I can't believe how far behind I am with my story recommendations. It's been more than a month since I posted the last batch, and the ones served today have been sitting in my inbox for far too long. Unfortunately, this also means I've only had time to read Daily Science Fiction short stories lately … Continue reading 2019.06.01 – Story Recommendations
New Publication
Finally, after years of sub-par submissions and dreadful attempts at stories, Daily Science Fiction took pity on me and published one of my pieces, When Jimmy Hendermann Wore a Dress to School. Those of you who've been following a long for a while now probably realize that this is a big deal for me. DSF … Continue reading New Publication
2019.04.08 – Short Story Recommendations
Right. I've been neglecting this for way too long now. I'm not going to bore you with how life sometimes gets busy and time seems like the Roadrunner leaving you all to aware that you're Wile E. Coyote with no control of what's going on despite your best efforts. Suffice to say that today's post … Continue reading 2019.04.08 – Short Story Recommendations
The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared – Breaking the Rules with Comedy
First thing first, I absolutly loved The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared (despite it's ridiculosely long title; let's just call it The Book from now on). And before the comments section turns into a fist fight, no, I don't really think there are any rules to creative writing, but … Continue reading The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared – Breaking the Rules with Comedy
Real Fake
The below is another piece of flash fiction which I don't think will find a home at any pro-paying magazine, but which I none the less liked enough that I decided to share with the world. Real Fake Thousands of people are marching through the streets of Washington DC today, protesting what some call … Continue reading Real Fake
Love Demon (flash fiction)
I have a new old flash fiction piece I'd like to share with you. It failed to find a home at magazines after a few close but not quite submissions. I still like it, though, which I can't say about many of my stories from back then; as I'm writing it's turning three years old … Continue reading Love Demon (flash fiction)
Gone Girl – Believe in the Characters
Word count: around 1.300 Fair warning: there'll be quite a few spoilers. I loved Gone Girl, and though luck always plays a part in these matters, I think it's success can to a very large part be contributed to the skill of the author, Gillian Flynn. The novel was suspenseful, thrilling, and Flynn used every … Continue reading Gone Girl – Believe in the Characters
2019.02.01 – Story Recommendations
My focus the last couple of weeks has been on finishing my Daily Science Fiction backlog, which I did today (yeah!), finishing the Intergalactic Medicine Show anthology, going through a bunch of Anton Checkov stories, and reading stories from relatively new flash fiction magazine (as in it's only just over a year old as far … Continue reading 2019.02.01 – Story Recommendations
2018 – My Year as a Writer
With another year gone by, it's time to take stocks, summarize what've learned in regards to my writing, and, hopefully, figure out how to push forward. As always, it was a year with ups and downs. I landed my first publication at a professionally paying magazine, Grievous Angel Magazine (which sadly closed down later in … Continue reading 2018 – My Year as a Writer
Confirmation Bias and Self-delussion
Stepping out of your comfort zone, focusing on improving instead of getting praise. That's what drives us to become better artists. I highly recommend this brief article by Jason S. Riddler on confirmation bias, self-delussion, and how those leads to stagnation. It's worth a read to all us would-be writers (and other striving artists as … Continue reading Confirmation Bias and Self-delussion
Toby Backman 