Malon Edwards's Blog, page 3

Now Canada can witness the epicness known as Sharknado....

Now Canada can witness the epicness known as Sharknado.

Wonder Woman, the Awesome Animated Short

This is awesome.

Ever since Linda Carter, it seems no one can do right by Wonder Woman, whether it's a TV show or movie. 



But this unique and ultra-cool looking take on her could be a very good start. 

Let's hope this is expanded into more than a short animation. 

Drops of Jupiter

For some reason I can't quite explain, I find the image above, created by space artist Ron Miller (one of the coolest jobs ever!), unsettling - especially at full size, which can be viewed at the link above.



It makes the skin on my forehead crawl. I don't think anything has ever done that before.



I want to look away, but I can't. I'm both fascinated by it, and a bit freaked-out.



Kudos to Ron Miller for producing such a gorgeous and extraordinary photo.

Sharknado

So bad it's good.

Better Than Everything

SQ Mag Edition 9 Cover: Tais Teng, 'After The Rains'


My latest short story, "Better Than Everything", is now live at SQ Mag. 




SQ Mag labels it  dystopian sci fi, and I would agree with that.




Check it out and let me know what you think. 

I Get Off On Submitting My Rejected Stories - Part 2

Twelfth times a charm, it seems.


A few days ago, I sold my short story, "Better Than Everything", to SQ Mag for publication in their upcoming July 1 issue. 



Over an eight-month period, the story was rejected 11 times. Only three of those rejections were personalized. 



Not especially a good ratio, right? Wrong. 



When it comes down to it, those three rejection letters made all the difference for the final version of the story. Here, take a look at what I mean:



One editor's rejection letter said:

There’s a strong style here, but the narrative itself feels at turns compressed — lots of exposition frontloaded into dialogue — or, in the end, unfinished. Therefore, I'm unable to accept this piece for publication.

Another editor told me:

...this had a lot to recommend [about] it, especially the
characterization, but in the end, stories this short are a hard sell with
[Magazine Title], and we felt this just didn't accomplish as much as it could
have.  We're always pleased to see stories from you, and we hope you send
us more.

While it's not right for us, I hope you find a good home for it
soon.

And the third editor elaborated a bit more:

 Thank you again for submitting 'Better Than Everything' forconsideration by [Magazine Title]. The editors have read your story andafter some discussion we have decided not to take it for publication. 

This was a really nice story, well-written and with a strong andmoving story. I enjoyed reading it, but I think it wasn't given enoughspace to be as powerful as it could have been. For me, the weaknesswas that we only met the protagonists when Jae Lyn was already dying,and so we never saw them close, or affectionate, or needing eachother. All other human relationships are explained by way of infodump,and while the interplay of the narrator, Jae Lyn, the parents, andMatty were fascinating and convincing, we only heard about them,didn't see them happen, and so didn't feel them. I'd like to see thisstory given more room to breathe. 

We'd like to thank you again for thinking of us with this story, andwish you the very best with your writing in the future.

 Now, a few things:



First, the story (at least, in the beginning) was too short, as all three editors noted. Initially, I wrote this as a flash fiction piece, but in my head, the story expanded with far more breadth than just a couple hundred words. I'd tried to cram too large a story into too few words.



Second, there really was a lot of exposition/info-dumping, as two editors noted. Still, I thought the story flowed well, despite that. The final version has somewhat less exposition, but I feel the exposition is needed to root the reader into this story's world and events.



And finally, I take these rejections with a grain of salt. I realize these editors have specific tastes geared toward the view and themes of their magazines, and my story just didn't do it for them. 



But on the flip side of that, I also realize this story had glaring flaws: story length and info-dumping. All three editors pointed that out.



So, while I didn't hit the tastes of these editors, I also didn't give them a polished story. Revisions were definitely needed.



That being said, these rejections made my day. Obviously, they didn't make me all warm and fuzzy inside as an acceptance would, but these rejections did show me that I was on the right track, both with my writing style and the story itself.



 Though, I must say, it pleased me to no end that the one editor said she's always pleased to see stories from me. She's given me another very good rejection letter in the past.



When all is said and done, this is one of the reasons I get off on submitting my rejected stories. I truly enjoy taking this sort of feedback from editors, using it to re-tool my stories, and then sending my lovelies back out into the world for acceptance. 



I'm not sure what that says about me — other than I'm doing my damnedest to get better at what I love to do.

Space Oddity

Other than my wife, Chris Hadfield is the coolest Canadian to ever live.




Truly, a rock star who is totally out of this world.

I Get Off On Submitting My Rejected Stories

Yep. Just like the post title says. 



Big time.




I like challenges. A lot. And more than any challenge, I really enjoy trying to sell my newly rejected stories to another magazine. I get an adrenaline rush from it. 




Seriously. 




For me, it's the perfect challenge: the odds for acceptance are not in my favor, and I have just about two paragraphs (for the kinder ones, a page) to hook a slush reader/editor before they reject my story. 




What warm-blooded, competitive person wouldn't get off on that?




Yesterday, Crowded Magazine rejected a story of mine, but I've already made some changes to it with the plan to send it out into the world again in the next few days (if not tonight). 




Challenge accepted.




Oh, and next month when the submission period opens again for Crowded, I'll be submitting another story.




Double challenge accepted. 




This is nothing personal against Crowded Magazine, any other magazine, or editors and slush readers. This is all about becoming better at the craft of writing. I take the feedback I've been given on my rejected story, apply it to my writing, and come out with an improved and sharper piece.




We all deal with rejection(s) in our own unique way. This is how I deal with mine.




Might as well have a little fun with it along the way, right?

Always Be Prepared

Just a matter of time. 

FUNKY HISTORY: Building the world and characters of my Steamfunk story

cover art by Marcellus Shane Jackson

In 2004, I decided to set all of my science fiction stories (that's all I was writing back then) in Chicago, my hometown.  I made that decision for a few different reasons:






·        
My wife (who is Canadian) and I had just moved with our
one-year-old daughter to the Greater Toronto Area  after
teaching English in Japan for three years. My wife had taught mostly in Tokyo, and
I'd taught in its far-flung northeastern suburbs.




·        
I was homesick. I hadn't spent more than a few months in Chicago
the previous five years. Immediately after I graduated from college, and before I
went to Japan, I moved to Montana for two years to work as a youth
development coordinator with AmeriCorps VISTA. 




·        
And I'd just read Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring, set in Toronto, and
re-read Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, set in Los Angeles. Obviously, I was
(and still am) fascinated with dystopian stories.




So what does all of this have to do with steamfunk and world-building? Well, I wanted to big up my hometown in my stories. I wanted to build my Chicago based on my experiences.



Nalo Hopkinson and Octavia Butler had incorporated Toronto and Los Angeles so smoothly into their novels that I was inspired to do the same with Chicago. Besides, it wasn't like there were a slew of speculative fiction stories out there featuring Chicago.

  

But as I started to write my stories, I found it difficult to use Chicago as my setting. I'd been away for too long. Chicago had changed a lot in those five years. It was hard to ground myself there while living in Canada.



And then I got a job in Chicago, and my family and I moved to the Northwest Side. I'd never lived there before. I still didn't feel grounded.



So I went back to my roots. 



I was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Jeffrey Manor to be exact. Affectionately, we call it 'The Manor'. 



(Don't let the name fool you, though. While it may sound a bit bou'gie, The Manor is anything but that. It's not Cabrini-Green, either, though.)



My moms was one of the millions of African Americans who went North from Down South during the Great Migration. She came to Chicago from Mississippi (by way of New Orleans) because her older brother had done so years earlier and found a good job. 



That was my personal history, and I wanted to incorporate it into my stories. That pride to fictionalize my history had also been inspired by Brown Girl in the Ring. Nalo Hopkinson's use of West Indian/Caribbean culture in that novel and in Midnight Robber fascinated me to no end. 



I wanted my stories to be just as interesting, just as rich, and just as personal as hers.



And now, almost ten years later, I think I'm on the right track.



Petal McQueen, the main character of "Mud Holes and Mississippi Mules", my short story in the Steamfunk! anthology, is a mix of my moms and my one of my more colorful aunts.



Petal's attitude is all my aunt. But her way of speaking, her word choice, is mostly my moms. 



My moms still calls bad-ass kids 'no-good chaps'. 



She, along with a fair number of people I know from Down South, still says, 'I'll whoop you like you stole a Mississippi mule.' 



And one of her favorite sayings is, 'Now between you, me, and the fence post...' 



All of that characterization made it into my story. All of that characterization gives Petal McQueen and the steamfunk world I built in "Mud Holes and Mississippi Mules" some breadth and life. 



And all of that characterization made this story so fun to write.








Here are some of the other
contributors to the Steamfunk! anthology who share their experiences writing,
reading and living steamfunk:




Milton Davis – Milton Davis is owner/publisher of
MVmedia, LLC . As an author he specializes in science fiction and fantasy and
is the author of Meji Book One, Meji Book Two and Changa’s Safari. Visit
him: www.mvmediaatl.com  andwww.wagadu.ning.com .






Ray Dean – Growing up in Hawaii, Ray Dean had the
opportunity to enjoy nearly every culture under the sun. The Steamfunk
Anthology was an inspiration she couldn't pass up. Ray can be reached at http://www.raydean.net/.

Valjeanne
Jeffers –
is an editor and the author of the SF/fantasy novels: Immortal, Immortal II:
The Time of Legend and Immortal III: Stealer of Souls, Immortal IV: Collision
of Worlds and The Switch: Clockwork. Visit her at: http://valjeanne.wordpress.com andhttp://qandvaffordableediting.blogspot.com/.




Rebecca M. Kyle – With a birthday on Friday 13,
it's only natural that the author is fascinated with myths, legends, and
oddities of all kinds. Ms. Kyle lives with her husband, four cats, and more
rocks and books than she cares to count between the Smokies and Cumberland
mountains. Visit her at http://bexboox13.blogspot.com/.




Carole McDonnell – is a writer of Christian, supernatural,
and ethnic stories. Her writings appear in various anthologies, including So
Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonialism in Science Fiction, edited by Nalo
Hopkinson; Jigsaw Nation; and Life Spices from Seasoned Sistahs: Writings by
Mature Women of Color among others. Her reviews appear in print and at various
online sites. Her novels are the Christian speculative fiction, Wind Follower,
and The Constant Tower. Her Bible study is called: Seeds of Bible
Study.   Her website is http://carolemcdonnell.blogspot.com/.




Balogun Ojetade – Author of the bestselling “Afrikan
Martial Arts: Discovering the Warrior Within” (non-fiction), “Moses: The
Chronicles of Harriet Tubman” (Steamfunk); “Once Upon A Time in Afrika” (Sword
and Soul); “Redeemer” (Urban Fantasy) and the film, “A Single Link” and “Rite
of Passage”. Finally, he is Co-Author of “Ki-Khanga: The Anthology” and
Co-Editor of “Steamfunk!” Visit him:http://chroniclesofharriet.com/.




Hannibal Tabu – is a writer, a storyteller, and by god,
a fan. He has written the novels, “The Crown: Ascenscion” and “Faraway” and the
upcoming scifi political thriller “Rogue Nation”. He is currently the co-owner
and editor-in-chief of Black geek website Komplicated at the Good Men Project,
and uses his Operative Network website (www.operative.net) to
publish his poetry, market what he's doing, rant at the world and emit
strangled cries for help.




Geoffrey Thorne – Geoffrey Thorne has written a lot of stuff
in a lot of venues and will be writing more in more. It's his distinct pleasure
to take part in another of these groundbreaking anthologies. Thanks for letting
me roll with you folks. For more (and God knows why you'd want more) check
out http://www.geoffreythorne.com/.