Author's Note

It is the eternal conflict of the writer – one must be sure of one’s talent and skill, but not arrogant.  This came to me last night as I was working on a new anthology submission for Soylent Publications. 

When I get close to the end of the story, it’s common for me to be assailed with self-doubt.  I hope and I pray that I will be so deeply immersed in the story creation that I’ll type “The End” before this happens, but sadly, it’s not often the case.  Instead, I’ll be typing along, following the mental sign posts in my head (turn left for plot twist, emotional dip ahead), when the all important “The End Is Near” sign shows up.  And self-doubt creeps in with ninja-like stealth.  I start to think that maybe this is going in the wrong direction entirely, maybe I need to go back to the beginning, oh here’s some recurring symbols I should have been sprinkling in all along.  Let me go and do that.  Then the siren song of delaying the inevitable begins in the form of laundry/dishes/cat box. 

Self-doubt tells me the story isn’t good enough, so why even finish it in the first place?  Why set myself up for inevitable rejection by finishing the sucker, then starting the rounds of magazine and publisher submissions.  I could be kibitzing on Facebook, you know…

And here is where the writer must find that well of confidence in his/her soul and forge on ahead.  If I did not find that confidence, then my hard drive would be littered with the half-finished remains of stories that never quite finished the birthing process.  Sure, I have a few like that, but the number that I’ve seen it through with outnumbers the ones that have fallen by the wayside, half-finished.  But once that reserve of confidence is breeched, a writer has to be careful not to go too far in the other direction, because an arrogant writer does not believe that there is anything else to learn and that his/her prose is always perfect. 

But no one, not even the greatest luminaries of the literary constellations, is perfect.  It is the dichotomy of the writer – confident enough to send stories out into the world believing someone will want to read them, and full of enough self-doubt to constantly strive to be a better writer.

Is it possible for a story topic to get tapped out, sucked dry?  How can you tell? 

I was set to wondering about this when I got an invitation to fan another author on Facebook.  Rather than indiscriminately hit the accept button, I popped on over to the author’s page to see what all this was about. 

It was about vampires, angsty gothic vampires.  And the snarky commentary started rolling in my head.  I can tell you right now, my inner voice might not have been kind, but it was very funny.  But I will not repeat it here, because I do endeavor to overcome my flaws and be a better person a little every day. 

But it got me to thinking – why did I internally roll my eyes and think, oh here we go again?  I’ll admit to loving Anne Rice in my late teens and early 20s, talk about your angsty vampires.  So was it an age thing?  Now that I’m past 30 I can’t enjoy a guilt-ridden blood sucker?  I don’t think so… 

In the industry parlance, the topic of vampires has been “done to death.”  If you read calls for submissions there are definitely topics that are right out – vampires, werewolves, zombies – unless they are done very well.  And that just might be the key right there. 

You don’t have to be quite as sharp with your storytelling if the topic has not been done or done only infrequently.  Novelty allows the reader to forgive some writerly sins.  But if you’re trying to tap a vein that many others have already tapped before you?  You better bring your A game, buddy.  And your A game better be awesome.

The speculative fiction world is a small one, and its publishers often operate on a razor thin margin.  Realms of Fantasy magazine was pulled back from the brink a year ago by Tir Na Nog Press when Sovreign Media decided to shutter it.  In the year since, they’ve done wonderful work, but now it seems that the economy has hit subscribers a bit hard.  Subscription renewals are down, but newstand sales and advertising are trending up.  If Realms of Fantasy can just hold on a little bit longer, the future looks bright indeed. 

So, give thier website a look.  If you like what you see, and your budget will allow, subscribe.  Let’s not let another SpecFic magazine go under, folks, especially not one this good. 

The magazine website:

http://www.rofmag.com/

I’ve been interviewed by another blog author on the topic of story/book names.  Check it out!

http://book-mark-it.com/

When the last post appeared, our daring heroine was nervously awaiting her first public reading….  Did she chew her fingernails to the nub?  Was she pelted by rotten tomatoes by an angry audience?  Or did get everything go well?  We tune in now to find out the answer….

 I arrived at Balticon in plenty of time to get ready for the reading, but the preparation didn’t make me feel any less nervous.  But even with my nerves, everything went just fine.  To our great relief, the audience members outnumbered us.  They were attentive and applauded nicely after each piece.  Vonnie Winslow Crist read an enchanting tale, and Katie Hartlove read beautifully.  I am so proud of my fellow Writer Goddesses.  I even got comments later in the con about how enjoyable my part of the reading was. 

 Then, in a bonus round, the author who followed us, Leona Wisoker, asked if we wanted to stay and share reading time with her.  Bonus!  I got to hear part of what sounds like a really good novel from Leona, and I got to read my back up story, “Master Pinchpenny’s Heartaches and Cure-alls,” which I think went even better than the first reading. 

 The rest of the con was quite a whirlwind, but it was a good whirlwind.  I went to lots of panels and got some really good ideas for future stories.  I got to spend good times with good friends and pick up a new Tee Morris book I’ve been itching to read.  But best of all, I made some good publishing contacts, and if all goes well, one of the book release parties at next year’s Balticon will involve me.  To say that I’m thrilled is an understatement. 

 P.S. – All authors mentioned in this post – Vonnie Winslow Crist, Katie Hartlove, Leona Wisoker, and Tee Morris – are well worth looking up and spending some of your precious cash and reading time on.  Just sayin’…