Author Archives: Kristin Luna

About Kristin Luna

Kristin Luna has been making up stories and getting in trouble for them since elementary school. She especially loves young adult literature, fantasy, Nic Cage, literary fiction, magical realism, and wouldn’t even be opposed to reading yeti erotica. She has written book reviews for Urban Fantasy Magazine, writes for this very blog your eyes are glued to at this very moment, and her short stories have appeared on Pseudopod and in anthologies about unicorns and dragons published by WordFire Press. She lives in San Diego with her husband Nic and eats way too much Taco Bell. Learn more about Kristin at her website www.kristinleighluna.com.

Meet the Fictorians: Dave Heyman

Craft & Skills Dave Heyman Fantasy Interview Kristin Luna Making Progress as a Writer Military Fiction Science Fiction The Fictorians The Writing Life The Writing Process No Comments

“Come in, — come in! and know me better, man!” -Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

We’d love for you, our wonderful readers, to get to know us better. That’s why, each month, Kristin Luna will interview a member of The Fictorians. We’ll learn more about each member, such as their writing processes, their work, where they live, and what they prefer to drink on a warm summer’s day. We hope you enjoy this monthly installment of Meet the Fictorians.

Meet the Fictorians:

Dave Heyman

Kristin Luna (KL): Hi Dave! How are you and what are you drinking?

Dave Heyman (DH): I’m doing great! I’m drinking my one and only vice, which is coffee. I prefer instant to brewed. Blasphemy, I know, but it’s easier on my stomach. When traveling I prefer Dunkin’ to Starbucks, and love that I can just say “Medium hot, 3 and 3” at the counter and get what I want. It’s a New England thing.

Coffee. Love it.

KL: I actually prefer instant as well! I don’t speak that out loud, of course, and it sounds like you know exactly why. If you don’t mind me sharing, you live in Maine. Tell us a little about that.

DH: I’ve been a New Englander most of my life. I was stationed in Maine during one of my Navy tours and after that I knew I would be back. We raised our kids in New Hampshire but the plan was always to move back to Maine and I’m thrilled we’ve executed on that plan.

To me, Maine is New England in its most concentrated form. I love the climate, I love the ocean views and the foliage and I love the people. There’s nowhere else like it on earth. There’s just a hundred places you can go in Maine and just soak in the beauty.

KL: Do you find that a little bit of Maine comes through in your writing from time to time?

DH: More than a little. My stories often have a strong seafaring component to them, that’s influenced by my Navy career but also by Maine. Earlier this year I wrote a complete fantasy short story set in Maine that I’m making the submission rounds with right now. I also have a pair of lighthouse-related stories that have a lot of Maine wrapped up in them.

KL: You’ve completed a couple of novels. Tell us more about those, what they’re about and what your plans are for them.

DH:  The first novel I completed was called ‘Ash Princess’, which I started during Nanowrimo of 2013.  It’s an epic fantasy, the first draft clocks in at about 130,000 words. It the novel I carried around in my head for twenty years, always with the plan of writing it “someday”. After a close friend had a brush with death, I realized “someday” needed to become “now” and got busy. It took me about six months and writing it was a great learning experience. I have no intention of publishing it, but I pull it out to look at every now and then. It’s… not awful.

The second novel is a fantasy dystopian (is that a thing? I’ve decided that’s a thing) titled ‘Shades of the Sea’. After writing one novel, I wanted to see if I could write a second one without having two decades of prep time. Between the two novels I took a David Farland workshop, and a lot of those techniques paid off with this story. It’s still in its first draft, at about 100k words. It’s a pretty good story, I might pull it out again some day to see if it can be whipped into publishable shape.

Both of those novels were less about being published and more about learning how to be a writer, developing a process that worked for me and finding my voice. I think some aspiring authors can get stuck forever polishing that first novel and never get past it. For me, it was more a case of looking at what I did and saying “Ok, neat. Now what else can I do?”

KL: What writers do you find most influential?

DH: As a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s, I started with Tolkien and Clarke- -they were my primers on fantasy and science fiction. I read some Asimov and Heinlein too, but they never connected with my the way Clarke did. For fantasy, after Tolkien I moved on to Weis & Hickman, Eddings, Anne McCaffery and Katherine Kurtz. I also have a deep and abiding love for the world building in Stephen R. Donaldson’s books, even as I acknowledge the unpleasantness of his main characters. I also read a ton of Stephen King, Clive Barker and Dean Koontz.

As an adult aspiring author, I have been very influenced by some of the people whose workshops I have taken. Influenced by their prose, but more importantly in how they treat their peers and students and the passion with which they speak of the field. David Farland, Jeanne Cavelos, Mary Robinette Kowall, Kevin J. Anderson, Dean Wesley Smith- -all people I have learned a ton from and try to model myself after.

KL: You mentioned you were in the Navy. Do you find that that influences your writing? Military fantasy or sci-fi? If it doesn’t now, would you see yourself incorporating it in your future writing?

DH: I couldn’t be prouder of my time in the Navy. It was an amazing experience, and it does influence my writing, though not in the way you might expect. I didn’t leave the Navy with a love for the hardware of war, even if I love reading a good war book as much as the next person. What struck me the most in the military is the esprit de corps- -the bond that is struck amongst people working together in stressful situations. I have tapped that feeling in most of the things I’ve written, it is a powerful emotion to experience.

I do have a series planned that revolves around a military ship in a fantasy setting, so I’m sure I’ll pull on lots of my Navy times there.

KL: What’s your favorite work you’ve written so far?

DH: I have a novella that is about 75% complete (but 100% plotted) called The Fifth Interdictor. In short, it is a fantasy about a seemingly unstoppable guardian who slowly learns that her whole life has been engineered, with many layers of secrets hidden from her. She pulls the pieces of her true life together, but at the cost of her power- -becoming weaker and more vulnerable the more she truth she uncovers. Strangers become family, allies become enemies and her own identity is questioned. Is she a hero, or a monster?

It is my favorite thing I have written, with both my favorite protagonist and my favorite antagonist. I expect to complete it next year (another project muscled its way to the front of the line) and once it is done I will be finding a way to get it in people’s hands.

KL: What are some of your long-term goals with writing?

DH: Up until about six months ago I was running with no real plan. From 2013 when I got serious about doing this every day I was just focused on writing, writing and writing. Growing, learning, evaluating. I submitted a few short stories here and there, but nothing beyond that. I figured when I was ‘ready’ I would know.

Six months ago I decided I would write a novel that was intended not for growth, but for publication. The novel is a historical fantasy set in Nepal in 1950, titled Under Everest. I am working on it right now, and I expect to complete it in about another two months. I also have the aforementioned Fifth Interdictor, which I intend to compete and publish, as well as a nautical fantasy series I expect to start late this year.

KL: I love that – having projects specifically for growth and some specifically for publication. Do you have any stories available that our readers can buy or read online? Any plans for that in the future?

DH: Nothing out there yet. I am hopeful that 2017 will change all of that.

KL: I know you’re relatively new to the Fictorians, but what is your favorite Fictorians post you’ve written so far?

DH: I’m super excited and honored to be a full time Fictorian! My favorite Fictorians post is the first guest post I did, “Petting the Dog in Space”. I was so taken by the plight of little Philae the comet lander and I was very happy with how the post came out.

***

If you have any questions for Dave, please leave a comment below. Thank you for reading!

Your Best Work Just Got Rejected. Let’s Cope.

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About two months ago, a much younger, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Kristin signed up for this month thinking, “You know, I can help people unpack rejections and give them some positive options on how to deal with them.”

HahaHAHA! That was before I got rejection after rejection after rejection (and so on) in just a week’s time. And between you and me, it was hard. All of the coping mechanisms I had built up and employed up until that point crumbled before my eyes. And that’s when I came up an entirely new set of rules for coping with rejection.

First, let me give you the old, yet very helpful, coping exercises.

  1. If you received any feedback with your rejection, consider it carefully. Does it ring true? If so, then make edits. Does it not ring true? Then continue to submit your story elsewhere.
  2. If you received no feedback with your rejection, read over your story again and consider a few things.
    1. Do you still love this story?
    2. Do you see some ways to make it better?
    3. Was the editor just out of their mind to reject your story?
  3. If you see some ways you can make your story better, whether it be another grammatical pass or making the villain more villain-y, do that.
  4. If you still love you story and think the editor just didn’t see what you see in your story, continue to submit.
  5. Take out your journal, or a specific writing journal that you keep, log the rejection, and also take some time to process your feelings about it. Don’t be afraid to say you were really hoping for the story to be accepted and you are hurt that it wasn’t. Continue to write until you feel that you have processed your feelings or thoughts on the story and the rejection.

Now, let me give you some new coping exercises. These will only work if you’re a feeling human being with real human feelings, and you were really hoping for an agent or a publication to accept your work.

  1. Get a bag of potatoes. Cry hot tears of broken expectations onto those potatoes. Why? Because you know what’s yummy? Cooked potatoes.
  2. Eat those potatoes.
  3. Do not shower. Go to the store. Pick out three bags of chips because today, you don’t have to decide between the kinds you want. Today, you get all three bags of your favorite chips. And those hot tear potatoes really got you hungry for some crunchy potato byproducts.
  4. Visit the candy aisle, then the frozen dessert section. Pick out at least two items.
  5. Carry the items to the check out. When the person scanning your items smiles at you, smile back at them, and relish that there is still some goodness, some kindness in the world.
  6. Go home and share the potato chips with your dog. Look deeply into the dog’s eyes and wonder why everything can’t be as simple as your wonderful, loving, perfect dog.
  7. Eat the ice cream or candy and stare blankly at the Netflix menu. Scroll through every menu. Wonder what the point of it all is.
  8. Turn off the TV and think about why you started writing in the first place. Question if what you’re writing now is important. Wonder if it is how you idealized it to be. You realize it’s not quite on the mark. Your younger self would wonder how you veered slightly to the left. You make resolutions to re-align your writing to your ideals.
  9. Go to bed at 6:00pm, or at the very earliest sign of light fading.
  10. Wake up at 2:00am because you went to bed at 6:00pm. Play Candy Crush on your phone until 4:00am, then fall back asleep.
  11. Wake up at 6:00am. Walk your wonderful, loving, perfect dog.
  12. Take a very long shower. Wash away yesterday, and the remnants of yesterday that are globs of mashed potato in your hair and crunchy pieces of potato chips between your toes (don’t be ashamed, you really went for it yesterday).
  13. Make yourself a cup of your favorite tea or coffee with creamer (the creamer you know you shouldn’t drink because it has so many extra calories but it’s just so good).
  14. Sit down at your desk. Open up your laptop.
  15. Take a deep breath.
  16. Go back to the old, yet very helpful, coping exercises.

Meet the Fictorians: Ace Jordyn

Ace Jordyn Interview Kristin Luna Steampunk The Fictorians The Writing Life The Writing Process No Comments

“Come in, — come in! and know me better, man!” -Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

We’d love for you, our wonderful readers, to get to know us better. That’s why, each month, Kristin Luna will interview a member of The Fictorians. We’ll learn more about each member, such as their writing processes, their work, where they live, and what they prefer to drink on a warm summer’s day. We hope you enjoy this monthly installment of Meet the Fictorians.

Meet the Fictorians:

Ace Jordyn

Kristin Luna (KL): Hi Ace! How are you doing and what are you drinking?

Ace Jordan (AJ): Hi Kristin! I’m still waking up! It’s 7 a.m. and this is my prime writing time. I’m drinking a green rooibos tea called Sea Buckthorn Green. Its aroma is earthy and it has a delicate taste of macadamia nuts and sea buckthorn berries with a smooth hint of cream and caramel.

KL: You’ve done some pretty exciting traveling lately. Tell us more about that!

AJ: This summer’s main adventure was to northern Saskatchewan to a cabin in the woods. It was fun and busy with a family reunion and seeing many old friends. It’s just remote enough that you have to drive a couple kilometers out to get a cell signal for the phone and internet service doesn’t exist. There are landlines and electricity but otherwise, it’s pretty laid back.

KL: That sounds wonderful! Do you often travel? And do your travels find their way into your work?

AJ: My travels always get into my stories one way or another. For example, I’ve been to Morocco twice and what strikes me every time I’m there is how a civilization has flourished in such a harsh environment. That harsh environment is a setting in a novel. The island of Crete, with all its ancient Minoan sites has inspired a series set 4,000 years ago. I like to take history, or a historical site, and twist it into a fantasy which isn’t necessarily historically accurate. New places are jumping off points. And that can happen in the back yard too like with a rock in a creek which inspired a trilogy. I wanted to know where that rock came from, its journey from the Rocky Mountains, and why it was so important. When I asked those questions, I discovered a whole new world I’d have never imagined otherwise.

The cool thing about being in a new culture where I don’t know the language and the customs, is a sense of being alien, not fitting in. That always puts me in a position of child-like wonder about the surroundings. Also, it reminds me, as a writer, not to take things for granted, especially value systems, cultural norms, and daily life issues. It reminds me not to impose my values and reactions on characters – they must react and be authentic to their world, which usually conflicts with how I live and perceive my own life. Here’s a post about this experience.

KL: I’d love to travel to Morocco. Maybe someday I will! So what are you working on right now?

AJ:  Right now I’m working on two projects (maybe more, and that depends on the day). I’m back to world building for a steampunkish fantasy novel. Here’s my process: I get a flicker of an idea and I write it down. I do some character building. I write the first few chapters to get a feel for the story. I sketch an outline, then do more character work. For this novel, I decided that a female protagonist would work better than a male protagonist so I rewrote the first chapters. Now, I’m doing a little more world building. I find that if I nail the character and world details at the start, it sets the tone and the rest of the novel writes itself.

I’m also writing short stories. New fables and folk tales for children. I just had one (When Phakack Came to Steal Papa, a Ti-Jean Story) accepted for Volume 27 No 4 by On Spec, The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic. Here, I twisted up history and fantasy in a Canadian context.

KL: Where can we find and buy your work?

AJ: I coedited Shanghai Steam Anthology. It is recommended reading in Orson Scott Card’s book Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction: How to Create Out-of-This-World Novels and Short Stories.

I also have an independently published middle grade book Painted Problems which deals with the impact graffiti has on a community.

When Phakack Came to Steal Papa, a Ti-Jean Story can be obtained through On Spec next month.

As for my other novels and short stories, they’re being subbed to traditional publishers. My reason for doing this rather than self-publishing is because of distribution. My target market is middle grade and YA. Traditional publishers have access to a distribution system that I can’t access on my own.

KL: What’s your favorite thing you’ve ever written?

AJ: My favorite thing is whatever I’m currently working on. How can it not be? If I don’t love it, it won’t be written.

KL: From what I understand, you’ve been in the Fictorians from the beginning. Were you one of the first?

AJ: Yes. I attended the first Superstars Seminar and it was a great experience not only for the instruction we received but also for the people I met. As we got to know each other, we realized that we all wanted a web presence but weren’t necessarily ready to have our own website. But most importantly, we wanted to provide meaningful information, to share our experiences and knowledge so that others could benefit from what we’ve learned. So we formed the Fictorians and it’s been a wonderful experience for us and hopefully for our readers too.

KL: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever gotten?

AJ: Hmmm …. There has been lots of advice, but the best one, the earliest one ever was receiving permission to be mean to my characters. I didn’t have to be nice – isn’t that what we’re taught as kids, to play nice? But as a writer, I don’t have to be nice. It’s better if I’m not. Characters need to struggle, they need to make mistakes, and they need to take readers on a journey that hits the all the emotional points.

KL: What advice would you give to a new writer?

AJ: Take your time and write a lot. Don’t be in a rush to publish (self or traditional) your first novel or short story. By all means, do so if you want for some have had great success in doing that. Most of us don’t. I think what’s important for all writers is to find their storytelling voice. That takes time and refinement of the craft. Here’s my story with this: I couldn’t write a short story. The form eluded me forever. Anything I tried always sounded like a long pitch for a novel. After six or seven novels, short story writing clicked. Why? Because I had found my voice. I had discovered my passion, or niche as some would call it. And that passion is for folk tales and fables. Finding your voice does wonderful things – that’s how the Ti-Jean story got written and it’s the first ever fable published by On Spec.

My novels incidentally, aren’t folk tales or fables – they’re a tidbit of history with a fantasy twist. So I guess that means I have two writing voices.

KL: Great advice. And finally, what’s your favorite Fictorians post that you’ve written so far?

AJ: My favorite is the one I wrote about using Maslow’s Hierarchy to write pitches and get to the heart/moral premise of a story. Discovering that I could use Maslow in that way was astounding and it’s a lot of fun. It’s a tool that can be used when you’re trying to write a pitch or when brainstorming a new story and you need to nail down the moral premise. I refer to that post a lot.

Thanks for this opportunity to chat with you, Kristin. I wish you and all our readers many great inspired moments!

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If you have any questions for Ace, please leave a comment below. Thank you for reading!

The Final Goodbye and Day Four – Two Double Nickel Stories

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The Final Goodbye

You know, I forgot to tell you this. I loved the way you said my name. You pronounced every syllable, and you let the vowels roll the entire hollow of your mouth. You didn’t quite do that when you left. In fact, I don’t think you said my name at all. And I won’t say yours ever again.

Day Four

Angela took the hairpin from the Barbie and bent it straight. With her eye to the lock, she tried to read its secrets. She stuck the hairpin in the lock and waited. Silence. Then she carefully worked the hairpin, hoping tonight, it might just work. She really missed her family.

Footsteps sounded down the hall.