tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88424052012-01-18T12:05:09.998-05:00Welcome to my blog. Here, I shall expound from time to time my opinions on fiction, on books I am reading, on the progress of stories I am writing, on my successes and failures in my attempts to get published. I might even sound off on how shitty I think some of my writing is, even though I've lots of friends who say otherwise.g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.comBlogger1721100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-56633643775614447292012-01-18T12:03:00.002-05:002012-01-18T12:05:10.011-05:00

503: SERVICE UNAVAILABLEG D Townshende is offline today, because the U.S. Senate is considering legislation called the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), and would put us in legal jeopardy if we linked to a site anywhere online that had any links to copyright infringement.This would unmake the Web, just as proposed in the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). I don't want that world. If you don't want it either,

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-35932742735972644972011-09-16T20:44:00.001-04:002011-09-16T20:48:27.608-04:00

Time to get back into the groove of blogging again. However, the manner in which I want to do this means creating a new email account, then creating a new blogger account, then creating a new blog,... and why? Well, gentle reader, because I want this blog, my writing blog, to be associated with a different Facebook account, if, that is, I am to share my posts via Facebook, too.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-60876387051208138622010-09-19T22:28:00.003-04:002010-09-19T22:30:20.736-04:00

Aristotle. The Pocket Aristotle. New York: Pocket Books Classic. Translated under the Editorship of W. D. Ross. Translation copyright © 1942 by Oxford University Press.I finished this several days ago, but didn't bother to blog about it. Sorry. Good stuff. Very analytical, obviously. But that's what Aristotle was all about, wasn't he? If you've not read Aristotle's Poetics, I recommend that you

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-2450717751657200472010-09-06T19:26:00.004-04:002010-09-07T01:23:28.461-04:00

Aristotle. The Pocket Aristotle. New York: Pocket Books Classic. Translated under the Editorship of W. D. Ross. Translation copyright © 1942 by Oxford University Press.I am not reading this entire book, which contains selected chapters from several of Aristotle's works. Namely, Physics, Psychology, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, and Poetics. Rather, I intend to read only Poetics. I've

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-34379590477813757202010-09-01T02:13:00.004-04:002010-09-01T02:22:52.166-04:00

Grossman, Lev. The Magicians. New York: Plume. Copyright © 2009 by Lev Grossman.Lev Grossman on the web:www.levgrossman.comwww.themagiciansbook.comThe blurb:Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A high school math genius, he's secretly fascinated with a series of children's fantasy novels set in a magical land called Fillory, and real life is disappointing by comparison. When Quentin is

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-36798392209767710582010-08-22T02:01:00.000-04:002010-08-22T02:02:49.653-04:00

Sanderson, Brandon. Elantris. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC. Copyright © 2005 Brandon Sanderson.Brandon Sanderson on the web:www.brandonsanders.com Elantris, a city of gods that fell 10 years prior, is now dirty, grimy, covered in muck, and its inhabitants, who cannot die, feel the pain of every wound they have endured since the city's fall. Prince Raoden, son of the King of Kae, engaged

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-28972214050012000792010-08-03T22:03:00.006-04:002010-08-03T22:35:17.024-04:00

Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. Dragon's Tooth. WMG Publishing. Copyright © 2008 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.Kristine Kathryn Rusch on the web:www.kristinekathrynrusch.comThis is an ebook I purchase through Sony's ebook store. It's billed as a short novel and was originally published in Baen's Universe. I bought it to read during my trip to Ocean City, Maryland. Well, that's where I am and that's where I

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-45000821001807477892010-07-30T02:54:00.003-04:002010-08-03T22:02:36.064-04:00

Sanderson, Brandon. Elantris. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC. Copyright © 2005 Brandon Sanderson.Brandon Sanderson on the web:www.brandonsanders.com I'm now reading Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. I've already read the first two chapters. Although this is a first novel, it's off to a good beginning. I've noticed recently that I'm reading fiction with "renewed vision," so to speak. I'm taking

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-65387230577208500412010-07-30T02:28:00.002-04:002010-07-30T02:31:41.636-04:00

Lindsay, Patrick. Now is the Time: 170 Ways to Seize the Moment. New York: MJF Books. Copyright © 2009 Patrick Lindsay.I finished this little volume a couple of hours ago. I could easily have finished it sooner than I did, but I wanted to savour the short but thought provoking entries on each page. It's the sort of book that one can't just read in one sitting if one really wants to get the most

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-73023896915111938332010-07-27T14:07:00.004-04:002010-07-27T14:19:44.896-04:00

Lindsay, Patrick. Now is the Time: 170 Ways to Seize the Moment. New York: MJF Books. Copyright © 2009 Patrick Lindsay.I'm now reading Now is the Time: 170 Ways to Seize the Moment, by Patrick Lindsay. I should finish this quickly. The book is a compilation of quotes and brief devotionals on a variety of subjects, all geared towards taking today, now, this moment to change one's life. Here is a

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-20504600922483521312010-07-27T13:52:00.003-04:002010-07-27T13:55:12.332-04:00

Vance, Jack. The Dirdir. New York: Ace Books, Inc. Copyright © 1970 Jack Vance.Jack Vance Archive:http://www.jackvance.com/I have finished the final installment in Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure novels, The Pnume.I found the ending for this a bit of an anti-climax, although it did satisfy somewhat by way of showing how Adam Reith affected/influenced the Pnume, just as he also affected/

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-52578828855734551732010-07-24T04:27:00.004-04:002010-07-27T13:56:45.325-04:00

Vance, Jack. The Dirdir. New York: Ace Books, Inc. Copyright © 1970 Jack Vance.Jack Vance Archive:http://www.jackvance.com/I am now reading the final installment in Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure novels, The Pnume. The blurb follows:The Pnume were an ancient race of the planet Tschai, living underground in a vast network of caverns with their human slave-species, the Pnumekin.The Pnume were the

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-54211342095757507002010-07-24T04:25:00.001-04:002010-07-24T04:27:34.567-04:00

Vance, Jack. The Dirdir. New York: Ace Books, Inc. Copyright © 1969 Jack Vance.Jack Vance Archive:http://www.jackvance.com/I have just completed The Dirdir, and I loved the humourous twist at the end.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-29152740674324022732010-07-17T01:46:00.003-04:002010-07-17T02:34:47.423-04:00

Vance, Jack. The Dirdir. New York: Ace Books, Inc. Copyright © 1969 Jack Vance.Jack Vance Archive:http://www.jackvance.com/I have just finished Servants of the Wankh, and I am now reading the third book in Vance's Planet of Adventure series, The Dirdir. I've a memory of reading this book, along with Tolkien's The Hobbit, when I lived in England. I believe my family was on vacation, that my

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-52404181680300447112010-07-12T03:43:00.003-04:002010-07-12T03:51:44.739-04:00

Vance, Jack. Servants of the Wankh. New York: Ace Books, Inc. Copyright © 1969 Jack Vance.Jack Vance Archive:http://www.jackvance.com/Having finished City of the Chasch, I am now reading the second book in Vance's Planet of Adventure series, Servants of the Wankh.Herewith is the blurb for this volume:Marooned on the strange planet Tschai, Adam Reith agreed to lead an expedition to return the

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-68132191804172885512010-07-12T03:21:00.003-04:002010-07-12T03:42:05.130-04:00

Vance, Jack. City of the Chasch. New York: Ace Books, Inc. Copyright © 1968 Jack Vance.Jack Vance Archive:http://www.jackvance.com/I am now finished with City of the Chasch. Each of the four books in this series is named after one of four different alien races (not counting men) who inhabit the planet Tschai. Thus, City of the Chasch is named for the Chasch.The article on Jack Vance at Wikipedia

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-2321326929079957642010-07-07T01:49:00.004-04:002010-07-07T02:09:08.640-04:00

Vance, Jack. City of the Chasch. New York: Ace Books, Inc. Copyright © 1968 Jack Vance.Jack Vance Archive:http://www.jackvance.com/I remember, many years ago, owning and reading a couple of the books in Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure series. This is the first book in that series, published in 1968, when it cost all of 50¢, as opposed to the $7.99 that mass-market paperbacks cost now.The blurb

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-61487226599015940622010-07-07T00:56:00.004-04:002010-07-07T02:09:25.564-04:00

Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar.I am now done with Julius Caesar.I've always found the actions of Marc Antony in this play to be the most intriguing. Shortly after the assassination of Julius Caesar, he makes to show himself kind to the murderers, but not necessarily in support of what they've done. In fact, he wants to know the justification for their act. Understandable, I think. Later, he

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-11191744020706494632010-07-06T01:42:00.005-04:002010-07-06T01:46:36.767-04:00

I've managed to find me another Beta Reader. This makes two. I'd like to find me at least one more.I think I mentioned in a previous post that I went to Balticon over the Memorial Day weekend earlier this year. While there I picked up some information on Maryland Writers' Association. I'd like to look at getting into a writing group, if I can manage the time.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-57358755201649012222010-06-27T04:26:00.003-04:002010-06-27T04:34:55.583-04:00

Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar.I finished Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus just a few minutes ago. Definitely shows signs of being an early work, but I liked it nonetheless.Since all my reading this year, as well as all my television/movie watching, has been geared towards learning more about story structure, I've been gaining a greater appreciation for everything that I read or watch on

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-78959685783300960262010-06-03T04:34:00.005-04:002010-06-03T05:10:01.096-04:00

Shakespeare, William. Titus Andronicus.I finished Neil Gaiman's The Barbed Coil probably a week ago. Loved it. I think it's one of his best. I now want to set about the task of outlining it, as it's one of those six books I noted in my goals that I would outline this year.I'm now reading Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. It's not known to be one of his better plays, but I've always had something of

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-75970636887443161002010-05-13T04:26:00.003-04:002010-05-13T04:34:30.010-04:00

Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Copyright © 2008 Neil Gaiman.Neil Gaiman's web site:http://www.neilgaiman.com/Neil Gaiman's blog:http://journal.neilgaiman.com/I finished J. V. Jones's The Barbed Coil just a few moments ago. Not a bad book, despite my taking such a long time to read it. The length of time spent reading it, though, had little bearing on the

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-42246016146049566922010-05-12T22:51:00.002-04:002010-05-12T22:56:32.281-04:00

I received an email today that Clarkesworld had rejected Moon-Shadow. They have a very fast response time. They say that they typically respond within two days, but can take as long as a week. I'll be mailing this to Fantasy and Science Fiction tomorrow.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-40430476473613570452010-05-12T10:42:00.003-04:002010-05-12T10:45:58.611-04:00

I received mail on May 10th that Zoetrope: All-Story had rejected Moon-Shadow. It's now been sent to Clarkesworld, an online science fiction and fantasy magazine.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-38466947561576941722010-04-25T01:06:00.004-04:002010-04-25T01:11:27.117-04:00

Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show has rejected "The Alchemist." They wrote:Thank you for offering your story to Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. We're sorry to tell you that we will not be using it; you are free to submit it elsewhere.Ah well. I have already sent this out to the next market on the list I drew up. It's now been submitted to Heliotrope Magazine. They say

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-33492754666833082152010-04-20T02:06:00.002-04:002010-04-20T02:23:00.359-04:00

I learned just a few moments ago that George H. Scithers, the man from whom I received my very first handwritten rejections, died on April 19. Per the web site for Weird Tales, where he was Editor Emeritus:George passed away today at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, from complications following a heart attack suffered the morning of April 17. He was 80. He had been in declining health

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-64304001172591608532010-03-25T04:33:00.003-04:002010-03-25T04:58:06.236-04:00

King, Stephen. Under the Dome. New York: Scribner. Copyright © 2009 Stephen King.Stephen King's Under the Dome web site:http://promo.simonandschuster.com/underthedome/Stephen King's web site:http://www.stephenking.com/And this book I finished probably 10 minutes ago. Let's see. How long did it take me? I started it on February 27 and a quick calculation tells me that it took 27 days. If I didn't

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-44368880872823648582010-03-25T04:15:00.003-04:002010-03-25T04:29:59.114-04:00

Berne, Eric, M.D. Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships. New York: Ballantine Books. Copyright © 1964 by Eric Berne. Copyright renewed 1992 by Ellen Berne, Eric Berne, Peter Berne, and Terence BerneEric Berne's web site:http://www.ericberne.com/I finished this a couple of hours ago. It's rich. It's difficult and it's easy. It's not the sort of thing that can be mastered, let

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-89724885076523911202010-03-23T01:26:00.002-04:002010-03-23T01:51:01.155-04:00

Jones, J. V. The Barbed Coil. New York: Warner Books. Copyright © 1997 by J. V. Jones.J. V. Jones's web site:http://jvj.com/J. V. Jones's journal:http://jvj.com/journal.htmlSeveral years back I read J. V. Jones's Book of Words trilogy, and soon after that I purchased The Barbed Coil. This, however, is the first time I've decided to read it. Jones, according to her bio at the back of the book, is

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-17444355219101674372010-03-21T23:55:00.001-04:002010-03-21T23:57:48.680-04:00

Higgins, Jack. A Fine Night for Dying. New York: Berkley Books. Copyright © 1969 by Martin Fallon.Jack Higgins at Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_HigginsNot too bad a book. Quick read. Well-paced. Higgins's prose is clean, well-pruned, and definitely without affectation. Good stuff.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-51277135256595494442010-03-21T02:54:00.005-04:002010-03-21T11:44:58.972-04:00

I learned today that Tir Na Nog Press, the pulishers of Realms of Fantasy, are putting out a new magazine called Dreams of Decadence: Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. I'm not much into the Paranormal Romance subgenre of fantasy, but I do like Urban Fantasy (think of Neil Gaiman's novel Neverwhere, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novels, Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series,

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-3094001302795922502010-03-20T13:10:00.005-04:002010-03-20T13:22:46.686-04:00

Well, it appears that Flash Fiction Online has rejected "The Alchemist." I received the email yesterday. It was a very brief email, too. To wit:Thank you for your submission to Flash Fiction Online. Unfortunately, I'm going to pass on "The Alchemist."We appreciate your interest in our magazine.Regards,Ah well. Today, I will be sending this out to the next market on the list I drew up for this

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-79974654755873364942010-03-19T00:26:00.006-04:002010-03-19T00:51:09.486-04:00

Higgins, Jack. A Fine Night for Dying. New York: Berkley Books. Copyright © 1969 by Martin Fallon.Jack Higgins at Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_HigginsOut of want for something to read while waiting for some maintenance to be done on my car (oil change, flushing of the brake system, ignition coil recall), because I knew it would take a couple of hours, I pulled this book off of one

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-51422271820571706532010-03-18T15:55:00.004-04:002010-03-18T16:00:32.946-04:00

This is a video by the UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books. Very creative and absolutely interesting, probably the most important thing to keep in mind as you watch this is that both perspectives are true.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-71706380593677348042010-03-13T10:22:00.004-05:002010-03-13T11:45:06.282-05:00

Well, this has been a most interesting experience, and as with the old Chinese curse my use of "interesting" doesn't mean "interesting good." Since this blog's scope isn't meant to extend beyond my writing, I've chosen to detail what happened in my personal blog. If you're interested, you can find the post here.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-43052307626444645802010-03-12T02:06:00.006-05:002010-03-12T02:21:32.028-05:00

Sorry for the lack of blog posts recently. I've been busy in so many ways, not the least of which involves a recent health concern (nothing too serious, I don't think — I'm still waiting on test results — but it was enough to derail me for a couple of days). I hope to get back to blogging regularly soon.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-49532009124679203122010-03-04T20:17:00.011-05:002010-03-04T21:10:30.150-05:00

Berne, Eric, M.D. Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships. New York: Ballantine Books. Copyright © 1964 by Eric Berne. Copyright renewed 1992 by Ellen Berne, Eric Berne, Peter Berne, and Terence BerneEric Berne's web site:http://www.ericberne.com/In one of Jack M. Bickham's books, he recommends a couple of pscyhology books. Eric Berne's Games People Play is one of them. The full

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-20837010656256946182010-03-04T04:15:00.004-05:002010-03-04T04:41:57.564-05:00

Harwood, Jeremy. To The Ends of the Earth: 100 Maps That Changed the World. Cincinnati, Ohio: F+W Publications, Inc. Copyright © 2006 by Marshall Editions.It's taken me nearly a month to read this book, which is ridiculous. Nonetheless, I have found it constantly fascinating, from learning about primitive maps made millennia ago (from as late as 600 B.C.E. to as early as 10,000 B.C.E.) to maps

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-15627953168154497062010-02-27T00:09:00.003-05:002010-02-27T00:29:40.117-05:00

King, Stephen. Under the Dome. New York: Scribner. Copyright © 2009 Stephen King.Stephen King's Under the Dome web site:http://promo.simonandschuster.com/underthedome/Stephen King's web site:http://www.stephenking.com/There is no blurb for this book, neither on the back cover nor on the dust jacket flaps. King's big enough, I guess, that he needs no blurbs. Nevertheless, I found the following

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-28439092621864974922010-02-26T19:37:00.004-05:002010-02-27T14:18:08.571-05:00

Lewis, C. S. That Hideous Strength. New York: Collier Books. Copyright © 1946 C. S. Lewis.C. S. Lewis web sites:http://www.cslewis.com/http://www.cslewis.org/Into the WardrobeI know full well the saying that one should not judge a book by its cover, but when the covers of the first two books in this series are reflective of their content but the cover of this one is not, I could not help but be

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-3916083760112354372010-02-26T16:00:00.005-05:002010-02-26T17:33:43.384-05:00

I like tax-refunds because they allow me to splurge. No extravagant splurging this year, however. Not while I'm still unemployed. I have been wanting to buy myself a digital voice recorder for some time, though, so yesterday I went shopping.I originally purchased the Sony ICD-PX720 Digital Voice Recorder with PC Link at the local Best Buy. I thought it was cross-platform compatible since it

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-78956430749242958542010-02-25T01:58:00.004-05:002010-02-25T02:16:28.100-05:00

Well, I have redone my short story "The Alchemist." The new and expanded version now stands at 768 words (actual), 820 words (Printer's Rule or white-space). I have submitted it to Flash Fiction Online, which the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has qualified as a professional market (as seen here). The auto-response from Flash Fiction Online's server (I was able to submit the

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-57712427665627479042010-02-24T01:24:00.004-05:002010-02-24T01:47:32.901-05:00

Realms of Fantasy. April 2010, vol. 16, no. 2.Copyright © 2010 Tir Na Nog Press.Web site:http://www.rofmag.com/I'd renewed my subscription to Realms of Fantasy soon after I learned that they were back in print, but my subscription fell through the cracks somewhere and I had to contact their subscription department to make sure that I received the issues I'd paid for. When they realized their

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-4356490524813598102010-02-19T13:35:00.006-05:002010-02-19T14:44:14.540-05:00

"The Alchemist," I may have mentioned before, is a drabble, a story of only 100 words. The market for such a story, from what I've seen, is extremely limited. If I've any hope of selling this story, I think I'll have to expand it to at least 500 words. The nature of the story gives me concern, though, whether it would work at a longer length.Back when I was reading Damon Knight's Creating Short

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-64370502181352181642010-02-19T02:14:00.012-05:002010-02-20T03:07:52.445-05:00

I was just reading a fascinating post at Canadian writer Robert J. Sawyer's blog on self-publishing. Sawyer's argument in response to a writer who chose to go the self-publishing route was spot on . . . until he cited Carl Sagan's oft-quoted quip, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." Pardon me, but BULLSHIT!The measure of proof for any claim is the same regardless whether the claim

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-78865115060039570472010-02-16T16:37:00.003-05:002010-02-16T16:52:05.994-05:00

Realms of Fantasy. February 2010, vol. 16, no. 1.Copyright © 2010 Tir Na Nog Press.Web site:http://www.rofmag.com/I recently purchased the Feb 2010 issue. Included in this issue is a short story by the marvelous Harlan Ellison. It's titled "How Interesting: a Tiny Man." Cool story.There are four other stories in this issue:Mister Oak, by Leah BobetThe Demon of Hochgarten, by Euan HarveyMélanie,

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-81616176181020676122010-02-16T13:32:00.002-05:002010-02-16T13:39:40.558-05:00

"Moon-Shadow" is in the mail. I'd said that I'd have it in the mail no later than Monday, but I'd forgotten that yesterday was a Federal Holiday. No matter. The story is now in the mail. I've sent it to Zoetrope: All-Story.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-80322509765792584272010-02-15T12:40:00.007-05:002010-02-15T14:23:03.078-05:00

I promised earlier to write about what I've called 'conflict modulation' and to explain my use of the term 'modulation’ and its application to the concept of conflict in fiction.I'll start by apologizing for the technical term. When I read about what Jack Heffron, in his Writer's Idea Book, called 'one-note wonders,' internally I compared it to my training in telecommunications. Despite the

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-34628322267042432452010-02-14T02:49:00.008-05:002010-02-15T02:45:20.720-05:00

Lewis, C. S. That Hideous Strength. New York: Collier Books. Copyright © 1946 C. S. Lewis.C. S. Lewis web sites:http://www.cslewis.com/http://www.cslewis.org/Into the WardrobeI am now reading That Hideous Strength. I've read the first two volumes in this trilogy once or twice before, but never this one. Why? I'm not sure. There have been times when I've started to read a book but could not finish

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-88769055690145891902010-02-14T01:27:00.005-05:002010-02-14T04:19:54.741-05:00

Lewis, C. S. Perelandra. New York: Collier Books. Copyright © 1944 C. S. Lewis.C. S. Lewis web sites:http://www.cslewis.com/http://www.cslewis.org/Into the WardrobeI have now finished reading Perelandra and near the end of the book there is what I think is a fascinating passage. The narrator of the book, who happens to be C. S. Lewis himself (yes, he made himself something of a character in his

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-72886605365932353232010-02-13T13:16:00.003-05:002010-02-13T14:37:05.527-05:00

Moon-Shadow: 5,430 (finished editing)Current Writing Streak: 0 daysLongest Writing Streak: 19 daysWeekly Total (Feb 7 – 13): 0February Monthly Total: 7,359Grand Total: 53,177 (21.27% of 250,000)I've averaged 1,399.39 words per day for the year. (For the week, I've averaged 0.0 words per day.) My daily totals for this week:Sunnandæg - day offMónandæg - edited "Moon-Shadow"Tiwesdæg - edited "

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-52047349107977542212010-02-13T00:25:00.009-05:002010-02-13T13:13:06.367-05:00

"Moon-Shadow" is now done. When I started editing it, it was 6,170 words long. I moved a scene at the end of the story closer to the beginning; I changed a few words here and there, finding better, more accurate ways to express things; I freaked when I saw the number of exclamation points that littered this story and then I hunted them down and exterminated as many of them as possible; I fixed a

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-79104745235643851802010-02-12T00:37:00.003-05:002010-02-12T00:46:43.668-05:00

I learned recently that Blogger has added a feature called "Pages." What is "Pages"? It is a feature that allows you to create static, stand-alone pages, such as an "About Me" page. These are pages that either aren't changed at all, or aren't changed often. If you have a blog for your business on Blogger, for example, you could create a page with a map and directions to help your customers find

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-59513393258600533532010-02-10T12:52:00.009-05:002010-02-10T13:26:05.354-05:00

Today, I kept Smith-Barney in mind. I did things . . . the old-fashioned way. (Pardon my reference to an old investment group.) I pulled out my scissors and tape and went to town on this manuscript, cutting things up, rearranging bits and pieces, taping them together in a different order. Sounds more like mutilation than editing, doesn't it? This is how editing used to be — should be! (you're

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-60216522552211742672010-02-10T03:02:00.003-05:002010-02-10T03:10:43.366-05:00

Heffron Jack. The Writer's Idea Book. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books. Copyright © 2000, by Jack Heffron.When I read book reviews at Amazon (or anyplace online, for that matter), I've the habit of reading the reviews with the lowest rating first. It's a strange logic, I'll admit, but it's one that has entertained me, as well as saved me both time and money. It's been my experience that

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-20759300158348102812010-02-09T12:17:00.008-05:002010-02-09T14:38:00.235-05:00

Looks like we're in for more snow starting later today. By late tomorrow afternoon, they're calling for us to receive upwards of another foot (30,4 cms) of snow on top of the two-and-a-half feet (76,2 cms) we received this past weekend. The county plows finally got to our street and, as usual, dumped a huge pile of the stuff onto the front of our driveway. More shoveling. Yay.Moving on, while

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-56055397680753155612010-02-08T12:32:00.006-05:002010-02-08T14:28:42.359-05:00

I've been working on "Moon-Shadow," a short story of mine. In addition to the notes given me by my beta reader, I've found several problems with it myself. I've some ideas how to fix them, but I think it will take a little longer than I anticipated (this requires more than just a spell check). The real difficulty isn't so much with the transitions that will be required as it will be with the

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-39054385678674029292010-02-08T01:23:00.009-05:002010-02-08T02:23:33.342-05:00

Lewis, C. S. Perelandra. New York: Collier Books. Copyright © 1944 C. S. Lewis.C. S. Lewis web sites:http://www.cslewis.com/http://www.cslewis.org/Into the WardrobeI have just finished reading Out of the Silent Planet and now move on to read Perelandra, the second volume in this series. Nonetheless, in the background I will be reading Out of the Silent Planet a second time, to finish up my

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-44450201223474830272010-02-06T20:56:00.021-05:002010-02-06T21:58:03.126-05:00

Headless and Shoulders Above the Rest,Photo © 2010 G D TownshendeWe got dumped on! Thirty inches of snow (76,2 cms). What you see to the left is one of several photos I took once the storm was over. If you click on the name I've given the photo, then you can take a look at the few photos that I chose to upload to my Flickr account.We're still digging ourselves out; half the driveway has been

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-61114698446310977732010-02-05T12:29:00.003-05:002010-02-05T12:52:12.767-05:00

The first draft of Humblebee is now completed. It is 96,736 words. (Longest story I've ever written. Prior to this, the longest was about 70,000-75,000 words.) Time to set it aside, and to get to work on something else.First order of business, finish editing my short stories "Moon-Shadow" and "The Limnades" so that I can get them in the mail.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-7118408339679885192010-02-04T02:44:00.005-05:002010-02-04T03:32:32.330-05:00

Lewis, C. S. Out of the Silent Planet. New York: Collier Books. Copyright © 1939 C. S. Lewis.C. S. Lewis web sites:http://www.cslewis.com/http://www.cslewis.org/Into the WardrobeThis wonderful book, which I have read multiple times, was originally written in 1938. Clive Staples Lewis is another of my favourite authors. Like Aldous Huxley, Lewis's death on 22 November 1963, was overshadowed by the

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-48114246724336147302010-02-04T02:11:00.002-05:002010-02-04T02:13:41.155-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. Tehanu. New York: Bantam Spectra. Copyright © 1990 by Inter-Vivos Trust for the Le Guin Children.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/I finished reading Tehanu just a few minutes ago. One of the things I've always liked about this book is that it has a character in it — a minor character, mind you — named Townsend.Love this book. Just love it.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-73602574940494650842010-02-02T03:09:00.002-05:002010-02-02T03:31:26.444-05:00

Harwood, Jeremy. To The Ends of the Earth: 100 Maps That Changed the World. Cincinnati, Ohio: F+W Publications, Inc. Copyright © 2006 by Marshall Editions.I've several books in my library on a plethora of subjects, from maps to mythologies of various cultures to superstitions to different periods of history (mediæval, Celtic, Victorian England, et al), and more. It's all a mishmash of various

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-4258125609757288902010-02-01T16:21:00.002-05:002010-02-01T16:29:47.615-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. Tehanu. New York: Bantam Spectra. Copyright © 1990 by Inter-Vivos Trust for the Le Guin Children.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/I finished reading The Farthest Shore last night, and I now read Tehanu.The blurb:Once she'd been a priestess, quest-companion to a powerful mage, a student of high magic. Then she gave it all up to be a farmer's wife on Gont

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-2706854895735935262010-01-31T21:36:00.002-05:002010-01-31T22:08:06.202-05:00

Heffron Jack. The Writer's Idea Book. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books. Copyright © 2000, by Jack Heffron.I've been focusing a lot lately on reading books in my library on writing novels. I've 18 such books in my library and while it's always worthwhile reading a book a second or third time, I've read all but three of those 18. I've also been rereading several novels, too, but the purpose

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-3115791897693984702010-01-31T20:13:00.000-05:002010-01-31T20:14:10.127-05:00

Meredith, Robert C., and John D. Fitzgerald. Structuring Your Novel: From Basic Idea to Finished Manuscript. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. Copyright © 1972, by Robert C. Meredith and John D. Fitzgerald.John D. Fitzgerald at Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._FitzgeraldI've taken my time with this one, but not deliberately so.Chapter 3, titled "How to Develop a Plot or Story Line,"

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-73419544497122821512010-01-31T00:36:00.000-05:002010-01-31T00:36:39.843-05:00

Humblebee: 89,684Current Writing Streak: 15 daysLongest Writing Streak: 15 daysWeekly Total (Jan 24 – 30): 10,069January Monthly Total: 45,818Grand Total: 45,818 (18.33% of 250,000)I've averaged 1,762.23 words per day for the year. (For the week, I've averaged 1,678.16 words per day.) My daily totals for this week:Sunnandæg - day offMónandæg - 1,758Tiwesdæg - 1,702Wódnesdæg - 1,666Þunresdæg -

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-33433645098369983952010-01-29T11:12:00.002-05:002010-01-29T11:20:56.840-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. The Farthest Shore. New York: Bantam Spectra. Copyright © 1972 by Ursula K. Le Guin.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/I finished reading The Tombs of Atuan this morning, and I now read The Farthest Shore.The blurb:The magic had gone out of the world. All over Earthsea the mages had forgotten their spells, the springs of wizardry were running dry. Ged,

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-7926429588191272982010-01-28T03:04:00.006-05:002010-01-28T17:03:51.072-05:00

eBooks are already here, that much is obvious. Amazon introduced their Kindle some time ago, and recently introduced a new model. Not to be left behind, Barnes & Noble introduced Nook, their eBook reader, a few months ago. Yesterday, Apple introduced their offering for those wanting to join the eBook revolution, the iPad. There are, however, other e-readers available. This all being at some level

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-43944094108197739542010-01-24T23:53:00.000-05:002010-01-24T23:53:33.743-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. The Tombs of Atuan. New York: Bantam Spectra. Copyright © 1970, 1971 by Ursula K. Le Guin.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/I have finished reading A Wizard of Earthsea for a second time, and am finishing up the outline I've done on it. I am now reading The Tombs of Atuan, the second book in Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle.Herewith the blurb:When she was still

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-80303611068566698142010-01-23T19:35:00.004-05:002010-01-23T19:48:07.858-05:00

Humblebee: 80,675Current Writing Streak: 9 daysLongest Writing Streak: 10 daysWeekly Total (Jan 10 – 16): 10,269January Monthly Total: 35,749Grand Total: 35,749 (14.30% of 250,000)I've averaged 1,787.45 words per day for the year. (For the week, I've averaged 1,711.50 words per day.) My daily totals for this week:Sunnandæg - day offMónandæg - 1,833Tiwesdæg - 1,652Wódnesdæg - 1,662Þunresdæg -

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-38494042602974063982010-01-21T22:20:00.008-05:002010-01-22T16:41:42.449-05:00

Meredith, Robert C., and John D. Fitzgerald. Structuring Your Novel: From Basic Idea to Finished Manuscript. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. Copyright © 1972, by Robert C. Meredith and John D. Fitzgerald.John D. Fitzgerald at Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._FitzgeraldI first bought this book ages and ages ago. So long ago, in fact, that I can't remember when I bought it. Obviously,

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-1482531475648657412010-01-21T21:56:00.005-05:002010-01-21T22:18:35.667-05:00

Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan). Aspects of the Novel. New York: Harcourt. Copyright © 1927, by Harcourt, Inc. Copyright renewed 1955, by E. M. Forster.E. M. Forster at Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._M._ForsterThis book is, as I said, a pleasure to read (I finished it earlier this evening). It is also educational in the extreme. (This book was originally a series of lectures — the Clark

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-20922239891250956602010-01-20T19:21:00.002-05:002010-01-20T19:23:39.355-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. A Wizard of Earthsea. New York: Bantam Spectra. Copyright © 1968, by Ursula K. Le Guin.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/I have finished this legendary tale, but I shall be reading it a second time. You'll recall that this is the first of six novels that I said I would outline. Part of this exercise involves reading the book twice. So, although I am

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-60627440531376910402010-01-17T22:52:00.008-05:002010-01-18T00:05:04.094-05:00

Bocca, Geoffrey. You Can Write a Novel. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Copyright © 1983, by Geoffrey Bocca.As many times as I've read this, I never tire of it.Bocca's advice and examples in Chapter 6, "Action and Dialogue," are unequaled. Its pith is such that I couldn't possibly provide a solitary quote as representative of its worth.Chapter 8, "Some Thoughts On Style," is

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-42288436477997687522010-01-17T20:45:00.005-05:002010-01-17T23:55:24.766-05:00

Bocca, Geoffrey. You Can Write a Novel. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Copyright © 1983, by Geoffrey Bocca.This is such a refreshing how-to. I'm not done reading it, although I am close, but consider Bocca's discussion of air:So far we have been dwelling on the importance of significant details. But what about insignificant details? Should they all be banished from our narrative

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-35662199228647397972010-01-16T23:30:00.000-05:002010-01-16T23:30:22.195-05:00

Block, Lawrence. Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books. Copyright © 1979, by Lawrence Block.Lawrence Block's web site:http://www.lawrenceblock.com/In the chapter titled "Developing Plot Ideas," Lawrence Block writes:Two and two makes five. Which is to say that synergy is very much at work in the process of plot development. The whole is ever so much

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-10283160962981968692010-01-16T23:04:00.004-05:002010-01-16T23:17:21.740-05:00

Humblebee: 70,406Current Writing Streak: 3 daysLongest Writing Streak: 10 daysWeekly Total (Jan 10 – 16): 8,188January Monthly Total: 25,480Grand Total: 25,480 (10.19% of 250,000)I've averaged 1820.00 words per day for the year. (For the week, I've averaged 1,364.66 words per day.) My daily totals for this week:Sunnandæg - day offMónandæg - 1,601Tiwesdæg - 1,531Wódnesdæg - (didn't write)Þunresdæg

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-5383006876608335152010-01-16T04:09:00.007-05:002010-01-16T05:09:15.930-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. A Wizard of Earthsea. New York: Bantam Spectra. Copyright © 1968, by Ursula K. Le Guin.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I know. Too many posts in too short a span of time. What else do you expect when I finish reading two books and then start two more in less than 24 hours? Shut up.I first read A Wizard of Earthsea years ago. I

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-62254285555294586092010-01-16T03:51:00.002-05:002010-01-16T04:05:28.459-05:00

Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. The Black King: Book Two of Black Throne. New York: Bantam Books. Copyright © 2000, by Kristine K. Rusch.Kristine Kathryn Rusch's web site:http://www.kristinekathrynrusch.com/And now I've finished this. I'm just ploughing through books right now, and I'm fine with that.The character in The Black Queen that I didn't care for makes an appearance in The Black King, but she

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-82934326034220421342010-01-16T01:14:00.005-05:002010-01-16T01:36:05.497-05:00

Bocca, Geoffrey. You Can Write a Novel. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Copyright © 1983, by Geoffrey Bocca.I first read this back around 1999 or 2000, I think it was, when I lived in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. I'd borrowed it from the local library. A couple of years after reading it, I decided I wanted to buy it. I placed my order with Amazon. They didn't have it in stock, but

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-4696391214227714142010-01-15T22:06:00.003-05:002010-01-15T22:18:29.713-05:00

Block, Lawrence. Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books. Copyright © 1979, by Lawrence Block.Lawrence Block's web site:http://www.lawrenceblock.com/I finished this earlier this evening. Just as good as it was the first few times I read it. Although written in 1979, this book contains timeless advice for any aspiring writer.

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-63189982405509860492010-01-10T14:18:00.006-05:002010-01-12T16:01:32.493-05:00

I don't know what's prompting these experiences, but a few days ago I woke up again with yet another full story line staring me in the face. The surprising — and pleasant — thing about this one is that it involves a rather interesting play on words. It's also a science fiction idea, which is slightly unusual. I read and write science fiction, fantasy, and some horror, but fantasy is what I've

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-45974082475821447762010-01-10T03:51:00.003-05:002010-01-10T04:15:11.610-05:00

Block, Lawrence. Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books. Copyright © 1979, by Lawrence Block.Lawrence Block's web site:http://www.lawrenceblock.com/I've read this several times before, and I figured — what the hell? — why not read it again? I've a shelf of 18 books on writing novels, and I've read all but four of them. As crazy as it may sound, I'm thinking

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-40302469561312260442010-01-10T03:06:00.003-05:002010-01-10T03:14:37.759-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew. Portland, Oregon: The Eighth Mountain Press. Copyright © 1998, by Ursula K. Le Guin.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Finished. This is hands down one of the best books I've read on writing. I did all of the exercises, and I had loads of fun doing

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-54682634986822891042010-01-09T21:10:00.005-05:002010-01-09T21:44:27.632-05:00

Humblebee: 62,302Current Writing Streak: 8 daysLongest Writing Streak: 8 daysWeekly Total (Jan 1 – 2): 13,028January Monthly Total: 17,292Grand Total: 17,292 (6.92% of 250,000)I've averaged 2161.50 words per day for the year thus far. (For the week, however, I've averaged 2,171.33 words per day.) These are my daily totals for this week:Sunnandæg - day offMónandæg - 2,016Tiwesdæg - 2,303Wódnesdæg

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-66422322630341818542010-01-09T02:04:00.004-05:002010-01-09T02:16:53.155-05:00

Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. The Black King: Book Two of Black Throne. New York: Bantam Books. Copyright © 2000, by Kristine K. Rusch.Kristine Kathryn Rusch's web site:http://www.kristinekathrynrusch.com/And now comes The Black King, the final book in this diptych. This one is longer than the last. The Black Queen was 436 pages; this one is 549.The blurb:THE BLACK KINGFor Gift, who has renounced the

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-64916082975576726832010-01-09T00:48:00.003-05:002010-01-09T01:04:08.894-05:00

Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. The Black Queen: Book One of Black Throne. New York: Bantam Books. Copyright © 1999, by Kristine K. Rusch.Kristine Kathryn Rusch's web site:http://www.kristinekathrynrusch.com/I finished reading The Black Queen this morning. Good book. I liked that Rusch tied up the major plot line for this story, but left open the plot line that leads into the sequel. It makes this novel

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-5648095834101576622010-01-05T21:40:00.002-05:002010-01-05T21:48:56.977-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew. Portland, Oregon: The Eighth Mountain Press. Copyright © 1998, by Ursula K. Le Guin.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/More from Exercise Seven, Part Two. Le Guin's instructions:PART TWO: Detached NarratorTell the same story using the detached

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-67007969116270270592010-01-04T19:46:00.006-05:002010-01-05T13:04:25.771-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew. Portland, Oregon: The Eighth Mountain Press. Copyright © 1998, by Ursula K. Le Guin.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/I've spent part of this evening working on Exercise Seven, which is found in Le Guin's chapter, "Point of View and Voice." This

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-67643682996899895142010-01-04T01:00:00.004-05:002010-01-04T01:15:28.981-05:00

Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. The Black Queen: Book One of Black Throne. New York: Bantam Books. Copyright © 1999, by Kristine K. Rusch.Kristine Kathryn Rusch's web site:http://www.kristinekathrynrusch.com/The Black Queen is book one in the diptych titled Black Throne. I've owned both copies for a number of years, but haven't read them. I have, however, read a couple of other books by Rusch, and I

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-85992846804657286632010-01-04T00:33:00.003-05:002010-01-04T00:35:02.092-05:00

Sawyer, Robert J. Flashforward. New York: Tor (Tom Doherty Associates, LLC). Copyright © 1999, by Robert J. Sawyer.Robert J. Sawyer's web site:http://www.sfwwriter.com/Finished this probably 30 minutes ago. Excellent book. Won't say much else about it, though, since there are readers of this blog who I know are watching the TV series. I'm not, so I don't know if anything I'd say would be a

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-38297431841474563762010-01-03T01:02:00.007-05:002010-01-03T01:57:55.528-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew. Portland, Oregon: The Eighth Mountain Press. Copyright © 1998, by Ursula K. Le Guin.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Le Guin's chapter, "Subject Pronoun and Verb," contains a fascinating exercise in person and verb tense. I had lots of fun with

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-64214901140945405522010-01-02T23:28:00.004-05:002010-01-02T23:41:52.412-05:00

Sawyer, Robert J. Flashforward. New York: Tor (Tom Doherty Associates, LLC). Copyright © 1999, by Robert J. Sawyer.Robert J. Sawyer's web site:http://www.sfwwriter.com/Yup, this book was written 10 years before it became a television series, and I'm only now getting around to reading it. Well, to be honest, I'd not heard of Sawyer until perhaps three years ago. I've since started reading his

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-24491113268595163912010-01-02T18:47:00.003-05:002010-01-02T19:13:27.083-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. Lavinia. New York: Harcourt, Inc. Copyright © 2008, by Ursula K. Le Guin.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/I said in an earlier post that any books I didn't finish at the end of last year would count towards my reading for this year (insofar as stats are concerned).I finished Lavinia last night. Fabulous book. Le Guin's story is, she says, "based on the

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-51613808727210746032010-01-02T18:33:00.003-05:002010-01-02T18:45:54.199-05:00

Humblebee: 54,763[Weekly Total (Dec 27 – Jan 2): 12,689]Weekly Total (Jan 1 – 2): 4,264January Monthly Total: 4,264Grand Total: 4,264 (1.71% of 250,000)Another productive week. I averaged 2132.00 words per day for these first two days of January. (For the entire week (Dec 27 – Jan 2), however, I averaged 2,114.83 words per day.) These were my January daily totals:Sunnandæg - day offMónandæg - —

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-73326799935878146912010-01-01T00:01:00.001-05:002010-01-01T19:04:22.630-05:00

READER BEWARE! Long post ahead. LOL :PSo, I've come up with my 2010 writing goals, and, due to some reading I've done of late, I've reconsidered how I've done this in the past. The way I've gone about my goals thus far has been, to say the least, ineffective. Why ineffective? Well, have I had any stories published? No. You can't get much more ineffective than that. Now, while I recognize that the

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-14424647360491717992009-12-31T17:58:00.006-05:002010-01-01T13:19:55.200-05:00

Humblebee: 50,709Weekly Total (Dec 27 – 31): 8,425December Monthly Total: 45,8592009 Grand Total: 131,170 (87.4% of 150,000)I'm actually quite happy with my 2009 result, because I learned a very important lesson. Namely, that I can write a lot more than I give myself credit for.I didn't write a damned thing from Jan 1 - Jul 31, then I stopped being lazy and started writing again. I take off from

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-6332680004186958762009-12-27T13:23:00.002-05:002009-12-27T13:30:54.548-05:00

Le Guin, Ursula K. Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew. Portland, Oregon: The Eighth Mountain Press. Copyright © 1998, by Ursula K. Le Guin.Ursula K. Le Guin's web site:http://www.ursulakleguin.com/The first exercise found in Le Guin's book, which I completed this morning, is a fun one.BEING GORGEOUSWrite a paragraph to a page

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842405.post-71592221929956700032009-12-27T00:24:00.006-05:002009-12-27T01:03:54.557-05:00

Humblebee: 44,291Weekly Total (Dec 6 – 12): 11,692December Monthly Total: 37,434Grand Total: 122,745 (81.8% of 150,000)This week was incredibly productive. I averaged 1,948.66 words per day. These were my daily totals:Sunnandæg - day offMónandæg - 1,793Tiwesdæg - 1,750Wódnesdæg - 2,010Þunresdæg - 2,055Frígadæg - 2,001Sæternesdæg - 2,083I made a deliberate decision on Wednesday to finish the year

g d townshendehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02273940169271398206noreply@blogger.com0