Review: Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades by Robert Mitchell Evans

**** out of ***** or worth your time. Which -according to Amazon's scale- means "I like it."

First, a disclaimer. Mr. Evans is actually a friend of mine, one of the fellow travelers in the Mysterious Galaxy writers' group. Be that as it may, I will do my best to review his work as accurately as possible.

The conceit of this collection is that these are all stories that almost got accepted as writer of the future winners (and of course, almost only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades). The book is made up of five stories, each followed by commentary and anectdotes concerning the stories from Mr. Evans which I enjoyed every bit as much as the stories.

While there are copy editing errors in the book, I couldn't find a single error in the work itself which is a testament to the polish and dedication that Mr. Evans puts into his craft.

By and large, I enjoyed the stories. They each had their moments (some more than others) and even if none of them blew me away five good longish short stories plus commentary is worth more than the price of admission.  

My least favorite story was 'The House of Bad Blood': which concerned an author dealing with an angry ghost and a house related to family sins of years ago. I'm biased against writers writing about writers, but I still feel as though this story held together as a horror tale. However, I felt like the author missed an oppurtunity by making the protagonist a New York times best selling author (that type that serves as wish fufillment for us scriviners that roil about in the dirt) instead of a struggling writer. This would have gone a long way (in my opinion) justifying the fact that the author stayed in a place where he was regularly assaulted b a ghost and -in my humble opinion- would have made the eventual resolution creepier.

My favorite story in the collection was 'The Station on the Edge.' I loved how the story opened with the flavor of a gonzo science fiction heist, but stuck with it as it veered into more traditional horror tropes. Still, the imagery was great in this one and has very much stayed with me, which for me at least is always the mark of a good horror story.

I would highly reccomend Horseshoes and Handgrenades. While the stories aren't perfect, that isn't the point. This is a little anthology about an author, and a set of works in progress and more than anything left me feeling excited about what Mr. Evans will do next.

What I Learned at Conjecture

(As per tradition, I've included Con sketches I got from cool people.)

I've never seen the xenomorph seem so dapperly pensive before.

In addition to attending Conjecture, I also got to be a panelist for the first time! I had an absolute blast, learned a lot and even threw an impromptu room party (nominally to promote my release of CHEMO: The Condemned novelette but really it was just so there could be a party with beer). Good times.

Things actually worked out perfectly: My first panel was 6 panelist and 7 audience, which is a great way to ease into things. By Sunday, I was speaking in front of maybe 20-40 people.

Me, paneling like a boss!

I'm attending the supremely sold out World Fantasy in October, as well as potentially participating in the programming for San Diego's Anime Conji and Condor only because of contacts I made at Conjecture. I think the biggest issue I'm just begining to bump against is how easy it is to get caught up in writing 'work' that isn't actually writing (ie attending Conventions and workshops, querying and so on).

Not wanting to be a name dropper, I did just want to say how cool it was hanging out with Allison Lonsdale, Dani and Eytan Kollin (the latter's medieval weapon and armor demo was exceptionally kickass), Greg Van Eekhout, Ann Wilkes, Patrick Harris, Vanyel Stoekl and my mysterious Galaxy writing peeps: John Oliver and Bob Evans. As always, it's the people who make a convention worth participating in.

The Horror...

While helping my friend Miguel make a Trailer for his film festival, I was infected with a terrible fever. A fever that had shocking side effects. The fever that is known far and wide as Dance fever. I warn you, the following video is not for the faint or heart.

Fuck Yeah Concept Art!

My new favorite tumblr.

Exciting News! You can now give me a Dollar for CHEMO: The Condemned

On tuesday, I made my first ebook sale. Now I'd like to make some more. 

Appearing now in the Smashwords and Amazon ebook stores is my novelette CHEMO: The Condemned. CHEMO is about Joseph, an Agent of a paramilitary cult dedicated to eliminating the 'Cancers of the Body of Mankind.' The Condemned concerns Joseph's first 'initiation' mission wherein he and a squad of inexperienced agents are forced to reclaim a prison complex that has been overrun by zombies.

I created a distinct page for CHEMO (by far the most popular thing I've written) where I give the basics of the world and links on where you can find out more. If you've already listened to 'The Condemned' you can still help me out by leaving a comment, a review or posting about my work. In all things, your encouragement is greatly appreciated.

Science Fiction Timeline...

...from movies and a couple TV shows.

What I Learned at WorldCon: The Publishing Industry Part 2

(This is Part 2 of this entry. Read Part 1 here)

I feel as though a generational shift was readily apparent within the con. To oversimplify: there's the older fans loving genre literature and fandom's history/legacy vs the new fans who love literature but are also excited by what new things being done with the web and other media. The lesson main lesson I learned from working author signings at Con still still applies. Word of mouth is king but even with glowing recommendations a 300 page book is a significant investment which can be lessened if adaptations provide easier access to the world of the author.

I also had a long talk with the creator of a popular book series that contrasted an incredible success he experienced with selling through Amazon createspace vs the vestigial craziness of traditional distribution with consignment and returns (seriously, the publishing industry is weird) which is only exacerbated by Borders' bankruptcy. Long and short of it; Borders keeps the books, doesn't pay the creator and the distribution company still bills the creator their commission for 'selling' the copies to Borders. O_O. I can't imagine what this is doing to every other author. When everything is said and done however, the creator did talk about how awesome it was to see their anthology on Barnes and Nobles shelves. The traditional publishing/distribution channels still have a near monopoly on prestige and an assumption of quality control (which is very important in the midst of modern hyper-abundance). There is a different flavor to 'I have a book coming out through Tor in the fall' vs 'You can get it on Amazon.' But ten years from today, will this still be the case?

In all things, I think the correct response to change and uncertainty is to run lots of experiments. Speaking of which, Scott Sigler is the Author I am familiar with that best typifies what I think all modern, commercial writers should aspire to be. Not only does he have a 5 book hardcover deal with Crown, he's podcasted his books from way back, he's self publishing his Intergalactic Space Opera Football series as well as epublishing his collection of short stories. And he does all that while still being one of my favorite authors.

What I Learned at WorldCon: The Publishing Industry Part 1

At comic-con, whenever I met publishing rep I would ask "I'm sure you get the all the time, but I am an author who is querying my novel. Is there anything else I should be doing?" Since the unanimous response was "No, you're doing exactly what you should be doing." with the corollary of "...but keep writing." I decided I needed a new question for any editors, publishing reps and the various other sundry industry types that I happened to trap into a conversation.

For Worldcon, I updated my went "I have manuscript that I'm querying, parts of which can work as stand alone short stories. In my efforts to build a fanbase, I'd love epublish one of these functional excerpts as a 2 for 1 deal for 99 cents. Do you think that this would hurt my chances with the publishing houses since I would have 'self published' part  of the book?" I pretty much got the response of "Well you should be ok, maybe." Which is fascinating to me, because the work that people most often compare CHEMO to -Monster Hunter International- began its life as a self published work before gaining a traditional publishing deal from Baen (though Mr. Correia still doesn't use an agent). Of course, the series was and is successful in a way that's probably beyond CHEMO, but still I find this answer very telling.

I get the vibe that so much of the publishing industry has become new that there aren't any 'safe' answers anymore. The only valid advice is the eternal advice: Work really hard on making something great, work really hard at letting people know about this great thing that you made and then wash, rinse and repeat. Still, I'm asking for something (The 2 for 1 special) that the epublishing platforms don't offer. But I think this would be preferrable to the 'Now it's 2.99, now it's free.' model that most indie authors seem to use to get people talking about their work because: 

A) I believe that we don't value free things as much as when we have to pay for them (even if the fee is only a token) and 

B) the 2 for 1 model encourages you to share/talk about the work with a friend.

On a related note, I talked to an editor with some really interesting ideas concerning what could be done with materials and with turning books/magazines into art objects. Which is exactly the kind of thing I think the publishing industry should be trying to do in earnest. With the ease of e-reading I find the nature of my own library changing. I want the books on my shelves to function either as art objects or story artifacts: "I talked with this author at Worldcon about snakes and then he signed my book" or "this rust stained metallic finish of this volume looks like it came from the world of the story." Alternately, the books that remain on my shelf are there as things to lend/giveaway without any real hope of regaining them later (a function that would theoretically be much more easily accomplished with ebooks except for the tangle of technical and legal issues surrounding drm). Especially for young people who 1) move and 2) have limited space in their studios and one bedrooms; owning 300 pounds of paperbacks just doesn't seem to make sense anymore.


You can read Part 2 of this post here.

Did You Know They're Letting Me Talk at a Local Science Fiction Convention?

Like a real author and everything!

I will be attending CONjecture -one of the local San Diego science fiction convention- from Friday September 9th till Sunday September 11th. I'll be participating on the following panels. If you're attending, come say hi. Even if you're not, be sure to comment if you have any thoughts about the following topics; I'm still compiling my list of talking points. :)

Post Apocalyptic Fever

Why are we so obsessed with post-apocalyptic settings? Why the emphasis on catastrophic endings? Is this just the “disaster movie” trend of the 1970′s ramped up to the ultimate?

Artificial Cunning: Will AI Save or Destroy Its Makers?

Some people assume that any high-functioning, free-willed AI would try to destroy humanity, its ‘inferiors’, as a matter of course. Others assume that such AIs would have compassion for their parent race and be nice to us. Do we have any control over how our AI children think of their parent race? Would they simply not give a damn about those squishy, slow-thinking meatsacks?

Care and Feeding of Writers’ Groups

When you can’t find the right writers’ group for you, you may have to start one. How do you find and screen members, schedule meetings, get copies of the stories to everybody, and organize the critiquing? There are lots of tools available online to help you.

Fan Fiction, Intellectual Property, and the Apocalypse

Authors’ responses to fan fiction range from the encouraging to the litigious. The Maker movement says “if you can’t open it, you don’t own it”. Is a resistance to fan fiction — the sincerest form of flattery and the domain of the most passionate consumers — an attempt on some level to rent out a story but deny the buyers the ownership their emotional investment calls for? What balance can a creator strike to maintain hold of their property without alienating their most rabid followers?

Multi-Species Civilizations

We have enough trouble being civilized, and we’re all the same species with the same basic needs. How might a multi-species civilization work?

The Museum of the Future

What the heck is gonna happen to all this stuff we’ve got laying around? What’s worth saving for posterity, and what’s just ready for the trash barrel?

Invasive Species and Interstellar Travel

Take a species out of its environment, remove its predators, parasites, and competitors, and its population may explode, with disastrous results for its new environment. How might this occur in space? Will an introduced species find its new environment too hostile, or will it go “Andromeda Strain?” What would explorers af actually inhabited worlds need to do to avoid destroying an entire world?

What I Learned at WorldCon: Merch and Fan Support

(Note: I wanted to post this earlier with more scans of other Worldcon doodles but my scanner has ceased functioning. Since I'll be attending CONjecture on Friday and will be doing a series about what I learned there; I figured I had to publish these sooner rather than later.)

Working for a webcomic artist's booth finally made me aware of something that's been itching the back of my head for a long time. Basically, Webcomic Artists in general and Wondermark in particular are very good at giving fans a way to support the creator at every price point in a way that authors and publishers simply are not. Whether you want to give an artist $1, $20 or $65 dollars: they have an option for you. Meanwhile, authors (and publishers) insist that if you wish to support a creator, the only way to do that is to plunk down $30 for 300 pages of prose that are bound the same way we've been binding books for ages or $10 for a softcover a year or so later, maybe.

For example: a series like A Song of Ice and Fire does have a ton of related merchandise. However, this seemingly only came about with the adaptation of the series into an HBO series. I'm certain fans wanted the calendar/shirt/button long before the Starks and Lannisters graced the silver screen and there's absolutely no reason whatsoever that either the author/publisher could not have provided that opportunity to support a creator that they so admired. But they didn't.

My guess is that this is related to the landscape in which the publishing houses developed; that is to say, a reality of extraordinarily limited retail shelf space and complicated supply chains which only functioned at a tremendous scale. Whereas with online shopping, 'shelf space' is a quaint notion (even if visibility and SEO are daunting challenges) and manufacture/supply chains are much, much more adaptable and fleet of foot. Alternately, it may be an issue of scale. There simply might not be enough fans of a book series (even an incredibly popular one) to warrant the production runs of t-shirts, pins, bumper stickers et al when an author's time could be better used producing a new book. I personally doubt this, as there are full time webcomic artists who have fanbases much smaller than any best selling author, but I concede it as a possibility.

Lots to think about, and in my final post about what I learned at Worldcon I'll discuss more about what I learned about publishing in general.

Friday Challenge: Dust Jacket Quote

This week's Friday challenge was to create a dust jacket quote for yourself that made you sound more interesting than you actually are (while still being 'truthful') I created a batshit insane entry and a (barely) saner version.  

The batshit insane Dust Jacket Quote:

His atomic components are the bones of dead stars. His emotional and physiological features are the end result of millions of years of relentless warrior ape breeding. He is 113 kilograms of tooth, claw and muscle wrapped around the most advanced computer known to man. He draws from the common cultural knowledge of humanity to forge shocking visions through the power of language itself. He is: J.M. Perkins.

The somewhat saner Dust Jacket Quote:

J.M. Perkins spent the first 14 years of his life preparing to flee to the wilds of Canada to escape the forces of the Antichrist. Since then, he's spent his time since attending college, working at a candy factory, performing a variety of unsanctioned sociological experiments, getting published and graduating high school... though not necessarily in that order. He lives in San Diego with his roller derby playing photographer wife and his chickenshit dog.