Wen Spencer's Blog, page 6
March 6, 2011
wen_spencer @ 2011-03-06T11:44:00
Alpha is a writer's workshop for teenagers who write science fiction, fantasy, and horror. The staff is all volunteer, doing it out of love. It is operated as a tax-exempt, charitable, literary organization under the Pittsburgh science fiction fan club, PARSEC, umbrella. All the money they collect goes to offset student fees. They were asked for a record number of scholarships this year by the 50 students who applied. The applicants come from all over the world. The judges now have the stories and they'll be picking the top 20 by April 15th for the 2011 workshop in July, the 10 days preceding Confluence. They have some matching funds, so your tax-deductible donation could be doubled. Check out the lovely website the teens made for the fundraiser and the gifts promised to those who donate. See links to published works by former Alpha students. Get yourself listed on the "Alpha Angels" page.
http://alpha.spellcaster.org/donate/2011-fundraiser/
http://alpha.spellcaster.org/donate/2011-fundraiser/
January 12, 2011
wen_spencer @ 2011-01-11T17:36:00
Ann Cecil
August 1, 1940 - January 11, 2011.
My true friend, my mentor, my muse, my first reader, my second mother.
Words can not express how much I will miss Ann.
August 1, 1940 - January 11, 2011.
My true friend, my mentor, my muse, my first reader, my second mother.
Words can not express how much I will miss Ann.
December 27, 2010
October 29, 2010
Hawaii!!
We've decided to move to Hawaii!
On December 1st, I'm flying to Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii to resettle. The tickets are purchased. The arrangements have been made to ship my car. I've been packing like crazy.
Aloha!
On December 1st, I'm flying to Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii to resettle. The tickets are purchased. The arrangements have been made to ship my car. I've been packing like crazy.
Aloha!
October 13, 2010
I suppose I should explain
Someone had asked about my writing process, to which I had to confess, its mysterious and messy.
I had an idea for a story, sat down and wrote out a scene, and my hero Thomas and his Captain evolved from it. Bare, bare bones. It needed more. But what? I racked my head for a while and out popped that scene. There's very little before -- two scenes set in a prison -- and nothing after it.
I posted this scene as an example of "And I write a few random scenes -- things that sound interesting -- and then set about trying to knit a novel out of it."
So far, no novel been knitted out of this -- sorry to tease.
I had an idea for a story, sat down and wrote out a scene, and my hero Thomas and his Captain evolved from it. Bare, bare bones. It needed more. But what? I racked my head for a while and out popped that scene. There's very little before -- two scenes set in a prison -- and nothing after it.
I posted this scene as an example of "And I write a few random scenes -- things that sound interesting -- and then set about trying to knit a novel out of it."
So far, no novel been knitted out of this -- sorry to tease.
to illustrate a point
"Private? Private Blue? Thomas?"
Thomas woke, opening his eyes to blazing white. His breath misted out into cold air but he felt feverishly warm. The white was eclipsed by Captain Brookhart leaning over him, looking concerned. "Captain?"
"Welcome back, Private. How do you feel?"
Thomas considered his body. Every bone ached. "Ow?"
Captain nodded as if he expected it. "Can you sit up?"
Thomas tried and found that he could, although it made his head swim oddly. He had an eldritch sword in his right hand with power shimmering up his arm like heat waves off stone. He frowned at it, puzzled, until he remembered that Klaus had thrown the Kingmaker out onto the ice, and how the blade and sheathe spun off in separate directions, each sliding toward open water.
"Put the sword down on the ground beside you, Private." Captain said in a tone that was more suggestion than an order.
Nor following the suggestion easy; Thomas' fingers were locked tight around the sword's hilt. He forced his fingers to relax and drop the hilt, hissing in pain. The blade vanished into the snow bank beside him, leaving behind a thin hole in the snow that slowly widen.
Captain crouched down beside him and commanded this time, "Let me see your hand."
Thomas gritted his teeth and held up his hand for inspection. Captain peeled the glove from Thomas' hand and studied the beet red skin for a minute before nodding. "It will blister up, but it's not badly damaged. Put it in the snow."
The snow was blessedly cool. They were on the banks of the lake, where the land rose up steeply from the flat ice. Klaus was still out on the ice, a bloom of red against the white. Drag marks led from a massive set of cracks in the ice to where he sat – apparently he'd been pulled to safety after falling unconscious. The rest of the troop was scattered along the edge of the ice, spikes of blue, poking in the snow as if hunting for something.
"Where's the scabbard, Private?" Captain asked, indicating the sword with the nod of his head. It lay on bare earth at the bottom of shallow grove in the snowbank, whiffs of steam rose coming from the snow still touching the blade.
"It went in the water." Thomas said. "The hilt slowed down the sword so I could grab it." There was no "good job" or "good man" like he expected for saving the sword. "I couldn't save them both, sir. I could only reach one or the other. I figured that the sword was the important one."
"The sword should have killed you." The captain growled, like he'd done something stupid.
"But it didn't."
"Yes, I know. But begs the question, why didn't it?"
Thomas pulled his hand from the snow and gazed at it. Like the captain predicted, the skin was starting to blister. "I don't know."
The captain studied him hard for another minute and then stood. "Sergeant, call them in. Private Blue says it went into the lake. There will be no recovering it."
"Yes, sir!" Sergeant Fisher turned and bellowed out commands, recalling the others.
"We'll have to jury-rig a sheathe so you can carry it," Captain said.
"Me?" Thomas said.
"Yes, you. You've proved that you can handle it without getting yourself killed. I doubt that would be true for anyone else in this regiment."
"Even you, sir?"
"Even me."
Thomas woke, opening his eyes to blazing white. His breath misted out into cold air but he felt feverishly warm. The white was eclipsed by Captain Brookhart leaning over him, looking concerned. "Captain?"
"Welcome back, Private. How do you feel?"
Thomas considered his body. Every bone ached. "Ow?"
Captain nodded as if he expected it. "Can you sit up?"
Thomas tried and found that he could, although it made his head swim oddly. He had an eldritch sword in his right hand with power shimmering up his arm like heat waves off stone. He frowned at it, puzzled, until he remembered that Klaus had thrown the Kingmaker out onto the ice, and how the blade and sheathe spun off in separate directions, each sliding toward open water.
"Put the sword down on the ground beside you, Private." Captain said in a tone that was more suggestion than an order.
Nor following the suggestion easy; Thomas' fingers were locked tight around the sword's hilt. He forced his fingers to relax and drop the hilt, hissing in pain. The blade vanished into the snow bank beside him, leaving behind a thin hole in the snow that slowly widen.
Captain crouched down beside him and commanded this time, "Let me see your hand."
Thomas gritted his teeth and held up his hand for inspection. Captain peeled the glove from Thomas' hand and studied the beet red skin for a minute before nodding. "It will blister up, but it's not badly damaged. Put it in the snow."
The snow was blessedly cool. They were on the banks of the lake, where the land rose up steeply from the flat ice. Klaus was still out on the ice, a bloom of red against the white. Drag marks led from a massive set of cracks in the ice to where he sat – apparently he'd been pulled to safety after falling unconscious. The rest of the troop was scattered along the edge of the ice, spikes of blue, poking in the snow as if hunting for something.
"Where's the scabbard, Private?" Captain asked, indicating the sword with the nod of his head. It lay on bare earth at the bottom of shallow grove in the snowbank, whiffs of steam rose coming from the snow still touching the blade.
"It went in the water." Thomas said. "The hilt slowed down the sword so I could grab it." There was no "good job" or "good man" like he expected for saving the sword. "I couldn't save them both, sir. I could only reach one or the other. I figured that the sword was the important one."
"The sword should have killed you." The captain growled, like he'd done something stupid.
"But it didn't."
"Yes, I know. But begs the question, why didn't it?"
Thomas pulled his hand from the snow and gazed at it. Like the captain predicted, the skin was starting to blister. "I don't know."
The captain studied him hard for another minute and then stood. "Sergeant, call them in. Private Blue says it went into the lake. There will be no recovering it."
"Yes, sir!" Sergeant Fisher turned and bellowed out commands, recalling the others.
"We'll have to jury-rig a sheathe so you can carry it," Captain said.
"Me?" Thomas said.
"Yes, you. You've proved that you can handle it without getting yourself killed. I doubt that would be true for anyone else in this regiment."
"Even you, sir?"
"Even me."
October 2, 2010
wen_spencer @ 2010-10-02T14:10:00
LOL so got a congratulations today by email for the announcement in Locus. I was waiting for contracts in hand, but I guess its official...
I've sold two books to Baen. The first will be the third book of Tinker, tentatively titled ELFHOME, and has a due date of March 30th, so it will probably be out end of 2011.
Second book is yet to be agreed upon fantasy -- for my own sanity sake, not a Tinker universe novel since its due March 30, 2012.
I've sold two books to Baen. The first will be the third book of Tinker, tentatively titled ELFHOME, and has a due date of March 30th, so it will probably be out end of 2011.
Second book is yet to be agreed upon fantasy -- for my own sanity sake, not a Tinker universe novel since its due March 30, 2012.
September 16, 2010
Guest of Honor -- Con*Stellation.
I'm heading the door to be Guest of Honor at Con*Stellation.
The convention is tomorrow, Friday, September 17-19, 2010 at the Holiday Inn Express in Huntsville, AL.
Other guests include: Steve Jackson, Vincent Di Fate, Warren Buff, Lou Anders, Chris Berman, Mark Fitzgerald, Allan Gilbreath, Sara M. Harvey, Les Johnson, Darrel Osborn, Stephanie Osborn, Kimberly Richardson, Steve White, and Jeff Ugly Shoes and the Cemetery Surfers.
http://www.con-stellation.org/constell/index.html
The convention is tomorrow, Friday, September 17-19, 2010 at the Holiday Inn Express in Huntsville, AL.
Other guests include: Steve Jackson, Vincent Di Fate, Warren Buff, Lou Anders, Chris Berman, Mark Fitzgerald, Allan Gilbreath, Sara M. Harvey, Les Johnson, Darrel Osborn, Stephanie Osborn, Kimberly Richardson, Steve White, and Jeff Ugly Shoes and the Cemetery Surfers.
http://www.con-stellation.org/constell/index.html
September 8, 2010
wen_spencer @ 2010-09-08T14:29:00
Next Weekend, September 17-19, 2010, I'll be Guest of Honor at Con*Stellation.
Con*Stellation is Con*Stellation XXIX: Leo, and will be held September 17-19, 2010. Con*stellation will be held at the Holiday Inn Express located near the intersection of University Drive and Jordan Lane in Huntsville, at 3808 University Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35816.
* Guest of Honor: Wen Spencer
* Master of Cermonies: Steve Jackson
* Artist Guest of Honor: Vincent Di Fate
* Fan Guest of Honor: Warren Buff
* Also Expec...
Con*Stellation is Con*Stellation XXIX: Leo, and will be held September 17-19, 2010. Con*stellation will be held at the Holiday Inn Express located near the intersection of University Drive and Jordan Lane in Huntsville, at 3808 University Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35816.
* Guest of Honor: Wen Spencer
* Master of Cermonies: Steve Jackson
* Artist Guest of Honor: Vincent Di Fate
* Fan Guest of Honor: Warren Buff
* Also Expec...
August 26, 2010
wen_spencer @ 2010-08-26T12:54:00
I ran across this today while doing a vanity check! Very cool cover. Looking forward to getting my copy!
http://www.randomhouse.de/book/edition.jsp?edi=353516&frm=false
http://www.randomhouse.de/book/edition.jsp?edi=353516&frm=false
