Yes, I won a tiny contest on Aethereal Engines, the blog of author Jason H. Abbott. It’s one of those things where the blogger posts an image, and entrants post a 100-word snippet in response. Eventually there’s a prize based on how many “likes” each winner receives. However, I’m not going to beg you all to “like” it. I’m just happy that I won. Here’s my text:
A lone soldier, walking on patrol, confronted the monstrous guardian across a stretch of no-man’s-land. To be sure, it was impossible to miss the hulking form with a furnace blazing behind its one eye.
Who had created this monstrous, ancient guardian? What was it protecting, as it made its endless round? Nobody now living remembered. They only knew it was death to cross the barrier ridge.
Fortunately, he had no need to cross. Like the guardian, he kept to his assigned watch. On impulse, he raised his weapon in salute to a fellow watchman bound by duty.
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As I’ve been mentioning, Sandemonium is coming up this weekend. This is my first time there, but they’ve been going on for at least seven years. I’m excited to know what it will be like.
My presentation is at noon, and it’s on “Ugly Tropes.” This is a topic I’ve blogged about (relatively) recently, and I just plan to cover that in a more interactive way. It’s also an opportunity for me and my husband to sit at a fan table for our own convention, SpoCon, which is coming up in August.
Finally, Daron’s mother lives in Sandpoint, so I imagine we’ll work some family time in, too. I expect that we’ll have fun no matter what.
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Today I’m talking about one of my favorite online magazines, Daily Science Fiction. As the name implies, they publish one story every day, five days a week. Their stories span the spectrum of the genre — science fiction, fantasy, horror, and odd things in between. The link above is to Friday’s story, a mother’s bittersweet take on Portal Fantasies. But every day is different, you never know what it will be, and for me that’s part of the pleasure.
Subscribing to Daily Science Fiction is free, and I’ve been getting their stories for three or four years now. Yet, despite being free to the reader, Daily Science Fiction is a paying market. They pay the SFWA standard. In fact, it’s one of my dream markets. Any time I write something that might fit their length, I submit to them first. So far, they haven’t taken anything of mine, but hope springs eternal. They say you should read the publications you want to sell to, after all.
You might see a small conflict here. The site pays writers, but readers don’t have to pay. Recently, they have begun asking for memberships. At $15 a year, it’s really cheap. So I’m urging you to check out Daily Science Fiction. Come for the free stories. Maybe you’ll stay for the membership, after all.
Did you know I have an author newsletter? You can get it! I’ll even give you a free e-book for signing up. Just click here.
My first review has come in on The Tower in the Mist, and it’s a lovely one. Alden Loveshade delivers perceptive comments on his Loveshade Family Blog. Thank you so much, Alden!
I also have a minor puzzle. One of my goals for the year has been to revitalize my author newsletter and get more activity going there. They say these can be a great way to connect with fans and perhaps get them to use those purchase links in the e-mails.
So far this year, I have improved my record of putting the newsletter out on time each month. I’ve tried to have entertaining things to say. Although one person does interact consistently, which is more than I had before, I have unfortunately seen more people drop off the list each time I send one.
Maybe it’s natural, and those who were accustomed to the previous moribund newsletter find monthly contact a bit too much. It’s a little disheartening, all the same.
What’s an author to do? Keep on trying until I weed out the disinterested subscribers, I suppose. And keeping peeking back at Alden’s review to cheer myself up!
Did you know I have an author newsletter? You can get it! I’ll even give you a free e-book for signing up. Just click here.
Amid all the excitement of publishing The Tower in the Mist, I also managed a third draft revision of its sequel, which I’m now calling The Grove of Ghosts. It started out being 36,850 words and ended being 36,760. Having only a 90-odd word difference convinces me that the story is really solid at its length.
The whole exercise made me think a bit about word counts and why they matter. One factor is that the word count is a defining characteristic for our genre. The way I was taught is this: 1) Flash fiction is anything under 1,000 words. 2) Short stories are 1,000 to 10,000 words. 3) 10,000 to 15,000 is a novelette. 4) 15,000 to 30,000 is a novella. 5) 30,000 to 90,000 is the Dead Zone. No publications buy stories at this length. 6) 90,000 words or more is a novel.
Based on this, maybe you can see why I was worried that my novellas were 32,000 words (The Tower in the Mist) and 38,000 words (The Grove of Ghosts) in their first drafts. Strictly by the word count, both of them are too long for the novella format.
The word-count-as-definition trope comes from the 19th and 20th Centuries, when all publications were on paper and editors had to gauge how many pages a given story would take up in their magazine. And the calculation still holds true in print books and magazines, which require editors to balance page counts vs. price point.
However, as an author of e-books, page count is really a non-issue. With no actual book to fit on actual shelves or ship in actual boxes, I can write 38,000 words and call it a novella. I don’t have to worry that it’s in the Dead Zone. The calculation that I have to make is price point vs. value to customer. After buying my e-book, I want my reader to believe they got a fair value for what they paid. If the book is too short, they may feel cheated. It it is too long, they may suspect I padded it to inflate the word count.
What’s your thought about word counts and story length over all?
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After all those guest posts, it seems like time for me to write something new just for this blog. We went to see Avengers End Game over the weekend and enjoyed it a lot. There is one time paradox that wasn’t resolved, and I felt in many cases that they lingered too long on the emotional shots. The editors could have trimmed a good 15 minutes by controlling those better. Still, these quibbles weren’t enough to interfere with my pleasure in the story.
One thing I had heard in advance was that all the women characters were sacrificed to make the plot go. For a long time, activists have been pointing out that characters in movies/TV who represent an outsider — gays, women, minorities — very often are killed or suffer some other grievous harm, such as a rape. This spurs the hero — almost always a white guy — to seek revenge or whatever the plot entails.
Having seen the movie, I must partly disagree. Not ALL the women were sacrificed to push a man’s plot. Several were, but at least one of them completed her own arc rather than merely dying to propel her male comrade forward. Also, there was a gay character who was not killed off. It was a small part, but significant, I think.
And that, actually, is about all I can say without giving anything away. If you saw Avengers End Game, I’m interested in whether you spotted the same time paradox that I did, and what else stood out for you. Tell me your thoughts in the comments!
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One of my good friends, Charles E. Yallowitz, has kindly agreed to let me do a guest spot on his blog, Legends of Windemere, about my brand new novella, The Tower in the Mist. But it’s only fair I return the favor, so here is Charles with his own new book, War of Nytefall: Rivalry. With a full cast of vampires, this book is sure to please all you goths out there.
an ancient rumor will reveal herself to be a deadly legend.
Lurking within the shadows for centuries, the Vampire Queen has been drawn to the conflict that surrounds Clyde. Only whispers have been spread about this elusive figure, who has amassed a kingdom that can rival Nyte and Nytefall. All that she is missing is the strongest vampire to crown as her king. In one fell swoop, she has taken the most powerful of her kind, including Clyde and Xavier Tempest. Hosting a tournament where the rules seem to change at her whim, the Vampire Queen threatens to shatter the already strained world that lurks beneath Windemere’s surface. Yet, there is more to her desires, which seep from a soul that is pulsing with fury. For her kingdom can never be complete until she holds the head of the one who wronged her centuries ago.
Can Mab stand against her ancient rival and save her monstrous partner?
Excerpt: Party Crashers
Among the well-dressed vampires, the pair are obviously out of place, but they are not approached thanks to everyone seeing them enter with the beautiful desserts. The lack of suspicion allows them to move around the room and mingle with the waitstaff, who they talk to about the other dishes. Clyde makes sure to stay as far away from Xavier and Nadia as possible, but not appear too obvious. He watches the couple talk with their new council, all of them standing atop the dais where the thrones of Nyte have been placed. There are a set of nine smaller chairs being set up at the base of the steps, each one adorned with its owner’s house symbol. The Dawn Fang notes that they are all some kind of flower, which mimics the fanged orchid crest of the Tempest family. Meeting Lady Sylvan’s blue and yellow eyes, Clyde politely bows his head and is relieved to see that she ignores his presence. He chuckles at how her sparrow pendant does not match her black and red dress, the wooden bauble still on the leather strap it came with centuries ago. A gentle elbow to the ribs from Mab stops him from smirking at his own thoughts and reminds him that he is dressed like a woman, so he tries to walk with more of a sway in his hips. The exaggerated motion causes his partner to put an arm around his waist and end the horrible imitation that is earning a lustful leer from Archillious.
“Thank you to everyone for attending!” Xavier declares, his voice rising above the music and conversations. Taking his wife’s hand in his, he directs Nadia to her throne and waves for the council to
take their seats. “On this day, the vampire nobility has been reborn. There will be no infighting or schemes to overthrow each other like with our predecessors. All of us have agreed that the only way for our kind to survive is to work together and form a global society with Nyte at its center. Many say that I have done this in order to call myself the Vampire King, but I assure you that this is a lie. Not that I would say no to the title, but my goals are not so vain and simplistic. Windemere is still changing and we need to be united under one flag. Otherwise, we will go the way of those who were lost in the Great Cataclysm. With these wise and powerful nobles at my side, I will make sure that our people will live and thrive. Extinction is not the destiny for vampires as long as I draw breath . . . so to speak.”
“We move as soon as he finishes the toast,” Clyde whispers to Mab.
The Lord of Nyte raises his drink over his head and says, “I am honored to present to all of you-”
“A real king requires the true queen!” a voice shouts from the back of the crowd. A vampiric halfling dressed in a bejeweled suit jumps onto one of the tables and shivers even though he is sweating. “This ceremony is a farce because it does not carry the favor of the Vampire Queen. It has been centuries, but now she is ready to assume the throne. As her emissary, I have come to warn all who would dare to deny her that they will be crushed. I also come with an invitation to those who have been granted permission to compete for the Vampire Queen’s hand. It is only through her blessing may you claim to rule our people. Do not accept forgeries who wish to draw you off the path!”
The halfling stops when a fang strikes him between the eyes, the shot from Archillious having very little effect. Stepping out from behind the tapestry on the back wall, Lou charges at the intruder. The hairy ogre knocks guests out of the way and lowers his head to display his horns, one of which is adorned with a colorful bow. He leaps for the smaller vampire, which he can easily crush in one hand. Decker is not far behind the bodyguard, his keen senses screaming that they are in danger. Crossbow bolts soar over the dwarf’s head to strike the halfling in the knees, but he does not buckle. The advancing warriors skid to a stop when Clyde, still wearing his dress, appears above the emissary and rears back to deliver a full-strength punch. His fist is about to make contact when the halfling suddenly bloats and the jewels on his suit begin to crack. The entire castle is rocked by a violent explosion, which fills the ballroom with a crystalline dust that hangs in the air like an immovable curtain.
Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After spending many years fiddling with his thoughts and notebooks, he decided that it was time to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house with only pizza and seltzer to sustain him, Charles brings you tales from the world of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and drawing you into a world of magic.
