phywriter.com|Prone to occasional grandiloquence

This is the first scene of the first day of my NaNo2k4 project, The Sky Pirate. Do I find dialogue fun or not? You be the judge!

“It was a moonlit night, and magic was in the air,” whispered Eggplant nervously as he crouched behind the barrels with the others.

“Ssh,” said Bola, trying to look around under the canvas awning that stretched over them on the dock.

“He speaks in the third person when he is nervous,” explained Eggplant of himself, helpfully.

“He’s going to get his tongue pinned to the dock if he keeps making noise, isn’t that right, Coop,” murmured Bola, drawing a wicked big knife to demonstrate her point Read the rest of this entry »

Katie Weiland was kind (or reckless) enough to interview me for the AuthorCulture blog. She asked fun questions, and I replied with what may be considered provocative answers.

In the interview, I talk about the genesis of Ray Gun Revival magazine and my “Adventures of the Sky Pirate” serial novel, as well as the challenges of writing a serial novel, the importance of writing out your million words of dreck, thoughts about the fine line between piracy and obscurity, and the vision I predict for for the future of the publishing industry.

AC: The publishing industry is daily growing more and more digital—something you’ve tapped into with RGR. What do you visualize for the future of the industry?

JC: There was a time that you had to go to a music hall or church or listen to the radio to hear music. The invention of vinyl albums changed that by allowing common people to collect and keep their own collection of music. It was that way for decades. However, today, the vinyl record is a largely historical technology. Few current works are pressed and released, and the only people who continue to seek them out are hardcore fans.

As strange as it sounds, I think we’ll see books as we know them today go the way of the vinyl album; something that was once venerable and ubiquitous that has been bypassed by technology and finally exists only as a rare occasion product. I’m a little surprised that well-meaning government types haven’t already passed regulations to prohibit dead-tree books for the sake of preserving the environment or something.

But necessity if the mother of invention, and I think we’ll see development of as many different kinds of inexpensive digital reading devices tomorrow as we saw portable music players yesterday. I think new generations of readers used to reading content with multiple levels of metadata will find actual paper documents both flat and quaint.

Thanks to Katie and AuthorCulture for the interview, and please do let me know what you think!

Copy and paste the list (including links) of speculative fiction ‘zines below to your blog or website (include this informative introduction as well). Add your ‘zine (and link). Any ‘zine of any size and format that publishes speculative fiction of any kind can take part. Let other people, especially people publishing ‘zines, know about the meme. And help publicize Support Our ‘Zines Day by linking back to: http://damiengwalter.wordpress.com/sozd/

Asmiov’s science fiction

Analog science fiction and fact

Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

Ray Gun Revival magazine

MindFlights

Digital Dragon magazine

Get your space opera fix with Issue #53!

61 pages

Alone at AX-1 by Swapna Kishore
A mutant runaway code is destroying mining stations in the Belt. As Jerry, manager of stationhead AX-1, races against time to understand the attack algorithm and protect his stations, he has to grapple with problems that go beyond understanding technical issues.

Thieves ‘ Honor: Episode Eight – Endgame, Part One by Keanan Brand

Baxter made a good meal.

He and Jill ate well on the remote space station, but he always made too much food. By now, they were the only two remaining. Kumquats,tube sirloin, and real hydro tomatoes; the guys in Houston said they didn’t eat so well. That was before their signal went dead. Now it was him, and her, and the kumquats.

No one knows where the space monkeys came from, with their luminescent fur and swirling eyes. Their saucer docked and they gained entrance without setting off the electroalarms. That was the first of many mysteries.

Jill went to investigate, but Baxter stayed behind to mind his chili.

Jill hadn’t returned by lunchtime, so Baxter went looking for her after rinsing his favorite ladle.

He turned a corner and saw a crowd of them fighting over something on the floor. They seemed glad to be able to stretch all their many limbs. They were kind of funny.

One of them saw Baxter and produced a cheesy plastic ray gun in an awkward simian paw. Its aim was not effective, pointing the weapon at Baxter’s head, but melting the “You are here” display in middle of the corridor instead.

“That was rude,” muttered Baxter. He darted forward and wrested the weapon from its hairy grasp, and stepped back.

“Take that, you damned dirty… monkey,” he said, and pulled the trigger.

Turns out, their teeth were more effective than their aim. They leapt forward and ate the gun. Startled, he turned to run.

Baxter made a good meal.

This month, Overlord Paul Christian Glenn—the silent, crafty one of the galactic trinity—unleashes a bold new design for Ray Gun Revival magazine. Get a taste of the best space opera pulp adventure here in Issue #52!

43 pages
Read the rest of this entry »

Ray Gun Revival magazine, Issue 51, has blown in from the cold!
The search party has returned. Get Issue #51 while you can!

56 pages

The Overlords’ Lair: Random acts of unsolicited encouragement

Direct Observation by Adrian Simmons
The Hive Consortium was losing their war. Could human children be their solution?

Spider on a Sidewalk by Paula R. Stiles
A captain and her crew try to solve a mystery of perspective in a dangerous part of space.

Smart Bomb by O. Charles Swallows, Jr., Mr.
Their ship crashed, two aliens attempt to convince a planet-busting bomb to delay detonation.

Inquefish by Steven Gerard
The beach was always a place for relaxation and renewal, until now.

Torva Prime by Chip Meador
There’s plenty of work for a P.I. on Torva Prime, but like any city, it has its rough spots.

Featured artist , Lev Savitskiy, Ukraine

Calamity’s Child, Chapter Six: Rites of Passage – Dante’s Fourth, by Gaslight, Part Two by M. Keaton

Thieves’ Honor: Episode Six: The Game – Taw, Anyone? by Keanan Brand

Deuces Wild, Season Two: Chapter 8 – Final Flight by L. S. King

Jasper Squad, Episode 11 — The Lieutenant’s Gambit, Part II: Revelations and Ruin by Paul Christian Glenn

RGR Issue 48 is live. See it at Scribd!

Ray Gun Revival magazine, Issue 48

It’s October, Issue #47, of Ray Gun Revival magazine. Don’t be afraid to pick it up!

93 pages

The Overlords’ Lair: The Season of Change

When In Greece, Do as the Romans Do, A Tale of Dean the Space Rogue by Andy Heizeler
Fiction
An innocent faces brutal execution on a planet with strange Luddite customs. Dark forces gather among the stars. Dean and the crew of the Tachyon Valkyrie race against the clock to prevent a murder, and of course, turn a healthy profit.

The Forgotten by R. Cruz
Fiction
What motivates the mysterious Warlord to travel the breadth of time and space to help the most dangerous race in the galaxy change their legacy?

The Glorious Revolution by Steve Case
Fiction
The Slushmasters were divided on this story. It has a strange cadence, a unique voice, a construction that almost struck me as epistolary, a dialogue in written letters. Some will hate it. Some will love it.

Blood Test by Ronald Moore
Fiction
Vampires in space. What’s not to like?

The White Knight Is Talking Backwards by Richard Zwicker
Fiction
If the time we live in is insane, it’s our duty to try to find a way out of the asylum.

“RGR Reviews: Book Reviews” by Matthew Winslow
Reviews
Matthew Windows reviews three Starship books from Mike Resnick.

Featured artist , Maxime Desmettre, Canada

Calamity’s Child, Chapter Four: Rites of Passage, Domino, Part Two by M. Keaton
Serial Fiction
Duelists, intrigue, a space firefight, and an uncooperative bounty–it’s all in a day’s work for Ivan and Red.

Thieves’ Honor: Episode Two – Spider’s Web, Part Two by Keanan Brand
Serial Fiction
It takes a ‘pirate’ to show a young woman of privilege that nothing in space is what it seems. In the meantime, Captain Kristoff continues his game of cat-and-mouse with Captain Zoltana.

Deuces Wild, Season Two, Chapter Six, Suicide Run by L. S. King
Serial Fiction
How do you break an unbreakable blockade? Very carefully. And who took the pie?

The Adventures of the Sky Pirate, Chapter 26, The Friar’s Paradox by Johne Cook
Serial Fiction
The Friar of Briar Island must choose between offering sanctuary to Flynn’s fleeing crew or aiding the pursuing Haddirron Navy, whose benevolence the Friar needs to survive out on the edge of things.

This Raygun For Hire, The Vincent Stone Affair by John M. Whalen
Serial Fiction
Hired gun Frank Carson walks into the office of Vincent Stone, CEO of Trans-Sinclair Oil, and gets an offer he can’t refuse.

Issue #46 is our most feature-packed issue yet. We have two firsts – a book review column by Matthew Winslow, and the beginning of a great new serial novel by Keanan Brand.

86 pages

The Overlords’ Lair: The Crotchety / Sales Debate

Fire on a World of Ice by Jonathon Mast
Pastoric and Deveraux are on the run from bounty hunters. Stranded in an ancient city on an icy world, can they survive?

Dark Running by Justin R. Macumber
Major Charlie Sheppard awakens a prisoner, his memories gone. His fate—and his wife’s—hangs on a truth that is as elusive as a whisper in the night.

Obedience by T.M. Hunter
She is his slave and he is her master, but she can still teach him about the dangers of greed.

Boarders Over Brantial by Jonathan J. Schlosser
When a bomb takes out his ship’s power, Tarin is forced to defend against vicious assault while his dead ship drifts toward Brantial VI.

Message to Mars by Alice M. Roelke
With Earth and Mars on the brink of war, one man a message gets through.

“RGR Reviews: Book Reviews” by Matthew Winslow
Ray Gun Revival debuts a new monthly column from noted reviewer Matthew Winslow! This month: Keeper of Dreams by Orson Scott Card, Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams, and Children of the Atom by Wilmar H. Shiras.

“RGR Reviews: The Balcony Fool Reviews TR2N” by Paul Christian Glenn
At long last, a sequel is announced to the classic original story of conflict in cyberspace. Paul Christian Glenn is there to give us an early look at the next generation of Tron.

Featured artist Christian Hecker, Germany

Calamity’s Child, Chapter Four: Rites of Passage, Domino, Part One by M. Keaton
Duelists, intrigue, a space firefight, and an uncooperative bounty–it’s all in a day’s work for Ivan and Red.

Thieves’ Honor: Episode One – Spider’s Web, Part One by Keanan Brand
Captain Kristoff is a smuggler hiding in plain sight, while Captain Zoltana spins a web to bring the smuggler to ‘justice.’

Deuces Wild, Season Two, Chapter Five, Rock and a Hard Place by L. S. King
The crew is caught between a rock and a hard place—the colonists desperately need supplies, and Tristan is honor-bound to bring help, but the Confed blockade is unbreakable. Or is it?

The Adventures of the Sky Pirate, Chapter 25, All the Men in Shadow by Johne Cook
Flynn is rocked by revelations while the Friar of Briar Island faces his toughest opponent–his own legend.

Memory Wipe, Chapter 23, Liun by Sean T. M. Stiennon
Takeda battles his way into Tong’s fortress, finding both hope and despair.