Tim Dodge's Blog, page 6
August 27, 2013
The Geek Side of Life: Interview with Lauren Harris
00:00:00 – It’s Dragon*Con week! … I have an unreleased episode ready to go
00:03:34 – Promo: Nutty Bites
00:04:05 – A chat with Lauren “Scribe” Harris about her new novella EXORCISING AARON NGUYEN
00:36:12 – Promo: The Way of the Buffalo
00:36:42 – Say hi to me at Dragon*Con!
Download a copy of EXORCISING AARON NGUYEN
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Find Lauren online:
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July 28, 2013
July 21, 2013
What Is Success?
My friend John Anealio made a pretty dramatic announcement on his blog yesterday:
I’ve been plugging away at this particular phase of my artistic life for about 7 years now. I’ve spent the majority of this time trying to write good songs and to get people to listen to them.
Songs like George R.R. Martin Is Not Your Bitch, The Millennium Falcon For Christmas, Summer Glau & Steampunk Girl found niche audiences and helped me to obtain whatever notoriety that I have. It’s been great. Those songs are the reason that I’m able to communicate with you right now, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
But there’s a dark side…
For every song that got a lot of attention, for every write-up on Tor.com or io9, for every opportunity to open for Paul & Storm and Molly Lewis, it left me wanting more. It left me feeling like I deserved more. That’s a dark place to be.
Those of you out there who create stories, music, art, films, games, whatever — can any of you honestly say you’ve never felt the way John has? Show of hands? Yeah. Me neither. John’s chosen a way to deal with it:
So, after months of consideration, I’ve come to a conclusion:
I’m quitting.
Let me clarify. I’m not going to stop composing and performing music. I’m quitting the race. I’m getting off the nerd music ladder. I just don’t want to be in that head space anymore.
Let me just say that I’m thrilled that John isn’t quitting music; he’s just giving up the pursuit of the Holy Grail of fame and fortune. I’ve posted a few of John’s songs on this blog. Check them out and decide for yourself the quality of his work. Hell, just listen to Empire State. The guy’s amazing.
His post has made me think about the meaning of success. What does it mean for me? Is it a traditional publishing contract? Seeing one of my books on the shelf at Barnes & Noble? Commercial success, large enough so that it will fund my retirement? Celebrity status? Enough royalties to cover the down payment on my next car?
I really have no idea. I’ve never thought I could support myself just writing, and my track record to date has proven me correct. But I have dreams like everyone else, and I guess my dream is a traditional publishing deal. I’ve been submitting And Ghosts Return to agents for that very purpose. I don’t know if that’ll happen, but it’s what I’m aiming for.
Maybe someday I’ll end up in the mental place where John is now. I greatly respect his conclusion and his decision to go public with his feelings. Not an easy thing to do.
What does success mean to you? Should we be striving for recognition from the Big Six publishers? Are there too many of us chasing too few seats at the big table? What are other ways to define success? I’d love to hear what you think in the comments. And while you’re at it, drop by John’s blog and join the conversation there.
June 8, 2013
May 22, 2013
My Balticon Schedule
This weekend brings one of my favorite events of the year — Balticon, a science fiction/fantasy fan convention, held at the Marriott Hotel in Hunt Valley, Maryland. For the second consecutive year, I am a guest at the con and will be participating in a number of events. Here is my schedule for the weekend:
Saturday, May 25
Noon – Blogging for Dummies, with Brand Gamblin, Suzanne Rosin, Allison Gamblin (Chesapeake Room)
Sunday, May 26
10:00 a.m. – Autograph session with Mur Lafferty and Dina Leacock (Maryland Foyer)
1:00 p.m. – Talk To Me: How To Conduct Podcast Interviews with Hugh O’Donnell, Stephen Granade, Thomas Gideon, Chris Lester and Alex White (Chesapeake Room)
5:00 p.m. – Reading, with Chris Evans and Alicia Goranson (Pimlico Room)
6:00 p.m. – WordPress 101, with Pamela Gay, Doc Coleman and Nutty Nuchtchas (Chesapeake Room)
7:00 p.m. – Full Cast vs. Straight Read, with Veronica Giguere, Christopher Snelgrove, Chris Lester, P.C. Haring, Renee Chambliss and Nobilis Reed (Derby Room)
9:00 p.m. – Music in Podcasts, with Alicia Goranson, Chris Lester, Alex White and P.C. Haring (Derby Room)
I can’t wait for the weekend to start! If you’re going to be there, please stop by my panels or reading or autograph session and say hello.
April 12, 2013
What To Work On Next?
Photo by Justin Marty. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.
I’m in a bit of a limbo land, not sure what to work on next. My ghost hunter novel, tentatively titled And Ghosts Return, is out to a bunch of agents. I’m not working on a new novel yet, though I have a couple of ideas kicking around in my brain. So, rather than writing, I’m spending a fair amount of time these days contemplating what I should write next. Some of the options:
I got the idea a few weeks ago to design a role playing game based on P.G. Holyfield’s Land of Caern universe, which most of us know from his terrific novel Murder At Avedon Hill . Have I ever designed a game before, let alone an RPG? Um, no. I’ve spent a few minutes jotting down ideas and researching how one goes about designing a game, but this idea is still in its embryonic stage. P.G., to his credit, told me to knock myself out.
Write some short stories. I know possible topics for short stories are all around me, but I’m having trouble finding some that appeal to me. I suspect I’m letting the perfect be the enemy of the good here. An idea doesn’t have to be The Greatest Thing EVAR, it just has to be a story someone might want to read. Of course, pondering what would make a good story idea is also an excellent way to procrastinate on actually writing a story. Like exercising, I find writing stories exhilarating once I get going, but actually getting started requires convincing myself.
Start outlining a new novel. Since no one has actually made an offer to me for And Ghosts Return, I’m not inclined to work on a sequel, though I think the story line has sequel potential. The logical thing is to start something brand new, and the options are limitless. To date, I’ve written four novels — one drama/romance, one action/adventure, one humorous, and one paranormal/horror. Should I pick a new genre? Sci-fi? Epic fantasy? Another paranormal book with a different set of characters and setting?
Now, if someone else wrote this post and I was reading it, I’d say, “Just pick something and start working, already!” Which I will do. Watch this space for a progress report over the weekend.
April 10, 2013
Everything You Need To Know About Politics
If you remember nothing else, remember this: Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
April 5, 2013
March 19, 2013
The Great Agent Hunt is Underway
Photo by Richard Eriksson. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve queried 13 literary agents about my ghost hunter novel. To date, I’ve heard back from four of them. Three were the all-to-familiear “dear author” email — this-project-is-not-right-for-us, etc. However, one did send a request for the full manuscript, which I sent out the same day. I’ll take that batting average.
As Mur Lafferty said in a recent podcast, rejections are part of the writer’s job. If you’re not getting rejections, you’re neglecting your work. I’m not going to say that I really enjoyed finding a rejection email in my inbox first thing this morning, but I’ve received enough so that I can feel disappointed for a few minutes, sigh, note the response in the spreadsheet I use to track submissions, and move on. I’d like to start by querying at least 20 agents, so I have more to send out.
How many rejections have you received lately? How do you deal with them? Get the conversation rolling in the comments.
February 24, 2013
Nebula Award Nominees Announced
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America have announced the nominees for the 2013 Nebula Awards. If you’re a regular listener to Escape Pod and/or Podcastle, you’ll recognize a lot of names on the list — Saladin Ahmed, Tina Connolly, N.K. Jemisin, Caitlín R. Kiernan, etc. Nancy Kress’s After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, which currently resides in my pile of books to read, is nominated for best novella.
Even better, if you’d like to check some of these out, Galleycat has made links to free samples available. This is some of the best spec fic work done in 2012. Enjoy!
