I Am A Martian!

If you've dropped in as part of the Write1Sub1 March Martian BlogFest, then Sggr'Vathh! Or, as you Terrans say, hi! Thanks for stopping by.

Yes, I've managed to stick to the Write1Sub1 scheme for another month. And I actually feel like I've done it properly this time : drafting a new short story each week then revising and submitting it the next. It's a pattern I hope I can stick to.

Next week I'll be posting over on the Write1Sub1 blog my 1st quarter, interim results for this crazy year-long experiment of our. But for now, w00t.

The Tuesday Twitter Tale : A Moment of Inspiration

How long was this spiral staircase? He scratched a mark on the wall. He climbed sixteen more steps before finding himself back at it.






The Tuesday Twitter Tale is a weekly work of tweet-length fiction. It is posted here and on Twitter (along with the #vss - very short story - hash tag).

Write1Sub1 Week #12 Check-In

Sunday is Write1Sub1 Weekly check-in day. I'm posting updates on my short fiction output here as well as over on the main Write1Sub1 blog.

Writing and Submitting

• Fantasy short story The Standing Stones of Erelong drafted; to be edited and submitted next week. This was originally intended as a flash story but it had other ideas ...
• Fantasy short story Lord Lion's Design from last week edited and submitted.
• Twitter story Life Cycles written and submitted.

Acceptances

• Twitter tale Electrolarynx from week #9 bought by PicFic.

Published

• Slipstream flash story A Door He Didn't Recognize from week #6 published by Weirdyear.

 
So, still on a bit of a fantasy fiction trip here at Spellmaking towers ...

Flash Fiction : Light Years (81/100)

... Eighty ...








Light Years is a work of flash fiction. In fact it is the slowest piece of flash-fiction ever written. In real-time its one hundred words would take exactly 10,000 years to recount. Because of the limitations of a normal human life-span, it has been specially accelerated to the speed of one word per week. It will therefore take just under two years to tell from start to finish.

For a full history of the transmissions, click here.

Two Stories Published

Flash fiction story Titania is now available over in the Spring 2011 edition of Flashquake. It's free to read online via their very snazzy virtual book interface. My little story is nestling on p. 29. This is the market who asked for writers to send an audio file of themselves reading their work so you can also hear me reading to you here. Yikes. Possible uses of the recording include scaring away troublesome birds, replacing fog-horns and riot-control sonic weaponry.





Meanwhile, Spilling Ink Volume 1, which includes my short story Seek Alternative Route, is set to be published in the first week of April, but is now available for pre-order should anyone be interested. Here's the blurb :

Spilling Ink: Volume 1 is a collection of international, award-winning fiction, nonfiction, and prose poetry. Contained within you’ll find a fantastically diverse assortment of prose. From the entertaining to the thought provoking, these short stories, flash fictions, micro-bursts and essays will keep you reading from cover to cover.

The Tuesday Twitter Tale : Three Days in the Water

Another ship out here in the Pacific was a miracle. Jon screamed and splashed, unaware of the sharks circling in the water beneath him.






The Tuesday Twitter Tale is a weekly work of tweet-length fiction. It is posted here and on Twitter (along with the #vss - very short story - hash tag).

Write1Sub1 Week #11 Check-In

Sunday is Write1Sub1 Weekly check-in day. I'm posting updates on my short fiction output here as well as over on the main Write1Sub1 blog.

Writing and Submitting

• Fantasy short story Lord Gryphon's Design written; to be edited and submitted next week. 
• Fantasy short story The Library at the Centre of the World from last week edited and submitted.

I seem to be writing a fair bit of short fantasy fiction. Enjoying it a lot!

Flash Fiction : Light Years (80/100)

... oblivion. ...








Light Years is a work of flash fiction. In fact it is the slowest piece of flash-fiction ever written. In real-time its one hundred words would take exactly 10,000 years to recount. Because of the limitations of a normal human life-span, it has been specially accelerated to the speed of one word per week. It will therefore take just under two years to tell from start to finish.

For a full history of the transmissions, click here.

Who Would You Be?

I'm intrigued by Reorbit magazine, who have recently gone live. They're kind of another Twitter Fiction magazine but they describe themselves as "an experiment in social media theatre". Their idea is to let writers pick a character - either historical or fictional - and then write daily tweets as if from them. I see, for example, that "Arthur Miller", "Keith Moon" and "Sylvia Plath" are already contributors.

My head says I've got plenty of writing to be getting on with already, thanks, but I'm still tempted. Hmmm. Who would I pick? Sauron the Dark Lord commenting on the day's news? The Adventures of Conan the Barbarian in 21st Century Britain?

Who would you pick?

The Tuesday Twitter Tale : Three Steps to Heaven

Surely the basement couldn’t be this far down? He’d counted over six-hundred and sixty steps. Raging heat from below blasted his face.




The Tuesday Twitter Tale is a weekly work of tweet-length fiction. It is posted here and on Twitter (along with the #vss - very short story - hash tag).

Two Little Stories Published

A couple of successes to report this splendid Sunday :

Bonemeal has now been published in Issue 1 of 5x5, Murder, Monsters and Misfortune. Mmm. You can view the issue directly here.

The Square on the Hypotenuse has been published by PicFic as part of their Angle edition.

I knew that mathematics would come in handy one day ...

Write1Sub1 Week #10 Check-In

Sunday is Write1Sub1 Weekly check-in day. I'm posting updates on my short fiction output here as well as over on the main Write1Sub1 blog.

Writing and Submitting

• Fantasy short story The Library at the Centre of the World written - to be edited and submitted next week.
• SF thriller Malware from week #9 simmered down nicely to 7,500 words and has now been submitted.
• Twitter story Pounce written and submitted to PicFic. 

Acceptances

• 5x5 piece Bonemeal from week #4 accepted by 5x5 Fiction.

Flash Fiction : Light Years (79/100)

... welcome ...








Light Years is a work of flash fiction. In fact it is the slowest piece of flash-fiction ever written. In real-time its one hundred words would take exactly 10,000 years to recount. Because of the limitations of a normal human life-span, it has been specially accelerated to the speed of one word per week. It will therefore take just under two years to tell from start to finish.

For a full history of the transmissions, click here.

Kimota Anthology Published

Kimota was a top UK speculative fiction magazine that folded back in 2002. But, as I mentioned the other week, it is now being resurrected as Kzine by a team of mad scientists in a ruined castle somewhere in England. Or something.

And to celebrate (and help fund) the relaunch, an anthology of original Kimota stories has now been published as a Kindle eBook. A great read for lovers of SF, fantasy and horror everywhere.

My own slight contribution is called Good Vibrations, a tale of deep space travel, exotic alien intelligence and 80's pop music. I see it was originally published way back in 2001. My, oh my, how time flies ...

Six Word Story "Mrs Chadwick" Published

Six word story published, Cuento, today.

The Tuesday Twitter Tale : He Lay Awake Thinking

He’d craved his freedom, all the lures of hedonism. Now, lying alone at 2AM, he wondered whether she lay somewhere, thinking about him.





The Tuesday Twitter Tale is a weekly work of tweet-length fiction. It is posted here and on Twitter (along with the #vss - very short story - hash tag).

Simon Says ...

Flashquake magazine, who bought my flash fiction tale Titania just recently, have been in touch to see if I would like to make an audio version of the story : to record myself reading it so folks can download it as an mp3.

Foolishly I've said yes. Cripes. Slightly regretting it now. Does anyone know any good voice actors?

Write1Sub1 Week #9 Check-In

Sunday is Write1Sub1 Weekly (write and submit a story/poem per week) check-in day. I'm posting my updates here as well as over on the main Write1Sub1 blog.

This week my short fiction activities have been almost completely focused on SF story Malware. I originally figured this would be 3000 words long or so but it has growed and growed and is now around 10,000 words. The good news is it's finished. Next week I'll edit, polish and submit.

I've also written and submitted a couple of Twitter stories to the themed editions of PicFic, so I've managed to keep up for another week. And, therefore, month ...

Just one publishing success to report : as previously mentioned, The Square on the Hypotenuse from week #4 has been bought by PicFic for their "angle" edition.

Flash Fiction : Light Years (78/100)

... The ...








Light Years is a work of flash fiction. In fact it is the slowest piece of flash-fiction ever written. In real-time its one hundred words would take exactly 10,000 years to recount. Because of the limitations of a normal human life-span, it has been specially accelerated to the speed of one word per week. It will therefore take just under two years to tell from start to finish.

For a full history of the transmissions, click here.

The Lost Art of Conversation Published

Delighted to report that Twitter fiction morsel The Lost Art of Conversation is published over in the Cuento Magazine Twitterstream today.

Oh, I also learned just recently that another Twittery tale - The Square on the Hypotenuse - has been bought by PicFic for the upcoming "angle" edition.

The Tuesday Twitter Tale : Not Better Than One

How she loved the fine, chiselled lines of his alien bone-structure. The green pallor of his other head, not so much.





The Tuesday Twitter Tale is a weekly work of tweet-length fiction. It is posted here and on Twitter (along with the #vss - very short story - hash tag).