B. Morris Allen's Blog, page 18

Writing markets should disclose payment schedules up front

Years ago, SF author James D. MacDonald coined Yog’s Law – Money flows toward the writer. It’s a handy mantra to warn off those who consider paying reading fees or other out-of-pocket expenses thinking it will help get their work noticed. What the rule doesn’t address is exactly when the money will flow. I’m proposing a an implementing rule (because it already has corollaries) for that law.

Yog’s Rule – Money flows toward the author, as soon as possible.

For short fiction authors, who write...

Fan Fiction

I’ve never been a big fan of fan fiction. Even authorized or semi-authorized extensions don’t generally work as well as the original author’s work. I pick up the occasional tribute anthology, but generally I steer clear. Even, for example, Todd McCaffrey’s contributions to the Pern universe haven’t tempted me – they’re clearly written with Anne McCaffrey’s blessing and with unique access to the spirit and origin of Pern, but they’re still not hers. It’s with some surprise, then, that I realiz...

Old white guys

I was lucky enough to be in the (standing-room only, and eventually closed-to-entry) crowd at Powell’s bookstore last night, to hear Ursula K. Le Guin talk about writing. She had a lot of good things to say, and, I was surprised to find, was a lot more cheery in person than her excellent but often somber novels. She had useful comments about listening to the ‘voice’ of your writing – literally listening to how it sounds aurally.

What seems to have drawn the most Twitter attention, however, wa...

Sasquan 2015

I’ll be there! Sasquan/WorldCon, Spokane, 19-23 August 2015.

Are you going? Let me know.

Ambient fiction

I’m a fan of ambient fiction. Interesting as that might be, that doesn’t refer to stories about walking around. I’m talking about fiction with ambience – ambiance if you prefer – fiction with a distinctmood, tone, or atmosphere in one guise or another. Fiction that relies more on feeling than action, more on sense than sensibility.

Patricia McKillip is the reigning queen of ambient fiction. Her stories are solid, the characters interesting, but it’s the reliable atmosphere of her stories that...

Interview: Rebecca Bradley – Crazy chicken lady? (in Gil)

I loved Rebecca Bradley’s Gil trilogy when I read it back in 2001. Now that I’m (at least temporarily) reunited with my physical books, I picked it up again recently to find I liked it even better the second time around. That quickly led to discovery of her latest novel, a query to Ms. Bradley, and the following interview to catch up on what she’s been writing. (Hint – it includes more Gil!)

Rebecca Bradley published the very well-received Gil fantasy trilogy (Lady in Gil, Scion’s Lady and L...

Speculating beyond the patriarchy

Is it good or bad that most fantasy still takes place in patriarchal societies? Not just fantasy, actually, but a fair amount of science fiction as well. In a world where we’ve tried hard to grow beyond our roots in male-dominated and led societies, we still dream about worlds of oppression.

Of course, in the real world, we haven’t made as much progress as one might hope. Some countries have equal protection laws in place, but many don’t. Even the ones that do have difficulty in implementatio...

Sale! Sale! Sale! – on e-book pricing

Back before e-books, I bought paper books when I had the money to do it. Books were books, and paperbacks didn’t go on sale. You paid the price on the back of the book, and that was it. Airports charged outrageous prices (except in Portland), and you could pick up very lightly used copies cheap at Powell’s, but basically, the price was the price.

Then came Amazon, where I could often get books below cover price, even figuring in shipping. When shipping became largely free, that was even bette...

The Dirt from George R. R. Martin [clickbait]

The real George R. R. Martin

The other day, the author of Game of Thronesdelivered three yards of compost to my house. The man is a genius at providing a dark, rich, and complex substrate to fertilize the imagination.

It wasn’t really George R. R. Martin, of course. But it was a man who could win an impersonation contest hands down. Black cap, glasses, long white beard, generous physique – it looked just like him. I even asked him how many times a day people commented on the resemblance. This...

Shadow – graphic novel with Uwe Carow

As an author, I’m pretty text oriented. I’d love to be able to sketch or paint, but if I can’t do it with words, it’s just not going to happen. So I’m as surprised as anybody to say that I’ve just published a graphic novel. More accurately, I’ve written the text for a graphic novel, with the art thankfully provided by an actual artist – Uwe Carow.

Shadow started life as a concept. An online SFF magazine I was interested in said they’d be interested in hyperlinked stories, but didn’t receive...