Aaron Polson's Blog, page 36

I'm Not Clowning Around About the Contest

Remember, remember the 31st of January (not as catchy as "5th of November, le sigh):

Monday is the last day to enter my latest giveaway. Details here.

Today, another video from Patrick Boivin (creator of "Happy Meal"). This one is funny, sad, and well...

Shock Totem 3

I wanted to wait until I had this

in hand before I posted about how damn proud I was to have a story in Shock Totem. A big thank you to the brave editors for taking a chance on my little story, "Wanting It". It's one of my favorite tales, if not my very favorite (don't tell my other stories) and never fails to catch me with armor down at the end.

I've already devoured John Skipp's rather delicious (if one can stomach it) entry and a wonderfully sad tale from Jeremy Kelly, "A Birth in the Year of the Miracle Plague". Shock Totem is a mag well worth your support.

You know what to do.

WIP Wednesday Gets Boarded by Pirates

Yeah, I'm writing a short story. I've always been writing something for the last five years. There's your "WIP Wednesday". Haha.

I love the discussion which started yesterday. Book piracy is a hot topic. It's a relatively new topic for books, too. Bootlegging movies and music has been a pretty easy task for years, long before digital copies and the 'net have made it even easier. Some bands built their reputation on bootlegged tapes (um, how about some Metallica irony, folks?). But books were harder to steal and mass produce--you needed a printing press or a really reliable photocopier and a boatload of patience.

Now we have e-books. Now we have Creative Commons licenses. Now we have pirates trading books.

At McLouth High School, we have a rule in the student handbook stating "all electronic devices will remain in student lockers during the school day". Right. Seen any cell phones lately? Out of 22 students in first period, 20 had a cell phone, MP3 player, or both (I surveyed them). How do you police a rule like that? Is it worth the time to try? My point: some people will do what they want regardless of laws or rules or moral order. They just will. It doesn't make it right. It just is.

I know piracy has hurt music sales. I used to download pirated music (before I saw the light), a practice I've given up because cheap, reliable, and convenient alternatives now exist. I know the music industry's lack of foresight and willingness to change has also hurt music sales. We can't blame the pirates for the whole mess.

So, when I tongue-in-cheek told people to steal my book, I'm acknowledging the reality of electronic piracy. I can't live in fear of it, just like I won't spend my teaching day seeking out every contraband electronic device I can find. I'm an English teacher. We read literature and write. We think. We don't have time for cat and mouse.

Students have always found a way to "goof off" in class. When I was younger, we did it with pencil and paper and passed notes. Now they text. Who knows what comes next?

I don't.

But I'm curious...

Steal My Book

Really, I don't mind. In fact, I encourage you to steal my book. The way I figure it--and I'm stealing the idea from Cory Doctorow, proving piracy of ideas is pretty common--anyone who steals my book wasn't going to pay for it in the first place.

What am I talking about? Well, I discovered (through the magic of Google Alerts...if you are an author and don't have one set to your name do it now) The Bottom Feeders is available through a file sharing site. Another site has it available for $1.99. Ha! Good luck selling it, folks. I'm not doing so hot at $.99. (5 sold in January so far...)

But I digress. Please, feel free to trade my book "illegally". Any of my books, actually. If it means more people read the books--awesome. The problem, see, is that most book pirates probably don't read all those files. Pirates pirate because they can--I'd say some are addicted to file downloading. I want to meet readers who are addicted to reading. So steal my book. Steal it all over the place. Just leave my name on it, okay, because not to do so would be the real theft.

Speaking of free things and reading, you can sign up for a free preview of The House Eaters. Just fill in the appropriate info off to the left. The book is coming. Soon.

In fact, it goes to print tonight...barring any major problems.

Excited?

Yes.

Write 1 / Sub 1 Weekend Update #2

I know, it's the third weekend and this is update #2. So I'm a slacker.

Anyway, I managed to ship off my third Write 1 / Sub 1 entry this week, a flash story titled "The Fisherman's Son" to Cezanne's Carrot. I subbed another story, a rewritten flash piece, to 100 Stories for Queensland, but I'd written it last year, so no "working ahead" here.

I also received my first rejection for a Write 1 / Sub 1 story (one other piece is still "out there"). But, as the wheel turns, I did place a pseudo-Lovecraftian tale, "The Wings of Çatalhöyük" with the Gloaming Magazine. I guess that's one of those give/take sort of things.

Here's a little inspiration for "Wings" (you can click the link for the rest of the article):

The vulture frescos at Çatalhöyük may show excarnation practices. Bodies were exposed, as in Tibet or among the Jains, in open funeral houses, to the tearing beak of the griffin vulture which stripped the skeletons of soft tissue.

Now if that doesn't get you thinking about something weird...

"Happy Meal"

Take that, evil empire.

WIP Wednesday: Stranger in a Strange Land

Today's writing prompt (from The Write Addiction)...it's a mash up: rewrite "The Three Little Pigs" as if it was a science fiction story.

I had one of those secret life/real life crossovers earlier today when I stumbled across this entry on J. Seraphim Anderson's blog, the white star journal. I've been playing relatively well with others on the interwebTM for a few years, but I still feel like a

in my own town. I need to get out more. Meet some real humans.

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I finished a short Gothic story, "The North Lantern", yesterday, and today I'm hoping to put some serious revision to two flash pieces.

The first line of "The Fisherman's Son" (one of the two):

My father, who was quite sick, hadn't caught a single "keeper" on the last day we fished Glen Elder Lake together.

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Speaking of flash, "Faith" is to be included (along with "How to Burn a House") in The Best of Every Day Fiction Three. Happy dance? Sure, why not.

Write Hard: Writers Who Inspire Me

I've been meaning to start this "meme" for a while now...no time like the present.

The rules are too simple (I hope).

When you win:

1. Post the picture above to your blog. You can link here if you want. It doesn't have to become part of the permanent clutter of your sidebar. Goodness no.

2. List at least three writers who you feel live up to the "write hard" spirit. Think: writers who work at their craft, writers who never give up despite the odds, writers who constantly turn out quality work. Writers you admire. Optional: explain why you think they are awesome.

3. Include these rules or a link to them.

4. Notify said writers of their victory. Ask them to pass on the torch.

5. Continue being awesome.

So who do I list to kick off "write hard"?

1. Cate Gardner - The original definition of awesome. Cate's been knocking out great stories for years and taking it all in stride. Big things loom over the horizon for her (did you hear about her forthcoming book from Hadley Rille (Theatre of Curious Acts)?). Amazing things.

2. KV Taylor - The genius behind Red Penny Papers and fellow Belfire Press author. KV's novel Scripped is coming this summer, and you know what you'll be reading.

3. Barry Napier - Poetry, novels, short stories, comic books...what hasn't Barry tried? Get ready for The Bleeding Room from Graveside Tales next fall.

4. Mercedes M. Yardley - All you need to do is follow Ms. Yardley for a short while and you'll be inspired. Whimsical Horror indeed.

5. Milo James Fowler - I couldn't help but give a big shout out to a fellow teacher. I expect Milo's future to be quite bright. (Maybe not as bright as Captain Quasar's smile...)

That should get the ball rolling...and if it rolls no further than these five, it has known some pretty awesome folks.

This Post is About Writing

I've resurrected "The Write Addiction" and will post five prompts a week.

Today's writing prompt (a non-traditional one): Make a list of food the world's heaviest person might eat in a day.

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A little announcement about the Big Experiment. I've decided to donate 10% of each month's sales (right now, that amounts to about 3 cents--woo-hoo!) over the next year to a charitable organization. I've also decided to let my blog readers vote each month on the charity which receives the cash. If I win, so does someone else. Due to JA Konrath's latest plea to let the experiment take its course, I'll be running the big experiment for the next year. At least. Some may not believe in the Church of Konrath; I'm not sure if I do, but he is one of the lead advocates for self-publishing. The experiment is about his sermons as much as anything.

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I have something special to share (and it's about writing), but I figured it needs its own post. Hint: it's about someone else. Three someone elses, in fact.

Write 1 / Sub 1 Weekend Update

I subbed my second new story of 2011 earlier this week. "Delbert Kibbey's Mail Order Bride" seeks a good home. Will work for pennies a word.

And now...now I'm up to my proverbial eyeballs in half-finished manuscripts. Most started with characters and no real plot. I might have to declare a "mash up" and steal the characters, lock them in a room, and see who's left standing after a few thousand words.

I have learned something about myself: I need the plot before I can insert the characters. I know other writers work differently, but for me, no clear route to "the end"=half finished story.