A heads up for anyone with an interest in speculative fiction. Voting for the Locus Award, one of the major awards within fantasy, science fiction, and horror, is open until April 15th. Anyone can vote, and, no, you don't have to have read every story already listed. You don't even have to vote for any … Continue reading Locus Award Voting
Story Recommendations March 2020
In the midst of the surrealistic event that is the Corona/Covid-19 pandemic, one good thing is happening: the monthly short story recommendations are out. So here's something to keep you occupied while you're stuck in quarentine. A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman (Shadows Over Bakerstreet anthology/Fragile Things collection): I'm almost certain I've recomended … Continue reading Story Recommendations March 2020
Story Recommendations February 2020
I appologize for being a little-- okay, very late with the story recommendations. But there's no such joy as the joy of expectation, right? Right? Right. Let's just get on with it. You didn't come here to read my ramblings anyway. Or at least not ramblings unrelated to stories. Chrysalis by Will Shadbolt (Daily Science … Continue reading Story Recommendations February 2020
Good News From Denmark and the World of Publishing
So... if you're a writer or just generally love books and you're the kind of person who thinks a bit of equality isn't a bad thing, then I got some good news for you. Right, unless you happen to understand Danish, that link probably means nothing to you. But that's why I'm here. Despite the … Continue reading Good News From Denmark and the World of Publishing
Don’t Tell me the Meaning – Exhalation: Stories vs. The Story of Your Life and Others
Let's jump right in to it. This is going to be an essay about how to explore themes and big ideas when writing fiction. It's going contain some minor spoilers for some of the stories in the two Ted Chiang short story collections Exhalation: Stories and The Story of Your Life and Others (also known … Continue reading Don’t Tell me the Meaning – Exhalation: Stories vs. The Story of Your Life and Others
Backman’s Second Law of Writing Success
It's not that long ago I wrote my first law of writing sucess. Now, I'm happy to announce that I have another "law" to follow up with. As with the first law, a billion people have probably had the same idea before me, and it really isn't all that profound. It's just my way of … Continue reading Backman’s Second Law of Writing Success
My 2019 as an Author
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
