Honest or Harsh

I've just finished and posted my comments for the first six chapters of a fellow TPN members book. I was, I believe, honest - she may well think it's too harsh.

I wait with trepidation for her response.

I finally got around to signing off on my third assignment so it can go out the door tomorrow morning.

I posted the new version of Drinkers to the crit group.

I've done enough for tonight, I can barely keep my eyes open. I'll post my Black Static review and then its off to bed for me.

Hope you've all had a productive day.

BT

Drinkers Version 3 (now known as Dark Rose)

I completed an extended rewrite of my new short story "Drinkers" last night. I took into account most of the changes suggested by members of TPN, omitting only those that asked to insert some passive phrases.

The biggest comment I received was on it's length so "Drinkers", like "Too Late the Rain" before it, has now doubled in size.

I'll post it back to the crit group tonight after cricket training (if I get a chance).

I have one and a half chapters left to go on my crit of one members novel. This isn't a completed work. Only up to chapter 8 has been submitted for critique to this point. I still have a short to do for FF member and I'd like to comment on part two of another short by another TPN member.

I have also offered my services as a type of mentor for another TPN member who is about to start submitting work into the big bad world of the editors.

I want to do some more lay out changes on the blog. When I post a review, it looks cluttered in its present format so some tinkering is required - stay tuned.

I'll post my review of Black Static tomorrow on here and the web site.

I forgot to post out my assignment today so I'll do a final check on that tonight and send tomorrow.

Not a lot else to report at this time.

Hope your writing is going well and all your submissions are accepted.

BT

Review: Albedo One, Issue #34

Albedo One is Ireland’s Magazine of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. It is also home of the Aeon Award .

They claim under their guidelines, their definition of what constitutes SF, horror and fantasy is extremely broad and they love to see material which pushes at the boundaries – I think they have easily achieved that goal within this issue and still remained within the chosen theme of “Things Change”.

Once I moved on from the beautiful cover art, the first item I came across was an Interview with Raymond E Feist by Bob Neilson titled “Hey I think I forgot Uncle Tom Cobley”.

I found this to be a down to earth and open look at Raymond’s career from Magician through to Wrath of a Mad God, and the processes he, as a writer, has gone through to make that journey. He is very candid and gives some interesting insights, not only into the world of Epic Fantasy but into writing in general - with some interesting thoughts on other genres. Detailed discussion into the titles he believes will make writers into authors would be worth the price of the mag alone for new scribes among us.

But Albedo One prides itself on distinctive fiction and as previously stated, in this department it delivers.

“LOOB: Love Only Oily Bodies” by William R. Eakin’s is a dark tale that encompasses a man who is finally forced to find himself - his inner self. This is a complex tale told with an underlying force that pushes the reader on to an unexpected ending.

"The White Knight" by Devon Code placed third in the Aeon Award 2006-2007 contest. After reading this, you’ll never look at chess, Casablanca or research assistants the same.

"Boneless" by Rebecca Sian Pyne is based on an Oxfordshire legend about a gelatinous monster that roams the leafy English countryside engulfing unlucky travellers. This is a delightfully twisted tale of a man receiving justice from an unlikely source. Rich in its descriptions and almost tangible in its flavours, Boneless is an excellent example that cheating wives can sometimes be called on to pay their dues.

"Angelus" by Nina Allan was the winning entrant for the Aeon Award for 2007. It is an in-depth characterization of two men whose lives are irrevocably changed by a single woman and the different relationships they have with her. The tale is rich in detail and highly charged with emotional minefields as two men meet up again years after they’d last seen each other and the thread that ties them together.

"Alice & Bob", by Phil Raines and Harvey Welles, is very different. I’ve never been a fan of stories told disjointedly through the exchange of letters, but here it works. In a world where your very location isn’t guaranteed we follow a love story as it unfolds via letters left by Alice and Bob. Through their missives we learn how the world has gone to ruin through unnatural forces acting on the flesh of mankind to pick them up without warning (and without their clothing) and transport them to a random point somewhere else on the globe: hardly the type of situation conducive to finding a soul-mate.

"Isle of Beauty" by Larry Taylor came second place in the Aeon Award 2006-2007 contest. This apocalyptic tale focuses on one small community and how they come together to cope with the change that is about to be thrust upon them. Told with fantastic descriptiveness, the changes this college based community go through is amazing and thought provoking. It is the least abstract of all the pieces presented and yet easily holds its head up among its surrounding award winners.

"Siren" by Nassau Hedron takes yet another road to illuminating how things change with a story depicting the relationship of a man and a woman through different incarnations, as they progress through time. The change is not the incarnations but the equilibrium of their relationship – it is a change that is unexpected and all the more powerful because it should have happened a long time ago. Love between a man and a woman can be strong; love between a mother and child is something else entirely.

"The Supplanter" by James Steimle is a strange little tale of ghosts, child birth and the passage of spirits from one generation to the next.

In the back of the magazine is more reviews than you’ll need to decide on your next month’s fictional purchases but hidden within them was Australia's own David Conyers. Of particular note is an excellent review by David of Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror 2006. I imagine Albedo may be happy to take a follow up review for the just released 2007 edition.

Also among the reviews I found an excellent review for Aurealis #36 (Issue #38/39 out now) from a self confessed “not the biggest fan” of Sci-Fi, Andrew McKenna, a regular reviewer for the magazine for the past three issues.

It is proof positive that Australian fiction is being taken ever more seriously around the world.

Albedo One, Issue 34 is out now.

Hell's Kitchen Continues

I have a few posts to put up today dealing with a number of different things, hence the separate posts.

South Australia is in the middle of a heat wave. Temperatures routinely above 35C have been recorded for the past week and will continue for the foreseeable future.

The heat allowed us to win our semi final in the cricket without me having to bat. We have a heat ruling where if it is forecast 40C or higher the night before play - then the game is cancelled. As we finished higher than our opposition, we proceed through to the grand final. So my 150th game for the club goes down as a win but celebrations were kept to a minimum.

My assignment has been rechecked and will go out tomorrow.

I'm almost caught up on my critiquing requirements for TPN. Only one more member to satisfy.

I have received comments on "Drinkers" from fellow TPN members and will commence revision work shortly. It seems I need to expand on this story as I did with "Too Late The Rain", which will be the next piece I put up on TPN for crit.

I'm critiquing a short for a Fiction Factor member.

My review of Black Static has been posted here. I'll post to this blog and my web site in a couple of days.

That's it for this post, I'll throw up the Albedo One review now for your perusal.

BT

Love Hate relationship

I have finally received a marked and commented assignment back. Another B minus. Must be my starting grade, something to build from.

My lecturer for this first module is a hard task master I think. Reminds me of an architecture professor I read about once in another piece of fiction. Only different. The Prof was the type that knew his stuff and rode his students hard, never offering friendship or trying to build a rapport outside the classroom. That's OK I think. He's there to teach and students are there to learn. Push those who have a talent harder, make them achieve more. All good stuff.

My lecturer is a little different. He puts my submissions down, with no regard he points out flaws with a casualness bordering on callousness. I can almost see the smirk as he writes his comments. The use of the phrase "rather ordinary" when refering to my first draft that was required to be handed up, is a little harsh I would have thought. Still, in amongst this he welcomes me to the course warmly, is glad I'm enrolled, looks forward to working with me. A wolf in sheeps clothing if ever I saw one.

Perhaps, I'm being too harsh and reading things into it that aren't really there. Perhaps I'm still a little sensitive over my own work. We'll see. I will continue to try my best and continue to shoot for a minimum of a B grade.

I'll go over my next assignment one last time before submitting it early next week.

Albedo One review has been posted. You can see it here. I'll post it to this blog and my web site in a day or two.

My books arrived today so now I have Black Static to review and three anthologies, plus a short story to crit and seven chapters to read before I can crit the 8th.

Oh - and I have the cricket semi final to play over both days this weekend.

No rest for the wicked.

Good luck with your submissions.

And then it hit me...

Yesterday, I was driving to my local convenience store to grab a packet of smokes and had to stop at a pedestrian crossing. A little blond-haired girl was standing there holding her Mum's hand, waiting for the cue to cross. She looked across at me sitting behind the wheel and smiled. Not a smile of friendly greeting or of mischievous delight but one bordering on malevolence. It was as if she was coldly amused that she'd managed to stop me by pushing a button, as if she'd just discovered a very powerful secret and was determined to get everything she could out of it.

My guess is that she was just pleased as punch that her button push had stopped a few cars but the smile on her face triggered off some amazing thoughts in my head. I had a really big idea for a story. Not a short story but a novel sized story. Today I began researching it, putting little snippets together and now I have an idea for two books - independent tales but connected through this little girl.

Talk about excited! for labelling purposes - the working title for the story is Danielle.

My crit group (TPN) seems to have come alive. Through looking at past going's on and talking with members, it seems to have moments of activity laced with long periods of inactivity. My joining may have triggered a new round of the former. I've critiqued one chapter and one short. I have at least another chapter to do and another short with another members chapter coming soon.

Still waiting on crits to my little piece.

I have two stories to go in Albedo before I decide on my review - its growing on me. Now that the stories have settled into my subconscious, it is definitely growing on me. I should have the review by the weekend - stay tuned.

My copy of Black Static arrived today. I've only glanced through it but it looks right up my alley - so to speak. Nice and dark and full of hidden tales concerning my end of the spectrum - very cool.

Still no reply on the resubmitted assignment.

Busy, busy, busy.....

Hope everything is going gangbusters in your neck of the woods.

Crits and Reading

Not getting a lot of fictional writing done lately. I've posted a few critiques into my new writers group "The Prose Nest" (TPN) but haven't had anyone take a look at my little short yet.

I've packaged up my latest assignment but decided to hang onto it until I gain feedback on my resubmitted one.

Slugging my way through the latest issue of Albedo One. I've read six or so stories and the interview so far. The interview is good and worth the cost of the mag but I've only identified with two of the stories so far. Some of those I thought not particularly great are apparent award winners. I've asked a fellow HorrorScoper for their opinion so we'll see if I'm in over my head or not. Personally, I just don't like most of the stories in the mag. :(

Tonight I have other commitments, (Cricket) so its a non-writing related night, but that's cool. I don't like to obsess and my writing was definitely bordering on an obsession. I'm slowly reigning it in again although those that are closest to me may disagree. ;)

For those of you interested, the short list for Australia's Premier Award in Dark Fiction, The Australian Shadow Award has been announced. You can check it out here.

Good luck with your submissions.

Assignment 2 Graded and Assignment 3 Done - Again

I received the second of my assignments back in the post today. Unknown to me, I have a different lecturer for this module as well.

The good news is that I don't have to redo this one - I passed with a B-. My goal is to achieve all A's and B's to make me eligible for credits and distinctions so this grade just scraps in as a minimum.

I have redone assignment 3 and will send that off later this week, although I'm tempted to wait until I receive comments from the resubmitted assignment 1. We'll see.

Now to continue the review of Albedo One....

A new week

My ability to blog on a weekend is not good at the moment. That should change in a couple of weeks with the end of cricket season fast approaching. Speaking of cricket, we won again on the weekend, chasing down the required 221 with a single wicket to spare. Nail biting stuff. I made 86 this week and am now really paying for it. The body just can't recover as it once did. Still we finished second after the home and away season and have the semi-finals this weekend.

On the writing front: my lad is home from school today - a bad case of gastro. Gives me a good excuse to work from home. This will allow me to get ahead on my assignments and catch up on some writing so I hope to be posting later on with updates on all fronts.

I have posted my first crit on Authors by Design (AbD) and put my latest short up for comment. It will be nice working with this group. If nothing else, the moderator seems nice and I think we'll get on well. Fingers crossed.

I received my advanced copy of Albedo 1 Issue #34 to review. I'll post a link to HorrorScope when I post it and then add it to my review page a day or so after that. So far it looks like a good read.

Well, that's it for now.

Good luck with your submissions