K.M. Alexander's Blog, page 82

The Good Stuff Stays

For years Stephen King has preached a much different approach to writing than other master writers. He doesn’t outline. He doesn’t write down ideas. He just writes. In this Q&A session from 2012, King goes into details about his ideas, screenwriting, Lovecraft, and a lot more. It’s really good. (I’m going to flag this NSFW since there is some strong language.)

My favorite quote from the talk:

“People will say, “do you keep a notebook.” And the answer is I think a writer’s notebook is the best way in the world to immortalize bad ideas. My idea about a good idea is one that sticks around and sticks around and sticks around.”

Filed under: Writing Tagged: Lovecraft, On Writing, Outlines, process, Stephen King, Twilight

Fantasy Name Generators

Fantasy Landscape by Feng Zhu – See more at fengzhudesign.com

Over the weekend I stumbled across two fantasy name generators and wanted to share them with everyone. While I won’t recommend taking these names carte blanche—at least in your stories—I do believe you’ll find them helpful as a starting point for your brainstorming. They are also a handy resources for Game Masters who want to find some unique names for their own settings in their next role-playing game but don’t want waste too much time over thinking names.

Muddle’s Generator

Split up into four sections: Wilderness, Dungeons, Cities & Towns, and , Muddle’s allows for a lot of filtering beyond those initial categories. It allows you to filter to names for specific things: bridges, artifacts, room names, and more. There’s a lot here and the filtering makes it really handy.

Extensive doesn’t even begin to describe this enormous site. What it lacks in filtering, it makes up for in sheer selection. Need a name for a , owned by the , who runs a , and who live in a ? You can find all that here. They even have you covered for generating names for popular MMOs from World of Warcraft to Guild Wars.

Is there a site you like that helps you brainstorm names for your settings? Leave a link in the comments! Have a different strategy for brainstorming? Why not tell us your thoughts about brainstorming below?

Filed under: Writing Tagged: fantasy,

Friday Link Pack 07/11/2014

We’re back! It’s time to share a few interesting links I have found throughout the week. Some of these I mention on Twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do! Have a link I should feature in the upcoming link pack? Let me know!

First Thing First:

It’s my wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary to my lovely and talented wife of 11 amazing years. If you are unaware: Kari-Lise is an amazing pop surrealism painter. You can see her work on her website or over on her blog or her Instagram account. She’s incredible. (That’s her art up top!)

Writing:

HarperCollins Pivots To Sell Print And Ebooks Directly To Readers

Good for HarperCollins! Publishers should have been doing this long ago. However, part of me wonder if this isn’t a fallback for their own upcoming price negotiation with Amazon. Amazon/Hachette 2: The HarperCollinsing.

UK Author Income Survey: Another Publishing Bombshell

An in depth look into the income of UK authors, both independent and traditional. I’d wager than these numbers are similar stateside as well.

Backing The Wrong Horse: Why Choosing Sides In The Amazon/Hachette Feud Is A Moron’s Choice For Writers

Michael A. Stackpole, author of many many sci-fi books that enthralled me growing up, lays out his own case against picking sides. I am happy we agree.

Cory Doctorow On Intellectual Property In A Digital Age

Authors, just in case you missed it, make sure you listen to this keynote from Cory Doctorow on Amazon/Hachette, DRM, copyright laws, platform channels, privacy, and more. Worth your time.

Art:

Super Pixel Quest

This is very much worth the five minutes to play. Funny, unique, and fun.

Inferno By Steph Davidson

This is how modern internet art is done. Take note.

Miniature Medieval Interiors Carved Into Raw Marble By Mathew Simmonds

Love these. It’s like someone made a miniature Petra then divided it up in parts. (Really they’re based on Westminster Abbey and Ely Cathedral.) It’s really neat to see architecture from this perspective.

Random:

100-Year Old Photos Reveal The Dark Side Of Antarctic Exploration

Incredible photos from Captain Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition and Ernest Shackleton’s Ross Sea Party. The story behind these is both amazing and tragic. I recommend you look it up.

An Abandoned Bangkok Shopping Mall Hides A Fishy Secret

In the last Link Pack I posted a series of haunting photographs by Seph Lawless documenting America’s Abandoned Malls. This is sorta related, only with less America, more China, and a lot of fish.

A Pyramid In The Middle Of Nowhere Built To Track The End Of The World

Incredible photographs showing a old US military radar facility built to track incoming missiles. It’s not a site anyone often sees and it’s kind of haunting.

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

The Shadow Over Innsmouth

I have featured this before, but since it’s Kari-Lise and my favorite H.P. Lovecraft story and it’s our anniversary I’m featuring it again! For fun, compare it to the original discarded draft.

Farewell Gif of the Week:

Filed under: Link Pack Tagged: Amazon, Anniversary, Antarctic Exploration, Cory Doctorow, H.P. Lovecraft, Hachette, income, Kari-Lise, Mathew Simmonds, Michael A. Stackpole, Steph Davidson, The Shadow Over Innsmouth

A Renaissance for Science Fiction

In 1959 Poul Anderson gave a talk at the Detroit Science Fiction Convention titled: A Renaissance for Science Fiction. During his talk he defined key differences between entertainment and amusement. It’s a fantastic insight and something every genre author should read and ponder:

“The first duty of science fiction, as for all art, is to entertain. But too many people misunderstand that word entertainment is no identical with amusement. Too much science fiction today only wants to amuse us, or kill time for us. lt does not really entertain.”

Anderson urged writers to create:

“…not merely clever variations on a theme, but stories which are about people and about science and about history and about art and about philosophy and about the way a mountain looks at twilight when the stars are just coming forth. That kind of fiction is entertaining.”

The goal for any writer—as  Poul Anderson is suggesting—should be entertainment not amusement. True entertainment resonates with the reader, it’s deep and substantial, it challenges the reader with its existence, and it can influence them. Amusement on the other hand, is fun for a time, but it is quickly forgotten.

Thanks to my friend Jonathan for pointing me at this over on twitter. I’m in the process of trying to track down a full transcript of the talk, if you have a copy or know where I can get one, please let me know.

Filed under: Writing Tagged: amusement, Detroit Science Fiction Convention, entertainment, genre, Poul Anderson, Science Fiction

The King Ain’t Dead

If anything tragic has come from the Hachette/Amazon fight it’s been the fracturing of the writing community as a whole. While neither side is disclosing details we know the argument is centered around e-book pricing. As far as I can tell Amazon wants to charge what it wants at retail, and Hachette is demanding they follow their MSRP. Amazon has responded by inserting artificial purchase delays into the book buying process, and as a result Hachette will see a slump in sales. The LA Times has a good (if not somewhat biased) write up on the whole situation, if you’re not caught up you can check it out here.

Among authors new lines are being drawn in the sand. Some folks are calling for unions. Others are filling out petitions. We have authors like David Baldacci, Donna Tartt, and James Patterson taking sides with publishers and indie powerhouses like Hugh Howey, J. A. Konrath, and Barry Eisler siding with Amazon. Recently Amazon has tried to sway the Hachette authors by offering them 100% of their ebook commissions while the dispute continues—an offer Hachette rejected. This offer was quickly dismissed by Roxana Robinson, president of the Authors Guild because it “encourages authors to take sides against their publishers.” Even Stephen Colbert is getting involved. Long story short: the whole thing is a mess and it’s getting messier.

Because, Reasons

Obviously we can all see where everyone is coming from: the authors we see choosing sides have skin in the game. Hachette and other big publishers have helped make Baldacci, Tartt, and Patterson very successful through traditional avenues while Amazon has allowed guys like Howey, Konrath, and Eisler to reach their audiences in new and exciting ways. The reasoning from each side makes sense and there’s a knee jerk reaction in all of us to defend the platform which has empowered our success. But author’s joining sides in a fight over positioning and distribution seems like a waste of time when, in reality, the platform doesn’t matter, it’s content that does.

Content Is Born Platform Agnostic

At our core author’s are content creators, and content reigns supreme. The beauty of our creation is it can (and should) live anywhere. With the arrival of eReaders, smartphones, tablets, and print-on-demand services it has only gotten easier for our readers to access the content we produce in a format of their choice. If one distribution channel disappears there are literally hundreds of other ways for readers to get ahold of the content they want, and there are more opening every day. It’s important to do what we can to embrace those new platforms, after all do you care how a reader reads your book? No. You just want them to read it and enjoy it.

Problems arise when an author isn’t the sole owner of their content, when they allow another company to control distribution, and that company refuses to be platform agnostic. Sometimes this is advantageous for the author: they get a big advance, they don’t have to hire a freelance editor, they don’t have to worry about cover art, and someone else handles promotion, etc. If that’s what they want, then by all means go for it, there’s certainly a lot to be said for removing all those extra distractions and focusing only on your art but making that decision does come with a cost. We’re seeing that cost first hand in the Amazon/Hachette dispute.

Long Live The King

Unfortunately, this fight isn’t going to be resolved anytime soon, and this won’t be the last time this happens. These sort of disputes have happened before, they’ll continue to happen. Locking oneself into one camp or the other feels like a mistake. If you’re willing to do the work try to remaining as agile as possible. It is beneficial for not only you, but also for your readers, and the content you create.

Those of us on the sidelines who aren’t getting involved, who are focused on our craft, and watching this all play out without picking sides, we’re the real winners. Platforms change, and there’s always something new that we don’t see coming. Amazon is a significant portion of my own sales, but Hachette and Amazon could disappear tomorrow and I know something else will step in and fill the space they’d leave behind. History sides with those who are prepared to take advantage of whatever is next.

In the end your book doesn’t care where it lives, and readers rarely care how they get your book, they just want to be able to acquire it as easily as possible. Who ever wins this fight won’t matter because, in the long run, as Bill Gates wrote in 1996: “content is king.” That puts content creators in a good position, so, long live the king.

Filed under: Publishing Tagged: Amazon, Authors, content, Hachette, indie publishing, Platform Agnostic

Thank You Readers!

I wanted to extend a hearty “Thank You” to all my readers. Thanks for spreading the word. Thanks for telling your friends. Thanks for being just so dang excited. I really appreciate it all and honestly I couldn’t do this without you. June ended up being one of the best months ever sales-wise which is excellent for The Stars Were Right and it helps seed interests in the upcoming Old Broken Road. I can’t be more grateful.

If you know anyone else who hasn’t had a chance to read The Stars Were Right, the $1.99 Kindle Sale extends through the 9th. It’s a hell of a deal.

Filed under: The Stars Were Right Tagged: Amazon, Kindle, Readers, reading, sales, Writing

‘Cause You Can’t, You Won’t, And You Don’t Stop

I found myself in a bit of a limbo over the last month. At the end of May, I finished the rough draft of Red Litten World and I’m currently waiting on edits for Old Broken Road. I found myself going a little stir crazy. I could have jumped into revisions on RLW, but I find with my own work it’s always good for me to let my manuscripts rest before I dive into revisions. So, for lack of anything better to do, I decided to start a new project.

The goal is to finish a 30k word novella and things are moving along swimmingly. (You’ll now see it listed at the top of my Project Tracker on the right.) If you follow my Tumblr, among my random thoughts, you’ve seen hints of what I have been researching over the last few months. This time around I’m stepping away from weird fiction and writing a non-traditional fantasy rooted in Aboriginal Australian lore—something I have been kicking around for a while. I’m real excited where it’s going and can’t wait to share it with my readers.

Also, I won’t be offering a Friday Link Pack this Friday. We’ll be back in business the following week. It’s America’s Independence Day this weekend and I will be celebrating with some friends in the mountains. Why the mountains? I think Bilbo Baggin’s said it best:

“I want to see mountains again, Gandalf, mountains, and then find somewhere where I can rest. In peace and quiet, without a lot of relatives prying around, and a string of confounded visitors hanging on the bell. I might find somewhere where I can finish my book.”

Sounds good to me. See you next week.

Filed under: Link Pack, Old Broken Road, Red Litten World, Writing Tagged: Aboriginal Australians, Bilbo Baggin, Books, editing, fantasy, Independence Day, mountains, novella, weird fiction

Cory Doctorow On Intellectual Property In A Digital Age

The following is a recording from Cory Doctorow‘s keynote at The Literary Conference 2014. I highly recommend you give it a listen. He covers a ton of really important stuff for today’s writers including: Amazon/Hachette, DRM, copyright laws, platform channels, privacy, and more. I’ve also appended Doctorow’s 3 Laws below the Soundcloud player.

Doctorow’s 3 Laws

Anytime someone puts a lock on something that belongs to you and won’t give you the key, it’s not there for your benefit.

Fame won’t make you rich but you’ll have a hard time getting sales if no one has heard of you.

Information doesn’t want to be free.

Filed under: Publishing, Writing Tagged: Cory Doctorow, DRM, Intellectual Property, Platforms, Privacy

Friday Link Pack 06/27/2014

It’s time to share a few interesting links I have found throughout the week. Some of these I mention on Twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do! Have a link I should feature in the upcoming link pack? Let me know!

Writing:

6 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books To Share With The App Generation

Nice list from Idea.TED to encourage the imagination and something something creative writing. I guess I get where they’re coming with the whole “App Generation” idea, but really, these are all real good summer reading for any generation.

Words For That

Need a word? A word for that? Well Words for That is a fun little site that is here to help. Worth checking out.

Breaking The Perfectionism–Procrastination Infinite Loop

We have all struggled with perfectionism and fought against procrastination. Denise Jacobs over at Web Standard Sherpa has some great advice on how to shake out of that loop. Really great for any creative.

I’m STILL having a Kindle Sale!

For the few weeks The Stars Were Right is available for only $1.99! Now is a good chance for Kindle owners to pick up a copy. Click here for more info. Tell your friends!

Art:

Sergey Yuhimov’s Medieval-Style Illustrations for Lord of the Rings

Beautiful images. The scene of Boromir’s death stands out in particular. (It’s my favorite scene from the book.) You should also check out the set of illustrations of the Hobbit I featured in a Link Pack earlier this year.

Bill Viola Projects Martyrs Within St. Paul’s Cathedral

Stunning permanent video installation. Not something I’d expect to see in a church. I think that’s why I dig it so much. It pushes the boundaries of what is usually considered proper or traditional.

After The Storm Limited Edition Prints

As of this morning there’s only a few of Kari-Lise‘s latest limited edition run of After the Storm. So nab it while you can.

Random:

America’s Abandoned Shopping Malls

I was real impressed with this series of photographs by Seph Lawless. He is able to capture feelings of tragedy and bleakness in a landscape that is all too familiar.

The Occult History of the Television Set

Television shows like Star Trek had tricorders and communicators that inspired the creation of the iPhone. What was the pop-culture phenomena that pushed the inventors of the television? Would you believe it’s own history is rooted in the occult? Interesting story.

The Best Infinite Looping GIFs on the Internet

It’s always hard making these lists because there all billions of great GIFs out there. That being said, there are some gems here.

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

The Festival

Written in 1923 this is considered one of the first mythos stories. It also happens to be one of the first tales to feature Arkham, and the first to expand on the mysterious Cryptonomicon.

Farewell Gif of the Week:

(Brittany: I hope this kept you entertained for the rest of your Friday.)

Filed under: Link Pack Tagged: GIFs, history, Kari-Lise Alexander, Kindle, Lord of the Rings, Lovecraft, occult, perfectionism, procrastination, reading, television, The Stars Were Right, Writing

Swiggity Swaggity!

I was pretty stoked when these showed up: fabulous one-inch The Stars Were Right buttons! These will come with any orders from my store or available at a con near you. There will be a few more styles as well, this was just the first batch and I got too excited, I had to share them.

Of course, these will be included in my swag packs which you can get for free!

Filed under: The Stars Were Right Tagged: Buttons, Cons, Free, Swag