It's that time a year, or rather, it has been that time a year already and I'm just late to the party. Anyways, it's time for recaps and summaries and lists of how things went throughout the year. 2019 wasn't exactly the year I had my big break through, finally sold a ton of short … Continue reading My 2019 as an Author
My Sister, The Serial Killer – How to End Your Story
I was reading My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite a little while back, and it was in many ways an excellent book with great writing, a highly original premise, and if not loveable then at least very insteresting characters. However, there was something about the ending that felt deeply unsatisfactory to me whereas … Continue reading My Sister, The Serial Killer – How to End Your Story
Story Recommendations November 2019
The short story recommendations (which by now has turned into something of a monthly thing) are a little different this time around. Daily Science Fiction, which is my usual go-to for large amounts of great fiction, is only represented once on the list. In fact, there's only flash fiction story on the list. That doesn't … Continue reading Story Recommendations November 2019
Backman’s First Law of Writing Success
Okay, so I only have one made-up law so far, but I'm not going to be a pessimist just yet and call it Backman's Only Law of Writing Success. I just need to come up with one more idea before I die, dammit. And if that's not happening, I'll just fling out some weak rephrasing … Continue reading Backman’s First Law of Writing Success
Slush Readers: A help or a menace?
So I was looking for places to submit some of my short stories the other day and ending up going through quite a few magazine submission guidelines. Some of the magazines presented selling points along with their guidelines, reasons why you should submit to their particular magazine. You know, stuff like their pay rate, how … Continue reading Slush Readers: A help or a menace?
Short Story Recommendations – 2019.10.27
I fell into old habbits with this months short story recommendations. So this one is going to be an all-out flash fiction list. Though, I hope you'll find something you like even if you're normally reading longer stories Waiting in the Weeds by Andrew Kaye (Daily Science Fiction): An epic tale (in flash fiction format) … Continue reading Short Story Recommendations – 2019.10.27
Short Story Recommendations – 2019.10.02
Once again, I'm not posting these nearly as often as I would like. This time, though, I have good excuse. I've been away on my honeymoon most of September, so, yeah. Wasn't going to spend that on posting story recommendations. Enough Rambling. Let's get to it. Words I've Redefined Since Your Dinosaur Invaded my Lunar … Continue reading Short Story Recommendations – 2019.10.02
Short Story Recommendations – 2019.08.02
I've been out and about for this round of story recommendations. As always, flash fiction has taken up a fair amount of the reading, though with less focus on a single magazine as both Every Day Fiction, Daily Science Fiction, Flash Fiction Online, and Factor Four Magazine have been given their fair chance. All of … Continue reading Short Story Recommendations – 2019.08.02
Short Story Recommendations – 2019.07.10
Once again, the short story recommendations are long over do. Yadda, yadda, life's been busy. I won't make excuses. Here's today's list which is, for once, not dominated by Daily Science Fiction. Let's Pretend by Mary Soon Lee (Daily Science Fiction): This proved to be a fairly original take on the alien invasion trope. The … Continue reading Short Story Recommendations – 2019.07.10
Review: Neil Gaiman’s Masterclass
As soon as I saw Neil Gaiman was offering lectures at Masterclass.com, I jumped at the opportunity. Gaiman is one of my absolute favorite writers, so even though I doubted the lectures would contain some mind-blowing new information, I figured it would be nice to get an insight into his writing process at least. I'm … Continue reading Review: Neil Gaiman’s Masterclass
Toby Backman 