That’s a working title, but there it is. I’m hurling myself over the gate in the Write-a-thon, here. That is, I’m working on “Fovea” with one collaboratron, and another story (with lycanthropic gangsters, with another collaboratron whose identity is now probably obvious to half my readers). For my third trick, the one on which I put in a thousand words today, I’m pulling together a triptych of ghost stories — somewhat linked, sort of, but also separated by time — set on mountains in Korea.
Tag: WRITING
Can You Read This?
I can’t quite read this post in which Jeppe Larsen reviews the July 2008 issue of Asimov’s, but I think it’s in Danish. I can make out bits of what he has to say about my piece in the magazine, Første historie i nummeret, “Lester Young and the Jupiter’s Moons’ Blues” af Gord Sellar, er en beretning fra en sort amerikansk jazz-musiker fra en alternativ tidslinje, hvor rumvæsener i 1940′erne har koloniseret solsystemet, og hans oplevelser som hyret musiker på et af deres skibe. Meget autentisk skrevet og en rigtig god historie, også selvom man ikke ved noget om jazz. …
Fovea &c.
I’m collaborating with a classmate from Clarion West (shall I out you, sir?). The working title, which my collaboratron said was a placeholder but I rather like, is “Fovea.” Yeah, I had to look it up, too. It is what looks to be my first story involving, you know, space suits, landing on a seemingly deserted planetoid, dangerous hunters in pursuit… sorta space-adventurey, really, though with all kinds of other themes and stuff bubbling beneath the surface, and I’m feeling like I ought to check out some older, spacey SF, since I read and write so little of that stuff. …
Wonmi Ghosts and Wonjjang Proofs
I was hiking Wonmisan (Wonmi Mountain) just now. It was dark, and got me to thinking about ghost stories. I’m supposed to be working on one independently, but I let it stall. It’s for this call for stories, but the problem is, I don’t really know any famous Korean ghost stories. When I’ve asked around, a lot of people have said there isn’t a “most famous” Korean ghost story, and couldn’t really name me individual particular ones. What they did seem familiar with was types of ghosts — the “hungry ghosts” to whom scraps of food are thrown during ancestral …
Clarion West Write-a-thon, 2008
This year I’ve decided to do the write-a-thon again, though not in such a demanding way as I did last year. Last year, I wrote something like 15,000 words a week. Which made me, physically, a little sick, so I won’t be doing that again. (I need to get my blood pressure and health under control, plus I’m working on a big textbook-writing project and a few articles this summer.) So instead, I’ve got a more manageable goal in mind: I will write or co-write three or four stories during the write-a-thon, of which three will be going out by …
Fan Mail
I got fan mail today. Perhaps my first piece of Fan Mail ever.(1) It was about “Lester Young…” What a very nice feeling. It made my day. But now I should clear off my desk and grade some essays and exams. With a big grin on my face. 1. I’m not counting comments on the site here, because, although that also makes me happy and is appreciated, comments are not “mail.” I’m not counting emails from reviewers because, while reviewers can be fans, they’re not, er, “civilians” in the way I think of when I think of fans. I’m not …
Asimov’s July ’08 — Fictionwise eMagazine Edition Up
For those living outside of the English-speaking, American-magazine-distributed world who are interested in reading my recently-published story “Lester Young and the Jupiter’s Moons’ Blues” in the July 2008 issue of Asimov’s SF, you might be interested in the Fictionwise eMagazine edition. (There’s DRM, of course, and I don’t usually buy things with DRM myself — though since my subscription copy was sent to the wrong address somehow, and I’m going to have to wait a few more weeks before demanding it be re-sent, along with a couple of other months’ worth of my subscription! But anyway, it’s up, it’s available, …
“Lester Young…” Reviewed @ The Fix
What a lovely review of my story Val Grimm has posted at The Fix as part of a review of the July ’08 Asimov’s SF: Think about the first time you discovered science fiction you enjoyed; remember the wonder and joy you felt, the sort of sensation that makes you twelve years old again. Sellar conjures up that Ray Bradbury-esque golden-hour bliss with a piece which has a traditional feel but glimmers with freshness, originality, and craft…sort of like a good rendition of a jazz standard. There’s more, and you can read it all here. (I’m looking forward to when …
Dhuluma Proofs Done & On Tuckerization
Let’s see, today I: graded most of a huge pile of exams (some with quite a surprising degree of insight, including a few analyses of the peculiarities of American social anxieties as encoded in the TV show Lost; others, rather disappointing) critiqued a student article for the campus magazine (about the decline of open-air traditional markets in South Korea) wrote some content for an English textbook (essaylet title: “Spider Silk and Gecko Tape”) But most exciting, I: proofread the galley proofs on my second story to appear in Asimov’s SF in 2008: “Dhuluma, No More.” Yes, exciting! Really! It’s not …
So, Then… aka Squee
The subscriber issues of Asimov’s July ’08 issue are out, and apparently there’s a review of my story in it coming in Locus… I’ll be waiting a while for my copy, but the gist is here. And it’s been a springboard to at least one discussion of jazz SF already at the Asimov’s board. Is it impolitic to jump in on such a discussion? I would like to inform Redmarvel that the fate of the cowboys will not always be a mystery, if I get my way… but wouldn’t want to make people feel like they can’t bash the story …