A.C. Wise

Filed under Writing

Tagged as best horror of the year, final girl theory

December 31, 2011

Writing Wrap-Up: 2011 Edition

All in all, it was a pretty damned good year. I appear to have broken the cycle of only even-numbered years being good in terms of seeing my work in print (for definitions of print that include pixelated goodness). There was also an overall positive trend in the ongoing war of rejection vs. acceptance. I submitted less this year, which makes me feel like a huge slacker, but I did “complete” two novels, so that’s something. Self-pimping follows; if you’d prefer to skip ahead to the end, I won’t judge you.

2 Comments

Filed under journal of unlikely entomology, Writing

Tagged as bewere the night, chizine, daily science fiction, Future Lovecraft, in an iron cage, jabberwocky, journal of unlikely entomology, shimmer, shock totem, Writing

December 27, 2011

Trashman

It has come to my attention that Shimmer #14 is now available for purchase, in both digital and dead-tree editions. It contains my short story, Trashman, which in my not-so-humble opinion is a very nice way to close out the year.

The trashman knows all your secrets. He knows all the secrets up and down all the streets, everywhere. He knows you, maybe even better than you know yourself.

You can obtain your very own copy here.

Filed under Writing

Tagged as shimmer, trashman, Writing

December 26, 2011

2011 Reading: The Year That Was

Once again, I managed to read almost exactly the same number of books this year as I did last year, and the year before. At least I’m consistent? In no particular order, I will now proceed to blather on about my favorite 2011 reads. Not all of them were newly-published in 2011, just new to me. Warning, this will get long.

4 Comments

Filed under Recommended Reading

Tagged as 2011 in Review, Recommended Reading

December 3, 2011

Stuff. Also, Things.

Home from ten days or so in the south, Louisiana and Georgia, to be specific. Leesville and Savannah, to be really specific. Most of my coherent thought appears to have been left somewhere on the road home. There may possibly be a proper trip re-cap post later, with pictures even. In the meantime, here are some things.

Future Lovecraft, which contains my story Venice Burning, is now available. It also contains suitably squamous and eldritch fiction by Nick Mamatas, E. Catherine Tobler, Orrin Grey, Mari Ness, Ada Hoffmann, Paul Jessup, and many others. I’m eagerly awaiting my contributor’s copy.

Speaking of Ada Hoffmann, over on the Journal of Unlikely Entomology blog, Ada tells the story behind Centipede Girl, which appears in our current issue, which can be found here. The story, and the behind-the-scenes making-of are both worth a read.

Finally, Worldbuilders 2011 is up and running. If you haven’t heard of Worldbuilders and you enjoy books and supporting good causes, you really need to check it out. Every year, Patrick Rothfuss helps raise funds for Heifer International through a match challenge, while giving folks the opportunity to buy, win, or bid on awesome stuff. The first round of donated items, lust-worthy books from Subterranean Press, have been posted on Pat’s blog. Oh dear god do I want every single one of those books. But that’s not why I’ll be making a donation. I’ll be making a donation because Heifer International does good things, and that’s why you should consider supporting them, too.

Filed under Anthology News, journal of unlikely entomology, Writing

Tagged as Future Lovecraft, heifer international, journal of unlikely entomology

November 29, 2011

Losing Touch

As mentioned in a previous post, one of my Philcon panels was ‘The End of the Paper Book?’ As you might guess, the panel discussion centered around whether e-books will completely replace paper books, and what we’ll lose if they do. Believe it or not, I see the value in e-books, and I understand why some people prefer them. But I’m not one of those people. I want the sound of pages turning, and the feel of paper under my hands. I want something physical I can hold, and maybe fondle a little bit. What? It’s perfectly normal. Shut up.

Aside from the obvious points pro and con, a few things occurred to me during the panel that there wasn’t time to discuss. Luckily, no one is keeping track of time here, and I’m free to ramble.

Filed under Random Rambling

Tagged as dead tree books, ebooks, philcon

November 22, 2011

Philcon Re-Cap

I attended Philcon last weekend, the world’s first and oldest sci-fi, fantasy, and horror convention. It was my first con as a participant. I survived the experience, and even managed to moderate a panel. Even better, I’m reliably informed that I did not make a complete idiot of myself…or perhaps my informants are just too polite.

The three panels I participated on were: The End of the Paper Book?, The Career of a Short Story Writer, and Hammering Down the Expository Lump. Despite the short story panel getting somewhat side-tracked by other discussions, they all went fairly well, and I’ll have more to say about the paper book panel in a separate post. The Dracula panel was by far the most amusing. We were down two panelists, but had a last-minute sub who graciously agreed to join us. The discussion meandered more to vampires in general, and one audience member repeatedly asked us to address Twilight, and how Edward had made all other vampires obsolete. The panelists were very diplomatic in their responses.

The panels I attended, but didn’t participate on were: Hollow Earths, Ethereal Space, and Other Obsolete Notions, 50 Story Ideas in 50 Minutes, and The Use of Dreams in Fantasy. The 50 in 50 panel was tons of fun to watch. The panelists were challenged to come up with 50 ideas (not each) on the spot, with no prior preparation. They did so both cold, and with audience suggestions, and did an admirable job of it, too. Not all the ideas were winners, but there were a few I’d love to see actually written.

1 Comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as greg frost, heather dale, philcon 2011

November 16, 2011

Journal of Unlikely Entomology Issue 2

I’m delighted to announce that the Journal of Unlikely Entomology Issue #2 went live today. This time around, we have fiction by Forrest Aguirre, Samantha Henderson, C.A. Cole, Brenta Blevins, Ada Hoffmann, and Kirk Marshall, with art by Linda Saboe, Bryan Prindiville, Noralie, Ira Joel Haber, Danelle Malan, and Rebecca Coulthart. You can find the issue online here, and a pdf version will be available for download shortly, in case you prefer that sort of thing.

We’d love to know what you think of Issue 2. Drop us a note on our blog, or comment here.

Just as a reminder, we remain open to submission for issues 2.5 and 3, so keep sending us your bug-related tales! We look forward to reading them.

Filed under journal of unlikely entomology

Tagged as journal of unlikely entomology

November 15, 2011

Philcon Schedule

I’ll be attending Philcon 2011 this weekend. It’ll be my first con as a program participant. If you’re attending, come by one of my panels, and say hi. I’ll be the one cowering under the table in terror.

Fri 8:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Two (1 hour)
THE END OF THE PAPER BOOK? (815)

[Panelists: Sally Wiener Grotta (mod), Daniel Grotta, A.C. Wise, D. Douglas Fratz]

Will e-books be the end of the paper books? What does the e-book add
to the reading experience, and what does it detract from it? In 25
years years, will books just be collectors items, or is there no
real replacement for the feel and smell of a paper book

Fri 9:00 PM in Plaza III (Three) (1 hour)
THE CAREER OF A SHORT STORY WRITER (830)

[Panelists: Tim W. Burke (mod), Carole Buggé, A.C. Wise,
Stephanie Burke]

Conventional wisdom says a writer’s fame and fortune lies in novels,
not short stories.
But giants in the field like Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison are
known predominantly for their shorter work. How is such a career
different from that of one focused on producing novels?

Sat 8:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Two (1 hour)
THE EVOLUTION OF DRACULA SINCE BRAM STOKER (824)

[Panelists: A.C. Wise (mod), Carole Buggé, Jonathan
Maberry, Stephanie Burke, James Chambers, Roman Ranieri]

You can’t keep a good vampire down for the count. He’s been staked,
exposed to sunlight, drowned, dissolved, etc. countless times,
but he’s still with us. He has, however, changed considerably over
the years. Did you know that Bram Stoker’s creation actually appears
in broad daylight at least twice, suffering no ill effects? That he
begins as an old man who gets younger? That he has charnel breath?
Let’s explore the ways this character has evolved, and the stages
has gone through.

Sat 9:00 PM in Plaza III (Three) (1 hour)
HAMMERING DOWN THE EXPOSITORY LUMP. (823)

[Panelists: Michael F. Flynn (mod), Christine Norris, Peter
Prellwitz, A.C. Wise]

It is a characteristic of bad science fiction that, after some brief
attempt to hook the reader’s attention, the author steps in for “And
now a history of the world up to this point,” stops the story cold,
and lectures for several pages. It IS sometimes necessary to fill in
more background in a science fiction story than in a mainstream one,
but how do you do it with a little more flair (and readability) than
by mere lecture

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as philcon 2011

November 12, 2011

Building the End of the World

This is a post about worldbuilding, and the end of the world. Which may seem contradictory at first, but every good spec-fic fan knows that the Zombie Apocalypse isn’t really the end. Humanity survives, because that’s what human-type folks do. Against the worst of odds, and in the most dire situations, we hold on.

But I’m not here to talk about humanity and its ability to adapt to deadly situations. I’m here to talk about worldbuilding, which is frequently so very necessary to making the reader buy into the story you want to tell. As an author, it’s your job to get the reader lost, to make them forget themselves and believe in your world so completely that there is not, and never was, and never will be, anything else. One way to do this? Good worldbuilding. Another? Good characters.

Enter an ideal case study of how to both these things effectively – Rot & Ruin and Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry. As an aside, the series isn’t yet done, but I am addicted. As a reader, I devoured the first one voraciously, and I’m doing the same to the second one. As a writer, I absolutely appreciate what the books do from a craft standpoint. If you’re interested in the finer points of worldbuilding, you could do far worse than follow Mr. Maberry’s example.