Stephen Blake's Blog, page 2

Toys in the Attic

It has been too long since I last blogged. It’s difficult to say why, I originally thought I’d wait until I had something to tell you but frankly – loads has happened!

For now though, I’ve just had a story published in the anthology ‘Toys in the Attic: A Collection of Evil Playthings’. I was really pleased to be accepted into this collection. It is a little different too. There are poems, there are stories and before each one there is a beautiful piece of art.

The story I wrote is called ‘Against Type’ and is about a toy typewriter. I don’t want to say too much else about it except to say it’s not all fun and games.

Another BristolCon has come along and gone. As always it was great to meet friendly, creative people. If you ever get the chance to spend time like that, then I highly recommend you do. If writing is your thing, it’ll jump start your creativity. If you are a fan then it is reassuring to learn that people who inspire you really are very nice people.

There will be more news soon. I’ve got accepted stories in Kaiju: Lords of the Earth, Jurassic Attack, Sins of the Future and the Adventures of Dayton Barnes. Plus I should have a little bit of flash fiction about a song coming out.

I’ll try not to take too long before the next update – honest. Until then, thanks for reading and your support.

“Candlefire” – Revised Version Published in Far Horizons

stephenjblake:

The one year ‘Anniversary Issue’ of Far Horizons is out and the highly talented Joanne Hall has blogged about it.

Originally posted on Joanne Hall:

Good news, everyone!

A slightly revised version of ���Candlefire���, which appeared in The Feline Queen has been published in Far Horizons Magazine for their Bumper Birthday issue ��� Happy Birthday to Far Horizons! And I���m delighted to be sharing a TOC with, among others, David Gullen and my friend Stephen Blake, who was published for the first time in Airship Shape and Bristol Fashionand wasn���t put off writing for life by being edited by me���. ;)

Far Horizons is FREE to read and you can get it here ��� I hope you enjoy it!

If you enjoy Candlefire and want to read an earlier version, as well as some of my other short stories, you can pick up The Feline Queen in paperback or Ebook from Amazon (for the bargain price of ��1.46 this morning ��� don���t know how long that will last!) and Smashwords.

If you liked���

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Airships, Pirates, Passion and Gone Off Cake

The title pretty much sums up what I’ve been up to over the past few weeks.

Airships and Pirates – Well that’s the wonderfully titled ‘Avast, Ye Airships’ that gets its release… drum roll… 26th February 2015 (just 3 weeks away).

I’m really pleased with the story I’ve got in this anthology. I don’t often say that. I like what I write but this one came out just as I imagined it would right from the off. It’s been another great learning experience working with Rie Sheridan Rose, the editor of the book. She’s thinned the story but in truth she has most likely improved it. Working with an American editor has also been an eye opener with regard words. We share a language but in its written form it can seem quite different.

The experience has been very good though. I am really looking forward to reading my fellow authors tales. It looks like it is going to be a great collection.

Mocha Memoir Press who are publishing it are doing a ‘Thunderclap campaign’ on the launch day. This is new to me but looks like an interesting way to promote the book. ��If you are interested in joining in, here’s the link..

https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/21936-avast-ye-airships

Passion – That was the Sunday Speakeasy group I went to. I’ve been twice now. It is basically a local group who meet up and read some of their work. It is a mixture of writers, poets and songwriters. It is that mix that makes it so interesting. It goes from comedy, to serious, to absurd, to ponderous but is always entertaining. If I told you there was talk of ‘potatoes’, ‘The Monkee’s’ and ‘loss’, to mention just a few, you get the idea.

The first time I went the theme was ‘New’ and I wrote something for it half an hour before the event (keeping it fresh and, er, ‘new’). This time I was a little more prepared and read a tale called ‘An Old Flame’. It was well received and hopefully it did what was intended – which was to catch people off guard who expected a tale of love and romance. You’ll have a chance to read it in the February issue of Far Horizons e-magazine.

I’ve alluded to this before. I get very nervous reading in front of people. This group is a kind of ‘personal training’ for me and I think it is working. Reading your work is part and parcel of getting people interested in your writing – so I keep plugging away.

Here I am in the fetching ‘Monkey’ t-shirt reading.

Gone Off Cake – Finally this is a small part of a project I’ve been having a go at for a children’s anthology. The book is going to be about a boy called Dayton Barnes and is aimed at 9-11 year old children. Again this is an American project. It’s been fun so far. I’m onto my second draft and have appreciated the advice I’ve had from Rene�� La Viness, the editor.

As writers we put ourselves in different peoples heads constantly but I’ve found it trickier to write as a young American boy than I ever did as a wrongly accused Victorian woman being held in an asylum. Perhaps that says something about me.

Fingers crossed this story (it’s a treasure hunt) works out because I’d really like to be a part of it. Writing for this age group is something that really interests me and I’d like to get better at it.

The cake? Well lets just say that we all put things away for safe keeping and then forget where they are.

Hope to have more news soon on Dayton, maybe the big book size project and possibly paranormal steampunk activity.

Thanks for reading and sticking with me on the journey.

2014 – What happened was…

For those who don’t realise, ‘What happened was’ (or woz, if you like) is the usual way your average Cornish person starts when telling you their tale.

Well first things first – I didn’t blog. This thing I’m writing now, I’ve thought about it a lot but done very little. I think I got caught up waiting for interesting things to happen but forgot that this writing malarky is a journey I was going to share. So I need to remember the journey is just as interesting as the destination.

January 2014

I started the year on a high after learning that my first short story and my first submission had been successful. This was also my first attempt at Steampunk.

On the back of this I joined some other writers in committing to write a story a month and try to get them all published.

January’s entry was ‘Doubting Thomas’, a modern fairy tale. I’ve had this declined twice now but with very nice feedback.

February

This month not a lot of writing happened. Although with my small ‘Critique Group’ we did do a little experiment where four of us took it in turns to write a paragraph. I enjoyed doing this and it was a really interesting exercise to do. It certainly got us talking. I’d recommend giving it a go if you ever get the chance.

March

This month I finished my ‘Be A Write Pirate’ flash fiction entry. This was to coincide with Penzance’s attempt to break the world record for the most people dressed as pirates. A record that had recently been smuggled away by Hastings. Well, the record attempt missed out by 76 people but my flash fiction entry was a runner up – so I was very happy.

Of course 8th March was the best day of the year. A momentous occasion when Airship Shape & Bristol Fashion was officially launched at the Bristol branch of Forbidden Planet. My first time published, my first book launch and my first attempt at a book signing. I remain very grateful to Jo and Roz for their patience whilst guiding a complete novice to polish his work. Also, thanks to Cheryl Morgan for being brave enough to publish it!

April

Partly in March but then more so in April I wrote a dystopian story called ‘Lex Talionis’. I had various feedback about it. Mostly positive. I like the premise and I’ve changed the ending a couple of times but for various reasons I’ve not submitted this to anyone.

May

This month was Zombies. I wrote a story called ‘Abra-Cadaver’ and this was published by an e-magazine called Far Horizons.

June

More Zombies! This time I wrote a piece of flash fiction about a disco loving zombie. The story was ‘All Rhythm, No Pulse’ which was published again in Far Horizons.

I also tried my luck in a flash fiction competition. The theme was work and since I never heard back from them I’ll assume I wasn’t successful.

July and August

No writing to speak of, just work, work and work. Along with bites to eat and sleeping.

September

One of my fellow writers from the Writer’s Cafe thought about putting together a collection of stories and poems to celebrate/promote West Cornwall. It kicked my brain back into creative mode and I wrote two stories for her. ‘A Stones Embrace’ and ‘The Land’s End Elephant’. The collection may not happen now but I’m really pleased with the stories I wrote so I hope it does happen eventually.

October

I wrote a Hammer inspired piece called ‘A Policeman’s Lot’. This was published again by the lovely people at Far Horizons e-mag in their Halloween special.

I attended BristolCon this month and even had a go at reading ‘A Policeman’s Lot’ at the ‘open mic’ event. I didn’t finish my story in the allotted time, I got very nervous and learnt some big lessons about preparation and story selection.

As always it was a fantastic event. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I always leave there inspired to write and read. Lovely event, wonderful people.

November

I worked on a pirate steampunk story this month and went back to the novel I started twelve months before, tentatively called ‘Blood Key’.

December

Well I heard back from the publisher that they really liked my pirate steampunk story ‘Beneath the Brass’ and they asked if it could sit in their maybe pile for the upcoming anthology ‘Avast Ye Airships’.

I wrote a piece of flash fiction called ‘The Unseen Electorate’ for the Writer’s Cafe Christmas Flash Fiction contest. The themes being ‘Independence’, ‘Magic’ or in my case both. I won this competition the previous year and am delighted to say I came second this year. The winners entry was excellent, so I’m very happy.

2015?

Well it is going to be a great start to the year with news that Airship Shape & Bristol Fashion is now in profit and we can expect a royalty payment in January. I’m not earning an income as such (I think we’ll get £5.00 each) but the fact it is even in profit within twelve months is astonishing. Further to this I’m also told there are rumblings of award nominations which would be fantastic if it happens.

I’m hoping to hear that I’ve moved from the ‘maybe’ pile to the ‘yes’ pile with ‘Avast Ye’ Airships’. It might not happen but it is encouraging to get close again.

I will finish ‘Blood Key’. I’m over 60,000 words in, so I’ve got to finish it.

Other than that I’m also going to start going to a monthly event (work allowing) where local authors, poets and songwriters perform their work called Sunday Speakeasy. October in Bristol has made me realise that I need to get better at reading in public if I want to get people interested in my work. So 2015 is about getting a grip on the nerves and sharing my work.

The blog – I need to work on it more and hopefully this is the start of that.

The story a month fell by the wayside but it was worth trying to do and certainly I produced more work because of it.

Hopefully 2015 will be productive and successful too for me and you. Happy New Year to you all.

New Review for “Airship Shape and Bristol Fashion” From The Cult Den

stephenjblake:

The latest review for Airship Shaped & Bristol Fashion. 9/10.

Originally posted on Joanne Hall:

“Airship Shape and Bristol Fashion” received a nice review from Andy Fairchild at The Cult Den this morning, which was a good thing to wake up to after a bit of a stressful day yesterday.

He said : “…If you like Steampunk, you’ll love this. If you’ve never read Steampunk, you should give the book a go anyway, I doubt you’ll be disappointed. 9/10.”

You can read the full review here :

http://www.thecultden.com/2014/03/airship-shape-and-bristol-fashion.html

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“Airship” Dead Ahead!

stephenjblake:

Jo Hall, Author and Editor – One of the Organiser’s of BristolCon. A lady with so many hats, tourists take pictures thinking she is Bristol’s very own leaning tower of Pisa. Here are her wise words on a soon to be released anthology:

Originally posted on Joanne Hall:

I’ve finally emerged blinking and growling from the editing cave where I have been hibernating for the past few months. “The Summer Goddess” is approximately 142k, and I’m leaving it alone now until “The Art of Forgetting : Nomad” is edited and pried from my sticky little fingers (April, all being well.)

In the meantime, I have no time to get bored because “Airship Shape and Bristol Fashion”, the steampunk anthology I have been editing with Roz Clarke, is looming up fast on the starboard bow. It’s due to be published by Wizard’s Tower in the next couple of weeks, and it looks like this :

Airship cover by Andy Bigwood

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2013 – My Writing Year

Let me start by saying that I spent most of 2011 and 2012 being ill.

In late 2012, and early 2013, two things happened that helped me move on from that. One was my attendance at BristolCon, and the other, was taking up T’ai Chi.

Having improved my health and tweaked my ambition and self-belief, 2013 was mine to conquer.

Well, it is never quite like that, but what did happen was I went for it. I took a chance and went from talking about writing, to actually doing it.

So, shackles off, my first attempt at writing a story in over a decade was a short ‘steampunk’ story. I sent this off with little or no expectations. The success for me, was getting an idea turned into a story. The deadline was midnight, 16th June 2013. At 11:59 I clicked send.

It was with huge excitement, and a hell of a lot of disbelief, I learnt that my story had been accepted. The Editors, Roz and Joanne, walked me through a fair few re-writes, but in the end ‘Lord Craddock – Ascension’ was included in the Airship Shape and Bristol Fashion Anthology. Due to be released this month or next, hopefully!

Riding on a crest of joy, I decided I needed to find something, or someone nearby, that could help me develop my writing further, and give me the feedback I needed. It was in July that I went to the Penzance LitFest. I noted on the programme that there was a Writer’s Cafe. As always I was a little nervous about attending alone, and asked my friend Pete if he wanted to go, thinking he could walk into the room first. As it was, he and another friend Seb went, and I was able to stand quietly behind them both.

I started attending the cafe one afternoon a fortnight. We talked about writing, we did interesting exercises to stretch our writing muscles. Before I knew it, I was in a ‘Critiquing Group’, sharing stories and getting feedback. Thank you Inez and Victoria for being so patient with a novice.

In October I returned to BritolCon, this time listening intently to the speakers. It was different for me. I made notes, trying to take on board all the advice I could. I thought carefully about what was said, what I could use in my own writing and again noted that the people there, were the friendliest bunch I’d ever met.

Back to Penzance, and back to the Writer’s Cafe, where a gentleman called Francis told me all about Nanowrimo. Inspired, I signed up to try and write a novel in a month.

By the end of November I had 50,000 words of a novel, which I hope one day to finish and polish. In that time I also wrote a small piece of flash fiction for the Writer’s Cafe Anonymous Christmas Competition.

And so the year ended on another writing high, as my flash fiction was voted by my fellow writer’s as the winning story.

I feel very lucky that people seem to like what I write. I’m hoping that 2014 can be just as successful, if not more. To that end, I’ve already joined some other writer’s and committed to try and write and submit one short story a month throughout the year.

Of course, during 2013 I also tried my hand at blogging – it has been a hit and miss affair. It is on my must try harder list!

Good Luck to you all, no matter what it is that you are trying to achieve. Thanks for the support.. Here’s hoping the year of the Horse is a good one!

And so, I leave you with my winning bit of flash fiction. It had a 300 word limit and it is a hard skill to contain a story, with a start, middle and end, in that amount of words. I’m not happy with it. I see all the faults, all the things I would like to change but well, others liked it, so I will resist the urge to re-write it. I post it here, in it’s original, winning, form…

Lost & Found

“Welcome,” cried Joy, “one and all, to the Writer’s Cafe Christmas meeting!”

“The theme is ‘Fact or Fiction’. A tale, that may be about you or may be entirely made up. It is for others to guess. Who’s first?”

A grey haired lady, called Claire, shot her hand up. “Me! Then it’s over with.”

“When I was young, I met a boy, whom I loved deeply. Our families disliked one another bitterly. It was definitely, not approved of.”

Certain she had their attention, she continued, “He was duly shipped off to Canada. It broke my heart. I sold all I had, and sailed after him.”

A voice mumbled, “It’s a bit clichéd.”

“I arrived, a couple of months after him. There, I discovered that he had bought a ticket to sail back home.”

She gathered herself. “That ship sank. Distraught does not begin to tell you how I felt. In fact it was only last year, I felt able to live in Penzance again. And that is how I came to be the spinster sat here before you.”

A ripple of polite applause followed. Murmurs of, ‘it sounds a bit far-fetched’, and, ‘she’s a good actress’ were heard.

“Fact or Fiction?” Teresa asked.

From the corner of the room a gentleman spoke, “I’d like to say, that that story is entirely true, apart from one aspect.”

The gentleman stood to speak. He too was greying, and he leant on a walking stick. “The part you got wrong is that although he did buy the ticket, he missed that boat. He caught the next one, where he waited many years for this moment. The moment, he might find his true love again.”

A tearful Bill stood up and proclaimed, “Merry Christmas! Somebody get the mistletoe, quick!”

BristolCon – My first convention experience

It was about a year ago that I went to my first convention, BristolCon. I’d never been to anything like it before and as a person who usually avoids large gatherings of people, it was a big deal for me.

I was given great advice beforehand. Advice such as, don’t smell and don’t lick authors. Words to live by people!

I’ve no other convention to compare it to, so take my opinions as honest but limited.

I’ve long held dreams of writing but I was one of those people who only dreamed. I’ve got notebooks full of scribbled ideas, opening chapters and doodles – never anything fully formed. I always had an excuse for why it never got any further.

Still, I love books, I read comics and watch films old and new. So, with a bit of encouragement from my wife, I toddled off to Bristol last year.

It was a complete eye opener. The people there were like me. They were normal… ish, like me. The people on the panels were interesting and funny. I listened to one man talk about the difficulties of sex in space. It turned out he’d written some Dr Who novels. Later I find out he works in local government. These were everyday people, but they had thrown off the shackles of excuses and done it.

Everyone was extremely welcoming. I knew no one and yet at no time did I feel lonely. Speaking as someone who has minimal social skills, the atmosphere is so welcoming, it is easy to simply enjoy.

Many others will talk about the quality of panels and the attending authors and artists. I simply want to say that I found it inspiring. I left there buzzing about the possibilities. I could be like those people, I could throw off the shackles and go for it.

Lots of people write in solitude but if you are like me, reach out to others, meet people just like you and me – and be inspired.

One year later, I’m about to head off for my second BristolCon. I’ve written a short story that is going to be published next month. I’ve submitted another two for anthologies. I’ve joined a local writing group. I am in a critiquing group. I’m preparing for Nanowrimo next month. The point is I’m doing it. I might never be anymore successful than I am right now but it does not matter, I am just like those people gathered in Bristol – I am writing.

 

If you get the chance, BristolCon takes place on the 26th October at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel. Go, meet amazing people, see talent actually ooze and maybe, just maybe let some of it get on you! Disclaimer: They do not ooze. DO NOT rub yourself up against authors or artists in the hope of catching talent!!!!

http://www.bristolcon.org/

Editors – It’s a ‘Good’ thing.

When I was told that my short story for a steam-punk anthology – details to follow (sometime) – had been accepted, I was ecstatic. It was how I imagine I’ll react when I win the lottery. Yes, I was that pleased. Might need oxygen if I ever get a book published!

I’ve never had anything printed, other than a couple of letters to SFX Magazine, so you can imagine how wonderful I thought this was.

And it is…

Then, the editors get in touch. 

And here is the thing, if you find yourself starting out like me and you get to this stage, take it as it is, a learning experience. It is not criticism. It is priceless advice that you’d normally have to pay for.

My POV (point of view) had problems they said. But they liked it.

I tweaked it.

“You still have POV issues. But we like it!”

I tweaked it.

“You’re not getting us are you? We still like it.”

At this point, one of the editors who is currently very busy promoting her brand new book, took the time to point out the obvious to me. Like I say, you cannot buy that kind of tuition. Added to that, genuine kindness is not something to be sniffed at.

I’ve done a few re-writes now, of a 7,500 word short story. Never anything major, other than the POV. Yes, of course, a blind man cannot see the moonlight glistening off of an automaton! Arghhhhh – it’s obvious.

Other lessons learnt? Don’t assume ‘Word’ knows more about punctuation than you.

Also, get someone to proofread for you. After the ‘who knows how many’ times you’ve read it, you miss the most obvious. You also don’t see ‘meanings’ in your sentences. You intend the story to go one way and then someone else reads it and says. “but that is possibly offensive”.  If you are like me, you’ll go “Huh? What are they on about?” Then you read it again and it’s a “Oh, but I didn’t mean that – really, I didn’t.”

All this comes back to editing. Writing is only part of the job. I see this fully now. Joanne Hall, who is the author of the lovely book photographed below, is the author busily promoting her work but kind enough to spare a thought for the lame duck trying his luck at a story (I figure the least I can do is show her book here!). Roz Clarke is her partner in crime, who has the patience of a saint.

I’ve learnt so much and hopefully the finished story will see the light of day. If you find yourself in this very lucky position, remember it is not criticism to be put on the right track or have your mistakes pointed out. It’s the writing equivalent of two fairy godmother’s, waving their wands, and then, magical red lines appear over your work. Embrace this, learn from it, and hopefully both you and I, will not repeat the same mistakes again.

 

Test post

So this is my first and hopefully not my last post in my blog. In all honesty I don’t have a clue what I am doing here but I’m going to give it a go. I’ll muse about writing, books, comics, films. I may say something about what the cats (seven of them) have been doing or how Frodo, our Border Collie, is coping with keeping them in order.

I like sci-fi and fantasy. I want to write in that genre. I’m really interested in Steampunk too. I’m a Marvel nut but as I’ve got older I’ve discovered that there is a whole world of excellent stories beyond Marvel and DC. Hopefully I can share some of that with you.

Who knows, maybe I’ll get that book published and have things to promote and tell you about. Fingers crossed.

Steve Blake