'Nathan Burgoine's Blog, page 123

Sunday Shorts – “No Man is a Promontory,” by H.N. Janzen

Had some technological issues on Sunday (we had to empty out our living room for the upcoming renovations, and that included unhooking the internet for a bit), so while this is a Sunday Shorts entry, I won’t be able to chat about it until Monday. Things happen. Stuff goes wrong. Technology fails.

Speaking of which…

I recently took part in a great online discussion on Twitter about Canadian literature and diversity in literature (and specifically science fiction and fantasy), and one of many great things about that discussion was finding out about some new anthologies. Today’s Sunday Short comes from one of those anthologies, Fractured, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

This is a collection of Canadian post-apocalypse stories, and while I’m not done the whole collection yet, I’m really enjoying it. The fresh take on having these stories with a Canadian twist is exactly that: fresh. It’s rare I get to see this sort of story happening somewhere other than, say, New York or Chicago or some other major U.S. city. And the difference matters quite a bit to many of the tales.

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“No Man is a Promontory,” by H.N. Janzen

The thing about post-apocalypse is you know you’re going to get dark stories, and this is no exception. But seeing a place I’ve been to (and lived hear) go this dark? Awesome. Kelowna is the setting for this first story in the collection, and we have a native woman – former military – who has survived the fallout and is keenly aware that food is going to be a major issue. The few people who remain are already turning on each other, and though she herself is by no means soft-hearted – I believe the line is “I’ve stolen food from a woman giving birth” – she finds herself drawn to another survivor, a child.

This story is a great example of how less can be so much more. It’s very short, it’s paints a vivid picture of this post-apocalyptic world without listing detail after detail or painstaking worldbuilding, and boils down the narrative to a keen edge. And the last line is both chilling and inspiring – in a dark, broken way.

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There are many more awesome stories I’ve found in this anthology so far – anyone interested in a post-apocalyptic ‘Anne of Green Gables’? – and I’m sure I’ll revisit this anthology again for some future Sundays. Until then, keep it short…

Writing Wednesday – Time Out for Renovations

I haven’t played a “didn’t write” card yet, but this week I’ll be doing it for the first time. See, a few weeks ago, my husband and I got an estimate for the renovations to our living/dining room, and we discussed, decided, and are moving ahead. The original estimate talked about August.

It starts next week.

So, suffice it to say I’ve been emptying the giant wall of bookshelves, re-homing furniture, finding places to store art, putting LEGO in the basement (funny story about Slave-One, by the way), and basically running up and down stairs non-stop, when the dog wasn’t demanding walks despite the horrible rainy weather.

Gah.

That said, I’m now sitting in a mostly giant empty, and as such will be back on track tomorrow. I may even try to regain some writing time this evening for a short story piece, since I’m more than half-way through June, and I haven’t sent anything off yet.

So, no forward motion in the writing. My bad. But it had to happen. Now, onward to the calls…

Open Calls I know about:

The Biggest Lover – Big-Boned Men’s Erotica for Chubs and Chasers; first draft June 1st, 2015; deadline July 1st, 2015.

Defying Doomsday – apocalypse-survival fiction with a focus on disabled characters; deadline July 1st, 2015.

Threesome: Him, Him, and Me – Matt Bright is editing for Lethe an erotic anthology dealing with one of the more adventurous of trysts, the threesome; deadline August 1st, 2015.

The Engorged Book of Gay Vampire Stories – Reprints of gay vampire fiction; deadline August 1st, 2015.

Unconventional Love – Short romantic fiction that revolves around attending a convention; deadline August 31st, 2015.

Glitterwolf Magazine: Hallowe’en Issue – Dark, queer, weird or horror fiction, poetry, art and photography from (as per usual) LGBT contributors; deadline August 31st, 2015.

Defying Doomsday – Apocalypse-survival fiction with a focus on disabled characters; deadline July 1st, 2015

Bi Guys – Firsthand Fiction for Bisexual Men and their Admirers; synopsis September 1st, 2015; deadline October 1st, 2015.

Ink Stained Succubus – quite a few different calls, including M/f, F/m, M/M, and lots of different genre calls; earliest deadline is September 15th, 2015.

Covalent Bonds – Geeks in Love; deadline December 15th, 2015.

Friends of Hyakinthos – Fantastical gay male-themed stories set during the time of Ancient Greece or involving Hellenism in later cultures; Deadline January 1st, 2016.

Other places to always check include the Lambda Literary Calls of Submission page.

Heard of any good calls lately? Pop ’em in the comments, too.

Sunday Shorts – Days of Love by Elisa Rolle

It’s pretty rare I step into the world of nonfiction. When I do, I generally read biographies, and try to read biographies about people whose lives follow lines very different from my own (and I try doubly hard to find biographies about people whose voices aren’t as often heard). It’s not that I don’t find nonfiction enthralling, it’s actually quite the opposite – the reality of nonfiction makes it hit me all the harder.

Case in point, I purchased The Up Stairs Lounge Arson by Clayton Delery-Edwards and I am inching my way through it because it disturbs me so. It is important history. It’s brilliantly written. It’s heart-crushing.

So, if you wonder why I rarely talk nonfiction, that’s the answer.

That said, nonfiction can also bring joys.

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Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time, by Elisa Rolle

I’m willing to bet that if you’re an LGBT reader and you think you don’t know who Elisa Rolle is, you actually do – chances are someone in the LGBT world has linked to one of her reviews about their work. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been on the lucky receiving end of that honour. Rolle’s reviews are complete, honest, and – even when critical – provide a reader with enough information to know whether or not the book is something for them. She’s a force for awareness in the LGBT literary world, and we’re the richer for having her.

This book is a collection of true stories about LGBT relationships spanning back from Alexander the Great and the purported love he shared with Hephaestion to relationships that began in 2012. Each page is a couple, telling of their meeting (if known), the progression of their romance (again, what details might be found), and their ultimate ends.

Organized as it is in a chronological sense, something happens as you page your way through these stories – you find a continuum.

Now, I’ve said this over and over, but one of the things about being a queer is that you don’t inherit a queer cultural lineage from your biological family. Those who have come before are almost surely strangers to you. It is quite likely you know nothing of queer history (because, if we’re honest, it’s just not taught in any mainstream way). The individual stories that make up queer culture are out there – yes – but that’s exactly it: they’re out there. A brand new queer kid has to go looking.

Books like this are invaluable. As I read the stories, I found myself moving through eras, seeing – achingly slowly – the progression queer culture has made, the gains and losses and victories and pain. Near the end of the collection, entries are full of queer couples marrying after decades of being together without that right. It is a hopeful collection.

We have to share our stories. It’s the only way we’ll continue to have our culture, this strange and wonderful queer culture that is made of individuals that begin in so many different places. Every single love story in this collection, whether joyful, painful, or ongoing, is a story worth knowing, and telling, and celebrating.

See you next week (and keep it short!)

Writing Wednesday – Plot Bunnies

It’s always fun to learn a new term, but one of the ones I picked up through the Romancing the Capital is ‘Plot Bunnies.’ If you’ve never heard it before (don’t feel bad, I hadn’t) it’s the notion that while you’re working on thing the first, ideas for things the second through a billion pop up and demand attention. They reproduce like bunnies, those ideas, while you’re trying to focus on the first thing. Then, when you finally turn your attention to them – they’ve scampered and hidden in little holes. When you finally dig one out, and start working on it, those bunnies go into heat all over again and a thousand new plot bunnies romp around the meadow.

I love the term.

That happened to me a lot this last week, and I actually did something I never do and gave in for a couple of hours on the weekend to organize, capture the thoughts, and even sketch a very big overview of a YA idea that’s been hopping like the plot bunny it is in my face all week. If I’m still madly in love with it when I finish Triad Blood, I think it will be the next thing I pitch, because nothing is as terrifying as YA, right?

The Novel:

It’s getting so damn close to being a first draft I can taste it. I’ve got maybe 6,000 words left to go, and those words are mostly in transitions and to really polish off the denouement. I cannot tell you how exciting that is.

I also fell into a long whirlpool of website research on the Métis, and have learned that what I learned in high school and university was really, really poor.

I’m still somewhat worried about whether or not my antagonist is too “off-page” but I’m feeling better about how much print time the various three guys get in the book. I’ve still got one major decision to make about one of the supporting cast (the aforementioned Métis guy, actually), but it can wait until the last moment (which is what the character is doing, too.)

Then it’ll be time for Beta readers. Gah!

The Short Stuff

Haven’t sent anything off for June yet. Crap. Also, the contest I entered in May got back to me and no I did not win (which is fine, that’s not the point, the point was to enter something I was very uncomfortable writing – a flash piece).

I think I have now started three separate threesome stories that have gone too long. I need a much tighter idea. (Wait, that sounded wrong…) I can do this.

Onward to the calls…

Open Calls I know about:

Ink Stained Succubus – quite a few different calls, including M/f, F/m, M/M, and lots of different genre calls; earliest deadline is June 15th, 2015.

The Biggest Lover – Big-Boned Men’s Erotica for Chubs and Chasers; first draft June 1st, 2015; deadline July 1st, 2015.

Defying Doomsday – apocalypse-survival fiction with a focus on disabled characters; deadline July 1st, 2015.

Threesome: Him, Him, and Me – Matt Bright is editing for Lethe an erotic anthology dealing with one of the more adventurous of trysts, the threesome; deadline August 1st, 2015.

The Engorged Book of Gay Vampire Stories – Reprints of gay vampire fiction; deadline August 1st, 2015.

Unconventional Love – Short romantic fiction that revolves around attending a convention; deadline August 31st, 2015.

Glitterwolf Magazine: Hallowe’en Issue – Dark, queer, weird or horror fiction, poetry, art and photography from (as per usual) LGBT contributors; deadline August 31st, 2015.

Bi Guys – Firsthand Fiction for Bisexual Men and their Admirers; synopsis September 1st, 2015; deadline October 1st, 2015.
Covalent Bonds – Geeks in Love; deadline December 15th, 2015.

Friends of Hyakinthos – Fantastical gay male-themed stories set during the time of Ancient Greece or involving Hellenism in later cultures; Deadline January 1st, 2016.

Other places to always check include the Lambda Literary Calls of Submission page.

Heard of any good calls lately? Pop ’em in the comments, too.

Sunday Shorts – “Junk Male,” by Chaz Brenchley

Since the last time I touched on Chaz Brenchley‘s collection of short fiction Bitter Waters, it won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror, so congratulations are in order for the author.

As I said last time, I’m listening to this one as an audiobook, and I’m kind of rationing myself with it, as the stories have been – so far – dark enough and thoughtful enough that I think I’d be better off taking my time.

Also, one of the fun things about listening to an audiobook is realizing that you may have to go online to check for character names and story titles – because, as in the case of the title of this story, you can’t “hear” the pun. I had a sneaking suspicion, of course, once I got a little bit into the story, but at the start I was wondering how junk mail might play a part. It didn’t take long, but there’s another way that an audio experience is different from reading.

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“Junk Male,” by Chaz Brenchley

This story doesn’t have a particularly speculative fiction aspect so much as it has a mystery, but I was so engrossed I didn’t care in the slightest. The narrative is – once again – simple on the surface but far more complex than it first appears. Here you have a man who is the skipper of a junk, crewed by young men, who comes across another boat sideways and stuck while trying to navigate the river. On board that other boat is a body of a woman, and a child. The skipper is averse to attention, but has the crime reported, everyone is interviewed, and he moves on – but something about this crime stays with him, and ultimately he spends enough time thinking about it to have a dark realization about what has happened.

The meat of this story is in this man’s character. He is not necessarily a good person (in fact, it’s made quite clear he isn’t), and yet there are a few moments here and there to give you pause. Who are the boys on his boat? What are the secrets? What has actually happened to this young boy, to the woman who was murdered?

The conclusion is very satisfying, and yet – like much of reality – leaves you feeling disquieted.

Writing Wednesday

Quick update today, because I had a visit from the insomnia monster last night and wow am I tired. I think I got perhaps an hour or two of sleep last night, if that. Woo! Thank goodness for strongly brewed tea.

Writing Wednesday is my attempt to keep myself honest by posting processes – and goals – on a weekly basis. The idea being that if I have to admit that I’m not getting anywhere, I’ll work harder to make that not happen. Because public shame is motivating, apparently.

Anyway! Onward…

The Novel:

Oh man, I can taste the completeness of a terrible draft. (I say that half-jokingly, as I know a draft will have so much more to do on it, but there’s a lovely sense of crafting when you get to the draft stage, rather than the raw writing.)

I didn’t add in the wordcount for yesterday, but I’m at 86% of my original word count estimated goal of 70,000, and I think my “real” goal will now be closer to 68,000 since I decided that epilogue cliffhanger had to go. I’ve got some major writing to do with Eli’s character (you haven’t met him yet) and between that and making sure all my clues are in place in earlier scenes so that nothing feels too deus ex machina at the end, I’m feeling good. Really.

I’m a little worried about a few things: Is my enemy is too “off-page” and thus will not feel particularly threatening? Is there too much focus on one or two of the Triad guys, and not all of them equally? (Is that even a problem?)

This is why Beta Readers are the best thing ever invented.

The Short Stuff

I sent off something for May! Now it’s June. Crap.

Okay, well, I have a couple of things I’m working on. A threesome story is giving me trouble, and it might be a case of “save it to the ‘someday’ file” and scrapping it to start a different idea. That ‘someday’ file, by the way, is huge. HUGE.

I’m also toying with releasing a couple of short stories (or maybe a set of three short stories?) as e-only. Doing it myself, even. I have stories that have reverted to me – specifically, some erotica titles – and I’ve also got a couple of erotica pieces that were accepted but then the project flatlined, and the book didn’t move forward.

We’ll see. I’m still conflicted about doing the self-publishing thing.

Open Calls I know about:

Ink Stained Succubus – quite a few different calls, including M/f, F/m, M/M, and lots of different genre calls; earliest deadline is June 15th, 2015.

The Biggest Lover – Big-Boned Men’s Erotica for Chubs and Chasers; first draft June 1st, 2015; deadline July 1st, 2015.

Defying Doomsday – apocalypse-survival fiction with a focus on disabled characters; deadline July 1st, 2015.

The Engorged Book of Gay Vampire Stories – Reprints of gay vampire fiction; deadline August 1st, 2015.

Unconventional Love – Short romantic fiction that revolves around attending a convention; deadline August 31st, 2015.

Glitterwolf Magazine: Hallowe’en Issue – Dark, queer, weird or horror fiction, poetry, art and photography from (as per usual) LGBT contributors; deadline August 31st, 2015.

Bi Guys – Firsthand Fiction for Bisexual Men and their Admirers; synopsis September 1st, 2015; deadline October 1st, 2015.
Covalent Bonds – Geeks in Love; deadline December 15th, 2015.

Other places to always check include the Lambda Literary Calls of Submission page.

Heard of any good calls lately? Pop ’em in the comments, too.

Sunday Shorts – “Ogres of East Africa,” by Sofia Samatar

For me, one of the best things about the notion of crowdfunding is how I’ve managed to find new books to support. Though Indigogo or Kickstarter, I’ve been able to say ‘Yes, this is a book I’d like to read!’ and support it even more so than a pre-order. For a smaller indie publisher, it must be a welcome option to exercise: knowing if the book will sell ahead of time, and then having a product to continue to sell thereafter.

This was how I ended up with my copy of Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older. The theme of this anthology is exactly right there in the title, and I began the book bracing myself a bit – given how history treats the marginalized, I knew I was likely not in for a series of happy endings. But sometimes, some of the greatest hope stories are those told in dark places, so I cross my fingers.

“Ogres of East Africa,” by Sofia Samatar

Oh how I love clever stories told in unique ways.

I’m not sure I can do this justice, but this story is told in something akin to epistolary format, except instead of letters, it’s told in the marginalia of a catalog of the various ogres of East Africa, each one named and given a small description and how they are likely to be defeated, if at all.

The author collecting these tales is an employee of ‘Moosajee and Co., Superior Traders, Stevedores and Dubashes,’ and he is writing and translating for his employer. He’s speaking with a local woman, Mary, who is telling him of all these Ogres, and weaving a greater tale than this for him, though he might not know it as of yet.

This is, as I said, such a cleverly done tale, and I refuse to spoil it for you. The mix of the mythology Mary brings and the reality that the transcriber is living come to an inevitable boil, and the end result left me smiling.

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If you don’t have a copy of Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, I can heartily recommend it. I’m a few stories in now, and while I was right in my initial consideration that many of the stories would be darker in tone than a lot of anthologies (how could they not be, given the theme?), I’m really enjoying the chance to read speculative fiction that is born in different times and places and with voices so different than those in the tales so often available.

Until next week, keep it short…

Writing Wednesday – The Voices in My Head

It’s Wednesday again, which means I’m here being publicly accountable for my writerly output.

First, though, a question about voice. While I’m working on Triad Blood, I’m constantly in a state of juggling the three voices of the story. Luc, my somewhat proper (at least on the surface) vampire; Anders, my absolutely selfish and uncouth demon; and Curtis, my optimistic and naive wizard. It’s fun, don’t get me wrong, but it occurs to me that I’ve put together a couple of tricks to make sure I keep their voices distinct, and wonder if you’ve got tricks of your own?

The biggest thing I’ve got a short list of about a dozen “language quirks” that I use for each character. For one, Curtis can’t swear – it’s actually plot-driven, since he’s a wizard, and his spoken voice can affect the world around him, he has to be careful not to cuss too vehemently, or he’ll make things happen. Luc, being of French Canadian heritage, generally swears in French. Anders is a foul-mouthed believer in all the bad words.

It’s a small thing, but the difference between Curtis’s “Crap,” Luc’s “Merde,” and Anders’s f-bombs is something that sets them a little bit apart. Curtis speaks like a typical twenty-something. Luc is quite a bit more formal and poised – he’ll use “may” instead of “can” and things like that. Anders is a foul-mouthed believer in all the bad words.

Wait, come to think of it, most of Anders’s “language quirks” involve being foul-mouthed. Hrm.

How do you get into character voice? Any tips or tricks?

The Novel:

Oh, the patchwork stage. I gave myself a wicked headache trying to push past four hours of solid keyboarding on Monday, and that was a mistake. But I’m still on track. I can honestly see myself having an (ugly) draft in the next couple of weeks. Eee!

My husband is actually flying to New York in a couple of weeks – my true goal is to have something to print, one big file, before he gets back. The manuscript is due at the start of September. I feel good about where I’m at. How weird is that?

Short Stuff:

I have achieved Jeffrey Ricker’s goal of submitting a short piece every month. May – check! Now onward to something for June…

Open Calls I know about:

Ink Stained Succubus – quite a few different calls, including M/f, F/m, M/M, and lots of different genre calls; earliest deadline is June 1st, 2015.

Queers Destroy Fantasy – from Lightspeed Magazine; deadline June 1st, 2015.
The Biggest Lover – Big-Boned Men’s Erotica for Chubs and Chasers; first draft June 1st, 2015; deadline July 1st, 2015.

Defying Doomsday – apocalypse-survival fiction with a focus on disabled characters; deadline July 1st, 2015.

Unconventional Love – Short romantic fiction that revolves around attending a convention; deadline August 31st, 2015.
Bi Guys – Firsthand Fiction for Bisexual Men and their Admirers; synopsis September 1st, 2015; deadline October 1st, 2015.
Covalent Bonds – Geeks in Love; deadline December 15th, 2015.

Other places to always check include the Lambda Literary Calls of Submission page.

Heard of any good calls lately? Pop ’em in the comments, too.

Sunday Shorts – “On the Line,” by Shawn Syms

There’s a lot to be said about the first story in an anthology. I’ve spoken with quite a few editors, and heard the first-and-last stories referred to as “anchors” and “draws.” The idea is that in an short story collection, your potential reader is going to glance at the cover, read the back blurb, and then – if you’re lucky – start browsing the first story. Much like a ‘chapter one’ or a ‘prologue,’ this is your opportunity to grab the reader. And in short fiction collections, there’s a decent chance they’ll read the whole story as a litmus before picking up the collection.

So, y’know, no pressure about that first story.

“On the Line.”

I’m lucky. I’ve gotten to share a table on contents with Shawn Syms twice now. Also, having read a few other short pieces by Syms before, and having truly enjoyed Friend. Follow. Text.: #storiesFromLivingOnline, I knew I’d be in for a treat with his first short fiction anthology, Nothing Looks Familiar.

The first tale, “On the Line,” does all the things you want a first story to do. It paints the picture of the kinds of people you’re going to explore in the collection (in the case of Syms, this means complex, sexual, gritty people who drip with realism), and suggests you brace yourselves. Syms has a way of presenting people that felt real to you in a way that reminds you of people you know, people with scars or illnesses or disabilities that didn’t fit the role those characteristics are “supposed” to entail (and so often unfortunately do in fiction).

The style of the story – about a meat-cutter in a large processing plant who washes off the scent of the meat and blood slaughter as much with sex as with soap – is also very much the style I’ve come to expect and enjoy from Syms. You get to glimpse of a few key moments, with just enough context to form a cohesive whole without over-telling.

I always walk away from a Syms story both satisfied and wondering “and then what happened?”

And really, what more can you want from a short story?

Got a memorable “first story in a collection” tale you want to share? Pop it in the comments. And until next time, keep it short…

Writing Wednesday – Short and Long

It’s Wednesday again, which means I’m here being publicly accountable for my writerly output. But first I wanted to talk about short fiction and novels (or novellas) that share the same world or characters, and ask you (as an author or a reader) which ones you’ve written (or read) and enjoyed.

Y’all know my first love is short fiction. And I’m pretty sure I’ve said a few dozen times that the characters in my next novel, Triad Blood, were born from four short stories in four different Bold Strokes Books anthologies. I love visiting the same settings or characters with linked short fiction and I wonder how often it happens across the writing formats – from short to long. I’m always reading short fiction (hence the ‘Sunday Shorts’ feature here, and that year where I read a short story a day) and I also do love novels and novellas, and I wondered how much “cross-pollination” there was out there.

So – permission to humblebrag granted: tell me. Pop in a comment (with links, even) to your short stories (or the anthology that holds ’em) and the novels or novellas they tie in with. I’d like to know. Especially if you’re writing LGBT stuff or working with POC characters or YA.

Hit me with it.

The Novel:

Holiday weekend and some “must leave the house” chores meant I didn’t quite get as far ahead this last week as I wanted, but I did some serious revising. This is actually a good sign. I’m still missing about 20% of my initial word count goal (though I think I’m going to come in a bit short at the moment, which is okay) and should patch in those holes, but it got to the point where I needed to have more polished scenes leading up to those holes and so I’m finding myself revisiting and revising quite a bit before I tackle new parts of the novel.

Why is this good? Because it feels very end-game. It might suck from a point of view of word-counts and grand totals, but the whole of the book is really feeling like just that: a whole.

That, or I’m totally deluded and should drink some apple cider and cry a lot.

Short Stuff:

I have not submitted anything for May yet, though I have a flash short fiction piece I’m almost happy with. Shouldn’t be an issue this month.

Open Calls I know about:

Ink Stained Succubus – quite a few different calls, including M/f, F/m, M/M, and lots of different genre calls; earliest deadline is June 1st, 2015.

Queers Destroy Fantasy – from Lightspeed Magazine; deadline June 1st, 2015.
The Biggest Lover – Big-Boned Men’s Erotica for Chubs and Chasers; first draft June 1st, 2015; deadline July 1st, 2015.

Defying Doomsday – apocalypse-survival fiction with a focus on disabled characters; deadline July 1st, 2015.

Unconventional Love – Short romantic fiction that revolves around attending a convention; deadline August 31st, 2015.
Bi Guys – Firsthand Fiction for Bisexual Men and their Admirers; synopsis September 1st, 2015; deadline October 1st, 2015.
Covalent Bonds – Geeks in Love; deadline December 15th, 2015.

Other places to always check include the Lambda Literary Calls of Submission page.

Heard of any good calls lately? Pop ’em in the comments, too.