Tag: writing

The Big Idea: Living Forever

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I talk about death on John Scalzi’s blog, Whatever

cover of Living Forever & Other Terrible Ideas by Emily C. Skaftun

In today’s Big Idea, author Emily C. Skaftun is thinking about death… for starters. With a book title like Living Forever & Other Terrible Ideas, perhaps this is not entirely surprising.

EMILY C. SKAFTUN:

Death! There is no bigger idea. 

The theme that emerged as I was putting together my favorite stories to create my first collection—and no one is more surprised than I that a theme emerged at all!—is something like:

Death. Maybe it’s not the worst thing that could happen?

Or: Be sure to read the fine print about your life after death.

To keep reading, head over to Whatever, where this piece was originally published.

My Favorite Bit: Living Forever

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I talk about shrugging on Mary Robinette Kowal’s My Favorite Bit

cover of Living Forever & Other Terrible Ideas by Emily C. Skaftun

Everybody shrugs.

They also poop, but that’s a different story. (I did once pitch the idea of a picture book called “Every Monster Poops” to an artist friend as a collaboration, but we never got past cracking ourselves up brainstorming what zombie poop would look like… but I digress).

My favorite thing about writing nonhuman characters is the challenge and opportunity of imagining how they inhabit their alien bodies.

To keep reading, head over to My Favorite Bit, where this piece was originally published.

Those Time Travel Leaves Behind

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The following is politically relevant Back to the Future fan fiction that I wrote just after the election. Since it is probably un-sellable as fiction, you can read it as a freebie!

My name is Jennifer Parker, and I’ve lived my whole life in a little California town called Hill Valley.

Yes, that Hill Valley. The one with the massive eyesore casino. The one that gave us President Tannen.

I didn’t vote for him. In point of fact, most of the country didn’t vote for him. But Biff Tannen never cared much for the rules. I know things about him… Continue reading “Those Time Travel Leaves Behind” →

Machismo Construction, Wobbles, and the VIDA Count

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Bear with me, if you will, for a moment. I have something to say about women and publishing and society, but I don’t know what it is yet. As you may or may not be aware, VIDA’s 2012 count once again showed us that women are underrepresented in most book reviews and literary magazines. There are, of course, a lot of reasons and excuses about why this is so, one of which is that women don’t submit as often as men. I really like this unpacking of that particular excuse, which strikes fairly close to home. I also love this explanation of how two magazines made their numbers more equal.

A prime example.

Continue reading “Machismo Construction, Wobbles, and the VIDA Count” →

A hatful of fun

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For shits and giggles, I entered a contest. I wrote a story based on this picture:

It had to be 250 words or less, and mine started at around 600. Thanks in part to Cat Rambo’s editing class (take a class! they’re awesome) I actually got it under the word count.

It’s here at Lascaux Flash. Go read it, maybe? Write a comment? If it wins, they’ll give me money. And that would be awesome.

Oh! And writer friends? This contest is still open. Go enter it!

The Last Big Thing

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Here is your installment of The Next Big Thing, that chain-letter blog post for writers that’s been making the rounds. Like all parties, I find myself late to it. But better late than never!

What are you kids doing in there?

1) What is the working title of your next book?

I despise titles. After many deranged ideas, mostly cribbed from the text of Romeo and Juliet, I’m now calling it STARS CROSSING IN THE NIGHT. While I was drafting it, I simply called it Romeo and Juliet in Space.

Continue reading “The Last Big Thing” →

When in Doubt, Make Something Up

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Subtitle: Literature and the Unknowable

It’s campaign season again (still?), which has me thinking about Truthiness. I’m for it, especially in politics, but that is another post entirely. The following is excerpted and adapted from an application essay I wrote for a PhD program some years ago. In case you’re wondering, I didn’t get in.

My need for knowledge borders on compulsive. Continue reading “When in Doubt, Make Something Up” →