Nothing for All

Well, I finished up all my writing avoidance activity...ahem, I mean "research." Still some more stuff to read on WWI and also the Manhattan Project, but it's time to get this new novel moving.

To that end, I sat down tonight and officially started writing HOMEFRONT. The result was five pages full of pretty decent words. Only another 395 or so pages to go. My goal is to finish this thing by March. I'll post progress periodically -- if I start to slack off, give me a kick or something.

I sold my story "Intrepid Travelers" to Electric Velocipede!

This is my "cold war set 800 years in the future with Ken Kesey mind experiments, AI superspies, sleeper agents and questionable reality written in the style of Tom Wolfe" story.

It will appear in a 2010 issue of the magazine.

I'm plugging away at the novel outlining process for HOMEFRONT. Characters are being fleshed out, world is being defined, plot points are starting to snap together into place. I actually have some momentum on this project, and I'm keeping to my self-imposed scheduled.

So, we all know what that means, right? Story mugging. A new story (or at least stringy bits of it) popped into my head last night and I wrote three quick pages. Hopefully I can knock this thing out fairly quickly and still stay on track with the novel.

This isn't exactly bad news. It feels good. Like maybe I'm finally coming out of the no writing hole I've been in for a while now.

Of course, the story could totally suck...

I just finished up a new story I co-wrote with Samantha Henderson. It's about hunting dirt angels in post apocalyptic West Texas, and there's a fair amount of maiming, bloodshed, and tomahawk fighting.

Right on.

Now to polish the thing up and inflict it on editors.

For those of you following along on the Big Rock Tour, here's another clip of my brother Travis, playing with The Ready Set. He's pretty much drumming his ass off here. The dude hits HARD:

Not sure if I've mentioned here before, but my little brother Travis is a KILLER drummer. Formerly with The News Can Wait, he's now signed on as the drummer for indie band, The Ready Set. The tour is just kicking off, and you can see Travis in this clip from the kickoff show in Buffalo. It's pretty low fi, but you get the picture:

I haven't posted a writing update recently, so here goes:

1. Prepping for Armadillocon this weekend. I have panels, readings, etc. scheduled, and a fun filled time should be had by all. Come on by.

2. Homing in on the end of a new collaborative short story, and kicking the tires on another one. Apparently I do still write short stories. Who knew? I wish I could write them as easily and frequently as I used to, but the novel bug keeps biting.

3. Speaking of, madness has overtaken me again and I've started outlining my next novel. For future reference, this one has a working title of HOMEFRONT and features a lot of WWII goodness. More to come as this takes shape.

4. Still waiting on word regarding RAW POWER, contemplating revisions on the still untitled COLE novel and mulling over the next step with ALAMO RISING.

I got my panel schedule for Armadillocon, happening right here in beautiful (and ungodly hot) Austin, TX on August 14-16. Should be great fun as always.

If you're looking for me, here's where I'll be:

Fr1700R How Did You Think of That?
Fri 5:00 PM-6:00 PM Robertson
J. Lansdale, R. S. Rose, J. Reisman, S. Wade*, J. Rountree
Getting and using ideas in your writing.

Sa1000DZ Plottings vs. Pantsing
Sat 10:00 AM-11:00 AM deZavala
A. Aguirre*, T. Mallory, J. Rountree, L. Ward, M. Fletcher, R. Clement-Moore
Should you plot your story out or start it and see where it takes you?

Sa1500DW Why Do They Keep Canceling My Shows?
Sat 3:00 PM-4:00 PM deWitt
P. Benjamin*, M. Sturges, T. Mallory, D. L. Smith, D. Potter, J. Rountree
I’m looking at you Fox. Do SF/F shows get less time to get an audience?

Sa1700DR Autographing
Sat 5:00 PM-6:00 PM Dealers' Room
J. Rountree, D. Chester, S. Utley, T. Mallory, R. Clement-Moore, R. Rogers

Sa2130DW Reading
Sat 9:30 PM-10:00 PM deWitt
Josh Rountree

Not sure what I'll read, but if anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Something from my collection? A chapter from a novel I'm shopping? A new and as yet unpublished short story?

See some of you there!

We braved the 107!!! degree heat yesterday to catch Spoon perform outside at Stubbs. Really, really cool show. If you live in Austin, they're playing again tonight and tomorrow. Definitely worth checking out.

If you don't know Spoon, here's a clip. Same venue we went to yesterday, but a couple of years ago.

Wheatland Press is having a sale! This from Deborah Layne:

Let's try that summer sale thing...

Starting right now and ending on July 31, 2009 at midnight (Pacific Time), buy any two Wheatland Press titles and get a third title absolutely free. Just specify the title of your free book choice in the comment box of the PayPal form.

As always, if you prefer not to use Paypal, you may email your order to me directly (inquiries(at)wheatlandpress.com).

http://www.wheatlandpress.com

So if you've been thinking about buying my book or one of their other great titles, now's a good time.

I got the word from ericmarin that Gardner Dozois selected my story "No Leaving New Orleans" for Honorable Mention in his Year's Best Science Fiction: The Twenty Sixth Annual Collection. This is my first mention in the Dozois series, and I'm pretty excited about it.

The story originally appeared in Lone Star Stories, and can still be found in their archives here:

http://literary.erictmarin.com/archives/Issue%2027/leaving.htm

Thanks to Eric for letting me know, and thanks to Gardner Dozois for the mention.

I'm gonna write something new...seriously...real soon now. Probably.

The Cole Novel is finally whipped into shape and off to my agent. I can officially wash my hands of it now until I get feedback from Kris or from my first readers.

Which means I can write something else now without feeling like I'm slacking on the book.

Time for some short stories!

I finished up the novel revisions last night after watching the Spurs fade. The good news is, I don't think the novel sucks overly much, and it might even be pretty decent. I've sent it out to first readers to get their feedback so evidence of suckitude or non suckitude should be forthcoming. Now I have to write a short summary (something I really hate doing) and then I'll get the whole thing off to my agent as well.

Even better news, I'll be back home this afternoon and won't have to leave Austin again until Monday! Four whole days at home! Woot!

I really need a weekend.

Bibliophile stalker has a nice review of the latest Lone Star Stories and my story, "Gone Daddy Gone."

Check it out:

http://charles-tan.blogspot.com/2009/04/bookmagazine-review-lone-star-stories.html

Thanks, Charles!

The April issue of Lone Star Stories is up, and it includes my story "Gone Daddy Gone." This is my surf movie retelling of the Swan Maiden myth. You can check it out right here:

http://literary.erictmarin.com/gone.htm

Here's the whole table of contents:

Fiction:

1. "People, Unnoticed" by Patricia Russo
2. "Off the Path" by Nicole Kornher-Stace
3. "Gone Daddy Gone" by Josh Rountree

Poetry:

1. "Fjöturlundr (Saturnian)" by Sonya Taaffe
2. "Bones of the God" by Ann K. Schwader
3. "The Maiden to the Fox Did Say" by Amal El-Mohtar and Nicole Kornher-Stace

Enjoy.

I am: William Gibson The chief instigator of the "cyberpunk" wave of the 1980s, his razzle-dazzle futuristic intrigues were, for a while, the most imitated work in science fiction.

Which science fiction writer are you?

Today I am 36.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Except for, I got a donut birthday cake, so I've got that going for me.

And I got some nice crayola created birthday cards.

And I'll probably wind up at the book store or the record store today.

And my wife and kids are all sweet.

I guess being 36 isn't so bad.

Have a great day, everyone!

I just finished writing a new novel. Whew!

It weighed in at a little over 100,000 words, though I'll clip some of that as I make another pass through the manuscript. I'm going to go back through it to edit for consistency, etc. then it's off to the agent and the first readers for their advice / ridicule.

I still don't have a name for this one, but I've been calling it the Cole Novel during the writing process. That'll do for now.

It's good to be finished!

Over at Tor.com, John Klima blogs his list of Top Ten Most Influential Fantasy & Science Fiction Anthologies / Anthology Series:

http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=17022

The Polyphony anthology series made the list! My story "Chasing America" appeared in the 6th volume, and I have a story slated for the forthcoming 7th volume. Pretty cool!

Congrats to wheatland_press!