This one is priceless

Keith Richards has admited that he snorted his father's ashes mixed with cocaine. Click on the title to read the entire article.

How is it that this man is still alive?

Skeleton of the Onondaga

My first ever horror story has been published by AlienSkin Magazine. This isn't one of my strongest stories, but you're certainly welcome to read it. Simply click on the title of this entry, and it will take you to the story...

Get to know J

I have a couple of political posts that I'm thinking about writing, but every time I start on them, I get too lathered up...so maybe those will be for the future.

For now, I thought I'd open up the forum for you to ask me questions...nothing too personal...but feel free to ask me whatever you'd like.

It's your chance to find out who the guy is behind all of those disturbing stories...

It helps to pay attention

Earlier today I was updating the Sam's Dot website a bit. Tyree had sent me the cover and table of contents for the new issue of Beyond Centauri. So, I'm renaming the file to make it easier to work with when I notice my name on the cover...

Apparently my childrens' fantasy story that I thought was going to be in an unnamed anthology, was acutally published in this issue of Beyond Centauri...and I had no idea. It's not really a problem because BC is a great zine, and I've never had my name in their before, so it works. It just kind of took me by surprise.

Anyway, if you'd like to read the story, you'll have to buy a copy of the issue. You can order it from The Genre Mall by clicking on the title of this post, and looking for this...

These are great

I hope Locus is going to keep these up for a while. They're the magazines ideas of good April Fool's jokes...

News Roundup

Study Finds Rejection Makes Writers Sexier

K.J. Anderson in Hostile Takeover of Niven's Known Space

Re-Creative, Inc.: Making Genre Writers Useful for a Change

New award established "to honor excellence in science fiction awards"

Neil Gaiman One Step Closer to Sainthood

The Poet

As many of you know, my career was basically launched by James B. Baker of ProMart. Jim's no longer with us, but I've been doing everything I can to keep his memory alive.

Now, Nomadic Delirium Press is pleased to announce the re-release of The Poet by James B. Baker.

Max checked out of reality fifty years ago. When he comes back, he finds himself to be a bum dressed like a priets. He also finds himself to be the only potent man in an otherwise impotent America.

Max eventually reaches the west coast where he finds himself the host of an hour long TV show watched by billions. His adoring fans begin to call him The Poet, and they see him as the savior of the world.

Joined by his triplet lovers, Max sets out to change the world; a world that is more than a little resistant to his efforts. Smothered by his adoring fans and dogged by men intent on killing him, Max's multiple personalities fight their own battle in his mind, and no one is ever sure who will win.

$16.99 + $3.00 S&H

Pre sale price: $13.00 + $3.00 S&H

ISBN: 1-4196-6578-2

If I'm going to die...

...I might as well post some more pictures from the photo shoot...although these were taken by someone much more talented than me...

Photo Shoot

Today, local artist Laura Givens had a photo shoot. She takes the pictures and then manipulates them into paitings that are often used for book and magazine covers. She's done numerous covers for Sam's Dot, including the current on-line zines The Fifth Di... and The Martian Wave. She's also the managing art editor for Tales of the Talisman. As if that's not enough, she is the one responsible for the cover of the latest version of The Opium of the People and she also did Tyree Campbell's Dog at the Foot of the Bed, and she's done the artwork for most, if not all, of David Lee Summers' books.

So, she had a bunch of us dressing up in costumes and acting like idiots...so, yes, someday you might find a rendition of something I did on the cover of a book or magazine...

We got together at Washington Park, which is in southern Denver, and it made me realize just how much I miss that area of town. Right now, I live in a northern suburb, and it's basically cookie cutter neighborhoods. The area I used to live had character, and it was also a lot easier for someone without a car to get around. I really do miss it. I might have to move back their at some point...

Anyway, I don't have any of the pictures Laura took, but I do have some pictures that my friend Viktoria and I took...and if she finds out that I posted a picture of her here, she's going to kill me...so if there aren't any more blog postings, you'll know what happened to me...

Busy, busy, busy

Been super busy lately. Just finished most of the April updates for Sam's Dot, uploaded several new titles to The Genre Mall, and I still have a new title to announce for Nomadic Delirium Press. All that's kept me away from the blog. I also sat down with my co-designer on the new RPG to work out some of the early details.

Later today, I'm meeting up with the phenomenal artist Laura Givens and several other geeks to just have a geekish kind of day. I'll post more on that later...

The blog list

I've updated my blog list so that you guys can see what I do when I'm procrastinating on my writing...

Look over to the right by my book list...you can't miss it...

Former ProMartian makes it big

As many of you know, I used to edit for a company called ProMart Publishing, which would eventually become Sam's Dot Publishing.

Well, the Hugo Award nominees were named yesterday, and Lawrence Schoen, an author I published quite a few times at ProMart, has been nominated for the Campbell Award for best new writer. The award isn't actually a Hugo, but it's handed out at the same time, and it's a very prestigious award.

So, congrats to him, and it's nice to see another small press author make it to the big time!!!

Future Syndicate reviewed again

Quality Book Reviews has done a quick review of Future Syndicate. Click on the title above to read the review...

Amazon Beta Test

I've been an Amazon associate for a number of years now, and they're currently beta testing a new feature which is supposed to search your page for words or phrases that it can link to. I've installed that here on the blog just to see how it might work.

If you scroll down the blog you'll see that there are certain things highlighted. They give you an option to buy titles by that author or on that subject. It only highlights a few, and sometimes the links don't make much sense, but if you don't try it, you'll never know how it works, right?

In theory, if I were to type Mesoamerican Archaeology (that's for you Spencer), it might highlight the phrase...but then again, it might not. There are several things on the blog that I would think would be highlighted, and yet they're not...go figure.

Anyway, it didn't seem to intrusive, so I thought I'd try it out.

Any gamers out there?

I've been a gamer for about 30 years now...as in role playing games, not video games. I started out with Dungeons & Dragons, and then later I got into Traveller and Shadowrun. Now, one of my friends and I are in the process of designing a science fiction role playing game.

So, I wanted to ask anyone that might happen to drop by here if there was anything they would really like to see in a new SF RPG, or if there is anything that they think has been overdone, or should never be done in the first place.

We have quite a few ideas, but since we aren't going to be the ones buying the game, we'd like to hear what others have to say...

Battlestar

Rarely do I comment on TV shows, mostly because I rarely watch TV. In fact, Battle Star Galactica is the only show that I can say that I actually watch every week. The big question is...why? I have such ambivalent feelings about this show, and last night's season finale left me feeling even more ambivalent.

I won't post what happened just in case there are people here who are planning on watching the episode at some future date, and I don't want to spoil what happens.

So, why do I watch this show? The characters are some of the most screwed up bitter people you could ever meet...which is a good reason for me to like them. Although I liked Star Trek, I often thought the characters were a little too much of the goody goody type, and they always resolved their problems with little damage to who they were as characters. BSG characters don't do that. They're all screwed up, and they continue to screw up, sometimes never learning from their mistakes. Although a few of them did get some interesting lessons about who they were last night!!!

There are also some interesting plot twists that make the show interesting, but this also can cause them problems. With the way they twisted the plot lines last night, they're going to have to really pull something out of their hats in season 4 to make it work, or the show is going to fall flat.

What I don't like about the show is that the drama often borders on melodrama. The writers often go for quick emotional solutions to problems that don't come across as believable, or even worse give away more than they really want to.

So, I love the show, I hate the show, I really can't decide. I do know, however, that when the 4th season starts in 2008, I'm still going to be watching...but they're really going to need to impress me if they want to keep me as a viewer...

A new sale

I just received word that my story "Skeleton of the Onondaga" will appear in the April/May issue of AlienSkin Magazine. This is kind of a surprise to me because this story is a horror story...the only one I've ever written. I'm starting to think that it helps to branch out as a writer, considering that the last two stories I've sold were not science fiction.

The sale of this story illustrates something that I often tell people. Writing isn't always just about talent. Perseverance plays a big role in the success of a writer. There are a lot talented writers that give up because this can be a very discouraging field. And then there are other writers who write well, but might not be gifted...they just keep typing away, learning by all of their mistakes, and then eventually start selling. So, if you're a new writer, and you have at least some talent, keep at it!!!

I wrote this story many, many, many years ago, and it's been revised, locked away, pulled back out, buried in peet...sorry, got distracted...Hitchhiker's Guide took over for a minute. Anyway, this story was accepted on its 20th submission. Yeah, I'm stubborn.

I still don't think it's one of my best stories, but obviously somebody liked it. I've sent them other stories, that I thought were better, and they've rejected them. It just shows you that editing is a lot about opinion...so never get discouraged by rejection.

R E S P E C T

This is a conversation I often have with people...usually after they learn from someone else that I'm a writer...

THEM (excitement in their voice): So and so told me that you're a writer, is that true?

ME: Yes.

THEM (even more excited): Wow, that's really cool! So, what do you write?

ME: Science Fiction

THEM (voice falling): Oh...

Then they usually walk away acting like they need to find a sink, some really hot water, and the most antiseptic soap on the market.

Apparently you're only a real writer if you can write drivel like The Grapes of Wrath or The Great Gatsby...or if you just moan and moan about how horrible life has been to you.

I'd much rather tell a story that makes people think, and can possibly make people change their views of the world. Think about how many NASA employees were SF fans as kids...a lot of them! Still, if you write science fiction (and I would assume this also applies to fantasy and horror), you're somehow less of an author.

I have one friend who often claims that I'm a great writer...maybe she's just being nice, I don't know...but she constantly bad mouths science fiction. She claims to hate science fiction books, TV, and movies. Yet, she loves the movies Contact and Independence Day, both of which are clearly SF, although the first is an example of good SF, and the latter is an example of bad SF. My writing, however, is apparently different than those other SF stories...which is a crock. When you read my writing, you can clearly see the influence of Asimov, Heinlein, and Orwell, among others.

People constantly bad mouth the speculative fictions, and yet Hollywood has made a fortune off of the field because people love it...apparently they just don't want to admit it.

Do these people go to a movie and then head home, trying to wash their hands? I can see them in their bathrooms, practically crying as they repeat over and over to themselves:

"Out damned spot..."

That's my rant for now. So, I'll leave you and get back to work...

Coloring within the lines

I'm putting the finishing touches on a rough draft for a new story, and as tends to happen to me, the story doesn't quite fit where it's supposed to. For those of you who aren't familiar with my work, I am generally categorized as a soft science fiction writer. The central issues in my stories are usually psychology, sociology, economics, politics, etc. Of course, a lot of times my work is very hard to categorize.

I had one piece called Entropy which was written as a mainstream/literary story, and I had no luck with it. Since it involved a guy going crazy about the concept of entropy, I figured I could make a few minor changes to it and turn it in to a science fiction story...so I did. The story was rejected over and over again for not having enough elements of science fiction. Finally, the story was sold, and it has been published.

I use that example because I just write whatever comes to mind, not worrying about genre...and then have a bitch of a time selling some of those stories.

This new story falls into that category. This is a hard SF piece, which isn't that strange, except that I used psychology as the hard science. I've basically theorized that psychology has been quantified, and my main character is a quantitative psychologist. That right there will probably get it rejected by some editors for not being real hard science. But, hey, that's how the story wanted to be written, and that's how it's been written. I'm not the first to come up with this idea. Asimov's psychohistory is kind of a quantification of psychology, although I would argue that it's more of a sociology...but that's just apples and oranges. Point is, I haven't invented the wheel, but I certainly seem intent on making things difficult for myself...

The story will probably be done in a couple of weeks, and then off it goes...

More on Global Climate Change

I read an interesting blog today about global climate change. This has a lot more scientific teeth than my opinion piece...so I thought I'd post a link to it. Just click on the title and it will take you over there.

No, Jim, you don't have to comment if you don't want to. I won't bite your head off for disagreeing with me, but I can certainly understand why you wouldn't want to debate an issue where neither of us is going to change our view...

Politics in science fiction

I was going to post another blog today about one of the other hot topics in the news these days, but I decided to put that off for another day.

Instead, I want to talk about politics in science fiction. I've heard some people say that they don't like stories in which politics plays a part. In some ways, I think this is absurd, and in another way I think it makes sense. I think it's all in how the politics is approached.

To some degree, politics plays a part in almost all science fiction. I hear some people screaming, "WHAT?!?!" Let me explain. If you're placing a story in the future, then there were certain events that created the world you're reading or writing about, and politics would be one of the key events. Look how much it effects our lives. Characters of the future are going to be no different. This is what makes me think the idea of hating stories with politics is absurd. Almost every story has politics to some degree.

What I think these people are really talking about is stories where politics is very central to the plot, and there's a lot of that out there. I can see how some people might not like this. There are certainly various plotlines that I'm not especially fond of. I don't particularly like military SF...which has politics in it, but that's ok because there are a lot of people out there that really enjoy a good military SF story.

Now, as far as political SF, I LOVE THE STUFF! Dune, The Foundation Series, the Hyperion novels are just a few examples...and those are some of my favorite books. I absolutely love galactic empire stories.

As a writer, I've tried my hand at galactic empires in short stories, and I've really enjoyed it. The novel I have circulating right now has an alien species that has a small empire, but it's nothing compared to what I'd like to do. One day, I hope to write a novel or a series that spans generations and the entire galactic disk.

I'm curious to hear how others like their political SF...