Timewaster's Guide Archive

Short fiction review site The Fix has posted a review of the May 2008 issue of Analog.  The reviewer, Gerald W. Page, has very nice things to say about the illustration that accompanied my story:

It shows a spaceship approaching a space station above a planet, and I swear I’ve seen Di Fate do this drawing a dozen times before (and John Berkey another dozen), but it is oh, so beautiful. If Analog’s covers looked this good, the magazine would probably sell better on the newsstands.

I have to say, it was a real thrill to open the issue and find that my story had a Vincent Di Fate illustration.  He’s a fantastic, award-winning artist, whose work I’ve admired for years, and the illustration really is beautiful.  I’d love to see a color version.

Now, here’s the next line of the review:

And if all of Analog’s stories were as good as “The Ashes of His Fathers,” the magazine might sell substantially better.

Go read the whole review, which is several paragraphs long (and don’t worry–it doesn’t spoil the story if you haven’t read it.)

The Orem Barnes & Noble now has the May issue in stock, so other bookstores may, too.  If your local bookstore doesn’t have a copy, you can buy an electronic version at Fictionwise.

I'm not sure when the May issue will be in bookstores--possibly not until May.  So you probably shouldn't make a special trip to the bookstore to find it.

My story "Tabloid Reporter to the Stars" is now available to read for free at Intergalactic Medicine Show.
http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/cgi-bin/mag.cgi?do=issue&vol=i4&article=_001

Yeah, an agent recently requested the full manuscript of my epic fantasy novel.  So I've got my fingers crossed, which makes it difficult to type.

Several of my stories are now available as reprints at AnthologyBuilder.

Here's info about the 2008 Odyssey Writing Workshop.  I went this year and learned a lot, so I highly recommend it to anyone who has the time and money to go.

ODYSSEY WRITING WORKSHOP
ANNOUNCES SUMMER 2008 SESSION
 About Odyssey
Since its inception in 1996, Odyssey has earned a place as one of the most respected workshops in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror writing community.  Fifty-two percent of Odyssey graduates go on to professional publication.  The six-week workshop combines an intensive learning and writing experience with in-depth feedback on student manuscripts.  Top authors, editors, and agents have served as guest lecturers, including George R. R. Martin, Harlan Ellison, Jane Yolen, Terry Brooks, Robert J. Sawyer, Ben Bova, Ellen Datlow, Elizabeth Hand, Jeff VanderMeer, Donald Maass, Sheila Williams, Shawna McCarthy, and Dan Simmons. 
The program is held every summer on Saint Anselm College's beautiful campus in Manchester, NH.  Saint Anselm is one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the country, dedicated to excellence in education, and its campus provides a unique, lovely setting and state-of-the art facilities for Odyssey students. 
Jeanne Cavelos, Odyssey's director, founder, and primary instructor, is a best-selling author and a former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, where she won a World Fantasy Award for her work.  Being a writer/editor makes Cavelos uniquely suited to provide students with constructive and professional critiques of their work. She guides students through the six weeks, gaining in-depth knowledge of their work, providing detailed assessments of their strengths and weaknesses, and helping them target their weaknesses one by one.  "I give the same unflinchingly honest, concrete, detailed feedback to students that I provided to professional authors," Cavelos said.  "Along with that, Odyssey offers an advanced, comprehensive curriculum through in-depth lectures, providing the tools and techniques students need to improve.  Receiving feedback on your work and learning your weaknesses doesn't help unless you also have the tools to strengthen those areas.  I'm constantly told by graduates that they learned more at Odyssey than they learned in years of workshopping and creative writing classes."
The workshop runs from June 9th to July 18th, 2008.  Class meets for four hours in the morning, five days a week.  Students spend about eight hours more a day writing and critiquing each other's work.  Prospective students, aged eighteen and up, apply from all over the world.  The early admission application deadline is JANUARY 31st, and the regular admission deadline is APRIL 10th.  Tuition is $1800, and housing is $700 for a double room and $1400 for a single.
Meet Our 2008 Writer-in-Residence
This year, Odyssey is excited to host Nancy Kress as the writer-in-residence.  Author of twenty-three books, including science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, short story collections, young adult novels, and three excellent books on writing fiction, she has won three Nebulas and a Hugo for her short fiction and the John W. Campbell Award for her novel Probability Space.  Ms. Kress is the Fiction columnist for Writer's Digest Magazine and has taught at workshops across the country. 
 Other Guest Lecturers
The Odyssey Writing Workshop is also pleased to welcome its 2008 guest lecturers:  award-winning authors Barry B. Longyear, Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman, and James Maxey; best-selling author Craig Shaw Gardner; and Jenny Rappaport, literary agent with the L. Perkins Agency.
 Odyssey Graduates
If you're reading science fiction, fantasy, and horror, you're reading the work of Odyssey graduates.  If you've read recent issues of some of the top fiction magazines in the field--Realms of Fantasy, Asimov's, Analog, Weird Tales, Fantasy Magazine--you've read stories by Odyssey graduates Theodora Goss, David Barr Kirtley, Carrie Vaughn, Sarah Totton, Carl Frederick, Andrea Kail, and Natalia Lincoln. 
If you've been to the bookstore lately, you've seen books by Odyssey graduates, including Maledicte by Lane Robins, published by Del Rey; Bloodstone by Barbara Campbell, published by DAW; Bitterwood by James Maxey, published by Solaris Books, The Eunuch's Heir by Elaine Isaak, published by the Eos imprint of HarperCollins; and Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn, published by Warner. 
 Andrea Kail, a graduate from the class of '04 and winner of this year's Writers of the Future contest, has this to say about her experience at Odyssey:  "Before I came to Odyssey, I was stumbling around in the dark, writing by instinct and making a lot of bad choices.  But the Odyssey experience and Jeanne have given me the tools I need to follow my good instincts, ignore the bad ones, and make the choices that lead to good stories."  Other graduates have written about their experiences at Odyssey, and these descriptions can be found on the website at http://www.sff.net/odyssey/gradexs.html.   
 Other Odyssey Resources and Services
The Odyssey website www.odysseyworkshop.org offers free podcasts, writing and publishing tips, a class syllabus, and more information about how to apply.  An overview of the Odyssey Critique Service is also available on the website at http://www.sff.net/odyssey/crit.html.  This service provides authors with professional-level feedback on their writing, done with the thoroughness and depth for which Odyssey is known. 
Those interested in applying to the workshop should visit the website, phone/fax (603) 673-6234, or e-mail [email protected]. 
 

A guy at work said he had a roommate who was a fantasy writer.  I didn't think much about it because there are lots of people who write fantasy.  A few months later, he said his roommate had just sold a novel to Tor.  That got my attention.

> What did you end up doing with it, revision wise?

I took out the joke at the beginning that wasn't working and made other minor tweaks based on the feedback at writers' group.

Three hours after I sent it to Edmund, he bought it, making it my fastest acceptance ever.