David Antrobus's Blog: The Migrant Type, page 31
June 9, 2012
Armless and Legless
Our wonderful interwebs are full of blogs and writing websites that showcase an endless procession of writing advice and tips. We’ve discussed the pros and cons here on Indies Unlimited many times, so I don’t want to go over old ground. While planning the content of this post in the quiet small hours, however, it seemed like a good idea at the time to take a slightly skewed, bizarro-world look at writing tips using our trusty list format. Now, it seems… well, slightly stupid. But since I didn...
Well Defined? Nevermind
Writers. We write. And our tools are words. So, while contemplating this week’s blog post, I had the brilliant idea of writing about words and their definitions, using… words and their definitions. It’s almost perfect. If by “perfect” I mean “utterly confusing and almost entirely pointless.” So, anyway, a couple years ago, The New York Times compiled a list of the 50 words most likely to stump their own readers. Amazingly, “defenestrate” was not among them (if it had been, I would have define...
May 26, 2012
From Minds Profound
"Innocent of what?" © Unforgiven (1992)Previous articles on Indies Unlimited have established that writing rules are far from absolute, that they are best interpreted more as guides than anything binding. But far more effective than a plainly stated rule is the aphorism, that memorable quote that both entertains and teaches… something. I keep a running list of quotes in general, but those pertaining to writing have pride of place, and they can alternately act as impetus or inspiration when yo...
May 24, 2012
The Joy Of Oases
So what is it about getting published that so delights us? I've already mentioned how ecstatic I felt when my story "Unquiet Slumbers" was accepted by May December Publications for the third in their series of zombie anthologies, First Time Dead, Volume 3. I mean, self-publishing is also incredibly rewarding, in that you must format correctly, come up with a cover, upload all your data, provide the right information for whichever medium you choose, etc. And that's before all the promotion and...
May 22, 2012
A Fable
Far, far within the usual boundaries of the forest, in a place that has been forgotten certainly twice and perhaps thrice over, lived a caustic and demented rogue named Drano. He dwelt in squalor here, happily ignored by his time, in a house built from stomach bile, shame, and swamp mud, simply because he could no longer live anywhere else. Evil and mischief roiled beneath his clammy grey skin like nimble parasites. Flies, initially enticed by his foul miasma, dropped dead on contact.
Into thi...
Hot And Fresh Out The Kitchen
Editing. Not a concept that fills most writers with joy. For many, it’s the unpleasant yet necessary shadow accompanying the act of writing itself, sort of how a painful rash can follow a good… um, hike through poison ivy. And I see why many of us feel that way, I really do. Or I did. Lately, along with extra wrinkles around my eyes and greyer hair at my temples (okay, not just my temples, but we don’t need to get all TMI, do we?), I’ve begun to appreciate editing for what it is. I’m not talk...
May 14, 2012
Pod People
I am now officially a pod person. I've been interviewed before, which is an interesting experience the first few times, but when you notice yourself repeating many of the same answers in slightly different ways, it can be a case of diminishing returns. Which illustrates the importance of fresh questions on the part of the interviewer, but also behooves the interviewee to remember to dig deep and not resort to phoning it in... which is an apt figure of speech for the most recent experience I h...
May 10, 2012
The Good, The Bad, The Indifferent
"When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk." © The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, 1966I’ve discovered a potentially fatal flaw in my personality. I mean, outside the more obvious ones (no need to point them out in the comments section, folks). Put simply, I like genre and I like literary. In musical terms, I like teen pop and modern classical, Spears and Stockhausen, Avril and Arvo. But this post is neither a demonstration of my “amazing” pop cultural eclecticism nor a reflection of my mental he...
Three In One Week
Reviews of Dissolute Kinship, that is. Varying from the indepth to the brief, all three of them kind and thoughtful and fair. Honestly, I wish I could express the right degree of gratitude toward people who not only bother to read my work, but who then go the extra mile and review it. I hear too many authors complaining about how too few readers review after reading. Well, how often does any one of us take that extra step? I do on occasion, but certainly not for every book. Reviews are gold,...
May 6, 2012
Short Story Accepted
I had my short story "Unquiet Sleepers" accepted by May December Publications third anthology of debut zombie writers First Time Dead, Volume 3.
Indies Unlimited were also kind enough to announce it today:
Indies Unlimited staff writer David Antrobus is happy to announce that his short story “Unquiet Slumbers” has been accepted for inclusion in the May December Publications new horror anthology First Time Dead, Volume 3. The book is now available for Kindle on Amazon.com.
David has written numer...
