Writing

Beyond The Magic Event Horizon

This week sees the publication of my novelette “The Clay Farima” in the fab magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies. I had great fun writing it and I’m really pleased it found such a great home.

It is both a blessing and a curse that I generally don’t plan my stories. Starting out as a simple sword and sorcery whodunnit, this one quickly morphed into a journey of internal and external discovery. I honestly didn’t know how it would turn out or what wonders (or horrors) Farima and Mevlish would encounter beyond the Wall. Luckily the scenes mostly wrote themselves. No, I don’t know how that happens. No, it doesn’t happen that often.

Oddly enough, during the process of writing it, I found myself thinking of “The Clay Farima” as a pure science fiction story rather than an adventure fantasy tale. Substitute “gravity” for “magic” and suddenly the Wall marks the event horizon of the singularity known as the Source — although that analogy quickly breaks down if you know any real physics. Similarly, the artificially created narrator can be likened to an android or a clone, another familiar SF trope. So it’s really about a sentient robot’s journey to the centre of a supermassive black hole. But without the robot. Or the black hole. Or any of the science. What I really wanted to capture was the elusive “sensawunda” those type of stories can evoke. I hope I succeeded, at least in some measure.

If “Farima” seems dense in backstory, part of some larger tale, that’s because it follows an earlier story that detailed the rise and fall of the tempestuous relationship between Mevlish and Kaffryn. Some of the momentum from that original story carried through to “Farima”, and it may well continue into other projects set in the Near and Far Kingdoms. Hopefully “Farima” stands well enough on its own.

Another prompt for this story, once it began to brew in my mind, was this image used as part of a writing group challenge. The painting is by the remarkable artist Zdzisław Beksiński, and for those of you who have read “Farima”, the scene inspired by it should be immediately obvious.

Art that inspired "The Clay Farima" by Zdzislaw Brezinski

Art by Zdzislaw Beksiński that inspired “The Clay Farima”

The Bargain

If you’re hopping over from the Daily Science Fiction e-mail blast of “The Bargain”, welcome! If you’re not…welcome anyway! As promised, here are the two images that prompted this very short story.

The first features a man standing with a bicycle at the end of a pier, monochrome in the mist, the lake’s water a sheer mirror. Why is he there? Has the rest of the world really disappeared? What lies beyond the mist? Where is he going? Where has he been? These questions and this haunting image were the primary inspiration.

Pier To Nowhere. Photo: Mohd Nadly Mohd/National Geographic

It’s a standard creativity exercise to link two or more disparate ideas together, so into the mix was added this devilish character, who turns out not to be a demon at all but a man dressed in traditional Austrian Perchten costume and mask. Add a final tip of the hat to E. L. James…and “The Bargain” was the result.

Thanks to Ilan Lerman for excavating the prompt images and to Georgina Bruce for her inspired suggestion to bisect the story — it was originally twice as long and more purple than grey.

A man dressed in traditional Perchten costume and mask. Photo: Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters

When “The Bargain” goes online at Daily Science Fiction a week after this Monday’s e-mail shot, it will be accompanied by the art for the month of May 2013. By sheer coincidence, it’s a perfect fit.

Daily Science Fiction art for May 2013 by Eleanor Bennett

“The Unforgiven Dead”

The Artema anthology Magic Creatures From Celtic Mists, featuring my story “The Unforgiven Dead”, is now available. All my proceeds go directly to the brain tumour charity Taylan’s Project.

Since his untimely and tragic death, Taylan’s family have done an incredible amount to raise funds for research and to help others affected by this terrible disease. Please take a look at their site and the work that they do.

“The Unforgiven Dead” arose from various ideas that had been swirling around my head for some time. I wanted to set a story in the glorious Scottish Highlands, which I’ve camped in and hitch-hiked around several times. I’ve never actually climbed Suilven, but I’ve driven past it and wished that I had. And, of course, if you’re going to spend a night in a place like that (in one of my stories), you’d better be prepared to encounter some sort of strange alien or supernatural presence. I did some research, not yet settled on the type of creature or creatures my character would meet, when I came across the Sluagh, and one image in particular (see below). Mix in noctilucent clouds, too much time spent in hospitals, tandoori lobster — and “The Unforgiven Dead” is the result.

One of the images that inspired “The Unforgiven Dead”. The Sluagh, as envisioned by Andrew L. Paciorek.

“The Bargain” accepted by DSF

Learned today that my short flash story “The Bargain” has been accepted by Daily Science Fiction. This is my fourth acceptance at DSF, and will be my sixth story to appear there in total (if you count Three Kisses as three separate stories). It also means that I already know I will (very probably) have at least six stories published in 2013 — and February’s not even ended! Not quite believing it all yet…I keep looking up, waiting for a piano to drop on my head and restore the karmic balance…

More details about “The Bargain” closer to its publication.

“Magic Creatures From Celtic Mists” Cover Reveal

Today sees the cover reveal for the anthology “Magic Creatures From Celtic Mists”, out from Artema Press in April, and containing my short story “The Unforgiven Dead”. More details about the story closer to its publication, but kudos to editor and artist Jeanne Haskin for the cover design.

“The Clay Farima” accepted by Beneath Ceaseless Skies

I’m very pleased to announce that my novelette “The Clay Farima” has been accepted by Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

Pleased for many reasons. First, BCS is a kick-ass magazine, one of the best looking and highly regarded venues in the genre. Second, it’s an opportunity for readers to see my longer works of fiction; I love being able to explore the worlds, characters and situations made possible by using the long form. Third, and by no means least, it’s been a real pleasure working with a pro-active editor like Scott H. Andrews. Check the stats at Duotrope or Submission Grinder. BCS consistently rates as one of the most approachable markets for writers, with the vast majority of rejections being personal. I can speak from experience! The nuggets of editorial wisdom these rejections contain are gold dust to the beginning — and even experienced — writer; ignore them at your peril. Used wisely, they can shape up your work…and one day, it may not be a rejection you receive.

I’ll post more about “The Clay Farima” closer to its publication date. Suffice to say that this month’s cover art by Jorge Jacinto (“The Frozen Valley”), although not at all related to my story, manages quite coincidentally to convey some of the atmosphere of its setting.

The Origin of Three Kisses

If you’re hopping over from the Daily Science Fiction e-mail blast of “Three Kisses”, welcome! If you’re not…welcome anyway!

I mentioned in an earlier post I would describe the writing prompt that led to the creation of my linked “Three Kisses” stories, so here it is. The prompt was set by the fiendishly clever and talented Ilan Lerman, as part of a series of writing challenges.

From a matrix of twenty four random words we had to choose just two, each from a different line, and these had to be used in the closing sentence of our story. The point was to try and work backwards from a known ending to create a story that fitted. It turned out to be a surprisingly effective approach.

This is the word matrix we were confronted with:

1) TESTAMENT – – DETERGENT – – INSPECTION – – WELTER

2) WEEPING – – INCINERATED – – ORDURE – – MUTATION

3) LOVE – – IMPENETRABLE – – WEAPONS – – JUSTIFICATION

4) COLD – – BRIGHT – – DECIDED – – OLD

5) CENTURY – – BELLS – – LIPS – – INK

6) GOLDFINCH – – GRASS – – FOLDED – – DAYS

As with most writing prompts, I initially stared at it in despair. Nothing. Nothing coming from it at all. Then I started to play with a few word combinations and the ideas slowly began to creep out. After a few false starts I eventually settled on the words “cold” and “lips”. These immediately brought to mind the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale “The Snow Queen”. At first I tried to avoid a straight up retelling of the work, instead attempting to make more oblique references…something like, say, Google’s Project Glass meets the troll mirror, an SFnal spin… but although these showed initial promise, I kept being drawn back to the raw, icy power of the original story. In the end I ditched the contorted layers of allusion and wrote Gerda’s imagined encounter with the Queen of Snowflakes straight up. “The Mirror of Reason” was the result.

By now I was on a roll. My brain went into overdrive identifying other significant kisses in Fairy Tale Land. For some reason it began to obsess about dwarves and their role in “Snow White” (by the Brothers Grimm). How, if we were to actually encounter them, they may not be as “Disney” (or even “Tolkien”) as we might assume. And if the dwarves received an unnecessarily good press, why wouldn’t also the Prince on his stallion? The collision of these two reversals gave rise to “Defenders of the Crystal Casket“.

“The Snow Queen” mentions a third fatal kiss — so I knew I had to write a third installment, and settled on the obvious choice: “Sleeping Beauty”. Again, the antecedents of Charles Perrault‘s fairy tale are much darker than the rosy modern incarnation. (It wasn’t a chaste kiss that woke the cursed Princess in earlier versions, for instance, but the twins she gave birth to whilst still in her cursed sleep.) I couldn’t let the loathsomely arrogant Prince from “Defenders” get off so lightly this time, and “A Royal Breakfast” sees him get his just desserts.

Although “The Mirror of Reason” was the first of the three to be completed, it seemed to make structural sense to me for it to be sandwiched between the two “Prince” stories to create a linked trilogy, and that was how it was submitted, as a single story. DSF are sending the sections out in a slightly different order, but that’s OK since they should each stand individually.

I hope you enjoy each of the “Three Kisses”. I had great fun writing them. And as to Ilan’s prompt…what two words would you choose?

Three Separate Kisses

Not only did the world not end today, somebody must have broken out the mistletoe at Daily Science Fiction headquarters. My story “Three Kisses” is going to be split into its constituent parts and will run on three consecutive days starting 22nd January 2013. (The DSF January lineup can be found here.)

I wrote these fairytale-inspired flash pieces in quick succession, all based on the same prompt (more details of which closer to the publication date), and submitted them as a single story divided into three sections. It’s a real privilege — and nerve-wracking! — to find that these will be published separately, landing in DSF’s 6000 subscribers’ inboxes three days in a row.

To celebrate, I created a mashup image that I hope reflects the individual “Kisses”. Can you guess which stories provided the original inspirations?

(Top image: Daniel Eskridge, centre: StinaBG, bottom: Eugenio Recuenco.)

“Three Kisses” accepted by DSF

First the bad news: “Nine”, the online journal that recently published my story “Starfish and Apples”, has permanently closed. I’ll be sad to see it go. I loved its clean, clutter free layout and its mix of long and short fiction from both new and established names. The editorial staff always seemed very friendly and professional, and I wish them well in their future endeavours.

On the good news front, I learned today that my short story “Three Kisses” has been accepted by Daily Science Fiction. This is my third acceptance there, but the first story which is longer than flash length (although it is composed of three flash length components). Really pleased by this, as I hope it signals my ability to write longer length, marketable stories is improving. In an industry where word count is directly proportional to the cost and risk of publishing a story, this is particularly gratifying.

I’ll write more about “Three Kisses” closer to its publication date (hopefully early 2013), but for now, here’s a teaser image:

Lobsterrific

I’m pleased to announce my story “The Unforgiven Dead” has been accepted for inclusion in the anthology “Magic Creatures from Celtic Mists”, edited by Jeanne M. Haskin, for Artema Press. Release date is currently scheduled for April 2013.

All my proceeds from this story will be donated to brain tumour research charity Taylan’s Project, so I hope the anthology does well.

What magical Celtic creature or creatures feature in “The Unforgiven Dead”? I’ll post further details a little closer to the story’s release…but I can reveal it features at least one of these little critters: a tandoori lobster. A dish I can highly recommend.