P.J. Kaiser's Blog, page 2
June 14, 2012
“Deck the Halls” Anthology Announcement
I have some exciting news to share: I have a new story in the new Literary Mix Tapes anthology from eMergent Publishing. It will be released in July in Australia and will be available for pre-orders soon. Although the international launch is in November, I believe it will be available for international markets from the website.
My story is called “Egg-ceptional” and takes place on a moonbase some time in the future. That’s all I’ll give away for the moment. The full table of contents can be found on the Literary Mix Tapes site.
See the press release below for all the scoop:
Literary Mix Tapes unveiled its third cross-genre anthology Deck the Halls: festive tales of fear and cheer today; a revamped and extended offering primed to subvert readers’ notions of the holiday season, in time for Australia’s own spin on a cold weather Christmas.
“This revised edition, pays homage to the imprint’s origins,” founding editor Jodi Cleghorn said. “In early December 2010 I had an idea for a collection of web-published stories after sitting through my son’s school carols night.
“In my mind the lyrics of ‘Deck the Halls’ were potent writing prompts to create twisted, non-tradition Christmas stories. It was intended as some fun. Nothing more.”
On the back of the success of the Christmas collection, Cleghorn launched the Valentines anthology Nothing But Flowers: tales of post-apocalyptic love and established Literary Mix Tapes as an official imprint in February 2011. eMergent Publishing took the imprint under its umbrella in June the same year.
“Many of the cornerstones of Literary Mix Tapes came from assembling those original Christmas stories,” said Cleghorn.
Those key characteristics include crowd-sourcing authors via social media, guaranteed inclusion after successful nomination, short fiction built on lyrical prompts, peer support and what Literarium co-owner Tom Dullemond has termed “a collective submissions process”, making Literary Mix Tapes unique among small and large presses in Australia and abroad.
“All the authors beta read and line edit for each during the three week writing period,” Cleghorn said. “Rather than competing against each other for inclusion, they work together to produce the best possible collection of stories for publication.”
The imprint boasts an impressive international line up of more than 70 authors after 18 months of operation, and a reputation for investing in and working with emerging authors.
“Central to Literary Mix Tapes is the editor-author relationship,” said Cleghorn. “We see that relationship as the core function of a publishing business, and essential in supporting up-and-coming authors and producing a quality books for readers.”
Perfect for commuters and lovers of speculative fiction, Deck the Halls: festive tales of fear and cheer goes on sale July 10th in an exclusive Australian launch ahead of Christmas in July festivities. The book will be available as an instant download via the eMergent Publishing Bookstore and as a paperback in selected retail outlets.
‘Readers can expect the bizarre and twisted from the 32 authors who have each put their unique spin on the holiday season in these bite-sized pieces of fiction. From corset-bound adventurers to troll hunters, intergalactic anthropologists and petrol-toting politicians the stories cover everything from the Summer Solstice to Modraniht, in equal measures of humor, horror and heartache.”
An international release is slated for late November.
For more information see the official Literary Mix Tapes website or contact editor Jodi Cleghorn.
April 24, 2012
Literary Mix Tapes: The Movie Project
{Sorry for the long absence here … you always know where else you can find me, right? Of course, there’s my Twitter, Metro Fiction and Tuesday Serial … that’s where I’ve been putting my attention lately. But don’t worry, I will be back soon 
In the meantime …}
I want to share some exciting news with you! My story “Golden Opportunity”, which appeared in Literary Mix Tapes: Nothing But Flowers, has been selected, along with nine other stories, for inclusion in the “Movie Project.” The movie project – led by Jodi Cleghorn and Devin Watson – will be coordinate authors, scriptwriters and film crew to adapt the films to the big screen.
I’ve been paired with lovely and talented Emma Kerry who will be writing the screenplay based on my story. For more information about the project, you can visit the Literary Mix Tapes site or, for more specifics, you can see Devin Watson’s posts over at Write Anything.
February 20, 2012
Inspiration Minute – Kidney Transplant Chain – Feb 20, 2012
In my Monday feature, "Inspiration Minute," I'd like to share with you something that has caught my attention or inspired me recently. Be forewarned, it may take a bit more than a minute! 
If this story about kidney transplants doesn't inspire you to "pay it forward", I'm not sure what will. Check it out, along with the photos of all the members of the chain: "60 Lives, 30 Kidneys, All Linked." I found the stories of the member of the chain to be fascinating and inspiring. I hope you do too!
I hope you've enjoyed this week's installment of Inspiration Minute! Feel free to share it with your friends
February 16, 2012
5 Steps to Leveraging Your Dreams in your Writing
Ever wake up in the morning and think "Wow – what a fantastic dream! That would make a terrific story – I'd better go start writing!" But then you get distracted by the day's events and by the time you sit down at your computer in the late afternoon, you are dismayed to discover that the dream is gone. Poof. Or you make it to your notebook and begin writing, but realize that your dream is in a jumble.
After having this happen to me several times, I have finally figured out the steps to leverage my dreams in my writing. I don't remember my dreams every morning, but when I do, this is my approach:
1. Upon waking, transcribe the dream from start to finish in as much detail as you can remember. Describe the settings thoroughly. Describe the people or "beings" in your dreams with as much detail as possible. Narrate the action of the dream. Include all of those fantastic (and embarassing) details that people would never believe. Also include those details you aren't sure about, e.g., "I think I might have been flying at this point in the dream, but I'm not sure." Once you're sure you've captured everything that you remember, …
2. Tuck your description away and forget about it. How long? At least a couple of days, maybe a couple of weeks. This allows the dream to fade from your memory so what you'll be left with is an objective view of the story rather than a jumble of muddled memories.
3. Pull out your transcription when you're ready and read it all the way through. You'll probably discover that the fabulous dream that you thought would make a great story is still interesting, but incomplete. Either the setting and characters are terrific but there's no plot or vice versa. Often part of the plot will be very well-formed, but it's not clear what the main character's goal is. Without a goal, your story will fall flat.
4. Identify the gaps in your story and that's where your writing process will begin. Remember that you don't need to stay true to the original dream when you're writing your story. Change whatever elements you need to in order to create a cogent, compelling story with a beginning, middle and end.
5. Just for fun, you can compare your finished story to the original dream transcription and see what elements you changed. You won't want to or need to show anybody the original transcription – tuck it back away for safe keeping
To clarify, I'm not talking about the concept of "lucid dreaming" where you know you're dreaming and jump into the driver's seat for your dream. Some writers have used lucid dreaming to discover new stories and explore their works-in-progress. This is an advanced technique and not for beginners
If you don't tend to remember your dreams, then consider keeping a dream journal on your nightstand (this will help with step 1 above!). The simple intention to remember and transcribe your dreams can sometimes help you remember them better.
And, according to Native American tradition, you could consider investing in a dream catcher (as seen in the photo) which is said to capture the good dreams as they go floating by while you sleep.
So, have you written stories based on or inspired by your dreams? Please let me know what tips you have! Sweet dreams!
February 14, 2012
Remembering the Combination
I stuffed my pink gym bag into the locker, slipped the combination lock through the door and paused. I'm paranoid about forgetting the combination to my lock and always take a moment to recite it to myself before securing the clasp.
It's getting easier now that my daughter is in school five mornings a week and I can get to the gym more often. There was a time when weeks, even months, would go by and I had to sit in the locker room trying to remember the combination while I imagined my daughter's screams echoing through the gym from the nursery room. (Sometimes I wasn't just imagining them.)
Working out is still hard to get in just the right doses. Work out too much and other areas of your life suffer and you can end up more tired than you started or you can get injured. Work out too little and energy flags, sleep patterns get disrupted and overall health is affected. It's just like other aspects of our lives.
Quality time with family versus time spent on "personal infrastructure" – i.e., errands and household management. Quiet time for reflection and creative inspiration versus work time. There are a lot of moving pieces to our lives and it's difficult at times to get everything in just the right balance.
Sometimes we don't control some of the moving pieces. Our work can get too demanding and other areas have to be sacrificed as a result. Or our personal infrastructure can be overwhelming at times. But it's always important to try to bring things back into the right combination over time. And it's important to not leave things off balance for so long that you forget what the right combination is.
But there are some things that I never doubt that I have in the right combination. Like love for my kids. And the combination that was formed when I married my sweetheart so many years ago.
I remember the combination of the lock, secure the clasp and twist the dial. I'm off to get in my workout, then cooking one of my husband's favorite dishes for Valentine's Day: Cornish Game Hens. Let's just hope it comes with microwave instructions.
Happy Valentine's Day!
February 13, 2012
I’m over at #amwriting today
Just a quick post to let you know that I’m talking about Metro Fiction and the reading practices of mothers over on the #amwriting blog today: ”Introduction: Metro Fiction – A Reading Nook for Moms.”
Stop by and say ‘hi’, won’t you?
I'm over at #amwriting today
Just a quick post to let you know that I'm talking about Metro Fiction and the reading practices of mothers over on the #amwriting blog today: "Introduction: Metro Fiction – A Reading Nook for Moms."
Stop by and say 'hi', won't you?
Inspiration Minute – Eyewitness – Feb 13, 2012
In my Monday feature, "Inspiration Minute," I'd like to share with you something that has caught my attention or inspired me recently. Be forewarned, it may take a bit more than a minute!
By now you all know that I am often inspired by stories in the news. How would you like a site that has a new picture each day related to some story in the news? Well, I've got one for you. The Guardian has a feature called "Eyewitness" that has just that. It's the inspiration gift that keeps giving – enjoy
I hope you've enjoyed this week's installment of Inspiration Minute! Feel free to share it with your friends
February 9, 2012
Review: “Eat That Frog!” by Brian Tracy
I spent most of last year focusing on keeping my to do list organized. I read “Getting Things Done” over the holiday break at the end of 2010. As I indicated in my review of GTD, this approach has helped me tame my to do list and although it’s still a work-in-progress, I am much better organized.
In spite of having an organized to do list (most of the time), I still struggle with completing the tasks on the list. One of my challenges is that with two young children, I am subject to frequent interruptions and my windows of time to tackle my list are relatively small.
“Eat That Frog!”, as the subtitle indicates, contains “21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.” The principles themselves are sound and, depending on your situation, can be very useful indeed. People have a tendency to rely on just a couple of ways to tackle or prioritize their to do lists. This book provides a large number of other ways to look at your tasks and figure out which ones to do next.
One criticism of this book is that it is too general and doesn’t provide specifics. One reason that I agree with this criticism is because it lacks concrete examples. Most of the 21 points are explained pretty well in the few pages allocated to each. However, providing examples could have really helped to drive the points home and made each of the points more memorable. There are a handful of anecdotes, but not many.
Another criticism of the book is that it often loops back to advice that sounds suspiciously like “just do it” (sorry, Nike). If “just do it” was sufficient, then there’d be no need for the book at all.
But there are useful approaches in the book and although you won’t find cutting edge research here, you just may find a few tips to help you to rethink your work. I’ve listed them all in my organizer and I plan to refer back to them frequently as I re-prioritize my to do list this year. I’ve also starred the ones that I anticipate using the most.
“Eat That Frog!” is available in e-book, paperback, audio and hardback formats from all major booksellers.
Review: "Eat That Frog!" by Brian Tracy
I spent most of last year focusing on keeping my to do list organized. I read "Getting Things Done" over the holiday break at the end of 2010. As I indicated in my review of GTD, this approach has helped me tame my to do list and although it's still a work-in-progress, I am much better organized.
In spite of having an organized to do list (most of the time), I still struggle with completing the tasks on the list. One of my challenges is that with two young children, I am subject to frequent interruptions and my windows of time to tackle my list are relatively small.
"Eat That Frog!", as the subtitle indicates, contains "21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time." The principles themselves are sound and, depending on your situation, can be very useful indeed. People have a tendency to rely on just a couple of ways to tackle or prioritize their to do lists. This book provides a large number of other ways to look at your tasks and figure out which ones to do next.
One criticism of this book is that it is too general and doesn't provide specifics. One reason that I agree with this criticism is because it lacks concrete examples. Most of the 21 points are explained pretty well in the few pages allocated to each. However, providing examples could have really helped to drive the points home and made each of the points more memorable. There are a handful of anecdotes, but not many.
Another criticism of the book is that it often loops back to advice that sounds suspiciously like "just do it" (sorry, Nike). If "just do it" was sufficient, then there'd be no need for the book at all.
But there are useful approaches in the book and although you won't find cutting edge research here, you just may find a few tips to help you to rethink your work. I've listed them all in my organizer and I plan to refer back to them frequently as I re-prioritize my to do list this year. I've also starred the ones that I anticipate using the most.
"Eat That Frog!" is available in e-book, paperback, audio and hardback formats from all major booksellers.
