Go West, Young 512

Hey, remember "Don't Fence Me?" Well, it took a while, but I turned that 512 into a longer version (3,600 words) and submitted it to various markets. After fifteen rejections, it found a home in the anthology Song Stories: Blaze of Glory--which is now available in trade paperback and on Kindle!

The anthology also includes a story from fellow Pacific Northwest writer Camille Griep, who organizes the annual Cascade Writers workshop!

Every story in this collection is a "weird Western" inspired by a particular piece of music, which each author describes in an afterword. I couldn't include a music video with my afterword, but here's my song:


https://vimeo.com/11355379

I built the longer story around the same emotional core as the original 512, but added a lot of depth, if I do say so myself. There's more of all the main characters, an extended ending, and a new opening scene. Here's the first line:

The first time I met Horace Granger, he almost got killed by a magic bullet.

Want to read the whole thing, and six other song stories?

Buy Blaze of Glory in paperback ($9)

Buy Blaze of Glory on Kindle ($3)

512 Words After Hours

My appearance on last Friday's Strange Love Live: After Hours (NSFW) included an exclusive reading of "The Wren and the Hen and the Men in the Pen." To get to the reading, scroll the video forward a few minutes until you see me staring down at a piece of paper. It's shortly after I flash a copy of Cory Doctorow's Overclocked and offer to read from it (I would have done "Printcrime"). If streaming video isn't your thing, you can also just listen to the audio.

Thanks to Cami Kaos and Dr. Normal for having me on the show!

Who is Tipton Peyregne?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9zkpJ1AzU4

What is Strangetastic? Find out July 12th.

Was it a Banana Muffin?

Banana muffin banana muffin banana muffin banana muffin "Banana Muffin" banana muffin 2004 hi/lo film festival, banana muffin banana muffin. "Banana Muffin" banana muffin, banana muffin banana muffin can't buy the DVD banana muffin banana muffin banana muffin. Banana muffin banana muffin banana muffin banana muffin.

The Who

'nuff said.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCsN3goNV58

Bits and Pieces (Get it? BITS?)

Okay, I admit I'm cheating this week, and on more than one level. "First of May" is actually an excerpt from my Script Frenzy screenplay, Sweet Valley Heist (137 pages of crappy first draft), and it's not really science fiction. But how else are you going to make computer hacking look interesting on screen, without resorting to totally fake GUIs that make actual hackers laugh out loud?

Having said that, Robert Longo's movie adaptation of William Gibson's Johnny Mnemonic actually includes a pretty cool depiction of how a futuristic "cyberspace" environment might operate. I especially like the puzzle-lock authentication used in lieu of a password string:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_CaxYF56jY

For my screenplay, I decided to go the TRON/Matrix route of using human avatars to represent computer programs, because it dovetails nicely with my protagonist's inclination to daydream about the people in his life, Walter Mitty-style.

Dave's brief encounter with Chelsea is a much longer conversation in the full script, but I think I mananged to capture the spirit of their interaction here. Does Dave want the money more than he wants the girl? And how much is he willing to risk, personally and professionally, for either one?

World Builder

A video link from jra (who emailed it to me with the subject line "512 megabytes"):


World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.

And if you liked that, scroll down and check out 405, an earlier short film by Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt. It's not as high-tech as World Builder, but it is quite a bit funnier:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpx6o4gvmXE

I really like short films, in the same way that I enjoy short fiction, and I wish there were more ways for people to make money doing it. But making a name for yourself is a good start--as Martin McDonagh and Shane Acker know.

~CKL

IFOWONRO

Not coincidentally, this week's story shares its title with the Jonathan Coulton song about the dangers of excessive cybernetic enhancement:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f2eZtAnzWA

The backstory for this world includes some kind of Skynet-esque apocalypse and subsequent enslavement of humans--by new robot overlords, natch. Jadrew's time is a few generations later, when new superstitions have permeated human culture and made them amenable to self-inflicted oppressions.

My first draft topped 800 words, and I had to cut out some details I really liked, including an opportunity to use the word "haruspex." But one of the great things about writing short fiction is that it really forces me to come up with a succinct answer to the question "what is this story about?" and then get rid of anything that doesn't contribute to that.

I feel like I'm slowly edging up the ladder toward conscious competence. You might say I'm getting... better.

Thank you and good night!

John Scalzi Shows You His Shorts

For a change of pace, how about a taste of someone else's flash fiction?

Here's John Scalzi reading his short story "Missives from Possible Futures #1: Alternate History Search Results" (originally published at Subterranean Press in 2007), last night in San Francisco:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFSvOodh5rk

He also promises to post audio recordings of the entire event online "at some point in the near future." Copycat.

(If you're unfamiliar with Scalzi's work, check out his Old Man's War novels. He's also just been hired to be a Creative Consultant for Stargate Universe, which increases my current interest in the series from "approximately zero" to "definitely greater than zero.")

NSFW

Happy Holidays, legal adults over the age of majority in your respective jurisdictions!



This week's story is based in part on an actual incident. I tend to sleep later than my wife, and during one holiday at my parents' house, D and my mother had an early-morning conversation which the latter party steered toward the topic of children. D was not a happy camper.

My parents have known since high school that I'm not interested in being a father, but perhaps they were hoping some outside influence might alter my attitude. Sorry, folks. I'm working on a different kind of legacy.

To all those visiting family (and especially in-laws) for the holidays, I salute you for going Once More Unto The Breach.