S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 179

Wishing You

Anne

We've lost Anne McCaffrey.

I never had the opportunity or the privilege to meet Anne in person, but she influenced me enormously as an author. I've been reading her novels almost all my adult life, and I've never stopped; this week I'm working on The White Dragon. Over the years I have read editions of Crystal Singer, Restoree and Powers That Be so many times that they fell apart and I had to go get new copies. I also have at least one copy of every book she's ever written. Probably two or three; I have shelves of lending copies.

At the beginning of my career Anne read the manuscript that would become my first published novel, StarDoc. She wrote a beautiful letter with her thoughts about it, and provided a lovely quote for the cover. That's the sort of kindness and generosity that you can only hope to pay forward, because you can never pay it back.

As for me, I'm going to get an early start on Thanksgiving and say thank you, Anne. Thank you for all the amazing novels you wrote, for your kindness to me and so many other writers, and for bringing so much wonder and delight to the world. Your time here was not wasted. And I pray with all my heart that you have a safe journey to the next place, and there dwell in beauty and peace.

Sub Ops 5

Apex Magazine webzine has a new editor, and is looking for dark speculative fiction. Length: up to 7.5K, Payment: 5¢/word. No reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details.

Humor site Cracked.com is looking for humorous pieces: "Cracked.com is one of the most popular comedy sites on planet Earth. If we feature your content, it will be seen by A LOT of people. We are very, very picky about what goes on the front page, but we'll give anybody a chance. If you're good, we'll pay you. We strive to publish every single great piece of content we get in. If you're a creative person and you can make stuff other people will like to read or watch, Cracked is an All-You-Can-Eat buffet." Length: varies. Payment: "Profit. Meaning, we pay you $50 per article starting out. Once you hit your fifth article, it goes up to $150. There is also a traffic bonus program that pays an extra $50 if your article finishes in the top 10 for the month in traffic." Submissions are pitched publicly via their bulletin board (for which submitting writers must sign up) and then is workshopped/critiqued, Sounds a lot like what Baen was doing with their subs; see guidelines page and related links for more details (and my thanks to Bill Peschel for the heads up on this market.)

Fender Stitch webzine is looking for fiction in all genres, Lenth: up to 4K (prefers 1-2.5K) Payment:: 5¢/word. No reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details.

The Friends of Merril Short Story Contest is now open; it's not stated but it looks like Spec Fic. The contest is not free, either, but the entry fee is $5.00 (CDN) so it's not horrible, and the money goes to their cause. Length: up to 4K. Prizes: First Prize: $350.00 (CDN) and 1 copy of the limited edition booklet containing the winning stories; Second Prize: $100.00 (CDN) and 1 copy etc.; Third Prize: $50.00 (CDN) and 1 copy etc. No reprints, electronic submissions okay, see contest guidelines for more details. Deadline: February 15, 2012

Woodland Press has an open call for their Hills of Fire antho, and is looking for: "...fictional pulp action stories in an Appalachian setting. Submitted stories should harken back to the square-jawed tales of Robert E. Howard, Dashiell Hammett, and Louis L'Amour. Stories can be set in any time period, but must take place in the Appalachian region. Stories involving mountain men, moonshine runners, lawmen, heists, wrestling, soldiers, and outlaws are highly encouraged. Addition of regional history and folklore is also advised. Complex characters should be equally mixed with solid plots and high octane excitement. Submissions should avoid popular action clichés and unflattering Appalachian stereotypes." Length: up to 2.5K. Payment: "five-cents per word (upon publication) plus contributor copy." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: June 30th, 2012.

T-Day Ten

Ten Things to Help with Thanksgiving

DLTK has a whole page here of Thanksgiving-themed activities for kids (I like the printable bookmarks.)

In addition to their annual Turkey Talk-Line® (1-800-288-8372; call weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central Standard Time) Butterball.com has short videos on how to choose, thaw, stuff, roast and carve a turkey.

Melissa Clark has an excellent article here on what cooking and prep you can do before Thanksgiving Day to make your dinner easier to handle.

Cooking Light's Holiday celebration page includes links to a gluten-free menu and vegetarian recipes.

Food Network has their annual Thanksgiving page here, including a recipe for the World's Simplest Thanksgiving Turkey.

Give back: share the bounty with those having tough times by donating non-perishable foods to your local churches, food banks or via food purchase donations at your local grocery store.

Hostess Gifts: if you're having dinner elsewhere this year, the nicest thing you can do is offer to bring something to contribute to the meal. With the turkey taking up the oven most of the day, warm homemade rolls or bread are a nice treat (and can be used with leftovers for turkey sandwiches.) Kids don't always love pumpkin pie, so a batch of Toll House cookies may make you their hero. If you don't cook consider giving your hostess a neat cooking tool, pan or other kitchen helper. A gift card for a meal at your hosts' favorite restaurant is also a lovely way to reciprocate. One year a visiting friend gave us a new set of reusable food containers, which I am still using.

How to Make Edible Fruit Centerpieces

My No Brainer Fudge Recipe (#5 on the list here.) It's the richest and easiest fudge you'll ever make; no candy thermometer required.

For a special dessert I love apple strudel, as it makes a nice, light change from traditional pie. Here's a good recipe from Pepperidge Farm using their frozen puff pastry.

Got any great links for Thanksgiving helps or hints? Share them in comments.

Whatcha Reading?

Now and then I like to do a whatcha reading check and see what books everyone else in the house has going. I do this when they're not home not because I'm sneaky -- well, I guess it's a little sneaky -- but mainly so that so no one tries to plant books they think I think they should be reading. I'm also trying to be sensitive to the fact that apparently it's tough to live with an opinionated writer who will shove a book in their hands without warning (I don't know why these people waste their time whining about getting cool new books when they could be reading them instead, but there you go.)

Mom is visiting for the holidays, and like me she leaves books she's reading everywhere. Today she's working on Carla Cassidy's Rancher Under Cover in her room and Thomas A. Flagel's The History Buff's Guide to the Civil War and the December '11 issue of Woman's Day in the living room. I've noticed she's been reading a lot more Harlequin and Silhouette romances these days, along with her usual nonfic history doorstops. The Civil War is her favorite period, so I'll probably grab Shiloh for her from my Shelby Foote collection. I also want her to read The Icing on the Cake, Alison Kent's reality-based romance, because it's so unique.


Due to an overabundance of school work my daughter has not been reading much at all for pleasure lately, but she's dutifully plowing her way through her latest assignment for advanced English Lit. She's already complained numerous times about how much she dislikes F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (while I try very hard to keep a straight face as I encourage her to keep plowing), so I wasn't surprised to see it thrown on the floor. She was a bit more respectful with her class textbook, which is sitting on her desk. I imagine when she gets home from her latest band competition she'll be diving back into another lit assignment. I might have to make her some sympathy shortbread and pick up the latest volume of her favorite manga to go with them.

My guy reads only for work, and he's been studying this technical manual on energy efficiency controls all week. I know how much he hates to read, so I don't shove books at him. We do discuss local and national news, though, and I might leave a copy of the Sunday newspaper out where he can find it. My college kid is also home, and has started a local job for the holidays. He's been taking extra shifts to beef up his paycheck, and as a result has been coming home exhausted, so I wasn't surprised to see the only reading material in his room was a Shonen Jump magazine. Reading is not his favorite leisure activity, but when he's tired he's more apt to curl up with humor or something light. I'll keep that in mind when I next get to BAM and see if I can find him something short and fun.

As for what I've been reading, we'll head over to my nightstand TBR and have a look. My piles here shift constantly; at the moment I think I've got kind of an interesting assortment, mostly rereads: 11/22/63 by Stephen King; The Secret Life of Houdini by William Kalush and Larry Sloman, The Knife Man by Wendy Moore, A Piece of Heaven by Barbara Samuel, Chimera by Rob Thurman, a collection of e.e. cummings's poetry, Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schmidt . . . and see, I am reading a dragon book; there's Anne McCaffrey right up top (I remembered I was once very fond of The White Dragon, so to keep my promise to read more dragon stuff I thought I'd start there with a reread.)

Of all of them I'm probably not going to finish the only new book (King's latest doorstop); that one I'll pass along to someone who is dying to read it but can't afford the hardcover. Since I've been lending my car to my daughter I haven't any books in there, but Daniel Pool is in my purse. Well, not Daniel, but his wonderful book What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew. I'm expecting a copy of ClothDragon's Zen revenge rec, Bridge of Birds, next week as soon as B&N.com ships my latest order, and have another list of titles to hunt for the next time I get to the brick-and-mortar BAM. I've got to get there soon, as I definitely need some new reads.

So, whatcha reading? Give us a peek in comments.

Blockbuster Ten

Ten Things To Help You Bust Through Writer's Block
(dedicated to L., who requested some ideas)

Change Locations: The space you're writing in may be interfering with your process (and is generally because of bad lighting, uncomfortable temperature, noise, family or co-worker traffic or any other element that distracts you.) To discover if it is, take your work and go somewhere else. Coffee shops are the default, but if you have time check out your local public library, outdoor parks, school media centers, employee break rooms or cafeterias at work, tea rooms, etc. Or ask a family member or friend if you can borrow an empty/spare room or office of theirs to work in for a few hours.

Clean Something: This is a method I use to work out whatever is getting between me and the page that my morning meditation doesn't clear out; I get up and do some housework like fold a load of laundry, vacuum, mop, dust, etc. It improves my mood, helps me keep up with my chores and makes me feel better after the task is done. For really bad writing days I'll stop and go clean an entire room.

Get Physical: If you do some regular type of exercise, try taking a break and working out for fifteen minutes. I have a Tai Chi video tape I pop in the recorder that helps me enormously when I'm too aggravated to write or meditate. If you can get outside that also helps; I've found taking the dogs for even a short walk improves my mood and calms me almost 100% of the time.

Listen to Music: I put together a playlist for every book I write, and when I get mired down I'll listen to one of the songs. This is fun and also can help you focus and visualize; music is one of the most direct methods of finding inspiration. If I'm having a particularly difficult time with a specific scene I'll put on a calming instrumental song and loop it to play over and over until I work out the kinks.

Meditate: My favorite definition of meditation is this one: Prayer is about talking to God; meditation is about listening to Him. There are innumerable methods for and philosophies about meditation, and not all require you to be a person of faith; if you don't believe in a higher power it can simply be a time when you listen to yourself. I meditate every morning, and my method evolved from a technique called the thousand-petal lotus (and here's an article where the technique is explained and used for weight control.) This is a great way to deal with the frustrations that get between you and the page, as well as the most proactive thing you can do to prevent writer's block. Try it; you might find that as little as 10 minutes of meditation before you write can help you disperse a lot of the negative thoughts and energy drainers that might mess with you later.

Pick a Reward: Aka dangle a carrot in front of your nose to get yourself moving. I use books I want to read, music CDs I want to listen to and movies I want to watch as incentives to finish my weekly writing goals, and I always reward myself with something fun when I finish a novel. It doesn't have to be a reward you have to purchase, either; if money is tight you can make your carrot something you love to do at home, such as watching an hour of television, taking a long hot bubble bath or baking a batch of homemade cookies for yourself.

Skip Ahead: If there's a scene you simply can't write no matter how often you try, it may need to percolate a bit more in the back of your mind. To give it time to do so you can skip past it and write the next scene. Be sure to leave behind a note for yourself on what the skipped scene was supposed to accomplish, what characters appear in it, etc. Naturally you can go back to the scene whenever you feel ready to try tackling again, but I recommend giving yourself at least 48 hours before you have another go at it.

Talk it Out: This is a trick I learned while training myself to write by voice. If you go back a few paragraphs or pages of story that you've already written, and read it out loud up to the point where you were stopped by the block, you may find you can keep going and tell more of the story by saying it versus typing it. If you don't own voice recognition software, you can record the new material on a handheld tape recorder or with your computer microphone and a recording program. Then all you have to do is transcribe what you've said onto the page.

Timed & Reward Breaks: You'll need a timer or an alarm of some kind for this one (I use an ordinary kitchen timer.) When you're in writing space and nothing is happening, set the timer or alarm for five minutes and go do something else. You can do anything you want for five minutes. When the bell rings or the alarm goes off, go back to your writing space try to write again for the next fifteen minutes (and don't do anything else; you're just there to write.) If nothing happens again, reset your timer or alarm for five more minutes and take another break. Now here's the reward part: if you write a full page, as a reward you earn a ten minute break. If you write two full pages, you get a fifteen minute break. And if you write until you reach your daily goal, you get the rest of the day off.

Unplug: The internet is a wonderful thing. It's an endless universe of neat stuff waiting to be discovered. It can also be one of the worst distractions a writer has, especially when you're wrestling with a block. To get it out of your way, shut it down, and don't log on again until you've written at least a page of new material. Then get that timer or alarm out and give yourself a reward of ten minutes of internet time, because you deserve it.

Related links: Hack Your Way Out of Writer's Block ~ Overcoming Writer's Block ~ Symptoms and Cures for Writer's Block ~ Writer's Block: Is It All In Your Head?

You're My #2

For everyone who has ever loved pencils (colored or otherwise), here's a delightful stop-motion music video about them:

Hudson - Against The Grain from Dropbear on Vimeo.

Winner

I suspect you guys have as much magic as the Publishing Fairy. Your efforts kept me from detonating, and now I have a new list of books to hunt for the next time I hit BAM. On the professional front, I also sold a novel today, and since it was the book I wrote during NaNoWriMo 2009, that was extra icing on the cake.

Meanwhile, the sparkly one just waved her wand over the magic hat, and the winner of the Zen Revenge giveaway is:

ClothDragon, who recommended Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (which I will track down and read, too.)

ClothDragon, when you have a chance please send your full name and ship-to info to LynnViehl@aol.com, and let me know which title you'd like for your BookWish. My thanks to everyone for joining in.

Zen Revenge

I've summoned the Publishing Fairy and bullied her into agreeing to give someone a book they want today. It's mostly a selfish thing; an act of Zen revenge to nullify something that I was stuck with that I don't want (long, ugly story.)

I can't go into details without my head exploding. You'll get writer brains all over your browser. You don't mind, do you?

If you don't, in comments to this post name a book or author that makes you happy (or if you're in my boat at the moment, just toss your name in the magic hat) by midnight EST tonight, November 16, 2011. I'll draw one name at random from everyone who participates and grant the winner a BookWish*. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

*A BookWish is any book of the winner's choice available for order online and that costs up to a maximum of $30.00 U.S. dollars (I'll cover any additional shipping costs involved.)

Faking It

Eighteen years ago I took an old wooden stool my mom had given me, stripped some pretty horrible avocado green paint from it, and decided to try something. I wanted to paint objects on seat in such a way that they looked real. This technique is called trompe l'oeil, and I thought it would be fun. If it worked it would be a kind of visual joke, to fool someone into thinking for just a second that there was stuff sitting on top of the stool.

At the time I didn't really know what I was doing; I figured I'd simply try. I took one of my dishtowels, an orange, a pear, a rose, and my wedding rings, and arranged them into a still life on the floor. Then I painted what I saw onto the top of the stool.

Obviously the results weren't fabulous. I thought the towel came out okay, but the fruit looked flat and the rose was just wrong. My rings looked especially silly; nothing like the real deal. I was about to scrub off the entire painting when my guy stepped in and whisked the stool away from me. He thought it was beautiful (even back then the man needed glasses) and he wouldn't let me erase what was to me a failure. No, he slapped a couple coats of varnish on it to preserve it. Miffed, I left the stool in his custody and eventually forgot about it.

The other night I couldn't find the folding chair I always use to sit in the garage with my guy (I think one of the kids borrowed it) so I grabbed this stool -- my old ridiculous-looking painted stool -- and dusted it off. It surprised me, to see how vivid the colors still were, and how neat the towel looked. My fruit was still flat, and my rose and rings were still lame, but they were also kind of charming. I'd tried so hard to get it right; I'd even added all the little dimples on the rind of the orange.

Those tiny details fascinated me, and reminded me of who I was eighteen years ago. At that point in my life I'd just started diving into things like quilting and painting and writing. Not because I thought I could be wonderful at any of them, but because not trying meant not knowing, and I wanted to find out what I could do.

I'm still trying to find out what I can do. I'll never be a great painter, but I've learned to be a bit more patient with myself. I'm also more forgiving, and more inclined to keep trying, because in the years since I painted that stool I've learned that I don't suck at everything. I've also discovered that just trying to paint or quilt or write what I see in my head is enough to make it worth it. If something decent comes out of it, that's a bonus. What I thought of as faking it was always an act of courage as well as creation. The delights keep bringing me back to the easel, or the sewing machine, or the keyboard -- and yet, so do the disappointments.

I'm glad my guy didn't let me destroy my failed attempt at trompe l'oeil. I can see now that it wasn't a failure. It was one of countless stops along the journey of living a creative life. If I'd given up there, maybe I wouldn't be where I am now.

Everything you do contributes to who you become. It's okay to get discouraged, to feel inadequate, to want to make your failures go away; it's part of learning. It's when you stop trying that you steal from your future self. So go ahead, try it. Fake it if you have to. Whatever the results, it will probably be one of the most real things you ever do.