Stiff Competition from the Land of the...Something!

Looks like mah fellow Amuricans are catching up to those lovable Canadians.  Isn't this exciting? Shut up if you don't think so!

Diverse Voices in Spec Fic and Why Renaissance Festivals are Evil

One of the many reasons I detest Renaissance Festivals is that they tend to push the laughable narrative that all human progress began in Western Europe around the time people started wondering if monthly bathing might actually be a good idea. There's also the fact that it's primarily attended by nerds (not geeks) and individuals who are perfectly at home attending tractor pulls and monster truck rallies. Now that may sound elitist to you and it is, so let's move on, shall we?

More importantly, at least from my perspective, is the negative and continuing affect they have on fiction, fantasy in particular. When I was a kid, I thought all fantasy was based off Western European society and mythology. It's why I grew to dislike it so much as I became an adult. But even the so-called "Urban Fantasy" which is fantasy occurring in modern-day city settings, not African-American in nature, tended to have its rooted firmly entrenched in the history and culture of Europa.

Boring!

As well-made as it is, if I have to suffer through another episode of some "Game of Thrones" style series, I will probably not emerge the better for it. There are so many other cultures out there with stories to be told and retold. Fortunately, those voices are starting to be heard.

What prompted this post was an ad for the novella pictured below. I haven't read it but the concept sounds intriguing and far more exciting than the by-the-numbers Euro-fantasy we normally see.

Let's face it. You're probably pretty dull if your entire fantasy universe consists of Middle Ages wizards and sword-wielding Crusader cliche's. And let's not forget the science fiction equivalent of the noble young white male hero in the making. There are so many authors writing so many stories that don't depend on such lazy by-the-numbers hackery. Some examples:

Cixin Liu
Nnedi Okorafor
Octavia Butler
Samuel R Delany
S.P. Somtow

Try those on for size and let me know what you thought.

Updated Author Bio (Because you know you care...don't you?)

Due to recent uptick in writing activity from lil' ol' moi, I thought it might make sense to update my author bio so it wasn't so hopelessly out of date. 

So, here it is.

Excerpt from a (so far) Rejected Short Story.

The following is a passage from a story I wrote very quickly called, "Arnold's Jurassic Trinity" for an anthology looking for robot dinosaur stories. Unfortunately, for them and for me, they chose not to publish it. Still, I'm rather pleased with it and thought I'd share a portion of it just because:

Here’s the thing: Almost every supposedly delusional thing that came out of Arnold’s mouth that wasn’t about undesirable pregnancy came from a movie. He sat in the library for hours watching video clips. Those clips then inspired him to conjure up whatever he latched onto. It was inevitable that he would eventually hit upon something that actually worked.

    “I tried with the bees first,” he told a member of the Circulation staff. “They were too small, so the souls wouldn’t fit inside.” He laughed. “They kept exploding!”

    Bees exploding from souls. Sadly, that was just a typical Arnold rant to most of them. One person pointed out the obvious difference in his narrative by mentioning how there seemed to be action involved this time. Normally an Arnold rant involved nothing but speculation and assurances of Great Plans being in the works. This time, the person said, he actually claimed to have done something.

Makes me want to read more! ;)

  

Do Canadians Find me Fascinating?

If the stats on my blog are any indication, the answer to the question posed above is a resounding..."I think so!" Maybe it's the last name, which from all my seconds of research is French Canadian, but on August 17th, literally twice as many Canadians visited this blog as U.S. Americans, as that beauty contestant once said.

I'm honored. No, wait. I'm honoured.  Living in a state that borders Canada, I have always loved your country and let's face it, a huge percentage of our greatest comedians come from Canada! There's also a wonderful speculative fiction movement happening there, second only to the one currently occurring in Australia.

So, welcome my friends. Keep a spot open for me if this Trump thing keeps going the way it most likely will. And permit me to communicate to your in your native tongue:

*Ahem*

How's she goin', eh?

Reader Review.

A rather intelligent review of the Thuggish Itch: Via Las Vegas anthology that features, among others, my short story, "The Last Big Gamble."

The reader wisely chose to review the themed anthology as a whole while pointing out what he liked about the stories in relation to that overall theme. I love when readers grasp what they're reading and are able to articulate it so effectively.

Read the review here.

New Anthology Release

The second of two anthologies being released this week featuring short stories written by me is available here on August 15th. This one features my libel-free story, "The Last Big Gamble." I honestly consider it one of the best things I've written and would love to know your opinion. Yes, even if you consider it pretentious rubbish.

A Religious Experience Featuring Yours Truly!

Being billed as the #1 New Release on Amazon, this is the anthology I've been mentioning that features my short story, "Ultimate Messiah Smackdown." Included in its august pages are such luminaries as David Gerrold, Mike Resnick and Adam-Troy Castro! The official release date is August 14th.

Order it here.

Don't Mess with Wayne Newton!

During my recent bout of stories written to suit specific anthologies I decided to try my hand at a dark, dystopian tale with Las Vegas as its central theme. Not only did I come up with an idea the instant I read what they were looking for, it was also for an Australian publication.

You may or or may not know this, but Australian authors and publishers have been churning out consistently interesting, high-quality speculative fiction work for most of the 2000's. Check out the work of Max Barry sometime and tell me what you think. Unless you didn't care for it, in which case you can go straight to hell with a bag of flammable aerosol cans. I kid, of course. You don't actually have to bring flammable materials to hell...just go there.

My story, "The Last Big Gamble," (yeah, I know it's on the nose) was submitted several months ahead of the deadline, so I had been on pins and needles ever since, hoping it was accepted. Much like "The Hero Disease," this was a story that took hold of me at the outset and refused to let go until it was completed. Those stories tend to connect with editors, at least in my experience. Fortunately, this one was not the exception that proved the rule. The editor enjoyed it very much. There was just one problem. The edited email below provides the details:

Hi Christopher,
We have just finished reading the story submissions for Thuggish Itch's Viva Las Vegas collection. I enjoyed your story and its dystopian aspects, however, the links to Wayne Newton worried me in terms of libel. That is, that having a character so closely based on a living figure could cause us some problems, particularly with him throwing people in the pit at the end, ha ha.
If you've some spare time and are willing to rework it a little by Wednesday 1 August I'm willing to give it another read before making a final decision on whether or not to include it.
Regards
VK

I don't mind telling you that I, like most of the rest of humanity, am haunted in my dreams by the evil that is Wayne Newton. Oh, he can pretend to be a smiling, joking fun guy with a voice of smooth velvet and a wardrobe gifted by the gods of antiquity. Wait. What was my point?  I forgot. So, here is my reply:

Ha! I feared that might be an issue. I would be happy to rework it. What are your suggestions? 

Seemed reasonable enough. I'm not precious about story elements that don't detract from the overall quality of the piece. There are ways around these sorts of things. Lord knows I've paraphrased enough song lyrics to avoid having to pay royalties when it would have wiped me out financially. One week later I received the following email for all my *ahem* hard work:

Hi Christopher,

Thanks for making those edits last week. I am pleased to let you know that we have now finished reading submissions for Thuggish Itch, Issue 1: Viva Las Vegas and that we have selected your story, The Last Big Gamble, for inclusion in the anthology.

So, if there's a lesson to be learned here, it's to be open to change and feedback. Fight the battles that matter, not the ones that lift your ego. And most importantly, don't mess with Wayne Newton 'cause he ain't playin'!

(As always, more info once the anthology becomes available)

Upcoming Anthology Announcment

I recently submitted a story to B Cubed Press that was accepted despite my initially having been told they had no more room in the book! But the publisher liked the story and suddenly there I was being ncluded with such notable top tier authors as Adam Troy-Castro, David Gerrold, Mike Resnick and David Brin! I'ts an honor to be included with these four as well as the other authors.

I'll post a link when the anthology is available.

Next up:

How Wayne Newton could have affected my chances at getting a story published!