There are a lot of things I’m excited about this week, my friends, and I feel like sharing. Admittedly, there’s a little horn tootin’ here, but not too much, I promise.
Big Hero 6 — First off, today is the official release day of Big Hero 6, the latest animated feature from Disney, and the reason I was pretty quiet over the summer. Whew! In all my years in animation and vfx, I think this is the hardest I’ve ever worked. I’m biased, of course, but I think it turned out pretty darn well. If you like animated films, Disney, or superheroes, then I bet you’ll love this one! Look for me in the “Technical Animation” credits. (That’s cloth, hair, and character cleanup, plus other squishy things like Baymax’s skin.) Congrats to all my fellow (very talented) artists and filmmakers on the film!More
I can finally announce the news I teased last week — I’ve sold my story, “We All Look Like Harrie,” to Mark Teppo’s upcoming anthology from Resurrection House/Underland Press, XIII*.
I wrote “We All Look Like Harrie”on the first day of this year’s Rainforest Writer’s Retreat. It came together like few other stories I’ve written (there are almost always weeks and sometimes months of revisions in my usual process). Maybe it helped that “Harrie” is very short, very experimental. We had a group reading at the retreat one night, and Teppo more or less bought it on the spot. That’s the quickest a story has ever gone from being in my head to being sold, and I’m still feeling a little wide-eyed about it. Did that actually happen?
Also, this story is my twelfth fiction sale since I began the writing career in earnest. A dozen stories. That’s almost a collection right there! I’ve got a long way to go, and a lot more to do–and learn, but a dozen stories is a milestone I had to stop and celebrate just a little. Thanks to everyone who’s helped me get here!
“Harrie” very nearly became my thirteenth sale, by the way, which would have resonated nicely with Teppo’s anthology title. Oh yes, my friends, more good news to announce soon!
While the job market continues to be tough, it’s been a very productive summer for me creatively, and for that I’m grateful. Here are some of the things I’ve been up to — and my sincere gratitude to those who backed me in one endeavor or another.
Launchpad. Space Camp for writers! You can read my full write-up here. I’m still processing the experience (it was amazing), but a few new stories are definitely growing from it.
What Fates Impose. This anthology of fortune-telling tales that includes my story “Ain’t Much Different’n Rabbits” was fully funded! It’s a great TOC, and I’m proud to be a part of it. It’s not available for purchase just yet, but I’ll shout out here as soon as it is.
Broken Eye Books / By Faerie Light. Another anthology I’m part of, By Faerie Light, is one of the rewards for backers of Broken Eye Books’ 2013 Kickstarter campaign. By Faerie Light contains 18 dark tales about the fae, including my story “The Forest Also Remembers.” (Wow, another sweet TOC, too. I’m lucky!) Broken Eye Books has a lot of other great looking titles as part of their campaign, and there’s still lots of time to back them.
Clarion West Write-a-Thon / Novel Draft: Completed. It’s just one milestone in what promises to be a long project, but my initial draft of my rural fantasy novel is complete! This was my goal during the Clarion West Write-a-thon, and I finished the draft on the final weekend of this years’ workshop. Thanks to all who backed me this year! I’m giving the novel a little time to breathe before I jump back in. You can read more about that over at Inkpunks.
photo by Bryan
Everything Is Festival / “Final Cut: Ladies & Gentlemen.” On Monday night, Carol, Bryan, and I attended the opening night for the Everything Is Festival, a film festival celebrating found footage. While most of the mashups in the festival are short pieces, “Final Cut: Ladies & Gentlemen,” a film by Hungarian filmmaker György Pàlfi is a feature length film edited from something like 500 different movies! It’s a classic “Boy meets Girl” tale, and while the actors change with every cut, it’s a surprisingly robust and affecting narrative. Pàlfi never takes it too seriously, either, which is good since it embraces just about every romantic trope found in 100 years of cinema. Something to be said for universal stories, eh?
Final Cut is an homage, and none of the clips or music were cleared by the filmmaker, so the festival circuit is likely to be the only place to see it for some time. (L.A. folks, I think there’s another screening this coming Monday.)
Sekrit Projects. These are in such embryonic stages of development it doesn’t seem quite right to talk about them yet. New short stories, some projects with a visual component. Some collaborations. All irons in the fire, and who knows where they will lead — but it’s good to have some time to explore various creative paths.
I’m back from the 2013 Launch Pad Workshop, hosted by Prof. Mike Brotherton at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. It was simply an amazing experience, full of awesome SCIENCE!, fabulous people, and did I mention the SCIENCE! ?
I’d also like to express my gratitude to our sponsors, notably Uwingu, who stepped up to help fund the workshop in the wake of the loss of the NASA and NSF grants that had supported it in the past. We also had some very generous sponsors without whom the workshop could not have happened. Thanks especially to Vonda, David, Ellen, Jody, Richard, Ali, Deborah, and Lori — as well as everyone who contributed to our Rocket Hub fundraiser. These folks really understand the important, positive impact of science education, and I’m grateful to be a recipient of their generosity.
I didn’t have time for much writing/blogging while at the workshop — burning the candle at both ends plus days full of space learnin’ left me little time for extra creative output. Some of my classmates live-blogged the event, and you can find the ever-updating link round-up over on Christian Ready’s site.
Launch Pad was one of the most intense weeks of learning I’ve ever experienced. It’s essentially a semester of Astronomy 101 crammed into about 6 days of lecture and lab. Mike, Andria, and Christian guided us through all the basics: the seasons of Earth, phases of the moon, formation of the solar system, the electromagnetic spectrum, binary stars and exoplanets, the life and death of stars, the life and death of galaxies (and our universe!), intriguing discussions of ethics in science, and applied science to writing fiction. Knowing how the phases of the moon work is vital to authenticity of a story whether you’re writing science fiction or fantasy, for example. FTL and time dilation was another classic topic for discussion, though I may have enjoyed our talk on what happens to the human body when exposed to the vacuum of space. (No, it does not freeze and it does not explode!)
Our days were bookended by group breakfasts (full of space & writing talk, geeky discussions of movies and games), and a group activity at night. We saw Pacific Rim (my verdict: visually awesome, mediocre story), went stargazing on the roof of the Science Building at UWyo (the Moon! Saturn! Andromeda Galaxy with Mike’s night vision goggles!), WIRO (Wyoming Infrared Observatory, precarious mountain drive to gigantic telescope! What’s your favorite Enterprise*?Satellite spotting! Control Room Spectral Analyses of stars!), O’Dwyer’s (Beer! Beer! Cheese Curds!), and a trip into town for dinner (Sweet Melissa’s awesome veggie food!) We also had a stunning 3-mile hike through the Vedauwoo forest one morning. It was great to get out and stretch the legs!
Turtle Rock at Vedauwoo Forest (Liz A in FG)
Being in the dorms and eating in the student commissary was a bit of an adjustment at first, but I slept well and the food fit my budget. I was lucky and escaped any issues with altitude sickness (except for the WIRO night, where I got some alti-somnia) The weather was fairly mild, and the skies were mostly clear on our observing nights. The first quarter/gibbous moon interfered with some of our observing more than the clouds did, though of course, it’s a lot of fun to look at through a telescope, or even a pair of binoculars.
Due to inventory running low in the supply room, it took me a day or two to get my own full-sized towel. When I finally scored one, I carried it around with me all day. That resulted in this picture:
Mike hosted a great party at his house on Saturday night, where we got to mingle one last time and meet several of the grad students in the astronomy and physics department. Saying good bye Sunday morning was hard, but there was VanCon on the way to the airport, and then FoodCourtCon while we all waited for our flights home so I didn’t have to say good bye all at once.
My flight was delayed two and half hours due to storms in the east, so I didn’t get home until well after 1am. I’m a bit crispy today, I have to admit.
I highly recommend attending Launch Pad, especially if you’re writing science-fiction, but I think any writer or creative person can gain a lot from the workshop. Apply next year!
I don’t spend much time on this blog asking for help — I usually manage on my own pretty well, and I hate to shill too much. But this summer, I’m involved in three awesome projects that I think deserve your support. If you love great stories, and want to support some great writers, please keep reading. We’re down to the wire on two of these efforts, and there’s only about three weeks left to go on the third. If you can, please consider supporting:
Launchpad 2013 – Launchpad is a week long astronomy workshop held at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, designed for science fiction writers and other creatives as a crash course in astronomy and space sciences. Taught by actual space scientists (some of them also spec-fic writers), it’s meant to give writers a solid foundation in real-world science so that they, in turn, can write the stories that inspire the next generation. Launchpad has a long history of teaching both established and new authors and usually, the workshop is fully funded by grants from NASA and the U.S. Government. This is the first year that funding has been cut back, and some of the cost passed on to the attendees. If you’d like to help reduce those costs, please consider making a donation! There are prizes for all levels of backing and every bit helps. The workshop starts this Sunday — and there’s only 36 hours left to show your support!
What Fates Impose – This anthology of fortune telling stories from Alliteration Ink, edited by Nayad A. Monroe, and featuring some awesome writers, is in the final days of its Kickstarter. Six days left, and almost 80% funded, but we still have a ways to go. There are some fabulous rewards including original art, your fortune told, eBooks, and a special selection of themed cocktails (by yours truly). Click here to back it.
Clarion West Write-a-Thon – The venerable 6-week intensive writers workshop is underway. This is Clarion West’s 30th year of training up and coming writers and making their dreams come true. I’m a graduate of CW, and I can truly say it made me a better writer, and it changed my life. During the Clarion West Write-a-Thon, you can sponsor a writer and help raise money for Clarion West so that the workshop can continue for it’s 31st year and beyond. You can sponsor me or another writer, but I hope you’ll consider supporting Clarion West regardless.
Whether you choose to back any of these projects or not, I want to say a sincere “thank you” to those of you who have read my stories, my blog posts at Inkpunks or Functional Nerds, or encouraged me along the way! Your support means a lot to me.
Big Hero 6 — First off, today is the official release day of Big Hero 6, the latest animated feature from Disney, and the reason I was pretty quiet over the summer. Whew! In all my years in animation and vfx, I think this is the hardest I’ve ever worked. I’m biased, of course, but I think it turned out pretty darn well. If you like animated films, Disney, or superheroes, then I bet you’ll love this one! Look for me in the “Technical Animation” credits. (That’s cloth, hair, and character cleanup, plus other squishy things like Baymax’s skin.) Congrats to all my fellow (very talented) artists and filmmakers on the film!More
