Darius Jones's Blog: A Writer Begins, page 5

Writing Update – December 2021

What a busy, busy year it has been. I was going to do another post on “the Craft” of writing this month, but I think it’s important to update all of you on where my writing is at. And it will help me sort out in my head all the stuff I’ve been working on.

Globular cluster M80.

Bottom line: There are a lot of ideas, themes and sketches flooding into my head. It’s a struggle to capture it all!

So, here’s a quick and simple writing update on all the projects I have up in the air right now....

The Craft: How I Overcame Some Very Bad Writing Advice from Chekhov

[This is part of a continuing series on the craft of writing fiction.]

You ever think about how Chekhov is an absolute master of the literary craft, especially of the short story? I do. If it’s not going too far, I would say he’s a genius. “The Lady with the Lap Dog,” “Steppe,” and other stories have a purity of tone, a quiet realism that many have imitated, but none have reproduced.

In the original Russian [which I do read fairly well], it’s even more intoxicating. It hits you like a ...

Welcome to the Show

I usually don’t indulge in Sports Metaphors, but here we go. (“Write what you know,” be damned!)

Major league baseball has a thing called “The Show” or, more properly, “Welcome to the Show.” The Show in American baseball means the big leagues, the Majors. As opposed to the minor leagues (the AAA, AA, A leagues). Usually, someone plays a couple of years in the minors before being “called up” to the Major League. So, the Major League is known as “The Show” as in, “The Big Show.”

Now, whe...

Announcement: This Writer Is Now a Poet

Well, here’s some interesting news: My series of short poems “The King Becomes a Star or Pharaoh Unas’ Journey through the Night Sky” will be published by Strange Horizons magazine next year. And I am elated.

Now, I would like to take this opportunity to make a personal admission, a confession, if you will. Over the years, yours truly has spent a good amount of time poking (more or less good-natured) fun at poets. And I feel very personally and keenly that this is the Universe trying to g...

The Craft: One Way to Ease the Blow of Rejection

[This is part of a continuing series on the craft of writing fiction.]

Rejection, nobody likes it. Whether it’s a job you’ve applied to, someone you asked out on a date, or a rejection of a more…literary nature, it can be tough to take.

So, what’s the aspiring job applicant, lover, or writer to do?

Well, here’s one trick I’ve adopted that helps to soften the blow of rejection if only just a little.

Seneca.

It’s a technique I’ve modified from the Stoics. The ancient Stoics took thi...

Title Reveal: Resurrection of the Grim Chop Maharajah

So, going to do another mini-Writing Update this month. (PS: writing the blog less is working…it’s letting me write fiction more).

Here we go…

James Booker mural, NOLA.

New Novella Done

I just wrapped a first draft of a new novella…Ta-Da! Calling this piece “Resurrection of the Grim Chop Majarajah.” It’s a short novella, about 23,000 words, but still…It’s a novella. I have even edited the piece and sent it out to one “open call” for submissions.

What is it about? Many things. Let...

Writing Update – June 2021

Friends, it’s been awhile since I gave an update on where my writing stands and what I’m thinking creatively. So, this time, I’m going to do just that. Wanted to survey my writing projects and what I’ve been up to. So, here it goes!

New Projects: One First Draft and Some Editing

Good news! I have finished the “first draft” of a new project. I’m calling this one “The King Becomes a Star.” It’s very different for me: it’s short speculative-fiction (really, Cosmic Horror) POETRY. Yes, you...

The Craft: Learning Not to Think

[This is part of a continuing series on the craft of writing fiction.]

You know… There’s this great, great passage in The Book of Chuang Tzu. It’s about a cook, Cook Ting. [For those interested this tale is from Chapter 3 of The Book of Chuang Tzu, “The Nurturing of Life.”] His master, Lord Wen-hui sees him finishing up butchering a large ox one day and stops to admire his work.

Cook Ting is so absorbed in his task, he’s not even thinking about it. He’s just going about it naturally:

...

Pandemic Changes

What a year. On March 13 of last year, I entered social distancing here at home and have ventured forth only for essential services like food pickup, health checks, etc. If you would have told me all this would have happened a year ago, I would have thought you were crazy. But it all came to pass.

Damn.

I won’t go into all the details on a global or national level, you can find that elsewhere. But I do want to (mostly for myself) detail how the pandemic changed me. It definitely strengt...

My Novella “The Number Thief” Out Now on Kindle

My novella, “The Number Thief” is out now on the Amazon Kindle store. The story first appeared in The Magazine of History and Fiction in July 2020.

Like my other recent stories, “The Number Thief” features great new cover art from Die Welle Design:

I’m also doing a giveaway to celebrate its release: It’s free today and the next few days (March 1-4) on the Kindle store. So, tell your friends and grab a copy for yourself!

IMPORTANT NOTE: You don’t need a Kindle device to read the stor...