Publication

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.

“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 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.)

Starfish and Apples

My flash story “Starfish and Apples” is now live at Nine: A Journal of Imaginative Fiction. Read more about the story here.

Not sure if you want to part with your hard-earned cash? Here’s an extract:

Come away from the beach, children. Put that down, Zak. Shush, all of you, into the hut. Gather round, be quiet and listen. I have some important news.

Yes, I know I don’t normally take classes, Eva. Miss Whitehead is…ill. I’m going to talk about the forest today, and how it first arrived. Listen carefully. Your lives depend on it.

Yes, Zak, I was there at the beginning. I witnessed it all. If you pipe down and let me, I shall explain…

“Mortless”

On Tuesday September 11, Daily Science Fiction will be sending my flash story “Mortless” out via e-mail to their 5,000+ subscribers. A week later it goes live on their website for the whole world to see. (The whole world with Internet access, that is.)

Not a subscriber to DSF? Why not? It’s free, and you get a new story in your inbox every weekday — stories from authors such as Hugo and Nebula Award winner Ken Liu to complete newbies like myself.

A few notes and an acknowledgement regarding “Mortless”. This story was the result of one of the regular prompts set by the writing group I’m a member of, the Self-Forging Fragments. (It’s sekrit, so don’t ask about it!) On this occasion it was a musical prompt, set by the insanely talented Georgina Bruce. Without that prompt, this story would not exist — so a big public thanks to Georgina!

The music was by an artist I had never heard of, but the track was soon on constant replay. Here it is, “Singing Under The Rainbow,” by World’s End Girlfriend.

For me, it evoked images of an awakening, a gradual disintegration, of eventual loss. (And the word “bird”.) On repeated listens, the impressions from and of the music changed, but I stuck with those original thoughts. I was reminded of the Hans Christian Anderson story “The Nightingale”, about the mechanical nightingale that eventually runs down, and about love and death. And, incongruously, how I had recently overhead someone being called “River” and what an unusual name that was.

The original working title was “The Wrong Nightingale”, one which still works well, but in the end I decided on “Mortless”. I think it better reflects the emergent themes, a play on the words “deathless”, “remorseless”, “merciless”, etc. I’m really looking forward to it being out in the big wide world and finding out what readers make of it.

PS. And just a note on the publish date. Next Tuesday will be eleven years since I stood in a conference room in Philadelphia and watched on a hastily commandeered and barely functional TV set the first grainy pictures of the World Trade Centre towers collapsing. The world has turned, and turned again, since then, but it will still be with very mixed emotions that I will greet next Tuesday.

Rizophobia

Today sees the official announcement of the Table of Contents for issue 3 of Nine: A Journal of Imaginative Fiction. It may very well be the reason you are here at my blog — in which case, welcome! (And if not? Welcome anyway!)

When I was a young child — five, or maybe six — the family sat down to watch “The Day of the Triffids”. I was greatly looking forward to it: my older brother had told me there were monsters, and what’s not to like about monsters? But as the scene in the greenhouse unfolded, as the night watchman played his torch along the stirring roots (my description of the scene may not be entirely accurate, the scene may even be entirely a figment of my imagination, since I’ve not watched the film since), I withdrew further and further behind the sofa and eventually burst into tears. My mother swiftly brought a halt to the proceedings and despite my siblings’ strident protestations the TV was switched off. Still tearful, I was bundled off to bed.

Where I had nightmares.

Of stirring roots.

You see the house was full of houseplants. Pots and pots of them. In every room. With roots. Stirring…

No, no. That was just my over-active imagination. Wasn’t it?

Anyway, I’m fine now. See?

Now I’m all grown up and everything, I know there’s no such thing as monster plants. And even if there was, I bet I could deal with them.

Want to know how triffids could actually emerge? I recommend you take a look at Kelly Lagor‘s remarkable story “How To Build A Triffid” at Tor.com. (I was lucky enough to read an early version of it, and it partially inspired my Nine story, “Starfish and Apples” — thanks, Kelly!)

Some Angels I Have Met

After receiving my snazzy WotF Honorable Mention certificate last month, I decided to be cheeky and ask for a 2010 Q4 Semi-Finalist certificate retrospectively (I received a critique from K. D. Wentworth at the time, but no certificate). The contest co-ordinator Joni Labacqui happily obliged (thanks, Joni!) and I received it in the post today, which was just what I needed because I also received two rejections as well — the perfect antidote!

The other exciting news is that “Amy’s First” is due to be sent out to Daily Science Fiction subscribers as an e-mail story tomorrow morning. (It’s not too late to subscribe — it’s free, and you’ll receive bite-size speculative fiction stories in your inbox four days aweek, with longer stories sent on Friday, just right for the weekend.) A week from now, the story will go live on the DSF website.

In honour of the story’s appearance (which features an angel, of sorts) here are a couple of angels I’ve encountered during my travels. First up is the “Angel with the Superscription”, one of the angels which line Rome’s Pont Sant’Angelo. The original was by Bernini, but this copy is by Giulio Cartari. Under the noon Rome sun, with a crisp blue sky backdrop, these sculptures are truly sublime — and highly photogenic.

The second is a snapshot of a small sculpture I noticed whilst exploring the chapel on St. Michael’s Mount, in Cornwall. It features a quite different aspect of the angelic, “St. Michael’s Victory Over the Devil”, and is probably more indicative of the intended tone of “Amy’s First”…

(The original image which inspired the story can be seen here.)