Reflecting on Simak

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Today is August 3, the birthday of Clifford D.Simak (1904-1988). Simak primarily wrote science fiction, but he also wrote a few fantasy novels.

Simak was called the patoralist of science fiction. His books and stories were often set in a rural or small town setting, frequently in his native Wisconsin. His favorite themes involved robots and time travel.  While Simak could do dark when he wanted to, the majority of his stories were positive and optimistic. His characters tended to be common sense salt of the Earth people.

It’s been a few years since the last time I read any Simak. That’s partly because I’ve read more mysteries and thrillers in the last few years than science fiction or fantasy. I should try to read more Simak. His optimnism and likeable characters are a nice, refreshing change from some of the antiheroes and dark endings in so much of today’s fiction.

Palmer, Cartier, and Gemmell

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Today is the first day of August. It is the birthday of Ray Palmer (1910-1977), Edd Cartier (1914-2008),an d David Gemmell (1948-2006). Here’s a brief look at each.

First, Ray Palmer. Palmer saw a meteor fall. It was a piece of a white dwarf star. Palmer was able to use the material to change his size and his mass. He donned a suit to tights, called himself the Atom, Joined the Justice League, and, oh, wait. That’s the wrong Ray Palmer. Continue reading →

Dunsany and Jorkens

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Today is July 24, the birthday of Lord Dunsany (1878-1957).

Dunsany isn’t as well remembered today as he once was. He wrote The King of Elfland’s Daughter, which is still in print and his his most higly regarded work. I’ve read it, and it’s a book I want to reread at some point. Most of his other work isn’t in print, at least that I’m aware of.

Dunsany wrote mostly short fiction, much of it only a page or two in length.

Early in the two thousands, Night Sahde published a set of Dunsany’s work regarding a man name Joseph Jorkens, a member of a ficitious club in London. Jorkens will tell a story if someone will buy him a drink.

This is an example of a club story, in which someone in a club or bar tells a tall tale. L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, Arthur C Clarke, and P. G. Wodehouse have all written this type of story. these days, the only practitioner of club stories is Larry Niven, who will occasionally write a Draco’s Tavern story.

I’ve only read one or two of the Jorkens tales, and that was long ago. I’d like to read some of them, but these days I don’t have a lot of time for reading.They aren’t available in audiobook that I can find. I spend more time listening to audiobooks than I have time to read.

Have any of you read some of the Jorkens stories, and if so, what did you think?

Is it Time for a New “Best of” Anthology?

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I haven’t read a “Best of” anthology in a decade. (I checked.) Back in 2016, I attempted to read and review all the Best of the Year anthologies. (Note: There is a difference between an anthology and a collection. An anthology contains stories by multiple authors. A collection has one, maybe two authors. That’s what I mean for the purposes of this post.)

I don’t think I read all of them. I’m pretty sure I didn’t read Gardner Dozois’s volume simiply becuase of the length. I do recall before I was done that I was never going to do that again. Too many of the stories that year really weren’t to my taste. And those seemed to be the ones that showed up in multiple volumes. The whole thing turned out to not be any fun by the time I quit.

I haven’t read a Best of anthology since, although I’ve dipped into a couple over the last few years and listened to one on audiobooks while driving.

I’m rethinking my practice of not reading any simply because my reading time is rather limited. I’m losing touch with what writers are doing at short lengths, especially in science fiction and fantasy.

That little voice in the back of my head is telling me to close the laptop now and go no further with this post.

As usual, I’m going to ignore that voice. But I am going to issue a disclaimer: I AM NOT VOLUNTEERING FOR ANYTHING!

A number of years ago, (and I want to say it was more than ten, but I’m not sure. We’lll go with ten) I was approached by someone asking if I would be interested in editing a Year’s Best Sword and Sorcery anthology. The catch would be getting funding. And while I said I would certainly be interested in editing such a volume, funding didn’t materialize.

Time moved on.

I’ve been reading a lot of sword and sorcery lately. It’s been great. I haven’t read much S&S in the last few years as most of my reading has been focused on mysteries, crime, and thrillers. (For reasons.) There are S&S publications that didn’t exist when this idea of a year’s best S&S anthology was floated. I’m trying to get cuaght up on them.

And the idea of a best sword and sorcery of the year anthology has been rattling around in my empty skull for the last few weeks and hasn’t fallen out of one of the holes in my head.

Crowdfunding was relatively new at the time this idea was first proposed. It’s matured since then.

(Did I mention that I’m not volunteering for anything?)

Locus magazine has taken over the publishing of Johnathan Strahan’s best science fiction and fantasy anthology. They are funding it through Kickstarter. As I write this, there are sixteen days left, and the campaign has raised more than double its funding goal.

I suspect there are enough S&S stories published these days to fill a year’s best anthology. It might not be a door-stopper like some of the current year’s best anthologies are. But there’s nothing wrong with a book that is only three hundred or so pages rather than five, six, or seven hundred pages.

So, I’m going to throw this idea out there if for no other reason than to get it out of my head. An anthology of the best sword and sorcery of the year, funded by a Kickstarter. If the capmiagn is well-thought out, and the funding goal isn’t too high, it should fund. At least, I think so.

If someone wants to take this idea and run with it, go for it.

Jason M. Waltz Launches Whet Work by Waltz

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Attention, all you writers and aspiring writers out there. There’s a new writer’s service in town.

Jason M. Waltz, one of the most enlightened editors on the planet, has launched Whet Work by Waltz. The name comes from a whet stone. Jason has edited a number of anthologies over the years. Hopefully, you’ve read some. He’s even published a few of my stories. (I told you he was one of  the most enlightened editors on the planet.)

Joking around aside, Jason knows what he’s doing. Here’s his announcement that he recently posted. If you’ve been having trouble getting out of the slush pile, maybe Jason can help you.

NAME: Whet Work by Waltz

TAGLINE: Sharpening your Submissions

LOGO: by sabretooth1100

$15/3,000 words up 21,000 words + all transaction fees

3k-9k 2 week turnaround

12k-15k 2-3 week turnaround

18k-21k 3 week turnaround

This is me, Jason M. Waltz, reading any heroic adventure fiction for authors preparing to submit. I will read just as if I were reading for an open submission call. If you write and read heroic adventure and have enjoyed my heroic story selections in the 20+ years of magazines and anthologies I have edited, this is a perfect service for you! While this is only my opinion and I am not making selections for any publications with these readings, my eyes have seen and evaluated a lot of words. Let me help you get your works over the hump, catch the interest of editors, and find publication and readers!

Note 1: This is not a submission package service (no long form fiction).

Note 2: I reserve the right to decline any submission that I do not consider heroic adventure I want to read.

You will receive 6 paragraphs of feedback each addressing a specific point:

1 – First Line (My hook reaction)

2 – Opening (My analysis of the appeal in your roughly 1st 3 sentences/1st paragraph)

3 – First 500 words (My decision point where I historically make my determination to request the rest of the work for full reading)°°

4 – Character (My analysis of your character appeal, concentration on the primary (one or two) protagonists, with (possible) brief commentary on their antagonist(s) and other secondary characters that catch my interest)

5 – Conflict and/or Climax & Resolution (My analysis of whether these critical aspects work and work within your story)

6 – Denouement (My thoughts on if there is one, if it is consistent, and if it hints/promises more)

Submitters will be asked 3 things only:

1 – email

2 – word count

3 – genre

Well, and for some money. But no cover letters, explanations, or biographies.

°°On pieces 9k or longer this is the point I will decide if I’m accepting your work in full. If I decline to continue, it will be a flat $15 + fees and I will provide only the first 3 paragraphs in feedback.

I am currently slow testing this as I am learning how to set up an Instagram shop, but I am adding interested names in order of contact. I already have a nice slate of interested parties, but if you’d like to be added to my growing list, please use the registration form on my linktr.ee

https://linktr.ee/jasonmwaltz

Souls in a Torrent

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“The Torrent of Souls” by H. R. Laurence
Old Mooon Quarterly Number 7

In my review of Battleborn, I mention that Jason M. Waltz had a review that started with the first line of the story. I liked the line so much I tracked down the story, something I mentioned in the review.

In the comments, Jason suggested I share my thoughts on it. They are below.

As an aside, I read the book I reviewed in the previous post on the basis of its first line. That’s acutally a good idea, reading and reviewing something based on a great opening line. I may have to do more of that. (I only steal ideas from the best, Jason.)

The story is “The Torrent of Souls”, as noted at the top of the post.

Here’s the opening line: “Heodric had won the knife fight, which was to say his foe was dying faster than he was.”

Heodric loses consciousness, but not before a  man approaches him through the crowd in the tavern who are watching him die. They excahnge a few words. Heodric loses consciousness. He wakes up in a stable. The man is there along with a witch.

They have a job for him. It involves moving through a river of souls to the barrow of a powerful wiard. The witch needs access to some of the wizard’s books.

That’s all the plot I’ll tell. You can buy a copy and read the rest for yourself.

H. R. Laurence isn’t a writer I’m familiar with. I’m going to keep an eye out for his work, though. The opening scene pulled me in.The character of Heodric was well developed. I was interested in what happened to him. The action moved briskly. The dialogue was crisp and moved the plot along while developing the characters.

I’ve not had a chance to read the rest of this issue of Old Moon Quaterly, but I’m going to read the rest sometime in the next few weeks. I’m in the middle of several books at the moment.

And if Luarence has written more stories about Heodric, I’d like to read them. Let me know if the comments if you’re aware of them.

 

Fighting the Perdido Valley War

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The Perdido Valley War
Aaron Cummins

I’d like to thank Aaron Cummins for providinig me a copy of his second novel at Howard Days last month. He told me the first linst: “One week after I came to the Perdido Valley, I found my brother’s bones.”

He had my attention.

If you like men’s adventure fiction, you’ll want to  give this short novel a try. It’s available in electronic and paper formats.

What’s it about, you ask?

I’m glad you asked. Continue reading →

Cook and Koontz

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Today is July 9. I don’t normally do birthday posts for living writers.

But it’s my blog, and I can do what I want. And I want to acknowledge the birthdays of two of my favoirte writers.

Glen Cook (b. 1944) and Dean Koontz (b. 1945).

Glenn Cook

Glen Cook is the author of the Black Company sereis, the Dread Empire series, The Instrumentalities of the Night series, adn the Garrett, PI series. Along with a number of other novels. If you haven’t read him yet, what are you waiting for?

Dean Koontz needs no introduction. He was been writing for at elast fifty years. I’ve only started reading his work in the last few years, and I regret watiing so long. He’s a writer my writing mentors encourage other writers to study.

So, Mr. Cook and Mr. Koontz, happy birthday!