Here, have a ridiculously toe-tappy earworm:
When I went to see Les Claypool when he played Winnipeg, I was pretty thrilled when he opened with this little ditty. It’s long been a favourite of mine. I hope you enjoy it too.
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Shower Inspiration
In the shower, I had a moment of insight, an epiphany, about the connection between the situation my main character faces at the end of the story and the situation his sister faces all the way along. It might even inspire the title of the third act, but let’s don’t be hasty.
Hollow Bean is here again.
From the little-known sequel to E.T., penned by William Kotzwinkle:
“They have an important celebration,” said E.T., “called Hollow Bean. Everyone carves faces in fruit squashes and dresses up in sheets.”
Review: Fragment, by Craig Russell
Fellow Brandon author Craig Russell recently had a new novel published, titled Fragment. I went to the book launch at McNally Robinson Booksellers and bought myself a copy.
I finished reading it last night, and I must say, I enjoyed it. It’s a short novel—not much over 200 pages—but it packs a lot into that space.
The Story
Thousands perish as ice overruns a research/tourism base at the south end of the world. A massive sheet of Antarctic ice—the Fragment—breaks free of the continental ice shelf and drifts into the ocean. Three scientists, survivors from the destroyed base, must try to get the message out: This is a disaster. The Fragment threatens thousands, possibly millions, of lives.
Standing in their way is the captain of the nuclear submarine that rescued them, under orders to run silent, run deep. Also, the President of the United States isn’t thrilled about the situation, since it looks like it’ll be bad for his polls in the run-up to re-election.
And Ring, a blue whale, tries to warn his people of the dangers presented by the Fragment. But he’s only one voice in the vast ocean.
The Good
The story is captivating. Russell1 does a good job of fleshing out his cast of characters, especially the ones we’re going to spend a lot of time with. Ring in particular felt like a well-developed person, who just happened to be a whale.
The stakes start out high and get higher all the time. I couldn’t stop turning pages, especially in the last half of the book, which I read in a single sitting.
The “Needs Improvement”
The ending, while compelling, felt like it could be fleshed out somewhat. Several disasters involving the Fragment’s unstoppable force vs. an island’s immovable object were delivered in a few paragraphs, and it felt rushed.
The Verdict
Buy it. Read it. It’s an eco-disaster novel with political overtones, and it’s a first-contact novel, all in 200-and-a-bit efficient pages.
- Craig is a friend of mine, and it feels weird to call him by his last name, but that’s the way things are done. Right? ↩
I’m not made of stone
Along with my collection of six Very Short Stories, these are the works in Word-o-Mat’s Edition #1:
- Three poems by Henry King
- “Help Wanted” by Luke Hilton
- Three poems by Diana Dupu
- “North of Reality” by Uel Aramchek
- “The Rental Heart” by Kirsty Logan
Information about all the authors may be found on the Word-o-Mat website.
Word-o-Mat!
It has finally arrived.
I’m not ready yet to slit that seal, though.
Wait, what’s Word-o-Mat?
Word-o-Mat is an art project that aims to sell packages of short stories from a repurposed Wurlitzer cigarette vending machine in Malmö, Sweden. I have six very short stories included in issue #1.
Learning
Some scrawled notes from tonight’s Art of Managing Your Career Master Class.
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Flash Fiction commentary
So I’m participating in the NYCMidnight Flash Fiction Contest, and I’ve just received the judges’ feedback on my first piece, “The Overnight Shift”.
What the judges liked about your story
Exceptionally clever blend of modern urban elements with fantasy. Robert is such a likable character that by the end I don’t even mind his deceptive treachery. The twist is funny, unexpected, and thoroughly enjoyable.…
Humorous dialogue, especially with the demon and the human. The imagery of the coffee was visceral and imaginative.…
I liked how you incorporated dialogue in your story. Your characters’ personalities shone through with the dialogue.…
What the judges feel needs work
The centaur’s speech is somewhat out of place. He seems like a bit of an archetype, more archaic than the other creatures, especially against the rest of the fantasy races who seem well-integrated. His use of “art thou” is an example of when his speech seems particularly out of place. If this character is meant to be different from the others in terms of his integration, the reader may need more cues to read him this way.…
There’s a lot of introduction of characters that don’t feel like they are necessary to the story. Also because of the anachronistic elements (mentioning Wikipedia and Pokemon Go), I’m having trouble getting a sense of place and how rules work in this fantasy world. Also…why are they letting faun children play in a garbage dump? If that’s okay, why are there 3 of them on duty? If you’re going to have relaxed workers, you must have a contrasting militant one, so we understand the rules. Also, more showing, less telling. We should see the rainbow, not hear about it.…
Make sure that each interaction between your characters is meaningful. With short stories, every word counts. Each scene has to connect to each other somehow, or at least move the story forward.…
I’m glad they enjoyed it. I’ll certainly take their critiques into consideration as I polish it up for submission…
So this happened (Vol. N)
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