Former mid-list New Weird/epic fantasy novelist Steph Swainston last month famously announced that she is quitting writing, canceling her current two-book contract, in order to train to become a college chemistry teacher.

Beyond the irony of her wanting the job I’ve already got (and me coveting hers!), her comments touch on several interesting points about the writerly life.  Yes, it is extremely solitudinous.  It can feel distancing from reality.

But that’s all within the writer’s control.  Have a family; have a life.  Have other pursuits and hobbies.  Go to conventions with your writer pals and drink into the wee hours of the morning (one of my favs!).  In addition to keeping you grounded, interactions with real people of course provide the insight into human nature that makes good fiction.

She’s absolutely right about many fans not realizing the pressure they put on authors.  It seems that in our modern TMZ paparazzi society, some fans have the misguided and selfish idea that superstars owe them something.  I’m reminded of “George Martin is not your bitch.” The self-centered obliviousness that a good many of Martin’s fans have displayed over the long delay for A Dance with Dragons is disgusting.

But I think Swainston is overreacting in things like saying that vocal fans can change an author’s next book.  Only if the writer lets them.  That too is all within the writer’s control.

I have no illusions that the life of a working novelist is tough.  Maybe “be careful what you wish for”?  It sounds like in this case it’s not the objective hardship but that such a life is not working out for Swainston.

Two interesting “road maps” for novel writing were online recently, from two different fantasy authors.

J.K. Rowling’s spreadsheet outline for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix shows not only the arcs and plotlines of the characters, but also the arcs of the legends or mysteries–the plot threads that are purely news or information–and how they are growing or spreading during each chapter, even if none of that is happening on-screen (the on-screen characters aren’t hearing or spreading that information).

Fascinating.  In such an epic society-wide situation at that point in the saga, with Voldemort in the open, how much info is known about his plans and whereabouts is an important plot thread, even if it’s not in the scenes that the on-screen characters are having.  It makes perfect sense in a story of that scope that Rowling would want to track it in her outline almost like tracking a character.

Several recent blogs have discussed swords & sorcery master Michael Moorcock’s speed-writing method used to write some of the early Elric novels in only three days (!).  He mentions being very prepared, including having a list of cool fantastical images or things to use as he goes along.  (I assume his preparations also included knowing the characters well).  He used a prearranged plot format or structure–the fantasy quest–and knew general narrative problems he would need to solve. He broke goals or aims into immediate ones (must find the first magic item, in this chapter) and overriding ones (must save the world).

Likewise fascinating.  Moorcock of course was great at S&S, so the events and dialog he could come up with on the fly are far better than what most writers could.  But his strategies for planing, including having the plot structure in advance, seem astute moves no matter how long you have to write the whole novel.

I had a blast at ReaderCon last weekend.  Among the many, many highlights:

-the Naked City anthology reading Thursday night in Cambridge, with readings by John Crowley, Jeffrey Ford, my buddy Matt Kressel, and post-reading beers with Jed Berry and Mike DeLuca

-panels Friday, including on anthologies

-drinking Friday with many, including Claire H., Maggie R., Jenn B., Renee B., and Mike DeLuca

-my reading Saturday morning–I read “The Very Strange Weird of Endart Sscowth” in the current Space and Time and a bit of my Homeless Moon chapbook 4 story.  A nice crowd, who were treated to back-issue copies of Space and Time #108 and #114 and Weird Tales 347, all containing stories by me.

-the BCS reading Saturday afternoon, with Matt Kressel, Margaret Ronald, Marko Kloos, and Mike DeLuca

-dinner and more drinking with many, including Marko, Chang T., Abby, Dave B., Claire H., Maggie, Jenn, Renee, and Mike DeLuca (anyone detecting a theme? :) )

-chats with and meeting of cool people, like Leah Bobet, Ellen Datlow, and Ellen Kusher

-drinking Sunday and Monday with Mike DeLuca (that theme again…)

It was awesome, all of it–fascinating discussion and delightful fellowship.  Woo!

Want to win a free copy of Space and Time Issue 114?  The one that has my story “The Very Strange Weird of Endart Sscowth” in it?

I’m going to give away a free copy tomorrow afternoon, on my Facebook page.   I’ll ask a question about something from the story (you won’t need to have read it to figure out the answer).

For the first person who leaves a comment with the right answer, I’ll send you a free copy of the issue.  Hell, I’ll even sign it if you like, but that might lower its value rather than increasing it. :)

So drop by my Facebook page tomorrow (Wednesday) around 2pm Eastern time.  Good luck!

Want to win a free copy of Space and Time Issue 114?  The one that has my story “The Very Strange Weird of Endart Sscowth” in it?

I’m going to give away a free copy tomorrow afternoon, on my Facebook page.   I’ll ask a question about something from the story (you won’t need to have read it to figure out the answer).

For the first person who leaves a comment with the right answer, I’ll send you a free copy of the issue.  Hell, I’ll even sign it if you like, but that might lower its value rather than increasing it. :)

So drop by my Facebook page tomorrow (Wednesday) around 2pm Eastern time.  Good luck!

The epic fantasy realm of the blogosphere is lately agog over a screed from Leo Grin, a Robert E. Howard scholar and Tolkien devotee who recently derided the modern wave of darker or gritty epic fantasy as “bankrupt nihilism.” Several epic fantasy authors have countered, rightly rejecting this shallow criticism of their approach, but none have noted what I see as the key value of this grittier or more visceral feel.

The boom in more visceral epic fantasy coincided with the late-90s success of George R.R. Martin, its first major practitioner, and its subsequent proliferation can seem mercenary.  In cases where bereft of any purpose or handled with callow ineptitude, it can be gratuitous if not exploitative.

But in the hands of an award-winning master like Martin, it can illumine universal insights.  When one of his characters has his hand brutally lopped off, thereby losing the expertise and persona that formed his entire self, the change forced onto him and the inner journey he takes to try to overcome it result in one of the most profound explorations of the human condition ever achieved in fantasy literature.  That grit isn’t nihilist.  It’s a poignant literary example of how even a despicable person can have humanity at their core, and even the ripping away of all that a person values most can inspire them onto a path toward redemption.

This visceral realism, including the sexual and scatalogical, is the most powerful vehicle for placing the reader into a fantasy world and into the shoes of the characters inhabiting it–in short, for making epic fantasy evoke the human condition.

Yet Grin posits that “Realism isn’t a primary concern in great literature.” That’s where he’s most wrong.  Realism isn’t important in escapist entertainment, such as Howard (yes, Howard was and is just that, although uniquely original and very very good).  But if discussing true literature in any period since the mid-20th century, the foundation is Faulkner’s comment in his 1950 Nobel acceptance speech:  “the human heart in conflict with itself… only that is worth writing about.”

Which is the human condition–what it means to be who we are.  Without that, epic fantasy–indeed, any fiction–becomes just more escapist entertainment.

This weekend I will be at Boskone, the Boston-area F/SF convention. I’ve been for the last several years and have enjoyed it (and returning to two of my favorite brewpubs and small breweries).  I will be on several panels, including one Saturday at noon on Sword & Sorcery Today–a very cool topic similar to the panel I moderated at Word Fantasy.

I will also be hosting a reading for my magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, on Sunday at noon (note the change from the earlier schedule).  Several authors from the magazine will read their stories that will be appearing in BCS this spring.

Drop by and give them a listen. And if you see me in the halls, feel free to say hello!

Weird Tales, the very long-running SF/F/H magazine where my first published fantasy story appeared, has made some major upgrades.

As detailed in this announcement, WT will now be paying 5 cents a word, up from 3 cents.  They’ve also adopted the very slick electronic submissions system that Clarkesworld Magazine pioneered and that Fantasy Magazine and Asimov’s use.  Ann VanderMeer, who as Fiction Editor bought my story “Excision” several years ago, is taking over as Editor-in-Chief.

I’m sure these changes will only improve this run of the magazine under Ann, which has already won the 2009 Hugo for Best SemiProZine.  I’ve been a fan and subscriber ever since “Excision” appeared in WT #347, her first issue, the one with the cool cover art of a severed head in a jar.  :)   I had the pleasure of dining with Ann and Jeff at Capclave, and they are tireless champions for short fiction.  I look forward to this new era for Weird Tales!

‘Tis the season, in F/SF circles, to nominate for Hugo and Nebula Awards!

I had several stories come out this year, but by far the most award-worthy stuff I’ve done is with my magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies.  We had a dozen very well reviewed stories in 2010, including by breakthrough authors such as Erin Cashier and Yoon Ha Lee.

Here’s a shortlist of the best-reviewed BCS stories that are eligible for nomination and the official Hugo/Nebula categories they fit into (Short Story, Novelette, etc), with links in case you’d like to read them.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies itself is also eligible for the Best SemiProZone Hugo.  Last year we published 52 stories and novelettes and 20 audio fiction podcasts. Editor and Locus reviewer Rich Horton  calls BCS “a really important source of fantasy.” John Klima, Hugo winner at Electric Velocipede, thought BCS deserves to be on the final ballot for Best SemiProZine.

To nominate and later vote for Nebulas, you have to be a member of SFWA, but to nominate and vote for Hugos, you only have to be a member of WorldCon, and anyone can buy a membership.  But you need to do it before Jan. 31 to be eligible to nominate.  Nomination deadlines are in February (for Nebulas) or March (for Hugos).

Thanks very much if you find BCS or our stories worthy of nomination.

My story “The Halberdier, by Moonlight,” has been bought by the Canadian semi-pro SF/F magazine On Spec.  Woo!

I wrote the story three years ago as a bit of an experimentation.  It’s much shorter than my usual, and quite a bit more “literary fantasy”, almost even “slipstream”–it has an omniscient point-of-view that’s centered around the protagonist but also drifts into each of the people he meets, as he walks home after a war.

It also features a halberd, of course, and icewine–a type of wine made in cold climates (such as Canada, ironically) by letting the grapes freeze on the vine and pressing them while still frozen.  The freezing, like the old Appalachian way of making apple jack by chipping ice off the top of cider, removes water and thereby concentrates everything else.  So icewine tastes very sweet and rich, almost syrupy–unique.

On Spec is a long-running and well-respected ‘zine.   They don’t seem to get much attention, maybe because they’re out in western Canada, but they certainly deserve it.  They’ve published Leah Bobet and Tony Pi, among many others, and I’m delighted to be appearing in their pages.