Category Archives: The Fictorians

Mirages and Speculations

Fantasy Mary Pletsch Science Fiction Sunday Reads No Comments

Setting is a crucial part of storytelling.  Setting affects the story in many ways.  What challenges do the protagonists face from nature and their environment?  How has the landscape shaped the culture of the people who live there?

There are some common tropes for fantasy and sci-fi stories.  Fantasy stories are often set in a parallel version of medieval Europe, with small villages, walled towns and thick forests to traverse.  Sci-fi stories are often set on gleaming high-tech space stations.  There’s nothing wrong with these settings, of course.  Sometimes they suit the story perfectly.

But an unexpected setting can result in an unexpected kind of story.

Mirages and Speculations is a fantasy and sci-fi story set in a different kind of landscape:  the desert.  Think wind-swept plateaus, scorching sands, and arroyos.  Come discover if that glimmer on the desert horizon is a lake, or the gleam of light off the side of a flying saucer.  If those swirling clouds are dust devils–or djinn.

Seventeen authors of science fiction and fantasy take you into worlds both futuristic and fantastic under the desert skies.

You can order it as print or e-book from Amazon here.

2017 in review

Dave Heyman No Comments

Seen through almost any metric I can imagine, 2017 was my most successful writing year yet. Any metric that does not include revenue, anyway.

I started this year by sending my novel Under Everest off to my editor. Written in the last half of 2016, Under Everest was the first novel that I wrote with an intent to publish. At the time I thought I would self-publish the book sometime later in the year, with the hopes of releasing more books in the series in the future. Most of 2017 was to be spent writing books outside the series, with the hopes of publishing one later in the year.

Like many plans, that one changed.

Once I spoke with some of my self-publishing peers at 2017’s Superstars of Writing Conference in Colorado, it became clear that I needed to expand the Everest story into a trilogy. I retargetted my launch window for 2018, now with the intention of releasing all three Everest books in that year.

Of course, that left me with two Everest books to outline and write. I’d never done more than one book in a year. In fact, Under Everest was only the second full length novel I’d ever written. It really felt like I might be taking on more than I could handle.

Fortunately my house was being worked on immediately after Superstars, which landed me in a hotel for several weeks. During that time I plotted out books 2 and 3 of my new series in one long effort. Once my hotel stay was done, I was ready to start writing book 2.

Writing Seas of Everest

Once I started working on Book 2, titled ‘Seas of Everest’, I began to regret the decisions I made at the close of Under Everest. Specifically the decision to split my protagonists into two different areas, as it forced me to essentially write two separate stories. I decided to write one story to completion and then the other, leaving the task of weaving them together until both were complete.

In the end, working out how those stories would interrelate with each other was a very satisfying process and I was quite happy with the result. Just like Under Everest before it, when I completed Seas and send it off to my editor, I felt like I had accomplished more than I knew I was capable of.

Writing Dragons of Everest

Writing the third book in the series became an adventure unto itself. Hit with the possibility of having the same editor for all three books, I had to race and complete the first draft of the manuscript in 40 days. Little over a month to complete a 100,000 novel would require me to write at a pace I’d never done before, as well as push me to not skimp on all the epic moments a trilogy finale needs. All this while still untying plot knots and factoring in editor feedback from Books 1 and 2. As with the book before it, I ended up learning that I was capable of more as a writer than I thought. I completed the book on time, even with a few days to spare.In the end I was very happy with the final (first draft) product. At that time I thought that would be the last I would be writing of my Everest crew for some time.

The Fifth Interdictor

Once Dragons of Everest was off to the editor I took a month to finish an older novella of mine, The Fifth Interdictor. By the end of November I had sent that off to an editor as well, which will leave me with four books that I can publish next year.

Looking forward to 2018

Again consulting with my friends in self-publishing, it became clear to me that my best path for writing in 2018 was to continue inside the Everest series. Fortunately it is a world filled with characters I love and a lot of untapped story potential. I am excited to see what the results will be next year as I attempt to double my 2017 output and produce four more novels in the series.

In Conclusion

I could not be more proud of my output in 2017. Not only did I produce two novels and a novella, I learned new ways to outline, new methods for setting up scenes and chapters and completely reinvented my writing process along the way. I very happy with the quality and content of the work and am excited to look forward to 2018 when these characters can finally meet the world.

If it isn’t working …

Ace Jordyn The Writing Life No Comments

If it isn’t working, change it.

This axiom can apply to a lot of things in our personal and writing life.

While reflecting on this year, I realized that I made changes in two significant areas of my life. Things weren’t working in a bad, horrible way, but in ways which didn’t allow me to be as productive and healthy as I could be.

On the personal side, we all know that we can’t change anyone else. We can only change ourselves. That’s because the desire to change has to come from within to be realized and to be sustainable. This past year, more than ever before, I had to create boundaries and acknowledge my physical limitations. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and although I have never worn it on my sleeve, I learned that I must own it and not deny how it affects my life.

Publicly admitting that I have CFS feels risky. What if a publisher learns of my illness and isn’t sure I can handle the stress and time commitment of a writing career? Truth is, I know others with this illness and their writing careers are doing well. How do they do it? Time management. Cutting out extraneous activities, and the emotional and physical stressors imposed by other people. They focus by choosing to do what is important (writing) and sticking to it. This also includes self-care.

Mind you, this is what we all need to be doing. The A-type personality of doing all things and being all things to everyone burns most of us out. This is why I’m speaking out. It’s not for fear of a publisher rejecting me but to let other writers know that it’s okay to be who we are (health and other issues) and that we don’t have to live up to the schedules and productivity of superstars who have made it big in the industry. Hey, being on best seller lists, writing all the time, and being appreciated by a large readership is still my goal, but I don’t stress about it anymore. I just work toward it one bit at a time.

So, on the personal side, I became much more accepting of who I am and in applying self-care.  The cool thing is, is that by doing this, I’ve become more productive, have grown as a writer, and was a finalist for the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association’s Aurora Award. How cool is that?

The writing life can be lonely and sometimes it’s good to have another writer or group to discuss story issues. Realizing my need for such a group got me talking about this with other writers. This brought about the second great change in my life – the creation of a developmental writing group.

I still belong to a critique group and a speculative fiction group which has skills sessions and critiques. The camaraderie within these groups is great as is the learning but they weren’t exactly what I wanted at this time.  I wanted to learn how to write mysteries and to be in a group that supported story development, not critiquing.

Four of us got together and found a mentor. Once a month, we share what we’ve been working on, and ask for feedback and brainstorming on specific problems. We’ve all become better at outlining and as a result, our stories are much better for it. The wonderful thing about this group is that it is supportive and positive. We each get a half hour to talk about what we want, whether it’s about an outline, story structure, a piece of our writing or whatever questions are running through our heads. The others respond, share their insights and at the end, we check to make sure the person’s concerns were addressed. We leave inspired, energised and most importantly, happy that we’ve had a good place in which to talk about specific writing issues as we develop and plot our stories.

Change comes in many forms, both personal and professional but only after we’ve been honest with ourselves can we create the type of environment and support we need to become more productive and successful.

The Good, the Bad, and the Meh, I Guess That Went Okay

Failures Kristin Luna Making Progress as a Writer Reflection Successes The Writing Life The Writing Process Your Writing Career 3 Comments

Has anyone told you lately that this is hard job? Here, allow me:

THIS IS A VERY HARD JOB.

Sure, on one hand, we’re doing what we love. Writing stories, letting our imaginations run with interesting, and sometimes crazy, ideas. We write late, wake up early, and do it all over again because we love it. Not only that, we gotta write. It’s just what we do.

And then there’s the other hand. We polish our stories, make them the best we can for human consumption, and submit them for editor and agent approval. Ninety to ninety-nine times out of a hundred? Those precious stories are rejected. Our craft is rejected. And we are expected to smile, say thank you, and do it again and again and again. Because we are insane, yes, and because what else are we gonna do? We gotta write. It’s just what we do.

At the end of 2017, I find myself here, with these two hands. Thankful and grateful I’m still here after five years, working hard, grinding away at a career even if it feels like it’s moving at a snail’s pace. And on the other hand, I’m asking myself: “Am I crazy?” Because I have to be honest, reader. Sometimes I feel like what I’m doing is crazy. Working for days and sometimes weeks on a short story. Asking friends and family to spend their hours beta reading it. Submitting it, receiving a rejection. Submit again, receive another rejection. And occasionally, an acceptance. If I’m lucky, $100 for all those combined hours, and a publishing credit I pray to the gods will somehow entice an agent to take a chance on me.

I had a very frank talk with my husband about these battling feelings on our date night at our favorite hole-in-the-wall Indian food restaurant. It’s usually the one night a week I put on real pants (if you work from home, you feel me so hard right now), even put on a little make-up. But instead, I looked down-right sloppy. No make up, hair hardly brushed. I couldn’t even pretend to put on a mask. I was just tired. (I should give myself a little credit…I did put on pants.)

I explained everything that I was feeling to my husband – feeling beaten down and pretty exhausted. And true to form, he was nothing but supportive. “Take a week off. Take a month off. Hell, take a year off,” he suggested. “Don’t write for publication. Just write for you.”

“Would it help if you focused on novels instead of short stories?”

I nodded. They were all great suggestions. I dug into my matter paneer and he his bengan bharta (tandoor baked eggplant with peas and herbs). I temporarily forgot about our conversation as we both burned our mouths on way-too-spicy food, drank pitchers of water to cool the burn without avail, and laughed.

The next morning, I woke up feeling better. I got to work on research for my novel. I wrote a draft for this very post you’re reading now.

To be honest, I don’t know why. The only thing I know for sure is that no matter what, I’m going to write. No matter what I’m feeling, no matter how many rejections pile up. No matter how many acceptances grace my inbox. I don’t know why.

I gotta write. It’s just what I do.