Sci-Fi, Thrillers, Contemporary
I’ve uploaded a little noodling to the Venus Vulture Reverbnation site – just some drones with a few processed guitar sounds (and those inevitable field recordings) – as part of the 2010 music project. A shade under three minutes long.
Download the track – yes, Paleocene is a real word, Palecopeia is made up. More on that later.
See, stream and/or download the full list of 2010 tracks here.
Well, it’s the height of winter here and, by coincidence really, I’ve been listening to my cd copy of brunk’s Winter ep released through Resting Bell. Winter ep is a nice short collection of four tracks, mostly laid-back guitar, about 20 minutes long, just a nice warm up with hot chocolate and a new story on the go. The cd seems to be sold out now (it was a limited edition), but you can still download from Resting Bell, or from Brunk’s bandcamp site, where he has some other material available too.
The new venusvulture.com website is working a treat now.
.
I figured out what I’d done wrong (see the bottom of this post) – I’d made the base of some images in Windows Paint, which capitalises the .JPG extension, and then the html didn’t like them because they were all .jpg. The joys of hand coding.
.
.
Sure, there’s tinkering to do, but it’s looking better than the minimal look it used to have.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
________________________
(Original post and graphic)
Gurgle and sad faces. My updates to the website seem to have gone squish (it’s a long story involving using two different computers, and being away from the other one as I post this). At the moment it looks like this:
Well that’s not working for anyone (though, surprisingly enough, the links do work). Somehow I think I’ve rushed Filezilla and missed getting some of the pictures uploaded. Will fix it later on. Yes, normal service will be resumed.
My chapbook of short stories – The Vampire Gustav at the End of the Universe – published by Lame Goat Press is now available from CreateSpace. 52 pages, $6.95 (US), plus postage. I think it will be available through Amazon soon.
Table of contents:
Airpocket
The Neuron Thieves
Automated Service
The Cottage Garden
Equilibrium
Zemogorgon
Submissions
Missoula Night Hikes
Join the Band
The Servants of Darkness go for Pizza
Let Go Samuel
The Vampire Gustav at the End of the Universe
Most of these stories have been published in zines or magazines, but it’s nice to bring them together – kind of like a balanced “best of” collection, a mix of humour, sci fi, crime and horror and a little blending.
This one jumps around a little with tense changes and location changes, perhaps too confusing, I don’t know, but I hope you enjoy Lie Beside Mary, just a little story about a couple going out for dinner. A quick read and I see I’ve screwed up one of the tense changes (it made sense when I was working on it). Proofreading never ends.
My thanks to editor Lori Titus for taking this story on. There’s lots of other great fiction at Flashes in the Dark, including Lori’s own Maradith Ryder series.
Ahh, Dannervirke
Lame Goat Press will shortly publish a small collection – a chapbook – of my short stories and flash fiction. A mix of humour, horror and science fiction, mostly stories which have appeared elsewhere, some out of print, and one new story.
The cover is by me, using computer graphics and a photo taken by my sister.
Safely back, 16,000 words later, and ready to have a break now to catch up. Lovely environment, by a river with morning birds and waving pine trees, hardly anyone around. I took some photos with the cellphone, when I scrape them off that, I’ll upload them here and at flickr.
Productivity? Lots of stories completed to a first draft stage, others re-written from abandoned first drafts and much better for it. Now to print these out and start work on them all over again.
Funny thing, I seemed to go mostly sci-fi and some fantasy, very little horror or literary.
So I’m going away for three nights on retreat, with a bunch of notes and the laptop, expecting to come back with some first draft stories and some editing done on others.
Why? Why should I need to get away? Shouldn’t my workspace be set up well enough that I can write at my desk, in my home-office?
Well, it is – I have an excellent encouraging set-up with two desks, one for handwriting one with a computer, great lighting, an armchair for reading, packed bookshelves for inspiration. But there is something else that being elsewhere brings – a new space, different sounds, different views, different distractions. No internet, no laundry or dishes, no house repairs to be done or garden to be weeded (and boy does the garden need weeding) – nothing hovering: just concentrated writing time.
Orson Scott Card – Keeper of Dreams
This collection of stories by sci-fi superstar is a patchy mix of a variety of odd pieces from a variety of sources – most of his stories have been compiled in earlier collections and since he focuses on novels more than stories there are fewer stories left to put into a volume.
While the stories are cool and compelling, what Card does so well is offer commentary about each: about the history and writing process that went into making the story, whether it be something he thought might be a novel, or a quirky idea he had or what have you. As a writer I find this aspect of the book the most interesting – more so than the stories themselves even. How does Card’s mind tick, why does he write the way he does, and so on. Fascinating, and perhaps as good as almost any writing course might be. I once had a friend to ask me to recommend a good guide to writing a novel and I suggested reading Card’s Pastwatch: The Redemption
Card’s official site is here.
Sean Monaghan - Writer 