian mindset in their population. More evidence to suggest that any future utopia will, first and foremost, require the ability to manipulate or outright control the minds of its populace.

Frightening.

Odyssey 2010

2010-04-01T21:25:00.000+01:00

I arrived at the Radisson Edwardian hotel in Heathrow (spitting distance from the airport) today for this years' eastercon-->Odyssey 2010. It doesn't officially start until 8pm Friday night, but there are events planned tomorrow during the day, some of which look to be quite interesting. I'll also have a chance to put up my artwork before most people arrive.

I was hoping to have six new pictures to put in the show this year, but things (mostly image size and framing) didn't go as planned. Of course, it's my fault for leaving it to the last minute (almost literally). So I will have 6 images showing, but one is from last year, with a new frame, and one will not be for sale. One that I had hoped to exhibit, Showdown, the first image in my Steampunk series, will have to wait for another con (or I may just put it online for sale). I do intend to open up an online store of popular images through my Artwanted.com profile, so watch this space for information.

In the meantime, I'm especially looking forward to listening to some well known authors. In addition the the guests of honour: Ian M. Banks, Alastair Reynolds and Liz Williams, I've also seen Paul Mcauley, Ken Mcleod, Mike Carey, Stephen Hunt and Chaz Brenchley on the program as panelists. Furthermore, I'm curious to hear the talks on 'how to submit your script to the BBC' and 'creating anthologies'. John Jarrold is also here, the sci-fi/fantasy agent that I'm most familiar with and will also be in York next week for the York Writers' Festival. Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk with him. And, of course, I'll once again be getting the opening of a novel critqued by the semi-pro London sci-fi group T-Party.

All in all, it's shaping up to be an interesting, enjoyable weekend.

Learn from the Masters

2010-03-12T07:43:00.003Z

I've just been going through Alan Moore's (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, ...) graphic anthology Wild Worlds and I was truly struck by the difference in quality of storytelling between a master and the amateurs.

The anthology opens with a time loop story involving Spawn and the WildCATs which was beautifully developed (I won't say more here). But it was the second story that really brought home the difference in story quality for me. Essentially, it's a 'this could have been the beginning of the universe' story, told from the POV of some immortal characters at the end of one universe. I won't spoil it, but the story is developed beautifully so that we feel the dark, cold, aloneness at the end, but he also develops the science background enough to give you a conclusion that makes you think 'that's a cool idea, maybe...'.

I think this second story drove home the difference storytelling, the ability to develop a story from a rough idea, simply because at some point it seems every sci-fi writer has the thought to write a story about how the universe may have begun, and I've read my share of such submissions for the Utility Fog Press anthologies. But Alan Moore's blew them all away.

Take home message, if you're thinking of writing a 'beginning of the universe' story, read this one first.

Book Review: Celebration

2010-01-22T21:05:00.002Z

In honour of 50 years of the British Science Fiction Association, Newcon Press published Celebration in 2008 (okay, I'm a bit behind on my reading). Edited by Ian Whates, it's author list includes some of the big names in British Sci-Fi (although there are notable absences) including Stephen Baxter, Ken MacLeod, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Liz Williams, Brian Aldiss, Alastair Reynolds, and Ian R. MacLeod among others.

The first thing I expected from Celebration were stories of an up-beat nature. After all, I expected a celebration. In this regard, I was to be disappointed. The stories in celebration are, for the most part, visions of the future, but are almost exclusively dark. Once I accepted that idea, it wasn't difficult to sit back for the ride.

The anthology opens with one of the few non-futuristic stories, Jubiliee Plot, a Victorian, steampunkish tale about the importance of the rail system to the development of the UK by Stephen Baxter. It's an interesting story and well constructed yet somehow it took me a long time to get through. True Victorian/steampunk sci-fi is not my cup of tea, but I suspect, coming off unsuccessful attempts to finish his manifold series, that I'm just not enjoying Baxter's style. I do have one more of his books and that should let me decide one way or the other.

The first gem, for me, was The Killing Fields by Kim Lakin-Smith. A dystopian future where society has collapsed but the remnants of technology, or at least biotechnology, linger on. Human Scarecrows with inbuilt sonic weapons battle rogues of crop bandits and even those you save try to screw you. Think Mad Max meets Blade Runner. This is a beautifully written, dark tale with lots of action and I couldn't get enough.

The next beauty was The Crack Angel by Jon Courtenay Grimwood. While I've not read any of Grimwood's other work yet, and we didn't exactly hit it off in our brief meeting at Eastercon 2009, none-the less I enjoyed this story very much and it was exactly what I'd expected from researching his novels. Most of the story is a dark, first-person detective novel and I was wondering where the sci-fi was until quite close to the end (however, the monkey kept me believing the sci-fi would be there...).

For me, the final gem in the Celebration crown was Liz Williams' At Shadow Cope. This was more a fantasy than sci-fi, but I loved it anyway. It reads as a simple story of a well-placed sorcerer momentarily down on her luck who thus finds herself visiting an old and mystically hopeless colleague. While at his home she learns that that not all magical beings take obvious forms and that humans may sometimes be innocent by-standers in ancient feuds.

Other mentionables were: Peculiar Bone, Unimaginable Key by Brian Aldiss, an original take on the return of the messiah in a part of the book where there were a number of other less creative Christian stories; Alastair Reynold's Soiree an fun take on the singularity (and the post singularity galaxy). Unfortunately, I found it a little too predictable in key areas, which detracted somewhat from the enjoyment. And finally, The Man of the Strong Arm by Adam Roberts, which presents an interesting future of competing ideologies. A dominant totalitarian society with high tech and low moral against a free society with low tech but freedom and a knowledge of the past. My only disappointment here was that the story just seemed to get interesting when it ended. Too little background was developed for my taste.

All in all, Celebration is an enjoyable collection of modern SFFH, despite not living up to my interpretation of its name. The gems within more than make up for the few duds.

Movie Review: Avatar

2009-12-19T23:42:00.013Z

In Avatar, paraplegic marine Jake Sully uploads his mind into an alien-hybrid Avatar in order to help The Company relocate the indigenous population and more easily acquire a rare metal.

I went into this movie having largely avoided the hype (although it's difficult not to be aware of it's existence). So my only experience was the trailer and the subsequent thought that James Cameron must be working a deal with Blizzard because I swear Avatar looks like WOW vs Starcraft.

The first thing that must strike any sci-fi movie fan over the age of 30 is the tie-ins to the Alien franchise (James Cameron produced Aliens, the second in the franchise and there was/is(?) rumor that he may be producing an Alien 5).

First, is the corrupt, uber-capitalist Company with a 'profit is the only consideration' mentality. In Avatar they attempt genocide of a nature-loving people and what is essentially a planet-mind (to acquire a rare, powerful metal). In Alien... they attempt to harness the most perfect bioweapon in the galaxy, ultimately unleashing it on Earth.

The other obvious tie-in is Sigourney Weaver's tough character. In the Alien franchise, we learned she was a clone, so the storyline in Avatar fits well with this.

However, for me at least, a third tie-in seems to exist in the form of the tough female Mexican pilot in Avatar. Michelle Rodriguez's character Trudy Chacon in Avatar is highly reminiscent of Jenette Goldstein's character Pvt. Vasquez in Aliens. Other characters that seems similar to me are Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Cpl Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn).

Okay, so once I overcame the 'Aliens' connection, the next thing that stuck me was sheer beauty and realism of the planet and the amount of imagination and detail that went into bringing it alive. True, most lifeforms were recognizable as Terran variants, but it could be argued that was as much for story and saleability reasons as any. Regardless, I found it a truly beautiful experience to watch the characters stroll through the jungle planet (especially in 3D).

The beauty of the planet is necessary to the story, as was the length of the film (2hr 40min). The audience requires this time to truly experience the new culture, the beauty of the planet, and to become properly empathetic with the people when all that is destroyed in the name of money.

I won't say any more specifically about Avatar except to say that I found it very enjoyable, well-written and well-produced. I did find it interesting that Hollywood has release two 'upload' movies this year (Surrogates & Avatar) when the last one that I remember as such was The Matrix series (1999-2004). The 'upload' ideas is, arguably, becoming more sophisticated in the current movies, as the uploads involve 'improving' human life through enhance bodies.

Putting on the futurist hat for a moment, it's not difficult to see that such 'uploads', if possible, would be the way forward for humanity. Our frail human bodies would have difficulty surviving, let alone adjusting, to the rigors of space or extra-terrestrial planets. Mechanical and/or alternative organic avatars/surrogates may very well be the only way forward if we are to spread into the galaxy (otherwise, it's difficult not to believe that machines are the only future). Thinking as the optimist, it may also be a way for peacefully liaising with any intelligent alien cultures we find.

So, not only is Avatar an wonderful film, but it provokes much thought on the future directions of humanity.

Edwin

Reviews & Commentaries

2009-12-19T23:36:00.003Z

I've been wanting to vary the content of the blog for a while now and I thought it would be useful to add book and movie reviews. These will primarily centre around science fiction works, but I will also review other interesting or useful samples. In addition, I'll attempt to add some commentary re: the science fiction ideas presented, trends they represent, and ideas they may suggest in the future. I'll keep the title of reviews of the simple format Book (or Movie) review: title so they are easily searchable.

As always, I'm open to comments. Feel free to post if you have something to say, or want to see something on the sight.

Edwin

Assassins' Canon Anthology Available!

2009-12-03T00:02:00.003Z

Finally, Assassins' Canon is online, in press, and available for order in time for Christmas--at least, that's what the printer claims (minus disclaimer, however, in my experience, Lulu deliver ahead of schedule most of the time). You can order a perfect bound trade paperback version for £9.99 or, if you can't wait, download a PDF version for half price (£4.49).

Here is the link to our storefront.

A big thanks goes out to the editorial team: acquisition editors Nicole Smith, Stephanie Cassey and Amanda Irazusta; assistant editor Alice Shevitz and copy editor Sarah E. Holroyd.

Also, a big thanks to all the authors who submitted stories, and especially those whose stories we liked :-)

Links to all editors and authors webpages (as much as they exist) can be found on the Utility Fog Press site.

Once again, thanks to all and I hope you enjoy.

EH Rydberg
Chief Editor
Utility Fog Press

Nature vs. Nurture: a Simple Thought Experiment

2009-11-23T21:54:00.002Z

The nature vs. nurture issue seems to be making its way around again. Not sure why, perhaps the birthday of Origin of the Species, perhaps someone selling their own book or promoting new research, who knows. I must admit, I can't understand why there's any real discussion and my only thought is that we live in a society where people want everything black and white, ones and zeroes.

Well, sorry, but it's not.

For the record, I'd just like to present a little thought experiment I came up with to show the importance of the two. First a disclaimer: obviously we don't fully understand our developmental biology or how our genes turn into, well, us as people (as opposed to us as snarling bags of vicious, thoughtless flesh). But I believe this thought experiment will still be convincing enough to most, regardless.

Thought Experiment: Nature vs. Nurture

Hypothesis: I exist now, in this time, and who I am is a function of both my biology and my environment.

Experimental goal: separation of nature and nurture to study effects individually

Experiment A (nurture): take another, genetically unique, individual and subject them to as similar as possible environmental factors during development from birth.

Comments: this is essentially the case with fraternal twins of the same sex. Few, if any, claims have ever been made that fraternal twins are too similar to differentiate. Of course, it must be noted that their nature will affect their interpretation of their nurture (i.e. who they are genetically, affects how they interact with their environment). This seems obvious when viewed in this common context and is the point of this experiment.

Experiment B (nature): in a century, clone an individual and raise him/her as normal in that century. Compare that individual with the one living today.

Comments: in this case, the nature is exactly the same, barring any changes that happen as an effect of the environment. It seems obvious that the two individuals will be grossly different. Their knowledge will be vastly different, their health may be different, their relationships will be different. It would be surprising if these two individuals would even recognize each other, in a similar way that the same individual a century in our past would not recognize a contemporary clone.

Given these examples, it seems clear to me that both nature and nurture play a crucial part in determining the individual. The way I usually view it (rightly or wrongly) is that, a person is born with a 'potential range' with regards to each trait. For example, on a scale of 0-->100 person J might be born with a potential snarkiness (I believe the actual term used is 'agreeableness') of 35-->65. Where they end up falling later in life is determined by their experiences during life; everything from the first time their parent yelled at them, to their first kiss, to the country they were born in.

Incidentally, something that seems often to be overlooked: The environment plays a multifaceted role in development. The obvious meaning of 'environment' when spoken of in the context of this argument is in relation to the influence of other people, other minds, or macroscopic events such as accidents, on the individual. However, it is well known that the environment also affects the biology through access to needed resources (minerals, vitamins, food in general) for continued well being, and through the influence of hormones, which can affect us at anything from a genetic to a physiological level (yes, there are hormones that are transcription factors). Although the latter is an idea that has only been resurrected rather recently, it is vaguely Lamarkian in principle (remember that name from high school biology?). Only now, we can imagine an actual mechanism for it, in certain cases.

Edwin

My Sci-Fi Pet Peeves

2009-11-23T20:52:00.002Z

While doing some research I was recently reminded of some of my personal pet-peeves that creep into science fiction. Some are rare, and others, unfortunately, more common than I'd like.

Humans as sole rulers of the Far Future

This one is one of the common ones, in my opinion, to the genre's detriment. Usually, since setting a story in such an advanced technology and futuristic society is all but impossible, authors generally leave such things as glimpses into the distant future (I'm speaking of billions or trillions of years). And the type of vision that particular peeves me is where humans are the unchallenged rulers of the universe. The book I've most recently read suffering from this (although not the most recently written) is Stephen Baxter's Manifold:Time. While this book had some great, well-developed ideas in it, it also had some doozies, which is why I also feature it in the next peeve (needless to say, between swearing at the book and trying to force myself to pick it up again each day to finish, it took me some time to read).

So, what's my peeve exactly? Well...it's a big universe. Any story that puts mankind as the sole survivor trillions of years in the future seems, to me, at the best to be hopelessly naive, at worst, to be some kind of religious apologeticism. Knowing humanity as we do, we can guess that, at the very least, mankind will make other forms of intelligent life that may go out on their own. We may make AGI also. But moreso, it seems to me to be very short sighted to believe that in billions of galaxies, trillions of stars and likely even more planets, there is only one lifeform in existence (or that will ever be in existence) simply because we, at the beginning of our technological life, have not yet detected others.

Whenever I read such a scene (and thankfully, they are generally only scenes) I have a very difficult time to continue reading the book.

Crazy philosophies as the basis of series sci-fi

This one, fortunately, is less common (strange as that might sound for science fiction). I guess what I mean here, as with the last peeve, is that in serious (read: hard) science fiction, ideas that I believe to be in error take me completely out of the story.

Once again, Manifold:Time has to win the prize for most obvious example from a quality author that I've read. The issue here is the use of the Carter Catastrophe. In Baxter's defense, he didn't invent it, he just used it in the story. Instead of wasting a lot of space and wearing out my fingers writing it, I'll just include the Wikipedia link here. Essentially, what it amounts to is pseudo-scientific (or even creationist) eschatology masquerading as reason.

Why?

Because it relies on (1) the idea that you, me, or anyone else, has an equal probability of being born at any time during the existence of humanity, and therefore, statistically we will be born near the end of race (because more people are alive at that time than ever before) and (2) the idea that we will never leave the planet (and hence our population will be capped at a relatively low number). Sounds reasonable to you, you think? Well, you might want to consider these ideas:

(1) My biggest argument is that this hypothesis is from a physicist/mathematician and, while math doesn't lie, it can be grossly mislead by incorrect assumptions. In this case, the incorrect assumption that we have an equally probable chance of being born at anytime in the human timeline. Carter may be correct is assuming the Copernican Principle (that the human race is not special in the universe) but individual humans are special, at least in one important way. We are unique in mind and body (or at least, almost unique in body).

Any given individual alive today is the result of a unique and highly improbable sequence of genetic combinations combined with the environmental factors that influenced their development. Thus you, me, your best friend or worst enemy, could only have lived at the time they did. It's worth repeating that because of it's importance. Any human that has ever lived could only ever have lived when they did. There is no probability that I was born now versus two hundred years ago. The only consideration is that I was either born now (1970) or never. I also had to have been born to my parents. Any other combination of parents and the child would not have been me. I call this the Bio-historical Rebuttal.

Many may not like the deterministic, undoubtedly non-religious, view of it but lets face facts, even your identical twin is not you and that's as close as one can come. Your unique biology and environmental factors, combined with the random fluctuations in your brain that made you choose A from B and time J can never be duplicated. Therefore, you are unique in the history of humanity--in the history of the universe--and there is no probability that you were born now versus then.

(2) If humanity doesn't leave the planet, then clearly the Carter Catastrophe may have been right (it may get lucky in 2029 anyway, but that has nothing to do with the principles of the Carter Catastrophe). If we don't leave the planet then we will, eventually, exhaust all it's resources. However, and this is only personal opinion, I happen to believe that eventually (within the next century, surely) the majority of the population will come to understand that the future is extraterrestrial. In fact, the only future is extraterrestrial. That will be the point when humanity's existence really begins. As we move out into the galaxy our population will swell immensely, completely washing out the CC doomsday predictions.

So, those are two of my science fiction pet peeves. As always, I'm happy, and more than a little interested, to read any comments.

Edwin

Novacon39 Art

2009-11-16T12:39:00.002Z

Just back from Novacon39. It felt a little different than the other cons I've been to, slower, more relaxed (although just as much drinking). It was held at the Park Inn in Nottingham, a first for both hotel and con.

I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel. Friendly staff, comfortable rooms (and a decent sized single) despite being reasonably priced. They also had some nice food--an especially enjoyable macaroni and cheese for dinner Saturday.

However, the highlight for me (apart from seeing the guest of honour, Justina Robson) was the art show. My first exhibit of any kind and it was an experience. Of the good kind. I learned alot about what type of art people find interesting at these conventions, and some practical issues like different ideas for framing that can save money. And...I managed to sell two pieces. Alien Seaside (my twitter background) was sold as a canvas print and Alone (on my digital art page) as a clip-framed photo (10x7). Both went for the minimum asking price at the auction, but I still look at it as a good start. I'll try and take what I've learned from this convention and apply it to Eastercon in April.

Edwin

Novacon39 and NaNoWriMo

2009-11-11T22:13:00.003Z

Friday I'm off to Novacon 39 in Nottingham, yet another reason why my NaNoWriMo is going virtually nowhere. I'm sitting on 9k right now; my natural slow writing combined with higher than usual writing cobwebs from being almost idle the last two years, combined with preparations for the convention (preparing artwork to bring), finishing up the Assassins' Canon anthology and house hunting (the legal work is underway now!) has meant that my likely hood of making 50k is almost zero. However, if I can push myself to the 30k mark I'll still be happy as that'll be 1/3 of the book done (and, hopefully, much of the hard work will have been sorted in the process).

Anyway, regarding Novacon39: it's my first Novacon and, while each sci-fi con is similar, so far they all seem to have their own quirks as well. In addition, this will be the first one that I will be exhibiting some of my artwork and I'm very interested to see what feedback I might get. There will also be a few authors there including the guest of honour Justina Robson and I'm looking forward to meeting as many as I can.

The Run Up to NaNoWriMo

2009-10-18T14:29:00.003+01:00

I haven't written much about it recently, but I'm in the NaNoWriMo again this year. I'm currently planning out a new novel to start in Nov. 1. The working title is Poisonous Garden and it will involve conspiracy theories galore, aliens, a romp around the globe and plots to conquer / destroy the world. It may be the definitive answer to the Fermi Paradox (but I doubt it). It will be quite a shock to the system ramping up from almost no writing in the last year to nanowrimo levels, but hopefully it will get me back in the game.

In addition to the writing, I hope to do a weekly podcast or, preferably, vlog, depending on how things go. Watch for it here.

Edwin

Fermi, the Future, and Donut shops

2009-10-17T22:13:00.004+01:00

I was in Brum (that's Birmingham, for you non-Brits--no, don't ask me why) just over a week ago, for the Birmingham Science Fiction Group meeting. Alastair Reynolds (of Revelation Space fame) was speaking and I thought it was a good opportunity to hear another sci-fi author.

His talk was interesting, more on sci-fi than on publishing or writing (but what do you expect at a sci-fi club meeting?), however, he did have a few opinions that I disagreed with. That, of course, is not a problem. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but, for the record, I'd like to provide my own opinions here.

1) The Fermi Paradox, or, Where are all the Aliens?

As Alastair was an astrophysicist with ESA (European Space Agency) for many years, I was surprised to learn that he currently believes there is no other intelligent life in the universe. To some extent, I could agree with 'galaxy'. But the universe is a very large place and that seems, to me, to be an incredibly pessimistic view.

True, we haven't detected any other radio wave transmissions or (officially) seen any hint of extraterrestrial beings or crafts, but there are numerous possible explanations for this. For the record, a few I favour are:

a) Separation in Time/Space within our Galaxy

i) Too recent
For us to detect alien transmissions assumes they have been developed for long enough that their radio waves would have reached us. This is a combination of the length of time of the advanced civilization combined with the distance they are from us.

For example, an alien race living 1000 light years away, that developed radio transmissions in the last 300 years would not be detectable by us (since their radio waves, traveling at the speed of light, would still be 700 light years away).

Given that our galaxy is 100,000 light years across and we are near one rim, a technological alien civilization could have existed on the rim across from us (say, 70,000 light years away) but we wouldn't know it unless they had had technology for at least 70,000 years. And then we would just be detecting it now.

ii) Too old
Judging by human development, an intelligent civilization could exist thousands of years before sufficiently advanced technology is developed (if at all). However, once technology is achieved, the danger of autogenocide increases exponentially with each new development and each passing year. Eventually, within 200 years, if humans are a good model, the power to destroy the race literally rests in the hands of each and every individual (by the end of this century, and undoubtedly much sooner, any individual will have the ability [access to knowledge and resources] to create a genocidal pathogen, for example).

Thus, destruction of advanced societies could be the norm. If such rise and fall happened outside of the window in which we are observing the galaxy, then all we will know of them would be from any ruins we might eventually find in the distant future.

b) Separation through vast distances

A favourite of mine is to think that each galaxy may have only one intelligent lifeform. If that were true, the universe could house hundreds of thousands of intelligent, advanced civilizations, but none of them would likely ever know of each others' existence.

c) They don't want us to see them.

This would only apply to our galaxy for reasons of scale. If aliens exist and exist 'everywhere' then they may have craft (or other means) established to block their signals until they wish us to 'see' them. Or, if so advanced, they simply may use means of communication that we can't yet detect or aren't aware of. You'll find these ideas addressed, for example, in the Conqueror's Trilogy by Timothy Zahn or my new work in progress The Sky is a Poisonous Garden.

2) Donut Shops of the Future

The other issue, more a pet peeve of Alastair Reynold's, is far future human societies with similar social structures and institutions to our own. His personal preference with regards to sci-fi is to read of something 'weird' in far future civilizations (although the story should still be anchored by something recognizable).

From some point of I can understand this. Personally, I'm not so bothered by similar institutions in the future (more in a moment). My own pet peeve is what I would call 'inconsistent extrapolation'. By which I mean, a setting where everything is similar, recognizable, except one thing. And that thing is noticeable due to its strangeness. A recent example was an unpublished story where the money had a strange name but everything else, down to the feminist sensitivities, was essentially the same. Yet it was set hundreds of years in the future. In these cases I say just use the standard 'credit' system, or pick your favourite country to win the global economic wars and use their currency. And, in general, if everything else in your setting is recognizable, you might as well find a way to make that one issue recognizable also.

In general, however, I see little problem with bringing current social structures, institutions, to the future for the simple reason that, in the past 6000 years I don't believe our society has fundamentally changed all that dramatically. Despite technology, despite democracy, despite women's and workers and animal rights, we still have wars, we still have hate issues, and we still have restaurants, spas, shops, etc. So, in another 6000 years...?! Who knows? Since we don't know what shape the singularity will take: whether it will be a gradual adaptation to a new human structure, or a pointed upheaval, or serving under an artificial emperor, or even whether there will several more singularities or even retro-singularities, I see no problem in extrapolating the current structure into the future.

In conclusion

So, as I mentioned, I was a little surprised by these particular thoughts of Alastair Reynold's, however, to each his own. That's what allows us to produce and have access to such varied science fiction. The future is infinite (if not in time, then at least in possibilities) so there's no need to get hung up on one direction. Let your mind free to wander the infinite paths.

Edwin

Anthology Progress

2009-09-18T14:02:00.002+01:00

Finally getting somewhere with the anthologies. I waded through the joys of Word2007 and section headings (each section with different heading, and different headings for odd and even pages within each section). Once you learn a few important and unadvertised tricks life becomes much easier.

So Assassin's Creed has been sent to my assistant editor for perusal while I put together Farspace 2. FS2 should be essentially a cut and paste job, since I now have the template from Assassin's Creed.

However, couldn't contact the artist who's image I originally wanted for the cover of Assassin's Creed, so I'm preparing one myself. Meanwhile, the image for Farspace 2 is ready and I only await return of the edits, so I have some idea of the page count (and hence spine width) before I put the text on the cover. I'll be sure to post the covers when they are ready.

I must admit, while Farspace 3 will remain within Writing.Com, I'm thinking of taking the anthology to the larger world. I quite like the idea of having an annual anthology. If I do, I'll have to decide whether to keep the title as Farspace, or change it.

So, at the moment, it looks like Assassin's Creed and Farspace 2 are on track to be released in October. Then I'll try and sort out the authors/stories for Time's Edge and better advertise Future Britain (thinking about some changes there...).

But remember, November is NaNoWriMo time! I'm already planning out the next offering: Poisonous Garden (no teasers though).

Light and longevity.

Anthologies up the wazzoo

2009-08-16T22:13:00.002+01:00

Thought I'd post an update as it's been a while since the last.

New Horizon (wt)
Not much to report on the writing front. YNS (York Novelists Society) finished reviewing my first novel and now I've got to find time to revise it. Then I'll give it to them again and post it on the Critters Workshop and request novel reviews. Then, some indeterminate time from now, I'll be sending it out to collect rejection letters from agents.

Poisonous Garden (wt)
I've started the research and have begun building the StorYBook database for my conspiracy theory story Poisonous Garden. By starting now, I hope to be ready for the crazy writing of NaNoWriMo come November.

Anthologies
Assassin's Creed is coming together nicely, except for a bit of a snag with the cover. Farspace 2 is in the editing stage and the other two: Future Britain and Time's Edge, while both have covers, have stalled a bit with subs. I'm going to be sending invites to writers groups around the country to try and fill these. I'll be posting the covers on the Utility Fog Press site once they're finalized.

Artwork
I'll do my best to attend Eastercon this year (Odyssey 2010 in Heathrow). I've requested space to post some artwork for auction. At the very least, this should give me some kind of estimate on whether what I'm doing might have some value. So, for the moment, I'm preparing them in as high resolution as the program allows. Shortly I'll be sending test images to PrintingCanvas in Sheffield to see what the quality is like.

Other Stuff
As if that's not enough, there are always loose ends. I still hope to finish up my Unreal Tournament III fan fiction (almost finished the cover also!) and post it on my site as well as on Andrew Burt's iFiction project (for free download, of course). Eventually I'll start reworking my superhero/romance trilogy. I'm looking at cleaning up my fantasy script Absolute Power for submission to contest I've heard of recently, and I'm slowly doing a rework of the Y Not script, which keeps growing. It's now developing into a 3-4 season TV show.

Yep, keeping busy. The little one starts 4 days a week in nursery come September, which will give me more time. Then 5 days right before NaNoWriMo starts (perfect timing!). Now, I'm just looking for some way to sustain myself from this work.

Back to the Blog

2009-06-16T23:16:00.001+01:00

Well, I thought I'd start another blog to go with the new website: edwinhrydberg.com (don't forget the 'h'!). I'm trying to build a unified web presence during my travels toward mainstream publication. If you haven't seen it already, the main site links to:

Utility Fog Press - where you'll find themed anthologies I'm editing/publishing
my art portfolio - a collection of some of my digital artwork
The Stellar Garden - my writing site (which will be seriously overhauled soon)
some bio information and many other links
oh, and there's soon to be a twitter link so you can follow in something resembling realtime (currently, it's most useful for keeping UFP authors updates, but watch that space for when I get back to serious writing...)

I won't go into much more at this time since it's late and I have to wake up early to look after a sick child, but I will say: watch for the coming Utility Fog Press anthologies -- Assassin's Creed, Time's Edge, Farspace 2 and Future Britain.

And stay tuned to the Utility Blog!