Leo X. Robertson's Blog, page 8
November 8, 2017
New Litmag Stories I Thought Were Pretty Cool
It’s been a while since my last one of these, but I haven’t read litmags in a long time—at least it feels like I haven’t, because I’ve been neglecting my list of indie books to read and endlessly researching a shapeless story I’m almost-but-not-quite stuck on. We’ll see.
And I think this year I’ve learned how to read litmags. Here are some thoughts.
You’re not going to love every story they publish all the time.
You may also be so intimidated by a writer’s skill you can’t ever imagine yourself appearing in the same pages.
You may read a story so incomprehensible that it’ll make you feel excluded from the world of literature itself, as if a prestigious publication is saying to you, “If you don’t understand this and why this is good, go cut off your hands and gouge out your eyes, dirtbag!”
You may fall into the deadly trap of thinking that any lauded outlet has no chance of accepting a story of yours because you don’t write like writer X Y Z does. This is why it’s best to read more than one issue. Mags have a bigger range than you’d expect, and if you submit to them, they may surprise you! Conversely, it may be that the only reason they haven’t accepted a story of yours is because it’s shit, objectively—which, despite how subjective literature can be, is an actual thing. I should know: it’s happened to me dozens of times this year. (No shame: it’s happened dozens of times this year to your favourite writers, even—but they don’t tweet about it much if at all.) Either way, no stranger is capable of placing value on who you are as a person. They don’t know you; they just know your work. I know your work means a lot to you. You should be proud of it! But it is not you. You might suck also, like as a person, but no one’s judging that here.
You will also read stories that you enjoy so much that none of the above seems to matter. The purely transcendent. Isn’t that the whole point?
Folk like me read litmags for research, and as part of our self-assigned job as writers. We tend to forget that reading these mags is actually a lot of fun, that the reason we are writers is because of the love of literature that came first, that everyone involved—the editors, writers, etc—they all want the maximum enjoyment out of you. Literature is a bastion of joy and hope in a world of resentment. When resentment bleeds into literature, shit gets fucked. So don’t. The success of others not only doesn’t infringe upon our own, but likely assists it.
So join me in celebrating some cool shit. I’ve restricted my selections to what’s available for free online. You should consider subscribing to some of the ones below, but of those whose stories don’t appear online, I can also recommend Unnerving Magazine, Shoreline of Infinity, Black Static, Interzone, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Helios Quarterly, Phantaxis, DevolutionZ, Lamplight, KZine, Deadman’s Tome, Dark Moon Digest, The Singularity, Create50 anthologies, Crystal Lake’s Tales from the Lake anthologies, Bizarro Pulp Press’ More Bizarro Than Bizarro anthology, and the Horror Sleaze Trash: Fiction in Poor Taste anthology.
Handjob by Dan Ayres (Open Pen)
For BritLit, I enjoy Structo and Open Pen. I also read Open Pen’s “Best of” anthology earlier this year, and can highly recommend it. Dan Ayres’ story in the latest issue, #20, is a surreal exploration of the London gay scene’s overfucked and underloved. It starts off tame and ends up super weird. Very cool.
(Doesn’t hurt that Open Pen published a story of mine, “The Other Half”, in Issue Nineteen! Never thought I’d see the day.)
The Zodiac Walks on the Moon by Will Ludwigsen (Nightmare)
Weirdly poetic rumination about Ted Cruz’s thoughts on the moon landing. Perhaps about the ongoing struggle between explorers, conquerors, creators, innovators and those who exist purely as forces of nature contrary to anything that can be considered progress. Poetic and haunting.
Stuck Girls by Emma Copley Eisenberg (Granta)
I love the typically clear, simple prose of Granta stories. This one is humorous, surreal, evocative.
Red Lights, and Rain by Gareth L. Powell (Clarkesworld)
I didn’t know Clarkesworld would publish a story about a time-travelling vampire hunter! This was a cool and gripping addition to a mag typically filled with dense and cerebral stories.
Fandom for Robots by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Uncanny)
Prasad’s last publication, “A Series of Steaks” (Clarkesworld) was in one of my earlier lists this year, and she’s back again with a sweet and uplifting story about robot-written fan fiction, effortlessly demonstrating that literature can still be contemporary, relevant, thought-provoking, hopeful and fun.
The Three-tongued Mummy by E. Catherine Tobler (Apex)
I love when authors create their own personal mythology. This story asserts its own mummy legend with a strong authorial voice and weird, original mysticism. Check it out.
Infinite Love Engine by Joseph Allen Hill (Lightspeed)
This one grabbed me straight away with its fun and wild world-building and language. The story itself is perhaps a knowing cliché, but entirely besides the point.
The Future of Hunger in the Age of Programmable Matter by Sam J. Miller (Tor)
This is the one story on this list that I most wish I’d written myself. Gay meth addicts and kaijus—too good.
Girl, I Love You by Nadia Bulkin (The DARK)
I’m reading Bulkin’s collection, “She Said Destroy.” Today I read a story I thought was familiar—and I realised I’d already read it in The DARK magazine! (Which I’ve recently come around to—sometimes you just need the one author you like within the pages of a mag for the rest of the stories to click!) It’s a great story and a phenomenal collection, so read this one and if you like it, pick up “She Said Destroy.”
Boneset by Lucia Iglesias (Shimmer)
I’m not often a fan of writing that prioritises language over story—but when the language is this cool, who the hell cares what’s going on? And yet there is a simple and quite haunting story nestled within this weird world.
Show, Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfield (The New Yorker)
Funny and emotionally charged story about creative writing programs!
Phew—there it is. The best of the best from someone with excellent taste! I should put up a damn paywall around myself!! Enjoy :)
November 2, 2017
New Losing the Plot, with Steve Pool!
Steve Pool is a speculative fiction author living in Oregon. He has a passion for genre fiction, helping other authors with their craft, and anime! We discuss loving your characters, order versus chaos, and how great it is when you stop caring what other people think.
He has a forthcoming story in the Australian speculative fiction mag/podcast next year (but recommends you check out the site now!)
He has a story in Twisted 50 volume 1:
https://www.amazon.com/Twisted-50-Contemporary-Shockers-terrifying-ebook/dp/B01M66RW8U
And he’s an active contributor and feedback provider at Create50, which you should definitely check out if you’re a writer:
As always, if you’re a reader, writer, creative type, someone with something to say, you can always get in touch with me using losingtheplotpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. I look forward to hearing from you!
October 26, 2017
New Losing the Plot, with Mike Mazzanti!
Mike Mazzanti is a Pennsylvanian director, screenwriter, photographer and film critic living in Nanjing, China BUT most importantly, he’s a Losing the Plot fan-turned guest! That’s our favourite thing that me do here at LTP
We talk about the creative constraints of writing screenplays, the difficulties of being a director, and how great it would be if the world had The Devil’s Rejects 2!
You can watch his short film, “God Blinks”, on his Vimeo page here: vimeo.com/169159934
Read some of his essays and review for The Film Stage here: thefilmstage.com/author/mmazzanti/
Film reviews on Letterboxd here: letterboxd.com/ridleyscotch/
And check out his photography on Instagram here! www.instagram.com/lionsgatepictures
If you’re a reader, writer, editor, creative type of any variety or just a listener with something to say, you can always get in touch with me using losingtheplotpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. I look forward to hearing from you!
October 15, 2017
New Losing the Plot, with Nicholas Day!
This episode’s guest is Nicholas Day, author most recently of the short story collection, “Now That We’re Alone” and also the novella “Necrosaurus Rex”, both brought out by Bizarro Pulp Press. He’s also an editor at Rooster Republic Press, which also has the horror outlet Strangehouse Books and New Kink Books for bizarre erotica!
We talk about the horrors of Facebook, creativity and prolificacy, and why GG Allin was a monstrous piece of shit.
Nick’s links:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/nicholascday
Rooster Republic Press:
https://roosterrepublicpress.com/
Now That We’re Alone:
Necrosaurus Rex:
http://journalstone.com/bookstore/necrosaurus-rex/
As always if you’re a reader, writer, editor, creative type, a fan or someone with something to say, you can always get in touch with me using losingtheplotpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. I look forward to hearing from you!
October 2, 2017
New Losing the Plot, with Frank J. Edler!
Every episode of LTP is special—so this one is extra special! Frank J. Edler joins us from the Bizzong! podcast to talk collaboration. conventions, artistic control and the caste system amongst demons?!
This is Part II of a conversation we had that started with his interview of me on Bizzong! which you can listen to here.
Check out Frank’s writing here:
Scared Silly (highly recommended!)
Brats in Hell
Death Gets a Book
As always if you’re a reader, writer, someone with something to say, you can always get in touch with me using losingtheplotpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. I look forward to hearing from you!
Intro music provided by Marshall Riley. Check out his latest album “Bummer”, brought out by Captain Crook Records, here:
captaincrookrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bummer
September 22, 2017
New Losing the Plot, with Michael Alig(!)
This episode’s guest is Michael Alig, a man who is among many other things a club promoter, artist and hopefully one day memoir writer (should his money-plagued friend deign to help him out soon.) We talk about fame, the New York club scene and why celebrities are the new venereal disease?
If you are interested in what Michael is up to these days, here are your links:
WebsiteOutrage Party NYCSkroddleSquadThe Pee-ew (YouTube show)TwitterMusic provided by Marshall Riley. Check out his latest album, “Bummer” (Captain Crook Records)
If you’re a creative type of any variety who wants to be on the show, or if you just have something to say, please do so using losingtheplotpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. I look forward to hearing from you!
If you’re new to the podcast, every week or so I interview someone who is most likely a writer but is at any rate someone I find interesting for whatever reason, and we “lose the plot” together, talking about whatever. I hope you enjoy!
September 15, 2017
September 9, 2017
New Losing the Plot, with Marshall Riley!
SO excited to present to you this episode’s guest, Marshall Riley! He’s a queer anti-folk artist living in Seattle, a big supporter of indie art of all kinds who, most importantly, very kindly gave us Losing the Plot’s intro music!! How cool is that? So have a listen and get his music using these links.
Latest album, “Bummer”:
links:captaincrookrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bummer
“Burger”:
captaincrookrecords.bandcamp.com/album/burger
Souncloud:
soundcloud.com/special-human
As always if you’re a reader, writer, editor, artist of any kind, someone with something to say, you can always get in touch with me using losingtheplodpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. I look forward to it—and maybe you’ll be our next guest!
September 1, 2017
New Losing the Plot, with M. R. Tapia!
This episode’s guest is Manuel Tapia, author most recently of “The Die-Fi Experiment”, also the forthcoming novel “Sugar Skulls”, and he has a story in Deadman’s Tome’s Monsters Exist Anthology. We talk about finding time for writing, what motivates him, and at a time stamp late in our conversation, I potentially hear a harbinger of how I’m gonna die!! Oh shit.
Find Tapia here:
Twitter:
twitter.com/m_r_tapia?lang=en
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/manny.tapia.9
Hindered Souls Press:
hinderedsoulspress.com/
As always, if you’re a reader, writer, editor, someone with something to say, you can always get in touch with me using losingtheplotpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. I look forward to it!
August 27, 2017
Deadman’s Tome: Campfire Tales books arrived!The latest...
Deadman’s Tome: Campfire Tales books arrived!
The latest arrival to the Oslo office is this pair of Deadman’s Tome: Campfire Tales books!
Full disclosure: I bought 5 of the blue ones because they have my story in it It’s called “Cool Kids” and it’s about a dude who attends a wedding and reminisces about the petty vengeances he’s taken on people in the past—and he’s desperate to talk to the bride…
Thanks to Marc Molino for providing the cover art, major thanks to Jesse Dedman of Deadman’s Tome for getting this pair of books into the world!
Here’s where you can buy your own!
Hope your week is off to a great start—I know mine is!
