Aaron Polson's Blog, page 60

Sunshine This, Mr. Delany

Here I am, your big, cloudy ray of sunshine. Thanks to the magnificent Cate Gardner for the bestowment of the award. And yes, I know "bestowment" is not a word (thank you, Firefox, for pointing that out).

Now comes the part where I bestow the award on two deserving visitors to this blog. Quite frankly, you all rock. Each time one of these awards floats my way, I feel like the dude on stage at the Oscars, yammering away all the names I can while they start to play music and drag me off sta...

WIP Wednesday: I Can't Handle the Truth

Why do I get so worked up about the cost of books? (see the previous two posts) It's not like I have some major book deal and stand to gain/lose.

But I do love stories. I've written about that before, right?

Stories have life which stretches beyond the now. Stories can have life which stretches far beyond an author's. Stories are often the casualties of money grabs, even though words don't really belong to anyone or any business entity. Go ahead and fleece writers and readers. I have to be...

If Print is Dead, Who Owns the Stories?

Well, Anasi the Spider owns the stories of course. He won them from Nyame, the Sky-God.

Last Saturday morning, I took the boys to a puppet show featuring Anansi , and they both belly-laughed throughout.

But really, who "owns" a story?

As a writer of a certain stripe, I'd love to say I own my stories (which I do, kind of), but as any good writer I hope some of them outlive me. Life is pretty transient. It's far too easy to die.

I've learned a few things from studying literature for the past sevent...

Print is Dead

So I don't really believe print is dead, but is it dying? I dunno. The iPad won't kill it, that's for sure.

I was at Borders this weekend, browsing with no intent to buy (my favorite bookstore mode), and just felt the general sticker shock of a $25 hardback novel. I love stories...I love writing...I love reading...

I just can't see shelling out $25 for a book that I'll probably only read one time.

Before you throw your cuppa coffee at the screen, let me explain. I read a book: great....

#fridayflash Inheritance

When Magomu reaches the platform, he hurries to his brother's rope. His hands ache, raw and strained from the climb, but he works quickly, struggling against the dullness of his knife. It is an old knife, but not as old as his father's. Not as valuable.

He closes his eyes as the last strands fray and pop. With his eyes closed, he sees his brother's body, broken on the packed earth below, and imagines holding his inheritance to the sun, the blade glittering, while the crowd cheers his name.

#fridayflash Poe's Basement

WIP Wednesday: Monsters Everywhere

What am I working on? Monsters.

They're everywhere.
Max (my three-year-old) is responsible for the monstrous picture. Random scribbles or a child's interpretation of an Old One who visits in the wee hours of the night? You make the call. It creeped me out for some reason.

Speaking of crazy, who is crazy enough to write a short story with the same title as a novel? I am. Read "The House Eaters" at Rose & Thorn Journal. I imagine this is what might happen to Nick and Tabby (brother and si...

How I Celebrate a Synopsis

Yeah, the dreaded synopsis. I finished mine for Loathsome, Dark, and Deep yesterday, and to celebrate, I:

made beef stew for dinner (yum)drank a bottle of Smithwick's in a chilled pint glass with the stew (double yum)read As the City Sleeps by Stephen T. Johnson to my boys

Okay, As the City Sleeps is the book that should have been written during my childhood.

From the jacket:

Imagine that you are all alone in the sleeping city.
It is is very late at night.

And a quote as inscription:

Night...

Choose Your Own Adventure

Don't worry. I haven't forgotten about the blob in Curt's kitchen.

This post is mostly about what unchecked expansion means to writers: you, me, most everyone who reads this blog.

If you want to be read, at whatever level, you must learn to brand yourself. It's one of the first lessons I learned when I started. It's the reason I purchased my domain (http://www.aaronpolson.com/) before I had anything worthwhile to slap up there. Being read may (or may not) translate into cash someday. Someday. M...

#fridayflash Unchecked Expansion

This bit o' flash has a purpose. More on Monday...

The sound of breaking glass yanks Curt from his sleep. Bolting upright in bed, he turns to face Gail, her eyes also blown wide with surprise.

"Downstairs," he mutters.

She nods.

"A burglar?"

"Maybe," she whispers. Without taking her eyes from her husband, she fumbles for the cell phone on the nightstand beside her. "911..."

Curt hops out of bed.

"Curt," she pleads.

"I have to check." His scowl says too much: Three tours in Iraq and I come home...