Nice turnover.
My steampunk short story, The Bond, has been accepted by Rune Wright, in their Penny Dread Tales Vol 1: Gears, Coils, Aether & Steam anthology. Their cover is pretty amazing – you can catch a glimpse in the submissions page (they are still asking for submissions) – http://www.runewright.com/submissions.html
I wrote the short on 8 March.
Next 😉
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Late last night finished (largely) my latest short story, Ginger Fred, the Pavement Artist. Somewhat different for me – light horror, more a mystery with undertones of the supernatural. Difficult to classify, but at a high level, perhaps horror. Hmm.. Fantasy? LOL
Wont go into it too much – it involves a tramp who regularly visits a seaside town and creates masterpieces of pavement art – but it gets weird when the pictures are able to convey what will happen in the future.
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Wrote a 3000 word steampunk short today. Conceived it in about an hour of thinking last night, and today it just spun out, and very well to boot. A little different than my others, where I enjoyed the alternate universe thing, but in this one, steampunk is with us, but it is largely hidden.
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Back on track. The conceptualizing went well and back to writing The Comfort of Beanbags, although a bit tired today – 4th day of a 5 day training course, and super intensive.
I am pleased with the world building done – trying to extrapolate a future society with the key elements that changes the normal progress of human society. I like. Might throw in a WIP some time soon.
Off to the Gold Coast on Saturday – 6 days in warm weather, pool, beach etc. All good to recharge batteries and fantastic for our little one.
Minimal internet there – so don’t be surprised with a drop in social networking.
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My YA dystopian WIP, The Comfort of Beanbags, is not on hold, but will take longer to write. It’s about getting the world building right. My original conception, reflected in my short story, is fine, but in the expanded version I realized that the world needed to be more detailed, and consistent with the original thoughts. Plot and characterization isn’t an issue; it really is about world building.
I do look forward to this, but I need more time thinking and outlining. Fun, fun, fun.
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Ah, a topic no doubt close to writers’ hearts, especially short fiction writers.
Editors.
The motivation for writing this post was because I did something I have never done before – I complained to an editor that rejected me. Surprisingly, the editor responded, and it was rather vitriolic. I responded back, and I am waiting for the completion of round two. Hopefully, it actually has already ceased. Why did I complain?
I should point out that it is not my style to respond to rejections, and in fact I consider it poor form. We live in an unequal world, and for several reasons. Firstly, the writer is knocking on the editor’s door, and it is up to the editor to open it or not. This leads to the second reason why it is unequal – the editor’s skill can range from brilliant to moronic, and it doesn’t make a difference. From an editor’s perspective, of course, they have their own issues to contend with, including a wide range of author capability, as well as the whinging, whining types (the ones that complain on rejection on a habitual basis, or for no good reason). For these reasons, there is normally no point at all on dwelling on rejections.
The irony about my complaint in this case was that the editor took the trouble of providing content and style feedback – which is, these days, refreshing. However, editors expose their own skills in communication and assessment by doing this. Add the whinging, whining authors, and it isn’t surprising at all that most publications don’t provide feedback (not to mention the sheer logistics of spending time on feedback).
My complaint was directed to this particular editor because he made an assertion outside of my writing capability – I submitted a story that has, as its central antagonist, an antique porcelain doll. I wrote it as part of a regular challenge among some peers, where in this case stories had to be written based on a photograph of a doll. I submitted my story to this particular publication because it was running a theme on dolls, marionettes, etc. Perfect fit, for submission purposes. My story was rejected, and some constructive criticism was presented, as well as notes on strengths – all appreciated, but it then asserted that I retrofitted an older story to include a doll, in order to justify submission.
This was too much for me. As a writer, trying to be professional, I will take rejections on the chin and go to the next market. And gladly, even if comments (as rare as they are) are facile. ‘Water off a duck’s back’, as I stated to the editor in question. But I also stated that I do not kindly accept second guessing on my motivations, and would rather have feedback on the delivery of my story – otherwise, I would rather have no comments at all.
The editor responded in shotgun fashion, ignoring my point altogether, simply stating I was ‘sensitive’ to criticism. I suppose I was sensitive (as he clearly was), but it wasn’t to criticism.
I don’t necessarily recommend that authors do what I do – it took mental and nervous energy to write an email, and ultimately to construct this blog. For what purpose? Not entirely sure – I was hoping that I could send a message to the editor (a criticism in itself – despite our unequal world), but perhaps there was also a bit of venting one’s spleen. The only saving grace is that I do not do this very often (in fact, this is the very first time, and probably the last).
As a writer, we live in an unequal world. Pick your battles, and avoid getting damaged. Most of the time, write instead.
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I have been noticing interesting discussions in various blog sites and forums, regarding, in particular, the definition, or purpose (for want of a better word) of steampunk, and satellite discussions of a similar nature on fantasy and science fiction (perennial, those last two). Being in the IT industry, a maxim that I follow is to simplify, not over-complicate or over-analyze, and I humbly suggest that this is where we go with these topics.
I will not go to dictionary or wikipedia definitions of the terms in question, and I will wing this without research, other than what’s in my head. At the least, you will get an insight into how my head works. I should add that my comments are in terms of literature, not lifestyles, subcultures, etc.
With regard to steampunk, I have read much on concepts, like it being inherently utopian, optimistic, etc. While I have read a lot that are, I fail to see this core definition as working, and I think it deviates from what it intrinsically is. Some of the best steampunk stories that I have read are in fact dystopian in nature and provide a deep insight into the darker side of society, and like all good science fiction and fantasy stories, say something about us (Excellent Service by Tonia Brown, is an very good example – Steampunk Anthology – Sonar4, 2010). I have written 3 steampunk short stories (1 published, 1 to be published this year) and I admit to preferring to exploit the dark side of the subgenre.
I recently joined a steampunk group on Facebook that has a HUGE membership, and absolutely love its definition: ‘steampunk is Victorian science fiction’. That’s it. And in my mind it materially works. While stories do not have to take place in Great Britain or one of her Empirical settings per se, nor for that matter strictly while Queen Victoria was alive (hey, nothing wrong with a 1910 setting, right?), it couldn’t be steampunk without the Victorian flavor. What I like about the setting element of the definition is that it still has huge potential for variety – US Western setting, or in the case of one of my stories, on a planet in a far off stellar system. Steampunk is about a society that is still largely technologically oriented toward steam mechanisms and its derivatives, and this originated largely during the Victorian era. Steam technology is critical to the definition and atmosphere of the subgenre – I contend that little else matters.
Now to the second part of the "steampunk is Victorian science fiction" definition – yes, it is science fiction. It is the science fiction of the Victorian era, such as Jules Verne and H G Wells (at least part of his career). It is, as I recall Jay Lake referencing recently, the science fiction extrapolations that emanate from the Victorian era. It becomes, in essence, an alternate reality set in the Victorian era.
I really like this definition as it is simple, despite my long explanation. It begs, of course, for a definition of science fiction, and also asks the question, why isn’t steampunk fantasy?
Firstly, steampunk in some references, is defined as a subgenre of fantasy, and in other sources, co-subgenred with scifi and fantasy.
Again, trying to simplify, and accepting criticism from hard-core speculative fiction commentators, I believe science fiction is about ‘what if’, but consistent with the understanding of known science and human behavior/history. It can be set in any timeframe, and it doesn’t need to have high science content, but it has to speculate scenarios with consistency to science (it can in fact achieve this by avoiding science, up to a certain extent). This is why ‘science’ is in the category name. I should add, however, that some elements of extrapolated science can be untested, and in my mind still falls within science fiction.
Fantasy, on the other hand, expects the suspension of disbelief to work harder, and poses ‘what if’ scenarios in contradiction to current science and current knowledge.
Yes, one could argue there is a gray area between the two genres, but I think it is a moot point. If in doubt, categorize as fantasy and be done with it.
Science Fantasy is a funny category. I see it, at a high level, as contradictory (particularly against my simplified definitions), but I see it as a handy subgenre of fantasy, where ‘harder’ science is interspersed with fantasy.
So, returning to steampunk, it could be expanded (for definitional purposes) to mean "Victorian ‘what if’ stories, set within consistent science as understood in that era". It is important to point out the importance of ‘understood in that era’ – as the writer of a steampunk story will assert that reality (truth, science) is relative to Victorian society’s understanding. If it doesn’t it becomes a quaint and interesting fantasy sub-subgenre of steampunk.
Hmm, a lot of writing to assert something simply, but hey, my definition contains 13 words.
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Okay. I have done enough outlining – don’t need to complete it at this stage for something well within my comfort zone. I am beginning to write my novel, current working title, The Comfort of Beanbags. I look forward to this.
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This comment follows directly from my previous entry.
I decided to outline my plot over the next month or two. Because the novel (working title, The Comfort of Beanbags) will be a YA novel, I think, it is likely to be smallish. Maybe around 40 to 60k. I think I can write it pretty rapidly.
More work, but hey, we writers are masochistic.
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Yes, history does repeat itself. I feel like I’m in one of those Sixties b-grade scifi movies where the main character gets caught in a time loop. Or possibly even Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.
I wrote a short story a week or so ago (The Comfort of Beanbags) that was quite a challenge (I blogged that point during the process), and I now realize that part of the difficulty of this particular piece was to instill the intended theme and moods in a short work. The jury is still out on that matter, but I have come believe now that the path I should have taken was to write a longer work, a short novel, or novella.
Ironically, going through the process of writing the short story may have been a necessary ingredient to come to this realization…
So… I have another project in scope. I can’t let it go now. I am sure this story will turn into something a lot better in longer form.
Why does history repeat? Because that’s exactly what happened with Guardian of the Sky Realms. A short story turned into a novel.
Stay tuned.
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The Chronicles of Evyntyde 